Thursday, October 30, 2014

Boots and Backpacks Blog Tour ~ Excerpt and GIVEAWAY!

Hey Everyone! I'm pretty excited about being part of the Boots & Backpacks Blog Tour! Sounds like a fantastic book, and after reading the book blurb and the excerpt below, I can't wait to get my hands on at copy! I won't have to wait long as it's due to be released November 1, 2014!! Woot! Make sure to add it to your goodreads shelf! 

Meryton Press is also giving away an e-copy of Boots & Backpacks by KC Kahler here on my blog! You'll find that information at the bottom of this page. 





Blurb:

Boots & Backpacks
Pride and Prejudice on the Appalachian Trail, roughly

William Darcy counts down the last few months to his 30th birthday with dread. Orphaned as a child, his parents’ will includes a bizarre clause: Darcy must get married by his 30th birthday in order to inherit the family fortune. To make matters worse, the press knows about this deadline, as do the hordes of women chasing him in the hopes of becoming Mrs. Darcy. His family legacy hangs in the balance, but Darcy has little faith in the fairer sex. Will he find a woman he wants to marry, and quickly?

Elizabeth Bennet is determined to pursue her education and career without letting a man get in the way. When her traveling companion drops out, her planned hike on the Appalachian Trail is jeopardized. She meets the spoiled, snobby William Darcy just when he is desperate to escape the spotlight. No one will suspect that the Prince of Manhattan has gone backpacking! Darcy and Elizabeth form a tenuous partnership and begin a 300-mile journey that will transform them both.

In classic romantic comedy tradition, Boots & Backpacks follows our reluctant partners as they build trust, friendship, and even more. Six weeks together on America’s most famous hiking trail may turn out to be just what these two need!



Boots and Backpacks by KC Kahler


Excerpt: 

Notes: This is the scene from Chapter 1 where Darcy meets Elizabeth for the first time. Fair warning: he’s pretty unlikeable at the start of the story. I’ve previously posted the Prologue at my blog, where we get a glimpse of reformed Darcy. But here he is at his worst: 


Distance from New York City: 25 miles
Forced matrimony in: 85 days

William Darcy was bored. Watching the Hursts get carpal tunnel syndrome wasn’t his ideal way to spend a Friday evening. But here he was, watching through the window into the next room as they closed on their new house.
Louisa and Langdon Hurst, who were expecting their second bundle of joy (their first kid was a bundle of something), had got it into their heads to move out of the city. After doing some research—namely sorting community census data by highest average household income—they had narrowed their search to northern Bergen County, New Jersey.
Caroline Bingley thought her sister crazy to be moving out of Manhattan, and Darcy had to agree. But Charles Bingley was, as ever, supportive of his older sister’s plans, even accompanying the Hursts the first time they met with a real estate agent. He then went along to see all 19 of the houses they viewed because he was enamored with “angelic” real estate agent, Jane Bennet. Apart from their house-hunting excursions, Bingley and Jane Bennet had gone on several dates, and Darcy had been subjected to his friend’s gushing about this paragon of womanhood to a nauseating degree. He wanted to see who had captured Bingley’s interest—a significant feat, since Bingley’s reputation as a playboy was second only to Darcy’s. Thus Darcy found himself in a real estate office in Ridgewood, NJ.
At the moment, Bingley was making googly eyes through the glass wall at Miss Angel as she sat at a table with her clients. She was beautiful, Darcy had to admit, though in a wholesome sort of way. She was also helpful and earnest, pointing out to her clients where to sign each form, all in triplicate. Darcy saw Langdon flex his hand in between signatures.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

W... W... W... Wednesdays ~ Oct. 22, 2014


W... W... W... Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. To play along, just answer the following questions.


  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you'll read next?

What am I currently reading? I just started reading Icons by Margaret Stohl, co-writer of the Beautiful Creatures series. While I was at the LA Festival of Books back in April, I came across Ms Stohl at a booth, signing books! I was thrilled to find she had begun writing a dystopian series! So I bought Book 1 from her, and, of course, had her sign it. I'm looking forward to reading Icons!





What did I recently finish reading? I finished reading Sincerely Yours: Yours by Design, Book 2 by Robin M. Helm. I should have my review up soon! I'm looking forward to the next in the series.
I also finished reading A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare for an online class I'm taking. Reading from No Fear Shakespeare, which has both the original text and modern language side-by-side, made it much easier to understand! :) 




What do I think I'll read next? I'm thinking about reading 
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. I've never read anything by Ms Dessen, but I have two of her books sitting in my TBR pile, so I thought I'd give it a go! Plus, this will count towards my 2014 TBR Book Challenge! Yay! 


FTC Disclaimer: Book links are to Amazon. I'm an Amazon Associate, and if you should purchase a copy of the book through the link provided, I will receive a small commission. Thanks! 

What are you reading? 

Monday, October 20, 2014

Some Boys by Patty Blount ~ My Review


Some Boys by Patty Blount 

Publication Date: August 5th, 2014 
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire 
Pages: 339 
Received: I purchased my own copy.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars



Some boys go too far. 
Some boys will break your heart.
But one boy can make you whole.


My Review:

I really enjoyed this fast-paced, edgy young adult novel. It deals with the tough subject of rape; rape by a friend, and because you were friends, no one believes you. They think you asked for it, that you wanted it, that you said, “yes.” Everyone takes his side, because he's the golden boy, star of the lacrosse team ...he is Zac. Suddenly, you’re the school slut, and your so-called friends desert you. Grace finds herself in this position. Every day is a challenge to get through, but she's not going to let them beat her. I loved that about Grace: her strength.

When Grace gets in trouble at school, she receives detention and finds herself serving time with Zac’s best friend, Ian. 

Ian has had a crush on Grace for a long time, but now, because of Zac, she is off limits, and the last thing he wants to do is spend time with her.  They are put to work while serving detention, cleaning lockers over spring break. Awkward at first, they agree not to talk about what happen with Zac, but as the week wears on and the more he gets to know Grace, Ian can’t help but find out the truth. 

What I didn't like about this story, or found unbelievable, is a video posted on FB by the accused, Zac. The video is of Grace during the sexual encounter. She is intoxicated and incoherent (not fighting him) and this is his proof that it was consensual. I have a hard time believing a video like that would be allowed to stay up. And why wasn't Grace receiving any counseling other than one call to the Rape Crisis Hotline? 

To me, the writing felt a little choppy in the beginning.  I think the reason for this is that the author slowly released the information of what happened at the time of the rape. As the picture became clearer the flow of the story was much better, and I was drawn in and couldn’t put it down. I practically read it straight through! 

I love a story with a strong protagonist. Grace kept her head up, but there came a point when she wanted to give up, and I cried with Grace. I really love Ian, too, even though I wanted to shake some sense into him for blindly following Zac.  I also liked Ian’s father, who seems like a jerk at first, but says some nice things to Ian about Grace and gives him a few reasons to not think so highly of Zac.

Although this story deals with rape and the aftermath, the actual rape is not recalled, just the parts leading up to and after. But there is plenty of cussing, especially the use of GD and JC.

I truly enjoyed Some Boys

Buy: Amazon
Add: goodreads

FTC Disclaimer: Link to Amazon - I am an Amazon Associate. Should you purchase a copy of the book through the link provided, I will receive a small commission. Thanks!

Connect with Patty Blount



Back in September, I was part of the Some Boys Blog Blitz. The book intrigued me so much, I bought my own copy! You can check out that post here and read an excerpt. 


Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

W... W... W... Wednesdays ~ Oct. 8, 2014

Wow! It's Wednesday! These days are just flying by! It's time for...
W... W... W... Wednesdays, which is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. To play along, just answer the following questions.


  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you'll read next?

What am I currently reading? I'm currently reading Sincerely Yours: Yours by Design, Book 2 by Robin M. Helm. I've only read chapter 1 at this point, so I don't have much of an opinion, but I did have to laugh when 1800s Darcy was learning about Jane Austen Fan Fiction! Especially, when Helm slipped in a plug for her first series, Guardian.  If you don't know, the Yours by Design series is a Pride and Prejudice variation where the Darcy from the 1800s and Darcy from the 21st century trade places. You can read my review of the first book here.




What did I recently finish reading? I finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. It was really good! Very much like the movie, but I now wish I had read the books first. I will read the rest, but probably not as quickly as I had anticipated. 




What do I think I'll read next?  I'm not sure. I'm taking a Shakespeare course, and I have some reading to do for that. I'm also studying writing and doing some algebra, which is keeping me very busy. 





FTC Disclaimer: Book links are to Amazon. I'm an Amazon Associate, and if you should purchase a copy of the book through the link provided, I will receive a small commission. Thanks!


What are you reading?


Monday, October 6, 2014

The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen by Shannon Winslow ~ My Review


The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen by Shannon Winslow 

Publication Date: August 6th, 2014 
Publisher: Heather Ridge Arts 
Pages: 266 
Received: e-copy from the author for my honest review 
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars


A Novel ~ wherein she tells her own story of Lost Love, Second Chances, and Finding her Happy Ending.


I loved The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen! Shannon Winslow has rewritten the ending of Jane’s life and has given her the happily ever after that we all hoped Jane would have. It is beautifully written, and it’s a story I think Jane herself would be proud of.

The story is written from Jane’s perspective as she sets out to pen Persuasion. At the same time, she also begins a journal recalling the first time she meets Captain Devereaux and writes of all of her time with him that so parallels that of Anne Elliot’s. 

In her twenty’s, Jane meets and falls in love with Captain Devereaux. Her parents do not approve of the marriage, and Jane will not go against their wishes. Captain Devereaux goes away angry, and Jane doesn’t see him again for another four years. Unfortunately, this meeting does not end as well as Anne and Captain Wentworth second meeting. No, Jane has to wait much longer than Anne for her happy ending.  

Not only are there many parallels to Persuasion, I see many similarities to other aspects of Austen’s books. Just as Elizabeth calls out Darcy for eavesdropping on one of her conversations, Jane calls out Captain Devereaux:


“Do not you think, Captain Devereaux, that I expressed myself uncommonly well just now, when I was giving my opinion of Giaour?”

Captain Devereaux also has a friend, a Captain Bothwell, who reminds me a little of Captain Wentworth’s friend, Captain Benwick. Although, he is not as depressed as Captain Benwick, he has suffered an injury that prevents him from sailing again. Bothwell and Jane become quite good friends. 

I also love how Jane quotes her characters or speaks about them as if they are real people. And I delighted in little conversations like this one between Cassandra and Jane: 


“Now you sound just like Lizzy Bennet. How delightful!"
“You know that she is my model in all things.”  
“I thought it was the other way round, Jane - that Lizzy was patterned after yourself. Either way, I am sure Captain Devereaux must have felt the point of your wit!”

The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen is a wonderful read, with a plausible ending that was cleverly done! It warmed my heart to know Jane knew what it was to love, to love deeply, and to be loved back! Well done! This book is the first I’ve read by Shannon Winslow, but it won’t be the last! I would highly recommend The Persuasion of Miss Austen for your reading pleasure! 

FTC Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of the story from the author for my honest review.

Buy: Amazon
Add: goodreads

FTC Disclaimer: Link to Amazon: I am an Amazon Associate. Should you purchase a copy of the book through the link provided, I will receive a small commission. Thanks!



Connect with Shannon Winslow


To read a lovely guest post by Shannon Winslow where she talks of love letters and The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen, click here.

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from you! 

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

W... W... W... Wednesdays ~ Oct. 1, 2014

W... W... W... Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. To play along, just answer the following questions.


  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you'll read next?




What am I currently reading?  I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. Of course, I'm loving it! :)







What did I recently finish reading? I finished reading Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer. I really enjoyed it! Now, I want to read the next in the series! 








What do I think I'll read next? I'm not sure...probably Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, but I do have some other books calling out to me. 





FTC Disclaimer: Book links are to Amazon. I'm an Amazon Associate, and if you should purchase a copy of the book through the link provided, I will receive a small commission. Thanks!


What are you reading?
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