Pixieland Diaries by Christina Bauer REVIEW

Pixieland Diaries by Christina Bauer
Publisher: Monster House Books
Release Date: March 31st 2020
Synopsis: WARNING

If you don’t like pixies, don’t read this diary.

If you don’t like loud-mouthed pixies who are really cool but sometimes get told they’re immature (for no reason), then definitely stop reading.

Oh, and if you’re His Awfulness The Elf Prince ‘Dare’ Darius, then you can kiss my butt. My hatred for you burns with the fire of a thousand suns. Thanks for getting me kicked out of Pixieland and exiled to attend some rando human high school on Earth. You’re the worst, even if you have a cute smile. And nice eyes. Your hair looks okay sometimes, too. But you’re still a creep and I loathe you.

And to everyone else: if you’ve read this far, then you better finish my entire diary.

My story is supernatural, whacked-out, and overall awesome.

Meet Christina,

Christina Bauer thinks that fantasy books are like bacon: they just make life better. All of which is why she writes romance novels that feature demons, dragons, wizards, witches, elves, elementals, and a bunch of random stuff that she brainstorms while riding the Boston T. Oh, and she includes lots of humor and kick-ass chicks, too. Christina lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby. She loves to connect with her fans at BauersBooks.com.

Author Links:

Website

Goodreads

Twitter

Facebook

Blog Tour: Sparrow by Mary Cecilia Jackson REVIEW

Sparrow by Mary Cecilia Jackson

Release Date: March 17, 2020 

Publisher: Tor Teen

Synopsis: In the tradition of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, a devastating but hopeful YA debut about a ballerina who finds the courage to confront the abuse that haunts her past and threatens her future.

There are two kinds of people on the planet. Hunters and prey
I thought I would be safe after my mother died. I thought I could stop searching for new places to hide. But you can’t escape what you are, what you’ve always been.
My name is Savannah Darcy Rose.
And I am still prey.

Though Savannah Rose―Sparrow to her friends and family―is a gifted ballerina, her real talent is keeping secrets. Schooled in silence by her long-dead mother, Sparrow has always believed that her lifelong creed―“I’m not the kind of girl who tells”―will make her just like everyone else: Normal. Happy. Safe. But in the aftermath of a brutal assault by her seemingly perfect boyfriend Tristan, Sparrow must finally find the courage to confront the ghosts of her past, or lose herself forever….

Meet Mary:

Mary Cecilia Jackson has worked as a middle school teacher, an adjunct instructor of college freshmen, a technical writer and editor, a speechwriter, a museum docent, and a development officer for central Virginia's PBS and NPR stations. Her first novel, Sparrow, was an honor recipient of the SCBWI Sue Alexander Award and a young-adult finalist in the Writers' League of Texas manuscript contest. She lives with her architect husband, William, in Western North Carolina and Hawaii, where they have a farm and five ridiculously adorable goats.

MY REVIEW:

Books give readers emotions. Good books give readers more than ONE emotion. The best books make a reader feel like they are living life along with the characters. Sparrow by Mary Cecilia Jackson does every single one of these things. For starters, there are so many books out there with multiple names, that it can be hard to find character names that stick out to readers. Sparrow is both a beautiful name and represents an unforgettable character.

Novels that contain any kind of abuse can be hard to get through. A reader may have PTSD from dealing with it at some point in their lives. Others might just not enjoy reading that kind of thing at all. But writers who take their time to write through subjects such as this rather than around, to me are brave and have so much talent. In the past, I have read books with topics such as relationship abuse and ended up putting them down and never going back. But I had a whole different experience here, I sat down and read this in one sitting. 

I did find myself a tad annoyed by parts in this book, not because they weren’t well written but because I felt too much attention was given to parts that didn’t need as much attention. I think a huge portion of the book was dedicated to the abuse and pain, but only a small portion went to the healing. As a reader who felt for the characters, I watched them be beat up and hurt in more ways than one so naturally the only thing that would bring closure is the characters healing. 

Jackson did a really good job bringing two hard situations together and not making it feel weird or awkward. Sparrow, our main character, lost her mother at a young age and had multiple nightmares throughout the book all the while being abused by her boyfriend. It is easy to read through these different situations and see how both affect Sparrow without getting them confused and having a hard time understanding what she is going through. Sparrow as a character was an open book, I felt everything she felt which is one of the huge reasons why I wanted so badly to see her heal and feel better about both of her situations. She did get her closure, but it felt very rushed.

The Degenerates by J. Albert Mann

The Degenerates by J. Albert Mann
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 17, 2020
Synopsis: In the tradition of Girl, Interrupted, this fiery historical novel follows four young women in the early 20th century whose lives intersect when they are locked up by a world that took the poor, the disabled, the marginalized—and institutionalized them for life.

The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded is not a happy place. The young women who are already there certainly don’t think so. Not Maxine, who is doing everything she can to protect her younger sister Rose in an institution where vicious attendants and bullying older girls treat them as the morons, imbeciles, and idiots the doctors have deemed them to be. Not Alice, either, who was left there when her brother couldn’t bring himself to support a sister with a club foot. And not London, who has just been dragged there from the best foster situation she’s ever had, thanks to one unexpected, life altering moment. Each girl is determined to change her fate, no matter what it takes.

Book Links:

Goodreads

Amazon

B&N

MEET J. ALBERT MANN,

J. Albert Mann is the author of the “Sunny Sweet” series, a humorous and quirky set of middle grade stories published by Bloomsbury Children’s USA, as well as "SCAR," a historical fiction novel set during the Revolutionary War published by Boyds Mills Press/Calkins Creek. Jennifer’s short stories have been published by Highlights for Children, where she won the Highlights for Children Fiction Contest. Her next novel--a biographical historical fiction about Margaret Sanger--will be published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster. Jennifer has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Art.

Author Links:

Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Instagram

THANKS FOR CHECKING OUT MY STOP ON THE TOUR! 

Blog Tour: Lab Partners by M. Montgomery BOOK SPOTLIGHT!

Lab Partners by Mora Montgomery
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Publication Date: March 10, 2020
Synopsis: 
Sometimes you don’t know who you love, until they love you ...

When Jordan Hughes arrives at Pinecrest High School, Elliot Goldman’s graduating year suddenly gets a lot more interesting. Smart, good looking and charming, Jordan isn’t exactly the kind of person Elliot’s used to having as a lab partner. But when they start acing their assignments, life is suddenly about more than boring lectures, bad cafeteria nachos, or relentless bullying, and for the first time ever, Elliot can’t wait to get to chemistry class.

As they start spending more time together outside of school, Elliot realizes he’s never met anyone quite like Jordan. And then everything changes one night when Jordan kisses him, making Elliot question everything about their relationship and about himself. The butterflies start to make sense—the trouble is, right now, nothing else does.

Love was the last thing on Elliot’s mind. But as he begins to figure out how he really feels about Jordan, he realizes that sometimes the last thing you are looking for is the one thing you need the most.

MEET MORA: 

 Growing up in a small town forced Mora to be creative as a means to entertain herself. In her free time, she focused her energy on music, writing, and school. Mora graduated with an associate degree from her local community college a month before receiving her high school diploma. She is currently pursuing two majors related to engineering at university, and her tuition is paid for with the money earned through her music and writing.

Instagram: @MoraJMontgomery

Twitter: @MoraJMontgomery

Facebook: @AuthorMoraMontgomery

Wattpad: @OminouslyAnonymous

CHECK BACK FOR MY REVIEW SOON!

Blog Tour: Interview w/ Jus Accardo

Transcendent by Jus Accardo
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: March 2, 2020
Synopsis:
The boy she’d lost, and finally found again, is not the same boy she remembers. As one of the most powerful Sixes, Kale has changed in ways Dez can’t ignore.

He swore he’d never kill, and now he’s out for blood.

He swore he’d never harm her, and now he struggles to control his fatal touch.

They’ve been to hell and back, over and over, but this time they might not survive the fire.

When the truth at the root of the Denazen Corporation’s origins begins to unfold, those behind the scenes will do anything to keep it hidden.

Dez and Kale will be pushed to their breaking point. As long buried secrets come to light, they must fight for their freedom—and each other—as they never have before.

Kale’s destructive power could win the battle, if he doesn’t lose himself to it in the process. Or Dez will be faced with an impossible task—saving the world from the boy she loves.

MEET JUS,

JUS ACCARDO spent her childhood reading and learning to cook. Determined to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps as a chef, she applied and was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America. But at the last minute, she realized her true path lay with fiction, not food.

Jus is the bestselling author of the popular Denazen series from Entangled publishing, as well as the Darker Agency series, and the New Adult series, The Eternal Balance. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald.



INTERVIEW!

1. What is your favorite time of day to sit down and write?

I write full-time, so most of the time I’m pretty much at it all day every day, but I do find that I’m super productive in the earliest morning hours, before the house wakes up.

2. What is your favorite snack and drink to go along with writing?

There’s literally a coffee IV in me from the moment I wake up, till not long before my head hits the pillow. As for snacks, I’m a sucker for cheese (weird, I know) and also those reverse Keebler Fudge Stripes. You know, the ones covered in chocolate?

3. How do you fix writers block, or what do you do when you're not feeling motivated to write?

The best way around writer’s block for me is to read a book or grab my camera and get out there to shoot something awesome. I got involved with photography last year and its been a lifesaver!

4. What author inspires you?

How long do you have?

Seriously though, if I had to think back to my original inspirations, the ones that got me reading and wanting to create worlds of my own, it would be Mary Stanton, L.J. Smith, and S.E. Hinton.

5. Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?

Keep at it. Every word brings you closer to where you want to be, and it only takes one person—the right person—to champion your work.

6. Where can my followers find you, to follow your journey?

Twitter, Instagram is a biggie for me these days, and you can find more information about my books on my website.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR STOPPING BY!

REVIEW: Keep Me Wanting by Angela Addams

Keep Me Wanting by Angela Addams
Publisher: Entangled Publishing 
Release Date: February 10, 2020
Synopsis: All I’ve ever tried to do is keep the people in my life safe. That’s gotten me into hot water more times than I can count. Hell, the last time got me four years behind bars.

So when my favorite barista tells her mom that I’m her boyfriend to stop the woman’s endless criticism, I can’t stop myself from helping her out. But she’s too innocent and I’m too damaged for this to ever be the real deal.

I can’t allow myself to touch her, not when making her mine will drag her into my world and drown her in my messed up life. What I really need to do is stay away.

Except every touch and every accidental kiss breaks my control. I want her.

Then I find out her dad is the detective who put me away...and he’s trying to take down my family.

I don’t blame him. The secrets I’m keeping are big enough to destroy everything.
MY REVIEW:

Keep Me Wanting follows a riveting romance between strangers that couldn’t be more different. He is an ex-con that would do anything to protect his brothers even if it meant doing more time in the slammer. She comes from a family of lawyers and detectives--big wigs if you will--and the last person she should be bringing to her family reunion is the cute ex-con she serves coffee to every morning. The two come together and many interesting, sexy, and heartbreaking things happen throughout the entire long weekend. Most romance novels are just that, packed with sex scenes that will make your face turn red, and sweat bead on your forehead. The good romances though, are the ones that can accomplish a well put together story along side all the sex. Addams did a fantastic job of that here. Not only did I enjoy the steamy love scenes between our two main characters, I also fell in love with their personalities and the back story that brought them together as well. Thinking about two people whose only words to each other are over the counter at a coffee shop a few times a week, we wonder how well they are going to hit it off during a long weekend, spent with each other but also one's entire family. Addams makes this look so easy, the characters come together so easily that it is almost like they have known eachother forever. They click beautifully making their story together desirable. Books that can make the reader wonder where it is going can be bittersweet. In the beginning, this kind of novel leads readers to believe the inevitable is going to happen. The main characters spend a long weekend together, end up madly in love and bam they are happily ever after. But there is so much extra baggage on both characters, he’s an ex-con, and her father is the detective that put him away. Their story has MANY unforeseen twists and turns that make putting this book down for any amount of time impossible.

Blog Tour: What I Want You To See by Catherine Linka REVIEW

What I Want You To See By Catherine Linka
Release Date: February 4, 2020
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Synopsis: Winning a scholarship to California’s most prestigious art school seems like a fairy tale ending to Sabine Reye’s awful senior year. After losing both her mother and her home, Sabine longs for a place where she belongs.

But the cutthroat world of visual arts is nothing like what Sabine had imagined. Colin Krell, the renowned faculty member whom she had hoped would mentor her, seems to take merciless delight in tearing down her best work—and warns her that she’ll lose the merit-based award if she doesn’t improve.

Desperate and humiliated, Sabine doesn’t know where to turn. Then she meets Adam, a grad student who understands better than anyone the pressures of art school. He even helps Sabine get insight on Krell by showing her the modern master’s work in progress, a portrait that’s sold for a million dollars sight unseen.

Sabine is enthralled by the portrait; within those swirling, colorful layers of paint is the key to winning her inscrutable teacher’s approval. Krell did advise her to improve her craft by copying a painting she connects with . . . but what would he think of Sabine secretly painting her own version of his masterpiece? And what should she do when she accidentally becomes party to a crime so well -plotted that no one knows about it but her?

Complex and utterly original, What I Want You to See is a gripping tale of deception, attraction, and moral ambiguity. 

Meet Catherine,

Catherine Linka was almost thrown out of boarding school for being “too verbal.” Fortunately, she learned to channel her outspokenness and creative energy into writing. A passionate traveler she loves to visit wild landscapes like Iceland, the Amazon, Patagonia and the Arctic circle. Catherine has seen 6 types of whales in the wild, and lived her lifelong dream when she stood on deck in pajamas and a parka watching orca in Antarctica's Gerlach Straits. Her next trip: Tasmania. She doesn’t believe in fate, but she did fall in love with her husband on their first date when he laced up her boots, because she'd broken her hand.

REVIEW:

What I Want You To See by Catherine Linka is a book that teaches its readers a lesson. It isn’t just a cute story about a girl following her dreams, or trying to anyways. It’s about a girl trying to pick herself up from rock bottom and hitting a lot of walls along the way. It’s important for writers to write through sticky situations, and tough subjects rather than writing around them ultimately sugar coating anything too hard. Sabine Reyes is a tough young woman trying to make her dreams come true, but also dealing with her mistakes of the past since her mother's sudden death.

Writing and art are one in the same, the creators of both are artists in one way or another. Reyes is a painter at heart and it is her mission to be seen by her well known, hard to please art professor, Collin Krell. Her relationship with this particular professor is very bitter sweet. He is pushing her to her potential, but she sees his pushing as harsh and it often brings her down. Although Krells harsh behavior has a depressing effect on Sabine, it brings her close to two people she might not have ever confided in.

The most intriguing aspect of Sabines story is that her story teaches readers a lesson. It wasn’t one of those, something goes wrong and everything is fixed by the end of it, there was a real lesson to learn here. Linka takes her time and puts her main character through some tough situations, and lets her work through them on her own rather than bailing her out. Not only does this make her story more interesting but it gives Sabine so much more character, readers are able to watch her change throughout the book rather than staying the same and never learning anything.

Stories take on the ability to teach their readers something with each page. Not all writers can achieve this though. Some of them aren’t able to pull their readers into a story and teach them a lesson at the same time, but Linka does this perfectly. Once all the pages have been turned, each reader will have learned something significant, and that's real story telling.

Wrong Bed, Right Man by Rebecca Brooks BOOK SPOTLIGHT

Wrong Bed, Right Man by Rebecca Brooks
Publisher: Entangled, Brazen
Release Date: February 17, 2020
Synopsis: Rose Campbell is determined to get her stuff from her cheating ex-fiancé’s apartment. There’s just one problem. A sexy stranger is sleeping in her bed. Work boots and scruff so aren’t her type––except when they’re on furniture maker Owen Crowley, who is funny, kind, and speaks his mind.

The prim and proper Rose isn't the kind of woman Owen is usually interested in. But the more he gets to know her, the more intrigued he becomes. There’s passion underneath those stiff suits of hers that he can’t wait to explore.

There’s no reason these two opposites can’t have some sexy fun––except that one thing. Rose works for the very people trying to destroy Owen’s business.

Meet Rebecca,

Sign up for Rebecca Brooks's monthly newsletter for her travel updates, hiking updates, news on new releases, and giveaways just for subscribers: http://rebeccabrooksromance.com/newsl....

Rebecca Brooks lives in New York City in an apartment filled with books. She received a PhD in English but decided it was more fun to write books than write about them. She has backpacked alone through India and Brazil, traveled by cargo boat down the Amazon River, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, explored ice caves in Peru, trekked to the source of the Ganges, and sunbathed in Burma, but she always likes coming home to a cold beer and her hot husband in the Bronx.

Author Links:

Website

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Goodreads

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

COME BACK IN THE COMING WEEKS TO CHECK OUT MY REVIEW!

Blog Tour: Keep Me Wanting by Angela Addams

Keep Me Waiting by Angela Addams
Publish Date: February 10, 2020
Publisher: Entangled Embrace
Synopsis: All I’ve ever tried to do is keep the people in my life safe. That’s gotten me into hot water more times than I can count. Hell, the last time got me four years behind bars.

So when my favorite barista tells her mom that I’m her boyfriend to stop the woman’s endless criticism, I can’t stop myself from helping her out. But she’s too innocent and I’m too damaged for this to ever be the real deal.

I can’t allow myself to touch her, not when making her mine will drag her into my world and drown her in my messed up life. What I really need to do is stay away.

Except every touch and every accidental kiss breaks my control. I want her.

Then I find out her dad is the detective who put me away...and he’s trying to take down my family.

I don’t blame him. The secrets I’m keeping are big enough to destroy everything.

Meet Angela,

Angela Addams is an author of many naughty things. She believes that the written word is an amazing tool for crafting the most erotic of scenarios and likes telling stories about normal people getting down and dirty and falling in love. Enthralled by the paranormal at an early age, Angela also spends a lot of her time thinking up new story ideas that involve supernatural creatures in everyday situations.

She is an avid tattoo collector, a total book hoarder, and loves anything covered in chocolate…except for bugs.

She lives in Ontario, Canada in an old, creaky house, with her husband, children and four moody cats.


If you like exclusive contests, excerpts and cover reveals, sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/blFHeL

Excerpt:

“Maggie, can you help the next customer, please? I need to get some more napkins from the back.” She doesn’t wait for me to respond. She just leaves.

I look over at Liam. He’s watching her walk away. Her ass sways naturally, like she was born knowing how to pull all eyes in her direction.

Thanks, Stella. She knows I’ve been fantasizing about Liam for months, lusting over his muscles, his face, that chiseled jaw, thinking about running my fingers over that stubble that’s sometimes there. Pressing against those pouty lips he has or licking along the scar on his cheek.

My face gets hotter if that’s possible. I keep my eyes down. “No problem,” I mumble. I wipe my hands on the towel and move to the cash. “Is today a butterscotch day?”

“Excuse me?” His voice is so gruff, like he’s gargled in liquid sex.

I snap my eyes up, suddenly panicked. Maybe he doesn’t get a shot some days. Am I remembering it wrong? “I thought you liked your coffee black with a shot of butterscotch every once in a while.”

“Oh, sure, I do.” He offers a smile. It’s not a big one, just a slight turn of his lips, but it’s there. “That’d be great, thanks.”

I try to smile back nonchalantly, but I can’t control what my mouth is doing. I go all crazy smile on him, like flash my teeth and set my burning red cheeks on full display. My eyes are probably sparklingly with unconfined lust.

His eyes flick to my chest, where I can feel my nipples harden. Wearing a cotton bra might be comfortable, but it does nothing to disguise the twins from jutting at the slightest breeze—or penetrating gaze.

“And your muffins look great today.”

“Um...huh?” I choke on the words, sputtering a little as I do. “My-y-y muff—” 

COME BACK SOON FOR MY REVIEW!