book blitz

November 21, 2014

Spotlight: “Hotwire (a Christy novel)” by Cindy M. Hogan (+Giveaway)

Hotwire
by Cindy M. Hogan
A Christy Novel #2
Publication Date: October 21, 2014
Genres: Action / Adventure, Contemporary, Young Adult

Synopsis

Division spy Christy Hadden can’t wait for her latest assignment posing as a student at a prestigious New York City academy and car thief extraordinaire.

The best part of the mission is her attractive handler, Jeremy, and her new team. The worst part? The sociopath masquerading as the academy’s most popular guy.

But soon she realizes the car thieves are much more than they seem. Her simple spying mission becomes more dangerous than anyone imagined. If the organization discovers her true identity, they won’t hesitate to kill her, and if she fails, others will suffer the same fate.

Young Adults, teens and adults will love this exciting suspenseful adventure with a dash of romance. You won’t want to put it down.

About Cindy M. Hogan

Cindy M Hogan is the bestselling and award winning author of the Watched trilogy, a YA suspense series with a dash of romance. She has since branched off to write a mystery, Gravediggers, that won Best YA novel of 2013, a contemporary romance, Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips, and the first in a spy series, Adrenaline Rush, the 2nd of which, Hotwire, is due out in Oct. 2014.

She graduated with a BA in education and is inspired by the unpredictable teenagers she teaches. More than anything she loves the time she has with her own teenage daughters and wishes she could freeze them at this fun age. If she’s not reading or writing, you’ll find her snuggled up with the love of her life watching a great movie or planning their next party. Most of all, she loves to laugh.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

I was about ready to yank my arm away from his grasp when I heard Carson’s voice.

“There you are. I was starting to wonder if you fell in.”I chuckled quietly as Viktor let go of my arm. Carson deserved a huge kiss.

“Shouldn’t you be worrying about your own date?” Viktor snarled.

“I couldn’t find her. I’ve been waiting for Amber to get back from the bathroom so I could see Wind kick her butt in the race for the can.”

I took a step toward him. “I think you might be in for the shock of your life.” I took advantage of being free of Viktor’s hold and walked quickly toward Carson.

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November 17, 2014

Book Blitz: “Breaking The Rules” by Katie McGarry {+Giveaway!}

Breaking the Rules (Pushing the Limits #1.5) by Katie McGarry

Release Date: 12/08/14

Harlequin Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
A summer road trip changes
everything in this unforgettable new tale from acclaimed author Katie McGarry.

For new high school graduate Echo Emerson, a summer road trip out west with her
boyfriend means getting away and forgetting what makes her so… different. It
means seeing cool sights while selling her art at galleries along the way. And
most of all, it means almost three months alone with Noah Hutchins, the hot,
smart, soul-battered guy who’s never judged her. Echo and Noah share everything
— except the one thing Echo’s just not ready for.

But when the source of Echo’s constant nightmares comes back into her life, she has to make some tough decisions about what she really wants — even as foster kid Noah’s search for his last remaining relatives forces them both to confront some serious truths about life, love, and themselves.

Now, with one week left before college orientation, jobs and real life, Echo must decide if Noah’s more than the bad-boy fling everyone warned her he’d be. And the last leg of an amazing road trip will turn… seriously epic.

Available for Pre-Order:

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Books in the series:

(covers linked to Goodreads)

KATIE MCGARRY was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, and reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

Katie would love to hear from her readers. Contact her via her website, katielmcgarry.com, follow her on Twitter @KatieMcGarry, or become a fan on Facebook and Goodreads.

Author Links:

From Echo’s Point of View

It’s like watching a horror film in slow motion. She tucks her hair behind her ears, gives Noah a hesitant smile and speaks. The girl is pretty—very pretty. I run my hand over the scars on my left arm. Sometimes I don’t understand why Noah’s with me. Especially when I’m so…

Noah answers the girl then motions at me with his chin. Both girls turn, and their faces fall. Noah waves. I wave back. Butterflies tumble in my stomach when he flashes his wicked grin.

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October 16, 2014

Book Blitz: “Still Me” by Amy Patrick (+ Giveaway!)

Still Me by Amy Patrick
(20Something #3)
Publication date: October 10th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

Fall in love like a 20 Something….
23 year old Kenley Moran is going through a mid-life crisis… WAY early. Pushed since childhood by a nightmare stage-mom to use her looks to “land a rich man”, she’s reeling from a broken engagement and regretting the day she gave up her career in TV news for a guy.
Now Kenley’s determined to change her life, shunning makeup and fashion and fighting her way back into the highly competitive career she loves, off-camera this time. When she lands a producing job at Worldwide News Network in Atlanta, she plans to keep her head down, work hard, and prove she’s not just another pretty face. And vows NO ONE is EVER going to make her compromise herself again.
WNN anchor Larson Overstreet has it all—old money, good looks, a prestigious job, and more women than he can count throwing themselves at him. Problem is… none of it is real. He’s known his whole life that people are only interested in him for his fortune and his famous family name, in that order. Except for Kenley. The shy news producer isn’t interested in him at all.
Working closely with the anchor of her new show, Kenley’s dismayed to feel an instant spark. Larson’s everything she doesn’t want. He’s too good looking, too charming, and worst of all, too rich. She’s not looking for another big money honey. In fact, she’d prefer a nice little guy from the mailroom, maybe a guy who lives at home like she’s been forced to do.
But when they must travel together for a special report, Kenley realizes Larson’s not the spoiled pretty rich boy she pegged him as, and she’s not as immune to him as she’s pretended to be.
Now, even at the network level, what happens behind the scenes is the real story.

Amy is a two-time Golden Heart finalist (2013 and 2014) who writes Young Adult fiction as Amy DeLuca and New Adult romance as Amy Patrick. She lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two sons and actually craves the heat and humidity of Mississippi, where she grew up. She’s been a professional singer and news anchor and currently narrates audio books as well as working as a station host for a Boston TV station.

Author links: WEBSITE | TWITTER | GOODREADS

EXCERPT FROM STILL ME by AMY PATRICK

“Mmm. Smells good. What is it?”

I turned to see Larson emerge from the bathroom, bare except for a white towel wrapped around his waist. He was rubbing his wet head with another towel.

“It’s uh… it’s…” I literally could not remember what I’d put into the pot. My mind was wiped clean by the sight of the flat stomach, wide chest, and long legs in front of me. “…something. Something I found in the cabinet.”

Larson walked toward me. “Whatever it is, I can’t wait for supper. I’m starved.” Reading my shocked stare, he stopped and looked down at himself, giving me an apologetic look. “Sorry about the lack of… I don’t have any other clothes. Those were all covered in—”

“Dust. I know.” I forced my eyes away from his body and trained them on the simmering pot in front of me. Shrugging, I swallowed hard. “It’s fine. It doesn’t bother me…” I lifted my head, spinning back around. “Pants,” I nearly yelled as the thought hit me in a rush of relief and gratitude.

“What?”

“There are pants in the cedar chest up in the loft. The hunting kind. Maybe they’ll fit you.”

“Oh, good. I’ll check them out.”

I turned back to the stove, making sure not to watch Larson climb the ladder in a towel. Within minutes, a pair of large feet came into view, stopping beside me.

Larson held his hands over the stove’s heat, shuddering. Goose bumps lined his forearms. “Nice save on the pants. Although they’re a little short… and big around the waist.”

They were. They hung on his shirtless form, the waistband resting low around his hips, leaving his abs on full display. Even those mysterious V-lines cutting in from the sides of his waist and dipping down below—

“I’m sorry to say there’s no hot water.” Larson shivered again, causing those maddening abs to contract forcefully. “That was by far the least fun I’ve ever had in the shower. I’m frozen solid.”

And now I’m thinking about Larson and “fun in the shower” in the same thought. Alex, I’ll take “things that are solid” for three hundred.

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August 25, 2014

Book Blitz: “Dead Girl Walking” by Ruth Silver (+Giveaway!)

Welcome to Ruth Silver’s Dead Girl Walking promo tour hosted by Itching for Books.

Genre: YA Paranormal

Release date: April 25th 2014

Series: Royal Reaper #1

Publisher: Patchwork Press

Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Princess Ophelia Dacre sneaks out of the castle to visit her boyfriend in secret. A perfect night cut short when she’s brutally murdered.

Ophelia is given the rare chance to become a grim reaper. She must become Leila Bele, cut ties with her old life, and follow the rules of the reapers. Her greatest adventure begins with death.

Ruth Silver is the best-selling author of Aberrant. The Young Adult/New Adult Romantic Dystopian Adventure, Aberrant is the first in a trilogy, released April 17th, 2013. Silver first began writing poetry as a teenager and reading heaps of fan fiction in her free time. She attended Northern Illinois University in 2001 and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Communication. While in college she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, Deuces are Wild, which she self-published in 2004. Her favorite class was Creative Writing senior year where she often handed in assignments longer than the professor required because she loved to write and always wanted to finish her stories. Her love of writing, led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia. Silver enjoys reading YA/NA novels and sharing her favorite books with other readers. She also enjoys photography, traveling and of most of all writing.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM

GUEST POST

=======================

Casmerelda, The Black Plague, and How a World was Born

I began with an idea for a story. Isn’t that normally how books are written? I loved the series Dead Like Me on Showtime. It was on from 2003 to 2004. Way too short a lifespan for a fabulous show. So I got to thinking, I haven’t read any books about grim reapers and certainly not any that were geared to a teen audience, quirky, and different. That was the thing about Dead Like Me, it was different. It was humorous, light-hearted, had a love story mixed in, and had characters you were rooting for the entire way through.

As I was beginning to let my story take shape, I wanted something that went beyond reapers and pushed the boundaries into something fantastical. A mix of paranormal and fantasy. The princess idea was born.

I didn’t want my main character, Princess Ophelia to solely be a princess from our current land, there had to be more. So, the initial plot took place in the 1400’s, specifically 1346 when the Black Plague spread along the Silk Road. What better way to kill off massive amounts of people than let a virulent disease do it?

Complication: There were no monarchies (no princesses) where the story was taking place. At least not in that time period. Which obviously made things difficult. Either pull the novel away from historical fantasy or get the facts right.

I tugged with the idea of how to make it historically accurate, and then decided the language would have to match. I didn’t like the sound of, “You’re going to kill my beau.” I preferred it read “boyfriend.” That was just one instance, there were several language issues and I strongly felt the story would be better set in a fantasy world that parallels our history. Casmerelda was born.

EXCERPT

====================

“Listen, kid, I don’t care what you believe in. It’s not for me to say what’s true and untrue, real or unreal. My assignment was you. You get to be one of us, if you want it. Otherwise, you move on, life is over, kaput.”

Ophelia backed away from the stranger. For the first time, she realized she didn’t feel cold and wasn’t shivering. Is this what being dead was like? “One of you?”

“A grim reaper.” He held out his hand to properly introduce himself. “Edon Montgomery, head reaper and old soul.”

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August 12, 2014

Book Blitz: “Channel 20Something” by Amy Patrick {Interview + Giveaway!}

Title: Channel 20Something

(20Something #1)

Author: Amy Patrick

Publication date: August 12th 2014

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

AMAZON | NOOK | KOBO | ALL ROMANCE

From award-winning author and two-time GOLDEN HEART® finalist Amy Patrick comes a New Adult contemporary series about twenty-somethings entering the world of TV broadcasting, where what happens behind the scenes is the real news.

22-year-old Heidi Haynes is almost one year into her “real life”. She has her first reporting job, her first apartment, and a comfortable relationship with her college sweetheart. But for some reason she’s not as eager to talk about walking down the aisle as he is.

Heidi secretly longs for big cities, big-market breaking news, and real independence from her way-too-close-by helicopter parents. Problem is, the last time she left the security of home for new places and new people, things didn’t go so well. Disastrously, in fact, and she came running back to a local college and a “safe” boyfriend.

Aric Serrano is definitely not safe.

He’s six-feet-four-inches of missing-Hemsworth-brother-hotness and plans to stay in small-market-Southern-Hell just long enough to grab a cup of coffee and put together a kick-ass “escape tape”. He’ll serve his one-year contract, then he’s taking off for a higher rung on the TV sports ladder—alone—the way he likes it. Then he meets his new co-anchor.

Heidi would be so much more comfortable if she could simply ignore Aric. He’s just her type—the type she’s so careful to avoid these days. But that becomes impossible when she’s forced to work closely with him on the weekend newscast. Now the attraction between them is growing even faster than the ratings, and what happens behind the scenes is the real news.

CHANNEL 20 SOMETHING INTERVIEW #2

1- Your main character in CHANNEL 20 SOMETHING, Heidi, is a first-year TV news reporter/anchor. You were also a TV news reporter, right? Is Heidi anything like you? Well, she’s definitely not me, but I did give her some of the same struggles and experiences I had as a newbie reporter/anchor. And like me, she grew up in a small Mississippi town. We also shared the same *unfortunate* nervous-stomach issue.

2- Did you actually throw up in front of the governor of Mississippi one minute before going on live TV like Heidi did? Why yes. Yes I did. Nothing like rookie reporter nerves. J Happy to report I did eventually get over that little problem and can now appear on television without any threat of my lunch reappearing.

3- Do you have a favorite character in CHANNEL 20 SOMETHING? It’s really hard to choose. I really relate to some of Heidi’s passion and confusion and mistakes. I love her sister Jane Elaine. But I’d have to say Aric is my favorite. I mean, what’s not to love? Ultra-hot guy who’s also funny and kind? Yes please.

4- Do all the 20 Something novels take place in the South? As you know, book 1, CHANNEL 20 SOMETHING, is set in Mississippi, where Heidi gets her first job. Book 2, STILL YOURS, takes place in Providence, Rhode Island, the news market where Heidi’s friend Mara is starting a new job (and running into the ex she hoped she’d never lay eyes on again). Meanwhile, Heidi’s other best friend Kenley has moved to Atlanta and is starting a job at WNN. We’ll hear her story in Book 3, STILL ME.

5- Beyond being a writer, what’s going on in your life? I narrate audiobooks for other authors, and I’m in the middle of a fun small-town mystery series for author Sandra Balzo. I have a small recording studio in my house where I lay down my tracks, then I send them to a sound engineering for post-production. I also have two boys who are about to go back to school, so we’re making preparations for that while trying to squeeze in a bit more summer fun. It goes so fast!

6- What’s one crazy fact about you that most people who meet you probably wouldn’t guess was true? I used to be a professional singer. I’ve sung in several bands and did background vocals on a smooth jazz album. I also sang the theme song for SAS Airlines years ago. “Welcome aboard… to the skies… of S-A-S… where you’ll find… happiness.”

Thank you so much for having me today. It’s been so much fun being on your blog!

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This sounds SO incredible, right?!

Don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads and get reading!

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August 11, 2014

Book Blitz: “The Right Song” by Shane Morgan {Excerpt + Giveaway!}

Title: The Right Song

Author: Shane Morgan

Genre: YA Contemporary

Release date: July 31st

Publisher: TSW Books

Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Pain never truly goes away, until you find something deeper and meaningful that cures the heart and fills it with love.
That is what Aurora desperately wants to believe. That somehow her music can save her, or even touch the unreachable heart of the guy she has liked for years.

Rora yearns for his attention and wants to experience this so-called love that could possibly end her long suffering and inspire her to chase after her dreams.

In deeply understanding the feelings of others and herself, will Aurora give up on ever finding true happiness, or will an intriguing soul teach her about the greatest song ever written?

Shane Morgan is a twenty-something bestselling author of Young Adult and New Adult Fiction. She currently resides in the beautiful town of Narragansett, Rhode Island with her amazing partner and best friend. Shane spends her days blogging, reading, and escaping in her stories.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

The Right Song Excerpt – “The First Performance”

Daegan mouths to me that I’m next. An onset of nervousness engulfs me. I say a silent prayer that I don’t screw this up and embarrass myself.
Walking over to the side of the stage, I smile at the singer as she makes her way off. She doesn’t look too pleased by her performance. She sounded okay to me.
The MC hops up to the microphone in a jolly manner. He asks everyone how they’re doing so far and then after a little chit-chat and some failed jokes, he finally looks at his cue card.
“All right, put your hands together for Aurora Law!”
Huh? He chopped off the rest of my last name.
I swallow back the stiffness in my throat, clutch my guitar, and head up the steps.
Everyone claps as I make my way to centerstage. Daegan’s right—you can’t really see the faces of the audience with all the light focusing on the stage.
I glance behind at the band and ask if they know Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Walk Away’. The drummer is the only one familiar with the song, so I tell the others to let me lead with my guitar and just fall in with the beat.
It’s an up-tempo song. I figure it’ll give the energetic crowd something to rock to. Hopefully, I can pull this off.
Edging back to the microphone stand, I inhale a soft breath and try to spot his face for motivation. I didn’t think I’d be able to make him out in this dark room, but somehow I do. Daegan’s on his feet behind the audience. His eyes lock with mine, eagerly waiting for me to deliver something great.
I don’t want to let him down. I don’t want to disappoint myself.
My chest relaxes. Melodies float around in my head. I hear the harmonies. I can do this.

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July 30, 2014

Book Blitz (Week 2): “Let’s Get Lost” by Adi Alsaid (Featuring Guest Post of Adi’s First Trip Alone)

*Celebrating the Launch of Let’s Get Lost!*

Let’s Get Lost

by Adi Alsaid

Release Date: 07/29/14

Harlequin Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Five strangers. Countless adventures.One epic way to get lost.

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.

There’s HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila’s own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you’re looking for is to get lost along the way.

BUY NOW:

Amazon* Barnes& Noble * IndieBound * Harlequin.com

Early Praise:

“Reminiscent of John Green’s Paper
Towns and road trip novels that feature a teen paving the way to
adulthood, Alsaid’s debut is a gem among contemporary YA novels.” – School
Library Journal

“Five love stories, beautifully woven
together by a special girl in search of adventure, hope, and full
appreciation of life’s simple pleasures. A do-not-miss. ” – Justine Magazine

“Moving and poignant.” – Glitter Magazine

“An entertaining and romantic road-trip
debut.” – Kirkus

“Leila’s quest to find the Northern
Lights takes readers on a captivating cross-country journey, where four
strangers’ adventures collide into one riveting tale of finding yourself.” ―YABooksCentral.com

“This will likely be a popular summer
hit, especially for older teen about to embark on their own journeys of
self-discovery.” –Booklist

On Pretty Little Memoirs:
“Let’s Get Lost is an absorbing, beautiful novel we all need in our lives. Phenomenal!” – Pretty Little Memoirs

Adi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City, then studied at the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While in class, he mostly read fiction and

continuously failed to fill out crossword puzzles, so it’s no surprise that

after graduating, he did not go into business world but rather packed up his

apartment into his car and escaped to the California coastline to become a

writer. He’s now back in his hometown, where he writes, coaches high school and

elementary basketball, and has perfected the art of making every dish he eats

or cooks as spicy as possible. In addition to Mexico, he’s lived in Tel Aviv,

Las Vegas, and Monterey, California. A tingly feeling in his feet tells him

more places will eventually be added to the list. Let’s Get Lost is his YA

debut.

Let’s Get Lost Website!

Author Links:

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July 30: Adi’s
First Trip Alone

My
sister likes to say that before I came back from my trip to Israel, she’d never
heard me speak. That’s probably an exaggeration, but not an extreme one. When I
boarded the plane to Israel on the eve of my eighteenth birthday, I was a shy
kid, reserved, talkative only with my closest friends.

My
brother puts it a different way: “Before, you couldn’t decide if you cared or
not. Then you decided you didn’t.” He said this when we shared an apartment in
college, when I was doing things like taking spontaneous road trips to Baker,
California just to have lunch, or founding a student organization at UNLV
called Students for the Advancement of Silliness. I brought my first girlfriend
to the top floor of a library and rained down thirty notecards with book
quotations on them. I wrote editorials in the school newspaper about choosing
to be happier.

Let
me be clear about this: I didn’t notice it happening. In Israel, I read a lot.
I walked around a lot. Though fluent in Hebrew, I didn’t speak a lot, because
outside of my grandmother and some cousins, I didn’t know anyone. I could have
made friends on the basketball courts where I played, or the bar full of
American expats and travelers from all over the world, but I didn’t. By the end
I was having more and more conversations with people there, because I’d learned
that if I didn’t I could go days without saying a word. But that didn’t feel
like growth; it just felt like loneliness, which wasn’t anything new. I had fun
in Israel, and though I’d imagined something life-changing (I brought a
notebook, thinking that maybe I’d write a book while there), I left thinking it
hadn’t happened. The first day I returned to Mexico and had coffee with a
friend, within twenty minutes, she said, “You’ve changed.”

It’s
not like I went to Israel and came back a new person. I was simply more myself.
The layer of shyness that usually hid parts of me from the world was washed
away by the Mediterranean, or burned away from my skin from the suntan I gained
on the beaches of Tel Aviv. I broke out of my proverbial shell, deciding, as my
brother pointed out, that I no longer cared to reside within it.

Here’s
what I’m trying to get at, and why Leila’s travels in Let’s Get Lost
serve as the perfect backdrop to five coming-of-age stories: Travel leads to
self-discovery. You grow, even if you don’t notice it happening. Especially if
you do it at the age I did, the age the characters in the book are, the world
seeps into your cracks and pulls you further out.

1 signed hardcover copy of Let’s Get Lost

1 Let’s Get Lost
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1 Harlequin TEEN
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1 Let’s Get Lost
sachel

1 Harlequin TEEN
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You ALL know I loved Let’s Get Lost back in May, so now it’s your turn to get reading! You can’t miss this one AND it’s available to buy now!

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July 25, 2014

Book Blitz: “Let’s Get Lost” by Adi Alsaid {+ Why Airports Are Great For Writers & Giveaway!}

Let’s Get Lost

by Adi Alsaid

Release Date: 07/29/14

Harlequin Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Pre-Order Today!

Amazon* Barnes& Noble * IndieBound * Harlequin.com

Early Praise:

“Five love stories, beautifully woven
together by a special girl in search of adventure, hope, and full
appreciation of life’s simple pleasures. A do-not-miss. ” – Justine Magazine

“Moving and poignant.” – Glitter Magazine

“An entertaining and romantic road-trip
debut.” – Kirkus