ASPEN cover reveal!

I'm beyond excited right now to share with you a fantastic cover of one of my favorite people ever. 

Check it out: Aspen by Rebekah Crane.

Release Date: January 2014

Category: YA contemporary

Publisher: In This Together Media

About the book

One quiet night in Boulder, Colorado, Aspen Yellow-Sunrise Taylor made a mistake.

In the next instant, her life changed forever.

Aspen doesn't want to remember when Katelyn Ryan, a sleek-haired popular soccer player, crossed the yellow line in her car and smashed into Aspen's. But forgetting is pretty hard- because Katelyn may have died - but she didn't leave. Her ghost is following Aspen around, and heading into senior year, it's kind of a problem. Especially when Katelyn's gorgeous former boyfriend Ben appears to be the only person at school with a clue as to how Aspen feels.

Popularity, college, Homecoming Court, hot guys - none of these things ever mattered to Aspen. She's been busy trying to rein in her giant mass of blonde curls, keep her stoner mother Ninny away from Toaster, her mom's awful bongo drumming boyfriend, and prevent her best friends Kim and Cass from killing - or kissing - one another. But with Ben sitting next to her in Physics looking all too gorgeous, Katelyn's spirit dogging her steps, and her obsessive snow-globe collecting therapist begging her to remember all the things she wants to forget, Aspen is thrust into a vivid, challenging world she can't control … and doesn't want to.

A darkly funny, emotionally gripping story of opening up, letting go, and moving on, ASPEN is about the best-worst accident of your life ... and what comes next. 

Giveaway

Rebekah is celebrating in style! She's giving away a ton of goodies! Check 'em out!

10 eARCs of ASPEN!

1 tie-dye shirt from Moe’s Broadway Bagels in Boulder, CO (an actual restaurant in the story!) 

2 Grateful Dead bumper stickers! Groovy!

5 Friendship bracelets because WHY NOT?!

1 hacky sack! Rad!

3 flower stickers you can stick to your laptop or desk or wherever! Peace, man!

Just enter the Rafflecopter below and you’re on your way to getting some awesome swag!  The giveaway closes a week from today. 

Enter to win here!

About Rebekah Crane

Rebekah Crane fell in love with YA literature while studying Secondary English Education at Ohio University, but it wasn't until ten years and two daughters later that she started to write it. Inspired by her past students, growing up in Cleveland with its fabulous musical theater community, and music of all kinds (particularly the Avett Brothers), she created PLAYING NICE. It is her first published novel, but having an unbridled imagination, it's not the only fantasy world she's lived in (just ask her husband). ASPEN, her second YA creation, is set to release in January 2014. She now lives in Colorado, where the altitude only enhances the experience.

Twitter: @RebekahCrane

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playingnicebook 

Tumblr: http://rebekahcrane.tumblr.co

Cover Reveal: Ultraviolet Catastrophe by Jamie Grey

I am beyond excited to be able to share you with the cover of upcoming and awesome YA sci-fi novel Ultraviolet Catastrophe by Jamie Grey!

About Ultraviolet Catastrophe:

Quantum Electrodynamics. String Theory. Schrödinger's cat. For sixteen-year-old Lexie Kepler, they’re just confusing terms in her science textbooks, until she finds out that her parents have been drugging her to suppress her outrageous IQ. Now Branston Academy, a school run by the world’s most powerful scientists, has tracked her down and is dying for her to attend - as a research subject. 

She takes refuge at Quantum Technologies, a secret scientific community where her father works as a top-notch scientist, and begins her new life as girl genius at Quantum High. But the assignments at her new school make the Manhattan Project look like preschool - and Lexie barely survived freshman algebra. 

Her first big assignment – creating an Einstein-Rosen bridge – is also her first chance to prove she can hold her own with the rest of QT's prodigies. But while working with the infuriatingly hot Asher Rosen, QT’s teen wonder, Lexie uncovers a mistake in their master equation. Instead of a wormhole, the machine they’re building would produce deadly ultraviolet rays that could destroy the world. Now Lexie and Asher have to use their combined brainpower to uncover the truth behind the device. Before everyone at Quantum Technologies is caught in the ultraviolet catastrophe.

Add Ultraviolet Catastrophe to Goodreads

Follow author Jamie Grey on Twitter

Like her on Facebook

New Release Tuesday- 8/28/2012

In the spirit of book birthdays, here are the novels out today that I am most excited about! 

Release date: 8/28/2012

Click on the book name to be taken to Goodreads for more info (where the bio is from).

The Blood Keeper
by Tessa Gratton

Paranormal romance fans who are looking to up the ante will be drawn to this tale of horror, fantasy, and romance. 

For Mab Prowd, the practice of blood magic is as natural as breathing. It's all she's ever known. Growing up on an isolated farm in Kansas with other practitioners may have kept her from making friends her own age, but it has also given her a sense of purpose—she's connected to the land and protective of the magic. And she is able to practice it proudly and happily out in the open with only the crows as her companions. 

Mab will do anything to keep the ancient practice alive and guard its secrets. But one morning while she is working out a particularly tricky spell she encounters Will, a local boy who is trying to exorcise some mundane personal demons. He experiences Mab's magic in a way his mind cannot comprehend and is all too happy to end their chance meeting. But secrets that were kept from Mab by the earlier generations of blood magicians have come home to roost. And she and Will are drawn back together, time again by this dangerous force looking to break free from the earth and reclaim its own dark power.

Starling 

by Lesley Livingston

"Love is just the beginning... of the end."

Mason Starling is a champion fencer for Gosforth Academy, but she’s never had to fight for her life. Until now. When a ferocious storm rips through Manhattan and unleashes terrifying creatures onto Gosforth’s campus, Mason barely escapes alive. Without help from the mysterious stranger who appeared in the midst of the storm, she might not have made it at all. But now, in the aftermath, Mason’s life begins to spin dramatically, mystically out of control, and the only one who seems able to help her is the stranger who can remember nothing but his name: Fennrys Wolf.

As Mason and Fenn uncover more about Fenn’s past and the strange events that surround them, they realize that Mason’s family — and its dark allegiance to the ancient Norse gods — is at the center of everything. A predetermined fate seems to be closing in on Mason, but is it possible to change one’s destiny?

Readers who fell in love with Lesley Livingston’s Wondrous Strange trilogy and those who love Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series will be captivated by the sweeping romance and pulse-pounding action of Starling.

Under My Hat

Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Diana Peterfreund, Margo Lanagan, Peter S. Beagle, and Garth Nix are just a few of the authors who have toiled over their cauldrons and conjured up bewitching new creations inspired by and celebrating the might and mystery of the witch. Assembled by one of the most well-regarded anthologists in the science fiction/fantasy world, this rich, intelligent collection will enchant readers of all ages.

Defiance

by C.J. Redwine

Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

Enshadowed

by Kelly Creagh

Varen Nethers is trapped in a perilous dream world -- a treacherous and desolate realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. Isobel Lanley, plagued by strange visions and haunted by the nightmares of Varen's creation, is the only one who can save him.

Isobel knows that her only hope lies within a Baltimore cemetery. There, in the early morning hours of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday, a mysterious stranger known as the "Poe Toaster" will make his annual homage at the legendary poet's grave.

Only the Poe Toaster holds the key to the way between worlds. But even greater dangers lie ahead for Isobel. An ancient evil, draped in veils of white, is watching, challenging her for Varen's affections. When Isobel finally finds Varen, he is no longer the quiet and brooding boy who once captivated her, but a dark force, powerful and malevolent.

What books are you most excited for?

Happy Reading Everyone!

Bump in the Night. Also a contest!

I have always said that there are not enough stories about the following:

Girls kicking major ass

YA Horror

Monsters

Some type of combination of YA Horror with monsters and girls that kick ass 

Since there wasn't anything out there like this, I started writing it. I wrote and wrote and just finished it this month. It's called Bump in the Night and the synopsis can be found here.

However, to my excitement, I have come across two other excellent works with a somewhat similar concept. A darker story. Girls kicking ass. Monsters/ Supernatural. I haven't read Spookygirl yet, but I can't wait to! I have read Sweet Venom and cannot wait for the sequel!

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

http://teralynnchilds.com/books/sweet-venom/

Spookygirl by Jill Baguchinsky

Read the pitch here

Also, Jill Baguchinksy is currently running a contest where you can get a copy of her ARC for Spookygirl, as it isn't out yet. You wont want to miss out! Also Jill is a debut author, which is even more exciting, as I love love love success stories and hope that one day I too can have my own. Great work Jill!

Contest!

Jill also has an awesome blog showing her journey to publication! Check it out here!

That said, what other darker YA stories are you into? Are there any ass kicking, monster, supernautral, or horror-esque novels that I am missing? Please, share your knowledge! I'm always looking for a good read.

The Nightmare Affair

I was beyond excited yesterday to hear about the novel The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett.

Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

16-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare. Literally. Dusty is a magical being who feeds on human dreams.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder. The setting is Arkwell.

And then it comes true.

Now the Dusty has to follow the clues--both within Eli’s dreams and out of them--to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

Could this novel sound any more amazing! The answer is no! I literally can't wait. 

And for those of us that cannot wait, there's an amazing contest right now that allows you to win an arc of the novel The Nightmare Affair. There are a few different sites hosting that you can find at the link:http://www.mindeearnett.com/the-nightmare-affair-cover-reveal/

Also, if you would like to check out the cover reveal, follow this link:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/06/cover-reveal-for-new-ya-novel-the-nightmare-affair

Good luck to everyone!!

Stargirl

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I thoroughly believe that anyone in the world will love this novel. I finished feeling good about myself and empowered to make good changes in the world and in myself. I strongly recommend reading this book.

Meet Stargirl Caraway. She’s a mysterious, happy go lucky, and unique girl living in an all too familiar cookie-cutter world.

She’s compassionate, considerate, and goes the extra mile for everyone… Which is why the people in her school don’t understand her. She is written off as weird. Bizarre.

Stargirl doesn’t notice..at first. She goes on to serenade people with her ukulele on their birthdays, wear strange clothing to school, and cheer for her school and their rivals during games.
But Stargirl isn’t obvious. Soon she starts to see the differences between herself and the others around her. In fact, she sees more than most humans do in a lifetime. Stargirl just believes in following her heart, which is harder to do that we’d all like to admit.

Follow Stargirl as she learns, grows, and falls in love in this amazing novel that teaches that though it’s not easy, it’s always important to be true to oneself.


View all my reviews