Waiting On Wednesday: Nobody But Us #7

Hosted By Breaking the Spine. Every wednesday you pick a book your waiting to be released that you're excited for and share it with your book pals.

This week I'm waiting on: Nobody But Us By Kristin Halbrook.

Summary: Two teenagers who, in search of a better life, run away to Vegas, but realize they can't run fast enough when they end up wanted by the police, out of money, and out of options, pitched as a YA Bonnie and Clyde.

Not much explained in the summary. But by the mention of Bonne and Clyde, I know this ones going to be amazing. I loved the story of Bonnie and Clyde when I was little, so Im excited for where this book will take its twist. I think this contempary will be a big hit next year!

Date Release: January 29th 2013
Publishers: Harper Childrens.
What book are you waiting on this week?

Letterbox Love (3)

Letterbox Love is a weekly book meme, showing everyone what books you have brought, been gifted and been sent in the week. Showing your love at the end of the week, with everything you have recieved in the letterbox. Hosted by Lynsey @ Narrativelyspeaking inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie.

This week I recieved:

1. Fifty Shades Freed - By E.L.James
2. Nearly Departed - By Rook Hastings. Bought it from a charity shop :D
3. Saving June - By Hannah Harrington. Sent to me as a RAK gift from Lauren @ NorthernPlunder
4. Thirteen Reasons Why - By Jay Asher. Bought from a charity shop aswell, bargin!!
5. Cinderella and other stories - I brought this for my childcare course at college it was only a pound.

Again thankyou Lauren for sending me a RAK so nice of you! Thats all folks this week with what I got, a bit more toned down then last weeks Letterbox Love haha. What did you guys get this week?

Giveaway: Pushing the limits By Katie McGarry

Giveaway! Win a chance to have Pushing The Limits. By Katie McGarry. I'm so excited for this release and I've heard nothing but good reviews for this story so Ive decided to pre-order me a copy and who ever wins one aswell.

Summary:

"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

"An edgy romance that pulls you in and never lets go. I was hooked!"-Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author of the Intertwined series

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible. Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Want a chance to win this awesome, fantastic book?! Do you??? All you have to do is follow the rafftlecopter rules. Because it is an pre order and Im order online, it is international so anyone can enter. P.S Its been over a year that Ive been blogging now. Happy one year blog to me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Fifty Shades Of Grey By E.L.James

Fifty Shades Of Grey By E.L.James
Genre: Adult Fiction
Publisher: Vintage

Summary: When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.

The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.

Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

Review: This book has been talked about everywhere at the moment in time. Good ratings, bad ratings. Its has mixed opinons. Some people have said that they felt like this was a porn book to them- in a way I can understand, others have disagreed and said they loved all the nudity and sex. I personally enjoyed this first book. It tells the story of a girl named Anastasia, who is just an ordinary girl nearly graduating in college, who happens to interview the one and only handsome, rich,  Christian Grey for her bestfriends college article. Theres chemistry from the moment they meet and after only a few meetings they begin a sexual relationship. In this case bondage. In some ways Ana is Christians sex slave and pleasures Christian whenether he wants her too. This is the actual storyline and while I've got to admit that I like this book, the storyline is just one of the things I wish E.L.James had worked on because I think people would of enjoyed the book more if there were more story to their relationship, instead of them having sex just after a few meetings. And just have sex like all the time

One of the main reasons I liked this story (well the first one) is because even though her storyline isnt actually brilliant, her characters are developed well. Christian is the main one who interests the readers well me for certain, because you can never understand his character. One minute hes bossy, cold and then the next hes passionate and caring towards Ana. Theres still alot to know about his character and I know theres secrets and a background story to why he is the way he is wanting Ana for a sex slave. Thats probably whats keeping me reading this series because I want to know more about him about when he was younger. To why he is the worlds biggest control freak. And to why he dosent like Ana touching him. Sometimes I hate him and then sometimes I love him, he is just one of those characters for me.

Ana is a character unlike Christian you can understand her. At the beginning of the book she was a pure, innocent girl who agrees to do anything for anyone. I thought she came across as a little bit eager and a pushover. And she did annoy me sometimes because I thought how can you agree to certain things start sticking up for yourself. But towards the end I loved how her character got tougher and started to grow a backbone for herself and started to give her actually opinons across.

I rate this a B, because even though this story is addictive and I cant put it down, there still needs to be a main storyline going on because there are parts where I wish for more to happen and I'm waiting for something exciting to happen. Hopefully it will pick up a bit. But I dont find this book as a porn book even though it has alot of sex. And sometimes it can be a little cheesy. I see it more as two people growing passionatly in love with the other. I see it more as a love story.

I know alot of people have there own opinons on this story. But I enjoyed it and I'm currently reading the second one. I think you need to be mature if your going to read this, if you find nudity and sex scenes in books a bit too much, escpically if there in detail (fair enough some people do) then I dont recommend this book for you. If you have read this book please tell me your opinons, Id love to know.

Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight By Jennifer E Smith

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight By Jennifer E Smith.
Genre: Young adult/ Romance/ Contempary.
Publisher: Poppy/Little Brown.

Summary: Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. She’s stuck at JFK, late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s in seat 18C. Hadley’s in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

Review: This story takes place over twenty four hours, so of course I was fascinated with how this would work and I give stars to Jennifer because she did a good job on this. The story takes place at the airport where we meet Hadley the main character who is having daddy issues, since shes going to England to see him again and she hasnt saw him in a year since he left her mother for another woman. She misses her plane by four minutes so happens to have to get the next plane that happens to not be leaving for another three hours, this is where Oliver makes his appearance and the two start talking. The story starts properly from here and you can see that their journey is going to be a fun one since they have each other on the plane. This story was one of those stories that you wish you was apart of because it was sweet, romantic and totally made you think about everything happening for a reason.  Even though it was a very fluffy and a quick light read, this book did have its few sad moments, moments that make you realise how lucky you are compared to other people. There were a few surpises that I didnt expect either, so that was nice.

The characters were easy-going and I enjoyed reading about them. Escpially Oliver. He intrigued me more then Hadley herself. Hadley at the beginning annoyed me a little because she came across as one of those whining daughters, but half way through I understood her side of the story and she finally lost the moaning stage. Oliver was pretty awesome. He was one of those boys that gets along with anyone and seems to find it easy to talk to Hadley. He was a funny, cheeky, happy character. I dont think I could point out any flaws on him because he was just lovely. I loved how Oliver had a worse background then Hadley yet he didnt show it, he was good with his emotions and was very down to earth. I even liked Charlotte ( her stepmother) because I found, unlike most stepmoms she actually is nice. And just wants her dad and Hadley to get along.

The ending was epic and I was actually dissapointed when it ended, because I wanted more. I think that was the only problem with this book, it was too short. I wanted so much more to happen, because loads more could of. But I was satisfied with what I read anyway.

Favourite quote:

"Did you know that people who meet at least three different times within twenty-four hour period are ninety-eight percent more likely to meet again?” 

I rate this book A

Letterbox Love (2)

Letterbox Love is a weekly book meme, showing everyone what books you have brought, been gifted and been sent in the week. Showing your love at the end of the week, with everything you have recieved in the letterbox.

Books I brought:

1. My Life Next Door.

2. Changeling.

3.Darkness Before Dawn.

4. The Selection.

5. Carrier Of The Mark.

6. Fifty Shades Of Grey.

7. Fifty Shades Darker.

8. Sweet Evil.

9. Purity.

10. Adorkable.

11. Grave Mercy.

12. One Perfect Summer.

13. Epic Fail.

14. When You Were Mine.

15. Raised By Wolves.

16. Hourglass.

17. The Near Witch.

18. Insurgent.

Sent for review:

19. The Glimpse. Thankyou Faber&Faber.

20. Kiss,Crush,Collide. Thankyou to the author Christina!

21. Kiss Me Im Irish. Thankyou Bella Street!

22. Chime. Thankyou Bloomsbury.

23. Throne Of Glass. Thankyou again Bloomsbury.

24. Awake: A Farytale. Thankyou Jessica!

25.Firstlight. Thankyou Samantha!

26. Shift. Thankyou Egmont.

What did you get this week in your letterbox?

Author Interview: Penelope King + A Demon Made Me Do It Giveaway

Author Interview: Penelope King + A Demon Made Me Do It Giveaway

What made you start writing? I don’t know what made me start, only that I absolutely HAD to. The pesky voices in my head wouldn’t leave me alone, and I had all these characters who wanted to come out and play. So I started writing down ideas in a notebook, and that turned into scenes, and then I just started putting it all together.

Where do you like to write your stories? Anywhere I can be completely alone and in total silence. I work from a laptop so I’m usually bouncing from my lazy boy, to the couch, to my desk. But brainstorming seems to happen in bed…right before I fall asleep. That’s when I get the most ideas. It’s kind of annoying but I’ve learned to keep a notebook on my nightstand.

Cats or dogs? Cats. They are snooty and mysterious and funny.

Vampires or Werewolves? Hmmm…very close call…guess I have to go with…Werewolves. More animalistic and I like my boys to have a tan :-)

Growing up what author inspired you? V.C. Andrews for her dark and twisted sagas, and Judy Blume for being so real.

If you could pick a celebrity to play one of your characters who would you pick? It would be Megan Fox to play Lucky/Liora, and Chris Hemsworth as Bones. (okay I cheated and answered 2).

If you were alone on a desert island what three things would you take with you? My Kindle, laptop, and cellphone. (I assume this desert island has electricity?) :-)

Are you currently writing a new story? Yes, two actually. I’m currently working on the third book in the Demonblood series called "Curse of Shadows and Light" as well as the third and final book in the Spellbound series called "Dawn of the Morningstar". Both will be available later this year (hopefully!)

Thankyou ever so much for being apart of my blog Penelope. And as an extra treat Penelope has kindly offered a ebook of her novel A Demon Made Me Do It as a part of a giveaway present. Of course the giveaway is international so anyone can enter. Just follow the rafftlecopter rules!

Summary: Some girls share clothes, a bathroom, or a bedroom. Seventeen-year-old Liora Greyson has to share, too. Only she shares her body--with a demon.

Liora just wants to survive her final year of high school unscathed, her dark secret intact. But the walls she’s carefully constructed to keep people away crack wide open once she meets the sexy and mysterious Kieron, and he lights her world on fire. She can’t let him know she transforms into a demon named "Lucky" at nightfall—a demon with an entirely separate personality who passes out Torment, Justice, and Revenge like Halloween candy.

Turns out Kieron is the one who should be afraid once Lucky discovers his true identity and motivations. Liora wants to love him, but Lucky thinks he’s public enemy number one. And having a demon with a vendetta show up during a romantic date puts a serious crimp in any relationship.

Fighting your demons is one thing. Having one that fights back, messes with your guy, and leaves you with nasty hangovers is quite another.

Being bad has never been so good...

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Review: Perfect Chemistry By Simone Elkeles

Perfect Chemistry By Simone Elkeles.
Genre: Romance/ Young Adult
Publisher: Simon and Schuster.

Summary: When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created 'perfect' life is about to unravel before her eyes. She's forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for: her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect.

Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.

Review: When I first read the summary of this book I immediately thought of the film Shes all that for some reason, you know 'boy bets friend he can get the girl and all that' so I guess that was what made me read it. Of course it wasnt actually like the film Shes all that because Brittany was rich and Alex was in a gang. This book was amazing, it tells the tale of Brittany who lives on the south side of town. Which is the rich end. Blonde, beautiful. Who pretends be this perfect girl at school who has her life all planned out for her. She portrays a role model for her school. And then you have Alex who lives on the west side of town. The poor end. Hes a bad boy, whos in gang wars and everyone is scared of him at school. Brittany dosent like Alex and Alex thinks shes a rich snob. So when their paired up for chemistry with each other it can only cause trouble? Wrong! The more they spend time together, the more the pair start connecting and realising they have more in common with each other then they thought. Like Brittanys home life being anything but perfect just like Alexs and them both pretending to be people they arent, acting for people at school and at home.

I just loved this book so much! From the moment there are scenes with these two together you can tell instantly how much tension is between them its amazing. There were so many different emotions going on in this story too. One minute it was sad, then happy and then funny. I laughed in parts where people in my family thought I were crazy to laugh at a book. Like Gary Frankel. He dosent play a big part but hes funny haha.

The characters in this book were what made the book. I think if you read a book, and dislike the characters, it can make reading it alot harder. I must say every character in this book I liked. Even Carmen Sanchez. And I rarely say I like every character in a book.One of my favourite characters was Paco (Alexs bestfriend) he is just such a good friend and will do anything for Alex and even helps Brittany out a few times. He is easy going and gets along with everyone in it. I quite liked the friendship between Brittany and Sierra because unlike most books she wasnt a bad friend to Brittany she was there when she needed her. I think one of the most important things of this book that made me really give it the top rates was how they dealt with disablities, because Brittanys sister is disabled and unlike alot of books we got to see how families dealt with stuff like this and her sister made such a wonderful character in this book too because some people dont understand how difficult it can be.The ending was cute aswell, it has a pretty shocking epilogue that made me think on it for ages for some reason.

I deffinetly rate this A+ I know most of you have probablu already read this book, but if you havent got pick it up now!

Author Interview: Elissa Brent Weissman + Nerd Camp Giveaway

Author Interview: Elissa Brent Weissman + Nerd Camp Giveaway

Hi Elissa, you have released three books, out of all them which one would you say was probably your favourite to write?

They were all fun for different reasons.  Standing for Socks was my first real novel, so I enjoyed the challenge of writing something long and figuring out how to make a story stretch the length of a book.  Nerd Camp was great because I got to create this awesome summer camp for smart kids and dream up all the nerd-tastic activities they do there.  But as far as writing as a craft goes, I think my favorite was The Trouble with Mark Hopper.  That book’s about two boys with the same exact name, so when I was writing scenes with one Mark or another, I had to make sure it was clear which one I was talking about without relying on their names.  I also had a lot of dialogue that went: “said Mark,” “said Mark,” “said Mark.”  It was like a long (successful, I hope) exercise in character development, and it was a ton of fun.

What Inspired you to write your latest book Nerd Camp?

I taught for four years at a summer camp for gifted and talented children, the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY), and every summer, my class was filled with charming, cool, quirky kids who impressed and inspired me with their intelligence.  I knew a camp like this would be a great setting for a book, so I invented Gabe and his camp, the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment, based on my experiences at CTY.

Are you currently writing another story at the moment in time?

I am!  I have a new book called The Short Seller coming out summer 2013.  It’s about a twelve-year-old girl who becomes an online stock trader while she’s home from school sick, and she gets herself into some major trouble.  I’ve been revising that book and also working on something new—but that something new is pretty raw right now, so I’m not going to say anything about it just yet.

Growing up, who inspired you to write? Was there any particular authors you admired?

All of the books I read when I was a kid got me excited about writing.  I particularly loved Louis Sachar—I thought (and still think) he’s hilarious.  Some other favorites were Lois Lowry, Ann M. Martin, and Orson Scott Card.  I was also a huge fan of Gordon Korman, especially because he’d published his first book when he was only 13.  When I was in sixth grade, I met and interviewed him, and that was such an encouraging experience, it made me that much more determined to become an author myself.

Wheres the best place for you to write?

I have trouble getting any productive writing done at home, so I go out to various coffee shops and work there.  Getting out of the house makes me feel like I “went to work,” since I don’t have an office to report to, and I enjoy having other people around, even though we’re all doing our own things.

Harry Potter or the Twilight series?

Harry Potter, hands down.

Whats your favourite tv programme?

Right now I’m really into The New Girl, but my all-time favorite is probably The Cosby Show.  I also love Shark Tank and the British show it’s based on, Dragon’s Den.  And The Wire, especially since I live in Baltimore.

Do you prefer the libary or going to actual bookstores itself?

I like them both.  I’m a regular at the library, and all the librarians know me.  I usually have at least 5 library books checked out at any given time.  But I love bookstores, too, and I own a ton of books.  My husband and I renovated our house a couple years ago, and having space for all of our books actually played a big part in the architecture and design.  We’ve got lots of bookshelves now, and they’re close to full.

Thankyou ever so much Elissa for being apart of my blog. Being awfully kind, Elissa had also offered a paperback copy of her book Nerd Camp to giveaway to one of you lucky guys. The Giveaway is international just follower the rafflecopter rules!

Summary: Ten-year-old Gabe has just been accepted to the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment. That means he’ll be spending six weeks at sleepaway camp, writing poetry and perfecting logic proofs. SCGE has been a summer home of some legendary middle-school smarty-pants (and future Jeopardy! contestants), but it also has a reputation for being, well, a nerd camp. Gabe isn’t a nerd. Is he? He’s never thought about it much, but compared to Zack, his hip, soon-to-be-stepbrother from LA, Gabe’s not so sure where he falls on the cool scale. A wild summer at camp—complete with a midnight canoe ride to Dead Man’s Island—helps Gabe realize that he and Zack may be different, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be brothers…and friends.

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June Book Releases

June Book Releases

• Shadow and Bone By Leigh Bardugo.
• The Golden Lily By Richelle Mead.
• My Life Next Door By Huntley Fitzpatrick.
• A Midsummers Nightmare By Kody Keplinger.
• Flriting In Italian By Lauren Henderson.
• For Darkness Shows The Stars By Diana Peterfreund.

These are some of the books that are being released this month. Which books will you be buying in the june release?

Review: A Season Of Eden By Jennifer Lauren

A Season Of Eden By Jennifer Laurens.

Summary: He's my teacher. I shouldn't be alone with him. But I can't help that he's irresistible. I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us. "I like hearing you play," I said, moving toward him. He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn't say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. "May I?" The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. "Eden." My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. "Is it okay?" I asked. His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking. "Let me stay," I said. "Please." "You're going to get me in trouble," he said.

Review: I think the worst thing I did with this book was read reviews for it before I started it. I had read a review that had simply stated that they had not enjoyed it and well I think it just made my expectations for this book alot lower then before I had read the reviews. So all the way through, all I kept thinking was, I wonder when were going to get to the bad part of the book. I think If I didnt of read the review, I think I would of enjoyed this book alot more than I did. Getting to the point, sometimes reading reviews before reading a book can total put you off enjoying it. That said the book wasnt that bad, but I personal liked Jennifer Laurens Overprotected more than this one. Simply for the fact that the main character Eden kind of annoyed me. She meets her teacher and instantly loves him and obesses over him, and because every guy in the school part from him think highly of her she dosent like it. Then one minute she hates him, thinks its wrong liking her teacher and its just like urgh make up your mind Eden. There were times throughout the book where Mr Christan A.K.A James annoyed me too, because he acted like he had never had a girl like him in his entire life and well yeah...that annoyed haha. Apart from the characters having this crazy liking/not liking each other, the storyline itself was pretty well written. Of course its a forbidden love and I'm just a sucker for them and because its a teacher/student relationship I cant help but love to see how the author writes these things. And Jennifer did do it well because it could of been written wrong but it wasn't. It was sweet, slowly paced so it wasnt like their relationship was blossomed quick. It took some time so it felt beliveable instead of some silly sappy crush. You could feel a connection to these two, they had a powerful, touching love which was expressed.

This story wasnt just about the relationship between Eden and Mr Christan. But it also had a touch of family issues and Eden having to grow up to look after herself since her mom died when she was just young and her dad has no time for her. It shows issues of a broken family and how Eden tries to put the pieces back together and make happy with her father once again since the death of her mother. I really liked this part of the book, because it showed why Eden was the way she was at school, because of how she had grown up at home.

I think overall this book was interesting to read because it was very real to situations. My only problem with it was alot of the characters annoyed me like hell, like her bestfriend dating her ex-boyfriend after just a day or so after they broke up? That probably annoyed me the most in the book, because I couldnt see how Eden could still be bestfriends with her and not see the problem.

So I rate this book: B

Author Interview: Shana Norris + Troy High Giveaway

Author Interview: Shana Norris + Troy High Giveaway

Hi Shana! How did you first create a love for writing?Hi, Kelsey! Thanks for having me on your blog. I've always loved books. My parents started me off right away with reading books to me, and then I started reading them all the time once I was able. So from there, I started making up my own stories. I'd come up with stories about my dolls and tell them to my brothers and sister. When I was eight, I started writing the stories down and making little picture books from notebook paper stapled together.

Where did you get your ideas from for Troy High?
I LOVE Greek mythology and I always knew I wanted to write a story inspired by the myths. For a long time, I thought I'd write about Persephone, because that's one of my favorite myths. But in 2006, I needed a story to write for NaNoWriMo and I thought, "How about the Trojan War between two schools?" That was really the start of the idea, and from there I read and studied The Iliad and outlined the major events, then figured out how to turn them into a modern day setting.

Who would you say was the hardest character to write?
Hunter was a hard guy to write about. He's closed off and I had to work hard to figure out his motivations for getting involved in the war. I think that really comes out more in the sequel novella I just released, Overtime.

If you could of been anything besides an writer what would you have been?
An archaeologist or an astronomer. I really love history, and I'd love to go explore ancient ruins and dig up these lost cities. I also love space and reading about all these cool things out there beyond our universe, so it would be fun to study them. Or maybe even a ghost hunter! I'm completely addicted to ghost stories and ghost hunting shows.

Growing up what books did you love to read?
I grew up in the Sweet Valley Twins and Baby-Sitters Club era. I LOVED those books and read them all the time. Some of the first books I wrote were total rip-offs of Sweet Valley and BSC. I still actually own the entire Baby-Sitters Club collection! Other than that, I loved reading ghost stories (still do!) and fantasy books by authors such as Terry Brooks, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Anne McCaffrey.

Favourite film?
Oh, hard question! There are so many that I love and watch over and over. I think I'll go with The Goonies. It's just such a fun movie and I've always loved it. I've seen it probably a hundred times, but I still watch it whenever I find it on TV.

Zombies or Unicorns?
Unicorns! I've always been a huge unicorn fan.

You have also wrote a few more YA novels, which one would you say was your favourite to write?
I have a very soft spot for my first published book, Something to Blog About. The characters have been with me since I was 15 and I used to write a bunch of stories about them. So I really grew to love them and know them very well. I had a lot of fun turning their lives into that book and really loved working on it from start to finish.

Have you currently any ideas for a new book?
I'm working on the sequel to my paranormal book, Surfacing, right now. And then I have some ideas I'm working on, one for a middle grade book and the other is a companion book to The Boyfriend Thief. I'd love to write some more Greek mythology inspired stories one day. Surfacing is inspired by Scottish myths and it was fun to bring it into a modern day setting, but I'm very drawn to Greek mythology, so I'd love to explore it some more!

Shana was also nice enough to include one of her awesome books an copy of Troy High and some swag goodies to go with. Thankyou very much Shana!

Summary: Homer’s Iliad, the classic tale of love and revenge, is shrewdly retold for teens in Troy High.

Narrated by Cassie, a shy outsider who fears that an epic high school rivalry is about to go up in flames, the story follows the Trojans and Spartans as they declare war on the football field. After the beautiful Elena–who used to be the captain of the Spartan cheerleaders–transfers to Troy High and falls madly in love with Cassie’s brother Perry, the Spartans vow that the annual homecoming game will never be forgotten.

The Trojans and Spartans pull wicked pranks on each other as homecoming approaches. And the Spartans’ wildcard football star, Ackley, promises to take down the Trojans’ offensive line. But the stakes are raised when Cassie is forced to choose between the boy she loves (a Spartan) and loyalty to her family and school. Troy High will seduce readers with its incendiary cast of mythic proportions.

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