April 30, 2014

Stone of Destiny (The Danaan Trilogy Book 2) Release





Stone of Destiny (The Danaan Trilogy Book 2)
by Laura Howard
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance

Blurb:


Allison thought it was crazy enough when she found out her father, Liam, wasn't entirely human. But now she has to join his magical allies to unravel his former mistress's plans. Aoife wants to keep Allison's parents apart forever.

Despite Allison's efforts to keep Ethan, the only guy she's ever cared about, out of this supernatural mess, fate keeps throwing him back into the mix.

Will Allison be able to find the amulet that holds the enchantment Aoife placed on Liam and destroy it? Are Ethan' s feelings for Allison strong enough to endure the magic of the Tuatha De Danaan?

Links:

Barnes & Noble: Stone of Destiny Book 2




The Forgotten Ones

Book One in The Danaan Trilogy


About Laura:

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known.


April 16, 2014

Excerpt: The Idea of Him by Holly Peterson







Mary Crawford is a once aspiring screenwriter turned successful public relations executive, mother of two young children, and wife of a hotshot magazine editor whose power base spans the worlds of finance, fashion, culture, entertainment, and society. At 34, she finds herself at a crossroads: between the office and her home, her life has become an endless rotation of people pleasing-whether pulling rabbits out of hats for her mogul boss, entertaining advertisers and phony A-listers for her husband's magazine, or making elaborate costumes for children's school plays. At least, that is, until she meets a head turning, traffic stopping beauty at the bar of the famed Four Seasons Grill Room-where many of the novel's players regularly convene-and shortly thereafter finds the same woman and her husband in an apparently compromising position in her own apartment. And so begins the story of two very different women bound by similar missions-to uncover the crimes and betrayals of various men in their lives and finally put their own interests front and center. For Mary this ultimately means leaving a husband who is ideal in theory but not in practice, and deciding to risk security for self-fulfillment and a new life on her own. Like so many women, Mary fell for the man she married when she was in her twenties only to realize years later that it wasn't him she fell for as much as it was the idea of him-the idea of a savior who would protect and provide and ferry her from her past into the future. But the guy who seemed so right at the time turned out to be nothing more than a fantasy. ~Goodreads


The Idea of Him
By: Holly Peterson
Published: April 1, 2014
William Morrow, 384pgs
Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble


Excerpt: 




CHAPTER 19 FOCUSED AND FRUSTRATED

He had no doubt betrayed “us” again in some form or fashion because things were going on around me that he was lying about. He would do that in the future. I would either smile through or ignore the signs in the future. I would feel angry and lost and alone in the future. I would tear up photos again in the future that represented romantic ideals.
“It doesn’t mean what, Wade?”
He didn’t answer my last question; I just heard his rattled breathing on the other end of the line. I looked around at the mess in front of me. How the hell was I supposed to finish my work with this bizarre, awkward, unfinished, hurtful conversation looping in my head?
“Wade,” I said. “I can’t do this now.”
I hung up and suddenly I was back in that mangled plane, in the snow, desperate for a protector.  Was Wade just giving more of the same unsafe feeling I’d wanted to get away from? And it hit me that I hadn't so much forged a new life in marrying Wade; I'd simply come full circle.  Strange how we often seek what we hope to escape.


About the Author: 


HOLLY PETERSON is the author of the New York Times and international best seller, The Manny. She was a Contributing Editor for Newsweek and editor-at-large for Tina Brown’s Talk magazine. She was also an Emmy Award–winning producer for ABC News for more than a decade, where she cov¬ered global politics. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, Talk, the Daily Beast, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and other publications.                                       Online: www.HollyPeterson.com            www.Facebook.com/HollyPetersonny                                                                           Twitter: @HollyPetersonNY

April 3, 2014

REVIEW: The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger


The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend





Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.~Goodreads

The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend
By: Kody Keplinger
Published: September 7, 2010
Little Brown, 280pgs
Source: Library


I love, love this story. It was such an exciting fast pace read. There were situations that tugged at my heart strings and made me want to cry. This book covered so many things and issues teens deal with such as self-esteem, name calling.

At times I just wanted to reach into the book and hug Bianca. I mean seriously someone can only deal with so much in their lives before they crack. The two main characters were so real I felt as if I could have been either of them like my life was being read back to me.

You don’t realize how it sometimes hard to deal with the situations you face and sometimes running and not facing your issues seem so much easier. But, in reality they never go away sometimes they just get worse.

Take a cynical character, toss her world upside down and see how she deals with it. She’s very vivacious and a strong character and I loved being able to see that she had weaknesses too, this is what made her so realistic to me. In everyone and everything there is always some good and sometimes you are lucky enough to find it.

This is a book that I wished I didn't wait so long to read but I am definitely going to dive right into Shut Out now. This book is about finding yourself and realizing that it’s okay to sometimes need someone to confide in, that it’s only human to show your weaknesses.


Thank you Ms. Keplinger for writing such an honest and heartbreaking real story.
 
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