Tag Archives: Young Adult

Seeder Shadow Wars by J. Houser-Review, Interview & Giveaway

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Seeder Shadow Wars (Seeder Wars 1) by J. Houser-Review, Interview & Giveaway

Seeder Shadow Wars
(Seeder Wars 1)
by J. House
Release Date: September 17, 2021
Genre: Young Adult, paranormal

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

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DATING AND HIGH SCHOOL: HARD ENOUGH. NOW ADD ASSASSINS.

Avoiding assassination wasn’t on Mel’s to-do list for her junior year. Learning she wasn’t human hadn’t made the list, either.

An only child with overprotective parents, Melody Walters just wants a drama-free year—and to be able to date. She gains the interest of more than one suitor, but doesn’t realize any one of them could be an enemy on the hunt. For her, the dating scene could prove deadly.

Mel discovers she’s a member of a botanical race, forced to hide their daughters in the human world until they mature enough for their powers to bloom. Something goes wrong with her blooming process, breaking her cover and jeopardizing the lives of her protectors and the large family she’d never known about.

With the enemy threat ever-looming, in a rush to master her new powers before she’s stranded in the human world forever, Mel struggles to decide who she can trust and if the sacrifice being asked of her is too great.

••••••

REVIEW: Mel is just your typical high school student. The usual dramas that come with being that age…..A possible new love interest and the fact her best friend is in love with her! See totally normal stuff.So when she finds out that she’s not human! Well, that throws up a lot of questions, and she needs answers, like now!

Finding out those answers (will make sense of the prologue) only make her life more complicated!Oh and her bitter enemy The Ivies) want her dead! Wait! She has enemies that want her dead! Could her life get anymore complicated? Well yes it can, she can also wield magic!And her parents decide to foster a child, but not a little one! No he had to be an annoying senior in her school!!

So where does her best friend Zach and her new love interest come in?Can they be trusted?Mel begins to look at everyone as a potential enemy!

Wow! That was totally different from anything I’ve read so far.What a great story.Very detailed, very meticulous and well thought out. Lots of background story (which will also make the prologue make sense)Seeders are supernaturals who give life to seeds that will eventually grow into the next generation.The bad guys are the Ivies, they want to annihilate the seeder population from existence, and by separating the next generation and hiding them from the Ivies, the Seeders can try to guarantee that it doesn’t happen.

So will Mel ignore her growing power’s? Or will she go home to Green Lands and learn more about her heritage and help in the fight to win against the enemy? But if she does that she’s going to have to leave all and everyone she knows and loves…..

And now I’m anxious to read what happens next.
It doesn’t hang on a cliffhanger, but it does leave it open to another book (which I’m hoping will be soon) ?

I’d highly recommended this book to lovers of the paranormal and the readers who like something a little different.

? Reviewed by Julie B

Copy supplied for review

TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

FOLLOW : Facebook / Website / Goodreads / Instagram / Twitter /

J. Houser: I’m a debut indie author, but I aspire to be a multi-genre hybrid author. From adult sci-fi post-apocalyptic romance to young adult dystopian romance, to sweet contemporary romance… Apparently, I have a hard time not writing romance… But, I’m not good at limiting myself to just one kind of story.

TRC:Who or what influenced your career in writing?

J. Houser: I have a hard time answering this because I honestly have never been a huge reader. Perhaps it’s the ADHD, but I have a hard time just focusing on one thing. Once I get into it, I binge-read, but I have a hard time allowing myself to invest that much of myself most of the time. I wasn’t the stereotypical writer that knew as a kid they wanted to do this and constantly wrote stories and begged people to read them. My first novel was written after I turned 35. Once I realized it could be fun to write a journey that I could share with others, something clicked.

TRC:What challenges or difficulties did you encounter writing and publishing this story?

J. Houser: It’s been a TON of learning as a debut indie author. From endless revisions to losing my mind trying to work with the printer … there’s been a lot of learning along the way! I’m hoping that means future releases will go much smoother as I’ve grown so much in this process!

TRC:Would you please tell us something about the premise of SEEDER SHADOW WARS?

J. Houser: SEEDER SHADOW WARS started from a snippet of a dream I had. I had been interested in writing fantasy but wanted something different from the usual tropes. Botanical beings became a thing! Immediately, I knew it involved hidden identities and assassins, and in the mix of it all were clueless humans in their own world.

TRC:What kind of research/plotting did you do, and how long did you spend researching /plotting before beginning SEEDER SHADOW WARS?

J. Houser: I’m very much a discovery writer. I don’t plot much and I had no idea what was going to happen until I wrote it. I find it fun to join the journey with the characters. That said, I wrote the entire trilogy before moving to final edits on book 1 because I had to go back and add a lot more foreshadowing or editing of the magic system to ensure it all made sense.

TRC:How many books do you have planned for the series? Will Melody Walters be the lead heroine in each of the stories?

J. Houser: It all started out as a standalone. Then I found I needed to know more about the world and people involved. It then turned into a trilogy. And then a fourth and fifth book were written… And I have at least 2 more books planned. I might have an addiction. But my beta readers love the couples and so do I, so the series will continue as long as there’s a new unique story worth sharing. Melody Walters is still very present as a POV character in the other books of the main trilogy, but in book 2 we meet another heroine that is a little more front and center in books 2 & 3. One of the other drafted books is the love story and behind-the-scenes of Mel’s parents.

TRC:Believability is an important factor in writing and reading paranormal/fantasy story lines. How do you keep the story line believable in a genre that often crosses the line between reality and fantasy?

J. Houser: Because our heroine grew up thinking she was human, it’s easy for me to get into her head. I try my best to not have overpowered, unrealistic characters. How many teenage girls do you know that are prepared to take on assassins? I really focus on the interiority of the characters for their arcs, making the story character-driven instead of plot-driven. I try to address (throughout the series) a variety of themes like mental health and discrimination. I feel like doing so in a fantasy setting makes more serious conversations accessible. Another thing that helps with believability for me is hard magic—there have to be rules, consequences, limitations.

TRC:Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

J. Houser: Absolutely. We all know ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ is a saying about people and not actually books. We shop with our eyes first.

TRC:When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

J. Houser: There’s some give and take, but as a discovery writer, they often tell me along the way who they are and what they’re going to do. I sometimes sit back and question a scene, asking if it’s really true to what they’d do. There have definitely been revisions along the way. In the end, when I question if their choice is the right one, I’ve been known to say ‘At some point, you have to let the characters be who they are.’

TRC:The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writers fail in this endeavor?

J. Houser: We need moments of introspection now and then. If we don’t understand the reasoning behind their actions, then we don’t care or relate. I’ve learned that a lot from beta readers. When I haven’t done a good job at showing the character’s emotions and inner thoughts, they can easily come off as careless, stupid, weak, or rude. But once we see their perspective—even if we don’t agree with their choices—we can understand it. In books from other authors that I’ve failed to enjoy, we lack that interiority, that understanding of what makes the characters tick. I feel disconnected and tend to judge the characters more harshly. Awkward prose that makes me stumble (like excessive or weird metaphors every other paragraph when describing how their heart is beating) really makes them feel more distant.

TRC:Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?

J. Houser: Very rarely. I have sometimes listened to ‘study music’ to drown out other noises, but I could never write with lyrics on. I get too distracted and it takes me out of the place I need to be.

TRC:What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?

J. Houser: As an indie author, I feel like there’s such a nasty stigma about self-publishing. Which is completely understandable, because I’ve read those poorly edited books out there, too… But as someone that’s utilized beta readers, critique partners, editors, etc, I’d like to believe that people could give us more of a chance to see if we’ve made the investment. We don’t all just jot down some thoughts, doodle a cover, and slap it on Kindle.

TRC: What is something that few, if anyone, knows about you?

J. Houser: That I’m absolutely terrified to be focusing so much on my publishing career, lol. I’ve quit my day job. I know that’s not the ‘smart’ thing to do. I’ve been told I’m brave. But really, it’s a combo of self-acceptance of where I’m at in my life, and absolute desperation in wanting a fulfilling, creative career. I’ve always been a good employee, but my personality and mental health don’t fair all that well in a traditional workplace. I’ve always had the drive, but not the courage, to be an entrepreneur. Creating and sharing are a major part of who I am.

TRC:Who or what influenced your path towards a young adult, paranormal story line?

J. Houser: I’m often drawn to writing YA books because I like the themes (i.e. self-discovery, navigating big changes in life) and because I tend to like things a bit ‘tamer.’ No on-page sex or tons of swearing. They say to write what you want to read. And as crazy as it sounds, as a woman in my mid-thirties—I feel like I relate to these teens after having gone through a divorce. I find myself back at square one asking, like them, ‘where to now?’ As for fantasy or paranormal… I grew up watching Star Trek and Stargate with my dad. Yeah, those are sci-fi, but it’s in the same arena. There’s a fun escapism involved.

TRC:On what are you currently working?

J. Houser: Everything and nothing? As a writer with ADHD, I’m often working on multiple manuscripts at a time. Though lately, I’ve been so occupied with learning things like formatting and marketing that I haven’t had time to just sit and write all of the stories mentally plotted in my head. Next, I’ll probably rewrite the short story that takes place between books 1 & 2 in this series that will be a preorder bonus for readers.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food
Pizza

Favorite Dessert
Chewy brownies

Favorite TV Show
I don’t actually watch TV much. I mostly binge Youtube.

Last Movie You Saw
One of the newer Disney ones… can’t remember the name.

Dark or Milk Chocolate
Depends on the mood and what it’s paired with.

Secret Celebrity Crush
I’m weird. Don’t really have one.

Last Vacation Destination
Utah to visit family for Christmas

Do you have any pets?
My mini poodle/bichon frise pup, Mia. We’re each other’s emotional support creature.

Last book you read
Book 2 in my series as I edited? lol. I think it was The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson.

TRC:Thank you J. Houser for the great interview answers. Congratulations on the release of your first novel SEEDER SHADOW WARS

J. Houser is graciously offering an ebook copy of SEEDER SHADOW WARS to two (2) commenters at The Reading Cafe.

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9. Giveaway open INTERNATIONALLY

10. Giveaway runs from September 17-22, 2021

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Have You Seen Me? by Alexandrea Weis-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

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Have You Seen Me? (Waverly Prep 1) by Alexandrea Weis-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 27, 2021

Lindsey Gillett is missing.

And she’s not the first girl at Waverly High to vanish without a trace.

To help cope with the tragedy, new history teacher Aubrey LaRoux organizes a student investigation team. But when the project’s key members start turning up dead across campus, Aubrey suspects there’s more going on than anyone is willing to admit.

The murdered students all had something in common with Lindsey. They shared a secret. And what they uncovered could threaten the future of the historic school.

At Waverly High, someone wants to keep the past buried—and you don’t want to get in their way.

•••••••

REVIEW:HAVE YOU SEEN ME? by Alexandrea Weis is a contemporary, young adult, mystery/murder thriller focusing on the investigation and search for a number of missing girls who attended Waverly Prepatory school in Louisiana.

Told from several third person perspectives including former student turned history teacher Aubrey LaRoux, HAVE YOU SEEN ME? follows the search for the truth. Upon her arrival, two months into the new school year, history teacher Aubrey LaRoux discovers a young female student is missing, the step-sister of another young woman who went missing ten years earlier, when Aubrey was a student attending Waverly High. Aubrey is about to find herself the target of a number of students believing she is the guilty party, a target that is about to become involved in the search for the truth. As the missing and dead begin to pile up, Aubrey and several of her first period students, begin an investigation of their own, only to find themselves disappearing, one student at a time.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME? reads like a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys murder mystery with overtones of teenage slasher movies including Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. As per the requisite plot points, the teens and their teacher begin to uncover the clues, and the long buried secrets of Waverly High, but the TSTL attitudes threatens everyone involved. One by one, each of the students involved in the investigation disappears and die, leaving Aubrey and one final student to uncover the truth.

We are introduced to sheriff Mason Dubois, Headmistress Sara Probst, groundskeeper Mr. Samuel, as well as a number of students including Lindsey Gillett.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME? is a haunting story of power, control, betrayal and vengeance; a suspenseful tale of secrets, lies, and obsession dating back close to twenty-five years. The premise is edgy but predictable; the characters are inquisitive, energetic and impassioned. HAVE YOU SEEN ME? ends on a bit of a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Tall stalks whipped against Lindsey’s legs as she ran. Her ragged breath broke through the silence of the dark, isolated field. She put everything she had into maneuvering through the deep weeds. Her chest burned, but an icy dread kept her desperate to outrun the beam of light following her.
Exhausted, Lindsey paused and kneeled by a thicket of grass, hoping to remain out of sight. But then a flashlight locked on her position. She startled and stumbled backward, tripping over something.
Falling to the boggy ground, weeds slapped her face, and her leg scraped against a sharp object.
Son of a …
Lindsey grabbed her leg but kept silent as a sting flared above her ankle. When she reached down, the spot was wet to the touch.
Blood. Crap. That will leave a trail.
She discovered the cause of her fall—a marker built of stone.
Lindsey had heard stories about the famous battlefield and the single marker left to remember the fallen soldiers.
“Where are you going to run, Lindsey?”
The nondescript, guttural voice seemed to surround her.
Lindsey hurried to get up while scouring the trees. She judged the distance it would take her to get lost in their shadows.
She surveyed the endless acres of grass. There was nowhere else to go.
A tickle raced across her neck, awakening an intense dread. The locket she kept close—the one containing pictures of her and Marjorie—had slipped off.
Not my locket!
She wanted to search the grass for the prized memento, but there was no time. The rays of the flashlight found her.
Lindsey summoned her courage, determined to lose her tormentor.
The hurried whoosh of trampled weeds drew closer.
Lindsey cursed. She took off, dashing for the trees, not looking back. She ran into pockets of thick mud and her legs tired as she struggled.
A ray of moonlight broke through the clouds. Lindsey examined the outline of the land. The grass thinned before the line of trees.
She kept going, and when she broached the trees, relief rolled through her.
Branches scratched her face. The sting they left brought tears to her eyes, but she pushed on.
Almost there.
The pine needles crunched beneath her feet, alerting her pursuer to where she was.
Then another sound rose in the air—churning water. The bend in the fast-moving Bayou Teche was ahead. She lunged for the end of the tree line.
Around her was more tall grass, and then ahead, piers poked out of the swirling waterway.
A dark structure appeared on her left. Rising against the night sky, its craggy outline hinted at crumbled walls and a collapsed roof. A smokestack rose like a column into the dark sky.
Lindsey ran, glimpsing trash piles and abandoned machinery around the site of the old sugar mill.
A darting orb of light swept past her.
She charged toward the river’s edge.
The piers got closer, and she spotted the remains of the old dock, its rotting planks poking out along the shoreline.
Lindsey closed in on the water, knowing she had no place else to go.
A light behind her danced along the water’s surface, heightening her fear.
The riverbank came up quickly. Lindsey paused on the edge, staring into the churning current at the river’s bend.
She looked back over her shoulder. “I’ll see you in hell.”
Lindsey dove into the swirling currents. The cold shocked her just as an undertow pulled her down. She fought to get to the surface. Panic ate up her oxygen as she kicked hard, but she wasn’t gaining any ground.
Darkness closed around her, engulfing Lindsey in blinding terror.

Alexandrea Weis is graciously offering an ebook copy of HAVE YOU SEEN ME? to TWO (2) lucky commenters at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

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Destined (Lair #4) by AM Madden-Review tour

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Destined (Lair #4) by AM Madden-Review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 28, 2021

We were destined.
How could we not be?
Our dads were famous rock stars and best friends.
As a kid, I practically lived at his house.
We did everything together.

My first kiss at only nine.
I knew I’d marry him one day.
Took my virginity on prom night.

Wrote songs about me.
Was sweet and kind, loving and caring.
The sun rose and set on him.
I trusted him with my heart.
And he loved me.

With my dad’s help, my love became a talented bass player.
He was destined to find fame.
I wanted that for him.
And then it happened.

The opportunity to tour with one of the hottest rock stars around.
Thirteen weeks wasn’t long to be apart.
Not in the grand scheme of things.
Except I had no idea who I was without him.
He got his wish—and I lost myself.
Maybe we weren’t so destined after all.

Destined contains adult content.

••••••

REVIEW:DESTINED is the fourth and final? Instalment in AM Madden’s contemporary, adult LAIR erotic, romance series- a spin off from the author’s BACK-UP series. This is Shane Lair, and Alivia Taylor’s story line. Shane is the son of Jackson and Leila Lair , and Alivia is the daughter of Camilla and Trey Taylor.

NOTE: DESTINED is a young adult to new adult, next generation story line with adult situations and the requisite teenaged, anxiety and conflicts.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Alivia and Shane) with a guest chapter from both Trey and Jack, covering several years in the life, DESTINED follows the life-long friendship between Shane Lair and Alivia Taylor. At the age of five, Shane Lair fell in love with Alivia Taylor the moment he set eyes on his future wife. High school sweethearts, Alivia and Shane had the world ahead of them, enrolling in NYU together until Shane is offered a chance of a lifetime but if he accepted, would leave behind the woman he loved. The stress of high school and prom, friendships and family, mean girls and gossip, all threatened our story line couple but none more so than a lack of communication and issues of trust as each is about to walk (or run) in the opposite direction. As Shane ventured forth on a path towards his future, Alivia’s abrupt change of plans would pull our heroine half way across the world, as the love of her life, struggled with his new found fame, and direction in life.

The relationship between Alivia and Shane is a life-long friendship that began when their parents created the rock back Devil’s Lair. We are up close and personal as Alivia and Shane’s love blossomed; as the mean-girls took aim at our story line heroine; and as Shane’s attempts to protect the woman he loves , threatening their future when social media PR quickly spirals out of control. Alivia and Shane’s love for one another never waivers in the face of vitriolic rumors, and months of separation but their lack of communication threatens their love, going forward. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Jackson and Leila Lair, Camilla and Trey Taylor; Alivia’s best friend Kim, and Shane’s best friend Chase, as well as the requisite mean girls, fans, and rock and roll wannabes.

DESTINED is a story of family, friendships, relationships and love. A story of love, laughter, longing and heart break. The premise is emotional and spirited; the characters are idealistic and young; the romance is fated, spicy and intense. DESTINED is a spirited and animated conclusion to the LAIR family of series.

Reading order and Previous Reviews

Shock Jock
Liner Notes
Trey

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

USA Today BESTSELLING ROMANCE AUTHOR

A.M. Madden’s romance debut is The Back-Up Series, consisting of Back-Up, Front & Center, and Encore.

A.M. Madden is a wife, a mother, an avid reader of romance novels and now an author. In Back-up she aspired to create a fun, sexy, realistic romantic story. She wanted to create characters that the reader could relate to and feel as if they knew personally.

A self-proclaimed hopeless romantic, she loves getting lost in a good book. She uses every free moment of her time writing, while raising teenage boys.

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One Stupid Thing by Stewart Lewis-a review

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One Stupid Thing by Stewart Lewis-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 16, 2021

One Stupid Thing follows four teens as they navigate the mystery surrounding a tragic, deadly accident that leaves them wondering: who is really to blame?

It was just one stupid thing that happened…

Summer on Nantucket island. Three high school friends drinking warm beer on a rooftop. Everything is cool, until a seemingly innocent game takes a sinister turn, and the course of their lives are changed forever.

For a year, they keep it a secret, until the following summer when they meet a mysterious girl with her own dark past who may have the answers they are looking for.

A story about friendship, mistakes, and the quest for redemption, One Stupid Thing follows Jamie, Sophia, Trevor and Violet as they contend with the consequences of their choices, navigate the drama in their individual lives and try to uncover what really happened on that fateful night.

••••••

REVIEW:ONE STUPID THING by Stewart Lewis is a young adult story of suspense following three high school friends in the aftermath of an accident that killed a local man.

Told from four first person perspectives (Jamie, Trevor, Sophia and Violet) ONE STUPID THING focuses on the events leading up to and after the car accident of which Jamie, Trevor and Sophia blame upon themselves. A late night party, a little bit of drinking, and a teenaged prank leads our trio to believe they have caused the death of a local man but one year would pass, everyone would lose contact, and very little is reported or known about the accident, including the name of the crash victim. Upon his return to Nantucket, Trevor would be befriended by Violet, the step-daughter of a local businessman, and a young woman who reveals a little more about that night one year earlier. What ensues is the hunt for the truth, and the possibility that there was something more sinister behind the death of Brendan Daly.

ONE STUPID THING is a coming of age story about four young adults who face the loss of friendship, drifting apart with the reality of what happened and why. Hoping to uncover the truth with the help of Violet, Jamie, Trevor and Sophia begin to unravel the secrets of Nantucket Island, and the truth behind the death of an innocent man.

The premise is intriguing and interesting but there is more telling than showing, and in this there is limited emotional attachment. The details are narrow and bounded as the story line does not go into any depth of events, and the character’s actions are almost apathetic and impersonal. Sadly, I felt disconnected from the story line premise.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Fighting for You (The Callahans #5) by Monica Murphy-Review tour

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Fighting for You (The Callahans #5) by Monica Murphy-Review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au / B&N Paper /

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 11, 2021

Diego Garcia.
Class bully.
Football star.
My boyfriend.

I fell hard and fast for the resident bad boy and he fell just as hard for me too. We were the perfect couple, until things turned sour.

Senior year and we’re both super busy. He has football. I have volleyball. Soon enough, I hear the rumors – Diego’s cheating on me. After everything we’ve been through, I’m devastated. Breaking up with him was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. He doesn’t love me. Besides, only a few more months of school, and then I’m going away to college. And Diego will be permanently out of my life.

Until I find out I’m pregnant. And now we’re forever tied together

••••••••

REVIEW: FIGHTING FOR YOU is the fifth instalment in Monica Murphy’s contemporary, young adult THE CALLAHANS erotic, romance series focusing on the second generation of the Callahans and their extended family and friends-a spin off from the author’s ONE WEEK GIRLFRIEND series. This is high school seniors Diego Garcia, and Jocelyn Douglas’ story line. FIGHTING FOR YOU can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion as Jocelyn and Diego’s story begins in book three ADDICTED TO HIM.

NOTE: FIGHTING FOR YOU is a young adult story line ( characters under eighteen years of age) with adult sexual situations including a teenaged pregnancy, that may not be suitable for more younger readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Jocelyn and Diego) FIGHTING FOR YOU follows in the aftermath of Jocelyn’s discovery that she is pregnant with her ex-boyfriend Diego’s baby, and with it the realization that she may have lost Diego, forever. Diego is a star player on his high school football team, and as such laps up the praise and attention of the female student body but Jocelyn and Diego’s relationship had hit a bumpy road, and with hit, the school girls threw themselves at our hero, ensuring his reputation and conquests found the ear of our story line heroine. Having loved and lost, Jocelyn struggled with issues of trust, and one final threat to her relationship with Diego meant Jocelyn was willing to go it alone. Months will pass before Diego and Jocelyn reconnect for the sake of their child but the months were heart breaking for our story line hero. What ensues is the back and forth, struggling relationship between Jocelyn and Diego, and the fall-out as dysfunctional family dynamics, secrets and lies, manipulation and vindictiveness threaten any potential future for our story line couple.

Diego Garcia is and was the proverbial high school football star, feeding his ego and reputation by flirting with every available girl but Diego’s actions are about to destroy the one true love and relationship he has ever known, and with it the possibility of seeing the child he may never know. Struggling with a dysfunctional home life, Diego makes a permanent break, and finds himself alone for the very first time. Jocelyn Douglas comes from a wealthy and connected family but our heroine’s reputation is destroyed by a teenaged pregnancy, and the antics of a mean –girl who is determined to take down our story line heroine. Believing she and her child are better off without Diego Garcia, Jocelyn finds herself a single parent but a parent missing the man she will always love.

The relationship between Jocelyn and Diego is a high school romance broken by the desperation of a high school bully, and the teenaged pregnancy of two students too young to commit to anything beyond the present. Diego Garcia has never stopped loving our story line heroine, and in this, the truth about the rumors continue to fuel the rage and heart break of the woman he loves. The $ex scenes are passionate and intimate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

Once again, there is a large ensemble cast of familiar secondary and supporting characters: Drew and Fable Callahan (One Week Girlfriend); Eli Bennett and Ava Callahan: fellow football players Caleb, Wyatt and Tony: Jocelyn’s friend Ellie, and Jackson Rivers; Diego’s long suffering mother Rosa, his brother Mateo, their cousin Marty; Jocelyn’s parents, as well as mean girl and bully Cami Lockhart.

FIGHTING FOR YOU is a story of family, friendships, relationships and love; of betrayal and vengeance; secrets and lies; abuse, manipulation, teenage pregnancy, rumors and heart break. The premise is emotional and dramatic; the romance is fated but destructive; the characters are broken, sensational and struggling.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Close To Me
Falling for Her
Addicted to Him
Meant to Be

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.

She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

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MEANT TO BE (The Callahans 4) by Monica Murphy-Review tour

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MEANT TO BE (The Callahans #4) by Monica Murphy-Review & Excerpt tour

MEANT TO BE
The Callahans #4 : Eli and Ava #2
by Monica Murphy
Release Date: October 22, 2020
Genre: young adult, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

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Goodreads: https://bit.ly/33uZUqV

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 22, 2020

Ava Callahan.

Love of my life.

Wrecker of my soul.

I would have sworn on anything that what we shared was real.

But she broke my trust. And then my heart. I don’t think I can piece it back together without her, but I’m sure gonna try.

I’m better off on my own, anyways, right? Who needs girls when you have football?

If only I believed that. Look, when you need someone in your life, you don’t want to let her go. And I can’t let go of Ava. I love her. She loves me. Nothing can convince me otherwise. It’s as simple as that. I know no matter what, this girl belongs to me. We may have issues, but we’re meant to be. So I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.

Even if I have to fight dirty.

••••••••

REVIEW: MEANT TO BE is the fourth instalment in Monica Murphy’s contemporary, young adult THE CALLAHANS erotic, romance series focusing on the second generation of the Callahan family; and the second half of sixteen year old, Ava Callahan and seventeen year old, Eli Bennett’s story. MEANT TO BE should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up immediately after the events and cliff hanger of ADDICTED TO HIM (The Callahans #3).

NOTE: MEANT TO BE is a young adult story line ( characters under eighteen years of age) with adult sexual situations that may not be suitable for more younger readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Ava and Eli) MEANT TO BE follows in the aftermath of what Eli Bennett believes is a betrayal by the young woman with whom he has fallen in love. Eli’s family life is a mess but he never expected the world to be witness to their embarrassing fall-out. Blaming Ava sends our heroine down a rabbit hole of disbelief pushing Ava to discover the who and how of what happened and why. As Ava and Eli’s relationship is threatened by outside sources, Eli’s acrimonious relationship with Ava’s brother Jake continues to fester and draw ire from family and friends. What ensues is the continuing and building romance and relationship between Eli and Ava, and the potential fall-out as issues of jealousy, family dynamics, and competition between opposing football teams both on and off the field, threaten Eli and Ava’s tenuous hold on their already struggling relationship.

Ava Callahan has it all but believes herself to be the black sheep in a family of successful athletes and stars. The requisite mean girls push our heroine over the edge, and Ava finds herself on the outside looking in when she has finally had enough. Her relationship with Eli is fodder between friends and enemies, and in this Ava’s brother Jake struggles with his sister’s love for a boy he doesn’t deem worthy but all is not well in the Bennett household, and the fall-out begins to affect the young man Ava loves.

The relationship between Ava and Eli is one of the forbidden. Ava’s parents are not thrilled with Eli’s reputation, a reputation fuelled by her brother’s hatred and distrust of a young man whose family life is spiralling out of control. Eli’s reputation both on and off the football field has followed our young hero into his relationship with Ava Callahan, and in this Eli tries to prove he is worthy of Ava’s love. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and intense, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful energetic and charismatic secondary and supporting characters including Fable and Drew Callahan, Owen and Chelsea McGuire (One Week Girlfriend series): Jake and Hannah (Falling For Her #2), Autumn and Ash (Close to Me #1); Ava’s best friend Ellie; Jake’s ex-girlfriend Cami, and rival football players Diego, Wyatt, Jackson and Caleb. The requisite mean-girls continue to be all up in Ava’s face.

MEANT TO BE is a story of family, friendships, and relationships; a story of rivalry and competition, of heart break and love. MEANT TO BE is a young adult story line with all of the requisite YA plot points including mean girls, jealousy, sex, drugs, drinking and fights. The premise is captivating : the romance is tender and seductive; the characters are young and struggling to come into their own.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Close To Me
Falling for Her
Addicted to Him

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

Can you die from a broken heart? Not asking for a friend.
The street is empty. Eli is long gone. I clutch my phone in my hand so tight, my fingers cramp up. He won’t respond to my texts or my calls. He’s ghosting me.
Pain radiates from my chest, a constant, throbbing reminder that Eli just destroyed me with a few choice words. He doesn’t believe me. Worse, he doesn’t trust me. I never told my brother about his parents. I don’t know who did. Eli may have hinted at things and flat out told me his mother drank too much, but he never talked about his dad cheating. And why would I tell Jake any of that?
There’s no way I ever would.
So who did?
I make my way to the backyard to find my entire family is gone. Glancing toward the kitchen windows, I see they’re inside. Waiting for me. My parents and Jake, who’s sitting on a barstool at the counter with a glower on his freshly abused face. It serves him right that Eli got a few punches in. I don’t even feel bad that it happened, though I suppose I should.
Mom catches my gaze and raises her brows, the look on her face plainly telling me, get in here.
If I could turn around and run away, I would. I’d run and run and run until I was out of breath and so, so far, no one could find me again.
But I don’t move. I definitely don’t go inside. Not yet. Dad says something to Mom, and I can tell they’re having a minor argument. About me? I wonder if she told Dad about our little secret. How she knew about Eli and I dating.
My gaze sweeps over the scene of the crime, AKA the spot where Jake and Eli fought. The moonlight catches on something on the ground, making it glint and I kneel down, reaching toward the shiny piece. My fingertips touch cool metal and I grasp it between my fingers.
A gold #1 pendant. Eli’s. I feel around for the chain, almost desperately, on my hands and knees, but I don’t see it. I wonder if he knows he lost it. I’m sure he’ll be upset. He loves this necklace and the fact that his father gave it to him.
But would he want to know I have it?
Maybe.
Maybe that’ll be my one way to reach out to him. I have something he wants.
Unfortunately, from the way everything just went down, it’s not me.
“Ava!” I lift my head to find my mother standing in the open doorway of the kitchen, her expression somber. “Come inside. Now.”
Rising to my feet, I clutch the pendant in my palm and march toward my punishment. I hang my head as I enter the kitchen, not wanting to look at any of them. Especially Jake. His anger radiates off of him, all of it aimed straight at me. Mom closes the door but, otherwise, says nothing. Neither does Jake. Or Dad.
It’s a very uncomfortable silence full of thick tension that seems to last ten minutes, but is probably more like thirty seconds before my dad can’t take it any longer.
“Ava.” His tone is firm, yet gentle. He’s mad, but he doesn’t want to show it. “Tell me what Eli Bennett was doing at our house at this time of night.”
Jake snorts. “What do you think—”
“Enough,” Dad says, silencing my big brother.
This gives me immense satisfaction. Lifting my head, I meet my father’s gaze head on. “We’re together. Well…we were.” 


 

Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.

She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

FOLLOW: Goodreads/ Website/ Facebook/ Twitter / Newsletter Sign Up

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Falling by Katherine Cobb – a Review

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Falling by Katherine Cobb – a Review

 

Amazon

 

Description:

Sometimes falling for boys is perilous.

Anna wants a boyfriend from her first day of high school, but gets into hot water when she finds herself with two. First she falls for funny, shy Pete. Then heartthrob Alec comes out of nowhere and aggressively pursues her. She must choose one…or lose both. When everything goes south and the unthinkable happens, Anna is left numb and lost.

A second chance to experience true love emerges, and Anna plunges in. But pressures to fit in, combined with her own emotional fragility, lead her down turbulent paths—and increasing non-parent-approved choices.

Boy troubles. Friend fallouts. Unreasonable parents. Heartbreaking betrayals.

Will Anna overcome…or will she freefall into the abyss?

 

 

Review:

Falling by Katherine Cobb is an in your face, scathing coming of age story based in the late 1970’s.

Anna Trapani is starting her sophomore year of high school in 1978. What ensues is an explicit, authentic, true to life coming of age story. Anna is beginning her sophomore year with her best friends Katy and Michelle and she is excited and ready for the new experience. We quickly see how Anna’s good looks imbues her, quite easily with boys and in finding her place at school. But she soon learns that choosing the right boy isn’t always the easiest thing. 

Anna struggles, as many of us have, with following her own morals/beliefs and giving into the pressure put on you by your peers. Vividly showing us what Anna (and even ourselves) did to just fit in while navigating “girlhood!”

The story wonderfully portrays life as a teen in 1978, complete with the good and bad. 

Anna finds romance with Pete. Her first official boyfriend.  She quickly finds herself falling for Pete. But she wants more, she just wants him to make a move and kiss her. When that doesn’t happen as quickly as she would like, she finds herself being pursued by senior football player Alec Mays. Alec quickly invades Anna’s life, even though she is still with Pete.  

Anna quickly learns the hard lesson (that no girl should ever have to learn)  of putting yourself into dangerous situations and consent. Heartbreaking yet graphically honest and raw, I believe it is a lesson all young girls experience to varying degrees, and at some point.

Anna slowly begins to change over time and begins leaving behind her long time friends and replacing them with new ones. Its hard to realize you and your life long friends have changed and that there seems to be no mutual connections anymore! Yet the story continues on. Anna struggles with her parents still treating her like a young child and then dealing with the consequences of her own choices. It ends with Anna and the ultimate price being paid. But who pays that price? Anna, her friends, her parents? 
This book has trials and tribulations that many of us faced growing up! Which brought back a flood of memories – both good and bad! It was the ultimate walk down memory lane but without the shiny, watered down cleaned up fairytale version many give us! 
I am not going to lie, I enjoyed the beginning of this book quite immensely.

Somewhere are the middle I was like, wow this fifteen year old girl has gone off the rails. Her life is spinning out of control and no one is doing anything to try and help her! And I was annoyed. But the end of the book and the authors afterword spoke volumes. 

Somewhere I got lost in the story and forgot that this was the late seventies, early eighties. This coming if age could span generations, in that a girl from the 1970’s could relate to Anna and a girl from 2020 could also! Timeless!
This book delves into the raw yet realistic subjects of peer pressure, consent, sex, drugs, and emotional abuse. There is no sugar coating it this is real life. Great read for adults and mature teens.

Reviewed by Erin

Copy supplied for review

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CLOSE TO ME (The Callahans #1) by Monica Murphy-Review & Excerpt tour

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CLOSE TO ME (The Callahans #1) by Monica Murphy-Review & Excerpt tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play

About the book: Release Date February 11, 2020

Asher Davis. My first crush.

My first kiss.

The boy who ripped my heart out of my chest again and again. Over and over. I let him have it every single time.

Willingly.

We are that toxic high school couple you hear about, the one you witness in the hallway avoiding each other. You laugh at them in class when they’re forced to work together, their gazes full of hatred. We are the couple you gossip about when they win homecoming prince and princess their sophomore year…

The back and forth is what kills me the most. I’m not his princess, I’m the girl he toys with when he’s bored. And he’s definitely not my prince, no matter how badly I want him to be.

Our senior year and we’re months away from never having to see each other again when disaster strikes—and brings us closer together. All it takes is one touch, and I’m burning for Ash. Hotter than I ever have.

But will that burn turn into a devastating fire? Or can we actually make it work this time?

•••••••••••

REVIEW: CLOSE TO ME is the first instalment in Monica Murphy’s contemporary, young adult THE CALLAHANS romance series focusing on the Callahan siblings-a spin off from the author’s ONE WEEK GIRLFRIEND series. This is high school students Asher Davis, and Autumn Callahan’s story line.

Told from several first person perspectives including Asher and Autumn CLOSE TO ME covers four to five years in the life of high school students Asher Davis, and Autumn Callahan. Autumn Callahan is the eldest child and daughter of former NFL quarterback Drew Callahan and his wife Fable, and as such finds herself often on the outside looking in but her four year, love/hate relationship with high school quarterback Asher Davis pulls our heroine into the vortex that is about to suck Asher Davis into the depths of h*ll. When trouble at home finds Asher living with Coach Callahan, his relationship with Autumn is stepped up to the next level, no longer a love/hate relationship but a teenaged love affair wherein Asher’s past is determined to destroy them all. What ensues is the building friendship, relationship and romance between Asher and Autumn, and the potential fall-out as Asher’s home-life, and previous relationships affect everything going forward.

The relationship between Asher and Autumn begins acrimoniously as Asher’s attempts to befriend Autumn are met with derision and scorn. Autumn struggles to accept everything that Asher represents without ever truly understanding the totality of the darkness that controls his world. As Autumn and Asher dance around one another throughout their entire high school career, Asher’s life begins to implode leaving our hero a shell of his former self. The $ex scenes are intimate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The colorful and energetic cast of characters include Drew and Fable Callahan (One Week Girlfriend series), as well as their children Jake, Ava and Beck; Autumn’s friend Kaya; several high school students, mean girls and wanna-bes. Jake’s story is next in Falling For Her.

CLOSE TO ME is a story of family, dysfunction, betrayal, secrets and lies; of one boy’s struggle to survive against the odds; of one girl’s need to love a boy who believes he is not worthy of love. The premise is heart breaking and emotional; the romance is passionate; the characters are charismatic, broken, struggling but strong.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

“Do friends give each other hugs? The friends I have do. Sometimes.”
“There is no way I’m hugging you.” I roll my eyes.
“A truce hug then? Come on.” He lets go of the door handle and faces me fully, stretching his arms out in invitation. “I’ll leave you alone after this, okay? I promise.”
I’m not sure if he’s the type who keeps his promises. I’m guessing no.
This could be the last time I hug him. This entire encounter has been weird. Confusing. We’re a mess. We would never work, and us going ’round and ’round in circles tonight just proves that.
So what’s the harm in getting one last hug from Ash? It’s just a hug. A brief moment of bodily contact and then I’ll send him away. He won’t bug me again. He’ll get over his so-called feelings for me. He’ll give his heart to someone else or even better, he’ll discover he actually has one, and he’ll forget all about me. He’ll give it to someone else, and he’ll finally leave me alone forever.
Why does that thought make me feel so empty inside?
Deciding it’s do or die time, I walk right into his hug, my arms sliding around his waist, my head resting on his chest. I can feel the steady thump-thump of his heartbeat and I close my eyes when his arms come around me. Slowly. Enfolding me into his body so that we’re snug tight.
He holds me with a desperation, almost as if he’s afraid to let me go, and when I lift my head, tilting it back so I can stare into his eyes, I find he’s already watching me.
“Friends don’t make each other feel like this,” he says, his voice a gravelly whisper.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise. “Feel like what?”
“Like you could be my everything.”
My shoulders sag. “Ash—”
“Stop talking.” He presses two fingers to my lips, silencing me. When he’s seemingly assured I won’t speak, he lightens the pressure, gently caressing my lips. Back and forth. Making me tingle.
Making me want him to do more than touch my mouth.
I want him to kiss me.
“You have the sexiest lips,” he murmurs, and the blush returns, setting my face on fire. No one has referred to me as sexy before. “What we’re doing is fucking crazy. You know this right, Callahan?”
I ignore his question. “How could I be your everything when you told me you don’t know how to feel?”
“The only time I seem to feel is when…” He presses his fingers into the corner of my mouth, so gentle, I could almost think he never actually touched me. “I’m with you.”

Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.

She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

FOLLOW: Goodreads/ Website/ Facebook/ Twitter / Newsletter Sign Up

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