Taylor Fenner's Blog, page 64

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 26 April 2021

#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.
Happy Monday Bookdragons! Last week I started several books that are now in various states of being read. I'm not in much of a reading mood lately since I've gotten back into writing more. Then Saturday my mom and I and a friend took a girl's day and headed down to Milwaukee for a little shopping. It felt nice to get out and do something normal again. 
What I Read Last Week: Started reading my current reads ↓
Currently Reading:Rule by Jay Crownover This is a re-read for me. I've been wanting to reread this one for a while because I love this series. I'm enjoying it the second time around but like I mentioned, I haven't been in a big reading mood lately. 
A Wicked and Beautiful Garden by Katie McGarry  I was picked for Katie McGarry's review team and I've been gobbling up this book. As of last night I'm halfway through and hoping to finish it in the next day or so. It's Katie's Adult Fantasy Romance debut and it has my favorite trope: second chance romance! It's so good and I definitely recommend it!
Next ReadShadow Touched by Becky Moynihan My signed copy arrived on Saturday! I read the first chapter and it grabbed me but I have enough books going right now that I'm making myself wait. I'm going to start it immediately after I finish reading A Wicked and Beautiful Garden. 
*** 
 What are you reading this week? 

{Cover Reveal} STEALING INFINITY by ALYSON NOEL

 

Hey Bookdragons! Today I'm excited to help Entangled Teen share with you the gorgeous cover of Alyson Noel's upcoming novel, STEALING INFINITY! When I signed up for the reveal I just knew the reveal was a surprise, not who the author was going to be but I'm so pleased to see that it's one of my favorite authors! Check out the gorgeous cover below and add it to your Goodreads TBR!

About the Book

Title: Stealing Infinity

Author: Alyson Noel

Release Date: February 2, 2022

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance, Time-Travel

Blurb:

When a young girl with an usual gift is whisked away to an academy for time-travelling teens, she becomes the target for a sinister organization hell-bent on rewriting history in this clever and fast-paced YA that is guaranteed to become your next fantasy romance obsession.

Add to Goodreads

Buyer Beware: Author Newsletter Builders

 Imagine this: you’re an indie author trying to build your audience through your newsletter. But you have 20 subscribers and you personally know 17 of them. So you see a company that helps you build your newsletter subscribers through giveaways you “buy into” geared toward readers in your genre.

You think, that sounds reasonable. The buy-in is $25 (or a little more depending) and all you have to do is share the link for the giveaway in your newsletter and you’ll get 1000-2000 new subscribers? Potential readers that will buy your book and bring in income? And you’ve checked, right? The builder is run by a fellow indie author that boasts “USA Today Bestselling Author” before her name. What could go wrong?

Well, a month later the builder runs. You submit your proof of sharing and wait for the giveaway to end so you can collect your list of new subscribers to import into your email list.

1700 new subscribers! Score! So you send your welcome email (as advised) then 3 successive emails spread over 3 months about your upcoming release. Your campaign stats come in as follows:

50-100 unsubscribes per email5+ abuse complaints claiming they never signed up for your newsletter even though when they entered the giveaway they clicked that they understood they were signing up for all the participating authors’ email listsAnd a staggering 400 bounces (undeliverable emails due to there being no such email address) 

How can this be, you wonder? The host of the giveaway specifically said she vetted the entries to make sure they weren’t spam or bots and yet you’re looking at 400 fake accounts with strange domain emails like us1-gmail.com, yahoobox.com, autohotmail.com, and mailmie.com to name a few. Just the time alone to archive, delete, and sort through these fake accounts is exhausting. 

By the time you’re done you’re down to maybe 1200 real, live subscribers and the unsubscribes keep coming in with each month you send out a newsletter. And of the ones that actually open and read the email 80% are only interested in what they can get for free. They don’t want to buy your book. They want it handed to them free! 

So what are you gaining? Nothing. Before you spend part of your small marketing budget on one of these builders weigh the costs and decide if it is really worth it. For me, it definitely wasn’t. 

What I'm Binge-Watching - 22 April 2021

What I'm Binge-Watching is a weekly meme to document all of our favorite binging obsessions. Follow along and let me know what you've been binge-watching lately!

Continuing

Current Episode: Season 8 Episode 1 - Bite the Big Apple Finally getting to season 8 and honestly I'm considering just going back to the beginning and watching earlier episodes but there are still a few episodes I love toward the end of the series that I want to watch. Season 8 is where Jessica gets an apartment in New York City and things kind of go downhill from there episode-wise. I prefer her in Cabot Cove over New York.

Current Episode: Season 5, Episode 9 - Care for Bear

We're back to watching this on the weekends when there isn't anything else to watch. They're interesting to watch, especially seeing all the weird things that pets eat, but sometimes you watch too many episodes at once so we have to take a break.

 

New Obsessions & Recent Binges

The Disappearance of Maura Murray I kept seeing this when I turned on the Peacock App to watch Murder, She Wrote and my mom and I binged it last Friday and Saturday. Since it is "the disappearance of" and not "the murder of" we're of course left with no resolution but it was interesting stuff. I honestly think Maura is alive out there not wanting to be found. She seemed to have quite a few legal issues and probably just wanted to start over somewhere else. But who knows?
Current Episode: Season 1, Episode 9 - The Long Shot How well do you know me? Do you know that I'm a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan? Well I am! I've known about this show but it wasn't streaming on any of the streaming services that I use... until I started watching the Peacock app. I finally was able to watch a few episodes last weekend... and I'm a little underwhelmed. Some of the episodes are good, like Breakdown with one of my favorite actors from that time, Joseph Cotten while others, like the dreadful cowboy episode, Triggers in Leash were just plain boring. I'll probably continue watching when I don't have anything else to watch. And maybe plan a Hitchcock movie marathon day soon!

Just Added to My Watchlist/Waiting on Watching

Current Episode: Series 1, Episode 1 - Photochemistry So I broke down and did a free trial month of Acorn TV. I was using FilmRise to watch Midsomer Murders but the commercials - that were skippy and never played right - were often spliced into random parts of the show, even mid-sentence which was driving me nuts! I've had Acorn before and always meant to watch Dead Still when I had it before so I think I'll give it a try this weekend. There's definitely more to offer on Acorn than BritBox so I might commit to a whole year subscription once my free trial ends!

What are you currently binge-watching? Will you be watching Shadow and Bone when it premieres tomorrow? What are some of your latest obsessions that you couldn't get enough of? Let me know in the comments!Happy binging!

I Can't Wait For... SAY I'M THE ONE

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.
I have several of this author's books on my kindle that I haven't had a chance to read yet but when I saw this one in her latest newsletter I had to add it to the top of my TBR... 

Say I'm the One
All of Me Duet, Book 1
by Siobhan Davis
Contemporary Romance
eBook, Paperback (presumably)
April 30, 2021 by Siobhan Davis

Blurb:
From the USA Today bestselling author of Inseparable and When Forever Changes comes another emotional, angsty, new adult romance that will rip your heart apart before mending it again.

I’m head over heels in love with my best friend. Although, I can’t pinpoint exactly when Reeve Lancaster became my entire world.

Was it when we were little kids, practically brought up together, after Reeve’s mom died during childbirth and his dad subsequently fell apart? Or when I doodled his name in my school journal at age ten? Maybe it was when we became boyfriend and girlfriend at fourteen or when we shed our virginity at sixteen, pledging our forever?

I was there as his star ascended—like I’d always known it would—and there wasn’t a prouder person on the planet. As the only child of Hollywood’s golden couple, I’ve lived my life in the spotlight enough to know it wasn’t what I wanted for my future. But I sacrificed my own desires, because Reeve’s happiness meant everything to me.

Until he crushed my heart into itty-bitty pieces, forcing me to fly halfway around the world just to escape the gut-wrenching pain.

The opportunity to study at Trinity College Dublin came at the perfect moment, and I jumped at the chance without hesitation. If I’d known fate was meddling in my life, perhaps I would have chosen differently, but my future was cemented the instant I laid eyes on him.

Dillon O’Donoghue was Reeve’s polar opposite in every way, and perhaps, that’s why I felt drawn to him. He was the dark to my light. The thorn in my side, irritating me with his cold disdain, wild recklessness, and a burning rage hidden deep inside him that spoke to a silent part within me. Yet Dillon showed me what it was like to truly live, opening my eyes to endless possibilities.

What happened next was inevitable, and I only have myself to blame. He warned me, and I knew my reprieve was temporary, because there is only so far I can run.

Especially when fate hasn’t finished messing with me yet.

This is a full-length 168K-word second-chance romance novel that is book one of two. It cannot be read as a stand-alone, and it ends on a cliff-hanger. Recommended to readers aged eighteen and older.

Add to Goodreads 
***Will you be checking this book out? Have you read anything else by Siobhan Davis?

What I'm Binge-Watching - 15 April 2021

What I'm Binge-Watching is a weekly meme to document all of our favorite binging obsessions. Follow along and let me know what you've been binge-watching lately!

Continuing

Current Episode: Season 7 Episode 2 - Deadly Misunderstanding I made it to season 7 but there are a still a few episodes in other people's perspectives. I might skip over those. 

New Obsessions & Recent Binges

Current Episode: Season 4, Episode 1 - A Little Miracle

We haven't watched this for a while and we were uninspired with our tv binging last weekend so we spent all weekend binging the end of season 2 and all of season 3. 

Ed Gein: The Real Psycho This was a one-off on Discovery+ but as a Wisconsinite I had to watch. Less than 70 miles from where I live Ed Gein lived and killed. He had two known victims, both women, and he also dug people up and used their skin to make furniture. This was an interesting documentary but I wasn't expecting it to have a ghost-hunting angle to it. It didn't take away from it, I just wasn't expecting it. 

Just Added to My Watchlist/Waiting on Watching

Current Episode: Series 1, Episode 3 - The Language of Flowers So they took Midsomer Murders off BritBox (except seasons 19-21) but I have a year's subscription to the app that is non-refundable. I watch Coronation Street on it but it only airs 3 times a week and I'm all caught up. Oh - don't worry - I did find another app to watch older episodes of Midsomer Murders. Anyway, so I had this show on my watchlist. It's not bad. I've only watched a couple episodes so far. I still have a hard time not seeing Pam Ferris as Miss Trunchbull from Matilda though! 😂

What are you currently binge-watching? What are some of your latest obsessions that you couldn't get enough of? Let me know in the comments!Happy binging!

I Can't Wait For... My Heart is A Chainsaw!

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.
I keep seeing an ad for this one on the website of my favorite independent bookstore... 

My Heart is A Chainsaw
Standalone
by Stephen Graham Jones
Horror/Thriller
eBook, Paperback, 416 Pages
August 31, 2021 by Gallery/Saga Press

Blurb:
In her quickly gentrifying rural lake town Jade sees recent events only her encyclopedic knowledge of horror films could have prepared her for in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.

“Some girls just don’t know how to die…”

Shirley Jackson meets Friday the 13th in My Heart Is a Chainsaw, written by the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians Stephen Graham Jones, called “a literary master” by National Book Award winner Tananarive Due and “one of our most talented living writers” by Tommy Orange.

Alma Katsu calls My Heart Is a Chainsaw “a homage to slasher films that also manages to defy and transcend genre.” On the surface is a story of murder in small-town America. But beneath is its beating heart: a biting critique of American colonialism, Indigenous displacement, and gentrification, and a heartbreaking portrait of a broken young girl who uses horror movies to cope with the horror of her own life.

Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. And Jade narrates the quirky history of Proofrock as if it is one of those movies. But when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot will unfold.

Yet, even as Jade drags us into her dark fever dream, a surprising and intimate portrait emerges…a portrait of the scared and traumatized little girl beneath the Jason Voorhees mask: angry, yes, but also a girl who easily cries, fiercely loves, and desperately wants a home. A girl whose feelings are too big for her body. My Heart Is a Chainsaw is her story, her homage to horror and revenge and triumph.
Add to Goodreads | Amazon | Snowbound Books (Support my favorite indie bookstore and get a preorder gift)
***Will you be checking this book out? 

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Book Titles That Sound Like They Could Be Crayola Crayon Colors

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish and currently hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Book Titles That Sound Like They Could Be Crayola Crayon ColorsThis week’s TTT is all about book titles that sound like they could be Crayola crayon colors. I know they have a lot of weird names for crayons... so let's make some weird colors!  1. Shiver by Allie Reynolds I'm seeing this as a gray color. Or maybe a pink color... like blood on snow.
2. 15 Minutes of Flame by Christen Brecher
This could be a shade of orange. 

3. Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel This could be a red or orange-ish yellow.  
4. We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia Dark red for this one. 

5. Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst Another shade of orange for this one... I seem to have reds, oranges, and yellows on the brain.


6. The Lantern's Ember by Colleen Houck A soft shade of yellow. 


7. Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
A dark blue or purple, like the night sky just before it gets completely dark. 
8. Sublime by Christina Lauren
I'm thinking a play on words here... sublime... sub lime... a shade of green

9. Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers
A shade of blue... Truest Blue. Doesn't it sound good?


10. Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey A shocking shade of purple!

***What book titles do you think sound like funky Crayola colors?Let me know in the comments or drop a link to your TTT!Happy Reading Bookdragons!-Taylor

{RELEASE DAY BLITZ} Not Pretending Anymore by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

Title: Not Pretending AnymoreAuthors: Penelope Ward & Vi KeelandGenre: Standalone Contemporary RomanceRelease Date: April 12, 2021

BLURB
Finding a good roommate through a classified ad isn’t as easy as it sounds.I was starting to lose hope.Until a knock at my door came and God answered my prayers.Except…uh…wrong prayer, God.I’d definitely requested the big guy find me a drop-dead gorgeous man on more than one occasion...just not as my roommate.Declan Tate talked me into interviewing him anyway.While he was amusing and charismatic, I wouldn’t have been comfortable living with a man, so I regretfully declined.Then cupcakes showed up at my door—freshly baked by Declan and just as sinfully delicious as he was.You could say he was persistent.I eventually folded. It wasn’t like I had another viable candidate anyway.Plus, I was interested in someone else. And Declan was into another woman. So it wasn’t like anything would happen romantically.After he moved in, the two of us became the best of friends. We even started to give each other advice on getting our crushes to notice us.Eventually, Declan concocted an idea: we should pretend to be a couple to make our love interests jealous.I was hesitant, but went along with it anyway. To my utter shock, his crazy plan worked.Now I was dating the supposed man of my dreams, and my best friend had the woman of his.But there was one problem.I couldn’t stop thinking about Declan.Those feelings we were trying to fake?Yeah…I wasn’t pretending anymore.

ADD TO GOODREADS




PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited

ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK & AUDIO
PAPERBACK / AUDIOBOOK





PENELOPE WARD

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance. 
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism. 
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
FACEBOOK FACEBOOK GROUP INSTAGRAM TWITTER

VI KEELAND

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in twenty-five languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
FACEBOOKPROFILE / PAGE / GROUP WEBSITE TWITTER INSTAGRAM
GOODREADS



OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE & VI

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited
ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK & AUDIO
PAPERBACK / AUDIOBOOK


AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited
ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK & AUDIO
PAPERBACK / AUDIOBOOK

OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AUB&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKSGOOGLE PLAY / PAPERBACK AUDIOBOOK


AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
GOOGLE PLAY / PAPERBACK AUDIOBOOK

OTHER BOOKS BY VI

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AUB&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKSGOOGLE PLAY / PAPERBACK AUDIOBOOK


AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
GOOGLE PLAY /  PAPERBACK AUDIOBOOK

Find more booksat http://www.penelopewardauthor.com and  http://www.vikeeland.com

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 12 April 2021

#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.
Happy Monday Bookdragons! Last week I got back on track and had a really good reading week. 
What I Read Last Week: Shiver by Allie Reynolds I really enjoyed this book. It's a locked-door thriller set at a ski/snowboarding resort in France with And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie vibes. I kept seeing it on bookstagram and it was definitely worth checking out!
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
I did not enjoy it at all. I should have known because it's a Reese Witherspoon pick and I'm always leery of her choices. But I kept seeing it on bookstagram and it sounded good so I bought it at the same time as Shiver. They seemed like they were both on the same theme and I should have enjoyed them both. It started out creepy and promising. But only a few pages in I couldn't stand the main character, Elin. Even that far into the book I wondered how she could possibly have ever been a detective with the type of personality she had. Anxiety and being a cop are not a good mix. I got about 30-40 pages in but I couldn't get past how much I disliked Elin. 
Currently Reading:Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw
{Placeholder}
Next ReadTuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
I've had this book for a while and I'm determined to read it this month. I actually thought it was about something completely different when I picked it up than when I just read the blurb as I was preparing this post so I'll see how I like it. It's worth a shot right?
*** 
 What are you reading this week? Have you read any of these books?