Nadette Rae Rodgers's Blog, page 2

Welcome Back! | Life Update

Hi everyone!

It’s been quite a while since my last blog post on here!

I thought I’d share a quick life update with you all before getting back in the swing of blogging.

I graduated from my undergraduate program this past December and am now in grad school, studying to be a Speech Language Pathologist. I’m about a month into my grad program and loving it so far!

All three books of The Illusion Trilogy are out in the world! I am blown away by the awesome feedback and reviews I’ve been getting on the newest and last book in the trilogy, Sweet Dreams. That book in particular was very close to my heart, so it means the world my readers are loving Addison & Zach’s journey as well!

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I have been visiting schools in the Pittsburgh area, reading my children’s books for kindergarten story times and talking with 7th and 8th graders, and high schoolers about writing and following their dreams! I really love the opportunity to share my story and encourage young writers! It is such a cool feeling getting to talk to the students about writing, since around their age is when I wrote Illusion. I love hearing their creative ideas!

I am currently reading two books! The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen and Own Your Everyday by Jordan Lee Dooley. I’ve been trying to be more intentional about reading and really carve out time to read things not assigned for class. I love reading, but sometimes when you read so much for school, you don’t necessarily want to or have time to read more once your homework is all done. But I’ve found that reading a page or two of a book I like before bed helps me unwind from the day and fall asleep faster, too!

I want to get back to sharing more on the blog here! So, comment below with book suggestions or what kind of topics or questions for me that you guys want me to talk about!

Wishing you all light, love & sweet dreams!

~Nadette Rae

My Summer Writing Playlist

Hey y’all!

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that music is something that really inspires me and is a driving force in my writing!

This summer I have some really neat (secret) projects that I’m working on! While I’ve been working on these projects, there are some songs that I have had on repeat– listening to them over and over while my fingers fly across the keyboard, typing out the stories in my mind.

So, I thought I’d share some of these songs with you! Lately, on my Instagram stories, I have been sharing some of these songs, so be sure to check out my “Music” story highlight reel on @nadetterae.

But here is a list of some of these songs:

“With You I Am” by Cody Johnson (he is one of my favorite new country artists! I have been listening to his songs on repeat all summer!)
“Dance Her Home” by Cody Johnson
“On My Way to You” by Cody Johnson (can you tell yet how much I love Cody Johnson music?)
“There was this Girl” by Riley Green (such a good summer time, back road driving song)
“The Bones” by Maren Morris
“Here with Me” by Chvrches
“East Side” by Halsey and Benny Blanco
“Walk Like Him” by Mitchell Tenpenny
“Somebody’s Got Me” by Mitchell Tenpenny
“My Side of the Fence” by Dan + Shay
“19 You & Me” by Dan + Shay (perfect song for the summer of 2019! get it? LOL)
“I Never Told You” by Colbie Caillat
“Can I Be Him?” by James Arthur
“Back to Life” by Rascal Flatts
“Truth Hurts” by Lizzo

These are just some of the songs that I’ve been listening to lately! What are your favorite summer songs this year? Leave a comment with some songs

Happy Summer!

~Nadette Rae

New upcoming events!

Hi all!

This is just a little note to say I’ve updated my Upcoming Events page and added a few author appearances and book signings I’ll be attending this Fall!

Check it out here. 

I’ll be attending these events with all three novels in my YA romance-thriller trilogy, The Illusion Trilogy! The final book in the series was just released this past fall.

I will also have my children’s books with me: Hoo Loves You and Hoo’s Birthday Is It?

And I may just have something new with me too, so be sure to keep checking back and click the follow button to the side!

If you have any upcoming events or book club gatherings you would like me to visit, contact me here! 

See you all soon!

~Nadette Rae

Summer Reads: My TBR

HAPPY SUMMER Y’ALL!

I thought I’d share my summer to be read (TBR) pile with you!

Last summer, I was working on the final book in my trilogy, as well as, my second children’s book (Hoo’s Birthday Is It?), so I did not spend as much time reading as I would have liked. So, this summer, I want to spend more time reading because reading (especially at the beach or sitting in the sun in my backyard) makes me really happy.

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This summer, I really want to read:

Snow Falling by Jane Gloriana Villanueva (based on the book from the hit CW show, Jane the Virgin) – I recently started watching this show on Netflix and love the fact that Jane’s a writer! I was so excited when I saw that the book from the show is an actual book I can read. Can’t wait to read this! (I’m waiting until I finish season 5 to start reading it, though.)
The Hope Chest by Viola Shipman – I started reading this book the last time I was at the beach (around Christmas time) but decided to restart it this vacation so I can read it all in one sitting. So far, I am really, really loving this story! I cannot wait to see where this story line goes.
The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman (in above photo) – Based on how much I am loving The Hope Chest, I really want to read this one by the author too!
Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
A Kasie West novel
A Morgan Matson novel
A Siobhan Vivian novel

What books do you have on your summer reading TBR? Let me know in the comments because I’m looking for some new books to read this summer!

Happy Reading & Happy Summer!

~Nadette Rae

Happy Summer!

Hi everyone!

Happy Summer!

It’s been a crazy school year for me (I’m in my last year of undergrad for Speech Pathology). But I’m back now and will be posting more here on the blog and also on my Instagram accounts.

Follow @nadetterae for posts about my life as a writer/author and info about my novels and kids’ books, as well as info about new projects!

Follow @nadetteraereads for my Bookstagram account: photos of the books I’m currently reading and my reviews and recommendations.

Thanks so much for going through this journey with me! I can’t wait to share new things with you all soon!

Happy Summer!

~Nadette Rae

Summer Reads: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Book: The Summer I Turned Pretty 

Series: The Summer Series (Book #1) 

Author: Jenny Han

My Rating: 5 Stars! *****

Synopsis (via Goodreads): 
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.
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My thoughts:

What I really loved about this book was how the essence of summer was such a driving theme. I love how Belly says her years are measured in summers. I think that’s how most people feel growing up; you just keep waiting for summer to get there, counting down the days until school is out. So I really loved how Belly talked about summer. I thought it was so relatable. 

I could not put this book down! I was so invested in the story and rooting for Belly that I just couldn’t put it down. I feel like we’ve all been there, liking someone who you didn’t think would ever like you back. Belly’s feelings for Conrad are exactly like that, so I feel that the way Jenny Han wrote those parts were also really relatable. 

Speaking of Conrad…how cute is Conrad’s character?! At this point in the trilogy, I feel like there’s a lot more we don’t see about Conrad, so I really want to see where Han takes his piece of the story line! I just feel like Conrad is one of those misunderstood guys and that there’s more we don’t see to him. 

Who here is Team Conrad? Who’s team Jeremiah? 

I also really love Susannah’s character. I think she seems so kind-hearted and wise. I just really love her as a character in this book. 

This book is quite honestly the perfect book for these last few days of summer weather before Fall officially arrives! It’s a good book to end your summer reading list with. 

If you love cheesy love stories or love triangles or summer vacation or the beach…this book is for you! I also can’t say enough how gorgeous this edition’s cover is! Seriously, the sea shells are so perfect and the cover just says “summer”. 

What were your thoughts on this book? Let me know! 

Happy Reading! 

-Nadette 

Tomorrow!

Hi all!!!

Just wanted to post a quick reminder that tomorrow is the Beaver County Book Fest!

Click here to see the BCBF website for details.

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I will be there with all of my books to sign, including my newest children’s book “Hoo’s Birthday Is It?” AND the not-yet-released “Sweet Dreams”, which is the final book in my YA romance-thriller trilogy and doesn’t come out until next week!

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So be sure to stop on by! I’ll be running a special all day just for this event, so be sure to come check that out!

You’re Invited!

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I am so thrilled to announce that the book release party for Sweet Dreams (Book Three of The Illusion Trilogy) will be held at @crazymochapgh on Walnut Street in Sewickley! I am so excited for this event! •

It is Saturday, September 15th, 2018 from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. It’s an open house, so feel free to stop by whenever! Crazy Mocha has amazing coffee, so be sure to grab a coffee to enjoy with a signed copy of my latest book!

Sweet Dreams, the Final Installment in the Illusion Series | Nadette Rae Rodgers

This quite honestly may be the best review of my series ever.

Thank you so much, Nino, for your kind words! This truly made my day!

Enchanted Readers

For the last two years I’ve been writing about the Illusion Series by Nadette Rae Rodgers. If you don’t know what that series is about, don’t worry, I got you covered. 

“Everybody dreams, everyone has nightmares…but no one dreams quite like Addison Smith. Addison has always had unusual dreams. However, the crazy factor has risen to a whole new level. Still, she doesn’t realize just how unique she is. But one day, Addison wakes up covered in bruises with blood on her pillow, and she realizes that maybe her dreams aren’t so normal after all. Someone or something is causing all of this, but she doesn’t know who and she doesn’t know why. Suddenly the guy of her dreams (literally) becomes the new kid at school and turns her world upside down. Before she knows it, the line between reality and her dream world blurs. What is real? What…

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Summer Reads: The Summer Series

Hi All!

Happy Thursday! I hope the sun is shining wherever you are and you are soaking in these remaining days of the summer sun. I know I am!

How many of you have watched the Netflix original movie, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before? (based on the Jenny Han novel)

I did! And honestly, it was amazing! It made me so excited to read that series! I am hoping to read it this Fall! I have heard such great things about it. I loved The Summer Series, and if those books are anything like The Summer Series, I will definitely love them!

So, today because it is summer and sunny and I’m still thinking about the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before movie, I wanted to have a Jenny Han post and talk about Han’s other series: The Summer Series.

Today, I’m going to talk about all three books together and my thoughts on the trilogy as a whole and then over the next few days, I’ll be talking about each book in the series and reviewing them.

The Summer Series 

Written By: Jenny Han 

Books in this series: THREE AMAZING ONES

My Overall Series Rating: 5 STARS ALL THE WAY 

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Okay, so being honest I had read “It’s Not Summer Without You” years ago when a friend gave it to me to read over the summer. I read the book and I enjoyed it, BUT did not realize that it was the second book in The Summer Series by Jenny Han. I realized this about half-way through reading it. It was still really good and a very cute story, but I really wanted to know the back story of what happened the summer before.

Fast forward to THIS summer: I was at Barnes & Noble looking for a summer book or a new series to start when I stumbled across The Summer I Turned Pretty. I looked next to it on the shelf and saw It’s Not Summer Without You. I realized that this was book I had been looking for the past few years!

The Barnes & Noble near me had a new edition of the books (shown in these pictures) where the covers are these gorgeous pastel colors with sea shells on it. Seriously, though, how beautiful are these covers?

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So, I bought all three books in the series because they were on sale and they were just too pretty not to!

As you all probably can tell by this point… I read a lot! I love books and I always have a book (or two) that I am reading.

But I must say, there are not many books I read that I seriously can not stop thinking about even when I’m not reading them.

The books in The Summer Series by Jenny Han are books like that!

I honestly feel bad for one of my friends, who I would constantly text and update what was going on in The Summer I Turned Pretty (and then with all the books after it). I probably spoiled all the good (amazing) parts for her! LOL I seriously could not shut about about these books!

What I loved the most about these books is how you can really see all the characters grow throughout the course of story.

Especially Conrad Fisher.

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I feel like in book one, Conrad just seems like the older brother who Belly has always been in love with. He comes across as a player who is the brooding-YA-male-lead type. But over the three books in this series, you really see who Conrad is. There is so much depth to him as a character. I really loved a lot of the scenes from his point of view in the final book in this series because you (as the reader) get a glimpse into what he’s been thinking all these years.

For the record, for those of you who have read these books, I am 100% Team Conrad ALL THE WAY! How about you? Which Fisher boy should Belly be with?

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Five Things I Loved About This Series:


The New Seashell Covers!!!


The development of the character’s personalities and backstories over time


The love triangle with Belly and the Fisher boys (Conrad & Jeremiah)


How honest it was


CONRAD FISHER

So, basically, I was really happy that I stumbled across these books at the start of this summer. I’m really glad I went back and started the series over from the beginning because it gave me such an appreciation for it! The whole story was so well-rounded and fit together so perfectly.

So… my advice to you is (if you haven’t read these books already), during these remaining days of summer, go out and read these three very summery books by Jenny Han. You won’t be disappointed.

Jenny Han, these books were so lovely! These books are exactly what summer should be! Thank you