Jennifer L. Armentrout's Blog, page 32

Sentinel Release Party plus more !

Saturday November 16, 2013 12:00 PM

Plymouth Meeting Barnes & Noble

The Metroplex

2300 Chemical Road

Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462

During the course of the signing we’ll be giving away OVER 140 books plus a chance to have dinner with me and the team over at Spencer Hill Press!

The first 40 people to arrive at the signing will receive a signed copy of DAIMON;
The first 100 people to bring a friend to the signing will receive a Spencer Hill Press or Spencer Hill Contemporary book of their choice; AND
We’ll also be giving away several swag bags with signed copies of ELIXIR during the signing.

And that’s still not all.

There will be a HUGE reveal that will take place during the signing. A big, HUGE reveal. Those attending will be the first to know.

To RSVP to the Philly signing, you can go HERE to join.

Here are some more of my upcoming signings over the next couple of weeks. More details are on my events page!

Saturday October 19th

Carlisle, PA

All day

Celebrate the Book event

***

Monday October 21st

Denver, CO

Tattered Covers Bookstore

7pm

Signing with Cora Carmack, Sophie Jordan, and Lisa Desrochers

***

November 2, 2013

Houston, Texas

8:00am – 6:00pm

ZOTZ EDUCATION CENTER

13801 Holly Park Drive

Houston, Texas 77015

***

November 9, 2013

Martinsburg, West Virgina

Books-a-Million Retail Commons Plaza

2:00pm

Signing and Discussion with Brigid Kemmerer and Wendy Higgins

Trust In Me Teaser 3

I’ve got another Trust In Me teaser for ya!

[image error]

AMAZON

B&N

Releases October 22, 2013

Digital Only

Harper Impulse

$1.99

I’m gonna give you a smexy one. Because it’s Wednesday and we all could use a little smexy.

***

I kissed her, pressing my lips to hers, working at the seam of her mouth until she opened, allowing me in. The taste of her skin had sparked a fire deep inside me, but the feel of her warm mouth ignited a blazing fire. I couldn’t get enough of her lips, of her kisses or the soft, breathy sounds she was making.

I groaned as I slid my hand out from underneath her, guiding her onto her back. Her body immediately stiffened, and I knew I needed to tone it down. The last thing I wanted was to scare her.

God, that was the last thing.

Cupping her cheek, I softly kissed her until her body relaxed under mine and then, shocking the hell out of me, her small hand ended up under my shirt, pressing against the bare skin of my abs.

It was like being branded.

Heat roared through my veins as my body jerked on reflex. Air punched from my lungs. She wanted to touch me? Holy hell, she could touch me. I pulled back, reached down and yanked my shirt over my head.

Avery’s mouth parted as her gaze moved over my chest, the tattoo, and then down. It was like a touch, but better. My body was burning to feel hers.

I tugged the comforter down and planted my hands on either side of her head, tangling them in her hair. There was a primal part that took over when her hands flattened over the lower part of my stomach. My entire body tightened.

I dropped my forehead to hers. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

***

Don’t forget by pre-ordering Trust In Me, you can read the first 5 chapters of Be With Me on October 30th. All you need to do is fill out this FORM and that’s all.

I have some contest winners to announce!

Stir Me Up Giveaway winners of White Hot Kiss

Lorelei McDonough

Jessica Baker

Cam’s Cookies Giveaway winner

Eva Alexandra Martinez

I’ve got another giveaway for you!

Prize!

This giveaway has a little bit of everything. Adult paranormal books, contemporaries, and a turtle charm bracelet. All books by me are signed.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please enter with valid email addresses that you check on the regular. I’ve had a couple of winners not claim their prizes or claim over a month  later, after the prize has been given away to someone else. I usually give winners about two weeks to claim, which is more than enough time, but I will only send one email, plus update the widgets reflecting the winner. I can’t chase winners down, so please keep an eye out to see if you win. =)

Sometimes writing is like…

Sometimes writing is a lot like this.

You get an idea–a shiny idea that is all kinds of special and you can’t wait to start writing it. And you feel like the author boss because you have this GREAT IDEA.

And then you sit down and start writing.

Everything is awesome. You’re awesome. The characters are awesome. The plot is awesome. The book is awesome, but something about this idea makes you feel like this

You’re not sure what it is. But you feel… meh. You feel… ugh. You feel like…

 So you might be over reacting a little. As a writer, you’re known to be a tad bit melodramatic from time to time, especially when writing a book, but you can’t help but feel like the whole book is about to come crashing down on you.

So you know it’s time to let someone else read what you’ve gotten done. You ring-a-ding your trusted beta/crit partners and you’re like…

You wait to hear back from your beta reader. Then you do.

Your beta reader says they’re bored reading this and you’re all like:

And they talk about something to do with not connecting with the characters or really seeing that there is a plot or some shite like that and you’re still like:

But then you kind of realize (admit to yourself) that you’re bored writing the book and you’re all like:

You don’t understand. What happened to this great idea? You’re 36,000 words in, so you can’t just stop but you really have no way of fixing the problems, because hey, if there’s no real plot or character development, that’s what we like to call just a wee little problem, but you’re still like whatever.

I’m going to keep writing this book that bores my betas and that bores me! Why not!

I mean, you can’t always write good books. There’s bound to be a universally bad book in you. Like the kind of book that only 10% of the world population enjoys and you’re okay with that.

Okay. You’re not okay with that.

Why write a book that really just sucks. You look at that 36,000 words and you feel like

Wait. One second. That’s NOT how you feel. You feel like this…

Because you know… oh dear God… you know what you have to do. You’re staring at that hard earned word count, finger hovering over the delete button.

You pause, call your beta reader who was bored and tell them you’re about to delete like almost half of a book and they are like

But you know what needs to be done. It’s like killing a friend who’s turned into a brain eating zombie. (Which by the way, Walking Dead marathon starts Monday night!) It sucks to kill said friend, but friend’s gonna eat  you. So die.

So you delete the words and you’re pretty much like this afterward.

An hour later…

Three hours later…

Your significant other is like are you okay?

So you turn on the TV and zone out…

You’ve just watched 9 hours of honey boo boo and you’re like

You end up going back to what you originally planned on writing all those months ago. You know, the idea that your editor and agent LOVED and you were all warm and gushy over.

You remember that idea and are all like:

And that idea is all like…

And then you are like…

And you throw in a good

So the idea doesn’t turn on you like a rat bastard.

You start over, back to page one. It’s scary. It sucks. You try to explain it to your significant other and friends, but they are kind of like this.

But that’s okay, because you’re feeling great about this. You know this is the one. Before you know it, you’ve gotten 10,000 words on the new idea. Three chapters down. And you’re back to feeling like this.

And so, hopefully, the vicious cycle does not start again.

Trust In Me Teaser 2 and More!

It’s Trust In Me teaser time!!! Not only that, but I got a HUGE pre order incentive for you!! And of course, I got an EPIC contest for you down below the teaser. But let’s get to the juicy first.

[image error]

AMAZON

B&N

Releases October 22, 2013

Digital Only

Harper Impulse

$1.99

***

“Tomorrow night? Oh! The astronomy assignment. Yeah, it works for me.”

“Good.” I backed away, knowing I needed to get my ass to class. “See you then.”

Shortcake turned and then pivoted back to me. “Cam?”

The knot pulsed in my chest. “Yeah?”

She fiddled with her bracelet as her gaze flicked away before settling back on me. “What were you doing in the Den? Don’t you normally have class, like right now?”

I smiled as I held her gaze. “Yeah, I normally have class right now, but I wanted to see you.”

Shock splashed over her face, and then I saw the smile light up her eyes before it even hit her lips. Feeling that knot do a funny, twisting thing, I pivoted around before I grabbed her and kissed her.

Because I was really close to doing that.

I made it across the street before a low whistle caught my attention. Looking toward the left, I saw Jase standing under a tree, cell phone in hand. Damn. He must’ve hightailed his ass from West Campus.

“Skipping class without me?” he asked as I made my way over to him, his eyes obscured by the aviator shades he was wearing. Very few people could pull off those sunglasses without looking like a douche. I was not one of them.

I shrugged as my attention drifted beyond Jase’s shoulder, across the street, catching one last glimpse of Shortcake disappearing through the doors of Knutti Hall.

Jase sighed. “You’re obsessed.”

“Huh?”

He nodded toward Knutti. “I don’t think you’ve ever skipped a class to hang out with a girl before.”

I frowned. “How do you know I skipped a class to hang out with Avery?”

His brows rose above the sunglasses. “I’m not stupid.”

“That’s up for debate.”

Jase flipped me off. “Well, let’s see. Class let out early, so I came over here just in time to see you walking along like a good little boy. I called your name. You waved at me and kept going—or staring at her.”

My brows lifted as I wheeled around, heading for the doors. “That was you yelling my name?”

“Exactly,” he said, sighing. He looked at me, and all I saw was my face in his sunglasses. “Has she agreed to go out with you yet?”

“Nope.”

Jase shook his head. “Man, you are so fucked when it comes to this girl.

***

*Giggles* Bad language. *Giggles* The other teaser I was looking at how a certain body part referenced in it, so…

TRUST IN ME PRE-ORDER INCENTIVE!!!!!

Harper (William Morrow) is doing this awesome pre order incentive for Trust In Me. If you pre order  Trust In Me (or have already), all you need to do is go to this TIM PRE ORDER FORM and follow the instructions. By preo-rdering Trust In Me, you will receive an extended FIVE chapter sneak peek of Be With Me on October 30th. Yes! You’ll get the first FIVE chapters just for pre-ordering Trust In Me. So, if you’re going to read it, might as well pre-order it now to ensure you get to read the first five chapters before the book comes out.

And yes, you do get to see Cam and Avery in those chapters.

Now, the winner of the Trust In Me 1 contest (signed books and turtle charm) is Libby Gregory! Congrats. You’ve received an email from me!

Trust In Me Contest 2!

Yes! All of those books are signed!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest is International

This is a NA prize pack.

Don’t Look Back

Today is the day! The day to finally reveal the cover for my YA contemporary thriller/mystery, DON’T LOOK BACK, coming out April 15, 2014 through Disney Hyperion.

I wrote DLB (Don’t Look Back in short, lazy speak) in November 2011, in-between writing Onyx and Shadows. Yes, I wrote the prequel to Obsidian after I wrote the second book in the series. Odd, I know. Anyway, DLB sold to Disney/Hyperion in Jan 2012 and it’s already sold into 6 foreign territories—Spain, Canada, Israel, Serbia, Catalan, Germany, and Brazil. DLB was my very first jump into contemporary and my first thriller/mystery. Of course, DLB has a swoon-a-rific romance involved.

Here are what some way early reviewers had to say about DLB

“With an intriguing premise and a main character who suddenly has a new opportunity to start over,  Don’t Look Back is a haunting and bewitching book that is impossible to put down. ” Anna López,

“When you look for a good thriller for young adult readers, you want non stop action, a empathic character, unexpected twists, a deep psychological  portrait of the characters, a plausible plot and nothing too bloody.  Don’t Look Back has everything . Sammy is an incredible character, so believable from the stunning first scene, that you simply have to follow her, even if the path is full of danger.” Rocío de Isasa, editor of Maeva Young

“ The most compelling thing about Don’t Look Back is Sammy’s chance to completely reinvent herself after the traumatic events she is struggling to remember. Her process of growth, of re-evaluating her priorities, of understanding what really matters in life and making amends for past mistakes… It really sets this novel apart from other YA thrillers and gives it a very interesting depth.” Marta Armengol, editor of Maeva

Not only do I have the cover reveal, it’s a special cover reveal. Keep a close eye on it!

Ah!!!

Okay, so when I first saw this cover, I freaked a little, because it was so obvious that the cover designer read DLB. The music box figurines do play a role in the book and when you guys get done reading, you’ll totes understand!

DLB will be released in hardcover and digital, it’s a standalone, and here is the official description:

Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.

Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it’s one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took “mean girl” to a whole new level, and it’s clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She’s getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she’s falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.

But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn’t just buried deep inside of Sam’s memory-someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?


Here is the static cover


You can pre order Don’t Look Back now!
Amazon

B&N

Stir Me Up Exclusive Sneak Peek

I got something fun on the blog-a-blog today! I’ve got an exclusive excerpt form STIR ME UP by Sabrina Elkins.

Amazon

B&N

STIR ME UP releases tomorrow, October 1st, and you can pre order it now for $1.99. This book is one of my favorite young adult contemporaries. Not only does it feature a hot romance, it’s also so very meaningful and well, you just have to read it to see. It also has great crossover into New Adult.  Sabrina will also have an interview on her blog tomorrow with none other than Pepe Toth, who is featured on her cover. Her website is HERE

Excerpt

The restaurant is closed on New Year’s Day, so Dad and Estella have decided to drive up to Hogback. Hogback is this mountain with big panoramic views. To be honest, I never thought much of it, but it does have long winding roads that I think must be pretty fun to drive. Anyway, they walk out around eleven, and I decide to camp out in Julian’s bathroom with various beauty products.

“Which one do you like better?” I ask, holding up two bottles of nail polish.

He’s in the doorway, in his wheelchair, watching me. “The pink. You always do your nails while sitting up on the counter like that?”

“Yep. Why? Problem?”

“No,” he says with a smile, and turns and leaves.

I finish up, put the nail polish aside—and eye my jar of Fango mud. Hmm…

Julian looks up from the TV and notices my jar of mud and mischievous grin. “What are you up to?”

“You know, your pores are really enlarged.”

He peers at the jar in my hands. “What’s that?”

“Mud mask. Your skin could use some rebalancing.”

“Nope. No way. You’re not girling me up with that crap.”

I take the TV remote away. “How about if I just give you those stripes they put under your eyes for football?”

“Nope. No eye black.”

I shut the TV off. “War paint then?”

“Let’s put the mud back out in the yard where it belongs.”

“Not this stuff. It’s too expensive.”

“Expensive?” He takes the jar from me, opens it, sniffs it—and I push the jar onto his nose. “Ach.”

“Oops,” I say with a grin.

“All right, that’s it.” He takes some mud and tries to smear it on me, but I intercept his hand and make a grab for the jar.

“Let go,” I cry, laughing and struggling for it.

“Not a chance.”

I get some anyway. “Hah!”

“No, don’t come near me with that,” he says—and I paste him. “Ach!”

“Ooh, the big fierce warrior’s upset.” He comes in for the kill. “Wait!”

“No.”

“Yes!”

His muddy hand touches my stomach.

“Hey, faces only.”

“That’s not in the rule book.”

My eyes close as his hands smear mud across my stomach.

“There,” he says. “Now your innie’s a little mud pit.” His hand trails across my middle. I squirm slightly, and his eyes meet mine. They’re darker now, heavier. “Where next?”

My breath catches, and my mind goes blank. I can’t think of what to say in response. He reaches for more mud and smears it on my right cheek, on my forehead. Then he lowers his face down to mine, so his lips brush lightly against my lips. Our mouths briefly meet—then he looks at me. “Are you sure about this? Being with me?” His eyes are complicated. Unreadable.

“God, yes. Are you?”

He lowers his mouth back down to mine. “Yes.”

His muddy hand trails into my hair as he pulls me in against him, as his mouth truly finds mine. I wrap my arms around him, mud forgotten, mouth lost, body longing to be held closer just as his arms tighten around me.

“Julian… ”

He cradles my head more possessively in his hands.

“HELLO? ANYONE HOME?”

My heart gives way—to a heart attack. “Uhh!”

“I thought they’d be gone for hours,” he says.

“Me, too.” I glance down at myself—I’m covered in mud.

We stare helplessly at each other.

“JULIAN? CAMI?” Estella calls out.

“What do I do?” I ask, growing frantic.

“JULIAN?”

“Shower,” he says. “Go. Go go go!”

 End

Ah, I bet you guys wanna read more. Good news is that you don’t have to wait too long. It comes out tomorrow!!

And to help celebrate Sabrina’s awesome release, I’m giving away THREE copies of White Hot Kiss! Contest is international. Details on how to enter is below!

But first, the winner of my Unchained giveaway is Pam Lane

Congrats! Pam, please email jenniferlarmentrout@live.com w/ your address!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Sentinel Blog Tour Info

Valerie from Stuck in Books is currently scheduling the book tour for Sentinel.

Message from Valerie:

Because there are NO ARCs for Sentinel and because this is the LAST book in the series, this tour will be a walk through memory lane.  Each book in the series (including the two novella) will have a day on the tour.  Choose the day on the tour that goes with the book you want to spotlight on your blog.  There will be a limited number of blogs for the Sentinel day.

All participating blogs will received the tour banner and code for the tour giveaway.

The day you choose will determine which book from the series you feature.  Your post is totally up to you.  Please re-post reviews and/or interviews you did with characters or just spotlight the book.  Excerpts are also a good idea.  This is the equivalent of a readathon in tour terms.  We are getting ready for the release of Sentinel!

October 27th – Diamon
October 28th – Half-Blood
October 29th – Pure
October 30th – Deity
October 31st – Elixir
November 1st – Apollyon
November 2nd – Sentinel (limited)


To participate, please fill-out this GOOGLE FORM .

Trust In Me Teaser….

Hey Guys Hey… Every week, leading up to the October 22, 2013 release of Trust In Me, there’s going to be a teaser. And a contest.

[image error] AMAZON

B&N

You guy’s ready for some Cam? Here you go…

****

Sharp need punched right through me as her body slid down my front. My hands tightened on her hips and she tipped her head back. Her eyes darkened to a deep chocolate brown, and my brain clicked off as I somehow tugged her closer. I knew she had to feel my arousal, and considering we hadn’t even kissed, something about that seemed wrong, but I couldn’t let her go.

Her hands pressed against my chest, and I thought she was going to push me away, and swore to God right then and there, no matter how hard it would be, I would let her go if she did.

But she didn’t.

Avery’s hands flattened against my chest, above my pounding heart, and she had to have felt it.

My hand moved on its own accord, curving up her waist and then over her arm, to her throat and then her cheek. She gasped when my fingertips grazed her cheeks, catching the hair stuck to her temples. I tucked the strands back behind her ears, my hand lingering.

“You’re soaked.”

“So are you.”

I smoothed my thumb over the slant of her cheek. “I guess we’re going to have to try this another night.”

“Yeah,” she whispered as her eyes flickered shut and then swept back open.

“Maybe we should’ve checked the weather first.” When she smiled, I shifted my hips in response. Her body shuddered in such a mind-blowing way and her lashes lowered. Her lips parted even further, and I didn’t want to let her go. She felt too good this close.

Her chest rose in short, deep breaths as I lowered my head, wanting and needing to kiss her. Just once. That’s all I wanted. My eyes started to drift closed.

Avery suddenly jerked back, pressing a hand between her breasts. “I think we … we should call it a night.”

For a moment I couldn’t move and then leaned back, tipping my head against the wall. It took a couple of moments before I could speak. “Yeah, we should.”

The trip out of the building and back to the apartment wasn’t easy. I was still strung tight as a bow. Nothing seemed to make the raw edge go away. I tried reciting the alphabet backwards, tried thinking about the old lady who lived in the building nearby, who sometimes walked her dog in a white nightgown. The sight was not pretty, but it still didn’t work.

The rain was still coming down as we dashed across the parking lot and under the awning. I shook my head, spraying water everywhere. Avery stopped at the base of the stairwell leading up to our apartments, and I thought it was all the rain I’d just pelted her with. I opened my mouth to apologize, but she turned sideways, her face pale as she peered up at me.

A very different kind of ache sliced through my chest, stirring up that knot in there, at the stark confusion and fear in her eyes. Fear. I didn’t get it. Had I done that to her? No. I couldn’t believe that. Not the way she had reacted to me. I saw it in her eyes. She had wanted me to kiss her, probably even as badly as I wanted to kiss her, but she had pulled away because … I honestly didn’t know.

I thrust my hand through my hair, pulling it off my forehead. “Go out with me.”

“No,” she whispered.

I grinned slightly, and her chest fell, her shoulders relaxed, as if she needed to hear this. “There’s always tomorrow.”

She followed me up the stairs. “Tomorrow’s not going to change anything.”

“We’ll see.”

“There’s nothing to see. You’re wasting your time.”

“When it concerns you, it’s never a waste of my time.”

And that was the damn truth.

***

Signed copy of Between the Covers and Wait for You

Turtle Charm bracelet

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Contest is International

These are NA books. There be smexy between the pages

White Hot Kiss Event

Just a reminder, there is roughly 7 tickets let for the special White Hot Kiss event.

Details HERE on how to get a ticket.

Books and Covers and Stuff

Okay, got some book stuff and updates for you! Get ready for it.

Be With Me

Featuring Jase and Teresa (and of course Cam and Avery) releases on Feb. 4, 2014 (my brother’s bday) and I’m hearing that the cover will be revealed on or around the 27th of September. It’s my favorite cover of the series so far.

Don’t Look Back

Which is my young adult contemporary thriller  through Disney/Hyperion, releasing April 15, 2014 is gearing up for a cover reveal on the 3rd of October. You can sign up for the reveal by going HERE and guys, it’s one of those creepy animated covers. And it is actually my favorite of all my YA covers because it’s so, so different.

Now onto my second book with Disney/Hyperion. When I signed with them, it was a two book deal for two contemporary novels and I’m going to give you a title, a projected pub date and a teeny, tiny description of said book. Ready?

The Problem with Forever

Expected pub date 2015

YA Contemporary

Disney/Hyperion

THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER was inspired by the Open Letter to Teenage Girls blog post (yeah, THAT blog post).  Seventeen-year-old Ella has to come to grips with how one night, one party, and one decision alters not only her senior year, but her entire future while falling in love with the one boy she cannot allow herself to trust.

The Problem with Forever is probably going to bring the feels. Those who know what it’s about have already gotten all kinds of feels and I hope I do it justice. The book is a bit different for me. Of course it has the romance and the snark I love to write, but like I said, I’m kind of stretching my writing wings with this.

So here’s your updates for the weekend. I’m going to try to get some mad writing down. Got a busy week and a half ahead– Harlequin Sales Conference, Baltimore Book Festival, and then the HQN Party in NYC.

By the way, here is my Baltimore Book Festival Schedule.

September 27th – 29th, 2013

Baltimore, MD

Friday September 27th

YOUNG ADULT PARANORMAL FICTION — 3pm

Authors will talk about paranormal trends in teen fiction, why YA paranormal is so hot, and how they build paranormal worlds readers love.

Jennifer L. Armentrout, Brigid Kemmerer, Dawn Rae Miller, Lea Nolan

FANTASY ELEMENTS IN ROMANCE — 5pm

Authors will talk about incorporating fantasy characters and worlds in romantic fiction and how they draw on mythology, fairy tales, and other “old stories.”

Jennifer L. Armentrout, Catherine Asaro, Stephanie Draven, Vivi Dumas, Laura Kaye, Dawn Rae Miller

Saturday September 28

MIDDLE GRADE, YOUNG ADULT, NEW ADULT — 12pm

Authors will talk about what’s trending in the fiction market for tweens, teens, and beyond, and about writing fiction that grows up with younger readerships.

Moderator: Elissa Petruzzi, YA Editor, Romantic Times Magazine

Jennifer L. Armentrout, Em Garner, Cheryl Klam, Brien Michael, Lea Nolan, Jeri Smith-Ready

Sunday September 29

Headline Author Event —  5pm

Discussion with Meg Cabot and Me

 

Oh, and don’t forget to enter the contest to win a paid trip to RT 2014 in New Orleans. Details can be found HERE  We’ve received 24 submissions so far!