Laura McCarthy Benson's Blog, page 10

Book Promo: Love Exactly, Cassandra Giovanni

This is on my nook and I'm dying to get to it. It's right up my alley and when Cassandra sent me an email the other day to promote, I was all for it!




Then I forgot (duh!). But here it is and I urge anyone who likes rock star romances to give it a try. Also, it's $1.99 in e-book form!




Once I read this, I'll post my review.




Also, I purchased this book long before Cassandra asked me to promo it. I think it was the cover and the blurb that did it for me.







Emma Walker was a writer who'd lost herself to someone else's anger--who had
given up on ever feeling like herself again.





Evan Levesque was a rock-god--the one all the woman wanted, but he'd never
gotten used to the loneliness between the stage and real life.



With just one cup of coffee they'll begin a journey of self-discovery at each
others sides, but can Emma handle Evan's fame while dealing with her own
demons? Emma's checkered personal past, a bad relationship that haunts the
edges of her memories, threatens to make everything implode on them when Evan
takes matters into his own hands.



Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words...they'll destroy my
soul--Can Emma handle being put back together and facing who she's become
because of it?








GENRE: New Adult>Contemporary Romance

Mild to moderate sexual content



Click on Goodreads to add.






Excerpt:




I
traced the outline of the beads on his neck showing through his v-neck t-shirt.
"What does this symbolize?"

"Prayer
beads."

I
let my fingers follow the line of his vein down his shoulder, over the flowers
that dotted his upper arm and down to his forearm. I turned it so I could trace
the lion on the inside. "And this?"

"Lions
are bad ass."

"Seriously?"

He
shrugged. "Unfortunately, not every tattoo I have has a meaning."

"The
roses?"

"My
mom's favorite flower. I know it's not original," he commented as he took
my hand and put it over his heart where the roses were. "But after
everything my parents went through with me I wanted something to symbolize
them."

"Everything
they want through?" I asked as I let my fingers fan out across the shape
of his chest muscles before bringing them back up and playing with the tips of
his hair that were beginning to curl.

"I
left home when I was sixteen to record our first CD, went on tour at seventeen,
and started tattooing the crap out of myself at eighteen. I know I'm
successful, but I can't say I think this was what my parents wanted."

Evan
had moved his head so he was staring out at the ocean. I watched as the waves
reflected in his eyes and his chest heaved with a deep outlet of breath.

"I'm
sure they're proud of you," I tried to reassure him, but I could tell from
the way his jaw tightened that this was something he had been dealing with for
a long time.

His
eyes met mine and he reached up to touch my face. "I know...but it doesn't
change the fact I was their only child, and I abandoned them for a life they
never approved of."

"I'm
not an excellent poster child for things parents approve of either. There's so
much guilt I deal with day to day. I know that I hurt them," I explained,
my voice diminishing to a cracking whisper that was only just audible against
the sound of the waves.  I closed my eyes, unable to bear the look on his
face as I admitted, "What's worse is the anger I feel at myself for
it."

I
felt Evan get up and kneel in front of me, pulling my face to his own. I
concentrated on the touch of his rough finger tips, the smell of his heady Axe
cologne and then the feel of his forehead as it pressed against mine while I
tried to calm my breathing.

"Tell
me something..." his voice drifted with the waves; "tell me why it
feels like you're a part of my soul?"

I
opened my eyes to look into his, watching as the yellow around his iris
darkened to a burnt orange and the brown faded to a muted green.

"Because
you're a part of mine."







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Cover Reveal Puzzle Piece #1: Rome, Jay Crownover (A Marked Men Novel)

I'm so excited to be able to share this small piece of the puzzle with you! I love this series and Jay's writing is getting stronger and stronger with each subsequent book!



I love the highlight of the blue eye. I'm so excited to read Rome's Story!  Argh, I cannot wait for January!



The pre-order links are here for your convenience. Please make use of them and pre-order ROME!

Book Review: Arsen, A Broken Love Story, Mia Asher

Reading Level:Contemporary Romance/New Adult


Format:

Ebook


Publisher:

Self Pubbed 8/23/2013


Rating:

2






Hmmm... How to state this. Arsen is a sick, misogynistic 24 year old. Cathy is a tool. So pretty much Arsen is Heathcliff and well Cathy is Cathy. Ben, is the ever-loving, annoyingly perfect cuckolded husband.



There is not one redeeming quality to Arsen. Not a one. I'm not one to break out the feminist manifesto, but this book is a case-study on what not to look for in a guy. Pretty much same as WH. Which, I hated vehemently.



If you have a Mr Darcy, why in the world would you turn to the moody, ever-volatile Heathcliff? Like his counterpart, Arsen is full of himself, he's a shame to his family. Can't keep a job, but has money coming out the ying yang. (implausibility #1). He immediately sets his sights on Cathy and when she rebuffs him, he becomes downright mean and nasty. Oh, so why not fall for him. Cathy decides that she'd rather keep Arsen around as a friend. Because why the hell not? (implausibility #2). Of course Arsen has already set in motion what he wants and that is Cathy. He doesn't care that she's married and pregnant. Nope.



In talking with a friend, the voice of both Arsen and Ben is hard to differentiate. They sound exactly the same. There's no demarcation with these two. They both want to own Cathy. The ping ponging between two guys isn't romantic, it's sick and twisted. Especially with the way that Arsen treats Cathy. One minute he can't breathe without her and the next minute, he's screaming at her because she won't tell him if she's sleeping with her husband.



There is one very graphic, very disgusting scene between Arsen and Cathy that in my mind should have women up in arms about it, not swooning. Arsen is a beast. There is absolutely no redeeming quality to Arsen or Cathy. Personally, like Heathcliff and Cathy, they deserved each other because they were so miserable to each other.



I'm seeing a lot of 5 star reviews, but there were some grammatical errors, some transitional errors and just the story line was depressing. What could you possibly love about this story? I know there are people who LOVE WH. But, I just cannot. Self-deprecating, self-degrading characters are not romantic.



I'd take Mr Rochester and his bigamist ways over Arsen (Heathcliff) any day.

Book Review: Unstoppable, Ginger Voight

Reading Level:Contemporary Romance/New Adult


Format:

Ebook (ARC)


Publisher:

Self Pubbed 8/20/2013


Rating:

4










Whenever I get a request for a blog tour, I usually just cringe. I get so many of them that I just can't accept them all. But when Brandee sends me one that has Ginger Voight's name in it, I cannot sign up fast enough. When I first heard of Ginger, I was skeptical. I'd read the THOUGHTLESS series and thought Kellan was pretty much a rock God. Then I read THE MIGHTY STORM, and thought, hmmm... Rock stars! So when GROUPIE sorta fell into my hands, I devoured it. Andy's and Vanni's story was heartstopping for three books. Ginger doesn't sugar coat her characters, they're all flawed, but so aren't we. Andy is a curvy woman who is not a size 1. Vanni's could be stereotyped to want only stick-thin models, but he's not. Oh yes, he hooks up with them, but it's Andy who's captured his heart.




In UNSTOPPABLE, we have another curvy woman who is making waves in the music industry. Jordi Hemphill may not have won FIERCE; but she captured the hearts of the viewers and is becoming a star in her own right. But her life is beyond happy. She's in love with one person, yet married to another. And she's only 19! 




Jordi is on a downward spiral. Her song of choice should be HURT by NIN. She makes decisions that aren't smart, but being blackmailed by your husband isn't exactly conducive to having a happy life. From starving herself, to injuring herself from working too hard. Jordi is a mess. The only person who really 'gets' her is Vanni. He's taken a liking to Jordi and is mentoring her and trying to teach her that her beauty goes beyond what the people see on the outside, it's what is inside that matters.




Ah, let's go back to that blackmail... Her husband Eddie has an incriminating sex tape of Jordi and FIERCE winner Jace Riga. So in order for Eddie to keep her in line, he uses that every chance he gets. Of course, he's very abusive to Jordi and usually shoves it in Jace's face. Now, Jordi and Jace, as two misfits, are totally in love with each other. Jordi doesn't feel she's worthy of Jace because he's gorgeous, women throw themselves at him and the third runner-up, Shelby is also pining for him. Trying to keep a facade in front of everyone is wearing on Jordi and threatening her health. Eddie doesn't care. All he cares is that he gets her money and can bed a hot, stick-thin model-type.




Ginger pulls you through all of Jordi's emotions and your heart breaks for her when she realizes that she has to set Jace free. No matter how many times he tells her she's worth it, she doesn't believe it herself. Of course, now that Vanni has taken her under his wing (with the approval of Andy), the gossip sites make it seem as if they're having an affair. Vanni tells her to ignore it. 




How is she supposed to ignore things when she's falling apart internally? With an explosive ending that I never saw coming, I was thrilled with how things ended. I'm in need of EPIC like yesterday. I have NO idea how Jordi's story will come to a close; but I will miss this world that Ginger has created. I hope she doesn't completely leave it. I absolutely recommend this series and the GROUPIE series. So good and totally worth it.







LINK TO THE GIVEAWAY for the $50 AMAZON or BARNES & NOBLE GIFT CARD (Winner’s Choice)



a Rafflecopter giveaway






Ginger Voight is prolific author, freelance
writer and optioned screenwriter. Her fiction is diverse, with novels like the
edgy, coming-of-age drama DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS, and the fun family adventure
for kids of all ages, COMIC SQUAD.

 

Having grown up reading different authors like
Danielle Steel and Stephen King, Ginger has always been drawn more to story
than to genre. This shows up in her various stories. Titles such as MY IMMORTAL
and TASTE OF BLOOD are a delicious, heady mix of horror, suspense, and romance.




Genre romance, however, has held a special
place in her heart, ever since she read her first Harlequin novel when she was
only eleven. As a result, Ginger is making a name for herself writing romances
of her own, starring women who look more like the average American woman rather
than those traditionally represented in the size-biased American media. Her
Rubenesque romances were created especially for those heroines with fuller
figures, who can still get the man of their dreams if only they believe they
can. Such titles include UNDER TEXAS SKIES, LOVE PLUS ONE, THE GROUPIE TRILOGY,
FIERCE and PICTURE POSTCARDS.

 



Ginger was included in the best-selling book
by Smith Magazine NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING, featuring her six-word memoir.

Cover Reveal: Trust in Me, J. Lynn

DESCRIPTION/COPY





It’s Wait for You as you’ve never seen it. Trust in Me lets you in on Cam’s side of the #1 New York Times Bestselling story.




Cameron Hamilton is used to getting what he wants, especially when it comes to women. But when Avery Morgansten comes crashing into his life – literally – he finally meets the one person who can resist his soulful baby blues. But Cam’s not ready to give up. He can’t get the feisty and intriguing girl out of his head.






Avery has secrets, secrets that keep her from admitting the feelings Cam knows she has for him. Will persistence (and some delicious homemade cookies) help him break down her barriers and gain her trust? Or will he be shut out of Avery's life, losing his first real shot at the kind of love that lasts forever?


RAFFLECOPTER



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BUY BUTTONS

Download CHRONICLE and enter the Relic Revealed Sweepstakes from Soho Teen.

CHRONICLE: Before the Books of Eva tells
the story of Madeline, the very first female to participate in the
Testing for New North, after the Healing drowned the world...

 

Each year, the finest Gallants in New
North embark on the Testing, a harrowing rite of passage through the
frozen wastelands to recover Relics, artifacts from the evil time before
the Healing. About these Relics the Testors construct their Chronicles,
illustrating mankind’s depravity, his Vanity, his love of Tech, his
sins too numerous to count. All true Chronicles are collected and made
part of the Lex’s Holy Truths, year by year.



The Chronicle.  Nothing is more vital to the resolve of the inhabitants
of the New North, the last inhabitants of an Earth flooded by the
Healing. But not all Chronicles are deemed True. And not all Testors are
Gallants. One year there was a Maiden, Madeline, the first but not the
last. Braving the perils of the Testing, she discovered a Relic that, if
Chronicled, would be the New North’s downfall...
















































The truth will test you...



RELIC is coming October 29th.

 

For fans of Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games:
high fantasy and dystopia meet in this high-stakes tale of a
civilization built on lies and the girl who single-handedly brings it
down.














   

Cover Reveal: Unstoppable, Ginger Voight

Book Title: Unstoppable (Book #2 in the Fierce Trilogy)



Author: Ginger Voight



Expected Release date: August 20, 2013



Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18169888-unstoppable



Book Summary:



His eyes were rimmed red when they met mine. "I die inside every time he touches you, and there's nothing I can do about it. You've made it clear that you're going to go on with this sham of a marriage, no matter who it hurts in the process. You lie to everyone, Jordi, including the people you're supposed to love the most. And I just can't take it anymore. This is not the way I want to live my life."



"I thought I was worth it," I mumbled.  



"You have no idea what you're worth," he said softly. "That's the problem."



In book #2 of the Fierce saga, Jordi Hemphill has joined her true love Jace Riga on cross-country tour with Giovanni Carnevale and Dreaming in Blue. The star-crossed lovers anticipate the freedom to explore their burgeoning relationship, despite the continued complications of her ties to her tormentor Eddie Nix and Jace's new standing as a rock icon. Nothing is as it seems, which make the pair fodder for the rumor mill. Forces from all directions threaten to tear them apart, but it is Jordi's own insecurities that drive a wedge between the aspiring diva and her hero.



Author Ginger Voight further delves into the key issues that keep Jordi from defeating her demons once and for all. This sweeping saga unearths revelations that will rock Jordi's world forever... and set her on the path to the path to her story's epic conclusion.




Blog Tour Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/222041427948498/




About Ginger: 



 Ginger Voight is prolific author, freelance writer and optioned screenwriter. Her fiction is diverse, with novels like the edgy, coming-of-age drama DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS, and the fun family adventure for kids of all ages, COMIC SQUAD.

 

Having grown up reading different authors like Danielle Steel and Stephen King, Ginger has always been drawn more to story than to genre. This shows up in her various stories. Titles such as MY IMMORTAL and TASTE OF BLOOD are a delicious, heady mix of horror, suspense, and romance.

Genre romance, however, has held a special place in her heart, ever since she read her first Harlequin novel when she was only eleven. As a result, Ginger is making a name for herself writing romances of her own, starring women who look more like the average American woman rather than those traditionally represented in the size-biased American media. Her Rubenesque romances were created especially for those heroines with fuller figures, who can still get the man of their dreams if only they believe they can. Such titles include UNDER TEXAS SKIES, LOVE PLUS ONE, THE GROUPIE TRILOGY, FIERCE and PICTURE POSTCARDS.

 

Ginger was included in the best-selling book by Smith Magazine NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING, featuring her six-word memoir.

Website | Blog| Facebook | Amazon | Twitter

LINK TO THE GIVEAWAY for the $25 AMAZON or BARNES & NOBLE GIFT CARD (Winner’s Choice)



a Rafflecopter giveaway




TEASER #1





Vanni stood tall and imposing in the door frame. “If you’re going to keep skipping the encore, you’re going to need a doctor’s note,” he teased as he leaned up against the door frame.

“I’m sorry,” I started but he held up a hand.

“You don’t have to explain,” he said. “You just have to come with me.”

I shook my head but he wasn’t having it. He pulled me from the room and led me toward the elevator, ultimately to a car out front.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Home,” he said simply.

He took me back to the Brooklyn brownstone. Before we exited the car he handed the driver a hundred dollar bill and my hotel key card. “Bring her stuff,” he instructed before pulling me from the car and leading me up the steps.

“This is a little inappropriate, don’t you think?” I asked as I scanned the darkened street for PING reporters.

“Like I give a shit,” he said as he pushed open the door. He stared down at me with those deep, almost hypnotic eyes. “Inside, young lady.”

I didn’t argue. I followed him into the living room like a good little girl.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you, Jordi,” he said as he pulled me down onto the couch beside him. “But I do know it won’t get any better if you’re left alone to lick your wounds. You’re staying with me the rest of the trip.”

“But Andy…”

“Already knows,” he filled in. “It was her idea.”

“But PING…”

“Is irrelevant,” he said, echoing what Jace had said. “Your problem is you’re worried way too much about how things look to people who simply don’t give a damn. They need you to fail. They need you to do something they can criticize. They are always going to find something wrong with what you do or say.” He took my chin in his hand. “Fuck ‘em.”

It was such a Jace thing to say tears immediately sprang into my eyes. He pulled me into his arms and held me there, which caused the dam to break. He rocked me gently as he stroked my hair. “My poor, miserable Jordi,” he crooned. “How long are you going to carry your pain? There’s no shame in letting it hurt. But eventually you have to let it go or it’ll kill you.”

He held me until I soaked his shirt, his hair fanning around my face like a halo. I was mortified by my behavior, but when he tipped my chin so I could look at him, all I could see was total acceptance. It was like Jace, or Corey, or even my Dad.

He bent to kiss me slightly on the cheek. “Do you know how loved you are?” he asked. I shook my head. No, I didn’t know. I don’t think I ever did. “Well, you are,” he assured. “I love you. Andy loves you. Even Renata and Grandma Lydia love you,” he added with a grin that made me laugh. “Everyone on tour loves you,” he continued. Then, finally, “Jace loves you.”

I shook my head. “I just make him miserable. Shelby’s a better fit,” I muttered. “They’re the perfect couple.”

“Don’t tell me that you’ve bought into the press about that.”

I shrugged. “It’s not press. I walked in on them in Philadelphia. They were in his dressing room and he was massaging her leg.”

“And why would that matter to a happily married woman?” he wanted to know as he brushed some hair away from my eyes.

I wondered what Vanni would do if I told him the truth. What could he do? What could anyone do? I was stuck and I knew it. I turned away from those all-seeing brown eyes. “It doesn’t matter,” I found myself repeating, as if I said it enough it would actually be true.

He pulled me from the sofa and sat me at his piano. His fingers danced along the keys, as if trying to find a melody. I watched him as he closed his eyes. Each note he played traipsed across his face until finally he found what he was looking for.

“She doesn’t know,” he sang. “She can’t believe… she’d find the person that would never leave.” He turned his head slightly to look at me. “She hangs onto the past and every ghost, all lies that hide who loves her most. She’s beautiful but she can’t see just how perfect she is to me.”


I placed my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. Even after all these years, Vanni Carnevale was my guardian angel, throwing me a life line with that amazing voice.

Book Review: Eleanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell

Reading Level:Mature Young Adult


Format:

Hardcover (Library)


Publisher:

St. Martin's Press 2/26/2013


Rating:

3









I came into this book not really understanding what it was about. I knew that it took place in 1986, which is the year that I was junior in high school. All the references brought me back to high school and the time period. The bad hair, the music, the clothes! 




Being introduced to Park was amazing. An introvert that's not. Meeting Eleanor was a bit harder. She's coming from a really bad background and is a shell of herself. When no one wants her to sit with them on the bus, she's really alone in the world. Park opens himself up to allow her to sit down.




They don't speak for weeks, but they're in several classes together. It's not until she starts reading his comics over his shoulder (WATCHMEN), that they start a friendship. Eleanor is quirky. Park is Asian, which he thinks automatically makes him quirky. Especially when his brother looks more Irish than Korean. See Park's dad fell in love with a Korean woman during the war, married her and brought her back to the states.




Park seems to have the perfect life. His parents are still crazy about each other. His grandparents live next door. But as they say the grass in always greener...




Eleanor's home life is a lot worse. Her mother is divorced from her dad and remarried to a complete asshole. I suspect that there is some sexual misconduct between step-dad and  Eleanor. However, Eleanor does everything she can to try to keep herself sane and in the house. She's already been kicked out before. One of my problems was Eleanor's mom. Why would she allow something like this to happen to her family? Or herself for that matter? 




Throughout all this Park falls in love with Eleanor. She does her best to keep her head afloat, but the bullshit at home weighs her down. But down that rabbit hole she falls and her heart accepts Park.




This is not your typical love story. You have two outcasts who come together with a common love of things. Music, comics, hating home life. Rainbow creates dynamic main characters and scary, horrible secondary characters. 




I felt a bit empty at the end. Park helps Eleanor get away from her family (when she finally comes clean to him about what has been going on), and they promise to keep in touch. He does, she doesn't. You want an epic love story, but hey, they are only 16 years old. But in actuality, they are old souls who meld together.




A brilliant love story or a sad story that leaves us unfulfilled? I think it's a bit of both. 

When I started this blog in '08, I mainly was reviewing y...

When I started this blog in '08, I mainly was reviewing young adult books because the explosion of the YA market was so that I wanted people to know that being an older adult reading a genre that was typically for the 'teenage' market was okay. In fact it is better than okay. I found myself enjoying the YA market a bit more than the traditional adult market.



I found the authors a bit more approachable. Especially the new authors who were just starting out. Authors like Michelle Zink, Jeannine Garsee, Lisa Schroeder, Maggie Stiefvater all started reaching out to us bloggers to help them get their books out there.  There was a camaraderie with the authors and bloggers; We did what we could to help out these authors.



But then the Blogging world exploded. People saw that if you read a book and reviewed it, you could approach an author or a publisher and request a book. Everyone and their mother started blogging. Right now the blogging world of books is over saturated.



Now with the YA market on a slight decline in favor of the new 'New Adult' market. Remember those teens in '07 when the YA market exploded? well now they're in college and want something a bit more 'adult' to read. They want to see experiences that they are having written in books. The romance market is also exploding thanks to the self-publishing revolution.



There are more bloggers out there than ever before and it's become political. People gang up on other bloggers because they didn't happen to like a book that has a million followers or likes. Authors have street teams like the minions in the DESPICABLE ME movies. Bloggers only gush about book, they don't really review them as much as say how much they love this character.



This is what I see:



"OMG, ______ is such a great character! What he did for ______ at the end was so amazing. He's my new book boyfriend!"



Really?



I've attended five Book Expo America's in NYC, and each year, they became progressively worse, because the amount of bloggers that showed up ruined it for the ones who took the time to set up meetings with publicists and publishers to get the word out there for authors and books. Some bloggers were literally hoarding books. "Take one." publishes after publisher said. But people were taking two, three, sometimes four or five. For giveaways or friends. Generally if you gave a publisher your card, they would mail a book to you.  After this past BEA, I decided that I'm not attending it anymore. I found the publishers and publicists were not as friendly as in years past. I think they too became disheartened with bloggers.



I always thought of myself more as a reviewer, than a blogger. I like to review books. The good and the bad. I don't like what I see nowadays. It's become a dog eat dog world. Authors complain about bloggers requesting things for giveaways and the like.  You have authors complaining about other authors and how they shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you.



And of course, you have the ones who will step on everyone to get to that elusive top. Is it worth it anymore? We've become a world where an opinion on anything can have serious backlash. I love reading, but with the advent of Facebook and the drama created from various authors who love to put down other authors in passive/aggressive ways. And somehow the bloggers live for this stuff.



I'm going to be reviewing more now that I'm settled in my new house in Arizona. I'm not going to partake of many blog tours that are blogger run. I'm done with promoting authors. I'll do my reviews and have a few contests here and there. I want to go back to the basics.



I want to forget the last year...

GIVEAWAY!!!

HORDE by Ann Aguirre







From Goodreads:



The horde is coming.



Salvation is surrounded, monsters at the gates, and this time, they're not going away. When Deuce, Fade, Stalker and Tegan set out, the odds are against them. But the odds have been stacked against Deuce from the moment she was born. She might not be a Huntress anymore, but she doesn't run. With her knives in hand and her companions at her side, she will not falter, whether fighting for her life or Fade's love.



Ahead, the battle of a lifetime awaits. Freaks are everywhere, attacking settlements, setting up scouts, perimeters, and patrols. There hasn't been a war like this in centuries, and humans have forgotten how to stand and fight. Unless Deuce can lead them.



This time, however, more than the fate of a single enclave or outpost hangs in the balance. This time, Deuce carries the banner for the survival of all humanity.



THIRD BOOK IN SERIES!!!!



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