I'm really excited to be sharing an excerpt from the newest LGBTQ+ anthology being released this month. I support this book, because ALL PROCEEDS from the sale will be donated to The Trevor Project.
Derek Murphy, YA author and founder of the YA Author Alliance, is running a giveaway this month, 10 signed books by bestselling authors and a $200 giftcard.
Wishful Wesnesday is my own little version of "Waiting On Wednesday". Every two weeks or so, I'll pick a topic or genre and list a few upcoming books (or book) that I'm anticipating the release for. This week, that book is going to be Dirty Little Secret by the amazingly talented Jennifer Echols. I will read ANYTHING that she writes, I think my favorite so far has been Such A Rush. She is definitely on my auto-buy list, for sure! So, stay tuned into the blog, because there will be a review for another title by her (Going To Far), as well as an interview with Jennifer and giveaway coming to the blog June 20th (as part of my YA Crossover to NA event) that you don't want to miss out on! It's going to be super exciting and lots of fun.
Dirty Little Secret byJennifer Echols Expected Publication: July 16th, 2013 Publisher: MTV Books Age Demographic: YA/NA Contemporary Pages: 288
Bailey wasn’t always a wild child and the black sheep of her family. She used to play fiddle and tour the music circuit with her sister, Julie, who sang and played guitar. That ended when country music execs swooped in and signed Julie to a solo deal. Never mind that Julie and Bailey were a duet, or that Bailey was their songwriter. The music scouts wanted only Julie, and their parents were content to sit by and let her fulfill her dreams while Bailey’s were hushed away. Bailey has tried to numb the pain and disappointment over what could have been. And as Julie’s debut album is set to hit the charts, her parents get fed up with Bailey’s antics and ship her off to granddad’s house in Nashville. Playing fiddle in washed-up tribute groups at the mall, Bailey meets Sam, a handsome and oh-so-persuasive guitarist with his own band. He knows Bailey’s fiddle playing is just the thing his band needs to break into the industry. But this life has broken Bailey’s heart once before. She isn’t sure she’s ready to let Sam take her there again.
TO PURCHASE A COPY OF DIRTY LITTLE SECRET BY JENNIFER ECHOLS visit:
Jennifer Echols was born in Atlanta and grew up in a small town on a beautiful lake in Alabama—a setting that has inspired many of her books. She has written nine romantic novels for young adults, including the comedy MAJOR CRUSH, which won the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the drama GOING TOO FAR, which was a finalist in the RITA, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Book Buyer’s Best, and was nominated by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults. Simon & Schuster will debut her adult romance novels in 2013, with many more teen novels scheduled for the next few years. She lives in Birmingham with her husband and her son.
Have a WoW or Desperately Wanting Wednesday list?! Share the link with me in the comments below and I'll come check it out.
Such A Rush by Jennifer Echols Published: July 10, 2012 Publisher: MTV Books Age Demographic: YA Contemporary Pages: 336
A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers. When I was fourteen, I made a decision. If I was doomed to live in a trailer park next to an airport, I could complain about the smell of the jet fuel like my mom, I could drink myself to death over the noise like everybody else, or I could learn to fly.
Heaven Beach, South Carolina, is anything but, if you live at the low-rent end of town. All her life, Leah Jones has been the grown-up in her family, while her mother moves from boyfriend to boyfriend, letting any available money slip out of her hands. At school, they may diss Leah as trash, but she’s the one who negotiates with the landlord when the rent’s not paid. At fourteen, she’s the one who gets a job at the nearby airstrip.
But there’s one way Leah can escape reality. Saving every penny she can, she begs quiet Mr. Hall, who runs an aerial banner-advertising business at the airstrip and also offers flight lessons, to take her up just once. Leaving the trailer park far beneath her and swooping out over the sea is a rush greater than anything she’s ever experienced, and when Mr. Hall offers to give her cut-rate flight lessons, she feels ready to touch the sky.
By the time she’s a high school senior, Leah has become a good enough pilot that Mr. Hall offers her a job flying a banner plane. It seems like a dream come true . . . but turns out to be just as fleeting as any dream. Mr. Hall dies suddenly, leaving everything he owned in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. And they're determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business—until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly
Such A Rush is full of gorgeous sweeping emotion. A beguiling tale of a young vibrant daredevil pilot, caught between two brothers and a life she feels trapped in. It's a sweet sexy romantic tale truth and consequences, that is sure to captivate reader's. Jennifer Echols doesn't fail to deliver another contemporary young adult novel that will knock reader's socks off. Such A Rush is filled with so many wonderfully amazing qualities that every book should be full of, things like complicated tension filled drama, likable well developed characters, beautiful complex romance filled with amazing chemistry that leaps off the pages, and so much more to offer.
Leah Jones is a young vibrant daredevil, that lives her life as fearlessly as she can to the fullest extent. Caught between two brothers, she soon finds herself in an almost impossible situation. There is nothing else in the world she loves more than feeling the electric rush of the wind beneath her wings. Taking to the air in flight is her greatest escape from the problems she faces in reality. It's a moment she can take a breath and forget about her absentee mother and all of their problems brought on by her constant stream of men in thier lives.
Leah is the type of female heroine that reader's will find irresistably likable and extremely easy to connect with by the end of the book. Motivated is the best word that would describe who she is, but she's also pretty tough too. A little rough around the edges, Leah comes with a reputation that doesn't really do her justice at all. It's often hard for some people to understand her or really get to know her. This seems to be more of a defense mechanism on her part, than anything else. Her best friend, is pretty much the only person who really gets her, except for Mr. Hall, her flying instructor whom she really adores and cares for a great deal. The most refreshing thing about her, is the fact that she's fiercely brave and is the kind of girl who doesn't necessarily need a guy to look out for her or swoop in to play hero to her damsel in distress. This is such a wonderful refreshing aspect to see in young adult contemporary literature, when it's mostly not the case.
The boys are just as amazingly swoon-worthy and hot as they can be. Grayson has that delicious bad boy swagger that will absolutely melt any good girl's heart. He's the bad boy trying to be good and he's extremely dark and handsome and has so much personality appeal that it's hard not to fall for him. He can be a bit of a controlling bully and definitely hot-headed sometimes, but when he cares about someone he really cares and it shines through in every way. Alec, his twin brother, is as different from him as night and day. He's incredibly sweet, charming, and sometimes a little clueless. But, he is really incredibly nice and likable too. The relationship portrayed between Grayson and Alec is indescribably complicated,messy and extremely complex, but it is very apparent that they care a great deal about one another.
The romance that ignites between Grayson and Leah is sizzling white hot burning electic energy that leaps off the pages and pops to life. In a few words, it's hot, sexy, and magnetic. There's incredible amounts of tension that is beautifully breath taking. It will definitely have reader's swooning over them. It's refreshing that the love triangle isn't so much a love triangle, in a sense. This is one of the best aspects of the Such A Rush in my personal opinion and one of the greatest qualities that Echols has implemented into her beautifully contageous story of a daredevil caught between two brothers.
Jennifer Echols has written another power-house emotionally gripping novel, full of mystery, sexy romantic allure, and heart stopping adventure. There are wonderfully thought provoking highs and lows, heartbreaking moments, and spectacular depth and layers to the story being told. Such A Rush is a story that will pull and tug at reader's heartstrings in a variety of ways, dripping with beautiful emotion. This is a mature new young adult novel that reader's will not want to miss out on one moment of it. It will draw them in and leave them craving more.
Want to purchase Such A Rush or other books by Jennifer Echols?
You can do so by visiting my Amazon Store and adding them to your shopping cart. While you're there, feel free to look around, you might find something else you want. I hope you enjoyed the review for Such A Rush. If you haven't read it yet, then I definitely suggest you pick up a copy for yourself or even for someone else, if you think they'll enjoy it.
Jennifer Echols was born in Atlanta and grew up in a small town on a beautiful lake in Alabama—a setting that has inspired many of her books. She has written nine romantic novels for young adults, including the comedy MAJOR CRUSH, which won the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the drama GOING TOO FAR, which was a finalist in the RITA, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Book Buyer’s Best, and was nominated by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults. Simon & Schuster will debut her adult romance novels in 2013, with many more teen novels scheduled for the next few years. She lives in Birmingham with her husband and her son.
Author information taken from her Goodreads.
{ This ARC was provided by MTV Books, in exchange for an honest review which I have provided. There has been no monetary gain exchanged. I review books for fun, because I love to read. I am not interested in monetary gain. Any piece of this ARC that was or wasn't quoted, is not part of the finished product and should not be perceived as such. Instead, you should compare and check it against a finished copy once it is released.}
If you are an author or a publisher and you would like for me to consider reading and reviewing your book, please review my policy and email me and I will get back to you.
Jennifer Echols was born in Atlanta and grew up in a small town on a beautiful lake in Alabama—a setting that has inspired many of her books. She has written nine romantic novels for young adults, including the comedy MAJOR CRUSH, which won the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the drama GOING TOO FAR, which was a finalist in the RITA, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Book Buyer’s Best, and was nominated by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults. Simon & Schuster will debut her adult romance novels in 2013, with many more teen novels scheduled for the next few years. She lives in Birmingham with her husband and her son. 
