New Years Resolutions for 2015

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.

$500 YA Signed Book Giveaway + Gift Card

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.

Once Upon A Series

I have way too many series that I've started, but haven't finished for whatever reason and this is a list of those I plan to finish this year.

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Lies We Tell Ourselves is an eye-opening, heartbreaking, and beautifully written novel that will leave an everlasting impression on you.

Showing posts with label publisher: bantam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publisher: bantam. Show all posts

Friday, August 23, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: HE'S GONE BY DEB CALETTI (ADULT CONTEMPORARY MYSTERY)


He's Gone by Deb Caletti
Published: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Bantam
Age Demographic: Adult Contemporary
Pages: 352


“What do you think happened to your husband, Mrs. Keller?”

The Sunday morning starts like any other, aside from the slight hangover. Dani Keller wakes up on her Seattle houseboat, a headache building behind her eyes from the wine she drank at a party the night before. But on this particular Sunday morning, she’s surprised to see that her husband, Ian, is not home. As the hours pass, Dani fills her day with small things. But still, Ian does not return. Irritation shifts to worry, worry slides almost imperceptibly into panic. And then, like a relentless blackness, the terrible realization hits Dani: He’s gone.

As the police work methodically through all the logical explanations—he’s hurt, he’s run off, he’s been killed—Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can—and cannot—remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth—about herself, her husband, and their lives together.

To Purchase He's Gone by 

Deb  Caletti: Amazon



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He's Gone is a dark and compelling mystery that explores human emotions at its most vulnerable state. Deb Caletti embarks on the journey into adult fiction, with a new novel that will have you twisted and tied up into knots before it is even over. An addictive read that you won't be able to put down, it will suck you into the masterful world of lies, mistrust, deceit, infidelity, and discovering oneself in the aftermath. She tells one of the most complicated and complex stories, that I've read in the last few months. I was unable to put it down until the last page had been read.

It's one of the better written and more intriguing psychological mysteries that will keep you up all night thinking about it, long after you've read the last page. Caletti doesn't fail to capture the realness in human emotion when writing her characters. Her writing style is simply superb and works well, in this setting that she has created. It lends itself well to creating the backstory and keeping readers interested in the goings on.

The suspense will have you on the edge of your seat, trying to figure out what's to come next, as Caletti throws out another twist that will lead you to even darker places not yet explored. To say that this novel is psychologically thrilling, would be an understatement. But, as dark and suspenseful as it is, it's also heartbreaking and devastating too. The emotional factor alone, is enough to choke you.

The characters are incredibly interesting and complex in so many ways. The main character, is likable in some ways, sympathetic in others, and can sometimes be annoying when it comes to the self-hate. Recognition in oneself seems to be one of the stronger elements of this story. Although, it's not just recognition of oneself, it's recognition of many things in various different forms. Truth looks you in the face in so many ways, which is what made watching Dani's slow recognition of it, so fascinating to read about.

Fans of her young adult works, will not want to miss out on this novel by any long shot. I personally feel as if this is a great first adult book for Deb Caletti and I hope that she continues to write for this genre. I know that I will be more than happy to give any novel she writes a chance, since she writes them with such wonderful realism and emotion.


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Deb Caletti is an American writer born in San Rafael, California. She was a National Book Award finalist, as well as the recipient of other numerous awards including PEN USA finalist award, the Washington State Book Award, and SLJ Best Book award. 

Deb went to Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, Washington, U.S.A., and graduated in 1981. She earned a BA in Journalism/Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1985. She currently resides in Issaquah, Washington. 

A series of television films based on Caletti's novels is currently in production.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Book Review: The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe


The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe
Expected Publication: April 9, 2013
Publisher: Bantam
Age Demographic: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Pages: 352


“With every fiber of my being, I yearned to be normal. To glide through my days at Iverson without incident. But I’d have to face the fact that my life was about to unfold in a very, very different way than I’d ever envisioned. Normal would become forever out of reach.”

Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she’s far more than what she seems.

England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England’s southern coast. Iverson’s eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny.

Jesse is the school’s groundskeeper—a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she’s only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves.

Filled with lush atmosphere, thrilling romance, and ancient magic, The Sweetest Dark brilliantly captures a rich historical era while unfolding an enchanting love story that defies time.


To Purchase The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe visit: Amazon & B&N



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The Sweetest Dark is a beautifully written suspenseful post-Victorian love story that will leave readers breathless. Shana Abe pens an extraordinary thrilling, exciting adventure filled drama, with brilliant flourishes of magic blended seemlessly throughout the tale. The atmosphere is lush, vibrant, and alive with rich historical vibes coming through. The story told, will pull readers in and captivate them with the gorgeous imagery, beguiling prose, and wonderful drama. This isn't your stereotypical paranormal romance set in motion.

It is wonderous and lush, alive with vivid detail, and crackling with beautiful intensity and vulnerability. The story Shana Abe so wonderfully crafts, is one that will sweep readers off of their feet. It's almost genius, her uncanny ability to tell such a beguiling story so grand and gorgeous, that readers get lost in the world the author has created. It's different, incredibly amazing, and something unlike any other classic paranormal novel, that I've ever read. It's incredibly easy to fall in love with this mystically enchanting dark and bleak world that Abe has created.

Lora is a bit hardened and distant, filled with incredible biting snark and trust issues due to having endured such an awful past. She's such a fantasticlly complicated and complex character, who is extremely fragile beneath her tough exterior. The quiet strength she exudes from beginning to end, is definitely one of the more adirmirable characteristics and traits that I loved about her. The boys are just as wonderfully developed and intriguing as Lora.

The Sweetest Dark is wonderously rich, dark, enchanting love story that will leave readers hearts aching in the aftermath. Written much in a style reminicent of Grimm fairytales, it is filled with gorgeous beguiling essence that will resonate with readers in a truly emotional fashion leaving them pining and gasping for more. It's definitely a must read of the year!


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Shana Abé was born in Texas. She spent much of her childhood living in Colorado, with a brief stint in Mexico as a foreign exchange student, and, at age seventeen, lived in Japan as a model. Throughout her childhood, Abé wrote, completing what she calls "The Silliest Romance Novel Ever" during her free time during modeling shoots. Her writing focused on romance, as those were the types of books that she most enjoyed reading.[1] She later attended college in Los Angeles, graduating with a degree in drama.

Her second novel, also a contemporary romance, took third place in a writing contest. She sent the book to several prospective agents, many of which responded with questions similar to "Nice voice — but what line are you writing for?" Unwilling to try to fit her writing into some of the rules that governed contemporary romances, Abé chose to concentrate on historical romances. For her first attempt at a historical romance, the newlywed Abé chose to tell the story of her own romance with her husband, set in medieval times. The manuscript was purchased by Bantam Books and published as A Rose in Winter.

Many of Abé's subsequent novels have also been set in the medieval time period. Abé chose the time period because of its "great sense of dichotomy....It inspires thoughts of grandeur, of courtly grace and chivalrous knights — but at the same time there's a gritty, raw aspect to the period that just cannot be denied."

Abé has received the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, and has been nominated six times for Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards, winning twice.
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