At What Cost Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway

At What Cost

By J. Andersen

Release Date: June 13, 2012

Currently E-book only

225 pages

Book Description from Goodreads:

During her junior year, sixteen-year-old Maggie Reynolds expected to shop for prom dresses not maternity clothes. Now, instead of studying for the SATs, she’s reading, What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Maggie’s ‘Mother Dearest’ lives in fear that Maggie will somehow taint the family name, so Maggie can’t turn to her for help. Meanwhile, her father is oblivious to anything but his 9-9 job. And her boyfriend, Justin? She’s pretty sure he’ll stay by her side.

While Maggie wrestles with her options, Justin offers a solution: abortion. It would solve all her problems quickly, easily, and effectively. And her parents would never know, which means they won’t throw her out and cut her off like they’d always threatened if she got herself knocked up. Now Maggie must decide which choice she can live with: abortion or teenage motherhood. Either way, it’ll be a tough road to travel.

My Review:

I have to say I was really impressed with Andersen's writing style. Usually I enjoy books that are more dialogue driven and At What Cost doesn't read that way. This book is written in the third person and deals with how Maggie is feeling as she has countless internal struggles trying to decide what she wants to do about her pregnancy. Throughout most of At What Cost Maggie feels very isolated and alone. She avoids everyone for the most part and wishes that her "problem" would just go away. 

What I liked:

*Andersen's writing 

*The different topics that At What Cost addresses very realistically: family, friends, choices, (a little vague here I know but I'm trying to avoid spoilers)

*Aunt Rachel and Evan, Loved them!!!

*Surprisingly, Maggie's family

*The ending. I loved how Andersen ended At What Cost.

What I didn't like:

*I didn't like how Maggie treated Evan. 

*I didn't like how the author skipped over Maggie and Evan becoming as close as they did. I would have loved another 20 pages that went into that relationship a bit more. 

*the preachy tone that occasionally crept into the story

*Justin, though I don't think I was suppose to like him.

Overall:

At What Cost is an enjoyable, quick read that deals pretty honestly with a tough subject. I know there are other YA novels that deal with teen pregnancy but I haven't read any others yet, so for me at least, the plot was pretty original. 

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About this author

Jessie Andersen lives in a small town in Western New York with her husband and three kids. A former English teacher, she now spends her time writing while the kids are at school and the baby is sleeping. She volunteers at the local library and sings in the church band. You can find information about her books at jandersenbooks.com, and you can follow her blogs atTherabidwriter.blogspot (Personal blog) and Readbetweenthelinesbookclub.blogspot.com (Book blog). You can also follow her on Twitteratwww.twitter.com/jvdlandersen and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jandersenbooks.

www.Jandersenbooks.com
www.Therabidwriter.blogspot.com
www.readbetweenthelinesbookclub.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/jandersenbooks
www.twitter.com/jvdlandersen

http://www.goodreads.com/jvdlandersen

http://www.leisurereads.com – September 24 - Review

http://edandemreviews.blogspot.com/ - September 24 – Promo

http://iheartyabooks.blogspot.com/ - September 25 - Review

http://www.readergirlsblog.com – September 25 – Interview & Excerpt

http://clairelouisereads.blogspot.com.au/ - September 25 – Review

http://scarletsilhouettes.blogspot.com/ - September 25 - Author Interview

http://www.blookgirl.com – September 26 – Review

http://www.fortheloveoffilmandnovels.com/ - September 26 – Review

http://pinkpolkadotbookblog.blogspot.com/ September 26 - Review

http://melissaseclecticbookshelf.blogspot.com – September 26 – Promo Post

A Soul Unsung - http://soulunsung.blogspot.com – September 26 - Review

www.sweetsouthernhome.net – September 27 – Promo Post

http://adiaryofabookaddict.blogspot.com/ - September 27 - Review

http://everyfreechancebookreviews.blogspot.com/ - September 27 – Promo Post

http://paigebradish1996.blogspot.com/ - September 27 – Promo Post

http://book-spark.blogspot.com/ - September 28 – Promo Post

http://taralenwalker.blogspot.com/ - September 28 – Promo Post

http://myneuroticbookaffair.blogspot.com – September 28 - Review

A Reader's Devotion - http://areadersdevotion.blogspot.co.uk – September 28 - Review

http://andisyoungadult.blogspot.com – September 29 - Review

http://themodpodgebookshelf.blogspot.com – September 29 – Promo Post

Read and Reviewed  - http://ahandfulofconfetti.wordpress.com – September 29 - Review

The Reading Hideaway - http://thereadinghideaway.blogspot.com – September 29 - Review

   

   Shallow

   Going Under Series
   Book 2
   By Georgia Cates
    Genre: Young Adult 

    Contemporary
    Formats available: 

     ebook
    Cover Artist: Georgia 

    Cates
    

Book Description:

 Nick Hawke likes his car fast and his girls even faster. He blows through females quicker than his muscle car races down the drag strip in Collinsville and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Determined to avoid the devastation he has watched his father endure in the aftermath of his mother leaving, he believes there is no room in his life or his heart for a relationship lasting more than one night. He seeks happiness in things that won’t let him down...fast cars, parties and one night stands. To his absolute dismay, all of that changes when he unexpectedly runs into an old friend and is introduced to Payton Archer, the first girl he ever wanted for more than one night. There’s only one catch...she is completely immune to him and his smooth talking ways.
 
Payton Archer is looking for what Claire has with Jessie, but she has given up on finding it...at least until she leaves for college in the Fall because she is certain that is where she will find the perfect guy to fit into her perfect world. She plans on Summer being nothing but three uneventful months of fun, but it turns out to be anything but ordinary when Payton is introduced to Nick Hawke, one of Jessie’s old Collinsville friends. She is shocked by her immediate and intense attraction for “Hawke” because nothing about him is what Payton is looking for. Sure, he’s hot and sexy but he comes from Collinsville and that is definitely not on her list of prerequisites. 


Everything about him makes Payton’s heart speed because he is exciting and dangerous, but his fast car and the dangerous chances he takes isn’t what scares Payton the most...it’s the way Nick Hawke makes her feel every time he looks at her. Can Payton find that moment of total fearlessness and make the decision to leave the safe, shallow end of love to risk going under completely?

About the Author:

Georgia resides in rural Mississippi with her wonderful husband, Jeff, and their two beautiful daughters. She spent fourteen years as a labor and delivery nurse before she decided to pursue her dream of becoming an author.

Blood of Anteros, Book One in The Vampire Agápe Series, was her first novel and it was released in September 2011. She decided to briefly step away from the paranormal genre to try her hand at a young adult contemporary romance when she wrote Going Under, but returned to the paranormal romance platform to complete the second book in The Vampire Agápe Series, Blood Jewel.

Her current works in progress are Shallow (A Going Under Novel) which will release on September 27th and Blood Doll (The Vampire Agápe Series #3), to be released in January 2013.

Georgia Cates Blog
Georgia Cates on Facebook
Georgia Cates on Twitter
Shallow on Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday: Breathe (Breathe #1) by Sarah Crossan

Author: Sarah Crossan
Expected Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: Greenwillow

Summary:
Inhale. Exhale. 
Breathe. 
Breathe. 
Breathe . . .
The world is dead. 
The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.

Alina
has been stealing for a long time. She's a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she's never been caught before. If she's careful, it'll be easy. If she's careful.

Quinn
should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it's also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn't every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her.

Bea
wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they'd planned a trip together, the two of them, and she'd hoped he'd discover her out here, not another girl.

And as they walk into the Outlands with two days' worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we (bloggers) are anxiously awaiting. So what book are you excited about right now?

Teaser Tuesday: Flight (The Crescent Chronicles) by Alyssa Rose Ivy

When Jess asked Billy the bellboy where we should go if we wanted to really do Bourbon Street for our first night, he suggested the Cat's Meow. As soon as Jess found out it was a karaoke bar she ran over to sign us up. I hadn't actually expected us to stay long enough to get to our turn, and I was starting to regret cutting myself off from the alcohol. Singing karaoke sober sounded horrendous. 


Teaser taken from page 6.
I'm just starting this book but so far so good! AND... I love that cover!
You can get a copy of Flight from Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Miz B hosts Teaser Tuesday every week, check her out for the official rules.  I never seem to be able to stick to the rule about only 2 sentences.

I love reading teasers so let me know where I can view yours in the comments. Have a great day!

Cover Reveal: Just For Now (Sea Breeze #4) by Abbi Glines

Title: Just for Now (Sea Breeze, #4)

Age Group/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Expected Release: October 23, 2012

Cover Design: Mooney Designs

Book trailer created by: Hellion Works

Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours


The day Preston Drake figured out that wealthy women paid well for a set of tight abs and a pretty face his life turned around.

The run down rat-infested trailer he had shared with his alcoholic mother and three younger siblings was now only a place he visited to pay the bills and stock the pantry with food. 

He no longer worried about his family starving or living without electricity. The money he made entertaining rich older women more than covered his family’s needs and his own. He had it all figured out. Except…

There was this girl.

She was as innocent as he was tainted.

Amanda Hardy wished her knees didn’t get weak when Preston walked into a room. She hated the fact her heart raced when he flashed his smile in her direction. He had a different girl in his bed every night. He was the kind of boy a smart girl ran from. So, why was she coming up with ways to get close to him? Even when it was obvious he wanted to keep her at a distance.

Maybe her heart knew something the world didn’t. Maybe Preston Drake was more than just a pretty face.

Abbi Glines links: Abbi Glines| Facebook| Twitter

OPAL Cover Reveal!!!!

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t

something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a

lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will

mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the

secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no

end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most

unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even

if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Follow this link to an ~~~ EPIC CONTEST ~~~ Announcement. You will want to bookmark this page! http://jenniferarmentrout.blogspot.com/p/october-1-2012.html

USA TODAY Bestselling author, Jennifer L. Armentrout, lives in
Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s
not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie
movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell, Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class where she spent most of her time
writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult
paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance
under the name J. Lynn.

Find Jennifer on: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website | Blog

Blog Tour:The Zombie Always Knocks Twice Review and Giveaway

Tour Wide Giveaway 

10 Kindle copies of The Zombie Always Knocks Twice

1Bewitching zombie prize pack contains: zombie bag, zombie zone caution tape, fake brains in a meat container (because what's a zombie prize pack without brains right), two rubber duckies, a large bloody hand print sticker, Bat Bite hand sanitizer, Halloween theme bottle stickers, a purple skull mug, and a Bewitching notebook, pen, and necklace.

Open to US Shipping

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The Zombie Always Knocks Twice
E. Van Lowe
Hollyweird #1

Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Imajin
Cover Artist: Ryan Doan

Kindle ebook: 978-1-926997-74-2
Trade paperback: 978-1-926997-81-0
Page Count: 177 pages

Book Description:

Hollywood California, Swimming pools,
movie stars… and now the risen dead

Hollywood can be a difficult place to grow
up, especially if you’re Kristine Golden, a
fifteen-year-old necromancer with a sworn duty to lay the risen dead back to rest
and no desire to be in the movie business.

When handsome deadie Alex Romero swaggers into her life, Kris must keep her
promise, despite her growing feelings for him. If that’s not enough to give a girl
a headache, a murderous zombie comes knocking at Kris’ door, rocking her world
and threatening her family.

Can Kris solve the mystery of the rampaging zombie before someone else winds
up dead? Or will the walking dead take over Hollywood and turn it into…
Hollyweird?

Excerpt

The man coming up the block toward us in the hooded sweatshirt stopped directly in our
path, about ten feet away. The hood dropped revealing his face. The hair on the left side of his
head had been shaved off revealing tiny bits of bony white scalp. Huge staples held his crooked
jaw in place. There was a large indentation in his forehead from some sort of blunt force impact.
His left eye was covered with a milky, white cataract, and the right drooped unnaturally into his
cheek.
My breath caught yet again. Standing before us was a zombie.
‘LEAVE US ALONE!” the zombie screeched. Then he took off on a dead run and
plowed into Alex with the impact a freight train.
Just great, I thought. Hollyweird—where the dead come out to play.
Zombies aren’t what the movies make them out to be—slow moving, brain dead,
brain suckers. They’re the result of a raising gone bad. They can be strong, and fast, and very
dangerous. Also, a bite from a zombie won’t make you a member of the living dead, although
I’m sure it must hurt like hell.
The one that plowed into Alex was almost six feet tall and about seventeen years old. He
hit Alex with inhuman force, propelling him backward. They slammed into a parked car that
seemed to explode on impact. The twisting metal and shattering glass sounded like a horrible
automobile accident. The car was totaled, and Alex was embedded into the passenger side, like a
toy soldier into a wad of Play Doh.
“Oh, God!” I screamed.
Alex’s eyes were closed. He wasn’t moving… but the zombie was. He peeled himself
away from Alex and the wreckage.
“Zombie!” I called at the top of my lungs. “I command you to tell me who raised you
and what you are doing here.”
The zombie faced me, a puzzled look on his distorted face. It dawned on me he hadn’t
known I was a necromancer until then—not that it made a difference. He wasn’t bound to me so
he didn’t have to answer my questions. I was bluffing.
“LEAVE US ALONE!” He screamed in response. He started for me and a wave of fear
rippled my gut.
“I command you to stay back!” I called, but my voice was cracking, my words lacked
conviction. I took a few shaky steps backward. The zombie continued toward me.
Just then the sound of twisting metal snagged both our attention. Alex’s eyes were open,
and he was separating himself from the wreckage. He shed the automobile with the ease of a
snake shedding an old skin. He began advancing on the zombie.
“What’s going on down there?” We all looked up and saw three men, all Johnny do-
gooders, running up the block in our direction.
“Leave her alone,” one of them called.
The zombie looked from the advancing men to Alex and me.
“Hhhhh!” Hot breath hissed angrily at us. Then he took off past us like a deer, bounding
up the block. By the time the men reached us he was nowhere in sight.
“You ok?” one of them asked.
“Yes. He… attacked us?”
“What the heck happened here?” Another of the men asked. He was staring at the
twisted pile of metal that used to be a Buick.

Before I could open my mouth, Alex launched into an explanation. “My girl and I were
out for a stroll, and he was taking a sledge hammer to that car when we happened upon him.
Guess it was some kind of vendetta. And when he saw us he decided to add us to the list.” The
lie flowed from his lips effortlessly.
“Hey, aren’t you on that TV show?” the third man asked.
Alex smiled. “The Beloved. Yes. You watch it?”
“No, but my girlfriend does. She can’t get enough of you vampire guys.”
Any suspicions the men may have had about our presence on the street or Alex molesting
me immediately vanished. Alex was a bona fide Hollywood star. I guess they thought all stars
were boy scouts. Where have they been?
Several minutes and three autographs later the men were gone, and Alex and I were
walking back to the party.
“You told that lie like you do it all the time,” I said.
“I’m a dead person among the living. I do do it all the time.”
That wasn’t what I was talking about, but I didn’t push it. He seemed annoyed. I guess
being attacked by a zombie wasn’t an everyday occurrence for him either.
“If it makes you feel any better, I memorized the car’s plate number. I’ll take care of the
damage,” he said, his words softening.
“Thanks. That does make me feel better.” I wanted to hold my tongue, but I couldn’t.
“So, you have any enemies who’d want to send a zombie after you?”
“I don’t have any enemies. I’m a lover not a fighter.” The annoyance was back.
“Maybe you loved the wrong woman.”
“I’m dead. I can’t love any woman,” he replied. The words were seething with anger or
pain. I couldn’t tell which.
“He said ‘leave us alone.’ Who’s us?” I asked.
“I don’t know!”
He was getting agitated again so I dropped the subject. But not without noting there was
more to Alex than he was telling me. A vindictive zombie had been set loose in Hollywood.
It was something I needed to look into along with the deadie from the diner. My, my, I was
suddenly a very busy girl.

About the Author:

E. Van Lowe is an author, television writer, screen-
writer, playwright and producer who has worked on
such TV shows as "The Cosby Show," "Even Stevens,"
and "Homeboys In Outer Space." He has been
nominated for both an Emmy and an Academy Award.
His first YA Paranormal novel, "Never Slow Dance
With A Zombie," was a selection of The Scholastic
Book Club, and a nominee for an American Library
Association Award. His Best Selling
novels, “Boyfriend From Hell” and “Earth Angel,” are
the first two books in the Falling Angels Saga. “The
Zombie Always Knocks Twice” is the first book in his
Hollyweird series.

E lives in Beverly Hills California with his spouse, a werewolf, several zombies
and a fairy godmother who grants him wishes from time-to-time.

http://evanlowe.com

http://vanlowe.blogspot.com/

@evanlowe

http://www.facebook.com/author.e.vanlowe


Writing About A Gifted Child

If you are a fan of paranormal stories, one thing I’m sure you enjoy is reading about how our
heroes and heroines deal with their paranormal gifts. This is also true for me. In exploring
the relationship between Kris, the protagonist in The Zombie Always Knocks Twice, and her
ungifted sister, Anne Marie, I delve into my own past.

I grew up in a gifted household. No, not me. Definitely not me. I am about as ungifted as they
come. However, my older brother was gifted with an ability in mathematics. As kids, while I
was busy outdoors playing and getting into as much trouble as I could find, my brother was at
home working on equations. By the age of twelve he had already gone through all the algebra
and geometry books my parents could find and was delving into calculus.

I remembered all the attention my brother got. It didn’t bother me. I thought he was weird. I
mean, what twelve year-old doesn’t want to play? Yet in writing my new book, I wondered
how Kris’ gift might affect her sister. A single gifted child in a normal family can have an effect
on the entire family. That is the underlying premise of The Zombie Always Knocks Twice.
Of course, Kris has all sorts of other problems like a rampaging zombie, a girl who was raised
from the dead and wonders if she was murdered, not to mention a budding romance with a new
deadie.

For me, however, the key to the book is exploring my own reality. It’s what I love most about
writing paranormal. I get to explore my normal in an abnormal way.





My Review:

For me E. Van Lowe is one of those authors that never fails to entertain. His writing is easy to read and fast paced. His characters are quirky and fun, the plots unique and suspenseful. The Zombie Always Knocks Twice reads like a paranormal Veronica Mars which is one of my all time favorites, and I can see this being  an amazing tv series if done right.

I love the way Lowe works family dynamics into a zombie book, of all things. Kris and her dad seemed to have such a great relationship until her sister Anne Marie showed up after running away and being gone for two years. Not only does her sister come back but all of the sudden Kris's gift is needed more than it has been, and with Anne Marie is quick to point out to dear old dad that Kris's gift is endangering everyone's life. Gee, thanks sis. Now let's just throw a little more at an already stressed Kris and give her a hot dead guy that needs her help as well.

If you're already a fan of Lowe's books I think you'll be glad to know that this series is starting out just as great as his others. If you haven't read Lowe yet and you like paranormal stories then you should definitely check out this book and his others. I can't wait to see what Kris gets into in the next book.

Random Giveaway Time!!!!! Elemental by Emily White

Summary from Goodreads
Just because Ella can burn someone to the ground with her mind doesn't mean she should. But she wants to. For ten years--ever since she was a small child--Ella has been held prisoner on an interstellar starship. Now that she has escaped, she needs answers. Who is she? Why was she taken? And who is the boy with the beautiful green eyes who haunts her memories? Is Ella the prophesied Destructor. or will she be the one who's destroyed?

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Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout Release Day Blitz and Giveaway

Book notes:

Title: Cursed

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication Date: September 2012

Suggested age range: 13 & up

BISAC Category: Juvenile Fiction (Fantasy and Magic)

Pages: 312

ISBN: 978-0-9831572-7-4
Amazon Barnes & Noble
Official book trailer: http://youtu.be/JlU4U1msXj

Dying sucks--and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not've been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

I'm reading Cursed right now and can't wait to get back to it. So far it's rockin as Jennifer's books tend to do! Here are a couple of teasers to get you started.

-Collecting tardy slips had become sort of a hobby of mine. One day, I would have a pretty collage of pink paper with angry red writing. I'd hang it on the fridge for Oliva. She dug pink things. 

-My gaze dropped from his face to his shirt. It read: I BELIEVE IN TROPHY WIVES. Nice. 

-The girl inside me screamed and did a happy dance, but I quickly smacked her upside the head. I started backing off. 

-“I know—I know how crazy it sounds, but it’s like I came to know
you. I knew you sketched when you were upset. I saw how much you
loved your sister. How brave you were to keep going to that damn
school. And all those times I watched you, I grew to know every one of
your fake smiles. I never even heard you laugh. All I’ve ever wanted to
do is help you, because maybe then, you’d smile once and really mean it."

it.”

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