Blog Tour: Love Me Never (Lovely Vicious #1) by Sara Wolf

Love Me Never (Lovely Vicious #1)

by Sara Wolf

Publisher: Entangled: Teen 

Release Date: April 5th 2016

Synopsis:

Previously published as Lovely Vicious, this fully revised and updated edition is full of romance, intrigue, and laugh-out-loud moments.

Don’t love your enemy. Declare war on him.

Seventeen-year-old Isis Blake hasn’t fallen in love in three years, nine weeks, and five days, and after what happened last time, she intends to keep it that way. Since then she’s lost eighty-five pounds, gotten four streaks of purple in her hair, and moved to Buttcrack-of-Nowhere, Ohio, to help her mom escape a bad relationship.

All the girls in her new school want one thing—Jack Hunter, the Ice Prince of East Summit High. Hot as an Armani ad, smart enough to get into Yale, and colder than the Arctic, Jack Hunter's never gone out with anyone. Sure, people have seen him downtown with beautiful women, but he's never given high school girls the time of day. Until Isis punches him in the face.

Jack’s met his match. Suddenly everything is a game.

The goal: Make the other beg for mercy.

The game board: East Summit High.

The reward: Something neither of them expected.

What would Isis do? by Sara Wolf

Thanks for having me! I’m Sara Wolf, and I’m super excited to talk to you all about my favorite character; ISIS! She’s from my new book, LOVE ME NEVER, and the topic today is what would she do if her heart was broken, which is an awesome subject. 

I’m not exaggerating here when I say Isis is the master of heartbreak. She’s a wizard, a maven, the absolute president of Heartbreaksville. Her heartbreak is a major theme of LOVE ME NEVER, and the whole book in general, so I’m psyched to talk about it. 

Isis was pretty young when her heart was broken – newly fourteen. The urge to fit in is so strong during that age, and the urge for love and affection as a human is pretty constant for most people. So Isis was looking for both, especially since her parents were in the middle of an ugly divorce and she hadn’t had much affection in a while. Isis turned to Will Cavanaugh, a boy she had a crush on, blindly doing everything she could to make herself attractive to him – by doing everything he said, going everywhere he went, trying hard to be friends with his friends. When he broke her heart and betrayed her, she closed up pretty hard. She was disgusted with who she’d become for him, so she changed everything about herself; going so far as to lose a bunch of weight and changing her hairstyle. She lashed out pretty hard at this time towards the people who were friends with him, starting fights at her school. These things aren’t necessarily healthy, but when you get your heartbroken you don’t tend to think clearly, or do things that are good for you. Her self-worth was shattered completely. 

There’s a lot of stages of heartbreak, and once Isis’s anger phase faded a little, she got into the mourning phase. She built strong walls of sarcasm and wit around herself, decorating it with a deep distrust for men, or anyone who tried to get close to her or compliment her. She’s so disgusted with the girl she used to be, the girl who was used and abused, that she genuinely can’t believe the good things people say about her, much to Jack’s frustration. In LOVE ME NEVER, she’s still a long way off from the acceptance stage of heartbreak, but she’s taking small baby steps using her own willpower and getting helped along the path by Jack, who knows similar heartbreak. 

I wrote LOVE ME NEVER knowing Isis was damaged and in denial, but I didn’t know just how much until the story unfolded. Heartbreak is the worst, and the recovery can take months or even years, and only with the help of a lot of people who love us no matter how ugly our pain. Good friends and good family can help you so much, and Isis makes a little bit of both in LOVE ME NEVER. Isis definitely learns that only when our hearts are mended can we open them up again to other people. 

“Who are you waiting for?” Knife Kid asks.

“That obvious, huh?”

“Jack, then. Screaming at him wasn’t enough?”

“He was the one who put the pictures of me all over school. Hell no, screaming isn’t enough.”

Knife Kid nods. “I saw the pictures. I had fun slashing them with my protractor. Nobody should be made fun of like that, I think.”

I don’t know whether to smile at how sweet he sounds or become extremely concerned at how creepy he sounds. I settle for a little of both just as Jack comes in. He walks right by and settles in his desk behind me. I turn and watch him take off his backpack.

“Hi.” I wave.

It takes him a moment to recognize me. Or a million. He focuses his gaze on me, then looks boredly to the window. He puts his chin in his hand, studies a pigeon in a tree with utmost intensity, and then all at once his eyes go wide. He swivels his head slowly back to me.

“You,” he murmurs.  

“Me!” I chirp.     

“What the hell are you doing in that?” he asks, eyes sweeping down to my chest, my legs, and up again.

“Damage control.” I smile. “Do you like it?”

“I’ve seen pigs dressed better.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that, considering you see one in the mirror every morning.”

Don't miss anything of the LOVE ME NEVER blog tour! Click on the banner below to see the tour schedule.

Sara Wolf is a twenty-something author who adores baking, screaming at her cats, and screaming at herself while she types hilarious things. When she was a kid, she was too busy eating dirt to write her first terrible book. Twenty years later, she picked up a keyboard and started mashing her fists on it and created the monster known as the Lovely Vicious series. She lives in San Diego with two cats, a crippling-yet-refreshing sense of self-doubt, and not enough fruit tarts ever.

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Blog Tour + Giveaway: In Real Life by Jessica Love

In Real Life
by Jessica Love
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: March 1st 2016

Synopsis:

Hannah Cho and Nick Cooper have been best friends since 8th grade. They talk for hours on the phone, regularly shower each other with presents, and know everything there is to know about one another. 

There's just one problem: Hannah and Nick have never actually met.

Hannah has spent her entire life doing what she's supposed to, but when her senior year spring break plans get ruined by a rule-breaker, she decides to break a rule or two herself. She impulsively decides to road trip to Las Vegas, her older sister and BFF in tow, to surprise Nick and finally declare her more-than-friend feelings for him.

Hannah's surprise romantic gesture backfires when she gets to Vegas and finds out that Nick has been keeping some major secrets. Hannah knows the real Nick can't be that different from the online Nick she knows and loves, but now she only has night in Sin City to figure out what her feelings for Nick really are, all while discovering how life can change when you break the rules every now and then.

by Jessica Love

The drive from Orange County, CA to Las Vegas, NV is one that I have done more times than I can count. It’s about a 4 hour drive and it’s a straight shot - just one freeway the entire way. I’m now at the point where I can afford to fly to Vegas when I want to go, but even though I don’t make that drive anymore, I still have some fond memories of cruising through the desert on the 15 freeway.

The drive there is never that bad. You’re excited for your trip. You’re pumped up. You made a new playlist full of party songs, and you and your friends talk excitedly the entire time about all the fun plans you have for when you arrive. It doesn’t matter that the drive is dusty and boring, you focus on the landmarks that let you know you’re getting closer to your destination. Barstow, CA, home of the McDonald’s on an old train car. Baker, CA home of the World’s Tallest Thermometer and Alien Jerky, whatever that is. The Zzyzx Rd. exit. Then you cross the state line into Nevada, passing the huge roller coaster at Buffalo Bill’s in Primm, NV and you know Vegas is close. The 4 hour drive went by so quickly, you hardly even noticed.

Driving back to Orange County from Las Vegas is another story entirely. Number one, you’re always tired. You had too much fun and partied too hard, so there is none of the exuberance and excitement that you had on the way there. Number two, people come in to Vegas at all different times, but everyone leaves on Sunday morning, so the traffic is a mess. That two lane freeway that you sped in on? Now it’s at a dead stop. If there’s an accident, it’s even worse. That 4 hour drive? It now takes 6 or sometimes even 8 hours. Now, the landmarks don’t matter. It’s just you and the car and the desert, and, trust me, you all become best friends.

The worst drive I had home from Las Vegas involved both number one and number two above. And it also involved me, my future husband, and his three friends (so five of us total, four large men and me...I’m 6 feet tall) all smooshed into a tiny Toyota Tercel. Seriously, the smallest person in the car was 5’10”. All of us had our knees up in our chins. And there was traffic. And and accident. By the time we got home, 7 hours after we left, I pretty much never wanted to speak to any of them again, my future husband included.

Oh, and someone also threw up on the World’s Tallest Thermometer. But I’m not naming names.

This is why I always fly to Vegas now. The drive there is no problem, but the drive home? I’ll pass.

Jessica Love is a high school English teacher in Los Angeles, California, where she met her husband and her two tiny dogs online. She is the co-writer of Push Girl with Chelsie Hill.

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Blog Tour: Gaia (The Wings of War #2) by Karen Ann Hopkins

Gaia (The Wings of War #2)
by Karen Ann Hopkins
Release Date: July 26th 2015

Synopsis:

Watchers and Angels are at war. Which side will Ember choose?

Humankind is on the precipice of the apocalypse. 

As the Demons grow bolder and the walls between the planes of existence weaken, Ember is forced to develop her powers as quickly as possible, and she seeks out a powerful earth Watcher to continue her supernatural lessons. Her glimpse of the future demands she fight the dark forces spreading across the earth.

But her new mentor has his own agenda, making her question everyone and everything she ever trusted.

When Ember is thrust into the world of the Watchers, she learns of their plans—ones that defy the scripture and make them enemies of the Celestial Host. Ridding the world of evil gets complicated when it becomes impossible to take sides. 

As Ember struggles with morality, she soon discovers that there’s something more frightening than anything she’s faced before.

Praise for Embers, the first book in the Wings of War series: "An impending apocalypse provides a compelling backdrop for romance in this page-turning first installment of a new YA series...Hopkins delivers many successful elements of young-adult romance—appealing lead characters, high-voltage chemistry, repressed sexuality—which will win her ardent followers.” -Kirkus Reviews

“Embers is the start of an action-packed paranormal YA series. Ms. Hopkins draws the reader immediately in with her richly drawn prologue that introduces the lurking evil in a breath-taking manner. a must read for YA, paranormal, fantasy and suspense fans. Make that a delight for any reader!" Morgan Stamm, Ind'Tale Magazine

by Karen Ann Hopkins

Ember is a Watcher—a decedent of Angels, and with that distinction comes certain elemental powers. Most Watchers can only control one element and with differing degrees, but Ember is fortunate enough to control all the elements. And she’s quite powerful in each one.

Here’s what you can expect if you’re a Watcher:

Fire Watchers control fire, even creating it inside themselves and shooting it from their fingertips. On several occasions, fire has even flown from Ember’s arms and legs. This is the element of destruction, and it has a mind of its own. You must always be vigilant when using fire, never forgetting that it would rather be free to consume the world, than be controlled by you.

Earth Watchers can heal others and themselves. They also can control and communicate with animals and birds, earth’s children. It’s easier to enter the mind of an animal that a person has a connection to than a strange one, especially a predator. But it can be done. Ember has flown in the minds of birds and raced across the forest in the body of a great stag. She’s also used her earth powers to move the ground, a power well-suited to battle.

So far in the series, we’ve only had glimpses of the power of water. Ember hasn’t learned to harness that element yet, but when she does, she’ll have an amazing power to work with. She’ll be able to control the movement of any body of water, whether it’s a puddle, a lake or an ocean, it will do as she asks. She’ll also be able to control creatures that reside solely in its depths, much like an earth watcher with land bound animals. Lastly, the water element controls emotion, the most serious threat to most humans and Watchers alike. The flow of water can soothe Ember, making her able to think clearly in difficult times. She’ll even be able to affect other people’s emotions, giving her another weapon in her arsenal. And there’s one particular creature that will be introduced in TEMPEST, the third book in the Wings of War series that only answers the call of a Water Watcher of incredible power. 

Air is as versatile an element as earth and nearly as devastating a force as fire. When Ember harnesses its strength, she’ll control the wind and be able to form destructive storms on a whim. The air element also carries the words of its controller, so she’ll be able to communicate with someone across the world with just a whisper. But most importantly, air affects the mind, giving the power of higher thought and reasoning to the Watcher controlling it. This power might be just the one that Ember needs the most when the rapture is upon her.

When all the powers are used at once, whether by a solitary Watcher like Ember, or by the joining of forces by four Watchers of each element, a force is created so great that it rivals the Angels. And this is the reason the Angels declare war on the Watchers. They will not tolerate their offspring to be their equals.

Thank you for being a part of Gaia’s blog tour! I love to connect with readers on my Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram or at www.karenannhopkins.com. Please be on the lookout for the release of SECRETS IN THE GRAVE, the third installment in my mystery series, Serenity’s Plain Secrets, in early September! Thanks for reading!

A native of New York State, Karen Ann Hopkins now lives with her family on a farm in northern Kentucky, where her neighbors in all directions are members of a strict Amish community. Her unique perspective became the inspiration for the story of star-crossed lovers Rose and Noah. When she’s not homeschooling her kids, giving riding lessons or tending to a menagerie of horses, goats, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats, she is dreaming up her next romantic novel.

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