Hannah McBride: Current Author, Former Irish Banana: March 2016

Mar 28, 2016

Blog Tour: All Chained Up by Sophie Jordan

ALL CHAINED UP is a thrilling, sexy start to a new series by versatile writer Sophie Jordan. Having been a fan of Sophie Jordan's for years, I was so excited when this book landed in my lap.

Look - I'm just gonna say it: I loved the prison setting. I am a fan of Prison Break and there's something about a hot bad boy in prison who still has a heart and protects what/who he loves. That's Knox. Knox is a fabulously delicious character that sucks in you from the start. I get it, Briar - I was attracted to him, too.

And let's talk about my girl Briar, who is a sweet and idealistic and complements Knox's hard edges perfectly. They have chemistry in spades, their dialogue and ... uh, non-dialogue scenes sear the pages.

ALL CHAINED UP is a brilliant start to a new series, introducing a cast of characters I can't wait for Jordan to expound on. I am so ready for the next book!

ABOUT ALL CHAINED UP:

Some men come with a built-in warning label. Knox Callaghan is one of them. Danger radiates from every lean, muscled inch of him, and his deep blue eyes seem to see right through to Briar Davis’s most secret fantasies. But there’s one major problem: Briar is a nurse volunteering at the local prison, and Knox is an inmate who should be off-limits in every way.

Knox feels it too—a shocking animal magnetism that drives him to risk his own life to protect Briar’s. Paroled at last, he tries to resist her. She’s too innocent, too sweet, and she has no idea what Knox is capable of. But a single touch can lead to a kiss—and a taste . . . until the only crime is denying what feels so right . . .

ABOUT SOPHIE JORDAN:

Sophie Jordan took her adolescent daydreaming one step further and penned her first historical romance in the back of her high school Spanish class. This passion led her to pursue a degree in English and History.

A brief stint in law school taught her that case law was not nearly as interesting as literature - teaching English seemed the natural recourse. After several years teaching high school students to love Antigone, Sophie resigned with the birth of her first child and decided it was time to pursue the long-held dream of writing.

In less than three years, her first book, Once Upon A Wedding Night, a 2006 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Nominee for Best First Historical, hit book shelves. Her second novel, Too Wicked To Tame, released in March 2007 with a bang, landing on the USA Today Bestseller's List.

LINKS: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Tour Schedule:

Week 1:

3/21: Krista's Dust Jacket - Review

3/22: Live to Read - Character Casting

3/23: Take Me Away to a Great Read - Review

3/24: Fiction Fare - Q&A

3/25: My Secret Romance Book Reviews - Review

Week 2:

3/28: The Irish Banana Review - Review

3/29: Resch Reads & Reviews - Playlist

3/30: Behind Closed Covers - Review

3/31: The Book Cellar - Top 10 Reasons Sophie Jordan Rocks

4/1: Stuck In Books - Review

Week 3:

4/4: Read-Love-Blog - Review

4/5: Reading Is Better With Cupcakes - Pocket Letter

4/6: Reads All the Books - Review

4/7: Eater of Books - Swoon Thursday

4/8: The Cover Contessa - Review

Giveaway:

3 Finished Copies of ALL CHAINED UP (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mar 25, 2016

Spotlight: Furious by T.R. Ragan

Synopsis:

Faith McMann comes home to a nightmare: her husband is killed and her son and daughter are taken. Although the intruders leave her for dead, she survives. Crippling grief and fear for her children make life unbearable. Until her anguish turns to anger…and she trades victimhood for vengeance. Frustrated with the law’s efforts, she takes action to rescue her children—and wreaks havoc on the brutal criminals who tore them from her. With her family and newfound allies at her side, Faith descends into the hellish underworld of human trafficking, determined to make those who prey on the innocent pray for mercy. The forces she's up against have already proven that their ruthlessness knows no bounds. And there's nothing they won't do to turn Faith's crusade into a suicide mission. But they're about to learn that nothing is more dangerous than a mother fighting for her children—especially one who's earned the nickname Furious.

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | The Book Depository

Author Bio:

T.R. Ragan (Theresa Ragan) is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. Her exciting Lizzy Gardner series: Abducted, Dead Weight, A Dark Mind, Obsessed, Almost Dead, and Evil Never Dies, has received tremendous praise. In August 2015 Evil Never Dies hit #7 on the Wall Street Journal Bestselling List. Since publishing in 2011, she has sold over two million books and has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, the L.A. Times, PC Magazine, Huffington Post, and Publishers Weekly. Theresa grew up in a family of five girls in Lafayette, California. An avid traveler, her wanderings have carried her to Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, China, Thailand, and Nepal, where she narrowly survived being chased by a killer elephant. Before devoting herself to writing fiction, she worked as a legal secretary for a large corporation. Theresa and her husband Joe have four children and live in Sacramento, California. FURIOUS, the first book in her most recent Faith McMann series will be released March 22, 2016, followed by OUTRAGE and WRATH.

Early Praise

“Faith McMann, heroine of this gripping novel, is a Sacramento schoolteacher, wife, and mother who comes home just in time to witness her husband’s throat getting cut and her two children hauled away. The attempt on her life is botched—the killers were in a hurry—and as she recovers, she’s convinced the police are brushing her off. So she whacks a detective with his computer keyboard and gets sentenced to anger management sessions. If this were a cookie-cutter thriller, the male hero would be tracking the killers with an automatic weapon and maybe a major babe beside him. But our hero is smarter than that, and her revenge is a product of relationships, not bullets. In classes, she meets other victims as angry as she is, and, together, in fine scenes of action and suspense, they seek explanations and vengeance as well as the children’s rescue, which takes them into a slimy world of human trafficking. Learn here about “lot lizards” and “kiddie strolls” on the way to a wild finale. Suspenseful and smart, in equal measure.” —Don Crinklaw, Booklist

“Searing...Readers with strong stomachs will eagerly await the next installment.” —Publishers Weekly

Giveaway:

5 copies of FURIOUS (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mar 24, 2016

Blog Tour: The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith

I discovered this beautiful book a few months ago and since then, I've been trying to get EVERYONE to read it because it must be read. It demands to be read. I had the chance to sit down with Amber Smith for a Q&A.

Hi, Amber! Welcome to the blog! I am such a huge fan of THE WAY I USED TO BE and you (as you know).

Hello, and thank you so much for having me!

1. So – it’s here! Your first published novel! What has the process been like for you?

Amber: Well, the short answer is...it’s been amazing! But it’s also been a long road. I started writing THE WAY I USED TO BE at the very beginning of 2010, and now, after six years it’s finally out in the world! There have been a lot of ups and downs along the way, but it’s been a wonderful journey. Scary, exciting, challenging, and so extremely rewarding, all at once!

2. Did you always want to be a writer? Or when did you know you might want to be one?

Amber: Yes, I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I was a little kid. But there weren’t many educational opportunities for creative writing when I was growing up, so being a writer seemed very mysterious—I wasn’t quite sure how you would go about becoming one. Then in high school I was actually much more involved in the visual arts, and so that’s what I went on to study in college (I have my BFA in painting and my master’s in art history). As I began working in art organizations I was able to start doing a lot of nonfiction writing (on art), which, I think is what ultimately gave me the push I needed to seriously revisit my dream of writing fiction. I had the creative background from art school and the writing skills from my profession—it all suddenly felt a lot more feasible than it did when I was younger. So, that’s what I did!

3. THE WAY I USED TO BE deals with the very sensitive issue of rape, but was there ever a point you second guessed what you were writing?

Amber: No, I never second guessed the content of what I was writing, but there were times when I found it to be pretty challenging, emotionally speaking. There were different points during the writing process when I had to take long breaks from the book altogether—to take a step back and make sure I was keeping a clear boundary between the fictional world of the book and my real life. But even during those times when I may have felt emotionally strained by the subject matter, I never had any doubts as to whether or not I should be writing it—it’s so important to tell those stories that might be difficult, sensitive, or controversial, because these are the voices that are too often silenced.

4. What message do you want readers to come away with from THE WAY I USED TO BE?

Amber: I think the overarching message I’d like to see readers come away with has to do with self-worth: the importance of finding your voice and speaking your truth, standing up to abuse in all its forms—even the abuse we sometimes inflict on ourselves. Self-worth is something everyone can relate to, regardless of whether or not someone has shared in Eden’s particular experience.

5. What are your writing essentials (silence? music? coffee?)?

Amber: Coffee is a must, always. And I usually do listen to music while I’m writing—I like to create enormous playlists for each project I’m working on to help get me in the right mindset. I also have a separate studio/writing room in my house where I do all of my writing—it’s my creative sanctuary.

ABOUT THE WAY I USED TO BE:

In the tradition of Speak, this extraordinary debut novel shares the unforgettable story of a young woman as she struggles to find strength in the aftermath of an assault.

Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.

What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.

Told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year—this provocative debut reveals the deep cuts of trauma. But it also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment and unbearable pains of adolescence, of first love and first heartbreak, of friendships broken and rebuilt, and while learning to embrace a power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart.

ABOUT AMBER SMITH:

Amber Smith grew up in Buffalo, NY and now lives in Charlotte, NC with her two dogs. After graduating from art school with a BFA in Painting, she earned her MA in Art History. When she’s not writing, she is working as a curator and art consultant. She has also written on the topics of art history and modern and contemporary art. The Way I Used to Be is her first novel.

LINKS: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Tour Schedule:

Week 1:

3/21: Once Upon A Twilight - Review

3/22: Addicted 2 Novels - Guest Post

3/23: Pretty Deadly Reviews - Review

3/24: The Irish Banana Review - Q&A

3/25: A Leisure Moment - Review

Week 2:

3/28: The Hardcover Lover - Top 10

3/29: I Turn the Pages - Review

3/30: Such A Novel Idea - Q&A

3/31: Take Me Away to a Great Read - Review

4/1: Arctic Books - Playlist

Giveaway:

3 Finished Copies of THE WAY I USED TO BE (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mar 23, 2016

Eleanor Herman Cover Reveals!!

Hey y'all!!! I'm super excited to get to share the super pretty covers for Eleanor Herman's enovella, QUEEN OF ASHES, for her Legacy of Kings series!

So .... are you ready for this?!

If you look away from her face, you will die.

This is the warning given to the suitors of Queen Laila of Sharuna, who must compete against one another to win the royal Egyptian’s affections. One by one, men cower under her penetrating gaze, and one by one, they are executed.

That is, until Laila meets two brothers who do not cower before her: Brehan, noble and courageous…and Riel, intelligent and ambitious. As Laila is tempted by both of them and their differing approaches to magic, she decides that there is one thing she wants more than either brother’s affection: power.

But when the brothers turn on each other, Laila must choose where her heart truly lies, before the brothers she loves turn her kingdom to ash.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Legacy of Kings, Queen of Ashes shares the secret history of characters who play an unforgettable role in the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Soooo ... what do you think?!

Harper Summer 2016 Tour: Girl Against the Universe

Look! You came back to me! Due to a snafu, the regularly scheduled blog didn't get their post up, but I didn't want you to miss out on today's book (which is one of my favorites from the catalog!) and the keyword!!!

GIRL AGAINST THE UNIVERSE
By: Paula Stokes

Maguire is bad luck.

No matter how many charms she buys off the internet or good luck rituals she performs each morning, horrible things happen when Maguire is around. Like that time the rollercoaster jumped off its tracks. Or the time the house next door caught on fire. Or that time her brother, father, and uncle were all killed in a car crash—and Maguire walked away with barely a scratch.

It’s safest for Maguire to hide out in her room, where she can cause less damage and avoid meeting new people who she could hurt. But then she meets Jordy, an aspiring tennis star. Jordy is confident, talented, and lucky, and he’s convinced he can help Maguire break her unlucky streak. Maguire knows that the best thing she can do for Jordy is to stay away. But it turns out staying away is harder than she thought.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N| IndieBound

Ready for the awesome prizes we have?

Prizes:

#1 – A Harper Teen Summer 2016 Catalog prizepack of 45+ books*.

*Titles not included: The Crown by Kiera Cass, Escape from Asylum by Madeline Roux, Sing by Vivi Greene, & United As One by Pittacus Lore
In addition to the one massive prize winner, we will also have 4 winners who will be able to select 3 titles they want from the Summer 2016 Catalog.
US Only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#2 – 5 Finished Copies from the Harper Teen Fall 2015 Catalog

5 books are: Front Lines by Michael Grant, Revenge & the Wild by Michelle Modesto, The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks, Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin, & The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

US Only

How to enter:

Collect the daily word from each blog stop during the Harper Summer 2016 Tour (a total of 50). Once you’ve collected them all, email the complete saying to: HarperTeenTour@gmail.com

Today's code word is: SUMMER

Prize Rules:

1.) Winner must have a valid US mailing address to receive the prize

2.) Winner must be over 13

3.) Only one (1) entry per person for Prize #2 – duplicates will be deleted.

4.) Only a completed phrase will be accepted as an entry – do not email each word/phrase daily. Wait until you have the complete saying and then email in.

5.) All email submissions must be received by 11:59 PM EST 3/31/2016.

6.) Winners will be selected 4/1/2016 and will have 48 hours to claim their prize before another is selected.

7.) Participating blogs and bloggers are not responsible for unsent, damaged, and/or stolen prizes offered by the publisher.

#3 – PreOrder Giveaway

3 Winners will win their choice of a pre-order of ANY finished copy of a title featured on the tour!

Open INT as long as The Book Depository ships to you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mar 22, 2016

Blog Tour: Stone Field by Christy Lenzi

STONE FIELD is a beautiful mix of historical, romance, and retelling. I have to admit, I was drawn in by the historical aspect, though. I am a huge fan of historical fiction (but it must be done right) and period dramas.

There's something almost magical about slipping back into a simpler time before technology and engineering took us to a cell-phone-mandatory type of a life. There's an isolation that give a whole new dimension to a story.

I can also accept insta-love a lot more in historical settings than I can nowadays. Back then everything seemed to happen so fast - engagements, marriage, children (probably because the life expectancy was much lower), but I feel like reading a historical gives insta-love a pass. It wasn't uncommon to meet someone and decide that week that you were spending forever together.

STONE FIELD is a must for anyone who loves historical fiction (a genre I feel is deeply under-repped in YA).

Make sure you check out the rest of the tour:

Blog

Date

Content

www.bookrookreviews.com	3/19/2016	RETELLING
http://www.swoonyboyspodcast.com	3/20/2016	ROMANCE
www.fictionfare.com	3/21/2016	ROMANCE
http://theirishbanana.blogspot.com/	3/22/2016	HISTORICAL
http://katiesbookblog.com/	3/23/2016	RETELLING
http://www.addicted2novels.com	3/25/2016	ROMANCE
Fiercereads.com	3/26/2016	RETELLING
http://aperfectioncalledbooks.blogspot.com/	3/27/2016	HISTORICAL
http://www.fiktshun.com	3/28/2016	ROMANCE
http://www.intothehallofbooks.com/	3/29/2016	HISTORICAL

Mar 17, 2016

Blog Tour: Rebel of the Sands

And now, here's 25 things you never knew about author of REBEL OF THE SANDS, Alwyn Hamilton:

1) When I was a kid I was obsessed with pirates and desperately wanted to be one when I grew up.

2) In the same year in High School theatre I played Richard III and Mrs. Robinson from the Graduate. http://gph.is/XHvOuD

3) I can roll a kayak (Or used to be able to). Conversely I once sank a sail boat. http://gph.is/XKFswD

4) I once wrote and was director of Photography for a short film noire with a detective called Ace Spade. It was my favourite thing that I had ever written at the time. http://gph.is/1a9EMYH

5) My first words were “Goodbye” in English, French and Italian. http://gph.is/1OSq9IW

6) My family and I have a plan in the case of world ending apocalypse. My part involves loading up on water, protein bars and a map of France and walking to the continent using the Eurotunnel. http://gph.is/1FaGOn1

7) I am the least picky eater in the world but one thing that I will not drink under any circumstance is Coke/Pepsi http://gph.is/1b1NnIj

8) I have been to as many countries as I am years old. http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/2015-05/18/14/enhanced/webdr15/anigif_enhanced-25912-1431974595-17.gif

9) When I was 10 I was elected as the children’s parliamentary representative for my district in France. I ran against the guy who was my first kiss. When I won I got to sit in the National Assembly for a day.

10) I once worked an entire auction day at work with a power failure, answering phones with no working computers, no lights and losing my voice. http://gph.is/1bxwicE

11) When I was 21 Jeff Goldblum told me I was the spitting image of a young Mariel Hemingway (Ernest Hemingway’s Granddaughter) from the 1979 Woody Allen film Manhattan. I then watched him play a tiny piano.

12) If I get really stressed out I bake as a form of de-stressing/procrastination. I made a batch of brownies every day when I was studying for my baccalaureate. http://gph.is/1muz7PM

13) I wrote my final year dissertation about depictions of Charlotte Corday, the woman who murdered Marat in the Bath.

14) There’s a scar on my forehead from where I pulled a radio onto my head as a toddler and had to get stitches. In my parents’ words “We only looked away for 10 seconds…” http://gph.is/NbZRaV

15) I’m not very good at Video Games at all. But I did go through a period of big time addiction to the Sims. http://gph.is/1vlpmY0

16) I am catnip to mosquitoes. I once had to have socks duct taped to my hand to keep me from scratching my legs bloody in my sleep. http://i.imgur.com/XbKRiLn.gif

17) The first album I ever owned was the Spice Girls. The first Single was Britney Spears “Hit me Baby One More Time.” http://gph.is/1a7nfAv

18) A Qatari Prince once threatened to fire me. I didn’t actually work for him. https://media0.giphy.com/media/102W0riJ3fhGkU/200_s.gif

19) In the town where I grew up, in September, picking grapes was a legitimately accepted excuse to have missed a day of class.

20) I have been told I’m very intimidating by Hugh Grant. I was standing behind a glowing podium in control of a guest list at the time at a charity auction. I have never been so tempted to pretend I couldn’t find someone’s name on the list. http://gph.is/1jZ4x0v

21) I am compulsively truthful. With the exception of once in High School, a newer friend said to my oldest friend “you wouldn’t understand, you’re an only child”. Which is true, but for absolutely no reason, I said, “No she isn’t. She has a younger sister.” And spent the next 2 weeks convincing people that she had a little sister named Margaux. http://gph.is/1EbiCnR

22) Venice is my favourite city in the world and I sometimes fantasize about moving there for 6 months.

23) I have such thick hair I once broke a hairdresser’s scissors cutting through my ponytail when I was donating my hair. After she got new scissors she went around the salon making the other hairdressers feel it. http://media.giphy.com/media/4SsqeQj2pCyHK/giphy.gif

24) I once spent an entire 2 weeks cooking nothing but pies because I was watching PUSHING DAISIES. http://lovelace-media.imgix.net/uploads/915/9be2ff60-1df8-0133-4698-0a2ca390b447.gif?

25) I hold pens like a left handed person but with my right hand. No teacher in 12 years was able to train this out of me, though many tried.