Friday, August 23, 2013

Book Tour: Uninvited by Leah Spiegel and Meg Summers (Excerpt)


Uninvited
(South Hills Sidekicks #1)
Authors: Leah Spiegel and Meg Summers
Publication: February 11th 2012
Genre: Humorous YA Chick-Lit
Buy: KindlePaperback

When Alley started her senior year at Upper East High in the South Hills area, it was supposed to be the usual drag of hanging out with people who spent more on one outfit than Alley did on her entire wardrobe. That was until Kirsten, a girl in their clique, suddenly goes missing and the only people who seem to care are her friends. All evidence leads to the new comer Shane, a cocky and self-pretentious person in Alley’s opinion, but the police seem uninterested so she and the rest of the girls start a little investigation of their own. But they are nowhere closer to finding Kirsten than when they started and now they had the police’s attention; just not in the way they expected. The girls have to start over and discover that maybe it wasn’t an outsider who took Kirsten, but someone within their own clique who has something to hide; a secret that just might have gotten Kirsten killed.

 Excerpt 1
On the trolley Val started to look a little squeamish. Dropping her hands on either side of the seat to grab onto it for dear life, she groaned, “I think I’m getting trolley sick.” Looking paler by the second, she leaned forward in obvious discomfort.
“I can’t believe I let you guys talk me into this.” She winced.
“What?” Kayla and I laughed. “We talked you into this?”
“Like heck we did,” Libby added hotly, and then stole a suspicious glance at a guy nearby.
“You’re the one who came to me with the scary story of being stalked.” She aimed the first glare at me. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t try to fix it for you?”
“I thought we were doing this for Kirsten?” I reminded her as the trolley dipped underground, the skyscrapers above.
“Her too.” She gulped. “I’m a really good friend.”
“Does this mean we can turn around now?” Libby sounded hopeful as the trolley turned the bend and Steel Plaza came into view.
“You guys could learn a thing or two from me, you know,” she insisted.
“Yeah, like let the cops do the investigating.” I smirked.

Excerpt 2
“Can I help you?” Kellan Lutz’s body double asked. He looked down at us like we must be lost, or worse, a sales rep.
“We have an appointment,” Val explained and somehow this seemed even more unfathomable for him to believe as he glanced down at her six inch heels.
“Name?”
Expecting to hear something along the lines of Jane Smith, I was stunned when Val announced, “Umm, yes…Alley Mitchel.”
“My name?” I looked at her in disbelief because it wouldn’t be that hard for Shane to glance through the calendar organizer in front of “Kellan” and see my name listed there.
“Will it be just you, Ms. Mitchel, on the tour?” he asked me.
“Tour?” I squeaked because I thought we would ask a few short questions and then skedaddle. Who knew if Shane was hanging around somewhere in the back?
“No, I’ll be joining her,” Val insisted.
“Oh, I’m not missing this.” Kayla snorted and came up beside me.
“You guys aren’t leaving without me.” Libby threw down the magazine and quickly joined us.

Leah Spiegel
Although we moved down to North Carolina several years ago, we’re originally from the Pittsburgh area. (That’s why a lot of our characters either live in the Burgh or reference our hometown football team, The Pittsburgh Steelers.) And yes, we even have the Southern accents to show for it now. Although Megan’s is considerable thicker, Leah still can’t understand the locals.

We are known as ‘the sisters’ among our neighborhood; when actually we’re probably really known as ‘the sisters with the Yorkies’. Our pups, Skippy Jon Jones and Captain Jack Sparrow, were given long names to compensate for their small size but not their large personalities.

If Leah’s not glued to her electronic devices, AKA her Kindle Fire and various laptops, you can find her training ‘the attack dogs’, running on the treadmill while conceiving the next great book idea with the Dave Matthews Band, Muse, Florence and the Machine, The Lumineers, and Pink (just to name a few) blaring out of her earphones.
If Megan’s not glued to her electronic devices AKA her iPad and Nook Color, you can find her teaching fourth graders, swimming marathon style at the pool, or cuddling with ‘the attack dogs’ as she watches Duck Dynasty, Gold Rush, Scandal, Person of Interest, Morning Joe, etc.

Leah graduated from Edinboro University with a BA in Art Education. Megan received her teaching degree from Edinboro University and Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Technology from Grand Canyon University.

Author Links
Website / Facebook / Goodreads / Twitter


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Review: Spintered by A.G. Howard


Splintered
Author: A.G. Howard
Publisher: Amulet Books, 2013
Genre: YA Fairy Tale
Buy: AmazonB&NTBD

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday (107)

Hosted at Breaking the Spine.


The Burning Sky
(The Elemental Trilogy) 
Sherry Thomas 
Sept 17 2013  
 
It all began with a ruined elixir and an accidental bolt of lightning…

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.

Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he's also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to revenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.

But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.
Why am I waiting for it?
I love stories that use elemental powers and stuff, but I still haven’t found one I really, really love. The blurb for this one sounds great, so here’s me hoping!
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