Character Interview + Contest: Rusty from In Honor

Today I have one of my most favorite YA boys ever here for an interview, and to give you guys a chance to win his story! The hottie? Rusty from Jessi Kirby's (absolutely amazing) sophomore novel In Honor.


What's your best memory with Honor? Your biggest regret?

The best memory with H from that trip would have to be the night we went out dancin’ and she let loose.


Biggest regret? Maybe the way I told her the truth about Finn.


The other best memory is the look on her face when…I took my pants off because it was too damn hot in the car.

If Finn hadn't asked you to take care of Honor, would you still have tried to help her?

Course I would. That girl means a lot to me.

If you had taken Honor on a date during high school, what would you two do?

Not a whole lot do in Big Lake aside from drinkin’ and foolin’ around so…Finn was probably right never to let me.

What's it like to kiss Honor?

Better than I thought it’d be.

Boxers or briefs?

You already know the answer to that, don’t you? Honor was just lucky I was wearing any that day.

What kind of dinosaur would you describe yourself as?

Dinosaur? Hell, I don’t know. The best one.


Thank you, Rusty, for stopping by and congrats, Jessi, on the release!

In Honor hits shelves TODAY and is absolutely a book you do not want to miss.

While I totally recommend running out to get it right now, for those of you with far more will power than me who can wait, I have your chance to win an ARC!

To enter, please fill out THIS form.

This contest is US Only and ends May 22.

Goddess Interrupted Blog Tour: How Kate Spent Her Summer Vacation

I'm kicking off the blog tour for Aimee Carter's Goddess Interrupted today with a little intro on how Kate spent her summer vacation. But not only do you get an update on Kate, I've got an awesome prize pack for you to enter to win and the full tour information so you don't miss anything!



Summer is here and with it comes the promise of new adventures, new experiences and maybe even a new relationship. After winning her immortality and marrying Henry, ruler of the Underworld, here is how Kate spent HER summer vacation:


You realize you’re going to have to tell him about everything we did, right?”


I glanced at him. “I hadn’t planned on otherwise. Why? What’s wrong with that?”


James shrugged. “Nothing. I figured he wouldn’t be too thrilled with the idea of you spending six months in Greece with some handsome blond stranger, that’s all.”


I laughed so hard I nearly drove off the side of the road. “And who was this handsome blond stranger? I don’t remember him.”


“Exactly what you should say to Henry, and we’ll both be in the clear,” said James cheerfully.


It was a joke, of course. James was my best friend, and we had spent the whole summer together touring ancient ruins, vast cities and breathtaking islands in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Maybe one of the most romantic, too, but James was James, and I was married to Henry.



So there you guys have it, a little look at Kate and James.

If that got you appropriately excited for Goddess Interrupted, then you're in luck! I have a Summer Goddess Prize Pack up for grabs to one lucky winner!

In it is a copy of both The Goddess Test and Goddess Interrupted, a Goddess French tote bag, sunscreen and beach ball, as well as a $5 iTunes gift card.

To enter, just fill out THIS form!

This contest is US/Can only, and runs until May 21.


Check out I Am a Reader Not a Writer for the next stop on Goddess Interrupted Blog Tour and Summer Goddess Giveaway, and check out the full list of tour stops here.


About Goddess Interrupted:


Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, she'll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future. Henry's first wife, Persephone.

About Aimee Carter:

Aimée Carter was born in 1986 and attended the University of Michigan. She started writing at age eleven, focusing first on fan fiction and later on original work, and hasn't stopped since. The Goddess Test trilogy is her first series. Check out her website at www.aimeecarter.com.

You can go ahead and buy the book at Amazon, B&N, Harlequin, or IndieBound, and check out the book trailer!

Book Review: In Honor by Jessi Kirby

SUMMARY: A devastating loss leads to an unexpected road trip in this novel from the author of Moonglass, whose voice Sarah Dessen says “is fresh and wise, all at once.”

Hours after her brother’s military funeral, Honor opens the last letter Finn ever sent. In her grief, she interprets his note as a final request and spontaneously decides to go to California to fulfill it.

Honor gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn’s best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn’t seen Rusty in ages, but it’s obvious he is as arrogant and stubborn as ever—not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. Despite Honor’s better judgment, the two set off together on a voyage from Texas to California. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn’s memory—but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?


OPINION: 5 STARS

Fun yet emotional, In Honor is the perfect blend of road trip antics, grief, and friendship with a hint of romance. With two broken central characters, and a painful tie between them, there is a poignancy to this novel that fits neatly underneath the more straightforward and even amusing parts. Fantastically written and holding some great descriptions, In Honor is a fabulous must read of a novel.

Honor a very easy character to like, the kind of girl who stays to herself in a lot of ways but who is a fierce and great friend underneath it. With her older brother as the person who’s really been taking care of her for years since their parents died, Honor takes his death especially hard. Painful to watch, her confusion and hurt is palpable from the first page. Though she’s beaten up, Honor finds a way to force herself to not only face the truth of his death but find a way to do her own sort of send off for him. From the almost spur of the moment decision to go to California, to everything that happens on the way, Honor’s development and growth is fantastically well done. With the perfect pacing for it, and some gutting truths thrown her way, Honor’s character holds plenty of the girl she is at the start while still being in a much different place in her life by the end.

Rusty is a mess of his own making, a typical playboy jock in a lot of ways. A little too dependent on the bottle, and crude and very rough around the edges, Rusty is as intriguing as he is frustrating. With a knack for cutting someone straight to the bone, and seemingly able to do it without emotion, Rusty will twist reader’s emotions right alongside Honor’s. Still, the underlying personality and intricacies of this character come out little by little, showing the boy he really is, and giving plenty of insight into who he was even before Finn enlisted. With a growing new camaraderie with Honor, and his own way of dealing with losing his best friend, Rusty’s character will stand out as much as Honor’s does.

While other minor characters come into play, Rusty and Honor are the focus of the book. The banter between them is hilarious and fun, giving plenty of light moments to the book despite the darkness over their situation. Even with this, however, Kirby triggers the memories of Finn, or the sorrow over his death at all the right moments, giving a very realistic and raw air to the book. With some great unexpected antics along the way, the road trip feel is strong and unforgettable, without being the primary focus of the book.

Beautifully paced both in plot and development, Kirby keeps readers engaged and unable to put the book down from the start. Giving big reveals at perfect moments, and shifting moods on a dime from fun to rough, Kirby’s talents shine yet again with this book. Unafraid to cast her characters in a harsh light from time to time, yet always redeeming them and making them stronger because of it, Kirby keeps this one as internally focused as it is external, creating the perfect blend between the two.

Strong in voice, and with some great descriptions that aren’t over the top or out of character for Honor, the writing is as notable as the characters and plot of this one. Though relatively low in word count, this book packs a punch throughout and will keep readers guessing not only at what other secrets Rusty might hold but whether the pair will find Kyra Kelly as they’re intending.

Having just the right amount of romance without taking away from the grit of the book, and leaving both readers and the characters in a very fitting place by the end of the book, this one is a fast but completely enjoyable read. With a potential love interest that is both frustrating and intriguing, and a protagonist who is smart but understandably blind to some things, the characters shine in all the best ways and will leave readers craving more of these two despite being a standalone. Putting a great twist on both the road trip and grief elements of this book, In Honor is a stellar book from a talented writer.

Details:

Source: ARC received from author/publisher in exchange for an honest review 

Reading level: Ages 14 and up 

Hardcover: 240 pages 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

Guest Post: Charles Benoit on Character Inspiration

When I read Fall From Grace by Charles Benoit, Grace's character will stuck out with me, so when it came time to come up with a post topic for my tour stop, character inspiration seemed like a great choice. So here you have it: Charles on Character Inspiration, especially Grace.


My friends and family always ask me if they are the inspiration for the characters in my books. The truth is, they often are, but not for the characters they’d want to be inspiring.

The first female character I ever created was Aisha Al-Kady, the impossibly sexy, not-all-that-honest, hash-smoking, diamond-obsessed historian/treasure seeker who adds the oompf to the pages of my debut mystery, Relative Danger. Think a hotter Laura Croft, minus the guns. She was, admittedly, an over-the-top male fantasy that fit the over-the-top feel of the book’s comedic adventure plot. Guys who read the book say they love her, women who read the book say they didn’t trust her.

And yet, every woman I know says that there’s something, well, unusual about Aisha, that she seems, you know, familiar, like someone they know really, really well.

“What a coincidence,” I always say. “I based her on you.”

Fast-forward a few books to my first young adult novel, YOU. There wasn’t a female lead, but the girl who “you” obsess over is based on every girl I had a crush on in high school: exceptionally pretty with lots of interests—such as sports or academics—and zero interest in seeing me in any way other than as “a friend.” The main character reacts to this much like I did back then: ignoring the blatant signs and imagining how great it would be to be dating her without considering what she thought about it at all. Some female readers say they don’t understand why the main character would be attracted to this girl in the first place, to which I reply, you have never been a teen age boy. All we need is a smile from a pretty girl and that’s it, we’re hooked. In Fall From Grace, Sawyer has a super-hot girlfriend, Zoe, who’s very demanding and often treats him like a pet. Again, female readers don’t see why he’d stay with her. Male readers stop at super-hot.

Grace is different. She’s attractive, in a hard-to-define sort of way, and she has a compact (if a bit shapeless) dancer’s build. At best, she’s cute. Sortta. But she does have something that I (and lots of guys) find absolutely irresistible—a wicked-fast sense of humor. Gentlemen, you know the type I mean—the ones that have the witty comebacks seconds before anyone else; the ones who find a way to be funny without ever putting someone down; the ones who love to laugh, and know how to laugh at themselves in a way that makes them look even better; the ones who know how to tell a joke—a even dirty joke—without ever resorting to stereotypes or crude noises. Add to that a unique, I’ll-wear-what-I-want style and an adventure-focused, what’s the-worst-that-can-happen? attitude and you have what every guy really wants from a girl—a best friend.

So, ladies, does Grace sound sortta familiar, like someone you know really, really well?

What a coincidence, I based her on you.



Thank you, Charles! I seriously love this post, and love that you shared it with my readers!

Fall From Grace is out May 8, and is a great book with a creative concept to it that you guys need to make sure you don't miss!

Author Word Associations with Tracy Bilen

Dropping in today is Tracy Bilen, author of What She Left Behind, for a round of Word Associations! I gave Tracy a list of random words/phrases, and she replied with the first thing that came to mind for each.



Woods: run

Toe Jam: tennis shoes

Lemur: leopard

Horizon: shore

Morpheus: change

Hippogriff: large and grey

Morningstar: high school teacher

Baseball: Tigers

Sunny side up: eggs

Italian: brother

Coffee: bitter

Post Its: love ‘em

For Better or For Worse: watch out

Sword: fish

Purple: sweater


Thank you, Tracy, and congrats on the release!

What She Left Behind is out now, and is a seriously awesome book that you do not want to miss!

Author Music Feature: Susanne Winnacker

It's always fun to ask authors what kind of music they listened to while writing their book, and what songs are on their playlist for it... so I've pitched the questions to Susanne Winnacker, author of The Other Life, and this is what she had to say!


How important is music for writers? I guess that depends on the writer and their preferences. I personally need some kind of background noise when I’m writing. Sometimes I’ll just let one of my favorite TV series run in the background but most of the time I’ll listen to music. Once I listened to a single song all day to get in the mood for a certain scene. And every time I hear that song now, I think of the scene I wrote all those months ago.

I have lists for each of my books and today I’ll show you the songs I heard on repeat while writing and editing The Other Life.

Didn’t we almost have it all – Whitney Houston

Bring me to life – Evanescence

My Immortal – Evanescence

In the End – Linkin Park

Memories – Within Temptation

I will survive – Gloria Gaynor

I’m not dead – Pink

Nobody Knows – Pink


My lists usually consist of 20 – 40 songs so this is only little taste of my The Other Life playlist!



Thank you, Susanne, and congrats on the release! I can so see these songs for the book!

This one hits shelves May 15 so make sure you check it out.