Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway ~ Flawless by Jennifer McGill-Sadera

Hey guys, welcome to my stop on the Flawless Blog Tour hosted by IFB Tours. Click here to follow along with the full tour schedule. 

Title: Flawless

Author: Jennifer McGill-Sadera

Release date: September 30th 2013

Self-Published

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary 

Source: Review copy

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~ Synopsis ~

Nobody's perfect. Except Lia Copeland. She's flawless. And worshipped. And hated. From her perfectly proportioned figure and enviable bone structure to her instinctual talent for clothing design and cavalier attitude, Lia's the woman every other woman wants to be and every man wants to have. Catapulted from sigh-maker in the high school halls to superstardom in the fashion world, she makes it look easy. A girl like that has everything; every reason to be happy. Then why does Lia Copeland just want everyone to leave her the hell alone? 

Behind the dazzling light of Lia's successes is a dark tale of fear, betrayal and confusion, leaving her with unfathomable anger - and so many questions. Chief among them: why is apathy threatening to take over her life? She forces herself to look to both inside and outside sources of the problem, leading her through a maze of emotions and relationships as she carries out her quest. 

From the friends of Lia's youth - her best friend, Maddie, her tragic kinship with Doug, the tangled love triangle between her, Doug's cousin, Chad, and her pal, Wilson - to her later-day bond with her mentor, Jade, and therapist Ruth, Lia discovers the necessity of friendship and forgiveness in order to reach a life-affirming resolution. 

A story about the choices made in the wake of travail and tragedy, it explores relationships with all their messy and marvelous moments and magnifies the beauty, wonder and endurance of first love.  

~ My Review ~

My Rating: 5 / 5 

Flawless is a perfect title for this book! There isn't an exact plot per say, but it's a captivating story about love, loss, making amends, and finding oneself. I immediately loved Lia - she's snarky, witty, intelligent, and beautiful. She has her flaws, that's for sure, but that made her more real to me. Some things she did frustrated me, but no one makes decisions without emotion behind them - emotion that sometimes clouds your judgement. 

I felt like I was hanging out with Lia and her high school friends, too. It was painful to see them drift apart after high school because while my group of high school friends all still talk on Facebook, they've all moved away to different states. But this story begins in 1995, when there was no such thing as Facebook, and barely anyone had the Internet in their home.  

The situation with Chad was confusing to me. I don't think Lia gave him a chance because she had strong feelings for Wilson that she was in denial about. Wilson became bitter towards her, and it came out of nowhere as though he had been holding it in for the past two years of their friendship. It wasn't fair to her. Each one of her friends with the exception of Maddie took turns berating Lia, and I didn't understand why. Why all of a sudden beat up on her when they seemed to be content before they graduated? They knew Lia didn't care about her Queen Bitch reputation and didn't want all the attention she received. 

Flawless jumps ahead in time throughout the book - not so much that it's confusing; the story flows along seamlessly, and in this way, you get to see Lia's growth as a character and the things she discovers about herself. We follow her from high school to college to her career. I didn't understand at first the black pit she describes she feels in her chest at times unless she was talking about severe depression? She struggled with her apathy, even when it came to her friends. I knew there had to be deep issues causing it, and as the story went on, I began theorizing as to what was going on.   

Flawless is a deeply emotional novel that packs and punch and will resonate with you for a long time. There are fun moments, and then there are sad moments just like in real life. I felt the emotions of Lia as though I was right beside her. The dialogue is absolutely fantastic - this is a well written book that I can't recommend enough!       

~ Purchase Link ~ 

Amazon

~ About the Author: Jennifer McGill-Sadera ~

Jennifer Sadera is happiest when she's writing, reading, garden-designing or spending time with family and friends. FLAWLESS is her debut novel.

~ Social Links ~

Goodreads | Twitter 

~ Giveaway ~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal & Excerpt ~ Infatuated by Elle Jordan

Title: Infatuated 

Author: Elle Jordan 

Genre: Contemporary New Adult 

Publisher: EJ Books

Release Date: Oct 2013

Cover Reveal organized by: RBTL World of Books Blog Tours

Blurb/Synopsis:

When I took a job as a bartender at Hanson’s to help pay for my classes, the last thing I expected to find was Kale Wilder. He’s sexy, smart, and he makes me smile and laugh faster than anyone ever has. More importantly, he makes me believe in Mr. Right. 

But Kale came to the wrong place at the wrong time, because someone else has his eyes on me. Someone who watches my every move.

Kale’s the only one I want, but the more I feel for him, the more I fear for my safety. Because the other guy is getting closer and doesn't want to share. He’s made it clear if he can’t have me, no one can.

~ Book Links ~
Goodreads | Website

~ Meet the Author: Elle Jordan! ~

Elle lives in the south, about an hour from the Happiest Place on Earth (aka Disney), drinks enough Mtn. Dew to keep the company in business, and has four lovable (read: evil and conniving) pets. She’s also the secret, evil alter-ego of another name. She’d tell you that other name, but then it wouldn’t be a secret.
When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found on Facebook, Twitter, or with Photoshop open, making covers for books she doesn’t have enough time to write.

~ Author Social Links ~ 

Blog | Facebook Author Page | Goodreads | Pinterest | Twitter 

~ Excerpt ~

"That's the key to ensuring all your kisses belong to me?" Kale asked. "Just being there?"

"There are a few other minor details, but yes, that's the main one."

"Damn. You are high maintenance, aren't you?"

I paced in front of the bar, grinning into the phone. "I'll remember that the next time I see you."

He chuckled. "So you home yet?"

"No. I'm standing out in front of the bar, looking for my kissing date again. I'd stopped, but you know... since I'm too high maintenance for you-"

"I knew you were trouble." I could picture him shaking his head at me. "Walk home. I'll stay on the phone until you do, then I gotta get off here. Rob - my friend - is about five minutes away from falling over unconscious." 

"If you need to go, it's okay," I said as I started across the street. It wasn't the same as having him walk or drive me home, but it was the next best thing.

"Trying to get rid of me now? Maybe I should find someone to kiss goodnight."

"Rob's around," I said, and then I laughed when I heard him sputter.

"Walked into that one, didn't I?"

"A little." 

I heard a crash, followed by Kale's muffled laugh. "My five minute estimate was about four minutes off."

"Get off the phone. I'm nearly across the street."

"Hey, who's the one walking you home? I make the rules."

"You're so bossy." I made it to my door and unlocked it. "I'm home. You can go kiss your boyfriend goodnight now."

He let out a low whistle. "That's cold, Ally. Cold. Remind me not to stand you up again."

"Gladly." I closed the door and locked it. "Seriously, Romeo, I'm safely tucked away in my apartment. I didn't' even bring home a date, so you can thank me for that later."

"I will. And I'll make it up to you, too."

"No need. None of them had on leather jackets. I think it might be a requirement now." I kicked off my shoes as I went to the bedroom. I paused, sniffed the air, then winced when all I could smell was cigarette smoke and beer. "Ugh."

"What?"

"I reek. I need to get these clothes off, they-"

Kale groaned. "Now you're just being mean. I'm hanging up before you start something we can't finish." 

I sat on the edge of my bed and pulled out my ponytail. Grinning, I said, "Oh, so you don't want to hear about me slowly peeling off my shirt-"

He muttered a curse and then the phone went dead in my ear. 

I fell back on the bed, laughing. When the phone rang again a minute later, I was nearly out of breath. "Yes, Kale?" 

"I only called back to say goodnight. Now I have. So goodnight. And dream well. Preferably of me, slowly peeling your shirt-"

I hung up.