Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway ~ The Devil's Tattoo by Nicole R. Taylor

Hey guys! Welcome to my stop on the Devil's Tattoo Blog Tour hosted by Xpresso Book Tours. Click here to follow along with the full blog tour schedule. :D

Title: The Devil's Tattoo

Author: Nicole R. Taylor

Publication date: September 1st 2013

Genre: Contemporary Romance 18+

Source: Review Copy 

Blog Tour organized by: Xpresso Book Tours

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~ Synopsis ~ 

Zoe Granger picked up her first guitar the day her heart was smashed into a billion pieces. It was a way to keep her mind off her inevitable downward spiral, but music soon became her escape. She's been burned too many times to tell and is just happy to coast through life, never putting herself out there. That's until her best friend Dee suggests they start a band and suddenly she finds herself not just a part of it, but fronting the whole outfit. 

They call themselves The Devil's Tattoo and when they release their debut EP, it rockets to the top of the charts and it's like an overnight fairytale. Contracts, photo shoots, royalties and interviews are heaped onto the shy Zoe and it's like she's finally found her place. Then comes the phone call that changes everything. They've been asked to co-headline a tour with one of the hottest bands of the moment, The Stabs, and Zoe will never be the same again.

Will Strickland is one fourth of the hottest indie rock band to ever grace the airwaves. He's the bass player in The Stabs, hot as hell and could have his pick of any girl that flings herself at him. But he's only got eyes for Zoe, and she has no idea why he'd bother. She's got one hell of a trust issue and an attitude to boot and Will seems to be the one who wants to tame her, but is he game enough? 

The Devil's Tattoo and The Stabs go on the road and it's either going to be a highway to hell or a stairway to heaven. Only time will tell who will come out on top and Zoe's determined to do it without getting her heart broken...again.

~ My Thoughts ~ 

My Rating: 4 / 5 

The Devil's Tattoo had Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's song Beat the Devil's Tattoo stuck in my head the entire time I was reading the book. I love that song! The title of this book is what drew me to read the synopsis - obviously this book is named from the song. :) Plus I love tattoos (working on getting three quarter sleeves done), so anything that says "tattoo" will instantly catch my attention. 

This book was a whirlwind through the formation and evolution of the band The Devil's Tattoo - the brainchild of Zoe's best friend, Dee. Frank and Chris, friends of Zoe and Dee, round out the band members. Time races forward from the moment the four of them begin practicing together, to their first gig at a small venue, to touring with a big band like The Stab. Zoe had concerns about being in the spotlight as the frontwoman, but she didn't have too much time to worry. She finds out that she's in her element performing music, transforming into a confident woman on stage plus she wrote The Devil's Tattoo's first and instantly popular song Walls. 

This book to me is a love letter to music - many of the bands mentioned in the book are real and are some of my favorite bands. I really loved reading about Zoe and Dee's band touring even if I did find it a bit unbelievable that they would become so huge so quickly, basically overnight. 

Zoe and Will's romance was a whirlwind. They were obviously attracted to one another, yet just when I thought things were going to progress, Zoe usually would freak out and pull back. I was definitely curious as to what happened to her with her past relationship to make her so afraid of moving into a new relationship. The scar on her arm that she kept touching (covered up with a tattoo) had me guessing there had been physical abuse. She said everyone turned against her at the end of that relationship and started saying nasty things to her, and I couldn't imagine what kind of friends she must have had to turn on her like that or why they would. 

Zoe and Will were a bit frustrating to watch. Will's reputation as a womanizer precedes him and makes it a problem for him to let Zoe know he's interested in her as more than just a one night stand. Zoe's past keeps her from being able to move forward without the fear of being hurt. Will was kind of annoying to me, not enough to make me dislike him but just enough to make me wish Zoe wasn't hung up on him. I really love Zoe, and I think I might just be super protective of her! Plus, time moved forward so fast it was a challenge for my brain to keep up. 

Overall, I really liked The Devil's Tattoo - I think the pacing was fast, but due to the story it probably wouldn't have worked out any other way. The dialogue was AMAZING, and the writing took my breath away at times. I could clearly hear in my head the characters' Australian accents, and I learned some Australian slang words that I want to use, too! The Devil's Tattoo is a book I'd like to read again just for the dialogue and overall writing - it's THAT good.

 ~ Purchase Links ~ 

Amazon | B&N

~ Click here for the Book Trailer ~ 

~ About the Author: Nicole R. Taylor ~ 

Nicole R. Taylor is an Australian born paranormal, fantasy and contemporary fiction author. She is a graduate of the University of Ballarat Professional Writing and Editing programme and is a former music memorabilia sales person and grocery merchandiser. 

She currently lives in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia with a two year old rescue cat named Burger. She enjoys reading, writing (of course!), traveling and a little too much chocolate. One day she hopes to sky dive, but has to work up the courage first. 

The first in her new paranormal fantasy series, The Witch Hunter Saga is available in e-edition and print from March 20th 2013.

~ Social Links ~ 

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter 

~ Giveaway ~ 

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Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway ~ Enter the Night (Casters #2) by Norah Wilson & Heather Doherty

Hey everyone! Welcome to my stop on the Enter the Night (Casters #2) Blog Tour hosted by AToMR Blog Tours. Click here to follow along with the full blog tour schedule. :D 

Title: Enter the Night (Book 2 in the Casters Series) 

Authors: Norah Wilson & Heather Doherty 

Release date: October 11th 2013

Age Group: Young Adult/New Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal

Source: Review copy

Tour organized by: AToMR Tours

~ Synopsis ~

In Comes the Night, Alex Robbins, Brooke Saunders and Maryanne Hemlock, three troubled seniors at Streep Academy, learned to escape their pain - escape their very bodies - by casting a dark piece of themselves out through the stained glass window high in the attic of their dorm, Harvell House.

Casting has been the salvation of each of the girls, but particularly for Maryanne. The wholesome good girl of the trio, Maryanne nevertheless harbors a secret - and a darkness - unrivaled by tattooed scenester Alex or beautiful badass Brooke. Casting provides Maryanne a desperately needed reprieve from her guilt and pain, but it's become like a drug. And as with any drug, it only masks the real problems...and brings dangers of its own.

When Maryanne starts dating Bryce Walker, grandson of the notorious "Heller" hunter Ira Walker, is it first love, or is there a darker, more self-destructive impulse at play? As the superstitious citizens of Mansbridge begin to mutter and scan the night skies for Hellers, can the hunted lie down with the hunter and emerge unscathed?

~ My Thoughts ~ 

My Rating: 5 / 5

 

Reading Enter the Night was like visiting with old friends. I read the first one a few months ago, but it feels like it was just last week. I jumped into the story without any trouble at all and remembered everything that happened in the first book without going back and rereading it. I have a really bad memory, too, so for me to remember everything from a few months ago is amazing. This is a vividly written series!

 

This second book of the Casters Series takes place not long after Comes the Night when Maryanne, Alex, and Brooke arrive back to their dorm at school after break. Each of these girls has pain so deep it's palpable - Maryanne is living with grief and guilt in the aftermath of her baby brother's death, Alex desperately wants to feel safe again after being raped, and Brooke isn't loved by her mother and rebels against authority in an attempt to get her mother's attention. It isn't any wonder that the trio want to cast out and feel some relief for a while. 

 

The problem with their solution is that it's temporary and dangerous as well. With Bryce's family being "Heller" hunters, it becomes more dangerous for Maryanne, Alex, and Brooke to cast out. Sightings of them are being reported all over town, and they aren't being as careful to remain unseen as they were before. Not only all of this is going on, but Maryanne begins dating Bryce, who seems to be preparing to hunt down the "Hellers." As much as I didn't want the girls to have to stop casting out, I also thought it isn't worth their lives.

 

There was so much emotion from each girl's perspective that just pours from the pages. I can feel their pain as if that pain were my own. The action was so intense that I don't think I could've gripped my Kindle any tighter. The characters are well written, and I have really come to love all three of the girls - Maryanne, Alex, and Brooke. They have their funny moments, their sad ones, and the ones where they're hiding parts of themselves from each other. No matter what, these three girls are always there for each other and treat each other as though they grew up as sisters.

 

Norah Wilson and Heather Doherty took an original and exciting idea that held a lot of promise and turned it into a story that's highly addictive and action packed. This second book of the series held me enthralled even more than the first one did, and I didn't think that would be possible remembering how I felt during all of the action in the first book. Together the authors took this story and upped the ante with all sorts of new problems and complications the girls must face. I really love seeing the girls work together through these new complications - it's where they get their chance to truly shine. 

 

 



~ Purchase Links ~

 Amazon | B & N 

~ Book One ~

 Please click here to read my review of COMES THE NIGHT. :)

Comes the Night (Casters #1)

by Norah Wilson & Heather Doherty

Release date: December 9th 2012 

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~ Purchase Links ~

Amazon | B & N | Smashwords

~ Synopsis ~ 

How far would you go to escape your own personal teenage hell? Would you run away, break away from everything you know - even your own body? 

Alex Robbins, Brooke Saunders and Maryanne Hemlock could not be more different, yet they all have something in common - deep and soul-searing pain. They are also all students at Streep Academy, a boarding school just one step away from juvie, where they've come to complete high school. The three have been relegated to Harvell House, the residence reserved for the hardest cases, the so-called Rejects from Reject Row. 

In the forbidden attic of the old Victorian house-turned-residence, the girls discover the diary of Connie Harvell, a young woman who was confined and abused there some 50 years ago. In the end, Connie's attic prison couldn't hold her - not completely. She found a way out. At least a dark part of her did. And after reading her diary, the girls discover they can escape at will too. A terrifying, thrilling flight from their bodies and their troubles. 

But God help them, their pain isn't all they leave behind when they join with the night. And God help anyone who's wronged them...

~ About the Authors: Norah Wilson & Heather Doherty ~

NORAH WILSON is a USA Today bestselling author of romantic suspense and paranormal romance. She lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, with her husband, two adult children, dog Chloe, and kitty Ruckus.

HEATHER DOHERTY fell in love with writing while taking creative writing courses at Athabasca University. Motivated by her university success and a lifelong dream of becoming a novelist, she later enrolled in the Humber School for Writers under the mentorship of David Adams Richards. Her first literary novel was published in 2006. While still writing dark literary (as well as not-so-dark children's lit), she is beyond thrilled to be writing paranormal/horror with Norah. Heather lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick with her family. (No pets but she swears Norah's dog, Chloe, calls her Aunt Heather).

Together, Heather and Norah write dark, edgy, frightening young adult paranormal/horror.

~ Social Links ~ 

Blog | Twitter | Norah's Facebook | Heather's Facebook 

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Blog Tour: Review ~ Consumed by Skyla Madi

Hi there and welcome to my stop on the Consumed Blog Tour hosted by Limitless Publishing. Click here to follow along with the tour schedule.  

Title: Consumed

Author: Skyla Madi

Publisher: Limitless Publishing LLC

Publication date: September 16th 2013

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Source: Review copy

Blog Tour organized by: Limitless Publishing

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~ Synopsis ~

Olivia James has never been one to walk on the wild side, at least not until she meets Seth Marc - a cocky, sexy fighter at her father's gym. He's infuriating, nauseatingly addictive and she just can't seem to shake him. He's only been in town a short while and his name is already on everyone's lips. He's the kind of guy moms warn their daughters about - the kind that leaves a trail of shattered hearts behind him and he has Olivia in his sights.

Olivia has never met anyone as confusing as Seth and his hot and cold attitude constantly sends her reeling. She's never wanted anyone's touch so badly in her life, but having recently come out of a long term relationship diving into another is something she'd prefer to avoid. 

Determined for his touch, but not to let him under her skin, Olivia embarks on the most thrilling ride of her life.

~ My Thoughts ~ 

My Rating: 4 / 5 

This is the first book I've read by Skyla Madi, and I was drawn in right away by her character, Olivia, and her writing style. Olivia is a character I connected with and liked from the start - she's shy, intelligent, bookish, and would rather spend an evening reading than go out clubbing. It felt like Olivia was based on me! ;)  

Consumed starts out with Olivia's longtime boyfriend, Blade, standing her up yet again with the excuse that he's hanging out with his friends when really he's most likely cheating on her. Again. This time, Olivia's had it, and just when I wanted to kick Blade's ass, Olivia really lets him have it and breaks up with him. You can tell how slimy of a guy Blade is and wonder why Olivia has put up with him as long as she has. 

Luckily, Olivia has a good friend in Selena, although that girl talks like she's in junior high when really she's supposed to be in her early to mid twenties. Even Olivia has the same thoughts as I did about the way she talks. Even more lucky is the chance meeting between Olivia and Seth the morning after her breakup with Blade. Seth is sex personified. The scenes between the two of them are hot - even the times when Olivia is simply ogling him from across the gym. 

One of the aspects I loved most about Seth and about Consumed overall is that Seth isn't a typical alpha male just because he's hot. He's a decent guy. He says in the beginning he's a sex-with-no-strings-attached kind of guy, but you just know that Olivia is going to change that outlook of his. I love the shy girl being paired with the red hot guy. I don't mean to say that just because Olivia is shy doesn't mean she's hot, too, because with the way she's described physically, she is. 

I couldn't get enough of Consumed. I need my own Seth! ;) I relished every page, every moment, every word and am ready to devour all of Skyla Madi's previous books!   

~ Purchase Link ~

Amazon  

~ About the Author ~ 

Skyla Madi was born in the small town of Port Maquarie, New South Wales in 1993. She spent half her life growing up in Wauchope, a thriving rural town at the heart of the Hastings River Valley before making the leap to the busy city of Brisbane. 

Whenever this young Australian writer isn't changing diapers, watching cartoons, cooking for her husband or doing other motherly-wife things she is actively working on her writing and improving her writing skills.

Skyla loves to read just as much as she loves to write and since discovering that YA/paranormal romance/urban fantasy are her favourite genres, she has embarked on her own writing journey and is currently working on a YA series titled Your Guardian Angel. 

~ Social Links ~ 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Book Blitz ~ Audrey's Promise by Susan Sheehey

Audrey’s Promise

By- Susan Sheehey

Publication Date- July 24, 2013

Published By- The Wild Rose Press

Audrey Allen is poised to become the youngest Texas senator, a position that fits her nickname, The Peacemaker. But she's unable to make peace with many in her hometown, where memories and grudges run deep from a decade-old tragedy.  

Ethan Tanner, an ambitious and tantalizing journalist, joins her at Thanksgiving for an in-depth look at the promising candidate. But he has an agenda of his own that's not entirely honorable. 

Ethan could stir up trouble for her budding career, or awaken the deep passions she's buried for so long. Will Ethan find that he values love more than getting the story?

About the Author-

Susan writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense and women's fiction. After spending six years in the corporate world, her true passion wouldn't let go and she's been writing ever since. She lives and laughs in Texas with her husband and son.

     

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Cover Reveal ~ I Stand Before You (Judge Me Not #1) by S.R. Grey

 
  Title: I Stand Before You (Judge Me Not #1) 
  Author: S.R. Grey
  Expected release date: September 12-19, 2013
  Genre: Contemporary Romance
  Age Group: New Adult
  Cover designed by: Damonza  

When it comes to tattooed bad boys, Chase Gartner is the real deal. Partying, engaging in meaningless sex, getting into fights---Chase indulges in it all during his late teen years, thus firmly solidifying his status as a heartbreakingly gorgeous but way-too-dangerous-to-trust guy in his hometown of Harmony Creek, Ohio. Then, following one fateful night of reckless decisions, Chase's actions finally catch up to him and land him in prison. 

Now, four years have passed and Chase finds himself a free man. He returns to Harmony Creek, ready to pick up the pieces and start rebuilding his shattered life. 

Things are off to a promising start when he meets Kay Stanton, a young woman with a tragic past of her own. Despite a powerful attraction, Chase and Kay are naturally hesitant to become involved. That's why friendship feels like the safest option. But when passions ignite and love blossoms, a relationship that is destined and meant to be can only be resisted for so long. When Chase and Kay finally succumb to their feelings they realize being together feels more right and true than anything they have ever experienced. 

But their love is soon tested. Chase's wild past still haunts and tempts him, and Kay is keeping a secret that could tear them apart. 

I Stand Before You is a journey of hope and forgiveness, coming to terms with the past and moving forward. But mostly it's a story of two damaged people who take a chance, open their hearts, and find true love. 

New Adult/Contemporary Romance genres. First in a series.

  ***Warning: contains graphic sexual situations, drug use, some violence, and profanity**

  

  About the Author

S.R. Grey is the author of Harbour Falls and Willow Point, first and second novels in A Harbour Falls Mystery series. She is also the author of I Stand Before You, first novel in the Judge Me Not series (New Adult/Contemporary Romance), to be released September 2013. 

Ms. Grey resides in western Pennsylvania. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Robert Morris College, as well as an MBA from Duquesne University. She is currently working on Wickingham Way, the third installment in A Harbour Falls Mystery series, to be released in January 2014. Other interests include reading, traveling, running, and cheering for her hometown sports teams.

Website | Facebook | Twitter| Goodreads 

I love romances like this! I've added it to my TBR - have you? :)

  

  

Release Day Blitz: Killer Playlist & Giveaway ~ I Breathe You by Lori L. Clark

Hey guys! I'm happy to be a part of the Release Day Blitz for I Breathe You by Lori L. Clark.
I'll be reading and reviewing this book very soon as I have been given a copy for review!!
Today, I have a killer playlist for you plus the tour wide giveaway! :D
 

Title: I Breathe You

Author: Lori L. Clark

Publication date: August 2nd 2013

Genre: NA contemporary romance

Blitz organized by: Xpresso Book Tours

 

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~Synopsis~

When a tragic accident leaves Rhane Evans — lead vocalist for the rock band Fate’s Crazy — permanently unable to speak above a whisper and kills the love of her life, she moves across the state to pick up the pieces. Shattered, Rhane struggles to understand what happened the night of the accident, an accident everyone blames her for, even though she wasn’t driving the car.

Enter Ian Callahan. He’s the one person who may have a more tumultuous past than Rhane. Though they try hard to deny the sizzling attraction between them, it proves nearly impossible. When Ian’s troubled past threatens to tear them apart, they begin to believe happiness isn’t in their cards.

Because Fate’s Crazy that way…

 

 

 

 

 ~Purchase Links~

Amazon  | Barnes & Noble 

 

~About the Author~

 

 I read, I write, I run 1/2 marathons for fun. Ten things about me:

1. I’m an only child.
2. I love dogs!
3. I was born in Iowa City, Iowa and lived in Iowa my whole life until January 2007.
4. I worked as a professional psychic reader for 2 years.
5. I’m a Pisces Sun, Leo Moon with Aquarius rising.
6. I’ve written 5 books and am in the process of brainstorming a 6th.
7. I don’t look or act my age!
8. I ran my first 1/2 marathon at age 50.
9. I love 80′s hair band music.
10. My day job is as a claims payment analyst for one of Fortune 500 Magazine’s “Top 100 places in America to work.”

~Author Links~

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter 

  



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Blog Tour ~ Review: Living in the Aftermath (The Ties That Bind Us #2) by Lucy A. Kelly

Hey everyone! Welcome to my stop on the Living in the Aftermath blog tour hosted by Irresistible Reads Book Tours. Click here for the full tour schedule. :D

Title: Living in the Aftermath (The Ties That Bind Us #2)

Author: K.A. Coleman (Pen name was Lucy A. Kelly)

Published: June 18, 2013

Pages: 194

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Average Rating: 4.50 / 5

My Rating: 5 / 5 

Blog Tour Organized By: Irresistible Reads Book Tours

Source: Review copy provided for the tour

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~Synopsis~

At the start of her junior year, Savannah had it all: popularity, money, cheerleading, a boyfriend, and a best friend. Unfortunately, when you have it all, you risk losing everything. After a tragic accident forever changes her life and the lives of her friends, Savannah finds herself faced with a decision to make. She can try to slip back into her old life, flaws and all, or she can try to redefine herself for her last year of high school. Is it even possible that Savannah can change after having everything go her way for 18 years?

Jacob has nothing to lose. He has seen one too many schools and wants nothing more than to graduate, so he can finally stay in one place for more than a year. In fact, Jacob thinks he has every clique and student pegged after switching schools so frequently. When Jacob finds himself face to face with Savannah, he realizes that she doesn't quite fit into one of the high school stereotypes.

In fact, they're both harboring rather big secrets. Maintaining a friendship or any kind of relationship can be akin to balancing on the thinnest of tight ropes. When the rope is made of lies, revenge, and half truths, well, it's only a matter of time before everything comes crashing down. 

  

~My Thoughts~

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review doesn't contain any spoilers from the first book. Click here to read my review of the first book, Holding On and Letting Go.

Living in the Aftermath picks up not long after the end of the first book, Holding On and Letting Go. After being completely shocked by the events that unfolded in the first book with the accident and with how much I loved the character and story, I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen in this book. 

I really didn't like Savannah in the first book; however, as time went on, she did begin to grow on me, and I ended up liking her by the end. Savannah has undergone a transformation since she was first introduced. On the surface, she was a spoiled, rich cheerleader, but inside, she showed she is a loyal friend and will be there in the bad times as well as the good times. She has become bitter after the accident and decides she should go back to caring only about herself. 

Jacob is introduced as a new student and quickly becomes friends with Savannah's group. He discovers that this particular group of friends don't fit into the stereotypes he had first assigned to them. I was shocked when his secret was revealed - I never saw it coming, but I love all of the different issues with all of the characters that are addressed in the story. I know if I went to their high school, this is the group of friends I'd definitely choose to hang with. 

The relationships and dynamics between all of the characters are fraught with complications. They're struggling to keep everything together, and sometimes I didn't understand why Savannah was so bitter towards her friends at times when they are being supportive of her and things that have happened aren't their fault. I just wanted them all to stick together. Each character has such a unique voice and personality - the author did a superb job making them realistic and each are his or her own person. 

There's a lot of wisdom in these books. So much of what the characters say is beautiful in regards to grief and tragedy and love. They're so perceptive it's almost scary. The way the author writes is gorgeous. There's just no other way to describe it. I really hope there's another book coming out because I could hang out with Savannah, Jacob, and their group forever! 

~Purchase Links~

Amazon  | Barnes & Noble 

~About the Author~ 

I'm not really going to write a biography. Though I am supportive of the high schools and colleges I have attended, it's probably not actually the most interesting stuff about me. I'm going to do a list of five really random things instead for now. 

1. I like making lists. It's weird, and I never actually scratch things off of the list.

2. I sing and dance in the car like a maniac. 

3. For the first six years of my life, I truly believed a shark lived under my bed. I watched Jaws at too young of an age. 

4. Without a doubt, I am a night person. I am enormously grumpy when first woken up in the morning.

5. When I was younger, I read almost every Nancy Drew book, both new and old. I had a notebook, and I would take notes to see if I could figure out who the "bad guy" was before Nancy did. We probably tied.   

~Author Links~

Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Blog Tour ~ Review & Tour Wide Giveaway: The Disappearing Girl by Heather Topham Wood

Hey everybody! Welcome to my stop on The Disappearing Girl blog tour hosted by AToMR Tours. Click here to see the full tour schedule. :D 

Title: The Disappearing Girl

Author: Heather Topham Wood

Release Date: May 7th 2013

Age Group: New Adult Ages 17+

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tour organized by: AToMR Tours

My Rating: 4 / 5 stars 

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~Synopsis~

Kayla Marlowe is slowly vanishing...

Last year, Kayla's world imploded. Her beloved father died, leaving her alone with a narcissistic mother who is quick to criticize her daughter's appearance. During her winter break from college, Kayla's dangerous obsession with losing weight begins. Kayla feels like her world changes for the better overnight. Being skinny seems to be the key to the happiness she has desperately been seeking. Her mother and friends shower her with compliments, telling her how fantastic she looks. Kayla is starving, but no one knows it. 

Cameron Bennett explodes into Kayla's life. He's sexy and kind - he has every quality she has been looking for in a guy. As Cameron grows closer to Kayla and learns of how far she's willing to go to stay thin, he becomes desperate to save her. Kayla's struggles with anorexia and bulimia reach a breaking point and she is forced to confront her body image issues in order to survive. She wonders if Cameron could be the one to help heal her from the pain of her past. 

New Adult Contemporary - Ages 17+ due to language and sexual situations.

~My Thoughts~

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for the blog tour. 

Have you ever felt the pressure to be thin? To lose so much weight you can see your bones sticking out? The author dedicates this book "to the girls who've never felt beautiful." I'm one of those girls. I haven't ever had an eating disorder, but I've definitely felt the pressure to look a certain way. And that pressure is everywhere, in magazines, TV, movies, music videos...it can even come from one's own mother, such as for Kayla. 

After Kayla loses her father, there's no longer a buffer between her and her mother. Kayla's mother begins directing all of the anger from her grief at Kayla and her little sister. All of their lives, they've been told by their mother they're too fat and unlovable, but once their father dies, their mother completely focuses her time on driving that message home. Kayla has been listening to her mother for so long, she soon falls into the vicious cycle of anorexia and bulimia. 

She meets Cameron, who has everything she's been looking for in a guy, and they begin dating. Cameron was perfect for her, not because he's handsome or intelligent but because he refused to give up on her. He loved her for who she is no matter what. That's real love. I felt Cameron's pain deeply when Kayla does her best to push him away. It hurt that Kayla didn't think she was worthy of his love, and it especially hurt when she began pushing everyone else in her life away as well to the point where she felt alone. I think she wanted to be alone with her disease. 

Kayla's story is told beautifully where the reader is given a look inside anorexia and bulimia instead of simply reading about someone who's struggling with the diseases. By the end, I felt I knew what it was like to think the way Kayla did, and it was scary. I could see how easily a person can fall into the cycle of bingeing and purging and making promises of eating normally if she can just lose those last two or three pounds. This was an emotional roller coaster ride that didn't let go. There was grief, addiction, love, betrayal, and forgiveness. I felt every emotion as though I was in the situation myself. 

I blazed through this book so fast it amazed me because normally I tend to read slowly. I couldn't help it - the story just pulled me in right away! I finished most of it in one night, staying up way later than I should, but it was definitely worth it. This book had me looking at anorexia and bulimia, two diseases I thought I knew a lot about from textbooks, in a completely new and personal way. I learned more about eating disorders from this story than I ever have studying them in a class, and you will, too. 

~Purchase Links~

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

~About the Author~

Heather Topham Wood's obsession with novels began in childhood while growing up in a shore town in New Jersey. Writing since her teens, she recently returned to penning novels after a successful career as a freelance writer. She's the author of the paranormal romance Second Sight series and the standalone The Disappearing Girl.

Heather graduated from the College of New Jersey in 2005 and holds a bachelor's degree in English. Her freelance work has appeared in publications such as USA Today, Livestrong.com, Outlook by the Bay and Step in Style magazine. She resides in Trenton, New Jersey with her husband and two sons. Besides writing, Heather is a pop culture fanatic and has an obsession with supernatural novels and TV shows.

~Author Social Media Links~

Facebook  | Website | Goodreads | Twitter 

~Giveaway~

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Rules: No purchase necessary. Must be 13 years of age and older to enter unless stated 18+ years of age. Must reside in countries able to received eBooks via email. The retail value of the eBooks is $2.99 USD. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Winners will be selected July 18, 2013 randomly by Rafflecopter. Entries will be reviewed for accuracy. Donnie Darko Girl and AToMR Tours are not liable for purchasing, shipping or emailing the items, winner not receiving the items, or lost items shipped/emailed. This sweepstakes is sponsored by the author and eBooks will be provided via email by the author. If the items are not claimed via email within 24 hours of receiving notification, the item will be forfeited with no winner or an alternate winner may be selected at blog's discretion with email verification by July 22, 2013. Any taxes associated will be paid by the author unless otherwise stated. Donnie Darko Girl has the right to obtain and publicize the winners name and likeness. Void where prohibited by law.