The Making of Nebraska Brown by Louise Caiola ~ Release Day Blitz

 

New Release!

 
Book Info ~
Title: The Making of Nebraska Brown
Author: Louise Caiola
Genre: New Adult Mystery, Literary Fiction, Contemporary
Audience: YA to Adult
Formats: eBook and Paperback
Publisher: Immortal Ink Publishing
Cover By: Rebecca Hamilton
Editor: Rebecca Hamilton & Rudy Kraul
Pages: 318
ISBN-10: 1938750772
ISBN-13: 9781938750779
ASIN:
Date Published: Feb. 6, 2014


Blurb ~
The last thing eighteen-year-old Ann Leigh remembers is running from her boyfriend in a thick Nebraska cornfield. This morning she’s staring down a cool Italian sunrise, an entire continent from the life she once knew. The events of the eighteen months in between have inexplicably gone missing from her memory.

All at once she’s living with Tommy, an attractive, young foreigner asking for her continued love. Though he’s vaguely familiar, she recalls a boy named Shane in America who she reluctantly agreed to marry. Juggling a new world while her old one is still M.I.A is difficult enough without the terrifying movie scenes spinning a dizzy loop in her mind: glimpses of a devastating house fire, a romance gone wrong, an unplanned pregnancy, and a fractured family – each claiming to be part of who she once was – a girl and a past somehow discarded.

Ann Leigh must collect the pieces of herself to become whole again, but she doesn’t know who to trust especially when Tommy’s lies become too obvious to ignore. And above all, her heart aches to discover what became of the child she may or may not have given birth to.

The Making of Nebraska Brown tells the story of one girl’s coming apart from the inside and the great lengths she’ll go to reclaim herself and find her way home.

Book Links ~

Barnes and Noble / Kobo /Amazon

 

~Excerpt ~ 

“Where am I, exactly? I mean . . . what is this place?”

He smiled. “The Palace of Portici.”

“A palace?” I squinted, then flipped the hair off of my face. I was Ann Leigh, wasn’t I? Ann Leigh, strawberry blonde, five-foot-four, dreadfully allergic to cats. I grabbed the ends of my hair again and looked down at it. It wasn’t yellow-red at all but more like brown butter pecan. My head hummed. Martino was still grinning, as if he was more amused by me now that he was sure I wasn’t dead.

He spoke again. “Orto Botanico.” 

“Botanical garden?”

“Si, yes. Ana, ora andiamo? La Pasticceria Tartoni?”

“Yes. We’ll go to the pastry shop now.” And I went with him. Even though, for all I knew, he could have been one of those freaks who got his jollies from attacking innocent young girls. But then, for all I knew, I wasn’t an innocent young girl.

The sky in Campania, Italy, looked familiar; the clouds were funny cotton ball shapes that could be giant sheep— pecore? If I were Ann Leigh from Nebraska, then how did I know those clouds, those words?

 

About The Author ~

As a young girl who spent her allowance on Nancy Drew mysteries, Louise realized that one day, she might have a story of her own to tell. Maybe even more than one story. After years focused on raising her children she eventually reconnected with her passion for creative writing. She soon began to craft a large collection of short stories which were published in the inspirational online magazine, Faithhopeandfiction.com. Shortly thereafter, she authored her first novel, Wishless, a contemporary YA, released in 2011.

Louise devotes a portion of each day to honing her skills. She has several other novels currently in various stages of development. A confirmed bibliophile, Louise enjoys reading outdoors on a warm spring day and watching her pup chase leaves on a breeze. She looks forward to meeting others who share her love of the written word and invites you to visit her blog, her website and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Media Links ~

Website / Blog / Twitter / Twitter 2 / Facebook / Goodreads

I'm excited for this book, and I'll tell you why. How freaky would it be to wake up on a different continent with eighteen months missing from your memory? You have no idea what's happened to you, who you are, and your memories of the time before are fragmented at best. What do you do? That's exactly what I want to find out about Ann - what is she going to do? Is she being lied to? So many possibilities!!

Blitz organized by:

Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway ~ Dead Dreams by Emma Right

Hey guys! Welcome to my stop on the Dead Dreams Blog Tour hosted by IFB Tours. Click here to follow along with the full blog tour schedule! :D 

Title: Dead Dreams

Series: Dead Dreams #1

Author: Emma Right

Re-release date: October 2013

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Psychological Thriller

Source: Review copy

Blog Tour Organized by: IFB Tours

Add to Goodreads

 Click here for the book trailer

~ Synopsis ~

Eighteen-year-old Brie O'Mara has so much going for her: a loving family in the sidelines, an heiress for a roommate, and dreams that might just come true. Big dreams - of going to acting school, finishing college and making a name for herself. She is about to be the envy of everyone she knew. What more could she hope for? Except her dreams are about to lead her down the road to nightmares. Nightmares that could turn into a deadly reality. 

~ My Thoughts ~

My Rating: 5 / 5 

Dead Dreams, from the cover, looks like it would be a paranormal kind of novel, but surprisingly not! I checked the genre again just to be sure even though it's clearly stated on the cover that this is a psychological thriller. It was definitely thrilling to read - I felt like I was holding my breath throughout the entire novel!

I enjoyed taking a break from the paranormal genre for Dead Dreams. Brie has moved out on her own into an apartment and advertised for a roommate on Craigslist. When I read that, I couldn't help but facepalm. Craigslist? Really? That'd be the last place I'd advertise for a roommate even if I was end-of-the-rope desperate. After an interview, Brie has found her roommate, who happens to be an heiress. An heiress on Craigslist?? 

A lot of this wasn't making sense to me, but not in an irritating way. It was in an oh-my-God-watch-out-Brie kind of way. I could have kept a tally of all the mistakes Brie makes that I wish she hadn't made in the first place. Sprinkled here and there throughout the novel are hints from Brie that this isn't going to end well for her. I don't know exactly how or when but that something really bad is going to end up happening. It was inevitable. 

While Brie questions her roommate's secrecy and the lies she catches her in, Brie still continues to trust her and doesn't listen to the gut feeling she has that something is very wrong. The situation Brie is in along with the decisions she made had me thinking this was a huge scam, but I couldn't figure out the roommate's angle. What would she have to gain from tricking Brie? The first time I caught my roommate in a lie I wouldn't be able to trust her or explain it away like Brie did. 

Things escalate quickly, and I practically chewed my fingernails. I had no clue what was going to happen and tried to put the pieces together as I went along. This is an extremely gripping read that snatches you up from page one and doesn't let go until the end. And even after that, you aren't going to be able to stop thinking about this one for quite a while!   

  

~ Purchase Link ~

Amazon

~ About the Author: Emma Right ~

Emma Right is a happy wife and homeschool mother of five living in the Pacific West Coast. Besides running a busy home, and looking after too many pets, she also enjoys reading aloud to her children and often has her nose in a book. Right was a copywriter for a major advertising agency during her B.C. years. B.C. meaning "Before Children," which may as well have been in the B.C. era, as she always says. 

~ Social Links ~

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

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