Waiting on Wednesday -- The Book of Ivy

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine.  

  This week's can't-wait-to-read pre-publication book is The Book of Ivy. 

The Book of Ivy

by Amy Engel
Publication date: November 14, 2014

From Goodreads:

In a future where girls no longer control their own fates, sixteen-year-old Ivy Westfall has the power to give girls back their choices. If she’s willing to commit murder to do it…

After a brutal nuclear war, followed by famine and disease, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over who would govern the new nation. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual. This year, it is Ivy Westfall's turn to be married. Only her bridegroom is no average boy. He is Bishop Lattimer, the President’s son. And Ivy’s mission is not simply to marry him and bear his children. Her mission, one she’s been preparing for all her life, is to kill him and restore the Westfall family to power.

But Bishop Lattimer turns out not to be the cruel, heartless boy her family warned her to expect. And as Bishop and Ivy navigate a tentative friendship that evolves into something more, Ivy is torn between loyalty to her family and following her own heart. She is a teenage girl caught in an adult web of manipulation, lies, and the struggle for power. Ultimately, she must decide what sacrifices are worth making for the lives of those she loves.

Crepes, #LibrarySignUpMonth, a bribe + more: this week's writerly news

It's Friday! Which means I'm back with more writerly news. 

This week's quick summary:

1) Sunday was Grandparents Day, and we celebrated by making dessert crepes (so yum) and giving the grandparents "crepe-tastic grandparent" certificates. Here's my go-to crepe recipe. Throw a sprinkling of mini-chocolate chips inside and serve with maple syrup or add cream cheese and serve with your favorite berry syrup. A-mazing.

2) Monday and Tuesday, Beryl, Audrey, and Kimi of Geeky Chiquitas were here for a two-part Reader Interview. They're very busy gals and I really appreciated them taking the time to answer my questions!

A sneak peek... Click the link below to see
him in all his ferocious glory.

3) Wednesday, I introduced you to LMTYAS's new mascot, who, basically, thinks he's as scary as the Big Bad Wolf. (Please go along with me on this and agree, or he'll poop in my shoes). I also basically beg ya'll to help me out by bribing you with money and a vlog. But the most important part of this is the new mascot. (Just kidding. It's the bribe.) 

I was also over at Operation Awesome comparing my favorite holey sweatpants to revising.

Find this beauty and more on IIST's board.
This reminds me of Shoreline Books.

4) Speaking of bribing, even with If I Speak True being only 99 cents, I realize that, as a reader, sometimes you just need that extra push to check out something new, and I have the solution: IF I SPEAK TRUE's Pinterest board.

5) ALSO: In the chaos of doing lots of stuffs, I accidentally ordered two By Sun and Candlelight proofs, so guess what? I've added one to Amber's Swag September Giveaway. I'm going to write lots of behind-the-scenes info in it for the winner! YAY!

6) Last, September is #LibrarySignUpMonth. (For comic book fans, there's also some cool posters of Stan Lee at that link.) In order to share the #booklove, I'd like to give anyone who signs up for a card between now and the end of the month a small book swag pack! Tag me on Instagram, tweet me, or email me a photo of you and your new card, and I'll get some swag to ya!

Well, I do believe that's it. I'll be back Monday to celebrate OPEN THY HEART's release (please come back and join me in the festivities)!!!

Have a blessed weekend!!!

Quick request = vlog as your reward + meet LMTYAS's new mascot!

This is Killer, LMTYAS's new mascot. Killer is wearing a mask
here because he's trying to be like Rowan from If I Speak True.
(Even though the mask isn't exactly spot-on, I'd say he's kinda...
 kill-ing it. Wouldn't you? Ha. Ha ha ha.) Killer's here today to
implore you to help me out, because he really wants me to
embarrass myself on a vlog. I'm kinda annoyed about that.

Hey guys! I have a quick request. I'm wanting to share IF I SPEAK TRUE's 99 cent sale price with a website that shares ebook sales in their newsletter (ya know, because OPEN THY HEART comes out Monday and you kinda need to read IIST first, or *spoilers*), but in order to be approved, I have to have at least ten reviews on Amazon (or B&N). 

Thing is, I have MORE reviews than that on Goodreads, but Goodreads doesn't count! *sad face* 

So... 

For those of you who:

HAVE read it and already posted a review it on Goodreads: Would you take a moment perty please share it at Amazon (or B&N), too??? 

Have NOT read it but feel inspired to check it out while it's 99 cents (choose the site of your choice over there on the sidebar -->): and want to review it out of the kindness of your hearts, would you do the same? 

I would really, really appreciate it.

In order to make this worth your while, and to say that I owe you my life  appreciate you,  I thought I'd thank you by doing a little vlog. (I've only done one in five years and it was for a few seconds and only on my FB page and yeah--have fun trying to find it hahahaha--wait, no come back here, don't search for it I beg of you.)

So... Here's the deal. 

If I reach ELEVEN total reviews on Amazon (or Barnes and Noble)--that's six more than I have now--I'll do the vlog AND give something away via Rafflecopter. (Hint: it's an annotated paperback, and starts with BY.)

If I reach TWENTY reviews on Amazon (or Barnes and Noble), I'll do the vlog, give away the secret paperback, AND Killer will give away a Red Riding Hood DVD (because he thinks he's a killer like the wolf and we're just going to let him live a state of denial, okay?).

And, if for some crazy reason, more than THIRTY reviews (total) end up on either Barnes and Noble or Amazon, I'll do the vlog, the annotated something-or-other paperback, Killer will give away Red Riding Hood (ruff), AND I'll give away a $10 Amazon e-gift card. 

YAY!

And remember, you don't have to sugar-coat your review; just be honest and say what you think. :)

Thanks for taking the time to read this, everyone! (I'd say please don't make me embarrass myself, but I sort of need you to.)

Be blessed!

P.S. OPEN THY HEART comes out MONDAY. *squee*

P. S. S. If you want to know what happens after IF I SPEAK TRUE and BY SUN & CANDLELIGHT, you can pre-order OPEN THY HEART HERE.

P. S. S. S. I just realized I'm doing it wrong; it's supposed to be P. P. P. S.

P. P. P. P. S. This vlog thing is already freaking me out.

P. P. P. P. P. S. Killer says that if you email him at coffeelvnmom (at) gmail (dot) com, directing him to your review, he'll send you a signed Flora bookmark. 

P. P. P. P. P. P. S. Forgot to enter a deadline: let's say this vlog/giveaway offer ends September 26th, at 11:59 p.m. PST.

September's Reader Interview with Geeky Chiquitas, part two

Welcome back to part two of this month's reader interview with Geeky Chiquitas! You can read part one, HERE.

Here's a question I ask pretty much every time: Tell us one character you'd never want to trade places with.

Beryl: Okay, this one's hard. Uhm I'd probably choose Hazel Grace from The Fault in our Stars. She may have a pretty romantic love story but it's just the worst to have cancer and the love of your life dying.

Audrey: I would never want to trade places with Katniss Everdeen. I admit she is badass but her life is terrible. Like I am never, ever, ever, ever, EVER, trading places with her. If I was in her place, I would probably sleep through the whole thing. Then they'd draw me out with fire, but I would be too lazy to run through my sleepy haze so I would probably die. Yeah.

Kimi: I would never trade places with Tris from Divergent. I think everyone knows why.

If someone were to borrow a book from you, what would be the first thing they'd notice?

Beryl and Audrey: If someone were to borrow a book from us, they wouldn't really notice anything. The only thing that we do to books is wrap them so, I don't know. Maybe they'd notice that?

Kimi: They'd notice how nice the book is and how Much I take care of my books so they'd get scared of ruining it or folding the covers or something.

Do you prefer an e-reader, paperback, or hardcover?

Definitely paperback! E-reader can easily strain our eyes plus you can't smell and feel the pages. For hardcover, it's more expensive than a paperback and it's even bulkier so we think paperback is the best.

Favorite book swag:

We haven't actually received a lot of book swags from authors BUT our favorite is the one we got from Marie Landry, few months ago.

The popularity of social media has made interacting with authors easier than ever for readers/fans. In previous Reader Interviews, both Nikki and Matt said they prefer Twitter over other social media platforms. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Twitter has definitely helped us reach out to authors and different bloggers, so yes we agree but Audrey still does not have twitter because she's too lazy. Although, she also agrees with us.

Tell us your favorite book cover of all time.

Audrey: I like the cover of Fangirl. It is adorable!! SUPER adorable, like if it's a person, I'd pinch its cheeks. Yeahhh.

Kimi: I love love love the cover of Landline! It's beautiful!

Beryl: I love the cover of The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder! It's super cute, fun and easy on the eyes. 

Thanks so much for being here, ladies! :) 

For more about Audrey, Kimi, and Beryl, check this out!

September's Reader Interview: Geeky Chiquitas, Part one

Welcome to Reader Interviews, a monthly feature here at Let Me Tell You a Story!

This month's readers are Beryl, Audrey and Kimi. Together, they run a blog called Geeky Chiquitas!

Welcome, ladies! Thanks for being here! :) Please share a quick bio about yourselves so we can get to know you better! 

Geeky Chiquitas is a blog owned by three teenagers from the Philippines, namely Kimi, Beryl and Audrey (who are actually cousins!). This is primarily a book blog, and occasionally a blog about lifestyle, food, DIY, TV, film, and all things random. 

What inspired you to start Geeky Chiquitas? 

The idea to create a blog came to mind during a carride - and the rest was history. At first, the blog was simply personal and for fun, but we decided we wanted to make it into something more. We started to revamp and promote the blog in December 2013, and officially opened on January 1, 2014.

Since "officially" starting to blog at the beginning of this year, have you learned anything about blogging that you'd like to share? 

A LOT really. We have learned how to write better. Writing reviews isn't also easy just as we thought before. It takes a lot of reflecting and analyzing. It's also really important to always write an honest review, so that readers would trust your opinions as well. It doesn't matter if the book is given to us for reviewing purposes. Honesty is the best policy. We also learned to appreciate the hard work of all the bloggers and authors out there. 

What is your favorite part about the book blogging community?

The best part is absolutely the people in the blogging community. Everyone's just so nice and enthusiastic. We have already made some friends since we officially started this year. 

Most readers have a specific book or series that they can pinpoint as what pulled them into their love of reading YA. Do you have one? If so, what was it? Tell us one thing that you appreciated about it.

Audrey and Beryl: Eleanor and Park is the book which lead both of us into reading YA. Audrey loved reading even before her love for YA started, but Beryl actually didn't, so for her, Eleanor and Park was the book that lead her into loving reading.

Kimi: I've loved reading ever since I was a kid, and I read anything I could gobble up. My love for YA came about though when I read Princess Diaries, and I fell in love with YA ever since!

The three of you write a lot of reviews. Would any of you like to share your methods for people who have been thinking about reviewing but are a bit intimidated about the entire process? 

Beryl: I don't actually do anything in particular, but before I write a review I basically tell Audrey the recap (who doesn't really listen) about what I love and dislike about the book and that really helps get my thoughts organized. 

Audrey: I write my first draft right after reading the book so that I am still able to communicate my emotions well. After that, I wait for maybe a day or a couple of hours to reflect on the book. When I'm sure about what I think of the book, thats when I fix my first draft. I just proofread and just edit a little bit then BAM! I'm done.

Kimi: My review process is actually a bit complicated and not the same for every book. Sometimes it's so easy for me to pinpoint what certain parts I liked and didn't like, but sometimes it takes some time for me to figure out what to write about a certain book. I'm always speechless when it comes to beautiful books, and what I usually do when that happens is I read the book again until I finally am able to write about it. 

Most recent book that made you laugh:

Beryl: I haven't been reading any books recently that is for reviewing since school started everything's been so hectic. School is VERY time consuming which really sucks, but I would say that the most recent book that made me laugh is Summer in the Short Bus by Bethany Crandell. I wrote a review about it, if you maybe want to check it out. :) 

Audrey: Umm, Confessions of a Shopaholic. I have only started reading this but already, I find that it is quite hilarious. I can totally relate. Haha, when I like something, I'm always like, "oh I NEED this!!!" even though I really don't. Like not even remotely need it. 

Kimi: Made me laugh? Well, I've mostly been reading sad books lately but I recently reread Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and it was so cute and funny!

Most recent book that made you cry:

Beryl: This is very embarrassing to admit but I don't remember crying in any particular book. Maybe I should read more, cause I'm definitely missing out on something. Haha.

Audrey: I don't cry. I don't have emotions. I am a robot programmed never to feel sorrow. But, seriously, I have never found a book that has made me cry. I'm sticking with the robot story if anyone asks why. Oh my God, that rhymed!

Kimi: I love crying after or while reading a book! I don't really cry easily but when it comes to a really good book, my tears just easily flow out. The most recent tearjerker I've read is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

Click HERE for the second half of Geeky Chiquita's reader interview. :)

OPEN THY HEART teaser, IIST sale, monkey bread and more

I've been MIA! Well, kinda. My blog was lonely there for a bit. The past week-ish has been chock-full of scrambling to do OTH edits and get out the eARCs. But I'm done, for now, finally! (Boy does it feel nice to finally take a breather!) Gotta go over stuff one more time, but it's all good. And guess what? OPEN THY HEART is up for pre-order! *throws coffee bean confetti* The tour starts up on release day (September 15th--there's going to be TWO awesome giveaways), but I wanted to share one of the teasers, because I'm really excited for what happens in Flora 2. And, in celebration of this, IF I SPEAK TRUE is now 99 cents! (By Sun & Candlelight is as well, but being a novella, it'll stay at that price indefinitely.) 

And now for my quick summary for this week:

1) If you want to have dessert lying around the house, do NOT make monkey bread. Especially not the quick, easy-to-make kind with pre-made biscuit mix. (The entire thing was gone in less than 24 hours.) If you DO want to inhale large doses of sugar, then I highly suggest this quick, simple recipe. Monkey bread is not just for breakfast, ya know. It can be for all of the time dessert, too.

2) My new go-to song for Cozenage 2 (one of two projects I'm currently working on) is Stay Awake by Will Sutton. It's from the What The Night Said album, and I love it! Totally encompasses the feel for Logan and Jennifer Dawn. I guarantee the more you listen to it, the more you'll love it. (Oh and Katydid, too.) You can check it out HERE.

3) I finally get to read again--Woohoo!--and there are *so* many books on my TBR! Here's some of my most recent Kindle purchases... Have you read any of them? (If so, what did you think? I'd love to hear about it!) 


4) September's Reader Interview will be with Geeky Chiquitas! I'm very excited for you to learn more about them next week. They're great gals!

5) Amber's Swag September at Paradise of Pages is ON! Amber is spreading the author love all September by sharing book swag (yay!), so check out her blog and enter HERE to win some of my bookmarks (and a secret something I haven't shared yet. Surprise!)


Well, that's pretty much it! Now I'm off to do boring adult stuff, like dishes and other non-entertaining chores. Have a blessed weekend, everyone! :)

Waiting on Wednesday -- Sway

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine.  

  This week's can't-wait-to-read pre-publication book is Sway. 

Sway

by Kat Spears
Publication date: September 16, 2014

From Goodreads:

In Kat Spears’s hilarious and often poignant debut, high school senior Jesse Alderman, or "Sway," as he’s known, could sell hell to a bishop. He also specializes in getting things people want---term papers, a date with the prom queen, fake IDs. He has few close friends and he never EVER lets emotions get in the way. For Jesse, life is simply a series of business transactions.

But when Ken Foster, captain of the football team, leading candidate for homecoming king, and all-around jerk, hires Jesse to help him win the heart of the angelic Bridget Smalley, Jesse finds himself feeling all sorts of things. While following Bridget and learning the intimate details of her life, he falls helplessly in love for the very first time. He also finds himself in an accidental friendship with Bridget’s belligerent and self-pitying younger brother who has cerebral palsy. Suddenly, Jesse is visiting old folks at a nursing home in order to run into Bridget, and offering his time to help the less fortunate, all the while developing a bond with this young man who idolizes him. Could the tin man really have a heart after all?

A Cyrano de Bergerac story with a modern twist, Sway is told from Jesse’s point of view with unapologetic truth and biting humor, his observations about the world around him untempered by empathy or compassion---until Bridget’s presence in his life forces him to confront his quiet devastation over a life-changing event a year earlier and maybe, just maybe, feel something again.