An "Awkward" Tale We're All Likely to Relate To

Kristin here. Are you a one-click addict like me? I’m horrible about buying books and then forgetting about them, especially when they’re free and I haven’t heard of them. Anyway, that’s how I found my newest Diamond, R K Ryals, and her fabulous book "The Story of Awkward". Here’s the synopsis:

"If you're looking for a happy book about beautiful people, this is the wrong story.  If you are looking for a narrative without emotion, without regrets, and without mistakes, this is definitely the wrong story.  This is by no means an uncomplicated tale about uncomplicated people.  It is by no means sweet or light.  This story is ugly.  This story is complicated.  This story is emotional.  This story is tragic.  In short, this story is about being awkward.  

Peregrine Storke is an artist with an odd sketchbook full of pictures she's drawn since she was a child.  It is a book full of strange sketches and awkward characters, for there is no better way to hide from bullying and life than to create a world of your own.  With a stroke of her pencil, she has given life to a spectacled princess, a freckle-nosed king, a candy loving troll, a two-horned unicorn, and a graceless fairy.  At nineteen, Peregrine leaves her home, her sketchbook, and awkwardness behind. But what happens when something goes wrong in the world of Awkward?  

Trapped inside of her complex realm with the bully she thought to leave behind, Peregrine discovers there is nothing worse than falling for your own villain."

Looking back, I would have never chosen this story if I had really known what it was about. You should know by now that I don’t read the synopsis of any book because I like to go in blind. Let’s be honest; sometimes the synopsis just gives too much away! 

I’m so glad that I gave this one a try, though, because I ended up loving it! It is such a cute YA story and I cannot wait until my 10 year old is mature enough to read it. I almost thought about reading it out loud to her, leaving out the more mature subject matter. There are no intimate times, but they make some funny jokes that my 10 year old baby girl just doesn’t need to be exposed to just yet. And, I’m off track again!

Perri is relatable to anyone, I think. We might not have the same struggles that she had/has, but we can all relate in some way to her awkward phases growing up. Because of that, this book should be in the hands of every high school student everywhere. I feel that it would help so many to understand that we’re all a little awkward.  From the book nerd to the football star; we all have insecurities that we hide (or try to, at least).

You can get your very own copy of "The Story of Awkward" FOR FREE by clicking here!! 

After embracing my awkwardness, I give R K Ryals and The Story of Awkward an awkward hug goodbye, and 

The "Sweet Girl" in You Will Swoon over Rachel Hollis's New Release. AND....We Have a Winner!

The name Rachel Hollis may ring a bell to you.  It might be because of her funny videos about book nerd problems that she posts on Facebook.

It might be because of her extremely popular website TheChicSite.com.

It might be because of the beach photo heard 'round the world.

And yes, that is THE Zooey Deschanel that shared Rachel's picture.  As well as the Today Show, Rachael Ray, ya know.  Just a few people here and there.

But I want you to remember Rachel Hollis because of the amazing author she is.

I first met her at Austin Book Fest this past March.  I was a complete idiot and forgot to get a selfie with her.  But I made sure to get one at RT in Dallas a couple weeks ago.

Eh.  It's not the best picture I've ever taken.  But it's still proof that this spunky, sweet, tiny little powerhouse is one of my favs to chat with at events!  

But enough about that.  Back to her books!

What I simply adore about Rachel's writing is that the stories themselves are just flawless.  The characters have personality and depth.  The stories are interesting and don't resemble each other.  And maybe best of all, Rachel doesn't rely on over the top sex scenes as filler or to make her stories stand out.  The stories themselves stand on their own two feet.

Ever single time.

I could gush all day about how wonderful her books are, but I'm sure by now you're saying "This is all great.  But what are they about?"  

I'm glad you asked.  Here is the Amazon synopsis for the most recent release titled "Sweet Girl":

"Max Jennings is in a bad mood.  It's not anything you did; it's just that secrets from her past make it her natural state of being.  But she's not going to talk about it or share her feelings, so don't bother asking.

Max's bad mood means that very few people actually truly understand her or know that her secret dream is to be a pastry chef. When a rare opportunity to work for world-famous Avis Phillips presents itself, Max jumps at the chance.  Avis and her staff aren't stingy with tough love, so Max spends every spare minute practicing her craft.  As she bakes brownies and custards, cookies and galettes, she builds an unlikely friendship with a man she once loathes and finds herself falling into something she's spent the last six years avoiding.  Will she let her painful past stand in the way, or will she muster the strength to forgive herself and realize her full potential?"

You see, Rachel's books aren't just about romance, although there is romance involved.  They are about finding who you are, embracing that person, and becoming the best you can be.

They are the stories you feel comfortable recommending to your grandmother, your teenaged daughter, your church group...  And I cannot rave enough about how much you need these books in your life.

The reading order is as follows (click on the title to get your copy):
"Party Girl"
"Party Girl's First Date - A Short Story"
"Sweet Girl"

So enjoy Rachel, the internet sensation.  I certainly do.  

But do not, for one second, forget about Rachel Hollis, the author.  She is a Diamond in so many ways.  (Oh, and next time you see her at an event, snatch up one of her pink gumballs.  I enjoyed several at ABF!)

Author Rachel Hollis and her newest release, heck, her entire series, gets a giant, shiny

Now, onto our contest!!!

The winner of the paperback copy of Never Never Part 2, signed by BOTH Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher goes to.......

GEORGANA B!!!!

Congratulations!  You have seven days to email me your mailing address at chelleauthorstalker@gmail.com to claim your prize!

Who Wants to Win a Book??

Have you read this book yet?  It's Part 2 in a three part series and let me just say, I, for one, am frustrated.

I wanna know what the heck is going on!!!

But that's also part of why I love this series.  Because I can't figure out what the heck is going on.  

It is twisted and interesting and just great writing all the way around.  I mean, come on.  It's Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher.  Are any of us surprised it's genius?  I didn't think so.

So how would you like a paperback copy signed by BOTH AUTHORS?!?!  Because I'm giving one away!  

Easy to do.  Just comment below and a winner will be chosen by Random.org on Sunday.  (Yes, all you international folks can enter as well!)  

And just to make it easy on you, if for some technical reason you can't comment below, you can also comment below this link on my Facebook page.  That'll count towards it, too!

Good luck everyone!  

RT Roundup...In Pictures!

For years I have heard that I needed to attend RT.  "It's the best author event ever," they said.  "It's so much fun!" they said.  But no one ever could tell me why it was the best event ever.  So I'm going to try to explain, mostly in pictures, why attending RT this past weekend was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

The Romance Times Booklovers Convention, or RT 2015 as most people call it, was held in Dallas this year.  Since that's only a 4 hour drive for me, I thought, why not?  At least one of my kids didn't like my nonchalant attitude.

That look pretty much says, "You're gonna let DAD cook for us all weekend?"

Any who......

RT is a week long event that includes every genre of writing you could ever imagine.  From romance to young adult to paranormal...indie author, trade pub authors, aspiring authors...editors, formatters, cover designers, librarians.  It.  Was.  Massive.  The first thing I noticed when I got there was all the banners.  They literally covered every wall and column in the lobby.

Including the elevator doors!

Cool, right?  The event took over the entire hotel for a whole week.  And it was a Hyatt Regency, so the hotel itself was massive.  That should give you an idea of how big this whole thing really was.

I, myself, didn't go to any of the panels.  Being that it was my first time, I wanted to sit back and observe what goes on without feeling too overwhelmed.  I'm pretty sure I stayed overwhelmed anyway, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Saturday morning started out pretty chill.  Ate the best breakfast buffet you will ever have in your life and ran into some friends before the giant book fair started.

On the left, you see my friend Karen, who is also beta reader extraordinaire.  On my right, author Erin Noelle.  Remember her?  She wrote the fabulous book "Spark" that I reviewed a couple weeks ago.  She also says she's the godmother to my unborn child.  Until he's born.  Then she's out.

Why doesn't that surprise me?

The book fair itself was as massive everyone kept saying.  Over 600 authors were all in the same room!!!!  And yet, it was still completely organized chaos.  I was wildly impressed.  Here are a few highlights of the authors I met while at the book fair:

Kresley Cole, who I haven't read yet.  But I have been threatened within an inch of my life by some book "friends" if I don't get on that soon, so she's been bumped up on my TBR.

Rachel Hollis, who wrote "Party Girl".  I love that book.  I picked up her last copy of "Sweet Girl" (YES!) on Saturday.  I cannot wait to dive in!!!

Colleen Hoover who released "Never, Never Part Two" later that night.  (P.S. I'll be giving away a signed copy of NNP2 tomorrow on the blog, so stay tuned!)

That's Becca Fitzpatrick.  I picked up her book "Hush, Hush" right before this picture was taken because a friend recommended it.  On our way out, when I was purchasing the book, the cashier actually stopped to gush over my choice.  Apparently I need to read it soon!!

But here is the creme de la creme of the giant book fair:

DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT IS???????  That is Charlaine Harris, people!!!  You know, Sookie's mom?!?!  Yeah....I met, talked to and got a signed book from her.  *faint*

So as you can see, this moment in itself was worth it.  And a completely unexpected part of my day.  It was almost as good as this moment:

Yeah.  Just getting a little love from my favorite blogger, Vilma.

After the book fair was over, everyone just sort of reconvened in the lobby and bar area, chatting with each other and making new friends.  This is where Daisy Prescott found me.  You might remember how much I enjoyed her book "Confessions of a Reformed Tom Cat"  Yeah.  So then when she recognized me, I may have frozen up just a bit.

Oh, and she brought a spoon with her because she recognized that, as a super pregnant woman,  I may need to eat any sweets that fall on the floor Joey Tribiani style.  (Please refer to one of the best "Friends" episodes ever for more information.)

Probably the funniest incident was when I was sitting around in the lounge area with a few other people.  A woman I didn't recognize started chatting with us and introduced herself.  She was really nice and really funny.  It wasn't until someone else finally asked her that I realized who she was.

Recognize her?  That's SC Stephens.  Yeah.  She wrote "Thoughtless" and is a NY Times Bestseller.  Someone smack me.  I apparently recognize no one.

This wasn't the only time I didn't realize who I was talking to.  I also chatted up Leisa Rayven for about 20 minutes before someone told me who I was talking to.  *face palm*  But she was so, so funny.  We had a great time!

Later that night, after seeing the movie "Pitch Perfect 2" with some friends, we headed back to the lounge area.  I went in my jammies because, well, I was tired.

And of course, that's when the magic happened.

Picture this...I had seen this woman around several times.  She didn't tell anyone she was coming, just showed up to hang out with her favorite author and reader friends who also didn't know she was coming.  I randomly ended up talking to her several times over a couple of days about normal every day things, which was cool enough.  But I was too much of a weinie to ever ask for a picture.  Instead, I wimped out and let a friend ask for me.  And that's when this moment happened:

Notice the deer in the headlights look?  That is what happens when you run into EL Freaking James while wearing your jammies and have no make up on.  But then....this happened:

OMG EL JAMES TOUCHED MY BABY BUMP!!!!!!!!!!

I apparently enjoyed the moment way too much.  And it will forever be seared in my brain.  Because EL James "Christianed" my belly.  Get it?  She "Christened" it??  HAHAHA!  (Ok, I can't take credit for that joke.  It was all blogger Mollie Harper.  But it cracks me up so I'm going to use it whenever I tell this story.)

Needless to say, I didn't sleep Saturday night and it was a busy day Sunday.

What most people don't realize, is Sunday after the giant book fair is still jam packed full of events!  There were panels where people like my editor/cover designer got to speak about her job.

She will probably kill me for posting that picture, but too bad.  Murphy is the bomb.  If you ever need an editor or cover designer, you need to contact her at http://www.murphyrae.net.  She's the best.  For real.

There was also a smaller book fair where I ran into the always beautiful and friendly JB Salsbury.

She remembered my review on her book "Fighting for Flight".  I almost passed out!!  (Oh hey...check that out.  "Fighting for Flight" is on sale for $2!  You need to snatch that sucker up while you can!

I also ran into this lady:

That's Whitney Barbetti.  She wrote a little book called "Ten Below Zero" that my blogging partner Kristin calls her top read for this year.  So of course I had to pick up my own copy!!

The only real downside to RT, besides the elevators that always closed before I could waddle my way to the open door, was the lack of service on all our cell phones.  Seriously.  The internet was spotty.  Data was even worse.  Texts were hit or miss.  When someone would finally find service, we all ended up like this:

But overall, I am SO glad I went.  I mean, where else would I have a moment like this....

I know I already posted that picture.  But come on, people!  That's big news!!

I'm looking forward to RT 2016 in Vegas.  And if you can find a way there, I highly, highly recommend it!  And not just because this guy showed up to guide me home....

Author Sara Ney Explains Why 5 Diamonds Will Never Be Enough in the "Interim"

Recently, Author Sara Ney and I have become friends.  The thing about her is, she's ornery.  More ornery than anyone I know.  And kind of squirrelly.  So when Sara Ney says there is a book she adores, I take notice.

She hasn't stopped talking about this one, so what a better way to hear about it than have her write a guest review!  

Here now, is my friend and Author, Sara Ney:

Before I begin this review, I think it’s important to point out several things about myself:

• My literary preferences are extremely one dimensional—as in: I like feel good romance. That’s it. Not dark romance. Not drama. Tons of plot twists? No thanks. Villains and narcissistic characters? Hard pass. Vampires, shape shifters, and love triangles? No, no, and no. Feel. Good. Romance. Please and thank you.
• I’m the kind of reader authors probably cannot stand; I judge books by their covers (sorry) and I usually decide within 1-3 pages if I’m going to continue reading a book.
• I typically only write reviews for books I didn’t like. This point should probably be added to #2, but out of sheer laziness I’ll leave it here.

With all the above being said… S. Walden takes my breath away. Her writing is crushing. Heart-wrenching. Honest. A slap in the face. A punch in the gut. Tear-jerking. Suspenseful. 

Well guess what? These are NONE of the feelings I want to feel when I’m reading. Ever. Sorry, but I’m not the kind of reader who wants to sniffle, feel ill, or have my soul laid bare from a plot-line. Or lose hope. Or want to shout out in anger.

And yet… Every time S. Walden comes out with a new book, I download it and clear my calendar, plan to lose sleep, pull an all-nighter, have a book hanger over, and be crabby the next day.

"Interim" is hands down the best book by her I’ve read. Except for "Going Under". And "Hoodie". Shit, they’re all outstanding. I almost didn’t want to do a book review; I wanted to do an author review, but I didn’t think Chelle would let me.

"Interim" is, simply, about a boy: This boy is lost. Alone. Beaten. Bullied. Angry. So angry he has a plan; a plan he foolishly puts on paper. A plan to terminate those people that have destroyed his soul. But fate has a cruel plan too, and this notebook full of hatred, violence, and design, ends up in the hands of a girl. A girl who becomes the obstacle in his path for restitution.

You better run, little girl, he thought, feeling for the first time that he

was actually the bad guy…

The topic is heavy. Controversial. Disturbing.

The characters are flawed. The boy is so beyond damaged he’s almost past redemption.

And yet… he’s beautiful. The whole fu***d up story is beautiful because S. Walden captures it in a way no other author can. No author should.

My heart is pounding right now, and I’m not happy. Because I did want to throw my book at the end. I did become ill when I read it. I had hope. And my soul was laid-bare by this author.

Interim takes its place in my top spot of favorites, and S. Walden continues to astonish me with her incredible talent.

Five Diamonds too few.  But that's what I give it.  Get it by clicking here.

An Intriguing Read That May Leave You Feeling "Blyss"full

Hey, Kristin here. Long time no, um, type? Anyway, my next Diamond is J.C. Cliff, and her book, Blyss, is H.O.T.!!!! To be perfectly honest, I only bought the book because of the glorious cover. Take a look, and then let’s stop for a moment or two to truly appreciate the spectacular sight of a shirtless Colin Wayne.

Sigh . . . Okay, back to business. What I didn’t realize until I started reading is that this book is very erotic. I blushed my way through most of the book, and couldn’t contain the gasps that came out all too often. I normally don’t pick up this genre because I didn’t think it was my style. This book might have just changed that for me. Here is the synopsis:

"Blyss is something the world has been trying to create since the beginning of time, the ultimate aphrodisiac, a drug used again women with one single purpose in mind....

Julianna Oakley has just finished up her junior year at college and flies home to spend her last free summer with her father on their prestigious Georgia estate.  Julianna isn't the stereotypical rich girl, a spoiled prima-donna. She's down to earth and has an independent streak a mile wide, insisting she makes her own way in this world.

Nick has been setting the stage for a long time, and sparks fly when their separate worlds collide.  She is Nick's ultimate obsession, and he will stop at nothing to own her.

When Travis, Nick's right hand man, lays his eyes on the prize, all hell breaks loose.  He should know Nick is playing for keeps, and while Julianna is fighting for her freedom, a lifetime full of secrets and twisted perceptions slowly unravel as Julianna gets caught in the fray."

When the story began, Julianna was the heroine I loved to hate: the soon-to-be 21 year old virgin who was desperately in love with her perfectly-happy-to-be-celibate fiancée. What I didn’t expect was to grow to only have love for her as I got to know her more. She is a badass! I won’t say how, you just need to read and find out for yourself. And Travis—just picturing Colin Wayne up there was enough to make me instantly fall in love with the manipulative jerk. I’m still holding out hope that he is a softy deep down.

I flew through this book in about 6 hours, and then went on to immediately buy the next in the series. Do yourself a favor and grab your own copy of Blyss by clicking here. 

I will obviously be reading more from this author in the future. 

I give J.C. Cliff and her smokin’ hot "Blyss"