Sunday, April 30, 2017

Tour Mini-Review/Excerpt/Giveaway!! Ninja Girl, by Cookie O'Gorman




The Ninja Girl Blog Tour is
sponsored by
YA Bound Book Tours!!

I'm featuring an excerpt 
with mini-review!!
There's also a tour-sponsored giveaway!!



Ninja Girl
Cookie O'Gorman
Kindle Edition
March 30, 2017
Contemporary Fiction, Romance, 
Young Adult Fiction

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34732613-ninja-girl?ac=1&from_search=true







Seventeen-year-old Snow-Soon Lee kicks butt -- literally. She teaches at her family-owned martial arts gym, The Academy, and cares more about training to be the next Bruce Lee than hooking up. In fact, Snow's never even been kissed. But when "Girls' Night" rolls around, Snow decides to prove to her friends (and herself) that she's not just some boring tomboy. Impulsively, she kisses a hot stranger and even manages to escape his two security guards.

One stolen kiss…

Ash Stryker's senior year sucks. His politician father pulled him out of Chariot High, separating him from his championship-winning soccer team. Now he's stuck at a prissy private school with no friends, no team and no chance of being scouted. On top of that, thanks to the death threats his dad's received, Ash has a security tail aka professional babysitters. When the mystery girl from the movies shows up at his school, rappelling from the rafters, Ash knows one thing: he won't let her get away again.

One interesting job proposition…

After a seemingly random attack, Ash's mother surprises everyone. She hires Snow to be Ash's personal bodyguard until after the election. But can Snow's kick-butt skills hold up against the rising threats to Ash's family? More importantly, can Ash convince his ninja girl to screw ethics and kiss him again?

Opposites attract in this YA romance where a smooth talker meets his match in the tough girl who (literally) sweeps him off his feet. Moral of the story:

Sometimes even bad boys need a bodyguard.




Note
This mini-review is of the excerpt below, 
and not the entire book, which I 
can't wait to read!! 

What a DYNAMITE excerpt!! It's like a movie scene -- lightning fast, stunning, and oh, so very SEXY!! This is the type of female hero I LOVE to read about! She's tough, skillful, can hold her own in a fight, and yet, is DEFINITELY a red-blooded female. Yeah, I wish I were like that..... All I have is the last part of that sentence. Lol. So that's WHY I need to read this book!! I can pretend, can't I? This promises to be an adrenaline-driven read, and I just can't WAIT to start reading it, since I've already bought it! Revving up my iPad!!!!





I stood up suddenly, needing to do…something. I knew what she was saying was total crap. I knew Nara was pure evil, and I didn’t have to prove anything to her. But right then I needed to prove something to myself. I was a girl dammit, and I wasn’t boring. I was a force.

Just like Bruce.

“Snow, what’s up?” Min asked, but instead of answering I headed in the opposite direction. While the others had been taking stock of hoodie guy, I’d been getting a read on his security. They were too far back to stop me. Part of me wanted to test them—to test me—and see if I could do this and still get away. I figured I had about a minute, tops, but that’s all I’d need.

One last look over my shoulder told me all three girls were staring at me, mouths gaping, even Nara. Boring, she’d said earlier. I’d give her boring.

Taking a deep breath, I kept walking until I was almost even with hoodie guy’s seat, placed my hand on the chair back and swung my body over—right into his lap. Over his shoulder, I saw his security react. Too late.

He gasped, but I didn’t have time to explain.

“Sorry about this,” I whispered right before sealing my lips to his.

I’d taken him by surprise—that much was clear from the way his body tensed beneath mine. But he wasn’t trying to push me off. I’d intended it to be quick. A single brush with danger, a nod to teen girl impulsiveness, but the way his mouth melted under mine was unexpected. I fisted my hands in his shirt, pulling him closer. My lips, my entire body, went up in flames, but I couldn’t get close enough. It wasn’t until his hands came around my back that I remembered myself.

Pulling away, I came face-to-face with the greenest eyes I’d ever seen.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered again.



Purchase this book on AMAZON 
for only $2.99!!!!








 Cookie O'Gorman writes YA romance to give readers a taste of happily-ever-after. Small towns, quirky characters, and the awkward yet beautiful moments in life make up her books. Cookie also has a soft spot for nerds and ninjas. Her debut novel, Adorkable, is out now! Her second book, Ninja Girl, was released March 30,2017!




To access the complete tour schedule, just click on the button below!!

http://yaboundbooktours.blogspot.com/2017/03/blog-tour-sign-up-ninja-girl-by-cookie.html








 

Shelf Candy Saturday No. 210: Ever the Brave, by Erin Summerill



Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!



*Late Edition*
This is my weekly feature
showcasing beautiful covers!
It also provides information, 
if available, on their 
very talented creators!


Here's my choice for this week!




Ever the Brave
(Clash of Kingdoms, Book 2)
Erin Summerill
Hardcover, 464  pages
HMH Books for Young Readers 
December 5, 2017
   Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33413892-ever-the-brave?ac=1&from_search=true




My Thoughts About This Cover

It was love at first sight when I saw this cover! It's elegant, it's totally GORGEOUS.....and there's one predominant color all over it! You would think this would make this cover boring to look at, but that's not the case at all! Instead, it's very visually exciting!

When I first came across this cover, it was on the blog Brittany's Book Rambles, run, of course, by Brittany. She featured this book on her latest "Waiting On Wednesday" post, right along with The Language of Thorns, whose equally beautiful cover I featured last week. You can check out the post HERE. This is a BEAUTIFUL blog, by the way, and Brittany features a LOT of Young Adult Fiction on it, so be sure to take a look at it!

Although my favorite color is, and has always been, blue, I can certainly appreciate other colors. This particular one is a shade known as "burnt sienna" in oil and acrylic paints. It's a a beautiful combination of red and brown. When I was a college art student, I fell in love with this color, for some reason, and used it profusely in several paintings I created at the time. So I'm very happy to see it displayed on this STUNNING book cover!

The background picture makes this cover even more interesting! I LOVE that castle, as well as the corner decorations! They combine to give this cover a definitely medieval feel!

And now for the BEST part of this cover....that AMAZING, BREATHTAKINGLY GORGEOUS calligraphy!! New life has been breathed into a typically classical font, with those graceful flourishes on letters that frame the title, especially the "B" and the "E" of the word "Brave". These flourishes give this font a slightly Arabic look, as well. 

The way the font's golden tone gradually shifts to darker and lighter shades is also incredibly beautiful! The letters along the middle, vertically, stand out, while the others have darker shades. A less talented designer would have made the entire title all one shade, but not this one! 

Last but definitely NOT least, I love the small crown at the bottom, right above the author's name. It, too, has gradated shades. This crown ties in very well with the castle in the upper half of the cover.

I do have one small quibble about this cover, in spite of all my fangirling, and that is that I wish the author's name had been made a bit larger. It does tend to get lost in all the other great cover elements. Overall, though, I absolutely ADORE this cover!

Alas.....this is one of those cases in which I have been unable to find out who the ultra talented artist for this cover is.... The cover can only be seen on Goodreads. Amazon doesn't have it posted yet. Perhaps that's because this novel is due to be released in December of this year, and it's just too early for the cover image to be widely available. Since there's no cover on Amazon, there's also no preview, so I couldn't get any information that way. A Google search likewise led nowhere. 

Meanwhile.....just enjoy this BEAUTIFUL specimen of the cover designer's art! Come December, we will all know who was responsible for this masterpiece! 


What do you think of this 
week's cover?
Please leave a comment
and let me know!









Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Can't Wait Wednesday No. 14: You Bring the Distant Near, by Mitali Perkins




Welcome to "Can't Wait Wednesday"!
   
This is a weekly event hosted by
Tressa @ Wishful Endings, and inspired by "Waiting On Wednesday", which used to be hosted by
 Jill @ Breaking the Spine.

For more information, please click HERE.

As in the previous meme, this one showcases future releases  we book  bloggers 
are eagerly anticipating!!
There's also a Linky widget, so participating blogs can link up!



Here's my choice for this week!



 You Bring the Distant Near
Mitali Perkins
Hardcover,  320 pages
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (BYR)
September 12, 2017 
Contemporary Fiction, Diverse Reads,
Young Adult Fiction
  

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33155334-you-bring-the-distant-near







This elegant Young Adult novel captures the immigrant experience for one Indian-American family with humor and heart. Told in alternating teen voices across three generations, You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture--for better or worse.

From a grandmother worried that her children are losing their Indian identity to a daughter wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair to a granddaughter social-activist fighting to preserve Bengali tigers, Perkins weaves together the threads of a family growing into an American identity.

Here is a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.
 




Why I can't wait for this one!

Well, first off, I LOVE the cover!! It's a very unique and beautiful one!! As for the plot, I can really relate, since I'm an immigrant myself. The clash of generations, as the younger members of an immigrant family strive to join 'the melting pot', while the older ones strive just as hard to hold on to time-honored traditions....I have lived through this.  Besides, I really do need to read more diverse books. This one looks absolutely WONDERFUL!!







Mitali Perkins was born in Kolkata, India, and immigrated to the States when she was seven years old. She's written several books for young readers, including Bamboo People, Rickshaw Girl, Monsoon Summer, and Secret Keeper. She is also the editor of an anthology: Open Mic: Riffs Between Cultures In Ten Voices. Mitali maintains a website  and blog where she chats about books between cultures.

Website/Blog/Goodreads 







What do you think of my choice?
Leave your link below, so I can
come check out your pick(s)!