Giveaway: Underwater by Marisa Reichardt

Today is our stop for Marisa Reichardt's Underwater blog tour and I am very thrilled to celebrate its upcoming release next week. This has been a lovely debut and a good first read of the year (full review to be posted tomorrow) so I hope you guys are excited to get your hands on it! The good news is, one of our readers CAN win a copy by joining the giveaway below.

Underwater
by Marisa Reichardt

Publisher: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux

Release Date: January 12th, 2015

Blurb: 
Morgan didn’t mean to do anything wrong that day. Actually, she meant to do something right. But her kind act inadvertently played a role in a deadly tragedy. In order to move on, Morgan must learn to forgive—first someone who did something that might be unforgivable, and then, herself.

But Morgan can’t move on. She can’t even move beyond the front door of the apartment she shares with her mother and little brother. Morgan feels like she’s underwater, unable to surface. Unable to see her friends. Unable to go to school.

When it seems Morgan can’t hold her breath any longer, a new boy moves in next door. Evan reminds her of the salty ocean air and the rush she used to get from swimming. He might be just what she needs to help her reconnect with the world outside.

Underwater is a powerful, hopeful debut novel about redemption, recovery, and finding the strength it takes to face your past and move on.

Follow the Underwater by Marissa Reichardt Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

  

I'm a SoCal native and high school writing instructor. I currently live in Los Angeles and can usually be found huddled over my laptop in coffeehouses or swimming in the ocean.

My debut YA contemporary novel, UNDERWATER, will be out 1/12/16 from Macmillan/FSG and 4/7/16 Macmillan Children's UK.

I love all books and all genres. While I do keep track of all the books I've read here, I generally don't do ratings or reviews.

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Blog Tour: The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett + Giveaway

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart
by Jenn Bennett

Publisher: Fewel & Friends

Release Date: November 3rd, 2015

Blurb: 
Artist Beatrix Adams knows exactly how she's spending the summer before her senior year. Determined to follow in Leonardo da Vinci’s footsteps, she's ready to tackle the one thing that will give her an advantage in a museum-sponsored scholarship contest: drawing actual cadavers. But when she tries to sneak her way into the hospital’s Willed Body program and misses the last metro train home, she meets a boy who turns her summer plans upside down.

Jack is charming, wildly attractive . . . and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists. On midnight buses and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who Jack really is—and tries to uncover what he’s hiding that leaves him so wounded. But will these secrets come back to haunt him? Or will the skeletons in Beatrix’s own family’s closet tear them apart?

Follow the The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

  

Jenn Bennett is an artist and RITA-nominated author of the Arcadia Bell urban fantasy series (Kindling the Moon) and the Roaring Twenties romance series, including Bitter Spirits, which was chosen as one of Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2014 and winner of RT Book Reviews Paranormal Romance Book of the Year, and Grave Phantoms—which was awarded RT's May Seal of Excellence for 2015. The Anatomical Shape of a Heart, (akaNight Owls in the U.K.) is her first YA contemporary romance. She lives near Atlanta with one husband and two evil pugs. Visit her at www.jennbennett.net.

Want to be notified when her next book is coming out? Join her mailing list: http://eepurl.com/V5il9.

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Interview with Ann Jacobus, Author of Romancing the Dark in the City of Light + Giveaway

Congratulations on your debut, Ann! Can you share with us a bit about your road to becoming a YA author?

Thank you for having me! The road to becoming a YA author has been a long one, going on fifteen years. Romancing the Dark in the City of Light is the fifth novel I’ve written but the first I’ve sold, and I worked on it off and on for over seven years. I have always written one way or another, and have been in love with stories in almost any form since I was a toddler. I earned an MFA in writing for Children and Young Adults in 2007 (from Vermont College of Fine Arts) and it was one of the wisest, most intense and fun things I ever did.

How would you describe Romancing the Dark in the City of Light in one sentence?

A troubled American girl in Paris falls in love with love and death.

What was your favorite part about writing it?

Selling it! I was at the doctor’s office for my annual check-up when my agent called me with the news. This was ideal since I nearly fainted.

What appealed to you about Paris as a setting?

I love Paris. Almost everyone agrees that it is a spectacularly beautiful and romantic city. My family and I lived there for ten years and our children grew up there. So I know it reasonably well and thought it would be crazy not to set a novel there. But I wanted to approach it with a different optic than the usual adoring glorification. It would not look so lovely through the eyes of a depressed and suicidal teen who is unhappy to be there. The fact that my main character Summer has all this beauty and culture around her (not to mention wealth) and cannot see it or appreciate it is a good reflection of her inner state--one of despair and hopelessness. Also, there is a shadow side to everything, even divine Paris.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? The worst?

Writing advice?
“Read, read, read. Write, write, write,” and “Never give up.”
Life advice?
“The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn't live boldly enough, that they didn't invest enough heart, didn't love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.” - Poet Ted Hughes in a letter to his son, Nicholas

Worst advice: I can’t really think of any bad advice I’ve taken, but I’ve probably given some!

Romancing the Dark in the City of Light
by Ann Jacobus

Publisher: Thomas Dunn Books

Release Date: October 6th, 2015

Blurb: 
A troubled teen, living in Paris, is torn between two boys, one of whom encourages her to embrace life, while the other—dark, dangerous, and attractive—urges her to embrace her fatal flaws.

Haunting and beautifully written, with a sharp and distinctive voice that could belong only to this character, Romancing the Dark in the City of Light is an unforgettable young adult novel.

Summer Barnes just moved to Paris to repeat her senior year of high school. After being kicked out of four boarding schools, she has to get on track or she risks losing her hefty inheritance. Summer is convinced that meeting the right guy will solve everything. She meets two. Moony, a classmate, is recovering against all odds from a serious car accident, and he encourages Summer to embrace life despite how hard it can be to make it through even one day. But when Summer meets Kurt, a hot, mysterious older man who she just can't shake, he leads her through the creepy underbelly of the city-and way out of her depth.

When Summer's behavior manages to alienate everyone, even Moony, she's forced to decide if a life so difficult is worth living. With an ending that'll surprise even the most seasoned reader, Romancing the Dark in the City of Light is an unputdownable and utterly compelling novel.

Follow the Romancing The Dark in The City of Light by Ann Jacobus Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

  

Ann Jacobus earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lived with her family for many years in the Arabian Gulf and in Paris, France. She now lives in San Francisco where she writes, reads, volunteers weekly on a suicide crisis line, and frequently resorts to crock-pot meals of canned soup, fowl and whatever's in the fridge.

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Win (1) ARC of ROMANCING THE DARK IN THE CITY OF LIGHT by Ann Jacobus (US Only)

Win (1) finished copy of ROMANCING THE DARK IN THE CITY OF LIGHT by Ann Jacobus (US Only)

Win (1) finished copy of ROMANCING THE DARK IN THE CITY OF LIGHT by Ann Jacobus (INT)

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