Wednesday 25 December 2013

Merry Christmas!


I want to wish all our followers a very Merry Christmas! Hope you all have a wonderful day :) 


Monday 23 December 2013

REVIEW - Switched by Cassie Mae

Title: Switched 
Author: Cassie Mae
Publisher: Random House LLC
Release date: December 2nd 2013
Genres: NA Contemporary 
Links: Amazon / Goodreads 
Source: Bought ebook

Summary:
Ever since high school, Kayla has been crazy for gorgeous football player Talon. But before she could muster the courage to tell him, he became a hot item with her beautiful BFF, Reagan. The only person who knows Kayla’s secret is Wesley, Talon’s best bud—and he’s got it bad for Reagan. Now they’re all in college together, hanging out 24/7. For Kayla, seeing the two lovebirds together is absolutely unbearable. So Kayla and Wesley hatch a plot to drive them apart before Talon has a chance to give Reagan the Christmas gift she’s been waiting for.

Soon enough, the once happy couple is fighting. Reagan suddenly can’t get enough of Wesley’s goofy sense of humor, and Talon seems to be paying more attention to Kayla than a guy who’s “only a friend” ever should. But just when everything seems to be falling into place, Kayla and Wesley accidentally spend a night together and discover a hitch in their plan they never considered: that switching partners may not lead to a perfect ending after all.



4.5/5

I read Switched after Tia gushed about the authors books. So my expectations were a bit high. And I am so happy to say that Switched lived up to my expectations :) 

This book was all kinds of cute and packed full of goofiness. I loved the authors sense of humor. She managed to turn serious situations in to funny ones. I especially loved Kayla and Wesley's banter. Those two were hilarious and so adorable when they were together. I really related with Kayla too. I thought she was a great character, even if she did frustrate me one or two times. And Wesley? He was adorable! So different from the usual bad boy found in most NA books. He was just all kinds of funny and sweet and he plays guitar! Just perfect.

The story-line is fast paced and keeps you hooked. I read it in one sitting, I just couldn't get enough. I found myself smiling and laughing out loud throughout most of it. It didn't frustrate me as much as I thought it would. And I loved the twist at the end. Brilliant! Overall this book was jam-packed with cuteness, silliness and will just warm your heart. This is the first book by Cassie Mae that I have read and it definitely won't be the last :)


*I was provided with an ecopy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*



Saturday 21 December 2013

BLOG TOUR - Silent Echo: A Siren's Tale by Elisa Freilich (Book Soundtrack & Excerpt)


Title: Silent Echo: A Siren’s Tale
Series: Silent Echo Trilogy # 1
By: Elisa Freilich
Publication Date: September 2013
Published By: Diversion Books
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

Blurb:
Silence was Portia Griffin’s nemesis. In a world where teens never cease to speak their minds, the sixteen year old Portia, rendered mysteriously mute at birth, has opted out of the mainstream conversation. Instead, this silent sophomore at Ridgewood Preparatory Academy finds solace in her keen love of music and bizarre obsession with birds.  And it doesn’t hurt that her best friend, Felix Fein, deaf at the age of eight, couldn’t care less whether or not she is able to execute the spoken word.

But Portia’s world is about to change – and not necessarily for the better.

After sixteen silent years, Portia is suddenly gifted with a voice unparalleled in its purity and powers. Her new ability to persuade, to seduce and to destroy with her voice alone sends Portia on a search for answers she never imagined she’d have to accept.

Links:

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Book Soundtrack:


For more information on the Silent Echo Original Soundtrack go - http://www.elisafreilich.com/the-music/

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EXCERPT:
Prologue

The fluttering of the birds’ wings against the windshield produced a steady noise not unlike the whirring of a fan.
He looked over at the pained face of his wife. She was at the peak of labor, her contractions only two minutes apart. Her water had broken several hours ago, and despite his demands to leave immediately for the hospital, Helena had insisted on waiting it out, determined to relish the birth of their first child in the comfort of their own home.
Joshua had only conceded knowing that in Ridgewood there wasn’t likely to be much traffic. Their worst delay might be having to wave to a familiar pedestrian.
But this roadblock could never have been foreseen. They were everywhere — the feathers, the flapping wings. When the first one had landed, a snowy white creature with clouded jade eyes, he had thought nothing of it. Swerving gently, Joshua was surprised that the bird held its ground, welcoming its identical twin, who swooped down and landed firmly on the hood of the car.
And then an avalanche.
Identical white birds streaming down in droves, their verdigris eyes boring curiously beyond the windshield.
She cried out in pain.
“Please,” she pleaded with her husband — her voice was barely above a whisper. “Please get me some help.”
Joshua looked over at his wife. Her milky complexion, now blue as a flame, had taken on an unnatural translucence, revealing the frenetic pumping of blood through her veins.
But trapped inside the chrysalis of feathers and beak, there was no way to maneuver the car forward. Or in any direction, for that matter.
“I’m so sorry, baby, I can’t see a thing…”
He tried prompting the flock to leave with a few angry bursts of the horn. But the sound only propelled the beating of their wings. And with each new unwelcome visitor, a sterile Labor and Delivery room became a fantasy reserved for another universe.
Dialing 911, Joshua tried maintaining his composure. He could sense the operator’s skepticism until Helena let out a fortuitous moan, lending an undeniable truth to his tale. He tried pinpointing their location. Where were they anyway?
While he attempted to gain his bearings, Helena became entranced by the thumping of the giant wings. The percussion was a sponge, soaking up her anxiety at being trapped. The vibration of the wings made its way down her spine, relieving the immense pressure in her belly.
With a burst of sudden clarity Helena knew that this was going to be the birthplace of her child. Right here, on Thornton Road. There would be no hospital and no Dr. Schein. Joshua would have to deliver this baby and she felt it coming. Fast.
The birds continued to flock to the car, forming a layer three deep. Nestling their heads into one another, they hastened the rhythm of their wings, their movements in perfect unison. She stared them down and, as they returned her gaze, the balloon that was her swollen body was untied, her pain released in a slow and steady stream, replaced by an utter sense of calm.
There were only the birds now.
Never mind the fruitless attempts of her husband to open the car door against the impenetrable suction. No recognition of his own panic, his own understanding that if she didn’t make it through this, there would be no tomorrow for either one of them.
And still, the birds remained.
The creatures lifted their heads up, one by one, revealing their aged green eyes. Helena basked in the comfort of the winged voyeurs, grateful for the way they had reversed the current of her pain.
“It’s coming,” she whispered to Joshua.
Joshua surrendered any vestiges of calm to which he had been clinging, his face a mosaic of horror and shock.
“What? You mean now?”
And before Helena could even answer, the child emerged. Joshua caught the tiny creature in the bath towel they had grabbed as an afterthought just before leaving the house.
“Oh my god, Helena, it’s a girl!” His voice trembled, unable to find solid ground. “She seems perfect! Oh my god—“
Helena looked down at the child. She was perfect. A small silken tuft of brown hair sat like a crown atop her delicate skull. Her fingers were long and graceful, tiny papery nails topping each one. Her lips were full, forming a perfect ruby heart.
Joshua started wiping the child clean, offering his wife words of endearment and praying that the paramedics would arrive soon. But his words floated away like particles of dust. There was no room for them in the air that had become filled with the cries of the newborn.
The thumping of the birds’ wings began to fade, offering center stage to the cries of the baby. Gradually, one by one, they flew away forming a perfect arrow as they soared into the dusky sky.
When the last one was gone, the baby’s cries became a tornado sucking away all other sounds and sights. The storm of the infant’s tears held within it a somnolent melody, every sob the next movement in the tearful symphony.
Joshua and Helena struggled to keep their eyes open despite the deep sleep that was suddenly beckoning them. The sounds of the child were a quicksand. And they were being pulled under.
Just as they were about to be submerged completely, the arrival of the paramedics jolted Helena, awakening her maternal instincts. She drew her new daughter to her breast, amazed at her ability to nourish the child from her own body. The baby fell silent as she began to suckle, breaking the dreamy spell that had been wielded by her tears.
Sleepily, Helena ran a gentle fingertip over the velvety cheeks of her new daughter. They would call her Portia, just like they had talked about.
“I will never grow tired of hearing your voice, little Portia,” whispered the proud mother to her new daughter.

She could never have known then that for the next sixteen years the child would not make another sound.

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About the Author:
Elisa Freilich has enjoyed a love affair with language from her earliest days. Raised in rural Monsey, New York, Elisa spent her days reading whatever crossed her path and developing a keen appreciation for the ever-present music in her home – from classical to rock. French lessons and creative writing workshops complemented her adolescence, which was also greatly enhanced by a summer spent abroad at Cambridge University. From the time she could read and write, Elisa could often be found composing poems, song lyrics and satirical newspapers.
After her college years at Boston University, Elisa continued her creative pursuits, working as a junior VP of Marketing at a corporate graphic design agency and, later, as an interior decorator. Eventually, Elisa left the workforce to raise her family, in her now hometown of Englewood, NJ.

Throughout the years, Elisa has retained her devotion to all genres of books and music and was determined to synthesize her passions into one refreshing and original platform. The result is her debut novel, SILENT ECHO: A Siren’s Tale, which will be published by Diversion Books in Summer 2013. With her own lyrical style, Elisa has created a world that young adults around the globe will find intensely gripping and refreshingly original.

When Elisa is not writing, her creative outlets still abound. She is fierce with a set of knitting needles, a hot glue gun and any ingredients that can somehow be fashioned into a sinful and highly caloric babka.

Links:




Friday 20 December 2013

BOOK BLITZ - Insanity by Cameron Jace (Excerpt, Q&A, & Giveaway)


Insanity by Cameron Jace
Publication date: December 20th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal

Synopsis:
After accidentally killing everyone in her class, Alice Wonder is now a patient in the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum. No one doubts her insanity. Only a hookah-smoking professor believes otherwise; that he can prove her sanity by decoding Lewis Carroll’s paintings, photographs, and find Wonderland’s real whereabouts. Professor Caterpillar persuades the asylum that Alice can save lives and catch the wonderland monsters now reincarnated in modern day criminals. In order to do so, Alice leads a double life: an Oxford university student by day, a mad girl in an asylum by night. The line between sanity and insanity thins when she meets Jack Diamond, an arrogant college student who believes that nonsense is an actual science.


Purchase:
--Amazon:

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EXCERPT:
Excerpt from Chapter 1

The writing on the wall says it's January 14th. I am not sure what year. I haven't been sure of many things lately, but I’m wondering if it’s my handwriting I’m looking at.
There is an strange key drawn underneath the date. It's carved with a sharp object, probably a broken mirror. I couldn’t have written this. I'm terrified of mirrors. They love to call it Catoptrophobia around here.
Unlike regular patients in the asylum, my room is windowless, stripped down to a single mattress in the middle, a sink, and bucket for peeing--or puking--when necessary. The tiles on the floor are black-and-white squares, like a chessboard. I never step on black. Always white. Again, I'm not sure why.
The walls are smeared with a greasy pale green everywhere. I wonder if it's the previous patient's brains spattered all over from shock therapy. In the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum, politely known as the Warneford hospital, the doctors have a sweet spot for shock therapy. They love watching patients with bulging eyes and shivering limbs begging for relief from the electricity. It makes me question who is really mad in here.
It's been a while since I was sent to shock therapy myself. Dr. Tom Truckle, my supervising physician, said I don't need it anymore, particularly after I stopped mentioning Wonderland. He told me that I used to talk about it all the time; a dangerous place I claim I have been whisked away to when my elder sister lost me at the age of seven.
Truth is, I don't remember this Wonderland they are talking about. I don't even know why I am here. My oldest vivid memory is from a week ago. Before that, it's all a purple haze.
I have only one friend in this asylum. It's not a doctor or a nurse. And it's not a human. It doesn't hate, envy, or point a finger at you. My friend is an orange flower I keep in a pot; a Tiger Lily I can't live without. I keep it safe next to a small crack in the wall where a single sun ray sneaks through for only ten minutes a day. It might not be enough light to grow a flower, but my Tiger Lily is a tough girl.
Each day, I save half of the water they give me for my flower. As for me, better thirsty than mad.
My orange flower is also my personal rain check for my sanity. If I talk to her and she doesn't reply, I know I am not hallucinating. If it talks back to me, all kinds of nonsense starts to happen. Insanity prevails. There must be a reason why I am here. It doesn’t mean I will easily give in to such a fate.
"Alice Pleasance Wonder. Are you ready?" the nurse knocks with her electric prod on my steel door. Her name is Waltraud Wagner. She is German. Everything she says sounds like a threat and smells like smoke. My fellow mad people say she is a Nazi; that she used to kill her own patients back in Germany. "Get avay vrom za dor. I an coming in," she demands.
Listening to the rattling of her large keychain, my heart pounds in my chest. The turn of the key makes me want to swallow. When the door opens, all I can think of is choking her before she begins to hurt me. Sadly, her neck is too thick for my nimble hands. I stare at her almost-square figure for a moment. Everything about her is four sizes too big, all except her feet, which are as small as mine. My sympathies, little feet.
"Time for your daily ten-minute break," she approaches me with a straitjacket, a devilish grin on her face. I never get out. My ward is underground, and I take my break in another empty ward upstairs, where patients love to play soccer with a hedgehog’s head.
A big muscled warden stands behind Watlraud. Thomas Ogier. He is bald, has an angry-red face and a silver tooth he likes to flash whenever he sees me. His biceps are the size of my head. I have a hard time believing he has ever been a 4-pound baby.
"Slide your arms into the jacket," Waltraud demands in her German accent, a cigarette puckered between her lips. "Slow and easy, Alice," she nods at warden Ogier, in case I misbehave.
I comply obediently and stretch out my arms for her to do whatever she wants. Waltraud twists my right arm slightly and checks the tattoo on my arm. It’s the only tattoo I have. It’s a handwritten sentence that looks like a thin arm band from afar. Waltraud feels the need to read it allowed, “’I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.’” I was told I have written it myself while still believing in Wonderland. “That Alice in Wonderland has really messed with your head.” She puffs smoke into my face as she mocks me.
The tattoo and Waltraud’s mocking is the least of my concerns right now. I let her tie me, and while she does, I close my eyes. I imagine I am a sixteenth century princess, some kind of a lucky Cinderella, being squeezed into a corset by my chain smoking servant in a fairy tale castle above ground, just about to go meet my Prince Charming. Such imagery always helps me breathe. I once heard that it was hope that saves the day, not sanity. I need to cool down before I begin my grand escape.


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Q&A:
  
Q: Is insanity an Alice in Wonderland retelling where fact and fiction intermingle like in your previous series the Grimm Diaries?
A: It’s not quite a retelling of Alice in Wonderland as much as inspired by it. It has all the whimsical and nonsensical wonderland fantasy parts, but it’s more grounded to reality because it happens in our time. Fact and fiction do walk side by side in this book. For instance, Lewis Carroll is present as character himself.

Q: Why did you call it Insanity?
 A: Well, insanity is the main theme of the book. All what Alice has seen could be interpreted as madness in many ways. Also, when you read the book, it’s insane. I mean like really insane. You will either love or hate it. I don’t think there is a middle zone.

Q: Is the story told from many point of views like the Grimm Diaries?
A: Just a few, but most of the story is Alice’s personal journey.

Q: The Grimm Diaries was filled with research, how much did you put in Insanity?
A: I think the research in Insanity is even greater than the Grimm Diaries. The book is also more action oriented. Alice travels from Oxford, London, Vatican City then Belgium in a couple of days. Each city had to be researches and connected with Lewis Carroll and his books.

Q: The blurb says Alice’s sanity can only be proved through Lewis Carroll’s photography and writing. We thought this is about Wonderland.
A: It’s about Wonderland. The idea is that all puzzles, action scenes, and even romance have a Lewis Carroll background to them. The main reason why this book came to my mind is my fascination with both Alice in Wonderland and Lewis Carroll himself. If you learn the reasons behind each character and location in his book, you will love Alice in Wonderland even more. It’s no coincidence that we all relate to the book. It’s a masterpiece.

Q: You said Insanity is more of a TV pilot. How so?
A: I did write it as a novel but also as TV pilot. The reason is that once you get the idea of the book, the possibilities are infinite, and incredibly amusing. When outlining my plot, I found out it would take books and books to write it. So I wrote one story with a beginning, middle, and end. It’s satisfying on its own, but if I succeeded in peaking your interest you should like to read the next books. The beauty of it is that once you read one book, each other book will be a story of its own. It’s very much like a TV series.

Q: Anything you want to add?
A: I wish everyone and awesome Christmas and a Fantabulous new year :) And if I messed with you childhood memories of Alice in Wonderland a bit, don’t hate me. Lol.

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AUTHOR BIO:
Wonderlander, Neverlander, Unicorn-chaser, enchanter, musician, survived a coma, & totally awesome. Sometimes I tell stories. Always luv the little monsters      I write young adult paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and science fiction mostly. The Grimm Diaries series is a seven book saga that deals with retellings of fairy tales from a young adult POV - it connects most of the fairy tales together and claims to be the truth about fairy tales. I live in San Fransisco and seriously think circles are way cooler than triangles.

Author Links:


GIVEAWAY:



Thursday 19 December 2013

BLOG TOUR - Lunangelique by Kristin R Campbell


Title: Lunangelique Series
Author: Kristin R. Campbell
Genre: YA Paranormal
Tour Host: Lady Amber's Tours




Lunangelique: 
For Alexis and Alex life has been great. They have loving parents, great friends and live a life every teenager dreams. However, they are adopted and Alexis struggles with wanting to know who their real parents are and not wanting to hurt her adopted parents. Then, a stunning guy moves across the street from them. One who has a secret past and seems to know things about Alexis. One who does mysterious things and leads her to other mysterious persons. One who pushes her to discover her extraordinary birth family and the truth between mythology and religion.

Buy Links:

Amazon


B&N



Sleeping Gods:
Alexis must pick up the broken pieces of her heart and pull herself together because she has a mission: To awaken the sleeping gods. When she is at the point of giving up, wearing her pretend smiles and feels like there is nothing left of herself, her friend becomes her savior. Patryck helps put Alexis back together again and in return Alexis sees him as something more than a friend…
Together with her brother, Alex, her father, Edmund, and a team of angels they make their way to Mount Latmos, to awaken the gods. But obstacles are in their way, one of them being Cole, the traitor, the one who shattered Alexis’ heart.
New friends and family she never thought she would meet will come to aid Alexis.
…And a love will blossom that will redefine the saying, “Love you forever.”

Buy Links:
Amazon

B&N


Awakened Gods:
Lexi has fulfilled her destiny and now the gods have awakened, but is that a good thing?
Now, Lexi lives in a world that is on a global collapse. The gods are angry that they have been forsaken and are seeking revenge on humanity. The oceans are in turmoil, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcano eruptions and famine are causing global chaos, and the sun is being held hostage in an astrological phenomenal, never-ending solar eclipse by the avenging Helios. 

Then, there is the problem of Zeus’ threat. Lexi must choose between giving herself to him or watching the “abominable” angels die by his hand. Not to mention, Hera, Zeus’ wife, is proposing her own jealous-driven proposition to Lexi: stay away from her husband or the angels and everyone dear to her will die. Lexi sees no way out of either predicaments and it puts a strain on her relationship with Cole. Will she lose him either way?


Buy Links:
Amazon

B&N

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EXCERPT FROM LUNANGELIQUE:
He laughs at me like I have said the funniest joke in the world. I keep my face neutral, not wanting to show any emotions while he finally collects himself. “You are amusing. Aren’t you afraid? Why do you not fear me? Do you know what I have done to Kakabel? What I intend to do to you?”
I shrug my shoulders, wanting to appear as calm as possible. “I won’t be scared if I tell myself there is nothing to fear. You cannot hurt me because I will tell myself not to feel pain. I don’t know what you did to my art professor so I won’t know what you will do to me.” I play him with words because I know he won’t understand.
“Where are your wings?” he demands, angry now because I’m not giving anything away.
“What this?” I nod my chin to the necklace around my neck. He comes forward and yanks it off my neck. “Hey, I like that,” I whine like a spoiled child.
“Malachi,” he calls towards the other room. In a few seconds, Malachi is by his side. He takes Cole’s wings that Cerviel hands him and studies it before laughing. “I thought you would like that.” Malachi throws it on the floor and stomps on it. “Go back to Samson,” Cerviel orders him. Malachi is gone in the blink of an eye, leaving me alone with Cerviel again.
“That’s my necklace.” I pout. “There’s no reason to treat it that way.”
“It will hurt your lover,” he informs me with a malicious smile. “If you will not cooperate, then we will torture him.”
“How?” I challenge him.
“His wings,” he indicates to the necklace lying on the floor, “contains a link to him. They’re still connected even though they’re not attached. If you hurt one, then you hurt the other.”
“You’re insane.” I act like his notions are ridiculous.
“Want to test it out?” he picks it up and places his hands on either end like he’s about to twist it or break it in two.
“No!” I scream, terrified that what he says is true.
Games up. I lost this match. Sugar snaps!
“What are you?” he asks again patiently. He takes a chair and places it in front of me. Then, he sits down, folding his legs and hands as they rest on his leg. He’s acting like this is a normal conversation over tea with a friend.
“Can I have some water, please?” I’m trying to buy some time to get away.
“After you answer my questions,” he answers.
“Are you going to let me go after I do?”
“It depends on if I like your answers.” He smiles sweetly at me. “What are you?”
“A girl who is starting to get pissed off that you keep asking me that, like I’m a freaking alien or something!” I scream it at him. I close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm down when I feel a slap across my face. My eyes dart open and I glare at him angrily. I taste blood on the side of my mouth. He stares at the wound and I see a light bulb go off in his eyes. He grins wickedly at me and then produces a switch blade from his pocket.
“Let’s see how much of a pissed off girl you really can be,” he mocks me and then plunges the knife into my hand, impaling it into the arm of the chair I was gripping. My eyes bulge open in shock and horror and I want to scream, but I tell my nerves not to feel anything and my hand goes dead of feeling. I’m so glad right now that I’m a freak.
He watches my expression change with amusement and then looks lethal again when I don’t scream out. I drum the fingers of my other hand on the arm of the chair. Acting like I’m bored with this act.
“Where are your wings?” Cerviel demands of me.
“I don’t have any wings you freakin’ lunatic. I’m just a girl.” I start laughing because my hand not responding to being impaled is a pretty sure sign that I am not human. I feel psychotic in the moment. I think shock is setting in and I cannot control it. I just continue to laugh at him.
His face breaks out in uncontrolled angry grimace and then he pulls the knife out of my hand and plunges it into my chest. I feel it tear through the arteries of my heart. I’m so shocked he did it that I stop breathing, which ends my laughter.
“Go and find her brother,” I hear him bark at someone before I black out again.

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Author Bio:

Currently living in Utah with her husband and two children, Kristin is prior military and has pursued Religion, History and Legal Studies before finally settling with a Bachelor degree in Criminal Justice. She is a self-proclaimed workaholic, who also loves hiking, traveling, spoiling her babies and, of course, reading and writing.

Links:









Tuesday 17 December 2013

BLOG TOUR - Class of 98 by A.L. Player


Class of '98


Summary:
Jackie Dunn and Matt Stewart barely knew each other in high school, back when she was a blue-haired alterna-kid and he was a preppy jock. High school rules dictated they'd never hang out, or sit at the same lunch table, or God forbid, date.

But when a weird storm transports them from their ten-year reunion back to senior year, they have to work together to figure out a way to get back to 2008.


Stuck in high school, Jackie and Matt agree to tough it out. They agree to do everything exactly as they remember, even though that means staying with the boyfriend Jackie knows will betray her, or playing nice with the girl that will someday be Matt’s ex-wife. Soon, they come to rely on one other, even become friends.

Jackie’s just starting to get used to curfews and term papers again, when Matt hits her with the biggest surprise of all: he’s fallen in love with her. He’ll change the past however he has to if it means a future with Jackie. But Jackie’s terrified they’ll not only alter their lives, but the lives of everyone around them.

Back to the Future meets She's All That, Class of '98 is a young adult/adult crossover that will appeal to teens and adults.



Buy Links:


About the Author:

A. L. Player teaches middle and high school English in Atlanta, GA.  She lives with her guitar-playing, English-teaching husband and their three crazy rescue dogs.  Her last name gets about the reaction you'd expect.
CLASS OF '98 is A.L.'s first novel.

Author Links:

***GIVEAWAY***
4 – ebooks of Class of 98’ + $10 iTunes gift card (INT)