Blog Tour & Giveaway: My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows

Today I'm giving the My Plain Jane blog tour an epic (and ghostly) sendoff! Check out my list of the best ghosts and ghost hunters and enter to win a copy of the book. Don't forget to check out the other amazing & creative stops on the tour (Fashion! Food! Famous Janes! Ghost hunting tips! Reviews! Gift guide!), and don't forget to enter to win a My Plain Jane prize pack on Instagram. Details below!

Release Date: June 26, 2018

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: young adult historical/paranormal romance

Format/Source: ARC, from the publisher

Status: Book 2 of the Jane companion series
(the books aren't connected in any way, but they're still the Jane series)

Links: My Lady Jane blog tour

Summary:

Move over, Charlotte Brontë. The authors of the New York Times bestselling My Lady Jane are back with an irreverent spin on Jane Eyre—a tale of mischief, romance, and supernatural mayhem perfect for fans of The Princess Bride or A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue.

You may think you know the story. Penniless orphan Jane Eyre begins a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester—and, Reader, she marries him. Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Bronte, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

Book Trailer:

Famous Ghosts & Ghost Hunters:

Since we're talking about an epic ghost hunt and paranormal investigators, I have brought you a list of the famous ghosties and ghost hunters, both fictional and living, scary and hilarious! You can bet your holy water and salt that Jane, Charlotte, and Alexander will join this list once you read My Plain Jane!

Ghost #1:

Casper the Friendly Ghost

Casper has been around since the 1930s, but honestly, who cares about all that. I'm all about the 1995 film that made me want to be Christina Ricci's best friend and fall in love with Devon Sawa. *sighs dreamily* The movie is a knockout, with a great cast & amazing script (fun fact: JJ Abrams was one of the writers, but he's uncredited), and made us all feel things in our cold, dead hearts when we learned how Casper became a ghost with unfinished business. Honestly, Casper is the best ghost of all time, and I 100% want him haunting my house.

brb, sobbing

Ghost Hunter #1:

The Winchesters

"You know, SAVING people, HUNTING things... the family business!"

The WB introduced us to the world's favorite hunter family in 2005, and fans haven't looked back since (which might not be a good thing). I haven't watched since season 5, but that hasn't stopped the Winchester brothers and their assorted allies from keeping the airwaves safe from ghosties, poltergeists, demons, and all sorts of things that go bump in the night and looking dang good doing it (except for Sam's ever changing hairline, which he makes up for by growing his hair longer...?). One thing I have to give this show credit for is that the writers have fun, don't take themselves too seriously, and try new things, like Groundhog Day-ing Dean, making fun of the Ghost Hunters and Wincest fanfic, and... THIS:

Man, I really want to see this episode! And speaking of Scooby...

Ghost Hunter #2:

Scooby Gang

"Scooby dooby doo: where are you? We've got some work to do now!" Hanna-Barbera brought about a lot of amazing animated shows during its existence, but one of the best was obviously the gang of teenage detectives and their perpetually panicky pupper. Although supposedly supernatural hauntings were caused by not-so-ghostly perps, much of the gang's time was spent examining spooky secret passages of abandoned mansions. And bless them, even though hoomans were always found to be the bad guys, it never stopped the group from going after the ghosts with great gusto (unless we're talking Scooby & Shaggy, in which case the only thing they did with gusto was run, hide, and eat ridiculously tall yet delicious looking sandwiches).

Ghost #2

The Hogwarts Ghosts

From Nearly Headless Nick to the Grey Lady, Moaning Myrtle to Peeves, the ghosts of Hogwarts always played a big yet subtle role in Harry's story. Also, they were funny AF. I mean, Nick was out there pulling his head partially off for the lolz, Moaning Myrtle was thirsting on Harry in the bath, and Peeves was... well, he was Peeves. He was the third Weasley twin, albeit even more translucent than that pasty Weasley skin, and he gave Umbridge absolute hell, as promised. The HP movies have a lot to answer for (I KNOW DanRad was allergic to the contacts, but are you telling me you couldn't have digitally made his eyes green considering the big effing deal JKR made about his FRIGGING GREEN EYES THAT LOOKED JUST LIKE LILY'S?? *erratic breathing*), but possibly the biggest is the exclusion of everyone's favorite sassy poltergeist.

Ghost Hunter #3: 

Who you gonna call: 

GHOST-BUSTERS!

*sings* duh-nuh NUH nuh nuh-nuh... nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh NUH-NUH! (you guys hummed that in your head, didn't you) This iconic franchise now features TWO great groups of ghostbusting badasses! These hilarious movies gave us haunted libraries, a giant marshmallow ghost, Sigourney Weaver, snappy dialogue, and Chris Hemsworth in the most delightful role as the beefcake in distress who becomes possessed by the ghost of a deeply unhappy and misguided man who hates women an incel. Ghostbuster bros have their '80s nostalgia, and the rest of us have KATE MCKINNON AND LESLIE JONES SHUTTIN' IT DOWN. Also, there are several immensely satisfying scenes featuring Hemsy's dance skillz.

Ghost #3:

Dear David

credit: Adam Ellis

In case you DON'T spend most of your time wasting your life on Twitter (honestly, what's wrong with you??) or have been living under a non-haunted rock, Dear David is a possible real life haunting live-tweeted for the past year by writer & cartoonist Adam Ellis. In August 2017, Ellis began spinning the tale about his haunted apartment that involved his cats, a girl at the library, and some crazy dreams. Oh, and the ghost of a boy named David who WANTS TO MURDER HIM. This story has fascinated Twitter (and the rest of the internet) for months, and you can check out the entire wild story, complete with photos and video, here. Updates are few and far between these days, but Ellis shared this tidbit in June: a Dear David film is in the works with one of the producers of IT and a screenwriter from The Conjuring spinoff The Crooked Man attached.

Ghost Hunter #4:

Ed & Lorraine Warren

SPEAKING OF THE CONJURING, if you're not familiar with the story of the films, you may not know that two of the main characters of the film series are real people. Bless whoever decided to give me more of Patrick Wilson because honestly, I love him (RAOUL IS A BETTER LOVE INTEREST THAN THE ANGEL-VOICED YET ABUSIVE & MANIPULATIVE PHANTOM. THERE, I SAID IT. DON'T @ ME.). But that's right: Ed & Lorraine Warren were real-life paranormal investigators who founded the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952. The Warrens claim to have researched over 10,000 cases, including Amityville and Annabelle and a few others that horror movie fans will notice as the Warrens's cases have inspired dozens of movies and books such as the entire Amityville and The Conjuring/Annabelle series and A Haunting in Connecticut.

Ghost #4:

The Bell Witch

The Bell Witch is an old haunted tale from my home state of Tennessee. Back in the 1800s, the Bell family reported mysterious happenings around their farm such as a knocking in the walls and other sounds without origin, being followed by a black dog, sheets being pulled by the bed, and even physical assault like scratches and slapping. There's also a cave that is supposedly haunted by the witch's spirit, but that's a relatively recent addition to the legend.

Like the Warrens, the Bell Witch has had an impact on horror in pop culture as it has inspired many classic films like The Blair Witch Project, Poltergeist, and even Paranormal Activity. The only movie I've seen that's directly about the story of the Bell Witch is An American Haunting, and it was extremely Not Good. If you decide to watch it, lemme give you a major TRIGGER WARNING for sexual abuse and incest. I WOULD like to see someone take on this story and actually treat it seriously (most other movies about the Bell Witch have been direct-to-video so I'm sure they're also horrible) like The Conjuring series does with the Warrens' various hauntings.

Runners Up:

Originally I had six ghosts and six paranormal investigators, but 12 seems like a lot so I cut it down. But I still want to share the ones who didn't make the cut so here you go:

Ghost Hunter #5: Suze Simon of Meg Cabot's Mediator series. Look. You got a ghost problem, Suze will take care of it for you while wearing Kate Spade and also Doc Martins. Because who says you can't look good while kicking ghost butt?

Ghost #5: The Pink Lady of Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC: Susan Dennard had an encounter with the Pink Lady last year during her Windwitch tour! Check out her story here (and I'm sorry if you missed Sooz's IG stories about this because they were hilarious and spooky!).

Ghost Hunter #6: Well.... the Ghost Hunters, of course!

Ghost #6 (well... 6-8): The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Whether you're watching the Muppets, Mickey, or a live-action adaptation (or, you know, reading the book), this is a timeless classic!

Purchase Links:

   

Target Exclusive Edition

Tour Schedule:

Week 1

6/25: The YA Book Traveler - Trailer & Review 

6/26: Alexa Loves Books - Gift Guide 

6/27: YA Wednesdays - Jane’s Playlist

6/28: Novel Novice - Styled by Books 

6/29: Tales of the Ravenous Reader - Famous Janes

6/30: A Backwards Story - Leaking Top Secret Dossier Files of Current (Royal) Society

 for the Relocation of Wayward Spirits Members

Week 2

7/2 - Bookcrushin’: Tips for the Reluctant Ghost Hunter

7/3 - The Reader and the Chef - Guide to eating á la My Plain Jane (Bookish Menu)

7/4: The Clever Reader - Launch Event Recap 

7/5: Booknerd Addict - Review

7/6: Lair of Books - Review 

7/7: Mary Had a Little Book Blog - Famous Ghosts & Ghost Hunters

Photo Challenge Giveaway:

Share a photo or selfie with your finished copy of My Plain Jane and you could win a custom designed book sleeve, made by Second Hand Pages, a custom Jane Eyre candle from Canterbury Road Co, Jane Eyre (Barnes and Noble Collectible Edition), the Blu-Ray DVD of Jane Eyre, and a My Plain Jane bookmark! For the photo, you can use your copy, a friend's, or one from the library. Use the hashtag #MyPlainJaneGiveaway to enter. Open to US only. Ends Sunday, July 8th. 

About the Author:

We're the authors of the young adult novels My Lady Jane and My Plain Jane. Our group is made up of Brodi Ashton (New York Times bestselling author of the Everneath series and Diplomatic Immunity), Cynthia Hand (New York Times bestselling author of the Unearthly series, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Afterlife of Holly Chase, and The How and the Why), and Jodi Meadows (New York Times bestselling author of the Incarnate trilogy, the Orphan Queen duology, and the Fallen Isles trilogy). Between the three of us we've written nineteen novels, a bunch of novellas, a handful of short stories, and a couple of really bad poems, but we have the most fun working on our books together. We're friends. We're writers. We're fixing history by rewriting one sad story at a time.

Author Links:

    

Giveaway: 

Win a signed copy of My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows. Open US only.

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