Blog Tour: Joyride by Anna Banks


Today I'm really excited to be part of the blog tour for Anna Banks' upcoming novel Joyride, which is out this Tuesday! Keep reading to learn  more about the book, a standalone contemporary romance (!!!), check out my interview with Anna, and enter the giveaway for a hardcover copy. Thanks to Macmillan and Fierce Reads for letting me be part of the tour!

Pub Date: June 2, 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Genre: young adult contemporary romance
Standalone: Book 2 of the Wait For You companion series
Summary: A popular guy and a shy girl with a secret become unlikely accomplices for midnight pranking, and are soon in over their heads—with the law and with each other—in this sparkling standalone from NYT-bestselling author Anna Banks.

It’s been years since Carly Vega’s parents were deported. She lives with her brother, studies hard, and works at a convenience store to contribute to getting her parents back from Mexico.

Arden Moss used to be the star quarterback at school. He dated popular blondes and had fun with his older sister, Amber. But now Amber’s dead, and Arden blames his father, the town sheriff who wouldn’t acknowledge Amber's mental illness. Arden refuses to fulfill whatever his conservative father expects.

All Carly wants is to stay under the radar and do what her family expects. All Arden wants is to NOT do what his family expects. When their paths cross, they each realize they’ve been living according to others. Carly and Arden’s journey toward their true hearts—and one another—is funny, romantic, and sometimes harsh.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22718685-joyride?ac=1


Book Buy Links:
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Interview with Anna Banks:
Hi, Anna! Thanks for joining me on Mary Had a Little Book Blog today to answer some questions about your upcoming book Joyride.

Anna: Thanks so much for having me today and for hosting me on the Joyride blog tour. ☺
 
Q1. Joyride is a departure from your previous work in that it's a realistic contemporary and a standalone. Was it difficult to write because of those differences? Did your process change at all?

AB: It was difficult to leave my fantasy roots behind, simply because everything in Joyride is real world stuff, and the real world can be scary and heartbreaking at times whereas in fantasy, you can take the reader out of the real world for a while, and give them a break.

Still, writing a standalone was fantabulous. It felt very weird to reach the end of the book and not have to worry about leaving open plot points for Book 2 and 3. Though, between me and you, I’ve got some ideas for short stories to continue Carly and Arden’s journey. ☺

Q2. You jumped right in to realistic fiction by tackling a really sensitive subject and current hot topic, one that I think many teen readers will relate to (as a Texas librarian, I definitely believe Joyride will resonate with some of my teen patrons). Why immigration?

AB: A lot of people ask me what my political standpoint on immigration is. My answer is that I don’t have a political standpoint, just a human one. Immigrants, whether documented or undocumented, are humans, real people who deserve their chance at happiness and well-being. I wanted readers to relate to that concept, and see the human side of immigration. I want people to know that there are many Carly’s out there, and that they could sit right next to her (or him) in class. I want all the Carly’s and Julio’s to have a voice. I want readers to know what it’s like to be them, to know their struggles.  

Q3. One thing I liked about Joyride was that you balanced the emotional rawness of Carly's family's story with the silliness and escape of Arden's pranks, and that just hits the surface of the differences between the two. Were Carly and Arden intentionally created as foils of one another or did they evolve throughout your process?

AB: I definitely created them that way. I had Carly, and I wanted an anti-Carly. I wanted two people from the opposite ends of the spectrum to meet in the middle and find a common ground—I wanted to prove that it could be done, that their story is not impossible. Also, it was fun to create the push and pull between them. It was like playing romantic tug o’ war.

Q4. Sadly, one thing Arden and Carly have in common is somewhat less-than-fully-supportive families, but they also share a pretty fantastic mentor: Cletus. I thought his scenes were some of funniest and the most heartwarming. Was he always such a big part of the story?

AB: Cletus wasn’t meant to be a main character but the guy wouldn’t shut his face, so I kept writing him and writing him until at one point I realized that Carly and Arden needed him in so many ways, that I couldn’t take him away from them. They needed an ally, even if it was a meddling wealthy old drunk turned philosopher who happened to have issues with urinating in public.

Q5. I remember you asked Twitter for fun prank ideas, but did you use any other sources to find practical jokes? (I'm imagining your Google history must be really fun!) Were there any favorite pranks that didn't make their way into the finished manuscript?

AB: I asked Twitter for prank ideas for a short story I was writing. Confession: I’ve pulled every single one of the pranks in Joyride, including grand theft auto. You can read the full article about THAT in USA Today’s HEA blog. You could say I’ll go to a lot of trouble to entertain myself. I’m still a prankster today. I’d give it up, but I’m no quitter.

And this isn't a question, I just think the romance between Carly and Arden is adorable and swoony. I love how it builds throughout Joyride and really sucks the reader in! Thanks again for taking the time to talk Joyride with me. Best of luck with the book and on your upcoming tour!

AB: Thanks again for having me! These were great questions!
About the Author:
Anna Banks is a young adult author whose primary goal is to entertain smart, funny gals like herself. You can expect her works to be centered around a love story, freckled with humor, and seasoned with sarcasm.
Anna grew up in a small town called Niceville (yes, really) in the Florida Panhandle. She now lives with her husband and daughter close to her hometown. The youngest of seven children, she was spoiled beyond comprehension growing up. Before she started writing, Anna worked as a banker and a waitress. She loves old movies, fried chicken, and Simon Cowell, but loathes exercise, licorice, and haters.
She also spews sarcastic, romantic fiction under pen name Anna Scarlett.

Author Links:
http://byannabanks.blogspot.com/ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/504038.Anna_Banks https://twitter.com/ByAnnaBanks https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Anna-Banks/157145744316231

Giveaway: 
1 winner will receive a finished copy of Joyride.
US/Canada only. Must be 13+ to enter.

*Prize will be supplied by Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends
Winner will be notified by me, Mary, and their address will
be given to the publisher for the shipment of the prize.

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Blog Tour: The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman


I'm really excited today to be part of Bloomsbury's blog tour for Jessica Warman's newest thriller The Last Good Day of the Year, a creepy exploration of an old family mystery. I was asked to do a post about my own perfect day so keep reading to learn more about The Last Good Day, find out what I like to do on a perfect day, and enter Bloomsbury's giveaway!


Pub Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Genre: young adult contemporary thriller, mystery
Status: standalone

Summary: A new powerful thriller from the globally-embraced author of Between.

Ten years ago, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor, Remy, watched as a man broke into Sam’s home and took her younger sister, Turtle, from her sleeping bag. Remy and Sam, too afraid to intervene at the time, later identified the man as Sam’s sister Gretchen’s much older ex-boyfriend, Steven, who was sent to prison for Turtle’s murder.

Now, Sam’s shattered family is returning to her childhood home in an effort to heal. As long-buried memories begin to surface, Sam wonders if she and Remy accurately registered everything they saw. The more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they discover about what really happened to Turtle.

Master storyteller Jessica Warman keeps readers guessing in this arresting page-turner.




My perfect day? Well, obviously:


Okay, okay, I had to. You know you laughed. In all seriousness, I have had several perfect days in my life, and I'm grateful for that. Here are some of the days that I can say have been absolutely perfect:


Perfect day 1: Any day on one of my family's ski trips. There are so many pieces to these trips my family takes, and they all come together to make something magical. Fluffy snow, the exhilaration of flying down a mountain, episodes of The Office, extended games of Cards Against Humanity, my family around (and getting along!), and my mom's home cooking.





Perfect day 2. Beach it up! Twice I went to a small beach in the Outer Banks with a massive group of friends from church. Once I went on a trip with my best friend and her family. There was lots of reading and sunning and swimming and running (well, running was one time) and deliciously not-good-for-us food and outlet shopping and touristing and mini golfing and karaoke-ing and CSI binge watching and midday napping. 







Sorry we're all so pasty looking.


 





Perfect day 3: Hanging out with my mom. My mom was never my best friend. She was my parent first and always. Buuuuut when I got older and my siblings moved out and my dad worked more and more and went on two deployments really close together, I started spending a lot of time alone with my mom. We went to plays together (Secret Garden and Twelfth Night were two of my favorites!). She took me to my diving practices. We talked books. We attended Shakespeare in the Square every summer for years. I took her to an Olympic qualifying soccer game and a minor league baseball game. She twice drove six-hour round-trip so I could meet Meg Cabot and Richelle Mead. My mom is...the best.


Perfect day 4: Hanging with my marching band friends. These goofballs got me through the toughest years of my life. Whether we were spending hours on buses riding to tiny towns in Louisiana and Arkansas watching all three Toy Story movies, playing rowdy yet oddly innocent rounds of vido games and truth or dare, making dinner, attending football and basketball games, hot-tubbing, or watching horror movies, we always made sure we were having the Best Night Ever.


Kid you not. This picture is one of 200 we took one night on Megan's laptop. We spent hours just posing and making the most ridiculous faces while sprawled on Garrett's bed. I don't know why we did it once, and I certainly don't know why we did it 200 times in a row but.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Good times were had by all!






*is an unashamed nerd*





 


Speaking of unabashedly nerdy things, perfect day 5 is all the times I let my true geek off her leash. This is from Dragon Con, which I've attended several times with my aunt in Atlanta. There's nothing like bonding with thousands of other true geeks over awesome things like Firefly, Harry Potter, Supernatural, etc. I remember the first time I saw a Katniss cosplay and realized how big Hunger Games was going to be. 







And speaking of bonding with true geeks, here's to all my perfect days with my book friends. Katie, Jess, Val, and Sara made perfect partners-in-crime for RT, and I'm grateful for all the other bookish weirdos I've had the pleasure to meet at parties and festivals and conferences and signings and panels. Here's to the sunburns and thrown out backs and bag burns and late-night dinners and drives. I've had a hundred perfect days because of all of you.



Here's what it boils down to: for me to have a "perfect day," I have to be surrounded by family and friends doing something I love and having fun and occasionally eating awesome food. Unless you give me a rainy day all by myself with Netflix and a stack of books and my bed. Ohhh, yeah. That's the stuff right there! So forget the people and all that. No, I'm just kidding. My perfect day has to be something that makes me feel completely relaxed and at peace, and what makes me feel that way is very different on different days.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading my post as much as I enjoyed the walk down memory lane I took while writing it. Be sure to check out more about The Last Good Day of the Year and enter the giveaway for a finished copy!

Book Buy Links:
 photo B6096376-6C81-4465-8935-CE890C777EB9-1855-000001A1E900B890_zps5affbed6.jpg  photo 111AD205-AA04-4F9E-A0F4-C1264C4E9F30-1855-000001A1E8CEB6D7_zps9b730b94.jpg  photo KoboIcon_zps515cdc1a.jpg  photo B1426D4C-9EEC-4C0B-A1FB-90524B03C0CA-1855-000001A1E82B3B3E_zps17d98f4d.jpg

About the Author:
Jessica Warman is the author of Breathless, Where the Truth Lies, Between, and Beautiful Lies, which have received seven starred reviews among them. Between was published in a total of twelve countries around the world. Jessica has an MA in creative writing and recently moved to Houston, Texas. Find her online at www.jessicawarman.com and on twitter @jkwarman.
Author Links:
  

Giveaway: 
1 finished copy of The Last Good Day of the Year
US only | must be 13+ to enter
a Rafflecopter giveaway

All Played Out Bucket List Blog Tour


Cora Carmack is one of my favorite people. Like, not even including the fact that she has become one of my favorite authors and I'm a huge fan of her books, she is just an awesome human being. And that's why I'm so glad to be part of her street team the Carmcats. Normally I'd be part of the review blog tour, but for All Played Out, we decided to do something a little bit different. Since Nell creates a college bucket list, Team Carmcat thought it would be fun to create a bucket list blog tour with different must-haves/must-tries/must-dos in your life. Today's the last day of the bucket list tour, and I'm really excited to announce my topic is 

This list went through several iterations. There were the funny things and the serious ones. In the end, I just had to go with the five things I am most grateful I've done in my life.

1. Travel internationally.
One of the best things I've ever done was go on a trip to Italy after my freshman year of college, and I've also been to Canada and Puerto Rico (okay, it's part of the US, yes, but it's at least not part of the contiguous 48!). People talk about finding themselves on extended backpacking trips through Europe and stuff, which is all well and good, but for me, it was about bonding with friends and family, and just having fun experiencing other cultures. 
1a. I shouldn't have to say this, but if you're going to travel to countries outside of your own, eat the appropriate food. Don't go to McDonalds and Starbucks when you can sample local cuisine instead. Unless you're in Japan, and you're trying their crazy McDonalds menu that isn't offered in the states. I'll allow that, but only if you try real food too!

2. Fall in love....and fall out of it.
Without getting too personal, I was in a relationship that wasn't the greatest, but I did learn a lot from it. Recovering from heartbreak helped me learn how to stand on my own, and I realize I don't need a guy to complete me. I know who I am, and I think that this one failed relationship really helped me discover myself.

3. Attend a big event or two or three.
I've attended Dragon Con (it's Atlanta's Comic Con) a few times, several book festivals and conferences (TLA, RT, NTTBF, TTBF, TBF), a Tennessee Titans game, games for the USMNT and USWNT soccer teams, and several Olympic qualifying events. Find something you love, find an applicable event, plan for it, and GO. Go with friends. Go with family (my mom has actually gone to a lot of events with me). Go by yourself. Just GO. We live in this crazy world where it's so easy to connect with people all over the world over the internet, but there is NOTHING as exhilarating as connecting with people in real life at a specific event focusing on something you love, be it books, music, movies and tv, sports, video games, whatever!
3a. Bonus points if you meet a celebrity at one of these events!

4. Move somewhere totally new.
I had no idea when I moved to Dallas that it would be so life-changing. New city, new job(s), new hobby, new friends, new career. I don't think if I'd never moved from my hometown that I would be working in a library or that I would be a part of this bookish community. I wouldn't have met all the wonderful authors and bloggers I've come to know over the past two and a half years. And similarly to my failed relationship, moving to Dallas was also part of the process that helped me discover myself and stand on my own. Moving was one of the scariest things I've ever done, but it was so worth it!
4a. Start a new hobby or a new habit. I started blogging. Yours could be marathons or painting or photography or jewelry-making. You'll never know what you love until you try something new!

5. Love yourself
I feel like by 30, you should know [mostly] who you are, and you should love that person. Your teens are a lot of firsts and a lot of discoveries; your 20s are all about reconciling that identity with the Real World and being an adult. It's okay to still learn more as you go on and keep discovering new things about yourself, but those discoveries should fit in with an identity that you love.
5a. Don't regret anything. Do I regret those pants I wore in high school? Yeah. Do I regret saying that thing that one time? Of course! But I don't regret the big things. Regret sucks. Learn to forgive yourself (and others) and move on!

Bucket List Tour
5 Things you should do before you graduate college
Emilie’s Book World
In Between the Pages
Shelf Life

5 Books you should read before you’re 30
Desert Divas Book Addiction
Jenuine Cupcakes
The Book Hoarders

5 places you should visit before you die
Novel Grounds
Reading-Goddess
Til The Last Page Book Blog

5 movies everyone should have to watch
Bibliolatry Me
Krista’s Dust Jacket

5 TV Shows to binge-watch
Four Chicks Flipping Pages
Nose Stuck in a Book
Zombieepee’s Blog
Fiction Fare

5 Bands/Artists/Musicians you should see live
Book Bumblings
Grownup Fangirl
Zara’s Scribblings

5 Foods everyone should try at least once
Books over Boys
The Cover Contessa
FicWishes

5 Things to do on your next girls night
Latte Night's Reviews
Literati Literature Lovers

5 Board/Family games everyone should play
Keep It Fictional
Smart & Savvy with Stephanie
The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club

5 Crazy things you should do by 30
Mary Had A Little Book Blog
The Shadow Realm
Worn Down Glories


Author: Cora Carmack
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: new adult contemporary romance
Status: book 3 in the Rusk University series

Summary: First person in her family to go to college? CHECK.
Straight A’s? CHECK.
On track to graduate early? CHECK.
Social life? …..yeah, about that….

With just a few weeks until she graduates, Antonella DeLuca’s beginning to worry that maybe she hasn’t had the full college experience. (Okay... Scratch that. She knows she hasn't had the full college experience).

So Nell does what a smart, dedicated girl like herself does best. She makes a "to do" list of normal college activities.

Item #1? Hook up with a jock.

Rusk University wide receiver Mateo Torres practically wrote the playbook for normal college living. When he’s not on the field, he excels at partying, girls, and more partying. As long as he keeps things light and easy, it's impossible to get hurt... again. But something about the quiet, shy, sexy-as-hell Nell gets under his skin, and when he learns about her list, he makes it his mission to help her complete it.

Torres is the definition of confident (And sexy. And wild), and he opens up a side of Nell that she's never known. But as they begin to check off each crazy, exciting, normal item, Nell finds that her frivolous list leads to something more serious than she bargained for. And while Torres is used to taking risks on the field, he has to decide if he's willing to take the chance when it's more than just a game.

Together they will have to decide if what they have is just part of the experiment or a chance at something real.


Available from:
 photo B6096376-6C81-4465-8935-CE890C777EB9-1855-000001A1E900B890_zps5affbed6.jpg  photo 111AD205-AA04-4F9E-A0F4-C1264C4E9F30-1855-000001A1E8CEB6D7_zps9b730b94.jpg  photo KoboIcon_zps515cdc1a.jpg  photo B1426D4C-9EEC-4C0B-A1FB-90524B03C0CA-1855-000001A1E82B3B3E_zps17d98f4d.jpg

About the Author:
Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, Losing It, was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.

Author Links:
   

Giveaway:
1 winner will receive signed set of all three Rusk University books

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz: Gabriel by Nikki Kelly


Today I'm really excited to feature Gabriel, the second book in Nikki Kelly's Styclar Saga, an epic story of love, danger, angels, and vampires. And lemme just tell you: Nikki is one of my favorite people. Seriously, I love her. Not only is she talented and has an awesome accent, she's also ridiculously nice, and just I love her. You should too. Keep reading to learn more about Gabriel (who, btw, is my ship for Lailah), and to read an interview Nikki did with the leaders of her street team. Enjoy!

Author: Nikki Kelly
Release Date: October 25, 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Genre: young adult paranormal romance (angels & vampires!)
Status: book 2 of the Styclar Saga

Summary:
Every child in Belle Dam is taught about the feud from an early age. There are ‘our’ people and ‘their’ people. Friends and enemies. Associates and strangers. It’s the kind of town where eyes are always watching, and you don’t need a reason to sell out your neighbors.

But the feud is a lie. As a new wave of fury sweeps through the town, creating a third front to an already overtaxed war, Braden has been broken worse than ever. His innocence? Shattered. His heart? Crushed. His magic? Gone. His new life? Ruined. And this is only the beginning.

Beneath the city lay deep wellsprings of power. The one who controls them is the one who will win the feud. In a city filled with puppet masters, Braden must elude their strings and end the feud once and for all. But first, he must outsmart his father, evade Catherine’s dark magic, regain what was stolen from him, trick a phantom who refuses to die, and foil a demon’s master plan.

Even then, he may not survive. Because power is a problem, and victory comes with a cost…


Available from:
   

Interview

Q. Will we get a peek at Styclar Plena in the current action of the book or are we doomed to just hear about from Gabriel's memories only?
Nikki Kelly: Lol doomed you say?! I can tell you exclusively, here in this interview, that in Book3 we get to go to to third dimension, and the first dimension (Styclar-Plena) in the current action of the book ;)

Q. I need a sneak peak! What's going to happen with Jonah? *waves #TeamJonah flag*
NK:...Now that would be telling ;) You can, however, get a sneak peek through the Gabriel cover reveal blog tour, where I shared 6 excerpts form Book2: http://www.thestyclarsaga.com/blog-tour/

–Mary here, and I just have to say I OBJECT to this question because I am solidly TEAM GABRIEL

Q. Can you describe this second book in a tweet? (140 characters)
NK: Just when you think you know... you have no idea ;) #TheStyclarSaga #GABRIEL #NoMercy

Best gif that describes Jonah and another for Gabriel?


Q. How much of Jonah will we see in Gabriel?
NK: Plenty, I promise! ;) The second book may be titled GABRIEL, but it is told from Lailah's POV. The reason the book is called GABRIEL is because there is a focus on what becomes of Gabriel's 'soul' if you will. Take my word for it though, Jonah gets plenty of 'screen time' ;)

Q. If you were FORCED (hahahahha) to help Gabriel or Jonah train to be lifeguards, who would you choose?? Obviously they will only be wearing red speedos. ;)
NK: Sadly, I wouldn't be able to help either train to be a lifeguard as my ability in water is non-existant... That said... *has idea!* I could quite easily throw myself in and begin to drown (because that would require no acting on my part what so ever) and then they would have to jump in and save me... In fact, I think that's exactly what we should do, that way we also get to see both of the boys in red speedos.. because #HellsYes!

Q. In 10 words or less, what can we expect from Gabriel?
NK: A definite need to *fist pump and plenty of *face palming!

(Okay, I know that was 11, but it was close!)

Q. What's the ONE thing about the series that you'd like readers to know that they don't know already? : )
NK: There are elements of my own life weaved through the story telling of the entire series. When I say I gave a part of myself to these novels, I wasn't joking!

Q. What inspired you to mix vampires and angels together?
NK: I wanted to tell a story about light and dark, good and evil if you will, and how things are never quite what they seem....To do this for the saga, I borrowed a little here and there from my own belief system, and I was able to create new worlds and beings, but utilize existing belief or myth on which to base them. For example, the two worlds the beings emerged from were based on the concept of Heaven and Hell. I then spun that into something else entirely. I took the myths about vampires and angels etc. and tried to demonstrate how, through storytelling and game of telephone, the idea of what they are has become quite different from the truth – the truth of course being the reality of things in my books! If you want to tell a story about light and dark, preconceived notions and perception, what two better candidates than Gabriel and Jonah, an Angel and a Vampire in which to explore those very themes!

Q. What was the most challenging part of writing Gabriel?
NK: Lailah picks her ship! That was not an easy thing to pen! **eep**

–Mary: *thinking really really hard* please pick Gabriel please pick Gabriel please pick Gabriel

Q. Lailah was such a successful start to this series, people seemed to really love it! Did that make you feel additional pressure to ensure the sequel was just as good?
NK: When people express their love for your story it always adds to the pressure of making sure you get it right, not just for your characters, not just for you, but for the reader. But there will always be instances where the reader doesn't agree with something that happens as the journey progresses, for example which ship makes it out the port! ;) I always keep the readers in mind, but ultimately I have to be true and honest to the characters and their story, even if it means that sometimes people want to throw things at you! So yes, I guess the prospect of twitter bombs being slung my way adds to the pressure!

Q. If you had a chance to re-live your life, what would you have done differently?
NK: Not a single thing. Every shelf I ever stacked, every customer I ever served, every diary I ever organised... in fact, every minute of every day, all the laughs and all the tears led me tohere—and here is the most wonderful place. There is a very fine balance between having ambition and gumption to go out and make your dreams a reality, trying to find the 'good times' if you like, and being able to see and know exactly when you are in them! I'm in them now.

Q. If a celebrity was going to play Gabriel, who would it be and why?
NK: Alex Pettyfer for sure because he's a very talented English actor... yada, yada, yada... Okay people, lets keep it real #LeSwoon .. #NuffSaid

Q. If you had to pick ONE song that either represents you or your books, what song would you pick? (You can totally pick one for you and one for your books if you want!)
NK: For Styclar— Imagine Dragons: Demons 
For me—Boyzone: Words

Q. Where did Gabriel and Jonah come from? Any real life influences?
NK: Gabriel and Jonah both possess qualities form my own bea :) He was a little more like Jonah when I met him (I was 16) and he's a little more like Gabriel now, but when I ask nicely he will still, from time to time, point his collar up ;)

Q. ALSO, What do you love most about Jonah?
NK: He's a bit rough around the edges, but give him a polish and he shines likes a diamond :)

Lailah's story starts in (you guessed it): Lailah!
Pub Date: October 7, 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Genre: young adult paranormal (angels & vampires!) romance
Summary: The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.

On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely Allie – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.

In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?

Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.


Available from:
   



About the Author:
I was born and raised only minutes away from the chocolately scent of Cadbury World in Birmingham, England. So it will probably come as no surprise that when I'm not dreaming in Vampires & Angels, I dream in chocolate! For the past ten years I have lived in West London with my hubby and two dogs, Alfie - the Pug & Goose - the Chihuahua.

Lailah is my debut novel, and first launched in serial form to wattpad, a readers & writers community. Within just six months, Lailah had over a million reads and thousands of comments and votes.

Since then, The Styclar Saga has gone on to pick up a traditional deal with Feiwel & Friends, and Lailah, the first book in the series is due for release on October 7th 2014.

These days I spend my time balancing my amazing job of writing fantasy fiction, with my other, very important role of Chocolate Connoisseur. I like to multitask and do the two together. It makes me happy.

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