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book signing, Michelle Madow, remembrance, vengeance

Book Signing: Michelle Madow

Kathryn Cooper

I had the opportunity to meet Michelle Madow today and get my copy of Remembrance signed! Michelle is the author of Remembrance and Vengeance. She’s the first author I’ve met. I’ve tried to go to book signings in the past, but with 3 little boys and a husband to take care of it just hasn’t worked out. Plus I never seemed to hear about signings until last minute. Here’s a website I found recently that lists upcoming book signings. http://www.findbooksignings.com/

Michelle is so cute and fun. It was so great to finally meet her. She is inspiring! Talking to high school students and inspiring them to write must be one of the most rewarding parts of being a Young Adult author.

I can’t believe how huge the online community is for Young Adult bloggers, authors, and readers. I never could have guessed I’d meet so many awesome people when I started my blog 10 months ago. I hope to meet more of you authors/bloggers/readers face to face.

Book Review, legend

Book Review: Legend

Kathryn Cooper

Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Release Date: November 2011
Pages: 305
Series: Legend #1
5 STARS I LOVED IT!!!

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’ death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

My Thoughts:
Oh boy, it has been awhile since I read a book with this much violence. I’ve read a lot of light romance books recently. This book was INTENSE but in a good way. I really enjoyed it! It was fast paced and exciting.

The two main characters June and Day (I like these names.) are 15 years old and set up to be enemies. The voice changed between June and Day. Marie, the author, did a great job with that. I loved hearing both of their thoughts. It was interesting to see how different but similar these 2 teens were who grew up in completely opposite worlds, one wealthy and one poor.

June was great. She’s small but tough. I liked how she was confident, brave, smart, and kind. Day was awesome too. If I had to pick a favorite it would be him. I felt so sorry for the poor guy. His life had been rough, but he was still positive and funny. I looked forward to the scenes with June and Day together even if they weren’t exactly getting along. The raw emotions throughout were so realistic with everything that happened to them.

Legend had enough closure at the end with plenty left unsolved to keep me excited for the next book in the series. Great debut book by Marie Lu!

If you live in north Texas Marie Lu has a book signing with 3 other YA authors next week.
February 23rd at 7pm
Barnes and Noble in Frisco.
I hope I can make it! Anyone else going to be there?

Happy Reading!

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) to view details
Sexual Content: mild ( kissing )
Language: mild ( h***-10, d***-6 )
Violence: moderate/heavy ( fist fighting, knives, guns, deaths, wounds, torture, plague victims )
Other: one instance of drinking wine

valentine's day

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Kathryn Cooper
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

                   

Valentine’s Day is probably my favorite holiday. I love it! Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! And Happy early Anniversary to my wonderful husband! Our 7 year anniversary is on Sunday. We look like kids in our wedding pictures! I guess we were at 20 and 21. Wow!

Now go snuggle up and read a romantical book. 🙂 Here are some of my favorite clean teen fictions with romance! Click the cover to view on GoodReads.
Waterfall (River of Time, #1) Emily and the Scot The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1) The Two Princesses of Bamarre Twilight (Twilight, #1)

in my mailbox

In My Mailbox (9)

Kathryn Cooper

In My Mailbox, hosted by The Story Siren, is a weekly post where bloggers list the books they received this week. The books can be from anywhere: publishers, authors, won in a giveaway, bought, borrowed from the library. This is not to brag but to showcase books that we may never get the chance to review.


Click the book’s title to view on GoodReads.


For Review:

Dangerous Favor by Joyce DiPastena
Trapped by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen
Hearts Through Time by Marie Higgins
Queen in Exile by Donna Hatch
No Angel by Theresa Sneed
The Hidden Sun by J. Lloyd Morgan
Secrets after Dark by Marie Higgins

Chimera by B.D. Swan
The Wind of Life-The Wanderers by Oliver Neubert
The Wind of Life The Flyers by Oliver Neubert
Griffin Rising by Darby Karchut (signed)


Swag:
Griffin Rising by Darby Karchut cards (signed)


eBook For Review:

Catspell by Danyelle Leafty










Thank you to Amy from Inkberry Press, B.D. Swan, Oliver Neubert, Darby Karchut, and Danyelle Leafty for my review copies! Y’all are great. 🙂

just for fins, waiting on wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday: Just For Fins

Kathryn Cooper

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly post, hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine, where we spotlight a book we are anxiously waiting to be published.

Just For Fins
by Tera Lynn Childs
Published by Katherine Tegen Books
July 3, 2012

When Lily Sanderson decided to remain Crown Princess Waterlily of the mermaid kingdom Thalassinia, she knew she couldn’t just coast along in the current. But since she’s spent the last couple of years on land—with gorgeous human Quince by her side—Lily’s not sure she has the fins to lead a kingdom. Even her maddeningly pretentious cousin Dosinia seems to know more about ruling than she does.
But Lily has to dive in deep to keep her promise to Tellin, her mer bond in name only, whose kingdom is suffering in the changing ocean climate. Lily knows this is a seven seas–sized problem: from sea animals dying to oil spills and threats to humans. They’ll need to create some serious waves to make the mer community aware and get it to join together to make things right. Even if that means facing one of the iciest queens in the mer kingdoms.
Just when Lily thinks her double life on land and sea can’t get any more complicated, an ancient mer law might separate Lily and Quince after all. It feels as if the pair is up against a solid tsunami wave!
In this third installment in the series that began with Forgive My Fins and Fins Are Forever, Lily will have to find a way to balance safety and justice for the mer people as well as for the humans she loves.

I just read the 2nd book in the Fins series so I’m definitely looking forward to the 3rd book. I think it’s the last one.

My Review of Forgive My Fins
My Review of Fins Are Forever

What are you waiting on?

Book Review, fins are forever

Book Review: Fins Are Forever

Kathryn Cooper

THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK IN A SERIES. Read my review of the first book: Forgive My Fins

Title: Fins Are Forever
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: June 2011
Pages: 272
Series: Fins #2
Source: Library

On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl–still a mergirl, true, but signing the renunciation will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being-human thing once and for all.
Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, the waves start to get rough. Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody?
The seafoam on the raging surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up–Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her own dreams?
Tera Lynn Childs’s sequel to “Forgive My Fins” offers another tail-flicking romance with plenty of fun, sun, and underwater adventure.

My Thoughts:
First let’s talk about the cover. I love this paperback cover version from Templar Publishing. It doesn’t come out until April. Here’s the hardback cover:

This one doesn’t work for me because she has blue/green hair and blue lips and blue eye makeup. The way I pictured Lily was with beautiful long blond hair that flows around her in the water and a natural beauty with minimal makeup. Which is why I love the paperback cover.

Fins Are Forever starts one week after the end of the first book, Forgive My Fins. I like how the story line picks up from there and keeps moving. I loved the romantic dilemma/ arguing that took place during the first book. It’s refreshing when the love interest couple hate each other in the beginning. This book didn’t have as much of that. I still was interested with the problems and decisions Lily had to face, and I wanted to see how it all would turn out for her and Quince.

We get to know Brody, Lily’s huge crush in book one, and Dosinia, Lily’s younger cousin, a little more. Both characters you might not like at first, but they just might grow on you.

Things are tense and suspenseful because there are huge decisions Lily has to make with non-negotiable time limits that affect her future. Lily is trying to do well on the SATs so she can get into college, and she still has to renounce her title as princess.

It’s a fun book! I really enjoyed it. What girl hasn’t pretended to be a mermaid?! With a backyard pool growing up I was a mermaid every summer. 🙂

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) to view details
Sexual Content: mild ( kissing, mention of side characters making out )
Language: mild ( God-2, h***-2, d***-2, a**-1 )
Violence: none

Book Review, zombie queen of newbury high

Book Review: Zombie Queen of Newbury High

Kathryn Cooper

Title: Zombie Queen of Newbury High
Author: Amanda Ashby
Publisher: Puffin
Release Date: March 2009
Pages: 200
Series: none
3 STARS: I Liked It

Quiet, unpopular, non-cheerleading Mia is blissfully happy. She is dating super hot football god Rob, and he actually likes her and asked her to prom! Enter Samantha – cheerleading goddess and miss popularity – who starts making a move for Rob. With prom in a few days, Mia needs to act fast. So she turns to her best friend, Candice, and decides to do a love spell on Rob. Unfortunately, she ends up inflicting a zombie virus onto her whole class, making herself their leader! At first she is flattered that everyone is treating her like a queen. But then zombie hunter hottie Chase explains they are actually fattening her up, because in a few days, Mia will be the first course in their new diet. She’s sure she and Chase can figure something out, but she suggests that no one wear white to prom, because things could get very messy.

My Thoughts:
The premise caught my attention. A girl turned her senior class into Zombies right before prom?! Sounded like a fun kind of silly. I liked that the book was light. I wasn’t in the mood for a scary zombie book. Mia and her best friend Candice kept the theme light and funny. I guess you could say Chase the zombie hunter and Mia don’t start on the same page. His job was to kill zombies, and Mia wanted to keep her friends alive even though they were going to turn into zombies and eat her in a few days. How were they going to solve that problem?

The first 30 pages were slow for me, but then things started to pick up and get interesting. I also felt a little disconnected from the main characters. It felt like I could only skim the surface of who they were. I did like the best friend Candice though. She was a hypochondriac always worried she had some disease she would die from. Pretty funny. I stayed interested because the plot was good, and I was curious.

If you’re in the mood for a light zombie book this is the read for you.

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) to view details
Sexual Content: mild ( kissing, joke about push up bra and slutty shoes )
Language: mild ( God-17, a**-1 )
Violence: mild ( intense moments )

challenges 2012, debut author challenge, the dusty bookshelf challenge

Challange Check- Januaray

Kathryn Cooper

                           
How is January already over? You want to know how I’m doing with my 2012 challenges? Not great!

I haven’t read any books from my “dusty” shelf, and I haven’t read any books by a debut author published in 2012. But hey it’s just the beginning of the year! I still hope to do okay in these challenges. 🙂

Here is my “dusty” bookshelf picture for The Dusty Bookshelf Mini Challenge. I really need to get to reading all these great books!
CLICK THE COVER TO VIEW ON GOODREADS.

The Princess BrideThe Scarlet PimpernelThe Salamander Spell (Tales of the Frog Princess, Prequel)The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1)Princess BenWild Magic (Immortals, #1)The Named (The Guardians of Time Trilogy, #1)Magic or Madness (Magic or Madness, #1)The People of Sparks (Books of Ember, #2)The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl, #3)The Magic Thief (Magic Thief, #1)The Eternal Hourglass (Magickeepers, #1)Love, Stargirl (Stargirl, #2)Incarceron (Incarceron, #1)Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)The Summoning (Darkest Powers, #1)The Fairy Godmother (Five Hundred Kingdoms, #1)Poison Study (Study, #1)Tyger Tyger (Goblin Wars, #1)Beyond The Reflection's Edge (Echoes From The Edge, #1)Always Watching (The Rayne Tour, #1)Darke (Septimus Heap, #6)Enchanted Ivy

And just for fun I’ll make a collage of my 2012 debut author to-read list too!

CLICK THE COVER TO VIEW ON GOODREADS.

The Queen of KentuckyCinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)First DateDitched: A Love StoryFractureIncarnate (Newsoul, #1)Everneath (Everneath, #1)Article 5 (Article 5, #1)Shooting StarsBorn Wicked (The Cahill Witch...HarbingerScarletThe Catastrophic History of Yo...

giveaway, project tell taylor, remembrance

Project Tell Taylor and Giveaway!!

Kathryn Cooper

Taylor Swift is one of my favorite musical artists. Her music is so fun and tells stories we can all relate to about love. Michelle Madow’s debut novel Remembrance ( MY REVIEW ) was inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” music video. She talked all about it in a blog entry a few months ago, discussing how Remembrance was inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” music video. She even wrote a letter to Taylor Swift and sent it to her, along with a signed book!


It’s been a few months now, and she has yet to hear back from Taylor that she received the letter and book. She really wants to tell Taylor about how inspiring she and her music have been to her, but since Taylor Swift is an international superstar, she’s a little hard to reach. This is where YOUR help comes into play! Michelle is giving away the biggest prize pack she’s offered yet, and the ways to enter to win are by telling Taylor Swift about Remembrance.


The Goal: Get Taylor Swift to Tweet about Remembrance!
Here’s Michelle telling us about the prize pack! 


What you can win!

/*{literal}{/literal}*/ a Rafflecopter giveaway<a href=”http://rafl.es/enable-js”>You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.A beautiful song and music video inspired Michelle Madow to write her awesome book, Remembrance. I haven’t told a ton of people, but I’m writing a book. I am halfway through the rough draft of my young adult book. It’s a lot of work, and sometimes I doubt I’ll ever have a finished project. Reading blogs and tweets from Young Adult authors– there are so many– and seeing their success stories inspires me to keep writing, reading, and working hard. What inspires you?

Remembrance 
by Michelle Madow
Remembrance GoodReads Page

Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England … but she doesn’t know it yet.


Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie’s high school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can’t stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can’t she get him out of her mind?


Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn’t going to be easy.

Go to Michelle’s blog announcement to see the other blogs participating!