Follow Friday--Torturous Choices!

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

If you could have ONE - one book - for the rest of your life. Don't cheat...what would it be? 

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Thoughts for Thursday: Education

Thoughts for Thursday is a new feature hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!

In honor of all the back-to-schooling going around, this week's theme is Education.  (For more quotes, check out my other blog.)

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Double Cover Reveal!!!

For those who don't know, I'm putting out two books next month. I know that sounds insane, but I've been working on both for some time and they just both came to fruition at the same time. I want to get them both out quickly. Besides, one is a short novel, so it wasn't as much work as my novels generally are. 

Anyway, I'm doing a double cover reveal today! Yea!

Dark Remnants, book 1 of my Street Games series will be available September 3, 2013. This first one is an introduction to the series, so it's a shorter novel for me, though still not quite short enough to be considered a novella. It's full length, just not very long. Does that make sense? :D

This book will be available for $0.99 for a limited time upon release. Get your fast before the price goes up! I'll post links here on the 3rd!

In the most dangerous city in the country, one controlled by a sadistic gang called the Sons of Ares, Kyra Roberts is searching the deep places for someone…

Kyra has come to Abstreuse city to find someone she’s lost, but walking the underbelly—a dark alley system residents call the Slip Mire—even in disguise, is rife with dangers. Kyra must stay on her toes if she intends to live. After crossing paths several times with the same detective, she wonders if his work and hers might be connected.

Gabe Nichols has worked homicide in Abstreuse for three years. Dead prostitutes and gang violence are part of the night shift. When a woman who looks like a street junkie but acts like an intellectual saves his life, he’s intrigued. Another woman shows up at his crime scene, and Gabe’s instincts kick into high gear when she clams up. Two cases involving strange women who won’t tell what they know are too coincidental.

If Gabe and Kyra can’t find a way to collaborate, they may not live to see the sunrise. Doomed, like so many others, to become gray, unmarked graves in a forgotten fracture of the Slip Mire.

Quantum Entanglement, book 2 of Interchron will be available September 17, 2013. This is the sequel to the acclaimed, award-winning novel, Persistence of Vision!

This novel will also be $0.99 for a limited time when it releases. Come back on the 17th for purchase links! 

Five months after traveling to a post-apocalyptic future where collectives reign supreme and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper was returned to her own time until the threat to her life could be neutralized. She thought Marcus and the others would return for her within a few weeks, and now she’s beginning to worry.

When travelers from the future finally show up to collect her, it’s not who she expected. With the return of her memories, she wants more than ever to see Marcus again, but a snake-like woman whose abilities are a perfect match for Maggie’s, an injured Traveler, and decades of civil unrest to wade through all stand in the way of their reunion.

Meanwhile, Marcus and Karl traipse through the countryside, trying to neutralize Colin, who’s promised to brutalize and murder Maggie if he can get his hands on her. When a collective woman is left for dead, Marcus heals her, hoping she’ll be the key to killing Colin and bringing Maggie back. But she may prove as much a hindrance as a help.

The team struggles to get their bearings, but things happen faster than they know. The collectives are coalescing, power is shifting, and the one called B is putting sinister plans into action. If the team can’t reunite and get a handle on the situation, their freedom and individuality—perhaps their very identity—will be ripped away before they can catch their breath.

So excited to get these out! I've been working on Quantum Entanglement since the beginning of the year and, while it hasn't been that long for Dark Remnants, I've had this story in my head for probably two full years. So glad to see them both completed! *Squee* 

What do you think? Which cover do you like more?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Memorable Sidekicks

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Top 10 Most Memorable Secondary Characters

So, looking over my list, I'm seeing a trend in my choices. Most of my favorite secondary characters are ones that, while definitely secondary to a more front-and-center hero or MC, manage to be heroes in their own right. I mean, Pride and Prejudice, both Mr. Collins and Lydia are definitely memorable, but they aren't particularly likable, so I didn't want to include them in my list. Most of my picks are very heroic. What can I say? I'm a sucker for low-key, every day heroes.

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Guest Post: Eric Bishop on Inspiration

Please welcome my friend and fellow Jolly Fish Press Author, Eric Bishop, to the blog! His novel, The Samaritan's Pistol is available now for purchase. Eric is here to talk to us today about what inspires him in his writing. 

He's also got a giveaway going for his tour. Be sure to check it out below!

Welcome Eric!

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Follow Friday + End of Mermaid Challenge

So the Summer Mermaid Reading Challenge is officially over! Below is the last of the mermaid reviews for me! In 14 weeks I read 15 mermaid books. They are listed below along with their reviews. I had the impression that lots of mermaid books were very badly written, but either I just got lucky or that's not true. Don't get me wrong: there were a few that didn't impress me, but overall I really loved all the mermaid books I read. I got to read lots of great books and was introduced to tons of new, amazing authors! Among my favorites were Jackson Pearce's Fathomless, Jenn Reese's Above World and Anna Bank's Of Poseidon. Some I wasn't as impressed with were Elizabeth Fama's Monstrous Beauty and Brenda Pandos's Everblue.

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson -- My Review

Seven Tears Into the Sea by Terri Farley -- My Review

Forgive my Fins by Terra Lynn Childs  -- My Review

Fins are Forever by Terra Lynn Childs -- My Review

Above World by Jenn Reese -- My Review

Mirage by Jenn Reese -- My Review

Florence by Ciye Cho -- My Review

Sea Change by Amiee Friedman -- My Review

The Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nielson -- My Review

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce -- My Review

The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler -- My Review

Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama -- My Review

Madly by M. Leighton -- My Review

I didn't have quite as much participation as I'd hoped, so I won't be doling out the prizes quite as originally announced. However, I do have prizes to hand out. They are listed below! Congrats to those who get them and thanks so much to everyone who participated. I hope you all had as good a time as I did reading about mermaids and their worlds!

Prize Bundles are as follows:

Anya of On Starships and Dragonwings wins: A copy of Alice Hoffman's Aquamarine, Fairies and Princesses Quickdraw book, Splash DVD, The Little Mermaid DVD, mermaid swag.

Jackie of No Bent Spines wins: Copy of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, Splash DVD, Copy of Persistence of Vision, mermaid swag.

Katelynn of Literary Chameleon wins: Copy of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, Faerie Tale Theater's The Little Mermaid DVD, copy of Persistence of Vision, mermaid swag.

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Everblue by Brenda Pandos

Everblue by Brenda Pandos was...Everblue by Brenda Pandos was the last mermaid read of my challenge. I really didn't have time to read it, but I decided to squeeze it in come hell or high water, because I found it free on Amazon and I thought it would be stupid not to include it. 

Overall, this book was pretty good, but not great. I wasn't disappointed, per se, but I just wasn't wowed either. 

There were two POVs in this book. They were that of the main male and female characters, who are one another's love interests. This book did the thing where both POVs are first person, but they're different people. This is a growing trend in YA, and I've especially seen it a lot in the mermaid reads. I gotta say, I'm not a fan. Even when it's done really well--and often it isn't--I just find it jarring to jump first person heads like that. It always takes me right out of the story. But, that's just me. Lots of people don't mind it.

I thought the book could have used more description, especially of the mer world. And I didn't see a lot of differentiation between the male and female voice. Not that the male was femmy or anything, but if not for doing different things in the plot, it would have been hard to tell character voices apart. It would have been stronger if they'd been more distinct.

That said, it certainly wasn't terrible. Anyone who likes mermaid reads, YA romances, etc. would probably enjoy it. And I'll admit that I kept turning pages because I genuinely wanted to know what would happen next in the plot. It wasn't an oh-my-gosh-I-just-have-to-see-what-happens-next thing, but it was good enough that I was curious.

So, nothing to rave about, but still decent. I'm glad I read it, for the challenge if nothing else. Overall, though, my review is just, meh. 

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Book selfie! Snap a picture of you and your current read! 

Yup, you guys get to see me without makeup. I should care more but...yeah I really don't.

So I'm technically not reading this yet, but it's the one I'm about to start. My sister is getting married in two days, so I'm really not going to get any reading done this weekend. But, come Monday, I have a date with Cassandra Clare. Yea!

My finger is sort of covering it, but if you can't tell, that's City of Ashes.

So, what's your current read?

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Thoughts for Thursday: The Joy of Reading

Thoughts for Thursday is a new feature hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!

This week's theme is The Joy of Reading.  (For more quotes, check out my other blog.)

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Book Review: City of Bones

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So I've been saying for months that I feel like the only girl on earth who hasn't read Cassandra Clare. I finally remedied that! Yea! Last week, in preparation for the release of the film, I finally read City of Bones, book 1 of The Mortal Instruments.

So I'm thinking I don't need much of a synopsis because most people know the gist, but for those who don't, Clary is a normal teenage girl with a guy best friend who obviously has a secret crush on her, and is about to find out about an unseen world she's been part of since she was born, but just never knew about. When her mom disappears and she makes friends with demon hunters no one else can see, let's just say her world gets turned upside down.

I really liked this first book of the series. As a writer, my inner editor did come out a few times and I had to remind myself that this is YA, which means certain things are allowed, but mostly that was just me because I'm always editing my own work; not something most people would notice.

Jace, the main love interest, was very arrogant, but I could see that it was a charming sort of arrogant, and he definitely grows on you. The twist at the end of the book (which I won't spoil) I actually knew about from hearing others talk about the series, but I thought it happened in later books. I was surprised to find the twist so early in the series. 

I have no qualms at all with the story or the characters. I probably would have hated that end twist--just like many fans did--but, again, I know something about the story and that it's not the last word on the situation. I'm happy to lay back and wait for the resolution in future books. Speaking of which, while I couldn't continue the series this week (way too much going on!) I will probably pick up book 2 next week. Can't wait!

This is a series for anyone who likes YA, paranormal, or just a great overall story. I would highly recommend it. Besides, the film will be out next week. It's always so fun to see great books made into films, don't you think?

Is anyone else excited for the City of Bones movie?

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Crime Tidbit: The Case of Marilyn Sheppard

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In the summer of 1954, in Bay Village, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland) the 31-year-old wife of well-known doctor was savagely murdered. Sam Sheppard was the wealthy, well-liked surgeon from a family of surgeons, and he and his wife, Marilyn, were an active part of the high-society crowd.

Sheppard Home outside of Cleveland
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Sheppard claimed that after having guests over for the evening, he'd fallen asleep watching TV and Marilyn had gone up to bed. He awoke to her screams and ran upstairs to see "a form with a light garment, I believe, at the same time grappling with something or someone." After that he was hit over the head. When he came to, he chased a "bushy-haired" intruder out of the house and down to the beach. A fight ensued and Dr. Sheppard was knocked unconscious.

After a media-obsessed trial, Sheppard was found guilty of murdering his wife and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. Many believed the verdict unjust, however, and his family worked tireless to clear him. Ten years later, in 1966, he was granted a new trial. This was a case that had compelling evidence either way.

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Quick Sunday Announcement

Happy Sunday morning, Everyone!

Just wanted to drop a line to say that I'm being featured in a Giveaway for Heidi Cullinan's Birthday Extravaganza Giveaway Bash! It's a month-long giveaway where an author or blogger gives something away each day. The giveaways only last 24 hours, so you have to act fast.

Today is my day. I'm giving away a copy of my book. The links are below if you're interested! Maybe check out some of the other giveaways as well. There's some great stuff up for grabs!

Everyone have a great Sunday and enjoy the rest of your weekend! :D

Rafflecopter Giveaway Heidi's Facebook Page

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Mermaid Challenge Reviews + Follow Friday!

Welcome to the final week of the Mermaid Lit Summer Reading Challenge! Below is my review for this week. If you have one of your own, feel free to link up with us and be sure to visit the others to see what they thought of their reads for this week! This will be the last week for reviews, but I'll do a closing post next week telling who prizes are going to, etc. (Follow Friday below!)

This week, I read two mermaid books. They were Of Poseidon by Anna Banks and Everblue by Brenda Pandos. (Of Poseidon is reviewed below but I didn't quite get through Everblue. I'll probably post it next week in the closing Mermaid Challenge post.)

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So I'd heard lots of good things about Of Poseidon and was excited to read it. I found it on sale on Amazon and got it for cheap and totally did a nerdy little dance about it. Once I started reading it, I was almost immediately disappointed for one reason and one reason only: The POV is split fairly evenly between Galen and Emma. Emma's POV is written in the first person--pretty standard for YA and, as I've learned, mermaid reads especially--but Galen's POV is weird. It's still written in first person but it's written in this bizarre, present tense. That may not seem weird but when you read it...well, let's just say it takes some getting used to. And you do. Get used to it. But at first, I found it very jarring. It just pulled me right out of the story and I had to concentrate to figure out what exactly was being said. I was sure I'd give the book a negative review because of it. 

But...I kept reading and...guess what? I really liked the book. The story was very well-conceptualized, the characters were swoon-worthy and Emma--even though she sometimes came across as a whiny teenager--you just had to admire her spunk. She kept me laughing. And of course you get caught up in the romance and just have to root for the main characters. (It even has great sidekicks in Galen's sister and his meremate, as it were. The ending throws a wild (and delightful) curve ball, and now of course I can't wait to get my hands on book 2, Of Triton. 

So, if you like a great summer read with lots of romance, comedy, and spunk, this is the book for you! I totally loved it. Just don't say I didn't warn you about the weird POV thing. :D

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Share something you've learned about book blogging or just blogging in general in the last month.  

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Not sure if this qualifies, but it's all I could think of. Maybe we could say I've known this for awhile, but I've recently learned more about it. In many of my posts, I use colored boxes to put around questions or quotes. I discovered how to do them some time ago--a year or more--through another blogger who'd post an HTML how-to. I always just copied and pasted, changing the color code as I wanted. Unfortunately, the post I've been using was recently taken down, so I had to learn and memorize the actual code. But, here it is:

<blockquote style="background-color: lightblue; border: 2px solid #666; padding: 10px;">

You put that line of HTML before the content you want in the box. At the end of the content you want in the box, you type </blockquote>. If you want a list of color codes, they are HERE.

It ends up looking like this! :D

Anyway, like I said, I've done this for a long time, but I've recently had to learn to type the code rather than just copy and paste. 

So, what have you learned about blogging lately?

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Teaser Tuesday: Cassa Star

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Today's teasers come from Cassastar by Alex J. Cavanaugh.

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Byron did not visibly flinch, but he knew that tone of voice all too well. He now stood at the brink, staring over the edge of a very deep chasm. One more step and he would cross the point of no return. Despite the anger coursing through his body, Byron did not want to lose his only opportunity. 

 "Yes, sir," he replied, conceding to the senior officer's authority. (Loc 939)

I'm reading more than one book this week, so be sure to check out my other blog for more teasers!

What are YOU reading this week?

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Quick Monday Pole: Will You Give Me Your Opinions? Pretty Please?

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As many of you know, I'm currently working on lots of projects, including an epic fantasy that includes dragons. One of the guys in my critique group asked me about the length last week. He made a comment along the lines of, "You sure know how to write an epic fantasy, 'cause this sucker's gonna be long!"

He's not wrong. This is the type of epic fantasy that has four or five different viewpoint characters, most doing vastly different things in different parts of my fantasy world. 

Now, I'm not terribly worried about the length. 1) I plan to edit it well so that the writing is tight. As long as the writing is awesome, length has never bothered me as a reader, so why should it bother me as a writer? 2) It's an epic fantasy. They tend to have longer word lengths. 3) I will probably self-publish it, which means that while the print edition may be a bit higher than I'd like to cover printing costs, I can keep the e-book edition priced low, which should help push sales forward.

As this is something I've been thinking about a lot this week, I thought I'd ask for opinions:

Does length bother you when you're choosing books? Are you less likely to choose a long book, even if price isn't a factor? Just wondering what everyone thinks. 

Thanks so much for your help, wonderful readers! Have a fantastic Monday! :D

Oh, and if you're interested in my Dragon Magic series, the first book of which will be out early next year, check out the prequel, The Hatching. It's on sale for $0.99 on AMAZON right now! :D

Amazon Link -- $0.99

Goodreads Blurb

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Follow Friday + Mermaid Challenge Reviews

Welcome to Week 13 of the Mermaid Lit Summer Reading Challenge! Below is my review for this week. If you have one of your own, feel free to link up with us and be sure to visit the others to see what they thought of their reads for this week! You may join the challenge anytime you like. See rules HERE. (Follow Friday below!)

Only two more weeks of mermaid challenge to go! It ends on August 15th!

This week, I read two mermaid books, though one of them was so short as to be considered a short story, or perhaps a novella. They were Sea Change by Aimee Friedman and Madly by M. Leighton. (See my other blog for the Madly book review.)

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Thoughts for Thursday--Summertime

Thoughts for Thursday is a new feature hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!

This week's theme is summertime.  (For more quotes, check out my other blog.)

August, the summer's last messenger of misery, is a hollow actor.--Henry Rollins

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Crime Tidbit: the Gatton Murders

Mr. & Mrs. Murphy and 8 of their 10 children.
Michael not pictured, but Ellen and Nora are 2nd and 3rd
from the right, respectively.
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Do you know...what the Gatton murders are?

Michael, Nora, and Ellen Murphy were three of ten siblings in the Murphy family. Their parents worked a farm on Blackfellow's Creek nearly the rural Australian town of Gatton, Queensland. In 1898, Michael had moved out of his parents' house, and was working another farm in a nearby town, but had returned home for the holidays. On the evening of December 26, took his two sisters to a dance that was to be held in Gatton. The three siblings left together in a borrowed sulky.

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Teaser Tuesday -- Sea Change

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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This week's teasers are from my mermaid read for the week, Sea Change by Aimee Friedman.

"For some reason, I stopped walking, my flats sinking into the sand. Behind the boy, the beach seemed to disappear into a well of fog, and I realized how alone I was. I felt a quick twist of fear and considered turning and racing back to the boardwalk. Then I chided myself; why was I getting so irrationally spooked lately? 

'You lost?' the boy called, waving one arm at me. 

'Not at all," I replied defensively, squaring my shoulders. 'I was just exploring.' "

What are you reading this week? 

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Historical Tidbit: The Diary of Anne Frank

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Did you know that August 4th (Yesterday, not today. Unfortunately I'm a day late!) is the anniversary of the day Anne Frank was captured? 

Anne and her family hid in a closed-off portion of an Amsterdam warehouse along with another Jewish family and a single Jewish man. They went into hiding in 1942 and received aid from Christian friends. Twenty-five months of successful hiding let them hear about the Allied landing at Normandy, and they had hopes that Holland would soon be liberated. From the time Anne was thirteen years old, she kept a meticulous diary about the day-to-day goings-on and her experiences in the warehouse.

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On August 4th, 1944, given away by some unknown informant, they were discovered by the Gestapo. All were shipped off to concentration camps, and the entire family eventually made their way to Auschwitz. Anne and her sister Margot were eventually sent to another camp in Germany where they both contracted typhus and died. The camp was liberated less than two months later.

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Mermaid Book Reviews, Week 12 + Follow Friday

Welcome to Week 12 of the Mermaid Lit Summer Reading Challenge! Below is my review for this week. If you have one of your own, feel free to link up with us and be sure to visit the others to see what they thought of their reads for this week! You may join the challenge anytime you like. See rules HERE. (Follow Friday below!)

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For this week's review, I read Fins are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs. I read the first book in this series, Forgive my Fins, a few weeks ago and loved it! So I couldn't wait to pick up the sequel.

Childs has a writing style that's just delightful. There's plenty of angst still going on in Lily Sanderson's life, but it's all so hysterical that you just can't stop turning the pages.

*Spoiler for book 1* She and Quince are together now, *end of spoiler, but that doesn't mean life's going to get any easier. Lily plans to renounce her claim to the throne of Thalassinia in order to live on land with Quince, but she hasn't actually told him that being with him means she'll lose her position in the merekingdom.

In addition, she never planned on a future on land, which means she hasn't paid much attention to grades. Now, if she wants to help her kingdom from above--her idea is to become a marine biologist--she needs a decent SAT score and to get into a good college. Stress!

To make things worse, her horrible, bratty cousin shows up needing help. Apparently Dossinia has done something that's made Lily's father, the sea King, banish her from the kingdom, and as her last duty as royal daughter, he wants Lily to help Doe grow a conscience and sense of responsibility. Not like that'll be hard or anything.

As disaster piles upon disaster, hilarity ensues and Lily thinks she might just go crazy. Or, you know, at least miss her college interview. I totally loved this book. According to goodreads, there's a third book. I was thinking it wasn't out yet, but it is. I don't know if my library has it, but I'm about to check! You all know I'm not huge on YA or high school drama, and that's exactly what these books are. But for me, they're the exception. Totally love them. Would recommend them to anyone who wants a light, fun, hysterical but also very romantic read. You can't go wrong with Tera Lynn Childs! :D

Follow Friday

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

How do you handle a book you don't like? Do you DNF or do you power through? 

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It really depends with me. I have DNF'd before, but I have a bit of a finishing complex, so unless I'm really crunched for time or I really, really, REALLY hate it, I usually power through. Of course, there are always exceptions.

The really, really REALLY hatred is rare because I generally don't pick up a book unless I'm reasonable sure I'll enjoy it. For example, I might DNF a cheesy erotica, but I wouldn't pick one of those up in the first place, so the chances are low that I would hate a book enough to DNF it.

How about you? Do you DNF?

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