Why My Love Life Sucks - Review & Giveaway

Why My Love Life Sucks by Shevi Arnold
Series: The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer, #1
Publication: February 1st, 2013
Genre: Humorous YA Sci-Fi
Gilbert Garfinkle is the ultimate tech geek. He has a compulsive need to take apart, figure out, and fix things; and he dreams of one day fixing the world. But a funny thing happens on the way to the future. Gilbert encounters the one thing he'll never be able to figure out: a gorgeous, teenage vampire girl named Amber, who wants to turn Gilbert into her platonic BFF--literally forever! This leaves the ultimate geek pondering life's ultimate question: "Why me?"

Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Thoughts:
Y'all, this book was so darn funny! I am definitely adding Shevi to my list of authors to watch.

Our main character, Gilbert, is a nerdy guy just getting through life until he can get to college and do something with his life. His mother doesn't like him, his father is dead, and he's the poorest rich kid there is.

Just by chance, he met Amber. She was beautiful and talked to him. He figured it wasn't going anywhere since she was gorgeous and he was just...him. When she asked to walk home with him, he was so confused. (It's adorable!)

After being bitten by Amber and transforming into a vampire, Gilbert can't handle being a hottie. He's been so comfortable being a nerdy guy with glasses, curly hair, Dungeons & Dragons, and acne. He's always been fine being the nerd and had his plans of going to college and inventing something...to better the world. He doesn't understand why Amber did this to him! To Gilbert, being a vampire is the worst thing that could have happened to him.

Gilbert's friends are all great characters and I loved all of them. It took me a while to like and appreciate Amber. The songs that Shevi uses in the story are great! There seems to be a song on the radio that is saying exactly what he's thinking. 

The biggest question and discovery through the book is "Why me?" Gilbert asks this a lot of Amber. The answer:... well, you just need to read it! WMLLS is such a cute and funny book! You'll be glad you did! :)

Shevi definitely has a knack of telling a funny story and keeping it interesting! I loved me some Gilbert!

I want to thank Giselle from Xpresso Tours and Shevi for including me on this tour. I thoroughly enjoyed Why My Love Life Sucks!

Giveaway
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AUTHOR BIO:
Shevi Arnold writes funny. She can't help it. She's been writing funny since she was a kid, cracking up her class and her teachers with her humorous essays.

In high school she studied sitcoms when she was supposed to be doing her homework, and in college she took a couple of courses in comedy and clowning, as part of her degrees in English Literate and Theater Studies. She just had to find out what made something funny.

Eventually she cracked the code, and that led to jobs as a political cartoonist, a comic-strip magazine editor, and an arts-and-entertainment writer specializing in children's entertainment and, of course, comedy.

Shevi on the web!

Unspoken: Cover Reveal

Unspoken by Camille Dixon
Publication Date: May 2013
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Synopsis:
Jaxon Michaels is every father's worst nightmare for his teenage daughter, but Clarice Gibson knows him better than anyone. Best friends since the sixth grade, Clare and Jax have walked the fine line of friendship for six years.

But when Clarice's friend Jessica starts dating Jax, Clare finds herself starting to notice him in a different way, one she's not entirely prepared to face. As their senior year approaches and her true feelings are unburied, Clare begins asking herself the one question she vowed never to think about: What if she's in love with her best friend? Their friendship is further strained when the captain of the football team - and Jessica's twin brother - sets his eyes on Clare. As loyalties and friendships are tested, Clare and Jax find it harder to keep themselves firmly planted on the friends side of the relationship line.

A line they are getting dangerously close to crossing.

Cover Reveal: 

About the Author:
I'm a Southern girl who's spent the last few years freezing my toosh off up north. Except for the snow, things are pretty good. I love sunshine, sweet tea, and romances that touch my heart. A lifelong romantic, I found my own prince charming at an online dating site. Six months later, he asked me to marry him. Picture Perfect is my debut novel.


Author links:


Pencils of Promise

This blogger is stepping out of the book atmosphere for just a moment to share a fundraiser that one of our 4th grade classes is doing at school. They are going to collect money for Pencils of Promise -- an organization which builds schools! As readers, we can all definitely appreciate the value and love for such an adventure! 

I am copying the text from the website of my co-worker, Kyle Wood. If you can help with a donation, please send me an email, Dizneeee (at gmail), or message me on Twitter, @Dizneeee. If you can send a donation and receive a t-shirt (They are charcoal gray, heathered Hanes 50/50 tees resembling the picture of "I AM THE CHANGE" just below. They are $12 with over $6 going back to the charity), I will gladly ship that to you! It's the least I can do for your help! If you want to just send a flat donation, you're welcome to do that as well. Send me a message (email or Twitter) and I can send you our school address!

It began with a simple question. Adam Braun asked a street beggar what he wanted most in the world..... The kid said, "A pencil."

We are raising money for Pencils of Promise.They are a non-profit organization that builds schools for people who do not have a education. 75,000 kids today do not have an education in this world and together we can help change that. 112 school have been built as of today and 14 more are on the way.

What does PoP do?
Pencils of Promise, or ''PoP,'' as they are called, document each ''PoP'' student , they also track village wide student enrollment. If you still don't understand ''PoP'' here are some steps they use when building a school:

  1. They identify sites to build educational structures,
  2. Then with local labor and materials, they build the school. With your support they build an education.
  3. They go around the village and hire adults to help educate the children. 
  4. Finally, they evaluate the program's impact. 
For more information on PoP, go to www.pencilsofpromise.org

This is what you can do to help...
  1. If you would like you can buy a t-shirt for $12.00 a shirt.
  2. In our school, we have a wall that is gray and for every $50.00 we raise we will paint a block Bright Yellow. Students raising $25.00 or more will be displayed on a sign divided into three levels-$25+: Silver, $50+:Gold, and $100+: Platinum.
  3. If we can make the gray wall turn yellow, we just built a school. If that wall can turn yellow, we just raised over $28,000. 
ABCNews Article

Fast Company




Unbreakable Book Blast

It's time for a NERD BLAST! Well, a Book Nerd book blast, that is! Today, we have UNBREAKABLE by Elizabeth Norris.

About the Book
Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she'll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths—and Ben is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn't turn himself over within five days.

And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head—and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed?
Purchase UNBREAKABLE
 About the Author


Elizabeth Norris briefly taught high school English and history before trading the southern California beaches and sunshine for Manhattan's recent snowpocalyptic winter.

She harbors dangerous addictions to guacamole, red velvet cupcakes, sushi, and Argo Tea, fortunately not all together.

Her first novel, UNRAVELING (Balzer+Bray, April 2012), is the story of one girl’s fight to save her family, her world, and the one boy she never saw coming.


The Giveaway



Book Nerd Tours

April is Awesome - Post 5 (Giveaway!)


Hello, lovely readers! I have been enlisted to help Ruby at Ruby's Reads announce some new books during her APRIL IS AWESOME event!
Who: Well, me, obviously--Ruby from Ruby's Reads

What:
 April is Awesome--a month-long celebration of books that will be published during the awesomest month of the year! Author interviews and guest posts, excerpts and giveaways, I’ve got a lot planned!

Where: Ruby's Reads, of course!

When: The entire month of April!

Why: Because it's my birthday month and I wanted to celebrate in a big way. 
I hope y'all have enjoyed the 4 books that Ruby had me feature this week! I am looking forward to them and hope you've added them to your TBR lists!

Now, we have the GIVEAWAY!
The giveaway begins at Midnight EST on Saturday, April 20 and will end at 11:59PM EST on Tuesday, April 30
One lucky winner will get to choose one book from the four books I've featured this week as his/her prize.

This is an International giveaway, as long as The Book Depository ships to your location.
As always, the winner must be at least 13 years old.

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April is Awesome - Post 4


Hello, lovely readers! I have been enlisted to help Ruby at Ruby's Reads announce some new books during her APRIL IS AWESOME event!
Who: Well, me, obviously--Ruby from Ruby's Reads

What:
 April is Awesome--a month-long celebration of books that will be published during the awesomest month of the year! Author interviews and guest posts, excerpts and giveaways, I’ve got a lot planned!

Where: Ruby's Reads, of course!

When: The entire month of April!

Why: Because it's my birthday month and I wanted to celebrate in a big way. 

Today's Book Announcement is another Debut

The Loop Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
by Shandy Lawson Website / Facebook / Twitter
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Books
Ben and Maggie have met, fallen in love, and died together countless times. Over the course of two pivotal days—both the best and worst of their lives—they struggle again and again to resist the pull of fate and the force of time itself. With each failure, they return to the beginning of their end, a wild road trip that brings them to the scene of their own murders and into the hands of the man destined to kill them.

As time circles back on itself, events become more deeply ingrained, more inescapable for the two kids trapped inside the loop. The closer they come to breaking out, the tighter fate’s clutches seem to grip them. They devise a desperate plan to break free and survive the days ahead, but what if Ben and Maggie’s only shot at not dying is surviving apart?
Come back tomorrow for the start of the giveaway! Someone will win one of the four books I featured this week!


April is Awesome - Post 3


Hello, lovely readers! I have been enlisted to help Ruby at Ruby's Reads announce some new books during her APRIL IS AWESOME event!
Who: Well, me, obviously--Ruby from Ruby's Reads

What:
 April is Awesome--a month-long celebration of books that will be published during the awesomest month of the year! Author interviews and guest posts, excerpts and giveaways, I’ve got a lot planned!

Where: Ruby's Reads, of course!

When: The entire month of April!

Why: Because it's my birthday month and I wanted to celebrate in a big way. 

Today's Book Announcement is another Historical Fiction

The Sweetest Dark Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
by Shana Abe Website / FacebookTwitter
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Bantam
“With every fiber of my being, I yearned to be normal. To glide through my days at Iverson without incident. But I’d have to face the fact that my life was about to unfold in a very, very different way than I’d ever envisioned. Normal would become forever out of reach.”  

Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she’s far more than what she seems.
 

England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England’s southern coast. Iverson’s eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny.
 

Jesse is the school’s groundskeeper—a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she’s only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves.
 

Filled with lush atmosphere, thrilling romance, and ancient magic, 
The Sweetest Dark brilliantly captures a rich historical era while unfolding an enchanting love story that defies time.

Come back each day this week to see a new book featured. On Saturday, a giveaway will go up for a chance for someone to win one of the four books I will be showing off!


April is Awesome - Post 2


Hello, lovely readers! I have been enlisted to help Ruby at Ruby's Reads announce some new books during her APRIL IS AWESOME event!
Who: Well, me, obviously--Ruby from Ruby's Reads

What:
 April is Awesome--a month-long celebration of books that will be published during the awesomest month of the year! Author interviews and guest posts, excerpts and giveaways, I’ve got a lot planned!

Where: Ruby's Reads, of course!

When: The entire month of April!

Why: Because it's my birthday month and I wanted to celebrate in a big way. 

Today's Book Announcement is a new Historical Fantasy:

In the Shadow of Blackbirds Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
by Cat Winters Website / Facebook / Twitter
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Amulet Books

In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?

Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.

Come back each day this week to see a new book featured. On Saturday, a giveaway will go up for a chance for someone to win one of the four books I will be showing off!


April is Awesome - Post 1


Hello, lovely readers! I have been enlisted to help Ruby at Ruby's Reads announce some new books during her APRIL IS AWESOME event!
Who: Well, me, obviously--Ruby from Ruby's Reads

What:
 April is Awesome--a month-long celebration of books that will be published during the awesomest month of the year! Author interviews and guest posts, excerpts and giveaways, I’ve got a lot planned!

Where: Ruby's Reads, of course!

When: The entire month of April!

Why: Because it's my birthday month and I wanted to celebrate in a big way. 

Today's Book Announcement is a DEBUT NOVEL: (and it sounds freakin' AWESOME!!!)

Taken Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
by Erin Bowman Website / Twitter
Release Date: April 16, 2013 (TODAY!!!)
Publisher: HarperTeen
There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.


Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.


Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

Come back each day this week to see a new book featured. On Saturday, a giveaway will go up for a chance for someone to win one of the four books I will be showing off!


April Kindle Fire Giveaway


Kindle Fire HD 7" Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HD (US Only)



Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)



Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)


Sponsoring Bloggers & Authors
  1. I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
  2. Author Jennifer Laurens
  3. Author Lena Sledge
  4. Kelly's Lucky You
  5. Author Lori Verni-Fogarsi
  6. Phantasmic Reads
  7. Author Rebecca Talley
  8. Author Ednah Walter
  9. Author Heather Bixler
  10. Girls With Books
  11. My Life With Books
  12. Author Rae Z. Ryans
  13. All Fantasy Worlds
  14. Author Michael Young
  15. Book Angel Booktopia
  16. Lori's Reading Corner
  17. Books R Us
  18. Books 4 Tomorrow
  19. Author T. Lynne Tolles
  20. Good Choice Reading
  21. Curling Up With A Good Book
  22. Auggie-Talk
  23. A Bookish Escape
  24. Paranormal Book Club
  25. Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf
  26. Amethyst Daydreams
  27. Pink Fluffy Hearts
  28. Love. Without You
  29. Books, Books, the Magical Fruit
  30. Author Lisa Voison
  31. Tasty Book Tours
  32. Fae Books
  33. Author Cindy C. Bennett
  34. Author Emma Michaels
  35. Author Lia Fairchild
  36. Fade Into Fantasy
  37. Pieces of Whimsy
  38. Author Rachael Renee Anderson
  39. Feed Your Reader
  40. Lovely Reads
Giveaway Details
1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire 7" HD (US Only), $199 Amazon Gift Card or $199 in Paypal Cash (International). Ends 4/30/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Prize value $199 US.

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Hades and the Helm of Darkness -- Book Blast & Giveaway!

Hades and the Helm of Darkness (Heroes in Training Book 3)

The Heroes in Training are entering the Underworld—if Hades can conquer his canine fears, that is.
The Underworld usually isn’t really meant to be a fun place—but tell that to Hades! He loves the dark and the stinky smell of sulfur. However, there is one thing that Hades is not a fan of: dogs. And when Zeus and his fellow Olympians encounter Cerberus—a snarling, three-headed dog—Hades must conquer his fears and tame the hound so everyone can continue into the Underworld and deposit their Titan prisoner, Oceanus, back where he belongs!
But with magical water that causes forgetfulness, hot beds of lava, and another epic battle with two more Titans standing in their way, will Zeus and his heroes make it out of the Underworld with everyone intact? 

Heroes in Training by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams
Authors Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams deliver fun, adventures, and a few surprises as ten-year-old Olympians go on a journey of a lifetime to discover their true identities and defeat their Titan enemies.

Praise for Heroes in Training
"Readers will gobble this down and look for more, make no mythtake."
~ Kirkus

“This is a fun read, casting Zeus in the role of relatable kid, and there is a nice balance between his primary goal of survival and his sense of destiny and adventure. . . Share this title, and likely more to come, with those still too young for Percy Jackson’s adventures.”
~ School Library Journal
The Series
#1 Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom
#2 Poseidon and the Sea of Fury
#3 Hades and the Helm of Darkness
#4 Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire

Aladdin Paperbacks (ages 6-9)
Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom (Book 1)

After pulling a magical thunderbolt from a stone, ten-year-old Zeus goes on the adventure of a lifetime in this thrilling start to a brand-new series! The terrible Titans--merciless giants who enjoy snacking on humans--have dominated the earth and put the world into chaos. But their rule is about to be put to the test as a group of young Olympians discover their powers and prepare to righteously rule the universe.... Ten-year-old Zeus is mystified (and super-annoyed) by the fact that he keeps getting hit by lightening. Every. Single. Year. He also longs for adventure, as he has never been far from the cave where he grew up.
Zeus gets his wish--and a lot more than he bargained for--when he is kidnapped by dangerous, giant Titans! In self-defense, he grabs the first thing he sees--an actual thunderbolt he pulls from a stone that is covered in mysterious markings. Zeus is the only one who can decipher the markings, and sets off on a quest to rescue his youthful fellow Olympians from the evil Cronus. Armed with his trusty thunderbolt (named Bolt, of course), Zeus is on an adventure of a lifetime--and a journey to fulfill his destiny as King of the Gods. 

Poseidon and the Sea of Fury (Book 2)

A young Poseidon must triumph over aquatic terrors in this Heroes in Training adventure. The merciless Cronus and his Titan buddies are in hot pursuit of Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon, who plan to travel across the treacherous boiling sea in order to save a fellow Olympian. They have a boat, but they also have a problem: Poseidon can’t swim and is terrified of the water (well, really of the creatures that lurk in its depths). The group faces danger after danger as they battle singing sirens, a fishy and ferocious Titan named Oceanus, and people-eating monsters sent by Cronus himself. Can Poseidon overcome his fears and help his fellow heroes escape Cronus and his cronies?

Author Suzanne Williams

Suzanne Williams is the award-winning author of nearly 40 books for children, from picture books and easy readers to chapter books and middle grade fiction series. A former elementary school librarian, she lives near Seattle. Her picture book Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg) won the New Mexico children's choice award in 2000 and was on several other state award lists. She is co-author (with Joan Holub) of the popular Goddess Girls series(for ages 8-12) and Heroes in Training (ages 6-11). Other series include Fairy Blossoms and Princess Power.


Author Joan Holub
I graduated from college in Texas with a fine arts degree, and then freelanced as an art director at a graphic design firm for eight years. I dreamed of working in children's books, so I moved to New York City and became associate art director in Scholastic trade books, where I designed books for children and worked with editors and illustrators. It was a great job.

I illustrated my first published children's book in 1992 and soon began illustrating full time. I began completing manuscripts and mailing them out to publishers in the early 1990s. In 1996, I sold my first two manuscripts -- Boo Who? A Spooky Lift-the-Flap Book (Scholastic) and Pen Pals (Grosset & Dunlap). Yippee!

Now I write full time and have written and/or illustrated over 130 children's books. Creating books that entertain, inform, and interest children (and me) is a fabulous job that I truly love.

Book Blast Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 4/25/13

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