Posts Categorized: poppy

Love, Lucy by April Linder~ Blast and Giveaway

28 Jan, 2015 by in love lucy, poppy, rockstar book tours Leave a comment

I am so excited that LOVE, LUCY by April Lindner releases today and that I get to share the news, along with an awesome guest post from the author in which she shares “Some Rules of the Road” for traveling abroad, as Lucy did in the book.

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful new book by Author April Linder, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blast also includes a giveaway for a copy of the book courtesy of Rockstar Book Tours and 3 signed JANE posters courtesy of the author. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

About LOVE, LUCY

Title: LOVE, LUCY
Author: April Lindner
Release date: January 27, 2015
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 304
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Description:

While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food…and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her “vacation flirtation.” But just because summer is over doesn’t mean Lucy and Jesse are over, too.

In this coming-of-age romance, April Lindner perfectly captures the highs and lows of a summer love that might just be meant to last beyond the season.

Find it: AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY | INDIEBOUND | GOODREADS

About the Author

April Lindner is the author of three novels: Catherine, a modernization of Wuthering Heights; Jane, an update of Jane Eyre; and Love, Lucy, releasing January 27, 2015. She also has published two poetry collections, Skin and This Bed Our Bodies Shaped. She plays acoustic guitar badly, sees more rock concerts than she’d care to admit, travels whenever she can, cooks Italian food, and lavishes attention on her pets—two Labrador retriever mixes and two excitable guinea pigs. A professor of English at Saint Joseph’s University, April lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons.

 

Guest Post

SOME RULES OF THE ROAD

Like Lucy Sommersworth, the heroine of Love, Lucy, my parents gave me the gift of a lifetime: a backpacking trip to Europe. I was a bit older than Lucy—22, and just out of
college—but when I arrived in Milan, Italy with a Eurail pass, a copy of Let’s Go: Europe, and a seventy-pound backpack I could barely lift, I was a wee bit terrified. Like Lucy, I spoke only a little bit of Italian, just barely enough to get by, and I wasn’t particularly good at
reading maps or train schedules. Unlike Lucy, I was travelling solo.

Luckily, my journey began with training wheels. I’d just taken a college Italian class, and my professor had offered a safe crash pad for the first few days of my trip—in
her family home in the Alps. Less luckily, when I reached Malpensa airport, nobody was there to pick me up. Giddy with excitement and jet lag, I wandered around the airport, eavesdropping on Italians as they hugged each other hello and goodbye, and had noisy arguments. I’d never felt more alone in
my life. Where would I sleep that night if my ride didn’t show up?

Luckily, my professor’s brother arrived at last to whisk me away to the family home in Domodossola. The extended family welcomed and fed me, gave me tours of their city
with its charming medieval center, helped me practice my Italian, and, when the time was right, brought me to the train station where my solo travels began for
real. It was time to take off the training wheels.

If I’d felt alone back in the airport, I was even more so on that train to Verona, a city where I didn’t know a soul. In those pre-internet days, I could disappear
into thin air and nobody would even notice I was gone. The thought was chilling, but oddly exciting.

By nightfall, I’d made it to Verona. I’d figured out the public transportation, found a youth hostel, and booked myself a bed. Best of all, I had introduced myself to a handful of other backpackers. We hung out together in the hostel’s common area, sharing bread and cheese, exchanging stories, discussing the rules of the road—those bits of practical wisdom our travels were teaching us. Here are a few.

Time passes differently on the road.  Spend a few very intense hours seeing the sites with strangers and by the end of the day, those strangers have become a part of your story. Years later you’ll see their faces in your photo album and still remember stray details of the adventures you shared together, even if you can’t quite recall their names.

Spontaneity is key.  There are few things as magical as showing up at a train station with no idea where you’re headed next, picking a random
train, and hopping on.

Janis Joplin said it best: Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.  When you’re carrying all your possessions on
your back in a city where you don’t know a soul, you’re absolutely free. You can go anywhere, do anything. That freedom has its lonely moments—but it
can be the doorway to all kinds of adventures.

Embrace misadventure.  As carefully as you plan there will be crazy mistakes: wrong turns, slept-through train stops, multilingual misunderstandings, and all kinds of other blunders—and these will make the best stories. My misadventures are some of my favorite memories. The time I missed curfew and had to climb into my hostel through a second-story window. The morning when, hanging out my recently washed clothes to dry, I dropped my wet underthings out the window, onto a
stranger’s head. The night when, with no room to stay in, I slept on Venice’s train station steps with about a hundred other backpackers, the stars above us and the Grand Canal stretched out before us.

Would I trade that last memory for a safe, comfy night in an actual bed?  Not on your life.

The Giveaway

There is a blast-wide giveaway, ending February 6th at 11:59 p.m. Pacific, for:

  • 1 copy of LOVE, LUCY to be ordered from Amazon or The Book Depository – Int’l
  • 3 JANE posters (signed) – US only

Enter in the Rafflecopter below…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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ARC Breview: The Geography of You and Me

07 Apr, 2014 by in jennifer e smith, poppy, YA book reviews, YA contemporary 4 comments

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

ARC Breview: The Geography of You and Me

The Geography of You and Me

by Jennifer E. Smith
Published by Poppy on April 15th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
three-stars
Source: Netgalley
Buy the BookGoodreads
Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too

Girl and boy get stuck in a New York elevator in a power outage then roam the city in search of ice cream. Sounds romantic? I thought so, and when Poppy send an advanced copy of The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E Smith, I jumped on the chance to read it. Jennifer is one of my all time favorite contemporary YA authors. If you haven’t read her book The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, you must do so now! Stop reading and go find a copy…

But, back to The Geography of You and Me. Owen is living in a Manhattan apartment with his father who is the new maintenance man. They’re trying so hard to make ends meet, but are both kind of lost after losing their mother. Lucy is home alone again for the weekend, while mom and dad are off traveling. Both are so close to the cusp of adulthood and big decision like college. They make quick and fast friends facing a blackout together with no parents around in the emergency to help. But, life moves on when the lights come back on. They find themselves in different parts of the country and opposite parts of the world, with a heart string tying them together.

The Geography of You and Me is subtle and poetic, it’s not a cute, light read, but not overly heavy either. It’s subtle. Overall, I wish I felt more connected to the main characters. I loved Liam, a boy Lucy meets in Edinburgh and wanted to live in that moment. I wanted to hear and feel lots more than Lucy did. I just didn’t have the connection or internalize the spark that drew Lucy and Owen together across all the miles and circumstances. I DID like all the settings…San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Scotland. What’s not to love? But I wanted to BE there. This book left me with an unresolved longing. Not my favorite I’ve read of Jennifer’s but still one I would pick up and re-read again to try to catch the poetry hidden in the pages. It was clean and the teens have a relationship with their parents– both great positives.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the sneak peek!

About the Author

Jennifer E Smith

Jennifer E. Smith is the author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Storm Makers, You Are Here, and The Comeback Season. She earned her master’s degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and currently works as an editor in New York City. Her writing has been translated into 28 languages.

Website * Twitter

Read the first 5 chapter free on Amazon
!

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The Time-Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile Blog Tour

02 Dec, 2013 by in bianca turetsky, blog tour, poppy, time traveling fashionista Leave a comment

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Time-Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile Blog Tour

The Time-Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile

by Bianca Turetsky
Series: The Time-Traveling Fashionista #3
Published by Poppy on December 3, 2013
Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Time Travel
Pages: 256
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Buy the BookGoodreads
Walk, talk, and dress like an Egyptian.
When Louise Lambert tries on a lavender Grecian gown during a visit to the mysterious Traveling Fashionista Vintage Sale, she feels a familiar tug and falls back in time, arriving at the dusty base of an enormous pyramid. She has landed in ancient Egypt...or has she?
It turns out that Louise is on the legendary Old Hollywood film set ofCleopatra, but her time there is short-lived. Rummaging through the wardrobe tent, Louise gets her hands on a pearl necklace that dates back to 51 BC, and she suddenly finds herself whisked away once more, this time to the ancient city of Alexandria, Egypt. Gold and jewels shimmer in the Egyptian sunlight, but poisonous snakes and dangerous enemies also roam the palace halls. Louise quickly learns that life as a handmaiden to Queen Cleopatra is much more treacherous--and fashionable--than she ever could have imagined

Review:

The Time- Traveling Fashionista series is one of my favorite historical fiction reads for middle grade readers. First of all, if you haven’t read books one and two they need to be added to your list of TBRs. They take vintage fashion, time travel and suspense and roll it into an easily readable adventure perfect for tweens. We’ve already been aboard the Titanic, to France during the time of Marie Antionette, and in book three we are whisked to a film set with Elizabeth Taylor and then to Egypt under Cleopatra’s reign.

Louise Lambert is the time-traveling tween who is making a couple of tough adjustments with her father, an attorney being out of work, and her best friend who has recently discovered a boy named Kip, who seems to be drifting from their friendship. She’s a bit lacking in self- confidence but nevertheless has attracted the attention of two boys in her class. But Louise is not quite ready to take the plunge into being boy crazy…she would rather take the plunge back in time by visiting the traveling trunk sale and putting on a dress with a history.

My favorite part of book three were the interesting tidbits it introduces from Cleopatra’s time. The library of papyrus in Alexandria, the black wigs and shaved heads, the poisonous asp used by Cleopatra in later life, and her intellect and ability to speak nine languages. I had no idea Cleopatra was in fact Greek, or that she married her ten year old brother Ptolemy! The snippets of google info. the author injects near the end of the book after Louise returns to her time add even more to the historical value and I wish there were more. This book had SO much to offer but I found myself wanting richer conversation, more about Elizabeth Taylor and just what us up with Stella nd Pierre. They are introduced again in book three and then completely disappear until the very ending pages. This is literally a fast whirlwind of a book, easy to read and get through in one sitting. In a way it’s refreshing and light,–but man, there is so much that I want to know that just didn’t get answered. I wanted to get to know the side characters, her best friend, her mom, the cute skater boy, and Peter. It felt  like there just wasn’t any more development on that end.

I do like that Louise is maturing and changing after each adventure. In this step back she learns that it’s not okay to steal  and there are often dire consequences. She also gains confidence and learns to defend herself against fashion Bully Billy. You go girl!

The illustrations are missing fro the Netgalley version which I was sad about– they are my favorite piece of the series. You need to see the art to appreciate the stories! Can’t wait to see each book in print form.

Do I recommend this series? Yes! They are a great introduction both fashion design and history. But book three felt too rushed and had a few content issues that I don’t remember in the previous installments.

Thanks so much to Poppy for the sneak peek and for inviting us  to be a part of The Time-Traveling Fashionista blog tour!

Be sure to read the excerpt below.

Content

(highlight to reveal): OMG full phrase frequently, one reference and taking the Lord’s name in vain, childhood marriage, moderate violence, death by poisoning.

3_5

heather

Excerpt

Hi, I’m Louise Lambert and I’m a Traveling Fashionista. If people actually told the truth about themselves, it could be a really scary game. My name is Louise and I’m on the swim team and I like vintage fashion, she rehearsed in her head. That was easier; that made sense. Even if at Fairview Junior High, vintage clothing was still considered a little weird, particularly to Billy, whose fashion sense didn’t extend beyond the same baggy jeans and dirt brown or navy pullover sweater he wore practically every day.

“Why don’t we start in the back of the class,” Miss Jones said, putting back on her oversize glasses, which made her look like a giant bug.

“I’m Billy Robertson. I love history and I was Miss Morris’s favorite student.” Everyone giggled. Judging by the amount of time he spent in the principal’s office, Billy wasn’t any teacher’s favorite student.

When it finally came around to her turn, Louise lost her nerve. “My name is Louise Lambert and I’m on the swim team,” she said quickly, her cheeks burning hot. It was true she was a good swimmer, but that wasn’t really the defining thing about her. Louise looked down at a pencil sketch of a Grecian-style dress she had absentmindedly drawn on a blank page in her notebook. Why was she unable to admit that she liked vintage clothing? She couldn’t be the only one who was afraid of being a little different, afraid of Billy making one of his trademark mean comments from the back of the room. But it felt that way. Moments like that made her realize her self-confidence was hanging on by a thread. (21-22)

About the Authorbianca-turestky-fireandice

Bianca Turetsky is the author of the stylish Time-Traveling Fashionista series, which has been translated into nine languages. After graduating from Tufts University, Bianca began working for artist/filmmaker Julian Schnabel. She managed his studio for the past 11 years and was his assistant on the Academy Award-nominated film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. She lives in a cozy studio apartment in Brooklyn, New York, that houses her very extensive and much-loved vintage collection. The third book in the series, The Time-Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile will be released December 3, 2013.

 She is represented by Meredith Kaffel at DeFiore and Company and Howie Sanders and Dana Borowitz at UTA.

Learn more on her website

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Early ARC Review- Rules of Summer by Joanna Philbin

23 May, 2013 by in netgalley, poppy, Rules of Summer, ya Leave a comment

Rules of Summer
by Joanna Philbin
Hardcover, 352 pages
To be published June 4, 2013
by Poppy
ISBN 0316212059
Book Source: Netgalley
3.5 Stars

Book Summary from Netgalley: There are two sides to every summer.


When seventeen-year-old Rory McShane steps off the bus in East Hampton, it’s as if she’s entered another universe–one populated by impossibly beautiful people wearing pressed khakis and driving expensive cars. She’s signed on to be a summer errand girl for the Rules, a wealthy family with an enormous beachfront mansion, and maybe to sneak in some beach time. Upon arrival, she’s warned by other staff members to keep her head down and to avoid socializing with the family, but Rory soon learns that may be easier said than done.

Feeling claustrophobic in her country-club world, the youngest and most impulsive Rule child, seventeen-year-old Isabel, embarks on a breathless summer romance that her family would never approve of. Isabel has decided that this is the summer for taking chances, and she’s bringing Rory along for the ride. The girls forge a true friendship, but when long-hidden secrets start to surface and Rory reveals that she has feelings for someone, too–Connor Rule, Isabel’s older brother–their relationship is put to the test.

Review: I chose Rules of Summer because of the dreamy setting an promise of a light summer read in the Hamptons, on the tip of Long Island. Rory is a Jersey girl from a no nonsense background living wither her mom who seems to have a hard time picking reliable men. Tired of picking up the slack and being around the drama she packs up and takes a summer job with her aunt as the live in help of the Rule family, a blue blood high society wealthy Hamptons family. Right away it becomes obvious Rory is entering a different world of country clubs, in home theatres and a daughter of the house who is used to getting whatever she wants. Isabel Rule is Rory’s same age but the two couldn’t be any more different. Isabel’s growing pains and quest to find herself landed her in California where she picked up a love of surf. Now that she is home she feels the undeniable itch that things aren’t quite the right fit anymore. So when when she runs into an older surfer in the water she gets pulled in deep.

I loved the distinction between classes and how those lines can be blurred by life and friendship. The main distraction for me was one of the love interests and what a jerk he is through the entire book. Isabel is young and doesn’t seem to catch on, but the underage drinking, the age difference and sex were a giant red flag from the beginning. I wanted to yell “run!” 

On the flip side, Connor Rule, “the other boy” is nice, all-American and the perfect fit.  Drama is high and the pacing a little uneven, but the overall message is one of breaking down boundaries in the name of loyalty and love. If you are looking for YA contemp in the perfect place this one is for you, for older audiences due to content.

About the author: Joanna Philbin was born in Los Angeles and grew up in New York City. She is the daughter of television host Regis Philbin. She started her first novel at the age of seven, but only got as far as the second chapter. She went on to receive her B.A. from Brown University and an M.F.A. from the University of Notre Dame. She now lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Learn more on Goodreads/ author’s blog

YA Review- This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E Smith

01 Mar, 2013 by in poppy, This Is What Happy Looks Like, YA contemporary 3 comments

This Is What Happy Looks Like
by Jennifer E Smith
Hardcover, 416 pages
Expected publication: April 2, 2013
by Poppy
ISBN 0316212822
book source: netgalley
4.5 stars
Summary from Goodreads: If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O’Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie’s Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media’s spotlight at all costs?
Heather’s Review: It’s been months since I have accepted any books from publishers for review or logged onto NetGalley, but when I saw Jennifer E Smith’s newest book I could not resist. Her last, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is one of my all -time favorites. Smith’s writing is fresh, clean contemporary YA at its best.
What Happy Looks Like is set in a small town Maine home of the perfect fourth of July celebration and the state snack– whoopie pies. Ellie has never tasted one, but teen heart throb Graham is out to change that. He is convinced the two need to meet face to face after their chance email mix up turns into more. Graham is headed to Ellie’s home town (leaving his pet pig behind) on a mission to film his newest movie and run into her, the anonymous face behind the name. His initial plan of attack at her work ice cream store named “Scoops” backfires and he is not experiencing love at first sight like he thought he would. Things turn interesting when she proves to be even more mysterious and aloof than he predicted as Ellie and her mother have a past that needs to stay hidden.
You’ll grin from ear to ear at the lengths Graham will go to to steal some alone time with Ellie, and the storyline tugs at your heart stings as it emphasizes the important of family ties. The setting is magical…summertime in a resort village with just enough home spun charm. Smith’s style is poetic, witty and even slightly melancholy. There are questions left unanswered with an open ending where readers fill in the outcome.  I really wanted to dig deeper into the characters. Hoping here is a companion novel or sequel out there, even a novealla in the future. But for now I am thrilled with another oustanding read from Jennifer E Smith and am waiting for another of her books I ordered to come in my mailbox.
Pre-order This is What Happy Looks Like. It is a perfect ray of sunshine to beat the winter blahs!
Content is suited for teens 14 and up. One swear word, otherwise clean.

About the author: Jennifer E. Smith is the author of the three young adult novels: The Comeback Season, You Are Here, and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. She earned her master’s degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and currently works as an editor in New York City.

Book Review- The Queen of Kentucky

09 Jan, 2012 by in poppy, queen of kentucky, YA contemporary 1 comment

by Alecia Whitaker
Hardcover, 375 pages
Published January 2nd 2012
by Poppy
ISBN0316125067
Book Source: Publisher
4 stars

Fourteen-year-old Kentucky girl Ricki Jo Winstead, who would prefer to be called Ericka, thank you very much, is eager to shed her farmer’s daughter roots and become part of the popular crowd at her small town high school. She trades her Bible for Seventeen magazine, buys new “sophisticated” clothes and somehow manages to secure a tenuous spot at the cool kids table. She’s on top of the world, even though her best friend and the boy next door Luke says he misses “plain old Ricki Jo.”

Caught between being a country girl and wannabe country club girl, Ricki Jo begins to forget who she truly is: someone who doesn’t care what people think and who wouldn’t let a good-looking guy walk all over her. It takes a serious incident out on Luke’s farm for Ricki Jo to realize that being a true friend is more important than being popular.

The Queen of Kentucky has so many things going for it. First is the cover, which is one of my favorites I’ve seen come in the mail. It’s not that often we see covers in yellow- it jumps out at you. The second thing is the fun trailer and third is the author. I admire authors who take time our of their busy schedules to tweet and thank you for reading their book. The setting is the deep south which wide open spaces, dusty dirt roads,a pond and acres and acres of tobacco. I became immediately immersed in the rural roots of Ricki Jo Winstead and her best friend Luke. It’s the summer before Ricki Jo’s freshman year, her first year in high school. She’s determined to reinvent herself, ditch the two names for a sassier version- Ericka. Fortune falls on her side when the four most popular girls end up in her homeroom and the school stud muffin sits next to her in Spanish. Wolf looks like he just stepped out of an Abercrombie ad and smells like it too. He’s the guy everyone is vying for, the top of Ericka’s wish list. Buy some new clothes, make the cheer leading squad, get asked to homecoming and go through puberty then Ricky Jo might just pull off the new and improved Ericka.

A coming of age tale of a 14 year old girl, this book brought back so many memories of ninth grade year (we were still in junior high). As Ericka moves up the social chain she begins to shed some of her most important friends and values. She also gets repeatedly made fun of and mistreated by her “friends.” It was painful for me to read. She has fabulous parents,a religious upbringing and the perfect boy next door but she’s willing to give it all up for a chance at popularity. Soon a middle grade lifestyle turns much more YA- into sneaking out, lots of talk about sex, streaking, drinking, cheating on school work and belittling her once closest friend. While I can sympathize with the fact that Ericka is young and has a mission, I would have liked to have seen more development of character as the book progresses. Time and time again she is mistreated by her love interest and group of new friends. Instead of standing up for herself or rebuilding those whose names she has defamed …in her upward climb, she takes it all in stride. The ending was just what I wanted to see, but too little too late for me to sympathize fully with the the main character.

Alecia Whitaker is a very talented writer. You can tell she weaves her knowledge and love for the South into her story. Her characters were well fleshed out and vivid. I like that she handles the very hard issue of alcoholism of a parent and domestic violence as it influences the children in the home. I also really liked her references to reading the bible and the importance of sticking to your roots. I could have lived in the county with Ricky Jo before she became Ericka and Luke forever. He is everything you’d want and more. I savored the innocence and closeness of their friendship. Thank so much to Poppy for a chance to read The Queen of Kentucky.

About the Author: Alecia Whitaker grew up with a big imagination on a small farm in Kentucky, which was worlds away from where she currently resides in fast-paced New York City. She knows more about cows, tobacco, frog gigging, and carpentry than the average girl, and she applies the work ethic and common sense she learned from her southern upbringing to the way she now navigates her career and family life in the big city.

Although she graduated from the University of Kentucky with a BFA in Theatre and a BS in Advertising, she’s always been a writer. She won the Soil Conservation Essay contest in the 4th grade, was selected as a Governor’s School for the Arts student in Creative Writing in the 10th grade, and then in college, she was a Top Ten Finalist in the US Southeast Region for a Ten Minute Playwriting competition at James Madison University.

Since then, she has been in loads of commercials, as well as on stage in a few small theatrical productions and poetry slams. She appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show numerous times, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, and was a contestant on Deal Or No Deal.

Her personal essays have been published in the anthology Blink: Fiction in the Blink of an Eye and several times in Underwired Magazine. She co-wrote the popular one act play Becoming Woman with a grant from The Kentucky Foundation for Women. The Queen of Kentucky is her first novel and proudest artistic accomplishment.

Now living in New York City with her husband and son, she is amused at how often her big imagination takes her back to a simpler life in Kentucky.

Learn more about Alecia on her website.

ARC Giveaway- Statisitical Probability of Love At First Sight

04 Jan, 2012 by in poppy, statistical probability of love at first sight 24 comments

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

by Jennifer E. Smith
Hardcover, 236 pages
Published January 2nd 2012
by Poppy
ISBN 0316122386
Book Source: Publisher
5 stars

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?


Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. She’s stuck at JFK, late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s in seat 18C. Hadley’s in 18A.


Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight was easily one of my very favorite reads of 2011. My parents were divorced when I was a teen and I often had to fly between states on visits so I always dreamed I would meet some fun foreigner on one of my trips. What happens between Oliver and Hadley on their airport adventure is every girls dream. Oliver is quirky and British, Hadley is nervous to be flying to London to meet her new step-mother for the first time. When the two of them bump into each other it is magic!

I guarantee you will fall head over heels in love with this book. It’s a light fun contemporary YA read with some underlying bigger things going on. For me it was a perfect 5 stars and just in time for Valentine’s Day.

About the author: Jennifer E. Smith is the author of the three young adult novels: The Comeback Season, You Are Here, and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. She earned her master’s degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and currently works as an editor in New York City.

Fire and Ice is giving away our advanced Reading copy of The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight to one of our readers. Click read more and enter via the rafflecopter form below. Ends January 17, 2012.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review- Bunheads

04 Nov, 2011 by in poppy, sophie flack, YA contemporary 4 comments

Bunheads
by Sophie Flack
Hardcover, 294 pages
Published October 10th 2011
by Poppy
ISBN 0316126535
Book Source: publisher
4.5 stars

As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances and complicated backstage relationships. Up until now, Hannah has happily devoted her entire life to ballet.

But when she meets a handsome musician named Jacob, Hannah’s universe begins to change, and she must decide if she wants to compete against the other “bunheads” in the company for a star soloist spot or strike out on her own in the real world. Does she dare give up the gilded confines of the ballet for the freedoms of everyday life?

I am so excited about all of the awesome YA contemp releases this year! Bunheads takes a hard look into a life I am familiar with. I started dancing when I was 2 all the way through college and later as an adult I taught ballet, worked as a professional African dancer and ran my own studio at home. One aspect I never had an inside track on was the workings of a professional ballet dancer so this book was fascinating to me. Sophie Flack obviously pours much of her own personal experience and feelings into her main character Hannah who leaves home at the age of 14 to enter the Manhattan Ballet Company. Now age 19, she is working her way to the top towards a soloist position. She literally uses very bit of time dancing, doing yoga, working out and watching what she eats. Bunheads delves deeply into the reality of the pressures on dancers- their struggles with body image and the debilitating effects of eating disorders. I like that the author shows the dichotomy of a girl genuinely struggling with trying to please her teacher’s by slimming down amidst the back drop of other dancers falling gravely ill with thyroid and blood disorders as a result of their anorexia. The main focus of the book is Hannah’s every day work in the company as well as her examination of life as it is. Maybe it’s time to move on outside the dark theater and explore other options that await.

One of those things she wants to have more time for is the handsome NYU student and musician Jacob she meets one day at her Uncle’s bar. Throughout the majority of the book Hannah has to tell him time and time again she can’t go out, can’t see his shows, can’t carve out a second for him. And then there’s Matt the wealthy uber fan who woos her from the sidelines with gourmet lunches and fancy Opera guild parties. Those few tiny moments when Hannah does get away paint an interesting view of New York and all it has to offer. I found myself wanting to shake Hannah at times and tell her to take a break, but I think Flack’s writing and plot were realistic. I would recommend this book for ages 16 and older because of lots of underage drinking, one heavy make out scene and a couple of “F”words. I think both non-dancers and dancers alike will enjoy Bunheads although the author uses ballet terminology without explanation which may seem repetitive to those who can’t visualize the steps. Overall, this is a great pick! I finished it in one sitting, about 4 hours total and I hope to see more from Sophie Flack in the future.