Swoon At Your Own Risk by Sydney Salter

21 Sep, 2010 by in book review, swoon at your own risk, sydney salter, YA contemporary 2 comments

Paperback, 356 pages
Published April 5th 2010
by Graphia
ISBN0152066497
4.5 stars

Boy crazy no more?
You’d think Polly Martin would have all the answers when it comes to love—after all, her grandmother is the famous syndicated advice columnist Miss Swoon. But after a junior year full of dating disasters, Polly has sworn off boys. Now she’s just trying to survive her summer job at Wild Waves Western-themed water park (under the supervision of ex #3, Sawyer Holmes) and focus on herself for once. So Polly is happy when she finds out Grandma is moving in for the summer—think of all the great advice she’ll get.

But Miss Swoon turns out to be a man-crazy sexagenarian! How can Polly stop herself from falling for Xander Cooper, the suddenly hot skateboarder who keeps showing up at Wild Waves, when Grandma is picking up guys at the bookstore and flirting with the dishwasher repairman? And why, despite her best intentions, does Polly keep letting boys get in the way of her relationship with her best friend, Jane?

No advice column in the world can prepare Polly for what happens when Jane persuades her to go on a group camping trip with three too many ex-boyfriends and the tempting Xander. Polly is forced to face her feelings and figure out if she can be in love—and still be herself.

Every once in a while I come across a book that just clicks for me. This was one of those books. Sydney Salter is a local Utah author I met at Authorpalooza on Saturday and picked up a signed copy of her book. I sat down to read it and less than 24 hours later was done with a smile on my face. Swoon At Your Own Risk is a light, fun read that in my opinion is perfect for teens. Polly, the main heroine is looking for a little bit of distraction from her not-so-perfect life and tries out quite a few relationships back to back. Things get a little confusing when she is forced to work with her ex-boyfriend Sawyer at the local water park. Add a few more ex’es in the mix along with her neighbor Xander and you have one interesting summer.

As Polly becomes the main topic of her co-worker gossipy blog, she has to try to figure out who she is and what she really wants. Will she be plastic Polly with a fake smile and lots of jokes, or the real person who is hurting? Meanwhile Polly’s Mom is working at the local burger joint and her dad has forgotten she exists. Along comes Xander, someone Polly has known since elementary school, but boy has he changed….gotta say I love Xander. He is the yin to her yang, and brings her right to where she needs to be. Who wouldn’t want a friend who writes prose, plays ball with your little sister and folds you paper cranes? My favorite scenes with the two of them…cliff diving and a party where he shoes up with another girl to make Polly jealous. Swoon At Your Own Risk will keep you chuckling, yet it still addresses issues that so many teens today face: finding yourself, healing after a parent’ divorce, and being a true friend. Truly it was such a fun read, that I will definitely read Sydney Salter’s other books.

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News and Affiliates

21 Sep, 2010 by in contest winners, etsy, Heather Gardner Photography 2 comments

Congrats to @RoseCBR @Caitlingss @FrutiTutti and @RainyDay Reads who won signed Sydney Salter bookmarks on twitter yesterday. Follow us @FireIcePhotos for twitter exclusive photos and giveaways.

Avalonne83 from Podova, Italy is our winner of Rhode’s Black Onyx ringhttp://fireandicereads.com/2010/08/black-onyx-ring-giveaway.html Please email us your mailing addresses.

Welcome to our newest affiliate Once Upon a Twilight! Follow them on tiwtter @TwilightsDance and check out their blog at http://www.onceuponatwilight.com/

And in photography news three of Heather photo’s made Etsy Treasuries this week.

I’m So Berry Happy from Pajazzled

Angel Soft by Orly My Light
It’s Natural , It Is collection from Memories 1303

Utah Author Event- Authorpalooza 2010

20 Sep, 2010 by in utah authors 21 comments

Saturday was the huge Authorpalooza event at Barnes and Noble for over 40 Utah authors. What a blast…treats, book signings and readings. My kiddos thought it was Halloween with all the cupcakes, candy and freebies! Special thanks to Kristyn Crow and Sharlee Glenn for reading to them. Here’s a list of the authors we got to meet:

Jessica Day George –Princess of Glass

Becky Hall–Morris and Buddy

Heather Justesen– Rebound -Read our review of Rebound here

Sheralyn Pratt –Rhea Jensen Series -Read our interview with Sheralyn here

Dene Low– Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone -YA Historical fiction

Kristen Landon– The Limit -YA Dystopian

Nancy J. Miles–In Good Taste -Family History Cookbook

Steve Gashler– The Bent Sword

GG Vandagriff–Pieces of Paris -NEW Fiction

Rachael Renee Anderson– Luck of the Draw

Frank L.Cole –Hashbrown Winters – See our author spotlight here

Heather Horrocks –How To Stuff a Wild Zucchini -See our book review here

Sydney Salter –Swoon At Your Own Risk – YA Fiction…currently reading now!

Lisa Mangum– The Hourglass Door- See our reviews for books one and two in her series

Marilyn Bunderson– The Mark -see our review here and book based photo gallery here

Dragon Lance The New Adventures

Chef Shawn Bucher –The First timer’s Cookbook

Sterling B. Nixon– The Sea Kings of Rome
Berin Stephens –The Dragon War relic

Alan Bellows– Damn Interesting

Terri Ferran –Having Hope

Dan Wells Mr. Monster
Aubrey Mace -My Fairy Grandmother- see our book review here and author interview here

Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen –Trapped-see our book spotlight here and author interview here

Brandon Sanderson –Wheel of Time

Alicia Buck– Flecks of Gold- YA fiction, currently reading

Camille Funk–Cooking for One
Emily Wing Smith–The Way He Lived-Contemporary YA fiction- see our book review here
Jillayne Clements –The Diet Rebel’s Cookbook & Deadly Treasure
John Brown–Servant of a Dark God
Kristen Chandler–Wolves, Boys and Other Things that Might Kill Me- YA fiction- bought this book, review coming soon
Kristyn Crow –Cool Daddy Rat-see our author interview here

Mettie Ivie Harrison– The Princess and the Bear
Nathan Hale –Rapunzel’s Revenge–see their launch party coverage here
Nichole Giles –The Sharp Edge of a Knife-see our review here
Sharlee Glenn –Just What Mama Needs
Stephen Gashler–The Bent Sword
Wendy Paul–101 Gourmet Cupcakes

We are giving away author signed bookmarks. To enter to win: simply comment below with the book or author which interests you most. Contest Ends October 20, 2010 and is open internationally.

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

17 Sep, 2010 by in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Hardcover, 496 pages
Published August 31st 2010
by Feiwel & Friends
ISBN 0312656262
4 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads “Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Venus Cove. But everything changes when three angels are sent from heaven to protect the town against the gathering forces of darkness: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. They work hard to conceal their true identity and, most of all, their wings. But the mission is threatened when the youngest angel, Bethany, is sent to high school and falls in love with the handsome school captain, Xavier Woods. Will she defy the laws of Heaven by loving him? Things come to a head when the angels realize they are not the only supernatural power in Venus Cove. There′s a new kid in town and he′s charming, seductive and deadly. Worst of all, he′s after Beth.”

So, first of all…the cover. Sometimes when I pick up a book I get done reading and think “what does the cover have to do with the story?” In this case; the photo fits perfectly and it is breathtaking. Main heroine Beth is introduced along with her perfect siblings to life away from heaven as an emissary for good. She starts off incredibly innocent. But her capacity to love is much deeper than other angels and meeting Xavier Woods forces her to make some choices which could alter her eternity. Beth is so swept up with these new feelings of love that it’s only natural her entire world would orbit around Xavier. He is a perfect gentleman with just the right mix of sass and charm. Truly, their relationship is selfless. What I appreciated about this book is the overall message that good overcomes evil, that little deeds add up, and that love is powerful and has a real force. It brings mainstream religious beliefs into the young adult world; it’s a perfect medling of paranormal and pop teen culture. Overall, the book has a slow moving pace which really picks up in the last few chapters. There are a few dark moments once evil forces are recruiting power, but Halo has a redemptive tone. There is also mention of sex, but the two main characters choose to wait. I’ll definitely pick up the sequel. My favorite scene is when Beth accidentally become drunk at her first party and Xavier comes to the rescue. “Of all the gallant knights who could come to my rescue, why did it have to be Xavier Woods? What was our Father in His Infinite wisdom thinking?” p.97 Alexandra Adornetto has accomplished something wonderful with Halo and I am excited to see more from her. At age 17 she is already a three times published and New York Times bestselling author.

News!

17 Sep, 2010 by in contest winners Leave a comment

Congrats to Carrie at In the Hammock blog, Infertility Goddess, Kjovus, Toree, The Book Pixie, Ibeeg, Misty at Misty’s Book Mess, Red Butterfly and Ruby GeorgAnn for winning signed Angie Frazier Everlasting bookmarks http://fireandicereads.com/2010/08/book-review-everlasting.html

and to Fairy Whispers who won the Everlasting inspired photo print http://fireandicereads.com/2010/08/author-interview-angie-frazier.html
Please email us your mailing address!

And be sure to enter to win Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare by tweeting us on Twitter or commenting on our Facebook page. Ends tonight at 10 MST.

Welcome to our newest affiliates, a group of girls I absolutely love!! The Hob.Org
Head on over and follow their site for all things Hunger Games.

BlogMania Journal Giveaway

16 Sep, 2010 by in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Writing is a Blessing Blog is giving away some amazing prizes as part of their Blogmania event. Head on over there today for a chance to win one of our handmade guitar with wings journal from our Etsy shop, The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa, plus other books and goodies…Catch the mania!
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Waiting on Wednesday- Hourglass

15 Sep, 2010 by in myra mcentire 6 comments

Our Waiting on Wednesday is Hourglass by Myra McEntire, twitter peep extraordinaire!

She is one of those people who will make you smile, so we can’t wait to read her debut novel. Head on over and follow her blog here.

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: EgmontUSA
To be released May 24, 2011
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1606841440

Description from the Publisher’s Marketplace listing: “Myra McEntire’s debut HOURGLASS, a timeslip romance in which a girl who sees ghosts meets a boy who knows the truth about what her visions really are, and he alone can unlock the secrets of her past, to Regina Griffin at Egmont, in a two-book deal, by Holly Root at Waxman Literary Agency (NA).”It will also be published in Germany by Random House and in Brazil by Record.

WriteOn Con is offering a chance to win an ARC! Go now… http://writeoncon.com/2010/09/pre-order-of-hourglass-by-myra-mcentire/

Teaser Tuesday- Heavenly

14 Sep, 2010 by in Teaser Tuesday 2 comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by Miz B. of Should Be Reading.

This is how it works: Grab a book that you are currently reading. Turn to any page and grab two teaser sentences from that page. Make sure it’s not a spoiler in case anyone wants to read the book. Include the author and name of the book :

“In spite of the old regret that flashed over him, he held serenity in his countenance, a feeling I yearned for but understood I couldn’t have completely- not right away anyway. Whatever tranquility possessed him, possessed him because of who he now was.” -p. 129 Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

Add this book on Goodreads

Paranormalcy Signing and Giveaway

13 Sep, 2010 by in book giveaway, paranormalcy, the king's english 6 comments


Happy Monday everybody! I have been reading up a storm and have a ton of reviews to write but first a post about the weekend. Saturday I went to the Paranormalcy book signing at the King’s English bookstore with Kiersten White. She is originally from Utah so it was fun to have her introduce some of her friends from her very own High school days, two of whom inspired a scene from Paranormalcy about being blond and needing to wear mascara. During the question and answer session we learned:
  • Paranormalcy was not the first book she pitched. She wrote another which got rejected over and over before going back to re-edit and submit Paranormalcy. If at first you don’t succeed writers try try again.
  • She loves reading contemporary YA and middle grade books
  • Supernaturally is the name of book #2 in the series. Due to be released around April of next year. It’s about Evie and life where she gets a lot of the things she’s always wanted but realizes life is still hard. We’ll learn a lot about Evie’s past and enter the faerie realms. A new character named Jack is introduced, Kiersten’s all -time character to write
  • Kiersten draws many of her paranormal creatures from traditional folklore. One of her favorites is the hag who sits on people’s chests and makes it so they can’t wake up or drags them into the water. She also loves the Pixies and kelpies of European mythology
  • You’ll never see a love triangle in her books. She did not intend Paranormalcy to be a love triangle. She also thinks as a storyteller it’s important to have a resolution and ending to each of her books.

Kiersten has a super fun and bubbly personality. It was so fun to meet her and she even tweeted all of us who came to thank us.

There were at least 20 Utah authors including Emily Wing Smith, Sheralynn Pratt, Bree Despain, Nichole Giles in attendance. And we spotted two other Utah book bloggers : Cranberryfries and Emsreadingroom. Thanks to The Kings English for having such well planned events!

Just for our blog followers (old and new) we are giving away an author signed hardback copy of Paranormalcy to U.S. readers. Please fill in the form here

Contest ends October 13, 2010.

Contest Winners

12 Sep, 2010 by in rebecca maizel 2 comments

Congrats to @GeckyBoz for winning our Manifest prize pack http://fireandicereads.com/2010/08/manifest-prize-pack-giveaway.html

and Ashelynn Sanford who won the New Cassandra book ~Clockwork Angel! Email us your mailing address and thanks to all who entered.

Head on over to Infinite Days author Rebecca Maizel’s blog for a chance to win the UK hardcover and one of our Remembering Rhode handmade necklaces from LittlerRedReads on Etsy. There are two winners! It is open internationally and ends September 24th. Special thanks to Rebecca for featuring us. Trust us…you won’t want to miss this book.