Desert Rice/Desert Flower by Angela Scott (Book Reviews)

Welcome to the Virtual Book Tour of Desert Flower presented by Reading Addiction Blog Tours - February 18 - March 15!

February 18 - Reading Addiction Blog Tours - Meet and Greet

February 19 - Books and Needlepoint - Review

February 20 - Bean Counting Mommy - Review

February 22 - Snifferwalk - Review

February 23 - Andi's YA Books - Review/Interview

February 24 - The adventures Within - Review/INterview

February 25 - Author Ever Leigh - Review

February 26 - My Reading Addiction - Review

February 28 - 

March 1 - Queen of All She Reads - Review/interview

March 2 - Doodle's Book Blog - Review

March 3 - Reviewing Shelf - review

March 4 - Must Read Faster - Review

March 5 - 

March 6 - Oh! The Books That You'll Read - Review

March 7 - 

March 10 - A Bibliophile's Thoughts - Review

March 11 - My Neurotic Book Affair - Review

March 12 - My Cozie Corner- Review

March 13 - Book Maven - Review

March 13 - My Seryniti - Review

March 14 - Kaisy Daisy Blog - Review

March 15 - Taking it One Page at a Time - Review/Interview

March 15 - RABT Reviews - Review

Desert Rice

Desert Flower

About Desert Rice: Samantha Jean Haggert is a beautiful twelve-year-old girl—but no one knows it. All they see is an awkward boy in a baseball cap and baggy pants. Sam’s not thrilled with the idea of hiding her identity, but it’s all part of her older brother’s plan to keep Sam safe from male attention and hidden from the law. Fifteen-year-old Jacob will stop at nothing to protect his sister, including concealing the death of the one person who should have protected them in the first place—their mother.

Sam and Jacob try to outrun their past by stealing the family car and traveling from West Virginia to Arizona, but the adult world proves mighty difficult to navigate, especially for two kids on their own. Trusting adults has never been an option; no adult has ever given them a good reason. But when Sam meets “Jesus”—who smells an awful lot like a horse—in the park, life takes a different turn. He saved her once, and may be willing to save Sam and her brother again, if only they admit what took place that fateful day in West Virginia. The problem? Sam doesn’t remember, and Jacob isn’t talking.

About Desert Flower: Bodies have a canny way of finding Samantha Jean Haggert. The first, the dead body of her mama. The second, a naked man in the middle of the Arizona desert. For Sam, dealing with one dead body in her lifetime is more than unfair. Two, is downright cruel.

Seven years after running from West Virginia, Sam's now a young woman of nineteen, trying to put the pieces of her life together with the help of her family—Jacob, Boone, and Laura. But the naked man in the desert spirals her world out of control, resurfacing past hurts, revealing old secrets, and pitting her between two men who via for her heart. Carson, her friend, her first kiss, and the one man who knows everything about her past and loves her despite it. And Turner, the stranger who knows nothing, but who excites and frustrates her all at once. 

When bad choices made as a child leads to more bad choices as a young adult, Sam finds herself at a crossroads and is forced to face her demons head on if she plans to have any future at all—with Carson, with Turner, or with anyone. But fixing the wrongs of the past takes time, and learning to forgive herself is damn near impossible.

Buy Links 

Amazon

DESERT RICE 

DESERT FLOWER 

Barnes & Noble: 

DESERT FLOWER

iTunes: 

DESERT FLOWER 

Tori's Thoughts: I read Desert Rice in preparation for reading Desert Flower and am glad that I read them in order.  The first book gave me some background and insight into the story that may not have had quite the same punch without reading it.  I liked seeing the strong relationship between Jacob and Sam evolve - in the first book Sam is only twelve, but is wise beyond her years due to her circumstances.  She has lived through sexual abuse, betrayal, murder, but has also learned how strong family bonds can be, even if they are not related by blood. 

 Desert Flower starts out seven years later and her relationship with Carson (a boy who had become her protector in Desert Rice) has changed into a physical one.  Feeling confused, days later she also sleeps with Turner.  This creates one very interesting love triangle.  

I enjoyed that Jacob was still so supportive of Sam, even though he knew about both men in her life.  You also got to learn more about Laura and Boone in this book - they had taken them in in Desert Rice and without owing anybody any obligation have adopted them as their own.  In Desert Flower this relationship solidifies and you see what great people they really are.  

The pace of the book was consistent throughout Desert Rice and Desert Flower.  The story would move along over a period of days and then jump ahead a few weeks - which was confusing at first, but then I came to expect the jumps in time.  This wasn't really my style of book, as I really enjoy fantasy and sci-fi - but I found myself very involved in the story and did not want to stop reading.  I have a feeling there is a third book that could come out of this story.  My mom just told me that she has written a Zombie series and I am really looking forward to reading those!

REVIEW BY TORI! 
(Video added by her proud mom. . .  seemed like a good theme song for these books!)

~I received complimentary ecopies of these books from Reading Addiction Blog Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~

About the author: I hear voices. Tiny fictional people sit on my shoulders and whisper their stories in my ear. Instead of medicating myself, I decided to pick up a pen, write down everything those voices tell me, and turn it into a book. I’m not crazy. I’m an author. For the most part, I write contemporary Young Adult novels. However, through a writing exercise that spiraled out of control, I found myself writing about zombies terrorizing the Wild Wild West—and loving it. My zombies don’t sparkle, and they definitely don’t cuddle. At least, I wouldn’t suggest it.

I live on the benches of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains with two lovely children, one teenager, and a very patient husband. I graduated from Utah State University with a B.A. degree in English, not because of my love for the written word, but because it was the only major that didn’t require math. I can’t spell, and grammar is my arch nemesis. But they gave me the degree, and there are no take backs.

As a child, I never sucked on a pacifier; I chewed on a pencil. I’ve been writing that long. It has only been the past few years that I’ve pursued it professionally, forged relationships with other like-minded individuals, and determined to make a career out of it.

You can subscribe and follow me on my website, where I blog obsessively about my writing process and post updates on my current works. I’m also on Twitter and Facebook, but be forewarned, I tweet and post more than a normal person.

You can connect with Angela at the following places:
Website
Twitter
Facebook

Desert Rice
Publisher/Publication Date:  Evolved Publishing, June 2012
ISBN: 9781622538546
225 pages


Desert Flower
Publisher/Publication Date: Evolved Publishing, Jan 2013
ISBN: 9781622538607
216 pages

My Writing Quirks and Must Haves (Guest Post by Angela Scott)

My Writing Quirks and Must Haves

by Angela Scott

I am a quirky kinda gal, so yeah, I've got some writing oddities that are part of my daily writing process. I love comfy clothes. I can write a whole better wearing my PJ's than I can wearing jeans, a bra, and a blouse. If I'm comfortable, then my writing flows a lot easier. Weird, but true. On a really good writing day, I wear PJ's well into the mid afternoon. 

Also, I have a desk and I surround it with cute quotes and inspirational sayings to motivate me, but I never write at my desk. Hardly ever. Instead, I prefer sitting on my bed, cross-legged (in my PJ's), with my laptop across my knees. As I said, I'm all for comfort. This probably goes back to my college days when all I had in my dorm room was my bed. That's where I did my homework and studied for tests.

The sound of kids screaming or fighting or the TV turned up and blaring Spongebob zaps all my creativity faster than a cheetah chasing a gazelle. Unfortunately, this is my life, so to counteract the craziness I try to get up before them and get some writing in. If that can't be done (the other day I got up at 6:30am to write and by 6:45am two kids were up—they thwarted my plan), then I make sure they're fed and content before I put in my earbuds and listen to some music. Music drowns out the kids and depending on the song, can really help in the writing process.

Next to me is usually perched a nice frothy glass of Diet Pepsi and a little something to snack on—peanuts, pretzels, carrots. It helps fight off the munchies and keeps me at the laptop where I need to be. If I head to the kitchen for a snack, I get easily distracted and can end up doing a sink full of dishes and mopping a floor and who wants that?

Before I even start typing, I have to check email and facebook. If I don't I will fret and wonder. Most of the time, nothing is happening over there, but I still have to check to ease my mind. This can be dangerous though since , as I've said before, I'm easily distracted and get carried off in the social media world for hours and hours. So this is tricky and has to be handled with care.

For the most part, those are my quirks. Nothing too crazy like singing and chanting to invoke the muses or anything, just me in my PJ's sitting on my bed. It works for me.  

Angela Scott is the author of Desert Rice, currently touring with Reading Addiction Blog Tours.  For more information, please visit my excerpt and giveaway.  

Desert Rice by Angela Scott - Excerpt and Giveaway!

YA Contemporary 

Title: Desert Rice 

Author: Angela Scott

 Date Published: 8/13/12 

 Synopsis: Samantha Jean Haggert is a beautiful twelve-year-old girl—but no one knows it. All they see is an awkward boy in a baseball cap and baggy pants. Sam’s not thrilled with the idea of hiding her identity, but it’s all part of her older brother’s plan to keep Sam safe from male attention and hidden from the law. Fifteen-year-old Jacob will stop at nothing to protect his sister, including concealing the death of the one person who should have protected them in the first place—their mother. 

 Sam and Jacob try to outrun their past by stealing the family car and traveling from West Virginia to Arizona, but the adult world proves mighty difficult to navigate, especially for two kids on their own. Trusting adults has never been an option; no adult has ever given them a good reason. But when Sam meets “Jesus”—who smells an awful lot like a horse—in the park, life takes a different turn. He saved her once, and may be willing to save Sam and her brother again, if only they admit what took place that fateful day in West Virginia. The problem? Sam doesn’t remember, and Jacob isn’t talking. 

Author Bio

I hear voices. Tiny fictional people sit on my shoulders and whisper their stories in my ear. Instead of medicating myself, I decided to pick up a pen, write down everything those voices tell me, and turn it into a book. I’m not crazy. I’m an author. For the most part, I write contemporary Young Adult novels. However, through a writing exercise that spiraled out of control, I found myself writing about zombies terrorizing the Wild Wild West—and loving it. My zombies don’t sparkle, and they definitely don’t cuddle. At least, I wouldn’t suggest it. 
I live on the benches of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains with two lovely children, one teenager, and a very patient husband. I graduated from Utah State University with a B.A. degree in English, not because of my love for the written word, but because it was the only major that didn’t require math. I can’t spell, and grammar is my arch nemesis. But they gave me the degree, and there are no take backs. As a child, I never sucked on a pacifier; I chewed on a pencil. I’ve been writing that long. It has only been the past few years that I’ve pursued it professionally, forged relationships with other like-minded individuals, and determined to make a career out of it. 
You can find me at my website, where I blog obsessively about my writing process and post updates on my current works. I’m also on Twitter and Facebook, but be forewarned, I tweet and post more than a normal person. 

Contact 
Blog 
Twitter - @whimsywriting
Facebook


Excerpt from Desert Rice

We stopped in a remote town outside of Kansas City, and while Jacob added a few dollars of gas to the car, I went inside the convenience store to use the restroom. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but when I returned to the car, Jacob kept glancing around, and his hands shook even though the sun hung high in the midday sky.

"We need to go. Get in the car."

His jitteriness made me nervous. I couldn't see anything around that should, but I climbed into the car as he'd told me to. He reached across and locked my door, and I tensed and sat rigid in my seat.

"What's going on?"

"Not now." He started the car and we pulled onto the highway.

He kept looking into the rearview mirror every few seconds, so I turned in my seat and glanced behind us, too. I didn't see a thing. No one followed us.

"Is it the police?"

He didn't say anything, but pressed on the gas to make the car go faster. I continued to watch behind us, but after awhile I gave up and turned back around in my seat. I'd no idea why he acted the way he did.

"You're scaring me." I watched my brother's profile. "What's going on?"

"We're going to have to cut your hair."

That took me by surprise, and I struggled to understand what one thing had to do with the other. "What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you see how those guys back there looked at you?" He turned and glanced at me before staring ahead again.

"What guys?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

"The ones sitting outside the gas station. They watched you the whole time."

"You mean the guys with the motorcycles?" A couple of bikers parked outside the convenience store hadn't appeared to be doing much of anything, just sitting there. I'd hardly noticed them at all.

He nodded. "They watched everything you did."

"I didn't see them watching me."

He sneered. "That doesn't surprise me. You don't notice anything."

"So what," I argued. "So they were watching me. What's the big deal? Why do I have to cut my hair?"

Jacob breathed deeply and then released it. "Because you didn't see the way they looked at you." He kept driving onward. "Sam, don't you have any better clothes than this?" He tugged on my tank shirt. "You've got to get rid of this and those cutoff shorts too. You're attracting the wrong kind of attention."

"I'm not trying to attract any attention. I'm not doing anything—"

"It's not you, Sam," he interrupted. "It's those perverts that I'm worried about. You're growing up and men are starting to look."

Why would men be looking at a twelve-year-old girl? A chill ran down my spine, and I shivered while looking back out the rear window again. No one followed behind us.

I slumped back down in my seat. "So, why do I have to cut my hair?"

He stared at me and then looked away. "Because, Sam, the best way to keep you safe is to make you look like you're my brother."

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