Out with the In Crowd by Stephanie Morrell - Book Tour

Out with the In Crowd
by Stephanie Morrell
on tour Feb 21 - 27

From a talented new voice in YA fiction:
HOW DO YOU START OVER AGAIN IN HIGH SCHOOL?

Teens have embraced Skylar Hoyt, the title character in The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series by debut author Stephanie Morrill. Skylar is a character readers can relate to, as she struggles with popularity, fitting in and figuring out what really matters in the midst of it all.

In the second book of the series, Out with the In Crowd, Skylar is struggling with her circle of friends: She’s vowed to change her partying ways, but it's not so easy to change her friends and her old life is constantly staring her in the face. Add to that two parents battling for her loyalty, a younger sister struggling with a crisis pregnancy, and a new boyfriend wishing for more of her time, and Skylar feels like she can't win. After all, how do you choose favorites among the people you love most?

With style and grace, Stephanie Morrill delivers another compelling story that addresses teen issues in Out with the In Crowd. Romantic Times reviewed the first book in The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series, with praise: “This is a good start to a promising new series. Morrill introduces a strong, relatable character to root for.”

Stephanie Morrill is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and the Teen Lit writers' group. Morrill is the author of Me, Just Different and Out with the In Crowd, and she also serves in youth ministry. She lives in Kansas with her husband and young daughter.

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet. (Press release from Baker Publishing)


For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.

It's Monday! What are you reading? 2-22-2010

What are you reading on Mondays is now being hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - be sure to stop by her blog and congratulate her on being bequethed this great meme! You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too!


Well, after dealing with Strep this week with me and my son - I didn't get caught up like I wanted to. However I did make some decisions about some books that have been loitering on my "still reading" list and have decided that they need to be re-shelved and tried again at another time. So you will see that some books have disappeared for awhile.

Currently reading:
1. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver I am reading this as part of the YA First Look program for Barnes and Noble. This is the first First Look that I have participated in and am enjoying reading others comments and getting different insights.

2. Eggs in Purgatory (A Cackleberry Club Mystery) by Laura Childs This is my current "bathroom" book. I have received book 2 from the author and wanted to read them in order. Look for 2 giveaways from Laura Childs this week.

3. Out with the In Crowd (The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt) by Stephanie Morrell This book is on tour this week with Revell.


New this week:
1.Yesterday's Promise (East of the Sun) by Linda Lee Chaikin On tour this week with Waterbrook.

2. Beneath a Southern Sky (Beneath a Southern Sky Series #1) by Deborah Raney On tour this week with Waterbrook

Current audio book:
1. Wake by Lisa McMann

Books Reviewed:
1. Legend of the White Wolf by Terry Spear

Kid's Books Reviewed:
1. Dump Truck Day by Cari Meister

Waiting for Review:
1.Evermore: The Immortals by Alyson Noel

2. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks Yay! We finished this audiobook and also went to see the movie. I will be talking about both this week.

3. Anything but Normal: A Novel by Melody Carlson

4. 101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle: A Cheeky Book with Tidbits of Advice for a Glamorous Lifestyle by Dawn Del Russo

Children's Books Waiting for Reviews:
1. Building a Bridge (Pebble Plus)by JoAnn Early Macken

2. Demolition (Pebble Plus)by JoAnn Early Macken

Ready - Set - Read!

Evermore by Alyson Noel (Book Review)

Title: Evermore
Author: Alyson Noel
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin


My synopsis: Ever is left to start over with her aunt Sabine in California after a car accident leaves her parents, little sister Riley and dog dead. She is alive, but she is now capable of hearing people's thoughts and seeing their "aura's". The slightest touch of another person catapults her into their thoughts. For this reason, she tries to seclude herself behind baggy clothes, sunglasses and her Ipod becomes her constant companion. It helps to drown out the constant "noise" that now surrounds her. Despite this, she does become friends with two other "misfits" at her new school in California, Miles and Haven.

She also attracts Damen, a super-hot new student, and for the life of her - she cannot understand why he has singled her out. She does what she can to resist him, but discovers that when he touches her, all sound and noise around her is calmed and it is silent. She also cannot read his thoughts and detects no aura around him. For these reasons (despite the "super-hot" factor) she finds herself drawn to him.

Haven, who desperately seeks the attention that she doesn't get from her parents, becomes friends with a long-time acquaintance of Damen's by the name of Drina. Ever also cannot see an aura around Drina, but always gets a really bad feeling when she is around.

As odd as Ever's life is, she begins to wonder who Damen really is and how he seems to know so much, be good at so much, lived in so many places, and have unending wealth - all while being emancipated from his parents. And just how does Drina fit in with his life?

My thoughts: I enjoyed this YA adult book - first of The Immortals series. I liked Ever and though she didn't like her ability to read other's thoughts, wouldn't that be a fun power to have - at least for a little while? I forgot to add above about the fact that she could see her dead sister Riley and carried on conversations with her all the time. I loved their relationship and what they gave up for each other (Riley in the beginning of the book and Ever in the end). I found some of the antics of her little sister to be so typical of a younger sibling - but being a ghost, she could get away with so much more and only Ever could see her.

Her gay friend Miles was also very funny - especially with all his "texting" relationships. Having 2 teenage daughters I can certainly relate to all the texting! Haven was so easily led to do things that I don't think were in her nature - but just because she wanted so desperately to be noticed. If she thought that she was going to gain someone's attention, especially someone like the beautiful Drina, then she was all for it.

I think that I will go on in this series and try the next book, Blue Moon, as I did enjoy this one. I am curious to see where Ever's and Damen's relationship is going to go.

Evermore
Publisher/Publication Date: St. Martin's Griffin, Feb 2009
ISBN: 978-0-312-53275-8
320 pages

General Hospital Brand Ambassador

Yep - You are reading that correctly! I am a Brand Ambassador for General Hospital! I am very excited about this and hope that I can do it justice. General Hospital was the first soap that I watched - way back when I was in junior high. It was the summer of Luke and Laura and I know a lot of teen girls were hooked. I continued to watch as much as I could through high school and college. This was before SoapNet, DVR's and TiVo - so if you didn't catch it while it was on - you didn't catch it!

Over the years I did go through time periods where I would faithfully record and watch each episode as I worked full time up until 2004. My third child was born that year and I became a full-time stay-at-home-mom. Did this mean that I could now watch GH all the time? Of course not, but DVR's are a wonderful thing! I have been able to enjoy the show more than usual the last 5 years. It is amazing that instead of watching Luke and Laura, I now watch their kids Lucky and LuLu.


General Hospital has covered everything - AIDS, rape, kidnapping, serial killers, hotel fires, hostages, train crashes, and this is in addition to philandering husbands and wives, babies needing DNA tests to know their daddies, and let's not forget about the Mob!

Some of my favorite couples over the years have been
Georgie and Dillon,
Emily and Nickolas,
(What's up with killing off these 2 girls anyway!),
Elizabeth and Jason,
and Luke and Tracy
(For the humor - not necessarily the romance!).
Oh - I almost forgot - Lucy Coe and Kevin Collins!

So please stay tuned over the next few weeks for General Hospital high lights. But for now - who is your favorite couple from General Hospital? - Past or present, dead or alive.




~I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for ABC Daytime and will receive a tote bag or other General Hospital branded items to facilitate my review.~

Mailbox Monday/In My Mailbox 2/20-2/21

Mailbox Monday is hosted at The Printed Page or In Your Mailbox at The Story Siren on Sunday. Please stop by those posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!

The Five Love Languages of Teenagers
by Gary Chapman
(a Net Galley request)

Socially, mentally, and spiritually teenagers face a variety of pressures and stresses each day. Despite these peer pressures; it is still parents who can influence teens the most. Are you equipped to love your teenager effectively? Dr. Gary Chapman is here to help, with a special edition of the #1 New York Times bestselling book The Five Love Languages.

Get equipped to be a better parent as The Five Love Languages of Teenagers explores the world in which teenagers live; explains the developmental changes; and give tools to help you identify and appropriately communicate in your teens love language. Get practical tips on loving your teen effectively and explore key issues in your teen’s life including anger and independence. Finally learn how to set boundaries that are enforced with discipline and consequences, and discover useful ways for the difficult task of loving when your teen fails.

With more than 250,000 copies sold, learn the secrets to loving your teenager effectively through real life stories from the counseling office of Dr. Gary Chapman. Get ready to discover how the principles of the five love languages can really work in the lives of your teens and family. Do you know your teenagers love language? (Amazon)

Call Me Kate: Meeting the Molly Maguires
by Molly Roe, Mary Garrity Slaby, John Garrett Slaby
(an Ebook offer from Tribute books)

Coming of age amidst the seething unrest of the Civil War era, feisty fourteen-year-old Katie McCafferty infiltrates the Molly Maguires, a secret Irish organization, to rescue a lifelong friend. Under the guise of Dominick, a draft resister, Katie volunteers for a dangerous mission in hopes of preventing bloodshed. Katie risks job, family, and ultimately her very life to intervene. A series of tragedies challenge Katie's strength and ingenuity, and she faces a crisis of conscience. Can she balance her sense of justice with the law? Call Me Kate is suitable for readers from eleven to adult. The story is dramatic and adventuresome, yet expressive of daily life in the patches of the hard coal region during the Civil War era. This novel will appeal to readers of the Dear America series, as well as more mature readers who will enjoy the story's rich context and drama.(Amazon)

The Executor
by Jesse Kellerman
(Shelf Awareness/Putnam)

Perpetual graduate student Joseph Geist is at his wit's end. Recently kicked out of their shared apartment by his girlfriend, he's left with little more than a half bust of Nietzsche's head and the realization that he's homeless and unemployed. He's hit a dead end on his dissertation; his funding has been cut off. He doesn't even have a phone. Desperate for some source of income, he searches the local newspaper and finds a curious ad:

CONVERSATIONALIST SOUGHT.
SERIOUS APPLICANTS ONLY.
PLEASE CALL 617-XXX-XXXX
BETWEEN SEVEN A.M. AND TWO P.M.
NO SOLICITORS.

And so Joseph meets Alma Spielman: a woman who, with her old-world ways and razor-sharp mind, is his intellectual soul mate. How is he to know that what seems to be the best decision of his life is the one that seals his fate? (Amazon)

The Last Day
by James Landis
(won at Winning Readings - thanks Jane!)

Warren Harlan Pease, the young narrator of this spellbinding novel, returns to his native New Hampshire from the Iraq War and spends an entire day with Jesus visiting and contemplating his own life with fresh eyes, and a willing heart. He examines his relationships to those he loves -- his girlfriend, his best friend, his father, his dead mother, his daughter -- and grapples with the pain he has been carrying since the death of his mother when he was still a boy.

While in Iraq, armed with his sniper's rifle and his deeply held faith, Specialist Pease traveled across ideological borders and earned an appreciation for his enemy's culture and for what connects us all as human beings. He also learned how to kill and taught others to do the same. "War doesn't test your faith in Jesus," Warren came to realize. "It tests your faith in yourself." The Last Day answers some questions and asks many more. It's a powerful meditation on religion and war, love and loss.

This work of compassion and healing grace will resonate with skeptics and believers, be shared and discussed between friends and among families. It is a book for our time, and forever. (inside cover)


Still the One
by Robin Wells
(Hachette/Romance Junkies)

After Katie Charmaine's husband is killed in Iraq, all she has left is a closet full of his clothes, a few pictures and fond memories. She not only lost her love, but her last chance to have the children she's always wanted. Until Zack Ferguson shows up in town. . . with the daughter Katie gave up for adoption nearly seventeen years ago.

Zack Ferguson has never forgotten Katie, or the one magical night they spent together. Seeing her again brings up a tidal wave of emotions: regret over the way he left her, anger at the secret she kept, and desire he hasn't felt in years. But he's in town for Gracie. Their daughter is sixteen, angry at the world, and -- worst of all -- pregnant. She needs the love of her two parents now more than ever. Can these three forgive the hurts of the past and open their hearts to one another? (back cover)




Montana Destiny
by R. C. Ryan
(Hachette/Romance Junkies)

They're the McCords . . . three rugged, sexy cowboy cousins who'll inherit the family range -- if they seek the treasure hidden on it. But even more precious are the women who can tame their wild hearts . . .

Emergency medic Marilee Trainor likes her freedom and lives for trouble. Then she stumbles upon a clue to the legendary McCord gold and suddenly finds herself in a mysterious killer's sights -- and in the arms of irresistible playboy Wyatt McCord. This McCord cousin has been everywhere, yet the ranch is the only place he feels at home. Now Marilee's courage and independence make him want to protect her, win her heart, and finally settle down. But trust is the one thing Wyatt and Marilee can't easily give. And their survival and everything they cherish depends on whether they can surrender to each other -- to fight for their . . . Montana Destiny. (back cover)





To Surrender to a Rogue
by Cara Elliott
(Hachette/Romance Junkies)

An expert in antiquities, Lady Alessandra della Giamatti arrives in Bath to excavate newly discovered Roman ruins -- only to find herself caught in the web of a blackmailer threatening to expose her scandalous past. The one man who can help her is Lord James "Black Jack" Pierson, a fellow member of the expedition and a sinfully handsome rogue whose tempting presence ignites a different sort of danger.

Jack has clashed with Alessandra in the past, so when she suddenly surrenders her body he can't help being suspicious. Is she a scheming temptress? Or is she truly a lady in trouble? As desire and deceptions swirl around them, Alessandra and Jack must find a way to win each other's trust. For if they don't work together to uncover a shocking truth, their enemy -- and their own simmering passions -- may destroy them and everything they cherish. (back cover)





Knight of Passion
by Margaret Mallory
(Hachette/Romance Junkies)

Renowned beauty Lady Linnet is torn between two desires: revenge on those who destroyed her family or marriage to her childhood sweetheart Sir James Rayburn. One fateful night, she makes a misguided choice: She sacrifices Jamie's love for a chance at vengeance.

Jamie Rayburn returns to England in search of a virtuous wife -- only to find the lovely Linnet as bewitching as ever. Their reckless affair ignites anew, even hotter than before, although Jamie vows to never again trust her with his heart. Then just as Linnet begins to make amends, she's tempted by one last opportunity to settle old scores. But a final retribution could cost her Jamie's love -- this time forever. (back cover)

Desire Me
by Robyn DeHart
(Hachette/Romance Junkies)

The Men of Solomon's meet in secret, their very existence only a rumor among the best of Victorian society. They are treasure hunters, men of wealth and title, seekers of myths and legends. And no legend is as mystifying as the lost city of Atlantis. . .

Years ago, Maxwell Barrett found a map to Atlantis and dedicated his life to the search for the mystical lost continent. But when an alluring woman makes a wager for the priceless artifact, he may have discovered an even greater treasure.

A descendant of Atlantis, Sabine Tobias needs the map to decipher an ancient prophecy. What she doesn't need are the sparks flying between her and Max. He's too devilishly charming to be trusted: The fate of her people is at stake as well as her heart. Yet a ruthless killer also covets the map. Now Max and Sabine must race to decode the prophecy's riddle before this criminal fulfills his deadly mission. (back cover)

Seized
by Max Hardberger
(Barnes and Noble Sneak Peek for March)

Seized throws open the cargo hatch on the shadowy world of maritime shipping, where third-world governments place exorbitant liens against ships, pirates seize commercial vessels with impunity, crooks and con artists reign supreme on the docks and in the shipyards -- and hapless owners have to rely on sea captain Max Hardberger to recapture their ships and win justice on the high seas.

A ship captain, airplane pilot, lawyer, teacher, writer, adventurer, and raconteur, Max Hardberger recovers stolen freighters for a living. In Seized, he takes us on a real-life journey into the mysterious world of freighters and shipping, where fortunes are made and lost by the whims of the waves. Desperate owners hire Hardberger to "extract" -- or steal back -- ships that have been illegitimately seized by putting together a mission-impossible team to sail them into international waters under cover of darkness. It's a high-stakes assignment -- if Max or his crew is caught, the risk is imprisonment or death.

Max's tales take readers behind the scenes of the multibillion-dollar maritime industry, as he recounts his efforts to retrieve freighters and other vessels from New Orleans to the Caribbean; from East Germany to Vladivostok, Russia; and from Greece to Guatemala. He resorts to suing everything from disco dancing to prostitutes to distract the shipyard guards, from bribes to voodoo doctors to divert attention and buy the time he needs to sail a ship out of a foreign port without clearance. Seized is narrative adventure nonfiction at its best. (back cover)

Try Darkness
by James Scott Bell
( Won over at Sexy Women Read)

Former trial lawyer Ty Buchanan is recovering from his fiancee's death and a false accusation of murder on the peaceful grounds of St. Monica's, offering legal aid to the underprivileged instead of trying glamorous court cases.

Enter a mysterious woman with a six-year-old daughter whose case forces him to cross paths with ex-best friend and colleague Al Bradshaw.

When the woman is murdered, Buchanan is determined to find the killer and protect the little girl. Following a trail that unveils darkness in the best and worst parts of Los Angeles, he is compelled to discover skills he never needed as a civil attorney in order to keep himself and the girl alive (back cover)

The Poacher's Son
by Paul Doiron
(Barnes and Noble First Look for March)

Game Warden Mike Bowditch returns home one evening to find a cryptic message on his answering machine from his father, Jack, who he hasn't heard from in two years. The next morning Mike gets a call from the police: a beloved local cop has been killed and his father is their prime suspect. Coming to terms with his haunted past and desperate for answers, Mike and a retired warden pilot journey deep into the Maine wilderness to clear his father's name and find out why Jack is on the run. But the only way for Mike to save his father is to find the real killer before the killer finds him (inside cover)

She-Rain: A Story of Hope
by Michael Cogdill
(FSB Associates)

In the early 20th century, a pair of North Carolina mountain children sow the seed of a love that becomes their only solace in the hard yet beautiful world they know. They grow it from steep ground of poverty, ignorance, and violence. A landscape so brutal it can kill hope long before claiming life.

Bloodshed years later finally sends Frank Locke on the run, deep into wilderness, abandoning his extraordinary love, Mary Lizbeth. When a whitewater river washes this desperate soul into the hands of Sophia, he discovers a luminous woman steeped in mystery, trapped in a tragically brilliant life. Far ahead of her time. Secreted from the world. As she awakens Frank's mind, they rise to meet a love that binds three people for a lifetime.

This love triangle forms a beauty no one sees coming. From the wilds of Appalachia, crossing nearly a century, it runs deep into a lush American fortune, and lives in letters of adoration and hope of the least expected.

In a rhapsody of Southern voices, mingling hilarity and sorrow, She-Rain speaks of lives soaring beyond heartbreak, fundamentalism, and self-destruction. Through the most graceful longing, two women in love with one man ultimately prove the power of human hearts to answer high callings. They show us all how to heal -- and thrive -- to the very end. (back cover)

Never Blame the Umpire
by Gene Fehler
(First Wild Card Tour)

Kate is having the best summer a sports-loving eleven-year-old could possibly have. Baseball. Tennis. And to top it off, Kate has just started a three-week class where she's discovering a new love: poetry.

Then comes the news that tears Kate's world apart. In her close-knit family, Kate has always felt God's love and protection. But how can she trust God now? Do sports or poetry matter when tragedy strikes?

In Kate's darkest hour, her mother's faith shines its brightest, helping Kate to see that life is still beautiful and God is still good. Always, no matter what. (inside cover)

An Unfinished Score
by Elise Blackwell
(Unbridled Books)

As she prepares dinner for her husband and their extended family, Suzanne hears on the radio that a jetliner has crashed and her lover is dead. Alex Elling was a renowned orchestra conductor, Suzanne is a concert violist, long unsatisfied with her marriage to a composer whose music turns emotion into thought. Now, more alone than she's ever been, she must grieve secretly. But as complex as that effort is for her, it pales with the arrival of Alex's widow, who blackmails her into completing the score for Alex's unfinished viola concerto.

As Suzanne struggles to keep her double life a secret from her husband, from her best friend, and from the classical music world, she is consumed by memories of a rich love affair saturated with syncopating rhythms. Increasingly manipulated by her lover's widow and tormented by the concerto's many layers, Suzanne realizes she may lose everything she's spent her life working for.

A story of love, loss, sex, vengeance and betrayal, this psychologically compelling novel explores the relationships among women as friends and rivals and what it means to make a life of art. (back cover)

What books found a home with you this week?