Kick A** Debut Author Spotlight

Today I’m joining a group of fellow bloggers in showing our support for debut authors with the Kick A** Debut Author Spotlight- organized by the wonderful Christina Lee.

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

Between the beautiful and mysterious cover art and the cryptic story blurb, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer went immediately into my must-read pile.

After a tragic accident that left her closest friends dead, Mara’s family decides to move to Florida in order to help her cope. But the past comes back to haunt her-the memories of what happened that night slowly seeping back into her subconscious until she must face a terrifying truth.

Let me tell you right now, there are some downright creepy moments in this book. And I know creepy. The emotional investment in Mara is immediate- she’s funny, pragmatic and strong. And the seeping doubt in her own sanity makes the fine line between paranormal and psychotic episodes even more unsettling. The tension stayed with me like a cemetery mist every time I put the book down and wouldn’t go away until I picked it up again.

Michelle Hodkin’s eloquent descriptions, vibrant characters and pitch perfect dialogue had me turning the pages until the very end.  Definitely a worthy read for fans of paranormal romance. Congratulations Michelle- Here’s wishing you a long and prosperous career!

Be sure to check out the other blogs and authors participating in today’s Kick A** Debut Author Spotlight:

Rachele raves about IMAGINARY GIRLS
Susan is featuring RIP TIDE
Robyn spotlights ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE
Matt loves SOLSTICE
Nicole wants to tell you about POSSESSION
Janet tells why she loves LIAR SOCIETY
Kate talks about MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN
Sheri admires IRON WITCH
Jen would like to tell you about WITHER
Shannon celebrates DARK PARTIES
Jon loves MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE
Michelle tells you about SHIFTING
Susan admires WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE
Natalie gives a shout out to AUDITION, THE FAERIE RING, and MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE
Katie loves THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER
Stina gives you a taste of BAD TASTE IN BOYS
Jessie spotlights SPELLBOUND and BIRTHRIGHT
Willow admires DESTINED
Christine raves about POSSESS
Kristin really really likes CLARITY
Anne features READY PLAYER ONE
Meredith wants to shout about DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE
Amy Rose loves THE NEAR WITCH
Theresa talks about DIVERGENT
Kelly focuses in on EARTHLING HERO and A SCARY GOOD BOOK
Christine gears you up for THE LIPSTICK LAWS

Laura is wild about GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS

Patti tells you about HEREAFTER

Portia admires THE SECRET OF SPRUCE KNOLL

Ali has plenty to say about POSSESSION

Random Acts of Publicity: Making Waves by Tawna Fenske

As part of  Random Acts of Publicity  I’ve decided to highlight a book I read over the summer by debut author Tawna Fenske.  I first heard about Fenske and her book though Matthew McNash’s The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment.  As soon as I saw the words ‘Romantic Comedy’ my virtual ears (or should I say eyes?) perked up.  I just wrote a romantic comedy for young adults but until seeing Tawna’s book, I’d never heard of a book genre being classified that way.  Movies as romantic comedy?- sure!  But books? – not so much.

So of course I ordered a copy of her book through my kindle to see what classified as romantic comedy.

And I was not disappointed. 

The main character Juli Flynn isn’t your ordinary 30-something singleton with family issues.  I won’t divulge what makes her different but let’s just say- following her train of thought and the way she sees things is downright hilarious.

As is the premise of Making Waves.

A hodge-podge group of disgruntled employees decide to resort to open-sea piracy in order to take back the pensions that were cut by their evil ex-boss.   But Alex Bradshaw, a 42 year old handsome-but-jaded Ex-Executive VP has his work cut out for him if he wants to organize his colleagues; a fifty-year-old bench-pressing blond with intimacy issues, a sensitive ex-NFL linebacker who loves to dabble in French cuisine, and a heavyset accountant with a penchant for conspiracy theories, into a team of real-life pirates.

And when they end up with a cute and freakishly-capable stowaway in Juli, the main characters are going to have a hard time holding onto their heads, never mind their hearts as things get choppy.  (sorry, I’m loving me some sea-faring puns with this one.)

Making Waves was a super fun read with character quirks and twists and turns that provided more than enough laugh-out-loud moments.

Here’s where you can learn more and order a copy:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Powell's

Indiebound