Wednesday 30 January 2013

Book Excerpt: Derailed by Alyssa Rose Ivy



 Title: Derailed (Clayton Falls #1)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: 22nd September 2012


Goodreads - Amazon.co.uk/.com (Currently free on Kindle)
When you're lost, sometimes the only place you can go is home.
Broken over the death of her fiancé, Molly leaves law school to return to her childhood home in North Carolina. Expecting to lay low until she can figure out what else to do with her life, she finds herself in the arms of her high school sweetheart, the boy who represents everything from the past she tried to leave behind.
Looking for an escape, she instead finds a way back to the girl she almost forgot existed and a future she never dreamed possible.
Excerpt

With his brown hair buzzed short as usual, and the constant tan with a hint of sunburn he always sported from working on his dad’s boats, my high school sweetheart stood at the counter.
“Molly?” His brown eyes widened. A barely visible smile played on the corner of his lips.
“Hi, Ben.” I smiled, giving a small wave. Inside, my stomach did somersaults. I wasn’t ready for this.
“Wow, what are you doing here? You work at Marney’s again?” He placed a hand on the counter. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Boston?”
“Plans changed.”
“How so?” Ben was never one for mincing words.
“I quit law school.”
“Oh. How’d your fiancé take it?” He said the word ‘fiancé’ like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“We’re not getting married.”
“Oh… I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, I didn’t exactly spread the word. Did your dad really not tell you I was back?”
“My Dad?”
“I ran into him this morning. I figured he would have mentioned it, or am I wrong and you don’t work with him anymore?” Ben’s plans, aside from his music, had always been to work in his father’s marina sales and rental company and to take over one day. It was hard to pull him away from the water.
“He didn’t mention it.” His face scrunched up the way it always did when he was thinking. “But wow, I definitely didn’t expect to see you.”
“I’ve been getting that a lot.”
“So since you’re working here, does that mean you plan to stay around?” I couldn’t tell what answer he wanted.
I leaned up against the back counter. “Maybe… I really don’t know. This was kind of a last minute decision.”
“How last minute?”
“Meaning I walked out of class, packed up what I wanted from my apartment, and left the city.”
“That’s… cool.” Ben put his hands in his pockets.
“Yeah.”
We stood in awkward silence for a while, just looking at each other. “So, can I get you something?”
“Oh sure, the special.”
“Okay, coming right up.” I grabbed one of the chicken salad sandwiches I had spent so much time making and wrapped it up. “So what have you been up to?” I called over my shoulder.
“You know, work mostly—I’ve started a side business taking out fishing tours. It keeps me pretty busy. I’m still playing with the guys, though.”
“Yeah, I heard that.” I fidgeted nervously while holding his sandwich in one hand. Making small talk with Ben wasn’t easy. There was way too much we needed to say to each other, but couldn’t.
“We’re playing tonight at Gill’s. You should come.”
“Oh, I don’t know, but thanks.”
“Come on, you should. I promise we’re better than in high school.” He smiled, and I knew I was lost. It was impossible to say no to that smile.
“All right.”
“Yeah? Okay, cool. Maybe we can catch up after? It’s been a long time.”
“Okay.” I filled a cup with Coke. I assumed he hadn’t changed his drink of choice.
He looked torn for a moment. “Oh, and Mol?”
“Yeah?” I placed his drink on the counter.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you up in Boston.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“See you later.”
“Bye.”
As soon as the door chime sounded announcing Ben’s exit, Gail came out to join me. “Now that’s the old Molly. All it took was five minutes with Ben Mathews. I think we found your solution.”

Author Info



Alyssa Rose Ivy is a Young Adult and New Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Author Website: http://www.alyssaroseivy.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5047249.Alyssa_Rose_Ivy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaRoseIvy
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alyssaroseivy


Becky 

Waiting on Wednesday #23

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, showcasing books that we are waiting to read.

Title: Edge of Dawn (Midnight Breed #11)
Author: Lara Adrian
Publisher: Canvas
Release Date: 21st February 2013

Goodreads - Amazon.co.uk/.com - Book Depository

Twenty years after "First Dawn" - the morning that followed a blood-soaked night where Mankind learned that vampires lived among them - wars and skirmishes continue. Peace between humans and the Breed seems elusive, but the Order and their allies will not rest until it is won. For Mira, raised with the Order from the time she was a child and now the formidable captain of her own team of warriors, the fight is personal. War with mankind has cost her a great deal - the life of someone she loved dearly. Vowed to avenge his death, Mira blazes into every battle like a Valkyrie - until an unexpected encounter with a rebel leader brings her face-to-face with a startling truth, and a betrayal that will cut through her every defence...straight to the core of the wounded woman whose faith has never been more tested, nor her heart more deeply torn.
With the jump of twenty years from the end of book ten, I cannot wait to see what has happened to everyone and to see how the younger characters have grown. Also to jump back into all the Lara Adrian goodness.

Becky

Monday 28 January 2013

Reading Plan #21













Wow I have not done one of these in a long time. Second year uni work takes up a lot more of time than I thought it was going to. Along with exams and Christmas, not a lot of reading has happened in that time. I am planing to get right back into the swing of things now. I hope I can keep it up this time.

Finished

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

I have enjoyed these two authors in the past and it was another jem to read. I enjoyed this one. 

Currently Reading

Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3) by Beth Revis

The classic Beth Revis mystery has started to pick up. Really enjoying it.

To Read

 Derailed (Clayton Falls #1) by Alyssa Rose Ivy

I received this book as part of the book tour. With nothing on this week I hope I can read this in time for the post. It is currently free on Kindle.

Becky

Sunday 13 January 2013

Book Review: Slammed (Slammed #1) by Colleen Hoover

Title: Slammed (Slammed #1)
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: 18th September 2012
Read In: Janruary 2013

Goodreads - Amazon.co.uk/.com - Book Depository

*This is a review from the Netgalley. Quote from Netgalley*
Falling in love can feel like poetry. Or it can feel like a slam to the heart.
Colleen Hoover’s romantic, emotion-packed debut novel unforgettably captures all the magic and confusion of first love, as two young people forge an unlikely bond before discovering that fate has other plans for them.
Following the unexpected death of her father, eighteen-year-old Layken becomes the rock for both her mother and younger brother. She appears resilient and tenacious, but inside, she's losing hope. Then she meets her new neighbor Will, a handsome twenty-one-year-old whose mere presence leaves her flustered and whose passion for poetry slams thrills her.
Not long after a heart-stopping first date during which each recognizes something profound and familiar in the other, they are slammed to the core when a shocking discovery brings their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together and the forces that tear them apart. Only through the poetry they share are they able to speak the truth that is in their hearts and imagine a future where love is cause for celebration, not regret.


For the first few chapters of this book I was murmuring, “no, oh, no, no, no. Don’t do this.” I had heard some really good things about this book but at the beginning it seemed like it was going to be another really rushed contemporary. I half forgot that blurb says that something will force them apart but they had only known each other a few days. Love at first sight alright.

When this shocking discovery happened, which was a shock because I didn’t even think of it, the fact that they had only known each other a few days went right out of the window. Back to “oh no, oh no, they were so cute together.” Maybe if they had a longer period of time together before hand it would have been more dramatic but from that moment on the story picked up and I breezed through. 

“And what’s a slam?” I ask.
“It’s poetry.” He smiles at me.
“It’s what I’m all about.”…
“Poetry, huh?” I say. “Do people write their own or do they recite if from other authors?” He leans back in the booth and looks up at the stage. I see the passion in his eyes when he talks about it. “People got up there and pour their hearts out just using their words and the movement of their bodies,” he says. “It’s amazing.”

This is one of those books that I ultimately find hard to review. I finished the book, put down my kindle and just stared at the wall. Why did I really enjoy this book? It was hard to put my finger on it for this review. Everything, from the characters to the plot, just worked together. I couldn’t stop reading. 

They only reason that I can say why I really enjoyed this book was the romantic tension between Will and Layken. When they were just getting to know each other, I thought it was moving a little fast. After the revelation, I was egging them on. I love Will especially, he is 21 and yet so mature. I loved discovering more about him, from the serious situations to his shenanigans in high school. Unfortunately I did not find Layken as intriguing but she complimented Will really well. Together they are amazing.

I am not a poetry person. I have never really thought of it as an enjoyable thing to read, just something I had to do in English class at school. As for slam poetry, I had never heard of it before reading this book. As a person who doesn’t read poetry, I think the slam poetry really fit. It was a novel way of getting to know the characters at a deeper level, to learn characters deeper emotions and backgrounds. Eddie (who is a girl) is your typical bubbly best friend and yet due to the slam poetry we get to know about her past more than best friends in other books without her having to sit down an tell us her life story. It was great fun.

Kel and Clauder, the younger brothers of Layken and Will respectively, stole the book for me. With everything serious and tense going on, you need this dynamic duo to come in and make you smile. When Kel says sentences backward, it is so adorable.

Everybody has been raving about this book and I can see why. While Slammed didn’t hit me on a deep emotional level, it made me smile and I couldn’t put it down.



Becky