Cover Reveal - Falling For Alice Anthology + Giveaway!

Today I am taking part in the cover reveal for Falling For Alice, a new anthology all about Alice in Wonderland. For more information about the book, its cover and its contributors, and a giveaway, just keep reading!

Background Information

2015 marks the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s beloved adventure, Alice in Wonderland—and as you might imagine, a lot of literary peeps are celebrating the occasion.

This story has a special place in millions of young (and old) hearts, including those of the five Young Adult authors in the FALLING FOR ALICE anthology. Today, as we launch the awesome cover for FALLING FOR ALICE, we also celebrate our publisher’s actual birthday (Happy Birthday, Jessica Bell at Vine Leaves Press), and all of YOUR unbirthdays. We hope you get to have your cake and eat it too.

Title: Falling For Alice

Contributors: Dawn Dalton, Shari Green, Denise Jaden, Kitty Keswick, Cady Vance

Publisher: Vine Leaves Press

Release Date: April 24, 2015

Website / Goodreads / Twitter 

New Alice. New Wonderland. New stories to love.

From the modern Alice dumped int eh Aquarian Age of the late sixties, to the present day Alice, tormented by body image and emotional issues, to the Alice of the future, launched forward through time and space, FALLING FOR ALICE offers five fresh takes on Lewis Carroll’s classic tale. For 150 years, people all over the world have fallen under Alice in Wonderland’s spell. Now, follow five Young Adult authors down the rabbit hole to discover Alice like you’ve never seen her before. One thing is certain—this is not your mother’s Alice. 

Keeping up with the birthday theme, the authors were all kind enough to answer a birthday-themed question. Here's what they had to say!

IF YOU COULD ONLY HAVE ONE THEME FOR YOU BIRTHDAY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Dawn Dalton

My birthday isn’t anywhere near Halloween, but I wish it was because I’d have a haunted theme every year. Hubs and I go crazy at Halloween, often winning neighbourhood awards for most creepy décor—my husband even built a coffin where he hides to “scare” the older kids. Plus, we put on an annual feat for out friends that includes spooktacular appetizers like the devilled spider eggs, mummy hot dogs, cheesy bone biscuits, shrimp brains, and so much more. Our guest list increases every year—last Halloween, we had 55 people at our house. 

Shari Green

“Life’s a beach.”

Denise Jaden

I’d probably choose superheroes. There is so much variety within that theme, and my whole family are superhero fans. We’re already stocked on T-shirts and cups, and other fun party supplies. One year it could be Wonder Woman, the next, The Avengers…Plus, it would be a lot of fun to see our friends dressing up as they favorite superheroes.

Kitty Kreswick

Something beach themed—I love the ocean/beach. We’d have the party on the beach and stay well after sunset and have a bonfire. Some great food, sticky fingers BBQ—with a great potato salad and lots of choices of drinks. Maybe even some chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallow for s’mores.

Cady Vance

It would definitely be Harry Potter because it’s my favorite thing in the entire world, and I would never get tired of dressing up in my Gryffindor garb!

Trailer

Giveaway!

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Never Enough Video & Giveaway

I didn't intend to be posting so much about Never Enough by Denise Jaden, but then things happened and this is the third post about the book this week. But it's all worth it because Never Enough was a truly fantastic read and if you haven't already, you should check out my review and my interview with Denise Jaden.

Today's post is to share with you a really touching video that Denise Jaden put together featuring herself and other authors talking about ways they felt they weren't enough when they were teenagers. This video really fits in well with the novel because, as the title would suggest, it's all about how two sisters don't feel like they are worthy or enough. Check out the video below and keep on reading for a giveaway.

GIVEAWAY

In honour of the release of Never Enough, I have decided to hold a giveaway. There are two prizes for two winners. The first winner will receive a finished copy of Never Enough and some swag (includes signed swag--picture below) and the second winner will receive just the swag. To enter just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. US/CANADA ONLY.

GOOD LUCK!

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Never Enough by Denise Jaden

Title: Never Enough

Author: Denise Jaden

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: July 10, 2012

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Loann's always wanted to be popular and pretty like her sister, Claire. So when Claire's ex-boyfriend starts flirting with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it takes to feel special…even if that means betraying her sister.

But as Loann slips inside Claire's world, she discovers that everything is not as it seems. Claire's quest for perfection is all-consuming and comes at a dangerous price. As Claire increasingly withdraws from friends and family, Loann struggles to understand her and make amends. Can she heal their relationship--and her sister--before it's too late?

When I read Denise Jaden's Losing Faith almost two years ago I absolutely loved the story despite the more difficult subject matter. When I heard about Never Enough I knew it was something I wanted to read, and just like with Denise Jaden's first book, I fell in love with it despite the difficult subject matter, which she dealt with amazingly.

Loann has always lived in her sister Claire's shadow and has never felt like she was enough. Claire's life has always looked perfect and Loann has wanted nothing more than to be included in that life. So when people in Claire's circle start paying attention to her, Loann starts to feel like maybe she may be good enough and doesn't have to live in her sister's shadow. But Loann soon discovers, everything may not be as it seems in Claire's world. This new insight into her sister's life allows Loann to see that Claire is screaming for help, but it may already be too late to give her the help she needs.

The story in Never Enough was not an easy story to read but it was one that completely drew you in. Right from the beginning I became attached to the characters Denise Jaden created and I couldn't help but feel like they were real people. Their stories were absolutely touching and they will stay with you for a long time. I know they will for me. Never Enough is a story about relationships. I loved seeing all the relationships develop and how they were all affected by one another and seeing that development made for a captivating story. But Never Enough is also a story that deals with eating disorders, which isn't necessarily the easiest subject to deal with. Denise Jaden did it wonderfully and I loved seeing how the story of the eating disorder played into all the different relationships, because Never Enough was really all about the characters.

Like I've already said, the story in Never Enough is all about the characters and their relationships with one another. You get to explore the relationship between sisters Loann and Claire just like you explore both their relationships with their mother, at least through Loann's eyes. It was really interesting to see how the characters changed as the relationships changed and vice versa. One relationship I really loved seeing develop was the friendship between Loann and Marcus. When I first met both characters, they seemed like such an unlikely pair but as the story moved forward and their friendship deepened, I realized that in a way they were perfect for each other. The other relationship that was interesting was between Claire and Loann. It was definitely an intricate relationship that was constantly changing, but through it all I could really tell that both sisters really cared for one another despite having difficulties showing it. And because Never Enough was really about the characters and their relationships, they are definitely going to be staying with me for a long time.

Never Enough was a great and touching read. Denise Jaden expertly handled the difficult subject that is eating disorders. Though it was integral to the story, it didn't overshadow all the relationships but instead showed how the disorder changes everyone's lives. And that's what was powerful about Never Enough.

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

Title: Losing Faith

Author: Denise Jaden

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: September 7, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

When Brie’s sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie’s world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral further off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don’t  know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.

As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don’t line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith’s final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.

I’ll be honest, the main reason I originally picked up Losing Faith by Denise Jaden was because it was part of the Contemps Challenge. That’s not to say that the book didn’t sound interesting from the description, because it totally did and as it turns out the book was actually really good. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the book because I hadn’t looked that much into it and it had only just come out when I began reading it. I’ll admit I was uncertain about the book at first, but as I kept reading I just liked it more and more and by the end I just loved it.

Brie has always been the “bad” sister, what with Faith being all perfect and super involved in church and youth group. Basically, Faith is the perfect daughters all parents dream about having. That is until she dies suddenly Brie finds herself in the position long held by her sister. Brie’s life turns upside down: her parents are a mess, the guy she thought loved her may not be all that into her, and her friends just don’t know how to approach her anymore. Brie finds herself becoming friends with the last people she ever expected to be friends with and the more she looks into it, the more there seems to be something off about the night her sister died.

Brie sort of creeped up on me. I wasn’t sure about her at first but as I was reading, I found myself liking her more and more. It’s really great to see her evolution throughout the book. She went from being a a teenage girl trying to find out where she fit in and ended up being strong and knowing exactly who she was. Even if she wasn’t physically there, it was also great to see Brie’s relationship with Faith changed. Despite Faith being dead, by the end of the book Brie was closer to her sister than ever. Brie was truly great once I got to know her and wished I could have spent more time with her.

Brie’s friends amused me more than anything else. From the start I could pretty much tell that things weren’t going to work out with Dustin and that Amy wouldn’t turn out to be as good a friend as Brie made her sound. But when Tessa and Alis came in, I liked them from the start. Tessa had me laughing many times and shaking my head the rest of the time. The things the girl thought of, just had me completely wondering how she even came up with those ideas. Alis was different, I liked him pretty much right away and that might have had something to do with him being all mysterious at first. But as I found out more about him, I could tell that he was just a good guy trying to do the right thing...and for once I wasn’t totally going for the bad guy.

At first, I wasn’t completely sure about the whole religious aspect of the book but it turned out it didn’t really bother me by the end. It wasn’t really what was important about the story. The focus was on Brie trying to figure out what had happened to Faith and getting to know her better through her death. The way the story was set up, I could see some of the things coming but a lot of it took me by surprise which is what I like books to do.

Losing Faith was a great read and, I’ll be honest, I enjoyed it a lot more than I originally thought I would. It was a great story about love and loss but didn’t fall into all the clichés that are normally associated with those two subjects. Now I can say that I can’t wait for whatever comes next from Denise Jaden.