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!

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Becoming Rain by K.A. Tucker

Title: Becoming Rain (Burying Water #2)

Author: K.A. Tucker

Publisher: Atria Books

Release Date: March 3, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo / B&N

Luke Boone doesn’t know exactly what his uncle Rust in involved in but he wants in on ti—the cars, the money, the women. And it looks like he’s finally getting his wish. When Rust hands him the managerial keys to the garage, they come with a second set—one that opens up the door to tons of cash and opportunity. Though it’s not exactly legal, Luke’s never been one to worry about that sort of thing. Especially when it puts him behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 and onto the radar of gorgeous socialite named Rain.

Clara Bertelli is at the top of her game—at only twenty-six years old, she’s one of the most successful undercover officers in the Washington D.C. major crime unit, and she’s just been handed a case that could catapult her career and expose one of the west coast’s most notorious car theft rings. But, in order to do it, she’ll need to go deep undercover as Rain Martines. Her target? The twenty-four-year old nephew of a key player who appears ready to follow in his uncle’s footsteps.

As Clara drifts deeper into the luxurious lifestyle of Rain, and further into the arms of her very attractive and charming target, the lines between right and wrong start to blue, making her wonder if she’ll be able to leave it all behind. Or is she’ll even want to.

I am such a huge K.A. Tucker fangirl and I will read and will very likely love just about anything she writes. This was true of her Ten Tiny Breaths series, and it’s been true with her Burying Water series so far. I loved the first book, and the second one, Becoming Rain, completely blew me away.

Luke has always known there was more to his uncle Rust’s business than just an auto-repair shop. Sure, the garage is successful, but there’s no way it could support his uncle’s lifestyle. And Luke wants in on it. He doesn’t care that the dealings may are shady, he wants the women, the cars and the money his uncle’s business seem to bring in. Especially when he meets Rain Martines. What Luke doesn’t know is that Rain isn’t exactly who she says she is. Rain is also Clara, an undercover cop on assignment. And her target? None other than Rust, Luke’s uncle. Clara knows what she has to do in order to take down Rust’s car theft ring. Her assignment is clear: seduce Luke Boone and gain access to the operations. But lines becomes blurred between where Rain ends and Clara begins, especially as she spends more time with Luke. When the time comes, will Clara be able to do what she needs to? And if she does, will Luke ever be able to forgive her?

Oh how I love reading a new K.A. Tucker story. There’s just this feeling when starting a new book by a favourite author that I just won’t ever get tired of. And that feeling was definitely there when I started reading Becoming Rain. When I first received my copy of the book for review, I told myself I would just read a few pages and then go back to what I was supposed to be reading. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I got completely sucked in, and before I knew what was happening, a few pages turned into a few chapters and then that quickly turned into me staying up way too late because I couldn’t put the book down. To say that Becoming Rain was captivating and engrossing would be a serious understatement. With this new series, K.A. Tucker has included an element of mystery to the stories, giving the books an almost thriller feel. And I love it. The whole time I was reading, I was waiting for things to be explained, to see if how I had pieced things together was the way they actually were. And as with any good K.A. Tucker book, the romance was there and it delivered. But of course I can’t talk about the romance without talking about Clara and Luke.

Let me just preface any talk of Clara and Luke by saying that my feelings about them were complicated. I knew what I felt, but there were times when I was conflicted about what I was feeling. But by the end of it, there was no doubt in my mind that I was rooting for Luke and Clara. But rooting for them when for the better part of the book one of them was pretending to be someone else was hard. At first I just felt very conflicted. I was reading and I could see the chemistry between Clara and Luke and I could see that they were attracted to each other. But at the same time, Clara was so against the idea of being attracted to Luke that I started to feel that way. But I still wanted them to be together. Did I mention that my feelings were complicated? Beyond wanting Luke and Clara to be together in spite of everything happening around them, I really loved them as their own people. Sure, there were plenty of moments when I wanted to yell at Luke. When I wanted to tell him that he should turn around now before he got in way over his head. Hell, I’m pretty sure there were times when I was straight up talking at the book as if Luke could actually hear me (I swear, I’m not crazy). But at the same time, I knew that Luke was a good person. He was just stuck in a bad situation. And I could understand Clara’s struggle about the way she felt about Luke because half the time I was right there with her. Through it all Clara was being pulled back and forth between her feelings and her duty as a cop. I really enjoyed seeing her work through all that, and I kept hoping that whatever decision she came to would involve her being with Luke. Because as confused as I was about my feelings about their relationship, I would have been seriously angry if Luke and Clara didn’t find a way to work it out.

K.A. Tucker’s Becoming Rain was absolutely fantastic. If anything, I loved this story even more than I did the first one in this series. It’s a little darker, it’s sexy and it has some of the best characters I’ve read about recently. I”m excited to see whose story K.A. Tucker will be tackling next!

When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill

Title: When Joss Met Matt

Author: Ellie Cahill

Publisher: Balantine Books

Release Date: February 24, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Ellie Cahill is poised to coin the term “sorbet sex” with her charming twist on the age-old ‘friends-with-benefits’ story.

Dating can be fun, but it can leave a nasty taste in your mouth. For Joss, ever since her longtime boyfriend cheated on her, she doesn’t want her last memory of a guy to be that jerk. Enter her college friend, Matt. They come up with a theory: after a bad break-up, a person needs to cleanse the palate with a little sorbet sex. Lovers for a night, but always back to being friends in the morning. The two can handle it because they have a contract: rules they wrote, rules they follow and rules they can sometimes bend. The arrangement works: everyone needs a little sorbet now and again…until it starts to be the only thing you want. And then Joss breaks the one rule they never wrote down: don’t fall in love.

It’s not a secret that I love New Adult stories. But sometimes, it can start to feel like they’re all similar. That’s not to say that the stories aren’t original, but at the same time it can feel like the same themes and ideas are explored in each of the stories I read. Ellie Cahill’s When Joss Met Matt was refreshingly different and made for a compelling read.

When Joss and Matt met their freshman year of college, they didn’t think they would be anything more than friends. But when Joss’ longtime boyfriend breaks up with her, they make a pact: anytime one of them goes through a break up, the other will be there to offer sex. That way, their last memory of sex won’t be with someone they don’t care about. And that’s how sorbet sex was born. And for a time the arrangement works: Joss and Matt have a contract and rules they follow where sorbet sex is concerned. But what happens when the person you want more than anyone is the person you’re not allowed to have for more than one night? After all, the most important rule of sorbet sex is to not fall in love.

Every so often, a book’s premise sounds so different from what I’ve been reading that it draws me right in and wants me to read the book right away. That’s what happened when I heard about Ellie Cahill’s When Joss Met Matt. I was intrigued by the idea of sorbet sex and how two friends could possibly make this idea work. And then when I started reading, I really liked the way the story was told. The best way to describe it is to say that the story is told in a semi-linear way (or at least that’s how I see it). Basically the story switches back and forth between chapters starting when Joss and Matt first meet during their freshman year of college and chapters set in what I think of as present day. And then eventually the two timelines join up towards the end of the book. Having the story told this way allowed me to really see the history these two characters have together and how they got to be where they are in the present. In a way, it was almost like I was getting two stories. And the one set in the present sometimes had me worried. I knew what I wanted to happen and though I was pretty sure I was going to get what I wanted, there were definitely moments where I started doubting it. But it all worked out and I was one happy reader. Needless to say that When Joss Met Matt was exactly the romantic read I was hoping it would be. Though the romance worked because Joss and Matt just worked together.

I really enjoyed getting to know Matt and Joss over the course of the seven years they’ve known each other. It really allowed me to see how both characters changed and grew to become the people they were in the present. Not only that, but it made their relationship feel that much more realistic. It didn’t happen all at once, it was built up over the course of seven years. So when I say that the romance between Joss and Matt was a slow-burn kind of romance, I mean it. Like I said, their relationship develops over the course of SEVEN YEARS. All that to say I believed in the friendship, and the eventual “more,” between them. On their own, Matt and Joss were great too. And even though I’m feeling a bit like a broken record, getting to know them over the course of seven years allowed me to get a real sense of their respective personalities. In a way, it made me wish that more books were written to cover suck a long timespan. It was just really fun to read their story and I would have gladly kept on reading more about Joss and Matt but, sadly for me, the book ended.

Ellie Cahill’s When Joss Met Matt was just what I was hoping it would be: a New Adult read filled with romance and heart. If you are looking for a romantic read that will cause you both to swoon and pull at your heartstrings, then this is the book for you.

Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Title: Better Than Perfect

Author: Melissa Kantor

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: February 17, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Juliet Newman has it all. A picture-perfect family; a handsome, loving boyfriend; and a foolproof life plan: ace her SATs, get accepted into Harvard early decision, and live happily ever after.

But when her dad moves out and her mom loses it, Juliet begins questioning the rules she’s always lived by. And to make everything even more complicated there’s Declan, the gorgeous boy who makes her feel alive and spontaneous—and who’s totally off-limits. Torn between the life she always thought she wanted and one she never knew was possible, Juliet begins to wonder: What if perfect isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Melissa Kantor once again delivers a tale that is equal parts surprising, humorous, heartbreaking, and romantic. Powerful and honest, Juliet’s story brilliantly portrays the highs and lows of life in high school and will resonate with any reader who has experienced either. 

Last year, I read Melissa Kantor’s Maybe One Day and had my heart completely broken. In a completely good way. When I started reading Better Than Perfect, I was prepared to have my heart broken by Melissa Kantor once again. And while that didn’t happen, this was still an emotional story to read.

Juliet thought she had her whole future figured out. On the eve of her senior year of high school, she has the perfect boyfriend and a plan to ace her SATs so she can get into Harvard early and start her happily ever after with her boyfriend. But not everything is going according to plan. When her dad moves out, Juliet has to deal with her mom completely losing it. When everything gets to be too much, Juliet starts questioning everything she’s always believed in. What if there’s more to living than always working towards the next goal? Is that the way to happiness? When Juliet meets Declan, the one person who hasn’t known him her whole life and makes her want to be spontaneous, she starts being torn between her old life and the possibility of a new one, one where perfect is the last thing Juliet has to be.

I was very excited to read Melissa Kantor’s Better Than Perfect if only because of how much I loved Maybe One Day last year. Though I didn’t have quite the same emotional reaction to Better Than Perfect than I did to Maybe One Day, it was still a story that I really enjoyed and drew me in completely. Before I say anything else, though, I will say this: there is a fairly good chance that many people will lose interest in this story because of a certain behaviour on the main character’s part (see the post I wrote earlier this week if you want more on that). But that didn’t stop me reading or make me like the story any less. Aside from that, this is a very relatable story. Or at least it was one I could relate to and one that got me thinking. Is reaching goal after goal the only way to happiness, or is there a way to be happy without always striving to be everyone’s idea of perfect? Better Than Perfect definitely explores this question and got me thinking about it a lot, to the point that I’m still thinking about it over a week after having finished reading the story. The most relatable aspect of the story for me, though, was definitely Juliet.

When you first meet her, Juliet is your typical type A high school student. Or at least that’s how she appears to everyone around her. But from the moment I started reading, I realized that it was more of a front she was putting on than anything else. She wasn’t happy being what everyone wanted her to be. In fact, she was pretty miserable. Much like the story is one many people will be able to relate to, Juliet is someone many people will be able to see themselves in. I know I was. That’s what made this story so interesting to read. The one aspect of the story I didn’t really like though, was Jason, Juliet’s boyfriend. Looking back, I don’t actually think I was supposed to like him all that much to begin with. To be completely honest, he’s a bit of a prick and has slightly controlling tendencies. And at this point in her life, her relationship with him was clearly making Juliet miserable. In all honesty, I was kind of rooting for her to dump him. Declan, though, him I liked. A lot. I kept wanting for more to happen with him, but due to the circumstances, it never really did. The way the story ended, the door was left open for something more to happen with Declan and Juliet. In my mind, they get to have their happily ever after and that’s all that really matters.

Melissa Kantor’s Better Than Perfect is a story many people will be able to relate to, whether it’s that they relate to the overall themes or to the characters in it. This story about finding out perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be is one you’ll want to give a try.

On the Topic Of...Cheating in Books

It’s been a while since I’ve written a discussion post, but there’s been something that’s been on my mind recently. I’ve noticed that there are certain topics in books that get people to automatically write off a book, even if it was a book they had initially been very excited about. Now, I’m not here to say that anyone’s opinion isn’t right or not valid. That’s the last thing I want to do. But sometimes it just seems like there are some things that happen in books that get people in an uproar, while there are others that, in my opinion, are much worse that get justified or explained away as if it were nothing. And I’m just trying to understand it all.

So what I really want to talk about is cheating. Before I say anything else, let me just say this: I DO NOT condone cheating. It’s not something I’ve ever had a direct experience with and it’s something I hope I never have to experience. But finding out that one character in a book cheats on their significant other is not going to make or break the story for me. If anything, it almost makes me more curious about the story. Because in my experience, and with all the books I’ve read that involve cheating, there’s always something more going on than just straight up cheating.

That’s not to say that I’m trying to excuse or justify the cheating happening, but at the same time, based on the context or the other things happening in a character’s life, I can see why the cheating happened. And more often than not, at least with the books I’ve read that deal with this subject matter, the character who does the cheating typically tends to regret it and struggle with it. The most recent book I read that involved cheating saw the character struggling with it throughout the whole book, almost hating herself for what she did. In another book I’ve read, it turned out that one character had just been led to believe the other one had cheated and no cheating had actually happened. In another case, the two characters were doing everything in their power to fight their attraction for each other, out of respect for the person one of them was with. But just because the word “cheating” was mentioned, some people were all “Nope, not reading this. Cheating is absolutely unacceptable.”

And that’s fine. People are entitled to their opinions on any number of topics, cheating included. So if they don’t want to read a book because cheating is part of the storyline, that is their right and I am not going to force them to read something they don’t want to read. But there’s a flip-side to this. And that’s that there are other questionable behaviours that get taken in stride, even legitimated. As one of my friends put it “Smack your love interest around and you’re damaged and need saving. Cheat and you are the devil.” Why is it that someone who cheats gets metaphorically crucified, but someone who beats people up gets by with people saying “Oh, he’s had a rough life, it’s not his fault”? That’s the part that bugs me. That a character can be abusive, physically or mentally, but because of reason X, Y, or Z that behaviour gets excused and the person is seen as damaged and that makes them all the more attractive. But the second even someone THINKS, we’re not even talking about acting here, about doing something with someone who isn’t their significant other, it’s like they’ve committed the worse crime there is. 

And that brings me to the point I’m trying to make. If you try hard enough, you can justify or legitimate any behaviour. Believe me, I’ve seen it done in some fandoms and the things that get excused or justified or legitimated scare me sometimes (but that’s a story for another day). But why is it that some behaviours that are, in my opinion, horrible get a free pass while others get a snap judgement, most often one that’s negative? I know there’s no clear-cut answer to this question. Whether it’s with the TV shows and movies we watch or the books we read, everyone brings their own baggage and background to the table and that’s going to affect how they judge something. 

So maybe this is my question: Why are some behaviours more excusable or justifiable than others? And why are we so quick to judge some arguably morally questionable behaviour while we work tirelessly to legitimize other equally morally questionable behaviour?