Dare You To by Katie McGarry.
Audience/Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary.
Publication: May 28th 2013 by Harlequin Teen.

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all...

Reviewed by Kelly.
I love Katie McGarry’s writing and would read anything she writes. It is full of real emotion and a certain rawness of life that just awes me.

It is hard as a teenager to make your own stand without your parents input. Regardless of whether it is right or wrong, they are really only looking out for you and they forget what it was like or they remember and don’t want you to make those same mistakes. Some parents don’t care what their kids do and don’t play any part of it.

Ryan is an absolute sweetheart. What started as a dare turned out to be a sweet love affair. His home life is what most look like on the outside. People who go to church and look all proper and perfect on the outside, but if you went home with them; you would see that they aren’t. Ryan’s brother is gay and his family shut him out per their father/husband to keep from ruining their perfect image. Ryan and his mom miss him. Ryan thinks his brother left him because he never returns his calls and texts. Ryan’s parents don’t get along at home but whenever they are in public, they appear perfect. Ryan’s father wants Ryan to go pro baseball straight out of high school. Ryan finds out that he has a talent writing too and considers going to college first. But not if his father has any say in it. Add in a girl from the wrong side of town, even if she lives with her uncle who is a pro baseball player, it spells disaster in the family of perfection.

Beth, whom we met in Pushing The Limits, is now living with her Uncle who has finally come to rescue her from her life with her alcoholic mom. She was caught with a bat in her hand after her mom used it to break the windows on her abusive boyfriends’ car and she took the fall to keep her mom from going to jail. Her uncle has money now that he is a pro baseball player and genuinely wants to help Beth. He loves her. Beth wants to take care of her mother no matter how bad her mother is and how she has never been a mother to her and has allowed her boyfriend to even use her as a punching bag at times. Beth is broken and doesn’t know how to love or trust anyone.

With Ryan, she starts to trust and love, but there are always cruel people and Beth goes through the ringer and then some to learn this. I loved watching both of them from different sides of the street to learn from each other and find themselves.

I loved Beth’s sarcasm and her will to keep her mom alive. She doesn’t put up with anything. But I was sad for Isaiah. I am glad he will be the focus of the next book.

I wept a lot reading this book. I snickered too. I felt raw emotion and there were times where I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen next and afraid of what that would be! What would be the repercussions of what was happening? I couldn’t read fast enough. If you liked Pushing the Limits then you will like this book too! I can’t wait to get my own copy when this book comes out and to read Isaiah’s story next.

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Girl Three by Tracy March.
Audience/Genre: Women/Romantic Suspense.
Publication: April 30th, 2013 by Entangled Select.

Dr. Jessica Croft has avoided the players, the power, and the passions of Washington, DC. But when her estranged sister’s suspicious death is classified as natural, Jessie resolves to expose the murderer. As she pursues elite suspects who’d kill to keep their secrets buried, she encounters sexy security consultant Michael Gillette, who knows more about her sister than he’ll admit.

Michael has a vested interest in Jessie’s plight. Her sister died on his watch—while he wasn’t watching. His plan to find her murderer becomes complicated when Jessie’s father hires him to protect Jessie, and his interest turns from professional…to romantic.
Jessie and Michael must unravel a mystery rife with political agendas, deceit, and betrayal. When confidential papers reveal a fertility scandal surrounding the enigmatic Girl Three, the two realize the danger of exposing the truth. Who is Girl Three? And will the murderer kill again to keep a secret?

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Award-winning author Tracy March writes romantic thrillers influenced by her career in the pharmaceutical field, and her interest in science and politics. She also writes lighthearted romances inspired by her real-life happily ever after. Always up for travel and adventure, Tracy has flown in a stunt plane, snowmobiled on the Continental Divide, ziplined in the Swiss Alps, and been chased by a bull in the mountains of St. Lucia. She loves Nationals baseball, Saturday date nights, and Dairy Queen Blizzards—and rarely goes a day without Diet Coke and Cheez-Its.

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Oleander Girl By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
Audience/Genre: Women/Contemporary.
Publication: March 2013 by Simon and Schuster.

THOUGH SHE WAS ORPHANED AT BIRTH, the wild and headstrong Korobi Roy has enjoyed a privileged childhood with her adoring grandparents, spending her first seventeen years sheltered in a beautiful, crumbling old mansion in Kolkata. But despite all that her grandparents have done for her, she is troubled by the silence that surrounds the circumstances of her parents’ death and clings fiercely to her only inheritance from them: the love note she found, years ago, hidden in a book of poetry that had belonged to her mother. As she grows, Korobi dreams of one day finding a love as powerful as her parents’, and it seems her wish has finally come true when she meets the charming Rajat, the only son of a high-profile business family.
Shortly after their engagement, however, a sudden heart attack kills Korobi’s grandfather, revealing serious financial problems and a devastating secret about Korobi’s past. Shattered by this discovery and by her grandparents’ betrayal, Korobi decides to undertake a courageous search across post-9/11 America to find her true identity. Her dramatic, often startling journey will ultimately thrust her into the most difficult decision of her life.

Reviewed by Kelly.Wow, what a book. I have to admit to being scared of reviewing a book written by someone from India on a blog from India while being an American myself. What justice could I do to it? I admit that my only cultural diversity here is that I am a labor and delivery nurse and have witnessed many cultures in their having a baby.

I had a hard time at the beginning. I didn't know the proper use of names or a lot of the foods or what the name of clothes looked like. I found myself all of a sudden looking for people from India and trying to figure out what the name of the clothing was.I was intrigued!

I also was amazed at how scandal of any level affected them. How hard that must be!

But, I found I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was non stop things going on, once I got past the beginning, I couldn't find the time to keep reading it. I would sneak a few sentences in at work whenever I could. Then I stayed up until I heard my husband's alarm clock going off this morning.

There is tradition and family and honor and all kinds of emotion and everything! There is so much pride here and you hope by the end that they would let the pride go. But who am I to judge, I am just an outside observer of this culture.

The writing is amazing. I saw the characters grow and learn to love their families even deeper. I saw how they learned from mistakes and terrible tragedies.

There was a point or two where I wanted the main character, Korobi, to just give up. But she is strong and I admired her for her fearlessness. I got ahead of myself.

Korobi finds out that she has been told a lie all her life after her grandfather dies.She has loved her grandfather dearly and it is very painful for her. She has just become engaged to Rajat and her world seems to spiral out of control.She may still have a father who is alive and not dead as she has been told. She travels to America to find him. Rajat's family is well to do and don't want scandal of this nature. They don't want her to leave.

Meanwhile, Rajat's family is having some financial issues.There is some problems at their warehouse one day when Rajat's father is away. Rajat decides he needs to handle it. But it doesn't go well. There are two different religions and Rajat unwittingly stirs up a strike and threats start. Rajat also has an old girlfriend who is extremely rich and spoiled and not a proper girl in any culture. She is trouble from the getgo and sometimes I wanted to slap Rajat and her and then other times I just wanted them to get back together so Korobi would find someone else.

Korobi's journey and Rajat's family problems occur at the same time and they don't always communicate with each other well which causes many problems.

Rajat's sister Pia and their chauffeur Asif were one of the pieces of the story that I loved most. Asif was not of the same religion. He was loyal to Rajat's family, but mostly to Pia. He would do anything for her and he does risk his life for her after the family treats him poorly. Pia is a cute little sister who is a little modernized. I loved her she is what draws everyone together.

Rajat's parents and Korobi's grandmother have their POV's in the story as well as Asif, Rajat and Korobi. I won't go into their stories but they are all amazing.

In the end, there is forgiveness and pride is forgotten and love is everywhere. If you love a story of redemption,forgiveness and some action than this a great story for you. Again, I really can't do this book justice. There is a lot of culture that I learned about and I don't think I could do it justice by describing it.

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I'm pretty stoked to be a part of this tour. I've 2 excerpts from an anthology, namely, A Riveting Affair by Candace Havens, Lily Land and Patricia Eimer for you guys and also an awesome Barnes & Noble and Amazon Giftcard(s) giveaway!

A Riveting Affair by Candace Havens, Lily Land and Patricia Eimer
Audience/Genre: Adult/Steampunk Anthology
Publication: March 2013 by Entangled Publishing

Beauty and The Clockwork Beast by Lily Lang
Rose Verney wants to fulfill her father’s dying request: to complete construction of the teleportation device he designed. Knowing just who can help her succeed, she seeks out Sebastian Cavendish, her father’s brilliant former student.
Sebastian hasn’t left his home since he returned from the Civil War. He’s a broken man, his prosthetics a reminder of the terrible destruction his inventions brought to the battlefield. He wants nothing to do with Rose and her father’s masterpiece, but when she barges into his abandoned lab and begins construction, it’s everything he can do to resist getting involved. Especially when she charms her way into his monstrous heart.

Demon Express by Candace Havens
Professor Maisy Clark, professional demon hunter, is on the trail of an evil scientist responsible for the deaths of hundreds. Julian is worse than the monsters he creates, but he’s also obsessed with Maisy and willing to kill anyone who gets too close to her.
Just when she thinks she has Julian cornered, the sexy marshall Jake Calloway insists the investigation is his, and everything goes to hell. Maisy came to Texas to corner the scientist whose macabre experiments have taken so many lives, and Calloway is just another distraction she doesn’t need. Julian is her responsibility, one she’s not about to share. Even if Calloway can help, Julian will know Maisy is falling for the marshall, and she’s not willing to risk his life.

The Clockwork Bride by Patrica Eimer
When engineer Aida Mulvaney attends a masquerade ball at the home of a staunch Luddite earl with a personal vendetta against her father’s company, she doesn’t expect to end the night married to the earl’s son Julian Capshaw, a brilliant engineer in his own right. The marriage will allow both of them to pursue their love of science, without interfering parents and ridiculous social stigmas. Though they escape to the Continent to start new lives, Julian’s father will have none of his heir’s disobedience. Before long, a marriage begun for the sake of convenience becomes a union of passion, but will it survive the machinations of an earl determined to destroy everything they love?

If you'd like to check out an excerpt from Demon Excerpt by Candace Havens, head over to The Bawdy Book Blog on the 23rd!

The Clockwork Bride by Patricia Eimer

My captor tugged at my hand again, almost towing me across the dance floor and away from Lord Capshaw. We were swallowed by the indifferent crowd, who’d all focused on our host’s revelation.
“What are you doing?” I asked under my breath, shocked that he had the audacity to manhandle me in the middle of ball like I was some serving girl in a dockside bar.
“Making my escape,” the man said and swept me through the door into a dimly lit hallway. Tightening his grip, he dragged me toward an alcove at the far corner. “Now hush, you don’t want to make a scene. People might talk.”
“Stop it!” I tried to subtly jerk backwards. “Let go of me this instant or I swear I shall scream. I don’t care who finds us or whether they decide to gossip about it later.”
Instead of answering, he released my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, lifting me bodily and carrying me into the alcove, pulling the heavy blue curtain closed and planting his lips roughly against mine. Currents sparked when our lips touched, and I was suddenly much warmer than I had been moments before. My knees wobbled, and my toes curled. His fingers tangled into the elaborate twists of my curly auburn hair and tugged at the pins. Instead of pushing away I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He stepped deeper into the alcove, his lips still tight against mine, and pressed me against the back wall.
Whatever had inspired him to escape the ballroom and pull me into this secluded spot, I couldn’t say that I was terribly upset about it. Whoever my captive was, he happened to be an excellent kisser and my head swam from the feel of his lips on mine.
After a moment, he slowed his assault and gave me a gentle, close-mouthed kiss on the side of my lips before pulling back completely to stare at me. Before I could do more than bring my trembling fingers up to touch my swollen lips, and try to catalog exactly what had been so amazing about this mysterious man’s kiss, he grabbed the side of my crooked mask, pulling it off of my face.

Beauty and The Clockwork Beast by Lily Lang

She spent the morning cleaning and oiling the clockwork servants, and then sent them off, one by one, pushing them out into the corridor and watching as they obediently swept up the debris, cleared away dust, and shook out the curtains in the halls. She paused only to sneeze several times in rapid succession.
When she had released all but three malfunctioning automatons into the house, Rose turned back to the room. It would do for a laboratory, she decided. It certainly had enough space and light.
Though she intended for the clockwork servants to do much of the cleaning, she would have to sort through the debris herself. She certainly couldn’t depend upon a machine to separate the still-useful and usable parts and tools from the junk.
It was well into the afternoon before she had gathered all the items to be discarded into the hot air balloon basket and attached it to the back of a garbage disposal automaton, which obediently dragged it out of the room and down the servants' stairs.
Some part of her was surprised that Sebastian hadn’t yet heard the commotion made by the various clockwork servants now cleaning the mansion, but she was nevertheless grateful. She suspected that when he did realize what was happening, he would be furious.
When at last she had organized the various tools and materials that remained, she marshaled the last of the automatons and set them to work within the laboratory itself.
She had just released a mechanical broom when the door swung open with a bang. The cat hissed. She looked up, her heart pounding so rapidly her blood roared in her ears. A strange, shameful thrill of anticipation ran through her. Sebastian stood in the doorway, his hair still rumpled from sleep.
He did not, however, look happy to see her.
“What the hell do you think you're doing?”

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Patricia Eimer | Lily Lang | Candace Havens

Hey there!

I know I've been out of it lately, but it's because I've been super busy with school and work. Speaking of school, I'm working on a project for my Market Research class and well, since you're all bookish people like me, I could really use your help with my assignment.

I've created a survey, it's multiple choice and just 10 questions, takes about 20 seconds to fill out. If you read young adult novels, I'd really, really, REALLY appreciate it if you could fill this survey.

Click here to fill the survey

Thanks in advance for your help! If you could also share the link with your friends/family, that would be awesome!