books – Page 62 – Sincerely Karen Jo

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Hello my wonderful and amazing bookish friends!!! I hope you’re all doing just fine and having a really fantastic day! So insanely happy it’s Friday and the weekend again aren’t you?!?

Mannn, it has been such A LONG TIME since I’ve done a First Lines Fridays post. Life has been ridiculously busy for me and I feel like I’m always trying to catch up… I’ve been really tired lately too that I just let my One Year Blog Anniversary (May 26) pass by. It’s not that I’m not motivated to keep blogging, but I literally have no time and would rather relax and read. Also, my long blog post to do list is quite intimidating and I don’t even know where to start anymore… For right now, it seems like the only thing I have time for is premade book promotions, reading and reviewing. That being said and while it may be LATE, I am still planning on doing a giveaway for my One Year Blog Anniversary. Maybe not next week or even this month, but definitely really soon. I have some fun ARCs, books and swag, so it should be really amazing!

Anyway, that went on longer than I had in mind so thanks for reading my little life update…now let’s get to my First Lines Friday pick for today!

FIRST LINES FRIDAYS IS A WEEKLY FEATURE FOR BOOK LOVERS HOSTED BY WANDERING WORDS. WHAT IF INSTEAD OF JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER, ITS AUTHOR OR ITS PRESTIGE, WE JUDGED IT BY ITS OPENING LINES?

PICK A BOOK OFF YOUR SHELF (IT COULD BE YOUR CURRENT READ OR ON YOUR TBR) AND OPEN TO THE FIRST PAGE
COPY THE FIRST FEW LINES, BUT DON’T GIVE ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE BOOK AWAY JUST YET – YOU NEED TO HOOK THE READER FIRST
FINALLY… REVEAL THE BOOK!

COPY AND PASTE THE TEXT AND BANNER (OR MAKE YOUR OWN!) ABOVE FOR YOUR OWN FIRST LINES FRIDAYS POSTS. MAKE SURE TO COMMENT YOUR FIRST LINES BELOW SO THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN CHECK THEM OUT!

I sleep with all my bedroom windows open as habit, so I’m roused from my sleep by the repetitive shrieking of a great blue heron that must be nesting near the man-made lake in the center of the apartment complex. Where are my soft-spoken finches and friendly bluebirds? I wonder with a dreamy smile. Not in Tallahasee apparently.

The heron is loud and insistent, refusing to be ignored. I need to get out of bed, anyway, — a long, busy day awaits. I picture Jake’s face — that bemused close-lipped smile, those gently blue eyes — and memories of last summer flood my mind and my heart. I throw back my covers in a burts of anticipation. A long, busy, fabolous day awaits.

Now scroll down…

Not quite yet, so keep going…

Almost there….

Just a little more…

aboutthebook2

PUBLISHED BY SWOON READS MAY 16, 2017

GENRE(S): YOUNG ADULT, CONTEMPORARY, ROMANCE

HARDCOVER, 320 PAGES

Chin up, Princess, or the crown will slip.

A theme park princess must put her life back together after her happily ever after falls apart in this contemporary YA romance from Karole Cozzo, author of How to Keep Rolling After a Fall and How to Say I Love You Out Loud.

Everything was supposed to be perfect. Alyssa has a job she loves, working as Cinderella at her favorite theme park; a fantastic group of friends; and a boyfriend who will no longer be long distance. But as the summer progresses, her prince becomes less charming and more distant, and Alyssa’s perfect summer falls apart.

Forced to acknowledge that life is not always a fairy tale, Alyssa starts working to pull her herself back together. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to do it alone. With her friend Miller’s support, she’s determined to prove that she’s more than just a pretty princess. And with his help, maybe she’s finally ready for something better than dreams. Maybe she’s ready for something real

Karole Cozzo is such a sweetheart for sending me a paperback copy. She had messaged me on twitter and told me she was a huge Disney fan too and thought that I would enjoy this book. Well, I think she’s absolutely right! The premise sounds really fun and adorable and totally perfect for Disney lovers! Cannot wait to get into this!!!

Oh and I took it with me on a recent Disneyland Trip

authorbio2

Karole lives outside of Philadelphia, PA with her loving husband, exuberant little girl, and smiley little boy. She adores YA Romance, because it would be awesome if life in general had a requisite feel-good happy ending rule. Vices include obscene Haribo gummy consumption, addiction to Starbucks NF vanilla lattes, and tendency to hoard Bath and Body Works 3-wick candles. followtheauthor2 Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Have you read this book yet? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.

Have a fun-filled weekend everyone!!!

sincerelykarenjoendsign

aboutthebook2

Spectacle
S.J. Pierce
Publication date: June 4th 2018
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Avatar meets Gladiator in this spellbinding Young Adult, Science-Fiction seriesby bestselling author S.J. Pierce.

Two hundred years after the Great Disaster, the day earthquakes ravaged Earth’s landscapes, humanity has finally regrouped and is working toward a better future. But in New America – one of three remaining landmasses – overpopulation makes a better future seem bleaker by the year.

Mira (Mirabella) Foster and her parents are citizens of New America, and with the threat of starvation and disease looming on the horizon, a discovery threatens to push everyone to the brink of chaos:blue markings develop on people’s skin. Markings that allow them to camouflage,but also make them feared, and eventually, targets of violence.

Mira’s dad is one of them.

Spectacle, Part One is the beginning of a three-part series. Suitable for ages fourteen and up.

purchaselinks

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

On sale for 99¢ for a limited time!

Spectacle has made it to my TOP TEN LIST OF DYSTOPIAN BOOKS to read. ★★★★★

This book is totally ADDICTIVE, FAST-PACED and SUSPENSEFUL, with great lead characters and complex world building. ★★★★★

HUNGER GAMES meets AVATAR in this spellbinding Young Adult, Science-Fiction series by bestselling author S.J. Pierce.

readanexcerpt2

When Luxxe and I make it into the crowd, they part for us, their cheers and attentions trained on him – the camp’s hunting trainer and star of our monthly hunting expeditions. In other words, their well-respected (and sometimes feared) hero. I’ve seen him hunt enough to know why too. He’s precise and brutal. No holds barred. It’s safe to say he’s the best one here, and I have to admit, though anything violent makes my stomach turn (even for the purpose of food), to see him in his element is like witnessing the athleticism of an Olympian god. This is what he was made for – to kill.

His arm slips from my shoulder as he turns to hug his best friend and training assistant, Cole – another mountain of a teenage boy. He wears his dreads shorter, and his eyes are the color of liquid metal. His markings have harsh angles like bolts of lightning and cover his arms and half his torso. They’ve multiplied since I last saw him.

The cheers around us ebb as they wait for Luxxe to finish his greetings and lead us into the forest; this is the part where I have to fend for myself. Then we’ll part ways into smaller groups and kill whatever we can carry. Our group is usually me, Luxxe, Taylor, and Cole.

While I stand with my hands clasped and looking at the ground, the lonely snowflake in a frenzied bed of coal, I feel some of their eyes on me but pretend not to notice. I know they wonder about me – the blonde, pale girl with no markings who hardly ever comes around; the girl Luxxe is close with even though he has a very committed girlfriend, not that it’s any of their business; the daughter of the former head liaison who met with the President all those years ago. Though most believe my dad is innocent, I think some blame him for starting the war that placed us here, though they don’t say it. At least not to me. I’ve overheard rumblings in the market a time or two about how he went ‘mad’ or ‘rogue’ and secretly planned to take the President out but was taken out instead. And it might be my imagination, but I feel their resentment when they look at me, still fresh after all this time. Like I was somehow in on whatever they assume he did.

Oh, well. Screw them. He was innocent.

authorbio2

Multiple Award Nominated and Bestselling Author Susan James Pierce has a degree in Marketing Management, works for a Fortune 500 company in Atlanta, Georgia, and devotes her precious, spare time to writing Paranormal, Sci-fi, and Contemporary Romance novels.

Please visit http://www.sjpiercebooks.com and sign up for her mailing list or subscribe to her blog if you’d like to hear when new books come out!

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