mon

Cover Reveal: The Secrets We Kept by Lily Velez

Secondo post per oggi, wow! La trama di questo libro mi aveva colpita particolarmente quando l’ho letta nelle mail che XPresso Book Tours ci manda e senza pensarci due volte mi sono iscritta per potervi mostrare questa copertina. Mi piace parecchio, semplice e dai colori delicati. Le nuvole e i cieli in generale mi fanno impazzire sulle copertina dei libri, li trovi stupendi. La cosa che mi piace di più però penso siano il font e il colore del titolo, il primo perché particolare, il secondo perché si adatta perfettamente alla scena, senza essere un pugno in un occhio. Complimenti a Okay Creations che ha realizzato questa copertina.

I love this cover! When I read the synopsis on one of XPresso Book Tours‘ email I signed up immediately for the Cover Reveal. I was not disappointed. The cover designed by Okay Creations is beautiful, with delicate colors and an overall harmony that I really like. What I love the most about this cover is the font used for the title, it’s really pretty, isn’t it? 

The secrets we kept

One year. That’s how long it’s been since childhood sweethearts Sully Graham and Cadence Gilbertson broke up, since one adoption and one out-of-state move turned their worlds upside down.

Suddenly, Cadence is back in New York City, but something’s different about her. The light in her eyes, the music in her laughter, the warmth in her smile—all of those things have entirely vanished. In their place stand the makings of a girl Sully can’t even begin to recognize, much less understand.

Still, despite the collective history of heartbreak between them, he’s convinced he can win her trust again, and he’s committed to proving the invincibility of their love no matter what it takes.

But Cadence is quietly harboring secrets of her own. Dark secrets. Ugly secrets. Secrets that could break a person. And though broken herself and unbearably lonely, she’s determined to protect Sully from her terrible, biting truths. Even if it means locking him out of her life forever.

The only problem is it seems her heart hasn’t quite received the memo. One glimpse of him is all it takes for her to trip into familiar (and, she’ll admit, addictive) feelings that threaten to all but consume her. Now her biggest fear is that her secrets will begin to slowly unravel one by one…long before Sully’s resolve ever does.

The Secrets We Kept is a moving story about first love, friendship, and forgiveness, and the enduring bonds that forever connect us and give us our strength.

Add to Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Twitter | GoodRead’s Author Page | Crista’s Webpage

Lily Velez has been writing stories since she was six years old. Not much has changed since then. She still prefers the written word and her overactive imagination over the ‘real world’ (though to be fair, her stories no longer feature talking dinosaurs). A graduate of Rollins College and a Florida native, when she’s not reading or writing, she spends most of her days wrangling up her pitbulls Noah and Luna, planning exciting travel adventures, and nursing her addiction to cheese. All this when she isn’t participating in the extreme sport known as napping.

mon firma

Book Blitz: Em and Em by Linda Budzinski (Excerpt + Giveaway)

em and em banner

È sempre bello spulciare tra le occasioni che offre la XPresso e partecipare alle sue iniziative. Sono organizzatissimi e i libri che propongono sono vari e di ogni genere. Io e Kia abbiamo una passione per i libri romantici e in generale Young Adult e New Adult quindi, quando abbiamo visto questa copertina e la trama, non abbiamo potuto evitare di iscriverci per il Book Blitz. In generale storie in cui il/la protagonista è sotto Protezione Testimoni non ne ho mai lette, ma un po’ mi ispirano. Ricordo un film con le gemelle Olsen in cui le ragazze erano sotto Protezione Testimoni, ma niente di più. Voi che ne dite? La trama vi ispira?
Stavo quasi per dimenticarmene..se scorrete fino in fondo c’è uno splendido giveaway per voi, in cui potete vincere una copia ebook del libro e una gift card. Che aspettate a partecipare? Ricordate, il giveaway termina il 24 settembre 😉

Living under Witness Protection is something I really can’t imagine. You have to change everything about you and abandon everything and everyone you know to start a new life where you’re never able to tell someone the truth. It’s just terrible, but kind of fascinating. When Kia sent me the link to read the synopsis of this book, I decided I had to read it and we signed up for the Blitz. You can find an excerpt from the book and a giveaway scrolling down. The giveaway ends September 24th.

em and em
Title: Em and Em
Author: Linda Budzinski
Publication date: September 15th 2015
Add to Goodreads

The last thing sixteen-year-old Emily Slovkowski wants is to move away from her home at the Jersey shore, gorgeous surfer boyfriend Zach, and her entire identity. But that’s kind of how Witness Protection works, and Em must prepare herself for an epic do-over as she starts a new life in the Midwest.

Even as she pines for sandy beaches and the night life of the shore, the newly-named Ember O’Malley finds herself making new friends, taking photos for the high school newspaper, and thinking an awful lot about the paper’s editor, an oddly cute cowboy named Charles.

When Em stumbles upon a shady beneath-the-bleachers exchange between one of the school’s football coaches and a student, she refuses to get involved. The last thing she needs is to be witness to another crime or call attention to herself. Besides, she finally has some real friends – well, real except for the fact that they don’t know a single thing about her – and she prefers to keep it that way until the trial.

But as her day in court approaches, Em begins piecing together what she saw that day beneath the bleachers. And, as her own past secrets start to catch up with her, Em needs to figure out who she really is – Em or Em.

 

excerpt

Ember hesitated. She should keep her mouth shut. She didn’t need to be a witness to another crime, and she certainly didn’t need to be nark-ing out the one person in Boyd County who knew her real identity and could expose her at any time. Still, a part of her wanted to confide in Claire. She was so sick of lying, of pretending, of keeping secrets.

“Ember, are you okay?” Claire reached out and touched her arm.

Ember grabbed her hand and held it. “If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?”

Claire nodded, her eyes wide. “Of course.”

“During the homecoming game, I saw something I shouldn’t have. Under the bleachers.”

Claire drew back. “You mean … Tommy Walker?”

“Yeah.”

Claire jumped up and plugged her ears. “Ew, gross. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to hear it. Ew, ew, ew.” She grabbed Ember’s shoulders. “I realize you can never un-see that, but you have to try to forget. Understand?”

Ember laughed and nodded. Claire had the wrong idea—a very, very wrong idea—but something about her reaction, her sweetness, her innocence, snapped Ember back to reality. No way could she confide in this girl. That huge ball of lies, pretending, and secrets she was living formed the entire basis of their friendship.

ga
a Rafflecopter giveaway

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Twitter | Facebook | Site | Goodreads

I live in Northern Virginia with my husband, Joe, and our feisty chihuahua, Demitria (also known as Dee Dee, The Puppy, and Killer). I’m a sucker for romance and reality TV and have been known to turn off my phone’s ringer when watching “The Bachelor.” My favorite flower is the daisy, my favorite food is chocolate, and my favorite song is “Amazing Grace.”

I write young adult romance. My novels, both published by Swoon Romance YA, are EM & EM and THE FUNERAL SINGER. I am represented by Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger Inc

mon firma

Teaser Tuesday #26

Ho letto questo libro tutto d’un fiato sotto consiglio di un’amica e non me ne sono pentita. È una storia dolce, triste e piena di piccoli cliché che però la rendono una lettura davvero piacevole. Purtroppo non è ancora stato tradotto in italiano, ma se masticate un pochino di inglese, non lasciatevelo sfuggire!

teaser tuesday

Ellamara and I had always been just anonymous e-mail friends, but the last time I spoke to her, I asked for her address so that I could mail her something. It was a huge step in our relationship, but I was to the point where I was willing to chance it. I needed more from her. Wanted to be more to her.
I took a risk, got her a gift I hoped would win her heart, and asked for her address. She called me a creepy Internet stalker, but I was sure she was kidding—until she never messaged me back. At first I figured her phone died, and then when she didn’t get back to me that day I briefly worried that I had scared her away. But then she missed her First Sentence Friday post on her blog the next day and I knew something was wrong.
I wrote her e-mail after e-mail, and waited day after day for her to write back, or at least post on her blog again, but after a few weeks I gave up hope. I knew that even if I completely freaked her out that day and made her never want to talk to my creepy Internet-stalking ass again, Ella would never have given up on her blog. Ever. Not unless she was dead. Which was the conclusion I finally resigned myself to when an entire month went by without word from her. For months, I mourned the loss of my best friend and the girl I’d fallen in love with—was still mourning her loss up until five seconds ago.

Chapter 5 – Cinder & Ella di Kelly Oram

divisore dx

cinderella

It’s been almost a year since eighteen-year-old Ella Rodriguez was in a car accident that left her crippled, scarred, and without a mother. After a very difficult recovery, she’s been uprooted across the country and forced into the custody of a father that abandoned her when she was a young child. If Ella wants to escape her father’s home and her awful new stepfamily, she must convince her doctors that she’s capable, both physically and emotionally, of living on her own. The problem is, she’s not ready yet. The only way she can think of to start healing is by reconnecting with the one person left in the world who’s ever meant anything to her—her anonymous Internet best friend, Cinder.

Hollywood sensation Brian Oliver has a reputation for being trouble. There’s major buzz around his performance in his upcoming film The Druid Prince, but his management team says he won’t make the transition from teen heartthrob to serious A-list actor unless he can prove he’s left his wild days behind and become a mature adult. In order to douse the flames on Brian’s bad-boy reputation, his management stages a fake engagement for him to his co-star Kaylee. Brian isn’t thrilled with the arrangement—or his fake fiancée—but decides he’ll suffer through it if it means he’ll get an Oscar nomination. Then a surprise email from an old Internet friend changes everything.

mon firma

Teaser Tuesday #24

Aaah, è martedì e sì, è tempo di Teaser! Sto facendo pausa dallo studio e quindi sono venuta di corsa a pubblicare un breve passo tratto da Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. È un libro piuttosto corto, ma terribilmente carino. L’ho letto sotto consiglio di un’amica e, che dire, mi ha permesso di passare un pomeriggio davvero piacevole. Se avete voglia di una storia semplice e dolce, senza drammi nè traumi, questo potrebbe essere il libro per voi.
teaser tuesday

FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Oct 31 at 8:11 AM
SUBJECT: Re: hollow wieners
Jacques,
Sorry to disappoint. I’m not opposed to dressing up, and you make a compelling case for it. I completely see the appeal of being someone else for the evening (or in general). Actually, I was a bit of a one-trick pony myself when I was little. I was always a superhero. I guess I liked to imagine myself having this complicated secret identity. Maybe I still do. Maybe that’s the whole point of these emails.
Anyway, I’m not dressing up this year, because I’m not going out. My mom has some kind of work party, so I’m stuck at home on chocolate duty. I’m sure you understand that there’s nothing sadder than a sixteen-year-old boy home alone on Halloween answering the door in full costume.
Your family sounds interesting. How did you talk your parents into buying you dresses? I bet you were an awesome flapper. Did your parents try to ruin all your costumes by making them weather appropriate? I remember throwing this ridiculous tantrum one year because THE GREEN LANTERN DOES NOT WEAR A TURTLENECK. Though, in retrospect, he actually kind of does. Sorry, Mom!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy your day off from being Jacques. And I hope everyone likes your ninja costume (that has to be it, right? The perfect mix of simple and badass?).
—Blue

FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Oct 31 at 8:25 AM
SUBJECT: Re: hollow wieners
A ninja? Suck a good guess, but no dice.
—Jacques

FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Oct 31 at 8:26 AM
SUBJECT: Re: hollow wieners
Aaaah—autocorrect fail. DICK a good guess.

FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Oct 31 at 8:28 AM
SUBJECT: Re: hollow wieners
GAHHHHH!!!!!
SUCH a good guess. SUCH. Jesus Christ. This is why I never write you from my phone.
Anyway, I’m going to go die of embarrassment now.
—J

Chapter 4 – SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA di Becky Albertalli

divisore dx

simon vs the homo sapiens

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

mon firma