Books I love

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Author Interview and Cover Reveal with Mina Vaughn

Hello Lovelies, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mina Vaughn, author of the future book entitled How to Discipline Your Vampire published by Simon and Schuster’s Pocket Star!!! Check out her answers!!!!






Please tell is a little about bit about yourself?
Thanks so much for having me!  There’s not a whole lot to tell about me—I’m a skydiving adrenaline-junkie, editor-in-chief of Peanut Butter Enthusiasts magazine, breeder of pigmy hamsters and a professional shoe whore who writes dirty things for high heels. 

I’m kidding.  Mostly.  I’m really just a girl standing here with a book asking for readers to love her.  My debut, How to discipline your vampire, drops August 19 from Simon and Schuster’s Pocket Star.  Also, I said “drops”, like it’s some sort of hip hop album or something.  Do people still say album?  Anyway, yeah.  Books.

How did you begin writing? Did you intend to become an author, or do you have a specific reason or reasons for writing each book?
I began writing when I was five.  I used to hang out with this massive gang of cousins and every day in my grandmother’s back yard, I would arrange scripted plays.  Ok, not scripted on paper, but I basically bossed everyone around and made them act out my scenes.  This is not, however, how I wrote my current book.  That would be gross.  Truthfully, I began writing for fun in college and then in earnest a few years later.  I’ve always been a storyteller… just ask my Grandma.

 What is your favorite part about being a writer?
My favorite part is the fact that I get to indulge in my fantasies.  They don’t have to stay in my head. I get to live them out, all hot and messy, spread over my pages.  It’s really sexy.  And sticky.

Are the experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Well, I’ve always been intrigued by role play.  The idea of turning someone tried-and-true into a fantasy and getting to re-live the rush of newness is something that everyone should try once.  Or twice.  Or a dozen times.  It’s addictive!

How much research went into your characters?
I researched some facts about the jobs Cerise and William had, in addition to their lifestyles, but most of the scenes were just fantasies.

What genre would you consider your book?
It’s the most niche niche niche ever.  Paranormal BDSM comedy?  I’m pretty much making my own genre.

What are your current projects?
It’s a secret!  Do we need to put this question in?  I’d love to tell but I can’t.

Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members?
I have a support system of authors who are referred to as “the Filets”.  Some of us are published, some are not, but all of us are hot talented be-yotches and I would be going nowhere without their support and love.
 
Who are your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
Currently my favorite author is Tiffany Reisz, and I was lucky enough to hang out with her at the New England RWA Chapter conference.  She is sweet, hilarious, and just brilliant.  Her books stand out to me because they are bold, unexpected, sensual and really captivating.  The amount of world-building she does is astonishing.  I really believe in the characters she has created.

Do you have any advice for other writers?
Defy convention.  Make up weird genres.  If it resonates with you, it may with someone else.  Don’t just stick with the formula.  Challenge yourself.  Challenge your reader.  Nothing that’s amazing should be easy.

Fun questions

Early Riser or Night Owl?  Neither. I love sleep as much as I love shoes.  And that’s a lot.
Winter or Summer? Summer!  Who likes shoveling?  I’m also terrified of an icicle impaling me.  Totally irrational fear, but it’s there, like a pointy death trap all season.

If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?  It would be Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters.  I love his music, attitude, and sense of humor.  He lived through (and created) music history and still seems like the coolest most down to earth guy ever. 

Sell your book in a tweet! In How to discipline your vampire, a punishment seeking vampire meets his match in a role-play obsessed Domme.










Cerise Norrel, Type A substitute teacher by day, is ready to quit being a domme. Despite her best intentions, none of her partners can keep up with her scene fetish and attention to detail—let alone her demand that they have a costume and set waiting every afternoon by the time she’s home from school. Over a dozen potential subs have left her in the past year, but just when Cerise thinks it’s impossible—that she’ll have to go back to vanilla relationships, or be alone forever--she meets William, who wants to make all her fantasies come true. He turns her home into a geisha’s dream apartment, a concert hall with a grand piano (which he uses to play an original composition while wearing a tuxedo), and even rents an abandoned loft for a zombie apocalypse scene—complete with canned goods. But there's something strange about William. Well, a lot of strange things. He must be absurdly rich, since he can afford to provide extravagant costumes and props on a daily basis without having to leave work early. He must be insane, since he puts up with Cerise's over-the-top demands. And most importantly, he doesn't redden when he's spanked, and his skin is as cool as satin sheets. When Cerise discovers she's become domme to the infamous "Chilly Willy," as he's known throughout BDSM urban lore, she begins to find out there's a whole lot more to her handsome submissive than a creative mind and a hard body. And when it’s William, ironically, who starts pressing Cerise to give him the kind of commitment she’s never given anyone, it’ll take everything she has to work through her issues, confront her past, and learn to be vulnerable.










 Then, I saw him.
An absolutely beautiful specimen was making his way towards my little table.

I sipped the soda again, careful to not smudge my lipstick.  Typically, Dommes were easy to find at mixers—the redder the lipstick, the stricter the rules.  Mine was crimson on the border of downright arterial.  I had hoped that my selection would weed out the weaklings in the pack.  I touched it up just in case it had faded and bent down to put the compact back into my bag.  By the time I leaned back up, he was in front of me.
"Hello," he said sheepishly, eyes downcast.

This was a good sign. Subs ought to act their place at events like this—unlike that last jackass.  Please, please be up to my challenge.

"Sit," I said to him, gesturing. His posture was erect, but guarded. This man was very stylish—a corduroy blazer over a graphic tee, paired with perfectly fitted dark jeans. Urban, hip. Thank God no leather—I didn't care how long I’d been involved in this sort of thing, I would never get into leather.  Unless it was required for a scene...then it would be acceptable.  He folded his hands neatly in his lap, and began the conversation in a surprisingly self-deprecating manner.

"I have something," he said, eyes still downcast, "I should tell you before we begin."

I leaned forward, ready to berate him for speaking out of turn, and not letting me begin our conversation. 

The nerve of these guys......



Mina Vaughn is an international woman of mystery and a shoe whore with a heart of gold. When she's not writing her unique brand of silly smut, she's plundering Sephora for any pin up girl makeup she can find. Mina's debut novel, an erotic comedy entitled How to Discipline your Vampire, is about a punishment-seeking vampire who meets a quirky Domme with a serious role play fetish, coming out in August 2013 from Simon and Schuster's Pocket Star.
 Twitter :  @minavaughn

 Pre-order on Amazon:     Add to Goodreads 




Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Eleanor & Park Review

Hello peeps, I'm officially back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Schools over, I have a degree and now I need a career; BUT until than I will continue to work where I am now and blog as much as I can!!!!!!!!!!!!





Title: Eleanor & Park
Author : Rainbow Rowell
Number of pages: 325
Pub Date: Feb 16,2013
     
"Bono met his wife in high school," Park says. "So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers. "I’m not kidding," he says. "You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen." "What about Romeo and Juliet?" "Shallow, confused, then dead." ''I love you," Park says. "Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers. "I’m not kidding," he says. "You should be." Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under




First off you guys, this is my first review after an almost two month hiatus due to school; so try to stay with me. If not review sure how this will turn out! I haven’t written anything in two months because I was focusing on passing my Math class for graduation (which I did, with a B) and I suck at math!!
First thoughts

Ok! Even though I was living under a rock these last couple of months, only coming out to replace the batteries in my calculator, and possible check twitter. I was not unaware a book that refuse to be unseen. Whether I was on the internet for a short period of time, just to check in on the “happening” of the blogosphere, I heard about this book!! Everyone would constantly talk about how amazing this book was, So Eleanor & Park was a book I just had to read!!!!

My Thoughts
Eleanor & Park was amazing!! I have the kindle copy but now I must get the hardcover edition. What made this story standout for me from everything else that is being published today, are the characters! This is a story that is emotional, loving, and completely realistic. It bypasses most YA clichés and forms its own identity. Eleanor is the new kid on the block, she lives with her four siblings, and parents that have their own set of problems. She isn’t like your normal YA heroine; she is slightly overweight and has a head full of curly red hair. Then we have Park; he has loving parents, he has friends, and popularity but he feels that since he is half Asian he doesn’t really fit in with his peers who are predominantly white.  After allowing Eleanor to sit by him on the bus neither think anything of it, but has the bus rides grow more frequent and they bond of music and comics, they begin to have feelings for one another; but who falls in love at 16 and does it actually last?

This story set in 1986 is the complete package, and makes you root for first love! No matter the time, everyone can remember their first love and how sweet and tragic it is. Rowell took it a step further by adding multiple complications. Not only do these characters have to deal with being teenagers and outcast, but they have to deal with abusive parents, mean peers, and trying to build a relationship on top of it all. What’s amazing and a plus for me was the slow build up to the romance! Some find it boring, but I love a good slow burn, where every little thing is significant and worthwhile, until they actually fall in love, because that is real romance!

I adorned this story soooooo much!!! I laughed, I cried, and fell in love with the characters and the 80’s.  Rainbow Rowell has officially brought me back into the contemporary romance genre. I treasured the diverse characters!

Overall, Eleanor & Park is an amazing book! It’s now among one of my favorites, and I will be quick to recommend it to everyone, NOT just YA book lovers. If you are looking for unique, diverse characters, and a story that you will remember long after the last page than this one is for you!!!

P.S I really want a sequel!! I’ve gotten so spoiled with Epilogues and sequels like I hate only having my favorite characters for one book!!! Anyone else having this problem, of not enough pages for your love of characters?




Tuesday, April 23, 2013

I'm Alive

I'm alive!!!! Sorry I haven't blogged in two weeks but school is not being very nice to me!! I have three weeks until I graduate and Quantitative analysis is taking up all of my free time,But after those three weeks I'm going to be 100% dedicated to my blog and finding a JOB!!! 


Until then sorry for being a suck-y blogger!!! Also, to everyone in school, good luck!!!


P.S I've never met a professor that has given us a curve :(


Monday, April 1, 2013

Bloglovin




So I don't know what's going to happen wit GFC once google reader disappears, and I've seen everyone now moving over to Bloglovin, so I've decided to make the switch.
Follow my Blog!!!!!!!!!!!!


Follow on Bloglovin

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Sunday Post




The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.








Last Week on the blog 
  • Promo post :for Resisting the Bad Boy by Violet Duke
  • News : Amazon to buy Goodreads
  • Review: Deep Betrayal By Anne Greenwood Brown
  • Cover reveal: Precious things By Stephanie Parent


Next week on the Blog
  • Review for Pivot Point By Kassie West
  • Cover Reveal
  • Waiting on Wednesday
  • Teaser Tuesday

IMM This week

Friday, March 29, 2013

Promo spot for Resisting the Bad boy By Violet Duke

Welcome to the release of "Resisting the Bad Boy"
by 
Violet Duke.

RESISTING THE BAD BOY (NICE GIRL TO LOVE Book #1)
This is the first book in a three-novel serial romance titled NICE GIRL TO LOVE.  It will be available at most major e-book retailers on March 29.  Its follow-up, Book #2: FALLING FOR THE GOOD GUY, will release at the end of April, and the series finale is due out at the end of May.  The paperback versions of all three novels will come out in June.

Abby Bartlett is the quintessential nice girl. Between teaching, volunteering, completing her PhD, and helping her best friend raise his daughter, Abby never gets the chance to be anything but nice. That is, until the all-wrong-for-her man she’s only ever known from afar starts daring her to simply take that chance for herself.  His sage advice?  Try something wild and fast.

Preferably him.

An unbridled, hotshot attorney with a not-so-little black book, Connor Sullivan has earned himself quite the bad boy reputation.  But in his defense, he’s a very conscientious one. He knows far too well that sometimes in life, love isn’t enough…or worse, not even a factor at all.  To avoid that misery—and repel the drama—Connor always makes his one and only rule crystal clear right from the start.  Absolutely nothing more than a month.

Turns out, a whole lot can happen in one month.


Buy it HERE  Amazon   B&N
Excerpt
“Why you little—” Connor launched at Abby as she shrieked out in laughter and tried ducking around him to make for the door. Snatching her around the waist, he hoisted her cackling body over his shoulder and upended her back onto the bed. “You set me up.” Now unliddable, her giggles effervesced, giving zero credence to her perfectly scandalized denials. He trapped her under him and buried his grin against the curve of her neck, feeling disproportionately victorious at the gasp she couldn’t contain when he skimmed his lips over her collarbone. The woman was getting to him. This time, when his lips found her soft skin again, it was with purpose. “You planted that wicked little bag-o-fun there for me to find, admit it.” She gave an Oscar-worthy gasp at the accusation. “What? What possible reason would I have had to do that?” “To drive me up the wall? Send me bursting through my zipper?” He nipped at her earlobe playfully. “Though I guess I should be flattered to be the reason you bought all that stuff.” The cutest derisive snort he’d ever heard shot out of her like a torpedo with impeccable aim. “Breaking news, Connor: scientists have in fact discovered that the earth doesn’t revolve around you. Women buy toys for themselves all the time.” He nearly bit off his tongue to avoid even thinking about Abby having any sort of toy-based fun. “I still call foul. When you and I agreed to this who’ll-beg-first stint, you didn’t say you’d be weaponizing your attacks.” “Weapons?” She blinked innocently. “You make them sound so sinister. I’d say they’re more like…private tools. Survival tools, if you will. For my time here. Naturally, you were never meant to see them.” “Bull. Next, you’ll tell me the snowflake masquerading as underwear in that bag is worn strictly for comfort. Hell, I’ve seen more fabric on the teeny doilies in Skylar’s toy tea sets—” “Aw, I remember those,” she cut in softly with a smile. “She used to go on and on about how her ‘bestest Uncle Connor’ hosted the fanciest dress-up tea parties.” “I wore suits,” he clarified gruffly, “and don’t change the subject. Why buy sexy lingerie if not to have them be seen?” By me. He didn’t have to say it out loud, they were both thinking it. And his ego was celebrating it. “Easy access,” she eventually answered, straight-faced. His imagination went nuts. Picturing Abby wearing the microscopic scrap of white lace he saw earlier for private ‘easy access’ unhinged him. He shackled her wrists above her head with one hand and began tickling her ribs. “Another foul.” “Stop!” she screeched and dissolved into a breathless puddle of mirth. “Okay, I admit it! It was a dirty, dirty foul on my part. You should definitely take a free throw shot.” He paused, wondering where she was going with this. She pointed to the trash can. “There’s the basket; my new panties can be the ball…since yours are clearly in a twist.” Incredulous, he dialed up the tickle torture to merciless. Her squealing ‘I-take-it-backs’ became unintelligible as she wriggled and squirmed and bucked until soon, he was fairly certain he was suffering more than she was. Breathing hard, he released her wrists and rolled onto his back beside her. “You’re planning to drive me completely crazy these next few weeks, aren’t you?” Limbs all akimbo, head dangling off the bed, she heaved between breaths, “Like you wouldn’t believe.”


VIOLET DUKE is the pen name for Nina Nakayama, former professor of English Education turned author who now spends her days on the other side of the page writing wickedly fun contemporary romance.  When she’s not catering to the whims of her story characters or feeding her book-a-day reading addiction, she enjoys randomly rearranging the furniture in her house, tackling reno projects with her power tools, cooking ‘special edition’ dishes that laugh in the face of recipes, and trying pretty much anything without reading the directions first.  Nina lives in Hawai‘i with her two cute kids and similarly adorable husband.  Learn more about her and her books at http://www.violetduke.com.

ONLINE LINKS:



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