#ArcAugust Book Review : Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson @writeinBK

RELEASE DATE : 1/24/2017
Allegedly by Tiffany D Jackson  via @amazon

Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myer’s Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting debut by Tiffany D. Jackson about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home.

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary’s fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?

#ArcAugust Book Review : Mixed Feeling by Avan Jogia

RELEASE DATE : SEPTEMBER 17, 2019

 

From actor Avan Jogia comes a raw and moving collection of poetry, stories, and art about living as a mixed-race person in a world increasingly fixated on racial identity.

In Mixed Feelings, Avan Jogia explores his complicated emotions around race, identity, religion, and family through poetry and imagery. Drawing on the author's own life story as well as interviews he's conducted with friends and strangers, Mixed Feelings serves as a dialogue starter for difficult topics that now, more than ever, need to be discussed.

Mixed Feelings is an exploration of what it means to be a mixed-race person in today’s world. Inspired by numerous letters from Avan’s fans, the collection tells of his personal experiences and stories from others interviewed for the book. Mixed Feelings is a raw and moving investigation into identity. 

#arcAugust Book Review : Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren @christinalauren

RELEASE DATE : 9/4/2018
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren  via @amazon

Most men can’t handle Hazel. But her best friend Josh isn’t most men. Don’t miss New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren’s new novel about two people who are definitely not dating…no matter how often they end up in bed together.
Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them...right?

#arcAugust Book Review : to drink coffee with a ghost by Amanda Lovelace @ladybookmad

RELEASE SEPTEMBER 17, 2019

to drink coffee with a ghost by Amanda Lovelace https://www.amazon.com/dp/1449494277/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_v9bzDbVEETQ7C via @amazon 

“You cannot have a funeral for your mother without also having a funeral for yourself."  This book poses the ever-lingering question: What happens when someone dies before they're able to redeem themselves?

From the bestselling & award-winning poetess, amanda lovelace, comes the finale of her illustrated duology, "things that h(a)unt." In the first installment, to make monsters out of girls, lovelace explored the memory of being in a toxic romantic relationship. In to drink coffee with a ghost, lovelace unravels the memory of the complicated relationship she had with her now-deceased mother.




REVIEW


How can you not love Amanda’s words? I fall in love with this writer more and more each time they release a book. I love the way she puts so many emotions into her words even in small samples and they just hit me so hard. I do truly love the fact that she added a trigger warnings page right at the very beginning so you are WARNED. Also the artwork is incredible.


Chasing Emily may be my favorite piece in this book because I did immediately think of an exact conversation with my own mother.

#arcAugust Book Review : The Point by John Dixon

RELEASE DATE : 8/7/2018
The Point by John Dixon https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101967560/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_v6bzDbAG42ZP4 via @amazon

What if you had a power you had to hide from everyone—until now? In this bold sci-fi action thriller, a secret training program at West Point is turning misfits into a new generation of heroes.
Scarlett Winter has always been an outsider, and not only because she’s a hardcore daredevil and born troublemaker—she has been hiding superhuman powers she doesn’t yet understand. Now she’s been recruited by a secret West Point unit for cadets with extraordinary abilities. Scarlett and her fellow students are learning to hone their skills, from telekinetic combat to running recon missions through strangers’ dreamscapes. At The Point, Scarlett discovers that she may be the most powerful cadet of all. With the power to control pure energy, she’s a human nuclear bomb—and she’s not sure she can control her powers much longer.

Even in this army of outsiders, Scarlett feels like a misfit all over again, but when a threat that endangers her fellow students arises from the school’s dark past, duty calls and Scarlett must make a choice between being herself and becoming something even greater: a hero.

#ArcAugust Book Review : Sadie by Courtney Summers @courtney_s

Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. 

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late.

Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.

RELEASE DATE : 9/4/2018

Review 

 You must listen to this book on audio! It makes everything so much more intense. Sadie on audiobook is like a mix of Limetown and someone knows something. It takes you between the podcast recording the history of the crime and it gives you real time in Sadie’s search for her sisters killer. This story is tragic and triggering and it hits a height of emotion for anyone with a personal history of abuse. Truly amazing work.  

Cover Reveal : Colder Than Sin by Toni Anderson @inkslingerpr

About COLDER THAN SIN by Toni Anderson (Cold Justice: Crossfire #2)

Hostage Negotiators can talk themselves out of anything—except falling in love.

Top FBI negotiator Quentin Savage is hurled into his worst nightmare when a terrorist attack on a luxury hotel propels him from esteemed keynote speaker to powerless captive.

Haley Cramer is co-owner of a private security firm and prides herself on her independence, but she is shaken to the core when gunmen attack a conference she is attending. She survives, but only because Quentin Savage pretends she’s his wife.

Together Savage and Haley plot their escape from a ragtag army of brutal but efficient thugs while struggling to figure out exactly who the enemy is. Why was the conference attacked, and why was Quentin a specific target?

Preorder your copy of COLDER THAN SIN now:

✦ Amazon: https://amzn.to/2KQe1xM

✦ Apple Books: https://apple.co/2KRRqAT

✦ B&N: http://bit.ly/2KQe2Sm

✦ Kobo: http://bit.ly/2KRLFTV

✦ Google Play: http://bit.ly/2KQFTSt

✦ Add COLDER THAN SIN on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2KVnu77

#ArcAugust Book Review : A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney @elleonwords

Release Date: 9/25/2018

The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she's trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.

Life in real-world Atlanta isn't always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice's handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she'll need to use everything she's learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head . . . literally.

Debut author L.L. McKinney delivers an action-packed twist on an old classic, full of romance and otherworldly intrigue.

REVIEW

This was a book that I’d had for a very long time but I could not get through it. However, I decided to get the audiobook and that was the best decision I could have made. The narration on the audiobook makes this retelling so much more entertaining. I absolutely love the characters, I love all the personalities, and I absolutely loved this cliffhanger. This Alice in Wonderland - Buffy the vampire slayer crossover definitely hits the mark.

#arcAugust Book Review : Masquerade by @cyrusparker

​masquerade

Release Date: 05/07/2019

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Non-binary poet Cyrus Parker returns with an all-new collection of poetry and prose dedicated to those struggling to find their own identity in a world that often forces one into the confines of what's considered "socially acceptable."

Divided into three parts and illustrated by Parker, masquerade grapples with topics such as the never-ending search for acceptance, gender identity, relationships, and the struggle to recognize your own face after hiding behind another for so long.

purchase masquerade: amazon | b&n | indigo | book depository | indiebound

REVIEW 

So I first read book 1 DROPKICKromance about two months ago, I've had it for a longer time, but this has to be one of the best follow-ups that I have ever read. Cyrus speaks so strongly and poured so much emotion into this. Broken into 3 parts, Cyrus speaks on self-discovery, on a difficult past and looking to a brighter future. He talks about his love for for Amanda Lovelace (another of my poetic loved) and how that changed him and difficulties with his father. Also no worries, the Exfactor from book one that was just terrible, makes a return in some of the most beautifully savage pieces that Cyrus puts in this book.

#arcAugust Book Review : DROPKICKromance by @cyrusparker

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DROPKICKromance

Release Date: 03/06/2018

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

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“to chase love is to chase heartbreak, and i haven’t a heart left to break.”

From pro-wrestler-turned-poet Cyrus Parker comes a poetic memoir that tells the tale of two relationships. The first half of DROPKICKromance focuses on a toxic, long-distance relationship the author was involved in for several years, while the second half focuses on Parker’s current relationship with poet Amanda Lovelace, who penned a beautiful foreword for the book. This collection takes you on a journey through first love, heartbreak, and learning to love again.

purchase DROPKICKromance: amazon | b&n | indigo | book depository | indiebound

REVIEW

Omg the ups and downs of love. This took me all the way. The insecurities, the betrayals, the heartache. The discovery of selflove and being able to let someone love you back. Cyrus and Amanda are a dream duo and following their romance and reading these words, all the feels. 

#arcAugust Book Review : Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

Released: June 11 2019

Fix Her Up: A Novel by Tessa Bailey https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062872834/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_v43sDbXGFB6WM via @amazon
A brand new romantic comedy from New York Times bestseller Tessa Bailey!

Georgette Castle’s family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked balloons instead of blueprints and they haven’t taken her seriously since. Frankly, she’s over it. Georgie loves planning children’s birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her own expense. She’s determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World... whatever that means.

Phase one: new framework for her business (a website from this decade, perhaps?)

Phase two: a gut-reno on her wardrobe (fyi, leggings are pants.)

Phase three: updates to her exterior (do people still wax?)

Phase four: put herself on the market (and stop crushing on Travis Ford!)

Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn’t been on a date since, well, ever. Nobody’s asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that’s for sure. Maybe if people think she’s having a steamy love affair, they’ll acknowledge she’s not just the “little sister” who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite?

Travis Ford was major league baseball’s hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now he’s flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can’t even cross the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And then there's Georgie, his best friend’s sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a new job—he agrees. What’s the harm? It’s not like it’s real. But the girl Travis used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman and there’s nothing fake about how much he wants her...


REVIEW

Really loved this, tho I did have serious Travis hate at the start. He grew on me and Tessa wrote his discoveries in such a way that I had googly eyes. THANK YOU for not making the final conflict what I feared. Also, Stephen...bit douchey love.