Saturday, November 29, 2014

Anaiah Press Blog Tour, Interview, & Giveaway: Tess In Boots (Courtney Rice Gager)

Tess in Boots banner


Anaiah Press proudly presents TESS IN BOOTS by Courtney Rice Gager, a contemporary romantic novel available on December 2!


Tess Dougherty plans every aspect of her life right down to the last detail. But she doesn’t plan on running her boyfriend off by bringing up the topic of marriage before he’s ready. And she doesn’t plan to lose her job on the day she’s set to receive a huge promotion. So when her perfect world unravels, Tess makes a new plan: disappear.
Tess packs her bags and leaves her city apartment for a remote vineyard in North Carolina. At first, she’s put off by the slow pace of small-town life in the South. She’s especially irritated by Thatcher, the vineyard’s smart-mouth, dimple-faced farmhand. But she soon begins to appreciate the area’s charm, and Thatcher’s charm, too. She even swaps her trademark heels for a pair of cowboy boots. As Tess spends more time getting to know Thatcher, she finds herself loosening her grip on her old life little by little. Unfortunately, things on the vineyard aren’t as simple as they seem. There’s a secret here, and when the truth comes to light, Tess is forced to reconsider every plan she’s ever made. 


 
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Courtney Rice Gager
Courtney Rice Gager graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in communication and a minor in creative writing. Courtney is also the author of The Buggy List. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and daughter.













Connect with Courtney:
Website      Twitter       Goodreads      Facebook     Amazon


What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
Right before I started working on Tess in Boots, I released an independent title (my first fiction title) and it performed a lot better than I anticipated. This gave me the encouragement to try a new fiction project, and I did a lot of reading up on the process of writing fiction as I was in the planning stages. One of the books I read made a very memorable point that good fiction hooks readers by raising questions and delaying the answers. That was at the forefront of my mind when I started writing Tess in Boots. I wanted to be intentional about creating a high-stakes love story that would keep readers turning the pages to find out what happens next. I knew I wanted to bring my main character to an uncomfortable place, because I believe people are given the opportunity for maximum growth when they step out of their comfort zone. And lastly, I knew I wanted to set the story on a vineyard. I grew up with grapevines in my backyard, and my family went through a homemade winemaking phase at one point. So I wanted to incorporate this part of my background into the book. And besides, a vineyard makes for a beautiful setting! Perfect for a love story.

Who is your favorite character in the book?
I'm going to say Tess, because I spent the most time with her. It's a tough choice, though. This was a great group of characters. When I was done writing the book, I felt a little sad. I missed hanging out with these characters as if they were friends of mine or something. Does that make me sound crazy? Actually, don't answer that. Moving on...

Which came first, the title or the novel?
Definitely the novel! For the longest time Tess in Boots didn't have a title, because I couldn't quite find the right fit. I didn't over-think it, because I didn't want to force the wrong title on the book. When Tess in Boots finally came to me, I was almost ready to query. I ran it by my husband and he said, "That's funny. Wait... are you serious?" I wasn't sure at first. But then I decided yes, I was serious, and here we are.

What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
There's a secret on the vineyard, and I'm most proud of the scene where that secret is revealed. The tricky thing is I can't describe the scene specifically because I don't want to spoil it for the reader. I'm most proud of this scene because I believe it's going to take the reader by total surprise at a highly climactic point in the story. I hope so, anyway.

Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
Over the years, I've learned that being a successful writer takes more than talent. What it really requires is hard work, commitment to keep going, and a willingness to learn whatever you can. This includes being open to feedback about your work. The more constructive criticism you can get, the better.

What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2015?
I hear Judy Blume has a new adult title hitting the shelves this summer. I don't think they've released a title or a blurb yet, but I don't care what it's about. It's Judy Blume, and I'm all over it! Her books were some of my childhood favorites.

What was your favorite book in 2014?
I hope this isn't cheating, because this book came out in 2012, but it took me until this year to read Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Of all the fiction books I read this past year, this one was my favorite because of the honest and genuine voices of the characters. I highly recommend it! My favorite non-fiction read this past year was Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. Again, it came out a while ago so I’m way behind, but it was a fascinating and very touching read. I meant to read it for a few minutes before bed one night, but I ended up staying up most of the night to finish it in one sitting. The next morning I had to change my sheets because by the end of the book I was reading by flashlight while ugly-crying into a huge bowl of ice cream. So, yeah… I woke up to find my sheets covered in Hershey’s syrup and snot. Worth it, though.

What do you like most about the cover of the book?
I like how the cover is a perfect representation of my original vision. Contractually, the publisher could have dismissed my countless ideas and gone in a different direction entirely, but they didn't. It's very intense receiving your final proof for the cover. You're like, "Please don't let me hate this!" It was such a relief when I saw the finished product and thought it was perfect.

What’s up next for you?
Take a breather! Once the Tess in Boots tour is over, I'll be taking a couple months off to enjoy Christmas and to adjust to becoming a mother of two. We have a two-year-old daughter and a son who is expected to arrive around January 15th. Things are going to be pretty busy as we get adjusted. After that, I'd love to get back to work on one of the two stories I have outlined. It would be great to complete one of these stories in 2015.

Is there anything that you would like to add?
Yes. I want to say thank you, Beth, for hosting me on your blog today! I appreciate your help introducing Tess in Boots to your readers.





Friday, November 28, 2014

ARC Review: Three Little Lies (Melissa Wolff)

Three Little Lies

It is the summer of 2012. The sky is blue, the ocean is crisp, and six young women are missing, including Madison Porter. At the disappearance of her best friend, Amber Swanson falls into a spiral of destruction. She smokes, drinks and gets caught stealing. Her parents don't know what to do with her, so she is sent to live with her half-sister, Rebecca, in Virginia. Ethan Hunter lives by the saying 'blood is thicker than water'; even when his mother up and left him. At sixteen, he's torn between holding on to the only family he has left and forging his own path for the future. He secretly plans his escape from his small, southern town. The two lives collide and, as Amber puts the pieces of her best friend's disappearance together, she and Ethan are thrown into a whirlwind of secrets, deceit, and murder.




Purchase Links



Melissa Wolff

Melissa Wolff graduated Cum Laude from Long Island University in 2011, receiving her Bachelor's Degree with a focus in English Writing. She has written and self-published three young adult novels. She has also been published on Path.com, Post Pioneer, and LIB Magazine.
Melissa is a freelance editor and proofreader, working to help others see their ideas come to life. She has been writing since she was a teenager and published her first novel at 21 years old.
In her down time, Melissa likes to cook, crochet, and curl up with a blanket, reading thick books.









Wow!! Did not see that ending coming! Amber is giving her parents problems so they send her to spend the summer with her sister. Amber makes a new friend named Ethan, he seems nice but something is not just right. I thought the problem was with Ethan's dad but there are some great twist and surprises in the plot! I needed some closure between Amber and her sister's boyfriend, I kept thinking I missed something there. This one definitely kept my attention! I give it 3.5 stars. 




BreakThrough Promotions

CBB Promotions Book Blast & Giveaway: The Bleaklisted Books (David Brown & Donna Brown)


Today I'm excited to share the teaser tour for The Bleaklisted Books by David M. Brown and Donna Brown. This is humorous non-fiction for every cat and animal lover. The Bleaklisted Books releases December 1st!

My mini-irons,
I urge you to embrace the goose-spell of Animal Farm and you will find sanctuary when our difficult war is over. I will add, of course, that given that conquering the world means a long, long, long, long, long war, I will permit you to read another book every now and again.
Just remember which books are bleak-listed; e.g. Barry Potterer, 100 Years of Silly Tudor, Prude and Perjury, The Hungary Olympic Games, The Chronicles of Nerdia and Of Mike and Ben.
In the meantime, here is a list of books I have vetted and will reconsider for approval if the appro... apprap... proper changes are made. Read this manyule carefully mini-irons.
Your Cat-tain
Charlie Brown



US Amazon | General link (diverts to relevant Amazon) | Goodreads


Excerpt

What happens?

Some spy is told to carry out an assignment in East Germany to uncover a double agent but he falls for someone prior to this and love ultimately messes the operation up.

Reason for bleaklisting?

Proper spies don’t fall in love. Wimps they are!

What should have happened?

Eric is sent on an exclusive mission into East Germany to assassinate a double agent. Before setting off he is approached by an air stewardess named Fiz who fancies him but he turns her down. She does warn him that it’s cold in East Germany and gives him some cough syrup.

Suspicious of the bottle labelled poison with a skull on it, Eric tosses the syrup and completes his mission. When he returns home to England he has a runny nose and is coughing a lot. Fiz realises he has seen through the poison expertly disguised as cough syrup and she runs away. She is shot and killed by a traffic warden who believes her car is parked on double yellow lines. Eric ends the novel by nipping to the pharmacy for some genuine cough syrup.

Special instruction

Make available at MI5, MI6, CIA, B&Q and M&S and rename The Spy Who Came Home with a Cold.

Mr B compares the stories

Dear me, Charlie, I thought you’d like John le Carré’s 1963 Cold War Novel. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold does deal with Communist East Germany where Alec Leamas is sent, under the pretence that he is defecting, and with the intention of locating Mundt, suspected of being a double agent. Alec has a romance with Liz which ultimately throws a spanner in the works. There isn’t anything about cough syrup thankfully and as with Charlie’s other efforts, this one is likely to disappear into the ether. My apologies to Mr le Carré for this despicable alternative to his story.


About the Authors: 
Donna: Donna is a longtime book lover and sometime book reviewer and has devoured books from
an early age. She writes short (or long) stories as and when inspiration hits and is married to fantasy author David M. Brown (Fezariu's Epiphany, A World Apart). She was also co-contributor to David's book, Man vs Cat, a humorous look at life with six rambunctious rescue cats.
Donna has lived in many different areas of the UK over the last 30-something years but has remained in Yorkshire for the past decade. She ardently disputes the misnomer that 'It's grim up north'. You can find Donna on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Goodreads, or visit her and her husband's shared blog: B-Lines and Felines.

Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram 


David: David Brown could be considered a fantasy fanatic, especially since he has spent the last 10 years developing a 47,000-year history for his fictional world of Elenchera. When converting his obsession into literary form, David commits himself to a rigorous writing and editing process before his work can meet his approval. Combined with the critical eye of his wife and a BA Hons in History and English, David's dedication leads him to his goal of inspiring readers through heartfelt stories and characters.
Although David is inspired primarily by fantasy fiction, he also finds his muse in the form of anime, world cinema, history, and biographies. His own books, Fezariu's Epiphany and A World Apart, combine aspects from worlds both old and new into compelling tales of a world not soon forgotten., David himself certainly does not lack a spirit of adventure; in fact, he left his job in 2007 in order to spend a month travelling. Second only to meeting and marrying his wife, David counts this as one of the most amazing experiences of his life.

Feline Central

Giveaway:
$20 Gift Certificate for Amazon or B&N & paperback or audiobook of Man vs. Cat (INT)
Ends December 16th.


This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.


Thursday, November 27, 2014

Lola's Blog Tours Book Blitz & Giveaway: Click. Date. Repeat. (K.J. Farnham)


Click Date Repeat banner

This is my stop during the book blitz for Click Date Repeat by K. J. Farnham. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 26 November till 1 December, you can view the complete blitz schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.

Click Date Repeat coverClick Date Repeat
by K. J. Farnham

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age category: Adult
Release Date: 21 August, 2014

These days, finding love online is as commonplace as ordering that coveted sweater. But back in 2003, the whole concept of Internet dating was still quite new, with a stigma attached to it that meant those who were willing to test the waters faced a fair amount of skepticism from friends and family.
Such is the case for Chloe Thompson, a restless 20-something tired of the typical dating scene and curious about what she might find inside her parents’ computer. With two serious but failed relationships behind her, Chloe isn’t even entirely sure what she’s looking for. She just knows that whatever it is, she wants to find it.
Based loosely on author K. J. Farnham’s real-life online dating experiences, Chloe’s foray into online dating involves a head-first dive into a world of matches, ice breakers and the occasional offer of dick pics, all while Chloe strives to shake herself of the ex who just refuses to disappear. Will she simultaneously find herself and “the one” online, or will the ever-growing pile of humorous and downright disastrous dates only prove her friends and family right? There’s only one way to find out…Click. Date. Repeat.

You can find Click Date Repeat on Goodreads

You can buy Click Date Repeat here:



K. J. Farnham

Born and raised in a suburb of Milwaukee, K. J. Farnham was an educator for 12 years. She holds a bachelor's degree from UW-Milwaukee and a master's degree from Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
After relocating from Milwaukee to Hudson, Wisc., in 2011, Farnham became a freelance writer and resolved to complete her first novel. The storyline for "Click Date Repeat" is a result of her experiences (and mishaps) with online dating, through which she met her husband.
Farnham lives with her husband, three young children and three cats. When she is not busy keeping up with her kids, she can be found reading or writing. A sequel to "Click Date Repeat" is in the works, and she plans to publish her next novel, "The Me I See," in the spring of 2015.

You can find and contact the author here:


There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of Click Date Repeat. These are the prizes you can win:
 2 amazon gift cards of 5$

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

YA Bound Book Blitz & Giveaway: Hemlock Veils (Jennie Davenport)


Hemlock Veils
Release Date: 11/25/14
Swoon Romance

When Elizabeth Ashton escapes her damaging city life and finds herself in the remote town of Hemlock Veils, Oregon, she is smitten by its quaint mystery; but the surrounding forest holds an enchantment she didn’t think existed, and worse, a most terrifying monster. The town claims it vicious and evil, but Elizabeth suspects something is amiss. Even with its enormous, hairy frame, gruesome claws, and knifelike teeth, the monster’s eyes speak to her: wolf-like and ringed with gold, yet holding an awareness that can only be human. That’s when Elizabeth knows she is the only one who can see the struggling soul trapped inside, the soul to which she is moved.
Secretly, Elizabeth befriends the beast at night, discovering there’s more to his story and that the rising of the sun transforms him into a human more complex than his beastly self. Elizabeth eventually learns that his curse is unlike any other and that a single murderous act is all that stands between him and his freedom. Though love is not enough to break his curse, it may be the only means by which the unimaginable can be done: sacrifice a beauty for the beast.


Buy Links:


Though Jennie Davenport was raised throughout the Midwest, she now lives in the little desert mining town of Bagdad, Arizona, where six guys beg for her constant attention: a husband, three young, blond sons, a German shepherd with a name much mightier than his disposition (Zeus), and a black cat named Mouse. When she isn’t trying to run her home with as little casualties as possible, Jennie loves snuggling with her family, laughing with her friends, delving into brilliant entertainment of any vein, and playing outside. Despite the way being a writer is in her blood, and the wheels of her writerly mind are constantly turning, Jennie likes to think that in another life, she would have been a Broadway star. Or an American Idol finalist.
Jennie lives for the fall, and not just because of her adoration for the NFL (Go Broncos!). In her perfect world, she would have the springs, summers, and falls of Colorado, and the winters of Arizona—someplace where the climate and weather would allow her to go on a trail run all year round. But even though she prefers the pines and mountains, she is a devoted fan of all nature, from sandy beaches to woodsy cabins, and all are her greatest inspiration. She believes nature is one of the best healing remedies, with a magic all its own.
Jennie’s passion for writing is the way she survives, and is as vital to her sanity as oxygen, caffeine, food, and music. Even before she began writing it, well-told, original, and character-driven romance was always her weak spot. Add the paranormal or magical realism element and she may never make it back to reality. 

Author Links:
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GIVEAWAY:

Book Blitz Organized by:

Entangled Publishing Presents BLACK FRIDAY EXCLUSIVE SALE!!!!!

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Waiting On Wednesday: The Distance Between Lost and Found (Kathryn Holmes)



Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at 


and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.







The Distance Between Lost and FoundKindle Edition, 320 pages
Expected publication: February 17th 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Author: Kathryn Holmes


Ever since the night of the incident with Luke Willis, the preacher’s son, sophomore Hallelujah Calhoun has been silent. When the rumors swirled around school, she was silent. When her parents grounded her, she was silent. When her friends abandoned her … silent.
Now, six months later, on a youth group retreat in the Smoky Mountains, Hallie still can’t find a voice to answer the taunting. Shame and embarrassment haunt her, while Luke keeps coming up with new ways to humiliate her. Not even meeting Rachel, an outgoing newcomer who isn’t aware of her past, can pull Hallie out of her shell. Being on the defensive for so long has left her raw, and she doesn’t know who to trust.
On a group hike, the incessant bullying pushes Hallie to her limit. When Hallie, Rachel, and Hallie’s former friend Jonah get separated from the rest of the group, the situation quickly turns dire. Stranded in the wilderness, the three have no choice but to band together.
With past betrayals and harrowing obstacles in their way, Hallie fears they’ll never reach safety. Could speaking up about the night that changed everything close the distance between being lost and found? Or has she traveled too far to come back? 

What book are you looking forward to in 2015??

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

CBB Promotions Blog Tour, Interview, & Giveaway: The Next Breath (Laurel Osterkamp)


breath

Welcome to my tour stop for The Next Breath by Laurel Osterkamp. This is an adult contemporary and the tour runs November 17-28th with reviews, interviews & guest posts. Check out the tour schedule for all the posts.

nextbreath-osterkamp-ebookThe Next Breath, 313 pages

I kiss him, choosing love over honesty, which is a choice nobody should ever have to make…"
Robin loves sweet, responsible Nick, with his penchant for Beethoven and Ben Folds Five. But she also still loves her college boyfriend Jed, an irreverent playwright plagued with cystic fibrosis. Now Robin is struggling to reveal her secrets and confront her past, as she finally performs in the play that Jed wrote for her, eleven years ago. Will Robin have the strength to keep her promise and stay true to her heart?
Alternating between present-day scenes, college flashbacks, and segments from Jed’s play, this tear-jerking yet uplifting tale illustrates how life is finite but love is infinite, and the road to recovery begins with the next breath.  



Goodreads | Amazon

LAO_2
Laurel Osterkamp becomes very attached to her characters, and it’s hard for her to stop writing about them.  The Holdout, November Surprise, Blue State, Campaign Promises, American Angst and The Next Breath all feature the Bricker family, as their stories continue. (But you can read any of these books in any order.) You can find Laurel on Twitter but she needs to work on sending clever Tweets. A better idea is to follow her blog at www.laurelosterkamp.blogspot.com. Laurel teaches in Minneapolis, MN, where she tries to stay warm, spend time with her two nearly perfect children and husband, and find the time to write.  Her other novels are Following My Toes and Starring in the Movie of My Life. Visit her at www.laurelosterkamp.com.


WebsiteTwitter 


What gave you the inspiration to write this book?

The Next Breath stars Robin, the same main character as in my 2013 release, The Holdout. I had the best time writing about Robin and I knew I wanted to continue her story. But when I started writing a second book I felt that sophomore slump. How do I write something unique and dynamic? I decided I need to play around with flashbacks, and put Robin in a life or death situation. I wanted to capture the raw feeling of being young and in love, when the stakes are super-high.

Who is your favorite character in the book?

Robin is my favorite. I wish I could be more like her! She’s good at so many things, and she’s genuine and loyal. 

Which came first, the title or the novel?

Definitely the novel! I was originally going to call it The Fallout, keeping it similar to The Holdout. Then one night I was on Goodreads, and saw a new release called Fallout, which, like my book, was a novel about theater. I didn’t want there to be confusion, so I gave up trying to having a themed title, and called it The Next Breath, which fits the story way better anyway.

What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?

Towards the end of the novel, Robin performs in a play that her college boyfriend, Jed, wrote for her. The play becomes super important, and I knew I had to include it. But I sort of kicked myself in the foot with it, setting Jed up as a “brilliant” playwright. I found writing “Jed’s” play to be really intimidating: writing in a different genre, and from the voice of 21-year-old male with cystic fibrosis. It was a challenge! But I’m really happy with how it turned out.

 Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?

I read and learned a lot about cystic fibrosis, and that was incredibly valuable to me. I also feel really good about confronting issues of life, love, and loss. Sometimes I’m scared to put my characters in truly painful situations. It’s like they’re my children, and I don’t want to see them suffer. But I got past that while writing The Next Breath.

What do you like most about the cover of the book?

Christa Holland, at PaperandSage.com designed the cover, and I think she did an amazing job! I found the photo and she added the lighting effects, composed it, and put in this cool font. I smile every time I look at it.

What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2015?

You know, I don’t pay that much attention to what’s being released, but there are a lot of things on my kindle that I’m looking forward to reading, like Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little, and The Year of the Gadfly by Jennifer Miller. Also, I’ve already books one and two in the Grisha trilogy, by Leigh Bardugo, and I’m excited to read the third.

 What was your favorite book in 2014?

I loved Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty, and Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes. I don’t know which one I’d pick as my favorite; they were all so good!

 What’s up next for you?

I plan to write one more book about Robin. Right now my ideas for this next book include a reality show like Project Runway, a ballet dancer-turned model who is in trouble, a love triangle (but not for Robin), scaling large buildings, and life or death situations. Sounds crazy, right? But I’d love to make it all work.

Is there anything that you would like to add?

Thanks so much for having me, and for giving my book a chance!



$25 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
Ends December 3rd, 2014




Sunday, November 23, 2014

5 Star ARC Review: Shutter (Courtney Alameda)

ShutterHardcover, 384 pages
Expected publication: February 3rd 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Author: Courtney Alameda


Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat—a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.
When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn't exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she's faced before . . . or die trying.
Lock, stock, and lens, she’s in for one hell of a week.  

Pre-Order Links:



Courtney Alameda
Courtney Alameda's spent her entire career trying to con and cajole people into reading great books. A veteran of the big-box bookstore trenches, Courtney now works as a librarian for the prettiest library you've ever seen, where she spends her time ordering large stacks of YA books, doing readers' advisory, and dressing up as various mythical creatures for a variety of library events. 
Courtney has an affinity for brightly colored lipstick, urban exploration, cosplay, video games, and Twitter. If she's listening to music, it's usually Florence + the Machine, Marina and the Diamonds, Rodrigo y Gabriela, or Jason Graves. Her addiction to Dr. Pepper is legendary.

Courtney holds a B.A. in English Literature with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Brigham Young University. She is represented by the amazing and talented John M. Cusick of Greenhouse Literary. A Northern California native, she now resides in Utah with a legion of books and a tiny, five pound cat who possesses a giant personality.



"Horror has a new name. 
Introducing Courtney Alameda."

"CALL IT REAPER'S INSOMNIA, but the dead wouldn't let me sleep at night. Every time the sun went down, I swore I sensed them stirring, starving. 
Killing."

The first thing that drew me to want to read Shutter was the incredibly creepy cover of the book. I mean it is SERIOUSLY CREEPY. I am not even sure how to describe the creature that is portrayed. I can tell you that it is most likely an evil entity because nothing that looks like that could be anywhere remotely defined as good. 

In Shutter the characters live in a "future" world where ghosts and the supernatural are a common occurrence and there are even specially trained people who fight to keep the ghosts in the spirit world and away from humans. The main character is named Micheline Helsing. She is a tetrachromat--a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. Micheline is a kick-ass heroine who uses her skills to locate and hunt down the supernatural and uses her camera to exorcise the ghosts and capture their spiritual energy on film.  Micheline is so strong and determined and yet so vulnerable. I love this about her character. This makes her seem so real and readers can really relate to her. 

Micheline works with a specific group of people that each have certain skills that help them to track down supernatural beings and send them back to where they belong. Oliver is a techo-whiz who also helped to create the camera that Micheline uses to capture the spirits, Jude can predict when death is about to occur by touching someone, and Ryder is the young man that Micheline has loved for as long as she has been alive. Together they make the perfect team to fight the supernatural and keep the balance between good and evil. 

While on one of their ghost hunts, Micheline encounters a truly evil spirit that refuses to enter the camera. This spirit places a curse on Micheline called "soulchain curse" that gives her and her companions seven days to defeat the spirit or they will die themselves. Micheline and her companions then begin a journey to discover the truth behind this curse and the mystery of why she and her friends were chosen for this curse.

I am completely and utterly obsessed with horror stories so I knew that I had to read Shutter. Everyone was raving about how intense and incredibly scary the entire book was.....WOW...Let me just tell you that EVERYONE WAS RIGHT....From the very first chapter to the very last chapter I had chills running up and down my spine...The descriptions that Courtney Alameda uses when she is writing about an encounter with a ghost are just so intense and makes you feel as though you are in the room experiencing everything the character is experiencing.. I WAS TOTALLY FREAKED OUT. 

"A scorpion.
Made of pressed-together corpses. It crawled on four sets mis-matched arms. Human legs fused together to make a stinger that curled over the necro's back--I'd never seen anything like it, not in anatomy class or Helsing's bestiaries or even in stories. Hyper necrotic mutations didn't generally involve corpses fusing together into one huge nightmare."

Another aspect that I really enjoyed was how Courtney Alameda references classic horror stories within the story. I won't give away which ones she references because that would take away from some pretty special moments......

Shutter is full of blood-chilling situations, evil -killer ghosts, death-defying suspense, and the answer to the mystery that no one will see coming.....

I would recommend Shutter to anyone who who reads horror, suspense, or mystery novels because this book has it all. It has some pretty graphic scenes at certain moments in the book so it is definitely not for the faint of heart....but this is what makes it so memorable...Courtney Alameda is absolutely going on my "Authors To Read in 2015" list....She entered the YA scene with this incredible debut novel and "hit it out of the  park." Shutter is one book that will stay with me for many, many nights to come....




**The quotes from this book have been taken from an Advanced Reading Copy and are subject to change when the final book is printed. Please refer to the final, finished copy for exact quotes!**


**I want to say Thank You to Feiwel & Friends for the opportunity to review this book!!**