BLOG TOUR: Swell by Julie Rieman Duck - Review + Contest!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers....the place to be when your palette insists on the finer things in life, especially when it comes to reading!

Today, we are playing host to a book tour currently making its way through the blogosphere with CBB Book Promotions (Hi, Candace!).  It features a new-to-me author with her heart pounding release (in more ways than one) that is sure to not only entertain but spark conversations...quite the combo, no?  Yes!  Without further ado, please join me in welcoming today's blog tour guest and book of choice...

Swell

by

Julie Rieman Duck

When Christian Rusch plucks Beck Ionesco from the freshman ranks for himself, she’s tempted with parties, popularity, and love. But as the free-flowing booze that soaks his world seeps into her own, Beck begins using liquid courage as a way to ignore Christian’s dark moods… and cover her anxiety about his flirtatious friend Hillman.

However, when Christian breaks up with Beck, and Hillman makes a dangerous move, no amount of alcohol can stop the pain or keep her out of trouble. And just when it seems like she’s lost everything, Beck is partnered with Jesse Leary for an art project. After spending time with him, Beck realizes it’s more than a study date… and Christian’s not happy about it. Then again, Beck’s not sure she’s happy with him, either.  But only after plowing through a bottle of wine, a wild fight, and one guardrail that becomes Christian’s last call, does Beck admit to her problem and ask for help from the one whose life secretly parallels her own.

AMAZON   |   Barnes & Noble   |   SMASHWORDS

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Sounds ominous, right?

I thought so...and something else; REAL.

Let's face it, life is not always what we want it to be and sometimes, it gets downright ugly.  In those times we have a choice to make....let life control us or take the reigns and show it who's boss.  Grant it, you may not be able to to turn everything around instantaneously (not unless you have a magic wand and if you do, SO want to borrow it!) but you can make strides to get things on the right track and one day be on the bright side of it all once again.  Anywho, let's get to the review!  

How to classify this one?

Hmmm.

It's aimed at the Young Adult crowd but with some foul language and some VERY adult issues/situations.  Here's the thing though...things like this happen to people of ALL ages; sad but true.  Beck doesn't start out a "good time" girl (in any black humoured sense of the word), but a little attention from the right sources for the wrong reasons and a heaping dose of peer pressure later and BOOM; she's in with the "in" crowd alright and boy oh boy is she going to pay.  Lost nights.  Early morning headaches.  Missed sleep.  Lost innocence.  A new addiction to feed that is FAR worse than buying one too many books.  All these things add up to a problem, yes, but as bad as they are, it gets THAT much worse.  It's not her fault; she didn't ask for it....and yet it still happened.

The problem is that even after she hit the proverbial rock bottom, like most addicts, she simply couldn't say no.  Things had gotten beyond "Ben-&-Jerry's-make-it-better" bad and elevated to heights of which even adults shouldn't have to deal with...and she's only FIFTEEN.  It was hard watching her make the choices she made.  I mean, I totally get the desire to fit in, be one of the "in" crowd, be noticed by your crush, and simply make your mark on life...hey, you're talking to someone who was (and can still be at times) uber shy, had very few close friends and enjoyed homework time.  Yep, geek, nerd...whatever term you want to sling my way, probably heard it before.

The difference between me and Beck though?  My Mom...and probably my shyness outweighed any desire to fit in, but back to Mom.  She was always there for me (still is...^_^), my own personal cheering squad and if I ever needed to talk, I could count on her.  She didn't have the easiest time raising me (single parent and all, goodness knows she's a rock star though) but she instilled morals, values and self-worth, never let anyone walk all over me, and despite not having been given a manual when I was born, did wonderfully in my eyes.  (Thanks Mom!)  That's not to say Beck's parents were negligent, just a bit removed from the situation.  Life gets busy, TOTALLY get that, but you HAVE to make time to be in your kids lives (or even your friends lives if you're not a parent).  Get personal.  Be annoying.  Ask questions.  Know where they are and what they are doing.  Teach them responsibility, consequences and the hard lessons in life verbally before anyone else can. It's your job as a parent!  Believe me, they might not like it now, but they'll thank you for it later.

In conclusion, a cautionary tale of what can happen when we lose ourselves in order to fit a mold society offers us on a silver platter; a hard, intense read, but needed nonetheless.  The story is aimed at young adults, but I suggest it for an older teen audience through adults...and perhaps for anyone exhibiting warning signs of issues along the lines Beck goes through.  It's one of those books that although written as fiction, hits close to home for many in one fashion (under age drinking, teen sex, addiction, rape) or another thus enabling it to spark conversations...use the power it grants you to tackle some of your own demons or aid in the fight someone you love may be fighting against them.  You'll go through a myriad of feelings with these characters from Beck (love/hate) to Christian (tolerate/despise), Jesse (off white knight in dinged up armor) to Hillman (OMG words are not enough to express my feelings about this piece of... _fill in the blank_) and everyone in and out of their posse along the way making it the emotional read it needed to be...but the final message to me is this.

BE THERE for each other.  Your kids, friends, family, neighbors...just BE THERE.  Let them know they are seen and more importantly HEARD.  Allow them a shoulder to cry on, an ear to turn to and if things get out of control, help them seek further assistance; parental units come in handy in those situations and if the ones in your life don't, there are always the professionals.

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About the author...

 Born in Los Angeles and raised in San Clemente, California, Julie Rieman Duck wrote her way through school on an old-fashioned typewriter. Somewhere along the line, she was sidetracked by careers in magazine publishing and copywriting. While Julie honed her skills at writing print ads and articles, the stories that moved her heart and soul were bubbling underneath, waiting to escape.

It took a medical scare and the loss of her job — on the same day and within 30 minutes of each other — to finally allow her stories to free themselves and be put to paper.

Julie looks forward to writing more stories that hit where the heart beats fastest, and the soul reaches out for more.

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Special thanks to Candace of Candace's Book Blog & CBB Book Promotions for the chance to bring this tour to you.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this promotion, be sure to stop by Tsk, Tsk, What to Read today for another look at this title and Expresso Reads tomorrow for more fun.  For a listing of the full tour schedule, simply click HERE.  To discover what's up next or check out what else is new in Candace's reading world, be sure to visit her online or follow along on Twitter.  To discover more about author Julie Rieman Duck, please visit her official website, blog, Goodreads page, or check out her author interviews every other Tuesday over at YA Stands.  

Now, for those that have stayed with me thus for, you're in for a treat!  Thanks to the combined efforts of both great bookish parties listed above, YOU now have the chance to win  BIG!  And guess what....there's even an INTERNATIONAL option so everyone can join the fun!  What can you win?  Oh, a myriad of things...here's the scoop!

One person will win:

(Open to US only)

Paperback of Swell by Julie Rieman Duck
Paperback of A Place in This Life by Julie Rieman Duck


One other winner will win:
(Open Worldwide)

1 ebook of Swell by Julie Rieman Duck
1 ebook of A Place in This Life by Julie Rieman Duck
1 ebook of The Joy and Torture of Joshua James by Julie Rieman Duck
1 ebook of Earrings of Ixtumea by Kim Baccellia
1 ebook of Cornerstone by Misty Provencher
1 ebook (Kindle) of There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack

Just enter via the rafflecopter form below and you'll be in it to win it.  Contest ends 12/18/12 so get your entries in now and SPREAD THE WORD!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Until next time...good luck...and happy reading!

BLOG TOUR: The Warlock's Curse by M.K. Hobson - Guest Post + CONTEST!

Hi guys!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers...the place to be when the weather outside is frightful (-ly COLD!) and a warm fire plus a good read sounds immensely delightful.

Today, we're playing host once again (hey, it's the holidays....EVERYONE wants to stop by online the same as in person! ^_^) to a blog tour making it's way through the world wide web from Candace's Book Blog & CBB Promotions. (Hi, Candace!)  So far this week it's made appearances at Words Escape Me, Readingand Rising With the Sun, and Read My Breath Away; to check out the posts, just click on the links!  Rounding out the week is a stop on my little old blog and boy are you in for a treat.

Now, it's not the usual review type post because although it sounds REALLY good, by the time I caught wind of it, my reading schedule was booked solid.  BUT...there are other goodies to feast your eyes on and since I know how much you all LOVE suspense, I will keep rambling on and on and on and on and...what's that?  Oh, you don't REALLY like THAT much suspense?  Fine.  Be that way.  I'll just get right to it then.  (^_^)  Allow me to introduce formally, today's blog tour guest and book of choice...

Veneficas Americana, Book 3:

The Warlock's Curse

by

M.K. Hobson

THE YEAR IS 1910. Eighteen-year-old Will Edwards has landed a prestigious apprenticeship at Detroit’s Tesla Industries, the most advanced scientific research center in the United States. It’s a plum prize for a young man who dreams of a career in the new science of Otherwhere Engineering.

But his father doesn’t want him to go. And he won’t tell him why.

Determined to get there by any means necessary, Will finds unexpected support along the way. His old friend Jenny Hansen—daughter of a San Francisco timber baron—is eager to help him for reasons of her own. And so is his estranged brother Ben, who he hasn’t seen in over ten years.

But running away turns out to be the easy part. On the first full moon after his eighteenth birthday, Will is stricken by a powerful magic—a devastating curse laid upon his ancestors by the malevolent sangrimancer Aebedel Cowdray. Will must find a way to control the magic that possesses him—or the vengeful warlock’s spirit will destroy everything and everyone he loves.

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If you're a fan of her previous work (The Native Star or The Hidden Goddess), you may have a moment of deja vu as this book takes place in the same world as the others, just several odd years in the future, BUT the characters are all brand spanking new so newcomers (such as myself) will feel right at home.  In light of that information, even though it is a series (book 3 in fact), I've been told it can be read quite well as a stand alone title...hmm, we shall see as I'll be embarking on this adventure this coming Spring 2013.  In the mean time though, how's about we find out a little more about the author?  I think it sounds like a swell idea, let's do it.

It's always funny when you agree to a guest post because you never quite know what you'll get.  Sometimes suggestions for topics are asked for and other times it's by the seat of their pants; what you can count on however is a piece of interest that holds untold of surprises.  Take today's for example.  I’m a total opposite from her when it comes to what I read…BUT…that doesn’t mean there’s not something to glean from her words; in fact, I may be adding a book she mentioned to my wish list as we speak (Sister Carrie sounds interesting).  It’s the colorful world of reading we live in and I for one LOVE the variety out there and the “spice” each of us brings to the table.  So, without further ado, please join me in welcoming author M.K. Hobson….

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Historical fiction that's actually—historical!

by M.K. Hobson         

I have a shocking confession to make. I read hardly any contemporary fiction. A quick count reveals that, of the forty or so novels I read this past year, only about five were published in this decade. The rest were written in the early part of the 20th century, generally in the half decade between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War II.

I always feel weird about admitting this, because at best it sounds merely snobby (like the insufferable hipster who complains Radiohead started to suck after 1995) and at worst, disloyal to my fellow writers. Shouldn't I be supporting the authors of today, instead of ones who have been dead a hundred years or more?

I guess my preference from older works of fiction springs from the fact that I don't just read books for the story. I am just as interested in reading them to get an understanding of the lifestyles and attitudes of the era. Moreover, I am absolutely in love with the writing style in these books. On every page one encounters words, idioms, figures of speech and sentence constructions that have long since passed out of modern fiction. I collect and admire these exquisite little turns of phrase, and use them in my own writing when I can—which probably explains why the language in my books sometimes seems out-of-date to modern readers.

Here are four of my "old favorites." I hope you'll consider one of them next time you're loading up your Kindle or Nook!

• Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie. Sister Carrie is the age-old story of a country girl who tries to make it in the big city. She ultimately achieves success as a famous actress—but not without "compromising her virtue" along the way. At the time this book was published, it was denounced by critics of the time as being immoral, because it was generally accepted that only heroines of spotless moral character were allowed to have a happy ending. 

• Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt. I love just about all of Sinclair Lewis' books, but Babbitt is one of my all-time favorites. It's a frequently hilarious satire of American culture, society, and behavior as it existed in 1922, but when you read it you'll be amazed at how little has changed between then and now.

• Gore Vidal, Burr. Published in 1973, this is the newest book on my list. Author Gore Vidal built his reputation on being an outspoken, ornery cuss. With Burr, he lived up to that reputation in spades, making Aaron Burr (often regarded by history as a self-serving hothead) the hero of the story. At the same time, he casts Burr's more-lauded contemporaries—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the ill-fated Alexander Hamilton—in an unflattering light. I was so delighted by Gore Vidal's subversive, iconoclastic depiction of the founding fathers—and ultimately, by the rest of his historical fiction—that I gave him a fangirl shout-out in The Warlock's Curse, using his first name for a family of Greek sangrimancers.

• Gertrude Atherton, Patience Sparhawk and Her Times. Gertrude Atherton also gets a fangirl shout-out in The Warlock's Curse—I gave her last name to the book's secondary love interest. She began writing to support herself and her children after the death of her husband in 1887, and while much of her financial success came from straight-ahead commercial potboilers, she also wrote several works of superior literary value, Patience Sparhawk being one. Like Sister Carrie, the book was considered scandalous in its time because of the sympathetic and pragmatic presentation of prostitution and the overall contempt for the institution of marriage. Just as importantly, it's a ripping good yarn—the last 20 pages had me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to Gina for having me, and I hope readers will suggest their favorite works of historical historical fiction in the comments below!

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About the author…

M.K. Hobson’s debut novel, The Native Star—the first book in her Veneficas Americana series—was nominated for a Nebula award in 2010. She lives in the first city in the United States incorporated west of the Rockies. The Warlock’s Curse is her third novel. You can find out more at her website, www.demimonde.com.

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Having fun so far?

GREAT…and I hope you take the author up on her CHALLENGE!  What books have you read (or hope to read) that fall under the historical historical category?  Perhaps I’ll find something else to add to my ever wobbling wish list.  

Special thanks to Candace of Candace's Book Blog & CBB Book Promotions for the opportunity to bring this tour to you as well as to author M.K. Hobson for her time and efforts on the guest post.  (THANKS ladies!)  For more information on this tour as well as those forthcoming, be sure to check out Candace's official site or follow along on Twitter.  Curious to reveal further secrets on this series?  Pay a visit to the official website.  To discover more about the author, her previous works and those yet to come, she can be found online at her blog, on GoodReads, over at Facebook and of course on Twitter.  This book (as well as the previous two) is available now in both print and ebook so no matter your reading preference you can check out this series in a format friendly to you.  (Yay PRINT BOOKS!  ^_^)

Now that our little party is in FULL swing, are you ready for even MORE fun?

You didn't think it was over did you?

Silly reader...I promised you LOADS of fun and I aim to deliver!

Thanks to the generosity of the promotion team, YOU my friend have the chance to win some VERY cool prizes and because they are such wonderful people, there's something for everyone....which means it's also open to INTERNATIONAL readers, woo-hoo!  Here's the scoop.....

The prize...

US ONLY

Prize package:  *SIGNED* copies of The Native Star, The Hidden Goddess and The Warlock's Curse as well as a swag pack of a Tesla Industries pin, magnets and a sticker

INTERNATIONAL

13 ebooks of The Warlock's Curse

How to enter...

...just fill out the RAFFLECOPTER form below and BAM!  You'll be in to win!  Contest ends December 30th, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Until next time…GOOD LUCK....and happy reading!