Camp Boyfriend Blog Tour {Guest Post and Giveaway}

I'm so excited to have the Camp Boyfriend Blog Tour stopping by today! Below you'll find a fun, yummy guest post and awesome giveaway...

Camp Boyfriend

by J.K. Rock

7/2/13

Spencer Hill Contemporary

The summer of her dreams is about to get a reality check.

They said it couldn't be done, but geeky sophomore Lauren Carlson transformed herself into a popular girl after moving to a new school halfway across the country. Amazing what losing her braces and going out for cheerleading will do. Only trouble is, the popular crowd is wearing on Lauren's nerves and she can't wait to return to summer camp where she's valued for her brain instead of her handsprings. She misses her old friends and most of all, her long time camp-only boyfriend, Seth. This year she intends to upgrade their relationship to year-round status once she's broken up with her new, jock boyfriend, Matt. He doesn't even begin to know the real her, a girl fascinated by the night sky who dreams of discovering new planets and galaxies.

But Matt isn't giving her up without a fight. As he makes his case to stay together, Lauren begins to realize his feelings run deeper than she ever would have guessed. What if the guy she thought she was meant to be with forever isn't really The One? Returning to Camp Juniper Point was supposed to ground her uprooted life, but she's more adrift than ever. Everything feels different and soon Lauren's friends are turning on her and both guys question what she really wants. As summer tensions escalate, Lauren wonders if she's changed more than she thought. Will her first big discovery be herself?

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Get signed copies by calling  Anderson's Book Shop in Larchmont, NY:  914-834-6900

Camp Cookbook – the S’mores edition

by J.K. Rock

Camping is more fun when there is good food. As much as we love canoeing, swimming and hiking through the mountains, the best part of the day is getting back to the campfire for a cookout with friends and family.

At Camp Juniper Point, the characters eat in a dining hall most of the time. But every now and then they do special hikes or canoe trips that take them away from the cabins to tent in the woods and make supper from scratch. The kids always look forward to these outings and you’ll see as you read deeper in the series how much the experiences teach them! But we thought it would be fun to share some of the recipes our campers would make on a cookout.

Brownie S’mores

Yes, we’re starting with desert first. Because nothing says “Camping Out” quite like S’mores! We all know that traditional way of cooking s’mores. But this is a twist on an old favorite. Bake a pan of brownies at home. Cut them and store them for your trip. Once you arrive at the cookout, toast the marshmallows as per usual. But instead of graham crackers and chocolate, laying the toasted marshmallow on a brownie split in half. Cover with the top half of the brownie. Voila. Chocolatey-marshmallow deliciousness.

Caramel Apple S’mores

You can also try layering a toasted marshmallow between slices of apple prepped with a little bit of peanut butter. Sticky, ooey gooey yumminess. If you want to have even more fun with the peanut butter and marshmallows, you can make Peanut Butter Marshmallow Taffy, which simply calls for ripping and mushing up two marshmallows with your fingers, pulling the stickiness from hand to hand until it’s smooth (your fingers will be sticky all night, but isn’t that part of what makes camping fun?). Add a little bit of peanut butter to the sticky marshmallow and keep pulling it, taffy style, until you have an edible treat to eat straight from your fingers.

Turtle S’mores

If you’re more of a traditionalist, you can make a s’more the regular old way with a graham cracker and chocolate. But for a different twist, try adding a caramel and some crushed pecans in the mix. Soooo good. The whole square caramels are big, so rip one in half to share with a friend and it will be perfect size.

You can also make Cookie S’mores with any cookies you happen to have available. Or German Chocolate S’mores by bringing a bag of coconut marshmallows to the campfire with you. It pays to test them all and find your favorites. If you won’t be at summer camp this year, see if you can have a backyard sleepover and try out the recipes then.

In Camp Boyfriend, Lauren misses out on s’mores a few times because the campfires provide the perfect opportunity to sneak off with a certain boy for a few minutes alone. And let’s face it, that First Kiss of Camp is sweet enough to make up for missing out on marshmallows. Thanks so much for hosting us today and we’d love to know what kinds of campfire treats are your favorites?

J.K. Rock

Website / Goodreads / J's Twitter / K's Twitter / Facebook

 Joanne and Karen Rock- writing sisters-in-law- formed a partnership to pen YA novels as J.K. Rock. Their debut book, Camp Boyfriend, is available July 2, 2013 from Spencer Hill Contemporary.

Prior to joining creative forces, Joanne Rock began her career as an author of adult romance for various Harlequin series. Published in twenty languages and twenty-seven countries, Joanne writes both contemporary romance and medieval historicals in addition to the occasional romantic suspense. She is a three-time RITA nominee and Bookseller’s Best finalist.

Karen Rock sold her first adult romance to Harlequin’s new Heartwarming line. The Forever Wish (September 2013) is an uplifting tale of love against the odds during the hero’s battle with cancer. In addition to writing, Karen is an eighth grade English teacher who has written and published screenplays for production by school theater departments. She is a regular blogger at Cynthia Leitich Smith’s popular “Cynsations” blog. Together, Joanne and Karen write Young Adult stories that don’t back down from real issues. Whether their characters are falling in love at summer camp or facing the consequences of tough life choices, the authors enjoy helping them navigate those challenges. Their “Camp Boyfriend” books are romantic dramas with a strong emphasis on teen friendships and self discovery. Fun, warm-hearted and emotional, the series includes Camp Boyfriend (July 2013), Camp Payback (April 2014) and Camp Forget-Me-Not (August 2014).  

During the Camp Boyfriend Blog Tour you have the chance to win two awesome prizes:

Daily Blog Prize

Camp journal, pen, bookmark, friendship bracelet, and I < 3 Camp temporary tattoos- colors and styles may vary

Grand Prize

Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols, Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles,The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, Sometimes It Happens by Lauren Barnholdt, That Summer by Sarah Dessen, Always You by Kirsty Moseley, an autographed Arc of Wait For You by Jennifer Armentrout as J.Lynn and autographed copies of Camp Boyfriend and Camp Kiss along with I < 3 Camp temporary tattoos, a I < 3 My Camp Boyfriend t-shirt, a Cam Boyfriend bookmark and friendship bracelets- puppy not included :)

You can enter below (or at any of the blog tour stops)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway

Touch of Death

(Touch of Death #1)

Kelly Hashway

1/15/13

Spencer Hill Press

Format: ARC

Source: from pub

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Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.
After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.
Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.

MY REVIEW: A deadly touch, mythology, hot boys...these are awesome things. I like these things. So, it really sucks that I did not like the way these things were used in this book. In fact, there isn't much about this book that I did like.

Touch of Death is about high school junior Jodi Marhsall. Jodi thinks she's normal- she has a great mom, a great BFF, and a perfect boyfriend- but, then she finds out she's not normal at all. First, some hot guy begins to stalk her, then animals who should be dead start to come back to life around her, and even worse, people around her begin to die. Jodi can kill with a kiss or drop of blood and can even restore life with her touch. Jodi's stalker, Alex, is like her, a necromancer descendant of Medusa, born under the 13^th zodiac sign, Ophiuchus. But Jodi isn't just any necromancer (of course!), she's the Chosen One who must save her kind from Hades.

I'm not really sure where to start with this one. I can fully appreciate what author Kelly Hashway has tried to do with Touch of Death, but I found the overall execution extremely lacking. The story is boring and contrived, the characters are flat, and the writing is unremarkable.

Touch of Death ambitiously combines Greek mythological lore with the supernatural aspects of necromancers and the newly popular intrigue of the 13^th zodiac sign Ophiuchus, but it doesn't really do this particularly well. All of these elements have been explored and done before and they've been done better. I'm a huge mythology fan and the way these elements were used and laid out in this book just did nothing for me. Hashway does provide some much needed history of Jodi's kind, but overall, the world-building is non-existent. I don't feel like I ever got a clear picture of these people, their abilities, their purpose, or community. The whole book is one big example of “telling” and not “showing”.

The writing lacks a memorable spark and, in some places, I just found it plan bad, cringe-worthy even. The plot lacks any suspense of any kind; things are just blurted out or presented in an in-your-face kind of way. Like the whole Jodi being the Chosen One is just casually thrown into a conversation between she and Alex: “blah blah blah the prophecy about your birth blah blah the Chosen One blahblahblah...”. The book is 235 pages, but nothing remotely substantial happens. And everything that does happen feels incredibly contrived and forced.

One of the things I hate most in books, is being hit over the head with something repeatedly. In this case, Jodi is repeatedly and accidentally getting cut or nicked and bleeding on (or crying on or kissing, etc) something/someone and either killing them or bringing them back to life. This happens SO MANY TIMES, yet Jodi didn't realize what was happening until like the 5^th time, but readers can figure it all out by like the 2^nd incident. After the third or fourth incident I was just like “OMG! I get it already! She can kill and can she heal! Sheesh!”. The sheer amount of these unnecessary “incidents” made me feel like the book was terribly underestimating my intelligence as a reader >.<

And let's talk about the many times Jodi cuts/scratches/nicks herself. We're given no indication that Jodi has, up to this point, been a clumsy or unobservant person, yet she can't go an hour without injuring herself accidentally? Which brings me to the characterization and character development of these characters, or lack of. Jodi is a frustrating, flat, boring, conflicting “heroine”. One minute she's describing her boyfriend by saying “But it was Matt. He could do no wrong in my eyes” (pg 13), and this is the moment I knew I wouldn't like this girl. Then later, she says “I'm not that shallow. I don't need to have a boyfriend." (pg 74). If your character has to verbally acknowledge this, then the girl power sentiment behind it turns to bullshit.

She, and all the rest of the characters, are also insufferably stereotypical. Alex is meant to be the cocky bad boy with a secret heart of gold, Abby is the bitchy gorgeous girl jealous of Jodi and in love with Alex, and Alex's parents are the “mysterious” leaders of their group who we, the readers, are suppose to be conflicted about (do I trust them? Are they evil?)...and these are the roles they are stuffed into and play. There is no depth or complexity to them at all.

By the end of the book, I cared very little for the characters or the story itself, and I wasn't sad to see it end. 

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: Touch of Death certainly killed me with its lacking execution, flat characters, and boring pacing . The story just didn't work for me and I won't be continuing with the series.

MY RATING

Purchase: Amazon / B&N

Kelly Hashway: Site / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

I write for children of all ages from picture books up to young adult. I am proudly represented by Lauren Hammond of ADA Management. My debut YA, TOUCH OF DEATH, releases January 15, 2013 through Spencer Hill Press. Also look for my other upcoming YA novels: STALKED BY DEATH (Spencer Hill Press, July 23, 2013), THE MONSTER WITHIN (Spencer Hill Press, April 2014), THE DARKNESS WITHIN (Spencer Hill Press, TBA), and INTO THE FIRE (Month9Books, spring 2014). My debut MG series CURSE OF THE GRANVILLE FORTUNE releases in 2016 through Month9Books.

Deity Blog Tour: review

I'm so excited to have the Deity Blog Tour stopping by today! 

I just lurve this series and can't wait to share my review below.

Be sure to stop by the tour host, Stuck In Books, to see the full tour schedule and to enter the tour giveaways!

TITLE: Deity SERIES: Covenant #3 AUTHOR: Jennifer L. Armentrout PUB DATE: 11/6/12 PUB: Spencer Hill Press FORMAT: pb ARC SOURCE: pub

"History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time. "

Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she's a goner... and so is Aiden. 

If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"--which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time--she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome. 

But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she's caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed. 

Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

THREE-ish WORDS: OHMYGODS Y'all

MY REVIEW: If you're familiar with my reviews then you've probably figured out that, like many of you, I'm quite the Jennifer L. Armentrout fangirl. I'll pretty much read anything she writes and will know without a doubt going into each and every story that it will be awesome and well-written and give me all the feels possible. Deity, the third book in the Covenant Series, is no exception. This is an excellent installment in an already phenomenal series.

In Deity the stakes are high, the romance is enticingly angsty, the twists keep coming, and Alex's world is one Oh My Gods moment after the next. As her 18^th birthday draws closer, Alex finds herself the target of an old, fanatical order, the early recipient of the marks of the Apollyon, desperate to cover up the events that took place in New York, caught between Seth and Aiden, and, oh yeah, the Gods ain't happy about any of it.

This may just be favorite book in the series yet, and that's saying something. In Deity, Armentrout's impressive storytelling and writing is as addictive as ever. The intensely suspenseful and twisty, yet palpably emotional, plot had me captivated from beginning to end (and oh that ending!). Everything I've come to love about and expect from Armentrout's writing (superb world-building, layered characters, hot romance, and thrilling stories) is present in this third novel.

The world of the half-bloods, pures, and Gods is further expanded and explored in this book, while the history and role of the Apollyon is made clearer. I feel like a lot of questions are answered in this book, while many more intriguing mysteries are laid out. Armentrout continues to add fantastic layers to her already intricate and realistic world-building. There's a great mix of action and emotion in Deity, and I like that the emotional aspects of the story kind of take center stage in this installment. There's still plenty of exciting and heart-pounding action of course, but we really get to explore the mind and hearts of the main characters on a deeper, more honest and personal level in this book. Which I love.

And the characters themselves are both familiar and wonderfully surprising. We find the main characters in a difficult place- emotionally; mentally; and physically- and I really loved seeing how they each reacted and grew in response to their situation. The character development continues to be excellent and full of the unexpected. Alex, Seth, and Aiden don't always behave or react the way I expect or even want, but I'm always fascinated and charmed by them...especially my cupcake Aiden...and, more importantly, I'm always completely invested in their story.

I'm not the type of reader who has to have some type of romance in a story to keep me interested and I'm definitely not a fan of love triangles, BUT I'm such a sucker for the romance in the Covenant Series. And the romantic elements in Deity had me squee'ing in fangirl delight; there's just something so deliciously alluring, addictive and hot about them. Yes, there were times when I either wanted to knee Seth in the junk or have Alex rip his clothes off, and even more times when I wanted to throw Aiden at Alex and scream “Kiss her you fool!”, but all the frustration and angst was well worth it...hello page 214 
*fans self*

The surprise revelations, betrayals, secrets, and twists are plentiful and lead up to an electrifying, heart-stopping, Oh-My-Gods-Tha-Hell-Just-Happened?!?! ending that left me open-mouthed and shaking my fist at Jennifer Armentrout *shakes fist* (I highly recommend reading the novella Elixir immediately after finishing this book!).

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: Deity has made me squeal in fangirl delight, it has squeezed my heart, and punched me in the ovaries. This series just keeps getting better and better (and hotter and hotter!), and Deity is, in my opinion, the best yet. A fantastic installment in an already kickass series!

MY RATING

Be sure to read my review of Half-Blood and Pure

Connect with the author: Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook 

Purchase: Amazon / B&N / Book Depository

Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you've heard about her state aren't true. When she's not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russel Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories....which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is the author of the COVENANT Series, the LUX Series, and the upcoming YA contemporary mystery/thrillers DON'T LOOK BACK (Disney/Hyperion Fall 2013) and yet untitled book (Disney/Hyperion tentative Fall 2014).  

Review: Cursed by Jennifer Armentrout

TITLE: Cursed                             AUTHOR: Jennifer Armentrout PUB: Spencer Hill Press           PUB DATE: 9/18/12 FORMAT: ARC SOURCE: from publisher for review

Dying sucks--and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not've been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

THREE WORDS: Can't Touch This Her *does the Hammer dance*

MY REVIEW: There are very few authors that I will read ANYTHING written by them (books, poems, plays, blogs, tweets, adult sexytimes books, proper hygiene brochures, you get the point, right?!) and Jennifer Armentrout is definitely one of them! So, I had big expectations for Cursed and I'm glad to report that those expectations were awesomely met.

Ember McWilliams knows what it's like to die and come back changed. After a fatal accident that kills her father, Ember's gifted little sister, Olivia, brings her back from the dead. But with life comes a curse: Ember's touch kills. For two years after the accident, Ember must take care of her little sister and out-of-it mother and is an outcast in a school where she was once popular. And most importantly, she refrains from touching any living thing. But when handsome, intriguing Hayden Cromwell shows up, everything changes. When Hayden's mysterious father brings Ember and Olivia to live with them and other gifted kids, Ember discovers that maybe the car accident wasn't an accident at all and maybe her curse can be a gift.

Jennifer Armentrout's signature wit, superb world-building and character development are all present in this book, but Cursed definitely has a different vibe than her other YA works...which, is totally a good thing. I love that Armentrout was not afraid to create a darker, more macabre YA world in Cursed.

Cursed offers readers a story full of intriguing mystery, thrills and chills and enticing romance. Like Armentrout's other YA works, the characters captivate and shine because they are so well developed. I really like Ember because she is such a complex, relatable and flawed character. Even with her deadly touch, extreme situation and physical scars, Ember always feels real and accessible. With her wit, intelligence, resourcefulness and fiery temper, this is a girl that I would totally hang out with and love to have in my corner. I'm a sucker for heartwarming and heartwrenching sister relationships, and Ember and Olivia have such a beautiful, yet fragile relationship that is wonderfully written.

On the surface Hayden may seem like your average YA love interest-hot, smart, swoonworthy-but there's so much depth and complexity to him. Armentrout does an awesome job of creating a darkness and potentially dangerous vibe within Hayden, without making him unlikable, untrustworthy or scary. Mr. Cromwell has me so conflicted; part of me is completely intrigued by his mysterious and steely nature, while the other part of me wants to smack the smugness off his smarmy face!

Ember and Hayden's complicated, yet totally steamy relationship is very addicting and surprisingly touching. The raw and honest desire, need and love between these two is so tangible and moving. 

I love the whole X-Men like concept of Cromwell "collecting" gifted kids and teaching them how to control their powers, especially because they aren't discouraged from using their gifts. Armentrout's exploration of these "gifts" and how they physically/mentally/psychologically affect their owners is incredibly intriguing and thought-provoking. Ember's discoveries and experiences at Cromwell's create an exciting, heart-racing story. There's plenty of mystery, twists and revelations, yet the story is somewhat predicatable in some areas. But this definitely doesn't diminish the overall enthralling story. 

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: Jennifer Armentrout awesomely delivers once again with this book! Readers will be enraptured by the way Cursed mixes Armentrout's expected and well-loved witty, highly entertaining and impressive storytelling with a refreshinly dark and complex story. I'm defintely hooked on this must read book!

MY RATING

Find the author: Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

Purchase: Amazon / B&N / Book Depository

Jennifer L. Armentrout Lives in West Virginia. All the rumors you heard about her state aren’t true. Well, mostly. When she's not hard at work writing, she spends her time, reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write.She is the author of the Covenant Series (Spencer Hill Press), the Lux Series (Entangled Teen), Don't Look Back (Disney/Hyperion) and a yet untitled novel (Disney/Hyperion).Jennifer also writes adult romance under the pen name J. Lynn