Race Girl by Leigh Hutton book blitz with giveaway
Race Girl
Leigh Hutton
(The Go Girls Chronicles #3)
Publication date: April 3rd 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Fresh on the heels of Michelle Payne’s historic Melbourne Cup win, comes a blockbuster Australian story about a Queensland girl and the ‘race that stops a nation’ . . .
Tully Athens has always dreamed of following in the footsteps of her hero Michelle Payne. Of living up to the Athens name and becoming the third generation of women from her family to rule the track. But Tully’s never been sure she’s got the nerve, and when her mother is killed in a racing accident, her whole world is shattered.
Six months later, in the heat of a Queensland summer, sixteen-year-old Tully is ready to face her fears. But getting back in the saddle leads to a whole lot more than she bargained for, with an out of control crush on the boy from their rival thoroughbred farm – the gorgeous but cocky larrikin Brandon Weston – and a forgotten filly with stardom in her eyes . . .
When faced with the most difficult decision of her life, will Tully choose to train and race her new filly in Melbourne? Or will she sacrifice it all to fight for love on the land that feeds her soul?
It’s only when tragedy rips everything from her that Tully finds a strength and courage she never knew she had, in this action-packed novel of passion, adventure and determination.
RACE GIRL is the highly anticipated third book in The Go Girls Chronicles – bestselling stories of gutsy girls in action sports, by Leigh Hutton!
*A PORTION OF EVERY #RaceGirl book sold goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions, and to horse-welfare charity, Equine Action Qld*
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EXCERPT:
Tully scanned the shadows as she reached the shimmering water. He didn’t turn up . . . She thought with a stab of panic. He’s playing me!
I’m an idiot!!
She’d spun around, ready to bolt back to the house, when a rustling in the tall, dead grass around the jetty made her heart stop. Bear bounded out, barking and grinning like mad.
OMG!
‘Shhhh, mate—please!’ Tully whispered, cursing herself for forgetting to pull the wooden back door shut when she’d left the house. Tully scooped up the warm, wriggling body, rushing down the slope to the bank of the wide dam where she prayed they’d be out of sight from the house or the cottage on the far side of the track. She collapsed on the bank, cradling Bear in her lap, her arms wrapped around him.
‘Nice dog,’ a deep, rough voice said from behind her.
‘Holy—sit!’ Tully grabbed the front of Brandon’s T-shirt and pulled him down next to her. Bear leapt up, licking his face.
‘Whoa, whoa!’ He chuckled, leaning down to help Tully contain Bear in her lap. ‘I was hoping for that kind of reception from her—’ he nodded down at Tully.
‘God, shush!’ Tully pushed her face against Bear’s smooth head, her eyes drifting across the sparkling dam to the violet outline of the mountains, and up into the silver diamonds – bright and full across the sky. Tully took a long breath to calm her thumping heart, when suddenly her whole body was swirling like wonderland – her mind lost, struggling to comprehend what that rich-wonderful-earthy-soapy-manly-scent could possibly be. Oh, she realised, opening her mouth so she could block off her nostrils. Him; of course he’s got the best cologne . . .
Just get down to business . . . ‘So,’ Tully said, clutching to Bear’s smooth body. ‘Brandon, did you know your dad’s trying to buy our farm out from under us?’
Author Bio:
Leigh Hutton is a former Courier-Mail journalist, dirt bike racer and horse show jumper. Leigh was born in Canada and lives on rural property in southeast Queensland, Australia, with her husband and three young children. When she isn’t writing, managing the relocation and restoration of historic ‘Queenslander’ homes, wrangling the kids or swilling coffee, she loves to read, watch smart TV and movies, ride her motorbike and daydream about gorgeous horses. Her family spell racehorses at their property and
making friends with each one is also a favourite pastime of Leigh and her children. Leigh is especially passionate about promoting the growing number of girls and women in all action and equestrian sports, and is thrilled to be drawing on her experiences to bring you the exciting novels of The Go Girls Chronicles . . .
Book one, REV GIRL, OUT NOW!
Book two, JUMP GIRL, OUT NOW!
Book three, RACE GIRL, out April 3rd, 2016!
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My Kind of Crazy by Robin Reul
My Kind of Crazy by Robin Reul
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hank Kirby wanted to make a bold move to ask his dream girl to the prom, he decides to go to her house and spell out “prom” with sparklers in in her front yard. Unfortunately for Hank this wasn’t the wisest choice as when the sparklers are lit they catch the dry grass on fire and quickly spread to a tree. Freaking out with what to do and hearing the sirens coming Hank makes a run for it only to find he’d dropped one of the sparkler boxes.
Going back to search for the missing box the next day Hank runs into Peyton Breedlove who lives close by and witnessed the whole incident. A brooding loner and budding pyromaniac, Peyton feels connected to Hank and somewhat forces the two into a friendship with Hank worrying Peyton may tell on him. After spending some time with Peyton though Hank feels the two have more in common than he would have imagined with this somewhat weird girl.
My Kind of Crazy is a cute YA contemporary story where the awkward boy wants to go out with the popular girl but ends up meeting his awkward soulmate instead with various obstacles thrown in the way. I read where this was compared to a John Hughes movie of the eighties and I could totally understand the comparison, loved the movies and thoroughly enjoyed this read that brought me back to them.
The characters in here are best described as a group of misfits that while they are awkward in every way they are also completely enjoyable. I did kind of question if Peyton’s issues were a little too deep with the overall feel of the story, it’s tough not to worry she’d get the help she needs but still couldn’t help but hope they all get their HEA.
Overall, fun YA contemporary read that I’d recommend checking out.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Cover Reveal: Leaving Amy by Julieann Dove
Leaving Amy
Julieann Dove
(Amy #2)
Publication date: May 1st 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Amy thought she had it figured out—followed her heart and moved forward…but life isn’t always so simple. Things tend to drag you back to familiarity, or in Amy’s case—people. Wesley returns from his stint of love and betrayal, and has a favor to ask of her. When Amy agrees to help, all that was moving forward in her life comes to a halt.
As Amy tries to fix the loved ones around her, she begins to lose all that she’s gained. And when the smoke clears, she’s more confused about what’s meant to be and who it’s meant to be with.
Sequel to:
Author Bio:
Julieann lives in Virginia, yet longs to live everywhere else. It doesn’t come as a surprise that along with her gypsy soul, comes an active imagination. That’s why she loves to write and invent worlds and people, so that she can formulate their happily ever after. Hobbies include cooking new recipes, sewing, and spending time with her cute boyfriend/husband and five fabulous children. Vacations happen in Nantucket or the Carolina beaches—anywhere there is inspiration for her next book. One day she hopes to travel to Italy, drive one of those little cars around the countryside, and speak the language fluently!
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Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan
Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Tell the Wind and Fire is based loosely on the book A Tale of Two Cities. In this dystopian magic filled world New York is divided into two cities with those with one being light magic users and the other being dark magic users. The light side is in control and there are rumors of a rebellion from the dark side. Lucie has family that had dark magic users but she is now living in the light city and practicing light magic and her boyfriend Ethan’s family are high members in the light society.
Unfortunately Tell the Wind and Fire is another book I went in thinking I would love the story and was excited to get around to reading but found myself getting really bored rather quickly. Somehow, someway, I have complete opposite complaints with the same story. There is a lot of things in here that seem like they are explained over and over again but yet other things that I questioned about this city and these characters that never get touched upon at all.
Sometimes I honestly felt like the story here was going in circles, at least in the first half of the book. There were plenty of descriptions of light and dark but no real depth, it just seemed to repeat the same information. The idea that the story was about magic users also had my interest peaked but magic really seemed to only come into play in describing the world, there was very very little actual use of it and in a couple of rare occurrences there were magic use that also repeated the same action, very disappointing.
The characters in this story were also very forgettable. I think the author mentioned Lucie’s name once in the first ten percent of the book and I was having the thought of what’s this girl’s name again? The relationship between Lucie and Ethan really seemed non-existent in the current story too. She would say she loved him and had been together for two years but I never really got much sense of them in the current story.
There are a lot of other YA dytopian books with a divided society that have held my interest a lot my than this one unfortunately. I’m sure some will enjoy the story but there just wan’t enough depth or action to it for me to fall in love. In the end I decided on 2.5 stars for a few good ideas and moments but not enough I’d really rush to recommend.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Mistaken Identity by Stephanie Nicole Norris book blitz with giveaway
Mistaken Identity
Stephanie Nicole Norris
Publication date: March 1st 2016
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense
The only thing Briana and Tiana have in common are their identical looks. For Tiana, life is one challenge after another, but her greatest struggle is sharing a face with the sister she despises. Tired of living in the shadows, she comes up with a plan to finally have everything she ever wanted.
Everything seems to come easy for Briana, including her beautiful children, loving husband and dynamic career. Briana’s charmed life is ripped apart when she wakes up in the hospital with no idea who she is and no memory of her former life. With the help of the handsome stranger who saved her, Briana builds a new life and finds new love, while Tiana won’t rest until Briana has no life at all.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes / Kobo
BOOK TRAILER:
EXCERPT:
Chris rounded the stairs that led to the first level of his loft and looked out of the peep hole. Sure enough, it was his son’s mother and she looked lit up. He took a deep breath and opened the door.
She stumbled as the door swung open.
“Why are you knocking on my door at three o’clock in the morning?”
“Because I need to t-talk,” she stuttered, “to you!”
“No, Sandra, you need to go home. Where is Christopher?” he asked.
“Well, he ain’t gone be at the club with me!” she stated matter-of-factly. “So that was a dumb question.”
Chris sighed, unable to continue the dance they did at his front door. “Go home,” he said, and slammed the door in her face.
“Oh no you didn’t!” he heard her say from the other side of the door.
Boom! Boom! Boom! She beat on the door again and crossed her arms. “I’m not leaving until you talk to me, so you might as well come back to the door. I don’t care if your neighbors call the police. I will stand here until they arrive!”
Tiana pushed past Chris. He reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Look, this heffa ain’t going away, and I’m about to give her a piece of my mind. She’s ruining our night!”
“Baby, calm down, I got this.”
Tiana huffed. “I can’t tell!”
She pivoted on her heels and went to the kitchen. The banging on the door continued. She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. Looking in the cupboard she removed a wine glass and popped the cork on a bottle of Emmolo Merlot that had been sitting on ice since their earlier tryst. She rolled her eyes as she listened to Chris in the front room arguing with his son’s mother. This is the last thing she needed. She sipped from the glass and closed her eyes as the caramelized plum, brown spices and rich fruit flavor oozed down her throat. She took another swig; it was delicious, but what would’ve been better is if she could get back into bed with Chris.
“Enough of this,” she said.
Tiana made her way back to the living room where the couple was still arguing. She cleared her throat and stepped into view, letting her robe open just enough to show off her bare chest and panties. She took another swig of her wine as she watched a look of fury cross the woman’s face. Tiana almost laughed. Chris didn’t look amused, but he wouldn’t dare tell her otherwise.
“Baby, should I go? I don’t want to cause any trouble,” Tiana purred innocently.
Chris gave her a knowing look. He knew that she was aware that their argument had nothing to do with her. Tiana just wanted to make her presence known.
Author Bio:
Stephanie Nicole Norris is an author from Chattanooga Tennessee with a humble beginning. She was raised along with six siblings by her mother, Jessica Ward. Always being a lover of reading from early childhood Stephanie loved to read books by R.L. Stine. With a natural talent for writing Stephanie started her journey in 2010 to bring her stories to life. In 2011 her Debut Novel “Trouble In Paradise” was completed and shortly published in early 2012. Stephanie’s words tell stories of love, drama, deception, suspense, and restoration. She is inspired by the likes of Eric Jerome Dickey, Jackie Collins, Gwynne Forster, and more. She resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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