Resilient Blog Tour: Excerpt + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Resilient blog tour being presented by CBB Book Promotions! Today I have a great excerpt from the book to share with you and don't forget to scroll to the bottom of the post to enter the giveaway!

Resilient

Author: Patricia Vanasse

Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

Buy Links: Amazon 

Description:

Livia has never felt like she fits in. As normal as it sounds, Livia is anything but ordinary. She can feel every emotion of every single person around her, and it’s maddening. In pursuit of some psychic quiet, she moves with her family from New York City to Whidbey Island in the lush and sleepy Pacific Northwest. But when a horseback riding accident in her new home gives her a broken leg that heals in a day, she finds that another unexplainable ability has manifested, and her life isn’t about to get any easier.
Adam has no problem fitting in and making friends. In fact, he’s the top of the school, the boy everyone knows and loves. However, people only see what he allows them to. No one knows what Adam is truly capable of. After witnessing Livia’s accident, Adam sees something intriguing in her quick recovery, something that gives him hope that he’s not alone.
Adam is the only one whose emotions Livia can’t read. Afraid of not knowing what goes on behind his dark eyes, Livia decides to keep him at a distance. Yet the more she tries to ignore him, the more alluring he becomes, and while their personal quests for identity will inevitably bring them closer together, it is the confirmation of what they really are that threatens to tear them apart.

Resilient, told in alternating point of views, is a gripping story of survival and romance, in which two teenagers face the consequences of being anything but normal. 

He opens his eyes and sees me ogling.
Embarrassed, I turn my attention back to the sky. “I thought you had fallen asleep.”
“And then you’d take advantage of me.”
“No! I was just…” I trail off, not knowing what to say. “Can we go? It’s getting late.”
“We just got here!” He smiles in amusement. “How about we play a game?”
“What game?”
“I ask you a question, you answer, and then you ask me one. It’s a good way to get to know each other.” He turns his body to the right so he’s facing me. “Before you decide I’m the worse person ever, you should know the facts.”
“As long as you tell the truth.”
“You have my word.” I laugh despite myself as he asks, “If you had to choose between day and night, which would you pick?”
I frown for a second, thinking. “Day,” I say “Wrestling or football?”
“Wrestling for sure,” he answers. “Favorite cartoon character?”
“Ha! Definitely Daria; I feel like we have something in common.” I chuckle while Adam’s eyebrows scrunch together. I guess he’s having a hard time finding the similarities. “Yours?”
“I’ve got to say SpongeBob. No similarities there, though.” He smiles and lies back down, inspecting the stars. “Do you believe there’s life out there besides us?”
That question has been on my mind for years, but I never had to answer it until now. “I don’t know. I hope so.”
“You hope so?” His brows shoots up, “Wouldn’t you be afraid if aliens really
existed?” He sounds sincerely curious.
“No, I don’t think they would be the monsters Hollywood makes us believe. I think they would be just like...”
“Us?”
“Yeah, like us. How about you?”
He nods, “I agree with you.”
We fall into silence for a little while before his next question. It would be too pretentious of me to believe humans are the only ones to live in a universe so much bigger than we know. There are so many places we haven’t even begun to discover yet. In any case, other life forms could be the explanation to all of my inhuman abilities.
“What do you like most about yourself?” he asks.
My mind wanders; I’m not sure what my qualities are, really, but I think of something to say. “I’m stubborn.”
“And that’s a quality?”
“Yes. I mean, it keeps me from giving up when things gets rough.”
He turns to look at me, probably wondering what could be so rough in my life. He doesn’t know that I don’t have everything, I don’t have what I want the most: answers to what I am.

 

Patricia Vanasse was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Now she lives on Whidbey Island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two adorable children, and two crazy dogs. She has been trough Culinary Arts, Psychology, Law School, and now has finally found her passion in creative writing. She also loves traveling, cooking, and is an avid reader. Her strength- believes that everything is possible.


Author Sites: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

 Giveaway:

Kindle Paperwhite (US)

Signed Resilient paperback (INT) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Dead Silence Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

Dead Silence (Body Finder #4)
Author: Kimberly Derting
Genre: YA Paranormal
Release Date: April 16, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen

Description:

Violet thought she’d made peace with her unique ability to sense the echoes of the dead and the imprints that cling to their killers…that is until she acquired an imprint of her own. Forced to carry a reminder of the horrible events of her kidnapping, Violet is more determined than ever to lead a normal life. However, the people who run the special investigative team Violet works for have no intention of letting her go.

When someone close to Violet becomes a suspect in a horrific murder, she finds herself pulled into a deadly hunt for a madman with an army of devoted followers. Violet has survived dangerous situations before, but she quickly discovers that protecting those closest to her is far more difficult than protecting herself.  

Dead Silence is the fourth book in a thrilling young adult paranormal series that continues to follow Violet, our teenage main character who is able to sense the leftover echoes of the dead and the imprints that hang on their killers. Using her unusual talents, Violet has been able to help several people, although it comes with a heavy price to her. Violet's been attempting to come to terms with her gift, and she wants nothing more than to lead a normal girl's life. Soon, a person close to Violet is a suspect in a murder investigation and it's up to her to find the real killer and his deranged followers - before it's too late.

This series is truly captivating and I love the paranormal aspects that it entails. I loved learning more about Violet and her gift throughout the series, and this book was no different. The plot is full of twists and turns that leave you guessing until the end, all while trying to figure out what is really happening and rooting for Violet the whole way. Violet is a great lead character in the series. She's strong, witty, and yet flawed - which I think makes her all the more realistic and easy to identify with. We see a lot of character growth from Violet throughout the series and this book shows her to mature even more. The plot was fast paced and had me eagerly reading as fast as I could to figure out the mystery and to see what would come next. The writing is fantastic and completely draws you in from the very beginning, which is a sure sign of the author's amazing talent. Overall, this was another enchanting book in a unique and original YA paranormal series - one that any fan of YA paranormal books shouldn't hesitate to read. Highly recommended! I'll be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series to see what happens to Violet next!

Kimberly Derting is the author of the BODY FINDER series (HarperCollins) and THE PLEDGE trilogy (Simon & Schuster). She lives in the Seattle area, with her husband and three children, who often find the outrageous things they say either in the pages of her books or posted on Twitter or Facebook for the entire world to see. 

You can visit her website at www.kimberlyderting.com.  

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye Blog Tour: Excerpt & Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye Blog Tour! Be sure to follow along with the tour! You can find the full tour schedule HERE.

Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye
Author: Shari A. Brady
Genre: YA Contemporary
Release Date: June 11, 2012

Description:

Before my older sister Francesca died, I worked at the bakery and wrote songs, but now I write lists. Lists like ten reasons why it's my fault Francesca's dead, or five reasons why I should try and win Howie back, or one reason why I need to stop lying to everyone, including myself.

Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye is an extraordinary novel about one family's struggle to make sense of their world after losing a family member to addiction. Through sixteen-year-old Carmella's eyes, we witness the courage and strength it takes to overcome the consequences of grief, guilt and co-dependency. WIth conviction and determination, Carmella shows us what can happen when we're open to love, feel the pain of our loss, and find the courage to accept the truth of our lives.

Excerpt:

The three of us head up the creaky steps to Donny and Francesca’s third floor apartment. We had to walk two blocks struggling to hold onto the flattened boxes and packing tape. Parking on city streets is always a pain, especially on Saturdays when everyone is home from work. Most people work Monday through Friday in this neighborhood, except for Francesca and Donny.

Donny works weekends at the bar down the street. That’s how they got this apartment. A year ago, Donny met a guy who was transferred to China for a four-year assignment and needed to rent out his top floor condo in a cool brownstone building. Francesca was so excited; she thought they got lucky. The place was only a few blocks from the famous Second City Theatre in Chicago. Francesca thought she was going to move in here and get her life back on track.
Francesca worked at different restaurants for a while, but last summer she didn’t work at all. Around middle of August, she stopped returning my calls. When she finally called me back it was the first week in September to ask me to go to an AA meeting with her. It was a week before she died and the last time I ever heard her voice.
Dad sets his stack of boxes down and knocks. Mom starts to cry. She pulls a tissue out of her purse. She hands one to me, but I’m not gonna cry. I’m gonna be strong for Mom and Dad because that’s what families do for each other.
Donny opens the door and we get a whiff of rotten food like moldy cheese. We haven’t seen him since the funeral.
“Hi,” Donny says. He combs his messy dishwater blond hair with his fingers, like he just woke up. His green T-shirt is all wrinkled.
“C’mon in.” He steps back and holds out his hand. “Hey, sis.” He smiles.
“Hi.” I almost walk towards the kitchen, but I stop myself. Francesca loved to cook. I kept her company in the kitchen while she made stuff. They were always broke, so she cooked a lot of pasta.
Everywhere I look I see Francesca. Like her favorite fake painting of a sunrise on the beach she bought from a guy on the street for ten bucks when she first moved in with Donny. Francesca and I dreamed of living near the ocean, where the air is always warm and people are more relaxed. She was sure the painting meant good luck for her. I run my finger along the tacky gold frame.
“We were supposed to be awesome career women, get married, have kids and live next door to each other, two blocks from the beach,” I whisper. “That was our plan.”

About the Author:

Shari A. Brady is a native Chicagoan and previously had so many careers she’s lost count. A graduate of Loyola University’s Business School and University of Chicago’s Creative Writing program, she’s finally a full-time writer, a dream she’s carried with her since she was twelve. She lives in suburban Chicago with two of the best kids ever and their shelter dog, Betty Queen Elizabeth. This is her first novel and her last career.  

Links:

www.sharibrady.com

www.facebook.com/ShariABradyAuthor

www.twitter.com/sharibrady

Giveaway:

 3 signed paperback copies of Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye by Shari A. Brady + buttons (US only) 
3 ebooks (INT)
$25 Gift Card (INT)

Must be 13 or older to enter.

Opens Feb. 4th, 2013 and ends Feb. 20th, 2013 

 

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