The Reviews Are Coming In

Two good reviews this week on The Last Time We Say Goodbye!

This one is from Kirkus:

After her younger brother's suicide, ordinarily rational Alexis starts seeing her younger brother's ghost.Seven weeks after Ty shot himself with a hunting rifle, Alexis' mom announces she's seen him in the house. Alexis, a math student with aspirations of attending MIT, is skeptical but soon sees visions of her own. Alexis watches Ty die in recurring dreams, reluctantly relives firsts and lasts in a journal suggested by her therapist, and tries to stay strong for her mom, who is drinking to cope and certain that her own life is over. Alexis herself hasn't cried since her brother's death. Instead, moments of intense emotion open what Alexis powerfully describes as a "hole in my chest." The hauntings here are more emotional than paranormal, and Alexis' journey primarily entails reconnecting with estranged friends and family and slowly moving on. The characters involved are many—a childhood friend-turned-occultist stoner, Alexis' emotionally absent father and Ty's last girlfriend, to name a few—but each storyline is distinctly important and carefully woven in. Details of Ty's last days, Alexis' sense of guilt and the incident itself are revealed slowly and are often unexpected but always believable. Evocative and insightful. (Fiction. 14-18)

And this one from the School Library Journal:

Gr 8 Up-For Lex, since her brother committed suicide, questions about their last 
goodbye have haunted her. Filled with regret, she ponders their last words and 
not being able to show him how much she loved him while he was still alive. The 
narrative unravels in perfect pacing, drawing readers into this emotional story. 
With a rocky home life in a small town in Nebraska, Lex begins pulling away from 
her friends, breaks up with her boyfriend, and struggles with life in general. 
When her therapist, Dave, assigns her the task of writing down her thoughts in a 
journal, flashbacks of the siblings' relationship and the protagonist's 
interactions with their parents fill in the gaps. Readers will be drawn in by 
the even pacing, the heavy moments never overwhelming the teen's story. Raw, 
emotional, and gripping, this book is Hand's first realistic fiction title, and 
fans of her popular "Unearthly" series (HarperCollins) will follow her genre 
change willingly. Libraries should jump at having this book, not only because of 
the author's previous work, but because it is an excellent and thoughtful 
exploration of grief.-Stephanie Charlefour, Wixom Public Library, MI

Whew! I am always a little fretful about reviews,  but this book is especially dear to me so the good reviews mean even more.

Young Adult Scavenger Hunt

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This tri-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive TWENTY signed books, one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are THREE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GREEN TEAM--but there is also a red team  and a blue team for chances to win a whole different set of twenty signed books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage. 

Scavenger Hunt Puzzle

Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the green team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by October 5, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

Scavenger Hunt Post

Today, I am hosting Ashelyn Drake on my website for the YA Scavenger Hunt!

Ashelyn Drake (AKA Kelly Hashway)

Kelly Hashway grew up reading R.L. Stein’s Fear Street novels and writing stories of her own, so it was no surprise to her family when she majored in English and later obtained a masters degree in English Secondary Education from East Stroudsburg University. After teaching middle school language arts for seven years, Hashway went back to school and focused specifically on writing. She is now the author of three young adult series, one middle grade series, and several picture books. She also writes contemporary romance under the pen name Ashelyn Drake. When she isn’t writing, Hashway works as a freelance editor for small presses as well as for her own list of clients. In her spare time, she enjoys running, traveling, and volunteering with the PTO. Hashway currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, daughter, and two pets. Hashway is represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

Find out more information by checking out the author website!

Buy the book from here!

In one month, seventeen-year-old Cara Tillman will die. But until then, she plans to enjoy every look, touch and kiss with her boyfriend Logan, the new boy in Ashlan Falls. Cara is a descendant of the mythical Phoenix bird, and her rebirth is nearing. But first, she must die and forget all that she knew before, including Logan's face, his laugh, and the way he says her name. With precious little time left for the two of them, Cara does all she can to savor every moment, unwittingly drawing a Phoenix hunter to her doorstep with every move.

Exclusive Content -

Here’s an excerpt from the sequel to Into the Fire, titled Out of the Ashes. This particular scene is taken from one of Logan’s chapters, not Cara’s, so you can get a better look at the male lead in the series as he tries to defend himself to a room full of Phoenixes.

Logan

            “I hate to break it to you, Logan, but what you feel for her is just the effect of the imprint. It isn’t real. And when it wears off, all she’ll be to you is a human-bird hybrid that you’ll never be able to love. You’ll be so angry for how the imprint made you feel that you’ll want revenge—on her, and on all of us.” His arms swing out, motioning to everyone in the room.

            He’s baiting me. Trying to get me to admit that I’ll turn on them, but he’s wrong. “Nice try but I don’t buy a word of that.” I stand up, tugging at the handcuffs still pinning my arms together. “This isn’t fake. It’s not just the imprint, or whatever you all do when you fall in love. I felt something the first time I saw Cara. Something I still feel now. I’m the biggest cynic when it comes to love, but here I am, living proof that it exists. I’d rather die than lose Cara. I don’t care if she is part bird or part demon. I’d love her just the same.”

            Linette wipes a tear from her eye and steps toward me. “That was beautiful.” She wraps me in a hug, and a small amount of relief washes over me. One down, now I just have to convince the rest of them.

            “Yeah, very heartwarming,” Garret says, crossing his arms.

            Linette pulls away and looks at him. “Always the voice of negativity, Garret.”

            “And you’re always too eager to see the good in people. Our lives are at stake. People are dying. Phoenixes are dying. And you’re willing to believe the very person who was there when Cara was attacked just because he gave a speech about how much he supposedly cares for her?” Garret scoffs and shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “I’ll be damned if I lose another one of our kind because I fell for some sappy love story.”

“Then I’ll vouch for him,” Monique says, walking into the room. I didn’t think she’d heard what I said from the kitchen, but she must have because her expression has softened.

“You?” Garret raises a brow in challenge. “And what will you be able to do to stop him from telling the world about us? The most contact you have with him is feeding him at the café. That’s hardly good enough.”

“I’ll watch him,” Linette says. “I’m at his house every day cleaning anyway.”

“And what about at night?” Garret isn’t going to let this go. He wants me under constant supervision, house arrest, and I’m willing to bet he plans to keep these handcuffs on me permanently, too.

Enter the Contest

And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Cynthia Hand, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 17. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the green team and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

Continue the Hunt

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author! Click here!

Enter The Extra ARC Giveaway

In honor of this special event, I'm going to give away 2 extra signed ARCs of THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE. Just follow the directions in the rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Last Time We Say Goodbye (SIGNED) Pre-orders

Hi! So I just worked out a deal with my local indie bookseller, the fabulous Marti at Hyde Park Books in Boise, Idaho, so that you can pre-order a SIGNED copy of my new novel, THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE, which is coming on February 10, 2015.

SIGNED, people! Woohoo! I anticipate some cramped fingers here, but it will be worth it.

Here's the link to the order form.

You can also order signed hardbacks and paperbacks of my other books from Hyde Park. Just head over to the CONTACT tab, under SIGNED COPIES, and you can find the links to the the UNEARTHLY series.

Also, I should mention that I am going to be participating in the Young Adult Scavenger Hunt starting tomorrow, where I will reveal the first chapter of THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE.

Over and out.

C