Monday Must Reads: STAR CROSSED by Jennifer Echols!

Not familiar with this little feature? It's simple, really. Monday Must Reads! is a feature I created to showcase books that I think you, well, Must Read (ha!).

This week's selection is one that I adored, by an author equally adored. It's adult, so be forewarned if that's not your cup of tea, but it's written with the humor and brilliance of all her other novels, so it's a win no matter the genre. If you haven't already, trust me when I say that you simply Must Read...

STAR CROSSED
by Jennifer Echols
pub date: February 2013

product description from goodreads.com

Wendy Mann loves her job rescuing celebrities from public relations scrapes. She grew up with nothing, and now she’s drawn to glitz, glamour, and a lighthearted lifestyle. She speaks her mind, so she’s just the tough cookie to tell stars the truth about how other people see them, even when they don’t want to hear it. But after six years at the top of her game, Wendy crosses the line. A star she was sent to save rebels against her and nearly gets her fired. To salvage her job, she must rehabilitate the career of a singing starlet with a penchant for posting inappropriate photos of herself and arguing online with her famous ex. Problem is, the ex is represented by Wendy’s arch nemesis from college, the hot and haughty Daniel Blackstone. And both stars are scheduled for a collision course on national television, broadcast live from Las Vegas.

Daniel’s uneasy when he hears Wendy Mann from his firm’s most hated competitor has been brought in to revive the career of his client’s ex-girlfriend. Daniel must win at any cost. And if he has to seduce Wendy to smooth the way to their partnership, he’s willing to sacrifice himself for the cause. But Daniel doesn’t count on the scorching heat between them—and when they get to Vegas, all bets are off.

Such a fun, romantic comedy filled with the right amounts of humor, sex, mystery...go forth and read it ASAP! 

Be sure to check out Jennifer online:

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The hated "info dump" kills

Okay, if you know me at all, you know that I loves my TV. Yes, love it. I am the first to admit that I watch way too much of it, but I own that fact, so it can't hurt me, right? :-)

One of my Monday night musts is Teen Wolf (MTV). If you've never watched it, I suggest you do. Especially if you love cliffhanger episodes and angsty teens and shirtless torsos. Ah, shirtless torsos... Ahem. Anyway, TW is one of my new faves, and I get all excited when Monday rolls around because I know I'll get an episode full of action and drama and surprises that leaves me anxious for next week.

Except for this last episode. Yeah.

Writers the globe over know that if there is only one "rule" that can't be broken (bent maybe, but not broken), it's that you never fill a page/chapter/novel with nothing but information. Have a backstory to tell? Do it with dialogue. Need to tell the reader why someone does what they do? Show them instead. This applies to novels, movies, and yes, TV shows. 

Teen Wolf has, to me, always been at the top when it comes to good storytelling. They've kept a great pace on the show, moving characters forward and advancing their plots each season like pros. Sure the show is far-fetched and oft times over the top--that's what makes it fun. But Monday's episode knocked that pedestal right out from under them and brought them to the floor (my opinion, people; don't start rioting in the streets). 

The episode was centered around Derek, the hotter-than-should-be-legal Alpha who did something detrimental last week. Several characters were placed in familiar settings at the episode's beginning, poised to ask questions about where he may have disappeared to. Que the info dump. 

Two characters we don't see much of on a regular basis were the messengers charged with explaining why Derek is the way he is, why things that are happening are happening, and why a new pack of evil alpha wolves is suddenly ready to rip the town apart. Now, let me say that the info we got in this episode was good, and I loved learning about Derek's past. But for the sake of TV (and a novel), this was not a good way of giving it to us.

Nothing happened. Yeah, there was some action that played out as the story was being told, but it was all in the past, mainly with characters we as viewers don't really care about. Two alternating stories were being told, but they ultimately tied together in the end (which deserves a kudos to the writing team for that), but I would have been so much more on-the-edge-of-my-seat happy if I could've learned all that while Scott (MC) and his friends were actually out searching for Derek, instead of sitting in rooms talking about him. See what I'm getting at? Show, don't tell.

That's a standard in writing. Show us what you want us to know, don't tell us. Now, I'll admit that I'm guilty of telling instead of showing (who isn't), but I know that I shouldn't do it, and actively try to avoid things like Monday's Teen Wolf. Which is why I was so surprised that that episode aired the way it did. For a show on the cutting edge of teen dramas, those writers made a boo-boo.

So, the moral of this post: Don't bring your readers (or viewers) down by filling a chapter or scene or even half a novel with nothing but information being thrown at them. Make it exciting. Make it fun. 

Show it.

And since you read to the end, enjoy.

Shirtless torsos. Told ya. 

Waiting on Wednesday: DARKER DAYS by Jus Accardo!

The lovely Jill (a fellow Alabamian!) over at Breaking the Spine created the Waiting on Wednesday meme for us bloggers to showcase books we're waiting on. 

I fell in love when I read this author's first novel. And her second. And her...you get the idea. So I'm super excited for the first book in her new series, which sounds so cool and awesome I know I'm gonna love it. My WoW this week is...

DARKER DAYS
by Jus Accardo
pub date: August 19, 2013

product description from goodreads.com

Jessie Darker goes to high school during the day, but at night she helps with the family investigation business. Cheating husbands and stolen inheritances? They’re your girls—but their specialty is a bit darker. Zombie in your garage? Pesky Poltergeist living in your pool? They’ll have the problem solved in a magical minute. For a nominal fee, of course...

When gorgeous new client, Lukas Scott, saunters into the office requesting their help to find a stolen box, it sounds like a simple case—until the truth comes out. The box is full of Sin.

Seven deadly ones, in fact.

They’ve got five days to recapture the Sins before they're recalled by the box, taking seven hijacked human bodies with them. Easy peasy—except for one thing...

There’s a spell that will allow the Sins to remain free, causing chaos forever. When the key ingredient threatens the life of someone she knows, Jessie must make the ultimate choice between love and family—or lose everything.

Doesn't that sound great? It's like a modern-day Nancy Drew meets Anita Blake! ha! Okay, hurry up, August 19th!

Be sure to visit Jus online:

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Cover Reveal: SHELF LIFE by Stephanie Lawton!

Okay, so today's cover has already been spread around the blogosphere by over 50 blogs (wowza!) but the author is someone I consider a friend so I simply have to share it here!

Her writing is beautiful, haunting, funny...all the adjectives, really. And I know that her newest novel, SHELF LIFE, is gonna rock those adjectives just as much. And the cover is...well, see for yourself:

Beautiful. Just beautiful. I love the whole sun-drenched look, and the pose the models are in, and the font of the title and... Okay, I love all of it. But the best part is the synopsis, because it makes me wanna read this book even more than I already did! 

It’s impossible to focus on college biology when your family believes doomsday is imminent and the government is out to get you.

All Pete Wilson’s ever wanted is to become a veterinarian, but those dreams are going up in flames. Commuting to an urban college and helping his parents with their apocalyptic prepper crap is more than he can handle.

Worse, Pete’s asshole neighbor is stirring up trouble, his family’s stockpile has been destroyed and farm animals are turning up dead.

Lindsey Linger is the tomboy sister of his best friend. Now a sexy spitfire, she and Pete are liable to set the barn ablaze as their romance finally heats up. But she’s hiding a terrible secret, and rural life isn’t all bonfires and hayloft romps. That becomes clear one icy winter night when the survival of everyone Pete loves hangs in the balance.

Can Pete be the hero they need, or will this be the end of the world as he knows it?

What about you? Love it? Hate it? (at which point I'll drive to where you are and kick you in the toes.)

Be sure to visit Stephanie online:

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Monday Must Reads: THIS IS NOT A TEST by Courtney Summers!

Not familiar with this little feature? It's simple, really. Monday Must Reads! is a feature I created to showcase books that I think you, well, Must Read (ha!).

This week's selection is one that I absolutely loved. Filled with amazing prose, fervent action, and believable characters, it's a novel that holds you till the end. If you haven't already, trust me when I say that you simply Must Read...

THIS IS NOT A TEST

by Courtney Summers
pub date June 2012

product description from goodreads.com

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually wantto live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Seriously you guys, if you're like me and are way behind on your TBR lists, move this one up a few pegs and start it now, because it's truly something.

Be sure to visit Courtney online:

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