Finding Paris Blog Tour

When I saw the cover for Finding Paris I knew I had to read what it was about. When I read what it was about I knew it sounded like something I wanted to read. When I got accepted onto the blog tour I knew it was something I had to get my hands on as soon as possible.



Finding Paris by Joy Preble
Release Date: May 1st., 2015
from HarperCollins
An evocative and compelling story of two sisters who would do anything for each other--perfect for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why and Speak. Joy Preble's stirring new novel explores the lengths to which sisters go to protect each other, and the winding road that brings two strangers into each other's lives.

Sisters Leo and Paris Hollings have only ever had each other to rely on. They can't trust their mother, who hops from city to city and from guy to guy, or their gambler stepfather, who's moved them all to Las Vegas. It's just the two of them: Paris, who's always been the dreamer, and Leo, who has a real future in mind--going to Stanford, becoming a doctor, falling in love. But Leo isn't going anywhere right now, except driving around Vegas all night with her sister.

Until Paris ditches Leo at the Heartbreak Hotel Diner, where moments before they had been talking with physics student Max Sullivan. Outside, Leo finds a cryptic note from Paris--a clue. Is it some kind of game? Where is Paris, and why has she disappeared? When Leo reluctantly accepts Max's offer of help, the two find themselves following a string of clues through Vegas and beyond. But the search for the truth is not a straight line. And neither is the path to secrets Leo and Max hold inside.

You can purchase Finding Paris at the following Retailers:

        



Review:
I have to admit, it was the cover that first drew me to this book. I mean just look at it. It's beautiful. But after I read the synopsis I knew it was going to be more than just a pretty cover. It had so many of the things I love. Sisters. Cool settings. Cute boys. Road trips. What more could you want? Now, after reading it, I can safely say it really is more than just a pretty cover and a good synopsis.


The story starts off pretty quickly. It follows two sisters, Leo and Paris, living in Las Vegas with their mom and stepdad. They don't really wan to be in their house-or Vegas. Then typical night driving around goer wrong when Paris leaves Leo at a diner. No cell phone, no wallet. Just a boy and a note. Literally.  This starts off a crazy scavenger-hunt/road trip to find Paris. Everything started going so soon and never slowed down. I didn't want to stop reading. It was so easy to fly through.


The characters were so much more than they seemed at first glance. They weren't showing all their cards, if you will. More than just Paris who is obviously the mystery of the story. Max had dark stuff hidden behind those nice eyes and even Leo had stuff she didn't bring to the table at first. Lots of stuff. I loved getting to know them as they revealed more and more of themselves to each other and really started to form a bond. It was the writing that created that bond for me to the characters and the story. There was definitely some lines I waned to note. It was lyrical in a way and helped me really understand the characters and why they did the things that they did. They weren't perfect, but they were still loveable, which I think was exactly the point.


This book really caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, even while reading it. And it literally caught me by surprise. This book isn't even 300 pages and somehow there was still a twist that I never saw coming. I think that's what made me love it by the time I turned the last page. It sealed the deal for me on the book and on Joy Preble. If her other books are anything like this one, I'll definitely be reading them in the future.

About the Author

Joy Preble is a Texas girl who was born and raised in Chicago and a former high school teacher who now writes full time, which means she gets paid for making up stuff. She earned an English degree from Northwestern University and speaks and teaches widely on writing and literacy at libraries and schools, as well as SCBWI, NCTE, AWP, and other conferences.

Joy is the author of The Sweet Dead Life and its sequel, The A Word (May 2014), both from Soho Press. Kirkus hailed The Sweet Dead Life with "Hallelujah! A paranormal tale of angels…that breaks the mold."

She is also the author of the Dreaming Anastasia series (Sourcebooks) that combines paranormal romance with Russian folklore. Dreaming Anastasia was nominated for a Cybil Award in the Teen Sci-Fi/Fantasy Category in 2009. It was named an ABC Best Book for Children, Teen Category in 2009, and was featured in Justine Magazine.

Joy also has a contemporary mystery/romance on the way: Finding Paris will be out April 21, 2015 from Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins. Another paranormal mystery/romance, It Wasn't Always Like This, pitched as Tuck Everlasting meets Veronica Mars, arrives from Soho Press in Spring 2016.

In no particular order, Joy loves guacamole, pizza, banana bread, red wine, books, boots of all shapes and sizes, TV, movies, and crazy road trips so she can see the world. She is also fond her family and her dog, in case you were wondering.

WEBSITE: http://joypreble.com/index.html
TWITTER: @joypreble 
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2870420.Joy_Preble
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/joy.preble

TUMBLR: http://joypreble.tumblr.com/


Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for coming to my spot on the Finding Paris blog tour hosted by the lovely Jean Book Nerd. I hope reading my review made you want to enter the awesome giveaway. Either way you should other stops on the tour and get your hands on this book!

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Harper Collins
Source: Conference
First book in the Dorothy Must Die series
I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road - but even that's crumbling.
What happened? Dorothy.
They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.
My name is Amy Gumm - and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission.

Review
Can you say creative? This book has more creativity than any book I've ever read! It took a story that everyone has heard and turned it into something magical.

This tells the story of Amy. She's always been average. One day, she gets sucked into a tornado and lands in Oz. She's been told one thing, Dorothy must die. And Amy has to kill her... 

Amy has an incredibly growth throughout this story. She literally goes from being average to being amazing. I loved how strong she became. I loved that she demanded answers. I loved that she cared about right and wrong. I loved that she was always being challenged. I seriously hope we see an insane amount of Nox in the next book. And all of the Wicked. We don't get to learn much about the Wizard or the Order. I hope we get to see a lot of that in the next book as well. 

This book has quite the storyline. It was a little confusing at first. There's a lot of mystery . I loved the good vs bad vibe. I loved that it had all the aspects from the original story but twisted into a new story. It was very original. I loved having no idea what was coming next. I adored all the characters. Overall I thought this was a very impressive read. It had me flipping the pages faster than you could tap your toes tosh there three times. I cannot wait to continue this story! 

Waiting on Wednesday: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

****"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill at the Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.****

My pick this week is:

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh 

Expected publication: May 12th 2015 by Putnam Juvenile

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

This was a popular one at TLA this year. The synopsis sucks you in right away. This pretty sounds crazy unique and exciting. I was lucky enough to meet this author and get a copy at TLA. So I will be reading ASAP! 

What are you guys waiting on? Let me know in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday (84)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists
This weeks topic is Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Authors. This is actually a really hard topic because how do you pick just 10? 

1. Tahereh Mafi.
2. Julie Kagawa. 
3. Gayle Forman. 
4. Maggie Stievfvator.
5. Katie McGarry.
6. Lauren DeStefano.
7. Aprilynne Pike.
8. Michelle Hodkin. 
9. Stephanie Perkins.
10. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. 

I picked these authors because I would read any book they put out even if I had no clue what it was about. Let me know what you guys would pick in the comments!

Time After Time by Tamera Ireland Stone Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Source: Bought
Second and final book in the Time Between Us series
Calling Anna and Bennett’s romance long distance is an understatement: she’s from 1995 Chicago and he’s a time traveler from 2012 San Francisco. The two of them never should have met, but they did. They fell in love, even though they knew they shouldn't. And they found a way to stay together, against all odds. 
It’s not a perfect arrangement, though, with Bennett unable to stay in the past for more than brief visits, skipping out on big chunks of his present in order to be with Anna in hers. They each are confident that they’ll find a way to make things work...until Bennett witnesses a single event he never should have seen (and certainly never expected to). Will the decisions he makes from that point on cement a future he doesn't want?
Told from Bennett’s point of view, Time After Time will satisfy readers looking for a fresh, exciting, and beautifully-written love story, both those who are eager to find out what’s next for Time Between Us's Anna and Bennett and those discovering their story for the first time.

Review
I adored the first book in this series. I didn't love this one like I loved the first book. But I did think it was a very fun, enjoyable sequel! 

This is told from Bennet's point in view. He and Anna are very much in love. It isn't easy. Bennet can only stay in places for short amounts of time. He witnesses something in the future that makes him question if all of this is worth it. 

I love Bennet and Anna. They are so cute together. But this story wasn't really about their relationship. It was more them individually growing as people which I liked. We really got to see them grow up. They sure don't have it easy. We really got to see them struggle. That made it easy to relate to them. I love the way they stuck by each other! 

Because this story focused more on Anna and Bennet individually, I didn't enjoy it as much. They didn't spend a lot of time to whether and I missed them. But I loved getting to see them grow. We got to see some things that weren't in the first book. We really got to understand Bennet's traveling. Overall this was a pretty good sequel. It wrapped things up perfectly. I'm really gonna miss Bennet and Anna though! They've had quite the adventure together :). 

Waiting on Wednesday: The Boy Most Likely To by Huntely Fitzpatrick

****"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill at the Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.****

My pick this week is:

The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Expected publication: August 18th 2015 by Penguin-Dial for Young Readers

Surprises abound and sparks ignite in the highly anticipated, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To:

- find the liquor cabinet blindfolded

- need a liver transplant

- drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To:

- well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard. 

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle. 

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this return to the world of My Life Next Door is a story about failing first, trying again, and having to decide whether to risk it all once more.

You guys have no idea how excited I am for this book! My Life Next Door is one of my absolute favorite contemporaries. Tim was an amazing character that I can't wait to see more of. Same goes for Alice. I've been waiting for this pretty for quite some time. I cannot wait to get my hands on it!

Top Ten Tuesday (83)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists

This weeks topic is Top Ten Characters You'd Like To Check Up On. I think this is a really cute topic! 

1. Jace and Clary. I know we'll be seeing more of these guys in future series but I still wonder how things are going. 
2. Cole and Isabel. Sinner really gave these guys a happy ending. 
3. Sam and Grace. We did get to see a little bit of these guys in Sinner so that was nice. 
4. All the couples from Percy Jackson and The Heroes or Olympus. 
5. Warner and Juliette. 
6. Maxon and America. I know we'll be seeing more of these guys in The Heir. 
7. Eleanor and Park. I've heard whispers about a sequel so fingers crossed. 
8. Tobias. This one makes me want to cry a little bit. 
9. Katy and Daemon. 
10. Hazel. This one also makes me wanna cry. 

Wow this really made me miss my babies :(. I know that was like all couples but sorry not sorry! Let me know what you guys would pick in the comments!