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Thursday, September 21, 2017

THE BUTTERFLY PROJECT by Emma Scott Review




"Where you are is home..."

At age fourteen, Zelda Rossi witnessed the unthinkable, and has spent the last ten years hardening her heart against the guilt and grief. She channels her pain into her art: a dystopian graphic novel where vigilantes travel back in time to stop heinous crimes—like child abduction—before they happen. Zelda pitches her graphic novel to several big-time comic book publishers in New York City, only to have her hopes crash and burn. Circumstances leave her stranded in an unfamiliar city, and in an embarrassing moment of weakness, she meets a guarded young man with a past he’d do anything to change...

Beckett Copeland spent two years in prison for armed robbery, and is now struggling to keep his head above water. A bike messenger by day, he speeds around New York City, riding fast and hard but going nowhere, his criminal record holding him back almost as much as the guilt of his crime. 

Zelda and Beckett form a grudging alliance of survival, and in between their stubborn clash of wills, they slowly begin to provide each other with the warmth of forgiveness, healing, and maybe even love. But when Zelda and Beckett come face to face with their pasts, they must choose to hold on to the guilt and regret that bind them, or let go and open their hearts for a shot at happiness. 

The Butterfly Project is a novel that reveals the power of forgiveness, and how even the smallest decisions of the heart can—like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings—create currents that strengthen into gale winds, altering the course of a life forever. 

#standalone


The Butterfly Project. http://amzn.to/2hhax8v 



Additional Author & Book Links:
Full Tilt. http://amzn.to/2xfx6lL 
All In. http://amzn.to/2xkQuPX 
Sugar & Gold. http://amzn.to/2ynHiZD 
Rush. http://amzn.to/2hgVhZs
How to Save a Life. http://amzn.to/2xP48fI
Unbreakable. http://amzn.to/2fiqTRD
Love Beyond Words. http://amzn.to/2wvxkZ0
Endless Possibility. http://amzn.to/2xkscp8





Review

The Butterfly ProjectThe Butterfly Project by Emma Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Zelda and Beckett have painful pasts. Both are struggling every moment with the emotional baggage. The author does an excellent job of putting the reader in their shoes. I easily understood their actions and feelings. I love these characters and how they don't play romance games. I suppose because they have seen firsthand how real consequences can be, they take life seriously. Both characters are sort of stuck and having trouble moving forward. They help to bring each other around to a better place. I definitely recommend The Butterfly Project. It's entertaining, but it also leaves you thinking. It's not a book that you can just finish and forget. The occasional drawings are a bonus that really adds to the storyline.



***copy given in exchange for an honest review***

FGMAMTC 

Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents






ANTISOCIAL by Heidi Cullinan Review




Cover art by Natsukoworks
Cover design by Kanaxa Designs

A single stroke can change your world.
Xander Fairchild can’t stand people in general and frat boys in particular, so when he’s forced to spend his summer working on his senior project with Skylar Stone, a silver-tongued Delta Sig with a trust fund who wants to make Xander over into a shiny new image, Xander is determined to resist. He came to idyllic, Japanese culture-soaked Benten College to hide and make manga, not to be transformed into a corporate clone in the eleventh hour.
Skylar’s life has been laid out for him since before he was born, but all it takes is one look at Xander’s artwork, and the veneer around him begins to crack. Xander himself does plenty of damage too. There’s something about the antisocial artist’s refusal to yield that forces Skylar to acknowledge how much his own orchestrated future is killing him slowly…as is the truth about his gray-spectrum sexuality, which he hasn’t dared to speak aloud, even to himself.
Through a summer of art and friendship, Xander and Skylar learn more about each other, themselves, and their feelings for one another. But as their senior year begins, they must decide if they will part ways and return to the dull futures they had planned, or if they will take a risk and leap into a brightly colored future—together.

keywords

asexual  graysexual  demisexual  new adult  New York  Artist  Manga  Painting  Anime  Gay romance  Japan  College-set romance  Seven gods of fortune  Community  Self-discovery  contemporary romance  misanthrope  no graphic sexual content  slow-burn romance  swooning romance   snuggly romance  difficult parents   highly romantic

Excerpt (click to read)


Spotify Playlist (click to play)


Buy Links:  Amazon US ebookAmazon US paperbackAmazon UK ebookAmazon UK paperbackBarnes & NobleiTunesKoboScribd, Smashwords





Heidi Cullinan has always enjoyed a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. Proud to be from the first Midwestern state with full marriage equality, Heidi is a vocal advocate for LGBT rights. She writes positive-outcome romances for LGBT characters struggling against insurmountable odds because she believes there’s no such thing as too much happy ever after. When Heidi isn't writing, she enjoys playing with new recipes, reading romance and manga, playing with her cats, and watching too much anime. Find out more about Heidi at heidicullinan.com.

Praise for Heidi Cullinan

Heartwarming and achingly beautiful —USA Today
Emotionally heartwrenching…with self-deprecating humor. — Romantic Times
Cullinan balances ... love-conquers-all romance in a context full of real contemporary challenges. — Publisher's Weekly
I fell in love with the sheer beauty of the writing. — Dear Author
Cullinan reached inside and pulled out ALL the feelings: fear, guilt, sadness, anticipation, happiness, love, lust, bitterness, loneliness, togetherness, and coming of age. — The Book Pushers




Review


AntisocialAntisocial by Heidi Cullinan


This is a romance between two guys in college trying to figure out who they are and what their future will be. Both have issues with their parents and struggle with career choices. Both guys are virgins. One isn't sure what his sexuality is and doesn't quite want to label it for certain. It doesn't contain actual sex, but there are some really erotic moments. One is an artist so some fun with art comes into play. Mostly this is about a diverse group of friends supporting each other and enjoying mutual loves like manga and anything Japanese. Antisocial is a sweet romance with lots of openness and diversity. I'd like to see it turned into an anime.



***copy given in exchange for an honest review***

FGMAMTC 

Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents






Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Glass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins Review




Eddie Rodrigues doesn’t stay in one place long enough to get attached. The only time he broke that rule, things went south fast. Now he’s on the road again, with barely enough cash in his pocket to hop a bus to Texas after his (sort-of-stolen) car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Midwest, USA.
He’s fine. He’ll manage. Until he watches that girl get hit by a car and left to die.
Local shop owner Grayson Croft isn’t in the habit of doing people any favors. But even a recluse can’t avoid everyone in a town as small as Clear Lake. And when the cop who played Juliet to your Romeo in the high school play asks you to put up her key witness for the night, you say yes.
Now Gray’s got a grouchy glass artist stomping around his big, empty house, and it turns out that he . . . maybe . . . kind of . . . likes the company.
But Eddie Rodrigues never sticks around.
Unless a Christmas shop owner who hates the season can show an orphan what it means to have family for the holidays.







Each year, Riptide Publishing releases a holiday collection in support of an LGBTQ charity. 
Twenty percent of the proceeds of this title will be donated to The Trevor Project.
Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.
To learn more about this charity or to donate directly, please visit their website: thetrevorproject.org.  
This collection would not be possible without the talent and generosity of its authors, who have brought us the following holiday stories:
Pre-ordering this collection will allow you to download each story two days prior to its official release date, as well as save almost 25% off the list price of the individual books.



Amy Jo Cousins writes contemporary romance and erotica about smart people finding their own best kind of smexy. She lives in Chicago with her son, where she tweets too much, sometimes runs really far, and waits for the Cubs to win the World Series.
Connect with Amy Jo:




Review

Glass TidingsGlass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins


This book delivers a sweet romance while also showing some real problems and issues. Everything doesn't instantly go perfectly. The guys have to work it out. They're flaued which makes them more enduring. All the holiday settings give that warm Christmas feel. It definitely got me looking forward to the coming season. I recommend Glass Tidings to readers who like a romance with characters who work through their baggage to reach their happily ever after.



***copy given in exchange for an honest review***

FGMAMTC 

Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents






Sunday, September 3, 2017

SideStreets Series by John Choi, Melanie Florence, Cristy Watson and Robert Rayner Review



SideStreets Series
  • Deals with real-world issues in real ways
  • High-interest fiction that engages reluctant teen readers
  • Believable characters, situations, and dialogue
  • Diverse characters and settings
  • Award-winning, knowledgeable authors
  • 60+ titles available
  • 34 award-winning titles
  • Reading Level Grades 3-5
  • Interest Level Grades 9-12
  • http://www.lorimer.ca/sidestreets/about-the-seriessidestreets.html
  • http://www.lorimer.ca/sidestreets/Series/32/Lorimer-SideStreets.html
  • http://www.lorimer.ca/sidestreets/



Themes: Anger issues, death & dying, families, underage drinking

Ever since Logan found out that his uncle was involved in the accident that killed Logan's dad, he's been full of resentment. He cuts his uncle out of his life, and finds that being reckless is the only way to feel anything. Looking for a place to drink underaged and undisturbed, Logan and his friends break into a house they think is abandoned.

What they find there gets them into trouble with the law and causes Logan's girlfriend to break up with him. But it also makes Logan face up to his anger and his need to forgive and be forgiven.

This novel combines themes of teen rebellion with what happens when young people are brought face-to-face with the reality of death in a realistic, unsensational story.










Themes: Mental health, cultural diversity, parental pressure, abuse

Emerson Yeung seems to have every reason to be happy-- he gets good marks, has some friends, and has a part time job at his parents' dry cleaning business. But Emerson has been hiding something. The pressure to be the perfect son put on him by his parents that sometimes escalates into abuse from his father. This has led to a depression that leaves him roaming the city in the middle of the night.

When his phone is stolen and used to post racist threats toward the vice principal and a teacher at his school, Emerson gets suspended and is investigated by the police. Not seeing any way out of his situation, he plans to commit suicide. But Emerson manages to find help and to gain the strength he needs to deal with his life.

This novel is a realistic look at how a responsible teen can feel overwhelmed by life's pressures --and how personal and family tragedy can be averted.










Themes: LGBTQ, gender identity, Native peoples, homelessness, runaways, street youth

Raised on a reserve in northern Ontario, seventeen-year-old Joe Littlechief tries to be like the other guys. But Joe knows he's different -- he's more interested in guys than in any of the girls he knows. One night Joe makes a drunken pass at his best friend Benjy and, by the next morning, everyone on the rez is talking about Joe. His mother, a devout Christian, is horrified, and the kids who are supposed to be his friends make it clear there's no place for him in their circle, or even on the rez. Joe thinks about killing himself, but instead runs away to the city.

Alone and penniless on the streets of Toronto, Joe comes to identify with the Aboriginal idea of having two spirits, or combining both feminine and masculine identities in one person. He also begins to understand more about how his parents have been affected by their own experiences as children in residential schools -- something never discussed on the rez. And he realizes he has to come to terms with his two-spiritedness and find people who accept him for who he is.

This is a novel that reflects the complex realities faced by young LGBTQ and aboriginal youth today.










Themes: Social justice, dealing with authority, cultural diversity, conflict resolution

In the middle of the night, five teens break into a small town high school that has been closed by the regional school board. They are there to protest the decision to move them to a big city school and make their little town that much smaller. Led by Bilan, whose experience with the Arab Spring fired a passion to peacefully fight against injustice, the Gang of Five occupy their old school. The local police chief and the town quietly cheer them on. When the school board calls in a big security firm to break up their occupation using any means necessary, including force, the five have to decide how far they will go to show their outrage at having no control over decisions that affect their lives.

This is a novel which picks up on themes drawn from the world around us, and shows how these can play out in the lives of contemporary young people.










Review

Dark Side



The lead's parents are Chinese and different from what he thinks most Canadians parents are. They expect a lot and are sort of abusive. He suffers from depression and anxiety. This book is good about showing the reader that they aren't alone if they feel this way. 




Riot School


This book seems like it tries to fit all types of people in. A group of kids gets together to protest and they are an extremely diverse bunch. They have to try to work with the system.





Rez Runaway


The lead runs away from the reservation when everyone finds out he's gay. Even his mother doesn't want him around. Things just keep going from bad to worse for him. Eventually, he meets a man who grew up with his grandfather and a trans girl who are also homeless. Everything is going wrong, and they have to lean on each other. 




Dead to Me


The lead finds out a secret about his father and uncle that completely changes him. He becomes more of a troublemaker, has a chip on his shoulder. He can't let it go. He drinks and such. It's a good lesson about forgiveness and the dangers of drinking. 







***copy given in exchange for an honest review***

FGMAMTC 

Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents