Monday, January 29, 2018

Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry Blog tour w/ review, excerpt, & giveaway


From critically acclaimed author Katie McGarry, comes SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME—a story of two people from different worlds pushing themselves, and each other, to get what they deserve!

SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME releases on January 30, 2018. Pre-order your copy today!

   

“Doesn’t matter who did it. Not anymore. I did the time. It’s over.”

When Drix was convicted of a crime–one he didn’t commit–he thought his life was over. But opportunity came with the Second Chance Program, the governor’s newest pet project to get delinquents off the streets, rehabilitated and back into society. Drix knows this is his chance to get his life back on track, even if it means being paraded in front of reporters for a while.

Elle knows she lives a life of privilege. As the governor’s daughter, she can open doors with her name alone. But the expectations and pressure to be someone she isn’t may be too much to handle. She wants to follow her own path, whatever that means.

When Drix and Elle meet, their connection is immediate, but so are their problems. Drix is not the type of boy Elle’s parents have in mind for her, and Elle is not the kind of girl who can understand Drix’s messy life.

But sometimes love can breach all barriers.

Fighting against a society that can’t imagine them together, Drix and Elle must push themselves–Drix to confront the truth of the robbery, and Elle to assert her independence–and each other to finally get what they deserve.

 
Most of you have followed my blog for a while and know that I love Katie McGarry. 
Being chosen to read and review this book made me so happy beyond words.
Katie has a way of writing that never disappoints. While I have read a few books these past few weeks, I haven't really read anything that made me sigh and close my eyes at the end....until THIS BOOK!!

What I love is that the story sucked me right in. 
Drix is an interesting character. 
He went to jail for a crime he did not commit. 
He went into the Governors second chance program and he changed while he was there. 
He is from the wrong side of town and did things many teens do with little to no supervision but after being away from his family and the program he doesn't ever want to be there again, so he is doing everything he can to stay on the right path. 
I loved how much he loves his family and friends. 

Elle is the complete opposite. 
She has the perfect clothes, words, and family. 
After all, she is the Governors daughter. 
To the outside world, she is perfect but if they don't know how controlling her parents are and what it takes to maintain the illusion of perfection. 
I felt bad for her because she has her sights set on something but her parents push her towards something else. 
I know parents can be unbearable sometimes but damn people need to let their kids pursue their passions but that is what I love about this book, it has real-life aspects sprinkled in that makes one connect with the characters.

I love that even though Drix and Elle are from different backgrounds they are both trying to find their way in life, and really isn't that every teenager? 
There were moments in this book that made me mad, sad and cry. 
I wanted to hug Drix and protect him. 
I think what I loved the most about this book is the human aspect that Katie brought forth. 
Parents are not perfect, they make mistakes. 
Elle for the first time had to battle seeing her parents in a different light but I feel that all teenagers go through this. 
As a parent, of course, I want what is best but sometimes I don't have all the answers. 
I could relate to both levels as a parent and as a daughter. 

Katie did an amazing job with these characters and their growth within the book. 
This is a must read if you enjoy romance and life-giving people second chances. 
Sometimes there is more to the person that what has been portrayed. 

***E-ARC provided by Harlequin TEEN and Inkslinger in exchange for an honest review.***
~Ellison~
Sean points, and a woman in the back asks, “You never met Mr. Pierce before?”
I shake my head, and Sean gestures to the microphone. “No. I was playing a midway game earlier, and he ended up playing beside me, but then we went our separate ways. I left the game, and these guys started to harass me, and hen Hendrix asked if I needed help. I agreed, and he suggested we talk. He said that if the guys thought we were friends they would eventually lose interest, and they did. Hendrix played a game, and we talked until Andrew showed.”
“Andrew?” someone asks.
“Andrew Morton.” That causes enough of a stir that nervousness leaks into my bloodstream and makes my hands cold and clammy. Why is it that I feel that I said something terribly wrong?
“Are you and Andrew Morton friends?” someone else asks, and the question hits me in a sickening way. I name-dropped the grandson of the most powerful US Senator…the position my father is campaigning for. Sean is going to roast me alive.
“Yes. We’ve been friends for as long as I remember.” Friends, enemies, it’s all semantics at this point.
“Did you and Andrew Morton plan to attend the festival together?” Another reporter.
“Yes.”
“Were you on a date?” a woman asks.
My entire body recoils. “What?”
“Are you and Andrew Morton romantically involved?”
I become one of those bunnies who go still at the slightest sound. “I thought we were talking about Hendrix.”
“Did Mr. Pierce confront the men?”
Finally back on track. “No, he was adamant that there should be no violence.”
More questions and I put my hand in the air as I feel like I’m the one on trial. “Isn’t that the point?  Hendrix went through my dad’s program, and one of the first chances he had to make a good decision, he made one. We’re strangers, and he helped me without violence. That, to me, is success.” A few people nod their head, and because I don’t want to be done yet… “Mr. O’Bryan—grown men shouldn’t be following seventeen-year-old girls. I’m curious why you didn’t step in when I was being harassed. If you saw Hendrix and me together, then you know what happened, and it’s horrifying you didn’t help. Hendrix made the right choice. You did not.”
A rumble of conversation, Sean places a hand on my arm and gently, but firmly pushes me to the side. The raging fire in his eyes says he’s mentally measuring out the room in the basement he’s going to let me rot in for the next ten years.
My father approaches the microphone with an ease I envy. “Any more questions for Ellison can be sent to my press secretary. As you can tell, it’s been a trying day for my daughter, but we are most grateful for Mr. Pierce’s actions. We promised a program that was going to help our state’s youth turn their lives around, and, thanks to Mr. Pierce’s admirable actions, we are proud of our first program’s success.”
He offers Drix his hand again, and Drix accepts.
Lots of pictures and applause, and Dad leans in and whispers something to him. I can’t tell what it is, but I do see the shadow that crosses over Drix’s face, his throat move as he swallow and then the slight nod of his head.
I don’t know what happened, but I don’t like it. The urge is to rush Drix, but Sean has a firm hold on my elbow, keeping me in place, silently berating me for causing problems.
Drix stands behind the podium and drops a bomb so huge the ground shakes beneath my feet. “Because Ellison had enough courage to explain what happened today, I’m going to tell you what I was convicted of…”

Preorder SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME here!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Google Play | B-A-M | Kobo

     

Add it to your Goodreads Now!


           

Pre-order SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME, register and you will receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER, a novella that features your favorite Pushing the Limits and Thunder Road characters!

From the Pushing the Limits series, Noah, Beth, Isaiah, West and Logan are all grown up. Catch up with your favorite characters as one of them finally says, I do.

Pigpen, Eli and Addison from the Thunder Road series: Three separate personalities who still needed to find love…and still had someone important to meet.

This is a limited time offer! So hurry! Registration ends on February 3, 2018! You must register your pre-order to receive AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

https://a.pgtb.me/4tLZSM



Katie McGarry’s SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME – Tour Schedule:

January 22nd
January 23rd
January 24th
January 25th
January 26th
January 27th
January 28th
January 29th
January 30th
January 31st
February 1st
February 2nd
February 3rd

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!



Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan. Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine’s 2012 Reviewer’s Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.   

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Thursday, January 18, 2018

K.A. Tucker's Keep Her Safe Blog Tour

K.A. Tucker's Keep Her Safe Blog Tour
Making a Murderer meets Scandal in this story of police corruption, family secrets, and illicit affairs from bestselling author K.A. Tucker, celebrated for her “propulsive plot twists and searing seduction” (USA TODAY).


Noah Marshall has known a privileged and comfortable life thanks to his mother, the highly decorated chief of the Austin Police Department. But all that changes the night she reveals a skeleton that's been rattling in her closet for years, and succumbs to the guilt of destroying an innocent family's life. Reeling with grief, Noah is forced to carry the burden of this shocking secret.

Gracie Richards wasn't born in a trailer park, but after fourteen years of learning how to survive in The Hollow, it's all she knows anymore. At least here people don't care that her dad was a corrupt Austin cop, murdered in a drug deal gone wrong. Here, she and her mother are just another family struggling to survive...until a man who clearly doesn't belong shows up on her doorstep.

Despite their differences, Noah and Gracie are searching for answers to the same questions, and together, they set out to uncover the truth about the Austin Police Department's dark and messy past. But the scandal that emerges is bigger than they bargained for and goes far higher up than they ever imagined.

Complex, gritty, sexy, and thrilling, Keep Her Safe solidifies K.A. Tucker's reputation as one of today's most talented new voices in romantic suspense.

HOLY WOW!
I have no idea how K.A. Tucker does this, seriously, no idea!
How can she have me so enthralled and turning pages well into the morning? She bewitches me with her writing and storytelling. Every time I begin one of her books I know to buckle up. 

There are times I read books and days later I think about them and the characters. Here I sit a week later still reeling from Keep Her Safe. I keep rethinking certain aspects and the twists and turns. K.A. Tuckers writing again showcases her abilities to weave a story together with a delicate intricacy that had me transfixed. 

What can I tell you about this book without giving away too much?

Well, let me try. Noah is a guy whose mother was the chief of police and at one point in time, she had a partner, Abe. Abe was murdered and his reputation as an officer was tarnished as he was branded a dirty cop. Things get revealed and Noah goes to make amends with Abe's daughter Grace. What happens next neither of them expected, and neither did I!!!

14 years later after Grace's father is killed both of these children go looking for answers which ultimately impacts many people's lives. They had no idea where this would lead, and as truths come to light I was just in awe of the authors writing and weaving together of this story. Reading about the past helped to bring the story together. Man, there is just so much in this book that I can not wait for others to read it.  

I am never disappointed when I pick up a K.A. Tucker book. These characters and their story has stayed with me and still has me thinking....I mean WOW! Honestly just WOW!!!

4/5 Hearts
**ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review**



K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA TODAY, The Globe and Mail, Suspense Magazine, and Publishers Weekly. She currently resides in a quaint town outside Toronto with her husband and two beautiful girls.

FIND K.A. TUCKER ONLINE:

KEEP HER SAFE
by K.A. Tucker
Atria Books Paperback | On-sale: January 23, 2018 | 448 pages | ISBN: 9781501133404, $16.00
eBook: 9781501133428, $7.99

BUY LINKS (US):

BUY LINKS (UK)

BUY LINKS (AUS)

Don’t miss K.A. Tucker’s beloved 
Ten Tiny Breaths series!