Savage Drift Blog Tour

Today I have a special treat in the form of Emmy Laybourne visiting the blog for the third book in the Monument 14 series. If you haven't already heard from the series, you can check out my review of book one and book two. My review of book three should be up shortly as the book will be out on May 6th which is right around the corner!

Book One, Monument 14, follows a group of teenagers as they are abandoned during a hailstorm in a local Walmart type store where their bus crashed, and they have to navigate not just what is happening in the outside world, but also taking care of the young children that were on the bus that crashed as well.

Book Two, Sky on Fire, is about the kids as they realize that they are in deeper trouble than they knew staying in one place, so the group tries to move on and find some sort of adult supervision and assistance. (They kids are smart, they know they need things other than a sugar high and toys).

Book Three, Savage Drift, follows the events of book two, and that's really all I can tell you without being the queen of spoiling.

Emmy is a local author, so I hold a special place in my heart for her and her books. I actually fell in love with them before I heard that she was close by, so without further adu,

check out me giving Emmy the third degree!

It's such a pleasure to be here on Paperback Princess! Why is that, you ask? It's because Nicole asks really, really good questions. I mean it.

Like this one:

1. This book alternates between Josie and Dean, how was it slipping from one person to the next across gender lines?

I really enjoyed writing as Josie - the first female we get to hear from as narrator in the whole trilogy.  MONUMENT 14 is narrated by Dean, a 16 year old High School Junior. SKY ON FIRE has two narrators, Dean and Alex, his 13 year old brother. In SAVAGE DRIFT, we hear from Dean and Josie, who's also a 16 year-old Junior.

When working with two narrators who trade chapters back and forth, I actually write one narrative first, then switch to the new narrator and write their part of the story. It would be too hard - way too hard, to switch hats back and forth, chapter by chapter.

I've never had trouble writing from a male perspective. After working in comedy, alongside brilliant guys like Zach Galifianakis, WIll Ferrel, Paul F. Tompkins, Ian Roberts, and Sean Conroy, you develop a little edge - a certain competitiveness. Maybe it's some sort of contact high from all the testosterone. In any case, writing guys comes very naturally to me and I find it fun.

How did it feel to finally write a girl? REALLY GOOD. Josie's voice and her emotions were very clear in my head. Sometimes I have to cast about a bit to find the tone and rhythm of a character's speech. Not so with Josie. She was impatient and ready to go. Her first five chapters came out in a torrent of words.

After all that happened to Josie in SKY ON FIRE, and after all the choices she made, she was really, really pissed and had a lot to say.

2.  You mention the catastrophes that have happened elsewhere across the country including the East Coast, have you considered continuing this world from there?

This is a really cool idea. I'd like to see a spin-off series about Jake out in the world, finding his way through the east coast destruction, headed toward redemption.

But I also have SO MANY new ideas I'm eager to work on. I have two trilogies simmering in a hot pot on the back burner. One's a paranormal romance and the other's a fantasy series. I'm so in love with the ideas that I don't even dare write about them because I'm scared someone will take the ideas (and I know that's silly - no one would ever write them the way I will). But still, that's how much I love them! I don't think I can put them off much longer. So sorry, dear, lost Jake.

3.  To you, what is the scariest part of this world you've created?

The concept of such widespread loss of life is terrifying to me. We see so much death during the scope of the Monument 14 series. I tried my best to have the kids react in the most realistic way - but what would our communities be like, after such widespread losses. I wonder how the grief gets metabolized, when everyone is suffering.

4. Now that the trilogy is over, who of the Monument 14 will you miss most?

Oh! How can I choose?! I think I will miss Henry and Caroline McKinley the most. They are the youngest of the Monument 14, and they are so dear. But then there's Chloe, who's such a wonderful pain in the butt. And Ulysses, with his giant, no-front-teeth grin. Oh, please don't make me choose!

5. If the events of Monument 14 were to happen tomorrow and you can only have 1 partner in this, who do you choose? (Monument 14ers or otherwise)

I have to choose my husband, Greg Podunovich. The practical reasons hardly matter - but  he is superhumanly strong, and also has a McGuyver-like ability to make anything out of anything. (He made our chicken coop out of an old Ikea kids bed and a handful of shingles.) More important by far -- we're a great team, we comfort each other when things get crappy and we love each other in an endless loop.

On that highly sentimental and mushy note - I'll say thank you so much to Nicole!

There are tons of giveaways during my blog tour, TONS, so please be sure to get the full schedule at emmylaybourne.com and follow along!

You can get a cool set of Monument 14 rubber wristbands from Oblong Books with your pre-order of SAVAGE DRIFT (they have only a few sets left, so hurry!)   http://www.oblongbooks.com/emmylaybourne

Follow me on Twitter @EmmyLaybourne and like my author page on ye olde Facebook at: www.facebook.com/EmmyLaybourne.

Fire & Flood

Author: Victoria Scott
Goodreads Rating: 3.88
Pages: 305
Format: ARC from Publisher 

Time is slipping away.... 
Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything.
Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.
The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?
Victoria Scott's breathtaking novel grabs readers by the throat and doesn't let go.

Bang (Visions #2)

Author: Lisa McMann
Goodreads Rating: 4.04
Pages: 256
Format: ARC from ALA13

Jules should be happy. She saved a lot of people’s lives and she’s finally with Sawyer, pretty much the guy of her dreams. But the nightmare’s not over, because she somehow managed to pass the psycho vision stuff to Sawyer. Excellent.

Feeling responsible for what he’s going through and knowing that people’s lives are at stake, Jules is determined to help him figure it all out. But Sawyer’s vision is so awful he can barely describe it, much less make sense of it. All he can tell her is there’s a gun, and eleven ear-splitting shots. Bang.

Jules and Sawyer have to work out the details fast, because the visions are getting worse and that means only one thing: time is running out. But every clue they see takes them down the wrong path. If they can’t prevent the vision from happening, lives will be lost. And they may be among the casualties…

Expiration Day

 Author: William Campbell Powell
Goodreads rating: 3.72
Pages: 336
Format: ARC from ALA14

What happens when you turn eighteen and there are no more tomorrows?
It is the year 2049, and humanity is on the brink of extinction….

Tania Deeley has always been told that she’s a rarity: a human child in a world where most children are sophisticated androids manufactured by Oxted Corporation. When a decline in global fertility ensued, it was the creation of these near-perfect human copies called teknoids that helped to prevent the utter collapse of society.

Though she has always been aware of the existence of teknoids, it is not until her first day at The Lady Maud High School for Girls that Tania realizes that her best friend, Siân, may be one. Returning home from the summer holiday, she is shocked by how much Siân has changed. Is it possible that these changes were engineered by Oxted? And if Siân could be a teknoid, how many others in Tania’s life are not real?

Driven by the need to understand what sets teknoids apart from their human counterparts, Tania begins to seek answers. But time is running out. For everyone knows that on their eighteenth “birthdays,” teknoids must be returned to Oxted—never to be heard from again.

Don't Turn Around

Author: Michelle Gagnon
Goodreads Rating: 3.86
Pages: 309
Format: Ebook Purchased on Nook

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been a victim of the system ever since her parents died. Now living off the grid and trusting no one, she uses her computer-hacking skills to stay safely anonymous and alone. But when she wakes up on a table in an empty warehouse with an IV in her arm and no memory of how she got there, Noa starts to wish she had someone on her side.
Enter Peter Gregory. A rich kid and the leader of a hacker alliance, Peter needs people with Noa's talents on his team. Especially after a shady corporation called AMRF threatens his life in no uncertain terms.
But what Noa and Peter don't realize is that Noa holds the key to a terrible secret, and there are those who'd stop at nothing to silence her for good.
Fans of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will devour the story of Noa, a teen soul mate to Lisbeth Salander.

Don't Look Back Book Launch!

We are extremely excited that Jennifer L. Armentrout's DON'T LOOK BACK releases today!! DON’T LOOK BACK is a young adult suspense being published by Disney Hyperion!

Already want a copy just looking at that cover? You can score it here:

Amazon :: Barnes and Noble :: iTunes

Alright, so maybe you're considering it? Lets read this excerpt so you know what you're in for:

I didn’t recognize the name on the street sign. Nothing about the rural road looked familiar or friendly. Tall, imposing trees and overgrown weeds choked the front of the dilapidated home.

Windows were boarded up. There was a gaping hole where the front door had been. I shivered, wanting to be far away from here…wherever here was.

Walking felt harder than it should be, and I stumbled off the chilly asphalt, wincing as sharp gravel dug into my feet.

My bare feet?

I stopped and looked down. Chipped pink nail polish peeked through the dirt…and blood. Mud caked the legs of my pants, leaving the hems stiff. It made sense, seeing as how I wasn’t wearing any shoes, but the blood…I didn’t understand why there was blood staining the knees of my jeans.

My vision clouded and dulled, as if a gray film had been dropped over my eyes. As I stared at the weathered asphalt under my feet, large and smooth rocks replaced the tiny stones.

Something dark and oily seeped over the rocks, slipping through the cracks. Sucking in a sharp gasp, I blinked and the image was gone. Hands trembling, I raised them. They were also covered with dirt and scratches. My nails were broken, bloodied. A silver ring wrapped, encased in soil, around my thumb. Air froze in my chest as my gaze crawled over my arms. The sleeves of my sweater were torn, revealing pale flesh covered in bruises and gashes. My legs started to shake as I swayed forward. I tried to remember how this had happened, but my head was empty—a black void where nothing existed.

A car drove by, coasting to a stop a few feet in front of me. Somewhere in the trenches of my subconscious, I recognized the flashing red and blue lights as a source of safety. Elegantly scrawled along the black-and-gray side of the cruiser were the words ADAMS COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT.

Adams County? A flash of familiarity came and went.

The driver’s door opened, and a deputy stepped out. He said something into the radio on his shoulder before he looked at me.

“Miss?” He started around the cruiser, taking tentative steps. He looked young for a deputy. Barely out of high school and able to carry a gun seemed wrong somehow. Was I in high school? I didn’t know. “We’ve received some calls into dispatch concerning you,” he said gently. “Are you okay?”

I tried to respond, but only a hoarse squeak came out. Clearing my throat, I winced as the motion scratched and pulled. “I…I don’t know.”

“Okay.” The deputy held up his hands as he approached me, as if I were a skittish deer about to bolt. “My name is Deputy Rhode. I’m here to help you. Do you know what you’re doing out here?”

“No.” Knots formed in my belly. I didn’t even know where here was.

His smile strained. “What’s your name?”

My name? Everyone knew their name, but as I stared at the deputy, I couldn’t answer his question. The knots started twisting more. “I don’t…I don’t know what my name is.”

He blinked, and the smile was completely gone. “You don’t remember anything?”

I tried again, concentrating on the empty space between my ears. That was how it felt.

And I knew that wasn’t good. My eyes started to tear up.

“Miss, it’s okay. We’ll get you taken care of.” He reached out, lightly taking hold of my arm. “We’ll get this sorted.”

Deputy Rhode led me around the back of his cruiser. I didn’t want to sit behind the Plexiglas, because I knew that wasn’t good. Only bad people sat behind the glass in police cruisers. I wanted to object, but before I could say anything, he settled me into the seat and wrapped a coarse blanket around my shoulders.

Before he locked me in the bad part of the car, he knelt and smiled reassuringly.

“Everything’s going to be okay.”

But I knew he was lying, trying to make me feel better. It didn’t work. How could everything be okay when I didn’t know my own name?

 ABOUT DON’T LOOK BACK:

Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all—popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.

Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her—even if the old Sam treated him like trash.

But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory—someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

“This engrossing thriller packs a heady atmospheric punch with plenty of theatrical scares,” Kirkus Reviews

“Armentrout has written another winner. From the first page to the last, she builds both terror and confusion to the point where readers will be hooked and on the edge of their seat. This standalone contains all of Armentrout’s usual trademarks– a strong and determined heroine, witty comments and hot guys–but she adds in an extra layer by ratcheting up the suspense to the highest degree and follows it up with an ending no one will see coming.” RT BOOK REVIEWS 4 1/2 Stars TOP PICK







About Jennifer L. Armentrout:

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV.
She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

You can find her chillin in a few places:

Website :: Twitter :: Facebook :: Jennifer L. Armentrout Goodreads :: DON’T LOOK BACK Goodreads

Hereafter (Shadowlands #2)

Author: Kate Brian
Goodreads Rating: 3.87
Pages: 320
Format: ARC from Publisher

 Rory Miller thought her life was over when a serial killer set his sights on her and forced her into witness protection. But a fresh start on Juniper Landing Island was exactly what she and her family needed. For the first time in years she and her sister hang out at the beach, gossip about boys, and party together. She's also made friends with a local clique--including a magnetic and mysterious boy named Tristan.
But Rory's world is about to change again. Picturesque Juniper Landing isn't what it seems. The truth about the swirling fog that rolls in each morning, the bridge that leads to nowhere, and those beautiful locals who seem to watch Rory's every move is more terrifying than being hunted by Steven Nell. And all Rory ever wanted was the truth. Even if it means learning that she can never go home again. From the best-selling author of the Private and Privilege series comes the second novel in a heart-stopping trilogy about a girl who must pick up the pieces after the only life she's ever known ends.

Grave Mercy

Author: Robin LaFevers
Goodreads Rating: 3.97
Pages: 549
Format: Finished Copy from ARCycle

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Strands of Bronze and Gold

Author: Jane Nickerson
Goodreads Rating: 3.45
Pages: 352
Format: EArc from Netgalley

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .
When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.
Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.
Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.

The 100

Author: Kass Morgan
Goodreads Rating: 3.43
Pages: 323
Format: ARC from BEA13

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.
Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

Into The Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3)

Author: Veronica Rossi
Goodreads Rating: 4.31
Pages: 400
Format: ARC from NYCC13

The earth-shattering conclusion to Veronica Rossi's "masterpiece" Under the Never Sky trilogy and sequel to the New York Times bestsellingThrough the Ever Night (Examiner.com).
Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.
The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.
Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.
Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.
In this final book in her stunning Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.