BLOG TOUR REVIEW, GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: Tragically Flawed

Welcome to my stop on the Tragically Flawed blog tour, hosted by Inkslinger PR. Check out my review, then read a gues post by A.M. Hargrove on how she chose the title, TRAGICALLY FLAWED. Don't forget about the amazing giveaway at the end! Then, check out the other tour stops.

Tragically Flawed, by A.M. Hargrove
Published September 19, 2013
Publisher: self-published
Format: e-book, obtained from the author and Inkslinger PR in exchange for an honest review
Genre: new adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating:  3 STARS

(From Goodreads) Riviera Benson’s past has been nothing but horrific. It’s filled with secrets that she intends to keep tightly locked away...terrifying secrets that keep her awake at night...that prevent her from getting close to anyone...anyone that is, until her work as a muralist drives her into the arms of the hot and sexy Shan.

Benjamin Shandon, owner of Shandon Homes, works like a thousand demons are chasing him...because perhaps they are. His business has boomed, ever since the forest fire swept through the canyon and destroyed hundreds of million dollar homes. He demands excellence in everything...from his employees to his women. He slows down for nothing, keeping a schedule that no sane person would want. But Riviera interrupts everything, twisting his guts inside out, and wedging her way into his heart, destroying a promise he made to himself.

Will they let their pasts control their future, or will they decide to let go and allow their hearts to discover each other’s?

The premise of Tragically Flawed interested me - a muralist (what a unique and fun job, BTW!) and a home builder fall in love on the job. The muralist is meek and afraid due to her tragic past. The home builder is gruff and grumpy due to his tragic past. Together they find a way to heal.

I'll tell you what - Tragically Flawed started off with a bang. We meet Riviera as she is painting in a home. She witnesses something while there that shocks and amazes her. As the reader, it was a bit confusing for me, as I didn't think she knew who Shan was yet. Once I realized that we were joining their story already in progress, it made a bit more sense. Even moreso when the next chapter backs things up by six months so that we could see how Riviera came to be in Colorado in the first place.

I really liked Shan. He was everything I love in a hero - strong, independent, a family man and slightly flawed. I loved his super protective instinct and how he tried to take care of Riviera (once he got over himself, that is). The protective guys suck me in every single time.

Riviera - honestly I had a problem with her. The poor thing had a horrific life up to this point. And, I mean the worst of the worst. Abusive parents. Abusive boyfriend. I get that the author was trying to present us with a girl who needed to find some real love for the first time in her life. But, it was all a little bit over the top. Pretty much anything you can think of that could've happened to a tragic figure, happened to Riviera. Just one of those things would've been enough for me to believe her. But, all of it seems almost impossible.

One would think with all that stuff happening in her life that she would barely be functioning, let alone strong enough to uproot, move hundreds of miles away, and within weeks start a new relationship with a strange man. I'd love to think it was her strength of character and will that propelled her to this place in her life, but I just had a hard time believing her.

The pace of Tragically Flawed was a little off for me. Once the past caught up with the events in the first chapter, things stalled a bit. It seemed like Shan and Riviera were caught in a loop, doing the same thing and not really moving anywhere. the dialog was the same. I counted 35 times when the term (or a slight variation of it) "I'm scared" was used.

However, the ending was pretty explosive and exciting. I enjoyed seeing the resolution of the conflicts and seeing Shan and Riviera finally get their HEA.And, on the heat scale, I give Tragically Flawed high marks. The story might be between two young twenty-somethings, but it reads like an adult novel.

Over all, that were a lot of things I liked about Tragically Flawed. And some things I didn't. But, I got through this quickly, it held my interest and I was really rooting for these two to figure it all out in the end. And, that's definitely saying something.

Guest Post... by A.M. Hargrove

Choosing a Title

This is one of the things that cause me the most angst (other than writing the blurb). Choosing the title for a book can be so difficult and frustrating because I want it to speak to the characters and the plot and finding the exact wording can sometimes be next to impossible.

So for Tragically Flawed, I ran through several different options. Both Shan and Riviera have been through some difficult times and carry some pretty deep battle scars. I shied away from the word scar because to me it represented something physical and theirs were deeper than that. So lots of times I’ll just pull out the old thesaurus and start hunting words similar to scar, but I still wasn’t seeing what I liked. Nothing was speaking to me.

Then I thought of Beautiful Scars, but the word beautiful is used in so many titles now that I want to be more original than that. So I’m back to the drawing board and pull out the thesaurus again. Now I’m scratching my head and pulling my hair out, because nothing is calling to me. 

This is the frustrating part. I like to have my books titles pretty close to when I start writing the book. I don’t want my frustration to turn into anger because then I’ll end up with a title that’ll be awful and won’t work at all. So at this point I have to walk away from it and just continue to write and pray the clouds will part and the light will suddenly shine through.

So one day, as I’m writing a scene, there’s dialogue taking place between Riviera and Shan. She’s telling him about her flaws. And then it happens… the clouds parting thing.

Words start pouring through my head and I’m instantly filled with several phrases. Now my thing about titles is short and sweet. I’d love to stick to single words and did that for my Guardians of Vesturon series. But sometimes that doesn’t always work out. And I’m not a fan of titles that go something like this: The Girl Who Had So Many Flaws She Didn’t Know What To Do So She Decided To Become A Muralist. I’m more of a two to three word title fan. I know Flawed isn’t enough so I’m back to my thesaurus and I land on tragic and voila.

But that’s only the beginning. I won’t use a title that’s already been used. I run it through Amazon, right until the final cover is completed. I want the title of my book to be the only one with that title. Now after it’s published, there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. But beforehand, I do all my homework to make sure there are no other books with that same title.

I do have a funny story about that though. When I titled my book, Kissing Fire, I did the same search on Amazon that I always do and nothing showed up.  I searched it repeatedly right until the cover was made. Then about a month after it was published, I met my now good friend, Rebecca Ethington, who is the amazing author of the Imdalind series, of which Kiss of Fire is book one in that series. We laugh about it but I learned after that about searching all word derivatives too.

So, I came up with Tragically Flawed, found there were no titles by that name and here I am. And that’s how I title my books. By the way, if you think you have some good title suggestions, send them my way. I’m always looking for new ideas.

About the Author

One day, on her way home from work as a sales manager, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on fast forward and if she didn't do something soon, it would quickly be too late to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life.  So, she rolled down the passenger window of her fabulous (not) company car and tossed out her leather briefcase.  Luckily, the pedestrian in the direct line of fire was a dodge ball pro and had über quick reflexes enabling him to avoid getting bashed in the head.  Feeling a tad guilty about the near miss, A. M. made a speedy turn down a deserted side street before tossing her crummy, outdated piece-of-you-know-what laptop out the window.  She breathed a liberating sigh of relief, picked up her cell phone, called her boss and quit her job.  Grinning, she made another call to her hubs and told him of her new adventure (after making sure his heart was beating properly again).

So began A. M. Hargrove's career as a YA/NA and Adult Romance writer. Her books include the following: Edge of Disaster, Shattered Edge and Kissing Fire (The Edge Series); The Guardians of Vesturon series (Survival, Resurrection, Determinant, reEmergent and Beginnings); Dark Waltz and Tragically Flawed.

Other than being in love with writing about being in love, she loves chocolate, ice cream and coffee and is positive they should be added as part of the USDA food groups.

Learn more about A.M. Hargrove --> Website / Facebook / Twitter

Giveaway

One lucky winner will walk away with an iPad Mini and a necklace that was designed by Kim at Nair & Bjorn after the one that Shan gave Riviera in Tragically Flawed. The necklace is open for US and Canada residents only. In the event the winner is from outside the US, an Amazon Gift Card of comparable value to the iPad will be given and the 2nd place winner will receive the necklace.

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RELEASE DAY LAUNCH REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: One Tiny Lie (Ten Tiny Breaths #2)

A big thanks to Inkslinger PR for including Krista's Dust Jacket in the release day launch for One Tiny Lie, by K.A. Tucker. Check out my review, then enter to win an amazing prize of a signed galley of One Tiny Lie! Happy book birthday, Ms. Tucker!

One Tiny Lie (Ten Tiny Breaths #2), by K.A. Tucker
Published June 11, 2013
Publisher:  Atria Books
Format: e-book - obtained from NetGalley
Genre:  New Adult Contemporary Romance
To Buy:  Amazon  * Barnes & Noble * Book Depository

Rating:  5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Livie has always been the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents' tragic death and Kacey's self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised she would...and she’s done her best over the past seven years with every choice, with every word, with every action.

Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?

As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.

It's interesting how different One Tiny Lie is from the first book in the series, Ten Tiny Breaths. Most times, the various books in any one series are fairly similar. Not that the stories or the characters are the same, necessarily, but more like the tone and mood are similar. Not so in this case, and I have to say bravo to K.A. Tucker for keeping it interesting and keeping me engaged. 

One of the things I was most looking forward to before reading One Tiny Lie was getting inside Livie's head. One of the most curious parts of Ten Tiny Breaths for me was how seemingly well-developed Kacey's little sister Livie was, given the tragedy that they had both endured. She seemed sweet, polite and dedicated to school and her loved ones. How was she so normal when her sister was so screwed up?

We find out pretty early on in One Tiny Lie that Livie doesn't have it together quite as much as one would think. She's painfully shy and introverted and totally focused on being absolutely perfect. And, after one wild night, all that starts to change. And Livie does not handle change very constructively. 

Livie was absolutely delightful! She's so awkward, yet not unrealistically so. She's klutzy and seems to say the wrong thing most of the time. Yet, when she really needs it, she reaches deep down and pulls out a mini pair of brass balls, which was so funny and wonderful. Like, when a strange guy grabs her at a party and sticks his tongue down her throat, her first reaction is not to run away. She punches him in the face instead. I love this girl!

But, Ashton... Ashton is the absolute living end. I couldn't get enough of this guy. On the surface, he a complete rake and a man-whore to boot. But, underneath, he's infinitely more complex. He has secrets and tragedy in his life, and I couldn't put this book down until I found out what happened to him. And how Livie's presence in his life might change him. 

And, really, they end up changing each other in huge ways. With a little help from Kacey's - and now, Livie's - therapist, Dr. Stayner (and, seriously - do therapists as cool as him really exist? Because I might have a nervous breakdown just so I can get treated by one of them if they do), Livie does and says things she never thought she would. And, Ashton finally realizes what's most important. 

Where Ten Tiny Breaths was very somber and dark, in contrast, One Tiny Lie was lighter and much more hopeful. I was captivated and engaged from the very beginning - I started it at lunchtime and at midnight, I finished (maybe not the smartest thing I ever did, since I get up at 5:15 every morning *yawn*). I couldn't put it down until I found out what happened and until I saw Livie and Ashton get their HEA.   

About The Author

Born in small-town Ontario, Kathleen published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader and the farthest thing from a genre-snob, loving everything from High Fantasy to Chick Lit. Kathleen currently resides in a quaint small town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures. 

Contact K.A. Tucker:

Website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads

Giveaway

Three winners will receive a signed galley of ONE TINY LIE by K.A. Tucker. tell me that doesn't get your heart racing! Fill out the Rafflecopter, and good luck!

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Spotlight On FAKING IT & Kindle Fire Giveaway

I'm so excited to be taking part in the release day launch of Cora Carmack's FAKING IT (Losing It #2)! This is especially good timing for me, since I just had the extreme pleasure of meeting the beautiful Ms. Carmack at BEA last week. Where she signed my own personal copy of FAKING IT!

Cora Carmack signing FAKING IT at BEA

LOSING IT (Losing It #1) was amazing, and if you haven't read it yet, get busy! Cora has been posting special Garrick POVs on her website when FAKING IT pre-orders reached certain thresholds. All four delicious POVs are out there now, and if you love Garrick as much as I do, then you will LOVE these.

And, now it's Cade's turn to tell his story. I can't wait to read it, because if anyone deserves a happily ever after, it's Cade.

About FAKING IT

Mackenzie “Max” Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice, wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

To buy:  Amazon * Barnes & Noble * The Book Depository

About the Author

Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.

LINKS:
Website:  http://coracarmack.blogspot.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CoraCarmackBooks
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CoraCarmack

Giveaway

Ready for an amazing giveaway? There will be two winners. One will win a signed copy of FAKING IT and the other will win a Kindle Fire with an e-copy of FAKING IT. This is a US/Canada giveaway only.

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