12 Days of NA Giveaway Hop

So you all should know by now about my love obsession with the new adult genre. I mean, I have a weekly feature on Krista's Dust Jacket called NEW ADULT MONDAYS for cripes sake! Of course I'm going to take any opportunity that presents itself to spread my love of new adult books with the rest of the world.

One of the first new adult books I read was a pretty polarizing one - BEAUTIFUL DISASTER by Jamie McGuire. I had heard all the hype and wanted to read it for myself. I was sold on Jamie McGuire from that moment on. By now, probably many of you have already read Beautiful Disaster, and probably even its sequel, Walking Disaster. Did you know that A BEAUTIFUL WEDDING (Beautiful Disaster #2.5) releases in hardback form on December 10?? I can't wait to learn more about Abby's and Travis' wedding! Enter below for your chance to win it (as long as The Book Depository ships to you)!

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Feeling Duped

You may notice my post count for the week is one fewer now than it was at this time yesterday. That is because my New Adult Mondays post from this past Monday, June 24, has been removed. It was a review for AMAZINGLY BROKEN by Jordin Williams. A work that information brought to light today revealed was plagiarized from Tammara Webber's EASY and Jamie McGuire's BEAUTIFUL DISASTER.

Most of you are already aware of this. Let's face it - good drama is good drama. I eat it up as readily as the next person. In case you haven't caught the original post that outed this issue, check out here:  http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/the-plagiarizing-of-tammara-webbers-easy-by-jordin-williams/

I struggled with whether to post this and give even more page time to this person. In the end, I decided that it was worth posting something so that I could at least apologize to you all for posting something that ended up being a complete and utter farce. I have become quite proud of this blog and its content, and the fact that this has marred my history... well, to be frank, it pisses me the hell off.

What makes me even more angry is that I've read both EASY (my review found here) and BEAUTIFUL DISASTER (my review found here). And LOVED them! I feel like I let both Tammara and Jamie down by not recognizing the shenanigans that went on myself. I know that's an irrational thought, but there it is.

Let me go on record as saying plagiarism is for cowards. If you want to be an author, good for you. It's a great dream and one you should most definitely pursue. Don't be afraid of criticism - it will only make you better. Don't be afraid of rejection - it's to be expected. Don't be afraid of never making it big - the fact that you're expressing yourself and chasing your dreams is impressive and admirable.

But, do not let your fears drive you to copy already celebrated and established works. Because those authors waded through their own sets of fears to get where they are today and by you watering down their words and repackaging them as your own, you're hurting them and selling yourself short.

From what I understand, Amazon has already removed AMAZINGLY BROKEN from it's site, and if you've already purchased it, your money will be refunded. To Tammara Webber and Jamie McGuire, I'm sorry this happened to you, and I'm sorry I was part of the grassroots campaign to market this book. Please know I truly respect both you and your exceedingly difficult job, which you do incredibly well.

This is the last I'm going to speak about this. I'd much rather get back to the fun business of writing reviews, hosting giveaways and doing all sorts of other fun bloggy things. Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

NEW ADULT MONDAY: Walking Disaster (Beautiful Disaster #2)

The New Adult genre - their bad boys and big problems and epic loves make them engrossing tales that are so easy to lose yourself in. What's not to love about that? And, now, thanks to the cool chicks at Bewitched Bookworms, we can show these books the love they deserve in a bi-weekly feature - New Adult Mondays.

Walking Disaster (Beautiful Disaster #2), by Jamie McGuire
To be published April 2, 2013
Publisher:  Atria Books
Format: e-ARC provided by NetGalley
Genre:  New Adult Contemporary Romance

 Rating:  4.5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Can you love someone too much? Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

Walking Disaster was a different kind of reading experience for me. I knew the story. I knew how it began, all the drama that ensued in the middle. I knew how the story ended. And, what's crazy is that by just switching the POV from Abby to Travis, none of that mattered because it felt like I was reading something completely different.

I had to laugh at myself. I swore before starting Walking Disaster that I was going to appreciate the book for what it was and not constantly cross-reference events in my paperback copy of Beautiful Disaster. That lasted until around 15% in to the story. Then, I found myself constantly looking back and forth between the two books. Although I was a little annoyed with myself for giving in to the temptation, I will admit that it gave me more of a frame of reference and made Travis' story a bit richer.

Truth be told, I liked Walking Disaster better than Beautiful Disaster. A large part of that is due to being inside Travis' head instead of Abby's. I found Abby to be a bit insufferable and overly emo at times. She tended to play with Travis' emotions and she had all these thoughts and rarely let him in on them.

Being in Travis' head was like a breath of fresh air. Admittedly, Travis was a bit overly emo at times too, but for some reason I was willing to forgive him for that much easier than Abby. There is just something about being inside the guy's head, isn't there? We all expect the girl in the story to have all these thoughts and feelings and such. But, guys are so much more complex. It takes them longer to get with the program, usually. Interestingly, when we read Walking Disaster, we can see that this wasn't necessarily the case in this relationship.

Although this was the same story as Beautiful Disaster, we did see some new things. Specifically, we saw a lot more of Travis' dad and brothers, especially Trent. I really liked that. There's also an epilogue that takes place a bunch of years in the future, and that was especially fulfilling.

Walking Disaster was all the best parts of Beautiful Disaster (TRAVIS!) and almost none of the worst. If you loved Beautiful Disaster, you will really love Walking Disaster. If you had some issues with Beautiful Disaster, I recommend you give Walking Disaster a try. Never mind that it's the same story - it is still a different experience. And a better one, in my opinion.

Book #130 - Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful #1)

Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful #1), Jamie McGuire
contemporary romance, new adult
437 pages
Started 11/25/12
Finished 11/26/12
4 STARS

Talk about a roller coaster. Beautiful Disaster was a lot to take on. It was, at times, romantic and sweet, and at other times, scary and bitter. Like I said - roller coaster.

Abby Abernathy escapes to college to get away from her troubled family and past. It's there that she meets Travis Maddox, a tatted up student who likes to fight and has a bad attitude. And, it turns out that Abby and Travis bring out the best - and the worst - in each other. Whether that's a good enough basis for a loving, stable relationship is anyone's guess.

I liked a lot of this book. I was also disturbed by a lot of this book. I was delighted and upset. It was funny and sad. I can't make up my mind exactly what I think. I do know I'm mostly in the positive column on this one. Travis is so complex and interesting. I enjoyed trying to figure him out. What were his motives? Does he really care about Abby or is she just another conquest for him?

And, what was Abby's secretive past about? Could she really stick it out with Travis and see through all the layers of bullcrap?

There were many times when I questioned Travis' sanity. He really seemed mentally unstable and, given his penchant for violence, I was concerned that it was going to go in that direction in his relationship with Abby. Even when things were "good," Travis was seriously co-dependent and controlling. And, Abby seemed largely ok with that, which was equally disturbing.

But, on the other hand, when it was good, it was G-O-O-D.

I am really, really looking forward to Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2). It's the same story from Travis' POV. I'm really looking forward to getting inside this dude's head.