Reversible Skirt by Laura McHale Holland

When the mother of three little girls commits suicide, their father wants more than anything to keep his family together. He remarries in haste and tells his daughters his new wife is their mother. The youngest, Laura, believes her mother must have gone through a kind of magical transformation.
Reversible Skirt is written from Laura's perspective as a child sifting through remnants of her mother's existence and struggling to fit into a community where her family's strict rules are not the norm. When Laura's father dies, her stepmother grows increasingly abusive, which propels Laura and her sisters into a lasting alliance. Their father's wish that they stay together comes true, although not in the way he'd imagined.


Goodreads Summary

How do you cope with your mother's suicide?  The author attempts to answer that question-or at least show how she dealt with the issue.  When her mother commits suicide, Laura is left behind with her two sisters.  When her father dies, Laura and her siblings are left with an abusive stepmother.  The situation really couldn't get too much worse.  The one redeeming quality of the whole situation is the way Laura and her sisters come together to form a cohesive unit. 

The author's feelings in the book are raw.  A reader can expect a slight tear-jerker out of this memoir.  For being so young, the author has a remarkable memory and describes the situation so perfectly the reader can picture the scenes in his/her own head.  The idea that the pieces of the author's life fell into place in the way they did is sad, but it is amazing how people manage to make the best of bad situations.  The reader will feel very close to the author throughout the novel, rooting for her and her siblings the entire time. 

The author fills in the gaps of her adult life with letters from her mother, partly explaining why she did what she did and the background behind the act.  This book is hard to put down and will definitely make for a good read for adult readers.

4 Stars

Find this book:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Find the rest of the tour here!

This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.

Untraceable: S.R. Johannes Guest Post!

1. Did you have any choice in the beautiful cover?

Yes, I was lucky. I got Vania at VLC_Photo.net involved. I had a vision for the book and I knew she could bring it to life. I love the cover. She did awesome – more than I expected or imagined!

2. What was your main inspiration for this book?

My hubby camps a lot. He came home one day after camping and said, “I was so deep in the woods, someone could do anything and get away with it.” That planted a seed. A couple years later, we visited Cherokee NC. When I saw the bear pits there, the horror of that plus my hubby’s words came together. Untraceable – once called Grace Under Fire – was born.

3. Who was the hardest character to write about?

Have you ever gotten in a bear’s head? That was hard  I should say the psycho dude’s or I look a little crazy. But honestly? Grace’s mom. I am a mom and I could not imagine treating my daughter that way even in a tragedy, so it was hard to make believable.

4. Is Grace or any other character based off of a specific person or group of people?

I think Grace is ½ me as a teen and ½ the me I wanted to be as a teen. I was very impulsive and didn’t really realize I was mortal. Didn’t compromise. She believes in the same things I believe in but didn’t do anything about until now. She’s not revolved around guys and she’s not afraid to be alone. I love that she is honest about who she is and what she wants.

5) What was your favorite scene (without spoilers) to create?

When Grace does a roundhouse kick that takes Mo down - before she realizes it’s him of course. It was fun. I mean what girl hasn’t wanted to kick the crap out of a guy they’ve dated. At least once.

6) What is your favorite characteristic of Grace's?

I love that she doesn’t let others influence her. I think that is hard – not only as a teen but as an adult. She sticks to her guns and I love that about her.

7) Which of your characters would you invite on an outing? Why?

I can’t say Mo because I’m married (snaps fingers). Definitely Grace, I think she would be awesome to hang with. I have a lot of questions to ask her. I think I would learn a lot from her – even though I am older.

8) What book was your favorite as a child?

Pippy Longstocking. I think Pippy is a lot like Grace. She is independent. Doesn’t care what people think. She gets joy out of simple things and wasn’t afraid to do her own thing. Yet she was kind of a loner. I love Pippy.

9) Do you consider any other author a sort of mentor to you?

Kimberly Derting is my critique partner, my friend, my biggest critic, and my biggest supporter. She believes in me and pushes me to write better. I would not be here without her.

10) When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I guess when I started writing. It’s the author part I can’t get used to. I still don’t see myself as an author and I’m not sure why.

Stay-at-home mom’s teen wilderness thriller proves girls can be tough and independent without living in a fantasy world or possessing special powers.

Untraceable, by author S.R. Johannes, gives teens a realistic heroine set in today’s world and - somehow - makes getting back to nature cool again.

ATLANTA, GA (November 29, 2011) – With the popularity of Twilight and Hunger Games, contemporary thrillers for teens have been practically nonexistent. Shelli Johannes-Wells hopes to change all that with the release of her debut young adult thriller, Untraceable, the first in The Nature of Grace series. The book will be available Nov 29^th in ebook and paperback at all major bookstores.

Set in the Smoky Mountains, Shelli brings her love of nature back to teens. In a world where teens spend an average of thirty hours a week in front of some kind of screen, Untraceable makes it cool - yet thrilling– for kids to get outside again.

Grace has grown up in the woods. Her first swing was a forest vine and her first pet, a wounded bear cub. When Grace’s forest ranger father goes missing on a routine patrol, she heads off into the Smoky Mountains in search of him. Soon, she’s enmeshed in a web of deception and murder that challenges everything she knows about the wilderness, survival, and self defense. And, it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this heroine to emerge from town conspiracy that’s spreading like wild fire, threatening everything and everyone she’s ever loved.

“When people ask me what the book is about, I always say, a contemporary thriller with kickbutt teen heroine, an unsolved mystery, a rollercoaster adventure, and – of course - two hot boys. That usually gets girls interested.”

When Shelli started writing the book, there were a few things on her mind. “I wanted to create a tough character who didn’t need to turn to a computer for entertainment. Someone who was tough and feminine with an honest love of natural things in this world. I guess I wanted my character, Grace, to be the Katniss Everdeen of today’s real world in the unexplored setting of Gary Paulson’s Hatchett.”

"Grace is a spunky, independent, nature girl who doesn't need a boy to save her. With wilderness survival, a juicy love triangle, and more twists and turns than a roller coaster, this fast-paced novel had me holding my breath until the very last page—and still begging for more!"  -Kimberly Derting, author of The Body Finder series

"This thrilling story is a dramatic entanglement of mystery, deception and teen romance. The action flows like a brisk mountain stream interspersed with rapids, holding suspense to last page." - Kirkus Reviews

###

About S.R. Johannes

S.R. Johannes lives in Atlanta Georgia with her dog, British-accented husband, and the huge imaginations of their little prince and princess, which she hopes- someday- will change the world. After earning an MBA and working in corporate america, S.R. Johannes traded in her high heels and corporate lingo for a family, flip-flops, and a love of writing. You can find her hanging out online and visit her at srjohannes.com.

For interviews, ARCs, and publicity queries, please contact the author at shelli@srjohannes.com.

The Fractured Life of 3743 by Rob Cabitto

This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.The Life of 3743 is a journey, beginning with tragedy, addiction and culminating in redemption born out of desperation.
Rob Cabitto's story of his fractured life being redeemed is a powerful and cautionary tale of how a life can go horribly wrong. When Rob was five, he was put up for adoption because of the severe addictions of his parents.
As is often the case, these early hardships helped to make the man who he is today. Rob tells what it was like to live untethered to any spiritual, tribal or social belief system--and the consequences associated with an amoral lifestyle. He describes exactly what it was like to be homeless, penniless and jobless, with nowhere to go but down. However, what he believed to be his bottom was only a temporary stopping point. He had yet to fall further, and for many years, lived in the abyss of a life without meaning or direction.
This story is about overcoming immense obsta­cles as a child, the bad choices he made as a young adult and into adulthood, and the resilience of the human spirit. The Fractured Life Redeemed is insightful, captivating and has a universal message for all those who have been hopeless or lost--and that message is hope...


Goodreads Summary

This book was very absorbing, hard to put down. The author tells his life's story through very difficult times. The reader will undoubtedly feel horrible for him at times and want to shake him at other times. Credit should be given to the author for writing such a raw and candid memoir, honesty like this isn't seen often.

From a very young age, Rob wasn't in a good place. He endures difficult and abusive situations literally since birth. Due to his hard circumstances, Rob makes more than a few bad decisions that lead him to realize that he must change in order to be successful. Many readers will have a difficult time relating to Rob's journey, but somehow he manages to make the events and himself much easier to relate to. There are some situations that Rob finds himself in that will stick with the reader long after he/she puts the book down.

There are pictures included in the memoir. These pictures add a great deal to the memoir, allowing the reader a glimpse into the authors' thought process and a chance to picture the environment and author in real life. The author is also a success story, someone that a reader who may be a in a bad place can emulate. The memoir will leave the reader with several conflicting emotions, the mark of a good author. This book is recommended to adult readers.

4 Stars



Find this book:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
The Book Depository

Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

Caitlyn, a telepath, lives in a world where all paranormal talents are illegal. She is on the run from government ParaTroopers. When Caitlyn falls for Alex, a Normal, and discovers dangerous renegade Paranormals, she must choose between staying in hiding to protect herself or taking a stand to save the world.

Goodreads Summary

Looking for an exciting, action-packed novel for Christmas?  This book just might be for you.  The author introduces the reader into a world where there is heavy discrimination against Paras (Paranormals) and people are forced to hide their true identities and, for lack of a better phrase, live a lie.  Caitlyn is the main character and a telepath.  She must hide her talents are face persecution.  Alex, the love interest, is a Normal.  Alex also just happens to be handsome, charismatic, and seemingly kind.  Caitlyn must decide if Alex is trustworthy and worth "blowing her cover." 

The action really starts with the Pro-Para group.  Caitlyn must also decide whether to help other Paras and possibly create a more neutral environment to Paras in general or stay safe and out of the way.  The reader will enjoy reading about Caitlyn's conflicting emotions and decisions as she makes her way through the novel.  The reader will enjoy many of the secondary characters, the author places a lot of detail and thought into them.  The idea for a persecuted group may not be new, but the author makes it feel new through fresh ideas and the suspenseful undertone.  There is plenty of action and excitement in the pages of this novel, the book is certainly hard to put down.  The relationships between the characters are very important to the plot and show a lot of precision on the author's part to pull the plot together to cohesively.  This book is recommended to teen/young adult readers.

4 Stars

Find this book:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
The Book Depository


This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.