Book & Author Details:

The Secret of Dartwood Manor
by N.A. Triptow
(The Witchling Trilogy, #1)
Publication date: January 18th 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Witches. Ghosts. An ancient secret. Enter a world of myth and magic through this contemporary fantasy reimagining of Jane Austen’s beloved classic, Sense and Sensibility.

The small New England town of Tarryville, Maine is steeped in history, having been settled by the Dartwood and Farris families who fled Salem during the witch trials. The Dartwood sisters, Eden, Mariah, and Melissa, unexpectedly return home after their parents are found murdered. Upon their arrival, the girls are plagued by dreams in which dark spectral beings haunt them. When the hellish creatures seem to be more than just nightmares, another mystery begins to unravel as they discover that the circumstances around the murder of their parents may be far more menacing than they appear. Frantic for answers, they must untangle the mystery of their parents’ murders and reconstruct the pieces of an ancient secret. With the help of the young assistant curator of their family museum, Baden Correia, and an estranged friend from their past, Evan Farris, the orphaned Dartwood sisters must uncover the truth before the darkness haunting their family descends upon them as well.


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AUTHOR BIO:

N. A. Triptow graduated from The University of Utah with a Bachelor of Arts in English Teaching with minors in History Teaching, Theatre, and British Studies. She teaches high school English and Film Studies. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Strategic Communication and Advertising from Purdue University. In her free time, you can find her reading, watching and analyzing movies and television shows, attending the theatre, going on walks or hikes, and playing board or video games with family and friends. She lives in Utah.

For more from Nicole, including character artwork, playlists, swag, excerpts, trailers, and more, visit her website!

Author links:
https://natriptow.com/
https://www.instagram.com/n_a_triptow/
https://twitter.com/N_A_Triptow
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorN.A.Triptow/
https://www.goodreads.com/natriptow
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-a-triptow
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO6yGbEEPFlRjOgt-HMCZ9Q

Book & Author Details:

Can’t Catch My Breath
by Sarah Sutton
Publication date: January 26th 2021
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Addy Arden lives in a land called denial.

After losing her dad in a car accident, she’d rather pretend things were okay than be crushed by grief and guilt. Her friends buy the fake smiles and her mom doesn’t seem to notice…or care.

And Addy is doing great until she’s paired with Vincent Castello, the most intimidating senior at Greenville High, for a class project. Interview a random classmate and write a report on them. Should be easy, right?

Not by a longshot.

Because the car accident that killed Addy’s dad? It left Vincent’s father paralyzed.

Talk about an awkward ice-breaker.

As the two grow closer, can Addy face her grief and guilt head-on and put her past behind her, or will she let it consume her, and lose the guy who truly takes her breath away?


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AUTHOR BIO:
Sarah Sutton is a YA Romance author, bringing you stories about teenagers falling in love (sometimes with magic)She spends her days dreaming up ideas with her two adorable puppies by her side being cheerleaders (and mega distractions).

Author links:
twitter  /  website  /   instagram  /   facebook  /  newsletter  / goodreads

Book details:

Playing with Fire
by April Henry
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date: January 19th 2021
Genres: Thriller, Young Adult

 Synopsis:

When a fire cuts off a popular trail in the Oregon forest, a small group trapped by the flames must find another way out―or die―in Playing with Fire, an unrelenting teen-vs-nature YA thriller by New York Times bestselling author April Henry.

Natalia is not the kind of girl who takes risks. Six years ago, she barely survived the house fire that killed her baby brother. Now she is cautious and always plays it safe. For months, her co-worker Wyatt has begged her to come hiking with him, and Natalia finally agrees.

But when a wildfire breaks out, blocking the trail back, a perfect sunny day quickly morphs into a nightmare. With no cell service, few supplies, and no clear way out of the burning forest, a group of strangers will have to become allies if they’re going to survive. Hiking in the dark, they must reach the only way out―a foot bridge over a deep canyon―before the fire catches them.

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My thoughts:
 A seventeen year old girl with a traumatic past and minimum first aid training, an eighteen year old Eagle Scout and ten other unfortunate hikers trapped in a forest ravaged by a roaring wildfire... April Henry's latest YA thriller took me on a roller coaster of emotions and kept me reading until the small hours.

Playing with Fire is an intense story. Told in short chapters with catchy titles, it is full of twists and nail-biting, heart-stopping moments. Everything that could go wrong for Natalia, Wyatt and their companions goes wrong. How likely is it that a small group will experience all these misfortunes and medical emergencies within twenty four hours? We are talking about broken bones and dislocated joints, an encounter with an extremely dangerous wild animal, an asthma episode, a panic attack, a hypoglycemic shock in a person with diabetes and a potentially lethal allergic reaction. I'd say statistically impossible, but, boy, does it make for an exciting read!

First things first...Natalia, a survivor of a domestic accident that resulted in a fire that destroyed her home and killed her little brother, goes on a first date/ hike with her co-worker Wyatt. Both of them are well-prepared and even have basic first aid kits. Of course, they do not expect that careless actions of a few criminals are going  to set the forest where they are hiking on fire. There are other people on the same trail, although you wouldn't even call them a group at the beginning of this incredible adventure. You have to admire April Henry's skill at creating such a diverse group of characters with a huge range of ages, dispositions and medical conditions. They all have one goal: escape the fire and get to safety as soon as possible. They all have to face and overcome pain and fear and keep moving. They also have to pull together their meager supplies, share, support each other and work together.

I learnt a lot about survival techniques and the importance of being prepared when you go on a trip in nature. Fire safety, the mnemonics for checking life signs, a technique for reducing anxiety by focusing on what your senses perceive in the real world- this book isn't just entertaining, it also has a great educational value.

I would definitely recommend this exciting YA thriller, inspired by the true events of the Eagle Creek Fire. If you like adventure and survival stories with a touch of mystery and a tiny bit of romance, don't miss this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company  and Xpresso Book Tours for the advanced review copy. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.

AUTHOR BIO:

April Henry is the New York Times–bestselling author of many acclaimed mysteries for adults and young adults, including the YA novels The Girl in the White Van; Girl, Stolen; The Night She Disappeared; The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die; The Girl I Used to Be, which was nominated for an Edgar Award and won the Anthony Award for Best YA Mystery; Count All Her Bones; The Lonely Dead; Run, Hide, Fight Back; and The Body in the Woods and Blood Will Tell, the first two books in the Point Last Seen series. She lives in Oregon.

Links:
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Giveaway:
Tour-wide giveaway (INT)

• Print copy of Playing with Fire

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Thank you for reading the post. If you would like to see what other bloggers thought of Playing with Fire, here is the full blog tour schedule:

January 18th
–breen.rb >> Review
–Living in a Bookworld >> Excerpt
–InAshleysWorld >> Review
–The Bouncing Tigger Reads >> Guest post
January 19th
–Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!  >> Review
–Jazzy Book Reviews  >> Interview
–Reading Tonic >> Review
–Bookworm for Kids >> Review
–The Avid Reader >> Review
January 20th
–Kait Plus Books >> Guest post
–It Starts at Midnight >> Review
–mayahlwrites >> Review
–The Wandering Wordsmith >> Review
January 21st
–Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author >> Excerpt
–The Phantom Paragrapher >> Review
–Literary Gold >> Excerpt
–Pine Enshrined Reviews >> Interview
January 22nd
–Books A-Brewin’  >> Guest post
–Adventures in Writing >> Review
–hauntedbybooks >> Review
–Sweaters and Raindrops >> Excerpt

Book & Author Details:

Forever Burn
by Trinity Lemm
Publication date: May 4th 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Tatum Everley is a freshman at Western Michigan University. Due to an emotionally and psychologically abusive past relationship, Tate struggles from Complex-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She has been working on controlling her symptoms and flashbacks, but when she meets Axel Burne at a fraternity party, who is notorious for sleeping around and getting into fights, she tries her best to dodge the bullet. Axel starts to become intrigued by Tate, but she’s better off choosing Lucas— the sweet guy who has been trying to take her out since orientation. But even though Lucas is the better option, Axel keeps reappearing. Tate continues to try to stay away from him, but it starts becoming harder to, and as she gets closer to him, things start to get way out of hand. If Tate wants her happy ending and her sanity intact, then she has to push through the hardships and maintain control over her disorder.

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AUTHOR BIO:

Trinity Lemm is from a small town in Illinois. After graduating from high school in 2019, she began attending Western Michigan University to study both business and dance, with plans of maintaining a writing career on the side. When she is not writing, she enjoys dancing, spending time with friends and family, and watching scary movies.

twitter / website / instagram / facebook / goodreads

Book details:

Title: Girl on the Ferris Wheel
Authors: Julie Halpern, Len Vlahos
Published by: Feiwel & Friends
Publication date: January 12th 2021
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

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Synopsis:

In Girl on the Ferris Wheel, Julie Halpern and Len Vlahos expertly tackle this quirky and poignant romance that explores what first love really means—and how it sometimes hurts like hell.

Tenth graders Eliana and Dmitri could not be more different. He’s an outgoing, self-confident drummer in a punk band called Unexpected Turbulence. Eliana is introspective and thoughtful, and a movie buff who is living with depression.

Dmitri quite literally falls for Eliana when he sees her in gym class and slams into a classmate. The pair then navigate the ins and outs of first love. Exciting, scary, unexpected, and so much more difficult than they ever imagined. They say opposites attract, but they soon realize that there is so much they just don’t understand about each other. It begs the question: How long can first love possibly last when you’re so different?

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed reading Len's previous book Hard-Wired, so when I saw that he co-wrote another YA novel, I was very excited about this touching, realistic, and ulitmately, sweet story.

Girl on the Ferris Wheel gives us two alternating POVs. Dmitri and Eliana come from very different backgounds and have very different personalities. Quiet, insecure Eliana has four other siblings and a stay-at-home dad, whose DVD rental store went out of business, while Dmitri  is a second generation American Greek with a close-knit family, trying to integrate into American life and at the same time keep their distinct culture. Dmitri is a drummer in a band and a movie buff. He is also friendly and outgoing, which helps him to navigate high school social life with a lot of confidence and ease.

One of the best things about this book is that it provides a realistic representation of what it's like to live with clinical depression and what it's like to love and support a person with it. Eliana was briefly hospitalised and when she came back to school she found hersef almost isolated as a lot of her friends decided it was too complicated and awkward to be around her. Eliana's struggle with her depression is written in a heart-breakingly honest way. Her inner dialogue is fascinating, with some hilarious runaway comments on what is happening at the moment and some dark moments with repetitive self-depreciating thought patterns.

It was interesting to see both perspectives on Eliana and Dmitri's relationship with all the excitement and ups and lows of figuring out the other side's feelings and opinions. Depending on your own experience, you might find one of the characters more or less relatable, but they are definitely realistic and memorable, and both of them go through a lot of growth and development. There is usually a wonderful cast of secondary characters, including Eliana's best friend Janina, Dmitri's surprisingly perceptive younger brother Niki, and adorable grandmother Yia Yia.

The only thing that didn't work for me was the abundance of Happy Potter references, although I appreciate that being able to get and relate to well-known references (or the opposite, some obscure movie quotes) is a way of establishing a connection, finding your own tribe, which is a part of teen life.

I would definitely recommend this book. First romantic relationships aren't easy because we still need to learn the importance of communication, but they are also exciting and genuine- like this book.

Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours, NetGalley and Feiwel and Friends for the review copy. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.

AUTHORS BIO:

Julie Halpern is the award-winning author of seven young adult novels, one novel for adults, and one picture book for young readers. In her imaginary spare time she enjoys traveling, making cosplay for her kids, and eating baked goods. Julie lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Caldecott-winning author and illustrator Matthew Cordell, and their two children.

Len Vlahos dropped out of NYU film school in the mid ’80s to play guitar and write songs for Woofing Cookies, a punk-pop four piece that toured up and down the East Coast, and had two singles and one full-length LP on Midnight Records. After the band broke up, he followed his other passion, books. He is the author of The Scar Boys, a William C. Morris Award finalist and a #1 Indie Next pick, and Scar Girl, the book’s sequel. Len lives in Denver with his wife and two young sons, where he owns the Tattered Cover Book Store.

Thank you for reading the post! Have a great Thursday!

If you would like to see what other bloggers thought of the book, here is the full blog tour schedule:

January 11th
–Brianna’s Books and Randomness  >> Review
–Twirling Book Princess >> Excerpt
–Rajiv’s Reviews  >> Review
–Books Tea Healthy Me >> Review
January 12th
–The Avid Reader >> Excerpt
–What Irin Reads >> Review
–The Phantom Paragrapher  >> Review
–My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews  >> Review
–The Book View >> Interview
–Rockin’ Book Reviews >> Guest post

January 13th
–Sadie’s Spotlight >> Excerpt
–It Starts at Midnight >> Review
–Movies, Shows, & Books  >> Excerpt
–What Emma Did Next >> Review
January 14th
–Adventures in Writing >>  Excerpt
–Kait Plus Books >> Interview
–Reading tonic >> Review
–dinipandareads >> Review
January 15th
–DEEKAY | Daily Dose of Reading >> Review
–Books A-Brewin’ >> Guest post
–What Is That Book >> Excerpt
–Booky Cat >> Interview
–Sushirainbow >> Review

Book & Author Details:

The Winter Heals
by Marie McGrath
(Honey Cove, #2)
Publication date: January 12th 2021
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

It was almost impossible to heal when everyone was out to get you.

Shelby Rowe was stuck between two worlds—the one she wanted and the one everyone else wanted for her. As the daughter of a prominent family in Honey Cove, Shelby’s life was out of her control. Her friends, interests, and even her love life was controlled by others.

When a new girl moves to town, Shelby’s life was turned upside down as she gets a glimpse of what life could be like—no obligations, no pressure. As the Christmas break begins, Shelby is left stuck between what is expected and what she feels is right. Split in half, Shelby has to make decisions to correct her life and heal her spirit.

Will she allow others to control who she is? Or will she finally go out on her own?

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AUTHOR BIO:

Marie McGrath lives in a small rural town in Maryland. She hopes to inspire others with her stories. Her favorite genres to read are YA Romance and Contemporary Fiction. She loves the color turquoise, tigers, and listening to music.

Author links:
twitter / facebook / instagram / website  / mail list / goodreads

GIVEAWAY

Blitz-wide giveaway (INT)

• $25 Amazon gift card

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