Wanna Be A Part Of My Cover Reveal?? (EEP!) Sign Up Here!

I LOVE Cover Reveals!

Yesterday I celebrated the gorgeousness that is my girl Tara's INBETWEEN cover, and last week I drooled over rockstar Melissa's GRAVITY cover.

Yeah, they're both pretty much made of awesome. I'm so proud and excited to be pub house sisters with them!

But NOW, my amazing publicist Stacey O'Neale has told me I get to celebrate my own cover reveal very, very soon . . . . SQUEE!!!

  *toss virtual confetti and cue the jazz hands*

Soon, I'm going to be all sparkly and pretty!!!

The cover for my YA debut, MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY, will be released into the wild Monday, March 12th (3/12/12), and I would be honored if you would like to be a part of it =) 

ANYONE is welcome.

If you have a blog, it doesn't matter if you have one follower or one thousand, I'd love for you to play along!

Just leave me your email address so I can reach you either via a comment to this post (the easiest), chatting with me or sending a DM on Twitter, finding me on Facebook, or even through my Contact page above. My wonderful publicist will email you all the information you need!

MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY will be published with Entangled Teen September 11, 2012 (I love saying that).

Here's the blurb:

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.

Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore.

Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?

Happy Reading, Y'all!!

An AWESOME Book For Your To-Read Shelf . . .

He he!

Wednesday night I got a lovely email from Brenna over at Ever After Esther, letting me know that she'd added MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY to Goodreads! Of course, I immediately broke out in a pretty snazzy happy dance, complete with my famous jazz hands, that Brenna knew anything about my  book, much less that she was interested enough to put it on there for me. 

Yes, lots and lots of giddy squealing commenced. . .

Anyhoo, since then, I've gotten all kinds of official on Goodreads, getting my own Author Page, and adding the hot off the press, straight from my editor's email, new blurb for the book. 

And here it is:

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.

Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore.

Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever? 

(I just LOVE that last line! And yes, I can totally say that, because I didn't write it. Love love love my editor!)

So, to just put the icing on my already scrumptious cake, I'd be tickled pink if you hopped over there and added it to your "to-read" list. I promise, you'll be my new favorite :-)

Have a fantabulous weekend, y'all!

Spotlight Review: The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate

I know this is not a YA book, which is what I normally review and discuss here. But I just got done reading this book, and simply had to share.

Yes, the majority of my shelves are filled with young adult books, but I love reading all kinds of books. YA contemporary romance, YA paranormal romance, Adult contemporary romance, YA and Adult historical romance, Adult steamy romance . . . I bet you can see a theme, huh? :-)

I guess it's then fitting that I choose to share this review on what would normally be Guilty Pleasures Friday. Often I feel as though I should be sticking to just reading YA books, as that is the genre I'm currently writing in, and I absolutely adore it--but I can't help sneaking a few "different" books into the mix. So today, on this day of food hangovers, when many are off braving the crazy crowds at Black Friday sales, I share my review of one of these yummy adult reads . . . The Love Goddess' Cooking School!

The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads blurb:

Camilla's Cucinotta: Italian Cooking Classes. Fresh take-home pastas & sauces daily.  Benvenuti! (Welcome!)

Holly Maguire's grandmother Camilla was the Love Goddess of Blue Crab Island, Maine--a Milanese fortune-teller who could predict the right man for you, and whose Italian cooking was rumored to save marriages.

Holly has been waiting years for her unlikely fortune: her true love will like sa cordula, an unappetizing old-world delicacy. But Holly can't make a decent marinara sauce, let alone sa cordula. Maybe that's why the man she hopes to marry breaks her heart. So when Holly inherits Camilla's Cucinotta, she's determined to forget about fortunes and love and become an Italian cooking teacher worthy of her grandmother's legacy.

But Holly's four students are seeking much more than how to make Camilla's chicken alla Milanese. Simon, a single father, hopes to cook his way back into his daughter's heart. Juliet, Holly's childhood friend, hides a painful secret. Tamara, a serial dater, can't find the love she longs for. And twelve-year-old Mia thinks learning to cook will stop her dad, Liam, from marrying his phony lasagna-queen girlfriend. As the class gathers each week, adding Camilla's essential ingredients of wishes and memories in every pot and pan, unexpected friendships and romances are formed--and tested. Especially when Holly falls hard for Liam . . . and learns a thing or two about finding her own recipe for happiness.

Oh how I adored this story. Holly is a wonderful protagonist, endearing and so heartbreakingly relatable. It opens with her getting her heartbroken, immediately pulling you into her life and causing the reader to pull for her to find her true love . . . even if he does happen to be one of the few people on earth to like to eat lamb's intenstines. (eek!)

Seriously, the characters were rich and varied, filling me up completely. It fits that I read this during the Thanksgiving holidays, not only because it centers around food and cooking, but because of the intense relationships created and nurtured throughout the novel. Mia, the almost twelve-year-old apprentice, was a doll. She had me laughing so many times. Not only at how perceptive and witty she is, but by making me remember exactly what it was like to be that age! Holly's relationship with her grandmother, that we mostly get to experience through journal entries scattered in the chapters, was so sweet. I would have LOVED to be Camilla's granddaughter. Learning how to make all those delicious recipes alone would be worth it! (Side note: do not read this book when hungry. Just a friendly warning)

The subplots with the rest of the students in Holly's cooking class were fun, and completely rounded out this story. And best of all was Holly's relationship with Liam (which isn't a spoiler really since it's right there in the blurb). He was a hottie. And his own relationship with his daughter Mia just made him all the hotter. Their relationship was told perfectly--and realistically. This was not a love at first sight, walk into the sunset immediately relationship. It had some definite ups and downs, which only made Holly grow stronger as a woman.

The ending is tied up in a beautiful bow, leaving me with a warm fuzzy all over. And the intense desire to create an Italian feast, being sure to add my own truth statements, wishes, and memories. Definitely recommend this one!

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