GIVEAWAY: Wide Awake by Shelly Crane

A girl.
A coma.
A life she can't remember.

When Emma Walker wakes up in the hospital with no knowledge of how she got there, she learns that she's been in a coma for six months. Strangers show up and claim to be her parents, but she can't remember them. She can't remember anyone. Not her friends, not even her boyfriend. Even though she can't remember, everyone wants her to just pick up where she left off, but what she learns about the 'old her' makes her start to wish she'd never woken up. Her boyfriend breaks up with the new girl he's dating to be with her, her parents want her to start planning for college, her friends want their leader back, and her physical therapist with the hazel eyes keeps his distance to save his position at the hospital.

Will she ever feel like she recognizes the girl in the mirror?
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Our Review

Where to buy?

B&N, Amazon, Smashwords

Excerpt: 

            "I'm not their daughter anymore. They lost their daughter in that accident. I can't give her back to them." A sob finally came and took my breath. "I don't even know who I'm supposed to be now."

            He pulled back, wiped a tear from under my eye with his thumb, and smiled. "You're the girl that I'm falling madly in love with."

            I felt all the breath leave me. My mouth fell open, but no words escaped.

            He chuckled. "A speechless Emma. That's really cute."

About the Author:

YA author from a small town in Georgia and loves everything about the south. She is wife to a fantastical husband and stay at home mom to two boisterous and mischievous boys who keep her on her toes. They currently reside in everywhere USA as they happily travel all over with her husband's job. She loves to spend time with her family, binge on candy corn, go out to eat at new restaurants, buy paperbacks at little bookstores, site see in the new areas they travel to, listen to music everywhere and also LOVES to read.

Her own books happen by accident and she revels in the writing and imagination process. She doesn't go anywhere without her notepad for fear of an idea creeping up and not being able to write it down immediately, even in the middle of the night, where her best ideas are born.

Where to find her?

Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon, & Barnes and Noble

What to win an e-book copy of this awesome read?

Just fill out the Rafflecopter below.  The giveaway will be closed midnight 3/15, prize will be awarded by the author as a Smashwords coupon.  Please allow 3 weeks for delivery from the end of this giveaway.
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Because of You (Playing with Fire #2) by T.E. Sivec

This book elicited some very strong emotions from me.  VERY strong, like I had thoughts of hunting down T.E. Sivec to yell at her for what I thought she had done as I was blubbering as quietly as I could so I didn't wake up The Hubs (why is it things always happen when I read her books that disturb my husband sleep?).  Needless to say I got over it and I LOVED THIS BOOK!

Famous pop star, Lalya, needs some increased security because she seems to have a stalker.  Enter Brady, super hot ex Navy SEAL/ex cop, whom you might remember from A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1) (also by T.E. Sivec).  Brady has a past that has left him riddled with guilt.  Lalya is living a life she hates.

I liked that we got both Lalya and Brady's prospective at different points int the book, it really enhanced the story for me.  There were a lot of flashbacks to things that happened prior to the books timeline as well a s a few that we missed being in the other characters "head."  It was different and I really liked that.

Definitely add this one to your TBR list!  Oh, and while your at it add the third installment of the Playing with Fire series (yet to be titled) too.  This one looks like its about Navy SEAL Austin and Gwen, Brady's sister!
Review by Danielle

Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Walking Disaster was amazing! Yes, it's Beautiful Disaster's story told in Travis's POV, so the main plot and story is the same (so do yourself a favor, and DON'T re-read beautiful disaster again before reading this book), but it has SUCH a different feel coming from Travis's thoughts. Even reading a scene that is exactly the same as the original (say the party scene that starts off "to douche bags..." because it happens to be one of my favorite from the whole book) it still gives you a completely different feeling while reading it because you get insight into Travis that you never got in Beautiful Disaster. This book also humanizes Travis much more than the original. It gives you a little more of a view into his relationship with his family than before, and I now LOVE all Maddox men!!

There were a few things about this book I didn't love (though they wouldn't be nearly enough for me to not recommend reading it, because you SO should!). One was that in parts, I did feel like it was a bit rushed and could have been developed a little more. And second was the epilogue. I don't want to go into it too much, and ruin anything for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but I don't think it was necessary and almost a bit cheesy. I also think that by doing this epilogue she completely killed any chance for a follow up book.

All in all a great read. It brought me to tears once or twice, and that is saying a lot considering I knew exactly what to expect!
Review by Jillian

Wide Awake by Shelly Crane

 Looks like I have a new book boyfriend to add to the list.  Mason Wright is top ten worthy for sure... maybe even top five!  He is a true knight in shining armor, sweet as can be with the biggest heart.  What an amazing read! I may or may not have stayed up WELL past my bedtime to finish this, thankfully The Hubs is home to take care of Baby Girl today ;)

Emma wakes up not knowing who or where she is only to discover that she has been in a coma for the last six months after a hit and run accident.  The first thing she sees is Mason, her physical therapist, and she feels an instant connection to him.

Emma struggles with who she is now and who she used to be.  The more Emma learns about her former life the less she wants to ever be that girl again.  Everyone in her life expects her to be something she no longer is and she can't seem to get anyone to accept that, except for Mason.  Emma struggles though her new life and just wants to feel normal.  Through everything Mason, with is "broad shoulders", is her rock.  Mason guides Emma in no only psychical recovery but her metal recovery as well, all while carrying is own immense burdens.

If you want a story about a girl changing her life and dealing with tragedy while falling for the "wright" guy (sorry couldn't resist!), this ones for you!  The best part?  There is a book two!  That's right, due out this December is Wide Open, which is all about Masons troubled little brother, Milo.
Review by Danielle

The Truth About You & Me by Amanda Grace*Advance Review*

This is not a happy love story.

I really enjoyed the "realness" of this book.  Its written as a letter from Madelyn to Bennet after the end of their relationship; one that should of never happened and that ended poorly.  You see,  Bennet is known to the rest of Madelyns peers as "Mr. Cartwright"  because he is her college professor.  To make things worse, Madelyn is a high school student in an advanced placement program allowing her to attend collage during her Junior year of high school.  She is only sixteen.

It really felt as though I was reading a letter written by a sixteen year old girl.  I really got a glimpse into the head of a girl who is just starting to figure out herself and life.  It didn't feel overly polished and the emotions expressed felt young and appropriately immature, even frantic at times.  She just wants to tell their story how it really happened, and why she did what she did.    Madelyn makes the types of decisions I would expect a girl her age to make.  Ones  that are not fully thought though and have major consequences, like withholding her real age from Bennet when they become more than teacher/student.

Overall I really enjoyed this read. Definitely one to add to your TBR list you can pick up a copy once its released on September 8, 2013!
Review by Danielle
ARC received from Net Galley

This Girl by Colleen Hoover

DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ SLAMMED AND POINT OF RETREAT BY COLLEEN HOOVER!  This review will not reveal any new information, however, it will touch on events that occurred during Slammed and Point of Retreat.

Oh Will Cooper, how I adore you!  Hearing how tormented Will was over Lake the entire time leading up to   them finally being together made me fall a little bit more in love with him.  I honestly think Will was more tortured by the whole situation than Lake was, and that's saying a LOT!  Every step Will took he was thinking about Lake.

I assumed my favorite part of This Girl would be seeing Lake though Will's eyes, it was his interactions with Julia.  I love Julia, she may actually be my favorite character in the series after this book.  I appreciated that Julia's death wasn't glossed over or dragged out while still allowing her to continue to be a positive influence in everyone's life.  

It did take a while for me to get used to the present/flashback way the book was presented.  It was like one of those end of the season montage episodes of friends where not much time passes in "real life" but the story covers almost a full years worth of time.  It seemed like odd honeymoon talk to me, but hey, Will and Lake have never had a typical relationship, right?

Definitely don't skip the last installment of the Slammed series, its well worth the read and this time, everyone gets their "Happily Ever After."
Review by Danielle

Best Date Night Ever!

Date nights are so import once you have kids, really important.  Its really hard to spend QT with the Hubs on a consistent basis unless we make time to spend together alone... it doesn't happen nearly often enough.  That being said, we just had the BEST date night EVER!  No hiccups in the evening.  No one got angry or short with the other from being over tired or too stressed out.  It was just a sweet evening that we got to spend together and really take the time to talk to each other and enjoying each others company without Baby Girl climbing all over one of us.

Back in February when Valentine's Day rolled around I didn't have very high expectations for a gift from the Hubs.  I had just gotten back from a horrible trip to see my mom (Baby Girl had a temp of 102 for 5 days AND my mom wound up in the hospital for 7 days, then to top it off my step-dad got a stomach bug) so I wasn't around to hint much at what I would like for Valentine's Day and lets just say we have a bad Valentines's Day history.

So, when I opened my tickets to see Cirque Du Soliel's Totem I was ECSTATIC!  I'm constantly saying how I want to see them live, and that I have wanted to see them live since I was just a little girl.  HE LISTENED!  I was sooooooo happy.... then I looked at the ticket dates... I had to wait 2 months... *sigh*

Okay, so as bad as that sounds, it really was a good thing, and he knew it would be.  Two weeks after Valentine's Day I was scheduled for (and had) surgery on my ankle.  (Long story short I broke it back in August walking down a hill and it never got better)  By the time the show came around I was actually feeling better than I had been before the surgery and was able to wear shoes and drive and everything that would of ruined my night before the surgery.  Score 1 for the hubs!

We get all gussied up (I even got a new dress and shoes!) and we drop off Baby Girl at Grandma's house for the evening and set out for our date night.  The hour ride took an hour and a half, but was actually pleasant   We pull into the lot and take advantage of my temporary handicap parking permit (at this point I'm still anxious about my ankle giving out on me) and we score an awesome spot!  We get there about 15min before they open the main gate, perfect timing as far as I'm concerned since the Hubs picked up some sandwiches from the local Italian deli for us to eat before we went inside.

Once inside we take our time and walk around the few concession stands that are around.  The Hubs sweetly gets me a coffee mug and a fridge magnet to remember our evening, then we head inside.  Our seats are front row.... we are so close to the stage I'm afraid someone might fall on us. Seriously, we felt air moving when people flew over our heads it was NUTS!  Needless to say the show was amazing.  I cannot wait to go back, once was definitely not enough!

The ride home was great, took the expected hour, then just to make the evening perfect Hubs washed out my new mug to make me a cup of coffee, gave me two Tim-Tams, turned on the fire  and handed me my book!  WHAT A MAN!

It was the perfect date night and well worth waiting for!

Love you baby! ~Danielle