New Year, New Books Day 17 (Part 2): Joy Hensley

Welcome to New Year, New Books Day 17!!! Today I've got a military brat and an army of vicious boys on my blog. Nah, just kidding. It's actually the book, and the author is DEFINITELY neither bratty nor vicious!

2) Joy Hensley

-author of Rites of Passage (September 9th, 2014)

Ugh the gifs I find are all so awkward.

Anyways, if you read the description for Joy's book, you will find yourself desperate to read Rites of Passage. Seriously. When I first read the synopsis on Goodreads, I was like, WHAT, SEPTEMBER 9th, NO. NO NOOO. Rites of Passage sounds like a totally badass book.

Title: Rites of Passage
Author: Joy Hensley
Shelves: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 9th, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen

Goodreads|HarperCollins Website

Summary from Goodreads: Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.

So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What’s she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty...no matter how much she wants him.
As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.
At any cost.

Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust...and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences.

Extremes with Joy AND Sam

Joy's Website|Goodreads author page

Hey Jayne,

Thank you so much for giving me a chance to visit with you today! Since RITES OF PASSAGE takes place at a military school, the extreme topic seemed best suited to me! I was planning to answer these, but Sam decided to take over! Hope you and your readers don’t mind…she’s a bit of a go-getter.

1) What would you do if you were Katniss and had to choose between Peeta and Gale?

It’s Sam, here. Butting in to begin with because if Joy answered, she would totally answer Peeta. I mean, she thinks Gale’s cute, but she likes security. Me? I’d choose Gale. Why? Because he’d be a hell of a good fighter to have on my side. If shit’s going down like it did in Hunger Games, I don’t think bread is going to stop the enemy.

(Note from Joy: I do like fresh bread, it’s true. There’s nothing like it. When the butter melts and the jelly oozes….ugh, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. But I like to think I’m practical, so if you want to know who I’d choose, I’d need some context. In the arena?Gale, deffo. For everyday cuddles and smooches and fresh bread, Peeta. Gale doesn’t strike me as much of a cooker or a cuddler, come to that.)

2) What would you do if you could be the president for a day?

Um…besides revel in the fact that my father would have to be proud of me? I’d change the insubordination rules in the military! I mean, sure there’s a reason you shouldn’t date your superiors, but you’ve seen guys in uniform, right? It would be hard NOT to want to date them.

Other than that, I’d clear the whole place out and spend some time with my favorite guy in sweatpants.

(Note from Joy: I think Sam is missing the point right now. Forgive her. We would happily work for equal rights for women and homosexuals in the military. That would be our platform. Not dating cute guys in uniforms…even if they do look great in camouflage pants and tight black shirts with their covers (hats) pulled down tight on their heads, or in sweatpants…)

3) What would you do if Hogwarts was real but you couldn't attend because you were a muggle?

Well, considering I’m in the first class of females ever allowed into Denmark Military Academy, I don’t think it would be hard to could convince a bunch of wizards to give me a shot. I’m proving myself to the boys. Magic can’t be that hard to figure out, right?

(Note from Joy: Sam can storm the doors if she wants. I would probably sniffle, cry, then hang out in Honeydukes trying to share a butterbeer with Ron. I love me some gingers!)

4) What would you do if Steven Spielberg called you and said he wanted to make your book into a movie?

I’d say it’d be a damn good thing. The more people who know what went down at the DMA the better. I’m not one for shying away from telling the ugly truth.

(Note from Joy: I would freak out. I would just absolutely freak the $^&# out!)

5) What would you do if your book was the last book in existence?

Well, it depends. Do we have multiple copies? Are we stuck in Maine during a snowstorm? All this factors in, you know? If I didn’t need it for survival, I’d probably flip through to see where I made mistakes. There’s always a way to improve the outcome. I hope I’d be able to learn from my mistakes. Maybe I’d flip to a certain sweatpants scene…but you won’t know about that until September.

(Note from Joy:  I would flip to the sweatpants scene, too. Finally, something Sam and I agree on! J )

6) What would you do if J.K. Rowling called you and asked you for writing advice?

Honestly, I’d tell her to stop writing and start doing something. She’s got a huge war with evil wizards. No one who just writes about it is helping anything. Sure she’s documenting it for posterity’s sake, but pick up a wand and start casting spells or something.  Don’t just sit there!

(Note from Joy: *hangs head in shame* What have I created? Sam’s a monster who can’t be stopped. She thinks because she’s in this epic battle at military school that everyone has a spine like her. Me? I don’t. I would much rather write about these epic things than have to do them myself. Now, if Ms. Rowling wanted to practice her flick and swish technique, I’d be happy to help her. But, let’s be honest, she’s not coming to me for advice. J)

Jayne, you have no idea how much fun this was! Thank you so much for letting us stop by. I hope you guys enjoy RITES OF PASSAGE when it makes its way out into the real world. I can’t wait for Sam to share her story!

***GIVEAWAY***

For those of you who don't know, Joy and JODI MEADOWS are besties and since Joy is super fabulous, she is giving away a SIGNED COPY OF INCARNATE BY JODI MEADOWS! Enter away!

Rules of Entry:

1) OPEN INTERNATIONALLY- therefore, if you are from outer space, sadly, you cannot enter.

2) No cheating with your entries, I always check

3) The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email, or else I will be forced to pick a new winner.

4) The book will be sent out at the author's discretion.
5) Please actually take the time to read this post with Joy. Authors are crazy busy, and deserve as much love as you can give them.

5) GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***Grand Prize Giveaway***

2 Surprise 2014 ARCs + swag

Yep, these will be from my own shelf. Yep, this giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. Yep, it is a surprise and I am not telling you what the ARCs will be but here's an idea of what MIGHT be in it:

Any of these books are fair game! But in the end, the winner will only get 2. And I promise that the surprise ARCs will be good:)

Here are the rules of entry:

1) OPEN INTERNATIONALLY
2) The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email. If not, I will have to pick a new winner. 

3) The prize will be sent out at my discretion, so I might take me a little longer than a week to get it to you.

4) In order to earn the maximum amount of entries, you can comment on EVERY SINGLE DAY of New Year, New Books!

5) GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway