New Year, New Books Day 6 (Part 1): Emery Lord + Open Road Summer

1) Emery Lord

-author of Open Road Summer (April 15th, 2014)

I just like this gif. The colors are pretty.

Emery's here today to share her own TBR list with us. I know one thing that's definitely on MY TBR list is Open Road Summer.

Title: Open Road Summer
Author: Emery Lord
Shelves: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publication Date: April 15th, 2014
Publisher: Walker

Goodreads|Amazon|B&N

Summary from Goodreads: After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

“A fabulously entertaining story of friendship, healing, and love. Filled with laughter, heart, and a side of sass, this rock star debut will have you cheering for an encore!”—Elizabeth Eulberg, author of Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

Emery's TBR List

Emery's Website|Goodreads author page

One of my New Year's resolutions for 2012 was to read outside my comfort zone. And my comfort zone? It's contemporary YA--has been since I was thirteen! Dark and gritty or lighter and funny, contemporary YA books tend to be my favorites. "I respect other genres so much," I'd say, "but I don't connect with them as well."

WELL, here are the books that showed this contemporary YA writer exactly how wrong she was. (Needless to say, "reading outside my comfort zone" is now more than a resolution--it's a way of life!)

Finnikin of the Rock (+ Books 2 & 3: Froi of the Exiles and Quintana of Charyn)

Melina Marchetta is one of my favorite YA writers. Her contemporary books are gorgeous, and you can expect many of the same elements from her fantasy trilogy: complicated interwoven stories, fiery banter, interesting and well-drawn characters (so many different kinds of strong women, too!), and huge endings.

Throne of Glass (+ Book 2: Crown of Midnight)

Read them now, read them now, I can’t even say this enough. Here’s my two-word pitch: Assassin Cinderella.

Shadow and Bone (+ Book 2: Siege and Storm)

I get the impression that a lot fantasy rests on English lore or a Lord of the Rings-style world-building. Leigh Bardugo incorporates Russian language and culture into her books, and it gives the whole series a different flavor. And holy crap, girlfriend can write banter. Also Sturmhond.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (+ Book 2: Days of Blood and Starlight)

For me, it’s Laini Taylor’s inventiveness that stands out: the world and the language. Gorgeous, both.

The Diviners

This book is equal parts gilded Gatsby-era romp and deeply creepy occult murder mystery. Just…yes.

Pivot Point

I became interested in this one after enjoying Kasie West's contemp YA, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US. I read the synopsis for PIVOT POINT and wondered: “How is she going to pull this off?”

…she does. She really, really does. That’s all I’ll say, except that I cannot wait for SPLIT SECOND.

Cruel Beauty

I’ve never read anything like this book--a dark and lovely Beauty and the Beast retelling. It's strange and ambitious, and I couldn't put it down. This one is also standalone, which I find really refreshing in its genre.

Still on my TBR for 2014? These babies:

The Madman's Daughter

The Art of Wishing

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Any other recommendations for me?! (I also read/loved The Hunger Games and Divergent, but I didn't mention because I suspect everyone has heard how awesome they are by now! :))

****GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY***

In addition to the individual giveaways each author is hosting, I am also going to have a grand prize giveaway that will run for the entire month. This is because some authors cannot contribute a giveaway, so I figured I'd give something of mine as well.

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!

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