Book Blitz: Media Queen by Michelle Prak

  HollyAnna, Book 2

  Contemporary Women's Fiction, Chick-lit

  Published: June 2020

  Publisher: Independently Published

   

  Jordyn Fairweather has worked hard to reach the top of the magazine world,

    but now she’s in trouble.

  Younger stars are scrambling to steal her crown, and media companies are

    collapsing around her in the face of a new threat - the internet.

  She’s come a long way from small town Beddo, where she obsessed over

    teen glossies until pushing her way into an internship with Sixteen

    magazine. But if Jordyn’s empire is going to survive, she needs to

    move fast and keep reinventing herself.

  Spanning the late 90s and 2000s, Media Queen is a compulsive read with an

    outrageous main character. It comes with the essential ingredient that

    Jordyn demands of all her stories: juice!

   

  Book No 2 in the #HollyAnna series – following Goodbye Newsroom

    – Media Queen can also be enjoyed as a standalone novel.

   

   

  Excerpt

Chapter 1

   

  Jordyn Fairweather knew one thing for sure. She never wanted to clean

    another toilet in her life.

  She shouldered open the door to the stall and dumped the tin pail onto the

    floor. Warm air rushed in from the toilet block windows above, really just

    rectangular gaps in the red brick building. She could hear girls calling out

    goodbyes to each other, and car doors slamming. The tennis squad was going

    home after practice. Jordyn wished she could go home, too.

  ‘Still here?’ a voice sang out, followed by a giggle.

  Jordyn didn’t respond. She didn’t even bother looking around.

    She knew who her interrogator was. She wiped the toilet cistern with an old

    blue cloth, secretly wishing she could shove it down someone’s

    throat.

  Tina appeared in the doorway behind her.

  ‘I don’t know how you do this job,’ she said.

  Jordyn splashed detergent into the bowl, flushed, and backed out of the

    stall, hoping to crash into Tina and slop bucket water over her.

  No such luck. Her tormentor moved away to lean against the row of

    sinks.

  Tina Goodman was a head taller than Jordyn, even though she was a grade

    lower in high school. Her dark hair was tied in a high ponytail and her

    short skirt barely covered her golden legs. She was a gladiator and this

    toilet was one of her many arenas.

  ‘Goody wants to know if you want a lift home,’ Tina said.

  Jordyn scowled. ‘I’m getting a lift home with my mum – he

    should know that.’

  Tina shrugged slowly, as if wearing a heavy fur coat. ‘That’s

    what I told him, but he wanted to check.’

  Jordyn watched Tina appraise herself in the mirrors – her tanned face

    free of any teen blemishes. Her vicious, vacant eyes.

  ‘If you’re hangin’ around, it must mean you wanna take

    over the cleaning …’ Jordyn said.

  Tina tipped her head back to laugh. ‘No way! I’m never gonna

    clean a toilet.’

  With a speed propelled by fury, Jordyn grabbed the mop propped in a corner

    and thrust its handle beneath Tina’s chin. The girl froze, her eyes

    round.

  ‘Are you crazy?’ Tina croaked. ‘We’re not in

    prison!’

  ‘Start mopping,’ Jordyn hissed.

  Tina shoved her and used the newfound space to wriggle away and flee

    through the toilet block door.

  ‘Cow!’ she shouted.

  Jordyn laughed, clutching the mop like an old friend. She wished Tina had

    struggled for a little longer; she was in the mood for a fight. She often

    felt like that these days.

   

   

About the Author

Michelle Prak is an indie author and university teacher who runs her own PR

    agency. She loves creating energetic and ambitious characters who will make

    you laugh and inspire you at the same time.

   

  Contact Links

  Website

  Twitter

  Facebook

  Instagram

  Promo Link

   

  Purchase Links

  Amazon

  B&N

  Kobo

  IndieBound

#RABTBookTours #BookBuzz #HollyAnna #MediaQueen #MichellePrak

Book Review: Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin

Elle and her friends Jenny, Mads, and Summer rule their glittering LA circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power other girls only dream of. Every party is theirs and the world is at their feet. Until the night of Elle’s sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew’s Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Elle as their next target.

They picked the wrong girl.

Sworn to vengeance, Elle transfers to St. Andrew’s Prep. She plots to destroy each boy, one by one. She'll take their power, their lives, and their control of the prep school's hierarchy. And she and her coven have the perfect way in: a boy named Mack, whose ambition could turn deadly.

Foul is Fair is a bloody, thrilling revenge fantasy for the girls who have had enough. Golden boys beware: something wicked this way comes.

                     MY REVIEW:

Foul Is Fair by Hannah Capin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Elle and her 3 best friends, Summer, Mads and Jenny are the It crowd in their LA circle. The night of Elle's sweet sixteen birthday they decide to go to a party at St. Andrew's prep school.
They meet up with the Golden boys and they decide Elle is their next victim. They picked the wrong girl.
The girls decide on vengeance so Elle transfers to their school. Changes her looks and becomes friends with the girls and the golden boys. She becomes the girlfriend of Mack and turns them against each other which can turn deadly.
I all for some sort of revenge and payback for what happened to Elle but what these girls did was way above that.

I received this from NetGalley for review.

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Book Review: Six Goodbyes We Never Said by Candace Ganger

SIX GOODBYES WE NEVER SAID by Candace Ganger; on sale September 24, 2019

Jacket Copy: 

Two teens meet after tragedy and learn about love, loss, and letting go

Naima Rodriguez doesn’t want your patronizing sympathy as she grieves her father, her hero—a fallen Marine. She’ll hate you forever if you ask her to open up and remember him “as he was,” though that’s all her loving family wants her to do in order to manage her complex OCD and GAD. She’d rather everyone back the-eff off while she separates her Lucky Charms marshmallows into six, always six, Ziploc bags, while she avoids friends and people and living the life her father so desperately wanted for her. 

Dew respectfully requests a little more time to process the sudden loss of his parents. It's causing an avalanche of secret anxieties, so he counts on his trusty voice recorder to convey the things he can’t otherwise say aloud. He could really use a friend to navigate a life swimming with pain and loss and all the lovely moments in between. And then he meets Naima and everything’s changed—just not in the way he, or she, expects. 

Candace Ganger's Six Goodbyes We Never Said is no love story. If you ask Naima, it’s not even a like story. But it is a story about love and fear and how sometimes you need a little help to be brave enough to say goodbye.

MY REVIEW:

Six Goodbyes We Never Said by Candace Ganger
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had a really hard time getting into this book. It was slow and boring to me. Very depressing as well. 2 teenagers had both lost their parents and their grief is not handled well and they seem to have serious emotional problems.
Naima pushes everyone away and is what I would call a mean girl. Her dad was in the marines and killed while on duty and up until he had died she had ignored him for leaving her.
Dew's parents died suddenly and he needs to come to grips with it. He was put into foster care and adopted by a great family.
These 2 become neighbors and Dew tried to be friends with Naima but she keeps pushing him away.
For 2 kids who seem to be getting help it seems to make them worse.
I received this for an honest review from St. Martin's and NetGalley.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Hello, dear reader.

I think it should be known that, while Six Goodbyes is a work of fiction, I share the many characteristics, fears, and pains, in both the delicacy of Dew, and the confused ferocity in Naima. Please let this brief note serve as a trigger warning in regards to mental illness; self-care is of the utmost importance. And while I hope Six Goodbyes provides insight for those who don’t empa- thize, or comfort for those that do, I also understand everyone reacts differently.

Dew’s social anxiety is something I, and many others, struggle with. We carry on with our days and pretend it’s not as hard as it feels inside. Others can’t quite see how much it hurts but we so wish they could. Naima is the most visceral interpretation of all of my diagnosed disorders combined. Her obsessive-compulsive dis- order (OCD) and related tics, her intrusive thoughts, her utterly devastating and isolating depression, her generalized anxiety dis- order (GAD), which makes her so closed off from the world, and her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from losing the biggest portion of her identity—those are all pieces of me. Very big pieces. They don’t define me, but it would be misleading if I didn’t ad- mit they sometimes, mostly do. I’m imperfectly complicated like Naima. And though I’ve written extensively on both my mental illnesses and living biracial, between two worlds—never enough of one or the other; always only half of something and never whole or satiated—I often still feel misunderstood. Hopefully Dew and Naima’s stories will provide a little insight as to what it’s like inside their heads, and inside mine. Both Dew and Naima want to hold on to the roots that have grounded them in their familiar, safe spaces. But once their meta- phorical trees are cut, and all the leaves shielding them from their pains have fallen and faded away, not even photosynthesis could bring them back to life. Those roots, Naima and Dew feel, will die off, and everything they had in their lives before will, too. There are many of you out there who feel the exact same way, but I assure you, Dew and Naima will find their way— they will grow new roots that flourish—and you, my darlings, will, too. Thank you for reading, and may Six Goodbyes serve as per- mission to speak your truths—the good and the painful. Here’s to another six airplanes for you to wish upon.

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About the Author:

Candace Ganger is the author of Six Goodbyes We Never Said and The Inevitable Collision of Birdie & Bash as well as a contributing writer for HelloGiggles and obsessive marathoner. Aside from having past lives as a singer, nanotechnology website editor, and world’s worst vacuum sales rep, she’s also ghostwritten hundreds of projects for companies, best-selling fiction and award-winning nonfiction authors alike. She lives in Ohio with her family.

Twitter: @candylandgang + @WednesdayBooks

Link to retailers: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250116246

Book Review: Then There Was You by Miranda Liasson

Fresh from her residency, Serafina Langdon returns to her hometown to join her father's general medical practice a year after her fiancé jilted her. More than anything, Sara just wants to move on, but that becomes impossible once she discovers that the man who was responsible for her broken engagement, and who is also her ex-fiance's best friend, is now the Angel Falls chief of police.

As police chief, Colton Walker is devoted to his small town, and he's equally determined to avoid its newest resident. He and Sara have always gotten along like oil and water, and since the bachelor party incident, he's her Enemy #1. But after sharing an unexpected--and unexpectedly hot--kiss, avoiding Sara becomes the last thing he wants to do. She's not the woman he used to know, and he's falling for her. But when her ex-fiancé returns to Angel Falls, Colton will have to decide if the woman he's always fighting with is also worth fighting for. 

MY THOUGHTS:

Then There Was You by Miranda Liasson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
My first book from this author but not my last one for sure. Second chance at love in a small town. Sara is a doctor and came back to town to help out her dad's practice. A year ago her fiance had dumped her for the cake girl from his bachelor party. She is now back and ends up sparring again with her ex's best friend who is also the Police Chief, Colton. After sharing a kiss do they really hate each other and then her ex pops back into town. Made a very good read. One paragraph had me laughing though.

"Malcolm beamed right back, which was a little reassuring. He was very Italian looking, tanned and toned, with a head of hair whose thickness riva;ed John Stamos's. "

Anyone who knows me, knows that John Stamos has been my celebrity crush since the 80's. When I read this to my husband he burst out laughing and sais "well just because of that you will rate it 5 stars" LOL. No I did not rate it 5 stars because of that but because this book was amazing. I loved Sara;s family and Colton's family and all the way they work with each other in helping out their grandmothers.

I received this from Forever for review.

#forever #mirandaLiasson

Buy this on Amazon https://amzn.to/2B9Vto0

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Review: In Dog We Trust by Beth Kendrick

When Jocelyn Hilliard finds herself named legal guardian for the late Mr. Allardyce's pack of prized Labrador retriever show dogs, her world is flipped upside down. She's spent her entire life in Black Dog Bay, Delaware, but never expected to be living the pampered life of a seasonal resident in an oceanside mansion with a generous stipend. But her new role isn't without its challenges: the dogs (although cute) are difficult to manage, her boyfriend leaves her, and suddenly she's contending with her late benefactor's estranged son, Liam, who thinks he's entitled to the inheritance that was left to the dogs. 

But Jocelyn has worked too hard, and her mother has sacrificed too much, for her to back down without a fight. She uncovers Mr. Allardyce's secrets, connects with her mother on new levels, and learns more about her own father's legacy while trying to find common ground with Liam.

As Jocelyn fights to keep her new fur-family together, she is faced with a new rival who threatens to take everything.

In Dog We Trust by Beth Kendrick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the 5th book in the Black Dog Bay series. I hadn't read the other books but I didn't feel like I missed anything. Jocelyn is out running when she saves 2 dogs from being hit by car. One is a mutt and 1 is a show dog. The owner of a show dog pretty much demands that she take care of his dogs every day by taking them out by the beach for walks and tires them out. She is also running a business with her mom and best friend. The guy of the car, who almost hit the dogs start dating Jocelyn despite her mom's warnings. The owner of the dog passes away and leaves the dogs and the house in her care. But his son fights her on that. Then another threat is on the horizon. She will fight for what she thinks is right.
I received this from #NetGalley for an honest review #indogwetrust

Buy this on Amazon https://amzn.to/2SThmPl

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Christmas in July by Debbie Mason review

Grace Flaherty had given up hope of ever seeing her husband again. After all, it'd been over a year since he went missing in combat. So when he strides through the door of her bakery in downtown Christmas one sunny afternoon, she can hardly believe her eyes. But her happily-ever-after is going to take some effort - because Jack has no memory of his family.

All Jack Flaherty remembers about Christmas is that he couldn't wait to leave town. Now he's a local hero with a wife and son he doesn't know. Even as he struggles to rekindle the romance with his wife, he knows in his heart what he wants: a second chance at love.

MY THOUGHTS:

Christmas in July by Debbie Mason

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jack Flaherty went missing in Combat almost 2 years ago and his wife Grace and their 2 year old son were left behind. Grace had pretty much given up hope. But when Jack comes home he has no memory of her and their son.Hi memories are of the town and never wanting to live there again. While missing he had gotten close to another woman and she isn't about to let go of him. She will do anything to remind him of why he didn't want to be tied down and live in Christmas, Colorado.
I loved this book. I could have done with a little less fighting between Grace and Jack but it all came together in the end. I feel bad for Grace as her relationship with her mother was so strained and I really wanted to slap her mother upside the head. This is a small town where everyone watches out for everyone but beware if you hurt someone because they can all turn on you real quick. I am going to keep reading this series.

You can buy the book on Amazon

#DebbieMason #ChristmasinJuly @AuthorDebMason

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Cowboy Bold by Carolyn Brown review

Every summer Cade Maguire looks forward to opening his Longhorn Canyon Ranch to underprivileged city kids. But this year, he's having no luck finding a counselor for the children-until Retta Palmer walks through his door. 
Flat broke after selling everything she owns to pay her father's medical bills, Retta is thrilled to hear of an opening for a counselor position. She's not as thrilled about the ranching part, or the sexy cowboy with beautiful blue eyes who's her new boss. 
After being left at the altar two years before by his fiancée, Cade isn't sure he can take another heartbreak. And Retta isn't even sure she wants to stay. But the sparks between them are absolutely undeniable. And with a couple of lovable kids and two elderly folks playing matchmaker, Cade and Retta may find that the best way to heal is with each other.

My Thoughts:
Cowboy Bold by Carolyn Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Longhorn Canyon Ranch has a summer camp every year for underprivileged city kids. What starts out with kids from tough backgrounds and chips on their shoulders , ends up being the best time for 8 kids. They learn to be a team and to help each other from doing bales if hay to weeding and pulling veggies from the garden. Also helping to cook meals and set a table. Riding horses and camping out. I loved the romance between Cade and Retta. Can they make their relationship work when she goes back to the city? I had a lof of fun reading this book. Even though I would not want to live on a farm and do all that hard work, I appreciate what goes into it.

Buy the book on Amazon https://amzn.to/2R6Y2S2

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