Everything Under the Sun by Jessica Redmerski….Review & Dream Cast

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EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN
New York Times Bestselling Author Jessica Redmerski
Everything Under the Sun
Genre: YA/NA Crossover, Dystopian
Publication Date: August 28, 2017
Atticus, struggling to conform to the cruel nature of men in a post-apocalyptic society. Thais, fighting to stay out of the hands of men like him. Forced together, they fall in love. But can love survive in such dark times, or is it fated to die with them?
Thais Fenwick was eleven-years-old when civilization fell, devastated by a virus that killed off the majority of the world’s population. For seven years, Thais and her family lived in a community of survivors deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. But when her town is attacked by raiders, she and her blind sister are taken away to the East-Central Territory where she is destined to live the cruel and unjust kind of life her late mother warned her about.
Atticus Hunt is a troubled soldier in Lexington City who has spent the past seven years trying to conform to the vicious nature of men in a post-apocalyptic society. He knows that in order to survive, he must abandon his morals and his conscience and become like those he is surrounded by. But when he meets Thais, morals and conscience win out over conformity, and he risks his rank and his life to help her. They escape the city and set out together on a long and perilous journey to find safety in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Struggling to survive in a world without electricity, food, shelter, and clean water, Atticus and Thais shed their fear of growing too close, and they fall hopelessly in love. But can love survive in such dark times, or is it fated to die with them?
This book will take you on a long, dangerous, exciting journey. These characters will stay with you and you will fall so in love with them! I want to read it again, and again, and again!
That was an epic read. Pure epic! … Jessica Redmerski… is an absolutely incredible writer. I fall in love with every book she writes, every character, everything.
– Louise Seraphim Reviews
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– Enter Praise3Author

DREAM CAST

My dream cast for EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN would probably be:

Thais Fenwick: Emily Browning or Emmy Rossum
Sosie Fenwick: Sophie Kennedy Clark or Jane Levy (but with white-blond hair)
Atticus Hunt: Alexander Ludwig or Nicholas Hoult

 

It’s been over a day since I finished this book and I am still in awe of it. Everything Under the Sun is over 600 pages of brilliance. I am in awe of Jessica’s talent.

I have been desperately waiting to read this book and was so honored when I was given an arc in exchange for a review. Jessica’s writing is so amazing; it’s impossible to not fall into her stories head first.

We all have become so used to the roughly 300 page books that authors put out anymore, so when I saw that this was over 600 pages – I was even more excited for this book. I am not going to lie and say that every page was just as exciting as the next, but the development of these characters and their lives, each page felt like a new insight into them and what they were going through – it was like watching a movie play-out before my eyes.

Everything Under the Sun is a post-apocalyptic love story of two young people who are forced to live in the new world when the Sickness practically wiped out mankind. Left behind are all sorts and kinds of people living in this new world – savages, cracks and people making up factions in large cities where they are ruled by ruthless leaders. The world is no longer civilized and the world has returned to it’s earlier form of living but with a much crueler fate.

While this book is about surviving in the new world, there is a budding romance between Thais and Atticus. It is a hate to love romance, but it is one you can slowly see happening as the story moves forward day by day, week by week. And this is the part of the story that I feel that Jessica did her best in not making it feel so insta-love and shows how these two fell for one another during the dark times. Some will feel that this part is too drawn out and that certain scenes can be eliminated. But if she did that, then those same people would also turn around and say that things happened too quickly between them and their love isn’t as believable.  I felt the scenes, while not as exciting as others, are just as important to this plot and needed to show how this love develops.

I will state that this book is very dramatic and very suspenseful but it is need in order for this story to work out best. You need the descriptions, the character development, the deep plot in order to really find yourself immersed in this story. I truly don’t believe this story would work out completely if we did not see how these two lived day to day and how they came to be in the end.

And that ending – yea, after 600+ pages, I was not expecting that, at all.

Bravo, Jessica, BRAV-FUCKING-O!!!!

Book Tour Schedule

Follow the book tour from July 9 – 21, 2018.
Visit each tour stop daily and discover more features, excerpts, reviews, interviews, fun facts and more! To check the latest tour schedule, visit the Everything Under the Sun Book Page at Book Unleashed.

About Jessica Redmerski

Jessica Redmerski

Jessica Redmerski is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, international bestseller, and award winner, who juggles several different genres. She began self-publishing in 2012, and later with the success of THE EDGE OF NEVER, signed on with Grand Central Publishing/Forever Romance. Her works have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Jessica is a hybrid author who, in addition to working with a traditional publisher, also continues to self-publish. Her popular crime and suspense series, In the Company of Killers, has been optioned for television and film by actor and model William Levy.
Social Media Links: Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway

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Prizes up for grabs:
Three Everything Under the Sun (signed paperback) with signed bookmarks and post cards (US and Canada only)
Contest runs from July 9 – 21, 2018.

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Too Hot to Handle by Tessa Bailey….Dream Cast & Review

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Title: TOO HOT TO HANDLE

Author: Tessa Bailey

Series: Romancing The Clarksons, #1

On Sale: November 29, 2016

Publisher: Forever

Mass Market: $5.99 USD

eBook: $2.99 USD

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Previously released as an eBook in May 2016, the first book in Tessa Bailey’s Romancing the Clarksons series is now available in print for the first time!

When rescue looks like a whole lot of trouble . . .

The road trip was definitely a bad idea. Having already flambéed her culinary career beyond recognition, Rita Clarkson is now stranded in God-Knows-Where, New Mexico, with a busted-ass car and her three temperamental siblings, who she hasn’t seen in years. When rescue shows up—six-feet-plus of hot, charming sex on a motorcycle—Rita’s pretty certain she’s gone from the frying pan right into the fire . . .

Jasper Ellis has a bad boy reputation in this town, and he loathes it. The moment he sees Rita, though, Jasper knows he’s about to be sorely tempted. There’s something real between them. Something raw. And Jasper has only a few days to show Rita that he isn’t just for tonight—he’s forever.

 my-review

Tessa Bailey really knows how to get a new series up and running and have you begging for more!!

Too Hot To Handle is the start of the Clarkson’s adventures after their mother passed away.  These four siblings have a very strong love/hate relationship amongst them.  And learning about each of them along the way in this book is what will keep you interested in the books to come.

In this book, Rita finds herself being the black sheep of the family after a terrible incident during a show and then burning down their mother’s restaurant.  So she finds herself explaining to her siblings what their mother’s final wish was, they find themselves on a road trip to New York.

Til fate steps in and halts them in a small town in Nex Mexico.  And as fate would have it, Rita meets her match – Jasper.  These two couldn’t be more less alike if they tried.  But their attraction to one another can’t be denied either.   With only a day in town, Jasper has some motivation to keep them even longer.

I love these siblings.  Being 1 or 4 siblings myself, I totally get this dynamic.  My siblings and I may not always get along, but we will always have each other backs.   These four siblings are all unique in their own ways and I know that each of their stories will be amazing.

Another great start to an amazing series by Tessa.

4LovesRLB

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THE ROMANCING THE CLARKSONS SERIES

Too Hot To Handle, #1

Too Wild To Tame, #2

Too Hard To Forget, #3

Series Page on Goodreads

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excerpt

“So.” He plunked his beer down on the bar. “Where were you four headed in that big, rusty Suburban before Hurley reeled you in?”
She looked pensive as her shit-stomping boots started to sway back and forth, bumping the wooden rungs of the stool. “We need to be in Coney Island by New Year’s Day. So we can jump into the Atlantic Ocean.”
“Why—what?” He dropped onto the stool beside her, his drink forgotten on the bar. “That’s pretty high on the list of things I didn’t expect.”
“Oh, I know the feeling.” A beat passed. “It was our mother’s last wish.”
“I’m sorry.”
She nodded, brushing her hair back in a jerky motion, as if she were uncomfortable having someone’s undivided attention. He’d never had cause to use the word preposterous before, but that was the only way he could describe her lack of confidence. Despite the inappropriate name, the Liquor Hole was his life’s work, and, at the moment, it was nothing more than an unworthy backdrop for Rita. And, God, he was staring at her hands like an aggressive palm reader. “Most mothers want to avoid having their children turn into floating ice sculptures. What was her reason?”
“Good question.” A hint of sadness winked in her eyes, and Jasper wished he’d let the subject drop. This was what happened when he avoided talking about sex. He stumbled right into deceased parents. And yet he wasn’t sorry. Not even a little bit. He wanted to know everything. “I think…she meant it as some sort of symbolic bonding experiment. But I don’t know. We’re kind of unbondable.”
“Got the feeling I interrupted a near-melee this afternoon.”
“Aaron called my soufflé decent.” A strand of dark hair caught on her lips when she shook her head. It took one hundred percent of his impulse control not to tug it away, but she beat him to it, anyhow. “It sounds silly now.”
“Nah.” Jasper couldn’t help leaning in to get a whiff of cooking spices. “He would have had it coming just for dressing like a preacher on a weekday.”
Another one of those quiet, smoky laughs. “I guess there’s a fine line between politician and preacher.”
“Politician?” Jasper shivered, then recalled the threat Rita’s brother had leveled at his head back on the highway. “Still, I can’t help but like him for wanting you safe from a stranger. He can’t be all that bad if he worries about you.”
“Worried might be an exaggeration,” Rita said.
When her golden-brown gaze lit on his mouth, Jasper realized he’d moved into her personal space without any conscious thought. One of her knees brushed the denim covering his hip and, God help him, if the bar were empty he would’ve been between her split thighs before she could call for Jesus. For someone who hadn’t felt more than a passing appreciation for the opposite sex in years, his libido was sure trying to play catch-up tonight.
“What are you thinking about?”
Lie. He had to lie. I want to strip you down and fuck you on this seat, but I’m trying my hand at being a gentleman, was not an acceptable line. It was too aggressive when she seemed spooked merely from his close proximity. But she was leaving, leaving his town tomorrow, and the slow-game option had been ambitious for Jasper when he knew nothing about it. So he’d tell the truth while leaving out the oh-so-dirty reality in his pants. “I was thinking it would have been a goddamn shame if you’d broken down one town over.” His voice was gravel, so he cleared it. “More than a shame. I’m kind of finding it hard to think about, if you want to know the truth.”
For long moments, he couldn’t hear a single sound in the loud bar. No music, no crunching ice or raucous laughter. And, somehow, he knew she couldn’t hear the noise, either. It was there in the perplexity of her expression. He expected her to call bullshit or make a joke, but she didn’t. She shocked him instead.
“I’ll think I’ll take that kiss now.”

Dream Cast

When I cast TOO HOT TO HANDLE in my head (and on my Pinterest boards o’course!) I used a more introverted version of Emilia Clarke as Rita Clarkson. All the shiny effervesce and beauty of a brunette Emilia, with more dark makeup and clothing. This is the picture I sent to my editor when casting for the cover, because I think it captures Rita’s personality: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/508132770433476759/

As for Jasper, he is described in the book as a young, revamped Matthew McConaughey and I think his personality totally matches that of a young carefree (non naked bongo playing) version of the actor. I promise he doesn’t say “alright, alright, alright,” but he does have that cool guy, ladies love me spirit. Scott Porter from Hart of Dixie would be my choice to play Jasper in a film  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/508132770433788636/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop, and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend, and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.

She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband and daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.

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Love & Decay: Revolution Episode 6…Release Blitz

 

L&D Revolution Epi 6 RDL Ban
 

Revolution Episode Six

 

About Love and Decay: Revolution: Episode Six:

It’s not easy being a badass Zombie killer. But somebody’s got to do it.

Page Parker is on the brink of the fate she’s claimed. With her toes pressed against the Mexican/American border, she’s ready to wage the war she’s been waiting for.

Matthias Allen and the Colony are waiting for her on the other side. She just has to step across.

Only it’s not that simple. She has a family to protect and loved ones to think about. She’s responsible for lives and families. She has a boy at her side willing to fight with her, but Miller is battling darker demons than Zombies and tyrants. There is something inside him that terrifies her… warns her to keep him as far from his dad as she can.

Her life swirls around her in chaos and confusion. But one thing remains clear, Luke is waiting for her. She’s vowed to free the people of her homeland and she cannot go back on that now.

But at what cost?

Will destroying the Colony come at the price of destroying her family?

Destroying Miller?

Love and Decay: Revolution is a Dystopian Romance Novella Series about Zombies, the end of the world and finding someone to share it with. Every episode is approximately 20,000 words long and released every two weeks. Look for Love and Decay: Revolution, Episode Seven coming March 25th, 2016.

 

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Catch up on the Revolution

Episode 1: Amazon | BN

Episode 2: Amazon | BN

Episode 3: Amazon | BN

Episode 4: Amazon | BN

Episode 5: Amazon | BN

Volume 1 (episodes 1-4) Amazon | BN

 

Rachel Higginson Bio:

rachel_profile_pic (1)Rachel Higginson is the author of The Five Stages of Falling in Love, Every Wrong Reason, The Star-Crossed Series, Love & Decay Novella Series and much more!

She was born and raised in Nebraska, and spent her college years traveling the world. She fell in love with Eastern Europe, Paris, Indian Food and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka, but came back home to marry her high school sweetheart. Now she spends her days writing stories and raising four amazing kids.

 

Links:

Author Page | Instagram | Twitter | Website

 

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The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard….Review * Guest Tour

THE ALMOST GIRL BY AMALIE HOWARD- REVIEW AND GUEST POST TOUR

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Synopsis:

17 year-old Riven comes from a world ravaged by a devastating android war, a parallel world to Earth. A Legion General, she is the right hand of the young Prince of Neospes. In Neospes, she has everything: rank, responsibility and respect. But when Prince Cale sends her away to find his long-lost brother, Caden, who has been spirited back to modern day Earth, Riven finds herself in uncharted territory. Thrown out of her comfort zone but with the mindset of a soldier and in a race against time to bring Caden home, Riven has to learn how to be a girl in a realm that is the opposite of what she knows. Will Riven be able to find the strength to defy her very nature? Or will she become the monstrous soldier she was designed to be?

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REVIEW

This is the first book I have ever read by Amelia Howard. I read some of the reviews before digging into this book (something I normally don’t do) since I had never heard of the author before and wanted to get an idea what I was getting into. I realized that this book was being re-published so I pretty much felt that any reviews before the new published date may not truly reflect the ARC that I was given in exchange for an honest review. With that being said – on to my review.

The blurb of The Almost Girl is what truly pulled me in after seeing the cover. The cover is very fitting for this story and I applaud both the author and the cover designer because they nailed that.

The plot is unique and very interesting. One thing I liked was that I was able to get a really clear picture of Neospes and that entire world – their inhabitants and how that world evolved and worked. The characters in this book were a bit harder for me to connect to. However, to me that didn’t hinder the story line. If anything – it sort of went along with the characteristics of some. Without giving to much away – Riven’s world is nothing like Earth.

I really enjoyed this story. I was pulled into the Riven’s world and their ins and outs of everything. It’s interesting to see the differences between Earth and Neospes and how people are treated and regarded. Riven has to figure out how to blend in with teenagers on Earth. Even though she herself is the same age as them, her upbringing in Neospes forced her to grow up quicker and act more like an adult at an incredibly young age.

I believe that the writer did a good job of trying to keep the characters true to themselves and their characteristics. It’s not easy to write how a teenager should act like an adult because of how she was raised yet blend in with kids her age whom she’s never been around before. But Amelia did a great job of balancing it out. My biggest gripe and why I couldn’t give this book 4 stars is the ending – it was very no-climatic for me. There was a huge buildup for a war and then aside from the fight between two characters, it just felt like someone deflated the whole thing. But I am still interested to see what happens next.

All in all, I really enjoyed the world that Amelia created and the characters. I am looking forward to reading her next installment in this series.

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Character Inspiration & Dream Cast for The Almost Girl

When I was initially doing the character study for Riven (whose name means ripped apart), I knew that I wanted her to be fierce. After all, she becomes a General of an army at fourteen and she comes from a very tough universe, so she has to be the result of that. In Neospes, there’s no room for softness and emotion. Those are the things that can get you killed. As a result, Riven is the perfect product of her environment. She’s a very intense character. I needed her to be powerful, highly skilled, focused, and mature.

My inspiration for Riven’s character came from a few different sources. The first was Max from Dark Angel TV series. I loved the fact that Max was so capable and fierce, but was also so guarded. I wanted my character to be similar—especially as she navigates the new terrain of a parallel universe that is the complete opposite to her own. Like Max, Riven has to learn how to trust and how to love while still being strong and lethal. My second source of inspiration was Leeloo from the movie The Fifth Element, one of my all time favs (and yes, I know I’m a total nerd). I love that scene where Leeloo takes out the Mangalores singlehandedly. She, like Max, is fierce, but in a different way. She’s built to be the Earth’s defender—the fifth element—and she has to learn about who we are as humans before she’s able to do the job she was created to do. I liked her inner fragility when it came to learning about love, and I wanted Riven to have the same sort of feel—hard and unapproachable on the outside, yet soft and curious on the inside. Last but not least, there’s definitely some Ellen Ripley in there, but it’s the Ripley from Alien Resurrection, where she has inherited some of the alien traits. She’s so awesome during that basketball scene in the mess hall on the ship. I loved her innate confidence and unflappable nature. I wanted Riven to have some of those qualities. Highly trained, she knows who she is and what she can do.

Like all of these amazing, multi-faceted heroines, I wanted to create a dynamic character who is forced to question everything she is and everything she knows. A soldier first, Riven is hard on the outside but still vulnerable on the inside—I wanted readers to relate to her struggle throughout the novel to let go of all her rules and be a girl. We build so many walls to keep from being hurt that we don’t allow ourselves to connect with others. As a character, Riven has to dig down deep to embrace her emotions against everything she has been taught. In the end, is she brave enough to learn how to trust her heart? Will she always be the tough, invulnerable soldier? Or will she find a balance between the two?

DREAM CAST

RIVEN – Astrid Berges OR Imogen Poots

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CADEN – Brenton Thwaites or Nicholas Hoult

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SHAE – Sienna Guillory
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AURELA – Charlize Theron

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Riven’s Father – Michael Fassbender

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Era Taylor – Famke Janssen

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PRAISE FOR THE ALMOST GIRL:

“A high-octane thriller. SF and dystopia fans will be right at home with this book and its fierce, capable heroine.” ~ Publishers Weekly

“Amalie Howard writes a fast paced and thrilling story with a kick butt, authentic heroine and a brilliantly crafted world.“ ~ Eve Silver, author of Rush

“The Almost Girl is a feminist tour de force. It is filled with powerful, interesting female characters. Riven is one of my favorite fictional characters ever; she is fierce, passionate, funny and smart. This sexy, fast-paced story is impossible to put down. A must read! Fans of Divergent will love it!“ ~ Kim Purcell, author of Trafficked

“A riveting union of science fiction thriller, romance, family drama, and conspiracy theory, The Almost Girl had me wishing I could crawl inside the pages and join Riven on her epic journey between parallel worlds. Amalie Howard’s writing is sharp and smart. I’m definitely craving the next installment!” ~ Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful & The Cursed

About Amalie:

Amalie-Headshot1-233x300AMALIE HOWARD grew up on a small Caribbean island (Trinidad & Tobago) where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. 25 countries, surfing with sharks and several tattoos later, she has traded in bungee jumping in China for writing the adventures she imagines instead. She isn’t entirely convinced which takes more guts.

An aspiring writer from a young age, Amalie’s poem “The Candle,” written at age twelve, was published in a University of Warwick journal. At fifteen, she was a recipient of a Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Award (a global youth writing competition). A Colby College graduate, she completed simultaneous Honors Theses in both French and International Studies, and graduated Summa Cum Laude/Phi Beta Kappa. At Colby, she was cited for research and criticism in Raffael Scheck’s article, “German Conservatism and Female Political Activism in the Early Weimar Republic,” and his subsequent book, Mothers of the Nation. She also received a distinction in English Literature from the University of Cambridge (A-levels) as well as a certificate in French Literature from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. Traveling the globe, she has worked as a research assistant, marketing representative, teen speaker and global sales executive.

She is the author of several young adult novels critically acclaimed by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, VOYA, and Booklist, including Waterfell, The Almost Girl, and Alpha Goddess, a Spring 2014 Kid’s INDIE NEXT title. Her debut novel, Bloodspell, was a #1 Amazon bestseller and a Seventeen Magazine Summer Read. She is also the co-author of the adult historical romance series, THE LORDS OF ESSEX. As an author of color and a proud supporter of diversity in fiction, her articles on multicultural fiction have appeared in The Portland Book Review and on the popular Diversity in YA blog. She currently resides in Colorado with her husband and three children.