Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

From Goodreads: Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracised by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home.

Welcome Chloe opens with the line "I love being a Burrito" no not the food product, the act of being a Burrito getting people to notice you and that is Chloe Camden to a T, she is the loud one, with great shoes and always ready with a joke to make you smile, well that is until her two BFFs Brie (or cheese girl as Chloe calls her) and Mercedes drop her very publicly and her new school counselor decides her JISP (Junior independent study project) doesn't make the criteria, so she is signed up to help promote the failing school radio station KDRS 88.8 The Edge. The Edge is run by an eccentric mix of outsiders, including the viciously protective Clementine and the fixer Duncan, Can these outsiders help mend Chloe?

 I really disliked Chloe at the start of this story she was full of herself, needy and I really didn't know how I was going to gel with her as the main character, but luckily her attitude changed and by the end of the book I was rooting for her and her retro shoes. Chloe's Grandmother was a fantastic character I absolutely loved her and her obsession with Brad Pitt. 

I think the author dealt with the difficult issues included in this story very well, the issues added some depth to the story, making it less of a cutesy summer read and more mature and believable.

I loved that it didn't fall into the usual trap of the boy/girl falling at each others feet immediately it was nice that the relationship between Chloe and Duncan slowly progressed throughout the story and that Duncan wasn't your usual male character, he was quite awkward and shy which left Chloe calling the shots most of the time.

I would recommend Welcome Caller to anyone who is after a fun read with a dash of romance and a lot of heart. It was a refreshing change to read a cutesy story with heart, because lets face it, life isn't always rosy.

4 out of 5 stars

Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe is due for release on 1st May by Abrams. You can preorder your copy at Amazon or from your local bookshop. Thank you to Tina at Abrams for providing me with an early copy for review.

Queen of Teen 2012 Shortlist annouced

So today is the day that the 2012 Queen of Teen shortlist is announced, and I can reveal that the 10 chosen authors are...

Cathy Cassidy
   Cathy Cassidy wrote her first picture book for her little brother when she was eight or nine and has been writing fabulous stories ever since.Her books have sold over one million copies in the UK alone. She is the bestselling author of Dizzy, Driftwood, Indigo Blue, Scarlett, Sundae Girl, Lucky Star, Gingersnaps and Angel Cake. Cathy went to Art College in Liverpool then got a job as fiction editor on Jackie magazine. She taught art in a Coventry secondary school for a few years before moving to Scotland with her husband to start a family. She continued to be an art teacher in the wilds of west Scotland for several years until she became a full-time writer. She has two children and together with her husband Liam they live in a cottage in the Galloway hills in Scotland with sheep and cows for neighbours.

    Want to know more? www.cathycassidy.com @xCathyCassidyx @PuffinBooks

Maureen Johnson

   Maureen Johnson was born in Philadelphia, but soon ran off to New York City to study writing and drama at Columbia University. Along the way, she served up hamburgers in the company of mad scientists and talking skeletons in New York, worked in a bar in Piccadilly Circus, nervously worked alongside five tigers in Las Vegas, and once got mixed up with the entire cast of a major West End musical. She is currently writing the second book in her Shades of London series.  

       Want to know more? www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com  @maureenjohnson   @HarperCollinsCh

 Sarah Webb

   Sarah Webb worked in book selling for many years and now writes full-time. Her bestselling novels for adults include Always the Bridesmaid and Something to Talk About. Ask Amy Green is her first series for pre-teens. She lives in Dublin with her partner and young family.

 Want to know more? www.sarahwebb.ie @sarahwebbishere @WalkerBooksUK

Joanna Nadin

Joanna Nadin At the age of seven, in the plush seats of the Theatre Royal in Plymouth, halfway through a performance of Oliver!, I informed my father I had had an epiphany, and was going to dedicate my life to becoming an actress. But years of amateur operatics, school shows, and even a degree in drama failed to realise this dream. Instead, I ended up in swotty politics, as a special adviser to the Prime Minister and freelance speechwriter. I now live in Bath, with my daughter Millie, where we spend much time re-enacting The Sound of Music and Hairspray, and singing rock ballads.

Joanna has written numerous award-winning books for young readers. She is also the author of the best-selling Rachel Riley series, and has been shortlisted for the Queen of Teen award several times.

Want to know more? www.joannanadin.com @joannanadin

Cathy Hopkins

Cathy Hopkins' worldwide sales are over 4million. She started writing in 1986, turning to teen fiction in 2000. She is the author of more than 50 titles, with five children's series in print: Million Dollar Mates, Mates, Dates; Zodiac Girls;Truth, Dare, Kiss or Promise and Cinnamon Girl, with editions in 33 languages. She lives in Bath with her husband and three cats.

   Want to know more? www.cathyhopkins.com @cathyhopkins1 @simonschusterUK

 Samantha Mackintosh

  Bio to follow

Chris Higgins

  Bio to follow

Hayley Long

   Hayley Long was born in Ipswich and grew up in the coastal town of Felixstowe. She  studied English at Aberystwyth University and had such a fantastic three years that she almost forgot to do any work. Fortunately, she managed to pass her degree and at the end of her course she left with a life-long love of Wales and top-quality friends who she still hangs about with. In 2007, Hayley and her husband (and Irma the bunny) moved to Norwich – but before she went, she decided to write a novel for the pupils of Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, where she had been working for the past 6 years. This novel was Lottie Biggs is (not) mad and was followed by two more books starring the hilarious Lottie Biggs. Hayley has a brand new book publishing in May 2012 called What's up with Jody Barton?  

 Want to know more? www.hayleylong.com @hayleywrites @macmillankidsUK

  

S.C. Ransom 

Sue Ransom, the author of Small Blue Thing, Perfectly Reflected, and Scattering Like Light, is a senior headhunter, but on the way to work and in the evenings she’s a writer: she wrote Small Blue Thing, her debut novel, as a birthday present for her daughter, and she composed it mostly on her BlackBerry. Serendipity led her to Nosy Crow, and she’s now busy thinking up her next project. She lives with her husband and two teenage children in Surrey.

   Want to know more? www.smallbluething.com @scransom @NosyCrow

And last but not least the first ever male shortlisted author

 James Dawson

   James Dawson grew up in West Yorkshire, writing imaginary episodes of Doctor Who.

   He later turned his talent to journalism, interviewing bands such as Steps and Atomic Kitten before writing for a Brighton newspaper.

Until recently, James worked as a teacher, specialising in PSHCE. He is most proud of his  work surrounding anti-bullying and family diversity. He now writes full time in London. In his spare time, he still loves Doctor Who and is a keen follower of horror films and connoisseur of pop music.

   Want to know more? www.jamesdawsonbooks.com @_jamesdawson @orionbooks

Now you've seen the fantastic shortlist, how do you get involved? Well, you can now vote for your favourite author from the shortlist by visiting www.queenofteen.co.uk.  The award will be presented at a glittering award ceremony in July, so don't hang around and go and vote now!

   Also why not follow the Queen of Teen bunch on Twitter @queenofteenuk to get the latest news.

"Waiting On" Wednesday #1

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My selection for this week is:

Adorkable by Sarra Manning

Published by Atom Books

Release date: 24th May 2012

Jeane Smith is seventeen and has turned her self-styled dorkiness into an art form, a lifestyle choice and a profitable website and consultancy business. She writes a style column for a Japanese teen magazine and came number seven in The Guardian's 30 People Under 30 Who Are Changing The World. And yet, in spite of the accolades, hundreds of Internet friendships and a cool boyfriend, she feels inexplicably lonely, a situation made infinitely worse when Michael Lee, the most mass-market, popular and predictably all-rounded boy at school tells Jeane of his suspicion that Jeane's boyfriend is secretly seeing his girlfriend. Michael and Jeane have NOTHING in common - she is cool and individual; he is the golden boy in an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. So why can't she stop talking to him?

I have read a few of Sarra's YA books and have got Unsticky in my TBR pile, this is her first YA book in over 2 years and I am so excited for it.

Adorkable just looks and sounds cute, I love the name, cover, synopsis and can't wait to get my hands on it, I am sure it is going to be a devour in one sitting kind of book.

What are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Top Ten All Time Favorite Characters In Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. 

 This week they are discussing all time favourite characters in books, Below is mine:

Alaska Young from Looking for Alaska

Looking for Alaska is my favourite John Green book, and very close to being my favourite book of all time, I love the character of Alaska Young, I wish I had read this book when I was a teenager

Mara Dyer from The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

I have never been so confused whilst reading a book than the unbecoming, Mara Dyer is a fantastic character and I can't wait to read the second book in this series

Allie Sheridan from Night School

I instantly fell in love with Allie when I started this book, she is everything you wan't in a heroine, can't wait for the second book in this series

Macy - The Truth about Forever

I read this book at least once a year, Macy is a great character

Mia - If I stay

This book made me cry, I never cry at books, thank you Mia!

Tiny from Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Completely made the book as far as I am concerned, brilliant character

Jessie from Jessie hearts NYC

As soon as I finished Jessie I wanted to get straight on a plane to NYC, all thanks to the brilliant description from Jessie

Ginny Blackstone from 13 little blue envelopes

I loved everything about Ginny, she truly made this adventure great

Harry Potter

Such a great character, made me fall in love with reading

Jace from The Mortal Instruments

Swoon!!

I'd love to hear what your Top Ten favourite characters are?

Cover Reveal: The Evolution of Mara Dyer

Michelle Hodkin has just released the cover for her highly anticipated second book in the Mara Dyer series, The Evolution of Mara Dyer and here it is:

The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) by Michelle Hodkin
Expected Publication: 23rd October 2012 by Simon and Schuster


From Goodreads: Two days after Mara walks into a police station in Miami at the close of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, she is committed for psychiatric treatment for what her parents believe is a mental breakdown. But what seems like a hallucination to everyone else is a chilling reality for Mara. Someone from her past has discovered her strange, disturbing secret and that someone wants her to pay. But she's about to discover that the price is more than she can bear.

Dark and thrilling, suspenseful and passionate, The Evolution of Mara Dyer will have readers breathlessly turning pages to find out what will become of Mara Dyer next...

You can find Michelle either at her website  or on Twitter

So what do you think of the cover? I absolutely LOVE it, its so pretty! I am so happy to see it is staying with the same theme as the first book. 

If you haven't read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer I suggest you put it near the top of your TBR pile, you won't regret it.  Still not convinced? Why not read my review 

In my Mailbox #1

In my Mailbox is a feature hosted by The Story Siren to highlight new books brought or received each week.


A very exciting week for me as I received 4 books for review!

The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry 
Welcome, Caller, this is Chloe! by Shelley Coriell


Thank you to Tina at Abrams and Chronicle for these two and the poster of the finished cover for the Peculiars, can't wait to read them both!




Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby


Thank you to Allison who kindly sent me this copy


Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry


Thank you to MIRA Ink for this one, it sounds great!

E-Books

Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein

 Thank you to Heather at Entangled Publishing for this, I am taking part in the blog tour for Pretty Amy so make sure you stop by on the 27th May to check out my review.

A Strange Fire by L.H.Cosway

 I received this from the author last week and am looking forward to reading it!

Happy reading everyone!

Currently reading - Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

From Goodreads: Ugly people don't have feelings. They're not like everyone else. They don't notice if you stare at them and turn away. And if they did notice, it wouldn't hurt them. They're not like real people. Or that's what I used to think. Before I learned... 

After the car crash that leaves her best friend dead, Jenna is permanently scarred. She struggles to rebuild her life, but every stare in the street, every time she looks in the mirror, makes her want to retreat further from the world. Until she meets Ryan. Ryan's a traveller. When he and his mother moor their narrow boat on the outskirts of a village, she tells him this time it will be different. He doesn't believe her; he can't imagine why this place shouldn't be as unwelcoming as the rest. Until he meets Jenna. But as Jenna and Ryan grow closer, repercussions from the crash continue to reverberate through the community. And then a body is found...

Skin Deep was my book groups choice for April, this is definitely not something I would of chosen to read myself but so far I am quite enjoying it and I am glad once again to be introduced to a different author.

 What are you all reading at the moment? Are you enjoying it?

Cover Reveal: Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs

I'm so excited to be a part of the cover reveal for Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs coming November 2012 from Entangled Publishing.

Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs

Expected publication: 13th November 2012

Paperback


While trying to save her brother four years ago, Greta was thrown into the witch’s fire herself, falling through a portal to a dangerous world where humans are the enemy, and every ogre, goblin, and ghoul has a dark side that comes out with the full moon.

To survive, seventeen-year-old Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young Goblin King, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her determination to escape.

But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. The full moon is mere days away, and an ancient evil knows she’s the key to opening the portal. If Greta fails, she and the lost boys of Mylena will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back…

So what do you think of the cover? Does this sound like your kind of series?

About the author:

 Chloe Jacobs is a native of nowhere and everywhere, having jumped around to practically every Province of Canada before finally settling in Ontario where she has now been living for a respectable number of years. Her husband and son are the two best people in the entire world, but they also make her wish she'd at least gotten a female cat. No such luck. And although the day job keeps her busy, she carves out as much time as possible to write. Bringing new characters to life and finding out what makes them tick and how badly she can make them suffer is one of her greatest pleasures, almost better than chocolate and fuzzy pink bunny slippers.

You can find Chloe on twitter  @Jacobs_Chloe or on her website 

A big thank you to Chloe and Entangled Publishing for letting me take part in the cover reveal.

Torn by Stephanie Guerra

From Goodreads: Stella Chavez is your classic good girl: straight As, clean-cut boyfriends, and soccer trophies . You’d never guess that Stella’s dad was a drug addict who walked out when she was a kid. Or that inside, Stella wishes for something more. 
New girl Ruby Caroline seems like Stella’s polar opposite: cursing, smoking, and teetering in sky-high heels . But with Ruby, Stella gets a taste of another world—a world in which parents act like roommates, college men are way more interesting than high school boys, and there is nothing that shouldn’t be tried once. 
It’s not long before Stella finds herself torn: between the best friend she’s ever had and the friends she’s known forever, between her family and her own independence, between who she was and who she wants to be. 
But Ruby has a darker side, a side she doesn’t show anyone—not even Stella. As Stella watches her friend slowly unravel, she will have to search deep inside herself for the strength to be a true friend, even if it means committing the ultimate betrayal.

As soon as I saw the description for Torn I knew it was something I HAD to read, I instantly thought of the brilliant film Thirteen and many times during the story I was liking it to Thirteen, in many ways they are similar but where as Thirteen was mean't to shock, Torn was just the old tale of falling in with a different crowd.

 The story is about Stella your typical good girl, A grade student going through her last year at high school, life for Stella is very routine until Ruby bursts into her world and refuses to let her go, introducing her to the dangerous side of live, skipping school, older boyfriends and drug taking. Initially Stella is completely starstruck by Ruby and doesn't argue with anything that Stella does which ends up alienating her friends but thats ok because she will always have Ruby won't she? Until Ruby meets the mysterious Kenneth (who I instantly took a disliking to) and Stella isn't so important anymore, when she then finds out Kenneth isn't quite who he seems she confronts Ruby who doesn't believe her, leaving Stella completely alienated in the final weeks of term.

 Stella was a brilliant thought out character, I warmed to her instantly and found myself rooting for her even when she was being awful to her friends and family, I could completely understand the pull that Ruby had over her.

 It took me to the last couple of pages to like Ruby, I found her annoying, brattish and she had no common sense whatsoever, at times i was shouting out loud at how frustrating she was!


Favourite quote from the book: It's a strange moment when you realize someone you care about is a little... off. I felt suddenly protective.

I highly recommend this book as a great contemporary read that you won't be able to forget for a long time.

4 out of 5 stars

Torn will be published on the 8th May 2012 by Marshall Cavendish, you can pre order it from Amazon here.

 A big thank you to Marshall Cavendish and NetGalley for allowing me to have this early copy for review.