Cover Reveal: Frigid by J. Lynn

No secret here: Alli's World L.O.V.E.S. author Jennifer L. Armentrout's work. So I am thrilled to be part of her cover reveal for one of her upcoming books: FRIGID. She's writing this one under her pen name J. Lynn, which she uses for her more "mature" novels. 

Check out this cover and the hottie on the front! Jennifer writes hot boys like none other so this ought to be good!

Cover design: Okay Creations

Photographer: Jennifer Rush

For twenty-one-year-old Sydney, being in love with Kyler isn't anything new. They'd been best friends ever since he pushed her down on the playground and she made him eat a mud pie. Somewhere over the years, she fell for him and fell hard. The big problem with that? Kyler puts the 'man' in man-whore. He's never stayed with a girl longer than a few nights, and with it being their last year in college, Syd doesn't want to risk their friendship by declaring her love. 

Kyler has always put Syd on a pedestal that was too high for him to reach. To him, she's perfect and she's everything. But the feelings he has for her, he's always hidden away or focused on any other female. After all, Kyler will always be the poor boy from the wrong side of tracks, and Syd will always be the one girl he can never have. 

But when they're stranded together at a posh ski resort due to a massive Nor'easter, there's nothing stopping their red-hot feelings for each other from coming to the surface. Can their friendship survive the attraction? Better yet, can they survive at all? Because as the snow falls, someone is stalking them, and this ski trip may be a life-changer in more ways than one.

Frigid will be available in digital formats on July 30th 2013

Print release of Frigid will be November 5th 2013

Goodreads

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16122034-frigid?ac=1

J. Lynn, also known as Jennifer L. Armentrout, is a # 1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. She lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russel Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Twitter  https://twitter.com/JLArmentrout

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/JenniferLArmentrout

Website http://www.jenniferarmentrout.com/

Teaser Tuesday: Apollyon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of 

Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

More on Apollyon from Goodreads.

I was lucky enough to get an ARC from the publisher of this one. I am big fan of Jennifer L. Armentrout and all her books, especially her Covenant series!

My Teaser:

"Aiden looked hungry. My breath hitched in my throat, and it took me a few tries to find my voice. 'Is everything clear outside the cave?'"

Opal Cover Reveal

If you have ever been to Alli's World before you will know how obsessed I am with Jennifer L. Armentrout's work. For proof click here, here, or here. I am sooooo flipping excited to be a part of her cover reveal for the next Lux book, Opal. The cover is amazing and I'm sure the book will be out of this world. (Like what I did there, aliens, out of this world?? Hehe.) But anyways...here's the cover. I hope you love it. I know I sure do! I'm really looking forward to this one! Keep scrolling down, you'll find info on the book, the author, and a contest..... 

 
No one is like Daemon Black.
When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love. After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Follow this link to an ~~~ EPIC CONTEST ~~~ Announcement. You will want to bookmark this page!

http://jenniferarmentrout.blogspot.com/p/october-1-2012.html

USA TODAY Bestselling author, Jennifer L. Armentrout, lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell, Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn.

Find Jennifer on:Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website | Blog

Teaser Tuesdays (Aug. 21)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"You were in my dream."

One amber-colored eye opened. "Please tell me we were naked."

I rolled my eyes. "You're such a perv."

This week's teaser may not be fair. But I'm post from my current read, Deity, by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Now it may not fair because Spencer Hill Press was kind enough to send me an ARC of this book and the general population will not be able to accquire this book until its release date, November 6, 2012. Sorry peeps. But I'm down right giddy with my "advanced knowledge!" And I wanted to share just a couple of lines with y'all! Don't hate me too hard!

Review: Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Pure is the second novel in the Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The first in the series is called Half-Blood. Again, yes, it may seem that this blog is a cheerleader for Ms. Armentrout's work but I'm just gonna say, if you write book I like, I WILL fangirl out over [likely ALL] your work. That is just the way I am.

Now, if you have been following my blog at all you know Alli's World has been busy, busy with non-bookish things lately. And honestly that was starting to depress me just a little. So I put aside what I had been reading and avoided my required work reading. (Hey, that's due for another week or so, I got plenty of time. By the way, confession: I procrastinate like other people breath. Seriously. If it can be done "later" it should be done..."later." Even though I have the best of intentions to read ahead, I'll be reading that stuff the night before it is due, I'm sure.) 

But the point is, I have had this book for a couple of months and I've been REALLY wanting to read it but allowed myself to keep pushing back my to-be-read stack for other THINGS. I put my foot down, and read Pure just because I wanted to. 

Annnnnnnd. I am SOOOOOOO glad I did! Pure really got me out of my reading funk. I will say you simply must read book one, Half-Blood first. Pure references characters and events you meet in Half-Blood and you really need that info to appreciate Pure. I read Pure fairly quickly and very hungrily. I just couldn't get enough! There is an epic love triangle building between the main character Alex, the totes love-able yet unattainable Aiden and the annoying, "destined" playboy Seth. (If you didn't know, I am a HUGE fan of the love triangle!!) There are at least two sets of bad guys, intent or killing Alex or making her an indentured servant OR my favorite sucking her life force right of her. I guess you could say this series is like a vampire meets demigod mash up. There's some fight scene action, swoon-worthiness, forbidden love, tear jerking sadness, and even some laughable moments, including a jab at the Twilight movie!) So really, what is not love about this book?

Oh yeah, it did leave me wondering, what's up with that brown eyed Half-blood servant? Very big Hummmm....

**Also, please make note of the cover. There is actually a scene in the book that directly correlates to the cover. I LOVE when I can specifically identify, "This is what's on the cover!"**

In conclusion, I would most def recommend Pure (and therefore it's predecessor Half-Blood). It is a young adult novel but it has some more adultish themes so I'd say good for older teens. I'd give this book a 4 out of 5 rating. I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series, Deity, which is due out November 6 per Amazon.com.

Book Trailer: Onyx

In honor of Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout coming out this TODAY, I'm posting the book trailer for your viewing pleasure! I read this book about a month ago and really enjoyed it. Remember this is book two in the Lux series and the follow up to Obsidian. I'd def recommend both, especially if you are into teen angst love stories with a supernatural twist!

Here ya go, Kitten!

Teaser Tuesdays (Aug 14)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Not surprisingly, Seth knocked on my bedroom window that night. Honestly, the curfew thing sucked--being confined to my room and not being able to really sleep usually left me with a mad case of boredom--so I kind of welcomed his little visits."

~From Pure: The Second Covenant Novel 

by Jennifer L. Armentrout~

Mega Monday: Onyx

Mini Mani Monday:

I'm wearing

Sinful Colors in Winterberry on largest section

Art Deco in Silver Glitter to separated the two main colors

Rimmel in Wild Orchid on on tips

Seche Vite Top Coat (this is the BEST stuff ever)

Amazon book description can be found here.

My thoughts...

***Possible Spoilers to follow. Continue at your own risk.***

I really like the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. What is unfortunate is that I was sick while trying to read Onyx. I still enjoyed it but my constant coughing and consistent headache made it difficult to read than a couple pages at a time, which really messed with my concentration. BUT even with all that going on, I STILL totally enjoyed this installment. This is book two in the series, the first is Obsidian (see this post for more info). Onyx continues with the characters and exploring the repercussions of actions established in book one. Onyx also introduces some new characters to the mix and of course creates inta-drama that forces the hand of some of our beloved characters! Our herione Katy is trying, not always successfully, to come more into her own.The relationship between her and Daemon is changing. There are some heart wrenching parts and some parts that are just hawt. There is excitement and action. It ends on a super excellent cliff hanger that will have readers begging for the next installment, Opal (which is set to release in December 2012. YaY!!!)

For a bit of creativity: 

Per my usual, I couldn't just leave the story alone once I was done reading. I wanted to have a part with me. I got to thinking about Katy wearing her obsidian necklace Daemon gave her. And I decided I had to have one! After several hours in two different craft stores and a very helpful hubby this is what we came up with based on the description in Obsidian. (p.s. SPOILER ALERT: Katy's still wearing it in Onyx.)

Me wearing my "obsidian necklace"

squinty eyed and all!

*By the way..thanks hubby for being my official photog for this post! 

Isn't he the best? 

And wish hit a happy birthday, it was yesterday!

p.p.s. Sorry about my vanity in this post. I mean two pics featuring me! Geez!

*I was sent a review ARC by the publisher*

WWW Wednesday (July 18)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My answers:

• What are you currently reading?

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. This is my prep work for our upcoming trip to Savannah, Georgia! It's a re-read for me but I remember really enjoying it the first time and I'm excited to read it again and then hopefully get to see some of the sights!

• What did you recently finish reading?

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I feel like I'm her own personal cheerleader here on the blog but I have REALLY liked everything I've read by her and she was super cool when I got to meet her on tour. I'm thinking as long as she keeps pumping them out, I'll keep reading!

• What do you think you’ll read next?




The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. I'm interested in this book because it being turned into a movie that happens to begin filming soon in my hometown area of Athens, Georgia. I really have high hopes for this book. I WANT to love it and hopefully at some point during filming I'll be able to see of the cast and crew around town!

What A Great Bookish Day!

Yesterday morning a co-worker asked me about a book because I "always have great book recommendations." This kinda set my day for a great bookish day! I finished the book I was reading and the audio book I was listening to in my car, Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout and The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, respectively. Both of which were very good and look for reviews and what not coming soon to a blog near you (aka this one)! 

And once I got home I found my first Advanced Reading Copy in the mail!!! Which, by the way, when I had emailed the publisher about it I got a polite email back saying they didn't have anymore copies. I can't wait to read and review this book. (Its The Third Covenant Novel.) And I kinda feel like I'm really part of the book blog "club" now! 

Needless to say, I was super excited to see it! And now you can see it too!!!

Look at that! ARC of Deity

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

and some book swag!

THANKS Spencer Hill Press!!

You guys ROCK!

Jennifer L. Armentrout: Behind the Scenes and Cursed

This week on of my fav authors is having a big week! 

Last week her Obsidian book trailer was posted. 

Today the behind the scenes special from the filming of Obsidian dropped. I really enjoyed this clip. (Almost as much as the actual trailer!)

For your viewing pleasure:

Annnnd....the book trailer for another one of her upcoming books 

came out earlier this week!

Seems like it will be an excellent read as well!

Here is the book trailer for Cursed:

I'm almost finished with my ARC copy of Onyx. Y'all it's good stuff!! If you haven't read Jennifer L. Armentrout's work....WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?

Obsidian Book Trailer

And so it seems I am still obsessed with Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout. After you see this, I'm sure you will understand that yes, in fact, my obsession is warranted. I'm super excited to see this because I actually got to meet the author and the models, Pepe and Sztella, when that were on tour in the Atlanta area (see this post for further info). I've been (impatiently) waiting to see this book trailer since I don't know, feels like forever! 

Annnnndddd......HERE IT IS:

Intrigued aren't ya? Wanna know MORE? Here's links to buy Obsidian:

Amazon Paperback

Amazon Kindle

Barnes and Noble

Follow Up: Obsidian Obsession

So, I just want to start by saying I have the BEST mother in the WORLD. She took off work early to go with me to the book signing so I wouldn't have to go alone, even though it really isn't her thing. I love my mommy! Now that I got that out of the way, I'll move on to the event itself.

My Jennifer L. Armentrout Collection

Details: June 8th, FoxTale Book Shoppe, Woodstock, GA 3:00pm. Book signing with author Jennifer L. Armentrout and [book] cover models Pepe Toth and Sztelle Tziotziosz.

Me, Vania (of VLC Productions) & Jennifer (author)

Before the actually signing, there was a questions and answer session, during which people had lots of question for Jennifer and especially the models! There were lots of good questions and a good bit of giggling going on during that time!

Sztella, Me, & Pepe 

(they are the cover models for the Lux series books)

While in Atlanta, Jennifer said that they were filming scenes for the first three Lux books (Obsidian, Onyx, and Opal)  with models, Pepe and Sztella, for the book trailers.  And, if you are familiar with Obsidian, the laptop scene is being filmed! (Whooo-hooo!)

Jennifer answered my question, is there more to come from Daemon's point of view (POV)?

She said, YES!  She has found people tend to only have one perspective from him and that perspective changed after reading scenes from  Daemon's POV. (I know that was true for me!) She doesn't have any plans to re-write the whole book but she has written most of major scenes from his POV. 

This, my friends, is the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of

Onyx!

(This doesn't even come out til Aug!!)

When asked if there was anyone in her life she based the Daemon character off of JLA said that there isn't. But she does like snarky, witty guys with good come backs. She said her editorial notes on this book were to make him more of jerk which she was surprised by. Obsidian's female lead is a book blogger.  JLA says never reviewed books and she learned blogger language from talking to bloggers.

JLA credits her boredom and her overactive imagination as her sources of inspiration. She's putting out so many books so quickly, she's worried she will run out of ideas and is scared she will have to write about zombie were-llamas. (I bet with her writing it, it would still be pretty awesome!) She said she does listen music while writing sometimes but doesn't have to but for fight scenes, she listens to heavy metal band Drowning Pool and rock band Disturbed. And while writing the laptop scene, she listened to  ET (Katy Perry, I assume) over and over, as it seemed appropriate! (Uh, yeah!)

When asked about making Obsidian into a movie, she said it was a long process and she was waiting on Hollywood but given the chance she probably would! 

Upcoming news: JLA is contracted for another novella in the Lux series which will probably come out between books 5 and 6. (The first novella is Shadows and is a prequel to Obsidian, which I haven't read yet, I know shame on me!) She likes novellas that connects the books or moves the plot forward not just a rehash of what has already happened. Her next books, Onyx come out August 14, Opal comes out December 7, and then two more that don't have release date as of yet. In the Fall, she has a book coming out every mouth,in addition to the aforementioned, includes Cursed in September, Deity in November. YAY for not having to wait on a JLA fix!!

Lastly, my nail design was inspired by the awesome cover of Obsidian, so I had to include a pic or two of that too! I used Sally Hanson Insta-Dri in Jumpin' Jade, then painted the top "corner" of my nail black (In Wet n Wild Wild Shine in Black Creme) over the green. Next, I painted a line of silver glitter (kinda like lightening from the cover of the book) between the black and green. I used Art Deco silver glitter polish that has a very thin "striper" brush. I'm pretty happy with the results and I think I captured the essence of the cover. 

I'm sure I've seen some nails similar over the 'net at some point but I don't know who to give credit to for this idea, please know if it was your idea, I wasn't trying to steal it!

Obsidian Obsession

Hey y'all! I want to share a book I recently read. Obsidian is a young adult fiction novel by Jennifer L. Armentrout. (*note: this is the book I'm reading in my profile pic ;)The book is very good and the author is going to be doing a signing this Friday in Woodstock, GA. Here's a link Jennifer's blog explaining about her tour and the #daemoninvasion.


I reallllly wanna go but hubs has to work, as I'm sure most people do. (But he is usually my go to partner in crime.) I really don't want to drive all the way out there by myself but if no one takes pity on me and comes with, I guess I'll be forced to go it alone. :( 


Anyways, enough of my pity party, here is my "review" for Obsidian. I think should you check out Obsidian and obsess with me!


Obsidian is about a teenage girl (Katy) who is new in town and moves in next door to beautiful, exotic, and odd sibling duo (Daemon and Dee). 


I really like that at the end Katy stood up for herself and is an admirable female character. As much as she finds Daemon attractive, she has more self respect. She decides she doesn't want a "good enough" relationship. Katy wants a relationship where she has more things in common than physical attraction. She actually says, "I want someone to care for me like my dad cared for my mom. And you aren't him."  Luckily for Katy, Daemon loves a challenge! I can't wait to see how this plays out in the next installment.

One thing I didn't (but did) like is the hot/cold relationship Katy and Daemon had through out the whole book. Come one kids! Either you do or you don't like each other. I think that helps add a layer of passion, if you will, to their relationship. Love and hate are both strong emotions and often they overlap more than one would hope.

I really loved at the end of the book (at least in my copy) were a couple of chapters from Daemon's perspective. You really find out more about why he acted the way he did. Those chapters really endeared Daemon's character to me. I mean, I got that he was a totally alien hottie but this helped understand his attitude and stand-offishness.

I liked that Katy was a blogger and that she was obsessed with books. That helped me identify with her as a "real person."

Here's a quote from the book, because if you are like me...I didn't know what "obsidian" was before I heard about this book!

"This is obsidian--volcanic glass. The edge is wicked sharp and will cut through anything," he explained quickly. "It's the only thing on this planet, besides us, that can kill the Arum. This is their kryptonite."

I'm so flipping excited about this book and signing I got crafty and created this tee shirt (with help from a very awesome friend!).We used the Cricut to cut out the letters of the word in vinyl. Then stuck the letters to the shirt. Next, I sprayed the tee shirt with bleach from a spray bottle. I over saturated the shirt with the bleach so I had to move on to Plan B. I used spray paint over top were I over bleached so the word would alas show up. (None of my DIY projects ever turn out right the first time I try.) Anyways, I'm still pretty stoked at the way the tee turned out. Lastly I did some cutting on the tee (around the neck, arms and bottom) and I'm calling it finished now.

Best Day EVER

Here is the Alli's World True Life Story of the BEST DAY EVER. This is more for me. I want a way to remember that day forever. No, the day wasn't perfect but it was pretty wonderful and I choose to remember the good times. As I mentioned before hubs and I celebrated our two year anniversary on May 1st. His gift to me was concert tickets for The All-American Rejects (a band I loved back in my college days) on May 8th. We both took off the whole day from work.

Proof of the Best Day Ever: All American Rejects signed CD, armbands, tickets; Map of Covington and Vampire Diaries filming locations, Avengers movie stubs, and brochure mentioning Blue Willow.

Our day started by sleeping in a a little and hanging out together at home. Then we went with the Seniors from Pleasant Grove to the Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle for a totally delish lunch of all things fried in Southern goodness. Not to mention a good time with some good people and the beautiful grounds at the restaurant. (See pics)

After lunch we departed the group and took off on our own. We had the concert tickets for the show in Atlanta so we started making our way down I-20. Clayton noticed we were about to pass the exit for Covington (aka Mystic Falls). We had been talking about making a day trip there because it is where one of my favorite shows,The Vampire Diaries, is filmed. So we pulled off the interstate and spent about two hours wondering around Mystic Falls! After we hit the highlands we got back on road again.

\

Me holding a prop from TVD set.

Outside the Mystic Grill, which in real life is a lawyer's office or something and I saw where this building had a fire a couple days after we were there. :(

The Gilbert house, where main character Elena lives.

We still had a couple of hours to kill and we soon were coming up on Stonecrest Mall, so again we pulled off the road. This time in the pouring rain and went to see Avengers, the new super hero movie we had both been wanting to see desperately. If you have not seen this movie, GO NOW! It was sooo good. As a geek, I was so super proud of the director Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame). Anyways--GREAT MOVIE.

Finally, at this point it was about time to get to the concert venue so off we go once more. We get there in plenty of time and check out the merchandise table. The band was offering a free signing with purchase of their new CD. Due to my powers of persuasion and a really awesome merch guy, we ended up with 2 copies of the CD for the price of one! The show ah-mazing! The opening band, Rocket to the Moon did a great job. Finally the Rejects played and I was able to recapture some of my youth! Once the show was over we hung around, got our CD jackets signed, and got to chat with the band. They actually remembered playing a show in Athens (forever ago) that I was at. The guitar player even remembered the name of the venue (40 Watt) and I totally admitted to said guitar player that I had harbored the biggest crush on him since that night! Such good times!

Also, I finished my book Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout which I really enjoyed.Teen aged angst and forbidden love... le sigh. My kinda book!  (By the way Ms. Armentrout will be in  at FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, GA on June 8th at 3 pm for a book signing! Anybody up for a road trip w/ me??)  I've now started and finished reading Four to Score by Janet Evanovich (funny series). I'm still listening to Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris on audio book in my car.  Once I finish it, I'm going to read Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris (Sookie 12, only one more Sookie book left to come out in May 2013...sadness).

What are you guys up to? What are you reading? What's on your to be read list? What's your idea of the "greatest day ever"?