Author Event & Giveaway: Leila Howland of Nantucket Blue

Leila Howland of Nantucket Blue
Huntington Beach Barnes & Noble on Thursday, May 30, 2013

I had the pleasure of driving to my favorite Barnes & Noble in Huntington Beach, CA to attend an author event for Leila Howland.  I was lucky enough to be a part of the Nantucket Blue blog tour for this amazing novel, which I enjoyed immensely. You can see my review here.

Nantucket Blue is the perfect YA Contemporary Romance, and if you’re still working on stock piling your summer reads, you have to add this novel to your selection. It's the perfect beach/pool-side read! And to help you out, be sure to check out the giveaway below where you can enter to win a signed copy of Nantucket Blue.

Well, back to this fun event… As with most of my book adventures lately, I was able to once again enjoy this author signing with my reading companion Rachel from The Readers Den. As always, she’s the organized one that seems to time her excursions to these events properly, so I must thank her for saving me a seat as I barely got there in time for the reading.

I truly enjoyed the excerpt that Leila Howland decided to share with us. The Cricket and Zack Fourth of July scene was one of my favorite in the entire novel, so I was definitely sitting at the edge of my seat as I heard Ms. Howland read this part of the novel. It’s always fun to hear how authors recreate their story through their vocal narration. The emotion and enthusiasm they infuse into their storytelling sheds a whole new light on how they felt during that moment they translated their story to paper. Excuse my nerd moment, but I just love the reading portion of these events. :P

When she was done with the scene, Ms. Howland opened it up for questions to the intimate gathering of book enthusiasts. She talked about YA literature being fun and vibrant and how she enjoys writing in this genre because it allows authors to be literal, deep and creative. She’s written in other genres, but YA seems to be her favorite.

When she started talking about the book, she was able to shed more light on one of the characters I had a tough time connecting with, so I appreciated Ms. Howland’s additional insight into Jules’s pain and anger that she experienced. Because this crowd was a bit more intimate, I gathered my nerve to ask about Cricket’s mom, and for those of you that have read Nantucket Blue… all I have to say are journal entries. I loved those!! Apparently, Ms. Howland enjoyed writing them as well. It allowed her to share a more humorous side to her style and most of all, it helped with the development of this character that was hard to write. I enjoyed it much.

Finally, for the exciting news!! Leila Howland announced that there will be a sequel to this novel and will be titled Nantucket Red. This second book will be about Cricket and Jules about one year after the first installment and will also take place in Nantucket.  I can’t wait!! This novel was shear bliss and I'm excited to continue Cricket’s story.

Now for the fun part!! Be sure to enter for a chance to win a SIGNED copy of Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland. Simply fill out the rafflecopter and share a thoughtful comment about the post or anything book related. Good luck!

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