Review: What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

Publisher- Sourcebooks

Released- Aug 4th 2015

Purchase- Amazon / B & N

It’s all Ryden’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead, he’s failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions, and Ryden’s convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can’t let go of the past?

My Thoughts

What You Left Behind, is a powerful and heartbreaking story about being a single father and all the many obstacles that come with it. Ryden Brooks has a lot of guilt and anger weighting him down. Not only does he think he killed the love of his life by getting her pregnant, but he thinks his baby girl, Hope, hates him. Struggling between school, work, his scholarship ride to UCLA and raising a baby, Ryden is feeling the endless, sleepless pressure of a life he is absolutely not ready for. The only comfort he finds is a journal that Meg left at his house before she died but soon Ryden is obsessed with trying to find more of Megs words in hopes that they can help guide him to be a better father.

You know I never read a book like this before, I mean, I've read stories about single mothers but I've never seen the side of a single father before and I found it to be very refreshing. Jessica Verdi writing is incredibly touching and beautifully pieced together. The pace moves with constant intrigue and even has a little mystery. I loved the realistic voices Verdi gave each of her characters and the authentic emotional feelings that they go through. There were a lot of amazing moments that range from sweet and sentimental to a harsh and bitter, and the entire way through I kept putting myself in the shoes of these characters and asking myself what I would do if this was my situation? Would I have made the same decisions as Ryden or even Meg? Definitely thought provoking stuff.

My heart really went out to all of these characters. They had to face a lot of hard reality at such a young age. To say that Ryden is a little stressed and even messed up is an understatement, but given the extreme circumstances I'm proud of the way he handled everything. He had to face a lot a of highs and lows throughout this situation, some were heart-warming and even uplifting while some of the darker moments were more brutally honest then I would have liked. It's not exactly easy to hear regretting a baby or wishing it was terminated from the start. But doubts, guilt and fear have a way of bringing out the ugly in stressful moments. But even though Ryden is dealing with being a single father, mourning a loved one and juggling the endless questions about school and his future he is still just a teenage boy who made his fair of mistakes but eventually, in the end, I believe he gets it right. Ryden's mom was truly made of awesome and I admired the love and support she gave her son and understanding what it's like being a teenage parent. I also thought it was wonderful to be able to get inside Meg's thoughts through her journal memories. She might have passed away but she was everywhere in this book and I felt like I was able to connect with her and understand her choices, even if I didn't agree with all of it. Alan and Mabel were great secondary characters who brought a lot of positive reassurance to the story and Joni was this amazing bubbly spark that made it just a little easier for Ryden to find his peace.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It's honest, raw and such a personal journey that had a way of grabbing my heartstrings. Wonderful writing, unforgettable plot and amazing characters. Very well done!

Find the author:

Goodreads / Website                              4 Snowflakes

Spotlight: Mari Mancusi's SMOKED

Title: Smoked
Author: Mari Mancusi
Series: Scorched, #3
Pubdate: September 1st, 2015
ISBN: 9781402284649

Once upon a time the world burned.
Until a girl and her dragon smothered the flame.
But the spark that ignited the apocalypse never went out.
And the scorch is about to begin…

When Team Dragon rescues Emmy from the government lab, they think the future is finally safe. But they soon discover that Emmy has a secret—a secret so dangerous it could trigger the very apocalypse Connor and Caleb were sent back in time to prevent.

As a dragon hunter, Connor has committed his life to saving the world. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to complete his mission…even if it meant betraying his brother and losing Trinity’s heart. Even if it meant doing the unthinkable.

But a desperate choice meant to prevent The Scorch, may be the spark that sets the world aflame once more.

The epic conclusion to the genre-bending Scorched series, which Melissa de la Cruz, New York Times bestselling author of the Blue Bloods series, called "A heart-pounding, twisty, time-travel fantasy.”

Mari Mancusi is a two-time Emmy award-winning television producer and author of novels for adults and teens. A graduate of Boston University, she now lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and young daughter. When not writing or producing she enjoys traveling, snowboarding, reading fantasy novels, and her favorite guilty pleasure: video games.

Buy Links:

Amazon / Apple / BAM / B&N / Chapters / Indiebound

An Excerpt

“Okay, Fire Kissed,” he said. “It’s showtime.”

Together they jumped out of the truck, slamming the doors behind them. Connor ran around the back, rolling up the door and pulling out a huge box. Trinity helped him heave it onto the loading dock.

“Are you okay in there?” she whispered to the box. “Perfect,” Nate assured her from inside. “You guys go on ahead. I should be close enough now to hack into their security cameras and get them offline.” He paused then added, “Good luck. Just don’t forget about me once you have your dragon.”

“Never,” Trinity assured him, patting the box. Then she rose to her feet and approached Connor. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

With confident, casual steps, they strode up to the guard, who was propped in a chair by the elevator, his feet up, nose in a book, completely ignoring the chaos around him. Guess deliveries weren’t in his job description. Connor gave him a small smile. “We need the elevator,” he informed him.

“Yeah, well, I need my ex-wife to get off my back,” the guard said lazily, snapping his gum. “We’ve all got problems.” Connor’s eyes zeroed in on him. “I don’t think you under- stand,” he said. “We need the elevator. We need to get upstairs. You need to let us in.”

Trinity drew in a breath, watching him work. She had to admit, Connor looked particularly hot when he was working to manipulate people’s minds. It was like he got this look in his eyes—those blue, glowing eyes of his—like he was some kind of Jedi Master or something. Truth be told, it kind of made her want to jump his bones. Not that this was the time or the place.

Pushing the inappropriate thought down, she turned back to his victim. Sure enough, the man’s face had gone slack, and he was staring up at Connor with vacant eyes. “You need the elevator,” he droned. “You need to get upstairs. You need me to let you in.”

Then, to Trinity’s excitement, he slowly rose to his feet, walked over to the elevator in question, and inserted his key. Just like that. A moment later, the doors yawned open. The guard looked at them expectantly.

Trin flashed Connor an approving look. You didn’t even need my help for that one, she teased.

Yeah, well, it’s all you from here on out, he shot back, but he looked pleased by the compliment all the same.

Giveaway time!  The wonderful people at Sourcebooks are giving away 2 complete sets of the Scorched trilogy!  Fill out the form below to enter!

Good Luck!

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Cover Reveal & Giveaway! Halfway Perfect by Julie Cross & Mark Perini

Tonight on WinterHaven Books we have an amazing cover reveal & giveaway to share with you!

Title: Halfway Perfect 

Authors: Julie Cross and Mark Perini 

Release Date: May 5, 2015 

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire 

Genre: Young Adult 

Bestselling author Julie Cross teams up with Ford model Mark Perini to pen a poignant and gritty YA novel about love and the dark side of modeling and the fashion industry Eve's time as a fashion model nearly destroyed her-now she's determined to build a career behind the camera lens. But landing a coveted photography internship brings her face to face with her dark past-and her ex. While Eve is snapping pictures, up-and-coming male model Alex is launching his career-which, for him, involves maintaining a fake relationship with his (secretly) underage co-star, Elana. But Alex is falling for Eve, and Eve won't let herself get hurt again. If Alex can pull off a fake love with Elana, can he convince Eve to risk a secret affair with him? 

Pre-order Links 

Amazon / Barnes and Noble

About the Authors 
Julie Cross is the international bestselling author of the Tempest series, a young adult science fiction trilogy. Julie lives in Central Illinois with her husband and three children. Her knowledge of the modeling and fashion world comes from viewings of the movies The Devil Wears Prada, and Zoolander, and her unwavering devotion to the first three seasons of Ugly Betty. On a recent trip to NYC, she also took the time to walk past both the Gucci and Prada stores, spending at least 15 seconds viewing items through the windows.

Mark Perini is a New York City-based author debuting his first YA novel, Halfway Perfect. Additionally, Mark is a featured author in the NA anthology, Fifty First Times. Mark began his career as an international fashion model ten years ago, while simultaneously obtaining a business degree from Seton Hall University. He has a passion for traveling the world, and he’s made a blood pact with friends to see all seven wonders of the ancient world before he's thirty. Four down, three to go.

Julie Cross’ Social Networking Links 

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads  

Mark Perini’s Social Networking Links 

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads  

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Guest Post: Ali Novak

Today on WinterHaven Books we have the amazing Ali Novak with us as part of the Sourebooks blog tour!  Tina just recently read her novel My Life with the Walter Boys and loved it and we are all so excited to read it too!  

Ali is stopping by to discuss her journey from writing online to being published.  Her insight is amazing and I am so glad she agreed to do this!  Check it out!

                                              From Writing Online to Published Print

The publishing journey for my book My Life with the Walter Boys can be described  in one word—long. Seven years long! I wrote the first version of the story when I was only fifteen. Piles of crammed notebooks and God only knows how many drafts  later, the book is finally being published.

It’s been a long time, but I can still remember the opening line of the original draft. It went like this: “Hey! My name is Jackie Howard and I’m a New York City girl.” Wow, just reading that makes me cringe. Of course, my fifteen-year-old self thought the story was better than sliced bread.

Since uploading the story to Wattpad in 2010, My Life with the Walter Boys has been read more than 29,000,000 times! Sometimes I just look at that number and I can’t even believe it, but I didn’t get my break until 2013 when Wattpad formed a partnership with the publishing company Sourcebooks.

I will never forget the moment I was officially offered my book deal. It happened when I was at work, and after reading the email I started bawling. Like snot dripping down my face and everything. All my coworkers thought something terrible had happened, when really I was on cloud nine.

Besides being a dream come true, publishing was a huge change for me. The transition from writing online to writing under a contract was challenging, mainly because of the deadlines. In the past, I always updated my stories whenever I had free time, which wasn’t often. Having a consistent writing schedule was a foreign concept to me, and suddenly I had to rewrite an entire novel in less than three months! Let’s just say I spent many long nights at my desk chugging coffee and cranking out new chapters.

There were plenty of perks too! The best part of my transition was the wonderful staff at Sourcebooks, mainly my editor Aubrey. I’ll be the first to admit I’m horrible at editing, so to have a pair of professional eyes look over the book really helped whip it into shape.

Now that My Life with the Walter Boys is being published, it’s weird to think that I’ll never edit the story again—especially considering I’ve been fiddling with it for seven years. But I can look back on my journey and know that writing this book made me the writer I am today. If there are any amateur writers reading this and wondering what they can do to accomplish their dreams, I suggest taking a chance and posting online. You never know what might happen!
                                                 Find Ali at: Wattpad / Facebook / Twitter

Ali thank you so so much for stopping by.  I am sure this will help tons of writers out there who are trying to get their own story published.

About Ali Novak:

Ali Novak is twenty-two-year-old debut author and a recent graduate from University of Madison Wisconsin's creative writing program. She wrote her first full-length novel My Life with the Walter Boys at the age of fifteen. Since posting the story online, it has received more than 24 million reads and will be published by Sourcebooks Fire in March 2014.

When she isn't writing, Ali enjoys watching Food Network shows even though she can't cook, and reading any type of fantasy novel she can get her hands on. She is a Wisconsin native and hopes to make a career out of writing.

 My Life with the Walter Boys by Ali Novak

Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

The Liar Society Pre-Order Campaign!

Today on WinterHaven Books we have an awesome Pre-Order Campaign to share with our readers from Sourebooks!  

Take a look!

A Gift for You, for Pre-Ordering Third Lie’s the Charm by YA rock stars Lisa and Laura Roecker 

For US and Canadian Liar Society Lovers! 

We have a special offer going on for the release of Third Lie’s the Charm by YA rock stars Lisa and Laura Roecker—in stores in a little over one month! If you pre-order the book:

• ALL pre-orders will receive an original bookmark signed by the Roeckers themselves

• FIVE lucky winners will win the first TWO books in the series! This is a great way to discover this series—one that Publishers Weekly and Booklist have called “chilling, suspenseful and smart” and “smartly plotted, full of twists, clues and sleuthing.”

• ONE lucky winner will receive the GRAND PRIZE: an EXCLUSIVE, TOP SECRET afterword of the Liar Society series for YOU to post and share.

You have until December 2 or until quantities run out. Here’s how to get your bookmark and a chance to win the first two books in the Liar Society series, or the exclusive afterword:

1. Pre-order the book (print or eBook) through any retailer (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, your local independent bookseller/Indiebound, Books-A-Million, Hastings, etc.)

2. Email your proof of purchase (receipt or picture of the receipt) to sbpublicity@sourcebooks.com. Don’t forget to include your home address (US & Canada only please) so we can send you the bookmark (and possibility the books!) If you’ve already pre-ordered this book—not a problem! Send us your receipt!

3. You will get an email back confirming when the items have been sent out. 

4. Enjoy Third Lie’s the Charm when it arrives in December—just in time for some chilly holiday reading!

Optional: Make like the Roeckers and KATE and take a pic of you with your hair dyed—(or you can cheat and use Photoshop J) and share with us on Twitter and Facebook! Find the Roeckers @LandLroecker and Sourcebooks Fire @sourcebooksfire and http://www.facebook.com/sourcebooks.

I know what I'm about to do!  This series is new to me, but I am definitely going to check it out!

Thanks to the wonderful people at Sourcebooks we have an amazing giveaway for one lucky reader!  To go along with the campaign they are offering to send one lucky reader a YA Prize Pack!  This pack will include a copies of Six Months Later by Natalie Richards & Scorched by Mari Mancusi!  

Giveaway is open to US and Canada Residents.

Good Luck!

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