Chanel Cleeton's Love Letter to London (Guest Post & Giveaway)

I See London by Chanel Cleeton
Release Date: February 3, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin HQN (Digital First)
Pages: 310
Series: I See London #1

Synopsis:

Maggie Carpenter is ready for a change— and to leave her ordinary life in South Carolina behind. But when she accepts a scholarship to the International School in London, a university attended by the privileged offspring of diplomats and world leaders, Maggie might get more than she bargained for.

When Maggie meets Hugh, a twentysomething British guy, she finds herself living the life she always wanted. Suddenly she’s riding around the city in a Ferrari, wearing borrowed designer clothes and going to the hottest clubs. The only problem? Another guy, the one she can’t seem to keep her hands off of.

Half French, half Lebanese, and ridiculously wealthy, Samir Khouri has made it clear he doesn’t do relationships. He’s the opposite of everything Maggie thought she wanted…and he’s everything she can’t resist. Torn between her dream guy and the boy haunting her dreams, Maggie has to fight for her own happy ending. In a city like London, you never know where you stand, and everything can change in the blink of an eye.

Preorder I See London:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Kobo | Barnes & Noble

Guest Post by Chanel Cleeton:
A Love Letter to London

I always say that my New Adult debut, I SEE LONDON, is really my love letter to London. From the beginning, this book was an opportunity for me to remember the excitement of hopping on a plane at seventeen and moving to a fascinating, vibrant city. Writing I SEE LONDON let me relive some of my best memories and create new adventures for my characters.

For my heroine, Maggie, her new life in London is a radical departure from her quiet life in South Carolina. For me, the experience was somewhat similar. I was born in a relatively small town in Florida and while I did move to Orlando for high school, nothing could have prepared me for the impact London had on me. I was awed by the city, and much like Maggie, fell instantly in love.

My favorite thing about London is that it’s impossible to get bored. There really is something for everyone and adventure always feels like it’s just around the corner. It’s this bustling place full of nightclubs and glitzy lights and yet at the same time it’s full of such rich history—a fascinating city of contrasts.

Attending an international university really made this experience even more special. I was surrounded by students from all over the world—over half the student body was from Africa and the Middle East. It was an eye-opening experience that gave me a completely new perspective on the world around me. I was surrounded by languages I’d never heard spoken, met people from countries I had only read about in books, learned about different religions, and tried new foods. It was a layered, textured adventure and I loved every moment.

Capturing this spirit in I SEE LONDON was really important to me. I wanted to share the experience of living in a vibrant city like London while also adding in the incredible lessons I learned from classmates all over the world. I love writing New Adult because the category really is about finding yourself and embarking on adventures—however big or small—that shape your identity.

London shaped me and I enjoyed turning that experience into a whole new adventure for my heroine Maggie. Her freshman year at the International School transforms her from a shy, studious girl reeling from her Harvard rejection to someone she’s always wanted to be—a girl who takes chances and follows her dreams and her heart. I can’t wait to share Maggie’s story with you and to introduce you to the friends who will change her life.

Do you see the same spirit of adventure in New Adult? What parts of your college experience helped transform you?

About Chanel:
Originally a Florida girl, at seventeen Chanel moved to London to attend an international university. In the four years that followed, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, learned how to dance, travelled through Europe, and made lifelong friendships. Chanel fell in love with London and planned to stay there forever. But fate intervened on a Caribbean cruise, when an American fighter pilot with smooth dance moves, swept her off her feet.

Now, a happily ever after later, Chanel is living her next adventure in South Korea. An avid reader and hopeless romantic, she is happiest curled up with a book. She has a weakness for handbags, puppy cuddles, and her fighter pilot husband. Chanel writes New Adult contemporary romances and Young Adult thrillers. Her New Adult debut, I SEE LONDON, will be released by Harlequin (HQN) on February 3, 2014, followed by a sequel, LONDON FALLING, later in the year.

Where to find Chanel:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks for stopping by, Chanel! I, for one, am so jealous of your college experience! I also adore London, and I'd love to go back and spend more time there.

And psst, everyone, I've had a chance to read I See London and I really enjoyed it! I am a teensy bit obsessed with Maggie's romantic entanglements. I can't wait to read Book 2!

Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau

Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau
Release Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages: 310
Series: The Testing #2
Review Source: Edelweiss

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

In the series debut The Testing, sixteen-year-old Cia Vale was chosen by the United Commonwealth government as one of the best and brightest graduates of all the colonies . . . a promising leader in the effort to revitalize postwar civilization.

In Independent Study, Cia is a freshman at the University in Tosu City with her hometown sweetheart, Tomas—and though the government has tried to erase her memory of the brutal horrors of The Testing, Cia remembers. Her attempts to expose the ugly truth behind the government’s murderous programs put her—and her loved ones—in a world of danger. But the future of the Commonwealth depends on her.

My Thoughts:
Note: This review contains some spoilers for Book 1, The Testing.

I very much enjoyed The Testing, so I was anxious to see what would happen in Independent Study. Thankfully this book was just as exciting as the first.

I love how these books are so action packed and yet they’re very internal. You really get inside Cia’s head and see how she thinks, what her process is, and what she feels. Not every book is like that, and I really appreciate it here, where you’re never sure exactly who to trust.

While the first book focused on the tests to get into the university, now Cia and her classmates are at the uni, but that doesn’t mean that The Testing has ended. Instead there’s a new type of initiation in order to be placed in an assigned field of study. The book features new obstacles and new potential enemies, while Cia still continues to deal with the old ones.

A large part of this book is Cia adapting to her new reality. As we saw at the end of The Testing, she doesn’t have full memories of what happened during The Testing, and has to rely on her own recorded memories to tell her what happened. She doesn’t want to believe that all those bad things happened, but increasing evidence and some recovered memories show her just how corrupt The Testing administrators are, and how the university runs much the same way.

I enjoyed watching Cia support the rebels by doing her own investigations. She’s a very logical and intelligent person, so having her trust her instincts and both fail and succeed in certain areas was interesting. I enjoyed the scavenger hunt type of induction that Cia and her classmates had to endure to enter their faculty, as well as the look at what the uni classes and internships were like. While there was definitely less of a romance in this book compared to the first, I didn’t feel like it was lacking in any way. I liked what we saw of Toma and Cia interacting, and how their relationship evolved under the circumstances.

As I said, this was such an exciting book, just as enthralling as the first. I love how Hunger Games-esque this series is in terms of theme, while still bringing completely unique things to the table, with the characters and the circumstances. I’m quite excited to see where things end up in Book 3, Graduation Day.

The Cover:
Like! (Though once again I think the UK cover is way more kick ass)

Rating:
[5/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

That One Summer by C.J. Duggan (Tour Review & Giveaway)

That One Summer by C.J. Duggan
Release Date: December 17, 2013
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 349
Series: Summer #3
Review Source: eBook for review through Xpresso Tours

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

Loving Chris Henderson would be wrong. Diabolically disastrous. I mean, what is there about him to love? He’s moody, bossy, brooding, a control freak, and that’s on a good day … but there was one achingly obvious fact that haunted my every thought, every minute of every day …

He sure could kiss.

As the countdown to the new millennium begins, there is one thing everyone agrees on: no one wants to be in Onslow for New Year’s Eve.

So that can only mean one thing: road trip!

No longer the mousey, invisible, shy girl from years ago, Tammy Maskala is finally making up for all those lost summers. A new year with new friends, which astoundingly includes the bossy boy behind the bar, Chris Henderson.

She likes her new friends (at least most of them), so why does she secretly feel so out of place?

After chickening out on the trip, a last-minute change of heart sees Tammy racing to the Onslow Hotel, fearing she’s missed her chance for a ride. The last thing she expected to meet was a less-than-happy Onslow Boy leaning against his black panel van.

Now the countdown begins to reach the others at Point Shank before the party is over and the new year has begun. Alone in a car with only the infuriating Chris Henderson, Tammy can’t help but feel this is a disastrous start to what could have been a great adventure. But when the awkward road trip takes an unexpected turn, Tammy soon discovers that the way her traitorous heart feels about Chris is the biggest disaster of all.

Fogged up windows, moonlight swimming, bad karaoke and unearthed secrets; after this one summer nothing will ever be the same again.

My Thoughts:
I very much enjoyed the first two Summer novels by C.J. Duggan, and this third book was no exception. I love the Australian setting of these books. They have a total Aussie feel to them, with the slang and everything. I really feel like the setting makes these books all the more interesting, especially for me, as a non-Aussie reader.

That One Summer can definitely be read as a standalone, but I think you get even more out of it when you’ve read the previous books. You’ll enjoy the secondary characters all the more by getting to know them as the protagonists of the first two novels. The book starts off at the Onslow Hotel, which factors hugely in the previous books, before the characters go on a New Years road trip (keep in mind that December is summer in Australia).

If you have read the previous books, you’ll be interested to know that this book features Amy's friend Tammy, and Chris, the serious bartender. I've kind of adored Chris since the first book, so it was awesome to see a different side to him. There were things he did for Tammy that were so thoughtful and sweet. I like it when the hero is a nice guy, and that was definitely the case here. Tammy is a great character too, someone who benefits greatly from the relaxation the trip provides.

The romance overall was a bit slow, considering it was obvious that they liked one another from almost the beginning of the book. I found myself asking “Why aren’t they doing anything about it?!” While this was a bit frustrating, on the other hand it was nice to see two characters take their time and get to know one another more, making sure that their attraction was something real. The scenes of Tammy and Chris getting closer and closer, spending time together, were really sweet.

This was a fun and different type of road trip novel. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever read about a road trip set outside the United States, so that alone made it great. It was also cool to have the group element at the campsites, because it added a lot of the books, while still having scenes with Tammy and Chris alone while driving. Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit.

The Cover:
It's simple, but cute enough.

Rating:
[4/5]

Purchase Links:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | iTunes

About C.J.:
C.J Duggan is an Australian author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia. The Boys of Summer is Book One in her Mature Young Adult Romance Series.


Where to find C.J.:
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can follow along with the rest of the tour HERE. Be sure to check out the other posts for more reviews and chances to win.