#BookReview: Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

Synopsis: Trailblazing pop star, actor, and director, Hayley Kiyoko debuts her first novel, a coming-of-age romance based on her breakthrough hit song and viral video, GIRLS LIKE GIRLS.

It’s summertime and 17-year-old Coley has found herself alone, again. Forced to move to rural Oregon after just losing her mother, she is in no position to risk her already fragile heart. But when she meets Sonya, the attraction is immediate.

Coley worries she isn't worthy of love. Up until now, everyone she's loved has left her. And Sonya's never been with a girl before. What if she's too afraid to show up for Coley? What if by opening her heart, Coley's risking it all?

They both realize that when things are pushed down, and feelings are forced to shrivel away, Coley and Sonya will be the ones to shrink. It’s not until they accept the love they fear and deserve most, that suddenly the song makes sense.

Based on the billboard-charting smash hit song and viral music video GIRLS LIKE GIRLS, Hayley Kiyoko's debut novel is about embracing your truth and realizing we are all worthy of being loved back.

#BookBlitz: Think by Ivonne Kinser @RABTBookTours

 

The Manifesto for Creative and Critical Thinkers

Nonfiction / Self-Help

Date Published: December 21, 2023

Publisher: ‎Mindstir Media

 

This book is an exploration of original, critical, and creative thinking through the lens of my creative philosophy. It delves into the very essence of what it means to be human and provides a rational, abstract, and methodical examination of reality.

Philosophy, the love of wisdom, is the guiding principle behind this journey of reflection, self-expression, and enlightenment.

THINK is a bold and inspiring call to free our minds and embrace original thinking.

The philosophical approach that guides this book is designed to ignite a spark within us, to inspire and empower us to break free from the shackles of preconceived notions and legacy thinking that may hold us back. It is a call to embrace critical, original, and creative thinking on our own terms, so we can forge new paths forward. This is not just a book:

It is a revolution for the mind.

Innovation, disruptive creativity, and a nontraditional approach to marketing are hallmarks of Ivonne Kinser's work. As a result, she is widely recognized in the marketing industry as a thought leader on effective and disruptive marketing.

Each year, Ivonne delivers dozens of keynotes at marketing industry conferences where she addresses problem-solving, disruptive creativity, and innovation in the hope of inspiring creative change through the art of deep, strategic, and creative thinking.

As a seasoned marketing professional and accomplished author, Ivonne Kinser has dedicated over two decades to mastering the art of strategic, deep, critical, and creative thinking. Through her vast experience in both brand and agency settings, Ivonne has honed her skills to become a thought leader in innovative marketing.

Passionate about inspiring others, she shares her wealth of knowledge and expertise to encourage individuals to unlock their full potential and think in transformative ways. Her approach to problem-solving and disruptive creativity has captivated audiences at numerous marketing industry conferences and continues to spark change in the industry. By harnessing the power of strategic thinking, Ivonne empowers individuals and teams alike to reach new heights of success and innovation.

As a groundbreaking leader, Ivonne shattered glass ceilings by becoming the first Latina recipient of the DFW American Marketing Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.

She has also earned a spot on the "100 Most Influential Latinas in the United States" list for two consecutive years and was honored with the coveted Changing the Game Award in the Brainwave category by the She Runs It organization in 2018.

Recognized as one of the "20 Women to Watch in Dallas Advertising," Ivonne's brilliance also shined when she was awarded the Shining Star Award by the American Advertising Federation.

As the innovation lead for the Avocados From Mexico's brand, Ivonne led the innovation agenda that put Avocados From Mexico on Fast Company's list of Most Innovative Companies in the world, and at the top one in the branding category.

Overall, her work has received more than 30 accolades and awards for creativity, innovation and high performance.

#BookReview: Blood Circus by Camila Victoire

Synopsis: In this world, death is a performance—and she is on stage.

At the end of the twenty-first century, climate change and famine almost ended humanity—until the discovery of the Klujns, a barbaric, humanoid species with strangely colored eyes and even stranger abilities. Their crystal claws and bones fertilize barren soil, and their tender meat is a super-protein. Klujns are both humans’ saviors and natural-born enemies, meant to be hunted and used.

When sixteen-year-old Ava finds herself on the wrong side of a military fence erected to protect the North American Territory, she’s captured by Klujns and made to participate in the Blood Race, a macabre tradition where young human hostages compete to the death for Klujn amusement. At first, she is terrified, but as Ava observes Klujn behavior that contradicts what she’s learned, she begins to wonder: Are Klujns as different as she was led to believe? And, as she fights for her life, does it matter?

Inspired by the dark, bohemian influence of the circus she traveled with for five years, Camila Victoire delivers a twisted coming-of-age tale that combines elements of fantasy, magical realism, and suspense. Blood Circus will capture fans of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games and Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone. Its masterful worldbuilding, plot twists, and boundary-pushing Blood Race are wholly immersive—and compel readers to call their own long-held assumptions, values, and belief systems into question.

#CoverReveal: A Burden of Ice and Bone by Kyra Whitton @XpressoTours @knwhitton

A Burden of Ice and Bone
Kyra Whitton
Publication date: April 16th 2024
Genres: Adult, Fantasy

A tale of courage, love, and self-discovery in a frozen kingdom, perfect for fans of Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.

Everything Dira Cloon loves, and all she has ever learned in her village of ice and darkness, depends upon her pulling the trigger. But something about the white bear shakes her aim. It’s stronger than her love for her family who believe the only safe polar bear is a dead one. It’s deeper than the village legends of a lost world, a vanished civilization, and the whispered magic of an ursine king. It’s more broken, more alone, than Dira’s own heart. If she pulls the trigger, the life she knows will take her back, the cost a piece of herself and her dreams. But if she puts down the gun and follows the bear into a vast, frozen kingdom of snow, she may change her people and their lust for blood. And for herself, find a cursed life more beautiful than the one she leaves behind.

#BookReview: We Don't Swim Here by Vincent Tirado

Synopsis: She is the reason no one goes in the water. And she will make them pay. A chilling new novel for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson, Lamar Giles, and Ryan Douglass 

From the author of BURN DOWN, RISE UP comes a chilling novel told through alternating voices that follows two cousins as they unravel their town’s sinister past, their family’s complicated history, and the terrifying spirit that holds their future captive.

Bronwyn is only supposed to be in rural Hillwoods for a year. Her grandmother is in hospice, and her father needs to get her affairs in order. And they're all meant to make some final memories together. 

Except Bronwyn is miserable. Her grandmother is dying, everyone is standoffish, and she can't even go swimming. All she hears are warnings about going in the water, despite a gorgeous lake. And a pool at the abandoned rec center. And another in the high school basement.

Anais tries her hardest to protect Bronwyn from the shadows of Hillwoods. She follows her own rituals to avoid any unnecessary attention—and if she can just get Bronwyn to stop asking questions, she can protect her too. The less Bronwyn pays attention to Hillwoods, the less Hillwoods will pay attention to Bronwyn. She doesn't get that the lore is, well, truth. History. Pain. The living aren't the only ones who seek retribution when they're wronged. But when Bronwyn does more exploring than she should, they are both in for danger they couldn't expect.

#ReleaseBlitz for The More I Hate by Zoe Blake & Alta Hensley writing as Blake Hensley @GiveMeBooksPR

Title: The More I Hate

Series: Gilded Decadence #1

Author: Zoe Blake & Alta Hensley

writing as Blake Hensley

Genre: Dark Billionaire Romance

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers/Arranged Marriage

Forced Proximity

Release Date: February 23, 2024

BLURB

His family dared to challenge mine, so I am going to ruin them… starting with stealing his bride.

Only a cold-hearted villain would destroy an innocent bride's special day over a business deal gone bad…

Which is why I choose this precise moment to disrupt New York High Society's most anticipated wedding of the season.

As I am Luc Manwarring, II, billionaire heir to one of the most powerful families in the country, no one is brave enough to stop me.

My revenge plan is deceptively simple: humiliate the groom, then blackmail the bride's family into coercing the bride into marrying me instead.

My ruthless calculations do not anticipate my reluctant bride having so much fight and fire in her.

At every opportunity, she resists my dominance and control, even going so far as trying to escape my dark plans for her.

She is only supposed to be a means to an end, an unwilling player in my game of revenge.

But the more she challenges me, the more I begin to wonder… who is playing who?

Tearing off the gilded veneer of elite privilege exposes the sordid scandals, dark secrets, and taboo desires of New York's jaded high society in this dark romance series from best friends and USAT Bestselling authors Zoe Blake and Alta Hensley, writing under their new pen name, Blake Hensley.

#BookReview: This Delicious Death by @peculiaritea @SourcebooksFire

Synopsis: Four best friends, one music festival, and a cooler filled with human organs: this summer is about to get gory. ​​​

Jennifer’s Body fans will clamor for this new sapphic horror standalone from New York Timesbestselling author Kayla Cottingham.

Three years ago, the melting of arctic permafrost released a pathogen of unknown origin into the atmosphere, causing a small percentage of people to undergo a transformation that became known as the Hollowing. Those impacted slowly became intolerant to normal food and were only able to gain sustenance by consuming the flesh of other human beings. Those who went without flesh quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. However, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy the hunger of those impacted by the Hollowing. As a result, humanity slowly began to return to normal, albeit with lasting fear and distrust for the people they'd pejoratively dubbed ghouls.

Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine are all ghouls living in Southern California. As a last hurrah before their graduation they decided to attend a musical festival in the desert. They have a cooler filled with hard seltzers and SynFlesh and are ready to party.

But on the first night of the festival Val goes feral, and ends up killing and eating a boy. As other festival guests start disappearing around them the girls soon discover someone is drugging ghouls and making them feral. And if they can't figure out how to stop it, and soon, no one at the festival is safe.