Mundie Moms

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Clockwork Princess Teaser


CONGRATULATIONS to TESSA for winning her tournament against Katniss!! To celebrate, Cassie posted a LOVELY (tortuous) teaser for Clockwork Princess....

And the gold of her ruined wedding dress.

Ugh, that teaser..... Now we're going to be left with months of speculation. Does Tessa get married, or is this someone else's wedding dress? What happened to the dress? I have so many questions now. I adore these teasers, because most of the time Cassie picks teasers to completely throw us off.

Book Review: Ditched by Robin Mellom

Written by: Robin Mellom
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: January 10, 2012
Source: netgalley / ARC from author to review
Rating: 5 stars - this book is a must have!

Synopsis: High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.


Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat, handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together -- stain by stain on her thrift-store dress -- exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag's moving car...

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

Mundie Moms, remember John Hughes and how much we all still love those movies? Well, Ditched reads like a John Hughes movie. It’s all there. From the plot, which is presented in a quirky let-me-tell-you-how-it-happened way to the characters who hold more depth than you first thought. Don’t we all love characters who are not what their stereotype suggests? Stoners. Frenemies. Jocks. Old ladies who work in a convenience store. Not at all what you thought they would be like. And then there’s that boy. Oh we all know him, too. He’s the PerfectBoyfriend Boy. He will buy you licorice when you’re crabby. He will hold pinkies with you while you walk down the hall. And you highly suspect that when the time comes, he will be an amazing kisser. Except for the fact, that he ditched you. On prom night. Not a good guy, at all. Right?

This book, this book has all of that and more.

Robin made me laugh with her backwards timeline that forces her protagonist to tell the story as it happened to her. But don’t worry, if you’re a picky reader who hates the “telling” parts of a story, Robin, puts you right in the action. Justine, the main character, is so likeable that you will flinch through every one of her mishaps, missteps and mistakes; all of which are lovingly documented on the hideous prom dress that her mom helped her pick out. You know those books that have maps at the beginning? Well, Ditched has that at the start of each chapter but it’s a map to every stain, rip, tear, broken bits of Justine’s poor outfit.

I really shouldn’t say more for fear of spoilers, but I do have to say that my reaction at the end of the book was…(removed for spoilers). Go on, pick it up on the 10th and enjoy every word. If you're in Santa Monica, CA on January 22nd, be sure to join Robin at Diesel Bookstore for Ditched's launch party.

Author Interview: Angela Corbett, author of Eternal Starling

I'm really excited to have debut author Angela Corbett on the blog today. Angela wrote one of the books I included in our 2011 Mundie Moms Favorites, Eternal Starling. Here's a little about the book:


A love so strong, even eternity can’t separate them.

Evie Starling has lived a relatively uneventful life hanging out with friends, gossiping about boys, and driving her 1966 Mustang. All of that changes when she moves to Gunnison, Colorado, to start college and meets two mysterious men.

For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie—but they each have their own reasons for wanting to be with her. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was. Soon, Evie finds herself in the middle of an age-old battle between the Amaranthine Society—the soul protectors, and the Daevos Resistance—the soul destroyers. With a past she doesn’t understand, and a future rife with danger, Evie has to decide who she can trust. But Alex and Emil aren’t the only ones who want Evie, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war -quoted from Goodreads


Oh Evie, Evie, Evie. I love that not only is she level headed, and loves the outdoors, but she has one of my favorite Mustangs! What's one thing (beside the mustang) that you and Evie have in common?

Evie is pretty stubborn, and I share that personality trait with her. On a related note, it was my stubborn streak that got me stuck in a lake on my four-wheeler at the sand dunes when I was in high school--just like Evie.

You wrote such a well written love triangle. I'm honestly torn on who Evie should pick, and I love how you ended Eternal Starling. What's one thing you admire about both Emil and Alex?

Thank you! I love Alex's loyalty, and I love Emil's mysteriousness.

I am such a sucker for classic Ford Mustangs. Do you think Evie would take me for a drive in (her coveted) 1966 GT Mustang? Would she ever allow Emil or Alex to drive her car?

Are you kidding? Evie would love to take you for drive! I think Evie would be much more inclined to let Emil drive her Mustang since Alex has issues with her car.

What was your favorite element to write about or create and why? (the mythology, the romance etc)

I LOVE writing the romance. The tension and build-up is so much fun! I find myself in a typing frenzy wanting to get to the next sexy bit.

Can you give us a little hint at what's to come in the sequel?

Yes! Eternal Starling was really about the romance and showing Evie's relationship with both Alex and Emil, and Evie accepting her new reality. Because of what happens toward the end of Eternal Starling, book 2 has a lot going on, though it's definitely still a kissing book. :) Also, in Eternal Starling, I purposely didn't delve as much into Alex, Emil, and Evie's past because I wanted those stories to unfold over the course of books 2 and 3.

What was one thing you had to have while writing Evie's story?
M&Ms! Peanut butter is my favorite kind, but when I'm writing, any M&M will do.

Eternal Starling is the first in a trilogy. Did you always plan for Evie's story to be a trilogy or did you originally write it as a stand alone?

When I started writing Eternal Starling, I just had a vague idea of the mythology and where I wanted the story to go. By the time I got about 100 pages in, I realized the story was way too big for one book and decided to make it a trilogy.

Which of your characters has surprised you the most in terms of how much they've changed from your first draft to the published book?

Emil and Alex both changed a lot from the first draft. Alex was always sarcastic, but in the first drafts, I think he came across as even more arrogant than he does now. Emil changed far more than Alex though. I always wanted both of my main male characters to be alpha males, but didn't think I could fit that much testosterone in one book. At first, Emil was completely different. He was a sweet, laid-back, nice guy without as much of a backbone--kind of the opposite of Alex. That version of Emil never fit and I struggled with him for a while. I finally realized that Emil could be just as strong as Alex, and totally different. They're both appealing, but in different ways, and their personalities aren't similar either. When I let go of what I thought I had to write, and wrote what I wanted, Emil's personality really came through. He was sexy, mysterious and could definitely hold his own next to Alex. As soon as I made the change, Emil's character finally felt right.

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Thank you to Angela for stopping by today!

You can read my 4.5 star review here

Be sure to visit Angella on her Blog | Website | Twitter | Facebook

You can purchase Eternal Starling from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |IndieBound

Check out the book trailer here

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