MY BEATING TEENAGE HEART
By: C.K. Kelly Martin
Publication Date: September 27, 2011
I picked this book up completely by chance… I hadn’t heard anything about it, but the summary had me intrigued. I fell in love with it! I can’t even lie about it… the end of this book had me in tears. But they were happy ones! Pick this one up if you haven’t yet and let me know what you think when you read it!
Breckon Cody’s on the edge. He’s being ripped apart by grief so intense it literally hurts to breathe. On the surface, Breckon is trying to hold it together for his family and his girlfriend, but underneath he’s barely hanging on.
Even though she didn’t know him in life, Ashlyn sees Breckon’s pain, and she’s determined to find a way help him. As her own distressing memories emerge from the darkness, she struggles to communicate with the boy who can’t see her, but whose life is suddenly intertwined with hers. In alternating voices of the main characters, My Beating Teenage Heartpaints a devastatingly vivid picture of both the heartbreak and the promise of teenage life—a life Ashlyn would do anything to recover and Breckon seems desperate to destroy—and will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, John Green, and David Levithan.
Most of my time spent at York University in Toronto was as an English major, not the traditional way to graduate with a B.A. in Film Studies but a fine way to get a general arts education. After graduation I headed for Dublin, Ireland and spent the majority of the nineties there in forgettable jobs meeting unforgettable people and enjoying the buzz.
I always thoughts I’d get around to writing in earnest eventually and I began writing my first novel in a flat in Dublin and finished it in a Toronto suburb. By then I’d discovered that young adult fiction felt the freshest and most exciting to me. You have most of your life to be an adult but you only grow up once!
As a writer, I’m naturally crazy about good books – but also good movies and good music. My recommended reading list is available on this site, along with a collection of literary and general interest links and other assorted favourites. An avid interest in web site design prompted me to design my first writer’s site, The Start of Something.com, which was named one of the top ten in Writer’s Digest 2001 Best Web Site Competition. The C.K. Kelly Martin web site is now my main site – every inch designed and maintained by me.
Currently residing near Toronto with my Dub husband, I became an Irish citizen in 2001 and continue to visit Dublin often (although not as often as I’d like!) while working on novels about young people. My first YA book, I Know It’s Over, came out with Random House in September 2008, and was followed by One Lonely Degree, The Lighter Side of Life and Death , My Beating Teenage Heart and sci-fi thriller Yesterday. I released Yesterday’s sequel, Tomorrow, in October and put out my first {new} adult novel, Come See About Me, as an ebook in June 2012. My next YA book, The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing, will be published by Cormorant Books’ Dancing Cat Books imprint in fall 2014.
Cosmo’s Pick
BDSM isn’t my favorite erotica genre. It’s generally hit or miss for me. Often times, I find that I am unaffected by the dominant man because he (more often than not) comes across as an asshole. This never happened for me. In fact, this is one of the best explanations of power exchange that I have ever read. The hero, Ethan, wants and needs the heroine to submit, but at the same time, he’s explaining to her why.
She is never once treated as property.
And that’s so damn important.
From Ethan (the hero):
“My normal is as follows. I like to spank, suck, fuck, cherish, challenge, discipline, correct, entice and control my woman. You may think that seems demeaning. I know you like that word, but I’m smart enough to know there’s no honor in degrading a girl who thinks she’s worthless. I make sure my woman knows her value because I don’t do all these things to her, I do them for her. There’s a vast difference between the two.”
When opportunity arises, renowned Dom Ethan White seizes the excuse and offers straitlaced Colin Reneaux an escape from her conventional life. Reluctant at first, she eventually agrees when offered a chance to explore her secret desires with BDSM tapas—small bites of erotic D/s scenarios featuring him as her captor, boss, interrogator, professor and Master. Each eye-opening and sex-fueled scene leaves her more breathless than the last.
Ethan’s surprised to find himself challenged by her strength. He quickly connects with her inner submissive, which draws them deeper into the D/s dynamic. Soon she becomes the woman he swore he’d never need and he, the Master she craves. Together they find the perfect balance… Until someone from Ethan’s past bent on revenge returns and he’s left with no choice. He must break Colin’s heart to free her from the vengeance that threatens her dream.
Unfortunately for him, she has other ideas. Like whose heart should break and who should ultimately surrender…
Riley Murphy writes sexy, humorous and emotional romance, happy ending guaranteed. An optimist, she believes life is awesome, people are complicated, but in a good way, and we should never stop learning. Riley currently resides in Florida with her gorgeous husband. She has two wonderful kids and one very bossy English Bull terrier. When Riley’s not working she enjoys reading, oil painting, and getting to the Sunday crossword puzzle before anyone else does, so she can fill-in all the easy answers first. If Riley wasn’t a writer she’d be an international spy with top-level security so she could have a peek at Area 51 and decide for herself if those green guys are for real. Riley loves her characters and she hopes you do too.
Erin’s Pick
THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE
By: Jandy Nelson
Publication Date: June 7, 2010
This book gives me goosebumps I love it so much. I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t come up on anyone’s list yet so I am jumping at the chance to include it in mine. For the handful of people who follow the blog and somehow don’t know this yet, The Sky is Everywhere is a book that is on my all time favorites list and I don’t see it ever being bumped. Jandy Nelson createed these characters that pulled me in and I couldn’t let go until the end of the book…even then I continued to think about it. They are flawed and hurting but they are also looking for ways to move past the pain the life has thrown at them. If you haven’t read this yet, definitely get on it!
**Because I love all of the covers I am including all 3!
Jandy Nelson received a BA from Cornell, an MFA from Brown in poetry, and another MFA from Vermont College in writing for children and young adults. A literary agent for many years, she is also a published poet. The Sky Is Everywhere is her first novel. Jandy lives in San Francisco. www.jandynelson.com, www.theskyiseverywhere.com.
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