RELEASE DAY w/EXCERPT - YA CONTEMPORARY - SAM SQUARED by Cindy Dorminy

Sam Squared

by Cindy Dorminy

Publication date: March 17th 2025

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

BLURB

Falling in love should be easy as Pi.

Seventeen-year-old Samantha Baughman has one month to raise her GPA, or she can kiss her coveted Auburn basketball scholarship goodbye. Her only hope lies with her high school’s resident bad boy—and closet genius—Samuel King.

The last thing Samuel wants is to get tangled in anyone else’s problems. But when he gets caught helping another student cheat, his teacher offers him a get-out-of-jail-free card. With a one-way ticket to boarding school as his only other option, Samuel reluctantly agrees to tutor Samantha… with one stipulation. They have to keep their arrangement on the down-low. No one can know about their study sessions, especially Samantha’s overprotective brother, who has already warned Samuel to stay away from his sister.

As the “Sams” spend more time together, their playful banter turns into genuine attraction, including one extra-credit-worthy kiss. But Samantha’s brother’s threats send Samuel backpedaling so fast that he denies their encounter ever happened. Now, it’s game on for Samantha to get him to confess. She may need his help to pass her classes, but he’s the one who needs schooling in matters of the heart.

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EXCERPT

Samantha

I take out my cell phone and send a quick text before class starts.

Me: Hey, Mule. Need your opinion. In private, please.

His chuckle resonates through the classroom, signaling to me he got my message. My phone vibrates with an incoming text.

Mule: Is this about sec?

Not sure what he means. Auburn is an SEC team, but there is no reason he would ask about that. I suck in a breath. Maybe he means sex. Heat rushes up my neck as I text back.

Me: NO!! Will you meet me at the Green Hills Library after school?

Mule: What’s it worth to you?

Pondering my reply, I take a peek around to see him mouth, Well? He is infuriating, and I can’t believe I’m going through with this.

Me: I won’t tell anyone you cried when Nemo’s mom died.

Mule: You wouldn’t.

While I relive that moment, I bite my lip to keep from laughing. He was a blubbering idiot throughout that entire movie after the first scene. It’s my word against his, but he knows it’s all true.

Me: Try me.

 

Author Info

Cindy Dorminy writes about love when it’s least expected. Quirky dialogue and sassy, southern heroines are a must in her romances. When she’s not in her she-shed working on her next novel, she enjoys walking her dog, gardening, and weightlifting. She shares her house with her musician husband, an awesome daughter, and a miniature dachshund who would eat all the food if he could figure out how to open the refrigerator. She resides in Nashville, TN, where live music can be heard everywhere, even at the grocery store.

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TOUR Audio - YA CONTEMPORARY - LOVE AND OTHER SINS by Emilia Ares Narrators Karissa Vacker & Will Collyer

LOVE AND OTHER SINS
by Emilia Ares
Narrators: Karissa Vacker, Will Collyer
Length: 10 hours and 7 minutes
Released: November 11th 2021
Publisher: SERA Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Young Adult

    The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . LOVE AND OTHER SINS . . . If you are looking to be fully engrossed and have your senses and emotions taken for a ride. Then I would highly recommend this one. I got more than I was bargaining for when I clicked play. Mina and Oliver could not have been more different and yet the same. They both were at the point in their lives that their future was in their hands to make something more, different, better. They both learn that life had more then good will to offer them and that their past will always be hunting for their future. 

Karissa Vacker & Will Collyer did a fab job with giving us complex characters with the emotions of it all attached. Their performances made for a more enjoyable read with visual cues intact. The way the brough to life Emillia's words was wonderful. The complex of emotions: pain, sorrow, loss, trust issues, freedom, realizations. 

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Emilia Ares. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Mina’s life is going according to plan; she’s acing AP Calc and is perfectly content with her nonexistent social life. Though only a high school junior, Mina knows time is an investment, and she’s putting all her capital into academics. Oliver, a child abuse survivor who grew up in the foster care system, is ready to burn down his old life and start from scratch - complete with a new name and emancipation papers - in LA. When the two are thrown together through circumstance and develop an unexpected connection, they discover how hard it is to keep the past in the past. 

Content warning: sexual assault, recollections of child abuse, discussions of suicidal thoughts, and mention of miscarriage.

 

Emilia Ares is an American film and television actress known for American Horror Story (2011), NCIS (2003), Bosch (2014), and Follow Me (2020). Love and Other Sins is her debut novel. She graduated UCLA with a BA in Economics, and a minor in Russian. Literature and storytelling have always been her true passion. 

 

Karissa is an Audie Award Finalist and AudioFile Earphones award winning narrator based in Los Angeles by way of Texas. She is a classically trained actor with credits from major regional theaters and also enjoys a career in film and TV. Karissa has narrated over 100 books in-studio for Penguin Random House, Hachette, Brilliance, Tantor, Dreamscape, Harper Collins and Scholastic, among others. She excels at narrating YA fiction, women's fiction, and suspense/thrillers.

 

Will Collyer, an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator, is a film, television, and stage actor. He has starred in television shows such as Melrose Place, Charmed, CSI: Miami, and Boston Public, as well as numerous films and plays. He holds a BA in theater arts from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. 

 

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COMING SOON - YA CONTEMPORARY - WORN OUT PLACES by R.H. McMahan

Worn Out Places

by R.H. McMahan

Publication date: September 1st 2021

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

BLURB

I can’t answer that question. I can’t tell him I’ve spent my whole life trying to disappear. I can’t tell him that I was born a drug addict. Or that I’ve been in foster homes so terrible I wished I didn’t exist. And I can’t tell him that last year ended any ambition I had to make it somewhere better in this world.

Drug addict parents. The foster care system. Living on the streets of New York City.

Zoie Cruz is used to an unflinching world that takes without giving back. But at seventeen she isn’t used to Northern Michigan, a family that wants her to succeed, and sobriety.

Everything changed on Christmas morning last year. Her social worker calls it a tragedy and her weekly Narcotics Anonymous meeting wants her to open up. All Zoie wants is to be left alone to get high.

When she meets local golden boy Dean, he’s determined to pull Zoie out of her darkness. And she’s determined to keep her walls sealed shut.

In a whirlwind struggle to stay clean, Zoie’s secrets can only stay hidden for so long.

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Author Info

R.H. McMahan a.k.a. Mickie is a Puerto Rican and Irish YA/NA author. She was born and raised in Chicago - and yes she thinks it's important that you know that. In June of 2020, she graduated with a BA in English Lit and Creative Writing and is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing.

Mickie dreamt of becoming an author since she started telling stories on the playground in first grade. Ever since then it is rare to find her without a notebook and a pen. Her book baby, Worn Out Places, debuts on September 1st and she cannot wait to share it with the world.

If she's not writing she's doing other creative things like singing, dancing, and drawing.

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COMING SOON - YA CONTEMPORARY - BURIED BENEATH by Kelly Ann Hopkins

Buried Beneath

by Kelly Ann Hopkins

Publication date: August 2021

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

BLURB

Shelly Frank lives a lie inside a beautifully landscaped New Jersey home. Her mother suffers from hoarding disorder, turning the inside of the house into a vile nest of cast offs, books, and old pizza boxes. Depressed by the secret life she leads, Shelly lives for the moments she gets to spend with her boyfriend, Joshua, the only person who knows about her hidden secret life.

The summer of her senior year, her father confesses the truth about why he left and sends her a lifeline: a one-way plane ticket to his home in Florida. Shelly is terrified to leave her agoraphobic mother home alone but knows her father’s gift might be the only way to save herself. With Joshua’s promise to attend college in Florida that fall, Shelly leaves for her father’s house.

There she attempts to resurrect her relationship with her father, learning he left Shelly behind when her mother threatened suicide if he fought for custody. Shelly and her father gradually come to terms with the past and her mother’s declining mental state, but Shelly’s health spirals until she lands in the hospital for emergency surgery. As she recovers with Joshua by her side, Shelly decides the only way to survive her illness and help her mother overcome her condition is to expose the terrible secrets about her childhood. Will her father’s support and Joshua’s love be enough to help Shelly save her mother and survive the life that nearly buried her alive?

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Author Info 

Kelly Ann Hopkins is the author of Misled (coming 2021) and Buried Beneath (coming 2022). She spends her days as a high school librarian and creative writing teacher, where she challenges her students to read with abandon. When she’s not creating perilous adventures for her characters, she is dreaming of her next trip to the Florida Gulf Coast. Kelly lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two children, and too many books.

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COMING - YA CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE - NEVER SAY NEVER by Justine Manzano

Never Say Never

by Justine Manzano

Publication date: June 15th 2021

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

BLURB

After she walks in on her mom doing the horizontal mambo with a man that’s decidedly not her dad, Brynn Stark swears off love. One of her friends–Val–is determined to change her mind, no matter the consequences. Prickly and cynical, Brynn tries to avoid Val’s attempts at setting her up, until Val reveals her true identity–Aphrodite, goddess of love, who promises to show Brynn why she shouldn’t lose faith.

Brynn’s job, school, and the various love connections Val tries to make keep her busy enough, but in her spare time, she struggles to navigate her own role in her parents’ divorce. With her other best friend recovering from a breakup of her own, and Val dead set on playing matchmaker, Brynn’s forced to rely on the fourth member of their friend group, Adam, for moral support. Adam, Val’s boyfriend.

Realizing she’s beginning to fall for Adam, Brynn throws herself full-force into dating Val’s picks, hoping one can lure her away from the bad situation she’s hurtling towards, but even when she finds one with a spark, she can’t stop thinking about Adam. Brynn’s forced to decide if she’ll choose her goddess-given fate, or risk it all for the wrong-but-right guy. One thing’s for sure. Love sucks. And it’s all about to blow up in their faces.

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Author Info

Justine Manzano is a YA author and editor living in Bronx, NY with her husband, son, and a cacophony of cats. Her novel, The Order of the Key will be available from Black Rose Writing in July 2020. She can normally be found at her website, www.justinemanzano.com,and she’s on all the usual social media haunts. If you’ve looked in all these places and can’t find her, she’s probably off reading fanfiction. She’ll be back soon.

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BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - YA CONTEMPORARY - CAN'T CATCH MY BREATH by Sarah Sutton

Can’t Catch My Breath

by Sarah Sutton

Publication date: January 26th 2021

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

BLURB

Addy Arden lives in a land called denial.

After losing her dad in a car accident, she’d rather pretend things are okay than be crushed by grief and guilt. Her friends buy the fake smiles and her mom doesn’t seem to notice…or care.

And Addy is doing great until she’s paired with Vincent Castello, the most intimidating senior at Greenville High, for a class project. Interview a random classmate and write a report on them. Should be easy, right?

Not by a longshot.

Because the car accident that killed Addy’s dad? It left Vincent’s father paralyzed.

Talk about an awkward ice-breaker.

As the two grow closer, can Addy face her grief and guilt head-on and put her past behind her, or will she let it consume her, and lose the guy who truly takes her breath away?

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EXCERPT:

I wrote down in all capitals PEER INTERVIEW, jotting down the due date. One thing that tripped me up, though, was that Mr. V had said pairings. Meaning he’d already stuck us together with partners. I knew I wouldn’t have gotten lucky enough to be paired with Vesta, but I honestly wasn’t sure if there was another student I’d want to have to spend two weeks interviewing. Or, most likely, one week interviewing—the second week would be spent drafting that report.

“Greyson Clemon and Kristen Veracruz,” Mr. Walker called out. “Yvonne Buckley and Ella Garrett. Vesta Upperton and Kyle Casey.”

Figures. My best friend was with another easygoing, charismatic person. All kinds of unfair. She’d get someone like him, and I’d get—

I’d been looking at Mr. Walker, and I saw the moment he scanned the next pair of names, saw the moment he came up short. “Addy Arden and…” He paused, looking like he visibly swallowed. “Vincent Castello.”

Time stopped.

My whole body seemed to freeze, an iciness sweeping through my veins. It was like I’d fallen into a lake of water in the middle of winter, instantly turning into an Addy Arden popsicle.

I’d never thought about Vincent Castello before, at least not for any longer than five seconds at a time. He was a partier, definitely not my crowd. He didn’t party like Vesta partied, with a few sips from a red cup. Word was he did drugs. Had tattoos. I mean, he had a lip piercing. I’d never even looked him in the eye.

Until now.

While holding my breath, I glanced behind me and almost immediately wished I hadn’t.

He wasn’t looking at me, almost like he refused to. His dark hair hung in his eyes, lips turned down into a frown—even from here, I could see his silver lip piercing, and it made my heart skip a beat. That rumor was true, so what else was?

Just as quickly as I’d turned, I flipped back toward the front, slipping lower in my seat. Whether Vincent looked over at me or not, I had no way of really knowing, but there was no shaking the feel of eyes on the back of my head.

It wasn’t just this assignment that made me panicked. It was the fact that his dad was Carlo Castello that complicated things. A lot.

A sticky, hot feeling unfurled over me. If Vincent and I were partners for this project, that meant we’d have to talk to each other. Interview each other.

I was already near hyperventilating. No. No, no. I couldn’t do that. Not even a little bit. And I was certain Vincent wouldn’t want to either.

Mr. Walker continued down the list, but I mentally replayed the sound of Vincent’s name, my brain unable to let go.

I couldn’t help but think that Vincent’s life was entangled with mine, two pieces of string in a messy, twisted knot. I would never be able to look at him without thinking of everything that happened.

Both of our lives, forever altered by the same accident.

 

Author Info

Sarah Sutton is a YA Romance author, bringing you stories about teenagers falling in love (sometimes with magic)She spends her days dreaming up ideas with her two adorable puppies by her side being cheerleaders (and mega distractions).

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BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - YA CONTEMPORARY - FOREVER BURN by Trinity Lemm

Forever Burn

by Trinity Lemm

Publication date: May 4th 2020

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

BLURB

Tatum Everley is a freshman at Western Michigan University. Due to an emotionally and psychologically abusive past relationship, Tate struggles from Complex-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She has been working on controlling her symptoms and flashbacks, but when she meets Axel Burne at a fraternity party, who is notorious for sleeping around and getting into fights, she tries her best to dodge the bullet. Axel starts to become intrigued by Tate, but she’s better off choosing Lucas— the sweet guy who has been trying to take her out since orientation. But even though Lucas is the better option, Axel keeps reappearing. Tate continues to try to stay away from him, but it starts becoming harder to, and as she gets closer to him, things start to get way out of hand. If Tate wants her happy ending and her sanity intact, then she has to push through the hardships and maintain control over her disorder.

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EXCERPT:

Claire stopped moving for a second, her eyes hovering past me. She looked alarmed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“That guy over there. He’s been staring at you for the past fifteen minutes.”

I furrowed my brows, confused as to why any guy would be staring at me when there were dozens of other girls here to be looking at. I whipped around, making eye contact with the mysterious boy and immediately regretting it. He stood tall. His wide frame took up a good amount of the wall that he was leaning against. His brown curls were the perfect amount of clean, yet messy and even from across the room, I could see his defined jawline. He grinned while watching me curiously.

I turned back towards Claire. She could tell I was uncomfortable. “Who is that?” I screamed over the music. My red lipstick formed a straight line as I pressed my lips together. Claire shrugged her shoulders, clearly just as confused as I was. Gianna stepped into the conversation.

“Axel Burne!” she yelled, barely loud enough to hear over the deafening music. After hearing the name come out of Gianna’s mouth, Claire knew exactly who he was. A look of worry came over her and she grabbed my wrist, pulling me in close enough to hear her every word.

“I’ve heard about him. He’s bad news, Tatum. Everyone says he’s a piece of crap. Don’t even look at him twice,” Claire said. I nodded. Of course, he was a piece of crap. Most guys were. And by simply looking at him once, I could tell. He looked like the typical college d-bag.

I kept my back to where I last saw Axel standing. I’ll admit that he was hot as hell, but I knew that the last thing I needed was to become involved with him in any way possible. The three of us continued to dance and after another ten or so minutes, curiosity got the best of me. I quickly looked to see if Axel was still there. An empty spot was all that was left of where he once stood and I was both disappointed and relieved at the sight.

When I turned back around, a tall, wide frame stood in front of me. I could see Axel’s muscles bulging out the sleeves of his white t-shirt. Tattoos were scattered across both of his arms. Damn.

He leaned in so that his mouth was directly next to my ear.

“Dance with me.”

 

Author Info

Trinity Lemm is from a small town in Illinois. After graduating from high school in 2019, she began attending Western Michigan University to study both business and dance, with plans of maintaining a writing career on the side. When she is not writing, she enjoys dancing, spending time with friends and family, and watching scary movies.

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