*Review* Crash Into You By Katie McGarry

Crash Into You - Katie McGarry

Series : #3 Pushing The Limits

Released : 13th December 2013

Publisher: Mira Ink 

Format : Paperback

Source : Publisher (Thank you) 

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)/Book Depository

Overall rating

 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................

The girl with straight A's, designer clothes, and the perfect life - that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list.

One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker - a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks - no matter how angelic she might look. But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

 .................................... Bernie's Thoughts   ....................................

In Long

When I was choosing which book to read next I knew I really needed a book which could grab my attention. Having a new born baby means it’s hard to find time to read therefore I needed a book which I knew I would want to find time for. Having cried at Pushing the Limits and fell for the characters in Dare You To I knew Katie wouldn't let me down.

Reading the blurb of Crash Into You it sounds like quite a typical read, a good girl with a secret rebel side and a bad boy with a secret soft side. Don’t be fooled. I have quickly learnt that Katie McGarry doesn't do a ‘typical read’ and instead does heart wrenching and emotive.

Getting to know Isaiah for me was completely engrossing; I have never known a character like him before and I totally fell for him (so yummy!). He has such a bad boy image but when you take away the layers you see this caring and sweet boy who just wants to do good. Although I almost envied Rachel because Isaiah really liked her I could see why he did and I really felt sorry for her. Both their life’s are challenging but for totally different reasons,  I found it very touching how instead of letting their huge differences get in the way it brought them closer and it was fascinating to see how their relationship developed.

Final Thoughts

Crash Into You has a spark, a spark I find very rarely in books. I have to admit I can’t put my finger on what it is or how Katie does it but she has now managed to write another book which I couldn't put down.

Find Katie

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Buy Crash Into You
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Victoria Danann Blog Tour : Giveaway

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Rules :

We must insist on one purchase per entry, but unlimited entries are allowed so please consider giving everyone you know the entire Black Swan saga for less than a dollar!

This giveaway is sponsored by Victoria Danann and her team. If you have any questions please ask and I will response as well as I can. 

Cover Crazy #113

Cover Crazy is a meme I enjoy taking part in as a book lover because for me, although they say don't judge a book by it's cover, covers have a big influence over whether I pick a book up or not! 

The Winner's Curse - Marie Rutkoski
I love the image in this cover but I really don't think the writing over the picture works. I have only seen this sort of thing work for one cover. I just think the cover is very pretty and the writing is overbearing and takes too much away from the picture. 

Guest Post + Giveaway - Victoria Danann

Thank you Victoria for this awesome post. I appreciate indie authors so much and this guest post is really interesting to me and definitely agree that authors are now needed to interact with their readers. 

The State of Indie Publishing

by Victoria Danann

Last month I was the featured author at the first ever Indie Romance Convention where I was privileged to give the keynote speech on opening night and moderate a panel discussion for authors on Indie marketing.
The Indie Rom con is a convention with separate events (workshops, panels) for authors and readers. I didn’t attend any of the reader events because the con organizer had me busy working with other authors. During those exchanges I was able to discern a lot about the current state of affairs.
First, as I’m sure you’re aware, Independent Publishing includes a variety of approaches to book distribution such as self-publishing, small press, and independent imprint digital. I don’t usually cite my own case because it’s unique. When I began publishing my works of fiction, I did so under 7th House Publishing, which is a small press and was owned by me at the time. For about fifteen years its focus had been strictly calendars, planners, New Age niche books, and sidelines.
As a person who began as owner/operator of a small publishing company, I was fortunate to have many of the skills necessary to running an Indie fiction business before I began writing the fiction I would sell. For the vast majority of Indie authors, that equation is the other way around.
In other words I was familiar with marketing principles, time management, and had acquired useful tech skills so that I can manage my own website, do my own graphics (including covers), and format my books for publication in various e-versions.
Not every Indie author has or is going to want to acquire that specific skill set, but that’s okay. There are people who can be hired to perform those tasks. What every Indie author does need to understand is that an independent writing career is not only a business, it’s an entrepreneurial business. It’s a leap for risk takers and scramblers.
If the voice in your head says, “But I just want to write,” Indie publishing is not for you. Sadly, there may not be any place for you because, while traditional publishing may survive in some form, the days of authors contributing nothing more than manuscripts are over. Even big names are now expected to spend time on social media and engage readers, contribute earnings to various promotions, and participate in marketing activities where their predecessors were simply left alone.
For a time traditional publishing tried to deny that the gate was open for good. For four hundred years nothing much changed in the world of publishing, but the Kindle created a revolution that upended the stranglehold the New York gatekeepers had over which things did or did not get published. Don’t get me wrong. I understand investing. The people who are putting up the money get to say how it’s used, where, when, and why. I have no problem with that. It’s only right.
On the other hand, there’s something truly noble about having a global forum that allows anyone with something to say to put it out there and let the reading public – rather than book investors – decide what they want to read.
As to the fate of traditional publishing, let me paraphrase Mark Coker of Smashwords. “They’re like the Titanic. They know they’re going to sink, but they’re too big to turn. All they can do is brace and wait for impact. “
Meanwhile, a lot of authors like myself are benefitting from a readership with whom contact would have been possible. My books would never have been published – too different, too much of a risk. So I owe Amazon a lot. If they dropped the props that are holding traditional publishing up, so that we were on a level playing field with those authors, I would owe them even more. (Are you listening, Amazon? We, Indies, are your future.)
Next year the Indie Rom Con will be held in Nashville next year, September 11-14 with outstanding small events for both authors and readers. http://indieromancecon.com/

Find Victoria

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Giveaway
Signed Copy of My Familiar Stranger & Keychain 

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Cover Crazy #111

Cover Crazy is a meme I enjoy taking part in as a book lover because for me, although they say don't judge a book by it's cover, covers have a big influence over whether I pick a book up or not! 

Second Rate Chances - Holly Stephens 
I don't love this cover but it would make me pick the book up as I have enjoyed a lot of books with covers like this. I like that you can tell this book is a romantic read.