We are pleased to bring you an excerpt from ‘The Hazards of Skinny Dipping’ by Alyssa Rose Ivy.

Skinny dipping was the last thing on my list. Of the five items, it was the hardest one for me. It wasn’t a bucket list or anything like that—I wasn’t thinking about death. It was a things-to-do-before-college list my cousin, Amy, made for me.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. This is going to be one of those stories about the death of a loved one spurring a girl down a path of self-discovery. It’s not. My cousin is alive and well, and at the time of this story was in Malawi with the Peace Corps. The list was her way of preparing me for the wilds of college (her words, not mine). Amy was under the impression that I was entirely unprepared for the life of a coed.

I still remember her exact words. We were hanging out in her room at her parents’ house while she packed. “Juliet, sweetheart, you know I love you, right?”

I glanced at her apprehensively. “Yeah…”

“So know that, when I say this, it’s out of love.” She tossed a huge pile of t-shirts into her large black duffel.

I tensed. “Should I be scared?” Continue Reading…

“The Moon and More” is my favorite Sarah Dessen book. It had me laughing, smiling, and crying for Emaline. Today, Hollywood Crush debuted the trailer. What do you think? Will you read the book?

What’s it about you ask?

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo’s sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline’s mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he’s convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she’s going?

Did you miss it yesterday? Teen.com announced the official lineup for the YALLFEST book festival which takes place in Charleston, SC every year.

Leigh Bardugo – The Grisha Trilogy
Pseudonymous Bosch – The Secret Series
Alexandra Bracken – The Darkest Minds
Libba Bray – The Diviners
Heather Brewer – The Slayer Chronicles
Rae Carson – Fire and Thorns Trilogy
Cinda Chima – The Heir Chronicles
Matthew Cody – Super
Rachel Cohn – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Ally Condie – Matched Trilogy
Jocelyn Davies – A Beautiful Dark
Melissa De La Cruz – Blue Bloods Series
Daniel Ehrenhaft – The Last Dog on Earth Continue Reading…

Looking for a new summer read? You all should check out Tell by Carrie Secor! It is a fabulous book, and I’m not just saying that because she’s my sister. Trust me on this — I would not steer you guys wrong, sibling or no.

Tell is the story of two small-town sisters and how their relationships grow and change over the first few weeks of the new school year. Check out the summary:

Senior Cadie Dawson has just been named editor of the school’s literary magazine. She hasn’t written anything decent since her breakup with Tom last year. She’s a little surprised, and a lot conflicted, to find new inspiration in Shane, a guy who runs in a completely different social circle and also happens to be her best friend’s brother.

Sophomore Melody Dawson has been friends with Andy for so many years, she’s never really known anything else. Lately she’s been wondering what it would be like to take their relationship to the next level. When she tries to build up the courage to take the risk and tell him, she finds herself facing the prospect of life without him.

Welcome to small-town Pennsylvania, where everybody lives within a stone’s throw of everybody else, and the rumor mill is the prevailing force in every high school student’s life. Relationships change, people move away, and friendships are tested, all within the privacy of a very public school. You might bluff or you might fold, but once the cards are dealt, everyone has a tell.

Need a better reason to check it out? How about this: IT’S FREE! Yes, for today and tomorrow only, if you have a Kindle, you can get Tell for FREE. What are you waiting for?

Even though we’re still waiting on the release of the final book in The Mortal Instruments series, Cassandra Clare is already hard at work on Lady Midnight, the first book in The Dark Artifices. Here’s your first peek at this new Shadowhunter series, set in present-day Los Angeles, straight from Cassie’s blog:

The cycle hit the beach and spun out. Emma went into a rolling crouch as she flew free of it, keep­ing her elbows in, push­ing the air hard out of her lungs. She turned her head as she hit the sand, slap­ping her palms down to roll her­self for­ward, absorb­ing the impact of the fall through her arms and shoul­ders, her knees fold­ing up into her chest. The stars wheeled crazily over­head as she spun, suck­ing in her breath as her body slowed its rolling. She came to a stop on her back, her hair and clothes full of sand and her ears full of the sound of the wildly crash­ing ocean….

As well as a general summary for the series:

Los Ange­les, 2012. It’s been five years since the events of the Mor­tal Instru­ments when Nephilim stood poised on the brink of obliv­ion and Shad­owhunter Emma Carstairs lost her par­ents. After the blood and vio­lence she wit­nessed as a child, Emma has ded­i­cated her life to the erad­i­ca­tion of demons and being the best, fastest and dead­liest teen Shad­owhunter since Jace Light­wood. Raised in the Los Ange­les Insti­tute, Emma is paired as a para­batai with her best friend, Julian. As Emma hunts those who caused the death of her par­ents, the trail they’re fol­low­ing leads back to those they’ve always been taught to trust. At the same time, Emma is falling in love with the one per­son in the world she’s absolutely for­bid­den by Shad­owhunter Law to love. Set against the glit­ter­ing back­drop of present-day Los Ange­les, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she inves­ti­gates a demonic plot that stretches from the warlock-run night­clubs of the Sun­set Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica.

Lady Midnight is set to be released in 2015. The series will consist of three books in total: Lady Midnight, The Prince of Shadows, and The Queen of Air and Darkness.

Today, you all should be buying INHALE EXHALE. We’re thrilled to be taking part in celebrating Sarah’s book birthday!

Here is the INHALE EXHALE Synopsis:

Jillian had a plan: celebrate the end of her first year of college with an amazing summer full of beaches, barbeques, and bonfires. When her mom insists she needs a summer job, and her boyfriend spends more time with his band than with her, Jillian’s plans go down the drain.

Grant had a plan: finish his Masters, get a great job at Google, and get the hell out of Georgia. He might be giving up some of the fun of his youth, but he knows his all work and no play method would be worth it when his dreams come true.

But things never go according to plan.

When temptation brings them together and tragedy tears them apart, Jillian and Grant will be forced to choose: fight for their dreams, or fight for each other.

Want to win a copy? Continue Reading…

Check out the cover for Champion, the third and final installment in Marie Lu’s awesome dystopian series that began with Legend and continued with Prodigy.

By the beginning of Champion, June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic, and now they’re on the brink of a new existence — a country at peace, with hope of reunification with the Colonies. Both are back in the good graces of the Republic: June is working within the government’s highest circles as Princeps Elect while Day has been assigned a high-level military position. But just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies. War threatens the Republic’s border cities once again. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever and, as June soon discovers, the Republic’s only means of defense could cost Day everything he has.

Marie also chatted with EW about the cover, ending the series, and the latest news on the Legend movie.

Tell us about the cover.
Oh man, I’m absolutely in love with it — this cover is such a thing of beauty. Penguin knocked it out of the ballpark. The gritty rose, the flames, the bullet hole! Every piece of it perfectly symbolizes Champion‘s contents. (My friend Beth Revis, author of the Across The Universetrilogy, contributed the bullet hole concept. It helps to have great minds on your side!)

Any new developments with the movie?
I’m really excited about the finished screenplay, and I know Temple Hill is on the hunt now for the perfect director. Meanwhile, CBS Films and I collaborated with game studio Wicked Sweet Games to create a fun Facebook game for Legend called “Cities of Legend.” Fans can check it out here. Both CBS Films and Temple Hill have been immensely supportive.

Read more at the SOURCE.

Champion is set to hit shelves November 5. What do you think of the cover?