Deceived by Julie Anne Lindsey

If you're a regular you might recognize Julie's name. She's been on here before and I'm a fan. I even have the jacket.

Well, she's at it again with her YA Suspense, Deceived.

Doesn't this cover just scream creepy!

Well, you won't be deceived...the inside is creepy.

Ever since she could remember, Elle has had to hop from town to town to keep up with her dad's demanding career as a corporate insurance agent. Each time, a reoccurring nightmare followed her wherever she went--until the day that the frightening figures haunting her at night became all too real. When news of a serial killer spreads throughout her new school, Elle worries that the Reaper has been leaving her his calling card in the form of cigarette butts on her doormat and an unusual ribbon in her locker. With the help of Brian, a boy she meets at a flea market, she discovers that this isn't her first encounter with the murderer and that her father has been concealing her true identity for the past twelve years. But despite her father's desperate attempts to protect her, Elle still comes face to face with the darkness she has been running from her whole life. Trapped in the woods and with help hundreds of miles away, will Elle be able to confront the Reaper and reclaim the life she lost?

Available September 18^th on Amazon Barnes & Noble Book Depository and more.

Guys, I've read this book and I'm not a big chicken. I don't think I'll ever look at discarded cigarette butts the same or little pumpkins.

If the book cover and blurb don't get you, how about a book trailer. A group of crazy kids from Kent State put together a trailer for their alumni member. Click the link above and make sure you don't watch it with the lights out!

About the author:

Julie Anne Lindsey is a multi-genre author who writes the stories that keep her up at night. In 2013, Julie welcomed five new releases in three genres including her newest title, DECEIVED, a YA suspense from Merit Press, and her first cozy mystery, MURDER BY THE SEASIDE, book one in the Patience Price, Counselor at Large series from Carina Press (a digital imprint of Harlequin).

Julie is a self-proclaimed word nerd who would rather read than almost anything else. She started writing to make people smile. Someday she plans to change the world. Most days you'll find her online, amped up on caffeine and wielding a book.

Julie is a member of the International Thriller Writers (ITW), Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), Sisters in Crime (SinC) and the Canton Writer’s Guild.

Find her online:

Tweeting her crazy @JulieALindsey

Soothing her book obsession on GoodReads

Pinning the pretty on Pinterest

Tumbling lamely on Tumblr

Blogging about books and writing at Musings from the Slush Pile

Facebook

Between the Lines series

Notice: For mature adiences. Sexual content and language. (posted for those younger audience members.)

To be honest, I'm not sure how I stumbled onto this series but I'M IN LOVE!

In Book 1 we meet Emma and Reid. Reid is some hot actor while Emma is rather still obscure. He's a playboy, she's timid. And he wants her. He digs down deep into his bag of tricks to win her over and she immediately falls for his good looks and charm.

But there's always a but! And a triangle.

You continue on with Book 2, Where you Are, with Emma and Reid but we are also invited into Brooke and Graham's head. Brooke wants Graham, Graham's with Emma and Reid wants to swoop in and save the day.

Who will end up together and who will get their heart smashed.

In Good for You, we meet Dori. Reid almost kills himself and is forced to do community service where he meets the preachers daughter. She struggles with not liking him but in the end...I won't give it away. You have to read to find out. 

Also, there's a surprise that continues on to book 4.

Reid and Brooke are together again but not in the way the paps think. In the end all secrets are revealed and some fences mended. We are visit again by Emma and Graham, Brooke, Reid, Dori and River. 

This series was fantastic. I literally couldn't put it down. The characters are flawed and you can't help but love them. 

The ending was sweet and beautiful, forcing me to re-read it just to savor all the details. Throughout the series we get to witness the life journey that Reid makes. His flaws and mistakes and the big heart he's been hiding from years or partying and living reckless. 

If you love NA, you have to add this to your TBR list. Webber also has another book, Easy which was just as good. She is a wonderful writer who loves a HEA just as much as me!

Happy reading!

What did you just say?

I'm not ashamed to admit that as a reader I tend to skip past several pages of text just to get to the dialogue. Especially, when we're in the main character's head and she's rambling about something that happened and what it all means when all I really care about is what are you going to say next.

As an author, I love writing dialogue. It can move the story forward and provide insight into my characters. But the key is to make it real. Don't just have them say stuff just to talk. I recently read a series and where I enjoyed the general story line and couldn't wait to find out what happens next, I found myself even skipping some of the dialogue because the main character was chatting with her friend and they weren't saying anything important. I don't care what you had for breakfast and to be honest, neither does the person you're talking to even though they are fictional character.

Its also important to make sure if you are, let's say, writing YA that your character speaks YA. As a 36 (I have to ask my husband all the time how old I am!) year mother of 3, I may not be the target audience for my books but that's were watching TV and reading magazines help. I love YA shows which if full of dialogue (do you see a theme). I devour everything they say and the way they say it because we all know inflection and body language can take what you say and twist is all around.

Here's my tip of the week about writing and dialogue. It can move your story forward and provide the reader with a lot of information but you'll fall flat if your characters sound too old and if they ramble about nothing important.

Happy Writing!