I have a bad habit. I fall in love too often. Have too many men, and none of them are real. Yep. I hate to say it, but I fall for the hero time and time again in the books I read. Sigh. The thing is, I want to love the main man. Whether the book is mediocre or great, if the author has done a half decent job on Mr. Right, I’m falling. I’m crossing out the female leads name and writing mine in. 😉 Alright… maybe I don’t go that far. But a girl can dream. Once I’ve closed the book and put it away, if the hero lingers, the longer he lingers, the more I respect the writer and the power they poured into that character for me – for all the readers like me.
So why am I writing this particular post now? Because, as those who are cuckoo for Coco puff, I’m nutty for Noah. Are you familiar with the book The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer? I devoured it! If you haven’t yet, now’s your chance to possibly win a copy. Leave a comment within the next week and one lucky person will be chosen to receive a brand new, never read hard copy of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.
I found Mara’s world intriguing, to say the least. Weren’t we talking about mutant powers only a week or so ago? Hmm, I believe we were. Mara fits into this category. When hunky hero Noah Shaw shows up on the scene, however, all chances for me to turn back were lost. I had the book in my hand everywhere I went. I HAD TO KNOW!
And then it ended. But the story wasn’t complete. Don’t you just hate that? Does it make you feel like a four-year-old? Do you want to roll around on the living room floor screaming and kicking? Yes? I’m glad to know I’m not alone. I’m not alone, am I? There’s a whole world full of crazy readers like me.
And then the most amazing thing happened. As if God showed mercy upon me for my school girl crush. I would have had to wait until the end of October to learn what happened next when the second book in the series releases, but NO! My fairies finally worked their magic. Something good happened. I got the answer in my hot little hands – and let me tell you I didn’t let it go until I finished reading it from cover to cover – BOOK #2 !!!! Yes. You read that right. I have read The Evolution of Mara Dyer.
And am I happy? No. My smile is pointing towards the ground. Why? Because I now have to wait even LONGER for the next one. Jumps up and down and pouts. Has anyone seen my little monkey girl throw one of her fits? Now I know where she gets it from. I am suffering serious withdrawal. Book #2 hasn’t even hit the stands yet. How long must I wait for Book #3 to learn the fate of my hero? I will die a thousand deaths in the waiting. Melodramatic? Hell yes. I am three!
The ending, I’m not even going there. For one, I don’t want to ruin it for any potential readers. Two, it hurts to talk about. Sniff, sniff. 😉 Alright, if you’d like to read a serious review you may do so at The Reader Bee. 😀
But seriously, setting the fun antics and book boy crushes aside for a minute, this book made me think. There is fabulous conflict in the end, always a good thing if the story is to continue. But the conflict, in this case, left me unsettled. Of course, it will ensure I’ll be in line to buy the next book (and early – like day one!) but still bothered me because it planted a seed of doubt. I started thinking about how it was similar, in some ways, to plans I have tossed around for my storyline – eventually. Do you want that conflicted ending at the potential expense of your reader’s content? As a writer, I would have done the same thing Michelle Hodkin did. But as a reader, I wanted to read it differently. Maybe take the story a little further so that I was left not knowing for another year or more. What if there is no middle of the road worth considering?
What do you look for in your read and how is it different from what you might write (if you’re a writer), or is it?
Leave a comment and be entered for a chance to win a hard copy of the first book in the series : The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Comments to be left within a week’s time.
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,¸.•*(¸.•` The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Giveaway¸.•´¸.•*´¨)
Added Thursday, September 20th, 2012
Participates in the giveaway were numbered in the order their comment was received. Do not count duplicates or comments from the host. Our winner is #3!
Congratulations, Diana Beebe!
Please contact me with your snail mail so that your new hard copy of the first book in Mara Dyer’s story can get on its merry way!………………………………~ᴑoOoᴑ~………………………………
If you’re following the Thor tour, we hope to be hearing from our guy soon. If you haven’t joined in the fun yet, it’s not too late! Add your stop to the list today. You could blog all about Thor’s visit and I’ll promote you here on my blog, as well as track his progress. Let me know and we’ll add you to the list. Our Norse god will be getting his own page here on the blog soon. Be on the look out for that.
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Reminder : this blog will be relocating to a self-hosted site at some point at the end of October, beginning of November. I hope you’ll follow us to the new digs. My fabulous designer, Laird Sapir, and I have some pretty amazing ideas (I think) and I hope you’ll enjoy what we create there.
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I fall for them too, almost every time 🙂 I totally became Bella when I read Twilight.
I’m not familiar with Noah, but I’d like to be.
I look for vibrant characters that seem to bounce out of the page into real life, characters who make me forget I’m actually reading.
Aw, I girl after my own heart. We look for the same thing. Not all heroes do that. Really love the ones that say with us for long after the book has been put away. I felt that way about the Fever series and the Blood Stone series.
A good romance has a heroine we want to be, and a hero we want to be with. I like to read about ordinary people who turn out not to be so ordinary, and the more conflict, the better! I write books I’d want to read, so this is what I shoot for in my own work, too.
I think we always write at our best if we write books we would like to read. But we also (usually) know where the story is going. We don’t have that luxury when we are reading someone else’s story, and we have to wait long periods in between. That’s where the frustration comes in for those cliff hangers and all the conflict. But it’s also so rewarding.
Who needs a serious review when they can read your post? I love/hate that torture of having to wait months for the next book. 🙂
I’m right there with you on the love/hate thing. Thanks for that compliment. I’m working on the reviews. I’m behind on a bunch I need to write for GR and Amazon. Serious reviews take a lot of thought and time. There’s so many of them out there, I thought I’d take a different approach – YA crush obsession. 😀 Although, this book is only just getting started, I didn’t want to review it and give anything away. It’s dark and exciting. I would highly recommend it.
You are so adorable, Debra! I love that you crush on book heros. 😉
I look for similar traits in books I read and write—intriguing characters, suspense, good pacing… I’m also drawn to all things psychological. It’s funny, though. I have trouble reading some fiction while I’m in the midst of writing mine. I suppose my head’s too full of my own story… I tend to read more non-fiction while writing my first draft especially, and fiction that varies more from mine.
Oh yeah, when I am on the first draft of anything I stay away from reading conflicting material. I don’t want to run the chance of being influenced. In the early stages our stories can be really all consuming, can’t they?
Great blog, happy I stumbled across it. Isn’t it amazing what books can do to you? I feel empty at the end of a really gripping book – what’s there to look forward to? And then I torture myself and not order the next one immediately even if it’s out, just so I don’t “run out”.
Thank you, Eva. Empty, that’s an excellent way to describe it. Yes, we’re left feeling the need to fill more of that gaping hole inside of us. I respect you for not running out and snatching up the book right away. That shows a lot of self-control. Thanks for stopping in.
Love books + crushing on heroes = a normal reader. I don’t think it’s possible for a reader to get into a story and not start looking at the characters as real. So yeah, I’ve wound up with crushes on heroes…all the time! The better the hero, the more I’m like Emma…and I see my face with the heroines name.
Do I like cliffhanger endings? Yes and no. Yes, if it’s a series that’s already finished. If I’m going to have to wait months, or longer…no. I’m sorry, but the odds are better than good that no matter how much I loved the first book, I’ll totally forget about the series by the time the new books come out.
The only reason I’m remember the Morganville series is because my daughter started reading it first…and suckered me into ‘just’ reading the first one. After that we had to work out a deal….where I got to read the next ones first (she takes her time…I start…and finish it in a matter of hours). In fact, I read the entire Twilight series in a week. That was a lot of reading.
Anyway, yes I love a cliffhanger…but only if I can feed my curiosity immediately. If I can’t, then I’d like enough things tied up so if I forget to get the next book, I won’t feel like I completely wasted my time. 🙂
In the past I have usually waited until the entire series is written before starting, just in case. I broke that rule this time and I’m paying the price as a result.
That sounds like a pretty good recommendation for the Morganville series. I may have to look into that at some point.
I really enjoy the series…and stupid as it sounds (because vampires aren’t real), I think it’s a more realistic storyline than Twilight. Plus they have their resident looney tunes vampire…and I really love him! The name Myrnin leaves a little to be desired, but the character is too cool. 🙂
OMG OMG OMG. HOW did you get a copy of book 2? I LOVED the Unbecoming. *Flails around like a fangirl* What do I have to do to win? I WANT THIS BOOK NOW! 🙂 (Okay, now on to the more respectable Krystal. I think you and I felt the same way about book 1!)
Try this link and see if it works for you: https://www.facebook.com/MaraDyer?sk=app_128953167177144
SimonTEEN is offering their last ARC give away now. You can find the info on Their FB page as well as The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer fan page. You won’t be sorry if you end up being one of the lucky winners. I was checking my doorstep daily until it showed up. 🙂
I’m such a sucker for great characters. I like to feel a little leap in my stomach the first time the hero and heroine kiss. I get so invested that if things don’t go right, it’ll bother me for days after I finish the book. I think that might be part of why I started writing. I wanted to be sure to get the things I wanted from a book.
Now, here’s hoping I win this one *crosses fingers*
I love that feeling we get at the first kiss. I love your story as to why you started writing.
Wishing you luck in the giveaway. Although, you know I can’t take anyone’s side. You are all special to me!
I get book crushes too. I love a good emotional journey in a story! 🙂
Aren’t they the best? I love losing myself in them. The withdrawal afterwards though, not so fun.
“What do you look for in a read?” Hmm. I look for a story that will take me away and help me escape from my world. And crushes always work. 🙂
Escape! Excellent answer. I look for the same thing. Isn’t that the whole point of a book? For me it is anyway. 🙂
That is so funny. You cross out the names of the female leads and write your name in. It’s funny, because I do that too! I’m always the heroine. Sometimes I re-write my dialogue though, to make it more me, but still, it’s me and – him!
I love to get my hooks into great books like that! If I am emotionally exhausted at the end of the story, I’ve really enjoyed the book.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
The story is at it’s best when you are the heroine. Wouldn’t you agree? 🙂 That’s too funny that you re-write the dialogue. I do that as well. It’s probably the writers in us. Although, I didn’t find myself doing that with the Mara Dyer books. Good Luck!
I totally fall for the hero, too! That is so cool you got to read the book early, sorry you have to wait now. Sometimes I’ll wait until the whole series is published before I read the first book because I know I’ll get hooked and then be so bummed if I have to wait. I’m doing that with this one series and it’s killing me. I want to start reading it, but have to control my urges. I’m going to check out these books, they sound perfect for me. Thanks Debra!
I like to wait till the whole series is published as well, that’s smart of you. I have a hard time waiting for the author to finish a series if I really like it. But I have broken that rule recently. One, because I won this book and two, with Meg Cabot’s Abandon (we discussed a few weeks ago) because we picked it up at RWA. I’m reading book two now. I enjoy her books, but don’t love them in the same way, so I think I’ll be alright.
I loved Noah in that book! Accent: Check. Rich: Check: Suave: Check. Hot: Check. What’s not to like?
Thanks for the giveaway!
Markella
markella.whetzel AT gmail.com
As for your question, sequels always do that. That’ why I hate them lol. But I guess its like build up for the climax making the end that much more great. Hopefully.
Is it a love-hate relationship? *grins* I know it’s to be expected. Sometimes it’s just harder to digest than others. I think I prefer an unresolved storyline to an actual cliffhanger. Something J.K. Rowling’s style, if you know what I mean. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts when you finish the second book. Oh – that ending!
I am such a sucker for the accent. Rich doesn’t hurt either. ;D You’re welcome for the giveaway. Good luck!!!
I fall in love every week, sometimes more frequently if time allows.
Wow! You get a full book in a week with the kids? I stand in amazement! I have to hide in the bathroom to read.
At least, I’m a very fast reader and I keep a book to me constantly to sneak a page in whenever I have a second and sometimes while I’m playing.
haha. Great review! I love your style. I definitely hope I win the book, it sounds good! =)
Thank you, EllieAnn. I had fun with it, as you can tell. Wow, I want everyone to win the book! 😀 Wish I had more to hand out. Here’s to hoping you are the lucky one!
I love it when I get hooked on a series like this, fall in love with the characters and just can’t get enough of them. There are three series like that that I’ve read and am waiting for the third book to come out. One of them is Jennette Maria Powell’s Saturn Society series. I LOVE time travel tales. I’m leaving my comment here and keeping my fingers crossed to win a copy of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.
If you’re hooked and raving about it, then I want to read it, too!
I need to read Jennette’s books. I have them on my Kindle. So many books, so little time. Goodness me. What’s a girl to do? I love that you love them. Getting lost in a story is the best. I feel sort of bummed if I set a book down and I’m just “all right.” I just did that with another one – that will remain nameless (no one in our inner circle). I have my fingers crossed for you. 😀
I have not read this author’s work, but it sounds very good! I do definitely see your point about leaving the reader tormented for such a long period of time.
I have a habit of avoiding the 2nd book in a trilogy until after the final installment is released. Many times, the 1st book is stand-alone, and has a somewhat satisfying ending, even if a few issues are left to carry over. But for the 2nd book, the author often just works things up into a great big cliff-hanger, and THAT makes me crazy!
I put off continuing with the Vampire Empire series, because I was concerned about this. Now I have both books 2 and 3 waiting for me in my Kindle, and will read them back-to-back once I get time. Yea… call me a baby. I know it’s true! 😀
Ooh! Yay for having the books ready to go on your Kindle. I’m usually the same way when it comes to series. I like to wait. I don’t want to lose details in between while I read other books. Plus, if I really like the book I can get a little crazy in the waiting. If I’m not crazy about the book then it’s easy not to continue on. There have been those, as well. Sad to say. Not every book is for everyone. But with this book, and the fact that I was sent an early copy, I felt an obligation. So I cracked open my copy of the first book and started reading when I knew the second was on its way. OMG! I finished and the second hadn’t arrived yet. I was going crazy checking my door every day! LOL. Thank God it finally arrived or I don’t know what I would have done. 😀 But now…now I have to wait how long? Not so happy. 🙁 Yes, I am laughing while I write this.
LOL
Such torment! Being your friends and all, we’ll have a straight jacket on hand, just in case you don’t make it through to the next release date! 😀