Now I couldn't let this week pass without talking about the brand new ebook I've just finished reading: My Favourite Mistake by Chelsea Cameron. It is a 'new adult' contemporary romance story that Mira Ink has just acquired and has been released this month with a really lovely ebook cover. Here's the synopsis if you haven't read it yet:
Taylor Caldwell can't decide if she wants to kiss her new college roommate or punch him.
On the one hand, Hunter Zaccadelli is a handsome, blue-eyed bundle of charm. On the other, he's a tattooed, guitar-playing bundle of bad boy. Maybe that's why Taylor's afraid of falling in love with him, or anyone else. She doesn't want to get burned, and even though her other roommates adore him, she wants him gone before it's too late.
Hunter himself has been burned before, but the fact that Taylor calls him out on his crap and has the sexiest laugh ever make him decide maybe love isn't a lost cause. They make a bet: if she can convince him she truly loves or hates him, he'll leave the apartment--and leave her alone. The problem is, the more time they spend together, the less she hates him, and the more she moves toward love.
But when the man who holds the key to Taylor's fear of giving up her heart resurfaces and threatens to wreck everything, she has to decide: trust Hunter with her greatest secret, or do everything in her power to win that bet and drive him away forever
I found that I could really relate to this book - having just finished university I could easily put myself into the picture completely. I found myself imagining it as my uni and asking myself 'what would I do if a guy came to live in my house with 3 girls?' or 'what would I do if this guy seemed like a total asshole but is still pretty wonderful?' or even 'what would I do if I had a deep, dark secret that pushed away even the nicest of guys?' I think these thoughts circled in my head throughout the book, but actually I think after finishing it, I wouldn't have done anything differently to Taylor, in that scenario.
It was powerful, it was moving and a really good read. The power of the relationships and love are so great that they get thrown towards you so that you can't help but fall in love with them and wish it was your life. I thought the connection between Taylor and Hunter was fantastic. Quite often I find that with two main characters, one always comes across as stronger or more favourable, but here I can't seem to pick between the two. They work so well together, that you almost can't imagine how they were ever apart before. The wit and playfulness of the characters and their relationship really stood out and worked well. They play off eachother and it just highlights how relationships and friendships don't have to be so serious, it's all about the laughs and jokes and the sarcastic comebacks, even at the expense of eachother - on more than one occasion I found myself laughing out loud (on a very quiet tube train packed full of people). Although humour is not the main aspect of this story, it still added to the read and made me enjoy it even more.
I think what's even more phenomenal about this book is that it was a self-published piece. I'm all for self publishing, I think it is a fantastic way of getting writing published, especially as there is so many other authors out there competing for publishers attention and great reads can get overlooked in the slush pile. Nevertheless, self published titles can quite often be a bit hit and miss (maybe I shouldn't say that), sometimes there are books that, without the eye of an editor/publisher/agent, are not ready for publication and it is hard to pick through which are worth reading or not. BUT *tries to recover quickly*, Chelsea Cameron is part of the former group (fantastic writing, great reads...) and it is an amazing thing that she is getting the publishing recognition she deserves.
You can read more about her and her venture with 'My Favourite Mistake' on her website here:
and you can buy her shiny new ebook here too: (comes highly recommended):
Has anyone read it yet? If so please tell me what you think... It would be fantastic to compare how we found it!
Also, what are your thoughts on self-publishing? Have you read much self-pub books? Or even thought about (or done) it yourselves? It is certainly a new adventure in publishing and could this be a new face to the publishing world?
On a last note:
Next Tuesday 19th February the Speechless blog tour is coming to the Mira Ink blog!! I will have Q&As from Hannah Harrington herself as well a feature on Speechless. I will also throw in the words 'book' and 'giveaway' as well as a teaser so stay tuned and don't forget to come back next week!
Emily x
Haven't read it but it sounds okay. I might give it a read, not too fond of romance stories but I'm willing to give anything a shot!
ReplyDeleteAs for self publishing I agree when you say that it's good for authors but they really do need to make sure they edit properly. I've been unfortunate enough to read some really terrible self published books. One which claimed to be like the new 'Harry Potter' (I had to admit I went into reading that particular book thinking it was a joke - I wasn't wrong either) and ended up reading something that was riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, not to mention an very askew storyline that almost had me throwing my kindle across the room in frustration.
I have read some very good self published books too, but I tend to steer clear now because I can't really afford to keep buying books that I can't be sure will be good, if that makes sense? I don't mean to sound like a book snob, I actually mean it when I say I can't afford it...I don't earn that much!
Your quick throwing in of book giveaway has certainly got my attention too hahaha!
I think self-publishing can be great for authors, and I've read some genuinely amazing books such as Angelfall by Susan Ee and Easy by Tammara Webber (which has now been picked up by a publisher, like My Favourite Mistake). Self-publishing is often a personal decision if the author wants complete control of their work. The problem is that because anyone can do it, some writers jump right in without investing in a proper editor, etc, and I think this is the reason some people are put off reading self-published books. This is a shame, because there's some truly great ones out there.
ReplyDeleteI've certainly noticed that it's becoming ever-harder for authors to secure the interest of an agent in the current publishing climate, and I experienced this when trying to find representation for my debut novel. I considered self-publishing but couldn't get the funds together to hire an editor and cover designer. Fortunately, I managed to gain the interest of a small publisher and I now have two series in publication.
Personally, I like working with small publishers as this still allows the author creative control over aspects like cover design, but without the costs of self-publishing, and having a publisher's name does seem to give you more credibility when asking for reviews. I have every respect for indie authors who decide to go it alone, though!
I love this book! I am a huge supporter of New Adult books and im glad publishers are starting to realise that these books are worth publishing.
ReplyDeleteAs for self published books, i love them. Traditionally published books are great especially if it is by a publisher who releases books i consistantly love (like MiraInk) as it is both a mark of quality and almost like a recommendation from a friend.
Self published books are more of a risk, the author may have just thrown their book out there with out it even having been proofread. However many self-published authors are now taking it very seriously and a lot of the books are very high quality.
One of the other great things about self-publishing is that it allows books that dont fit perfectly into a catagory or that are a little different to still be released into the world. New Adult books are the perfect example of this. For years they were rejected by agents and publishers due to being "unmarketable" and self-publishing is what gave them the opportunity to prove their worth. Though of course some books did still sneak through and get published, mainly if they were fantasy, i would personally count Poison Study by Maria V Snyder as a NA fantasy book.
I don't think traditional publishing will ever die out - after all many successful self-pubbed authors are signing up to big publishing houses. But traditional publishing certainly isn't the only way to become a best selling author now.
Laura, blogger @ Bookish Treasures
Founder of the New Adult book club http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/85934-new-adult-book-club