Review: The Girl Who Couldn't Say No — Tracy Engelbrecht

I expected this to be a semi-preachy book with some humour. A ‘beware this bad life choice’ sort of autobiography. It was a spur of the moment reading choice. It turned out to be a relaxing read, written in a friendly conversational tone with just enough humour to make you smile and take the edge of what could have been a very dry story.

Read the synopsis on GoodReads.

I think the title is slightly misleading. I imagined a people pleaser or submissive personality, and while Tracy admits she finds it difficult to stand up for herself, the point of this story doesn’t come about due to peer pressure or people pleasing. I think the subtitle works a lot better and I always think of this book as “The Memoir of a Teenage Mom”.

Some negative reviews comment on the voice or ramblings, but I don’t agree with any of that being a bad thing. The voice is conversational and it is because of this fact that I kept reading. It was a friendly, welcoming book, with a conversational tone. It made it pleasant to read – the same feeling you get from talking to a friend. I rarely read autobiographies because the voice generally fails to appeal to me and I just don’t tend to care that much (at least for the popular ones, such as celebrity biographies you see every Christmas). I didn’t find any of the book to be wondering so far off track that I felt lost or disinterested. Everything felt related and was pretty interesting to read.

It was definitely interesting to read from the perspective of someone who felt that an unplanned teenage pregnancy was the ‘it’ they needed in their life to make it really worthwhile. While I don’t agree with any young girl who tries to get pregnant for whatever reason (keeping a boyfriend, need for unconditional love, a desire to show how mature they are and so on), I think for Tracy it was a positive life event, or at least one she made positive.

The chapter titles are amusing and there are parts in the book that I can relate to so much (just as progression from teen to adult, I’m not a mother). There are also bits which are gems of experience. Such as:

“Again, I was surprised to find that this forbidding man was just a person like me, muddling through life and doing his best. More and more, I was learning that adults were not the all-knowing, all-powerful supreme beings I’d thought they were.”

Because as children, at least, we all think that adults have some magical quality which we lack as young people. When we realise all they have is more experience and different thought processes it’s a shock. Tracy also highlights how, while she is pregnant and thus ceases to belong to her friends’ world, her boyfriend can carry on with life as normal, get a new girlfriend, go out partying and shirk the responsibilities of fatherhood.

There are a handful of typos in this book, but overall I think it’s a really pleasant short autobiography.

Friday Finds: 29-11-2012

Friday Finds is a meme started by http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com

The idea is to show off the books you've discovered and added to your 'To Be Read' list!

Today I have selected six books I found this week to share with you. If you click the book cover then you should be taken to it's Good Read page. Enjoy ~!

Book Tour & Giveaway: Tale of the Messed Up Talent Show (Madison and GA - My Guardian Angel) — Melissa Perry Moraja

Reading isn't just for teenagers and adults, so today I'm taking part in a book tour aimed at children. 

This is the second book in the series Madison and GA by Melissa Perry Moraja, and is recommended for ages 6 - 12. 

Publication Date: November 15, 2013
Publisher: Independent - Melissa Productions Inc.
Number of pages: 156
Recommended age: 6-12


 Summary

Madison Wunderkind is a sweet, honest girl, who always seems to find herself in trouble with the principal. But this time she's not alone. It all started three days earlier, when Sophia, the most popular fifth-grade girl at Gator Elementary, asked Madison to hang out and plan this year's talent show. Instantly, Madison had become Little Miss Popular. But what Madison soon discovered was that being Little Miss Popular wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Her best friends were ignoring her. Her brothers were angry at her. And her guardian angel, GA, was irritated by her snobbish attitude. And if things couldn't get more messed up for Madison, everything that could go wrong at the talent show did, sparking Principal Dimples to find out why! Find out what happens at Gator Elementary's Talent Show. Will GA be able to help Madison? Or will Madison become Little Miss Lonely? Also, try and find one of GA's feathers in each picture!

Purchase

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes

You can purchase the first book of the series (e-copy), Tale of the Slimy Spitball for only 99 cents until Christmas, December 25, 2013 from Amazon. Just click on the cover below!

About the Author: Melissa Perry Moraja

 Melissa Perry Moraja, Founder of Melissa Productions, Inc., is an entrepreneurial mom, a multifaceted business woman, a creative producer, and an author/illustrator of numerous modern-fantasy children's books and self-help books. Melissa also has published articles, appeared on television, been interviewed on radio, has spoken in front of hundreds of people, and held workshops at local schools, discussing creative learning, publishing and parenting. Her desire to make a difference in her four young children’s lives inspired her to leave her six-salary career at IBM in 2007 to become a full-time mom and children's author. Melissa spends her personal time coaching soccer and softball, painting, and coming up with fun art projects for her kids. She also blogs for Working Mother blog, has guest blogged for Charlotte Observer Mom's Charlotte, and has her own personal blog at Not Your Ordinary Psychic Mom. Melissa is also committed to building awareness and support for Type 1 Diabetes. Her twin daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes November 4, 2011. To learn more about Madison's type 1 diabetes disease please read Madison's Story.

Website | Blog | Facebook (Author Fan Page)

Facebook (Book Fan Page) | Twitter | Pinterest

* $100 Book Blast Giveaway *

Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner's choice)

Contest runs: November 25 to December 24, 11:59 pm, 2013

Open: Internationally

How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the author, Melissa Perry Moraja and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions - feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.

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Book Blitz: Bloom — Martin Kee

A guest review and interview for this new fantasy book!

Brought to you by Extraordinary Reads.

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Music Box (Dollhouse, 4) — Anya Allyn

Release Date: Fall 2013

Cassie endures her darkest days under the rule of Balthazar. She finds a passage into the high tower, and comes face to face with the shadowy being whose presence has haunted her since her first days at the castle of La Falaise – and she makes an immense and horrifying discovery.

At the museum, the last survivors of a bleak existence are barely holding on. And the strange Order of Sister Celia make a chilling decision.

Someone very close to Ethan once told him, “When we can fight, we will fight, and when we can no longer fight, we will endure.”

With time running out, it is time to fight.

Music Box (Dollhouse #4)

by Anya Allyn

Release Date: Fall 2013

Summary from
Goodreads:

Final book of
the series.


Cassie endures her darkest days under the rule of Balthazar. She finds a passage into the high tower, and comes face to face with the shadowy being whose presence has haunted her since her first days at the castle of La Falaise – and she makes an immense and horrifying discovery.

At the museum, the last survivors of a bleak existence are barely holding on. And the strange Order of Sister Celia make a chilling decision.

Someone very close to Ethan once told him, “When we can fight, we will fight, and when we can no longer fight, we will endure.”

With time running out, it is time to fight.

About the Author

Anya Allyn was born unexpectedly and without proper instructions. A dreamy girl betwixt the clouds and space, she was given the thing she desired most for her tenth birthday–a microscope–and subsequently developed a penchant for small things: frogs and ants and microbes, and the earth (when viewed from other planets). She considers a mind and body that do not roam free are the living dead. Anya lives in a cottage by the sea–and slips in and out of forests and through a day, where

the wild things are ….

She has four adventure-seeking boys and a bookcase filled with adventures. One day soon, she plans to head off on adventures of her own…

Author Links:

   

GIVEAWAY

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Cover Reveal Hosted by:

Teaser Tuesday: The Girl Who Couldn't Say No: Memoir of a Teenage Mom

A meme by Should Be Reading

Basically it involves posting two sentences from a random page in the book I'm currently reading! If you like the teaser, you should check out the book and add it to your 'To Read' list.

Miss Timid was a soft-spoken lady with frantic eyes, who was obviously out of her depth and actually looked like she could snap at any moment. She assured me he’d be okay.

Tracy Engelbrecht (2011-05-16). The Girl Who Couldn't Say No: Memoir of a teenage mom (Kindle Locations 1931-1932).  . Kindle Edition.

Book Blast & Giveaway: Rebels — Scott & Judith Powell

Synopsis

The world is on fire. From the ashes like a phoenix rises a new America, one that will save it all. Under one condition; absolute and complete surrender.

The world complies without question. Those who don’t are destroyed. It is in this world, John is born. His very name is treason.

If the New America, now known to everyone as the State, knew what John was, they’d kill him, but instead they give him a gift.

Praise for Rebels

John has a lot of potential (especially for someone so young) in that he sees the flaws in this society. He wants to be like George Washington and knows a lot about the manner in which a government should be run... Highly recommended. ~Amazon Review

About the Authors

Scott Powell was born in Burlington, Vermont, to a father who was a police officer and a mother who emigrated from South Korea. He received a degree in marketing from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, and a master's degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Scott served a two-year Spanish-speaking mission for his church. He is a mixed martial artist who continues to train with his father, a second-degree black belt in Tae kwon do and a kick boxer.

Besides being married to Scott for over seventeen years, Judith Powell is a stay-at-home mom whose whole life has been full of stories. Being raised by an Irish storytelling father and a Native American mother, stories have filled her life and her head until they finally had no choice but to flow out through her fingertips.

Website * Twitter * Pinterest

Rebels' Facebook Page

Judith's Facebook * Scott's Facebook

Tour Schedule

Book Blast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 12/20/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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Review: The Reporter & The Girl — S. C. Rhyne

When reading my twitter feed I found someone asking for readers to review their debut novel. As a reader with a keen interest in new and relatively unknown authors, I jumped at this opportunity. When I started the book I was had a clear idea of what I thought it was going to be like. However, this book surpassed my expectations. Dancing with the two perspectives gave the book a whole new dimension, which I felt positively transformed the way I thought about the characters. This isn’t some hyper erotic rampage; it’s a story about two very unique characters. I think it is the kind of story you could see happening in real life.

Synopsis

Welcome to the rabbit hole...I am the last person in New York City who would fall head over heels in love. Independent. Self-possessed. Why would I want to f**k that up?My online dating profile at bd-fet.com simply reads: “Just looking.”

So why am I obsessing about Jon Sudbury?Jon, the reporter, is vanilla as a milkshake and has probably never tasted rice and beans on the same plate before we met.

At least that’s what I thought. Why can’t people remain simple and predictable?All I want is control, not to be sent hurtling at maximum speed into the unknown. 

Nothing about our story makes sense.The thing is, I can handle desire, lust, passion, even betrayal...

But love is another world altogether. And this is not a love story.

*For mature audiences only

Review

The book cover is pretty unique in style. I like the heavily sketched kind of look and the addition of the pink cane (an element which makes more sense after reading the book). It doesn’t really give a lot away about the story, apart from aspects of the appearance of the two main characters. I find it difficult to match up the title to the story. Why is the male referred to by his job title, while the female is referred to by her gender alone? I’m sure literature students could pick this apart from a feminist perspective.

The synopsis totally gripped me. It’s the whole reason I wanted to read this book. The narrator sounds powerful and sassy, without being a purely seductive character. She has the sort of depth you don’t find in erotic books, which I thought this would be because of the reference to bd-fet. After reading the novel I felt the voice used in the synopsis, while attention catching, feels more aggressive than our main character actually is.

The writing style took me by surprise. It flowed smoothly and was enjoyable. While at times I found the actions of the characters (which I saw to be rather incompatible from the beginning) to be a little annoying, the novel was so well written that I kept going and I was happy that I did. The characters were different from other stereotypes that often appear in romance and drama stories. Having the book told from their perspective made it interesting, but giving the second view point of Jon, on occasion, really helped make the story feel more rounded. Here are two characters that poorly communicate, but could perhaps get to common ground if they could just get over the things which hold them back. But like most real people, they don’t just drop everything, discuss everything and kiss in the rain.

There were only two parts that caught me off guard in the book. The first description of taboo behaviour occurred suddenly, was factually reported in a few sentences and that was that. When the paragraph started I was expecting some real hard core erotica – I’m glad it wasn’t there, as that kind of stuff isn’t really to my taste! I just found it strange how swiftly it was dealt with in the narrative. I think this is just Rhyne showing how Sabrien feels about sex and relationships. This wasn’t really a big hang up for me. The ending, however, left me feeling high and dry. There I was, at the edge of (story’s!) climax and it feels like Rhyne just cuts us off. I’m used to cliff hangers (Stephen King likes them, a lot), but I found myself flicking through the ebook, wondering if pages had gone missing or were corrupted. I would have liked a chapter more just to give a better feeling of tying everything up.

Maybe it feels quantity wise that I didn’t like this book – but I did! I thought it was great. It just had this… x-factor about it. I can’t put my finger on what exactly made me enjoy it so much. It had things that generally turn me off – like romance between two incompatible people and a sometimes rude, dislikeable and ignorant love interest – but these things didn’t even irk me. Maybe that is what I enjoyed the book so much: Rhyne’s ability to put elements of stories that I don’t like into a novel I could enjoy. I would say that is pretty amazing.

I would like to thank Rhyne for allowing me to read her ebook for free in exchange for an honest review and I hope she pens many more books in the future.