First: Blog Tour

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Mira works on a farm in the ruins of Texas, along with all of the other descendants of the defeated rebels. Though she’s given her heart to Tanner, their lives are not their own.

When Socrates, a powerful First, chooses Mira as his Second, she is thrust into the bewildering world of the rich and influential. Will, a servant assigned to assist her, whispers of rebellion, love, and of a darker fate than she’s ever imagined.

With time running out, Mira must decide whether to run to the boy she left behind, the boy who wants her to live, or the man who wants her dead.

Review:

If you loved the Hunger Games trilogy, get ready for your next obsession. Chanda Stafford catapults readers  into the future with her novel First, set after a brutal civil war and the discovery of mind transplantation. With mind transplants, those chosen to better the world are allowed to live forever through their Seconds. First revolves around Mira, a young teenage girl who has been chosen to be the next implant for Socrates, the oldest immortal mind. 

Readers meet Mira before she's been chosen while she still lives on a farm in Texas as a servant. She's full of life, passionate, bright, bold, loyal, and stubborn. Basically everything that is required of a heroine, and a Second. As she goes through the process of learning what a Second actually does she finds there are more lies and secrets in the business of bettering the world than there should be. 

The connection readers have with Mira grows rapidly as she is thrust into situations that reveal her true nature. Respect and love will be gained when readers realize how far Mira will go for the greater good while tears will be shed for the same reasons. 

First is a novel of belief in the future and trust in those who will create it. With a thrilling story line, characters that elicit strong emotional reactions, and  the promise of a sequl, Chanda Stafford clears the bar with First.

Rating:

4/5 Cups

Meet the Author:

Chanda Stafford teaches middle and high school English. She loves traveling and currently lives in Michigan with her husband and a menagerie of rescued dogs and cats.

When she’s not reading or writing, Chanda enjoys old zombie movies, authentic Italian food, and comic books.


Chanda Stafford's Blog





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Yellow Socks and Blood Spots Release Day

Synopsis:
Two lines means pregnant, and pregnant is the very last thing seventeen-year-old Isabelle wanted to be. She's just beginning her senior year, she's rekindling the respectable relationship she once had with her family and she has finally fallen in love. Her boyfriend, Jason wants an abortion, while Isabelle wants to give her baby a chance at life, whether that means adoption or raising her baby herself. Her situation raises a question of values, beliefs, rights, societal expectations and personal opinions, and as Isabelle's friends and family discover the news, they seem to think they know what's best for her and her baby. Within two weeks of finding out about their beautiful disaster, Isabelle and Jason have to come to a mutual agreement and make a life and death decision.

Look forward to The Coffee Pot's review of Yellow Socks & Blood Spots on June 25th! While you're waiting, go enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed proof of the novel. 

Enter the Giveaway

Teaser Tuesday (61)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Faceless (p.77 of PDF)
   - Dustin Sanchez


She tried to remember when she was childish like that. When she thought things like freedom were important.

Beautiful Redemption

Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?

Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.

Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan's return, vowing to do whatever it takes -- even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect.

Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series.

*Contains Spoilers*

After our beloved hero died in the third book of the Beautiful Creatures series, we thought the story would end. After all, death seems so final. But Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl prove readers wrong, bringing hope to mortals and casters alike, in the final book, Beautiful Redemption, where Ethan discovers a way to return to the land of the living and that he was never truly meant to trade his life for the world in the first place. 

For the first time, Garcia and Stohl give Lena the main point of view as we watch the world move on without Ethan. It's odd at first, reading the story from another character's sight, but this gives the audience the ultimate chance to finalize their connection with Lena. Throughout the series, the bond between Ethan and the readers has blossomed, grown, and deepened. And now, we get to see why Ethan fought so hard to stay with the girl he loves. We get to see what happens after Ethan is taken away from her. It's almost like the authors wanted to prove that Ethan died for the all the right reasons, even if he was never supposed to die in the first place. 

As Lena and Ethan share the POV - readers also get to see what the Otherworld has in store for our fated hero. We see Ethan reconnect with his mother and Aunt Prue, even the Greats. It's a glorious afterlife with all the ones Ethan lost, but must lose again in order to return to Lena. The bond between Ethan and the reader will never be stronger after this book. While he faces down his biggest fears, struggles with the memories, and bargains his soul readers will be on the edge of a breakdown waiting for the final word. 

Oh how I wish it wasn't over. 

Rating: 4.5/5 Cups

Beautiful Redemption (Beautiful Creatures)