Excerpt: Blank Slate Kate by Heather Wardell

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Today I have an excerpt from Heather Wardell's newest book, Blank Slate Kate. Below you will find chapter one. Its a good chapter! Don't worry, I included buy links at the end. :)

Chapter One

My mouth tastes awful, like a thousand people have used it as an ashtray and garbage can. As I try to work up enough spit to swallow, my head begins to pound and my stomach churns. The flu's been going around my high school and I must have caught it. I want to yell for Mom but my throat's too dry, so I force my sleep-sticky eyes open so I can get out of bed.

Horror fills me, shocking the sick feelings away.

I'm not in my bed. I'm in a strange bed facing a sleeping guy. A guy I don't know. An old guy.

I can't breathe. Did I lose my virginity to him last night? I was going to wait until I got married. What happened? How did I end up here?

I scrabble backward and half-fall out of the bed, but before I can run away dizziness sweeps me and I throw up on the worn rug between my feet.

The guy blinks and sits up. "Kate? You okay?"

Review: Live Out Loud by Heather Wardell

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Publication Date: August 31, 2011
Genre: Fiction/ chick-lit
Format: E-book
Heat Rating: G
Reviewed For: The Author



Blurb: Amy's a hobbyist songwriter with big dreams, but not the usual 'making it as a musician' kind. No, Amy wants to honor her late best friend by finally starting the support center for teenage girls they'd dreamed of when they were just girls themselves. She doesn't know where to start, but when one of her songs becomes an overnight internet sensation she sees a quick path to the money she'll need to make the center a reality.

As white-hot pop sensation Misty Will, Amy finds a whole new world opening to her and realizes she loves being on stage holding an audience spellbound. She also loves how her young fans look up to her and draw strength from her songs, but of course they don't know the awful thing she did after her friend died and how badly she could have used a support center herself. She knows, though, and also knows that she simply has to leave her new pop princess identity behind and become Amy the center director as she's dreamed of for eight years.

Doesn't she?


My Thoughts: This is one of those books that in each sitting you get completely caught up in what is going on. Amy is a singer in the beginning and only sings locally. One night she dresses in a pink mini-skirt and matching wig and makes it big. Over night she goes from Amy to Misty Will. She gets a new home, a trainer, someone to help her write her songs, and more. Its a dream come true. As a reader you wonder, okay she got what she wanted, now what. Well, it isn't all Amy thought it would be. You get an inside look on how the fame isn't what she wants. She wants to be making a difference in the lives of her listeners. While her life looks glamorous, its actually falling apart all around her. Her boyfriend-who I thought was the biggest jerk-leaves her. She really wants Tim, the song writer, but that just isn't working. Her friends are fake, and on top of that, she is being stalked by someone sending her letters.

Like I mentioned above, this book is going to suck you in. When you lay your e-reader down, your thoughts are going to be drifting back to this one. So before you start it, make sure you have to time to devote to it.

To learn more about the fantastic Heather Wardell, visit her website http://www.heatherwardell.com/ . There hasn't been a book by her yet that I haven't liked.




 

A Life That Fits by Heather Wardell

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Publication Date: June 1st, 2011
Genre: Chick-lit, Women's Fiction
Reviewed For: Author
Other Reviews: Planning To Live, Stir Until Thoroughly Confused
My Rating:




Blurb: Twenty-eight-year-old Andrea returns home from a business trip to find Alex, her boyfriend of fourteen years, nervously waiting for her. Assuming he's finally going to propose, Andrea's instead horrified to learn he's been cheating on her and is leaving to be with the other woman, who he calls Andrea's opposite. 
At first Andrea's paralyzed by shock and sadness, but the business analyst soon forms a plan: change every last detail of her life and become her opposite so Alex will come back to her. 
It's a challenge at first, but soon Andrea's loving the changes she's making, the new activities she's doing, and the new people in her life. But will she change enough to get Alex back? And if she does, will he fit into the wonderful new life she's creating for herself?


My Thoughts: This was a new style for me when it came to Heather Wardell's work. Usually I meet the character where they are in their present life. Then she takes me back on a journey through time to show me everything they had gone through. I would then get to return to the present and finish up with what decision this character had to make. So, when I sat down with A Life That Fits, I met Andrea and had expected a story on how her and Alex had gotten to the point of him breaking up with her. Instead, I got to go on a different journey with Heather's writing and I got to go with Andrea as she found her way to who she was. Not this person who for 14 years had done everything Alex had wanted her to do. She learned who she was and what she wanted. She made drastic changes in her life and then finally settled back into the middle and discovered who she was and what she wanted.

There were times in this book I wanted to shake Andrea as hard as I could. I wanted to give her a good talking to and tell her to get over Alex, he was no good. I knew at some point his character would crawl back begging for a return. There were several other characters in the book I enjoyed. One was Loren. I really enjoyed getting to know him. When reading this, you will meet Tina and you will want to chase her away and tell Andrea she is no good. The author weaves in a lot of different characters. This is a very good book and I think any of my readers who enjoy chick-lit are going to love this. There is a slight romance in this book in the background, but it is not the main part of the book.

I would definitely add this book to your to be read list. Be sure to check out Heather at her website and see what she's up to on facebook and twitter.
http://www.heatherwardell.com/

 

Guest Post: Heather Wardell

I am so excited today to have Heather Wardell on the blog. She is an excellent author and has a unique writing style. Today she is going to tell us a little bit about her life as a writer. Enjoy, I know I did.

My reviews on her books:
Planning To Live
Stir Until Thoroughly Confused

Thanks to Rebecca for letting me tell you about my life as an author! 

I'd love to tell you I work every day from six in the morning to ten

at night without a single break. I'd also love to tell you I work for

only fifteen minutes a day and write a book a week. But I only make up

stories in my novels not in real life. :)

The truth is, I am constantly struggling with my schedule and how best

to work on my books. I am fortunate to be a fast writer, averaging

about 1500 words an hour for a first draft and able to do more if I'm

particularly on fire. Most of my books are in the 75,000-80,000 word

range, so in less than sixty hours I can have a first draft done.

So why am I NOT writing a book a week? It turns out, and I'm sure

you'll be shocked by this, that writing is hard work. Have you ever

written a three-hour-long exam? Do you remember how your head feels

afterward, like all the brain cells at the back are just sitting there

stunned? That's how I feel after, at best, two hours of first draft

writing.

I have spent a lot of time, far too much, beating myself up for this.

But it's a fact. Writing may not be physical exertion but it is most

definitely mentally draining. While I am gradually building up my

strength, writing a first draft for more than three hours leaves me

unable to have any sort of conversation for ages afterward. I just

can't think.

But a work day of at most three hours a day feels a little wimpy. So

at the end of 2010 I decided to try something I'd never done before:

work on two books at once. I get very immersed in my characters, to

the point that I can find myself surprised that I don't have a

ponytail if my character does, and I've always been afraid that

working on two books would take that away from me.

I decided to give it a shot, though, and I was relieved to learn that

I can switch from 'being' one character to being another without any

difficulty. So I am now writing the first draft of one book and

editing another. Editing, while still a challenge, doesn't cause the

same "making stuff up out of thin air" brain exhaustion as a first

draft does, so I'm able to handle a bit more of that a day.

Now that I'm doing two books at once, my ideal schedule is two hours

of first draft and three of editing a day. I don't make it every day,

especially since I also handle the housekeeping and grocery shopping

and meal preparation for me and my husband, but I try. I want to

release at least three more books this year on top of this week's

"Stir Until Thoroughly Confused", so when I feel like slacking off I

remind myself how bad I'll feel in December if I can't truly say I

gave it my best shot.

Between those five work hours and the housework, I answer email from

readers (which I love - seriously, email your favorite author today,

we appreciate it so much), contact bloggers like the lovely Rebecca to

see if they'd like to review my work, and keep my website updated.

Getting everything done is challenging, but I adore what I'm doing and

I want to be writing for years to come.

I would love to get the five hours a day up to six or seven because of

how much faster I'd be able to produce new books. (There's something

both amazing and depressing about getting an email, the day after a

book releases, saying, "I just finished your book and I love it.

When's your next one coming out?") But for right now, five is what I

can do with consistency, and I am finally learning that five

consistent hours a day are much better than a day of seven and a day

of one or even zero because I'm too tired from the seven.

I used to compare myself to other writers and their schedules, but now

I only compare myself to myself. Am I doing my best? Then that has to

be good enough. I hope you can all find a way to arrange your

schedules so you can always know you're doing your best.

If you haven't read any of my books yet, why not pick up "Life, Love,

and a Polar Bear Tattoo" as a free download from my web site

(http://www.heatherwardell.com)? If you do, remember that I'd love to

get an email from you letting me know what you think!

Thanks again Heather, I enjoyed learning a little more about you. Now everyone better run out and grab that free download so you can see just why I love her as an author!

Stir Until Thoroughly Confused by Heather Wardell

Publication Date: January 2011
Format: E-book (available in paperback)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Add to your Goodreads TBR list.
My Rating:


Book Blurb: Mary's given up everything, including an unsatisfying marriage, to become a chef. But the career comes with a side dish: Kegan, her sexy but controlling new boss.They're soon in a relationship, and in all-too-frequent arguments, and when it becomes clear they can't work together and be together Mary faces a dilemma: keep her dream job or her dream man?

My thoughts: This is my second book by Heather Wardell. I like her style as an author a lot. She begins her story's where the character has to take time to think back and reflect. So when you start a story by her, you are with the main character at the turning point in their life. You then get to turn back the clock and learn how the character got there. Its nice in the back of your mind, you in someways know where the story is going and you get to enjoy the ride there.

This story is no different. Mary finally has her dream job and a boss, Kegan, who fully supports her. The two are drawn to one another from the moment they meet. They dance around the idea for a long time of a romance and you can tell the two want to fight it. Eventually though they have to give into one another. Kegan has to work on his control issues and this is where the problem sets in. Eventually the two know they can no longer be together. It just isn't working, so what are they to do. That is when Mary has to decide, does she want her dream job and keep the restaurant that she built or does she keep the man she truly loves.

The story had a soft spot in my heart. In some ways it reminded me of my husband and I. No, I am no great chef at all, however when I met my husband, we met in a restaurant and he happened to be my boss and I was a waitress. So, it was fun watching them dance around on whether to date or night.

Be sure to check out my review for Planning To Live by Heather Wardell. This one will keep you hooked and the ending will leave you staring at the pages for almost hours after.



**This book was provided to my by the author in return for my honest review.**

Planning to Live by Heather Wardell

Publication Date: August 31, 2010
Pages: 238
Genre: Thriller
My Rating:


Summary: Rhiannon is goal obsessed in her life. She has planned each day and evaluated each day of her life and looked to see how she could have done better. She is obsessed with her weight and the way others view her.  On Christmas she flees from her parents house because of all the food and the stress that it is bringing her. She winds up running off the road and is trapped in her car. The snow keeps coming down, burying her tracks from the car in the snow. While in the car, Rhiannon has time to reflect on her life.  She takes us then on a memory journey where we meet all the most important people in her life.

My thoughts: This book will draw you in immediately. You find yourself in the car with Rhiannon almost. The author does a great job describing what the character is going through. First thoughts to me, is why doesn't she just get out? Her left leg has something that has gone through her foot and is holding her trapped in the car. From the impact of the crash, her phone is on the floor just out of reach. She does have her laptop, however she can't get a wireless signal to e-mail anyone for help.  So it becomes a waiting game for Rhiannon and the reader.
Rhiannon has always struggled in her weight and she is a bit obsessed through out the story. Which makes me laugh, because so many people are, including myself. You put 10 pounds on, you get 10 pounds off. It just fluctuates. However poor Rhiannon has been exercising everyday and eating those nasty pre-packaged meals and her weight isn't budging. That has caused her to be even more obsessed. In the story we meet Bill who was her once finance before he was murdered.  We then go with her through her journey meeting Andrew and trying to move on with him.
If your looking for a book that will draw you in from the beginning and make you feel like you are there. This is it. I really think you would enjoy it. This is such a good book, that it really is hard to write a review without giving too much away.
To see what else Heather Wardell has written, check out her website.
www.HeatherWardell.com



**This book was provided to me by the author for my review of this book. I was not required to make this review positive.**