Angieville

And the winners are . . . Samantha R for  Perfect Chemistry   and  Nancy   for  Rules of Attraction ! Congratulations, you two! If you'll slip me a quick email with your mailing addresses I'll see that your books gets on their way soon. Thanks to Simone for participating in the interview and to Bloomsbury for providing the books and swag for giveaway. And thank you to everyone who entered and shared your favorite literary bad boy crushes. Samantha chose Bran from Juliet Marillier 's Son of the Shadows --a personal favorite of mine, while Nancy chose Jack from Ellen Emerson White 's Long May She Reign (followed closely by Zachary Grey from Madeleine L'Engle's Austin and Murray series)--also two of my all-time favorites! Other bad boys who made repeat appearances on the list included Roarke from J.D. Robb 's In Death series, Patch from Hush, Hush , and Eric from Charlaine Harris ' Sookie Stackhouse series. 

When my friend Trisha went wild over Perfect Chemistry   around about a year and a half ago, it didn't take me long at all to track down a copy and immerse myself in the teen drama/love/angst fest that is that awesome book. I fell in all kinds of deep and gooey love with it and recommended it right and left to friends in need of the kind of sweet and addicting read that leaves you feeling like your craving was sated in the most satisfying of ways. When I found out Simone Elkeles was writing a sequel, I joined the rest of the PC fandom in a collective, "Squee!" Rules of Attraction was released almost a week ago (my review here ) and, to celebrate the event, Simone was so good as to answer a few of my most burning questions. First things first: Were you at all surprised by what a hit  Perfect Chemistry   was? Honestly, no. I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved that book from page one, and knew Alex and Brittany’s story was something special. I don’t know if this i...

I can't believe it's been over a year since I first read Perfect Chemistry . I think it feels more recent because I've been singing its praises (to the tune of "Somewhere" from West Side Story ) ever since. I've only re-read it once, but I found that it held up very well the second time around. And, along with the rest of you who fell madly in love with Alex and Brittany, I was giddy with anticipation when I heard Simone Elkeles was writing a sequel featuring Alex's cocky little brother Carlos. And then the other day a lovely little package arrived in the mail out of the blue and made my day (thanks Bloomsbury)! Just look at that cover. What kind of sacrifice do you think Ms. Elkeles made to secure such freaking awesome covers? I mean, seriously. I love the Perfect Chemistry cover because that is exactly how I picture them (and how often can you say that?) and because, as my friend Trisha said, "Boy, does it do it's job well." And now I c...

Like most of you, I am so looking forward to Simone Elkeles ' upcoming Rules of Attraction . And I'm sure you've seen these before but I'm posting them here because they make me happy. And they make me laugh at work. Book trailers are a tough sell for me and, for books in the same series, these two seem to have been made on different planets. But I enjoyed them both in spite of myself. Mostly because I'm silly in love with Perfect Chemistry . And because the second one indicates it will be--wait for it-- a trilogy . SCORE.