Sunday, November 20, 2011

Virtual Blog Tour: Double Clutch by Liz Reinhardt: Review, Interview, Giveaway!

Today, the blog tour makes a stop over here in my blog. I've got a lot in store for you all wonderful readers so let's get to it!



Charming until the end!!!

I have a confession to make. I am guilty of the old habit of judging a book by its cover. I don't even remember signing up for this blog tour. But I went through it anyway, and boy was I glad I did!!!

This book is so amazing, it's ridiculous. I was gushing the entire time! I stayed up until two in the morning reading it, not only because I want to finish it to review it, but because I just want to know what happens already with the characters!

Brenna Blixen is the main character and she lived in Denmark for a while before coming back to New Jersey. Right off the bat, I thought the book was so cool. Denmark?! Uber cool in my opinion. They lived in the countryside where people barely spoke or understood English, so Brenna focused on reading books and going through home schooling.

When she came back to the U.S., she met with old friends and met new people -- hot people like Saxon...

Saxon is one of those bad boys that are unimaginatively charming. He can attract any female specie in Frankford High School... and then dumps them after he finds a new girl that is more interesting. Unfortunately for Saxon, Brenna never gave in to his charm, although, it was clear that she found him attractive.

Brenna did Share Time in the story, which means she goes to the "academic high school" for half the day, and the "tech school" for the other half of the day. That's where she met Jake. Sweet, humble Jake.

Jake is the kind of guy that is so humble, he got used to putting himself down. I have three words for him: HESITANT, HUMBLE, HOT! He was the exact opposite of Saxon. While Saxon was arrogant, Jake was humble and unsure of himself. But that's not to say he didn't have a dark past.

I was so into Jake and then the author brings down the bomb: Jake slept with many girls a year and a half ago when he used to have vices like drinking and smoking and sleeping with anybody who would welcome him. It was disconcerting knowing that this perfect guy wasn't so perfect in the past, but he and Brenna got through the ups and downs of dealing with manipulative Saxon to strengthen their relationship.

In the end, Brenna and Jake are happy together while Saxon, not so much. I just felt like there need to be a sequel where Saxon finds someone to truly love because he's a great person, and all that arrogance is just a front to hide a VERY SENSITIVE secret. What's the secret? You're going to have to read the book! :)

I promise you, Liz Reinhardt did an amazing job with this book. She's officially in my favorite authors list. I love how the characters were all artistic and full of awesome sauce!

P.S. Is it weird that some parts of this book reminded me of my ex? eeek!

Now, for my favorite quotes/scenes from the book!
"I had to focus on government, on not failing, not on some good-smelling purring jungle boy."
Saxon to Brenna: "But the thought of irritating you is literally what made me want to get out of bed this morning."
Brenna: "I carry a backpack."
Jake: "Good, 'cause I don't. Come on, before some better looking guy tries to pick you up, and I have to get in a serious fight."
Jake: "Well, I will tell you that's a crappy imitation of my voice." He smiled so wide I could see his eyetooth from across the table. "But you've got to know you're totally hot, chipped nails and all." He burned beet red all the way to the roots of his hair. "Man, you get me to say some embarrassing stuff, Brenna." He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck.
Jake: "Are you smelling me?"
Brenna: "I thought I was being pretty discreet about it. I guess I wasn't?"
Brenna: "Are you going to kiss me?"
Jake: "I'm working up the nerve."
Jake: "Seriously, Brenna? I'm asking you to meet me in public to see two girlie dance movies. This is all about me trying to impress you."
Jake: "I'd starve to death in China.... I might not starve if you were there to toss things in my mouth every once in a while."
Jake: "Brenna Blixen will you be my girlfriend, please? Pretty please. With sugar on top."
Brenna: "Hey Jake, how are you?"
Jake: "Pretty great. I got this amazing girl to agree to date me today."
Brenna: "Really? Was she super desperate?"
Jake: "Oh yeah. She couldn't keep her hands off of me during the whole date. Poor thing, I think she's obsessed."
Saxon to Brenna: "We're so similar, we should join alliances. The two most obnoxious people on earth would be a true force to be reckoned with."
"Saxon had parents? It seemed unthinkable."


Book-Related Questions:

What inspired your book Double Clutch?

One huge inspiration for my book was homesickness. I was born and raised in Sussex County, NJ, and I was teaching at the high school I attended the year my parents retired and moved to GA. It was the same year my husband and I found out we were pregnant with my daughter, so we moved with them. There are tons of things I love about living in Georgia, but I still miss NJ so much. And part of the way I dealt with missing it was writing this story about kids growing up there. It helped me not feel so lonely and awful.

Will you ever publish a vampire novel or anything with paranormal or fantasy?

I would love to! In fact, I’ve written a few paranormals. YA contemporary is definitely what I find easiest to write. My hat is off to para writers, because I think it’s a ton of hard work to build these alternate worlds with different rules. And it’s hard to keep all the facts about your creature straight and build all that tension. But I love trying to write new genres!

How did you come across the title “Double Clutch”?

My best friend and I got all these lists together that had to do with themes in the book. One of the list had running terms on it. Double clutch means that you inhale twice for every exhale, and that’s exactly what Brenna feels with Jake and Saxon…she’s dealing with two of them, but there’s only one of her ;)!

Did you get to pick the cover of your book?

I did! I have a cover artist named Steve Peterson (he is wonderful!). He and I talked about the book, and I sent him a bunch of covers from popular YA books that I really liked. He sent me four rough designs that were all gorgeous. I picked my favorite of the four, and he worked on it and took my suggestions until it became the current cover.

Did your husband ever give you any ideas for your books?

Hahaha! My husband thinks he’s Jake! What he doesn’t know if that he’s partially Jake and partially Saxon. My husband was a classic bad boy. Every rebellious thing someone could do as a teenager, he did it! I was a very focused student and a very good girl as a teen, so I had to draw on lots of my husband’s bad boy stories to get the boys right! He’s a reformed bad boy, by the way ;)!

Quick Questions:

What’s your favorite candy?

Raisinets! I know, they’re chocolate covered raisins, but they’re delicious!

What’s your TV show guilty pleasure?

I love watching Jem, the cartoon from the 80s, with my daughter! I pretend I’m just keeping her company, but I really want to know what’s happening with Rio, the Holograms, and the Misfits! So much cartoon drama!

Who’s your favorite vampire?

I’m a romantic at heart, so Edward Cullen takes the cake for me! Twilight was actually a huge inspiration for Double Clutch!

Do you like shopping?

Completely love it! Love going alone, in groups, for clothes, for toys…I even like going to Lowe’s with my husband and looking around!

What do you spend most of your money on?

Definitely books! Second would be going out to eat with my family. My Kindle is always loaded up on payday, and we always go out and get Chinese food or pizza on payday evening!



Guidelines:
-INTERNATIONAL.
-Make sure to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! I will disqualify your entry if you don't follow the instructions.
-Spread the word for an extra entry once a day.






No comments:

Post a Comment