Photo credits to Rachel Carter

Hey everyone! This week is an awesome week because I'm having a blog event! From Monday to Friday, June 30 to July 4, Oops! I Read A Book Again will be celebrating the SO CLOSE TO YOU WEEK!!! To celebrate the release of the finale of one of my favorite time travel series EVER, I'm giving y'all five days of nonstop time travel awesomeness. Yes, FIND ME WHERE THE WATER ENDS, the last book in the epic time travel trilogy by Rachel Carter (love her so SO MUCH), will be out tomorrow. TOMORROW!!!

Last year, I hosted the 2013 Time Travel Reading Challenge and July 2013 was dedicated to this series. I had an interview with the very swoon-worthy Private Wesley Smith and I know a lot of you wished you were Lydia Bentley. I know I did. You can go back to that post and sigh over Wes. But while you're drooling over Douglas Booth, oh wait, didn't I say he's Rachel's dream movie cast for Wes? Now I did. While you're drooling over there, here's what's gonna happen this week.

Schedule

June 30 (Mon): Introduction

July 1 (Tue): So Close to You (So Close to You #1) Review

July 2 (Wed): This Strange and Familiar Place (So Close to You #2) Review

July 3 (Thu): Find Me Where the Water Ends (So Close to You #3) Review

July 4 (Fri): Guest Post from Rachel Carter

Not familiar with this series at all? Check out the blurb for the first book, SO CLOSE TO YOU, below!

Title: So Close to You (So Close to You #1)

Author: Rachel Carter

Publisher: HarperTeen

Date of Publication: July 10, 2012

Rachel Carter launches a mind-blowing time-travel trilogy with her YA novel So Close to You.

Lydia Bentley doesn’t believe the rumors about the Montauk Project, that there’s some sort of government conspiracy involving people vanishing and tortured children. But her grandfather is sure that the Project is behind his father’s disappearance more than sixty years earlier.

While helping her grandfather search Camp Hero, a seemingly abandoned military base on Long Island, for information about the disappearance, Lydia is transported back to 1944—just a few days before her great-grandfather’s disappearance.

Lydia begins to unravel the dark secrets of the Montauk Project and her own family history, despite warnings from Wes, a mysterious boy she is powerfully attracted to but not sure she should trust.

Purchase from Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

Trailer

Got your interest? Get on the this train asap! SO CLOSE TO YOU is actually ON SALE for ONLY $1.99 for Kindle and Nook! Get it now!

And now, to kick off this amazing week, here's a giveaway for ANY book in the series! Open to anywhere The Book Depository ships.

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Come back tomorrow for my review of SO CLOSE TO YOU! Teaser: I love it so much I made a poem for it...

See you all tomorrow!

Book Spine Poetry Sunday (3)

Every other Sunday, I will be posting book spine poems because I love poems and I love books and I thought book spine poetry is awesome. Thank you to Charlie of Letter Trails for the feature photo!

Reckless
Wicked Games
(in a) Split Second
A Thousand Pieces of You
Unremembered

You can follow me on Instagram at oopsireadabookagain for more bookish photos (with low resolution and bad lighting HAHA)!

Want to change some titles on my poem? Go comment your own version below! Just have at least one of those books in yours. Looking forward to seeing them! (Provided someone comments. Haha!)

Stacking the Shelves (36)

Fate is so cruel. Just when I said I'll do this more often, I lag back a month. So this has been my haul since May 17 until today and that's more than a month ago. Within that time period, Jenny Han came here in the Philippines so I got my books signed! PETER KAVINSKY HEART.

For Review

The Falconer by Elizabeth May
Follow Me Down by Tanya Byrne
The Caller by Juliet Marillier
Crashing Down by Kate McCaffrey
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Find Me Where the Water Ends by Rachel Carter
*signed* Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian (ARC)

Gifted

*signed* Shift by Kim Curran
*signed* Control by Kim Curran

Bought

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

45 Pounds by K.A. Barson
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (Collector's Edition)
Shug by Jenny Han
*signed* To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
*signed* Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
*signed* Fire with Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Grace by Elizabeth Scott
Starters by Lissa Price
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (movie tie-in edition)
The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp (movie tie-in edition)
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
Black Swan Green by David
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

Thank you to Chronicle Books, Headline Books, Pan Macmillan Australia, Fremantle Press, St. Martin's Press and HarperCollins International! Thank you so so much to Kim Curran for the gifts and to Jenny Han, Simon & Schuster and National Book Store for the ASHES TO ASHES ARC. Thank you to Lucy and Fully Booked for getting my transfer requests so fast. You feed my book addiction and in return, I almost give you all of my salary. Haha! And of course, infinite thanks to the awesome National Book Store for bringing Jenny Han in the Philippines. Weee!

Excerpt + Giveaway: Third Date by Kylie Keene

Title: Third Date

Author: Kylie Keene

Publisher: Waltham Publishing

Date of Publication: June 18, 2014

At 23, Morgan is a little behind other women her age when it comes to dating and relationships. More specifically, she’s a virgin. Dating wasn't a priority in high school and college, but now that Morgan has a job and her own apartment, she’s ready to jump back into the dating scene.

When Morgan’s friends at work inform her that most men expect sex on the third date, she panics. She’s convinced her lack of experience will be a total turn-off for guys and make for a really awkward third date. Her friends tell her to just do it with a random guy to get it over with, but Morgan isn't sure that’s what she wants.

When she meets a guy she’s certain is her dream man, she’s ready to lose it on their third date. But doing so isn't as easy as she thought. And then there’s the fact that she can’t get another guy out of her head.

Through a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, Morgan eventually finds herself at a place she wasn't expecting, but the place she wanted to be all along.

Purchase from Amazon

Excerpt

“Serena?” A deep voice wakes me from my thoughts.

I look up and see a man standing next to my table, holding his hand out. He has jet black hair and deep brown eyes and he’s smiling at me. But since my name isn't Serena, I’m guessing he’s meeting a blind date here and thinks I’m her.

I take a moment to consider my options. What if I just pretended to be this Serena girl? Doing so would certainly qualify as being adventurous. But then Serena wouldn’t have a date. But I’m sure she could find another one. With a name like Serena, I bet she gets tons of dates. Serena sounds exotic. The name alone would draw a man in. Morgan, on the other hand, sounds like a last name. Or the name of a company. It’s dull, practical, and not the least bit exotic.

“Excuse me. Are you Serena?” He asks it again.

“Um, yes. Have a seat.” The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them.

“I’m Luke.” He smiles and sits in the chair next to me. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.”

“Can I get you a drink?” He’s still smiling, his teeth sparkling white.

“No, thank you. Water’s fine.”

“So Jackie said you work at the agency?”

Agency? What agency? I stare at him, not sure how to answer. And then I come to my senses.

What the hell I am doing? This is crazy! I can’t pretend to be someone else. Steal someone’s date. I really need to get a life. And a date. A real date, not someone else’s.

“I’m sorry. I’m not Serena.”

“What did you say?”

“I said I’m not Serena. I’m not your date.”

“I don’t understand.” He sits back in his chair, trying to get some distance from me now that he knows I’m insane.

“I was just pretending to be. Sorry. You just surprised me when you came up to my table and—”

“Yeah, okay.” He stands up and shoves his chair back in place. He almost seems mad or maybe he’s afraid of me. “Good luck with everything.”

He takes off to the hostess stand.

Good luck with everything? What does that mean? Good luck ever finding a date? A man? A life?

I watch as a tall brunette approaches him. She’s wearing a red dress and three-inch heels. She’s gorgeous. And exotic-looking, just as I thought.

The waiter comes back to my table. “Are you ready to order?”

“Yes, I’ll have a vodka tonic.”

“Um, okay.” He seems surprised, given that I turned down the wine earlier. Now I’ve skipped straight to the hard liquor. “Would you like anything to eat?”

My eyes are still on Luke and Serena. They even sound like a couple. Like one of those couples on a soap opera who are rich and always look perfect and have sex all the time.

Luke escorts her to the bar, his hand on her lower back as he whispers something in her ear.

“Ma’am?” The waiter’s still standing there. “Are you going to order?”

I sigh and look back at my menu. “Do you have burgers here?”

“We have a prime rib burger with a portobello mushroom sauce.”

“I’ll have that.” As he turns to leave, I say, “And bring TWO vodka tonics.”

“So someone IS joining you?”

I scowl at him.

“Oh. Sorry.” He scurries off to the kitchen.

This is the last time I eat alone at a restaurant. Okay, maybe it’s not the last time, but I’m never going to a date restaurant again.

I should've stayed home and eaten one of the meals in my freezer in front of the TV.

Maybe I’m not ready to be adventurous.

Giveaway

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Spotlight + Giveaway: 2B or Not 2B? by Stephanie Witter

Title: 2B or Not 2B? (Roomies #1)

Author: Stephanie Witter

Publisher: AG Publishing

Date of Publication: June 26, 2014

London Reed is on the hunt for a place to live before the start of her second year in college. Either she is successful and can enjoy her student life without the pressure of her parents breathing down her neck, or she goes back home and clashes with her parents.

Because London doesn’t have a filter.

''You’re a weird one, aren’t you?''

She basically tells it as she sees it. So when she meets the hunky and scarred guy who lives in apartment 2B, the last apartment on her exhausting list, she’s sure to bring some crazy in his life.

But he’s determined to not take a girl for a roommate.

"I have nothing against you, but I don't see this working for me."

London doesn’t give up that easily and makes a deal with him. If she makes it for two months, she’s in for the whole year. If not, then she leaves to never contact him again.

Easy, right? Not so much.

"You should have told me that you wanted me to be all over you."

When a guy and a girl live under the same roof, it’s bound to complicate things. Between banters, heady games of seduction, innuendos and insecurities revealed, the life in apartment 2B isn’t simple, and a few slips in their relationship doesn’t help the matter.

"You're driving me completely nuts. That's my fucking problem."

***No cliffhanger.

Purchase from Amazon | B&N

About Stephanie Witter

Stephanie Witter is a French dreamer. She started learning English at three, and fell in love with the language. Always with a book, or two close by, she started reading in English when she couldn’t wait any longer for Harry Potter to be translated in French. After a while, reading wasn’t enough. She soon started writing Young Adult and New Adult Contemporary novels filled with angst, love, hope, drama and a touch of fun. PATCH UP is her first New Adult Contemporary novel.

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Newsletter

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Cover Reveal: Wild by Sophie Jordan

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Title: Wild (The Ivy Chronicles #3)

Author: Sophie Jordan

Publisher: William Morrow

Date of Publication: November 18, 2014

A good girl goes bad in the third and final book in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s sexy New Adult romance series—where three Ivy League suite-mates testing their boundaries as they seek higher knowledge of just how far they can go.

Months after her boyfriend dumped her, Georgia can still hear the insults he hurled at her. Boring. Predictable. Tame. Tired of feeling bad, she’s ready to change her image, and go a little wild. What better way to prove her ex wrong than a hot night of adventure at the secret campus kink club?

In the shadowy den of the club, she unexpectedly runs into Logan Mulvaney, her friend’s little brother. A player extraordinaire too hot for his own good, he may be younger, but the guy is light years ahead when it comes to the opposite sex. Now he’s telling her to go home-”good girls” don’t belong here!

Georgia is tired of having others define her. She’s going to teach Logan a lesson he won’t forget-one white hot, mind-wrecking kiss . . . that leads to another . . . and another . . . and. . . . Realizing she’s way in over her head, Georgia runs.

Only Logan won’t let her go. Everywhere she goes he’s there, making her want every inch of him. Making her forget who she is. Who he is. And just how wrong they are for each other.

Pre-order from Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

About Sophie Jordan

Sophie Jordan took her adolescent daydreaming one step further and penned her first historical romance in the back of her high school Spanish class. This passion led her to pursue a degree in English and History.

A brief stint in law school taught her that case law was not nearly as interesting as literature - teaching English seemed the natural recourse. After several years teaching high school students to love Antigone, Sophie resigned with the birth of her first child and decided it was time to pursue the long-held dream of writing.

In less than three years, her first book, Once Upon A Wedding Night, a 2006 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Nominee for Best First Historical, hit book shelves. Her second novel, Too Wicked To Tame, released in March 2007 with a bang, landing on the USA Today Bestseller's List.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Blog Tour: The Real Score (Gezellig #1) + (un)breakable (Gezellig #2) by Kesh Tanglao

Everyone! I'm touring two books in a series. Oh, scratch that. Two AWESOME books of a series. And it has a boy band in it... GOTCHA!

Title: The Real Score (Gezellig #1)

Author: Kesh Tanglao

Date of Publication: August 28, 2013

Genre: contemporary romance / chick-lit

Caitlin's friendship with Marcus, the de facto frontman of the world's biggest boy band Gezellig, has long been an object of scrutiny by almost everyone--their friends and families, the media, and his fans--ever since they "went public" a couple of years back. Who wouldn't be interested? She was a nobody, catapulted into the limelight of his fame when he struck an unusual friendship with her.

To both Caitlin and Marcus, what they have is a "perfect little thing." But then something comes along and threatens it.

In a no-holds-barred interview, will they finally be forced to settle the score?

Schedule

July 8

The Book Pile - Review + Excerpt + Playlist

Cinderella Stories - Excerpt
Rachelle's Window - Excerpt
strangely out of place - Excerpt

July 9

deal sharing aunt - Excerpt
Library Mistress - Excerpt

July 10

Le Bibliophile~ - Review

Pretty Girls Read Books - Excerpt

July 11

The Enigma of Herself - Excerpt

The Gray Blog - Excerpt
A Little Bit of Everything - Excerpt

July 12

partnersinbooks - Review + Interview + Excerpt
My Book Empire - Review

The Shadow Realm - Excerpt

July 13

Amour Pour Cadeaux - Review + Excerpt

XoXo Book Blog - Excerpt

July 14

Inside the mind of a Bibliophile - Review

The Great Big Jump - Interview

July 15

The Phantom Paragrapher - Review

Giveaway

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We're also touring the (un)breakable, the second book in the Gezellig series! It's releasing June 16 and it will be about Lorin Perez, Caitlin's best friend, and Nigel Whitmore. Not only that, but Kesh also added a hot rugby player into the equation, Spence Clarke. No worries because Caitlin and Marcus are still in the book. I know you want in on that (to those who have read THE REAL SCORE).

Schedule

July 28

The Enigma of Herself - Review
The Belle Of A Boulevard - Review + Excerpt
My Book Musings - Excerpt

July 29

The Book Pile - Excerpt + Playlist
The Enigma of Herself - Interview

July 30

Inside the mind of a Bibliophile - Review
Publishing in Pajamas - Interview
deal sharing aunt - Excerpt

July 31

Brewed Thoughts - Review + Excerpt
partnersinbooks - Review + Excerpt

August 1

The Belle Of A Boulevard - Interview
The Shadow Realm - Excerpt
Library Mistress - Excerpt

August 2

Amour Pour Cadeaux - Review + Excerpt
The Girl Behind the Stories - Review

August 3

Sab The Book Eater - Review
Book Junkie Joint - Review + Excerpt
Le Bibliophile~ - Review

August 4

The Phantom Paragrapher - Review
It's A Wonderful Bookworld - Excerpt
My Book Empire - Review

Giveaway

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Book Spine Poetry Sunday (2)

Every other Sunday, I will be posting book spine poems because I love poems and I love books and I thought book spine poetry is awesome. Thank you to Charlie of Letter Trails for the feature photo!

This is my second week of posting and today's theme is BULLYING.

Fat Angie
Tease
Skinny
Envy
Alienated
Uninvited
Everything Breaks

You can follow me on Instagram at oopsireadabookagain for more bookish photos (with low resolution and bad lighting HAHA)!

Want to change some titles on my poem? Go comment your own version below! Just have at least one of those books in yours. Looking forward to seeing them! (Provided someone comments. Haha!)

{Blog Tour} Excerpt + Giveaway: #scandal by Sarah Ockler

Hey guys! Sarah Ockler's #scandal is releasing next Tuesday and I know you can't wait for it. So I got a little teaser and a giveaway just for you! So go on, read on!

Title: #scandal

Author: Sarah Ockler

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Date of Publication: June 17, 2014

Lucy’s learned some important lessons from tabloid darling Jayla Heart’s all-too-public blunders: Avoid the spotlight, don’t feed the Internet trolls, and keep your secrets secret. The policy has served Lucy well all through high school, so when her best friend Ellie gets sick before prom and begs her to step in as Cole’s date, she accepts with a smile, silencing about ten different reservations. Like the one where she’d rather stay home shredding online zombies. And the one where she hates playing dress-up. And especially the one where she’s been secretly in love with Cole since the dawn of time.

When Cole surprises her at the after party with a kiss under the stars, it’s everything Lucy has ever dreamed of… and the biggest BFF deal-breaker ever. Despite Cole’s lingering sweetness, Lucy knows they’ll have to ’fess up to Ellie. But before they get the chance, Lucy’s own Facebook profile mysteriously explodes with compromising pics of her and Cole, along with tons of other students’ party indiscretions. Tagged. Liked. And furiously viral.

By Monday morning, Lucy’s been branded a slut, a backstabber, and a narc, mired in a tabloid-worthy scandal just weeks before graduation.

Lucy’s been battling undead masses online long enough to know there’s only one way to survive a disaster of this magnitude: Stand up and fight. Game plan? Uncover and expose the Facebook hacker, win back her best friend’s trust, and graduate with a clean slate.

There’s just one snag—Cole. Turns out Lucy’s not the only one who’s been harboring unrequited love...

Pre-order from Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

Excerpt

#NotEvenClose

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a picture tagged on Miss Demeanor’s Scandal of the Month page is worth about a million. Especially when the story all those words tell is an absolute lie.

Well, mostly a lie.

The part about falling asleep in his arms is sort of true. I don’t remember the details about the horse, or how it got into the living room exactly, but judging from the smell that morning, that part’s true too. And yes, the Harvard-bound debate team captain definitely cannonballed into the pond wearing only tuxedo socks and silver fairy wings. Everyone got shots of that.

But there’s no way the other stuff happened.

Not like the pictures are saying it did.

About Sarah Ockler

Sarah Ockler is the bestselling author of novels for teens, including The Book of Broken Hearts, Bittersweet, Fixing Delilah, and the critically acclaimed Twenty Boy Summer, a YALSA Teens' Top Ten nominee and IndieNext List pick. Her latest, #scandal, hits the shelves in June 2014.

Sarah is a champion cupcake eater, coffee drinker, night person, and bookworm. When she's not writing or reading at home in Colorado, she enjoys taking pictures, hugging trees, and road-tripping through the country with her husband, Alex.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

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{Blog Tour} Spotlight: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

Title: The Secrets of Lily Graves

Author: Sarah Strohmeyer

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Date of Publication: May 13, 2014

With the intrigue of Pretty Little Liars and plenty of romance, bestselling author Sarah Strohmeyer weaves a story of secrets and lies—set in a funeral parlor.

Growing up in a house of female morticians, Lily Graves knows all about buried secrets. She knows that perfect senior-class president Erin Donohue isn’t what she seems. She knows why Erin’s ex-boyfriend, hot football player Matt Houser, broke up with her. And she also knows that, even though she says she and Matt are just friends, there is something brewing between them—something Erin definitely did not like.

But secrets, even ones that are long buried, have a way of returning to haunt their keeper.

So when Erin is found dead the day after attacking Lily in a jealous rage, Lily's and Matt’s safe little lives, and the lives of everyone in their town of Potsdam, begin to unravel. And their relationship—which grew from innocent after-school tutoring sessions to late-night clandestine rendezvous—makes them both suspects.

As her world crumbles around her, Lily must figure out the difference between truth and deception, genuine love and a web of lies. And she must do it quickly, before the killer claims another victim.

Purchase from Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

Excerpt

For the tour organized by Pinoy Book Tours, three blogs are running the whole first chapter as an excerpt. I'm the last stop so go check out the previous stops on the tour page linked in the banner. For now, here's my excerpt!

The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer - Excerpt

About Sarah Strohmeyer

Sarah Strohmeyer is the award-winning, nationally bestselling author of fifteen novels one of which, THE CINDERELLA PACT, became a Lifetime Movie, LYING TO BE PERFECT.

Her first mystery, BUBBLES UNBOUND, won the Agatha Award and THE SLEEPING BEAUTY PROPOSAL was nominated for a prestigious RITA™. Her books have been translated into German, French, Italian, Turkish, Taiwanese and a bunch of others.

Her first young adult novel, SMART GIRLS GET WHAT THEY WANT, was published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins, on June 26, 2012.

Website | Twitter

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Cover Reveal: Kids in Love by Nikki Godwin

I can't even breathe anymore. OMG. Can't wait!!!

Title: Kids in Love (Saturn #1.5)

Author: Nikki Godwin

Date of Publication: August 2014

As one of the original Saturnites, Darby McMillon has been a longtime face of the fandom. From the days when the boys were just a YouTube band trying to gain fans up through their recent lockdown, Darby's channel - Darby's Daily Dose of Drama - was the "go to" spot for all things Spaceships Around Saturn.

Until now, she's been trusted by most and envied by few, but her meet up with SAS girlfriend Chloe Branson shakes Darby's world. She learns quickly that when you're with the band, everything isn't always red carpets and music videos.

And the closer she gets to her SAS crush Tate Kingsley, the closer she comes to losing her Saturnite status forever.

About Nikki Godwin

Nikki Godwin is a YA/NA/LGBT author. She can't live without Mountain Dew, black eyeliner, and music by Hawthorne Heights. When not writing, she internet-stalks her favorite bands and keeps tabs on surf competitions. She adores pro surfer John John Florence and has made it her life goal to meet David Desrosiers of Simple Plan.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

{Blog Tour} Spotlight + Giveaway: My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal

A dual celebration for today! Aside from HEXED, MY LAST KISS by Bethany Neal is also out in the world today! You can read Chapter 1 right here and of course, there's a giveaway!

Title: My Last Kiss

Author: Bethany Neal

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Date of Publication: June 10, 2014

What if your last kiss was with the wrong boy?

Cassidy Haines remembers her first kiss vividly. It was on the old covered bridge the summer before her freshman year with her boyfriend of three years, Ethan Keys. But her last kiss--the one she shared with someone at her seventeenth birthday party the night she died--is a blur. Cassidy is trapped in the living world, not only mourning the loss of her human body, but left with the grim suspicion that her untimely death wasn't a suicide as everyone assumes. She can't remember anything from the weeks leading up to her birthday and she's worried that she may have betrayed her boyfriend.

If Cassidy is to uncover the truth about that fateful night and make amends with the only boy she'll ever love, she must face her past and all the decisions she made--good and bad--that led to her last kiss.

Bethany Neal's suspenseful debut novel is about the power of first love and the haunting lies that threaten to tear it apart.

Purchase from Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

Excerpt

Chapter 1

It’s snowing or maybe it’s raining. . . no, it’s snowing. I can feel the wet flakes gathering in the corners of my eyes, melting down my cheeks like tears. The warmth from the sun I felt on my face only an instant before is gone. When I blink, the only things I see are blotchy white bits of trees and clouds and lights. Where are those lights coming from? I stumble onto my feet and my legs feel Jell-O-y, like I've been swimming for a really long time and now the ground feels too rigid.

I take one step and suddenly my whole body stings. I fall to my knees and clutch my middle. The worst pain I've ever felt invades my limbs, like when your foot falls asleep except it’s my entire body and it’s epically stronger. I’m screaming and gripping my sides, writhing in the fluffy white snow. And then the pain stops; as fast as it came, it stops. Filled with relief, I do a quick once-over of my body. I even pinch my arm to check if I’m dreaming. How dumb is that?

I manage to open my eyes enough to see a silhouette standing above the waterline among the trees in Dover Park. He—at least I think it’s a he—is staring at me, but not at me, me. He’s staring at the bloody, twisted mess of me on the rocks along the riverbank.

Why are there two of me?! And how did I get in the river?

I run toward my other, mangled body. I must be having a nightmare—but it’s like there’s a force field around me. I sort of melt into the air, then get flung back. I land on my butt in a massive snowbank at the water’s edge, waiting to feel the cold from sitting in waist-deep snow.

A jagged chunk of ice floats by, sparkling in the early-morning moonlight.

I still haven't felt the cold.

The silhouette is talking now. I hear him, but the words are muffled as if he’s talking underwater. I press my hands to the sides of my face and squeeze my eyes shut, concentrating. His voice comes clearer. . . He’s telling me he didn't mean to.

Mean to what?

Now he’s telling me this isn't how it was supposed to go. This is her fault.

Is "her" me?

I open my eyes to check if he’s talking to me, me. He’s not. I look at my Other body, broken and folded in ways a body should never bend over a mound of gray rocks. In one of my Other hands I’m holding something, maybe a piece of paper, but I can’t see it clearly. Snow piles high again around my eyes and my cheeks and now on my shoulders. It comes down, harder and harder, until I feel buried in it. I can’t even see it and I’m buried in it so deep that I can’t breathe.

Slowly a thought creeps in, settles in the front of my mind. It tugs at something I feel like I know but can’t quite remember. I open my mouth to speak it, but I don’t see my breath the way I should in early March. I glance up at the silhouette. He’s crying or maybe he’s yelling; either way, I can see his breath.

I’m not breathing. I don’t need to. The words float past my lips like a rehearsed chorus: “I’m dead.”

About Bethany Neal

Bethany Neal writes young-adult novels with a little dark side and a lot of kissing! She is obsessed with (but not limited to): nail polish, ginormous rings, pigs, pickles, and dessert.

You can find her locked in her Writertorium for insane amounts of time. But, hey, insanity is fun! My Last Kiss is her first novel.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

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