Romantic Times Booklovers Convention
April 12-17, 2016
Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada (details)
a post event - update
YA: Romance with Edge or Just Plain On the Edge: How Far Can You Really Go in YA Fiction?
The “Y” in YA might stand for “young,” but teens deal with serious challenges and big emotions—the thrill of first love and the pain of heartbreak, the power that comes from finding yourself and the confusion that comes from making mistakes. As writers, how do we create authentic characters and plotlines? Are there limits when writing for a teen audience? Join us and for an unforgettable discussion with a panel of YA authors who aren’t afraid to push the envelope and keep it real.
Moderator: Danielle Paige
Guests:
Ellen Hopkins
Lauren Oliver
Katie McGarry
Kami Garcia
Sona Charaipotra
=====> Fun panel. Insights from each author with personal anecdotes was a wonderful way to get to know each. See below for how each responded to the question of "What was your first sexy book read?"
Authors in photo above (left to right):
Yellow Brick War
(Dorothy Must Die #3)
by Danielle Paige
-Fantasy, Retelling, YA
Just released: March 15, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads | Website
In this dark, action-packed third book in the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series, Amy Gumm—the new girl from Kansas—must do everything in her power to save Kansas, kill Dorothy, and make Oz a free land once more.
Amy Gumm’s mission to take down Dorothy Gale is not going according to plan. Dorothy has found a way to bridge the worlds of Oz and Kansas, and if the power-hungry dictator of Oz has her way, Kansas will be destroyed forever. Now, Amy has to team up with the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked to save her home, restore the balance between the magic and nonmagic worlds, maybe get the guy—and kill that not-so-sweet Kansas farm girl once and for all.
In the third installment of the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die series, Danielle Paige’s twisted versions of beloved Oz characters are back, including the biggest, baddest, most famous of all: the Wicked Witch of the West.
Welcome to the other side of the rainbow. Here there’s danger around every corner, and magic shoes won’t be able to save you.
(Tricks, #2)
by Ellen Hopkins
-Poetry, YA
Amazon | Goodreads | Website
Five teens victimized by sex trafficking try to find their way to a new life in this riveting companion to the New York Times bestselling Tricks from Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank.
In her bestselling novel, Tricks, Ellen Hopkins introduced us to five memorable characters tackling these enormous questions: Eden, the preacher’s daughter who turns tricks in Vegas and is helped into a child prostitution rescue; Seth, the gay farm boy disowned by his father who finds himself without money or resources other than his own body; Whitney, the privileged kid coaxed into the life by a pimp and whose dreams are ruined in a heroin haze; Ginger, who runs away from home with her girlfriend and is arrested for soliciting an undercover cop; and Cody, whose gambling habit forces him into the life, but who is shot and left for dead.
And now, in Traffick, these five are faced with the toughest question of all: Is there a way out? How these five teenagers face the aftermath of their decisions and experiences is the soul of this story that exposes the dark, ferocious underbelly of the child trafficking trade. Heartwrenching and hopeful, Traffick takes us on five separate but intertwined journeys through the painful challenges of recovery, rehabilitation, and renewal to forgiveness and love. All the way home.
=====> First sexy book read: Godfather by Mario Puzo
Replica
by Lauren Oliver
-SciFi, YA
Release date: October 4, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads | Website
Gemma has been in and out of hospitals since she was born. 'A sickly child', her lonely life to date has revolved around her home, school and one best friend, Alice. But when she discovers her father's connection to the top secret Haven research facility, currently hitting the headlines and under siege by religious fanatics, Gemma decides to leave the sanctuary she's always known to find the institute and determine what is going on there and why her father's name seems inextricably linked to it.
Amidst the frenzy outside the institute's walls, Lyra - or number 24 as she is known as at Haven - and a fellow experimental subject known only as 72, manage to escape. Encountering a world they never knew existed outside the walls of their secluded upbringing , they meet Gemma and, as they try to understand Haven's purpose together, they uncover some earth-shattering secrets that will change the lives of both girls forever...
REPLICA envisions a world much like our own in which a small set of human clones are being used by the military to test the effects of neurotoxicity in the search for a potential universal vaccine.
=====> First sexy book read: Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
Walk The Edge
(Thunder Road #2)
by Katie McGarry
-Romance, YA
Just released: March 29, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads | Website
One moment of recklessness will change their worlds.
Smart. Responsible. That's seventeen-year-old Breanna's role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyber-bully's line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas "Razor" Turner into her life.
Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don't belong. But when he learns she's being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them—a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness—he knows it's time to step outside the rules.
And so they make a pact: he'll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she'll help him seek answers to the mystery that's haunted him—one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they're both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they're going from here.
=====> First sexy book read: Forever by Judy Blume
The Lovely Reckless
by Kami Garcia
-Romance, YA
Release date: October 4, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads | Excerpt | Website
I’ve become an expert at avoiding things that could hurt me—which means I will figure out how to stay away from Marco Leone.
Seventeen-year-old Frankie Devereux would do anything to forget the past. Haunted by the memory of her boyfriend’s death, she lives her life by one dangerous rule: Nothing matters. At least, that’s what Frankie tells herself after a reckless mistake forces her to leave her privileged life in the Heights to move in with her dad—an undercover cop. She transfers to a public high school in the Downs, where fistfights don’t faze anyone and illegal street racing is more popular than football.
Marco Leone is the fastest street racer in the Downs. Tough, sexy, and hypnotic, he makes it impossible for Frankie to ignore him—and how he makes her feel. But the risks Marco takes for his family could have devastating consequences for them both. When Frankie discovers his secret, she has to make a choice. Will she let the pain of the past determine her future? Or will she risk what little she has left to follow her heart?
=====> First sexy book read: romance books of from her teens (Fabio was mentioned)
Shiny Broken Pieces
(Tiny Pretty Things #2)
by Sona Charaipotra (and Dhonielle Clayton)
-Thriller, YA
Release date: July 12, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads | Website
June, Bette, and Gigi have given their all to dance at Manhattan’s most elite ballet school. Now they are competing one final time for a spot at the prestigious American Ballet Company. With the stakes higher than ever, these girls have everything to lose…and no one is playing nice.
June is starting to finally see herself as a prima ballerina. However, getting what she wants might cost her everything—including the only boy she’s ever loved. Legacy dancer Bette is determined to clear her name after she was suspended and accused of hurting her rival, Gigi. Even if she returns, though, will she ever regain the spotlight she craves? And Gigi is not going to let Bette—or the other dancers who bullied her—go unpunished. But as revenge consumes her, Gigi may be the one who pays the price.
After years of grueling auditions, torn ribbons, and broken hearts, it all comes down to this last dance. Who will make the cut? And who will lose her dream forever?
=====> First sexy book read: Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
