Becca Fitzpatrick Signing At Foyles

Back in October I had the pleasure of attending the Becca Fitzpatrick talk and signing at Foyles in London.  I was so excited for this event for several reasons -

• I've never been to an event at Foyles before
• Becca is the coolest author & I adore her
• I get to see some awesome friends again

I think they were all pretty solid reasons to attend and boy am I glad I did!!!
My adventure started by meeting my very good friend and fellow blogger Laura from SisterSpooky: BookFangirl  We had plenty of bookish and geeky things to discuss, so that kept us busy until we arrived in London.  We worked out we were in fact slightly later than we had planned.  A very fast walk ensued, with phone calls to Becky (Laura's cousin and my good friend) who was also attending the event.  Literally as we got to Foyles I started to geek out as Becca Fitzpatrick walked in the store before us.  I was trying to be cool, but failing epically by loud whispering to Laura 'Look that's Becca' I honestly am trying to find my cool factor!!!

 We then had a mad rush up 3 flights of stairs to the roof of Foyles, where the talks are held.  Its quite a small intimate area, but absolutely perfect for these book events.  There was a projector on the back wall, showing all of the Hush, Hush saga covers and a gorgeous antique style chair that was reserved for Becca.

We took to our seats, but not before getting to speak to some of our blogger friends - these events have so many perks - meeting authors, evenings out, seeing friends, buying books - Heaven!!!

After a very short wait Becca finally walked in chaperoned by two topless winged guys - not such a bad sight I can confirm, but they don't match up to the Patch in my mind!!!

Becca launched into a talk about how she thought of the books and the long process it takes - you really don't realise how long these books take to make it onto your bookshelf & all the hard work and even rejection that goes into them.  I really wouldn't be cut out to be an author!!

Becca then took questions from her eager audience, that were at first reluctant to ask questions but eventually couldn't stop (I didn't ask any questions, as I am a scaredy cat that doesn't speak to large amounts of people)
Several people asked questions about Silence which had Becky & me covering our ears as neither of us have read the newest installment yet - I'm just so slow right now!  Luckily my memory is not so wonderful and I can't remember anything major and so have remained unspoilt for when I get to read my copy.

After the talk we all got to go and get our books signed.  I had actually met Becca the year before, so already had my copies of Hush, Hush and Crescendo signed.  I just took along my gorgeous Red edition of the book.
We were fairly close to the back of the queue, which was quite a shame as most of the front of the queue got to have some yummy looking mini cup cakes.  I was GUTTED to miss out on those, but meeting Becca seriously helped that pain!!
After about 3/4 of an hour it was our turn to get our things signed.  Becca looked straight at me and said 'Hi Leanne' I was GOBSMACKED!!  Obviously Becca has had a huge impact on my life, but I never thought she would remember me a year after meeting her for the first time.  It shows how the little conversations on Twitter and facebook can build real connections with awesome people in all walks of life.  Finally Becca posed for a picture with me!!

This was such an amazing event that will be treasured in my memory for years to come!!  Many thanks to Becca, Foyles & the lovely people at Simon & Schuster

Review - Angel By L A Weatherly

"Willow knows she s different from other girls. And not just because she loves tinkering around with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into peoples futures, know their dreams, their hopes and their regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where she gets this power from... But Alex does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows Willows secret and is on a mission to stop her. The dark forces within Willow make her dangerous and irresistible. In spite of himself, Alex finds he is falling in love with his sworn enemy."

UK Cover

I've had my copy of this just over a year now.  I bought it as Lee was doing a signing at a Twilight convention I was attending and would never pass up the opportunity to meet the authors of books.  I have to admit though that I didn't really feel an overwhelming urge to read the book.  I really think that was down to the UK cover that just doesn't do it for me.  The girl looks somewhat freaky and the colours just don't work for me.  Having now read the book, I so regret judging this book by its cover - I so enjoyed it!!!

The star of the book is a girl named Willow.  She is basically the girl I wish I could have been growing up.  She is so comfortable in her own skin.  She wears what she wants and is exactly the person she is.  What a fantastic role model for all girls out there!!

This story is very different to any Angel based story I have ever read before.  This was totally refreshing and opened my eyes to a completely different way of seeing how angels could be perceived.

US Cover

You get to read this story from the perspectives of different people on different sides of this big battle, which again is amazing.  You can see every one's point of view and has you at times wanting to shout out the actual truths over what people think.  I found this really emphasised the story and didn't break any mystery or suspense.

Our two main characters are Willow and Alex.  They are both some what dysfunctional and have what would be considered strange upbringings.  Yet they are thrown together through apposing factors and yet find this heartwarming common ground and understanding.  Its truly wonderful.

The story lost pace for me a little in the middle, but got back on track for the end.  There is quite a time constraining passage in the book which had me imagining the movie of this book, with an epic romantic rock song playing over the top.  It made me quite excited!!!

This has to be one of my favourite angel themed books I have read and has left me itching to read the next part of our unexpected duo's tale

Rating 4 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By Usborne

This Can be Purchased HERE and from good book retailers

 ANGEL GIVEAWAY HERE!!!!

Book covers Galore

Wow, so not only is today the official UK release of Lament By Maggie Stiefvater, Scholastic were amazing & decided to finally release the cover of Forever, the expected finale of Maggie's awesome The Wolves Of Mercy Falls series. I literally could not be more excited for that book. Maggie rocks my socks in every way :D

I read Lament last year & loved it! Its a highly recommended read, not to mention a stunning cover!!





And how beautiful is Forever?? I love the designs used for these books. Its so simple, but hugely effective. They always make me wonder what the back story is, & how the red parts of the covers are going to effect the story. This time being the rose - whats going to happen???

Also ScholasticUK have some amazing Lament giveaways going on, on there twitter page, so go have a look!!! http://twitter.com/#!/scholasticuk

Also on a slightly different thread the cover for Passion by Lauren Kate has been revealed. OMG how stunning is this??? I absolutely adore these covers. I'm not always such a fan of seeing people on covers, but these are done is such a gorgeous, effective waay how could you not fall in love with - plus those dresses....WOW!!!! Another read I am dying to get round too!!! You can find the image here

Review - Crescendo By Becca Fitzpatrick

I have been so eager to read this since I read Hush Hush last year. I fell totally in love with Patch & wanted to know what was going to happen next.
My problem was that I had the opportunity to meet Becca on 31st October, but had to buy a copy of the book there to meet her & sadly couldn't afford to buy more than one copy, so I had the hard decision to make - buy the book on release, but not get to meet Becca OR wait & get to meet her. It was tough, but I had to go with the latter. Becca is such a wonderful person & I'm so pleased I did go for that option!
The second problem with getting the book later, was that a lot of my friends had read the book before me - EEEEK Spoilers - one thing all us book people hate - luckily I managed to avoid all the major ones, phew! All I did know was that there was a huge twist at the end :S

I did find the book to be in a slight similar style to Meyer's New Moon - which I was very unprepared for. For me this is a great thing - I love Meyer's books!
I also found the lead characters a little frustrating at times, again something I didn't expect. I was nearly screaming at them at times, but remembered I was reading quite late & my Mum wouldn't be best pleased if I did that!!!
It doesn't take long to realise everything is happening for a reason & just makes you eager to know what is going on.
As I mentioned earlier there is quite a twist at the end - this is incredible - I had NO IDEA!!!

The book was amazing - it had me totally gripped & I hated having to put the book down of a night (I'm a night reader) For me that is a sure sign of a fantastic read.
Roll on next October when we get the next part!!!
Rating - 4 Out Of 5

Published By Simon & Schuster Childrens Books