I LOVE my critique partners. I have a very small group of friends who I’ve been working with for a very long time and they are amazing. I also have lots of critique support through my local Shop Talk. They never let me down. And then there’s my amazing buddies from the Class of 2k12 and the Apocs that I can ALWAYS call upon. But recently I’ve joined a new critique group I’m very excited about. We call ourselves The Ladies Noir and we’re a group of 30 YA authors supporting each other with critique and promo. I’m loving this diverse group already and I’m happy to begin sharing one of these great YA authors with you. PIXILATED by L.S Murphy is on TBR list but I wanted to be a part of her Book Blitz, so I’ll tell you about how awesome it was later. For now, here’s what you need to know to be excited…

Pixelated

by L.S. Murphy

Release Date: 06/30/15

Bloomsbury Spark

Summary from Goodreads:

Senior Year. 

Middle of nowhere. 

What’s the new girl to do?

For Piper Marks, the answer is simple. She’s determined to have her photography rock the cover of National Geographic someday, and moving to Clarkton, Iowa for her last year of high school is not going to stop her. Even if her usual subjects have changed from bright lights and skyscrapers to fields, cows…and more fields. 

But when photographer at the local paper quits in a huff, she steps into his spot. Her new job keeps Piper busy capturing tackles, and zooming in on first downs and end zone dances, not to mention putting her directly in the path of varsity football star Les Williams IV. Her new friends warn her off, but she can’t resist the pull she feels toward this mysterious country boy. But this small town is keeping a secret, and it’s one that could destroy any chance they have to be together. 

It’s up to Piper to decide what to do with the distorted truth. Can she risk exposing her heart? It might be worth it, ’cause Les is about to change her world from black and white to fully saturated color. 

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Buy Links:

AMAZON│BARNES & NOBLE│KOBO

 Praise for Pixelated:
“In Pixelated, L.S. Murphy weaves a complex web of secrets and lies with a ‘will they or won’t they’ romance that kept me turning pages and holding my breath!” ~ Julie Reece, author of The Artisans and Crux

“Beautifully written, with a full spectrum of emotion and complex characters, Pixelated will tug at all your heartstrings. I easily lost myself in the world L.S. Murphy created and couldn’t stop reading because I needed to see how the story ended.” ~ Kelly Oram, author of Cinder & Ella

“L.S. Murphy brings something for every reader with Pixelated: romance, secrets, mystery, and a main character torn between two choices. Murphy’s writing is sharp and steeped in emotions, deftly hooking her readers from the first sentence to the last.” ~ Sarah Bromley, author of A Murder Of Magpies 

About the Author
L.S. Murphy obsesses about St. Louis Cardinals baseball, fangirls over her favorite authors, and watches every episode of Doctor Who like it’s the first time. When she’s not doing those time-consuming things, the former farm-girl turned city slicker turned suburbanite writes sweet romances for teens and adults.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours

I’m completely intrigued by a girl wanting her work to grace the cover of a National Geographic–what intrigues you the most about PIXILATED???

Tags: Bloomsbury, Bloomsbury Spark, Critique Partners, Critque, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, L.S. Murphy, PIXILATED, The Ladies Noir, YA Bound Book Tours

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I just finished another amazing book by my fellow Wolf Pack Sistah, Daisy Whitney. Check this out…

Available: September 3rd 2013 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Seventeen-year-old Julien is a romantic—he loves spending his free time at the museum poring over the great works of the Impressionists. But one night, a peach falls out of a Cezanne, Degas ballerinas dance across the floor, and Julien is not hallucinating.

The art is reacting to a curse that trapped a beautiful girl, Clio, in a painting forever. Julien has a chance to free Clio and he can’t help but fall in love with her. But love is a curse in its own right. And soon paintings begin to bleed and disappear. Together Julien and Clio must save the world’s greatest art . . . at the expense of the greatest love they’ve ever known.

Like a master painter herself, Daisy Whitney brings inordinate talent and ingenuity to this romantic, suspenseful, and sophisticated new novel.A beautifully decorated package makes it a must-own in print.

Kimberly’s Review of STARRY NIGHTS:

One of the biggest things that I love about Daisy Whitney’s writing (and I love a lot) is just when I think I know who she is as a writer, she redefines herself. Often, for authors, this kind of an evolution is a by-product of an ever changing market. I don’t feel that’s true for Daisy. I think she is a sponge in her own life, soaking up a million people, places and things that are interesting. And then she writes about the things she loves and the things that fascinate her. She writes about the questions she has and the things that must be witnessed. She writes what she knows and what she needs to know. And then luckily, she shares it with us.

It is obvious that STARRY NIGHTS was born from Daisy’s love of art and her desire to share the magic she feels, not only for paintings, but for artistic expression in general. Her passion for her topic was infectious and it raised my curiosity about some pieces that weren’t in my vocabulary before. This book could be used, to great collaborative effect, with art and english teachers.

I was also fascinated by Daisy’s take on Renoir. I think that in our society, we often have a tendency to confuse the artist with the art. When we have a big name Hollywood star, an athlete, artist or politician we love, it’s hard to look past our adoration for their craft or skill when their private life raises red flags. What to do about such real life discrepancies is a topic for another day, but what I loved was that Daisy subtly raised the question.

Additionally, I’m a big fan of books that step outside the typical take on the paranormal. I believe there’s a lot more magic in the world than we open ourselves up to. STARRY NIGHTS is different than anything else that’s out there and that is a wonderful thing. It creatively crafts elements of paranormal intrigue with something that in today’s day in age, could literally become a lost art. STARRY NIGHTS makes reading and learning about art history really cool. I’m also a huge fan of Daisy’s funny bits. If you read STARRY NIGHTS, one of the best payoffs is finding out what the Mona Lisa has been thinking all this time. It’s hysterical and adorable.

And on a little side note, I loved that every night when I curled up in bed, I got to go to Paris for a little while. I walked the streets, saw the sights, smelled the coffee and tasted the food. I can not wait until I get to revisit Paris and bring my kids. And I know, when I go and walk into the Musee d’Orsay and the Louvre, thanks to Daisy Whitney and her STARRY NIGHTS, I’ll be waiting for the art to come alive.

You can PRe-order STARRY NIGHTS here…

*Barnes & Noble

*Amazon

*IndieBound

By day, Daisy Whitney is a reporter and ghostwriter. At night, she writes novels for teens and is the author of THE MOCKINGBIRDS and its sequel THE RIVALS (Little, Brown). Her third novel WHEN YOU WERE HERE released in June 2013 (Little, Brown), and her fourth novel STARRY NIGHTS (Bloomsbury) hits shelves in September 2013. When Daisy’s not inventing fictional high school worlds, she can be found somewhere north of San Francisco walking her adorable dog, watching online TV with her fabulous husband or playing with her fantastic kids.  A graduate of Brown University, she believes in shoes, chocolate chip cookies and karma.  You can follow her writing blog and new media adventures at DaisyWhitney.com. (I don’t rate books on GoodReads, nor do I check the site so please friend me on Facebook instead.)

Enter to win my ARC of STARRY NIGHTS by Daisy Whitney!!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the Rafflecopter’s Leave a Comment (above) for bonus entries!!! I want to hear about what piece of art you’d like to hang out with.

Tags: ARC, Bloomsbury, Contest, Daisy Whitney, giveaway, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Michelle Wolfson, Starry Nights

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