Heartbreakers Blog Tour Day #4 - with authors Jeri Smith-Ready & Erin Johnson + A KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY!!!

Hey everyone! Welcome to the forth day in a week long event - Heartbreakers Blog Tour!

Over the next week I'll be one of SEVEN blogs featuring a bunch of amazing authors and their characters throughout.

Today, day #4 I have -

Jeri Smith-Ready & Erin Johnson!!!

Please be sure to come back and check out each day during the week for more chances to WIN!




Title: This Side of Salvation
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Publisher: Simon Pulse, 384 Pages (April 1st, 2014)
Add to: Goodreads
Pre-order here: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK

Synopsis: Everyone mourns differently. When his older brother was killed, David got angry. As in, fist-meets-someone-else’s-face furious. But his parents? They got religious. David’s still figuring out his relationship with a higher power, but there’s one thing he does know for sure: The closer he gets to new-girl Bailey, the better, brighter, happier, more he feels.

Then his parents start cutting all their worldly ties in to prepare for the Rush, the divine moment when the faithful will be whisked off to Heaven…and they want David to do the same. David’s torn. There’s a big difference between living in the moment and giving up his best friend, varsity baseball, and Bailey—especially Bailey—in hope of salvation.

But when he comes home late from prom, and late for the Rush, to find that his parents have vanished, David is in more trouble than he ever could have imagined...

About the Author:

Award-winning author Jeri Smith-Ready has been writing fiction since the night she had her first double espresso. She holds a master's degree in environmental policy and lives in Maryland with her husband, cat, and the world's goofiest greyhound.

Find Jeri Online:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Interview -

Can you tell us a bit about This Side of Salvation and what you hope readers take away after reading?

Thanks, Lisa, for hosting me on your blog! It’s a pleasure to be here as part of the Heartbreakers Tour.

This Side of Salvation is about a sixteen-year-old boy whose parents disappear the night they believe the Rapture is going to happen. It’s part mystery, part good old-fashioned realistic character-based YA novel. The book opens with the parents’ disappearance and David and his sister’s search for them. But then we dive in and out of the family’s past to see how they got to be so unraveled, why his parents would feel at home in a cult that looks forward to end of the world.

See, four years before TSOS opens, the oldest sibling, John, died in Afghanistan, in a way that scarred David deeply. But the book’s not all grief and angst: David meets a girl named Bailey who makes him feel more alive than ever. He’s also got his best friend, Kane, his baseball teammates (David’s a rising star pitcher)—and last but not least, his faith.

While TSOS deals directly with issues of personal faith, it’s not a religious book per se. It certainly has no pro- or anti-religion agenda—rather than preaching a viewpoint, I just wanted to tell one boy’s story. In the same way that religion affects different characters in different ways, each reader I think will take away something different from this book. If nothing else, it will make them think and hopefully start a few conversations.

It’s hard to write about religion without sounding preachy, sentimental, or mockingly irreverent, but I tried to approach the story every day with love and compassion for all the characters, and to see them as fully fleshed people, not just mouthpieces for a particular idea. I’ve already received positive reviews from both atheists and devout Christians, so I’m hopeful that I’ve hit the right spot!

Can you describe the main characters from this title in 3-5 words?

David: Giving. Loving. Believing. Strong. Lost.
Bailey: Smart. Driven. Idiosyncratic. Unself-conscious. Spectacular. (Heh, I can’t help but see her through David’s eyes.)

Title: Grace and the Guiltless - (Wanted, Book One)
Author: Laurie J. Edwards writing as Erin Johnson
Publisher: (2014)
No Goodreads link at the time of posting
Pre-order here: Amazon, The Book Depository, Amazon UK

Synopsis: A YA fiction series set in the Wild West: WANTED (w/a Erin Johnson)

After her family is slaughtered by outlaws, sixteen-year-old Grace Milton goes on a vendetta to capture the gang who did it. But once she meets a rugged range rider, she’s torn between revenge and love.

About the Author:

A former teacher and librarian, Laurie J. Edwards is a freelance author and illustrator. In addition to more than 2100 magazine and educational articles in print, her most recent books include the 5-vol. UXL Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes (Gale, 2012), Pirates through the Ages (Cengage, 2011), and Rihanna (People in the News) (Lucent, 2009) as well as stories in two anthologies, Summer Lovin’ and A Community of Writers. Laurie is also writing a YA historical fiction series and is working on several books on cyberstalking and cyberbullying. She also juggles a freelance editing career and writes adult novels under a pseudonym.

Find Erin/Laurie Online:

Website | Twitter

Interview -

Can you tell us a bit about your Grace and the Guiltless: Wanted Book 1 and what you hope readers take away after reading?

Early in the story, Grace faces tragic circumstances and struggles to survive. She vows never to love again because it’s so painful. Of course, her vow is soon challenged when she meets the love of her life.

I hope readers can see that no matter how dreadful or painful their circumstances, by facing every day with courage, they will triumph in the end.

Can you describe the main characters from this title in 3-5 words?

courageous, survivor, tender, strong, self-sufficient

Check out all the tour info and links HERE!

PLUS don't forget to check out the awesome trailer for the Heartbreakers Blog Tour and the Authors!

GIVEAWAY!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to check back all week long for more awesome interviews and chances to WIN BIG!!!