Welcome to Unabridged Bookshelf's stop on the Wrecked Blog Tour! Today not only to I have a review of Wrecked, but I have an infomative Guest Post by the amazing Alyssa Rose Ivy! To check out all the amazing stuff happening on this tour, make sure to click the button above.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Wrecked
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy
Series: Clayton Falls #3
Publication Date: April 30, 2013
When your past catches up, it's time to stop running.
Jake Mathews messed up yet again— but this time his misstep lands him in the hospital. He wakes up to find the girl of his dreams and the memory of having his deepest secret revealed.
Emily Taylor needs a break. She's been working double shifts as a nurse just to pay the bills while trying to heal a broken heart. The last thing she needs is to fall for a patient.
Strapped with community service and the knowledge that he's disappointed everyone in his life, Jake is determined not to let Emily slip through his fingers. Emily wants Jake, but can she really open herself up to heartache again?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alyssa Rose Ivy is a Young Adult and New Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance anda southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.
What I wish I’d Known Before I Published my First Book
It’s been almost two years since I hit publish on my first
book, Beckoning Light. I’ve had
plenty of time to reflect, and here are some of the things I wish I’d known
before starting.
The importance of the
right cover.
From the beginning, I knew how important editing was. I was
determined to put out a quality book with fantastic editing. To that end I
succeeded. What I didn’t take into consideration is how important the right
cover is. Beckoning Light is a YA
fantasy, and I wanted the cover to feel fantastical. I had a friend who did
some work in graphic design create a cover for me that used a photo my husband
took. I thought it looked fantastic—and I actually have it framed in my office
as a reminder of where I started—but it didn’t sell books. I learned the hard
way that people really do judge a book by the cover. After a few changes, I finally found a cover
that appealed to my audience and reflected the book.
Be careful what you
commit to.
Writing a series sounds fun. You keep hearing that series’
sell better, so you might as well start by writing a trilogy or 7-book series,
right? Maybe, maybe not. Starting a series is a big decision, and you need to
think through where you see yourself by the time the series is done. I love my Afterglow Trilogy, but I definitely
had doubts when Beckoning Light
didn’t immediately take off. (BTW Afterglow readers, Enduring Light is coming!)
One book is
most-likely not enough
The last thing you want to hear when you publish your first
book is that the best way to sell books is to write more books, but it’s the
truth.
The best book may not
be a bestseller.
This one is a hard one to swallow, but it was an important
lesson. Along those lines, you have to consider marketing and audience. No
matter how good a book is, the real goal is to get it into readers’ hands. You can’t do that if there isn’t an
audience. Still, it’s all about striking a balance. You need to release the books
you love.
Your skin needs to be
really thick (as opposed to just thick).
I knew I’d get negative reviews, but I wasn’t prepared for
how much they’d hurt. This is especially true with characters and stories that
are close to your heart. Reviews that call Charlotte from Beckoning Light weak used to
feel like personal attacks because she has so much of me in her. I also have an
especially hard time with Derailed
reviews. That book deals with suicide, which is something that has touched my
life several times. It’s such an emotional story that I sometimes have a hard
time separating myself. On the flip side, I never imagined how great it would
be to have readers connect with my books. One comment from a reader who enjoys
a book makes up for any negative reviews.
Success is hard to
measure.
How do you definite success as an author? It’s something
that constantly changes, and differs for all of us. What I have learned, is
that one type of success is releasing quality books that readers enjoy.
MY REVIEW
Alyssa Rose Ivy has been one of my favorite authors since I first read Beckoning Light in her Afterglow series, and I have loved every single book and series she has put out since then. It did not take any persuasion to jump on board to read and review Wrecked. As a fan of the first two books in the Clayton Falls series, the one story I have been looking forward to was Jake’s story. In Wrecked, I finally got my wish, and it was so much better than I imagined.
The best part about the Clayton Falls series is that it is set around the town, and each book has their own storyline and characters, with characters of the previous novels of course still popping up here and there. Jake from the very beginning of his introduction in Derailed is a troubled young man. He had not been in a serious relationship, and he really liked to drink his problems away. After Veer, I wanted to see where Jake’s story was going to take him, and I really wanted him to have some real romantic possibilities. Wrecked is exactly what I wanted for Jake, and so much more.
Emily is a very sweet young nurse, who unexpectantly crosses paths with Jake Mathews, and that is where the story truly begins. Emily is the girl next door that you want to see happy, but has many secrets in her past that keep her from being truly happy. She is a very complex character that I felt for immediately. I knew she would be a great character to balance out Jake, and keep him on his toes.
I think even fans of The Clayton Falls series that did not like Jake will fall in love with Wrecked. The story is moving and you cannot help but root for Emily and Jake. Alyssa Rose Ivy has made another impressive and addicting addition to Clayton Falls. I am going to be sitting here and waiting to see what Alyssa Rose Ivy cooks up next, because if it is anything like the rest of her books I will have to get my hands on it.
**Unabridged Bookshelf recieved this book in exchange for an honest review**
1 comment:
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing Wrecked! I am so glad you enjoyed it, and it means so much that you consider me to be one of your favorite authors! :)
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