Keeping June by Shannen Crane Camp

Keeping June (June series #4)

Author: Shannen Crane Camp

Publisher: Sugar Coated Press

Expected publish date: Dec. 21th 2015

ISBN13: 9781514769652

FTC FYI: Received a PDF copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Summary

June Laurie has spent the better part of her young adult years in the Hollywood world of fame, envy, and rumors, and has managed to come out of it mostly unscathed. Now that she’s finally followed her heart and married her true love, she knows she’s found the perfect end to her story. But at twenty-two years old, it turns out her story is only beginning — and marriage, it seems, is more of an opening act than a finale. When fans of June’s television show start spreading online rumors about her faithfulness to her new husband and fabricating an off-set romance between her and her costar, she learns that even marriage offers no immunity from the gossip that always seems to haunt her. With complications in her personal and professional lives threatening to topple them both, will June be able to hold to her beliefs and her newfound happiness, even as what she thought was her perfect ending transforms into the challenges of reality that lurk beyond the fairytale?

My Review

I have loved June for years and I was hesitant to read the last book in this series.  Not because I didn't think I wouldn't love it, it's because I knew I would love it and be sad when I turned the last page.  This last book for June wasn't all sunshine and roses.  She struggles with some real issues and I thought Shannen handled them perfectly.  June and Joseph get married and are quickly met with some challenges.  As June tries to adjust to life as a new wife while still being on her TV show, it brings up problems.  I don't want to give away what happens, but trust me, read with a box of Kleenex handy.  

Author Links

Goodreads / Website / Twitter / Facebook 

Purchase Links

Amazon

Pwned by Shannen Crane Camp

Pwned

Author: Shannen Crane Camp

Publisher: Future House Publishing

Published: Originally 2013, new publish date Dec. 3. 2015

ISBN13: 9780996619370

Paperback: 185 pages

FTC FYI: Received a PDF copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Summary

Reagan West has the perfect life. She’s gorgeous, she’s popular, and she’s at the tip-top of the high school food chain as co-captain of the cheerleading squad. She’s also best friends with the most evil girl in Albany, Tawny Perez, which means she’s never on the receiving end of Tawny’s wrath. 

The only trouble in Reagan’s perfect life comes from the constant threat of her fellow classmates discovering her dirty little secret—Reagan West is a closet gamer. 

What’s more, Reagan absolutely hates her role as the evil cheerleader. But, as any teenager knows, it’s better to suppress your own nerdy tendencies than to submit to a lifetime of being shoved into lockers. So, Reagan bravely soldiers on as a reluctant bully ... until a cute boy from her guild moves to her school and becomes Tawny’s next target. The good-looking newcomer threatens to reveal Reagan’s nerdy little secret and force her to come to terms with who she truly is. Now Reagan has to decide if she’s going to defend her fellow geeks, or if she’ll continue to be a total troll.

My Review

Pwned is a great book that brings out the inner-gamer in us all!  I loved getting to know and learn "gaming terminology".  Very fun!  I really liked Reagan and her journey to find who she really is.  Tawny was awful, sometimes a bit over the top for me (are girls really that evil?), but Shannen wrote her well.  I was pleasantly surprised with the sweet relationship between Reagan and her brother, Cannon.  I loved the scenes where they would interact, especially when they played Cannon's matching game. What a great kid.  I also liked that there was parental involvement too, and I appreciated some of the actions taken by Reagan's mom.  Actually there were lots of fun surprises in this book, one at the end, that I suspected, but when it was revealed, made complete sense.  I say this a lot, but the boy stole the show for me.  I loved Parker, he truly was a great guy and a great match for Reagan.  

4 out of 5 stars! 

Author Links

Goodreads / Website / Facebook / Twitter

Purchase Links

Amazon Currently $.99 for the re-release and enter to win a Kindle Fire!

Silver Lined by Shannen Crane Camp -- Cover Reveal

My cute friend Author Shannen Crane Camp's new book, Silver Lined, has a cover!

And it's gorgeous!!

TA DA!

The book will be released April 18th, 2015!

Author Links

Goodreads / Website / Twitter

About the Author

Shannen Crane Camp was born and raised in Southern California, where she developed a love of reading, writing, and anything having to do with film. After high school, she moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University, where she received a degree in Media Arts and found herself a husband in fellow California native Josh Camp. The two now live in either California or Utah... they still can't decide. 

Catching June by Shannen Crane Camp

Catching June

Author: Shannen Crane Camp

Publisher: Sugar Coated Press

Published: December 6th, 2014

ISBN13: 9781502805461

Paperback: 284 pages

FTC FYI: Received a PDF from the author in exchange of an honest review.

Goodreads Summary

June Laurie’s life in the spotlight of Hollywood is anything but normal. Between paparazzi watching her every move, and online fandoms voicing opinions on her relationship with her boyfriend and co-star Ryan Hex, things can get confusing. But June is more than confident that she has her life planned out perfectly, with her childhood friend Joseph Cleveland coming home from a mission soon, and a successful television show under her belt, things seem to be falling into place perfectly. But when jealousies both on set and off start to shake the foundation of perfection that June has tried to build up, she’ll be forced to, once again, assess just how important her deeply seated standards are, and who really fills the empty spaces in her life. With the overbearing threat of popular opinion constantly hanging over her, will June be able to clear the clutter in her life and come to terms with what will bring her true happiness?

My Review

Can I just tell you how much I love this series?  Okay, I will.  I love this series.  June is an absolute doll.  I love, love, love how Shannen writes her.  And isn't this cover adorable?!?  June handles herself so well when it comes to keeping her head and her standards in Hollywood.  I read this book in a 24 hour period.  I easily fell in love with the characters once again.  As much as I like Ryan, I love Joseph, and I enjoyed the journey that all the characters take.  Benjamin and Candice are still around and have some great one-liners.  But, one of my very favorite characters, who stands in the shadows, is Gran, she is a joy.  She is always there for June to give her enduring advice.  The ending has a fun surprise and I am thrilled!

4 out of 5 stars.  If you are new to the series, I would start with Finding June, then Chasing June.  You will care more about the characters and get to know the beauty that is June.

Author Links

Goodreads / Website / Twitter / Facebook 

Purchase Links

Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Chasing June by Shannen Crane Camp -- Blog Tour/Giveaway

Chasing June

Author: Shannen Crane Camp

Publisher: Sugar Coated Press

Publish Date: December 14th, 2013

ISBN13: 9781484191262

Genre: YA contemporary

FTC FYI: Received a PDF copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Summary

June Laurie has it all—a budding career on the hit crime drama Forensic Faculty, a supportive and perfect boyfriend in her best friend Joseph Cleveland, and hopes of transferring her acting skills to the stage at college. But in a series of plot twists as dramatic as any Hollywood storyline, June's dreams dim with a heavy dose of grown-up reality. Once she starts school at BYU, June's days become filled with classes and the new challenge of dealing with jealous theatre majors who seem determined to give her the cold shoulder. Her happy plans for a future with "the one" take a turn, too, when Joseph dumps her to focus on preparing for his two-year LDS mission. Casting directors and the siren call of stardom beckon her back to California, while an old co-star appears on the scene to confuse things even more. Caught up in the drama of life—the type that has more intrigue, subplots, and unexpected romance than a murder mystery game—June starts to wonder if maybe her life's script might end with a grand finale she never saw coming.

My Review

June is an absolute doll.  She is an easy character to love and cheer for.  June is quirky and fun.  Joseph is a doll too, but things are different between them this time around.  June and Joseph do love each other, but Joseph is going to leave on his mission soon and doesn't want to hold June back.  This confuses June because she sees him flirting and hanging out with other girls at school.  Not only does it confuse her, she's not happy about it.  She tries making friends with her vain roommates, but there isn't really a friendship connection there.  Her friends from Forensic Faculty pay her a visit and Ryan especially is happy to see her.  Which makes things even more complicated between June and Joseph.

4 out of 5 stars.  Another great book from Shannen.  I can always count on her books to be funny, clean, and well-written.  Shannen's writing is fun and solid, and I can see the darling gal she is in the stories she writes.  I really liked the relationship between Ryan and June.  It really conflicts me, because I love Joseph, but Ryan is likable and a great guy, too.  But, he's not LDS and June has told him he wants to marry in the temple.  Joseph does go on his mission, and June's career takes off as does Ryan's.  The ending definitely sets up another book, which I can't wait to read!

Shannen is the author of many fabulous books.  Her book Finding June, was a Whitney Award finalist in 2012.

Author Links

Goodreads / Blog / Twitter / Facebook

Purchase Links

Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Chasing June

by Shannen Crane Camp

Giveaway ends December 08, 2013.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Sugar Coated by Shannen Crane Camp -- Cover Reveal

My darling friend Shannen Camp is revealing her book cover today!  You are going to love it.  Find out more about Shannen here.  

Here it is!

Book Blurb

An unhealthy addiction to sugar cubes, a deep-deated fear of water, and universal luxury--these are the simple things that make up 18-year-old Brynn's Utopian existence.  Why, then, is her perfect life also plagued with unanswered questions?

Like every other resident of the plant Halcyon, Brynn's home provides everything she needs, money is unheard of, and life is perfect.  But unlike the rest of Seaside's residents, Brynn has questions.  Why can't people leave the city?  Why does the ocean fill everyone with terror?  Who are the Workers?  Not only is Brynn curious where others are complaint, but she suffers from chronic nightmares of an angelic woman torturing her for information she doesn't possess.  But these are ore than just figments of her imagination;  they're memories of things that never happened.

When Brynn meets Jonah, a brilliant library-dwelling boy who shares her questions and her curiosity, they formulate a plan to find answers.  Somewhere, the perfect veneer of Halcyon's instant gratification hides a city that only Brynn knows about--a city she and Jonah are determined to find.  But will finding the city give them answers, or simply uncover the horrific truth behind the perfection?

Sugar Coated will be released September 6, 2013! 

Preview of Pwned by Shannen Crane Camp

I am excited to be a spreading the word for my friend Shannen Crane Camp's new book
Pwnded.  Which should be released April 30, 2013.

Here is some info about the book. 

Reagan West has a perfect life. She’s at the top of the high school food chain as co-captain of the cheerleading squad and she’s best friends with the most evil girl in Albany, Tawny Perez, which means she’s never on the receiving end of her wrath. The only trouble in Reagan’s perfect life comes from the constant threat of her dirty little secret leaking to her fellow classmates and casting her into a lifetime of ridicule.

Reagan West is a closet gamer and hates her role as the evil cheerleader.

But, as any well versed teenager knows, it’s better to suppress your own nerdy tendencies than to submit to a lifetime of being shoved into lockers and so, Reagan bravely soldiers through life as a reluctant bully… until a boy from her guild moves to her school and becomes Tawny’s next target. The newcomer threatens to reveal Reagan’s nerdy little secret and force her to come to terms with who she truly is. Now Reagan has to decide if she’s going to defend her fellow geeks, or if she’ll continue to be a total troll.

AND! There is a giveaway, too.  Fill out the Rafflecopter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Find out more about Shannen on her Blog / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook.  I recently reviewed her latest release Finding June.  It is a finalist for a 2012 Whitney Award.

Finding June by Shannen Crane Camp

Finding June

Author: Shannen Crane Camp

Publisher: Sugar Coated Press

Published: December 20, 2012

ISBN13: 9781480260825

Paperback: 184 pages

FTC FYI: I received a review PDF copy.

Goodreads Summary 

Standing up for what you believe in is hard for any teenager in the battleground known as high school. It's even harder in the world of Hollywood, which is where sixteen-year-old June Laurie dreams of being. Thanks to the constant training from her agent/grandmother and the support of her best friend Joseph, June is positive she's ready. But is an innocent little Mormon girl like June ever really ready to be cast as the love interest for the country's hottest star, Lukas Leighton? When June lands a role in Hollywood's most popular crime drama, Forensic Faculty, she finds herself caught off-guard by the fast-paced world of tabloids and paparazzi, and swept off her feet by her gorgeous co-star. Now June must decide what she's willing to give up to achieve the title of Hollywood starlet—or more importantly, what's too sacred to lose.

My Review

I loved this book.  I thought it was adorable.  I immediately loved June and Joseph.  Gran was a hoot and I loved all of her homemade beauty regimens.  A few times I found myself thinking that I needed to try one of them, too.  As much as I loved the people in June's life, I also really liked her TV show cast mates.  Especially, Candice, Benjamin, and of course Ryan.  I love a books based on LDS fiction.  The author does of great job of letting reader know our believes without being preachy.  June is a doll, and loved her journey of self discovery.  There were many parts that I was smiling big and many more that made me laugh.  I also really enjoyed the behind the scenes glances of the TV world.  I appreciated how June would stand up for herself, and I loved the ending.  I can't wait for Chasing June.    

4 out of 5 stars.  Finding June is a 2012 Whitney Aware Finalist.  Her first book, The Breakup Artist, was also a 2011 Whitney Award nominee.  There is a sequel in the works for Finding June.  Chasing June, hopefully, comes out this year. 

Author Links

Blog / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook 

Purchase Links

Amazon / Barnes and Noble 

Authorpalooza! Feb. 4. 2012

Me, Sheralyn Pratt, Sheila Staley

Sheila, me, Jenni James, Shannen Camp

Sheila, me, Heather Frost, Cindy Bennett

Sheila, me, Courtney King Walker, Sydney Salter

Me, Sheila, Lisa Mangum, Gale Sears

Author events are up there with Disneyland in my eyes. I love seeing my author friends, and meeting new authors. The best part of the day was introducing my daughter to authors.