Merch Girl Tour - Review, Excerpt and Giveaway!!!

Title: Merch Girl

Author: Rebecca Lewis

Date of Publication: May 1, 2013

Genre: Contemporary YA romance; Music

Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Lacey Kind doesn’t have the guts to talk to cute boys, isn’t a size two, and would rather stay home and listen to music than go to a party. But in the summer before her first year of college, she ends up thousands of miles away from home, in the back of a tour bus, underneath the half-naked body of the hottest teen rock star in the country.

When Lacey and her best friend Trina sneak into a Boston nightclub to see their favorite band, they not only get to watch their rock gods perform for the first time, but score a chance to meet the band too. Lacey’s heart races as she comes face-to-face with her idol, nineteen-year-old lead singer, Logan Shire.

The girls charm their way into being hired to sell merchandise on Lansdowne’s first summer tour. As “merch girls” Lacey and Trina quickly find themselves transported from their ordinary, suburban life to an exhilarating few months on the road. But they soon realize that life on the road isn’t always a smooth ride...

Goodreads link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17703969-merch-girl

Purchase links: Amazon | B&N | Smashwords | Kobo | iBooks

About Rebecca Lewis

Rebecca Lewis is the author of the Young Adult novel, Merch Girl, and a lover of all things music! She's been writing stories since middle school and penned her first fanfic about a semi-popular boyband in 1997. Her passion for music and writing brought her to Boston University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the College of Communication. During her college career, she interned for various record labels in Boston and New York City, sold merch for local bands, worked at record stores, and did a whole lot of grassroots marketing. She currently resides in Florida with her husband and puppy.

Blog: http://rebeccajlewis.wordpress.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Rebecca_Writes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebecca-Lewis-Author/408824785861600

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/RebeccaLewis

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/rebeccalauthor

Excerpt

I rubbed my hand soothingly against my throbbing forehead. I’d never experienced a hangover before, but I guessed this was what it felt like. I opened my eyes slowly and saw the low ceiling above me  and the curtain hanging by my side. Strange, I had no recollection of getting into a bunk. I cautiously pulled the curtain back and poked my head out to find an empty hallway. I maneuvered my way out of the bunk and realized I was only wearing Logan’s t-shirt and my underwear. His soft cotton tee felt nice against my skin, and still smelled like him. I breathed in the scent, which brought a rush of memories from last night back into my mind. Good memories, really, really good memories. 

Review

     I absolutely love reading anything to do with music, rock stars or the entertainment industry.  I'm actually a bit of a freak about it sometimes, to be quite honest!  So I was pretty excited to read another book about regular girls touring with their favorite rock band (it didn't hurt that this is the first one I've seen from the merch girl angle of things).  Do we ever really think of the people behind the merch tables when we're at venues, big or small?  If you're honest with yourself, the answer is not really - bordering on never.  Lacey and Trina are BFFs who just graduated high school and are ready to spend their last summer together before college.  Lacey is quiet, shy and unsure of herself.  Trina is boisterous, brimming with confidence and never shy about leading the charge on anything.  When they get the unforseen opportunity to meet up and coming band Lansdowne (their favorite, over which they're complete fangirls) things spiral from there.  The girls end up becoming friends with the guys and getting hired to be merch girls on their first tour.  With sparks flying between Griffin and Trina & Lacey and Logan, the summer is heating up.  But can secrets on the part of the girls and the guys, plus scheming from mean girl Jenna stop things before they even start?

     Maybe it's just because I've never really been a crazy, balls to the wall fan of any particular band in my life.  I kind of missed the window for boy band crazy, fangirl shenanigans by being too young during the NKOTB, Backstreet Boys, and N'Sync era.  And I'm not really into the newer boy bands, like One Direction.  I was kind of in-between.  Yes, I had posters on my wall.  But I didn't go to concerts, cry, scream and overall lose my mind over my favorite bands.  That said, Lacey and Trina are better characterized better than your average, screaming fangirls from the crowd.  We get to see into their brains and learn that they really do like the guys for who they are.  Also, though the relationships are a little too I love him just-because, instalove for my taste I appreciated the tumult of both relationships.  Neither of them was perfect and we are constantly reminded that all of them are just immature teens/twenty-somethings, who are still finding their way.  I don't want to give any real spoilers, so all I will say is that there were a couple of twists involving Trina & Gabe's relationship and Lacey's interactions with fangirl Devin that were unexpected.  Overall, a cute fluffy and slightly angsty rock 'n roll romance, definitely more suited for actual teenagers (or more naieve/less jaded adults).  I could barely suspend my disbelief sometimes.  A fun romp, but I am definitely NOT the target audience.  

VERDICT:  3/5 Stars

*I received an ARC from the author and tour host for the purpose of this blog tour. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published May 1st, 2013.*

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Three's A Crowd

Published:  May 7th, 2013

The Originals

By: Cat Patrick



Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13:  9780316219433

A riveting new story from Cat Patrick, author of Forgotten and Revived.

17-year-olds Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey Best grew up as identical triplets... until they discovered a shocking family secret. They're actually closer than sisters, they're clones. Hiding from a government agency that would expose them, the Best family appears to consist of a single mother with one daughter named Elizabeth. Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey take turns going to school, attending social engagements, and a group mindset has always been a de facto part of life...

Then Lizzie meets Sean Kelly, a guy who seems to see into her very soul. As their relationship develops, Lizzie realizes that she's not a carbon copy of her sisters; she's an individual with unique dreams and desires, and digging deeper into her background, Lizzie begins to dismantle the delicate balance of an unusual family that only science could have created.

Review

       Lizzie Best is only living one-third of a life.  She goes to school for the first half of the day, her sister Ella for the second half and their other sister Betsey does all the extracurricular activities, goes to their college class and works their job.  They are all living under the name of a single girl, Elizabeth Best, because they aren't just any identical triplets.  The Best sisters are really clones, who are being raised by the woman who agreed to carry them and couldn't bear to have any of the embryos destroyed.  When she found out that her employers were planning on terminating two of them, she ran away.  Since they were little they've all been living as Elizabeth.  But Lizzie is starting to feel stifled and angry with her meager third of a life.  Sean Kelly comes into her life and Lizzie starts to fall in love for the first time, making her less and less able to believer everything her Mother tells her without question.  And when she starts to uncover some shocking and potentially life-changing secrets, it's up to Lizzie, Ella and Betsey to make the right decision about who to trust and how to use their newfound information.  In the end it'll be enough to transform life as they know it.

       I absolutely adore Cat Patrick!  I have been reading her since Forgotten was first published in 2011 and loved her second book Revived just as much, in it's own way.  Every time I pick up one of her books I know that I'm in for something thought-provoking and completely different from all the other books I've read so far that week/month/year.  This, her third novel, was no exception to that feeling,  But I do agree with some readers that it was a really character-driven book.  Rather than being focused on the possibility of the clones/triplets being kidnapped and used as guinea pigs, this book is more about the moral and individual need to be someone of your own making.  Lizzie especially demonstrates this theme, through her struggles to gain an identity outside of her sisters.  Probably my least favorite aspect of this novel was that the romantic interest between Lizzie and a boy in her class, Sean Kelly, is what triggers her rebellion and outright disobedience to her Mother.  All because Mom decides that they boy the girls can 'date' is Ella's crush, David.
       The relationship between each of the sisters with one another were very realistic in regards to how siblings really treat/feel about each other.  Betsey, Lizzie and Ella all have personalities as distinctive as their situation will allow.  The plot did suffer from all the character-centric development and issues though.  I felt like the action mashed together with the love story didn't exactly mesh, because each of them were fighting to be the dominant focus of the book.  The government trying to capture the triplets wasn't even an issue till pretty much the very end of the book and even then it's wrapped up so neatly that it feels like there was never any real conflict.  Conflict is the element that was definitely absent from the majority of this book (at least on a larger, more deadly scale of measurement.  Cat Patrick definitely knows how to write a page-turner, but I feel like Forgotten had the perfect balance of plot and character development, but she hasn't achieved it since then.  It's the Three-Bears Syndrome.  This porridge is too hot, this porridge is too cold.  Hopefully her next book will be just right.  Until then I would say that overall this was an interesting read especially when spotlighted as a family issue/coming of age story.  As a sci-fi book, not as much.  I would recommend it to people who want something entirely different, with fresh concepts though.

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**