Late Night With Andres Blog Tour - Review, Playlist and Giveaway!!!

Release date: October 29th 2013

Purchase: Amazon

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18469063-late-night-with-andres

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Rising-star blogger Milla Kierce knows she's arrived when she sees the swag basket in her dressing room on the night of her late-night television debut. But before she can bite into the muffin that symbolizes her success, gunfire echoes through the TV studio. She's just hidden herself (mostly in plain sight) when the door flings open. Instead of a gunman, there stands one of the world's most popular rock stars, Gage Daxson, looking for his own way out of danger.

Thrown together, they'll battle a venomous man seeking revenge and his own sexual pleasure, but they may never leave the building again. Distracted by fear, fame, and infamy, can these two somehow find their way to each other?

Equal parts horrifying and hilarious, Debra Anastasia's Late Night With Andres offers more than a few twists and turns—and, of course, enough heat to keep things interesting.

My Thoughts

     Definitely an interesting read!  Milla Kierce is a blogger who has suddenly become famous in the media for her wit and advice with her online persona.  Now she's waiting to be interviewed by late night talk show host, Andres.  Things don't happen the way she expects however when a crazed gunman comes to the studio, throwing together her and rock star Gage Daxson, into a mutual fight for survival.  Now all they have to do is stay alive until the police are able to get them out of there,  Will they find they have something more in common than they ever thought?  I was already a fan of Debra when I read this novella, having read her book Poughkeepsie and absolutely adored it.  So I went into this one expecting something mainly hardcore and intense in it's rendering.  What I got instead was something slightly hardcore, with a very big sense of humor!

     Gage and Milla are both bad-asses but the gunman himself is a caricature most of the time, making me laugh while making me cringe and fear for their lives.  Probably the biggest caricature in this book is Andres himself, the talk show host who is basically a complete asshole and uses the entire situation to break back out into on the scene reporting.  He has hidden cameras in the dressing rooms, tries to obstruct justice by denying the police access to anything and everything - oh and he'd like nothing more than for someone to die and make his story all that much more exciting!  Probably my biggest disappointment was that the novella length didn't really allow for any serious character development and the romance felt very, very rushed and superficial.  The thing with the toes (I won't go into detail, so as not to spoil it) was funny and weird, but overall I just didn't feel like they could really say they loved each other based on the interactions they had.  Overall, it kept me entertained and was a fast, fun read.  I would recommend it, and I hope Debra decides to maybe expand it into a novel someday!

VERDICT:  3.5/5  Stars

*I received an ARC from the author.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published October 29th, 2013.*

Playlists

Gage:  I felt like Gage would probably be a really big fan of ballady, 70s and 80s rock bands.  Gage probably listens to a lot of Journey and Foreigner on his downtime, with some AC/DC mixed in for good measure, just to make sure people know he's a bad-ass!  For newer stuff, I see him as being a fan of Seether, Blink-182 and maybe some Imagine Dragons.

1.  For Those About to Rock - AC/DC
2.  Faithfully - Journey
3.  Cold As Ice - Foreigner
4.  Fake It - Seether
5.  What's My Age Again? - Blink 182
6.  Amsterdam - Imagine Dragons

Milla:  She's not a fan of Gage's music, which leads me to believe that she might be more into stuff that doesn't neccessarily hit the mainstream.  Here are five songs that I think Milla would probably like (the last is kind of what I think her preconceived notions of Gage match up with):

1.  The Beekeeper - Aoife O'Donovan

2.  Open-Ended Life - The Avett Brothers

3.  Tell Your Heart - Schuyler Fisk

4.  Helplessness Blues - The Fleet Foxes

5.  Talkin' Smooth - Kate Voegele

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Debra Anastasia grew up in New York and got a bachelor's degree in political science at SUNY New Paltz. At the start of her marriage, she moved to southern Maryland with her husband. She still doesn't trust crabs and all their legs, though everyone else in her family thinks they're delicious. Her favorite hobbies include knitting, painting furniture and wall murals, and slapping clowns.

Her writing started a decent handful of years ago when along with the dogs, cat, kids, and husband, the voices of characters started whispering stories in Debra's ear. Insomnia was the gateway for the plots that wouldn't give up, wouldn't let go. In the shower, a twist would take hold and--dripping and frenzied--she'd find somewhere, anywhere to write it down.

www.debraanastasia.com | twitter.com/Debra_Anastasia

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I Left My Heart In Poughkeepsie...

Published: November 22nd, 2011
Poughkeepsie
By: Debra Anastasia
Omnific Publishing
ISBN-13: 9781936305940


He counts her smiles every day and night at the train station. And morning and evening, the beautiful commuter acknowledges him—just like she does everyone else on the platform. But Blake Hartt is not like the others . . . he’s homeless. Memories of a broken childhood have robbed him of peace and twisted delusions into his soul. He stays secluded from the sun, sure the world would run from him in the harsh light of day.

Each day, Livia McHugh smiles politely and acknowledges her fellow commuters as she waits for the train to the city. She dismisses this kindness as nothing special, just like her. She’s the same as a million other girls—certainly no one to be cherished. But special or not, she smiles every day, never imagining that someone would rely on the simple gesture as if it were air to breathe.

When the moment comes that Livia must do more than smile, without hesitation she steps into the fray to defend the homeless man. And she's surprised to discover an inexplicable connection with her new friend. After danger subsides, their smiles become conversation. Their words usher in a friendship, which awakens something in each of them. But it’s not long before their bond must prove its strength. Entanglements from the past challenge both their love and their lives.

Blake’s heart beats for Livia’s, even if her hands have to keep its rhythm. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love never fails. Love never fails, right?

Review

   Livia McHugh is living a comfortable and mostly happy life.  She is a graduate student with a great boyfriend, good family relationships and a career path she loves.  Livia never questioned the depth of her happiness, until she met Blake Hartt at the train station.  When she begins talking to him and building a friendship, she decides to take control of her own life.  Even if it means breaking up with her boyfriend and falling in love with emotionally damaged Blake.  All of this while trying to save her self-destructive younger sister Kyle, and get to know Blake's brothers Cole (a priest in training) and Beckett (a dangerous gangster, along with his head hooker Eve).  But will they all come out the other side of their struggles happy and whole?  Or will they be destroyed by them?  This book had so many layers to it!  It shocked me, especially when I heard that it started out as a Twilight fanfiction.  I could definitely see some character parallels, but this book was shockingly true to real life with all of its issues, not even needing to touch on paranormal themes at all.  I fell in love with Blake and Livia, with all their sweet innocence and romance in a rather detached way.  Cole and Kyle were a little too otherworldy with each other for my empathy.  But Beckett and Eve were by far the most damaged and the ones who crept into my heart immediately.  Beckett, who became a tough murderous thug to protect his brothers after they all aged out of foster care.  Eve, who has lost everything and become hard as glass (just as fragile too).  Also, Mouse who works for Beckett and has been friends with him since schoolyard days.  I loved that all of these characters were real people, with real issues.  This book broke my heart and made me cry.  I was especially invested in the endings of all the characters - happy or not.  Highly recommended, but not for the faint of heart.  Very strong language, violence, some sexual situations, homelessness, abuse and abandonment. 

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available online as an e-book.*