Monday, October 23, 2017

Cover Reveal for HIDDEN PIECES by Paula Stokes and INT giveaway of a signed ARC!

Dear All:
I am so excited to get the chance to show you the cover for Paula's next amazing book, HIDDEN PIECES! Without further ado, here it is!

Description of book:
Embry Woods has secrets. Small ones about her past. Bigger ones about her relationship with town hero Luke and her feelings for someone new. But the biggest secret she carries with her is about what happened that night at the Sea Cliff Inn. The fire. The homeless guy. Everyone thinks Embry is a hero, too, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Embry thinks she’ll have to take the secret to her grave, until she receives an anonymous note—someone else knows the truth. Next comes a series of threatening messages, asking Embry to make impossible choices, forcing her to put her loved ones at risk. Someone is playing a high stakes game where no one in Embry’s life is safe. And their last move...is murder.

Paula: Hidden Pieces started out as a book called Choose about a girl forced by a mysterious tormentor to make impossible choices. But like most of my books, during the writing and revision, the story evolved and enlarged into something that was more about the characters than the plot. This is a mystery intertwined with a little romance and a lot of family dynamics. Embry is a flawed character, but her flaws stem from her worldview, which has been shaped by her history and experiences. Like all of my main characters, she grows and changes throughout the book.

I only saw this cover last week, because the team at HarperTeen decided to change it from an earlier design. We'll probably be tweaking this a bit, but I really love this concept. The girl is great for Embry and the overall feel of the design is dark and creepy, which matches the feel of the book. A fire plays prominently in the plot, which is why the puzzle pieces are burned. I love the font of the title and author name, how it's eye-catching and reminiscent of the font of Liars, Inc. but still a little different. Christina has read an earlier draft of the book. C, what do you think? 

Me: I love the puzzle pieces on the cover and how it eliminates the face of the model. It gives the book the appropriate air of mystery but also intrigue, so I love how the designers put that together. I also like how the puzzle isn't quite perfect and seems to devolve into ash as you mentioned. Really well done. 
As for the book itself, I was one of the lucky readers to see a draft of this book. I was hooked from the first page. The characters were intriguing, particularly Embry herself, and I loved how she was flawed but at the same time likeable, which is a hard balance to maintain, but Paula pulled off perfectly. The book kept up the momentum while building character relationships that were meaningful and made you care about what happened to them, which is hard to find in a suspense novel, where most of them are just twist after twist with cardboard cut out characters. You won't find that here. And this book will definitely keep you guessing until the bitter end!  I was very satisfied with the ending and how it wrapped up. You guys will LOVE THIS BOOK!

Paula: Want to be one of the first people to read HIDDEN PIECES? Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a signed ARC, once copies are available. Contest is international. Good luck! And if you want to check out my earlier releases, head over to my Books page where you can read the first few chapters of any of my novels.

Me: Enter to win this amazing book! You won't be disappointed!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


24 comments:

  1. Love the cover! The book sounds so interesting! One of my favourite thrillers would have to be The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes--the characters, the plot--it was just so well done, so twisty and full of surprises!

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  2. Oooh! This sounds great!! Thanks for hosting!

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  3. Favorite mystery/thriller is either Ten by Gretchen McNeil or Between by Jessica Warman. Ten is such a great modern adaptation of And The There Were None by Agatha Christie, which is amazing. The mystery of Between is so good and so well crafted. Now as I think of it, I should reread it, since I think it's been long enough that I have forgotten enough to enjoy the mystery.

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  4. I really loved Jennifer Lynn Barnes- The naturals series, I think it mostly keeps the YA vibe but still has a really gritty and intense mystery to it.

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  5. My fav YA thriller is There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins It has just so many twists and turns with the most suspenseful scenes! ♡
    Haniya
    booknauthors.blogspot.com

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  6. I love Paula! I just finished The Key to Everything a couple days ago and really enjoyed her dip into NA and hope she writes more of them. I'm not sure if I have a favorite mystery. I did love Liars, Inc. I also really like The Fixer duology!

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  7. My favourite YA mystery/thriller is Jinx by Meg Cabot. I really liked the way it combined witches with stalking and jealousy.

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  8. That's a tough question! I'll go with Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. The reason? the ending! I'm rarely surprised--or even guessing--as I read thrillers, but that one surprised even me. Thanks!

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  9. One of my favorite thrillers is Every Last Lie, I love the slow burn anticipation that builds up throughout the book.

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  10. I love the cover. My fav mystery thriller is Liars Inc
    It had plot twists and it was a wild ride . I loved it . Oh and it's by Paula Stokes.

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  11. I recently read 'There's Someone Inside Your House' and I absolutely love that because of the idea of a proper teen slasher movie.
    I am looking forward to finding more YA thrillers which allow me to be really drawn in to the story.

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  12. One of my favorite YA mystery novels is Gallagher Girls!

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  13. Probably We Were Liars. Books usually don't surprise me, but I was shocked and blow away by the conclusion of that book.

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  14. I absolutely loved The Secrets We Keep! It had so much depth to it. Every page revealed something new. The characterization was really good, you could really see each character grow as the book progressed. It was also unlike anything I’d ever read before, which I always appreciate.

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  15. Well, I enjoyed 'Lost Girls' by Merrie Destefano. It keeps you wondering at the turn of every page. :-)

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  16. One of my faves this year was One of Us is Lying. I loved collecting the clues as I tried to figure out what really happened.

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  17. I don't see my comment (and I don't entirely remember the question). As for favorite mysteries/thrillers, I love so many, but I really liked Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Thanks!

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    1. Also, I've moved TIHIH from "to-read" to "read". Plan to write a review in the next day or two. :)

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  18. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. It comes with a twist and it surprises you with a bang! Love it.

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  19. I love The Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes because it’s funny and romantic but scary and surprising at the same time.

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  20. I love Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout. It has a lot of mistery and amazing plot twists. Also Jen is one of my favorite authors, I love how she writes. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  21. YA Mystery is my fave and I have SO MANY favorites-- Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas, Fragments of the Lost by Megan
    Miranda, and Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Rohrig were 3 that came to mind😃😃

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  22. I've been reading so many fantastic YA mysteries lately; however, my most recent favorite would be It Should Have Been You by Lynn Slaughter. It reminded me of two of my favorite things - One of Us is Lying and Veronica Mars - and the mystery kept me guessing the whole way through! Thanks for the giveaway :)

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