Back to the Future Giveaway Hop, Featuring Stitch by Samantha Durante

Back to the Future - A Giveaway Hop Across Time

January 22nd to 28th

Co-hosted by Book Haven Extraordinaire

Thanks to both Inky and Kathy who put together this terrific giveaway hop!

And now on to our featured author, Samantha Durante who wrote a great book, Stitch.

 

Goodreads Book Description: Her heart races, her muscles coil, and every impulse in Alessa's body screams at her to run... but yet she's powerless to move.

Still struggling to find her footing after the sudden death of her parents, the last thing college freshman Alessa has the strength to deal with is the inexplicable visceral pull drawing her to a handsome ghostly presence. In between grappling with exams and sorority soirees - and disturbing recurring dreams of being captive in a futuristic prison hell - Alessa is determined to unravel the mystery of the apparition who leaves her breathless. But the terrifying secret she uncovers will find her groping desperately through her nightmares for answers.

Because what Alessa hasn't figured out yet is that she's not really a student, the object of her obsession is no ghost, and her sneaking suspicions that something sinister is lurking behind the walls of her university's idyllic campus are only just scratching the surface...

The opening installment in a twist-laden trilogy, Stitch spans the genres of paranormal romance and dystopian sci-fi to explore the challenges of a society in transition, where morality, vision, and pragmatism collide leaving the average citizen to suffer the results.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review: Stitch Review

 

Blurb about our author: Samantha Durante lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband, Sudeep, and her cat, Gio. Formerly an engineer at Microsoft, Samantha left the world of software in 2010 to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and a lifelong love of writing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, Samantha is currently working full time for her company Medley Media Associates as a freelance business writer and communications consultant. Stitch is her first novel. Learn more about Samantha at www.samanthadurante.com. 

Interview with Janie, a character from Stitch

Me: Thank you so much, Janie, for joining us on Ensconced in YA, for this interview! I would love to hear a little about your background-- where you grew up, what you are interested in studying in college, etc.

Janie: Thanks so much for having me, Christina!  I'm super excited to be here.  :-)

I grew up in an average suburban town not far from my college, Eastern State University, and to be honest, I really don't know WHAT I want to study yet!  I enrolled in ESU's liberal arts program, so I'm taking a lot of different classes right now and using my freshman year to figure it all out...  In the meantime, I've just been trying to make new friends and get to know the girls in my sorority, Z-E-Pi.  (And if you're wondering what the REAL answer is, all I can say is that this isn't *too* far from the truth, but my priorities my first year at ESU were actually a lot more... complicated... than just making friends and picking a major.)

Me: I think we all know what freshman year is like-- it's a year to really explore your options! Tell us how you first met Alessa, your best friend.

Janie: Haha, oh man, the day me and Less met at ESU was AMAZING - she made quite an impression, lol.  I was moving in to my room in the Z-E-Pi chapter house and all of a sudden I hear this GRUNTING noise from down the hall and I'm like, "WHAT is going on over there?"  And I'm super nosy, so naturally I went to check it out.  Lo and behold, I turn the corner into what I would later learn was Alessa's room to find her TRAPPED ON THE BED UNDER A MINI-FRIDGE.  No joke!  She had apparently tried to lift it out of the box alone and toppled backwards, getting herself stuck underneath, so I walk in to find what looked like 80 lbs of metal with arms and legs flailing in every direction.  I almost DIED laughing, but I managed to hold myself together long enough to rescue her and we've been best friends ever since.  :-)  It really feels like we've known each other forever!

Me: Wow, your adventures make me want to go back to college. Although, probably not stuck under a mini-fridge. All of my readers want to know, any special boys in your life?

Janie: Sighhhh, no, not at the moment.  There was this one guy - Josh - a friend of a guy that Alessa brought to a party once, and he was... omg, he was just RIDICULOUSLY hot.  I didn't think men like that even existed in real life, I don't know WHERE they found him - oh, I mean, disregard that last comment (spoilers, sorry!) - but anyway, I was lucky enough to get to hang out with him for that one night, at least until things went sour with Alessa and her date.  Who knows, maybe I'll find someone special in one of the next books?  (Samantha, if you're reading this, WINK WINK!)

Me: Ooooh, he sounds really cute! You'll have to keep us posted. What is your favorite college class and why? Your least favorite?

Janie: My favorite class this semester was psych.  It was just so interesting learning about how people think, why they behave the way they do, what motivates them, etc.  It really made me consider things from a different perspective (and it was applicable not just to my life as a student, but to my REAL life as well...).  My least favorite - hands down - was physics.  Ugh, it was so hard.  I just took it so that I could have a class with Less and it turned out to be WAY more difficult than I expected.  Plus it has a weekly lab that meets outside of lecture, so it takes up more time than most of my other classes.  What a pain!

Me: Labs always tend to take up more time than they are worth. Well, enough about school-- on to the good stuff. What is the best and worst thing about living in a sorority house?

Janie: Best thing?  Definitely the parties.  Alessa always complains about having tons of people running around the house making a mess, but I think it's fun.  Worst thing is the drama...  SO much drama!  It's amazing what people can get into fights over.  I actually watched two of my housemates get into a heated argument over which dress one of my other housemates should wear to a semi-formal.  Seriously?  It was absurd.  But the parties just about make up for it, haha.

Me: Wow, you'd better hide your dresses from all the other girls to avoid the drama it sounds like! And lastly, we all want to know-- do you REALLY believe that Alessa is seeing a ghost? Have you ever seen this mysterious boy?

Janie: Ooohh this is a loaded question, Christina!!  I definitely believe that Alessa is seeing... something.  A ghost?  I'm not so sure.  I believe that SHE believes it, and in the end, that's what really matters, right?  But no, I've never seen him myself and I'm not really much of a believer in the paranormal.  However, I know that there is more going on here than initially meets the eye... and she's seeing something, all right.  I'll just leave it at that.  :-)

Me: Thank you so much for joining us today! Best wishes!

Janie: Thank YOU so much! This was so much fun. Talk to you soon!

I hope you all enjoyed this awesome interview. Now time to enter this great giveaway!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a blog hop! Enter some other great giveaways!