Author Guest Post: Erin McCarthy (True)

Erin McCarthy, author of the New Adult novel True, talks about the advice she would love to be able to give her college-aged self.

What advice would you give your college self about how to deal with life’s struggles? 

First off, if I could have a chat with my college self I would tell me to quit criticizing my body because I looked just fine. Why did I waste so much time worrying about three pounds or about my bushy eyebrows and my ‘ski slope’ nose? ARGH. It makes me so sad that I did that and that I see girls doing it now to themselves. I would also tell myself that skipping class on exam day because I’d gone out dancing to techno music the night before was not a good choice, and would result in nightmares about that failed exam for a decade. But mostly, in all seriousness, I would tell myself that while really horrible things were going to happen, really amazing things were too, and in larger numbers than the bad, and that life would ebb and flow and I would always remain true to myself at the core. Nothing is insurmountable. I have a tattoo on my arm that says “I’ll either find a way or I’ll make one” in Latin, and I have lived by that philosophy. I’ve earned that philosophy.

Erin McCarthy is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 40 novels and novellas in the paranormal, contemporary romance, and young adult genres. The author is a RITA award finalist and an American Library Association winner of the Reluctant Young Reader award. She lives with her family in Ohio.


Website: www.erinmccarthy.net/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/authorerin
Facebook: www.facebook.com/erinmccarthybooks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7941.Erin_McCarthy



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True is my go-to New Adult recommendation. It's honest, funny and steamy: the perfect new adult read!
You can check out my full review here.

Review: True by Erin McCarthy

Received for review.
Published: May 7, 2013
Publisher: InterMix- Penguin Group
Pages: 238
Amazon - Goodreads

When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.

Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…

Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…

This is another book where I find the summary to really not do the book justice at all. The whole 'virginity for hire' thing wasn't really in the book that much, which I was very happy about. (And by 'not in the book much' I mean it was mentioned maybe twice and only mentioned.) Honestly I don't think I could have liked the guy if he did that, he would have been a total tool in my mind! Thanks to that and McCarthy's awesome skills at writing a college-age romance the book turned out to be amazing!

The main character, Rory, never really let herself get close to anyone after her mother died when she was young. Once her friends discover this they try setting up Rory with Tyler, the resident 'bad boy' at their school. I know, it may not sound that original, but for some reason it felt really unique and I enjoyed the story while reading it.

There's, of course, a romance, but there's definitely some funny parts! I love Rory and Tyler's sense of humor! Another part I enjoyed was how easily I was able to relate to Rory during parts of the story. She'd feel not good enough to on top of the world back to feeling just all around lost. I loved that throughout the book Rory learned a lot, but she still stayed true to herself. 

The characters grew throughout the book, both together and individually as people. True wasn't just solely focused a relationship, it also looked at two people's separate lives and showed us a different world for each character. The best part, in my opinion, was that despite their extreme differences the two really did complement each other well, which made the book that much more awesome to read.


Awesome Quote:
"She had murmured to me that the world had stopped for a moment and gone dark, but tomorrow, the sun would rise all over again. It would do that everyday, until one day we were okay." 

I just had to put this one in, Rory and I have the same opinion of Tom Cruise, haha!
"I've never liked Tom Cruise. he Always reminded me of someone's creepy cousin, who smiles too big before he touches your butt and whispers something gross in your ear with hot whiskey on his breath."

 I know what you're probably thinking: 'Just another opposites attract, boy from the wrong side of the tracks type of book', well that's totally wrong! True discusses the struggles young adults face in college and definitely doesn't sugar coat a relationship. It's real, it's honest (and as cheesy as this may sound) it's true. 

Jewelry Inspired: 'Alice'

There isn't a Hobby Lobby super close to my house so going there is quite the treat! Last time I visited I found these absolutely gorgeous fairy tale charms! I grabbed a few, but my favorite, by far, is the sword! I love the detailing and how, to me, it represents strength. 

I was really inspired by Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland and Alice's Theme from the soundtrack of the movie (You can listen to that above this text.) I loved a look at older Alice and the darker take on the story. I used the sword charm to represent the one Alice used to slay the Jabberwocky. Then I spaced out roses between the chain to represent the roses that the Queen wanted to be painted red.  I also think the roses give a nice feminine touch, but don't take away from the intensity and strength of the necklace. 

I'll soon be opening a shop on Etsy and creating a personal/artsy/ blog, I'll post when everything is up and running, so be sure to keep an eye out!

Note: My 'business' name isn't Katie Marie Designs (someone else has it already) I just put that there to mark it as 'mine'. (Ya know, because Katie Marie is my name haha) I still need to come up with a business name, which is more difficult than one would think. 

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First two photos provided by Firmoo.

Green.

After we got all that rain, everything is such a bright green. 

The grass, the new buds on the trees...

Spring has brought many little critters to take up home in our yard. 

In the back we have three birds' nests (One in the gutter), 

in our front trees we have three too 

and in our Christmas wreath there's a Robin's nest. 

(Just about as we were about to take it down we realized a Mama bird beat us to it, so the Christmas wreath on the light will be up all Summer, haha!)

She has two little birdies in the nest and boy do they like to chirp!

Our living room is right by the door with the wreath on the light so we hear them all day. 

Definitely can't complain, it's such a sweet reminder of how beautiful nature can be. 

\

It's eighty-five degrees out today! 

It's like we skipped Spring and just went full force into Summer.

Luckily, I decided to mow the lawn this weekend when it was a bit cooler out. 

I hate mowing the lawn,

with a firer-ry burning passion hate. 

Anyways, 

nothing much has been going on here other than lots of green, birdies, mowing the lawn and Max getting his hair cut! 

Last week was a bit rough, but I'm planning on working extra hard to make this week better. 

Which will include posts on the blog! Yay! 

I hope it's sunny where you are!