Articles

Book Review: Cam Girl by Leah Raeder

 

cam-girl-9781501114991_hr

 

ABOUT CAM GIRL:
Vada Bergen is broke, the black sheep of her family, and moving a thousand miles away from home for grad school, but she’s got the two things she loves most: her art and her best friend—and sometimes more—Ellis Carraway. Ellis and Vada have a friendship so consuming it’s hard to tell where one girl ends and the other begins. It’s intense. It’s a little codependent. And nothing can tear them apart.
Until an accident on an icy winter road changes everything.
Vada is left deeply scarred, both emotionally and physically. Her once-promising art career is cut short. And Ellis pulls away, unwilling to talk about that night. Everything Vada loved is gone.
She’s got nothing left to lose.
So when she meets some smooth-talking entrepreneurs who offer to set her up as a cam girl, she can’t say no. All Vada has to do is spend a couple hours each night stripping on webcam, and the “tips” come pouring in.
It’s just a kinky escape from reality until a client gets serious. “Blue” is mysterious, alluring, and more interested in Vada’s life than her body. Online, they chat intimately. Blue helps her heal. And he pays well, but he wants her all to himself. No more cam shows. It’s an easy decision: she’s starting to fall for him. But the steamier it gets, the more she craves the real man behind the keyboard. So Vada pops the question: 
Can we meet IRL?
Blue agrees, on one condition. A condition that will bring back a ghost from her past.
Now Vada must confront what she’s been running from. A past full of devastating secrets—those of others and those she’s been keeping from herself…

 

62435-addtogoodreads

 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Leah Raeder is a writer and unabashed nerd. She is also the USA Today bestselling author ofUnteachable and Black Iris. Aside from reading her brains out, she enjoys graphic design, video games, fine whiskey, and the art of self-deprecation. She lives with her very own manic pixie dream boy in Chicago. Visit her at www.leahraeder.com.
 
FIND LEAH ONLINE: 
Website   |   Facebook   |   Twitter   |   Instagram

 


BOOK REVIEW

*This was an ARC provided to me for free in exchange for an honest review. 

All thoughts and comments are my own.*


Wow. Just wow. Leah Raeder’s third release Cam Girl is powerful and hauntingly beautiful. “Love is love.” A friend of mine has those words etched on her skin. She’s an incredible mother and likely one of the biggest LGBTQ supporters I know. When I read this book, I didn’t really know what to expect. As I read Cam Girl, that message reverberated in my mind. I knew Leah Raeders books are usually deep and likely strike a chord for some. The writing is powerful and I found myself highlighting lines from nearly every page. My only suggestion to readers is to go into this with an open heart and mind. Try not to open the book with preconceived notions and you’ll likely appreciate what a masterpiece it is. 

 

As with all of Raeder’s books, Cam Girl offers an insightful perspective that resonates deeply. Leah’s evocative and poetic prose draws you in and leaves you utterly spellbound. One of the reasons I’ve never been disappointed with Raeder is the writing although dark at times, it’s an honest account of powerful emotions that many people experience, yet few are brave enough to acknowledge. For some, Raeder’s books may be seen as controversial, but they are nonetheless captivating. I’m glad there is a writer out here that can connect not only with the LGBTQ community, but she is an author whose voice can transcend gender and sexuality and force people to take a hard look at themselves as well as their perception of others. 

 

There is a raw and painful undercurrent that forces you to think, forces you to feel, forces you to connect with these characters. Leah Raeder’s writing often gives you a bit of a harsh yet plausible reality check and you’re usually left stunned. I read this book in one sitting and could not put it down. I knew from Black Iris and Leah’s hilarious tweets that Cam Girl would be different and it definitely was. I stopped thinking in terms of gender and just read about these characters who loved, hurt, and clung to each other for support and hope. It was a poignant reminder of how far we still have to go. I don’t make a habit of reading reviews about books I read, but I came across a few that made me wonder if these characters were heterosexual would the ratings have been a bit higher? I’ll leave that to you to decide. For me this was a wonderful book. Every character was connected to some piece of Leah’s puzzle and by the end you may figure it out as I did, but the way things unravel is always the prize. I implore you to also read the acknowledgments. They always give you bit more of who Leah is and what struggles helped created this amazing author. As with all of Raeder’s books, if you really pay attention, you’ll learn something. Highly recommend this to all my readers. 

Happy Reading lovelies xo

 


ORDER CAM GIRL by Leah Raeder

Atria Books Paperback | ISBN: 9781501114991 | On sale: November 3, 2015 | 432 pages | US $16.00 |

eBook: Atria Books | ISBN: 9781501115004 | On sale: November 3, 2015 | 432 pages | US $5.99

US LINKS:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Books-a-Million  |  IndieBound  |  Apple  |  Blio  |  Google  |  Kobo 

 

UK LINKS:

Amazon  |  Waterstones  |  WHSmith  |  Apple  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

 

AUS LINKS: 

Bookworld  |  Booktopia  |  Apple   |  Amazon 

RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: BLACK IRIS by Leah Raeder

9781476786421

 

 BLACK IRIS by Leah Raeder 

Atria Books Paperback | 384 pages | ISBN: 9781476786421 | On sale: April 28, 2015 | $15.00

eBook: Atria Books | 384 pages | ISBN: 9781476786438 | On sale: April 28, 2015 | $5.99

 

ABOUT BLACK IRIS:
It only took one moment of weakness for Laney Keating’s world to fall apart. One stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors began. Slut, they called her. Queer. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mother decided she wasn’t worth sticking around for.
If Laney could erase that whole year, she would. College is her chance to start with a clean slate.
She’s not looking for new friends, but they find her: charming, handsome Armin, the only guy patient enough to work through her thorny defenses—and fiery, filterless Blythe, the bad girl and partner in crime who has thorns of her own.
But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. When a ghost from her past resurfaces—the bully who broke her down completely—she decides it’s time to live up to her own legend. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.
Which was the plan all along.
Because the rumors are true. Every single one. And Laney is going to show them just how true.
She’s going to show them all.

 

62435-addtogoodreads


REVIEW

Mindfuck. This book is a total mindfuck.
That perfectly describes Black Iris and the psychological turmoil I experienced while reading. 
I thought my first experience reading Leah Raeder’s Unteachable was intense, but this book displays a whole different level of her literary genius. It’s powerful and deeply personal which makes the reader connect in an indescribable way. 

 

The novel captivates you from the moment you begin reading. I am generally not a fan of making highlights in books. When I started reading more e-books I rarely took advantage of the highlight feature on my Kindle. I loved that I was able to highlight and flag things without marring the book, but I’ve still remained a bit conservative in that respect. Something has to really speak to me for me to highlight. Black Iris seems to be the exception. I found myself constantly highlighting wanting to savor and remember every moment, marking the words that moved me so I could go back to them later and relive the experience. The writing is profound, lyrical and undeniably haunting.  There is a pain and complexity to this book that I’ve never experienced before as a reader. It is as though you are watching someone come to terms with their very existence and how they begin to accept every part that makes them a whole. The book is sexual, but doesn’t fit in any particular mold. The romantic aspect of this book is complex and at times troubling. I worried about how toxic some of the relationships in this book had become at one point, but there was such immense beauty in Laney’s coming to terms with who she was. Bit by bit, piece by piece, as disturbed as I was at times by her actions I understood them in a way that made me question my sanity. 

 

There are writers I dislike, writers I like and then there are the writers that I love. The ones who I know will repeatedly produce outstanding content. The author whose writing seeps its way into my veins, searing their name into my soul. Leah Raeder managed to win me over with Unteachable, but Black Iris gripped my heart solidifying my love for her writing and a deep respect for her as an author. It is addictive, flawlessly unique and oddly refreshing. It is unlike any book I’ve ever read. Black Iris is raw, wild and completely unpredictable. It crosses boundaries and takes you through a journey of acceptance, revenge and pain unlike any book I’ve ever read. It examines human sexuality on a deeper level than I’ve ever contemplated. It describes how fierce love between human beings can be, the effects of non acceptance from society as well as self and how deep an individuals experience can brand them and to what lengths someone will go for retribution. Love is love — Reader’s brilliant, dark and poetic writing capture this message beautifully. I voraciously devoured Black Iris and I hope you will too. 

 

BUY NOW :

US:

 

Amazon   |   Barnes & Noble   |   Books-a-Million   |   IndieBound

 

UK:

Amazon   |   Barnes & Noble   |   Waterstones   |   Foyles   |   Kobo   |   Apple   |   Google 

 

 

AUS:

Apple   |   Amazon   |   Google

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Leah Raeder is a writer and unabashed nerd. Aside from reading her brains out, she enjoys graphic design, video games, fine whiskey, and the art of self-deprecation. She lives with her very own manic pixie dream boy in Chicago. Visit her at LeahRaeder.com.
Find Leah online:
Website   |   Facebook   |   Twitter   |   Instagram

Cover Reveal: BLACK IRIS by Leah Raeder

9781476786421

FIRST CHAPTER EXCERPT:

BLACK IRIS by Leah Raeder

April is the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot said, and that’s because it kills. It’s the month with the highest suicide rate. You’d think December, or even January—the holidays and all that forced cheer and agonized smiling pushing fragile people to the edge—but actually it’s spring, when the world wakes from frostbound sleep and something cruel and final stirs inside those of us who are broken. Like Eliot said: mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain. In the deepest throes of depression, when sunlight is anguish and the sky throbs like one big raw migraine and you just want to sleep until you or everything else dies, you’re less likely to commit suicide than someone coming out of a depressive episode. Drug companies know this. That’s why antidepressants have to be marked with the warning MAY CAUSE SUICIDAL THOUGHTS.
Because what brings you back to life also gives you the means to destroy yourself.

 

SYNOPSIS:
It only took one moment of weakness for Laney Keating’s world to fall apart. One stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors began. Slut, they called her. Queer. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mother decided she wasn’t worth sticking around for.
If Laney could erase that whole year, she would. College is her chance to start with a clean slate.
She’s not looking for new friends, but they find her: charming, handsome Armin, the only guy patient enough to work through her thorny defenses—and fiery, filterless Blythe, the bad girl and partner in crime who has thorns of her own.
But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. When a ghost from her past resurfaces—the bully who broke her down completely—she decides it’s time to live up to her own legend. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.
Which was the plan all along.
Because the rumors are true. Every single one. And Laney is going to show them just how true.
She’s going to show them all.

62435-addtogoodreads 

BOOK DETAILS:
Atria Books | 384 pages | ISBN: 9781476786421 | On sale: April 28, 2015 | List price: $15.00 | eBook ISBN: 9781476786438 | eBook list price: $5.99
More information here 

 

PRE-ORDER

 

US:
Amazon   |   Barnes & Noble   |   Books-a-Million   |   IndieBound 
 

 

UK:
Amazon   |   Barnes & Noble   |   Waterstones   |   Foyles   |   Kobo   |   Apple   |   Google   

 

AUS:
Apple   |   Amazon   |   Google 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Leah Raeder is a writer and unabashed nerd. Aside from reading her brains out, she enjoys graphic design, video games, fine whiskey, and the art of self-deprecation. She lives with her very own manic pixie dream boy in Chicago. Visit her at LeahRaeder.com.
 

 

Find Leah online:
Website   |   Facebook   |   Twitter   |   Instagram   

Unteachable Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway

unteachabletour

Unteachable
Synopsis

This novel contains graphic sexual content and strong language. It is intended for mature readers. 

I met him at a carnival, of all corny places. The summer I turned eighteen, in that chaos of neon lights and cheap thrills, I met a man so sweet, so beautiful, he seemed to come from another world. We had one night: intense, scary, real. Then I ran, like I always do. Because I didn’t want to be abandoned again.
But I couldn’t run far enough.
I knew him as Evan that night. When I walked into his classroom, he became Mr. Wilke.
My teacher.
I don’t know if what we’re doing is wrong. The law says one thing; my heart says screw the law. I can’t let him lose his job. And I can’t lose him.
In the movies, this would have a happy ending. I grow up. I love, I lose, I learn. And I move on. But this is life, and there’s no script. You make it up as you go along.
And you don’t pray for a happy ending. You pray for it to never end.
 
62435-addtogoodreads
 
My Thoughts 
This story will suck you in from the very first page and grip you by your throat until the very end! I could not put it down. I fell hard and easily in love with these characters. Maise O’Malley, the protagonist, is a girl who is living a pretty fucked up existence. Her mom is a drug addict and a dealer, her dad is nonexistent and she wants, no she needs to find an out. She has a plan, one that will get her far away but she never imagines her world will be turned upside down.
Maise has played grown up for so long it’s become second nature. Everything about her screams adult. Her thoughts, her feelings even her choice in men. At eighteen, Maise thinks she has it all figured out, she’s experienced more in her short life than most adults have endured in a lifetime. It isn’t until a chance encounter with a mysterious man that her world forever changes.
Evan Wilke enters Maise’s world in a burst of color. The attraction is instant but there is something about this stranger, a longing she never imagined she was capable of feeling. Evan has his secrets, his demons and his past but he is drawn to her from the minute they meet. He wants to unlock the mystery that is Maise, but she knows it may be too good to be true, too good to last. Evan consumes her thoughts, she never in her wildest dreams imagines she’d be walking straight into his classroom on her first day of senior year. 
 
tumblr_mkese01WyP1qfr6roo1_500
 
There are moments where the main characters are seriously playing with fire. I was on the edge of my seat screaming at them. There is such rawness to this book. A yearning that no matter the distance or boundaries can’t be ignored.  This book has it all — drama, passion, love and everything in between. You spend the entire book questioning everything you’ve ever believed was wrong but rooting that these two broken people find a way to be together because somewhere along the lines they help each other begin to live! I am still having withdrawal! This book takes you on a thrill ride you never want to end. There are moments where you will question your own views of love, happiness and what lengths you will go to be happy, to be with the one you love?  How can two broken people help repair a lifetime of pain? 
Leah Raeder writes beautifully.  She transports you into a world where you see vivid colors. Not black, not white, not even the shades of grey in between, but a colorful lively world filled with beautiful imagery. I wanted to live in this world; she made even the most painful moments beautiful. What an incredible read! I cannot express to you how much I adore this book. I was terrified reading it. The closer I got to the ending, the more unsure I felt that this would be a HEA. I won’t speak on which direction this book takes, I will only say that this is a book that EVERY New Adult fan and EVERY Contemporary Romance fan MUST read! I give it way beyond 5 stars this book is provocative, enticing, and enlightening. Leah I eagerly await the release of your next book! You’ve made a lifelong fan…

Buy Unteachable now for Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords | Kobo

*This book was an ARC provided to me for free in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and comments are my own.

About the Author
Writes pretentiously lyrical YA and adult fiction of various genres. Loves zombies, velociraptors, and other world-ending things. Copies her bio from Twitter because she’s lazy.

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Giveaway

Enter Here 

itchingbutton

%d bloggers like this: