BOOK REVIEW - THE BOYS OF SUMMER by C.J. DUGGAN - SUMMER # 1 - NA / MATURE YA CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

By: C.J. Duggan
Published By: C.J. Duggan
Released : Available Now
Details: Purchased for freee on Amazon, but also had a paperback copy from local library.

RATING: 4 ONSLOW BOYS STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

Quiet seventeen-year-old Tess doesn’t relish the thought of a summertime job. She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.

To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.

How did she let her friends talk her into working?

After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.

All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.

It will be a summer she will always remember.


BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

I have been needing to start this series for far too long.

I finally put my foot down and parted the ocean of books and made the freakin’ time.

This was a delightful YA/NA mix genre read.

This installment is about Tess and her friends coming of age. Year eleven is finished and her best friends join her working at the Onslow pub on the top of the hill for the summer break.

Adam is the fun sidekick. I would have loved to have read more about him because he is a corker of a character.

Enter the Onslow Boys and Tess and Ellie go all dreamy eyed. I mean who wouldn't?

The Onslow Boys are pretty cool guys who like to be real Aussie blokes. They love their beer, their fishing and hanging together.

In my personal opinion, Sean Murphy steals the limelight.

Throw in an Angela who isn’t really that bad a chick but she is the girlfriend of Toby aka Tobias, which is not a good thing for Tess.

Now as far as Tobias’s character, I felt he needed to be more present and connecting with Tess.

Sean really connected with me and he is a great guy hanging about Tess. His character leaped off the page more so than Tobias’s, for me anyway.

Maybe the only reason this book didn’t get a five star from me.

Small town, three friends and the Onslow Boys makes for a great first installment.

I am eager to return and watch more of the Onslow Boys fall for their lady.

Michelle

GIVEAWAY & REVIEW BLOG TOUR - PARADISE CITY by C.J. DUGGAN - PARADISE # 1 - NEW ADULT CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE - HACHETTE

By: C.J. Duggan

Published By: Hachette

Released : April 28th 2015

Details: Digital copy for honest review from publisher

RATING: 3.75 - 4 STARS

Blurb: Goodreads

There's bound to be trouble in Paradise . . .

When her parents decide a change will be good for her, seventeen-year-old Lexie Atkinson never expected they'd send her all the way to Paradise City. Coming from a predictable life of home schooling on a rural Australian property, she's sure that Paradise will be amazing. But when she's thrust into a public school without a friendly face in sight, and forced to share a room with her insipid, hateful cousin Amanda, Lexie's not so sure.

Hanging out with the self-proclaimed beach bums of the city, sneaking out, late night parties and parking with boys are all things Lexie's never experienced, but all that's about to change. It's new, terrifying . . . and exciting. But when she meets Luke Ballantine, exciting doesn't even come close to describing her new life. Trouble with a capital T, Luke is impulsive, charming and answers to no one. The resident bad-boy leader of the group, he's sexier than any boy Lexie has ever known.

Amidst the stolen moments of knowing looks and heated touches, Lexie can't help but wonder if Luke is going to be good for her . . . or very, very bad?

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

I have been very excited to read this new series of C.J’s. I have some of her Summer series which has sold so well as an Indie author on my Kindle and can’t wait to put some time aside to read that series. The covers are so pretty.

Now C.J is published by Hachette.

Congratulations!!

Ok , now I have been reviewing for nearly five years and I want to start by saying I read a shiz load of books and am very well read across genres. My ratings come from my personal thoughts of what I think makes a five star, a four star and so on read for myself. 

So this is just my own opinion.

I enjoyed this first installment, but to be honest I felt the story didn’t kick in and connect with me until the 45% mark approximately.

Just under the half way mark and then BAM shiz started happening and I was more invested.

I would classify the first part as very YA genre and then lordy it took off in a very New Adult way.

Most of the characters are only seventeen and eighteen and attend Paradise City High. They are in year eleven.

I really LOVED Boon’s character, he felt very consistent as a character from start to finish. He is funny and very likable. I am a Boon fan!

Luke Ballentine and Boon are part of  Kirkland House. There are three houses at Paradise City High.

Cousin Amanda is the not so nice cousin to Lexie.

Lexie has been home schooled and her parents are allowing her to attend the last several weeks of a REAL SCHOOL.

Amanda and Lexie used to get along, now Amanda is a bit of a biatcchh. She is an up and down character, especially for a family member.

Luke and Boon spend quite a bit of time in Siberia, because bad boys tend to find themselves, well, in Siberia. Code name for detention.

“Well, well, it wouldn’t be a complete detention without Boon and Ballantine, would it?”



There are some shenanigans and some sudden sizzling moments between a couple characters. Because this is set in Australia, one of those sizzling scenes had me thinking about my daughter who has just started year 7 in high school and... no...no...no!  

I liked the visual I got of the Wipe Out Bar and its owner. I’m not sure what to make of Laura and her antics in this book, but she aided in said shenanigans.

The ending I am in two minds about because it goes kind of against how understanding and trusting a certain character is throughout the book.

It kind of felt a little out of place because of said understanding behavior towards more than one character. It went against the personality of this person. What endeared me to this character was he surprised me each time with how mature and understanding he was which showed a deeper level to his Siberia antics. It was refreshing. 

Then...

But eh, teenagers are teenagers and that equals mood swings so this could be the answer.

There was this modern day Puberty Blues feel to this first installment for me. 

I liked the full on Aussie feel and reading the Aussie products mentioned. Example, Samboy Chips, Mars Bar... no mention of Vegemite. I did feel like I was stepping back in time to my youth and the beach side weekends at Streaky Bay ( yes there is such a place).

I definitely really enjoyed the latter half of this first installment, it moved along well and we got to really know more of Luke and Boon and all the complicated stuff that comes with being a teenager.

For me this was a good start to this series and I look forward to reading more.

Michelle

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C.J Duggan is an Internationally Number One Best Selling Author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia. When she isn't writing books about swoony boys and 90's pop culture you will find her renovating her hundred-year-old Victorian homestead or annoying her local travel agent for a quote to escape the chaos. The Boys of Summer is Book One in her highly successful New Adult Romance Series.

Summer Series

The Boys of Summer (December 2012)

Stan (October 2014)

An Endless Summer (July 2013)

MAX (TBA 2015)

That One Summer (December 2013)

Ringer (March 2014)

Forever Summer (TBA 2015)

Social Media:

o https://www.facebook.com/CJDugganAuthor & https://www.facebook.com/HachetteAustralia

o Twitter: @CJ_Duggan & @HachetteAus

o Instagram: @cj_duggan & @hachetteaus

o http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5779034.C_J_Duggan

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DOUBLE COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY - STAN # 1.5 & MAX # 2.5 by C.J. DUGGAN - SUMMER SERIES - NEW ADULT CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Stan (Summer Series #1.5) 

& 

Max (Summer Series #2.5)

 by C.J. Duggan 

Publication date: December 2014

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance 

Synopsis: Stan


I had plans, big plans, but all that changed the night Bel Evans darkened my doorstep.

Stan Remington is the go-to man; what he doesn’t know about Onslow means one of two things: it doesn’t exist or it hasn’t happened yet.

And when it comes to Onslow, for Stan, being an only child has meant a guilt-riddled sense of duty to help out at his parents’ caravan park every summer. Same old town. Same old story.

Until Belinda Evans.

The wild and annoying doctor’s daughter spends her summer family holidays at Remington’s Caravan Park, and normally she’s not Stan’s problem. But then she sabotages his planned weekend escape. Now Stan finds himself not only caretaking the caravan park on his own, but also responsible for Bel.

Just the two of them.
Under the one roof.
For one long, long weekend.

In a world where mundane routine and small-town boredom is his norm, one weekend changes every element of his world to anything but boring.

******

Synopsis: Max

Max Henry thought he’d left the dusty flats of Ballan behind, but when the past slams into his present, suddenly there is no escaping – even if he wanted to.

Melanie Sheehan didn’t set out to be a liar, but her last lie landed her in big trouble. Now Mel must suffer a harsh consequence – she’s not allowed out of her father’s sight.

No friends, no parties, no life.

Since impeccably good behaviour is now all she’s about, her dad, renowned Ballan local ‘Bluey’ Sheehan, is about to finally cut Mel some slack. The catch? While he heads out of town on business, she has to stay at the Onslow Hotel, and he’s entrusting Max Henry, the eldest son of Bluey’s best mate, to look out for her.

He just doesn’t know it yet.

Max, the new head barman at the Onslow Hotel, is the one boy Mel has been crushing on since forever. At a time when Mel plans to go on the straight and narrow, she is about to tell the biggest lie of all. Will Max be able to handle the fiery farm girl or should he be considered the last boy in Onslow to trust?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/92873-summer

Purchase From:

Summer Series purchase links: http://www.cjdugganbooks.com/books.html

Stan Pre Order: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/stan/id904331518?mt=11

Max Pre Order: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/max/id904335185?mt=11

Ringer: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/ringer-summer-series-novella/id797741096?mt=11

Forever Summer: Pre Order https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/x/id797802550

Summer Series Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTMF8Pprxew

AUTHOR BIO

C.J Duggan is a Number One Best Selling Australian Author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia. When she isn’t writing books about swoony boys and 90’s pop culture you will find her renovating her hundred-year-old Victorian homestead or annoying her local travel agent for a quote to escape the chaos.

The Boys of Summer is Book One in her international best selling New Adult Romance Series.

The 'Summer Series'

The Boys of Summer 

Stan (Summer Novella)

An Endless Summer 

Max (Summer Novella)

That One Summer 

Ringer (Summer Novella)

Forever Summer

Author Links:

Website: http://www.cjdugganbooks.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5779034.C_J_Duggan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cj.duggan.1

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CJ_Duggan

GIVEAWAY TIME

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BOOK BLITZ & GIVEAWAY - SUMMER SERIES by C.J. DUGGAN - MATURE YA ROMANCE

Title: The Boys of Summer (Summer, #1)

Author: C.J. Duggan

Release Date: December 17, 2012

Series: Summer Series

Genre: Mature YA Romance

 

About The Boys of Summer

It seemed only natural to nickname them the ‘Onslow Boys’. Every time they swaggered in the front door of the Onslow Hotel after a hard week’s work, their laughter was loud and genuine as they settled onto their bar stools. I peeked through the restaurant partition, a flimsy divider between my world and theirs. I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw them, saw him ... Toby Morrison.

Quiet seventeen-year-old Tess doesn’t relish the thought of a summertime job. She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.

To Tess, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.

How did she let her friends talk her into working?

After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed ‘The Onslow Boys’, who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess’s summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.

All with the one boy she has never been able to forget.

It will be a summer she will always remember.

Warning: sexual references, and occasional coarse language 

THE BOYS OF SUMMER (Summer, #1) 

is FREE until JULY 16th! 

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | iBooks

 

An Endless Summer (Summer, #2)

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

That One Summer (Summer, #3)

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Ringer (Summer #3.5)

Amazon US | Amazon UK| Goodreads

Coming Soon!

Forever Summer (Summer, #4)

  

About the Author

C.J Duggan is an Australian author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia. The Boys of Summer is Book One in her Mature Young Adult Romance Series.

For more on C.J and ‘The Summer Series’, visit www.cjdugganbooks.com

Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

   

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FRIDAY GIVEAWAYS # 9 - SIGNED C.J. DUGGAN PRINTS

FRIDAY GIVEAWAYS # 9

It's time for this weeks Friday Giveaways.

I have bought C.J Duggan's, Summer series but as yet not cracked it open. Big thankyou to C.J for signing these prints at the Indie Author Down Under event back in march 2014.

I love all the covers and the colors on the covers. Very eye catching.

You can find C.J on Goodreads HERE

You can check out her books also on her website HERE

GIVEAWAY

I have two prize packs

Pack 1

Signed Print - Ringer

Signed Post Card - Natalie Gayle & Richard Lawrence

Natalie Gayle - card

Pack 2

Signed Print - Summer Series Covers

Signed Post Card - Natalie Gayle & Richard Lawrence

Natalie Gayle - Card

2 x WINNERS!!

 Easy Steps to Enter

INTERNATIONAL

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PLEASE NOTE:

Ok, so it is totally fair for everyone. I have been checking winners to see if they are GFC followers with the name listed on the entry, which I can see on rafflecopter. 

If you aren't on there, please pop yourself on. From now on, to keep it all fair, I will be a NERD ALERT and be checking entries closely.

These are signed giveaways that I have paid for to be printed off and I pay for postage all over the world, and I traveled for the weekend at a cost to see the authors and they also paid for some of the swag and took the time to sign it and give it to me.

So, I think it is fair if you give me a GFC name and I can't see it on my list, then I will re draw a winner and same goes for the other entry requirements that I made mandatory.

You can check to see if you are following Novels On The Run by clicking on the little double blue squares in the top right corner of the 'Please Join US ' thingy on the right side bar column on my blog near top of my page. It then lets you click 'more' and you can then start clicking 'next' and find yourselves.

If you can't see yourself, then pop yourself on :D

Thanks everyone :D

GOOD LUCK!

Michelle