Wicked Review: Don't Tell Anyone (Literary Smut) by Shakira Sison and Ian Rosales Casocot

Published: 2017

Format Acquired: Paperback

Genre: Fiction, LGBT

Order at Anvil Publishing: Don't Tell Anyone or go to any National Bookstore branch.

If sex remains taboo in the Philippines, gay and lesbian sex is still even more unspoken. “How do you do it?” is still the most common question queer Pinoys get. Even after that question is answered, there is still the popular notion that only heterosexual sex is ‘the real thing,’ and anything else is just a deviation or an attempt to replicate the male-female dynamic of human contact.

This book makes up for this history of invalidation. An unprecedented dirty dozen, Sison’s and Casocot’s stories are direct and unflinching. They make no qualms or apologies about the nature of sex between two men or between two women. They explore courtship and contact between same-gender partners with humor, hesitation and obsession, and eventually take the reader with them as they reel from heartbreak.

Whether you consider straight sex ‘the real thing,’ or are among the LGBTQ community that is hungry for a true account of Filipino gay and lesbian loving, one thing this collection and its characters do, over and over without exhaustion, is to keep on trying.

Right off the bat, this book is amazing, I have never read anything like this obviously because this is the first LGBT literature I have read. Really, this is amazing.

I have no qualms reading smut because duh, fangirl since 2009. I have long been exposed to smut. Literary smut that is. You know, stories that depict sex as something beautiful almost. Sex is where two people come together, either to fall in love or not. Both authors have tackled writing LGBT sex as beautiful as heterosexual sex.

I have been reading gay smut stories since I have been exposed to the world of fan fiction. If I'm not reading books, I'm reading fan fiction. But, gay fan fiction is different from literature. Literature is more raw. It digs through your heart and mind. After that, it fills you up with so much emotion that you kind of overflow.

This book is no nonsense, straight up gay and lesbian erotica. This book should be handled with caution yet with an open mind. I mean, come on. the LGBT community have sex just like heterosexuals, albeit it looks different. But yes, they can have sex. They can achieve climax as well. Damn right, they are the sexiest people I have ever come across with. Not only do they have sexy bodies to begin with, but their minds are sexy as hell. This book is literally in your face. Like, really you will devour this in one sitting. Or maybe sitting on top of someone, I don't know. Hah. Innuendo right there.

Reading this book didn't change my sexual orientation as a heterosexual. Reading this book made me understand the struggles and hardships of the LGBT community when they fall in and out of love. They suffer so much just like we do. Reading this book makes me want to study about gender and all the difference that there is about it. Just so I could understand that there's more to it than just being called a man or a woman.

This is just a beautiful piece of literature that I hope some day a lot of people would get to read more #LGBTLit. I hope this isn't the last from either of these authors. I hope more people follow suit as well. This book is funny, sexy, witty, sad, and just downright amazing. Just buy it now.

Shakira Sison has won two Palanca Awards in the essay category. As a columnist for Rappler, she has also been honored with a St. Scholastica's College Hildegarde Award and a Lasallian Scholarium Award. She was a fellow for Poetry in English in the University of the Philippines' National Writer's Workshop in 1999. Shakira holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of the Philippines Los Banos and works in finance in New York City.

Ian Rosales Casocot is a novelist, and teacher film, literature, and creative writing in Siliman University in Dumaguete City. He has won the Palanca Award several times and has also won the NVM Gonzales Prize, a PBBY Salanga Writer's Prize and the Fullybooked/Neil Gaiman Philippine Graphic/Fiction Prize for his fiction. He is currently the coordinator of the Edilberto and Edith Tiempo Creative Writing Center.

Wicked Review: The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

Format Acquired: Paperback

Date Published: November 1, 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Amazon || Barnes and Noble

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

This book is painful and all the while thought provoking and just all around amazing. So, here's Natasha who is about to be deported to Jamaica, where she knows nothing and no one about. All she's known is America, the land where she was born and the land that somehow accepted her despite her nationality. This book is so timely with all the issues regarding nationalities and citizenship in America. Or, well, at least that's how I thought it is. So there.

“To be clear: I don’t believe in fate. But I’m desperate.”

She does everything in her hands just so that she and her family can stay in America so that she can fulfill her dreams. But the law is the law. There's only so much you can do to bend it to your will. I can sort of empathize with Natasha. Moving away is never easy. It's painful. Even though, you're still with your family in this strange new place, it will never be the same again.

I love alternating POVs. It helps me understand the story more because I always believe that there is two sides to every story. But well in this book, not only does it alternate with the POV between the two main characters, it also goes around with the minor characters.

Now, enter Daniel Jae Ho Bae, Korean born in America. He's an aspiring poet who writes about heartbreak, as if he gets his heart broken so many times already. Growing up in an Asian family, there are high expectations. Being an artist is never an option. It's always either a doctor or a lawyer or a banker or a teacher even. He's bound to be one of those if he follows his parents' wishes and not his.

But that's the least of Daniel's worries, I think. He's head over heels in love with Natasha already. Clearly. I do have issues with insta-love. But well, I guess, I can make an exception for Daniel and Natasha.

“There’s a Japanese phrase that I like: koi no yokan. It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight. It’s the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will.”

And so, Daniel tries to make Natasha fall in love with him with just one day. But, Natasha is, in her own words, a realist. She deals with facts. She likes facts. She doesn't believe one bit that she will fall in love with Daniel. But eventually she will.

Nicola Yoon grew up in Jamaica (the island) and Brooklyn (part of Long Island). She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and daughter, both of whom she loves beyond all reason. Everything, Everything is her first novel.

 

Wicked Review: Summer Crush by Jay E. Tria, Tara Frejas and Six de los Reyes

Format Acquired: Kindle Edition

Date Published: April 9, 2017

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Amazon

Beach. Love. Rock and roll.

When life, love, and rock and roll come together on the sandy beaches of La Union for music festival Summer Crush, expect nothing less than the crashing of lips, bodies, and waves against the shore, against each other, and against your soul.

Allow these three tales of love to take you away for an unforgettable weekend.

Ana’s life as a corporate warrior, graduate student, and girlfriend to indie rock band boy Miki starts to spin out of control, and she wonders if it is love that has to give. (You Only Need Reminding, Jay E. Tria)

Newly reinstated EG Project roadie Filipina Legaspi flies with her band back to the Philippines for Summer Crush, unaware of the emotional waves that engulf her when she sets foot in the beaches of San Juan, La Union. (Almost There, Tara Frejas)

Rhys has three problems: Arabella, the theme song with the Trainguy, and singing live for the first time—and now also on that list is Isaiah, sea-sweet Mango Rum kisses, and long overdue decisions she’s intent on avoiding. (Ocean Eyes, Six de los Reyes)

I love these three women. They are the holy trinity of music romance. I swear to God. They are just absolutely amazing. All three stories are set in the author's others book. You Only Need Reminding by Jay E. Tria is set in the world of her Playlist series. Almost There by Tara Frejas is set in the world of Scandalized. Ocean Eyes is set in the world of Just For the Record. If you haven't read any of their other books prior to this one, don't worry. It won't be confusing for you.

You Only Need Reminding by Jay E. Tria

When I read Songs to Get Over You, the second book in the Playlist series, I met Miki, guitarist of Trainman and the lovely corporate warrior that is Ana. While I loved Ana, I didn't like Miki very much. But after You Only Need Reminding, my feelings have started to soften for dear Miki.

Since Ana is a corporate warrior, she's always working 24/7/365. Poor Ana. You'd think that her relationship with Miki would somehow help her destress. Well, it doesn't. I got to know Ana more in this story as she struggles to find the perfect balance of work and life. Don't we all?

So, Miki, being the angel that he is, whisks Ana away to La Union to watch them perform for Summer Crush. But it wasn't without any bumps along the way. Miki was the ever supportive boyfriend to Ana and I would be lying if I said I didn't fall for Miki.

It's the last Friday before freedom. Miki knows it is better conquered with extra rice.

Bless Miki's heart. I understood Ana's struggle. I am at that point in life where I want to achieve a few certain things at this age or at that age. While mine is not as ambitious as Ana's, I admire her strength and her determination to want those things to happen to her. But, sometimes you have to accept that not all things work out the way you want to.  

 Especially you, your person. Because of all the things you want to do and all the things you burden yourself with.

Almost There by Tara Frejas

The second story was more chill than the first. Fi is back as roadie of EGP, East Genesis Project, and they're in the Philippines to perform for Summer Crush. How I missed Steven, Minchan and Yihwan. They're just such a fun bunch of boys. I want them to be my best friends.

While Gabriel and Fi are finally dating, there's still Yihwan. Yihwan who finally realized that he has feelings for Fi. Oh, Jo Yihwan. He was literally almost there in Scandalized. But alas, fate had other plans.

To say that my heart didn't break for Yihwan is an understatement. I have an entire playlist of really the saddest songs in K-Pop and I was listening to it while nursing my broken heart for Yihwan.

For those of you who are working on letting go. It's not easy, but we'll get there eventually.

Truer words never spoken.

Ocean Eyes by Six de los Reyes

Meanwhile, I haven't read Just for the Record. But I knew of it's main characters, Rhys Yalung, in Feels Like Summer. She's a musician under the same label with Arabella, Adrian's band. She is considered to be a genius and well, Little Miss Boss, as Franklin of Arabella "fondly" calls her.

Rhys and Isaiah's relationship is considered to be well, either toxic or mutually beneficial. Beneficial because they were just there for each other fulfilling each other needs. But their timing sucked. Rhys is in a relationship.

We're already in a mess. Have been in it long enough. Aren't you tired?

While this trope is reminiscent of Feels Like Summer, it still has a different spin on this because of the long history Rhys and Isaiah had. I have yet to discover that history when I read Just for the Record one of these days.

But suffice to say that, Ocean Eyes gave me a mix of pain and happiness. No choice is ever easy. To see Rhys fight for what she finally wants definitely paid off in this one.

Loving Isaiah is all the things all at once. From indifference to lust, from lust to trust, and from  trust to love, and somewhere between the lies they find truth.

So there. Even if these stories were different on their own, it blended so well together. It's as if Summer Crush isn't an anthology but like a single entity. #romanceclass authors wielded their magic once again. How I wish theses characters were real and I could see them in person? I want them to be my best friends. Mainly because they have good music taste. PISLABRAKENROL (*winkwink*)

Six de los Reyes has been reading and making up stories for as far as she can remember. In fifth grade, she learned to write about the stories she wanted to read. As a pretend grownup, she writes contemporary romance novels. Her day job doing science has something to do with with being part-time mermaid and a part-time labrat. She currently lives next to the see. Check out her other titles:

- Just for the Record

-Beginner's Guide: Love and Other Chemical Reactions

-Sounds Like Summer

Connect with her: Twitter

Jay E. Tria is inspired by daydreams, celebrity crushes, a childhood fascination of Japanese drama and manga, and an incessant itch to travel. She write contemporary young adult and new adult romance. Sometimes, paranormal fantasy too. Check out her other titles:

-Songs of Our Breakup

-Songs to Get Over You

-Songs to Make You Stay

-Majesty

-Blossom Among Flowers

Connect with her: Twitter

Tara Frejas is a cloud-walker who needs caffeine to fuel her travels. By day, she works in project management and events, and she writes down her daydreams at night. She began publishing fiction for public consumption in 2004, posting her pieces on various online channels like fan forums and Blogspot, eventually exploring other avenues like Livejournal, Soomp!, Tumblr, and most recently, Wattpad.

Aside from her obvious love affair with words and persistent muses, Tara is very passionate about being caffeinated, musical theatre, certain genres of music, dancing, dogs, good food, and romancing Norae, her ukelele. She owns a 6-month-old male bunny named Max who sometimes tries to nibble on her writing notes.

Fun fact: She's a Piscean. Go figure.

Check out her other titles:

-Paper Planes Back Home

-The Forget You Brew

-Hustle Play/Settle the Score

-Waiting in the Wings

Connect with her: Twitter

Wicked Review: Scandalized by Tara Frejas

Format Acquired: Paperback

Date Published: May 6, 2016

Genre: Romance

Amazon

Fi Legaspi is living the dream working in Seoul as a road manager for one of South Korea's hottest bands, East Genesis Project. Until she isn't. 

When she finds herself in the middle of a scandal and a hostile fangirl witch hunt, Fi seeks the comfort of home, and to her surprise, not the person she had been pining for for years. All too suddenly it's no longer her career on the line, but also her heart. Will she walk away from everything that matters to her or fight to keep her dream alive?

The minute I found out that this was about K-Pop, I knew I have to pick it up. K-Pop is currently my life right now. I have no regrets. Hah. 

Being a K-Pop for almost a decade now, I knew that their world is as chaotic as ever. Left and right, the artists or sometimes more fondly called as 'idols' are thrust into the spotlight. The Korean music industry is really harsh. REALLY HARSH. Competition is everywhere. Scandals are sometimes a normality even. No scandal is small. But one thing's for sure. It will destroy you.

Okay, maybe destroy is too harsh. But anyways, you get the point. This story touched base on a lot of things. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Let's start with the good. What I love about K-Pop artists is that they're humble. They're really down to earth people. They are one of the most hardworking people I have ever seen. Some Korean artists train for ten years before they even get to debut. The length of your training doesn't guarantee you a solid career the minute you debut. Not only do the artists work hard, but it's also the people behind the scenes that fans rarely even look at like the managers, the PR people, the make up artists, the stylists, the producers, etc. They are a package deal. Without them, well, there will be no idols and vice versa.

Scandalized will show non-K-pop fans a glimpse of how this crazy world works. It's good enough to induce you know ~fangirl feels. The universe knows how much I fangirl on a daiy basis. Hah. Aside from that, readers will be treated to South Korea, the place of pretty things with pretty people. It's enough to make you want to go to South Korea and just explore all things Korean.

On to the bad. Of course, these K-pop artists experience downs. May it be downs in their careers like their new album is a flop or they didn't sell well during their tours. Or when a member of the group leaves. Worse, the group disbands. In some cases, groups leave their entertainment agencies for unfair treatment and venture out on their own. This is also a normal case. I have seen so many acts come and go. Like, the baddest girl group ever, 2NE1 or Super Junior. Being a household name, well, it has a lot of pressure. With East Genesis Project, they are a band. Bands doesn't have a big following unlike boy groups or girl groups. It's difficult to rise a rock band in a world full of synchronized dancing and showy outfits. But, take a chance. They are good. Scandalized showed the daily struggles and pressures of East Genesis Project as a band. Trying to finish an album on time while being on tour. My poor boys.~

And at last, the icing on the cake. The ugly. For Western artists, dating is fine. Well, just choose who you're gonna date or else you'll have a song or worse an entire album written about you. But in the K-pop industry, it's HARSH. REALLY HARSH.

In this book, there's this website called Dispatch, which really exists. That website is like the TMZ of Korea. It breaks the biggest news first, may it be a new collaboration between artists or the success of a tour or album sales or a male artist's military enlistment date or a wedding. Dispatch has all of it. But their creme-de-la-creme is dating rumors and scandals.

Well, okay really. Korea has such a weird outlook of the word "scandal". Or maybe I do. So, Fi and East Genesis Project's frontman, Jo Yihwan was involved in a scandal of some sort. It's not supposed to be that big of a deal, if you ask me. If the scandal was between two artists, it's easy for them to bounce back. Just call your PR team and let them deal with it. But if you're just a regular, working class citizen working behind the scenes. Beware. Danger is coming. It can cost you your career and your life even.

I love how all the characters developed so much despite such circumstances. When you're at your lowest point, how do you even come back? Fi is just so adorable here. She's gentle yet very strong. She wasn't petty about the whole "scandal". She wasn't lost. She just needed time to regroup so that she can come back strong. But she didn't do it alone. She had some help. Well, a very handsome help in the name of Gabriel Park.

Yes, Gabriel Park. Oh, Gabriel. Just when you think the boys of East Genesis Project are enough to satisfy your thirst for the ~oppa. Wait, till you meet, Gabriel Park. I swear. The romance is fluffy at best. Think rainbows and cherry blossoms and ice cream and pastel colors. Just like those fluffy Korean dramas.

Tara Frejas is a cloud-walker who needs caffeine to fuel her travels. By day, she works in project management and events, and she writes down her daydreams at night. She began publishing fiction for public consumption in 2004, posting her pieces on various online channels like fan forums and Blogspot, eventually exploring other avenues like Livejournal, Soomp!, Tumblr, and most recently, Wattpad.

Aside from her obvious love affair with words and persistent muses, Tara is very passionate about being caffeinated, musical theatre, certain genres of music, dancing, dogs, good food, and romancing Norae, her ukelele. She owns a 6-month-old male bunny named Max who sometimes tries to nibble on her writing notes.

Fun fact: She's a Piscean. Go figure.

Check out her other titles:

-Paper Planes Back Home

-The Forget You Brew

-Hustle Play/Settle the Score

-Waiting in the Wings

Connect with her: Twitter

Wicked Review: Feels Like Summer by Six de los Reyes

Format Acquired: Kindle Edition

Date Published: April 2, 2017

Series: Summer Storm #2

Genre: Romance

Amazon

Five-minute girlfriend. That's what Jett signs up for when she meets Adrian and his band Arabella at beach music festival Summer Storm. One kiss and the attraction is too electric to ignore, but Jett has no room for love and Adrian is Mr. Relationship who's getting over his recent breakup. The solution? Keep it simple. Keep it casual. For three months (that's the rule about breakups, right?), Jett helps Adrian move on and Adrian shows up on Jett's bed whenever she wants.

Then the three months are up and neither of them are in a hurry to be the first to leave. Does Jett walk away from a potential disaster or does she finally let someone into her closely-guarded heart?

To say that I liked this book is an understatement. It is that good. It was dramatic. It was happy. It was funny. It was funny. It was sad. It was 'kilig' inducing.

So, the story starts off with Jett being Adrian's five minute girlfriend. How hard can that be? Right? But obviously, with this kind of setting, things will get more complicated as time goes by. Obviously. When I met Jett, it's easy to relate to her. She knew what she wanted. She wanted Adrian for sex and help him get over his ex.

It's never simple. It's always gonna come back to you and me.

For this kind of trope, you may say it's cliche but the way Six handled Jett was amazing. She developed Jett's character, instead of just focusing on the romance. Jett's heart is black, or so she believes. She doesn't fall in love. She believes that no one can love her with the baggage she carried on a daily basis. All love is temporary. It doesn't last.

Relax, it's not like I'm gonna fall in love with you or anything stupid like that. I don't have enough feelings to do that.

In a way, I understand why she's like this. People do get weird. They lose themselves when they fall in love. They are broken as their hearts at the end of the process. But it's fun to see characters like Jett who thinks they figured everything out already, like nothing ever surprises them anymore. It makes the story more compelling. Clearly, this is really just Jett's story and she's just trying to regroup her feelings for Adrian.

Adrian, on the other hand, is well, at first he seems like a lost puppy. He's the kind of guy who loves you 100%. Giving all and doesn't even bother taking some. That's dangerous, I think. He was just so lost and heartbroken because things ended with his ex and dragging their band down with it. I felt his pain. I knew that from experience.

Take a chance on me, Jett. Don't think of me as just another side quest in the main story.

Their story was the push and pull. It's not just about them simply falling on love and living happily ever after. It's about the struggle they endured and the fears they conquered. Jett wasn't a damsel in distress and neither was Adrian. Suffice to say, this has been a memorable book.

Rock my world, rockstar.

Of course, I'm not going to end here. I need to talk about the band Arabella and how I wish they were real. Damn it, they're just so funny. It's mostly Michael Brian and Franklin being little shits in the story but that's also another thing that makes this story really good. The other characters help the main characters grow throughout the story. They are the anchor. Am I really crazy that I wish they were real? I mean, I found myself poring over songs on Spotify as to see which band fits the description of Arabella. But alas, they are just fictional.

Six de los Reyes has been reading and making up stories for as far as she can remember. In fifth grade, she learned to write about the stories she wanted to read. As a pretend grownup, she writes contemporary romance novels. Her day job doing science has something to do with with being part-time mermaid and a part-time labrat. She currently lives next to the see. Check out her other titles:

- Just for the Record

-Beginner's Guide: Love and Other Chemical Reactions

-Sounds Like Summer

Connect with her: Twitter

Wicked Review: The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Published: March 22, 2011

Publisher: Speak

Acquired: Paperback

Amazon || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Fullybooked

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life - and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

This remarkable debut is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block. Just as much a celebration of love as it is a portrait of loss, Lennie's struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often hilarious, and ultimately unforgettable.

To say that I fell in love with the book is a massive understatement. This book is amazing. Sure, I've read a lot about loss and how the characters have dealt with it. But The Sky Is Everywhere is more than that.

We have Lennie Walker, a clarinetist who lost his older sister, Bailey. She walks in the shadow of her older sister who's a bona fide star in their small town. Bailey dreams of becoming a theater actress one day. They were almost inseparable until Bailey's own heart took her life away.

My sister will die over and over again for the rest of my life. Grief is forever. It doesn't go away; it becomes a part of you, step for step, breath for breath. I will never stop grieving Bailey because I will never stop loving her. That's just how it is. Grief and love are conjoined, you don't get one without the other. All I can do is love her, and love the world, emulate her by living with daring and spirit and joy. 

I felt Lennie's grief, so much so that her actions through the course of this book is almost selfish. I have never lost anyone dear to me so I wouldn't really put myself in Lennie's shoes. But everyone around Lennie-Toby, Bailey's boyfriend, their Grandmother, their Uncle Big-has also lost Bailey. They were also grieving. They lost a piece of themselves when Bailey passed away.

The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet. 

Lennie met Joe Fontaine, new guy who plays so many instruments. He's such a sweetheart. *insert heart eyes emoji* Where Lennie was overcome with grief over the loss of her sister, Joe comes to save the day. He's the epitome of a good life in my book. I just love him.

Each start of the chapter, there's a poem at the side. All those poems are written by Lennie and I think, those poems help understand Lennie's feelings and her relationship with her sister. She leaves those poems everywhere and writes on all sorts of known surfaces. I think I'll try that some time.

The.World.Is.Not.A.Safe.Place.

Messentialism. It's the word the often came up in this book. We live in a big mess. Each situation we're in, it's a mess. I believe that one hundred percent. Jandy Nelson provided me with a book that is greater than life. It was everything I expected from Jandy Nelson and then more.

Jandy Nelson, like her characters in I’ll Give You the Sun and The Sky is Everywhere, comes from a superstitious lot. She was tutored from a young age in the art of the four-leaf clover hunt; she knocks wood, throws salt, and carries charms in her pockets. Her critically-acclaimed, New York Times bestselling second novel, I’ll Give You the Sun, received the prestigious Printz Award, Bank Street's Josette Frank Award, and is a Stonewall Book Award honor. Both Sun and her debut, The Sky Is Everywhere, have been YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults picks (Sun, a Top Ten on Both YALSA and Rainbow Lists) and on multiple best of the year lists including the New York Times, Time Magazine, NPR, have earned many starred reviews, and continue to enjoy great international success, collectively published in over 47 countries. I'll Give You the Sun has been sold to Warner Brothers and screenwriter Natalie Krinsky is currently writing the adaptation. Jandy, a literary agent for many years, received a BA from Cornell University and MFAs in Poetry and Children's Writing from Brown University and Vermont College of Fine Arts. Currently a full-time writer, she lives and writes in San Francisco, California—not far from the settings of her novels.

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Backlist Revival Tour: One Night At The Palace Hotel by Bianca Mori

The Backlist Revival Project, in case you don't know, is where books released some time ago are back in the spotlight. These books deserve some love too, you know. For the month of January, One Night At The Palace Hotel by Bianca Mori is on the spotlight!

Publication Date: February 14, 2014

Buqo

It's the night before The Palace Hotel opens, and the entire city is abuzz with what everyone is calling a throwback to the Gilded Age. Everyone, that is, except Consuelo De la Red. Faced with a destiny picked out for her and a dream she just can't forget, she confronts the choices she has made and the man she was forced to reject. When the past comes crashing into the present, will she listed to her duty, or give in to the urging of her heart?

One, I'm a sucker for high society stuff. Anything and everything about old families and their dramas, I'm in. Two, I love romances like these.

Consuelo, or Sue, is a trustfund princess. Her family came from the old money. Surely, being born in that type of family has a reputation to put up with. Sue has heard stories of her other relatives who were driven by their passion and determination to live their own lives away from the gilded cage that their last names represent.

So, when Sue met Sam, she almost did just that. The two met in Chicago and immediately fell in a whirlwind romance. Until Sue was forced to come back to Manila or else she will be disowned. Six years later, Sue is back in the good graces of her family and their golden circle of friends now that she has a boyfriend they approve of.

Things took a turn during the opening night of The Palace Hotel. The architect who so lavishly designed the hotel is none other than Sue's old flame, Sam. Sam wants Sue back. To say that I fell in love with Sam is an understatement. Here he is, a hardworking man who's smart, funny. handsome, good natured, I mean, what more could a girl ask for> Frankly, I'd rather have someone who got rich by working hard day in and day out than someone who was born rich. His love for Sue is so strong and Sue couldn't deny that Sam is the one she wants to be with.

Can I just say that Bianca Mori did a good job in this book? Everything about this book is so vivid-from the design of the hotel to what the characters are wearing to what the characters are feeling. They all came alive in this book.

Bianca Mori is the author of "One Night at the Palace Hotel" and "Tame The Kitten." She is interested in exploring power in romance and enjoys reading about demimondaines, pin-up girls and Jazz Age personalities and hopes to reinterpret these in her stories. She lives with her family and a hyperactive pug.

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