Welcome, friends, to THE TRAITOR’S KISS blog tour! I’m so excited to be a part of it and to share my very first mood board with you. This first book in The Traitor’s Trilogy by Erin Beaty is an intriguing start to a series about spies, rebellion, secrets, matchmaking, and all the things (including, of course, swoons). I tried to find images that reflected all of these things and I think I didn’t do too badly. I HOPE I didn’t do too badly. HOPE. You’ll just have to read THE TRAITOR’S KISS to see if you agree!

I’m a fan of the dichotomy between the knives and the gowns, and the rebellion and the fancy dinners. Not to mention the way the main character, Sage, goes from wearing pants and riding horses to dressing up to mingle better with the ladies on their way to be matched. That doesn’t necessarily go very smoothly for her, though, which leads me to my secret phrase!

Check out all the other stops on the tour for more secret phrases! They’re out of order, so make like Sage and see if you can piece them together!

The Square Root of Summer Blog Tour | This Is Who I Am Now

Guys, I’m incredibly excited to be participating in the blog tour for the debut from Harriet Reuter Hapgood, THE SQUARE ROOT OF SUMMER (thanks, lovelies at Macmillan for inviting me)! I’ll be posting my review this week, but it’s a kind of  mind-bendy, emotional story about death and moving on and love, and it’s put Harriet Reuter Hapgood squarely on my radar for sure!

So, the cool thing about this blog tour is that it takes advantage of the very fun time capsule idea that plays an important part in the friendship (or more??) of Gottie and Thomas. While I wasn’t able to get an item in, I do get to answer these awesome questions that are very time capsule-ish. HUZZAH!

I answered the questions below about two months ago and again just today, so it’s like a time capsule of my feelings. Gottie and Thomas are a little more tangible with theirs in THE SQUARE ROOT OF SUMMER, but as with all time capsules, physical things represent the emotions attached. THIS IS ALL SO FUN.

Without further ado from me, let’s get to the questions!

March 2016: Generally speaking, always my family and friends. Even when they drive me nuts. Right now specifically? Pictures of the dogs I dog sit with my sister. I could be having the worst day, and one snap of them and I’m over it. Likewise any pictures of piglets. AND! The first sightings of the year of Cadbury Mini Wggs.

May 2016: Spring! I am a winter-lover, so I don’t mind the snow, but now that I’ve had a taste of some warm, beautiful days, all I want is more. Also, there’s a flowering bush in my front yard called a sweet viburnum. It only blooms once a year in early spring and it’s incredibly fragrant. When it’s blooming and I have my windows open, I can smell it in my bedroom. Heaven.

March 2016: I am currently listening to the Outlander books via audio and I’m DYING. This is my first time rereading them all in a few years–in fact, it’s my first time rereading some of them period–and I’m in full Outlander immersion mode right now. As far as print books, I just finished THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD, and it was magnificent. I’m rereading the Wild Seasons series by Christina Lauren for some MAAJOR swoonage, and I’m DEVOURING the end of WINTER.

May 2016: OMG just started THE RAVEN KING. OMG. Still in Outlander audio mode as well. Just started DRUMS OF AUTUMN (that’s #4), and it’s the perfect escape.

March 2016: I finalized some plans to go to BEA this year in Chicago! I’m always beyond ecstatic to see my girls, Brittany and Alyssa, so that’s really the most exciting part. On a personal family note, and maybe this is not a happy thing, but I’m looking forward to my dad being able to start some treatments for a health issue he’s having. Should be soon, and it should make him feel loads better.

May 2016: BEA! Still! I can’t believe it’s next week! I could use the break from life, let me tell you. (Also, dad started the treatments. Working like a charm so far!)

March 2016: Things have been beyond stressful at work lately and that makes me incredibly anxious. It gets to the point where I dread having to go. I know that I can control a part of this, so I’m trying to focus on that, but some of it is out of my hands and that’s terrible.

I’m also worrying about my dad. He’s got some health issues that need dealing with and I just want him to start feeling better so that he can live forever and call me “kiddo” until the end of time.

May 2016: Things with my dad are getting better, so that’s something I’m worrying about less. Work can still be a stress bomb, but that’s easing up a little bit as well. On a completely superficial note, I’m worrying about how heavy my bags will be after BEA. I know. But I always wind up hurting my shoulder, and I am not grabby for things. 

March 2016: Since my purse weighs roughly five pounds, a lot. At least one book, my Kindle…I’m basically prepared for anything at any time. I have a Tide stick, deodorant, a separate bag of lip balms and glosses, blotting papers, hand lotions, tampons, allergy medicine, baby powder, pens, tissues…I’m like a mom except without the kids.

May 2016: Pretty much the same. Creature of habit over here. 

March 2016: My work environment. I love my coworkers; I spend more time with them than I do my own family, but DAMN. They are killing my spirit right now. QUIT IT, GUYS.

May 2016: Things with my dad are going well, but it’s been stressing my mom out a lot. She’s working hard and losing weight and just very raw, I think. I wish I could make things less overwhelming for her.

So that’s it! That is who I am now, in a nutshell. I loved answering these questions. It was very satisfying for me to reflect on the things that have changed since March and the things that have not. In general, this winter and early spring were tough for me. I was barely blogging, life was stressful, I had a ton of things on my mind that I couldn’t fix. But now, I’m feeling a little lighter and happier. A lot can change in just two months, friends!

Don’t forget to check out THE SQUARE ROOT OF SUMMER by Harriet Reuter Hapgood! You guys will fall in love with Thomas and Gottie!

ALSO, don’t forget to visit Fierce Reads today to see a bunch of time capsule items submitted by my fellow blog tour participants, and check out the hashtags, #SquareRootofSummer and #thisiswhoIamnow!

This is what it means to love someone. This is what it means to grieve someone. It’s a little bit like a black hole. It’s a little bit like infinity.

Gottie H. Oppenheimer is losing time. Literally. When the fabric of the universe around her seaside town begins to fray, she’s hurtled through wormholes to her past:

To last summer, when her grandfather Grey died. To the afternoon she fell in love with Jason, who wouldn’t even hold her hand at the funeral. To the day her best friend Thomas moved away and left her behind with a scar on her hand and a black hole in her memory.

Although Grey is still gone, Jason and Thomas are back, and Gottie’s past, present, and future are about to collide—and someone’s heart is about to be broken.

Get to know Harriet!

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