Summer Suspense Finale

I don’t think I have ever read a book as fast I read CREATED, the final book in the Watched series. It was both enthralling and thought provoking. I am so glad to hear that author Cindy M. Hogan has even more books featuring this amazing heroine. It reminds me so much of the hit TV series Alias, which gave Jennifer Gardner her fame in Hollywood, and fans of that show will want to read these books!

I don’t want to say too much about the book because I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Some of the same themes addressed in the first two books resonate in this one, once again driving the point that we are the ones in control of our own lives and that we have the choice to become what and who we are. This book is filled with nail biting suspense that will have you staying up all night and abandoning everything to finish. Seriously, do we know any film producers that could make this into a movie? We need more books like this, featuring strong female leads that are morally clean and inspire goodness. Well done, Cindy M. Hogan!

Synopsis: A new school. A choice. A destiny discovered. With The Witness Protection Program failing to keep Christy safe, she is sent to Belgium to hide in a new school. While there, test scores reveal her true abilities. Discover her fate in this action-packed final installment of the heart-pounding Watched trilogy.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Created-Watched-Book-Cindy-Hogan/dp/0985131829/

Other books by Cindy M. Hogan: 

The Summer Suspense Continues...

Summer reading is great. There’s nothing better than diving into a book and losing yourself in the pages. However some books come with terrible consequences. Consequences that leave you extremely tired and grumpy the next morning. Like a hangover but not for drinking, it’s a hangover for staying up too late reading because you couldn’t, for the life of you, put the book down.  So WARNING: this book will give you a book-hangover. You’ve been warned. Now about the book…

So Cindy M Hogan, the amazing author of PROTECTED, book two in the WATCHED TRILOGY, does pretty bang-up job rehashing the first book without being too overly drawn out. You could probably even start on this book and pick up what’s happened, but why do that, right? Go ahead and read the first book then come back and read the rest of my post.

Don’t worry. I’ll wait…

Read it? Wasn’t it awesome?! 

The second one is even better! PROTECTED is filled to the brim with tension and page flipping suspense. You don’t know when or if the bad guys are going to show up and take out this poor girl. What I really liked about this book was the theme behind it, which I believe is accepting who you are and holding on to that. Without spoiling the book too much (this happens in the first few chapters), Christy gets put into witness protection and has to become another person, a person, who normally wouldn’t have great values or moral strengths. Christy is confronted with the opportunity to forget all the beliefs she has grown up with and truly change…for the better or worse? What the author does is show us that we must be true to ourselves at our center. Even if we are playing a part we have to remain true to our core beliefs. This book is very self-rewarding to read. 

Yes! I have already started on book three, CREATED, which I spent my entire day off reading. I am a slow reader but I am ¾ of the way through it already! The next book gets even better. I won’t spoil my thoughts on it yet—I haven’t finished. I will tell you I am all geared up with Cindy M Hogan’s new series featuring the same main character in the WATCHED TRILOGY. If you haven’t added this amazing series to your read list, now is the time! I’m serious when I say this series needs to be made into a movie!!

Summary: Christy has the guy. The terrorists have been taken care of, and she has a shot at becoming popular. Life is GREAT! Until they find her. Now she must run and leave behind everything she knows, including herself. When Christy returns home, she discovers that not much has changed. Not only is she still an outcast, but the bullies are even more persistent than before. When the guy that sends her pulse racing shows up, everything changes. Unfortunately, her feeling of triumph is short lived when the terrorists from DC come calling. Now, Christy and her boyfriend need to find a way to escape and hide.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Protected-Watched-Book-Cindy-Hogan/dp/0985131802/

Summer Reading Suspense

I love to mix things up a bit in my reading so after reading a MG fantasy I picked up a YA suspense. This particular book my wife had been begging me to read forever. I’m not even sure why I hadn’t read it to begin with since I know and adore the author, Cindy M Hogan. Cindy is the spunkiest, most energetic, positive person I know. In fact, if the super optimistic Olaf from Disney’s Frozen had a sister it would be Cindy. She just makes you feel a live and feel great. You would not think a sweet, outgoing, loving person would be able to write clench-your-teeth-suspense but SHE DOES!! And she does it very well.

Okay…embarrassing moment for me: I started reading this book on my kindle after my wife decided to turn in early. So I’m lying in bed and the tension in this books is high (hello, this man gets his head chopped in the first chapter and these kids might be next—no that’s not a spoiler, that’s the premise). It’s dark around me and all I have is the light from the kindle. I hear a creek and I’m like, what was that?! I continue reading; once again I am sucked into the tension. Then my wife scoots her leg over and it touches my foot!! I jumped too high I about threw the kindle across the bedroom. My wife thought this was the funniest thing ever and spent the next ten minutes laughing at me. So yes! This book will grab hold of you and not let you go. While it’s not that terrifying of a book (it is definitely NOT a horror story), it has this voice that just makes your heart race and you find yourself reading page after page.

Another thing that ready resonated well with this book is the voice of the main character, Christy. She sounds so real! I love that this is written in first person and we get to listen to all that internal dialogue. She feels, sounds, and thinks like a normal 15 year-old girl (at least what I believe would be so, since I have never been a 15 year-old girl). I particularly like that Christy has an internal struggle with choosing to do the right and wrong thing. I like that we see her will sometimes falter when placed against desiring temptations. I really think teens would benefit from reading this book!! They would see they’re not alone when it comes to peer pressure and the need to feel wanted and befriended. When I spoke to my wife about the book (after she had stopped teasing me of course) she told me the same thing: that she really connected with Christy and she felt like she was her in high school. So bravo, Cindy!

Watched, by Cindy M Hogan, is the first book in the Watched Trilogy. Lucky for me my wife is a huge fan of Cindy’s and we own all the books. I can’t wait to start reading book two, Protected. So if you are looking for a great-keep-you-up-at-night book. This is one for you.

Synopsis:

Change.
She longs for it.
A murder.
She will never be the same.

It takes more than a school trip to Washington, D.C. to change Christy's life. It takes murder.
A witness to the brutal slaying of a senator's aide, Christy finds herself watched not only by the killers and the FBI, but also by two hot guys. She discovers that if she can't help the FBI, who want to protect her, it will cost her and her new friends their lives.  

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Watched-Murder-was-Just-Beginning/dp/0615493386/

Book Feature: First Kiss

I am thrilled to have back on the blog bestselling author Cindy Hogan. Cindy is the author of thriller series, Watched, as well as her newest serial, Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips. I am happy to be apart of Cindy's book blitz and encourage you to read through this fabulous interview. 

Don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY

for a FREE print or eBook copy

of the bestselling book, Protected. 

About Cindy Hogan: Cindy M. Hogan graduated with a secondary education teaching degree and enjoys spending time with unpredictable teenagers. More than anything she loves the time she has with her own teenage daughters and wishes she could freeze them at this fun age. If she's not reading or writing, you'll find her snuggled up with the love of her life watching a great movie or planning their next party. She loves to bake, garden and be outdoors doing a myriad of activities.
Author links: Blog: http://cindymhogan.blogspot.ca/ Facebook: http://goo.gl/ZALArh

The Interview 

Welcome back Cindy! Last time we featured you on my blog we were discussing writing thrillers. Today we’re celebrating your newest releases: First Kiss and Stolen Kiss. How have you liked writing a serial and how's it different from a series? 

Cindy Hogan: It's been harder than I anticipated, but I love a challenge. The best way to get a grasp on serials is to think about a season of your favorite TV series. Each season has 6-11 episodes that make up the season. Each episode stands on its own, but is also connected to the entire season. So, the name of my new series is Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips and the first episode is called First Kiss. The second episode is called Stolen Kiss. The third episode is called Rebound Kiss and will be out in the next week or two.

How long have you been writing books?

Cindy Hogan: I started my first book, Watched, that you can pick up for FREE during this book blitz at your favorite eBook retailer, about six years ago. Once that became a bestseller, I didn't have time to be a great teacher and a great writer, so I quit teaching. Which, was really hard. I loved being a high school teacher, mostly because I got to hang out with awesome teens all day.

What do you love to write about?

Cindy Hogan: Is there anything more fascinating than teenagers? Seriously, the unpredictable nature of teens makes for great stories. I love the idea of putting sixteen to eighteen year olds get into extraordinary circumstances and seeing what they do.

How do you plan out your books?

Cindy Hogan: When I come up with a new story idea, I usually know the beginning and the end—that's it. I don't outline my stories, I just write what comes to me during a short brainstorming session each day.

How do you make your scenes so real?

Cindy Hogan: I always go and visit the places that my books are set. Last year I went to Belgium and took copious notes and a million pictures before writing Created. I also visited Washington, DC, Helena, Montana, and Niceville, Florida before writing Watched and Protected. This year I traveled to New York and France for the two books I'm working on right now. I lived in Roseburg, Oregon where Adrenaline Rush is set and I also lived in Tennessee where Gravediggers is set. We traveled to both places last year to make sure the setting was correct for both books. You may think I love to travel, but really, it's Bill, my husband who has a love affair with travel.

What do you like to read?

Cindy Hogan: I mostly read YA books, but I also love adult mystery and suspense novels.

Do you have children?

Cindy Hogan: I have two teenage girls. They are so fun to be with. They inspire me. My oldest daughter inspired the serial, Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips. My husband also inspires me by coming up with some of the best ideas. The idea for Gravediggers came from him. I'm waiting for my out-of-control dog to inspire me instead of make me crazy.

Thank you so much for sharing this short interview! What can we expect next from you?

Cindy Hogan: I have 2 books coming out in October: Adrenaline Rush and Gravediggers. Adrenaline Rush is a YA suspense novel with a dash of romance and Gravediggers is a YA mystery novel with a dash of romance. The covers of those two novels will be revealed soon.

About the Book

VL. Virgin Lips. You may not have heard of it, but where I live, it’s a thing with a card, even if it is a figurative card. I was Brooklyn Hill, certified virgin lips, and I planned on clinging to that figurative card with all I had—while dating as many of the hottest guys at school as I could.

Maybe that’s a bit strange. I mean, what teenage girl isn’t interested in kissing? Locking lips definitely interested me, but the drama that came with it didn’t. No kissing, no drama. Simple.

But on my sixteenth birthday, on my first real date even, the drama found me. His name was Luke Graham—cute, funny, and bad news for the whole female race.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18164586-first-kiss

Purchase: Amazon. Only .99 cents: http://goo.gl/2sSI5n

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