Reaper

by L.S. Murphy

Publication: 7th January 2013

Publisher: J. Taylor Publishing

Pages: 278

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Buy It: Amazon Barnes And Noble

There's no way sixteen year old Quincy Amarante will become the fifth grim reaper. None. Not over her shiny blue Mustang. Her Jimmy Choos. Or her dead body.

She’s supposed to enjoy her sophomore year, not learn about some freaky future Destiny says she has no choice but to fulfill.

It doesn’t take long for Quincy to realize the only way out of the game is to play along especially since Death can find her anyway, anywhere, anytime. And does.

Like when she’s reassuring her friends she wants nothing to do with former best friend Ben Moorland, who’s returned from god-knows-where, and fails. Miserably.

Instead of maintaining her coveted popularity status, Quincy’s goes down like the Titanic.

Maybe ... just maybe ... that’s okay.

It seems, perhaps, becoming a grim reaper isn’t just about the dead but more about a much needed shift in Quincy’s priorities—from who she thinks she wants to be to who she really is.

My Thoughts...

This book has been on my wishlist for quite a while now, so when I was asked to take part in this blog tour I jumped at the chance, and I'm so glad that I did, the book was fantastic and definitely deserving of the five stars that I gave it.

This was such a fresh and original storyline, the fact that the heroine of the book Quincy is to become a Reaper and no matter how much she fights it, it's her destiny whether she likes it or not, I liked her journey into finally accepting the fact that this was something she had to do, and the end, OMG! did I cry it was such an emotional ending, and while I sort of knew it was coming, it didn't change the fact that I wish it didn't end the way it did although it was the perfect ending to finish off the book.

The changes that Quincy went through from being one of the most popular girls in school to finally allowing people to see who she really is beyond her popularity and to finally being able to reconnect with the person she used to be helped guide her into finally accepting her fate.

There were quite a few people in this book that I really didn't like: Jordan (her supposed best-friend), who was completely undeserving of what Quincy did for her, and it should have stayed the way it was meant, but as I said I can understand why it was written the way it was, she was such a selfish and unlikable character, throw in Logan and Robert and I think that they all deserve each other, now I don't know whether the characters were purposely written the way they were to be disliked but I found I just couldn't stand them.

Now Ben, I loved him and I wish that he'd had more page time, and the ending killed me but I really liked the way that Ben and Quincy's final part of the story was written for them, it was perfect for how the story arc turned out.

A great book I'll be sure to read again.

I give this 5/5.

Guest Post...

Balance – The Myth

As a mother, wife, office manager, and an author, I spent years dreaming about finding the right balance between each of my worlds. Guess what? It’s a myth. If you keep looking for balance, you will never find it.

You have to MAKE it happen.

Yep, totally two different things.

We’re lured into a sense of balance when we’re kids. We get up, go to school, do whatever we do afterwards. Rinse repeat. Once we got our driver’s license, it was still the same routine, except adding later nights into the mix. We had balance.

Somewhere after high school, or even college, balance disappears. We become shufflers. Moving things around, reprioritizing as life changes, organizing things one way only to have them change the next week. That’s reality of adulthood. Sometimes it just sucks.

So, as writers, what can we do to make balance?

1. Schedule time. Even if you can only slip in half an hour to write, do it. I figure that’s about 500 words. By the end of the week, you have 3500 words. You’re ahead. See, easy, right?

2. If you miss a day, don’t worry about it. It’s not that big of a deal. Relax and get back on the horse the next day.

3. Take time off. This is hard for me. I took a week off this summer. My family took a vacation this summer and I promised my husband that I wouldn’t touch my laptop unless it was necessary. I ignored my email for the most part and relaxed. It was oddly nice.

4. Utilize every minute. How is this possible? Well, it’s not easy. I use a voice recorder when I get inspired in the car while I’m driving. If I’m the passenger, I use the note function on my phone. I always have a notebook and pen with me as well. If you have five minutes of downtime, use it. Unless you’re in the middle of #3.

5. Don’t forget what’s important. When you start feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and ask yourself what really matters? That will help you create balance in your life.

Regardless of your lifestyle, balance is necessary to be successful and to stay sane. Create it and, remember, it will always change. ALWAYS. Adjust, move forward. You’ll be fine.

Bio: L.S. Murphy lives in the Greater St. Louis area where she watches Cardinals baseball, reads every book she can find, and weaves tales for teens and adults. When not doing all of the above, she tends to The Bean (aka her daughter), her husband and a menagerie of pets. “A Reason to Stay”, a contemporary romance novella, is available as of November 2, 2012. Reaper is her debut young adult novel and will be released on January 7th, 2013.

She is a co-rep for the Southern Illinois region of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and a member of the St. Louis Writer’s Guild.

Links:

Blog: http://lsmurphy.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LSMurphy

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LSMurphyAuthor

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5046440.L_S_Murphy

Publisher: http://www.jtaylorpublishing.com/