Blog Tour: Rumor Has It – Review

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Rumor Has It

rumor has itRumor Has It by Farrah F. Polestico
Published on November 30, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance
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It’s senior year and it’s now or never. Callie Rivera always wanted to be part of her school’s drama club, and she finally musters the courage to audition for Shakespeare’s classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Only she got the audition dates wrong and landed a role that only existed in her wildest dreams. And her co-actor? None other than Landon Arcival, theater actor extraordinaire, not to mention Callie’s (former) crush— or so she says.

Callie is living the dream, until she wakes up to a nightmare. According to the rumor mill, she is sleeping with different guys in her school. Of course, it isn’t true, but who would believe her? And the worst part? It may or may not be her fault the rumors spread in the first place.

What to do? Callie finds herself in the middle of a hot mess. But then Landon proposes the perfect plan that can fix everything, but only if they don’t fall for each other first.

First off: look at that cute cute cute cover. It’s so cute and sweet that I wanted to take a bite from it, or at least eat some candy while I was reading it. :D

Callie Rivera finally took the chance to audition for the school’s drama club, but she got the audition dates wrong and found herself landing a role in the club’s major production for the year. What made it even more awesome was she was playing a role with her (former) crush, Landon Arcival, also known as Golden Boy in her head. All seemed to go well, until a rumor that she sleeps with different guys spread in her school. (Not true, although she did lie about it at one point.) As Callie tried to find a way to get out of the mess, Golden Boy comes up with a plan. Should she go for it?

Rumor Has It reminded me of two things: Easy A, and Amy Spalding’s The Reece Malcolm List. There’s rumors, performing arts and so many interesting characters only reminiscent of high school. Rumor Has It has all those interesting characters, from Callie to her best friend Beatrice and to the theater folks. I liked the entire dynamic of their high school — a lot different from what I grew up with but still believable that it was easy to get lost in the entire rumor mill.

Quote Card 2

And Landon - I agree with Callie: he was definitely charming. I liked it every time he was on scene, although some of the things he did was a little bit cheesy (or maybe I’m just getting old haha). But he was such a joy to read and all his little ways charmed me, too. I liked how he made his way in Callie’s life and stood up for her, and I was really rooting for him to get the girl (and for Callie to get the guy). And star gazing! That was cute. :)

Overall, Rumor Has It is a book as cute as its cover. Not too candy sweet, but still sweet enough to leave a smile on your face when you’re done. :) Looking forward to reading the author’s other books!

About the Author:

Farrah F. Polestico wanted to be a lot of things in life— an engineer, a nurse, an astrophysicist. But it wasn’t until she was thirteen when she knew for sure she was going to be a published writer. And now she is. When she’s not up all night writing her next book, you can find her reading anything and everything from a Charles Dickens novel to old grocery receipts.

Want to read Rumor Has It? Join the giveaway and win an ebook copy!

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Buqo YA 4: Heart Choices Blog Tour – Guest post from Fay Sebastian

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So let me take a step back here. This is the fourth blog tour for this, and there are 5 bundles, and in each bundle, there are 6 stories. That’s 30 new YA romances by Filipino authors, friends. That’s a lot. Now when will I have time to read them all is another thing, so now instead of blabbing about that, let me welcome one of the authors in the 4th Buqo YA bundle over to the blog. Here’s Fay Sebastian, author of Waiting for Whatever, talking about her writing playlist. :)

buqo YA 4 banner

 

Hello! I’m so excited to share my playlist while writing my #buqoYA story, Waiting for Whatever. Waiting for Whatever is about Denise, who was waiting for true love since the time when she first experienced heartbreak. Denise soon learns that she already met her true love, but is surprised to find out that he’s actually someone who broke her heart before.

THE SONGS AND WHEN TO LISTEN TO ‘EM

Waiting for Whatever has three POV’s: Denise’s, Seth’s and Robin’s. However, the POVs don’t follow a specific order (e.g. Denise-Seth-Robin) and they were arranged in a way that I felt most appropriate for the story.

While writing this story, I needed all the feels that I can get. So I added a song even if I used it to get feels for just one paragraph.

Someday by Nina

Denise’s song for every guy who broke her heart. [Listen to this every time there’s a heartbreak]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkEJH_st870[/youtube]

It Might Be You by Stephen Bishop

Denise’s theme song for Seth. You know, before he broke her heart and when things are still okay. [Listen to this every time you find yourself rooting for Seth and Denise]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Fv9JFUI3c[/youtube]

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Buqo YA 3: Finding Fairytales Blog Tour

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buqoYA-3Buqo YA 3: Finding Fairytales
 Publisher: Buqo

We all want the happy ending, the dream come true. But what if it doesn’t happen? How far would you go to get that “ever after?” Would you change who you are? Would you swallow your pride? Is the story really going to be as perfect as you think? Follow the path of these characters and see where they lead.

Stories in the bundle:

  • Fall for Grace by Anne Plaza
  • Just the Way You Are by Kat Sales
  • Love In the Time of Viral Videos by R. Linea
  • The Path of Us by Cassandra Javier
  • The First Time They Met by Ana Valenzuela
  • When Cocoy Became Kikay by C.P. Santi

It’s another blog tour week for #buqoYA! Can I tell you something not-so-secret? I really like the title of this bundle. It must be the fairy tale fan in me, or the romantic, because whenever someone says “fairy tales,” I think of happily ever afters. And those are really fun to read, yes?

So for this stop, I shall share two excerpts from the stories in this bundle. I have a copy of this bundle waiting in my phone, and from the excerpts, I cannot wait to settle down and read them. :) Enjoy!

The Path of Us by Cassandra Javier

“I’m sorry, okay? But Clara, you’ll do great. You’ll do amazing things because that’s who you are. You’ll manage out there because this is what you’ve always wanted, right?”

He went on, “And you know what’s even better?”

She looked at him and waited for what he had to say next.

“You’ll finally be able to get away with Pink or Purple streaks on your hair or whatever.”

She found herself laughing despite of herself. “Without you ratting me out?”

It depends.” He quipped, smiling. “I might see you in college.”

“Oh god no.”

They laughed. “See? You look so much better when you smile.”

“I still hate you.”

He laughed. “If you say so.”

She didn’t know what came to her mind right at that moment but she found herself inching towards him. In a span of seconds, she was planting a kiss on his lips. It didn’t last long—just a few seconds or so, and she wanted to bask in that moment, feel the butterflies in her stomach, the warmth of the air, the romance that the light of the fireflies gave, but she remembered that a) she had a boyfriend, and b) she hated Andrew—this shouldn’t be happening.

“Clara—“

“I’m sorry.” She said. “I shouldn’t have—“

“No.”

Please.” She said with finality. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”

She then ran away, leaving him and High School behind.

About the author: Cassandra Javier
Cass is a cat lady who graduated with a degree in Broadcasting and has worked as a copywriter, a researcher in an IT company, a call center agent and was even a trainee for a time in a television network. She writes articles for a living. When not writing articles, she writes novels, fanfiction, short stories and whatever she may think of. She loves TV series, movies, music, and is a very big bookworm. She’s also addicted to butterflies, faeries and Ice Cream.

When Cocoy Became Kikay by C.P. Santi

“Since when did you start having a lablab, Coy?” Dags lifted a brow.

So much for keeping secrets. “So I like someone. Big deal.”

“Is . . . is it a guy or a girl?” Paulo asked tentatively.

I turned incredulous eyes toward him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Dude, whichever way you roll . . .” Dags shrugged.

Oh, c’mon. True, I was a T-shirt-and-jeans kind of girl and I hung out with guys, but that didn’t automatically translate to such gender assumptions. Sure, I loathed boy bands. And I loved basketball, camping, and shooting more than the average girl should. Living with my dad hadn’t exactly encouraged girly pursuits. But still.

I sighed. “Dude, if I were gay, I’d tell you. But I’m not.”

“So, who is it? You have to tell us,” Paulo protested. He stood to tower over me, arms crossed over his chest.

“Aw, Coy, aren’t we friends?” Dags cajoled as he strummed the first notes of “Maalaala Mo Kaya.”

I sighed. Paulo, Dags, Joel, and I had been friends for years. The four of us were the only ones crazy enough to take up a dare issued by our neighborhood playmates—to see if a manananggal indeed left the lower part of its body at the abandoned Siangco house on Lilac Street.

Over the years, our friendship had been further cemented by bruises and scraped knees, basketball games, camping trips, fish balls, turon, and buko pandan royale, day-long village-hopping bicycle trips, and innumerable fries and Coke floats.

I never kept secrets from them. Usually.

“So who is it?” Paulo asked again.

Fine. I cleared my throat. “It’s . . . it’s Jaime.”

I counted five seconds of absolute silence.

Dags frowned. “Jaime?”

“Jaime Arguelles?” Paulo bent over, laughing. “Cocoy, you are so predictable!”

About the author: C.P. Santi

C.P. Santi is a Filipina author based in Tokyo, Japan. She is a wife to an engineer/musician/jokester and a full-time mom to two energetic boys. She loves cooking and baking, and enjoys feeding people, gorging on chocolate, watching J-doramas, belting it out in the karaoke box, and running around the house playing tickle tag. She also loves dreaming up stories about the people she meets.

In another life, she is also an architect and academic.

Her first book, Be Careful What You Wish For, is a contemporary romance based in Tokyo.

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Cities Blog Tour: Guest Post by Carla De Guzman

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Cities.tour.banner.2

So today I break my blogging silence in the middle of all the Papal Visit stuff because I Like It Dog-Eared is one of the stops for the Cities Blog Tour!

Today, author Carla De Guzman is over at the blog to talk about her Top 3 Favorite Cities in the World. Handing you over to Carla, now! :)

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Here we go! My 3 favorite cities in the world, listed in no particular order. I’ve included a photo that I took myself that kind of shows what aspect of that city I love the most.

London

London

My first European city ever, and definitely my top one. It’s so vibrant and busy, you can feel its age and history as you walk their streets. I love the architectural details of almost every place, I love the accents. It’s one of those cities that can be overwhelming, but London was warm and welcome, if a bit rainy. :)

Camiguin

camiguin

Can this island be counted as a city? This was one of those trips that I didn’t expect to go on, and yet loved every minute of. It doesn’t get more beautiful than turquoise seas, white beaches, gorgeous waterfalls and delicious Italian food! Who needs cellphone signal in paradise?

San Francisco

palace

We stayed here for a week when I was fourteen, and we were lucky enough to come back last year for a day trip. The whole city has a chill, artsy vibe that I love so much. The weather is always cool, and there’s always something to see. While walking is a bit of a challenge, it’s a beautiful city to visit. Plus there are so many Filipinos around, it feels like home!

* * *

Thanks, Carla! I haven’t been to any of those places, gasp! Perhaps one day soon? :)

I read Cities last year, and I really, really enjoyed it. If you’re just reading it now, it is confusing at first, but I tell you – hold on, and you will get it. :D  If you want to win a copy, join the giveaway below!

Cities.coverCities by Carla De Guzman
Amazon | Createspace
Author’s Blog | Tumblr | Archive of Our Own | Instagram

Celia has dreams.

She dreams of going to Seoul for a scholarship she never took, of leaving everything behind and moving to New York.

In all those dreams, she finds herself attached to Benedict, the boy she has always loved, but who doesn’t love her back.

Ben believes in parallel worlds.

Worlds where things you didn’t do come true—worlds in which he goes to London and falls in love with Celia, where he shows up on the day she needs him the most. He believes that dreams are glimpses into that parallel world, and it’s not a coincidence that Celia’s been having them too.

But here, now, they’re in Manila. It’s the day of Ben’s wedding, and a typhoon is raging through the city. How will these dreams and unmade decisions change their lives? Will they bring them closer together or drive them farther apart?

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Kids These Days (Stories from Luna East Arts Academy, Vol. 1)

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Luna East Blog Tour Header(See all the other #LunaEast tour stops here!)

luna east vol 1.front.coverKids These Days (Stories from Luna East Arts Academy Vol. 1) by Various Authors
Luna East Arts Academy, Vol. 1
Number of pages: 145 pages
My copy: ebook review copy

The stories from LUNA EAST ARTS ACADEMY are about love. And also, friends, food, kissing, rumors, mean people, insecurities, birthdays, breakups, making up. We set it in an arts academy because we wanted everyone to have a talent, and know it. Because no one is ordinary, if you know them well enough.

Who are you, at LUNA EAST? Are you a popular kid, a wallflower, a drama club diva, a debate whiz? Visit lunaeastacademy.org to read more stories from #LUNAEAST, and submit your own. For readers 16 and up.

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It all started at a #romanceclass meet-up, when Mina mentioned that she dreamed of writing a Sweet Valley-esque type of series, but set in the Philippines. Everyone who attended that class had read Sweet Valley at some point in their lives, so it was a pretty exciting idea. We all started chattering excitedly about it, like where the school would be and the activities, and started calling dibs on characters in the school – the jock, the teachers, and the like. Stories started getting written over the next few months, a website was set up to house the stories, continuity was established, and now, the first volume of the book is out. (Well, almost out, because as of this writing, it’s still a few days before the launch. :D)

The stories in Luna East were cute and fun, and there were no two stories alike. I liked how there were so many eyes to see high school in, and so many people to rub elbows with. Since this is just volume 1, the stories barely scratch the surface of what could be happening inside the school, but it’s a good start to get yourself acquainted with the environment. True enough, it felt like the school was a playground for the imagination, and reading through the stories got me more excited to finish mine, and mention some of the characters who were already in the other stories.

And that’s my favorite part of this, really – the continuity. I’ve always loved it when characters have a cameo appearance in other stories. I loved how one character would even have speaking lines in other stories, giving them more depth. Don’t you love it when authors work with each other and come up with completely original stories? :) (And if you’ve read #romanceclass novels, you’ll probably spot a familiar place used in several stories, too. :D)

I didn’t study in a school like Luna East, but even so, reading this was almost like I was back in high school. In a good way, though, because my high school life was pretty tame and I could use a little excitement. As the summary said, the stories here are mostly about love — you know, the high school kind of love. Crushes, unrequited love, love-hate, unexpected type of love from the popular people to the people who consider themselves nobody inside the halls of Luna East. But more than love, they’re also stories of friendship — from kids who grew up together to kids who just got to know each other. You might see yourself in one of these stories, because even if the setting is completely fictional (and artsy), and even if you never had to wear unnecessary vests, high school is pretty much a universal experience for all of us. You might hate it or like it (or like me, you’re pretty ambivalent about it), but there’s always that one (or two, or three) high school memory that you will always tell the friends you meet post-high school.

But yeah, even as I read this, I found myself shaking my head at times while saying, kids these days. Hmf. Seriously, though, the first volume of Luna East was such a fun read. Come and see what’s inside, and you might just find a spot for yourself. And when you do, perhaps you’d like to write about it? :)

Favorite dog-eared quote:

She was still holding her sword. He touched its tip, fingers walking until they reached her hand. She let them stay here. (Fifty-Two Weeks by Mina V. Esguerra)

Luna East, with its unnecessary vests and unnecessary crest, was where you went in a decent and down-to-earth person and came out a snob. (Yours is the First Face that I Saw by Ronald S. Lim)

Our family helps us become the best versions of ourselves. While with friends, we discover and learn to come to terms with our desires. (The Letter by M. Protacio-de Guzman)

“Maybe it’s about time that we quit this dance.” (Where Do We Go From Here by Jen C. Suguitan)

Rating: [rating=4]

Come join us at the #LunaEast launch on February 8, 2014, 6pm, Ayala Museum! :) It’s also the first year anniversary of #romanceclass, so if you want early feels for February, then join us! Get to meet the authors, mingle with other fans, and have some cookies! We’d love to see you there. :) Go, Wolves!

Luna East Book Launch Details

 

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