{{Xpresso Book Tours}} Tour+ Giveaway:[ Review + Author's Interview] LOVING YOUR LIES by PIPER SHELLY

Loving Your Lies by Piper Shelly 

Publication date: January 2013

Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Synopsis:

Julian is drop-dead gorgeous, annoyingly provocative, and he’s fast becoming her best friend. But he also has a secret that makes the little hairs on her arms stand on end…

My name is Jona Montiniere, and that’s pretty much the only good thing to say about me.

I’m seventeen, I’m snarky, and I’m a crap-load of trouble. Or so they say. But what did they expect from me really, when they dumped me in an orphanage at age five? That I’d grow up to become the new first lady? Nah, I think it’s much more fun to raid Camden Market in London with my friend, Debby. She’s cool. She lives on the street. I learned so much from her.

The only thing she missed to teach me was how to tend to a vineyard. And yeah, that’s what I’m going to do for the next 6 weeks, courtesy to this darn judge, who sent me off to France after I was caught stealing again. Fair enough, the vineyards are okay, and so are my aunt and uncle, who I haven’t met up ‘til now. What isn’t okay, and I mean it, is that I have to live in the same house with my mother, that god-awful dragon, who spurned when I was only a child. And now she wants me back? Demands my forgiveness? Why, because she’s about to die of cancer? Uh-uh. Sorry, but that’s not gonna happen. I want no contact with that woman, thanks.

But what’s Julian got to do with all of this? About my age, he’s too young to be my mother’s lover. So why doesn’t he leave her side? Ever. He’s different, as in the paranormal kind of different, but he’s sa-woon-worthy gorgeous. He obviously has secrets, but he’s also get-under-my-skin charming. In short, he’s a riddle to me. But he likes me, and that’s scaring the shit out of me. I sure won’t let anyone come too close.

So now I’m wondering only two things: How did he manage to hold me in his arms after only three days? And how the hell do you keep an angel earth bound?

Purchase:

Amazon | B&N

About the Author

The quick-and-dirty:

I’m a cool girl with a passion for writing. 

The genres you’ll find me hanging out at are contemporary and paranormal YA, but I’m also snooping into some adult paranormal right now. All of them romances…of course.

The nitty-gritty:

I’m an Austrian lass—totally uncomplicated and up to anything fun. 

I grew up in Vienna, not by free will but because my parents decided to move there when I was only 4 years old. I. Hated. The. City. Everything about it. So right after graduation I moved back to Upper Austria, where I settled down with a nice husband and an awesome laptop. 

I’ve been a storyteller all my life. Already in kindergarten, I came up with the most exotic fantasies and tales. My teacher would call me a liar. I call it the cornerstone of my writing career. 

People always told me you can’t make a living with being an author. So when my first novella PLAY WITH ME came out and shot straight to the stars within the first week, I was totally dumbstruck. Took me a while to realize what was happening, LOL. 

And the personal stuff:

At the (awesome) age of seventeen, I met the love of my life. But he was a playboy, and I was so not going to be his next trophy. It took him another four years of fighting for me until I finally decided to give that “couple-thing” with him a shot. I’m now married to this man. ;-) 

We have an eleven-year-old son, and together we travel a lot…although I sometimes wish the trips were shorter because I can’t wait to get back to my laptop and my many stories. Unless we’re in Disneyland. No stress to go home then…

If you still want to know more about me, my FAQ page is the right address for you. ;-)

http://pipershelly.com/faq/

Author Links:

Website | Goodreads |Facebook

(*I received a review copy for this tour. I'm not a paid reviewer and these thoughts are my own*)

Brilliant, funny, sweet, and enjoyable read! Loving Your Lies will have you glued and not being able to put the book down! Which happened in my case! I couldn't put this read down until I finished. Now I'm kind of sad because it was such a good story and now its over..I might have read it to fast..I'll just have to read it again.

Loving Your Lies is told in the POV of a troubled orphan teen, Jona, who finds herself in trouble when she decided to steal something. Facing the courts yet again she finds herself being hauled off to France to live with a family she doesn't know, a sick mother who abandoned her and a (very sexy) Julian who is her mother supposed caretaker. The story goes through life with Jona as she learns to love, trust and forgive. That ending was so freaking sweet! Love it!!

All in all I love everything about Loving Your Lies. It had me turning and turning my kindle pages as fast as I could. This was a fairly clean story as well. There are a few cuss word and talk of 'making love' ( which I wouldn't have minded reading a little scene or two :P ) I also would not mind another book on Joan and Julian..life after being an angel..It would be amazing *hint hint* Piper think about it :P I would recommend this book to any New Adult and even Adult readers who love Paranormal Romances. MUST READ!!

* I am extremely lucky that I was able to review Loving your lies and now give you glimpes into the Authors world with an interview!! I hope you all enjoy! I know I did! Also Piper has some very useful advice for writers-  be sure to check it out! Links in the Answers down below so READ ON..  *

When and why did you decide to be a writer?

I wrote stories all my life. I just never thought I would ever make a living with it. The wish to publish something came up while I wrote my first real novel, which was a vampire romance by the way. I was about 22 and began looking into editors, publishers, agents and all that. It was way too early though, because my writing skills weren’t very well developed back then. It took another 3 books for me to write until I finally was ready to conquer the market with my debut novel. :-)

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

The toughest thing I ever came across (twice so far) was a person saying that my characters weren’t at all developed, that the plot was cliché, that I didn’t go into depth with the story, and that she regretted spending money on my book. Those two people also shouted out a warning, that no one else should ever by my books.

That was really hard to stomach. The last line, where they warned others to not waste money on my books was something I don’t understand. Because obviously so many girls and women loved my stories, and they were happy they read them. Well, there’s a downside to everything, I guess, and I’m really working on dealing with bad criticism in a professional way and not get too sad or depressed over it.

The best compliment I actually got many, many times was that I’m the nicest author out there (because I try hard to make room for my readers in my spare time and talk to many of them) and that they had never read anything this lovely in their lives. Most of them were actually gushing over Ryan Hunter, the male lead in PLAY WITH ME, and they made me write another book. The same story just from his POV. It was fun to write his story, and I have to thank my readers for spurring me on! :-)

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Lots and lots of advice, but it would be too much to give it all here. The one thing I point out time and again, though, is the importance of joining a critique group, if you’re a beginner. You’ll learn so much from them. And for later in your career: Trust yourself and never give up!

Here’s a blog post I put together with some of the most important things for aspiring writers:

http://pipershelly.com/2013/05/11/you-want-to-be-an-author/

How many drafts did you have to write for Loving your lies? Any scenes that were cut from the original that you want to share?

I wrote the book twice. The first draft wasn’t this funny, but it had a very melancholic note to it. Jona went through a lot more in that version, and she didn’t get her angel back in the end. No one wanted it. So I had to make a very hard decision. Forget the book and move on to something new, or give it another try and rewrite. I chose the latter. And it was one of the best decisions I could have made. The second draft is totally different from the first, and it didn’t take long until some publishers were interested in it. Jona is the one who changed most from draft one to two. Instead of a silent, suffering girl, she’s not a streetwise, sassy brat. I like her a lot more now. ;-)

My first draft was lousy, so please forgive me, if I don’t want to share any scenes from it, ha ha.

What inspired the idea for 'Loving your lies?

A very special experience that got me quite close to my guardian angel. It’s a long story, and we do want to keep this short, don’t we? ;-) But if you really like to know, you can hop over to my website and find out who Julian really is. http://pipershelly.com/2012/12/01/an-angel-in-my-bedroom-no-shit/

There was also this guy I met in London a few years ago, who inspired one particular scene. The one where Jona’s exploring Julian’s hand. This guy I met…he had amazing, angelic hands, really.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write in 'Loving your lies and why?

The balcony scenes. I can totally envision this place, and it was so easy to write scenes with Julian in them. The ‘almost’ kiss was one of my favorite. And then the real kiss at the beach.

Tweet Alert! If you only had 140 words or less to tell us about Loving your lies, how would you write your tweet?

I don’t need that many. ;-)

He’s as gorgeous as he’s provocative, and he annoys the shit out of me most of the time. So how the hell did I end up in his arms after only three days? -Jona

What are you currently reading?

Fifty Shades Freed. I loved the first book in this trilogy. This one…not so much.

Who is your fictional character crush?

It’s always the guy I’m currently reading about, so right now that would be Christian Grey. (Don’t laugh!)

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I can’t thank you enough for loving my stories and my characters just as much as I do. This is how they come alive. It means the world to me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow The Tour