Looking for a great beach read? If you're looking for a young adult modern-day take on Lousia May Alcott’s classic Little Women try Falling for the Tutor: A Social Class YA Sweet Romance (A March Sisters Sweet Romance.

She dreams of wearing a crown.
He’s more pauper than prince.
Can their love story have a happy ending?

Brooks:

You couldn’t pay me enough to tutor my high school’s biggest goof-off. Not even the obscene amount of money his grandfather’s offering me can make it enticing . . . until I find out this job takes place next door to my longtime crush.

Megan’s sweet, fun, and beautiful—basically my dream girl. I know I’m not good enough for her, but I can’t seem to stay away, especially now that my life happens next door to hers.

Is it crazy to hope that a popular cheerleader who always looks like she’s stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine could fall for a quiet, nerdy guy like me?

Megan:

It’s exhausting keeping up with the in-crowd at school. I must be doing okay, though, (even shopping the thrift stores on a baby-sitting budget) since I’m on prom court and invited to my dream sorority’s Greek preview day. I’m so close to having everything I’ve always dreamed of.

In my social circle, you’re expected to look flawless, act a certain way, and, especially, date the “right” guy. But what if the smart, sweet, serious loner I’ve fallen for isn’t “prom king worthy?” Brooks definitely isn’t someone my friends would approve of, even if does treat me like a princess.

Is there a way to date him and keep up the perfect image I’ve been building for the past four years?

Falling for the Tutor is a fun social class YA sweet romance. If you like quirky characters, sweet kisses, and happily ever afters, you’ll love The March Sisters Sweet Romance series.

Grab this modern-day take on Lousia May Alcott’s classic Little Women today!

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Listen to the first chapter of my YA novel, Next Door to a Star, read by Itsy Bitsy Book Bits today. Hope you enjoy hearing about Hadley's adventures.

You can pick up a copy of the books here:
​It's free in Kindle Unlimited
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   Ebook                            Paperback                    Ebook                      Paperback

 
​This spring I tried something new to help me get my goals on track. Basically, everything went nuts in the world and suddenly everything in my life was up in the air. Sometimes life can seem so overwhelming and even though I’ve never been a big planner, I thought I needed to try something different to get back on track. Plus hearing, “Make your dream life a reality,” sounded pretty good.

I had heard about HB90 (Heart Breathings) before from other people who had done it. I wasn’t sure it was something that I’d follow through on or that would work for me since I wasn’t one of those people who was addicted to my planner. I had planners, but I used them for appointments and things like that, but not much else. But because everything’s been up in the air lately, I decided to look into it and I signed up for the HB90 Bootcamp. The whole HB90 system is designed to help you prioritize what you want to accomplish. That was definitely something I needed.

The 1st step is printing a workbook that has exercises in it that help you pinpoint what exactly you want to work toward. There’s a whole part about prioritizing that made me look at things in a different way. The system helps you break down your goals into manageable steps. It really helps to get your mindset right and focused on what you need to do to get where you want to be.

The program is geared toward writers, but honestly it would help to apply these principles to any goal where it’s in business or some other avenue you’re looking to achieve in. The workbook is worth its weight in gold and the videos and online group are very helpful. And you have access to the videos after the course is over if you want a refresher.

Since I’ve decided to become an affiliate for the program (I do get a commission), I thought I’d share what happens when you sign up for the paid program. First, you get the workbook and a quarterly planner that you download and print out (there’s tips on sizes and the best way to do that for whatever kind of binder, folder, or planner you want to use), you also get access to the online Facebook group where people share their tips of what worked best for them, then you get videos with Sarra Cannon where she goes through the workbook and the system including the Kanban board system which is a game changer—get your Post it notes ready!

Now new things can be scary, but with this you have videos, a workbook, and a helpful online community. Plus, you pretty much encouraged to play with fun stickers, washi tape, and markers/colored pencils. Maybe you remember my posts about a new planner cover on IG (pictured below). In case you were wondering, I printed the workbook and quarterly planner out regular paper sized and used a regular binder and hole punch for the calendar and I used my Happy Planner Happy Notes notebook for my workbook with new disks—I just used my special hole punch for it and all of the extras I used for my planner are available in my Amazon storefront.

Course Information: Enrollment is open now.

Course Dates This Round: Sunday, June 13-19th with the live kick off call on the 13th at 3PM eastern via Facebook or YouTube

Check out my affiliate link here:
https://heartbreathings.teachable.com/p/hb90-bootcamp/?affcode=145068_lq2ubthv

Enrollment will close Midnight EST June 12th.

I also have some of the planner stuff I used for this in my Amazon storefront if you want to take a peek. It's in the, "Always Planning Section."

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Krysten's Amazon Storefront: www.amazon.com/shop/krystenlindsay

Shop this pic at my Amazon storefront: amzn.to/3fQQspr

Welcome author Stephanie J. Scott to the blog today! If you like beach town romances, read on!

Tell us about your latest book!

Sunset Summer is about a girl who tries to do everything right but we all know how that goes, right? Exiled to her grandparents’ sleepy beach town to work community service hours, she meets Will, a bad boy who spells trouble. Only Will is not all as he seems. As they grow closer over the summer, Holli worries he’ll uncover her big secret which threats to ruin everything they’ve built.

We both have series set in Lake Michigan beach towns (both my Star Series and Cecily Taylor Series are set there—one in a real town, one I made up!). What inspired you to set your series there?

How cool! I grew up in Michigan and still try to get to the beach on the Michigan side every year. I loved growing up around lakes of all sizes. The key is to know somebody with a boat.

Do you have a favorite beach town?

As much as I love Lake Michigan towns, I’ve got to give this to Cannon Beach, Oregon on the Pacific coast.

Favorite thing to do in summer when you were a teen?

Sticking with beach themes, I have great memories of riding with friends to the beach at South Haven, listening to music, and just laughing and being silly. 

What was your favorite book when you were growing up?

I should mention I’m terrible at naming a single favorite anything. My mom gave me a paperback of Little Women with a pretty awful cover. I ended up liking it and reading it multiple times. The ‘90s movie version became one of my favorite movies. When I was younger, I loved Roald Dahl books for their total weirdness.

I have a special love for YA books as those are the books I devoured growing up. Why do you like writing YA books?

I think there are a lot of us who wished we’d had more books aimed at where we then, and now we’re writing what we wanted to see. I read old Sweet Valley High books from the library because there were so many of them even though I thought they were dumb. There was a real gap back then from what we now call middle grade to older YA. So many writers I know now went from Babysitter’s Club to Stephen King in an eighth grade summer.

I always reread my favorite books. Do you reread books and if so, which one(s) have you read over again?

I rarely re-read. My TBR causes me mild panic sometimes. Too many other books to read, but every so often I revisit a few favorites with a skim, mainly to see if I can see the craft behind the magic.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

As noted, I have a hard time picking favorites. I’ve read a LOT of romance this past year. Authors I consistently read: Sandhya Menon, Alexa Martin, Kristan Higgins, Joanna Shupe, Sarah MacLean, Sonali Dev, Tif Marcelo, Kate Clayborn. I like Kelsie Stelting’s Curvy Girls YA series. I recently hopped on the Lisa Kleypas train and just bought a whole backlist series of hers.

A lot of creatives (artists, writers, musicians) have talked about how the pandemic has impacted their creativity. How has it been for you?

For a stretch of time, it felt strangely comforting to have no weekend plans and nowhere to go. I will note, I am privileged to work at home primarily even before the pandemic and my husband was able to be at home this past year. So many of my friends’ lives were turned upside down with loss of childcare or having family working in high-risk jobs. When my own day job grew very busy and intense – it’s healthcare related – my creativity shut down. I played a lot of Destiny to de-stress myself. And I found an amazing book club through Instagram that provided so much joy the past year.


What are you working on now?

Polishing up book 3 in my summer series and brainstorming a potential book four! Meanwhile, I’m revisiting a YA with threads of magic – also set in coastal Michigan – to send to my literary agent, and shaping up another idea I’ll need to write from scratch to send the agent. I have an adult romcom making the rounds with publishers, so I aim to stay busy while that’s going on.

Where can we find you online? 

website: www.stephaniejscott.com/
twitter: @StephScottYA  https://twitter.com/StephScottYA
Instagram: www.instagram.com/stephscottya/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniescottauthor

This or That Questions:

Autumn or Spring? autumn
Ocean/Lake or Mountains? Tough call – I love mountains but I live somewhere very flat. I’ll say lakes.
Coffee, Tea, or soda? Tea
Song you could listen to on repeat for hours: I’m going to pick an album: Metric – Fantasies 

Favorite show to watch: Killing Eve – the aesthetic, the cast – amazing. And I can’t predict it. 

Bio:
Stephanie J. Scott writes young adult and romance about characters who put their passions first. Her debut ALTERATIONS about a fashion-obsessed loner who reinvents herself was a Romance Writers of America RITA® award finalist. She enjoys dance fitness, everything cats, and has a slight obsession with Instagram. A Midwest girl at heart, she resides outside of Chicago with her tech-of-all-trades husband and fuzzy furbabies.

Buy Links: https://www.stephaniejscott.com/books

As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you
Amazon: amzn.to/3oYtbEK

I'm so excited to share my brand new book trailer for my YA book, Next Door to a Star. Itsy Bitsy did a great job on this one! This book seems to be the one that so many preteens and teens gravitate to as it's about a girl trying to reinvent herself after having a difficult time trying to find where she fit in. I wrote the first draft of this manuscript sooo long ago and rewrote it over the years. More recently, I updated the book this year and released it again. Hope you enjoy the new version of the book!


A fresh start in a new town and a chance to reinvent herself. But can Hadley handle the popular crowd?

Hadley Daniels is sick of being invisible at school and wants a fresh start. She sees a chance to reinvent herself when she moves to the lake resort town of Grand Haven. There she gets her first taste of popularity when she moves next door to a teen actress who used to be on a popular TV show. Simone is everything Hadley longs to be: pretty, popular, and famous, so why doesn’t Simone want to talk about her life in Hollywood? Hadley gets caught up hanging with the popular crowd and starts seeing Nick Jenkins. However, the popular girls turn on her and fill Nick’s head with a lie about Hadley that leaves her heartbroken. Hadley soon finds out what it’s really like to be in the popular crowd and what being famous is all about as Simone opens up to her about her time in Hollywood.

Cliques. Back-stabbing. All eyes on you. Is this really what it’s like to live NEXT DOOR TO A STAR?

Pick up the book here:
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Ebook/Kindle :                                                                     Paperback:

Looking for a sweet young adult romance to read this weekend? Try this new release: The Charade (Eden Falls Academy) by Judy Corry. 

Blurb:
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My math tutor has one rule: he doesn’t date the girls he tutors at our private school..

But, a fake relationship that’s beneficial to us both? That’s a different story.

Our agreement helps Carter get revenge on his ex, and helps me hide the real reason we’re spending so much time together. Win-win.

Plus, flirting with the hottest guy at school is kind of fun.

As long as the feelings stay as fake as the show we’re putting on, there shouldn’t be a problem. Right?

​The Charade is the first book in the Eden Falls Academy series from USA Today Bestselling Author Judy Corry. If you like swoon-worthy YA romance, intriguing characters and laugh out loud fun, you won't want to miss this book.

Follow her here: https://www.facebook.com/authorjudycorry​
 
Pick up the book here:
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Bea and the Bad Boy: Young Adult Sweet Romance (Love in Ocean Grove Book 3)  by Anna Catherine Field 
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Fake dating Carter Haines is a lot of things, but boring isn’t one of them.”


When the opportunity presents itself to get back at her twin brother and former best friend the summer before her senior year, Bea can't help but take it.

That opportunity is six-foot-two, with the wing-span of an Olympic swimmer, the abs of a professional body builder and the strong jaw of a Greek god. Unfortunately, his name is Carter Haines and is Bea’s next-door neighbor. He's also dangerous. Like, police show up at the door dangerous.

All of those things make Carter the right person for her plan and luckily for her he needs a girl just like Bea to accomplish a few of his own goals this summer. Primarily, keeping his job and not getting sent to boarding school.

The plan goes off too smoothly, throwing these two into each other’s orbit, where they learn the truth about one another, why their lives are a mess, and what it’s like to really trust someone. 

Bea and the Bad Boy is a standalone novel from Love in Ocean Grove, series of books about swoony first time love and toe-curling kisses for readers of all ages.

Don't miss out on all the books in the Love in Ocean Grove series: 

Finley & the Foster Brother
Lucy & the Love Pact
Bea & the Bad Boy
Norah & the Nerd
Olivia & the Older Boy
Sabrina & the Secret Santa

Follow her here:
 www.facebook.com/Anna-Catherine-Field-340611969857535

Pick up the book here:
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Thought I'd share this if anyone wanted to get a copy of this book while it's free. I have an essay in there about my dad and it's part of the backstory for a subplot in Competing with the Star.

In honor of Mother's Day, AlzAuthors is offering free Kindle copies of our first anthology Alzheimer's and Dementia Caregiving Stories: 58 Authors Share Their Inspiring Personal Experiences. The paperback is also on sale starting May 6 through May 10.

Within these pages you will be immersed in a world of writing about Alzheimer's and dementia. The editors of this anthology have worked tirelessly to find and vet resources – memoir, novels, nonfiction, poetry, children's books, and blogs – to provide those living with dementia a friendly place to find the support and knowledge they need.

This is a lovely gift for the caregivers in your life. So share away! We all know someone who needs comfort and support on their dementia journey. The paperback is also on sale, and the anthology is available in audiobook, too. 

Link to book:
​ https://www.amazon.com/Alzheimers-Dementia-Caregiving-Stories-Experiences-ebook/dp/B07XJ6GWBF

​If you want to purchase a copy of Competing with the Star, you can find it here: 

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Happy to be part of the Ohioana Library Association Book Festival talking about YA books and writing exciting stories for young adults. I had fun and learned a lot listening to the other authors discuss their own writing process as well. You can watch it here.
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Excited to have author Michelle Ham on the blog today! Learn about her book and get to know her in this fun interview.
 
 Just Deal with It by Michelle Ham

Twelve-year-old Gypsy Sharpe wasn’t too worried about starting high school, but that was before her foster sister moved out. Before her best friend started acting as though she’d been sucked into an alternate dimension. Before she noticed the absence of monkey bars in the (so-called) school playground.
 
That was before glamorous nightmare Mahalia Maher sashayed out of the shadows to sabotage Gypsy’s carefully-laid plans.

The only thing to do is get happily lost in her favourite Aussie Sci-fi TV show – the setting for a magical universe where alternate realities exist, evil is easy to spot and friends are always loyal. 
 
But how long can Gypsy hide from her problems before this reality raises its complicated head? Will she find a way to slip into a superior dimension for good, or face up to her fears and ‘Just Deal With It!’?
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Interview     ♥
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Tell us about your work!

The work I’ve published independently is YA and MG, respectively. The manuscripts that have yet to be completed are more adult fare. I don’t know for sure, but I think that means I’m more partial to writing for younger readers. I enjoy writing uniquely Australian stories full of humour and hope. My first YA book, Sway is filled with heaps of pop culture references and verbose characters. I was consuming a lot of Buffy and Gilmore girls while writing it and to me, it shows! It’s personal to my life in a lot of ways at the same time, as it’s about the challenges and conflicts of being a teenager questioning the religion she’s grown up with.

My second book, Just Deal With it, is a story quite separate to my own. I think it’s true what they say – the first book is often autobiographical and after that you want to write other people’s stories! Having said that, there are minor aspects of the book that reflect the life and times of my twelve-year-old self, even though I’m not adopted and living in a house complete with a revolving door of foster siblings coming and going! Still, the kids in our neighbourhood DID treat our home as an unofficial safe-house. I think I relate in at least a minor sense.
 
What was your favourite book growing up?

Hard to pick just one. As a young girl I loved the Frog and Toad books. The illustrations were so warm and cosy. They sat in their little cottage eating freshly baked cookies and drinking tea. That’s the dream.
 
As a middle-grader (although we don’t have middle-school in Australia), I loved the irreverent books by Aussie authors like Paul Jennings. The schoolyard rhymes books, ‘All Right, Vegemite!’ and ‘Far out, Brussels Sprout!’ were also favourites (again, lots of pictures. And mentions of snot.)
 
Then it was The Babysitters’ Club and my sister’s old Sweet Valley High books – I loved the romance and drama, but I wished Elizabeth would teach her evil twin Jessica a proper lesson instead of those weak revenge plots she carried out.
 
I have a special love for middle grade books as that’s when my love of reading began. Why do you like writing middle grade books?

I didn’t know I liked writing them until my eldest daughter suggest I write one! Both our girls were super proud of me when I released ‘Sway’, but they wanted me to pen something they’d be allowed to read prior to their thirteenth birthdays! It was a labour of love and I had a blast writing it. It took me back to those heady days of year seven, when friendships were changing, hormones were erupting and everything was mortifying. Where ‘Sway’ was quite romantic, ‘Just Deal With it’ was the opposite of that – Gypsy finds her peers’ romantic interests in each other quite off-putting. I had fun with that. Gypsy is sometimes selfish and spoiled – I dredged up some cringe-worthy memories of how I was often-times the same! All part of growing up for those lucky enough to take good things for granted.

What is your favorite book as an adult?

Again, hard to pick just one! I’ll pick three – High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, Where the Heart is by Billie Letts and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Oh, and Mama Flora’s Family by Alex Haley. Four.

I always reread my favorite books. Do you reread books and if so, which one(s) have you read over again?

I don’t do it a lot, but I’ve definitely re-read the books mentioned above at least once.
Who are some of your favorite authors?

I like to shoutout indie authors – some of my faves are Heather Novak, Rosalind Chase and Ashley Finley. Rebekah Mallory wrote an amazing memoir too. My fave trad pubs are Mia Sheridan and Tilly Tennant.

A lot of creatives (artists, writers, musicians) have talked about how the pandemic has impacted their creativity. How has it been for you?

The first few months of lockdown had my survival brain take over – my creative outlet became baking rather than writing. Even reading became difficult. I didn’t beat myself up over it though; it was a weird time, and I knew I wasn’t the only one whose writing ceased once the news came out and our lifestyles changed. I came out of that cave and wrote again when I was good and ready.

There are zero cases here in Victoria, Australia (if only for now) but the government is bungling up the whole vaccine part – there’s not enough to go around. Life feels relatively normal though, for the most part.

All I know is, I have no interest in writing about the virus. It doesn’t even rate a mention in my latest book, which is set in the current year. I notice that my kids don’t talk about the virus that much, apart from the odd joke (they also joke about Trump – kids these days like to joke about Trump. It’s a thing.) So I figure the kids in ‘Just Deal With it’ wouldn’t say much on the topic either. They have bigger fish to fry!

What are you working on now?

Re-gaining my sanity! Seriously though, I’m focusing on getting ‘Just Deal With it’ out to readers and just enjoying the ride. I’m dabbling in one of my adult contemporary projects, but otherwise I’m simply enjoying time with family and friends, beta reading, regular reading and enjoying working from home while it lasts.

Where can we find you online? 

I’m mostly active on Instagram – see @michellehamwriter. I also have a facebook account known as Michelle Ham – Writer.
https://www.instagram.com/michellehamwriter/

This or That Questions:

Autumn or Spring?
I’m loving Autumn right now so I’ll go with that one!

Ocean/Lake or Mountains?
Ocean, closely followed by the mountains. Preferably both.

Coffee, Tea, or soda?
I’m trying to cut out caffeine. I like herbal tea and soda water with a splash of the good cordial.

Favorite singer:
Aussie singer Dan Sultan – I’m going to see him again next month! Oh and the guy who sings for Ranbir Kapoor in my favourite Bollywood films, haha!

Song you could listen to on repeat for hours:
Nadaan Parinde by A.R. Rahman (mimed by Ranbir in the movie ‘Rockstar’) Prepare to be wrecked if you watch it!

Favorite show to watch:
I love watching 70s/80s Aussie soapie Cop Shop with my husband, but I also had a blast re-watching the IT Crowd with him last night. The Mighty Boosh is my comfort show. Also love Stranger Things.

Actor/Actress who you’ll watch in anything:
Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone. Michael Raymond-James. John Cusack. I would add Mark Ruffalo but I don’t have much patience for superhero movies.
 
Bio: Michelle Ham is an independent author who's thrilled to have fulfilled her dream of completing and self-publishing her very own novel. She loves writing and reading Young Adult fiction, playing with her two young daughters, going silly over fandoms, singing along loudly to musicals in the car, exploring little country towns and twirling around in vintage frocks

Find the books here:
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​As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you