Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway: Letter to Nowhere by Julie Cross

Hi gorgeous people and welcome to Reading with ABC's stop of the Letter to Nowhere Blog Tour!  This tour is hosted by the always awesome Rockstar Book Tours.

Title: Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross

Published: August 1st, 2013 by Long Walk Press

Source: Provided by author for review

Group age: YA

Genre: Contemporary romance

Grade rate: B+

From the International Bestselling Author of the Tempest Series... Set in the tough world of Elite Gymnastics... I've gotten used to the dead parents face. I've gotten used to living with my gymnastics coach. I've even adjusted to sharing a bathroom with his way-too-hot son. Dealing with boys is not something that's made it onto my list of experiences as of yet. But here I am, doing it. And something about Jordan--being around him, talking to him, thinking about him--makes me feel like I can finally breathe again. That's something I haven't been able to do lately. He knows what it feels like to be me right now. He knows what it's like to wonder--what now? I think about it constantly. I need answers. I need to know how to get through this. In the gym, if you're struggling, you train harder, you do drills and conditioning. How do I work hard at moving on? At being on my own? And what happens if I might be...maybe...probably falling for Jordan? I mean we live together now. That can't happen, can it? But kissing him...well, let's just say it's not an easy activity to forget.

Where to find it: GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

My Review

Letter to Nowhere is a book about, bereavement, about first and lasts, about love and understanding, about friendship and self-discovery. 

Karen is an elite gymnast, a sport that I love to watch on TV, but that I didn’t know much about (I feel better educated now!) and even though the story revolves about that side of her life, there is much more to the book than that.  When Karen’s parents die, she agrees to live with her new coach and his son instead of moving in with a grandmother that she doesn’t know and who doesn’t want her either. 

Karen has been sheltered all her life by her parents.  She was homeschooled and had gymnastics; that was pretty much her life.  That’s not to say that she is antisocial or anything, her best friends are her teammates, but they are a really tight group. She just lacked a lot of normal teenage experiences, like prom, cliques, games, peer pressure, etc.  However, she is really honest with her feelings and what are her ‘firsts’; she doesn’t give in to what others expect of her and tried to remain true to herself and I admire that about her.  Karen is going through a lot of changes in all aspects of her life, more prominent is the grieving process and her relationship with Jordan.   The name of the book comes from letters that Karen writes to the people in her life and to her dead parents as a coping mechanism for their lost.

 

Jordan is the sweetest guy in the world!  He has his own share of pain and loss and he has a little more experience that he tries to use to help Karen.  He knows his shortcomings and he’s looking for his dad’s approval above all else.  Jordan is really intelligent, but is very impulsive which gets him in trouble often.   Their relationship cannot be described as anything but sweet and genuine.

 

Coach Bently is strict, but very good for Karen both personally and in her professional life, he just needs to apply the same principles with Jordan, his son.  I like Karen’s friends, especially Blair and Stevie.  Blair is two years younger that Karen and her best friend.  I liked that even when Karen was trying to push her out of her life; Blair refused to be pushed and was there for her 100%.  Stevie is the veteran gymnast and is tougher with Karen, but with good reason; her heart is in the right place.

 

This is the first book that I read by Julie Cross and it will not be the last.  I really enjoyed Letter to Nowhere; especially the writing.  The plot is not complicated, but crafted well. The ending is really open and I’m glad to see that this is the first in a series (otherwise I would have been really mad about the ending!) I’m eager to see more of Jordan and see where Karen’s talent takes her. 

About the Author

Julie Cross is the International Bestselling author of the Tempest series, a young adult science fiction trilogy which includes Tempest, Vortex, and the final installment, Timestorm (St. Martin's Press). She's also the author of Letters to Nowhere (8/13), a mature young adult romance set in the world of elite gymnastics, as well as several forthcoming young adult and new adult novels with publishers like Entangled, Sourcebooks, HarperCollins, and St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books.

Julie lives in Central Illinois with her husband and three children. She's a former gymnast, longtime gymnastics fan, coach, and former Gymnastics Program Director with the YMCA. She's a lover of books, devouring several novels a week, especially in the young adult and new adult genres. Outside of her reading and writing credibility's, Julie Cross is a committed--but not talented--long distance runner, creator of imaginary beach vacations, Midwest bipolar weather survivor, expired CPR certification card holder, as well as a ponytail and gym shoe addict. You can find her online via twitter, her personal website, email, facebook, Goodreads, or co-moderating the YAwriters section of reddit.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS | YOUTUBE

The GIVEAWAYS

There are two tour-wide giveaways.

--GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE GIVEAWAY to ONE Winner.

--An eBook of LETTERS TO NOWHERE to FIVE Winners.

The Grand Prize giveaway is open internationally, however international winners can only select five of the books listed due to shipping costs.

GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY

AUTOGRAPHED FINISHED COPIES of...

- All 3 of Simone Elkeles' HOW TO RUIN series

- TEETH by Hannah Moskowitz

- GONE GONE GONE by Hannah Moskowitz

- LET THE SKY FALL by Shannon Messenger

-  BITTERSWEET by Sara Zarr

  

ARCs of OCTOBER 2013 YA RELEASES

- UNBREAKABLE by Kami Garcia

- ANYWHERE BUT HERE by

- BANG by Lisa McMann

- REALITY BOY by A.S. King

- NEVER FADE by Alexandra Bracken

-  SIX MONTHS LATER by Natalie D. Richards

ARCs of NOV 2013 - FEB 2014 YA RELEASES

- ALIENATED by Melissa Landers (Feb 2014)

- ROOMIES by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando (Dec 2013)

- AFTER EDEN by Helen Douglas (Nov 2013)

OTHER BOOK PRIZES

- Personalized signed copies of TEMPEST + VORTEX (a foreign edition if available can be swapped for the U.S. edition)

- E-copy of LETTERS TO NOWHERE by Julie Cross (if print is available at time of shipping, a print copy will be sent, too)

WINNER'S CHOICE (ONE of Following BIG prizes)

- Basic US Kindle (valued at $69.00 USD) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007HCCNJU/ref=sa_menu_kdptq

OR

- $50 US Amazon Gift card

OR

- $50 US Barnes and Noble gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*As some prizes may not be redeemable by international participants, alternative suggestions are welcome but not guaranteed.

Week One

Sept. 3rd - The Book Cellar - Review & Guest Post
Sept. 3rd - Reading In Twilight - Guest Post
Sept. 4th - A Backwards Story - Review
Sept. 4th - The Irish Banana - Review
Sept. 5th - Bittersweet Enchantment - Interview
Sept. 5th - Book Breather - Review
Sept. 5th - Never Too Fond of Books - Review
Sept. 6th - Curling Up With A Good Book - Guest Post
Sept. 6th - Oops! I Read A Book Again - Review

Week Two

Sept. 9th - Page Turners - Review & Guest Post
Sept. 9th - Gobs and Gobs of Books - Interview
Sept. 10th - Crawling Over The Pages - Guest Post
Sept. 10th - Musings From An Addicted Reader - Review
Sept. 10th - Sweet Southern Home - Guest Post
Sept. 11th - Mom With A Kindle - Interview
Sept. 11th - Reading with ABC - Review
Sept. 12th - Gone with the Words - Review & Guest Post
Sept. 12th - About to Read - Review
Sept. 12th - Blackplume - Interview
Sept. 13th - Every Free Chance Book Reviews - Guest Post
Sept. 13th - Literary Meanderings - Review

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Rockstar Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Rockstar Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*