The Bye-Bye Bouquet… in paperback?

In case you missed it, my first full-length romance novella went LIVE on Amazon last February 14, 2016. Before I proceed with anything else, I just want to say thank you to those who pre-ordered the e-book, and those who purchased the e-book after it went live. ♥♥ I’m currently working on getting the e-book available in other online platforms, but I’m opening the option of holding the actual book in your hands… right now!

If you want a paperback copy of The Bye-Bye Bouquet, fill up the form below. If I get at least 10 orders, I will have the first batch of books printed.

…and I will also love you and appreciate your support oh so very much. 🙂

So flex those fingers and start typing!

Continue reading The Bye-Bye Bouquet… in paperback?

FEELS: NOTED || The Hometown Hazard by Dawn Lanuza

Disclaimer: Everything you will read after this will be spoiler-free. This is not an actual review. These are just feelings, put into slightly incoherent words that hopefully make sense enough for you to understand how a certain book affected me. There will be no technical comments, no nitpicking. Just feelings, all the feelings.

EMOCHI_GifScale_Hometown-dawnGet it on Amazon | Also available on Buqo

First things first: Don’t forget to follow the #TheHometownHazard blog tour, join the giveaway, and get a chance to win a free e-book copy of The Hometown Hazard!

Do rate/review The Hometown Hazard on Goodreads, or give a shout-out to the author on Twitter and Facebook.

Jules Coronado has been away from her hometown for almost a decade but when an intruder breaks in to her childhood home, she finds herself coming back. Changes evidently took place in her small town, including her childhood best friend’s younger brother, Kip – now tall, slightly scruffed, all grown up and caught climbing into their garden wall.

Kip Villamor has a mission and despite Jules’ doubts, they team up: going on fieldtrips, tackling unsuspecting men, and trespassing offices to dig up dirt. But Jules has secrets of her own, one that might be exposed – unless she keeps her walls up. But climbing walls are Kip’s forte, remember?

Will her secrets keep her on his side, or will it force her to disappear again?

It was the cover that got me at first when I saw the blog tour invite. I mean, look at how pretty this is! Obviously, a good cover is a big factor. But I’ve gotten books with nice covers, and ultimately put them down before I could even finish the story. It didn’t happen with The Hometown Hazard. (Though we did get a little “tense” for a bit, right, Dawn? :p)

I expected an in-your-face romance when I signed up for this tour. And I did get romance, definitely! But The Hometown Hazard is a lot more than just romance. It has suspense, and a sense of mystery that reminded me of the crime procedurals I love watching on television–with more sexual tension, of course.

Continue reading FEELS: NOTED || The Hometown Hazard by Dawn Lanuza

GIVEAWAY || Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay is the final installment of author Suzanne Collins’ New York Times Best Selling series, The Hunger Games.

Want to get your hands on your very own copy of this epic trilogy’s action packed conclusion? All you have to do is like this page then share the post below to qualify for the draw! Collection of entries will end on Sunday, December 6, 2015, and the winner will be announced the next day.

Good luck! And may the odds be ever in your favor. 😉

https://www.facebook.com/chiyurodriguez/photos/a.1658685937708723.1073741829.1606295296281121/1672934256283891/?type=3

FEELS: NOTED || Choco Chip Hips by Agay Llanera

Disclaimer: Everything you will read after this will be spoiler-free. This is not an actual review. These are just feelings, put into slightly incoherent words that hopefully make sense enough for you to understand how a certain book affected me. There will be no technical comments, no nitpicking. Just feelings, all the feelings.

 

EMOCHI Choco Chip HipsGet it on Amazon | Smashwords

Sixteen-year-old Jessie, a baking aficionado, is shy, overweight, and worries too much about what people think. But one summer, a family emergency makes her realize that life is too short to live it on autopilot. Taking her life by the reins, she embarks on a journey that involves ditching the apron for her tank top, as she hip-hop dances her way to new friendships, stronger family ties, and into her school’s most elite club.

I’ve heard good things about this book. A lot a lot of good things. I hadn’t had the chance to purchase it though when I went to UNIQUBE to hunt down Songs of Our Breakup. It was there, in bright green paper, Choco Chip Hips was the free e-book that came with my purchase.

I don’t know, maybe something about the concept and the cover subconsciously scared me. I only got around to actually checking out the first chapter last week. And even then, I had to stop and take a break before continuing. Because the feelings… oh, the feelings, you guys. It was just too real. A plump, young girl, struggling with her inner demons, insecurities and love of food, trying to overcome them so she could find her place in the world. Her happy place, to be exact. And dagnabit it hit way too close to home… 🙁

Continue reading FEELS: NOTED || Choco Chip Hips by Agay Llanera

FEELS: NOTED || Blossom Among Flowers by Jay E. Tria

Disclaimer: Everything you will read after this will be spoiler-free. This is not an actual review. These are just feelings, put into slightly incoherent words that hopefully make sense enough for you to understand how a certain book affected me. There will be no technical comments, no nitpicking. Just feelings, all the feelings.

EMOCHI Blossom Among FlowersGet it on AmazonKobo |  Barnes & Noble
Or get the paperback at UNIQUBE

High school student Hikaru Saito is in trouble. She is failing English because she’d much rather bury her nose in the latest manga than study pronouns and prepositions. To keep her from getting kicked out of school, she is assigned a tutor in the form of the most popular boy in school: golden-haired genius Takeshi Hinata.

You’d think Takeshi would be Hikaru’s surefire way to academic success, but her stubbornness, lack of concentration, and general disinterest in things other than her precious manga frustrate Takeshi to no end. To make matters worse, a young, pretty boy teacher is determined to rescue Hikaru every chance he gets, riling Takeshi up even more—and confusing the hell out of Hikaru.

But as they spend more time together and get to know each other beyond their high school reputations, Hikaru and Takeshi enter a situation neither of them expected to find themselves in—one that factors in stolen kisses, controlling parents, a princess-in-hiding, and the deepest yearnings of a teenage heart.

About a month or so ago, Tara, another author friend of mine, decided to read the book Songs of Our Breakup. She spazzed about it, live tweeted the heck out of it, and was imploring our small group of friends to read it too. I was curious. But when I looked into buying Songs of Our Breakup (“Songs”), I discovered that the author Jay E. Tria had another book, her first book, Blossom Among Flowers (“Blossom”). I really was planning on getting Songs, first. But Blossom’s book blurb just made it impossible to pass up.

I read the book in less than five hours. Oh yeah, I took note. Because it was a work day, and I couldn’t focus, and I rushed to finish all my work stuff just so I can set aside two hours of lunch to read the next hundred pages—the first hundred I read in the same amount of time before I clocked in that morning. Whatever was left, I read in about thirty minutes, hidden away in the office pantry, as soon as five o’clock rolled around.

This book consumed me as aggressively as I devoured it.

Basically, Blossom and I made out like teenagers. And it was awesome. ♥

Continue reading FEELS: NOTED || Blossom Among Flowers by Jay E. Tria

StrangeLit: The Launch That Launched A Thousand Nerves

I’m not even kidding. My nerves kept me on the verge of a panic attack, from my sweaty forehead to the kick ass heels I wore that I’ve lovingly named Mistakes since that day.

That day being: October 24, 2015.
The place: Recession Coffee, Eastwood City.
The event: The #StrangeLit launch.

Continue reading StrangeLit: The Launch That Launched A Thousand Nerves

FEELS: NOTED || Just For The Record by Six De los Reyes

Disclaimer: Everything you will read after this will be spoiler-free. This is not an actual review. These are just feelings, put into slightly incoherent words that hopefully make sense enough for you to understand how a certain book affected me. There will be no technical comments, no nitpicking. Just feelings, all the feelings.

 

EMOCHI Just For The RecordGet it on Buqo / Order the paperback

Just for the record, the heat can get to even the most calculated of minds.  

Let it be stated that Rhys loves Ryan forever and ever. But certain needs are not being met, leaving her frustrated and asking for too much than the conservative and almost rock star, Ryan, is willing to give. Uncooperative (or cooperative, depending on your point of view) weather provides her an opportunity to ask not what she can do for her friends, but what a friend can do for her.

Isaiah likes to say that the best thing about Rhys is that he can stand in her breathing space and feel nothing. Something of a breather when dancing with Lia short circuits his entire operating system. But all his beliefs are challenged when Rhys chances upon him in a steamy practice room in the middle of a heat wave.

This book and I met during the early days of the SparkNA writing workshop. We were asked to pick three books to read from the Romance Class Catalogue for one of the activities. I’d already picked my three when Therese, a friend and SparkNA classmate, started sending me screenshots of this story.

She wasn’t just sending them, either. She was aggressively insisting that I read it. She said it reminded her of me. From the excerpts I was getting it was difficult to disagree. Even before I finally bought the book, I knew for sure it would give me feelings. But then it gave me way more. Like, flip-table-ugly-cry-and-scream-onto-a-pillow feelings, yo.

Continue reading FEELS: NOTED || Just For The Record by Six De los Reyes

Paper Planes Back Home || Excerpts and Things

First things first: Don’t forget to follow the #PaperPlanesBackHome blog tour (it’s the last day!), join the giveaway, and get a chance to win a free e-book copy of Paper Planes Back Home! (Open to Philippine residents only.)

Do check out where else you can buy this wonderful book if you don’t feel like joining the giveaway: Goodreads, Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple iBooks


There are books that you remember, and then there are books that you remember — the ones that become a part of your life, the ones that leave indelible marks on your soul and make you feel all the things. Paper Planes Back Home is one of those books.

Tara Frejas managed to put into words the simple, yet also very complex, idea of life and after life, and make it feel real in the most heartfelt way possible.

Continue reading Paper Planes Back Home || Excerpts and Things

Paper Planes Back Home || An Interview with Tara Frejas

First things first: Don’t forget to follow the #PaperPlanesBackHome blog tour this week, join the giveaway, and get a chance to win a free e-book copy of Paper Planes Back Home! (Open to Philippine residents only.)

Do check out where else you can buy this wonderful book if you don’t feel like joining the giveaway: Goodreads, Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple iBooks


Tara Frejas

She seems reluctant to unfold a plane, but when she looks back up at him, she sees a paper plane drop on his lap. The look on his face is inexplicable. “Someone thought of you,” she points out, feeling an ounce of hope for this man in front of her.

QUESTION: In a few sentences, can you tell me about Paper Planes Back Home? Not including the book description… As in kunyari hindi ko pa siya nababasa, pano mo siya ipapaliwanag sakin?

T: Okay, uuh…
C: [evil cackling]

T: Okay, so, Paper Planes Back Home is an urban fantasy. Which has these two characters in a coma. And the way to get them to wake up, is for them to get these paper planes which are thoughts from their loved ones. So, we’re introduced to this place, that we don’t know where, but it’s kind of a limbo, where they’re standing on clouds. Those paper planes, when they get a lot of them they can build a bigger ride, and they can finally take the journey back home — which is synonymous to their families or their actual bodies… yung corporeal vessels!
C: Yes! [secret brain hemorrhage #1]

Continue reading Paper Planes Back Home || An Interview with Tara Frejas

StrangeLit: When Filipino Authors Get Fancy

Step 1: Think of a theme.
Step 2: Give it a name.
Step 3: Throw a bunch of Filipino authors in a room and tell them to WRITE.

What happens?

Let me introduce you to the wonderful world of #StrangeLit. Forty-one stories. Four anthologies. You get not one, not two, but ten magical stories (or even eleven for bundle three) for its current introductory price of Php90.00 ($1.99)!

Show your support for this amazing and talented community of Indie Filipino Writers by checking them all out… ♥

 

BUNDLE ONE: Killer Seasons
A werewolf chef, a cursed family, a spell to forget. You’ll meet these and more in the ten stories of the KILLER SEASONS installment of #StrangeLit, featuring:

StrangeLit Killer SeasonsResto Rescue by Maita Rue
The Last Night of Her Wake by Chrissie Peria
House of Silver: A Cursebreaker Novel by C.P. Perez
The Myth Menagerie by Lana Garcia
Vengeance: The Awakening by Arlene Manocot
At The Wishing Well by Amae Dechavez
Intersection by Den Lim
Disappearing Act by Roselle De Guzman
The “Forget You” Brew by Tara Frejas
Aurelia by Japonicus

Download the Buqo app and get this bundle HERE.

Continue reading StrangeLit: When Filipino Authors Get Fancy