Thursday, April 18, 2013

GUEST POST & EXCERPT: Shelly Crane's WIDE AWAKE Blog Tour



Today I am fortunate in that I get to participate in the Wide Awake blog tour. Shelly Crane is the well-loved author of the Significance Series, and is back with a new tale. Please help me welcome her, and be sure to check out the giveaway at the end!

Blurb:

A girl.
A coma.
A life she can't remember.

When Emma Walker wakes up in the hospital with no knowledge of how she got there, she learns that she's been in a coma for six months. Strangers show up and claim to be her parents, but she can't remember them. She can't remember anyone. Not her friends, not even her boyfriend. Even though she can't remember, everyone wants her to just pick up where she left off, but what she learns about the 'old her' makes her start to wish she'd never woken up. Her boyfriend breaks up with the new girl he's dating to be with her, her parents want her to start planning for college, her friends want their leader back, and her physical therapist with the hazel eyes keeps his distance to save his position at the hospital.

Will she ever feel like she recognizes the girl in the mirror?


EXCERPT from Wide Awake:
          The next couple of weeks brought plenty of action and events. I focused harder on the therapy and tried to focus less on Mason. He seemed to be doing the same. I had renewed vigor, which led to stamina, which led to more workouts, which led to exhaustion, which led to tons of sleep, which led to healing, which led to me walking.
          All.
          By.
          Myself.
          This simple task, this simple thing that we all take for granted, that's so cute and monumental when a baby takes his first steps, but these first steps were so much more than that. Though I cried like a baby, I wasn't one. And though my mother cooed and fawned over me (because I had invited them that day to come because I just knew that day was going to be the day) I wasn't a toddler. I was me. I was finally getting a little piece of myself back. And though I tried so hard not to, my eyes drifted to the one person in the room that I knew would understand all this better than anyone else.
          Mason's eyes were already on me from across the parallel walking bars. This time, I didn't shy away from his gaze. I knew that our terms were shaky, but so was I, and I needed the stability of my lifeline. As our gazes collided, I expected a smile and happiness, but I didn't expect the level of pride and utter joy to be so prominent. The man was bursting at the seams with it. It filled his face and the smile he wore was the beautiful one that made me feel like everything was going to be OK.
          His lips parted and even in the loud room, I could still hear his breath. He said quietly, "You did it, Em." He moved forward and touched my arm. It was the first time he had touched me in weeks that had nothing to do with therapy. "I'm so proud of you."
          As his fingers circled my elbow, and I tried not to shiver in his grasp, I asked softly, knowing the answer, "You didn't believe that I was going to walk again some day?"
          "Of course I did." He smiled wider. "But today was the first time that you've ever believed it."
          He was right. Having faith and having hope were not the same thing, and I was just now understanding that.

Where to BUY Wide Awake:


About the Author:
YA author of Wide Awake and the Significance, Collide and Devour series. I'm also a mom to two boys and a wife to the best guy ever. I have a crazy love for paperbacks. And candy corn. And book playlists. I'll stop now.

Where to find Shelly:
 Blog
Twitter @AuthShellyCrane

ENTER BELOW FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN:
Each blog during the tour has the option to give away one e-book of WIDE AWAKE. So be sure to visit each of the blogs below for a better chance to win. 
April 13th
*Lila Felix (Dream Cast)
*I Read Indie (Review)
April 14th
*A Diary of a Book Addict (Review)
*Always YA at Heart (Review)
April 15th
*Book Nerds Across America (Review)
*Reality Bites! Let's Get Lost!! (Review)
*RK Ryals (Excerpt)
April 16th
*Book Crazy (Review)
*Jenna's Junction (Review)
*Brianna Lee Book Reviews (Review)
*If These Boobs Could Talk (Review)
April 17th
*BookBesties (Review)
*Belle of the Books (Review)
*The Alternative Kryptonite (Review/Interview)
April 18th
*From the desk of . . . R.E. Hargrave (Excerpt)
*Please Another Book (Review)
*The Book Cafe (Review)
April 19th
*To Be Thode (Review)
*A Book and a Latte (Interview)
*WhirlWindBooks (Review)
April 20th
*One Stop Indie Shop (Review)
*Buffy's Ramblings (Review)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for helping on the tour and for posting this giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Preferably hard Copy but Kindle works too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. So lovely of you all to stop by! Thanks for checking it out, and supporting Shelly's release!

    ReplyDelete