Tag: West

Posted in L.M Augustine, Promotional Events, YA

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: West from Click To Subscribe (+GIVEAWAY)

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

So this is the third post of the Click To Subscribe and its an interview with the dorky guy we all love – West.

If you have yet to read my interview with L.M Augustine or my review you can find the interview HERE and the review HERE.

Now, have fun getting to know more about West in this interview with him. I love him even more!!!

17285743Synopsis

1,135,789. That’s how many subscribers sixteen-year-old West Ryder has on his web vlog series. But he only has eyes for one of them.

As one of the internet’s most prestigious video bloggers, West talks about high school relationships under the name “Sam Green.” As far as he knows, no one from school, not even his best friend, Cat, has seen his videos. But the highlight of the whole thing is Harper Knight, who comments every day at exactly 2:02 in the afternoon. He doesn’t know anything about her aside from the occasional deep philosophical messaging on why pizza tastes so delicious, but as stupid as it sounds, he might be falling for her. So when they finally agree to meet in real life, West’s hope for romance seems more and more in reach. But that all changes as soon as he arrives at their meeting spot and sees Cat walking toward him, wearing the same “I ❤ Sam Green” T-shirt Harper promised she’d have on.

To his alarm, West realizes he is falling in love with the best friend who has always been a sister to him

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West’s Interview

For someone who likes ice-cream, West is sure as hell late to this meeting. Sitting facing the door, I look around and see mothers and their young children happily munching away on the cold stuff, sprinkles all down their tops and ice cream around their face.

Checking the time on my watch again, West is now 10 minutes late and I really want an ice cream. Debating whether or not to wait, I decide that ice cream is just too tempting and lean down to take my purse out of my bag when the bell on the door rings and in walks West, looking around until he spots me and begins to head over.

Standing up from the chair, I hold my hand out to greet West and give him a smile back.

Hi West, thanks for coming.

Of course! I was promised ice cream.

Okay before we get started, fancy an ice cream?

Yes, yes I do. 🙂 I honestly feel bad for anyone who would turn this down.

With our ice creams in our hands, we take a seat back at the table, and after a lick, I get down to business.

Right, first things first, are you still vlogging? I know you said you were too busy, but I’m sure everyone is missing your videos.

I am, I am. I’m not as into it, though. I have a life now, a real life, and I want to enjoy it as much as possible–if there is one thing I’ve learned from my mom dying, it’s that the happy times are short sometimes–but vlogging means too much to me to totally ignore.

You said you videoed to feel closer to your mother, that you pretended it was her you were speaking to. How much did that help you?

I never got to say goodbye to her. She was always proud of my vlog, of my taking initiative of my life, and it only felt right to tape vlogs to her. I was talking to her, really talking, because that’s the thing about her I miss most: our conversations. This felt like the perfect solution.

No one knew about your hobby, but didn’t you think somewhere along the lines you would be found out?

I worried, of course, but I’m not exactly the most well-known kid in my tiny town, so I knew the chances were minimal.

You and Harper were pretty close, despite only talking over the internet; just what exactly was it about her that you were drawn to?

She just kind of got me. Between her cow riding a bicycle while simultaneously eating pizza avatar and her complete overall dorkiness, I knew we were meant to be with each other.

Cat is your best friend and you two are pretty awesome together. Did you never think of her in a girlfriend sort of way or did it just never cross your mind at all?

I mean, of course I did. I’m not blind. But I always assumed that what Cat and I had was a pure friendship, and even though I knew I connected with her, I was too happy where we were together, as support systems, as best friends, to even consider anything more.

When Harper turns out to be Cat, your reaction is completely understandable, yet didn’t you even draw up a conclusion that Harper acted a bit like Cat?

Maybe I should’ve noticed, but Harper isn’t anyone I ever really questioned. She made me happy, she was the one bright spot in a tough time, and that’s all that mattered to me.

 Cat quite literally put her heart on the line when she told you she loved you. Didn’t you ever feel guilty about the way you reacted towards that revelation?

I did. I really did. I was an idiot, but I was just too taken by surprise. I was already pissed at my father that day and desperate because what felt like the one good thing in my life at the time–Harper–turned out to be a fake. I lashed out. I was weak. I didn’t know what to do. I’m just so grateful that Cat believed in me enough to stay friends with me until… we became more.

Cat is such a strong person. I loved how she just never gave up on you and her feelings for you. How did that make you feel? I know you didn’t like that she kept doing little things to try and make you feel something for her, but you had to know that in the end, you would inevitably fall for her?

I didn’t really think I would fall for her, actually. I knew I loved her–in the friend sense–but it took me a while to realize that my self-categorized “friend” love for her was real love all along. I always loved her, it turns out, and I just never realized it. And she showed me that I did. I’m so grateful for that, because I’m happier than ever with her now.

What is it about ice cream that you and Cat are just so obsessed with?

Ha. Haha. HAHAHA.

Taste it. Eat it with vanilla and rainbow sprinkles. You will find the light.

We know the point in which your feelings changed for Cat, but how did you get to that point?

I guess I just found myself looking at her differently after she admitted her feelings to me. I noticed things about her, about her appearance, about her laugh–things I never noticed before. And we already meshed so well, so I couldn’t help but think… that we belong together. Forever.

You and your father didn’t exactly get on after the death of your mother, but we see him change towards the end. How is your relationship with him now?

I like to keep that to myself. We’re working on it; that’s all I feel comfortable saying.

Cat told you that she wanted to spend a week away with a guy she loves at a beach house, and she did exactly that. What did you get up to during that time?

Let’s put it this way: there were numerous times when her lips were covered with ice cream, and whenever her lips are covered with ice cream, I, being the awesome gentleman I am, kiss it off for her.

Also, there was A LOT of strolling around the beaches, sunglasses on, heads bobbing, trying to look as cool as possible. We are badasses, did I mention that?

And how are you and Cat now? How is it having her as your best friend and girlfriend?

It is awesome! I swear she’s the only girlfriend who shares my idea of a date: eating ice cream while simultaneously making fools of ourselves to everyone around us. Multitasking, am I right?

Thanks so much for the interview West. Now before I go, fancy racing to see who can finish another ice cream first? You can buy the next lot when I win!

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About L.M Augustine

L.M. Augustine is a YA romance author who is obsessed with writing about dorky teenagers, love, and happy endings. He currently lives in New England, where he spends far too much time reading books and screaming at his computer, and he believes that the solution to the world’s problems can be found in chocolate cake. Click To Subscribe is his first novel, but it won’t be his last.
Find L.M. on:

Email: authoraugustine@gmail.com

Links to buy Click To Subscribe (Which ya’ll should!)

(And all other Amazon stores)

GIVEAWAAAAAAAAAAAY

And now for your chance to win TWO Ecopies of Click To Subscribe. It’s open internationally, so good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in L.M Augustine, Promotional Events, YA

Click To Subscribe – L.M Augustine (+ GIVEAWAY)

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

17285743Synopsis

1,135,789. That’s how many subscribers sixteen-year-old West Ryder has on his web vlog series. But he only has eyes for one of them.

As one of the internet’s most prestigious video bloggers, West talks about high school relationships under the name “Sam Green.” As far as he knows, no one from school, not even his best friend, Cat, has seen his videos. But the highlight of the whole thing is Harper Knight, who comments every day at exactly 2:02 in the afternoon. He doesn’t know anything about her aside from the occasional deep philosophical messaging on why pizza tastes so delicious, but as stupid as it sounds, he might be falling for her. So when they finally agree to meet in real life, West’s hope for romance seems more and more in reach. But that all changes as soon as he arrives at their meeting spot and sees Cat walking toward him, wearing the same “I ❤ Sam Green” T-shirt Harper promised she’d have on.

To his alarm, West realizes he is falling in love with the best friend who has always been a sister to him.

4/5 stars

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My Review

So it’s L.M Augustine week on The Book Lovers and today is review daaaaaaay!

I had heard of Click To Subscribe through the twitter grapevine and when L.M followed me, I checked out his blog and HELLO CHAPTER ONE. From then on, I was so excited to get this book on my kindle that when it was released and L.M Dm’d me about it, it was an instant download.

I actually read Click a few weeks ago but I have been so rubbish at my reviews that it’s taken me this long to write it, but alas, I write everything down so it’s been easy to type and remember everything that I loved from the book!!

From the synopsis, I knew it would be a great read. I love anything to do with technology in books, so when I saw ‘Vlog’ I knew this was a book that needed to be read by me. Nowadays I hardly read YA, but L.M’s synopsis drew me in and how glad am I that I actually read Click to Subscribe?! It’s such a great read, it’s a refreshing storyline and one that I bloody well-loved reading about.

Best friends to lovers? YES PLEASE!! They are one of my favourite storylines yet there is so much included within the storyline that you wonder if they ever will get together.  If they really should be together (they should, I was definitely rooting for them) and if they would eventually get together, and that West would realize they are perfect for each other.

L.M Augustine has included everything in Click. There is hilarious banter between Cat/Harper and West, loveable moments, awkward moments, moments where your heart is aching, where you will cry, where you will laugh and moments where you will be smiling so big that you will feel giddy about what you are reading.

The past 6 months havent been the greatest for West. He’s lost his mother, his father is a douchebag and the only friend he has that he can count on is Cat. He vlogs as a way to feel closer to his mother and one day, someone named Harper comments on his video and from then on they form this close bond.

West is such a freaking great character. He’s witty, can give awesome banter back. He’s adorable and he’s dealing with the pain of losing his mother. He’s also in love with a girl he’s never met. How is that for confusion for him?! He’s hurting, and he;s trying to deal with it the best way he can…by vlogging for his mother. Thinking it’s her he’s speaking to. He would actually be completely lost without Cat, his best friend.

We see bantersaurous-rexing between him and Cat and he and Harper and you will fall in love that extra bit with West because of it. But there will be times when you just want to hit him around the head, especially after Cat declares her feelings. He just stares at her, leaving the atmosphere awkward and in turn, you feel awkward because its such a predicament to be in.

Despite his reservations in wanting to know Cat’s feelings for him, we see him think things through. Although it takes a while, we see him confused and scared and angry and upset that he doesn’t have anyone to talk to about Cats feelings and his feelings that are slowly moving to the surface. You wish you were the one to help him through it all. But he gets there in the end. You see him figure out that he loves Cat and he starts to see her differently. although he’s scared, we know that he and Cat are awesome together and nothing will stop the love they have for one another.

I really, really loved Cat. Seriously. I think it was due to the fact that I saw myself in her. How she plucked up the courage to tell West she was in love with him, to never give up on him no matter how hard it became. This was me a few years ago with my best friend. She was the ultimate bad ass but caring best friend and I LOVED her character. I love the fact that although she was knocked back by West, she never, ever gave up on her feelings for him. I completely admired this about her. Normally YA girls aren’t the strongest (unless I’m reading the wrong books), but Cat blew me away. I wanted to be her friend, tell her to keep expressing her feelings for West because deep down, he had to have feelings for her!!! She acted like Harper and if he loved Harper, then he loved Cat too.

She is a brilliant character and even at 16, she knew exactly what her feelings were, that she wanted to be with West and despite the hurt she was put through, her feelings never wavered and she never gave up proving that she is the right girl for West. I applaud her confidence!

You can see the chemistry between Cat and West. Being best friends since they were younger, you kind of have to have chemistry and as they have grown up, you can see it more clearly. At least i could. Despite the fact they are BBF’s, they really do love one another. They are there for each other, especially Cat during the months after West’s mother had died, which was only a few months back. She supports him, she comforts him and you can really see how much she cares for him. There is no wonder that she is in love with him.

West is just too blind to see what is in front of him and at times to just want to smack him around the head and be like “YOU LOVE HARPER WHO IS CAT SO YOU LOVE CAT!” but i could see why he was reserved about it. It obviously had to take time for him to see Cat as more than a friend. In his own time too. To get his head around the fact that Harper doesn’t exist and it is in fact Cat after all the months.

The scene I loved was the ice cream scene. These two are utterly obsessed with ice cream and just reading their banter and their race to who finishes the ice cream first had me in fits of giggles. I am so going to do this with my friends (They probably wouldn’t be up for it but i;ll force them.) You can see how much fun these two have together and it was refreshing to watch  West just have a time out from grieving and be the 16 year old boy that he is.

If you have yet to pick up your copy of Click To Subscribe, please do. You wont be disappointed and for a debut novel, L.M Augustine has written a fantastic book. Like technology in books? Like best friends to lovers? like banter and awkward teenage moments? THEN this is the book for you 😀

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About L.M Augustine

L.M. Augustine is a YA romance author who is obsessed with writing about dorky teenagers, love, and happy endings. He currently lives in New England, where he spends far too much time reading books and screaming at his computer, and he believes that the solution to the world’s problems can be found in chocolate cake. Click To Subscribe is his first novel, but it won’t be his last.
Find L.M. on:

Email: authoraugustine@gmail.com

Links to buy Click To Subscribe (Which ya’ll should!)

(And all other Amazon stores)

iBooks
Smashwords

GIVEAWAAAAAAAAAAAY

And now for your chance to win TWO Ecopies of Click To Subscribe. It’s open internationally, so good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in Author Interviews, L.M Augustine, Promotional Events, YA

AUTHOR INTERVIEW with L.M Augustine (+GIVEAWAY)

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

So L.M Augustine week kicks off with an interview from the awesome guy himself!

Kicking off the week, we’ll get to know L.M and Click To Subscribe before we do anything else hey 😉

———————————————————–

17285743Synopsis

1,135,789. That’s how many subscribers sixteen-year-old West Ryder has on his web vlog series. But he only has eyes for one of them.

As one of the internet’s most prestigious video bloggers, West talks about high school relationships under the name “Sam Green.” As far as he knows, no one from school, not even his best friend, Cat, has seen his videos. But the highlight of the whole thing is Harper Knight, who comments every day at exactly 2:02 in the afternoon. He doesn’t know anything about her aside from the occasional deep philosophical messaging on why pizza tastes so delicious, but as stupid as it sounds, he might be falling for her. So when they finally agree to meet in real life, West’s hope for romance seems more and more in reach. But that all changes as soon as he arrives at their meeting spot and sees Cat walking toward him, wearing the same “I ❤ Sam Green” T-shirt Harper promised she’d have on.

To his alarm, West realizes he is falling in love with the best friend who has always been a sister to him

————————————————————

L.M’s interview

1.       What was the first book you can remember reading?

This definitely isn’t the first book I ever read, but I remember reading Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke pretty young when it first came out.

2.       How did you come up with the idea of Click to Subscribe?

 Click was inspired after I watched one of John Green’s vlogs where he mentioned that two of his fans met online and hit it off so much that they were organizing a real life meetup. At the time, I thought that was so interesting. I mean, falling in love through social media? I didn’t even realize that happened.

Over time, the idea started to develop, and I kept thinking how plausible that could be. I wondered what those two people would have to be like to fall in love over the internet, wondered what happened to them and how all of it came to be. I’m not sure how the rest came about, but the next thing I knew it was midnight and I was scribbling away the first chapter of what would eventually become Click To Subscribe.

3.       How long did it take you to write the book?

Only a month, actually. The book really flowed out of me.

4.       The banter between Cat and West is amazing. How did you come up with it?

I really have no idea. Cat and West took over my brain from the start. It was more like they were actually speaking, rather than me “coming up with dialogue,” as weird as it sounds. Their characters just meshed so well that they did the rest of the work! I only sat back and watched. 🙂

5.       Cat and West loveeee ice cream. Did you have a massive tub next to you when you were writing?

I didn’t! But that would’ve been a brilliant idea… because it’s for, um, research. Yeah. Research. (How did I not think of it at the time?!)

6.       And what is your favourite flavour?

Black raspberry chip. I know, I know, I’m weird.

7.       West used his videoing as a way to keep his mother in his life, as she was the only one who knew about it. Why did he not want to tell Cat about it? Was it just because it wanted it to be his and his mother’s thing?

I think for West, he just wanted his own thing. I mean, he has always has Cat and he has always loved her in a friend kind of way, but with his mom, he needed something that was just for the two of them–and that was vlogging. He liked having this own part of his life that he could escape to whenever he wanted, because real life kind of sucks sometimes. I don’t think he shared because he liked having his own thing with his mom, and he didn’t want anyone, best friend or not, intruding on that space.

8.       Cat was an amazing character, never giving up on her feelings for West and trying to make him see what was in front of him. What made you write Cat this way? Most YA girls aren’t so strong and confident as she was with her feelings and telling West.

Honestly, I wrote her strong because I was tired of the weak YA heroine trope. Anyone who reads the book can see that Cat is the stronger character–she knows what she wants while West is so conflicted–and I think that’s more realistic. Females are just as often strong characters in real life as males, and plus, it only felt right for Cat and West’s relationship that Cat is the strong one. West is dealing with his mom’s death and she is his support system through and through.

9.       Your next book is called Two Roads and is N.A. How big a jump was it from YA to NA, if there was any jump?

For me, the issue wasn’t so much a jump between genres as it is a jump between characters. NA and YA are much different and I definitely had to change some of my storytelling and book themes for NA, but that part wasn’t very difficult for me. The part that gave me trouble is distinguishing Logan and Cali from Cat and West. They’re very different couples with very different problems, and I sometimes found myself turning Logan and Cali’s banter into something Cat and West would say, which I couldn’t have. Separating them on a relationship level was the definite challenge.

10.   Have you thought about who would play Cat and West if it was made into a movie?

I have, actually! I picture West as a young Austin Butler and Cat as Ariana Grande. Ariana’s red hair is EXACTLY like Cat’s, with the red velvet color and all.

This is how L.M sees West: (Austin Butler)

West

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is how he sees Cat: (Ariana Grande)

Cat Davenport 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.   And lastly, is there a deep dark secret you would like to tell me? 😉

*leans in* *whispers* My deep dark secret, the fate of the world as we know it, is actually– *connection gets cut and secret forever lost*

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About L.M Augustine

L.M. Augustine is a YA romance author who is obsessed with writing about dorky teenagers, love, and happy endings. He currently lives in New England, where he spends far too much time reading books and screaming at his computer, and he believes that the solution to the world’s problems can be found in chocolate cake. Click To Subscribe is his first novel, but it won’t be his last.
Find L.M. on:

Email: authoraugustine@gmail.com

Links to buy Click To Subscribe (Which ya’ll should!)

(And all other Amazon stores)

iBooks
Smashwords

GIVEAWAAAAAAAAAAAY

And now for your chance to win TWO Ecopies of Click To Subscribe. It’s open internationally, so good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in L.M Augustine, Promotional Events

L.M Augustine week!!

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

A few weeks ago L.M emailed me asking if I would do a spotlight on Click To Subscribe for him, but why would I do one day when I could do a whole week about him and his awesome book along with a little giveaway.

So here we are…

L.M week will start on Tuesday with an interview with the awesome man himself and then lets just roll with the week shall we? 😉

The Giveaway will also start on Tuesday too, and will consist of two ebooks of Click To Subscribe so I hope you see you all entering to win a copy because i really loved it! and you will get my review on Wednesday.

Dya what else I got for you? A character interview with West annnnnd a small teaser from his new book, Two Roads. That’s right, L.M was kind enough to let me have a teaser for you all. I absolutely cannot WAIT for this book to be out and I hope you all love this teaser as much as I do!!

Now, I hope you’re all looking forward to Tuesday as much as I am. It’s gonna be a gooooooood week 😀

Before i babble on even more, if you haven;t heard of Click to Subscribe (No idea why you wouldnt have) then go add it to your TBR list RIGHT NOW and come back and enter the giveaway.

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And THEN go add Two Roads to that list too.

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