Hey Alessandra Thanks for hanging out with me today.
Hi, Valerie! Thank you so much for having me, it’s an absolute honor!Tell me about Subject To Change. I see it’s a second in a series. Do you need to read the first to read the second?
I’m so glad you asked that! No, you don’t have to read Picture Perfect to understand Subject to Change at all. The main character of Subject to Change, Joey, is a supporting character in Picture Perfect, but that’s the only connection.
Joey makes her dad a deathbed promise to become a doctor. How did you come up with that idea for a book?
I know a lot of college students whose parents have had expectations for what they would do with their lives from when they were very young. A lot of times, they end up changing what they want to do with their lives, but are afraid to disappoint their parents. I just wanted to heighten the stakes a little, and I think this premise does that.
What’s the best writing advice you ever received?
Just to start writing. It’s the best way to learn – not reading books on how to write, not on obsessing over methods for outlining or story planning. Just write. If you have talent for it, the story and characters will tell you what they need.
What’s the strangest place you have ever written?
While I was in the hospital! I had such a bad stomach flu that I had to go in for nausea meds, and I remember thinking how awesome it would be to have to sit in bed, so I stuffed my laptop in my hospital bag between puking sessions! LOL.
If you could have one of your characters leave the pages and join you in your life, who would it be and why?
It would be Cat, Joey’s best friend. She has such a positive self-image and I could use some of that rubbed off on me.
Tell us something about one of your characters in Subject to Change that we don’t learn in the books.
Hawk is obsessed with cartoons from his childhood. It helps him remember happier times, and also, you know, he’s a guy. When he watches them with Joey around, he tries not to laugh too hard.
Who is your favorite book boyfriend, yours or someone elses.
Oooh! It’s definitely Will, from my friend Colina Brennan’s ADDICTED TO YOU, which comes out today, too! I was in love with him from moment one. He’s a psych student, and he’s Scottish. And he’s very tall. What’s not to love?
If you could make one of your books into a children’s picture book, what would you want the lesson to be?
You can’t rely on other people to tell you you’re wonderful – you have to believe it for yourself. (That goes for both my books!)
Complete for me:
When I’m writing, I need -- Munchies!
When my newest book comes out I – Get really nervous for about eight hours, refresh Goodreads constantly to see if anyone’s reading, and at the end of the day, eat ice cream to celebrate.
My guilty pleasure is – Bad romcoms! I could watch them all day.
To escape I head to the – Beach! Preferably one of the ones where hot boys bring me drinks. *wink wink*
Thanks for hanging out with me today. I can’t wait to read more this series.
It’s been my pleasure! And thank you so much for reading my first two! You are the best. <3Subject to Change (Picture Perfect, #2) by Alessandra Thomas
Source: Received eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Book Description:
Joey made her dad a deathbed promise that she would become a doctor, and dedicate herself to fighting the very cancer that took his life. There’s just one problem -three years into her pre-med classes, she's struggling to stay on top of the curve, let alone prove she's dazzling enough to earn a spot in an Ivy League medical school. In a Hail Mary move, she throws a basic Business 101 class into her semester schedule, banking on a perfect score to boost her GPA.
That is, until she’s paired for a final project with Hawk, the bartending, motorbike-riding, gorgeously bedheaded loser who falls asleep in class and communicates in one-word sentences.
Hawk does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, which sets Joey on edge – in every possible way. As they get to know each other, her urge to scream at him is curbed only by her fantasies of tearing his clothes off. Soon those fantasies become reality, and Joey realizes Hawk makes her feel more fully herself than any of the rich boys her mother and sorority sisters approve of.
But the promise to her father hangs over her head, and the harder Joey tries to succeed in her chosen career, the faster everything falls into a hopeless tailspin of bad grades, broken promises and guilt. It doesn't help to have Hawk sitting like a devil on her shoulder, insisting she should be free to live however she wants to live - like he does.
The only thing Joey knows is that her neatly organized life is crushing her - and Hawk's bad attitude might be the only thing that can save her.
My Thoughts:
4 stars - This one grabs you fast and holds you good!
The best way I can describe this book to you is to tell you what happened when I read it. I've been behind on my reading and so I wasn't sure I would get this one read in time for this review. I had just finished a book and written the review for it. It was 1AM and my mind didn't want to go to sleep, so I was looking at SUBJECT TO CHANGE. It was my next read and I was trying to decide about it. You know, just looks at it a bit and maybe read a chapter to see if it would be a quick read or not. Yeah, I looked up at 26% and was like dang I have to get up in 3 hours. So, I closed my kindle and attempted to go to sleep. That wasn't happening. Might as well read for 3 hours, do what I have to do and sleep after. So that's what I did. I read till about 76% and then took care of what needed to done, only to head right back to the book. Fastest 300 pages I've read in a while.
What was it that captured me? The characters. Joey is trying to please her mom and keep a promise to her father she made on his death bed but it's not right for her. She's working as hard as she can, but it's not enough. But she's stubborn. She's not changing her major. Pre-med all the way. I love Joey. She's trying so hard to everything for everyone else, that she forgets about herself. I see some of me in her. I love how much it took to get her to see what she was doing wasn't what was right for her or what her father would have wanted. Why? Because it's real. I don't think someone like her would just be willing to change on a whim or few weeks of being exposed to different ideas. She grows but she does it at a real pace. I liked that.
Hawk. Oh how I love Hawk. He's moody. He's passionate. He loves his sister so much and he tries so hard. It's all just a lot for someone still so young. He's got baggage, lots of it. But that's what makes him good for Joey and her for him. I love the story of his tats. I love that he shares that with Joey. I love that he tries but he fails to be part of her world. I love that he knows to be himself. He doesn't pretend for others. He is who he is and if you don't like it - too bad. Sometimes, I need to remember that. Thanks Hawk.
The story obviously flows well. I don't remember the last time a book sucked me in so fast and held me so tight.
This on is New Adult and has yummy steamy scenes in it. If you're loving this new genre as much as me, then pick this one up. Think you'll be glad you did.
Author Bio
Alessandra Thomas is a New Adult writer who swears she was in her twenties yesterday. Since she's not, she spends her time looking back on her college years fondly, and writing sexy stories about guys and girls falling in love and really living life for the first time. When she's not writing, you can find her with a spoonful of ice cream in one hand and the newest New Adult release in the other.
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Oh good to know that you don't have to read Picture Perfect first. I do have it though. Great interview and review! This sounds like an awesome series.
ReplyDeleteThis book so interesting, I would love to read it
ReplyDeleteAny of your books I love reading all kinds and your books kept my attention
ReplyDeleteI am just itching to read this one. And how can you not love a guy named Hawk?! I love that you lost sleep b/c you couldn't stop reading. Great review, Pal!
ReplyDeleteBeing a nurse, I like anything to do with medicine. Even if it is someone else's dream. LOL
ReplyDeletecuz it seems like such a good read!
ReplyDeleteTHis def sounds like a read i would enjoy! :D
ReplyDeleteSamantha
I wanted to get to this on vacation too, but ran out of time. Can't wait.
ReplyDelete