Welcome to my tour stop for 

BACK TO ME by Kelly Miles!

Enjoy the amazing guest post by Kelly and don't forget to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Title: Back to Me
Author: Kelly Miles
Publication date: November 30th 2015
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Billy is alone, but he’s used to it. After being shot six years ago, the love of his life left him in the hospital, fighting for his life. It left him an empty shell of a man and he no longer wants the responsibility of looking after anyone; he’s barely looking after himself. Alcohol is the only thing he’s interested in. That is until Blake, his old FBI partner shows up unexpectedly.

Heather doesn’t want to be saved. She’s just fine being on her own. She’s fought for the last six years to survive, trying to outrun the mistake that cost her everything. When Billy shows up out of the blue, she’s forced to face the pain that still threatens to rip her apart.

When Billy goes back into the FBI the danger is insurmountable, but he sees no other way. He’s doing it for redemption; redemption for all the damage he’s caused and the monster he’s become. He’s willing to risk his life to avenge Heather, but will it all come crashing down this time, solidifying their end once and for all?

+Add to Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon | B&N

How to fall in-love with your book's characters in 3 steps or more

It’s tricky. I don’t always love my characters. Some of them have been spiteful. Mean. Plain evil. But I think all of those elements are what make a good story. You should have an antagonist and at least one character readers will love to hate. It will definitely make the good guys (or girls) shine even more.

My steps are this:

1) Use your personal experiences. Writing what you know will make your story and your characters more believable. Write about people you know. What makes them tick. Their habits. Their words. Their mannerisms. Anything that makes them come alive from the pages of a book. Whether those are good qualities or not.

2) Embellish when necessary, but don’t get too carried away. Otherwise, it’s not authentic and it won’t flow well. Don’t force it.

3) Don’t try to mold them into perfect people. Everyone has flaws. Everyone. Your characters should, too. Even the good ones!

My first novel, Montana Sky, was written somewhat from personal experience. So that one was easy. You have the traditional story of boy meets girl and they fall in-love. But with that comes a twist; a brutal man who’s out for revenge. Whose sole purpose is to hurt the woman he can’t have. And because of that, he’s easy to hate and really makes the hero of the book, Luke, stand out even more. It’s impossible not to love him. But I think a true method that delivers a good story is taking that same antagonist that a reader loves to hate, and making them appealing. It can be through their appearance. The color of their eyes or their gate. Their muscular build. Anything that makes them appear more human regardless of their depravity.

Let those characters mingle in your brain for a bit. See how they play with the other characters of your book, metaphorically speaking. One of the great things about writing is that nothing is set in stone. There’s always room for improvement and always time to make changes when necessary. You don’t have to be tied down to one specific idea. And you shouldn’t be. My stories change several times throughout the writing process and most always ends up going an entirely different direction. Set your mind beforehand that that’s okay.

And lastly, remember that we are all human and that includes whatever character you’re building up in your story. Even the heroes and heroines need to have some sort of imperfections. A reader will not fall-in love with an unobtainable man and vice-versa.

¡Segunda parte del quinto (sexto) día de maratón!

6/11 Reseñas

The Urban Boys (Los chicos urbanos) es un libro juvenil de ficción, acción entre otros.

Welcome to my tour stop for 

THE URBAN BOYS by K.N. Smith

When I was little, I picked up a firecracker that I thought was dead, but it wasn't! That thing practically blew up in my hand, and it suspended my hearing for a little while. One of my sisters thought I was joking, and she was laughing her head off, but they all came to my rescue when they saw I was in dire straits! Wow, that was pretty scary. Beyond that, I can honestly say that I do not like turbulence on planes. I much prefer taking the train, if possible. And I don’t like rollercoaster-like bumps or going downhill too fast, which kills my stomach! One time, I was in this group exercise out in the woods. It was kind of like a team building field trip. Well, one of the activities involved getting into a harness and gliding down to the rest of the team from this really high platform. I thought to myself, "Who in the world came up with this crazy mess?" I had already stopped going on roller coasters some time ago, so I had no idea why I was even up there.

Anyway, when it was my time to glide down, it was as far from graceful as you can get. Seriously, it sounded like someone had shot an animal and left it screaming and wounded on the forest’s floor. On the way down, I was trying to be quiet and squeeze my stomach to keep it from jumping up into my throat, but it wasn't working. I swear, someone thought a bear was among us! I was so scared up there. All I remember was getting the weirdest looks from people when I finally got off that evil contraption, and you can bet I'll never do that again! In fact, I'm so honest with myself about it now that I will tell the guy in the seat next to me on the plane that he's going to have to babysit me if those turbulence flare up. Sorry, dude! I may just rip off his coat sleeve if he's not careful. Watch out frequent flyers, here she comes!

"An energetic YA adventure debut with stellar action sequences. Smith's writing is intelligent and often lyrical. Her exuberant prose never fails to dazzle."- Kirkus Media

"Author K.N. Smith uses her mastery of the written word to weave an entrancing, yet powerful tale of adventure that keeps you turning pages in an unquenchable desire to find out what happens next. The author's matchless prose details cinematic fight sequences and fully developed characterizations especially in a final, stupendous scene that will take your breath away and leave you limp with spent emotions. Five stars for this imaginative and inspiring story, sure to be as appealing to general audiences as it will be to the YA crowd!" 5-stars - Publishers Daily Reviews

"I LOVE to read, but live a hugely busy life. It gets more complicated upon that rare occasion when a book is so captivating, so enthralling, that it is impossible to walk away. With only definitive hours in a day, something has to give. For me, that was sleep! And it was worth every sacrificed minute. “The Urban Boys” was the grand slam home run and exceeded my wildest expectations and I would bet, maybe yours, as well. Totally new concepts and a rich crew of characters – good, bad and ugly… and suspenseful twists that keep you guessing, and such beautiful, strong writing! A must read for fans of YA action/adventure/fantasy!!" 5-stars - Indie Book Reviewers

I decided to try something new —and this is what happened! The Urban Boys is a Paranormal Young Adult story with action and adventure, and it’s the debut novel by K.N. Smith. From the moment I read the synopsis or blurb I really wanted to read it —a book about guys? And those guys have heightened senses? who can’t be attracted by something like that?

Anyway, this story tells us about five boys’ lives whom after being exposed, and I quote, to a foreign energy source, they have their senses intensified. And now they’re living a new adventure that they’ve never thought they’d have. What about the senses? For example, one is seeing something or someone in the distance. All of them have their own “power” and at the end they complemented each other, because five sense are better than one —or something like that.

However, even when I really like the whole plot, and all the story, at the beginning it was a little difficult for me to follow it because, well, they’re five! And as you know English is not my first language so I always kind of end losing the track of a story when there are many characters, and yes, the first part of the book was a little slowly, BUT then the story drew on and all made sense —for me, that was the good part.

Overall, this is something new, I recommend this book for everyone, but mostly for those who like paranormal books, also, the author’s writing was really good, but a little excessive when it comes to describe their lives before it, but, as I said, it’s was a new experience.

Book: +4.0