I’m going to cry today…I assure you. Fat, happy, proud tears.
Last summer I started this blog and one of the first books I found on Goodreads was an unknown, self-published book called UNTEACHABLE. It had the best blurb I’d ever read and I begged an ARC off of Leah and dove in.
I’m honored to have been her first review. She even gave me a shout out on her blog. I interviewed her for the UNTEACHABLE book tour. I didn’t even know what she looked like then. She’s since posted a picture on Twitter…she needn’t have waited.
I was stunned by Leah’s book…it was simply amazing. Where had this girl been? Why wasn’t she famous? Who wasn’t publishing her? I couldn’t believe it.
We chatted a lot last summer. I watched sales figures as MUCH BIGGER BLOGGERS got a hold of the book. It did a little business and then it did a LOT of business. I was quite sure she would be published by a traditional house within a year. Leah had different ideas. This was hardly her first rodeo and the decision to self-publish UNTEACHABLE was a hard one to make, but one she owned for a number of meaningful reasons.
Based on the success of Colleen Hoover and other indie writers who have been traditionally published as of late, I was quite certain Atria was where she just MIGHT find her home. For the record, Leah laughed in my general direction when I mentioned this last summer.
I WAS SOOOOOOO RIGHT. *happy dance*
So, here we are, dear readers. It’s THAT day. The day I can sit here and claim no credit for, but am just about as happy as can be for it anyway.
She is phenomenal, Ms. Leah Raeder. The world will know her name soon…I have no doubt. I’m stupid kinds of proud of her and still in love with her book with the rainbow-faced girl she designed for the cover once upon a time.
Have you met Maise yet? No? It’s time.
Introducing, the new UNTEACHABLE cover.
In Leah’s words:
The designer, Lucy Kim, totally captured the spirit of the original cover, but with a lot less “WTF is that?” This version of Maise strikes the perfect balance of boldness and vulnerability and I just want to friggin’ hug her. *happy sigh*
It’s a great day for books. Join me in celebrating Leah’s success today.
NEW BUY LINKS
EBOOK (on sale March 24, 2014)
PAPERBACK (on sale November 11, 2014)
NEW BLURB
An edgy, sexy USA Today bestseller about falling for the one person you can’t have.
Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
midwest galley girl 