So I'm scrolling through Facebook (as I always seem to be doing for no apparent reason), and I see one of my favorite new authors, Christina C Jones (@beingmrsjones) shared a new blog post at her website www.beingmrsjones.com. Of course, I go read it. Hey, it may be a new book of hers and I couldn't possibly miss that; right? 

Anyway, I'm reading the post and she mentions that she's dropping not one but TWO books soon (the bookworm in me obviously rejoices). I keep reading and she says she's looking for beta readers. I'd never even heard of a beta reader so I keep reading the post to see what it entails. Wait...I get to read the book, as you're writing it, and give feedback? What kind of feedback could I possibly give one of my favorite authors?And I don't have to wait until the release date to find out what happens to these characters? I'm in! I commented on the status and next thing you know I get an inbox message saying she could send me the manuscript right then. Mind you, it was probably like 10:45 on a "school night" and I had to be up pretty early the next day, but who cares when you have a new book burning in your email? #bookwormproblems. 

Continuing on, being a beta reader is super fun. It's almost like you're watching the book in episodes instead of chugging through it all at once because it's available. And the experience has given me a chance to get to know the super cool Christina Jones. From the jump, we've definitely been kindred spirits (her characters sometimes think like I do lol) and I appreciate her for giving me the opportunity to be a small part of such an amazing novel. I got to go through the trials and tribulations of her characters with her which was entertaining in itself; you would've sworn they were real people the way we went on and on about them. I also learned a lot about the process authors go through when creating a novel, which I have MAD respect for. Trust me, I tried writing a few times and it is not easy! 

You can click HERE to check out some of Christina's work including Didn't Mean to Love You.

I also did a short review for the book, which you can find by clicking HERE. 

Looking for a beta reader? I may be able to help you, depending on the genre (I honestly won't be any good for a genre I'm not interested in).  Email me at thebookwormlodge@gmail.com to inquire! 

This book is everything. The end. Okay, I'm joking...about it being the end; not about it being everything...because it is. 

Moving right along....

I'm really excited to review this book because I was actually able to read it twice before the release date; once "episode by episode"-style, and once "Netflix binge the whole season in a day"-style. #betareaderperks #bookwormproblems

----Sidenote: You can check out my thoughts on my first beta reader experience with this book by clicking HERE.

Now about Didn't Mean to Love You..

This book is actually a spin-off from A Crazy Little Thing Called Love (featured here). It tells the story of Vivienne, the French chocolatier, and Carter, the tech-savvy barber. The two are neighbors, they both own businesses on the same block, and they have common friends which means they are bound to cross paths. Vivienne is a free-spirit who pretty much wears her heart on her face; not that she's easy by any means but the woman is just a natural lover. Carter is the cool, calm and collected type from the look of him and buries his heart in his perfectly-groomed locs. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize that his actions tell otherwise which confuses Viv (and will just about piss you, the reader, off). Vivienne wants to love, and she can't help but to speak her mind about it. But sometimes holding your tongue can save you from a trifecta of broken hearts.

This book will make you laugh, make you sad (especially for Vivienne..well Carter too..but mostly for Vivienne), make you angry (mainly at Carter), but then make you believe in real, no-holds-barred love. 

Check out Didn't Mean to Love You by Christina C Jones by clicking the book!

As an Author, you put everything you have into whatever book you're working on. You spend countless hours writing, developing characters, developing story lines, etc. Hours that you may never see the compensation you deserve for. You work your butt off; period. So if someone finds out you're an author and asks you about your book, you should know what to say right? I mean this is your creation, your baby, something you may have been thinking about for months or even years. It should be EASY to talk about, even brag about to an extent. 

If you end up on the elevator with a potential customer (everyone is a potential customer but you know what I mean), do you know what to say about your book? I encourage ALL authors to be able to give an intriguing description of your book in 30 seconds or less. Think about what will draw a reader to your book and lock in on it. If you say, "Oh, my book is a love story", who cares? There are MILLIONS of love stories. What makes yours different? What makes your book unique? What makes a potential customer HAVE to have it? Think about it, practice it, and stay ready. You never know who's checking for you. :) 

So this website/blog/special place is pretty much my baby and when you have a newborn you celebrate EVERYTHING right? Well, my baby is turning a month! Today technically marks 4 weeks but October 20th makes a month (ya'll know the birthday turn-up has to happen whichever weekend it falls closer to)! Time flies when you're having fun. I still remember what it felt like getting the first submission (Liz Morrison's Soulmates). For one, I was wow'd by the power of the internet and social media. For two, I was wow'd that someone that I had never met was taking a chance on me and my random idea. 

I started off knowing one or two authors in person, having a couple favorite new-ish authors, and having ZERO experience in web design/developing/whatever this is considered.  Now, a month later, I have a fully functioning website with well over 100 books posted and over 25,000 visitors that have stopped by. Visitors representing 10 different countries, 300 different cities, and 40/50 of the states (Montana and The Dakotas where ya at?). Anyways, that blows my mind. But in the same, it doesn't because literature is universal. We all read (or all should read! Side-eye to those who don't but I'm assuming if you're here, you probably do...preaching to the choir). 

I just want to thank everyone who has supported The Bookworm Lodge thus far. I can't thank the authors enough for crafting amazing books and then allowing me to feature them here. I'm also grateful (and I'm sure the authors are to) for the people that have purchased books! The greatest thing about literature is that you don't have to necessarily have tenure in the writing game to produce stellar work. A new author can be just as good if not better than a seasoned author, so they deserve the same amount of support! I mean, they work just as hard, if not harder. 

But off that soapbox I go, I'd love to hear from you all! What do you think about The Bookworm Lodge? Enjoying it? It's aight? Think I should add something? Take something away? Keep it just the way it is? Have an author in mind that I should reach out to? Let me know with a comment! Even if it's just a, "Good job". I like those too. :)

So I was scrolling through my Facebook timeline (bad procrastination habit of mine) and I stumbled across the book, Love Delayed by Love Belvin. The short description intrigued me; a witty Princeton girl and a bad boy professional basketball player. How in the heck will they relate? I haven't been able to do as much reading as I would like to lately (The Bookworm Lodge is almost a month old!) so I decided to buy the book. Once I started, I was addicted. I finished it in a day; like a "stay up late because I can't stop reading" day. #bookwormproblems

In this book, you meet Elizabeth aka Zoey (self-proclaimed, totally unrelated nickname) and Stenton. Zoey gets wrapped up in a mindless summer program due to her slut of a cousin Angela (sorry, I hated her lol).  Little did Zoey know, she'd end up getting wrapped up in a WHOLE lot more than just a summer program...more like a lifetime of drama, with her tattooed lover Stenton. And what an interesting lover he is...let's just say he's a level 3 on the scale to 10 being Christian Grey. 

Anyways, Part 2 to this book will be dropping soon (right Love??? lol) and I'm sure you all can tell, I'm super excited. Check out Love Delayed by Love Belvin by clicking the book!

Also, check out our book posting for Love Belvin's Love Lost by clicking HERE. 

*Cues "Too Deep for the Intro" by J.Cole* Lol kidding...

Let me just start off by saying, it's very weird for me to write about myself. But okay here I go...

Welcome to my inner thoughts. When I say my, I mean like Alexandra, creator of this..place. I'm a 23 year old, Nebraska girl (yes there's black people here!), who loves children, sports, more Mexican food than healthy and of course, books! 

I've always been a reader but I fell in love with books after reading Eric Jerome Dickey's Milk in My Coffee. I'm pretty sure I had no business reading that book when I did (I was probably like 12 or 13) but it opened up the can of worms which is now my bookshelves. When I first started reading books like this, I would simply pick up whatever books I could find in the "Urban" section at Wal-Mart (not just any Wal-Mart, but the "hood" Wal-Mart) and hope for the best. As I got older, my selections became a little more thought out. 

I had "favorite" authors that I would wait on to release a book, like a paperback book (Pre-Kindle ahhh). But in between their book releases, I had to do something! So from time to time I would try new authors. Some I would like, some I wouldn't but nonetheless I gained a few more books to read and authors to enjoy. Then one day, it seemed like all of my favorite authors for real just stopped coming out with books for MONTHS. I needed something to read so I began to search book categories on Amazon (man is it hard to find good African-American fiction). I found good titles, some authors I even followed up with by buying more of their books, but it wasn't "fun" to search books on Amazon. Usually some of the best books I found were from new authors that were featured after visiting 15-20 pages of books. That's when I thought, where do new authors get love? And The Bookworm Lodge was born. 

This website is pretty much blog style all around but this is the part where I (Alexandra) will share a few nuggets of randomness that is myself. All literature related, no worries. :)

Feel free to introduce yourself in the comments. :)