{Blog Tour+Giveaway+Review} Induction Day (Butterman Travel #2): P.K. Hrezo

Tour Page & Schedule

Rating: 75%
Series: Butterman Travel #2

Ages: 16+

Pages Count: 247
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance, Time Travel, New Adult, Young Adult, Fiction,
Publisher: Create Space
Publication Date: July 29, 2014
Format: eBook
Source: Candace's Book Blog Promotions

The year 2069 is coming to a close, and eighteen-year-old Bianca Butterman's time-craft license is finally official. She's ready for the Induction Day she’s waited for since she was a kid—the one that will secure her name on the Butterman family tree of time travelers. But ever since the media discovered Bianca is pop superstar Tristan Helms’ latest new honey, everything Bianca does or says becomes a target of criticism. Having her professional credibility topping the gossip sites across social media is an open invitation for the government to step in and regulate Bianca’s Induction. Now she will have to ask herself if saving 1500 people from drowning is worth losing everything she’s ever worked for, including the Butterman family biz.

Welcome to Butterman Travel, Incorporated; a full service agency designed to meet all your exclusive time travel needs. We’re a family owned and operated business with one hundred years of experience. A place where you can rest assured, safety and reliability always come first.

Anxious to attend some special event from the past? Or for a glimpse of what the future holds?

You’ve come to the right place. We’re a fully accredited operation, offering an array of services; including, but not limited to: customized travel plans, professionally piloted operations, and personal trip guides. *Terms and conditions do apply

Use our Web conferencing to contact our frontline reservation specialist, Bianca Butterman, who will handle all your inquiries in a professional and efficient manner, offering a tentative itinerary and free fare quote, so you can make the most of your time trip.

We look forward to serving you at Butterman Travel, Inc., where time is always in your hands.

Goodreads | YouTube

  Information on Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc 

Synopsis: Welcome to Butterman Travel, IncorporatedWe are a full service agency designed to meet all your exclusive time travel needs. Family-owned and operated, we offer clients one hundred years of time travel experience. A place where you can rest assured, safety and reliability always come first.Anxious to attend a special event from the past? Or for a glimpse of what the future holds?You’ve come to the right place. We’re a fully accredited operation, offering an array of services; including, but not limited to: customized travel plans, professionally piloted operations, and personal trip guides. *Terms and conditions do applyConference us directly from our Website. Our frontline reservation specialist, Bianca Butterman, will handle all your inquiries in a professional and efficient manner, offering a tentative itinerary and free fare quote, so you can make the most of your time trip.We look forward to serving you at Butterman Travel, Inc., where time is always in your hands.

 Goodreads |  Amazon Kindle  | B&N   

About the author:

PK Hrezo is a native Floridian rarely found without her flip flops on. She shares her home with her firefighter husband, their two children, and big dog named Ripley. When not creating characters and their worlds, PK can be found at her other job of rearranging passenger’s itineraries for a major international airline. The only hobbies she loves more than traveling are reading, writing, and music, and when the four are combined she exists in total bliss.

Twitter | Facebook | Website | Blog

Giveaway:

To be entered into a special giveaway, copy one of these ready-made posts and share it. Make sure PK’s name is tagged so she can see it and enter your name into a giveaway. The more you share, the more entries you receive. Five winners will receive a time traveler’s book thong:

TWEETS: Induction Day by @PKHrezo is a #timetravel #mustread. Retweet this to be entered into a special #giveaway. Add it to #AmazonCart here.

FACE BOOK: Induction Day is here! A taut, fast-paced, engrossing read by PKHrezo. Find it on Amazon here:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G9ADV2O

GOOGLE PLUS: Induction Day by #PKHrezo is a #timetravel #mustread. Retweet this to be entered into a special #giveaway. A taut, fast-paced, engrossing read. Find it on Amazon here:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G9ADV2O

Share this post for an entry into a special giveaway.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Candaces Book Blog Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Background &Backstory

I was planning, somewhere on my lengthy TBR, to read this book, after all, I had sincerely enjoyed Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc back in January and wanted to know what happened next. I just hadn't planned on reading it as soon as I did in November. Yet, sometime in October, Candace's Book Blog Promotions when they inquired about me wanting to participate in the Induction Day blog tour. I thought, "What the hey?" I liked the first book, I already wanted to read the second, I love supporting authors I have previously worked with. I'll do the tour.

What Was My Reaction After I Finished This Book?

That was.... somewhat confusing, sequel PLEASE

Pro | Solidity/Deliverance: In terms of self/independently-published books I have read for promotional events, Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc is on my top three list. The first book had an extremely strong plot, interesting take on time travel, a swoon worthy romance, and well-developed characters. I am so happy to say that the sequel, Induction Day, was just as strong and solid of a sequel, delivering on my expectations after reading Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. Sophomore Slumps are a common occurrence amongst all authors and I was so appreciative for Induction Day carrying out my wishes as a reader (I don't sound entitled at all :p). 

Con | The Feeling of Wanting More Well-Roundedness : In Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. The story's setting and focus had a lot more variety. So, while Induction Day was satisfying to me in terms of reading enjoyment, it was not nearly as diverse in terms of where, what, how, why, when everything was taking place. Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. was a big bucket of crazy (of the good variety). Yet, Induction Day was centered in only Alaska and the Titanic versus the multiple locations of Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. I had just wanted a wider scope of vision in Bianca's world and didn't receive it. What I will point out is the fact that this novel did serve as an excellent foundation for the next book.

Pro | Characters & Romance: Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc allowed us to see into the minds, form opinions, and get to know Bianca and Tristan, our leading man and lady. Induction Day put our preconceived ideas of the two of them to the test. The raw, grittiness of Tristan's smoking hot character was upheld with all of the recent issues with his drug addiction. Bianca's Butterman's choice of judgement and intelligence was challenged with her Induction Day, and I respected her so much as a character because of it. On top of that, even though this novel is classified as New Adult (by default with the protagonist's ages), but the two of them have not been to the intimate level so many teenaged book character get to by at least the second book. I commend Hrezo so much for making Bianca hold so strongly to her moral beliefs about her virginity. The couple's relationship was also put to the test. They argued, yet as any reader/author duo knows, that is what makes the story stronger and more believable.

Con | Confusion With Time Travel: Time Travel has always been an extremely confuzzling concept for our inapt human minds to handle. Therefore we are bound to not understand. Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. did not have me confused with this concept, but because Induction Day built on what I had already learned in Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. everything was just multiplied in terms of complexity. P.K. Hrezo did a brilliant job of going into detail with this concept and designing her own rules for this peculiar concept. Therefore it is a personal thing only, with the matter of my finding this book a tad confusing when it came to the time travel aspects.

How Likely Is It That I Will Read The Sequel To This Book?

40%
Since beginning to book blog/vlog, I have needed to prioritize my TBR and make sure that my bookish needs were satisfied above anything else. (Yes, I am aware about how selfish that sounds) I try my best to only read books that I truly want to read. Therefore, I probably won't obtain this book purely on my own want for a sequel, but most definitely, if the opportunity to promote/support the next book comes up, I will take it.

Conclusion: A solid, satisfying, fast-paced sequel that delivered everything I expected.

{ARC Review} The Here and Now: Ann Brashares

Rating: 3/10

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Time Travel, Science Fiction,

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: April 8, 2014

Page Count: 288

Format: eARC

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Nobles ~ The Book Depository

Goodreads Synopsis: An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins. Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth. But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves. 

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.

Disclaimer: I received this book as an eARC from Netgalley which does not in the slightest effect my honest review of the book.

*My reviews, while they normally do not have spoilers, there are always exceptions when I NEED to get my feelings out about a book in a way that I don't have to feel like censoring them. Normally, I would compose separate posts, spoiler and non-spoiler versions, but in this case, I will just establish when there are spoilers*

*If this is your first time visiting Loving the Language of Literacy, I would like you to know that I don't actually sound like this (hashtags & sarcasm) usually in reviews but this book is unusual for me*

Before You Read: This book got a lot of bad pre-publication press, as in I was seeing review after review on my Bloglovin feed about it. Let's say I read 10 reviews of the book, eight of ten of those reviews were negative, at a 2.5 star rating or less. 

There was also one overall complaint on every single one of the reviews, even the positive ones: the mention of sex. There is a rule of the time travelers that states that time travelers cannot be 'intimate' with people that did not travel with them for fear of spreading the epidemic, because even though the time travelers themselves were immune, it was not certain if the people they might make out with had that immunity as well. So, the second Ethan and Prenna admit their feelings for each other, Prenna tells Ethan that they can't have sex.  

I, personally, did not have a problem with the whole "I just kissed you, but I need to establish that we can't have sex now." thing, but what I did have was numerous issues with the book itself in all aspects of the book. I am also aware that The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is an extremely well-regarded series, and is what established Brashare's merit as an author. I do think the numerous negative reviews I read of this novel impacted my opinion and low rating, but at the same time, if I had picked this book up knowing NOTHING about it, I would have still had complaints about it. 

My biggest complaint of all was that it seemed like a carbon copy of a book I read for a blog tour in February which was Unite by Jamie Campbell which I highly suggest you check out in order to understand my frustrations with The Here and Now, if not that, then at least to read the synopsis of it so you can recognize the parallels as well. 

While THAN has humans that time traveled to escape a pandemic, and UNITE has aliens from another planet that have come to this one in order to save the population, the idea of it is the same. 

DON'T REVEAL WHERE YOU'RE FROM

I hate to say it, but neither is very original. Time traveling to now may be creative, but the wide spread epidemic people had to escape from was not. Aliens trying to save the human race sounds very I Am Number Four. 

Another aspect that the two books have in common is KIDNAPPING (I feel like that word should be flashing in neon colors, what about you?). While it was Amery's best friend Lola in UNITE and Prenna herself in THAN, the girls still had to be saved by their boyfriends/best friend's boyfriend and the best friend. 

YOUR GOVERNMENT WAS LYING TO YOU

This is a pretty universal theme in dystopian novels, and it appears in both of them. 

***Spoiler Alert***

Another similarity with another book, which wasn't annoying, just a little confusing, and a "Why was that needed?" kind of factor was with the weird time traveling guy that serves as a HUGE plot twist for the story. In When You Reach Me it was Sal's older self that protected current Marcus and Miranda. In THAN, it was the very first time traveler that killed the #evil_scientist. I never understood why the older Sal was needed in WYRM and I don't understand now why having the killer as THE FIRST time traveler made such a huge difference in THAN.  
***End Spoiler Alert***

Characters: #It's_Honesty_Time The characters were such a deal breaker for me. Prenna and Ethan felt so unreal, and not even in the supernatural being unreal way, but the "Are people that boring?" kind of way. I hate to sound so uncompassionate, but they probably could have been kidnapped and murdered by Prenna's fellow time natives and I would have routed for the people killing them. My feelings towards the characters were a lot like my feelings towards America Singer, Prince Maxon, and Aspen from the Selection Trilogy. (I'm bringing up every review I've ever wrote practically in this one) When I was reading The Elite, I brought up Prince Maxon's dictator father was the saving grace of the story, and was also similar to Uther from the BBC show, Merlin. The actual point of all this sidetracking is to say that I didn't care about the main characters at all because they seemed like plot devices, and the villains of The Here and Now seemed more realistic.

***Spoiler Alert***
Ending: Do I even remember the ending at this point? Now I remember.....Prenna and Ethan blackmailed the authorities in the community of time travelers. Good overcame evil. The virus hopefully won't spread now. Oh my gosh, everything is right with the world now. It was completely expected, and didn't leave a window for a sequel.
***End Spoiler Alert***

Conclusion: I was extremely disappointed with The Here and Now because of its cliche plot, stone-like characters, Oh-so-evil government, and overused ending. 

{Blog Tour+Interview+Giveaway} Butterman (Time) Travel Inc.

Welcome to my tour stop for Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc by PK Hrezo and Happy Valentines Day! This is a New Adult Time Travel Adventure Romance and the tour runs Feb. 10-21 with reviews, author interviews and a few guest posts and top tens.  It also includes a great giveaway.  Be sure to stop by the tour page for all the additional information and list of tour stops.

Book Title: Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc  

Author: PK Hrezo

Genre: NA Time Travel Adventure Romance

Recommended Age: 16 and up

Length: 267

Release date: November, 2013

Description:

It’s the year 2069 and

even though eighteen-year-old Bianca Butterman is heir to the family

biz, she may never see the day her time-craft license becomes official.

When a government agent starts nosing around the operation, Butterman

Travel, Inc. gets stuck with a full audit—part of a government take-over

scheme to shut down all private time travel agencies. Enter former boy

band superstar, Tristan Helms, desperate to retrieve a lost item from

his past and willing to pay triple fare for a time-trip to get there,

and Bianca has to find a way to complete the job and return home before

the government gets wind and shuts down the family biz for good.

Welcome

to Butterman Travel, Incorporated; a full service agency designed to

meet all your exclusive time travel needs. We’re a family owned and

operated business with one hundred years of experience. A place where

you can rest assured, safety and reliability always come first.

Anxious to attend some special event from the past? Or for a glimpse of what the future holds?

You’ve

come to the right place. We’re a fully accredited operation, offering

an array of services; including, but not limited to: customized travel

plans, professionally piloted operations, and personal trip guides.

*Terms and conditions do apply

Use our Web conferencing to

contact our frontline reservation specialist, Bianca Butterman, who will

handle all your inquiries in a professional and efficient manner,

offering a tentative itinerary and free fare quote, so you can make the

most of your time trip.
We look forward to serving you at Butterman Travel, Inc., where time is always in your hands.

 Goodreads |  Amazon Kindle  | B&N 

About the Author:

PK Hrezo is a native Floridian whose life could easily be a Jimmy Buffet song. She shares her home with her firefighter husband and their two children. When not creating characters and their worlds, PK can be found at her other job of rearranging passenger’s itineraries for a major international airline. The only hobbies she loves more than traveling, are reading, writing, and music, and when the four are combined she exists in total bliss.   

She blogs regularly at PK HREZO: Fearless Fiction http://pk-hrezo.blogspot.com/

Twitter | Facebook | Website | Blog

Giveaway:

T-shirt from outofprintclothing.com (US)

$10 Amazon Gift Card (INT)

Bettie Bookpage Pixie ornament (US)

Interview

While writing Butterman (Time) Travel, did you ever experience writer's block, or did the ideas flow?

I don’t believe in writer’s block, so no. I do get what I call “revision impotence” sometimes when I know major rewrites are looming, but in first draft mode I usually can’t keep up with the thoughts flowing from my head. I had a lot of fun writing Butterman, so in that mindset of full enjoyment, the ideas were abundant.

What made you decide to self-publish Butterman (Time) Travel Inc, and do you have any advice for others that would like to do so?

It wasn’t a spontaneous decision, I’ll tell you that. I’ve been writing for six years now and following the industry closely. Many of my writer friends have found success from SP, and while it’s not a given because of the market’s unpredictability, it’s an opportunity to have full creative control, and I’ve been really enchanted with that idea. I loved designing my own cover with my cover artist, and deciding when I wanted to launch my book. I discussed all the options with my agent, and I was upfront about wanting this project to be done my way. In this day and age, more and more authors are becoming hybrid, and I felt this project would be a great way for me to get my author name out there and start a readership.

My advice for those considering SP, is to make sure all your ducks are in a row first. Know your market—who you’re writing the story for, and form a marketing plan. This, of course, is after having your story critiqued, beta read, revised and polished multiple times. Then have it either professionally edited, or proofread, depending on the skill set of your critique partners. I’d also suggest reading all the self-help self-publishing guides out there before you publish, so you can make sure you’re doing it right and putting your best product forward. I’ve read a few SP novels where I could tell the author hadn’t taken the time to learn the craft, and the last thing you want as a writer, is for readers not to believe in your author name. Also, if you’re considering SP, be ready for the expense. Set money aside now and expect to spend about a thousand dollars or more on the launch alone.

 

How long have you been writing, and when did you start writing Butterman (Time) Travel Inc?

 I’ve been making things up since I was a child, but I started writing novels seriously about six years ago. I’ve written seven novels to date, most which will never see the light of day. I started writing Butterman in April of last year, finished it, revised it with the help of various CPs and beta readers, polished and launched it November 12.

Why is the story's setting so unusual? 2069 Alaska? 2068 New York City? 1969 Woodstock?

 Well, because I’m unusual. I knew I wanted Tristan and Bianca to go back in time to Woodstock, but I wanted it to be terribly odd for Bianca. She needed to be futuristic, modern, dark, etc., to really contrast with the setting of a 1969 hippie-fest. Visiting New York in 2068 allowed me to get futuristic and play with the sci-fi element of the story, while Alaska just felt like the wildest place for a time travel agency to be. I have this thing for Alaska and I love writing about it, and in keeping with the idea of the Buttermans moving away from mainstream society, it worked as a setting. You have to keep all that technology safe, you know? J

Thank you so much for having me here today and featuring Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc.!

Review

*I was given this book for a blog tour which does not in the slightest affect my honest review of this book*

The first thing I would like to say for BTTI is that I had way to many annotations for it which in Sofiaworld is  good thing because she has a problem with making notes while reading (she also has a problem speaking in third person). I have to say that I just loved this book. Everything about it, the plot, the setting(s), the characters, everything seemed perfectly crafted and refined. 

What inspired Tristan Helm's character, and all the layers he had? He was a golden-boy popstar one moment, down-in-the-dumps starving artist type musician, and drug addict the next.

When I began plotting the story, I knew I wanted him to be the opposite of Bianca, and I wanted them to play off of each other. I knew Tristan would be an ex-boyband star fresh out of rehab. I wanted him to be a golden boy, but show his weaknesses too. The media has a way of portraying musicians as idols, when they’re as vulnerable to temptation as the rest of us. So many performing artists have suffered from addiction. Tristan was sort of an amalgam of all of them—just a regular guy thrown into this charmed life of superstardom and unable to get a handle on it, because he’s a human being with an addictive personality. But through it all, holding tight to his passion for music, in the hopes his art can redeem him in some way.

My favorite character was Tristan Helms, the person whose problems were what made the story go 'round. As she said, he was supposed to be Bianca's polar opposite, which he definitely was. While Bianca was busy telling him about the DOT's regulations, and making him read handbooks, he was the free spirit blowing in the wind, unrestrained by anything in the world. Unfortunately, he is also the bad example for all you little'uns at home for what not to do when you become an international pop star. 'He's fresh out of rehab' after being put in their for an addiction to helios because he was unable to handle superstardom. But that wasn't all Tristan was. He, like some of the modern pop-sensations at the moment, wanted to prove himself to everyone that he actually could produce good music, and was talented. One moment he's deep, the next he's insecure, then he's arrogant-basically, extremely bipolar.

On top of that, he's hot with "irises of smoky gray mixed with cobalt blue, like twilight in the mountains". 

Another part about Tristan is that he goes through some major character development, and Bianca gets to know him as a person, not an image the media has tried creating. "for once, he looks real--not Tristan Helms the golden-boy-pop-superstar, but like any other regular guy in the middle of some major sh*t. Stripped of his royalties and status, but trying to make it like everyone else."

 PK also provides some insight on addiction with Tristan's problems, and puts it in a way that is easy to understand, and not in a way that is shameful, but something that could happen to the best of us. "Easy to think you'd never do it, til its right in front of you...and you're curious...and it opens your mind and shows you things you didn't see before."

Was it difficult for you to decide all of the ins and outs, and rules of time travel, especially the coincidences?

Not necessarily difficult, but tedious. I researched time travel for a good month and designed the operation before writing a first draft. It helps that I’ve been in the commercial travel business for sixteen years, so I’m very familiar with the DOT and regulated airline travel. Leaning on that knowledge while applying it to time travel and the speculated paradoxes made a lot of sense. The rest, like the coincidences, I relied heavily on my imagination for. 

Something I loved about this book was obviously the time travel, and with the time travel comes the problems there always is. Ripping the delicate fabric of time, destroying the space-time-continuum, seeing your past or future self, and everything else. What I loved was that PK managed to give us a lot of detail on the time travel process without us becoming bored and saying, "just get back to the story," There are so many ins, outs, rules, regulations, loopholes, and coincidences that it would make your head spin around, and Tristan thinks Bianca is a huge party-pooper for doing reminding him.  Especially since Butterman Travel Inc is one of five independent time travel businesses that the DOT permits. These are just a few of many confusing ones that made Bianca and Tristan's journey one hell of a trip.

"You can't have time without space. They're relative." "SO the time craft doubles as a spacecraft, is that it?" "Right. But we're entering space at warp drive through a vaccum packed vortex, not a lift off like shuttles leaving Earth's atmosphere. We're using dimensions to play Cosmic Chutes and Ladders with the time tunnels."

And we must remember that even though the BTI is independent, the DOT can still take away their license, but they can't actually not permit time travel from happening, "Would be like trying to claim a piece of the sky as private property."

"I can't absorb my knowledge from my timeline if I've been on either side of it, right? So during the time window, when I'm in the past or in the future, life around me continues, but when I return to my present, I have to catch up on what I have missed." 

But of course, you cannot have a story like this without some villain, and in BTTI, that villain is Garth, a worker for the DOT that is fiercely intent to bring down BTTI.She is sort of like the head Seeker in the book, The Host that wouldn't stop until she found the Resistance. It's the same thing in BTTI, except that she's only chasing after one person. She finds Tristan and Bianca in both time periods they travel to, and won't stop until she destroys them once and for all. *Tell me you didn't just hear an evil laugh*

What is Garth's ulterior motive that fuels her drive in the quest to take down Butterman (Time) Travel Inc?

For the most part, it’s her sense of duty to her job and the DOT, but she does briefly mention her purpose, right before Bianca and Tristan set off to Woodstock, and that’s that she wants to finish the job her father started. This will be explored in further detail in the sequel and following volume, as Garth and her father believe time travel should be run only by the government and not private agencies.

Part of what’s explored in the first book, and part of what Evan and Evangeline fill Bianca in on, is the that the future of the DOT is not what they expect. Garth has some knowledge of this, though not all, and is working to influence Bianca to make different choices that will alter the course of the future.

That’s all I can tell you for now.

I loved this book so much, and cannot wait for Induction Day *hint hint PK Hrezo* which I will definitely be reading when it comes out. What we already knew was that Bianca wanted to stop the Titanic from hitting the iceberg, but what don't we know. This is as much as I could get out of her.
 
What can you tell us about Bianca Butterman's Induction Day, especially because of the sequels title? Also, what inspired you to choose the Titanic?

The first draft of Induction Day is almost complete. What I can tell you, is that she does get the induction she’s been waiting for, but not at all like she expects.

Researching and recreating Titanic has been a mixture of emotions. It’s always fascinated me—the thought of all those people and that massive ship just going down? Completely haunting. There’s a romantic element tied to the catastrophe, possibly because of all the glitz and glamour associated with Titanic’s maiden voyage, and it’s something a young girl could read about and become attached to—especially a time traveler who knows she gets one opportunity to tamper with a timeline. Remember, the Induction Day isn’t commercial travel, so the DOT regulations don’t apply, but Bianca still has a responsibility to the timelines. Exploring this in the sequel has been intriguing in the biggest way. How would you change what happened to Titanic? You really have to delve into the particulars and form an action plan. It’s mind-bending.

Thank you so much PK for answering my questions, and thank you CBB Book Promotions for letting me read this wonderful book.