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Somewhere Between Bitter & Sweet: Chapter One Reveal!

2/23/2021

Today, we're sharing the first chapter from Laekan Zea Kemp's debut novel, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN BITTER & SWEET! Scroll on to get a sneak peak of this YA novel, out April 6, 2021.

Title card that reads: Somewhere Between Bitter & Sweet by Laekan Zea Kemp

GREASE HISSES AND POPS beneath the staccato drums ticking from the speaker above my brother Angel’s head. The song fades beneath the clank of metal and the sound of his voice calling orders across the kitchen.
“Adobada. Mole verde. Guiso de flor.”
I hear him through the crack in the back door of the restaurant, my forehead pressed to the cold metal as I count my breaths, the beats in between. Go inside. The restaurant is descending into chaos. You don’t have time to fall apart.
But the voice in my head isn’t alone. There’s another voice, biting and cold and cruel.
You’re a mess, Pen. You’re just going to make a mess.

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Reader's Letter from Tami Charles

2/16/2021

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We're so thrilled to be sharing this reader's letter from Tami Charles, to celebrate her new novel, MUTED. You can catch Tami at iReadYA's "Muted No More: Speaking Out in Fiction" panel on March 8, at 7PM.

Image of MUTED cover, with the following words: Dear Reader, I present to you my most personal project to date. On some levels, Muted represents the roller coaster that was my teenage/young adult years. I put my parents and a few really special friends through a ride and a half. Is it too late to say I’m sorry? I hope not. Singing was always my thing. Luckily, I didn’t share the dream of making it big alone: As a young woman, I was part of an R&B group that had a single on the radio and performed for events with Boyz II Men, Showtime at the Apollo, and others. In the early stages, there were four of us. And then we dwindled down to three. Three girls lost in the fire of fame, fortune, and friendship. It was hands down the best and worst time of my life. The search for fame does that, ya know. It sucks you in, gets you hooked, spits you out at will. When you seek out fame, it’s all too easy to get hurt. I didn’t suffer the way Denver, Shak, and Dali do in this story, but the industry isn’t designed to protect the innocent. Muted is a story about how monsters can use the power of fame and art to prey on the vulnerable, leaving girls like Denver with a choice: give in or fight back. I believe there’s a little bit of Denver in all of us, equal parts fearful and fierce. This is why we all need an ally along the way. And I ask you, dear reader, to be that ally for all of the Denvers everywhere. I trust you to help by calling out the Mercs: the singers, the CEOs, the producers, the actors, the athletes, the politicians, and all the monsters navigating the world. They’re lurking everywhere, with their tiny hands tucked in deep pockets, ya know? Let us make a pact to find them. . . end them . . . MUTE them all. You got me, right? Stronger together, Tami Charles On-Sale: February 2, 2021 HC: 978-1-338-67352-4 | $18.99 EBK: 978-1-338-67353-1 | $11.99 Also available as an audiobook.

Buy Muted today!

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Somewhere Between Bitter & Sweet: Chapter One Reveal!

Reader's Letter from Tami Charles

Las Musas Speak

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