YA@Books Inc. welcomes authors Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, and Alexa Donne to San Francisco in celebration of their new YA thrillers, Friends Like These and Pretty Dead Queens! They’ll be in conversation with friend and fellow author Jennieke Cohen.
Friends Like These:
Sharp, atmospheric, and wildly fast-paced--Jessica Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of They'll Never Catch Us
From the author of Lies Like Wildfire comes another page-turning thriller about the little lies we all tell before the truth sets us free--perfect for readers of Karen M. McManus and Diana Urban.
Mistake number one . . .
Fun-loving Jake tells his girlfriend, Jessica, that they have to go to Tegan's end-of-summer party in their tiny California beach town. Jessica doesn't like parties, and she doesn't like Tegan, who has an obvious, obsessive crush on Jake. But she agrees to go, to make Jake happy.
Mistake number two . . .
Something awful happens at the party. Something so embarrassing that Jessica doesn't know if she can ever get over it--and Jake will do whatever it takes to earn her forgiveness. And now a girl is missing. Everyone is a suspect. And Jake seems to have a lot to hide. . . .
When a body is discovered at the beach, friends start turning on friends, and lies start piling upon lies. What happened could destroy their lives. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Mistake number three . . .
This drama sucks you right in.-- Girls' Life
Sharp, atmospheric, and wildly fast-paced, Friends Like These will leave you breathless as you rush to find out the truth hidden in the corners of Crystal Cove. A harrowing, nuanced portrayal of how far some will go to keep their secrets untold.--JESSICA GOODMAN, NYT bestselling author of They'll Never Catch Us
"This tangled story about terrible choices, mistaken assumptions, and the all-to-thin line between friends and enemies expertly cranks up the tension chapter-by-chapter until it leaves you dangling on the edge of a cliff and desperate for answers."--GINNY MYERS SAIN, author of Dark and Shallow Lies
Intoxicating and propulsive; an emotional rollercoaster that doesn't let up until the final, brutal twist.--ALEXA DONNE, author of The Ivies
An intoxicating must-read thriller, with characters so raw and human, you'll feel the full force of every twist.--JARROD SHUSTERMAN , New York Times bestselling author of Dry
With pulsing dialogue and believable action, the thriller raises the stakes at every turn. A fast-paced thriller to keep readers on the edges of their seats.-- Kirkus
Jennifer Lynn Alvarez is the author of ten published novels, including the YA thriller Lies Like Wildfire and two middle-grade fantasy series, but this is not where she started. After earning her BA in English Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, Jennifer went into finance, of all things. It was many years and several rejected manuscripts later before she accomplished her childhood dream of becoming an author. Jennifer no longer works in finance and spends her days dreaming up stories. She also teaches creative writing classes through her local library, encouraging others to write their own stories. Jennifer divides her time between Northern California and Middle Tennessee with her husband, kids, and more than her fair share of pets. You can follow her on Instagram @jennifer_lynn_alvarez or Twitter @Jenniferdiaries. Visit her online at jenniferlynnalvarez.com.
Pretty Dead Queens:
The new homecoming queen is dead . . . and she's not the first unsolved murder at Seaview High. From the critically acclaimed author of The Ivies comes a nonstop YA thriller about a decades-old mystery, a copycat killer, and the teen who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth.
Utterly savage. -Jessica Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of They'll Never Catch Us
Perfect for... spooky season. -BuzzFeed
After the death of her mom (screw cancer), seventeen-year-old Cecelia Ellis goes to live with her estranged grandmother, a celebrated author whose Victorian mansion is as creepy as the murder mysteries she writes. On the surface, life is utterly ordinary in the California coastal town . . . until the homecoming queen is murdered. And she's not Seaview's first pretty dead queen.
With a copycat killer on the loose, Cecelia throws herself into the investigation, determined to crack the case like the heroines in her grandmother's books. But the more Cecelia digs into the town's secrets, the more she worries that her own mystery might not have a storybook ending.
An intricately plotted whodunit that maintains suspense to the end." -Kirkus Reviews
Sharp as a knife and utterly savage, Pretty Dead Queens has an ending that will shock even the most astute mystery buffs. -Jessica Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of They'll Never Catch Us
Compulsively readable and methodically plotted, Pretty Dead Queens is smart, twisted, and cozy--everything I love in a myster y. - J.Elle, New York Times bestselling author of Wings of Ebony
Twisty, imaginative, and highly addictive, Pretty Dead Queens is Alexa Donne at her devious best. Packed with small-town secrets, family mysteries, and intrigue: be prepared to stay up well past your bedtime. -Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, author of All Eyes On Her and The Girls Are All So Nice Here
Pretty Dead Queens crackles with wit, romance, and atmosphere! Set in a small town full of big lies and unsolved murders, this fast-paced whodunnit will keep you guessing as Cecelia, a whip-smart teen turned amateur investigator, risks everything to stop the killer and bring justice to the victims. A thriller to die for! -Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, author of Lies Like Wildfire and Friends Like These
A brain-bending, twisty tale in a picturesque, coastal town bursting with secrets, lies, and ultimate betrayals. The perfect blend of Hitchcock, Agatha Christie, and Jessica Fletcher--all brought to life with the deftness of Donne's razor-sharp insight into the dark side of human nature. -Jennieke Cohen, author of My Fine Fellow and Dangerous Alliance
Donne has written a wicked, twisted high school horror-show that will keep you guessing until the very last page. -Brenna Ehrlich, author of Killing Time
A twisted and deliciously messed-up YA thriller with a dead homecoming queen and a copycat killer that will keep you guessing to the end. --Darby Kane, #1 international bestselling author of Pretty Little Wife
Alexa Donne is the author of Brightly Burning and The Stars We Steal, sci-fi romance retellings of classics set in space, and the YA thriller The Ivies, which Kirkus Reviews called a thrilling boarding school story with a satirical edge. A graduate of Boston University, Alexa works in TV marketing and has done pro bono college admissions mentoring since 2014. A true INFJ, in her free time she mentors with WriteGirl, organizes the Author Mentor Match program, and runs one of the most popular writing advice channels on YouTube. She lives in Los Angeles with two fluffy ginger cats named after characters from YA literature. You can find her online at alexadonne.com.
Jennieke Cohen studied English history at Cambridge University before receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis. After interning with a literary agent and at Prima Games (an imprint of Penguin Random House), she entered the Master of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California. Cohen has worked as a writing consultant and as a ghostwriter and has written prescriptive nonfiction. She is a member of SCBWI, Romance Writers of America, and the Jane Austen Society of North America. When not writing or reading, Cohen can be found watching classic movies, drinking tea, singing opera and musical theater, and planning her next trip to England. She lives in California. You can visit her online at www.jenniekecohen.com, and find her on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
