heavenly by jennifer laurens

Title: Heavenly
Author: Jennifer Laurens
Pages: 296
Series: Heavenly #1
Published: August 15th, 2009
Rating: 4.5/5
Source: Receive from author
Buy at: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Summary (Website):

I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister's guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal. That was the problem. What could I do? I did what any other girl would do-I fell in love with him. Zoe's sister darts in front of cars. Her brother's a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don't see Zoe lost in her broken life. Zoe escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoe's autistic sister. After Zoe is convinced he's legit, angel and lost girl come together in a love that changes destiny. But Heaven on Earth can't last forever.

My Say:

It's a totally a book that I love to love. It has a simple plot and the synopsis already stated that Zoe fall in love with her guardian angel, Matthias. I would say that I can predict the ending; too easy, they will be together like most of the stories in the end. But the fascinating part was how excellent the story was developed. The story might seem so typical with other fantasy stories of guardian angels but not divinely written like this one. Why? There might be lots of twist and turns to achieve the need; to be happily together with each other, ignoring the fact that it's so interconnected with heaven's business. Matthias could make a chaos and conflict which would lead to series of sequels. However, Jennifer made it so true and divine. I really love the ending. She lets Zoe overcome her difficulties with family and her personal life and gave her a peaceful ending. That is something that could be real and logic as well, which seldom happen in fictions.

Despite of divinely plot, I was impressed with details of story plot line. It was beautifully written like how Abria autism positively and accurately portrayed, even though there's quite of some moral issue as well; her brother's addition to drug and her personal problem with drinking. Other than that, I applauded Jennifer for her effort, putting so many scenes focused on Zoe and her family, especially her mom and dad. I cried when I read a scene where her mother said she was sorry for the difficulties she puts if Zoe and Luke ever felt ignored. And says thank you to Zoe for her so many sacrifices for Abria's sake. It's maybe sound nothing but I love the part more than I love Zoe and Mathhias's part. But it doesn't mean I don't get blushed when she wants Matthias embrace and kiss her!

This was a great story of struggles. Struggle to be loved, to be understand, not to be ignored, struggle to be together, struggle to be happy, and struggle to have a happy ending. It's also a well-mixed story of happiness, romances, hardship, family altogether. Totally recommended!

cover remake: Heavenly + contest!

I know there's a lot of talented bookish peeps out there who are very talented in this. This time, the great Author Jennifer Laurens is hosting a contest to create an alternate cover for Heavenly at Jennifer Laurens Official Fan Page on Facebook!

Original Cover of Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

Book blurb:

I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister's guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal. That was the problem. What could I do? I did what any other girl would do-I fell in love with him. Zoe's sister darts in front of cars. Her brother's a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don't see Zoe lost in her broken life. Zoe escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoe's autistic sister. After Zoe is convinced he's legit, angel and lost girl come together in a love that changes destiny. But Heaven on Earth can't last forever.

~~~~~

A winner of an alternate cover design for HEAVENLY will win a 25.00 VISA gift card, a Tshirt and a copy of Heavenly, Penitence or Absolution!

Contest runs this week: Saturday to Sunday the 16th. Post your entries on the fan page! And it's open internationally!

So to participate, what you all have to do is be a fan and re-create Heavenly cover. You can enter as many as you want and the fans will decide.

Here's my alternate cover. I already entered cover#1 on the Fan Page but I don't know about cover #2. They inspired by Supernatural hot Brothers; Dean and Sam. I always want guardian angels like these two. Aren't they hot???

#1 Jensen Ackles as Matthias #2 Jared Padaledki as Matthias

What do you think? I'm not an expert in this but it's fun. You should join too!

interview: Author Jennifer Laurens

A warm welcome to Author Jennifer Laurens today at Darlyn & Books. I'm thrilled to have her here for an interview and hope that you guys are too. She is the author of Heavenly, Penitence and soon-to-be published Absolution, the final book in Heavenly series.


D: What inspires you to be a writer?

JL: Wanting to provide great stories that inspire and uplift, or enlighten or make someone laugh...without excessive violence, sex or language. I have 6 kids of my own, and they were put off by much of what's published.

D: How did the concept for Heavenly evolve? And why angel?

JL: I have a child with autism, and the road to accepting her condition has been long for all of us- told with many of our actual life experiences, writing the book was purging for me in a way. I could control the outcome whereas in real life, I can only do so much.


D: I know that you write Heavenly mostly from your life experiences. How do you feel about sharing them with readers?

JL: I love sharing them with readers. It's that real element that touches people. No one can say, "This doesn't ring true " because it IS true. Yes, I believe in guardian angels. Have I seen any? Not yet - but I know they've stepped in and protected our "Abria" many times. As far as the other elements, like Luke's drug addiction and Zoe's partying and all that - those characters are based on my own teenagers who struggled in their own way to try to deal with having a severely handicapped sister. It's not easy being stared at in public because someone you are with screams, tantrums, or steals something causing a scene. When they were teens, in that most difficult time of life it was particularly hard for them.


D: What is your writing process? Do you plot everything first or do you tend to fly in the mist?

JL: I have a skeletal outline that ferments in my head over a period of months - sometimes years - before I write. I write 6-8 hours a day, every day.


D: Which character that made you hard to write? And which is the easiest?

JL: Luke was the hardest because my son's drug addiction was more terrifying than anything we've been through. There were days I wasn't sure he'd make it home alive. I'm happy to say he's married now and very far from all of that. Oddly, Matthias was the easiest.


D: Which scenes, if any, were the most challenging to write?

JL: The scenes with Zoe and Matthias because I really wanted people to believe that this - guardian angels in our lives - is real, even if we don't see them.


D: Did you plan Heavenly would be a series or trilogy from the beginning?

JL: No. One Albert came into my head, I knew I had more story to tell.


D: Personally, do you think Absolution will be a great satisfaction ending for Heavenly trilogy for readers? Why?

JL: Ab-so-lute-ly. I love the end of this series and am sure readers will close the book warm-hearted.


D: What’s next? Would there be another book series from you?

JL: Overprotected is next - in February. It's a dark, coming-of-age story about a girl fighting for independence. It's the first story I ever wrote, re-written about fifty times!


D: What do you like best and least about the publishing industry, which made you goes indie author?

JL: I've been the NYC route, had two agents who went to bat for me and decided I wanted to take an indie stab in spite of it all. I love the control, I love the creative process and love being able to publish authors like me (through Grove Creek Publishing) who have excellent work the world needs to read. * see Grove Creek Publishing, Submissions for guidelines*


D: Name three things we might be surprised to know about you.

JL: I once was Julie McCoy's stand in on Love Boat. I have a massive dollhouse and miniature collection and my favorite city is NYC - I'd live there if I could.

Thanks so much for the interview Darlyn!

About the Author

Jennifer started writing when she was in her youth, choosing to hole up in her bedroom creating stories rather than going out to play with friends. She attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she took classes in English and Theater Arts. Later, life took her back to her home in Palos Verdes, California where she worked in the entertainment business before meeting her husband and marrying. They have been married for 25 years.

Jennifer is the mother of six children, ages 11- 23, one of whom has autism. She fell back into writing after lengthy jaunts into the fascinating hobbies of ceramics, porcelain dolls, tole painting and muffin making.

Her perfect day is spent writing from 9 until 5 while her family is at school and at work. She considers herself blessed that most every day is perfect.

Readers can find her at her BLOG and WEBSITE

More about Heavenly Books at http://www.heavenlythebook.com/


Thanks so much Jennifer! It's a pleasure to have you here today. Guys, she's a very great person, honestly. I'm also excited for Absolution, the finale of the Heavenly series and I think all you too. Well, who's going to pass a story with guardian angels. I bet Mathias did a great job being one =)

Oh, she also asked me to spread the word that any blogger interested in a copy of Heavenly can have one, just set up an interview or chat and contact her at jennlaurens@yahoo.com !