Welcome, readers! Today, we’re doing a release day blitz stop for two YA books and a blog tour stop for a sexy new Entangled Brazen by Katee Robert.

First up for the day, we have a blitz stop for Center Ice by Cate Cameron. On this particular stop, we’ll be sharing some details about the book, Center Ice, and featuring a great interview with Cate Cameron, talking about the two main characters in Center Ice, and a little bit about herself. We’re also posting our book review and rating for Center Ice, and sharing a link to a great tour-wide giveaway for a $20 Amazon gift card!

Author:  Cate Cameron
Publisher: Entangled Crush, Entangled Publishing
Page Count: 258 pages
Format: E-Arc
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Teen/YA, YA Contemporary, YA Romance
Series: Corrigan Falls Raiders (Book #1)
Release Date: 5/19/2015

The hometown hockey hero won’t know what hit him…

Karen Webber is in small-town hell. After her mother’s death, she moved to Corrigan Falls to live with strangers—her dad and his perfect, shiny new family—and there doesn’t seem to be room for a city girl with a chip on her shoulder. The only person who makes her feel like a real human being is Tyler MacDonald.

But Karen isn’t interested in starting something with a player. And that’s all she keeps hearing about Tyler.

Corrigan Falls is a hockey town, and Tyler’s the star player. But the viselike pressure from his father and his agent are sending him dangerously close to the edge. All people see is hockey—except Karen. Now they’ve managed to find something in each other that they both desperately need. And for the first time, Tyler is playing for keeps…

Warning:  This book contains adult language, underage drinking, sexual situations, and crazy squirrels. It may cause you to become a fan of hockey – or at least hot hockey players.

Read on for an interview with Center Ice author, Cate Cameron, and check out our review of Center Ice. And don’t forget to enter the tour-wide giveaway for a $20 Amazon gift card! The link to the giveaway is behind the cut!

 Interview with Cate Cameron

What one thing should readers know about your hero? 

Hmmm… I think readers should know that Tyler is an excellent hockey player! He’s insecure and has good reason to be – he knows he could get injured before he makes the big league, he knows how competitive it is, with people from all over the world coming to play hockey in the NHL. And because half the book is from Tyler’s perspective and he’s insecure, and the other half is from Karen’s perspective and she knows nothing about hockey, it really might seem as if Tyler is a struggling player.

But he gets drafted in the coming June, absolutely. He goes first round – maybe even first pick. He’s a really good player!

What one thing should readers know about your heroine? 

I think readers should know that Karen at the start of the book isn’t the Karen who existed a couple weeks earlier. She and her mom were really close, and her mom’s death has left her angry and confused and miserable. So she’s not super-sympathetic at the start of the book, but I think there’s good reason for that!

What authors and/or books have inspired you? 

I’m a voracious reader and get inspired by practically every book I pick up, but the stories I know have had lasting impact are the ones I read when I was younger. The Outsiders, with all those tragic boys on their own, trying to solve life’s problems without any guidance… and A Separate Peace, with… all those tragic boys on their own, without any guidance… huh. And now I’m writing about OHL players, taken away from their families at sixteen and trying to make sense of life without any guidance… I think I may be noticing a trend.

What are you working on next? 

I’m actually working on the sequel to Centre Ice! This one’s called Playing Defense and it’s about Chris Winslow falling for his tutor, Claudia. I really loved writing Chris in Center Ice, so it’s been totally fun to get to spend a whole book with him. Claudia is really uptight and serious, and Chris has been great for getting her to relax a little and just have some fun.

Speed Round 

Love Triangles…Love ‘em or Can’t stand ‘em?  They make me anxious. I don’t like them.

Peanut M&Ms or Plain? Plain

Pizza or chocolate? PIZZA!

The Vampire Diaries or Game of Thrones? Game of Thrones

Matthew Macfadyen Mr. Darcy or Colin Firth Mr. Darcy? Colin Firth. I thought Macfadyen did a good job, but Colin Firth IS Mr. Darcy.

*Arc provided by Publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review *

This book has one of the most unique openings I’ve ever read. Well-written, engaging, funny, the heroine’s character voice pulled me right into the story and made me want to keep reading. Not to mention I loved the introduction of the hero! Such a fun, cute meet for these two. I loved it!

Right away, I understood that the heroine, Karen, is stubborn, prideful, and angry. With her mother’s death and then being forced to move in with her father and his new family because of it, Karen’s home life kind of sucks right now and her relationship with her formerly absentee father is understandably hostile. She feels unwanted and obviously doesn’t want to be there, and because of those things, and her anger over them, she refuses to get help for her grief or the changes her mother’s death has brought into her life. This is a real girl with real issues that most people can relate to, feel for, and care about what happens to throughout the book.

Tyler is a hockey player for the Ontario Hockey League, and a good player, too, a star player, but his agent and father put a lot of pressure on him to be better. To be stronger, faster, more disciplined in his training and his playing. The last thing Tyler needs is someone or something to take his focus off playing the game, and yet, he is distracted. By Karen.

This book deals with so much: grief and loss, feelings of abandonment, the pain and pressure of having to fit in with a new family, not to mention the pressure that comes from playing a sport to the best of your abilities while those around you push you to do more, to be better. And then, as if all that wasn’t enough, there’s the promise of a new romance, with someone who actually gets what it’s like to live under pressure but not quite sure how to stand strong and not buckle to the frustration and anger that sometimes follows it.

I really enjoyed this read. I loved both Karen and Tyler, though they both do have their faults, Karen especially and understandably so. If you’re looking for a great YA read with plenty of emotional depth between its pages, this is a book not to be missed, as it’s sure to become a favorite.

Amazon | B & N | Kobo | iBooks | Goodreads

Tour-Wide Giveaway: $20 Amazon Gift Card Up For Grabs

Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway here!

Cate Cameron grew up in the city but moved to the country in her mid-twenties and isn’t looking back. Most of her writing deals with people living and loving in small towns or right out in the sticks – when there aren’t entertainment options on every corner, other people get a lot more interesting!

She likes to write stories about real people struggling with real issues. YA, NA, or contemporary romance, her books are connected by their emphasis on subtle humor and characters who are trying to do the right thing, even when it would be a lot easier to do something wrong.

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This release day blitz tour is hosted by the amazing: