Writers Read: Jen Calonita

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Jen Calonita

Jen Calonita would never have fought her parents on going to sleepaway camp. She did, however, try to get out of a school camping trip for fear of spiders crawling into her

sleeping bag. When she isn't writing, the author of the Secrets of My Hollywood Life and the Belles series can be found at the beach or floating in the pool.

Calonita latest novel is Summer State of Mind.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

Complete Nothing by Kieran Scott

I feel guilty even saying this, but Complete Nothing is the second book in the True Romance series and the first book isn't out for a few more weeks! One of the benefits of having fellow author friends is that I can beg, and beg, and beg until they give me advance copies of their books! I'm not opposed to begging when the books are this good. I loved the first book in the series, Only Everything, when Kieran sent it to me to read this winter. The story follows the goddess Eres, who is banished to Earth by Zeus when he finds out she's been hiding out with her boyfriend Orion who was basically killed hundreds of years ago. If Eres wants to save Orion from Zeus's wrath, she must make three love matches on Earth without the use of her powers and she must do it before a sand timer runs out. Eres--now calling herself True--enrolls in high school and gets to work, but making love connections isn't as easy as she thought it would be when she can't read people's minds!

This is the perfect series for summer. It's romantic, intense (Gods are out to stop True from succeeding) and funny. True thinks cellphones are "soul-sucking devices." Her mom, Aphrodite, who is banished as well, gets a job at Perfumania! I love Kieran's attention to detail. I always feel like I'm right there in the scene with her characters. And I love how Kieran makes every story have a contemporary realistic fiction slant. Those are the types of books I love to read and I know you won't be disappointed if you pick up this one.