Day 8: Winners Announcement / Camp Payback Release

Our Camp Boyfriend Read-a-long has sadly come to an end. Did you have fun? We sure did! And we are so glad we got to share our love for this book and series with you guys.

Did you got the chance to read the novellas that go with the series? If you haven’t, then make sure you pick them up. Remember you can download them for free:


We will send an email to the winners of the AWESOME giveaway! Are you excited yet? Keep an eye on your email!


You might all be curious who the winner of the Battle of the Book Boyfriends is. Well I can tell you that it was a close one. Yesterday when I checked it was still 50/50. But currently it's Seth winning with 60% of the votes. Who knows, maybe more votes come around.  For the fans of Seth, you will have to look forward to Camp Crush, which contains even more Seth!

Thankfully, with every ending comes a new a beginning, and our adventures in Camp Juniper Point are just starting. It is not time to say our goodbyes yet, rather than a time to celebrate that Camp Payback is releasing today!

We want to thank again for participating, and we hope we see you again in future events!




Alex has big plans for camp this year, starting with making it the best summer ever. Having fun and breaking some rules will get her the payback she wants against her parents and her ex-boyfriend. Because of his disgusting texts, she's headed to a super strict all-girls school in the fall. Then she meets Javier and revenge doesn't seem nearly as important as getting to know the troubled loner determined to keep a low profile at camp. But Alex's trouble-magnet personality and Javier's need to stay in the background don't mix nearly as well as their irresistible chemistry. With her home life eroding under her feet and her last year of summer camp speeding to a close, Alex wants to make her mark on the world and squeeze every bit of fun out of her time with Javier. Too bad her old plans for revenge turn back on her just in time to ruin everything. Willshe lose Javier too?
You can request it on Netgalley here:


For other readers, you can purchase the books here:



Day 7: Readalong Wrapup/Review Link Up


It’s the last day of the read-a-long! We hope that everyone had a wonderful time. We would like to thank the authors and all the participants for joining us. You all are awesome!

What did you all think of Camp Boyfriend? Did you review the book? Make sure to link up below on the InLinkz and on the Rafflecopter! Feel free to leave comments too!


The Fluffy Readers collective reaction to Camp Boyfriend is as follows:

THIS BOOK! OH MY GOD! THIS BOOK! SO MANY FEELS! AND THAT ENDING! OH THAT ENDING!

Camp Boyfriend totally went beyond our expectations. It had so many surprises up its sleeve that it was almost unpredictable. It was so compellingly well-written that we easily fell into step with Lauren. Love triangles are usually so unpleasant, yet J.K. Rock made it work. They just did. Even the fluffy readers were so torn between the two guys. And oh my, were they wonderfully swoon guys. (See the Battle of the Book Boyfriends)

But that's not all Camp Boyfriend has to offer. This book goes way beyond romance. Lauren is a strong female protagonist that sets a wonderful example to young women about personal growth, as well as questioning social norms. It’s truly impressive how the authors managed to turn a Summer Camp story into a deep life lesson. It was simple, but seriously, you don’t have to be in your wonderful teen years to relate.

Furthermore, the book houses such a colorful cast of characters that you will most certainly identify with one of them or recognize someone you know. It’s one of the beauties of this book. It gives you the feels that this is the story of a dear friend.

Finally, we’ll like to add that this book, beyond all the romance, is a testimony of real friendship. Overall, we HIGHLY recommend people to read Camp Boyfriend, especially lovers of fluffy reads. It brings YA romantic comedy into a wholly different level. It felt so real. It is adorable, funny, swoony, thought-provoking and and and FLUFFY! We love love love this book.

Verdict:
ALL THE FLUFF~


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Day 6: Battle of the Book Boyfriends: Seth or Matt?


For more details on the read-a-long, click on the banner above. You can still sign up for the read-a-long, and also join the giveaway which you can find below!

For today’s part of the read-a-long. We have a guest post from Joanne Rock! I read this the moment I received it from the author, and I found it to be very interesting so I hope you all will like it too! I think it will help you write your mini-challenge post for tomorrow.
LIVE TWITTER CHAT on Saturday, 5-10pm #ReadCampBoyfriend. Answer some questions and ask your own. More details on the Saturday blog post.

If you have read Camp Boyfriend, I’m pretty sure you have been torn by which guy to choose. Don’t worry. We were too! And now, we’d like to know who you love better. Vote and comment below!

But before we do that, let’s take a look back at these guys, shall we?

Seth: Voted most likely to discover a plant that solves our energy crisis
Matt: Voted most likely to win a Heisman Trophy

Seth Reines
(represented by Fluffy Reader Sandra, mostly)

  • short, sandy blonde curls, amber eyes, quirky.

Reasons why I choose Seth over Matt:
Seth is a geeky, quirky guy, who loves the outdoors and camping and knows a lot about wild plants. I love him. He seems like an interesting guy to be around with. You can learn things and if I have to be honest, I think Seth and Lauren’s personalities just match.

“I’m giving you space so that when you choose me, if you choose me, there won’t be any doubts.”
Seth is giving Lauren some space, so she can decide what she wants. He is so insecure because of Matt and his life experiences, but he is considerate enough to give her the space she needs. I think this is the most adorable thing he could do,  but on the other hand I just feel bad for my little Seth baby and I want to pull him into a hug.

“You’re my first love too. The only girl I’ve ever wanted.”
I think this is so cute. First loves are really tough to forget. Seth and Lauren were always meant to be together. They were both geeky and had shared interests. Lauren would just remember all the wild plants to impress Seth and yes, Seth was definitely impressed with her. 

“I missed him. I missed us.”
Seth seems to be around another girl when he notices Lauren is leaning more towards Matt. Seth doesn’t want to give up on them. He wants them to be together and he notices that he made a mistake by letting her go every year.

“Our First Kiss of Camp. If he still cared about that tradition, he must still care about me.”
Every year, Seth and Lauren would share their first kiss together and Seth still cared about this tradition, despite her having another ‘real’ boyfriend. He was always true to his promises to Lauren, even if that meant sneaking in a telescope to do that. Seth loves her. Seth won’t give up on them. It’s his first love. You just don’t give up on your first love. 

Also let’s be honest. Seth is beautiful. Just, sandy blonde curls. I’m totally for curls. Super cute. And when I heard that the authors would cast Chris Hemsworth as Seth, I understood why I liked him better than Matt. Just Chris. He’s gorgeous.




Matt Butler
(represented by Fluffy Reader Francine)

  • three-sport standout, hottest guy in school, popular, southern gentleman, geek 

Reasons Why I choose Matt over Seth:
“He was more than a pair of shoulder pads.”
Matt has a multifaceted personality. At the start, we only knew him as this popular jock, but later in the book, we find that he is so much more than that. He’s the kind of person who has so much to offer if people only bothered to look deeper. Oh, and it helps that he seems like such a good kisser. (hint: baseball dugout. I think that was the best part. :P)

“Matt had given me a few surprises too, forgiving me when I didn’t necessarily deserve it and fighting for me like I was more than a nerd masquerading in designer clothes.”
“Matt stuck around to face the facts - good or bad.”
Passion and loyalty. I love how he kept on fighting for Lauren. He didn’t even really bother to find someone else. His heart was set on Lauren, even when other girls were throwing themselves at him. And even when Lauren asked for time, he waited while still being there for her when she needed it. He didn’t stop trying to hang out with her. You have to love a guy who is committed to what he wants.

“Matt had been good to me. ...he’d always been considerate with me. A gentleman.”
Good. Considerate. Gentleman. He doesn’t push Lauren to do anything. He doesn’t rush things with her. He pays attention to who she really is. He was supportive and he knew how to show his love with little details. He even paid for that can of skunk spray that she needed even if they weren’t together at the time. He really cared.

“He could really play. Write songs. Compose music.”
A musician. Who doesn’t love a musician? Well, maybe that’s my personal bias, but I love guys who can sing and play musical instruments. Plus Matt writes his own stuff, that shows he's smart and sensitive.

“Matt had a way of getting me to do things I’d never dare on my own.”
Who doesn’t want a person who brings out the better part of you? It’s best to be in a relationship where you help each other grow.

“Matt’s green eyes, dark hair, and retro sideburns were undeniably hot. And the fact that he was all abs and square shoulders didn’t hurt either.”
He’s gorgeous. What more could you ask for? And according to the authors, they would cast Channing Tatum as Matt.


Who is your book boyfriend?
  
pollcode.com free polls 
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Day 5: Discussion Time!

For more details on the read-a-long, click on the banner above. You can still sign up for the read-a-long, and also join the giveaway which you can find below!
LIVE TWITTER CHAT on Saturday, 5-10pm #ReadCampBoyfriend. Answer some questions and ask your own. More details on the Saturday blog post.


We hope you have read Camp Boyfriend by now. Or at least we hope you’re almost through. Head on over to Twitter to chat with us and the authors! Use #ReadCampBoyfriend

The live chat will happen from 5pm-10pm EST where we will have a couple of questions for you. The authors will be around at 7pm so you can also talk to them then. You can also ask the Fluffy Readers, the authors, or the other participants your own questions. Just remember to use the hashtag! If you are unavailable at this time, please feel free to still tweet, reply, mention, etc.

We’ll be tweeting at:
Joanne Rock: @JoanneRock6
Karen Rock: @KarenRock5
Fluffy Reader Francine: @fslovesbooks
Fluffy Reader Sandra: @xSandraGates
Fluffy Reader Valeria: @TouchBookMadnes
Fluffy Reads: @fluffyreaders


See you there!



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Day 4: Interview with J.K. Rock

For more details on the read-a-long, click on the banner above. You can still sign up for the read-a-long, and also join the giveaway which you can find below!

Today, we will be sharing a little interview that we did with Joanne and Karen Rock. The Fluffy Readers gave them a set of questions to answer, and today we’re sharing some of those. If you have more questions, don’t worry! You’ll be able to ask them on the Twitter Chat on Saturday. Or you can tweet them using #ReadCampBoyfriend.

We also added a link below to bonus questions and answers from the authors.


In yesterday’s challenge we asked participants to share their camp stories, do you have any personal camp story you could share with us? 
One time the CITs (counselors-in-training) got to go on an overnight canoe trip to a really remote spot- so we thought! We were an all-girls camp so imagine our excitement when we lugged our canoes to shore and saw that a group of guys were also camping at the spot! Our counselors were less than pleased, but their hands were tied and we got to hang out with boys- something we’d been deprived of for a month! I met this really cute guy who was practicing to become a football kicker when he went to college- SWOON. Later that night, the craziest thunderstorm I’ve ever seen swept over us. Since we were in lean-tos the sideways driven rain drenched everyone and the thunder rolled overhead. Lighting streaked all around us and lots of girls screamed and cried all night… I know this sounds like a terrible story, but here’s the good part: the football player found my lean to and stuck his head in to make sure I was alright… ahhhhhhh… he stayed for a little while and we held hands and watched the light show. It was one of the most romantic moments of my life.

How were you able to effectively write with only one point of view? How were you able to mix well together?
In CAMP BOYFRIEND we only had Lauren’s perspective, which made finding her voice and sticking to it easier. In CAMP PAYBACK we gave ourselves the challenge of writing from Alexandra and Javier’s point of view, so it was more difficult to make sure we both sounded the same with respect to each character. The best way to make sure the character sounds consistent is to do a lot of work before writing to figure out who they are, what motivates them, holds them back, what they want… stuff like that. If you know the character really well, the voice is unique and special for that person and the writing is no longer Joanne’s voice or Karen’s voice, but Alex’s voice or Javier’s voice. If that makes any sense- lol.

We’ve heard that sometimes characters tend to have a mind of their own. Which of your character has been the most stubborn?
I would have to say, (although this stays between us!), Lauren… I wanted her to make up her mind and pick a guy- either one, they really were both awesome, but she kept us guessing almost up until the very end. Seriously. We did not know whom Lauren would pick until the last quarter of the book! It wasn’t an easy choice and she took her time and was careful to make the one that was best for her.

Who are your favorite characters from Camp Boyfriend?
Hands down, Emily as number one. She’s exactly the kind of counselor every camper wants. She’s fun, spontaneous, quirky, has a big heart and an 80s obsession. What more could you ask for? Also, while Lauren is a really strong heroine, Seth and Matt were amazing guys in their own way. Seth is more of a lone wolf- one who’s a bit wounded from a hard childhood. He’s has lots of cool interests like being able to identify every animal and plant in the area, rock climbing, kayaking, and marvel superheroes. Matt, on the other hand, seems to be the more typical guy- a star quarterback, prom king kind of guy that everyone loves for his easy-going charm. But he grows a lot in the book when his family falls apart and we learn that there is a lot more to Matt than meets the eye- and he’s pretty easy on the eye, btw ;)

Because the Fluffy Readers are torn between Seth and Matt, who are your personal choices between the two and why?
Ah! That’s asking a mother to chose between her children! They are both awesome. Seth really gets the old Lauren before she transformed herself back home into Miss Popularity. He loved her when she had a mouthful of braces and he gave her her first kiss when she was covered in Poison Oak. He’s sensitive and doesn’t push Lauren into making up her mind which shows a lot of respect and maturity, even though he’s dying inside when he sees her with another guy! Matt, on the other hand, is like a lot of guys who are struggling to live up to what other people expect of them- to be the best at sports, be popular, have the hottest girlfriend- but he wants more and doesn’t know how to get it until he gets to camp and really becomes the person he was meant to be. And that is someone who is absolutely incredible!

If Camp Boyfriend was going to be made into a movie, who would you like to star in it?
Lauren would be played by Demi Lovato, Channing Tatum would play Matt and Chris Hemsworth would play Seth. Oh- and with all those hot guys, we’d want it in 3D, high def please.

What are your favorite parts from Camp Boyfriend?
The kiss at Rockbrooke Falls, the kiss in the baseball dugout, the kiss in the hermit’s hut during the thunderstorm, the kiss on top of the lean-to while star-gazing… ummm… is it a coincidence that all of my favorite parts involve kissing? Lol

What can we expect from the rest of the books in the series?
The awesome thing is that while each book (except CAMP CHRISTMAS) stays at Camp Juniper Creek, a different couple takes center stage in each novel or novella in the series. It’s great to have the same world with a stronger focus on certain campers that, in a previous book, were more in the background. We get to learn about what their lives are like, their secrets, and, of course, their beautiful love story.

What do you think are fluffy reads?
I hope that fluffy reads are books that make us smile! I started reading some fluffy reads during college as a counterpoint to all the dense reading I had to do for class. I truly needed a lighter, happier escape to decompress from the tangled explanations of literary critical theory! Fluffy reads provide that, delivering a fun, lighter read with a hopeful ending that has a reader sighing happily at the end.




J. K. Rock is the pseudonym for YA writing partners - and sisters-in-law - Joanne & Karen Rock. After years of comparing notes on their favorites books and films, often dreaming up new endings to suit them, they decided to write their own stories. Their first Young Adult book, CAMP BOYFRIEND, is part of a three-book series. CAMP PAYBACK will be an April 2014 release, and CAMP FORGET-ME-NOT arrives in Fall 2014. Visit the Camp Boyfriend website at http://campboyfriend.net to learn more about the free novellas they are offering readers prior to each full length book. Individually, Joanne Rock is an award winning Harlequin author published in 26 countries and translated into 20 languages. Karen Rock writes critically acclaimed stories for Harlequin Heartwarming including her latest, HIS HOMETOWN GIRL.


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Day 3: Mini-Challenge: Camp/Summer Stories



For more details on the read-a-long, click on the banner above. You can still sign up for the read-a-long. Also, join the giveaway which you can find below!
LIVE TWITTER CHAT on Saturday, 5-10pm #ReadCampBoyfriend. Answer some questions and ask your own. More details on the Saturday blog post.

For today’s part of the read-a-long, we have a mini-challenge!

Camp Boyfriend is all about Lauren’s summer camp and her summer loves. We thought it would be a nice opportunity to hear about your summer experiences. Maybe you went to summer camp and met some great friends. Or maybe you have had a camp boyfriend, like Lauren. Who knows. We would love to read about your own personal stories about anything summer related - friendship, romance, camps, finding yourself, accomplishments and so much more! It’s all up to you.

Link us up to your post below so that all the participants can read it. Besides that, the authors of Camp Boyfriend are offering some awesome prizes for you all, and you can get extra entries if you link your mini-challenge post on the rafflecopter below.


 
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Day 2: You Can’t Forget Your Summer Love by Joanne Rock


For more details on the read-a-long, click on the banner above. You can still sign up for the read-a-long, and also join the giveaway which you can find below!

For today’s part of the read-a-long. We have a guest post from Joanne Rock! I read this the moment I received it from the author, and I found it to be very interesting so I hope you all will like it too! I think it will help you write your mini-challenge post for tomorrow.
LIVE TWITTER CHAT on Saturday, 5-10pm #ReadCampBoyfriend. Answer some questions and ask your own. More details on the Saturday blog post.


When we talked about writing our first Young Adult book, our first thought was to set it during the summer. Soon after, we got around to the idea of summer camp and a camp boyfriend. But recently I’ve been thinking about why we chose to write a summer book.

There’s something magical about summer, especially for a teen. Different rules apply, for one thing. Sometimes because we travel away from home, or because we spend the summer with one parent instead of the other. There is less structure in a summer day because there’s no school. We sleep late, stay up late, and have more generous curfews. We have more freedom. Sometimes, we even have different friends. The usual friends go to camps or stay with a relative who lives closer to the beach. This means we meet different people.

All of that creates a unique experience. With less structure, more freedom and different friends, summer can be a whole new world.

That’s one facet of what makes a summer romance special. In this new world of warmer weather, longer hours of daylight, and a new group of friends, it’s easier to meet people. Whereas high school has a whole protocol for how fast things escalate with a new guy—you quiz your friends about him and everyone has an opinion—a summer relationship moves at a different speed.

Suddenly, you’re spending a lot of time together. And because you both have more free time, you build a connection faster. A summer relationship becomes more meaningful sooner, and it stays more meaningful because you’re both aware that it’s going to change when September comes.

And that’s the other facet of what makes summer love so memorable. Most times, it comes with an expiration date. He’s going to college or moving back to the opposite coast. You’re headed home. Even if you’re simply returning to neighboring high schools, you know that when fall arrives, things are going to change.

Even if you try to make a summer relationship last into the fall, you have to leave that special time and place that was your summer together. Now, your guy has to meet your friends. You’ll have to meet his friends. You won’t have nearly as much time together. It might last, but it won’t ever be quite the same.

Maybe that’s why summer love is so unforgettable. We know we won’t ever recapture those moments. They are special and fleeting even as they happen. Those long summer evenings and slow summer sunsets are a beautiful backdrop for falling in love, the perfect place for a romance—no matter how long it lasts.



J. K. Rock is the pseudonym for YA writing partners - and sisters-in-law - Joanne & Karen Rock. After years of comparing notes on their favorites books and films, often dreaming up new endings to suit them, they decided to write their own stories. Their first Young Adult book, CAMP BOYFRIEND, is part of a three-book series. CAMP PAYBACK will be an April 2014 release, and CAMP FORGET-ME-NOT arrives in Fall 2014. Visit the Camp Boyfriend website at http://campboyfriend.net to learn more about the free novellas they are offering readers prior to each full length book. Individually, Joanne Rock is an award winning Harlequin author published in 26 countries and translated into 20 languages. Karen Rock writes critically acclaimed stories for Harlequin Heartwarming including her latest, HIS HOMETOWN GIRL.


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