YA Bound Book Tours: Blog Tour Kick-Off: Heart Shaped Rock by Laura Roppe!

YA Bound Book Tours is organizing a Blog Tour for: Heart Shaped Rock by Laura Roppe. This tour will run from June 23-30. Check out the full blog tour schedule below:

Heart Shaped Rock

by Laura Roppe

Release Date: May 2014

Summary from Goodreads:

“If you liked the music collaboration of Maybe Someday, you’ve got to check out Heart Shaped Rock.” — New York Times best-selling author of Maybe Someday, Colleen Hoover

"Laura Roppé has written a moving and emotional novel of first love, accurately capturing the voice and mind of a dramatic and emotional sixteen year old girl caught in a maelstrom of grief and loss, love and heartbreak. And then there’s Dean…you'll just have to read the book, ‘cause I can't do him justice in a few short sentences.” –Jasinda Wilder, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of Falling into You

Sometimes a shattered heart needs to sing to love again . . . Sixteen year old singer-songwriter Shaynee Sullivan hasn't so much as touched her guitar since her mom died six months ago. In fact, Shaynee hasn't felt like doing much of anything lately, except maybe playing Whack-a-Mole on her "emotionally intelligent" brother's head. But when she meets a gorgeous and surprising rocker named Dean, her shattered heart begins to mend . . . and then burst at the seams. Heart-wrenching, heart-warming, and sometimes even heart-racing, Heart Shaped Rock will leave you laughing through tears and rooting for love in all its forms.

Hear the original music performed in Heart Shaped Rock at www.LauraRoppe.com. All music available on iTunes.

Available from:
Amazon * B&N * Kobo * iTunes

Character Profiles from Heart Shaped Rock by Laura Roppé

Shaynee Sullivan: Hi, I’m Shaynee. I’m sixteen. I play guitar and sing—well, I used to. I haven’t touched my guitar since my mom died of cancer six months ago. Since then, I haven’t done much of anything other than hang out with my best friend, Tiffany and her boyfriend, Kellan. Those two are so ga ga over each other, I think they’ve morphed into one person. Kiffany? Tellan? Tiffany and Kellan are the best. I don’t know what I’d do without them. I’m sure they’re tired of babysitting me lately, making sure I’m okay, and I feel pretty guilty about how much I tag along with them. But, really, if it weren’t for them, I don’t know who’d ever even talk to me, besides my dad and brother. Oh yeah, I live with my dad and younger brother, Lennox. Oh man, you should see the music videos that kid makes. He’s such a dork. And a total weirdo. (But don’t ever let me catch you saying he’s a dork or a weirdo. I can say that kind of thing, but no one else can.) He’s so “emotionally intelligent” he makes me want to play Whack-a-Mole on his head sometimes—especially when he won’t stop talking about how much he misses Mom. Of course, he misses Mom. So do I. So much I’m surprised I have keeled over and died myself by now. But talking about her doesn’t bring her back—and it certainly doesn’t help me do what I’m trying to do: Pretend everything’s normal.

Dean Masterson: I’m Dean. I’m seventeen. I play guitar and sing in my band, Red Card Riot. Our music is kind of hard to categorize. I mean, if you’re in a hurry, you can call it rock. But if you’ve got the time to listen, to really listen to what we do, you’d understand it’s more melodic ska-punk-rock. Well, sort of pop-punk, I guess, with a nod to the blues. I’m proud to say my band doesn’t succumb to society’s need for neat and tidy labels. I started RCR with my best friend, Caleb—or, as everyone calls him, “C-Bomb”—back in eighth grade. It’s funny, I started calling Caleb “C-Bomb” to give him a hard time about fangirling all over Rx Bandit’s drummer, C-Gak, but then the name just kind of stuck. C-Bomb plays drums, like his idol, and he’s a beast—wait ‘til you hear him, oh my God. Yeah, I know he’s kind of high-strung but you can’t really expect a guy to be a monster on the drums and then just be all chill in every other part of his life, can you? I don’t know how a guy could play like C-Bomb without being pretty intense across the board in all things. So I cut him some slack. Other than music, the thing I love the most is riding my motorcycle. I know the whole motorcycle thing can come across as kind of douche-y, kind of like I’m trying to be James Dean or whatever. But I’m not trying to impress anyone or be someone I’m not. Trust me. I don’t do anything for show. Ever. I only do what I love to do, and nothing else.

Tiffany Matthews: Hello, hello! I’m Tiffany—although, lately, I’ve been spelling it Typhani. Cool, right? I dunno, I just like it. I’m sixteen. My best friend since fourth grade is Shaynee Sullivan. You should meet her. She’s the most incredible singer and songwriter. The songs she writes—her voice—she’ll bring you to tears. She even brings Kellan to tears, seriously! And she’s so smart. The words she uses crack me up, she’s like a walking dictionary. And the funny thing about Shay is she’s so pretty and she doesn’t even know it. I always tell her “Sex appeal is fifty percent what you’ve got and fifty percent what you think you’ve got.” But she doesn’t seem to get that second part. Things have been pretty tough for the last six months since Shay’s mom, Miss Karen, died. I’ve talked to my dad about it a lot—he’s really smart about this kind of thing—and he just keeps telling me to be there for her and give her time. Shaynee isn’t like me, she doesn’t wear her heart on her sleeve. He just keeps telling me to be patient, to be there for her—because when she’s finally ready and needs to talk, it’s gonna pour out of her like a volcano erupting. I don’t know if I’m doing things the right way, to be honest—I’ve never seen someone so sad and I don’t really know how to handle it. So I just keep doing my best—taking her to parties and trying to make her smile. My biggest plan of all is to get her to start working at Sheila’s (a coffeehouse down by the beach) with me. If I can just get here down there, I think she’ll start feeling a whole lot better. I hope so, anyway. I don’t know how long a person can be this sad before they just . . . give up.

Michael Sullivan: I’m Michael Sullivan, Shaynee’s dad. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to say. Sorry, I’d really rather not participate, if that’s okay. I’m not trying to be rude. It’s just . . . I’ve got some work to do—and early meeting tomorrow. And, I just don’t really have a whole lot to say. Well, wait, I do want to say I love Shaynee and Lennox with all my heart. I just wish Karen were still here to tell me what to do. How to help them—how to help Shaynee. But, anyway. Sorry.

Lennox Sullivan: Hi, I’m Lennox. I’m eleven and a half. My mom sends songs to me in my dreams—like, fully formed songs—and all I have to do is grab my guitar and play them. Isn’t that cool? I miss her so much. Especially at night and in the morning. She used to sing me to sleep at night, and wake me in the morning by stroking my cheek. But nowadays I listen to her music at night, and that helps. She was a singer-songwriter. She even wrote me a song before she died called “Boy.” She told me everything she wanted me to know. I listen to it every day. She gave me her guitar right before she died. “Lenny-baby,” she said, “when you play this, we’ll always be connected.” And she was right. I can feel her sitting next to me when I play it. But I’m not planning to be a country singer like she was. I like making beats on my computer and mixing things up. I also love dragons and Pokemon. And making music videos. I’m making this awesome video for my dad for his birthday. He’s gonna love it. I ride my skateboard and wear a penguin costume. It’s pretty awesome. I love my dad. And I love my sister, Shay, too. She’s kind of mean to me sometimes, but that’s okay. I know she has a hard time talking sometimes. I just figure, if yelling at me helps her feel better, then it’s okay with me.

Kellan: My baby rocks my world. There’s nothing like sucking on that girl’s face, I’ll tell you that right now. Oh, yeah, sorry, Kellan. My name’s Kellan. I’m seventeen—almost eighteen. Tiffany’s my girlfriend. She works at Sheila’s down by the beach and I bus tables at a tourist trap Mexican restaurant nearby (the tips are great), so I pop into her work to get a little taste of those lips whenever I can. She’s been trying to get her best friend, little Shay-Shay, to work down there with her, and let me tell you, she’ll make it happen, mark my words. Let no man or woman or even God try to stand between Tiff and what she wants. Other loving on my baby day and night, I love surfing. God, I love it. I live for it. There’s nothing like it. I surf with a crew down at Swami’s before school and on weekends all the time. There’s this dude I surf with named Jared—oh my God, he shreds. You should see him. The dude could go pro if he wanted to, I’m totally serious. So yeah, besides surfing, I just love sports. I don’t care what it is. Mostly baseball, but I play basketball, too. I love football, but it’s so easy to get injured in football, I’m pretty much just gonna play baseball and football from now on.

Sheila: I own a coffeehouse down at the beach. I’m really proud of my place. We host weekly open mic nights on Thursdays and everyone crams into the place. Some of the kids who perform are really good. Tiffany works for me. Damn, that girl’s got more personality in her pinkie than most people have in their whole bodies. It’s nice to see her so cheery again. When she first started working for me, she used to cry every day about the passing of her best friend’s mom. My heart just about broke when I saw the pictures of her friend, Shaynee, and Shaynee’s mom, may she rest in peace. So young. Too young. From what Tiffany tells me, Shaynee’s not handling the passing of her mom very well—but, then, who would? The whole situation breaks my heart. Tiffany’s asked several times if there might be a position for Shaynee at the coffeehouse, and every time I tell her, “You bet.” But so far, no Shaynee. Hopefully, Tiff will be able to lure her down here at some point, because there’s nothing I want more than to hug that poor girl and show her some love.

About the Author

Laura Roppé is an award-winning singer/songwriter, author, audio book narrator, speaker, and former attorney from San Diego, California. In 2011, Billboard Magazine ranked her as Number Three on its chart of the Top 50 "uncharted" artists in the world. In May 2013, Laura began hosting Amazon's weekly podcast, "Kindle Love Stories," for people who love hearing about love stories, romance, and happily ever afters.

Her first book is the non-fiction memoir, Rocking the Pink. Her latest is a YA-teen romance novel entitled Heart Shaped Rock, featuring a soundtrack.

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