Blog Tour & Giveaway: Grab Your Pole Series by Jenn Cooksey

Title: Grab Your Pole Series

Author: Jenn Cooksey

Age Group: Mature YA

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tour organized by: AToMR Tours; http://atomrbookblogtours.com

Shark Bait: 

Previously homeschooled Camie Ramsey is being shoved into the shark-infested waters of public high school, where even helium filled, penguin bespeckled arm floaties likely won’t help keep her inexperienced, fifteen-year old head above water in that rip current of hormones and emotions.

Camie’s worldly wisdom might be severely lacking (i.e., the closest she’s come to being kissed was sitting too close to the TV whilst Jake Ryan leaned in to give Samantha that fateful 16th birthday kiss), but she does understand her only hope for survival is if she’s thrown some kind of “social” life preserver before she sinks like a freaking rock. However, what will her fate be when she endeavors to flag down the only lifeguard on duty, the enormously popular and ridiculously beautiful Tristan Daniels? The most sought after and virtually most unattainable guy in school who not only makes Camie’s heart flatline on a recurring basis, he’s also the one guy who seemingly doesn’t know she exists.

Feeling like an inept piece of chum that could ultimately be swallowed by Jaws, can Camie get Tristan to rescue her from floundering in the treacherous deep, or is she destined to be Shark Bait?


The Other Fish in the Sea: 

In Shark Bait, readers everywhere met and fell in love with the new girl, Camie Ramsey, and swooned over her sure to be future husband, Tristan Daniels. Now, in the long awaited second installment of the Grab Your Pole series by Jenn Cooksey, The Other Fish in the Sea, Camie and Tristan are back, but so are their friends!

So, find a breathing apparatus and shimmy into your scuba gear, because it's finally time to dive deeper into the lives of the GYP gang, but be warned, it's a big world out there and an even bigger ocean where danger might be lurking around the next corner and realistically, anything could happen.


Shark Out of Water: 

With the Amazon Bestseller Shark Bait, the first novel in the Grab Your Pole series, debut author Jenn Cooksey delivered a fun, snarky, and realistic beginning to a larger story that has found its way into the hearts of readers everywhere. Thus, many were unprepared for what was coming in the second installment of the GYP series, The Other Fish in the Sea, when Cooksey took us on a runaway roller coaster ride of emotion and solidly landed hit after hit, including a brutal sucker punch that left readers around the globe reeling.

In Shark Out of Water, the highly anticipated third installment in this humorous yet honest and real coming of age story, we delve even further into the lives of the GYP gang and many questions are sure to be answered, however, are you really ready for what lies ahead in the continuation of their adventure? Well, grab your pole and let’s find out.

Lea and Kathy say...

Lea Says: Ever read a series that just has EVERYTHING you’re looking for? Do you know how hard it is to write a review about something you love that much? Books that you’d swear by? Well, I am gonna try to convey some of that in this review. Thankfully, I have Kathy to help me.

Kathy Says: I love a good YA novel. It's always nice to read something easy that brings you back to a time when life was simple. Back to when your only concern was what blouse to wear to school and whether or not the popular boy liked you. So when Lea urged me to pick up Shark Bait, I assumed I was in for a fun read. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was so much more than a simple YA. It was intelligent! Hilarious! Engaging! I couldn't keep help but read it nonstop, until I was done with all three books!

Lea Says: “Shark Bait,” the first book in this series of awesomeness, sat on my virtual bookshelf for months—MONTHS—before I dove in. I didn’t remember anything from scanning the synopsis when I had originally bought the book, other than that it was YA-ish. Really, I would classify it more as YA for people who don’t like YA. Still confused? Don’t be. The books are about teenagers, yes, but said teens swear like sailors, think like mature, reasonable adults (for the most part) and reference the hell out of some 80’s and 90’s pop culture (along with a plethora of other awesome tidbits of uncommon knowledge). Amazing? Yes. Epic? For sure. Believable? Surprisingly so. 

All the “kids” involved in this fabulously woven storyline have reasons for their uniqueness, mostly founded in their upbringing. The parents that we meet throughout the series make me strive to be a better, cooler, more understanding one.

“I mean it, Cameron. I don’t care if it’s Jesus himself behind the wheel, if He’s been sippin’ on His own homemade wine, you call for a ride home.”―Kevin Ramsey, Shark Bait

Kathy Says: I love that in this series the teenagers can be teenagers, though. It's not like Dawson's Creek where they “behave” like adults. They worry about things teenagers worry about and they speak like teenagers. Yet, the humor and the references are smart, witty.

“I know I’m being overly melodramatic, but, this is high school and, well…this is the kind of stuff we teenagers live for, you know?”

― Kate, Shark Bait

The cat and mouse game was so entertaining - they were constantly scheming to get the guy. Camie and Kate analyze every move that Tristan makes - where he sits, who he looks at, what he says... Every step is deconstructed. Camie's every move is calculated to integrate with him. It reminded me of the movie Clueless.

“Poor Guy. He doesn’t have a clue that he was busted before school even started that morning, or that we’ve joined forces to bring him to his knees.”
― Kate, Shark Bait

Lea Says: Yes, a little bit of Clueless in there with the set-up and trying to get the inside scoop. I loved the way the girls orchestrated every single thing they did, they played everything so expertly. That totally reminded me of high school, and the whole, “Oh, my God, he looked at me when I said…. What does this mean?” This was nowhere near your average, new girl/big man on campus love connection. And though I still want to throw up when I see a bag of Twizzlers, the angst and tension between these two throughout the entire series thus far, is practically tangible.

“Camie, I can’t. If I open my eyes to look for it, I promise you won’t need the shirt anymore and you sure as hell won’t be leaving this room any time soon.”― Tristan, Shark Bait

Kathy Says: Definitely. And while the girls were scheming, the guys had their own brand of funny. Tristan's wall of infamy was comical. Who else converses with their parents via a whiteboard in their room? Over a bra, no less. Jeff was just perfectly sensitive and in-tune with the ladies - wise beyond his years - especially for a teenager. And then you have Cami’s sister, or should we say the Invisible Nightmare?

“True, but Little Sister is patient and she's always watching.”
― Jillian, The Other Fish in the Sea

Jillian reminded me of Veronica Mars with an invisibility cloak. She was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She was always one step ahead of the crew.
Lea Says: And in each book, we get a deeper glimpse of the anomaly that is Jillian Ramsey. Really, we delve deeper into each character’s life, and I love the various POV’s we get to experience in the second and third books. The guys’ being my absolute favorite male perspectives of all time. Hands down. Tristan and Jeff broke my heart right open in the third book, while simultaneously making me believe in unicorns and soul mates. As a matter of fact, I would venture to say that Tristan, Jeff, Pete and Brandon are four of my top guys in any books, and yes, I am aware that they are teenagers. But, they are some of the most sentimental guys, teenage or otherwise, I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

"Because every single moment I'm with Katy is the happiest I've ever been and to pick just one would be like saying the others don't mean as much."―Jeff, The Other Fish in the Sea

The three books that have been released so far in the Grab Your Pole series (Shark Bait, The Other Fish In the Sea, and Shark Out of Water) have all abso-freaking-lutely been five star reads. The first book was hilarious and sweet, with only a small amount of pain. The second hurt just a little, and had a bit of a cliff that even had me (the cliff lover) antsy, begging for more and searching Goodreads for GYP chat threads. The third book was rough, but my favorite so far. I cannot wait for the rest. Jenn Cooksey has an amazing writing style full of wit and charisma, with levels of emotion that bleed out onto the pages, making you feel everything right along with these beloved characters.

Kathy Says: This whole series just put a smile on my face. It was a joy to read. I was a chain reader - inhaling each book back to back. Then, when I finished I was sad it was over. I was ready to read it again. Just writing this review makes me want to read them all again! If you love humorous, romantic mature young adult novels, be sure to grab up this series and take the plunge! 

Jenn Cooksey is a Southern California girl born and bred, however she's no longer a resident of heaven on earth, but instead she currently resides in the 7th Ring of Hell with her husband, their three daughters, and a goodly number of pets. Aside from her husband, one cat, and three out of five fish, everyone living under the Cooksey's roof is female. She's sure her husband will not only be awarded sainthood when he kicks the bucket, but that Jesus will welcome him into heaven with a beer and a congratulatory high-five. Jenn is also of the belief that Bacon should be capitalized and that just being yourself is the best way to go. That is, unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.

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