Blog Tour + Guest Post: THE A-WORD by Joy Preble

Hello everyone! *waves*

Welcome to the official blog tour for THE A-WORD by Joy Preble, book two in the Sweet Dead Life series. Today I was supposed to review the book but because I never ended up getting it in the mail (lost in transit?) I now have a fun author guest post for you guys instead. Joy will be talking about Angels and Life After Death and what she believes in. 

Thank you Soho Press and Author Joy Preble for allowing me to be part of this fantastic tour!

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The A-Word (Sweet Dead Life #2) by Joy Preble

Hardcover (paperback/ebook), 272 pages

Published May 13th 2014 by Soho Teen 

Genre: YA Paranormal/Angel/Romance

Jenna Samuels is about to turn fifteen. It's been almost a year since her stoner brother, Casey, bit the dust. Almost a year since he returned as her guardian angel, along with his "angel boss," Amber Velasco, the hot twenty-something former EMT. Almost a year since Casey and Amber used up their one-time-only angel power of flight to save Jenna from the evil Dr. Renfroe, swooping down to catch her as she tumbled off the balcony at the Houston Galleria. In short, a lot of A-word shenanigans and a mostly happy ending.

Except now Casey's begun to wonder why he's still hanging around—not that he minds protecting Jenna. She's a handful, but there's got to be a bigger picture, right? Something to distract him from his on again/off again, doomed relationship with cheerleader Lanie Phelps, who has no idea her boyfriend is, well, dead. After all, he can't use his angel wings anymore. Neither can Amber. 

Enter Bo Shivers, Amber's "angel boss"—a mysterious A-word guy Jenna and Casey didn't even know existed. Whiskey-guzzling. Handsome in a grizzled way. Unpredictable. Okay, make that crazy. Bo lost his angel wings in an earthly flight a long, long, long time back—and he's been a thorn in Angel Management's side ever since. But Bo knows something is coming. Something big. Something that was worth forfeiting wings for Jenna... something that might just change everything for everyone.

Purchase @ Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | The Book Depository | Soho Teen

“The earthbound angels are as authentic as the down-to-earth people in The A-Word, but where the book really spreads its wings is in the interaction between the two. Resourceful teens and heavenly beings team up to get to the roots of a very modern mystery, and the big questions of the universe share space with first dates and football games. The result: a smart, original (and slightly celestial) mystery with a distinctly Texan flavor.”

—Michael Northrop, author of Trapped and Surrounded by Sharks

“Joy Preble gives it all! Humor, wit, emotion, and romance! Fabulous fun!”

—New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan

“Romance, sassy humor, and a pain-in-the-rear brother … Who knew having a guardian angel could be so hard and so much fun to read?”

—New York Times bestselling author C.C. Hunter 

Angels and Life After Death by Joy Preble

So the truth is, I do believe in angels and probably in guardian angels, too. Do I believe in them in exactly the way they’re imagined in THE SWEET DEAD LIFE and THE A-WORD? Not really. It’s fiction, after all! But I do love the idea that we probably wouldn’t recognize an angel if we, as do the various people in the northern Houston suburbs, bumped into one. And while I’ve purposely not connected the series to any one set of faith beliefs, I do think there’s precedent in many of those beliefs for the idea of angels who don’t make themselves readily known to the humans they’re helping.

This becomes evident in the series a number of times, and often through comic situations. In both SWEET DEAD LIFE and THE A-WORD, Jenna and Casey’s neighbors, the Gilroys, a sweet but clueless older couple, interact with Casey, seeing only the teenage stoner dude and not the actual angel next door. He helps them in various ways (don’t want to give away everything!) and they have no idea. I love the moment in THE SWEET DEAD LIFE where Mr. Gilroy is setting out his lawn Christmas angels and there’s Casey, pretty much glowing up a storm next door.

Likewise, in THE A-WORD, one of my favorite scenes occurs early on when Casey finds himself compelled to help his ex’s new football star boyfriend win the game even though that is ABSOLUTELY NOT what he wants to do. So there’s the entire student body cheering and shouting for Donny Sneed and only Jenna knows the truth. Casey’s reactions in this scene are both poignantly heart-wrenching and funny at the same time.

That’s what I love about writing this series: I get to explore the big questions of the universe but do so in a way that encompasses both the dark and the light of it! Because serious stuff juxtaposed with humor has always been my favorite type of story telling.

Hope y’all enjoy THE A-WORD!

About The Author: Joy Preble

Find Joy @
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Joy Preble is the author of the popular and highly acclaimed Dreaming Anastasia series and now the Sweet Dead Life novels. A former English teacher, Joy grew up in Chicago and is a graduate of Northwestern University. She is now a full-time writer and lives with her family in Texas, where she has learned to say "y'all" without any hint of irony.