Blog Tour for The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram; Review, Guest Post + Int Giveaway.

Posted by Donna
Release Date: July 4th, 2013
Finished Date: May 12th, 2013

Publishers: Bluefield (Self Published) 
Source: For Review 

Format: Kindle 
Pages: 278

Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble 

When Avery Shaw’s heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how—scientifically. 

The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She’s going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can’t do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who broke her heart.

Avery finds the solution to her troubles in the form of Aiden’s older brother Grayson. The gorgeous womanizer is about to be kicked off the school basketball team for failing physics. He’s in need of a good tutor and some serious extra credit. But when Avery recruits the lovable Grayson to be her “objective outside observer,” she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for, because Grayson has a theory of his own: Avery doesn’t need to grieve. She needs to live. And if there’s one thing Grayson Kennedy is good at, it’s living life to the fullest.

The Review: "When a girl lets you be the one to hold her as her entire world falls apart, even though you're ass naked, it changes the way you see her. The soaking-wet, see-through t-shirt didn't hurt, either."

I was first introduced to Kelly's work a few month ago and so, Avery's story is the third book of Kelly's I've read, and honestly, Kelly never fails to leave an impression with her lovable and hilarious novel's. I doesn't know how she managed to create this many novels that are so jam packed with laugh out moments, and because of this, The Avery Shaw Experiment is easily my favourite read of Kelly's so far. 

Avery and Aiden have been best friends for life. Their mother's meet each other while they were pregnant and ever since, Avery and Aiden have shared everything together. When Aiden tells Avery he wants some space from her because he's got a girlfriend, Avery's heart-broken. She's been secretly carrying around her love for him, and the only way she believes she can move on, is by proving the best way to get over a broken heart, is to used the seven stages of grief. With the help of Aiden's older brother Grayson, Avery finds that moving on can be fun, however at times it's quiet difficult. Can Avery move on from her first love or is there someone else just waiting around the corner? 

The Avery Shaw Experiment is this year's summer read!! It's geeky, captivating and so much fun. Avery and Grayson truly make this novel wonderful to read because they're both so great. Grayson is easily my favourite out of the two though, just because of how much humour he brings to the story, I can't remember the last time I laughed so much while reading a story, you can see what I mean below;

"It is what it is Aves. I'm a warm-blooded guy standing naked in a shower, holding a girl whose t-shirt is drenched and clinging rather poetically to her surprisingly impressive figure." - Grayson

“I’ve got news for you, Aves. When a guy says he wants to take you out in the name of science, he’s totally full of it. He really just wants to take you out.”  

“But you’ve taken me out like a million times for the experiment. You kissed me once in the name of science.”  

“Exactly.” -  Grayson to Avery

The story itself at times was predictable, but not once did I get bored or want to put the story down. It was still a fantastic read and one I'd highly recommend to anybody. And what I really loved was how much time Kelly or the graphic designer took putting the graphics together for this book. The cover alone is beautiful, the details are spot on, and each chapter has cute graphics too that go so well with the story. So bravo to whoever created it! 

In all, The Avery Shaw Experiment is a gem of a read, one that any fan of YA contemporary will easily fall in love with. I know I did and I'd love to see more books like this from Kelly.

The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram Guest Post & Giveaway. 

Aspiring social scientists Avery Shaw and Grayson Kennedy were required to keep detailed journals of all their exploits during The Avery Shaw Experiment. Only the participants of the 2013 Utah State Science Fair were allowed access to these records, but we're in luck because the ever-sneaky, privacy-invading author Kelly Oram has managed to get her hands on those journals and has decided to share them with the world. Today's featured entry has been stolen from the pages of Grayson's diary. Enjoy!

“Self Control, Or Lack Thereof” (Grayson)

I am such an idiot. I totally screwed up tonight. But Aves was just so cute that I forgot I can’t treat her like any other girl.

It started after school when she came up to me in the parking lot after school, all red in the face, saying she had something for me. I was intrigued, but it just turned out to be the boxer shorts I’d pinned to her wall last night. I was a little bummed that she didn’t want to keep them, but, then, she did seem almost petrified of them. She blushed so deep when she handed them over that you’d think she’d been the one to take them off me personally. It was hilarious! The girl seriously kills me with how prude she is.

Then, as if that weren’t enough, she demanded that I let her help me study for my physics test. She actually crossed her arms and stomped her foot down when I started to say that wasn’t necessary. She was trying so hard to look stern and I laughed at her because Avery is not the stubborn demanding type. When I laughed, she got mad and yelled at me that she knows I’m smarter than I give myself credit for and that she was going to prove it to me, and I had to just deal with it.

Part of me wanted to laugh again because she was being so adorable, but I had this strange feeling in my chest that kept me from doing it. I didn’t know what to say. Nobody ever thinks I’m smart, and they definitely wouldn’t go out of their way to help me fix my grades. I’ve never really had anyone believe in me like that before except for my parents.

Avery is too freaking sweet for her own good. My brother is such a tool for throwing her away like he did. The idiot. Oh well. His loss is my gain. I’ve decided that Avery is mine now, and I’m not giving her back to him even if he does manage to pull his head out of his butt someday and realize what a mistake he made.

Anyway, back to Avery. I really hate studying, but how could I say no to her? I plopped her in the front seat of my car and took her back to her place where I had my first ever study-date that actually involved studying. Well, it had the pretense of studying. My textbook was open anyway.

Avery was trying to help me study, but it was really hard to concentrate when we were on her bed and she smelled good enough to eat. I think it was her shampoo. She had her hair in these two braids like some kind of farmer, and every time she leaned close to me to point something out in my book, her hair would brush against me and I’d get this whiff of strawberries and cream. It was driving me crazy!

Avery was trying so hard to keep me focused, but all I could think about were those adorable braids. I kept tugging on them and I knew it was driving her insane, but I seriously couldn’t help myself. Finally she snapped at me to stop it, so I pulled the rubber bands out of her hair and untangled the braids.

Bad idea. Taking a girl’s hair down is such a turn on.

Aves froze when I started undoing her braids. I didn’t mean to invade her personal space like that, but once I’d started I couldn’t stop myself. The moment was too freaking hot! I got the braids undone and then ran my fingers through her hair to shake it out.

I wanted to kiss her so bad. Her lips were right there. My hands were tangled in her hair. I wanted to lay her back on the absurd mound of stuffed animals behind us, and kiss away all of her innocence.

Too late, I realized my mistake. The girl was freaked out. Her face was white as a sheet and she stared at me with her big blue eyes full of shock. She’d also stopped breathing.

I waited for her to go into one of her panic fits, but it’s like she was too shocked to even accomplish that. Since she wasn’t having a complete meltdown, I decided to go with the whole pretend-it-didn’t-happen tactic. I shrugged, told her the braids had looked too dorky—even though they didn’t—and then asked some really stupid question about something sciencey.

Avery let it drop, but she wasn’t the same after that. She sat further away from me, she spoke a lot softer and a lot less, and she didn’t laugh again for the rest of the night.

I wanted to kick myself for being so stupid! I know Avery isn’t the kind of girl who makes out just because the moment is right. She hasn’t even ever been kissed! I’m a world-class jerk just for thinking about it!

I am so in over my head with this project. I had no idea it would be so hard to control myself with Aves. I mean it’s Avery for crying out loud! She’s practically been a little sister to me all my life. And she’s not even hot! She’s only cute. But all of the sudden cute has become irresistible. The girl is constantly in my head. She’s under my skin. I even asked her to go out with me tomorrow night, and I wasn’t thinking about the experiment. I just want to take her out.

I’ve got to keep it together. I’m going to have to plan something in a large group and very public. No more hanging out alone together, or I’m going to end up kissing her, and it’ll probably send her into a shock coma.

Be sure to catch all of the entries from the Avery Shaw Diaries!

June 3rd -- "I See London, I See France" (Avery) -- Colorimetry

June 4th -- "Purging" (Grayson) -- Reading Teen

June 5th -- "Too Hot To Handle" (Avery) -- I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

June 6th -- "Self Control, Or Lack Thereof" (Grayson) -- Book Passion For Life

June 7th -- "Most Definitely A Real Date" (Grayson) -- Confessions of a Bookaholic

June 8th -- "Post Shower Avery And Grayson Things" (Avery) -- A Life Bound By Books

Giveaway:       

Have a soft spot for Grayson? Good news, you have a chance to hear from him personally! Avery loved the diary Grayson made her so much that Grayson decided to make another one for one very lucky fan. Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win your very own personalized Secret Grayson Kennedy Love Diary, complete with a personal letter/journal entry from Grayson himself! The winner of the diary will also receive some Kelly Oram bookmarks and a signed Avery Shaw Experiment mini-poster. (roughly 8"x11") Five other lucky winners will also receive signed Avery Shaw Experiment mini-posters.

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Author Bio:

Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. 

She's obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children.

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