Endlessly Launch Event Recap and Giveaway!

When I first heard about the Endlessly Launch Party, I wasn't sure if I would go because Oceanside is about an hour or so from me.  Sometimes after a long day I really don't want to drive an hour only to have to drive another hour back home.  But then I heard that Cynthia Hand was going to be there as well so I knew that I just had to go! The Unearthly series is one of my favorites and even though she lives in Southern California, I had to had the opportunity of meeting her yet!

Also in attendance was Robin LeFevers and Marie Lu! Kiersten was so funny and she went around and introduced the whole group of authors to everyone! They answered a few questions, gave a few things away and then it was time for the signing! This B&N was very organized and gave everyone a number in the order that they bought the book beforehand.  So it was pretty cool! 

And now I have a giveaway for you guys! I was able to get advance copies of Hallowed and Prodigy and because I'm nice, I had them both signed! If you're a big fan of Legend, here's your chance to get Prodigy before it comes out in January!

Rules: 

• Must be 13 or older to enter this giveaway!
• US residents only please!
• Giveaway ends promptly at 11:59pm on Tuesday August 14
• Winner has 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen! 
• Thanks for entering!

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Review: Once

Title: Once
Author: Anna Carey
Series: Eve Trilogy #2
Publisher: Harper Collins
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC from publisher

When you're being hunted, who can you trust?

For the first time since she escaped from her school many months ago, Eve can sleep soundly. She's living in Califia, a haven for women, protected from the terrifying fate that awaits orphaned girls in The New America.

But her safety came at a price: She was forced to abandon Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve gets word that Caleb is in trouble, she sets out into the wild again to rescue him, only to be captured and brought to the City of Sand, the capital of The New America.

Trapped inside the City walls, Eve uncovers a shocking secret about her past--and is forced to confront the harsh reality of her future. When she discovers Caleb is alive, Eve attempts to flee her prison so they can be together--but the consequences could be deadly. She must make a desperate choice to save the ones she loves . . . or risk losing Caleb forever.

In this breathless sequel to "Eve," Anna Carey returns to her tale of romance, adventure, and sacrifice in a world that is both wonderfully strange and chillingly familiar.

My thoughts:

Once is the second book in Anna Carey’s Eve trilogy about a dystopian United States that is trying to rebuild the New America after the plague killed off millions of people. In an attempt to repopulate, most girls are sent off to be used a breeders without their choice or consent. Once picks up only a few months after Eve and it is very fast paced right from the beginning!

Eve, the main character learns so much more of the world in Once. There is a big revelation about a quarter of the way in and she has to figure out how to from this new mess that she finds herself in. Even though I really enjoyed the fast paced nature of the novel, it was one dilemma after another, one adventure after another. There was no time in between to process what had just happened. If you wanted to do that you would have to put the book down. So it also seemed like Eve didn’t have any time to process what was happening.

There wasn’t as much Caleb in Once as there was in Eve. He was very elusive, popping up here and there, trying to stay one step ahead of the King. But of course, what’s always most important to him is the safety of Eve and trying to get her out of the King’s clutches. He’s so cute, always worrying about her!

Surprisingly, I really liked Charles who is one of the new characters and there becomes something of a love triangle. I honestly think he has a lot of good intentions and wants to do good for the City of Sand and the New America! He brings up a lot of tough decisions that Eve is going to have to make later! There are also a lot of sad parts that made me wish that Eve could just save everyone! Arden is one of my favorite characters and I hope we see her more in the third novel!

I’m really interested to see how all of this wraps up in Rise, the third novel. It’s nice to know ahead of time that the series is going to end and that it’s not going to be a never ending series (those are the worst sometimes). Overall I really enjoyed Once! I give Once 4 hearts because I thought it was an improvement from Eve and I was always guessing at to what was around the next corner!

Stacking the Shelves (9)

Hey there! Welcome to this week's Stacking the Shelves! This awesome meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and we get to show each other the books we acquired this week whether bought, from the library or for review!

I bought so many books this week it was crazy!! The main reason is because I went to three signings this week and it's always nice to show my support to the author and the bookstore by purchasing the book on site.

So here's what I bought this week!

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

Hold Me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride

Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman

Ruined by Paula Morris

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

Endlessly by Kiersten White

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Vanish by Sophie Jordan

Reviewed this Week:

Soulbound by Heather Brewer

Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Books I Didn't Finish

Giveaway!

There's only a few days left to enter my box of books giveaway for July! This giveaway end on July 31! But don't worry, I'll be giving away another box of books starting August 1. So don't forget to come back!!

What new books are stacking your shelves this week?

Books I Didn't Finish (2)

Every few months I put together the books I listed as DNF (did not finish) and give a short reason why.  In a perfect world I would like to finish every book I start and love it.  But in reality there are going to be books that just can't keep my attention and I end up putting them down before reaching the last page.  In good news, I've been reading a lot of really great books to this list is going to be relatively short!

Fated by Alyson Noel

I've never been a really big fan of Noel's books but I thought that I would give her another chance with her new series.  I won an ARC of Fated through Goodreads so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. I got though almost 200 pages before I gave up.  I felt like almost nothing had happened in those 200 pages and the whole thing was just weird! I couldn't see where the story was going and hadn't formed any connection with the main character.  It's also possible that I set myself up for failure because I already didn't like her previous series.  I'm not sure, but it's possible.

Tempest Unleashed by Tracy Deebs

I really enjoyed the first book in this series Tempest Rising so when I saw Tempest Unleashed was available on Netgalley, I was super excited! I even signed up to participate in the blog tour before reading the book! Now, in hindsight, that was probably a bad idea. I could not get over the repetitive internal dialogue that the main character was constantly having with herself.  This internal dialogue would literally interrupt an actual conversation she was having with another character and last for so long that I forgot she was supposed to be talking to someone.  And she was thinking about the same things over and over again! I was so annoyed! All this made me really sad because Tempest Rising was a really enjoyable book. 

Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

I thought this book was going to be really interesting! The would seemed like it was going to be really unique, people living with computer chip implants that program them to be kind of drone like. So when I started reading it I really enjoyed the world building and learning about how all these people ended up living underground.  But then this guy comes and he says he's going to break out the main character and she trusts him just like that! And his slang "curse words" were just so annoying.  I couldn't get past it and that was that. I got about one hundred pages in before I put it down.  

Review: Soulbound

Title: Soulbound
Author: Heather Brewer
Series: Legacy of Tril #1
Publisher: Dial
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC

Tril is a world where Barrons and Healers are Bound to each other: Barrons fight and Healers cure their Barrons' wounds in the ongoing war with the evil Graplar King. Seventeen-year-old Kaya was born a Healer, but she wants to fight. In Tril, and at Shadow Academy, where she is sent to learn to heal, it is against Protocol for Healers to fight. So Kaya must learn in secret. Enter two young men: One charming, rule-following Barron who becomes Bound to Kaya and whose life she must protect at all costs. And one with a mysterious past who seems bent on making Kaya's life as difficult as possible. Kaya asks both to train her, but only one will, and the consequences will change their lives forever.

My thoughts: 

I don’t think I can actually put into words how much I loved this book! I really think that as of late I’ve found a new love in fantasy novels! Heather Brewer is an amazing storyteller and I will read pretty much anything she writes. I was a little hesitant when I started Soulbound because of the length but after about a few chapters, I was so sucked in that the page count wasn’t an issue.

Kaya is a really great main character! Her parents raised her to have a good head on her shoulders and to think for herself. When she is ripped from her parents and forced to attend the Shadow Academy and be trained only as a healer, she goes with it, for a while. But after she learns that more Healers than Barrons are dying, she wants to learn to fight for herself. And then the story gets really awesome!

Even though I really liked the cute, innocent, let’s get to know each other relationship Kaya has with Treyton, I can’t help but loving the tension filled relationship that she has with Darius. It’s a very rare occurrence where I like both of the love interests almost equally.

The world-building was also really fantastic! In the world of Tril there are the Healers and the Barrons who are considered Skilled people and are therefore the elite of society. Then there are the Unskilled who are the farmer and shopkeepers who live in little towns and villages. The whole county of Tril is plagued by the grapplers who are monsters that wage war for their dark king who is trying to take over the country. It was all really fascinating and I found myself completely enthralled!

And then there was that ending! It was a HUGE cliffhanger! I like to consider myself a shallow reader so I don’t look for any kind of foreshadowing or anything fancy like that. If a book can keep my attention, I usually like it! So when this big revelation hit, I did not see it coming! I was SHOCKED! I give Soulbound 5 hearts because it was exciting, full of adventure and had just the right amount of romance!

Waiting on Wednesday (64)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: The Murmurings
Author: Carley Anne West
Hitting the Shelves: March 05, 2013

After her older sister dies from an apparent suicide and her body is found hanging upside down by one toe from a tree, sixteen-year-old Sophie starts to hear the same voices that drove her sister to a psychotic break.

Why I want this: The Murmurings just sounds like an incredibly creepy book! There's not much in the synopsis but that cover speaks for itself and after one look I know I'm going to be reading it!


Current Giveaway!!


Enter for your chance to win a box of books! Giveaway ends July 31! CLICK HERE to enter!

Review: Ten

Title: Ten
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC provided by publisher

And their doom comes swiftly.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

My thoughts: 

I was really, really hesitant to read Ten for a few different reasons. First of all, I didn’t know what it was about. Second, I really wasn’t that big of a fan of her first novel Possess because I didn’t enjoy the voice of the main character. But then I saw that awesome cover and after reading the synopsis, it’s sort of a re-telling of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is one of my all time favorite books ever! I read it about three times when I was in middle school because I just could not get enough of it! So I begged for this ARC! I begged and begged and I got it!!

Because I have read And Then There Were None many times, I knew what to expect from the basic story line. Ten people are invited to this house on a very small island and one by one they are killed off. At first it looks like an accident or suicide but they start to realize that someone is murdering them on purpose. I knew all this was going to happen and that the killer is going to be someone very unexpected. What I didn’t expect was for McNeil to write it so well.

McNeil did a superb job of creating the setting to be very creepy and scary! From the first few pages I understood the sense of dread that the main character felt even though she didn’t know why! Every little thing that happened was scary even when the characters were having a good time! It was fantastic and this is the reason why I love horror!

I liked the main character’s personality! Meg’s a really loyal friend to the point of standing up a guy she really likes because her best friend has had a crush on him forever (and so has she). This really made me want to punch her best friend in the face because Minnie would get mad when Meg was just talking to TJ (their crush). Even though Meg was being a good friend Minnie was not! It was totally a one-sided friendship. Meg and TJ were so cute once they both finally started letting their guard down. But romance was not the main theme of Ten which I’m glad because I wouldn’t have wanted it to overshadow the scary story!

Ten is an absolute must read and such a great scary story for YA! I Have to give Ten 5 hearts because it was a much better read than Possess and because I was literally afraid to turn my light off to sleep!!

Review: Succubus Blues

Title: Succubus Blues
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Georgina Kincaid #1
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Succubus (n.) An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men. Pathetic (adj.) A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

My thoughts:

I have a lot of love for Richelle Mead and it borders on developing into fangirl/stalker tendencies. She has a special place in my heart because she freakin’ created Dimitri, my ultimate bookish crush! But the Vampire Academy series were the only books that I had read by her and with a least a year in between the Bloodlines series releases, I knew I needed more Richelle to hold me over! Thank God for my friend Thuy @ Nite Lite Book Reviews who told me how amazing the Georgina Kincaid series is! It has everything I love about Mead’s writing with some really hot sexy times thrown in!

A lot of times the internal dialogue of main female characters really starts to annoy me and grate on my nerves halfway though books. But Georgina is so entertaining! I can see why this six book series is really popular because she is a really likeable character! She also just seems to have the worst luck and not everything goes her way. These are the types of characters and stories that I like to read.

I loved almost all the characters in this book! We already covered that Georgina is awesomeness! Seth is just so adorkable in all his geek glory! I wanted to just eat him up! I love characters that don’t realize the effect they have on other people. Seth doesn’t realize how hot he is and even though he has a lot to learn about relationships his small gestures go a long way.

Even though I liked Roman a lot, I could just tell that he was too good to be true! There were some pretty steamy sexy times between Georgina and Roman that were just crazy! But I always got the feeling that there was something that he was hiding. He was a really great character and brought a surprisingly enjoyable love triangle into the mix!

Richelle Mead’s Georgina Kincaid series has the potential to be one of my top ten favorite series! I hope the rest of the books don’t disappoint. If anything they can hold me over in between Bloodlines book and keep me satisfied until her new Age of X series comes out! I give Succubus Blues 5 hearts for being amazing and giving me a love triangle that I actually liked!

Waiting on Wednesday (63)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: Soulbroken
Author: Heather Brewer
Series: Legacy of Trill #2
Hitting the Shelves: March 26, 2013

Sometimes you have to break the rules to discover the truth.

In this follow up to Legacy of Tril: Soulbound, Kaya has learned that she is Soulbound to Darius, the Barron she secretly trained with at Shadow Academy. But he’s been sent away, leaving Kaya with questions about how he could be Soulbound to her and another Healer. Determined to find answers and prove herself worthy of fighting in the war against King Darrek and the Graplars, Kaya sneaks away, encountering a mysterious Barron named Gage in her travels. But Darius has shocking information about Gage—information that changes everything Kaya thought she knew about what it means to be Bound.

Why I want this: OMG OMG OMG!!!! I recently read Soulbound and it was amazing! And that cliffhanger! March can't come soon enough! I must get my hands on a copy as soon as possible!

What are you waiting for?

Blog Tour: Foreign Identity by Becca Campbell

Title: Foreign Identity
Author: Becca Campbell
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Cold. Confusion. Fear. This is how it all begins.

Waking up without your memory in a cell and bound by chains is terrifying.

Two nameless strangers, a man and a woman, find themselves imprisoned together. With no memories of their own identities, let alone their captor and tormentor, escape is the only option. The pair faces a bizarre labyrinth of rooms and clues that confuse more than they explain. Every discovery only brings more questions.

Who captured them? Why were they taken? What does their captor want from them? What can the riddles mean?

Who are they?

Lacking allies and options, the duo must learn to trust one another. Mazes, puzzles, and even strange, lurking creatures force them to rely on their wits--and each other--for survival. But survival isn’t enough. They need answers.

Will the answers be enough? Will the truth bring them closer together, or drive them forever apart? Will discovering their identities finally bring them home?

My thoughts: 

Foreign Identity is so different from the books that I usually read and review here. I mainly stick to YA because it’s the genre I identify easiest to but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy adult type books. Many of my favorite books are considered “adult” and if I find the synopsis of a book that I really like, chances are I’m going to read it whether it’s YA or not. With that being said, Foreign Identity was one of those synopses that really grabbed and made me really excited to read it!

Foreign Identity really jumps right into the action with the two main characters who find themselves chained up and they can’t seem to remember anything, even their own names. I got really excited when I read the first chapter because it sounded like it was going to be a little like a Saw movie without the intense horror or blood and guts. But the plot line of the story turned out to be like nothing I’ve ever read before.

The whole time I was reading this book I kept thinking to myself, “How did this happen? Where are they? Who are they? When are they going to remember anything?” I’m flying through the book because I want to know the answers to all these questions! And the next thing I know I’m at the end of the book what can I say? It was pretty good! All my questions were answered which is great because I like to read books that are just one book! Even though my first inclinations of this book were Saw, it ended up being a science-fiction version of saw without the horror and gore. I give Foreign Identity 4 hearts because it was really fast-paced and a unique novel!

Follow the links below to check out some author interviews, guest posts and more reviews!

7/10 - Lillie McFerrin Writes

7/11 - Christie's Book Reviews

7/12 - PaulaShx Book Reviews

7/13 - PaulaShx Book Reviews 

7/14 - Now is Gone

7/16 - Books and Needlepoint 

7/17 - Nikki's Notes 

7/18 - Elegantly Bound Books 

7/19 - The Peasants Revolt 

7/20 - Sweet Banana Ink 

7/21 - The Bibliophile's Corner

7/23 - Dustin Metzger 

7/24 - Blood, Sweat, and Books 

7/25 - M Pax 

Becca is also doing an awesome giveaway! For anyone who purchases a copy of Foreign Identity during the blog tour, Becca will give away a free copy of her science fiction dystopian super hero short story Not the Norm! So if you did buy Foreign Identity follow this link to get your free book! So go ahead, enter the giveaway!

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Review: The Vincent Boys

Title: The Vincent Boys
Author: Abbi Glines
Series: The Vincent Boys #1
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Being the good girl isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Ashton Gray has grown weary of playing the part to please her parents, and to be worthy of the town’s prince charming, Sawyer Vincent. Maybe That’s why she’s found herself spending time with Sawyer’s cousin, Beau, while he’s away for the summer camping with his family. Beau is nothing like her perfect boyfriend. He’s the sexiest guy she’s ever seen, dangerous in ways she’s only day dreamed about, and the one guy she should stay away from.

Beau never envied Sawyer his loving parents, his big nice home, or his position as quarterback. He loves him like a brother. Which is why he's tried everything in his power to keep his distance from Sawyer’s girlfriend. Even if he has loved her since the age of five, Ashton is Sawyer’s girl, so therefore she’s off limits. But when Sawyer leaves for the summer, Ashton, the one girl Beau would move Heaven and Earth for, decides she wants to get into trouble. Stabbing the one person who’s always accepted him and stood by him in the back, is the cost of finally holding Ashton Gray in his arms. Is she worth losing his cousin over?.... Hell Yeah.

My thoughts: 

Before I start this review, I’m going to tell you guys a little story of how I finally ended up reading this book. I was first introduced to Abbi Glines and all her indie author awesomeness when she was featured on The Bookish Brunette! Ashley said that The Vincent Boys was really good and I almost bought it but for some reason I didn’t. Fast forward a few months, I still hadn’t bought the book but I kept seeing it pop up more and more. Only just last month did I finally give in and buy the book. And now I’m a little mad at myself for waiting so long! It’s was really great!

So when I finally started reading this I could NOT tear my eyes away from the page! It is so freakin’ HOT I had to literally fan myself with my Nook while I was reading at work!! Beau captured my heart by the second chapter so completely that I don’t even care who this Sawyer character is! I was rooting Ashton on to cheat on her boyfriend! That’s the mark of an excellent writer; if I’m desperately hoping that the main character with do something bad!

Beau is the kind of bad boy that I like! He’s not the bad boy that is so hot that it doesn’t matter how he treats women. Some bad boys in books can walk all over their girlfriends or love interest and the girl will still come crawling back to him. Beau is not that bad boy. He mows Ashton’s grandma’s lawn out of the kindness of his heart! And he makes sure that Ashton gets treated with the utmost respect. He doesn’t push her to do anything no matter how bad he wants it. Honestly, I could gush about him for pages!

Sawyer is not in the book as much as Beau so the only read that I could get on him is that he’s the town all-star. He’s the all-American football player and most popular guy in school. He even has the most perfect girlfriend which is who Ashton is struggling to be. I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot more Sawyer in the next book. She wasn’t always perfect and putting up the façade that she was really wore her down. Beau finally had the chance to show her that the little bad girl deep down inside was still there!

This book is so much fun and because it’s short it can be read in one sitting. But don’t be fooled, it really packs a punch! I absolutely loved this book and I can’t wait to read the next one! Thankfully, it’s already out! I give The Vincent Boys 5 hearts because it’s hot with just the right amount of sexy which makes it a perfect summer read!

ALA Summer Read-a-Thon: Aug. 8-13

Hi everyone! I'm one of the hosts of this awesome read-a-thon where you can start really diving into those review copies from ALA that you picked up. I and the other hosts decided that early August made sense, so that it would be way before school starts.

But what if you didn't go to ALA? Don't worry. This read-a-thon is not just for people that went to ALA but for anyone who wants to get through a bunch of review copies or books that you've been wanting to read but haven't had the chance! The only thing you need is some sort of site where you can prove that you've read the books (either your blog or your Goodreads page), and then the day after the read-a-thon is over, you have the chance comment on any of the three host's ending blog posts telling us what books you've read or how many books you read!

There are no prizes. This is just something that Nicole, Thuy and I decided would be fun to do, especially since we received so many books at ALA. Here's the button, if you feel like participating and putting it on your blog.

<center><a border="0" href="http://elegantlyboundbooks.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x479/nicoleyalover/12alareadathon.jpg"/></a></center>
The linky list I'll post below is open until the 12th, a day before the read-a-thon ends. Please feel free to spread the word! Here are the other two wonderful and lovely hosts:

Thuy @ Nite Lite Book Reviews

Nicole @ The Reader's Antidote

My goal during this almost-week read-a-thon will be to read a book a day. Since this is a read-a-thon, I figure that that is a descent request. If you can't do a book a day, that's fine, but try and set a goal for yourself and let us know what that is if you want. I have made a rough list of the books I plan of reading but it could change depending on what I read from now until then!

Entice by Jessica Shirvington

Defiance by CJ Redwine

Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

Through to You by Emily Hainsworth

This read-a-thon is pretty flexible. So when you comment on the post on the last day, tell us how many books you finished so we can all compare. And you can even comment on the post when you review the books how ever many days later; we all love reading what other reviewers have to say about these exciting reads.

So enter the links to either your Goodreads page or your blog, and start figuring out what you're going to read! This should be a lot of fun!

Stacking the Shelves (8)

Hey there! Welcome to this week's Stacking the Shelves! This awesome meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and we get to show each other the books we acquired this week whether bought, from the library or for review!

Purchased: 

Tiger's Quest by Colleen Houck

Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

While at B&N for a signing I thought I would use the 40% off coupon that I had for teen paranormal romance books. To my dismay, they would only use it for one item instead of all items like they're supposed to! I was pretty upset. 

Succubus on Top by Richelle Mead

Borrowed:

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

I borrowed this from Nicole @ The Reader's Antidote who was so gracious to led it to me!

Gifted:

Between You and Me by Marisa Calin

My blogger friend Althea @ Read Now, Sleep Later designed Marisa Calin's awesome author website and had a few extra ARCs of Between You & Me! She was kind enough to send one my way!

For review: 

Beautifully Broken by Sherry Soule (provided by author)

Mystic City by Theo Lawrence (Netgalley)

Reviewed this week:

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Current Giveaways:

Win a box of books! Find it here!

Win a paperback copy of Envy by Gregg Olsen and an ARC of Betrayal by Gregg Olsen here!

Empty Coffin Series Giveaway!

It's time for another giveaway! Fall (my favorite time of year) is quickly approaching and I thought I would do an awesome giveaway! I read Envy by Gregg Olsen last year around October on a gloomy, rainy day which made this book even creepier! This is the perfect series to get into during the chillier time of the year and I wanted to give you all the opportunity to win this series!

Disclaimer: I just wanted to make it clear that I DID NOT pick up an ARC of Betrayal at ALA just so I could give it away.  The publisher sent me extra copies of BOTH Envy and Betrayal before ALA began!

Go ahead! Enter the giveaway!!

Rules:

• US residents only
• Must be 13 years old to enter
• The giveaway will end promptly at 11:59 on July 14
• Winner will be given 48 hours to respond to email or another winner will be chosen

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The Dark Days of Supernatural with Veronica Roth Recap!!

The Dark Days of Supernatural books tours put on by Harper Collins are some of my favorite events to go to! There are always a few authors that attend so it's like killing two birds with one stone (I really hate that metaphor because I would never kill a bird)! I'm not a big fan of the Wings series by Aprilynne Pike nor have I read Insignia but Dan Wells was in attendance as was VERONICA ROTH!!!!

I really like the Huntington Beach Barnes and Noble here in California because they put on a lot of YA author events! But, honestly, they are not equipped for the really big crowd events like Veronica Roth.  They were completely unorganized! I attended the Richelle Mead book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Santa Monica which also brought out a big crowd and they did it very well.  They have an event room and anyone who wanted to go in had to have a wrist band which they were give when they bought a book.  That's how it should be! The Huntington Beach B&N doesn't even have an event room so I pretty much missed everything they talked about during the Q&A session. I couldn't hear a single thing!

This picture shows that everyone was lined up for Veronica Roth and no one was lined up for anyone else.  The line went all the way around the second floor of the building! It was crazy!!

So I hopped out of the Roth line (my mom was holding my spot) and got my Dan Wells books signed and let me tell you he is a really funny guy! I brought I am Not a Serial Killer with me and he asked me if I had read it. I said yes and he said, "You still came!!" 

After standing in line for two hours and forty-five minutes I finally got my chance to talk to Veronica Roth and get Divergent and Insurgent signed! I can't believe the title for the third book still hasn't been revealed yet!!  Gggrrr...

TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!

Next stop:  July 27th Chris Colfer is signing The Land of Stories: The Wishing Well! So excited!!!

Review: The Disenchantments

Title: The Disenchantments
Author: Nina LaCour
Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans - and Colby - to start college in the fall.

But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

Morris Award–finalist Nina LaCour draws together the beauty and influences of music and art to brilliantly capture a group of friends on the brink of the rest of their lives.

My thoughts:

After reading Morgan Matson’s Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour and loving it, I knew I had to get my hands on another road trip book! And the first one that I came across was The Disenchantments. I already knew what to expect from this book because I went to one of Nina LaCour’s book signings and it turned out to be everything that I hoped it would be.

I always feel like reading a book is an entirely new experience when it’s told from a male’s perspective. Guys think about different thinks, they notice things that girl might not and they just see the world differently. I also loved the contrast of reading a road trip book from a girl’s perspective and then reading one from a guys.

I loved the relationship between the two main characters! It just goes to prove that guys and girls cannot be friends. Colby is best friends with Bev because he’s been in love with her his whole life. Bev doesn’t quite see it that way. He’s hoping that someday their relationship will evolve into the next step but Bev is too afraid to let anyone really know what’s going on with her, even her best friend. It is such a complex relationship that made for a great read.

I was upset with Bev when I found out what she really wanted to do after high school and I got even more upset when she wouldn’t tell Colby her reasons right away. I identify more with Colby because he believes people should say what they mean. Every plan that he made for their trip to Europe he meant and Bev knew that but she was only pretending the whole time. I really felt bad for Colby after thing because I always seem to be on the “just kidding” end of thing like this.

I can’t imagine planning for years and years what you’re going to do after high school only to have to change it a few weeks before it starts. I can only think that it’s devastating! I loved all the little towns they went to and the people they met along the way. They really played important roles in the character’s lives.

The Disenchantments is really fun and it helped me kick off my summer reading! I love contemporary books like this and I can’t seem to get enough of them! I give the Disenchantments 5 heart for being unique and fun while dealing with complicated issues.

Waiting on Wednesday (62)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: Legacy of the Clockwork Key
Author: Kristin Bailey
Hitting the Shelves: March 2013

When a fire consumes Meg's home, killing her parents and destroying both her fortune and her future, all she has left is the tarnished pocket watch she rescued from the ashes. But this is no ordinary timepiece. The clock turns out to be a mechanical key-a key only Meg can use- that unlocks a series of deadly secrets and intricate clues that Meg has no choice but to follow. She has uncovered evidence of an elite secret society and a dangerous invention that some will stop at nothing to protect, and that Meg alone can destroy. Together with the handsome stable hand she barely knows but hopes she can trust, Meg will be swept into a hidden world of deception, betrayal, and revenge. The clockwork key has unlocked her destiny.

Why I want this: I've been really impressed with the steampunk books I've been reading lately and I'm on the hunt for more awesome steampunk mysteries!  This one sounds like everything I'm looking for!

What are you waiting for?

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Anna #1
Publisher: Tor Teen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

My thoughts: 


As soon as I read the synopsis for this book way back when I knew I would eventually read it! If you read this blog regularly then you would know how much I love horror, haunted houses, Halloween and anything that’s scary! So I was naturally drawn to this book. Surprisingly, it took me a long time to finally get a copy but I did and I read it and it was amazing!

Cas is somewhat of a ghost hunter which was passed down to him from his father. He moved around, ridding the United States of some of the most horrific ghosts who have the tendency of killing people. When he arrives in this new town, he has every intention of putting down the ghost that has killed a few teenagers. But he discovers they have an unusual connection that gets in the way of his duties.

Anna doesn’t like to think about her death anymore than she likes to tell people about it. All anyone knows is that she went out to her school dance, never made it there and was never seen alive again. Now she haunts the house where she lived, killing anyone who ever enters it. I love this story because it turns out that she doesn’t want to kill anyone and it’s almost like something darker more powerful than her is controlling her sometimes. So it’s not your typical ghost killing people story. Is there a typical ghost killing people story?

I love Cas’s friends! He gets to know the school geek, loner guy while befriending the most popular girl in school. I like the contrast of all their personalities and they work together really well. I especially enjoyed the little side romance brewing between the nerdy guy and the popular girl!

Anna Dressed in Blood is so much more than just hunting down Anna and figuring out her story. The main overarching story is of the monster that killed his father and is now hunting Cas. This larger story is really going to help sustain the series and I think it’s going to be really great and interesting in the future books! I give Anna Dressed in Blood 4 hearts because even though it was really great I was hoping for a little more horror!

Review: Love Story

Title: Love Story
Author: Jennifer Echols
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

She's writing about him. he's writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines..


For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.

My thoughts: 

Jennifer Echols is one of my favorite authors ever! Going Too Far completely changed the way I viewed contemporary novels. I read YA contemporary because of Jennifer Echols. The way she draws me into the story is incredible and I just find myself lost in her books.

I wish I could say all these wonderful things about Love Story. I struggled with it. We fought, Love Story and me. In the beginning, I actually considered putting it down and not finishing it. “But this is Jennifer Echols” I said to myself. I can’t not finish reading it! So I powered through and it turned out okay.

I got a bad taste in my mouth as soon as I met the main character. She seemed like one of those really popular girls that I can’t stand who treat other people as if they’re below her. I went to a somewhat expensive private high school so I’ve known quite a few of this type of girl. She may have felt bad for the way she treated Hunter but she never did anything about until it bit her in the ass.

I liked Hunter though. He’s a really great guy and still went after Erin even though she barley spoke to him in high school. I enjoyed the game that he played with her trying to get her to obviously want him and flirt with him. Playing hard to get! I think she deserved it.

In the end, it was interesting how they came together in a united front against her grandmother. But it still left me wondering who was going to take over the farm because her grandma can’t live forever. I give Love Story 3 hearts because it’s not one of my favorite Jennifer Echols books.

Stacking the Shelves: What I Bought at ALA

Hey there! Welcome to this week's Stacking the Shelves! This awesome meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and we get to show each other the books we acquired this week whether bought, from the library or for review!

Chloe, Instead by Micah Player

The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Meyers

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

Belles by Jen Calonita

Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan

Skary Childrin by Katy Towell

Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Shadows of Night by Deborah Harkness

Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu

Reviewed this Week: 

Skeleton's Creek: Ryan's Journal by Patrick Carmen

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Giveaways: 

Win a box of books here!

Hardcover copy of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and an ARC of The Girl who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There. Enter here!