Friday, December 26, 2014

Top 10 Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2015!!!!!!!!


I am so excited to be joining Two Chicks On Books blog hop that is taking a look at "Top 10 of 2014" books, covers, and debuts!!! Below are my choices for 2014 (in no particular order)!!! 





Top 10 Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2015

(Cover Not Available) 
Persuasion by Martina Boone
Queen by Aimee Carter


Rook


The Cage (The Cage, #1)

Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)

The Eternity Key (Into the Dark, #2)

The Replaced (The Taking, #2)

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Ignite (Defy, #2)


Quake (Pulse, #3)

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

FFBC Blog Tours, Review, & Giveaway: Love and Other Theories (Alexis Bass)

Displaying LOVE.png


Love and Other TheoriesLove and Other Theories
by Alexis Bass
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: December 31st 2014






If you want more, you have to give less.
That’s the secret to dating in high school. By giving as little as they expect to get in return, seventeen-year-old Aubrey Housing and her three best friends have made it to the second semester of their senior year heartbreak-free. And it’s all thanks toa Rafflecopter giveaway a few simple rules: don’t commit, don’t be needy, and don’t give away your heart.
So when smoking-hot Nathan Diggs transfers to Lincoln High, it shouldn’t be a big deal. At least that’s what Aubrey tells herself. But Nathan’s new-boy charm, his kindness, and his disarming honesty throw Aubrey off her game and put her in danger of breaking the most important rule of all: Don’t fall in love. 







Displaying 7264073.jpg


Alexis Bass grew up in Washington, went to college in Arizona, and spent her early twenties in Seattle. She currently lives in Northern California with Dylan McKay, her gorgeous and rambunctious golden retriever. She loves good fashion and good TV as much as a good book, and is a huge advocate of the three C’s: coffee, chocolate, and cheese. LOVE AND OTHER THEORIES is her first novel.









"Love doesn't have a definite set of rules. It's different for everyone, for every couple, for every culture."


Love & Other Theories is a young adult contemporary romance that is very different from any other contemporary I have ever read. 

Here is a quote from the book that I found rather interesting:

TGS-The Girlfriend Stigma- a scientific term describing the disgrace girls face from guys when the girls appear to want to hold the title of "girlfriend."

The main character, Aubrey and her three friends Shelby, Danica, and Melissa have agreed on a "girl code" where they make a pact to play by the guy's rules when dating in order to prevent themselves from experiencing heartbreak. They all want to focus on "no strings" attached dating, no steady relationships, and everyone is available to date. 

They are abiding by their pact until Nathan Diggs arrives in town.  Nathan is sweet, charming, and very handsome. Aubrey and Nathan immediately hit it off and Aubrey breaks every rule in their pact....She falls in love. 

Love & Other Theories is a story filled with teen drama, partying, drinking, lying, double-crossing, and LOTS of bad decisions. Bullying is also portrayed by several of the girls in this book which tended to draw me away from the focus on the book. I wanted to focus on the romance between Aubrey and Nathan and I had high hopes that their relationship would surpass the girl code and allow these young girls to experience all the happiness that love can bring.......BUT....there was a lot of sadness and anger instead. Overall, I enjoyed this book but still not sure about the ending and the main focus of the story...







Displaying ffbc.png

Top 10 Best Debuts of 2014!!!!!!



I am so excited to be joining Two Chicks On Books blog hop that is taking a look at "Top 10 of 2014" books, covers, and debuts!!! Below are my choices for 2014 (in no particular order)!!! 

Best Debuts of 2014

Defy (Defy, #1)

Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes, #1)

Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die, #1)

Prisoner of Night and Fog (Prisoner of Night and Fog, #1)

Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy, #1)

Faking Normal

Compulsion

Rites of Passage

The Jewel (The Lone City, #1)

Lailah (The Styclar Saga, #1)



Tuesday, December 23, 2014

The Twelve Nightmares Before Christmas: Nightmare Eleven + Giveaway!

The Twelve Nightmares Before Christmas: Nightmare Eleven + Giveaway!


Hi! I’m Courtney Alameda, author of the soon-to-be published YA horror novel, SHUTTER. I love Christmastime and all things scary, so I wanted to celebrate by sharing some of my favorite Christmas beasties with everyone this year—twelve of them, to be exact! Join me and a few of my blogger friends every day from December 13 – 24, as we feature different holiday nightmares . . . if you dare!

So without further ado . . .

Nightmare Eleven: Perchta and Her Straggele/Perchten of Belly-slitting Doom

There are a lot of rumors flying around on the internet about Perchta, and almost none of them seem to agree on anything but: 1) she started out as a benevolent goddess in German paganism; 2) her name probably used to mean “bright one” (keywords: used to); 3) she’s a witch who roams around before Christmas, generally making sure that children are behaving; 4) she slits open the bellies of naughty, idle people, children and adults alike.

*trauma stare*

So all you adults, take note of this one: Not only will Perchta slit you open, but she’ll remove and replace your innards with twigs, pebbles, and all sorts of miscellaneous garbage as a punishment for being, well, you. But don’t worry, Perchta’s an adept seamstress—she’ll sew you right back up again, good as new!

Or not.

Some accounts claim that Perchta has two faces, able to appear either as a kind or woman or an evil old hag. You see the face you deserve.





If Perchta alone isn’t enough for you, she rides with a host of demons called her straggele or her perchten, who dole out her punishments themselves. They’re a bit less discriminating when it comes to violence, though, and will just as soon tear you apart as they will slash open your abdomen.


Like the Krampus cosplay we discussed on day one, people in the Alpine countries often dress up like the perchten and stampede through the streets, frightening children and pedestrians. I’d call them scary, but the only difference between the cosplayers shown above and shoppers on Black Friday or Christmas Eve is the fur.

Moral of the story? Don’t fall for the stories that everyone’s so “happy” and “peaceful” in countries like Norway, Denmark, or Sweden—it’s only because monsters like Perchta are forcing them to be good . . . or else.

Thanks to the wonderful Beth for hosting this post! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below for a pre-ordered copy of SHUTTER, a “Reaper” necklace, and a signed bookplate. Please note that the giveaway is US only, and we promise prizes won’t be accompanied by a horde of perchten.

Happiest of holidays, everyone!




5+++ Star ARC Review: Marked (Sarah Fine)

Marked (Servants of Fate, #1)Hardback, 332 pages
Expected publication: January 1st 2015
Publisher: 47North (Amazon)
Author: Sarah Fine

In a broken landscape carved by environmental collapse, Boston paramedic Cacia Ferry risks life and limb on the front lines of a fragile and dangerous city. What most don’t know—including her sexy new partner, Eli Margolis—is that while Cacy works to save lives, she has another job ferrying the dead to the Afterlife. Once humans are “Marked” by Fate, the powerful Ferrys are called to escort the vulnerable souls to either eternal bliss or unending fire and pain.
Unaware of Cacy’s other life, Eli finds himself as mesmerized by his fierce and beautiful partner as he is mistrustful of the influential Ferry clan led by the Charon—who happens to be Cacy’s father. Cacy, in turn, can no longer deny her intense attraction to the mysterious ex-Ranger with a haunted past. But just as their relationship heats up, an apparent hit takes the Charon before his time. Shaken to the core, Cacy pursues the rogue element who has seized the reins of Fate, only to discover that Eli has a devastating secret of his own. Not knowing whom to trust, what will Cacy have to sacrifice to protect Eli—and to make sure humanity’s future is secure?



Sarah Fine
Sarah Fine was born on the West Coast, raised in the Midwest, and is now firmly entrenched on the East Coast, where she lives with her husband and two children. When she's not writing, she's working as a child psychologist. No, she is not psychoanalyzing you right now.

Website: http://sarahfinebooks.com/For more information about the Guards of the Shadowlands series, and to read excerpts from Malachi's personal journals, visit www.GuardsOfTheShadowlands.tumblr.com



"In post-apocalyptic Boston, 
supernatural factions battle for human souls."


Ah...I wasn't sure that I could love another book as much as I loved Sarah Fine's Guard of the Shadowlands series...BUT....I not only loved Marked...I am completely and utterly obsessed with it. I literally could not put this book down. I read the entire book in one day. 

Marked is an adult paranormal romance that is takes place in a post-apocalyptic Boston. There is desert land everywhere and water is a scarce commodity due to an environmental collapse. The main character, Cacia Ferry, (also known as Cacy) is a paramedic by day and by night she ferry's the dead to the Afterlife. Cacy's entire family are Ferry's who escort souls to either Heaven or Hell after they have passed from this world. The Ferry's are the only ones who can enter The Veil, which is the place between life and death. There are also supernatural entity's called Ker whom the Ferry's have to deal with. The Kere are the ones who "mark" the humans for death and basically choose how they die. Some of the Kere are kind and use their skill to end the suffering of people in pain but most of the Kere are cruel and mean and enjoy inflicting very painful deaths on their targets. 

I loved Cacy's character because she was a strong female heroine who knew when to express her emotions and when to contain them. She is dedicated to her job and to her family and would do anything to protect them. Her father, Patrick Ferry, is the head of the family and also known as the Charon. She has two brothers, Rylan and Declan and one sister, Aislan. 

"Eli stared at the woman, whose gaze remained on her father. It was such a protective expression, which was funny because she looked too soft and sweet to do much damage. Still, there was something ferocious in her eyes, a warning, a promise."

Cacy's new partner, Eli Margolis, has just moved to the city and lives with his sister, Galena. Eli is everything a woman would want in a man..... kind, strong , protective, and incredibly handsome. Eli is loyal and fiercely protective over the people he loves. Cacy and Eli have an instant connection the moment they meet. Their chemistry is obvious to everyone around them and causes a lot of tension within the workplace. Their relationship sets of a chain of events that affects everyone around them. 

"I don't believe in deserving. You haven't deserved most of what happened to you. But it happened anyway. So did we. We happened, Eli. I'm so thankful for that. I love you."

Sarah Fine has a remarkable skill with her writing in how she connects the reader to her characters. Her writing is so full of emotion and I literally feel like I am experiencing every wonderful moment and every heart-breaking moment with the characters. I began reading Marked without realized it was written as an adult paranormal romance and WOW did I learn quickly.....I am a huge YA fan but every now and then it is nice to venture over to the adult genre and Marked was an refreshing, phenomenal adult book. 

Marked is full of intense action scenes, gripping suspense, and a swoon-worthy romance. Each emotion is carefully entwined within the story to make this book absolutely incredible. Sarah Fine has broke the bar with Marked...I can't even begin to imagine how amazing the sequel will be. I can't wait to delve deeper into the characters and learn more about the rest of the Ferry family. There are some mind-blowing twists at the end of Marked that I never even fathomed could happen.....but they did....and it makes me want the next book SOOOO bad!!! 
.....oh and the cover of Marked....is seriously incredible....WOW!!!!!!





**The quotes from this book have been taken from an Advanced Reading Copy and are subject to change when the final book is printed. Please refer to the final, finished copy for exact quotes!**

**I want to say Thank You to 47North/Amazon for the opportunity to review this book!!**





Top 10 Book Covers of 2014!!!!!!


I am so excited to be joining Two Chicks On Books blog hop that is taking a look at "Top 10 of 2014" books, covers, and debuts!!! Below are my choices for 2014 (in no particular order)!!! 



Best Book Covers of 2014


Lailah (Nikki Kelly)
Lailah (The Styclar Saga, #1)



Black Ice (Becca Fitzpatrick)
Black Ice


Snow Like Ashes (Sara Raasch)
Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes, #1)


Dorothy Must Die (Danielle Paige)
Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die, #1)


Fire & Flood
Fire & Flood (Fire & Flood, #1)


Compulsion (Martina Boone)
Compulsion


Sweet Reckoning (Wendy Higgins)
Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy, #3)


Her Dark Curiousity (Megan Shepherd)
Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter, #2)


Trial By Fire (Josephine Angelini)
Trial by Fire (Worldwalker, #1)



The One (Kiera Cass)
The One (The Selection, #3)