The Sunday Post (#22)

Hello all. Well, as some of you know Sundays are always reserved for Sunday Post which is a meme created by lovely Kim @Caffeinated Book Reviews!

It's hard to believe that it's another Sunday already. It seems like it was yesterday that we wrote the last post. It just reminds us how time passes by and when you are busy it seems to go even faster and both of us were really busy this week. So sorry for not being around much. Glass had some job interviews this week and she is waiting to hear from them. *my hair, fingers and toes are crossed* I on the other hand had some family visits and I had to go to my grandma for a couple of days. 

I have got tagged for 7 Deadly Sins post by Lola and my post is going up tomorrow. I picked some of you next so, beware! It's a lot of fun, promise. But more about it tomorrow. Let' see what else you can expect. 

• I Want it That Way (2B Trilogy, #1) by Ann Aguirre (ARC Review)
• As Long as You Love Me (2B Trilogy, #2) by Ann Aguirre (ARC Review)
• Waiting on Wednesday (#110)
• The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy (ARC Review)
• The Artisans by Julie Reece (Cover Reveal)
• The Jewel by Amy Ewing (ARC Review)

• The Seven Deadly Sins Tag 
• The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas (ARC Review)
• Waiting on Wednesday (#111)
• White Hot by Sandra Brown (review)
• Cover Reveal
• Kiss of Broken Glass by Medaline Kuderick (ARC Review)

Tanja's haul 

Thank you: Sky Pony Press and WordCrafts Press.

Until the next time,

ARC Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

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Author's 

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Book summary:

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.
Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.
Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

          One of the things I like the most about fantasy is that on the surface almost all sound the same and have similar elements, but when you crack the book open and start to read it, each and every offers you a different world to get lost into. The Jewel is not as exception.

        This time we find ourselves in The Jewel and as the name itself tells a rich part, where royalty and rich people live. It's also a place of betrayals and courts games, intrigues and everything that goes with that. It's a place where outside is what matters not what happens inside. When Violet finds herself there she knows she is stuck but also that is what she is been prepared for ever since she left her family at Marsh. Only the rules both written and unwritten are something she is yet to learn.

        First of I have to say that Violet was a really great character. I liked that girl and I really connected with her. I admire her strength and abilities but also her vulnerability. Even though evil, all members of The Jewel were really nicely presented. There are also Violet's friends and all other girls that have been taken to The Jewel, with each of them being different but still we saw that even the strongest can be broken.

        Only thing in this book that felt off at the start was romance. At the start it felt weird and it took me some time to grow up to like both of them. The boy (I'm not spoiling things to you), might grew up on me. Fine, yes he is at my harem now. But at the start it wasn't like that.

        The best thing is that somehow I feel that this series is about to get better and I cannot wait to see it!

Rating: 4 stars. 

Until the next time,

*Note: Copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher, HarperCollins, via Edelweiss. Thank you!

Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon #TackleTBR

Hi! I usually don't get into read-a-thons that much as I really fail when it comes to keeping track and updating my reads, but I have found this one and decided why not. Besides this is my last month of vacation so I won't have much time to read in the months to come. I shall give my best to read as much as I can and I hope that this read-a-thon will push me even more.

Basics: It's organized by Tressa @Wishful Endings and it begins on September 8th and ends September 20th. You don't have to be a blogger to sign up, you just have to have twitter, goodreads or any other social network page. But head over to the sign-up post to see all the details.

My plan is to read a least 6 books, but I'd love to read 10. I'm not sure will I make it, but I will give my best. Also I'll try to include books that have been on my TBR list forever.

I won't make an official list as I really have no idea what will I be in mood for, but I will do Mid-point Check-In so we will see.

So if you have time come and join the fun! There will be giveaways and challenges and I hope to take part in some twitter chats!

Let the show begin!

Until the next time,

Cover Reveal: The Artisans by Julie Reece

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

The Artisans by Julie Reece

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

They say death can be beautiful. But after the death of her mother, seventeen-year-old RAVEN WEATHERSBY gives up her dream of becoming a fashion designer, barely surviving life in the South Carolina lowlands.
To make ends meet, Raven works after school as a seamstress creating stunning works of fashion that often rival the great names of the day.
Instead of making things easier on the high school senior, her stepdad's drinking leads to a run in with the highly reclusive heir to the Maddox family fortune, Gideon Maddox.
But Raven's stepdad's drying out and in no condition to attend the meeting with Maddox. So Raven volunteers to take his place and offers to repay the debt in order to keep the only father she's ever known out of jail, or worse.
Gideon Maddox agrees, outlining an outrageous demand: Raven must live in his home for a year while she designs for Maddox Industries' clothing line, signing over her creative rights.
Her handsome young captor is arrogant and infuriating to the nth degree, and Raven can't imagine working for him, let alone sharing the same space for more than five minutes.
But nothing is ever as it seems. Is Gideon Maddox the monster the world believes him to be? And can he stand to let the young seamstress see him as he really is?
The Artisans is a delectably rich, layered and dark YA Southern Gothic inspired by Jeanne Marie Leprince de Beaumont's classic Beauty and the Beast.

"The Artisans has all the elements I love - spooky intrigue, strong friendships, and a romantic tension to be savored." ~ Wendy Higgins, New York Times bestselling author of the Sweet Evil trilogy.

Title: The Artisans
Publication date: May 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Julie Reece

Born in Ohio, I lived next to my grandfather’s horse farm until the fourth grade. Summers were about riding, fishing and make-believe, while winter brought sledding and ice-skating on frozen ponds. Most of life was magical, but not all.

I struggled with multiple learning disabilities, did not excel in school. I spent much of my time looking out windows and daydreaming. In the fourth grade (with the help of one very nice teacher) I fought dyslexia for my right to read, like a prince fights a dragon in order to free the princess locked in a tower, and I won.

Afterwards, I read like a fiend. I invented stories where I could be the princess… or a gifted heroine from another world who kicked bad guy butt to win the heart of a charismatic hero. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? Later, I moved to Florida where I continued to fantasize about superpowers and monsters, fabricating stories (my mother called it lying) and sharing them with my friends.

Then I thought I’d write one down…

Hooked, I’ve been writing ever since. I write historical, contemporary, urban fantasy, adventure, and young adult romances. I love strong heroines, sweeping tales of mystery and epic adventure… which must include a really hot guy. My writing is proof you can work hard to overcome any obstacle. Don’t give up. I say, if you write, write on!

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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ARC Review: The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy

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Author's 

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Book summary:

An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world.
Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn't forgotten their warning to "stay away." For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
 

Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she'll have to decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.

         After seeing this cover and then reading this blurb at NetGalley it was really hard for me to resist and not to request it. Weak as I am, I couldn't and now here we are. This blurb creates certain expectations I had for this book and sadly not all were fulfilled.

        The Winter People promises you a really mysterious and unique world, which you get. Maybe not that unique world, as some unique elements of it, and that is something I really liked her. Another thing that worked really well here is mystery, which was something that made me really happy. It all started when Salome was six years old after she fell in a frozen pond. She was lucky enough to survive that and now some years back it's time to face the consequences. It took me a lot of time to connect everything and realize what was behind this.

         I wish I could tell you that everything else was as good as the whole idea of the story, but sadly there are some flaws that ruined the whole experience for me. One thing, as the author put it love "quadreangle" here was really annoying. Boys weren't problems, some were a really good material, but I felt like watching a bee that goes from one flower to another throughout the whole story. Not to mention Salome's best friend. That girl is something I wish to educate on some things. Yes, it does present teens nowadays, but it's a really bad influence which I want to keep out of the YA lit.

        This story was engrossing, complex and enchanting even, I give it that, but there are many elements here that didn't work for me. It mainly focuses on Salome's love issue(s) and not enough on paranormal elements. I realized what it was all about nearly at the end of the book. It was a really good idea and it was all nicely put together but it could have been better organized.

        The author has a really good writing skills as well. The story was nicely written, so I really hope that in the future she will stay away from stereotypes and over-complicating things, which tend to ruin the story. And sadly they ruined this story for me.

Rating: 2 stars. 

Until the next time,

**Copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher, Entangled Teen, via NetGalley. Thank you! 

Waiting on Wednesday (#110)

You know the story. This is a meme created by Breaking the Spine and every week we pick books we're waiting for. Here are our picks for this week.

Glass' pick

The "Superlatives Series" is about seniors at a Florida high school who are selected for their class Who's Who categories, and how the labels change the way they view themselves and alter the course of their lives.

Most Likely to Succeed will focus on characters Kaye and Sawyer.

Expected publication: August 4th, 2014

Tanja's pick

Politics and magic make dangerous bedfellows.

Deep within the Order, the seeds of corruption have taken root. While younger generations of the Gifted have embraced modern democratic values, a secret society of old-guard zealots seek a return to the past, when only European men of distinguished bloodlines held power.

Now, three venerable European families and a maverick American each plot to seize control of the Order and shape it to their will. A cutthroat game of political intrigue will decide the winner; and the stakes couldn't be higher, for ruling the Order carries with it the power to grant—or deny—an afterlife.

What begins as a battle of wills could turn into an all-out war. And magic could prove deadlier than any missile.

Expected publication: September 2014

We'd love to see your picks so feel free to link them up.

Until the next time,

As Long As You Love Me (2B Trilogy, #2) by Ann Aguirre

 

Buy the book:

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Author's:

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Publication date: September 30th, 2014

My rating: 4 stars

Book summary:

"Most people dream about getting out of Sharon, Nebraska, but after three years away, Lauren Barrett is coming home. She has her reasons - missing her family, losing her college scholarship. But then there's the reason Lauren can't admit to anyone: Rob Conrad, her best friend's older brother.

Football prowess and jaw-dropping good looks made Rob a star in high school. Out in the real world, his job and his relationships are going nowhere. He's the guy who women love and leave, not the one who makes them think of forever - until Lauren comes back to town, bringing old feelings and new dreams with her.

Because the only thing more important than figuring out where you truly belong is finding the person you were meant to be with."

      Second book in Ann Aguirre new adult series was everything I wanted it to be and so much better from the previous one. Characters, writing, story - there is everything you need for a good new adult novel.

      As Long As You Love Me ( yes, it is another Backstreet Boys song) focuses on Lauren, one of the characters from the I Want It That Way. After failing all her classes and losing a scholarship, she returns back home - but the thing is Lauren is not the kind of girl we thought she was. And that is the main reason why I liked her so much. She felt more real and less like a character from a book. Reading about Rob, our leading man of the story, in the book summary, you have already build up certain expectations, right? Well, cross them all. Yes, he is gorgeous, he was a high school jock, but Ann Aguirre decided to avoid whole stereotype about perfect bad boy - including ever famous bad boy falls for good girl and changes his ways plot. Nope! You will be surprised. I know that I was.

     I will have to stop here or else there is danger of me spoiling the book for you, but let me just tell you this. I think that even hard core new adult haters will like As Long As You Love Me. It hits the shelves on September 30th, so mark it in your calendar and let me know what you thought about it.

Happy reading, 

 ***Copy of this book was provided by publisher, Harlequin HQN, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!***

I Want It That Way (2B Trilogy, #1) by Ann Aguirre

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Author's:

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Publication date: August 26th, 2014

My rating: 3.5 stars

Book summary:

"Nadia Conrad has big dreams, and she's determined to make them come true—for her parents' sake as well as her own. But between maintaining her college scholarship and working at the local day care to support herself, she barely has time to think, let alone date. Then she moves into a new apartment and meets the taciturn yet irresistible guy in 1B….

Daniel Tyler has grown up too fast. Becoming a single dad at twenty turned his life upside down—and brought him heartache he can't risk again. Now, as he raises his four-year-old son while balancing a full-time construction management job and night classes, a social life is out of the question. The last thing he wants is for four noisy students to move into the apartment upstairs. But one night, Nadia's and Ty's paths cross, and soon they can't stay away from each other.

The timing is all wrong—but love happens when it happens. And you can't know what you truly need until you stand to lose it."

      I know that most of you know Ann Aguirre because of her dystopian novels (which I haven't read yet, by the way) and that most of her readers are doubtful about Ann writing contemporary romance, new adult romance - but since I am in the mood for new adult and more realistic stories, this was a great choice for me.

    Let's talk about that title! I am guessing that younger generation doesn't know or has vague knowledge about very popular boy band from the end of the nineties, Backstreet Boys. Rest of you thought about their song as soon as you saw the title, admit it? I laughed like crazy, but Ann Aguirre gets extra points for being a fellow BSB fan. (Yes, I know - I am so old!)

     Story - interesting idea, but put on a paper... Girl moves in with her friends into the new apartment. Cute guy lives floor below her. They have connection. He has a kid. Oh, the complications and drama! This was truly brilliant idea for new adult story full of twists and turns and tension and feels. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver sometimes mostly because of writing and few plot holes.

      Characters. Nadia was constantly on that fine line between acceptable female character and the one that annoys the hell out of you. She could be so selfish and self-centered at times and then do something so awesome that you would scream girl crush to anyone who would listen. Ty is build from a swoon worthy material, but even he can't see further from his own nose at few occasions.

     Final judgement? Adorable story that will be a perfect fit for warm August evening, especially if you need something sweet and romantic.


Happy reading, 

***Copy of the book was provided by publisher, Harlequin HQN, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!***

The Sunday Post (#21)

Hello all. Well, as some of you know Sundays are always reserved for Sunday Post which is a meme created by lovely Kim @Caffeinated Book Reviews!

Good morning, darlings. It's another Sunday and we truly hope that this one will be a lazy one, meaning that you'll get to spend all day reading. Those are our favorite Sundays. In the meantime it's hard to believe that this is our 21st Sunday post. It seems like we joined this meme only a month ago. Time flies. This week was full of interesting reads for us and we read Isla and the Happily Ever After together. As soon as we find a free day we'll post our review. You can expect lots of ARC reviews in the next few weeks. 

Also our 1000 followers giveaway has ended. We picked our winner and it was our friend Lea @Between Fantasy and Reality. She picked Paper Towns. Hopefully she will enjoy her book :) 

Thank you all who participated and followed us! We'll plan more giveaways in the future, for sure. 

• Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo (review)
• Dragonriders Unite Promo
• Waiting on Wednesday (#109)
• City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (review)
• Vessel by Lisa T. Cresswell (cover reveal)
• Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout (review) 

• I Want it That Way (2B Trilogy, #1) by Ann Aguirre (ARC Review)
• As Long as You Love Me (2B Trilogy, #2) by Ann Aguirre (ARC Review)
• Waiting on Wednesday (#110)
• The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy (ARC Review)
• Cover Reveal 
• The Jewel by Amy Ewing (ARC Review)

Glass' haul 

Thank you: Algnoquin Young Readers, Simon Pulse and HerperTeen

Tanja's haul 

Eden at the Edge of Midnight by John Kerry - Won at Leafmarks (Thank you John Kerry)

Thank you: Capstone Young Readers, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Hodder & Shoughton and Entangled Publishing, LLC

Until the next time, 

Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Buy the book at 

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Author's 

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Book summary:

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.
After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.
All Katy can do is survive.
Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?
Together, they can face anything.
But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on?
And will they even be together?

         My relationship with JLA's books is quite complicated one. With Covenant being one of my favorite series ever and Lux which I enjoyed in the past, all later series and books were quite a miss for me. So I was really afraid to pick this one, but as Opposition came out recently I knew that I had to do this and sooner rather than later.

        I picked Origin with not much expectations and at the end it payed off. It's been a while since I have read Opal and I have forgotten some things about this series, but good thing is that as soon as I started to read this one memories started to come back. I remembered what happened and in what troubles Katy and Daemon were in. I really admired Jennifer for putting a totally new aspect of the story in this one as there was only one book left and including some new things meant more complications that needed to be taken care of later. We'll see how that went but in the meantime this new moment really brought refreshment to this series and it was really intriguing.

         Now only trouble I had with this book was actually Daemon. But main reason for that is me, as I really liked him in the previous books but in the meantime cocky boys started to get on my nerves and let's face it Daemon is definition of cockiness.

         But all in all, JLA has got a lot of things to take care of in the last book and I cannot wait to see how that went.

Rating: 4 stars.

Until the next time,

Cover Reveal: Vessel by Lisa T. Cresswell

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

VESSEL by Lisa T. Cresswell

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

The sun exploded on On April 18, 2112 in a Class X solar storm the likes of which humankind had never seen.

They had exactly nineteen minutes to decide what to do next.

They had nineteen minutes until a geomagnetic wave washed over the Earth, frying every electrical device created by humans, blacking out entire continents, and every satellite in their sky.

Nineteen minutes to say goodbye to the world they knew, forever, and to prepare for a new Earth, a new Sun.

Generations after solar storms destroyed nearly all human technology on Earth, humans reverted to a middle ages-like existence, books are burned as heresy, and all knowledge of the remaining technology is kept hidden by a privileged few called the Reticents.

Alana, a disfigured slave girl, and Recks, a traveling minstrel and sometimes-thief, join forces to bring knowledge and books back to the human race. But when Alana is chosen against her will to be the Vessel, the living repository for all human knowledge, she must find the strength to be what the world needs even if it's the last thing she wants.

Title: Vessel
Publication date: May 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Lisa T. Cresswell

Lisa, like most writers, began scribbling silly notes, stories, and poems at a very young age. Born in North Carolina, the South proved fertile ground to her imagination with its beautiful white sand beaches and red earth. In fifth grade, she wrote, directed and starred in a play "The Queen of the Nile" at school, despite the fact that she is decidedly un-Egyptian looking. Perhaps that's why she went on to become a real life archaeologist?

Unexpectedly transplanted to Idaho as a teenager, Lisa learned to love the desert and the wide open skies out West. This is where her interest in cultures, both ancient and living, really took root, and she became a Great Basin archaeologist. However, the itch to write never did leave for long. Her first books became the middle grade fantasy trilogy, The Storyteller Series. Her first traditionally published work, Hush Puppy, is now available from Featherweight Press.

Lisa still lives in Idaho with her family and a menagerie of furry critters that includes way too many llamas!

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

(Winners will receive their book on release day)

a Rafflecopter giveaway