Top Anticipated March Releases!

March 2, 2016March 1, 2016Leave a comment

WHY DO ALL THESE BOOKS COME OUT THE SAME DAY?!?!?!?!

Young Adult

*****

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

The Darkest Artifices #1

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, healing but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

Release Date: March 8th, 2016

My Thoughts: Honestly, with the way the last three TMI books went, you’d think I’d have no desire to read this book. However, CoHF made me seriously love Emma and Julian so much and it does take place basically in my backyard so I’m seriously excited about this book.

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands #1

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there’s nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can’t wait to escape from.

Destined to wind up “wed or dead,” Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she’d gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan’s army, with a fugitive who’s wanted for treason. And she’d never have predicted she’d fall in love with him…or that he’d help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

Release Date: March 8th, 2016

My Thoughts: I have heard so many amazing and good things in this book and it keeps popping up on my radar. I seriously want this book in my life. Plus this book cover is so freakin’ gorgeous.

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.

He and his fellow outcast friends must try to make it through their senior year of high school without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self. Graduation will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is content where he is thanks to his obsession with an epic book series and the fangirl turning his reality into real-life fantasy.

Their diverging paths could mean the end of their friendship. But not before Dill confronts his dark legacy to attempt to find a way into the light of a future worth living.

Release Date: March 8th, 2016

My Thoughts: This is another book that has been on my radar for the past few weeks. The cover is gorgeous and Jeff and I became friends on various social medias and I love love love the sound of this book, and definitely can’t wait to get my hands on it.

Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry

A Thunder Road Novel #2

One moment of recklessness will change their worlds.

Smart. Responsible. That’s seventeen-year-old Breanna’s role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyber-bully’s line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas “Razor” Turner into her life.

Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don’t belong. But when he learns she’s being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them—a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness—he knows it’s time to step outside the rules.

And so they make a pact: he’ll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she’ll help him seek answers to the mystery that’s haunted him—one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they’re both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they’re going from here.

Release Date: March 29th, 2016

My Thoughts: It had taken me a long time to give Nowhere But Here a chance but once I did, I was just so in love. I have never really been into motorcycle gang/family sort of stories but oh wow this one was just so freakin’ good so I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel.

*****

New Adult

*****

Us by Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen

Us #2

Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He’s living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves–Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There’s just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice.

Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It’s not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn’t help that his new job isn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves.

Or can they? When Wes’s nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly?

Release Date: March 8th, 2016

My Thoughts: I loved loved loved the first book so much and I think that Elle and Sarina are two of my favorite NA authors, hands down. They write such great hockey romance and I seriously can’t wait to get my hands on the continuation of Jamie and Wes’s story.

*****

What are some books you’re looking forward to this month? Share in the comments!

January Book Wrap Up

February 1, 20162 Comments

January was QUITE a good month for me but the beginning of the year usually is! Now with the deadline of The Awakened 2 coming in fast AND a new project being worked on, information pills I’m sure my number will go down quite quickly.

Books Pledged to Read in 2016:

150

Am I On Track:

2 books ahead of schedule

Books Read So Far:

Total Books For January:

This is Falling

Built

Leaving Amarillo

You and Everything After

For the Record

Alienated

The Score

Remembrance (ARC)

Starflight (ARC)

What’s Broken Between Us

A Week of Mondays (ARC)

The Hunger Games (Reread)

Alanna: The First Adventure (Reread)

Trickster’s Choice (Reread)

Trickster’s Queen (Reread)

*****

How has your year started? Make sure to share in the comments!

December Book Wrap Up

January 7, 2016Leave a comment

Books Pledged to Read in 2015:

150

Total Books Read in 2015:

130

Total Books For December:

Sentinel (Re-Read)

Whatever Life Throws at You

Passenger (ARC)

Howl’s Moving Castle

City of Bones (Re-Read)

Ruined (ARC)

The Book of Ivy

The Revolution of Ivy

Auto-Focus (ARC)

******

Book Review: Passenger (ARC) by Alexandra Bracken

December 22, 2015December 19, 20151 Comment

Genre:

Young Adult, page Fantasy

Pages:

464 pages

Part of a Series?:

First in a planned trilogy

Release Date:

January 5th, adiposity 2016

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

passage, diagnosis n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever

My Review:

I am actually kind of sad that this is the first novel that I have ever read by Alexandra Bracken. I have owned The Darkest Minds for quite awhile and haven’t read it because honestly I just haven’t gotten to it. I was lucky enough to get this ARC of Passengers (which came in the coolest ARC box – see picture below) and I dove right in. I mean, look at that book cover. That book cover is absolutely gorgeous and that book grabs you as soon as you open the cover.

This book is absolutely incredible. I think its such a great blend of fantasy and history and mythology. I love that there is a time travel aspect and I love that it just flows seamlessly, that it just works. It gives that sort of fantasy to it but Alexandra writes it so well that it just is so easy to accept. I love time travel and I love this approach to it. Its beautiful. Its a beautiful example of world building and I give Alex massive props for creating it. I love it all.

I also love the history aspect of it. Seriously. A lot of research had to go into it. This book jumps from 2015 to the 1800s and the 1600s and World War 2 and all over the place and I love every single moment of it. I am a former history major and I love history. I love historical novels so the various time and places that Etta and Nicholas visit are just beautiful. I seriously hope there is more of that in the sequel, I imagine so, because that was easily my favorite part of the book. I love the time travel and the history and the myths and the way it sort of flowed together. It was part fantasy and part science fiction and 100% amazing.

I also really loved the dynamic of Etta and Nicholas. There is obviously a romance there but the difficulties between them are so real. Two different time eras, and the way they think and the way they were raised, the things they want in life. And then there’s this complication of them running through time, on an endless scavenger hunt for a hidden object. And Nicholas is, I believe, half-black, which makes him traveling through time, difficult, to say the least. There are so many aspects to this novel, obstacles and such and they’re blended so wonderfully. I loved it.

I loved every bit of this novel. I am seriously so impressed with this novel and I can’t wait to get the finished copy in my hands. I’m so lucky that I got to read it early because seriously it was so good.

The only problem with it though is now I have to wait MUCH longer for the sequel.

I’m so bad at waiting.

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross

December 21, 2015December 19, 2015Leave a comment

Genre:

Young Adult, side effects Romance

Pages:

373 pages

Part of a Series?:

Standalone Novel

Release Date:

October 7th, 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas’s life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she’s living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet…and one starring the Royals’ super-hot rookie pitcher.

But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school “brats” who can run the pants off every player on the team. Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love.

But baseball isn’t just a game. It’s life. And sometimes, it can break your heart…

My Review:

I’ve been wanting to read this book for so so long. But I was avoiding baseball books, especially romances because I was writing my own. I’m so glad that I finally was able to read it and I’m so glad I did.

This book combines two of the things that I love the most: baseball and romance. And it makes me so happy. I also really loved that it was very different from the books I’m writing haha so I didn’t feel a despair at failing to write as well as Julie. Because she writes so well and I totally loved her story.

And I seriously loved Jason. Oh god. He’s a fictional baseball player but I love baseball players. Oh how I love baseball and baseball players and I was so in love with Jason Brody, both as the guy off the field that Annie falls in love with and the incredible pitcher on the field. He’s an incredibly complex character and I love him so much. Thank you, Julie Cross, for extending my love of baseball boys into the fictional world. Really, I didn’t need that.

I think the thing that made me love this book the most was the blend of romance and sports. There was a great balance between the two. I think that’s hugely important when it comes to sports related books. Not everyone is going to love it so you have to find a great balance. There’s a ton of romance, but great romance, a realistic beautiful friendship, leading into a believable, great romance. And there’s a lot of great baseball.

I loved every time the Royals played the Angels. I was like, ah, my babies. But, like, the Royals wouldn’t beat them ;)

Actually they probably would…

Go Angels!

Anyway, I really loved this book. Not only was it great to read a really great romance, it was great to get some baseball love too. I think Julie writes a great novel and I love all the characters in the book. Annie, Jason, Annie’s father, all of them. Great characters, great story. The story flows well and it works so great. I love it. I wish she would write more!

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Leveled by Jay Crownover

December 20, 2015December 19, 2015Leave a comment

Genre:

New Adult, buy Romance

Pages:

224 pages

Part of a Series?:

Prequel Novella to the Saints of Denver series. This is a spinoff of the Marked Men series.

Release Date:

November 2nd, clinic 2015

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

Orlando Frederick knows what it is to be leveled by pain. Instead of focusing on his own, he’s made it his mission to help others: sports stars, wounded war vets, survivors of all kinds. But when Dom, a rugged, damaged, sinfully attractive cop, makes his way into Lando’s physical therapy practice, he might be the biggest challenge yet. Lando loved one stubborn man before and barely survived the fallout. He’s not sure he can do it again.

Dominic Voss is a protector. The police badge he wears is not only his job, it’s his identity, so when he’s sidelined because of an injury, the only thing he cares about is getting back on the force. He expects Lando to mend his body, he just doesn’t realize the trainer will also have him working toward a hell of a lot more. As attraction simmers and flares, Dom sees that Lando needs repair of his own…if only the man will let him close enough to mend what’s broken.

My Review:

Dear Jay Crownover:

Damn girl, you write some good M/M. And I think this was a GREAT introduction into the Saints of Denver. It may have taken me some time and push to get into the Marked Men series but I fell hard and I’m so excited for the Saints of Denver series. More tattoos, more sexy men and more romance and drama. Everything that makes Jay’s novels fabulous.

So I loved this short introduction into the series. I discovered recently that I really enjoy reading M/M stories. I wasn’t sure if I could relate to them at first. I’m obviously not a boy. I’m not a boy attracted to other boys. I’m great at hetero-romances and I’m great with lesbian romances (yay for being bi!) but I wasn’t sure if I could connect.

I was proven so so so wrong. I loved the first few M/M books I read and now I seriously love this book. Dom and Lando have such a quick, and crazy relationship but I love every single moment of it. I love how they meet, I love the immediate chemistry, I love how they fall in love. I’m rooting for them from page one to the last page. There’s something about them that just seems to work.

Plus, sweet jesus, Jay Crownover has a way of writing the sexiest scenes sometimes. She makes me pant even in an M/M story and I love it.

I did have a small problem with a decision that Dom makes at the end of the novella. I thought it was a slight cop out and I was a little disappointed that he made it. I have been trying to rationalize it as sacrifice or compromise or something like that but I don’t know, its hard for me, especially…okay, its so hard to do this without spoilers. But read it and talk to me and I’ll explain haha. Because despite this little tiff I had, I still loved this novella and can’t wait to read the first book in less than a month!!!

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars