Wednesday 29 May 2013

Wating on Wednesday #10: Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights books that have not yet been released, but ones that you should pre-order today! This week's book that I am anxiously awaiting is:


They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack…
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miranda's books are just amazing!I love them all, her books are the perfect remedy when you feel a bit down. So a perfect book to read during the cold winter.

Publication date: December 3rd 2013

See you later xx
El

Tuesday 28 May 2013

The Testing - Joelle Charbonneau

Synopsis
The Testing (The Testing, #1)Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too close when they may be one in the same?

The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career.

Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies--trust no one.

But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of the Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.


My opinion

The short description reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games and in some points there were similarities, definitely in the middle of the book. But it didn’t bother me that much, the idea of the book was still great and so many books are already written so coming up with something entirely new is almost impossible. But the plotline of this book was very interesting. A group of teen that are elected to attend university, but only a few of them will make it through the testing rounds. Nobody know what happens to the other candidates, but while reading the book it gets pretty clear what happens to them. So the beginning of the book was refreshing and new, but then the middle part reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games. And there were also some characters that looked similar in this book, in THG you had  Cinna who helped Katniss and in this book it looks like Michal Gallen is going to be that kind of helper to this book heroin, Cia. I’m not saying that this book is a copycat from THG, because it definitely isn’t and I’m pretty sure that the rest of the books will be totally different.
The characters of The Testing were also easy to love. Cia was a strong, self-reliable person, but she isn’t afraid to ask other peoples help and to trust them. But the problem was that she trust people to easily, she always sees the best in them and that what got her in trouble sometimes. Will was like Cia, but unlike her he did know when not to trust people.
The end of the book kept me wondering what will happen, because everything is possible and it's impossible to know how the events of the previous book will turn out.
This book was a real page turner and it kept me hooked from the first to the last page. And I’m definitely going to read the other books in this series as well.

 
Towers
 
 
 
Extra
Author: Joelly Charbonneau
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Publishing date: June 4th 2013
Pages: 336 (hardcover)
Other books:
  • The Testing Guid (The Testing #0.5) (Free Download)
  • Independent Study (The Testing #2) (Expected publication January 7th 2014)
See you later xx
El

Sunday 26 May 2013

Stacking the Shelves #8


Showcase Sunday's/Stacking the Shelves aim is to showcase our newest books or book related swag and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops and downloaded onto eReaders this week. This Sunday meme is hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea and Tynga's Reviews

Netgalley:

KIYA: Hope of the Pharaoh Grasping at Eternity (The Kindrily, #1) 
Bought:
Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5) Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, #6)
What books did you get this week?

See you later xx
El

Friday 24 May 2013

Book Blast: Overexposed - Adrianne James + Giveaway


Young Adult
May 24th 2013 by Star Bound Books
In the tiny town of Willowspring, just about nothing ever happens except for layoffs, hockey games, and your average melodramatic teenage angst.
But that was before.
Vi, Ashley, and Macy are just trying to make it through the school year without one more humiliation when they team up for a simple photography assignment: create a story through a series of photographs. Can't be too much trouble, right?
Wrong.
The shutterbugs happen upon Willowspring High School's darkest secret. When everything around them starts to crumble after trying to do the right thing, their only hope is to stick together.
When the door opened to the alley behind the rink, I realized two things. One, it was freaking colder outside than it was in the bleachers by the ice, and two, Brianna Jones (A.K.A Bra stuffer) was already out there.
The three of us walked out as if it was perfectly normal to be there but Brianna didn’t even notice us. We walked to the opposite side of the alley and huddled together. We hoped it would look like we were keeping warm, but we were trying to hide both the cameras.
Watching Brianna was rather dull. She was just standing there, talking on her cell phone and it wasn’t even anything remotely interesting. We took pictures anyway, because like Mr. Bennett said, you need the before, during, and after to tell a story with photographs.
“Look! She is checking that car’s doors! That isn’t her car, is it?” The quiet clicking of the shutters on our cameras was almost deafening to me. I swore each click was louder and louder as we watched Brianna try to break into a car.
Finally, the last door she tried, the back passenger side, was open. She slipped in and a second later, the dark car had a red glow inside. She climbed back out, shut the door, and walked over to the wall, smoking a stolen cigarette.
“She just broke into someone’s car for a cigarette? Seriously?” Ashley was just as flabbergasted as the rest of us. Why would anyone risk committing a crime for a smoke? “Oh! She is moving again!”
Click, click, click. I took more and more pictures. I hated that they were all from the same angle, but spys have to do what they have to do to keep from being caught, all the while still getting the images.
Brianna walked back to the car and put the cigarette out on the hood. Lucky for whoever owned it there was a layer of snow to put it out before it could burn the paint. Then she leaned over and used the mirror. She pursed her lips, showed her teeth to check those, then she lifted her head slightly.
“What is she doing?” I whispered.
“I’m not sure.” Macy said breaking away from the group. “I am going over there, different angle.” Before I could stop her, she had gone back across the alley to the other side. She was braver than I was. Ashley watched her closely before turning back to me.
“Let me take some. I promise I won’t hurt Jilly.” I knew I had to hand it over. I promised her she could use it. Even knowing that, it didn’t make it any easier.
“Okay. Here.” I took the strap from around my neck and quickly placed it around hers. The minute the fabric was firmly against her skin, she took off, too. “Ash, what are you doing?” I whisper yelled to her.
She just put a finger over her mouth to shush me and she got even closer to the car than Macy had. I figured that made me look out so I opened my eyes and ears and tried to make sure my best friends didn’t get caught.
I looked over my shoulder to check the door to make sure we were still alone when all of a sudden I heard a scream.
“YOU LITTLE BITCH! GIVE ME THAT CAMERA NOW!” When I turned back to see what was going on (although I was pretty sure that either Macy or Ashley had been caught by Brianna) I saw my girls running towards me, with Brianna not far behind.
“Run!” Ash and Macy yelled through giggles. I turned and headed to the door and held it open for them. As soon as they passed through I closed it and the three of us went straight out the front door and to Macy’s truck.
“What on earth just happened?” I asked when I caught my breath. Ashley handed Jilly back to me and I flipped it on. The minute I pressed the play images button I began to laugh. The first one was of Brianna screaming at the camera. I pressed the next button and then it was a picture of her finger in her mouth. The next one was a picture of her finger in her nose.
I died laughing. Brianna Jones was a booger eater. I bet her boyfriend would love to know that.
“Oh, Ashley, you are amazing!” Then the truck erupted in laughter and because Macy’s dad had given her a twenty to get food at the overly expensive rink, we headed to the diner for some hot cocoa and French fries for half the cost. Who said teenagers were irresponsible with money?
Growing up, Adrianne couldn't get her hands on enough books to satisfy her need for the make believe. If she finished a novel and didn't have a new one ready and waiting for her, she began to create her own tales of magic and wonder. Now, as an adult, books still make up majority of her free time, and now her tales get written down to be shared with the world.
During the day, Adrianne uses her camera to capture life's stories for clients of all ages and at night, after her two children are tucked in bed; she devotes herself to her written work. Adrianne is living the life she always wanted, surrounded by art and beauty, the written word and a loving family.
As a young adult and new adult author, Adrianne James has plans to bring stories of growing characters, a little romance, and perhaps a little magic and mythology down the line for her readers to enjoy.

Thursday 23 May 2013

Vampire Academy: Blood sisters (The movie)


As you all know (or not) Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead is turned into a movie. Filming will start any moment now in the UK and the release day is planned on February 14th 2013. So I thought that is was time to dedicate a post to this future movie. Below you can find an overview of the most important castmembers:

Zoey Deutch as Rose Hathaway
Zoey is a good Rose to me, sure she isn’t ‘exotic’ but well I can live with that. The only thing that bothers me is that I imagined Rose voice totally different than Zoeys voice. But I’m sure that I will get used to it. And we all know that Zoey is an amazing actress!

 
 
 
Lucy Fry as Lissa Dragomir
Never heard of her before and I’m not so sure about her looks. I imagined Lissa always a bit softer, Lucy has a strong jaw line. But other than that she’s fine and I’ve complete trust in the casting directors that they know what they are doing.
 
 
 
 
Danila Kozlvosky as Dimitri Belikov
Danilla is just perfect, sure he has to let his hair grow, but look at him! Yep I can perfectly imagine him as Dimitri. And that he’s Russian is definitely a plus point!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gabriel Byrne as Victor Dashkov
Well I’ve never seen a movie with him before, but he definitely has a Victor look.
 
 
 
 
Dominic Sherwood as Christian Ozera
He looks a bit ‘dark’ so he’s going to be a fine Christian.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Ogla Kurylenko as Headmistress Kirova
I always imagined Kirova older, but I think that Olga can pull it off.









Joely Richardson as Queen Tatiana

I think that she will be a perfect Queen.








Sarah Hyland as Natalie Dashkov

She definitely got the looks!

 
 
Cameron Monaghan as Mason Ashford
Isn’t he cute?! He’s another reason to go watch the movie! And he definitely got the right looks to play Mason.

 
 
 
 
 
Sami Gayle as Mia Rinaldi

The only thing that she has to do is let her hair grow and she will be perfect for the role.

 
 
 
 
Claire Foy - Sonya Karp

Yep definitely Sonya Karp. I can imagine her craziness already.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other:
  • Edward  Holcroft  as Aaron
  • Ben Peel as Spiridon
  • Mark Lewis as Priest
  • Dave as Oscar (the cat)
 
Director: Mark Waters (Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, Just Like Heaven)
Screenplay wrighter: Daniel Waters (Heathers)
 
See you later xx
El

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Waiting on Wednesday #9 - Wild Cards

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights books that have not yet been released, but ones that you should pre-order today! This week's book that I am anxiously awaiting is:

Wild Cards (Wild Cards, #1)
 
After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.
Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So far I've read all books by Simone Elkeles and I loved them all! So I'm dying to read this one. The synopsis of it sounds great and I hope that it will have all the good elements of her other books.
 
Publication date: October 1st 2013

Monday 20 May 2013

Bookblast: Tragic - JA Huss + Giveaway


TRAGIC: Rook and Ronin, #1
By J. A. Huss
New Adult Contemporary Romance
Published May 15, 2013
Science Future Press

Rook Walsh is TRAGIC

Because life so far – just sucks. Some girls get parents. Rook got the foster care system. Some girls get Prince Charming. Rook got an abusive frog. Some girls get lucky…

Rook got a second chance.

And she took it. Because when fate throws you a bone – you grab it with both hands and run.

Antoine Chaput knows the minute he spies Rook in his photography studio that she’s got The Look. The dark and desperate look he must have to land the exclusive TRAGIC media contract.

Rook is paired up with top model, Ronin, and he’s everything her abusive ex-boyfriend wasn’t. Patient, gentle, happy, attentive, and sexy! He knows exactly what to do to make Rook blush for Antoine’s camera.

Rook’s luck changes in an instant and suddenly she’s the darling of the modeling world. It’s a dream job to go with a dream guy and all she has to do is look pretty and follow directions. But there’s always a price to pay – and Rook is about to get the bill.

New Adult Contemporary Romance *Mature Content* Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations and language usage







**Does contain strong language


I gather up all my clothes and stick them in the stackable washer in the closet just off the bedroom. The breeze caresses my naked limbs and gives me the chills, but I enjoy it. The goose bumps travel up my arms and spread out to my whole body. I shiver for a second and then head to the kitchen.

And stop dead in the living room.

Ronin fucking Flynn is sleeping on the couch.

What is he doing here? My eyes track to the front door and I suppose it's my fault, I left it open. There's nothing but a screen door between this apartment and the terrace. My gaze wanders back to the sleeping man. He's lying on his stomach, his one arm tucked underneath him, the other falling over the edge of the cushion, and he's shirtless.

And then I realize I'm naked.

"Shit!"

He stirs and I make a break for the bedroom. It's one thing to let him see me naked half hidden in darkness and quite another to be fully illuminated by the bright morning sunshine. I wrangle the sheet around my body and then head back to the living room, wistfully looking at the washer that contains every single article of clothing I own.

"Ronin!" I say loudly.

Nothing except a half-muffled snore from him. Lord, this man has the most perfectly chiseled and muscular back I've ever seen. Both hands pull up and go under his face, like he's blocking out the sunlight, and this gives me the perfect opportunity to study his flexing biceps. The muscles are thick and hard-looking near his shoulders. They curve down, dip into a little valley, and then climb once again.

I lean down and smell him.

"Why are you sniffing me?" he asks groggily.

"Uh—" Because you smell delicious, the inner Rook says. But luckily the outer Rook says, "I'm checking to see if you're drunk. Why are you sleeping on my couch?"

He peeks up, opening one eye in my direction, squints, and then croaks out some words. "I love your outfit." He grins, winks, and then drops his head back down into his arms.

"Are you leaving?" I ask, frustrated and confused at the same time. "I mean, why are you here?"

"I told you I'd come back with dinner. But when I got here, the lights were on and you were in bed. I only sat down for a second to think up a rational excuse to wake you up, but I guess I fell asleep." He raises his head again, grins sheepishly, and then rolls over on his back, tucks his hands behind his neck, and flashes his perfect body at me as he closes his eyes, probably confident that I'll be checking him out.

I do check him out. It's quite hard not to notice that he's got the perfect six-pack abs and that absolutely adorable fuzzy happy trail you see on a shirtless designer jeans model. Hmmmm… maybe he is that model? "You have no shirt on."

Yes, after all that gawking, I finally manage the obvious.

He opens the one eye to look at me again. "Neither do you."








Purchase your copyAvailable on AmazonBarnes & Noble, and Kobo.




J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).

She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.







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Wednesday 15 May 2013

Cover Reveal: Barbie World - Heidi Acosta

 
 



Short description:
“One Night is all it took to change everything between Barbie and me. One night to potentially lose the girl of my dreams forever. How do I prove to her that she can trust me? That all I want to do is protect her carefully guarded heart. I need to prove to her that I want to be a part of her world. But How? ”

Dylan lost Barbie once before, now he is determined more than ever to win her heart and trust back. Easier said than done, especially with the new hot guy in town who is in a rock band and is the complete opposite of Dylan.

Barbie has been hurt beyond repair or so she thinks. It would be easier for heart to decide if she didn’t have to protect her little brother. And if Dylan would just put on a shirt! Dylan is not making this easy on her. It helps to have the distraction of the new guy in town cute bad boy Kai. But even though her heart is damaged it still knows what it wants.

When Barbie learns she has a family and with the help of Roxie and Kai, oh and Third and Dylan. They embark on a journey to help bring Barbie closer to a past she never knew existed.

Heidi Acosta brings you the heart felt story of friendship, love and heartbreak in the second book in of the Baby doll series Barbie World.

Author bio:
Heidi Acosta was born on Long Island, New York. Moving around a lot when she was younger, she has lived in New York, Arizona, New York (again), Washington, Georgia, and Florida, in that order. Each place offered her something special, but she will always consider New York her home.

Heidi started writing as soon as she could spell. When she was three, Heidi’s mother gave her a copy of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods; thus beginning her lifelong love affair with literature.

Writing soon also became a form of therapy for Heidi, when she realized that no matter what was happening in her life, she could find emotional escape while writing. Some of her earliest stories featured her as a princess who explored new worlds with her horse Buttercup. If it sounds romantic, it wasn’t, there was no prince charming in those fairy lands (boys where yucky).

Heidi now resides in Florida with her husband, very active daughter, one hyper Chihuahua, two sweet cats, and one very fat moody cat.
 
 
Extra:
Titel: Barbie World (Babie Girl #2)
Author: Heidi Acosta
Publication date: May 2013
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Links:
 

Friday 10 May 2013

Book Blast: Broken Promises - Dawn Pendleton






After three years in Boston attending college, Mallory Wells has come home to Casper, Maine to care for her father, who is dying from cancer. She left Casper without looking back, leaving her small-town life and everyone in it, behind. Including her sexy high school sweetheart.

Luke Bates was devastated when Mallory left him for the city life. He managed to pull himself together and move on, even if only just barely. When Mallory shows up in town, Luke vows to stay away from her at all costs. So why does he keep checking in on her and her father, showing up when he's clearly uninvited? Maybe Luke isn't as 'over her' as he thought.









Dawn Pendleton is a New Adult & Young Adult author living in Maine with her husband and pup.

Right now, she's working on two manuscripts simultaneously. It's a difficult task for her, but one she's certain will pay off in the end.

Want to meet Dawn?

She is also one of the featured authors of the New Adult Sleepover Weekend. You can find all the details here.


Website † GoodReads † Twitter † Facebook 



Make sure to check out the blog tour kicking off on Monday, May 13th -- HERE.









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Thursday 9 May 2013

Cover Reveal: Overexposed - Adrianne James




OVEREXPOSED by Adrianne James
Young Adult
Paperback
Expected publication: May 24th 2013 by Star Bound Books

EBOOK AND PAPERBACK WILL BE AVAILABLE

In the tiny town of Willowspring, just about nothing ever happens except for layoffs, hockey games, and your average melodramatic teenage angst.

But that was before.

Vi, Ashley, and Macy are just trying to make it through the school year without one more humiliation when they team up for a simple photography assignment: create a story through a series of photographs. Can't be too much trouble, right?

Wrong.

The shutterbugs happen upon Willowspring High School's darkest secret. When everything around them starts to crumble after trying to do the right thing, their only hope is to stick together.






Reveal hosted by...



Wednesday 8 May 2013

Waiting of Wednesday #8 - Crown of Midnight

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights books that have not yet been released, but ones that you should pre-order today! This week's book that I am anxiously awaiting is:

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2)
 
An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt.
But her heart never wavers.



After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the second book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. The first book in this series and the four novelas that came with it were just amazing. So I'm dying to read this book.
 
Publication date: August 27th 2013
 
See you later xx
El
 
 
 

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Cover reveal: Catching Liam - Sophia Bleu

 
 
Synopsis
Twenty-one year-old Jillian Nichols only has one rule when it comes to boys: catch and release. Boy-catching isn't just a game for Jillian and her friends, it's a lifestyle. After all, boys might be good for a dance or a drink and certainly a little under-cover action of the scandalous variety, but expect much else and you're bound for heart ache.

So when her best friends and fellow boy catchers start dropping like flies junior year, Jillian is determined to keep boys in her bedroom and out of her heart. Until she meets Liam McAvoy, the kind of guy that sticks around to make waffles and who can't—or perhaps won't—take a hint.

Study abroad student Liam doesn't want to be another notch on Jillian's bedpost. Actually he has much more interesting ideas for Jillian and her bedposts, but his student visa's set expiration date means he can't promise her forever. That doesn't mean he's going to walk away from the challenge of discovering why Jillian is hell-bent at keeping people at a distance.

Before long, neither is sure who is catching who—or if they're playing for keeps. Jillian knows one thing though: falling in love will not only break the only rule of boy-catching, it could also break her heart.

 

Author bio 
Sophia Bleu is a secret identity where I can write about fantasies and falling in love and all the smexiness in between.  In real life, I'm likely catching a plane, chasing kids, or making out with the love of my life—all 6 ft 3 inches of hotness that he is.  Life is pretty good.
 
Extra:
Author links: Website / Facebook / Twitter
Author: Sophia Bleu
Publication date:  Summer 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Note: There will also be a book tour for Catchin Liam in July at Xpresso book tour. Click here to sign up.