Wednesday 30 December 2015

Waiting on Wednesday #113: The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court #1) by Richelle Mead


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:

The Glittering Court
by Richelle Mead

27272506

A dazzling new fantasy series set in a mix of Elizabethan and frontier worlds that's dripping with romance from Richelle Mead, #1 internationally bestselling author of Vampire Academy.

Big and sweeping, spanning the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court. 

Both a school and business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies capable of arranging powerful and wealthy marriage in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.

When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together, they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide's deception. Complications soon arise - first, as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and later, when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor. 

But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands...


Why I Can't Wait


I love Richelle Mead, I have read multiple series by her and so far I love all her books. So she's on my auto-buy list. I am really excited for this new series, it sounds so good and intriguing. I cannot believe that I did not know she was writing a new series until now!

Publication date: April 5th 2016

Elien

Tuesday 29 December 2015

Top Ten Tuesday #75: Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2016


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Broke and Bookish. This weeks 
Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2016

27272506254943431792814716130759178385282179318225941997209833622361398328174752


  1. The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court #1) by Richelle Mead
  2. Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare
  3. Walk the Edge (Thunder Road #2) by Katie McGarry
  4. Night Study (Soulfinders #2) by Maria V. Snyder
  5. The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
  6. Starflight (Starflight #1) by Melissa Landers
  7. Cannon (Cutlass Trilogy #3) by Ashley Nixon
  8. Passenger (Passenger #1) by  Alexandra Bracken
  9. Run by Kody Keplinger
  10. Tempest (Wings of War #3) by Karen Ann Hopkins

Elien

Wednesday 23 December 2015

Waiting on Wednesday #112: Walk the Edge (Thunder Road #2) by Katie McGarry


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:

Walk the Edge 
by Katie McGarry

17928147

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.

Goodreads



Why I Can't Wait


Katie McGarry is just amazing. I have read all her books and I love them all. I have no idea how she manages to write one amazing book after the other but somehow she can do it. Earlier this year I read the first book in this series and I cannot wait to see how the story will continue.

Publication date: March 29th 2016

Elien

Tuesday 22 December 2015

Top Ten Tuesday #74: Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Broke and Bookish. This weeks 
Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year

2349267116177185161563573313496109648909152188797611879898318660447

  1. The Rosie Effect (Don Tilleman #2) by Graeme Simsion: I read the first book in this series a while back and I have wanted to read the sequel ever since. 
  2. The Hogwarts Library by J.K. Rowling: I cannot believe that I still do not own these!
  3. The Immortal Crown (Age of X #2) by Richelle Mead: I love Richelle Mead and the first book in this series was great. So I cannot wait to own the sequel. 
  4. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien: I love the universe Tolkien created.
  5. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Fire and Ice #1) by George R.R. Marting: I want to read this series so badly.
  6. Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon: Another series I cannot wait to get my hands on. 
  7. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell: Any Rainbow Rowell book would do actually. 
  8. I Was Here by Gayle Forman: I love her books and this is the only one I do not own yet. 
  9. The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh: I have wanted this book since it was released earlier this year.
  10. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West: Her books are so adorable and I already own her other contemporary books so I want to collect them all. 
Which books do yo want Santa to bring you this year? Let me know!

Elien

Wednesday 16 December 2015

Waiting on Wednesday #111: Passenger (Passenger #1) by Alexandra Bracken


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:

Passenger
by Alexandra Bracken

20983362

Passage, 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, Nichols' 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.


Why I Can't Wait


I have heard many great things about Alexandra Bracken and her books. I have not yet read her other series but I planning too. In the mean time I can start this one since it sounds really good and intriguing. 

Publication date: January 5th


Elien

Tuesday 15 December 2015

Top Ten Tuesday #73: Top Ten Best Books I Read In 2015


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Broke and Bookish. This weeks 
Top Ten Best Books I read In 2015


178993512349228222888980152830432320448923556036188123629565548994327023361244

The Diviners (The Diviners #1) by Libba Bray
Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1) by Katie McGarry
Flintlock (Cutlass Trilogy #2) by Ashley Nixon
The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Rebel Wing (Rebel Wing #1) by Tracy Banghart
Storm Fall (Rebel Wing #2) by Tracy Banghart
Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X #1) by Richelle Mead
Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers
Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) by Robin LaFevers
Lying Out Loud (The DUFF #2) by Kody Keplinger


Elien

Monday 14 December 2015

Review: Masquerade (Andalucian Nights #2) by Hannah Fielding

26019431Title: Masquerade
Author: Hannah Fielding
Series: Andalucian Nights
Genre: Romance, Historical Fiction, Adult
Publisher: London Wall
Publication date: August 6th 2015
Pages: 442 (Paperback)
Source: Received from author (Thank you!!)






From the award-winning author of The Echoes of Love. Love, mystery and desire under the scorching Spanish sun. 

A young writer becomes entangled in an illicit gypsy love affair, pulling her into a world of secrets, deception and dark desire. 

Summer, 1976. Luz de Rueda returns to her beloved Spain and takes a job as the biographer of a famous artist. On her first day back in Cádiz, she encounters a bewitching, passionate young gypsy, Leandro, who immediately captures her heart, even though relationships between his kind are taboo. Haunted by this forbidden love, she meets her new employer, the sophisticated Andrés de Calderón. Reserved yet darkly compelling, he is totally different to Leandro but almost the gypsy's double. Both men stir unfamiliar and exciting feelings in Luz, although mystery and danger surround them in ways she has still to discover. 

Luz must decide what she truly desires as glistening Cádiz, with its enigmatic moon and whispering turquoise shores, seeps back into her blood. Why is she so drawn to the wild and magical sea gypsies? What is behind the old fortune-teller's sinister warnings about 'Gemini'? Through this maze of secrets and lies, will Luz finally find her happiness... or her ruin? 

Masquerade is a story of forbidden love, truth and trust. Are appearances always deceptive? 


Masquerade is the second novel in the Andalucian Nights series. Earlier this year I read Indiscretion and I really liked that one. So I was excited to find out that it was part of a series. Masquerade follows the story of Alexandra’s and Salvador’s daughter, Luz de Rueda. The book is again set in Andalucía, Spain, but this time it is in the 70’s.

I really like the writing style of Hannah Fielding; it is excellent for historical fiction. She brings the world alive with her descriptions of the sceneries and cultures. Fielding did a great jog bringing the beauty and the culture of Spanish society. And that is exactly what I am looking for in a historical fiction book. I like to learn new things when I read a book and since it is set in the past it is important that it is as accurate as it can be. Besides I do not know much about the 70’s in Spain so it is nice when the author describes everything so well.  

Luz was a fun character to read about. She has a really strong personality, once she has set her eyes upon something she has a hard time to get her mind of it. And she cannot be persuaded to do so even when she knows that it would be the right thing to do. Luz also had a strong sense of pride and you better not hurt it because she was not someone who easily forgets about it. And that is exactly what I liked so much about her; she might not have been the easiest person to be around but at least she was real. So often characters are way too perfect; but Luz had her imperfections and that made her so much more special to me.

But there are also a couple of things I liked less about this book. The biggest problem for me where Luz her love interest(s). She did not know Leandro she had just laid eyes on him for a minute, yet she claims to love him. Clearly she did not know the difference between lust and love and it annoyed me. Then there was love triangle that was thrown in. I am not the biggest fan of them, never will be, so I would not have minded if it had played a lesser role in this book. And my last point is that at some moments during the book there was not enough action for me. There were a couple chapters where nothing really happened and I just feel like it would not have hurt the book if it had been a bit shorter.


Overall I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions are beautifully done and the overall storyline is good if you are looking for a nice romance story. You do not need to read the first book in the series in order to read this one. I would still recommend it if you want to avoid spoilers and to give you more of a background story. I cannot wait to read more books by this author and I hope that the next book in this series will come out soon. 


Elien

Sunday 13 December 2015

Sunday Post #27

Sunday Post

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead.

Another week has gone by. It's crazy how time flies when you are having a good time. I cannot believe that it is almost Christmas already. It sure does not feel like it since the weather here in London more feels like it's still Fall. But I am excited for it because it means that I will be going home to my family in Belgium for a couple of days.Nothing really special happened this week. And sometimes that is exactly what we need, an uneventful week. 

This week on the blog: 


Next week on the blog:
  • Monday: Review: Masquerade (Andalucian Nights #2) by Hannah Fielding
  • Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday #73: Top Ten Books I've Read In 2015
  • Wednesday: Waiting On Wednesday #111
  • Thursday: Review: The Dragon of the Month Club by Iain Reading
  • Friday: Band of the Month December

Elien

Friday 11 December 2015

New Book Releases in December


This month is a month in which some amazing books are released. I'm so excited for some of them and I can't wait to read them! 

25883610227018792588609425355601 

Did I Mention That I Love You? (The DIMILY Trilogy #1) by Estelle Maskame (December 1st)
Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom (December 1st)
Queen (The Blackcoat Rebellion #3) by Aimée Carter (December 1st)
His Right Hand (A Linda Wallheim Mystery) by Mette Ivie Harrison (December 1st)

25209521273963202546300911222874 

Oblivion (Lux #1.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout (December 1st)
Burn (South Beach Bodyguards #1) by Erin McCarthy (December 7th)
Inherit the Stars (Inherit the Stars #1) by Tessa Elwood (December 8th)
Bloodcraft (Bloodspell #2) by Amalie Howard (December 15th)

25797219237194232363379623454468

Redemption (The Sophisticates #3) by Christine Manzari (December 21st)
This Raging Light bye Estelle Laura (December 22nd)
What's Broken Between Us by Alexis Bass (December 29th)
Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer (December 29th)

Elien