Jun 20, 2014

Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop! Win some swag!

midsummer small


What's in the box.?!?!?!?!?!.... ahem, I mean envelope.....
Well... it will be a variety of signed and unsigned bookmarks, stickers, and fun book things, that's what! (maybe even a book.... we shall see)

Rules: US only, sorry INT peeps (I am broke)
13 with parents permission or older
Enter via the Rafflecopter!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blitz: Excerpt and Giveaway -- Sticks and Stones by Shawn McGuire


Sticks and Stones by Shawn McGuire 
(The Wish Makers #1)
Publication date: June 15th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

About the Book
Everyone has a dark side. Mandy’s just moved in with her.
The last time sixteen-year-old Mandy Matteo broke a rule, her sister died. Since that day she has done only what is expected of her, but life as a goody-goody has made Mandy so boring her friends have all but abandoned her. And she’s given up on ever getting Ethan, the boy she’s liked forever, to notice her. Desperate, Mandy makes a wish to simply be happy.
Her wish is granted and happiness arrives in the form of Lexi, her childhood imaginary friend come to life. Magical wishes have conditions though: Once started, the wish cannot be altered or stopped. And once Mandy is truly content with her life again, Lexi must go back to where she came from. But Lexi loves being alive and she’ll do whatever it takes to stay that way.

Mandy

It had been twelve years since I’d broken a rule. I found that life flowed along more easily if I didn’t rock the boat. Expectations were understood and outcomes predictable. Tonight was going to be different though. Tonight I’d step out of my carefully controlled comfort zone. If I wanted to have any friends at all, it was my only choice.
I’d promised Brooke and Crissy I’d go to the party tonight, even though it wasn’t my kind of thing and they knew it. But I really wanted the three of us to be together and this was what they agreed on. Besides, if I didn’t go I’d spend my sixteenth birthday alone.
Things weren’t going as planned though. Brooke had promised to pick me up at seven-thirty. At ten minutes to eight I’d received a text saying her brother had taken her car and she’d gotten a ride from someone else. So there I was, ready and willing and no way to get to the party.
Well, there was one way. My birthday present from my uncle, an old Ford Escape he’d been fixing up for months, was waiting in the barn for me. There was the minor detail that I didn’t have my license yet, but my road test was scheduled for tomorrow morning and I knew I’d pass. So what the heck, I was already stepping out of my box, what was one more step?
Brooke was supposed to bring me her silver sequined miniskirt so I was back at the I-have-nothing-to-wear stage. The whole time I stood there staring into my closet, an invisible Jiminy Cricket sat on my shoulder reminding me that I was breaking a rule. You know what happens when you break a rule.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, flicking Jiminy to the floor, “civilizations collapse and planets implode. Alert the media, Mandy Matteo is about to break a rule.” But the room spun a little and my stomach flipped as those words came out of my mouth. I looked down to see if Jiminy was still there. He wasn’t, of course, so I called out, “It’s just one party. Mom won’t be home ’til Sunday. No one will ever know I took the Escape.”
Finally dressed in something other than sweats, I grabbed the “sweet sixteen” key ring from the rack by the front door, ran out to the barn, and hopped in the car. At the end of the driveway I paused, waiting for a sign that planets were in fact imploding. With my luck, the first party I ever went to would get busted. But no space debris fell out of the sky to block my path. My phone didn’t ring with Mama intuitively calling to ask what I was up to. No voice from above told me to turn away from the dark side I was about to cross into. So I pulled onto the county highway and headed for town.

Open INTL - Ends June 24th
A handmade bracelet

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
About the Author
Shawn McGuire started writing after seeing the first Star Wars movie (that’s episode IV) as a kid: she couldn’t wait for the next one so wrote her own episodes. Sadly, those notebooks are long lost, but her desire to write is as strong now as it was then. She grew up in the beautiful Mississippi River town of Winona, Minnesota, the small town that inspired the setting for Sticks and Stones and the upcoming Break My Bones. After graduating college she moved to the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin (Go Pack Go!) where she lived for many years. She and her family now call Colorado home and when not writing or reading, Shawn enjoys cooking and baking, crafts, interior decorating, and spending time hiking and camping in the spectacular Rocky Mountains.

Find the Author

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3231214.Shawn_McGuire

Jun 19, 2014

Early Reader Review: The Orchard of Hope by Amy Neftzger

The Orchard of Hope
The Orchard of Hope by Amy NeftzgerSeries: The Orphanage of Miracles #2
Publisher: FogInk
Publication Date: June 23, 2014 



 

Format: Paperback ARC
Source: Received from FogInk Press in exchange for an honest review. This in no way effects my review or opinions of the book.


Rating:




 


Goodreads Synopsis: 
“Hope is never gone, but it can be eaten alive.”

A quest to save hope.
A kingdom under a spell.
A wizard in training.
A gargoyle with a sweet tooth.

The sequel to The Orphanage of Miracles is filled with engaging characters, magic, adventure, and unusual circumstance. It’s a story that will both entertain and inspire the reader.

Kelsey, a strong-willed and high spirited young girl, embarks upon another adventurous quest - this time to save hope, which is being stolen from the orchard. While the kingdom is still under the spell of the evil sorcerer who distorts reality in order to gain control, the king begins training someone who he believes can ultimately defeat the sorcerer: a young boy named Nicholas. Revisit some of your favorite characters or meet them for the first time in this volume.
 Review: 

 When I finished reading The Orphanage of Miracles I could not shut up about it, it was whimsy and enchanting from the beginning to the end, so when I started tweeting about it, I was thrilled to get a message from FogInk telling me they would send me the next book in the series... 

I put off reading this one until closer to the release date because I had the feeling I was going to feel the same way...and luckily I was correct. Netfzger has a way with forming an enthralling world for the reader to walk through with the characters and there are so many things to love. 

In The Orchard of Hope, we follow two story lines much like in the first book. Kelsey is on another adventure while Nicolas is in the castle training to be a sorcerer, what makes this book just as good as the first is the development and growth of the characters in between the two books and shared with the reader in the beginning of this one. Kelsey is just as stubborn but learning to be mindful of others; Nicolas is learning that there is more around than what meets the eye; and Maggie another character from the last book, has been cast as a girly-girl in they eyes of Kelsey at least, but becomes a wonderful asset to the adventure regardless of lacking the experience with them.

Again we learn lessons throughout the book of acceptance, asking for help when you need it, honesty, being present, using knowledge or power for good versus evil, all those fun things and more.

I love that these books take the idea of invisible things and make them objects that need creating or saving...that element alone is the main reason I enjoy these books. There is depth that as a reader of any age you can really delve into. 

There are also very funny bits, like a talking gargoyle who loves to eat - he was my favorite this time around.

Overall, I think this great cast of characters and the wonderful adventure scenes which alternate with the woes of learning, make this story fun for all ages and if it leads to chats about how one might create miracles or save hope I think that is great too... Beautifully written and a book that I will definitely be sharing with people.

Jun 18, 2014

Kindle Fire Giveaway!

Enter to win 1 of 2 great prizes. Winner’s choice of a Kindle Fire HDX or $229 Amazon Gift Card or $229 Paypal Cash! The first prize is available via the rafflecopter below. The 2nd is available only to bloggers who post about this giveaway. You can find info on how to enter the 2nd giveaway in the rafflecopter.
 June Kindle Fire  

Win a Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash ($229 value)



The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HDX (US Only - $229 Value)
  Or $229 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)
  Or $229 in Paypal Cash (International)
To Enter Click  <<Read More>> for the Rafflecopter

Jun 17, 2014

Relase Day!: Dream Ending (Rylee Everley Series #3) by S.M. Knowles


Release Day!
Dream Ending
The Rylee Everley Series Book #3
Young Adult Fantasy
Starting their senior year at a new school, Rylee, Lyla, Brock, Garrett, and Cole soon realize that Pothercrest isn’t any ordinary school. After speaking with her parents for the first time since arriving at Pothercrest, Lyla mysteriously disappears without a trace, but will they ever find her again? While searching for their friend, an unexpected visitor arrives with information Rylee never sees coming.
Adysin has managed to get into the school undetected and is on a mission to regain Brock as hers. Will Rylee and her friends ever rid themselves of Adysin and her obsession with controlling others? Something even darker than Adysin and her evil ways is stirring though, something no one is prepared for.

Purchase On Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/mlmakg3






Catch up on the Other Books In the series!


Unusual Awakening ( Book #1 )
With tears and a tight hug, Rylee Everley’s dad left for Afghanistan with the Army Reserve. Since his deployment, her mom has been distant, her sisters are constantly fighting, and Rylee, at only thirteen years old, has to be the glue to keep them together. While her mother stays locked in her room, Rylee has been forced into the role of parent.

Now, two years later, a freak accident involving a bus at school promises to restore some normality to her family. In spite of not knowing how their father is, her mother is happy and her sisters don’t seem to fight as much as they used to. Rylee herself is seeing more of her friends and is even trying to sort out her own feelings about Brock Parker. However, something dark threatens to disrupt that normality for personal gain, and that darkness is willing to break every rule to get what it wants.
Add To Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/p58yfza
Purchase from Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/p96xlsp
     



Awakening Dream ( Book #2 )

Since her father disappeared while in Afghanistan, Rylee Everley has been taking things one day at a time. After burying their friend over the summer, she and her friends returned to school for their junior year. While her friends are worried about career choices and the future, she hangs on to a secret. Witches exist, and they live here among us. She has been asked to help vanquish a half witch who has caused some problems with only a wisp trapped in a necklace to help her, her own manifesting gifts, and cryptic dreams to guide her.

To top it all off, her childhood friend, and crush, has been acting really strange ever since he started dating Adysin. He ditched the football team, and he acts like a totally different person. They were once so close, and now she finds herself missing him and feeling guilty for pushing him away. Is this just concern for a friend she’s feeling or could it be love? Can Rylee save her childhood friend from a witch who’s willing to go to any length and pay any price to keep him?
Add To Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/oube6p4
Purchase from Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/pbmfhdb




About the Author
While growing up, S.M. would travel the roads around her house while imagining she was somewhere else. Her imagination would take her everywhere, making the long hot summer days seem shorter throughout her fantasies. At the age of twelve, she decided to write her first book. Filled mostly with dialog, she filled up one-hundred pages, front and back. After taking the book downstairs to show her mom, and persuading her to buy her more paper, she excitedly ran back to her room. As she barreled through the door, S.M. tripped over items left on her floor, and her papers came raining down in her room. Discouraged, she stood there in tears, picking up her papers and throwing them in the trash. Her work had no organization, no numbers on her pages, just a child fulfilling a joy that she would put down and not pick up again. When she became older, she joined the military for something different. In that time, she was able to explore many places and even met her husband in Iraq. After coming home, she started her family in Arizona and went back to school, earning a Master's degree in Adult Education and Training. 

Jun 16, 2014

Cover Reveal: Mistress of Lies by Holly West w/ Giveaway!

http://www.booknerdtours.com/2014/cover-reveal-mistress-of-lies-by-holly-west.html

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Mistress of Lies by Holly West
Mistress of Fortune #2
About the Book
London, 1679 
Isabel, Lady Wilde, mistress of King Charles II, has made a good living disguised as fortune teller Mistress Ruby, counseling London’s elite. But after the murder of one of her customers, business has taken a downturn, and Isabel is on the verge of accepting the king’s offer to move into the palace.

Isabel’s plans are interrupted when a beggar girl named Susanna shows up at her home, claiming to be her niece. Isabel always believed that her older brother, Adam, died alone during the plague. When Susanna reveals that Adam was actually murdered, Isabel is compelled to take up an impossible task: discover the truth about her brother’s death, twelve years after it happened.

Isabel’s investigation leads her through the gamut of London society, from bear-baiting matches and brothels to the realm of wealthy bankers. But as she uncovers her brother’s dark secrets, Isabel begins to wonder whether the past is better left buried—especially when uncovering the truth could lead to her own funeral.

 
Giveaway is open Internationally. | Must be 13+ to Enter
a Rafflecopter giveaway  

About the Author

Holly West is a crime fiction author based in Los Angeles. She’s the author of the 
Mistress of Fortune series, set in late 17th London and featuring amateur sleuth Isabel 
Wilde, a mistress to King Charles II who secretly makes her living as a fortuneteller. The 
first in the series, Mistress of Fortune, was published by Harlequin’s Carina Press in 
February 2014 and its sequel, Mistress of Lies, is forthcoming in Fall 2014.

Jun 15, 2014

Building the Book Pile #95

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Welcome to Building the Book Pile!  A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

What's Happening?!
Sadly my vacation week has come to an end.... so many sad faces! Oh well, it was a wonderful break. I was planning to stay at home and read/sleep for most of it but ended up heading to VA to pick up the remainder of our belongings from families homes (we left some stuff during the move and needed to get it finally) and catch up with some friends.  

I did get some reading done too, which was good and I am getting caught up on my TBR list from my home bookshelves as well :)


Giveaways Going on NOW!   

$50 Amazon Card 
 

Click pic/link to be taken to the giveaway!
Others may be linked on the right sidebar :) check them out!

 

Coming up on the Blog...

Cover Reveal: Mistress of Lies (Mistress of Fortune #2) by Holly West (YA) w/ Giveaway!
Blitz: Relinquish (Lost Souls #2) by Amy Thompson (YA)
Release Day: Dream Ending (#3) by S.M. Knowles (YA)
Early Reader Review: The Orchard of Hope (Orphanage of Miracles #2) by Amy Netfger (MG)
Blitz: Sticks and Stones by Shawn McGuire w/ Giveaway! (YA)

Books This Week


 Books
The Tropic of Serpents (Memoir by Lady Trent #2)

The Tropic of Serpents: A memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan (HB) -- won from Small Review and Tor Books -- Many thanks! 
Anthem's Fall by S.L. Dunn from the author for review on the Book Nerds Blog Tour
Copper Magic by  from Tor for review on the Book Nerds Blog Tour

 
Covers go to Goodreads Pages




  Comment and leave me a link to your Round-up/ STS/ Weekly...anything post and I will happily stop by and say hello!

 Happy Reading!

Jun 11, 2014

Early Reader Review: The Merciless by Danielle Vega

The Merciless
The Merciless by Danielle Vega
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date:  June 12, 2014



 

Format: ebook
Source:Penguin First Reads program in exchange for an honest review. This in no way effects my thoughts or options of the book.


Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 
Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned

Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.

Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.

Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . .

In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?
 Review: 


Whatever you read about this book could not possibly prepare you for the violence and creepiness of this book- and I mean that in the best way possible. The Merciless follows the new girl in town, Sofia, who befriends a few girls on her first day of school. In this group is Brooklyn, the loner, and then Riley and her posse of Alexis and Grace, your teen Bible study/popular girls group.



Sofia is shy and trying to fit in, while all the other girls are trying her out as a new friend. Sofia gets wrapped up in a spy-like operation for Riley and then all hell breaks loose (no pun intended). When Riley decides that Brooklyn is evil and needs an exorcism, the book becomes a madhouse of fire, knives, stabbing, drowning and an overall terrifying experience for Sofia.



I am not even sure where to start on this one, so how about the most obvious – the cover. The pretty pink cover with an upside down pentagram is a marvelous expression of what is to come inside the book. A mix of religion, good and evil, and pop-princesses gone bad; it was the creepy I wanted out of this book. Danielle Vega did a wonderful job pulling the reader in with this plot, Sofia seems like a normal shy girl and you are really pulling for her to make friends and enjoy her new home. Little by little things seem off in the story and then BOOM!!!!! All the creepy.



Vega’s descriptions were the best and worst part of this read, at one point she is explaining the sound of ripping ones nails off with a knife (gross right?! You have NO idea HOW gross?), this gave me shivers and I had to put the book down for a moment while I tried not to get sick. BUT that being said… this was an amazing book! There is a crazy twist ending that I was NOT expecting even after being forewarned by the synopsis. If you are a fan of violence, horror, and the heebie-jeebies … you should read this.
 

Jun 9, 2014

Recent Reads: The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson


The AbominablesThe Abominables by Eva Ibbotson
Publisher: Amulet Books, An Imprint of Abrams
Publication Date:  October 2013



 

Format: Paperback ARC
Source: BEA 2013


Rating:



Goodreads Synopsis: 
Renowned literary great Eva Ibbotson delivers a final novel in her classic, much-loved style. A previously unpublished work from this favorite author, The Abominables follows a family of yetis who are forced, by tourism, to leave their home in the Himalayas and make their way across Europe to a possible new home. Siblings Con and Ellen shepherd the yetis along their eventful journey, with the help of Perry, a good-natured truck driver. Through a mountain rescue in the Alps and a bullfight in Spain, the yetis at last find their way to an ancestral estate in England—only to come upon a club of voracious hunters who have set their sights on the most exotic prey of all: the Abominable Snowmen.
Briskly funny and full of incident, The Abominables is vintage Ibbotson. With unforgettable characters and thoughtful messages about the environment and advocacy, it’s a generous last gift to her many devoted fans.
 Review: 


I received The Abonimables at BEA 2013 and I am sad to say that many of the books I received are still in my TBR pile – I went a bit overboard…  Anywho, this book was very cute. I had not heard of Eva Ibbotson before this book, but she was a beautiful writer of whimsy. She took a surreal topic and although far-fetched made it seem possible. In the book we meet Lady Agatha, a young girl kidnapped by a yeti. She lives with them and raises the children, teaches them all sorts of things, and when marketing and development start to take over their homestead she decides that they should move to her old home in England, the Farley Towers.



The book is filled with illustrations and because I only had an ARC some were even just the rough sketches, I am told that the released book has these in full color and I bet that they are adorable. I pictures were a wonderful addition to the story – they really captured what I was seeing in my head as I was reading the tale and those types of images are always the best.



Ibbotson’s tale is a fun-filled adventure for young readers with learning embedded throughout on their journey from the Himalayas to England. This was a very easy read and I think both boys and girls will enjoy it. Amulet markets it for ages 8-12 but if read a loud I think younger audiences can enjoy as well.
 

Jun 8, 2014

Building the Book Pile #94

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Welcome to Building the Book Pile!  A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

What's Happening?!
Another week has past! Wow this year is sure flying by! How was your week? I am super excited because I am on VACATION for the next week and I need it, work has been super stressful these last few weeks and I need some sleep/read time. 


Giveaways Going on NOW!   

$50 Amazon Card 
 

Click pic/link to be taken to the giveaway!
Others may be linked on the right sidebar :) check them out!

 

Coming up on the Blog...

The only thing I have set to post is:
Early Reader Review: The Merciless by Danielle Vega (YA) 

I hope to also post:
Recent Reads: The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson (MG)
Movie Review by Cecilia: The Fault in Our Stars 

Books This Week


Ebooks
The Geography of You and Me Keeper Omnibus (The Morphid Chronicles, #1-4)
  The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer Smith from Netgalley and  Little Brown Books/Poppy
Keeper by  Ingrid Seymour for Blog Tour with Candace's Book Blog

Audiobooks
The Hangman's Revolution (W.A.R.P. #2) 
 WARP: The Hangman's Revolution (WARP #2) by Eoin Colfer - eAubiobook from Penguin Audio for review (Release Date: June 24, 2014)


 Books
Evil Librarianhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20538995-goodnight-football?from_search=true

Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen ARC from Armchair BEA and Candlewick Press as a prize :) (Release Date: Sept 2014) - Even my husband is excited to read this one  (yay!)
Goodnight Football by Michael Dahl ARC from Armchair BEA and Capstone Young Readers as a prize :) (Release Date: July 1, 2014) 
 
Covers go to Goodreads Pages