And The Winner Is.......

Agime Bala

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Swoon Thursday (11) Undone

 

The fabulous girls over at YA Bound created this super HOT meme. Here's how it works.

From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering. 

Shout it out on Twitter with the hashtag #YABound, post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog! I want to know & so do the gals at YABound!

I wanted to be able to tell Janelle about all of it. She loved me enough to k now I needed this moment, and I wasn’t going to lose that. Our good-bye wasn’t forever. We would find a way back to one another. 

Undone: An Unraveling Novella by Elizabeth Norris Kindle Location 753

For a guy to have the much faith in a relationship, when they are literally on different worlds/planes. Woowziers!

Review: The Nightmare Affair

Author: Mindee Arnett

Format: e-ARC

Print Length: 367 pages

Publisher: Tor Teen

Published: March 5, 2013 

Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.

Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.

Then Eli’s dream comes true.

Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target. 

My Opinion

The Nightmare Affair was an interesting read that will ensnare your imagination almost as quickly as Dusty captures the essences of a nightmare.

Dusty is a halfkind, her momma a famous Nightmare and her daddy, an ordinary guy. Nightmares- well feed off of nightmares so the rest of the magic world looks at them kinda badly. She has only been at the Academy for a year as it was thought that she had no magic. That year has been a tough one for Dusty- people keep judging her based off of her momma and well to be honest, her magic kinda sucks. Then one night as she is dreamfeed, she sees a murder occur. Turns out she is a dream-seer, she can see the future though dreams but only with Eli. Eli is an ordinary from Dusty’s old “normal” school. He is not happy about this apparent partnership. But he comes to the Academy anyway- as well the magical world now needs him.

Dusty has truly had it rough. Doesn’t matter that her momma did not raise her, she is still facing the ramifications of her momma’s actions. Teachers, magic policy and other students still blame her. She and Eli have to dream-feed often to try and help catch the killer. Will they be able to in time?

Dusty is honest and refreshing. She tries not to be fake which is nice. Paul is her love interest but I wasn’t feeling the love really. There was more tension with her and Eli. Speaking of Eli, holy hotness batman. His only fault- his choice in friends and his girlfriend. He is too nice for them, but for some reason he hangs out with them anyway. I enjoyed the fact that even though he was a “normie” he had to take all the same classes as the others.

I look forward to reading more of Dusty and Eli’s adventures as this is the first book in the series.

My Rating 4 out of 5 stars

Favorite Quote “Nah, I just like to randomly hold hands with strangers.”

Other Characters

Katarina- Siren, mean gal also Eli’s girlfriend
Selene- Siren, Dusty’s bestie which means she is pretty awesome
Lance- Wizard, Eli’s roommate and well a big jerk
Paul- Not sure what he is, but he is interested in Dusty
Mr. Marrow- teacher at the Academy, kind to Dusty

Teaser Tuesday (11) Death, Doom, and Detention

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"By us. The misfits of Torrance County. We are supposed to stop a war between good and evil? When we can barely make it to school on time, we are destined to safeguard humanity?” 

Death, Doom, and Detention by Darynda Jones Kindle Location 709

Could you imagine? All that pressure on you? Knowing that you were a misfit? Darn, I am not sure what I would do.

Dream Cast: Better to See You

Sometimes when you read a book it is like a movie being played inside your head.  One where only you can see but you get to watch it over and over as many times as you want.  No one will criticize it, or hate it because honestly no one else sees it.  The Transplanted Tales Series is a fabulous series that truly does play out in my head as I read it.  So I decided to share with you my dream cast for the series.  Some of the choices for my dream cast may not make sense to you but trust me, these actors and actresses can play these characters fabulously.

Jewel Staite as Lavender

Violet Hair and violet eyes

Chris Evans as Seth

"His pale green eyes flinted with a feral light as he warily returned my gaze, feeling me out. His thick waves of golden brown hair were cut shorter….”

Summer Glau as Red 

Blue jeans, black shirt, trench coat and red boots.

Tom Welling as Nate 

“I’d never seen him in anything except an impeccably tailored wool suit, simple silk tie, and an overcoat that looked like a prop from Casablanca. And the fedora that covered his dark hair...”

Skyler Samuels as Tish 

“Her buttercup yellow ringlets made her seem a lot mousier than she was, but this gal sure wasn’t afraid of spiders anymore. Or anything else, I imagined.” 

Matthew Gray Gubler as Gideon 

“a severe-looking man wearing a black suit and sunglasses stood at my hotel room door, his shoulder-length redgold curls pulled back in a tight ponytail at the base of his neck.”

So what do you think?  Did I cast this awesome tale right or would you have picked someone else?

Review: Better to See You

Author: Kate SeRine

Format: eARC

Print Length: 292 pages

Publisher: eKensington

Published: Feb. 7, 2013 

Once upon a time, a spell went awry and Make Believe characters were cast into the ordinary world. And the results aren’t always happily ever after…

Everyone thinks fairy godmothers can do no wrong. But if not for a certain spell mis-cast by Lavender Seelie, Cinderella’s former fairy godmother, the Tales would not be stuck in the Here and Now. Fortunately for Lavender, she’s about to get a second chance at a happy ending…

The Refuge, a sanctuary for wayward Tales, seems like the perfect place for Lavender to start a new life—especially when she discovers an unexpected ally in Seth, the brooding werewolf who’s been typecast as a villain ever since his run in with Little Red Riding Hood. But when humans from nearby towns start turning up dead, their bodies mutilated with archaic Tale symbols, Lavender wonders if Seth’s deep sensuality has blinded her to the truth. And that distraction could put innocent lives in danger. Including her own… 

My Thoughts

Lavender is at it again- she was the fairy godmother that got the Tales stuck in the Here and Now-our world. Can’t say that I hate though, I love that the Tales are here. This time her spell, well it messed up again but in a totally hilarious way. Now that she made a very powerful and ungrateful couple mad she has to go into hiding. Red sends her to a friend at The Refuge, although she never mentions that the “Friend” is well the big bad wolf, Seth. Seth helps Lavender get back on her feet, literally but bad magic is a foot. Can Lavender figure out who is behind the evil murders, before she gets blamed? Can Seth protect her from those who want to do her harm? Let’s be honest there are a lot of people who want to do her harm- she did get them stuck in the ordinary world.

I will be honest I did not start off liking Lavender. I didn’t like her in the first book. She starts off too self-entitled, too uppity and too well not remorseful. She did become an alcoholic to drown the guilt of her misfired spell, but was that really guilt or more of her pity me. I mean it was her freaking spell that got the entire Tale world transplanted to our world. Hello, some I am sorry would have been nice. But no, she was more woos me. Then someone happens- Seth begins to fall for her.

I loved Seth in the first book, totally felt sorry for him. In this book, I loved how he took a stand, and didn’t take any crap from Lavender. Seth is one of those heroes that takes a beaten and keeps on fighting. As Seth begins to fall for Lavender, she grew on me. I adore how we find out both of their back stories and we are kept up to date on how Red and Nate are doing.

The thing that I love about the Transplanted Tales series, is that I cannot like a main character and still love the book. Kate SeRine is a master storyteller, who directs her characters on the page as well as any film director could. It astonished me how well the story intertwined with the previous one in the series even though the mains were vastly different. The Here and Now is a fabulous world, where the reader will literally get swept into the action that is going on around them. So much so that the reader will be biting their nails until August when the next book in the series comes out.

My Rating 5 stars out of 5 stars

Favorite Quote “I’m the fairy whose sucktacular judgement and giant ego got all us Tales into this freaking mess. And I’v e been paying for it ever since.”

Other Characters

Red- One of Lavender’s only friends, she is also an Enforcer

Nick- The Grim Reaper and Red’s boyfriend 
Tish- Little Miss Muffet, who also is a lead forensic investigator 
Gideon- Lavender’s old boyfriend, and a loyal friend 
Puck- Lavender’s brother, kinda a player oh and he is the mayor of the Refuge

Lunar Love Giveaway Hop

2nd Annual

Lunar Love Giveaway Hop

March 8th to 13th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Bookworm Lisa

This hop features books with paranormal, supernatural, science fiction or space travel element or books that have something to do with the moon or have a moon on their cover.

Now available together for the first time, don’t miss books one and two in C. C. Hunter’s spectacular Shadow Falls series!

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, but it soon becomes clear that the kids at Shadow Falls are far from ordinary. They’re supernatural—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world. Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason...if she can only figure out why, and what her burgeoning powers mean.

As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half Fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. As Kylie struggles to make sense of her feelings and her new abilities, the dark side of the supernatural world emerges and makes life a whole lot harder. An evil enemy lurking in the shadows is about to threaten everything she holds dear…and bring her closer to her destiny.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Hopefully, you will like the Shadow Falls world as much as I do!  Jump to another link for some great giveaways!

Swoon Thursday (10) Wait For You

The fabulous girls over at YA Bound created this super HOT meme. Here's how it works.

From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering. 

Shout it out on Twitter with the hashtag #YABound, post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog! I want to know & so do the gals at YABound!

“Just so we’re clear,” he said. “This isn’t a kiss.” 

I opened my mouth and then his lips were on mine. A sweet sweeping of his lips across mine, breathtaking tender and soft, and way to quick. 

“You kissed me,” I gasped, my fingers digging into his sweater. 

Wait for you by J. Lynn Kindle Location 2505

Oh there are swoonier moments in this story but for some reason this is my favorite. I love his rational for why this isn't a kiss.

Review: The Indigo Spell

Author: Richelle Mead

Format: e-book

Print Length: 432 pages

Publisher: Razorbill

Published: Feb. 12, 2013 

In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood. 

My Thoughts 

The ending of The Golden Lily broke my heart. I wanted so badly to shake Sydney and ask her how she could be so stupid. The Indigo Spell picks up a few weeks after The Golden Lily ends. On the eve of Syndey and Adrian flying out to a vampire wedding. One where Sydney’s boss, Stanton will also be attending. (The Alchemist were invited to help improve relations between them and the Moroi.) Ms. Terwilliger has Sydney cast a spell where it is determined that she will be in mortal danger. Her and all of the other wild magical beings out in the Palm Spring area. Ms. Terwilliger gives Sydney some reading material and off she goes to the wedding. 

Oh the wedding, it was beautiful. Even more beautiful, in front of everyone Adrian asked Sydney to dance. Since, the Alchemist are there to improve relations with the Moroi she has to say yes. Go Adrian! Everyone who saw them, commented on how great they were together- umm Sydney- here’s your sign. I absolutely adore Adrian in this installment. He knows that Sydney is against them being together. He knows that the odds are impossible. He tries to give her the space she needs. But above all else: he protects her, trusts her and adores her. 

Syndey is a little slow on the uptake when it comes to Adrian and their relationship. I blame this on her being homeschooled and not dating a lot. But towards the end when she breaks both of their hearts to follow Marcus I wanted to scream at her again. Darn, seriously for someone so smart, with the matters of the heart she is stupid. 

Speaking of Marcus- I hated him and liked him at the same time. Hated him because he stood in the way of Adrian on many occasions, liked him because he helped Sydney see that the Alchemist were not all they were cracked up to be. Have we seen the end of him? I don’t think so- but does that mean he will stand in the way of things from now own. My money is on no. 

So why the 4 stars instead of 5? To be honest, I was not feeling the action part of the book so much. The sense of urgency that I should have felt the with the evil witch draining the younger wilder witches was not there for me- at least not until the last two chapters. The focus was so much on the feelings that there was not heart pounding, nail biting moments for me. Which I had come to anticipate from the series. Was the book good? Heck yes! Did I read it in one sitting? Yes! Did it blow my mind like the last two? Ummm…no. And that my dear readers makes me sad. 

Now what did blow my mind was the way in which the book ends. How the heck is Adrian going to get around the newest complications? Plus, I really hate the character that shows up in the end. I find her a spoiled brat. One who needs to grow-up. I seriously hope she does not ruin things for Sydney, but I am guessing that she will be the cause of Sydney being sent to a re-education center. (This is just my theory, in no way has the author hinted towards this.) 

My Rating 4 stars out of 5 stars 

Favorite Quote “I’ll just love you whether you want me to or not.” 

Other Characters 

Eddie- Jill’s guardian, dates Angeline 

Jill- still spirit bound to Adrian, still in hiding, still has feelings for Eddie 

Angeline- from the Keeper clan, dates Eddie 

Ms. Terwilliger- Sydney’s teacher, also her magical mentor

Teaser Tuesday (10) Chosen at Nightfall

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“Why couldn’t my heart have picked him? Life would have been so much easier.”

“Because hearts are ornery, sneaky little bastards, designed to cause misery. They want what they want, and they don’t give a damn about what would make life easier or harder for the heart’s owner.” Della snapped. “It sucks big toads!” she screeched, and hit the table so hard, Kylie wouldn’t be surprised if it had cracked. “I say we get drunk on chocolate again.”

Chosen at Nightfall by CC Hunter ARC pg 255-256

I was so excited to the the ARC of this in the mail- I read it the night it came in. Then I re-read it on Sunday. It really is that good of a series. 

What is there not to love about drowning your sorrows in chocolate?

Review: Flight (The Crescent Chronicles #1)

Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

Format: e-book

Print Length: 268 pages

Publisher: self-published

Published: August 16th 2012 

Sometimes you just have to take flight.

A summer in New Orleans is exactly what Allie needs before starting college. Accepting her dad’s invitation to work at his hotel offers an escape from her ex-boyfriend and the chance to spend the summer with her best friend. Meeting a guy is the last thing on her mind—until she sees Levi.

Unable to resist the infuriating yet alluring Levi, Allie finds herself at the center of a supernatural society and forced to decide between following the path she has always trusted or saving a city that might just save her. 

My Thoughts

Allie has sworn off guys- she just broke up with her high school boyfriend. Needing a change she accepts a summer job with her daddy- he owns a hotel in New Orleans. She takes her bestie, Jess with her. 

Jess and Allie are opposites: Allie is smart, quiet, opinionated and goal oriented. Jest is ditzy, bubbly and well boy-crazy. Jess talks Allie into seeing the night life of New Orleans. This is where they meet Levi and some of his friends. The next morning Jess decides to go home and work things out with her on again off again boyfriend. Random much? 

Allie is all alone in New Orleans. Never fear Levi keeps her company. Showing up at her work and taking her out. Levi is different- he is a Pterons which is cool. Not only is he a Pterons but he is the prince of all Pterons. He keeps showing up in Allies live- even though she swore off boys soon they start dating. I like that Allie doesn’t always do was Levi wants or expects. Especially since he is use to getting his way. 

There is not much action in this book- it mainly focuses on building their relationship, which is going fabulously. Until that is Levi does something Levish and Allie Bolts. Her bolting though will put her into some serious danger. To which Levi and his friends come to her rescue. Her life will never be the same. 

Good start to a series with great potential. Flight lays the foundation for the relationship and does a lot of world building. The ending hurt a little but hopefully Levi will be able to rectify the situation in the next installment. 

My Rating 3 stars out of 5 stars 

Favorite Quote “Trust me sweetheart, in New Orleans vampires are the least of your worries.” 

Other Characters 

Hailey- quickly becomes Allie’s new best friend when Jess leaves 

Jared- one of Levi’s best friends, kinda a jerk but I think there is more to him than meets the eyes 

Owen- one of Levi’s best friends, a sweet guy but I would hate to make him mad

Cover Reveal: RECONNAISSANCE

Nova Williams has lost her one shot at Lieutenant hood and at love. Lieutenant Crophaven has promoted her rival, Andromeda, all because her lifemate, Sirius, sacrificed their mission to win back Andromeda’s love. 

While sneaking out to prove Andromeda is a fake, Nova finds an alien ship hovering over their colony. Lieutenant Crophaven assigns her to a reconnaissance mission, giving her a second chance to redeem herself. Sirius must fly her and a research team to the vessel to decide if they are a threat. Thrown together with the lifemate that betrayed her, she battles with her own jealousy while her team battles for their lives. 

Can she forgive Sirius in order to save her team and warn her colony?

About the author:

Aubrie Dionne writes science fiction fantasy with romantic elements. Her writings have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Hazard Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, A Fly in Amber, and Aurora Wolf. Her books are published by Inkspell Publishing, Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. She’s also a professional flutist in New England.

Please visit her website: http://www.authoraubrie.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2964057.Aubrie_Dionne

Blog: httphttp://authoraubrie.blogspot.com

Twitter: @authoraubrie

Giveaway:

Prize 1: 1 Paperback after release
Prize 2: 5 eBooks after release
Prize 3: 1 Necklace (Photo attached)

a Rafflecopter giveaway