Jun 30, 2014

The Beautiful Ashes Winner!

Hey all! I'm back from my trip! Had a blast! The weather was gorgeous, so naturally I come home to upper 90s, heat, humidity, a heat advisory warning! Fun times!

Anyhoo, just wanted to announce the winner of The Beautiful Ashes ARC! And if you didn't win, never fear! I am just 7 followers away from another follower landmark, so there will hopefully be a contest very soon!

And the winner is...
VANNAH BATISTA


Congrats Vannah!

I have sent the winner an email and she will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner will be chosen!

Thanks again to everyone who entered!





It's Monday! What are You Reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Just a note, not all my links are working since I wrote this post before I left on Friday, so I wrote it Thursday night! I came back though on Friday and filled in those links but the Sunday ones are still not active! ;)


Last Week I Read:

Dark Metropolis by Jacyln Dolamore (ARC) (1.5 stars)
The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost (ARC)--Review to come at a later date
Talon by Julie Kagawa (ARC)--Review to come at a later date



DNF:

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Sadly, I just couldn't get into this one, so I stopped reading it since my TBR mountain is out of control


Reviews That Were Posted:

Enslaved by the Others by Jess Haines (ARC) (4.5 stars)
Queen of Hearts by Kristen Painter (ARC) (5 stars)
The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson (ARC) (1.5 stars)
Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater (ARC) (4.5 stars)
Fireborn by Keri Arthur (ARC) (5 stars)


Currently Reading:

Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore



What I Hope to Read this Week:

 Black Rook by Kelly Meade (ARC)



Other Posts of Interest:

Top 5 Sundays
Stacking the Shelves




Jun 29, 2014

Stacking the Shelves

This weekly meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!



So I write this post on Thursday in advance since I am currently MIA! There may be something waiting at home for me or maybe not! Who's to say!


But here's what I did get in the early part of the week for review:

 Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore
Black Rook by Kelly Meade (ARC)
The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker (ARC)*

*Haven't decided if I want to give this one a try, simply because I struggled so deeply with A Discovery of Witches...


Thanks goes to Daw, Intermix, Netgalley, and Pamela Dorman Books!



What did you all get?






 

Jun 28, 2014

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa and Friends' Bookish Life.

 Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:
1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3 - Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)
4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)



This week's topic is: FAVE BOOKS 1st HALF OF 2014



*This is what was in the lead as of 6/26 when I was writing my posts before my absence!
**in no particular order


WHITE HOT KISS
by Jennifer L. Armentrout


A JLA book is no surprise here!



DOROTHY MUST DIE
by Danielle Paige

An awesome debut! Sooo cannot wait for more in this series!


SIXTH GRAVE ON THE EDGE
by Darynda Jones

A Darynda Jones book is another no brainer! I looove this series!


UP FROM THE GRAVE
by Jeaniene Frost

A wonderful end to Cat and Bones story! But let's hope that Ian gets his turn in the spotlight too!


TALON
by Julie Kagawa

Perhaps cheating but I read the ARC just in this last week and LOVED it! 







Jun 27, 2014

ARC Review--Fireborn by Keri Arthur

From New York Times bestselling author Keri Arthur comes a brand new series featuring heroine Emberly Pearson—a phoenix capable of taking on human form, and cursed with the ability to foresee death…

Emberly has spent a good number of her many lives trying to save humans. So when her prophetic dreams reveal the death of Sam, a man she once loved, she does everything in her power to prevent that from happening. But in saving his life, she gets more than she bargained for.

Sam is working undercover for the Paranormal Investigations Team, and those who are trying to murder him are actually humans infected by a plague-like virus, the Crimson Death—a by-product of a failed government experiment that attempted to identify the enzymes that make vampires immortal. Now, all those infected must be eliminated.

But when Emberly’s boss is murdered and his irreplaceable research stolen, she needs to find the guilty party before she goes down in flames…


I received this ARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review. 


Keri Arthur is one of those authors that just continues to amaze me! She has written a ton of novels and they only seem to get better and better! Fireborn, the first in her new series, Souls of Fire, is no exception!

This time however, instead of the usual vampires or werewolves or angel type characters, she brings us Emberly, a bona-fide phoenix. With an entirely new kind of character-creature comes new mythology to know in order to understand about Emberly's other half and Keri does this beautifully! It can be hard sometimes adjusting to new worlds and characters, but it's not so much in this one. A few details were hard to grasp at first about the phoenix nature, but it wasn't long before I could understand it!

Keri has a knack for building up incredible relationships--and complicated ones too! And we get all that here as well! Emberly's got a few guys going on in her life, but not in a way that comes off trashy. There's Rory, her phoenix companion who she basically needs by her side to survive. Her ex-boyfriend Sam comes waltzing back into her life when she decides to save his life. And then there's Jackson, a fire fae who she gets immediately attracted to! So there's some definite relationship drama, but again, it's not at all bad! I got so wrapped up in it all! And despite some major trust issues and other past complications, I am totally rooting for the old flame, Sam!

When Emberly's boss is murdered and she is a key source in trying to solve the murder, she and Sam are once again reunited...and it definitely wasn't good. There's still a thick sheen of tension between these two. Emberly try as she might, can't get over Sam while it appears that Sam is over her. But as we all know, appearances can be deceiving!

I got very much wrapped up in the murder and the whole Crimson Death virus that's floating around. Emberly's boss was deep into researching it and it seems he was killed for this research. And since Emberly was his research assistant, she becomes a hot commodity for the bad guys.

This was an extremely well-paced novel. The action and investigation was coupled just right with other things like character development and of course some romance! I can definitely sense a few things that are going to happen in this one, but the deeper details of course remain a mystery, as it should be!

Keri Arthur has done it again and written yet another insanely hot series that is sure to amaze all and garner new and old readers the day its released! While the rest of us hold our breaths relentlessly as we await its sequel! An astounding read by far!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars


Fireborn releases July 1, 2014






Cover Copy Reveal--UNLEASHED by Sophie Jordan

What if the worst thing you ever did was unforgivable?

Davy’s world fell apart after she tested positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome. She was expelled from her school, dumped by her boyfriend, abandoned by friends, and shipped off to a camp that turns HTS carriers into soldiers. Davy may have escaped, but the damage has already been done. The unthinkable has happened. Now, even worse than having everyone else see her as a monster is the knowledge that they may have been right about her all along. Because Davy has killed.

On the run from government agents, Davy is rescued by Caden, the charismatic leader of an underground group of rebels. Despite Caden’s assurances that the Resistance is made up of carriers like her, Davy isn’t sure she can trust them. Then again, she doesn’t even know if she can trust herself . . . or her growing feelings for Caden. But if she doesn’t belong with Caden and his followers, is there anywhere she can call home?
 
 
 
And here's a special tease from Sophie:
 
I thought being labeled a killer and losing everything—my future, family, boyfriend, friends—was the worst thing that could ever happen to me. It’s not. Finding out they were right. Finding out that’s exactly what I am?

That’s worse.
 
 
Unleashed releases February 24, 2015
 





 

MIA

Hey all! Just wanted to let you know that I will be MIA this weekend! Going to be visiting family in Wisconsin for the annual Strawberry Festival! My yearly trip up there, it's always fun! Plus the weather is like 15 degrees cooler usually! So instead of the high 90s and humidity I'm in the high 70s or low 80s and we're by the lake-ish, so it's kinda cooler too!

So naturally, my commenting will be null and void! Should still have my STS post up on Sunday though, depends on what I get prior to going! I'm sure something will come!

See you all later on Monday!




Jun 26, 2014

Follow Friday

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.


Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:
1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!


This week's question is: Post a photo of your favorite coffee mug (or mugs if you can't choose just one).



MY ANSWER: Well I'm not a coffee drinker, I know, I'm one in a million! lol!

But I do have hot chocolate mugs! Basically that's the only drink I drink that requires a mug!

So the one on the left is my Princess Aurora mug that I got from the Disney Store years ago! Don't think they had Belle at the time or else I would've gotten that one too!
Then I actually just got the Scooby one not too long ago! Saw it and had to have it!


And this is the back of the Princess Aurora mug. Didn't really buy it for the saying, more for the character!







Cover Copy Reveal--EMPIRE OF NIGHT by Kelley Armstrong

Sisters Moria and Ashyn are the Keeper and Seeker of Edgewood. Or at least, they were.

Their village is gone. Their friends have betrayed them. And now, the emperor has sent them on a mission to rescue the children of Edgewood—accompanied by Prince Tyrus and a small band of imperial warriors. But the journey proves more perilous than they could have imagined. With treachery and unrest mounting in the empire, Moria and Ashyn will have to draw on all their influence and power to overcome deadly enemies—not all of them human—and even avert an all-out war.








I pretty much love anything Kelley writes! She's auto buy for me!! Naturally, this book cannot come out soon enough!


Empire of Night releases April 1, 2015




 

Random Thursday

Ironically, after having posted that factoid about 101 Dalmatians, on my Disney Desk Calendar last week, Monday, I believe I received another fact that led me to believe that that spot count came from the live-action movie.

So, did you know that in Disney's 101 Dalmatians the animated version--because they showed a picture of the animated movie!--there were 3,308 spots!

I can even break that one down for you...since the calendar did!

Pongo had 72 spots
Perdita had 68 spots (of course Pongo had to have more! *eye roll*)
and the 99 puppies had 32 spots each (ah, 32, such a wonderful number!)

Add those together and that's 3,308 spots! Much easier to count then the 6,469,952 I'd say!





Jun 25, 2014

Cover Reveal--DIRE WOLVES CHRONICLES by Alyssa Ivy Rose

We have been dying to share the covers for Alyssa Rose Ivy's The Dire Wolves Chronicles: DIRE, DUSK, & DAWN!! The Dire Wolves Chronicles is a brand new New Adult paranormal romance series that you will want to add to your TBR pile ASAP! The Order of the books is: Dire, Dusk, Dawn,with DIRE publishing September 2014!!   


Dire
The covers are designed by Cover It Designs with photographs courtesy of CJC Photography.

Add it to your Goodreads now!

 

About DIRE: Dire: The Dire Wolves Chronicles Gage was the first guy I ever wanted. He was my first crush and my first fantasy, but he wasn't my first in any other way because he never saw me as anything more than a friend— at least not until the night that changed everything. It was all Gage's fault. He insisted we drive through the storm and take the back roads. By the time the storm hit full force we had no chance. One night of snowbound sex changed our relationship forever. The problem was at the same time I caught another guy’s attention. This other guy happens to be the alpha of a pack of shifter wolves. Be sure to look for the next books in the series DUSK & DAWN:

DuskDawn
     

Alyssa Rose Ivy- Author Photo


Alyssa Rose Ivy Bio: Alyssa Rose Ivy is a New Adult and Young Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.         

TDWC Collage
 


Links: 

Twitter 
Author Goodreads  
Pinterest  
Website 
DIRE: The Dire Wolves Chronicles Goodreads 
Facebook





 
 

Cover Copy Reveal--FOUR HOUSES by Victoria Scott +CONTEST

A frightened girl.

An empty field.

Four houses.

Which house would you choose?


FOUR HOUSES is a dark short story told in an unusual format that leaves readers wondering how they'd react if found in the same situation as seventeen-year-old Maddy.







EEEP!!! Isn't it exciting?! I soooo cannot wait to read this one!


Four Houses will release July 22, 2014



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