Blog Tour - ARC Review: Play On by Michelle Smith! (+Giveaway)

Title: Play On
Author: Michelle Smith
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 258 pages
Dates read: March 28th-29th, 2015

Goodreads synopsis:
In the small town of Lewis Creek, baseball is everything. Especially for all-star pitcher Austin Braxton, who has a one-way ticket out of town with his scholarship to a top university. All that stands between him and a new start is one final season. But when Austin starts flunking Chemistry, his picture-perfect future is in jeopardy. A failing grade means zero playing time, and zero playing time means no scholarship.

Enter Marisa Marlowe, the new girl in town who gets a job at his momma's flower shop. Not only is Marisa some home-schooled super-genius; she's also a baseball fanatic and more than willing to help Austin study. As the two grow closer, there's something about Marisa that makes Austin want more than just baseball and out of Lewis Creek -- he wants a future with her. But Marisa has a past that still haunts her, one that she ran all the way to South Carolina to escape.

As Austin starts to peel back the layers of Marisa’s pain, it forces him to look beyond the façade of himself and everyone he thought he knew in his town. What he sees instead is that in a small town like Lewis Creek, maybe baseball isn’t everything—maybe it is just the thing that ties them all together.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Book Review - Empire of Night by Kelley Armstrong

Title: Empire of Night
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Age of Legends, book 2
Publisher: DoubleDay Canada
Pages: 432 pages
Dates read: April 4th to 8th, 2015

Goodreads synopsis:

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

Rating: 4/5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday #9 - The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. This is where we get to spotlight books that we are anxiously waiting to be released. The ones that we are dying to get our hands on and read into the wee hours of the night (and quite possibly make our shelves beautiful too!)

This week I'm waiting on....

Book Review - Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

Title: Written in the Stars
Author: Aisha Saeed
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Pages: 304 pages
Dates read: March 27-28th, 2015

Goodreads synopsis:

This heart-wrenching novel explores what it is like to be thrust into an unwanted marriage. Has Naila’s fate been written in the stars? Or can she still make her own destiny?

Naila’s conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up—but they will choose her husband. Following their cultural tradition, they will plan an arranged marriage for her. And until then, dating—even friendship with a boy—is forbidden. When Naila breaks their rule by falling in love with Saif, her parents are livid. Convinced she has forgotten who she truly is, they travel to Pakistan to visit relatives and explore their roots. But Naila’s vacation turns into a nightmare when she learns that plans have changed—her parents have found her a husband and they want her to marry him, now! Despite her greatest efforts, Naila is aghast to find herself cut off from everything and everyone she once knew. Her only hope of escape is Saif . . . if he can find her before it’s too late.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Book Review - Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier

Title: Razorhurst
Author: Justine Larbalestier
Publisher: SoHo Teen
Pages: 320 pages
Dates read: March 22nd to March 26th, 2015

Goodreads synopsis:

The setting: Razorhurst, 1932. The fragile peace between two competing mob bosses—Gloriana Nelson and Mr Davidson—is crumbling. Loyalties are shifting. Betrayals threaten.

Kelpie knows the dangers of the Sydney streets. Ghosts have kept her alive, steering her to food and safety, but they are also her torment.

Dymphna is Gloriana Nelson’s ‘best girl’, experienced in surviving the criminal world, but she doesn’t know what this day has in store for her.

When Dymphna meets Kelpie over the corpse of Jimmy Palmer, Dymphna’s latest boyfriend, she pronounces herself Kelpie’s new protector. But Dymphna’s life is in danger too, and she needs an ally. And while Jimmy’s ghost wants to help, the dead cannot protect the living . . .

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Book Review - A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Title: A Darker Shade of Magic
Author: V. E. Schwab
Pages: 400 pages
Publisher: Tor books (Titan books, UK ed.)
Dates read: March 18th to March 21st (UK Paperback Ed.)

Goodreads synopsis:

Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London - but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday #8 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. This is where we get to "spotlight" books that we are anxiously waiting to be released! The ones that we are dying to get our hands on and read into the wee hours of the night!

And quite possibly make our shelves look pretty too :)

What I'm currently waiting for....

Book Review - Right Here Waiting by K.E. Belledonne

Title: Right Here Waiting by K.E. Belledonne
Series: N/A
Pages: 220 pages
Publisher: Interlude Press
Date read: March 11th, 2015 (ebook copy)

Goodreads synopsis:

In 1942, Ben Williams had it all – a fulfilling job, adoring friends and the love of his life, Pete Montgomery.

But World War II looms over them. When Pete follows his conscience and joins the Army Air Force as a bomber pilot, Ben must find the strength to stay behind without the love of his life, the dedication to stay true and the courage he never knew he'd need to discover his own place in the war effort.

Good friends help keep him afloat, until a chance meeting on the home front brings him an unexpected ally—one who will accompany him from the stages of New York City to the hell of the European warfront in search of his love.

Written in the style of a 1940s film, Right Here Waiting is an homage to classic wartime romances from the Golden Age of Hollywood

Rating: 5/5 stars

Book Review - The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Title: The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's Trilogy, book 2
Pages: 417 pages
Publisher: Farras Straus Giroux
Dates read: March 6th to March 8th, 2015

Goodreads synopsis:
Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Book Review - I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Title: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
Series: N/A
Pages: 400 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Dates read: February 23rd to 28th, 2015

Goodreads synopsis:
If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.
Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

 Rating: 4/5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday #6 - Sisters of Blood and Spirit by Kady Cross

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine  

This is where we get to 'spotlight' books that we are anxiously waiting to be released!!! The ones that we are dying to get our hands on and read into the wee hours of the night!!! And, quite possibly, to make our shelves look pretty too :)  

What I'm currently waiting for... 

Blog Tour/Book Review - The Ghost of You by Amanda Burckhard + win an eBook copy!

Title: The Ghost of You by Amanda Burckhard
Release Date: 12/30/14
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Dates read: February 18-19th, 2015

Rating: 4/5 stars
Synopsis:

Emmy has everything she’s ever wanted: a hot boyfriend she adores, great friends, a promising future, and even a well-connected family. But one night rips it all away.

A car accident shatters her world, claiming the lives of her twin brother and her best friend. In the wake of the accident, her friends drift away, her family falls apart, and her boyfriend cheats.

The grief is more than she can handle, so she finds escape at the bottom of a bottle of painkillers. Taking the pills makes her brother alive again, if only in her head. Seeing and talking to her brother as if he were still alive is the only thing that keeps her going. Until Logan King moves to town.

Logan sees past the mask of pristine popularity she wears in public and he’s the only one who can tell she hasn’t moved on. His uncanny ability to read her forces her to open up and she starts to fall for him, no matter how unwilling she is to admit it. But Emmy isn’t the only one keeping secrets and when a close brush with death sparks events that bring everything to light, Emmy will have to decide what’s more important: learning how to forgive and move on, or holding onto the pills and the ghost of her past.

Cover Reveal Thursday #3 - Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Hey everyone! I've decided to start this new feature called Cover Reveal Thursday! This won't be a recurring meme because covers aren't necessarily reveal every week. Basically, whenever a cover is revealed from one of my favourite series/authors (or a debut author's book that I'm looking forward to), on the Thursday of that week, I'll post it here and discuss it a little because I am definitely one of those people that judges books by their covers. 

Hope you enjoy!

This week, the cover of Julie Murphy Dumplin' was released. I only found out about this today and I am so excited! Read on to see the gorgeous cover.

Book Blitz - The Dream Catcher by Anya Monroe

The Dream Catcher

by Anya Monroe 

Release Date: 02/19/15

300 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

***Paddle boards, bonfires & bikinis won’t help Penny. She craves the boy from the woods; not knowing she’s already caught in his nightmare. ***
Penny’s nightmare is ruling her life and she doesn’t know why. It started a few months ago, and since then Red Bulls, 5-hour Energy Shots, and Starbucks drive-thru are her lifeline.
When Penny’s parents decide to take their research of a rare Native American cult to a remote cabin for the summer, she's less than enthused.
Then Penny meets Delsin in a clearing in the woods, and her view of the world awakens. Apathy defines her, but Delsin lives life to it’s fullest. A shaman-in-training, he is everything Penny is not.
Each morning she comes to the woods, handing pieces of her heart to him, but when Penny is confronted with her worst nightmare, Delsin asks for a sacrifice Penny didn’t see coming.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Waiting on Wednesday #5 - The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine  

This is where we get to 'spotlight' books that we are anxiously waiting to be released!!!

The ones that we are dying to get our hands on and read into the wee hours of the night!!! And, quite possibly, to make our shelves look pretty too :) 

What I'm currently waiting for... 

Cover Reveal Thursday (err Friday....) #2 - Ice Like Fire, Six of Crows and Dreamland

Hey everyone! I've decided to start this new feature called Cover Reveal Thursday! This won't be a recurring meme because covers aren't necessarily reveal every week. Basically, whenever a cover is revealed from one of my favourite series/authors (or a debut author's book that I'm looking forward to), on the Thursday of that week, I'll post it here and discuss it a little because I am definitely one of those people that judges books by their covers. 

Hope you enjoy!

This week, there were three covers released that I really, really loved: Sara Raasch's Ice Like Fire, Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows (aka the reason I waited til today to post this) and Robert L. Anderson's Dreamland !

ARC Book Review - None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio

Title: None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio
Series?: N/A
Pages: ARC, 352 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: April 7th 2015
Dates read: February 5th to 7th, 2015 (Thank you to Edelweiss and Balzer + Bray for the chance to read & review this eARC!)

Goodreads Synopsis:
A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she was born intersex . . . and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.
What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant? When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She's a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she's madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she's decided that she's ready to take things to the next level with him.
But Kristin's first time isn't the perfect moment she's planned--something is very wrong. A visit to the doctor reveals the truth: Kristin is intersex, which means that though she outwardly looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes, not to mention boy "parts." Dealing with her body is difficult enough, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin's entire identity is thrown into question. As her world unravels, can she come to terms with her new self?

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

ARC Book Review - 99 Days by Katie Cotugno

Title: 99 Days by Katie Cotugno
Series?: N/A
Pages: 372 pages
Publisher: Balzer+Bray
Dates Read: January 11th-15th 2015

Goodreads synopsis:
Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my house my first night back in Star Lake, and that’s how I know everyone still remembers everything—how I destroyed my relationship with Patrick the night everything happened with his brother, Gabe. How I wrecked their whole family. Now I’m serving out my summer like a jail sentence: Just ninety-nine days till I can leave for college, and be done. Day 4: A nasty note on my windshield makes it clear Julia isn’t finished. I’m expecting a fight when someone taps me on the shoulder, but it’s just Gabe, home from college and actually happy to see me. “For what it’s worth, Molly Barlow,” he says, “I’m really glad you’re back.”
Day 12: Gabe got me to come to this party, and I’m actually having fun. I think he’s about to kiss me—and that’s when I see Patrick. My Patrick, who’s supposed to be clear across the country. My Patrick, who’s never going to forgive me.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Book Review - All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Title: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.
Series?: No.
Pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Knopf
Dates read: January 7th to January 10th 2015 (ebook)

Goodreads Synopsis:
 Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

Rating: 4/5 stars
**This review may contain spoilers**

Cover Reveal - Black Iris by Leah Raeder!

I was lucky enough to be able to sign up for the cover reveal of Leah Raeder's new book called Black Iris (thank you so much, Simon and Schuster!), and I figured that I should share it with all of you guys!

Here's the official synopsis of the book:

It only took one moment of weakness for Laney Keating’s world to fall apart. One stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors began. Slut, they called her. Queer. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mother decided she wasn't worth sticking around for.
If Laney could erase that whole year, she would. College is her chance to start with a clean slate.
She's not looking for new friends, but they find her: charming, handsome Armin, the only guy patient enough to work through her thorny defenses—and fiery, filterless Blythe, the bad girl and partner in crime who has thorns of her own.
But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. When a ghost from her past resurfaces—the bully who broke her down completely—she decides it's time to live up to her own legend. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.
Which was the plan all along.
Because the rumors are true. Every single one. And Laney is going to show them just how true. She's going to show them all.