February 26, 2015

Feature & Follow: 3 Books To Grab From My Burning House

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Feature and Follow is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

The point of Feature and Follow is to meet new people & gain followers in the book blog community!

How it works: Each week, Rachel and Alison post a question for bloggers to answer, provide a bloghop link, and choose two lucky participants to feature in their blogs!

February 25, 2015

ARC Review: The Infinite (Gates of Thread and Stone #2) by Lori M Lee

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Release Date: March 10th, 2015
Rating: 4 stars

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.


Blurb:
The walls of Ninurta keep its citizens safe.

Kai always believed the only danger to the city came from within. Now, with a rebel force threatening the fragile government, the walls have become more of a prison than ever.

To make matters worse, as Avan explores his new identity as an Infinite, Kai struggles to remind him what it means to be human. And she fears her brother, Reev, is involved with the rebels. With the two people she cares about most on opposite sides of a brewing war, Kai will do whatever it takes to bring peace. But she’s lost her power to manipulate the threads of time, and she learns that a civil war might be the beginning of something far worse that will crumble not only Ninurta’s walls but also the entire city.

In this thrilling sequel to Gates of Thread and Stone, Kai must decide how much of her humanity she’s willing to lose to protect the only family she’s ever known.

February 23, 2015

Review: Gates of Thread and Stone (Gates of Thread and Stone #1) by Lori M Lee

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Release Date: August 5th, 2014
Rating: 4.5 stars

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Blurb:
In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

February 22, 2015

Review: Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J Maas

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Release Date: August 2nd, 2012
Rating: 5 stars

Blurb:
Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly.
Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?

I Won TWO Giveaways This Weekend!

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Is this my weekend, or what? I won two fantastic giveaways and I couldn't be happier! 

Here's what I won:

February 20, 2015

ARC Review: Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

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Release Date: March 10th, 2015
Rating: 4.5 stars
Amazon  |  Goodreads


I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Blurb:
Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.

In this edgy and compelling novel, Lauren Oliver creates a world of intrigue, loss, and suspicion as two sisters search to find themselves, and each other.

February 19, 2015

Feature and Follow: Fantasy or Real?

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Feature and Follow is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

The point of Feature and Follow is to meet new people & gain followers in the book blog community!

How it works: Each week, Rachel and Alison post a question for bloggers to answer, provide a bloghop link, and choose two lucky participants to feature in their blogs!

February 17, 2015

ARC Review: Soul Crossed (Of Demons and Angels #1) by Lisa Gail Green

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Release Date: February 25th, 2015
Rating: 4 stars
Amazon  |  Goodreads


I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Blurb:
One Demon.

One Angel.

One Soul.

Josh lived a reckless, selfish life, so upon his death, escaping the eternal torments of Hell by assuming the role of a powerful, soul-corrupting demon is an easy choice. His first soul assignment doesn't seem too hard: the mortal Camden is already obsessed with weapons, pain, and torture. If only Josh wasn't distracted by Cam's beautiful friend, Grace.

Grace never expected to die violently at age sixteen, but now she’s an Angel, responsible for saving a soul. She can already see past Camden’s earthly flaws, so the job should be be easy. If only that handsome, playboy Josh would stop getting in the way.

It’s forbidden for an Angel to be with a Demon, so if Josh and Grace stop resisting each other, the results would be disastrous.

And only one can claim Cam’s soul.

February 15, 2015

ARC Review of Shadow Study (Study #4) by Maria V Snyder

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Release Date: February 24th, 2015
Rating: 4 stars

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the Publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Blurb:
Once, only her own life hung in the balance...

Oddly enough, when Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. But she'd survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia. Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands—and protect her relationship with Valek.

Suddenly, though, they are beset on all sides by those vying for power through politics and intrigue. Valek's job and his life are in danger. As Yelena tries to uncover the scope of these plots, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked. She must keep that a secret—or her enemies will discover just how vulnerable she really is—while searching for who or what is responsible for neutralizing her powers.

Yes, the days of tasting poisons were much simpler. And certainly not as dangerous...

February 14, 2015

2015 New Release Challenge

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The 2015 New Release Challenge will be a year-long reading challenge hosted by Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Book Views and Stormi @ Books, Movies, Reviews Oh My!

The purpose is to share our reviews for books released, read, and reviewed in 2015!

Sign-ups are open until March 31st, 2015, so claim your spot today!

Quick Valentine's Day Read! Model Behavior by Tamara Morgan

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Release Date: January 13th, 2015
Rating: 4 stars
Amazon  |  Goodreads


I received a copy of Model Behavior from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Blurb:
Seven tasks. Twenty-four hours. And one chance.

The moment her best friend, Ben Meyers, drops his phone into her drink, model Livvie Winston knows The List has begun. Seven tasks, each more difficult than the last. If Ben completes them in twenty-four hours, Livvie must abandon her strict friends-only rule for one night of reckless, wicked sex with the most delicious man she knows...

The first tasks are easy. Order the cheapest thing on the menu. No cell phone for twenty-four hours. No ogling Livvie's model friends. Check, check, check.

But when Ben heads to the tattoo parlor, Livvie realizes that Ben isn't just playing for one night—he's playing for keeps. Livvie won't sacrifice this friendship for anything—even for a night of enjoying this incredibly sexy man in every naughty position imaginable. And she'll do whatever it takes to protect their friendship and her heart, even if it means beating Ben at his own game. Even if it means playing 
really dirty...

February 13, 2015

ARC Review: Make Me Up (Killer Style #3) by Avery Flynn

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Release Date: February 16th, 2015
Rating: 4 stars
Amazon  |  Goodreads

I received this Advance Reader Copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Blurb:
Former special ops-turned private-investigator Cam Hardy leaves a trail of broken hearts wherever he goes. He's all charm and sex appeal, and who can blame him for putting it to good use? Besides, it works damn well on the stunning and tough-as-nails makeup artist Drea Sanford. Only this time, Cam may be in over his head...

Drea is trying to keep her naughty affair with Cam a secret. After all, he's Harbor City's version of a Casanova...if Casanova had a motorcycle. When Cam makes their hot little liaison known to the public, however, Drea vows never to have sex with him again. Then one of her clients turns up dead. Now Drea is suspect number one—and she needs Cam's help. But sleeping with him is one thing...trusting him is quite another.

February 12, 2015

Review: Fire Study (Study #3) By Maria V Snyder

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Release Date: March 1st, 2008
Rating:
 2.5 stars
Amazon  |  Goodreads

Blurb:
The Apprenticeship is Over Now the Real Test has Begun.

When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder able to capture and release souls spreads like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before...


Honor sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reuniting with her beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself and save the land she holds dear.

Feature & Follow - Using #FF on Fridays

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Feature and Follow is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

The point of Feature and Follow is to meet new people & gain followers in the book blog community!

How it works: Each week, Rachel and Alison post a question for bloggers to answer, provide a bloghop link, and choose two lucky participants to feature in their blogs!

February 8, 2015

Review: Magic Study (Study #2) by Maria V Snyder

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Release Date: October 1st, 2006
Rating: 3 stars

Blurb:
YOU KNOW YOUR LIFE IS BAD WHEN YOU MISS YOUR DAYS AS A POISON TASTER...

With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be reunited with the family she'd been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But though she has gained her freedom, she can't help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways—and her newfound friends and relatives don't think it's for the better....

Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magic training—especially as she's been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince—and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.


If that wasn't bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies....

Book Tag Questionnaire

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I was tagged by Ranu over at The Bookish Life to complete a book tag questionnaire that's been floating around the book blogging community! Thank you, Ranu!









February 6, 2015

Review: The Mason List by S.D. Hendrickson

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Release Date: January 10th, 2015
Rating: 4 stars



Blurb:
An epic love. An epic hate. An epic story that would last a lifetime.

Today, 8:15 p.m. 
I hurt. I hurt so deeply, I felt the pain searing in my bones and jabbing like a hot poker into my heart. I knew nothing would make it better as the memories pulled from the crevices of my mind, detailing the bad and the ugly, filling my thoughts with regret as I slipped into the darkness. . . 

When I was eight, my mother was dying of cancer, my father lost his job, and the bank kicked us out of our house. I was forced to move to the strange town of Arlis, Texas where my father and I slept in our car in the hospital parking lot. Desperate and hopeless, we lived on fumes of our former life. 

Then one night, everything changed forever. A knock on the car window brought a family into my life that I only wanted to shut out. I hated charity and I hated the Masons. Well, except one. He made it impossible to hate him. 

Jess Mason had the biggest blue eyes and ornery smile of any boy I had ever seen. He was a ray of sunshine in my dark world. A boy full of adventure, dragging me across the meadow of Sprayberry Ranch; a beautiful Texas paradise full of horses and tree houses that got us into more trouble than anyone ever imagined. 

Jess was my everything as a kid until we grew up and the rules changed. Instead of living happily ever after with a boy full of love. . . I destroyed it.
- Alex Tanner 

February 5, 2015

Feature & Follow: More Than One Book At A Time?

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Feature and Follow is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

The point of Feature and Follow is to meet new people & gain followers in the book blog community!

How it works: Each week, Rachel and Alison post a question for bloggers to answer, provide a bloghop link, and choose two lucky participants to feature in their blogs!

February 4, 2015

Review: Poison Study (Study #1) by Maria V Snyder

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Release Date: October 1st, 2005
Rating: 4.5 stars



Blurb:

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

February 2, 2015

ARC Review: Incite (Ignite #2) by Erica Crouch

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Release Date: February 17th, 2015
Rating: 4.5 stars

I received this Advance Reader Copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Blurb:
Earth is in ruins, and the war of Heaven and Hell has spilled over into the mortal world. In the frozen wasteland of the apocalypse, Azael and his band of cohorts search for Pen and Michael with orders to kill. Little does he know that his sister has incited a rebel army of her own.

Angels and demons alike stand side by side, ready and willing to fight for a future they didn’t realize they could have. Change doesn't come easy, though. Pen is wary of joining New Genesis's revolution, but when Azael shows his hand and Pen learns all that he holds over them, she chooses to fight back, no matter the risk. She only has to survive, one hour at a time.

February 1, 2015

Review: The Five Stages of Falling in Love by Rachel Higginson

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Release Date: January 27th, 2015
Rating: 5 stars
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Blurb:
Elizabeth Carlson is living in the pits of hell- also known as grief.


Her husband of eight years, the father of her four children and the love of her life, died from cancer. Grady's prognosis was grim, even from the start, but Liz never gave up hope he would survive. How could she, when he was everything to her?



Six months later, she is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and get the kids to school on time. Both seem impossible. Everything seems impossible these days.



When Ben Tyler moves in next door, she is drowning in sorrow and pain, her children are acting out, and the house is falling apart. She has no time for curious new friends or unwanted help, but Ben gives her both. And he doesn't just want to help her with yard work or cleaning the gutters. Ben wants more from Liz. More than she's capable of ever giving again.

As Liz mourns her dead husband and works her way through the five stages of grief, she finds there's more of her heart to give than she thought possible. And as new love takes hold, she peels away the guilt and heartache, and discovers there's more to life than death.

Swoonuary: A Valentine's Day Special with the Bookish Groupies

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This February, the Bookish Groupies have decided to host their first annual event: Swoonuary!

All month long, they've decided to read romance/contemporary novels to celebrate Valentine's Day!

If you'd like to participate, grab the meme button and link back to one or all of them: Jennie, Mallory, Ang, Blessie, & Tika.

All they are asking is that you read at least one romance/contemporary novel for the month!

Reviw: Fairest (Lunar Chronicles Novella) by Marissa Meyer

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Release Date: January 27th, 2015
Rating: 4.5 stars

Blurb:

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?


Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.