Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm "Waiting on":

Everneath
By Bordi Ashton
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Series: Everneath

Product Description:
Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.


She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...
 
What are you waiting for?

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by 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!

Here's my teaser for the week:

“Maybe,” he said. “You know, in this light, your eyes—wow—they don’t just look like keyholes, they look like . . .portals . . . to your soul.” He shook his head, embarrassed.

“Sorry. I don’t know what just made me say that.”
 
This is from the following book:
Crush Control
By Jennifer Jabaley
Release Date: June 9, 2011
 

What is your teaser?

Kidnap Who?

I had to share this one because it's a really great question.  So the mini challenges continue at Princess Bookie, and yesterdays challenge was hosted by A Thousand Little Pages.

To Enter:
answer the following question:

You are now one of the fey, delighting in kidnapping the poor humans from their beds and bringing them into the faery realm. If you could kidnap anyone (fictional or otherwise), who would you kidnap, and what would you make them do for/to you?
(Sidenote: I would really appreciate it if you could keep your answers PG13. I'm sure you know what I mean by that...)

btw to answer you have to leave a comment on the post of her blog.  Such a great questions!

My Answer:
Pg13 hmm lol. That's tough ruins all my good kidnapping scenarios. I would kidnap some production company head exec (think dreamworks or something) and make them make movies out of my favorite books! Of course I would have say in it as well :-) Great question!

Question?

The mini challenges at Princess Bookie continues, Today's mini challenge is hosted by Khadija's blog .
TO ENTER THIS CONTEST YOU MUST

-Be a resident of the US

-Make a blog post answering my question

-Enter by midnight on the 25th

The question is:

If you could go back to any time period what would be your choice and why?

I would have to go back to the era of the bell bottoms, hippies, peace, love, freedom and rallies.  Why?  Because hippies didn't have a care in the world, they were so mellow and relaxed that sometimes in this stressful quick paced world I wouldn't mind sitting back and just chilling.  Driving around in a VW van painted psychedelic and just cruising down the highway on my way to Woodstock.  Could you imagine?  That would be a lovely thing. 

Scary Word

The mini challenges at Princess Bookie continues, today it's hosted by Benji's blog. Here's how to enter:

To enter this challenge:
Grab a book you're currently reading (and hopefully loving)

Go to the 13th Chapter (if the book doesn't have 13 chapters, go to the closest to it)

Scan the chapter for the scariest word

Using Google/Yahoo images randomly pick on picture that comes up when you search the word

Write a blog post that has the book's cover, title, your word and your image

------------

Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

The 13th Chapter is Called Speak of the Devil, the word I chose is:
 
Hell (here's a picture of the gates of Hell, could you imagine, no thank you sir!)
 

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm "Waiting on":

The Space Between
By: Brenna Yovanoff
Release Date: November 15, 2011

Production Description:
Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?


Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.

--------------
What are you waiting on?

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by 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!

Here's my teaser for the week:

I had no idea how long it would be before I saw it again.  The last thing I was aware of was falling and the sound of my own ragged screams before the darkness consumed us.

This is from the following book:
Hades
By Alexandra Adornetto

Release Date: August 30, 2011
Series: Halo
What's your Teaser Tuesday?

Musing Mondays

MUSING MONDAYS… is a weekly event where MizB at Should be Reading will ask a book/reading-related question, and you answer with your own thoughts on the topic.

This weeks question is:
How often do you read a book, just because you’re in the mood to read it? (not because you’re obligated to for a book club, or a challenge, or for review)


I read some books over and over again when I really like them back to back, and I have to read it again to make sure I didn't miss anything.  I usually have a book that I will read every time I'm on vacation, no matter what I just have to read it just because I'm on vacation and it's my favorite.  There are some books I read just to read, those are my guilty pleasures like romance novels.  You know the kind you read in a day where there is always a happy ending and you know what's going to happen but you don't care because what matters is how we get there.  You know the books, Harlequin romances, intrigue, suspense, and blaze.  Those books, don't get me wrong I love YA books but sometimes you just need a little more.

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood

Anna Dressed in Blood
By Kendare Blake
Release Date: August 30, 2011

Product Description:
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.



So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

Review:
So this has to be my first "ghost" story that I've read. Usually it's vampires, werewolves, fairies or any other supernatural character but never a ghost story. So I start reading this book - imagine the setting it's dark, late, I'm reading a ghost story, and watching ghost hunters and paranormal adventures. Yeah I freaked out for a second at least, hehe. Especially when Cas gets taken to Anna's house by the guys from the new school in order to try and scare him away from Carmel (Mike's ex girlfriend also the leader of the group), well in comes Anna all covered in dripping blood and full of black veins with black black hair flowing everywhere (I think Grudge like) and she disembowels Mike in front of everyone. Just puts her hand in his chest and pulls his body apart. But she spares Cas, there's an instant connection there that they can't explain. Cas is a ghost hunter his job is to go around killing ghosts who are already dead and are killing people in revenge for their own deaths. His main focus is to kill Anna. But there's something about her that he just cannot bring himself to finish her. It has to be one of the best stories I've read lately. Their relationship develops and grows to the point they find an attraction to each other. Now call my cynical but I just don't see how a ghost and a human can get together, but she's solid not transparent so it works. Throughout the book Cas is trying to practice and train for eventually avenging his father's death from another ghost. But that ghost turns out to be much stronger than anyone thought as he practiced a wicked version of voodoo and actually is taking power from everyone Cas kills. Cas saved Anna, I won't give away all the details because I don't want to give the whole book away, but then she in turn saves him. And we're off to the next book .... where it seems Cas will be trying to get Anna back. Great start to a new series, can't wait to see what happens next. What's in store for Cas and Anna?


What did you think of the book, and if you haven't read it, you should pick it up right now and start reading

One True Pairing

The mini challenges at Princess Bookie continues, today it's hosted by Jennifer's blog. Here's how to enter:

To enter this challenge:

You should create a blog post with your OTP (One True Pairing), meaning your favorite couple from young adult books. Explain why they’re your favorite YA couple. If you don't have a blog, you can share your answer in the comments section.
To make it fun, add pictures of who you think can portray the characters.

Going Too Far
by Jennifer Echols
Release Date: March 17, 2009

This is my go to book.  I can't get enough of it, I must have read it a million times.  The main characters are Meg and John After.  If you haven't read the book I definitely recommend it.  They are my favorite couple because she's the wild child and he's the young police officer who were thrown together because of her mistakes, and his obsession.  The instant they are thrown together there is this undeniable connection and this unbelievable attraction, it's beyond butterflies in your tummy, it's like a tornado of emotions.  I just love this book and their relationship I always wished it would be made into a movie.  Even if it's just on lifetime or something, even though I think it would probably be more like an ABC Family movie.  Who knows either way I love them, I wish I could be in their world.  Adoration at its fullest.

If I had to pick who would be the main characters please see below.

Kellan Lutz as John After

Amanda Seyfried as Meg

I was trying to find some young actors that I thought could really look great portraying the characters.  Just imagine Amanda with blue hair, tough girl think manga type girl.  Then Kellan as a trying to be tough officer when really he's just a softy. I think it would be great, he's tall, she's short and they both look great.  Just look at those abs yummy!!! 

7th Word on the 7th Page

The contest craze on Princess Bookie continues, today is a mini challenge hosted by Jessi's Blog Here's how to enter:
•Open a book you are currently reading.
•Turn to page 7.
•Count to the 7th word.
•If the word is an article (a, an, the, etc), go to the next real word.
•Type the word into a Google Images search, and select a picture that you can stand.
•Create a blog post with the following information:
◦Picture of book
◦Book title and author
◦7th word on 7th page
◦Randomly selected picture
◦Link to this post and Princess Bookie's Contest Craze.

I'm currently Reading:
Anna Dressed in Blood
by Kendare Blake
Since I don't have the actual book - I have a kindle, the seventh word on the seventh page is: Luck (how funny is that!)







Here's my randomly selected picture which really suits this contest :-)

Again the contest is on Jessi's Blog, and it's Cindy's (Princess Bookie) Contest Craze!!

Good "LUCK" everyone!

Review: Shut Out

Shut Out
By Kody Keplinger
Release Date: September 5, 2011

Product Description:
Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: she and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.

Inspired by Aristophanes' play Lysistrata, critically acclaimed author of The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) Kody Keplinger adds her own trademark humor in this fresh take on modern teenage romance, rivalry and sexuality.

Review:
Let me just start by saying that I will read anything by Kody Keplinger.  There is something about the way she writes and the characters she introduces to us.  They are real and believable, and sometimes sarcastic and tough and I love that.  In this book we meet Lissa who is currently going out with Randy (captain of the football team) who has a rivalry with the soccer team.  Of course the girls think this rivalry is ridiculous so Lissa organizes all the girlfriends together and they start a sex strike to end the rivalry.  But Lissa didn't expect to find a friend in Cash, well really more than a friend.  When her and Randy broke up, her and Cash made out once but she never heard from him again.  Now they are working together and the feelings are coming back.  When Cash decides to organize all the boys together to try and teach the girls a lesson in this sex strike it gets even more complicated.  But in the end it's more of a rivalry between Lissa and Cash.  This was a really great quick and easy read.  Even though it's not as good as "Duff" Kody's first book, it's still just as good and you should check it out.  I still got butterflies when Cash and Lissa would share a special moment together.

Have you read this book, would love to know what your thoughts are on it?
 

Looking forward to 2012

The contest craze at Princess Bookie has started. Here's the first mini challenge:

Challenge: Write up a blog post telling me your top 5 books that you are looking forward to releasing in 2012. Be creative, you can use summaries, pictures, etc.

1 - Insurgent (Divergent, #2)
by: Veronica Roth
Release Date: May 2012

Product Description:
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
 

2 - City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5)
by: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: May 8, 2012

Product Description:
In Book 5: City of Lost Souls, the Shadowhunters struggle to piece together their shattered world after a betrayal by one of their own leaves them reeling.

3 - Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3)
by: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: December 1, 2012
 
Product Description:
In Clockwork Princess, Tessa and her companions travel all over the world as they race to stop the clockwork army before it's too late. As Jem's health worsens alarmingly and his friends search desperately for a cure, can Tessa choose between the two boys she loves — even if it means never seeing the other one again?

4 - The Fine Art of Truth or Dare
by: Melissa Jensen
Release Date: February 16, 2012
 
Product Description:
Pretty in Pink meets Anna and the French Kiss in this charming romantic comedy

Ella is nearly invisible at the Willing School, and that’s just fine by her. She’s got her friends— the fabulous Frankie and their sweet cohort Sadie. She’s got her art— and her idol, the unappreciated 19th-century painter Edward Willing. Still, it’s hard being a nobody and having a crush on the biggest somebody in the school: Alex Bainbridge. Especially when he is your French tutor, and lessons have started becoming, well, certainly more interesting than French ever has been before. But can the invisible girl actually end up with a happily ever after with the golden boy, when no one even knows they’re dating? And is Ella going to dare to be that girl?
 

5- Try Not to Breathe
by: Jennifer R. Hubbard
Release Date: January 19, 2012
 
Product Description:
A dark and provocative novel from the author of The Secret Year

Ryan spends most of his time alone at the local waterfall because it’s the only thing that makes him feel alive. He’s sixteen, post-suicidal, and trying to figure out what to do with himself after a stint in a mental hospital. Then Nicki barges into his world, brimming with life and energy, and asking questions about Ryan’s depression that no one else has ever been brave enough—or cared enough—to ask. Ryan isn’t sure why he trusts Nicki with his darkest secrets, but that trust turns out to be the catalyst that he desperately needs to start living again.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm "Waiting on":

Drink Deep
By Chloe Neill
Series: Chicagoland Vampires
Release Date: November 1, 2011

Product Description:
Clouds are brewing over Cadogan House, and recently turned vampire Merit can't tell if this is the darkness before the dawn or the calm before the storm. With the city itself in turmoil over paranormals and the state threatening to pass a paranormal registration act, times haven't been this precarious for vampires since they came out of the closet. If only they could lay low for a bit, and let the mortals calm down.



That's when the waters of Lake Michigan suddenly turn pitch black-and things really start getting ugly.

Chicago's mayor insists it's nothing to worry about, but Merit knows only the darkest magic could have woven a spell powerful enough to change the very fabric of nature. She'll have to turn to friends old and new to find out who's behind this, and stop them before it's too late for vampires and humans alike.
 
----------------------------------

Anyone who has ever read this series (if you haven't you definitely need to check it out) knows that something really BIG happened at the end of the last book. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!! Can't wait to see where this series goes next.

What are you waiting on?

Tuesday Teaser

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by 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!

This weeks teaser is:

Shut Out
By Kody Keplinger

"This is ethical," I said, hoping to get them back on track. "We're not really using sex as a weapon - we're just choosing not to partake until the rivalry ends. We're not manipulating them or anything. We're ... boycotting"

I loved reading Kody Keplinger's first book, that I just knew I had to read her next one. So far so good.

Musing Mondays

This is a book meme hosted on Should Be Reading.

MUSING MONDAYS… is a weekly event where MizB will ask a book/reading-related question, and you answer with your own thoughts on the topic.

This week’s musing asks… What is the one (or maybe two) qualities a book must have for you to pass it along to your best friend as a “must-read”?

One - the book has to be great, the kind that I cannot put down and will stay up late into the night reading.
Two - if it has a crushable boy in it, I love it when the characters make you all giddy, filled with butterflies.

Although I have to say my friend just likes to steal my books - she has about 1/4 of them already at her house, I'm going to have to figure out how to get them back one day.

Review: So Much Closer

So Much Closer
By: Susane Colasanti
Release Date: May 3, 2011

Product Description:
When Brooke's crush, Scott, moves from their suburban town to New York City, she decides to follow him there. Living with her formerly estranged dad and adapting to a new school are challenging, and things go from bad to worse when Brooke learns that Scott already has a girlfriend. But as she builds her new life, Brooke begins to discover a side of herself she never knew existed. And as she finds out, in the city that never sleeps, love can appear around any corner...

Review:
So who moves to a different location, leaves everything behind ... for a boy?  Brooke did, and even though she did it for all the wrong reasons it turns out okay in the end.  Brooke is in love with Scott and she just knows they belong together, but he's moving the summer before Senior year, she decides to follow him.  Now this reminded me a lot of "Felicity", does anyone remember that TV show?  I loved that show so much, such a great story (Felicity-Ben-Noel).  Anyway, you know that saying, "be careful what you wish for"  because once you get it, it may not be what you want.  That's exactly how I felt about their relationship.  It's a good thing that Brooke made some great friends with Sadie and John because without them she would have stayed lost.  They really helped Brooke discover who she is and who she wants to be.  This book was great and really a quick read.  I have to say I really hope that in the literary future of the So Much Closer world, that John and Brooke really do get together and live happily every after.  I've read every one of Susane Colasanti's book and this is another great one from her.  Very adorable and happy warm fuzzy feelings.  Can't wait for her next book which comes out next year "Keep Holding On".

Review: Archangel's Consort

Archangel's Consort
By: Nalini Singh
Release Date: February 10, 2011
Series: Guild Hunter

Product Description:
An ancient and malevolent female immortal is rising in Manhattan to reclaim her son, the archangel Raphael. Only one thing stands in her way: Elena Deveraux, a vampire-hunter-and Raphael's lover.

Review:
This is the third book in the Guild Hunter Series.  Elena finally goes home to New York to stay.  You see the relationship between her and her father are still not good, but things change with her half sister.  Of course everything is great between Elena and her archangel Raphael, their bond grows stronger throughout the book and near the end Raphael realizes that this relationship, her making him a little more mortal everyday is not making him weaker but in reality is making him stronger.  In this book Raphael fears that his mother is awakening and doesn't know if she will still be insane, which if she is he will have to kill her.  She does wake at the very end of the book.  I don't want to say too much if you choose to read this book, but it was good a continuation of the last book.  Luijan is still a force to be reckoned with.  The next book just came out this past week, I'll be reading it soon especially since it seems to focus on Dimitri one of Raphael's 7.  And he intrigues me the most. 

Friday Finds

This is where you share the book titles you discovered or heard about during the past week. These can be books you were told about, books you discovered while browsing blogs/bookstores online, or books that you actually purchased. This is a weekly event I discovered from Should Be Reading.



"Posses" by Gretchen McNeil
"Anna Dressed in Blood" by Kendare Blake
"The Taker" by Alma Katsu
"Possession (Possession #1)" by Elana Johnson
"Awaken" by Katie Kacvinsky
"Eve (The Eve Trilogy #1) by Anna Carey

What books have you found lately?

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm "Waiting on":

Shatter Me
by Tahereh Mafi
Release Date: November 15, 2011

Product Description:
Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

**********

Who doesn't like a good book about a dystopian,society?

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by 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!

This weeks teaser is:

“Hey,” Scott goes.
“Hey.”
“Can you believe this class?”
“I know.”
“It would be practically illegal to have something like this back in Jersey.”
“Seriously.” I moved here for you. We belong together.

"So Much Closer:
by Susane Colasanti
Release Date: May 3, 2011

I've just started this book but this really sums up what the product description says, review to come soon!

Review: Sometimes It Happens

Sometimes it Happens
By Lauren Barnholdt
Release Date: July 12, 2011

Product Description:
On the last day of her junior year, Hannah's boyfriend Ryan dumped her. Facing a summer of loneliness, Hannah turns to her best friend Ava for comfort. Ava does what BFFs do: she stays by Hannah's side...until it's time for Ava to head up to Maine for the summer. Also left behind is Ava's boyfriend, Noah, who's such a great guy he gets Hannah a job at the diner he waits tables at. Slowly, Hannah comes out of her funk thanks to Noah's good conversation and their fun times at the diner. But things get complicated when their friendship turns into attraction—and one night, into a passionate kiss. The novel opens on the first day of senior year; the day Hannah is going to see Ava, Ryan, and Noah all in one place. Over the course of the day secrets and betrayals are revealed, and alliances are broken and reformed. In the end, everyone is paired up once again, but not the way you might think...

Review:


I picked up this book because I really liked the cover and the description it gave, and was please to see it met all my expectations. I loved how complicated her life is on the first day of senior year, it read like a really crazy soap opera. Lauren Barnholdt did a really great job taking you from the present to the past back to the present and so forth from chapter to chapter. But each present/past chapters related to each other so well. You got to see how Noah and Hannah's relationship developed and learned how things weren't as they seemed with her best friend. When you keep things from people eventually they come out and you wonder why they did that in the first place. The characters were a joy to learn about and it was fun to see someone thrown in there who was quirky, Lacey. A hypochondriac who's best friend stole her boyfriend - sound familiar, it's very much like the main story. But all characters tie in so well and even though it may seem that the relationships are complicated it's all laid out for you to see. This book was a good quick read and I enjoy this author's works. It's true what they say - Sometimes it happens! There's just no explanation other than that statement.

Review: Epic Fail

Epic Fail
by Claire LaZebnik
Released: August 2, 2011

Product Description:
Will Elise’s love life be an epic win or an epic fail?

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.

As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

Review:
I started this book out because it seemed like a really good fast read, and it definitely met all my expectations.  About halfway through I realized this was a modern version of Pride and Prejudice which in itself is a great story.  So I was excited to see how it would play out in modern California.  We start off with the first day of school where Juliana and Elise have just moved to a new city and everyone seems to be a child of someone famous.  Julianna automatically falls for Chase who is super sweet just like her, which leaves Elise to hang out with his best friend Derek the son of very famous parents.  This is where her biggest lesson is learned throughout the book to never judge someone by who they associate with (or in this case who their parents are). I loved seeing the interaction between the two of them because she's so, in Derek's words "challenging". Of course there is always someone there to mess up a perfectly good relationship because they are jealous or just angry - this would be Chelsea who is Chase's sister who tries to break him and Juliana up. Then Derek and Elise figure out what really went on and put everyone back to where they should be with each other. My favorite part in the book had to be when Elise and Derek finally got together near the end - I literally had butterflies in my stomach. It was so sweet and exciting, I loved it. A great read especially if you love the concept of Pride and Prejudice. Can't wait to see what this author comes up with next.

Friday Finds

This is where you share the book titles you discovered or heard about during the past week. These can be books you were told about, books you discovered while browsing blogs/bookstores online, or books that you actually purchased. This is a weekly event I discovered from Should Be Reading.



“Carrier of the Mark" by Leigh Fallon
“Dearly, Departed" by Lia Habel
“As I Wake" by Elizabeth Scott
“The Predicteds" by Christine Seifert
“This Is Not a Test" by Courtney Summers
“Tempest” by Julie Cross

Let me know what new books you have discovered?