Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's Top Ten theme is... Top Ten books I've read so far this year.  So without further ado and in no particular order....

There are not many words for my love of this book.  And my need for the next one.  OHPLEASEOHPLEASE be available on Amazon for pre-order soon!

The Heart of Betrayal comes out in a mere week! You can guess what I'll be reading...

Okay so spoiler? I have a review of this coming out in a few weeks...

Maybe this is more than one book.... But who's counting? Right?

So here's another one that the review will be coming out in a few weeks.  -sings- Be prepared!!!

So this is actually both books out so far in the series.  I couldn't find a picture that contained both of them that would work.  And I'm too lazy to make one lol

This is hit or miss.  I've seen people love it and people hate it.  I'm in the premier group.

This book... is fucked up.  I didn't know I could feel absolute love and absolute hate for the same character...

Oh look, more Jodi Meadows.  I honestly can't believe it's taken me so long to read these.  And as you might have guessed, Jodi Meadows is one of my favorite authors.

So I'll be totally honest. I read this in March.  I read so many books in a week it's hard for me to remember much about all of them once a few weeks goes by.  When I started The Infinite, I sat there trying to remember what had happened in Gates of Thread and Stone.  And what I remember was romance, action, and so awesome super powers.

What are your top reads this year?

Mini Reviews for mini Books: The Introduction

Title: The Introduction
Author: Isabelle Connors
Release Date: July 9, 2015

Love is a gift, and not everyone is lucky enough to find it. Or maybe the lucky ones are those who never find it. This is not your average love story, this is a life story. Your teenage years aren't supposed to be complicated. But, sometimes they are. What happens when you're attracted to the new stranger in town. Do you just fall in love and live happily-ever-after? Do you follow through on your feelings, even though you know you shouldn't?

From the very first night, Arianna meets Skylar she experiences this indescribable deep connection that she's never felt before. She's terrified and excited all at the same time. She wants to act on these feelings, but she can't, no matter how much she wants to. Things are just too complicated!

Moving from a big city to a small town is never easy, especially for a teenager who had it all. So when Skylar's family has to leave New York for Gulfport Florida, he's not very happy. But maybe things aren't going to be so bad?! Skylar has never been in love before, but he thinks he just may have fallen in love with the girl who caught his eye on his very first night in his new hometown. Even though he's sure she feels the same connection, she keeps resisting because of her misplaced loyalty.

Will love conquer all? Or is that just another fabricated lie that people tell you as a child?

Hmmm...

The Introduction is the first in a new indie series (Undying Love).  Chronicling Skylar's last year in high school, the year he moved to Florida and met Arianna and fell in love.  I've said it before and I will say it again.  Novellas are becoming very popular as of late.  And it's something that I enjoy for the most part.  A riveting story can be told in a much short book.  Or maybe it's two or three books that equal the length of a full length novel.

So here we have the story of a boy and girl who fall in love at first sight.  Okay, I usually don't go for that.  It's not the most realistic.  But I'll play along since it's the entire premise of the book.  

Arianna's "misplaced sense of loyalty" was annoying at times.  Her loyalty ended up only bringing pain to everyone around her.  Including herself.  But that is where she grows.  Learning that she can indeed be happy.  She deserves to be happy.  Sky just wanted to be with Ari the entire time.  Sure he made a few mistakes.  Everyone does.

I don't want to say too much about the story, because almost anything I say will be a spoiler.  So what I will say is that The Introduction is well written, fast paced, and a nice quick read.  And I am very curious as to what happens in the next installment and to see some more character development from the lesser characters.  If you enjoy contemporary fiction (particularly YA romance), then you should have an enjoyable time reading this book.  

Note: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, and that in no way changes my opinion of this book.

Review: Grounded by April Scott-Goss

Title: Grounded
Author: April Scott-Goss
Release Date: February 7, 2014

Master Trilium Bishop and his platoon of knights are finally going home for good following five years of administering diplomacy and judgment to various societies across the galaxy. While sitting in his aircraft, Trilium’s gift of perception warns him that something is not right and before long, the Knights of Dena find themselves in a situation filled with little hope.

At the same time, Trilium’s brother, Knight Kalin Bishop is being treated by their father on Dena for wounds he acquired from a near fatal mêlée against a dragon. Kalin’s daydreams about his upcoming marriage are rudely interrupted when he is forced to fight his kinsmen in order to save Trilium and his legacy.

Do you ever just not know what to say about a book?

'Tis the season for political intrigue.  Trilium's brother, Titus, has decided (in true George R.R. Martin fashion) that he is going rule as Master and dethrone his elder brother.  The only thing he needs to do is kill all of his family members so that no one can go against his claim.

I enjoyed this book so much.  I had trouble putting it down.  The world Scott-Goss created was extremely interesting and very detailed.  I loved that there was space travel.  And there was a dragon.  And super powers.  So much awesomeness!  This book would have been spot on love for me with just a bit more revision.

The characters, wow there are so many characters introduced even though it's a pretty short book.  And yet they're all memorable.  And they all have great depth.  Leaving on a cliffhanger, I really hope that Scott-Goss decides to continue on with the next part of the story!

Grounded is a nice, quick read.  And the story was so intense.  I totally enjoyed it all the way through.  The story is imaginative and creative.  I highly recommend checking it out!

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and that in no way changes my opinion of this book!

Waiting on Wednesday (17) Dream Things True

Waiting on Wednesday (17)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to highlight upcoming book releases we're really excited about.

This week, I'm waiting on:

Title: Dream Things True

Author: Marie Marquardt

Pages: 352

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: September 1, 2015

Evan and Alma have spent fifteen years living in the same town, connected in a dozen different ways but also living worlds apart -- until the day he jumps into her dad's truck and slams on the brakes.
The nephew of a senator, Evan seems to have it all - except a functional family. Alma has lived in Georgia since she was two, surrounded by a large (sometimes smothering) Mexican family. They both want out of this town. His one-way ticket is soccer; hers is academic success.

When they fall in love, they fall hard, trying to ignore their differences. Then Immigration and Customs Enforcement begins raids in their town, and Alma knows that she needs to share her secret. But how will she tell her country-club boyfriend that she and almost everyone she's close to are undocumented immigrants?

What follows is a beautiful, nuanced exploration of the complications of immigration, young love, defying one's family, and facing a tangled bureaucracy that threatens to completely upend two young lives. This page-turning debut asks tough questions, reminding us that love is more powerful than fear.

I love a good contemporary.  I got turned down for an ARC for this, so sadly I will be waiting.  Fortunately, September isn't too far off!

What are you waiting on?

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Top Ten theme was honestly too tough for me.  Top ten "Top Ten" themes from the past five years.  I haven't been blogging very long.  So I thought I would change it up a bit and create my own topic.

As an aspiring writer, I like promoting new and self-published authors.  

So my own topic this week is: Top Ten indie books I've read

I really, really liked this book.  You can read my review here.  I loved all the romance and the Romeo and Juliet vibe to the story.  Not to mention is was very well written.

My review of this book can be found here.  Mysterious and extremely well written, I recommend this to any fantasy fan.

So this is a children's book.  The only children's book I have ever reviewed (here).  But it was fantastical and magical, in the realm of The Little Prince.

I think I may have loved this book.  Oh my gosh spoilers it's my next review! I can't link the review yet since it hasn't been published yet.  But honestly, it's worth reading.

If you like paranormal and mobster books, this is for you.  MY review can be found here.

Okay so that was only five.  But I really wanted to focus on books that were written well enough that I think they could have been traditionally published and ended up on anyone's shelves.

Mini Reviews for Mini Books: Automaton & Broken

Title: Automaton
Author: Amanda Clemmer
Release Date: May 22, 2015

Last Thursday I awoke to learn that I died almost a month ago. I was rebuilt from a highly experimental process of clockwork and cloning, and I don’t know why. One man knows my secret—my creator, the lead of the Leona Scientific Laboratory. He says knowledge isn’t free. I say that unless I know why I’m here, he’s the one who’s going to pay.

My friend Jack Beasley has offered his help. He has inside knowledge about the laboratory and the man who runs it. I think he also knows something about me that he isn’t sharing. There’s no one I can trust now. Not even myself.

This looked really neat to me.  I love science fiction.  And the idea of bringing someone back from the dead as basically a robot?  Pretty amazing right there.

I took some issues with how this novella was executed.  When Ada first woke up as an automaton, I felt she accepted that fact far too quickly.  Sure there's plenty of proof, but if she is emotionally the same as a human, shouldn't it affect her quite a lot?  I mean, if you found out that you're not really human, what would you do?  With that, I had a lot of trouble connecting with the main character.  With most of the characters really.  I liked Ada/Ace's friend Jack the most.  But he had a small part.  Maybe if this were longer the characters could have developed more.

I also want to know how Ada died.  Was that plot just dropped?  Or was the "it was an accident" really the full explanation?  Because Ada/Ace insists she wouldn't trip down the stairs.  So how did she really die?  Even if it was an accident, what really happened?

Title: Broken

Author: Katrina Stephens

Release Date: October 1, 2014

Anna Belford is your everyday, small town girl from Pennsylvania. Her life is perfect, that is until her stable life comes tumbling down. Consoled by her best friend Melissa, Anna begins to patch her life back together. However a second blow threatens to derail Anna's future. Will Anna have what it takes to persevere on?

Or will the past events deter her from moving forward?

So... I had trouble with this one too.  Novellas are popping up everywhere these days.  As books in-between your favorite best-sellers, as a series to make a full novel...

So I had trouble getting into the story of Broken.  At some points it felt like it moved a little too fast and then others it felt slow.  I don't really know exactly what it was really.  I wasn't able to connect with the main character.  I mean, it was sad that her dad died, and then her mom.  But I still couldn't connect to feel Anna's grief.

I feel like if this book were longer the characters would have been more developed.  But everything just kind of went by so quickly.  It was all just plot.  Telling instead of showing.  So I was never invested.

Note: I received a copy of these books in exchange for honest reviews, and that in no way changes my opinion of these books!

Waiting on Wednesday (16) Silver in the Blood

Waiting on Wednesday (16)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to highlight upcoming releases we're excited about.

This week, I'm waiting on:

Title: Silver in the Blood

Author: Jessica Day George

Pages: 368

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Release Date: July 7, 2015

As spoiled society girls from New York City circa 1890, Dacia and Lou never desired to know more about their lineage, instead preferring to gossip about their mysterious Romanian relatives, the Florescus. But upon turning seventeen, the girls must return to their homeland to meet their family, find proper husbands, and-most terrifyingly-learn the secrets of The Claw, The Wing, and The Smoke. The Florescus, after all, are shape-shifters, bound by a centuries-old tradition to do the bidding of the royal Dracula family and it is time for Dacia and Lou to take their place among the ranks. But when the devilish heir, Mihai Dracula sets his sights on Dacia as part of his plan to secure power over all of Europe, the girls choose to fight against this cruel inheritance with all their might. Only the dashing Lord Johnny Hardcastle and the mysterious Theophilus Arkady- members of a secret society charged with ridding the world of monsters-can help Dacia and Lou, but breaking the shackles of their upbringing will require more courage than the girls ever imagined.

The thrilling start to a richly drawn, romance-filled series, this epic adventure of two girls in a battle for their lives will have readers coming back for more.

Well, I'm not generally a huge one for vampires.  But I did like Dracula (for the most part).  And a Dracula retelling sounds really interesting to me.  What are you waiting on?