Shut Out Blog Tour- Tens List w/ Kody Keplinger

Kody Keplinger the awesome author of Shut Out which releases next Monday September 5th is on the blog today to give us her top ten reasons on why she thinks YOU should read Shut Out. I can honestly say that I definitely agree with these, especially #3.. Loooooove Cash! Please welcome Kody Keplinger to the blog!

Tens List: Reasons to Read Shut Out

So I was asked to make a list of top ten reasons to read Shut Out.  In a very particular order, here they are!

10. The Cover – Let’s be honest, that cover is pretty hot. It’s hard not to stare at it!

9. Chloe Nelson – Chloe is Lissa’s best friend, and she’s a feisty one. She was by far the most fun character to write, and I think she’s probably the most fun to read, too. You should read the book even if only for some fun Chloe one-liners!

8.  Slumber Parties – Everybody loves a good slumber party, and Shut Out is full of them. Complete with gossip and brownies. Don’t you like brownies? I know you do.

7. N*Sync – I can’t explain this one without giving away a spoiler, but just trust me when I say that N*Sync gets involved, and we all love N*Sync, even if we won’t admit it.

6.  Sexy Boys  - There are a slew of football and soccer players in Shut Out.  Some are loveable, some are not, but all are pretty hot.

5. Girl Talk  -  I mentioned slumber parties, but that’s not the only time when these girls get together. These girls (Lissa, Chloe, and Co) talk a lot and about everything, including the things they are a little scared to talk about. Sometimes its funny, sometimes it’s serious. No subject is left untouched. You should be in on their conversations!

4. The Romance -  Kisses in the library, some intense sexual tension, and a few stars in the sky on a hot summer night.  If you like a little romance in your YA, you’ll probably enjoy Shut Out.

3. Cash Sterling  - He’s a soccer player, he reads books, he’s devoted to his family, and he’s very cute. He’d love you if you read the book. He told me so.

2. SHIRTLESS Sexy Boys  - Yes, this is different from just sexy boys. Because it is important to know that sometimes, they take their shirts off! And these are hot boys. Just saying.

1. Girl Power – Because Shut Out is all about girls asking questions about sexuality and standing up to society, there is a lot of girl power here. And I don’t know about you, but I love girl power stories. So if you enjoy stories about flawed, realistic girls coming into their own and fighting the stereotypes placed on them – well, this is SO the book for you!!!

And that’s my list!  Was it enough to entice you? If not, I still have those brownies . . .

Thank you Kody!! If you want to check out the next stops on the blog tour you can click on the banner above or visit The {Teen} Book Scene!!

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About the book:

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.(from Goodreads)

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Waiting on Wednesday- Cinder

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming books that we are eagerly anticipating.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Release Date: January 3, 2012

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling.(From Goodreads)

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oooooh oooh!!! I am soo looking forward to this one, I just love that cover and the idea of cyborgs. It’s also a very original twist to the Cinderella story, I’m loving the sci-fi additions to it and even though I’m not big on sci-fi I have a feeling I’ll like this one.

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Tune in Tuesdays- 90’s Edition

 

Tune in Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Ginger from GReads that showcases music both new and old. If you want to participate visit GReads and link up!

 

I’ve been so out of the loop lately since I started my new job that I didn’t even know that Ginger was doing the 90’s edition of Tune in Tuesdays otherwise I would’ve participated from the beginning of the month. I looooove 90’s music, my teens years and some of my best memories took place in the 90’s. So the music from that decade brings back wild memories.

This one was actually released in the album Affirmation by Savage Garden at the end of the decade in 1999 and a year before the band broke up. I hadn’t heard it in a while until my husband posted it on my facebook page and texted me to let me know that this song made him think of me. Yeah,, he can be pretty cheesy and romantic sometimes. =D

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Book Birthdays!!

A whole lot of new releases this week, many sequels and a couple of debut author novels. I haven’t read any of these but I’m curious about The Jewel and the Key, hadn’t heard of it until now but the synopsis sounds good. I heard really great things of Anna Dressed in Blood which I’ll be reading soon. I’m itching to get Rot and Ruin now that Dust and Decay is out, I’m needing a good zombie fix and I love the covers. Which one are you looking forward to reading? Have you read any of these that you would highly recommend?

Happy Book Birthdays to the author’s of this weeks new releases!!

Yesterday August 29th:

 The Jewel and the Key by Louise Spiegler

Today August 30th:

 

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Damned (Crusade Trilogy) by Nancy Holder

Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry

The Fox Inheritance (Jenna Fox Chronicles) by Mary E. Pearson

Fury by Elizabeth Miles

The Gray Wolf Throne (A Seven Realms Novel) by Cinda Williams Chima

Hades (Halo 2) by Alexandra Adornetto

LIE by Caroline Bock

Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

Soul Thief: A Demon Trappers Novel by Jana Oliver

Twisted (Harlequin Teen) by Gena Showalter

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book I by Colin Meloy

Thursday September 1st:

 

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

The Predicteds by Christine Seifert

Torrent: A Novel (River of Time Series) by Lisa T. Bergren

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Review- Every You, Every Me

Every You, Every Me by David Levithan

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Release Date: September 13, 2011

Source: Publisher

In this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . . threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan's starting to believe it's Ariel that's behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself. Creatively told with black-and-white photos interspersed between the text so the reader can see the photos that are so unnerving to Evan, Every You, Every Me is a one-of-a-kind departure from a one-of-a-kind author.(from Random House)

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I was thrilled to get to read a new David Levithan book, I’ve become such a huge fan of his that his books have become like a drug to me. I was so curious to see what this new novel with the darker and mysterious concept was going to be like and if I would love it just as much.

In this novel we get to see everything from Evan’s point of view, the story starts with mystery right away when Evan finds the first picture on his way home, from then on he starts getting several pictures, taunting him with the places where he and his friend Ariel had been. Along with the pictures he begins to get threats that the photographer knew what he had done to his friend. It makes the story go in a totally unexpected way, and all along while reading you really don’t know what happened to Ariel, all you know is that she’s no longer there and that Evan misses her like crazy. There’s also a feeling of guilt that you get from Evan when we get little flashbacks of conversations between him and Ariel. It was definitely a thrilling mystery that kept me flipping the pages like crazy intrigued to find out more and get to the bottom of it all.

In Every You, Every Me you get those well rounded emotional characters that Levithan knows how to write so well. I loved Evan even at the times when I wasn’t really sure if he was crazy or not, or if my suspicions on who was leaving these pictures were true. He was an antisocial boy who had just lost his one and only friend, someone he was extremely close to so he was lonely and sensitive, I just wanted to grab him and give him a hug. Every You, Every Me was definitely different, darker and haunting, it’s not like anything I’ve read by David Levithan before, and the pictures added to the story made it much more eerie and engrossing. I loved that at the end in the acknowledgements we get to see how the author an the photographer worked together in this book, David was given random pictures and he would come up with a part of the novel to relate to them, I thought that was pretty awesome. I can honestly say that David Levithan is such a versatile author that can write pretty much anything and I would love it, he takes risks that end up being something out of the ordinary but relatable and beautifully written.

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In My Mailbox

In my Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

I’m trying to stay away from ordering and buying books this month cause I’m saving money for the Austin Teen Book Festival where I know I’ll be buying quite a few. So this last two weeks I haven’t gone to a Borders Sale or order awesomeness online, but I did receive this pretty in the mail this week. Thanks to Macmillan for sending me All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin. I’ve been looking forward to reading this one ever since I read the synopsis that chocolate and caffeine were illegal, the horror!! I would die without those two things… and that cover makes me just want to pluck that chocolate heart right off it and eat it.

*Also if you’re anywhere near Texas and are a fan of Gabrielle Zevin she will be attending the Austin Teen Book Festival on October 1st.*

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Review- Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Release Date: September 12, 2011

Source: Publisher

Blood can both wound and heal . . .

Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother. Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harbored secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? But as Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she also keeps her own secret—one that has the potential to tear apart all she holds dear. (From HMH)

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I’ve read Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Moon series last year and loved it so much that when I found out she was coming out with a new book I was all down for it. I couldn’t wait to read more from her and seeing what this story would be all about. Unfortunately though I was left a little disappointed, from reading the synopsis and seeing that haunting cover I expected to get into something dark and intense but I ended up having a hard time connecting with the characters and immersing myself emotionally like I usually do when I read an intense book.

I thought the synopsis was kind of misleading, the part about Willa’s father only takes less than a third of the book and it was very sudden and resolved pretty quickly. The story focuses more on Willa trying to connect with the old town and the family that her mother ran away from, figuring out who her father really was and what would drive him to do such despicable acts. I like seeing the aspects of these different families and the small town where her mother and father came from, how dysfunctional it all was.

Blood Wounds did get my anger boiling, there were times when I wanted to scream at Willa to speak her mind or her mother to snap out of it and do something for her daughter for a change, especially towards the end when things start to change even more for Willa’s family.  Willa on the other hand is not an emotional person but hides her feelings and stress deep until she can’t hold it anymore and she has the urge to cut herself for release. I wished that part of the story of Willa’s deep emotional distress and her cutting would’ve had more of an important part of the novel, instead it just kind of gets mentioned a couple of times and it’s pushed to the backburner. I thought that could’ve been really important. I wanted to actually be able to feel a bit more connected to her during those emotional times and I just didn’t, her feelings didn’t pop out of the pages at me, they weren’t really there in my opinion. Even though I liked Willa, most of the characters in the story felt a bit flat, you really only get a few snippets of them and don’t really get to know them much especially Willa’s family. I was often confused at times trying to figure out who was who.

What I liked seeing in this story was the differences between people that come from small towns and bigger ones, the differences in society and psychological aspects of it, and how you may think things look perfectly fine on the surface but they’re really not. How most people have their own demons that they’re hiding but you can’t really see them until they released them or you dig deep. Like I said I didn’t love it as much as I expected to but it was still a pretty good and fast read.   Pin It

Waiting on Wednesday- Scarlet

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming books that we are eagerly anticipating.

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Publisher: Walker & Co.

Release Date: February 14, 2012

Robin Hood is given a fresh, feminine twist in this romantic retelling from the point of view of "Will Scarlet"

Posing as one of Robin Hood's thieves to avoid the evil Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only Big John and Robin Hood know the truth-that the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. It's getting harder to hide as Gisbourne's camp seeks to find Scarlet and drive Robin Hood out of Nottinghamshire.

But Scarlet's instinct for self-preservation is at war with a strong sense of responsibility to the people who took her in when she was on the run, and she finds it's not so easy to turn her back on her band and townspeople. As Gisbourne draws closer to Scarlet and puts  innocent lives at risk, she must decide how much the people of Nottinghamshire mean to her, especially John Little, a flirtatious fellow outlaw, and Robin, whose quick smiles and temper have the rare power to unsettle Scarlet. Full of exciting action, secrets, and romance, this imaginative retelling of the classic tale will have readers following every move of Robin Hood and band of thieves.(from Bloomsbury Kids)

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I love reading retellings of old stories, fairy tales and myths. Robin Hood has been one of my favorites for years, so I’m really excited and looking forward to reading this retelling of the story with a brand new spin on it. I’m loving that it’s actually a girl playing the part of the famous thief and that there will be lots of romance.

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Book Birthdays!

Lots of sequels and companion novels this week, plus two YA debut novels, Envy and Possess. I know I’ve been eagerly waiting for Bloodlines since the end of Last Sacrifice. I can’t wait to read more of Adrian, I’ve missed him!! Also I know Sweetly has been out and about in bookstores and on Amazon for a while now but today is the official pub date so that’s why it’s on this list, I’m looking forward to reading it soon.

Happy Book Birthdays to the authors of this week’s new releases!!

  

Beyond the Grave by Mara Purnhagen

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Envy by Gregg Olsen

Nocturne by Christine Johnson

Possess by Gretchen Mcneil

The Power of Six (I Am Number Four) by Pittacus Lore

Switch by Tish Cohen

Tantalize: Kieren's Story by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Vampire Academy: A Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

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Review- Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Released on August 9, 2011

The most tragic love story in history . . .
Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love. (From Random House)

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I have never been a fan of the Romeo and Juliet story. I never thought of it as the greatest love story, I know that a lot of people do and love it, but I always thought of it as a tragedy. So when I found out about this book and the different take Stacey Jay would use to tell the “greatest love story ever told”  I was immediately curious to read it. I wanted to see her spin on it and it definitely sounded like something I would enjoy. I was not wrong nor disappointed. I loved that Stacey Jay made the story of Romeo and Juliet in the novel a tragic story that didn’t represent love, but deceit, lies, and selfishness.

The mythology that Stacey Jay introduced us to was quite interesting and new. I’m a sucker for mythology of any kind so I loved reading about the Ambassadors of Light and the Mercenaries in this novel, what their purpose was and how they survived by feeding of love and murder. How they enter people’s bodies to fight for love of destroy it.

I loved most of the characters in this one, the three main ones at least. I loved Juliet’s fierce attitude and will to do the right thing for the soul mates no matter what, even though I was screaming at her the whole time to just think of her own feelings for once and kick her best friend to the curve. Ben who was not the perfect hot guy but had real physical flaws that made him even more attractive and realistic. Even Romeo who had just a little something under the surface and the act he put on, that I just couldn’t find myself to hate him, even after all he did to Juliet.

The ending was perfect for me and I definitely did not expect it, it left me giddy and satisfied.  I really didn’t anticipate much of what happened in this novel it was full of pleasant surprises that kept popping up when you thought all hope was lost. Juliet Immortal stands alone perfectly but you won’t hear me complaining if Stacey Jay decides to make a sequel or companion novel to this one, I would be more than thrilled to read it. I’m actually looking forward to reading more from her since this is the first Stacey Jay book I’ve read.  An original plot with beautiful writing and great romance made this book a wonderful read, I highly recommend it.

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Waiting on Wednesday- This One Time with Julia

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming books that we are eagerly anticipating.

This One Time With Julia by David Lampson

Publisher: Razorbill

Release Date: February 2, 2012

The story of Joe, a boy who can
fall in love but can’t grow up
After Joe’s parents died, he stopped growing up.
He doesn’t know where his money comes from.
His diet consists primarily of cheeseburgers from
McDonald’s. He plays basketball on the level of
a pro, but he has only ever played on the streets.
Then his brother disappears, and Julia shows up. Joe
falls in love with Julia as quickly as his twin brother,
Alvin, did. And like Alvin did before him, he runs
away with Julia to her parents’ hotel. There, he’s so
blinded by her seductive, dysfunctional family that
he can’t see the truth of his brother’s disappearance
… until he accidentally stumbles upon Alvin’s killer.(from Goodreads)

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This synopsis sounds very confusing, I know… but I’m so freaking curious about this one. I want to know how and why Joe can’t grow up, what exactly does it mean, is it physically or he’s just too immature? childish? what???!! And the whole Julia and his twin brother thing, I’m confused but utterly intrigued. I’m definitely looking forward to find out more about it.

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Book Birthdays!!

This week’s new releases include a couple of sequels, one that I know a lot of people have been eagerly looking forward to. I have yet to read the second book on the series, I know.. shame, shame!!

Happy book birthdays to the authors of these new releases!!

 

Bargains and Betrayals: A 13 to Life Novel by Shannon Delany

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

The Auslander by Paul Dowswell

The Death Catchers by Jennifer Anne Kogler

Tunnel Vision by Susan Shaw

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Review- Vanish by Sophie Jordan

Vanish by Sophie Jordan

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: September 6, 2011

Source: Publisher

An Impossible Romance.
Bitter Rivalries.
Deadly Choices.

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?(from HarperTeen)

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Holy hotness this series just keeps getting better!! I thought I loved Firelight but Vanish blew me away, I was hooked from the very beginning . Sophie Jordan takes us even deeper into the Draki world in this one. Vanish starts right where Firelight ended which was great and I was glad to see that, especially after that cliffhanger ending in Firelight.  

I loved that we get to see the other Drakis and get to know more about them and their way of living, which wasn’t that great but mostly infuriating and I could definitely understand why Jacinda’s mom ran away. They’re not really allowed to leave, they don’t have much freedom, at least the rare ones like Jacinda don’t, I felt just as mad and frustrated as her and wanted her to just run back to Will. At the same time you also feel the guilt that she’s feeling, thinking of leaving them all behind when they depend on the rare Drakis like her to provide some sort of protection from the human world and the hunters. It was hard for Jacinda and you can understand her struggle to make the right choices. 

I ended up loving the characters that I struggled to like in Firelight, like Jacinda’s sister which I really wasn’t fond of in the first novel, I loved in Vanish. I was definitely able to understand the anger she had in Firelight a lot more and relate to her and the way she always felt while living with the pride. Also Cassian… *swoon* I totally fell for him, he was not the kind of guy I thought he was in Firelight. He wasn’t the possessive type like I originally thought, and he didn’t just like Jacinda because she was a fire breather, he was actually a great guy and I loved that we get to know him a lot more in Vanish, totally won me over.  I felt so bad for him so many times because you can see how he feels about Jacinda but she’s still in love with Will, it was heartbreaking. There were so many hot steamy scenes in this one that make you hold your breath hoping nobody will pop in and ruin the moment. I loved it! The story keeps getting better and the tension between the main characters gets pretty intense. Sophie keeps you at the edge of your seat with some unexpected twists and surprises along the way. I loved the unpredictability of it, that Sophie weaves the story perfectly that you really don’t know what to expect next. Cannot wait for the third one! This one will leave you wanting the next one right away.

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In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

                            

Last Sunday my friend Lena and I went out for cupcakes and books. I went looking for Will Grayson, Will Grayson but they didn’t have it so I bought  A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young at Borders. I’ve heard nothing but great things about this one.

Lena got me Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma as a birthday present, which I’ve been looking forward to reading it, I heard it’s kind of creepy and I love creepy. Thanks so much Lena!

That’s it for me, got two pretty awesome books that I’m very much looking forward to reading, now to decide which one to start first…

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Review- The Summer I Turned Pretty

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Released on May 5th, 2009

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along. (from Simon and Schuster)

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My friend Ginger has been raving about this series for quite a while so I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I got to say that I was not left disappointed, I found myself grabbing my quote notebook and writing little quotes from the novel from the very beginning. What I loved the most about this book was the writing, it was very easy flowing, it felt personal and appealing, it definitely made me feel like I was there at the beach with these characters.

Jenny Han does a great job describing everything, the smells, the tastes and colors, the feeling of the air, all in great beautiful detail that makes it easy to visualize, which I personally love. I want to be able to picture everything!! If I have a hard time doing that then I have a hard time liking the book. I do have to point out that it did take me a while to like the main character Belly, she does come across a bit selfish at times, only caring about her feelings and being left out, even when there was some really serious stuff going on around her. It did get irritating. Then I started to realize that she was only fifteen at the beginning of the novel and that most teens in her place going through the changes that she’s going through, both with her body and emotionally, would be feeling the insecurities and may even be as naïve as she is in the book, at least I remember going through those phases. Once I remember how it felt like and started to understand her feelings about these two boys and herself then I was able to overlook those times she irritated me, but it did take a little getting used to it, it wasn’t love at first chapter with this main character.

Now the boys, I did end up loving them a whole lot and was completely torn between them. They are both complete opposites. Jeremiah is the type of guy that shows his feelings and he’s not afraid to do it, he’s also the type of guy that likes to have fun but can also be sweet and caring. Conrad is the serious one, he’s the type that you have to be careful around, watching what you say because he’s the observer, maybe sometimes you can catch some sort of emotion from him when he doesn’t think you’re looking, but deep down he’s the sensitive type that will melt your heart. They were both very protective of Belly and loving, even though they showed it in very different ways. I loved to see the little snippets of jealousy from them throughout the novel, the little bits of affection that might mean a bit more than just friendship, those little parts were some of the best in the book. This was a great coming of age story, perfect for the summer and I’m glad I finally read it. It makes you want to live in this setting, even for a person like me that doesn’t like the beach, I wanted to be in it while reading this book and be fifteen all over again. I’m looking forward to reading the next two novels which I’ve heard get better and better.

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Winner of Nightshade & Wolfsbane

Thanks to everyone who entered the Giveaway form the Wolfsbane Blog Tour for a paperback copy of Nightshade and a copy of Wolfsbane. I selected the winner using random.org and the winner is:

 

#100 Harpreet Singh

*winner has already been emailed and has 48 hours to get back with me or new winner will be chosen*

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Waiting on Wednesday- Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming books that we are eagerly anticipating.

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Release Date: October 25, 2011

Perry Stormaire is a normal high school senior– he is busy applying to college and rehearsing with his band –until he agrees to go to the prom with the Lithuanian exchange student who is staying with his family. It turns out that Gobi Zaksauskas is not the mousy teenager that she seems but rather an attractive, confident trained assassin. Instead of going to the prom, Perry finds himself on a wild ride through the streets of New York City as Gobi commandeers the Jaguar his father lent him for the prom in order to take out her targets. Perry learns a lot about himself – and ends up with some amazing material for his college application essays. (From Goodreads)

I’m really looking forward to reading this one. It sounds like it’s going to be so much fun, full of crazy scenarios and that title… I LOVE IT! Just the title alone drew me to this book, I hope it’s as fun as it sounds.

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Book Birthdays!!

Happy book birthdays to the authors of this week’s new releases! Which one are you most excited about? Have you read any of these? If so which one do you recommend?

Monday August 8th:

The Cupid War by Timothy Carter

Today, Tuesday August 9th:

 

All You Desire (Eternal Ones) by Kirsten Miller

The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin

The Game of Triumphs by Laura Powell 

Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Hooked by Catherine Greenman

Ingenue (The Flappers) by Jillian Larkin

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Reaching Through Time: Three Novellas by Lurlene McDaniel

Now Playing: Stoner & Spaz II by Ron Koertge

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