6/27/15

Giveaway: Ricochet by Keri Lake (ebook + signed swag!!)


July 9th is THE date to save, because you'll meet Nick for the first time!
Ricochet is a dark, suspenseful and romance novel and if you have not added this book to your tbr then this is the moment!

I'm personally super excited to read this, and I don't even know why! It's not my usual genre, but I feel so intrigued by this book (and cover!). By the way, I received an ARC (you may expect a review soon) from Keri. She's also the one who made this giveaway possible, so thank you Keri for everything!

About Ricochet

The only sure way to destroy a man is to take what he cannot live without.

Three years ago, I had everything. A beautiful wife. A son.A reason for living.
Until a ruthless task force, assembled under Mayor Michael Culling, with a brutal strategy to make the streets of Detroit ‘safe’, ripped away everything I loved in a deadly hunt called The Culling.
They tried to kill me, too. I wish they had. Now I'm cursed by the memories of that night, and the words I whispered to my dying wife. A promise—to avenge the wrong and set it right.
I’m no longer Nick Ryder. I’m a masked vigilante. Faceless. Loveless. Fearless. A man with nothing left to lose—one who's seen the dark and violent truth behind the city’s flawless veneer.
Michael Culling doesn’t know who I am. Or what I want. All he knows is that I’ve kidnapped his beautiful wife. An eye for an eye—isn’t that how the saying goes? And Aubree Culling is the perfect pawn to destroy him. If she doesn’t destroy me first.

 Add to goodreads HERE.


The giveaway

Starting from today, you have until July 12th to win an eBook of Ricochet and some SIGNED and gorgeous swag!



Share as much as you can please!! <3 

6/26/15

Friday Finds: Cover lust!!

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your TBR list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). This is hosted by ShouldBeReading!


 What did you add to your tbr? 

6/25/15

Chapter reveal: Heart-Shaped Attack by Tracey Garvis Graves


Go visit the author's site: traceygarvisgraves.com
 
I’m super excited to be able to share this beautiful book with all of you! I fell in love with the cover and after reading the first chapter I cannot wait to have this beauty in my own hands! This adult romance stand-alone will be released on August 25th 2015. Make you sure you (pre)order your copy ;)

About Heart-Shaped Attack

When Kate Watts abandoned her law career to open a food pantry in Northeast Minneapolis, she never dreamed it would be this difficult. Facing the heartbreaking prospect of turning hungry people away, she is grateful for the anonymous donations that begin appearing at the end of each month. Determined to identify and thank her secret benefactor, she launches a plan and catches Ian —a charismatic hacker with a Robin Hood complex—in the act.
Ian intrigues Kate in a way no man ever has. But after learning he’s snooped around on her personal computer, she demands retribution. Impressed with her tolerance and captivated by her spirit, he complies and begins to slowly charm his way past her defenses. Time spent with Ian is never boring, and Kate soon finds herself falling for the mysterious hacker.
But Ian has enemies and they’re growing restless. In the hacking world, exploiting a target’s weakness is paramount, and no price is too high to stop an attack. And when Kate learns exactly how much Ian has paid, she’ll discover just how strong her love is for the man who has hacked his way into her heart.


About Tracey Garcvis-Graves

Tracey Garvis Graves is a New York TimesWall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author. Her debut novel, On the Island, spent 9 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into twenty-seven languages, and is in development with MGM and Temple Hill Productions for a feature film. She is also the author of Uncharted, Covet, Every Time I Think of You, and Cherish
Tracey loves to interact with her readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads & on her Amazon Author Page.

Read Chapter ONE below!
© 2015 Tracey Garvis Graves

“The babies are going to starve,” Helena said. “Don’t be so dramatic,” Kate replied. “No one is going to starve, least of all the babies.” But her pinched expression and the way she was jabbing at the keyboard as she refreshed the donations page on their website said otherwise. For the first time in the sixteen months since Kate had left her position as a corporate attorney to open the food pantry, she faced the heartbreaking prospect of turning hungry people away. She couldn’t stand the thought of letting down her regulars, especially the young mother of three who relied on the pantry to feed them. The problem was that Kate’s nonprofit organization was not the only one in Minneapolis that needed help. Tomorrow was the first of September, and everyone was trying to stockpile whatever resources they could before they headed into the colder months. “Let’s see,” Helena said. “We could rob a bank. We could pawn our valuables. You could sell your body on a street corner.” Despite their dire circumstances, Kate cracked a smile. Helena had walked through the front door of the food pantry shortly after Kate opened and said, “I’m sixty-five, and they’re forcing me to retire from my job at the insurance company. My husband retired two years ago, and now he’s home all day. That’s too much togetherness for us. I have to find something to do outside the house, and you wouldn’t have to pay me much.” Kate hired her on the spot and had never regretted it. She swiveled her chair toward Helena. “Why am I always the one who has to sell her body? Why can’t you sell yours?” “Who do you think is going to bring in more money? A gray-haired grandmother of seven, or a willowy twenty-nine-year-old beauty? It’s a no-brainer.” It was hard to argue with logic like that. Kate had been so determined not to let down their clients that she’d resorted to begging her ex-boyfriend Stuart—who worked as the executive producer on an hour-long talk show on the local ABC station—to let her appeal to the public during the afternoon broadcast. “Do you know how hard it is for me to be around you, Kate?” Stuart said when he received her call. “Do you ever think of that?” “Of course I do. But this is really important to me.” “I used to be really important to you.” Kate remained silent. They’d been through this before. He sighed in defeat. “Come in tomorrow. I’ll squeeze you in after the cooking segment.” “Thanks, Stuart.” The skirt had been Helena’s idea. “We need to do whatever we can to grab viewers’ attention.” “You mean I need to do whatever I can.” “Of course I mean you. You have great legs.” On the day of the broadcast when Helena arrived at the food pantry, Kate said, “I don’t remember this skirt being quite so short. I’m actually a little worried about the type of viewer I might attract with it.” She tugged on the hem, pulled out her desk chair, sat down, and crossed her legs. “Can you see anything?” “You’ll be fine unless you decide to recross your legs in the middle of the segment like Sharon Stone did in that one movie.” “I can assure you I will not be doing that. The skirt is as far as I’m willing to go. I draw the line at flashing people, not even for the babies.” Kate had paired the black-and-white houndstooth skirt with a black short-sleeve top and her favorite black heels. When she arrived at the TV studio, she ducked into the bathroom to check her teeth for wandering lipstick. Before she left the food pantry she’d applied a raspberry lip stain that Helena claimed looked stunning on her. That morning she’d curled her long dark hair and then brushed through the curls with her fingers so they draped across her shoulders and down her back in loose waves. She’d used plenty of mascara to play up her brown eyes. The extra primping made her feel a little like she was standing on a street corner, but she banished those thoughts. At this point, they needed all the help they could get. After Stuart snaked the mic up the back of her top, his hands lingering on her skin in a way that made Kate feel sad, he positioned her on a stool and told her to wait for his signal. She kept her legs tightly crossed, and when the light on the camera turned red, he pointed at her and she began to speak. “Good afternoon. My name is Kate Watts, and I’m the executive director of the Main Street Food Pantry. As we head into the winter months, our needs—and those of all local food pantries—will be greater than ever.” Kate stared into the camera, imagining she was speaking directly to anyone who might have the means to help them. “No child should ever have to go hungry, and many of our local residents depend on the food pantry to feed their families. I’m here today to personally appeal to you should you have the ability to help us in any way. The families we assist, and especially the children, depend on your generosity more than you could ever imagine. Thank you.” She ended the short segment with the food pantry’s telephone number and street address, and when Stuart gave her the all clear, she reached under her shirt for the microphone and handed it back to him. “Thanks, Stuart,” she said, giving him a quick hug. “I really appreciate this.” “Sure,” he said, looking over her shoulder as if there was something very interesting across the room. “Take care, Kate.” That was yesterday, and so far only a few additional donations had trickled in. She and Helena spent the rest of the afternoon making calls to local churches and schools to set up additional food drives while continuing to monitor the donations page. Finally, at a little before three, Kate went into the back room to recount their inventory. It was the end of the month and they were down to their last cases of infant formula and baby food. Almost all of the canned vegetables had been depleted, and they were completely out of peanut butter and soup. If it was this bad now, Kate didn’t want to think about what might happen when budgets were stretched even thinner by holiday spending. Dejected, she was sitting on the floor, clipboard in hand, when Helena burst into the back room. “I ran after him,” she said, gasping for breath. “But he was too fast. Boy am I out of shape.” “Who did you run after?” Helena tossed a brown paper bag to Kate and leaned over, resting her hands on her knees as she took in giant gulps of air. “The man who dropped off the money. Seriously, I may need supplemental oxygen over here.” Money? Kate looked into the bag and blinked several times. “Did you lock the front door?” “Yes.” She turned the bag upside down and watched in disbelief as hundred-dollar bills rained down on the concrete floor. She counted it quickly. “There’s a thousand dollars here.” Their website listed four levels for donations with amounts ranging from ten to one hundred dollars. There were higher amounts for corporations, but this was the largest donation they’d ever received from one person, and it was more than enough to replenish their shelves. Kate was already picturing herself pushing a giant cart through Costco. “Did he leave his name?” “No. He walked up to my desk and said, “Give this to Katie. He must have seen you on TV yesterday.” “Young? Old?” Rich? “Young. Early thirties, maybe? Tall. Blondish-brown hair. He was in a real hurry to leave. I chased him out the door, but he jumped into the driver’s seat of an old blue car.” “An old car? Are you sure?” “I think it was old. It didn’t look like any car I’ve ever seen. It had stripes on the hood. And then he burned rubber.” “Why would someone who drives an old car drop off a bag full of money?” “I have no idea. But whatever the reason, he just saved us.”

Read until Chapter FIVE here!

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In collaboration with InkSlinger PR. Thank you!

6/24/15

Recent Release #36: Spelled by Betsy Schow

Every Wednesday I share a recent release I'm excited to read. If you want to check out the previous releases, click here.

Spelled by Betsy Schow

Series: standalone
Genre: YA, fantasy, retelling, romance
Release Date:June 2nd, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Length: 352 pages

Fairy Tale Survival Rule #32: If you find yourself at the mercy of a wicked witch, sing a romantic ballad and wait for your Prince Charming to save the day.

Yeah, no thanks. Dorthea is completely princed out. Sure being the crown princess of Emerald has its perks—like Glenda Original ball gowns and Hans Christian Louboutin heels. But a forced marriage to the brooding prince Kato is so not what Dorthea had in mind for her enchanted future.

Talk about unhappily ever after.

Trying to fix her prince problem by wishing on a (cursed) star royally backfires, leaving the kingdom in chaos and her parents stuck in some place called "Kansas." Now it's up to Dorthea and her pixed off prince to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz and undo the curse...before it releases the wickedest witch of all and spells The End for the world of Story.

6/23/15

Review: Crown Of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Series: Throne of Glass #2
Genre: YA, romance, magic, mystery
Release date: August 23rd 2013
Length: 418 pages

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.
It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."


From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

My rating: ★★★★★

“Everyone sounded the same when they died.”

I finished reading this a week ago and I'm still not over it. Holy shit this was SO GOOD. And here I thought 'oh this is just a pleasant and relaxed read'. Yeah RIGHT. This book is epic!

“I worry because I care. Gods help me, I know I shouldn't, but I do. So I will always tell you to be careful, because I will always care what happens.”

This sequel is waaaaaay better than the first book! If you loved the first one, you're going to love this one even more. I did, at least! Oh man, this book is a serious roller coaster of feels and 'what-the-hell' moments. I devoured this book completely.

“Why are you crying?"
"Because," she whispered, her voice shaking, "you remind me of what the world ought to be. What the world can be.”


The plot of this book is brilliant and perfect and amazing. I'm not going into it in details, because it's just impossible. So much happened and the plot twists just kept coming and coming and coming... and .... oh man... I can't... there was that one plot twist that almost KILLED ME. When I think about it again, I get tears in my eyes. I JUST CAN'T. I seriously felt my heart break into a million little pieces. It changed the whole book for me and made it better and worse at the same time. I'm STILL not over it.... *cries*



Celaena is now the King's Champion. And she's even more badass as usual. I think she became my top #1 fav character all time. . Celaena's been through so much and yet she's still standing and fighting. I don't know how this happened and how the hell Sarah J. Maas managed to do this, but I've grown so attached to Celaena! She developed her perfectly! She has some dark moments during this book and multiple times my heart broke for her.

"He should step back, put more distance between them. But instead, he found himself reaching for her, a hand slipping around her waist and the other twining itself through her hair as he held her tightly to him."

Now, let me clarify something about the guys. After finishing ToG I was so conflicted about Chaol and Dorian. I loved both and I couldn't pick a favorite. Well, that changed big time. I'm 1000000000% TEAM CHAOLEANA. Saying I have a crush on Chaol is a HUGE understatement. I still like Dorian, but my OTP is definitely Chaoleana. I just can't get enough of them!!!

“He wouldn't let his servants change the sheets on his bed because they still smelled like her, because he went to sleep dreaming that she was still lying beside him.”


Oh right, and because obviously Sarah didn't think we suffered enough while reading the book... there's also that tortuous ending...


UGH. It's not really a cliffhanger, but it feels that way because it's like something new is about to start. I don't know if this makes sense, but that ending made me want to read the next book, Heir Of Fire, immediately.... only... I'm (still) in such a "fragile" state after that ending, so that's why I have not yet found the courage to pick it up. I need some time, because I'm both scared and excited about what could happen in the third book (mostly excited though).

“I can't tell if I should be ashamed of wanting to hold you on this day, or grateful that, despite what happened before now, it somehow brought me to you.”


Anyway, this book was brilliant. The writing is amazing, the character development is definitely on point and the badass fights are perfect. What would you want more, right? If you have not yet continued with this series, you should. I feel like with every book I read it gets better and better. Sarah J. Maas, you are definitely in my top 5 favorite authors of all time!!

“It was hard to care, she realized as she started the trek back to the castle. Incredibly hard to care, when you didn’t have anyone left to care about.”

6/22/15

Recruit Tour: The Forgotten Mountain by Heather Lyons (+ giveaway!)

TFM Receruit Tour Banner - Final

I am absolutely thrilled to bring you the Recruit Tour for Heather Lyons' THE FORGOTTEN MOUNTAIN! TFM is an Adult Romantic Fairy Tale, full of adventure and fantasy and the third book in Heather’s The Collectors’ Society Series! Grab your copy! TFM will be released on June 26th!

Amazon - Barnes & Noble - iBooks - Kobo

About "The Forgotten Mountain"

After years spent in Wonderland, Alice Reeve learned the impossible was quite possible after all. She thought she left such fantastical realities behind when she finally returned to England. Now Alice has become a member of the clandestine Collectors’ Society, and the impossible has found her again in the form of an elusive villain set on erasing entire worlds. As she and the rest of the Society race to bring this mysterious murderer to justice, the fight becom
es painfully personal. Lives are being lost. Loved ones are shattered or irrevocably altered. Each step closer Alice gets to the shadowy man she hunts, the more secrets she unravels, only to reveal chilling truths. If she wants to win this war and save millions of lives, Alice must once more embrace the impossible and make the unimaginable, imaginable. Sometimes, the rabbit hole leads to terrifying places.

Find out more HERE about the two previous books and the lovely Heather Lyons.
Read my reviews of The Colletors' Society (first book) HERE and from the sequel, The Hidden Library HERE.

Who would you recruit?

This amazing series based on Alice in Wonderland and the plot is intertwined with a lot of famous characters from other books: Finn Huckleberry, Emma Knightly, Wendy (Peter Pan), S. Todd, Victor Frankenstein Jr., Jack Dawkins (Oliver Twist), Sherlock Holmes, and SO much more!

I have no idea how Heather came up with this brilliant idea, but I can't seem to get enough of it. Every time a new (and well... "known") character appeared I was in awe at how good it fit into the story. This whole Recruit Tour is about who would WE (as in the readers) want in the series. And I have two possibilities.

The first person who popped into my head is Harry Potter. I don't know how to explain why I would love that. But I think it would be awesome because of the magic. There's also magic in Wonderland, but it's not the same. I think it might bring some interesting conversations between Alice and Harry ;)

Secondly, I'd love to see some characters of the LUX series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. That's would be AWESOME. Oh man, just imagine Daemon and Finn together! hahah :D They live in two opposite kind of worlds and I think that would be epic if they would work together!

If you're familiar with the books, who would you want to appear? Share you opinions in the comments!!

Enter the giveway!
 
One Winner will receive a The Collectors’ Society Series bracelet and a signed paperback of THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY!
 

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In collaboration with InkSlinger. Thank you!!


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6/21/15

Fangirl alert: What the WHAT?!



YESSSSS!!!!!! I'm so excited for this! I just hope they won't mess it up, but I'm sure Tahereh will make sure it's similar to her books. OH and I'm so glad it's not a movie but a TV show. Because let's be honest. A TV show is waaaaay better for these kind of books.

Now. I was thinking about who I would want as actors for the big trio (Juliette, Warner and Adam) and it's really hard :D I can't seem to decide haha!

Who would you want? Share your opinions below!

6/17/15

Recent Release #35: Scorched by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Every Wednesday I share a recent release I’m excited to read. If you want to check out the previous ones, click here. These are all books I'm adding to my growing pile of tbr-books ;)

Scorched by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Frigid #2
Genre: NA, romance, contemporary
Release date: June 16th 2015
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Length: 320 pages

Sometimes life leaves a mark.

Most days, Andrea doesn't know whether she wants to kiss Tanner or punch him in the gut. He is seriously hot, with legit bedroom eyes and that firefighter body of his, but he's a major player, and he never cuts her any slack.

But when her life spirals out of control, he's there for her. The only problem is, no one else can save her... only she can save herself.