Year: 2017

Fall Into Reading Read A Thon

Posted on by Cindy

I have been thinking about this for a little while now and I decided that I am going to do a Fall Into Reading read a thon next week, September 25th to 30th.

Not sure if any bloggers actually have anything like this going and if they do please let me know so I can join or at least link them to this and future posts.

Sadly the first day of fall is tomorrow (22nd) and with the current temps outside we are definitely not into fall here. Its like the tale end of summer decided to finally join us. Which is okay because if its going to be as hot as they say it will be then I am looking forward to staying in a nice A/C house and reading.

Not quite sure what I want to read since I have a ton of books that I should get through but here is a few ideas of titles I want to dig into:

  • Warcross by Marie Lu
  • Wonderwoman by Leigh Bardugo
  • Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
  • Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine
  • Caroline by Sarah Miller

plus a ton of others I have in my netgalley sitting to be read.

Are you excited for fall reading?

Blog Tour/ The Missing

Posted on by Cindy

 

The Missing by Jerico Lenk
Publication Date: October 10, 2017
Publisher: Month9Books

 It is 1890, and London has secrets. For sixteen-year-old Will Winchester, born Willow Winchester and raised as a young man, the safety of his own secrets rests one atop the other. Hiding his gender queerness is important. But so is hiding the ghostly voices of the Missing, which Will hears when no one else can … until the Spiritualist Black Cross Order of Occult Occurrences wants him in their service to keep peace between London’s living and dead.

The freedom to be himself may come with a price. Working alongside a patchwork team of misfits and unlikely allies, Will finds he isn’t the only one keeping secrets. Someone does not want him to uncover the truth about the ghosts who aren’t just missing from the world of the living, but missing from history itself. Can he find the Missing before he ends up becoming one of them?

Link to Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25946793-the-missing

Purchase Links:

BAM | Chapters | Indies | Amazon | B&N

About the author:

Undergraduate studying Creative Writing, Classics, Russian and Western European History. Unabashed weeb probably burning incense and drinking too much coffee at this very moment. Out for queer representation and great sex hair. Beyond ready for the upcoming Vampire Chronicles TV series.

Lenk writes Young Adult/New Adult, spec fiction, poetry, and screenplays. He is currently unagented.

His poems have appeared at/in USF Tampa’s Thread Literary Inquiry, biannual 6×6 creative writing showcase, and placed second in National Poetry Month 2015; Tethered By Letters’ F(r)iction Spring 2016 poetry contest finalist; winner of the 2017 Bettye Newman Poetry award.

Ways to connect with the author:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads

Link to Tour Schedule:
http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/tour-schedule-the-missing-by-jerico-lenk/

Giveaway Details:

• One (1) winner will receive an Echo Dot

Code:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review/ The Missing

Review/ The Missing

Posted on by Cindy
Review/ The MissingThe Missing by Jerico Lenk
Published by Month9Books on October 10th 2017
Goodreads

It is 1890, and London has secrets. For sixteen-year-old Will Winchester, born Willow Winchester and raised as a young man, the safety of his own secrets rests one atop the other. Hiding his gender queerness is important. But so is hiding the ghostly voices of the Missing, which Will hears when no one else can … until the Spiritualist Black Cross Order of Occult Occurrences wants him in their service to keep peace between London’s living and dead.
The freedom to be himself may come with a price. Working alongside a patchwork team of misfits and unlikely allies, Will finds he isn't the only one keeping secrets. Someone does not want him to uncover the truth about the ghosts who aren’t just missing from the world of the living, but missing from history itself. Can he find the Missing before he ends up becoming one of them?

Before beginning my review I just quickly want to thank Chapter By Chapter Blog Tours for allowing me to be a part of this tour and to Month9Books for sending me a eArc of this debut novel to read and review for my participation in the blog tour. This is my honest and sincere review of The Missing.

If you are a reader of my blog you will notice that I don’t read or review historical fiction and that is honestly because I haven’t found that one book that would lure me in to this genre of books. This has been a genre of books that I never could get into no matter how many times I read I just couldn’t but I have to say after reading this I am thinking of trying something else within this genre, do you have a recommendation? If so please leave it in the comments and I will check it out.’

While I was reading The Missing I would have to say that I classify this as a bit of mystery, historical fiction, a little bit horror, (there was a few encounters with spirits that gave me the hibbie jeebes and I had to put the book down to get that image out of my head) paranormal and some fantasy. Clearly I am expanding my reading genre’s with this book.

Okay so the book takes place in London (one of my favorite cities that I am hoping one day to visit) during the 1890’s and its main character is Will/Willow Winchester, who is a teenager and he is hiding two big secrets from everyone. During this time period both are quite the big deal. The first one is that he can see the spirits of the dead and the second is gender. Meaning that he was born a female and has all the girl parts but when he presents himself to the world he acts and dresses like a male.

Something you might not know about me is that I believe that their is spirits are us on a day to day bases both good and bad. I have to say thankfully I have never encountered the bad ones just the good ones. For Will he has this special talent that allows him to see the spirits of the dead and in the book he stumbles upon some  paranormal investigators. He gets recruited into the Black Cross and its this organization that studies and investigates the hauntings around London. For the first time ever Will feels like he finally has found a place were he belongs and he can be who he wants to be.

Over all I have to say I really enjoyed the book and I am happy that I got the chance to read and review it but I just have one little issue and that was a lot of characters in the book and as I would read a few pages I would have to go back and figure out who everyone was but I quickly solved that with keeping a piece of paper in the book with the list of characters and info about them so that I could refer back to that.

Even though there was a lot of characters the writing was fantastic and it kept me hooked and interested although there was a few people I would have loved to know more about and I hope that this continues into a series of books so that we can find more out more about them.

I look forward to reading more books by Jerico in the future.

Sunday’s In Bed With…

Posted on by Cindy

Welcome to our Sundays In Bed With… Meme! The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today!

This is being hosted by two of the sweetest people I have to privilege of knowing in real life Kate and Kim. Sadly we don’t talk like we use to because you know real life happens but there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of them both. If you click on the banner it will take you right to the Midnight Book Girl blog.

Good Morning everyone. I hope you are able to curl up and read for a bit this morning. Sadly I am not able to be curled up reading because today is literally a jammed pack day. Michael has pre-camp this morning for hockey, then I am running to Costco with my sister, Michael is shadowing in score keeping (he wants to do that this year) and then tonight he has a score keeping meeting so it will be none stop.

 

This past week I finished:

33509076

This is the second book in the slammed series and  so far so good. I am really enjoying Colleen’s books.

For the upcoming week I am reading:

This Girl: A Novel (Slammed) by [Hoover, Colleen]

The Missing: The Curious Cases of Will Winchester and the Black Cross by [Lenk, Jerico]

After that I am not quite sure what I will be reading next.

What are  you reading this week?

Review/ Night of Cake & Puppets

Review/ Night of Cake & Puppets

Posted on by Cindy
Review/ Night of Cake & PuppetsNight of Cake & Puppets (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #2.5) by Jim Di Bartolo, Laini Taylor
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on September 12th 2017
Pages: 256
Goodreads

In this stand-alone companion to the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone series comes the story of Mik and Zuzana's fantastical first date—as a gorgeously illustrated gift edition with bonus content included.
Petite though she may be, Zuzana is not known for timidity. Her best friend, Karou, calls her "rabid fairy," her "voodoo eyes" are said to freeze blood, and even her older brother fears her wrath. But when it comes to the simple matter of talking to Mik, or "Violin Boy," her courage deserts her. Now, enough is enough. Zuzana is determined to make the first move, and she has a fistful of magic and a plan. It's a wonderfully elaborate treasure hunt of a plan that will take Mik all over Prague on a cold winter's night before leading him to the treasure: herself! Violin Boy is not going to know what hit him.
New York Times bestselling author Laini Taylor brings to life a night only hinted at in the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy—the magical first date of fan-favorites Zuzana and Mik. Originally published as an ebook, this new print edition will include breathtaking black and white illustrations, plus bonus content in a gorgeous package perfect for new and current fans of the series.

I quickly have to thank HBG for sending me a copy of the book so that I could read and review it.

Before beginning my review I have a confession to make and that is I have never read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy yet and I have them sitting on my tbr shelf. I really need to binge read this series as I have heard amazing things about it.

I do know that I want to pick up a finished copy of The Night of Cake & Puppets because the book is gorgeous and I know I will reread it.

The Night of Cake & Puppets was originally published as a e-novella exclusive. This can be read as a stand alone or you can read it between Days of Blood & Starlight and Dreams of Gods & Monsters.

Now for me reading this I realized that I was missing out on who the characters Zuzana and Mik were and what their relationship was like. This book is basically the first date these two characters had so it will probably fill in the gap you will need had you read the series.

Since I didn’t read the series I have to say that this was a cute story just the same. The premise of the book is that it takes place in one night. Zuzana has a crush on Mik and even though she has this huge crush on him and is nervous/shy like most people are around their crushes she decides enough is enough and that is now or never so she goes ahead and comes up with one of the cutest and probably sweetest things to get him to notice her. She comes up with this treasure hunt. All through the process both are extremely nervous. What will happen when they meet face to face?

This was a super quick read and I devoured it pretty much in one sitting. I highly recommend this if you have read the series or are just beginning to read it. Now I can’t wait to read it.

Have you read this series?

 

 

Cover Reveal/ Haven

Posted on by Cindy
Today Mary Lindsey and Rockstar Book
Tours are revealing the cover and an exclusive excerpt for HAVEN, which
releases November 7, 2017! Check out the gorgeous cover and enter to win an ARC!
On to the reveal! 



 

Title: HAVEN
Author: Mary Lindsey
Pub. Date: November 7, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Formats: Hardcover,
eBook
Pages: 400
Find it: Amazon, B&N, TBD, iBooks, Kobo, Google
Play Books, Indiebound, Goodreads
Sometimes beauty is the beast…
“We all hold a beast inside. The only
difference is what form it takes when freed.”
Rain Ryland has never belonged anywhere.
He’s used to people judging him for his rough background, his intimidating
size, and now, his orphan status. He’s always been on the outside, looking in,
and he’s fine with that. Until he moves to New Wurzburg and meets Friederike
Burkhart.
Freddie isn’t like normal teen girls,
though. And someone wants her dead for it. Freddie warns he’d better stay far
away if he wants to stay alive, but Rain’s never been good at running from
trouble. For the first time, Rain has something worth fighting for, worth
living for. Worth dying for.
Early Praise:
“Dangerous, dark and a definite
page turner. Mary Lindsey rocks this book.”
– New York Times bestselling author C.C. Hunter
“A smoking hot hero and spine-chilling
mystery = total win.”
– #1 New York Times bestselling author, Jennifer
L. Armentrout
“This electrifying tale will take
you on an unexpected journey into a secret world of witchcraft and shape
shifters. Romance, adventure, and magic! Lindsey leaves you breathless and
wanting more.”
– Adriana Mather, #1 New York Times bestselling
author of How to Hang a Witch
“This is not your mama’s
paranormal! Sexy, dark and intense. Unputdownable!”
– Sophie Jordan, New York Times bestselling
author of Firelight
“Lindsey writes a hero with fire
and gasoline. Then she lights a match with break-neck pacing, and scorches a
path to readers’ hearts. Don’t blink for a moment.”
– Victoria Scott, bestselling author of Fire
& Flood
“Gripping and gritty, HAVEN had me
glued to the pages from beginning to end! Rain is the best kind of hero —
tough, sexy, sweet, loyal. He charges through this action-packed tale that had
me tearing up more than once, and I was
perfectly happy to follow!”
– Pintip Dunn, New York Times bestselling author
of Forget Tomorrow.
“An utterly gritty and satisfying
resurrection of the monster genre.Rain is an intense narrator and you won’t
know whether to scream or swoon. Haven is an instant classic!”
– Courtney Moulton, author of Angelfire
“Darkly compelling and deliciously
chilling, Haven hooks you from the first line and never lets up. Gritty,
spine-tingling, and full of nail-biting tension.”
– Amalie Howard, bestselling author of
Bloodspell
“Dark, different, sexy, and
edge-of-your-seat intense.”
– Shawna Stringer, bookseller
Exclusive Excerpt!

When Rain turned back to Freddie, he bit
down a gasp of surprise. She’d stripped off her shirt and tipped her face to
the moon, eyes closed, like one would do to the sun at the beach. And here he’d
thought the landscape was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
The air was still. Eerily still, and her
smooth skin appeared to glow from inside in the moonlight—her black lace bra
sheer enough to make him a little dizzy.
Without opening her eyes, she said,
“Take off your shirt.”
No way in hell was he going to argue
with that. He yanked off his shirt, clutching it in his fist, waiting for his
next instruction.
He forgot how to breathe when she opened
her pale eyes and moved toward him. Her gaze wasn’t focused on his face,
though. It was on his chest. Stopping in front of him, she traced her fingers
over the ink.
“Raindrops?” she asked, finger outlining
one of the shapes.
“Tears,” he replied, again light-headed
as she ran her fingertips over his pec.
“For your mom?”
“No. For all of us.”
She stepped back and, for a long time,
stared at the tattoo comprised of dozens of drops in a random pattern over his
chest, spilling down his ribs.
She traced a scar on his side with the
tip of her finger. One of many marring his body from fights. “Your life has
been sad.”
And so had hers recently. Maybe that was
why he felt so connected to her. Their shared grief, their shared stand against
a harsh, unfeeling, screwed-up world. Their shared solitude.
She turned back to the moon and raised
her arms. “Do you feel it?”
Well, that was a wide-open question. He
was feeling lots of things.
“The moon,” she said. “It’s like aloe
when you’re sunburned. Try it.”
He imitated her posture, head back, arms
out, but felt nothing other than the throbbing hardness he always felt around
her.
“So, what do you think about that legend
your aunt told you?” she asked.
He opened his eyes to find her studying
him. “That the rock can turn men into beasts?” His mind raced, wondering what
would prompt that question and what answer she was looking for. Men were
beasts. Horrible monsters at times. He’d seen it firsthand. “I believe we all
hide a beast inside. The only difference is what form it takes when freed.”
There it was again. That strange warm
pull in his chest while she studied him. Like she totally got him—something no
one else had ever bothered to do. He’d never been understood or accepted.
People saw his size and found out his background and immediately wrote him off
as dangerous or not worth the trouble. Not Freddie.
She obviously found his answer
acceptable, because she wound her fingers in his hair and hauled him against
her for another kiss. Raw, open-mouthed, and hungry. He’d never met anyone like
this, who made him burn so hot he thought he might die from need. Recovering
from surprise, he placed his hands on either side of her bare rib cage, feeling
her body expand and contract with each quick breath. Bones and hard muscle
working beneath smooth, soft skin. Skin he wanted to touch all over.
“I like you, Rain Ryland,” she said,
dragging her nails down his back.
“Like” didn’t even come close. He was on
fire for her. Had thought of her night and day since he first saw those eerily
pale eyes and badass attitude. She was smart, strong, and terribly, terribly
dangerous, which turned him on like crazy. “I like you, too.”
“How much?”
Something was going on here. Something
other than foreplay. “More than I’ve ever liked anyone.” Which was true and
unexpected. This was more than physical, which was a terrifying thought for
him. Maybe this time he could stay. Maybe this time he’d actually found a home
and wouldn’t have to leave everything behind.
He kissed her again, not wanting to
think about legends, or leaving, or anything else for that matter. He wanted to
just live in this moment as long as it lasted. Running his hands lower, his
thumb brushed the unmistakable shape of a condom in her back pocket. He froze,
and she smiled against his lips.
“You scared, Sprinkles?”
“Yes.”
“Of me?” It was like she wanted him to
fear her.
“No.” He pulled back, amazed at how her
eyes reflected the moon like clear glass. “Of this.” He gestured to the space
he’d put between them. “Of whatever this is.” The intensity of it. The urgency.
And worse, much worse—the potential loss of it. He’d never feared losing
something before because he’d never had anything worth keeping. This girl,
though. She was different. And he wanted her.






About Mary: 

 

Mary Lindsey is a multi award-winning,
RITA® nominated author of romance for adults and teens. She lives on an island
in the middle of a river. Seriously, she does. When not writing, she wrangles
her rowdy pack of three teens, two Cairn Terriers, and one husband.
Inexplicably, her favorite animal is the
giant anteater and at one point, she had over 200 “pet” Madagascar
Hissing Cockroaches. The roaches are a long story involving three
science-crazed kids and a soft spot for rescue animals. The good news is, the
“pet” roaches found a home… somewhere else. 

Website | Twitter
| Facebook
| Instagram
| Pinterest |  Goodreads









Giveaway Details:
5 winners will receive an ARC of HAVEN,
US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review/ The Lost Causes

Review/ The Lost Causes

Posted on by Cindy
Review/ The Lost CausesThe Lost Causes by Alyssa Embree Schwartz, Jessica Koosed Etting
Format: ARC
Published by Kids Can Press on September 5th 2017
Pages: 344
Goodreads

They're the kids that no one knows --- or no one wants to know. The rich depressive, the OCD chick, the hypochondriac, the drug abuser, the athlete with anger management issues. All chosen for intensive group therapy because they're out of other options. They're lost causes, the therapist tells them. She promises this support group will help them heal.
There's only one problem. She's not a therapist. And that water she offers? It contains a dangerous serum that gives each of the kids a psychic power.
Suddenly, they can think clearly, speak to ghosts, see the past, even move objects with their mind. Their earlier problems have vanished, but their new freedom comes with a price. Sabrina, Gabby, Z, Justin and Andrew are to help the FBI solve the grisly murder that has rocked their small town. Their new powers will help them uncover clues and follow leads that have eluded the authorities. Their outsider status gives them the perfect cover.
But the same traits that make them top investigators also make them vulnerable. As they close in on the murderer, they expose a much larger conspiracy that puts them directly in harm's way and makes them wonder who --- if anyone --- they can trust.

You probably have noticed that I have been doing quite a bit of reading once again and I have to thank blog tours for getting me back into reviewing as I need to review the books so its been a win win situation.

Before beginning this review I quickly want to thank Rockstar Book Tours for allowing me to be on the tour stop for The Lost Causes and to netgalley for allowing me to download this book and finally  to kids Kids Can Press for approving me to read this.

When I started to read this I quickly thought of my all time favorite movie, The Breakfast Club with the mix of quirky characters who probably wouldn’t be thrown into a situation like this. I should say this is in no way a remix of the movie but when you read it you instantly think of it.

I really enjoyed reading the book. It was a pretty quick read and did it with a few days. I have to say that that I don’t know if this is something I would have picked up on my own because I didn’t hear much about this book before seeing it in my email but once I read the description I had to give this book a try and I am happy that I did. Plus this book was right up my alley with the mystery and suspense.

As I was reading the book I loved how you were kept in suspense because you had no idea what was coming next and I love books like this because as you are reading its nice not having the predictable things happen. I thought it was the perfect pace and one that you can absorb it all before something happens.

The Lost Causes is centered around 5 teenagers who are from all walks of a normal high school life, the jock with serious anger issues, a rich depressive, an OCD chick, the hypochondriac and the drug abuser. This kids might pass each other in the hall and not really pay attention to each other until the FBI brings this group together to help them solve the mysterious death of a local resident.

Can this group manage to help the FBI solve this mystery?

Each of the characters are far from perfect and I think that as once of the nice things about the book because even though you have the jock who has it all in reality he doesn’t and I think that makes the book more relatable to the teens who will read this.

I really hope that there is a book two coming out because there was so many things I am left questioning and I still have a lot of feelings about the characters in the book. I want to know what happens next.