Moving Neutral by Katy Atlas

Moving Neutral by Katy Atlas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had been waiting on purchasing this book for awhile, keeping my eye it and the price and was so excited the day it went free. The great things about when books go free is I can check it out, see how much I like the author and if I like the book, I will be more likely to pay for another book from the same author. It is a win win for everyone. I can say with all honesty that I would definitely pay for another book by Katy Atlas.

I enjoyed the characters a lot, especially Blake. He seemed so down to earth and honest that I couldn't help but love him. The only thing that bugged me was the 'big lie' in the book didn't seem like that big of a deal. That's a pet peeve of mine with any book though. It seems like something that would be SO easy to explain right when it happened is blown up because the lead female (or male) refuses to be honest right then.

I think the reason I liked the story line so much (which was actually very fan-fiction-ish) was because I could relate a little bit. Casey's parents are a bit over protective. She's over eighteen and still has an eleven p.m. curfew. I had parents like that. I understand the reasoning now but when I was newly eighteen? Not so much. She wanted one last summer of freedom and fun and excitement before she got serious and settled down into college. In my opinion, that is a very common feeling among kids straight of high school. Her decisions may not have been wise and they may not have been overly rational but really, not all eighteen year olds are rational or wise.

Katy Atlas has a wonderful writing style that flowed well for me. It was easy to read and follow and I wasn't distracted by disjointed sentences or poor grammar. Casey's voice was very genuine and easy to relate to in most circumstances. It was a quick, easy, fun read and I would recommend it. Best of all? No love triangles!

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The Haunted by J.A. Templeton

The Haunted by J.A. Templeton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yet again, J.A Templeton managed to have me jumping at every creaking floorboard in my house. There are a lot of floorboards too and it is an old house so there is a lot of creaking. I don't know what it is about this series of books but the author just pulls out 'creepy' factor in an amazingly talented fashion.

The ghosts are definitely well portrayed. They aren't your typical shaking chains and howling sort of ghosts, though they do tend to pull their share of trickery and haunting! Peter, an eleven year old boy ghost, haunts the school because it is fun there and everything is always changing. He likes to mess with the teachers and look at the pretty girls. It's little details like that which make them more then ghosts. They are people...who are dead.

Other than my obvious love for the ghosts, there is also the fact that in this book we were introduced to some new (human) characters that added to its greatness. There's Maddie, who is Cait's cousin who lives with her and another new character who I won't talk about too much because than it would be a spoiler. Also, we learn more about Kade, Cait's brother who was gone for most of the first book. Kade and Riley's relationship is a large focus of the book and while Ian and Riley seemed to just fall in love immediately, this relationship takes some time to develop which I enjoyed. It was a nice change from the regular love at first sight story line.

The writing was excellent, as usual and the story flowed right along. I am not sure if the book actually was a little short or if I just read really fast and made it seem that way but my only complaint would be that it didn't seem finished to me. Usually, even in a sequel, there is a conflict that is solved or at least kind of wrapped up by the end of the book. It might not be the main conflict but we are generally left with some sort of conclusion somewhere in the last few chapters. Even in books with cliff hangers, something big happens that is leading into the next book or changes something we thought was for sure wouldn't change.

This books ending made me not realize it was the ending. I was confused. Where did the rest of the book go? It felt like it was a chapter ending, not a book ending. Like I said, it could have just been that I read quickly and thus felt the book should be longer but it just seemed on the abrupt side to me! That is a small complaint though, in regards to an excellent book. If you haven't read this series, I highly recommend you go pick it up!



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Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by our friends over at Broke and Bookish! They ask us to write a top ten list and that is what we do!

This weeks top ten : Top Ten books I would give a theme song to
((I am aware I only have six but this post took forever because I made it all interactive and I ran out of inspiration!))

It is no secret that I dislike Kiera, the main female lead in this book. I think she is an awful, selfish person and I wanted to punch her repeatedly in the face throughout the entire book. She had no excuses for treating the men in her life the way she did and she, as a grown woman, should have known better.  I could have picked a meaner, angrier song for her but I can see this song coming from both Denny and Kellan's perspectives.

Grown Woman : Jason Aldean

Time, wish I could turn back time

to when you were just a child

and teach you a thing or two

about love,

 it's okay if you wanna give up. 

But there's a way to leave someone

and you don't have to be so cruel. 

Cause a grown woman, shoulda' known better

than to treat me like some old dish rag

that you use up and throw away 

hey, hey, hey

You're supposed to treat your lover

as least as good as your neighbor

so how could you, a grown woman

not know no better...

Please tell me someone knew this was coming. It has to be on another list somewhere. I will go searching after I post this. If you haven't read Fifty Shades of Grey, well, here's the smallest of spoilers as to what goes on in this book. I haven't posted my review of this book yet, maybe I will do that someday. I honestly wasn't sure how I would feel about it but I ended up loving it. It's an amazing story and the character development will blow your mind. Oh, and Fifty is sexy as hell, that is nice too.

S&M : Rhianna

Feels so good being bad

There's no way I'm turning back

Now the pain is my pleasure cause nothing could measure

Love is great; love is fine

Out of the box; out of line

The affliction of the feelings leaves me wanting more

Cause I may be bad but I'm perfectly good at it

Sex in the air, I don't care

I love the smell of it

Sticks and stones may break my bones

but chains and whips excite me

Of course this book would be on my list! It is one of my absolute favorites and seems to appear on every single list I make. Lady Antebellum also happens to be one of my very favorite bands so it only makes sense that I would pair the two in my head. It just seems them to fit them so well both with their circumstances and with their relationship towards each other. 

Lady Antebellum : I run to you

I run from pain

I run from prejudice

I run from pessimists

but I run to late 

I run my life

or is it running me?

Run from my past

I run to fast

or to slow it seems

When lies becomes the truth, 

that's when I run to you...

This world keeps spinning faster

into a new disaster

so I run to you, I run to you baby

when it all starts coming undone 

baby, you're the only one I run to 

I run to you 

We run on fumes

Your life and mine like the sand of time

slippin' right on through

Our loves the only truth 

that's why I run to you

I'm not MIA!

Alright, well I kind of was. The sad truth is that I fell victim to the 2012 plague. If you aren't familiar with the 2012 plague, I will fill you in. In starts with an achy body and mild fever, then develops into a higher fever, aching body, chills and sore throat. From there it morphs into this super flue/cold hybrid where you are stuffy, with a running nose, chills, fever, sore throat, cough...basically every sucky symptom in the world that a cold or a flue could come up with other than vomiting. Luckily that part skipped me. So, needless to say, I haven't been up to blogging since Tuesday and I am pretty darn sad that I missed all my favorite memes! I have been reading but haven't been reviewing as that would require thinking and I have been avoiding doing that as well. Good news is today I seem to be doing better (knock on wood) and we will hopefully be returning to a schedule programming soon!

Thanks for your patience and take your vitamins!

Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck

Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Can someone please tell me why I insist on continuing to read books based around a love triangle? I know they just piss me off and yet I continue to do it. It makes it even harder when I like both of the guys! I gotta say though, Ren getting all commanding and bossy? Definitely won him some points. It seems like the brothers are trading places with Kishan becoming the understanding, patient one and Ren being the one with the attitude. I always love the boys with the attitudes. The things keeping Kelsey and Ren apart are so frustrating though! It makes you want to just slap the whole lot of them.

I have read some other reviews about how Kelsey and Ren's love is too encompassing, world ending, etc. I can see that. I think the reason I don't have an issue with it is because I am an adult reading a YA book. I am used to Adult PNR where so many of the books are about 'bonding' 'mating' and soul mates that it seems normal to me. I suppose that you could say it is sending an unreasonable, unhealthy view to teenage girls reading this book. I guess. I would hope that most teenage girls would realize this is a book about people who turn into tigers so the circumstance isn't exactly the same as their budding romance with their lab partner in biology.

Of course, there is more to this book than the relationships, although that is the main focus of it. Some parts were hilarious! I loved Randi and her outrageous comments. This book got a little more emotional for me than the previous two did. The fear, the heartache, it all felt a little more real to me this time around. It could possibly be that I already have an irrational, overblown fear of sharks but the action scenes had me on the edge of my seat where as usually, I kind of just skim over them. The adventure was exciting and kept me interested through each step. I LOVED the dragons. Each one was unique with their own personalities and they added to the story.

Yet again, the only complaint would be that some parts were, again, bogged down with details. Yachts, typhoons...just a lot of details that didn't add to the story. I do enjoy most of the cultural and mythological explanations but even they can get a bit wordy and drawn out in some parts. Overall, it was, yet again, another wonderful book that, of courses, ended on a cliff hanger and left me waiting anxiously for the next installment!

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I hated the prologue to this book. I understand it was needed but the way it was written really threw me off and honestly I almost gave up on the entire book before I even finished the prologue.

I am so glad I didn't!

Wow, this book had a LOT of details in it. I feel like I just took a course on Indian culture and mythology. In some places it was a little bogged down by all the information but a lot of it was actually pretty interesting. I found myself skimming just a few times while reading, mostly when they were going on about types of airplanes or why cars in India were so much smaller than cars in America. Some of it was unneeded and didn't really add to the story at all.

I liked the characters, I really liked Kells (I pronounced it 'Kelse' is that how you were supposed to say it? Maybe it was "Kells" as in rhymes with "bells" I don't know.) I liked Ren and his brother and the grandpa like character whose name is escaping me.

I liked the plot line! It wasn't hugely shocking, none of it was amazingly unexpected but it kept a quick pace and kept me interested throughout the entire book. For some reason, parts of it reminded me of one of those dungeon things in Zelda. All the steps they had to take made for a fun adventure. The only complaint I would have was for some reason, the characters emotions weren't really hitting home with me. I didn't feel the emotions they were feeling. I just read what they were feeling. It was some good reading but I didn't get emotionally involved like I do in some books.

I think part of that was because of the constant, redundant use of names. It felt like nothing could happen without a name being thrown out.

"Ren, is there water in the pond?" "Yes, Kells, there is." "Thank's for letting me know, Ren."

That is not a line from the book, fyi, that is just how it felt to me. I am smart enough to know when two people are talking and they are the only ones in the scene that they are talking to each other without the constant name repetition. That is a really small annoyance though and didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book, just made me blink a few times and huff before reading on.

Overall I enjoyed the book! 4 out of 5 do to some issues I had with some of the writing style but I am definitely going to go grab the next book in the series right now!

I wanted to address something that I know bothered other people about this book. I am going to go ahead and throw some spoiler tags out there because I dunno, some people might consider this a spoiler.

The flip flopping of Kell's feelings towards Ren towards the middle/end of the book did not bother me. I actually understood it. In the beginning it was magical and all seemed to unreal to be true, to actually be happening in her life. She was thinking of Ren as a fantasy, someone who could never be a full time part of her normal life. When he started getting closer and closer to her, she started picturing how it would be with him in real life and that was what made her draw back. It is all fun and games to fantasize about being with a gorgeous rich man but to think about being with him and never quite measuring up to what other people think he should have...that would be intimidating. He became intimidating to her in a real life sort of scenario. The prospect of future heartache is scary and because of that, she drew back from him. Her emotions there concerning all of that were the most real of any of the emotions in the entire book for me. Of course, that is just my opinion and the way it came across to me!

Free Kindle Books Sunday Roundup!

It is that time of week again! Yes, today is Sunday (I know, it is rather late on Sunday but better late than never, right?) and that means it is time for me to go through and pick out a few free Kindle books to share with you! So without further ado, Free Kindle Books Sunday Round Up! (I still need to come up with a shorter title for this feature!)

Bridger by Megan Curd
Ashlyn McVean doesn’t believe in fairy tales. That is, until Ashlyn is thrown into the crosshairs of grudges her grandmother created long ago. After finding out she is one of two people able to cross between faerie realms, Ashlyn is faced with trying to understand her abilities, along with navigating a new relationship with her boyfriend, Liam. As if being on a centuries old hit list and dealing with crazed pixies isn’t enough, her new abilities mean trouble for Liam. Knowing her new life puts everyone she loves in danger, Ashlyn must decide what’s most important in her life between friends, family, love, and ultimately, realms.

Here by Ella James

Milo Mitchell's life used to be charmed, but that was before her family dissolved, she went a little crazy, and her best friends started acting more like strangers. Spending Saturday morning in a treehouse with a stun gun for company and a herd of deer for friends is the only exciting thing in her life...until she shoots a fawn and finds her dart stuck in a guy.


Her gorgeous victim is dressed in a Brioni tux and armed with a hanky. He has no idea who or where he is. Afraid her dart caused his amnesia, Milo takes him in, names him Nick, and vows to help him solve his mystery. Soon the pair find Nick's face in a newspaper obituary, and Nick beings to have strange, ethereal memories of Milo--who is sure she's never met him. Suddenly Nick knows things he shouldn't know and is doing things he shouldn't do. When the Department of Defense shows up, Nick and Milo run--toward a shocking conclusion that could destroy both their worlds.

Awakening (The Watchers Trilogy)

Alone in snowy, remote Whistler village, Ana tries to build a new life since losing her parents. With a cozy condo, a sweet-faced bulldog and an evening job to leave the days free for the slopes, life slips into a great routine. If only she could shake the guilt for not remembering anything about her parents and banish the night terrors that haunt her every dream.


On a whim, Ana goes out with Athen, a guy she’s just met in the Grizzly Pub... The only problem is that she feels like she already knows him.Within 48 hours of meeting Athen and his family, Ana’s world implodes. She falls for Athen quickly and before she knows it, a past life begins to resurface. 


As thrilling as the revelations appear at first, she fights against the chilling information that Athen is from the underworld. Soon she begins to struggle as her own supernatural gifts are slowly unveiled, and she realizes that the nightmares she’s been having might be premonitions and not dreams at all. It is up to Ana to decipher between fact and fiction before it is too late, and her new love, Athen, follows in her same fate - one that is lost between two worlds.

The Rock Star's Daughter (The Treadwell Academy Novels)

At the age of 15, Taylor Beauforte has only met her father twice in person. After all, he is the lead singer of a world-famous rock band, constantly on the cover of music magazines and giving interviews on MTV. He pays for Taylor to attend the Treadwell Academy, a prestigious boarding school in Massachusetts, and provides her mother with monthly checks to cover her basic needs, but has never made much of an effort to play an active part in Taylor’s life. Taylor's mom Dawn is the only family she has ever really known, and because of Dawn's hard-partying Hollywood lifestyle, studious Taylor is happiest on the other side of the country in Massachusetts with her nose buried in a book. 


When Taylor 's mom unexpectedly dies the summer before Taylor starts her junior year, she receives a crash course in fame. She has no choice but to join her father and his new family on their summer concert tour before she has even had a chance to mourn the loss of her mother. Life as the daughter of a rock star seems like it would be enviable, but Taylor can't figure her dad out. He seems like a supportive authority figure (even if he's kind of a fashion tragedy) , but she is collecting a growing pile of evidence that he's a liar and a cheat. Her stepmother, Jill, can’t seem to decide if she wants to treat Taylor like a girlfriend or a nuisance. 


Having had no time to grieve and say goodbye to her childhood before being thrust into the limelight, Taylor is suddenly finding herself in situations she could have never imagined before this summer.With no one else to turn to, Taylor falls head over heels in love with Jake, the teenage son of one of the band's touring groupies. Taylor has growing concerns about Jake's background and the suspicious relationship between his mom and her own father, but is desperate for something real in her life onto which she can build a future. When Jake offers Taylor an opportunity to join him on a whirlwind adventure and leave her problems with her father far behind, Taylor has to decide – should she carve out her own way in the world, or try to repair the relationship she has with her only living parent?

And that is it for this week, friends! Please remember that you can click on the book title to be redirected to the amazon page for the book and also, make sure you double check that the book is still free!! While free at time of posting, prices change quickly and often. 

Fury of Fire by Coreene Callahan

Fury of Fire by Coreene Callahan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Commander of the Nightfury dragons, BASTIAN leads by example and expects his warriors to follow Dragonkind's code. Honor is everything, duty no option, but when both dictate he be the first to take a mate and sire a son, Bastian falters. For the woman given into his care is most the extraordinary he's ever met and even as she steals his heart, he knows birthing his child will take her life.

Nurse practitioner, MYST MUNROE puts herself on the line everyday, pushing past the limits of endurance to bring medical expertise to her patients when they cannot come to her. When a late night home visit turns deadly, she lands in the middle of a battle between two warring factions, dragon-shifters living in secret among humankind. Taken to the Nightfury's lair, she must decide: return to the life she loves or risk everything to stay with the dragon-shifter who holds her heart.

You know, I have some serious mixed feelings about this book. I liked it well enough! It was an easy read that kept me fairly engaged. It wasn't one that I just couldn't put down or anything but I never got bored. It was nice reading about something other than werewolves. Dragons are pretty sweet!

I wasn't a huge fan of the lead female, Myst. I liked her in the beginning but it was like she suddenly had a flip in personality. I understand the whole bonding/mating thing happens quickly but damn. It just seemed extremely rushed. I did however love the dragons. I liked all the interaction between the males and would be interested in reading more about their friendships. The dragons, with their different abilities intrigued me as well.

Here is my qualm with the book...if you took out the dragons and replaced them with Vampires, you could slide it right in with the Black Dagger Brotherhood and it would be right at home. There were so many things that seemed kind of familiar to me and as I read more, I realized what it was.

"Shitkickers" "females of worth" "let me feed you as a male of worth should" "FUBAR"

By themselves it's not a big deal but all lumped together...it was just like reading a JR Ward book. Even the guy who ran around taking care of the dragons, doing their shopping and cooking was just like the doggen in BDB except it was an elf. I don't know...it seemed kind of cheap to me! I love the BDB (even if I haven't loved every single book) and I feel like it just got ripped off in this book. Not only that but there was a lot of brand name dropping which always kinds of bugs me. If someone picks up this book twenty years from now and reads it, are they really going to understand know or care who Jay-Z is, what kind of sunglasses they character is wearing or what Lanvin cologne smells like? I don't even know what Lanvin cologne smells like.

So it is hard because I liked the writing style, I liked the story line and the dragons. If I had never read any BDB books I would probably have loved this book. The real question it left me with is:

When is one story TOO MUCH like another story to be enjoyable?

More about Callum & Harper!

Fisher Amelie was awesome enough to tweet a link about the story behind the cover for Callum & Harper! A lot of you picked up on themes that I hadn't and that, my friends, is the reason I LOVE Shelf Candy Saturdays. I adore hearing what other people see when they look at an awesome cover and finding out things that I missed. It's like a light bulb goes on over my head! Here is more about the cover that had us all talking!

You can check out the story here http://laurasmagicday.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/ya-indie-carnival-cover-love/ and there are a lot of other cool stories as well!

DESIGNER: MR. & MRS. FISHER AMELIE!  

 “My hubs and I designed it. Okay, the hubs designed it and I just stood behind him saying things like, ‘Oooh! Move this here. No, no, it looked better where you had it’. Anyway, I had a general idea of what I wanted the cover to look like and we went from there. 

The entire thing is a giant metaphor. To Callum, Harper is the sun. She lights his path. Therefore, the reason a blazing sun shines down on her. To Harper, Callum is the night. He keeps her guarded and sheltered from those she wishes not to be shown to. Therefore, the reason the moon hangs above Callum. 

 But the most important part of the entire cover is the fact that both characters are                                            falling, spiraling out of control and yes, it seems daunting because, well, it is. The entire book is a disparaging fight for life and happiness. But it’s also sort of contradictory in the fact that they still have direction. Although they are collapsing, tumbling into one another, they aren’t lost. They have real direction despite the fact they have no real idea what to do with themselves or their dire situations because although they’re falling...they’re falling towards each other.” Fisher Amelie, author

Shelf Candy Saturday #3

It is that time of the week again! I think this might actually be my favorite meme of the week because I adore clicking through goodreads.com, looking at all the pretty covers of all the books on my shelves and then sometimes being adventurous and exploring other people's shelves! With that being said, let's go over the rules and explanation so we can get on to the prettiness! 

Shelf Candy Saturday is a fun meme hosted by http://fivealarmbookreviews.com. The purpose is to highlight book covers that we find beautiful/unique or just interesting! 

This week I chose Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie. This is one of my all time favorite books so I am going to put in the entire blurb from goodreads.com because I think this book is worth spreading the word about! I also had it in my top ten Tuesday post about books that broke my heart a little. This one did it in a good sort of way though! 

 Life sucks for orphans Callum Tate and Harper Bailey.

Kicked out of their foster homes because they suffer the 'eighteen disease' with nothing but a hundred dollar check from the government and a pat on the back, they're forced to rely on a system that failed them miserably.  

So they sit. They sit inside Social Services, waiting for their social workers to call their names and offer them the miracle they know will never come but they sit anyway because they have nowhere else to go, no other options on their very literal and figurative empty plates.

 But as they sit, they notice the other. Although captivated, they each come to the conclusion that life is complicated enough without throwing in a boiling tension that can't ever be acted upon because they're both too busy thinking about where their next meal will come from but when their names are called and both are placed on a year long waiting list for permanent housing, suddenly relying on each other seems like a very viable plan B.

 And, oh, how lovely Plan B's can be.

 Well, except for the psycho from Harper's past that haunts her and, oh, yeah, there's the little issue that neither of them knows they're in love with the other. Needless to say, Callum & Harper's life just got a bit more complicated.

 “One day, you and I are gonna’ wake up and be alright. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day. One day. I promise you.” - Callum Tate

Okay, like I said, I adore this book. It was one of the very first YA contemporary's that I ever read and it was an immediate favorite of mine. It is one of the few books that I think I would re-read over and over again as years go by. I just loved it. That being said, I have absolutely no idea what in the world is going on with this cover. I LOVE the cover, don't get me wrong. It is one of the things that drew me in and made me pick up the book but I just don't get any of it. I made it as big as the blog perimeters would allow because there is so much detail to it! I actually opened it up in a photo editing program to look at closer and still...totally lost.

On the top half we have a girl falling. She may or may not be wearing lime green socks. I get the symbolism of falling, feeling out of control in life, that sort of thing. Maybe that is what the falling is. There's a moon up top, a brick building and what looks like some sort of 70's discotheque sort of thing going on behind the window.

I like how the typography of the title looks like it is just resting on top of everything else going on in the cover. There are little snippets of scenes within the letters. I can't decipher what the scenes are (maybe an American flag?) but it makes the black in the middle and the letters themselves really pop out. Especially with the pink "&" in the middle of the two names. That, to me, emphasizes that it is ALWAYS the two of them; that "and" is very important.

So we move down to the bottom, even more crazy stuff going on. There is a store maybe? In the bottom left corner, when I blew it up I could read ZIGZAG REC so I am thinking maybe a records store? There are mannequins in that window though so I am not sure. The girl is still falling, this time in sort of the direction of the sun. Symbolizing falling towards life? Light? Happiness? Your guess is as good as mine. There are also seems to be another flag down there, some fireworks...and what is going on in the right hand corner other than the sun? No clue.

So yes, this cover confuses me but it also intrigues me. It catches the eye and that is what is important. Not only that but the cover feels gritty, real and very chaotic to me and that very much matches the themes in the book. Overall, I would say this cover accomplishes the goal of drawing in readers and leaving us curious as to what kind of story is waiting between the pages of that book! (Which is a great one! You should check it out!)

Book Tag!

The expression on that dog's face cracks me up. In other news, I have been tagged probably 4 times in this game of blog tag and I apologize for not getting to everyone but that is a LOT of questions! So I am just going to answer the most recent set which came from Steph over at http://fivealarmbookreviews.com which is, as a side note, one of the first book blogs I ever started following and actually check on daily so it is special to me! So here is how Book Tag goes...

The Rules

1. Post the rules (Check!) 

2. Answer the questions that the tagger asked of you and then make 10 questions of your own for other people to answer. 

3. Tag ten people and link them in your post. 

4. Let them know that you tagged them!

Questions asked of me! 

1. What made you want to start blogging? I started reading a whole lot more than I previously had and I was reading a ton of YA books. No one I knew read YA and I just wanted to talk about it so much that I made a blog! 

2. How long have you been blogging? I would have to look to be exact but I think about 3 months? I am just a baby!
3. Who are some of your favorite book bloggers?  Why? Well, I already mentioned Steph over at fivealarmbookreviews.com. Also Ttoria over at http://ttoria.blogspot.com/. She's super involved in not just her blog but also at goodreads and on twitter. I think she was one of the first bloggers to add me on twitter and goodreads, it made me feel all accepted and stuff!
4. What series have you not even started that you would still like to dive into? The Mortal Instruments series! I have heard lots about it and haven't had a chance to start it yet.
5. What are your other passions besides books? Dogs! Specifically pit bull dogs. I am a certified dog trainer, volunteer at a shelter on a regular basis and used to foster dogs. (I don't anymore because I ended up keeping them all! Husband put his foot down.)
6. How many books on average do you read a year?  Do you review them all?  Is it hard to keep up? I honestly couldn't tell you. I've never kept track before. This year I joined the goodreads challenge for the first time and set my goal at 200 books. I think I am somewhere close to sixty already.
7. What are you reading right now?  What do you think of it so far? I am working on the Mercedes Thompson series. Some of the books I love, some parts of some books I love and some parts bore or confuse me. It's a good series, I'd recommend it but like any series, it has its ups and downs.
8. What is your favorite series?  Why? Oh man. I don't even know! There are so many series I love. I guess if I have to pick an all time favorite it would the Black Dagger Brotherhood series because it got me back into reading. Despite not loving every one of the books, I think that is the only series that will always buy a hardcover copy of any new release.
9. What one book are you always eager to talk about? Flowers from the Storm It is an odd choice and I don't think many people have read it. It might be classified as Christian fiction, I am not sure but it is such a powerful book. It's just amazing.
10.Where is your favorite reading spot? Outside! We have a patio swing and I love to sit out there, drinking coffee, reading and letting the dogs run around or sunbathe. It's wonderful. My other favorite place is kind of odd but I love to read in my car. Sometimes when I just want to get away from the house, cleaning, the husband, the dogs, etc. I will climb into my car and go sit in a parking lot somewhere and read!

And those, my friends, are my answers! Here go the new questions!

1.) If you could have one character be your book boyfriend/girlfriend for an entire week, who would it be?
2.) If there was anywhere in the world you could travel, where would it be?
3.) What book frustrated you the most?
4.) Do you re-read books?
5.) Do you keep every book you have ever bought or do you sell them back? Give them away? Put them in storage?
6.) Do you carefully arrange your books shelves in some sort of order? If so, what kind of order?
7.) Does your partner/family/friends think that you read too much?
8.) When you see a movie that is based on a book, would you rather see the movie first or read the book first? Why?
9.) Angels, Vampires, Werewolves or just regular old humans? Which do you prefer?
10.) What book are you looking forward to the most in 2012?

Whew! It took me forever to write those questions out! I am going to tag ten people now but I will say, if you have been tagged numerous times before, feel free to disregard. I won't be offended :D

Nikki @ http://fiction-freak.blogspot.com

Melissa @ http://midnight-orchid.blogspot.com/

Okay, so I only came up with two because I am running out of time and sooo many of the blogs I was going to link already did this recently! Maybe I should have waited awhile to post! Oh well, here are the two I chose and maybe sometime this will get updated with more names :D 

Iron Fey Valentine?! Yes, please!

The wonderful Miss Kagawa has given us all an amazing Valentines day present! If you were like me and were just itching for some more of Ash and Meghan at the end of The Iron Knight then this might just give you the same excited, warm fuzzies that it did me! ((Click the title below!))

An Iron Fey Valentine

Top Ten Tuesday (Valentines Edition!)

Top Ten Tuesday is not a meme I have participated in before but due to the topic and the fact that today is Valentines day, I couldn't resist! Plus, I had no review for today because I didn't get much reading done yesterday. I watched Supernatural instead. I tend to get a bit obsessive over things. Anyways, onto today's feature!

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Broke and Bookish Here are the instructions from their blog!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.


Today's top ten is.....

 Top Ten Books That Broke My Heart A Little

 This book not only broke my heart a little but also wins the award for pissing me off the most. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful read but it was extremely frustrating for me. I have never liked a main character more than I did in this book but I have also never loved a main character like I did in this book. It was emotional gut wrenching and just broke my heart into little pieces. This book gets #1 on books that broke my heart.

This was another amazing book that tugged on my heart strings. There were

things I absolutely loved about it and things that I hated. It was an extremely emotional journey for me. In ways it was like this was two different books  and it was the second part of the book that broke my heart. I don't want to give too much away but if you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. The epilogue is my favorite epilogue that I have ever read. I have never been more pleased with the way a book ended! 

I imagine this book is on early everyone who read the series' list. The end of the book is an absolute heart breaker. I was left aching for the main characters, not just Will but Jem as well. Of course, I am never really one to sympathize with the lead female, I think girls are just too temperamental and difficult for me so I wasn't feeling too bad for Tessa at the end even though maybe I should have been. Another reason this book is so sad?! Having to wait so long for the next one to come out! 

I think this was the first contemporary book that I  marked as one of my favorites. The characters were extremely well written, they made me  think about things that happen in real life, not just in a story  book world. Callum & Harper gave double the heart ache. It made you weep for the characters and for the people in our cities that are going through the same sort of hardships that they are. Callum is and will always be one of my favorite male leads and actually, I really fully enjoyed Harper as well. She was one of the few female leads I did sympathize with!

Oh Zsadist. He started breaking all of our hearts in Dark Lover and still, even after achieving his HEA, breaks our hearts. Or maybe it is just me. I don't know. All I know is that every time I read a scene with him in it, he just pulls at my heart strings. There is one scene in this book (I don't think this is a big spoiler or anything) where he is learning how to write and I think my eyes actually got misty while reading it. That's saying a lot because rarely does a book or movie make me cry. He's got issues that I don't think will ever fully be resolved and that might be the most heartbreaking thing of all. 

Quite possibly the grittiest, most blunt book I have ever read. This was another one that was a real eye opener about what goes on in dark ally's and cities that we think we are familiar and comfortable with. There was some of it that made me uncomfortable and some of it that shocked me and of course, parts that broke my heart. Mouth is a engaging lead character and there really isn't anyone that I compare him to, he is definitely in a class of his own. 

I didn't think this book was going to be emotionally for me. I thought it would just be a light, easy contemporary read. It was an easy read but it wasn't as light as I had thought it would be. Meg went through some pretty emotional, eye opening revelations and John had a lot of issues he had to deal with too. There is a part that is completely heartbreaking, again one of the few moments in a book that almost made me cry. Definitely a favorite book of mine. 

The dark hunter series was one of the very first vampire series I ever  read and I read them religiously. Everyone that came out, I read pretty much as soon as it was released.  Thus, I was extremely emotionally involved with Acheron's story. He's a vital character in nearly every single of the books proceeding this one. Talk about a heart breaker. Learning about the horrid, dark past of a character that you are already emotionally attached to before the book even starts? Definitely makes the list as a book that broke my heart more than a little. 

I changed my mind about Thoughtless being number one. Fifty Shades Freed might actually be the most heart breaking book I have ever read. There were so many things in this book that were heart wrenching. So many different things that just could ruin a persons life. It was especially difficult to read some parts when you knew what had happened in the previous books. This is an ADULT series, I don't think I can emphasize that enough but if you don't mind that, the series is a must read. 

And last but not least, Specials. This book broke my heart a little for completely different reasons than any of the above. This book broke my heart because I hated it. I wanted so badly to love it like I had loved the first two books. I wanted it to be amazing and I just..I hated it. I had to force myself to finish it and that made me so sad!   I wanted an awesome conclusion to an excellent series but instead I got a book that changed all the characters beyond recognition and made me feel disappointed every turn. 

And that my friends is my top ten list of books that broke my heart a little! Make sure you check out http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/ for fun memes and an overall awesome blog and have a wonderful Valentines days! 

Free Kindle Books Sunday Round up!

I generally get, on average, 10-12 free kindle books a week. Some of them are great! Some of them...not so much. The great thing about it? They are free! So if I read the first four chapters and just can not get into the book, I can remove it from my Kindle with no hard feelings because I didn't spend any money and at least I gave it a chance. If I adore the book then I will most likely spend a few dollars buying another book in that series or from the same author. It works out well for everyone!

With that in mind, I figured that on Sunday afternoons I would make a FKBSRU! (that is one crazy abbreviation, I need to come up with something better than that. We'll work on that this week.) I am actually going to try and do Book Through Thursdays on Thursdays (gasp!) and this will be a regular Sunday feature if my lovely followers seem to like it! I will go through all the free kindle books I received that week, pick out a few and share them with you!

All these books are available on Amazon.com at time of posting. Please make sure that the book is still free because the prices can change quickly and with no warning. You can click on the title and author to be taken to the Amazon page.

The Odds by Amy L. Kinzer
Odds of dying in a motor vehicle accident: 1 in 256. 
Odds of living a normal life for Ethan Sorenson: impossible.


Fifteen-year-old Ethan Sorenson lives life on the periphery… and it’s not intentional. A scholarship student at the prestigious Evergreen Preparatory Academy in Seattle, all Ethan wants is to fit in with his prep-school classmates. But Ethan’s divorced mother – a senior actuary at Northwest Life Insurance who calculates insurance risks – is convinced he is going to die. The most mundane moments pose a risk of death according to Ethan’s mother. Life is even worse for Ethan’s four-year-old brother who still wears clothes with snaps and rides in a stroller.

Bound by Kira Saito
Sixteen year old Arelia LaRue lives in New Orleans where the music is loud, voodoo queens inhabit every street corner, and the ghosts are alive and well. 


Despite her surroundings, all she wants is to help her Grand-mere Bea pay the rent and save up for college. When her best friend Sabrina convinces her to take a well-paying summer job at the infamous Darkwood plantation, owned by the wealthy LaPlante family, Arelia agrees. 


However, at Darkwood strange things start to happen, and gorgeous Lucus LaPlante insists that he needs her help. Soon, the powers that Arelia has been denying all her life, come out to play and she discovers mysteries about herself that she could have never imagined.

Stealing Kevin's Heart by M. Scott Carter
Their small town saw Alex Anderson and Kevin Rubenstein as the most unlikely of best friends, but that’s just what the handsome athlete and the artistic Jewish brainiac are: inseparable buddies since childhood. 


Then Kevin dies in a motorcycle accident, and his parents blame Alex. And Alex blames himself. His grieving derails both his studies and his football, and he’s sent away to a summer camp for troubled youths in the wilds of southeastern Oklahoma. 


Borderline suicidal, Alex finds his way back to sanity among the camp’s pine trees and clear lake waters—thanks to a Texas beauty with a secret and the most unselfish gift a person can give another.This young adult love story has been called “tender,” “an unusual twist on the boy-meets-girl scenario,” “heart-breaking,” and “the kind of story that reminds you what it is to be human.” Kirkus Reviews cites its “Twilight Zone-esque paranormal twist.”

Shelf Candy Saturday #2

Shelf Candy Saturday is a fun feature that is hosted by Fivealarmbookreviews.com. The purpose is to show off book covers that we think are exceptionally beautiful/intriguing or just interesting!

This week I picked Glitch by Heather Anastasiu. This book hasn't come out yet but I am hoping this is the final cover because I love it. Here's a little excerpt from the synopsis on Goodreads.com

In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network. 

When Zoe starts to malfunction (or "glitch"), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.

I think part of the reason I love this cover so much is because it seems to fit the book so well. It looks high-tech and other worldly. I am normally not a big fan of purple but it just sets the tone perfectly on this cover. I even like the font and normally I don't enjoy crazy fonts. This is one of those covers that would make me pick up the book and read the back of it, give it a chance just because the cover attracted my eye. I love the tattoo/chip/whatever that is on her neck, it makes me curious as to what the book is about and why she has it and that is exactly what a book cover should do.

The only thing I would change is the big author recommendation on the front. Do those thing have an actual name? My mind is blanking right now. I understand that it is a tool to show that the book is good because another well known author endorses it and people who read that author might pick up the book because of the endorsement. (Endorsement?! Is that the word I was looking for?) Still, I think it could have been placed somewhere else because it detracts a tiny bit from the beauty of the cover. It wouldn't stop me from picking the book up but it wouldn't make me pick it up on its own either.

Glitch is on my TBR list and I am looking forward to reading it when it comes out in August! 

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
((Blurb from Goodreads.com))
Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape - but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.


Mercy's loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can't decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her...

I had a bad feeling about those Fae....

Miss Briggs world is pretty different from the usual YA paranormal books I had been reading. I think about Fae and I think about Puck from the Iron Fey series but no, these are not your friendly neighborhood trouble-maker Fae. These are not friendly, might possible tear off your head and then eat it Fae. One of them actually says his bowels are hungry for human flesh. These are some freaky, scary Fae. Zee, the fae we are introduced to the most, since the very first book actually, seems nice enough but there was always an underlying sense of threat coming from him - for me at least. He never seemed quite safe.

Finally, I actually pretty much followed the whole 'action' side of the plot. Most of the book was about a series of murders on a Fae reservation and how Mercy (as usual!) got way too involved and in over her head. Also as usual, she handles herself and is kick-ass. The nice thing about Mercy is she can take care of herself but she also knows when she needs help and isn't ashamed to go to someone stronger when the need arises. There were a lot of action packed scenes that were pretty nail biting and actually, shockingly enough, there were very few 'Adam-disappearing-acts'! Sadly though, there wasn't nearly enough Adam moments throughout the book, though there was one particular scene where the alpha came out towards the beginning that was pretty amazing. Of course, for anyone who is not as big of an Adam lover as I am, it might not be as sad. Samuel made a few appearances also sprinkled here and there. When either of them appeared though, something important was going on.

There was something else that happened, something rather big. All I will say is that decisions were made and things were revealed! I thought it would be more climatic than it was but it wasn't a huge moment type thing for me. Still, it happened and that made me happy. While most of the book centers around the murders, there were still significant moments and scenes that moved along the different relationship aspects of the book. I really adore how each character is developing through the books. There was no Stefan this time but we got to see my other favorites, Warren, Kyle and (shocking) Ben! Yes, Ben has made his way into my favorites because I LOVE seeing his character developing over time. A lot of information about him came out in this book and honestly, it made me a little emotional.

That being said, my only complaint isn't really even a complaint. It is more a warning or an observation, I guess. Make sure when you read this book, you read very carefully. If you skim a line and miss a few words, you could completely miss something pivotal to the plot. I had to go back a few times because the characters would be referring to something and I would be thinking "When did that happen?" and it would be a huge plot point buried in the middle of a paragraph.

I am interested in seeing how some of the events in this book affect Mercy's character as a whole. Actually, I am extremely interested so I am going to wrap this up and go start the fourth book! Happy reading!

A new trend in Young Adult fiction?

Three posts today! Craziness, I know! I just came across an interesting article though and wanted to share a bit of it.

Gritty teen reads dominate Waterstones children's prize shortlist 

The fall from fashion of vampire romance and fantasy in favour of more gritty reads is nowhere more evident than in the teen shortlist for the Waterstones children's books prize. 

Divided for the first time into three age categories – picture books, 5-12 and teens – the prize's young adult section features titles covering a range of hard-hitting issues from class and date rape to terrorism and refugees. 

Annabel Pitcher's debut novel My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, which was longlisted for the Guardian children's fiction prize, focuses on 10-year-old Jamie Matthews and his family as they try to make a new start following a family tragedy. Phil Earle's Being Billy, meanwhile, features Bill Finn who has spent eight years living in a care home after being given up by his mother. You Against Me, Jenny Downham's follow up to her tear jerker Before I Die, tackles teenage love across the class divide against the backdrop of a sexual assault court case, while debut novel Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys looks back to 1941 and a 15-year-old girl who is deported to Siberia by the Societ secret police. The teen list is completed with a dystopia, Divergent by Veronica Roth and a road trip romance, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. 

According to Sarah Clarke, Waterstones children's buying manager, the teen shortlist "demonstrates how young people today are not afraid to talk about serious subjects, in some cases, more so than adults." ((Full Article)) 

So, I had to do a little bit of research on what the Waterstones. It is apparently a book specialist in England that has been around for a long time, since 1982. What really caught my eye was how in the article, it talks about how the trend in YA lit is moving from vampires and werewolves to more real life, darker, 'gritty', topics.

I have read plenty of wonderful paranormal YA books but I have also read other books that tackle real life issues such as Ashfall by Mike Mullin which deals with how a teenage boy survives after a volcano erupts and changes the world in ways more horrific than anyone could have imagined. This book tackled many darker situations and did so in a way that made the reader think about how they might react in such situations. At least, that is what it did for me! I don't want to give away too much of the book but if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's not a light read but definitely a worth while one.

Also, I recently read Nothing else matters by Leslie DuBois which dealt with racial tension in a high school, a football player with a secret illness and the difficulties of an inter-racial relationship. It was also a tough read that dealt with very real issues, though they were ones that I may have never thought about myself if not presented in the book.

In my opinion, a change in pace is never a fully bad thing. I like something different every now and then but I also adore my paranormal romances with their alpha males and kick-ass heroines. I did very much enjoy the above mentioned books and wouldn't mind reading more like them. In fact, I am anxiously awaiting the sequel to Ashfall! I am curious though as to what brought about this change in popularity and if the author of the article is correct, that the flavor of YA is shifting.

Is this change in the types of stories being written the influence of the Hunger Games? One of the finalists in the awards is Divergent which is another (awesome, imo) dystopian novel. Have you noticed a change in popular YA fiction? Do you think that authors are moving away from the twilight-esque vampire romances and into darker, more realistic tones? Have you read anything lately that fits that category that is also YA?

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
((Blurb taken from goodreads.com))
Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places-and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind. But this new vampire is hardly ordinary-and neither is the demon inside of him.


Oh, Adam. Why must you always be wandering into trouble? It makes me laugh because he comes off as the competent, in control, undeniably sexy werewolf and yet there he is, yet again, being captured or injured. It's like he's a magnet for abduction. "Take me! I'm sexy and I will look good in your cages!" Of course, Samuel is getting into his share of trouble in Blood Bound as well. As much as him and Adam snark at each other, it seems they are always getting into trouble together, ending up stuck with one another as prisoners. Karma is a bitch, boys.

I had the same issues in this book as I did in the first. The 'action' part of the plot was a bit hard for me to follow but not as bad as it was in Moon Called. The world building was explained a bit more and I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the inner workings of the vampire world. The way the seethe and menagerie worked was intriguing to me. I loved the way that Stefan was different than the other vampires but was still a vampire, if that makes sense. He has morals and standards but still, at the core, he is a vampire and still makes mistakes. Miss Briggs doesn't turn him into a fluffy bunny or take away his fangs just to make him appear like a good guy. He's an interesting character and a major player in this book so it is nice to understand him a bit more. A vampire with layers (like an onion!) is worth reading about. From driving a scooby van to killing innocent humans, he keeps you wondering what he is going to do next page after page.

The wolves weren't completely ignored in this installment either. We got to see a bit more of Ben and I have to say, I am so confused about him! I am torn between hating him, feeling sorry for him and being confused by him. I adored Warren as usual and Kyle was also amazing in this book. He is such a calm, voice of reason, character. I am interested to see what happens in Warren's plot line. The only one that I don't really have a connection with, strangely enough, is the Marrok. They talk about him a lot but I just don't really feel as interested in him as I do everyone else in the series.

If you are looking for a romance this might not be the series to get your fix from - at least not yet. The romance is slow building, very slow building, but for me it is worth it. It also makes sense due to the history Mercy has with Samuel and the attraction she has for Adam. Choosing between two sexy alpha male werewolves would be difficult for anyone, I would imagine!

In closing, I loved this book, I want to immediately start the third book and I am still sad that these book are not loanable because I am poor and the library is slow.


Be prepared here, beneath the adorable polar bear are spoilers! If you don't want to be spoiled, stop reading here!

  So, Stefan now also seems to be attracted to Mercy. He was whispering sweet nothings and then kissed her at the end. I am not sure how I feel about this. I understand the attraction from Samuel because of their history, I get Adam being attracted to her because of the story line and things that have happened between them. I don't understand the Stefan thing as much. Is it just because they have been through so much together? I don't like when every main male in a series has a thing for the lead female. It just doesn't seem realistic to me. I like Stefan and I don't want to see him get lost in a "love square".

WWW Wednesday

A new (to me) meme! I love them. I might be addicted. This might turn into a problem. I might need another intervention like I had to have for myself and "2012 Challenges". Yeah. Sometimes I tend to get a little excited about things and go waaaay overboard. I figure I am okay as long as I don't start doing two a day. That just might be the official sign that I have an issue. 

So! WWW Wednesday is hosted by http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ which is an awesome blog, by the way. The purpose is to answer three simple questions on Wednesdays and there...they....are!

What are you currently reading?

What did you finish reading recently?

What do you think you are going to read next?

((See the WWW's there??)) 

What are you currently reading? I am currently reading (glance to your right for a hint!) Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs. I'm just about done with it actually and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I am having pretty much the exact same issues I had with the first book. The 'action' part of the plot is just confusing to me and I am not sure if it is actually confusing or if I am just not paying enough attention. Either way, I really enjoy every single character in the book, both the ones that we met before in Moon Called and new ones introduced in Blood Bound. I am very much still interested and intrigued by the series. No sophomore slump in the Mercy Thompson series for me! 

What did you finish reading recently? Well, I read Moon Called yesterday and loved it. You can scroll down a few posts for the review if you are interested! Before that, I read a series that started with a book called Moon Spell you could also check out the review for that farther down as well. Plenty of 'moon' books to go around apparently. 

What do you think you are going to read next? I think I will probably continue on with the Mercedes Thompson series. I am not even sure exactly how many books are in the series but considering I am in the middle of a "shifter" challenge right now, it works out pretty well for me to just go ahead and demolish the series. Told you I was bit over enthused about challenges! 

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

((Blurb taken from Goodreads.com))
Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn't exactly normal herself.

Some parts of this book had me completely confused. There were a lot of characters and sometimes I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. During the majority of the action scenes I found myself flipping back to see who the bad guys were and who the good guys were. I don't know if I just wasn't paying attention enough or if it really was that confusing. Some of the world building was a little unclear to me as well but that was a bit easier for me to figure out than the 'action' side of the plot was.

With that said....I still LOVED this book. Mercedes is a wonderful lead and she didn't get on my nerves (as so many of our leading ladies do) in the least. I liked how she wasn't part of the pack but still had the urge to follow pack rules. She wasn't a brat, she was respectful of the alpha while still being strong and independent in her own right. The whole walker thing kind of went over my head, I didn't really let the explanation sink in enough but I did enjoy the fact that she was a coyote when she shifted. It seemed different and unique to me and added another interesting aspect to the story.

The highlight of the book for me, without a doubt, was Adam. I am a sucker for an alpha male. I think it is because I have been reading so many contemporaries lately but I just immediately fell in love when Adam took charge. Maybe if I had read more paranormal romances lately I wouldn't have been as excited about all the growling and posturing but...I haven't. So I was. Excited, that is. I adored all the posturing and the growling and snarking going on, especially between Adam and Samuel.

Speaking of Samuel, I have mixed feelings. If there were only Samuel, with no Adam in the picture, I would probably just adore Samuel. I like him a lot but Adam is just the main wolf for me. I have had it up to the moon (haha the moon...werewolves...get it?!) with love triangles but this one I am not minding so much only for the fact that I like the scenes with Samuel and Adam together. Now the issue is getting my hands on the rest of the series.... ((Why oh why can't they be lendable!?))

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Shelf Candy Saturday

Shelf Candy Saturday is a fun feature that is hosted by Fivealarmbookreviews.com. The purpose is to show off book covers that we think are exceptionally beautiful/intriguing or just interesting!

I chose Providence by Jamie McGuire. I actually got this book before I read any of her other books only because I adored the cover. Usually I go for bright, bold colors but the black and white tones in this cover struck me as hauntingly beautiful. I'll be honest, I had no idea what the book was about when I purchased it but I was so intrigued! I wanted to know where he was at, why is he by himself? Is that a bag in his hand? Is he homeless? Are those churches in the back with the tall steeples or is it set in a different sort of time period than the modern age? The clouds are beautiful and slightly ominous, giving a feeling of heaviness despite them being the brightest thing on the cover. I even like the font that the title is written in though I don't like the signature typeface as much.

Tomorrow we'll get back on track with our 'booking through Sunday' feature and another review is coming up soon. Be forewarned, it is Shifter month so there will be quite a few shifter reviews coming up. I started off on a good note with Tales of Lunarmorte (series) by Samantha Young, hopefully I continue finding great, exciting reads!

Moon Spell by Samantha Young

Moon Spell by Samantha Young
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

((Summary taking from Goodreads.com)

Enter a world of fierce wolves, stunning magic and romance... 

It’s bad enough feeling different among the human crowd, but feeling different among wolves?  

No one said returning to her pack would be easy, especially after ten years without them, but seventeen year old Caia Ribeiro is unprepared for the realities of the transition. Raised in a world where kids aren’t scared by bedtime tales of the bogeyman but by the real life threat of enemy supernaturals who might come creeping into their community to kill them in their sleep, Caia is used to the darkness; she’s used to the mystery and the intrigue of the ancient underworld war she’s bound to by chance of birth. What she’s having trouble with are pack members treating her with wary suspicion, the Elders tucking secrets behind their backs out of her sightline, and her young Alpha, Lucien, distracting her, with a dangerous attraction, from her decision to uncover the truth. 

12:15 a.m
It is late but I can't sleep. I guess I will try this book and read a few chapters. Maybe it will make me sleeping.

1:15 a.m
Just one more chapter and then I'll go to bed...for real.

2:15 a.m
OMG!!! WHO IS....WHAT DID HE...OMG!!!

4:35 a.m
Oh, hello husband who is getting up and getting ready for work. No, no, of course I have not been up all night reading this book. You can go ahead and leave now, really. I am going right back to bed.

5:00 a.m
Lucien!!! Noooo!! Not a good...oh good grief.

6:00 a.m
Shouldn't...get..second...book...should..go..to...bed.

7:00 a.m.
Kindle battery dies.

Needless to say, I LOVED this book. It was extremely well paced, the characters were all easy to identify with and I fell in love with the main characters. Everything was explained so well and I never felt confused but I also NEVER knew what was going to happen. I was dying, absolutely dying, to read more and figure out who the secret person was, who the bad guy really was, what was being hidden...I don't think I have ever really been so on edge wanting to know what was going on in a book. HIGHLY recommended!!! My only advice is to NOT start it right before bed. You will most likely not sleep...at all.

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