Sale Alert: Bargain Books

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Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking The Spine. Visit my Upcoming page to see more books I'm looking forward to. 

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor (November 2012)

Goodreads Description:

"In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was declared a "must read" by Entertainment Weekly, was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, and The New York Times called it "a breath-catching romantic fantasy.""

Carnival of Lost Souls by Melissa Marr (September 2012)

Goodreads Description:

"In a city of daimons, the Carnival of Souls hosts a deadly competition. Once in a generation, every citizen can fight to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.

In our own world, Mallory knows that her father—and every other witch—fled the daimons’ city long ago. She trains to be lethal because it’s only a matter of time until the daimons catch up with them.

While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans there for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence that is the Carnival of Souls.

From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series, comes a brand-new tale of secrets, love, and the struggle to forge one’s own destiny."

Sale Alert: Bargain Book

Hereafter by Tara Hudson is now only $0.99. For more awesome deals check out the Bargain Books tab.

Love Triangles Link Up

As you all know, I absolutely adore love triangles and have an entire feature dedicated to discussing them! The most thoughtful comments I get are on these posts--and sometimes the longest. I am going to open this up to everyone, so that if you have a strong opinion on a love triangle you can link up to the love triangle post I've created.

Want to write a love triangle post about a novel I haven't done a post for? Let me know and I'll create one (send an email to abouttoread@gmail.com).

Here is the list of love triangle posts I have written so far that you are welcome to link up to or comment on:

Destruction from Twins by L. Carroll

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Illusions by Aprilynne Pike

Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Legacy by Cayla Kluver

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Possession by Elana Johnson

Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Remembrance by Michelle Madow

Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison

Undercurrent by Tricia Rayburn

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Vanish by Sophie Jordan

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

Guest Post & Giveaway: Summer Essentials Blog Tour

Summer Island Breeze: Find out what it was like for Hélène to grow up on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! Salty sea smells every day? I’ll take it!

Okay, so not exactly in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean but I grew up on a very small island off the coast of Canada and it may as well have been the middle of nowhere because looking back, it sure felt like a different world.

First, you have to take a causeway, then a drawbridge, then another bridge before finally arriving to my little slice of island paradise called Petit de Grat. Petit de Grat is not a tropical utopia but it was a pretty unique place to grow up in that:

1. My friends and I used to have sleepovers on my dad’s fishing boat while it was moored in the middle of our harbour. 
2. The island only had a few hundred inhabitants but was full of kind-hearted, colourful characters.
3. Wild cows roamed the east end of our island and were known to chase us through forest paths.

So how did my childhood affect my process of writing the Real Mermaids series?

1. My dad took us for boat rides to a town on the mainland called St. Peters. We sailed up a canal from the ocean to a fresh water lake. That canal inspired the setting of my fictional town of Port Toulouse. I often wondered if the purple jellyfish in the ocean knew about the white jellyfish in the lake. It amazed me that two totally different underwater worlds could be separated by just a mile-long canal. That was the inspiration for the mer-world in these books. 
2. I wanted my fictional town of Port Toulouse to be small and quaint, with a strong sense of community and full of fun characters like where I grew up.
3. It was a bit harder to work in the wild cows so mermaids seemed like a good alternative. ;-)

You can find Hélène on Twitter, Facebook and on her Website.

Giveaway

Contest Rules:

• Open to US/Canada
• Must be 13+ to enter
• Everyone may enter, even if you are not a follower
• Winners will be notified via email
• A new winner will be chosen if a response is not received within 48 hours
• Contest ends June 3, 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Books & Beauty (5)

Books and Beauty is a new meme that I am doing with Michelle Madow. Since we both love books and make up, we think this will be a great way to share both with all of you! You can also visit my new fashion/beauty blog: Trendy, Edgy, Chic.

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Don't forget to link up in the comments!

The Summer of No Regrets

Author: Katherine Grace Bond

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: May 1, 2012

Format: e-ARC

Source: For Review

Goodreads Description:

"The day Brigitta accidentally flings herself into the lap of a guy she's never met, her friend Natalie is convinced he's Trent Yves, egotistical heartthrob-in-hiding. When the boy, who calls himself Luke, is nearly eaten by a cougar, Brigitta finds herself saving his life, being swept into his spectacular embrace and wondering if she wants Natalie's fantasy to be true.

As the two spend the summer together raising orphaned cougar cubs, Brigitta still can't be sure of his true identity. But then again, since her grandparents' death, her father's sudden urge to give away all their possessions and become a shaman, and her own awkward transition from girlhood into a young woman, she isn't sure of anything. What is the truth? More importantly, can she accept it?"

***

The Summer of No Regrets is about a girl, Brigitta, who is kind of strange and comes from an even stranger family. One summer Brigitta gets a new next store neighbor, Luke, who looks exactly like movie-star Trent Yves, and the two start to develop feelings for each other.

I had a really hard time relating to Briggita. She is nothing like me—she just seems so lost and unsure of herself, and she also comes across as having a low self-esteem.  I also don’t understand why Briggita’s movie-star hot neighbor would be interested in someone who is described as plane-Jane at best, is really weird, and has no self-confidence what-so-ever. I think Briggita’s self-esteem issues are what bugged me most about the idea of love blossoming between the two characters.

I had a lot of difficulty getting through the first half of the novel because of Briggita, but the second half of the novel really sucked me in. I was dying to solve the mystery of “is Luke Geoffery the boy next store or famous movie star Trent Yves.” I was analyzing all of his actions and mannerisms right along with Briggita and I loved every second of it.

Even though the mystery behind Luke’s identity really captivated me, it was really hard to relate to Brigitta or believe in a relationship between her and Luke. If Brigitta was someone I could at least be friends with, I would have enjoyed the book a lot more. However her identity crisis and self-esteem issues prevented me from doing so.

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LibraryThing and Amazon.com

I am happy to announce that I have created a For Those About to Read profile on both LibraryThing and Amazon.com! If you're a YouTube fan or enjoy my video reviews, you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel :)

If you use either of these channels, feel free to add me as a friend! I will be adding all of my old reviews to both of these profiles.


Are there any more bookish web sites that you use to follow reviews? Let me know in the comments!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking The Spine. Visit my Upcoming page to see more books I'm looking forward to.   

Envy by Elizabeth Miles (August 2012)

Goodreads Description:

"The second book in the dark, sexy, commercial, paranormal trilogy reminiscent of Pretty Little Liars, where Furies are getting their revenge..."

Splintered by A.G. Howard (January 2013)

Goodreads Description:

"For sixteen years, Alyssa Gardner has lived with the stigma of being descended from Alice Liddell -- the real life inspiration for Lewis Carroll's famed novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. But cruel jokes about dormice and tea parties can’t compare to the fact that Alyssa hears the whispers of bugs and flowers ... the same quirk which sent her mother to a mental institution years before.

When her mother takes a turn for the worse and the whispers grow too strong for Alyssa to bear, she seeks the origins of their family curse. A set of heirlooms and a moth tied to an unusual website lead Alyssa and her gorgeous best friend / secret crush, Jeb, down the rabbit hole into the real Wonderland, a place more twisted and eerie than Lewis Carroll ever let on.

There, creepy counterparts of the original fairytale crew reveal the purpose for Alyssa’s journey, and unless she fixes the things her great-great-great grandmother Alice put wrong, Wonderland will have her head."

Hemlock

Author: Kathleen Peacock

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: May 8, 2012

Format: ARC

Source: For Review

Goodreads Description:

"Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.


Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.


Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.


Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love."

***

I absolutely devoured Kathleen Peacock’s Hemlock! Everything from the plot to the characters sucked me in and did not let me go. Boasting a wonderful cast of characters and a great love story, Hemlock will undoubtedly leave you wanting more.  

At its heart, Hemlock is a murder mystery. After Mac’s best friend, Amy, is brutally murdered by a werewolf, Mac is determined to find out what really happened and who could have been behind the attack. During her quest for truth, Mac uncovers several earth shattering secrets and discovers that almost every one she trusts is hiding something. With all of the secrets and lies, it appears that anyone could have had a hand in what happened to Amy.

In addition to the heart-stopping storyline, Hemlock has one of my favorite love stories and a team of awesome characters. Each character was very well developed and had clear motivations behind their actions. Even the villains had a well-defined past and upbringing to explain their choices, so that they were understandableI absolutely devoured Kathleen Peacock’s Hemlock! Everything from the plot to the characters sucked me in and did not let me go. Boasting a wonderful cast of characters and a great love story, Hemlock will undoubtedly leave you wanting more.  

At its heart, Hemlock is a murder mystery. After Mac’s best friend, Amy, is brutally murdered by a werewolf, Mac is determined to find out what really happened and who could have been behind the attack. During her quest for truth, Mac uncovers several earth shattering secrets and discovers that almost every one she trusts is hiding something. With all of the secrets and lies, it appears that anyone could have had a hand in what happened to Amy.

In addition to the heart-stopping storyline, Hemlock has one of my favorite love stories and a team of awesome characters. Each character was very well developed and had clear motivations behind their actions. Even the villains had a well-defined past and upbringing to explain their choices, so that they were understandable — albeit abhorrent.  Jason is my favorite good-guy gone bad, and I am very interested to see what his future holds in the following novels. Kyle and Mac are one of my favorite of romances of all time—it is one of those friendships that clearly should be a lot more.

While Jason and Mac could also potentially evolve into a nice romance, I prefer Kyle/ That said, I do not feel that this is really a love triangle book. There are elements of a love triangle there, but it is very clear that only two of the character really belong together. I can’t wait to see how this play out though.

Hemlock is a breath-taking start to an incredible story. The characters, mystery, and love were all really well done and will leave you instantly wanting more. I cannot wait to read more from Kathleen Peackock and the wait for the next installment in the Hemlock trilogy will be agonizing.albeit abhorrent.  Jason is my favorite good-guy gone bad, and I am very interested to see what his future holds in the following novels. Kyle and Mac are one of my favorite of romances of all time—it is one of those friendships that clearly should be a lot more.

While Jason and Mac could also potentially evolve into a nice romance, I prefer Kyle/ That said, I do not feel that this is really a love triangle book. There are elements of a love triangle there, but it is very clear that only two of the character really belong together. I can’t wait to see how this play out though.

Hemlock is a breath-taking start to an incredible story. The characters, mystery, and love were all really well done and will leave you instantly wanting more. I cannot wait to read more from Kathleen Peackock and the wait for the next installment in the Hemlock trilogy will be agonizing. 

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Giveaway: The Lure of Shapinsay

"Ever since Kait Swanney could remember, the old crones of the village have been warning her to stay away from the selkies. They claim that like sirens of old, the seal men creep from the inky waters, shed their skins, and entice women to their deaths beneath the North Sea. But avoiding an encounter becomes impossible when Kait is spotted at the water’s edge, moments after the murder of a half-selkie infant. 

Unexpectedly, Kait is awoken by a beautiful, selkie man seeking revenge. After she declares her innocence, the intruder darts into the night, but not before inadvertently bewitching her with an overpowering lure. 

Kait obsesses over a reunion deep beneath the bay and risks her own life to be reunited with her selkie. But when she lands the dangerous lover, the chaos that follows leaves Kait little time to wonder—is it love setting her on fire or has she simply been lured?"

The Prize:

• Tee-shirt
• Book
• Bookmark
• Bookplate

Check out the Trailer:

Contest Rules:

• Open Internationally
• Must be 15+ to enter
• Everyone may enter, even if you are not a follower
• Winners will be notified via email
• A new winner will be chosen if a response is not received within 48 hours
• Contest ends May 27, 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Books & Beauty (4)

Books and Beauty is a new meme that I am doing with Michelle Madow. Since we both love books and make up, we think this will be a great way to share both with all of you! You can also visit my new fashion/beauty blog: Trendy, Edgy, Chic.

For Those About To Shop...

*Click the image for shopping information