Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme created by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Grim Lovelies
by  Megan Shepherd

hitting shelves October 2nd, 2018

from HMH Teen

Grim Lovelies is a darkly enchanting saga set in Paris that focuses on the forgotten characters of fairy tales.

Anouk’s human form is tied to her mistress’ dark magic after being enchanted by an animal. She’s never stepped outside of Mada Vittoria’s Parisian townhouse, but when her mistress is murdered, Anouk and her fellow beasties only have three days before the spell fades and they turn back into animals forever. In a desperate attempt to save themselves, they venture into the outside world and discover a well-kept secret.

My thoughts:  I am loving all these bold, stunning covers coming out, and this one is no exception! And I will always be game for more fairy tale-themed fantasies!! 

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

Gotcha Covered: Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf

I have a fun cover reveal for you today! A book that I've been really excited about--a new fantasy series about witches and royalty and heart-snatching (yes, literally!). 

Without further ado, the cover for 

BRING ME THEIR HEARTS

So pretty---and guys, I love the smirk ;D

Here's a few details on the book:

{About the Book}

Zera is a Heartless—the immortal, unaging soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly.

Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum: if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy Zera’s heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles.

Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him—every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him—until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat.

So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all.

Winner takes the loser’s heart.

Literally.

coming June 5th, 2018 from EntangledTEEN

{About the Author}

Sara Wolf is a twenty-something author who adores baking, screaming at her cats, and screaming at herself while she types hilarious things. When she was a kid, she was too busy eating dirt to write her first terrible book. Twenty years later, she picked up a keyboard and started mashing her fists on it and created the monster known as the Lovely Vicious series. She lives in San Diego with two cats, a crippling-yet-refreshing sense of self-doubt, and not enough fruit tarts ever.  Connect with her on Twitter! 

   GOODREADS   ♦   AMAZON   ♦   ENTANGLED

Gentleman's Guide to Vice & Virtue by Mackenzi Lee {audiobook review}

THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO VICE AN VIRTUE

by Mackenzi Lee

publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
release date: June 27th, 2017
intended audience: Young adult
series: Guide, book 1
source: library, Hoopla Digital

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

My thoughts:

If you haven't jumped into this fun, adventurous, shenanigan-filled, romp of a story---you are missing out.  Furthermore, if you HAVE read this story and haven't listened to it's audiobook counterpart---YOU ARE ALSO MISSING OUT. While this new trio will capture the hearts of many just on the written page, the audiobook performance of this was 100% spot on. Read by actor Christian Coulson (Tom Riddle, himself!), he managed to perfectly portray Monty's spoiled cheekiness and longing, Percy's sweetness and conflict, and Felicity's intelligence and indignance.

Monty is off on a Grand Tour with his best friend and secret crush, Percy. His headstrong and booksmart sister, Felicity is along for the ride.  He's determined to ditch their appointed chaperone and have some fun.  So Monty, being Monty, does something brash and ridiculous---and his reckless actions get them hunted down and mixed up in a dangerous secret that will have them veering off-tour and crossing paths with mysterious scientists, strangely conscientious pirates, and all manner of undesirables.

The adventure kicks in almost immediately, twisting and turning and whisking them all over the world and hardly letting up until the end. The romance is swoony and complicated, but there were definitely times when Monty's pining and whining and just plain cluelessness got to be a little much. Still, for the most part he's hilarious and his character definitely progresses. Percy is quiet and troubled and faces challenges from many sides, his station, his illness, his ethnicity,...all things he just can't get Percy to understand. Felicity is disapproving and ready to roll her eyes at all her brother's antics, but she was also absolutely brilliant and refuses to let society's ignorant view of a woman's place hold her back. She proved to be one of my favorite characters in the story and I absolutely can't wait for her to take center stage in book two!

•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Mackenzi Lee holds a BA in history and an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Simmons College. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the historical fantasy novels THIS MONSTROUS THING and THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE (HarperCollins), as well as the forthcoming THE LADY'S GUIDE TO PETTICOATS AND PIRACY and SEMPER AUGUSTUS (coming in 2019 from Flatiron/Macmillan). She is also the author of BYGONE BADASS BROADS (Abrams, 2018), a collection of short biographies of amazing women from history you probably don't know about but definitely should, based on her popular twitter series of the same name. 

She currently calls Boston home, where she manages an independent bookstore, drinks too much Diet Coke, and pets every dog she meets. 

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  •   INSTAGRAM

Purchase the book:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme created by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Lantern's Ember
by  Colleen Houck

hitting shelves September 11th, 2018

from Delacorte Press

Welcome to a world where nightmarish creatures reign supreme.

Five hundred years ago, Jack made a deal with the devil. It’s difficult for him to remember much about his mortal days. So, he focuses on fulfilling his sentence as a Lantern—one of the watchmen who guard the portals to the Otherworld, a realm crawling with every nightmarish creature imaginable. Jack has spent centuries jumping from town to town, ensuring that nary a mortal—or not-so-mortal—soul slips past him. That is, until he meets beautiful Ember O’Dare. 

Seventeen, stubborn, and a natural-born witch, Ember feels a strong pull to the Otherworld. Undeterred by Jack’s warnings, she crosses into the forbidden plane with the help of a mysterious and debonair vampire—and the chase through a dazzling, dangerous world is on. Jack must do everything in his power to get Ember back where she belongs before both the earthly and unearthly worlds descend into chaos.

My thoughts: That cover! That synopsis! It all sounds so very Halloween-y and I can't freaking wait. (sidenote: be sure to visit the author's blog post when she announced this books. Her Halloween-decorations are amazing and she tells about giving out her books to older trick-or-treaters! I hope those kids know how lucky they are!! 😍)

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

Top Ten Tuesday {Fondly Forgotten Reads}

The ultimate list-makers meme! Originally created by The Broke and the Bookish, 

and now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme: books we loved but barely remember. This is a funny subject for me.  My memory is...not great. So this actually happens to me A LOT lol.  Which basically results in this conversation over and over again:

fellow bookworm: "Have you read this book?"

me: "Ooooh yes, it's fantastic. I loved it. You should read it. "

fellow bookworm: "Oh cool, what's it about?"

me: "uh....."

So. Here's a few that I know I loved. Just probably don't ask me why. Or what happened. Or what the characters names were. ;)

So what are some books that you remember loving..but just don't remember? 😕

New Shelf Goodies {195}

For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) .  My Sunday post is also where I'll share a little recap of my week, the books I've currently got my nose in and such. ;)

Here's too lovely books that have recently landed on my doorstep:

Now a Major Motion Picture by Cori McCarthy

(coming April 3rd 2018, Sourcebooks)

You know, this book wasn't really on my radar until it landed in my mailbox, but I'm so glad it did! It looks cute and fun and I'm now really looking forward to it! Yay for unsolicited surprises :D

Inkmistress by Audrey Coulthurst

(coming March 6th 2018, Balzer & Bray)

Though I had some pretty mixed feelings about Of Fire and Stars, I still can't help but be excited for this story set in the same world (I think?), because the synopsis sounds amazing. Here's hoping! ;)

So, since I've been away for these past few months, don't think I haven't still been reading (and listening LOL) away! I'm planning to catch up on reviewing some of my recent reads. I'm usually reading one and listening to another simultaneously.  I find I'm doing a lot of audiobooks lately because its easy to just listen and enjoy while I'm sewing away! My son even got me some really nice wireless headphones for Christmas for just this purpose so I could stop nearly strangling myself every time I got up and moved around my craft table LOL. A few notable ones: Gentleman of Vice and Virtue is an outstanding audio. Love the reader (spoiler, its Christian Coulson, Tom Riddle himself. He was perfect for the voice of Monty!). Also, Hunting Prince Dracula---if you guys haven't tried this series on audio, DO. It's amazing. Nicola Barber is a phenomenal narrator.  Right now I'm reading Chainbreaker (eee, so glad to be back with these characters.) and I just finished up listening to Mary Weber's Evaporation of Sofi Snow.  Next up I'm planning to dive into Daughter of the Siren Queen and I can't wait! Looooved book one. ♥

Ok, all---have a great week. Don't forget to pop in to my previous post and enter to win a book of your choice! 

Well...Hello There! ♥An End-of-Hiatus Giveaway♥

Anybody out there? Anyone still with me? ;D

Here I am! Well, whoa, that was a little longer of a hiatus that I originally thought it would be! I missed you guys! And I missed blogging. So here I am, 8 YEARS(!!!) to the day from when I started this bookish adventure, refreshed from a little breather, and ready to jump back in and talk about some fab books!! 😉

First off, can I just stop to say---to all of you lovelies who messaged me these past few months and let me know you missed the blog, THANK YOU so so much for the kind words. I admit I was a little downtrodden after I lost my blog domain last year and then it just seemed like I was falling farther and farther behind and posting less and less, and even the books I was reading weren't holding my attention...it was a definite case of burn out.  

With this little reboot, you might notice a few changes.  I'm gonna be trying a few new things and restructuring a few oldies but goodies. My bestie, Amy, is going to be jumping in and sharing a few more of her fabulous reviews as well so ya'll give her a nice warm welcome when she pops in please!♥♥♥ 

So lets get the fun going here!! You know I can't let my 8 year mark go by without a super fabulous celebration giveaway, right???

(uhhh..it's a macaron cake. Where can I get one???😵)

Sorry..got distracted. 

Okay, here's details on the giveaway!

TWO winners will get to pick a book of choice from Amazon or BookDepo.

Choose a current book, or even a pre-order!

(up to $20 value for each winner)

♦Must be 13 or older

♦Open Internationally (BookDepo must ship to your country)

♦Ends February 2nd, 2018

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So excited to be back, guys!!