Love Fortunes and Other Disasters : Blog Tour Review & Giveaway!

Today I am thrilled to kick off the blog tour for Love Fortunes and Other Disasters!  This book is super adorable, both inside and out (the cover!! So perfect) so you definitely don't want to miss out on this one! My review is below and also a giveaway for your own copy!

Love Fortunes and Other Disasters
by Kimberly Karalius
♦publisher: Swoon Reads
♦release date: May 15th, 2015
♦paperback, 368 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone

Love is real in the town of Grimbaud, and Fallon Dupree has dreamed of attending high school there for years. After all, generations of Duprees have successfully followed the (100% accurate!) love fortunes from Zita’s famous Love Charms Shop to happily marry their high school sweethearts. It’s a tradition. So she is both stunned and devastated when her fortune states that she will NEVER find love.

Fortunately, Fallon isn’t the only student with a terrible love fortune, and a rebellion is brewing. Fallon is determined to take control of her own fate—even if it means working with a notorious heartbreaker like Sebastian.

Will Fallon and Sebastian be able to overthrow Zita’s tyranny and fall in love?

Review: Fallon Dupree lives in a town where Love rules the hearts, superstitions, and lives of its people.  Every person puts all their faith in Zita’s love fortunes, good or bad. But when Fallon is doomed with the fortune of a completely loveless life, she is brought into a small secret group of others with bad fortunes and they start the wheels turning on a revolution against the fates they’ve been dealt.

This was such a fun read!  I was completely surprised by the amount of magical realism here as I admit I was expecting something a little more straight-forward contemporary.  The writing style was a little hard to get used to at first, but once I settled in, I loved the unique and quirky style and found it suited the story and its characters so well.  A sweet and slow burning love story builds as Fallon sorts out her reluctant feelings for Sebastian, a boy she only knows previously from the string of crying girls he leaves in his wake.  He’s hesitant to reveal his fortune and why he has joined the rebellion, but as they grow closer and the truth comes out, their mission to overthrow Zita becomes a dangerous matter of life or death.

There is an absolute heap of interesting characters wound into this story, and a wonderful array of different love stories among Fallon and her friends. I think my favorite was the story of Nico and Martin---the story of how he first started crushing on him was the most swoon-worthy of all!  I also loved how they even reached out to the group of spinsters and bachelors who gave in the fortunes they’d been dealt long ago---and sparked something in them as well!

This one is such a charmer. Magic and mystery, danger, deception, and love---this was not the light fluffy love story I thought I was getting into it—it’s better!

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

If you gave her a wish bone, Kimberly would wish fervently for snow in Florida. Her love for 90s cartoons (or any cartoons, really) knows no bounds. She might be the only person you know who can be completely engrossed in watching silent films. Being in Florida certainly has one big perk: going to Disney World. Which she does. Frequently. 

Kimberly holds an MFA in fiction from the University of South Florida. Her fiction has appeared in literary journals such as Luna Station Quarterly, The Medulla Review, and Hogglepot. Her chapbook, POCKET FOREST, was published by Deathless Press in August 2013.

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  •  INSTAGRAM

GIVEAWAY!
The awesome people at Swoon Reads are letting me spread the love!
Enter the giveaway to get your own lovely copy! :D
•US mailing addresses only please.
•Ends  May 15th, 2015

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don't forget to pop around to the rest of the tour stops! 

5/1: Stories and Sweeties

5/4: Endlessly Reading & Word Spelunking

5/5: Lost in Literature

5/6: The Escapist

5/7: Jasmine Pearl Reads

5/8: Book Rook Reviews

5/11: Bumbles and Fairytales

               5/12: Books & Cleverness

What's New: May YA Release List & Giveaway

OH my this year needs to sloooow dooowwwn. My head is just spinning that it is already MAY.  Summer is right around the corner---in fact where I am, we have already had a few days that hit 90 degrees. That's not okay. :(  End of school is also right around the corner..eek! I can't even wrap my head around that. On the book front, though: tons of awesome books coming out this month! Check out that list below!

So if you're new to Stories & Sweeties, here's a little run-down of this feature: at the start of each month, I do a little thing called the "What's New List & Giveaway" where you'll find a full list of the new releases in YA for the month, and entry to the giveaway. At the end of each month, one lucky winner will get to choose any new release as their prize!

First things first! The winner of April's giveaway is Sarah S.! Congrats!

May 2015 Releases:

Just like previous months, I've put a little l♥ve by those books that I am really anticipating!

{1-2}
Fallout by Gwenda Bond♥
Fire & Chasm by Chelsea M. Campbell
The Merit Birds by Kelley Powell

{5}
Atlantis in Peril by T.A. Barron
Blue by Lisa Glass
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas♥
The Clouded Sky by Megan Crewe
Crimson Bound by Rosamond Hodge
Dust to Dust by Melissa Walker
The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
Galgorithms by Aaron Karo
Halfway Perfect by Julie Cross & Mark Perini
The Heir by Kiera Cass♥
Hexed by Michael Alan Nelson
Ice Kissed by Amanda Hocking
Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz
Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance by Danielle Young-Ullman
Love, Lucas by Chantele Sedgwick
Novice by Taran Matharu♥
Overtaken by Mark H. Kruger
Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold by Katie Finn
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen♥
Seriously Wicked by Tina Connelly♥
Some Kind of Normal by Juliana Stone
The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Tracked by Jenny Martin
Under the Spotlight by Angie Stanton
Undertow by Michael Buckley
Until the Beginning by Amy Plum ♥

{8}
Avalon Rising by Kathryn Rose
What Remains by Helene Dunbar

{12}
5 to 1 by Holly Bodger♥
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan
Burn by Sarah Fine & Walter Jury
The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman
Crow's Rest by Angelica R. Jackson
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge♥
End of Days by Susan Ee
Fell of Dark by Patrick Downes
Kisses and Curses (Fierce Reads anthology)
Heat of the Moment by Lauren Barnholdt
The Hunted by Matt De La Pena
Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius ♥
Making Pretty by Corey Ann Haydu
A Matter of Heart by Amy Fellner Dominy
The Messengers by Edward Hogan
Out of Control by Sarah Alderson
The Rise and Fall of the Gallivanters by M.J. Beaufrand
Second Kiss: Spell Crossed by Robert Priest
The Sound by Sarah Alderson
The Tale of Two Besties by Sophia Rossi
Toxic by Sara Shepard
Vanished by E.E. Cooper
Velvet by Temple West
We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielson
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh♥

{19}
Bone Deep by Kim O'Brien
Chantress Fury by Amy Butler Greenfield
Dangerous Deceptions by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl♥
Eternity Wheel by Neil Gaiman & Michael Reaves
From a Distant Star by Karen McQuestion
Hit Count by Chris Lynch
Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt
Illusionarium by Heater Dixon♥
The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher
Killer Within by S.E. Green
The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman
Maximum Ride Forever by James Patterson
Off the Page by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer
Sasquatch by Andrea Schicke Hirsch
Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham ♥
A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin♥
A Sense of the Infinite by Hilary T. Smith
Three Day Summer by Sarvenaz Tash

{26}
Anything Could Happen by Will Walton
The Cage by Megan Shepard
Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan
Dime by E.R. Frank
The Edge of Shadows by Elizabeth George
Emancipated by M.G. Reyes
Eternal City by Paula Morris ♥
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider 
Immaculate by Katelyn Detweiler ♥
Kissing in America by Margo Rabb
I am Princess X by Cherie Priest and Kali Ciesemeir ♥
The Notorious Pagan Jones by Nina Berry
Nowhere but Here by Katie McGarry ♥
Out of Aces by Stephanie Guerra
The Porcupine of Truth by Bill Konigsberg
Outage by Ellisa Barr
P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han♥
Rusty Summer by Mary McKinley
Shadow of the Wolf by Tim Hall
srsly Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Courtney Carbone
The Tenderness of Thieves by Donna Freitas
YOLO Juliet by William Shakespeare and Brett Wright



 (All links go to Goodreads)
Please feel free to email me if you notice any YA titles missing! :)


Giveaway Details:
One winner will win a YA May release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends May 31st, 2015 at 11:59 PM
• Must be 13 or older.
• Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com.
•Extra entries can be earned by commenting on April or May reviews, and can be done once per review. Come back throughout May whenever you comment on my reviews and get your extra points!     a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellison {review}

Beastkeeper 
by Cat Hellison
♦publisher: Henry Holt & Co
♦release date: February 3rd, 2015
♦hardcover, 208 pages
♦intended audience: Middle Grade
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Sarah has always been on the move. Her mother hates the cold, so every few months her parents pack their bags and drag her off after the sun. She’s grown up lonely and longing for magic. She doesn’t know that it’s magic her parents are running from.
When Sarah’s mother walks out on their family, all the strange old magic they have tried to hide from comes rising into their mundane world. Her father begins to change into something wild and beastly, but before his transformation is complete, he takes Sarah to her grandparents—people she has never met, didn’t even know were still alive.
Deep in the forest, in a crumbling ruin of a castle, Sarah begins to untangle the layers of curses affecting her family bloodlines, until she discovers that the curse has carried over to her, too. The day she falls in love for the first time, Sarah will transform into a beast . . . unless she can figure out a way to break the curse forever.

Review: Cat Hellison so perfectly captures the classic fairy tale feel in Beastkeeper. I loved her writing style in When the Sea is Rising Red and while completely different, I love it here, too. It's lyrical while still feeling contemporary, you can hear that it's told by a young girl of modern times, albeit a girl that is thrust into a pretty extraordinary and lonely situation.  She's such a strong, sincere character and I can't imagine being her age (or any age for that matter!) and discover that you'll turn into a beast and possibly lose yourself inside that beast the first time you fall in love!

The mystery and magic keeps the pages flying by, and I appreciated that evil is not plain evil, good is not always good, love is not straightforward or easy, and Sarah discovers that being human is not the only way to be herself.  There is a stroke of humor to the writing as Sarah actually does become the beast and we feel her struggling to keep her thoughts more human that wild animal. 

With it's intricate twists and the way it examines such intense things, like what it means to be yourself, the love of family, and the twisted ways of love and forgiveness, I can see Beastkeeper being one story that reaches out far beyond it's middle grade audience.

Find Cat Hellison online: Website  •  Twitter  

Purchase Beastkeeper:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted 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.

The Potion Diaries

by Amy Alward

hitting shelves July 2nd (UK) and September 29th (US)

from Simon & Schuster

When Nova's princess (more Kate Middleton than Rapunzel!) is poisoned by her own love potion, the city's alchemists are entered into a deadly, high-profile quest to find a cure. It's the chance of a lifetime for Sam's alchemist family, who have been mixing magic potions for generations... but can Sam save their crumbling reputation?

Sam must choose whether to work with or against her best friends, Anita and Arjun, and finds herself thrown towards Zain, heir to the ZoroAster synthetic potions corporation, and her arch enemy. He also happens to be the boy most likely to marry the princess...

With the nation's media watching her every move, Sam overcomes incredible dangers and impossible dilemmas in order to hunt down the ingredients: a mermaid's pearl, pink jasmine, Eluvian ivy, hair from an abominable and a unicorn's tail. Tricky. Can Sam save the now dangerously powerful princess by winning the contest? And just how close are she and Zain willing to get in the meantime?

My thoughts: Very excited for this one!! This one will be released in the US under the title MADLY, but I'm featuring the UK edition here today. When it comes down to it, this will be the one I order, not only because I adore the cover illustration, but because it comes out sooner---the sooner I'll have it in my hot little hands! :D

Prodigal/Riven Blog Tour- Double Giveaway!

Today I'm excited to be participating in the blog tour for Prodigal & Riven, books 2 & 3 in The Lost Imperial series by Tyler H. Jolley and Sherry Ficklin! It's a giveaway bonanza! :D  I personally am offering up an international giveaway of the paperback (it includes both books! How cool is that!) and there is also a really cool tour-wide giveaway for a fantastic prize pack! Read all about this awesome series and then enter both giveaway below!

Welcome to the TIME WAR.

STEIN has been with the Hollows for as long as she can remember. Taken as a child, she has no memories of her past—and that's always been fine by her. Until the day she stumbles across a hidden journal containing the devastating truth about her paternity. Now everything she thought she knew—and everyone she thought she could trust—has changed. The truth about who she is and where she came from is a secret so deep, it will rock the Hollows and the Tesla Institute alike.

ETHAN is left with a serious problem after what should have been a routine mission. He's fractured—a break between mind and body that leaves him at the mercy of his Rifter abilities, which are quickly tearing him apart. He will have to trust the only person who might know how to fix him, a mysterious Rifter named Stewart Stills, who seems to have a special connection with the time stream.

About the authors:

Tyler H. Jolley is a sci-fi/fantasy author and full-time orthodontist, periodontist (see: Overachiever). He divides his spare time between writing, reading, mountain biking, and camping with his family.
Sherry D. Ficklin is a full-time writer and internet radio show host with more mouth then good sense. She has a serious book addiction, but continually refuses treatment, much to her husband’s chagrin.
Tyler and Sherry met one fateful day and bonded over their love for books, science fiction, and donuts. Their first co-written novel came shortly after. Now, they still do all those other things, but also go to various steampunk conventions and events under the guise of ‘research’. They can often be found lurking on the Lost Imperials Facebook page or over on the official website, www.thelostimperials.com.   

Now on to the giveaways!

GIVEAWAY 1!

I'm giving away one copy of the combined Prodigal/Riven paperback! 

Open internationally.
Ends 5/5/15, so I can get it ordered as soon as the book is released.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GIVEAWAY 2!
A Humongous prize pack is being given away tour-wide! Be sure to use those arrows in the rafflecopter to scroll through the awesome list of prizes!
US addresses only. 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everyone!  

All The Rage by Courtney Summers Blog Tour Giveaway

Today the blog tour for All the Rage rolls through!  I'm thrilled to feature this book and offer up a chance to win a copy!

The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything—friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time—and they certainly won’t now — but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.　

With a shocking conclusion and writing that will absolutely knock you out, All the Rage examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women after an act of sexual violence, forcing us to ask ourselves: In a culture that refuses to protect its young girls, how can they survive?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Courtney Summers lives and writes in Canada, where she divides most of her time between a camera, a piano and a word processing program. She is also the author of What Goes Around, This is Not a Test, Fall for Anything, Some Girls Are, Cracked Up to Be, and Please Remain Calm.  

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  •  GOODREADS

WIN A COPY of ALL THE RAGE!

•Must be 13 or older

•Open to US/CAN addresses only

•Ends May 10th, 2015

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {124}

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) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts)

My new goodies for the last two weeks:

PipBartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Jackson Pearce & Maggie Steifvater

Seriously Wicked by Tina Connelly

The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook

Etherworld by Claudia Gabel & Cheryl Klam

Everything That Makes You by Moriah McStay

Wrong About the Guy by Claire LeZebnik

Such an interesting mix this week. So excited for Pip Bartlett---love the two authors and Maggie's illustrations! So fun! I'm most of the way through Seriously Wicked--it's a cute read. Check out the blog tour when it rolls through here on the 8th! The others are from an awesome Harper box; I don't know much about most of them but so excited to have a finished copy of Orphan Queen!!

Thanks to HarperCollins, Tor, & Scholastic for these!

The Weekly Nutshell

 {Tuesday} Waiting on Wednesday - The Devil and Winnie Flynn
 {Thursday} Review: The Replaced by Kimberly Derting

{Saturday} The Water and the Wild Blog Tour-Guest Post & Giveaway

 Just getting back into the swing of things this week after our little vacation.  Last week we were in Texas and I had the absolute pleasure of attending TLA! Gah it was so awesome! :) So many great signings, memorable moments, and some much need time with my best friend. :) I'm going to do a recap this week and tell more about that, but yea--so fun! 

This week I read Love Fortunes & Other Disasters and most of Seriously Wicked. Both really cute and both have tour stops coming through here in early May, so look out for that!