Waiting on...

"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.

Unnatural Deeds
by Cyn Balog

hitting shelves November 1th, 2016

from Sourcebooks Fire

Secrets. Obsession. Murder. Victoria is about to discover just how dangerous it can be to lose yourself.

Victoria Zell doesn’t fit in, but she’s okay with that. All she needs is the company of her equally oddball boyfriend, Andrew. She doesn’t care what anyone else thinks…until magnetic, charming, mysterious Z comes into her life, and she starts lying to everyone she knows in an effort to unravel his secrets.

And then something terrible happens. Someone is dead and it’s time for Victoria to come clean. Interspersed with news clippings and police interviews, Victoria tells her story to Andrew, revealing her dark, horrible secrets…secrets that have finally come back to haunt her. 

My thoughts:  Love, love, love the eerie sounds of this murderous tale.  And while I haven't read this author in a long time, I know she can bring on the creepy. Plus, this cover---gorgeous stuff.  

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

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 Bone Witch

by Rin Chupeco

hitting shelves March 1, 2017

from Sourcebooks Fire

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha — one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice.

My thoughts:  Okay, so I know this one is super far from publication, but I just had to have this gorgeous thing on my blog. Loooook at that cover, all swirly and purpley and dreamy and creepy.  Plus the story sounds all kinds of awesome. Necromancy and elemental magic, dark forces and danger. Yep, my kind of book!  Also, you can check out an excerpt right here. 

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

Dream Boy by Mary Crockett and Madelyn Rosenberg {review}

Dream Boy
by Mary Crockett & Madelyn Rosenberg
♦publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
♦release date: July 1st, 2014
♦paperback, 336 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Annabelle Manning feels like she’s doing time at her high school in Chilton, Virginia. She has her friends at her lunchtime table of nobodies. What she doesn’t have are possibilities. Or a date for Homecoming. Things get more interesting at night, when she spends time with the boy of her dreams. But the blue-eyed boy with the fairytale smile is just that—a dream. Until the Friday afternoon he walks into her chemistry class.

One of friends suspects he’s an alien. Another is pretty sure it’s all one big case of deja vu. While Annabelle doesn’t know what to think, she’s willing to believe that the charming Martin Zirkle may just be her dream come true. But as Annabelle discovers the truth behind dreams—where they come from and what they mean—she is forced to face a dark reality she had not expected. More than just Martin has arrived in Chilton. As Annabelle learns, if dreams can come true, so can nightmares.

Review:  With a surprisingly humorous voice and an intriguing take on blurring dreams and reality, Dream Boy makes a stunning double-debut for these authors. The idea of dreams coming to life may sound familiar to some, both in books and movies, but they’ve managed to give us a world and a group of characters that is all at once funny, thrilling, and imaginative. 

When the boy she has spent countless nights dreaming about comes waltzing into her classroom one day, Annabelle is shocked, confused, and starts to question her own sanity.  She is even more thrown for a loop when he reveals that he is, in fact, that same boy. I can’t say much more without spoiling the curious workings of this world, but things take a frightening turn when she begins to dream of a creepy little girl who threatens to come through as well and kill her.  

Annabelle and her friends were completely relatable and real, feeling much like a normal crew you might encounter at any high school.  I love that she felt comfortable enough with her two friends to tell them what was happening, even though she feared they’d think she was certifiable. I love even more that they stayed by her, whether they believed her or not.  The Dream Boy himself, Josh, later known as Martin, was amusing and mysterious. He almost seemed as flabbergasted at his own presence in the real world as Annabelle was, though he played it cooler.  I would have actually enjoyed just a little more build-up of Annabelle's draw to "Josh" within her dreams to give his sudden appearance in her real life a little more impact.  Will is a charmer, and poor guy, so hopelessly stuck in the friend zone despite his obvious affection for Annabelle.  I loved the easy way they had between them. His playfulness and useless geeky knowledge had me completely endeared to him.

There were twists and turns that came as complete shocks, and even those that may have been a little predictable, but in the best way…meaning at one point I screamed out "I knew it!"  And then caught myself grinning with sheer delight at the turn the story had taken.   If a book can pull that kind of reaction from me, I’d say it’s proof-positive just how invested in the story and characters I am.  There were small story points that seemed just a little muddied, like the story behind the bottle tree and its connection to dreams. Still, what little flaws there were in these pages were mostly overlooked in the name of a fun, surprising, and well-told story.

 Find Mary Crockett online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Find Madelyn Rosenberg online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Dream Boy:  BN.com  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound 

Dream Boy Blog Tour & Giveaway!

Today I am super excited to be part of the DREAM BOY blog tour and share a very special video that Mary Crockett and Madelyn Rosenberg made especially for Stories & Sweeties!

I hope you enjoy this! Watch Mary and Madelyn interview each other! :D

More about the book:

DESCRIPTION:

If dreams can come true…then so can nightmares

One night Annabelle dreams of the perfect boy: tall and handsome with impossible blue eyes. Then, just as suddenly as he appeared, he’s gone…until he walks into her science class the next day. Perfect and REAL. The boy of her dreams. And when he brushes past her, he whispers “Annabelle.” Suddenly, Annabelle’s got the perfect boyfriend and a date to homecoming. Her life is like a dream come true...until her dreams stop and the nightmares begin.

EXCERPT:

I’ve always been a dreamer. Daydreams. Night dreams. Dreams of grandeur and dreams of escape. If I were an onion and you peeled back the papery outside, you’d find layer after layer of eye-watering dreams. And in the center, where there’s that little curlicue of onion heart? There’d be a puff of smoke from the dreams that burned away.

It was all just brain waves, I thought—disconnected, like the notebook that my friend Talon keeps. She draws a line down the middle of the page; on the right she writes everything she remembers about a dream, and on the left she puts notes about the stuff that’s happening in real life, things that might trigger her subconscious. Reality on one side, dreams on the other—a clear line between the two.

But it turns out there are no clear lines, just a jumble of what is and what might be. And all of it is real.

BLURBS:

“Dream Boy explores the mysterious world of dreams, where we access our deepest desires…the authors expertly weave fantasy and the real world in a perfect blend.” -- Erica Orloff, author of In Dreams

"Eerie, twisty, fast and funny, Dream Boy will forever change the way you see your dreams--and your nightmares. An exciting, imaginative look at what might happen when people from the corners of your mind suddenly show up in your real life." -- Lois Metzger, author of A Trick of the Light

REVIEWS:

"Hits the chick-lit and romance buttons, adding suspense and an intriguing idea as well for nicely rounded entertainment." -- Kirkus Review

“Five stars... Perfect writing, perfect characters … perfect plot.” -- Paperback Wonderland

About Mary & Madelyn:

Mary Crockett likes turtles, licorice, and the Yankees. Madelyn Rosenberg likes cats, avocados, and the Red Sox. Luckily they both like the weirdness of dreams (and each other) enough to write novels together. The friendship has survived three moves, six kids and countless manuscript revisions. Madelyn lives just outside of Washington, D.C. Mary remains in the mountains near their hometowns in southwestern Virginia. You can find them on Twitter @marylovesbooks and @madrosenberg or their blogs at www.marycrockett.com and www.madelynrosenberg.com.

INDIE BOUND  •  AMAZON  •  B&N

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Cover Story

For all of us who just spent the day munching on Peeps and chocolate bunnies, I thought some eye candy was in order :)

And for everyone else, too :D

Belzhar 
by Meg Wolitzer
Dutton Juvenile, September 30th, 2014

The Darkest Part of the Forest

by Holly Black

Little Brown BYR, January 15th, 2015

Feuds 
by Avery Hastings
St. Martin's Griffin, September 2nd, 2014

The Fire Artist

by Daisy Whitney

Bloomsbury, October 14th, 2014

The Girl on a Wire 
by Gwenda Bond
Skyscape, October 14th, 2014

Made for You

by Melissa Marr

HarperCollins, September 16th, 2014

Some Boys 
by Patty Blount
Sourcebooks Fire, August 1st, 2014

Winterkill

by Kate A. Boorman

Amulet Books, September 9th, 2014

See any new favorites here?  I'm kind of in love with...well, ALL OF THEM.  :D

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.

Dream Boy

by Madelyn Rosenberg & Mary Crockett

hitting shelves July 1st, 2014 from Sourcebooks Fire

description:

Annabelle Manning feels like she’s doing time at her high school in Chilton, Virginia. She has her friends at her lunchtime table of nobodies. What she doesn’t have are possibilities. Or a date for Homecoming. Things get more interesting at night, when she spends time with the boy of her dreams. But the blue-eyed boy with the fairytale smile is just that—a dream. Until the Friday afternoon he walks into her chemistry class.

One of friends suspects he’s an alien. Another is pretty sure it’s all one big case of deja vu. While Annabelle doesn’t know what to think, she’s willing to believe that the charming Martin Zirkle may just be her dream come true. But as Annabelle discovers the truth behind dreams—where they come from and what they mean—she is forced to face a dark reality she had not expected. More than just Martin has arrived in Chilton. As Annabelle learns, if dreams can come true, so can nightmares.

My Thoughts:  So many reasons to want this---gorgeous cover, that tagline gives me the shivers, and I love stories that are centered around dreams.  Can't wait for this one!