New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {184}

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)

A few lovely things came to my door this week:

The Possible by Tara Altebrando
What Goes Up by Katie Kennedy
Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser
Garden of Thorns by Amber Mitchell
Excited for each and every one this week! Bloomsbury kindly sent those first three beauties for review. All look fantastic and such a fun variety!  Super excited for Garden of Thorns, it looks like such a twisted and romantic fantasy---and also stop in Monday for a guest post introduction to the characters and a giveaway! 


The Weekly Nutshell
This week on the blog I featured Odd & True as my WoW, a book that I am ridiculously excited about because well, I adore Cat Winters' creepy historical writing.  I posted the March Release List & Giveaway---so many great looking books coming out this month! And lastly, I shared my thoughts on Tricia Levenseller's Daughter of the Pirate King. Seriously, if you haven't read this one yet, make time. It's so fun and a perfect adventurous escape.  
This week I'm reading The Dragon's Price, and it's pretty good. Some ups and downs , LOL.   I was listening to Ever the Hunted but my file glitched up and lost my place, and honestly I wasn't invested enough in the story to try to find where I left off. I've just start listening to The Girl from Everywhere, so hopefully I'll fare better with that one ;D.  I finally watched Moana with my family tonight! Yay, I loved it, such great music, a beautiful story, and it really made me want to go back to polynesian dancing!  Also, only 13 days to Beauty and the Beast, people!! The countdown has begun! :D 

Hope you all have a great week!

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller {review}

Daughter of the Pirate King 
by Tricia Levenseller
♦publisher: Feiwel & Friends
♦release date: February 28th, 2017
♦hardcover, 320 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Daughter of the Pirate King, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

There will be plenty of time for me to beat him soundly once I’ve gotten what I came for.

Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship.

More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

Review: This book!  I ended up liking this one more than I thought I would.  I honestly struggle to find fault with it, it's just too much fun. With a fast paced plot, great unexpected characters, and a very cool surprise twist, Daughter of the Pirate King was a fantastic read from beginning to end. 

The setting and characters definitely have a very Hollywood-ized pirate feel, so if you're a big fan of Pirates of the Carribean and not a stickler for a historical portrayal, you'll really be able to enjoy this.  There's much swashbuckling and carousing, sword-fighting and heavy trigger fingers abound, and a few stereotypical piratey types roaming around these pages, but it all adds to the entertainment. 

Alosa is so fierce, I loved her. She just exudes confidence (sometimes overly so!) and knows she's a great pirate, but you really get a sense of who she is as she reflects on the torturous and cruel "lessons" put on her by her father, the pirate king, whom she still stretches herself to please. So her faults are definitely there. I loved how she was so tough and clever (though sometimes she thought herself more clever than she actually was), but still had so much love and respect for her almost all-woman crew. Plus I loved that in the dirty world of pirating, she insisted on, even reveled in, her femininity.  Doesn't take any crap from anyone, but still loves a nice dress. :)

Riden was interesting---a bit more kind and brooding that you would expect to find on the high seas---his brother was jerk enough for the both of them, I guess. He's a bit foolish at times, but in a heroic sort of way, so it was okay.  And he put a great importance on family, even being brought up in cruelty and knowing his brother is awful. He was a perfect sparing partner for Alosa and I loved their bantering and the hate-to-respect-to-love development between them. 

There was one big twist that I didn't see coming and it made this even more the type of story that I love. I don't remember ever feeling a let down in pace--this was a fast and fun read! I truly can't wait to get my hands on the second book so I can see what adventure is next for these characters! 

•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Initially from a small town in Oregon, Tricia now lives next to the Rocky Mountains with her bossy dog, Rosy. She received her degree in English Language and editing and is thrilled that she never has to read a textbook again. When she’s not writing or reading, Tricia enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles, playing volleyball, and watching shows while eating extra-buttered popcorn.

Twitter | Website | Instagram 

Purchase the book:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

What's New: March YA Release List & Giveaway!

March already! I feel almost cheated with how fast February went!! I know it's a short month, but sheesh! xD Come back, February, and give me more lovely holiday days off work haha.  

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 international 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 February's giveaway is Lauren S.!  Congrats!    

March 2017 Releases:

 I've put a little l♥ve by those books that I'm really excited for!

{1}

Camp So-and-So by Mary McCoy

Lifeblood by Gena Showalter
Pyromantic by Lish McBride

Splinter by Sasha Dawn

Waking in Time by Angie Stanton ♥

{2}

Damage by Eve Ainsworth

{3}

Silent by David Mellon

{6}

The Garden of Thorns by Amber Mitchell ♥

{7}

Alone by Scott Sigler

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco ♥

Class: The Stone House by A.K. Benedict & Patrick Ness ♥

Confessions of a High School Disaster by Emma Chastain

Corruption by Jessica Shirvington

Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

The Great Pursuit by Wendy Higgins ♥

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali 

The Other F-Word by Natasha  Friend

Piper Perish by Kayla Cagan

The Principles Behind Flotation by Alexandra Teague

Proof of Lies by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Secrets of a Reluctant Princess by Casey Griffin

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton ♥

Ultimatum by K.M. Walton

Wonderful Feels Like This by Sara Lövestam

You're Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner

{14}

Bad Blood by Demitira Lunetta ♥

Bellamy and the Brute by Alicia Michaels

The Boy She Left Behind by Gregg Olsen

Echoes of Memory by A.R. Kahler

The End of Oz by Danielle Paige

Enemy Exposure by Meghan Rogers

Freya by Matthew Laurence

The Heartbeats of Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

Hunted by Meagan Spooner ♥

Maid of the King's Court by Lucy Worsley

Project Emergence by Jamie Zakian

A Psalm for Lost Girls by Katie Bayerl

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde ♥

The Shadows We Know By Heart by Jennifer Park

These Ruthless Deeds by Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas ♥

The White Road of the Moon by Rachel Neumeier ♥

Who Killed Christopher Goodman? by Allan Wolf

{21}

Blood Family by Anne Fine

Hellworld by Tom Levenn

The Hidden Memory of Objects by Danielle Mages Amato

Nemesis by Brendan Reichs ♥

Redux by A. L. Davroe

Shadow Run by Michael Miller & AdriAnne Strickland ♥

Ten Miles One Way by Patrick Downes

{28}

100 Hours by Rachel Vincent

Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves

The Body Market by Donna Freitas

Bull by David Elliot
Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi
Dead Little Mean Girl by Eva Darrows

Digging in the Stars by Katherine Blakeney

Dream Forever by Kit Alloway

Finding What's Real by Emma Harrison
Hearts and Other Body Parts by Ira Bloom ♥

Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg

Just a Girl by Carrie Mesrobian

Just Another Girl by Elizabeth Eulberg
Just Fly Away by Andrew McCarthy

Night Witches by Kathryn Lasky

Overturned by Lamar Giles
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Sophie Someone by Hayley Long

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Things I Should Have Known by Claire LaZebnik
Vigilante by Kady Cross

Worthy by Donna Cooner

(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 March 2017 release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends March 31st, 2017 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 or Fishpond.com up to $20 value.
•Extra entries can be earned by commenting on any February or March reviews, and can be done once per review. Come back throughout March whenever you comment on my reviews and get your extra points!

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