Best of the Bunch ~ July 2013

Best of the Bunch is a monthly meme hosted by Always Lost in Stories on the last day of every month. The aim of this meme is to share the best book that we have read in that month and give it our Best of the Bunch award.

June Reads:

Prophecy of Solstice's Ends (Oracle of Delphi #3) by Diantha Jones ~ 5 Stars ~ My Review 

In Defense of the Queen (Susanna Horenbout and John Parker #3) by Michelle Diener ~ 5 Stars ~ Review to come!

Transfigured by Ava Zavora ~ 5 Stars ~ My Review

Romancing the Bookworm by Kate Evangelista ~ 1 Star ~ My Review

Dust by Allison M. Dickson ~ 4 Stars ~ My Review

The Rise of Rae by Tish Thawer ~ 4 Stars ~ My Review

A Place To Go (In-Between #1) by Ireland Taylor ~ 1 Star

Sleeping Beauty by John Phythyon ~ 1 Star 

His by Elise Tanner ~ 1 Star

Dear Rockstar by Emme Rollins ~ 4 Stars ~ My Review

The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning ~ 5 Stars 

Banquet of Lies by Michelle Diener ~ 5 Stars ~ Review to come!

Artemis Fowl The Eternity Code Graphic Novel (Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel #3) by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano (Illustrations), Paolo Lamanna (Illustrations) ~ 5 Stars

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx ~ 5 Stars

Infinite Love by Emme Rollins ~ 4 Stars

The Midnight Heir (The Bane Chronicles #4) by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan ~ 5 Stars ~ My Review

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter #2) by J.K. Rowling ~ 5 Stars

Frigid (Frigid #1) by J. Lynn ~ 3 Stars

Girl on Tour (Kylie Ryans #2) by Caisey Quinn ~ 5 Stars ~ Review to come!

A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire #1) by Bella Forrest ~ 3 Stars ~ My Review

An Abduction Revelation: The Comeback Kid Returns by Thomas L. Hay ~ 4 Stars ~ My Review

Blurred Lines (Blurred Lines #1) by Breena Wilde ~ 5 Stars ~ My Review

Distorted Lines (Blurred Lines #2) by  Breena Wilde ~ 5 Stars ~ My Review

Crossed Lines (Blurred Lines #3) by Breena Wilde ~ 5 Stars ~ My Review

A Sealed Fate by Lisa Gordon ~ 1 Star ~ My Review

And the Best of the Bunch winner of July 2013 is...

Um it is impossible to choose for me this month because I read such amazing books.

So I guess I have a few winners:

Prophecy of Solstice's End by Diantha Jones

In Defense of the Queen by Michelle Diener

Banquet of Lies by Michelle Diener

&

Girl on Tour by Caisey Quinn

These books were definitely the best and I loved them so much! <3

Waiting On Wednesday: Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My WOW pick of this week:

~Wild Cards (Wild Cards #1) by Simone Elkeles

Hardcover, 288 pages

Expected publication: September 24th 2013 by Walker Books for Young Readers

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?

I haven't read any books by this author yet but this book sounds pretty good! 

Can't wait to read it! :D

Teaser Tuesdays: Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

My teaser:

Cogon's voice in full lecture mode echoes in my mind as the water rushed closer. "Someday, Trella. You'll screw up and there will be bits of you raining out of the showers."

~Inside Out (Insiders #1) by Maria V. Snyder

Kindle Edition, 320 pages

Published March 30th 2010 by Harlequin Teen

Keep Your Head Down.

Don't Get Noticed.

Or Else.

I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

My friend Em gifted me this book because she really wanted me to read it, so here I am... So far I'm really liking this book. Definitely enjoying the story.
This teaser is from really early on in the book. ^^

Enjoy!

Anyone can participate in Teaser Tuesdays. Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Review: A Sealed Fate by Lisa Gordon

Title: A Sealed Fate
Author: Lisa Gordon
Publication: January 30th 2009 by Janus Book Publishers
Cover Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 1/5

Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

Upbeat and contemporary in style, this riveting narrative features an eclectic mix of characters awash with local color. To escape the pain of failed relationships and careers, both Valda and Larissa take themselves to the exotic locale of Dubai, seeking not only success but a general purpose in life. Valda does indeed find fulfillment--and, to her astonishment, love--but all is threatened when she is introduced to a billionaire Sheikh. Her clandestine relationship with the Sheikh propels her into a murky web of deceit, and she turns to her friend for help. As an astrologer, Larissa predicts that Valda and the Sheikh's destinies were decided from the moment of their first meeting, but she keeps the dire outcome foretold in the charts a secret. Together, the two women soon find themselves gambling in a game of cosmic Russian roulette where the stakes are their lives and their adversary is fate itself. Bravely merging genres and sensitively embracing personal relationships, this spiritual and gritty thriller illustrates the complex theme of choice versus chance.

~My Thoughts:

First of all I want to thank the author , Lisa Gordon, again for being so nice to send me a copy of her book for review. 
A Sealed Fate, being a thriller, isn't my usual genre at all. I almost never read thrillers but I wanted to try it anyway because I liked the synopsis a lot and usually really like gritty books. Also every now and then I like to mix things up in reading books. 

A Sealed Fate brings us to the exotic city of Dubai where we meet Valda who after going through a bad break-up left South Africa to accept a new job as singer in a club. One night she meets the rich Sheikh who also ownes the club. That's when Valda's real problems start. 

I must say that I really love exotic settings like in this book, places where I have never been but dream about. However that is my only positive note on this book, unfortunately. Overall, I didn't like this book at all. I feel really bad about that because I wish I loved every book I read but sadly enough that's not always the case. 
My major issues with this book were the poor writing, characters I couldn't connect with at all and the over-usage (is this even a word?) of exclamation points. 
The writing didn't flow smoothly enough for my liking and the pace was very slow. I really dislike books that are like that. At times I had to force myself to continue reading. This is never a good thing. 
I didn't feel a thing for any of the characters. Valda the least of all. I just couldn't connect with her or anyone else. It's sad because characters are pretty much the most important things in books mostly. 
I know I'm not the only one saying this about this book but there was so much use of exclamation points even when it's a normal sentence. I felt like they were shouting at the freaking time in this book. Yes, it really bugged me. Le sigh.


All in all, A Sealed Fate was personally for me a no-go. Maybe thrillers aren't my thing but I just couldn't find anything I liked about it except for the gorgeous setting. I hope people won't be too discouraged by me because readers who love gritty thrillers might like it after all. 

~About the author:

An only child to a single Mum, Lisa was born and brought up in Johannesburg, South Africa. Despite a lifelong ambition to act, she enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand to do a BCom Law. She later moved to UK, where she achieved a BSc Industrial Economics Hons Degree from Warwick. Still wanting to be a star - her Mum encouraged her to study 'The Stars' and Lisa became an Astrologer. Lisa worked on hospital radio for many year, before becomming a regular Astrology guest on BBC local radio. As an Astrologer Lisa was always asked by her clients to make black and white definitive predictions about their futures: this made Lisa ponder the role of fate in our lives and how much freewill we really had. Hence the plot for her philosophical thriller, 'A Sealed Fate' was born. Choice versus chance - which prevails? Lisa wrote her book while also writing the ACA Chartered Accountants exams. She hopes to become a successful writer, not an accountant! Lisa is grateful to the wonderful support of both strangers and friends and their inspiration. Lisa is also grateful for having a 'power-house' Mum; who is her biggest supporter and best buddie.

Stacking The Shelves #34

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga @ Tynga's Reviews, where you can showcase the books and goodies you bought, borrowed, won, downloaded, received, etc...

~Bought:

Distorted Lines (Blurred Lines #2) by Breena Wilde

I bought this right away when I finished the first one, Blurred Lines because that one ended on such a cliffhanger! I had to know what was going to happen right away. Already read and loved it! (5 Stars!)

~For Review:

Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland

Received from Edelweiss!

~For Review:

These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Received from NetGalley!

What books or goodies did you all receive?

Leave me links to your hauls!

Feature & Follow #39

Feature & Follow is a weekly meme hosted on friday by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read to gain new followers and make new friends!

--

This week's question:

What do you do with your books after you’re done reading them?

Most of the books I put on my shelves:

But if there are books that I will absolutely never ever read again then I sometimes sell them to a local second hand bookstore. =)

What about you? 

Leave me links to your FF post!

Cover Reveal: Suit & Fangs by Marian Tee!

Woohoo! :D

I'm so excited to be a part of the cover reveal of Marian's new book Suit & Fangs!

Personally I love love love the cover!

So without much further ado... on to the reveal!

BOOK & AUTHOR INFO:

Suit & Fangs by Marian Tee
Publication date: July 28th 2013
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance

SYNOPSIS:

Caros are what vampires used to be.
We are slaves to pleasure, power turns us on, and each and every one of us has a weakness to hide.

All things sparkly and beautiful are 18-year-old Caylie Sonora’s greatest source of pleasure, and no one is more irresistibly gorgeous and seductive in her eyes than the quiet and old-fashioned Luka. All the girls in school want to belong to him, craving both his body and  authority. They say that behind closed doors his coldly charming manners disappear, leaving behind a guy who’d take you so hard you’d be breathless and panting for more. But if Caylie has her way, all she’d take from him is revenge, using her body to break his heart.

The most carnal of passions is the only chink in 19-year-old Luka Georgiades’ armor, but his obsession has only always ever to do with Caylie, whose body he desires to possess, in every imaginable position. The half-human Luka may be his race’s most cunning defender, with murderously precise skills and an even deadlier mind, but even Luka is powerless against fate, which forces him to hurt the girl who’s his everything…again and again.

They are each other’s weakness, and the game of love has never been so destructive. 

AUTHOR BIO:

Hi! I’m Marian Tee – I write sexy funny romances, emphasis on the funny because most readers tell me my books are a public hazard, often causing them to laugh out loud and get funny looks from other people.
I’m from the Philippines, half Filipino and half Chinese with a love for all things Japanese! Yes, that rhymed.  I love dancing, travelling, watching horror movies and basketball, and reading Archie comics.

Of course I love reading books, too. In fact, if I’m a little too slow in releasing a new book, it’s probably because I’m too busy being a reader and forgot all about being a writer.  Yes, I know, MY BAD!

I am a frustrated MANGAKA, hence why I write novels like Drawn and why I have a Vampire Knight fan fic posted at FanFiction.net (just search for Morteia Chronicles).

Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website

So what do you think of the cover? :D

Review: An Abduction Revelation: The Comeback Kid Returns by Thomas L. Hay

Title: An Abduction Revelation: The Comeback Kid Returns
Author: Thomas L. Hay
Publication: October 3rd 2012 by Balboa Press
Format: Paperback, 173 pages
Cover Rating: 2/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

   

Who are the abductors? Where do they come from? Where are they hiding? Do they even exist? Reality or imagination gone wild?

After writing his memoirs, the author suspected he may have some mysterious phenomenon buried within his subconscious. His first wife had claimed that they had been abducted (by aliens)during their marriage. The abductions were revealed to her after they had separated and she adopted an ascetic lifesyle. This melted her implanted memory blocks installed by the abductor's. He never believed her. He suspected she just had a fertile imagination. He was more concerned with putting his life back together after the devestating divorce.

But after writing his memoirs, he asked himself "what if she had been right?" There was only one way to find the truth. He adopted the same ascetic liftsyle. O-M-G. He had to rewrite his memoirs.

An Abduction Revelation is an intriguing and entertaining adventure based on some true life events of the author. It is a journey filled with mystery, romance, heartbreak, and revelations that will mystify, torment, and tickle your reality.

~My Thoughts:

First of all I want to say I love that the author has signed my book. So I want to send a thank you his way!

So this book... Wow! It was kind of mind blowing. It was a very intriguing and fascinating read that I read quickly in less than a day. I was surprised myself when I found myself unable to stop reading and before I knew it the story was over. 

An Abduction Revelation is based on true events of the life of Thomas L. Hay. The first thing I noticed about this book was how much I loved the writing. This isn't my usual genre, although I love anything sciencefiction related so it was definitely a new experience for me. But, gosh, the writing was amazing. I loved the way Thomas described everything. Seriously good writing here, people! 

At some point this book takes a huge turn and turns all sci-fi and just amazing. This would make an awesome movie by the way. Though I have to say I don't think this book will be liked by everyone. To me, personally, it comes easy because I love these kind of stories and always have been intrigued by alien abductions and such. To find out for yourself I suggest you just read the book and make up your own mind. For me this book was fab! And it took me totally by surprise. It took me a while to get to it due to life getting in the way but I am so glad I finally read it. One of the best books so far this year for sure!

~About the author:

Thomas L. Hay, raised in Clinton, Missouri. Graduate of the 1961 Senior High class. Published memoirs "The Comeback Kid" in 2011. Retired from American/TWA and resides in Lake Waukomis, Missouri. Die-hard sports nut. He is married to Karen "the love of his life". He puts up with hyperactive squirrel's, irrritating geese and a cranky old catfish.

Find him also on:

Facebook | Goodreads | Website

Waiting On Wednesday: The Liberator by Victoria Scott

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My WOW pick of this week:

~The Liberator (Dante Walker #2) by Victoria Scott

Paperback, 350 pages

Expected publication: August 27th 2013 by Entangled Teen

Bad boy, meet bad girl.

Dante has a shiny new cuff wrapped around his ankle, and he doesn't like that mess one bit. His new accessory comes straight from Big Guy himself and marks the former demon as a liberator. Despite his gritty past and bad boy ways, Dante Walker has been granted a second chance.

When Dante is given his first mission as a liberator to save the soul of seventeen-year-old Aspen, he knows he’s got this. But Aspen reminds him of the rebellious life he used to live and is making it difficult to resist sinful temptations. Though Dante is committed to living clean for his girlfriend Charlie, this dude’s been a playboy for far too long…and old demons die hard.

With Charlie becoming the girl she was never able to be pre-makeover and Aspen showing him how delicious it feels to embrace his inner beast, Dante will have to go somewhere he never thought he’d return to in order to accomplish the impossible: save the girl he’s been assigned to, and keep the girl he loves.

While I am totally not a fan of angel/demon books, I really liked the first book in this series, The Collector. I love love love Dante and I can't wait to see how this story will continue!

Teaser Tuesdays: Girl On Tour by Caisey Quinn

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

My teaser:

Hmm, he was a god in the kitchen and a devil in the bedroom. How did I get so lucky?

~Girl On Tour (Kylie Ryans #2) by Caisey Quinn

Kindle Edition

Expected publication: August 27th 2013

An up and comer trying to make a name for herself...

KYLIE never expected to be stuck on a tour bus with a pampered princess and her boyfriend’s ex.

A troubled artist struggling to hold onto his career...

TRACE thought he was finally getting to do things his way. Until the label added co-headliner Gretchen Gibson, the only person in country music with more issues than him, to his No Apologies tour.

Surrounded by tabloid rumors and people they can't trust, Kylie and Trace need each other more than ever. But the choices they make will change everything.

Because chasing your dreams and following your heart don’t always lead you to the same place…

Anyone can participate in Teaser Tuesdays. Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Top Ten Tuesday: Words/Topics That Will Make You NOT pick up a book

Top Ten Tuesdays is a meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish that features a new topic each week where we have to put down our top ten of it.

This week's topic:

Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make You NOT pick up a book

~In no particular order~

Boarding School

There are some books about boarding schools that I like obviously (Vampire Academy i.a.) but mostly I don't really like books with boarding schools in them.

Zombies

I have never ever liked books with zombies in. Yuck. Just give me vampires or werewolves instead. ;)

Religion

I don't mind if a book has some religion but if it's a book that's all about it and an author forcing the reader his of her views on it... no, just no.

Roadtrips

Roadtrips book bore me out of my mind. I'm sure there are some good roadtrip books out there but so far I haven't come across them.

Sports

I don't even like watching sports on tv, so I definitely don't like reading about it.

Autobiographies

It's just not my genre of books. I prefer fiction.

Soulmates/Insta-Love

I admit there are some books that I love where two characters are everlasting soulmates but most of the time I hate those books because it has always insta-love in them. Barf.

War

I'd rather not read about war. Any wars, fiction or non-fiction. Just not my thing.

Angels

Do I even have to explain myself with this one? Angels are my least favorite paranormal creature. There are maybe 1 or 2 books featuring angels that I like.

Abuse

Any type of abuse I don't like reading about. I might read some stories about them if other people say it's a really good book but I'll probably won't pick it up myself.

Leave me links to your posts! :)