Tuesday, 21 October 2014

Release Day Celebration: Loop




Loop

Author: Karen Akins
Series: Loop, #1
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: October 21st, 2014
Source: Me, My Shelf & I
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | iBooks
Kobo | Chapters | Book Depository


At a school where Quantum Paradox 101 is a required course and history field trips are literal, sixteen year-old time traveler Bree Bennis excels…at screwing up.

After Bree botches a solo midterm to the 21st century by accidentally taking a boy hostage (a teensy snafu), she stands to lose her scholarship. But when Bree sneaks back to talk the kid into keeping his yap shut, she doesn’t go back far enough. The boy, Finn, now three years older and hot as a solar flare, is convinced he’s in love with Bree, or rather, a future version of her that doesn’t think he’s a complete pain in the arse. To make matters worse, she inadvertently transports him back to the 23rd century with her.

Once home, Bree discovers that a recent rash of accidents at her school are anything but accidental. Someone is attacking time travelers. As Bree and her temporal tagalong uncover seemingly unconnected clues—a broken bracelet, a missing data file, the art heist of the millennium—that lead to the person responsible, she alone has the knowledge to piece the puzzle together. Knowledge only one other person has. Her future self.

But when those closest to her become the next victims, Bree realizes the attacker is willing to do anything to stop her. In the past, present, or future. (Goodreads)

Loop series


Loop (Loop #1)  Twist (Loop #2)


Praise for LOOP:

"A creative take on romance in a high-stakes, high-concept mystery that trusts its readers' intelligence." - Kirkus
"LOOP is a page-turning adventure with some brilliant and original twists to the time travel genre. I devoured the entire book in one sitting!" - Julie Cross, Author of the TEMPEST series
"Hilarious and suspenseful with a delicious dash of romance, LOOP is a mind-bending good time!" - Melissa Landers, Author of the ALIENATED series

Giveaway!


Must be 13+ To Enter | Ships in US Only

One Winner will get a signed final copy of LOOP + a swag pack




About The Author


Karen Akins lives in the MidSouth where she writes humorous, light YA sci-fi. When not writing or reading, she loves lightsaber dueling with her two sons and forcing her husband to watch BBC shows with her. 

Karen has been many things in her life: an archery instructor, drummer for the shortest-lived garage band in history, and a shockingly bad tic-tac-toe player.








Me, My Shelf & I

Friday, 17 October 2014

Review: Finding Her Way Back




**My review was originally suppose to be posted on October 9th, due to an error on my behalf I am posting this review on October 17th instead.**


Finding Her Way Back

Author: Heather Van Fleet
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Publication Date: October 7th, 2014
Format: ebook
Pages: 248
Source: YA Bound Book Tours
Purchase: Amazon

Rating: ★★★
Meet Callie, a chubby-sexy nineteen-year-old girl who fears high heels, commitments, and has a love/hate relationship with her running shoes. Nine months of college down the drain and all she has to show for it is her freshman thirty.

But alas, life has other crap plans for her--one that includes a strict regiment of "do this and do that" from her she-devil sister, all while trying to avoid the unavoidable. The unavoidable being Ky: the ex-best friend-turned-sex god who lives across the street.

Meet Ky; a nineteen-year-old wanna be country music singer and a boy-turned-man who still wears a proverbial skateboard around his neck from wasted high school days. When Callie returns home, he realizes that she's exactly the muse he's been missing all this time.

Now, if only she can stop running long enough to find out where their love could lead. Finding Her Way Back is a new adult novel about finding love while learning how to love yourself. For all the chubby-sexy girls who tend to feel invisible, this one's for you! (Goodreads)

Opening Lines
“You need to lose weight. Pronto. I mean, look at how massive your hips have gotten, Callie. Freshman fifteen my ass…I’d say freshman thirty is more like it.”

Finding Her Way Back was an interesting and eye opening read. I really enjoyed Callie's character, I found her to be realistic and someone readers could actually relate to. My heart broke for her and all the things she had to go through. And then we have Anna, I never like using the word hate but I really REALLY disliked her. Even though we find out later on why she acts the way she does I couldn't find myself 100% sympathetic. And Callie and Anna's parents...they didn't seem realistic to me. I really didn't like the way they treated Callie.

At times I found Finding Her Way Back to be a little bit repetitive but I still managed to enjoy the story. As much as I really liked Callie and Kylan's characters I found it hard to connect with them. There was so much going on that I felt it took away from really focusing on Callie and Ky's relationship. I found myself constantly trying to keep up with all the different events happening that kept interfering with their relationship. Overall, Finding Her Way Back was an interesting read! I'm really curious to see if we'll get more Callie and Kylan in the future.


Giveaway!



About the Author

Midwestern native Heather Van Fleet lives in a small town on the Iowa/Illinois border. She’s a wife to her hubby--and high school sweet heart--Chris, as well as a mom to her three little girls, Kelsey, Emma and Bella. When she’s not obsessing over her fictional book characters, cooking dinner, or running around chasing her crazy kiddos, you can usually find her with her head stuck in her Kindle, sucking down White Chocolate Mochas like they're water.






YA Bound Book Tours

Review: The Reason I Stay



Click here to follow the tour!



The Reason I Stay

Author: Patty Maximini
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publication Date: September 9th, 2014
Format: ebook
Pages: 283
Source: Xpresso Book Tours
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Kobo


Rating: ★★★★
Jack Daniels is the cure to all evils.
Sex should be casual and, preferably, anonymous.
Giving a damn is for nurses, philanthropists and suicide hotlines.

My name is Mathew Rogers and those are the values I built my adult life around. They are also the reason I had to forsake everything I loved in Seattle and embark on a solitary road trip across the country, with no direction other than searching for the next small town, the next girl, and the closest liquor store.

Boredom, frustration and a series of unfortunate decisions led me to the rickety-ass town of Jolene, Alabama—a town I wanted to leave behind from the moment I passed the welcome sign. But it was there where I met her. The girl who made me question everything I’ve always believed in, and the only one who has ever had the power to break my heart.

Her name is Lexie.

She’s beautiful, and I’m pretty sure she hates me.

And for once in my life, I give enough of a damn that I keep finding a reason to stay. (Goodreads)

Opening Lines
“A moan comes from behind me and I freeze. Please don’t wake up.
I peek over my shoulder and see her beautiful face framed by a halo of bright pink hair resting on one of the pillows. Her parted lips are pulled up in the corners in that subconscious fully-sated smile women sometimes get after a night of rolling in sheets. And man, this woman deserves it.”

I don't pick books in the "normal conventional" way that I'm sure most people do, what I mean is I don't read the synopsis first. When I came across The Reason I Stay is was instantly drawn to the cover. The use of colours, the crop of her face, the lips, everything about this cover screams a softness and swoon worthy read. I was already hooked onto the cover and sold but decided to read the synopsis which only made me more excited to read this book.

The Reason I Stay is told in dual perspective from Matt and Lexie, which I loved. When most authors do this there is normally more chapters by the main character, but Patty Maximini has an even amount of chapters by both Matt and Lexie that made me feel like I was finally getting the full picture into their romance, thoughts, emotions, and the scenery itself.

“The more one forgets himself—by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love—the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself.”
Viktor E. Frankl – Man’s Search For Meaning”

Right off the bat I disliked Matt's character, ugh he got on my nerves! But I knew I would grow to swoon over him, and boy did I swoon. Throughout The Reason I Stay we really get to know Matt and I really enjoyed watching this character evolve, Patty Maximini perfectly executes on character development and growth. The above quote was place before the first chapter and I found it to be the PERFECT quote that related to Matt's personal growth and journey through The Reason I Stay. And then we have Lexie, now Lexie is on my list of favourite characters. She's strong and doesn't take crap from anyone or let people walk over her. I loved their first interaction, Lexie gave Matt what he deserved which let him really thinking about his life and how he treats people. Lexie didn't make things easy for Matt which had me sitting her yelling "You go Lexie!" at my computer, but their chemistry starts to build and the love between them is so touching to witness.

Overall, The Reason I Stay is a beautiful, swoon worthy read that everyone needs to get their hands on! I found myself to fully invested in the story and characters and I just didn't want it to come an end. I kept telling myself I wouldn't get emotional but I found my eyes watering at just how beautiful this story truly is overall. Do I recommend it? YES!

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About the Author

Hopeless dreamer, tattoo enthusiast, Disney addict and hoarder of nail polishes and vegan recipes. Patty lives with her husband, her crazy cat, two dogs and elderly bunny in a house frequently visited by wild birds and chipmunks.

Links: Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook






Xpresso Book Tours

Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (12): Atlantia

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**Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights highly anticipated upcoming releases.**




Atlantia

Author: Ally Condie
Series: ?
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Dystopian
Publisher: Dutton Children's
Publication Date: October 28th, 2014
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Chapters | Book Depository

Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system constructed to govern the divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths. (Goodreads)

Why I'm Waiting...

This is another one that I got to read a sneak peek of from NetGalley! The first chapter was a miss for me but I just couldn't get enough of the chapters that followed! Ally Condie has set a great plot and I'm really excited to jump back into this and see where it goes, I just really hope I'm not disappointed in the end. Her writing style is absolutely beautiful! I loved the description of Rio's emotions, it felt so real! Also this is labelled as a dystopian novel, I don't have good luck when it comes to this genre so I'm really hoping this may be the book to break me into enjoying and reading more dystopian novels.

My mini review of the sneak peek can be found here!




What are you waiting on?
Please feel free to leave comments & WoW links below :).