FF (78) & TGIF (61)

Follow Friday is an opportunity to discover and follow other book related blogs! Want to join? Check it out at Parajunkee.

This week's question feature is from Vivian @ Vivaciously, Vivian

Q: What drove you to start book blogging in the first place?

My Answer: Every time I answer this, I answer slightly differently, but mainly it was because I wanted a way to keep track of the books I was reading and include some information that would help refresh my memory, I then found the blogging community and knew it was something I wanted to be part of.

TGIF!

This meme is hosted by GReads!

This Friday's Question: 

 

Quotes That Make You Swoon: What are some of the most swoon-worthy quotes you've experienced in a book?

 

 

My Answer: 

 

“You love me. Real or not real?"
I tell him, "Real.”
― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay 

"Okay," he said. He took a breath. "What would you do, if you could do anything?"
I took a step toward him, closing the space between us. "This," I said. And then I kissed him.”
― Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

 

 

 “It is possible to be in love with you just because of who you are.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, Shiver

 

Not the best out there, but some of the ones that popped to mind. I love a good swoon worthy quote, now I just need to find a guy that will say them to me in real life! :P

 

Happy Hopping, have a great weekend everyone!!!

Blog Tour - Persephone

Author Kaitlin Bevis has stopped by today with a guest post for the Persephone Daughters of Zeus blog tour.  Make sure you get your copy of Persephone Daughters of Zeus out Friday July 6^th!

There's a half dead pomegranate tree in my yard. I love it. I think it's wonderfully symbolic. It's the craziest looking thing. There are leaves and fruit on one side and the rest of the tree just looks like a skeleton. My friends tell me I should cut away the dead so that the tree might pull through, and I will once I have a minute to dedicate to yard work. But I can't help but feel cutting away the dead is betraying Hades.

Silly I know. I really wish I could claim this half dead pomegranate tree was my inspiration for writing Persephone, but we didn't move to this house until last summer, and Persephone was being sent out in query letters at that point. No, my actual inspiration was much less poetical and symbolic.

It was a preview to clash of the titans. I really liked the quote "damn the gods" which got the ball rolling in my mind. The actual movie was almost as inspiring.

In that I was so bored I drafted the entire book in my head while I watched it. I left that movie, chattering endlessly about my idea to my husband and a friend, and then went home and wrote the book.

I don't know why a movie trailer seems like an unworthy source of inspiration, but the whole story is a little embarrassing. If I ever get really famous, I might go with the more "writerly" story of inspiration.

I have a half dead pomegranate tree in my yard..

Kaitlin Bevis spent her childhood curled up with a book, and a pen. If the ending didn't agree with her, she rewrote it. She's always wanted to be a writer, and spent high school and college learning everything she could so that one day she could achieve that goal. She graduated college with my BFA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, and is pursuing my masters at the University of Georgia.

Her young adult fiction novel "Persephone," will be released this summer. She also writes for Athens Parent Magazine, and truuconfessions.com.

Author's Links:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Purchase Persephone

Summer Lovin Giveaway Hop

This Giveaway hop is being hosted by 'I Am A Reader, Not A Writer' and Co-Hosted by Tifferz Book Review, Young Adult Romance & Clean Adult Romance
This Giveaway hop runs from July 11th - 17th

What is a giveaway hop?
Simple - Each participating blog hosts a giveaway and then we link up together allowing our followers to hop easily from one giveaway to another.
For followers this means lots of chances to win free books.
For blogs hosting a giveaway it means lots of new visitors.
It's a win-win!
There i currently 300 blogs signed up so that's a lot of prizes to win. :D

So here's my Giveaway -


Up for grabs are some fantastic books, these are some of my summer favourites! 


One winner will be picked and offered the choice of ONE of these books:


 
- Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler




- That Summer by Sarah Dessen




- Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson






- Anna & The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins




- The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith






Winning book will be ordered from the Book Depository so please make sure they ship to your location before entering. 

Here are the rules: 

1) Competition opens 11th July
2) Competition closes on 17th July Midnight GMT
3) Enter your Name, E-mail and Blog Link in the Linky List Below (email will be hidden, if you don't have a blog just enter your Facebook or Twitter page)
4) You Must be a Follower to enter!
5) One Name will be selected at random from the list.
6) Contest open Internationally
7) Winners will be contacted by e-mail
8) Winners will have 3 days to reply or another winner will be selected. 

You MUST fill in the Linky form to be in with a chance to enter. Do NOT put your details in the comments section. 
I don't have time to go through all the comments or add you on the list myself. 
All you need to do is put your name/blog name in the box that says 'Contest Entry', a link to your blog/facebook in the box that says 'Link' and then your email address in the box that says 'Email'

Here are the other blogs taking part:

Enter my Giveaway here: Good Luck!

Pledged Blog Tour & Cover Reveal

I'm part of an ongoing tour for an upcoming book called 'Pledge' by Gwenyth White. Throughout July, August and September various blogs will be posting book promotions, author interviews, character interviews, trailers, giveaways and other bonus things.
I'm so excited to be part of this tour and I'm kicking off the fun right now.

You want to know what the book is about? OK, here is the synopsis, just for you:

Everyone has a soul mate. But what do you do when your soul mate would rather give his soul to the demons than be with you?

Seventeen-year-old Erin has a problem. Seth has been hers forever, but now an ancient promise is tearing him away. And Reuel, the demon to whom the promise was made, will stop at nothing to force Seth to forsake Erin and to worship him.

How can Erin win against a pledge so binding that it has damned countless others to the same fate she and Seth will face if Reuel wins – an eternity alone?

The answer lies in the past. To find it, Erin and Seth must risk all, travelling back in time to a dangerous world where love is forbidden, and life – and death – hang on a promise.

Follow Erin and Seth as they travel to ancient Shenaya to break the pledge that has plagued their families for millennia. Caught in a war between the Angelic Guardians and the Gefallen, the disembodied dead, they must fight to keep their souls in tact and their love untainted.

Sounds good, doesn't it?!? 


Want to know more, well I have a Cover Reveal for you. This is what the book will look like when it is released, and I love it. Kind of simple yet intriguing. Really love the splash of colour in the title and the way the necklace shines. Awesome.

Are you tempted yet? I know I am! 


Want to know more, how about meeting the author: 
Introducing Gwyneth White:

I have spent my entire life living in a parallel universe of make-believe characters, only coming back to reality for long enough to check that no one burnt the house down in my absence. A few years ago I decided to commit some of those ‘friends’ and their stories to paper. The Soul Wars Saga is the result of those efforts. Before that I co-authored two non-fiction travel books – The Complete Guide to 4x4 Trails and The Ultimate 4x4 Guide. Both books became instant best-sellers in South Africa where I live. And before that even, I studied a degree in African History and Politics at the University of Stellenbosch. When I’m not writing, I am a wife to Andrew and a mom to Stephanie, Erin, and Kate, our teenage daughters. My family and I live in a small town outside Cape Town with two dogs, a cat, a horse, and some neglected fish. Now that you know a little about me, I would love to get to know you. Please befriend me at:

Twitter: @GwynnethWhite

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gwynneth-White/172095512890074

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7360328-gwynneth-white

Blog: http://todayinshenaya.blogspot.com

Email: gwynnethwhite@4xforum.com

Hooked yet? Want to know more? Come back in a couple of weeks for the book trailer and some excerpts. 

 

Book Promotion - Souled

SYNOPSIS

Power and Control…

What 17-year-old boy wouldn’t be tempted by the promise of power and control - no matter what form that promise came in? 

Seth knew exactly what he would do with power and control.  He’d be well on his way to a wrestling scholarship, his dad could stop working so hard to make ends meet, and he’d forever have the heart of his girlfriend, Sandpoint High’s most beautiful girl. 

For Seth, the temptation was much too strong to resist. And why should he?  The way he saw it, he had everything to gain.

But when he unknowingly invites another soul to share his body, Seth discovers that not all power is good – especially when it was never his to wield.  And when the soul reveals its true intentions, will Seth have the strength to fight it or would death be less painful?

  Diana Murdock, Author Bio:

Writer, reader, dreamer, cardiojunkie, mother, friend, pantster, calm, wild, lover, fighter, tree-hugger, material girl, relentless, mellow, passionate, zen master, party girl, selfless, selfish.  I am all of these.  Who I am on any given day depends on whether the sky is bright or dark with clouds, if I tripped over the dog or meditated in peace.  I cannot be contained.  I don’t like boxes and boxes don’t like me. 

http://www.amazon.com/Souled-ebook/dp/B008CL38OO/

My website:   http://www.dianamurdock.com/ 

Book Review - Night Sky

Title: Night Sky
Author: Jolene Perry
Publisher: Tribute Books
Release Date: 21 Feb 2012
ISBN: 1477436820

Synopsis
After losing Sarah, the friend he’s loved, to some other guy, Jameson meets Sky. Her Native American roots, fluid movements, and need for brutal honesty become addictive fast. This is good. Jameson needs distraction – his dad leaves for another woman, his mom’s walking around like a zombie, and Sarah’s new boyfriend can’t keep his hands off of her.
As he spends time with Sky and learns about her village, her totems, and her friends with drums - she's way more than distraction. Jameson's falling for her fast.
But Sky’s need for honesty somehow doesn’t extend to her life story – and Jameson just may need more than his new girl to keep him distracted from the disaster of his senior year. 


My Review
I was part of the blog tour for this but I didn't get the book in time to read, so I added to my list, and I've finally got round to it. 
Jameson is in love with his best friend, but she's now got herself a boyfriend. He's devastated until he meets Sky, the girl who is now living opposite him, she is exotic, mysterious and sweet, Just what he needs. He is star of the swim team and spends most of his time either in the pool at school or his pool at home, his parents both work in a casino and so are night owls. But then his parents split up and secrets with Sky come out. Jameson has to try to decide what he really wants and make it through the rest of senior year.

This isn't my usual sort of pick, but a combination of the beautiful cover and some sort of pull got me hooked in. It's only 247 pages and a really quick read. Once you start it's hard to stop.
I like Jameson, he's sensitive, sometimes immature, caring and thoughtful. He really tries to look after his mum when his dad splits, and he does his best to protect Sky and even Sarah. It's unusual to find a book like this written from the boys point of view, but I really liked it, it gave it a fresh feel and style. 
Sarah is a bit of a flake. Google eyed over a boy for so long she can't see what's right in front of her or what her new boyfriend is really like. Typical love sick teenager who doesn't realise what she's missing until too late.
Sky is great, so mysterious and sparky. She really brings Jameson out of his shell and makes each page fresh. But things get complicated with her and I found her dishonesty hypocritical as that's all she asks from Jameson, but everything becomes clear, and I did actually like her. 


The plot is fast paced and there is always something happening to grab you in, but it's not too much to throw you like some books do. I actually really enjoyed this book and glad I read it.


My Rating

Book Promo - Destiny by Kimber Shook

Synopsis: 

 

 

VANESSA anxiously waits for her birthday, a boyfriend and some much needed excitement in her dull and boring life.

She soon finds herself torn between two guys. Well, I guess that is what she would call them, even though one is a dead Alien King.

MAX, a dead alien who is trapped in limbo between two worlds and longs for Vanessa, his destiny, to help him home and become his Queen. He offers her his world, his heart and his future.

TOBY, a good looking guy who shows an interest and a desire to be with Vanessa, has confessed that he too has a destiny that he's meant to be with another. However, it’s a destiny he doesn’t want.

The connection that Vanessa has with Max is strong but the desire she has for Toby may be even stronger.

Will she accept what Destiny has in store for her or find a way to escape to find one all on her own?

 

Author Bio:

 

I'm a huge sci-fi fan. I love all the paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi genres, of course, when romance is thrown in, it just makes it even better. For as long as I can remember, I've always enjoyed reading and writing, even though Life gets in the way and it is difficult to fit it in.
Through the years, my desire of writing a novel had finally become so overwhelming that I actually become motivated enough into making my dream of being a published author come true.
Since I have been focusing on writing more, I find that I can get so engulfed into my fantasy writing world that it's difficult to have to close up shop for the night. All I can say is that I enjoy every second of creating something out of nothing.

I hope you enjoy reading my book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please watch for more to come.

 

Amazon

Smashwords 

 

Connect with me:

 

Twitter: @KimberShook

Blog: http://www.kimbershook.blogspot.com

About me:http://about.me/kimbershook

Tumblr: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/kimbershook

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Destiny-Unhinged/421687837876005

 

FF (77) & TGIF (60)

Follow Friday is an opportunity to discover and follow other book related blogs! Want to join? Check it out at Parajunkee.

This week's question feature is from Jennifer @ Reading and Writing Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance

Q: Jumping Genres: Ever pick up a book from a genre you usually don’t like and LOVE it? Tell us about it and why you picked it up in the first place.

My Answer: I always swore I would never read a Vampire book, I used to have nightmares when I was young about vampires climbing in my windows and biting me so it really freaked me. Then for Book Day at work one year 'Marked' by P.C & Kritsen Cast was on the reading list. There was 6 books on that list and I had to read them all, I put Marked off for as long as posible but then I couldn't avoid it anymore and had to read it, to my surprise I really enjoyed it. It wasn't the best book I had ever read but I was surprised by how much I got into it. I ended up reading the whole series (ongoing) this opened up the whole vampire/paranormal genre for me and I'm glad it did. 

TGIF!

This meme is hosted by GReads!

This Friday's Question: 

 

Comfort Reads: Which books do you go to for comfort & familiarity?  

Is there a type of book you seek out when you're needing that extra bit of comfort in your life?

 

My Answer: I have a few comfort reads, Harry Potter is of course one of them, recapturing that magic works every time. I also tend to read 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' by Lemony Snicket, they are so easy to read and fun that it reminds me of my childhood and it does make me feel comfort. Others like Hunger Games will now be included on my list. 

I also tend to like a bit of 'Chick Lit' if I'm in need of some real comfort - something light and fluffy that doesn't require much thought but is fun and easy.

 

 

 

Happy Hopping, have a great weekend everyone!!!

 

Book Review - The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author: Jennifer E Smith
Publisher: Headline
Release Date: 24 May 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0755384037

Synopsis
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?
Imagine if she hadn’t forgotten the book. Or if there hadn’t been traffic on the expressway. Or if she hadn’t fumbled the coins for the toll. What if she’d run just that little bit faster and caught the flight she was supposed to be on. Would it have been something else - the weather over the Atlantic or a fault with the plane?
Hadley isn’t sure if she believes in destiny or fate but, on what is potentially the worst day of each of their lives, it’s the quirks of timing and chance events that mean Hadley meets Oliver...
Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

My Review
I heard a lot about this on blogs at the beginning of the year and there seemed to be a love for this book. It wasn't in stock at my library so I put a request in for them to buy it. For some reason they had trouble getting in and it took them from February to July to buy the book. It arrived last week and I was so excited, though it was thinner than I thought.
I sat down to read it in the evening on Sunday and ended up reading the whole thing, took me about an hour and a half. 
I hoped it would be good and I wasn't disappointed. This book is set over a 24 hour period and focuses on Hadley and Oliver, they meet at an airport and seem to have a connection. Can you ever be sure if it is meant to be? I was a bit skeptical in the fact that I am not a fan of Insta-love, i believe it takes time, honesty, work and commitment to properly fall in love with someone, and I worried this would be a victim of it, but it is written in such a beautiful way and the characters don't fall head over heels or anything, it was just right. Mostly like they were building foundations for a future relationship rather than jumping right in.
Hadley is quite pessimistic, her dad is getting re-married to a woman she's never met, she's still angry with her dad for leaving and moving halfway across the world and she's not sure what to believe in anymore. But as the novel progresses you really see her grow as a character.

I have often pondered what life would be like if certain small events hadn't occured, such as what would have happened if i'd have left on time from work the other day, would I have got in front of that car that crawled at 10 miles an hour, would I have got in before my dinner burned and had a proper meal. etc it goes on, so I loved how this book started, Hadley misses her flight by why seems an insignificant four minutes, but so many things could have made those four minutes happen, and if she had caught her flight, she would never have met Oliver. Do things really happen for a reason?

Oliver is like, the perfect guy, sweet, understanding, good sense of humour and will listen to you. I can totally see why Hadley feels the connection to him, even I was starting to stare love struck at the pages. But he isn't just there to be an opposite for Hadley, he becomes a person of his own and I was just as interested in his story as I was hers.

To be honest, at first I thought her dad was a total As*, why would someone choose to walk out on his family and move halfway round the world then moan he doesn't get to see her enough. He can't expect her to just uproot her life. He actually made me quite cross, but as the book goes on you can see his love for Hadley and the situation is looked at from other angles and by the end, I didn't love him, but I could understand his point of view.

For such a short book this really packs a punch. It's like a rollercoaster of emotions and when you are done, you will sigh in contentment and want to read it over again just so you can get back into that little world.

Pure bliss.

My Rating

Book Review - Blood Red Road

Title: Blood Red Road
Author: Moira Young
Series: Dustlands (book 1)
Publisher: Marion Lloyd Books
Release Date: 4 Jan 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1407124261

 Synopsis
"I ain't afeared of nuthin." Saba's twin is golden. She is his living shadow. He is strong and beautiful. She is scrawny and dark. Nothing will separate them... Raised in isolated Silverlake, Saba is ignorant of the harsh and violent world beyond her home. But when her twin is snatched by black-robed riders, red rage fills her soul. How will Saba find him in a wild, scorching and lawless land? Racing across the cruel dustlands to find him, she can spare no one. Not even the boy who saves her life. She must silence her heart to survive. Blood will spill. Every step of Saba's journey sizzles with danger in this futuristic thriller, which beats with a powerful, red-blooded heart.

My Review
 Last month I was searching the web looking for ideas for the next book to give to my Teen Reading group. This came up with a tagline saying "the next great read for Hunger Games fans" and as my group are total Hunger Games fans I thought it would be perfect. I then went to the 'Rise of Sci-Fi' evening in London and met Moira Young, I found out more about her and her book and it sounded really good. I bought a copy and got it signed. It then sat on my book pile for about a month while I caught up on other reads, then I realised the next meeting for the Teen group was upon me and I hadn't yet read it. How can I talk about it with the Teens if I haven't read it myself so I made a start. 
I managed to get 100 pages in before the meeting, but it was enough to discuss. Two of them had finished it and spoke really highly of it so it made me more determine to finish.
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book, but I did have high hopes, and it mostly lived up to them.
IT took me a bit to get into it as the characters speak in a sort of southern drawl, saying things like 'afeared' instead of 'afraid' and 'git' instead of 'get'. etc. But once I was used to it, it just increased the sense of setting and character. 
The one thing I really didn't like in this book wa the lack of speech marks. There isn't a single one in the whole book. lines would literally be like this:

Nero flutters down an lands on my shoulder.
It's big, I says. Whaddya think?
He croaks an bobs up an down.

Again once I knew her speech/writing patterns it was easier to follow and work out what was conversation, I would sometimes have to read a sentence twice but it did get easier, but when I first started it really confused me. The one I put above wasn't a bad one, quite obvious really but some where more mixed it. I also wish I knew why she decided to leave them out, I couldn't see a reason for it, but I suppose there must have been one.
That really was the only gripe I had about it though. `the book was just as thrilling and exciting as it promises to be. I came to really like Saba, she is kick as* and not afraid to show her feelings, she can be stroppy and protective but also loyal and thoughtful. 
I really liked her sister Emmi who never did what he was told, was portrayed as weak and pathetic at the beginning but showed throughout that she could give as good as she got.
There is a whole host of fab characters and a lot of twists and turns, this book is definitely worth a read. I'm actually looking forward to book 2. So don't be put off too soon, persevere and I think you'll end up really enjoying it.

My Rating