Review: SIA by Josh Grayson

 

SIA by Josh Grayson

 

When seventeen-year-old Sia wakes up on a park bench, she has no idea who or where she is. Yet after a week of being homeless, she’s reunited with her family. At school, she’s powerful and popular. At home, she’s wealthy beyond her dreams. But she quickly realizes her perfect life is a lie. Her family is falling apart and her friends are snobby, cruel and plastic. Worse yet, she discovers she was the cruelest one. Mortified by her past, she embarks on a journey of redemption and falls for Kyle, the “geek” she once tormented. Yet all the time she wonders if, when her memories return, she’ll become the bully she was before…and if she’ll lose Kyle.

Friday Post, 11/29/13

This hop is hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. Every week bloggers answer a question and then visit other blogs that are participating.  This week's question is:

Do you leave a link back to your blog when you participate in weekly memes?
  

Review for Cruentus: Rise to Power by L.S. Broomfield

Cruentus: Rise to Power
Book 1, The Cruentus Series
By LS Broomfield

A prophecy of old continued to burn in the embers of time; long left dormant until the Cruentus family rose above all others as darkness ascended the lands. Greed and deception were the name of the game, and Arturo Cruentus would stop at nothing as he concocted the ultimate scheme to get everything he wanted. No price was too high. The scene was set, the pieces strategically placed. The Gallo family could not come against him, and in the end Guido and Palmiria Gallo would come out the biggest losers, watching their only daughter, Emiliana, be taken away to render a debt settled.

Young Emiliana Gallo, a victim of circumstance, was thrust into a world she did not understand and forced to marry a man she did not know. But what no one expected, not even Arturo, was that Emiliana and his son, Donato, would fall in love against all odds. For Arturo, love made one weak, but for his son, it was love at first sight. Donato became an opportunist in his father’s dirty schemes and did everything in his power to ensure the woman he admired for so long not only took his name in marriage, but also fell in love with him. Donato wanted it all, his gamble paid off richly, and he achieved both marriage and love. However, on the day they said ‘I do’ and the Cruentus and Gallo families were joined, Emiliana was ripped from their home like a thief in the night.

End of the Year 2013 Reading Cram Read-a-thon! Sign-Up

 

Juliababyjen's Reading Room and Dana Square are hosting a Read-A-Thon from December 9th to December 22nd! I'm very excited about this last Read-A-Thon so here's what it's all about:

"If you are anything like me you have a huge stack (or even bookcases) full of book you haven't read. Did you have a goal for how many books you wanted to read during the year? Are you behind like I am? Then this is the perfect time to read as much as you can before the new year!" Why should you participate? 1. To chisel off some of your TBR pile. 2. Do all the fun challenges and win some prizes. 3. Encourage others to read like a speed demon (and yourself) + reading with others is loads of fun.

So let's get in our last books of 2013 together in the #ReadingCram!"

                      
           Want to join the read-a-thon? Then click here.

Children's Book Review: A Bad Mad Sad Day for Mama Bear by Mayra Calvani

A Bad Mad Sad Day For Mama Bear by Mayra Calvani
Illustrated by KC Snider

Little Bear offers Mama Bear various items to make her feel better, but she’s too busy to notice—until he gives her his super, so good, so very special dolly. Silly humor, alliteration, repetition, and onomatopoeia make this a fun read-aloud story. A celebration of the special love shared between mother and child. For ages 3-7.

 

Available as ebook, softcover and hardcover.

Amazon     Guardian Angel Publishing

Teaser Tuesday #66

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

• 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!

 

My Teaser:

Face by Cecile Pineda

Synopsis: When a Brazilian man's face is disfigured, he attempts a grisly self-surgery in this novel of survival.

My Thoughts: This book has stared at me for years on my shelf calling me to read it. I don’t recall where I got it but I remember that the cover grabbed my attention. Not knowing what the story was about, I started reading this complicated but hauntingly story of a man who lost his face.

Audiobook: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Read by Davina Porter

Synopsis: The year is 1945. Claire Randall is traveling with her husband when she touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is hurled back in time to a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord 1743. Catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, she soon realizes that an alliance with James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, might be the only way to survive. Thus begins a work of unrivaled storytelling that has become a modern classic.

Friday Post, 11/22/13

This hop is hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. Every week bloggers answer a question and then visit other blogs that are participating.  This week's question is:

You won a 5 minute shopping spree from your favorite book store! What will you grab?
  

Spotlight with Excerpt: The Wind Whisperer by Krista Holle

At fifteen, Anaii is the most important member of her tribe—and the most mysterious.  Ever since Anaii can remember, the spirits of the wind have whispered of fertile hunting grounds and imminent enemy attacks.  But when her people are ambushed by a brother clan without any apparent cause, the spirits remain eerily silent.

As the village prepares to retaliate, Anaii is pressured by her best friend, Elan, to marry him.  It’s an old plea—Elan has spent a lifetime loving her, but Anaii only sees a childhood playmate out of an imposing warrior.  Stifled by Elan’s insistence, Anaii escapes into the forest where she meets Jayttin, the beautiful son of the enemy chief. 

Teaser Tuesday #65

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

• 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!



I took a slight break from reading to concentrate on my dance at the beginning of this month. I'm so glad that the show is over so I can go back to my books. Boy, did I miss them!

My Teasers:

Blog Tour Review: Blood Yellow by Ashley Nemer

This tour stop contains my review for the sequel to Blood Purple. Warning, there are slight spoilers. If you would like to read my review of the first book, then you can click here.

 Blood Yellow by Ashley Nemer

The lines are drawn, and Zayn and Nikole must face each other in a battle of forgiveness and power; each attempting to right their wrongs, each battling their own inner demons. Haydar and Leigh prepare for war, rounding their men and setting into motion courses that cannot be undone. The tales will fall in line as the four of them come face to face with each other, and they will watch loved ones perish. When the dust settles and dawn breaks, who's going to be left standing and who will be missing? Will Nikole forgive Zayn for his betrayal? Will Leigh and Haydar overcome their differences? Will Adara say yes? Blood Yellow...Because the stories only just begun....

Friday Posts, 11/15/13

This hop is hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. Every week bloggers answer a question and then visit other blogs that are participating.  This week's question is:

Do you accept books for review only from publishers or do you accept book review requests from authors as well?
  

Spotlight with Excerpt: The Christmas Town by Elyse Douglas

The Christmas Town, by Elyse Douglas, is a new time travel, mystery, romance novel that was released on October 11, 2013.

While traveling home for Christmas, Jackie and Megan, two young women in their 20s, encounter a huge snowstorm. After crossing a covered bridge, they suddenly find themselves stuck in the past in a small picturesque Vermont town in 1943. While struggling to return to their time, they fall in love with two handsome soldiers. As Christmas approaches, Megan and Jackie are torn between their new lovers and their desire to return to their time. At the last moment, they must make the difficult decision and, because it is Christmas, a miracle happens.  
 

The Christmas Town is a thrilling adventurous novel interspersed with humor and romance. It's a great read any time of the year, but it's an especially cozy read during the winter months around Christmas.

Cover Reveal: Pieces of a Broken Soul by Jennifer Dante

Debut Book by Jennifer Dante

 

Pieces of a Broken Soul

Category: Poetry, Erotic

Pre-Order Today

Smashwords

Blurb

Spotlight: Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold by Iain Reading

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold is the thrilling first installment in a new young adult series of adventure mystery stories by Iain Reading. 

 

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold by Iaian Reading

This first book of the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series introduces Kitty Hawk, an intrepid teenage pilot with her own De Havilland Beaver seaplane and a nose for mystery and intrigue. A cross between Amelia Earhart, Nancy Drew and Pippi Longstocking, Kitty is a quirky young heroine with boundless curiosity and a knack for getting herself into all kinds of precarious situations.

After leaving her home in the western Canadian fishing village of Tofino to spend the summer in Alaska studying humpback whales, Kitty finds herself caught up in an unforgettable adventure involving stolen gold, devious criminals, ghostly shipwrecks, and bone-chilling curses.

Spotlight: Lolly by Jeff Stewart

Lolly: From Fishing to Fashion, Reeling in an Unlikely Fashion Sources by Jeff Stewart

The gulls glide on the wind and land on the famous rock planted in the tides while the ocean reaches for Asia. In a pub one mile inland and north, a writer’s chance meeting with the owners of a clothing company ignites an agreement─planting the seed for a novel about the blood, work, fate, and unyielding vision that confounded the fashion industry and left it examining the path of Lolly.

March of Time and Skin author Jeff Stewart navigates us through the start, deconstruction, and rebirth of Lolly Clothing, the salvation from the bottom of survival to the methods of their success. Told in a beautifully raw, stripped-down style, Lolly: From Fishing to Fashion, Reeling in an Unlikely Fashion Success takes us through the insides of the fashion company and their people with humor, heartbreak, and prose that introduce the fashion process through the world of the writer; moving us along from the effects of guts and consequences to the cathedral of Lolly, and the power of never listening to the odds.

RAK is Back!!

RAK is back...Secret Santa style!

This special Christmas Edition of RAK is going to run for TWO months instead of the usual one month! I'm looking forward to this!

Hosted by Book Soulmates

 

 

Button was created by Vanmar Designs exclusively for Book Soulmates

NEW RULES
(please read thoroughly)

Book Blast: Dead Dreams by Emma Right

Hosted by: WNL Virtual Book Tour: http://wnlbooktours.com/

 

Genre: Young Adult

Book Title: Dead Dreams, Book 1, a young adult contemporary psychological thriller and mystery

Print Length: 170 pages

Publisher: Right House Books; 2013 First edition (August 26, 2013)

Format: Kindle

ASIN: B00ESVEVBQ

 

 

Dead Dreams by Emma Right

Eighteen-year-old Brie O’Mara has so much going for her: a loving family in the sidelines, an heiress for a roommate, and dreams that might just come true. Big dreams--of going to acting school, finishing college and making a name for herself. She is about to be the envy of everyone she knew. What more could she hope for? Except her dreams are about to lead her down the road to nightmares. Nightmares that could turn into a deadly reality.

Guess What's Coming Out?! The Trap by Andrew Fukuda!

 

It's finally coming out: the third and final book in the Hunt Series by Andrew Fukuda! It's out November 5th!!! I am extremely excited for this book! I started reading the series earlier this year and was hooked. When I finished the second book, I had no idea that the third book wasn't out yet. I was frustrated because I really wanted to know more what would happen to Gene and Sissy. Now, I don't have to wait much longer. I can't wait for my copy to come in!!!

 

 

ABOUT THE TRAP: From author Andrew Fukuda comes The Trap, the explosive finale to The Hunt trilogy—perfect for fans of The Hunger Games!

After barely escaping the Mission alive, Gene and Sissy face an impossible task: staying alive long enough to stop an entire world bent on their destruction. Bound on a train heading into the unknown with the surviving Mission girls, Gene, Sissy, David, and Epap must stick together and use everything they have to protect each other and their only hope: the cure that will turn the blood-thirsty creatures around them into humans again. Now that they know how to reverse the virus, Gene and Sissy have one final chance to save those they love and create a better life for themselves. But as they struggle to get there, Gene's mission sets him on a crash course with Ashley June, his first love . . . and his deadliest enemy.

Author Interview: Linda David

 

Linda David: Author of The Firestone Crystal and The Hidden Realms of Firestone
 

1.     Describe the world you created in your Firestone series.

2013: October's Wrap-up & Nov's Plans

Can you believe it? It's already November! One more month after this and 2013 will be over!!! Wow, time has flown by super fast for me this year. It could be because I've been keeping myself super busy. But hey, I got some reading done:

Shadow and Bone Read-Along: Wrap-up Review

This wraps-up our read-along for Shadow and Bone! I had a great time doing this with Maria over at A Night's Dream of Books. I love being able to read a book with someone and having the chance to discuss it together. For this wrap-up, I am posting my review on this book.

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.