I am absolutely loving the Special Edition cover of Karen Schreck's While He Was Away. It's steamy and hot and oh-so drool worthy. While He Was Away By: Karen Schreck One year--he'll be gone for one year and then we'll be together again and everything will be back to the way it should be.
The day David left, I felt like my heart was breaking. Sure, any long-distance relationship is tough, but David was going to war--to fight, to protect, to put his life in danger. We can get through this, though. We'll talk, we'll email, we won't let anything come between us.
I can be an army girlfriend for one year. But will my sweet, soulful, funny David be the same person when he comes home? Will I? And what if he doesn't come home at all?...
Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys all the ones she doesn't
want. Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her. Then she saves
Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way
different: he can control water just like his brothers can control fire, wind,
and earth. They're powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.
And now that she
knows the truth, so is Becca.
Secrets are hard to
keep when your life's at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around
school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time,
Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris,
and Becca wonders who's hiding the most dangerous truth of all.
The storm is coming.
Review:
I
went to a yard sale a few summers ago and my mom bought this small little
trinket box for $2. When we got to the car and she opened it to expect it, she
found a diamond ring with a platinum setting inside. Needless to say, my mom
went back and returned the ring (a family heirloom that had been missing for
years), but I liken my reading of Storm
to that. I’ve had this copy of Storm
for months. Probably close to a year. A friend gave it to me, but it kept
getting shuffled to the bottom of the TBR, forgotten until I randomly starting
talking to the adorably sweet author, Brigid Kemmerer, this past week.
Reading
Storm was much like finding that
diamond ring—unexpectedly amazing and pulse pounding.
I
loved that this book was told in third person and shifted periodically to give
the reader a sense of what was going on in each character’s head. While the
story predominantly followed Becca, there was a good amount of time spent with
Chris and Hunter to give the reader a great feel about these two guys vying for
Becca’s attention. I’m one of those readers that likes to know the couple to
root for throughout the series in book 1 and keep going, but I’m genuinely at a
loss for who I want Becca to end up with. Both guys have amazing strengths and
flaws that complement Becca. I’m not a triangle fan, but because of the story
and all that was happening it just worked
here.
And
yes, there are five amazingly delectable guys in these pages. The Merrick
brothers reminded me a lot of the Curtis brothers (from S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders). Their family dynamic is
fascinating to watch. I could read a novel just about these four brothers in
their normal, everyday life. Each has such a strong, individual presence which
is necessary so as not to confuse them.
Storm is one of those books where you
literally hit the ground running and it doesn’t let up. From the first chapter
where Becca saves Chris to the very end, I felt like Kemmerer did a phenomenal
job of keeping a brisk, quick pace without ever losing me. The story moves, and
I anxiously kept turning pages to see how things would end up.
By
the time I was halfway through Storm
I went ahead and bought a finished copy of it as well as a copy of the sequel, Spark. I cannot wait to get them in the
mail today (!) so I can tell you how much I love Spark—Gabriel’s story. This is one series you can’t miss out on!
Love
or life. Henry
or their child. The
end of her family or the end of the world. Kate
must choose.
During nine months
of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and
a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn
child, and Kate can't stop her--until Cronus offers a deal.
In exchange for her
loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate
keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he'll destroy Henry, her mother and
the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart
until every last god and mortal is dead.
With the fate of
everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find
a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her
everything.
Even if it costs
her eternity.
Review:
2013
is going to be difficult a year because so many of my favorite series are
ending, and The Goddess Inheritance
by Aimee Carter marks the beginning of that end. This is the first final book
in a series I’ve read thus far for this year and it saddens me to know my
journey with Kate and Henry is over.
It’s
hard to say much about the plot because so much has happened in the previous
two books (The Goddess Test and Goddess Interrupted), but suffice to say
it all culminates in this book. Carter does a fantastic job driving the plot
and keeping up a quick, breathless pace to barrel you to the conclusion. All of
Kate’s trials and tribulations have led to this book, and it’s been a crazy and
fun ride.
My
only gripe, and maybe it’s just me being greedy, is that I felt there wasn’t
enough Henry and Kate as a couple in this book. Something always seemed to keep
them apart the entire series which frustrated me as a reader. I was totally on
board with their relationship and marriage, and I really expected The Goddess Inheritance to be pay off
for the long waits suffered in previous books. Unfortunately that pay off came
in the last three chapters of the last book. I could have gone for a lot more
of Henry and Kate (and even their baby) bonding. I feel a little cheated out of
that.
Fans
of Greek mythology will definitely want to snap this series up. The books are
quick reads and Carter’s writing is top notch. I’m sad to see this series end,
but I’m excited to see what Carter has in store for us next. She most assuredly
made a fan out of me with this series.
In less than 2 short weeks, the SCARLET, the sequel the Marissa Meyer's smash debut Cinder will arrive. Here's your chance to win an audiobook of SCARLET, book 2 in the Lunar Chronicles!
"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly waiting to get into our hands.
by: Aprilynne Pike Summary: Tavia Michaels is the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she starts to see strange visions of a boy she’s never spoken with in real life, she begins to suspect that there’s much about her past that she isn’t being told. Tavia will soon to discover that she’s an Earthbound—someone with the ability to create matter out of nothing—and that she alone holds the key to stopping the Reduciata, an evil society that manipulates global events for its own shadowy purposes. Tavia will ultimately have to make a choice: to come into her powers and save the world from the evil Reduciata or to choose free will and a love of her own. Why I Want It: I love Aprilynne Pike, and this book sounds like a fantastic blend of action, science fiction, and superheroes. I mean, Tavia could clearly be an X-Men recruit! Sounds like this will be a fantastic adventure. Lastly ... that cover is freaking amazing. Admit it! *Earthbound will be released July 30, 2013 from Razorbill*
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date:
9.18.2012
Pages: 368
Genre: Contemporary;
Paranormal
Series: Yes (Burn for Burn #1)
Source: Finished
copy provided by publisher
Rating: B+
Summary (from Goodreads):
BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY... THEY GET EVEN.
Lillia has never
had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when
one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little
sister.
Kat is tired of the
rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her
ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.
Four years ago,
Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And
she's ready to prove it to him.
Three very
different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't
stop until they each had a taste.
Review:
Prior
to reading Burn for Burn I had only
read one of the two authors. I was familiar with Jenny Han because of her Summer series (which I adored), but
Siobhan Vivian was an unknown entity to me. I had heard good things about her,
but never read her work. Sometimes when you get two authors together to write a
novel it shows. Authors have their own “voice” and way they write, and it can
show which author created certain parts of a novel. That simply wasn’t the case
with Burn for Burn. Maybe because
these two authors are best friends, maybe because they’re both extremely gifted
… Who knows? All I know is that they seamlessly blended their two styles into
one awesome book.
Kat,
Lillia, and Mary have all been wrong in their own right and are seeking their
own form of justice. My biggest issue was that it took a while to fall into a rhythm
with them. The chapters alternate perspective and with there being three
perspectives, it got a little confusing in the beginning. I frequently had to
remind myself who was who and considered making a chart to track them. By the
middle of the book it felt natural, but the beginning was a bit rough. I am
glad I stuck with it, though.
I
was a little stunned by the paranormal twist. It’s not a bad twist, but it was
really unexpected. I was thinking this was strictly contemporary, but that added
zing threw me for a loop. I’m hoping it gets expanded upon in future books
because it felt like the surface was barely scratched this time.
Here’s
the thing: Take this book for the fun it is. Vivian and Han are clearly having
fun writing this, so have fun reading
it. Don’t look for a deep, philosophical meaning. This book is the embodiment
of fluffy fun, and it’s also very much book one in a series which means there’s
a lot of groundwork being laid down. Yes, there are a few serious moments, but
as a whole, this is a book you should kick back and enjoy. Just got with it.
Rescued
by a stranger. Haunted by a secret Sometimes, love isn’t easy…
He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks
to a chance encounter, he became her savior…
The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet
the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much
faith in, threatened to tear them apart.
Only together could they fight the pain and
guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.
Review:
There
are crucial moments when you know you will just love a book forever. When I
finished the last page of Easy by Tammara
Webber, I set it down, and leaned back against my pillows with a sigh and a
grin because it was just that good.
When a book can elicit the same reaction as the sun warming my bones, I know it’s
special.
The
plot of Easy isn’t anything
revolutionary or groundbreaking. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It’s very
centered and real and that is what
pulled me in hard and fast. There was no trying to conjure images of imaginary
worlds; I could simply be in this world with Lucas and Jacqueline.
As
the female lead, Jacqueline is nothing extraordinary. She’s simply a girl
trying to find herself. Sometimes it’s a nice break to read about a girl who
isn’t trying to save the world, isn’t the hero all the time, and isn’t infallible.
Jacqueline’s humanity is what made me
love her. Granted, she annoyed me quite a bit when she starts insisting
everyone call her Jacqueline and not
Jackie. I get that Jackie was the person she was with her ex (a persona he
defined for her), but was the name really that big of a deal?
Every
relationship needs one person with the drama and issues, and that’s Lucas, but
here’s the thing: Yes, Lucas has a dark past that makes you hurt for him, but
he never once plays the sympathy card. He made mistakes and he learned from
them, and can’t we all take a lesson from that? His past is inevitably revealed,
but you never once think, “Poor, poor Lucas.” He’s a strong guy who grew even
strong through adversity.
This
is another one of those books that I’m kicking myself for not reading sooner.
It’s just awesome. I freaking love the way Webber tells a story. She doesn’t
try to be over sophisticated and flowery with her words. The chemistry she
created with these two characters scorched me. Absolutely fantastic.
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly
plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch,
waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.
. . .
Cinder, a gifted
mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past,
reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her
life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds
herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction.
Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets
about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Review:
I
really think my dog and I are the only ones who didn’t read Cinder, the stunning and original debut
by Marissa Meyer that blew up the YA world last year. A lot of times when a
book generates that much hype I tend to shy away from it. The only plus side is
that I now have a short wait to the sequel because I probably would have been
committed if I had to wait 13 months for the next installment in this series.
I
have always been a fan of fairy tales, but the retellings can be so hit or
miss. Taking the age old tale of the little cinder girl (aka Cinderella) and
making her a cyborg was sheer genius. I was a little worried that Cinder was
all robot, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. I absolutely loved Cinder—she was
heartbreakingly vulnerable one moment and then snarky and witty the next. She’s
such a selfless heroine, routinely risking her own happiness and life to
protect those she cares for. This girl is everything you could want in a
heroine and a narrator.
I’m
still not sure how I feel about Kai. There were moments I was swooning along
with the girls of New Beijing and others where I felt like I just wanted more. I can appreciate that he’s very
much a boy becoming a man and trying to figure out how that works while the
world watches. His position is not an enviable one, and I’m excited to see
where Meyer takes this character in the next books.
The
world building Meyer employs blew me away. I love how she managed to construct
this fictional world of New Beijing (of the entire Earth and Moon, really) so
that it wasn’t all that unbelievable. I don’t know if anyone else could blend
together the dystopian, science fiction, and fantasy genres to seamlessly. She
made it look easy and it’s a world I could routinely sink into.
If
you’ve been on the bubble about Cinder,
grab it now. The sequel, Scarlett,
comes out next month so you won’t have long to wait. You’ll only pull out half the hair on your head in
anticipation.
Anna remembers a time before boys, when she was little and everything
made sense. When she and her mom were a family, just the two of them against
the world. But now her mom is gone most of the time, chasing the next marriage,
bringing home the next stepfather. Anna is left on her own—until she discovers
that she can make boys her family. From Desmond to Joey, Todd to Sam, Anna
learns that if you give boys what they want, you can get what you need. But the
price is high—the other kids make fun of her; the girls call her a
slut. Anna's new friend, Toy, seems to have found a way around the
loneliness, but Toy has her own secrets that even Anna can't know.
Then comes Sam.
When Anna actually meets a boy who is more than just useful, whose family eats
dinner together, laughs, and tells stories, the truth about love becomes clear.
And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer.
Real, shocking, uplifting, and stunningly lyrical, Uses for Boys is a story of
breaking down and growing up.
Review:
I
had to pause a few days before writing this review because initially I finished
this book and felt really let down, but I think it’s because I didn’t gear
myself up for what kind of story this was. I expected a fluffy contemporary
novel with a girl who falls for a boy after a string of sufficiently awkward,
teenage relationships.
This
is not that book.
Uses for Boys is, in fact, a dark, at times
depressing story of a girl who finds her self-worth through boys and the things
she does to these boys and lets them do to her. Yes, I’m talking about sex. It’s
one subject Erica Lorraine Scheidt doesn’t shy away from.
Anna
is a sad little girl. She’s been emotionally (and somewhat physically) abandoned
by the adults in her life for years. This sets her on a spiral course for
trying to find people who value her and care for her. This girl craves love, but doesn’t know how to go
about getting it.
I
commend Scheidt for taking on this particular issue because, like it or not,
this is happening more and more anymore. Girls (and boys) are freely giving
away sex and other things/acts for a modicum of attention and something that
looks like love on a cloudy day. I’m not trying to stand on a soapbox and
preach, but there’s a real problem when statistics say 65% of kids have sexual
experience by the time they get out of middle
school. Now, I love romance as much as the next girl, and I’m someone who
understands that sex in young adult literature is reflective of the fact that
teens nowadays are sexually active.
But
rarely is the romance all flowers and eternal love like a lot of the fiction we
read. It’s more times than not what happens to Anna in this book. It’s broken
children who are looking for love in the wrong places.
Scheidt
has a fragmented, haunting style of writing that is eerily reminiscent of
Frances Block and the Weetzie Bat
series. It’s captivating and draws you in even as your insides twist for what
Anna is thinking and doing. You can help but ache for Anna and applaud Scheidt.
She is still naïve and innocent due to spending
the last three years taking care of her sick mother.
But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is
the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money,
his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons
he has never been told no.
Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama,
after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in
their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared
for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then
there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer
while he runs off to Paris with his wife. Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous.
He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her
and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire
knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…
Blaire just may have fallen too far.
Review:
When
I first heard about the “new adult” genre, everyone told me, “Read anything by
Abbi Glines.” While Glines and Fallen Too
Far were not my first stop on the NA train, I can certainly see why she has
gained such a fan base. There’s a certain charm and simplicity to her writing
that is wholly refreshing. It was a nice break from reality to sink into the
world she created.
Blaire
is an adorably loveable character. With the desperate circumstances and tragic
history, you can’t help but feel a ton of empathy for the girl. She’s been
through hell and is still fighting. Rush, however, was a hard character for me
to accept. He was so back and forth—annoyingly so in the beginning. It took a
lot for me to accept him as someone who might love Blaire.
There
were several time, though, that the story just felt too thin. Like too much was
going on. You had this looming secret, Blaire struggling to balance a new job,
new living situation, new friends, new enemies, new romance, Rush and his
issues … There was just so much. I
felt like the epicenter of the story (Blaire and Rush) got a little shafted
because of all this other unnecessary stuff. Either that, or the story need to
be lengthened to give more attention to these two.
There
is a great twist I didn’t see coming, and it really sets up the next book in
the series to kick off. I think my jaw may have dropped a bit for the big
reveal, and I’m anxious to see how this plays out and what happens to Blaire
and Rush.
If
it seems Glines has corner the new adult market, it’s because it’s true. She
writes complex characters struggling to find their adult identify while
wrestling with their adolescent issues. I’m excited to see where she takes this
story next.
This giveaway hop is hosted by the amazing Kathy @ I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf. It will run from January 18-24, 2013. I'll choose the winner on Jan. 25, 2013. This one is INTERNATIONAL! So best of luck and start thinking of which book you'd like to get!
The Prize:
You can win a book of choice up to $20 USD from:
if you live in the US, OR
if you live outside the US! That means this giveaway is international as long as The Book Depository ships free to you. Not sure? Check this list HERE. If you can buy 2 or 3 books with the $20, that works, too!
The Rules:
I will contact the winner via email and they will have 48 hours to reply to my email before another winner is chosen! Winner must be over 13.
Imagine my shock when the awesome Christina nominated me for Liebster! Thanks, sweetie!
The Liebster Blog Award is an award that is given by the blogging community to new up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. I’m modifying that requirement a bit and asking people I think might like some more traffic in general. The rules of the Liebster are as follows:
1) Tell 11 things about yourself. 2) Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you. 3) Post 11 questions for those who will be nominated by you. 4) Nominate 11. 5) Get in contact with those bloggers to inform them that you nominated them.
Here's the thing ... I honestly don't know who I would nominate for a Liebster (not that I don't know 11+ kick ass bloggers that deserve some recognition), so I'm making this an open forum. Feel free to swipe this post and put it up on your blog or answer in the comments ... It's honestly a great way for people to know more about a blogger.
Here are my 11 random facts:
1. Until I started The Irish Banana Review, I never used my real name online. I'm not kidding. When I was a teen, they were still incessantly drilling the evils of the internet and so I adopted a fake personna to use online that I used everywhere. I used my Spanish class name (Isabel) and this IsisIzabel was born. By the time I wanted to start using Hannah, everyone knew me as "IsisIzabel" or "Iz" and it was a mess. Which brings me to... 2. One of the things IsisIzabel was known for is fanfiction. Yes ... I wrote fanfic for years. I still have a livejournal account, fanfiction.net account, and several other places where you can find the stuff I wrote. Apparently I was decent at it - I won a few awards. I've always written, since I was a kid, but I stopped writing fanfiction to focus on writing my own original works, but fanfic writing really helped evolve my writing and I'm grateful for it. Hey, it worked for Cassandra Clare and E.L. James!
3. I've only ever lived in 2 states - Maryland and Virgina. 4. As a kid I was on swim team and dive team. I quit swim team to focus on my diving, but had a bad incident where I hit my head on the board and shied away from diving after that. 5. My niece is named after a literary figure (Aria from the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard). 6. I spent 6 years at a 2 year community college because I changed my major 3 times. I work in a field now that has nothing to do with my two AA degrees (Psychology and History) - I'm a medical research assistant. 7. I was heavily involved in missions trips with my church. I've traveled to Kentucky several times to help rebuild homes, and I went to Ukraine to teach English to college students there for a few weeks. 8. I am obsessed with music and finding artists my friends haven't heard of. I have a playlist for every possible mood on my iPod (there's like 25 playlists ... It's nuts). I will listen to a single song on repeat for weeks until I purge my obsession for it from my system. I listened to Florence + the Machine's "Drumming Song" 53 times in a single day. 9. My immediate family is a very tight-knit group, but my extended family not so much. I was never close to any of my grandparents (they're all deceased now) and I only see aunts, uncles, and cousins at weddings and funerals ... and even then not everyone shows up. 10. Until this summer I had never been further west than Chicago (I went to Arizona this summer for work). 11. I have no desire to get married and/or have children. At all. I'm very much a girl who likes to be by herself and find that if I can't have my "me time" I get quite irritable. As for children ... My policy is I love kids - as long as I can give them back. When they cry, make a mess, or something else yucky, I have no problem giving your child back.
11 Questions From Christina
1. Describe yourself in 3 words
Energectic ... Imaginitive ... Caring
2. What did you major in at college and do you actually use your degree now?
Me in Arizona
OK, I majored in English, Education, Nursing, and Paralegal. I have a degree in Pyschology and History, and no I don't really use them now.
3. Your life is going to become a script for a movie. Who would you want to play you?
Drew Barrymore. She's sweet and funny and doesn't look like the ideal Hollywood stick figure. I'm not a stick figure in case you couldn't tell.
4. Not counting family, what do you feel your greatest accomplishment is so far in life?
I dabbled in graphic design and designed a water bottle label for a fandom (the Jason and Elizabeth fan from General Hospital) that was passed around to everyone at an event the GH cast did. There's a pic of Steve Burton (Jason) holding it in a magazine.
5. If you had to live in a decade other than the current one, which would you choose?
I love the Wild West times. Using an outhouse would suck, but there's something about the 1840's-1890's I just love. Maybe it's the horses.
6. What is at the top of your bucket list?
Travel to Ireland. My family is originally from there and has a Coat of Arms there. (It's called The Irish Banana for a reason.)
7. Something you can’t leave the house without?
My inhaler. I'm a severe asthmatic. I have like 6 - one in my car, one at work, one in my purse, one in my room, and a couple others in different bags I frequently use.
8. What’s the last book you did not finish and why?
Intentionally didn't finish? Or didn't finish because I got distracted? I intentionally didn't finish Poison Princess by Kresley Cole. I got pulled away from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and didn't go back. Yet. I will.
9. If you were in a hit music band, what would it be called?
Oh, Lord, I have no idea. Maybe that's our name: The No-Ideas. Catchy, right?
10. Congratulations, you just won a billion dollars. What’s your first purchase?
A new house. A much bigger house. I'm kind of obsessed with big houses. It's not like I have a small house (for different reasons my family actually all lives together - 6 adults and soon a baby), but I love houses that have pools and spas and movie rooms and libraries. I want a house with a massive library.
11. What song would you pick to be the theme song of your life?
"Sweet Silver Lining" by Kate Voegele 11 Questions For You *Answer in the comments or start your own blog post* 1. What was your highest blogging point? 2. What was your lowest blogging point? 3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 4. Do you have a unique skill or weird something you can do that most people can't? 5. If you could only watch one movie the rest of your life, what would you watch? 6. You get an all expenses paid vacation anywhere you want and can bring up to 5 people - where do you go? Who do you take? 7. When is the last time you laughed so hard your sides ached? 8. If you were given $1 Million to be donated to a charity of your choice, which would you pick? 9. Who is your hero? 10. What would you do if you knew you could not fail? 11. Why did you start blogging?
I am absolutely loving the Special Edition cover of Karen Schreck's While He Was Away. It's steamy and hot and oh-so drool worthy.
