Follow My Book Blog Friday (89)

This is a meme hosted every Friday by Parajunkee, where book bloggers answer a question each week and check out how others answered it. It's a cool way for bloggers and viewers to connect and learn more about each other!

Question: The #FF is 150 weeks old! And we want to hear from you! What would you change about the hop? What do you like about it? Or just suggest a question to be used for next week!

Answer: Hmmm I really do love this hop! The only thing I don't really like are activity challenges where we have to take pictures of stuff...because those always happen while I'm at school and most of my books and favorite places to read are back home. So they're difficult to participate in! Other than that, I really love answering these questions this week! Keep up the awesome work at running this meme! 

Waiting On Wednesday (92)

This is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where every Wednesday bloggers highlight a book that they are eagerly anticipating the release of!

The Chaos of Stars

By Kiersten White

Release Date: September 10, 2013

Summary: Isadora’s family is seriously screwed up.

Of course, as the human daughter of Egyptian gods, that pretty much comes with the territory. She’s also stuck with parents who barely notice her, and a house full of relatives who can’t be bothered to remember her name. After all, they are going to be around forever—and she’s a mere mortal.

Isadora’s sick of living a life where she’s only worthy of a passing glance, and when she has the chance to move to San Diego with her brother, she jumps on it. But Isadora’s quickly finding that a “normal” life comes with plenty of its own epic complications—and that there’s no such thing as a clean break when it comes to family. Much as she wants to leave her past behind, she can’t shake the ominous dreams that foretell destruction for her entire family. When it turns out there may be truth in her nightmares, Isadora has to decide whether she can abandon her divine heritage after all.

Ooooh, a story about Egyptian gods? Well, the human daughter of Egyptian gods? That sounds so cool! And the fact that she's kind of sort of seeing the future in her nightmares is really cool. I can't wait to see how this one turns out!

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Covers of Books I've Read

This is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where each week bloggers share a list of books for the prompt given. So hopefully I'll have a new list to share with you all each week!

This Week's Topic: Top Ten Favorite Book Covers of Books I've Read

Oh you have NO idea how excited I am about this week's topic. I'm a serious book cover snob and I totally judge books by their cover. A lot of the books I own right now are because I just loved the cover and couldn't wait to add it to my shelf. Haha, and that's why my TBR pile is so big! Anyways, here's a list of ten covers I think are fabulous!

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

2. Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

3. The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag

4. God Save the Queen by Kate Locke

5. Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

6. Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt

7. Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

8. Adorkable by Saraa Manning

9. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

10. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Weekly Roundup [5/14-5/20]

Hey guys! I'm super excited because right now I'm typing this post from my flat in LONDON, ENGLAND! How cool is that? I'll be here for the next six weeks taking two summer classes, one on Shakespeare and one on 17th century Poetry and Prose, and I could not be more excited. Hopefully I'll still have time to read and stay up to date with everything on here! I was able to do a ton last week seeing as I had no school or anything, so hopefully I can keep up the good work next week!

Book Reviews

The Year of Luminous Love by Lurlene McDaniel

Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

Haven Creek by Rochelle Alers

Memes

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Dealing With Tough Subjects

Waiting On Wednesday (91)

Follow My Book Blog Friday (88)

Stacking the Shelves (51)

Miscellaneous 

Giveaway: Impostor by Susanne Winnacker

Literature for London

Book Review: Haven Creek by Rochelle Alers

Haven Creek 

By Rochelle Alers

Release Date: May 28, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: Home is where the heart is. 

Architect Morgan Dane has always lived according to a plan, crossing off her achievements one by one. But when she's offered her dream job-the restoration of historic Angels Landing Plantation on beautiful Cavanaugh Island-Morgan's life takes an unexpected turn.

Carpenter Nathaniel Shaw once took a big chance on commitment-and lost. Needing the healing comforts of home, he returns to Haven Creek to join the family business. Nothing in the small town has changed-except for Morgan Dane. The wallflower he knew in high school has grown into a beautiful woman . . . and stirs feelings Nate isn't sure he's ready for.

Together Nate and Morgan find a happiness neither could have predicted. But when secrets from the past come to light, their budding relationship is threatened. Will they play it safe, or risk their hearts to build a life together?

Review: Rochelle Alers' books are so sweet, so I was super happy to have the chance to take a break from the more serious books I've been reading and relax with the inhabitants of Haven Creek. 

Morgan is an architect whose number one priority is her job. When she's offered the chance to restore Angels Landing Plantation, she immediately jumps on the chance. But for the restoration she needs a skilled, reliable carpenter, so she goes to Nate for help. Nate, the guy who was four years older than her and who she was madly in love with all throughout high school. Now that those days are long gone and Morgan isn't the same awkward teenager as she was then, Nate feels things for Morgan he never thought he could feel again after his nasty divorce from his model wife. Nate and Morgan grow closer, but can they really learn to let someone into their heart after the devastating heartbreaks they've felt in the past? 

Like I said, Rochelle's books are incredibly sweet and this one is no exception. You can't help but fall in love with the small town these characters live in and their southern charm is so adorable. I loved the flirty banter Nate and Morgan had, because it helped things stay light and cute in their relationship. Things didn't develop too fast, but at just the right pace, so their relationship was believable and fun to follow along. 

Not only was the relationship aspect of the novel great, but it actually had a good storyline with great secondary characters that had stories of their own to add to the novel. So even though Nate and Morgan are spending time getting to trust each other, the lives of all the other people in the town are still going on and we're able to get a glimpse of what's going on with them as well. 

So overall, I loved this book. It was a quick, cute read that I just couldn't get enough of. If you're in the mood for something light and romantic, I'd definitely recommend picking up a Rochelle Alers book! You won't be disappointed!

Book Review: The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

The Beautiful and the Cursed

By Page Morgan

Release Date: May 14, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: After a bizarre accident, Ingrid Waverly is forced to leave London with her mother and younger sister, Gabby, trading a world full of fancy dresses and society events for the unfamiliar city of Paris.

In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbingly, the house Ingrid’s twin brother, Grayson, found for them isn’t a house at all. It’s an abandoned abbey, its roof lined with stone gargoyles that could almost be mistaken for living, breathing creatures.

And Grayson has gone missing.

No one seems to know of his whereabouts but Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant at their new home.

Ingrid is sure her twin isn’t dead—she can feel it deep in her soul—but she knows he’s in grave danger. It will be up to her and Gabby to navigate the twisted path to Grayson, a path that will lead Ingrid on a discovery of dark secrets and otherworldly truths. And she’ll learn that once they are uncovered, they can never again be buried.

Review: Wow. I had never heard of this book before, so when it showed up on my doorstep, I wasn't really sure how it would turn out. When I read the summary, I was really intrigued because it a) takes place in Paris in 1899 and b) is about gargoyles coming alive as living creatures. Needless to say, I knew this one would be unlike any other book I've read. 

After an accident gone horribly wrong, Ingrid's family leaves for Paris, where her mother can open a gallery in an old abandoned abbey her brother had scouted out before the rest of their family arrived. When they get there, though, her brother is nowhere to be found. The only person who seems to know anything is Luc, one of the workers of the abbey and a handsome boy with many secrets of his own. Ingrid goes to try to find out what happened to her brother, and enters a dark world where she discovers some secrets about herself along the way. 

I absolutely loved this book. Who would have thought that gargoyles could be so cool and incredibly irresistible? Not only was the action and the whole world of demons and angels really enticing, but the added romance was the perfect touch to make this story impossible to put down. 

Ingrid's character was great and I loved how she was vulnerable, yet could hold her own when it came to uncovering who she really was as a person. Add to the fact that her brother is missing and hellhounds are trying to kill her at every corner, and you get a fierce girl who will do anything for her family. Not only was Ingrid a great character, but I loved her sister Gabby, Luc, and Nolan. I especially loved Luc and Nolan because they really cared about the girls and they were so cute about protecting them. 

The whole 1899 society of this book made it so great with the rules of society that Ingrid and her sister were expected to follow. And it's in Paris! Ingrid's environment was definitely a great aspect of the novel. You can't help but get lost in their world and I was definitely on the edge of my seat at the end. The whole gothic element was awesome and I just couldn't get enough of it. If you're a fan of the darker historical YA books, you should definitely check this one out! You get monsters, demons, angels, unexplained powers, and a little bit of romance added to the mix. What more could you ask for?

Stacking the Shelves (51)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers share what they got throughout the week!

From Publisher

 

I got some really good ones this week! I haven't heard of any of them, but they all sound like fantastic reads. The last two are actually the third and the second books in their series, so I don't know if I want to go into them right away or check out the previous books from the library first. I guess I'll have to see if it makes sense as a stand alone or not!

From Half Price Books

Of course, as soon as I get home for the summer the very first store I visit is Half Price Books. I sold back some textbooks that my school wouldn't buy back and picked up these two books to take home with me! I love Anne Stuart's books and Miracle on Regent Street has been on my TBR list for awhile and I was so excited to find it for only $2! So I can't wait to dig into these :)

That's it for me! What did you all add to your shelves this week?