Weekly Roundup [9/23-9/29]

Happy last week of September! Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year (after Christmastime, that is…) and I can't wait for the leaves to start falling and sweater weather to become the norm. This past weekend I went home for the first time in six weeks and it was wonderful! I spent some quality time with my sister, which included seeing The Maze Runner, whipping up a delicious batch of Buckeyes, and going out for some Pei Wei (our favorite Asian restaurant). The Maze Runner was AMAZING and it definitely put me in the mood for some more James Dashner books. It was nice being able to relax at home and see my sister and puppy for three full days. My parents were out of town, but I was able to see them on Sunday for a little bit. While it definitely wasn't enough time to spend with them, I loved being able to catch up! I'm already dying to go back home, but it's back to school, exams, and homework for me. At least I have all of my books to keep me sane! 

Book Reviews

Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

When a Laird Takes a Lady by Rowan Keats

Memes

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Fall TBR List

Waiting On Wednesday (162)

Follow My Book Blog Friday (154)

Stacking the Shelves (117)

Miscellaneous

Release Day Launch: Stay With Me by Jennifer L Armentrout

Cover Reveal: Inspire by Cora Carmack

Book Review: When a Laird Takes a Lady

When a Laird Takes a Lady (Claimed by a Highlander #2)

By Rowan Keats

Release Date: May 6, 2014

Source: Publisher

Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Summary: In the Highlands of Scotland, honor and loyalty are worth more than life itself. But when a haunted woman meets a wronged warrior, love will prove more powerful than anything they have ever known.

Isabail Grant has had to be strong all her life. Over the years, she has lost everyone close to her, and now she’s seeking justice for her brother’s murder. But en route to Edinburgh to petition the king, she is kidnapped by a fierce warrior—and is shocked to find herself irresistibly drawn to her captor.

Aiden MacCurran is an outlaw. The laird of a small clan, he’s been falsely accused of killing the king’s courier and stealing the Crown’s property—and the key to clearing his name and redeeming his clan lies in Isabail’s memories. But Aiden and Isabail must first weather deceit and treachery before they can find the truth and claim the love that’s growing between them.

Review: Recently, I've become obsessed with the show Outlander and all I want to do is read books about highlanders. There's just something about a strong man in a kilt that just gets to me…so I knew it was about time I picked up my copy of this book from my shelf. 

Isabail Grant has lost those closest to her throughout the past couple of years and she'll to anything to seek justice over her brother's murder. On her way to Edinburgh to petition the king, though, she's kidnapped by a fierce highlander who is wanted for her brother's murder. Aiden MacCurren has been marked an outlaw after being framed for the murder of the king's courier and he'll stop at nothing to clear his name, which means capturing the only person who may know the identity of the man who actually committed the murder. Isabail isn't as willing to trust the man who she's learned to hate, but she can't deny the slow-burning attraction she has for the big and strong, yet surprisingly gentle man. Aiden and Isabail have to work together to find the truth over who really committed the murders, which leads to an attraction that's becoming harder and harder to resist. 

I love romances where the main couple are enemies that end up getting to know each other and fall for the person they discover beneath the rumors and lies. Aiden is so scary and intimidating in the beginning that Isabail is physically terrified of him before she gets to know him. I loved how she had to uncover who he really was and see his gentler side before she finally realizes that she's attracted to the dominating warrior. I think their romance did come a bit out of no where in regards to how Aiden acted around Isabail, but I still enjoyed how they both tried to fight their attraction since they were supposed to be enemies. Isabail sure was a feisty one when she was Aiden's prisoner and I loved how she wouldn't let him boss her around when she was living with his clan. Isiabail was very headstrong and was determined to either get answers or attempt to escape so that she could return to where she really belongs. She soon learned, though, that home may not be where she really belonged after all...

While the romances is always my favorite part of novels, I loved the mystery behind who really committed the murder that Aiden was accused of. There were so many secrets revolving around who Isabail could trust and what Aiden was hiding within his clan. There were a lot of action-filled moments where you didn't know who would live and who wouldn't. Oh, and there's an adorable dog that becomes attached to Aiden and it is the cutest thing ever. The other characters were great, too, and I especially liked Ana and how she had to work to earn the trust of others just like Aiden had to do with Isabail. No relationships are easy in this book and they really have to try hard in order to make them work. 

Overall, When a Laird Takes a Lady is an engaging highland romance that has plenty of action and an attraction that is impossible to deny. Isabail and Aiden have a very complicated relationship and the secrets and scandal that revolve around both of their lives make it difficult for either of them to trust one another, despite their intense attraction for one another. If you want a romance full of outlawed highlanders and a bitter hatred that turns into a passionate romance, you should check out When a Laird Takes a Lady.

Stacking the Shelves (117)

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

Watch on Youtube! 

I decided to do a Youtube video of all of the books I got in September in the mail, so make sure you watch it to learn more about all that I got! 

From Half Price Books

I told myself I wasn't going to, but I went back to the Half Price Books Warehouse sale on Sunday and everything was 50% off the sale price, so nothing was over $1. While everything was picked through and not that many great books were left, I got all of these for only $2.50. How awesome is that? And the Scott Westerfeld book is hardback and looks brand new, which I was really excited about. I've been meaning to read that series for awhile, so I guess I need to get my hands on book one before I start this one! 

From the Book Depository 

I finally caved and ordered Isla and the Happily Ever After from The Book Depository after seeing so many people posting reviews and pictures of the book. I just had to have my own copy! It took over a week for it to arrive and I was just dying to have it in my hands. It finally came and seeing that pretty package in my mailbox was definitely the highlight of my day. Now, if I only had the time to read this one before all of my other review books…

From Publisher

SO MANY BOOKS came for me while I've been at school for the past month. I am way beyond excited for all of these books. Maya Banks? Elizabeth Hoyt? Samantha Young? Jaci Burton? I definitely have some amazing reading ahead of me! For more information on what all I got, check out my video above! 

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

Follow My Book Blog Friday (154)

Follow My Book Blog Friday 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: What book character(s) would you like to see with their own twitter page? 

Answer: Oooh, what an interesting question! I've started going on twitter a bit more within the past two weeks and have quickly realized how addicting it can be! There is so much to see and so much to post, so it's almost impossible to leave once I've gotten on there. But who are book characters who I'd love to see with their own twitter account? Hmmm, I'd have to say…

Cath from Fangirl. Cath is so devoted to her fans with her fan fiction that I feel like she would always update her twitter with something fun and witty. 

Travis from Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster. I just finished reading Walking Disaster and absolutely loved seeing Beautiful Disaster from Travis's point of view. So much more goes on and seeing things from Travis's perspective is definitely very interesting. I think he'd be a lot of fun to follow on twitter, if he didn't think he was too cool to have a twitter, that is...

Augustus Waters from The Fault In Our Stars. This book is just so quotable that I can only imagine the profound, amazing things Gus would say in 140 characters or less. 

Book Review: Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2)

By Jamie McGuire

Release Date: April 2, 2013

Source: Own (SIGNED!) Copy

Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Summary: Can you love someone too much?

Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

Review: I was already obsessed with Abby and Travis's story in Beautiful Disaster, but reading everything from Travis's perspective was just so much more. Instead of getting the same exact story as the first book, we get to fall in love even more with Travis and enter his beautiful, disastrous life. 

Travis Maddox is used to living life in the fast lane. With an endless line of girls out his door and a place as the champion in the underground fighting ring at his school, he couldn't ask for more. Until Abby Abernathy walks into his life. Travis is enthralled with this feisty girl who doesn't fall for his charms and he soon realizes that she's the one. The only one. But Abby doesn't need someone like Travis in her life and Travis knows she's way too good for him. What Travis also knows, though, is that he can't live without her and will do whatever it takes to keep his pigeon his forever. 

I'm literally just staring at the screen not sure how I can even start talking about this book. Being inside of Travis's head was unlike anything I've ever read. I don't think I've ever read a romance from the guy's perspective except for Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover, and that was a pretty phenomenal book. There's always that fear, though, that a retelling is going to be exactly like the first book, but Walking Disaster is anything but a retelling. We're let inside of the dark and possessive mind of Travis Maddox and it is absolutely beautiful. We skip over parts that weren't as important as they were to Abby in Beautiful Disaster so that we can focus on the intense moments that really affected Travis, like his fights, moments with his family, and the times when him and Abby weren't together. Some people had a problem with how possessive Travis was in the first novel (which I totally didn't have a problem with), but everything he did makes so much more sense after seeing why he did it and I just fell in love with that man even more. 

I already got to watch this couple fall in love once, but watching them fall in love again through the eyes of Travis was so different than watching it from Abby's eyes. This is a real first for Travis and we get to see how truly changed he is after Abby comes into his life. It's fun to see the moments where him and Abby weren't on the same wavelength because we get to see exactly what he was thinking while Abby was thinking the complete opposite. We also get to see Travis at his lowest and my heart just broke as he fell apart without Abby. His reactions to Abby's actions were so heart wrenching and made Abby and Travis's relationship that much more real to me. Also, I loved how we got to know Shep and Travis's family even better than in the first book. Everyone in Travis's life comes alive and becomes a much bigger part in the story. 

Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised how utterly amazing this book was. While the ending threw me for a loop initially, I thought it was an interesting, unexpected way to end Abby and Travis's story. And we get Trent's story next in the third book!! Excuse me while I go hunt down a copy right now because I don't think I can wait any longer to get another story about the maddening Maddox men that are just too irresistible. If you haven't already, you have to pick up Jamie McGuire's Beautiful series. You're missing out on a new adult romance that will stay in your head for weeks after finishing it. 

Cover Reveal: Inspire by Cora Carmack

We are thrilled to bring you the cover of Cora Carmack's Inspire! Inspire is a New Adult Paranormal Romance novel and is due to be released on December 15, 2014!

 

The cover was designed by VLC Productions.

Add INSPIRE on Goodreads

About INSPIRE: Kalliope lives with one purpose. To inspire. As an immortal muse, she doesn’t have any other choice. It’s part of how she was made. Musicians, artists, actors—they use her to advance their art, and she uses them to survive. She moves from one artist to the next, never staying long enough to get attached. But all she wants is a different life— a normal one. She’s spent thousands of years living lie after lie, and now she’s ready for something real. Sweet, sexy, and steady, Wilder Bell feels more real than anything else in her long existence. And most importantly… he’s not an artist. He doesn’t want her for her ability. But she can’t turn off the way she influences people, not even to save a man she might love. Because in small doses, she can help make something beautiful, but her ability has just as much capacity to destroy as it does to create. The longer she stays, the more obsessed Wilder will become. It’s happened before, and it never turns out well for the mortal. Her presence may inspire genius. But it breeds madness, too.

About the Author

Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.  

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Author Goodreads

 

Waiting on Wednesday (162)

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

Lies We Tell Our Selves

By Robin Talley

Release Date: September 30, 2014

Summary: In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.

Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.

Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town’s most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept “separate but equal.”

Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another.

Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.

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I've already read so many great reviews on this novel and am very curious about it. This one is a YA book that deals with some pretty heavy topics, but in a very unique way. And that cover! I love it. We'll see if I end up reading this one and it's as good as the initial readers made it out to be!