Blog Tour + Giveaway: The Unfailing Light by Robin Bridges

That's right! It's been forever since I've been a part of a blog tour, so I'm super excited to be a stop on this one! The Unfailing Light is the second book in The Katerina Trilogy and it's so good so far! Here's more about it :)

The Unfailing Light

By Robin Bridges

Release Date: October 9, 2012

Summary: Lush and opulent, romantic and sinister, The Unfailing Light, Volume II in The Katerina Trilogy, reimagines the lives of Russia's aristocracy in a fabulously intoxicating and page-turning fantasy.

Having had no choice but to use her power has a necromancer to save Russia from dark forces, Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, now wants to forget that she ever used her special powers. She's about to set off to pursue her lifelong dream of attending medical school when she discovers that Russia's arch nemesis--who she thought she'd destroyed--is still alive. So on imperial orders, Katerina remains at her old finishing school. She'll be safe there, because the empress has cast a potent spell to protect it against the vampires and revenants who are bent on toppling the tsar and using Katerina for their own gains. But to Katerina's horror, the spell unleashes a vengeful ghost within the school, a ghost more dangerous than any creature trying to get in. ***Review soon to come***

If you haven't seen it yet, here's the book trailer for Robin's first book The Gathering Storm! Maybe that'll finally convince you to check out this great series! 

***Giveaway***

Thanks so much to Random House Children's Books, I've got one copy of this awesome book to giveaway! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win! ***US only***

Giveaway ends October 15

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***Check out the tour***

Make sure you stop by the rest of the stops of The Unfailing Light tour! See what everyone else has to say about this fabulous book and enter even more giveaways to increase your chances of winning!

September 24^th: Smitten Over Books

September 25^th: Casey’s Crew

September 26^th: Much Ado About Books

September 26^th: The Streetlight Reader

September 27^th: Infinite Reads

September 28^th: The Hiding Spot

September 29^th: Girls *Heart* Books

October 1^st: Mom Reads My Books

October 2^nd: Magical Urban Fantasy Reads

October 2^nd: The Book Review Club

October 3^rd: The Book Review Club

October 4^th: Kimba Caffeinated

October 4^th: My Life is a Notebook

October 5^th: My Life is a Notebook

October 6^th: Candace’s Book Blog

October 7^th: Reader Girls

October 8^th: Bookish

October 8^th: Peace, Love, Books

October 9^th: YA Bibliophile

October 9^th: Reader Girls

October 10^th: Wastepaper Prose

October 10^th: Imaginary Reads

October 11^th: Imaginary Reads

October 12^th: Well Read Wife

October 15^th: Libby Blog

October 16^th: Cracking the Cover

October 17^th: A Bookish Libraria

October 18^th: A Novel Review

October 19^th: In the Best Worlds

October 20^th: Tripping Over Books

Stacking the Shelves (22)

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

From Edelweiss

I only got one book this week, but boy does it look good! I finally got an Edelweiss account and can now get advanced ecopies of the best romances ever (aka Avon Romances)!! I'm so excited to see how many more good reads I can snag from this website! I haven't been able to read a good historical romance in quite some time, so I'm excited to get into this one! 

And that's it for me! What about you all? I'd love to hear what you added to your shelves this week, so don't hesitate to share :)

Book Review: Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Juliet Immortal

By Stacey Jay

Release Date: August 9, 2011

Source: Christmas Gift

Summary: Fans of Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver and Becca Fitzpatrick'sHush will relish this intense paranormal love story featuring Romeo and Juliet, literary history's most tragic couple, who meet again, not as true lovers, but truly as enemies.

The most tragic love story in history . . .

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.

"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume."
—Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Review: That's right. I FINALLY read this book! I've had it ever since Christmas, I just haven't had the room in my TBR list to read it until I was finally able to squeeze it in! And am I glad I did! 

Everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet, but what if Shakespeare's greatest love story was a lie? Juliet has been forced to spend centuries in and out of other people's bodies, spending her time saving soul mates. Soul mates like she believed Romeo was, but instead he ended up killing her and has spent the time since then showing up in each of her lives trying to kill her again. 

This time, though, things are different. Juliet wakes up in the body of Ariel, an outsider who's one best friend treats her like dirt and who's recent chance at a boyfriend ends up being the result of a bet. Juliet takes over Ariel's life, keeping her eye out for the two soul mates she must ensure realize their true love. The only problem, though, is that the soul mates end up being her so-called best friend and the guy Juliet runs into the first day in Ariel's body who just can't seem to get out of her head. 

I absolutely loved this rendition of Romeo and Juliet. Though it was confusing at times as to who Romeo and Juliet actually worked for, the whole idea of Juliet saving soul mates was so sweet. And when one of those soul mates just happens to be the gorgeous, caring guy she had met the night before, you know things are about to get juicy! Not only does she have to worry about the soul mates and her own heart, Romeo is still on the loose trying to get to her when she least expects it. Talk about a tough life. 

I can't believe it took me so long to read this one, because I was definitely missing out on a great story! I've got the next one in the series waiting for me at home and I absolutely can't wait to get into it! This one ended with such a good cliff-hanger that I really can't wait to see what's going to happen next! If you haven't read this one yet, go out and read it now! You're missing out on a great story that has a sequel waiting for you to dive right into because you won't be able to get enough of these characters!

Follow My Book Blog Friday (57)

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: What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Is it to one day become an author yourself, just for fun, maybe to get some online attention, or maybe something very different? 

Answer: Hmmm, you know what? I haven't really thought about getting anything out of blogging other than having an outlet for my obsession for books. I have always loved to read, and now that I have a way to connect with people all over the world, receive free books to review, and share my own opinions on books, I can't believe how lucky I am. Seriously. If you dangle a book in front of me, I'm all yours...

Reading has been a way of life that I've been so lucky to have for as long as I can remember. Blogging is a way to make my nerdiness epic and cool instead of, well, nerdy. To anyone who ever makes fun of me for reading, I'm just like...

Please, does your blog have over 1,200 followers? Yeah, that's what I thought. Haha, so basically my blog is just a way to share how awesome reading is. I don't want to use it for any serious, professional aspirations because then I feel like the fun would just be sucked out of it. I absolutely love blogging and it's my way of getting away from life and doing something I really love. I don't want to lose any of its enjoyment, so I'm fine keeping things just the way they are. As long as I have my blog and my books, nothing can ever go wrong :)

Waiting On Wednesday (59)

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

Just One Day

By Gayle Forman

Release Date: January 8, 2013

Summary: A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon!

I haven't read any of Gayle Forman's other books, but once I discovered this one I just haven't been able to get it out of my head! This sounds like the absolutely perfect contemporary romance that it even involves Shakespeare! Allyson's journey sounds so amazing as she travels through France and England, looking for her true love. I just sigh thinking about what a fantastic read this is going to be. But it doesn't come out until January??? Why??? I really hope this book is worth the wait because I want this in my hands right now! Haha, guess I'll see it in January...

Weekly Roundup [9/25-10/1]

It's October! Woo hoo! I feel like September just flew by, but I'm so ready for another month to begin! I have so many amazing books lined up to read this month, so I know it's going to be awesome! Until then, here's what went on during the last week of September!

Reviews

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Touched by Cyn Balog

Memes

Waiting On Wednesday (58)

Follow My Book Blog Friday (56)

Stacking the Shelves (21)

Blogspiration (13)

Blogspiration (13)

This is a meme I found hosted by Growing Up YA and Saz101. Bloggers post something that inspires them every week and shares it with their followers! I love this idea, so I decided to try it out! Every Monday I'll share a picture/quote/video of something (most likely book related) that's inspired me this week :) 

I know it's been forever since I've posted a Blogspiration, but I found this picture and just had to share it because it was so perfect!

This definitely perfectly describes how I've been feeling lately in this cool Fall weather. All I want to do is curl up with a good book and a hot cup of tea and I'll be in heaven! Sadly, I have classes to attend, meetings to go to, and homework to do, so this isn't really possible for me to achieve all too often :(

But I hope you guys are all able to enjoy reading a great book with a cup of tea in you hand because if that's not a well spent day, I don't know what is!