Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where bloggers like me get the chance to share what makes their hands get all grabby.

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy.

So if you were on the blog yesterday, you'd notice that I've actually already read this book.  Well, you see, the book I read was a review copy that was passed on from blogger to blogger for the ARC tour.  This means that I do not have a copy of this book.  Which means that I am absolutely dying to get my hands on a nice hardcover copy of this one.  I just--can't--wait. *twitches* 

And have you seen this cover?  Absolutely gorgeous!  And if you have not read The Girl of Fire and Thorns, the first book in the sequel, I suggest you do.

So what are all of you waiting for?

Crown of Embers by Rae Carson ARC Tour

The Synopsis:
In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.
Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy.
My Thoughts:
Though she may not think herself completely ready for the role of being queen, life moves on and there's an entire kingdom waiting for her to order around.  However, her destiny isn't ready to let her go just yet.  And this time, there's more at stake.  This time around, she travels far with friends and strangers in search of her Godstone's main power source in hopes of it helping save her crumbling kingdom.  Except, destiny has its own idea as to what  Elisa should do.

I wasn't all that crazy about The Girl of Fire and Thorns.  I loved all the adventure included in it and all of the action.  It was awesome.  Many things happened and I was glued to the book.  However, I wasn't all too thrilled with the religious aspect of it.  But religious aspect aside, I thought the book was pretty cool.  And there was a lot of death.

Maybe I should have reread TGoFT because for some strange reason, I could barely remember a single thing about it other than the Invernos and animagi and Humberto dying.  (I was devastated when he bit the dirt.)  I'm usually good at remembering the names of the people and everything, but when I first opened up The Crown of Embers, I was stumped.  Big time.  However, I might add that I enjoyed the sequel much more than first. 

Elisa is one character I really admired.  Her kidnapping in the first book really changed her into a strong and keen.  She was observant and very smart.  Elisa was totally badass and I loved getting into her mind again in this book.

Fantasy will always be one of my favorite genres in fiction.  It is made of awesome and sparkles.  They're the epics to the Greeks in my mind.  The Crown of Embers is full of deadly adventure, sweet and teasing romance, and unsolved mystery.  It was gripping and magical, everything and more I could have wanted from Carson's writing.  The writing itself was beautiful and poetic with enchanting imagery.  To sum everything up, I immensely enjoyed this book.

Inbetween by Tara Fuller

Thanks, Entangled Pub and NetGalley for this e-galley copy of the book!

The Synopsis:
Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky — and unending — lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left…his soul.


My Thoughts:
I'm not even sure what I even want to say about this book.  I loved it, that's for sure.  I haven't read many reaper books, but that could be also due to the fact that there aren't many reaper reads out there.  Not being a fan of death, I was a little hesitant to begin this book.  But not only was I hearing really good things about this book, there was also the fact that this book had an awesome story line.  I mean, how sweet is it that a dead guy is in love with a living girl?

What I really liked about this book was the alternating point of views between the two main character, Finn and Emma.  Not only did I get to see how tortured and love-filled Finn was, but I also got to get into Emma's confused and frazzled mind.  Finn, no matter how stalker-ish he seemed to be, had honest intentions to protect Emma even if he is breaking all the rules.  And then there was Emma who was sweet and determined and . . . falling in love with a dead guy.

I loved this book.  The idea for it was tragic and heart wrenching.  I could not stop reading it on my laptop, speeding through all the pages, waiting to see what will happen for Emma and Finn.  Maeve was such an evil villain and a good antagonist at that.  She created such a problem for Emma and Finna and I would find myself frowning and pulling back from my laptop thinking, 'Man, she is eeeeviill.  Must you do that to poor Finn?'.  Gasping was probably involved in there somewhere, too. 

It was so good I'm not sure what exactly to say about Inbetween.  This wasn't the kind of book I usually read.  The whole book mostly centered around the romance, but obviously I didn't mind it much since I'm writing a positive review about it here.  It was dark with a glimmer of hope surrounding the entire story, sweet and surprising and an entertaining read for those who enjoy both contemporary and action-packed novels.  I can't wait to read more by Tara Fuller and I hope to read many more sweet and dark stories.

Cheers!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a  weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where bloggers like me can show what I can't wait to read next.

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home—and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia’s origin—a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost. This is a supremely compelling debut novel that blends the awakening romance of Matched with the mystery and jungle conspiracy of Lost.

Are you as excited as I am for next year's Breathless Reads?  I mean, have you seen the lineup?  These books just look so awesome, and Origin and certainly the one I'm most looking forward to.

First of all, the cover looks pretty interesting, no?  I love all the leaves and colors in it.  I think, with the blank person taking front and center on the cover that it makes it mysterious, and if the synopsis is comparing this book to Lost, then I know that this book will have a thrilling adventure.

I cannot tell you how much I look forward to reading this book.  It seems wild and untamed, an exciting read I'm sure everyone will enjoy.

Sweet Evil Blog Tour and Giveaway

Welcome! And this is my stop on the Sweet Evil blog tour hosted by Fall Into Books!

And for those of you who didn't catch my review, here it is:



The Synopsis:

Embrace the Forbidden
What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?
This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

My Thoughts:

Sweet Evil was not bad at all. It was grand. I loved it. The beginning at first was a bit slow for me and I thought it highly impossible for our main character, Anna, to be such a Goodie-Goodie. But, I thought I should not judge her because I have been called a Goodie-Goodie throughout high school and much worse. I decided to like our dear and fragile Anna.

Not to take words from my previous review, but this book was not what I expected it to be. Surprisingly, a lot happened in Sweet Evil. A trip across the country all the way to California, another to New York. It all happened so fast. Despite how fast paced it was, I liked it that way. It kept me at the edge of my seat, craving to know what would happen next. And at times, I was just as scared and nervous as Anna. My heart would beat fast and my mind would spin with all the possibilities of what could happen next.

And at other times, the pace would slow down. But it was a good slow-down. I treasured every moment Kaidan and Anna had, along with other moments between others. It was sweet. It wasn't the sappy and mushy kind of sweet, though. It was intense and albeit, brief at times.

And then there was the evil. Demons threaten the normalcy of humans, making them do sinful things. Anna is torn between helping them all, sheltering them all from the evil that lurked around, and joining in with all the wrongdoings going on. It was a constant struggle that had my heart torn. Who wouldn't want to give in here and there? How could others let all of these bad things happen to all those humans? What could be done about it?

Switching the subject, I'll talk about Kaidan a bit. Whoo. He had my heart racing along with Anna's. He was not sweet. He was not innocent. He was deadly. He was scary. But, there was something there that Anna saw in him. It was other than his natural pull he gave off because of his Nephilim sexiness. He was a true mystery that made me question everything he did and why.

I'll make this quick! Five stars! No doubt about it. Miss Higgins, I will be looking out for other books by you! L-O-V-E-D Sweet Evil. It was the right amount of wrong. <------See what I did there?  Sweet Evil . . .right amount of wrong . . .

And here's my interview with Wendy right here:

What inspired you to write Sweet Evil?
Life. :) Truly, everything in my life lent itself - people I’ve known, things I’ve experienced, books I’ve read, heartbreaks I’ve suffered, friendships I’ve embraced...just everything.

Hmm.  That's a really great answer because I feel that in any great story, there's a ringing sense of experience within it.

Did you always want to be an author?
It was always my “dream job” - as in, the job I never thought I’d actually get to do.

It's mine, too!

What does it feel like to be published?
It feels amazing, and surreal, and I’m humbled by it every single day.

Aww!  That's so sweet. :)

I know this, but I'm not sure if others do, but can you explain what is going on with Sweet Hope?
Sweet Hope is my sequel, and it’s under consideration with the publisher. I am hoping to have news this fall.

Le sighh.  I hope so, too!  I wanna know what happens next with Anna and Kaidan!

What has been your favorite part of being an author?
Interacting with readers/fans and other writers. When people get excited about my story, I get all giddy and want to squee with them, lol. I’m a fangirl of these characters, too, so it’s beyond exciting that other people “get” what I’m feeling.

Happy to be a part of your fan club. *bows*

So what do you think of Daemon Black from the Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout? Do you think Kai and Daemon would get along well?

I’m sooo crazy for Daemon. I think Daemon and Kai would be trouble together - they’d probably drive Katy and Anna crazy with their naughty, teasing banter.  I could see them feeding off each other’s energy...rawr.

Mmmm.  I can only imagine . . .

Chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate.

Tom or Jerry?
I go back and forth about which one I feel bad for. I think I’m Team Tom. Or maybe Team Jerry. *sigh* Oh, I hate being torn.

I feel your pain.

And now for my giveaway!

• Keep in US only, please.
• Must be 13 years or older.
• This giveaway starts on August 21st and ends on September 2nd.
• And no cheating because that makes me sad. :(  Be decent, people.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

The Synopsis:
Can true love be forgotten?
As the only scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.
Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out--a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder.
As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen's sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.
Josephine Angelini's compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling "Starcrossed" delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds all expectations.

My Thoughts:
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love Greek mythology.

Dreamless picks up almost just where Starcrossed left off.  Lucas and Helen are 'cousins' and Helen is still getting used to the idea that she's the Descender.  And lemme tell ya, her visits to the Underworld are not pleasant.  Not at all.  And then there's Orion, mystery hand and mouth dude that comes to Helen's aid.  The stakes are even higher and this one and the danger is even worse.

I felt that Helen's character much improved from the first book.  She was stronger emotional wise.  Her mind was more stable without the Furies screaming in her ears and a clear goal in her mind.  Her badass self, a trait I certainly love to see in YA, was awakened with the truth she was so hard trying to hide all her life.  I didn't like her personality in Starcrossed; I didn't find her noteworthy, but she definitely made herself worthy in this book.

Now, I have to say.  I just have to.  I love these demigod hotties!  My heart still goes out to Lucas, but I also liked Orion.  Although he needed a haircut, I loved his intelligent and kind personality and he was a steady center for Helen, who needed someone sane, even if she could only meet him in the Underworld.  They were swoon-worthy boys, indeed.  Although I'm not one to go for the macho men type, they had my full attention every time their name was on the page.  Yup.

Oh, was I hooked on the story.  I could not put this book down at all.  There was just so much....much to it!  Once again, the villains were true villains in all their evilness and darkness.  I seriously would not want to mess with these bad guys, that's for sure.  And the love triangle wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  It was almost one sided since Lucas and Helen are off-limits from each other, or so they think.  Most of the times, love triangles are too soap opera like with all their dramatics and cliches and they do not make me happy.  I did not mind this love triangle, surprisingly.

My only bone to pick with Dreamless is that I didn't feel as if there wasn't enough imagery.  There were moments where I would get confused and would have to reread a sentence or paragraph because it either wasn't delivered right or there wasn't enough description.  Then again, there were moments where the description of Helen's house was described beautifully.  It was like heaven to my mind it was so perfect.

Dreamless is a dark tale of your favorite forbidden romance between Helen of Troy and Paris.  It was wicked and captivating, keeping me glued to each page.  I enjoyed it even more than I did Starcrossed, getting me really excited for the final installment to the trilogy.  My only question is, Why does the release date have to be so far away? 

Cheers, everyone!

My Sorry Post. Sadness. And a Thank You, too.

Sorry I've been absent from the blog lately!  You have no idea how bad I feel for abandoning it for as long as I have.  Especially over the summer with all of the free time I've had, I've been really busy on the blog and reading.  I feel like this blog is my long lost brother and we've been doing a lot of connecting lately. 

Life has been pretty busy, especially now that school will be starting up again this fall, so it's time to finish up all of that summer work, right? (after some tweeting, of course)  ((okay, after hours worth of tweeting)) It's kind of ridiculous the amount of work I didn't realize I needed to do.  Humphh. 

But that is no excuse, right? Right.  I haven't posted on here ever since Wednesday and that was just to post my Waiting on Wednesday that only takes about five minutes to write up and post, and I'm pretty sure I scheduled that one too, so I wasn't even on the blog Wednesday!  What a disaster!  For shame....tsk, tsk.  The patronizing chastisements go on forever.

But this is not the only reason why I am writing this post.  There is a brighter side to this, after all.  I don't know about you, but have you seen my Six Month Blogoversary?  The turnout for it has been absolutely fabulous!  I cannot thank you guys enough.  And all of the new followers on here!  There are seventy of you now!  You guys have no idea how happy you guys have made me!  And this is the part where I thank you all . . . So thank you!

But now I'm on a mission because I have to be a good blogger now.