WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: MAKE IT COUNT (Bowler University #1) by Megan Erickson

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I or us, readers are eagerly anticipating. Here's my pick this week ...

Title: MAKE IT COUNT (Bowler University #1)

Author: Megan Erickson (Website | Twitter)

Publication Date: June 3, 2014

Publisher: William Morrow Impulse 

SYNOPSIS

Kat Caruso wishes her brain had a return policy, or at least a complaint hot-line. The defective organ is constantly distracted, terrible at statistics, and absolutely flooded with inappropriate thoughts about her boyfriend’s gorgeous best friend, Alec…who just so happens to be her brand new math tutor. Who knew nerd was so hot?

Kat usually goes through tutors like she does boyfriends—both always seem to bail when they realize how hopeless she is. It’s safer for her heart to keep everyone at arm’s reach. But Alec is always stepping just a little too close.

Alec Stone should not be fantasizing about Kat. She’s adorable, unbelievably witty, and completely off limits. He’d never stab his best friend in the back…

But when secrets are revealed, the lines of loyalty are blurred. To make it count, Alec must learn messy human emotions can’t be solved like a trigonometry function. And Kat has to trust Alec may be the first guy to want her for who she is, and not in spite of it.

Add MAKE IT COUNT on your TBR list in Goodreads using this link. 

PRE-ORDER LINKS

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes and Noble 

 iTunes | Google Play | Avon Romance 

BOOK NEWS: Lauren Oliver's upcoming novel, ROOMS, gets a NEW BOOK COVER!

Which one do you prefer, the original cover (L) or the new cover (R)? :)

Title: ROOMS

Author: Lauren Oliver (Website | Twitter)

Publisher: Ecco 

Publication Date: September 23, 2014

SYNOPSIS 

The New York Times bestselling author of Before I Fall and the Delirium trilogy makes her brilliant adult debut with this mesmerizing story in the tradition of The Lovely Bones, Her Fearful Symmetry, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—a tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways 

Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. 

But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb. 

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.

Elegantly constructed and brilliantly paced, Rooms is an enticing and imaginative ghost story and a searing family drama that is as haunting as it is resonant.

Add ROOMS on your TBR List in Goodreads through this link.

Goodreads | via: Lauren Oliver's tweet  

COVER REVEAL: THIS SUMMER by Katlyn Duncan

Title: THIS SUMMER

Author: Katlyn Duncan (Website | Twitter) 

Release Date: 07/2014

Publisher: Carina UK

Summary from Goodreads:

Before college, before responsibilities, Hadley Beauman and best friend Lily are determined to have a summer to remember. There will be all the usual dramas - ex-boyfriends who don't seem to know what 'ex' means, pesky younger brothers with unrequited crushes, but what Hadley didn't anticipate was the out-of-the-blue return of the seriously hot boy-next-door, Will Carson. The boy who broke her heart when he skipped town two years ago.

Will may have shot up a foot and filled out (oh yes), but inside he carries the weight of guilt - for leaving, for coming back... Now he's just passing through to tie up loose ends but it's clear the old chemistry still crackles between him and Hadley. Trouble is, it's built on two years of lies...

This summer might just be the best time of their lives, but is Hadley ready for everything to change - again?

About the Author

Katlyn Duncan was born and raised in a small town in western Massachusetts. Her overactive imagination involved invisible friends, wanting to be a Disney Princess and making up her own stories. Her bibliophile mom always encouraged her love of reading and that stayed with her since. Even though she works full time in the medical field Katlyn has always made time for books, whether she is reading or writing them.

Katlyn now lives in southern Connecticut with her husband and adorable Wheaten Terrier and she is thrilled to finally share her stories with the world.

   

Cover Reveal Organized by:

Waiting on Wednesday: CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare!

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I or us, readers are eagerly anticipating. Here's my pick this week ...

Title: CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE (The Mortal Instruments #6)

Author: Cassandra Clare (Tumblr | Twitter) 

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Expected Publication: May 27, 2014

SYNOPSIS

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID. 

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!

Mark and add City of Heavenly Fire on your "to read" list in Goodreads, through this link. 

AHA! I KNOW THAT I'VE POSTED THIS BOOK ALREADY UNDER THIS WEEKLY FEATURE BUT I JUST ... I JUST NEED TO REPOST 'CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE'! Aaaaah we're only days away from the book's release and I can't  even with my FEELS! Nothing will ever prepare myself, my mind and my heart for this book. *runs around the house* 

In case you missed this piece of news from yesterday,the TMI TUESDAY WEBSITE released an EXCLUSIVE AUDIOBOOK EXCERPT from 'CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE' ... and I did not listen to it! Haha! But if you would want to, just proceed to this link. 

BOOK REVIEW & AUTHOR INTERVIEW: LOVING MR. DANIELS by Brittainy Cherry!

Title: LOVING MR. DANIELS

Author: Brittainy Cherry (Facebook | Twitter)

Publication Date: May 11, 2014
My Rating: 5 out 5 stars

BLURB

To Whom it May Concern, 

It was easy to call us forbidden and harder to call us soulmates. Yet I believed we were both. Forbidden soulmates. 

When I arrived to Edgewood, Wisconsin I didn’t plan to find him. I didn't plan to stumble into Joe's bar and have Daniel's music stir up my emotions. I had no clue that his voice would make my hurts forget their own sorrow. I had no idea that my happiness would remember its own bliss. 

When I started senior year at my new school, I wasn’t prepared to call him Mr. Daniels, but sometimes life happens at the wrong time for all the right reasons. 

Our love story wasn’t only about the physical connection.

It was about family. It was about loss. It was about being alive. It was silly. It was painful. It was mourning. It was laughter.

It was ours. 

And for those reasons alone, I would never apologize for loving Mr. Daniels. 

-Ashlyn Jennings

Amazon US | B&N | Mark this book on Goodreads

Ramblings. I think it was Sunday last week when Loving Mr. Daniels quite flooded my Goodreads feed. I’m following a number of book bloggers/reviewers and they were really showing some deep love towards this book. Several reviews and ratings popped out and it was really consistent. Most of them rated this book around 4.5 or 5 stars. I was like “what’s with the hype?” So, with me being the ever curious-book-blog-stalking-gal, I checked the synopsis of the book. And it started off like this:

“To Whom it May Concern, It was easy to call us forbidden and harder to call us soulmates. Yet I believed we were both. Forbidden soulmates.” O M G OMG It already screams that a FORBIDDEN something something is bound to happen in the story.

Then I saw this part of the synopsis, “When I started senior year at my new school, I wasn’t prepared to call him Mr. Daniels, but sometimes life happens at the wrong time for all the right reasons.” AAAH a STUDENT-TEACHER relationship! 

From that point, I just knew it that I really need to read Loving Mr. Daniels as soon as it goes live.  I was curious how it was able to tear off itself from the boundaries of being just another story with that forbidden relationship involved and how the author will be able to tackle a certain taboo topic such as that. Plus, I’m really curious as to why it received high ratings from those book bloggers. Bring it on!

Immediate thought after reading this book. OH THE TEARS. Yep, I can’t bring myself to create a book review for this book as soon as possible because my ‘Loving Mr. Daniels’ emotions are still coursing through me. My eyes are all puffy and blurry too because of the tears, happy and sad tears combined. My feels are still fresh and raw from the emotional roller coaster ride that I went through while reading this book.

My thoughts. Loving Mr. Daniels is a beautiful, emotionally packed and character driven book.  I tell you, this book is so much more than the forbidden relationship involved in the story. So, don’t be thrown off with that aspect of the book. In actuality this book speaks about life, loss, love and relationships. The book speaks about relationships with parents, sisters, brothers and friends. It was very easy to love and instantly became a part of my ‘favourite books’ list. I’m in love with the way the book was presented and the prose was just perfect for the storyline.

This book is told from both Ashlyn and Daniel’s POV and its always great hearing both of our main characters’ sentiments and take on things. Loving Mr. Daniels will immediately suck you in with its prologue and from that point you’ll totally lose yourself within the story. Everything that happened felt so real with all the angst, raw emotions coming off of our characters and the journey that they’re going through. There are a couple of twists and turns in the story that will pretty much shock the hell out of you. But another thing that I love about this book is the fact that there’s not much drama in it where you’ll feel like strangling yourself already. It only tends to get emotional because of the heartfelt words used and the situation where the characters are in.

BOOK BLITZ: HEART SHAPED ROCK by Laura Roppe!

Heart Shaped Rock

by Laura Roppe

Release Date: May 2014

Summary from Goodreads:

“If you liked the music collaboration of Maybe Someday, you’ve got to check out Heart Shaped Rock.” — New York Times best-selling author of Maybe Someday, Colleen Hoover

"Laura Roppé has written a moving and emotional novel of first love, accurately capturing the voice and mind of a dramatic and emotional sixteen year old girl caught in a maelstrom of grief and loss, love and heartbreak. And then there’s Dean…you'll just have to read the book, ‘cause I can't do him justice in a few short sentences.” –Jasinda Wilder, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of Falling into You

Sometimes a shattered heart needs to sing to love again . . . Sixteen year old singer-songwriter Shaynee Sullivan hasn't so much as touched her guitar since her mom died six months ago. In fact, Shaynee hasn't felt like doing much of anything lately, except maybe playing Whack-a-Mole on her "emotionally intelligent" brother's head. But when she meets a gorgeous and surprising rocker named Dean, her shattered heart begins to mend . . . and then burst at the seams. Heart-wrenching, heart-warming, and sometimes even heart-racing, Heart Shaped Rock will leave you laughing through tears and rooting for love in all its forms.

EXCERPT

I sort of flop my arm around in the air like it’s a marlin on the end of a deep-sea fishing line, attempting to simulate a goodbye wave to Jared as his hatch-back pulls away from the curb. Jared waves back at me in reply to my flopping gesture, so perhaps I’ve managed to imitate appropriate human communication well enough. But I don’t feel human. My arm doesn’t feel like my arm. My body doesn’t feel like my body. I’m totally numb. So numb, in fact, I could probably fling my body into oncoming traffic and not feel a damned thing.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. And buzzes. And buzzes. Someone is calling me, but I don’t pull my phone out. I don’t want to talk to Tiffany.

COVER REVEAL: THE V GIRL by Mya Robarts

Title: THE V GIRL

Author: Mya Robarts (Website | Twitter)

Publication Date: July 1, 2014

Genres: Dystopia, New Adult

SYNOPSIS

V for Virgin.

V for Valiant.

In post-apocalyptic North America, raping and sexual slavery are legal. Lila Velez, desperately wants to lose her virginity before the troops visit her town and can take it away by force. She makes plans to seduce her only friend, Rey, the most attractive man in her town. Lila does not love him but he is the only man who has shown her true affection, an affection she is willing to take as a substitute of love.

Lila’s coping mechanism to her mother’s rape and kidnapping is her secret. A secret that will bring her closer to Aleksey, a foreign, broody man, she distrusts because his links to the troops and his rough, yet irresistible appearance. He offers Lila an alternative to her plans, a possibility that terrifies her…and tempts her in spite of herself.

All the while Lila will have to find a way to live in the constant company of death, slavery, starvation, sexual abuse and the danger of losing the people she loves the most.

Add THE V GIRL on your TBR list in Goodreads using this link. 

About the Author: 

I am a bookaholic and regret nothing. 

I am convinced the New Adult genre has more to offer than just College Romance. The possibilities are endless and I am more than willing to explore them all. 

I'll quote Mario Vargas Llosa on this.

“The writer’s job is to write with rigor, with commitment, to defend what they believe with all the talent they have. I think that’s part of the moral obligation of a writer, which cannot be only purely artistic. I think a writer has some kind of responsibility at least to participate in the civic debate. I think literature is impoverished, if it becomes cut from the main agenda of people, of society, of life.”

This COVER REVEAL is organized by... 

[The Mortal Instruments] Cassandra Clare shared an UNIDENTIFIED SNIPPET on her Tumblr account!

With only days away from the release of 'CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE', the last book of THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS SERIES, Cassandra Clare shared an UNIDENTIFIED SNIPPET on her Tumblr account. The snippet involves SIMON and his constant ramblings to MAGNUS about "taking Alec back"! 

You better read it for yourselves then fellow Shadowhunters and bookworms: 

“Hi, Magnus. It’s Simon. You know me. Well, you called me Soames last time we spoke, but we’ve hung out. I’m calling to, uh … to—sorry if this is out of line—suggest that you maybe take Alec back.

“I think it would be good for morale. Honestly, Alec was really horrible to Clary when they first met, and if he turns all cranky again, I don’t know what Clary’s going to do. In those days, Clary had way fewer weapons and way fewer brothers.

“This time it’s different. Her boyfriend is on fire. She’s got enough problems. I guess what I’m saying is that we’d all appreciate it if you took one for the team.

“Not that I’m part of a Shadowhunter team. Shadowhunters don’t let vampires join the team.

“This message probably seems selfish, and also crazy. I honestly do feel bad for Alec. He’s a good guy. Much less annoying than Jace. I’ve always felt like, given the opportunity, we could be friends. Maybe bros. Maybe we could be bros who shoot arrows together.

“It may at this point be obvious that Isabelle forced me to make this phone call.”

The things that I would do to be able to read the full scene for this snippet. With the response of Magnus and all, or the next scene after that. So, I mean the entire book? Ha! :) 

SOURCE

[The Hunger Games] FOUR NEW 'Mockingjay' Movie Stills released!

Source | via

BOOK COVER: THIS SHATTERED WORLD (Starbound #2) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Title: THIS SHATTERED WORLD (Starbound #2) 

Authors: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Publication Date: December 23, 2014

SYNOPSIS

The second installment in our epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

The stunning second novel in the Starbound trilogy is an unforgettable story of love and forgiveness in a world torn apart by war.

Add THIS SHATTERED WORLD on your TBR list in Goodreads using this link. 

If you haven't read the FIRST book of the Starbound trilogy, you better look for a copy of it and go read it as soon as possible! You're totally missing sooooo much fun and awesomeness! Here's the book cover and blurb for THESE BROKEN STARS (Starbound #1):

Waiting on Wednesday: THE ART OF LAINEY by Paula Stokes

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that I or us, readers are eagerly anticipating. Here's my pick this week ...

Title: THE ART OF LAINEY

Author: Paula Stokes (Website | Twitter) 

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: May 20, 2014

SYNOPSIS

Soccer star Lainey Mitchell is gearing up to spend an epic summer with her amazing boyfriend, Jason, when he suddenly breaks up with her—no reasons, no warning, and in public no less! Lainey is more than crushed, but with help from her friend Bianca, she resolves to do whatever it takes to get Jason back.

And that’s when the girls stumble across a copy of The Art of War. With just one glance, they're sure they can use the book to lure Jason back into Lainey’s arms. So Lainey channels her inner warlord, recruiting spies to gather intel and persuading her coworker Micah to pose as her new boyfriend to make Jason jealous. After a few "dates", it looks like her plan is going to work! But now her relationship with Micah is starting to feel like more than just a game.

What's a girl to do when what she wants is totally different from what she needs? How do you figure out the person you're meant to be with, if you're still figuring out the person you're meant to be?

Add THE ART OF LAINEY on your TBR list in Goodreads using this link.