Blog Tour | SCANDALIZED by Tara Frejas

Scandalized

by Tara Frejas

Publication Date: May 5, 2016

Genre: NA/Contemporary/Romance

SYNOPSIS

Fi Legaspi is living the dream working in Seoul as a road manager for one of South Korea's hottest bands, East Genesis Project. Until she isn't.

When she finds herself in the middle of a scandal and a hostile fangirl witch hunt, Fi seeks the comfort of home, and to her surprise, not the person she had been pining for for years. All too suddenly it's no longer her career on the line, but also her heart. Will she walk away from everything that matters to her or fight to keep her dream alive?

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BUY Scandalized on Amazon.

Are you into Korean idol groups? If yes, you need to read this.

Are you a fangirl? If yes, you must read this.

Or just looking for a good book to devour in one sitting? Then better check this book out by Tara Frejas, Scandalized. This book is all that and more.

I’m sure you’ve encountered books out there with just by reading the first sentence of their synopsis and you’re thinking that, “Okay, done deal. I’m sold with this one.”, right? Scandalized was like that for me and so I immediately grabbed the opportunity to join this blog tour. “Fi Legaspi is living the dream working in Seoul as a road manager for one of South Korea's hottest bands, East Genesis Project.” totally lured me in. Maybe this is also because of the fact that I’m currently hooked with the K-Pop group, EXO, and I badly needed a reading material that will feed off my Korean entertainment feels. Scandalized was just the perfect read for me. No-brainer, I breezed through it and enjoyed reading something that I have knowledge and feels to.

BOOK REVIEW | GOOD (Too Good #1) by S. Walden

Title: GOOD (Too Good #1)

Author: S. Walden (Website | Twitter)

Publication Date: August 25, 2013

Publisher: Penny Press Publishing

SYNOPSIS

Cadence Miller is a good girl. She just happens to make one terrible mistake her junior year in high school which costs her ten months in juvenile detention. Now a senior, she's lost everything: her best friend, the trust of her parents, driving privileges, Internet access. It's a lonely existence.

But there is one bright spot: Mark Connelly, her very cute, very off-limits 28-year-old calculus teacher. She falls hard for him—a ridiculous schoolgirl crush headed nowhere. She can't help it. He's the only good thing at Crestview High. She doesn't expect him to reciprocate her feelings. How inappropriate, right? But he does. And he shows her.

And that's when her life goes from bad to good. 

GOODREADS 

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It actually started out so well (sneaky forbidden stories often do) but then as I delve deeper into the story, I cannot help but feel being stuck on a loop. Over and over again I was going through the motions with both protagonists' issues: insecurities and control. It just got dragged through the entire book and character development at the end is weak.

[PH BLOG TOUR] BOOK REVIEW + GIVEAWAYS | IN THIS LIFE by Christine Brae

Title: IN THIS LIFE

Author: Christine Brae (Website | Facebook | Twitter)

Publication Date: January 22, 2016

SYNOPSIS

It started out so simply. Anna runs away to Thailand, drags her best friend Dante with her and spends a few weeks away, taking on other people’s problems while getting away from her own. She meets the enigmatic Jude Grayson, and for as long as it’s clear to both of them that it ends when they leave, she thinks she’s got the perfect fling planned out. 

Or does she? 

Anna returns home to find that her life is no longer the way it once was, and that she can’t stop thinking about him. She learns through tragedy that nothing she’s ever believed in has turned out to be true. The worst part? The people she loved were keeping a secret from her. And that no matter what she does, no matter how hard she fights against it, every path she takes keeps leading her back to Jude. 

This is a story about love, found in a faraway place by two very unlikely people. It is also a story about friendship and loyalty and fighting for what you have despite the illogical mystery of fate. And with the struggle between morality and guilt, faith and acceptance, there comes a learning that even the best-laid plans are powerless against the alignment of the universe. 

From the beaches of Thailand to the streets of New York, three friends, Anna, Dante, and Jude will learn the hard way that once providence steps in, there is nothing in the world that can change what is truly meant to be.

GOODREADS

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In this life, I hope you can take time and read In This Life by Christine Brae. It’s emotional. It’s real.

One of the simple joys that I have when I read all the works of an author is being able to witness the growth taking shape when it comes to their writing style. Just like her previous works, Christine Brae’s prose for In This Life is that of poetic and beautifully weaved truths. But this time around, her words packed a lot more punch which resulted for the emotions of her characters to freely flow to us, her readers. Brae’s thoughts and words is the perfect match to flawlessly execute such a plot line as with In This Life. It’s a story that truly requires a certain bravery and sincerity to radiate through the words and pages of the book for readers to fully feel and grasp its vital points. Aside from those, I do think that one of Brae’s strengths lies on how her words leave marks, make people think and reflect about their personal lives. In This Life may be about Anna’s self-discovery journey but a bonus to this is having our own self-discovery journey while reading the book and beyond that.  

“Don’t you ever just want to forget who you’re supposed to be and just be who you really are?”

BOOK REVIEW | TRUTHWITCH (The Witchlands, #1) by Susan Dennard

TRUTHWITCH (The Witchlands, #1)

Author: Susan Dennard (Website | Twitter)

Publication Date: January 5, 2016

Publisher: Tor Teen

SYNOPSIS

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

GOODREADS

Purchase links: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Book Depository

If you’re on Twitter, Goodreads and follow book bloggers around the world, surely you’ve encountered posts about Truthwitch by Susan Dennard already. There was so much hype surrounding this book leading up to its release date, January 5th. I even remember reading tweets from people who attended BEA ’15 lining up and sprinting just to snag an ARC of it. With my Twitter-BEA experience, I could definitely say that Truthwitch was one of the “It” books during that event.

Next thing I know, early reviews started to pop out and more people were raving about it. The hype’s continuously building and also having my hopes up that it would turn out so great, just like what they’re saying. But then all of us experienced reading an over-hyped book and ended up thinking that, “meh it didn’t live up to its hype”. So that factor made me quite nervous to read this one and also the reason why I decided to stop checking out reviews. I don’t what to build it up more in my head.

Well as I’m typing in this review, I understood now why the early readers of this book are gushing about it. All those excitement-feely tweets/posts, I understand you now guys. Oh hell-gates, Truthwitch is such an impressive series starter. There are just so many elements of the story that people needs to get excited about and go for it. Read it.