Review: The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale

Title: The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale
Author: Christine Bell
Publisher: Carina Press
Goodreads | Amazon | Powells
I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher to review. This is my honest opinion.  

Description (from Carina Press):

I'm a time pirate—born in 1810, now a 21st-century woman. I travel through time trying to right wrongs without disrupting the fragile balance between what is and what can never be.

That's why it's vital that I go to 1836 and find the man who conned my brother out of his Time Travel Mechanism as quickly as possible. If the technology falls into the wrong hands, it could change the world as we know it. The notorious Duke of Leister definitely qualifies as the wrong hands. An amateur scientist of the slightly mad variety, he's bound to figure out how to use the TTM sooner rather than later.

I knew this wouldn't be easy. But I wasn't counting on him being as sexy as hell. Or winding up chained to his bed...

My Review:

Whoa, sexy!

I didn't see this one coming! Sure, I knew there would be some time travel, a love interest, and an adventure, but this was so different from what I was expecting. It was also funny, erotic, and engaging!

The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale is so different from anything else I've ever read. It's quirky and fun, but also hot! This book is definitely for a mature audience! Let's just say that there really wasn't anything left to the imagination ...

The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale is a pretty quick read, at only 25,900 words. That, and I didn't want to put it down! If I had one negative thing to say about this book it would be that I wish it were longer. I would have loved this as a longer, more developed novel!

I have to mention the cover of this book! It's so unique. I love it! The title is fabulous too! Both are perfect for this little story.

I'd definitely recommend this book to adult readers looking for something a little different. I believe it's only available as an e-book. At under $3, it's totally worth it!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking The Spine. It showcases new books that are coming out soon that we can't wait to read!

Title: Die for Me
Author: Amy Plum
Publication Date: May 10, 2011
Goodreads | Amazon

So pretty!

I'm starting to get really excited for The Dark Days of Supernatural! They're stopping in Oregon in June. I can't wait! I'll probably bring it up a million times between now and then. Here's who's coming:

Ellen Schreiber, author of Vampire Kisses #8: Cryptic Cravings
Aprilynne Pike, author of Illusions
Veronica Roth, author of Divergent
Amy Plum, author of Die For Me
Tara Hudson, author of Hereafter

Epic, right??

Review: Rapunzel's Amazing Hair

Welcome to my first children's book review!

I have a three year old daughter that I love to read with. Plus, I just love kids books! I thought I'd share some of our favorites, old and new.

Title: Rapunzel's Amazing Hair
Author: Kiki Thorpe
Illustrator: Claire Keane
Publisher: Disney Press
Goodreads | Amazon

I couldn't find a decent picture of this book online, so I took this one myself. You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.

Description from Disney:

With fun, simple rhymes and vibrant illustrations by Claire Keane, one of the film’s animators, this jacketed picture book focuses on the funny and amazingly unexpected things Rapunzel does with her long golden tresses.

My Review:

This book is fabulous!

I recently went on a trip to Disneyland, and saw this book in one of the shops on Main Street. We didn't bring home very many souvineers, but as soon as I saw this book I knew it was going to be one of them.

First of all, if you haven't seen Tangled, then do! It is such a cute movie, and the music is awesome.

The writing in Rapunzel's Amazing Hair is really cute and whimsical, and the illustrations in it are so vibrant and beautiful.

From Claire Keane's blog, Claire on a Cloud:

Some pictures I took myself, to share with you:

Bright, colorful pages:

Cute, whimsical writing and illustrations:

My daughter and I both really enjoy this book. There are so many things that Rapunzel's hair can do! What is her amazing hair really, when she doesn't have the freedom to enjoy it as she wants?

Beautiful pictures. Beautiful words. A great addition to our personal library.

Review: Wake Unto Me

Title: Wake Unto Me
Author: Lisa Cach
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Goodreads | Amazon

Description (from the back of the book):

I see him in my dreams, this mysterious boy. He comes from

a different time,

a different place,

a different reality.

But there is something that connects us. We are supposed to be together -  bound by the heart of another. But that's not possible... or is it?

My Review:

Wow, this story was so different!

I'm surprised that more people haven't yet read this! I'll be honest, I wasn't too sure about it either. I saw that Kristi (The Story Siren) liked it, and they had a signed copy at Powells, so I bought it. I'm so glad I gave it a chance! Perhaps the cover is to blame for it being overlooked? I don't think the cover fits this book well. If they didn't have a signed copy I would have just bought it for my kindle.

Anyways, on to the actual story!

France was such an enchanting location for this love story! A castle set in the French countryside all by itself is romantic, but add Caitlyn's story and it's near perfection.

This story had so much awesomeness! There was a dreamy love interest, aforementioned enchanting location, a mysterious storyline, nightmares, and possible time traveling. Whoa, right?

The mystery aspect was really great. It had a The Da Vinci Code feel to it, without being a blatant replication. I was never one hundred percent sure what was really going on.

I really liked Caitlyn's love interest too! I felt my heart start to race whenever she encountered him. Yummy.

The only thing I really wanted was more! I wish that this story was a good hundred pages longer (it could have been, easily). I felt like the end was wrapped up a little too quickly; I didn't want it to be over!

I'd definitely recommend picking this book up and giving it a try!

In My Mailbox (6)

In My Mailbox is a meme that is hosted by The Story Siren. It's a fun way to share what books we got for the week. They can be from publishers, the library, bought or whatever.

 

After the last few weeks of buying lots of books (well, I did get them cheap!), I made myself hold back on the book buying.

In the Mail:

 Unearthly | Cynthia Hand 

Goodreads | Amazon

Ivy (from Ivy Reads) traded an ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) of Unearthly! I gushed about her copy of it in her IMM, and she emailed me and said that she had an extra copy. I traded her Once a Witch (from her amazon wishlist) for it. Yay! 

For Review (from NetGalley):

The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale | Christine Bell
Goodreads | Amazon

This one sounds really good! I'm looking forward to it. :)

Thank you God, for Mommy | Amy Parker

Goodreads | Amazon

Thank you God, for Daddy | Amy Parker

Goodreads | Amazon

I really want to start reviewing Children's books too. I have a three year old daughter, and we love going to the library and picking up a stack of books and trying them all out. I want to share the great ones! These two books are really cute. I still need to get my daughter to sit down and read them with me, but I've had a look. Hopefully I'll have a review of them up soon! 

Cover Reveal: Black Heart, by Holly Black

Ok, so I have to laugh because a picture from my post about the book signing I went to with Holly Black and Cassandra Clare last week (you can see that post here) is famous.

Holly Black herself has posted it on her blog! Plus, I've seen it pop up on my google reader twice already today. I'm laughing because it's not even a good picture! See:

Sooooo, since I don't want the only picture of her new, beautiful cover to be this one, I took a much better picture. Photography is a hobby of mine, so maybe that's why I feel it must be nice? Anyways, here it is:

You can click on it to make it larger

There. Isn't that much better? :)

Oh, and while you're here, you might as well check out the last post I just did about Lauren Oliver's giveaway. Check it out, her new book is so cute!

Liesl and Po Giveaway from Lauren Oliver!

Lauren Oliver, author of such fantastic reads such as Delirium and Before I Fall, is running an awesome contest to celebrate her first middle-grade book:

Liesl and Po

Goodreads | Amazon

Look at how enchanting the cover is! 

She's giving away 3 ARCs (advanced readers copies) every month until it's release in October. Want to know what makes it even better? 

They come in super cute boxes!! 

I totally swiped these pics from Lauren Oliver's blog. I don't think she'll mind though, right? :)
Click on them to make them bigger

What on Earth are you still doing here?? Go enter! Then you can come back and hang out here.

To enter the contest, go to Lauren Oliver's blog:

Lauren Oliver's Blog

Yes. Yes, I totally made a whole post just about this contest and how pretty her new book is. I'm excited!

Review: The Betrayal of Maggie Blair

Title: The Betrayal of Maggie Blair
Author: Elizabeth Laird
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: March 18, 2011
Goodreads | Amazon
I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher to review. This is my honest opinion.  

Description (from me):

The story begins with Maggie living in Scotland with her grandmother. Because of her grandmother's harsh nature and weird customs, the people in the town begin to believe she is a witch. Maggie becomes unfairly guilty of witchcraft by association. Soon the town works itself into a unstoppable frenzy and both of them are sentenced to be hanged. All of that happens in only the first third of the book or so! There is so much more to this story...

I wrote my own, because I think the real one is a bit spoiler-y. You can read the full description on Goodreads if you want to know more.

My Review:

Historical fiction fans will love this book!

What I really loved about the book is that the author, Elizabeth Laird, does a fantastic job of immersing the reader into the turmoil of the seventeenth century Scotland. It's one thing to read a bunch of facts, but another to live it through Maggie Blair. I felt like I was going through all of the struggles right along with her! I enjoyed reading about the people, the clothing, the food, and just the day to day life during that time.

Maggie is surrounded by both sides of the spectrum: those who would give their lives to show their devotion to God, and those who do not hold any religious beliefs. What does Maggie believe? Where does she fit? On her way towards understanding her answers to these questions she goes though so much, and matures immensely.

Want to know what is really awesome? The author based some of the characters and events around her own family history! She tells all about it at the end of the book, in the foreword. Maggie's story is fiction, but I love that the struggles that she went through were very much real.

I'm having a hard time discussing this book without spoilers, so I'm just going to say that I liked it and if you like historical fiction, I really think you will too. :)

Review : White Cat

Title: White Cat
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: McElderberry books (Simon and Schuster)
Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Description from Goodreads:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

My Review:

Fantastic!

I really liked Holly Black's books about the Fae (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside), so I'm not sure why it took me so long to pick up White Cat. Maybe I was afraid that I wouldn't like this book as much since it wasn't about fairies? Well, I was wrong! I liked this book even more than her previous books!

The book starts off right in the middle of action- Cassel wakes up from sleepwalking to find himself on top of his school's roof, stuck. How did he get up there, and why did his dream lead him there? As the story unfolds we are told more about the curse workers and their history, Cassel's ties to them, and why he sleepwalks to his (almost) death. Black does a great job of only giving out little bits of information at a time, and keeps up just enough suspense, that makes the reader keep flipping through the pages. There was never a point where I was bored with the story! I wanted to know more about curse workers, more about his family, more about his dreams and the white cat he keeps seeing.

There were things in the story that I never saw coming. Sure, there were clues that I was satisfyingly able to figure out about little events in the book, but the main plot was still a mystery until it was revealed. The twists in White Cat were awesome!

The curse workers were so interesting! I loved the world that Holly Black created around them. What would it be like if there really were people who could change our feelings, luck, or memories? Black's answer is intriguing.

White Cat is a deliciously dark and mysterious story. I can't wait to dig into Red Glove, the next book in this series!

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox is a meme that is hosted by The Story Siren. It's a fun way to share what books we got for the week. They can be from publishers, the library bought, or whatever.

I had another fantastic week in books!

Won:

Huntress | Malinda Lo (Goodreads | Amazon)

I won this from Mission to Read! Yay!

For Review (from NetGalley):

Two Moon Princess | Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
(Goodreads | Amazon)

Frost Moon | Anthony Francis
(Goodreads | Amazon)

This one sounds interesting! I don't know yet if I'll get around to reading and reviewing it, but it sounds pretty good.

Bought:

I'm super excited about these next two! I went to a signing with Cassandra Clare and Holly Black! It was awesome! Tiring, but awesome. You can read about it here. I bought Red Glove and City of Fallen Angels and had them signed along with some of my other books.

Red Glove | Holly Black
(Goodreads | Amazon)

City of Fallen Angels | Cassandra Clare
(Goodreads | Amazon)

Clockwork Angel | Cassandra Clare
(Goodreads | Amazon)
I got a brand new, hardback copy of this for only $8 at powells this week! Yay! Plus, I got it signed. :)

Nevermore | Kelly Creagh
(Goodreads | Amazon)

Wake Unto Me | Lisa Cach
(Goodreads | Amazon)
I bought a signed copy at Powells.

Uglies | Scott Westerfeld
(Goodreads | Amazon)

Wicked Lovely | Melissa Marr

(Goodreads | Amazon)

I actually already own this one. I bought it to trade with someone, but they already owned it too. I'm thinking of either trading it or doing a giveaway. It's an awesome book!

Free for my kindle:

13 Little Blue Envelopes | Maureen Johnson

(Goodreads | Amazon kindle | Barnes and Noble nook)
You can get it free too! Just click on the links above.

Holly Black and Cassandra Clare: My First Signing!

I went to my first signing!

Cassandra Clare photo by Theo Black
Holly Black photo by D. Williford

A few other bloggers were there too! Vy of Vy's Blog was there. I didn't get to meet anyone, though. Maybe next time!

I got there at 6:30 and the space was already full (it started at 7:00). I figured that there would be a lot of people attending, but wow. There were so many people that I just waited in back and couldn't really hear what they were saying (and for some reason the people in front and behind me would not stop talking. Ugh.). I'm bummed about that, but oh well. Next time I know to show up super duper early and just read while I wait so that I can get a seat up front. They must have been funny, because people kept laughing!

You had to buy a book to get your book signed, so I bought City of Fallen Angels and Red Glove:

pretty, new books!

They each did a reading followed by a Q&A, and then we were lined up to get our books signed. At this event you had to buy a book from the authors in order to get your stuff signed. I don't think they really even kept track of that. I bought City of Fallen Angels and Red Glove. The people in seats got their books signed first, and then everyone else. The line was so long! Holy moly. I had to wait for over 2 hours I think, and I wasn't even towards the back of the line. I was sooooo tired of standing by the end.

It really was worth it, though!

I could tell that more people were there for Cassandra Clare than Holly Black. I think I was more excited to meet Holly (not that I wasn't excited about Cassandra too)! She signed 5 books for me! Yay! I didn't feel so bad holding up the line for that one because most people just wanted their Mortal Instruments books signed.

Cassandra Clare signed all of books for me too! I do feel guilty now for having her sign so many. It didn't take long at all, but I guess I should have limited myself. I just got too excited! Sorry, people who were behind me! I promise to limit myself last time. I have a super guilty conscience and I've felt bad all day. So there, my apology is out there, in the Universe. I am really excited that all of them are signed though! :)

Team Clary!

Both authors were so nice! I embarrassed myself by telling Holly Black that my cat puked on her books, and that's why I didn't have Tithe and Valiant there for her to sign. Dang cat. LOL! She made my day the next day by replying to my facebook post on her page:

Yes. Yes, I took a screenshot. :) I love when authors take the time to connect with their fans! I don't know if you can read it or not. LOL

I got a couple Curse Worker bracelets from Holly Black. I took one, but then my 3 year old (Charlotte) wanted one too, and Holly said we both could have one. How awesome is that?! I know there is no way my daughter would have let me keep my bracelet if she didn't have her own.

Luck Worker! This one is my daughter's. Mine says Memory worker, and is grey. I can't figure out where she put it. LOL.

Then Cassandra Clare had these little pamphlets with an excerpt from Clockwork Prince  on one side and an excerpt from Black Heart on the other. Ahhh! So awesome.

Clockwork Prince

Black Heart

If you want to see a better picture of Black Heart, click HERE

I can't wait for my next signing! I think it's going to be the Dark Days of Summer in June! I'm super stoked for that one.

Oh, and I forgot my camera, so I didn't get any pictures at the event. Lame of me.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking The Spine. It showcases new books that are coming out soon that we can't wait to read!

Title: Blood Rights
Author: Kristen Painter
Publication Date: October 2011
Find it on (Goodreads | Amazon)

 That's right, I posted it huge. You can click on it to make it bigger. :)

Teaser fom Orbit Books:

The lacy gold mapped her entire body. A finely-wrought filigree of stars, vines, flowers, butterflies, ancient symbols and words ran from her feet, up her legs, over her narrow waist, spanned her chest and finished down her arms to the tips of her fingers…

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

Normally I like to pick books that are coming out soon, but I couldn't resist the gorgeousness of this cover! The storyline sounds amazing too. I'd like this one now, please. :)

Visit Orbit Books to see a couple teaser pictures of the next two covers!

I'm a Guest on Mission to Read!

I'm very excited that Rie asked me to be a guest on her blog for her new feature: Little Known Blogs! Chances are that you are coming over from her blog, but if not, please click on the picture check it out:

Isn't that awesome?? I may have talked a bit too much, but I'm really honored that she even asked. I got a bit excited. :)

She asked me some questions about blogging and then I did a review of Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble and Toil and Trouble (books one and two of the Jolie Wilkins series). You'll have to go visit her blog to read my review of this series!  Aren't the covers super cute and awesome?

Thank you so much, Rie!! That was a lot of fun and a great opportunity!

Review: Paper Towns

Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Publisher: Speak: An Imprint of Penguin Group
Find it on: Goodreads | Amazon

Description from Goodreads:

 Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life--dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge--he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues--and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

 My Review:

I am a big fan of John and Hank Green's Youtube channel, The Vlogbrothers, so I was nervous about reading John Green's writing; I didn't want anything tarnishing my love for them!

The verdict:

I adored Paper Towns!

It's a clever and quirky story that has a very organic feel to it. The characters and their flaws were so real. And the message in this book? Fantastic.

I thought maybe the ending would leave me unsatisfied, but it didn't. The last paragraph is perfection.

The name Margo Roth Spiegelman will forever be stuck in my brain, like a catchy commercial jingle.

I highly recommend this book. I think that this story is enjoyable on many different levels, and therefor a wide gamut of people could find things to love about this story.

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

For those of you who are unaware of whom the vlogbrothers are, please visit them on youtube:

Vlogbrothers

They sing songs, rant about random things, promote awesomeness, and are just generally fun and nice. Want a book related video? Check out John Green at the American Library Association's Annual Conference, appropriately titled:                

  Book Nerd PARADISE

 DFTBA! :)

In My Mailbox (4)

In My Mailbox is a meme that is hosted by The Story Siren. It's a fun way to share what books we got for the week.

 

I had an exciting week! I actually got something "in my mailbox"! I bought a few books too. I can't resist Powells bookstore. :)

I won a book from Electrifying Reviews and it came this week. Yay! I won a signed copy of Angelfire. I can't wait to read it! I'm pretty excited about having a signed copy of this book. I also got some swag with it -  a signed bookmark for A Touch Mortal, a signed bookmark for Sweet Venom, an Angelfire sticker and a bunch of Angelfire bookmarks. Woo-hoo for free stuff! 

Angelfire | Courtney Allison Moulton (Goodreads | Amazon)

Thanks Alex! Here is Alex's blog (visit it! It's awesome!): Electrifying Reviews 

I got a couple of books for review this week from NetGalley (Yay!):

 Bless This Mouse | Eric Rohmann (Goodreads | Amazon)

This one looks so cute! 

 The Betrayal of Maggie Blair | Elizabeth Laird (Goodreads | Amazon)

I also got Wings for free for my kindle this week (I know lots of you probably did too):

 Wings | Aprilynne Pike (Goodreads | Amazon)

You can find it for free for the kindle HERE

 I have been wanting to read this for a long time. I'm excited it was free! 

I also bought a few books this week:

Shadowspell | Jenna Black (Goodreads | Amazon)

I love the cover! I'm really looking forward to seeing where this story is going to go.

If I Stay | Gayle Forman (Goodreads | Amazon)

Hunger | Jackie Morse Kessler (Goodreads | Amazon)

This one is really pretty in person. It has a foil type look to it.

Dark Lover | J.R. Ward (Goodreads | Amazon)

I hope this one is as good I've heard! I could use a good, steamy book. :)