Some Cover Reveals by Different Authors

I bet some of you have already seen these, but incase you haven't, I hope you're as happy to see them as I am. I'll just gush over the covers right away so.. if you don't want to read it, that's fine, scroll down a little bit and you can see all three of those beautiful covers :)

When Brodi Ashton put this up, I almost drooled over my keyboard. I haven't been able to read "Everneath" yet, but I'd love to read it next month (keeping my fingers crossed I'll get a check after this sentence by the end of July). Brodi Ashton has an amazing cover artist and I'd like to get my hands on her books just so that I could look at their covers and hold those gorgeous books in my own hands. Love them!

Elizabteh Reyes' books are like guilty pleasure: they're not the best books I've read, but they're smooth, easy to read, make you smile and make you fall in love with the characters. She's writing a new series (which I believe is sort of a spinn-off of the Moreno Brothers series. Can't wait to read them!) and her first book "Fate" had its cover reveal on her blog a few days ago. I'm in love with this cover and I hope (/think) this series will be as good as her previous work. Looking forward to reading "Fate" as well as "Noah" (I've had it for a while now, but haven't found the time to read it) and "Gio".

Richelle Mead just published her second novel "The Golden Lily" in the Bloodlines series and in order to praise her fans who've liked the Bloodlines facebook page (26 000+ fans, what do you say?!), she revealed the cover for the third book in the series: "The Indigo Spell". It's in its early stages and doesn't have the Golden Lily tattoo on it, but it's still sooooo beautiful, don't you think? Now that I have my own copy of "The Golden Lily" on my bookshelf, I can tell you that it's even more beautiful than I thought. I cannot wait to see the final cover version of "The Indigo Spell". Loving it so far :)

All right, so the covers are in the next order:

1. "Everbound" by Brodi Ashton
2. "Fate" by Elizabeth Reyes
3. "The Indigo Spell" by Richelle Mead

Oh, and while I'm at it, maybe some of you don't know but Jennifer L. Armentrout's "Obsidian" trailer will be out soon (presumably on July 6th according to JLA's twitter). I'm so, so, so excited, I can't even express myself.. Daemon Invasion has just ended and thanks to Sztella and Pepe, the cover models for the Lux series, we'll get to enjoy the trailers pretty soon :) You can check out the pictures from Daemon Invasion and some teaser pictures on JLA's blog.

Torment

Originaalpealkiri: Torment (Langenud #2)

Autor: Lauren Kate

Välja antud: 14. juuni 2011

Lisa: Goodreads

Osta: Amazon | Book Depository

Hell on earth.

That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.
It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.
What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

Hea põhjus, miks peaksin kõik oma reviewd võimalikult kiiresti pärast raamatu lugemist kirjutama: ma ei mäleta hiljem eriti midagi, eriti arvestades seda, kui palju raamatuid ma loen. Hmh, ma tean, et ma ei olnud selle raamatuga kohe kuidagi rahul, kõik oli kuidagi puudulik: armastusliinid polnud päris paigas ning oli üks väga nõme armukolmnurk, mis minu arvates oli täiesti absurdselt naljakas; peakangelanna on lõputu viriseja, kes hõljub pilvedes ja ei mõtle kunagi ratsionaalselt, salapära, tee raamatu kulminatsioonini – kõigest jäi vajaka. Aga see polnud ju täielik katastroof? Või oli?

Mulle meeldivad Daniel, Cam ja Arriane. Isegi Luce meeldib. Vähemalt mõnikord. Selles raamatus (ja ka kolmandas) sai Luce’ist väga tüütu tegelane – kõik, mida Daniel tema heaks teha püüdis, kõik, mida ta palus Luce’il teha, et teda kaitsta – Lucinda tegi kõik risti-vastupidi ja käitus nagu ärahellitatud laps. Ta tahab kõigest väest olla otsustajate seas, kuid ta ei suuda ühtegi mõistlikku otsust teha. Ta tahab, et teda koheldakse kui täiskasvanut, kui ta seda ilmselgelt ei ole.

Sarja teises osas oli Luce sunnitud alustama õpinguid teises koolis, samal ajal kui Daniel püüdis kõiki päästa. Luce oli olukorra pärast endast väljas. Ainus, mis kogu selle situatsiooni juures hea oli, oli teiste inglite kohalolu Lucinda koolis ja tema kõrval, seega ei pidanud tüdruk katsumusi üksi läbima. Lahe oli, et ta sai õppida erinevaid aineid, mis talle ellujäämiseks kasulikud on. Luce avastas Announcerid (ma ei kujuta ette, kuidas seda eestikeelses versioonis tõlgitakse, seega jätan praegu ingliskeelse variandi) ja otsis ka ise vastuseid, kuid kui minult küsida, siis kaevas ta vaid iseendale auku, kuhu hiljem kenasti sisse potsatada.

Daniel oli sunnitud Camiga koostööd tegema ja Luce’ist eemale hoidma, kuid ta ei suutnud kooli territooriumilt täielikult eemale hoida, et Lucindat näha ja tüdrukuga rääkida. Olukord jättis ukse valla teisele poisile – Miles’ile. Kogu selle sasipuntra ajal leidis Luce ennast kahtlemas tema ja Danieli saatuses ning tundus, et kõik läheb iga hetkega aina hullemaks.

See polnud kõige kohutavam raamat sarjas, kuid polnud ka nii hea kui esimene – peamiselt just Luce’i lapsiku käitumise pärast. Olid ka mõned ühelauselised huumorikillud, mis mind valjult naerma panid ning teos polnud iseenesest ka igav, võib-olla lihtsalt liiga lapselik minu maitse jaoks.

Hinne: 2/5.

Katkendeid:

“People like me. I’m a Nephilim. N-E-P-H-I-L-I-M. That means anything with angel in its DNA. Mortals, immortals, transeternals. We try not to discriminate.“

“Shouldn’t the singular be, you know, nephil, like cherub from cherubium and seraph from seraphim?“

“Seriously? Would you want to be called a nephil?“

“I don’t want you to be anyone other than who you are.“

“Make those Announcers your bitches. You know you want to.“

“Save it. You can put it on the fist sandwich I’m about to serve you.“

He had failed her. He had failed.

Lugemisjärjekord:

1. “Langenud“
2. “Torment“
3. “Passion“
4. “Rapture“

SelfSame

Originaalpealkiri: SelfSame

Autor: Melissa Conway

Väljastatud: 21.03.2012

Lisa: Goodreads

Osta: Amazon

A stillborn child revived. The past and the future intertwined. One girl lives two very different lives.

By all appearances, Sorcha Sloane is a typical small-town teen taking twenty-first century life for granted. While two centuries in the past, Enid Thompson is a poor farmer’s daughter in colonial New England. But Enid and Sorcha are the selfsame girl – one soul split between two bodies in a link that stretches across time. Every night while Enid’s body is sleeping, she wakes in the future as Sorcha, just as the old medicine man prophesied at her birth. And every night when Sorcha sleeps, she wakes in the past as Enid, in a frontier world on the brink of war. She only trusts a chosen few with the truth, until Ben Webster comes into Sorcha’s life and tells her his family has been desperately searching for her for over two hundred years…

Sain antud raamatu autorilt tasuta, et kirjutada aus arvamus selle raamatu kohta. See, et raamat on saadud autorilt tasuta, pole kuidagi järgnevaid mõtteid mõjutanud.

Kui ma algselt seda kaant nägin, mõtlesin, et kui ma oleks kaant enne kirjelduse lugemist näinud, ei oleks ma raamatut eluski kätte võtnud. Õnneks lugesin kirjeldust siiski varem goodreadsi grupis “Shut Up & Read“ ja sain võimaluse seda mõnusat raamatut lugeda. Terve raamatu jooksul polnud ühtegi igavat hetke.

Mulle meeldisid mõlemad – Sorcha ja Enid – nad olid tugevad, kaastundlikud, targad ja ajasid naerma. Mulle sümpatiseeris Enidi abivalmidus kaaslaste suhtes ja see, kuidas ta tegi kõik endast oleneva, et lõigata kasu Sorcha kehas viibitud aja jooksul omandatud tarkustest. Sorcha oli ka väga lahe.

Lisaks meeldisid mulle ka Ben ja Jonathan. Jällegi hea näide sellest, et love interestid (kuidas ma seda eesti keeles tõlkima peaksin? Armastuse objektid? Hmm.. Pean mõtlema selle üle veits..) ei pea olema mingid jõhkrad sarkastilised oma hinge otsivad karmid kutid, kes ootavad enda päästmist peakangelanna headuse poolt (ja kes, ärge saage valesti aru, mulle väga meeldivad, aga lõpuks kaotavad nad oma võlu, sest pea igas teises raamatus tuksub peakangelanna süda kellelegi sellisele), nad võivad olla hoopis armsad, viisakad, kaitsvad ja õilsad.

Sisu polnud ka liiga pikaks venitatud – just sellise paraja pikkusega, et olla piisavalt tegevusrikas ning vürtsitatud mõninga armastusnootidega. Kirjutamisstiil oli ka hea ja hmhhh.. Mul polegi vist midagi halba öelda isegi, kui väga tahaksin. Okei, kaas ei meeldinud, aga midagi pole teha, autor on oma raamatud ise ilma kirjastajata avaldanud, seega ei saa seda ka eriti pahaks panna.

Ma ei saa midagi sisu kohta täpsemalt öelda, sest muidu annaksin liiga palju ära (tundus, et kõik on suure tähtsusega, isegi ka kõige väiksemad hetked, asjaolud) ja siis poleks vist väga mõtet ka seda raamatut lugemiseks kätte võtta. Mida ma saan öelda, on see, et ma soovitan seda raamatut sajaprotsendiliselt! Ärge laske kaanel end petta, tähtis on sisu ja see oli väga hea!

Hinne: 4/5.

SelfSame

Original Title: SelfSame

Author: Melissa Conway

Published: March 21st 2012

Add It: Goodreads

Buy It: Amazon

A stillborn child revived. The past and the future intertwined. One girl lives two very different lives.

By all appearances, Sorcha Sloane is a typical small-town teen taking twenty-first century life for granted. While two centuries in the past, Enid Thompson is a poor farmer’s daughter in colonial New England. But Enid and Sorcha are the selfsame girl – one soul split between two bodies in a link that stretches across time. Every night while Enid’s body is sleeping, she wakes in the future as Sorcha, just as the old medicine man prophesied at her birth. And every night when Sorcha sleeps, she wakes in the past as Enid, in a frontier world on the brink of war. She only trusts a chosen few with the truth, until Ben Webster comes into Sorcha’s life and tells her his family has been desperately searching for her for over two hundred years…

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. Getting this book for free has not affected my opinion on this book.

When I first saw the cover of this book, I thought that I wouldn’t stop to read the description at all if I’d seen the cover first, but I’m glad I read the description on “Shut Up & Read“ (a goodreads group) first and got the chance to read this amazing book. While I didn’t enjoy “The Heart’s Discovery“ that much, it was a totally different case with this one. Not a dull moment during the whole book!

I liked both – Sorcha and Enid – they were strong, compassionate, brilliant and funny. I loved how Enid helped everyone and how she did everything in her power to take advantage of her knowledge she’d obtained while living as Sorcha. Sorcha was pretty cool, too, and I really, really liked them both.

What’s more, I liked Ben and I thought that Jonathan was pretty amazing, too. Once again it shows that love interests do not need to be some bad-ass-soul-searchers-waiting-to-be-saved kind of guys (who, don’t get me wrong, I love, but they get tiresome after awhile), they can be sweet, protecting, honorable instead.

Moreover, the plot was not stretched to its limits or over the limit. It was action-packed spiced up with some very sweet romance. The writing style was great and ugh.. I don’t think I can say anything bad about this book even if I tried. Okay, I have something: I really, really hate the cover, but what can you do? She's a self-published author, so let's look pass this horrible cover.

I cannot say anything about the plot, otherwise I’ll just give everything away (I mean, it felt like even the little things in this book held a big meaning in themselves) and there wouldn’t be any point in reading this book then. What I can say is that I absolutely, wholeheartedly recommend this book since I really liked it! Do not let the cover fool you, it certainly isn’t anything that would capture my attention at first sight, but what’s really important is what’s inside the book and it was great!

Rating: 4/5.

Weigh in Wednesday

Reading one book at a time vs. Reading multiple books at a time

Hmh.. It's the second one in a row that I find difficult to answer to. I used to think that there was no way I could read multiple books at a time. It's hard to keep up with the storylines and hard to remember the plot, characters etc afterwards. Well.. Now that I've tried reading two or three at a time, I can tell you that it is pretty difficult, but at the same time, it gives me great pleasure to select a book in sync with my mood and not stress about finishing one book in order to read the next one. I only recently started to read multiple books at a time and it's somewhat even better than reading one at a time. If the books are as great as e.g. Richelle Mead's, Cassandra Clare's or J. K. Rowling's, of course I'll read them seperately from everything else, but there aren't that many books that consume me in it's world like there's no tomorrow. In every other case, I find it soothing to change the themes and stories every other night or day (whenever I read and feel like changing things up again), e.g. when I'm mad at a character or totally depressed about a storyline, I pick up the other one I'm currently reading and find solace in it before returning to the previous one. In addition, it's great to alternate between contemporary romance and paranormal books when one of them falls short on action and the other one hasn't got enough romance in it. Furthermore, if the book does end up consuming me afterall, I'll read it and put the other ones on hold while I'm at it. So there you go, during this pretty long monologue I found out that I'm more into reading multiple books at a time than just one.

Winner: Reading multiple books at a time

Weigh in Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren at Epilogue Reviews.

 

Teaser Tuesday

This is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To participate you:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) * Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 My teasers:

“Thank you,” she murmured.
He smiled up at her and kissed her hand. “Anything for you, Cinderella.”

~ "Gabriel's Inferno" by Sylvain Reynard

The Heart's Discovery

Original Title: The Heart's Discovery (Hope Valley Saga #1)

Author: Amy McGuire

Published in: February 14th 2012

Add it: Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon

In her opinion he’s a judgmental snob who thinks he knows everything. In his opinion she’s beautiful, yet spoiled. Can they set aside their preconceptions take a chance on love? Or will they be forever separated when a tragic accident claims the life of someone close to them both?

Anjaline Rodriguez plans to live forever in her hometown of Quito, attend the prestigious Cotopaxi Academy and become a world-famous journalist. Then her stepfather’s job as an anthropologist takes her away from all she knows and loves. When she arrives in Hope Valley she is immediately attracted to the shy mountain boy with the fathomless eyes. Does her new home hold promise after all?

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. Getting this book for free has not affected my opinion on this book.

I was super excited to read this book and thought it had a great decription. In addition, Amy McGuire’s a self-publishing author and it’s always great to read their stories, because they’re usually not that mainstream and it’s good to give them a great reviews and ratings because it feels like they’ve worked even harder than the ones who’ve got published by major publishers. Self-published authors have ideas that may be a little clicheé, but they’re not something publishers consider mainstream or good enough in order for them to publish these books. Sometimes these authors write the most amazing and heartwhelming stories. I mean look at Jamie McGuire or Tammara Webber – their books are absolutely fantastic and they have done all their work, promotion etc all by themselves. Okay, enough with this rambling, let us continue with the review :)

I liked this book because it had potential and there were pretty good illustrational descriptions. I liked Damian – he had so much angst in him and purpose for doing the things he did. He was also the only one who made me smile/laugh more than twice while reading this book. Moreover, I was intrigued by his storyline. I also liked Robin, he gave some really good advice and was a great friend to Anjaline. I was sad that Jose and Angie’s cousin did not appear so much in this book, because they were actually pretty sweet and fun.

I found most of the things in this book quite cute, but there were parts in it that I didn’t find funny in the best meaning of this word. The description of the book was intriguing, but I had the impression that it was about a bit older young lovers, not 14-15 year olds (I think their age wasn’t mentioned in the description and the cover art just got me fooled). I’m sorry, but it was hard to take this seriously, because everything they felt seemed too.. I don’t know. My first boyfriend was in the 5th grade and I thought he was the love of my life, turned out to be a childish crush and we didn’t even make out like crazy. We’re friends right now and we laugh about being “in love“ at such a young age. I didn’t even know what love is and I probably still don’t know the answer to that question, therefore, it was hard to take any of this seriously. If I would have been able to forget this little age fact I’d probably have given this book a higher rating. The story itself was pretty decent. I thought that because of their youth all the characters were too naive. Also, they had moodswings more than an avarage pregnant woman.

The plot itself had some interesting twists and I cannot say I didn’t enjoy this book at all, I did, it was nice, but it was so hard for me to forget that they were so young, the concept would have suited for a bit older people. The overall message from this book was nice. The writing style was decent, but the character development needs a little bit of work, plus I think that there were too many time gaps bewteen some major scenes. All that said, it was an okay read, but I do think that this author has some major potential in her and I’ll probably be checking in on her improvement with the characters, plot, writing style etc in the next book, just to see how it all continues and how the author improves.

Rating: 2/5.

Weigh in Wednesday

 

Action/adventure vs. Romance

That's definitely a tough one. It's like asking me to choose only between love and amazing one-in-a-lifetime kind of experiences. Which could I choose? Which should I choose? I'm sorry, I cannot choose one. I love a great story spiced up with some romance and I love a romance spiced up with some adventure. I think there can't be one without the other, but if I had to choose.. I'd probably choose romance, because love itself is an adventure. However, I have to say it's such a tough cookie for me to crack right now that I can't prefer one to the other. The best stories are written about adventures and love together – Cassandra Clare's, Jennifer L. Armentrout's, Wendy Higgins' etc (I think there are tons of YA books that have both and they're the most enjoyable to read). Even "Harry Potter" has some action when it comes to love and the attraction between the opposite genders. I think romance (alone) books could get tiredsome after a while (I mean.. How many times could I read different versions of "Pride and Prejudice" over and over againg?), but there're always possibilities with adventure books. At the same time, I'm a hopless romantic so I cannot possibly choose adventure/action over romance so I take the easy way out and say I cannot choose a winner here. I like my books all lovey-dovey packed with tears, fights, action, amazing discoveries and adventures beyond my wildest dreams.

Winner: no winner today, I like both.

Weigh in Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren at Epilogue Reviews.

My Life Next Door

Original Title: My Life Next Door

Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Release Date: June 14th 2012
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

Wow. Just wow! I believe I loved every single second of this book and I read it in two nights. It was thrilling, sweet, amazing, fun, sad – it had every emotion I want and expect from a book. Even though there were some parts that were a bit slower than the others, it was still a fantastic read and if the author writes a sequel or a story about Tim (or, let’s say, Alice?) someday, I’d pick it up in a heartbeat.

The only thing I did not like was Nan, Sam’s best friend. I’m sorry, but she was just.. Yeah. I was not her biggest fan. I bet there are people who didn’t like Clay either, but I think he was awesome because he was that type of a character you love to hate, so in a way I did like him. That being said, there wasn’t anything else I did not like, so let us continue with the good parts of this story, shall we?

Sam. Nan thinks everything comes easily for her; however, it doesn’t. She’s a freaking teenager and about to start her senior year in highschool, but since her mother is the Senator, she has to be polite, nice, well behaved etc and cannot enjoy her youth that much. Her mother has already gone trough pareting her older sister Tracy, so she doesn’t want Samantha to do anything stupid and expects her to behave like an adult, because her elections and image are the most important thing to her. Sam really seems like a ghost in her own house and in her mother’s life unless it’s about presenting their family of three on television or going to important meals. There were two things I liked about her the most: firstly, she likes to swim (one of my favorite hobbies) and, secondly, she tries her best to make everyone feel good and happy.

She’s watched their next door neighbours – the Garretts – for years, but has never approached them. During one night, while she’s at her rooftop, one of them comes to say hello. His name is Jase an he’s this awesome gifted guy who’s good at everything. Jack of all trades! He’s a sweet, caring, fun, hard-working guy and his family is everything to him. Jase is very rational and down to earth. He would be a great guy to be friends with and, what’s more, he’s ridiculously good-looking.

These two adolescents grow to love each other and everything seems like a fairy tale. Until it isn’t. Almost everyone in town, including Sam’s mother, points their finger at the Garretts due to their huge family. I liked their family. It was a bit chaotic, but it was a family and it’s more than you can say about Sam’s relationship with her mother. It’s not like they don’t get along, it’s just that she doesn’t seem to enjoy her life at home as much as she enjoys it at the Garretts. Anyway, it’s all lovey-dovey at the beginning and it’s not until towards the end of the book you start to wonder that there must be something happening real soon. And BAMM!! It happens.

So.. The question is: how do they get trough this horrible situation? How would you act if you had a big secret to hide that’s not yours to tell, since you weren’t the one at fault, but it affects the people you love the most? What would you do if you need and want to tell the truth, but it could send someone very important to you to jail? What would you do if this secret tears you apart from the one person you trust the most?

It was a really, really good book and I’ll probably read it again someday. I definitely recommend this book. You should read it because of George, Jase’s little brother, and Tim, Sam’s childhood friend and Nan’s brother. You should read it because of this beautiful love story between these wild young hearts. What a great story!

Excerpts:

“Why would I need rescuing? This is my house, my roof.”
“I don’t know. It just hit me, seeing you there, that you might be Rapunzel. The princess in the tower thing. All that long blond hair and…well…”
“And you’d be?” I know I’m going to laugh if he says “the prince.”

“Samantha and I are going upstairs to, uh, feed the animals.” Jase grabs my hand.
“Is that what they call it now?” asks Alice languidly.

“It'd be good if you'd stop apologizing right about now." 

"It's about all I've got to fix things.”

Rating: 5/5.