End of the Year Book Survey 2014

This year has flown by so fast and I'm really happy that even with such a small amount of books I read, there were some really great books that I can't wait to ramble about. Last year's End of the Year Survey was such a fun thing to do, so I couldn't possibly pass it up this year. Thanks to Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner who hosts this annual event. I can't wait to see your surveys or end of the year posts if you'r not doing the survey. Link me up and let me know how your reading year was. Without further ado, here's the summary of my reading year.

Number Of Books You Read: 91 (though GR says 86)

Number of Re-Reads: 4 official but tbh it’s way, way more

Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary (56/91)

Review: Amour Amour by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Title: Amour Amour
Author: Krista and Becca Ritchie
Published: December 12th 2014
Read: December 13 to 16, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Love is a circus

"Every day,” he says lowly, “I hold a person’s life in my hands. The circus is based one-hundred percent off trust. I give it all to someone, and they give it all to me.”

The best aerial technique won’t land 21-year-old Thora James her dream role in Amour—a sexy new acrobatic show on the Vegas strip. Thora knows she’s out of her element the second she meets Amour’s leading performer. Confident, charming and devilishly captivating, 26-year-old Nikolai Kotova lives up to his nickname as the “God of Russia.”

When Thora unknowingly walks into the crosshairs of Nikolai’s after-show, her audition process begins way too soon. Unprofessional. That’s what Nik calls their “non-existent” relationship. It’s not like Thora can avoid him. For one, they may be partners in the future--acrobatic partners, that is. But getting closer to Nik means diving deeper into sin city and into his dizzying world.

Thora wants to perform with him, but when someone like Nikolai attracts the spotlight wherever he goes—Thora fears that she’s destined to be just background to his spellbinding show.

This sexy and exhilarating New Adult Romance can best be described as Cirque du Soleil meets the steamy, athletic romance of Center Stage.

Oh, the two wizards that are Krista and Becca Ritchie! Their books have moved and touched the deepest parts of my soul and I will forever hold them dear and close to my heart. After finishing their first stand-alone novel, I can tell you that I found Amour Amour to be exciting, and the circus setting most definitely added to the otherwise fun, humorous and sensuous story.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Amour Amour by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Hello, you gorgeous souls! Today is such an exciting day, because to be honest, I really didn't know what to do for today's post, but after thinking about it, I offered one of my favorite topics to Krista and Becca: sweets! And yay, they agreed to this silly idea of the characters being described as sweets to give us hints about their personalities. I'm keeping this intro fairly short since you probably all want to get to know these characters a little better, seeing as we know next to nothing about them, but if you don't know what this tour is about, then here's the short verison of it: Krista and Becca have a new book coming out this Friday—a standalone New Adult novel Amour Amour that takes place in a circus and, knowing them, is more than likely to make you feel all the feels. Anyway, read more about it below and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post :) Good luck!

Mini Reviews: Through the Zombie Glass & These Broken Stars

Title: Through the Zombie Glass (The White Rabbit Chronicles, #2)
Author: Gena Showalter
Published: September 24th 2013
Read: August 17 to 19, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Zombies stalk the night. Forget blood and brains. These monsters hunger for human souls. Sadly, they've got mine...
Alice Bell has lost so much. Family. Friends. A home. She thought she had nothing else to give. She was wrong.
After a new zombie attack, strange things begin to happen to her. Mirrors come to life, and the whispers of the dead assault her ears. But the worst? A terrible darkness blooms inside her, urging her to do very wicked things.
She's never needed her team of zombie slayers more, but ultra bad-boy Cole Holland, the leader and her boyfriend, suddenly withdraws from her...from everyone. Now, with her best friend Kat at her side, Ali must kill the zombies, uncover Cole's secret and learn to fight the darkness.
But the clock is ticking...and if she fails at a single task, they're all doomed.

Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Title: Open Road Summer
Author: Emery Lord
Published: April 15th, 2014
Read: August 3rd to 5th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

I read Open Road Summer after most of my friends had raved about it and said how much they enjoyed this inspirational story about best friends, a swoony romance, a road trip and always welcomed character growth. Plus, a story with a pretty cover and gorgeous writing is always a must-read if you ask me.

Review: Addicted After All by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Title: Addicted After All (Addicted #3)
Author: Krista and Becca Ritchie
Published: October 31st
Read: Oct 31st to Nov 1st, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Two addicts. One epic love story.

Prepare for the worst.

That’s what Lily and Lo try to do when Jonathan Hale schedules an “important” meeting. The problem: after being swept into the public eye and battling their addictions, they’re not sure what the worst is anymore.

In a sea of many changes—including Ryke & Daisy living with them—Lily realizes that the best part of her fluctuating hormones might just be the worst.

Her sex drive is out of control.

Loren knows that she’s insatiable, but he’s not giving up on her. She’s too much a part of him. And as he carries more and more responsibility, some of the people that he loves doubt his resolve.

In the conclusion to their love story, Lily & Lo stand side-by-side to fight, one last time, for their happily ever after.

*I’m so sorry if this review doesn’t make any sense, I can't seem to stop crying; apologies*

Where does one even begin reviewing Addicted After all? I wouldn’t know, because I legit don’t know where to begin. All I know is that AAA was one of the best series endings I’ve ever read! I will cherish this book with all my heart and shout from every rooftop possible about how good this series is, how much it has touched the deepest parts of my soul and moved me. This series is the very reminder of why I read, why authors are superheroes by saving the world book by book and why I never ever want to stop reading. It’s pure magic!

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Addicted After All by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Hiiii, loves! It's been a long time no see, hasn't it? It feels really good to be somewhat back with this particular post and while I may still not blog regularly until Christmas, I'm willing to try and sneak in a little blogging in my schedule if it allows so. I hope you've all been up to no good ;) though really, I hope you're all doing great! I've missed you guys a ton! *hugs you all tightly*

Anyhooow, today's post is one that I've been anticipating since summer and it was super fun to create. Basically, I drew some pictures for the Addicted cast to guess. Nevermind the quality of those drawings; you know how it is with pictionary, so they're going to be "realistic", for the sake of not finding a better word lol. I hope you can play along as well by guessing these pictures as you follow the post, and have a fun time in general when reading this crazy thing :) Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit all the other lovely blogs on the tour and enter the giveaway below! x

Where's Your Head At?

Hellllllo, gorgeous people!

You may or may not have noticed my lack of posts compared to previous periods where I posted 4-5 times a week. Unfortunately getting a MSc degree isn't as easy as BSc so I'm drowning in school work, and honestly lacking the motivation in everything (including blogging, commenting and reading) atm. I wish I was as kick-a as people who have their own families, go to school/work and still manage to be flawless in this community, but nope. Right now I feel like this blog is more of a chore than something I do for fun, so I'm taking a break by tryig to ace all the school stuff, making Spotify lists, hanging out with friends, going to the movies and reading without obsessing over "when will I ever get around writing this review because I'm so darn behind ugh". I don't want to hear that line in my head.

I want to be stress free and look at a book all "ooooh la la, you look mighty fine, bae; I want to take you on a date, devour you, ship your ships and get all the feels"

Now that's more like it! Hopefully this will happen and I'll learn to enjoy books this way again and more 5 star reads will happen too. Anyhow, will probably be back sometime at the end of October (if things go well) or beginning of November (with my Addicted After All review, because that's bound to happen no matter what).

I'm still on twitter (what is life without twitter, yo), instagram, goodreads, tumblr and basically everywhere else except for this blog. I'll try and slowly comment back for every comment left under my Afterworlds review, but be patient with me. I hope you won't forget about me during this (very necessary) hiatus and come talk to me on twitter when you have time.

With all my love,
Siiri

Review: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Afterworlds
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Published: September 23rd, 2014
Read: September 3rd to 21st, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings…

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.

I once started Uglies in my native language, but since I’m not really into translated fiction, I put it down, returned the copy to my local library and never once gave it a second glance. Not going to change that, but I’ll definitely check out Westerfeld’s newest releases in the upcoming years and here are the reasons why.

Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before (TATBILB #1)
Author: Jenny Han
Published: April 15th 2014
Read: July 27th to July 29th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

I’ve never read a Jenny Han book before, and honestly? The Summer trilogy isn’t really that tempting considering that it features a heavy back-and-forth love triangle that seems just a tad bit too much for me. This one, however? Everyone raved about it and after my lovely Jasprit kindly gifted me this gorgeous hardcover, I just couldn’t wait any longer and knew I had to pick it up this summer. I wasn't completely sure it was for me, but boy was I ever surprised how perfect this book ended up being.

Hit Me with Your Fizzle Force!

Hiiiiii, lovelies! I feel like every new non-review post of mine is about, or somehow related to, Krista and Becca (and Connor) but I'm sure you're all used to it by now. (If not, then no worries, you will be pretty soon!) A lot has happened lately in this fandom and last week we got the release date (October 31st) for Addicted After All, the third and final book of Lily and Lo's story. (GIMME MORE LILO *cough* CONNOR COBALT AND MY OTP *cough* PLS. KTHX.) It's so close you guys! We are almost, almost there *faints* *reaches for AAA*

Today's post, however, is not about Addicted After All, unfortunately, but about showing you all what I've been working on for throughout the past week and a little more, and shouting love through the power that is...

Review: Boomerang by Noelle August

Title: Boomerang (Boomerang #1)
Author: Noelle August (Veronica Rossi, Lorin Oberweger)
Published: July 8th 2014
Read: July 23rd to 26th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

The first book in a sensational New Adult trilogy from Noelle August

Welcome to Boomerang.com, the dating site for the millennial gen with its no-fuss, no-commitments matchups, and where work is steamier than any random hook-up
Mia Galliano is an aspiring filmmaker. Ethan Vance has just played his last game as a collegiate soccer star. They’re sharp, hungry for success, and they share a secret.

Last night, Ethan and Mia met at a bar, and, well . . . one thing led to another, which led to them waking up the next morning—together. Things turned awkward in a hurry when they found themselves sharing a post hookup taxi . . . to the same place: Boomerang headquarters.

What began as a powerful connection between them is treated to a cold shower courtesy of two major complications. First, Boomerang has a strict policy against co-worker dating. And second, they’re now competitors for only one job at the end of summer.
As their internships come to an end, will they manage to keep their eyes on the future and their hands off each other, or will the pull of attraction put them right back where they started?

Noelle August is a hot new name on the New Adult landscape. I knew I’d love Boomerang’s humor and chemistry even before I opened the book because Veronica Rossi is a queen and I adore her books. I had, must admit, never heard of Lorin Oberweger before, but turns out that she has starred Kirkus reviews and everything as a ghostwriter so should speak volume about her talent as well. So yes, Boomerang was a must after I read the synopsis and I may as well tell you all about my thoughts on this fun, chemistry-filled and humorous read.

The Seven Deadly Sins Tag

Hiiii, lovelies! Today was originally supposed to be my August wrap up day, but nope. My gorgeous Bosnian beauty Tanja @ Ja citam, a ti? tagged me in The Seven Deadly Sins tag. (Just a fair warning that if you're commenting on this post, I may not reply back right away as I usually do since uni started yesterday and so did my masters studies, so I'm being a little busy with school right now seeing as my schedule is all kinds of crazy.) I've never done a tag on my blog (only on instagram and twitter) and this was such a fun one! I hope my over the top subtle fangirling over all things Coballoway doesn't freak you out since you ought to be used to it by now. Let me know some of your answers and be sure to scroll down to the end of the post to see who I've tagged :) Talk to you soon! x

Review: Come Back to Me by Mila Gray

Title: Come Back to Me
Author: Mila Grey (aka Sarah Alderson)
Published: June 19th 2014 Pan Macmillan
Read: July 20th to 22nd, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

Home on leave in sunny California, Marine and local lothario Kit Ryan finds himself dangerously drawn to his best friend's sister, Jessa - the one girl he can't have.

But Kit's not about to let a few obstacles stand in his way and soon Jessa's falling for his irresistible charms.
What starts out as a summer romance of secret hook-ups and magical first times quickly develops into a passionate love affair that turns both their worlds upside down.

When summer's over and it's time for Kit to redeploy, neither Kit nor Jessa are ready to say goodbye. Jessa's finally following her dreams and Kit's discovered there's someone he'd sacrifice everything for.

Jessa's prepared to wait for Kit no matter what. But when something more than distance and time rips them apart they're forced to decide whether what they have is really worth fighting for.

A breathtaking, scorchingly hot story about love, friendship, family and finding your way back from the edge of heartbreak.

So you should all know by now that my lovely Jazzy is obsessed with all things Sarah Alderson. I’ve been meaning to read something by her for the longest time since Jasprit can’t shut up about the magic that is Sarah Alderson. And for a good reason too, let me tell you! When Sarah published Come Back to Me under her pseudonym Mila Gray, all of my friends’ blogs blew up with praise and that was honestly where I lost my patience (in a good way). Reading it almost right after Thrive (which I knew would create the biggest bookish hangover) was a risky move, but I just knew that Come Back to Me was something I couldn’t simply ignore.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Really Want To Read But Don't Own Yet

I wasn't planning on posting more than twice this week to slowly get back into the habit of blogging (more about it in my August wrap up), but this topic simply could not be ignored. We all have huge TBRs, but it doesn't make us crave for new, gorgeous, haunting stories any less. I've picked 5 books from books that have already been published and 5 from the unpublished category, and for good measure, added honorable mentions :) Let me know if my choices match yours and which ones do you desperately want to own. If you have a link for today's TTT, leave it down below and I'll try my best to visit you back asap. *all covers link to Goodreads

Review: Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy #3)
Author: Wendy Higgins
Published: April 29th 2014
Read: July 4th to 8th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

It’s time.

Evil is running rampant and sweet Anna Whitt is its target. Nobody knows when or how the Dukes will strike, but Anna and her Nephilim allies will do anything necessary to rid the earth of the demons and their oppressive ways.

The stakes are higher than ever, and Anna is determined that the love she feels will be her strength, not a liability. But trying to protect the ones she loves while running for her life and battling demonic forces proves to be perilous—especially as faces are changing and trust is fleeting. When the Duke of Lust sends Anna’s great love, Kaidan Rowe, to work against her, Anna must decide how much she’s prepared to risk.

In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet, Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom.

Buddy-read this one with Rashika as well and, as a whole, I can say that this series is made of win. Light, fun, fast-paced and character-driven, Sweet Evil and its following novels bring you laughs and enjoyable reading experiences. While Sweet Reckoning wasn’t my favorite novel from the whole series, nor one of my favorite series endings, I did truly enjoy this read.

Cover Reveal and Giveaway: Amour Amour by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Haven't done a cover reveal in ages. Last one was last spring/summer? No? I don't even remember. Anyhow, this book (and the authors) just demands your attention. I mean, look at the title and the synopsis! I can't wait to devour this gorgeous thing, dance around and shout my love. Because I'm 98.3% sure that's how it's going down in December. Sooo le twins have a new book coming out and it's a NA Standalone contemporary romance novel and today I have the pleasure to show you the prettiness Krista has come up with *sprinkles glitter all over her and stares in awe*

(Shhh. Don't tell anyone, but Krista finished Hogwarts at the top of her class and I think can all agree that there's pure magic on all the Addicted and Calloway sisters covers she has designed, so I'm not surprised I love this cover too :)) Without further ado, here's the lovely cover.

Book Haul #33

This is quite awkward since I'm constantly updating my instagram with book hauls, but my last official book haul on le blog was in March. Um. Oops. Trying to remedy this and do more of those when I have a bunch of books to show you. Not going to show you everything I've gotten since March (if you'd like to see, you can visit my instagram), but I want to give a few shout-outs and show you my latest hauls :) Anyhow, as always, if you have read any, let me know what you thought and be sure to leave your links below so I can visit you back :) Have a great weekend, lovelies! x

Review: Before You by Amber Hart

Title: Before You (Before & After #1)
Author: Amber Hart
Published: July 29th
Read: from July 2nd to 4th, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
*An ARC was provided in exchange for my honest thoughts*

Some say love is deadly. Some say love is beautiful. I say it is both.

Faith Watters spent her junior year traveling the world, studying in exquisite places, before returning to Oviedo High School. From the outside her life is picture-perfect. Captain of the dance team. Popular. Happy. Too bad it’s all a lie.

It will haunt me. It will claim me. It will shatter me. And I don't care.

Eighteen-year-old Diego Alvarez hates his new life in the States, but staying in Cuba is not an option. Covered in tattoos and scars, Diego doesn't stand a chance of fitting in. Nor does he want to. His only concern is staying hidden from his past—a past, which if it were to surface, would cost him everything. Including his life.

At Oviedo High School, it seems that Faith Watters and Diego Alvarez do not belong together. But fate is as tricky as it is lovely. Freedom with no restraint is what they long for. What they get is something different entirely.

Love—it will ruin you and save you, both.

It’s true! I didn’t like Perfect Chemistry that much. Sorry guys! I read it about 2-3 years ago and wasn’t a huge fan. I wish it had had a little more culture in it and was a little less about the HS drama. I read the synopsis for Before You and thought perhaps Perfect Chemistry was just not for me at the time; perhaps I’ll love this book since I love me some star-crossed romances; perhaps I’ll love it and fall in love so madly that I’ll want to re-read PC and love it too. While those things didn’t happen, I’m still glad I read Before You, because now I know that these kind of books just aren’t for me. Period.

Review: Five Ways to Fall by K.A. Tucker

Title: Five Ways to Fall
Author: K.A. Tucker
Published: June 24th 2014
Read: June 26 to 30, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Purple-haired, sharp-tongued Reese MacKay knows all about making the wrong choice; she’s made plenty of them in her twenty-odd-years. So when her impulsive, short-lived marriage ends in heartbreak, she decides it’s time for a change. She moves to Miami with the intention of hitting reset on her irresponsible life, and she does quite well…aside from an epically humiliating one-night stand in Cancun with a hot blond bouncer named Ben. Thank God she can get on a plane and leave that mistake behind her.

Football scholarship and frat parties with hot chicks? Part of charmer Ben Morris’s plan. Blown knee that kills any hope of a professional football career? So not part of the plan. Luckily Ben has brains to go with his knockout looks and magnetism. After three long years of balancing law school with his job as a bouncer at Penny’s Palace, he’s ready to lead a more mature life—until his first day of work, when he finds himself in the office of that crazy, hot chick he met in Cancun. The one he hasn’t stopped thinking about.

If Ben truly were a smart guy, he’d stay clear of Reese. She’s the boss’s stepdaughter and it’s been made very clear that office romances are grounds for dismissal. Plus, rumor has it she’s trouble. The only problem is, he likes trouble, especially when it’s so good-looking…

Ten Tiny Breaths was one of my first New Adult novels and I really, really liked it. Then I had the worst luck with One Tiny Lie and Four Seconds to Lose (Hey, we cannot all love the same books! I’m glad that almost all of you loved FStL.), so I was legit scared to read Five Ways to Fall. I’m going to be really, really honest with you right now. Five Ways to Fall is K.A. Tucker’s best work to date and was also the best book I had read since Hothouse Flower in March! I absolutely loved loved loooooved it and you need to read it ASAP. Don’t believe me? Let me convince you a little more :)

July Wrap Up

Pardon me for taking so long to wrap July up and send it to the past, but reviews, Lily Calloway's birthday and all sorts of other stuff took residence in the must-do-asap pile so wrap up had to be left untouched for a while. Better late than never, right? July totally flew by! I spent my time mostly at work, but during the few moments I wasn't in our downtown office, I was either reading at home, eating strawberries and cherries, enjoying sunshine, seeing Bastille live, having fun at my friend's BBQ or relentlessly looking forward to the publication of Thrive. I also interviewed four bloggers this month: Sam, Amber, Melanie and Jeann. Now it's August. It's mah birthday soon! You're all welcome to stop by at the end of August and I'll offer you chocolate cake, cupcakes and all sorts of other delicious things :) Anyhow, seeing as you're here to hear (read) about the books I read and reviewed in July, let's get down to business!

Occasional Book Spine Poetry #1: Kiss the Sky

Remember how last week we celebrated Lily Calloway's birthday? Well, today is Rose Calloway's birthday. I love this character to no end. Out of all the Calloway sisters, I'm the most like her and my personality, dreams, fears.. Let's just say that I can identify with her a lot. At first I wanted to have a discussion today: talk about strong women in fiction and use Rose as the prime example. When I started writing it though, I realized that there are so many other characters I want to portray as well and that the post would do injustice to them. So I thought hard over what to do today and had an Einstein moment *insert light bulb* where I came up with the most brilliant idea.. only to forget it.

YEP. HOW? I have no idea *shakes head* As hard as I tried, I could not remember that idea to save my life. Clearly, clearly someone is getting old. Needless to say I had a small panic attack yesterday, because Rose is one half of my OTP *waves a team Coballoway flag*, my favorite female character in the Addicted and Calloway Sisters series and one of my favorite female characters ever! Obviously I needed to do something to honor this character who helped me through some hard times this last semester at uni; inspired me to push myself further and further; who has given me so many feels while following her story.

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure to meet the fiercest Calloway sister yet, Rose is extremely smart. She loves knowledge. I wanted to do something fun for today. Something that Rose would perhaps appreciate. Since Connor and books are some of the things she loves the most in addition to her sisters, fashion and standing for women's rights, what better way to celebrate by creating a non-traditional book spine poem about the two nerds (read: Rose and Connor) on the same orbit. The following poem is inspired by Kiss the Sky, my favorite book in the whole series and tells the story of my OTP: Rose Calloway and Connor Cobalt. 

“I’m just excited for you,” I tell her. “It’s like a milestone in your relationship.” The orbiting nerd stars have finally collided. — Lily Calloway, Thrive.

Review: All Lined Up by Cora Carmack

Title: All Lined Up
Author: Cora Carmack
Published: May 13th 2014
Read: June 23 to 26, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cora Carmack follows up her trio of hits—Losing It, Faking It, and Finding It—with this thrilling first novel in an explosive series bursting with the Texas flavor, edge, and steamy romance of Friday Night Lights.

In Texas, two things are cherished above all else—football and gossip. My life has always been ruled by both.

Dallas Cole loathes football. That's what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers, and put the playing field (and the players) in her past.

But life doesn't always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football star ex wasn’t bad enough, her father, a Texas high school coaching phenom, has decided to make the jump to college ball… as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.

Carson McClain is determined to go from second-string quarterback to the starting line-up. He needs the scholarship and the future that football provides. But when a beautiful redhead literally falls into his life, his focus is more than tested. It's obliterated.

Dallas doesn't know Carson is on the team. Carson doesn't know that Dallas is his new coach's daughter.

Started this on a random morning while taking the bus to work. Figured it wouldn't hurt to try a New Adult novel since Cora is amazing! Her writing suits me so well and I missed some steam and smexy from the YA reads I had going on lately. Truly glad I started it since already during the first 20%, I couldn't wipe this silly grin off my face. One could say that I fell hard for Carson and Dallas, their adorable chemistry and intense attraction. And you know what? They're absolutely right!

Lily Calloway's Birthday Extravaganza & Giveaway

Hiiii, my lovelies. Where does one even begin to introduce a post like this? *takes a deep breath* Ok. So, almost all of you must know by now that I have a slight obsession with the Addicted and Calloway Sisters series by Krista and Becca Ritchie. After reading Thrive two weeks ago, I have suffered through crazy withdrawals and wanted to do something to put my excitement and fangirling abilities to good use. What better way to do that than honour one of the quirkiest, most adorable and lovely characters I have ever had the pleasure to read about?! Today is Lily Calloway's birthday *dances around the room* I have invited some pretty amazing people to join me and together we want to wish Lily a big, big happy birthday :) I hope you lovelies enjoy this post and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post. Thank you for reading and I hope you have just as much fun with reading and watching these birthday wishes as we had creating them *hugs*

Lily Calloway

Source

CASUAL

Name: Lily Calloway
Birthday: 08/01
Height: 5’5’’ and a smidgen (I guess 5’6’’)
Eye color: Green
Location: Bedroom
Position: From behind. With Lo, just to be clear :)

FAVORITES

Color: Purple
Season: Fall (no sweating and no puffy winter jackets, makes for easy access)
Movie: X-Men: First Class
Person: Loren Hale
Quote: “With great power comes great responsibility.” – Spider-Man

Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Title: We Were Liars
Author: Emily Lockhart
Published: May 13th 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

I have not stumbled upon a negative review for this one yet. Yeah, a few DNF mentions among my GR friends, but mostly just “mind-blown”, “so good”, “loved it”, “brilliant”—these are the words and phrases come to mind from the reviews and thoughts that I have seen. After reading Tanja’s review and wanting to get out of a huge slump, I really wanted to give it a try.

Blogger Interview: Happy Indulgence

Hey, guys! July is coming to an end and August is just around the corner. Where did July go? O______O This summer has totally flown by and while it's actually not that awesome, I have an awesome thing to show you all today. Remember how I said that July is wonderful since 3 blogger interviews? Well, scratch that, because let's make it 4! I'll try to do at least 3 next month so that this huge list of people I have with your names would somewhat lessen and I'll get to introduce you all to each other :)

Anyhow, today I'm bringing the lovely Jeann over from Happy Indulgence. She's such an inspiration to me: her reviews and content is always very professional and classy, yet she always manages to get her point straight across and make me excited about all kinds of books. She's also a gamer, so if you play any games? Make sure to follow her blog since her new feature provides you with all kinds of gamer information. Plus, you'd make great friends with this friendly girl :) Want to know more about her? I'm not going to hold you here any longer. Everyone, meet Jeann! Jeann, meet everyone! :)

Profile

Name: Jeann
Age: 26
Origin: Asian
Blog name: Happy Indulgence
URL: http://www.happyindulgencebooks.com
Blog’s age: 2 years
Favorite book of all time: This is a hard one, I'd have to say The Book Thief.

Review: Sweet Peril by Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Peril (Sweet Evil #2)
Author: Wendy Higgins
Published: April 30th 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Anna Whitt, the daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a vow. She’d been naive about a lot of things.

Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.
When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

Buddy-read this gorgous thing with Rashika and had so much fun discussing it. Sweet Evil was one of the first YA books that I just about died while reading, because I was too busy swooning over the love interest. Yes, I’m fully team Kaidan and proud of it! While I adore Wendy Higgins to pieces, loved the first book a lot and know that the fans were satisfied with Peril, I was hesitant. Why? Well, I knew that Kai wouldn’t be in the first half that much, so I honestly didn’t know if Anna and her own adventures would be captivating enough to keep me hooked. Were they?

Review: Thrive by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Title: Thrive (Addicted #2.5)
Author: Krista and Becca Ritchie
Published: July 18th 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Two years will change them forever.

When rumors spread like wildfire—like having three-ways with her boyfriend’s rock climbing brother—Lily Calloway spirals into a dark place. Her bedroom. Loren Hale is more confident and determined to keep their sex life private, even from their friends, and he helps Lily in the only way he knows how. But how much love is too much?

Their lives are filmed, watched, and criticized. And through it all, Lily and Loren have to face enemies they never thought they’d see, demons they don’t know if they should bury, and setbacks they didn’t think they’d meet. Not this soon.

And one rumor could be too much for them to handle. It will test their greatest limitations, and if they don’t hold onto each other, someone is going to drown.

A full-length New Adult Romance that bridges the gap between the second and third books. Thrive must be read before Addicted After All if you have not read the Calloway Sisters spin-off series.

*There are NO spoilers whatsoever in this review for any of the previous books nor for Thrive.*

Hiii, y’all. So it’s that day again on le blog where I get to fangirl endlessly. Do you guys even take me seriously anymore when I mention this series to you? Honestly, it’s not my fault these books are so devourious (not a word, I know, but it should be: these books are meant to be devoured!). In all honesty, this book and series can be summed up in two words: READ. THIS.

Blogger Interview: The Daily Prophecy

Hiiiii, lovelies! This month is pretty darn special since 3 blogger interviews :) Today I have the pleasure to introduce one of the most wonderful and humble bloggers out there: Melanie from The Daily Prophecy. Everyone, meet Melanie! Melanie, meet everyone! :) What I knew about Melanie was that she's a fellow Captain Swan shipper, loves fairy tales and fantasy above all and is endlessly in love with Disney and Harry Potter. When editing her interview and reading through her answers, I discovered a lot more about her and I hope you will too :) Without further ado, here's the interview.

Profile

Name: Melanie, but Mel is just fine.
Age: *whispers* 23.
Origin: Netherlands!
Blog name: The Daily Prophecy.
URL: http://thedailyprophecy.blogspot.com
Blog’s age: at this moment 2 years, 5 months and 9 days.
Favorite book of all time: Why are you doing this to me? I'm going to cheat and you can't stop me. Historical: The book thief. Fantasy: Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix. Fairytale: Tiger Lily. Adult: Daughter of the forest.

Top Ten Tuesday: Deserted Island

Today’s TTT is a very fun one. I love traveling and I love books so.. heh. While a deserted island isn’t my dream destination, it’d be a very adventurous experience with this cast of people I’ve selected, I’m sure. Let me know if you would pick the same ones or who did I miss!

Review: Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Title: Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits #3)
Author: Katie McGarry
Published: November 26th 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life—that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

Katie McGarry is one of the best at writing swoony, adorable, yet heart-wrenching and emotional contemporary books. I have enjoyed all that in Pushing the Limits and Dare You To. Now we have my favorite character Isaiah on his way towards happiness and I couldn’t have been happier to crack his book open and devour every single word of it. Let’s just say that it wasn’t what I was expecting, but I thoroughly enjoyed what we got.

Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest (Tempest #1)
Author: Julie Cross
Published: Januay 17th 2012
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.
Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit… or kill him.
Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

I think this book (series) is better to be read when you have a full day (depending on how fast you read) to absorb all the goodness, because reading a chapter or two per night did nothing for my excitement, to be honest with you. I liked the story as a whole and there were a lot of things that took me by surprise, but did I love it to no lengths? Nope, not exactly.

Tour & Giveaway: Thrive by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Hiii, lovelies! You [probably] all know that I'm such a fangirl of Krista and Becca. They've created a horrible obsessed minion out of moi for this series and these characters. You have no idea how hard it has been to wait for Thrive, the next installment in the Addicted series, impatiently. It's been forever since I last read from Lily and Lo's POV and I cannot wait to see what they've been up to during Kiss the Sky and Hothouse Flower (the companion novels to this series). Lucky for us, Thrive comes out this Friday!!!

Today I get to share the characters' dating profiles with you. YOU GUYS. Supah excited. Srsly. This gang is hilarious and every single one of them is so unique. I hope you have fun getting to know them if you haven't met them personally yet. All the same to people who already know the Addicted gang. I hope you enjoy the post which takes place pre-Thrive so no spoilers for people who haven't read Hothouse Flower or Kiss the Sky and thank you so much for visiting this tour stop *hugs* P.S. Visit the rest of the tour by clicking on the banner above.

Also, did you know that the series is on sale for 0.99$ for each book so grab it while you can! They're totally worth the purchase, I promise :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite TV Shows

Hii, lovelies! Today's TTT is something I'm thoroughly excited to see. I have two big loves in addition to reading: music and tv shows. Yep, no reason to deny that I'm a tiny bit obsessed with my favorite shows. I'm always up to watching more of them and I really need to drop some *glares at PLL and TVD* Since music is so much harder to narrow down to ten, I chose TV shows. Let's see if we have any in common :)

Review: Shadows by Paula Weston

Title: Shadows (The Repham #1)
Author: Paula Weston
Published: July 2nd 2012
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

It’s almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn.
And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams—he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense. Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth—and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.
Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly, who can she trust?

This is so hard for me to review simply because I don’t want to offend anyone’s feelings. Don’t get me wrong, I liked this book, but since everyone was so excited about me reading it and saying how much they adored it? Um, I just don’t want to disappoint anyone by saying that it wasn’t as amazing as I thought it would be.

Review: Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally

Title: Things I Can't Forget (Hundred Oaks #3)
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Published: March 1st 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Companion to Catching Jordan and Stealing Parker.

Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different…
This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt--with her.
Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy…

This series has been tough for me in the sense that I loved Catching Jordan so much. It suited me well at the time and I still adore it to pieces, but Stealing Parker, while still enjoyable, was not exactly my cup of tea. I liked it, but not as much as the first book. After hearing how people felt like Things I Can’t Forget was a tad preachy.. Idk. I was expecting to feel lukewarm about it, but guess what? I actually liked this one!

Blogger Interview: Books of Amber

Hiii, lovelies! Are you ready for yet another introduction of an awesome blogger? ;) This month's second blogger interview is all about a hilarious girl from UK aka the shipper of all shippers. I love this girl to pieces for always making me laugh with her fangirling moments and feels. Seriously! You know nothing about expressing your excessive feels until you've seen Amber's tweets. She is very opinionated and never fails to leave an impression. Also, the girl loves her Disney! Not only do I look up to her as a blogger, she's also a great friend and I'm buzzing with excitement for you to get to know her a little better. So, without further ado, everyone, meet Amber! Amber, meet everyone :)

Profile 

Name: Amber. Or Vi, but only certain members of my family call me that.
Age: 21, unbelievably.
Origin: England, just west of London.
Blog Name: Books of Amber
URL: http://www.booksofamber.com
Blog's age: 3 years and 10 months. She's a wonderful toddler.
Favourite book of all time: *hyperventilates* I DON'T KNOW. Harry Potter!

June Wrap Up

June was awesome in the sense that no exams, yay! I'm finally a BSc graduate and I got to see Kings of Leon live this month. Also, not to bad regarding the reading I did :) All in all, June was pretty darn amazing. Did you guys have a good month too? Rashika finally started watching Scandal after Jas and I totally got on her nerves about it, so that's a yay! She definitely has a few new tv-show-crushes ;) Anyhow, let's move on to the recap, shall we? :)

Mini-reviews: This Girl and Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

Title: This Girl (Slammed #3)
Author: Colleen Hoover
Published: April 30th 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

There are two sides to every love story. Now hear Will’s.
Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.
In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from hispoint of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series.

My journey with Colleen Hoover and NA lit started in May 2012. Slammed is one of my favorite character growth and family-related stories, Point of Retreat is one of my favorite guy POV’s and sob-my-heart-out books. I love Colleen’s writing and Will, Lake, Caulder, Kel, Eddie, Gavin and everyone else so much. While I was happy to be back in the Slammed world and felt like this was such a neat way to give the other POV of the same story, I was slightly underwhelmed.

Blogger Interview: Realm of Fiction

Hiiii, lovelies! As you all probably know, every month I try to feature one of my bookish friends who's a regular here on Little Pieces of Imagination and give them a shout-out for being all kinds of amazing! Since my regular readership (read: the people who comment quite often) has grown into a bigger group, I decided to pair you up in a random order and use a random choice to pick a pair for each month. We still won't make it by the end of this year unless I figure something else out, but anyways, that's how it is for now. This month I have two lovely UK bloggers all to myself for one day and I get to share their responses to these silly questions I've come up with.

Today I want to introduce Sam to you. *ahem* *grins* Everyone, meet Sam! Sam, meet everyone! She's the blogger behind a well-known blog Realm of Fiction. She's talented with words and her blog is just completely adorable, yet very professional. She always has kind words for everyone and *shrugs* what can I say, she's a rockstar!

Profile

Name: Sam
Origin: Britain
Blog name: Realm of Fiction
URL: http://realmoffiction.blogspot.com
Blog’s age: 2.5 years
Favorite book of all time: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Cover Madness Giveaway Hop

Hiiiiii, lovelies! Today is the day I finally and officially graduate from university and get my BSc. If you didn't see my tweet 1 and tweet 2 about all the excitement and missed my little thank you post, here's me still thanking all of you for keeping moi sane throughout all of the insane moments and offering your support and encouragement. THANK YOU! *hugs*

Today is also an exciting day for you guys! :) Some of you may already be familiar with this particular event Giselle and Jenni from Xpresso Reads came up with a while ago. Already from their first post ages ago (on 2012, le gasp! All of our blogs are getting so old!), I knew that if it ever turned into a hop, I'd want to participate. Unfortunately I couldn't participate last time, but this time? Hells yeah!

So what's this all about, you ask? The point of this hop is to gather all the gorgeous covers we've seen that have been revealed no more than 2 months ago and then offer one (or more) of these up for a giveaway. And what's best? The winner can choose whichever book they want. At least it's this way here on Little Pieces of Imagination. So are you guys ready to see what gorgeous pretties I've discovered throughout the past few months? :) Here we go!

Review: Ricochet by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Title: Ricochet (Addicted #1.5)
Author: Krista and Becca Ritchie
Published: August 1st 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

As a sex addict, Lily Calloway must do the impossible. Stay celibate for 90 days.
Cravings and fantasies become her new routine, but while Loren Hale recovers from his alcohol addiction, Lily wonders if he’ll realize what a monster she really is. After all, her sexual compulsions begin to rule her life the longer she stays faithful to him.
Progress. That’s what Lily’s striving for. But by trying to become closer to her family—people who aren’t aware of her addiction—she creates larger obstacles. When she spends time with her youngest sister, she learns more about her than she ever imagined and senses an unsettling connection between Daisy and Ryke Meadows.
With Lily and Lo’s dysfunctional relationship teetering and unbalanced, they will need to find a way to reconnect from miles apart. But the inability to “touch” proves to be one of the hardest tests on their road to recovery. Some love brushes the surface. Some love is deeper than skin.
Lily and Lo have three months to discover just how deep their love really goes.

I’m not quite sure why I didn’t read this right when I got it on Amazon after it first came out August 2013. By now I’m sure almost all of you know about my obsession with this series—I absolutely love it to pieces; to the tiniest details. It’s such a quirky, emotional and well-crafted story about two addicts fighting for not only their own health and well-being, but for each other as well. It’s inspiring!