FRIDAY STARS – Your Weekly Must Knows 05/13/16

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Win 3 Finished Copies of WHISPER TO ME by Nick Lake (US Only). Click → HERE.

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Just Finished and Loved:

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab → Chelsea’s Review

5 Stars!  Pain, heartache. Soul-crushing love. Unyielding friendship. Loyalty….Jealousy. Like I said, there really is no emotion I haven’t felt while reading this series, and I can’t help but to want to re-read it already.

The story continues! In the first book, A Darker Shade of Magic, Kell is one of the last Travelers—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes—as such, he can choose where he lands. There’s Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there’s Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne—a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London…but no one speaks of that now.Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see—a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive—and that is proving trickier than they hoped.

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Good Girl (Love Unexpectedly, #2) by Lauren Layne → Jen’s Review

5 Stars!  Good Girl was sizzling sexy, laugh out loud funny and pulled at my heartstrings!  Upon closing that last page I knew that Good Girl was easily one of my favorite books of this year.

Jenny Dawson moved to Nashville to write music, not get famous. But when her latest record goes double platinum, Jenny’s suddenly one of the town’s biggest stars—and the center of a tabloid scandal connecting her with a pop star she’s barely even met. With paparazzi tracking her every move, Jenny flees to a remote mansion in Louisiana to write her next album. The only hiccup is the unexpected presence of a brooding young caretaker named Noah, whose foul mouth and snap judgments lead to constant bickering—and serious heat.   Noah really should tell Jenny that he’s Preston Noah Maxwell Walcott, the owner of the estate where the feisty country singer has made her spoiled self at home. But the charade gives Noah a much-needed break from his own troubles, and before long, their verbal sparring is indistinguishable from foreplay. But as sizzling nights give way to quiet pillow talk, Noah begins to realize that Jenny’s almost as complicated as he is. To fit into each other’s lives, they’ll need the courage to face their problems together—before the outside world catches up to them.

We also had a Top Ten Tuesday Post about Websites I Love That Aren’t About Books. If you missed it, then you can check it out here.

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Reading Next:

The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout – For some people, silence is a weapon. For Mallory “Mouse” Dodge, it’s a shield. Growing up, she learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime.   Now, after years of homeschooling with loving adoptive parents, Mallory must face a new milestone–spending her senior year at public high school. But of all the terrifying and exhilarating scenarios she’s imagined, there’s one she never dreamed of–that she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day. 
It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet the deeper their bond grows, the more it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory must make a choice between staying silent and speaking out–for the people she loves, the life she wants and the truths that need to be heard.

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The Palace Job (Rogues of the Republic Book 1) by Patrick Weekes – Loch is seeking revenge.  It would help if she wasn’t in jail.  The plan: to steal a priceless elven manuscript that once belonged to her family, but now is in the hands of the most powerful man in the Republic. To do so Loch—former soldier, former prisoner, current fugitive—must assemble a crack team of magical misfits that includes a cynical illusionist, a shapeshifting unicorn, a repentant death priestess, a talking magical warhammer, and a lad with seemingly no skills to help her break into the floating fortress of Heaven’s Spire and the vault that holds her family’s treasure—all while eluding the unrelenting pursuit of Justicar Pyvic, whose only mission is to see the law upheld.  What could possibly go wrong?

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Upcoming Releases:

The Crown’s Game (The Crown’s Game #1) by Evelyn Skye (Releases 5/17) – Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.  And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know.  The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.  Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?  For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.  And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love . . . or be killed himself.  As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear . . . the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

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The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Releases 5/17) – For some people, silence is a weapon. For Mallory “Mouse” Dodge, it’s a shield. Growing up, she learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime.   Now, after years of homeschooling with loving adoptive parents, Mallory must face a new milestone–spending her senior year at public high school. But of all the terrifying and exhilarating scenarios she’s imagined, there’s one she never dreamed of–that she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day. 
It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet the deeper their bond grows, the more it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory must make a choice between staying silent and speaking out–for the people she loves, the life she wants and the truths that need to be heard.

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Good Girl (Love Unexpectedly, #2) by Lauren Layne (Releases 5/17) – Jenny Dawson moved to Nashville to write music, not get famous. But when her latest record goes double platinum, Jenny’s suddenly one of the town’s biggest stars—and the center of a tabloid scandal connecting her with a pop star she’s barely even met. With paparazzi tracking her every move, Jenny flees to a remote mansion in Louisiana to write her next album. The only hiccup is the unexpected presence of a brooding young caretaker named Noah, whose foul mouth and snap judgments lead to constant bickering—and serious heat.   Noah really should tell Jenny that he’s Preston Noah Maxwell Walcott, the owner of the estate where the feisty country singer has made her spoiled self at home. But the charade gives Noah a much-needed break from his own troubles, and before long, their verbal sparring is indistinguishable from foreplay. But as sizzling nights give way to quiet pillow talk, Noah begins to realize that Jenny’s almost as complicated as he is. To fit into each other’s lives, they’ll need the courage to face their problems together—before the outside world catches up to them. Jen’s 5 Star Review

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Check out our list of upcoming releases that we can’t wait for → HERE

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Sales:

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4 Stars! Anna’s Review	4 Stars! Jen’s Review	5 Stars! Jen’s Review Chelsea’s Review
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5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review Laura’s Review Anna’s Review		5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review
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5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review Laura’s Review Anna’s Review	5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review	5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review
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4.5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review	4.5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review

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4.5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review	4.5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review	5 Stars! Anna’s Review Jen’s Review Chelsea’s Review

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New Sale 5 Stars! Anna’s Review Laura’s Review Jen’s Review Chelsea’s Review	5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review	4.5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review
Chelsea’s Review		5 Stars! Chelsea’s Review
Anna’s Review

Freebies:

4 Stars! Anna’s Review