Page 223 of 427

Finally Back to Normal! RE-POST with missing baby pic!

April 6, 2017 / Chelsea / 8 Comments

Things are a changin’…but we’re all still here

Hey Guys,

It seems as if we’ve all disappeared, doesn’t it? Well, we have, in a way. But I wanted to write a post to let you all know that we’re still here, and we aren’t going anywhere. I will admit my priorities have changed-my little baby girl was born on March 18 (10 days early) and I didn’t get to finish a lot that I had planned to complete before little Aubrey Rose came. In fact, I even had to have an emergency C-Section after a full day of labor and an hour and a half of pushing. So…I have a LOT more recovery time to ‘look forward to’ than I previously planned.

Alas, as fate had it, I wasn’t meant to finish those things. For example:

-I have multiple ARCs that I needed to post reviews for (and, you know, finish).

-I visited an all time favorite author and had all my books signed, so I have yet to post pics and shout out to her. (I plan to do this next week since it’s been forever-sigh).

-And I also have a blog t-shirt that was sent to me that I need to also give a shout out for…

and I have done absolutely none of these things. It bothers me more than any of you could know, because I hate fading away while other members on the blog flourish. But, again, as fate (and life) would have it, they have all but faded as well, haven’t they?

But I’m writing this post to clear that up-

First, meet little Aubrey-

<3<3<3

I have a new little girl, but I plan to post my old reviews I hadn’t posted, and I plan to post my ARC reviews that I owe. And, I mean, just because I’m extremely tired doesn’t mean I can’t read anymore-In fact, I’ve started reading again this week and it’s an amazing feeling. I even wrote a review for Flame in the Mist (ARC from Penguin) today and plan on posting it Thursday. I plan to keep up with my reviewing (seeing as I’m at home for a bit), even though it won’t be three reviews a week, like before. I have a lot of catching up to do, but I am still here. Don’t forget me!

And Anna-she had faded for a bit, but after the birth of my girl and Jen’s untimely leave of absence, Anna is coming back full force and with some great ideas to fill the gaps that you might notice for a bit-One even includes my favorite thing of all time-QUOTES!!!! Come on now…..Check back on Fridays to see this wonderful-ness!

Brittney-She’s new, but she’s a great addition to the blog-She has so many reviews to post that I can’t even count them-that’s just a catch up game 😀 And she has continued posting-she rocks!

And my darling original blogging buddy, Jen-She is going through a rough time and has chosen to focus on her family. I love her for it. I respect it…

My apologies to Victoria Schwab for my delayed post, and apologies to the T-Shirt company that so graciously sent me a wonderful shirt for free with my blog logo (and a quote-I mean, duh, it’s me we’re talking about here)-I have just dropped the ball like no other.

Thanks for reading my ramblings…. and I’ll see you soon, then 😛

BOOK REVIEW – Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

April 4, 2017 / Jen / 6 Comments

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.

Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.

When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.

Review:

Letters to the Lost was emotionally breathtaking and beautifully crafted. The story that unfounded was filled to the brim with pain and heartache. I don’t even knew how many times I found myself with tears in my eyes, my heart in my throat and with the incessant need to make their lives filled with love. But I held out hope that over time, they would help each other find not only strength, but love too.

Do you believe in fate ? Sometimes I want to. I want to believe that we all walk some path toward . . . something, and our paths intertwine for a reason. Like this, the way we’ve found each other. The way you told me the right story when I so desperately needed to hear it. – Juliet in her letter to Declan

It all started out from a letter Juliet left her mother, at her gravestone. And Declan came across the letter, while he was getting ready to mow the cemetery’s grass. For his court ordered community service. That letter resonated deep inside of Declan, so he simply wrote back “Me too”. To let the girl know that she wasn’t alone in her thoughts and feelings. And from there, their communication slowly escalated over time. The found kinship, they found someone to release their most secretive thoughts with. They no longer felt alone. Yet they had no clue who the other was, even though they went to the same high school.

Half-broken breaths are coming out of me in short bursts. – Juliet

I loved the path this story took, and I loved even more that it wasn’t easy. That nothing was glossed over. That we got to see their varying shades of pain, and that it was splattered everywhere for us to witness. Especially since not everyone in their lives knew their darkest, deepest thoughts. But we did. And Juliet Young and Declan Murphy knew that about each other too. When I started this book, I didn’t think it would have as dark of a feel to it as it did. But the words they wrote to one another and their feelings they talked about sometimes felt as though I was drowning in an endless abyss with them. It was powerful, and their pain was so acute.

“What are you afraid of?”
I look at Declan , but he’s still staring out at the rain. His voice has gone quiet, and he’s not half as threatening as he was.
“I don’t know,” I say.

While they were still teenagers, they both had so much growing up to do. Juliet could at times be cold and judgemental. And she compared herself to her dead mother, which always made her come up short. Yet, I loved this girl. Especially when she would contemplate her word choices or how she treated someone. And that had a lot to do with Declan. Because not only did the letters make her question how she acted around others, but when her and Declan ran into each other in person, it had a similar affect. Not at first of course, but slowly over time. And when they did interact in person, it was explosive. If only they knew who they were baring their soul to………

I need her. More than anything right now. I need her. And because of everything between us, I can’t have her. – Declan

Declan was dark, his own worst enemy, and he was so tortured from his past. Especially since he placed the blame of an event on his own shoulders. Not only was his home life troubling, but he was an outcast at school. Yet he had this ability to radiate power, and he was sexy as hell. So Declan easily broke my heart, while also making me fall for him. And when he was completely honest in his letters to Juliet, he took my breath away with his words. It was so different than how he acted around so many others.

I can’t look away from that last line.
Now write back and tell me you’re all right.
He cares. About me. – Juliet

Letters to the Lost alternated between Juliet, Declan and their letters to one another. While the book seemed to move at a somewhat slower pace than I’m use to, I loved it. We got to witness their interactions with not only every single letter, but we also learned everything about their home and school lives, and also their friends. It gave me a deeper sense of knowing them. Letters to the Lost was definitely an emotional book, and I can’t wait for Rev’s book next year! He was Deacon’s best friend, who I absolutely adored, and I think you’ll fall for him too!

*ARC kindly provided by Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

BOOK REVIEW: Hunted by Meagan Spooner

April 3, 2017 / Brittney

Hunted by Meagan Spooner
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

Guys I’m so sad. I didn’t love it. Don’t get me wrong, I totally see why others did, and I’m in the minority for this one.

I’m not going to type a summary on this one because well, it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Some parts were close to the original, and other parts deviated quite a bit. In my opinion, it was the wrong parts. Here’s the thing… I’m super biased. I grew up with Beauty and the Beast and I just hold it in such a high regard so it’s hard for me to love retellings unless they are as emotionally connected as the first.

The story starts off SOOOO slow. It’s literally everyone doing normal actions for a good chunk of it. One thing I did love right off the bat was Beauty’s connection to her family. She adores her father and sisters and there is such mutual love and acceptance.

However, very little happens as the story progresses. If I’m remembering correctly, the B&tB storyline doesn’t even start until like 30-35%? But okay, I’m fine with slower start if they are imperative for character development, but eek it was boring.

Anyway, once the main storyline did start, I just… didn’t feel it. I felt like there was no chemistry between Beauty and the Beast. It supposedly took place over months and there was hardly any conversations or interaction between them. I guess I just wanted more? However, I DID love the scene where she sneaks into his room to try and kill him. So there’s that. It did finally make me feel something for the beast. But really… that was it.

Whatever, I could have held out and still been quite happy with the book just based on the pretty writing and the folklore aspects if the end had followed through. But whaaat? What even happened? Okay so Beauty went back to her family and literally stayed there for months while she knew she needed to save the beast. But she’s all like “Oh hey I’ll leave tomorrow it’s fine.” That literally happened about 10 times and next thing you know, it’s months later. Please. Are you serious right now. And then the actual end where she goes to find the Beast… what even happened? I don’t even know. BUT the one thing I did love was how the story with her sisters wrapped up. So there’s that.

Soooo all in all I was pretty disappointed, but there were some good points that I kinda brushed over. Like I said, the writing was lovely, the forest description was really cool, and the folklore aspect was what had me in such high hopes for the ending. Also, the whole captor vs captive thing can be so tricky to navigate but the author handled it really well – I saw no sketchy issues there.

Anyway, all in all, it wasn’t really for me, but don’t let this deter you. Try it out for yourself!

A Temporary Hiatus – Jen

March 31, 2017 / Jen / 18 Comments

These last few weeks have been completely brutal. And because of what happened, I’m going to be stepping away from the blog for a while. I’ll definitely be back, but for the next I’m-not-sure-how-long I need to spend it with family. While these thoughts may seem out of left field, my surgery was the catalyst. I had complications from surgery, and I had allergic reactions to almost every drug I was given. I’ve never experienced that before, and I WAS TERRIFIED. Drugs I never had problems with in the past caused hives, inability to be woken up for periods of time, breathing problems etc. And new drugs caused me to be violently ill, my eyes to almost swell shut, double vision etc. While I was stuck in the hospital and now in bed and on the couch at home, I spent a lot of time thinking about how for the foreseeable future, I just want to spend every minute with my family.

Now I’m counting the days until I can be an active participant in my family’s life. Because I’m currently 17 days post-op and I’m SO far from where I want to be. I’m stuck on the couch, for a good portion of the day, and it’s breaking my heart that I can’t play or drive my little boys to all of their activities. My mom, thank goodness for her, has been here taking care of them for me. But I’m looking forward to the next week or so when I can start living and enjoying life with them again!

So thank you so much to everyone out there who has become my friend, has trusted me with reading their ARCs, and for all of the beautiful blogging memories. I’ll definitely be back, but till then you can always come find me and chat with me on Goodreads. Goodreads takes not even a few minutes of my time, so that’s the medium I’ll keep using in the meantime. But thank you so much again for all of your friendships, and I will miss you all dearly during my hiatus.

💜Jen

PS I do have two more post that are scheduled for April, they are both ARCs. One is my favorite Lauren Layne book so far about polar opposites who have the most amazing banter and chemistry. And the other is a soulful, emotional book by Brigid Kemmerer. 🙂

BOOK REVIEW: Servant of the Crown by Melissa McShane

March 27, 2017 / Brittney

Servant of the Crown (The Crown of Tremontane #1)
by Melissa McShane
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Alison Quinn, Countess of Waxwold, is content with her bookish life—until she’s summoned to be a lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Tremontane’s mother for six months. Even the prospect of access to the Royal Library doesn’t seem enough to make up for her sacrifice, but Alison is prepared to do her service to the Crown. What she’s not prepared for is Prince Anthony North, Queen Zara’s playboy brother, who’s accustomed to getting what he wants—including the Countess of Waxwold.

When the fallout from an unfortunate public encounter throws the two of them together, Alison has no interest in becoming the Prince’s next conquest. But as the weeks pass, Alison discovers there’s more to Anthony than she—or he—realized, and their dislike becomes friendship, and then something more—until disaster drives Alison away, swearing never to return.

Then Alison is summoned by the Queen again, this time to serve as Royal Librarian. A threat to Tremontane’s government, with her treasured Library at stake, draws Alison into the conflict…and into contact with Anthony once more. Can they work together to save the Royal Library and Tremontane? And can she open her heart to love again?

Oh my gosh this was lovely and I had so many feels. I loved it so much more than I expected to- and it was nothing like I thought it would be.

But a few words of precaution- this is a historical fiction / romance and there’s really no plot outside of the romance until the second half. The pacing is fairly slow (which I didn’t mind – it totally worked for the story…) but if you’re looking for something fast and magical, this book is not for you. It kind reminded me of Pride & Prejudice and some of the other historical romances though of course it is set in a fantasy world (without magic.)

Basically Allison is summoned away to the palace to be a ‘lady in waiting’ for the queen’s mother. At the first ball, she meets Prince Antony (the queen’s brother and the dowager’s son – aka playboy and embarrassment to the crown). Once introduced, the dowager insists he dance with Allison, not realizing her son is terribly drunk. Allison was raised to be very ‘proper’ and practical and though she admits he’s quite handsome, she wants nothing to do with him. Regardless, they share a dance, in which the prince says something hilariously appalling to Allison – and Allison’s reaction is priceless (I don’t want to spoil.)

Anyway, in order to save face, Queen Zara forces Allison and Antony to spend time in the public together. Neither are happy about the agreement, and its a slow burn that works SO well. Allison starts to see the man beneath the mask. Oh my gosh… when things finally take off with them, I had so many feels. I can’t even. Also, just a warning, things get a *little* steamy which I didn’t expect… but everything was tastefully done.

Allison is such a frustrating MC which is my biggest complaint. She’s so stubborn and pretty much has it out against all men – convinced that they only want her for sex. If one so much as looks at her the wrong way, she gets upset. She DOES start to come around though when she realizes Antony isn’t really the nasty man he seems, until something awful happens (between them) and she flees the palace – swearing off men altogether. (I wanted to smack her.)

After a few months, the Queen summons her again and offers her a proposition to stay and work in the library (promising she doesn’t have to even see Antony after what happened between them.) UGHH this is where I got so frustrated. Antony changed entirely and was so noble it literally hurt my heart and Ally kept brushing him off. Lord this woman… I wanted to scream at her to open her eyes. Yeesh woman, I get that you were really hurt in the past but COME ON.

Anyway, a bunch of crap starts to happen and they are forced to work together and I won’t say much more than that, but the ending was just wonderful and so emotional. Also I need to brag on Queen Zara who is literally a badass. I hear there’s a novella about her and I’m all over that.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how much I really loved this. Part of it was obviously the emotional aspect, but I also really loved the environment. Pretty much the entire book is in a gorgeous palace with little trips outside to theaters/etc. There’s plenty of balls, dancing, glittering dresses… you get the picture.

I also wanted to note that I listened to the audio- so I’m not sure how that affected my view of the writing itself because the narrator was lovely. She was British and did the voices well. Definitely enhanced my experience. (BTW this is on sale on audible for only a few bucks!)

I feel like this was Jane Austen meets Marie Rutkoski. I honestly can’t wait to read more by this author.