Sunday, October 30, 2016

Sunday Cover Scramble [190]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.



Sunday, October 23, 2016

Sunday Cover Scramble [189]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.



Sunday, October 16, 2016

Sunday Cover Scramble [188]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.



Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Review: Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas


Published: September 6, 2016 Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Format: ebook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads Summary

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don't.

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

Aelin's journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?


*Beware of spoilers if you have not read the entire series

The Good


This series is one of my all time favorites, and reading this one just reminded me again why it's so far up my list.

Maas gives the impression that every step has been planned out meticulously from the beginning, as everything minor and major from the past has an impact on the present. It makes me want to go back and read the entire series over again knowing that everything I thought was insignificant before could turn into something much bigger. There are so many things that you can guess are going to happen in a book this large, but you will never be able to come up with all the angles that Maas has up her sleeve. Not to mention that Aelin never shares her plans with ANYONE so the whole thing ends up looking like an Ocean's Eleven movie where you think you know what's going on, but you didn't know near as much as you thought you did.

Aelin is one of my favorite characters of all time. Added to her though is this glorious mix of amazing side characters. I adore them all. I will say that Chaol does not feature in this book, but since he's one of my least favorites, that didn't bother me at all. Lysandra and Manon though had such a wonderful amount of time to shine in Empire of Storms. I enjoyed watching their moments. Seriously, they brought out the emotions big time in completely different ways and for different reasons. Then there's Abraxos and honestly he's way more intuitive than you first imagine! Dorian has gone through a bit of personality shift, and who can blame him with what all has gone down for him. I appreciated seeing him as a more quiet and intelligent observer. I enjoyed watching Elide develop into a much more intense and interesting character. It was also a lot of fun to get to spend more time with the fey and the different personalities they envelope along with some phenomenal powers. There are some seriously powerful characters in this series! I know I'm leaving some out and believe me, they all had a time and a place to show how great they are.

The humor is so well timed. In the midst of all the action and some emotional angst, there were a lot of places that I was still cracking up laughing.

The Bad


Yeah, I've got nothing.

The Romance


Rowan came as a breath of fresh air for me and is really a fit for our girl and who she's developed into. I love everything about him and his relationship with Aelin. There are so many side romances to be seen in Empire of Storms as well. Some just little flirtationships and some a little more serious.

Conclusion


There's nothing I can say to describe how wonderful this book and entire series really is. If you haven't started it, please do. It's for those who enjoy magic, royalty, tons of action, unexpected surprises, and amazingly developed characters. It has a ending that will tear you up, bring out the feels in ways you can't imagine, and leave you wanting more and more from a book that is actually pretty long.


Sunday, October 9, 2016

Sunday Cover Scramble [187]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.



Thursday, October 6, 2016

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [115]


This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

Would you rather hang out with Dean or Seamus?


I would really enjoy listening to Seamus' accent with all that Irish greatness. I think though that Dean would get my vote on this one. Obviously, Ginny dated him for a reason and part of that comes across in his laid-back, mellow attitude. I also really like that he has such a strong artistic side and that's something that we could definitely bond over. More than that, Dean gets into an argument with Umbridge in class that I just love when he has Professor Lupin's back.

Harry thrust his fist in the air. Again, Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from him, but now several other people had their hands up, too.
‘And your name is?’ Professor Umbridge said to Dean.
‘Dean Thomas.’
‘Well, Mr Thomas?’
‘Well, it’s like Harry said, isn’t it?’ said Dean. ‘If we’re going to be attacked, it won’t be risk free.’
‘I repeat,’ said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Dean, ‘do you expect to be attacked during my classes?’
‘No, but –’
Professor Umbridge talked over him. ‘I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school,’ she said, an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, ‘but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed – not to mention,’ she gave a nasty little laugh, ‘extremely dangerous half-breeds.’
‘If you mean Professor Lupin,’ piped up Dean angrily, ‘he was the best we ever –’
‘*Hand*, Mr Thomas! As I was saying – you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day –’
‘No we haven’t,’ Hermione said, ‘we just –’
‘*Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!*’
Hermione put up her hand. Professor Umbridge turned away from her.
‘It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you.’
‘Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn’t he?’ said Dean hotly. ‘Mind you, we still learned loads.’
‘*Your hand is not up, Mr Thomas!*’ trilled Professor Umbridge. ‘Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?’ she added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot up.
‘Parvati Patil, and isn’t there a practical bit in our Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL? Aren’t we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and things?’
‘As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions,’ said Professor Umbridge dismissively.
‘Without ever practising them beforehand?’ said Parvati incredulously. ‘Are you telling us that the first time we’ll get to do the spells will be during our exam?’
‘I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough –’
‘And what good’s theory going to be in the real world?’ said Harry loudly, his fist in the air again.
Professor Umbridge looked up.
‘This is school, Mr Potter, not the real world,’ she said softly.
‘So we’re not supposed to be prepared for what’s waiting for us out there?’
‘There is nothing waiting out there, Mr Potter.’
‘Oh, yeah?’ said Harry. His temper, which seemed to have been bubbling just beneath the surface all day, was reaching boiling point.
‘Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?’ enquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice.
‘Hmm, let’s think …’ said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice. ‘Maybe … Lord Voldemort?’


via GIPHY


Who would you choose? 

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Sale Blitz: Through the Veil (The Aisling Chronicles #1) by Colleen Halverson






Through the Veil
The Aisling Chronicles
Book One
Colleen Halverson         

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Entangled

Date of Publication: February 22, 2016

ASIN: B01B1NC29Q

Number of pages: 400 pages
Word Count: 120K

Cover Artist: Louisa Maggio

Book Description:

Where the fairy tale ends, destiny begins. Elizabeth Tanner is no Tinkerbell, and her life is no fairy tale. Broke and drowning in student loans, the one thing she wants more than anything is a scholarship from the Trinity Foundation. But after the ancient Irish text she's studying turns out to be more than just a book, she becomes their prisoner instead. And when Trinity reveals Elizabeth is half-Fae, she finds herself at the center of a plot to save the magical races of Ireland from a brutal civil war.

As Commander of Trinity's elite warriors, Finn O'Connell isn't used to having his authority challenged. He doesn't know whether to punish or protect the infuriating young woman in his custody. When he discovers the Dark Fae want to use Elizabeth's abilities to control the source of all power in the universe, he'll risk everything to help her. At the mercy of Trinity and enslaved to the Dark Fae, Elizabeth finds herself alone on the wrong side of an Irish myth thousands of years in the making. Refusing to be a pawn in their game, Elizabeth has to fight her way back to the man she loves, but to do so, she must wage her own war against the magic that binds her.

On Sale Now .99 

Amazon    BN     iTunes     Kobo     Amazon UK     Amazon Canada


Excerpt:

Wiping the crumbs off his jeans, Finn reached into his backpack and threw an apple at me, which I caught with a deft hand.
            “Nice catch,” he said, grinning.
            I flung the apple up into the air and caught it in my other hand. “I played third base. Little League.”
            “You mean baseball?”
            I nodded.
            “Never seen a game myself.”
            I gaped at Finn. “You mean you live in Chicago, and you’ve never been to a Cubs game?”           
            He shrugged. “Not interested.” Finn’s eyes lit up, and he shoved me playfully with his shoulder. “Now hurling. That’s a good game.”
            “Well, they’re totally different. That’s not even a fair comparison,” I said with a sniff.  
            “Fair enough,” Finn said, wistful. “Really, nothing can compare with hurling.”
            I laughed. “Moiré tried to explain the rules to me once, but she lost me after hurley stick.”
            “Oh, it’s simple, really.” Finn jumped down and rummaged around the rubble until he found a large branch. He swung it, the stick cutting through the air, slowly at first, but then with more force. Finn’s chest muscles rippled between the flaps of his leather jacket, and my blood pulsed in my ears at the sight of him, dancing from foot to foot as he practiced his swing.
            “Now the point of hurling,” Finn began, “is to use this stick, the hurley stick.” He raised the old branch in the air. “To get a little ball called a sliotar either over or under your opponent’s goalpost.” Finn picked up a handful of small rocks and, using his “hurley,” sent a pebble whizzing over the stone wall, inches from my head.
            “Hey, watch it!”
            Finn smiled up at me. “You with me so far?”          
            I nodded.
            “Now,” Finn said. “If the ball flies under the goalpost into the net, it’s worth three points.” Finn sent another pebble skittering against the wall, right next to my boot. “But you have to get it past the keeper, and that can be a challenge.” His eyes glittered at me as he swung his stick again. He threw a rock up in the air and with a loud thwack sent it zooming over the wall. I held out my hand and caught the stone, the look on Finn’s face making up for the sting of impact.
            “And he’s out!” I cried, jumping off the wall and doing a mock victory dance. “Cubs win!  Cubs win! Wooooooooooooo!”
            Finn stalked over to me and grabbed my fist. “Will you settle down!” he said, attempting to pry the pebble from my grip. “I’m trying to teach you a three-thousand-year-old art form and you’re nattering on about the fecking Cubs.”
            I giggled, snatching his hurley stick from his hands.
            “Technical foul!” Finn barked behind me, but I sprinted away, swinging the hurley over my head as I climbed the wall.
            “Get back here, you brat!” Finn bolted after me so quickly, he lost his footing on the stone wall and tumbled to the ground.  I laughed as he came to his feet, his hair loose, chasing me. 
             “It’s the bottom of the ninth, bases are loaded!”
            Finn made a snatch for the stick, but I feigned to the right.
            “Tanner’s up to bat.”
I climbed a set of old stairs to nowhere and tossed up the stone. I popped out my hips and, following through on the turn, sent the stone flying over the hill and down the cliffs below. I jumped down, swinging my baseball/hurley bat. “Homerun by Tanner! And the Cubs win the pennant!”
            Finn smacked into me, and I collapsed to the ground, his wide body over mine as he grasped for the stick.
            “Dammit, O’Connell!” I gasped beneath Finn, his whole weight crushing my chest.  “Now I know for a fact hurling is not a contact sport!” I laughed as I squirmed to get away, holding out the stick just beyond his reach.
            “Neither is baseball!”
            With a devilish grin, Finn tickled my armpit, and I curled up in a fit of giggles. He made a grab for my wrist, pinning me to the ground, and his gray eyes danced as he looked down at me. My laughter faded, and running my other hand through his hair, I pulled his face to mine. He kissed me, a low moan rumbling deep in his throat.
            Finn nipped my bottom lip with his teeth, and my back arched as our hips melded together, my better judgment forgotten. He slid his arm beneath my shoulders and pulled me close against him, kissing me long and hard, and I gasped, gulping for air as he lowered his mouth to my neck.

About the Author:

As a child, Colleen Halverson used to play in the woods imagining worlds and telling stories to herself. Growing up on military bases, she found solace in her local library and later decided to make a living sharing the wonders of literature to poor, unsuspecting college freshmen. After backpacking through Ireland and singing in a traditional Irish music band, she earned a PhD in English with a specialization in Irish literature. When she’s not making up stories or teaching, she can be found hiking the rolling hills of the Driftless area of Wisconsin with her husband and two children. THROUGH THE VEIL is her debut novel.







Sunday, October 2, 2016

Sunday Cover Scramble [186]



Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.