Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading
Rules:
-Grab your current read
-Open to a random page
-Share two sentences from that page
-Be careful not to include spoilers!
-Include the book titles and author, so other participants can add the book the their TBR pile!
This week's teaser comes from..
Misfit by Jon Skovron
page 13
“Yes, Monsignor,” says Jael, putting on the poker face she’s had eight years to perfect. “Demons are bad. Everyone knows that.”
Title: The Day Before Pages: 320
Author: Lisa Schroeder Source: GalleyGrab
Publisher: Simon Pulse Published: Jun 28, 2011
Series: Standalone Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 4 out of 5
Amber learned some unsettling news that is threatening to tear her life and family apart. She can't take anymore of it, so she escapes to the beach for a day to herself.
While at the aquarium next to the beach, she meets Cade. There's an instant spark. There's something mysterious about Cade, but Amber promises him she won't ask. Today is about having a good time without complications getting in the way.
But as the day goes on, Amber gets more and more curious and more clues start revealing themselves about what's really going on with Cade. What's more, she's determined to give a good day and to find out what's bugging him.
The Day Before is written in verse, a type of writing I've never read, so it was quite the experience. It takes some getting used to and it certainly flies by quickly. I read The Day Before in about two and a half hours or less.
Like previously stated, I devoured The Day Before in one sitting. It was a fast and fun summer romance read.
The characters were great, if a tad bit under developed. I would have loved if Lisa Schroeder would have went more in depth with Amber and Cade, but the fact that she didn't wasn't a huge disappointment for me. I went into the story with no expectations, so I wasn't expecting a long, incredibly in depth book. This is no way a negative about The Day Before, however. Like I said, the fact that they weren't in depth characters didn't bother me as much, because I knew it was just a short, fun, fluff type romance novel, which I love from time to time.
If you love those types of books, like I do, certainly read this one! You'll most likely finish it within two or three hours. Who wouldn't love a book you could pick up and read in that amount of time?
The writing was phenomenal and was almost lyrical. Schroeder describes the setting perfectly. Her writing brings a smile to my face with its simple, yet poetic way of flowing. The romance was wonderful, and Amber and Cade were absolutely adorable together. They carried a coin everywhere they went on the beach to decide what to do next. Heads they throw glitter in the air, tails they fly a kite. Schroeder's dialogue for Amber and Cade was brilliant and realistic.
The plot was of course a tad predictable, as all fluffy romance reads are, but in a way that was like slipping into a warm bath. It's comfortable and you expect the warmth and it makes you smile. The Day Before was exactly like a warm bath for me.
Over all, I really liked The Day Before and would recommend it to anyone looking for a great, fast, and fun summer romance read or anyone that loves novels in verse.
I give The Day Before a 4 out of 5.
In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and is a weekly meme to showcase what you got over the week by buying, receiving, borrowing, stealing from a friend etc.
For Review:
Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
I received this from the publisher for review and was surprised when I opened the package. I haven’t heard of this novel, but I definitely will check it out.
Misfit by Jon Skovron
Do you understand how excited and surprised I was to find this in a package in my mailbox? I thought it got sent to me on accident! I requested this and am very glad I received it. Definitely reading this one soon.
Forgotten by Cat Patrick
Super excited for this one, too! I did a Waiting on Wednesday for this one a while back and am so happy I got it! I was actually hoping for the other cover, but this one is growing on me.
The Duff by Kody Keplinger
I am excited for this one, though I’ve heard mixed feelings.
Contests:
Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter
Okay first of all, the cover is amazing! It’s that purple color, but in person it’s shiny and pretty! I love the cover. And the girl on the cover totally reminds me of Dianna Agron for some reason. I won this from Ambur at Burning.x.Impossibly.x.Bright for her birthday giveaway. I got to choose a book from the Book Depository! Thank you Ambur!
Random Buzzers:
The Lucky Kind by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
I’m glad I won this, I’m excited to read it!
Bought:
Flawless (Pretty Little Liars #2) by Sara Shepard
I loved the first and I love the show, so I’m sure I’ll love this. I got this via a $5 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks, so definitely go check this awesome site out!
That’s it from me this week. I had an amazing week and was very lucky to get these books. What did you get in your mailbox?
Title: Where She Went Pages: 264
Author: Gayle Forman Source: Luxury Reading
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile Published: Apr 5, 2011
Series: If I Stay #2 Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 5 out of 5
It’s been three years since the tragic accident that devastated Mia’s life and three years since she left her rock star boyfriend, Adam. He was not just another musician, but a full-blown, everywhere-he-goes-he-gets-recognized rock star.
Music is Adam’s dream, or at least it was. Now, he’s an empty shell. He goes through the actions of interviews and shows and everything associated with his rock star life in a blur of people and panic attacks.
Mia’s a rising star in the classical music world and one night, Adam finds himself at one of her concerts. He intends to just sit and listen to the music, but fate has other plans for them. She invites him backstage and before he knows it, he’s on a tour of her favorite haunts in New York, and one wild ride of emotions.
I loved If I Stay, and Where She Went was only more of the same, in a very good way. I devoured it and I’m sure it’ll be one of those books that stays with me for a long time.
Want to read the rest of my review? Please go here: Luxury Reading
I give Where She Went a 5 out of 5.
Confused why I don’t have the full review here? Please refer to my first Luxury Reading review here.
In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and is a weekly meme to showcase what you got over the week by buying, receiving, borrowing, stealing from a friend etc.
For Review (from Luxury Reading):
Stay by Deb Caletti
This one is very good so far!
Tomorrow Girls: Behind the Gates by Eva Gray
This one is also very enjoyable. I believe this one might be more middle grade fiction?
RAK:
Firespell (The Dark Elite #1) by Chloe Neill
I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while (hello, boarding schools and paranormal stuff = awesome), and I will finally be able to thanks to Emily from What Book Is That?! So thank you Emily :).
I think that’s it for this week! What did you get in your mailbox?
Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books.
Question:
Can you tell us five quirky habits or things about you?
1. I can lick my elbow. Be jealous :)
2. I love the smell of gasoline and Farm and Fleet.
3. I have trichotillomania, so I often will “squeak” my hair (I will rub my thumb up the shaft of a single strand of hair, thus causing a “squeaking” noise) when I am bored or tired.
4. I can’t really go anywhere without getting totally ready (hair and makeup done), mostly because of self confidence issues.
5. I have a lot of fears: bridges, spiders, tight spaces, places with a LOT of people, darkness, taking showers (I fear that a robber is going to come in my house or something, but I get super scared when taking showers when I’m home alone!), empty public bathroom, under the bed (I get scared when I walk by a bed and I have to have something blocking the side of the bed when I go to sleep), mirrors in the dark, Elmo (yes, the Sesame Street character), Raggedy Ann, and some others I’m probably forgetting. Yes, I’m an overly fearful person!
Question:
If you were given the chance to spend one day in a fictional world (from a book), which book would it be from and what would that place be?
I would love to spend a day in the world of The Mortal Instruments and I would love to join Jace, Clary, Alec, and Isabelle as a Shadow Hunter.
Hello everyone, I just wanted to leave a quick update for anyone reading this saying that I haven’t really felt like reading lately, but I hope to get back into the swing of things soon!
I just haven’t felt like forcing myself to read just to put a review up. And that’s what it’s felt like, just forcing myself to read so I can review it, but I want to read for fun, not to have this pressure of reviewing. Reading has looked better to me, though, today so I bet I’ll have some reviews soon! :)
Take care everyone!
Title: Shadow Hills Pages: 391
Author: Anastasia Hopcus Source: Luxury Reading
Publisher: Egmont USA Published: May 10, 2011
Series: Standalone? Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 4 out of 5
Persephone “Phe” Archer is grieving the tragic death of her sister, Athena. So when she receives a letter from a school in Shadow Hills – which Athena just so happened to mention in her diary the night she died – Phe decides to enroll there, armed with nothing but Athena’s diary as guidance.
Once in Shadow Hills, Phe starts having vivid nightmares that seem to be trying to tell her something. Are they visions of the future or of the past? What are they trying to say? One thing is for certain, Phe has just stumbled into the heart of the ancient secrets residing in the small town of Shadow Hills.
I immediately was drawn into the world and mystery of Phe Archer and Shadow Hills. There were some slow points, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed Shadow Hills.
Want to read the rest of my review? Please go here: Luxury Reading
I give Shadow Hills a 4 out of 5.
Confused why I don’t have the full review here? Please refer to my first Luxury Reading review here.
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading
Rules:
-Grab your current read
-Open to a random page
-Share two sentences from that page
-Be careful not to include spoilers!
-Include the book titles and author, so other participants can add the book the their TBR pile!
This week's teaser comes from..
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
page 80
“That’s when it happens. The moment of death is full of heat and sound and pain bigger than anything, a funnel of burning heat splitting me in two, something searing and scorching and tearing, and if screaming were a feeling it would be this.
Then nothing.”
page 87
“I thought I died yesterday. I thought I died tonight.”
Title: Haven Pages: 416
Author: Kristi Cook Source: Pulse It!
Publisher: Simon Pulse Published: February 22, 2011
Series: N/A? Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 4 out of 5
Violet McKenna has a secret that she's tried to keep hidden from everyone else - she can see the future. Tragic visions starring only her loved ones weigh her down, making her feel different. She tries to warn everyone the best she can without telling them, without ending up in a straitjacket.
Then she is presented with the choice of leaving her hometown of Atlanta and living with her workaholic step mom, or living with her Gran. She chooses to instead go to Winterhaven boarding school, which she has felt inexplicably drawn to ever since she got the glossy brochure.
In fact, Winterhaven has that effect on people with similar talents to Violet's. Talents in telepathy, astral-projection, shape-shifting.. You name it, Winterhaven's got it. This comes as a shock to Violet, but realizes that Winterhaven is a safe haven. She no longer has to pretend to be someone she's not. She finally has friends, and maybe even a boyfriend - Aidan Gray, the hot, intellectual, mysterious mind reader.
But Aidan has his own secrets that are far worse than being able to read someone's mind. And when Violet and Aidan's destinies seem to link up, Violet realizes she might not have a safe haven after all.
I certainly agree with everyone comparing this to Twilight. It felt very similar to me, but better.
The characters in Haven were quite addicting to read about, although some of Violet's reactions were a little over dramatic. She comes across as a smart and different girl, one that doesn't quite seem okay in her own skin. She certainly grows throughout Haven and becomes braver and more comfortable with her abilities, not thinking of herself as such a freak anymore. I love when you can experience character growth in a novel, and Kristi Cook certainly did just that with Haven.
I loved Aidan, too. He was so mysterious and sexy, with how he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off Violet, even though he never took notice to any other girl at Winterhaven. I'm sure that's a lot of women's fantasies, to be the only woman in their man's eyes.
The writing in Haven was awesome, and it made me keep turning pages, even when I had other books I should have probably been reading instead. It was so addicting from page one, all the way to the last page. Granted that Haven seemed a bit clichéd, it totally worked and felt sort of like slipping into your most comfortable shirt and just diving into a book you know would make you happy. This was Haven all the way.
That being said, the plot of course was predictable. I saw the twists coming, save for a few of them, but I didn't care. I devoured it all.
So, if you do not liked clichéd novels, or ones that have the same feel of Twilight, Haven would probably not be for you. But if you just want a novel you know you'd like, one that is equal parts romance and action, then read this one.
I give Haven a 4 out of 5.
Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books.
Question:
What character in a book would you most like to be, what character in a book would you most like to date?
I’m going to have to say Clary and Jace in the Mortal Instruments series (minus… you know) or Mia and Adam in If I Stay/Where She Went (obviously not for the heart break! That would be a terrible part of being Mia!).
Question:
Which blogger would you most like to meet in real life?
Hmm, I have a couple actually. Kristi from The Story Siren (love her blog, I visit it almost everyday), Vera from Luxury Reading (because I review for her, but she also seems really nice!), Jessica from ChapterChicks (I enjoy watching her videos and IMMs on youtube), Lucia from iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books (she seems downright awesome), Farrah from I Eat Words (again, love watching her videos on Youtube), Lauren from 365 Days of Reading (again love watching her videos on Youtube), and Isalys & Vanessa from Book Soulmates (they seem awesome and really fun to talk to and they made RAK!).
Whew. I’m sure I forgot some people, but there you have some of the bloggers I’d like to meet 
.
RAK, for those of you that haven’t heard of it is Random Acts of Kindness and what you do is you sign up each month and share your wishlist of books and people randomly send you a book on your list they either have an extra of or they straight up buy it for you! How cool is that?
So for April I got one RAK:
Shadowspell (Faerie Walker #2) by Jenna Black
Amber at AwesomeSauce Book Club sent me this because she saw I had this on my wishlist and had an extra!
Thank you so much Amber!
I really would like to send some RAKs out, but I don’t have a job currently except babysitting every week or every other week, so I haven’t really had cash coming in besides that and had debts yadda yadda, so I will try to get a RAK out to someone soon 
!
Hello everyone! I thought I’d share the awesome news of Kim Culbertson’s Songs for a Teenage Nomad being offered as a free ebook at Sourcebooks!
Go pick this ebook up here May 3rd - May 9th. Come on, it’s FREE!
Title: Songs for a Teenage Nomad
Author: Kim Culbertson
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Download free ebook here!
What is the soundtrack of your life?
After living in twelve places in eight years, Calle Smith finds herself in Andreas Bay, California, at the start of ninth grade. Another new home, another new school…Calle knows better than to put down roots. Her song journal keeps her moving to her own soundtrack, bouncing through a world best kept at a distance.
Yet before she knows it, friends creep in—as does an unlikely boy with a secret. Calle is torn over what may be her first chance at love. With all that she’s hiding and all that she wants, can she find something lasting beyond music? And will she ever discover why she and her mother have been running in the first place?
So the cover for Silence (Hush, Hush #3) by Becca Fitzpatrick was revealed today. What do you think? I like it, but it doesn’t have a YA cover feel, if you get what I mean. It makes me think I’m going to be reading an adult romance book, I guess. I’m not sure what it is about it. Leave in the comments what you think of it. Do you like it, love it, hate it, neutral about it?
Title: Instructions for a Broken Heart Pages: 291
Author: Kim Culbertson Source: Publisher
Publisher: Sourcebooks Published: May 1, 2011
Series: Standalone? Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 4 out of 5
Jessa Gardner is a busy girl. Between drama, Honors classes, sports, and other extracurricular activities, she barely has time to read, let alone time for a boyfriend. But she has one, Sean, and she makes it work.
That is, until she finds him in the drama club's costume barn with "the Boob Job" Natalie Stone. What's worse, is that she has to go on a trip to Italy with them in three days, or not go to the country that she's been dreaming about since she was a little girl.
Armed with twenty envelopes from her best friend Carissa titled "Top Twenty Reasons He's a Slimy Jerk Bastard," that each tell her a reason he's a - well, a slimy jerk bastard, and an instruction telling her to do one un-Jessa-like thing everyday for the ten day trip, Jessa sets out to try to get out of the hole she can't seem to get out of.
This book was adorable, first off. I loved the incorporation of Italy's history, which not many books pull off without sounding like a history book. But Kim Culbertson combined the fiction of Instructions for a Broken Heart and the history of Italy with such ease, that no glue leaked out when she sealed them together.
Jessa was such a mess - and for a good reason! - the entire trip, that I couldn't wait to see what crazy instructions her best friend Carissa would tell her to do. I also couldn't wait to see if Jessa would actually do them! Jessa grew so much during the trip to Italy, and at the end, she definitely grew into a better person. One that doesn't take for granted the people and the things around you. One that lives more in the present and sees the beauty in life, rather than always planning each step toward her future.
The only bad thing I concluded about Jessa was that she wasn't described very much, so I never got a true picture of what she looked like, besides the cover. I would have liked more descriptions of her appearance.
The rest of the characters each had their own personality and although some of them could have been classified as "filler characters," I really couldn't tell and found all of them to be enjoyable to read.
Now the writing. The writing was fantastic. Better than fantastic, it was beautiful. It was so poetic at times, but not in a way that seemed like Culbertson was trying too hard. It seemed to me that she just writes that beautifully. She shows you a picture while you read, but doesn't show you too much, so you can't come up with your own picture of what the characters and setting looks like.
The plot was fast-paced and had a couple twists to it that I didn’t expect. The ending is a slight cliff hanger that makes me think Jessa might have more adventures in store for her in the future, which I’d definitely read.
Overall, I loved Instructions for a Broken Heart and there was only one thing that held me back from giving it a perfect score. If you love adorable, fast, light reads, definitely pick this one up. You won't regret it.
I give Instructions for a Broken Heart a 4 out of 5.
Disclaimer: Book was provided free to me from the publisher for review. No compensation was received.
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