Month: April 2018

Top Ten Books I’d Slay a Lion to Get Early

Posted April 30, 2018 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 28 Comments

I’m blessed with the opportunity to read many advance reader copies (ARCs) of books, but some of them are tricker to get or just never release as ARCs because the publisher doesn’t need them in order to sell books (or they’re the last book in a series and ARCs don’t happen in order to minimize spoilers). The following books are titles I’d really love to get my hands on early.


1. Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco (Out 9/18/19)

Everyone who knows me knows I won’t shut up about how much I loved Hunting Prince Dracula last year. I cannot WAIT to read the next installment in Audrey Rose’s and Thomas Cresswell’s story. And this one takes place on an ocean liner! I couldn’t have asked for a better setting.

2. The Real Deal by Lauren Blakely (Out 7/10/18)

I love a good fake romance, and this one sounds fun and flirty, not to mention the fact that it has all the right ingredients for a hilarious string of events. April needs a date for her family’s summer reunion, so what better place to look than Craigslist? I can’t wait to read it!

3. The Governess Game by Tessa Dare  (Out 8/28/18)

Tessa Dare is my favorite historical romance author, and I can’t wait for her new book!


4. Snow in Love by Melissa de la Cruz, Nic Stone, Aimee Friedman, and Kasie West (Out 10/30/18)

I love wintry/holiday romances, and I’ve come to really enjoy YA anthologies. And Kasie West has a story in this one!! I’m sold.

5. A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (Out 1/29/19)

I live for Beauty & the Beast retellings, and this one sounds wonderful. Plus, that cover!

6. Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson (Out 8/7/18)

With the exception of the final book in the trilogy, which went kind of wonky for me, I love the Remnant Chronicles. The world is amazing, the characters are great, and Mary’s storytelling and writing are out of this world. I’m so excited to see where she goes next.


7. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (Out 2/5/19)

It’s Leigh Bardugo! And it’s Nikolai from the Grisha trilogy! I’ve always wanted him to get his own book, and now he has it!

No covers yet!

8. Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye (Out 1/22/19)

It’s a ninja-inspired fantasy! I love Evelyn’s writing and worldbuilding skills, so I’m counting on this one to be amazing.

9. 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne (10/2/18)

To be honest, I don’t care what this book is about. I just know I want it. I loved The Hating Game so much, and I’m excited for Sally’s next book!

10. Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett (2019)

I am such a Jenn Bennett fangirl. She writes such cute contemporary romances. And this one has some mystery aspects to it, from what I’ve heard!

Which books would you love to read early?
Do we share any of the same picks?

Ten Frequently Used Words In YA Book Titles

Posted April 23, 2018 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 18 Comments

So this fun little topic came through on the TTT topic submission form, and I’ve actually had a lot of fun with this one! We all see the trends that come and go regarding book title structures and word choices. I spent a lot of time searching the books I’ve added to Goodreads and came up with this list of commonly used words in YA book titles. The number next to each word tells how many YA books I’ve added to Goodreads that have that word in the title. And these are just the ones I added. There are like a million others. lol.

1. Girl/Girls (60)
The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Dangerous Girls, New Girl, The Goose Girl, The Coldest Girl In Coldtown, Smart Girls Get what They Want, Geek Girl, Girl Underwater, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, The Lost Girl, Fangirl, Jesse’s Girl, The Girl at Midnight, etc.

2. You (49)
P.S. I Like You, The Devil You Know, A Thousand Pieces of You, Wish You Were Italian, As You Wish, The Distance Between You and Me, What You Always Wanted, Seven Days of You, The Season of You and Me, The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You, etc.

3. Star/Starry (48)
Starry Eyes, Starry Nights, Stars Above, The Fault In Our Stars, Second Star, These Broken Stars, Even the Darkest Stars, For Darkness Shows the Stars, The Name of the Star, The Chaos of Stars, Eyes Like Stars, Across a Star-Swept Sea, The Last Star, etc.

4. Shadow/Shadows (31)
Shadowlands, Shadow and Bone, Dance of Shadows, Shadows On the Moon, The Shadow Society, Prince of Shadows, Shadow Scale, Shadow Study, Shadow Kiss, Queen of Shadows, A Shadow Bright and Burning, The Shadow Queen, Reign of Shadows, The Library of Light and Shadows, etc.

5. Blood (27)
Silver In the Blood, Blood Promise, Anna Dressed In Blood, Days of Blood and Starlight, Blood Passage, Sisters of Blood and Spirit, Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, Blood Rose Rebellion, RoseBlood, Frostblood, etc.

6. Queen (26)
Beauty Queens, The Queen’s Choice, Red Queen, Queen of Shadows, The Orphan Queen, Queen of Hearts, The Shadow Queen, The Impostor Queen, The Star-Touched Queen, etc.

7. Daughter (23)
Daughter of Deep Silence, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Daughter of Venice, The Musician’s Daughter, The Madman’s Daughter, etc.

8. Blue (22)
Into the Still Blue, Nantucket Blue, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Words In Deep Blue, Everblue, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, The Savage Blue, Blue Eyes and Other Teenage Hazards, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, etc.

9. Bone (13)
Ivory and Bone, Shadow and Bone, Ink and Bone, The World of Shell and Bone, The Bone Witch, etc.

10. Smoke (10)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Curses and Smoke,Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, Silver Smoke, Bright SMoke, Cold Fire, Riot of Storm and Smoke, etc.

Which genre or age group did you decide to focus on today?
Do we have any words in common? 

Top Ten Books My Mom Loves

Posted April 16, 2018 by Jana in About Me, Top Ten Tuesday / 81 Comments

This week I gave you the opportunity to come up with your own topic. I love doing this because then I can visit all the participating blogs and steal your ideas!! Haha, just kidding. That’s not totally the reason. I always get requests for really specific topics that I can’t broaden enough to make them apply to everyone who wants to participate, such as “top ten science fiction books” or “top ten books to read if you liked [insert book title here]”. Not everyone can do those kinds of topics and then they would have to sit out that week. So this week you get to do whatever you want!

Today’s my mom’s birthday, and since she’s my favorite person in the world I figured I’d share with you some of the books she’s read and loved, both as a child and an adult, and recommended to me throughout my life.

To my first and favorite follower:
Happy birthday, Mom!

 

The Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope
Cherry Ames, Student Nurse by Helen Wells
Racoons Are the Brightest People by Sterling North
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Mary Higgins-Clark (all her books)
Virgin River by Robyn Carr (The entire Virgin River series)
Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs (The entire Lakeshore Chronicles series)

Have you read any of these books?
Which books do your mom or dad recommend to you all the time?
What topic did you come up with this week?

Roomies by Christina Lauren | Book Review

Posted April 12, 2018 by Jana in Book Review, New Adult / 2 Comments

Roomies by Christina Lauren | Book ReviewRoomies by Christina Lauren
Published by Gallery Books on December 5, 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Edelweiss)
Add to Goodreads
Buy on Amazon

Marriages of convenience are so…inconvenient.

Rescued by Calvin McLoughlin from a would-be subway attacker, Holland Bakker pays the brilliant musician back by pulling some of her errand-girl strings and getting him an audition with a big-time musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until he admits his student visa has expired and he’s in the country illegally.

Holland impulsively offers to wed the Irishman to keep him in New York, her growing infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves from awkward roommates to besotted lovers, Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway. In the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting, what will it take for Holland and Calvin to realise that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?

I love marriages of convenience and fake/sham romances, so I was excited to find another one from an author (or author partnership) I’ve been hearing really good things about. I also love books set in New York and/or surrounding the theme of music. And… it kind of goes without saying that I love Irish men, so the synopsis checked all my boxes. I eagerly jumped in, and had a lot of fun with this one! As always, my main points are bolded.

1. I really loved Holland Baker. She’s so relatable, and I think we can all see at least a small part of ourselves in her. She’s a 25-year-old plain Jane living in New York City (with the help of her two uncles who pay most of her rent), working a dead-end job (that her uncle go her) that is way below her qualifications as she tries to achieve her dream of becoming a published author. Who has been in this position before? *raises hand* Her morning subway runs to work become bearable when she stumbles across a musical genius busking in the station one morning. She gives him a name and makes up his life story in her mind, going out of her way to hear him play as often as she can. This mysterious musician has her completely entranced even though she’s never seen his face or heard his voice. If you haven’t ever had a crush on someone you don’t know, then you’re either crazy or lucky.

2. Calvin is a swoony Irishman who is also working below his qualifications while trying to achieve his dream of becoming a Broadway musician. While busking in the subway station one evening, he saves Holland from an attack and then pretty much disappears. We learn a lot about Holland’s mystery musician, and the two of them end up in a marriage of convenience–both for very different reasons. Calvin is pretty cute (his accent comes through the pages), but not my favorite male love interest. I had a really hard time trusting his intentions with Holland, and questioned his feelings pretty consistently throughout the story. He’s not incredibly thoughtful or romantic, either. I did change my mind about him, and by the end I was in love with him. I was sad I didn’t get more pages with him like he was in the end.

3. I did really like the banter between Holland and Calvin. They’re pretty funny and flirtatious, and I ate it all up.

4. I could not help but picture scenes from the movie, The Proposal, while I read about Holland and Calvin at their interview to prove the validity of their marriage. And their cramming sessions where they tried to learn as much about each other as possible were great.

5. I LOVED Holland’s two uncles, Robert and Jeff. They took care of her like they were her parents, and I loved how tender and concerned they were for her. They call her “Hollsy”, which is so cute! Robert is the mastermind behind a hit Broadway show, but he’s still super down-to-earth and even a little silly.

6. I loved the walks through New York in the freezing cold because it took me back to when I was there at Christmastime freezing my butt off.

7. I love the author’s descriptions of music and what it does to a person. There were some beautiful, sweeping passages that perfectly described the impact music has on people.

8. A fair amount of the book takes place at the theater, and I enjoyed all the tidbits of life behind Broadway. 

9. I think things went slightly sour for me when Holland and Calvin left the getting-to-know-you phase and jumped into the lustier side of their relationship. I loved the sincerity that they brought to the scene as they got to know one another and were intoxicated by Calvin’s new job and Holland’s secret infatuation with him had her checking herself to see if she was dreaming. That was all very sweet and exciting. When they started lying to each other and sleeping together for no meaningful reason, it cheapened everything for me.

10. There was a lot of needless drama, in my opinion. I’ve never read a book where the main couple argued with one another so much, or had so many disagreements. 

11. I loved watching Holland find herself. 

12. The ending was very sweet, if not a little convenient and quick. It all seemed to wrap up too fast for me.

13. I could have done with fewer f-words. 

So, there you have it! My slightly all over the place review. There were parts I loved, and parts I didn’t love. Overall, however, I am so glad I read this book. It was fun and fresh and different from all the other contemporary romances I’ve read.

Top Ten Books I’m Scared to Re-read

Posted April 9, 2018 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 53 Comments

Today’s TTT topic was submitted by Brandyn @ Goingforgoldilocks. Thanks for the fun idea, Brandyn! If you have ideas for future topics, submit them here!

A note about last week’s topic:

I know how hard it was for many of you to come up with a list of characters you liked from books you didn’t like, and I’m sorry if you couldn’t participate! Always feel free to switch up a topic to make it work for you when this kind of thing happens. I really loved the topic idea when I saw it come through my TTT topic submission form, but was pretty daunted by it at the same time. I usually don’t like a book because I didn’t like the character(s). I know I’m just one person, though, and I shouldn’t only pick topics that are easy for me. And honestly, I really liked the challenge because I ended up mentioning some books I’d never talked about before on the blog!

Anyway, I posted a discussion a few days ago about whether or not you’re a character or plot driven reader, and we’re having fun over there. Jump in and tell me what kind of reader you are, and if last week’s topic was a bit of a challenge for you!

—

We did a topic a couple months ago on books we could re-read forever. This time we’re showcasing books we liked but will never re-read. For me those books are usually books I loved years ago that I’m scared I won’t love anymore if I read it now (tastes change, you know?). It’s kind of like meeting up with a best friend from childhood and then not liking them anymore and ruining the memories of your time together as kids. I don’t want to erase the experience I had reading it when I loved it. I also run into this issue with books that have major plot twists or are mysteries because I know I will never be able to duplicate the amazing reading experience I had before I knew what was going to happen. These are the kinds of books I’m going to talk about today.

 

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
I really loved Twilight (it came out while I was in college), and it re-ignited my love of reading and introduced me to the magical world of YA books. I didn’t have YA as a teen and spent my teens years reading historical romance novels. I wish I’d had YA back then, with characters and situations that I could relate to.

 

2. Wanderlove by Kristen Hubbard
Wanderlove changed my life. It’s one of those books that I found at just the right time, and I’m not sure I’d ever feel like I did when I read it. It scares me that I’d taint that life-changing reading experience if I tried to re-read it now. 

 

3. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
I read Delirium right when it came out. I was still on a dystopia kick after reading and loving The Hunger Games. I LOVED this book so much. When I read the synopsis now, though, it’s the kind of story I’d pass over. Maybe I read too many dystopian novels, or maybe I got tired of reading so many similar stories. I don’t think I’d love it anymore, which is sad because I own Requiem and want to see how it ends. But that means I’d have to re-read Delirium and Pandemonium because I’ve forgotten everything. I’m worried I wouldn’t make it through and then I’d have ruined one of my favorite books for myself.

 

4. Till Death by Jennifer Armentrout
Ah, this is one of my favorite romantic suspense novels! And I’m oo scared to re-read it because I already know what happens and I don’t ever want to forget how terrified and confused I was. lol. I had NO CLUE who the culprit was, and I loved trying to figure it out. Would I enjoy this book as much the second time if I already knew the ending?

 

5. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
This is another favorite book of mine. There is a very strong musical theme throughout that I really connected with. It’s the kind of connection I would never want to lose, and it scares me to think of re-reading it even though I want to so bad!

 

6. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
I miiiiight not hold myself to this becuase I LOVE this book so much. It’s another one I’m scared I won’t love anymore because I’ve been having a hard time with contemporary YA lately.

 

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
While the writing is beautiful, and I loved this book a lot, I’m not sure I could put my heart through it again.

 

8. Wings by Aprilynne Pike
I’m really done with any and all fae that are not Sarah J. Maas’s.

 

9. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Maggie’s writing is beautiful (and I loved this book), but I’ve really fallen out of love with most paranormal/folkloric creatures. I still love mermaids, but that’s about it. I also think I’d eyeroll over the instalove and the Twilight-esque feelings.

 

10. Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
MAJOR PLOT TWIST that I can never ever re-experience unless I get amnesia. If I do, remind me I want to read this book.

Which books did you enjoy, but will never re-read? Why?
Do you ever experience this problem I have where you’re worried you won’t like a book as much the second time and end up ruining everything? What do you suggest I do about this fear?