Author: Jana

Item: Lost Girls
Rating: 0.5
Author: Jana

Christmas Songs Book Tag 2017

Posted December 3, 2017 by Jana in Book Tag / 5 Comments

Celebrate the Christmas season with That Artsy Reader Girl and her bookish friends!

Celebrate #ChristmasWithJana: Instagram ✦ Twitter ✦ Event Schedule

Two years ago I created the Christmas Songs Book Tag, and I’ve had a couple requests to host it again this year, so here it is! The goal is to pick a book you’ve read this year that fits the theme of the Christmas song titles.

If you’d like to join the fun, leave a link to your post in the Linky below and I’ll come visit! Since I’ve already done this I’m going to limit my answers to the books I read this year, but you can feel free to choose whichever books you’d like!

1. “All I Want for Christmas Is You”: Favorite bookish couple.
Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell from Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

2. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”: Name a book where a character is away from home (school, vacation, etc.).
Hunted by Meagan Spooner.

3. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”: Name your favorite “little” book (children’s book, short story, novella, etc.).
Little Elliot, Big Fun by Mike Curato

4. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town“: What book(s) do you hope Santa brings you this year?
Flame In the Mist by Renee Ahdieh, Air Awakens by Elise Kova, and The Ends of the World by Maggie Hall.

5. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”: Which book turned your nose red (made you cry)?
Unless you count crying from boredom (Wintersong by S. Jae Jones and Beautiful Storm by Barbara Freethy) then I’ve got nothing this year!

6. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”: Your favorite book/kind of book to read during the holidays.
I really love reading Christmas romances during this time of year, as well as wintry fantasy novels. So far my favorite Christmas romance has been Miracle on Fifth Avenue by Sarah Morgan.

7. “We Three Kings”: Your favorite trilogy.
Under the Never Sky trilogyMy favorite trilogy… I’m going to have to go with all-time favorite instead of 2017 favorite because I haven’t read any books that are part of a finished trilogy this year. Veronica Rossi’s is one of my very favorites.

8. “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow”: A character you would love to be snowed in with.
Joshua Templeman of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. He’s funny, broody, swoony, and he knows how to take care of you if you’re sick.

9. “Last Christmas”: A book that seriously let you down.
The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye (I’m so sorry!!).

10. “White Christmas”: An upcoming release you’re dreaming about.
The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis-Graves. I cannot WAIT for this one. I’m also REALLY excited for the next book in Kerri Maniscalco’s Stalking Jack the Ripper series. OH. And King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo! And Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson!! So many great books are coming out soon!

Christmas vector created, in part, by freepik – www.freepik.com

Handmade Holiday Cards by Andi | Book Blogger Guest Post (+ Giveaway)

Posted December 2, 2017 by Jana in Giveaway, Guest Post / 11 Comments

Celebrate the Christmas season with That Artsy Reader Girl and her bookish friends!

Celebrate #ChristmasWithJana: Instagram ✦ Twitter ✦ Event Schedule

Welcome to Andi of Andi’s ABCs, who is kicking off this fun month of festive book reviews and guest posts! I’ve always loved Andi’s blog as well as the fun cards she posts online, so I was really excited when she offered to talk about her cards and make a holiday set for my readers! The giveaway will end in time for you to mail them out to your friends and family this month.

I’m so excited to take part in Jana’s, Bookish Little Christmas. This is Jana’s 6th year doing this feature and my first time guest posting.

For those of you that don’t know me I’m Andi from Andi’s ABCs. In January my blog will be 5 years old (no, I really can’t believe that!). Andi’s ABCs is my baby where I blog about my love of YA books, romance books, and my love of accessories and clothes. But I have another hobby that I fell in love with over a year ago and brings use to my post for Jana: Cards by Andrea S..

When Jana was looking for guest posters I knew I was going to bring my love of card making to her blog so here I am.

When sitting down to come up with a design I decided I wanted to do something simple. I flipped through my stamps and found three sets I wanted to use. These sets by no means go together but they ended up really working for the look I was going for.

I wanted to keep the card simple and use traditional holiday colors. Once I settled on Altenew’s Rouge and Silver Stone, and Gina K.’s Grass Green I was really excited to see how this card set would turn out.

Using my favorite black ink, VersaFine Onyx Black, I stamped the sentiment and the tree. I liked it without anything else, but I knew there was some sparkle that was needed. I scoured my stash and found some clear sequins which were the perfect addition.

And I finished the card off with a holiday sentiment.

If you want to see more cards like this that I have created check out my Etsy shop HERE. I have a variety of holiday and everyday cards available.

But this set; this set is for one of you. I’m giving away all 6 of these cards I made for readers of That Artsy Reader Girl’s blog. Sadly the giveaway is US only. Sorry international peeps, shipping is just too expensive at this time. The giveaway will end at 11:59EST on December 9th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A huge thanks to Jana for having me. This was a lot of fun!

–

Do you send out holiday cards to your friends and family? Do you enjoy receiving them?

2017 Christmas Novels | New Release Book List

Posted December 1, 2017 by Jana in Book Spotlight, Bookish News / 3 Comments

Looking for something to read this holiday season? I’ve got you covered! Here’s a list of brand new Christmas novels that are out this year to help you get in the festive spirit. This list is broken up by age group, and then alphabetized. The links will take you to Goodreads to read more about each title. If I’ve missed any that you’re really excited about, let me know in the comments! And seriously, where are all the YA Christmas books? Pretty sure we’re lacking a little…

Adult:

A Chance This Christmas by Joanne Rock
A Christmas Affair by Jodi Thomas
A Christmas to Remember by Lisa Kleypas, et al.
A Cosy, Candlelit Christmas (An Unforgettable Christmas #2) by Tilly Tennant
An Ex for Christmas by Lauren Layne
A Lot Like Christmas: Stories by Connie Willis
A Hummingbird Christmas by Karen Foley
Approximately Yours (North Pole, Minnesota #3) by Julie Hammerle
At the Christmas Wedding by Caroline Linden, Katharine Ashe, and Maya Rodale
A Scottish Lord for Christmas by Lauren Smith (12/5)
A Season of Love: A Christmas Anthology by Carla Kelly
A Season of You by Emma Douglas
A Snow Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller

A Very Cowboy Christmas (Smokin’ Hot Cowboys) by Kim Redford
A Very Merry Princess by Susan Mallery
A Vicarage Christmas by Kate Hewitt
Becoming Bella by Sarah Hegger
Chasing Christmas Eve (Heartbreaker Bay #4) by Jill Shalvis
Christmas at Hope Cottage by Lily Graham
Christmas at Mistletoe Cove by Holly Martin
Christmas At the Candied Apple Cafe by Katherine Garbera
Christmas at Two Love Lane by Kieran Kramer
Christmas In a Cowboy’s Arms by Leigh Greenwood
Christmas In Icicle Falls (Life In Icicle Falls #11) by Sheila Roberts
Christmas In Kilts by Various (anthology)
Christmas on the Little Cornish Isles by Phillipa Ashley

Christmas Promises at the Little Wedding Shop by Jane Linfoot
Christmastime Cowboy by Maisey Yates
Close to Heaven (Colorado High Country #5) by Pamela Clare
Coming Home to the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson
Cowboy, It’s Cold Outside (Twilight, Texas #8) by Lori Wilde
Deck the Halls (Darling, VT #3.5) by Dolla Alward
His Mistletoe Wager by Virginia Heath
Hold Her Again by Shannon Stacey
Holiday Spice by Samantha Chase
Holiday Wishes (Heartbreaker Bay #4.5) by Jill Shalvis
Home for Christmas by Holly Chamberlin
Homicide for the Holidays (Viv and Charlie Mystery #2) by Cheryl Honigford
Hope for Christmas by Stacy Finz
Hope at Christmas by Nancy Naigle

Hot Winter Nights by Various (anthology)
How the Finch Stole Christmas! by Donna Andrews
Lady Osbaldestone’s Christmas Goose by Stephanie Laurens
Last Christmas In Paris: A Novel of World War I by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Long, Tall Cowboy Christmas by Carolyn Brown
Maybe This Christmas (Colorado Ice #3) by Jennifer Snow
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Carla Burgess
Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber
Miracle At Christmas by Debbie Mason (12/19)
Miss Christmas by Gigi Garrett
Moonlight Over Manhattan (From Manhattan With Love #6) by Sarah Morgan

Once Upon a Christms Eve by Elizabeth Hoyt (12/5)
One Day In December by Shari Low
Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz
Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak
Slay Bells Ring by (Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mystery #7) by Karen Rose Smith
Snowbound With an Heiress by Jennifer Faye
Snowflakes, Iced Cakes, and Second Chances by Sue Watson
Sugar Pine Trail (Haven Point #7) by RaeAnne Thayne
Tangled Up In Tinsel by Candis Terry
The Beachside Christmas (Beachside Bay #3) by Karen Clarke
The Best Little Christmas Shop by Maxine Morrey
The Boyfriend Swap by Meredith Schorr

The Christmas Cowboy Hero by Donna Grant
The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson
The Deal of a Lifetime by Frederik Backman
The Holiday Cruise by Victoria Cooke
The Inn at Blue Hollow Falls (Blue Hollow Falls #1.5) by Donna Kauffman
The Lady In Red by Kelly Bowen (12/5)
The Rancher’s Christmas Song (Cowboys of Cold Creek #16) by RaeAnne Thayne
We’ll Always Have Christmas by Jenny Hale
Winter Solstice by Erin Hilderbrand
With This Christmas Ring by Manda Collins
Wyoming Winter (Wyoming Men #7) by Diana Palmer

Which books are you excited to read this year?
Which ones have you already read and loved?

Sixth Annual A Bookish Little Christmas

Posted December 1, 2017 by Jana in Blog Event / 1 Comment

It’s that time of year again! A Bookish Little Christmas is my absolute favorite blog event, and I’m really excited to be hosting for the 6th year in a row. The next few weeks will be filled with Christmassy guest posts, book reviews, and other fun things as we count down the days until Christmas (I’ll be updating the schedule as posts go live). Some of my very favorite bookish people, including authors, book bloggers, and publicists, will be stopping by with amazing stories and other festive content. I really think that this will be my favorite Bookish Little Christmas to date, and I can’t wait to celebrate with you.

Celebrate #ChristmasWithJana: Instagram ✦ Twitter

Post Schedule

Lost Girls by Merrie Destefano | Mini Book Review

Posted November 30, 2017 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 1 Comment

Lost Girls by Merrie Destefano
Published by Entangled Teen on February 14, 2017
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 301
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
Add to Goodreads

Yesterday, Rachel went to sleep listening to Taylor Swift, curled up in her grammy’s quilt, worrying about geometry. Today, she woke up in a ditch, bloodied, bruised, and missing a year of her life.

She doesn’t recognize the person she’s become: she’s popular. She wears nothing but black.

Black to cover the blood.

And she can fight.

Tell no one.

She’s not the only girl to go missing within the last year…but she’s the only girl to come back. She desperately wants to unravel what happened to her, to try and recover the rest of the Lost Girls.

But the more she discovers, the more her memories return. And as much as her new life scares her, it calls to her. Seductively. The good girl gone bad, sex, drugs, and raves, and something darker…something she still craves—the rush of the fight, the thrill of the win—something she can’t resist, that might still get her killed…

The only rule is: There are no rules.

So… This book sounded good. It really did. But I HATED it. I was excited to find out where these “lost girls” went, but as soon as I did (which happens quickly) I was like, “well crap.”. Seriously. This is not good. I have so little to say about this book. It was uninteresting, dark, unbelievable, farfetched, and so slow. I have so little to say that normally I wouldn’t even write a review. But I felt like I needed to warn those who are at risk of being swindled by the book’s synopsis like I was. Major spoiler ahead, so proceed at your own risk.

The lost girls? They’re kidnapped and forced into a teen underground fighting ring. If they’re good, they move to platinum level where they are sold and rape is implied. They’re drugged and abused and it’s awful. The book has so much depressing content, with absolutely no redeeming qualities.

You’ve been warned. Run away. Run far away.

Author: Jana

Do you send out holiday cards to your friends and family? Do you enjoy receiving them?

Adult:

Children/Middle Grade:

Picture Books:

Young Adult:

Which books are you excited to read this year? Which ones have you already read and loved?

Post Schedule

Which books are you excited to read this year?
Which ones have you already read and loved?