Monday, October 31, 2016

Happy Halloween!

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to wish you all a Happy Halloween. May you stuff yourselves with candy or binge-watch horror movies or just curl up at home with a good book (that will be me).





I'm lame, so I'm "dressing up" as a detective (basically, I'm just wearing a collared shirt and a fedora. That's it. Pretty low-maintance, but I'm a low-maintance kind of person.) Let me know if you guys are doing anything special, or if you have a neat costume!


Have a great day, and stay safe! (Because you never know what's lurking in the shadows on All Hallow's Eve, when the veil between humans and other creatures is at its thinnest...)


Friday, October 28, 2016

Autumn Bookhaul!

From my October TBR post, I explained why I love October so much. Autumn in general is my favourite time of the year, for various reasons (SO MANY NEW RELEASES, leaves change colour, I can break out some stylish jackets and hats, etc.). One of them also happens to be my birthday, which (unsurprisingly) I always use as an excuse to buy myself some more books!


I will admit I got a bit carried away taking pictures of my new books. But I couldn't help it, and decided to do another one of my book haul guessing sessions. Can any of you guess what I got strictly off what the pages look like? Go on, give it your best shot!




Monday, October 24, 2016

Review: Moonlight War-Act 1 by William Collins

Book: Moonlight War-Act 1
Author: William Collins
Series: The Realmers #2
Genre: YA sci-fi, paranormal
Pages: 383
Release: August 29th 2016
Source: author ecopy (thank you, Will)



After the catastrophic events of book 1, Evan and Brooke are trying to come to terms with recent revelations. However, it isn’t long before their duties as Venators throw them back into action. 

Whilst Evan faces a deathly trial to advance further in his training, Brooke embarks on her very first mission, which sees her embroiled in a war between the vampires and werewolves of London. If the werewolves and shifters baying for her blood wasn’t enough, Brooke also has to face a starkly changed Arantay. 

Meanwhile the Dark-Venator forces are rising, whilst Evan and his friends contend with the mysterious disappearances of several Venators. Could they have been kidnapped? Evan also faces backlash from many of his fellow trainees, who hate or fear him. Evan thinks their reactions are bad now, but it would be nothing if they discovered his secret. His peers may even try to kill him if they learned the truth. 

Evan knows he has to pass his trial to gain his first mission as a Venator, but he may never make it that far if his hidden powers aren’t controlled. Across the realms, a terribly malignant force has learned of Evan and Brooke, and plans to strike.



Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Cover Reveal: THE FALLEN KINGDOM by Elizabeth May

GUYS GUYS GUYS.

Do you all remember The Falconer series? The first two books have devastated me beyond repair because of their endings. And believe me, it's taken months to finally move on past the ending to The Vanishing Throne

And now...I am reliving all those feelings. Because the cover of the final book, The Fallen Kingdom. Has. Been. Released!!! (And released on supreme author Jennifer L. Armentrout's blog, none the less, so you KNOW it's good!)




Can we please just appreciate THAT POSE??? Because if it wasn't clear before, it's clear now that Aileana is a freaking warrior. A badass, noble, incredibly self-sacrificing warrior. Who will save the world. I mean, the fact that her sword is turned down and that knightly pose... It's such a hopeful but sad and final cover!!! With the sunlight filtering through the trees and basking her sword, but not quite fully reaching her face... Does that mean she's going to lose something in the war? Lose someone? But who am I kidding, this is the final book, so there's obviously going to be a causalities. My heart will most surely be one of them. I mean, THE ENDING OF THE VANISHING THRONE REDUCED ME TO NOTHING. 

Here's a compilation of the covers of the entire series:




I really love the progression on the covers. It gives the sense of how Aileana goes to fighting for herself, then for others, and finally being willing to lay down her sword (or life) for the sake of the world.

This book hopefully will come out June 15th, 2017 (it's hard to say, since the previous two book have had separate release dates--one in the UK, the other international-- and I don't know which one June 15th is). Until then, you can all find me sitting in a corner trying to wrangle my feels back under control...

And don't forget to add it to your Goodreads! There's a better/updated synopsis on author Jennifer L. Armentrout's blog, so check that one out too!

Who's excited? Have you read this series before? Let me know!


Saturday, October 15, 2016

Review: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Book: The Shadow Queen
Author: C.J. Redwine
Series: Ravenspire #1
Publisher: Balzer + Bay
Pages: 387
Release: February 16th 2016



Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.






Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Review: In Restless Dreams by Wren Handman

Book: In Restless Dreams
Author: Wren Handman
Series: Standalone
Source: author (thank you, Wren!)
Publisher: Wandering Roots Press
Pages: 295
Release: September 7th 2016



Sylvia is just a normal girl with huge, normal problems – her mother’s attempted suicide; how to adjust to life on the Upper East Side; trying to make friends in a rich prep school where she doesn’t belong; whether or not to trust the cute boy with the dangerous eyes. She thinks that’s more than she can handle, but she tests the limits of her endurance when she learns that she is the long awaited Phantasmer, a human who can change the fabric of Fairy simply by believing in a new story. Sylvia’s life is thrown off course as two warring Courts, the Seelie and Unseelie, both attempt to co-opt her gift to fight the other Court, which she has to deal with while trying not to get kicked out of school for fighting. And it doesn’t help matters that the fairies begging for her help are both attractive young men – with their own agendas.





Sunday, October 9, 2016

Review: This Night Sucks by Elizabeth J.M. Walker

Book: This Night Sucks
Author: Elizabeth J.M. Walker
Series: Standalone
Source: author (thank you, Elizabeth!)
Publisher: Mirror World Publishing
Pages: 100
Release: June 17th 2016



Lana is a high school senior enrolled in Vampire Education - a class to teach students about the very real presence of vampires in the world. Lana and her classmates don't really expect to meet up with any undead bloodsuckers. Vampires are a lot like other scary things that supposedly exist but you hope you'll never come across: nudist colonies, mad cow disease, and your parents' sex life. 

What is part of Lana's everyday reality is navigating through one last year of high school while desperately trying to be less nerdy. She still loves spaceships, fantasy novels, and cat stickers, but she also recently got her braces removed, grew boobs, and is working on the makeup thing. She never expected her crush-of-a-lifetime Pete to even notice her - let alone ask her out on a date. 

The date is going great until Pete's ex-girlfriend Katy shows up, all bloody and pissed off. Lana quickly realizes that Katy is not just her ordinary bitchy self - she has been turned into a vampire which, in turn, takes Lana and Pete's date from a hot and steamy make-out session to an unexpected vampire-hunting expedition.





Saturday, October 8, 2016

ARC Review: Untitled Beauty by C.E. Wilson

Book: Untitled Beauty
Author: C.E. Wilson
Series: Somwhere-in-Between #1
Source: author (thank you, C.E.!)
Release: October 13th, 2016



Eleven. A name. A title. A sentence passed. If you aren’t a Beauty, you’re less than a person. You’re a commodity known as a Potential… and you only have so many chances to qualify as a human being.

In her seventeen years, Eleven has seen the best and worst in humanity. She’s been passed around and abused by the bad. She’s hoped and dreamed for the good. And she’s despaired for the hand she’s been dealt. Now she’s been purchased by a wealthy man who has the ability to improve her life and help her become a Beauty – if she can put up with his erratic and controlling personality for long enough, that is. Complicating things is the appearance of a stunningly beautiful young man with amethyst eyes who treats Eleven to the rarest form of attention for a Potential: kindness.

Does Eleven trust her powerful owner to help her escape this life of servitude and enslavement, or does she gamble everything on the enigmatic young man who seems to offer her more than she could ever imagine possible?





Friday, October 7, 2016

October TBR!


Hi everyone!

Wow, can you believe it's October already? I feel like I barely read anything all month, and that time flew by. Oh wait, I barely read anything, so that's probably why. October is my favourite month for a variety of reasons (weather gets crisp, trees change colour, my birthday, stylish jackets/boots/hats, SO MANY BOOKS COMING OUT, warm drinks, etc.), so I'm very much looking forward to it!

So...last TBR I said I would read 6 books. I made it through 3, plus an additional one that wasn't on it, for a total of 4. Meaning...this TBR may feature repeats from the last TBR. BUT it will be much more realistic since I have a much better sense of how much time I have this month to read. See? Progress. Plus I'll add in some book musings posts too, just for fun! (By the way, any suggestions for posts on bookish things? I have a few in mind, but not nearly enough...)

So, without further ado, here are the books on my October TBR:


Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Review: Improbables by Jonathan Charles Bruce

Book: Improbables
Author: Jonathan Charles Bruce
Series: Standalone
Genre: NA paranormal
Publisher: Scarlet River Press
Pages: 336
Release: January 29th 2016



Abigail Wren's new life fresh out of college is dull, even with her (almost) dream job at the local newspaper. The only real excitement she can get is found between the pages of an endless stream of paranormal romance novels she can't help but love. Then, on a snowy night in December, Abigail catches a glimpse of what could only be described as a werewolf. Enamored with the possibility, her investigation leads her to discover a paranormal population-improbables-harmoniously living in the midst of humanity. Between making eyes at a perpetually grumpy werewolf and hanging out with a vampire with a lust for life (and liquor), Abigail's life takes a shaky step out of the ordinary and into the fantastic. Just outside of the sleepy town of Whitewater, however, a force of rage is building. Born of hate and delusion, a living cataclysm threatens to devour everyone in its path-human or improbable.