Top Ten Books I Want Santa To Bring Me

This feature is hosted by The Broke and Bookish

So my mom & grandmother had been bugging me to make a list (yes at almost 28 I am still asked for lists) So I made them and emailed them. I got the same response from both of them "Um Lexi, isn't there something other than books, that you want?" I seriously didn't know how to answer that. To me, the answer would have been an emphatic "NO" but I know exactly how they get and how much they like to surprise me. So I put a few non book related things on there.

There have been a lot of books that have caught my eye over the past 8 months or whatever. Even more so than normal and I can thank my fellow bibliophiles for that.So these ten books are a compilation of books that either look amazing, or bloggers have raved about it or if it's just something that I must have in my hands RIGHT NOW!

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

-The premise drew me in big time and this one has been taunting me from my Amazon wishlist for weeks-

Splintered (Splintered #1) by A.G. Howard

-Amazing cover. Plus the synopsis. Plus an amazing author who regularly interacts with her readers on social media-

Not A Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis

-I haven't heard a whole lot about this one, but what I have heard, is all positive stuff-

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

-Kasie West is a goddess and I'll read whatever she writes-

The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kiera Cass

-I absolutely love the cover and that's what's drawn me in the most, although I have to say, the premise looks great-

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

-I've heard so much about this book. Like how it was life changing. I need this book in my life-

Where The Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

-If I had to pick only one of these to be sitting under my tree, it would be this one. Hands down-

Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn

-I've heard nothing but amazing things from this one. The premise sounds amazing-

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

-My grandmother read this one and LOVED it. It's normally not a book she'd love so I'm excited-

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

-This book just sounds like something I'd be all over. I am really excited about this one-

I am sure a lot of you have already read most of these. Or maybe you haven't gotten around to it yet. Anyhow, let me know if you've read any of these and what you think about them. Leave me the links to your TTT posts so I can come by and see what's on your list.

Stacking the Shelves #23

This feature is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews

Hello everyone,hope your week was awesome, and for those who celebrate, full of Christmas prep. This week was a busy week. My sweet kitty Tiffany was spayed on Monday and has had some problems post op. She appears to be on the mend now.Yesterday, we went to a new vet because our usual one didn't have emergency hours. Tiffany was diagnosed as still being in pain. So she got an injection of pain medication and she seems to be doing a TON better.

Now, moving on to the fun parts of the week. I got two books this week. I got We Were Liars by E. Lockhart from NetGalley. I found out from a fellow blogger that it was up on NetGalley and I immediately requested it. Over the next 24 hours a TON of fellow bloggers did the same and the majority of us got it.

Now months ago I had requested Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott.I had totally forgotten about it until the pictures of the ARC's came flooding through my Twitter feed. By the second day, I started to feel crappy because it didn't seem like I was going to get it. Day three came and I got a package from Scholastic. I instantly knew what it was and I was thrilled. So thank you bunches Scholastic.

Bought

-

Received for Review

-NetGalley-

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

-From Publisher-

Fire & Flood (Fire & Flood #1) by Victoria Scott

Won

-

Gifted
-

So, it was a quiet book week for me. I guess that is probably a good thing as I have so many books to read right now.So let me know if you got either of these or if you've read them by now.Also, leave the links to your Stacking the Shelves posts/vlogs. For those of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas!

Book Blogger Challenge- Week 15

This feature comes from April at Good Books & Good Wine.

Wow, I can hardly believe that I did this for 15 weeks straight. I'm tired just thinking about it.Honestly, I'm glad to be finished with it. Now I can go back to writing my own discussion posts and talk about all the things that I've been wanting to talk about but didn't want to do more than one discussion post a week.

The question for the final week is...

Who Are Your Book Blogging Mentors?

• Ashley of Nose Graze. 

She is a great person. We seem to overall have very similar tastes in books and I know that when I make the move to self hosted, probably in April, I'll be able to go to her with dozens of questions and she'll answer them. Probably all the while muttering about how type A I am.She manages to put a lot of her personality in her blog, especially with her most recent subtle shift into doing more personal posts.

• Giselle of Xpresso Reads

Okay, this girl rocks. She is so nice and kind to all of us in this community. She manages to do what some others cannot do, and that is review a book honestly and fairly without attacking the author.Her reviews are crazy long too. I want to be able to lengthen my reviews to at least close to the length of hers.

• Gillian of Writer of Wrongs

This lady is awesome. I mean she's a bigger Potterhead than even I am. I seriously never thought that was possible until I read her post yesterday. Plus she's a whiz at knowing exactly which GIF's to use for what review and where. Her blog is just full of personality, which I love. So often, blog designs are not really connected to the person behind the blog. It often feels like someone slapped a background on it and that was it.

This post could go on and on, but I decided to keep it short by simply keeping it at top 3.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Blog Tour: Stripped Without You by Brooklyn Skye

Release date: November 30th 2013

Self-Published

Purchase: Amazon

Book Link: Goodreads

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

STRIPPED (a novel) 

College freshman Quinn Montgomery will do anything to avoid the mistake her sister made—killing herself over a boy. But when she is forced into nude modeling at a local college to support her family after a bankruptcy, she begins to crack, just enough to let Torrin, the university’s top varsity oarsman, see that the real Quinn is not as feisty and unapproachable as she wants everyone to think. But letting someone in comes at a steep cost and, it turns out, Torrin is connected to Quinn’s family in more ways than she could ever imagine.

WITHOUT YOU (a novella)

She was broken when I met her, shattered from the death of her sister and running from love. Not to sound like an egotistical douche or anything, but I fixed her. Put her back together, filled in the cracks, and made her whole. A true fairytale in her eyes. 

But now real life is getting in the way: school, jobs, and the unexpected opportunity to travel the world under a legendary photographer. This internship will open doors not even my father’s influence could. It’s something I’ve been waiting all my life for. But so is Quinn, and accepting this internship will mean leaving her. 

And breaking her all over again.

Review:

This sounded like something that I would absolutely love so I was excited to read it despite my recent vow to eliminate 90% participation in book tours. The premise looked good and unique so I suspected that it would be good.

It wasn't great but it also wasn't terrible. I had heard that Quinn was a feisty character which I was excited about but I didn't connect with her at all and that's a huge thing for me. If I can connect with a character, chances are good that I'll enjoy the book.Normally I really like damaged characters but Quinn just didn't work for me.

Yet in contrast, Torrin did. He was sexy and the best thing was that he wasn't a doormat. He called Quinn on her crap, which was great to see. He was also kind to her which I don't think Quinn was really used to.

I really loved that the novella was told from Torrin's point of view. Very rarely do we get a romantic love story from the male perspective. It's nearly always from the female perspective so that was a really great treat.

The writing was really good though. From the beginning it seemed to flow well and there no issues from an editing standpoint. The dialogue flowed well and was not stiff which was great to see.All in all, I didn't love these two books (well novel + novella) but I didn't hate them either. So I'll be giving them 3 stars.

Author Bio:

Brooklyn Skye grew up in a small town where she quickly realized writing was an escape from small town life. Really, she’s just your average awkward girl who’s obsessed with words. Stripped is her debut novel.

Connect with the Author:

Website

Twitter

Review: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Marie Landry

Book Title: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Author: Marie Landry

Release Date: November 5th, 2013

Publisher: Marie Landry

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Link: Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, right? At least that’s what twenty-year-old Ginny Bailey’s grandmother always told her, and Ginny believed it until Grama died. She even put on a brave face the following two Christmases, carrying on Grama’s traditions and decorating her house and café with Grama’s favorite decorations.

But Ginny can’t pretend any longer. When she finds out she’s going to be alone for the holidays this year, her Christmas spirit goes out the window, along with her luck. Everything that can go wrong does, and Ginny just wants to spend the holidays hiding under the covers...until Dean Riley comes back into her life. With their shared past, old feelings begin to resurface almost immediately, and Ginny thinks Dean might just be the Christmas miracle she’s been waiting for to help her remember why Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

The holiday season is my favorite time of the year so I was so excited to get a Christmas themed e-ARC from one of my favorite authors. I had read her last book Waiting for the Storm several months ago and had loved it so I had high hopes for this one. 

Boy I was not disappointed. Not in the slightest. It was an adorable book that made me swoon and giggle and yes, even cry.Ginny is desperately missing her Grama as Christmas was her Grama's favorite time of the year. It really doesn't help that Ginny has a rather distant relationship with her parents and her best friend will be spending the holidays with her boyfriend. So now Ginny is forced to spend Christmas all alone. Her first Christmas alone since Grama died.

All of that changes when swoony Dean walks back into Ginny's life. Without meaning to, Dean once again weaves his way back into Ginny's life. It's seamless and he is sexy. Neither of them expected a holiday romance, but that was exactly what they got. Dean "gets" Ginny in a way that no other guy ever has. And when that happens, it's too good to let go of.

Perfect, perfect, perfect. The feels were there despite the fact that this book was technically classified as a novella.Sometimes it's hard to capture the appropriate range of emotions in a novella but Marie totally did it and I am SO excited for her next project.I was already looking forward to Christmas but this definitely ramps up the Christmas excitement. An easy 5 stars to this book.

Review: The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

Book Title: The Promise of Amazing

Author: Robin Constantine

Release Date: December 31st, 2013

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how. 

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from Balzer + Bray via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

There have been several books recently that have started out super promising and then they slowly disintegrate into a colossal mess. Unfortunately The Promise of Amazing was like that.Initially, I was really liking Wren and she was witty and overall very likeable. Things started to change shortly after she saved Grayson's life.

Three words: Insta. Freaking. Love. UGH! Seriously why do so many authors take the easy way out and do the insta-love formula? Be different, be dynamic. Don't follow the exact same formula as so many authors do. Let a friendship develop first and then the romance. The slow burn is often more successful than a red hot fire right off the bat. At least romance wise. I never felt "it" between Wren and Grayson.Their insta-love felt forced which is even worse than smooth sailing insta-love.

Grayson was kind of an asshole and I really didn't like him. He clearly let Andy and Luke hold way too much power over him which really pissed me off. If you are done stealing shit and "humping and dumping" girls, then tell them. I mean come ON! He didn't seem to have any remorse for either the term paper thing OR the stealing things just because he could. 

He was also an asshole to his mom and step-dad which really pissed me off. Loyalty in a divorce can be tough but damn neither parent was fighting for Grayson's allegiance. They both loved him and wanted to be in his life. I don't think he realized how lucky he was.

So The Promise of Amazing was not amazing at all. It was a big time letdown for me. It started off really cute and promising but it did not stay that way for long.For many reasons, this book will be getting 2 stars from me.

Stacking the Shelves #22

This feature comes from Tynga's Reviews. Stop by and link up your Stacking The Shelves posts & vlogs.

Hello everyone, it's time again for my Stacking the Shelves post. I picked up seven new books this week.6 from Edelweiss and one from Netgalley. Ugh, I keep saying I am going to stop requesting e-ARC's but my willpower continues to be zilch. Also I received a book for a blog tour that's coming up.

Now onto the books!

Bought

-

Received for Review

-Edelweiss-

Afterparty by Ann ReddischStampler

The Edge of Falling by Rebecca Serle

Fan Art by Sarah Tregay

Guy In Real Life by Steven Brezenoff

Summer of Yesterday by Gaby Traina

Year of Mistaken Discoveries by Eileen Cook

-NetGalley-

Broken Worlds by Anitha Robinson

-Blog Tour-

Stripped Without You by Brooklyn Skye

Won

-

Gifted
-

So be sure to let me know if you've read of any of these or if you want to read them. Also leave me the links to your Stacking the Shelves posts and/or vlogs.

Happy reading!