Thursday, May 23, 2013

Excerpt: The Liberator by Victoria Scott

Hello lovelies!

I am so excited to share with you an excerpt from The Liberator.  That's pretty awesome, right?
The Liberator is the sequel to Victoria Scott's The Collector: A Dante Walker Novel, which came
out in April of this year.  If you haven't read The Collector, you can find it via the links below.
 Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Now, on to the goods...



The Liberator (A Dante Walker Novel, #2)
by Victoria Scott
Release Date: August 27th, 2013
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Add to your Goodreads TBR

Bad boy, meet bad girl.

Dante has a shiny new cuff wrapped around his ankle, and he doesn't like that mess one bit. His new accessory comes straight from Big Guy himself and marks the former demon as a liberator. Despite his gritty past and bad boy ways, Dante Walker has been granted a second chance.

When Dante is given his first mission as a liberator to save the soul of seventeen-year-old Aspen, he knows he’s got this. But Aspen reminds him of the rebellious life he used to live and is making it difficult to resist sinful temptations. Though Dante is committed to living clean for his girlfriend Charlie, this dude’s been a playboy for far too long…and old demons die hard.

With Charlie becoming the girl she was never able to be pre-makeover and Aspen showing him how delicious it feels to embrace his inner beast, Dante will have to go somewhere he never thought he’d return to in order to accomplish the impossible: save the girl he’s been assigned to, and keep the girl he loves.


The Liberator : An Excerpt 
. . . . . . 
When I open my eyes, the sun is trying to murder me. It’s shining on my face and making my head pound. Or maybe it’s my hangover that’s giving me the headache, but nonetheless—me and the sun?—we’re not on friendly terms.  
Charlie murmurs beside me. My arms are still wrapped around her waist, and I suddenly realize I must have crashed out in her bed last night. If Grams wakes up and finds me here, she’ll run me a bath…and toss in the toaster.
        “Morning, babe,” I whisper. 
        “Morning, hot stuff,” a distinctly male voice responds. 
        I whip around, my heart racing, and find Max sitting in a chair across the room. “You look so hot when you first wake up,” he says. He raises a hand to his hair. “Got that whole sexy bed head thing going on.” 
        Charlie doesn’t even move from her place, but I feel her laughing against me. “Your friend is kind of creepy, Dante,” she manages.  
         “Max, what the hell are you doing in here?” I ask, pulling the covers farther up even though I’m (regretfully) fully-clothed.  
         “Real question is, why did I wait so long to join you guys?” Max stands from his chair and cocks his head. A mischievous smile crawls across his face. 
        “No,” I say, trying to appear serious. “Don’t even think about it, dude.” 
        Max starts running in place, his smile widening farther until he looks deranged. “Ready or not!” Before I can stop him, Max races toward the bed and dives on top of us. “Oh! Oh it feels even better than I imagined.” He rolls back and forth across our bodies as Charlie laughs and I wonder why I’m friends with such a raging idiot. 
        With all my strength, I grab Max’s shirt and rotate him toward the edge. He falls off the side, his arms pin-wheeling. There’s a loud thud, and then nothing. 
        I wait for several seconds before leaning over to search for him. Max is lying face down on the floor, his arms and legs curled like a dead spider. “You’re not really hurt,” I say. 
        “I think you gave me spinal bifida. You need to call someone.” 
        “That’s a genetic disorder,” I respond with a sigh, collapsing back onto my pillow. A second later, he raises his head very, very slowly up from the side of the bed. It’s one of the more unsettling things he’s ever done. “Max, is there a purpose to this visit?” I ask. I want so badly to act like he’s annoying me. But he knows, and I know, that we both love this game: the one where I pretend he’s a pain in my ass, and he acts like a damn circus clown. 
        He stands up, crosses the room, and plops back down in the chair. “Valery sent me.” 
        I throw an arm across my eyes. “Of course she did.” Beside me, Charlie moves to get up and I immediately reach for her. She squeals and wiggles out of my grasp. 
        I watch as she walks around the bed and ruffles Max’s hair. The twenty-eight year old pants like a dog. It’s a bit disturbing considering Charlie’s seventeen. She eyes me with a grin. “I’ll make waffles.” 
        My face lights up. 
        “Yes,” she continues. “And bacon.” 
        I glance at Max and nod toward Charlie. “That’s my girl.” 
        “Damn straight,” he says. 
        “I’m still making breakfast for your birthday,” I call after Charlie. Then, looking at Max, I add, “My girl’s going to be legal soon.” 
        Max says, “Boom.”
 . . . . . . 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Top Ten Favorite Book Covers of (YA) Books I've Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

1. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer would have been an obvious for me as number one, so I decided to mix things up a bit and choose The Evolution.  I love it nearly as much and it's in the same family, so why not?

2. Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood- What can I say about this cover that hasn't already been said? Born Wicked's original cover is a stunner.  I absolutely love this cover and I cannot believe the publisher has changed it.  This cover will always be a classic go-to for me. 


3. The Selection by Kiera Cass - The cover for The Selection is more than likely the only reason I own this book.  Girls in pretty dresses... I love them so!  Side note: Have you seen how this cover was made? *sigh* It's my dream to design a cover this pretty one day.
  
4. Die for Me by Amy Plum - I feel like the cover for Die for Me portrays the feelings of this book so well.  Plus, I may be slightly obsessed with the colors and scrollwork in this cover.  


5. Miss. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - The cover of Miss. Peregrine is actually the reason I picked up this book to start with -- the fonts and vintage photograph grabbed my attention right away.  However, once I read the book, my love for this cover grew considerably. 

6. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi - This cover took a considerable amount of time to grow on me.  I spent months looking at Unravel Me and never felt a rush of love until I actually had the book in my hands. Now? I can't get enough of it!


7. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray - A Great and Terrible Beauty was one of the very first young adult books that I ever read--some eight years ago--and I've always been in love with the cover.

8. Wither by Lauren DeStefano - I wanted to pick Fever for this spot, but I never techniqually finished the book, so Wither will have to do.


9. Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting - I think the cover art for all of the books in the Body Finder series are unique.  Flowers in hypnotic colors? I love them!

10. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick - The cover for My Life Next Door does not do the book justice, but it does hint at the wonderful story inside.  Why did I choose it?  Each time I catch a glimpse of the cover I get submerged back into the story for a moment... and I'm not complaining. ;)

Monday, May 20, 2013

Review: Catherine by April Linder

Catherine
by April Linder
Publisher: Poppy
Release Date: January 2, 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 305
Format: Advance Reader Copy
Source: Bought
Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Goodreads

A forbidden romance. A modern mystery. Wuthering Heights as you’ve never seen it before.

Catherine is tired of struggling musicians befriending her just so they can get a gig at her Dad’s famous Manhattan club, The Underground. Then she meets mysterious Hence, an unbelievably passionate and talented musician on the brink of success. As their relationship grows, both are swept away in a fiery romance. But when their love is tested by a cruel whim of fate, will pride keep them apart?

Chelsea has always believed that her mom died of a sudden illness, until she finds a letter her dad has kept from her for years—a letter from her mom, Catherine, who didn’t die: She disappeared. Driven by unanswered questions, Chelsea sets out to look for her—starting with the return address on the letter: The Underground.

Told in two voices, twenty years apart, Catherine interweaves a timeless forbidden romance with a compelling modern mystery.

(Goodreads)

Catherine was golden before I ever cracked the spine. Forbidden love. A modern Wuthering Heights. Could I ask for anything more?

Romance nearly always sells me with new releases, but I can fairly say that a certain type of romance, forbidden love, is the golden ticket. As this modern young adult retelling of my favorite classic is full of it, I very easily could have stepped into a dream world.

It didn’t take long to become hooked on Catherine. I believe it was about fifty pages in that I stopped mid-page and quietly squealed with delight because I realized I had picked a winner. Catherine is told in two alternating points-of-views, Catherine and Catherine’s daughter, Chelsea, in both a past and present New York City. Although Catherine’s story predominantly takes place in the past, it manages to carefully twist and weave it ways through to the future as Chelsea begins the search for her missing mother. However, Linder makes the much appreciated decision to take her time building each separate story and each separate world. Developing an attachment to both Catherine and Chelsea’s stories was very easily done, although I did fall for Catherine’s in more of an obvious way.

Catherine and young Hence--Linder’s modern Heathcliff--build an intense relationship, sparking and flickering its way through many years that see life altering and heart shattering decisions. Hence is not only my favorite character but also the only other main character to have a presence in both stories and so I grew slightly enamored with him, feeling almost as moody and desperate as himself as his story traverses time.

Because Catherine is a retelling I expected for there to be similarities between Catherine and Wuthering Heights, and I’d be lying if I said there weren’t. However, Catherine is it’s own mysterious story. A story which is being told some twenty years later through a hidden diary that Catherine left behind, and of which happened to find it’s way into her daughter’s hands. As Chelsea reads the diary, Catherine’s own story of forbidden love, jealousy, and pain unravels, threatening life as Chelsea knows it and leaving the reader burning through the pages.

Overall, Catherine served its role. Was it a modern Wuthering Heights? Not quite, but very close to it. Did I love it as much as Wuthering Heights? No, but the bar was high. Will I read another April Linder book? Absolutely. Jane, I’m on my way!
. . . . . .

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The Space Between Blog Tour: Mini-Review + Giveaway

The Space Between
by Victoria H. Smith
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Age Group: New Adult
Pages: 284
Format: Finished Copy
Source: Author
Amazon / Goodreads

When Drake started the night at his father’s campaign fundraiser, he never imagined he’d end it being conned into buying drugs on the West Side. Losing high-stakes poker has its consequences, but he’d repeatedly face them just to hear Lacey Douglas sing. Drake sees Lacey light up the stage, and he has to have her. But his intentions for being on her side of town turn out to be the reason he can’t.

Chicago native Lacey has dreams of the opera, but life has its obstacles. Lacey has come to know her hardships as part of living in the real world and accepts them fully. When Lacey meets the intense and invigorating Drake, a fire is lit inside her, unleashing those dreams again.

Two paths that should have never crossed prove to create the exact pairing the other needs. But when their worlds take time to catch up, everything they have is tested. Finding the space between the two sides that challenge them will be hard, but it’s the only place that will keep them together.

(Goodreads)


     I read The Space Between in the midst of two big reads. My original intent developed from two desires. The first: to bridge the time that spans between an old read and a new read. The second: to see if I would connect with the story. I am happy to say that each were satisfied. The Space Between quickly shed its role of a filler book as the story and I connected.
 
     The Space Between is a new-adult book that feels right at home in that distinction. As with many new adult books, mature themes like sex and drugs were sprinkled throughout the story, but not to a excessive degree. The plot traveled moderately fast, however, once I adjusted to Victoria Smith’s writing style I was in for an enjoyable ride.

     Lacey, one half of our leading couple, is a confident and self sufficient woman who rivals Drake--our second half--from day one. Drake is independent and strong willed and wishes to be out of reach of his father’s influence when he chances his luck on Lacey.

     In The Space Between, romance was the be-all and end-all. Lacey and Drake’s forbidden romance effected near everything and everyone around them. The romance and angst were very nicely dished out; primed and near perfect.

     At the end of it all, I rather enjoyed The Space Between.  If you’re looking for a light book to read between the head haunchos--give this one a try.

Click the banner to follow the tour.
Giveaway!

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About the Author

Victoria H. Smith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She puts it to good use writing romance all day. She resides in the Midwest with her Macbook on her lap and a cornfield to her right. She often draws inspiration for her stories from her own life experiences, and the twenty-something characters she writes give her an earful about it.

In her free time, she enjoys extreme couponing, blogging, reading, and sending off a few tweets on Twitter when she can. She writes new adult fiction romance in the sub-genres of science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary, but really, anywhere her pen takes her she goes.


Social Media : Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Friday, April 12, 2013

Another Update

Goodness me, I can't believe it's been almost two months since I last posted. 
I believe it's time for an update!

First.

I will be posting a review on April 23rd as a stop on The Space Between blog tour.  The Space Between is a new-adult novel that I've had the pleasure of reading as of late.

Then there's Catherine.  I was at a used bookstore yesterday and came oh-so-very-close to jumping up and down with joy when I came across a very lovely (and very cheap) copy of Catherine.  Catherine, by April Linder, is a modern young-adult retelling of my favorite non young-adult book of all time, Wuthering Heights.  Yes, there's that and there's the fact that I'm only fifty-two pages in and I'm hooked. That being so, a review should be up either slightly before or slightly after The Space Between review.

Finally, I met Kristen Simmons for the second time a few weeks ago and made sure to pick up two copies of book two in the Article 5 trilogy -- Breaking Point -- for her to sign.  I'm sure you can guess what that means...  a joint review and giveaway!

Second.

School is out May 10th. Now I'll have the time to read, write reviews, and comment (a New Year's resolution); all of which I am in dyer need of doing.

Third.

I am going to BEA! I honestly couldn't feel more blessed than to have everything work out for me to attend for the second year in a row. Wonderfully enough, I will also be attending the Bloggers Conference.  Yes, I'll be in one of the most amazing cities for six days straight :)

See you soon!
xo. Olivia



Monday, February 18, 2013

(Five Months Later) I Hugged Libba Bray + Giveaway

Hello lovelies,

I was recently going through old pictures on my computer and I came across one picture in particular from the Libba Bray signing that I attended in September of 2012.  I haven't posted about it before, so after five months of waiting you get the pleasure of viewing one picture from the event.  I know, I know. It has been five months and I am only just now posting about it?  Yep.  And all I am posting is one picture? Yep.  Life is cruel or busy.  You choose ;)
. . . . . .


Yes? No? Well, it doesn't matter.  The point is this...


I hugged Libba Bray, and it was captured on film.

Because I love you dearly, I am giving away a signed/hardcover/first edition copy of The Diviners that Libba signed and doodled in at the signing.  ("read more" for the giveaway!)