Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway Hop

Hi there! I'm taking part in Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway Hop hosted by Valerie @ Stuck in Books, and I'm giving away a $10 Giftcard at either US Amazon or US Barnes & Noble or up to $10 at The Book Depository.  The giveaway is International as long as The Book Depository ships to your country. See below for participating blogs or click HERE. 

For this hop I'm featuring a few books that grabbed my attention to the point I didn't want to put them down. I love it when that happens! 

(Click on cover for Goodreads link)

Sandra Brown rarely disappoints, but Smoke Screen is one of my all-time favorites from her backlist.  The Good Daughter was addictive, Karin Slaughter mesmerized me with her storytelling! I wanted to get to the bottom of the murder mystery in One of Us is Lying, but I was engrossed in the character's lives and relationships! 

Now for a chance to get your own wonderful read!

I'm giving away a $10 Giftcard at either US Amazon or US Barnes & Noble or up to $10 at The Book Depository to one reader.  The giveaway is International as long as The Book Depository ships to your country. Click HERE for their list. Fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win. Good luck!

Review: One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Publisher:  Delacorte Press
Publication date: May 30th 2017
My rating: 5 Stars
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | TBD

 

One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

My Thoughts:

One of Us Is Lying was a page turner! A splendid YA mystery where five teenagers end up in detention together and only four come out alive.  This story is told from four different POVs, the students who lived: Bronwyn “the brain”, Addy “the beauty”, Nate “the criminal”, and Cooper “the athlete”.  This is an unlikely bunch that are bound together after the murder of Simon, the much feared and hated high school gossip blogger, changes their lives forever. 

These four student’s lives were already in flux; each of them holding a secret weighing heavily upon them, maybe about to change their lives.  A secret that gossip-monger-Simon had access to and was about to expose. But was is bad enough that they'd murder him? Each come under more and more suspicion as the story progresses.

I loved how each of these characters grew in a positive way after they each had their darkest secret exposed.  Man, Addy went through a lot, but she came out the other side realizing she could have a meaningful life without always having a boyfriend define and dictate to her.  I really did despise her boyfriend!

I adored Bronwyn and Nate!  A romance that I completely cheered throughout! Bronwyn was the perfectionist, overachieving student driven by family issues deeply personal to her. Nate, a smart, enterprising guy, was struggling just to get by with two parents who checked out for all intents and purposes. They became confidants and comforters to each other as the murder investigation makes their lives a mess. They had a bit of history that made their connection even more special.

I will say I was surprised by the murderer’s identity.  Not so much by some of the side characters involvement, though.  The story and mystery were riveting, a big accomplishment for a debut writer!  I can’t wait to read what Ms. McManus comes up with next!

Review: The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Orion Children's Books 
Publication date: September 26th 2017
My rating: 3 stars. 

Inspired by myth, fairy tale, and folklore, no. 1 New York Times-bestselling author Leigh Bardugo has crafted a deliciously atmospheric collection of short stories filled with betrayals, revenge, sacrifice, and love. Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns. Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid's voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy's bidding but only for a terrible price. Inspired by myth, fairy tale, and folklore, no. 1 New York Times-bestselling author Leigh Bardugo has crafted a deliciously atmospheric collection of short stories filled with betrayals, revenge, sacrifice, and love. Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans, these tales will transport you to lands both familiar and strange - to a fully realized world of dangerous magic that millions have visited through the novels of the Grishaverse. This collection of six stories includes three brand-new tales, all of them lavishly illustrated with art by Sara Kiplin that changes with each turn of the page, culminating in six stunning full-spread illustrations as rich in detail as the stories themselves.

It goes without saying I will read anything Bardugo writes, her writing is spell-bindingly beautiful, that before you know it you’re whisked away into an enchanting world that you never want to leave. With The Language of Thorns Bardugo gives you so much, with characters who are fierce, to those who you’d never expect to be duplicitous, I really couldn’t have asked for anything more! The Language of Thorns features six fabulous short stories, in my review I thought I’d focus on two of my favourites. 

Ayama and the Thorn Wood.
“You see, some people are born with a piece of night inside, and that hollow place can never be filled – not with all the good food or sunshine in the world. That emptiness cannot be banished, and so some days we wake with the feeling of the wind blowing through, and we must simply endure it.” 

This was a wonderful start to a collection of short stories and probably one of my favourites of the entire book. I think because the story really was turned on its head that I found myself greatly appreciating this aspect. I’m also always a fan of characters who are underdogs, I tend to find myself rooting for them and wanting to succeed over the course of the story, and this was the case with Ayama. Her parents were really awful to her, the way they treated her actually made it seem like she wasn’t a member of the family at all and just another servant. And the way they had no care in the world, when they sent her to tame the beast for the king made me super mad. But Ayama was more quick-witted than most people had expected her to be, and so the way things turned out, I was a huge fan of. 

The Witch of Duva
I was always a fan of Hansel and Gretel when I was younger, I would always find myself shouting at them not to go into the strange cottage or be lured by any tasty treats. I thought that The Witch of Duva would be Hansel and Gretel all over again, with little girls going missing throughout the story, with our MC Nadya herself being unable to resist the enticing scent that was coming from the woods. But I’m glad that despite the similarities, Bardugo takes us completely by surprise with her plot twist. I usually find myself to be quite a good judge of character, so to say I was a little shocked and in awe of how this story turned out, could be the biggest understatement. 

The Language of Thorns was truly a delight to read, it was made even more beautiful with the gorgeous illustrations for each short story. I for one can’t wait to see these in the finished editions of this book!

The Readers Den Weekly Wrap Up #11

Hi everyone, with Rachel and I's crazy work schedules, we miss sharing whats going on with us. We used to have a lot of fun with our Showcase Sunday posts, so thought we'd do something regular on the blog, where we share bookish news and life news in general as a weekly recap!


Jasprit 

Hey so where has this week gone? I've found myself busy with work, catching up with friends, babysitting my niece and to top it all off at the end of the week I got sick! So that basically gave me no time to read at all, which I'm quite gutted about as I started Laura Florand's Once Upon a Rose and I'm loving the heck out of it!

WHAT I READ/REVIEWED 

Jasprit 

(Click on title for Goodreads link)

See what I mean about hardly any reading? I rated The Language of Thorns 3 stars, whilst I enjoyed the earlier short stories, I wasn't really a fan of the latter ones, look out for my review sometime this week on the blog. And I couldn't finish There's Someone Inside Your House, I just felt that it couldn't keep my attention. 

Rachel:

 (Click on title for Goodreads link)

I had a pretty good reading week.  Both Long, Tall Cowboy Christmas and One of Us Is Lying were 5 stars reads for me.  I'll have a short review up for One of Us Is Lying next week. I really enjoyed Ride It Out, too.  It was a great series ender.

BOOKS RECEIVED 
Jasprit 

(Click on title for Goodreads link)

Nothing this week, which is a small blessing, because the amount of books that seem to be coming into my house and the amount I'm getting read is hugely out of proportion, I guess I can use this week to play catch up!

Rachel:

 (Click on title for Goodreads link)

I love Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series so I can't wait to read this novella. I got a copy of Not That I Could Tell because I couldn't resist.  I loved the first Angie Pallorino mystery and so when I heard The Lullaby Girl (book #2) was up on Netgalley I quickly got a copy!  Greg's review of The Collapsing Empire piqued my interest so I bought a copy when it when it came up as an Audible Daily Deal.

NEW TO MY TBR
Jasprit 
(Click on Book for Goodreads link)

Christina Lauren is an author whose books I've just started recently, but which I've been enjoying a lot so when first heard of Love and Other Words I knew I had to add it to my to read pile immediately! Also I'm always a huge fan of second chance romances! And Katee Robert has taken over my Goodreads feed as of late, I don't know why I didn't check her books out sooner, because they sound exactly like something that I would enjoy! 

Rachel:

I haven't added anything new to my TBR except for The Collapsing Empire after I purchased it from Audible (see above).  Good news because I'm soooo behind on my review books! I'm trying to stay off the computer most of Saturday (after finishing this post) to do some catching up.

  WHAT I'M WATCHING:

Jasprit 

I haven't been able to watch much of Jane this week, that is also because my sister has been watching it with me, so I can only watch it when she's free too. It was announced that season 4 will be starting on Netflix in early October, so I really need to catch up with it.

Rachel:

 

I've seen The 100 recommended by other bloggers and I have to agree, it's really good! I've watched the first three episodes and can't wait to get back to it. My husband loves it, too!

EVENTS OF THE WEEK

Jasprit 

You know me I'm always a big fan of dessert, I'm especially a fan of those places that bring out the seasonal desserts. I went to Zizzi a few week ago, as I heard they were bringing out a warm chocolate-y waffle, but being the dufus that I was I went a day before the new menu was out and wasn't able to try it. But luckily me and friends popped by this week and oh my gosh the wait was worth it, it was absolutely divine! Who the heck can resist a warm waffle served with hot chocolate sauce, crushed salted caramel & chocolate black sea salt and caramel gelato! 

Rachel:

Nothing exciting for me this week other than keeping up with my half-marathon training.  It's been tough trying to keep up with my reading between work and running.  Next Thursday I'm off to Laguna Beach for a long weekend so I hope to get some reading and relaxing done by the pool.

How was your week?

Short & Tweetish Review: A Gentleman Never Surrenders by Lauren Smith

I've had so much going on in real life and training for a half marathon is taking up so much of my time I think I'll be posting shorter reviews for a a while. Short & Tweetish Reviews (There's no way I can keep it to 140 characters!) style of reviewing was introduced to me by Mary@The Book Swarm  and Karen's @For What It's Worth.

A Gentleman Never Surrenders (Sins & Scandals #2) by Lauren Smith
Publisher:  Forever Yours
Publication date: September 12th 2017
My rating: 4 Stars
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks

 

Love is worth a little scandal.

Owen Hadley needs a wife. Preferably a wealthy one. Alas, there aren't a great number of heiresses willing to marry a rogue of no particular fortune---luckily, if there is ever a gentleman capable of melting a lady's chilly heart, it's Owen.

Milly has had enough of the marriage mart. If matrimony means giving up her freedom for a foppish husband, then society can take their idea of marital bliss and toss it. But when the ton's most notorious rogue mistakenly makes his way into her bedchambers, Milly finds herself unexpectedly and unwillingly at the altar . . .

Yet the more time she spends with her new husband, the more Milly starts to wonder if the marriage she never wanted may be the best thing that's ever happened to her. Now it's up to Owen to convince Milly that what started as a mistake is anything but---and that every night with him will be more wonderfully scandalous than the last. 

My Thoughts:

Couldn't help but think Owen was some sort of a fortune seeking dirt-bag at first, but as I got to know his reasons, I couldn't help but soften towards this man. Owen wanted a marriage of love no matter the crappy start, so I admired his efforts.  Loved Milly soooo much! She was a sweetheart despite her initial goals and dreams being dashed (in her mind, only at first) by Owen's ruining. The physical part was no problem for these two and very hot, but the emotional bonds took a while to build, and I loved every step! 

There was a surprising amount of emotional depth for such a short amount of pages. Loved this story so much, and I'll be checking out more by Lauren Smith for sure.  Thanks to Alyssa at Eater of Books for the recommendation!

 

Connect with Lauren Smith:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books on My Fall TBR List

   

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where each week they post a new top ten list and ask fellow bookish folk to share their lists on that topic.

This week's Top Ten post is: Ten Books on My Fall TBR List 

(Click on title for Goodreads link)

 

These are five review books that I've been eagerly anticipating for some time now. I read and loved the first books in the series by Reader and Rai, and so can't wait to be with the characters once more in So Over You and Wrong to Need You. And Roomies, Now That You Mention it and The Ones Who Got Away sound just like my sort of reads. I've actually considered dropping my current reads several times, to dive right into these. 

 

So I also decided to pick five books from my own-tbr pile, it's totally out of control right now, so attempting to whittle it down this fall sounds like a good plan. I've been meaning to continue with James FBI/US Attorney series for a while now. so think the fall is the perfect time to do so! And I seriously don't know why I still haven't picked up Rites of Passage yet, I've read the best reviews for it.

Which books are on your fall tbr pile?  

The Readers Den Weekly Wrap up #10

Hi everyone, with Rachel and I's crazy work schedules, we miss sharing whats going on with us. We used to have a lot of fun with our Showcase Sunday posts, so thought we'd do something regular on the blog, where we share bookish news and life news in general as a weekly recap!


Jasprit 
This week hasn't been too bad busy-wise, I'm not properly back at work yet, so I'm making the most of my time off to read all the books and catch up with my tv shows, the only thing is that the books I've been reading have been a real miss for me! I'm trying to go through my ARC pile for the year, so that I'm on top of things before I go on holiday. This holiday is so needed, I have a couple of exciting things coming up towards the end of the year, me and my cousins are going a WWE Monday Night Raw show, yes I've become a fan of wrestling once more since April! Then Allie and I are going to an author event where we get to meet Mariana Zapata!! And then I get to go on holiday, this year has been quite tough stress-wise, so these upcoming events are very much needed! 

WHAT I READ/REVIEWED 

Jasprit 

(Click on title for Goodreads link)

So a bit of a flop reading-wise this week, sadly I had to DNF Silver Bay, I've adored Moyes books in the past, but Silver Bay was just too slow paced for my liking, and I've made a promise to myself now, that if a book doesn't keep my attention, I'm not going to try and force myself to finish it! And I don't know what it is with Hoover's books lately, I've been so eager about reading them, but then when I do, they don't work out for me, I must be the black sheep here, as I know quite a few of my friends loved this one too. 

Rachel:

 (Click on title for Goodreads link)

Alex, Approximately was very swoony; a little like a teenage You've Got Mail.  Jenn Bennett's writing is amazing whether adult or YA! I loved the setting, a fictional coastal town in the area above Big Sur and Monterey! A Gentleman Surrenders was a wonderful, and well-developed even with the relatively short amount of pages. I LOVED The Summer That Made Us! Filled with such emotions with a lively and varied cast. The Cover of Night was fun, but the heroine was a little frustrating at the end.

BOOKS RECEIVED 
Jasprit 

(Click on title for Goodreads link)

Okay, so this weeks haul was absolutely awesome, Kindle Unlimited has been great lately in terms of the books its been adding, this week I was able to get Sacked, Going the Distance and Lucas, books which had been on my tbr for ages! I started The Legal Briefs series on audio this week and I'm really enjoying it, Jason Carpenter is a great narrator, so I couldn't resist getting book two on audio, Sebastian York narrates this one *sigh*. Thanks to Michelle, who I won a copy of Letters to the Lost from, The Hate U Give was a great purchase for my kindle this week and of course I only realised this week that my library stocked books by Kristan Higgins. And last week I was just talking about the wait for Roomies and Now That You Mention it, so thank you to publishers for these copies. 

Rachel:

 (Click on title for Goodreads link)

I really enjoyed Maisey Yates' Part Time Cowboy so I snatched up a copy of Christmastime Cowboy on Netgalley.  Laura Florand's writing blows me away so of course I had to buy her latest A Kiss in Lavender when it released this last Tuesday. The Secret by Julie Garwood and Broken Grace by E.C. Diskin were on sale on Audible for $4.95 a piece so I bought copies after seeing great reviews on both.

NEW TO MY TBR
Jasprit 
(Click on Book for Goodreads link)

Nothing for me this week, which is like the first time ever, I've spent time this week on my Goodreads profile trying to cut down books in my to read list. I had so many on there that I had added when I first joined Goodreads, so now I've gone from 300+ to just 118 books to read. My own-tbr is a whole another issue, I have 300+ books on there to sort through. 

Rachel:

 (Click on title for Goodreads link)

I've seen good things about Not That I Could Tell. I'm still debating on requesting it from Netgalley. What do you think?

 
WHAT I'M WATCHING:

Jasprit 

I'm still watching Season 5 of Scandal, it's been okay so far, but with all the angst, I needed something a bit more light-hearted, so finally made time to get back to Jane the Virgin season 2 and I'm so glad that I did because it's been so much fun.

Rachel:

Okay, I know I'm super boring because I keep listing Longmire and Justified, but I'm addicted. So sue me. I gotta say, I can't stand Ryland's ex-wife Wynona (Justified). I wish he'd kick her to he curb.  The shit hit the fan at the end of season four on Longmire, and I'm now just watching the first episode of season five.

EVENTS OF THE WEEK

Jasprit 

So I kind of failed in going to the gym this week, but I did make it to a circuits and muay thai class, the circuits class was tough, as our teacher decided to do a insanity workout, which is a high intensity workout, I was absolutely shattered by the end. Also I forgot to share this from when I went to Birmingham a few weeks ago, they have the most gorgeous library, I honestly didn't want to leave! 

Rachel:

I've run a total of 16.4 miles this last week and I'm set to run 7 miles on Sunday.  Things are going well with my half-marathon training, but man I pass out at night! And I have weird running dreams! Like running for my life while zombies chase me!

I surf Pinterest for low carb recipes a lot, and I found this tasty low carb zucchini recipe. I substituted heavy cream for milk, so I guess it's a little more calories than listed, lol, but oh-so-good, and a little spicy. Make sure to use the Panko breadcrumbs. You can also dip them in sauce. I dip them in Trader Joe's Cilantro and Chive Yogurt dip. Yum!

How was your week?