Spring Fling Giveaway Hop

So peeps, it's finally May 1st and that means we can finally all have Insurgent!  May 8th is just a week away and that means we can finally all have City of Lost Souls.  What better giveaway could I choose but one of those books.  Of course, I cannot be expected to choose between them, so I'll let you do that.

My giveaway is for winner choice of Insurgent or City of Lost Souls!

All you have to do is follow StuckInBooks and fill out the rafflecopter below. Extra entries are available.

While you're here, check out my other GIVEAWAY!

Wishing for Someday Soon Ends May 9th INT

Somebody to Love - Ends May 7th US/CA

Cover reveal ~ Jelly Bean Crisis by Jolene Stockman

Available August 1, 2012

Cover by Phatpuppy Art

A total meltdown. The whole school watching. Now Poppy’s an ex-straight-A with no Plan B.

When Poppy Johnson throws away a full scholarship to Columbia, she can only blame the jelly beans. The yucky green ones? Midnight cram sessions and Saturday’s spent studying. The delicious red? The family legacy: Columbia, and a future in finance. Except now it’s starting to look like Poppy’s jelly bean theory is wrong. School has been her life until, but maybe it’s time to start living now.

Poppy has thirty days to try a new life. No school, no studying. Just jumping into every possible world. Thirty days to find her passion, her path, and maybe even love. The Jelly Bean Crisis is officially on.

Jolene Stockman |Twitter | FB | Goodreads

So what ya think of this cover?

 

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JLA Fan Site Post

Originally posted on April 26th for the Deity Island Launch Party. 

 If you missed the party, check it out here.

Hey guys!  This is Valerie from StuckInBooks!

Got a little trip planed for ya today!  It's a trip around the internet to soak up the passion from some very excited bloggers talking about Pure, by Jennifer L. Armentrout (JLA).  She's such an incredible YA author and man can peeps get excited about her books.  I know I do!!!!

So first stop on this little adventure isWord Spelunking, where Aeicha reviews Pure.

Now check out the first line of this review!!!!

THREE WORDS: Holy Hotness Batman…three more words: all mah cries ;_;

I mean I can just feel her passion here, can't you????  AND I couldn't agree more!

Then there's this line that just sums everything I felt when I was finished with this book perfectly.

Breathless. Aching. Captivated. Desperate for more…this is how Pure left me long after closing the book.

Yep, think that about says it all.

What to check out the whole review, of course you do.  Find the whole fabulous thing here. 

 Next stop on our little road trip is Creative Reads where Shellie is a little exited. =)

Gotta love it!

Oh My Gods! I absolutely loved this book. I’m still stunned…and in awe. Aiden, Seth, Aiden, Seth, Aiden, Seth, Seth, Aiden?! Jennifer has, yet again, blown my mind with Pure.  I mean Holy. Hot. Damn! There is so much that happens that I was left speechless and yearning for Deity. Alex has some difficult choices to make, will she make the right one and what does it mean if she chooses wrong?

I think she liked the book, don't you?  Yep she does.  Check out the rest of her review here.

So the next of is a little shameless self-promotion on my part - well I didn't write it but it was on my blog, StuckInBooks.  One of my students wrote this one.  She is an 8th grader and her favorite author is absolutely JLA.  She bought Half-Blood and Pure with her grade money and then she walked around with them for weeks afterwards.  I noticed one day when she was having a hard time that she picked up one of JLA's books and hide for a while.  Made me happy.  That's how I feel about books - they're good friends that make me feel better.  That and I may have been the one to turn her on to JLA.

Enough from me - check out my girl Cora.

As I was reading Pure, I kept telling myself that I was just going to read one more chapter then return to reality but once I started it, I was sucked in. It’s impossible to put down.  I read Pure straight through in about ten hours.   This book kept me captivated.  There just wasn’t a boring page in the whole book.

Yeah, she's fabulous! Want to read the rest of her review? Find it here.

What's next?  Well only the queen's of the tourney - none other than YA Sisterhood.

What did I LOVE about this review?  Well, it's the mention of my boy Deacon - who I love.  He makes the number 9 of the top 10 things they love about Pure.  Check it out.

9.  Deacon

Aiden’s too cute little brother that follows in Aiden’s heartthrob footsteps.  We don’t know much about Deacon so far, but what we do know, we like!  He’s broken, just like Aiden, and keeps himself in a slightly drunken oblivion so he doesn’t have to deal with the loss of his parents.  Besides his heartbroken demeanor, we love that he stands up for Alex, refusing to treat her like a half-blood.

You want to know what the rest of the 10 were? You can find the complete list here.

Finally, I have this fab review to share from Book Passion For Life.  They quoted one of my all time favorite lines from Aiden. *SIGH* I just love Aiden and for the record - I am TEAM AIDEN NOW and FOREVER!!!!

“Ever since I’ve met you, I’ve wanted to break every rule.” Aiden turned away, the muscles in his neck tensing. He sighed. “You’ll become the center of someone’s world one day. And he’ll be the luckiest son of a b*tch on this earth.” – Aiden

Yeah, he's so ....perfect.  Those silver eyes and the way he tries so hard to do what's right and it's all to protect Alex.  He'd do anything for her.  That is love.

There was more to their review, of course, and you can read it here.

So there is so much LOVE for JLA's books and Pure had rave reviews!  Hope you check it out, cause it's epic!!!

As for me, well JLA has become my FAVORITE author.  The more I read from her the more I NEED to read from her.  It's a happy addition that I think she's pretty willing to feed!  If you want more about my thoughts on this book, you can read my review here.

Haven't started this series?  What?????? Well check it out here on Goodreads. 

Want to stay up-to-date on everything from the Covenant Series by JLA?   

Follow Deity Island. 

Cover reveal ~ Breaking Glass by Lisa Amowitz

Available July 9, 2013

 

Breaking Glass

by Lisa Amowitz

On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he's not sure whether they're real or if he's losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.

Title: Breaking Glass

Author: Lisa Amowitz

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

ISBN: 978-1-937053-38-3

Release Date: July 9, 2013

Formats: Paper, e-book

Genre: Young Adult paranormal mystery

  

So this one looks interesting.  I'm not usually a mystery reader but this one draws my interest.  Gonna need to read it! 

 

What do you think?  Let me know.

What a Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

Source: Purchased kindle copy ONLY $.99

My Summary:

Sebastian is without wheels - the kind on a car that is.  In need of money to find some, he goes with what he's good at which is hooking up.  Becoming the Hook-Up Doctor is the perfect way to score some cash.  He has a 100% track record.  It's all anonymous.  He can tell the girls what to do to get the boy they want cause he knows what a boy wants.  No long term guarantees though. He's perfected the art of hooking up with no relationship ties.  His mother has shown him that those don't ever end well.  There is one little problem though.  He may be falling in love for the first time in his life and hook-up may not be enough anymore.  But relationships aren't his thing and that won't ever change - will it?
 
My Thoughts:



5 stars - LOVE this book

You many of noticed the male POV thing I have going lately.  This book is from Sebastian, or Bastian's POV and I so loved that.  What was better was that his male voice was authentic.  He sounded male, acted male and was confused when things went wrong male!  I have a thing for the dark hair, dark eyes he has going on and he seems to know that the girls go for him.  Totally real.  I loved how he talked to girls about how being confident was hot.  It was for him.  But he had some lessons to learn, which were so much fun to watch. 

One lesson he had down already was how to treat his mom.  She had been through more than her fair share of relationship problems and he was there for her every time.  Says a lot of a teenage boy to be supportive and I loved that about him.  I saw some of my son in him.  My son has been there for me through a different kind of trial but with just as much love.  Maybe that was one of the things that drew me to Bastian so much.  He has the same dark hair and eyes as my son too.

The other characters in this book are just as awesome.  A group of four friends that have been there for each other for years.  Love that.  We meet Jaden - a favorite name of mine - and I hear he has his own book coming up next.  Can't wait for that.

The story is fun and fabulous.  Some things I figured out but there where a couple twists that surprised me.  Love that.  I read this fast really not wanting to put it down at all.  If you even like YA contemporary a little, then you should SO pick this one up and soon.  It's only $.99 on Kindle and Nook.  Seriously peeps, it's a great read. 

Got my boy Bastian set-up for an interview coming very soon.  Cannot wait for that!  

You can also check out the these posts by the Hook-up doctor himself.

Day 1 Drool by the Pool

Day 2 Invisible but not ugly

Day 3 Just reply

Nyrae Dawn | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

And the winner is....

Brooke DeSpain

She wins The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

This winner is confirmed.

Thanks to everyone who entered.

And the winner is....

Tami Tronick

She picked

She has responded to the email I send her.


Didn't win?


Check out this book - it's fabulous!!!

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
 

Swoon Thursday 4/26/12

The fabulous girls over at YA Bound created this super HOT meme.  Here's how it works.

From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering.

Shout it out on Twitter with the hashtag #YABound, post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog! I want to know & so do the chicks at YABound!

This week's swoon comes from Untouched by Jus Accardo.

Twitter version:
I leaned close and nuzzled the side of her neck. "And I have you to myself right now, don't I?" kindle location 336

And the longer bloggy version comes a few lines after the one above.
I kissed her. Warm skin. Soft lips. Rushing pulse. Euphoria in its simplest form. Every inch of me was alive when I touched her. It was like I walked through my life in a haze,only waking when we were close--when she set my senses on fire and made my heart pump faster. kindle location 373

What ya think of my swoon this week? I so love this meme! Let me know what you think in the comments.

Daemon Invasion News 4/25/12

Over the last couple of weeks, you’ve heard us talking about the upcoming #daemoninvasion and we’re so excited to finally share with you what is going on.

Really excited.

The beautiful and uber cool models, Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz, who grace the Lux covers, will be joining us in the United States!  You heard right.  They are flying here, from Hungary to spend a few days as Daemon and Katy! While they are here, they will be working with Vania, from VLC Productions (the team behind Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments, Melissa de La Cruz, Kimberly Derting, Moira Young, Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl, Hillary Duff, Lauren Destefano, and many, many more authors’ book trailers), to film book trailers for the Lux Series.

During the filming in Atlanta, they will be accompanying us on tour! What does that mean? You get to meet them. In the flesh. They will be participating in the signings and events. At those signings, we’ll be giving away signed posters, photos, and other swag. There will also be meet and greet events you can join in on.

At each signing, there will be advanced copies of Onyx given away!

And to top things off (as if this isn’t enough, but we don’t do anything small), there’s something very, very exciting in the works! It involves advanced copies of Opal, water, and a little destination known as the Bahamas.

I am not kidding.

This will be epic.

Aare you excited? I am! This tour is going to be so, so much fun, and I’m so thrilled that Pepe and Sztella are a part of it. We owe them a huge thank you and a giant welcome making the 16 hour flight to meet the readers of the Lux Series.  You!

Daemon Invasion Signing and Event Schedule

June 8^th
FoxTale Book Shoppe
Woodstock, GA
3:00pm

June 10^th
Barnes and Noble
St Johns Town Center
Jacksonville, FL
3:00pm

June 13^th
Barnes and Noble
Waterford Lakes Town Center
Orlando, FL
3:00pm

June 14^th
Barnes and Noble
The Palladium at City Place
West Palm Beach, FL
4:00pm

There are several #daemoninvasion street teamers out there and if you want to join a team to win exclusive prizes, search down the #daemoninvasion hashtag to join one of the teams!

Don’t forget to visit Jennifer L. Armentrout's blog to win a signed set of Half-Blood and Pure in celebration of her adult romance release, Tempting the Best Man, under pen name J. Lynn.  It can be purchased here. )

Celebration Character Interview featuring Brendan from Spellbound

Hey peeps, it time for another Character Interview & Giveaway Celebrating 3000 + followers on my blog and on twitter!

This week I have Brendan from Spellbound and Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz  Stick around after the interview for the giveaway.

There are some spoilers for Spellbound in this interview.

Hey Brendan, thanks for agreeing to talk to me. I love your house. What's it like having a whole floor to yourself? 

Thanks for having me! It's nice having the privacy, but I won't lie, sometimes it's a little isolating.

So that first time you met Emma, you helped her out but then ignored her. What was your first impression of her?

I had just sat down in my seat, and I overheard Kristin giving her a hard time. Usually people kiss her orange butt for some reason, but Emma stood up to her—and the way she did it was really funny. It made me laugh. Something about the way she spoke made me want to help her out, so I turned around, and that's when I saw how cute she was.

Now, you two are soul mates. Love that btw. Describe her to me. How do you see her? She's the best!

She's funny, full of life and probably the only person that can make me laugh as hard as she does. And she's beautiful—although if I didn't call her beautiful she'd probably kick my butt.  But seriously, she is. And she's my best friend.

You saved her from Anthony and risked your life doing it. Do you think that came from being soul mates through time or something you two developed this time around? 

I don’t know. I don’t question it really, I just know how I feel about her.

How do you feel about Emma being a witch? Make you nervous? 

Yeah, it definitely makes me nervous, especially since I've been told that danger comes with the territory. In my head I know she can take care of herself, but I don't always think so rationally when it comes to her. You see your girlfriend get attacked by a psychopath, you're going to be a little on edge about her safety.

If you could spend the perfect day with Emma, what would you do, where would you go? 

I know it's not realistic to do a day trip to Dublin, but I'd love to go there with her someday. We could wake up and have Irish breakfast, then walk around Dublin, check out some live music at Temple Bar, check out Grafton Street, St. Stephens Green….But being more realistic about it, I'd love to go up to the Hudson Valley, rent a boat for the day and sail along the Hudson, have dinner at sunset. I think she'd enjoy that.

If you could have one wish, no questions asked, what would it be? 

Hmm…I can't think of anything that I want. I'm honestly pretty happy with my life right now, so I'd have to say world peace or something like that.

If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be? 

I wouldn't have ignored Emma after the first time we hung out. Vince A is a pretty gossipy place—I know what people say about me. I never cared about what they said until I met Emma. I didn't know exactly what I felt about her, but I knew I wanted to protect her from my reputation. I should have handled that whole situation better.

Anything else you'd like to tell my readers? 

Thanks for reading my interview!

Randomness:

M&M or skittles? M&Ms
Burger or steak? Burger—medium rare, with bacon and cheese.
Mountains or ocean? Ocean
Day or night? Night
Brown or Blue eyes? Brown
Blond or brown hair? Brown
CD or iPod? iPod
DVD or movie theater? DVD for movies like Memento—where you want to pause it and watch certain scenes. Movie theater for movies like X-Men and Spider-Man.

I loved both Spellbound and Spellcasters. Make sure you be good to Emma or I may track you down and kick your butt! =) Love ya though.

Cara Lynn Shultz | Twitter | FB | Goodreads 

Amazon | B&N |Book Depository 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway time!

Want to win Spellbound or Spellcaster?  All you have to do is follow StuckInBooks and fill out the rafflecopter below!
  

Team Major Swoon is recuiting

#DaemonInvasion

#TeamMajorSwoon

   

So if you haven't heard, there's an invasion coming! An invasion of the very best kind!  Daemon from Obsidian is invading.  It's all over twitter and blogs are starting to post about it.  

Street teams are being organized and I am the leader of Team Major Swoon!  As a group of 10, we will preform tasks that may lead to fabulous prizes.  We will get insider information about upcoming events.  

Currently, Team Major Swoon has 6 members.  

@StuckInBooks <---- ME - Valerie

@ByJamieManning <------ Jamie

@ReadingAddict17 <----- Amber

@JessLeake <----- Jess

@MandieBaxter <----- Mandie

@BookishAndrea <----- Andrea

We are looking for 4 more!

If you are interested in joining our street team, then email me valerie (at) stuckinbooks.com.  I'll update this post when our team is full.  

Yummy Daemon!!!!

UPDATE: Our team is full.

And the winner is....

The winner will be contacted by Kathy from I'm a reader not a writer to receive their prize.  Congrats Alicia!

And the winner is....

The author will contact the winners by email to receive their book.

Teaser Tuesday 4/24/12

This is a weekly bookish meme is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To participate you:

* Grab your current read

* Open to a random page

* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

(Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week's teaser comes from Untouched by  Jus Accardo.

"What do we have here? Is my super-hot assassin boyfriend freaked out by clowns?"

Kindle location 254

Okay, I stuck to the two sentence rule this week.  Yeah, it's not much but it totally rocks anyway.  I'm loving my Kale time!

Besides, I've found a lovely Swoon for you from this book that I'll have up on Thursday.

Let me know what you thought of my teaser and where to find yours in the comments.

Somebody to Love by Kristan Higgins review & giveaway

Happy Book Birthday to 

Somebody to Love by Kristan Higgins.  Available today!

Source: Received from publisher in exchange for a fair review.

My Summary:

Parker Welles should be set for life with her trust fund money, her son, and some great friends.  What could possibly go wrong?  How about everything!  Her father loses the family fortune in an insider-trading scheme and Parker is forced to try and flip the only possession she still owns - a run down shack of a house on the coast of Maine.  Enter James, her fathers now unemployed lawyer.  He grew up a carpenters son and knows his way around a nail gun - with or without his shirt on.  Parker prefers the without version but she so can't have a summer fling with James or can she?  Maybe just a fling.

My Thoughts:



4 stars - funny and fabulous

This is the second book I've read by Kristan Higgins.  I don't read very much adult fiction, but I'm starting to make the exception for Kristan.  The humor she mixes in is so fun.  I about died laughing during the mouse attack.  I quoted some of it for my teaser last week, but here's a little more from that scene.

She turned to leave, figuring she put on a clean shirt in the car, rather than inside, when she felt something at her ankle...a tickle. 

She looked down.  Nothing there.  Just an itch, she decided, from being in this house of crap. 

Nope, there it was again, right under her ankle bone.  A mosquito?  She shook her foot.  Nothing.

Then, horribly, the tickle moved.  Moved up.

      

"What the hell?" she hissed,shaking the leg of her jeans.  If that was a cockroach, she'd die.

The tickled moved up again.  Faster this time, toward her knee.

"Shit!" Parker said, flapping her pants.  "Get out!"

The tickle was now past her knee...and it had a lump.  It was a lumpy warm tickle.

"Nooo!" Parker shrieked, jumping up and down.  The lumpy tickle zipped around to the back of her leg, then across her ass and around to the other side, and with that, Parker ripped open her pants and there it was, a mouse in her pants.  Its eyes were huge and terrified and Parker heard a scream rip through the air--her scream-- and the tiny rodent--rodent!---leaped, practically flying through the air, and landed in the pile in the tub.  Page 77

My Teaser Tuesday last week picks up right after this.  If you want to see that again - check it out here.  As she rips off her jeans and runs outside, James shows up.  I was laughing so hard that my husband walked down the hall to see what was so funny.

This book has more than humor of course, it also has some fabulous characters.  I loved James.  He was bit of a mystery at first but before the end the truth came out.  He's a fabulous guy playing a lawyer! He's younger than Parker, which seems to bother her a lot.  And while he's attracted to her from the start, they don't really have a good relationship over the years.  She puts him firmly in the pile with her no good dad never bothering to really get to know him.  It was fun to watch that change as she got to know the real him.  I will say that wanted to reach in the book and smack Parker upside the head a few times.  It was nice when a few of the characters finally did it for me, figuratively speaking.

The story itself is complex and interesting.  Kristan draws a lot of ideas into the story including single parents, parenting, and hard family issues.  I liked the direction this book took, not making things easy on the characters creating a real life feel to the story.  Really enjoyed this one.

If you like contemporary adult romance, then you should definitely pick this one up.

Kristan Higgins | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

*** GIVEAWAY ***

I'm giving away my review copy to a lucky follower.  If you'd like to read this book, follow StuckInBooks and fill out the rafflecopter below.  I'm shipping this time, so this US/Canada only.

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig & Giveaway $50 Giftcard

Book Summary:

Willa's secret plan seems all too simple.
Take from the rich kids at valley prep and give to the poor ones.
Yet Willa's turn as Robin Hood at her new high school is anything but. Bilking her "friends"—known to everyone as the Glitterati—without them suspecting a thing is far from easy. Learning how to break into lockers and Beemers is as hard as she'd thought it would be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are bullied just for being different, is more fun than she'd expected.
The complication Willa didn't expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, VP's most notorious ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her—evening the social playing field between the haves and have-nots. There's no time for flirting, especially with conceited trust-funders like Aidan. But when the cops start investigating the string of thefts at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could Aidan wind up being the person that Willa trusts most?
Elisa Ludwig's Pretty Crooked is the first book in an adventurous teen caper series filled with mystery, humor, and heart.

Praise for Pretty Crooked:

“This should be an easy sell to fans of Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars books.”
—Booklist

“This debut keeps readers zooming along as a formerly poor girl plays Robin Hood when she strikes it rich…. A solid debut.”
—Kirkus

“Packed with romance, humor, and adventure, PRETTY CROOKED will steal your heart.”
–Sarah Mlynowski, author of Ten Things We Did (But Probably Shouldn’t Have)

“Intriguing characters, high adventure, good-hearted heists, and plenty of romance. PRETTY CROOKED has me pining for Willa’s next adventure!”
–Jennifer Echols, author of Forget You and The One that I Want

About the Author:


My debut young adult novel PRETTY CROOKED (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins) was released in March 2012. Even though I had to extensively research pickpocketing techniques, I am a law-abiding citizen. I live in Philadelphia with my husband Jesse. I'm a proud member of The Apocalypsies, a group of children's book authors debuting in 2012.


 



Find the author:

Elisa Ludwid | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook | Goodreads

Find the book:

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

**** GIVEAWAY****

Elisa has offered up a $50 gift card for this giveaway!  Check it out below a Rafflecopter giveaway

Student Review Exiled by M.R. Merrick + GIVEAWAY reminder

As many of you know, I'm a middle school teacher.  While I teach math, my students are well aware of my passion for reading.  The bookshelf in my classroom is their first clue.  Then I'm always picking up their books and asking them about whether they like it.  Once I get what kind of books they like, then I'm suggesting books to them.  I did that recently.  I loaned Patrick Exiled bu M.R. Merrick.  He soaked it up quickly, finishing his math fast so he could read in my class. =)  I asked him to write a review for the blog and WOW am I glad I did.  Patrick's thoughts about the book ROCK!  He's reading Shift now and has already agreed to review it too.  So enough rambling from me.  Here's Patrick.

Exiled by M.R. Merrick

By Patrick

Recently, I read the book Exiled by M.R. Merrick. The book immediately immerses you into the action of Chase Williams, a teenager exiled from an elite group of magical demon hunters known as the Circle. Exiled with his mother for lack of an elemental power and defiance, the pair lived in a slummy part of the town of Stonewall. With lives plagued by attacks of vampires, shifters, warlocks, and other various underworlders, Chase meets another rogue hunter, Marcus Starkraven, and a half-demon half-hunter named Rayna. Despite their first impressions, Chase and Rayna soon discover more and more about each other than they ever would have expected.

Merrick offers a deep, rich story line with characters easily relatable to any teenager. Iced with the blood and gore every teenager seeks in gruesome detail and packaged in twists and turns, Exiled takes the fantasy genre to a whole new level, setting the bar for future fantasy writers. Personally, my favorite scene was when Vincent and Chase began to fight because it conveyed the way vampires changed in horrendous detail and perfectly exemplified Chase’s bravery when in a dangerous situation.

Any reader, fantasy fan or not, but especially fantasy enthusiasts, will be drooling over Exiled and craving the rest of the books in the Protector series.

What do you think of Patrick's review?

I still have an giveaway going for winner's choice or Exiled or Shift in paperback.  Gonna add an entry for making a comment to Patrick on his review.  Patrick's in my 8th grade honors math class, bet you couldn't tell could ya?  Smart one, he is.  Let him know what you think and add an entry for the giveaway in the rafflecopter below.

M.R. Merrick | Twitter | FB | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Deity Island Launch Party

Have you heard?  Deity Island is launching this week?  What is Deity Island you ask?  Well it's a fan site devoted to all things from Jennifer L Armentrout's Covenant series. 

Guess what?  I'm part of it.  Big shock there, huh?  HeeHee.  Momo from Books Over Boys is involved too.  The whole baby belongs to Vi from Confessions of a Vi3tBabe.

I'll be guest posting this week to give you my take on my favorite Pure reviews.  You are so gonna want to see what I came up with for that. 

Here's the schedule for this week.

Monday, 4/23: 5 Favorite Half-Blood Reviews from a Diehard Fan (Guest Post featuring Momo @ Books Over Boys)
Tuesday, 4/24: SWAG Pack & Book Giveaways
Wednesday, 4/25: Interview with Spencer Hill Press Editor - Kate Kaynak
Thursday, 4/26: 5 Favorite Pure Reviews from a Diehard Fan (Guest Post featuring Valerie @ Stuck in Books)
Friday, 4/27: Interview with Author - Jennifer Armentrout

Make sure to go over to Deity Island and follow so you won't miss anything.

What to follow along on twitter?  We're tweeting with #DeityIsland and #HalfBloodLegion so check out those feeds!!

About Last Night Excerpt

About Last Night byRuthie KnoxABOUT LAST NIGHT by Ruthie Knox, Excerpt

Somehow, I keep being drawn to these adult books lately???? What is up with that???? This one looks good though. Hmmm....what do you think?

My new passion - reading from the male POV

Originally posted on Creative reads 4/17

By Valerie from StuckInBooks.com 

Lately, I’ve been drawn to books written from the male POV. It’s a whole new world and SO much fun to hear what’s going on inside a boy’s brain!

Boys don’t do what I expect a lot of the time. I’m an eighth grade math teacher so I hang out with 14 year olds on a daily basis. The girls, I get. The boys are always surprising me. I find I enjoy talking to them trying to figure them out. As I get to know my students and they learn to trust me, they tell me how it is. But I’m always surprised by the boys.

So I guess it’s natural that I’ve discovered how much fun it is to read inside their heads too. Here’s a few I’ve loved.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater 

I absolutely LOVE Sam. This books alternates between Grace and Sam’s POV but I loved it best when I was in Sam’s head. The story was so much richer because we saw things from Sam’s side.

As the series continues, the author adds other POV's some male some female.  The male POV's were a huge part of why I think this series rocks.  Who cannot love Cole?

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks 

This book alternates between Galen and Emma. Galen is the Prince of the Syrena. He doesn’t normally live on the land and as a result human customs are all new to him. I loved watching through his eyes as he tried very hard to keep his Princely air but figure out a foreign world while falling in love. Fabulous.

Of Poseidon will be available May 22nd from Feiwel & Friends.

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Iron Knight is the last book in the Iron Fey series.  The BEST part of this book is that it's from Ash's POV!  I loved the Winter Prince throughout this series.  It was the perfect balance of cocky boy and hot ice prince.  To be inside his head was so awesome.  While, he was trying to do something that had never been done before for his love, it wasn't sappy or corny.  It was very male.  To me this was the best book in the series.  LOVE Ash!

Exiled by M.R. Merrick

Then we have Chase from Exiled and Shift in the Protector series.  One thing that makes this book stand out is that the author is male.  Chase is very male in his thinking - no faking it here at all.  Chase is strong and driven.  He's loyal and determined to protect those he loves.  He surprises me just like my students do.  I think it's that authenticity that makes Chase such an incredible character.  One of my students read this book recently and he was totally into it.  It's a perfect boy book.

I have a giveaway going for Exiled right now.  Check it out here.

What a Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

This one is a recent read from a new author.  I fell very fast and very hard for Sebastian, or Bastian as everyone calls him.  He is so incredibly funny.  I really don't remember the last time I laughed out loud so much while reading a book.  Bastian is loyal to his friends and his mother but won't risk the pain of a relationship that is until he falls in love.  It's super cute to watch through his eyes and he reacts in a very male way only to have things blow up on him.  Such a good guy, I was rooting for him every step of the way.

My review for this book is coming next week and I have a date to interview Bastian! SQUEEEE




I could go on and on.  My new obsession.... I mean passion of reading books from the male POV has helped me find a lot of great reads.  I was asking about these books on twitter the other night and amassed a very long list of books from the male POV.  Here are a few that you will love too.

Onyx by Jennifer L Armentrout (alternates between Katy and Daemon)

The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Here's a Goodreads list with lots and lots of YA books from the male POV. Enjoy.