Showing posts with label Claire LaZebnik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Claire LaZebnik. Show all posts

Monday, December 19, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #289, December 19th

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week...and anything in between! This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well...you never know where that next "must read" book will come from!

What happened in the past week:

Weekly Memes:
It's Monday! What Are You Reading #288
Teaser Tuesday #296
WWW Wednesday #296
WOW #293
Will the Time Come #287
Third Sentence Thursday #277
Random Reads #264
First Lines Friday #283
The Reward Challenge Update #274
Follow Friday #266
How Well I Stuck to It #118
Wrote that Review Update #123

Week 51 Reviews:
How to Win at High School
Little Peach
Revenge and the Wild
Falling into Place
The Secrets of Lily Graves
Fragile Line
Every Last Word
Life by Committee
Lifeblood
Phantom Kiss
Things I Should Have Known
Under Attack
Under Suspicion
Under the Gun
Darkness Dawns
Night Reigns
Phantom Shadows
Predatory
Born in Blood
Blood Assassin

Random:
We Have the Cover of Loving You/Hating You!!!!
Alexandra Ivy Author Page
Rebecca Zanetti Author Page
Dianne Duvall Author Page
Owen Matthews Author Page
Paige Tyler Author Page

OK, so I got33  posts in 7 days, What about you guys? Happy reading!

So this week I want to read Beastly, Lindy's Diary, Bewitched, Mirrored, Beheld, Mercury Striking, Shadow Falling, Justice Ascending, and Textrovert.

See the #1 New York Times bestselling story Beastly through Lindy's eyes! This is her diary, kept while living in captivity with the beast. Lindy's Diary captures all the romance and edgy mystery of the original!

Diary,

I am locked away . . . with no one to confide in but you . . . and him. His fur, those claws—they caught me off guard at first, but now I'm noticing something else about him—something deeper. It's the look in his eye. It tells me he's got a secret to keep. That's okay—I've got one, too. I think I'm falling in love with him. . . .

Lindy
#1 New York Times bestselling YA author Alex Flinn is back with magical twists on four fairy-tale favorites, each featuring a little help from Kendra, the witch from Beastly, as she searches through cities and centuries for her lost love.

Being a powerful witch, Kendra has survived it all. Since she first beheld James over three hundred years ago, Kendra has tangled with witch hunters and wolves, helped a miller's daughter spin straw into gold, cowered in London as German bombs fell, and lived through who knows how many shipwrecks. But her powers have limits, and immortality can be lonely. Kendra isn't ready to stop searching for the warlock she had met centuries ago.

With the help of her magic mirror, Kendra will travel the world to reconnect with her lost love—and, of course, she can't help but play a hand in a few more stories along the way.

Featuring retellings of favorite fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and The Ugly Duckling, Alex Flinn's latest young adult novel, Beheld, is fresh fairy-tale fun from beginning to end.
With nothing but rumors to lead her, Lynne Harmony has trekked across a nightmare landscape to find one man—a mysterious, damaged legend who protects the weak and leads the strong. He's more than muscle and firepower—and in post-plague L.A., he's her only hope. As the one woman who could cure the disease, Lynne is the single most volatile—and vulnerable—creature in this new and ruthless world. But face to face with Jax Mercury…

Danger has never looked quite so delicious…
Before the Scorpius Syndrome tore through North America and nearly wiped out the population, Vivienne Wellington was the FBI's best profiler. The bacteria got her anyway. But she survived. She recovered. And when she woke up from a drug-nightmare of captivity, her skills as a hunter of men had gone from merely brilliant to full-on uncanny.

Her mysterious rescuer wants her to put them to the test. But no matter how tempting he is, with his angel's eyes and devil's tongue, Vinnie knows she shouldn’t trust him.

If the FBI were still around they would rate Raze Shadow as one of the bad guys. His military training can't wipe out his association with the Mercenaries, the most feared gang in a thousand miles. His loyalties are compromised. He won't even tell Vinnie his real name. But there's no FBI in the new America of fear and firepower, only instinct and risk. And the way his arms wrap around Vinnie tells its own story. Whatever else Raze is concealing, he can't hide his desire . . .
Before surviving the Scorpius bacterium, Tace Justice was a good ole Texas cowboy who served his country and loved his mama. After Scorpius, the world became dark, dangerous, and deadly... and so did he. The Vanguard medic is stronger, faster, and smarter than before, but he's lost the line between right and wrong. His passion is absolute, and when he focuses it on one woman, there's no turning back for either of them.

Sami Steel has been fighting to survive right alongside Tace, convincing the Vanguard soldiers she's one of them. In truth, Sami is a former hacker turned government agent who worked at The Bunker, where scientists stored both contaminants and cures. Only she knows the location, and she's not telling. Yet when sexual fire explodes between her and Tace, she'll face even that hell again to save him.
It's bad enough when high-school senior Keeley grabs the wrong phone while leaving her small town's end-of-summer fair. It’s even worse when she discovers that the phone she now has belongs to the obnoxious, self-centered Talon and that he's just left for football camp … with her phone. Reluctantly, the two agree to forward messages for a week. And as Keeley gets to know Talon, she starts to like him. Keeley learns there's more to Talon than the egocentric jock most people see. There's more to Keeley, too. Texting Talon, she can step out of the shadow of her popular twin brother. Texting Talon, she can be the person she's always wanted to be.

Sparks fly when the two finally meet to exchange their phones. But while Keeley has been playing a part online, Talon has been keeping a secret. He has a different connection to Keeley — one that has nothing to do with phones, and one that will make their new relationship all but impossible. Knowing what she now knows, can Keeley trust him? And can love in the present erase mistakes of the past?

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Week 51 Review: Things I Should Have Known

From Goodreads:
From the author of Epic Fail comes the story of Chloe Mitchell, a Los Angeles girl on a quest to find love for her autistic sister, Ivy. Ethan, from Ivy's class, seems like the perfect match. It's unfortunate that his older brother, David, is one of Chloe's least favorite people, but Chloe can deal, especially when she realizes that David is just as devoted to Ethan as she is to Ivy. 

Uncommonly honest and refreshingly funny, this is a story about sisterhood, autism, and first love. Chloe, Ivy, David, and Ethan, who form a quirky and lovable circle, will steal readers' hearts and remind us all that it's okay to be a different kind of normal.  

My Review:
I absolutely loved reading this book! Claire LaZebnik's books have been really fantastic, and so was this one! Reading it was an absolute pleasure, and it was something of a learning experience, because it was a great look at autism.

Both Chloe and David were mad at how people reacted when they noticed Ivy or Ethan. And I can understand that, people are awful! But from my side, I would be scared-of upsetting or hurting Ivy or Ethan. I don't do the best socially because of my issues, and I would be afraid for them. Which is my explanation, but it still sucks all around!

Chloe wanted what was best for her sister, setting her up with a support network so that in the future, she could be self-dependent, or at least, more so than she is right now. Of course, she did misread things, and this resulted in something of a catastrophe, but she meant well!

I loved how Ethan and Ivy went on dates, and they had to have their siblings with them! Well, more Ivy than Ethan, especially as time went on, but yeah, it allowed the four of them to start bonding, and that was really great! It was really heart-warming!

This book was an absolute pleasure to read and I loved it!

Author: Claire LaZebnik
Read: December 14th, 2016
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded really great and I love her books! And it's a SAC 2016 Book!
Publisher:  HMH Books for Young Readers
Expected Publication: March 28th 2017
5/5 Hearts
5/5 Books
5/5 Stars

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

WWW Wednesday #296, December 14th

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll read next?

Thanks to MizB of Should Be Writing now A Daily Rhythm for starting this meme!

I'm reading Phantom Kiss, and yeah, it's really awesome, and it's really great!
I read Lifeblood, and it was such a really fantastic book! Loved reading it so much!
I'm going to be reading Things I Should Have Known, and yeah, it looks really fantastic, and I can't wait to read it!

What about you guys? Happy reading!

Monday, August 10, 2015

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #218, August 10th

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week...and anything in between! This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well...you never know where that next "must read" book will come from!

What happened in the past week:

Weekly Memes:
It's Monday! What Are You Reading #217
Teaser Tuesday #225
WWW Wednesday #225
WOW #222
Will the Time Come #218
Third Sentence Thursday #208
Random Reads #193
First Lines Friday #212
The Reward Challenge Update #203
Follow Friday #195
LLFL Reading Challenge Update 58
How Well I Stuck to It #47
Wrote that Review Update #52

Week 32 Reviews:
Everything That Makes You
Don't Call Me Baby
A Winter Wedding
Gilded
Silvern
Madly
The Vanishing Season
The Last Time We Say Goodbye
OK, so I got 36 posts in 7 days, which is pretty great, considering how much I read, which was a lot! And hopefully I'll do the same this week, seeing as I only have one day of work this week! What about you guys? Happy reading!

So this week I want to read Ward Against Death, Ward Against Darkness, Ward Against Disaster, and Promises to Keep.

Twenty-year-old Ward de'Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman's daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can't be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.

But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she's been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can't bring himself to break his damned physician's Oath and desert her.

However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she's treating Ward like sewage, the next she's kissing him. And for a nobleman's daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive…
The last thing Ward de'Ath wants is more trouble. On the run from both the law and the criminal underworld, Ward and Celia flee Brawenal City only to stumble into the mansion of a powerful evil necromancer. And when Ward discovers the man possesses a dangerous grimoire, his duty leaves him no choice. He can't allow the necromancer to keep the grimoire. But the mansion is filled with monsters--human and undead--and Ward has no way of telling who's friend or foe. The only person he can trust is Celia who dominates more of his thoughts and feelings everyday. But there are still laws in the way of anything but friendship. She's still dead and he's still alive . . . for now.
Ward de'Ath should be dead by now. Instead, he's chasing after a soul-eating creature—that he unleashed— and is bent on stopping her before she slaughters more innocents. Fortunately, Celia Carlyle remains by his side, a nobleman's gorgeous and deadly daughter, who is…well, dead. Celia claims she'll champion Ward wherever he goes, even when she thinks his quest is hopeless. He can only hope her pledge comes from her heart, and not because she's bound to him through his magic. When they enter Dulthyne, they stumble upon a dark power that threatens the entire town. Ward, with his unreliable necromancy, is determined to help but finds himself ensnared in the lure of white-hot magic…blood magic he struggles to resist. But if Celia's love is a lie, it might just doom his soul to the dark arts forever.
For three years, Michael O'Shea has been forced to act as a personal assassin for Livingston Shaw, the cold-blooded puppet master who controls the remote bioweapon implanted in Michael's back. When Shaw offers to release him if he can recover a kidnapped child, Michael works with every ounce of his being to put the pieces together before all the witnesses are murdered.

Meanwhile, police Inspector Sabrina Vaughn--the woman Michael passionately loves but has been kept from seeing--discovers the body of a little boy that bears a striking resemblance to the missing child. Against all his instincts, Michael must draw Sabrina into his life as one of the world's most notorious assassins if he's to overcome the legacy of his bloodthirsty past.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Week 32 Review: The Last Best Kiss

From Goodreads:
Anna Eliot is tired of worrying about what other people think. After all, that was how she lost the only guy she ever really liked, Finn Westbrook.

Now, three years after she broke his heart, the one who got away is back in her life.

All Anna wants is a chance to relive their last kiss again (and again and again). But Finn obviously hasn't forgotten how she treated him, and he's made it clear he has no interest in having anything to do with her.

Anna keeps trying to persuade herself that she doesn't care about Finn either, but even though they've both changed since they first met, deep down she knows he's the guy for her. Now if only she can get him to believe that, too....

With her signature wit and expertly authentic teen voice, Claire LaZebnik (the author of fan favorites Epic Fail and The Trouble with Flirting) once again breathes new life into a perennially popular love story. Fans of Polly Shulman, Maureen Johnson, and, of course, Jane Austen will love this irresistibly funny and romantic tale of first loves and second chances. 

My Review:
This was a really great and fun book! It didn't quite make the level that Epic Fail did for me, but it would be really hard to do that since it went to the rare very top level, and this book made the next level.

The friends in this book, they were really awesome to read about surrounded by everything that was going on! That she and Finn had been dating and she kept it secret from her friends-and rebuffed him for them, and then he came back? Yeah.

This was for me, a book about family and friends, loved ones. There was the whole situation with Finn, and then there were her friends, and also running along that, were her family's stories-her dad's relationship with her sister's friend, and her other sister's romantic relationship and how that was going. Really, stuff that happens in real life, just so great!

I really enjoyed watching these characters grow up, learning from their experiences, like getting high and diving into the shallow end of the pool, and having to go to the hospital. But I also enjoyed the happy endings, having the people be together who should, like Anna and Finn! So awesome!

This was just a really fun and light book, and just makes me want to reread Epic Fail now!

Author: Claire LaZebnik
Read: August 3rd, 2015
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded really good, I've enjoyed other books by here, and it's a SAC 2015 Book!
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Published: April 22nd 2014
5/5 Hearts
4.5/5 Books
5/5 Stars

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Claire LaZebnik Author Page

The Story: I just had to read Epic Fail, it just sounded so awesome, cute, and yeah, just got it from the library, and I devoured it, it was just a great, funny, hilarious contemporary book, one that I just enjoyed so much!

Website

Stand Alone's: Epic Fail and her site, my review, The Trouble With Flirting and her site, my review, The Last Best Kiss and her site, my review, Wrong About the Guy and her site, my review, Things I Should Have Known and her site, my review.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Random Reads #44, September 27th

Random Reads is a monthly meme (that I'm going to do weekly) hosted by I'm Loving Books to read some books that have been on our TBR piles for a long time. Using Random.org, I got 2836 which turned out to be The Trouble With Flirting by Claire LaZebnik! It's been on my TBR pile since August 5th 2012, and I added it because I've enjoyed her books! Happy reading! 

Monday, July 30, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #60 July 30th


It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week...and anything in between! This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well...you never know where that next "must read" book will come from!

What happened in the past week:

Weekly Memes:
It's Monday! What Are You Reading #59
Teaser Tuesday #68
WWW Wednesday #68
WOW #64
Will the Time Come #60
Third Sentence Thursday #51
Random Reads #35
First Lines Friday #56
Follow that Blurb Reading Challenge Update 57
A-Z Book Challenge Update 30
The Reward Challenge Round 50
Follow Friday #38
Last Letter First Letter Reading Challenge Update 18
Wrote that Review Update 11
2012 Dystopian Reading Challenge Update 27
In My Mailbox #59
I Have An Update #58

Week 30 Reviews:
Third Grave on the Right
Rapture
Until I Die
Epic Fail
Forgiven
Illuminated
Variant
Arise
Dreaming Awake
Angelfire
Personal Demons
The Ghost and the Goth
A Beautiful Evil
Havoc

Tours:
The Fallen Queen: Interview and Giveaway
Hot Coco: Guest Post and Review
Vestige: Review and Giveaway
The Doorknob Society: Review and Excerpt

Olympic Read-a-Thon:
Start Up
Update 1
Update 2
Update 3
Update 4
Update 5
Update 6
Update 7
Update 8
Update 9
Update 10

OK, so I got 46 posts in 7 days, with lots of great books read, and I got to buy a few good books, Samurai Game, and Awaken Me Darkly! So yeah, pretty darn good week if I do say so myself, and the books below to read look really amazing! Happy reading!

So this week I want to read The Best Girl, Midsummer's Knight, Bargains and Betrayals, VestigeBorn at Midnight, Princess For Hire, Ashes, Ashes, A Touch Morbid, The Doorknob SocietySize 12 And Ready to Rock, Samurai Game, Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover, Queen of the Dead, Original Sin, It's Not Summer Without YouTreachery in Death, Fins Are Forever, The Immortality VirusCloaked, The Poison DiariesZombies Vs. Unicorns Anthology, Wings of the WickedCriminal, and Bloodline

Currently Listening To: Acting Out by Ashley Tisdale
Currently Reading: Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot
Currently Watching: True Blood/Teen Wolf/Alpha's Weekly Episodes

All Jane has to do over winter break is be the best man at her brothers wedding, but its not that simple. The bride is a famous heiress, the wedding is to take place at a posh ski resort, and the bellhop is the guy Jane has been crushing on all semester.
Dear Avon Books,

Where are my heroes? Whenever I'm reading a book by one of my favorite authors I find I'm falling for the wrong guy -- not the hero, but the other man -- and what I really want is for him to have his own story.

Like Jake Linley, from Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas… that doctor could sit by my bedside if I ever got sick. And Ned Blydon in Splendid by Julia Quinn...he makes me want to learn to waltz! I never thought living in a drafty castle would be much fun until Simon of Ravenswood in Master of Desire by Kinley MacGregor came along.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that these are my men -- when do they get their stories?

Sincerely,
A Romance Fan
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM

Civil Authorities have issued a Civil Danger Notification Until Further Notice.

The following message is being transmitted by the request of The United States Government. An unknown number of citizens have gone missing. Authorities are trying to locate the missing persons. Residents are asked to stay in their homes. If you must go out, do not travel alone and carry proper identification.

Please do not call 911 to report missing persons. Emergency Call Centers and local law enforcement agencies are no longer fully staffed. The United States Military has been dispatched to assist local authorities.

This notification applies to all receiving this broadcast. Please stand by for further instructions.
_________________________________________________
In the Midwestern suburb of LaGrange, something is amiss. Over a twenty-four-hour period, all the children under the age of thirteen along with many adults have disappeared without explanation. It doesn’t take long for those left behind to learn that this tragedy is part of a global event. As people panic, civilization begins to crumble. Luckily, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Daniel Grimshaw, has a plan to restore order. But first, every remaining person must be accounted for and tagged with a mark on their right hand.

Unaware of his responsibilities, seventeen-year-old Micah has been preparing for this day. His mother trained him and provided him with the proper tools, but she neglected to tell Micah about the family legacy, his legacy. Now that his mother is among the missing, will Micah ever discover who he is, or what he needs to do to save what’s left of humanity from the hellfire of perdition?
Chloe Masters’s world changed in a heartbeat - and all she did was touch a doorknob.

When she was young Chloe’s mother vanished. Wracked by feelings of abandonment and anger she lost herself traveling with her father's magic act, where illusions were part of her everyday life. Yet everything changes when they are pursued by a mysterious man in black out to kill her father. Touching a doorknob activates abilities she never knew she had and she finds herself thrust into a world of ancient societies and secrets.

When her father disappears it is a race against time to find answers before she loses what is left of her family. Now Chloe must choose who to trust, the man who will do anything for her or the one she can’t stop thinking about.
Summer break ... and the livin' ain't easy!

Just because the students at New York College have flown the coop doesn't mean assistant residence hall director Heather Wells can relax. Fischer Hall is busier than ever, filled with squealing thirteen- and fourteen-year-old girls attending the first ever Tania Trace Teen Rock Camp, hosted by pop sensation Tania Trace herself—who just happens to be newly married to Heather's ex-boyfriend, heartthrob Jordan Cartwright. But the real headache begins when the producer of a reality TV show starring Tania winds up dead ... and it's clear that the star was the intended victim.

Grant Cartwright, head of Cartwright Records, wants to keep his daughter-in-law (and his highest-earning performer) alive. So he hires his oldest son, black sheep of the family and private investigator Cooper Cartwright—who just happens to be Heather's new fiancé. Heather should leave the detecting to Cooper. But with a dorm full of hysterical mini-divas-in-training, she can't help but get involved. And after Tania shares a really shocking secret with her, this reality suddenly becomes more dangerously real than anyone ever anticipated.
In a world so dark and seductive, expect nothing less than a triple-cross in the explosive all-new Ghostwalker novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan…

In an underground club, a high-ranking public official spends his secret nights indulging in fantasies as exciting as they are depraved. For a seductive employee of the Dungeon, it’s her job to fulfill them. But she’s playing a far more dangerous game—one of blackmail, politics, and murder that reaches into the shadow world of the Ghostwalkers, and the creation of a spectacular, one-of-a-kind new weapon of defense.

But when a dictator makes his own catastrophic moves, the Ghostwalkers have no choice but to bring in two major players—a man and woman both driven by passion and revenge. Both expendable. Both with nothing left to lose.
When Cammie "The Chameleon" Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she's in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she's there to watch Macey's father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world's best school (for spies), "exciting" and "deadly" are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnappers' plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.

As her junior year begins, Cammie can't shake the memory of what happened in Boston, and even the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women doesn't feel like the safe haven it once did. Shocking secrets and old flames seem to lurk around every one of the mansion's corners as Cammie and her friends struggle to answer the questions, Who is after Macey? And how can the Gallagher Girls keep her safe?

Soon Cammie is joining Bex and Liz as Macey's private security team on the campaign trail. The girls must use their spy training at every turn as the stakes are raised, and Cammie gets closer and closer to the shocking truth.
After being sent back from the light, Alona Dare - former homecoming queen, current Queen of the Dead - finds herself doing something she never expected: working. Instead of spending days perfecting her tan by the pool (her typical summer routine when she was, you know, alive), Alona must now cater to the needs of other lost spirits. By her side for all of this - ugh - “helping of others” is Will Killian: social outcast, seer of the dead, and someone Alona cares about more than she’d like.

Before Alona can make a final ruling on Will’s “friend” or “more” status, though, she discovers trouble at home. Her mom is tossing out Alona’s most valuable possessions, and her dad is expecting a new daughter with his wicked wife. Is it possible her family is already moving on? Hello! She’s only been dead for two months! Thankfully, Alona knows just the guy who can put a stop to this mess.

Unfortunately for Alona, Will has other stuff on his mind, and Mina, a young (and beautiful) seer, is at the top of the list. She’s the first ghost-talker Will’s ever met—aside from his father—and she may hold answers to Will’s troubled past. But can she be trusted? Alona immediately puts a check mark in the “clearly not” column. But Will is - ahem - willing to find out, even if it means leaving a hurt and angry Alona to her own devices, which is never a good idea.
Luc Cain was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately—thanks to Frannie Cavanaugh and the unique power she never realized she had. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences, and suddenly Frannie and Luc find themselves targeted by the same demons who used to be Luc’s allies.

Left with few options, Frannie and Luc accept the protection of Heaven and one of its most powerful angels, Gabe. Unfortunately, Luc isn’t the only one affected by Frannie, and it isn’t long before Gabe realizes that being around her is too…tempting. Rather than risk losing his wings, he leaves Frannie and Luc under the protection of her recently-acquired guardian angel.

Which would be fine, but Gabe is barely out the door before an assortment of demons appears—and they’re not leaving without dragging Luc back to Hell with them. Hell won’t give up and Heaven won’t give in. Frannie’s guardian exercises all the power he has to keep them away, but the demons are willing to hurt anyone close to Frannie in order to get what they want. It will take everything she has and then some to stay out of Hell’s grasp.

And not everyone will get out of it alive.
Can summer be truly summer without Cousins Beach?It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come.

But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started--at Cousins Beach.
On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl—still a mergirl, true, but signing the renunciation will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being-human thing once and for all.

Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, the waves start to get rough. Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form, when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody?

The seafoam on the raging surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up—Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her own dreams?
I’m not your average hero. I actually wasn’t your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all.

It all started with the curse. And the frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.

There wasn’t a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I’ve ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Everglades.

Don’t believe me? I didn’t believe it either. But you’ll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got CLOAKED.
A dark, gothic tale of romance... and murder. In the right dose, everything is a poison. Jessamine has spent her whole life in a cottage close to her father's apothecary garden, surrounded by medicinal plants and herbs that could kill her -- although her father has never allowed her into the most dangerous part of the grounds... the poison garden. And so she's never had reason to be afraid -- until now. Because now a newcomer has come to live with the family, a quiet but strangely attractive orphan boy named Weed. Though Weed doesn't say much in words, he has an instant talent for the apothecary's trade, seeming to possess a close bond with the plants of the garden. Soon, he and Jessamine also share a close bond. But little does Jessamine know that passion can be just as poisonous as the deadliest plants in the garden -- for behind Weed's instinctive way in the garden is a terrible secret.
It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?
Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Week 30 Review: Epic Fail


From Goodreads:
At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Cast in point:

- As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school - not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.
- As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn't exactly on everyone's must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise's beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince's best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

My Review:
Loved this book! It was cute, it was fun, it had great characters, and rivalries, and though I wish it had been longer, with a bit more of a resolved ending considering Webster, the romantic ending was very good, and sweet, with her and Derek, they made quite a cute couple, and it was adorable how shy he was!

So this book was just unexpected for me. I hadn't read any other books by Claire LaZebnik, but from how good this one was, well, I will be reading more! I didn't really have any expectations, but if I did, then, wow, they'd have been blown out of the water!

I just really enjoyed the story that was told in this book, about people, and how just because someone seems one way, doesn't mean that they're actually that person. Which happened with both Derek and Webster. They both had hidden depths, though not in a good way for Webster!

What I really wish is that there could've been more of Elise and Derek's relationship, because it was really sweet, and I enjoyed it! And I also wish that there could've really been a punishment for Mr. Use the Celebrities! Because he deserves that!

This was a really great, fun book! I just really enjoyed it, and I can't wait to read more by Claire LaZebnik!

Author: Claire LaZebnik
Read: July 23rd, 2012
Source: Library
Reason Why: Sounded like a great book, and it's a LLFL book!
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: August 2nd 2011
5/5 Hearts
4.5/5 Books
4.5/5 Stars






Friday, July 27, 2012

Last Letter, First Letter Reading Challenge Update 18

OK, so I have I've been doing some more reading, and I read Rapture, Until I Die, Epic Fail, Variant, Dreaming Awake, Angelfire, Personal Demons, The Ghost and the Goth, A Beautiful Evil, Havoc.

 Yep. Happy reading!

Here's the link to the original post with my journey.

What it is:

You pick a book, read it. Then you look at the last letter of the title, for example, "The Adventures of Tom Saywer." Then you take that last letter, and search you TBR piles for a book starting with the last letter, so coninuting the example, someone could read "Rotters" next, and then a title that starts with "s."

Rules:
1. Have fun!
2. Read!
3. The last letter of the book you read must be the first letter of the next book you read.
4. Words like "the," "a," "and," and those such don't count as the first letter.
5. If a letter becomes overused, like d, e, l, w, ext, and you run out of books that you really want to read for this challenge, cycle in letters that don't often get used like a, b, i, k, p, ext, and note what you cycle in, where!