Waiting On Wednesday

 Waiting On Wednesday 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

Here is my selection for the week:

Given the way love turned her heart in the New York Times bestselling To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, which SLJ called a “lovely, lighthearted romance,” it’s no surprise that Lara Jean still has letters to write.

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.

She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.

When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of makes it so amazing.

Release date is May 26th 2015 

I adored the first book in this series so of course I'm dying to get my hands on the sequel, I can't wait to see where Lara Jean's story takes us! 

Until next time,

Ginger 

Stacking The Shelves (31)

"We are all book lovers and the need to share our enthusiasm is sometimes overwhelming. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in the physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! 

If you're anything like me, you are probably hoarding books and even though you are excited about your latest book arrival, it might be a while before you get to review it and Stacking The Shelves is a good way to express your undying enthusiasm for those titles."

Again I didn't buy any books this week so these are some review books I've been sent. 

First up is a new Alexis Bass book, I was ECSTATIC to get this because I adore her writing, even though this doesn't come out until December I'm already dying to read it!  

Next is this adorably titled memior (biography?) by the Little Couple!!!! I love watching their show and even though I'm not big on non-fiction I'm still super excited to be able to read this one! 

And then there's the new Patrick Ness book (PATRICK NESS!!!!) I may have freaked out just a tiny bit when I saw this on my kindle. I can't wait to read it and if it's anything like his previous books, love it. 

The last three books I'm just as excited about getting but I don't know enough about them to really tell you why so I'll just leave the covers for you (because they are gorgeous!). 

Until next time, 

Ginger 

ARC Review of "City Love"

City Love 

By Susane Colasanti 

Stars: 2 

Source: Edelweiss 

Release Date: April 21st 2015 

Three girls, one summer, no rules. 

Darcy, Rosanna and Sadie are sharing an apartment in New York City the summer before their freshman year of college. Surrounded by world famous restaurants, art exhibits and the occasional A-list celebrity it's hard not to get caught up in the hustle and bustle that is NYC but each girl has their own dreams, aspirations and goals and none of them are going to settle for anything less than extraordinary. 

Darcy is mending a slightly damaged heart, having been dumped by the love of her life before arriving in the big apple. She has deemed this summer her 'shiny new summer'. No boyfriend, but plenty of boys. 

Rosanna is dazzled by the city lights and can't believe she actually made it. She's always dreamed about living the New York and now it's finally happening. It doesn't matter that she can barley make ends meet or that her dinner for the next week is whatever cereal was on sale, she's determined to make it work. 

Sadie was born and raised in the West Village, she's barley a couple of blocks from her childhood home but already she feels like a whole different person being out on her own. Always the optimistic one she can't help but see the good in people, whether they deserve it or not.  

All three girls are world apart when it comes to their backgrounds, personalities and lifestyles but one thing they have in common is City Love, no matter the number of dates, relationships, breakups or heartbreaks, New York will never let them down. 

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I was really looking forward to this book, I saved it for a day when I needed a little cheering up, a light fluffy read to brighten my day... 

That didn't happen. 

While "City Love" started off on an okay foot it quickly went downhill fast. 

First off the timing, I kept having to remind myself that weeks, hell even days, weren't passing between each chapter, the entire book was around two weeks time wise and it drove me crazy! Especially when the girls were head over heels for guys they met... Yesterday. 

Yes that brings me to my next point: InstaLove... 

I kid you not there was a line in the book where Sadie is just gushing about Austin, how amazing he is, how sweet, how much she's falling for him, and then in the next breath she says something about "I can't believe I've only know him three days"... Oh lord. 

I hated how Rosanna, who comes from a poor family and can't afford to go out for coffee is suddenly with Donovan Clark who drops 200+ dollars on a dinner date. 

She kept having this inner dialog with herself about how she could never be with someone like that, who didn't understand the value of a dollar and who would never be able to relate to her situation and yet she kept going out with him. 

Darcy didn't annoy me too much, she was probably my favorite out of the three, her whole "Operation Shiny New Summer" actually kept me somewhat interested in the story (at least enough to finish it) but I still felt like she was missing something. 

If I was rating this book solely on the setting and the descriptions of the city I would give it 5+ stars but the characters and their 'love lives' just threw me. 

I forced myself to finish it just so I could see if the ending was any better but that may have been the worst part. Even though it's (apparently) going to be a series that was one of the worst endings I have ever read. It might as well have stopped mid sentence, that would have been less abrupt. 

I'm disappointed that I disliked it as much as I did because like I said I was really looking forward to it but after reading it I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and I doubt I'll read the next installment in the series. 

Until next time, 

Ginger 

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. 

My review is my honest opinion.

Waiting On Wednesday

 Waiting On Wednesday 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

Here is my selection for the week:

I WILL TELL YOU THE SAME THING I TELL EVERY SLAVE.

THE RESISTANCE HAS TRIED TO PENETRATE THIS SCHOOL COUNTLESS TIMES. I HAVE DISCOVERED IT EVERY TIME.

IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE RESISTANCE, IF YOU CONTACT THEM, IF YOU THINK OF CONTACTING THEM, I WILL KNOW

 

AND I WILL DESTROY YOU.

Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.

 

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

 

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

 

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

 

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

Release date is April 28th 2015 

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I'm really excited for this book because the author is going to be a doing a signing at my local indie store just a couple days after the release so I am dying to get my copy and read it before meeting her! 

Until next time, 

Ginger 

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke And The Bookish where each week there is a new topic for a top ten list. 

This week is "My Top Ten ALL TIME favorite authors" 

1. Madeleine L'Engle 

2. Ann Brashares 

3. Kelley Armstrong 

4. Brandon Sanderson

5. L.J Smith 

6. Cassandra Clare 

7. Rachel Vincent 

8. Carrie Ryan 

9. Kiersten White 

10. Stephanie Perkins 

Who are your favorite authors? 

Until next time, 

Ginger

ARC Review of "99 Days"

99 Days 

By Kate Cotugno 

Stars: 3 

Source: Edelweiss 

Release Date: April 21st 2015 

Molly has to spend 99 days back in her home town before heading off to college, 99 days of nasty notes, key'd cars and dirty glares. 

When Molly's relationship with Patrick fell apart she ran as fast as she could and as far as she could, but coming back is like reopening wounds that have barley healed. 

While Gabe, Patrick's brother, was just as much to blame as Molly for what happened he seemed to get off scot free. 

Only Molly is the town slut, the whore who came between two brothers. 

Molly still blames her mother for writing a fictionalized book about that summer, for revealing her secrets and acting as though it didn't matter that what she had confided in her was confidential and personal. 

With no one to turn to Molly starts hanging out with Gabe again, after all with Patrick half way across the country it couldn't really hurt... Right? 

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Spoilers ahead!

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I hate how much I loved the writing in this book. From page one I was hooked. I loved everything about it, the setting (the hotel was my favorite) how she felt running, the tiny flashbacks, the day by day chapters. 

I loved how we didn't get the full story right away, for the first couple of weeks I thought that Molly had cheated on Patrick with his brother, but come to find out Patrick (being the all around prick that he was) broke up with her before she ever did anything remotely intimate with Gabe. 

Yes she lied about it and got back together with Patrick without coming clean and that wasn't the best way to handle things but the way they treated her was insane (although completely realistic). 

The whole town had this double standard where Molly was the devil and Gabe could do no wrong. 

I started to really like Molly and Gabe together and I couldn't believe how nice Tess (Patrick's new girlfriend) was being. 

Then about 3/4 of the way through the book it all took a turn... 

Molly freaking cheats on Gabe with Patrick. It was like a daytime show opera. She wanted people to stop treating her like crap and forgive her for something I didn't think warranted an apology and then she goes and does something ten times worse. 

It was so irritating! 

Gabe pretty much chose her over his brother (thus his family), Tess stuck up for her and treated her with kindness and respect and even Julia was starting to act somewhat civil towards her and then she goes and throws it all away. 

It was like a slap in the face. 

As much as I enjoyed the first however many days/chapters the ending outweighed what I liked and ended up tainting the book for me. 

Sadly I won't be recommending this book to anyone anytime soon. 

Until next time, 

Ginger 

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. 

My review is my honest opinion.

ARC Review of "Lies I Told"

Lies I Told 

By Michelle Zink 

Stars: 4

Source: Edelweiss 

Release Date April 7th 2015 

Grace Fontaine is a con artist, a thief and a professional liar. Adopted into the family that taught her everything Grace will do anything to keep them all together, even if that means following in their corrupt footsteps. 

Up until we meet Grace she has followed the rules, never doing anything that could put her or her family at risk. Nothing that would expose them for who they really are. 

But suddenly Grace finds herself falling for her 'mark', instead of being focused and one step ahead of everyone else she finds herself caught up in the moment and slipping up at the worst times. 

It's their biggest heist yet and with a high reward comes high stakes. Sacrifices have to be made and mistakes could end up costing them everything. 

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First off let me just say that this is not a standalone. Since I finished it GoodReads has updated it's listing as book one in a series (maybe a duology?). So that should save you the pain I had to endure when I finished what I thought was a standalone novel.

I liked this book way more than I initally thought I would. For a family of jewel theives they were all so relatable, likable even! 

I found myself rooting for them to pull it off and make it out okay. 

I obviously have problems... 

Don't get me wrong I liked Logan's family too and I didn't want to see them hurt but Zink did such an amazing job with this book that you don't even realize you're rooting for the bad guys until the books over. 

I liked the somewhat underlining mystery of Grace's (insane?) next door neighbor and I loved the roll that Logan's fathers mental health played. 

It was a really well rounded story that of course left me with dozens of questions after I finished it! 

I can't wait to get my hands on the next one to see where Zink takes Grace. 

Until next time, 

Ginger

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. 

My review is my honest opinion.

Stacking The Shelves (30)

"We are all book lovers and the need to share our enthusiasm is sometimes overwhelming. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in the physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! 

If you're anything like me, you are probably hoarding books and even though you are excited about your latest book arrival, it might be a while before you get to review it and Stacking The Shelves is a good way to express your undying enthusiasm for those titles."

I've been doing really well with my book buying ban so these are all books that I've been sent to review :)

Almost all of these come out in September so it'll be a couple months before I can dive in but the new Kody Keplinger book comes out pretty soon so my review for that will be up ASAP. 

Thanks to the publishers for sending them to me! 

Until next time,

Ginger 

ARC Review of "Things We Know By Heart"

Things We Know By Heart 

By Jessi Kirby 

Stars: 5 

Source: Edwelweiss 

Release Date: April 21st 2015 

When Quinn Sullivan's boyfriend, Trent, suddenly passes away his tragic end gives five others new beginnings. 

Quinn is so heartbroken by his sudden death that she can't cope, can't move on, can't let go. 

Even months later she still feels the pain of Trent's absence. 

Hoping to find closure and peace Quinn decides to write letters to the recipients of Trent's organs. She writes five letters but only four are answered. 

The recipient of Trent's heart seemingly wants nothing to do with her or Trent's family so Quinn decides to find whoever received the heart and hopefully with them find closure. 

What she doesn't expect is Colton Thomas. 

Suddenly she finds herself falling for Colton and she's afraid that the truth, the reason why she met him in the first place, will break the heart she so carefully sought after. 

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I cannot describe the feelings that this book made me feel. It was an emotional roller coaster that left me begging for more, because while the lows were very low the highs were magnificent. 

There is such grief and such pain in this book. It is written so well that it makes you feel everything that Quinn is feeling and with an intensity that is almost painful. But the hopefulness and the pure love and gratitude and joy that is side by side the hurt and pain makes it all worth it. 

I don't even know where to start, I loved everything about this book! I guess I'll just list off a couple of my favorite things and go from there. 

1. Her family. I've noticed that a lot of the newer YA books have a strong focus on family ties, it's no longer just the main character with the absentee parents and the gang of friends. Quinn's family was amazing, I adored her Grandmother, envied her sister and loved her parents. I don't think I would have liked this story as much as I did without Quinn's family. 

2. Ryan. I feel like Ryan deserves her own little mention. She was definitely one of my favorite characters. I would LOVE a companion book about Ryan and her Italian adventures. 

3. The writing. This is my first book by Kirby and holy cow her writing is spectacular! I read this book insanely fast! I couldn't wait to see how it ended, but some sentences demanded to be read over and over again or they would refuse to let you move on. This story captures you and you find yourself fully immersed in someone else's life completely unaware of the passing hours.  

I HIGHLY recommend this book and anything else written by Jessi! 

Until next time, 

Ginger 

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. 

My review is my honest opinion.

Waiting On Wednesday

Waiting On Wednesday 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

Here is my selection for the week:

Taken from Barnes and Noble: 

Aza Ray Boyle is drowning in thin air. Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who's always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—but as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war between Magonia and Earth is coming. In Aza's hands lies fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

Release date is April 28th 2015

Until next time,

Ginger 

Review of "Ugly Love"

Ugly Love 

By Colleen Hoover 

Source: Purchased 

Stars: 5 

Tate Collins doesn't have time for a boyfriend and Miles Archer is too emotionally damaged to want a girlfriend, so all that leaves is sex. 

Tate thought it would be easy, simple even. They have rules and when they stick to them no one gets hurt. But Tate finds herself wanting more from their arrangement and Miles keeps giving her hope that there might be something more to them then their physical connection. 

But in order for Tate to break down Miles' walls and make him open up to her she has to learn about his past, the one he keeps guarded, the one that she swore never to ask about. 

Love is a lot of things and Colleen Hoover does a spectacular job of showing us all the ugliest parts of it. 

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I blew through this book, it probably took me less than 6 hours to read it start to finish and when I did finish I was wrecked. 

I can't even tell you how much I love Colleen's ability to take a story such as this one, one about 'friends with benefits' and tell it in a way that's completely unique and (thankfully) lacks all of cliches. 

I loved Tate as a character and (of course) I instantly fell for Miles and his puppy dog eyes. 

I really enjoyed the lack of other characters, yes there were small bits and pieces with other people passing through but for the most part it was solely Miles and Tate and I feel like with anyone else's characters it would've gotten old real fast but Colleens characters are so lively and so complex that the whole book could have been set in an 8x10 room with just the two of them and it still would've been amazing. 

I don't want to go into too much detail about the book because I feel like if I do I'll give something away so I'll just end by saying that Colleen has this magically way of tugging on your heartstrings and forcing you to believe in true love, even the ugly kind. 

Until next time, 

Ginger 

Review of "Top Ten Clues You're Clueless"

Top Ten Clues You're Clueless 

By Liz Czuaks 

Stars: 5 

Source: OTSPSecret Sister Gift 

Chloe is constantly making lists, lists of the weirdest things she's ever seen, lists of things you've never want to hear your mother say, lists of things someone could do with 10,000 dollars. 

The last thing Chloe expected when she went into work on Christmas Eve was to be accused of stealing and held against her will in the break room along with the other under aged employees. But that's exactly what happens. 

Having read mysteries her whole life Chloe starts her own investigations into the disappearance of the money and recruits her fellow associates to help. 

Top Ten Clues You're Clueless is a fun, fast paced, read that will have you flipping the pages faster than you can read them. 

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Top 5 reasons I adored this book: 

1. Chloe. She was hilarious, I loved her inner dialog and of course her lists. 

2. The lists. I don't know about you but I am constantly making up lists, to-do lists, not to-do lists, lists of books I want to read, movies I want to watch, places I want to visit. I'm all about the lists! 

3. The mystery element. I had NO idea this was a mystery. I vaugly remember putting it on my wish list because I liked the cover and the story sounded interesting but the synopsis didn't mention anything about the missing money so that was an added bonus. 

4. The other characters. I'm not going to lie. The second all of them were locked up in the break room I started picturing them as characters from The Breakfast Club, it had that John Hughes touch to it. If they hadn't been forced to stay then they never would have learned so much about each other. 

5. The setting. I worked retail for 2 years and while I hated some aspects of it I still miss it sometimes. Hanging out with my friends in the break room, meeting new people everyday. So I instantly loved the setting, even though nearly the entire book was set inside one store it was ever changing and surprising. 

Top 5 words to describe this book: 

1. Adorable. 

2. Quirky. 

3. Lovable. 

4. Refreshing. 

5. Fun. 

I cannot wait to read more from Liz (who also writes under a pen name, Ellie Cahill). 

Until next time, 

Ginger