July 2016 Reads + Monthly Recap

I've spent majority of 2016, from January to May, barely sleeping and working non-stop. Things have died down since this June and I think that is the reason why I've been feeling so lazy and unmotivated lately. Pssh. I hate this feeling but I don't know what to do to get out of it :(

Anyway, another not so good reading and blogging month here but it's better than last month, at least. I continue to hope that August will be the month when everything picks up and I feel like myself again.

Books I read this July:

   

[RELEASE EVENT] Spotlight + Excerpt + Giveaway + Review: Fool Me Once by Katee Robert

Fool Me Once
by Katee Robert
Series: Foolproof Love #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 1, 2016
Publisher: Entangled Brazen




Sparks will fly on this roadtrip from hell...Fool Me Once is the second novel in the Foolproof Love series from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Katee Robert and Entangled Publishing.

Synopsis:

They say opposites attract, but this is just ridiculous.

Aubry Kaiser doesn’t like people—actually, that’s not right. She loathes people. With her crippling anxiety, there’s no way she can demo her favorite video game at a convention with five thousand other people. Maybe if she brings someone to act as a shield…

But the only person available is the sexy cowboy she can’t stand.

Quinn Baldwyn is in a mess of his own. He’s been dodging his wealthy family’s matchmaking attempts—and life advice—for years, but with his sister’s wedding on the horizon, he needs of a shield of his own.

He and Aubry can barely hold down a civil conversation, but in bed…fireworks. And the closer they get to Quinn’s sister’s wedding, the more he realizes that he might actually like Aubry.

Now it’s up to him to convince her she might actually like him, too.

Get More information at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes

Review + Giveaway: Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan

Julia Vanishes
(Witch's Child #1)
by Catherine Egan




Julia has the unusual ability to be . . . unseen. Not invisible, exactly. Just beyond most people's senses.

It's a dangerous trait in a city that has banned all forms of magic and drowns witches in public Cleansings. But it's a useful trait for a thief and a spy. And Julia has learned--crime pays.

Her latest job is paying very well indeed. Julia is posing as a housemaid in the grand house of Mrs. Och, where an odd assortment of characters live and work: A disgraced professor who sends her to fetch parcels containing bullets, spiders, and poison. An aristocratic houseguest who is locked in the basement each night. And a mysterious young woman who is clearly in hiding--though from what or whom?

Worse, Julia suspects that there's a connection between these people and the killer leaving a trail of bodies across the frozen city.

The more she learns, the more she wants to be done with this unnatural job. To go back to the safety of her friends and fellow thieves. But Julia is entangled in a struggle between forces more powerful than she'd ever imagined. Escape will come at a terrible price.

July 2016 New Releases

New Book Releases this July 2016

*cover image links to Goodreads*

Defending Taylor (Hundred Oaks) by Miranda Kenneally Published: July 5, 2016 The Book Depository Amazon _____________ There are no mistakes in love. Captain of the soccer team, president of the Debate Club, contender for valedictorian: Taylor's always pushed herself to be perfect. After all, that's what is expected of a senator's daughter. But one impulsive decision-one lie to cover for her boyfriend-and Taylor's kicked out of private school. Everything she's worked so hard for is gone, and now she's starting over at Hundred Oaks High. Soccer has always been Taylor's escape from the pressures of school and family, but it's hard to fit in and play on a team that used to be her rival. The only person who seems to understand all that she's going through is her older brother's best friend, Ezra. Taylor's had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. But it's hard to trust after having been betrayed. Will Taylor repeat her past mistakes or can she score a fresh start?

Review: The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

The Darkest Corners
by Kara Thomas




The Darkest Corners is a psychological thriller about the lies little girls tell, and the deadly truths those lies become.

There are ghosts around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about it after what happened there that last summer. Memories of things so dark will burn themselves into your mind if you let them.

Callie never left. She moved to another house, so she doesn’t have to walk those same halls, but then Callie always was the stronger one. She can handle staring into the faces of her demons—and if she parties hard enough, maybe one day they’ll disappear for good.

Tessa and Callie have never talked about what they saw that night. After the trial, Callie drifted and Tessa moved, and childhood friends just have a way of losing touch.

But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth.

Only the closer Tessa gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away.

June 2016 Reads + Monthly Recap

I have been dreading this wrap-up ever since June ended. I didn't want to look at my reading challenge meter because I knew I wouldn't like it. Well, it's been long enough. It's time to face the music.

*heads over to Goodreads*

OMYGOSH!

[SPOTLIGHT] Excerpt + Giveaway: Elementals 3: The Head of Medusa by Michelle Madow

Filled with magic, thrilling adventure, and sweet romance, Elementals 3: The Head of Medusa is the latest installment in Michelle Madow’s exciting Elementals series. Follow Nicole and her fellow Elementals as they journey to the end of the world, unsure of who to trust, and facing choices that will put their lives and the entire world at risk. Will they all survive the mission? And if they don’t, will the ones who do be able to find the strength to continue?

[COVER and BLURB REVEAL] Elementals 4: The Portal to Kerberos by Michelle Madow

Filled with magic, thrilling adventure, and sweet romance, Elementals 4: The Portal to Kerberos, is the latest installment in Michelle Madow’s exciting Elementals series. Follow Nicole and her fellow Elementals as they journey to a new and dangerous world to save one of their own, battling monsters and trying to keep their sanity in a prison dimension designed to make them lose their minds.

Review: Wanderlost by Jen Malone

Wanderlost
by Jen Malone
Published: May 31, 2016




Not all those who wander are lost, but Aubree Sadler most definitely is on this novel’s whirlwind trip through Europe.

Aubree can’t think of a better place to be than in perfectly boring Ohio, and she’s ready for a relaxing summer. But when her older sister, Elizabeth, gets into real trouble, Aubree is talked into taking over Elizabeth’s summer job, leading a group of senior citizens on a bus tour through Europe.

Aubree doesn’t even make it to the first stop in Amsterdam before their perfect plan unravels, leaving her with no phone, no carefully prepared binder full of helpful facts, and an unexpected guest: the tour company owner’s son, Sam. Considering she’s pretending to be Elizabeth, she absolutely shouldn’t fall for him, but she can’t help it, especially with the most romantic European cities as the backdrop for their love story.

But her relationship with Sam is threatening to ruin her relationship with her sister, and she feels like she’s letting both of them down. Aubree knows this trip may show her who she really is—she just hopes she likes where she ends up.

June 2016 New Releases

New Book Releases this June 2016

*cover image links to Goodreads*

American Girls by Alison Umminger Published: June 7, 2016 The Book Depository Amazon ______________ She was looking for a place to land. Anna is a fifteen-year-old girl slouching toward adulthood, and she's had it with her life at home. So Anna "borrows" her stepmom's credit card an runs away to Los Angeles, where her half-sister takes her in. But LA isn't quite the glamorous escape Anna had imagined. As Anna spends her days on TV and movie sets, she engrosses herself in a project researching the murderous Manson girls—and although the violence in her own life isn't the kind that leaves physical scars, she begins to notice the parallels between herself and the lost girls of LA, and of America, past and present. In Anna's singular voice, we glimpse not only a picture of life on the B-list in LA, but also a clear-eyed reflection on being young, vulnerable, lost, and female in America—in short, on the B-list of life. Alison Umminger writes about girls, sex, violence, and which people society deems worthy of caring about, which ones it doesn't, in a way not often seen in YA fiction.

[RELEASE WEEK BLITZ] Spotlight + Giveaway: Royal Enchantment by Lia Davis

Fans of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are sure to fall in love with Lia Davis’ latest fantasy romance novella, ROYAL ENCHANTMENT!

Royal Enchantment
(Skeleton Key Book Series)
by Lia Davis
Published: June 15, 2016



One Skeleton Key. Endless Adventures.

Ava Green has made a name for herself in the real estate world by reconditioning old, historical homes with her partner and friend Jeff. But her newest project, a three-story Victorian in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, promises to be her biggest moneymaker yet. And one she’s undertaking on her own. During her first walk-through of the house, however, she discovers a locked door, and a skeleton key that seems to appear out of nowhere. Unlocking the door, she is transported to a mystical world of fae and mythickal creatures and meets the King of the Morna. The sovereign of the Dark Elves.

King Finn Sylcan has searched for the one who can bring the magick back to his world, Edra, for eons. An old prophecy told of a female of both Dark and Light elven descent, a hybrid both Calim and Morna. It is said she is the only one who can repair the damage the war between the Dark and Light kingdoms caused. But after searching for so long, Finn never dreamed that she’d just show up outside his palace walls. Or that she’d be his mate.

Review: Paper Princess by Erin Watt

Paper Princess
(The Royals #1)
by Erin Watt
Published: April 4, 2016




From strip clubs and truck stops to southern coast mansions and prep schools, one girl tries to stay true to herself.

These Royals will ruin you…

Ella Harper is a survivor—a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone.

Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from.

Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals.

He might be right.

Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees.

[RELEASE DAY BLITZ] Teaser + Giveaway: Remember Jamie Baker by Kelly Oram

Remember Jamie Baker is finally here and I almost can't believe it. After so many years!!! I think I'm going to cry... I miss the characters so much and it's going to be hard letting them go.

Remember Jamie Baker
(Jamie Baker #3)
by Kelly Oram

Publisher: Bluefields Publishing
Genre(s): YA sci-fi, comic book, romance

Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo

The explosive and long awaited conclusion to the Jamie Baker trilogy!

Plagued by memory loss, Jamie Baker searches high and low for the answers to who she is, where she comes from, and why she’s able to do things other humans can’t. A not-so-simple task when she’s hiding from the people responsible for her amnesia—an evil scientific research company that wants to capture her at any cost.

When Jamie’s quest for the truth reveals a devastating betrayal from the one person she thought she could trust, she’s forced to team up with a secret military organization in order to ensure her safety and stop Visticorp’s horrific human experimenting once and for all.

[SPOTLIGHT] Review + Excerpt + Giveaway: Foolproof Love by Katee Robert

Adam Meyer survived bucking broncos and the rough and tumble rodeo life, but can he survive coming home and falling in love with Jules Rodriguez? Foolproof Love is the first novel in the brand new series, Foolproof Love from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Katee Robert and Entangled Publishing.

May 2016 Reads + Monthly Recap

It's JUNE! Hi, June. It's back-to-school here in my country. Yep, summer here is over. Lucky me, I don't go to school anymore. In fact, I am having a vacatioooon!!! I'm not going too far. Just in my room. Ya know, with all ze books-- OHMYFREAKINGGOSH I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT MY BLOGOVERSARY. AGAIN!!!! This is supposed to be my FOURTH blogoversary. It's June 2, by the way. And FYI, I have NEVER celebrated it because I ALWAYS forget. I am so bad.

Anyway, I'm back now. For real. These past few days I have been sleeping A LOT -- just being lazy overall -- and it still feels like I haven't had enough. I have plenty of catching up to do though so here I am for my monthly recap. I don't even know if recap is the right word. I mean, what's there to recap? May was SUPER hectic. I didn't have any time for blogging or reading so there isn't much to tell but... here we go.

May 2016 Reads:

Just Checking In

Hi!

I know I haven't been present here for a quite a while now. In the past, despite a super busy schedule, I have managed to take some time and make something for this blog but lately I have a lot of things to take care of. Big things. Things that needs to be taken seriously.

Source

April 2016 Reads + Monthly Recap:

There's not much to recap. The bad news is -- I had A TON of work to finish this April and a lot more this May so it's going to be another busy month. Summer is going end very soon and I haven't had a proper vacation yet. I haven't even read the books on my summer to-be-read list as I planned to do for most of my time during vacation. Not only because of the pile of work waiting for me but also because I was in a huge reading slump. Talk about a stressful summer.

The good news is... I'm finally out of the slump. Care to guess how that happened? The looming deadlines and the amount of unfinished work, of course. That's when the procrastination level reaches its peak and your unread books suddenly looks oh-so-good. So this April I was able to read 9 books and 2 novellas despite the reading slump that I still suffered when the month started.

  

COVER REVEAL + Excerpt + Giveaway: Can't Forget by Colleen S. Myers

Is it better to be safe or loved?

[RELEASE DAY BLAST] Giveaway: Exquisite Karma by Ann Mayburn

Exquisite Karma 
(Iron Horse MC #4)
by Ann Mayburn
Published: April 21, 2016



Sarah

Life as the old lady of Carlos 'Beach' Rodriguez, National President of the Iron Horse MC, was everything I never knew I wanted. Not only did I have a good man who treated me like a queen and loved me like crazy, I also had a vast-extended family of rough and tumble bikers who accepted and welcomed me into their world without judgement. Unfortunately, good things don't last for a girl like me and just when I finally felt like I'd found my happily ever after my psychopath of a mother had to show up and destroy it. She betrayed me, betrayed the club, and put everyone I've ever loved in mortal danger. Our only chance of surviving this is for me to find her and recover the weapons that Iron Horse was moving for the Russian and Israeli mafia that she helped steal. I can only hope that Beach can forgive me for her sins.

Review: These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

These Shallow Graves
by Jennifer Donnelly
Published: October 27, 2015




Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo secretly dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly.

Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort accidentally shot himself while cleaning his revolver. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far too smart to clean a loaded gun.

The more Jo uncovers about her father’s death, the more her suspicions grow. There are too many secrets. And they all seem to be buried in plain sight. Then she meets Eddie—a young, brash, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. Only now it might be too late to stop.

The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and the truth is the dirtiest part of all.

April 2016 New Releases: Part 1

New Book Releases this April 2016

*cover image links to Goodreads*

South of Sunshine by Dana Elmendorf Published: April 1, 2016 The Book Depository Amazon _____________ What is Kaycee willing to risk for the sake of love? And what will she risk for acceptance? In Sunshine, Tennessee, the main event in town is Friday night football, the biggest party of the year is held in a field filled with pickup trucks, and church attendance is mandatory. For Kaycee Jean McCoy, life in Sunshine means dating guys she has no interest in, saying only “yes, ma’am” when the local bigots gossip at her mom’s cosmetics salon, and avoiding certain girls at all costs. Girls like Bren Dawson. Unlike Kaycee, Bren doesn’t really conceal who she is. But as the cool, worldly new girl, nobody at school seems to give her any trouble. Maybe there’s no harm if Kaycee gets closer to her too, as long as she can keep that part of her life a secret, especially from her family and her best friend. But the more serious things get with Bren, the harder it is to hide from everyone else. Kaycee knows Sunshine has a darker side for people like her, and she’s risking everything for the chance to truly be herself.

COVER and BLURB REVEAL + Giveaway: Elementals: The Head of Medusa by Michelle Madow

Filled with magic, thrilling adventure, and sweet romance, Elementals 3: The Head of Medusa is the latest installment in Michelle Madow’s exciting Elementals series. Follow Nicole and her fellow Elementals as they journey to the end of the world, unsure of who to trust, and facing choices that will put their lives and the entire world at risk. Will they all survive the mission? And if they don’t, will the ones who do be able to find the strength to continue?

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Movie

Earlier this year I read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Before everything else, let me say this: English isn't my first nor my second language. I am not very fluent and we didn't have Jane Austen and the like in our high school reading list. That said, Pride and Prejudice was really hard for me to get into and I struggled reading it at first but enjoyed it eventually. Still, the language barrier made me sad. I felt like I didn't get to experience the story in its fullness and that is just disheartening.

March 2016 Reads + Monthly Recap

It's summer in my country and I am currently on vacation. The perfect time to travel... which I did, for only one day and goodness it was so FREAKING hot. Thank god my cousin and I got to cool off at the end of it.

 

Excerpt + Giveaway: Guardian of Paradise by W.E. Lawrence

Guardian of Paradise
by W.E. Lawrence
Published: October 3, 2014




In 1888, Kira Wall, surviving daughter of missionaries swept away in a tsunami, lives a primitive, but enjoyable life with natives on an isolated island in the South Pacific. But her serene world is turned upside down when an Australian merchant ship, commanded by the sinister Captain Darcy Coleman, arrives with an overabundance of modern and lavish goods. Kira suspects ill intent. Chief Ariki refuses to listen to Kira’s warning, forcing her to uncover the real plan of the captain on her own. Unfortunately, she has a distraction. A six-foot tall, blond, and handsome distraction. Trevor Marshall, doctor and botanist, hopes to find exotic plants on the island to research new cures and medicines. He is dedicated to science, but when meeting the strong-willed, beautiful Kira Wall, he’d prefer to spend time researching her—all night.

The captain thwarts Kira’s attempts to call him out at every step, turning the village chief against her. With only Trevor and her best friend Malana by her side, she stalks the captain and his officers through the dense, predator infested jungle, toward the island’s inactive volcano. Frustrated by her failure to reveal the captain’s true intentions, Kira begins to think maybe she’s wrong about everything. Then an explosion and earthquake bigger than anyone on the island has ever seen renews her resolve. Was the blast natural or man-made? She is determined to prove it was the captain’s doing. Kira races against time and the island people’s naivety to stop the captain from destroying her home and killing everyone she loves.

Guardian of Paradise, by W. E. Lawrence, is a historical romance novel filled with action and adventure. It was published in October 2014 and is available for sale on Amazon.