Review: Champagne Toast

Title: Champagne Toast
Author: Melissa Brown
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Kate Armour and Evan Maxwell fell hard and fast for each other while attending college. Their once passionate and loving relationship ended when old scars eventually tore them apart. Two years after their breakup, they're each struggling to piece together what went wrong in an attempt to move forward.

Kate, a no-nonsense bartender, must face her past while attempting to focus on her future.

Evan is stifled by his bitter heart, which threatens each and every relationship he attempts after walking away from Kate.

Will life offer them a second chance at love or are old patterns simply too hard to break?

Joint Review: Requiem

Title: Requiem (Delirium #3)
Author: Lauren Oliver
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

As her country erupts in open rebellion, Lena fights for the resistance and must make a heartbreaking choice between two loves.

After saving Julian from a death sentence, Lena escapes with him and other members of the resistance. But as she embraces her love for Julian, a boy from her past returns and causes her to question everything. 

In the meantime, Lena's best friend, Hana, is engaged to Portland's young mayor and is living a safe, proscribed, loveless life. The story is told from both Lena and Hana's points of view.

As Lena struggles to save the people she loves, everything comes to a head in this exciting finale to Lauren Oliver's epic trilogy. REQUIEM is a sophisticated, wide-ranging novel that explores the large issues of society, government, and resistance, and of course, there is romance.

Review: Ten Tiny Breaths

Title: Ten Tiny Breaths
Author: K.A. Tucker
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them.

Four years ago Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, holding her boyfriend’s lifeless hand and listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, twenty-year-old Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. Struggling to make ends meet, Kacey needs to figure out how to get by. But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.

Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes, deep dimples, and he perfectly skates that irresistible line between nice guy and bad boy. Hardened by her tragic past, Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable and Trent is determined to find a way into Kacey’s guarded heart—even if it means that an explosive secret could shatter both their worlds.

Review: Wild Awake

Title: Wild Awake
Author: Hilary T. Smith
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Things you earnestly believe will happen while your parents are away:

1. You will remember to water the azaleas.

2. You will take detailed, accurate messages.

3. You will call your older brother, Denny, if even the slightest thing goes wrong.

4. You and your best friend/bandmate Lukas will win Battle of the Bands.

5. Amid the thrill of victory, Lukas will finally realize you are the girl of his dreams.

Things that actually happen:

1. A stranger calls who says he knew your sister.

2. He says he has her stuff.

3. What stuff? Her stuff.

4. You tell him your parents won’t be able to—

5. Sukey died five years ago; can’t he—

6. You pick up a pen.

7. You scribble down the address.

8. You get on your bike and go.

9. Things . . . get a little crazy after that.*

*also, you fall in love, but not with Lukas.

Both exhilarating and wrenching, Hilary T. Smith’s debut novel captures the messy glory of being alive, as seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd discovers love, loss, chaos, and murder woven into a summer of music, madness, piercing heartbreak, and intoxicating joy.

Teaser Tuesday: Ten Tiny Breaths

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading and slightly altered by Coffee, Books & Lipgloss

Basically a CBL TEASER TUESDAY works like this:

• Grab your current read

• Share 2 “teaser” sentences from a random page or a part you rather enjoyed and post it as a teaser.

• 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!

• As an option, you can give a short snippet of what you think so far... or not. That's optional.

• Share the TITLE and AUTHOR too, so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

For this week's Teaser Tuesday: *drum roll*

Title: Ten Tiny Breaths

Author: K.A. Tucker

Publication Date: February 12, 2013

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them.

Four years ago Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, holding her boyfriend’s lifeless hand and listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, twenty-year-old Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. Struggling to make ends meet, Kacey needs to figure out how to get by. But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.

Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes, deep dimples, and he perfectly skates that irresistible line between nice guy and bad boy. Hardened by her tragic past, Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable and Trent is determined to find a way into Kacey’s guarded heart—even if it means that an explosive secret could shatter both their worlds.

Review: Unravel Me

Title: Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2)

Author: Tahereh Mafi

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

Review: Destroy Me

Title: Destroy Me (Shatter Me #1.5)
Author: Tahereh Mafi
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

In Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner—and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of. . .

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

Teaser Tuesday: Wild Awake

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading and slightly altered by Coffee, Books & Lipgloss

Basically a CBL TEASER TUESDAY works like this:

• Grab your current read

• Share 2 “teaser” sentences from a random page or a part you rather enjoyed and post it as a teaser.

• 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!

• As an option, you can give a short snippet of what you think so far... or not. That's optional.

• Share the TITLE and AUTHOR too, so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

For this week's Teaser Tuesday: *drum roll*

Title: Wild Awake

Author: Hilary T. Smith

Publication Date: May 28, 2013

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Things you earnestly believe will happen while your parents are away:

1. You will remember to water the azaleas.

2. You will take detailed, accurate messages.

3. You will call your older brother, Denny, if even the slightest thing goes wrong.

4. You and your best friend/bandmate Lukas will win Battle of the Bands.

5. Amid the thrill of victory, Lukas will finally realize you are the girl of his dreams.

Things that actually happen:

1. A stranger calls who says he knew your sister.

2. He says he has her stuff.

3. What stuff? Her stuff.

4. You tell him your parents won’t be able to—

5. Sukey died five years ago; can’t he—

6. You pick up a pen.

7. You scribble down the address.

8. You get on your bike and go.

9. Things . . . get a little crazy after that.*

*also, you fall in love, but not with Lukas.

Both exhilarating and wrenching, Hilary T. Smith’s debut novel captures the messy glory of being alive, as seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd discovers love, loss, chaos, and murder woven into a summer of music, madness, piercing heartbreak, and intoxicating joy.

Blog Tour: More Than You Know (Giveaway)

Title: More Than You Know
Author: Alexandria Rhodes
Release Date: May 14th, 2013
Purchase: Amazon

After surviving a devastating car accident that took her father's life, Bryn Woods feels like she has nothing left in her hometown of Savannah, GA. Along with losing her father, her boyfriend, Tyler, unexpectedly leaves town the same time of the accident. Feeling alone, broke and confused, Bryn leaves Savannah for college in New York City to escape her heartbreak.

Four years later, Bryn returns to Savannah to live in her childhood home. Slowly, she begins to let the people of her past back into her life. She lets the protective walls she's built to protect herself crash down around her. As she begins to find love again with Tyler, secrets start to unravel themselves about his past. Tyler has secrets of his own. Secrets connected to the death of Bryn's father. Secrets Tyler didn't even know he kept.

What's the latest buzz?

I know this is overdue but two days ago, the cover for Allegiant has been revealed. When the title was revealed, I was a bit disappointed because it doesn't end in -ent. I know that's a sloppy reason but consistency, people! Anyway, now that the cover has been revealed, the first thing that came into me when I saw it was, why orange? Stupid, right? I know it seems to signify a fire, sort of. Maybe the fire burning inside Tris which drives her to make a change. But I personally detest that color so yeah.

As for the water symbol, the first thing I thought of was Percy Jackson. No joke! As far as I can remember, it is not a symbol of any factions. So I thought maybe it means that it would wash the factions, whatever that cause the division among the people and finally make them one.

What about you? What do you think of the cover, the title and specifically the swirling water?

In other news, we finally have our Augustus Waters in the form of Ansel Elgort. Familiar? Of course, it's because he also plays Caleb in the movie adaptation of Divergent. Lucky bastard. A few hours ago, EW just announced that Elgort was offered the role of our beloved Gus and would play opposite to Shailene Woodley.

Here's a part of the article with quoted statements from John Green and director, Josh Boone:

“Ansel is whip-smart and uber-charismatic and everything I dreamed for Augustus Waters,” John Green tells EW in an exclusive statement. “I am by nature a cautious pessimist, but I’ll just say it: Now that we have Shailene and Ansel, I am completely, unreservedly psyched about this movie.” 

Director Josh Boone tells EW: “Ansel Elgort is the epitome of the boy John Green brought to life so vividly in his novel and he truly embodies the character traits we admire so much about Gus. His humor, sensitivity, honesty and confidence floored us. Watching him with Shailene was like seeing the film for the first time. Hearing then say okay to each other was incredibly moving. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have found our Gus.”

I gotta admit, I saw Gus in some of his pictures when I google-d him. I can imagine that he can definitely bring us Gus's humor and sexy confidence. He might be working on some stunts on the Divergent set right now, but I can see that he will make us cry soon.

What about you? Can you see Gus in him too?

Post your thoughts below! :)

Review: Shatter Me

Title: Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1)
Author: Tahereh Mafi

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.

Review: Charade

Title: Charade
Author: Nyrae Dawn
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne tries to portray the perfect life to mask the memories of her past. Walking in on her boyfriend with another woman her freshman year in college threatens that picture of perfection.

Twenty-one-year-old Colt never wanted college and never expected to amount to anything, but when his mom's dying wish is for him to get his degree, he has no choice but to pretend it's what he wants too. 

Cheyenne needs a fake boyfriend to get back at her ex and Colt needs cash to take care of his mom, so they strike a deal that helps them both. But what if Cheyenne’s past isn’t what she thought? Soon they’re trading one charade for another—losing themselves in each other to forget about their pain. The more they play their game, the more it becomes the only thing they have that feels real.

Both Cheyenne and Colt know life is never easy, but neither of them expect the tragedy that threatens to end their charade and rip them apart forever.

Teaser Tuesday: Unravel Me

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading and slightly altered by Coffee, Books & Lipgloss

Basically a CBL TEASER TUESDAY works like this:

• Grab your current read

• Share 2 “teaser” sentences from a random page or a part you rather enjoyed and post it as a teaser.

• 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!

• As an option, you can give a short snippet of what you think so far... or not. That's optional.

• Share the TITLE and AUTHOR too, so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

For this week's Teaser Tuesday: *drum roll*

Title: Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2)

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publication Date: February 5, 2013

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

Book Blitz: Come Back to Me (Excerpt + Guest Post + Giveaway)

Title: Come Back to Me
Author: Coleen Patrick
Release Date: March 4, 2013
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Whitney Denison can’t wait to start over.

She thought she had everything under control, that her future would always include her best friend Katie… Until everything changed.

Now her life in Bloom is one big morning after hangover, filled with regret, grief, and tiny pinpricks of reminders that she was once happy. A happy she ruined. A happy she can’t fix.
So, she is counting down the days until she leaves home for Colson University, cramming her summer with busywork she didn’t finish her senior year, and taking on new hobbies that involve glue and glitter, and dodging anyone who reminds her of her old life.

When she runs into the stranger who drove her home on graduation night, after she’d passed out next to a ditch, she feels herself sinking again. The key to surviving the summer in Bloom is unraveling whatever good memories she can from that night.

But in searching for answers, she’ll have to ask for help and that means turning to Evan, the stranger, and Kyle, Katie’s ex-boyfriend. Suddenly, life flips again, and Whitney finds herself on not only the precipice of happy but love, too, causing her to question whether she can trust her feelings, or if she is falling into her old patterns of extremes.

As she uncovers the truth about her memories, Whitney sees that life isn’t all or nothing, and that happy isn’t something to wait for, that instead, happy might just be a choice.

Review: The One That I Want

Title: The One That I Want

Author: Jennifer Echols

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Gemma can’t believe her luck when the star football player starts flirting with her. Max is totally swoon-worthy, and even gets her quirky sense of humor. So when he asks out her so-called best friend Addison, Gemma’s heartbroken.

Then Addison pressures Gemma to join the date with one of Max’s friends. But the more time they all spend together, the harder Gemma falls for Max. She can’t help thinking that Max likes her back—it’s just too bad he’s already dating Addison. How can Gemma get the guy she wants without going after her best friend’s boyfriend?

Review: The Vinyl Princess

Title: The Vinyl Princess

Author: Yvonne Prinz

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Summer is here, and 16-year-old Allie, a self-professed music geek, is exactly where she wants to be: working full-time at Berkeley's ultra-cool Bob and Bob Records. There, Allie can spend her days bantering with the street people, talking the talk with the staff, shepherding the uncool bridge-and-tunnel shoppers, all the while blissfully surrounded by music, music, music. It's the perfect setup for her to develop her secret identity as The Vinyl Princess, author of both a brand-new zine and blog. From the safety of her favourite place on earth, Allie is poised to have it all: love, music and blogging. Her mother, though, is actually the one getting the dates, and business at Allie's beloved record store is becoming dangerously slow--not to mention that there have been a string of robberies in the neighbourhood. At least her blog seems to be gaining interest, one vinyl junkie at a time....