Review | Grace and Dignity

Grace and Dignity: The Ark of the Sacred Scrolls (Volume 1) by Laura Grody

June 2, 2016 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

248 pages

Amazon + Good Reads

"Princess Grace and Prince Dignity, a royal couple with mystical powers, are set to be crowned king and queen of the magnificent Kingdom of Love. But on the eve of their coronation, disaster strikes, and Grace is told her prince has been murdered. Grief-stricken, the princess reportedly dies of a broken heart, and the shocked kingdom falls into the eager hands of Dignity’s unscrupulous cousin, Prince Denial. Months later, however, Grace is found alive with a gap in her memory, a loss of her powers, and a mysterious Pig Latin note suggesting Prince Dignity is very much alive. As she searches for her prince throughout the rundown kingdom, Grace stumbles upon an ancient secret known as the Cosmic Source—a powerful force which promises to revive her mystical powers and lead to an exciting new way of living. But with the crown title “throne” for a loop, the future of the Kingdom of Love hangs upon the prince’s Dignity. Find out if True Love conquers all in this mystical, linguistical tale! "

-Good Reads

Special thanks to the author, Laura Grody, for offering me a copy of her book in exchange for an honest review!

Review | Wither

Wither by Lauren DeStefano
March 2011 by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
358 pages
Amazon + Good Reads

"By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. 

When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can't bring herself to hate him as much as she'd like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband's strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?

Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom? "

-Good Reads

Review | A Kiss of Shadows

A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton
March 2006 by Ballantine Books
468 pages
Amazon + Good Reads

"My name is Meredith 'Merry' Gentry, but of course it's not my real name. I dare not even whisper my true name after dark for fear that one hushed word will travel over the night winds to the soft ear of my aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness. She wants me dead. I don't even know why...

I fled the high court of Faerie three years ago and have been in hiding ever since. As Merry Gentry, I am a private investigator for the Grey Detective Agency: Supernatural Problems, Magical Solutions. My magical skills, scorned at the courts of Faerie, are valued in the human world. Even by human standards, my magic isn't flashy, which is fine by me. Flashy attracts attention and I can't afford that.

Rumour has it that I am dead. Not quite. I am Princess Meredith NicEssus. To speak that name after dark is to call down a knock upon your door from a hand that can kill you with a touch. I have been careful, but not careful enough. The shadows have found me, and they are going to take me back home, one way or another.

So the running is over. But the fighting has just begun...

Rich, sensual, brimming with dangerous magic, A Kiss of Shadows is a dazzling tour-de-force where folklore, fantasy and erotically charged adventure collide."

-Good Reads

Review | Midnight in Austenland

 Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

January 2012 by Bloombury USA

277 pages

Amazon + Good Reads

"When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies.

Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in Charlotte's heart be a sign of real-life love?

The follow-up to reader favorite Austenland provides the same perfectly plotted pleasures, with a feisty new heroine, plenty of fresh and frightening twists, and the possibility of a romance that might just go beyond the proper bounds of Austen's world. How could it not turn out right in the end?"

Review | The Rosie Project

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
June 2014 by Simon and Schuster
295 pages
Amazon + Good Reads

"An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a "wonderful" husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical--most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent--and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie--and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

"The Rosie Project" is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges."

-Good Reads

Review | Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
April 2016 by Random House
492 pages
Amazon + Good Reads

"A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice

This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help—and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.

Youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia are too busy with their CrossFit workouts and Paleo diets to get jobs. Mary, the middle sister, is earning her third online master’s degree and barely leaves her room, except for those mysterious Tuesday-night outings she won’t discuss. And Mrs. Bennet has one thing on her mind: how to marry off her daughters, especially as Jane’s fortieth birthday fast approaches.

Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible. At a Fourth of July barbecue, Chip takes an immediate interest in Jane, but Chip’s friend neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy reveals himself to Liz to be much less charming. . . .

And yet, first impressions can be deceiving."

-Good Reads

Review | For the One

For the One by Brenna Aubrey
May 2016 by Silver Griffon Associates
281 pages
Amazon + Good Reads
*This book was received in exchange for an honest review.

"He’s got everything but game….

William Drake is an artistic genius with a photographic memory and the intensity to master practically any task. Oh, and he owns a chunk of a billion-dollar gaming company. A twenty-six year-old guy with his wealth, talent, and good looks shouldn’t have problems winning over women. Except he does. To be exact—and detail-obsessed William is always exact—he’s got problems with Jenna Kovac, the troubled beauty who has his heart working overtime and his tongue tied in knots. 

And she can’t afford to lose.

Jenna Kovac is a survivor. When war ripped her world apart, she lost her family, her homeland, and her one true love. She’s made a new life for herself in the US, but she’s learned that nothing is permanent, and some nights it’s not even safe to dream. When a scumbag sells her future out from under her, suddenly the only man who can get it back is William Drake, geeky—but scorching-hot—social disaster. William must learn to stay cool under pressure for the all-important duel he’s about to fight. Unless she can teach him to loosen up, she’ll lose everything.Again.

But Jenna’s got a few things to learn from this irresistibly enigmatic man. As they spend time together, they’re soon exchanging long, slow kisses—and painful secrets. There’s so much more to William. 

Something that might be worth taking one more risk…"

-Good Reads

Review | Capturing the Earl's Love

Capturing the Earl's Love by Jane Lark
May 2014 by HarperImpulse
69 pages
3/5 stars
Amazon + Good Reads

"Rupert Stanforth, Earl of Morton, is exasperated by his sister's choice of friend. Meredith Divine clings, using Rowena's plain appearance as a foil for her auburn curls and fuller figure. He would break the friendship, but the more he complains, the more time the girls spend together. Ceasing his disagreement, he hopes the friendship will die, believing Meredith will take a wrong step soon...

Meredith clings to her only friend, Lady Rowena Stanforth, despite the disgusted looks thrown by Rowena's proud, judgmental brother. Lord Morton cannot abide Meredith because of her low standing, but Meredith's heart favours him . . . then in his single act of kindness, Meredith grasps an opportunity she cannot resist... "

-Good Reads

Things I Love That Aren't Books | Bullet Journals

Hey, all!

Twice a month, I'm talking about something that I love that isn't a book... I have a rather obsessive personality and I can quickly get sucked into items, shows, movies, whatever that are not book related at all. Maybe you'll find something here that you love too!

Today I'm talking about bullet journaling.

If you're anything like me, you love stationary. You love planners and journals and pens... and, well, basically anything that can be found in stores like Paper Chase. I've always had a soft spot for planners and the system that I'm landing on for 2016 is the bullet journal method. If you've never heard of the BuJo system before, please stop and click here. This link will take you to an explanatory video created by the person who formulated the bullet journal.

I am a person who needs to actively work at letting go of the reigns and allowing room to make things a little messy at times. In the past, I've stressed myself out over creating The Perfect and Most Beautiful planners that I possibly could... only to be pushed over the edge when my meticulous creations turned out less than perfect. Believe me, I know that I'm painting myself as a crazy person but my description is not too far off of the mark.

Enter the bullet journal.

The entire premise of the BuJo system is that it is free form and can be ever evolving - if you allow it. And I am allowing it and surprisingly enough, it's working for me. I'm currently using an Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine (large, squared) as my journal and I love it. I love that I am simultaneously planning my life and getting stuff accomplished, all while forcing myself to be okay when layouts and lists aren't perfect.

If you'd like more information about bullet journaling - Google it. I'm serious. There are thousands of other people out there who are utilizing the system and making content about it. If you'd like to see the inside of my BuJo, let me know in the comments below. Maybe I'll do a follow-up post next month.

That's it for now. I hope that you have a great day and happy planning. Let me know which planner you're using in 2016!

-Alyssa

Review | Opulence

Opulence by Angelica Chase
April 2015
112 pages
3/5 stars
Amazon + Good Reads

"When I was twenty-eight years old, I wrote my own winning lottery ticket. A simple idea thrust me onto the fast track to wealth, and into a world I had only ever dreamt about. I submerged myself in the unfamiliar, a life that seemed all too alluring … until it lost its appeal.

I made my fortune, built my castle, and then exiled myself within its comforts once reality set in.

Far too late, I discovered I was drowning in a sea of hungry sharks. Given the choice to sink or swim, I chose the latter … and it cost me everything.

Devin McIntyre, the most dangerous shark of them all, was the last nail in my naïve coffin. His beautiful smile and amazing cock tainted me in ways I could have never imagined. 

I craved him. I needed him. I loved him.

Miserable with the outcome of my prosperity, I set out to change what disgusted me most—the first decision being to rid myself of Devin. Little did I know that taking that first step would make me a slave to a man far more tempting … or that my addiction to Devin would threaten to ruin it all."

-Good Reads

Review | My Japanese Husband Thinks I'm Crazy

My Japanese Husband Thinks I'm Crazy by Grace Buchele Mineta
October 2014 by Texan in Tokyo
172 pages
Amazon + Good Reads
4/5 stars

""My Japanese Husband Thinks I'm Crazy: The Comic Book" is the autobiographical misadventures of a native Texan freelancer and her Japanese "salaryman" husband: in comic book form. From earthquakes and crowded trains, to hilarious cultural faux pas, this comic explores the joys of living and working abroad, intercultural marriages, and trying to make a decent pot roast on Thanksgiving."

-Good Reads

Things I Love That Aren't Books | Limetown

Hey, all!

Twice a month, I'm talking about something that I love that isn't a book... I have a rather obsessive personality and I can quickly get sucked into items, shows, movies, whatever that are not book related at all. Maybe you'll find something here that you love too!

Today I'm talking about Limetown.

Limetown is self described as a fictional podcast produced by Two-Up Productions. Here's the synopsis from their website:

"

Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again.

In this seven-part podcast, American Public Radio host Lia Haddock asks the question once more, "What happened to the people of Limetown?"

"

Limetown is a chilling podcast that is fashioned in a way that mirrors Serial - a podcast from the creators of This American Life - that follows very real stories that the Serial journalists attempt to uncover the truth about. 

I personally am a huge fan of podcasts and, like many others who also enjoy podcasts or even just NPR, I fell quickly in love with Serial. I binge listened to the first season and anxiously counted down the days until the launch of the second season. So, when Hank Green recommended Limetown in an episode of Dear Hank and John, I had to check it out. 

I was not disappointed.

The creators of Limetown marry the journalistic technique of Serial that I've come to love with a really bone chilling story of a fictional town. If you're a lover of podcasts, I highly recommend that you check this one out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

-Alyssa

Review | Consumed

Consumed by Alycia Taylor
June 2014
81 pages
Amazon + Good Reads
Rating: 2/5 stars 

"I got a late start signing up for college and now all the dorms were filled. So I looked in the most logical spot for a place to stay, the newspaper. After finding an apartment with a guy that was supposedly an MMA fighter and only walking distance to the college, I sent first month's rent payment. 

He seemed nice on the phone but when I showed up and knocked on the door I learned that I broke his number one rule, don't ever interrupt his "business". Will I be able to ignore the most popular guy on campus constantly hitting on me or will I give in and find that he's something more?"

-Good Reads

Review | For the Win

For the Win by Brenna Aubrey
June 2015 by Silver Griffin Associates
326 pages
Rating: 5/5 stars
*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Good Reads + Amazon

"Millionaire bad boy Jordan Fawkes has problems. Big problems. 
That molten-hot intern he hooked up with at Comic-Con is now his assistant. No one can know they’re the stars of the cosplay sex tape that broke the Internet.

Business school hopeful April Weiss has drama. Big drama. 
Working under the CFO of Draco Multimedia should be the opportunity of a lifetime for her, but Jordan Fawkes is the boss from Hell—a sexier-than-sin boss from Hell who holds all the cards for her future career.

And then there’s the small problem of a certain video…"

-Good Reads

Review | Alive by Chandler Baker

Alive by Chandler Baker 
June 2015 by Disney-Hyperion
368 pages
Amazon + Good Reads
Rating: 3/5 stars
*I received a copy of this  book in exchange for an honest review from Kaye Publicity!

"Stella Cross's heart is poisoned.

After years on the transplant waiting list, she's running out of hope that she'll ever see her eighteenth birthday. Then, miraculously, Stella receives the transplant she needs to survive.

Determined to embrace everything she came so close to losing, Stella throws herself into her new life. But her recovery is marred by strange side effects: Nightmares. Hallucinations. A recurring pain that flares every day at the exact same moment. Then Stella meets Levi Zin, the new boy on everyone's radar at her Seattle prep school. Stella has never felt more drawn to anyone in her life, and soon she and Levi are inseparable.

Stella is convinced that Levi is her soul mate. Why else would she literally ache for him when they are apart?

After all, the heart never lies...does it?"

-Good Reads

Review | The Princess and the Penis by R.J. Silver

The Princess & the Penis by R.J. Silver
September 2011, Kindle Edition
71 pages
Amazon + Good Reads

"A beautiful, chaste, and completely naive princess encounters a strange lump in her mattress. The lump soon morphs into a shape familiar to everyone but her, triggering her curiosity and her father's greatest fears. He frantically tries to intervene, but having a large phantom phallus in a curious maiden's bed is never a good combination." - Good Reads

Review | Indecent

The Cage Sessions: Indecent (#1) by Skylar Cross

May 2014 by Amazon Digital Services

94 pages

Amazon + Good Reads

"Book 1 of the multi-episode series The Cage Sessions 

Annika is a reporter for MiamiImproper.com, a struggling web magazine. Damien Cage is rock star frontman for the Platinum-selling band Eon Sphinx. 

When her boss sends Annika to interview Damien at his Biscayne Bay estate, she can't believe it. Now 22 and trying to find her path in life, Annika is trying to let go of her strict religious upbringing. She yearns to be sexually free, enjoying all that life has to offer. 

Just turned 30, Damien is surrounded by beautiful girls. He trains them in the "Deviant Arts of Pleasure." But none of them are on his level. Disillusioned and jaded with the music industry, he has quit his band in search of something more meaningful out of life. 

When Annika and Damien meet, sparks fly. The steam between them is hotter than the Florida sunshine. 

Damien makes an offer to Annika. Neither realizes it yet, but it's an offer that will fill their lives with both deep meaning AND sizzling passion... starting at one of Damien's infamous Friday night parties full of decadence and debauchery. "

-Good Reads

Review | Accidentally Married

Accidentally Married by Victorine E. Lieske
Received from NetGalley
May 2014 by CreateSpace
314 pages
Amazon + Good Reads

"Madison Nichols, aspiring actress, is floundering. Her rent is due and she needs a job. Desperately. After getting a tip about an open position, she rushes to Jameson Technologies and meets CEO Jared Jameson. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, she is put in the awkward position of pretending to be his girlfriend. Not the job she was applying for. And when she finds out Jared lied to her to get what he wanted, she decides to get back at him. In front of his family. Jared is stunned when Madison announces they are getting married. She pushed her revenge too far. How can he tell them it's all a lie? And when his sick aunt asks them to be married before she dies, Madison comes up with a hair-brained plan to hire an actor and stage a fake wedding. What they both don't know is Jared's father has found out about the fake wedding. And he's got his own hair-brained plan."

-Good Reads

Review | The 100

The 100 by Kass Morgan
Received from NetGalley
September 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
323 pages
Amazon + Good Reads

"In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again."

-Good Reads

Review | How We Deal with Gravity

How We Deal with Gravity by Ginger Scott
Received from NetGalley
July 2014
244 pages
Amazon + Good Reads

"When her son Max was diagnosed with autism, Avery Abbot’s life changed forever. Her husband left, and her own dreams became a distant fantasy—always second to fighting never-ending battles to make sure Max was given opportunity, love and respect. Finding someone to fight along her side wasn’t even on her list, and she’d come to terms with the fact that she could never be her own priority again. 

But a familiar face walking into her life in the form of 25-year-old Mason Street had Avery’s heart waging a war within. Mason was a failure. When he left his hometown five years ago, he was never coming back—it was only a matter of time before his records hit the billboard charts. Women, booze and rock-n-roll—that was it for him. But it seemed fate had a different plan in mind, and with a dropped record contract, little money and nowhere to go, Mason turned to the only family that ever made him feel home—the Abbots. 

Avery loved Mason silently for years—until he broke her heart…completely. But time and life have a funny way of changing people, and sometimes second chances are there for a reason. Could this one save them both?"