Showing posts with label Kensington Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kensington Books. Show all posts

August 2, 2011

August Reading Goals

Seriously, I think I fell down the rabbit’s hole last month. I found myself burned out and I didn’t feel like reading, blogging, or anything else for that matter. I think I read a total of 4 books for the month. Do you ever feel like that? What do you do to get out of the hole?

Anyways, since today is a new month (new beginning). I’ve decided that I’m going to set a reading goal and try to stick to it. Other than two weekend trips I’m taking this month, things should be fairly quiet in my world.

Below is a list of books I would love to actually get around to reading, in no particular order.


Divergent (Divergent, #1) Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances. ~Goodreads Synopsis



Summer FriendsIn this compelling novel set against the beautiful backdrop of Ogunquit, Maine, the bestselling author of Tuscan Holiday and One Week in December portrays an unexpected friendship, and its consequences for two very different women as time inevitably sweeps them into adulthood. . .
Over the course of one eventful summer, nine-year-old native Mainer Delphine Crandall and Maggie Weldon, a privileged girl "from away," become best friends. Despite the social gulf between them, their bond is strengthened during vacations spent rambling around Ogunquit's beaches and quiet country lanes, and lasts throughout their college years in Boston. It seems nothing can separate them, yet after graduation, Delphine and Maggie slowly drift in different directions. . .
With her MBA, Maggie acquires a lucrative career, and eventually marries. Delphine is drawn back home, her life steeped in family and the Maine community she loves. Twenty years pass, until one summer, Maggie announces she's returning to Ogunquit to pay an extended visit. And for the first time, the friends are drawn to reflect on their choices and compromises, the girls they were and the women they've become, the promises kept and broken—and the deep, lasting ties that even time can never quite wash away. . .~Goodreads Synopsis


Succubus Revealed (Georgina Kincaid, #6) In Georgina Kincaid, succubus and she-demon, #1 New York Times bestselling author Richelle Mead has created one of her most enticing characters. But with a shot at love, and maybe even redemption, is the ultimate seductress finally going soft? Like hell she is. . .
Georgina Kincaid has had an eternity to figure out the opposite sex, but sometimes they still surprise her. Take Seth Mortensen. The man has risked his soul to become Georgina's boyfriend. Still, with Lucifer for a boss, Georgina can't just hang up her killer heels and settle down to domestic bliss. In fact, she's being forced to transfer operations. . .to Las Vegas.
The City of Sin is a dream gig for a succubus, but Georgina's allies are suspicious. Why are the powers-that-be so eager to get her away from Seattle—and from Seth? Georgina is one of Hell's most valuable assets, but if there's any way out of the succubus business she plans to take it—no matter how much roadkill she leaves behind. She just hopes the casualties won't include the one man she's risking everything for. . .~Goodreads Synopsis

HushCross Your Heart
In the summer before their senior year, Coby Rendell and her friends take a beach trip together. Around a campfire on a foggy June night, Coby, Rhiannon, Yvette and the others share their darkest secrets, before a tragic accident shatters the bond between them . . .
And Hope
Twelve years later Coby attends a birthday party reunion that ends in horror when Yvette's sister's lifeless body is discovered in a hot tub. Soon others in the original group of tale-tellers begin meeting similar fates-unfortunate "accidents" shrinking their numbers one by one . . .
To Die
Conflicted by her growing feelings for Danner Lockwood, the investigating detective, Coby races to unravel a mystery buried in the past. But someone is watching her every move-someone prepared to kill again and again to protect a shocking truth.~Goodreads Synopsis


The Unbecoming of Mara DyerMara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
She's wrong. ~Goodreads Synopsis







The Near WitchThe Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.
These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.
As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.
Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget. ~Goodreads Synopsis


Do you set a reading goal for yourself every month? How do you tackle your reading pile?

July 21, 2011

Review: Torn By Erica O'Rourke

TornEveryone has secrets.
Even best friends.                                                 Swirling black descends like ravens, large enough to block the glow of the streetlights. A dull roar starts like a train on the 'L', a far-away rumbling that grows louder as it pulls closer, until it's directly overhead and you feel it in your chest, except this doesn't pass you by. Verity, white-faced and eyes blazing, shouts through the din, "Run, Mo!"
Mo Fitzgerald knows about secrets. But when she witnesses her best friend's murder, she discovers Verity was hiding things she never could have guessed. To find the answers she needs and the vengeance she craves, Mo—quiet, ordinary, unmagical Mo—will have to enter a world of raw magic and shifting alliances. And she'll have to choose between two very different, equally dangerous guys—protective, duty-bound Colin and brash, mysterious Luc. One wants to save her, one wants to claim her. Which would you choose?
Torn by Erica O'Rourke
Published: June 28, 2011 by Kensington Teen
Source: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest and thoughful review.
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Nobles



My Thoughts:


“I woke up to the smell of Lysol and the end of the world. In my defense, I didn’t know it was the end of the world at the time. I didn’t know anything, and it was better that way.” Pg. 1

Maura “Mo” Fitzgerald has just gone through what could be considered the worse day of her life, she just witnessed her best friend, Verity’s murder and finds herself laying in a hospital bed. Her life will never be the same again. Mo has been surrounding by secrets her entire life; she just didn’t realize it until now. Her world begins to fall apart as the one constant she knows has been violently ripped away from her. Mo struggles with dealing with her best friend’s death, wanting to seek revenge and trying to find out who she is.

I loved that Mo was an ordinary girl that was dropped into a magical world and there was nothing extraordinary about her, she was just “Mo” a shy, 17 yr old girl who has lost her best friend. This book has magic, deceit, and romance. It’s about a girl who has to get over her insecurity issues in order to seek the revenge that she so desperately wants. Everything Mo does reverts back to the question what would Verity do. She has lived so much of her life in the shadows, and is trying to set her own path.

The title of the book is excellent and very fitting for the story as Maura is torn between two worlds and two guys. The love interest tension is very high and believable but I’m not sure how I feel about Colin. Luc I could completely see the relationship; the struggle to choose whether or not they should fight what they feel. But, with Colin I’m not so sure I knew when it shifted from friends to something more, it almost seemed forced. But, don’t let this derail you, this book is definitely worth picking up.

This story was unique with its mob references and the magical world built around the four elements, fire, water, earth, and air. I love the author’s use of flashbacks; they transport you from the here and now to the past in an instant without any difficulty or choppiness in the reading. This story was fascinating and full of suspense; with each page that I turned I was eagerly waiting to find out what piece of the puzzle Mo would discover next. But, what I loved most about this book is that the book showed Mo's character grow within the first book, I didn't have to annoyingly wait two or three books before she became the person you knew she would become.  I really enjoyed this story and would give it 4 stars.

Mo’s journey isn’t over, it’s just the beginning and I am eager to see where the author takes us next. The next book in the series will be released in February 2012.

On a Side Note:

I went to the author’s blog the other day and found out that she post these awesome postcards from Verity addressed to Mo while she was visiting her aunt in New Orleans. I thought the concept was original and very cool.

You should check it out: Erica O'Rourke

June 3, 2011

Review: Deadly Intentions by Candace Poach

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Goodreads Synopsis: When Lisa Claxton starts her own cleaning business on Paradise Island, she may finally profit from her talent for whipping a house into shape--in more ways than one. A valuable Claxton heirloom, a golden bowl, is missing, and Lisa has tracked it down to a local home, which she quickly gets herself hired to clean. But when she arrives she finds a dead body--and flees right into the safe arms of an irresistibly handsome man. . .
But She's About To Find So Much More. . .
Injured Navy SEAL Brian Knight came to his grandfather's house to recuperate. He didn't expect to be greeted by a frightened beauty--or to get mixed up in her scheme. But Brian has to pursue the killer who invaded the house--and he's determined to pursue Lisa as well. Soon, the two are up against ruthless thieves whose intentions are more than deadly.


Publisher:           Kensington Books
Release Date:     5/1/2011
Purchase:           Amazon
                        Barnes & Noble   



My Thoughts:



I wasn’t sure how I would like this book, but once I picked it up the story flowed really well and I found myself hooked. Lisa is a woman on a mission to find a stolen heirloom and somehow she always finds herself in some kind of danger. Lisa lives in a small island where everyone around her either knows her or is related to her. Lisa is dealing with a lot of emotional baggage and believes by returning the bowl that this may be the way to redeem herself in her families eyes. Her family has roots that are deeply rooted in the island and their family history means everything to them. 
With the help of her sister, Lisa starts her own cleaning service and that’s when the trouble starts. Through some conniving and scheming she gets the contract to clean the house of the person she believes currently has the bowl in their possession. On her first day of the jobs she stumbles upon a murder scene and then things spiral down from there.

This story is full of suspense, mystery and romance. Some of the plots I figured out early on and knew where the writer was going with the story but it still kept my interest and the writing was engaging enough that I kept turning the pages.
The switching of narrators was a little confusing at times but after the first few switches, I got the hang of it and it didn’t really stop the reading flow.
Overall I enjoyed the story and would definitely read more books by this author.
If you like mystery and suspense you should try it out.
I give this book 3.5 stars.

*This book does have mature themes, so it isn’t suitable for anyone under the age of 18.

 
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