Waiting on Wednesday (43)

Waiting on Wednesday/s are hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine in which you choose a book or books that you're excited and waiting for.

This week's Waiting on Wednesday book is:

Title: Stripped

Author: Jasinda Wilder

Publication date: August 16th 2013

Pre-order the book: Amazon

So how did I get myself into this situation, you ask? Simple: desperation. When you're faced with being homeless and hungry or taking off your clothes for money, the choice is easier than you'd imagine. That doesn't make it easy, though. Oh no. I hate it, in fact. There's nothing I'd like more than to quit and never go into another bar again, never hear the techno beat pulsing in my ears again, never feel the lecherous gazes of horny men again. 

 Then, one day, I meet a man. He's in my club, front and center. He watches me do my routine, and his gaze is full of hunger. Not the kind of desire I'm used to though. It's something different. Something hotter, deeper, and more possessive. I know who he is; of course I do. Everyone knows who Dawson Kellor is. He's People Magazine's Sexiest Man alive. He's the hottest actor in Hollywood. He's the man hand-picked for the role of Rhett Butler in the long-awaited remake of Gone With the Wind. 

 He's the kind of man who can have any woman in the entire world with a mere crook of his finger. So what's he doing looking at me like he has to have me? And how do I resist him when he looks at me with those intoxicating, changeable, quicksilver eyes? 

 I'm a virgin, and he's an American icon of male sexuality. I'm a stripper, and he's a man used to getting anything and everything he wants. And he wants me. I know I should say no, I know he's the worst kind of player...but what my mind knows, my body and my heart may not. 

 And then things get complicated.

(Image and summary taken from Goodreads.)

Why I am excited for this book:

Stripped seems way too much of a fun book to pass up! The summary is so cool and interesting and I am seriously just dying to read it. A virgin stripper + a hot movie star = sexy times of epic proportions. *flails*

What's your WoW pick for this week? Leave us a comment and we'll check it out! :)

Cover Reveal: Only For You by Marquita Valentine

I absolutely loved the first book of Marquita Valentine's Boys of the South series (my review HERE) and I am so happy to be revealing the cover of its sequel, Only for You! (The girl on the cover is lovely!)

Title: Only For You (Boys of the South #2)

Author: Marquita Valentine

Publication date: September 2nd 2013

Loose ends left loose for too long tend to strangle.

Cole and Violet knew it wouldn’t be easy. They knew their relationship would take work. But when the press finds out about Violet Lynn’s newest boyfriend, they start digging.  And when his past come to light, exposing all of his family’s secrets, their relationship begins to fray.

Country Music’s Golden Boy, Jaxon Hunter, has it all, except the girl that got away. What she saw, she really didn’t. What she thought happened, he allowed her to believe for reasons so insane that no one would ever have believed him if he had confessed. But now that everything’s out in the open, he’s going to do his damndest to convince her that he’s the only one for her.

Now Violet must choose between Jaxon— her first love and the guy she thought had cheated on her—and Cole—the guy who helped her heal and love again.

Or will one of them make the decision for her?

About the author:

Nationally Bestselling Author, Marquita Valentine, writes small town romances that are anything but small. Lisa Kleypas, Carly Phillips and Rachel Gibson are her favorite contemporary authors. Marquita met her husband aka Hot Builder at Sonic when they were in high school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search of a good man -- and if that doesn't work, they can console themselves with cheesy tatertots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town with Hot Builder and their two children.

You can find her here:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Pinterest

Stacking the Shelves (26)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews! It's where bloggers can share what they got for review, bought, borrowed, won or gifted (both physical and eBooks may be included! :D)

Here are the awesome goodies I got this July!

Bought:

Down to You (The Bad Boys #1) by M. Leighton (Goodreads)

Vain (The Seven Deadly #1) by Fisher Amelie (Goodreads)

For review:

Stealing Harper (Taking Chances #2) by Molly McAdams (Goodreads)

Faking It (Losing It #2) by Cora Carmack (Goodreads) (REVIEW)

Spirit (Elemental #3) by Brigid Kemmerer (Goodreads)

*ARC* Antigoddess (Goddess Wars #1) by Kendare Blake (Goodreads)

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West (Goodreads)

*ARC* Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott (Goodreads)

*signed* Radiant by Christina Daley (Goodreads)

*ARC* The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce (Goodreads)

The Rules (Project Paper Doll #1) by Stacey Kade (Goodreads) (REVIEW)

Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society #3) by Ally Carter (Goodreads)

Beta (Annex #1) by Rachel Cohn (Goodreads)

Poison by Bridget Zinn (Goodreads)

Time Between Us (Time Between Us #1) by Tamara Ireland Stone (Goodreads)

*signed* Uninvited (South Hills Sidekicks #1) by Leah Spiegel and Megan Summers (Goodreads) 

Won:

*signed* Underneath by Sarah Jamila Stevenson (Goodreads)

*signed* Faking It (Losing It #2) by Cora Carmack (Goodreads)

SWAG:

A ton of SWAG. *flails*

A GINORMOUS thank you to these people: Elizabeth Richards, Jennifer Armentrout, Tiffany King, Jay Kristoff, Lydia Kang, Rachel Harris, Anna Banks, Cora Carmack, Sarah + HarperCollins, Dianne from Oops! I Read A Book Again, Lisa + Harlequin Teen, Alexis + Tor Teen, Cassie + Disney Hyperion, Sarah Jamila Stevenson, Giselle from Xpresso Reads, Leah Spiegel, Megan Summers, Christina Daley, Caroline + Strange Chemistry, Bryony Pearce, Fully Booked and as always, my parents! <3

ARC Review: Unbreak Me by Lexi Ryan

Title: Unbreak Me
Author: Lexi Ryan
Pages: 234 pages
Format acquired: eARC (ePub)
Publication date: May 31st 2013
Source: Received from the author (Thanks, AToMR Book Blog Tours and Lexi!)
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble



“If you’re broken, I’ll fix you…”

I’m only twenty-one and already damaged goods. A slut. A failure. A disappointment to my picture-perfect family as long as I can remember. I called off my wedding to William Bailey, the only man who thought I was worth fixing. A year later, he’s marrying my sister. Unless I ask him not to…

“If you shatter, I’ll find you…”

But now there’s Asher Logan, a broken man who sees the fractures in my façade and doesn’t want to fix me at all. Asher wants me to stop hiding, to stop pretending. Asher wants to break down my walls. But that means letting him see my ugly secrets and forgiving him for his. 

With my past weighing down on me, do I want the man who holds me together or the man who gives me permission to break?

(Image and summary taken from Goodreads.)

Review:

I honestly didn't expect Unbreak Me to be so intense. I thought that it would be about a girl with some kind of tortured past and a guy would swoop in and save her but no, it wasn't just that. There was so much emotion enveloping the book and it was so hard not to get tangled up in it. My heart broke too many times to count and by the end of the book, all I could ask for was a happy ending. Sometimes healing isn't about finding the broken pieces and putting it back together wiith super glue, it's about letting the old shattered pieces go and creating something new. That's the beauty of second chances, we think that we don't deserve them, but we actually do. Maggie had to learn that the hard way.

There was a lot of tension at the very beginning of the book, you could already feel the anxiety and weariness of the characters right as the story started. Mainly because the first chapter was about the wedding of William and Maggie's sister, in Maggie's point-of-view which was really sad and painful. I honestly thought that it was a bitch move of Maggie's sister because why the hell would you date and eventually get engaged with your sister's ex? That's against every moral code known to women. My heart literally heart for Maggie, it was just another thing to add to her pile of growing sadness. *shakes fist at the world* (Don't worry, the wedding was held off. Not a spoiler.) But basically, that's how the book started but not necessarily the story...

Maggie was a great protag. Yeah, she had her weak and vulnerable moments but her strong and witty ones outweighed her painfilled ones. Maggie has continuously been dealt with a shit hand of cards and no one knows when it'll all get better. All the pain and anger that surrounded her turned her into such a sad and resigned person, but you could still see that spark burning through. At twenty-one years old you would think that she hasn't experienced a lot of things but that is such a lie. Age doesn't matter because Maggie has been through way more than most adults would have expected. She didn't deserve a minute of it, especially dealing with it alone. Maggie is such a brave and strong woman, I seriously look up to her like crazy. And through it all, she's shed some tears but still manages to find humor in the world. Amazing. Just, amazing.

I really didn't know whose team I was in at first. I was originally leaning towards Williams because he was so hellbent on fixing Maggie that I couldn't help but cheer for him and since they do have a history together, I just felt that maybe they deserved another chance to be together... but when Asher came, all my senses were lost. Here was a man just as broken and misunderstood as Maggie. Someone trying to fit into the world but feels like that his original spot has been filled up by someone else. His empathy towards Maggie warmed me up all over. He understood her and didn't try to fix what was already broken because he knew that no matter how much you tried to fix something broken, there will always be cracks showing. He was sensitive enough to know that wasn't what Maggie needed. Maggie needed someone to talk to without fear of being judged or hurt, all she needed was someone to comfort her and to not make her feel so alone. That was what she needed... and Asher knew that. William knew that she needed someone but he never took into consideration that she might not actually need fixing, and that was his fault to the end. Random but somewhere along the way, someone important but also unimportant makes an appearance. We shall see what you think of him/her. (There were so many words that I wanted to quote in this book but just didn't. Sigh. Lots of great stuff.)

Unbreak Me was a beautiful book, no doubt. It will make your heart ache and your eyes leak so many times that you shouldn't even bother counting anymore. I was genuinely surprised as to how much I enjoyed this book because I'm not normally into the whole drama/angsty side of books. The subject matter in this book is really heavy but it was so well executed that it wasn't even weird, just really sad. Unbreak Me is a definite favorite of mine and I really think that everyone needs to read this book. E-ve-ry-one. Lexi Ryan just knows how to write a book that enthralls and makes you feel, and those are always good things.

Rating:

.5

Cover Reveal: Secret by Brigid Kemmerer

My love for the Elemental series is not new. It's pretty obvious and very creepy. #Truth It's also why I am so freaking ecstatic to be revealing the cover for the fourth book of the Elemental series, Secret. ZOMG. Nick. *flails*

Title: Secret (Elemental #4)

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Publication date: January 28th 2014

Pre-order the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Indiebound

Nowhere is safe. Not even home…

Nick Merrick is stretched to the breaking point.

Keep his grades sky-high or he’ll never escape his hometown.

Keep his brother’s business going or the Merricks will be out on the street.

Keep the secret of where he’s going in the evenings from his own twin—or he’ll lose his family.

Keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who’s supposed to be his “girlfriend’s” partner.

Of course there’s also the homicidal freak Quinn has taken to hanging around, and the Elemental Guide counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers. There’s a storm coming. From all sides. And then some.

Nick Merrick, can you keep it together?

About the author:

Brigid Kemmerer is the author of The Elemental Series, about a family of four brothers who control the elements, and their battle with those who want them dead. Storm, Spark, and Spirit are available now wherever books are sold. To read the novella introducing Nick’s story, be sure to check out Breathless (http://www.brigidkemmerer.com/books/elemental-novellas/breathless/) available as an e-book only from major e-book retailers. You can learn more about Brigid and the Elemental boys at www.brigidkemmerer.com. 

Blog Tour: ARC Review + Giveaway: Romancing the Bookworm by Kate Evangelista

Click button for the tour schedule.

Title: Romancing the Bookworm
Author: Kate Evangelista
Format acquired: eARC (PDF)
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Publication date: July 9th 2013
Source: Received from blog host (Thanks, AToMR Book Blog Tour and Kate!)
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble



Sometimes, even the best-laid plans can unravel.

It's spring break, and Tamara Winters would rather stay on campus and read romance novels than flaunt her size-fourteen body on a beach. But her best friend, Rony, has other ideas. Against her wishes, Tamara is whisked away to picturesque Maverick Bay, where she's wrangled into waiting tables with Rony at the Shore Shack for its busy week leading to Maverick's Surf Invitational. There she meets fellow schoolmate Xavier Solomon, the Invitational's organizer and campus womanizer by reputation. From the moment Tamara sees him emerging from the waves like a hero in of one of her romance novels, all she wants to do is run away from the feelings he inspires in her.

Little does she know Xavier has been watching her for weeks now. In fact, after failed attempts at asking her out on campus, he's concocted a crazy plan: fabricating romantic situations straight out of her favorite books. Xavier quickly realizes that if Tamara gets a whiff of his designs, he might as well spell CREEPER across his forehead. Yet as they grow closer, he's convinced it's a risk worth taking. What he hasn't planned on, of course, is his drug-addicted, alcoholic stepbrother, who decides to join the fun and put a wrench in Xavier’s scheme.

Spring break is proving hotter than Tamara expected. Will her romance novels be able to compete?

(Image and summary provided by AToMR Book Blog Tours.)

Review:

I was actually pretty confused as to why Romancing the Bookworm's first title was "Maverick". I got that it was the place the book was mainly set up in, but I felt that it didn't really have the same pull as the new title. I don't know why I bothered even mentioning it, I just felt like I should. LOL Anyhoo, moving on...

Like I've constantly said, I love it when an author is so diverse (you know, being able to write good books in different genres) and Kate Evangelista is legit one of those authors. I didn't completely love Romancing the Bookworm as much as her other books but it definitely appealed to my New Adult addiction. Hot guy + reader protag + beach setting = swoon to the max! You just know that that combination will be deadly. One of the things I really enjoyed about Romancing the Bookworm is that it is such a chill and sweet book! It's so hard to find a book that lets you relax and is enjoyable without the angst and anger. And oh. Em. Gee. Xavier! Massive swoon. More on him later.

I like to think of myself as a really avid reader but when I read about Tamara, but reader confidence level went down a couple notches. That girl knows her books and while that's very appealing her love for books is borderline obsessive. I'm kind of like Tamara in a few ways, I'd rather read than party, I'd rather mentally ogle fictional boys than real ones and let's face it, I love book steam more than the real life one (you know what I'm talkin' 'bout. *wink wink*) I was pretty excited for Tamara when her best friend, whose name eludes me, forced her to go to the beach with her to work at her brother's bar (did I mention that it's a hot brother. Hehe!) I felt relieved knowing that she'd finally get her exposure and actually see real human being (I'm teasing here.) Tamara has the cutest reactions to things and when she first saw Xavier? Priceless.

Xavier definitely has that "wow"-factor when you read about him, he's what romance novels are made of. He's the dreamy guy that we all swoon about and the thing with him is that he's actually a pretty compassionate person. I love that he notices the little things and the fact he noticed a girl reading, hiding away from the rest of the human population? It's just the sweetest thing ever. I think the reason why I totally dug Xavier is because I'm sort of *cough* creepy at times as well. Most people would think that what he did was pretty creepy but it was really the thought that counted. And Xavier really put a lot of thought into Tamara.

Tamara and Xavier's story wasn't the only one I enjoyed. I loved reading about the connected between Tamara's best friend and Xavier's druggie brother. It was pretty sad but entertaining (evil Louisse.) Oh and I am crossing my fingers for a story about Tamara's best friend's brother. He's swoony too! I just realized how bad I am with names. Haha!

I enjoyed Romancing the Bookworm and it was a pretty decent New Adult novel. It had the right amount of steam and drama to not make it overkill or gross but it did have a couple of flaws, as well. It's a book I'd recommend to people who just want something light to read and enjoy because Romancing the Bookworm is both those things.

Rating:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author:

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. Ms. Evangelista lives in the Philippenes.

You can find her here:

Twitter / Blog / Facebook

Waiting on Wednesday (42)

Waiting on Wednesday/s are hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine in which you choose a book or books that you're excited and waiting for.

This week's Waiting on Wednesday book is:

Title: A Little Too Far (A Little Too Far #1)

Author: Lisa Desrochers

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication date: September 17th 2013

Pre-order the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Have you ever gone just a little too far?

Lexie Banks has. 

 Yep. She just had mind-blowing sex with her stepbrother. In her defense, she was on the rebound, and it’s more of a my-dad-happened-to-marry-a-woman-with-a-super-hot-son situation. But still, he’s been her best friend and confidant for the better part of the last few years … and is so off limits. It’s a good thing she’s leaving in two days for a year abroad in Rome. 

 But even thousands of miles away, Lexie can’t seem to escape trouble. Raised Catholic, she goes to confession in hopes of alleviating some of her guilt … and maybe not burning in hell. Instead, she stumbles out of the confessional and right into Alessandro Moretti, a young and very easy-on-the-eyes deacon … only eight months away from becoming a priest. Lexie and Alessandro grow closer, and when Alessandro’s signals start changing despite his vow of celibacy, she doesn’t know what to think. She’s torn between falling in love with the man she shouldn’t want and the man she can’t have. And she isn’t sure how she can live with herself either way.

(Image and summary taken from Goodreads.)

WHY I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK:

First off, the blurb! The blurb! (Please note that I am doing this in Dora the Explorer's voice.) Second, the cover! The cover! (Still the same voice.) And lastly, the blurb AND the cover!! *FLAILS* I am flailing like this, right now:

Cause when I read the blurb and saw the cover, I went like this:

And when I saw that the publication date is still on September, this happened:

And then this:

So if I don't get this book now, this will happen:

The story of my life...

So, what's your WoW pick this week? Drop us a comment and we'll check your post out! :)