BLOG TOUR - REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Darkest Day (The 19th Year #3) by Emi Gayle

Mac Thorne’s time as a Changeling is coming to an end. 

It may have taken eighteen years, but Mac did finally manage to do what the Council wanted: she chose a teacher and renounced the in-between. 

There’s just one last step. She must say goodbye to her human. Forever. 

After being challenged in every way possible, Mac leaves what she thought would be the easiest task for the last possible moment. As midnight on July fourth draws near, though, she hasn’t found a way to give up Winn Thomas. 

Nor does she want to. 

With time running out, Mac stands at a literal crossroads. Choose Winn, and she’ll be stripped of the only family she’s ever known — vampires, dragons, and her favorite demon. Even her own mother. Accept her position on the Council and rule as an equal to her twelve peers, and she’ll forget Winn ever existed. 

Independence and freedom have never before been so limiting. 

In this final chapter of the 19th Year Trilogy, it’s time for Mac to decide. 

Responsibility? Or Love?

You can take a guess via a poll at what form you think Mac will choose HERE

My Thoughts:

My entire nineteen years had all come down to one moment. One, single, solitary moment.

When I received my review copy of Darkest Day I was bouncing with excitement!!! I have loved this series and these characters so much. I have taken the journey with them through all their ups and downs. I have cried with them, laughed with them and loved with them. But then something pulled me up. Once I started reading it I knew I wouldn't be able to put it down, and then it would be all over. I didn't want that. But then I was desperate to know what choices Mac would make and what the outcome would be for her and Winn. And so it was with mixed emotions that I finally dove into Darkest Day...

And so everything has been leading up to this moment for Mac. Making her big decision. The choice of what form she will take once she reaches her nineteenth birthday. How do you make such a choice, when doing so will tear you from the boy you love? A boy you love more and more with each passing day. Mac was so Mac in this book, but she also grew so much. I felt she became a much more well rounded character. Yes, she had moments of being feisty and hot headed. She wouldn't be Mac if she didn't and I love that side of her, but she just became more. When you compare the Mac that we had at the start of the series to the Mac we had at the end, it was impossible not to completely love the person that she became. And then there is Winn. He was again just as perfect as he has been in each book. Always loving, always caring, and always supportive. They compliment each other to a tee.

"We love who we love, and those who are worthy of that affection, of that emotion, of that gift, will earn it. They will find a way to be grateful for your presence in their life, not the other way around."

Mac and Winn's love really shone through so much for me in this book. I never doubted their connection, but it was just a whole different level this time around. Their need to be together and make the most of the ever dwindling time that they had left with each other really tugged at my heartstrings. 

Mac smiled. She laughed. She kissed me back. She made me love her. I had no choice.

I always find that Emi Gayle writes with such fantastic pacing. I find myself at each turn eagerly wondering whats going to happen next. Never a dull moment or a lull in intensity. Even when things are moving along at a nice even pace, I'm devouring the words, so intent on finding out what is in store next. And Darkest Day has twists and turns aplenty.

Emi Gayle has outdone herself this time around. She nailed this one, and then some. Darkest Day is in my opinion the best book in the series by far. It was everything I could have hoped for. It was heartbreak. It was finding answers. It was understanding. It was choices. It was love. It was so damn amazing. The most perfect ending to a perfect series. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

5/5 Completely Outstanding Mac and Winn Stars

 

After Dark (The 19th Year #1)

Day After (The 19th Year #2)

Author Bio:

Emi Gayle just wants to be young again. She lives vicariously through her youthful characters, while simultaneously acting as chief-Mom to her teenage son and searching for a way to keep her two daughters from ever reaching the dreaded teen years.

Ironically, those years were some of Emi's favorite times. She met the man of her dreams at 14, was engaged to him at 19, married him at 20 and she's still in love with him to this day. She'll never forget what it was like to fall in love at such a young age — emotions she wants everyone to feel.

Author Links:
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WAITING ON WEDNESDAY #52: Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

From the acclaimed author of Brooklyn, Burning comes Guy in Real Life, an achingly real and profoundly moving love story in the vein of Rainbow Rowell and John Green, about two Minnesota teens whose lives become intertwined through school, role-playing games, and a chance two-a.m. bike accident.

It is Labor Day weekend in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and boy and girl collide on a dark street at two thirty in the morning: Lesh, who wears black, listens to metal, and plays MMOs; Svetlana, who embroiders her skirts, listens to Björk and Berlioz, and dungeon masters her own RPG. They should pick themselves up, continue on their way, and never talk to each other again.

But they don't.

This is a story of two people who do not belong in each other's lives, who find each other at a time when they desperately need someone who doesn't belong in their lives. A story of those moments when we act like people we aren't in order to figure out who we are. A story of the roles we all play-at school, at home, with our friends, and without our friends-and the one person who might show us what lies underneath it all.

Expected publication: May 27th 2014

I'm such a huge fan of realistic YA and I love the concept that these two main characters are what they need at that point in their lives. Everybody should have somebody who gets them and needs them!!
What book are you patiently waiting for the release of?

BOOK BLITZ - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: Full Steam Ahead by Valerie Chase

Full Steam Ahead

by Valerie Chase

Release Date: January 14th, 2014

Summary from Goodreads:

Seven days aboard a luxury cruise. The perfect getaway from it all.

At least, that’s what Georgia Cantwell was hoping for.

Georgia wishes she could run away from the nightmare that has consumed her life, but she can’t. With her inbox filling with menacing emails, all she can do is try to get through her sorority’s winter break cruise without anyone realizing how wrecked she is. So she really doesn’t need Jace McLaren seeing through her tacked-on smile when no one else seems to notice.

Growing up with a father in jail, Jace knows from experience that if you’re going through hell, there’s no way out but through. He has always steered away from girls like Georgia with her ice-queen attitude, but she’s in real trouble, and despite himself he pushes past her walls.

As much as Georgia tries to ignore it, Jace won’t let her pretend with him. But she can’t risk telling him the truth. Her past would ruin his trust, her family, her future—everything.

But out on the open ocean, there’s nowhere to hide. And when Georgia’s secrets come tumbling out, it might take more than Jace to save her.

EXCERPT

The club stops spinning for a moment. Jace’s mouth is soft, much softer than I’d have thought given the roughness of his jaw under my fingertips. He doesn’t move for a heartbeat, and it’s like we exist in a quiet bubble outside of this dance floor, outside of time.

But he pulls away from me. “What’s gotten into you?” He breathes, our mouths only inches apart. “I thought—”

I kiss him again. I need to forget about those emails, forget about my parents, forget about Hunter and Kelsey. I need to lose myself tonight, and Jace hooks up with lots of girls, so I’m sure he’ll know how to take my mind off of my problems. I’ve seen how he looks at me, so I know he’s interested. We’ll have some fun, and both get what we want.

My tongue traces along Jace’s mouth and then I gently bite his bottom lip, tugging it teasingly. I dip my thumbs into the waistband of his jeans and feel the warm flesh of his stomach, so hard and smooth. I moan before I can stop myself.

Whatever I’m doing must be working, because Jace starts to kiss me back. His hands settle at my waist, trailing down toward my hips. Our kiss deepens and his tongue circles around mine, once, twice. Soft as a whisper. I’m lost in a rush of feeling, and I wrap my arms around his neck to draw him closer. I need him closer.

I push us toward the outskirts of the room.

The lights move dizzyingly in the dark, and the music throbs through my limbs. Jace and I reach an empty spot by the wall. Here, we’re hidden from the dance floor by a tall potted fern decorated with white twinkling lights. The tiny lights reflect in Jace’s eyes, which take me in hungrily.

His hands move over my tank top to the bare skin of my shoulders, and I shiver as heat spikes through my limbs. My own fingers roam across his skin again eagerly: his waist, his back, across his hard stomach that tightens at my touch… It has the temperature of a fever.

Jace dips his head to kiss my neck, and those dangerous lips make my whole body tingle. My thoughts go wild as I imagine him kissing down my belly, past my hips, and lower still. For a while we are a whirlwind, hot and spinning, and I haven’t felt so alive in months. Maybe years. I can’t help but think that it never felt like this with Hunter—this heat, this need. Not even when we first started dating.

I had no idea what I was missing.

And I don’t want it to stop.

About the Author:

I'm Valerie but please feel free to call me Val. I live in the Washington, DC area; and I write New Adult romance. I'm hoping to publish my first novel (set on a cruise ship!) in late 2013.

As for my writing, I love sexy banter and guys whose hearts are in the right place, even if their heads sometimes aren't. I love discovering strong, awesome characters, putting them in entertaining situations, and watching them argue their way to love.

Author Links:

    

***GIVEAWAY***

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Book Blitz Organized by:

COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY: Synchrony (Destiny #2) by Cindy Ray Hale

Synchrony (Destiny #2)

by Cindy Ray Hale

Release Date: 2014

Summary from Goodreads:

When her parents discover she’s been sneaking out with Isaac Robinson the forbidden Baptist boy, Mormon girl Destiny Clark decides it’s time to keep their relationship quiet. As their relationship moves to shakier ground, Destiny discovers that Isaac has a terrible secret, and she is left completely shattered.

The moment Destiny feels all hope is lost, Preston Nelson, her longtime church friend and Isaac's bitter rival, arrives like a beacon of light. It isn't long before two separate disasters strike for Preston and Destiny's best friend, Hannah. As Destiny helps them through their issues, she discovers that sometimes the best way to forget about your own problems is to help a friend in need.

Just as her heart begins to mend and her friendship with Preston begins to heat up, Isaac walks back into her life, threatening to rekindle the feelings she’d hoped to bury forever. Will Destiny and Preston find the synchrony they so desperately need, or will she find a way to forgive Isaac and return to his outstretched arms?

Link to Book One:

About the Author:

Cindy Ray Hale lives in Tennessee with her husband and four children. In addition to being a writer, she's an avid reader and a social media junkie. At the age of 17, she wrote a short story, "Instant Harmony" which later appeared in the April 2000 issue of "New Era," the official magazine for the youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Destiny is her first book and will be available for purchase November 5, 2013.

Author Links:

   

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BLOG TOUR - REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: The Moment Before by Suzy Vitello

"Don't get me wrong. I loved my sister. I never, not once, wished her dead."

Brady and Sabine Wilson are sisters born eleven months apart, but they couldn't be more different. Popular Sabine, the head cheerleader dating the high school hunk, seems to have all the luck, while her younger, artsy sister "Brady Brooder" is a loner who prefers the sidelines to the limelight.

After Sabine dies in a horrific cheerleading accident, grief unravels Brady and her family. Once recognized for her artistic talent, 17-year-old Brady finds herself questioning the value of everything she once held dear. Her best friend betrays her. Her parents' marriage is crumbling. And the boy everyone blames for the accident seems to be her only ally in the search for answers in the wake of her sister's death. As an unlikely friendship emerges, Brady learns more about Sabine - and love - than she bargained for.

My Thoughts:

It's all so fleeting, how beauty screams loud, then withers and dies. How one day everything seems possible, and little cubes of happiness tinkle around inside you like ice in a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade, and then, just like that, the ice melts and the beverage grows a skin of mold.

Brady Wilson's sister Sabine has recently been killed in a freak cheerleading accident. Her family are trying to find their way through their loss and grief. But nothing seems to be helping. Brady has lost interest in school and friends, her Dad numbs his grief with alcohol and her Mum is distant. But Brady finds a surprising friend in Connor, the boy blamed for her sisters death, and with his help she finds out that maybe her sister wasn't quite as put together as everyone believed.

The standout emotions throughout this book are grief and confusion. You could almost see the grief hanging around and pulling the characters down. How do you deal with the loss of a daughter? How do you as a sister deal with your loss while trying to unravel and understand the secrets of the sister you thought you knew so well? And how do you shoulder the blame for the death of a friend who let you in on all those secrets?

The weight of everything is a cloudburst inside me. The sadness. The relentless sadness. My sister. Dad. Everything crash-landing.

I really felt for Brady throughout this story. She was trying to deal with so much. As well as the death of her sister, there was also the secrets and lies, the unravelling of her family, the pressures of school and her growing feelings for Conner.

Despite the way Connor chose to deal with things, I really liked him. He was such a  self sacrificing character. The choices he made to protect Sabine. The burdens he carried around. These were pretty huge things for a teenager to be dealing with. And the huge impact that all of it had on his life. It was impossible not to admire what he was doing.

I character that I couldn't like was Martha, Brady's so called best friend. To me, she just didn't have a whole lot of redeeming qualities. She came across as very superficial and I found myself wondering how these two could possibly be friends.

The bad guy in this story in Nick, Sabine's boyfriend. And he is where my questions lie. I'm not sure that I fully understand the reasons he is the way he is. I'm not sure I understand why he did the things he did or made the choices he made. Was it just that he was a bad person? Or did Sabine and her actions push him to become the person he was? Why in the end did he react the way he did towards Martha? Was it simply to protect himself? 

And while I didn't get the ending that I envisioned in my head, I did get an ending that I was happy with. I got some of the things I was after and that can only be a good thing. 

The Moment Before deals with some very real issues and centres around some very real characters. Suzy Vitello's writing made it very easy to read and feel for the characters despite the tough subject matter. Contemporary YA is quite possibly my favourite and when there are situations that I can relate to, I can't help but enjoy the read. 

4/5 Immensely Enjoyable Stars

Author Bio:

Suzy Vitello's stories have won several awards, including The Atlantic Monthly's Student Writing Award and an Oregon's Literary Arts Fellowship. Her work has appeared in national journals and her young adult novels, THE MOMENT BEFORE (January 14th, 2014), and THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES (Fall, 2014) are available in e-book and paperback from Diversion Books.

Suzy holds an MFA from Antioch Los Angeles, and is a founding member of a critique group recently dubbed Portland's Hottest Writers' Group by The Oregonian. Find out more at suzyvitello.com

Suzy's echapbook, UNKISS ME, is available for sale through Amazon.

Author Links: 

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COVER REVEAL: Tricks (Take It Off #6) by Cambria Hebert

Title: Tricks 
Series: Take It Off series (A series of stand alones) 

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance (recommended for 18+)

Author: Cambria Hebert 

Release Date: February 16, 2014 

Synopsis:

***This is a new adult contemporary novel and contains sexual content and graphic language. It is not intended for young adult readers.***

Love can play tricks on your heart…

After serving several years in the United States Marine Corps, Sergeant Tucker Patton decides to hang up his uniform and go to work at a private investigative firm owned by his buddy. His boxes are packed and he’s got one foot out the door when a phone call changes everything. 

Instead of going to North Carolina, he heads to New York City to literally step into the life of his twin brother, who died under suspicious circumstances. But pretending to be someone else isn’t easy. 

Especially when the person you’re supposed to be is wanted dead. 

Not only that, but he’s going from being blissfully single to living with his brother’s woman. An uptight, no-nonsense lawyer. 

Charlotte Rose Carter doesn’t have time for fun and games. She graduated with honors and made all the right moves fresh out of college to jumpstart her career as a successful young lawyer. She even snagged the most eligible bachelor in New York City’s corporate world. 

So what if her and Max’s relationship isn’t burning up the sheets? So what if their life doesn’t read like a chapter from a sizzling romance novel? This is the real world, and in the real world that stuff is just fantasy.

Until it isn’t.

Suddenly, just the slightest touch or a single glance from Max has her heart doing somersaults. Suddenly, the lackluster relationship begins to spark, and Charlotte finds herself tied in a knot of desire.

 But she has no idea about the tricks being played right under her perky little nose.

Author Bio:

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series, the new adult Death Escorts series, and the new adult Take it Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com 

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STACKING THE SHELVES #5

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. It is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Received from Simon & Schuster Australia

Sweet Thing (Sweet Thing #1) by Renée Carlino

 

Received from Edelweiss

Exile by Kevin Emerson

Tease by Amanda Maciel

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell

Received From the Author

AnguiSH by Lila Felix

ARV-3 (The after life saga #1) by Cameo Renae

*****

A great week in books for me!! I'm really looking forward to reading each and every one!!

What books did you add to your shelves this week?