ARC Review: Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Title: Sky in the Deep
Author: Adrienne Young
Series: none
Genre: young adult, historical, fantasy

A 2018 Most Anticipated Young Adult book that is part Wonder Woman, part Vikings—and all heart.

OND ELDR. BREATHE FIRE.

Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient, rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.

Faced with her brother's betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.

She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.

“THIS IS A GRIPPING STORY, RICHLY TOLD.” —Renée Ahdieh, New York Times bestselling author of Flame in the Mist
"FIERCE, VIVID, AND VIOLENTLY BEAUTIFUL.” —Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval
“A STUNNING DEBUT” —Roshani Chokshi, New York Timesbestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen
“BLEAK BEAUTIFUL AND DEADLY” —Traci Chee, New York Times bestselling author of The Reader
“WHOLLY UNIQUE AND INSTANTLY ADDICTIVE” —Kerri Maniscalco, New York Times bestselling author of Hunting Prince Dracula
“HEARTRENDING, HEART-MENDING” —Kayla Olson, bestselling author of Sandcastle Empire

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Review: Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Half-Blood
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Covenant #1
Genre: paranormal, young adult

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals--well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is.

If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

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Review: How to Save a Life by Emma Scott

Title: How to Save a Life
Author: Emma Scott
Series: none
Genre: contemporary romance

Josephine Clark is trapped. A harrowing past haunts her every time she looks in the mirror, and she can’t escape the violence of her everyday life. More and more, her thoughts turn to Evan Salinger, the boy she knew in high school. The boy they called a mental case. A loner. A freak. The boy who seemed to know things no one could know. For a few short weeks, Jo had found perfect solace in Evan’s company, sneaking every night to meet him at the local pool. In the cool of the water and the warmth of Evan’s arms around her, Jo had tasted something close to happiness.

Cruel circumstances tore them apart, and four years later, the sweet memory of their time together is dissolving under the punishing reality of Jo’s life now. Evan seems like a fading dream…until he reappears at the moment she needs him most. Guided by Evan’s strange intuition, they flee her small Louisiana town, and Jo begins to suspect there is something more to his sudden return than he admits.

Over twelve days across America’s heartland, deep secrets come to light, buried pasts are unearthed, and the line between dreams and reality is blurred as Evan and Jo fight to hold on to their soul-deep love, and discover that there is more than one way to save a life.
***

How to Save a Life is a complete second-chance STANDALONE novel with shades of the paranormal. It carries the characters from high school through to their early twenties. It is not YA; mature subject matter, and sexual situations. TRIGGER WARNING: domestic violence (on the page) and mention of sexual abuse (off the page) For readers 18 years and up. The Dreamcatcher novels are a series of interconnected STANDALONES, each with shades of the paranormal. It is NOT necessary to read them in order, though some characters appear in other novels.

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Review: The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Truth About Forever
Author: Sarah Dessen
Series: none
Genre: contemporary, romance

Expect the unexpected.

Macy's got her whole summer carefully planned.

But her plants didn't include a job at Wish Catering. And they certainly didn't include Wes.

But Macy soon discovers that the things you expect least are sometimes the things you need most.

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ARC Review: The Boy and His Ribbon (The Ribbon Duet #1) by Pepper Winters

Title: The Boy and His Ribbon
Author: Pepper Winters
Series: The Ribbon Duet #1
Genre: dark, new adult

“What do you do when you meet your soul mate? No wait…that’s too easy. What do you do when you meet your soul mate and have to spend a lifetime loving him in secret? I’ll tell you what you do. You lie.”

REN

Ren was eight when he learned that love doesn’t exist—that the one person who was supposed to adore him only cared how much he was worth. His mother sold him and for two years, he lived in terror. But then…he ran. He thought he’d run on his own. Turned out, he took something of theirs by accident and it became the one thing he never wanted and the only thing he ever needed.

DELLA

I was young when I fell in love with him, when he switched from my world to my everything. My parents bought him for cheap labour, just like they had with many other kids, and he had the scars to prove it. At the start, he hated me, and I could understand why. For years he was my worst enemy, fiercest protector, and dearest friend. But by the end…he loved me. The only problem was, he loved me in an entirely different way to the way I loved him. And slowly, my secret drove us apart.

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Release Blitz {ARC Review + Giveaway} - Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas

Title: Punk 57
Author: Penelope Douglas
Series: none
Genre: new adult, romance

From New York Times Bestselling Author, Penelope Douglas, comes the latest New Adult romance of love, hate, and everything in between...

"We were perfect together. Until we met."

Misha

I can’t help but smile at the lyrics in her letter. She misses me.

In fifth grade, my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student, Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed.

It didn’t take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. The best take-out pizza. Android vs. iPhone. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever…

And that was the start. For the next seven years, it was us.

Her letters are always on black paper with silver writing. Sometimes there’s one a week or three in a day, but I need them. She’s the only one who keeps me on track, talks me down, and accepts everything I am.

We only had three rules. No social media, no phone numbers, no pictures. We had a good thing going. Why ruin it?

Until I run across a photo of a girl online. Name’s Ryen, loves Gallo’s pizza, and worships her iPhone. What are the chances?

F*ck it. I need to meet her.

I just don’t expect to hate what I find.

Ryen

He hasn’t written in three months. Something’s wrong. Did he die? Get arrested? Knowing Misha, neither would be a stretch.

Without him around, I’m going crazy. I need to know someone is listening. It’s my own fault. I should’ve gotten his phone number or picture or something.

He could be gone forever.

Or right under my nose, and I wouldn’t even know it.

*Punk 57 is a stand alone New Adult romance. It is suitable for ages 18+.

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TBT #47 - Review: Art & Soul Brittainy C. Cherry

★TBT #47★ Get ready to fall in love with Aria and Levi with this weeks #ThrowbackThrusday Art & Soul by Brittainy C. Cherry. READ THIS BOOK PEOPLE!!!! It is a kind of story you want to be part of, with realistic characters, romantic dialogues and swoon worthy moments. There is no over the top drama, unnecessary plot twist or great amount of angst, but a beautiful story of love, friendship, family, blended with music, art and words.

Title: Art & Soul
Author: Brittainy C. Cherry
Series: none
Genre: young adult, contemporary romance

I had always been the invisible art student in high school. Passed by. Glossed over. Unnoticed. Now I was Aria Watson…that girl.

After one bad decision, and being labeled a slut, I was no longer unseen. I was the whore. The ignoramus. The tramp.

I would never be invisible again. Particularly to Levi Myers. He was the odd boy with the beautiful soul who accepted and understood the broken girl inside me.

Falling in love wasn’t the plan. But how could I resist his promises of hope? Of forgiveness? Of a future I had stopped dreaming of?

We were shattered. We were scarred. We were something strange and beautiful. We were two lost souls holding on to the only thing that could keep us together.
Each other.

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TBT #34 - Review: Becoming Calder by Mia Sheridan

★TBT #34★

This weeks on ‪#‎ThrowbackThrusday‬ is Mia Sheridan's captivating and emotionally beautiful love story of Calder and Eden. It's the story full of hope, dreams, friendship and innocent young love.

Title: Becoming Calder
Author: Mia Sheridan
Series: Sign of Love
Genre: young adult, contemporary romance

There is a place in modern day America with no electricity, no plumbing, and no modern conveniences. In this place, there is no room for dreams, no space for self-expression, and no tolerance for ambition.

In this place, there is a boy with the body of a god and the heart of a warrior. He is strong and faithful and serves his family honorably. But he dares to dream of more.

In this place, there is a girl with the face of an angel and a heart full of courage. To her family, she is the vision of obedient perfection. But she dares to want that which she has been told can never be hers.

Becoming Calder is the story of good versus evil, fear versus bravery, and the truth that the light of love has always found its way into even the darkest of places . . . From the beginning of time, to the end of the world.

THIS IS THE FIRST PART IN A TWO-PART SIGN OF LOVE SERIES INSPIRED BY AQUARIUS. THE SECOND PART, FINDING EDEN, RELEASES SIMULTANEOUSLY. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and graphic sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

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Review: Unteachable by Leah Raeder

Title: Unteachable
Author: Leah Raeder
Series: none
Genre: romance, young adult

Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.

But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.

When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.

That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.

Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.
Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.

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TBT #16 - Review: Flat Out Love by Jessica Park

 Making its way to this weeks #TBT is FLAT OUT LOVE by Author Jessica Park, It was smart, romantic, sweet, sad, angsty and extremely FUNNY.

Title: Flat Out Love
Author: Jessica Park
Series: Flat Out Love #1
Genre: romance, young adult

Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

It's not what you know—or when you see—that matters. It's about a journey.

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it. When Julie's off-campus housing falls through, her mother's old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side... and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there's that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That's because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie's suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that ... well... doesn't quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.

Flat-Out Love comes complete with emails, Facebook status updates, and instant messages.

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TBT#10 - Review: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Featuring on this week's ‪#‎ThrowbackThrusday‬, Katja Millay's The Sea of Tranquility. One of my Epic reads, equally gut wrenching and emotionally soothing. A story of lost souls, friendship and love.

Title: The Sea of Tranquility
Author: Katja Millay
Series: none
Genre: young adult, contemporary romance

I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

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TBT#9 - Review: My Skylar by Penelope Ward

Featuring on this weeks ‪#‎ThrowbackThrusday‬ is My Skylar by Penelope Ward. This was one of those books I thought I needed a therapy to get over it! This was most ANGST and POWERFUL LOVE STORY I have read in a long time, making my heart cry in that process. 'Loving someone too much causes insufferable pain’ should have been the tag line for this book that’s how it was for Mitch and Skylar-Best friends, confidant, strong lovers, centre of their universe and mostly soulmates but they still saw their relationship falling apart.

Title: My Skylar
Author: Penelope Ward
Series: none
Genre: young adult, new adult, contemporary romance

From the author of the #1 bestselling romance, Jake Undone, comes a friends-to-lovers story of longing, passion, betrayal and redemption…with a twist that will rip your heart out.

Skylar was my best friend, but I secretly pined for her. One thing after another kept us apart, and I’ve spent the last decade in fear of losing her forever.

First, it was the cancer, but she survived only to face the unthinkable at my hands. Because of me, she left town. For years, I thought I’d never see her again.

But now she’s back…and living with him.

I don’t deserve her after everything I’ve put her through, but I can’t live without her. This is my last chance because she’s about to make the biggest mistake of her life. I can see it her eyes: she doesn’t love him. She still loves me...which is why I have to stop her before it’s too late.

My Skylar is a STANDALONE story of 99,000 words and a companion to the novel, Jake Undone. It does NOT need to be read in conjunction with any other book.

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TBT#4 - Review: Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Its ‪#‎ThrowbackThrusday‬.....which means I get to post my old reviews again and this week it's my favorite Lux series. A PNR series so addicting it was almost painful to wait for the next book to be out since it always ends with major cliffhangers. Action packed, hilarious, suspense, romance, bickering and full of suprises! it indeed was a Epic read. Did you know its going to be on big screen soon?? 

Title: Opposition
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #5
Genre: paranormal, romance, young adult

Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.

She can't believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.

Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.

They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.

War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing.

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TBT#4 - Review: Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Its ‪#‎ThrowbackThrusday‬.....which means I get to post my old reviews again and this week it's my favorite Lux series. A PNR series so addicting it was almost painful to wait for the next book to be out since it always ends with major cliffhangers. Action packed, hilarious, suspense, romance, bickering and full of suprises! it indeed was a Epic read. Did you know its going to be on big screen soon?? 

Title: Origin
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #4
Genre: paranormal, romance, young adult

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

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TBT#4 - Review: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Its ‪#‎ThrowbackThrusday‬.....which means I get to post my old reviews again and this week it's my favorite Lux series. A PNR series so addicting it was almost painful to wait for the next book to be out since it always ends with major cliffhangers. Action packed, hilarious, suspense, romance, bickering and full of suprises! it indeed was a Epic read. Did you know its going to be on big screen soon?? 

Title:Opal
Author:Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series:Lux #3
Genre:paranormal, romance, young adult

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

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TBT#4 - Review: Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Its ‪#‎ThrowbackThrusday‬.....which means I get to post my old reviews again and this week it's my favorite Lux series. A PNR series so addicting it was almost painful to wait for the next book to be out since it always ends with major cliffhangers. Action packed, hilarious, suspense, romance, bickering and full of suprises! it indeed was a Epic read. Did you know its going to be on big screen soon?? 

Title: Onyx
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #2
Genre: paranormal, romance, young adult

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

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TBT #4 - Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Its ‪#‎ThrowbackThrusday‬.....which means I get to post my old reviews again and this week it's my favorite Lux series. A PNR series so addicting it was almost painful to wait for the next book to be out since it always ends with major cliffhangers. Action packed, hilarious, suspense, romance, bickering and full of suprises! it indeed was a Epic read. Did you know its going to be on big screen soon?? 

Title: Obsidian
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #1
Genre: paranormal, romance, young adult

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring… until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something… unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

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Review: Worth It by Linda Kage

Title: Worth It
Author: Linda Kage
Series: Forbidden Men
Genre: young adult, contemporary romance

I fell in love once.

It was amazing. She was amazing. Life was amazing.

I lived for each time I could see her, and nothing else mattered, not that our families were enemies, our time together was forbidden, or we had to meet in secret.

Our love could conquer all.

Until it didn't.

So I was ripped away from the love of my life and shoved into hell, forced to continue without her.

It shattered me, broke the best parts of me, left me permanently damaged. Or so I thought.

Years later, I swear history’s trying to repeat itself because she’s back in my life, and I’m just as drawn to her as I was before. But I'm older and wiser now, and I know she should stay away from a worthless piece of ex-con like me.

So, I will not let her in. I absolutely refuse to hurt her. I will keep her away.

Then again, sometimes risking your greatest fear to get to a smile makes everything worth it, and besides, I’m not sure I can resist her, anyway.

This is the story of how Felicity Bainbridge changed my life forever, starting one summer day long ago after I was forced to change a dirty diaper...

--Knox Parker

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