I Feel Like Gabbing Today - Swoon Reads Edition

 ** Welcome! This is a completely random discussion post feature where I will share with you the very random thoughts that pop into my head and chat with you about them. Many are bookish thoughts and many are not. I feel like I don't have enough discussion type posts on the blog so I am giving this a whirl. Some days I will talk about a specific topic and sometimes I will just throw some random thoughts at you. So please sit back, relax, and take a second to chat with me today.

The Swoon Reads Tour

I was lucky enough to have the Swoon Reads Summer of Swoon Tour (The Authors: Sandy Hall, Temple West, Kimberly Karilus, and Katie Van Ark) make a stop only about 40 minutes away from where I live on May 12! So I obviously had to go. I even switched my work schedule around so I could make it so. I am so glad I did. I dragged my friends from the library who I forced to read A Little Something Different with me. (Please note that they did come willingly because they loved the book I threw at them.) We all had so much fun!

The event was at a nice bookstore (filled with a lot of books and an awesome staff) called The Book Stall. Stacey of the Pageturners blog was the mediator and she did a nice job. There may have been only about 13 people there, but the smaller setting made it less formal, which we ended up really appreciating. I do want to apologize in advance for not taking a lot of pictures. The whole place was super cute looking. I swear.

The Books: I LOVE A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall. It's uniqueness and cuteness made me swoon. Here is my review of that book here. I also LOVE Velvet by Temple West. I am a sucker for vampires and she made a funny and unique vampire story. My review for Velvet is here. I also got to meet Kimberly Karilus of Love Fortunes and Other Disasters and Katie Van Ark of The Boy Next Door. I have a copy of both of these books now and plan to read them soon.

The Books!

So what went down at the event? We created 10 word love stories. We ate cupcakes. We listened to the authors talk about everything from writing, to getting published with Swoon Reads, to their current reads, and more. They had us laughing, smiling, and nodding along in agreement. My friend even won a giveaway of books! The best part... meeting the authors! Every single one of these ladies was brilliant during the discussion panel. They were very down to earth, funny, and very sweet. Getting to talk to Temple West and Sandy Hall one on one was my favorite! 

From Left to Right: Deanna, Sandy Hall!!, Alanna, and Me!

****On June 6th when my blog turns 3 I will be having two giveaways and one will feature a signed ARC of Velvet! So come back to the blog to enter to win!

Have you read these books? What did you think? Did you make it to one of the Swoon Reads tour stops?

ARC Review: Velvet by Temple West

Velvet by Temple West (May 12, 2015)
416 pages
Genre: Young Adult/Romance/Vampire
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Source: I snagged a free copy at ALA Midwinter. This did not affect my honest review.
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | Amazon
My Rating:

Goodreads Summary: First rule of dealing with hot vampire bodyguards? Don't fall in love.

After losing both her parents before age seventeen, aspiring designer Caitlin Holte feels like her whole world has been turned upside down, and that was before the terrifying encounter with a supernatural force. Then, she learns that her hot bad-boy neighbor, Adrian—who might have just saved her life—is actually a half-demon vampire.

Suddenly Caitlin is stuck with a vampire bodyguard who feels that the best way to protect her is to become her pretend boyfriend. Trouble is, Caitlin is starting to fall in love for real, while Adrian can never love a human. Caitlin trusts Adrian to keep her safe from his demon father, but will he be able to protect her heart?

+ Add to goodreads

MY REVIEW

My First Impression: I'm liking it and enjoying the laughs, but it seems a little too Twilight and not unique enough.

Velvet is more unique than it seems at first glance. I'm not going to lie, Velvet has the same framework as Twilight, BUT as I found out while I continued to read, it is different. So I want you to look past the few opening scenes that remind you of Twilight and focus on the wonderful funny story that actually fills its pages. One big difference that most will like, Caitlin isn't a bumbling weakling and Adrian isn't an overly stalkerish vampire. (Just for the record, I have no problem with Twilight. I have read it and enjoyed it. I'm just saying.)

Velvet started off with some intrigue and managed to get a few chuckles out of me. As I got deeper into this fun story I laughed louder and louder and loved the characters more and more. I am always looking for a new vampire book to read, and I'm glad I chose this one.

Every single character in Velvet was amusing, to say the least. I wish they were real and were my friends. I especially cheered on Caitlin and Adrian and their friendship blooming into something more. I wanted them to have their happily ever after. This makes me none too surprised that this book was chosen to be published by the Swoon Reads romance imprint.

If there is a second book (after that ending there better be) not only do I plan on reading it, but I think it will be even better than the first book based on how Velvet ended. I think it will have more action, the one thing I wish Vevlet had touched more on. I mean, there was evil always lurking in the background, but I wanted more confrontations. (Update: There are going to be two more books! So excited!)

The Bottom Line: Velvet is a good read. A perfect read for anyone looking for romance and laughs with some vampires mixed in. I loved it and I hope you do to.