A Quick Review: Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers (Feb. 2015)
390 pages
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: The Library.
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon
My Rating:

Goodreads Summary: The Competition: Outlandishly wealthy Grandmother VanDemere has decided to leave her vast fortune to the family member who proves him or herself worthiest-by solving puzzles and riddles on a whirlwind race around the globe, from the mines of Venezuela to the castles of Scotland. There will be eight competitors, three continents . . . and a prize worth millions.

The Players:

Seventeen-year-old Avery is the black sheep of the VanDemere clan, the ostracized illegitimate daughter. Finally, she has a chance to prove herself . . . and to discover the truth about her long-lost mother.

Marshall might be Avery's uncle, but there's no love lost between the two of them. He's her main competition, and he'll do anything to win-including betray his own children.

Riley is the handsome son of Grandmother VanDemere's lawyer. As the game progresses, Avery falls hard for Riley. Suddenly, losing the game might mean losing him, too.

As the competition takes treacherous turns, it becomes clear there can only be one victor. Who can Avery truly trust? And is winning worth her life?

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My Review

Why isn't everybody reading this?! Why?! This book is perfect for those of you that like The Amazing Race and the National Treasure movies. Even if you don't like those things you really should read this book! It is fantastic. Here is why...

Reasons Why You Should Read Inherit Midnight

• There is an abundance of family secrets and drama. Don't you just love secrets? I do.
• It is full of action from beginning to end.
• It's fast paced, and sometimes you just need a quick read.
• There is too much fun in this book and it's exciting!
• This is a book you will want to read in one sitting.
• It is unique, cute, and always interesting.
• It has a wealth of interesting characters.
• Avery and Riley make a great team!
• Who wouldn't want to read a book about a crazy competition between family members to see who inherits the family wealth?
• Basically it's a really really good book.

I don't think you need anymore reasons as to why you should read Inherit Midnight. I'm sure I have convinced you by now. Go read Inherit Midnight. Give it a whirl!

Wow... My Blog Turns 3 Today! It's Giveaway Time!

It's a Book Life Turns 3!

I can't believe it has been three years since I started this blog. Three years to the day! I can't believe I stuck with it for so long! I feel proud, excited, and all around good. 

Blogging for me isn't just a hobby, or a chore, it is my passion. When I'm not reading, I'm blogging. If I am not doing either it is because I am spending time with my husband, usually watching movies (or I am at work). I blog because I love sharing my love of books with the world. I love fangriling. I love gabbing. I love writing and reading reviews. I love it all. Does it occasionally get a little stressful? Sure, but then I take a few days off and I am ready to go again. I love it. (I don't think I have used the word love enough in this post yet, good thing there are many more to come.)

Do you know what else I love?! You guys! I am so thankful to each and every one of my followers, my blogger friends (you awesome people know who you are), and the random book lovers that visit and comment. You are all awesome. I love talking to you all about how much I love the bad boys, hate the evil villains, cheer for the MC, etc.  I think you all deserve some virtual hugs!

Don't worry. Since you guys are what make blogging so special I am going to give you more than just a virtual hug. The whole book nerd community makes blogging so much fun that I have decided to host not one, but TWO Giveaways!

Giveaway #1

This one is for US residents only since I have to ship the prize myself. 

What am I giving away? I have a signed ARC of Velvet by Temple West, an ARC of Seriously Wicked by Tina Connolly, and one Groot magnetic bookmark up for grabs. There will be one winner who will receive all three items. I enjoyed both books and who doesn't want a Groot bookmark? Look how pretty they are. 

I know you want to win these!

Rules:

- No cheating please! I'll be checking the entries.

- This one is only open to US residents.

- Each correct guess gives you one entry into the drawing.

- The winner will receive a signed ARC of Velvet, an ARC of Seriously Wicked, and one magnetic Groot bookmark.

- Good Luck!

That vampire just said what? 

Figure out which famous vampire said each quote. Choose from the following: Spike (Buffy), Eric Northman (True Blood), Damon Salvatore (Vampire Diaries), Adrian (Velvet),  or Edward (Twilight)

Quote #1. Gotta hand it to you, Goldilocks. You do have bleeding tragic taste in men. I got a cousin married to a regurgitating Frovalox demon that's got better instincts than you.

Quote #2. You should probably know I'm breaking the rules right now. Well, not technically, since he said I was never to walk through his door again, and I came in the window... But, still, the intent was clear.

Quote #3. Everyone who claims to love you... they all gave up on you. I never did.

Quote #4. I feel a little used, I thought we were having a moment. Now I`ll have to go to the party angry, who knows what I`ll do.

Quote #5. Every instinct I have is telling me to use polysyllabic words to impress you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway #2

If the book depository ships to you then you are eligible to enter and possibly win this giveaway!

Can you guess that cover?

You will find five different partial book covers below. Your job is to figure out which book they belong to! Once you have accomplished this task then you must enter into the rafflecopter below for your chance to win a free book. For each correct answer you enter you will receive one entry into the drawing for one free book of your choice from the ones pictured below. The books pictured below are some of my favorite reads of the year so far.

Rules:

- No cheating please! I'll be checking the entries.

- Anyone who lives where The Book Depository ships for free can enter. Here is that list.

- Each correct guess gives you one entry into the drawing.

- The winner will receive a book of his/her choice from the books pictured below.

- Good Luck!

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Booking Through Summer Reading Challenge

KimberlyFaye Reads & Book Nerd Betsy

The Challenge

This challenge is the place where grownups get bookish delights for reading! From Memorial Day through Labor Day, you can enter daily to win paperbacks, swag, eBooks and gift cards. All you have to do is leave a link in the Rafflecopter to a review you’ve written for the book you read. 

In addition, each week a different blog will host a mini challenge. On top of all of that, some of our FAVORITE authors will be popping up to talk about their favorite bookish memories and love for reading!

You don’t want to miss out of this! To keep up to date on all the happenings, you can follow us on Twitter at @kimberlyreads and @booknerdbetsy, join the Facebook event, or follow our blogs at kimberlyfaye reads and BookNerd Betsy. Tweet it! Share it! Tell your friends!! We want all the readers of all the books to come hang out this summer and share the reading love. Make your sign-up official by going here.

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #BookingIt when you post about the challenge on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Tumblr!

I'm Signing Up!

This is my official sign-up for this challenge! I am already doing summer reading programs at the two libraries I work at. What is one more? I am excited that summer reading is upon us. I hopefully will be getting my very own house this summer that will have a nice place for me to read outside on nice days. Fingers crossed. Now if you have yet to sign up for the Booking Through Summer Reading Challenge you should probably get on that. It will be fun!

Possible Summer Reads

Review: The Dark Dreamer by Heather Topham Wood

The Dark Dreamer (#1) by Heather Topham Wood
Genre: New Adult/Paranormal Romance
Source: I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest review. Thanks Heather!
Purchase: Amazon
My Rating:

Goodreads Summary: For as long as she can remember, Rebekah Clayton’s life has been dictated by her dreams. As a dream interpreter, she has become privy to her clients’ deepest and darkest secrets. Affairs, financial ruin, even murder—nothing shocks her anymore. But Grant Raskin’s dreams are unlike any she has heard before.

If Rebekah’s interpretation is right, Grant has foreseen the end of the world. A plague is coming and everyone Rebekah cares about will succumb to the illness. And Grant can trace the origin of the disease back to two men: Dr. Mark Holman and his son Drew.

Grant enlists Rebekah to track down the Holmans and determine their connection to the viral outbreak. But uncovering Drew Holman’s secrets will lead her down a dangerous path—unearthing a deadly conspiracy she never could have predicted.

***The first book in a two-part series from bestselling romance author Heather Topham Wood.***

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My Review

I am a huge fan of Heather's Second Sight paranormal romance series. If you haven't checked that out yet then you really should. Here is my review of the first book, First Visions. My love for her other series is what had me beyond excited for this new duology! The Dark Dreamer didn't disappoint.

The Dark Dreamer starts off with action and thrills and continues at this pace for most of the book. When the action does slow down we get romance instead. I wasn't complaining since both aspects of the novel were done extremely well. The idea of dream reading was beyond interesting. I loved the concept and the idea. Basically I liked everything about it. Haven't you ever wondered what your dreams were telling you?

Becca is a dream interpreter and she is awesome. I like her spunk. I had no trouble connecting with her as a character because she seemed real. Grant was an interesting character as was Drew. Both sexy men have a mystery around them that we don't fully grasp until the end of the novel. I love a good mysterious boy. 

Heather once again convinced me as to why I need to keep reading her stuff. Her paranormal romances are wonderful. She mixes the perfect blend of paranormal and sexy steaminess. They are quick fulfilling reads that give me an escape from the real world. 

I read this book in just about one sitting. It was that good! I will warn you... the ending is crazy! I am now waiting for the next book. Impatiently may I add. It may kill me just a little. I look forward to reading many more of Heather's books in the future.

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 Release Day Review: Sweet by Emmy Laybourne

Sweet (#1) by Emmy Laybourne (June 2, 2015)
288 pages
Genre: YA/It's a surprise.
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: I snagged a free ARC at ALA Midwinter. This didn't affect my honest review. Thanks Feiwel & Friends!
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon
My Rating:

Goodreads Summary: Emmy Laybourne, author of the Monument 14 trilogy, takes readers on a dream vacation that goes first comically, then tragically, then horrifyingly wrong!

The luxurious celebrity cruise launching the trendy new diet sweetener Solu should be the vacation of a lifetime. But Laurel is starting to regret accepting her friend Viv’s invitation. She's already completely embarrassed herself in front of celebrity host Tom Forelli—the hottest guy ever!—and she's too sick to even try the sweetener. And that's before Viv and all the other passengers start acting really strange.

Tom knows that he should be grateful for this job and the chance to shed his former-child-star image. His publicists have even set up a 'romance' with a sexy reality star. But as things on the ship start to get wild, he finds himself drawn to a different girl. And when the hosting gig turns into an expose on the shocking side effects of Solu, it's Laurel that he's determined to save.

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My Review

Right After I Finished Reading: I seriously can't believe what I just read. What did I just read? Seriously. How do I even begin to rate this book? Ahhhhh!!!!

My dear friends, obviously this review is going to be a little crazy. I both liked and disliked Sweet a great deal. It was brilliant and a little dumb and frustrating all at the same time. Let's start from the beginning.

When I first started reading Sweet I was intrigued. I thought the author did a nice job at tackling body image issues in a unique way. Then the book also starts touching on issues that celebrities face. Okay, that is cool. The next big issue talking point? Big corporations doing what they want. Anyway, I didn't mind all of this because it was central to the story, but at times I also felt like it was a lot of messages thrown at us all at once. It was all just a little bit too in your face at times. It wasn't a big deal though so let's move on.

I liked the characters a lot. It was an interesting bunch of famous people and non-famous people on the cruise of a lifetime, and the ones I got to know were pretty sweet. The only problem I had with the characters was the lack of character development. I understand that with the book taking place on a cruise that there is a limited amount of time for character development, but I was still sad that it was lacking. I still liked the characters though (even if slightly stereotypical), especially Tom (the hot celebrity) and Laurel (the average girl that isn't average at all), our dual POV narrators. 

What about the plot and setting of Sweet? For the most part it was spot on. I loved the cruise setting, and I loved the exciting plot, even if it was a little unbelievable. I was on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. I just had to know what was really happening on that ship! From the slow build to the crazy ending, I was hooked.

The Bottom Line: Do I recommend this book to others? You bet. BUT I will say that it is a pretty unique book so not everyone is going to like it, and I'm not even sure I can predict in advance who will or won't like it. I liked Sweet. It was a horrifyingly awesome page-turner for me. My biggest complaint... THAT ENDING!!! I had to rush online just to make sure there was a sequel. Thankfully there is.

The Outlander Series 2015 Reading Challenge June Review Link-Up (Book #5)

Link your reviews to the first book here and head over to discuss what you thought. Link your reviews to the second book here and head over to discuss what you thought, and here is the link to the third book and the fourth.

How am I doing? I am now two books behind! Ahhhh. I enjoyed the first two books a great deal and I think I will like the third one even more. I plan on reading Voyager soon. I swear. I hope everyone else is doing well with the challenge! Tell me how you are doing below.

Do you want more information about the challenge? Do you want to sign-up? Read this post first.

What is the purpose of this post? To link-up your reviews of the fifth book in the Outlander series (Drums of Autumn) that you read for the challenge so that we can read them! Link to wherever you post reviews -- your blog, Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, etc., etc.

I will be posting a review link-up post on the first of every month for the next book in the Outlander series. I think this will be a good way for me to keep organized and motivated to read a book a month. In September there will also be a giveaway for everyone participating in the challenge! So keep a look out for that as well.

When you link up below please make sure to use the direct URL to your individual post/review, not the book's information page or your blog's homepage. You don't have to write a review to participate. You can just tell me in the comments below that you read the book.

Please also use this space as a place to discuss all things to do with the fifth book. Try to avoid big spoilers, but if you do want to talk about them just warn us first. Share how the challenge is going for you. Which book are you reading now? I want to know how you are enjoying the series. Some discussion prompts for The Fiery Cross will be posted on this page at the end of May.

The Fiery Cross Review Link-Up