Monday, April 30, 2012

It's Monday, What Are You Reading

 
This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.
 
 
Read this past week:
Matched - Ally Condie
Crossed - Ally Condie
Elemental - Brigid Kemmerer

Currently Reading: 
Storm - Brigid kemmerer

Upcoming:
The Immortal Rules - Julie Kagawa

How was your reading week? What are you reading this week and are you enjoying it?

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Review - A Healing Heart by Mellisa A. Hanson

Title and Author: A Healing Heart by Melissa A. Hanson
Publisher: Melissa Hanson
Publication Date: February 14th, 2012
Paperback/Hardcover: 270
Genre: Young Adult


Summary:  
On a bitter cold winter night Bailey Walsh’s family was killed in a traffic accident. Two years later as she lives with her aunt and uncle in Southern California, Bailey is still plagued by the nightmares of that terrible night. Everywhere around her are reminders of what she lost. Even her aunt, in a cruel twist of fate, is not just her mom’s sister, but her identical twin. Babysitting Riley, a spunky two-year old, is a sweet distraction and one constant light in her life. One day as she takes Riley to the park she meets Collin McKenna, a senior at her high school and her life is changed forever as he helps her find herself and realize her life is worth living. As the romance between them grows her broken heart begins to heal. However, still nagging in the back of her conscious is the fear that her new found happiness could come crashing down and she could lose everything she loves, yet again. Outside forces begin to tear them apart and Bailey must learn to trust in herself and realize that she is worthy of happiness. That sometimes love and healing comes in unexpected forms

Review:
I received this book from the author in exchange of an honest review and this turned out be a rather sweet read.
After losing her family in a car accident Bailey is forced to move on and try to deal with the pain of losing her loved ones. Babysitting two year-old Riley is the only thing that actually makes her happy and feel alive.
One day when she takes Riley to the park, Bailey meets a boy named Colin who has his own issues to deal with and slowly helps Bailey realize her life is worth living.
The story is switches back and forth between Bailey and Colin, allowing the reader to get both sides of the stories.
There are so emotional moments in this book that kept me interested and made me feel for the characters who, can be innocent but still have to carry a lot of weight on their shoulders.
I liked the characters in this book. They are very relatable and it’s easy to want things to work out for them. There’s some great character growth in this book as Bailey becomes a stronger woman and Colin realizes that, sometimes, loving someone means having to make hard decisions.
I think the way the relationship between Bailey and Colin developed was very well-written. This is a book about growing up and learning how to move on.
All in all, Healing My Heart is a sweet and clean romance with a few little twists and sweet moments. If you like a clean YA romance, I think you can definitely enjoy this book.

Rating: Somewhere between Readable and Worth Your Time (3 ½ Stars) 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Daemon Invasion



Over the last couple of weeks, you’ve heard us talking about the upcoming #daemoninvasion and we’re so excited to finally share with you what is going on.
Really excited.
The beautiful and uber cool models, Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz, who grace the Lux covers, will be joining us in the United States!  You heard right.  They are flying here, from Hungary to spend a few days as Daemon and Katy! While they are here, they will be working with Vania, from VLC Productions (the team behind Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments, Melissa de La Cruz, Kimberly Derting, Moira Young, Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl, Hillary Duff, Lauren Destefano, and many, many more authors’ book trailers), to film book trailers for the Lux Series.
During the filming in Atlanta, they will be accompanying us on tour! What does that mean? You get to meet them. In the flesh. They will be participating in the signings and events. At those signings, we’ll be giving away signed posters, photos, and other swag. There will also be meet and greet events you can join in on.
At each signing, there will be advanced copies of Onyx given away!
And to top things off (as if this isn’t enough, but we don’t do anything small), there’s something very, very exciting in the works! It involves advanced copies of Opal, water, and a little destination known as the Bahamas.
I am not kidding.
This will be epic.
Aare you excited? I am! This tour is going to be so, so much fun, and I’m so thrilled that Pepe and Sztella are a part of it. We owe them a huge thank you and a giant welcome making the 16 hour flight to meet the readers of the Lux Series.  You!

Daemon Invasion Signing and Event Schedule
June 8th
FoxTale Book Shoppe
Woodstock, GA
3:00pm
June 10th
Barnes and Noble
St Johns Town Center
Jacksonville, FL
3:00pm
June 13th
Barnes and Noble
Waterford Lakes Town Center
Orlando, FL
3:00pm
June 14th
Barnes and Noble
The Palladium at City Place
West Palm Beach, FL
4:00pm

There are several #daemoninvasion street teamers out there and if you want to join a team to win exclusive prizes, search down the #daemoninvasion hashtag to join one of the teams!

Don’t forget to visit Jennifer L. Armentrout’s blog to win a signed set of Half-Blood and Pure: http://jenniferarmentrout.blogspot.com/2012/04/tempting-best-man-and-contest.html  in celebration of her adult romance release, Tempting the Best Man, under pen name J. Lynn.


I'm recruiting people for my Daemon Invasion Team HERE

My Book Boyfriend


My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme, hosted by Missie at The Unread Reader. It is a weekly meme where we talk about a literary crush including stats, a picture of what you imagine he looks like and some quotes from him that make you swoon.  If you are interested in participating please check out the My Book Boyfriend Introduction Page over at Missie's blog The Unread Reader.


This week my book boyfriend is:


Daemon Black from Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
 
Stats

Status: Daemon is an alien and Katy's love interest

Age: 

Height: Tall

Eyes: Green

Hair: Dark

More info:  Daemon can be a jerk sometimes. He's cocky and snarky but I know he can also be quite sweet if he wanted to. 


"Heavy footsteps came from the other side, and then the door was swinging open and I was staring at a very broad, tan, well-muscled chest. A naked chest. My gaze dropped and my breath sort of... stalled. Jeans hung low on his hips, revealing a thin line of dark hair that formed below his navel and disappeared under the band of the jeans. His stomach was ripped. Perfect. Totally touchable. Not the kind of stomach I expected on a seventeen year-old boy, which is how old I suspected he was, but yeah, I wasn't complaining. I also wasn't talking. And I was staring.  My gaze finally traveling north again, I noted thick, sooty lashes fanning the tips of his high cheeks and hiding the color of his eyes as he looked down at me. I needed to know what color his eyes were. 
“Can I help you?” Full, kissable lips turned down in annoyance. His voice was deep and form. The kind of voice accustomed to people listening and obeying without question. His lashes lifted, revealing eyes so green and brilliant they couldn't be real. They were an intense emerald color that stood out in vibrant contrast against his tan skin."

Daemon: “You look like you got more of a bath than the car. I never
thought washing a car would be so hard, but after watching you for the last fifteen minutes, I’m convinced it should be an Olympic sport.”

“Thanks,” I muttered and added under my breath, “Douchebag.”
He laughed, deep and throaty. “Now that’s not very ladylike, Kittycat.”
I whipped around. “Don’t ever call me that,” I snapped.
“It’s better than calling someone a douchebag, isn’t it?” He pushed out the door. “This has been a stimulating visit. I’ll cherish it for a long time to come.”
Okay. That was it. “You know, you’re right. How wrong of me to call you a douchebag. Because a douchebag is too nice of a word for you,” I said, smiling sweetly. “You’re a dickhead.”
“A dickhead?” he repeated. “How charming.”
I flipped him off.

"I've always found that the most beautiful people, truly beautiful inside and out, are the ones who are quietly unaware of their effect." His eyes searched mine intently, and for a moment we stood there toe to toe. "The ones who throw their beauty around, waste what they have? Their beauty is only passing. It's just a shell hiding nothing but shadows and emptiness.”




If you like Daemon as well, join the Daemon Invasion Street Team
Who's your book boyfriend this week?