I'm so excited, you guys. In a couple weeks I'm going to see Rachel Hawkins on her Spell Bound tour. Yeah, RACHEL HAWKINS. I can't even tell you how awesome this is for me. I absolutely adore the Hex Hall series, so this is a very big deal.
And I'm spreading the awesome!
Because Rachel is going to be signing books at this event and I want EVERYONE to know about this series, I'm going to get a copy of Hex Hall (the first book in the series) signed for one of you guys! I can even get it personalized for you if you'd like! Interested? Enter the Rafflecopter below and please spread the word!!
Okay, guys, the giveaway is now closed! I'm off to pick a winner and whoever it is will be announced soon.
Thank you so much to everyone who entered! I really do wish you could all win! (:D)
The giveaway ends on Friday, March 16th. One (1) winner will be randomly selected and will be announced the next day, Saturday the 17th. Winner will be contacted by email and must respond with their details within twenty-four (24) hours or another winner will be chosen :) Thanks for entering!
(Oh, and check out all Rachel's tour details at readingwritingrachel.blogspot.com) (:D) ~Mag
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted over at Breaking the Spine, spotlighting books that have not yet been released but are being greatly anticipated. Today, my pick under the category "OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS??" is the second book in the Existence Trilogy by Abbi Glines: Predestined.
(Watch out for Existence spoilers in the synopsis!)
You would think after helping save her boyfriend from an eternity in Hell that things would go back to normal. Well, as normal as life can be when you can see souls and your boyfriend is Death. But for Pagan Moore, things are just getting weirder.
The high school quarterback and reigning heartthrob, Leif Montgomery, is missing. While the town is in a frenzy of worry, Pagan is a nervous wreck for other reasons. Apparently good ‘ol Leif isn’t your average teenage boy. He isn’t even human. According to Death, Leif doesn’t have a soul. The quarterback may have skipped town but he’s still showing up in Pagan’s dreams... uninvited.
Dank has known from the beginning Leif wasn’t human. But he hadn’t worried about a simple soulless creature. Now, he realizes he made a grave mistake. Pagan’s soul has been marked since birth as a restitution, to a spirit so dark not even Death walks near it. Dank knows saving Pagan’s soul won’t be easy but Pagan is his. And he’s already proven he’ll defy Heaven to keep her. If Hell wants a piece of him too, then bring it on.
I only just read Existence, like, two days ago, but I thought it was awesome! (Review coming soon.) And I loved Dank from the very beginning. I'm totally excited to find out what happens next for Pagan and Dank. And I love the last line in that synopsis--so Dank :)
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play, and the rules are simple:
• Grab your current read • Open to a random page • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
This week's Teasers come to you from Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey. I loved this book. I already finished it, but I just finished it a few minutes ago so I think it counts enough as my "current read", especially since I haven't started anything else yet :)
1. His eyes never left my face. It appeared he was holding his breath. -Page 282
2.
"I know who I am, Alden, and I know what I want. I'm your Speaker, and I'm supposed to lead in this relationship, so it's high time I did." -Page 282
So I was really confused when I first discovered this book, because according to Goodreads, it seemed like there were two versions of this book, one called Angel, one called Angel Burn, both with different covers. At first I thought it was two different books. Eventually, though, I figured it out and I am GLAD because it is SO GOOD!
Okay. Okay. I absolutely LOVED this book. Angels are a pretty common genre these days, but Angel Burn is sooo different than all of those!
Angel Burn by L. A. Weatherly
Willow knows she's different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people's dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. she has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself does. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces and that he's one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil.
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For one thing: those other books don't have Alex. And that is a shame. Because Alex is one of the best Book Boys I've read in a long time, and I read A LOT of good Book Boys! I fell in love with him from the beginning and he didn't disappoint! Strong, smart, brave, loyal and...well, HOT! :)
One thing I didn't understand about this book was why everyone thought Willow was sooo weird. I mean, I get the psychic thing. I can see that that's weird. But because of the way she dresses and because she likes/fixes cars? Um, hello, girls can like cars. I mean, *I* don't, but that doesn't mean all girls don't. That kind of annoyed me.
But there was so much about this book that I absolutely LOVED. For one thing, the POV. It was Willow's 1st person POV, but there was also the occasional flash-over to 3rd person Alex POV, which I loved. Then occasionally we'd get a little bit from the leader of the angels, and sometimes the head angel's assistant, Jonah.
Okay, Jonah. I absolutely loved his part in the story. I loved getting his side of the story. It was one of those things I wouldn't have thought to miss if it hadn't been in the book to begin with, but it added SO MUCH, and it would be a shame if it wasn't there. Really. So cool.
The whole story was so exciting and fun to read, even the parts that might have been considered "slower" (as in, not action-packed, fighting, there-are-people-trying-to-kill-us-right-here-right-now moments) were fantstic and awesome and there was never a point where I was bored or tired of reading. I never wanted to put it down.
Also, I'm so mad at myself, because when I went to the library to get Angel Burn, the sequel was RIGHT THERE on the shelf next to it. I thought really hard about going ahead and getting it then, but with all the other books in my immediate TBR pile, I decided against it. And now I have to wait until next week ot go back to the library and get it, and therefore get more Alex (and Willow).
There is no question that this book gets <*><*><*><*><*>
In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren, and it's all about talking about what you got in your mailbox each week!
IN MY ACTUAL MAILBOX
Nothing again ;)
FROM THE LIBRARY
-Angel Burn by L. A. Weatherly. Reading this one now! I was a little confused at first because apparently an alternate version of this same book has a different cover and is just called "Angel", but I figured it out and I'm really enjoying it :)
-Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky. Another cool-looking one.
-Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey. Been hearing good things about this one!
-Vampire Academy by Rachelle Mead. I'M GIVING YOU ONE LAST SHOT, VAMPS! THIS IS YOUR FINAL CHANCE TO REDEEM YOURSELVES!
-Wating For You by Susane Colasanti. My Contemporary Romance pick for the week ;)
(as you can see, that's only a couple of them, I packed the rest up for spring break :D)
ON MY KINDLE
I got lots on my Kindle this week, and I put them all in a collection called "Spring Break" (as you can see from the picture)
-Existence by Abbi Glines. I've heard so many great things about her and her books, and this book sounds so awesome, so I've been wanting to read it for a while.
-Touch (A Denazen Novel) by Jus Accardo. Another one I've heard plenty of good about ;)
-Between by Cyndi Tefft. I "met" Aiden MacRae during during the #FakeScotsmen chat a while back, and I've been wanting to read Between ever since :)
-Summer's Crossing (The Iron Fey) by Julie Kagawa. Yay! Iron Fey novella!
-Dirty Blood by Heather Hildenbrand. Been wanting to read this for ages! Yay!
-Winter's Passage (The Iron Fey) by Julie Kagawa. Yay! ANOTHER Iron Fey novella!
-Invisible by Jeanne Bannon. I won this from a giveaway at The Once and Future Librarian, so thanks again to both Kary and Jeanne for that!
Novels 'n' Notes is a weekly event I created here at Geek Chic to talk about songs that remind me of books. Feel free to make your own NN post! Just grab the logo (below) and don't forget to leave a link to your post in the comments so I can check it out!
Jet Lag (feat. Natasha Bedingfield) by Simple Plan: SHADE Series by Jeri Smith-Ready
So, I know I just did a SHADE-themed Novels 'n' Notes last week, but since that one was mainly about Logan and Aura, I decided to center this one on Zachary and Aura.
Like last week, this song is one of the ones that basically every line can be related to Zach and Aura, especially around SHIFT/SHINE time.
-" 'What time is it where you are?' 'I miss you more than anything.' 'I'm back at home you feel so far.' 'Waiting for the phone to ring.' "
Zachary and Aura are stuck in different countries, Aura in Baltimore and Zachary back home in Glasglow. And they miss each other. If that's not obvious.
-"You say good morning when it's midnight, going out of my head alone in this bed."
Same thing, Z + A separated and lonesome :(
-"I wake up to your sunset, and it's driving me mad, I miss you so bad."
And again. They're still apart. They still miss each other.
Here, listen yourself!
Please note that I do not own this song, the lyrics, or anything related to Simple Plan or Jet Lag. I also did not post this video, nor am I affiliated with "SammyJoe890", who did. *Insert other legal stuff here.* Also, this is quite possibly the prettiest lyric video I've ever seen :)
So, what do you think? Does Jet Lag make you think of Aura and Zachary? What other songs make you think of books?
You can tell me in the comments or your own NN post!
Anyway, this month is all about My Soul To Save, the second book in the fantastic series. (Remember, it's not too late to join the challenge, whether you've read the first book yet or not!) I loved My Soul To Save, and, like My Soul To Take, I loved it even more the second time around.
My Soul To Save by Rachel Vincent
When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies.
So when teen pop star Eden croaks onstage and Kaylee doesn't wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can't cry for someone who has no soul.
The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad's ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend's loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls: a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld—a consequence they can't possibly understand.
Kaylee can't let that happen, even if trying to save their souls means putting her own at risk….
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OOOH, man, here we are: Another review of a fantastic Soul Screamers novel. I can't tell you guys enough how much I absolutely ADORE these books (And not JUST because I'm in love with Tod, though I most definitely am).
Kaylee is finally moving past the horrible things that happened six weeks ago, the events that led to her discovery of her true heritage as a bean sidhe (that would be banshee to the uninformed). Now things are mostly back to normal, and Kaylee can spend her time hanging with her friends, her previously absentee father, and her boyfriend, Nash.
And then people start dying without their souls.
Kaylee is just as strong, smart, selfless and funny in this book as she is in the first, and the action and mystery is still awesome, too! The thing about Kaylee is that she refuses to back off of something she knows is right, even if she risks her own life. It's what makes her an awesome heroine and an awesome person.
Beyond that, the story itself is just incredible. Rachel Vincent has created a world that it's so easy to get fully immersed and lost in. As scary as it is, it's a world that would be awesome to live in, especially if you'd get to meet cool bean sidhes like Kaylee and Nash and supercool, superfun reapers like Tod! Well, Tod's basically the coolest/funnest reaper there is, so maybe just Tod. No other reapers. It's probably best to avoid them.
This book totally gets <*><*><*><*><*>
Now, I'd like to take a little time to talk about the characters and their development, as I did with my review for MSTT. So just beware that this next bit could be a bit spoilery for the entire series. (I'll try to keep later-book spoilers vague).
First thought: TOD TOD TOD TOD TOD! I'm so glad he got a bigger role in this book. I didn't realize until the rereading how little he's actually in the first one. And as an absolute Taylee shipper (and simply a Tod lover), I'm always glad to see some Tod :)
Then there's Kaylee and Nash. As you guys probably know, in the later books, I don't like Nash. I really, really don't like him. But I have to admit, going back to the beginning it's hard not to fall for him again. Even though I know how everything is going to go down, I still remember why I loved Nash, and why Kaylee loves Nash. That makes this hard.
I really admire Addison's character, too. Even though she's made some mistakes, she always did the wrong thing for the right reasons, and I can't hold that against her. In the end, she made the proper, selfless choice to try to set things right. Some people might try to compare that to what Aunt Val did in the end of My Soul To Take, but it's not nearly the same thing, in my opinion, because while Val's choice tried to negate the bad things she'd done out of selflessness, Addy's sacrifice was just the final in a line of many.
Moving right along, we have Emma. Ah, I love Emma. She's the same tough, cool chick from My Soul To Take, and that's a good thing, because dealing with Kaylee's bean sidhe business isn't exactly EASY. But Emma can handle it! She's always there for Kaylee, even when Kaylee can't be entirely honest with her or give her all the details. Really, she's as much of a heroine as Kaylee.
Now I want to go back to Tod. Watching him in this book is so sad. Tod's made mistakes, too. He makes them with good intentions, though, even when he knows he's wrong. It's so heartbreaking to watch him suffer and try so hard to save Addy. But despite that, I can see that Kaylee's wrong, and that he isn't still in love with Addison. He loves her as his friend, yes, and he wants to help her, but I think he's being 100% honest when he tells Kaylee he's not still in love with her. And I'm not just saying that because I know what's going to happen. I remember thinking the same thing during my first read.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on reading My Soul To Save the second time.
