(ARC) Book Review (103) Temptation - Karen Ann Hopkins

Temptation (Temptation #1)

by Karen Ann Hopkins

Publication:1st July 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen Australia

Pages: 383

Genre: Contemporary/Romance

Age Appropriate: Young Adult 

Your heart misleads you.  That's what my friends and family say.  But I love Noah. And he loves me.  We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other's arms. It should be  ROSE & NOAH forever, easy. But it won't be. Because he's Amish. And I'm not.

My Thoughts.

They say that forbidden fruit is the sweetest, you always want what you can't have!

A tale of two people from totally different worlds meet and fall in love, and do everything they can to stay together, they'll defy their families to be with one another, this is a Romeo and Juliet story set  in our time.

This book gives you an insight into the Amish community that you never really read about.

I'd noticed this book around quite a bit on Goodreads before I received my review copy and I was a bit hesitant to add it to my list of books that I want to read, I think it was the subject of being about Amish people, (I don't agree with their ways at all) that made me ignore it, and then I received a copy in the mail and I though alright I'll at least give it a go and I found that I loved it!

It was a case of love/lust at first sight for Rose and Noah, after moving into Meadowview with her father and two brothers Sam and Justin after the death of her mother they are greeted by their Amish neighbours and invited to dinner.

And it's at dinner that Rose realises the differences between both the families (where the Amish still think it's the 1800's, and while they say they care about their women they are treated like they don't exist, all they seem to be there for are to do housework and produce a heap of kids as they don't believe in birth -control, and are made to stand in line at meals while the men fill their plates and only then after they've sat down can they then go and eat themselves).

I can go on and on because the subject really gets me riled up, and while I can understand that Rose and Noah are in love and want to be together he expects her to make all the sacrifices and tries to get her to act as a proper Amish woman should.

 So because I was getting frustrated with all the male chauvinism I just tried to ignore the fact of who Noah was and concentrated on the romance between the two instead, after admitting their feelings to each other they both had to resort to sneaking around to be able to see each other, of course Sam finds out and isn't happy about the fact that they're together hoping that it's just a fad and that they'll break up.

As I said I did love this book for the romance only, Rose and Noah make such a sweet couple and you're cheering them on the whole way through.

I'm interested to know what happens in the next book after what happens at the end of this one, and to see how this whole relationship plays out.

I give this 4/5.

A Big Thanks To Harlequin Teen Australia.

Cover Reveal: Rise - Andrea Cremer

Rise (Nightshade Prequel #2)

by Andrea Cremer

Expected publication: January 2013

Waiting On Wednesday.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine where you can spotlight an upcoming release that you're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on....

The Summer Prince

by Alaya Dawn Johnson 

Four hundred years ago, the world ended. And now, on the coast of what was once called Brazil, women rule in the legendary pyramid city of Palmares Três. The city's Queen only cedes her power to a man once every five years -- to a Summer King, whose story will grip the city like a fever.

For June Costa, art is everything. Her brilliant creations -- from murals and holograms to a delicate pattern of lights in her skin -- have impressed (and irritated) her classmates and teachers alike. Her dream is to win the prestigious Queen's Award, and the instant fame and success that come with it. It's a dream she never questions -- until she meets Enki. Enki, the newly-elected Summer King, is the hottest thing in Palmares Três. But when June sees Enki, she sees more than piercing amber eyes and a lethal samba: She sees a fellow artist.

Together, June and Enki will create art that Palmares Três will never forget. They will add fuel to a growing rebellion against the government's strict limits on new tech. And June will fall deeply, tragically in love with Enki. 

Because like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die.

Expected publication: March 2013 by Scholastic

Inhuman (Fetch #1)

by Kat Falls 

In a world ravaged by mutation, a teenage girl must travel into the forbidden Savage Zone to recover lost artifacts or her father's life is forfeit.

America has been ravaged by a war that has left the eastern half of the country riddled with mutation. Many of the people there exhibit varying degrees of animal traits. Even the plantlife has gone feral.

Crossing from west to east is supposed to be forbidden, but sometimes it's necessary. Some enter the Savage Zone to provide humanitarian relief. Sixteen-year-old Lane's father goes there to retrieve lost artifacts--he is a Fetch. It's a dangerous life, but rewarding--until he's caught.

Desperate to save her father, Lane agrees to complete his latest job. That means leaving behind her life of comfort and risking life and limb--and her very DNA--in the Savage Zone. But she's not alone. In order to complete her objective, Lane strikes a deal with handsome, roguish Rafe. In exchange for his help as a guide, Lane is supposed to sneak him back west. But though Rafe doesn't exhibit any signs of "manimal" mutation, he's hardly civilized . . . and he may not be trustworthy.

Expected publication: March 2013 by Scholastic

Revel

by Maurissa Guibord 

There's an island off the coast of Maine that's not on any modern map. Shrouded in mist and protected by a deadly reef, Trespass Island is home to a community of people who guard the island and its secrets from outsiders. Seventeen-year-old Delia grew up in Kansas, but has come here in search of her family and answers to her questions: Why didn't her mother ever talk about Trespass Island? Why did she fear the open water? But Delia's not welcome and soon finds herself enmeshed in a frightening and supernatural world where ancient Greek symbols adorn the buildings and secret ceremonies take place on the beach at night. Sean Gunn, a handsome young lobsterman, befriends Delia and seems willing to risk his life to protect her. But it's Jax, the coldly elusive young man she meets at the water's edge, who finally makes Delia understand the real dangers of life on the island. Delia is going to have to fight to survive. Because there are monsters here. And no one ever leaves Trespass alive.

Expected publication: February 12th 2013 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Full Blooded (Jessica McClain #1)

by Amanda Carlson 

After living in hiding for the last twenty-six years, Jessica wakes up to find she's become a full-blooded werewolf -- claws, fangs, fur, everything. It was never supposed to happen: female werewolves don't exist. 

When a mercenary killer comes looking for her, her Pack finds themselves caught in the middle of a war. They must rise up to protect her, but no one knows if she's means the end of their race-or just a new beginning.

Expected publication: September 1st 2012 by Orbit

Cover Reveal: Sever - Lauren DeStefano

Sever (The Chemical Garden #3)

by Lauren DeStefano

In the first two books of the Chemical Garden trilogy, Wither and Fever, Rhine struggles to escape the mansion and then to navigate the brutal world outside. Now in Sever, the third and final book, Rhine uncovers some shattering truths about the past that her parents never had the chance to tell her and the alarming implications regarding her own genes. She may be the one who can save the human race.

Expected publication: February 12th 2013 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Cover Reveal: The Indigo Spell - Richelle Mead

The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3)

by Richelle Mead

Expected publication: February 12th 2013 by Razorbill

Book Review (102): Night Beach - Kirsty Eagar

Night Beach

by Kirsty Eagar

Publication: 26th April 2012

Publisher: Penguin Books Australia

Pages: 324

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Imagine there is someone you like so much that just thinking about them leaves you desperate and reckless. You crave them in a way that's not rational, not right, and you're becoming somebody you don't recognise, and certainly don't respect, but you don't even care.

And this person you like is unattainable. Except for one thing...

He lives downstairs.


Abbie has three obsessions. Art. The ocean. And Kane.

But since Kane's been back, he's changed. There's a darkness shadowing him that only Abbie can see. And it wants her in its world.

A gothic story about the very dark things that feed the creative process.

My Thoughts.

I don't know how to write this review, I didn't really understand the ending of the book, I didn't much like the characters and it was an alright story, but not really something I'd read again.

So let me explain my sentence above, I couldn't really get into the story, I understand that Abbie has a crush on Kane (more like a stalkerish obsession) but I don't understand why, I don't think there was anything at all that I liked about his character, which made me confused as to how she ended up with a crush on him in the first place, and because of her obsession of someone who was in my opinion just a waste of space it made me dislike her as well, I understand that when you're younger you have crushes on people but this was just a little too far, I mean stealing one of the condoms he kept in a pants pocket because it was in his pants pocket is just going a bit too far.

It also didn't matter that he never gave her the time of day in the first place and with the paranormal aspect in this story that affected them both I just think he's nothing but a gutless wonder!

As for the rest of the story I do feel bad for Abbie and her home life, being shafted to and fro between her divorced parents, her father who never has time for her and spends all his time working or her Mum who is cold and unfeeling and doesn't seem to care anything about Abbie except her getting good grades.

So all of that was just depressing she was all alone not really any family or friends and besides surfing (which I found really boring to read about) and her art there wasn't much else happening in the book.

And the ending, well I didn't really get the paranormal part it really wasn't explained all that well that I could understand what it was, and on the last page when she finally looked into that room in the cellar and found the things in there that she did I was like huh!!!!, how the hell did they end up there in the first place, I felt like maybe it would have helped to have an explanation for those like me who weren't maybe smart enough to figure that out.

I really wanted to like this book, the summary on the back of this book sounds fantastic and I was really excited to read it but unfortunately for me it was a let down.

I give this 2.5/5.

A Big Thanks To Penguin Australia.

In My Mailbox (33).

In My Mailbox Is A Weekly Meme Hosted By Kristi The Story Siren.

Everything Left Unsaid - Jessica Davidson (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Preloved - Shirley Marr (Walker Books Australia)
Avenger's Angel (Lost Angels #1) - Heather Killough-Walden (Hachette Australia)
Messenger's Angel (Lost Angels #2) - Heather Killough-Walden (Hachette Australia)
Storm (Elementals #1) - Brigid Kemmerer (Allen & Unwin Australia)
Between The Lines - Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer (Allen & Unwin Australia)

Surrender (Possession #2) - Elana Johnson
Flirting In Italian (Flirting In Italian #1) - Lauren Henderson
Timepiece (Hourglass #2) - Myra McEntire
My Life Next Door - Huntley Fitzpatrick
Mirage (Winterhaven #2) - Kristi Cook
Shadow And Bone (The Grisha Trilogy #1) - Leigh Bardugo
For Darkness Shows The Stars - Diana Peterfreund
My Life In Black And White - Natasha Friend
The Sorceress Of Belmair (World Of Hetar #4) - Bertrice Small

Exiled (Immortal Essence #1) - RaShelle Workman
The Taken (Celestial Blues #1) - Vicki Pettersson
Article 5 (Article 5 #1) - Kristen Simmons
Tempest (Tempest #1) - Julie Cross
Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts #2) - Stacia Kane
Robert Pattinson: The Unauthorized Biography - Virginia Blackburn
Twilight Prophecy (Wings In The Night #17) - Maggie Shayne
The Twilight Boys - Evie Parker

Cover Reveal: Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff

Paper Valentine

by Brenna Yovanoff 

PAPER VALENTINE, in which a girl haunted by the troubled ghost of her best friend finds herself sucked into a darkly mesmerizing string of murders, in which a serial killer who leaves a paper-heart 'valentine' on his victims' bodies draws ever closer.

Expected publication: January 8th 2013 by Razorbill

Cover Reveal: The Gates Of Paradise - Melissa De La Cruz

The Gates of Paradise (Blue Bloods #7)

by Melissa de la Cruz 

Watch out for the explosive finale in the Blue Bloods series.
The seventh and final novel in the epic saga.

All your questions answered. . . All the mysteries explained. . . Friends reunited. . . Hearts broken. . . Will Bliss return with the Hellhounds? Will Schuyler save the Blue Bloods? Who will live? Who will die?

Expected publication: January 2013 by Disney-Hyperion

Cover Reveal: Pivot Point - Kasie West

Pivot Point

by Kasie West 

Reminiscent of the movie Sliding Doors, Pivot Point is about a girl who has the power to Search alternate futures. When faced with a life changing decision, she lives out six weeks of two different lives (in alternating chapters), both holding the potential for love and loss, and must ultimately choose which path she is willing to live through.

Expected publication: February 12th 2013 by HarperTeen

Cover Reveal: Altered - Jennifer Rush

Altered

by Jennifer Rush

When you can’t trust yourself, who can you believe?

Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev . . . and Sam, who’s stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them. 

Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind in the safety of her everyday life. But her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs. There’s just one problem. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab—not even their true identities.

Now on the run, Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

Expected publication: January 2nd 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Book Review (101). Dreamless - Josephine Angelini

Dreamless (Starcrossed #2)

by Josephine Angelini 

Publication: 1st June 2012

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia

Pages: 512

Genre: Fantasy

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

**Warning This Review Contains Spoilers From The Previous Book In The Series**

Can true love be forgotten?

As the only scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out--a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen's sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

Josephine Angelini's compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling "Starcrossed" delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds all expectations.

My Thoughts.

This book was as good as the first book in the series and I loved that book, this is definitely one of my favourites of the year so far.

The only problem is that I have to wait till next year for the third book and after the ending in this book I don't know if I have the patience to wait that long!

After the last book  we have Helen and Lucas avoiding each other after the revelation from Helen's Mum Daphne, that they are cousins, it's because of this that they can't be together (although how they haven't figured out that what they were told is a lie is beyond me, they're both meant to be really smart but can't seem to work out the simplest of sums like how her supposed father Ajax and Lucas' uncle died 19 years ago yet Helen is only 17), if they could just figure this out then they could be together instead of moping around, that's the only complaint I have about this story.

Helen now known as the Descender (the only Scion able to make her way into Tartarus) is on a mission to find the Furies and help stop the fights that occur when people from the four different houses are in each others company.

But the problem is she can only visit when she's asleep but she's not technically sleeping so it's making her ill, while down there she meets Orion who is sent  down there to help Helen every night.

Now in the first book Starcrossed I was all for Helen and Lucas but now after reading this book I'm torn, while there is a love triangle forming between Helen, Lucas and Orion I really like the idea of Helen and Orion as a couple and I don't know who I'd rather she was with.

Lucas is mostly absent in this book and when he is in it he's very angry and sullen and as soon as he is in Helen's presence he turns around and walks away.

And that's a big thing that I missed, the interaction between these two characters that I fell in love with in the previous book.

Everyone in the previous book makes an appearance and while some of them don't have a lot of page time they still make their presence felt.

This has fast become one of my favourite series and I eagerly await the time till I have the third book Goddess in my eager hands.

I give this 5/5.

A Big Thanks To Pan Macmillan Australia.

Cover Reveal: Boundless - Cynthia Hand

Boundless (Unearthly #3)

by Cynthia Hand

Expected publication: January 22nd 2013 by HarperTeen

Feature And Follow Friday (31). - I'm A Featured Blog!

Feature And Follow Friday Is Hosted By Alison Can Read and Parajunkee.Com.

This week I'm fortunate enough to be one of the featured blogs (I'm very excited)!

Have a read of my Q&A and head on over to the other featured blog Books & Blossoms and make sure also to stop by and visit Alison and Rachel.

I don't mind how you follow whether it be by (GFC, Linky or Networked Blogs).

I'll follow back even if I already follow you I'll just use a different way of following.

Thanks and enjoy!

(WHEN DID YOU START BLOGGING?)

I only started blogging October of last year, I used to visit all these different blogs and one day I thought you know what, I love reading why don't I start a blog of my own.

(WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF BOOK BLOGGING?)

I love the fact that there are so many people interested in reading that are also reading the same genre's as I do, I'm the only person who reads in my house so it's nice to be able to communicate with people that share the same passion for reading that I do.

(WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK(S)?)

For anyone that visits my site during Feature Follow Friday most of the questions are answered with using my favourite series Twilight - Stephenie Meyer, the reason I got into the paranormal genre was because of Twilight, I also love Harry Potter - J.K Rowling, The Mortal Instruments - Cassandra Clare, The Black Dagger Brotherhood - J.R Ward I could go on and on.

(WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST THING THAT'S HAPPENED TO YOU BECAUSE OF BOOK BLOGGING?)

I think that there's a lot of things not just one, I love it when an author sends me a message asking me specifically whether I'd review a book for them, or people that want me to take part in blog tours it makes it even more special when it's a publisher asking you it makes me feel like I'm doing something right and I feel extremely grateful, when I started this blog I never expected it to go as well as it has especially since there are so many other blogs out there.

And all the people you meet while blogging is fantastic, but mostly it's just people care enough to leave comments on your posts, I think it's the best decision I've ever made starting up this blog.

Oh and one of the best things so far is being a feature on Feature Follow Friday!

Here is the weeks question, answer it in your post.

Q: If you could "unread" a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?

Ok I will probably have quite a few people disagreeing with me about this but the one book I would unread if I could would be "Lord Of The Rings - J.R.R Tolkien".

I really didn't like this book I found it boring and unfortunately I'm one of those people that has to finish a book, this is one case where I definitely thought the movie was way better than the book.

Cover Reveal: Unravel Me - Tahereh Mafi

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2)

by Tahereh Mafi

Expected publication: February 5th 2013 by HarperCollins

Cover Reveal: Blood-Kissed Sky - J.A London

Blood-Kissed Sky (Darkness Before Dawn #2)

by J. A. London

Expected publication: December 24th 2012 by HarperTeen

Cover Reveal: The Nightmare Affair - Mindee Arnett

The Nightmare Affair

by Mindee Arnett 

16-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare. Literally. Dusty is a magical being who feeds on human dreams.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder. The setting is Arkwell.

And then it comes true.

Now the Dusty has to follow the clues--both within Eli’s dreams and out of them--to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

Expected publication: March 5th 2013 by Tor Teen

Cover Reveal: Echo - Alyson Noel

Echo (The Soul Seekers #2)

by Alyson Noel

The second book in the Soul Seekers series about a girl who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead by #1 New York Timesbestselling author Alyson Noël!
 

Daire Santos just saved her grandmother's life—and her soul. But at a cost. The Richters, a dark family of sorcerers, have been let loose in the Lowerworld, and Daire and her boyfriend, Dace, must once again work together to find them before they upset the balance between good and evil, and destroy not only their small town in New Mexico, but the entire world.
 
As Daire and Dace's relationship deepens, Dace’s evil brother Cade grows stronger than ever, building his power and forcing Daire to confront the horrifying prophecy that has brought them all together. One that will leave Daire no choice but to claim her true destiny as Seeker, but only by making an unthinkable sacrifice for the greater good of all.

Expected publication: November 13th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin