Posts By: Giselle

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Fresh Batch (May 19th – 25th)

Posted by 11 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

The Book of Broken Hearts
Sarah Ockler 
Publication date: May 21st 2013
by Simon Pulse

When all signs point to heartbreak, can love still be a rule of the road? A poignant and romantic novel from the author of Bittersweet and Twenty Boy Summer.

Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She’s seen the tears and disasters that dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath—with candles and a contract and everything—to never have anything to do with one.

Now Jude is the only sister still living at home, and she’s spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle—which means hiring a mechanic to help out. Is it Jude’s fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?

Jude tells herself it’s strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Vargas tricks a mile away—no way would she fall for them. But Jude’s defenses are crumbling, and if history is destined to repeat itself, she’s speeding toward some serious heartbreak…unless her sisters were wrong?

Jude may have taken an oath, but she’s beginning to think that when it comes to love, some promises might be worth breaking.

Sarah Ockler is the bestselling author of novels for teens, including Bittersweet, Fixing Delilah, and the critically acclaimed Twenty Boy Summer, a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten nominee and IndieNext List pick. Her latest, The Book of Broken Hearts, hits the shelves in May 2013.

Sarah is a champion cupcake eater, coffee drinker, night person, and bookworm. When she’s not writing or reading at home in Colorado, she enjoys taking pictures, hugging trees, and road-tripping through the country with her husband, Alex.

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Review: Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown

Posted by on 05/17/2013 • 26 Comments

The first Jennifer Brown book I read made me an instant fan of her work, and Thousand Words shows me she has more than one story to tell; one she tells admirably. This time, we meet a girl – Ashleigh – who had her life turned upside down when a private picture text to her boyfriend goes viral.

With technology allowing us constant and worldwide communication, sexting is an issue that was not even possible when I was in high school (way to make me feel old!), so stories like these are real eye openers to the damages that an online world can have with a simple error in judgment. Especially to someone as young as Ashleigh who is in an age where you feel invincible, yet mistakes happen, friends…

Book Girls Don’t Cry: Best of 2013

Posted by on 05/16/2013 • 32 Comments

Inspired by Book Buzzers, Book Girls Don’t Cry is a weekly feature where we each discuss/vent/advise on the chosen weekly bookish topic. Don’t miss Jenni on Mondays, and Amy on Saturdays:  

Best of 2013 (so far)

Since we’re hitting the half year mark very soon, we decided to do up a list of the best books we’ve read so far this year, and the top ones we’re excited for that are releasing before the year ends.

Let’s start with my top 5 books of 2013 so far:

Sins & Needles (The Artists Trilogy #1) by Karina Halle 

Ellie Watt is used to starting over. The daughter of a grifting team, Ellie spent her childhood being used as a pawn in her parents’ latest scam. Now she’s…

Review: The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

Review: The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

Posted by on 05/15/2013 • 35 Comments

Set in beautiful Paris, 1899, The Beautiful and the Cursed is a unique, violent, sometimes disturbing YA Gothic involving demons, Gargoyles, and… something unexplained that is one of our main characters.

With the appearance of two dead bodied within the first 70 pages, I knew I was in for a good time. Though not a bad thing (for me), this book was a little more violent than I expected. Aside from the initial dead bodies we’re treated to gory bodily remains and beastly attacks–which were pretty cool I might add. Hell hounds make for really awesome evil! To protect from these creature are gargoyles; amazingly described as these massive beasts, gargoyles have to protect the humans residing in their estates, and can turn to and from human form. This gargoyle…

Review: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne

Review: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne

Posted by on 05/14/2013 • 27 Comments

Sky on Fire, the sequel to Monument 14, is more action packed and exciting, but the writing is still filled with irritating quirks that doesn’t allow me to give it a higher rating, no matter how much I might have enjoyed the rest–which was actually quite a bit.

Since we’re at it, let me tell you what I mean about the writing. I knew from the first book that the author likes to write as if her readers are a little… slow? The first novel was filled with commentaries and unnecessary repetitions to make sure we understood clearly what was happening. This sequel is, unfortunately, not without these redundancies. The best example:

“Right before Castle Rock, there was a long stretch of open highway. (“Open” meaning that there was one…

Dare You To Tour Stop: Playlist Song, Excerpt + Giveaway

Dare You To Tour Stop: Playlist Song, Excerpt + Giveaway

Posted by on 05/13/2013 • 56 Comments

Pushing the Limits was one of my favorite books of last year so I am very excited to be on the tour for its companion sequel, Dare You To. I have a short excerpt for you today with a playlist song, plus a fantastic giveaway for you lovely peeps! Thanks to Kismet Book Touring for organizing this tour!

Dare You To Katie McGarry Series: Pushing the Limits #2 Publication date: May 28th 2013 by Harlequin Teen

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. “Dance with me, Beth.”

“No.” I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again….

“I dare you…”

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk’s home life, they’d send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old…

Stacking the Shelves (55)

Stacking the Shelves (55)

Posted by on 05/12/2013 • 39 Comments

Xpresso Weekly is my edition of Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews featuring the books I got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week.

This week at Xpresso Reads

Happy mother’s day!! I hope you’re all enjoying your weekend and maybe your gift is an afternoon off like mine? Teehee. Oh and because I said I would mention it weekly–2.5 weeks before BEA! 😀

Reviews on the blog this week:

NEW Xpresso Book Tours open for sign ups: — Uninvited Leah Spiegel and Meg Summers — Waiting for the Storm by Marie Landry — Losing Francesca by J.A. Huss Stacking the Shelves

 (Click on covers or title links for Goodreads) I received for review:

                                        –Gorgeous…

Fresh Batch (May 12th – 18th)

Fresh Batch (May 12th – 18th)

Posted by on 05/11/2013 • 13 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week. Flavor of the week:

Golden Jessi Kirby  Publication date: May 14th 2013 by Simon & Schuster BfYR

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older,…