Saturday, May 02, 2015

Fresh Batch (May 3rd – 9th)

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Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

A Court of Thorns and Roses
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Publication date: May 5th 2015
by Bloomsbury Children’s

Goodreads Purchase

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!


Other releases this week:
* In no particular order *




Pucked by Helena Hunting [Purchase]
Dirty Past (The Burke Brothers #2) by Emma Hart [Purchase]
The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West [Purchase]
Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge [Purchase]


Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen [Purchase]
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson [Purchase]
Kane (Slater Brothers #3) by L.A. Casey [Purchase]
The Friend Zone (Game On #2) by Kristen Callihan [Purchase]


Ice Kissed (Kanin Chronicles #2) by Amanda Hocking [Purchase]
Until the Beginning (After the End #2) by Amy Plum [Purchase]
Isle of the Lost (The Descendants #1) by Melissa de la Cruz [Purchase]
Seriously Wicked by Tina Connolly [Purchase]


A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman [Purchase]
Two of Hearts by Christina Lee [Purchase]
Not My Father’s Son: A Memoir by Alan Cumming [Purchase]
Undertow (Undertow #1) by Michael Buckley [Purchase]


The Novice (Summoner #1) by Taran Matharu [Purchase]
Tracked by Jenny Martin [Purchase]
Day Shift (Midnight, Texas #2) by Charlaine Harris [Purchase]
The Gentleman Mentor by Kendall Ryan [Purchase]


Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold (Broken Hearts & Revenge #2) by Katie Finn [Purchase]
Last Kiss (Hitman #3) by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick [Purchase]
Halfway Perfect by Julie Cross and Mark Perini [Purchase]
Wolf Bride (Lust in the Tudor Court #1) by Elizabeth Moss [Purchase]


Hugo & Rose by Bridget Foley [Purchase]
Love on the Ledge (On the Verge #2) by Zoraida Córdova [Purchase]
Material Girls by Elaine Dimopoulos [Purchase]
Exposed (Ethan Frost #3) by Tracy Wolff [Purchase]


Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry [Purchase]
Love, Lucas by Chantele Sedgwick [Purchase]
Fury (The Seven Deadly #3) by Fisher Amelie [Purchase]
The Heir (The Selection #4) by Kiera Cass [Purchase]


What Remains by Helene Dunbar [Purchase]
The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski [Purchase]
Swept Away by Michelle Dalton [Purchase]
Galgorithm by Aaron Karo [Purchase]


Wild Hearts (If Only . . . #4) by Jessica Burkhart [Purchase]
Dust to Dust (Ashes #2) by Melissa C. Walker [Purchase]
Overtaken (Overpowered #2) by Mark H. Kruger [Purchase]
Riven (The Lost Imperials #3) by Sherry D. Ficklin and Tyler Jolley[Purchase]


Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights by Ann Bausum [Purchase]
Hexed: The Sisters of Witchdown by Michael Alan Nelson [Purchase]
Lola Carlyle’s 12-Step Romance by Danielle Younge-Ullman [Purchase]
Some Kind of Normal by Juliana Stone [Purchase]


Poppy in the Field (Poppy #2) by Mary Hooper [Purchase]
Under the Spotlight (The Jamieson Collection #3) by Angie Stanton [Purchase]
Avalon Rising (Metal & Lace #2) by Kathryn Rose [Purchase]
The Clouded Sky (Earth & Sky #2) by Megan Crewe [Purchase]


Freaks of Nature (The Psion Chronicles #1) by Wendy Brotherlin [Purchase]


Anything in your wishlist this week?

 

You can support Xpresso Reads by using this link (also found on sidebar) to shop at TBD

Find previous Fresh Batch posts here!

Interview with Kady Cross + Giveaway!

Interview with Kady Cross + Giveaway!

Posted by on 05/01/2015 • 14 Comments

Being a huge fan of ghost stories, I’m excited to be a part of the Sisters of Blood and Spirit blog tour! I’ve got the lovely Kady Cross on the blog today for a short interview along with a giveaway! First, let’s see what this book is all about in case you missed out on this one so far:

Interview with Kady Cross Let’s start with giving us a brief description of this book using a tweet (140 characters or less).

Sweet Valley High meets Supernatural.

What was the hardest part of writing Sisters of Blood and Spirit?

Sorting out, and keeping track of what ghosts can and can’t do in this world, and then staying on top of which of those rules Wren…

Giveaway: The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Giveaway: The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Posted by on 04/30/2015 • 6 Comments

Thanks to the lovely people at Simon & Schuster, I’ve got a copy of The Remedy up for giveaway today! This novel is the first in a new series set in a world before The Program that has just released last week!

The Program series: (Click on the covers for Goodreads)

Don’t forget to: Read the first 8 chapters of The Remedy here! Find Suzanne Young on Twitter and Facebook Share using hashtag #ReleasetheRemedy

Giveaway!

Simon & Schuster has generously offered up a THE WORLD BEFORE THE PROGRAM prize pack:

–a copy of The Remedy –plus Suzanne Young’s series The Program and The Treatment.

Open to US and Canadian addresses only Giveaway ends May 11th, 2015 Prizing & samples…

Review: The Doublecross: And Other Skills I Learned as a Superspy by Jackson Pierce

Review: The Doublecross: And Other Skills I Learned as a Superspy by Jackson Pierce

Posted by on 04/29/2015 • 3 Comments

OKAY, THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST ADORABLE AND FUNNIEST SPY-KIDS NOVEL I HAVE EVER READ.

Sorry for the all-caps, but seriously, I never thought a premise involving elite spy kids… or, err… pseudo-elite spy kids… would be in the same sentence as “cute” and “adorable”. In less than 3 hours, I finished from A-Z and I was like, “I NEED MORE SPY KIDS IN MY LIFE.”

Heroes don’t always look like heroes, and villains don’t always look like villains.

I had to work out who was who. I had to work out the truth.

Meet Hale Jordan – the son of two of the most elite spies of the SRS and the brother of a possible spy prodigy – a young soon-to-be-and-still-in-training spy who could not be anymore “unfit” for the role….

Review: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Review: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Posted by on 04/28/2015 • 18 Comments

This book was so confusing at first, but ended up making so much sense and really stuck with me. The way it is written pulls you in right away. Even though I wasn’t quite sure what was going on when I started, I was compelled to keep reading. I hoped that it would make sense to me as I got further in. It did and it didn’t. What I mean is that I realized why it was written how it was, and I understood it, but it was still a very confusing story. It fit perfectly with the main character though, and the mental illness that it is about. This was a brilliant book, and I have already recommended it to many people.

Caden is the main character, and the…

Tour: All the Rage by Courtney Summers Review & Giveaway

Tour: All the Rage by Courtney Summers Review & Giveaway

Posted by on 04/27/2015 • 12 Comments

I’m super excited to be taking part in this blog tour. Today on my stop I have my review and a giveaway for one copy of All the Rage (US & CAN only)

This book is one of those gritty dark contemporaries, that although tough to read at times, is so engrossing that you don’t want to put it down. There is no fluff to this. It’s harsh reality and tragic circumstances. It covers small town politics, bullying, and rape among other things. It’s not an enjoyable book to read, but it is a good one. I find books like this refreshing actually. They represent real issues that people go through, and all the horrible things that go along with them. I really felt for the characters…

Fresh Batch (April 26th – May 2nd)

Fresh Batch (April 26th – May 2nd)

Posted by on 04/25/2015 • 7 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

An Ember in the Ashes Sabaa Tahir Publication date: April 28th 2015by Razorbill

Goodreads Purchase

I WILL TELL YOU THE SAME THING I TELL EVERY SLAVE.

THE RESISTANCE HAS TRIED TO PENETRATE THIS SCHOOL COUNTLESS TIMES. I HAVE DISCOVERED IT EVERY TIME.

IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE RESISTANCE, IF YOU CONTACT THEM, IF YOU THINK OF CONTACTING THEM, I WILL KNOW

AND I WILL DESTROY YOU.

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution…

Review: This Shattered Court by M.J. Scott

Review: This Shattered Court by M.J. Scott

Posted by on 04/24/2015 • 4 Comments

Let it be known that if you thought this was a YA Fantasy, turn around now because this is better suited for adult audiences. Unless graphic sex scenes don’t bother you, then you have nothing to fear… well, at least, in that aspect. There were many other factors in this book that I thought were far more concerning than what happens between a male thingy and a female thingy.

First of all, what the fucking hell – was there even a plot in this book?! It was 300 pages of sex, magic, witches and pseudo-court intrigue and none of the substance those themes call upon. It amazed me that so many words were dedicated to almost absolutely nothing, because if there’s one thing this book is, it’s actually 300 pages of setting…