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Saturday, March 14, 2015

Fresh Batch (March 15th – 21st)

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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:

The Wrong Side of Right
Jenn Marie Thorne
Publication date: March 17th 2015
by Dial Books

Goodreads Purchase

Fans of Sarah Dessen and Huntley Fitzpatrick will enjoy this smart debut young adult novel, equal parts My Life Next Door and The Princess Diaries—plus a dash of Aaron Sorkin.

Kate Quinn’s mom died last year, leaving Kate parentless and reeling. So when the unexpected shows up in her living room, Kate must confront another reality she never thought possible—or thought of at all. Kate does have a father. He’s a powerful politician. And he’s running for U.S. President. Suddenly, Kate’s moving in with a family she never knew she had, joining a campaign in support of a man she hardly knows, and falling for a rebellious boy who may not have the purest motives. This is Kate’s new life. But who is Kate? When what she truly believes flies in the face of the campaign’s talking points, she must decide. Does she turn to the family she barely knows, the boy she knows but doesn’t necessarily trust, or face a third, even scarier option?

Set against a backdrop of politics, family, and first love, this is a story of personal responsibility, complicated romance, and trying to discover who you are even as everyone tells you who you should be.

Other releases this week:
* In no particular order *


– Wolves of the Northern Rift by Jon Messenger [Purchase]
– Soaring (Magdalene #2) by Kristen Ashley [Purchase]
– Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan [Purchase]
– This is Shyness (This is Shyness #1) by Leanne Hall [Purchase]


– Everything That Makes You by Moriah McStay [Purchase]
– The Witch of Painted Sorrows by M.J. Rose [Purchase]
– Chase Me (Broke and Beautiful #1) by Tessa Bailey [Purchase]
– Disillusioned (Swept Away #2) by J.S. Cooper [Purchase]


– The Whisper (The Riverman Trilogy #2) by Aaron Starmer [Purchase]
– Milayna (Milayna #1) by Michelle K. Pickett [Purchase]
– Reckless Love (Hard to Love #2) by Kendall Ryan [Purchase]
– The Lost Herondale (Tales from Shadowhunter Academy #2) by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman [Purchase]


– Duplicity by N.K. Traver [Purchase]
– Delicious Foods by James Hannaham [Purchase]
– Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee [Purchase]
– Prudence (The Custard Protocol #1) by Gail Carriger [Purchase]


– Consolation (The Consolation Duet #1) by Corinne Michaels [Purchase]
– American Savages (Ruthless People #3) by J.J. McAvoy [Purchase]
– The Book of Laney by Myfanwy Collins [Purchase]
– The Luck Uglies #2: Fork-Tongue Charmers (The Luck Uglies #2) by Paul Durham [Purchase]


– A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction by Terry Pratchett [Purchase]
– Pretty Wanted (Pretty Crooked #3) by Elisa Ludwig [Purchase]
– The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl by Leigh Statham [Purchase]
– Sired by Stone (The Fabrick Weavers #2) by Andrew Post [Purchase]


– The Beauty Thief (Twelve Realms, #1) by Rachael Ritchey[Purchase]
– Ash (Destined #1) by Shani Petroff and Darci Manley [Purchase]


What are you most excited for this week?

 

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Find previous Fresh Batch posts here!

Review: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Review: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Posted by on 03/12/2015 • 18 Comments

If I could describe this book in one word, it would be quiet.

Yes, Emmy & Oliver is something that I would call a “quiet contemporary”. I’m not even sure where that came from, or if it’s a thing, or something I made up on a whim, but I know deep inside that this is the best word for it. I try to think of another description, but there is nothing that fits as this. Emmy & Oliver is meaningful, thoughtful, and like I said, quiet.

How is it so, you ask? I’ve read a number of contemporaries over the years, many of them involving issues and concepts teenagers face during their youth, experiences that mirror our own and lessons that are valuable to us, too. But while that is so, there are times when…

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Review: The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

Review: The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

Posted by on 03/11/2015 • 15 Comments

Another fabulously strange book from Nova Ren Suma! The writing is brilliant, the way the story is told is mesmerizing and deeply disturbing. I just loved it!

First I have to say that the blurb reveals too much. I went into this without re-reading it, and I personally think that if I had known more than I did, the story would have lost the extra bit of magic that the unknown allows us to have. While this revelation is not exactly a twist – there’s no real “aha” moment – it does become an unsettling fact that you simply can’t ignore anymore, and discovering this through your own deductions makes the reading experience all the better – an experience that the blurb takes away. So my advice is to go…

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Interview with Jay Clark + Giveaway!

Interview with Jay Clark + Giveaway!

Posted by on 03/10/2015 • 7 Comments

I’ve got the Finding Mr. Brightside tour stopping by the blog today. I had the opportunity to interview Jay Clark about this novel, and you can enter to win yourself a copy! First, let’s see what this book is all about:

Interview with Jay Clark

Let’s start with telling us what your book is about – but in tweet form!

She didn’t expect her silver lining To be wearing gray sweatpants. Will their parents’ sketchy history Stop her from giving him a chance?

What was the funnest part of writing Finding Mr. Brightside?

I was surprised how enjoyable it was to let the sparks fly between the two main characters without wet-blanketing them with an unnecessary punch line (or twenty), which is my tendency. I really want…

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Review: The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Review: The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Posted by on 03/09/2015 • 7 Comments

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and was so excited to read the second one. I had a few issues with it, but I still thought it was pretty great. With the way the last one ended, I was really curious where this one would go. I loved the story progression, but I couldn’t help but feel that at times Kestral was being really dumb. I still really liked her character though. The stake are high in this installment of the series and there is a lot of stuff going on so it was quite an exciting read. Being that this is a sequel, I will try not to give anything away.

Kestral is set to marry the prince. Obviously, she does not want to, but…

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Fresh Batch (March 8th – 14th)

Fresh Batch (March 8th – 14th)

Posted by on 03/07/2015 • 10 Comments

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

Flavor of the week:

Little Peach Peggy Kern Publication date: March 10th 2015by Balzer & Bray

Goodreads Purchase

What do you do if you’re in trouble?

When Michelle runs away from her drug-addicted mother, she has just enough money to make it to New York City, where she hopes to move in with a friend. But once she arrives at the bustling Port Authority, she is confronted with the terrifying truth: she is alone and out of options.

Then she meets Devon, a good-looking, well-dressed guy who emerges from the crowd armed with a kind smile, a place for her to stay, and eyes that seem to…

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Review: Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Review: Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Posted by on 03/06/2015 • 7 Comments

This book was a fun read. I liked the whole aspect of the tests that the family had to go through to try to win the inheritance. It was especially great, because things were not always as expected. Each test that they go through has to do with the family history and traits that their ancestors had. Pretty much all of the family are entitled shits who think that they deserve everything. Most of them annoyed me to no end, but it was all what made the overall story so good.

Avery is kind of a bit of a trouble maker. I don’t really blame her though. Abandoned by her father to live with her grandmother, she is pretty sheltered. She isn’t allowed to go hang out with friends…

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Review: Liars Inc by Paula Stokes

Review: Liars Inc by Paula Stokes

Posted by on 03/05/2015 • 13 Comments

If you’re looking for a YA mystery with an interesting premise and cast of characters, you need not look far because Liars Inc pretty much distinguishes itself from the rest effortlessly. I mean, look at the following factors and I dare you not to get excited, because I’m pretty sure you will:

✓ A male hero that actually feels like an authentic male hero ✓ A half-Indian love interest who is so comfortable with her sensuality ✓ A premise that revolves around lies and covering one’s ass with more lies ✓ A whodunit murder mystery that involves getting arrested by the FBI (or, trying not to)…

Okay, maybe the last bit is something we’ve seen a couple of times in other books, but the first three are stuff I haven’t seen yet,…

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