Book Expo America 2014 Highlights and GIVEAWAY!!

Another awesome year at BEA! Well mostly awesome. I knew that Thursday and Friday were going to go as planned. I had my schedule ready and knew what lines I wanted to get in first. I got to meet A.S. King on Thursday and I was so nervous that I forgot to take a picture with her. Can you believe that!? But I did take a picture of my precious! I also told her that I loved her. I really didn't mean to sound creepy! But I just couldn't help but fangirl!!

I just finished Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King and it was the most amazing book ever. I can't wait to share my review!

At the end of the day Harper Collins was giving away shots of some alcoholic beverage and it was yummy!

Also look at this!!!!!!!!!! 

On Friday I was on a mission! I had to get Heir of Fire. I knew that the line was going to be crazy long but I was getting that book. This was by far the most awesome/irritating line that I have ever been in. Awesome because I got to meet Joy from Joyous Reads and other awesome bloggers and irritating because people were cutting in line. It was so frustrating!!! If you ever go to BEA never ever cut in line. It's rude, mean and disrespectful. Anyway, I got to meet Sarah J. Maas and she is so freaking pretty and soooo nice!! I'm glad I stayed in line. It was so worth it. 

I also got to meet Alethea Kontis!

She's the author of these pretties:

I got lucky with this series. Alethea was signing Enchanted on Thursday and told us if we went to the Houghton Mifflin booth they would give us the third book in the series, Dearest. Then she was signing the second book in the series on Saturday and of course I got in line. I'm super excited to read these! 

Another awesome thing that happened on Friday was that I got Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers! I'm a huge fan of the series and was so happy that I took a copy home!

I didn't take any pictures on Saturday. I just didn't have the energy and it was kind of a mess. Saturday was BEA/Bookcon. I don't know who came up with the idea of putting 10,000 people (I don't know if this number is accurate) in half of the Javits. It was really hard to walk imagine how hard it was to be in line for a signing. It got very hot and hard to breathe real quick. I hope they don't do this next year. 

Overall I enjoyed the event. This was my fourth year going and I haven't gotten used to the awesomeness of BEA. It's an exhausting and exhilarating 

experience. You have to definitely work your butt off for the books you want. But at the end it feels great to be holding that book that you have been waiting for and wanting for so long. 

And here is my BEA haul. I'm just going to post the ones I'm excited for because the rest I either donated to my library or gave away. 

 Plus I got to take home this amazing Throne of Glass tote bag!!!

And now for the giveaway!!!!! I'll be giving away the books in the picture below plus the "totes books" tote bag!To enter just fill out the rafflecopter form below. The giveaway is INT'l and will end on July 4th. Good luck!!

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid (signed)

Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

 Madame Picasso by Anne Girard (signed)

The Zodiac Collector by Laura Diamond (signed)

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (signed)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pic2Book Wednesday Challenge #101

Guess the Book Title

This is a weekly challenge where you guess the book title just by looking at the pictures. This game is inspired by the game Scene it? and it's one of my favorite challenges in it! If you want to participate and don't want any spoilers don't read the comments. I'll post the answer of this challenge in next week's challenge.

What's this book's title?

Hints:

• This book is the 5th book in the series
• This book was published on February 2014
• M.M.L. are the authors initials

Only for emergencies!!!

You will find the book's title in this list.

Last Week's Challenge answer: 

Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

Thanks to:  

Kristia, Jessica Haluska, cattiea, Kindlemom, Candace, Lisa Womack, Annie Jackson & Carmel @ Rabid Reads

For participating in last week's challenge!!! 

Searching for Someday by Jennifer Probst

 

Amazon/Barnes & Noble

Kate has given up on love—at least for herself. She is both blessed and cursed with the ability to sense a romantic connection between two people—a gift that her family passed down for generations. When Kate launches her own matchmaking company, Kinnection, with her two best friends in a cozy New York town, she has to put aside her own romantic disasters to make her business a success.

But when a furious man stalks into her office and accuses her business of being a scam, Kate is given the ultimate challenge to prove herself. Slade puts himself in her hands and asks Kate to find him love. Enraged at his arrogance but stubbornly eager to prove herself, Kate agrees, dedicating herself to the journey of finding him love... only to find herself falling for him along the way.

Every now and then I need to read a fluffy book. I know I’ll get that from Jennifer Probst books. If I read too many of these books, I’ll get bored of them. But I found a balance and I’m happy to say that it has been working. Searching for Someday was predictable, it frustrated me sometimes but it was fast paced and entertaining to read. There’s not much I can say about Searching for Someday. I do have to point out what frustrated me about this one, it was Kate. 

The book opens (I think it was the prologue) with Kate going on a date with this guy that from the get go you know he’s a douche. He’s gross, wants to split the check and to make it worse he is kind of flirting with the male waiter. So you would think that Kate would have some common sense and know that this guy is not for her. But, no, she starts making excuses for him. She’s tired of dating and not finding her soul mate, I get it, but c’mon, this guy was definitely not into her! To get to my point –this is not a spoiler- she ends the date and goes home alone. Then when our hero comes in the picture they touch there're sparks, they kiss and is magical, he’s her soul mate but Kate refuses to believe it and keeps pushing him away. Am I making any sense here? The whole situation irritated me. How come she was ready to settle for a guy that she KNEW wasn’t for her but then gave a hard time to the one that was definitely for her? –End of rant-

I know it sounds a bit silly, but I just couldn’t look passed that. I guess the angst was necessary for this one to be entertaining. I admit I enjoy their banters and the sexual tension between Kate and Slade. I won’t say Searching for Someday was different from other romance books because it wasn’t, but it was entertaining. I very much like Jennifer Probts books and I know after a finish one her books I will be happy and satisfied.

Pic2Book Wednesday Challenge #100!!!

Guess the Book Title

This is a weekly challenge where you guess the book title just by looking at the pictures. This game is inspired by the game Scene it? and it's one of my favorite challenges in it! If you want to participate and don't want any spoilers don't read the comments. I'll post the answer of this challenge in next week's challenge.

What's this book's title?

Hints:

• This book was published by HarperTeen
• L.M. are the author's initials
• This book was published on May 2014

Only for emergencies!!!

You will find the book's title in this list.

Last Week's Challenge answer: 

Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Thanks to:  

Laura Thomas, Kindlemom, Marianne Robles, Joyous Reads, Kayla Michelle, Nicole Hewitt, Carmel @ Rabid Reads, Jessica Haluska & Cait

For participating in last week's challenge!!! 

Archetype by M.D. Waters Review

Amazon/Barnes & Noble

Emma wakes in a hospital, with no memory of what came before. Her husband, Declan, a powerful, seductive man, provides her with new memories, but her dreams contradict his stories, showing her a past life she can’t believe possible: memories of war, of a camp where girls are trained to be wives, of love for another man. Something inside her tells her not to speak of this, but she does not know why. She only knows she is at war with herself.

Suppressing those dreams during daylight hours, Emma lets Declan mold her into a happily married woman and begins to fall in love with him. But the day Noah stands before her, the line between her reality and dreams shatters.

In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men—one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which is which. . . .

Archetype is not the kind of book I would usually go for. I only gave it a try because Joy from Joyous Read wrote an amazing review and I just HAD to read it. The beginning was a little slow and I was a little bit lost. I say lost in the sense that I didn’t know if I was reading a book that took place in our time or in the future. The information that we got, we only got through Emma’s eyes which means we had limited access to where and when this story took place. I was a little bit disoriented, but that didn’t get in the way of me appreciating the writing. The writing and the story were the two things that kept me reading. When I book drags, I just put it aside and forget about it, but with Archetype I just couldn’t let go. I had to know what happened to Emma and why she couldn't remember her past.

I have to say that M.D Waters definitely knew what she was doing when she wrote this book. These types of books can be so cliché and predictable. But Archetype wasn’t. This book had me guessing what the hell was happening until the very last page. There was a moment or two when my jaw just dropped to the floor (I probably looked ridiculous) because I didn’t see most of the twists coming. There were a few things here and there that I guessed from the beginning. Like which guy I was rooting for and which guy gave me the creeps. I have to be very vague about Archetype because I will definitely ruin it for you. Just know that you need this book in your life, because holy sh!t it was great.

Slow beginning but it gets better by the middle of the book, beautiful writing, amazing MC and hot guys (even though I didn’t like one of them he was still very readable ;) ) Archetype is a must read.

Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning Review

Amazon/Barnes & Noble

He would sell his warrior soul to possess her. . . . 

An alluring laird...

He was known throughout the kingdom as Hawk, legendary predator of the battlefield and the boudoir. No woman could refuse his touch, but no woman ever stirred his heart—until a vengeful fairy tumbled Adrienne de Simone out of modern-day Seattle and into medieval Scotland. Captive in a century not her own, entirely too bold, too outspoken, she was an irresistible challenge to the sixteenth-century rogue. Coerced into a marriage with Hawk, Adrienne vowed to keep him at arm's length—but his sweet seduction played havoc with her resolve.

A prisoner in time...

She had a perfect "no" on her perfect lips for the notorious laird, but Hawk swore she would whisper his name with desire, begging for the passion he longed to ignite within her. Not even the barriers of time and space would keep him from winning her love. Despite her uncertainty about following the promptings of her own passionate heart, Adrienne's reservations were no match for Hawk's determination to keep her by his side. . . .

I used to run for the hills every time I hear the word historical. I don’t know why but I believe I tried reading a historical book in my dreams once and it probably slapped me. I was terrified of reading something out of my comfort zone. Lately, I’ve been more adventurous. Ha! It’s funny how I consider reading a historical book an adventure. No jumping out an airplane free falling for this girl. That’s not risky enough for me. Give me a good book and it’ll give me the thrill of a lifetime. You guys probably can relate to this, right? Well, this book was a trip and I enjoyed every single minute of it. 

I loved this book from page one. Adrienne was a fantastic character. I loved that she didn’t lose her mind once she found herself in a strange place surrounded by strangers. She adapted to her surroundings beautifully and that made for an amazing read. Also, Hawk was the perfect hero. He was a little intense for my taste, but I didn’t mind it that much. The chemistry between these too was amazing. I enjoyed how they were open to the impossible like the strangeness of time travel and magic. 

There was one character, though, that annoyed me a bit. Adam was like a little child that wanted something that he couldn’t have. I just wanted him gone. From what I've heard he’s in the other books of the series. Let’s hope he’s not as annoying in the other books as he is in this one. I loved the secondary characters so much. Hawk’s mom was the best. And the hot best friend (I don’t remember his  name) I wanted to slap  at some point in the book but then he redeemed himself. Sigh, this book, brought many emotions out of me. I like when books do that to me. 

Beyond the Highland Mist is one of those books you want everyone to read, I even almost told my weird neighbor about it, but he would probably think I’m a weirdo and we don’t want that. The plot, the romance, the characters all of that made this book a win. I hope you guys give a try!