Book Blitz + Giveaway: Under the Trees by Ashley Maker

Wrapping the Month: March

What's greater way to start new month than taking a look at previous one?

It's starting to feel like I'm just not able to schedule my life so I'd have time for everything I need to do. Any advise how to keep blogging regularly while studying full-time? Especially since I do sports around five times a week, and do all the chores (seriously, cooking takes too much time in my opinion).

February was a poor reading month, but I actually managed to read satisfying amount of books in March. In April I might have time to do that a lot because it's the final month before the summer holidays so it'll really busy university-wise. However, I'm determined to blog more in April - I have already posts scheduled for the next week, and I try to write as many reviews next week as I can so I can schedule them for the rest of the month. So you can look forward some discussion posts, tags/meme posts, and reviews.

I'm extremely happy of my March book haul; there's some classics I've been meaning to get for years, and I managed to find the gorgeous editions I wanted. Besides that I already read the Captive Prince trilogy (which I loved so much!) and Half Lost - all the four I loved (4 or 5 star rating for all of them). Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is actually a limited Waterstones edition which you can colour! I still haven't decided on the colours I'll use, but I'll share the cover once I have coloured it.

March's reviews:

The Beautifull Cassandra (3 stars)

The Night Is Darkening Round Me (5 stars)

The Tell-Tale Heart (4 stars)

Captive Prince (4 stars)

In February I only managed to read one book, but during March I read so many more, especially around the Easter when I marathoned a lot of books and finished two series. I read the following: The Beautifull Cassandra (by Jane Austen), Captive Prince (by C.S. Pacat), Half Truths & Half Lost (by Sally Green), and Prince's Cambit & Kings Rising (by C.S. Pacat).

I have no idea how much I have time to read during April, because I have three essays to write and then to study and prepare for exams which are at the beginning of May. However, I'll try to post more reviews, primarily reviews of Half Wild, Half Lost, Prince's Cambit and Kings Rising.

Hugs,

Henna

Review: Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Captive Prince (Captive Prince, #1)
by C.S. Pacat
Published by Berkley
Paperback (purchased)
Adult, LGBT, historical

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos. But when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.

Beautiful, manipulative, and deadly, his new master, Prince Laurent, epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.

For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else…

A fair warning, the novel is explicit and contains some sensitive/possibly triggering themes such as rape, pedophilia, slavery and physical abuse. Captive Prince was a very fast read for me, because it was captivating, fast paced, and I wanted to know what happens next. It's intense and withholds some interesting characters, and some that you just love to hate with all your heart's content. Captive Prince is a very character driven story, which I enjoy a lot when they're well written and has strong character voices, which Damen especially had. There was some scenes I cringed because of the themes they had, but I'm not very sensitive and I can stomach a lot. At some point it did seem that the author made a few scenes for a shock value, and I hope that the sequel does not do that.

Damen's point of view is intriguing and I felt for him, and admired how strong he was despite the wrongdoings that happened to him. What I especially admired about him, was his strong sense of leadership and the responsibility of taking care those who were his country men - even though he was stripped of his royal status and sent to serve another royal family as a slave. Although, he was a bit naive at the beginning but he grew out of it when the story evolved. Laurent, well, I both loved him and hated him. I felt for him because when I realized what had happened him in the past (and I guessed that pretty soon), and let's face it, Laurent the Ice Prince is the type of character I usually fell for. However, he did some things that can be explained (I surely hope they will be in next installment) that made me hate him - or not really hate, but despise in a way. I see the potential Laurent has, and I'll be happy to read more about him.

If you can stomach some hard topics and don't mind explicit content, I do recommend to try Captive Prince. Especially towards the end the story seems to kick off and it set a huge potential for the sequel, which I hope will be even better than this one.

4 of 5 stars.

Add on Goodreads.

3 Penguin Little Black Classics Mini-Reviews

The Beautifull Cassandra
by Jane Austen
Published by Penguin
On Goodreads

My review:
The Beautifull Cassandra is a collection of few Austen's stories that she wrote for the family's entertainment when she was a teenager. In that light - that they were just stories for entertainment and written when she was young - the stories are good and yes, entertainment. They're not such literary exellence as her novels but I truly enjoyed reading these. My favourite one was Henry and Eliza. If you like Jane Austen, I recommend reading these - the stories are fun in with all the hilarious and ridiculous characters.

3 of 5 stars.

The Night Is Darkening Round Me

by Emily Brontë

Published by Penguin

On Goodreads

My review:

With Wuthering Heights, Brontë became my favourite classic author. With her poems, she amazed me even more. I'm not into poetry and it's very rare that I read them at all. However, Brontë's poems captivated me, thrilled me, and amazed me in a length I didn't believe was possible. So beautiful, so passionate, so brilliant. After reading this, I'll definitely get Brontë's complete poetry collection, because I need more of this.

5 of 5 stars.

The Tell-Tale Heart
by Edgar Allan Poe
Published by Penguin
On Goodreads

My review:
Edgar Allan Poe truly is powerful writer blessed with a way of words. I loved the madness of The Tell-Tale Heart short story. Also, The Fall of the House of Usher was intriguing and truly ridden by madness, and I enjoyed reading it. However, The Cask of Amondillamo was the weakest of these three stories. I couldn't get a proper hold of it, and it left me cold. Otherwise this was a fantastic collection.

4 of 5 stars.

Cover Reveal: Endangered by Dani Hoots

Stacking the Shelves (44)

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, and is all about sharing the book you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Purchased

Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

The Beautiful Cassandra by Jane Austen

The Great Fire of London by Samuel Pepys

Aphorisms on Love and Hate by Friedrich Nietzshe

This was quite a bit of classics haul. The editions are the ones I have been wanting for so long, and I cannot wait to finally read Jane Eyre, 1984, and The Catcher In The Rye. Carry On is actually some special Waterstones edition - you can colour the cover yourself! I haven't decided yet if I want to do that... what do you think? Should I colour the cover?

ARC Review: Strong Signal by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell

Strong Signal (Cyberlove, #1)
by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell
Published by Megtino Press
Ebook (received from authors, thank you!)
Adult, LGBT, contemporary, romance

I was counting down the months until the end of my deployment. My days were spent working on military vehicles, and I spent my nights playing video games that would distract me until I could leave Staff Sergeant Garrett Reid behind. 

That was when I met him: Kai Bannon, a fellow gamer with a famous stream channel.

I never expected to become fixated on someone who'd initially been a rival. And I'd never expected someone who oozed charm to notice me—a guy known for his brutal honesty and scowl. I hadn't planned for our online friendship to turn into something that kept me up at night—hours of chatting evolving into filthy webcam sessions. 

But it did. And now I can't stop thinking about him. In my mind, our real life meeting is perfect. We kiss, we fall into bed, and it's love at first sight. 

Except, like most things in my life, it doesn't go as planned.

I'm not a gamer - I don't follow them, and the last time I even gamed anything was when I was in the middle school and played some Crash. But I wasn't going to miss this one because I fell in love with Erickson's Trust the Focus, and the synopsis did sound really intriguing despite of my total ignorance when it comes to gaming. Boy, aren't I happy I gave Strong Signal a try! It doesn't matter if you aren't into the gaming or even know anything about the gaming culture - Erickson and Hassell explain everything you need to know, and heck, now I want to watch Twitch! 

Strong Signal is absolutely everything I want from a contemporary romance. It's gripping, captivating, there's so much depth in characters, and it's not only about the romantic couple. There's also aspects of Garrett's family, about the army and military, as well as Kai's gaming and his friendship with Shawn. Garrett and Kai are also steamy together, but also perfect for each other in every way. I have to give a big shout for Erickson and Hassell for dealing with Kai's anxiety and crippling fears. It was not just a character trait that was pushed aside as soon as Garrett came to the picture, but it was dealt with care, and it was part of Kai that didn't just go away when he fell in love with Garrett.  

I cannot address enough how much I loved the story, Garrett and Kai. I ship them so much, and the story was so well written and well structured that I will read anything that Erickson and Hassell comes up with. Strong Signal also left a huge impact on me, and I know I will visit this story multiple times. It's simply everything one could hope from a contemporary romance - and more. I highly recommend it to everyone. What are you waiting for? Go, and read it!

5 of 5 stars.

Add on Goodreads.

Thank you, Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell, for giving me a chance to read and review Strong Signal!

(A copy of this ebook was provided in return for an honest review.)

ARC Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

This Is Where It Ends
by Marieke Nijkamp
Published by Sourcebooks Fire
Ebook (received from publisher via NetGalley)
YA, contemporary, realistic fiction

10:00 a.m.The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03The auditorium doors won't open. 

10:05Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

This Is Where It Ends takes place in small American town for a duration of 55 minutes when there's a school shooting. It's an important theme and I was intrigued of the concept, especially when it was said almost from the beginning that the shooter, Tyler, was one of the more popular kids. However, while the writing was good, I felt that the story lacked some and only a few characters were intriguing. There was multiple point of views, four to be exact, and some of them sounded almost the same which caused a confusion at times. Tomás was the most clear narrator, and I rooted for him and his friend Fareed. They were the only heroes of this story, the only one who actually did something for the situation, who kept doing anything they could do. Everyone else basically just cried for the injustice of the situation and how they didn't notice how Tyler had changed. The other narrators, Claire (who was outside of the school, waiting for the news), Sylvia (Tomás sister, Autumn's girlfriend), and Autumn (the shooter's sister) were not as clear or interesting as characters. All of them mostly cried for injustice or Autumn's case, could not believe how his brother could do something like that (even though it was quite clear that Tyler was not the most stable person during the events before the actual shooting).

Mostly I had two problems with the story. One, it painted Tyler as an evil and disturbed person and did not give any depth for him. He simply was the popular kid, who wasn't as nice as people thought, and eventually everyone realized just how evil he was. I felt that the author should have given Tyler more depth, and should have explained things better. The other problem I had was the main romantic relationship of the story: Sylvia and Autumn's. Did not feel Sylvia's and Autumn's relationship. It mostly seemed that Sylvia was there for Autumn at all times, but Autumn only cared about herself and getting out of the town. For fox's sake, Autumn's brother did some horrible things to Sylvia, and Autumn didn't notice? I think this subplot was poorly developed.

Overall the story was fast-paced and I read it within few days. It was not bad but it lacked a lot of depth and the characters were quite one dimensional, and the only ones I was able to identify with were Tomás and Fareed. With more editing and focusing on some aspects as well as deepening the characters, this book could have been fantastic.

3 of 5 stars.

Add on Goodreads.

Thank you, Sourcebooks Fire, for giving me a chance to read and review This Is Where It Ends!

(A copy of this ebook was provided in return for an honest review.)

Release Day Party + Giveaway: Darkly, Deeply, Beautifully by Megan Tayte

Darkly, Deeply, Beautifully (The Ceruleans, #5)
by Megan Tayte
Self-published
YA, fantasy

DARKNESS HAS FALLEN, AND SHE ALONE WILL SEE THE LIGHT.

With her mother’s life hanging in the balance, Scarlett is devastated – and done with being in the dark. She wants answers, all of them.

But when was her pursuit of the truth ever straightforward?

Pulling a single thread impels a great unravelling. And each revelation will force Scarlett to rethink what she thought she knew about the Ceruleans, the Fallen, her family – herself.

All that came before was a mere prelude to this, the last journey. From London to Twycombe to Hollythwaite to Cerulea, Scarlett will be stalked by the ghosts of what has been, what may have been and what may come to pass. Until she reaches the place where it all began, and it all must end.

But in the final reckoning, none will survive unscathed. And some will not survive at all.

In this explosive conclusion to The Ceruleans series, all must be defined by their actions: sinner, saint… or something more beautiful entirely?  

Purchase your copy!

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Author bio

Once upon a time a little girl told her grandmother that when she grew up she wanted to be a writer. Or a lollipop lady. Or a fairy princess fireman. ‘Write, Megan,’ her grandmother advised. So that’s what she did.

Thirty-odd years later, Megan is a professional writer and published author by day, and an indie novelist by night. Her fiction – young adult romance with soul – recently earned her the SPR’s Independent Woman Author of the Year award.

Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in a village of Greater Manchester. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a palaeontologist; and her baby daughter, a keen pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she's not writing, you'll find her walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.

You can find Megan online at:

Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Excerpt

I kissed Luke then. I kissed him. Like I hadn’t kissed him in more than a week – since before London, since before Hollythwaite, since Barcelona: when we’d been just a regular couple on a city break, wrapped up in each other. Through the kiss I heard his sigh, the release of emotion. And then he pulled me to him, onto his lap, and I kissed his lips, his jaw, his collarbone, his shoulder, and he kissed my lips, my earlobe, my neck, my –

‘No!’

My robe had slipped, exposing my back, and I struggled off him and wrestled with the fabric entangled at my waist.

He stood up. Put his hands on my shoulders. Said my name with so much tenderness that I had to stop. Had to look at him. The room was steamy, the glass doors occluded. No one could see. Only him.

‘Trust me,’ he said.

I did.

Slowly, he turned me. I steeled myself as he took it in, the brand I now wore. Non Serviam. I will not serve. Emblazoned on my back in the form of angry, jagged scar tissue.

When I felt his lips on the nape of my neck, I jerked in shock. But his hands on my hips held me still as he traced the path of the scar, one kiss at a time, from its very top to its termination just above my bikini bottoms.

‘Beautiful,’ he said.

I turned to him. He smiled up at me.

Sinking down so that we were both kneeling, I said, ‘How could you…?’

‘How could I not?’ was his answer. ‘I was there, Scarlett. I saw what you did for your mother. That scar: it’s beautiful.’

‘But it’s a punishment, Luke. Because I sinned. That’s not beautiful. It’s dark. Wrong.’

‘No! Don’t you say that. Trying to save your mother – that could never be wrong. If I’d had the chance, I’d have done it. My mum, my dad, Cara… I’d have saved them all. And you. I would always save you.’

His eyes were glistening, and I lunged for him and hugged him hard.

‘So stop hiding it from me,’ he finished, his voice muffled in my hair. ‘Please. Because I love that scar on you so goddam much.’

I nodded into his shoulder and he squeezed me.

It was calm in our little haven. Still. Warm. Nothing existed but Luke and me. We held each other for a long time, drifting in the haze.

And then Luke sat back and said, ‘So, you and me. We’re good?’

‘We’re good,’ I told him. Then I frowned and added: ‘For now. You know, Gabe, the Fallen: I have no idea what we’re getting into.’

‘Me either.’ He reached out a finger and drew, in the condensation on the glass door, a little lightbulb. ‘But whatever lies ahead,’ he said, ‘it has to be better than living in the dark.'

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Day Blitz + Giveaway: Strong Signal by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell

Strong Signal
by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell
LGBT, contemporary, romance

I was counting down the months until the end of my deployment. My days were spent working on military vehicles, and I spent my nights playing video games that would distract me until I could leave Staff Sergeant Garrett Reid behind.

That was when I met him: Kai Bannon, a fellow gamer with a famous stream channel.

I never expected to become fixated on someone who'd initially been a rival. And I'd never expected someone who oozed charm to notice me—a guy known for his brutal honesty and scowl. I hadn't planned for our online friendship to turn into something that kept me up at night—hours of chatting evolving into filthy webcam sessions.

But it did. And now I can't stop thinking about him. In my mind, our real life meeting is perfect. We kiss, we fall into bed, and it's love at first sight.

Except, like most things in my life, it doesn't go as planned.

*Strong Signal is a standalone, full-length novel with no cliffhanger* 

Add on Goodreads.

Purchase your copy!

Author Book Page

Amazon

Kobo

Author bios

Megan Erickson is a former journalist who switched to fiction when she decided she liked writing her own endings better. She likes to pretend she has control now, but usually her characters are the ones who hold the reins. Her romance novels have a touch of humor, a dash of nerdy, and always a happily ever after.


She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids, and two cats named after John Hughes characters. She's still waiting for the party she was promised when she grew to five feet... maybe because she never got there.

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon


In Focus series
Trust the Focus
Focus on Me
Out of Frame (Coming soon)


Bowler University series
Make it Count
Make it Right
Make it Last


Mechanics of Love series
Dirty Thoughts
Dirty Talk
Dirty Deeds


Gamers series
Changing His Game
Playing for Her Heart
Tied to Trouble
Leveling the Field (coming soon)


Santino Hassell was raised by a conservative family, but he was anything but traditional. He grew up to be a smart-mouthed, school cutting grunge kid, then a transient twenty-something, and eventually transformed into an unlikely romance author.


Santino writes queer romance that is heavily influenced by the gritty, urban landscape of New York City, his belief that human relationships are complex and flawed, and his own life experiences.


Social Media:

Website
Facebook 
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon


Five Boroughs series:

Book 1: SUTPHIN BOULEVARD
Book 2: SUNSET PARK
Book 3: FIRST AND FIRST coming in April 2016


Standalone books:

STRONG SIGNAL (with Megan Erickson)
STYGIAN
AFTER MIDNIGHT

Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway