Waiting on Wednesday #23

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's cannot-wait book is:

The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall!

 

The Conspiracy of Us

by Maggie Hall

Expected publication: January 13th 2015

YA, contemporary, mystery

 

To fight her destiny as the missing heir to a powerful and dangerous secret society, sixteen-year-old Avery West must solve an ancient puzzle in a deadly race across Europe. Forbidden love and code-breaking, masked balls and explosions, destiny and dark secrets collide in this romantic thriller, in the vein of a YA DaVinci Code.

Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada at the Champs-Elysees when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war.

They are part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle of Twelve, and Avery is their missing heir. If they discover who she is, some of them will want to use her as a pawn. Some will want her dead.

To thwart their plans, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the landmarks of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul and through a web of ancient legends and lies. And unless she can stay one step ahead of beautiful, volatile Stellan, who knows she’s more than she seems, and can decide whether to trust mysterious, magnetic Jack, she may be doomed after all.

 

I'm so excited about this one and it comes out soon! I mean, YA DaVinci Code? Yes, please. I'm expection some history geekiness, legends and all that what I loved in DaVinci Code. Plus, Istanbul - I was there past spring and of course I want to read a book that takes partially place in there.

 

What are you waiting on this week?

Cover Reveal: Queen of Tomorrow by Sherry D. Ficklin

THE OFFICIAL COVER REVEAL FOR:

QUEEN OF TOMORROW by Sherry D. Ficklin

 

QUEEN OF TOMORROW by Sherry D. Ficklin

A Stolen Empire Novel, Book 2

The Queen Arrives on July 14, 2015

Sophie—now Catherine, Grand Duchess of Russia—had a tough first year at Imperial Court. Married at sixteen to Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne, and settled in their own palace, things start to look up. As a new day dawns, Catherine thinks only of securing her future, and the future of their country, during one of the greatest political upheavals of her time. Fighting desperately against forces that try to depose the Empress Elizabeth and put the young Prince Ivan on her throne, Catherine soon finds herself in the middle of a war brewing between her beloved Prussia and her new empire. While navigating the fragile political landscape, she quickly realizes that she has only begun to discover the tangled web of deceit and infidelity woven over the lavish court of Oranienbaum Palace.

When a strange and delicate alliance forms between the young couple, Catherine glimpses a future of happiness, only to see it vanish at the hands of those who still seek to end her life—and prevent her reign. Out of favor with the empress and running out of options, Catherine must sacrifice her own innocence on the altar of Russia if she is to save the nation and herself. To survive, she will have to do the unthinkable, betray those closest to her and become something greater and more dangerous than she ever imagined she could be… a queen.
 

ADD QUEEN OF TOMORROW TO YOUR TBR LIST!

 

 

READ THE FIRST BOOK TODAY:

Before she can become the greatest empress in history, fifteen-year-old Sophia will have to survive her social-climbing mother’s quest to put her on the throne of Russia—at any cost.

Imperial Court holds dangers like nothing Sophie has ever faced before. In the heart of St. Petersburg, surviving means navigating the political, romantic, and religious demands of the bitter Empress Elizabeth and her handsome, but sadistic nephew, Peter. Determined to save her impoverished family—and herself—Sophie vows to do whatever is necessary to thrive in her new surroundings. But an attempt on her life and an unexpected attraction threatens to derail her plans.

Alone in a new and dangerous world, learning who to trust and who to charm may mean the difference between becoming queen and being sent home in shame to marry her lecherous uncle. With traitors and murderers lurking around every corner, her very life hangs in the balance. Betrothed to one man but falling in love with another, Sophie will need to decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice in order to become the empress she is destined to be.

In a battle for the soul of a nation, will love or destiny reign supreme?

 

PURCHASE QUEEN OF SOMEDAY TODAY!

WATCH THE OFFICIAL BOOK TRAILER:

 

ABOUT SHERRY D. FICKLIN

Sherry D. Ficklin is a full time writer from Colorado where she lives with her husband, four kids, two dogs, and a fluctuating number of chickens and house guests. A former military brat, she loves to travel and meet new people. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she’s on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is only seen in blurry photographs.

 

She is the author of The Gods of Fate Trilogy now available from Dragonfly Publishing. Her previously self-published novel After Burn: Military Brats has been acquired by Harlequin and will be released in 2015 with a second book in that series to follow. Her newest YA steampunk novel, EXTRACTED: The Lost Imperials book 1, co-written with Tyler H. Jolley is now available everywhere books are sold and her newest YA novel, Losing Logan, is due for release in 2014 from Clean Teen Publishing.

Want to READ MORE from Clean Teen Publishing? Check out our huge selection of amazing reads! There's sure to be something for every reader!

BE THE FIRST TO KNOW about our GIVEAWAYS, NEW RELEASES, COVER REVEALS and MORE! JOIN OUR VIP MAILING LIST! WWW.CLEANTEENPUBLISHING.COM

 

 

Stacking the Shelves (24) Christmas Edition!

 

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!

 

Christmas was awesome since I got few books, huge giftcard to bookstore and I even managed to get review copy and even found free books on Amazon. So let's get started!

 

ARC via NetGalley

 

Hell on Wheels by Z.A. Maxfield

 

Free (on Amazon Kindle Store)

 

Elsker by S.T. Bende

 

Christmas presents!

 

 

 

Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta

Ruins by Dan Wells

The Rain by Virginia Bergin

Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Half Bad (Exclusive Signed Copy) by Sally Green

The Maze Runner (Signed Limited 1000 Copies Edition) by James Dashner

 

Thank you, Riptide Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy!

 

And now, my book buying ban is officially over! However, I will probably wait until my birthday in the beginning of January until I order some books (hahah, more like tons of new books). Not too many, though, since I'm trying to save for my trip to London in April.

LGBT Challenge 2015

I'm joining LGBT Challenge hosted by Cayce @ Niji Feels (link goes to sign-up post).

 

The Details:

• The challenge runs from 1 January through 31 December 2015
• Each month there will be a mini challenge/theme/list/thingy
• No form/genre restriction (you can read whatever you want – young adult, new adult, adult, erotica, nonfiction, manga – as long as its LGBT)
• The LGBT in the challenge’s name does not mean just LGBT, you can read any book that falls under the L(esbian) G(ay) B(isexual) T(ransexual) T(ransgender) Q(ueer) Q(uestioning) I(ntersex) A(sexual)+ spectrum
• All formats (print books, ebooks, audiobooks, comics) are eligible
• Books can overlap with other challenges

 

Levels:

YA ALLEGIANT: read 3-10 YA LGBT books

GENRE HOPPER: read 3-10 LGBT books from any genre

YA DEVOURER: 10+ YA LGBT books

OMNIVOROUS BOOKGLUTTON: 10+ LGBT books from any genre

 

Sounds like a perfect challenge for me. After quick calculation I read somewhere around twenty LGBT books this year so I'll try to beat that :) And honestly, omnivorous bookglutton sounds quite perfect for me to aim for!

 

I have LGBT shelf on Goodreads and I'll probably read books I've there or any new I discover during the year. I'm always open for suggestions!



Feature & Follow Friday #18

Feature and Follow Friday is hosted by two different hosts, Parajunkee and Alison Can Read! This meme is here for bloggers to gain new blogger friends and followers.

 

This weeks topic:

What books did you give other people this holiday season?

 

Just my kind of question, especially since I give almost always books as presents (well, except for my parents because sadly they don't read). I gave my friends: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (I got this from my sister, too, and I'm loving it so I'm happy I got this for two of my friends), As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka and Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor.

 

Last year I gave only books I had read and loved, but this year I went with different direction and gave books I'd like to read or what I though my friends would love. Now I'm anxiously waiting what they think about the books!

 

 

Stacking the Shelves (23)

 

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!

Yeah, my ban's still going strong but I got few review copies and I'm so excited about these! Though, my ban ends after Christmas and I've feeling I'm going to get some books as presents so hopefully I'll be back with a new haul after Christmas :)

+ I purchased few ebooks but they didn't cost me more than few euros so yeah, not counting them :D

 

ARCs/Review copies

Falling by Barbara Elsborg
Painless by S. A. Harazin

Ebooks

 

Betrayed by Jennifer Rush

A Darker Past by Jus Accardo

Love In The Gilded Age by Saruuh Kelsey

 Love In The Gilded Age is free for this weekend only so grap your copy free now! (Or if you want to support amazing author, wait for a few days. It's not expensive either way.)
 

Thank you, NetGalley, Samhain Publishing and Albert Whitman & Company, for all these wonderful review copies!

Book Blitz + Giveaway: Spark Rising by Kate Corcino

Spark Rising

by Kate Corcino
Publication date: December 15th 2014
NA, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi

 

All that’s required to ignite a revolution is a single spark rising.

Two hundred years after the cataclysm that annihilated fossil fuels, Sparks keep electricity flowing through their control of energy-giving Dust. The Council of Nine rebuilt civilization on the backs of Sparks, offering citizens a comfortable life in a relo-city in exchange for power, particularly over the children able to fuel the future. The strongest of the boys are taken as Wards and raised to become elite agents, the Council’s enforcers and spies. Strong girls—those who could advance the rapidly-evolving matrilineal power—don’t exist. Not according to the Council.

Lena Gracey died as a child, mourned publicly by parents desperate to keep her from the Council. She was raised in hiding until she fled the relo-city for solitary freedom in the desert. Lena lives off the grid, selling her power on the black market.

Agent Alex Reyes was honed into a calculating weapon at the Ward School to do the Council’s dirty work. But Alex lives a double life. He’s leading the next generation of agents in a secret revolution to destroy those in power from within.

The life Lena built to escape her past ends the day Alex arrives looking for a renegade Spark.

Spark Rising on Goodreads.

 

Purchase your copy!

Amazon

 

Author bio

Kate Corcino is a reformed shy girl who found her voice (and uses it…a lot). She believes in magic, coffee, Starburst candies, genre fiction, descriptive profanity, and cackling over wine with good friends. A recovering Dr. Pepper addict, she knows the only addiction worth feeding is the one that follows the “click-whooooosh” of a new story settling into her brain.

She also believes in the transformative power of screwing up and second chances. Cheers to works-in-progress of the literary and lifelong variety!

She is currently gearing up for publication of Ignition Point and Spark Rising , the first books in the Progenitor Saga, a near future dystopian adventure series with romantic elements, science, magic, and plenty of action.

 

Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

 

Giveaway (International)

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Book Blitz, Quest Post + Giveaway: Gingerbread Man Serial by Lee Strauss

Gingerbread Man Series

by Lee Strauss
NA, science fiction, suspense

 

FRINGE meets CASTLE in this New Adult Sci-fi Mystery Suspense.

College girl meets boy online.
A killer targets girls like her.
She’s next on the list.
The boy wants to save her.
She thinks it’s him.

It’s worse than they both think.

RUN RUN RUN is the first part of a three part episode – Gingerbread Man – in the romantic suspense series, A Nursery Rhyme Suspense by Amazon best-selling author Lee Strauss. 

Episode release dates:

Run Run Run – December 31st

As Fast As You Can – January 7
You Can’t Catch Me – January 14
Gingerbread Man (ep 1-3) complete – January 28

 

Purchase your copies!

Episode 1: Amazon

Episode 2: Amazon

Episode 3: Amazon

Box set will be available on January 28th.

 

Author bio

I  write mixed genre Romance, most recently The Minstrel Series.

I also write fun, lower YA fiction (time-travel and fantasy) as ELLE Strauss. I divide my time between BC, Canada and Dresden, Germany and enjoy drinking coffee and eating chocolate in both places.

 

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

 

 

 

 

Lee Strauss Guest Post

 

Why Serials?

What is the fascination with serials? It seems like everyone is writing them now. And readers are reading them. I can tell you from a writer’s perspective why I’m writing A Nursery Rhyme Suspense, and as a reader I can tell you why I like to read them.
They are like literary TV shows. I think most people would agree that television writi
ng in the past decade has been outstanding (for the most part). Think Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, Gilmore Girls. There is a reason why these shows were so successful. The writing is terrific.

There has also been a trend in TV shows that follow one long story arc, rather than each episode being it’s own arc. These have seen recent success as a result of streaming TV and sites like Netflix that allow for binge watching. It’s easy to start from the beginning and watch right through to the end. Breaking Bad is written this way as is Terminator: The Sara Connor Chronicles and the first season of Veronica Mars (VM was a hybrid: a season long story arc mixed with episodic short story arcs)

Serials are like literary TV shows. Some authors write whole seasons of six or more volumes to tell one story. Some write short episodes, each 10k to 15k each. Others, like myself, write longer episodes of more than 20k that would also qualify as novellas.

Episodic writing takes a lot of thought. Whereas a novel as a beginning, middle and end, when writing serials, each episode has to have a beginning, middle and end (that’s not to say the ending won’t be a cliff – it most likely will – much like TV shows do, to entice the viewer to tune in again next week or to click the next episode on Netflix.) Episodes have to make sense on their own. I think that makes for tighter and more interesting writing. At least it makes it a challenge to the writer.
And like TV, each episode can be slightly different in tone or style from the others, if the author choses. With the Gingerbread Man, episode 1 is told from the Victim’s and the male protagonist’s point of view with very few scenes from the female protagonist. In episode 2 the point of view alternates between the male and female protagonist and in the third episode, it’s told entirely from the male protagonist’s point of view. These are devices that maybe wouldn’t work well in one novel, but are fine in episodic writing. 

Readers love serials for the same reason they love their favorite TV shows. They can consume episodes in a short amount of time, they anticipate the next installment and they grow attached to the characters and their unique world and personal struggles.

If you’ve never tried reading a serial before, I hope you will give Run Run Run – Gingerbread Man a chance.

Lee

Giveaway (International) 

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Waiting on Wednesday #22

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's cannot-wait book is:

Never Never by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher!

Never Never

by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher

Expected publication: January 11th 2015

NA, contemporary, romance

 

Best friends since they could walk.

 

In love since the age of fourteen.

 

Complete strangers since this morning.

He'll do anything to remember.

 

She'll do anything to forget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never Never on Goodreads.

 

I've never read any book from either Colleen Hoover or Tarryn Fisher but Never Never sounds mysterious and intriguing so I'll sure to check it out!

 

What are you waiting on this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read In 2014 (The Best of Them All)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week participating bloggers can create lists of topic given by the host, and share them with others!

I decided I won't limit this to 2014 releases so not all these books have been published this year - they're just the best books I read during the year.

 

1. Made of Stars by Kelley York

It's no secret that Kelley York shattered my world with Hushed. Made of Stars was second book I read from her and I fell harder. Hushed is still my favourite but Hunter and Chance are close to my heart. There was no doubt after this: I'd read every book York would write, no matter what.

 

2. Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi

Rossi is the queen of dystopia for me. Under the Never Sky is the most stunning dystopia I've ever read and the whole series is amazing. I was sad to see this one to end but the ending was perfect. Some may know how I've trouble finishing series because usually I'm disappointed how it all ended, but Into the Still Blue was perfect. I'll definitely re-read the whole series soon.

 

3. Half Bad by Sally Green

I'd give all the awards for Half Bad. For me, this was the debut of the year. I fell for the characters, plot and world building, and I can't wait for the sequel to come out on March 2015. I definitely recommend this one even if witches aren't your thing - hell, they aren't mine! Besides Harry Potter's I haven't liked any witch books but this one blew my mind.

 

4. Rush by Nyrae Dawn

I was sold. I mean, I cried so hard while reading this and most of the time, those were happy tears. This one has important theme as it's a story about coming to terms with your sexuality and eventually coming out even if it's hard. I was quite speechless after reading this one and I do highly recommend it to everyone. Such a great story about Alec and Brandon.

 

5. Proxy by Alex London

Hell yeah this was the dystopia I have been waiting for: dystopia with diverse characters. Also the world building, plot and characters itself were so stunning and great, and this one truly blew me away. I highly recommend this one to everyone, but maybe not the sequel since I'm still trying to read it even though it's hard. Mainly because while Proxy was such perfect, the Guardian isn't.

 

 

6. Suicide Watch by Kelley York

I loved the story and the characters. Most of all, the book left me happy and warm while York's other books teared me apart. Another York masterpiece and there was no chance I would left it out of my list.

 

7. The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

It took me a little while to warm up for this one but eventually I was left with all the feelings. Definitely good and definitely need the sequel. Morgan has a way with words and the historical aspect was so great. Also, gargoyles.

 

8. Kaiken Se Kestää by Uma Karma

Yeah, it's Finnish literature. A story about two boys and their relationship, how it and they changed during the years. Quite awesome and all I want to do is hug the book forever. I don't have many words for this one, though my review is coming sometime soon.

 

9. The Mean Girl Apologies by Stephanie Monahan

Probably one of the best New Adult contemporary romance featuring boy and girl I've read. I loved how different this was from other books on the same genre - heck, how different the main character was from all those YA and NA heroines. It was fresh to read from the Mean Girl's point of view and the journey was so great. I'll definitely re-read this one.

 

10. Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner

Unique. That's the one word for this one. Mermaids, badassery, and all that jazz. It was amazing even if the beginning was a little dull. Definitely worth a read and I'm so glad I read this one. Waiting for the sequel to come out, I need it.

 

+ Two Bonus Books

 

Obscura Burning by Suzanne van Rooyen: designed to left reader feeling all the feels.

Erased by Jennifer Rush: as good as the first one and definitely need more from this universe.