Thursday: On My Wish List

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Title: The Power

[website][goodreads]

Coming out on February 23, 2016

Book 2 in the Titan trilogy

Summary

(from goodreads)

With any great change, there is always strife, and the Covenant University has become the frontline between pure-bloods who want the Breed Order reinstated and the half-bloods who want the right to control their own destinies.
Fate has other plans.

The violence is escalating and war between the races seems inevitable, and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Hyperion may be out of commission, but Josie and Seth know they have only earned a reprieve. Seth must get Josie fully prepared, which means controlling her newfound abilities, and they need to find the other demigods before the Titans do.
But the gods are sensing a greater threat.

Only one thing is more dangerous than a bunch of starved Titans, and that’s an out-of-control Apollyon. The aether in Josie is drawing Seth in deeper, and when lust mixes with love and gives way to power, he knows being close to her is not only dangerous to her, but to everyone around them, but letting her go requires a level of selflessness that just isn’t Seth’s style.

The paths taken in the past are becoming the roads of the future.

Just as chaos breaks out, familiar faces from the past return, complicating the already strained bond between Josie and Seth, and when the danger from the Titans erupts with devastating consequences, the dark allure of power calls to Seth again, but this time Josie might not be able to pull him back.

And when the struggle between power and love becomes the deadliest battleground, there may be no salvation.  

_____________________________________________________

About the author

# 1 New York Times and International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA.
She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Jennifer would love to hear from you. If you have questions about any of her books, would like to set up an interview, book signing, etc, please use the email address below. Please check out each book/series individual page for more information about each title and the FAQ section.
For rights information on any of her titles, please contact Kevan Lyon from Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

If you are requesting an ARC please contact the publisher of that book.

To contact Jennifer directly, please email: jenniferlarmentrout@live.com

Review: Blameless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate #3)

Summary

(from goodreads)

Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season.

Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.

While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires -- and they're armed with pesto.

BLAMELESS is the third book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

Read from: October 23 to October 26, 2015

Read on: Owned Paperback

Review:

Continuing the reading of this series, I just finished book 3 of the series. I won't lie, it wasn't the same since Alexia and Conall weren't together in this book, it wasn't the same, but the problems that kept following Alexia wherever she went made up for it.

While trying to stay alive, she tries to find more about the baby she's carrying which isn't easy because already a rare, history doesn't give much about female preternaturals. But we are talking about Alexia and where she shouldn't put her nose in, she will and she will find what she needs.

We meet again new characters in this book like Monsieur Trouvé who is Madame Lefoux's cousin and who's also an inventor. He wasn't there much in this book, but I'm really hoping to see more of him in the last two books of the series.

And Floote who is always more than what he seems to be. I really want to learn more about his past. We keep discovering more and more about him, but he's still keeping a lot of things from Alexia. I just hope that I won't end up hating him because so far, I really like him. He's really protective of her and I believe he does care for her; almost like if she was his own daughter. Perhaps, knowing her father made him feel the need to be there for her. Maybe I'm reading too much into it and will be thinking differently towards the end of the series, but for now, that's my opinion.

So the Templars make their appearance in this book and I'm really going to have to say that I do not like those guys. I do believe they think that their cause is justified, but I really feel like they are fucking stubborn and only think about their endgame and not caring about the consequences their actions could provoke.

Back in London, Lord Maccon is drunk and not really operational which is really a bad timing. He can always count on Lyall for taking the reigns back while their leader is incapacited. I feel like Lyall's path throughout the series is leading to something. I don't believe he could become an alpha, but I feel like he's preparing himself to do something big.

But back to the book, Lyall investigates into Lord Akeldama's disappearance and will find sources in unimaginable places such as Alexia's friend, Ivy, who is now married happily to Tunstell. I believe that I sort of guessed what had caused Lord Akeldama to leave London, but I didn't expect that turn of event when Lyall and Conall finally discover it and do something about it.

So that's kind of small for a review and probably vague and not making sense and I apologize, but I'm really trying to keep this spoiler free. I can't wait to continue Alexia's adventures because I feel a lot more is about to come for her.

Monday: Latest Book Haul

Bought at Amazon.ca

Gail Carriger

Soulless Manga #2

Soulless Manga #3

Prudence

Waistcoats & Weaponry

I wasn't to buy them right away, but I did it anyways because right now I'm really into her books.

Bought on Bookoutlet.ca

Lauren Kate

Waterfall

Sherrilyn Kenyon

Instinct

Tessa Gratton

The Strange Maid

Ordered these three because of one of them a few weeks ago, but I forgot to do a book haul for them. I really wanted Instinct so I grabbed it and checked for other books I wanted to add to my already big collection and voilà.

So in a few weeks, I will probably have one or two more book hauls, but for now, that's all ladies and gentlemen.

Review: Changeless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate #2)

Summary

(from goodreads)

Alexia Maccon, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears; leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. So even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

CHANGLESS is the second book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

Read from: October 19 to October 21, 2015

Read on: Owned Paperback

Review:

I will admit that the first book of this series wasn't one of my favourite reads, but I had already bought the books to the whole series, so I decided that one day I would have to continue them and that day has come and...

I'm really happy that I continued because I really liked the second book of that series. Alexia is a character quite peculiar and maybe it is because she has no soul, but I feel like even with a soul, she wouldn't be that much different. She is strong-minded and she doesn't let anyone forget, especially not her husband who seems to adore and hate that about his wife.

Her relationship with Lord Maccon is quite possible the most entertaining. While he can't seem to keep his hands off her, I believe he enjoys arguing with her. I feel that their arguments sparks their love life more than anything else. I truly believe that she loves him even without a soul, but she isn't made to react like any lady in love.

But that's why we enjoy reading about her. She has a way to think through things that most people would probably ignore due to emotions getting in-between us and our rational thoughts. I believe that's why she also finds herself in the most dangerous situations.

In this book, we meet new characters like Madame Lefoux who is really intriguing. I'm not sure whether we ought to fear her or love her hahaha She has secrets that we discover throughout the book, but I feel there's a lot more to be learned if we see her in the next books of the series which I don't doubt we will. I believe her friendship with Alexia will provide some unique situations.

We see old characters in this that I will admit that I had mostly forgotten like Alexia's oldest friend Ivy. She seems to be the typical lady who seems to be outraged by everything not conventional, but I really like her. She adds something to the story and I feel like Alexia, even if she might not be aware of this, is really fond of her and enjoys her company even if her tastes in hats is quite horrible.

So something is affecting the supernatural beings in London and no one knows what is going on so Alexia is investigating. Through it, she learns about ancient stories about something or someone who is more dangerous to supernatural than her, but whether it's true or simply a tale, she doesn't know.

WARNING that this could be a spoiler (or not, I never know with some people), but this book does end with some sort of cliffhanger and you just want to read the next book because you want to know how it will end.

I've started the third book and I'm hooked. So much is happening and I believe that if you have started the first book and didn't enjoy that much, give a chance to the second and see whether or not you will change your mind like I did.

Thursday: On My Wish List

Author: Julie Kagawa
Title: The Iron Warrior

[website] [goodreads]

Coming out on October 27, 2015

Book 3 in the The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten trilogy

Summary

(from goodreads)

The Iron Prince—my nephew—betrayed us all. 

He killed me. 

Then, I woke up. 

Waking after a month on the brink of death, Ethan Chase is stunned to learn that the Veil that conceals the fey from human sight was temporarily torn away. Although humankind's glimpse of the world of Faery lasted just a brief moment, the human world has been cast into chaos, and the emotion and glamour produced by fear and wonder has renewed the tremendous power of the Forgotten Queen. Now, she is at the forefront of an uprising against the courts of Summer and Winter—a reckoning that will have cataclysmic effects on the Nevernever. 

Leading the Lady's Forgotten Army is Keirran himself: Ethan's nephew, and the traitor son of the Iron Queen, Meghan Chase.To stop Keirran, Ethan must disobey his sister once again as he and his girlfriend, Kenzie, search for answers long forgotten. In the face of unprecedented evil and unfathomable power, Ethan's enemies must become his allies, and the world of the fey will be changed forevermore.  

_____________________________________________________

About the author

Julie Kagawa, the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.
When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time (okay, at least the illustrations did), but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a
real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, an obnoxious cat, an Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and a hyper-active Papillion.

Monday: Latest Book Haul

Bought at Indigo & Signed

Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows

Bought this book at Indigo when I went to the Indigo Presents: Fierce Reads event and got it signed by her at the signing.

Bought on Amazon & Signed

Josephine Angelini

Firewalker

Ordered this book because I wanted to get it faster to read it, but I didn't get to start, but it still got signed at the Indigo Presents: Fierce Reads event.

Bought on Amazon

Gail Carriger

Etiquette & Espionage

Bought it on amazon at the same time that I ordered Josephine Angelini's book since I had gotten the second book already, but I needed the first book to start this series. 

So in a few weeks, I will probably have one or two more book hauls, but for now, that's all ladies and gentlemen.

Review: Forever with You by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Wait for You, #5)

Summary

(from goodreads)

In the irresistibly sexy series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout, two free spirits find their lives changed by a one-night stand…

Some things you just believe in, even if you've never experienced them. For Stephanie, that list includes love. It's out there. Somewhere. Eventually. Meanwhile she's got her job at the mixed martial arts training center and hot flings with gorgeous, temporary guys like Nick. Then a secret brings them closer, opening Steph's eyes to a future she never knew she wanted—until tragedy rips it away.

Nick's self-assured surface shields a past no one needs to know about. His mind-blowing connection with Steph changes all that. As fast as he's knocking down the walls that have kept him commitment-free, she's building them up again, determined to keep the hurt—and Nick—out. But he can't walk away. Not when she's the only one who's ever made him wish for forever...

Read from: October 7 to October 8, 2015

Read on: eReader

Review:

Wow, wow wow... I'm still not sure how this review will go. It isn't that I didn't love this book, I really love it, but I still have all my feels about this book, but I'll try to make sense in this review.

I love JLA's writing; there isn't many books of hers that I didn't enjoy and this book won't be the exception. I didn't know whether or not I would fall in love with this book as I wasn't really sold on Steph due to the first book of the series, but reading about her point of view made me realize that I had judged her so much and I apologize (yes, I apologize to a fictional character, deal with it).

I really liked that we got to see a side of Steph we wouldn't have imagined if we had kept in mind the kind of character she seemed to be in the first books of the series. She's really a good person who just knows what she wants. She's driven and she has a plan, but her plan takes a whole new direction when an event forces her to change.

Nick is a character that I wasn't sure what to think of. I liked what we had seen of him previously, but I felt like there were so much more to be discovered, but reading about him in this book and learning more about what really made him was really surprising. Overall, he kept surprising me over and over again this book. The way I figured he would react was often not the way I believed her would, but as we go behind his facade, we get to understand his reasons and make us love him more.

Their relationship isn't an easy one I guess. At first, it seemed like a perfect match. Neither of them is looking for more than a night a fun, but all of that changes throughout the book. I liked that their relationship seemed easy when they didn't try to determine what they were, but once they tried to put a label, it seemed to get complicated.

Miscommunication is problably their main problem, but I guess that's every couple's problem in this series hahaha

I'm really trying to keep this review spoiler free and it's really hard. This book will give you a lot of feels; good and bad ones. I believe that people who weren't found of Steph, will learn to like her and people will get to see more about Nick than what he tries to show to everyone.

Overall, I believe you will fall in love with them and their story. Jennifer once again succeeded to make an amazing book.

Recap of September's Reading Pile

Oh I didn't read much last month and I really feel like I need to start reading more again and October doesn't look too good either, but who knows what November will bring me :) 

So what did I read this month? Well, let's see...

Ereader:

Sweet Temptation by Wendy Higgins

Bitter of Tongue by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

Taking Shots by Toni Aleo

Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan

Physical Copy:

Sweet Filthy Boy by Christina Lauren

Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Recap: Book Event (Indigo Presents: Fierce Reads)

RECAP: INDIGO PRESENTS: FIERCE READS

This will be short but still, I have to tell you all about it.

So woke up at 6am and left around 6:30am to pick up my friend Nancy in Montreal. First surprise of the day? Snow.

Didn't expect that, but the day must go on and I left to go get my friend. We left her place at 7:15 in the morning to drive to Toronto. Both of us were  pretty tired as we didn't sleep well, but hey, we had to go. Four authors were doing a Q&A and a signing.

These would be these four authors:

Leila Sales, Josephine Angelini, Emma Mills and Leigh Bargudo

Nancy and I were mostly focused on two of them: Josephine Angelini and Leigh Bardugo. Due to a lack of money and time, I didn't get to read books by Emma Mills and Leila Sales, but after meeting them, I'll be sure to add their books on my already long to-read list.

Anyways, we arrived at the Indigo Yonge & Eglinton with approximately three hours to kill. We bought the books we needed and waited for the event to start. At first, we were a small group, but once they started to set up the room for it, more and more people arrived.

We were lucky to be there early and were first row to see the authors' Q&A. While we waited for it to start, we were giving a piece of paper with our group number for the signing. We got to be in Group 1 :)

So around 3pm, the crowd is waiting for the authors to be arrived and finally, they are announced and coming from around the curtain along with the Vlogger Ariel Bisset who is leading the Q&A session. I had never heard of her, but I'll try to check out her youtube chanel and if you want to do the same, here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ArielBissett

So here are a few pictures from the Q&A:

 The Q&A was really fun. I got to see how some of my favourite authors were really like and I was happy to know they were so funny and entertaining. Discovering Emma and Leila was also fun and they made me want to read their books so I really hope in a near future I'll get to meet them again and tell them I finally got to read their books and tell them what I thought of them.

And then, the signing started and we got up. I really had a problem getting all my books out of my bag to give them to Josephine and Leigh, but the personel of Indigo were really nice and helpful.

First author in the line was Emma Mills and I got her to sign the poster from Fierce Reads and told her that I would get to read her books and she was just really nice about it.

Next came Josephine Angelini and she looked at my pile and was quite impressed (that's only because she didn't see that a few rows back from us, there were girls with a lot more books than me hahaha) and we talked a little. Told her about loving her Starcrossed trilogy and how I fell back in love with her writing with her new trilogy The Worldwalker and couldn't wait to read the second book. Then, we got to take a selfie together (actually, she was signing books for my friend and I jumped into asking her for a selfie hahaha) so it looked like this and I looked like crap, but I don't care because I got my picture taken with her:

After her, Leila Sales signed my poster and I told her that I would get to read her books and she seemed happy about it too. She even gave me a bookmark so I didn't forget. She was really cute and nice.

Last but not least was Leigh Bardugo. I already got my books signed for the Grisha Trilogy last year at the Yallfest so I only had her new book Six of Crows that I finished a few days ago (still working on my review for that one) and I was just so happy to meet her again. She was really nice and funny and she just has that bubbly personality. So did I get a picture with her? But of course I did.

So, got 6 new signed book, a signed poster and few other swags:

And that would end the recap of my book event. We drove back home, stopped for food on the way and made it back home in one piece. I have to thank my friend Nancy to have shared this experience with me once more.

Also a big THANK YOU to Indigo Yonge & Eglinton and Fierce Reads for making this event possible.