Book Haul & Blog Weekly #14

Book Haul & Blog Weekly is a weekly featute here at Katie's Corner inspired by Stacking Shelves by Tynga's Reviews and The Sunday Post by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Book Haul:

Purchased or Freebies:

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Frost Fire by Olivia Rivers

Author Requests/Tours:

Quantum Roots by Kyle Keyes

One More Day by J. Taylor Publishing

Eternal Flame by Valerie Twombly

Bloodmark by Aurora Whittet

NetGalley:

Waking Dreamer by J.E. Alexander

Blog Weekly:

Review : The Amazing Adventures of Toby the Trilby by Angela Castillo 
4 Leaves

Waiting On Wednesday #11 These Broken Stars

Review : Bloodmark by Aurora Whittet
4.5 Leaves

Hi guys, 

I know this week was not much of posting, I was just not reading the books which I could share with you now. Have an amazing week.

Katie

Book Review: Bloodmark by Aurora Whittet (Bloodmark Saga #1)

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title:  Bloodmark

Author:  Aurora Whittet

Publication Date:  1 Nov, 2013

Publisher:  Wise Ink Creative Publishing

Goodreads – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Summary:

 Sixteen-year-old werewolf princess Ashling Boru is different from other wolves—she was able to shift to wolf form at birth. Rather than bringing pride to her family, it brings fear, and as a result, she is forced to live in seclusion in Ireland’s countryside. Ashling’s reputation is further blackened when she refuses her betrothed and defies the ancient laws. When her pack’s oldest rivals begin hunting her, she finds herself in the small town of York Harbor, Maine—far from everything she’s ever known. 

In Maine, she crosses paths with the dark and rebellious Grey Donavan, and something ignites within her soul. There’s just one problem: Grey is human. Their instant connection turns into a passionate romance, and Ashling begins to believe she can create her own life outside of wolf laws. When she begins to uncover long-buried pack secrets—secrets that threaten to destroy all she holds dear—Ashling’s courage and tenacity are tested. Will she choose her deep and enduring love for Grey, or will she follow Old Mother’s path to her destiny?

My Thoughts:

I got this book as an exchange from the author for an honest review.

While my Goodreads page can say that I read this book in 20 days, the truth is, it was only 2. Well, I have about 60 currently reading books, figures. When I closed the book, I was squealing and shouting i need the second one, pronto. But guess my pronto will come in about a year. The book is amazing with strong written characters and a really good plot line. It sucks you immediately and from the first page you already know who will be your favourite or least favourite character. It contains many secrets and surprises. You never know what can happen next. And mainly that compels you to love the book.

Every character is amazingly described and I mean not the appearance but their characteristics. And we like them not because they are "hot" or good-looking, but because they are good "people",  err... Wolves. The book has not one but 3 villains. First one is Grey's father, the guy is really an idiot, the next one is Adomnan, the guy is a creep and totally crazy. Actually the list of villains ends here, but i added that 3rd villain. Drums... And the third villain is... Ash's dad aka king Børu. The man is a cold-hearted bastard. Okay i can try to understand their creepy and super ancient laws. But hey dude, you don't visit your daughter, and instead of telling her something warm, you sell her? Seriously?  Then when your plan is busted you even want to kill her, and then you again try to sell her? As I already said - bastard!

You will definitely like, maybe even love Ashling and Grey, well at some moment you'll want to throttle Grey, but well, you will definitely like Ashling. She is amazing; she is wild, alive, and stubborn. What a 16-year-old should be. She wants freedom and she gets it. But then she has to choose love or duty which has been set upon her before she even was born. What will she choose? Pr will she be able to find a way to fulfill both? Get your copy now to know the answer to that question. 

And the last but not the least thing I wanted to say is: "is Eamon freaking nuts? What the hell is he doing? The answer to that question lies in the next books, but I really wanted to say that, whose who have read the book, know what I am referring to, whose who haven't, grab your copy of Bloodmark to know who the hell is Eamon in the first place. I won't delay your enjoyment in reading the book further. Happy Reading and don't forget to leave comments!!!  :) :) :) 

My Rating:

Waiting on Wednesday #11 These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman

Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine It’s a chance to showcase upcoming releases we are interested in or drooling over.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman

Publication Date: 10 December, 2013

 

Book Review: The Amazing Adventures of Toby the Trilby by Angela Castillo

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title:  The Amazing Adventure of Toby the Trilby

Author:  Angela Castillo

Publication Date:  November 1, 2013

Publisher:  Create Space

Goodreads – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Summary:

 For his entire twelve years, Toby has lived in a shelter underground with his six, scientist creators who accidentally gave him cat ears and a tail. Join Toby on an exciting quest of courage and hope while he searches for answers. Was there a Great Disaster? Did anyone survive? And the most important question of all: Does he have a soul?

The Amazing Adventures of Toby the Trilby" by Angela Castillo is Christian Sci-Fi/Fantasy book written for older children and families. The book will be available for pre-order on October 9th and will be available from Amazon and Kindle on November 1, 2013. Suggested age: 10 and up.

My Thoughts:

I got this book from the author in exchange for a review, all the thoughts below are my own.

When I was little, my parents never spoke to me about God. I never asked, so they didn’t say anything. But when I came to school at my very first class, the teacher asked us: “do you believe in God?” Everybody said Yes, except me, I asked: Who’s that?” My classmates thought I was crazy, but my teacher said: “he’s is the one who made you, us and everything around you that you can and cannot see.” Guess at age of 6 I was already hard to persuade and was too stubborn, and well I was not that naïve to think that children were brought from the sky. My answer was quick: “I was made by mom and dad…” My teacher just smiled, and my parents were asked to come to school after that. That evening my granny asked me to sit with her. She asked me if I believed in God. I said: “I don’t know him, how can I believe he exists?” she chuckled and said: “sometimes you should believe without proof of existence” Guess, I always was a little bit more into science, because I said : “I can’t because first I have to see”

I am 18 now and still have a hard time believing in God and how could I have believed when I was 6? Once, my best friend asked me: “when you have children, how will you tell them about God?” I answered: “I have no idea!” But now I do. I think you are too bored with my speaking about everything but the book, but the truth is, that it all leads us to this short story. To tell about God to my kids, I will give them this short story. Why? Because it is simple, and a little kid can understand it perfectly. But it will always be their choice to believe or not. The book is about a boy who thinks he has no soul, and goes on a quest to find “the Soul-maker”. It doesn’t clash with religion, the God is simply described as a soul-maker in the book. And for a kid it’s enough and easy to understand for the basics. Some days ago, my little sister asked me who was god. Two months ago, I would have had a hard time to tell her, but now, I just remembered this book, and told her what I read in it. For a 6 year old, she wasn’t confused and I was seriously proud of myself.

I think it’s an amazing book for children and parents, but a person of different ages can read it and like it. It is simple, and it is a kind book. And if you had a problem to tell your little siblings or kids who God is, don’t hesitate to read this book, and tell them this simple idea. Happy reading, and don’t forget to leave comments. J

My Rating:

Book Haul & Blog Weekly #13

Book Haul & Blog Weekly is a weekly featute here at Katie's Corner inspired by Stacking Shelves by Tynga's Reviews and The Sunday Post by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Book Haul:

Purchased or Freebies:

Dead Radience by T.G. Ayer

Descended by Debra Ann Miller

The Mind Readres by Lori Brighton

Psyched by Juli Caldwell

Author Requests or Tours:

Dryad by Sonya Solomonovich
The Amazing Adventures of Toby The Trilby by Angela Castillo
Consolong Angel by Denise Alicea

NetGalley:

 

Angelbound by Christina Bauer

Blog Weekly:

Review : Mystic by Alyson Noel 
5 Leaves 

Review : After Eden by Helen Douglas
4.5 Leaves

Waiting on Wednesday # 10 Grimnirs by Ednah Walters

Tour Stop & Review : Dryad by Sonya Solomonovich
3.5 Leaves

Review : Beyond by S.P. van der Lee
4 Leaves

Book Review : Beyond by S.P. van der Lee (Beyond #1)

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title:  Beyond

Author:  SP. Van Der Lee

Publication Date:  25 November, 2013

Publisher:  

Goodreads – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Summary:

 Sixteen-year-old Raven desperately wants to fit in, but after using a Ouija Board, her already overwhelming hallucinations take a turn for the worse. A ghostly figure named Sam begins to haunt Raven and seems eager to kill her.

She’s saved by a reclusive biker named Damian who goes to the same school and appears to have an interest in her. Raven can’t help but feel drawn to him. Determined to uncover Damian’s connection to the ghost, Raven sets out to discover his secret and the reason Sam started haunting her. However, there’s more at stake than just her reputation. Raven’s choice between unveiling Damian’s true intentions, and living a normal life will put everyone she cares about at risk. To save them, she'll have to go beyond.

Lives are ruined.
Hearts are shattered.
Death lurks at every corner.

My Thoughts:

Well, it’s not a secret that I hate books where the couple is one ghost one human, why? Well, no matter how good the author is, or how great he/she tries to make the ghost appear normal, it’s futile for me. While I am not a big fan of happy endings and would enjoy that everything ends like life does. But with ghost it’s not normal and doomed from the beginning, the relationship I mean. And I mean while you can have a figuratively normal life with other supernatural beings, with ghosts it’s doomed. So when I got the request to review this book, and I read the word ghosts, I was already writing: no thank you, when I noticed that the romance is between two humans or I should rather say one has an ability. What is it? Read on and find out.

Life was never easy for Raven. She moved a lot with her mother, because of her crazy paranoia. And the best thing, well Raven sees ghosts, but she has believed all her life they are all but crazy hallucinations. Moving to new town, doesn’t need to be hard after all, but what to do when your hallucinations are more vivid , when there is a gorgeous boy next door, who has rescued you, and now doesn’t want to say that’s it’s true? What would you do if you find that the boy you love has a secret and that your mother has lied to you all your life, and made you believe you were crazy? Grab your copy of Beyond now to read this and much more.

The book is very good. It has a really good mystery in it and cliffhanger in the end that leaves you screaming for the second book. Well. That’s what I did. While Raven is great and you like her from the beginning,  Damian her love interest is so frustrating you would want to strangle him. Who the hell kissed the girl in the ghost form, knowing that she will know him as soon as he kisses her in flesh and then keeps his distance from her accusing her of everything??? And saying: sorry it was a mistake??? Bastard! But in the end I did get a hang on him, and liked him. And my favourite person as always the villain – Sam aka the bad guy, could have been written a little bit better, I still have so many questions about him, guess everything will be revealed in the upcoming books.

And well, I can agree with Raven, I would have shouted and even strangled my own mother if she made me believe that I was crazy. Really how twisted is that? And don’t anyone dare compare her to Jocelyn Fraichild  (Clary’s mom from TMI series) she at least didn’t make her own daughter take drugs and tell her that she was crazy.

I think you will like the nook very much. I hope you will. It has its own uniqueness in it which got me hooked. And if I got you interested grab or preorder your copy now. Happy reading!!!! Don’t forget to leave comments! Enjoy the book!!! J J

My Rating:

Blog Tour & Review : Dryad by Sonya Solomonovich

Hi guys! 

Today I am having a tour stop for Sonya Solomonovich’s book Dryad. Enjoy!!!

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title:  Dryad

Author:  Sonya Solomonovich

Publication Date:  October 1, 2013

Publisher:  Sonya Solomonovich

Goodreads – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Summary:

 Solena is a dryad from the South American rainforest who is scorned by other dryads for her obsession with the human world. She likes to wear makeup, read human magazines such as Narcissism Carnival, and unlike self-respecting dryads who live under the stars, she lives in a treehouse.

But when the rain forest is threatened by a timber corporation, it is Solena who is chosen to prevent disaster by going undercover in a human company.

What she discovers goes much deeper than simply the fate of the rainforest. The future of the world could be at stake.

The humans are going back in time in order to extract natural resources and circumvent environmental laws, and Solena is swept along on a journey back to the 17th century.

The dryad finds herself falling for the heir to the timber corporation, the handsome Rodney Love, but as her adventures take her back in time and deeper into the rainforest, she finds the possibility of another love, one that transcends time itself…

Who will win the dryad’s heart: a smooth-talking billionaire who graces the cover of Narcissism Carnival or a wild and unruly jungle warrior?

About Author:

I’m a writer with several published works including film reviews, online articles, and translations of novels and short stories. I enjoy reading and writing tales of swashbuckling adventure. The optimistic spirit that prevails in adventure books inspires me to write my own stories.

I’ve traveled and adventured around Europe and earned a Master’s degree in English from University College Dublin, Ireland. I currently live in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Find her at : Website - Twitter - Facebook

My Thoughts:

Tough the book is only 136 pages long, I was reading it for 3 days, not because I didn’t like. No, because I had to attend my 4 year old brother’s birthday, and by attending I mean, help with planning, blah, blah, blah. And I am serious, even I at his age, was having more fun. But I am not here to tell the boring stories, how my weekends have gone, I am here to talk about a really good book.

The book is so fun, I couldn’t help myself but laugh all the time. Sometimes just because of stupidity of characters. We follow Solana Rodriguez aka the dryad into the human world, where she is to prevent the apocalypses called chopping down all trees. The thing is that she kind of falls in love with the son of the boss of the corporation which wants to cause That apocalypses. And then the most astonishing thing happens, they build a time bout and sail into 17^th century. And that’s where the fun starts. You will meet crazy ancestor pirate, you will even meet Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawaine. And you will meet Sol’s best friend Anastacious who will afterwards become something more, or so she will think. Okay to cut it short, you will have an amazing time reading the book.

Well the only thing I want to make sure is, Is Tyler really an Alligator? Please after you read the book tell me. Thanks. Next one: Who the hell is Teddy Goldman? I mean, never heard of him. Or maybe I shouldn’t (thinking). I mean thank you Sonya for crashing my dreams about Camelot and King Arthur, I love the guy! I will still be on my side that he was great. Sir Lancelot is just a jealous prick. The best part of the book? You will laugh from page one to the end. Never think that it is stupid, just have patience, and read on, it gets more and more interesting, fun and adventurous.

The only problem except King Arthur I had was, I seriously missed the whole Sonala + Anastacious love fest, I mean, the author described outstandingly how she fell for Rodney, but with Anastacious it was a bit blurry, and actually a little bit boring. I mean if I have known some of my grandparent’s friends in the past and fell for them gross. And Anastacious was her best friend, even more gross. But no matter that tiny problem, I liked the book, can’t say I will read it again, it was a onetime read for me, but I hope you will like it. So, grab your copy now, and get sucked into amazing and fun life of time-travelers. Happy Reading!!! If you like it connects with Sonya. And don’t forget to leave comments JJJ !!!!!

My Rating:

Waiting on Wednesday #10 : Grimnirs by Ednah Walters

Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine It’s a chance to showcase upcoming releases we are interested in or drooling over.

Grimnirs by  Ednah Walters

#2.5 book in Runes series

Publication Date: somewhere in December, 2013

Review : After Eden by Helen Douglas (After Eden #1)

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title:  After Eden

Author:  helen Douglas

Publication Date:  5 November, 2013

Publisher:  Bloomsbury Children Books

Goodreads – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Summary:

Eden Anfield loves puzzles, so when mysterious new boy Ryan Westland shows up at her school she's hooked. On the face of it, he's a typical American teenager. So why doesn't he recognise pizza? And how come he hasn't heard of Hitler? What puzzles Eden the most, however, is the interest he's taking in her. 

As Eden starts to fall in love with Ryan, she begins to unravel his secret. Her breakthrough comes one rainy afternoon when she stumbles across a book in Ryan's bedroom - a biography of her best friend - written over fifty years in the future. Confronting Ryan, she discovers that he is there with one unbelievably important purpose ... and she might just have destroyed his only chance of success.

My Thoughts:

Who doesn’t like an amazing love story with time travelers in it? Well I do. The book follows Eden to her senior year, when she meets Ryan a newcomer. If I say nothing strange happens, I won’t lie and I won’t be telling the truth. Yes, he is weird. Who doesn’t know what pizza or hamburger is? But everything falls in place when Even finds a book from future in Ryan’s room which is written by her best friend Connor and is about how he has found a habitable planet – Eden. When Eden goes to Ryan and confronts him, it’s a miracle that he tells her everything. That he is from future and his mission is to prevent Connor from finding planet Eden, it’s up to them to change future. But now Eden is asking a question : Does Ryan really like her or is he only using her to be friends with Connor so he can accomplish his mission? Grab your copy now to know the answer to this and more interesting questions.

Eden is amazing character. I liked her very much. But I loved her in the prom scene the most. Isn’t it the most difficult choice to make: to let the ones we love go? I think it is. Because it causes too much pain. But  I loved Eden for her choices. Ryan is also amazing, but I can’t tell you more about him or this review will be full of spoiler, and I really don’t want to spoil this amazing book for you. The characters I disliked the most is Connor, he’s a real asshole and I can’t and won’t change my mind about him. He doesn’t own Eden, why to make scenes about Ryan? But you will get to know him from reading the book.

I hope you will consider getting this book, because it really is amazing. It is easy and fun to read and it sucks you into it so fast, that you forget the time. I finished it at 4:30a.m. while I started it at 11p.m. and I thought that I was reading no more than two hours. Those of you who will consider reading it, Happy Reading!!! Hope you will enjoy it and don’t forget to leave comments. I myself am wondering what will happen in the second book, the ending was quite good. JJ!!!

My Rating:

Book Review : Mystic by Alyson Noel ( Souls Seekers #3)

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title:  Mystic

Author:  Alyson Noel

Publication Date:  7th May 2013

Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin

Goodreads – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Summary:

 Since arriving in the dusty desert town of Enchantment, everything in Daire Santos life has changed...and not always for the better. While she's come to accept and embrace her new powers as a Soul Seeker, Daire struggles with the responsibility she holds navigating between the worlds of the living and the dead--and her mission to defeat the evil Cade Richter.  But Cade's soul is inextricably entwined with that of her boyfriend Dace, putting their love to the ultimate test.  How can she defeat Cade if it means destroying Dace too?  And is their love strong enough to survive death—and what lies beyond?

MYSTIC is the third book in The Soul Seekers, a magnificent new series about a girl who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead, by #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël.

My Thoughts:

Even though I was really shouting : "WHT??? and The Echo ended perfectly!!!" and while I debated to read or not this one for an hour, I still thought, if I have purchased it, why not to read it. and after being in 20% into the book, and learning that there is a fourth one??? I said : "Katie, you are going to read, just to know what is going to be in it!" Proved myself right, I read it and loved it.

Despite, me shouting that Echo had an amazing ending, This book doesn't dissapoint you in any way. It is amazing, it is fast going, maybe sometimes even too fast. Because, I sometimes really had this crazy idea of jumping through pages, and I was going back, just to ensure myself that I haven't left anything out.

But it lacked one thing, and that is more Axel. Really, I do hope to see him more in Horizon ( fourth and final book in Soul Seekers Series). Again Cade doesn't dissapoint us in his psychotism, if not he surpasses it. The Guy has real great wits, such a pity he wastes them in a cruelty. But guess, most great minds are unfortunately wasted on bad deals.

If you had a doubht that Dace's and Daire's love was not true, and they weren't fated, you just get all the arguments to support their true love. And I was really moved by Dace's first appearance in the book. I nearly cried. And Daire... I always name girls like her pathetic, and thinking about only love, but even when she thinks first of Dace and then her mom, It was the first time, I called such girl lovestruck, and in a good meaning of that word. I really adore Daire, because she is really human, she is a person, which you want to become, the role model. Sometimes I do think that authors give us really good role models, and it's up to us to choose which character to choose. But never forget. their lives are fiction, but you should definately learn some of their attitudes, and features.

And another argument why to read this book? You remember Cade, the psychotic demonic twin? You think you can't have even more psychotic person in the book. Sorry I should prove you wrong, there is another person, but hopefully for us, he is eliminated in the end. Unfortunately Cade is still alive. But really, if you though Cade was crazy, this guy is like 1000 times more crazy. So grab your copy now, to know who this person is! Happy reading, and I hope you will enjoy it. I did. And as always, don't forget to leave comments!!! :))

My Rating:

Characters  4/5

Writing       5/5

Cover         4/5 

Plot              4/5