Review of Wish You Were Italian (If Only… #2) by Kristin Rae

Wish You Were Italian by Kristin Rae

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: borrowed
Publication date: May 6th, 2014
Genres & Themes: YA, Traveling, Romance, Contemporary, Summer, friendship, family.

BLURB:

Pippa has always wanted to go to Italy … but not by herself. And certainly not to sit in art school the entire summer learning about dead guys’ paintings. When she steps off the plane in Rome, she realizes that traveling solo gives her the freedom to do whatever she wants. So it’s arrivederci, boring art program and ciao, hot Italian guys!

Charming, daring, and romantic, Bruno is just the Italian Pippa’s looking for—except she keeps running into cute American archeology student Darren everywhere she goes. Pippa may be determined to fall in love with an Italian guy … but the electricity she feels with Darren says her heart might have other plans. Can Pippa figure out her feelings before her parents discover she left the program and—even worse—she loses her chance at love?

Review of Dirty Deeds (Dirty Deeds #1) by S.E. Jakes

Dirty Deeds by S.E. Jakes

My rating:  2.5 of 5 stars
Received: bought
Publication date: January 13th, 2014
Genres & themes: Adult, M/M romance, BDSM, Erotica, Mystery, Contemporary.

BLURB:

Two seasoned operatives finally meet their match: each other.
Cillian works for the mysterious Special Branch 20: an organization that runs black ops commissioned by the British government. His specialty is deep undercover assignments with virtually no support. He’s been alone for so long that he no longer knows anything else.
Mal’s also used to being alone. Wanted in several states and even more countries, he’s not allowed in the vicinity of any of his former Navy SEAL teammates. And his current assignment is to track Cillian in order to discover the spook’s endgame. Except he’s no longer sure which one of them is getting played.
Cillian isn’t about to let the mission that’s consumed him for the past several years crumble because an outsider is poking around where he doesn’t belong. But Mal forces his way through Cillian’s defenses—and into his heart—exposing a devastating betrayal that could destroy them both.

Review of Ashes to Ashes and Cinder to Cinder (The Grimm Diaries Prequels #2) by Cameron Jace

Ashes to Ashes and Cinder to Cinder by Cameron Jace

My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars
Received: bought
Publication date: May 29th, 2012
Genres & Themes: YA, Fairy tale retellings, Paranormal, Shory story, Witches.

BLURB:

Seventeen-year-old Alice Grimm lives a dangerously enchanted life. Other than being distracted by a Dreamhunter called Loki Blackstar who has a heart of gold but acts like a jerk, she has a job to do. Being a descendant of the Brothers Grimm, she is one of few in the world who can locate the fairy tale characters and remind them of who they are. This time, Alice flies to Venice where an 800 hundred year old witch’s skeleton surrounded with seventeen glass slippers was found by archeologists in the city that invented the art of glassblowing. When Alice and Loki follow the lead, they find one of the fairy tale characters she had been searching for. It’s a famous girl character that you know by name, but never really knew what actually happened to her.

Review of Breathe, Annie, Breathe (Hundred Oaks #5) by Miranda Kenneally

Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally

My rating: 3 of 5 lovely stars
Received: bought
Publication date: July 15th, 2014
Genres & themes: YA, Romance, Contemporary, Sports, Family, Death, Guilt.

BLURB:

Annie hates running. No matter how far she jogs, she can’t escape the guilt that if she hadn’t broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honor his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.

But the training is even more grueling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she’s at war with her body, her mind—and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms…and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.

Review of Snow White Blood Red (The Grimm Diaries Prequels #1) by Cameron Jace

Snow White Blood Red by Cameron Jace

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Received: bought
Publication date: May 29th, 2012
Genres & themes: YA, short story, fairy tale retellings, vampires, fantasy, family.

BLURB:

I have always wondered why you never asked about my name. Was I so superficial to you? So stereotypical and mundane? Why did you treat me as if I were just the monster of the week? You know what I think? You never had the time to really hate me. You wanted to hate me, long before you even met me. You wanted to scrape my existence and avenge your childhood princess by laying all blame on me. What if they didn’t call me the Evil Queen, what if I told you the real story from my point of view instead of hers, would you ever think of me as an angel? Could I ever make you care? I know that deep inside of you, you adore me,but you’re just scared, afraid to admit how much you love the Snow White Queen.

This Grimm Diaries Prequels are a number of short books in the form of epistolary diary entries. The diaries are more of teasers for the upcoming series: The Grimm Diaries, allowing you to get a glimpse of what to expect of the series.

Review of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: borrowed
Genres & themes: YA, family, friendship, love, angel, mystery, magical realism.

BLURB:

Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.

In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.

That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.

Themed reading challenge!

I came across this challenge on this lovely blog called Fighting Dreamer (click on the picture to know more.) I love LGBT, so I thought it would be a great idea to participate and for this one to me my first themed reading challenge for this year (and probably the only one.) I’m so eager to be appart of this challenge and, if you’re interested, the sign-ups are open until November 30th, 2014! Now is the time to set a goal…

❤ First Book Haul ❤

Hi everyone!

This is my first book haul on this new blog and I’m very excited! Those 7 books right there are books ordered from Book Outlet which had a promotion of 10$ off on an order of 30$ or more on the weekend I ordered it! That was grandiose and I couldn’t help but take advantage of it. ^^

Review of The Storybook of Legends (Ever After High #1) by Shannon Hale

The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Publication date: October 8th, 2013
Genres & themes: middle grade, fairy tales, boarding school, friendship, adventure.

BLURB:

At Ever After High, an enchanting boarding school, the children of fairytale legends prepare themselves to fulfill their destinies as the next generation of Snow Whites, Prince Charmings and Evil Queens…whether they want to or not. Each year on Legacy Day, students sign the Storybook of Legends to seal their scripted fates. For generations, the Village of Book End has whispered that refusing to sign means The End-both for a story and for a life.

As the daughter of the Evil Queen, Raven Queen’s destiny is to follow in her mother’s wicked footsteps, but evil is so not Raven’s style. She’s starting to wonder, what if she rewrote her own story? The royal Apple White, daughter of the Fairest of Them All, has a happy ever after planned for herself, but it depends upon Raven feeding her a poison apple in their future.

What if Raven doesn’t sign the Storybook of Legends? It could mean a happily never after for them both.

Review of Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
Genres & themes: YA, contemporary, romance, music, drama, celebrity, family, friendship, trust.
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

BLURB:

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.