Congratulations Winner!

The winner of the A Kiss for Emily giveaway is... Lizze from Daily Mommy Survival!

I will be emailing you shortly! Thank you so much to everyone who entered! Be sure to enter the Future of Our Past giveaway which is up now!

Blog Tour: Giveaway + Review of The Future of Our Past

Click to view the blog tour schedule!

Julia Abbot and Ryan Matthews had been inseparable best friends since the moment they met. Each of them fight an internal battle, unwilling to risk their incredible friendship, but unable to quell their deep longing for the other. On the verge of Ryan’s departure to Harvard Medical School and Julia’s for a new job on the opposite coast, they are forced to face the undeniable truth of their deeper feelings and find themselves enthralled in a passion like neither has ever known.


The lovers are faced with forced separation, great distances and other people who try to sabotage their relationship as both of them work to build the shared future they both dream of. When their lives begin to finally gel, Julia is offered an opportunity that will jettison her career to new heights. In light the sacrifices she has made for him, Ryan can hardly deny her, but then something happens to completely change the course of their future. Will Julia choose the chance of a lifetime or the love of her life?

Overall Thoughts:
This was such an easy book to read and get into! It's emotional and ardent yet light and delicate!

The Future of Our Past is about two best friends named Julia Abbot and Ryan Matthews. Ryan has worked extremely hard for four years at Stanford University just so he could be accepted into Harvard Medical School in Boston when he graduates. Unsurprisingly, he gets in. When he's gifted with his acceptance letter in the mail one day, he should be ecstatic but he's not because the only thing he can think about is the fact that he'll have to leave Julia behind.

Julia has decided to move to Los Angeles to try to pursue a career in publishing and editing, but she too is devastated that she has to leave behind her best friend. The two wonder why they have to say goodbye to each other right when their love is at the highest..

What I liked about this book:
Like I said, I got into it at the very beginning and stayed interested until the very last page. The romance was very sweet and adorable at times, then turned dramatic and emotional at other times. But what I especially liked was Ryan. He was so charismatic and I instantly liked him! He was described as extremely attractive and that he kind of ran through woman, but he was so sure in his love for Julia!

What I disliked about this book:
There was some erotica in it, which I didn't mind at all, but just so you know.

Verdict:
This was a very beautiful story that will sweep you off your feet until the very last sentence!

The next book in this trilogy is called Don't Forget to Remember Me (I really like the title, by the way) and is coming out soon!

Giveaway:

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Blog Tour: Giveaway + Excerpt of A Kiss for Emily

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Emily didn't know that falling in love would place her smack-dab in the middle of a dicey game called deception. Or wake up one morning, shortly thereafter, wondering if she'd actually lost her mind!A KISS FOR EMILY is a thrilling YA paranormal romance, where discovering the paranormal is exciting for the reader, but life-threatening for Emily Stokes, the 17-yr. old high school student from Kansas.

Excerpt:

After a good brushing and other bedtime rituals, I headed back to my bedroom. On the way, I noticed a dim glow coming from Kat's room.

    "Are you still up?"

    "Yeah, I'm not tired." She was watching a video on a small TV that sat upon her dresser.

    "Guess what?" I taunted.

    "You hit your head and now you don't remember who you are."

    "Whatever," I sneered. "I met someone today." I whispered, almost like it was a secret.

    "Kat sat up in her bed. "Who?"

    "His name is Sam. Come here, I want to show you something. He gave me a flower." I grabbed her small hand and pulled her out from under her quilted bedspread. Grabbing my shirt from the back of my desk chair, I reached into the pocket to retrieve the delicate red bud from its place of safety. Only there were no soft petals. Instead, I felt...grit. I pulled the pocket open wide and peered into its depths. It was filled with dark, dry dirt.

    "That's strange."

    "What is?"

    "I must have lost it," I said disappointingly, shaking the dirt out into the wastebasket.

    "It's just a stupid flower."

    "And you're too little to understand."

    She crossed her arms. "All right, tell me more."

    "He's the cutest guy I've ever seen in my life. No one at T-West even begins to hold a candle next to him."

    "Oh," she said. Then added, "Did ya kiss him?"

    I imagined him and me in a romantic first kiss. "No."

    Her eyes dimmed.

    "But I'd like to."

    Kat's nose crinkled.

Giveaway:

If you live in the United States and would like a chance to win a signed printed copy + swag just enter the giveaway on Dark Minds! 

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Giveaway Details:
Ebook of A Kiss for Emily
Open Internationally
Ends 5/28/12 (1 WEEK)

Congratulations Winner!

The winner of the Vaempires: Revolution giveaway is... Mar from The Reviews of Mar!

I will be emailing you shortly! Thank you to everyone who entered! Be on the lookout for my next giveaway which will be up tomorrow!

Blog Tour: Review of Swipe by Evan Angler

Click to view the blog tour schedule!

 Logan Langley is just months away from his thirteenth birthday and the biggest day of his life- the day he will finally be Marked. The Mark lets people get jobs, vote, and even go out to eat or buy concert tickets.

Becoming Marked means becoming free. Or so he is told. Five years ago when Logan's sister went to get her Mark she never came back. Now Logan can't shake the feeling he's being watched...

And then he finds the wire.

Overall Thoughts:
I was pretty paranoid while reading this book... in a good way!

Swipe is about 12 year old Logan Langley who lives in a dystopian world of the Marked and the Markless. The people who are Markless are kind of looked down upon. When the time comes for Logan to get marked, it's kind of like turning 18 in the United States. You become open to a whole new world of opportunities, like voting! So getting marked is usually an experience that people look forward to, but not for Logan. Why, you ask? Well, five years prior, his older sister went to get her mark and completely disappeared. Ever since, Logan feels he is being watched... and he isn't wrong.

What I liked about this book:
The concept is what intrigued me in the first place, but the creepiness factor is what kept me interested and I think that's imperative for a dystopian novel to have - a good fright! Logan kept fearing that he was being followed and was so paranoid about it, which made me paranoid! I'm easily scared I'll admit, so this book definitely gave me the chills!

What I disliked about this book:
Some of the characters weren't very personable, meaning that they didn't stick with me. The only people I really liked were the two main characters, Logan and Erin (She's awesome!). Everyone else kind of fell by the wayside.

Verdict:
This was a quick and easy read that successfully gave me the chills and surprised me at the same time!    

3 TARGETS!   

Stacking the Shelves #1

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Every week you are to share the books you've added to your shelves.

Review: 

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

AHH! I requested this book and honestly didn't believe they'd actually send it to me... until it showed up at my door! Huge gracias to Casey Lloyd and Random House for sending it to me!

The Last Princess by Galaxy Craze

Another requested book that I had no hopes of actually receiving... Dreams really do come true :) It's even more beautiful in person! Thank you so freaking much to Ames O'Neil and Little, Brown Books for sending it to me!

Netgalley:

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

It's been a good week.

House of Night #1 Graphic Novel by P.C. Cast + Kristen Cast

This is the epitome of epic!

Wilde's Fire by Krystal Wade

“There is no pain in this death, only peace, knowing I am going to die with the one I love the most.”—Katriona Wilde. This quote plus the gorgeous cover makes for an intrigued Shae!

Tell me what you got by linking your post in the comments!

Follow Friday #5

Feature & Follow is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read!

Q: This Sunday in the U.S. is Mother's Day. In celebration, what are some of your favorite books with strong mother/child relationships?

I'm going to say Vampire Academy because: 1) I'm just embarrassingly obsessed with that series.  And 2) I loved how insightful Rose and her mother's relationship was. Rose's mom was tough and unyielding so Rose turned out to be just the same. I especially loved when Rose lost one of her best friends in... Frostbite (Was it Frostbite?) and her mom let her cry on her shoulder. Very touching!

Also, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, even though I thought this book was just okay. Lena and her uncle, Macon, had a nice relationship. I know that's not really... mother/daughter... but if you squint your eyes... Hey! There are not a lot of good mother/daughter books in YA! The parents never care about their kids! Lol!

Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway of Vaempires: Revolution by Thomas Winship

It is the morning of Princess Cassandra’s sixteenth birthday. Everyone’s attention is focused on the heir to the vampire throne. World leaders, the rich and famous, and VIPs from every corner of the globe have gathered in the nation’s capital to celebrate the momentous event.

Cassandra’s boyfriend, Daniel, is late for the party. He’s still outside the city when all hell breaks loose. What he believes is an act of terrorism proves to be a full-fledged revolution. Væmpires—former vampires who mutated into warm-blooded creatures with an insatiable hunger for cold blood—have launched coordinated attacks across the globe, with three goals: the eradication of humanity, the enslavement of vampires, and the ascension of væmpires as the dominant species on the planet.

The vampire and human leaders are killed. Cassandra is missing. Daniel is the acting king. Desperate to find the princess, Daniel and his friends fight their way across the besieged city. With the hopes of the free world resting on the shoulders of four vampire teenagers, væmpires unleash their secret weapons—væmpires with special powers.

What can four teens do against an enemy that can shape-shift, fly, or walk through walls?

Overall Thoughts:
This was a fun, brief read that easily had me engrossed!

Vaempires: Revolution is about a Dystopian world that is being taken over by mutilated vampires called Vaempires, which is exactly how the story begins. We follow a fifteen year old vampire named Daniel (Son of the head of the Royal Guard) who is literally fighting his way to Princess Cassandra's Sixteenth birthday party. Because she is the heir to the vampire throne, every guard and soldier is in attendance to ensure that she and her wealthy/powerful acquaintances are safe and sound, leaving the rest of the city completely vulnerable... which is when the vaempires decide to attack.

What are vaempires, you ask? Well before they even came into the picture, humans and vampires fought against each other in a terrible war, until synthetic blood was discovered. Then, a long period of peace ensued. But for some unknown reason, certain vampires started mutilating into a new kind of vampire named Vaempires. Here's the catch though: Vaempires don't like synthetic blood; they like vampire blood. And Daniel is looking to destroy anything that gets in his way when he finds out that his girlfriend, Cassandra, was taken by a vaempire...

What I liked about this book:
This book has an extremely unique plot! I really love the fact that the author decided to explore both the old, grotesque vampire as well as the modern, shapely vampire.

Also, the action in this book is nonstop! Daniel spends the entire book fighting his way through vaempires to get to his missing girlfriend, Cassandra, which made me want to melt, in a good way.

What I disliked about this book:
The author was very descriptive, which don't get me wrong, I love when an author is able to create a vivid setting for me but a couple of times while reading, I thought it got a bit wordy.

Verdict:
If your in the mood for a fast-paced quick read, don't hesitate to pick this book up!

A prelude to this book named Vaempires: A White Christmas is out now! Review on it is coming soon!

Trailers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zKJFCJaVbfY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NbNlkVt7Mbg

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Vampire Underground by Brian Rowe

16-year-old Brin Skar hates everything to do with the supernatural, so the obsessive film geek isn't happy when she discovers that her junior year Film class at Grisly High is devoted to the horror genre. She's even more disconcerted when she learns that six groups in the class will be writing and directing their very own horror movies.

Brin and five classmates travel to Bodie Ghost Town in California to shoot their creepy film, but they soon find themselves fighting a real terrifying threat when a clan of mean, bloodthirsty vampires emerge from beneath the surface and start attacking the group. The teens, headed by Brin and the egotistical director Anaya Frost, have no help from the outside and become outnumbered by the vampires a hundred to one. 

But when Brin meets Paul, a helpful and smoldering vampire outcast who's had enough of his shameful life, she realizes he might be the only key to her survival.

Overall Thoughts:

I couldn't possibly summarize this book so the only thing I will say is: This book is an absolute roller coaster! My eyes stayed glued to it from start to finish. Ahh... so entertaining!

The Vampire Underground is about a girl named Brin Skar who begins taking a film class in high school where they're studying the horror genre, which is Brin's least favorite genre. Her teacher decides to give the entire class a group project which consists of the students creating a horror film. Brin gets a bit discouraged when she's not partnered up with her best friend, Ash, but is okay with her group until she's finds out that she has to work with a girl named Anaya, who's pretty much terrible.

Each person in the group has a specific job to do (i.e. director, writer, actor, cinematographer). Anaya chooses herself as both director and writer, and decides that they should film their movie in Bodie Ghost Town, which is exactly what it sounds like. Not a soul wanders in Bodie, so the group sees it as the perfect setting! What they don't see is the clan of vampires lurking in wait to attack them...

What I liked about this book:

It surprised the crap out of me! I loved that the author used old school, ugly, gory vampires and not the Twilight-esque kind. Less sparkle, more gloom! This book was all about fighting to stay alive and survival. Just think about it: Six kids travel to a ghost town... who makes it out alive?

I read the summary and although it sounded interesting, I didn't think I'd love this book as much I did. It was an incredible page turner! It brought me to the edge of my seat (even though I read it in bed, laying down)! And it made me want to bite my nails right down to the nub (Old habits die hard!). 

The author has a very easy way of writing and uses subtle comedy & romance to lighten the mood, so even though there's a lot of gore and freaky stuff in this book, it wasn't technically scary.

And even though Anaya was a terrible character in the beginning, the little nugget grew on me and I kept praying for her to survive with Brin and make it out alive. You will be totally shocked! Yes, I was excited.

What I disliked about this book:

Eh... not a huge fan of the cover. Oh, and there was a very mean cliff-hanger at the end that made me want to pee my pants.

Verdict:

Please read this book if you need an adrenaline rush! I loved the subtle comedy, the subtle romance, and the none too subtle action!

4 TARGETS!

ARC Review: Darkness Before Dawn by J.A. London

This electrifying new trilogy blends the best of paranormal and dystopian storytelling in a world where the war is over. And the vampires won.

Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters....

Darkness Before Dawn is a fresh new story with captivating characters, unexpected plot twists, a fascinating setting, and a compelling voice. Written under the name J. A. London by a talented mother-son team, the trilogy is perfect for fans of True Blood and the House of Night and Morganville Vampires series.

Overall Thoughts:

I definitely agree with the summary! This book was the perfect blend of my favorite vampire stories, including: Twilight, Vampire Academy, and House of Night! I definitely recommend this book if you liked any of those series!

Darkness Before Dawn is about 17 year old human named Dawn Montgomery, who is the city of Denver's appointed delegate to Lord Valentine, the most ferocious, unforgiving, and powerful vampire around. Both of Dawn's parents were the delegates before her until they "accidentally" died in a carriage crash. Even though Dawn's parents held the position before her, being delegate was not something you could inherit. Lord Valentine chose her specifically...

Because Dawn's parents died working for the most rueful vampire ever and Brady, her older brother, died at the hands of vampires, she could never bring herself to trust them. That is, until she's saved by a mysterious and kind man named Victor. The two become close until Dawn discovers that he is none other than Lord Valentine's son.

What I liked about this book:
Honestly, this book lured me in from the very beginning! I loved the fact that there were different types of vampires:

Old Families Vampires - The wealthiest, most powerful, and strongest of the vampires

Natural Born Vampires - self explanatory

Lessers - Humans turned into vampires, below Old Families vampires and natural born vampires

There were twists, turns, and I was definitely whip-lashed by the end of it, which is a good thing. The main character, Dawn, was someone I could look up to! Instead of Dawn being all weak-kneed like most main characters are in human/vampire romances, she was strong and bold, and did not give into Victor's charms that easily. In fact, he was the one who couldn't stay away from her! That's Girl power for you!

What I disliked about this book:
The high points of the book weren't as dramatic and touched on as I would've liked. I'm not going to describe any of the climaxes because I don't want to give anything away, but I wanted the authors to give more details, go more into depth, just embellish it more! Still loved it though :)

Verdict:
Any lover of vampire stories, or dystopian novels, or whip-lashing action should definitely give this book a shot!

4 TARGETS!