Cover Reveal: The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae

Today I get to participate in the Cover Reveal for The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae!

Title: The Summer I Became a Nerd
Author: Leah Rae
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader—perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad. That she’s a nerd hiding in a popular girl's body isn’t just unknown, it's anti-known. And she needs to keep it that way.
Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop’s counter uncovers her secret, she’s busted. Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie’s whisked into Logan’s world of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games. And she loves it. But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become…and the more she risks losing Logan forever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Born and raised in northern Louisiana, Leah Rae Miller still lives there on a windy hill with her husband and kids. She loves comic books, lava lamps, fuzzy socks, and Cherry Coke. She spends most of her days reading things she likes and writing things she hopes other people will like.

Twitter | Website 

What do you think of the cover?

Let me know in the comments!

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Book Review: Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick

Title: Shadows
Author: Ilsa J. Bick
Series: Ashes Trilogy#2
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication Date: September 25, 2012
Length: 528 Pages
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository

The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive.
Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love.
But she was wrong.
Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don’t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive.
Welcome to Shadows, the second book in the haunting apocalyptic Ashes Trilogy: where no one is safe and humans may be the worst of the monsters.

MY REVIEW

**May Contain Spoilers From Ashes, the first book in the trilogy**

Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick does it again, leaving me a puddled mess on the floor while still craving more. Ashes had me wanting more and Shadows went above and beyond to deliver it. If there is every a trilogy that might be the death of me, it would be the Ashes Trilogy. In Shadows, we get multiple viewpoints to get a 360-degree view of all the characters. I do not want to give too much away, so I am not going to reveal who narrates the viewpoints. The story picks up right at the cliffhanger from Ashes, where Alex leaves Rule in the hopes of finding Ellie a trace of Tom. 

There is so much that goes on in this story, and some very big secrets are discovered in this book. I can only imagine what the fallout is going to be in the next book. Alex is much more unsure of herself, when she discovers she maybe more like the Changed/Chuckies than she realized. Chris makes his own discoveries about Rule. Rule may not be the safe haven that Chris thought, and the people running it may not be as forthright as they should be. All of these combined with the other secrets lead to some interesting revelations, and a number of cliffhangers.

Shadows brings some of the smaller characters from Ashes to the forefront of the story. Readers get to know more about Lena and Peter. I just have to say that one character from Ashes will not be seen or heard about in Shadows. I really hope that we find out what happened to them in the next installment. The fate of many characters is left up in the air at the end of Shadows, and I really hope to find out more in Monsters. There is just so much compiled in the book that I want to talk about, but I do not want to spoil this read for anyone. 

With all the information given in Shadows, I cannot wait for the release of Monsters. Monsters will be the final book in the Ashes Trilogy. I have a feeling things are going to get crazy in Monsters, and it is going to be an exciting and explosive finale. Thank you Ilsa Bick for yet again driving me nuts and making me like it at the same time. I have a feeling I will still be recovering from the emotional turmoil experienced during Shadows, when Monsters is released.

**Unabridged Bookshelf received this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review**

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Waiting on Wednesday: The Nightmare Affair

 

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we cannot wait to get our hands on.
 I am waiting on:

Title: The Nightmare Affair

Author: Mindee Arnett

Publisher: Tor Teen

Publication Date: March 5, 2013 

Length: 352 Pages

Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.

Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.

Then Eli's dream comes true.
Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

Why do I want to read The Nightmare Affair?

I like the idea of a living Nightmare, the only one I have come across in Young Adult books is Sabine from the Soul Screamers series. I think Dusty is going to be more of the mystery solver, amatuer sleuth. I think that is a book that is right up my alley, and I really cannot wait to read this one. 

I am lucky enough to be participating in the blog tour for The Nightmare Affair, organized by Shane's Itching for Books! 

What are you waiting on?

Leave me a link in the comments. 

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Cover Reveal: The Midnight Spell

Today I have the dazzling cover of The Midnight Spell by Rhiannon Frater and Kody Boye.

The cover was designed by PhatPuppy Art.

Now for the Cover...

Book Blitz: The Harvesting

Today I am participating in a Book Blitz spotlight on The Harvesting by Melanie Karsak.
Thank you to The Bookish Brunette for allowing me to participate!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Harvesting

Author: Melanie Karsak

Series: The Harvesting Series #1

Publication Date: September 18, 2012

Length: 394 Pages

Purchase: Amazon

"To label this a zombie book would be a false pretense . . . this is so much more than that. What you start out with and what you end up with are very different, and those twists and turns in the middle will make your heart beat faster over and over again."-- Colossal Pop

It's all fun and games until someone ends up undead.

Though Layla reluctantly returns home to rural Hamletville after a desperate call from her psychic grandmother, she could never have anticipated the horror of what Grandma Petrovich has foreseen. The residents of Hamletville will need Layla's help if they are to survive the zombie apocalypse that's upon them. But that is not the only problem. With mankind silenced, it soon becomes apparent that we were never alone. As the beings living on the fringe seek to reclaim power, Layla must find a way to protect the ones she loves or all humanity may be lost. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Melanie Karsak, steampunk connoisseur, white elephant collector, and caffeine junkie, resides in Florida with her husband and two children. Visit the author at her blog to learn more about upcoming projects, book signings, and other neato things. A Walking Dead fan, check out her blog for recaps!

BLOG | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

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Book Review: Ten by Gretchen Mcneil

Title: Ten
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: September 18, 2012
Age Group: Young Adult
Number of Pages: 294 Pages
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository

SHHHH!
Don't spread the word!
Three-day weekend. House party.
White Rock House on Henry Island.
You do NOT want to miss it.
It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.
But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.
Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

MY REVIEW

Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway of Summer in Salem by Brina Courtney

Welcome to my tour stop on the amazing month long blog tour of Summer in Salem by Brina Courtney.

Thank you to SupaGurl Tours for organizing this tour, and make sure to check out the full schedule by clicking the banner above. 

Title: Summer in Salem

Author: Brina Courtney

Series: Electi #1

Publication Date: October 28, 2012

Length: 152 Pages

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Teagen’s summer has been turned upside down by a body, a pentagram necklace, and an old flame.
Nine months ago, Teagan Matthews' boyfriend disappeared and took her sense of stability with him. But when the opportunity to live with her aging grandmother in Salem arises, she decides it's time to get on with her life. A new home, new job and new friends are adding up to a beautiful summer...
...until a young girl's body shows up one night in town, wearing a necklace exactly like Teagan's.
Now a guy looking remarkably like her missing boyfriend has arrived in Salem along with a mysterious stranger who may have some answers that Teagan has desperately been searching for. Teagan must now decide who to trust. It's a matter of life and her death.

MY REVIEW

Summer in Salem starts off like a traditional novel, until the magic starts flowing from the pages. Teagan does not feel like the traditional main character, mostly because she is in the process of grieving the disappearance of the one person who she cared about the most. When her grandmother falls and hurts herself again, Teagan sees it as the perfect opportunity for a fresh start away from all the darkness. 

As Teagen begins to move on, and put the loss of Jason in her past, she discovers that may not be that easy. When Teagen and her friend Lark discover the body of a young woman, who bears a resemblance to Teagen, everything begins to change. Teagen is about to discover that magic maybe real, if she is ready to believe.

Teagen is in an interesting place for most of the novel. She is trying to move on, but she is still very much under the thumb of grief. It makes her angry and defensive, when it comes to may situations. The longer she stays in Salem, the more like her former self she becomes. This is because she has a job she loves, and a new best friend. I really like that she has a normal reaction of complete disbelief to certain revelations in the story line, because it made her seem more realistic. A new possible love interest is introduced, and I will have to say the Seth has a very mature outlook on life. I think that type of outlook is good for a person who feels lost like Teagen. 

Summer in Salem was a fun and fast read, and it is well worth the time. I think it is a great start to a new series, and I have a feeling they are only going to get better. Brina Courtney has created a new world, that I loved exploring. 

**Unabridged Bookshelf received this book from the author for the tour, in exchange for an honest review**

FOLLOW THE AUTHOR

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