Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

YA/New Adult Romance, Published July 2012

Read August 2012, 384 pp.

❤ Team: Noah

Challenges: Debut Author Challenge

4/5 STARS

Book Blurb:

“I WON’T TELL ANYONE, Echo. I promise.”

Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone TOUCHED ME like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins?

His DARK BROWN EYES shifted to my covered arms. “You didn’t do that—did you? It was done to you?”

No one ever asked that question.

They stared.

They whispered.

They laughed.

BUT THEY NEVER ASKED.

SO WRONG FOR EACH OTHER…AND YET SO RIGHT.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Thoughts:

This romance is definitely on the borderline of YA and the “New Adult” genre.  While the characters are still in high school, the content still seems quite mature for younger YA readers.  Echo Emerson has problems.  She has survived a very abusive home life and only has a few friends in school.  Noah used to be the popular jock, but now has a few secrets of his own.  While Noah is portrayed to be the bad boy, he really hasn’t done anything wrong, other than defend his younger brothers.  I loved the chemistry between the Noah and Echo and how they truly begin to support one another as friends before anything else.

Can’t wait to read Noah’s friend Beth’s story in Dare You To.  I have a feeling her story is going to be very interesting!

Quotes:

Luke used to give me butterflies.  Noah spawned mutant pterodactyls. (p. 84)

Similar Reads:

• Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry
• Chelsea Fine – Sophie & Carter
• Jessica Sorenson – The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden (Mature – New Adult)
• Jamie McGuire – Beautiful Disaster (Mature – New Adult)

Thanks to NetGalley and HarlequinTEEN for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey

All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey

Kowalski Family #4

Romance, Published 2012

Read March 2013, 304 pp.

Rating: 3/5

• #1 – Exclusively Yours
• #2 – Undeniably Yours
• #3 – Yours to Keep
• #3.5 – Slow Summer Kisses

Book Blurb:

He won’t stay put for a woman, and she won’t chase after any man…Mitch Kowalski lives out of a suitcase—and he likes it that way.Traveling for work has the added bonus of scaring off women who would otherwise try to tie him down. But when he’s called home to help with the family lodge, he’s intrigued by the new girl in town and her insistence that she doesn’t need a man. If there’s one thing Mitch can’t resist, it’s a challenge.

After a nomadic childhood, Paige Sullivan is finally putting down roots. Determined to stand on her own two feet, she lives by the motto “Men are a luxury, not a necessity.” But when Mr. Tall, Dark and Hot pulls up a stool in her diner and offers her six weeks of naughty fun with a built-in expiration date, she’s tempted to indulge.

They’re the perfect match for a no-strings fling. Until they realize their sexy affair has become anything but casual…

Thoughts:

Shannon Stacey has quickly joined my must read list for contemporary romances.  I love her writing style.  Once you pick up one of her books, you won’t put it down until you’re finished!

I liked both Mitch and Paige’s characters.  The only thing that bothered me was that they both fight against admitting they like each other so much – it’s almost too cliche.  I also didn’t like the fact that it seemed like Mitch had already slept with practically everyone in town and that these women were constantly telling Paige stories about him.  While I understand the workings of a small town, it still seemed weird.

Aside from the two main characters, I was very interested in Mitch’s youngest brother Josh’s character and his relationship with Katie, the daughter of the Kowalski family lodge’s longtime housekeeper.  Looks like we’ll get to read their story in Book 6 – All He Ever Dreamed.  I’m interested to see what happens with the Northern Star Lodge.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and Narrated by Jayne Entwistle

Flavia de Luce #1

Mystery, Published 2010

Challenges: Mount TBR, Audio Book RC

Shelf Life: 2 years, 10 mos. – bought April 2010

Read March 2013, 10 hrs unabridged

Story: 4/5

Narration: 5/5

Book Blurb:

It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.

For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

Thoughts:

I loved quirky Flavia.  She is a 10 year old chemist, lover of anything poisons, amateur sleuth, and always looking to get back at her older 2 sisters.  The book is told from Flavia’s POV and she is always sure she sees things the right way.  When a dead black snipe shows up at the back door with a postage stamp stuck through its beak, Flavia is at once intrigued.  Then when a mysterious man shows up to talk to her father in the middle of the night and a dead man shows up in the cucumber patch, she knows something has gone awry.  Flavia takes the reader on a very interesting and usually amusing trip to solve the mysteries surrounding her grand home, Buckshaw.  There are several mysteries that run throughout the book and they are slowly unraveled, leaving plenty of time for Flavia’s character development.

The audio is very well done and I’m looking forward to listening to the next in the series.

Quotes:

Unless some sweetness at the bottom lie,

Who cares for all the crinkling of the pie?

The Art of Cookery, William King

It was as black in the closet as old blood. (First line)

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Winner!

The winner of Jessica Day George’s Princess of the Glass Woods according to random.org is Sara!

Congratulations Sara!

Please respond to my email with your mailing address.

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Teaser Tuesday – Lily of the Nile

Don’t miss my blog giveaway – Hardcover copy of Princess of the Silver Woods (Princess Series #3) by Jessica Day George!

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Something coiled dangerously within the basket I carried, but I’d been told not to open the lid nor to ask what lurked beneath its woven reeds.  The basket smelled of comforting cedar and lush figs, but it was embroidered with emblems of Anubis – the jackal-headed Guide of the Dead. ~p. 3

Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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Top 7 Books I Read In 2012

Don’t miss my blog giveaway – Hardcover copy of Princess of the Silver Woods (Princess Series #3) by Jessica Day George!

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1. How to Dance with a Duke by Manda Collins
2. The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. Anew and Awry by Chelsea Fine
4. Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
5. I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
6. Shannon Stacey’s Kowalski Series
7. To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander

Check out my Top Ten Archive!

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. They love to share their lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

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Review & GIVEAWAY: Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George

Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George

Princess #3

YA Fantasy, Published December 2012

Read: December 2012, 336 pp.

Book Blurb: When Petunia, the youngest of King Gregor’s twelve dancing daughters, is invited to visit an elderly friend in the neighboring country of Westfalin, she welcomes the change of scenery.  But in order to reach Westfalin, Petunia must pass through a forest where strange two-legged wolves are rumored to exist.  Wolves intent on redistributing the wealth of the noble citizens who have entered their territory.  But the bandit-wolves prove more rakishly handsome than truly dangerous, and it’s not until Petunia reaches her destination that she realizes the kindly grandmother she been summoned to visit is really an enemy bent on restoring an age-old curse.

The stories of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood get a twist as Petunia and her many sisters take on bandits, grannies, and the new King Under Stone to end their family curse once and for all.

Giveaway: Enter to win your own hardcover copy of Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George!! Please leave a comment on this blog post with your email address and you will be entered into the giveaway.  I would LOVE for you to become a follower of the blog as well!  You can find all the links on the right sidebar.  You have until midnight CST on Tuesday, January 1, 2013 to enter.  The winner will be picked randomly next Wednesday, January 3, 2013.  I will post the winner on the blog as well as contact the winner via email and that person will have 48 hours to respond with their address.  The book will be sent to you by the publisher. Only US residents please.

Thoughts:

Interesting take on not only the Robin Hood and Red Riding Hood fairy tales, but also the Twelve Dancing Princesses.  This story follows the youngest of the 12 princesses, Petunia, and how one coach ride across the countryside led her to meeting the two-legged wolves in the forest that would forever change her story’s ending.  I haven’t read the first two in the series, so I was left without a lot of the background information on her sisters and the story of how they first got away from their dancing curse.  However, I found the story easy to follow along and enjoyed meeting all the great characters along the way.  Petunia sure finds herself in lots of pickly situations.!

If you love twists on the traditional fairy tales, don’t miss out on Jessica Day George’s Princess series!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children’s Books for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  The giveaway has also been provided by the publisher.

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The post that explains that while I did miss a flight, I didn’t fall off the face of the Earth…

First off, and most importantly, I want to thank ALL my new subscribers and followers as well as all those who have stayed with me!

I usually avoid update posts because I hate giving excuses for not posting on my blog. We all know life just gets in the way sometimes and I never want to post just for the sake of posting.  But I feel like I just fell off the earth after posting my beginning post for Dewey’s 24 hr read-a-thon over a week ago!

Dewey’s Read-a-thon – how I did…

Well Saturday turned out to be pretty busy for me and I didn’t get to read as much as I would have liked.  I did end up reading Lauren Barnholdt’s One Night That Changes Everything over the span of Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.  I completely fell off the wagon on posting updates since I was out of the house most of the day.

So then what happened…

Went out of town for work Monday-Wednesday and that’s where I missed my flight – Monday morning…boo…but I got there eventually.  I had wanted to plan some posts, but yeah, that didn’t happen.  Since then I’ve been planning in my head how to get some posts up and I finally had time to work on it. And here we are.   Which leads to what I’ve been reading…

WWW Wednesday

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

Currently about a third of the way into Ashen Winter by Mike Mullen.  I’m still waiting for the can’t put it down effect that book 1 left me with…

• What did you recently finish reading?

Two weeks ago I finished Nevermore by Kelly Creagh.  I loved it!  Last Friday I finished Tamera Alexander’s To Whisper Her Name which just came out yesterday.  Also loved it.  I’ve been collecting a lot of her books, but this was the first one I had read by her.  Sunday I finished One Night that Changes Everything by Lauren Barnholdt, which was a quick fun read.  I also finished Joel Osteen’s I Declare while I was waiting at the airport for 4 hours.

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Not sure yet.  I had several books picked out to read for Halloween so maybe one of those if I can get to it soon enough.

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Friday Finds

I hadn’t really seen anything by Jennifer L. Armentrout before amazon recommended Obsidian to me.  I read the first few paragraphs before immediately ordering (amazon, you sucked me in again!!).  I can’t wait to get to this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FRIDAY FINDS is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.  It showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

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Feature & Follow Friday

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Is it to one day become an author yourself, just for fun, maybe get some online attention, or maybe something very different?

I blog because I love sharing the books I have read and enjoyed with other book lovers.  I used to love writing when I was younger and have several notebooks full of stories and have thought it would be fun to start up again, but I have no plans for this blog to be anything other than a great place to find new friends and be a creative outlet to share bookie stuff.

I follow most blogs through google reader and twitter.  On Monday, I posted this saying how I accidentally deleted all my book blogs from my reader (I was trying to delete one feed that the link was no longer valid).  I immediately tried to undo it, but apparently you can’t.  While it was a mistake, I’m realizing now that it was a great way to start over fresh and find new favorites as well as the old ones.

You can follow me here:

If you prefer an email subscription, click the link on the sidebar.

 

Thanks to Parajunkee and Alison Can Read for hosting Feature & Follow. You can find more info about it here.

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