Kimberley Giffiths Little's Banished Book Blast & Giveaway!!

Publication Date: February 2, 2016 

Publisher: HarperCollins 

Hardcover & Ebook; 416 Pages

 Series: Forbidden, Book #2 

Genre: YA/Historical/Romance     

 She thought she’d lost everything . . . After spending months traveling the harsh, unforgiving Mesopotamian desert, Jayden reunites with a broken, injured Kadesh. Although everyone was convinced the violent and unpredictable Horeb, Jayden’s betrothed, killed the handsome prince, Jayden knew in her heart that her love was alive and safe. But their reunion is short-lived, as they learn Horeb is on their trail and determined to take back the girl he has claimed. Soon, the two star-crossed lovers are on the run toward Sariba, Kadesh’s homeland, where, as heir to the Kingdom, he plans to make Jayden his princess. But the trek to Sariba is fraught with heartache and danger. After narrowly escaping being stoned to death for a crime she didn’t commit, and learning that her sister has disappeared, Jayden’s only solace is her love for Kadesh. But even he is keeping secrets from her . . . secrets that will change everything. This gorgeous and enchanting sequel to Forbidden, is full of love, danger, and heated passion that will leave readers breathless.

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About the Author

Kimberley Griffiths Little was born in San Francisco, but now lives in New Mexico with her husband and their three sons. For such award-winning middle grade novels as When the Butterflies Came, The Last Snake Runner, The Healing Spell, and Circle of Secrets, her writing has been praised as "fast-paced and dramatic," with "characters painted in memorable detail" and "beautifully realized settings." Kimberley adores anything old and musty with a secret story to tell and makes way too many cookies while writing. She's stayed in the haunted tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland; sailed on the Seine in Paris; ridden a camel in Petra, Jordan; shopped the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria. Awards: Southwest Book Award, Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel, Bank Street College Best Books of 2011 & 2014, Crystal Kite Finalist, and New Mexico Book Award Finalist. 

 For more information please visit Kimberly's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads. Sign Up for Kimberly's Newsletter.

Book Blast Schedule

Tuesday, February 2 Passages to the Past Wednesday, February 3 The Lit Bitch Let Them Read Books Thursday, February 4 I'm Shelf-ish Friday, February 5 Broken Teepee Monday, February 8 A Chick Who Reads Wednesday, February 10 Anastacia Reads Friday, February 12 A Leisure Moment Monday, February 15 I Heart Reading Tuesday, February 16 A Dream within a Dream Wednesday, February 17 What Is That Book About Thursday, February 18 Bittersweet Enchantment Friday, February 19 Curling up by the Fire Monday, February 22 The Life & Times of a Book Addict Tuesday, February 23 A Literary Vacation Thursday, February 25 A Book Geek Wednesday, March 2 The Never-Ending Book

GIVEAWAY

To win a $25 Amazon Gift Card & Signed Copies of Forbidden and Banished please enter the giveaway via the GLEAM form below. Rules – Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on March 2nd. You must be 18 or older to enter. – Giveaway is open internationally. – Only one entry per household. – All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion – Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

Banished Book Blast

Waiting on Wednesday #44

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine. The goal is to spotlight upcoming books that I am super excited for.

This week I am waiting on Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman.

Publication: September 1, 2015

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

When Kate Thompson’s father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, the eighteen-year-old disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers and justice. What she finds are devious strangers, dust storms, and a pair of brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, she gets closer to the truth about herself and must decide if there's room for love in a heart so full of hate.   In the spirit of True Grit, the cutthroat days of the Wild West come to life for a new generation.

I love this cover, it is so pretty and cool. I haven’t read that many western books, let alone YA Westerns, so I am excited to read this one come September!

What are you excited for this week???

Dead to Me by Mary McCoy Blog Tour & Giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by my leg of the Dead to Me Blog Tour! Take a look at the review below and to check out the other stops on this tour, click the banner above or the follow me button at the bottom. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below!

Publication: March 3, 2015
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Publisher on behalf of this tour

LA Confidential for the YA audience. This alluring noir YA mystery with a Golden Age Hollywood backdrop will keep you guessing until the last page. "Don't believe anything they say." Those were the last words that Annie spoke to Alice before turning her back on their family and vanishing without a trace. Alice spent four years waiting and wondering when the impossibly glamorous sister she idolized would return to her--and what their Hollywood-insider parents had done to drive her away. When Annie does turn up, the blond, broken stranger lying in a coma has no answers for her. But Alice isn't a kid anymore, and this time she won't let anything stand between her and the truth, no matter how ugly. The search for those who beat Annie and left her for dead leads Alice into a treacherous world of tough-talking private eyes, psychopathic movie stars, and troubled starlets--and onto the trail of a young runaway who is the sole witness to an unspeakable crime. What this girl knows could shut down a criminal syndicate and put Annie's attacker behind bars--if Alice can find her first. And she isn't the only one looking Evoking classic film noir, debut novelist Mary McCoy brings the dangerous glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age to life, where the most decadent parties can be the deadliest, and no drive into the sunset can erase the crimes of past.

The story begins with Alice showing up at the hospital after being notified that her sister Annie is in a coma barely hanging on. It’s there that she meets Jerry,  a private eye who claims to be a friend of Annie’s and who also worked with her on a couple of cases. Alice isn’t sure she can trust him, but at the moment she has very few options. 

Alice takes it upon herself to investigate why her sister was left for dead and what exactly was she doing the four years leading up to that moment. She does a pretty good job for someone who is sixteen. Though she does put herself into some dangerous situations almost from the start. She is smart, gutsy, and can thinking quickly on her feet...qualities which come in handy for her. 

Dead to Me has a vibe that reminded me of those old school radio programs like Philip Marlowe and Box 13. I used to listen to those programs growing up thanks to my dad and I loved them. The mystery part was done really well. I had no clue who was the bad guy or girl and what their motives were. There were one or two things that I guessed, but for the most part everything was a surprise. I liked Mary McCoy’s writing style.  She did a good job with the descriptions and characters, plus the story was easy to follow and ended up being a quick read.

RATING: 3½  out of 5.

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 ABOUT MARY MCCOY

Mary McCoy is a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library. She has also been a contributor to On Bunker Hill and the 1947project, where she wrote stories about Los Angeles's notorious past. She grew up in western Pennsylvania and studied at Rhodes College and the University of Wisconsin. Mary now lives in Los Angeles with her husband. Her debut novel, Dead To Me, is a YA mystery set in the glamorous, treacherous world of 1940s Hollywood.

VISIT MARY HERE:

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GIVEAWAY!!!

Details: Win (1) hardcopy of Dead To Me by Mary McCoy (US Only)

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Witchstruck (The Tudor Trilogy #1) by Victoria Lamb

Publication: September 24, 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Source:  Publisher

If she sink, she be no witch and shall be drowned If she float, she be a witch and must be hanged. Meg Lytton has always known she is different—that she bears a dark and powerful gift. But in 1554 England, in service at Woodstock Palace to the banished Tudor princess Elizabeth, it has never been more dangerous to practise witchcraft. Meg knows she must guard her secret carefully from the many suspicious eyes watching over the princess and her companions. One wrong move could mean her life, and the life of Elizabeth, rightful heir to the English throne. With witchfinder Marcus Dent determined to have Meg's hand in marriage, and Meg's own family conspiring against the English queen, there isn't a single person Meg can trust. Certainly not the enigmatic young Spanish priest Alejandro de Castillo, despite her undeniable feelings. But when all the world turns against her, Meg must open her heart to a dangerous choice. The Secret Circle meets The Other Boleyn Girl in Witchstruck, the first book of the magical Tudor Witch trilogy.

Meg is 16 who is just coming into her powers, with the help of her aunt. And she is also a maid to a banished Princess Elizabeth. But unfortunately, this is a time where witches are being hunted down and killed. So it’s not exactly the best time for Meg and her aunt to use their skills in magic.

And they do use it. They use it to see if Elizabeth will ever take the Throne and for their own personal purposes as well. I wished that Meg had been more careful and a little less reckless when using her magic. Her judgment was not the best.

I really wanted to love this book, but in the end, I just didn’t grab me the way I was hoping it would.  Nothing seemed to drag. It felt like there was almost always something going on.  It was entertaining. I just didn’t really connect with Meg that much.

Witchstruck, is the first book in the Tudor Witch Trilogy. The second book Witchfall is already out, and the third book Witchrise releases September 30th. If you’re a fan of historical fiction with a dash of magic and fantasy thrown in, then this one might be worth pique your interest.

RATING: 3 out of 5.

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Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Publication: February 12, 2013

Publisher: Philomel Books

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.  She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test. With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

I loved Josie. She is so sweet, hardworking, smart, and determined. Josie and her mother have a very complicated relationship. Some people should not be parents, and I think her mom is one of those people.

Josie lives  by herself in an apartment in the bookshop that she works at in New Orleans during the 1950’s. Aside from that job she also cleans after clients at the house of a well-known madam.  But she isn’t satisfied with the life that she currently has. Josie wants more... She doesn’t want people to judge her based on what her mom does. She wants to attend college, get a degree, and make something of herself.

“Now don't let fear keep you in New Orleans. Sometimes we set off down a road thinkin' we're goin' one place and we end up another. But that's okay. The important thing is to start.”

What did I not like? Pretty much nothing. The story seemed to go at decent pace, and I never once felt like it dragged and I never got bored. All of the different characters like Willie, Cokie, Patrick, and even some of the other prostitutes added to the story and made it come to life.

The story is told from Josie’s POV and I thought the author did a great job of making the characters seem real. Reading Out of the Easy made me think about the choices we make in life and how those choices can shape our future. I can’t wait to try out other works from Ruta Sepetys.

I have the hard copy of Out of the Easy and the audiobook version of, but decided to try it out on audio and I have to say that I loved it. This is one of the best and most entertaining audiobooks I have listened to in a while. The narrator, Lauren Fortgang does an awesome job with all of the characters different voices/accents. Now I want to find more audiobooks narrated by her to see if they are just as good.

RATING: 5 out of 5.

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