Waiting on Wednesday (76)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine, and it is a way to show off the books you can't wait to be released!!


This week I chose:

"The Catastrophic History of You and Me"
by Jess Rothenberg
Dial
Release Date: Jan 17, 2012


The following description is from goodreads.com:

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally.

But now that she's in heaven, Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend knows a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after.

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

This is a lot darker than the fiction I usually read, yet I'm intriqued! What do you think of it?

What are you waiting for this week???

"Just One Season in London" Review

"Just One Season in London"
by Leigh Michaels

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: July 1, 2011 
Source: ARC sent by publisher

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

Viscount Ryecroft has a beautiful sister he needs to marry off... if only he had the money for her Season in London.
His family is in financial ruins, and his mother is willing to do anything to help her children, including sell herself to the highest bidder...
Sophie Ryecroft will sacrifice love to marry for the good of her family... but instead finds passion and solace in an attractive alternative.
With so much riding on their one and only Season in London, Rye, Sophie, and Miranda can't help but get hopelessly entangled with all the wrong people...
Celebrated author Leigh Michaels effortlessly weaves three tales of unexpected romance with surprising twists you won't soon forget.

My Review:


I really appreciate the author trying a different format for this book, but at the same time, I really missed my warm and cozy, familiar historical romance format!

Instead of introducing a hero and heroine with alternating points of view, and maybe a supporting romantic couple, this book had three leads and three love interests.  This was too many romances for me to keep up with. I couldn't really get invested in any of them. I really liked the author's previous book with three separate but interconnected short stories, and I think I would have liked this one more if it had been in that format.

Miranda and Marcus' story was the most interesting to me. They already had a history together to build on. I would have loved to have seen their story grow more because there was a lot to work with there. I think Sophie's romance could have been the best of the three, but the least amount of time was devoted to her love story. Poor Rye was a great character, but his romance was so predictable.

There are lots of balls and operas with many misunderstandings and rumors. Fans of this type of Regency are sure to love this book. If you are more interested in the "he said, she said" of the Regency social circle and won't mind if the romances aren't fully fleshed out, you will most likely enjoy this book.


Main Characters: 3/5
Supporting Characters: 3/5
Setting: 4/5
Romance: 3/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 4/5


Bottom Line: Overall, heavy on the Regency social scene, lite on the actual romances.

Teaser Tuesday (40)

Yay for "Teaser Tuesday" from MizB of Should be Reading!!

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!  

My teaser Tuesday pick:




" In all honesty, Matthew couldn't remember the last time he'd had a headache. The details of events became a little hazy after reaching one's 650th year on earth. "




p 30 ARC of "In the Heat of the Bite" by Lydia Dare

Giveaway and Review: "How to Seduce a Scoundrel"

"How to Seduce a Scoundrel"
 by Vicky Dreiling

Publisher: Forever
Release Date: July 1, 2011

Source: ARC sent by publisher

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
 

Summary from goodreads.com:

When Lady Julianne Gatewick realizes the rake of her dreams thinks of her as practically his sister, she decides it's time to get even. The charming Marc Darcett, Earl of Hawkfield, is every lady's fantasy, but he's determined to evade virgins and their matrimonial traps - especially his best friend's sister.

Hawk reluctantly agrees to be Julianne's guardian for the season, but he's having trouble resisting his gorgeous ward. Worse still, she's taunting him by flirting with every scoundrel in London - and he's sworn to protect her! Certain she's learned her tricks from the authoress of that scandalous publication "The Secrets of Seduction", Hawk sets out to uncover the writer's identity. But he never expects to find the formerly angelic Julianne behind the mask - and between his sheets.

My Review:

I really loved the first book in this series, "How to Marry a Duke." It was witty, fun, and had a sweet romance with great characters. Maybe I had my hopes set too high, but this installment fell flat for me. 

The parts I enjoyed the most starred the supporting characters, mostly Julianne's friends from the first book, Amy and Georgette. I also loved Aunt Hester and I had a real soft spot for the young 'cub', Osgood. As for the leads, I liked Julianne but I didn't like Hawk and really didn't buy their relationship.

The difference in maturity between the leads was a big hurdle for me. Usually, I'm a fan of different ages in relationships but this time it came down to maturity. I'm with Julianne's brother, Tristan, on this- Julianne isn't ready for marriage. She was extremely naive and sheltered and spent most of her time at slumber parties with her bff's. I loved those scenes, but it just made Julianne seem so young. Then Hawk was so controlling of her every move. He nixed other men as her beaux because he thought they would take advantage of her and then he did the same exact thing! To me, Hawk just came across as sleazy and taking advantage of a young girl.

Hawk was supposed to have reformed, but he never seemed to do anything especially honorable in my opinion. Just because he stopped taking mistresses doesn't mean he's that great of a catch.

Is it just me, or was some of the advice in the pamphlet a little outdated as to gender roles? I'm not a fan of "The Rules" and I'm not sure how empowering to women it is to trick your man into marriage. At least the sweet, innocent, and awkward Osgood agrees with me on this!


Main Characters: 3/5 (Julianne 4, Hawk 2)
Supporting Characters: 4/5
Setting: 3/5
Romance: 2/5
Uniqueness: 3/5
Cover: 3/5
Writing: 4/5


Bottom Line: This one wasn't up to par with her last book, mainly because I didn't like the hero. I'll still read her next book because I like the supporting characters and Dreiling's witty style.

GIVEAWAY RULES:

Hachette books has generously provided three copies of this historical romance for readers of my blog!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and leave a comment on this review with your email address! Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :) Also, if you aren't comfortable leaving your email here, go ahead and leave a comment and then send me an email with your email addy

Extra Entries:
+1 Tweet this contest (leave link in comment)
+1 Post link in sidebar of your blog (leave link in comment)

Rules:

• US and Canada only
• No PO Boxes please
• Must be a follower to enter
• Extra entries are optional and can all be left in the same comment
• Leave a comment with your email address
• Books will be mailed out by Hachette
• Must be 18 or over 

• Ends Sat July 23

Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!  

Review and Giveaway! "Before Versailles"

"Before Versailles"
by Karleen Koen

Publisher: Crown
Release Date: June 28, 2011 
Source: sent by publisher and TLC Book Tours

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

New York Times bestselling author Karleen Koen offers another delightful historical novel that will transport you to another time and place.

Before Versailles is the luscious, sweeping story of the young Louis XIV in his first year as king of France. Told in the alternating perspectives of the young king and his first love, the woman who would become his mistress, Karleen Koen's newest weaves a portrait of court and country in turmoil with the legends of this colorful period in history, including that of the mysterious man in the iron mask.

My Review:

There is a lot going on in this book! There's almost not enough time to even grasp everything. I can see this being the next historical series on cable. There's enough scandal and drama in this book for at least three or four seasons.

I really liked Louise from the start. She was so genuinely caring. I might have enjoyed the book more if it had really narrowed its focus down to Louise at court. But there were so many other storylines going on as well, I found myself waiting until Louise showed up again.

I was so intrigued by the bits and pieces of story about the man (boy) in the iron mask. I've always been interested in that story, but again, I didn't feel like there was really enough about his story. I was anxiously reading page after page awaiting the next bit of his story to develop.

I liked that the book was scandalous but it never took things too far. The scandal never got too graphic. The descriptions of court and the exquisite fashions were described in great detail.


Main Characters: 4/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Romance: 3/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 3/5
Writing: 4/5


Bottom Line: This is a very interesting book if you have the time and energy to invest in so many different stories at once.


GIVEAWAY RULES:

Crown Publishing and TLC Book Tours have generously provided a copy of "Before Versailles" fora lucky reader of my blog!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and leave a comment on this review with your email address! Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :) Also, if you aren't comfortable leaving your email here, go ahead and leave a comment and then send me an email with your email addy

Extra Entries:
+1 Tweet this contest (leave link in comment)
+1 Post link in sidebar of your blog (leave link in comment)

Rules:

• US and Canada only
• Must be a follower to enter
• Extra entries are optional and can all be left in the same comment
• Leave a comment with your email address
• Books will be mailed out by the publisher
• Must be 18 or over 

• Ends Mon July 25

Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!

More Tour Stops Here:

Free Ebooks Available Now!!

I found even more new free ebooks available this weekend! 

Two of these have been on my wishlist for a while now!!

Some are only available for Kindle, but if it's available for free for Nook too, I've added that link as well.

"Heartless" by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Kindle

Nook

"The Outsider" by Ann H. Gabhart

Kindle

Nook

"A Proper Companion" by Candice Hern

Kindle

"Tuscan Holiday" by Holly Chamberlin

Kindle

In My Mailbox (70)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren, and is a way for everyone to show their new books for the week, including those bought, swapped, won, or received for review.

"Darker Still" by Leanna Renee Hieber

 "The Scorpio Races" by Maggie Stiefvater

 Both of these first two books were gifts from Christie at The Fiction Enthusiast!! Thank you so much, Christie, for being so generous with your ARCs!!

contest wins:

"Ruby Red" by Kerstin Gier

Won from Christie at The Fiction Enthusiast!

 "I Heart New York" by Lindsey Kelk

won from Nina at J'adore Happy Endings!

for review:

"Hooper Finds a Family" by Jane Paley

How sweet does this look??

What did you receive in your mailbox this week???