ARC August: Sign up Post

ARC August starts today and let me tell you, I have waited for this for a long time. Now, I know what I said two years ago, about giving up ARCs and all of that, but I'm a book addict okay? And ARCs are my drug of choice. So, as you can probably tell, I have a lot of ARCs I need to go through, and what better way to do it, than in the company of so many great readers.

In case you're wondering, ARC August is an event hosted by the amazing, wonderful and awesome Octavia and Shelly from Read.Sleep.Repeat and if you want to participate, hurry up and sign up. (I admit that I signed up late, because like an idiot I forgot to make up the post. Like literally FORGOT to write it. Don't ask, working in a school kind of fried my brain).

Anyway, here are the books I hope to get to read this month (and there are a lot of books in this list, so have patience here):

Young Adult

• Menagerie by Rachel Vincent

• The Hawkweed Prophecy by Irena Brignull

• The Otherlife by Julia Gray

• Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven

• The Continent by Keira Drake

• Ink And Bone by Rachel Caine

• Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine

• Riverkeep by Martin Stewart

• How To Make Out by Brianna R. Shrum

• Extraordinary October by Diana Wagman

Adult

• Relentless Flame by Jillian David

• Flame Unleashed by Jillian David

• Flame's Dawn by Jillian David

• Wrong For Me by Jackie Ashenden

• The Illusionist's Apprentice by Kristy Cambron

• Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen

• Playing By Her Rules by Amy Andrews

• Bad Boys After Dark by Tina Moss, Ellis Leigh, Vivian Lane, Kallysten, Fionn Jameson, Shelley Munro, Nicola R. White, Bonnie Dee

• Son Of Thunder by Libby Bishop

• Lure Of Obsession by Lisa Kessler

• Mastering Darkness by Kate Wendley

• Abandoned Darkness by Kate Wendley

• Chaos Rises by Pippa DaCosta

Comic Books

• Monstress issues #3, #4, #5 & #6 by Marjorie Liu

In case you didn't count, that's 27 books. Actually more, since Bad Boys After Dark is actually a collection of 8 full-length books, so 34 books to read for ARC August. Good thing I'm on vacation, right?

Are you joining on the fun? What does your TBR for this challenge look like?

Book Review: #Static by Eric Laster

Author: Eric Laster
Series: N/A
Genre: YA, Mystery & Thrillers
Publisher: Automatic Publishing
Release Date: 19 Apr 2016
My Rating: 3 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

When Curtis Brooks starts receiving phone calls from his older brother Wilt, who’s been dead a week, he’s sure it’s to help him find evidence that will lead to a murderer’s arrest. But Wilt claims he wasn’t murdered; his calling, meant to help him adjust, is standard protocol for newly deceased at the Aftermart—a kind of inescapable, ever-expanding Walmart filled with discontinued products.

Wilt’s death ruled a homicide, Curtis embarks on a dangerous plan to find the killer, which soon has him scheming against a billionaire and floundering toward love with his brother’s ex-girlfriend Suzy, all while struggling through high school and his single mom’s poor choices.

Why does Wilt help Curtis win over Suzy, even as he organizes a rebellion at the Aftermart? Who’d wanted him dead? Curtis risks his life to answer these questions, in the process forging a bond with his brother unlike any they’ve ever had.

*Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book from Netgalley and Automatic Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or my rating of this book in any way.

As soon as I saw the description on Netgalley I was intrigued, because the theme of a dead person being able to call a loved one is one that I haven't read much about. I was also a bit confused by the genre, because surely a book that talks about receiving phone calls from the dead has a little bit of fantasy in it, right? Or horror, depends on how you look at it.

It was interesting to read an entire story from a boy's POV. I found it a bit strange at times, but I definitely found it an interesting and good change from what I normally read.

I thought Curtis was a fascinating character. He had moments when he frustrated me, but for the most part I rooted for him and hoped he'd succeed in what he was doing. The story reveals a lot of things about Curtis that made me question some of the things about the story. I feel like, in the end, he does the best he can with the cards he was dealt. His parents are far from perfect, his life in general sucks. The fact that his brother died is important, but I feel like the fact that he got these phone calls from Wilt helped him cope or at least ignore the fact that Wilt isn't physically there for him when he needs him the most.

Remember when I said that I was confused by the genre? Well, the story itself left me with a lot of doubts regarding these phone calls. I kept wondering, mostly because of some of the details that emerged about Curtis throughout the book, if those phone calls were real. Which in a way I thought was brilliant, because then, depending on what you want to believe, there's two ways in which you can see the book. Either Curtis was completely delusional, or he really was talking to his dead brother on the phone.

I felt like the pace was a little too slow for my taste, and the ending turned out to be completely not what I imagined. Not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I expected.

My only issue was with the parents in this book. I would've wanted at least one of the parents to be somewhat normal, or at least true, mature adults. Actually, now that I think about it, all of the adults in this book weren't exactly role models, or even adults per se.

Anyway, I thought the book was okay and if you're fans of YA mysteries, you should definitely check it out and let me know what you think.

Release Blitz: Touch Me #3 by Skye Malone

Title: Touch Me #3 by Skye Malone
Series: Touch Me
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Wildflower Isle
Publication Date: February 18, 2015
Cover Designer: Karri Klawiter

Monsters walk among us.

And now they have Ruby.

Best friend. Confidant. Ally when everything in my life felt like hell. There are very few people I trust.

And none of them come close to Ruby.

But now demons have her. House Volgert has taken her, demanding that I serve as their emissary to the equally dangerous and terrifying House Linden. But Linden is after me too.

I’m stuck between two titans of the demon world. I’m running out of options and I’m running out of time. But when I find out what demons do to the humans they capture, the nightmare gets even worse.

If I don’t find Ruby soon, it won’t matter if she escapes the Houses.

I’m still going to lose her forever.

**Touch Me 3 is the third installment of a New Adult paranormal romance serial filled with twists, turns, and dark surprises. This episode is 30,000 words (approximately 125 pages) long.**

**Due to strong language and some sexual situations in this and later installments of the series, it is appropriate for readers 18+.**

Purchase

Amazon | Kobo | iTunes

***

The Touch Me Series

Currently FREE

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

***

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

______________________________________________________________

About the Author

Skye Malone is a fantasy and paranormal romance author, which means she spends most of her time not-quite-convinced that the magical things she imagines couldn’t actually exist.

A Midwestern girl who migrated to the Pacific Northwest, she hopes someday to travel the world — though in the meantime she’ll take any story that whisks her off to a place where the fantastic lives inside the everyday. She loves strong and passionate characters, complex villains, and satisfying endings that stay with you long after the book is closed. An inveterate writer, she can’t go a day without getting her hands on a keyboard, and can usually be found typing away while she listens to all the adventures unfolding in her head.

Skye also writes YA urban fantasy as Megan Joel Peterson and is the author of The Children and the Blood trilogy.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Tsu | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook

About.Me | Goodreads

______________________________________________________________

Excerpt

          

          Amar is studying me. His hand moves, taking my own carefully like he’s afraid I’ll pull away. And I freeze. The look in his eyes… it’s like I’m all he sees. Me, now. Me, then, back in that restroom, alone in the moments before Ruby walked in. But there’s no pity in his gaze. Just something else, dark and deep.

          Safety.

          I can’t breathe. My thoughts are trying to catch up to my impressions, struggling to put words to a man so unfathomable it should be funny. I don’t know what he wants, though. To kiss me? To have sex? Somewhere inside, I’m still ready for that, but that part of me feels like it’s drowning in the nightmare of this evening, the exhaustion of all the hours since, and the rawness of what I’ve just said.

          He lifts his other hand, taking my cheek, and his thumb strays across my lips, parting them while his eyes track the motion. My heart slams into my ribs. Even the simple contact makes my insides start to burn. Maybe I’m drowning in all this madness.

          Maybe I just need something good to hang onto.

______________________________________________________________

Giveaway

• You could win a ’DEMONS: Not all of us are evil’ watch, water bottle, and signed bookmarks, plus a $25 Amazon gift card!
• A second prize winner will receive a $15 Amazon gift card.
• Open Internationally
• Giveaway ends August 1st

ENTER HERE