News and stuff

Hey peeps! Sorry for being absent lately. I've been having a hellish month and apparently May isn't going to be any different *pouts* I have some projects to prepare and a lot of studying to do. It all caught me by surprise and I didn't have anything prepared for the blog, but now that I have a week off I will work my ass off to schedule posts and read. That way you won't feel like I'm absent and I won't feel bad for every day I don't post.

One more thing. I'm not accepting review requests! Please read the "Review Policy" page BEFORE you email me with a request. I don't want to sound bitchy or annoy anyone, but please read that page. Yes, it is important.

If I think of anything else, I'll post it. I will try to be active on Twitter though, so you know I'm still alive LOL.

Happy Reading!

Blog Tour: Unbeautifully Loved by Emma Grayson & Giveaway

Unbeautifully Loved (Unbeautiful Life # 1) Blurb:
On the run from her dark and painful past, Lexie Todd is finally forced by her best friend Mollie into settling into a new place for the first time in months. Having been hurt in more ways than one in the past, the last thing Lexie is expecting or wanting is to meet someone as persistent and annoying but incredibly gorgeous as Lukas Gunn.
When an incident leaves Lexie banged up and rattled, Lukas knows there’s more to her than meets the eye as something is haunting her to the core making him nothing but determined to make her his and protect her from whatever it is that casts the dark painful shadow behind her eyes.
But when her past shows up and pulls Lexie back into the nightmare she already once escaped while leaving her closest loved ones in danger it’s up to Lukas to save her from her darkest nightmare relived.
Will Lukas be able to save Lexie? Or will Lexie succumb only having known what it’s like to be Unbeautifully Loved?

EXCERPT:

Prologue

Meeting him changed my life. I never thought I’d meet someone who’d finally complete me like he did. Someone who finally made me feel whole and loved as much as he did. There’s always been a void in my heart, a void I thought I’d never have. I was in love, deeply in love, the kind of love that only comes around once in a life time, the kind you don’t want to live without and he didn’t even know how I felt. I’d waited too long and I didn’t know if I’d ever get to tell him.

The thought of him fizzled from my mind as my body shook from the cold under the thin sheet of a blanket that was wrapped around me. I was in shock, I could tell. I knew the signs. I winced as I moved; shooting pain licked my body in every direction. I knew a couple of my ribs along with my wrist were broken, and possibly something on my face, as pain swept over it and into my head. I raised my free arm up slowly, painfully, feeling my damp face as my hand found its way to the laceration on the side of my head, the source of only some of the pain. Unable to hold my arm up for much longer, it fell to the side throbbing and dangling off the edge of the bed. My body, it was beaten and bruised possibly more than ever before and I could feel myself slipping away, wanting nothing but to close my eyes and sleep, but it was the last thing I’d allow myself to do.

My mind was disoriented; I had no idea what day it was or how long I had been locked in this cold, dark place. Time was frozen, becoming nonexistent, and I was sure the days were just bleeding together. I thought about Finn and Mollie, hoping and praying they were safe because I didn’t know if I was going to see them again. The thought of that was unbearable. My eyes watered, nose burned and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Pull it together.

Think.

I didn’t know where I was, why I was even here or what caused him to do what he did to me. I felt like my life, my being, was being sucked right out of me. The abuse had taken its toll on my body and I had no fight left in me. All hope that I had earlier was beginning to fade away.

The door creaking open brought me back from my thoughts, my eyes snapped closed at the light that followed him in. I wanted to pull my blanket up to hide myself and hope it would make me disappear but I couldn’t and there was no point in trying. Looking at him you wouldn’t think any kind of malicious evil would consume him, but it did. It was written all over his face, in the grin he wore and the burning in his cold, dead blue eyes. A shiver ran through me as I thought of his eyes looking back at me, blank, filled with nothing but coldness and the brightness of those eyes forever gone. I’d never seen a pair of eyes so cold, or so hollow and dark, not even the pair I looked into years before compared to what I was seeing now.

He walked over to the side of the bed, no words said. His rough cold hands roamed over my hair down the side of my face and my body stilled as I wished him away. My eyes snapped shut not knowing what was about to come.

His hand slipped under the covers, gliding over my naked arm, stopping above my elbow, lingering there a moment before moving away and then my cuffed hand was free. His hand went back, gripping my arm tightly as he pulled me to a sitting position. Pain radiated through me as I let out a whimper. He pulled me to my frozen feet, my knees shook, feeling like they were going to give out, unable to support me. I felt myself sway to the side but his grip held me upright, tightly; his fingers dug into my arm, pinching my skin.

What’s one more bruise?

He started to pull me towards the open door, my eyes squinting, trying to adjust to the light. I didn’t know where we were going and I was sure it wasn’t going to be good and for the first time I was wishing to stay in the hole. I didn’t have any strength to fight him so I let him pull me, taking me wherever he was going.

Maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe it was meant to end here and meeting him, falling in love, having this emptiness I carried around finally filled, maybe it was only supposed to be... temporary.

Life had a way of playing cruel tricks on you.

This I knew.

Boy did I know.

I no longer saw the future with him as bright, happy and full of love; it was suddenly now empty, numb and full of complete and utter darkness.

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Cover Reveal: Love at 11 by Mari Mancusi

Title: Love at 11

Author: Mari Mancusi

Genre: Contemporary

Age Group: New Adult

Cover Designer: Okay Creations

Expected re-release date: April 24, 2013

Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours

 

When Maddy graduated from Columbia University, she was ready to change the world. She'd get a job at Newsline, meet a nice guy, and live happily ever after with a real designer handbag on her arm. Five years later, she's stuck producing puff pieces for News 9 San Diego--where "if it bleeds, it leads." She's still single, her family's falling apart, and so is her knock-off Kate Spade.

Then Jamie Hayes walks through her newsroom door. The former filmmaker is everything Maddy has ever dreamed of. Creative, smart, sweet—and with eyes that could make a girl melt. The perfect guy…but perfectly unavailable. And the more Maddy tries to stay away—the further she starts to fall.

Now a secret scoop from her favorite knock-off purse guy has Maddy chasing a lead that could make her career. Or destroy it forever. How far is she willing to go to broadcast the truth? And will this breaking news lead to a happily ever after…or a broken heart?

Stay tuned...it's the story of a lifetime.

  About the Author Mari Mancusi used to wish she could become a vampire back in high school. But she ended up in another blood sucking profession --journalism -- instead. Today she works as a freelance TV producer and author of books for teens and adults. When not writing about creatures of the night, Mari enjoys traveling, cooking, goth clubbing, watching cheesy horror movies, and her favorite guilty pleasure--videogames. A graduate of Boston University and a two time Emmy Award winner, she lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Jacob, daughter Avalon and dog Mesquite.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Obsessed With Covers #7: Glamorous Illusions, Black and Blue, Lady Of Ashes

Y'all know how much I love a pretty cover. I think about...40% of the books that end up on my shelves (be they physical or digital) do so because of the covers. Call me shallow but you have to admit that a pretty, shiny cover will catch your eye faster than a dull, boring one. Two, simple rules that I'll follow:

• 1, 2 or 3 (no more than 3, though) covers per week;
• books should be new-ish; no more than 2 years old.

Oh, before I share the covers that made me drool or want to stare at them for hours and hours, I have to say something. This is a semi-original idea. Why semi? Because almost every book blogger has something similar. The only thing I came up with was the title. If by any chance there's another blogger with a similar feature with the same title, I assure you I'm not stealing your idea. I'm just THAT bad with titles. Believe me, I'd love to be smarter and have a witty name for this feature, but I don't. So, no copyright infringement/theft/steal or anything of the sort was desired. All I can say is sorry :P

So, here are the prettiest covers I've seen this week.

I love the colors in this cover. And I love that there's no one else in the cover besides the girl. Though it looks deserted, I'm curious about the "illusions". And the sky is gorgeous.












Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren

 Wow! I love the sapphire blue and the fact that besides the black and white there's no other color. And she has blue lipstick! How cool is that!! Now I want a blue lipstick *le sigh*

Black and Blue by Gena Showalter

I love how we can't see her face and I love the shapes and shadows behind her. I also love the foggy rays of sun and the red rose she's holding behind her. I wonder who she is. I need to read this book.












Lady of Ashes by Christine Trent


What pretty covers did you discover recently?

Sunday Book Soundtrack: Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

Sunday Book Soundtrack is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books, where I share some of my bookish soundtracks. Since I discovered my passion for reading years ago, I've discovered that more and more of the songs I loved remind me of certain books. So I thought I'd share my playlists with you. If you want to listen to the songs, I'll post a link to a Youtube videos for each and every title. No copyright infringement intended! I'll try to find the official videos for each song. There's no set number for each playlist, sometimes I might have 10, sometimes 5, sometimes if I'm one of my moods I'll have 15. If you want to read more about this feature, click the "show more" button below. 

I read with music. If there's no music, I can't read. And not just read, but almost anything, like studying of cooking or doing chores around the house. The only time I don't have music is when I sleep. And during exams, but that's a different story.

Sometimes it happens that a certain song and a book or a scene from the book I'm reading sort of... click. It's like they were made for each other. At least for me. And so I will almost always think of that particular book when hearing that song. I thought I'd share my book soundtracks with you.

Keep in mind that I have a very... weird taste in music. You'll find mostly rock music, country or the 80s-early 90s music in these lists. I might use some "contemporary" songs from now and then, but don't bet on it being something other than those particular genres. Also, not always the songs will be in English. If I have a link to a translation for the lyrics, I'll post it. If you like a song I'm using, that's fine. If not, that's fine too, just don't say I didn't warn you.

The songs aren't always on a book's playlist for their lyrics. Sometimes they're there for an instrument or for a feeling I get when hearing them. Also, I won't always mention what scene I used them for. If it's not a spoiler, I'll share the scene, if it is a spoiler, I'll let you guess.

Anyway, I hope you like my playlists :)

This week's book soundtrack is Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland (read my review here).

I know I said it in my review, but I need to say it again: I loved this book. I really, really did. So much in fact that I really couldn't wait to share this soundtrack with you. About the soundtrack: I won't give you any hints on what made me think a certain song was perfect for a certain scene. Here's my list (will tell you more after I share the songs :D ):

1. Kenny Chesney - Shiftwork
2. Kenny Chesney - No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problems
3. Taylor Swift - Our Song
4. Kacey Musgraves - Undermine (feat. Trent Dabbs)
5. Lady Antebellum - Dancing Away With My Heart

Now. In case you think your eyes are working wrong, they're not. Yes, the list is made only by country songs. Yes, I do listen to other genres than rock (plus, I love country music) *gasp* LOL. Anyways, I hope you read this book and I hope you liked my playlist. 

Happy reading (and listening)!

Early Book Review: Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

Author: Leila Howland
Series: N/A
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: May 7th 2013
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: NetGalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):


For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

When I first saw this book on Goodreads I thought "Man, I miss summer!" It took me a while to look at anything else besides the blue sea in the background or sand. It's true, the cover caught my eye. The story though, it made me fall in love.

Cricket reminded me of being a teenager (yes, it was a bit awkward, 'cause I was an awkward teen :P). It was all there: the endless conversations about the boy you're having a crush on, the plans you make for the future with your BFF, passing notes to one another or caring so much for your friend, you'd do anything and everything for them (even though maybe they don't need/want your help). I honestly couldn't help loving Cricket. She's honest, she's true, she's a loyal friend and she does the things you'd want any teenager to do. And if you take the Cricket from the end of the book and the girl we meet in the first pages, you can see she grew up a lot during the summer.

Some things that happened were a little predictable, but I think it was done beautifully. I loved the story about Cricket's mom and her life in Nantucket. It was very interesting and I think it helped Cricket understand her mother a lot more.

Yes, Nantucket Blue is a book about those famous summer loves, about friendship, growing up, finding out what really matters and what is or isn't important. It's about all that and more. But it's also about something much more important, about owning your mistakes and facing your fears. It's a very beautiful story and I enjoyed it very, very much.