Blogaversary Day 28: Warrior Witch by Danielle Jensen - Guest Post + Giveaway

HI you guys! And welcome to the LAST DAY! I was supposed to have 30 days, but due to circumstances, two authors weren't able to get back to me, so we'll just be having 28! 

All the winners, you will be sent email within the day, so please get back to me within 48 hours, if you've been mailed. Also, I am NOT responsible for losses incurred during shipping.

So, I have with me today the AMAZING Danielle Jensen, author of The Malediction Trilogy, which is one of my FAVOURITE, and I could not recommend it more. 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway to win a set of her books!

Top Five YA Princes

1.      Rowan from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas 

Because he’s a total badass. I confess, I was sad when the Chaol/Celaena ship sank, but I did understand why that had to be. I think Rowan is a better match for Aelin as her character has developed and she’s become the queen she needs to be.

2.      Nikolai from The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo:

Because he’s terribly witty, which I consider an important trait. I loved how even though he was set up as potential love interest, his focus was always on saving his people from the Darkling. 

3.      Aldrik from the Air Awakens series by Elise Kova: 

Because he looks like a young Tom Hiddleston. Also, I have a real fondness for male love interests who are presented as unpleasant characters, but actually have deep backstories that explain why they are the way they are.

4.      Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas: 

He’s not a prince, but he’s the ruler of a fairy court, which is close enough. I love him because he’s a man with secrets. Secrets that I am really looking forward to discovering. While he’s not a good guy, I suspect he’s not the villain he’s pretending to be…

5.      Ash from the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa: 

Because I have a thing for black hair and silver eyes ;-) I really loved how Julie Kagawa grew his character through the series, and that I liked him more and more as I read each subsequent book.

Danielle was born and raised in Calgary, Canada. At the insistence of the left side of her brain, she graduated in 2003 from the University of Calgary with a bachelor’s degree in finance.

But the right side of her brain has ever been mutinous; and in 2010, it sent her back to school to complete an entirely impractical English literature degree at Mount Royal University and to pursue publication. Much to her satisfaction, the right side shows no sign of relinquishing its domination.

Danielle L. Jensen online: WWW | @dljensen_ on Twitter | Facebook

Blurb Description: 

Sometimes, one must become the unimaginable…Cécile and Tristan have accomplished the impossible, but their greatest challenge remains: defeating the evil that they have unleashed upon the world.As they scramble for a way to protect the people of the Isle and liberate the trolls from their tyrant king, Cécile and Tristan must battle those who’d see them dead. To win, they will risk everything… and everyone. But it might not be enough. Both Cécile and Tristan have debts, and they will be forced to pay them at a cost far greater than they had ever imagined.Everything is at stake, in the heart-stopping conclusion to the acclaimed Malediction Trilogy. 

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Blogaversary Day 26: The Island by Olivia Levez - Interview + Giveaway

Hi Guys! And welcome to Day 26!

I have with me today Olivia Levez, author of The Island, a book that I was BEYOND excited to get a review copy of. I love survival/ marooned stories, and this sounds like the perfect read.

So go ahead and read her amazing answers, check out her book and enter the supremely cool giveaway!

What is the creepiest thing you’ve ever experienced?

I once stayed alone at Bagdale Hall in Whitby. This is reportedly one of the most haunted hotels in Britain. Clutching my Cath Kidston bag, I was shown into a huge dark panelled room with a four poster bed and mullioned windows, huge stone fireplace, you get the general idea. I wanted to write a story with a gothic setting at the time, so…perfect. Except it wasn’t. Not one bit.

I had to sleep with all the lights and the telly on. Every time I closed my eyes, I was expecting something to touch the back of my neck or pull my covers off. In the early hours of the morning, after a disturbed sleep in which I dreamt the wardrobes were being thrown around the room and some male presence was pressing a pillow over my face, trying to smother me, (I actually did dream those things. It was terrifying.) I lay awake listening to heavy footsteps creaking up and down the stairs outside my room. It was four in the morning.

Next morning, I read in a local guidebook that the ghost of a smuggler reportedly haunted the hotel, and his ghostly footsteps were  common ly heard by guests.

The worst thing was, I had to go through it all again the following night.

Three things I’d need if I were marooned on an island:

1.       A cast iron wok. Perfect for cooking up delicious stir fries and curries and also fending off wild animals.

2.       Paper and pen (can these count as one item?) so that I can write my next magnum opus.

3.       A pair of tights. Only because they have many survival uses, ranging  from: a sling shot, mosquito net, cordage, arm sling, tourniquet, blister preventer, vegetable pest controller, bag, bandage securer, water filter…All of which Learnt during my research for The Island!

One author you’d kill to collaborate with:

Definitely Sarah Waters. She writes sublime Dickensian-style, gothic-y, character-driven books with some of the best plotting I have ever come across. I’d get her to teach me how to seed incredible plot twists (*that* twist in Fingersmith!). She’s also queen of the unreliable narrator. And I love an unreliable narrator.

What inspired you to write The Island and what is it about?

I was inspired to write a castaway book after reading a stunning true-life account of a year on a desert island by Lucy Irvine (Castaway) and after noticing there weren’t any survival stories in the school library where I teach, other than Robinson Crusoe and Lord of the Flies. I’d just had my dystopian book rejected and was looking for something new. I also wondered where were all the girl survivalists?

My book The Island is the story of Fran, a girl who gets marooned on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean after the plane she is on crashes. She is on her way to a boot camp for young offenders, as punishment for a crime she has commited. Whilst on the island, she has to battle, not only for survival, but also the memories of what she’s done to bring her there.

What are you currently working on?

My second book is another stand-alone contemporary adventure, about a girl who runs away from home to try to join a circus. So a switch from a castaway to a runaway…

Your opinions on negative reviews?

As an author, you have to toughen yourself up against possible negative reviews. Most writers I know are part of a critique group, and are used to regularly receiving honest feedback on their work in order to improve it. You do feel vulnerable though, after your ‘baby’ has been released into the world. But art and literature is always going to spark different reactions, and that is what makes it so exciting and vibrant. And you’ve got to realise that your book isn’t actually you, it’s not personal.(Saying that, the first negative review I had did feel like being kicked in the stomach!)

Olivia Levez lives in Worcestershire, where she is an English teacher in a large high school. When she is not teaching, she binge writes in her caravan in West Wales.

Olivia likes hula-hooping, yoga and real ale, but not at the same time. She lives with her husband, two sons and a Jack Russell named Basil.

Olivia’s debut YA book The Island is published by Rock the Boat, Oneworld.

Blurb Description:

Frances is alone on a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. She has to find water and food. She has to survive. And when she is there she also thinks about the past. The things that she did before. The things that made her a monster. Nothing is easy. Survival is hard and so is being honest about the past. Frances is a survivor however, and with the help of the only other crash survivor, she sees that the future is worth fighting for.
The Island is a gripping and thoughtful story about a girl who didn’t ask to be the person she is but is also determined to make herself the person she wants to be.

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Blog Tour: Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake - Review + Favourite Quotes + Giveaway

Title:Suffer Love
Author: Ashley Herring Blake
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 3rd 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction

Blurb Description: Hadley St. Clair's life changed the day she came home to a front door covered in slips of paper, each of them revealing the ugly truth about her father. Now as her family falls apart in the wake of his year-long affair, Hadley wants everyone-her dad most of all-to leave her alone.
Then she meets Sam Bennett, a cute new boy who inexplicably "feels like home" to Hadley. Hadley and Sam's connection is undeniable, but Sam has a secret about his family that could ruin everything.
Funny and passionate, Suffer Love is a story about first love, family dysfunction, and the fickle hand of fate.

Quite honestly, there’s not many contemporaries out there that surprise me anymore. There’s too much pining or insta-love or not enough pining. They need to have just the right balance, and I will fall in love with them.

From the description, Suffer Love didn’t seem like it was going to be one of those perfect novels, but a pretty good one, and so I decided to sign up for the tour anyway!

BUT SUFFER LOVE WAS THE MOST PERFECT, MOST PERFECT STORY EVER.

There was pining, and it wasn’t too much. There was attraction and chemistry and SWOONS but it wasn’t instant and not too slow burn either. It wasn’t all about Hadley and Sam them, there were so many amazing secondary characters like Livy and Ajay and Cat and even their parents. It was SUCH SUCH SUCH A well done story, I don’t even know what to say about it.

The thing I loved THE MOST about Suffer Love was that it was so REAL. Everything felt topsy-turvy, and painful and happy and screwed up and pretty much every moment in your life, captured in the form of a book (which is the BEST shape ever) and I salute you, Ashley Herring Blake for making this come to life.

5 STARS.

And the recommendation that YOU NEED THIS BOOK IN YOUR LIFE. 

QUOTES:

"Since everything in my life went to crap, I haven't exactly been on the prowl for a heart-fluttering romance."

"Hot? How is not the word I would've used. Unsurpassed. Magical. Wistful. But you can't say that kind of shit without being called a pussy, so I keep my mouth shut.

"I want her to come with me and I want her eyes on mine and her words to fill up the space in my car. There are a million voices in my head right now, screaming about what a delusional idiot I am, but with her standing in front of me, her lashes fanning her pink cheeks, they're easy to ignore."

Follow the Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Ashley Herring Blake is a poet, teacher, and YA novelist. Her debut novel, SUFFER LOVE, follows two teens as they attempt to wade through an intense relationship complicated by their parents' infidelities. Ashley lives in Nashville, TN.

INTERNATIONAL

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Blogaversary Day 24: In Real Life by Jessica Love - Stacking the Shelves #10 + Giveaway

Early this year (is it still early?) I got the opportunity to read an ARC of In Real Life, which is a SUPER CUTE novel about friends who have only ever spoken to each other online and never really met. Until Hannah decides to do something impulsive, and drives all the way to Vegas with her sister and her best friend to meet him.

Of course, (UNLESS YOU'RE A BOOKWORM) most people on the internet aren't all they say they are, right?

So, when Jessica Love agreed to come over to ATWAMB, I was SO super excited. She's done a super sweet Stacking The Shelves Post, and I hope you love her shelves as much as I do!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway.

It's hard to keep my shelves nice and organized when I have this little situation in my house...

So I've really had to go through my bookshelves and clean, organize, and donate anything that I don't NEED to have. 

That leaves me with four shelves of books in my house. 

Shelf one, the adult shelf. 

It's not JUST adult. My Harry Potter collection (hardcovers, paperback box set, and foreign editions) takes up most of the top. But the rest is adult books, plays, classics, non-fiction..you know, the boring stuff. 

Shelf two, the YA shelf. 

This is the fun one, and this is the shelf with the books I actually read and re-read. A lot of these are signed, and as you can see, I ran out of room and things are starting to pile up. I need to do another destash, but I don't want to get rid of any of these! Luckily, I'm a teacher, so I just put anything I can't keep here into my classroom library for my students to read. 

Shelf three, the writing shelf. 

This small shelf is where I keep all my writing books. This is where I go when I can't figure out what to do during a tricky revision or I need some writing inspiration. 

Shelf four, the friend shelf. 

The coolest thing about being an author is watching your friends go from struggling writer to published author. This shelf is where I keep all of my good friends who have traveled this crazy writing journey with me. This is the shelf that makes me the happiest. 

Jessica Love the author of IN REAL LIFE and the co-author of PUSH GIRL, both from St. Martin's.

She is a high school English teacher who lives in Southern California with her husband, her son, and their two tiny dogs. She's working on her Master's Degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Spalding University, and her big love is contemporary YA romance. Jessica spends all of her free money on concerts, constantly tries to prove that blondes have more fun, and is pretty much always on the internet. 

Hannah Cho and Nick Cooper have been best friends since 8th grade. They talk for hours on the phone, regularly shower each other with presents, and know everything there is to know about one another. 
There's just one problem: Hannah and Nick have never actually met.
Hannah has spent her entire life doing what she's supposed to, but when her senior year spring break plans get ruined by a rule-breaker, she decides to break a rule or two herself. She impulsively decides to road trip to Las Vegas, her older sister and BFF in tow, to surprise Nick and finally declare her more-than-friend feelings for him.
Hannah's surprise romantic gesture backfires when she gets to Vegas and finds out that Nick has been keeping some major secrets. Hannah knows the real Nick can't be that different from the online Nick she knows and loves, but now she only has night in Sin City to figure out what her feelings for Nick really are, all while discovering how life can change when you break the rules every now and then.

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Blogaversary Day 23: Movers by Meaghan McIssac - Top Ten List + Giveaway

Hello Bookdragons!

As a bookworm, I have SO MANY MANY THINGS THAT I LOVE. Co-ordinating and obsessing over my bookshelf, buying more books, staring at pretty covers, cowering under the weight of my TBR and hugging my books when I'm sad.

So, I humbly requested the AMAZING Meaghan McIssac to do a Top Ten List with her Top Ten Bookworm Lights, and she oh so kindly obliged!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

As a book lover, I always find I'm asked or want to talk about the latest book I read that I loved. And I am more than happy to share! But when Aditi asked me for my Bookworm Delights, I was pumped! Because, what ARE the things and experiences that surround reading that I love so much? I'd never really put the book down to look around and think about it! So, after much contemplating, I've figured them out. Without further ado, and in no particular order, my Top 10 Bookworm Delights!

1. Reading on the Beach.  Kicking off my sandals, laying out the towel and settling in with my latest favourite read is THE most relaxing experience on the planet. Racing through a thrilling adventure with the roar of the ocean just steps away is my ultimate happy place.

2. Reading by the fire. When I can't get to the beach, the fire is just as good.

3. Browsing the Book Store or Library. Does this need an explanation? An entire room filled with all kinds of stories just waiting to be discovered! I love picking through the shelves quietly by myself, checking out all the latest titles. Whether it's finding a hidden secret gem somewhere in the stacks or picking up a staff recommendation, I never leave without something I'm desperate to get home and crack open.

4.  When someone loves a book I recommended. Whenever a  friend asks me what they should read—especially if I know they aren't a big reader — I get really stressed. Just because I loved this book, doesn't mean they will. And what if they tell me they hated it? It will hurt my soul, wilt my heart, and make me question our friendship (kidding....kinda). But when someone comes back and says how much they LOVED the book I told them to read, I feel like a champion!!!

5. THIS! My bookshelves. I just put them up recently and every time I pass the living room I have to stop in and take a peak.

6. The "One More Chapter" lie. I know I've found an awesome read when its late at night and I have to make a deal with myself — "One more chapter, and then it's time for bed. Just one more." And then twenty chapters later I either fall asleep mid-page or I'm done the book.

7. Conquering Jeopardy (or any kind of trivia). Jeopardy is one of those shows that either makes you feel like a super genius, or like you need to start studying Wikipedia. Most of the time, it makes me feel like reading Wikipedia. BUT every once in a while, there's a book category. And every once in a while, its questions about books I know. And when I can answer a bunch of questions on Jeopardy correctly, it's a good day.

8. Covers! I like discovering different covers for books I love. I don't hunt them down,  but when I see a cover that's different from the one I have at home, I usually have to snap it up. Especially if it's Anne of Green Gables.

9. Finding a used book with messages/dog ears/tattered pages. I really like going to a used bookstore and finding a book that's just barely hanging on to life. Books with yellowed pages or dog ears, or pages falling out. It makes me think this was a well loved book. A story someone read again and again. Which means it's probably worth checking out. I also love finding a message written on the inside cover. Don't know why. I guess because it's like finding a story within a story. Who was this book giver? Who did they give the book to, and why? Why this book specifically?

10. Giving books with messages written on the inside. It's my favourite gift to give. Don't get me wrong, I usually get the birthday person or whoever a gift they WANT, but if I can squeeze it in, I throw in a new book too. And a message with the date. It's always better than a card and people are always excited to receive it -- even if they didn't know they wanted a book in the first place :P

Meaghan McIsaac was born and raised in Oakville, Ontario. She briefly lived in the UK, where she completed her MA in Writing for Children, and now lives in Toronto and is a full-time writer. Her books for young readers include The Boys of Fire and Ash, Underhand and Movers.

Blurb Description: The world is dying, overcrowded and polluted. Storms rage over the immensely tall tower blocks, attracted to Movers.
Movers are connected to people in the future, their Shadows. And moving your Shadow is highly illegal. 
Patrick knows all too well what happens if you break the law: his father has been in the Shelves ever since he moved his Shadow. And now Patrick and his family are in danger again.Following a catastrophic event at their school, Patrick must go on the run. Through filthy, teeming markets, forebrawler matches, a labyrinth of underground tunnels and beyond, he’ll need his wits and courage to escape the forces that want to take everything he loves.

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