Tell Me Tuesdays #13!!

Tell Me Tuesdays is a meme/feature created by the awesome ladies of Please Feed The Bookworm and La La In The Library where we can share how we choose the book we are currently reading from our TBR pile!

I'm always curious about that, cause as much as I tend to make myself a rough schedule for books to read and the like, I'm quite a mood reader and sometimes I just HAVE to ignore my schedule and read something else!

 Dragonfly In Amber by Diana Gabaldon

"From the author of Outlander... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland...

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ....

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves."



I absolutely loved and adored Outlander, the first book in the series and that was a total treat read for myself, ignoring all my schedules, cause I had grown quite obsessed with the show and Mr James Alexander Malcom McKenzie Fraser! Massive book boyfriend crush on that one I'm having!

So what are you all guys reading and how and why did you decide to pick up that book? Shiny new ARC? Comfort read? Scheduled for review? Must have new release? Tell me!!

It's My Birthday Week: Today I'm giving away The Girl With All The Gifts!!

Hello again dears!

So, Tuesday is here and continuing with the birthday celebration, I have another book to give away today! And it is, of course, open internationally!

Today I'm gonna be giving away a paperback copy of The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey! This one came highly recommended by Wendy from The Midnight Garden and when Kristen from My Friends Are Fiction and myself did a buddy read for it, we both absolutely loved it! It has a very interesting take on the zombie phenomena and it's full of surprises on each page you turn! You can read my review for it HERE!

So if you want to win this one, go enter in the rafflecopter below!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mark This Book Monday: Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White!!

Hello guys! Happy Monday!

As you might already know, this is my birthday week (if you don't know, check my previous post HERE!) and I'll be having daily giveaways. But I will also be having my regular posts, so I have a Mark This Book Monday entry ready for you all.

This was one of those me books that I feel like I need to read now and then, not an ARC, not to be counted towards any challenges but one new release that I really felt like reading!



Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I fell in love with the cover of this book as soon as I saw it, and I've been coveting the teacup in said cover ever since (btw, if any of you see a teacup similar to that one anywhere, do tell me!! I NEED it!).

I decided that I really needed to read this one after I read Alyssa's review for this one. Historical fiction is one of my beloved genres and has been for as long as science fiction and even longer than fantasy!

So today I felt like needed a comfort read and a rather small book (even more since I had just recently finished Outlander with its over 700 pages!) and this was the perfect book!

I adored the setting of this book because it was so reminiscent of the Victorian times but at the same time with plenty of small touches here and there that turn the world into something new and different. We only get a bit of a small glimpse at the larger world in this one and I feel like there can be so much more! More history, more background, moooore! It is a fascinating world and I am left wanting more!

Jessamin is a wonderful main character! She's strong, intelligent, she refuses to back down easily and she won't allow herself to let others control her destiny. I loved how she also grows during the book, learning to let some of prejudices go and become someone that can make hard choices and also accept help.

Finn was a very enigmatic character and one that I really liked, and it was funny to see how Jessa missed some really clear clues when it came to him, but I guess denial is powerful indeed! Finn can be a bit irritating on occasion with his protectiveness but he's also pretty swoon-worthy. And his banter with Jessa has to be one of my favourite parts of the book too. Kiersten White is a fantastic writer of banter and witty dialogue!

The secondary characters where quite interesting, Eleanor had to be my favourite of them all. She was one of those more than you see at first characters, and I also loved her voice! Her gossip persona was more than a smoke screen and actually something she turned into an interesting weapon. And my other favourite had to be Sir Bird, for a character with no lines and a bird to boot, he was absolutely delightful!

I was actually surprised with the villain reveal, thought I'm now wondering if maybe I should have seen it coming... Anyways, it was quite the final confrontation and it managed to wrap around things well enough, even if we are left with many questions open about the bigger world, even if this particular storyline can be considered somewhat closed. I do hope we'll get some companion novels maybe, cause this one is a standalone, but I want moooore on this world, like Jessa, I want more on the history of magic!

A very fun, very quick read, with amazing writing and a great main character. Well deserved 4 stars.



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It's my Birthday Week: Today I'm giving away Midnight Thief!!

Hello guys!!

It's my birthday this next Sunday the 28th, and I'm not feeling extremly excited about it this year. I'm not sure if it's just a question of the rather messed up emotional state that I am as of late, or maybe I'm not ready to turn 34 yet! Either way, I decided that I needed to do something to be more excited about it, and how to do that? Easily, with books!!

I've decided that on the week leading up to my birthday I'll be giving away a different book each day! Those books will be books that I've really loved this year and I cannot wait to spread the love about them all over the place, and what better way than to share them with my fellow book lovers! And I forgot to add ALL giveaway are INTERNATIONAL!!

I'm starting this week's long giveaway with a book that although it might have not made it into the giveaway since it didn't get 5 stars from me but I found myself with two copies that I ordered (Amazon and Book Depository) without realizing. I'm sure any of my fellow bookworms can relate to that... Whoooops!


Midnight Thief is Livia Blackburne's debut and it's a fantasy book with a few very unique and unexpected twists! You can see my review HERE.

So dears, start celebrating my birthday on ahead with me and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Showcase Sunday #46!!

Showcase Sunday is a weekly feature hosted by Vicky of Books, Biscuits, and Tea where all book lovers can share with others what bookish goodness we got this week, be it purchased (physical or eBook), won, gifted or for review!


It's been a few weeks since my last Showcase Sunday and I have quite a backlog of books both physical and eBooks and swag and a bit of everything and I'm feeling way too tired to compose a proper long post with everything, so I will be showing off all the physical books I got and all the awesome signed swag I got too!

I've got some really awesome things in the mail as of late, not only purchases from Book Outlet or The Book Depository, but also I got my first finished copy sent directly by the publisher (THANK YOU SO MUCH PAN MAC MILLAN!!) and won a giveaway for my first physical ARC of 2015!!

Another awesome Book Outlet Order! I needed physical copies of Scarlet and Perfect Ruin, cause I loved those books! When The Sea Is Rising Red I got after Wendy from The Midnight Garden highly recommended it and I got Hover to finally read it before the final book in the trilogy releases.

One of those bookworm problems, when you end up ordering two copies of the same book, so I'll be giving this one away for my b-day's giveaway, starting soon, so keep an eye on the blog!

I got this supremely gorgeous finished copy of Station Eleven sent directly by the publisher and I was flailing like mad when I did, thank you so much Pan MacMillan!!!

My absolutely precious copy of Deliverance that arrived on release day from The Book Depository which was an absolute treat! I loved this book but I am quite sad that the trilogy is now over.

Lailah!!! I finally managed to snag an ARC of Lailah!! Nikki Kelly was amazing enough to ensure I could get my hands on a copy through Danny from Bewitched Bookworms! Thank you so much to both Nikki & Danny!!

Another Book Outlet order, with two more books I adored and needed to own in physical form and one that has been intriguing me for a while.

After reading and loving the ARC of Gypsy I got myself a signed copy from the author! Thank you, Trisha!

My dear and long awaiting copy of Heir of Fire! I preordered it and even if it shipped the week before release day it took forever to arrive, but it was more than worth the wait!

Winning a giveaway is amazing and winning a giveaway for an ARC of a sequel that you're dying to get your hands on and that comes out next year? Priceless!! Thank you so much Mindee, for the book, for the signed swag and for being generally awesome!!

I'm you all already know how much I adore Becca and her fantastic painted totes, and I just had to ask her to paint me a Fangirl one with her Cover Puppies version of the cover! Ain't it adorable?? Do visit her Etsy shop!

I also got some stunning signed swag that I won from Martina Boone's huge ongoing giveaway to celebrate Compulsion's book trailer, I adore that necklade! Thank you so much Martina!

And I also got myself a signed copy of Athena's Ashes and Jamie was ever so lovely to send me some swag, postcards and a notebook! Thank you so much, Jamie!

And I got another gorgeous Pivot Book Tote from the ever so talented Becca, if you want your own Winner's Curse tote, find it HERE!



And that's all for today, I do really need to try and not let that much time pass between Showcase Sunday posts, or I get too overwhelmed by everything and end up doing a babbling post like the one today, without any GR links, sorry guys!

What all did you lovely peeps get this week??

Saturday Pages: ARC Review of Winterspell by Claire Legrand!!

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday!

How's your weekend going? Mine is going pretty well, losing sleep while devouring an extremely captivating book and finding myself actually swooning with a character like very few times (Jamie Frasier the Highlander is quite something!!) and today I'm actually off to have a girl's pampering day with one of my besties, as an her early birthday gift for me!

But I have a review for an ARC as this week's Saturday Pages and it's quite a great one! I was very lucky indeed to be approved this one by Simon & Schuster via Edelweiss for this one on my second try! As an ARC I'm also counting this one for my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge!

Winterspell by Claire Legrand

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Winterspell was one of those highly awaited books that I was beyond happy (and surprised!) that I got the chance to read and review ahead of time. I requested it via Edelweiss and was declined the first time, so imagine my surprise when I tried again and was approved for it!

Since I knew there was a prequel novella coming out, I decided to wait to read it after I had read the novella, and I think it was quite the right choice! Reading Winterspell will spoil the story of Summerfall for you, and it was fantastic to discover Cane before the war and gave a much different and welcome insight to what's going on in Winterspell too.

Winterspell starts with a hint at Cane but with the focus on Clara Stole and her struggle to feel safe in her life in New York. Her mother recently dead, murdered, and her father folded in grief and a puppet of the mob, she struggles to keep herself and her sister safe from some very dark characters that are her father's "allies".

Clara is quite a complex character, she has an inner strenght and resiliance that seems to fly out of the window when confronted with some dark (and frankly scary) characters, but I couldn't blame her for feeling terrified of a certain Dr, he's a character that would make you shiver in anger and fear all at the same time. She's had a bit of an unusual upbringing with her Godfather, a very curious man that was a friend of her mother's and that has been telling her stories and training her on self defence since she was little.

I had began to wonder what the connections with Cane would be and where on the storyline after Summerfall we'll land with this one, and even if I didn't get my curiosity satisfied all too soon, I was treated to great storytelling and retelling, with some really interesting twists to the Nutcracker story thrown here and there!

Once Clara finds herself in Cane with Nicholas, she is thrown straight into a most dangerous game, war and dance of deceit, doubts, misplaced trust and self discovery that culminates on meeting Anise, the current queen of Cane and a half breed (that we met if briefly in Summerfall). Anise was a fascinating character, mad as a hatter and full of hate it seemed on the surface, but with a much unexpectly softer and fragile core that we barely get to glipse here and there. I found Clara's relationship with Nicholas and Anise both extremely interesting and well done, both serving to further the story and to help grow Clara's character to the savior that Cane needed.

The writing was gorgeous and captivating and I'm very much willing to read anything that Clare Legrand would write, and even if this one stands very well as a standalone, with an hopeful & open ending but satisfactory enough, I would also see enough openings for maybe companion novels or at least novellas, there's a lot of Cane that can be explored I'm sure!

A wonderful retelling that doesn't requite any knowlegde of the original story to be enjoyed, but those who know about the Nutcracker will find themselves delighted in the way that Clare has twisted the story in her own way. Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one!



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of Lailah by Nikki Kelly!!

Hello guys!! Happy Friday!!

I'm finally getting today and the weekend off, and after the many days of work on a row I've had, I really really needed this!

Today I might be baking a bit, depending on how I feel after taking a lil resting nap after night shift, tomorrow the plan is to be taken to a spa as an early birthday gift by one of my besties and then read and watch Doctor Who and Outlander!

This week's Friday Reads is all about one of my most anticipated debuts of the year. Not only I was very intrigued by the premise of the book, but also the author is an absolute dear! She made sure I managed to get my hands on an ARC of the book! Thank you so much Nikki! And thanks a lot to Danny from Bewitched Bookworms for sending me her ARC!

As an ARC it's gonna be counted towards my 2014 Review Pile Reading challenge!

Lailah by Nikki Kelly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have been super excited about this book for so long and I've had both the Kindle and the hardcover preordered for quite a while, so when the author made sure I could get my hands on an ARC, I was quite beside myself with excitement!

I'm very happy to say that I was not disappointed by this book, even if it has a love triangle, and I think it's been established that I am not a fan of those!

When we first meet Cessie, we find out that she's not really human and that maybe Cessie is not her real name, and once she starts stumbling into vampires and then meeting up with an angel and realizing that her memory is being both an ally and a liabilty.

My absolute favourite part of the book is the mythology and how Nikki has mixed Angels & Vampires, creating a whole new origin story for both that is both fresh and fascinating. The origin stories of vampires and angels and the connections between them were quite unique in themselves and I really enjoyed how the explanation for the mythologies and religions created around those facts for this world worked very well with what we know but thankfully never got preachy, which is quite usually a danger with angel books. I have the feeling that we have bt scratched the surface of more information about the world of Styclar-Plena and I cannot wait to find out more.

The characters were quite an interesting mix, Lailah is a girl in trouble, that knows she's lived more than once and that finds herself torn between two guys, two sets of instinct and two guys. Gabriel and Jonah could have been made into two typical archetypes of good and evil, but with the intriguing mythology that Nikki created, neither of these guys is entirely black or white, even if they wouldn't want to accept it themselves. Both deal with the world with a good palette of greys. The love triangle set up here managed to work for me because it's all about choice and destiny/fate and also each guy calls one side of Lailah's dual nature. Gabriel brings out the light, and Jonah seems to bring the wilder and more dangerous nature of Lailah out.

Despite my enjoying their interactions and finding both guys very intriguing I just couldn't pick a side, so to speak, both love interests had fantastic & swoony perfect moments and both had moments that made me want to whack them in the head! Lailah herself has a tendency to recklessness and acting on impulse that made me shake my head more than once. It didn't bother me as much, given how maddening being on the run or in safe houses must be, and her memory loss means not knowing who to trust and what to think of those that know you better than you do at the moment.

The ending and the epilogue were the "have you on the edge of your seat" kind and I was so glad to see the first chapter of the next book in this one, but that was not good since even that chapter ends up in a cliffhanger!

Very well deserved 4 stars for this new refreshing twist on the paranormal!



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First Chapter First Paragraph #11: Winterspell by Claire Legrand & Polaris by Mindee Arnett!!!

First Chapter, First Paragraph is one of the two memes that I will be alternating on Thursdays in place of my Ink & Batter posts during the summer, when I won't be baking due to the heat!

I discovered this meme via the ladies of My Shelf Confessions, and it is hosted on Tuesdays by Bibliophile by the Sea. But since I already have my blog tours posts and Tell Me Tuesdays, I thought that it'd work best on Thursdays for me!

The idea of this meme/feature is quite self-explanatory from its name, we share the first paragraph of the first chapter of our current read! Quite a good teaser for others to read and see if they'd be intrigued!

 Sooooo, I really haven't been reading much these past few days, so I'm still reading the same books I talked about on Tuesday and that means you guys are gonna get a peek at two ARCs and one of those is a 2015 one!! Excited?? I hope so!! Bear in mind, these paragraphs are taken from ARCs, so they might or might not remain like that on the finished books!

In case you are wondering why I haven't been reading the past days it's not cause I'm on a reading slump at all or cause I'm not enjoying the books (that I'm loving!) it's all a highlander's fault! I'm binge watching Outlander and falling madly in love with Jamie! *swoons*

 Winterspell by Claire Legrand

"One more hour and Clara Stole could turn criminal.

Could, that is, if she managed to stand her ground until then, for every eye in the crowd was watching her, waiting for her to say something impressive, something to commemorate the day. And she was so tired of fumbling through grand words that were never quite grand enough for such hungry, thirsty people."

Polaris by Mindee Arnett

"The spaceport's casino was the perfect spot for the deal to go down"

What? You want more? Ooookay!

"Jeth Seagrave knew it the moment he stepped inside. The place seemed to envelop him, the light so bright they made it almost impossible to see and the noise a constant vibration, everything from the hum of the slot machines to the shouts of dealers calling for bets. Some kind of mild, hypnotic music played in the background, blending the sounds together in a reassuring soundtrack -- time does not exist here, it seemed to intone. Here you are safe. Here you belong."





What do you think? Would you want to know more?
What are you reading right now?