ARC #REVIEW: THE GIRL KING BY MIMI YU

The Girl King by Mimi Yu
Published Jan 8, 2019
Goodreads || Amazon

Rating: 4 Stars
ARC from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review



Sisters Lu and Min have always understood their places as princesses of the Empire. Lu knows she is destined to become the dynasty's first female ruler, while Min is resigned to a life in her shadow. Then their father declares their male cousin Set the heir instead—a betrayal that sends the sisters down two very different paths.

Determined to reclaim her birthright, Lu goes on the run. She needs an ally—and an army—if she is to succeed. Her quest leads her to Nokhai, the last surviving wolf shapeshifter. Nok wants to keep his identity secret, but finds himself forced into an uneasy alliance with the girl whose family killed everyone he ever loved…

Alone in the volatile court, Min's hidden power awakens—a forbidden, deadly magic that could secure Set's reign…or allow Min to claim the throne herself. But there can only be one Emperor, and the sisters' greatest enemy could turn out to be each other.

It's Game Day! Here are some Sports Reads

Ah, football games. A great American past time...though not our nation's national sport (that's baseball, loves) it still brings people together. Of course, it also destroys friendships and family ties with the loss of the (hometeam?) team one is rooting for.

#ARC Review || Venators by Devri Walls || YES

Venators by Devri Walls
ARC via author for an honest review
Amazon || Goodreads
Published October 1, 2016

Six years ago, Grey Malteer was attacked by creatures he thought couldn’t possibly exist. They repeated a word, calling him a name he’d never heard before…Venator. Since then, his life has been a hellhole of secrecy—hiding old pain alongside strange new abilities.

Rune Jenkins has an itch, as she calls it, but it’s more than that. It's an anger that builds up like the inside of a boiler whenever she’s around anything remotely supernatural. The pressure is growing steadily worse and she can’t understand why. All she knows is—her control is slipping.

#ARC Review || Stolen Away by Jennie Marts || Cute but Predictable

Stolen Away (3, Hearts of Montana) by Jennie Marts
aARC via Publisher + NetGalley for an honest review
Amazon || Goodreads
Published September 26, 2016

Elusive charmer Cash Walker is a tough-as-nails cowboy, except when it comes to the shy woman who shows up with a pretty smile, a wounded spirit, and a goat riding shotgun in her passenger seat. 

Recently divorced from an abusive husband, Emma Frank has come home to Broken Falls, Montana. Lost, alone, and unable to escape the bullying tactics of her ex-brothers-in-law, she finds solace and friendship at the Tucked Away farm and with the handsome cowboy who believes in her and who helps her find her own courage. 

#BookLook || A Walk in the Sun by Michelle Zink

a walk in the sun by nobentspines featuring leather man bags

People doing Bad Things with Good Intentions || A Rant to Top all Rants

Some things are inexcusable. Even if they happen to be shroud in good intentions—or at least halfway decent ones. Unfortunately, some of my major push buttons happened to show up in books that I happen to love. And I disappointed myself when I didn’t consider them more until one of my favorite bloggers mentioned it. I’m a human, and I’m learning from my mistakes. So, I’m considering it now.

So, my lovely little readers, let’s talk about bad things done with good intentions.

#ARC Review || Cloudwish by Fiona Wood || When You Wish Upon a Star

Cloudwish by Fiona Wood
ARC via Publisher
Published: October 18, 2016
Goodreads || Amazon

For Vân Uoc, fantasies fall into two categories: nourishing or pointless. Daydreaming about attending her own art opening? Nourishing. Daydreaming about Billy Gardiner, star of the rowing team who doesn't even know she's alive? Pointless.

So Vân Uoc tries to stick to her reality--keeping a low profile as a scholarship student at her prestigious Melbourne private school, managing her mother's PTSD from a traumatic emigration from Vietnam, and admiring Billy from afar. Until she makes a wish that inexplicably--possibly magically--comes true. Billy actually notices her. In fact, he seems to genuinely like her. But as they try to fit each other into their very different lives, Vân Uoc can't help but wonder why Billy has suddenly fallen for her. Is it the magic of first love, or is it magic from a well-timed wish that will eventually, inevitably, come to an end?

#ARC Review || Playing it Cool by Amy Andrews || Rough, Tough Coco Puff

Playing it Cool by Amy Andrews 
Published September 12, 2016
eARC via Publisher + NetGalley
Amazon || Goodreads || Aesthetic 


Harper Nugent might have a little extra junk in her trunk, but her stepbrother calling her out on it is the last straw… When rugby hottie, Dexter Blake, witnesses the insult, he surprises Harper by asking her out. In front of her dumbass brother. Score! Of course, she knows it’s not for reals, but Dex won’t take no for an answer.

Dexter Blake’s life revolves around rugby with one hard and fast rule: no women. Sure, his left hand is getting a workout, but he's focused on his career for now. Then he overhears an asshat reporter belittle the curvy chick he'd been secretly ogling. What's a guy to do but ask her out? It’s just a little revenge against a poser, and then he'll get his head back in the game.

But the date is better than either expected. So is the next one. And the next. And the heat between them…sizzles their clothes right off.

Suddenly, this fake relationship is feeling all too real…

#BookLook || Poison's Kiss by Breeana Shields

book look by nobentspines featuring earring jewelry

#ARC Review || Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin || Teapot Heads and Slow Plot Lines

Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin
Published October 4, 2016 by Greenwillow Books
Amazon || Goodreads
ARC via Andye @ readingteen.net

Nell Crane has always been an outsider. In a city devastated by an epidemic, where survivors are all missing parts—an arm, a leg, an eye—her father is the famed scientist who created the biomechanical limbs everyone now uses. But Nell is the only one whose mechanical piece is on the inside: her heart. Since the childhood operation, she has ticked. Like a clock, like a bomb. As her community rebuilds, everyone is expected to contribute to the society’s good . . . but how can Nell live up to her father’s revolutionary idea when she has none of her own?

#ARC Review || Claiming the Enemy by Lauren Hawkeye || *fans self*

Claiming the Enemy by Lauren Hawkeye 
Published: September 12, 2016
ARC via Publisher for review
Goodreads || Amazon

Piper Dawson has spent a lifetime living by other people’s rules.
She’s worked hard to get what she wants—a residency at her first choice hospital—and no one will ever tie her down again, not even her severe yet incredibly sexy supervisor, Dr. Alexander “Ace” Lennox.

Ace is done with love. He’s had his heart shattered, and he never wants to go there again. But when he’s inexplicably enticed by the sexy, tattooed woman with blue streaks in her hair and a perpetual smile on her lip, he figures that maybe he can keep it to just sex.

#BookLook || The Inside of Out by Jenn Marie Thorne

Book Look: The Inside of Out by nobentspines featuring iris jewelry

#ARC Review: Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter || Dolls That Eat Everything

Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter
Goodreads || Amazon
ARC via Andye @ readingteen.net
Published September 20, 2016 || Tor Teen

- - -

In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now—but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood.

#ARC Review || The Bear Who Loved Me by Kathy Lyons || Not Gummy Bears

The Bear Who Loved Me by Kathy Lyons 
eARC via Publisher + NetGalley
Amazon || Goodreads
Published || September 6, 2016


WHEN AN ALPHA MEETS HIS MATCH . . .

Between singlehandedly running her bakery and raising her teenaged nephew, Becca Weitz thought she had a decent grip on "normal." Then her nephew vanishes, and life as she's known it changes forever. Local legends are true: bear shifters exist . . . and her nephew is part of their clan. As is Carl Carman, the sexy, larger-than-life man who has sworn to find her nephew-and the other young shifters who've gone missing.

Where I Psychoanalyze Myself: Sobbing + Books

I’M HERE TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I DO IN FACT HAVE A HEART. IT BEATS. IT GUSHES BLOOD. THERE ARE VEINS AND MUSCLE. AND IT DOES FEEL MUSHY, EMOTIONAL THINGS OCCASIONALLY.

As a general thing, I do not cry when characters die. I mean, hell yes, I get super emotionally connected to the book characters. I’m romantically involved with more than I dare share with you, dear reader. I call even more of them some of my most trusted friends. And I know pretty much the summation of you reading this understand what I’m talking about.

(Looking at you, High Lord of the Night Court, Aedion, and Noah Elliot Simon Shaw)

#BookLook || Spark by Holly Schindler

Sparks Book Look by nobentspines featuring a crop skirt

#ARCReview || Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
Goodreads || Amazon
ARC via Andye @ ReadingTeen (Thanks, babe!)
Published: September 9, 2016 || Putnam's Books for Young Readers

Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of love that he's been hoping for just hasn't been in the cards for him—at least not yet. Instead, he's been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything's about to change.

Wendy Higgins talks with me about THE GREAT HUNT and swoons

AHHHHHHH! Wendy has a new book coming out and I CAN'T HANDLE IT. 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. 

And she answered my probing questions about Grimm and the book and hot characters. Isn't that exciting? 

Find it on goodreads!

Kill the beast. Win the girl.

A strange beast stirs fear in the kingdom of Lochlanach, terrorizing towns with its brutality and hunger. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.

Princess Aerity understands her duty to the kingdom though it pains her to imagine marrying a stranger. It would be foolish to set her sights on any particular man in the great hunt, but when a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention, there’s no denying the unspoken lure between them…or his mysterious resentment.

Paxton is not keen on marriage. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast and protecting his family—yet Princess Aerity continues to challenge his notions with her unpredictability and charm. But as past secrets collide with present desires, dire choices threaten everything Paxton holds dear.

Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale, “The Singing Bone,” New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins delivers a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, outlawed magic, and a princess willing to risk all to save her people.




Kill the beast. . .Win the girl. . .



Hello! First off, how are you doing on this lovely summer day? And if you could be eating anything (while sitting on the porch of a beach house looking out at the crystal clear ocean) what would it be?

~ I’m doing well, thank you! Covered in mosquito bites, but feeling happy. J As far as what I would eat, I know I should say something healthy but my answer is pizza. Peperoni and pineapple pizza. *sigh*

Okay, darling, let’s chat about books. Everyone I know has known, loved, and staked claim on Kai. I mean, come on. He’s not at all perfect. But that’s what makes him so freaking appealing. Well, that and the drums. *swoons all the swoons* Is he your favorite out of all the love interests you’ve written? Or is that too much like making you choose between children?

~ He’s my favorite. If it’s wrong to say that, then so be it. I do love my other book boys, but Kai will always hold a very special “first love” sort of place in my heart.

Okay- I tried! I really did. Not to ask, I mean. But, please tell me the level of swoon and kick-butt we’ll get from THE GREAT HUNT. I’ve read the Grimm Brother’s tale The Singing Bone, of which your upcoming book is based and I AM SO INTRIGUED. IS THERE A BONE THAT SINGS?

~ I have to be honest. The Grimm Brothers freak me out. I am too wimpy for their stories. It was only the first couple paragraphs of “The Singing Bone” that caught my attention and made my mind start whirling—the part about the beast and the King’s proclamation to give his daughter to any hunter who killed it—that made me stop and go Whoa. The rest of the story was disturbing in a way I wasn’t down with, so I closed the book and promptly forgot whether or not there was a signing bone or not.

The Great Hunt will have plenty of swoon factor and several hunters who had me nibbling my bottom lip and grinning while I was writing. Plus a heroine who, while not being a kickbutt warrior type, is mentally strong and has some unique talents.

What other Grimm tales have you read? Do you have a favorite? And which one would you least like to live?

~ Over the years I have tried to read and appreciate the Grimm tales. I wanted to be that cool, dark girl who loved that kind of stuff, but I’m just not. Most of those stories leave me with a horrible look on my face.

Now let’s chat about the less bookish. Let’s talk music! My next favorite subject. Do you have a favorite artist?

~ I love a lot of music genres. I’m a Taylor Swift girl. I also love Imagine Dragons and old school hiphop.

Do any of your books have a theme song?

~My theme song while I was writing Sweet Evil was “The Motions” by Matthew West, which is actually a Christian Rock song, but the lyrics…oh my gosh. Very powerful.

If you could choose one song to describe your 2015 summer, what would it be? And what’s one thing you wish you could change?

~Is there a song about being busy, busy, busy, and exhausted, but with a smile on your face??? Lol. I wouldn’t change a thing.

FUN STUFF TIME!

You’re stuck in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, okay? Think giant mosquitoes and crazy monkeys and snakes. Giant snakes. What would you build your abode out of? And if you could take ONE of these three things with you, which one would you take: Mango scented candle (no matches), an Encyclopedia, or a pillow pet (not the light up ones)?

~ I would make myself a hammock out of vines high up in a tree, and get myself a spiky stick to try and protect myself. If I’m being honest I’d be promptly eaten by a giant snake. Le sigh. And I would take a unicorn pillow pet.

ARC Review: The Lost Girl by R. L. Stine

The Lost Girl by R. L. Stine
Manuscript via Andye @ ReadingTeen.net
Amazon // Goodreads
Published: September 29 (2015) // St. Martin's Griffin

Generations of children and teens have grown up on R.L. Stine's bestselling and hugely popular horror series, Fear Street and Goosebumps. Now, the Fear Street series is back with a chilling new installment, packed with pure nightmare fodder that will scare Stine's avid fan base of teen readers and adults. 

New student Lizzy Palmer is the talk of Shadyside High. Michael and his girlfriend Pepper befriend her, but the closer they get to her, the stranger she seems… and the more attractive she is to Michael. He invites her to join him on a snowmobile race that ends in a tragic accident. Soon, Michael's friends start being murdered, and Pepper becomes convinced that Lizzy is behind the killings. But to her total shock, she and Michael are drawn into a tragic story of an unthinkable betrayal committed over 60 years ago. Frightening and tense in the way that only this master of horror can deliver, The Lost Girl is another terrifying Fear Street novel by the king of juvenile horror.

When I was eleven, I read my first book by Stine. My favorite one by the author is How I Got My Shrunken Heads. However, Monster Blood, and Say Cheese and Die-Again! Both come it at close seconds and thirds. I mean, who does middle grade to young adult horror better? Who better to introduce a young reader to the genre? Who better to warn them about everything under your bed, in the closet and (OF COURSE!) hidden in your basement. I’ll be honest, I was freaked out by cameras for a month or so after reading Say Cheese. And after reading The Lost Girl, let’s just go with I’ll be standing clear of random ladies stealing from the grocery store and new students. They can find their own way to the art room. I have no desire to become barbeque. None what so ever. Nope.

In the typical creep-tastic R. L. Stine style, the story is based on the murder of a girl and her father in 1950, and the events in present day. A revenge seeking girl, a delusional boy who I couldn’t help but laugh at a few times, and bags of hair. Yup. Bags. Of. Hair. Isn’t that just peaches and cream? *shudders* Nobody is touching my hair. THE LOST GIRL follows the tale of a girl and a boy and lots of mutilations and possible dead bodies. Although I wasn’t shaking in my boots (my tolerance has built up a bit since I was an eleven-year-old) I was still wonderfully disturbed. And disgusted. I mean, y’all. Nasty. Nasty. BUT GOOD FOR YOU BECAUSE I LOVE THE DISTIRBING. Oh, my. That sounded odd. *chuckles* But, from me, can you really expect anything less?

Now, I actually can’t tell you much about the plot, because although it’s pretty predictable, it kind of defines the whole story. And that would mean spoilers. And I don’t want you to worry your little head about that. Just know it’s good. It’s a good plot and good writing. So I like it. I’ve been a fan of the author for the longest time, and THE LOST GIRL hasn’t changed that.

This is where I say you need to order yourself a copy. It wasn’t stunning and spell-binding, but it was very nostalgic. And for me, that’s a reason to order the copy. Stine has a permanent spot on my ever-growing book shelves.