Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Waiting on Wednesday: Wildcard

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings where we highlight books we're excited about. 
I read and loved Warcross. It took me a minute to get into it but once I did I was hooked. And it left us on such a cliff hanger.


Add it on Goodreads


Synopsis:  Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo's new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she's always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side.

Determined to put a stop to Hideo's grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone's put a bounty on Emika's head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn't all that he seems--and his protection comes at a price.

Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?
Share your links with me below!

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Names

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl 

Names, such an important element to the novel. Connecting with the characters, feeling like I know them is one of my favorite elements to reading, so the names feel so close to my heart, when I LOVE THEM!
Bare with me,I can barely remember a lot of the names I've read over the years. Comment below with the obvious choices I've forgotten.

Science Fiction books have a lot of really cool unique names to me. Cyra and


 Fire was an amazing character with an amazing spirit. Her name fit her perfectly.






Winter isn't a new name, but I think it's still unique and I'm very happy with the person carrying this name.


Check Out my Review






June is just an awesome character. Her name is well balanced as her personality. Classy, straight forward.














Jessica Sorensen always has these characters you connect with emotionally. And their names are unique and quirky and I love them. Nova( Named for the Car) and Quinton. Ella and Micha, Violet and Luke, Lyric and Ayden.
Check Out My Review













Fantasy, like science fiction as the best names. I loved Karou and Akos.














I love the story behind how they got their names in this book. Fade and Deuce.

Check Out My Review











I mean this book could do no wrong, read it a few times, so I definitely love the characters names. I say them with reverence. Aria is close to my daughters name, Zaria. And Perry, named for the Peregrine Falcon. OMG I love them















Before Divergent had gotten so over hyped, I'd originally liked the names Tris and Four And the story behind their names.














I didn't love this book, not enough romance, but I remember liking his name. Darrow. It stood out and stuck with me.

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Stacking The Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by


Blogging has been way more time consuming than I imagined. Fitting the time to actually read has felt impossible. So my book buying/ reading has sloooowed way down. 
This week I have 

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo.
My expectations are very High
Wish me luck. 

Carve The Mark by Veronica Roth

Synopsis from Goodreads: In a galaxy powered by the current, everyone has a gift.

Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power — something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows.

Akos is the son of a farmer and an oracle from the frozen nation-planet of Thuvhe. Protected by his unusual currentgift, Akos is generous in spirit, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get this brother out alive — no matter what the cost.
The Akos is thrust into Cyra's world, and the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. Will they help each other to survive, or will they destroy one another?

Carve the Mark is Veronica Roth's stunning portrayal of the power of friendship — and love — in a galaxy filled with unexpected gifts.


What I thought: 

           I was unprepared for the roller coaster of emotions that overtook me while reading Carve The Mark. It’s such an emotional fantasy novel. I didn’t want to put it down and when I did I couldn’t wait to get back to it. Carve the Mark was better than I expected.
          The whole plot was pieced together so delicately. The past, who made them who they are, the present, and the future selves they constant worry over. It is exactly why we shouldn’t be able to see our futures.
          Every character is in on the plot. The future everyone’s seen but are simultaneously trying to change it.
         Cyra is friendless and feared. She knows what’s expected of her and she’s always played that position well enough.  Until determined Akos comes along, telling her, she doesn’t have to be the person they’ve made her. Regardless of what she’s done, she was still worthy of mercy and redemption.
        Cyra had been afraid all her life, from her father first to her brother, Ryzek. Her only desire had been to live. But she realized, that as long as she worked with Ryzek, she was just one of his prisoners, like Akos. Akos has been desperate for years, since his kidnapping, through army training and earning armor, to do one thing, get his brother Eijeh and escape the city. Thanks to Ryzek, Eijeh doesn’t want to leave, making it an impossible task.
         I could say so much about this book but I don’t want to ruin any of the enjoyable waves of this book. Cyra, Akos and a patched together band of misfits will have to learn to work together, trust one another, and prepare the inevitable war approaching them.
         I love how Veronica Roth made each character a healthy balance of both good and bad. I love the current and the currentgift each person possesses thanks to the current. I am always interested and enthralled with EVERYONES currentgift. What would my currentgift be, if it comes from within us and who we are? I love the cultural difference of each nation and how much Cyra valued it.
         I DID NOT LOVE THE CLIFF HANGER!
        I’m just gleefully approaching the end, thinking, how will she sum this all up, I guess theres a few more pages.  But it was acknowledgments.  I was so disappointed. I still have so many questions I need answers to! More than I did even halfway through. And I can’t deny my own mental hang up. My lack of patience for waiting. My love of the characters dwindle around 12 months or so. I fear the second book will feel like its dragging a good story out. I enjoyed the fast paced feeling of this novel. I don’t want it to be too much. There adventures to be too big for them to overcome. And if she kills Cyra at the end I refuse to read another Veronica Roth book. 

Friday, May 18, 2018

10 Books That Should Have Stayed Books

If you'd like to join, click the link above. 
Let me know in the comments if you follow me so I can follow you!




Movie vs. Book.
Depends on who you ask. 
9 times out of 10 I will choose book easy! 
I can't love a book and it's movie adaption equally. It's physically impossible. 
But I like to be petty, and go watch the movies just to judge it. 

The story is a good solid story. Maybe it's the directors to blame or the production team or maybe someone didn't put enough money into the film. Maybe they added a bunch of unnecessary scenes while removing the ones that we loved so much it was approved in the first place. Hmmm? 

Or maybe some books are better left as books. The scenes were meant for the imagination of your mind rather than on screen. 

1. Vampire Academy
2. Beautiful Creatures
3. Everything Everything
4. 50 Shades of Grey
5. Before I Fall
6. Divergent
7. Me Before You
8. Fallen
9. City of Bones
10. The Host


Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Perfect Harmony

Dear Readers,

Here's a confession.
I'm terrified!
I've finally taken the big jump and just published my own book already!
I probably could have done better. Should have done better.
But I really like it. It's a part of me and I'd be so happy if you checked it out.

I am happy to email any interested Reviewers a free epub of my book.
In the meantime it is available on Kindle Unlimited.

please SHARE/ FOLLOW

Check it out on Amazon HERE


Harmony is happy with her parents and her friends. But she is stuck in the middle of her best friend, her new boyfriend, the boy she is crushing on and the boy who becomes her best friend and the huge secret weighing down on her heart. Where will she end up?

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Chasing Nirvana



Chasing Nirvana
by Elyn Oaksmith
Genre: YA Coming of Age Romance/LGBTQ
                       Release Date: November 3rd 2017                                                 
Add to Goodreads

Description: A girl, a band and a dream. And another girl. 

Fran Worth is just another girl trying to make it through senior year in Aberdeen, Washington. But it's 1993 and Fran is gay. Her comfortably off the radar life turns vividly public when a student nominates Fran for prom queen. When confronted by angry parents Fran refuses to back down, promising to deliver her hometown heroes in hopes of winning prom queen votes. 

Fran heads out on a 24 hour road trip to Daily City, California with four friends, including her crush who may or may not be gay. Their plan? To sneak backstage to ask Kurt Cobain and Nirvana to come home and play prom. No problem. Unless something goes wrong.



About the Author Ellen Oaksmith
I graduated from Smith College and have a very expensive MFA from The American Film Institute. Some writers will tell you that their MFA was a waste of money. I won't. It gave me great editorial skills and colorful, crazy experiences working as a screenwriter in LA. Cooking on fishing boats in Alaska paid my tuition. Screenwriting and working in the middle of the Bering Sea have a lot in common: hard work, unpredictability and occasionally both make you want to scream.  Besides my family and friends, I love rescue dogs, cats, cooking, baking, open water swimming, kayaking and reading, reading, reading, reading. Did I mention reading?

Author Links:


GIVEAWAY:
Anyone who comments on any of the blogs during the tour is eligible to win one of 30 e-book copies of Chasing Nirvana.

Anyone who signs up for the Author’s newsletter during the blog tour at this link: http://eepurl.com/2ZfTP  will enter to win one of 5 signed copies of the paperback.