Top Ten Tuesday (14)

Happy Tuesday! Today I've decided to participate in Top Ten Tuesday, formerly hosted by Jamie at The Broke and the Bookish, now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today's topic is: 

Books I Probably Should Have DNF'd

(Yes, this isn't technically the topic, but I have a strict no-DNFing policy. So this my variation of today's topic!)

Young Adult:

    

    

    

Adult:

    

    

    

    

Honestly I could probably keep going and this post would be a mile long. I like to finish what I start, but it's a shame when I start reading the book and already know it's going to be terrible. But that's okay! I try to give every book I pick up a fair chance. You never know when you might find a treasure. =)

June 2018 New Release Giveaway!

Welcome to the June New Release Giveaway Hop! The June New Release Giveaway hop is hosted by It Starts At Midnight. 

This month, I'm giving an June '18 book that I have acquired! I'm trying to clear some shelf space, so you're going to choose from the June 2018 books that I have. Some of these are hardcover, some of these are ARC, so if you win, I'll let you know the specifics!

Your choices are:

    

    

(Click on the covers for more information!)

The Giveaway:

Win a June '18 book pictured above! Format depends on the book.  It must be one pictured above. Winner has 48 hours to respond. The usual Giveaways rules apply.

Open INTERNATIONALLY! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Falling for the Marine by Samanthe Beck

Falling for the Marine by Samanthe Beck

Book Two of the McCade Brothers series

Publisher: Entangled Brazen

Publication Date: October 28, 2013

Rating: 4 stars

Source: Purchased copy from Amazon

Summary (from Goodreads):

Pretending to be in love has never felt so sexy.

USMC helicopter pilot Michael McCade has two goals: Get his damn back into alignment and keep his nose clean until his commanding officer clears him to fly again. The doctor-recommended massage therapy seems like a necessary step toward returning to the cockpit, but when his too-hot-to-handle neighbor, Chloe Kincaid, turns out to be his masseuse, he strays from the straight and narrow in a major way.

Chloe Kincaid is looking for a simple, no strings attached, ego-boosting hook up. But when her positively panty-melting neighbor, USMC Major Michael McCade, (aka Major Hottie), shows up on her massage table, she lets desire get the better of professionalism. Now theyre pretending to be engaged to avoid a whole lot of unanticipated consequences of a momentary lapse in judgment. But can a girl who avoids attachments at all costs fake an engagement to a straight-arrow soldier without falling hard?

What I Liked:

I read this book three years ago and really enjoyed it. I love the fake engagement trope, and I love a man in uniform, and I adore Samanthe Beck's books, so this romance novel was bound to be a winner. Recently I recommended it to a friend, and in doing so, I realized that I never reviewed the book and hadn't thought about it in a while. So I took the opportunity to reread it, and liked it even more, the second time around. 

Major Michael McCade is in for the surprise of his life, when he hears a cry for help (literally, "Help!") coming from his neighbor's apartment. What a way to meet his neighbor, to come to rescue her from an embarrassing situation. Chloe Kincaid is everything that appeals to him - and the next day, he finds out that she's going to be his masseuse, for his back injury. In a twist of events, Michael and Chloe must pretend to be engaged so Michael doesn't get in trouble with the Marines, for fooling around in public. But what happens when they both want the engagement to be real, but only Michael is all in?

There are so many great tropes in this book that Samanthe Beck executes really well. The fake engagement trope is one of my favorites; and in this case, towards the end, it is Michael that is committed, and it is Chloe that is the commitment phobe. This book also deals with two neighbors, if you're into that trope. At a certain point, Chloe moves into Michael's apartment, but it started out as a neighbors thing. You could also say that this is an opposites attract romance, with Michael being a straight-laced, tough, control freak Marine, and Chloe being a free-spirited go-with-the-flow type.

Michael is easily one of my favorite romance heroes. I love that he is a Marine and he is the epitome of a true Marine. He is so serious about being in the military, and he loves his job as a pilot. He is in his cammies in several scenes, which was gratifying (nudge nudge wink wink). He has a lot of honor, which is clear in all of his actions. He is loyal, grounded, protective, and very committed. The guy is perfect relationship material - and that scared Chloe!

Chloe is more of a free spirit, especially after her hasty marriage and divorce before moving into the apartment across from Michael. She doesn't like anything to tie her down, and she likes being on the move. She is sweet and funny, and she loves her job. She is definitely afraid of commitment, but after seeing her parents' marriage crumble, it's understandable. She's afraid of making the fake engagement real, because she's already been through one hasty marriage - another one is not in the cards for her.

Still, our hero and heroine have some combustible chemistry, as evidenced in scene one. Samanthe Beck's books are always incredibly hot, and this one is no less. Michael and Chloe are perfect for each other in more ways than one. Want a steamy, steamy read? Look no further.

I liked the ending, even if it involved Michael chasing Chloe (it should have been Chloe chasing Michael, but that's okay). It makes sense, given his upstanding, determined personality. She would have fled and been miserable and not done anything about it; Michael is more proactive and committed, so it had to be up to him to win her over. The ending was quite good!

What I Did Not Liked:

My only real dislike was what I mentioned above - I wish it had been Chloe that realized that she made a mistake and should never have left. But that's okay! It was more true to her personality that she didn't - she's so stubborn, she would have just suffered in her misery rather than go back to Michael and apologize and beg. Which isn't a good trait (not swallowing your stubbornness), but nobody's perfect.

Would I Recommend It:

I recommend any of Beck's books, this one included. It's one of Brazen's older books and quite frankly, their older books are gold. I enjoy all of Beck's books, but her older ones are what lured me in, in the first place. This one is an entertaining, sexy read, and you'll definitely be looking up her other books once you're finished! I recommend her Compromise Me series, and the Private Pleasures series. I haven't read all of them, but I've liked what I've read!

Rating:

4 stars. An excellent read, and clearly, if I've read it several times now. You can't go wrong with Samanthe Beck and Entangled Brazen!

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Blog Tour: A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir

Hello and welcome to the blog tour for A Reaper at the Gates! This is book three of the bestselling Ember Quartet, and it publishes on June 12th. I can't wait! 

Today, I'm sharing 100 thoughts I had while (re)reading A Torch Against the Night (book two)!

(Before I begin, you should know that there could be spoilers or implications of spoilers, for A Torch Against the Night.)

1. Okie dokie, I barely remember anything from the ending of An Ember in the Ashes... 

2. Elias/Laia, how are y'all not getting chills from this lone child?!

3. Why does she want silver? That's very specific.

4. "Murderer! Killer! Death himself! Reaper walking!" OMGGGGGGGGG!

5. The Commandant is lowkey freaky.

6. Trying to wrap my head around this mother so hellbent on killing her son.

7. Elias can't do it! Ahhh!

8. Oh hello, Helene. I did not miss you.

9. Well I guess I feel sorry for her.

10. She's protecting Elias so I can give her points for that.

11. Hmmm. I don't trust her father.

12. Back to Laia and what is going on with the silver-loving demons?!

13. Yooo. Elias is super injured. Come on, Laia!

14. Yikes. Is now the right time to be asking Laia about if she kissed Keenan? LOL.

15. Ugghhh. I'm so anxious now! Poisoned Elias + useful Laia = bad combination.

16. Elias is hardcore hallucinating. Or something. 

17. This Forest is creepy and so is this Soul Catcher.

18. Helene! Girl you a mess! How many broken ribs?!

19. Oooo, I like the name "Aelia". Is it "Ah LEE ah"? Or "AA lee uh"? Or "EE lee uh"? I like the second one. 

20. Marcus is a jerk. There, I said it. 

21. A smart one though. Sending Helene to capture Elias? That's smart.

22. I forgot Helene had that weird healing power. Everyone has some sort of power in this book. Except Elias. But that's okay. He is a badass warrior. YUM.

23. Everyone is good at eavesdropping, it seems.

24. Chaos in the market!

25. Wait... she disappeared?

26. OMG. Imagine waking up and thinking you were sold out by the person that was helping you? That's unfortunate.

27. Great, so Elias has a solid death sentence.

28. Hello again, Helene. Who is Nightbringer?

29. Yawn. I'm bored. Breezing through this chapter.

30. Laia's armlet! I have one of those.

31. Elias is such a badass. Deflecting arrows with a scimitar is a skill I need in my life.

32. Ugh Keenan. I wish he would never make an appearance again.

33. I really want to shove his face in dirt.

34. Okay now we're back to Helene but two weeks earlier? Do I need a blast from the past right now? Back to Elias, please!

35. OMG. Pull rank on 'er, Helene!

36. OMG OMG OMG. Helene's sister is going to be marrying the Emperor?!

37. Laia is soooo good at playing with everyone's emotions. "Keenan is my friend." "Elias is my friend." GIRL STOP LYING TO YOURSELF. 

38. LOL. The sass coming out of Elias. I am a fan!

39. Hmmm. Someone cut that rope.

40. Ugh, Keenan. How can you not find him creep. "I missed you" - what?

41. Afya!!!!

42. Mamie!!!!

43. OMG. Mamie is a badass! It obviously runs in the family! Talk about a powerful woman!

44. Time for a good old-fashioned riot!

45. Oh no. :(

46. Elias needs a hug, fam.

47. I forgot who Tristas was.

48. Elias, the martyr.

49. Back to Helene. I'm not really all that into her narratives.

50. LOL, Helene's mother is such a mom. "Your mother asks that I remind you to eat." Love it!

51. Why do I have a bad feeling about Harper?

52. WOAH. The Soul Catcher is something that exists outside of dreams? Mind blown.

53. Well, this was a weird chapter. Get going, Elias!

54. Back to Helene again. Are we avoiding Laia's POV?

55. Aha! Laia's POV. Oooo, she's reading Elias's note. She's pissed that he left! And apparently, four weeks have passed. Wow!

56. Yikes, that Commandant killing all of the prisoners might light a fire under our heroine's tail.

57. Aaand what's Helene doing in a dress? Ooo, she has pockets for her scimitars.

58. Ahhh, everything always comes down to one holiday night. Rathana is the night to end everything. Elias's expiration date thanks to the poison. Also the Empire's execution date for him (if they catch him). Man, this guy has no chance!

59. Chaos back on Laia's side of things! What is happening? I don't even know!

60. Ohhhh, they've been had. Masks! Masks everywhere! Hide in the hidden compartments, obviously!

61. Laia is doing her disappearing act! What in the world?

62. Aaaand we have Major Death #2. Too bad it wasn't Keenan. (I'm serious.)

63. Dang! Elias has reached Kauf! You go boy!

64. He is such a great actor.

65. Oh! But he's been had. Whomp whomp.

66. Wait I'm confused what is happening with Helene, why is she whining about her family or Elias. Clearly I missed some sort of life-threatening threat.

67. Honestly? This Augur person/thing is weird. Stop speaking in riddles. It does no one any good.

68. Poor Laia. I do feel sorry for her. That was rough. :(

69. Ooo, I love the name "Ayan". So many great "A" names in this book.

70. Ayyy, do the thing, Gibran!

71. LOL Keenan, gtfo. Afya is setting him straight.

72. Ugh, Elias. What have you gotten yourself into. 

73. Ahhh, Keenan. Taking advantage of a grieving girl. 

74. Ahhh, this poor little boy. Elias, please get him out. You can leave Darin, but get this boy out. :(

75. Laia. The cloaks don't lie. 

76. Darin is not dead! I repeat, Darin is not dead! (Not yet, at least.) But we already knew that?

77. Why is Helene's POV even in this book? Nothing is happening.

78. OMG. I TAKE THAT BACK. OMG.

79. Izzi is honestly the best person of this book. This series. She understands Elias's need to make everyone his responsibility. 

80. And we meet Darin!

81. OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.

82. I HATED THAT BASTARD.

83. Oh great, Elias has freed Darin and they still get caught. -_-

84. Well, this interrogation is going well. Or not.

85. Ahhh, Keenan. You did good. I recognized that you were slime from the moment you entered the series. But you worked yourself into this story reaaaaaaally well. Slime.

86. I almost feel bad for Laia. Almost. 

87. What's the significance of Laia's armlet?

88. Girl, you did that. Don't blame anyone but yourself. *shameless I-told-you-so*

89. Ohhh, I see. The Soul Catcher has all kinds of knowledge.

90. Wow the plot of this series escalated quickly. 

91. I guess Tristas was a friend of Elias's? I'm glad he got what he was looking for.

92. I really like Tas.

93. Okay, I really admire Helene, in this chapter. You go girl!

94. Who is this Mask that Laia is speaking with? He seems nice. Is it Avitas?

95. Izzi never trusted Keenan either! Smart girl.
96. OMG ELIAS NOOOOOOOO.

97. Oh my, poor Helene. But dang. The Commandant is savvy.

98. Ooo, Elias, making a deal with the devil. Well, not the devil. The Soul Catcher. The Charon of this cruel world. 

99. Oooo, Avitas has a secret!!!

100. Ahhhh, this was actually a good ending? Despite everything. Definitely not the ending of a second-to-last book. From this ending, we already knew this series would be at least four books long. Because the ending of the next book is going to have the cliffhanger!

And those are 100 thoughts I had while rereading book tour! I'm all caught up and ready for Reaper. And honestly? I enjoyed Torch more, the second time around. I had mixed feelings about it, and I wasn't sure how I felt when it was all said and done. But now that I've reread it, I actually quite liked the book. Bring on Reaper! (And book four as well, perhaps?)

About A Reaper at the Gates:

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir

Book Three of the Ember Quartet

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: June 12, 2018

Summary (from Goodreads):

Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.

The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power. As Helene searches for a way to hold back the approaching darkness, her sister's life and the lives of all those in the Empire hang in the balance.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But while hunting for a way to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would aid her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she'd have to fight.

And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that will stop at nothing to ensure Elias's devotion–even at the cost of his humanity.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Ivy Bookshop

Check out the rest of the series:

  

(Click on the covers for more information!)

About the Author:

Sabaa Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s 18-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

Website | Novel Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

Sabaa might be coming to a city near you!

(Click the image above to see the tour dates!)

Stacking the Shelves (#284)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, in which bloggers share the books and swag they've received in the past week!

So, what did I get in the week of Sunday, May 27th to Saturday, June 2nd?

(all links to Goodreads are provided!)

In the mail:

A paperback copy of The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

I've heard excellent things about this book! Thank you, Berkley. =)

From Edelweiss:

The Governess Game by Tessa Dare

I AM READY!

From Amazon:

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

For nearly two years, this book has been abuzz! I waited until it went on sale and this week, it was $1.99. Win!

Review from this week:

(Click on the cover to go to my review!)

Favorite Instagram post from this week:

I actually posted on Instagram this week... but the embed feature isn't working! You can view the post HERE.

This week was insane at work! I stayed late every day (Tuesday-Friday). But it was nice to have Monday off. I'm so ready for the weekend!

My Favorite YA Duologies

Happy Friday, bibliovores! Today is another day in which I didn't feel like writing/posting a review, but did feel like posting something... so I'm doing another favorites post! You can check out my other favorites posts in a previous posts (for example). 

Here are some of my favorite YA duologies! 

There are several more that I can think of, but I wouldn't necessarily call them "favorites", like Illusive/Deceptive by Emily Lloyd-Jones and All That Glows/All That Burns. And there are duologies which I've not yet read, like Vicious/Vengeful by V.E. Schwab. I am always open to recommendations!