In My Mailbox (2)

In My Mailbox (IMM) was started over at the The Story Siren by Kristie and has evolved to over 200 participating blogs.  It is a way for bloggers to network and socialize and to show everyone the various books that they received, either in the mail, from the library or from their local bookseller.  Postings may vary by blog, some bloggers post weekly, bi-weekly and so forth.

This week I got only galleys from NetGalley and Kindle books.  So here's what's in my mailbox this past week.

Waterfall:  A Novel (River of Time Series) by Lisa T. Bergren—Kindle

Meant to Be by Tiffany King—Kindle

Firelight by Sophie Jordan—Kindle

The Black Stiletto by Raymond Benson—Netgalley

Night Walker by Lisa Kessler—Netgalley

Double by Jenny Valentine—Netgalley

Hmmm, interesting collection if I do say so myself!  Night Walker is definitely not a YA book, if you couldn't tell by the cover.  I can't wait to read these books!

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

Title:  Cold Kiss 

Author:  Amy Garvey

Genre:  Young Adult, Paranormal

Publisher:  HarperCollins/HarperTeen

Format/Pages:  Netgalley/Kindle

Expected Release Date:  9/20/11 (subject to change)

Wren loves Danny. More than she ever thought possible. So, when Danny dies in a car accident, Wren does the only thing she can think of; she brings him back from the dead. But this Danny is different—cold and stiff. Wren has to keep Danny hidden from the world, a feat that is wearing on her day by day. Then, she meets Gabriel. He seems interested in her.  But, he also knows, somehow, he knows. Now Wren has to do the right thing, but she’s not even sure what that is.

This book was absolutely amazing!  I could not put it down. I wanted the real world to fade away so I could stay in the world Garvey created. The characters were so well written that I felt an almost palpable connection to them. Garvey is able to capture Wren’s emotions—the guilt, the sadness and the longing—so poignantly that I could nearly feel the pain of those emotions myself.  Even the secondary characters, those not so vital to the story like Geoff and Trevor, are well-rounded and intriguing.  Garvey was able to create characters I cared about and liked, something that is not always easy to do.  The story was wonderful, very original and thought-provoking. While this is a young adult, paranormal book, it is not the typical storyline those who read the YA genre have become accustomed to.  I loved that about this book. Who am I kidding? 

I loved everything about this book. This is a definite must read! I will be buying this book for my girls when it comes out!

A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies

Title:   A Beautiful Dark 

Author:  Jocelyn Davies

Genre:  Young Adult/Paranormal

Publisher:  HarperCollins 

Format/Pages:  Netgalley/229 pages

Publication Date: 9/27/2011

Birthdays are a time for change, a time for growth. But Skye could never have imagined how much her life would change on her 17^th birthday.  Skye suddenly has two extra boys in her life, vying for her attention.  Devin is blond, blue-eyed, tortured, seemingly shy and uncomfortable while Asher is the polar opposite, dark hair, dark eyes, cocky and self-assured. Not only does their attention change Skye, but the things they tell Skye about herself change all she ever believed about her life.  Now Skye must make a choice, a choice with consequences she never could have believed possible.  Light and Dark. Peace and Chaos. Which one will Skye choose?

A Beautiful Dark was an unexpected surprise!  Jocelyn Davies provides the reader with a different twist to the typical young adult paranormal story—a twist I will not give away in my review.  I’ll just say that what I expected to happen did not happen, the motivations of the characters were not what I expected and the end of the book blew me away.  It was really refreshing to read a book where the characters were not predictable or typical; in fact, a couple of times I caught myself sitting with my mouth hanging open, surprised by what had just occurred. Like I said, this was a very refreshing book.

A Beautiful Dark is a good book, well-written and obviously well thought out. I really enjoyed it.  I will be recommending this book to my girls. And can I just say—there had better be a sequel!

Dark Arc Giveaway

Check out YA Bound for a great contest over the next four weeks. This is one of my favorite blogs with great book recommendations!  Give it a look!

Teaser Tuesdays (August 2)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.  Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure that what you share doesn't give away too much! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
• Share the title and author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

My teaser:

"Do you think I care?" the dark-haired guy whispered loudly. "Your rules mean nothing to me, Devin."
In a blur, he pushed the blond guy, sending him toppling back into a stack of wooden chairs that went crashing to the ground.

A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies (page 17)--digital galley from NetGalley

Share your teasers by posting a comment or a link to your own Teaser Tuesday blog post!

July In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox (IMM) was started over at the The Story Siren by Kristie and has evolved to over 200 participating blogs.  It is a way for bloggers to network and socialize and to show everyone the various books that they received, either in the mail, from the library or from their local bookseller.  Postings may vary by blog, some bloggers post weekly, bi-weekly and so forth. This time, I will try to post the books that I received in July.  Not all of my books will be from my mailbox either, some might be from NetGalley (digital copies), and some might be for my Kindle. And of course, I will always include physical copies of books I have actually acquired during the previous month. 

I received A LOT of books in July, so I am afraid I might miss some.  Hopefully, I won’t!  I won’t post pictures of the books I have already reviewed; I will only post pictures of unreviewed books. As time progresses, that might change, but for now, that is what I will do.  So here goes!

1. Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom (NetGalley)
2. Too Many Pears by Jackie French (NetGalley)
3. Back to School Rules by Laurie B. Friedman (NetGalley)
4. Sophie and Carter by Chelsea Fine (Kindle)
5. Gravity by Abigail Boyd (Kindle)
6. The Sleepwalkers by J. Gabriel Gates (NetGalley)
7. Shattered Dreams: A Midnight Dragonfly Novel by Ellie James
8. Dark Territory by J. Gabriel Gates and Charlene Keel  

9. The Rites and Wrongs of Janice Wills by Joanna Pearson   

10. Moonglass by Jessi Kirby     

11. A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies (NetGalley) 

12. Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey (NetGalley) 

13. The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe (NetGalley) 

14. Cry Uncle by Judith Arnold (Kindle)--no image available 
15. Reckless by Cornelia Funke (Kindle) 

16. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (Kindle) 

Wow!  Even I didn’t realize how many books I got my hands on in July!  I have read the first seven books on the list, plus several others not on the list because I received them in June.  I am intimidated by my own list of books to read!  As I read, I will post reviews.  Wish me luck! 

I think I will try to do the IMM weekly now, we'll see how it goes.

NetGalley July Wrap-Up

This month was NetGalley Month at http://redhousebooks.blogspot.com/. I kept track of all the books I read from NetGalley. It wasn't as many as I anticipated as I stumbled across Melissa Marr's wonderful Fey series. But I did manage to read a few!  Here they are, in no particular order!

If you are curious about any of the books, use the archives to the left to check out my reviews of each book!