Waiting on Wednesday (189)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.


By Rachel Caine
Publication Date: July 5, 2016

In Ink and Bone, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine introduced a world where knowledge is power, and power corrupts absolutely. Now, she continues the story of those who dare to defy the Great Library—and rewrite history…

With an iron fist, The Great Library controls the knowledge of the world, ruthlessly stamping out all rebellion, forbidding the personal ownership of books in the name of the greater good.

Jess Brightwell has survived his introduction to the sinister, seductive world of the Library, but serving in its army is nothing like he envisioned. His life and the lives of those he cares for have been altered forever. His best friend is lost, and Morgan, the girl he loves, is locked away in the Iron Tower and doomed to a life apart.

Embarking on a mission to save one of their own, Jess and his band of allies make one wrong move and suddenly find themselves hunted by the Library’s deadly automata and forced to flee Alexandria, all the way to London.

But Jess’s home isn’t safe anymore. The Welsh army is coming, London is burning, and soon, Jess must choose between his friends, his family, or the Library willing to sacrifice anything and anyone in the search for ultimate control… 


By Miranda Kenneally
Publication Date: July 5, 2016

Captain of the soccer team, president of the Debate Club, contender for valedictorian: Taylor’s always pushed herself to be perfect. After all, that’s what is expected of a senator’s daughter. But one impulsive decision—one lie to cover for her boyfriend—and Taylor’s kicked out of private school. Everything she’s worked so hard for is gone, and now she’s starting over at Hundred Oaks High.

Soccer has always been Taylor’s escape from the pressures of school and family, but it’s hard to fit in and play on a team that used to be her rival. The only person who seems to understand all that she’s going through is her older brother’s best friend, Ezra. Taylor’s had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. But it’s hard to trust after having been betrayed. Will Taylor repeat her past mistakes or can she score a fresh start?






By Sophie Jordan
Publication Date: July 26, 2016

Hell hath no hunger like a man let out of a cage . . .

Shy and awkward, First Daughter Grace Reeves has always done what she’s told. Tired of taking orders, she escapes her security detail for a rare moment of peace. Except her worst nightmare comes to life when a ruthless gang of criminals abducts her. Her only choice is to place her trust in Reid Allister, an escaped convict whose piercing gaze awakens something deep inside her. Reid is nothing like her other captors.

He’s tougher, smarter…and one blistering look from him makes her hotter than any man ever has.

Reid spent years plotting escape and revenge . . .years without a woman in his bed. For this hardened felon, Grace Reeves isn’t just out of his league—she’s from another planet, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting her. Escaping Devil’s Rock was tough, but resisting this woman could be the end of him. For a man with nothing to lose, protecting her . . . claiming her as his own, becomes more necessary than his next breath. 

Waiting on Wednesday (154)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.

By Jill Shalvis
Publication Date: June 30, 2015

RESCUE MECedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it's the last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a job, and there's an opening at the hottest resort in her hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot property in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker, and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating smile . . .

The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things his own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing, she has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes, slow dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if he can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second chance . . .

By Miranda Kenneally
Publication Date: July 7, 2015

Practice Makes Perfect.

Everyone at Hundred Oaks High knows that career mentoring day is a joke. So when Maya Henry said she wanted to be a rock star, she never imagined she’d get to shadow *the* Jesse Scott, Nashville’s teen idol.

But spending the day with Jesse is far from a dream come true. He’s as gorgeous as his music, but seeing all that he’s accomplished is just a reminder of everything Maya’s lost: her trust, her boyfriend, their band, and any chance to play the music she craves. Not to mention that Jesse’s pushy and opinionated. He made it on his own, and he thinks Maya’s playing back up to other people’s dreams. Does she have what it takes to follow her heart—and go solo?





By Brighton Walsh
Publication Date: July 21, 2015

In this sexy, suspenseful New Adult novel, a young woman hiding from her criminal past is taken captive by her ex-boyfriend, the ultimate bad boy.

Evie is about to embark on the perfect life. Beautiful, poised, and engaged to a rising business star, she fits the part of trophy wife perfectly, except for one thing: her entire identity is a lie. 

Five years ago she created a new identity for herself, but it all crashes back when something she witnessed years ago comes back to haunt her. Now she's in danger of losing more than her social status. 

Determined to protect the careful life she's built for herself, Evie doesn't want anything to do with Riley, the criminal for hire who broke her heart years ago. But Riley has other ideas. He's never forgotten Evie, and to protect her, he steals her away. Hidden from the world, sparks begin to fly as old memories resurface and their passion reignites.

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally

* * * * 

They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack…

Review:

Savannah wants more than what she has right now.  Like most people, she wants to reach beyond that.  But her vision isn’t as big as other teenagers.  Her dad is a groom.  She wants to go a step up and be an exercise rider.  And if she wants to dream really big, a jockey too.  Those are wonderful aspirations for horse lover to have.  But the sad part is how completely removed she feels from any possibility of receiving a higher education.  It isn’t that she isn’t interested.  But how could she possibly afford that?  For a family that makes so little that eating at Wendy’s is a special night out, just the cost of college applications and SAT’s seems like an insurmountable challenge. 

After showing an ability to calm down a horse that has been giving the owners of Cedar Hill Farms a difficult time, Savannah is hired on as an exercise rider.  She is elated.  This is a dream come true.  She is doing what she loves while making money that will help her family.  But her new role comes with its share of problems.  The biggest one being Jack Goodwin.

Jack Goodwin is taking on one of his father’s many lessons/tests that will prepare him to run the farm when his dad retires.  The most current is the mother of all tests….running the farm for a year.  That includes managing the grooms, trainers, jockey, etc.  When he sees Savannah’s ability with his problem horse, Tennessee Star he hires her as Star’s exercise rider.  He spent half a million on a horse that has yet to win any race and he can’t figure out why.  Maybe with Savannah’s help he can still make the horse a champion and prove to his dad that he didn’t make a terrible investment. 

But Savannah proves to be a challenge as well.  He’s ridiculously attracted to her but his father has very strict rules about fraternizing with the staff.  And regardless of the rumors that are passed between the staff at the stables and the housekeeping staff, Jack isn’t interested in taking advantage of any girl let along girls that work for his family. 

A relationship between a girl from a family that can barely scrape two pennies together and a boy whose dad just hands him a half a million dollars to buy a racehorse seems impossible.  Particularly to their parents that keep warning them away from each other.  They are from completely different worlds and neither really know how to navigate or understand each other when they aren’t on common ground (the stable or school).  But at some point they’ll both have to grow up a bit and decide if those struggles are worth conquering in order to be together. 

One of the things Miranda Kenneally is really great at is portraying human imperfections.  And sometimes those imperfections can be really painful.  She is also wonderful at making you constantly second guess the relationship between her main characters.  Why does she do that?  My guess is that she wants us to feel the uncertainty her teens are feeling.  If I am correct then she is quite successful.  Each of Kenneally’s books has had me guessing until the very end.  And each time I reach the end I am immensely satisfied.  

Being a fan of contemporary YA, Miranda Kenneally’s books will always be an auto-buy for me.

Nat

Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally

* * * * 

Annie hates running. No matter how far she jogs, she can’t escape the guilt that if she hadn’t broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honor his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.

But the training is even more grueling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she’s at war with her body, her mind—and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms…and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.

I was so excited to pick this up from the library but did so without realizing that it was the fifth book in the Hundred Oaks series. I don’t know how that fact escaped me. So I just left it on my shelf staring at me, not willing to return it yet but also hesitant about reading a book out of order.  At 6 o’clock one morning when I just couldn’t sleep any more, I gave in. You see, I couldn’t knock this book out of my mind and it’s been that way since I saw the cover and read that excerpt. I grabbed my favourite blanket, propped myself on the couch and finished it in three hours.

I found myself wrapped up in Annie’s story immediately. Having run in the past, though not recently, I was fascinated by her decision to run a marathon and how she described her training. She’s still processing the loss of her boyfriend and rebuilding a life for herself. Doing this is her way to make Kyle’s own dream of running  a marathon come true.  It also keeps him close to her.  As I read on, I also felt like it was personal atonement for her for the things that did go wrong between them shortly before his death.  Her heart is a wreck just as much as her body is going through the grueling training. Despite the heavy discipline and the hours she spends between training, working and school, this single-minded focus is what is holding her together.

She’s thrown off when Jeremiah comes into the picture. It’s the first time she finds herself attracted to someone since Kyle and she feels a little guilt, as if she’s being untrue to his memory. But she knows life goes on and she has to go on with it. Still she won’t let her new friendship or attraction to Jeremiah mess with her end goal.  That being said, there’s also something refreshing about being in his company. Annie feels the pressure and loss most around people who knew Kyle and knew them as a couple. Hanging out with Jeremiah and his family is like finding an emotional sanctuary.

As these two draw closer, Annie learns that Jeremiah has his own quirks that he’s trying to work on. The question is can she handle a friendship with him knowing that there are certain things he needs in his life? It means they both have to learn to let go, have trust and embrace risks. This is the hurdle that Annie has to jump over in order to move on.

Breathe, Annie, Breathe is worthy of all the praise. It’s written so beautifully and the emotional moments are not sappy but are treated with sensitivity.  I also enjoyed the silly banter between Jeremiah and Annie. They are a good match for each other but it takes a while to get there. Any initial concerns I had about reading this series out of order has been dashed and I'll happily catch up on Kenneally's other books.

 ~ Bel

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally - Pre-Order Gift from Sourcebooks!

I am a huge fan of Miranda Kenneally's books which means I am super happy to help Sourcebooks out with the following promotion.  This was an auto buy for me already and I will definitely be pre-ordering now.  How about you guys?

~Nat

From Sourcebooks....

They’re from two different worlds, but Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules. . . get the next contemporary novel from blockbuster YA novelist Miranda Kenneally: RACING SAVANNAH!

Right before her senior year, Savannah’s father whisks the family off to Tennessee to work as head groom at fancy Cedar Hill Farms. Savannah finally sees it as the perfect opportunity to earn extra money as an exercise rider—no matter how many others don’t want a girl around the barn.  But she’s also caught the eye of Jack Goodwin, the owner’s son. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries. With her dream of becoming a jockey, Savannah is not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack.




A Special Announcement from Sourcebooks:

We’ve put together a fun campaign to thank readers for pre-ordering: send us your proof of pre-order and we’ll send you this fabulous horseshoe key chain! 

A Gift for You, for Pre-Ordering RACING SAVANNAH by Miranda Kenneally

We have a special offer for U.S. and Canada YA fans for the release of RACING SAVANNAH by Miranda Kenneally in stores in a little over three weeks! If you pre-order the book, we will send you an exclusive horseshoe key chain—perfect for any busy teen on the go! You have until December 2 or until quantities run out.

Here’s how to get your charm:
1. Pre-order the book (print or eBook) through any retailer (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, your local independent bookseller/Indiebound, Books-A-Million, Hastings, etc.)

2. Email your proof of purchase (receipt or picture of the receipt) to teenfire@sourcebooks.com. Put “Racing Savannah Pre-Order” in the subject line. Don’t forget to include your home address (US & Canada only please) so we can send you the horseshoe key chain! If you’ve already pre-ordered this book—not a problem! Send us your receipt!

3. You will get an email back confirming when the items have been sent out.

4. Enjoy Racing Savannah when it comes out in December!

Optional: take a pic of you and your horseshoe key chain and share it with Miranda Kenneally or Sourcebooks Fire on Twitter! You can find Miranda @mirandakennealy and Sourcebooks Fire @sourcebooksfire.

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

* * * 1/2

Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.

Now Parker wants a new life.

So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?

But how far is too far before she loses herself completely? (GoodReads)

 

I absolutely adored Catching Jordan.  The characters and romance were adorable and perfectly imperfect.  When I heard that Stealing Parker would be the companion novel, I was very excited.  How could I not love a baseball romance?  My favorite sport partnered with some romance?  Win/Win!

Much like Catching Jordan, our heroine, Parker, immediately captured my attention with her realistic teen voice and her significant insecurities.  Noticed I said significant?  Parker’s mom has left, her brother is on a downward spiral and her dad is in complete denial that any help is needed other than prayer and church.  Add that to Parker’s focused attempts to prove she is not like her mom and you find that Parker has a lot to be worried about.   

Although this book has romance, it is more about Parker overcoming her own issues rather than finding a boyfriend.  It took a while before I even knew who her love interest was.  Kenneally handles this story with care and realism.  Not everything is happily ever after and everybody’s future is most definitely not wrapped up with a bright and pretty bow.   Not to say that there aren’t a few “Aww” moments in this book.  There certainly are. 

This story was definitely a bit dark but it was still an enjoyable read.  I would definitely recommend it if you enjoyed Miranda Kenneally’s first novel, Catching Jordan.

  

Nat

A Peek in the BiblioBin (44)

Welcome to our Stacking the Shelves post! Stacking the Shelves (or as we like to call it, A Peek in the Biblio-Bin) has been created by the lovely ladies at Tynga Reviews.

Stacking the Shelves is a way for bloggers to share what books they have won, received for review, bought from the bookstore, borrowed from the library or friend, etc.

This is what we have in our bin this week. Tell us what's in your Biblio-bin!

 For Review:

Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton



Bought:

Dead on the Delta by Stacey Jay

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally



 

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

* * * *

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.


I’ve always wondered about the inner workings of the male mind. In Catching Jordan, Miranda Kenneally proved what I have always believed. Most boys just plain don’t talk about feeeelings. They are creatures of few words and they are content as can be with that. Having my theory proven correct, I began imagining conversations they have when discussing major events in their lives…

At some point, while dating the Executive Officer, he decided that he was going to ask me to marry him. I imagine the conversation with his best friend went a little something like this:

Executive Officer: I think I’m going to ask Nat to marry me. *shoots some bad guys on his video game*


Best Friend: Ok. Cool. *shoots more bad guys then drinks his Dr. Pepper*


Executive Officer: Yep. *eats some Doritos and takes a swig from his beer*


Or better yet, here is the conversation between the Executive Officer and Bel’s husband.

Executive Officer: I’m going to ask Nat to marry me.


Bel’s Husband: *punches Nat’s XO in the face*


That second one is an honest to goodness true story. Now in Bel’s husband’s defense, he warned my XO that he would punch him the face if he asked me to marry him before dating me at least a year (we had only dated nine months). And Bel’s husband can always be counted on to carry out a promise.

But that isn’t all I learned from Catching Jordan. I also learned that tomboys don’t necessarily want you to forget that they are a girl. I learned that a good team protects and supports one another. And I learned that girls can play some kick ass football. And that is saying a lot as I really am not a big fan of American Football. Alright, I am sure that I learned more than that but that is what first came to mind.

There were a lot of things to love about this story. The camaraderie between Jordan and her teammates was wonderful and made me feel all warm and fuzzy with the naturalness of it. The relationship between Jordan and Henry, her best friend since forever, was very sweet. But what I loved most of all was watching Jordan struggle and grow as she learns to deal with boys and new girlfriends and then in turn learns to balance her relationship issues with school, football, and college hunting. She grew considerably throughout the book. Starting out a tough but insecure girl and eventually coming out as a strong woman with a lot of self respect.

This was a fun, romantic fast-paced read. I finished it in one day which doesn’t happen very often and I have already gone back twice to re-read my favorite parts. I always enjoy a romance that makes me smile and Catching Jordan did just that. I have added this book to the “Cheer Me Up” shelf - right next to Anna and the French Kiss.



Nat