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Bel's Birthday Extravaganza Giveaway!

It's Bel’s birthday! This is a huge deal. Why? Because we LOVE birthdays. Birthdays are another excuse (not that we usually need one) to eat cake AND pie. It’s also another opportunity to giggle over our favorite fictional boys.

AND

Birthdays are a perfect reason to giveaway some of our favorite reads to our readers!

The PRIZES:

In honor of Bel’s 19th-ish birthday we are giving away two Bel’s Boys Beginner Prize Packs.

1st Prize

Bel’s Boys – The Vampire Collection:

• Twilight and The Twilight Graphic Novel: Volume 1 by Stephanie Meyer - For so many of us, Edward Cullen marked the beginning of our fictional boy love. This is no different in Bel’s case. You should see her well loved copy of Twilight – complete with post it notes marking all her favorite Edward quotes.
• The Vampire Diaries: Volume 1 by L.J. Smith and Vampire Diaries Card Game– Damon. Need we say more? Just read Bel’s letter to Damon to see what place he holds in her heart.

2nd Prize Bel's Boys - The Angel Collection:

• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare – Jace. *sigh* This angst-y shadowhunter has so many of us wrapped around his finger.  Even Bel is not immune to his snarky and sometimes lovely words. 
• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick and “Ride the Archangel” iron on patch – “Call me Patch. I mean it. Call me.”  Read Bel’s Love Letter to Patch and see what all the fuss is about. You won’t be disappointed.
We hope you stop by to enter and wish Bel a Happy Birthday!

Cinder And Ella by Melissa Lemon

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley.  The book releases November 8, 2011.

From Benneville Books (Cedar Fort, Inc.):

After their father’s disappearance, Cinder leaves home for a servant job at the castle. But it isn’t long before her sister Ella is brought to the castle herself—the most dangerous place in all the kingdom for both her and Cinder. Cinder and Ella is a Cinderella story like no other and one you'll never forget.

This book is a slow starter.  So much so that I put the book down for a week or so before going back to finish it.  This is definitely not your childhood version of Cinderella.  There are a few parallels drawn between the tales, but Cinder and Ella in this book bear very little resemblance to the Disney or Grimm version.  For one thing, this tale is much darker.  The Prince may be handsome, but he is not good.  In fact, he is quite evil (and not in a good evil Jace or Patch way either).  This Prince uses his dark magic to bring his subjects under his control, convincing them that there is no hope, no reason to go on and this darkness is spreading throughout the Kingdom.  Cinder and Ella are sisters who live a miserable life in which their father became influenced by the darkness, and one day, just wandered off.  Cinder and Ella then take over the household as their mother has a mental breakdown and their two sisters become spoiled brats.

One day, Cinder applies for a job in the King’s castle as a servant to help provide for the family.  With her new job, she will have to reside in the castle most of the week and will return home on her one day off.  She leaves the care of the family to Ella.  Unfortunately, Ella has little patience for the tantrums and antics of her family and she too, wanders off.  Ella finds a new place with a family far away, helping to take care of the family's children.  This family is warm, bright and loving.  Exactly as Ella wishes her family was.  Ella finds a sense of peace and happiness, until one day a Knight and two of the Prince’s aids come to return Ella to the Castle. 

The Knight worked in the Castle and each night during his rounds, he would hear Cinder crying and talking in her sleep from the hallway.  One day the Knight, Tanner, approaches Cinder to ask her about the sister she speaks of during her sleep.  Cinder confides in the knight that her sister has disappeared and she fears that Ella may be in danger.  Tanner, being a brave and honorable Knight, seeks permission from the Castle advisors to go on a quest to find Ella.  The advisors go to the Prince, who agrees for his own nefarious reasons and insists that Tanner take along two of his aids, the lecherous William and the stoic Flescher.  Tanner does not trust the Prince or his aids, but must take them on the quest.

During the journey to return Ella to the Castle, Tanner begins to care for Ella, and in true fashion, then becomes a clumsy fool.  Tanner soon discovers that the Prince may want to harm Ella and after an encounter with the drunken William, Tanner and Ella break from the aids and devise a plan to find out what the Prince wants without turning Ella over to him.  The rest of the book covers the attempts of the good Knight and the sisters to thwart the evil plans of the Prince and the darkness that spreads throughout the Kingdom.  I won’t get all spoilery, because truly, this book does not follow the fairytale path.  You get the main points though, love, danger, intrigue, magic and a very stubborn horse. 

As I said, it takes a while to get into the meat of this book.  I kept going because I had never read a book told in the manner of a fairytale; therefore was intrigued and curious to find out where Ms. Lemon was going with the plot.  Ms. Lemon kept me guessing until the end.  I give the author credit, she kept to the fairytale style of writing and storytelling.  She wove the different plot lines and points of view flawlessly.  I am giving the book 3 stars.  If you enjoy fairytales and want to see a different and darker version of Cinderella, I recommend you pick up Cinder And Ella in November.    

~ Shel

Confessions of a Peeta Lover

Hello.  My name is Nat and I have an obsession with Peeta Mellark*. 

For as long as I can remember I have loved romance.  I love reading about falling in love.  Even as a kid, while reading Little Women and Anne of Green Gables, I couldn’t wait to get to the romantic parts.  Hell, I even loved the “romance” in my Babysitter’s Club books.  Seriously, what 10 year old doesn’t love Logan? 

I became a teenager and introduced myself to Jane Austen…the queen of romance.  She gave us Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightley and Captain Wentworth and many others.  Then I hit my late teens and discovered the dreaded historical romance.  I have read more romance novels than I care to admit.  Most of them were terrible but some really were great….assuming you love reading about LOOOOOOVE.   I did finally tire of the over abundance of terrible in this genre but continue to read books by a few favorite authors (Julia Quinn for historical romantic comedy, Lisa Kleypas for historical romance and Nora Roberts for contemporary romance). 

Then Bibliojunkie Shel gave me Twilight (my first YA novel – not counting Harry Potter or Percy Jackson) as a gift this past year I had no idea that I would find a whole new class of fictional boys to not only fall in love with but thoroughly obsess over.  Thank goodness Bel and Shel share some of this obsession. 

I of course fell in love with Edward Cullen.  Then came Jace Wayland/Morgenstern/Herondale/Lightwood and all his beautiful and snarky honesty.  This particular obsession lasted months.  Even now if you mention brick walls and mangoes, Bel and I will dissolve into a fit of giggles.  Then I finally caught up with the world and read the Hunger Games.  And now my obsession with Peeta borders on the ridiculous.  It’s been months and months.  Patch gave me a temporary reprieve and I really thought Sam Roth might take over but no…it’s all Peeta.  All. The. Time.  I can’t get enough of the boy with the bread.  Jace?  Patch?  One night stands.  Peeta?  Much like Sam, he is the forever boy. 

So the point?  Good God, help me find a new fictional boy to obsess over.  My poor fellow Bibliojunkies (not to mention my husband) are getting tired of the Peeta obsession. 

What do you suggest?  What boy do you think will wow the pants right off me?  I am taking book recommendations starting. Right. Now!

Nat

*The above drawing of Peeta was done by DeviantArt artist sacha11410.