Friday, August 30, 2013

Thoughts Weekly Update (35)


Welcome to the Weekly Update here on Thoughts! This is where I will share what books I finished, what I am currently reading, the current word count on my WIP, links from the posts from the last week, and maybe a little something on what's going on in my life.

Finished


Foreplay by Sophie Jordan (-Goodreads-)
A Thirty-Something Girl by L.M. Stull (-Goodreads-)

Currently Reading


Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard (-Goodreads-)
Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally (-Goodreads-)
Northanger Alibi by Jenni Jones (-Goodreads-)
Fearless by Tawny Weber (-Goodreads-)

Word Count 

If Only We ~ 57,556
Check out my writer blog for the latest.

On The Blog This Week



The Latest With Me

I finished revisions on If Only We and sent it out to beta readers this week... so I am exceptionally nervous and hoping that they at least like the story. I'm also hoping for constructive criticism on my writing because I want to make sure that I learn from my mistakes and can fine tune my writing. As excited as I am to get the ball rolling on the road to publication, I'm feeling the anxiety build for it all. There's so much to do and so little time! While I'm waiting on my betas, I've been looking into the next steps: formatting and ISBNs. This weekend I'm going to work more on blog tour ideas. I also might start working on my next novel!


Hope you have a great weekend!!!

Jessica

Cover Reveal: Forty Nights by Stephanie Parent


Hello everybody! Welcome to the cover reveal for the awesome Stephanie Parent's new novel, Forty Nights, the sequel to Forty Days. ^_^

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Forty Nights (Neima's Ark #2) 
Release Date: September 2013 
Cover Designed by: Najla Qamber Designs 

Summary from Goodreads:

Neima, her family, and her grandfather Noah have found themselves trapped aboard an ark as a great flood destroys all life in the world. As their time aboard the ark lengthens, food begins to run out, wild animals grow restless, and family tensions become as much of a threat as the flood outside. In the second and final installment of Neima’s Ark, the stakes are higher, the conflicts are greater, and Neima finds herself facing a choice as impossible as the destruction all around her.

Forty Nights is a continuation of the story begun in Forty Days, and it’s recommended that you read Forty Days first for the best experience. Forty Nights does, however, contain a character guide to refresh readers’ memories. The Neima’s Ark series is a historical, feminist reimagining of the story of Noah’s Ark rather than a religiously oriented one, and the novels are best suited for readers who are comfortable with new interpretations of biblical stories.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17382508-forty-nights

Forty Days 

Add Forty Days to your shelf on Goodreads!

Forty Days is currently FREE!
Get your copy!

~ Barnes & Noble ~ ~ Kobo ~ ~ Smashwords ~



About the Author 

Stephanie Parent is a graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at USC and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts as a piano major. She moved to Los Angeles because of Francesca Lia Block's WEETZIE BAT books, which might give you some idea of how much books mean to her. She also loves dogs, books about dogs, and sugary coffee drinks both hot and cold.

Find Stephanie online:
~ Blog ~ ~ Goodreads ~ ~ Twitter ~
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Cover Reveal Hosted by: 



Jessica

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Oh, How Pinteresting! (4)


Oh, How Pinteresting is hosted by The Vintage Apple. This is where we show off the pins we love and show how addicted we are to Pinterest.


http://pinterest.com/pin/38351034300078533/

~Sometimes how I feel, my thoughts wandering everywhere.~

http://pinterest.com/pin/38351034300054362/

~There's something exceptionally gorgeous about this picture.~

http://pinterest.com/pin/38351034300078555/

~I am tempted to dedicate one of my books like this someday. Scratch that, I AM going to do this with one of my books.~

http://pinterest.com/pin/38351034300054401/

~I was searching "taking names" one day and found this... now I want this shirt.~

http://pinterest.com/pin/38351034300065808/

~Ain't that the truth! I mean, you COULD listen to TDG at a low volume, but you won't feel the magnitude of awesome unless it's at high volume.~

http://pinterest.com/pin/38351034300024698/

~I still remember when Nathan Fillion tweeted this picture.~

http://pinterest.com/pin/38351034300078632/

~It's hard to move forward when you allow yourself to be trapped in the chains. The chains being anything that is holding you back from where you want to be.~

http://pinterest.com/pin/38351034300040793/

~I so so so want to start making these things out of shirts. I keep seeing them all over the place online and I would love to make one for myself.~


So, what awesomeness have you pinned?

Jessica

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Title: Requiem
Author: Lauren Oliver
Published: March 5th 2013
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Buy: Amazon ~*~ Barnes & Noble
Add to your Goodreads shelf
Caution: Contains spoilers!

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

My Thoughts:

Okay. First off, I'm really happy that this was one of the dystopian series I really got into. Delirium and Pandemonium were exquisite and really sucked me into the world in numerous ways. I was so very excited to read the final book and see what happens to Lena and everyone she knows. I was hoping for something just as wonderful as the first two books. However, I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be.

Writing this review is going to be extraordinarily hard without giving away spoilers, and as much as I want to NOT give away spoilers, I kind of HAVE to so that I can express my thoughts clearly. SOOO. If you haven't read Requiem yet (and don't want the ending ruined), this WILL contain SPOILERS. Stop reading now. Okay? Thanks!

That being said... After the "surprise" ending in Pandemonium where Lena gets the shock of her life that her first love, Alex, is still alive, I knew exactly how the story was going to go. I even said that in my review of Pandemonium. It's like every other love triangle, there's always a clear winner... not the one that is clear in YOUR own eyes, but the one that is made OBVIOUS by the author. They may TRY to make it seem like there's a possibility that she's going to choose the other guy, but trust me, she won't. As much as I adored Julian, I knew he was Lena's second choice from the start and the only reason she was staying with him throughout was just because she felt like she had to AND because Alex acted like he didn't want her. So, as I was reading about her internal struggle, it was just painful to me because I was going to be disappointed in that aspect.

Other than that whole ordeal, the story was pretty good. Hearing about the world of being cured through Hana's perspective was intense. She's so broken post-operation, all her thoughts just feel like she's a robot, going through the motions so as to not make anyone upset. When she discovers the conspiracies and starts questioning what is right and wrong, it makes me happy because you know that the real Hana is still in there, hanging on by a thread.

Requiem, although it didn't exactly end in the way I wanted it to, was still a pretty good ending to the series. The way everything was pulled together in the end, while it wasn't some sort of "everything gets worked out" endings, it worked for me. It wasn't my favorite book in the series, that award still goes to Pandemonium, Lauren Oliver's beautiful writing still made up for it.

My Rating:

Monday, August 26, 2013

Cover Reveal: Hothouse Flower by Krista Ritchie and Becca Ritchie


Hello all! I am pleased to share a new cover for Krista Ritchie and Becca Ritchie's new novel, Hothouse Flower.

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Hothouse Flower 
byKrista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie 
Release Date: February 2014 

Summary from Goodreads:

Ryke Meadows, meet Daisy Calloway ... she’s all grown up. 

Twenty-five-year-old Ryke Meadows knows he’s hard to love. With a billion-dollar inheritance, a track-star resume, and an alpha-male personality—he redefines the term likable asshole. But he’s not living to make friends. Or enemies. After months helping his brother through rehab and sobriety, he just wants to free climb three of the toughest mountains in Yosemite without drama or interruption. 

And then he receives a distressed call from a girl in Paris—a girl that he has never been allowed to have. 

Daisy Calloway is eighteen. Finally. With her newfound independence, she can say goodbye to her overbearing mother and continue her modeling career. Next stop, Paris. Fashion week begins with a bang, and Daisy uncovers the ugly reality of the industry. She wants to prove to her family that she can live on her own, but when everything spirals out of control, she turns to Ryke to keep her secrets. 

As Daisy struggles to make sense of this new world and her freedom, she pushes the limits and fearlessly rides the edge. Ryke knows there’s deep hurt beneath every impulsive action. He must keep up with Daisy, and if he lets her go, her favorite motto—“live as if you’ll die today”—may just come true. 

Standalone New Adult Romance: recommended for readers 18+ for mature content 


About the Authors
Becca Ritchie is a carnivore of pop culture, television, film and of course YA and NA books. While in college, she worked at The CW television network and put her vampiric knowledge to good use, blogging about hit series and swooning over actors’ abs. When she’s not blogging, she writes novels and has teamed up with her twin sister for their New Adult novel ADDICTED TO YOU. Available July of 2013. 

Krista Ritchie is the mind behind popular trading website YA Book Exchange and created Nawanda Files, a book blog that also features books into movies news. When not pouring over entertainment news and the newest releases, she spends her time conducting research in a genetics lab. She’s happy to join forces with her sister, harnessing their twin powers to produce the first in a New Adult series. 


Becca’s Links: 

Krista’s Links: 
GoodreadsTwitter


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Cover Reveal Oranized by: 
Jessica

Sunday, August 25, 2013

For The Love Of Books Giveaway Hop


Welcome to the For The Love Of Books Giveaway Hop!

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Today you have the chance to win ONE of the following AWESOME ebooks:


1. Precious Things by Stephanie Parent
2. The Game Changer by Marie Landry
3. Impossible by Komal Kant
4. His Wicked Games by Ember Casey
5. Losing It by Cora Carmack
6. On Dublin Street by Samantha Young

Note: The book can be sent to you for Kindle, Nook, or otherwise if available on Smashwords.

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Sound good? Good! Here's the official rules/guidelines for the giveaway:

1. You must be a follower.
2. You must be over 15 years old.
3. This is open to international followers.
4. This contest runs from August 25th through 31st.
5. You can gain extra entries by "liking" my Facebook page, following me on Twitter @Jess_Sankiewicz, &/or "liking" my writer page on Facebook.
6. Winner will be selected at 12:01 a.m. on September 1st via Rafflecopter random selection.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Check out all the other participants in the giveaway hop!







Thank you for following and entering!!! <3

Jessica

Friday, August 23, 2013

Thoughts Weekly Update (34)


Welcome to the Weekly Update here on Thoughts! This is where I will share what books I finished, what I am currently reading, the current word count on my WIP, links from the posts from the last week, and maybe a little something on what's going on in my life.

Finished


His Wicked Games by Ember Casey (-Goodreads-)
Locked by Maya Cross (-Goodreads-)

Currently Reading


Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard (-Goodreads-)
A Thirty-Something Girl by L.M. Stull (-Goodreads-)
Foreplay by Sophie Jordan (-Goodreads-)

Up Next


Northanger Alibi by Jenni Jones (-Goodreads-)

Word Count 

If Only We ~ 57,556
Check out my writer blog for the latest.

On The Blog This Week


The Latest With Me

I totally reached an epiphany this week. How so? Well, I'll be sharing those thoughts in a post soon since it's a bookish epiphany. I'm actually going to start a little series of articles on being a book blogger. I've had all sorts of thoughts come to mind on it and since they amuse me greatly and I'm pretty sure a lot of you would TOTALLY relate, I figured I should start sharing it with you and see your thoughts too! I'm hoping to have the first post up the beginning of September. So, stay tuned!

I'm SLOWLY getting caught up on reading. I've been sneaking in some children's books and comic books, which I think is bringing me more satisfaction than I thought. I originally started doing this to help my Goodreads goal but it's turning out to be pretty fun to switch it up a little bit with reading. Plus, it makes me want to read "big girl" books even more. Lol.


Hope you have a great weekend!!!

Jessica