Teaster Tuesday #5

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading. Grab your current read, open to a random page and share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page - remember, no spoilers!

A very late Teaser Tuesday. I've started a new diet so that has been taking up a lot of my thoughts/time. Sorry!

"Will opened his eyes to a bright blue sky. His head hurt, but the Advil had done it's thing; he was just uncomfortable instead of feeling like he was going to die"

- P. 162, Will by Dan Cardinal

Friday Finds #5

Friday finds is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading which showcases the books you've recently ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list.

Stolen: A Letter To My Captor by Lucy Christopher

Description:
It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him. This is my story. A letter from nowhere. Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Description:
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell. Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

Attainment by J.H. Cardwell

Description:
There are many ways to capture a person’s love, but unwilling, full attainment is never the best option. Life hasn’t been easy for 18 year old Reese Stanford. After a traumatic incident a year ago, she has a hard time trusting any guy. She finally allows herself to fall for the heart throb, Tate Justice, only to realize he too comes with his own set of issues. Swearing off men, she meets a beach ‘god’ who will settle for no less than all of Reese. That is at least, until she learns a truth about Tate that changes the game entirely.

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch

Description:
A historical thriller set in Germany, 1660: When a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder, hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is at play in his small Bavarian town. Whispers and dark memories of witch trials and the women burned at the stake just seventy years earlier still haunt the streets of Schongau. When more children disappear and an orphan boy is found dead—marked by the same tattoo—the mounting hysteria threatens to erupt into chaos. Before the unrest forces him to torture and execute the very woman who aided in the birth of his children, Jakob must unravel the truth. With the help of his clever daughter, Magdelena, and Simon, the university-educated son of the town’s physician, Jakob discovers that a devil is indeed loose in Schongau. But it may be too late to prevent bloodshed. A brilliantly detailed, fast-paced historical thriller, The Hangman’s Daughter is the first novel from German television screenwriter Oliver Pötzsch, a descendent of the Kuisls, a famous Bavarian executioner clan.

Wicked: Witch & Curse by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguié

Description:
Holly Cathers's world shatters when her parents are killed in a terrible accident. Wrenched from her home in San Francisco, she is sent to Seattle to live with her relatives, Aunt Marie-Claire and her twin cousins, Amanda and Nicole. In her new home, Holly's sorrow and grief soon give way to bewilderment at the strange incidents going on around her. Such as how any wish she whispers to her cat seems to come true. Or the way a friend is injured after a freak attack from a vicious falcon. And there's the undeniable, magnetic attraction to a boy Holly barely knows. Holly, Amanda, and Nicole are about to be launced into a dark legacy of witches, secrets, and alliances, where ancient magics yield dangerous results. The girls will assume their roles in an intergenerational feud beyond their wildest imaginations...and in doing so, will attempt to fulfill their shared destiny.

Review - Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

About:
Title: Sisters Red
Author: Jackson Pearce
Publication Date: April 1st 2011 (first published June 7th 2010)
Format: Paperback, 344 pages
Rating:

Description: 
Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris-- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead. Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax-- but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they've worked for. Jackson Pearce delivers a dark, taut fairy tale with heart-pounding action, fierce sisterly love, and a romance that will leave readers breathless.

Review

I love a good re-telling! And this one doesn't disappoint  Re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood (obviously). Scarlett and Rosie are sisters who first learned about the Fenris when one attacked their grand mother and then went for the two sisters. Scarlett took action and killed the wolf but didn't not come away un-scarred. Now Scarlett goes hunting for the Fenris, killing them. The writing of this book was a joy to read, although, some parts could be a little bit boring but there is plenty of action throughout the book. Great character development, found my self loving all 3 of the main characters. Even though I though Silas was very predictable. I'm also glad that the love element didn't fully take over the book and shadowed the relationship between Scarlett and Rosie. Can't wait to read the other books in the Fairytale Retellings series.

Teaser Tuesday #4

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading. Grab your current read, open to a random page and share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page - remember, no spoilers!

"And then it dies. The Fenris explodes into shadow that scatters across the forest floor, skittering under leaves and fallen branches as if it's terrified of exposure." 

- Page 92, Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Friday Finds #4

Friday finds is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading which showcases the books you've recently ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list.

Friday Finds on a Saturday. Sorry about that!

Fairy Tales From The Brothers Grimm

Decription:
Six noted illustrators lend their talents to a definitive Grimms’ gift edition This is a beautiful treasury of some of the most famous stories of the Brothers Grimm, reproduced in their original form. Among many others, the stories include: The Travelling Musicians” (illustrated by Oliver Jeffers), The Golden Bird” (illustrated by Quentin Blake), Tom Thumb” (illustrated by Raymond Briggs), Snow-Drop” (illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark), The Frog-Prince” (illustrated by Axel Scheffler), and Ashputtel” (illustrated by Helen Oxenbury). With an unjacketed, foil-stamped fabric cover, six full color plates, and colored endpapers, this is the perfect edition for gift-giving or for anyone who collects books as art.

172 Hours On The Moon by Johan Harstad

Description:
It's been decades since anyone set foot on the moon. Now three ordinary teenagers, the winners of NASA's unprecedented, worldwide lottery, are about to become the first young people in space--and change their lives forever. Mia, from Norway, hopes this will be her punk band's ticket to fame and fortune. Midori believes it's her way out of her restrained life in Japan. Antoine, from France, just wants to get as far away from his ex-girlfriend as possible. It's the opportunity of a lifetime, but little do the teenagers know that something sinister is waiting for them on the desolate surface of the moon. And in the black vacuum of space... no one is coming to save them. In this chilling adventure set in the most brutal landscape known to man, highly acclaimed Norwegian novelist Johan Harstad creates a vivid and frightening world of possibilities we can only hope never come true.

The Proposal by Tasmina Perry 

Description:
Just say yes to this unforgettable read and take a spellbinding, romantic journey from the dazzling days of the debutantes in 1950s London to glamorous modern Manhattan. When Amy Carrell's wealthy boyfriend ends their relationship just before Christmas, she's left to nurse her broken heart alone. With nothing to lose, she replies to an advertisement requesting a companion for a mysterious 'Manhattan adventure'. Whisked off to New York with eccentric British aristocrat Georgia Hamilton, Amy experiences a glamorous side of the city that she's never seen before. Along the way, Georgia initiates her protegee in the arts of old-school elegance. But as Georgia shares her life lessons, Amy discovers a painful secret in her mentor's past. A secret that shattered her future. A story of love and betrayal that only Amy has the power to put right.

Dark Lover by J. R. Ward

Description:
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood. The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Reality Boy by A. S. King

Description:
Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school. Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that. In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.