Still on My Mind #4

Still on My Mind is a weekly meme, featured on Thursday, started by Haley over at Ya-Aholic, where you discuss a book you've either recently read, or read over the past few years, that's still on your mind.


This week's book I read back in February, right before I headed to Long Beach for the Passion & Prose Conference.  
I actually ate lunch right next to this author on the day, and got to talk to her about amazing book, shortly after I had read it! She was really sweet, and even wrote a super sweet message into my beautiful Hardcover copy of the book...

Cinder (Review HERE) by Marissa Meyer is 100% one of my favorite novels released this year!  It was original (when it comes to a Cinderella story), had great characters, kept me hooked throughout the entire thing, and was an all around great read!

If you're one of the few people whose missed this great page turner, here's the description from Goodreads:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, the ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone! :)

The Romance Bookie :)

Music Tuesday #22

In honor of school being over and grades coming out (I got As and Bs!!!), here's the perfect song to kick of this beautiful summer!!

It's time for reading, tanning, and turning 21 (in my case!!) :).

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

The Romance Bookie :)

Why Couldn't these Have been Books before Movies?? Part 1

Happy Monday Everyone! In this case I can't even say "Just another Manic Monday" because technically today nothing is open due to Memorial Day.  So before I keep going, let me just say a HUGE thank you to all veterans, and current soldiers who have served!

So I know most of you already know how much I love books, but what you may not know is that I am a HUGE movie junkie!  In fact, here is a picture of my movie collection:

I do admit I am pretty darn proud of my collection! And yes, on the stand with "Smallville" that is "Lizzie McGuire" you see there! :)

Well anyway, I was watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy yesterday (which by the way, is yet ANOTHER show my mom is possibly getting me hooked on!!!) and Christina Ricci was a guest star on it.  And every time I see Christina I think of one of my all time favorite movies, which she starred in, Penelope, and it made me think about something...is Penelope based on a book?

I checked it out, and the answer is unfortunately no.  However, after the movie was released someone did come out with one of those books "inspired by the movie"; which to be honest I'm not really a fan of...because they are just too similar to the movies, so I might as well watch just the movie.

ANYWAY, that got me thinking...what OTHER movies are there that were NOT inspired by a novel, but would have made AWESOME books, (with possibly a few minor changes), before the movie was released??

Here's my list (and not in any specific order, I just LOVE all of these movies!):

• Penelope featuring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, and Reese Witherspoon

Here's the Description from Imdb:
"In this modern day romantic tale, Penelope is about a young girl's inspiring journey, a mysterious family secret and the power of love. With all odds against her, in order for Penelope to break the family curse, she must find true love with "one of her own kind" and realize the most important life lesson, "I like myself the way I am." Penelope Wilhern, born to wealthy socialites, is afflicted by the Wilhern spell that can only be broken when she finds love. Hidden away in her family's estate, the lonely girl meets a string of suitors in her parent's futile attempt to break the curse. Each eligible bachelor is enamored with Penelope and her sizable dowry; until her curse is revealed. Lemon, a mischievous and eager tabloid reporter wants a photograph of the mysterious Penelope and hires Max to pose as a prospective suitor to get the shot. The handsome down-on-his luck gambler finds himself falling for Penelope, but not wanting to disappoint her or to expose his surreptitious ways, he decides to disappear. Fed up by his latest betrayal and determined to live life on her own terms, Penelope breaks free from her family and ventures into the world alone. She finds adventure and Annie, her first friend and becomes the person she was meant to be. Written by Summit Entertainment"

And here's a picture of the beautiful James McAvoy, just because he is absolutely gorgeous in this movie...

 

•  Because I Said So featuring Mandy Moore, Diane Keaton, Gabriel Macht, Lauren Graham, and Piper Perabo.

 Description from Imdb:
"Daphne Wilder is a mother whose love knows no bounds or boundaries. She is the proud mom of three daughters: stable psychologist Maggie, sexy and irreverent Mae and insecure, adorable Milly - who, when it comes to men, is like psychotic flypaper. In order to prevent her youngest from making the same mistakes she did, Daphne decides to set Milly up with the perfect man. Little does Milly know, however, that her mom placed an ad in the on-line personals to find him. Comic mayhem unfolds as Daphne continues to do the wrong thing for the right reasons...all in the name of love. In a battle of strong wills, the mother-daughter dynamic is tested in all its fierce, wacky complexity. The girls help Daphne finally discover the truths and impossibilities of motherly love, all while trying to answer the questions: where does it begin and where should it end? Written by anonymous  "

And just because I like looking at him too:

Johnny from Because I Said So

• My Life in Ruins featuring Nia Vardalos and Richard Dreyfuss

Description from Imdb:
"Georgia is an American academic who's lost her teaching job in Athens. She's taken a job as a tour guide, but she hates it and it shows: the tourists, mostly American, are bored with history and facts; they want to shop. Every group has a goofy couple, a frat boy, a sullen teen, a feuding couple, divorcées looking for a mate, and a funny guy. This group is no exception, plus there's no air conditioning and a bearded silent driver. Thanks to an unlikely friendship, plus daisies, an ice-cream cone, the history of syrup, and the Oracle at Delphi, Georgia may have a shot at finding her kefi during this four-day tour."

How can anyone forget "Poupi Kakas"??

• Never Been Kissed featuring Drew Barrymore

 Description from Imdb:
"Chicago Sun Times copy editor Josie Gellar (25), who was desperate to graduate from perfectionist copy editor to reporter, gets her chance when the goody owner orders the editor to cover the high-school scene by undercover. Josie, who was a frustrated, ridiculed nerd, gets a popular make-over from her drop-out, naturally funny brother Rob Geller. Both siblings find love and joys of youth again. But in Josie's case, it's sensitive bachelor teacher Sam Coulson, who enjoys sophisticated conversation. As the publication deadline approaches, the price of blowing their cover seems ever more daunting, yet inevitable unless she sacrifices her career."

• She's the Man by Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum

Even though this one is based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night it wouldn't have been the first time someone rewrote a classic story into modern times... :)

Description from Imdb:
"When her brother decides to ditch for a couple weeks in London, Viola heads over to his elite boarding school, disguises herself as him, and proceeds to fall for one of her soccer teammates. Little does she realize she's not the only one with romantic troubles, as she, as he, gets in the middle of a series of intermingled love affairs."

 How can anyone forget this scene??

 And Channing still looks HOT, even with a Tampon up his nose...sigh... ;)

So that's Part 1 of Movies that Would've Made Great Books!
:)

More coming soon!!

The Romance Bookie :)

IMM #6

In My Mailbox was originally started by The Story Siren and it's where anyone can participate and let everyone know what they got in books, and other book related things, throughout a given time.  Anyone with a blog can join in, and you can post once a week, once a month, or whenever you choose to.


I got some SUPER amazing things this month!! Including a REALLY AWESOME early-birthday present which I will be sure to put to good use this summer!! Oh yeah, did I mention I am turning 21 on July 2nd??  Yeah, me...moi...ich...I am turning the big 2-1!!! Anyway, I'm sure it won't be the last time I'll mention my 21st, so to get on with this post, here are the FABULOUS things I got this month! :)


Let me start with the paper books I got:


For FREE!!!!:

• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt  (the library I volunteer at was giving away a TON of great books, so I picked out a few of my favorites) (I remember reading this book in 6th grade with my class, and then as a class we walked to our local movie theater and saw the movie with Alexis Bledel (Can you believe that was almost 10 years ago??)
• Are You There God, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume (Got this one also from the library to keep)
• The Wish by Gail Carson Levine (Same)
• Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth (always wanted to read this one)
• The Giver by Lois Lowry (I've always wanted to read this one, heard so many great things about it!, so when I saw it for free, I couldn't turn it down! :))
• Maniac McGee by Jerry Spinelli (read this one in the 5th grade) :)
• The Nancy Drew Sleuth Book by Carolyn Keene  (I just LOVE Nancy Drew!)
• Titanic: The Long Night by Diane Hoh (I've always found the story of the Titanic so fascinating!)
• Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum #13.5) by Janet Evanovich (got this one for free at the place I workout...yes, they have books! :))

Bought:

•  The Host by Stephenie Meyer (I got such a SUPER deal on this one! I read it when it originally came out, but really want to read it again next year when the movie is released! :).  I paid only like $7 for the HARDCOVER on Barnes and Noble!)
• City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (I AM SO EXCITED TO READ THIS ONE!!)
• The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (I have wanted to read this one since it was released in January!!)
• Twelve Sharp (#12 in Stephanie Plum Series) by Janet Evanovich
• Hot Six (#6 in Stephanie Plum Series) by Janet Evanovich
• Wicked by Gregory MaGuire (I enjoyed this book back during my sophomore year in high school, and I have the musical pocket edition, but when I saw the original cover for $1 at my local library's book store, I just couldn't turn it down!) :)
• Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella (I love Sophie's books!!)
• Missing You (#5 in 1-800-Where-R-You Series) by Meg Cabot  (just in time for Meg-A Readers!! :))
• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan  (this book I actually bought for my brother's 11th birthday in July, his is 2 days after mine, on the 4th of July!) :)
• And lastly, do you see that awesome box on top??  YUP, that's my beautiful shiny new Nikon CoolPix Camera!! Isn't it just gorgeous, and look at the gorgeous pictures it takes!!!! :) Can't wait to use that this summer!! Finally a decent camera for concerts and trips! :)

Borrowed from Library:

• Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson (LOVED this book!! Review HERE!!)

 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Jk Rowling, read by Jim Dale (Audio Book)
(I have really enjoyed listening to the Harry Potter series through Audio Book, and can't wait to continue! to fulfill one of my 2012 Challenges)


Review:

• Dancing Naked in Dixie by Lauren Clark (I read this one a few weeks ago, Review HERE)

THANK YOU LAUREN!!! For the awesome swag!! Oh and Also MY NAME is in the Acknowledgements!!! :)

 Won:

The Story of Us by Deb Caletti (A HUGEEE THANK YOU to the ladies at The Midnight Garden for this lovely Hardcover copy of Deb Caletti's latest book!!) IT'S SIGNED TOO!!!

Now to the Ebooks:

Netgalley:

• What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor
• Starring Me by Krista McGee  (really looking forward to reading this one! I enjoyed Krista's novel First Date)
• Undead by Kirsty McKay
• Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony (#5 in Artemis Fowl Series) by Eoin Colfer
• Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (#6 in Artemis Fowl Series) by Eoin Colfer

For Review (Received from Author)/Book Tour:

•  SelfSame by Melissa Conway (received for review from Melissa)
• The Aspen 2 Million by John S. Morris Jr. (Couldn't find this on Goodreads), but I'm a date on the Blog Tour)

Purchased/Free from Amazon:

• Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik (I've had my eye on this one for a while, and it was on sale this month on Amazon for only $2.99!)
• Soulless (#1 in The Parasol Protectorate Series) by Gail Carriger (I got to see Gail at the Passion and Prose Conference in February, so I've been really interested in reading her novel, and it was on sale on Amazon a couple of weeks ago!!)
• The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell (on sale for $2.99 this month on Amazon)
• Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley (on sale for $2.99 this month on Amazon)
• Love and Other Things I'm Bad At by Catherine Clark (only $2.99 on Amazon!)
• Just the Way You Are by Barbara Freethy (FREE on Amazon!) 
• The Rock Star's Daughter by Caitlyn Duffy (FREE on Amazon!!)
• Kissed in Paris by Juliette Sobanet (FREE on Amazon!)
• South Beach Cinderella by Sharon Potts (FREE on Amazon!)
• The Works of Edgar Allen Poe (Volume One) By Edgar Allen Poe (FREE on Amazon!)
• The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe (FREE on Amazon!)

Got some awesome stuff this week, right??!!

Here's a recap of all the paper books:

 Isn't it just beautiful??!!

Okay, then I also wanted to do a recap of my reviews from this month:

• One Day Movie
• Dancing Naked in Dixie by Lauren Clark (ARC ebook review)
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
• The Lucky One Movie
• The Fate of the Muse by Derrolyn Anderson
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
• Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
• Feyland: The Bright Court by Anthea Sharp (ARC ebook Review)
• Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

So that's it from me, for my IMM this month! Remember this is FROM ONE MONTH, NOT one week!!  People got a bit confused last month I think.  I mean for one month this is already a ton of stuff!! But one week??!! WOW! That would just be crazy!

Happy Sunday!

The Romance Bookie :)

Recap of Week 2 Of Meg-A Readers Blog Hop! Plus Code Name Cassandra Review

Hey Everyone!!

So Week 2 has come and gone already! :)

We had some exciting posts again this week!!

We had an awesome review from Kati over at Victorian Wonderland of the Mediator series and lovely California.  And Alex over A Girl, Books, and Other Things named her five favorite Meg Cabot characters (which by the way contains some SUPER awesome characters!!).
Oh and Diana over at Little Miss Drama Queen is giving away a signed copy of Abandon!!
Recap Links:

• Alex's Top Five Favorite Meg Cabot characters
• Kati's A Trip to Ghostly California and Mediator Review
• Diana's Giveaway of Abandon 
• The Mythology Challenge!! for Meg-A Readers!
• Music Tuesday featuring Meg Cabot inspired songs

So for this week, in honor of Meg-A Readers I've also decided to do a review on Code Name Cassandra (#3 in the 1-800-Where-R-You Series):

The 1-800-Where-R-You series is literally the only series I have not read by Meg Cabot!  I've had my eyes on them for forever, but just hadn't gotten around to reading them! I read the first book in the series When Lightning Strike (review HERE!) back in February, and found myself loving yet another series by Meg Cabot! She's proven again to me, just how versatile she can be, while still holding on to that lovely charm she adds to her characters in each of her novels! I just absolutely adore it!

Code Name Cassandra includes the lovely character Jess, who in the first novel was struck by lightning and wakes up the morning after knowing exactly (address and everything!) where a kid who went missing years ago, after she saw his picture on a milk carton the night before!

After fighting off the FBI, and convincing them that her powers "have disappeared", Jess has attempted to live a normal life, and sign up to be a counselor for a music prodigy camp for the summer, instead of changing the trays on the steam table, in one of her father's Italian restaurants (and not the good one, the buffet one, which Jess just hates working at).

She hates those steam tables, and figured that working with a few smart music kids would be fun! Plus she gets to the counselor for a girl cabin, where she plans on having longs talks into the night, braiding their hair, and having fun!

...Unfortunately, her head counselor has other ideas...like reenforcing Jess to a BOY cabin, because they were a bit short of male counselors, and have gotten a new girl counselor to replace her in the girl cabin...and that girl just happens to be the annoying chick who fights for Jess's third chair in band each year, by challenging her!

Trying everything she can to stay low, she seems to fail miserably when one of the boys...the annoying one (you know, every cabin has one!), calls her out on being "Lightning Girl"; AND a father tracks her down and asks her to find his daughter whose been taken by his ex-wife and is living with her new boyfriend...who lets just say, isn't the type guy you would want to even call a friend...let alone a BOYfriend!

Jess excepts the case, especially after she sees the little girls picture...but asks the father not to tell anyone!

What happens?
Well, of course what always happens!  Hint: it has to do with the F-B-I! Yeah, the big Feds!

Along the way, Jess also continues to try to convince Rob (the guy she met in detention during the first book) that she and him are meant to be together, and that age shouldn't an issue...she will be seventeen in eight and a half months afterall! And it's not like Rob's old! He's only eighteen!  But Rob won't have any of it! But he is willing to drive 4 hours to help out Jess when she asks for it!

Overall rating:

I thought this was a great continuation of Jess's story!  I am really looking forward to reading the third one very soon! Especially now that Meg-A Readers is in full swing! :)

The Romance Bookie :)

And don't forget to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway for Meg-A Readers!!

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Still on My Mind Thursday #3

Still on My Mind is a weekly meme, featured on Thursday, started by Haley over at Ya-Aholic, where you discuss a book you've either recently read, or read over the past few years, that's still on your mind.

This week I've decided to choose a book I read a few weeks ago...

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins was just one of those books I couldn't get out my head!  I just absolutely adored it!

Here's the Goodreads description:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

I had the hardest time putting this book down, because it just had it all!  Friendship, love, cute boys, Paris (!!!), the Eiffel Tower, drama, sad moments, funny moment...you name it it had it (minus fantasy/paranormal stuff).  This book just felt so real!

I absolutely adored it, and it definitely became an all time favorite!

For my review go HERE! :)

So that's another Still On My Mind from me! :)

The Romance Bookie :)

Liebster Blog Love Award! :)

So I was nominated for my first ever blog award!! How cute is that??!!

Alysia over at Little Pocket Books, whom I met back in February at Passion and Prose, has nominated me for this small super cute blog award!

It's called the Liebster Blog Love Award!  Translated, being a German myself, "Liebster" means "Favorite" :).

I was super excited to have someone say they truly enjoy looking at my blog sometimes! It's one of the reasons I do this, because I want to share my love of books with you. :)

Alysia had the sweetest thing to say about my blog and me:

"I met this young blogger at the Passion and Prose Conference in February.  And she is a Meg Cabot fan.  Like soon to be President of the Meg Cabot fan club.  I love it!  I love her post about music too!"

Thanks Alysia!! I WISH I could be President of the Official Meg Cabot fan club!! ;)

Anyway, so now it's my turn to nominate my Top Five Favorite Blogs!!

Aside from author blogs (Kody Keplinger's, Meg Cabot's, and a few others) and the bigger blogs like The Story Siren and YA-Aholic I have decided to with a couple of my favorite smallerish blogs (i.e. the ones that some of you may not know about already...however, I must say the majority of them are bigger than mine :)).

So here are my Top 5 Blogs, that I read the most:

Stephanie over at Stepping Out of the Page has a super cute blog, that I enjoy reading all the time.  Her Owl design always catches my attention on my personal Facebook page, so I somehow usually end up reading at least one of her posts a week. 

Diana over at Little Miss Drama Queen

I nominate Diana, because she has a fabulous blog, where she not only talks about some awesome music but also, like me, likes to talk about her love for Meg Cabot's work!  :)

The Sagacity Quest  has a lot of great posts! She's read a lot of great books, and I believe I've even gotten a few recommendations through her reviews! :)

The Teen Book Guru's got some great stuff on her blog! Plus I love her button!! :)

 

I LOVE movies! I love going to the theaters, because I love the smell of that buttery popcorn, and I love seeing the latest Romantic Comedy!  Liz over at Yes/No Films, has a great blog, which I'm subscribed through emails.  Every Friday I have the latest movie review waiting in my inbox, and it has allowed to live precariously through Liz, because I just don't have the money to see a movie all the time.  But I truly enjoy reading about the latest movie she's seen!

So those are my nominations!

According to Alysia, what these bloggers are supposed to do now is...
1. Thank the one who nominated you by linking back.
2. Nominate five blogs with fewer than 200 followers. 
3. Let your nominees know by leaving a comment on their sites.
4. Add the award image to your site.

So I'm off to doing number 3 and 4 on the list! :)

Thanks everyone!

The Romance Bookie :)

Meg-A Readers Mythology Challenge!

Hey Everyone!!

So I almost completely forgot, THANK GOODNESS I have Diana over at Little Miss Drama Queen working with me on Meg-A Readers, because she was the one to remind me the other day! :)

As mentioned in the first official post introducing Meg-A Readers Blog Hop! we will be having a mythology challenge in honor of the release of Underworld!

The Mythology Challenge will be lasting June 16th, and afterwards we will be starting the Mystery Challenge, honoring the release of Size 12 and Ready to Rock (July 10th), on June 17th!

Anyway, from now until June 16th, the Mythology Challenge is open to EVERYONE! :)

I personally haven't that many mythology books, the only ones I can think are Abandon and Underworld, and the first two Percy Jackson books.  However, I have always been fascinated by mythology, so I'm hopefully planning on reading on or two books! :)

Here are the Challenge Levels:
                           1 book Mortal
                           2-4 books Demigod
                           Over 6 God(dess)


Here are some recommendations, if you're having trouble on deciding what you want you would like to read during the Challenge, of course suggestions are always open! :)

Of course we can't forget:

Abandon by Meg Cabot

&

Underworld by Meg Cabot

And other choices:

Oh.My. Gods. (Oh. My. Gods, #1) by Tera Lynn Childs

The Goddess Test (Goddess Test, #1) by Aimee Carter

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Betrayal (The Descendants #1) by Mayandree Michel 

Sacrifice  by Mayandree Michel

Starcrossed (Starcrossed, #1) by Josephine Angelini

 

Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

Destined by Jessie Harrell

Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton

Troy High by Shana Norris

The Lighting Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan
2. The Sea of Monsters
3. The Titan's Curse
4. The Battle of the Labyrinth 
5. The Last Olympian

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

So those are some suggestions, but of course I know there are tons more out there, so if you can think of any others just mention them in the comments section! :)

I hope everyone joins in! And when you do your reviews just link up your reviews in the comments! :)

The Romance Bookie :)

Music Tuesday #20/21

Hey Everyone! So I pretty much forgot Music Tuesday last week, and also didn't really want it to interfere with the kick-off of Meg-A Readers, so this week I will be featuring two songs!!

:)

In honor of Meg-A Readers, I've got two Meg Cabot related songs...

The first is completely in honor of Meg Cabot.  I was extremely lucky enough to be able to get an interview with Meg (!!!), and in it she tells me her guilty pleasure when it comes to music while writing...

I don't know if you guys will believe when I say this, but here is one of his songs...

Yup! PITBULL!!!!! How awesome is that??!!

And now to the second song!

This one was featured on the Princess Diaries Soundtrack...

That is such a cute song! :)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

The Romance Bookie :)

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour is a journey to Remember!

I LOVED Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson!!

Amy lost her father three months ago, and after her twin brother gets sent to rehab and her mother moves to Connecticut, leaving Amy alone for a month and having to deal with everything by herself.  She has no one to talk to, all she wants to do is talk to her mom or brother, but instead she's stuck alone, and now has found out that she has to get her mother's car to Connecticut, while driving with someone who she apparently played "Spuds" with, but she can't remember him at all.

What Amy didn't expect was how cute Roger would be.  However, that doesn't change matters.  Amy has changed and all she can think about is what happened, and she can't help but thinking about the old Amy, or "Amy!" as she thinks of her.

Amy's dealing with some serious pain, including holding in a secret about the accident that only her mother and brother know about.
And along the way, she finds out Roger got a few things to deal with on his own (which I am going to honest here, are nothing compared to Amy's though).

Amy's mom had the entire trip planned out...rest stops, hotel reservations, etc. all planned.

But everything changes when Roger gets into the driver's side of the car...hence the "Epic Detour".

I absolutely ADORED this book!! OMG, this is a favorite! I want this to be made into a movie! Morgan Maton's writing style and story line reminded me of Sarah Dessen's style, one of my favorite authors.  It's got that realistic feel that Sarah is famous for, something I truly enjoy reading. :)
In fact, I actually loved EVERYTHING about this book! Not just the story line and characters! But I also loved the design of the book.  The whole thing is written in a way where it's almost like a diary, and in between you've got pictures that appear to be like a scrapbook.

PLUS Roger likes making music playlists, so in between we get to read the awesome music choices!  Plus, Amy loves Musicals! Something I absolutely LOVE too!! :)

This book is just one of those books I think I will remember for quite some time!  I think I may even end buying this one, one day.  (I borrowed it out of the library this time).

So honestly, if you get the chance to get your hands on this book...READ IT!!! :)

The Romance Bookie :)

Michael Blog/Hop Tour Aaron Patterson!

OMG I almost forgot!!

So I was contacted a few months ago by Aaron Patterson, the author of Airel, and asked to be a part of the Michael Blog Tour!

ONE DAY BLOG TOUR! 
MAY 17th!

Michael, book two in the Airel Saga, is live on Amazon TODAY ONLY for a discounted price!!

 To take advantage of this awesome deal, head to Amazon and check out the eBook version of Michael at its promotional price, then see below to enter the contest. Also, leave me a comment on this post. The blogger with the most comments will win the Kindle Fire! If I win, I’ll also get the chance to be part of a special giveaway in the next few months.

Praise for Michael
"Move over Twilight! Here comes Aaron Patterson!" --Joshua Graham, bestselling author of Beyond Justice and Darkroom
"I was surprised by how much I really, really liked this book. I have not jumped on the whole "fallen angel" bandwagon, just as I didn't jump on all of the vampire stories that came out after Twilight. This is not your typical fallen angel story. It is one that has left me breathlessly waiting for the next one in the series. Hurry up please!!!" --Sandra Stiles

Description of Michael
Michael did the unthinkable to save Airel from death, but now he must live with the choices he has made--both good and evil. Tortured by his past and haunted by what he believes might be his future, Michael seeks redemption--but will the past prove to be too strong? How can he break free of it and be the man he longs to be for Airel? If only he had never...
Airel. Michael's one true love. He had forced her to drink in new life only to find that old wounds and deep scars do not heal overnight. Can she truly forgive Michael, can she truly love him? And can he accept that forgiveness? Or is it all for nothing, and has he gone too far already? As the darkness of past choices closes in on them, chases them, intercepts them, coming at them from everywhere at once, how can their love possibly survive?

Aaron Patterson is the author of the best-selling WJA series, as well as two Digital Shorts: 19 and The Craigslist Killer. He was home-schooled and grew up in the west. Aaron loved to read as a small child and would often be found behind a book, reading one to three a day on average. This love drove him to want to write, but he never thought he had the talent. His wife Karissa prodded him to try it, and with this encouragement, he wrote Sweet Dreams, the first book in the WJA series, in 2008. Airel is his first teen series, and plans for more to come are already in the works. He lives in Boise, Idaho with his family, Soleil, Kale and Klayton. His daughter had an imaginary friend named She.


Chris White has an award for reading 750 books in one school year — from the 3rd grade. So yes, he’s more of a nerd than Aaron. Chris loves history, Sherlock Holmes, and anything that’s not virtual, like old motorcycles and mechanical typewriters. He also doesn’t get why we have these things called “smart phones” when all they do is make people dumber. Chris recently celebrated 10 years of marriage with his wife, April, and has two boys: Noah, age 8, and Jaden, age 3, who inspired the Great Jammy Adventure series; the OK-to-color-in picture books. Chris is working on a short story called The Marsburg Diary that will further explore the prologue to Airel, and he is finishing up his first novel, entitled K: phantasmagoria, due out in 2011. Chris has a major crush on Audrey Hepburn, who is now dead. His wife is okay with all of this.

 

Feyland: The Bright Court

I got an email from Anthea Sharp about two weeks ago, telling me her second novel in the Feyland Trilogy was being released and she wanted ME to read it!!

I absolutely loved Feyland: The Dark Realm (Review HERE!), and so of course jumped on the chance to read the sequel Feyland: The Bright Court immediately!

The Bright Court takes off right where The Dark Realm left off.  Jennet and Tam continue to look for a way to stop the prototype of Feyland to be released out in the world.  Here's the problem though...what if the company owner's son is playing it and doesn't seem to be having any problems playing the game?

Well that's what happened when Roy Lassiter comes to join Tam and Jennet at their high school.  And according to Jennet's father, who is in charge of Feyland's production, Roy has been playing the game for months and nothing has happened...or so he says...

Jennet and Tam soon realize something is up.
Why is Roy attracting all these women with his fake charm?  And did one of the girls come back looking a little drained?
Well, Tam and Jennet work together to find out, along the way finding themselves again in the magical, yet unpredictable world of Feyland, and along the way possibly changing their relationship status. ;)

I really enjoyed this one! When I read The Dark Realm last year, it genuinely surprised me! I had been a bit worried when it came to reading a book set most of the time in a video game.  I kept asking myself, Is this going to be like Spy Kids? or Oh no this is going to be like reading a book based on a video game! I don't want to read Halo!
However, after reading the both books I have never felt more wrong! This series is so much fun to be inside of.  As I read Tam and Jennet's adventures in Feyland I feel like I am right there beside them witnessing everything first hand with them.
It's an action packed series that you don't want to miss! And of course, with a side of romance... :), something that, in my opinion, every book needs! :)

Overall rating:

Feyland: The Bright Court is set to be officially released on May 26th, so I hope you all get your copy.  Smashwords has it available for download now already! :)

The Romance Bookie :)