Giveaway Winners

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the the following giveaways:

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Congrats to all winners! You will be hearing from me shortly via e-mail. :) 

Top Ten Tuesday #22 | Please, Santa. I've been good... + Teaser Tuesday [ Pivot Point by Kasie West ]

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays friends! This will be my last post until after Christmas.  I hope everyone has a blessed holiday and I hope santa brings you many, many books. :)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! 

This week's Top Ten is: 

Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me

Please, Santa. I've been good! :D

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

The Rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) or so “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

My teaser comes from the book: 

Pivot Point by Kasie West

"It's not that funny. I'm just curious. She kissed a Norm, Addie. As in no abilities whatsoever."

Laila's lips purse together, and her fists tighten--probably because I'm still laughing and Duke looks partially digested. "Okay, Mr. Mover, how does Telekinesis help you kiss?"

Taken from page 241 

Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave me a comment about my top ten or teaser. ;) I would love to hear your thoughts and/or leave your blog links to where I can find your TTT/TT.

Happy Reading!

Review by Hillary: Fault Line by C. Desir

Title: Fault Line
Author: C. Desir
Publishing Company: SimonPulse
Genre: YA—Contemporary Romance
Pages: 226
Released: October 15th 2013

Ben could date anyone he wants, but he only has eyes for the new girl — sarcastic free-spirit, Ani. Luckily for Ben, Ani wants him too. She’s everything Ben could ever imagine. Everything he could ever want.

But that all changes after the party. The one Ben misses. The one Ani goes to alone.

Now Ani isn’t the girl she used to be, and Ben can’t sort out the truth from the lies. What really happened, and who is to blame?

Ben wants to help her, but she refuses to be helped. The more she pushes Ben away, the more he wonders if there’s anything he can do to save the girl he loves.

    

I will never look at lighters the same way ever again. That’s the first thought I had when trying to decide what to write for this review. You’re probably wondering why lighters mean a whole different thing for me now and I wish I could tell you, but I don’t want to be the person to spoil the book for you. Just remember that when you do read this book, there’s a lighter on the cover.

I remember when I read my first and last review for this book. It had convinced me so much I was set on never reading Fault Line. I wish I hadn’t let a review from someone else convince me so fully to give up on a book because I let myself get caught up in someone else’s feelings for this story. I should have realized that everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and feelings for any book and all I should have done was consider those thoughts and feelings. I also didn’t think about the difference in age. I don’t want to throw out names, but the review I read was written from someone a few years younger than me, definitely not in college like me. I’ve read a bunch of stuff that goes way beyond the scope of what’s in this book (thanks to my older sister) and those totally left me scarred.

My mind changed about this book when I found out I had won it in a giveaway I almost didn’t remember entering. At first I was like “Yay!” then I remembered that weeks before I had said “No way!” so I was conflicted about how I should feel about the book for at least a few days. I ended up snapping out of it and told myself that I needed to give it a chance just like any other book I wasn’t sure about before. I’m so glad I listened to that part of myself because there were many things I ended up learning from just this book.

If no one knew this, I’m sorry. If some of you do, you won’t be surprised when I say that this book has things that have to do with rape. That’s mostly the reason for why I learned a lot. If I ever noticed the same signs that I read through this book on someone I know, I would definitely feel comfortable facing that person and asking if something was wrong. I’ve never gone through anything like what the main character named Ben went through with his girlfriend, but I’ve gone through my own emotional trauma when I was depressed years ago that I feel I could try to help someone out.

Ben is the main character in the book starting out his senior year of high school. I thought it was a little funny how he had met his future girlfriend outside a liquor store. Annika or Ani for short is this future girlfriend of his. Her personality totally stumped me from that first meeting between both characters because I’ve never met anyone in real life quite like her. She’s definitely really outspoken and she doesn’t care what others say about her. That is, until things go very wrong. The things Ben had to deal with on his own made me feel so much sympathy for him. Just because of that I was always wishing I could snap some sense into Ani. I started out liking her character so much, but by the end that likeness deflated like a balloon and the only character I could find any hope in was Ben. He was a very strong and committed character. If I could find someone like him in real life, I definitely would not want to mess that up or let that person go. That’s how much his character resonated with me. There were a few other characters, Ben’s best friend Kevin and Ani’s closest friend, Kate, but I couldn’t find anything that made me root for them the way I did for Ben. Maybe Kate was okay, but that’s all I’ve got to say about secondary characters.

Fault Line by C. Desir was a very informative read. I learned a lot and I enjoyed the story to an extent. I thought the pacing was okay, but some more length from beginning to end would have brought up more brownie points for me. There was definitely insta-love in the story and I’m still not sure whether I should feel positive or negative about that. The ending was a relief for me, but even then I felt myself wishing it kept going just to see the resolution happen. The main characters were definitely memorable and the secondary ones were not very memorable. I felt that the only character I really connected with the whole time was Ben and that’s because I felt so bad for him almost the entire book. Ani definitely started out more than okay at the beginning, but once she lost her way and acted the way she did, I just didn’t have any positive things to say about her anymore. What she went through was understandable, but the way she was treating Ben just didn’t sit right with me. Overall, I thought the book was great. Could have used a little more work, but just as it is was okay. I still think readers should give it a chance and read it though. Come up with your own feelings for this book and share them with others who haven’t read the book yet. I’m sure others wouldn’t mind some more insight on this book.

3.4! I liked it a lot. Would recommend.

Special Guest: Book Reviewer:

Hillary

Find Hillary @

| Goodreads | Twitter | 

Hillary currently lives in Fontana, California and sometimes wishes she lived in a rainier place. When out of her world of fiction and music, college homework becomes part of her focus and so does worrying about exams. She still manages to find plenty of time to read YA books and hopes to have a room full of books like some authors are fortunate to have. Hillary is currently working toward earning a degree in English, but in the meantime she is content to help a very kind book blogger known as Beckie from Bittersweet Enchantment. Hillary hopes to become a well-known author one day, but currently writes small stories whenever she has time.

Thank you Hillary! What a excellent review. ;)  What do YOU think of Hillary's thoughts on the book? Have you read Fault Line? Yay or Nah?

Book Spotlight: Insanity by Cameron Jace || Excerpt + Giveaway! // We're all MAD here! \\

OMG, You guys! How awesome is this book?! A psycho Alice in Wonderland! 

*grins big*

 Insanity sounds delish! I so NEED to read it, like NOW. ;) 

Enjoy the post and be sure to enter the giveaway below. 

Title: Insanity
Author: Cameron Jace
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Expected publication: December 20, 2013

After accidentally killing everyone in her class, Alice Wonder is now a patient in the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum. No one doubts her insanity. Only a hookah-smoking professor believes otherwise; that he can prove her sanity by decoding Lewis Carroll's paintings, photographs, and find Wonderland's real whereabouts. Professor Caterpillar persuades the asylum that Alice can save lives and catch the wonderland monsters now reincarnated in modern day criminals. In order to do so, Alice leads a double life: an Oxford university student by day, a mad girl in an asylum by night. The line between sanity and insanity thins when she meets Jack Diamond, an arrogant college student who believes that nonsense is an actual science.

Purchase @ Amazon

Excerpt from chapter 1

The writing on the wall says it's January 14th. I am not sure what year. I haven't been sure of many things lately, but I’m wondering if it’s my handwriting I’m looking at.

There is an strange key drawn underneath the date. It's carved with a sharp object, probably a broken mirror. I couldn’t have written this. I'm terrified of mirrors. They love to call it Catoptrophobia around here.

Unlike regular patients in the asylum, my room is windowless, stripped down to a single mattress in the middle, a sink, and bucket for peeing--or puking--when necessary. The tiles on the floor are black-and-white squares, like a chessboard. I never step on black. Always white. Again, I'm not sure why.

The walls are smeared with a greasy pale green everywhere. I wonder if it's the previous patient's brains spattered all over from shock therapy. In the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum, politely known as the Warneford hospital, the doctors have a sweet spot for shock therapy. They love watching patients with bulging eyes and shivering limbs begging for relief from the electricity. It makes me question who is really mad in here.

It's been a while since I was sent to shock therapy myself. Dr. Tom Truckle, my supervising physician, said I don't need it anymore, particularly after I stopped mentioning Wonderland. He told me that I used to talk about it all the time; a dangerous place I claim I have been whisked away to when my elder sister lost me at the age of seven.

Truth is, I don't remember this Wonderland they are talking about. I don't even know why I am here. My oldest vivid memory is from a week ago. Before that, it's all a purple haze.

I have only one friend in this asylum. It's not a doctor or a nurse. And it's not a human. It doesn't hate, envy, or point a finger at you. My friend is an orange flower I keep in a pot; a Tiger Lily I can't live without. I keep it safe next to a small crack in the wall where a single sun ray sneaks through for only ten minutes a day. It might not be enough light to grow a flower, but my Tiger Lily is a tough girl.

Each day, I save half of the water they give me for my flower. As for me, better thirsty than mad.

My orange flower is also my personal rain check for my sanity. If I talk to her and she doesn't reply, I know I am not hallucinating. If it talks back to me, all kinds of nonsense starts to happen. Insanity prevails. There must be a reason why I am here. It doesn’t mean I will easily give in to such a fate.

"Alice Pleasance Wonder. Are you ready?" the nurse knocks with her electric prod on my steel door. Her name is Waltraud Wagner. She is German. Everything she says sounds like a threat and smells like smoke. My fellow mad people say she is a Nazi; that she used to kill her own patients back in Germany. "Get avay vrom za dor. I an coming in," she demands.

Listening to the rattling of her large keychain, my heart pounds in my chest. The turn of the key makes me want to swallow. When the door opens, all I can think of is choking her before she begins to hurt me. Sadly, her neck is too thick for my nimble hands. I stare at her almost-square figure for a moment. Everything about her is four sizes too big, all except her feet, which are as small as mine. My sympathies, little feet.

"Time for your daily ten-minute break," she approaches me with a straitjacket, a devilish grin on her face. I never get out. My ward is underground, and I take my break in another empty ward upstairs, where patients love to play soccer with a hedgehog’s head.

A big muscled warden stands behind Watlraud. Thomas Ogier. He is bald, has an angry-red face and a silver tooth he likes to flash whenever he sees me. His biceps are the size of my head. I have a hard time believing he has ever been a 4-pound baby.

"Slide your arms into the jacket," Waltraud demands in her German accent, a cigarette puckered between her lips. "Slow and easy, Alice," she nods at warden Ogier, in case I misbehave.

I comply obediently and stretch out my arms for her to do whatever she wants. Waltraud twists my right arm slightly and checks the tattoo on my arm. It’s the only tattoo I have. It’s a handwritten sentence that looks like a thin arm band from afar. Waltraud feels the need to read it allowed, “’I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.’” I was told I have written it myself while still believing in Wonderland. “That Alice in Wonderland has really messed with your head.” She puffs smoke into my face as she mocks me.

The tattoo and Waltraud’s mocking is the least of my concerns right now. I let her tie me, and while she does, I close my eyes. I imagine I am a sixteenth century princess, some kind of a lucky Cinderella, being squeezed into a corset by my chain smoking servant in a fairy tale castle above ground, just about to go meet my Prince Charming. Such imagery always helps me breathe. I once heard that it was hope that saves the day, not sanity. I need to cool down before I begin my grand escape.

About The Author Cameron Jace

Find Cameron @

Facebook |  Goodreads | Twitter

Things you might want to know:

Cameron writes books that he can't find elsewhere, basically to amuse himself. Everything Cameron does is for fun, so don't take him seriously. Never call him a writer. He hates that. He prefers the word: Storyteller, or the boy next door who claims he can tell stories.

If you like his books, horaaaay! He loves ya too. If ya don't, hoooray! Now we know in advance that this relationship isn't going to work.

Although his books are ordinary on the surface, they hold many secrets that he might reveal one day. What matters the most to him are characters struggling to find their identities and place in the world.

Things you don't need to know:

He celebrates his birthday twice a year, the day he was born and Friday the 13th. He wants to live in a bubble house. He is a damn good guitar player. He is damn good architecture college drop out. He likes boats, beaches, bears, beards, bananas, bars, barfights, beans, bikes, bones, butter, babes, bakery, blizzards, and pirates (he thought it was spelled Birates when he was a kid.)

And honestly, writing in third person sucks! It's so fake. 

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Highlight hosted by Good Choice Reading Blog Tours

OFFICIAL BLOG TOUR: The Cutting Room Floor by Dawn Klehr | Would You Rather Game + Giveaway!

Presenting...

The Cutting Room Floor by Dawn Klehr Official Blog Tour

Hosted by:

Hey Book Nerds! Today is my stop on the The Cutting Room Floor blog tour. Author
Dawn Klehr will be playing the "Would You Rather" game here @ Bittersweet Enchantment. She is also giving away a KINDLE FIRE! Check below for info / rafflecopter from to be entered to win.

Title: The Cutting Room Floor
Author: Dawn Klehr
Paperback (and ebook), 305 pages
Published October 8th 2013 by Flux
Genre: Mystery Thriller > Romance

Behind-the-scenes secrets could turn deadly for Desmond and Riley.

Life in the Heights has never been easy for seventeen-year-old Riley Frost, but when she's publicly dumped and outed at the same time, she becomes an immediate social outcast at her high school. So Riley swears off romance and throws herself into solving the shocking murder of her favorite teacher, Ms. Dunn.

Riley turns to her best friend, budding filmmaker Desmond Brandt, for help. What she doesn't know is that Dez has been secretly directing her life, blackmailing her friends, and hoping his manipulations will make her love him. When his schemes go too far, Dez's web of lies threatens to destroy both of their lives.

Purchase @ Amazon | B&N | Kobo

Me: Would you rather have the ability to move objects with your mind or be able to read others thoughts?

Dawn: I would love to read others' thoughts! Just think of all the material I'd have for my books :)

Me: Would you rather write a best-selling novel or win 10 Million dollars in the lottery?

Dawn: Best-selling novel, hands down!

Me: Would you rather eat only chocolate for the rest of your life or eat salad?

Dawn: Though I LOVE chocolate, I'd have to say salad. A girl needs her veggies.

Me: Would you rather be blind or deaf?

Dawn: Deaf.

Me: Would you rather live at Hogwarts and personally are friends with Harry Potter or live in Forks (Twilight) and be best friends with Edward and Bella?

Dawn: Hogwarts for sure! Plus, Harry is much more interesting.

About The Author: Dawn Klehr

Find Dawn @

Website / Facebook / Twitter

Dawn Klehr began her career in TV and though she’s been on both sides of the camera, she prefers to lurk behind the lens. Mostly, she loves to get lost in stories –in film, the theater, or on the page – and is a sucker for both the sinister and the sappy. She’s currently channeling her dark side as she works on her next book.

Dawn lives in the Twin Cities with her funny husband, adorable son, and naughty dog. The Cutting Room Floor is her debut YA novel. 

 

Please use the rafflecopter form below to enter.

- Must be 13+ to enter
- Open Internationally. Kindle Ships in US only, gift card available to all.  

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