Book Review: Bring The Rain by Lizzy Charles

TITLE: Bring the Rain
AUTHOR: Lizzy Charles
eARC > 199 pages
PUBLISHER: Author
RELEASED: February 17th 2015
GENRE: YA > Contemporary Romance

One summer to make the choice of a lifetime…

Everything is waiting in Paris for Autumn—her new home, her mom, the Louvre, and a life where she can experience art, and not just look at it. But to get there, she'll have to survive the summer in the least colorful place she can imagine — her father's Oklahoma cattle ranch.

Autumn finds the perfect summer distraction in Colt, the one cowboy hotter than the July sun. But Colt is her father's ranch hand, and he won’t go for the Manhattan-style fling that she's used to. The closer they become, the more she questions which side of the ocean she belongs.

Then her father reveals an unforgivable secret, and Autumn’s illusions shatter. Will the secret destroy everything? Or could Oklahoma hold the greatest masterpiece of all—a love that could mend her heart?

 Purchase: Amazon

Bring the Rain was one of those rare contemporary romances that pulled at my heartstrings. I couldn’t help but fall in love with Lizzy Charles’ main characters, Autumn and Colt! From the beginning, it was easy to figure out how emotionally wary and detached Autumn was from her father. She always seemed to keep him at an arm’s length when it came to how close she would get to him. At first, it was a little puzzling why she acted that way towards him, but as the pieces started coming together little by little, it was understandable what she blamed him for; abandoning her at such a young age when she needed him most and giving up on their family so easily. Now a teenager, Autumn had to learn the truths and overcome them at a slow pace, as well as learning to trust in her own heart instead of what she thought she wanted. I couldn’t get attached to Autumn right away as a character, but as she faced feelings that were hard to confront, she started to grow emotionally stronger in her own way. Instead of acting like the snobby girl who moved away to New York at nine years old, she became the sixteen-year-old girl who admitted her faults and appreciated simple living with her dad. The girl that lost herself at nine years old grew up and matured in each and every chapter, and I was thankful that Lizzy could showcase that so well.

Something’s changing. Every knot in my back releases, and my palms are sweat free. For the first time I can remember, I’m okay simply being here. What has this cowboy done to me? (ARC 99)

When Colt appeared in the story, I didn’t really know what to think about him. I thought his first appearance was very comical, especially with the way he approached Autumn, but I still had to learn a lot about him. For a while, I fell for him being the “perfect” guy Autumn thought he was, but as the chapters passed, I began to question if even the nicest guys could really be perfect. My gut instinct proved to be right when a plot twist I never saw coming appeared out of nowhere, and I instantly felt my admiration for him dissipate. Even when Colt proved to be a very kind and honest guy, he had his moment where he was also keeping secrets and not being so nice. I think at first I wished Autumn had confronted him more for those answers she sought, but now I realize that the distance she put between them was for the best. It momentarily gave her a new perspective and allowed her to mature in a different way. For the first time, Autumn admitted that she was at fault too and accepted that even someone like Colt could have a history of his own mistakes. This growth they dealt with while being apart ultimately brought them closer together at the end, and gave them a chance to learn from assuming the best from each other right away.

As his heart pounds in my ear, I fight to be mad at him. He has no right to say such things, but with his warm hands wrapped strong around my lower back, I let myself be. I let my feelings be, and he rocks me close while I cry. I don’t know how he tricked me back into his arms but I do know one thing—this is where I want to be. (ARC 94)

I think Lizzy did a fantastic job of pacing the story well. There weren’t any moments that I felt were hindering the story or speeding it up unnecessarily. The plot twists could sometimes be predictable, but there was one that caught me totally off guard and it kept my interest up for the remainder of the story. I admired how Lizzy could create such different personalities and voices for her characters, even the ones I didn’t like at all, and I could picture every moment vividly in my mind. One of the secondary characters I just couldn’t like from the start was Autumn’s supposedly best friend, Gina. She had a huge personality, but she also had this dark and crazy side to her that bothered me so much. There was also a moment where she betrayed Autumn’s trust I would have found hard to overcome and forgive her for. Autumn’s mother was also another character I found myself disliking. The way she treated her daughter as if she were a minor responsibility in her life made her seem careless. Thankfully Autumn didn’t grow up too bad and stayed on a good path.

Sometimes the worst happens and all you have left are the ashes. Literally. Get up. Rebuild. Make an effort. You’ve got to fight for the things and people you love. (ARC 128)

Overall, Bring the Rain by Lizzy Charles was an enjoyable read, providing a unique and fresh setting to the story and differentiating it from other YA contemporary romances out there. The characters were able to convey emotions that drew the reader in from page one and also allowed readers to view their quest to maturity and forgiveness. I was glad at how Lizzy ended this story, leaving none of my questions unanswered. I was able to cheer for her characters almost from the start, and now they hold a special place in my heart. I definitely look forward to future stories by Lizzy Charles and can’t wait to see what she’s up to next! Totally recommend Bring the Rain to fans of contemporary romances!

Totally Awesome! I loved it, would read again.

Review by Hillary: #Scandal by Sarah Ockler

Title: #scandal
Author: Sarah Ockler
Hardcover > 401 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Released: June 17th 2014
Genre: YA > Contemporary > Romance

#busted

Lucy’s learned some important lessons from tabloid darling Jayla Heart’s all-too-public blunders: Avoid the spotlight, don’t feed the Internet trolls, and keep your secrets secret. These policies have served Lucy well all through high school, so when her best friend, Ellie, gets sick before prom and begs her to step in as Cole’s date, she accepts with a smile, silencing about ten different reservations. Like the one where she’d rather stay home shredding online zombies. And the one where she hates playing dress-up. And especially the one where she’s been secretly in love with Cole since the dawn of time.

When Cole surprises her at the after-party with a kiss under the stars, it’s everything Lucy has ever dreamed of...and the biggest BFF deal breaker ever. Despite Cole’s lingering sweetness, Lucy knows they’ll have to ‘fess up to Ellie. But before they get the chance, Lucy’s own Facebook profile mysteriously explodes with compromising pics of her and Cole, along with tons of other students’ party indiscretions. Tagged. Liked. And furiously viral.

By Monday morning, Lucy’s been branded a slut, a backstabber, and a narc, mired in a tabloid-worthy scandal just weeks before graduation.

Lucy’s been battling undead massed online long enough to know there’s only one way to survive a disaster of this magnitude: Stand up and fight. Game plan? Uncover and expose the Facebook hacker, win back her best friend’s trust, and graduate with a clean slate.

There’s just one snag—Cole. Turns out Lucy’s not the only one who’s been harboring unrequited love...

Purchase @ Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository | Indiebound

The Why: The first time I heard about #scandal, I was instantly drawn to the cover. My eyes were drawn to the way the title included a hashtag and how the dark background put more attention to the models portraying Lucy and Cole. After staring at the cover and somewhat suppressing my admiration for it, the synopsis of the story also drew me in with the mystery of who could have posted compromising photos online and made it viral. It wasn't that long ago that I read a contemporary romance with a little mystery in it, and I crossed my fingers I'd like #scandal a lot more.

The What: The way Sarah wrote Lucy's personality throughout the story was very unique and interesting. I absolutely adored how Lucy was somewhat tomboy-ish, but to a certain degree. That certain degree involved killing zombies during her spare time via video games. It was also new to experience absolute chaos from compromising photos revealing everyone’s crazy behavior during the after-prom party from hell (I'm sure that's how Lucy would describe it as). The friendship that builds up steadily to trust between Franklin and Lucy was admirable. I adored their conversations and honestly think they would have made a much better—maybe even healthier?—couple than Lucy and Cole. Lucy also went through a bout of character development that made her seem that much more realistic.

The Character(s): Ultimately, my favorite characters would have to be Lucy and Franklin—Lucy the girl who tries to make the right decisions, but always ends up losing some way or another and Franklin the best guy friend anyone could ever have. I didn't really know what to expect from Franklin at the very beginning, he just seemed so vague for some reason, but eventually Franklin opened up and proved to be the smartest guy at the school and a very loyal friend to Lucy. I don't remember exactly how Lucy describes his appearance, but I do remember curly hair and a very noticeable English accent that only made me admire him more. Lucy’s just uniquely awesome!

The Scene(s): The scene in #scandal that became really memorable was when Lucy's older sister, Jayla, forces her to a shopping spree that she absolutely cannot back out of. No matter how hard she tries. It doesn't stop there though. The fun begins when Jayla suggests to Lucy a very funny and slightly vulgar way to apologize to everyone affected by the scandal. After shopping for a while, they go somewhere to eat that has a mechanical bull that results in a very awkward situation for Lucy. The hot international student that has his eyes on Lucy ends up having to help her carry Jayla back to the car—very much passed out—and the one line that Jayla manages to blurt out to the guy made me laugh out loud from embarrassment for Lucy.

My heart is thunderous, a raging storm that drowns out the warnings and the shouldn’ts and the can’ts, and I meet his gaze, hold it, look for the stars in his eyes. I find them, glittery and infinite. (224)

#Scandal by Sarah Ockler was enjoyable to read to a certain point and very conflicting to review. The characters were well-written and well-described to the point where I could picture their different personalities clearly. My conflict with this book started around the time Lucy started being bullied by her peers. It was just sad to read such horrific actions formed from girls—sometimes guys—and the anger they had for being part of a very vicious scandal that became out of control overnight. A bunch of emotions rose in me that made me wish I could go into Lucy's world to defend her against the haters that kept bothering and taunting her. Thankfully, it wasn’t always about that and Sarah managed to include nicer moments shared with friends and family. Those were definitely the chapters I enjoyed reading most and the immense support Lucy received made me believe that there was a positive side to the story after all. I can’t guarantee that everyone will enjoy/agree with the story and the points I made about #scandal, but like most books, it should definitely be given a chance. Lesson learned from #scandal: If you wouldn’t show your parents pictures of what you do when they’re not around, don’t take those pictures at all.

I liked it a lot. Would recommend.

{ Happy Birthday, Hillary! } Interview with Hillary + Bookshelf Tour

Today is HILLARY'S Birthday!!!

Join me in wishing Hillary Happy Birthday! She loves comments. 

So by now most of you know my part-time reviewer/blogger Hillary. She joined Bittersweet Enchantment a little over a year ago and ever since she has not only written some pretty amazing reviews but became so much more than a co-worker; a good friend to me. Hillary is such a sweetheart. She's always making me laugh, is there for me when I need to talk, and is such an wonderful person. Hillary, it's been an honor and a pleasure to work with you and become your friend!  

Last Sunday, Hillary posted an ALL ABOUT ME post also along with her "Reading Story". She is hosting a number of awesome giveaway for the readers of Bittersweet Enchantment. You can find this post here. Today is the final day to enter. 

I very recently interviewed Hillary all about her love of books and so much more. Read it below! :)

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Hobbies, special talents, anything!

My name is Hillary. I think all of you know that already lol. I’ve lived in Southern California all of my life. I’ve yet to travel out of the state. When I’m not reading, you’ll find me singing while checking emails or just listening to music in general. But I end up singing anyways ;P I’ve been teaching myself to sing in Korean. I listen to Kpop the majority of the time. I hardly tell anyone this because I feel like I’m boasting, but I have an artistic side to me as well. People used to say I should be an artist when I was younger. I took a theatre class my second year of being an undergrad and hated/loved it. I thought I could be an actress, but I’ll be honest—it was an epic fail (I passed the class with an ‘A’ though). Before that I wanted to be in an indie rock band, but when reality hit me in the face, I didn’t think I’d make it that far. My third goal ended up being an author. I am determined to get there.

2. How long have you had a passion to read? What book or series really got you into reading, YA fiction?

I kind of already talked about this in this super long post here, but it started with my friend convincing me to read Twilight and then I found other books such as Vampire Academy and the House of Night series’ and my list expanded from there. Before YA, I did have a passion for reading MG books.

3. What are a few of your favorite books or series? Also, what genres do you enjoy reading most?

A few of my favorite series’ would be Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (sorry guys, but this book got me into YA), Vampire Academy and Bloodlines by Richelle Mead (she’s my favorite author ya’ll!), Shadow Falls by C.C. Hunter (I totally want to read her spin-off series soon!), House of Night by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Fallen by Lauren Kate, Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and etc. There’s so many more I’ve started but haven’t finished or have but haven’t even started! But these got me stuck in YA books and made me keep finding new books to read and love.

The genres I enjoy most are Contemporary, Dystopia, Science fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Paranormal, and Romance. I’m still trying to experiment with Fantasy, Historical, and Steampunk fiction. I’ve read a few Historical and maybe Fantasy, but no Steampunk, so I’m not sure how much I enjoy those genres.

4. What is one of your favorite reviews you've written since working at Bittersweet Enchantment?

Some of my favorite reviews I’ve written since joining Bittersweet Enchantment have probably been Find Me by Romily Bernard, Erasing Time & Echo In Time by C.J. Hill, 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil, Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson, and On the Fence by Kasie West. Although each and every review I’ve written have had hard work put into them, so I take pride in all of them. 

5. If you could go out to lunch with 5 of your favorite authors who would they be and why?

If I could go out to lunch with five of my favorite authors, I think I would choose Richelle Mead, Sara Raasch, Tahereh Mafi, Lauren Oliver, and Lindsay Cummings. I still have to read books from Sara and Tahereh, but I feel like these authors would have a lot to offer on writing advice and would make great mentors too! And meeting Richelle Mead is a dream of mine so yeah, I’m going to include her! ;)

6. Show us your bookshelves!

This is my bookshelves tour! I’ve never done this before, so Beckie and I thought it would be great to finally share how my bookcase looks like. I promise you, this is how it looks like clean. It’s actually full of other non-bookish stuff most of the time, but I won’t be sharing that ;). There’s also a fifth shelf, but I didn’t share how it looks like because it doesn’t have any books you would like to see; just college textbooks and old folders from high school. Not interesting! :D

- The whole bookshelf -

- Shelf 1/Row A -

- Shelf 1/Row B -

- Shelf 2 -

- Shelf 3/Row A -

- Shelf 3/Row B -

- Shelf 4/Row A -

- Shelf 4/Mini Row B -

So what do you think? Have any questions of any of the books you can’t see or do see?

7. Let's say someone gives you 100 dollars. What 5-8 books would you go out and buy? (Pre-orders are okay)

If I were given one-hundred dollars, I would spend it on these books:

>Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch 

>Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay 

>Suspicion by Alexandra Monir 

>Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White 

>Stray by Elissa Sussman 

>Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez 

>On the Edge by Allison van Diepen 

>Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot 

8. Use each letter of your first name to describe yourself. Must be one word per letter.

Humble

Imaginative

Left-handed

Level-headed

Artistic

Reliable

Youthful

9. Who needs a real life boyfriend when there are so many yummy fictional ones, right? Tell me a few characters from any book that you would you love to date.

Right... ;D A few guy characters I would love to date would be Frank from Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson, Adrian from Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, Stark from the House of Night series by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast, and Micah from The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes. There’s probably a few more, but these guys stuck around in my mind for a while and they have those special qualities that make me admire them each time I reread those books. ^_^

10. Last but not least, tell us one thing that not many people know about you.

One thing that not many people know about me...this is seriously hard to answer. Hmm, probably that it’s hard to make friends because I’m extremely awkward when it comes to forming conversations with people I’ve barely met. The friends that I do have now are friends I’ve known since high school or even elementary school. Those friends will always have a special place in my heart. Oh, I also joined choir the last two years of high school and loved it! I was given the opportunity to step out of my shell a lot and became more confident. And I hate cooking! Haha :P

This or That:

1. Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt?

Johnny Depp

2. Water or Soda?

Water

3. Pink or Black?

Black

4. Movies or TV?

TV

5. Zombies or Vamps?

Zombies

6. Cookies or cupcakes?

Cupcakes

7. Pen or Pencil?

Pen

8. Bookmark or dog-eared?

Bookmark

9. Winter or Summer?

Winter

10. Night or Day?

Night

11. Sci-Fi or fantasy?

Fantasy

12. Dining out or home cooked meal?

Home cooked meal

13. Paperback or Hardcover?

Both- I have a lot of both!

14. Email or texting?

Email

15. Truth or Dare?

Truth

16. Dogs or Cats?

Both- I used to love dogs more, but cats grew on me. My grandma’s cat is also super adorable!

17. Ocean or Pool?

Pool

18. Bad boys or Good boys?

Both- Sometimes bad boys have hearts of a good boy and good boys have hearts of a bad boy...? I’m not sure, but both types can have swoon worthy moments! :D

19. Being able to fly or telekinesis?

Being able to fly

20. Happy endings or Sad endings?

Both- I LOVE me a great happy ending that gives me all of the #Feels, but sad endings are tearjerkers and I love me some of that too! :P

Review by Hillary: Rush by Eve Silver

Title: Rush 
Author: Eve Silver
Series: The Game #1
Paperback > 361 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Released: June 11th 2013
Genre: YA > Science Fiction > Fantasy > Romance

So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to know?

When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game — her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. 

In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn. 

Purchase @ Amazon | B&N | Kobo | The Book Depository | Indiebound

Rush was a mind-blowing, original science fiction story to read, possibly replacing my favorite sci-fi read. Half of Miki’s life has been about hiding behind a façade. Miki hides her emotions about her mother’s passing, hides how she feels about her father’s personal issues, and hides how recent events are turning her life upside down; making her keep secrets from those she cares about most. But however much she tries to keep a front about what she’s really feeling behind the scenes, Miki’s closest friend—Carly—manages to be able to sense how much Miki is keeping closed lip. Miki tries to balance out both parts of her life, the real world life and the game life, but ends up jeopardizing her friendship with Carly. In the process of trying to stay out of too much danger, Miki manages to fall hard for someone who puts up a front as well and makes new friends in the most unlikely of places.

“You asked me what I like. I’m answering your question,” he clarifies, and the smile he offers is truly savage, dark and edgy and full of promise. “You, Miki. I like you.” (288)

Miki never expected her life to go topsy-turvy one afternoon while hanging out with her group of friends. It’s apparent something will occur because of how she starts hearing a male voice—Jackson—in her head calling her name. Miki instantly goes on alert mode and watches her surroundings, only seeing her friends on the ground near her talking amongst themselves and a guy who used to be her childhood friend named Luka running laps around the track field. When Miki looks around again, she notices a little girl in the middle of the street bent over something. In that moment the voice convinces her she needs to save the girl before she’s hit by a car and that’s when Miki’s normal life changes to a dangerous and crazy one. I’m positive when I say that I instantly took a liking to Miki and Luka from the start. However, when Jackson was introduced not too long after, I didn’t warm up to him that quickly. It took a really long time for me to really care about his character and by the time I did I felt like I knew why he was so closed-off. In reality, Jackson wasn’t that different from Miki and I think that’s what drew them together.

I want to go to him. I want to run from him, from this place, from the tangled mess my life has become. I don’t know what to think, how to feel. I’m angry and hurt. Betrayed. Appalled. Part of me hates him for what he’s consigned me to. Part of me only knows that his pain hurts me, too. (331)

When I started reading Rush, the details of how Miki materializes in a game reality really boggled my mind, but as the story kept going I managed to accept the ‘rules’ of this journey Miki was embarking on. I thought it was amazing how Eve Silver managed to balance out the world building of this story. As a reader, it was super helpful to learn about the game and the rules that went along with that world. It was also insightful to see what happened when Miki wasn’t in the game, but was in her real teenage life that included obstacles she had to endure as well. Then there were the interactions between the characters that made them seem a lot more real and a lot more relatable. After reading about a quarter of the book, the pacing started speeding along and all I could do was enjoy the ride and be fully absorbed in the events that surrounded Miki. One thing that put a damper in the story was Carly’s attitude. I just couldn’t handle the way she instantly got upset over Miki being secretive over stuff she wouldn’t tell her about. Carly pretty much stayed the same way throughout the last half of the story, but I’m hoping she’ll be more forgiving in book two. Then there is Miki’s dad. That man, he definitely needs to listen to his daughter a lot more. If only he realized how much reason Miki has for her age.

My whole world is falling into tiny little broken pieces and I don’t know how to put it back together, how to fix it. How to control this out-of-control spin. (252)

Overall, Rush by Eve Silver was an extraordinary story to read set in a one-of-a-kind science fiction world. It did start out semi-confusing, but as I kept on reading it became easier to comprehend what exactly was going on and what everything meant. As the game continued, the danger built to the point where I was afraid something terrible would happen to Miki or her comrades. Miki had to learn the hard way to deal with so much, but in the end she turned out to be much braver and stronger as a character. The turn of events at the end of the story practically left me speechless and holding my breath and I wanted to yell out in frustration. The secrets and questions created in the story end up being revealed to Miki, becoming quite shocking revelations that I didn’t expect as reasons for why Miki was part of the game in the first place. It made me reconsider what I thought about one character in particular. Then there’s the fact that even more questions and secrets were brought up by the end of Rush. I need to know what happens in Push, you guys!

4.5 - Totally Awesome! I loved it, would read again.

Hillary's Reading Story: Why I love reading & a formal introduction + 6 Book Giveaways!!!

Hi Bittersweet Enchantment readers! *WAVES* For a while now, I’ve been thinking about how awkward it must have been for me to pop out of the blue and start helping Beckie with reviews and such without formally introducing myself. I came up with an idea that since I never did this last year when I first joined Beckie, I thought I should do it this month since—coincidentally—it’s mine and Beckie’s birthday month (we’ve known this since last year)! I wanted to be able to tell you guys more about myself and also do a giveaway to show my appreciation for having been part of Bittersweet Enchantment for a year. I’m not sure how personal I will go, but bear with me as I start writing stuff from the top of my head. ;)

Me at 8 months. Notice Nala from The Lion King? Even as a baby I was into Disney! :D

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been reading for most of my life. I remember as a kid I would watch and read princess’ movies and books—this is where my love for Beauty & the Beast and Sleeping Beauty began—because there was something that drew me in about all those happily ever after stories that started out so tragically most of the time. I also think my mom was a big part in my reading life *THANKS MOM!* because she was the one who bought me those princess books and other types of kiddie books. One of my favorites was Spot the Dog by Eric Hill. I loved animals—still love them—back then, especially puppies so I loved this book when I was younger.

As I began to grow older, I would start reading books like R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps stories and occasionally The Baby-Sitters Club books when my mom got me some she would find at yard sales, the swap-meet, and even the goodwill. By the preteens I started getting more into horror stories like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz. At my preteens I also read my first Stephen King book that I’ll admit took forever to read and my first adult books. Both from V.C. Andrews and don’t you dare judge me! :P I’ve read reviews on Goodreads where other readers admit to reading those before they were old enough to and under the covers with a flashlight. If you don’t believe me you can go look for yourself haha

Around fourteen/fifteen I started being emotionally distanced from friends and family; also known as depression. I didn’t read anymore around that time and kind of wish I had. Something happened in my life that is too hard to talk about most times, but it did change me. I call that time of my life my dark days and/or zombie days. I was emotionally detached and even though I still had my friends behind me and putting up with me, I still feel bad for putting them through what I did back then. Being depressed was not pretty for me. I went from dressing girly in all pinks, to black and gray and all dark colors I could find. I also lost a lot of weight back then when I became anorexic and bulimic. Something I did not seek help for and ended up having to scare myself out of years later. Around the same time I first got depressed, one of my closest friends had gotten into a series that I was adamant to read when she kept telling me to. Eventually though, I finally gave in and my world turned a full 360.

This was the time when Twilight—yes I said that title and don’t look me like that! I’m sure you’ve read it as well or at least heard most of the details about the books—was mostly under wraps. Not too many people were reading the book around the time—this was around early 2007—and somehow my close friend had found the book and had gotten obsessed with it. She would take the book with her to school every day until she finished it and that’s when she told me that she would let me borrow the book if I wanted to read it. I kept saying “No” because I was not into reading at the time. All I could handle was screamo and alternative rock music blasting in my eardrums when I was at home hiding in my room. After a few weeks of my friend asking persisting me to read Twilight and hearing a little about it here and there from other people I knew, I finally gave in and read the damn book. And POOF! My teenage years of reading began. After I read Twilight I asked my friend if I could borrow the sequel—New Moon—which I ended up reading three times, yes three times, before I gave it back to her and had to face that smug look on her face. That’s also around the time I realized I had many months of waiting to do for book 3 and a year for book 4 and I felt like I couldn’t wait. My friend ended up finding another series about vampires called Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and my love of all Richelle Mead books began. She only had two of the books at the time so I borrowed those and found another person who had the next one. After that, I ended up buying books 4, 5, and 6 and never looked back. I was obsessed, yes obsessed, with vampire stories and couldn’t find that many. I ended up only liking Twilight, Vampire Academy, and the House of Night series’ the most.

It would be a few months before I found new genres to love. I can’t remember which books came after the vampires, but I ended up getting into books from Lauren Kate, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Cynthia Hand. Alyson Noel, Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, Lauren Oliver, and many, many more would come weeks, months, and years later.

As I kept reading until the end of my high school years to the beginning of my undergrad college years I would keep reading. Eventually I came across book blogs when I got obsessed with Amanda Hocking’s Trylle series. I saw that she wrote a ‘blog’ at the biography part of the back of the book. I visited it one day when I was bored and curious about what a blog exactly was. Amanda would write interesting stuff about her books, herself, and stuff she liked and occasionally she would talk about giveaways she was throwing where readers could win her books for free. I didn’t have a twitter account yet, but I made one on a whim and after that I found more and more blogs to follow. It would take about a year and a half before I crossed paths with Bittersweet Enchantment. Beckie was having a giveaway for a book called Being Henry David by Cal Armistead and I ended up entering, thinking I had no chance in hell of winning. It would come as a surprise when one day I opened my in-box to find that I ACTUALLY had won the book. I was ecstatic because that was the first book I had won from anyone, EVER. I subscribed to Beckie’s blog when I kept checking for new posts on a daily basis and weeks later an opportunity I never saw coming changed my life even more.

Long story short, Beckie was looking for a guest blogger who could help her post reviews every now and then or as often as possible. I emailed her to let her know I was interested since I had given up on my own blog. Beckie emailed me back wanting to know a little more about me and I ended up joining team Bittersweet Enchantment days later. All of this happened late last year and since then I’ve had fun helping out Beckie with reviews. Never did I ever see myself becoming a guest blogger or even a part-time blogger, but I don’t regret joining Bittersweet Enchantment. If anything, I’m surprised Beckie has kept me this long on her blog LOL! I’ve had moments where I skipped out of posting and helping for a month or so and she has never once gotten mad at me. I owe her a huge amount of gratitude and I can only hope that the readers and fans *YOU GUYS!* have accepted me as being part of Bittersweet Enchantment. I started reading YA a little later in my teens, but I know I will never get tired of books. In fact, I buy books way too often and I’m thinking I need to cut back a little—which will most likely be impossible to do. Books also helped heal me from that darkness from my high school years that loomed over my head and most likely saved my life. I’m not super depressed as I once was when I was a fourteen-year-old girl, but I’ve gotten better. It’s like I told my older sister once a long time ago: “Depression is like a scar. You may not feel it anymore, but it’s still there.” Sometimes I still deal with it, but reading has allowed me to escape from this real—sometimes dull—life to ones full of adventure and awesome characters. For as long as there are new books for me to read, I will keep reading for the rest of my life. Here’s hoping to another year of new books, posts, fun, and adventures! 

Sorry for the super long post! If you managed to read all of it, THANK YOU! If you didn’t, well that’s okay too. But I hope you enjoyed my post! Now on to the fun stuff! :D

The fun part begins where I tell you the details about the giveaway I’m throwing for the rest of this month. I’ll be giving away 7 books and you can enter one, some, or all of the rafflecopters to try to win a book. Here are the books I’m giving away:

>Roxy’s Story by V.C. Andrews

>HARDCOVER of Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon*

>ARC of Asylum by Madeleine Roux

> The Last Song & Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

>Shiloh by Helena Sorensen-signed copy

>Balancer by Patrick Wong-signed copy

~Cute owl not included~

*I won this book a while ago. When I received it in the mail it was bent on the top right corner. This book needs TLC and it’s still in pretty good condition.

Closes on Nov 30th.
Giveaway is open to US residents only!
You may enter as many of the giveaways as you like.
NO cheating! Entries will be checked.

If you are entering more than one of the giveaways below please note the same tweet is used for them all. You will need to copy and paste your original tweet url into all of the rafflecoptor forms. There is no need to edit the tweet message. :)

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