Blog Tour - Review & Giveaway: Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross

Hello and welcome everyone to the blog tour for TEAR YOU APART by Sarah Cross! I am super-duper excited to be apart of this tour to promote this fabulous new book! Below is my review and a giveaway where you can enter to win a SIGNED print copy of your very own. I hope you enjoy reading my review and thanks for stopping by!

Tear You Apart (Beau Rivage)

by Sarah Cross

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Release Date: January 27th 2015

Genre: YA - Romance > Fantasy > Fairy Tale Retellings

Source: eARC via Netgalley

An edgy fairy tale retelling of "Snow White" set in the world of Kill Me Softly for fans of Once Upon a Time and Grimm.

If you want to live happily ever after, first you have to stay alive.

Viv knows there’s no escaping her fairy-tale curse. One day her beautiful stepmother will feed her a poison apple or convince her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Henley, to hunt her down and cut out her heart before she breaks his. In the city of Beau Rivage, some princesses are destined to be prey.

But then Viv receives an invitation to the exclusive club where the Twelve Dancing Princesses twirl away their nights. There she meets Jasper, an underworld prince who seems to have everything—but what he really wants is her. He vows to save her from her dark fate if she’ll join him and be his queen.

All Viv has to do is tear herself away from the huntsman boy who still holds her heart. Then she might live to see if happily ever after is a promise the prince can keep. But is life as an underworld queen worth sacrificing the true love that might kill her?

Faced with a possible loophole to her "Snow White" curse, Viv goes underground, literally, to find the prince who's fated to rescue her. But is life safe in the Underworld worth the price of sacrficing the love that might kill her?

Purchase @ Amazon | iTunes | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Kobo 

At one time or another most of us have dreamt of being a fairy tale character in a book or movie. Whether you wished to be a princess in a tower awaiting your prince to come and rescue you, or a evil queen bent on ruling the world. We all love the idea of having our happily ever after. 

In the city of Beau Rivage fairy tales are real. The people of the Beau Rivage all are blessed or rather cused with one fairy tale or another. Vivian has the "Snow White" curse. We all know her story well. But what if the hired huntsman who is suppose to cut out her heart happens to be the love of her life. Hently and Viv have been friends all of their lives and now are in love. Hently knows what his curse says for him to do but is determined to find a way not to, for there is no way he could ever hurt the girl he loves. 

Regina, Vivian's stepmother aka "The Evil Queen" is bent on killing Viv so she may be the fairest of the all. She will do whatever it takes to convince or force Hently to do what he is meant for, to cut out Viv's heart. Soon she becomes tired of waiting and decided to hire another huntsman to do the job for Hently. In the course of stopping the other huntsman from killing Viv, Hently disappears and is presumed dead. Viv is beside herself with grief and worry. Soon after an unexpected invitation arrives addressed to Viv to a underworld party which soon after lands her in a whole other world of problems. With turn of events, Viv now finds herself trapped in the underworld, like many others have come to be. Now Viv must find away to escape....but "someone" won't let her leave...

To find out who and if she finally has her happily ever after, read the book!

First let me say I adored Kill Me Softly when I read it the beginning of 2012. When I found out that there was going to be another book in the series I was ecstatic! I knew I NEEDED to read it and ASAP. There was without a shadow of a doubt that once again I would adore the next book in the series. It was everything and more that I was expecting it to be. There was romance, mystery, adventure, and good vs evil. Tear you Apart was beautifully breath-taking and oh-so magical! I feel in love with the characters, the storyline and the enchanting world Sarah Cross crafted so perfectly around them. There were twists and turns I never saw coming. I laughed, cried, and cheered on Viv for she most definitely deserved her happy ending. 

One other thing I really enjoyed about the book was how the characters from Kill Me Softy all made cameos in this book, and for the most part played much larger roles in Tear Me Apart than I expected them to. I felt they all blended well into the Snow White storyline and how the ending pans out. 

Tear You Apart was so far my favorite book of this year.
If you're going to read one fairy-tale retelling in 2015, TEAR YOU APART by Sarah Cross is absolutely the way to go. 

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

 OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:

Kill Me Softly / Twin Roses / After The Ball (read for free here) 

"After the Ball" is a short story set in Beau Rivage, a city where fairy tales come to life, and ancient stories are played out again and again. You can read more about the cursed fairy-tale characters of Beau Rivage in my novel Kill Me Softly.

Sarah Cross is the author of the fairy tale novels Kill Me Softly and Tear You Apart (coming January 2015), the superhero novel Dull Boy, and the Wolverine comic "The Adamantium Diaries." She loves fairy tales, lowbrow art, secret identities and silence.

 The wonderful people at Egmont publishing have offered to give a signed copy to each stop on the tour for a giveaway. To win our copy enter the giveaway below via the rafflecopter form. 

Prize: A signed copy of Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross (US Only)

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To check out all the other stops on this blog tour, click the image above. :)

GIVEAWAY: Win a signed print copy Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday!

Hey everyone! I am thrilled to announce wonderful people at Egmont USA have giving me a signed print copy Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday to give away on my blog. Of Monsters and Madness is a romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times bestselling author. I hope everyone will enjoy learning all about this new book and good luck to each of you on winning the copy. 

TITLE: Of Monsters and Madness

AUTHOR: Jessica Verday

PUBLISHER: Egmont USA

PUB DATE: September 9, 2014

PAGE COUNT: 276 pages

AGE RANGE: 12 and up

GENRE: Romance > Historical Retelling 

A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author. The first in a new series.

Annabel Lee is summoned from Siam to live with her father in 1820's Philadelphia shortly after her mother's death, but an unconventional upbringing makes her repugnant to her angry, secretive father. Annabel becomes infatuated with her father's assistant Allan, who dabbles in writing when he's not helping with medical advancements. But in darker hours, when she's not to be roaming the house, she encounters the devilish assistant Edgar, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Allan, and who others insist doesn't exist.

A rash of murders across Philadelphia, coupled with her father's strange behavior, leads Annabel to satisfy her curiosity and uncover a terrible truth: Edgar and Allan are two halves of the same person - and they are about to make the crimes detailed in Allan's stories come to life. Unless Annabel stops them.

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

About The Author: Jessica Verday

Find Jessica @
Website / Goodreads 

Jessica Verday is the New York Times best-selling author of The Hollow trilogy. She wrote the first draft of The Hollow by hand, using thirteen spiral-bound notebooks and fifteen black pens. The first draft of The Haunted took fifteen spiral-bound notebooks and twenty black pens. The Hidden took too many notebooks and too many pens to count. She lives in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, with her husband.

 The wonderful people at EgmontUSA are giving me a SIGNED print copy of AMITY to give away on my blog! To be entered to win please use the rafflecopter form below.

Open to US & Canada ONLY.

Giveaway closes Oct 27th

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Blog Tour: Amity by Micol Ostow | Guest Post + Giveaway: win a SIGNED print copy of AMITY!

Welcome everyone to the OFFICIAL Blog Tour for AMITY by Micol Ostow!

Today I bring you a fun guest post from the author about what she thinks makes a good scary story. There will also be a giveaway below to win a signed print copy of the book. :) 

Enjoy!

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Amity by Micol Ostow

Hardcover, 368 pages

Expected publication: August 26th 2014 by EgmontUSA

Genre: YA - Horror, Thriller

For fans of Stephen King and American Horror Story, a gruesome thriller suggested by the events of the Amityville Horror.

Connor's family moves to Amity to escape shady business deals. Ten years later, Gwen's family moves to Amity for a fresh start after she's recovered from a psychotic break.

But something is not right about this secluded house. Connor's nights are plagued with gore-filled dreams of demons and destruction. Dreams he kind of likes. Gwen has lurid visions of corpses that aren't there and bleeding blisters that disappear in the blink of an eye. She knows Amity is evil and she must get her family out, but who would ever believe her?

Amity isn't just a house. She is a living force, bent on manipulating her inhabitants to her twisted will. She will use Connor and Gwen to bring about a bloody end as she's done before. As she'll do again.

Alternating between parallel narratives, Amity is a tense and terrifying tale suggested by true-crime events that will satisfy even the most demanding horror fan.

Pre-Order/Purchase: 

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

I've asked Micol "What key components make up a GREAT horror novel?" Here's what she said:

Hmm... as much as I’m a huge horror fan, I can’t say that I feel confident assessing what makes up a great horror novel. But I can say what tends to work for me as a reader (or viewer):

1) Tone: A good horror novel sets a tone of dread from page one. Don’t believe me? Do yourself a favor and revisit the opening paragraph of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. “Whatever walked in Hill House, walked alone.”

2) Pacing: Extreme, high-impact chills need to be interwoven with thoughtful intervals where a reader can recover and catch his or her breath. But not too many intervals! It’s a delicate balance.

3) Believable motivation: Oh, sure – sometimes evil is just evil. That works. But it doesn’t hurt to create a character and a set of circumstances that a reader will buy. It’s the difference between shock value and emotional resonance. Stephen King’s The Shining is a great example; Jack Torrance’s tortured persona was ripe for possession by the evil hotel. No matter the horrific deeds he commits, we sympathize with him. (No? Just me?)

4) Big scares: Motivation, pacing, tension and a low build are all well and good, but you still need the major jolts. Let’s call that the “boo!” factor. In Amity, a lot of those moments tend to happen in mirrors.

And finally:

5) Just a hint of gross-out. Look, I’m not big into torture porn. True gore doesn’t do it for me at all. But a little glimmer of blood? The power of suggestion cannot be underestimated. Anyone remember the shower scene in Psycho? Go back and watch it again – you’ll never see Norman Bates’ knife pierce the skin. But you will think that you do. Now that’s horror.

About The Author: Micol Ostow

Find Micol @

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

Micol Ostow has written dozens of books for children, tweens, and teens, but Amity is her first foray into horror. I turns out, writing a ghost story is almost more terrifying than reading one. (In a good way.) Her novel family was called a “Favorite Book of 2011” by Liz Burns at School Library Journal, and her illustrated novel, So Punk Rock (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), was a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens. In her spare time, Ostow blogs with the National Book Award-winning literacy initiative readergirlz.com. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, her (utterly fearless) daughter, and a finicky French bulldog named Bridget Jones. Visit her online at www.micolostow.com or follow her on Twitter @micolz.

 The wonderful people at EgmontUSA are giving me a SIGNED print copy of AMITY to give away on my blog! To be entered to win please use the rafflecopter form below.

Open to US and Canada ONLY.

Giveaway closes Sept 14th, 2014

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Next on tour is: Jump Into Books

Stacking The Shelves #32 + The Sunday Post #9

Stacking The Shelves ( hosted by Tynga's Reviews ) is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Books I have received for Review:

- Print copies -

Soho Teen Sampler 

The Truth: Diary of a Gutsy Tween by Barbara Becker Holstein - review coming soon

The Dead Will Tell (Kate Burkholder #6) by Linda Castillo

Burn Out by Kristi Helvig 

The A-Word (Sweet Dead Life #2) by Joy Preble - review coming soon

- eARC's -

 

  

Books/Swag I have won or was gifted:

Avalon by Mindee Arnett 

Thank you ever so much, Mindee! YOU ROCK!

Books I have got from the library (or borrowed):

The Darkest Surrender (Lords of the Underworld #8) by Gena Showalter

The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3) by Julie Kagawa

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Books I have bought:

All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Soho Teen, Sky Pony Press, EgmontUSA, and everyone else who sent me review copies.  I am super excited to read/review them all. 

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The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Last Week on the Blog:

• Book Blitz: Devour by Jill Cooper | Excerpt + Giveaway: win a $25 Amazon GC - open INTL!
• Goodreads Shelf Tour: My Hunger and No In Between by Lisa Renee Jones + Giveaway!
• Paperback Release Book Highlight: IMPOSTOR by Susanne Winnacker + Giveaway!
• Guest Post & Giveaway: ~YA Psychological Thriller~ Oblivion by Sasha Dawn | Win a print copy!
• Cover Reveal + Giveaway: Reign of Shadows by Melissa Wright | Win a $15 & $10 Amazon GC!

Coming this Week on the Blog:

• Cover Reveal: A BEAUTY SO BEASTLY by RaShelle Workman + Giveaway!
• Review: The A-Word by Joy Preble
• Cover Reveal: THE WHISKEY PRINCE by Toni Aleo
• GIF REVIEW OF MISTWALKER BY SAUNDRA MITCHELL (reviewed by Hillary)
• Top Ten Tuesday #26 + Teaser Tuesday #53
• Waiting on Wednesday #23
• More will be added...

I ♥ my readers! 

Thank you all for stopping by! 
What do you all think of the books I got this week? Are there any you're looking forward to reading? I would love to hear what you guys think. Leave me a comment or/and leave your book haul blog link below. I promise to stop by and check them out. 
Have a nice weekend!