Some Explanations...

Hey guys,

This is somewhat of an explanation post. I know I haven't posted as much recently and I won't be posting as much for a while to come. This is why.

My sister, Lisa, and I are starting a business. Well, we've kind of already started it. It's a cupcake business at the moment and we are going to make more and such when we have had more practise. Keeping up with the orders we currently have has kept us really busy and I haven't even had as much time to read let alone review books.

Am I going to continue reviewing books and having giveaways and such? Yes. I am. That's not going to stop and I'll always be reading when I can. This blog will continue as will constant blog tours and such...they just won't be so frequent.

Or maybe they will and you will just see reviews for different books. I don't currently review everything I read. Sometimes I just read a book and then continue onto the next one. But I think I shall start to review almost everything, or everything I read. So, hopefully I will have more posts for you guys. But with the rate I am baking I am not able to read a book a day like I used to, so there will still not be a hoard or reviews.


Other reasons there haven't been so many reviews... Well, I've always had problems with anxiety and depression. It has been a bigger problem since I was 13 and things just went downhill from there.

Things did seem like they were getting better recently. I was able to leave the house a little more (even going out once a week is difficult for me) but then... Things have gotten worse again these past few weeks, heck, months. It's hard for me to concentrate on things, and reading does help, as does writing, but it's also hard to find the time or energy.

So, I'm sorry for the lack of my being here and such, but hopefully there'll be more posts and such soon.

There's a blog tour coming up for July...and I think that's it for now. So, hopefully there'll be more posts, but if not...you know why. :)

Stupid By Choice by Leighton Summers - Blog Tour Guest Post!

A novel about the adventures and regrets of a Texas Oil Princess’s quest for finding love…

Melanie St. John is a beautiful, smart, rich Texan daddy’s girl born to a bold, high-powered lawyer in the oil business who helps Melanie grow into someone who is both worldly and capable. But once she leaves college and enters the privileged world of dating highly sought-after “men of leisure,” she is catapulted in and out of the wealthiest places on the globe while hoping to get married and start a family with one of them. But these mostly destructive love affairs soon become a dynamic exploration of wealth and love, with all the highs and lows. And to complicate matters she is surrounded by her older, free-wheeling, wildcat sister (and her sister’s exotic but destructive best friend) as well as her own two completely opposite best friends, and each of them also hopes to find their own Prince Charming—which all only adds to the competition, adventures, and scandals. But throughout each relationship Melanie explores the deeper, more prevalent themes of family, friendship, love, intimacy, freedom, betrayal, motherhood, and most of all, inner strength.

Goodreads Average Rating; 3.67*s

Guest Post from Stupid By Choice author Leighton Summers: 

Stupid By Choice centers around a hopeful debutante Texas Oil Princess’s struggles from her high school years to her late-thirties as she attempts to find true, lasting love amongst the wealthy, jet-set, spoiled, sought-after playboy bachelors in the elite worldwide social circles of Texas, Monte Carlo, Manhattan, Newport, and Palm Beach.  And though the novel shows both the highs and lows of living in this exclusive, upscale world, there are still many great perks that come with being a “T.O.P.” (Texas Oil Princess).  Here are just a few…

10 Fun Facts about T.O.P. High Society Life

1.   The biggest decision of the day is what time to play tennis or golf.
2.   Get to shop online all over the world at the most exclusive, top boutiques with just the push of a button (and have your accountant take care of the bills).
3.   Can travel anytime, anywhere all over the globe—and in comfort flying only first class or by private jet.  (Even if you don’t have your own, having a share in a private jet is also a plus and always worth it!)
4.   Can decide to purchase a yacht on a whim.
5.   All the invitations to fabulous, fun debutante parties, elegant galas, and important social events year round (and each coming with an endless stream of mega rich, handsome escorts).
6.   Special club privileges that come along with joining exclusive clubs and resorts at beautiful, private places all over the world.
7.   Gain access to very interesting people from all over the globe (and from all walks of life).
8.   Can go to the best spas and salons as often as you want (and have your hair as long and thick as you want).
9.   Stunning fine jewelry and couture gowns (both of which you can create a large collection of to feel like a true princess anytime!).
10. Designer shoes and handbags (that can change daily, if desired).

Want to be a T.O.P. for a night?  Have your book club do a themed “T.O.P. Champagne Party” based on Stupid By Choice.  Your group could get together for a night of confessions and declarations that no one will ever forget!  You can serve fine champagne, tasty hors d’oeuvres, and have everyone get the chance to dress up in their latest couture fashions and accessories. Why not have fun—just like a true T.O.P.!  

Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts (ARC Review)

WARNING: PROBABLE SPOILERS THROUGHOUT THE REVIEW!

Title; Tumble & Fall
Author; Alexandra Coutts
Source; NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Format; eBook
Publication Date; September 17th 2013
Publisher; Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Description; A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

Alexandra Coutts's TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.
Goodreads Average Rating; 3.71
My Rating; 1*

My Review; I didn't finish this book. I couldn't. Why couldn't I finish the book? Well, to be quite frank, it was boring. Not a whole lot was going on and I was 54% in.

I skipped to the ending of this book and I read the bit just after it says THE END and to be honest that little bit almost made me go back up and carry on reading, but it's not enough. You can't have a boring novel with an okay ending.

Okay, so let's discuss why this book was boring...and kind of ridiculous in places.

We have our three main characters. Sienna, Zan, and Caden.

Sienna has issues with depression and anxiety - well, that's what I got from it - and to be honest I thought that with a few of the things the author wrote, well, the depression and anxiety was described quite well. But I'm also kind of wondering if Sienna was actually bipolar because it didn't seem as if she was so anxious or depressed. But she had this sense of detachment from the world and her family, and yes, that's what happens. And then there was Owen, a childhood friend, and it's like he's suddenly there and she's more interested in him than spending time with her family and stuff. It's the end of the world, it doesn't really matter who you spend your time with, but wouldn't you want to at least try to connect with your family?

Zan's boyfriend, Leo, died a year ago. When we first meet her she is sat on a rock talking to him... It's where they used to sit and watch the sunset or something. We don't know he's not there at the time. And then Leo's younger sister comes to the rocks and she gives Zan this book. This book was Leo's favourite or something. So, his sister gives her this old and worn novel and then Zan finds this receipt in it at some later point and this receipt has a name and number on it. Vanessa. When Zan looks closer at the receipt she sees that it is from the night he died.
In the end she goes on a sort of road trip with Leo's best friend, Nick, and they try to find this Vanessa girl. I don't know how that ended up because I didn't get that far, but I'm pretty sure he was cheating on her.

Then we have Caden. Caden has probably got the strangest story in the book. Caden has a sister and a drunk for a mother. And Caden is some kind of skater, or he hangs with skaters and gets stoned and what not, but not drunk. So, when he's out partying on the beach with his friends, or rather on the way back, he gets...kidnapped. By his father. And when I had stopped reading the book...his father had gotten him a prostitute. Like...why? His father is a douche, we get that, but that just takes it too far.

These teenagers lives are supposed to intertwine in this book, but at 54%...they hadn't even met... Except for maybe Caden and Zan who already knew each other.

I just... I did not like this book and that really is a shame because I was really, really looking forward to reading it. Oh well.

Interesting premise...not so interesting book.

Afterlife Academy by Jaimie Admans - Blog Tour - Review and Tour Wide Giveaway...

Title; Afterlife Academy
Author; Jaimie Admans
Source; Reading Away The Days Blog Tours
Format; Kindle
Publisher; Self Published
Publication Date; 15th March 2013

Description; Even being dead isn’t enough to get you out of maths class.

Dying wasn't on sixteen-year-old Riley Richardson's to-do list. And now, not only is she dead, but she's stuck in a perpetual high school nightmare. Worse still, she's stuck there with the geekiest, most annoying boy in the history of the world, ever.

In a school where the geeks are popular and just about everything is wrong, Riley has become an outcast. She begins a desperate quest to get back home, but her once-perfect life starts to unravel into something not nearly as great as she thought it was. And maybe death isn’t really that bad after all...

Welcome to Afterlife Academy, where horns are the norm, the microwave is more intelligent than the teachers, and the pumpkins have a taste for blood.
Goodreads Average Rating; 3.77*s
My Rating; 4*s
Would I recommend this book? I'd recommend you try it out, yes.
Will I read anything else by this author? I would like to try something else out, yes. I have at least one of her other two books on my to-read list.
Could I reread this book? I think I could reread this book at some future point in my life.


My Review; This book, well, to be honest it kind of pissed me off sometimes. Actually it wasn't the book that pissed me off, it was Riley. And maybe Anthony a bit too, but mostly Riley.

Why did she piss me off exactly?

Hmm, lets see.
Wade this, Wade that. Now, I don't like to use certain words most of the time, but Wade is a certain C word. That comment he made near the beginning of the book made me seethe.
It was like Riley would have a moment of enlightenment about him and then BAM! "but it wasn't his fault. But I love him." No dear, you're making ridiculous excuses for him. Surely you're smarter than that. Right? Right?
She also seemed childish at times, and I hated how her boyfriend always came before her parents. "Love of your life" or not, your parents should mean more to you than that.
All she could talk about was Wade or going home. I felt like she was making progress as a character and then we were back to square one.
Riley, well, sure she was very annoying, and I totally didn't love her character, but there were times when she was a not-so-bad character and I could kind of understand her wanting to go home and such.

I've not been so mad at a character or a book since I read Heart of a Stripper by Cyndi Harris, and yet, I managed to like this one much more. And I managed to finish it. Which wasn't really a major feat as this was an easy read.

I'm still wondering how I can be so infuriated by characters and by a book...and yet still enjoy it.

Not everybody is going to love this book, but I think that a lot of people could get on with it and like it at least. I mean, I'm giving this book 3.75*s and I got annoyed at it so many times! Well, it is more like a 3.99*s.

The plot, well, not too much happened really, but the concept was original. Basically, if you die before you finish school, which, because this is set in Great Britain means you would be 16 or under, (though the law is changing with that soon,) you end up at the Afterlife Academy. (There is also a Primary school for those who die younger than secondary school age, but we don't hear much about that.)
Before you can go anywhere is in the Death World you have to graduate, which isn't like normal graduation where you take tests and pass and are then dumped into the real world. There are no tests and it can take you weeks or years to graduate. Also not your average classes.

I thought this was an interesting idea. I mean, aren't we all curious about what happens when we die? Do we get reincarnated? Is there a heaven and hell? Do we become ghosts?
That's something most of us want to know. Something I'm definitely curious about, which is why I like to read books about the afterlife. Not that this book concentrated too much on that. Mostly this book concentrated on the grief death causes and getting over that grief, but rather than getting over the death of someone else, you have to get over your own death. Get over the fact that you can never really talk to your family or friends again, and for Riley, someone who saw their life as perfect, that's hard to get over.

Jaimie looks at it from a couple of different sides in the book. Where Riley doesn't want to be at the Afterlife Academy and thinks that she doesn't belong there, there are several other students who feel like they belong there, or chose to be there. We don't really go deeply into those other people's stories, but it is interesting to see everything and how people are getting over, or have gotten over, their own deaths.
Death would really be a hard thing to get over. The death of yourself I mean. If it was unexpected and you ended up somewhere like the Afterlife Academy how would you react? Personally I have no idea how I would react to something like that and so Riley's complaints are slightly relatable at times. Even if I don't think my life is as perfect as she thinks hers was.

I think that, for how I was feeling today, this book was perfect. I was a little worried about it because today was a bad day for me and I've thought of some things that I haven't thought of in a long time, but this book was perfect for me. To help me really put things into perspective.

Sure, the love was pretty insta love like. Sure, Riley's character was majorly annoying and her boyfriend was an ass hole. As was her supposed best friend. Sure, Riley (and several other characters) could be pretty mean and bitchy at times...but this book was actually quite enjoyable and now that I think about it....I'm going to put the rating up to 4*s. I'd definitely try something else by Jaimie Admans and I'd recommend that you try this book out. It will piss some people off. Others will love it with all their hearts. Others, like me, will love at hate this book all at the same time.

Oh! And I think the cover is really pretty.

Author bio:

-

Jaimie is a 28-year-old English-sounding Welsh girl with an awkward-to-spell name. She lives in South Wales and enjoys writing, gardening, drinking tea and watching horror movies. She hates spiders and cheese & onion crisps.

She has been writing for years but has never before plucked up the courage to tell people.

Afterlife Academy is her third novel and she hopes you enjoy it. There are plenty more on the way!

http://www.jaimieadmans.com
http://twitter.com/be_the_spark
http://facebook.com/jaimieadmansbooks

Giveaway:

2 Afterlife Academy notebook, pen, magnet, and signed postcard swag set (INT)

Ends 31st May

Shared rafflecopter giveaway for all blogs

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1e187b43/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fat Girl: April Flores by Carlos Batts

This book is for those 18 and over only!

Title; Fat Girl: April Flores
Author; Carlos Batts
Source; NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review
Format; eBook 
Publisher; Rare Bird Books
Publication Date; July 16th 2013
Description; His most personal work to date, award-winning photographer Carlos Batts explores the stigmatized world of the "fat girl" in his fourth collection of photographs with wife, adult film actress, and plus-size model, April Flores. Featuring new and intimate photographs of their life and world together, Fat Girl captures an exquisite beauty too often misrepresented.
Goodreads Average Rating; 4.40*s
My Rating; 4*s
Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would recommend it to some.
Will I read anything else by this author? Hmm, it is possible.
Could I reread this book? Yes, I probably could.


My Review; I wanted to read Fat Girl because, well, because I have always been plus sized. Even as a small child. I am so glad I requested this title on NetGalley.

Plus sized people, both women and men, are not usually deemed as beautiful. Well, people are more used to seeing obese people, but it is still not something that a lot of people view as beautiful. But that is what this book represents; a beautiful plus sized woman. And April is beautiful, and at the beginning she mentions how she never felt very confident about her body before she started properly modelling. To me, that seems crazy, but that's the way it is.

People these days, no matter their gender, don't feel beautiful. Especially those of us that are beautiful in an unconventional way.

There was not much writing in this book. It is, after all, a book based on the photographs. However, the writing in this book, the little bits that April tells us about her life and about being plus sized, well, it...moved me. It spoke to me.

The way plus sized people are usually portrayed in the media...well, it is not usually in a great way. But, in this book, well, the muse, April, is presented to us as a woman who is confident, beautiful, and...provocative. She is a person. A beautiful model who just happens to be plus sized.

This is how plus sized people, heck, people in general should always be portrayed. THE WAY THEY ARE. Just because someone is slightly different doesn't give you the right to judge them or think of them as something other than normal. Or something other than a person.

To me, that is what this book represents.

April mentions in this book why it is called "Fat Girl." Usually being called fat it is...kind of insulting. But April tells us that she doesn't see it that way. It took her a while to see Fat as just another word, but she did it...and, to me, that's...kind of amazing.

April isn't just beautiful because she has a pretty face. No, she's beautiful because of her confidence, and the things she wrote, that just made her more beautiful.

In this book April is maybe made to look this way because that is what Carlos sees, and is so, then he is an amazing photographer. I see why she became his muse, and why he spoke that cheesy line 12 years ago. I'm glad that he and his wife created this book. It is a book that needed to be written. Or one that I needed to read anyway.

April Flores is not just "Fat Girl." She is so much more.

Unbeautifully by Madeline Sheehan

Title; Unbeautifully
Author; Madeline Sheehan
Series; Undeniable, book 2
Can it stand alone? Not really. Actually, if you asked me it would be a flat out no.
Source; Smashwords, Paid. I couldn't wait for Amazon...
Format; Kindle Edition
Publisher; Self Published
Publication Date; May 13th 2013
Description; Warning: This is not a story about fate or destiny. This is a story about pain, sorrow, and suffering. This is an impulsive whirlwind romance between two lovers that are not meant to be together. Theirs is not a world with sunshine and roses. Instead, their love blossoms in a secret world full of crime, violence, and death. Their story is about what can be born from nightmares.

Danielle “Danny” West is the daughter of Deuce West, President of the Hell’s Horsemen Motorcycle Club. A sweet and beautiful girl, she loses her way, searching for things that are always out of her reach. Erik “Ripper” Jacobs is the Sergeant of Arms in the Hell’s Horsemen. Once a man who always had a smile on his face, his life takes a turn for the worst when a tragedy befalls him, leaving him scarred and broken. During a midsummer night, Danny and Ripper’s paths cross, forever changing their lives. Hastily, their lust turns to love until another tragedy forces them apart. On a journey that is marred with ugliness and chaos, Danny and Ripper must discover if their unforeseen connection can find the beauty in their world.

This is Danny and Ripper’s story.

Everything has beauty. Even the ugly. Especially the ugly.
Because without ugly, there would be no beauty.
Goodreads Average Rating; 4.65*s
My Rating; More than 5*s
Would I recommend this book? YES!
Will I read anything else by this author? I NEED to read more by this author.
Could I reread this book? I could reread it right now. I want to reread this book, and the first book in the series, already. But I don't have the time right now. Hopefully I'll reread them in the future.


My Review; Oh gosh. Madeline Sheehan, I think I need to read everything she has ever written. She just...I just...this series... This series just blows my mind. I need Cage's story now, and then I need her to decide she wants to write more than three books for the series.

These books are definitely books that I will be revisiting. Heck, I could reread both this one and the first one already! But I don't have time...

Oh, wait! I just checked on Goodreads and now there's 3 more books to come, there's a book four and five too! Okay, okay, I should calm down and try to review this book rather than fangirl over the entire series...

Unbeautifully, well, it's a painfully beautiful story. I loved all the characters, just as I did in the previous book, and I also loved how there were a couple of Eva and Deuce chapters. Those two kill me. In a good way.

Ripper and Danny... Oh my... How I love Ripper and Danny. It is not that they are perfect for each other, they're not. Not really. It is... Oh, I don't even know. Madeline Sheehan just writes characters and romances that I love. I am in love with these characters and I am in love with these stories.

I can't even form coherent thoughts about these books. All I can think about is reading them again. And then reading the next ones in the series. Just...just read this series. You won't regret it, if you take the warnings seriously.
There are no words to describe the awesome painful beauty of these stories.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!

Yes, this is a cause for that much excitement. At least it is in my eyes. Because I am about to start reading... UNBEAUTIFULLY BY MADELINE SHEEHAN!!!!!!!

So, at the end of last month I read and reviewed Undeniable by Madeline Sheehan. That was the first book in this series and I just could not wait for its sequel, which is about a different couple, but I just couldn't wait anyway. The release date was June 5th, but Unbeautifully went live yesterday! That's almost an entire month early, and I was squeeing with excitement, but I had to finish the book I was currently reading first.

About an hour ago I finished that book and prepared the review for the Blog Tour post that's coming on the 18th of May and now I can join everyone in reading Unbeautifully!

I keep on seeing updates on Goodreads and getting jealous, but now I am jealous no more!

Oh, this book is so going to kill me on the inside. It'll be a slow painful death. But I will also love it.

If you have not read this series (so far) yet then you need to seriously read. But you also need to read the warnings and take them into consideration.

This was a pointless post of book nerding bought to you by a squeeing book nerd.

(P.S. I will probably review the book when I'm done, so look out for that soon!)