It Ends With Us By Colleen Hoover ARC Review + GIVEAWAY | Queen Of The Feels.

It Ends With Us |  Colleen Hoover
Release Date: August 2, 2016  | Atria Books
Genre(s): New Adult, Contemporary
Pages: 384
Edition: E-ARC
Source: Publisher
Rating:

Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most. 
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true. 
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. 
Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place. As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened. With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters, It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

Gemini By Sonya Mukherjee Blog Tour | Spotlight + Giveaway!

Run By Kody Keplinger ARC Review + Giveaway -- Best Friends 4LYFE

The Way Back To You | Top 10 Places To Visit On An Epic Road Trip.

The Way Back To You | Michelle Andreani & Mindi Scott
Release Date: May. 3rd, 2016 | Katherine Tegen Books
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: Irish Banana Blog Tours
Edition: Paperback ARC

In this witty, heart-tugging novel, two teens take a spontaneous road trip across the Southwest to meet three strangers who received the life-saving organs of their late best friend—charting a journey of loss, hope, and love along the way. Six months ago, Ashlyn Montiel died in a bike accident. Her best friend Cloudy is keeping it together, at least on the outside. Cloudy’s insides are a different story: tangled, confused, heartbroken. Kyle is falling apart, and everyone can tell. Ashlyn was his girlfriend, and when she died, a part of him went with her. Maybe the only part he cares about anymore. As the two people who loved Ashlyn best, Cloudy and Kyle should be able to lean on each other. But after a terrible mistake last year, they're barely speaking. So when Cloudy discovers that Ashlyn’s organs were donated after her death and the Montiel family has been in touch with three of the recipients, she does something a little bit crazy and a lot of out character: she steals the letters and convinces Kyle to go on a winter break road trip with her, from Oregon to California to Arizona to Nevada. Maybe if they see the recipients—the people whose lives were saved by Ashlyn’s death—the world will open up again. Or maybe it will be a huge mistake. With hundreds of miles in front of them, a stowaway kitten, and a list of people who are alive because of Ashlyn, Cloudy and Kyle just may find their way to back to her...and to each other.

I received a review copy courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.

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Summery Contemp + Road Trip =  

come on, you know you want to read it. & after this post, I'm sure you will.

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My favorite books to read when the spring and summer season break are contemporaries! Nothing is better than immersing yourself in a good read while the weather is breezy or warm, and when the story includes a road trip, things just get 1000x better! When I read the synopsis to The Way Back To You, all I seen was " winter-break road trip " and I jumped on it like Dairy Queen was giving out free bacon cheeseburgers, it was an opportunity I just couldn't miss out on. So, when it came time to decide what I wanted to showcase as a promo post, I just knew getting Michelle and Mindi to share a list of the top ten places to visit on an epic road trip, was the perfect idea. Hopefully they'll stuff me in the back seat because I must be in attendance for this greatness.

Michelle and Mindi's Epic (Fictional Fantasy) Road Trip!

Narnia (Chronicles of Narnia): Sure, it's more accessible by wardrobe than motor vehicle, but it seems like an enchanting place to kick off a road trip, right? And maybe Turkish Delight actually tastes good there!

Hogsmeade (The Harry Potter series): Shopping for wizard stuff in the cutest, most magical little town in England. What more can you ask for? (Butterbeer is what, and we'd be stopping by the Three Broomsticks for that frequently!)

Stars Hollow, CT (Gilmore Girls): Luke's, Miss Patty's, Le Chat Club, Al's Pancake World, the gazebo! We might never leave!

Tree Hill, NC (One Tree Hill): We just have a soft spot for this weird little show, so a quick stop to the playground basketball court would be a must.

Colby, NC: The fictional beach town in Sarah Dessen's novels would be picturesque, perfectly restful, and the onion rings sound amazing. Also, we're not saying we'd look around for a certain guy riding a bike . . . but we'd look around for a certain guy riding a bike.

Shermer, IL ((The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Home Alone, lots of others): It's maybe not the liveliest stop on a road trip, but considering all the iconic moments this town has produced, we figure it's worth the time. Also, we'd totally reenact John Bender's fist pump on the high school football field, COME ON.

Dillon, TX (Friday Night Lights): We've heard the football team is pretty good. ;-) Plus we wouldn't mind grabbing some coffee with the coach's wife.

Roswell, NM (Roswell): This one's kind of a cheat because Roswell does actually exist! But we're both such fans of the show; why not grab some Tabasco and do some sky-watching there?

Neptune, CA (Veronica Mars): So, Neptune might have its fair share of issues, but if it's good enough to keep Veronica Mars around, we definitely want to check it out.

Sunnydale, CA (Buffy the Vampire Slayer): Well, Sunnydale might not technically exist anymore (Hellmouth collapsing in on itself and all that) but we'd like our final stop to be spent paying tribute to our faves, the Scooby Gang. *tosses symbolic stake into the rubble*

I was sold after Sunnydale, I mean helloooooo, I don't call myself Buffy The Review Slayer for nothing!

If this post has you even more excited to pick up The Way Back To You, then you're in for a real treat! Today on the blog we're giving away not one, not two, but three hardcovers of this new release! Go on, enter away  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Holding Smoke ARC Review -- An Out Of Body Experience . . . Literally.

Holding Smoke | Elle Cosimano
Release Date: May 3rd | Disney Hyperion
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary, (Paranormal?)
Pages: 336
Edition: Paperback ARC
Source: Irish Banana Blog Tours
Rating:

John "Smoke" Conlan is serving time for two murders but he wasn't the one who murdered his English teacher, and he never intended to kill the only other witness to the crime. A dangerous juvenile rehabilitation center in Denver, Colorado, known as the Y, is Smoke's new home and the only one he believes he deserves.

But, unlike his fellow inmates, Smoke is not in constant imprisonment. After a near-death experience leaves him with the ability to shed his physical body at will, Smoke is able to travel freely outside the concrete walls of the Y, gathering information for himself and his fellow inmates while they're asleep in their beds. Convinced his future is only as bright as the fluorescent lights in his cell, Smoke doesn't care that the "threads" that bind his soul to his body are wearing thin-that one day he may not make it back in time. That is until he meets Pink, a tough, resourceful girl who sees him for who he truly is and wants to help him clear his name.

Now Smoke is on a journey to redemption he never thought possible. With Pink's help, Smoke may be able to reveal the true killer, but the closer they get to the truth, the more deadly their search becomes. The web of lies, deceit, and corruption that put Smoke behind bars is more tangled than they could have ever imagined. With both of their lives on the line, Smoke will have to decide how much he's willing to risk, and if he can envision a future worth fighting for.

I received a review copy courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.

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REVIEW

Why Can't I Have A Cool Ability Like YA Characters?

I want to be able to go invisible so I can snatch food without paying. Hey don't judge, steak gets expensive. 

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When I first read the synopsis to Holding Smoke, I had an entirely different idea of what the book would actually be about. The blurb isn't vague by far, but somewhere down the line my mind mixed things up, and by the time I finally started reading, I was so caught off guard and pleasantly surprised, that I had no clue what to do with myself. This book ended up being sorta addictive, entertaining in a way that I obviously wasn't expecting.

It's All About Perspective. 
I remember mentioning this before, but I absolutely love reading books from the male perspective! I've never been able to fully put my finger on it, but it's refreshing, almost an entirely different experience when you can witness life through the eyes of the opposite sex. Most books in YA are told from the female POV, which if we're being honest, can get a little boring. Boys are exciting, and it's not because they have penises . . .

Okay partially because they have penises.

John, better known as Smoke was one heck of an interesting character. He was accused of not one but two murders, landing him in a Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, (in other words, his ass was in jail) but it wasn't his alleged " dangerous " background that intrigued me, it was the aspect that took this story from a normal contemporary, to more of a " paranormal-ish "type novel . . . his ability.

Out Of Body, Out Of Mind. 
Can you imagine having the ability to slip outside of your body? To leave your human form, and wander around the world as some sort of spirit? That would be the best and weirdest shit ever, but it made this story so much more intriguing. Like how most juvenile centers operate, Smoke used his ability to retrieve information from the outside world for his juvie mates, in return for various things. He called them jobs and at night he'll leave his body after lights out, completing favors for others such as, checking on a cellmate's mother, or finding out if a prison guard's girlfriend is cheating on him. They started out pretty innocent, but then his own life comes into the mix, and soon we're unraveling the mystery behind the murders he's being accused of committing.

Do I Really Know You?
I really enjoyed Smoke as a character. He was a super chill guy, with enough a snarky personality to keep me from getting bored of him. He was also clever, and I especially while he didn't want to take up for certain people within the jail, he did it anyway. He was a pretty stand up guy but unfortunately, it ends there. I didn't feel as though he was developed enough, and as I'm thinking about it, none of the characters were. Pink the " interest " was also a character I liked to read about, but she didn't make enough of an impact to be remembered. If it wasn't for the fact that her name was " Pink ", I'm sure she would've been forgotten from the start.

This novel shows a strong case of how a concept can literally carry a book. I'm not sure if I would've completely loved this if it wasn't for Smoke's cool ability. I was pleased with the nice flow of the writing, and even though the characters were a bit flat for me, they managed to do their job which was to keep me as a reader, entertained. If you're looking for something that's light to read in between other books, I'd definitely give Holding Smoke a go!

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