Aspiring reporter Piper Baird decides to write a scathing exposé on the overprivileged students at an elite Washington, DC, school, only for her life to change when she begins to fall for the story's main subject, in this new realistic contemporary romance from Brodi Ashton, the author of the Everneath trilogy.
Raucous parties, privileged attitudes, underage drinking, and diplomatic immunity...it’s all part of student life on Embassy Row.
Piper Baird has always dreamed of becoming a journalist. So when she scores a scholarship to exclusive Chiswick Academy in Washington, DC, she knows it’s her big opportunity. Chiswick offers the country’s most competitive prize for teen journalists—the Bennington scholarship—and winning will ensure her acceptance to one of the best schools in the country.

Piper isn’t at Chiswick for two days before she witnesses the intense competition in the journalism program—and the extreme privilege of the young and wealthy elite who attend her school. And Piper knows access to these untouchable students just might give her the edge she’ll need to blow the lid off life at the school in a scathing and unforgettable exposé worthy of the Bennington.

The key to the whole story lies with Rafael Amador, the son of the Spanish ambassador—and the boy at the center of the most explosive secrets and scandals on Embassy Row. Rafael is big trouble—and when he drops into her bedroom window one night, asking for help, it’s Piper’s chance to get the full scoop. But as they spend time together, Piper discovers that despite his dark streak, Rafael is smart, kind, funny, and gorgeous—and she might have real feelings for him. How can she break the story of a lifetime if it could destroy the boy she just might love?

   

 It's crazy to me that I've never read anything from Brodi Ashton before. Crazy! I actually have several of her other books, autographed at that!, but have yet to read them. I was so excited to read this one though. The title really jumped out at me and I was really eager to start reading it. I've been in a reading slump and this sounded a little different than what I had been reading lately.

Diplomatic Immunity was not quite the book I thought it would be going in. For some reason, completely my own fault, I had envisioned this amazing YA action packed thriller full of espionage and international intruigue, basically a Bourne for teens. Which is kind of ridiculous and way, WAY off base considering the synopsis coins it a contemporary romance. haha Seriously . . . what was I thinking?!?!?

Once I got over the initial shock and settled in, I really, really enjoyed it. As contemporary romance's go, this book definately has a unique and interesting spin on it. I really liked that this wasn't your typical, fall in love over the summer story. The story follows our main character Piper, who dreams of becoming a journalist. But her family can't afford to send her to college, so when she wins a scholarship to a super elite Chiswick Academy she jumps on it. She finds herself classmates with the rich and wealthy, as well as kids of political giants with diplomatic immunity. The academy is home to a Bennington Scholarship for journalist students, and if she wins she'll be able to go to the college of her dreams! She just has to write a killer article to get everyone's attention and land the scholarship.

The main character, Piper, is very determined, she knows exactly what she wants and she goes for it! At times I admired that and at times it drove me crazy. And at other timees I was ashamed of her, and the lengths she would go to get what she wanted. Overall I really loved this book, and I can't wait to pick up the other Brodi Ashton books on my shelf.

Diplomatic Immunity by Brodi Ashton

Release Date: September 6, 2016
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Pages: 368
Amazon  |  Goodreads

Top 10 Tuesday: This Old Thing?

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we get to make bookish lists!

This Weeks Topic: 10 Books On Your Shelf Since Before You Started Blogging

Whew! That's a mouthful you guys. Anyways . . . this weeks topic is going to be both embarassing and a little difficult for me. Embarassing because I've been blogging since 2010 and I'm a skosh embarassed to say I've had books on my bookshelf for over 6 years that have still yet to be touched. And difficult because most of my books are still boxed up from recently moving my entire apartment into one bedroom of my parents home.

The Ancient Artifacts

• Jessica Darling series books 1 to 3
• A Spy in the House ( The Agency #1) by Y.S. Lee
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
• The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
• The Luxe by Anna Godbersen books 1 to 3

There we have it, surprisingly that wasn't too hard. Sadly . . . I had more than 10 books that have sat unread for 6 + years

This concludes this weeks Top 10 Tuesday. Let me know if you've read any of the books on my list, and make sure you let me know if you participated this week. I'd love to stop by and check out everyone's list!  Until next time . . . 

Happy Reading!

XOXO

July 2016 Wrap Up and Baring My Soul

Hello Lovelies!

I am definitely embarassed to be posting my wrap up this late, but I do really enjoy looking back on them, so better late than never! July, and August too, were difficult months for me. I didn't feel nearly as fierce and on top of things as I did in June, which was disappointing for me. I was really riding high from all of June's accomplishments, but hey, sometimes life happens!

My health has definitely been on the decline since July, and also well into the month of August. Back in December at my job, there was a gang involved gun shooting. I didn't realize at the time what a huge negative influence this would have on my life, but boy is it noticeable now!

I grew up in a small rural country town, and always felt safe and secure, moving out and living in a big city had it's challenges. I have always had a pretty severe social anxiety disorder, but having lived with it my entire life, had managed to cope enough to work and support myself in one of the largest cities in the county. I loved my life there and miss it tremendously.

After the shooting I was not able to return to work, nor have I to this day. I suffer even more from a massive fear of people, most of the time only leaving the house about 2 to 4 times a month. I have horrible nightmares and flashbacks when I try to sleep, and I have a new ridiculous fear of windows. I have done some pretty ridiculous things like barricading myself in a car for over 6 hours, terrified to get out, which landed me at a hospital emergency room where the attending physician asked me, "what did you think was going to happen when you got out of the car?" Yeah.... really not sure about that. Not to mention loads upon loads of panic attacks.

I thought maybe in time I would heal from the trauma and my life would slowly begin to return to normal. It's been 8 months now and I realize now that this is my new normal. In addition to this new lifestyle of mine, my health issues have been pretty bad, and it doesn't help that I no longer have insurance and an income to pay for health care expenses. *sigh* But that is a whole other rant.

I guess the point of all of this is 1,) for me to get it off my chest and finally admit to myself, that this happened and this is what my life is like now. And 2.) to explain my embarassing reading slump. After dealing with all of the . . . mental anguish I'm often exhausted and just honestly have not felt like reading lately. Which is truly sad. I really hope to redeem myself in September. So enough of all the things I didn't accomplish and why,and on to what I was able to tackle during the month of July!

The Books

• Blood Will Tell (Point Last Seen #2) by April Henry
• Diplomatic Immunity by Brodi Ashton
• A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee

Posts

• 11 posts total
• 8 reviews
• 1 blog tour 

Even though July was not a very productive month for me, due to my hard work in June my blog didn't suffer at all in the month of July. I had content scheduled out throughout the whole month!

Now that I have bared my soul and admitted my defeat that is the month of July, I hope to get myself back on track in the coming months!

Happy Reading!

XOXO

Top 10 Tuesday: Inside These Walls

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we get to make bookish lists!

This Weeks Topic: Top 10 Books Set in a Mental Health Facility

So you guys know me, I love my scary/creepy books, and some of my favorite stories take place in part or whole, in a Mental Health Facility and/or Insane Asylum.  So I picked that for my setting this week. Eeeek! I'm so stoked to share my list with ya'll today!

The Books I've Read

Miss Peregrine's is such a unique and haunting series. I was totally star struck and completely in awe when I read this series. It was the very first photograph story I'd ever read and I've never been able to get it out of my head. The story itself is just absolutely amazing, and the photography just pushes it further over the edge. It's amazing! If you haven't read it yet, what's wrong with you?!? Go, go do it NOW!



Asylum is another photography story series, and I adore this one too! I haven't completed the series yet, but I plan on it really soon! This series is about a group of teen's who go to a college prep summer program, held in an old sanitorium!  This wasn't your average asylum, this was a last resort for the criminally insane! Ahhh!!!  This one is so good you guys, sooo good!





Wildthorn is a Historical YA with an unusual main character. Louisa isn't your typical southern belle. She'd rather study medicine  than the fashion pages and become a doctor like her father,  When her Dad dies, she is labeled a lunatic and sent to Wildthorn Hall by none other than her own family! Seriously! That's so messed up!



We'll Never Be Apart is a crazy fast paced YA Thriller. Alice is committed to a mental ward at Savage Isle, after her twin sister set a fire that killed her boyfriend. Alice quickly enlists the help of another patient to help her track down her sister within the walls of Savage Isle and exact revenge. This was such an explosive page turner that I couldn't put down.

The Books I Haven't Read But Want To Read

That's my list this week! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had making it! If I've left any books out, make sure you let me know in the comments so I can go check them out! Especially if they fall into the YA Thriller/Mystery category!.

Review: We'll Never Be Apart

We'll Never Be Apart by Emiko Jean

Release Date: October 6, 2015
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 279
Amazon  |  Goodreads




Murder.

Fire.

Revenge.

That’s all seventeen-year-old Alice Monroe thinks about. Committed to a mental ward at Savage Isle, Alice is haunted by memories of the fire that killed her boyfriend, Jason. A blaze her twin sister Cellie set. But when Chase, a mysterious, charismatic patient, agrees to help her seek vengeance, Alice begins to rethink everything. Writing out the story of her troubled past in a journal, she must confront hidden truths.

Is the one person she trusts only telling her half the story? Nothing is as it seems in this edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller from the debut author Emiko Jean.

We'll Never Be Apart is such a fast paced YA psychological thriller, and it's definitely high up there on one of my favorites I've read this year! This book is told from both our MC Alice's point of view, as well as a letter she's been asked to write to her twin sister Cellie. Alice and Cellie grew up with a troubled past, bounced back and forth from one foster home to another. After Alice's deeply troubled twin sister Cellie burns down a barn with them inside, causing Alice's boyfriend Jason to die, she finds herself at Savage Isle, a mental health facility. Fueled by her rage, Alice will do anything to get to Cellie and make her pay for what she did.

This book was absolutely explosive, no pun intended! I thought the book was extremely well written, especially for a debut novel. I was hooked from the very first page and read the entire book in one  sitting. You may not be able to relate to these character's but I guarantee that their stories will haunt you long after you've finished the last sentence.

 

Review: Hotel Ruby

Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

Release Date: November 3, 2015

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 288
Amazon | Goodreads

Stay tonight. Stay forever.

When Audrey Casella arrives for an unplanned stay at the grand Hotel Ruby, she’s grateful for the detour. Just months after their mother’s death, Audrey and her brother, Daniel, are on their way to live with their grandmother, dumped on the doorstep of a DNA-matched stranger because their father is drowning in his grief.

Audrey and her family only plan to stay the night, but life in the Ruby can be intoxicating, extending their stay as it provides endless distractions—including handsome guest Elias Lange, who sends Audrey’s pulse racing. However, the hotel proves to be as strange as it is beautiful. Nightly fancy affairs in the ballroom are invitation only, and Audrey seems to be the one guest who doesn’t have an invite. Instead, she joins the hotel staff on the rooftop, catching whispers about the hotel’s dark past.

The more Audrey learns about the new people she’s met, the more her curiosity grows. She’s torn in different directions—the pull of her past with its overwhelming loss, the promise of a future that holds little joy, and an in-between life in a place that is so much more than it seems…

I've got to be honest and say I've never read anything by Suzanne Young prior to reading this. I know, GASP! Totally shocking! I've heard so many positive things about her books, especially the Need So Beautiful and The Program series, both of which I own but haven't read. The premise of this book was interesting and I didn't remember hearing much about this when it released, so when my desperate attempt to clear out my physical TBR collided with my curiosity I answered the call.

In Hotel Ruby our main character Audrey and her family take a small detour and stop in at the hotel to rest before continuing their journey. They are immediately fascinated by the hotels old world glamour and history, and quickly find themselves unable to tear themselves away. Between the spell the hotel has seem to cast on them, as well as the gaggle of interesting guests they just may not ever leave!

First of all, Hotel Ruby isn't really a new concept, just not one very often visited in the YA Genre.  This was very reminiscent of both the now coined Mary Elizabeth series by Joan Lowery Nixon that I read as a teen as well as the whole Tower of Terror movie. 

There were quite a few mysterious elements that kept me surging forward in the book to get to the bottom of the story. There's obviously more going on than meets the eye, but I wasn't exactly sure just how much. This isn't my favorite in this style of story, I much rather prefer the books written by Jane Lowery Nixon, but it was interesting enough. There is a bit of intrigue that kept me pushing forward despite the slow beginning to the story. I was however a bit disappointed that the mysterious and intriguing parts of the story didn't turn out to be as interesting or exciting as I had initially hoped. 

What I did love was the descriptive and world building that the author used. I felt like the way she told the story and set the scene made it really come to life and I felt like I was personally walking through a really lavish hotel myself! While this wasn't my favorite in this type of genre it was okay and I will still be picking up other books by this author in the future.

 

Review: Blood Will Tell (Point Last Seen #2)

Blood Will Tell by April Henry
Release Date: June 16, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 272
Amazon  |  Goodreads

What happens when someone who’s only ever wanted to be a hero becomes a suspect?
When a woman’s body is found in a Portland park, suspicion falls on an awkward teen who lives only a few blocks away, owns several knives, loves first-person shooter video games, and doodles violent scenes in his school notebooks. Nick Walker goes from being a member of a Search and Rescue team to the prime suspect in a murder, his very interest in SAR seen as proof of his fascination with violence. How is this even possible? And can Alexis and Ruby find a way to help clear Nick’s name before it’s too late?

So in true Princess of Storyland fashion, I didn't realize this was the second in the series (AGAIN!) and dove in. I seem to be doing this a lot lately don't I? Thankfully, it didn't make a bit of a difference from what I could tell. So if your like me and haven't read the Body In the Woods, don't let that stop you! However, of course I definitely want to go back and read the first book to see what I missed.

This story is told from multiple POV's, so if that isn't your thing, you won't want to read this one. I feel like multiple POV's can be tricky and sometimes the character's tend to have the same feel. That was not an issue here, each character had their own distinct and unique voice that kept them apart from the others.

Blood Will Tell centers around 3 teens, Nick, Alexis and Ruby who all belong to a search and rescue  team. I'll admit, reading this I was a smidge taken aback by teens having such weighty roles at a crime scene, but who knows, maybe that's fairly realistic when volunteers are used? Anyone? Anywho . . .  I don't think this is my favorite of April Henry's books, but it's a really solid YA mystery, I enjoyed reading it and I look forward to more in this series!

 

Entangled Publishing Summer Carnival: Balloon Pop Booth

Welcome to the Entangled TEEN Balloon Pop Booth! Entangled TEEN is all about the excitement of first love, so we are talking about all of the reasons a summer carnival makes a good date! Pintip Dunn, Vivi Barnes, Heidi R. Kling, and Gloria Craw are here to share their reasons and we would love to hear some of your carnival date stories. So be sure to leave a comment and don’t forget to enter the giveaway below!

OMG, I think one of my first dates ever was at a summer carnival! Why does it make a good date? Because it is fun, thrilling, playful, giddy, and romantic! You get to be a kid again as you scream on rides that smash you up against your date. Feel that rush of excitement when your hoop lands on the bottle and you win a gigantic stuffed animal. Taste the sticky sweetness of cotton candy on your date's lips. Best of all, you form memories that you still remember fondly 20 years later!

No other date can measure up to the excitement and… opportunities…of a carnival. Where else can you legitimately be smashed up against the cute guy without having to apologize for being in his space? Or be lifted a couple hundred feet in the air for a few peaceful minutes of conversation with zero possibilities of someone butting in? Or be given the opportunity to win a huge stuffed monkey that you know you must have, whether or not you really do. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll receive that special kiss you’ll remember far longer than that ugly orange monkey.

Hot. Summer, Night. Well, that's enough right there for romance to spark, but add some sticky cotton candy, popcorn, rides that push you into your partner instead of further apart, and if you're lucky? A moonlit kiss on a Ferris Wheel. Only thing missing from Paige and Jake's summer in Jackson Hole was the town carnival. Why didn't I think of that? Maybe in the sequel.

Carnivals are all about roller-coasters, so we can get some quality handholding-time in as we scream on the way down. Our guy might show off his man-skills and win a stuffed animal, and the food can be amazing. The best thing about a carnival date, though, is we’re going to get windblown hair, he might choose the scary, stuffed clown prize, and there’s a chance someone will spill Slurpee on their jeans. I think when the fun gets chaotic, we let our guard down and that’s when we really get to know someone.

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t forgot to check out all the authors books below.

Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn

Find it online:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads

Author Info:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Newsletter

Paper or Plastic by Vivi Barnes, on sale for just 99¢!

Find it online:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads

Author Info:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Kling, on sale for just 99¢!

Find it online:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads

Author Info:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Atlantis Rising by Gloria Craw

Find it online:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads

Author Info:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Newsletter

The Summer I Became A Nerd by Leah Rae Miller, on sale for just 99¢!

Find it online:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads

Author Info:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Find it online:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads

Author Info:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

And be sure to stop by the other carnival booths for more fun and giveaways and each day stop by the Facebook event page to chat with the authors.