Gilt ( The Royal Circle #1) by Katherine Longshore
Release Date: May 15, 2012
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 398
Format: ARC
Source: DAC Arc Tour
Challenges: 2012 Goodreads Reading Challenge, 2012 Debut Author Challenge
Buy the Book: Amazon

In the Tudor age, ambition, power and charismatic allure are essential and Catherine Howard has plenty of all three. Not to mention her loyal best friend, Kitty Tylney, to help cover her tracks. Kitty, the abandoned youngest daughter of minor aristocracy, owes everything to Cat – where she is, what she is, even who she is. Friend, flirt, and self-proclaimed Queen of Misrule, Cat reigns supreme in a loyal court of girls under the none-too-watchful eye of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.

When Cat worms her way into the heart of Henry VIII and becomes Queen of England, Kitty is thrown into the intoxicating Tudor Court. It’s a world of glittering jewels and elegant costumes, of gossip and deception. As the Queen’s right-hand-woman, Kitty goes from the girl nobody noticed to being caught between two men – the object of her affection and the object of her desire.

But the atmosphere of the court turns from dazzling to deadly, and Kitty is forced to learn the difference between trust and loyalty, love and lust, secrets and treason. And to accept the consequences when some lessons are learned too late.

I absolutely ADORE historical fiction. In fact, I own a collection of historical romance fiction. Didn't know that, did you? So I literally squee'd for a week over Gilt. A story set in the tudor ages full of passion, lies, betrayal, torrid love affairs, gowns, and glittering jewels! Be still my beating heart!

For some reason ( I blame it on a two day brain fart) I didn't realize until I read the author's note that this book was based on the live's of Henry VIII and Catherine Howard. Duh! I was very impressed by how many actual people the author was able to fit into the story. And I thought she did a brilliant job with it!

I really enjoyed reading about the political aspect of things, and how everything worked. Since there are no royal families or King and Queen's here that has always intrigued me. I loved reading about the royal life, the ceremonies, their day to lives and everything in between.

I really enjoyed the main character Kitty, who was the very definition of loyalty! Although at times I wanted her to wake up and smell the royal rose garden! Her best friend, Catherine, was the polar opposite. She was selfish and only cared about her own interests. I didn't identify with her, but I could see why she made the choices she did and what motivated her to do so. I really felt for these young women, who had to marry because their parents couldn't support them. I'm not quite sure what I'd do if I were in their position, but hopefully not behave as badly as some of these ladies!

Overall I enjoyed reading about the gowns, the elaborate lengths the royals went to to entertain themselves as well as their day to day lives. You'd think there'd be plenty to be entertained by, but for me it was lacking in the drama department. I guess maybe because I've read so much historical fiction, I was really looking for some jaw dropping drama that would set this apart from other historical fiction. Even though I didn't quite find that with Gilt it was an enjoyable read and I look forward to reading the next book in this series!

April 2012 Wrap Up

Hello Lovelies~

It's time for another monthly wrap up! I can't believe we are already 5 months into this year! WOW! Time has really flown by!

I've been able to work on my blog goals for this year and am definitely making progress! I've been able to find more of a balance between personal life, work, and blogging. I've been able to read more, without neglecting other things. Yay!!!

Last month I started doing a comments contest each week, which I credit to my good friend Jen. She does this on her blog and it seemed like so much fun. The response has been incredible! And I have decided comments contest is here to stay!

For the month of April I read a total of 8 books and one novella. This is 2 more than last month, and I actually exceeded my goal of 8 books a month. Eeek! Definite proress! . I had a total of 19 posts, which included 7 review posts. While my posts are down from last month, my reviews are up so I couldn't be happier!  

Thank you to everyone who supports my blog, stops by to read my posts, and for your awesome comments which I adore! Hopefully May will bring some more fun and exciting things!

The Books

Elemental ( Elementals #0.5) by Brigid Kemmerer
7 Clues To Winning You by Kristin Walker

Gilt by Katherine Longshore

Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn

Keep Holding On by Susan Colasanti

Hemlock (Hemlock #1) by Kathleen Peacock
Lucy In The Sky by Anonymous
The Sweetest Spell by Suzanne Selfors
Miracle by Elizabeth Scott

The Challenges

• I read 9 books towards my goal of 100 for the 2012 Goodreads Reading Challenge. Bringing me up to a total of 32 books for the year. I am 1 books behind and I plan on catching up and hopefully getting ahead in May!
• I also read 3 books towards my goal for the 2012 YA Contempoary Challenge. Bringing my total to 13 books towards my goal of 15
• I read 2 books towards my 2012 TBR Pile Challenge bringing me to a total of 7 books towards my goal of 24. I definitely need to step it up on the TBR books! But these review books are sooo distracting!
• Last but not least, I read 2 books towards my 2012 Debut Author Challenge bring me to a total of 12 for the year!

Random Act's of Kindness

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I went to the Houston Teen Book Con 2012 where there were some incredible authors! Sadly Lauren DeStefano cancelled last minute, but I still had an amazing time! There were so many amazing authors, and panels. And Michelle Zink totally made my day by her kind words and her awesome hugs! :)


I met some really amazing people at TLA 2012 and had a total blast!!! I promise at some point I will try to do a Vlog of all the awesome I got there, if my YouTube will ever work! I had a blast hanging out with some awesome bloggers, talking books, meeting publicists and authors. TLA 2012 ROCKED!

This month I also got some really amazing books from publishers and it totally made it an incredible month for me! And a HUGE thanks to HMH Publishing for hosting my Prom Theme Giveaway! It was so much fun and I enjoyed every minute of it!

So what are your goals for May?  Will you be attending any fun events? Planning an awesome vaction?  I'd love to know, so leave me a comment and let me know!

Happy Reading!

XoXo

Prom Prizepack Winner and Comment Contest Winners

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you all had a great week and even more amazing weekend! My weeks seem to get busier, and busier. So I am a bit behind, and have lots of winners to announce! 

Veronika Briseno is the winner of the Prom Theme Prize Pack. Eeek! Are you excited??? I know I am! It is on it's way to you and I hope you enjoy it! I had a blast with this giveaway!

Okay so the last week in March I announced that I would be doing a comments contest giveaway. I've been extremely busy, and am just now getting around to choosing winners. Yes, winners, as in multiples! haha

From March 26th to April 1st there were 49 entries ( each comment gets you an entry! ) and the winner was Kristan from Lost Amongst The Shelves 

From April 2nd to April 8th there were 18 entries and the winner is Kary from The Once and Future Librarian and she chose The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Next week I will pick winners from April 9th through May 6th! 

Don't forget, every comment you make gives you one entry in the comments contest. Between now and May 6th when you comment on my review of Lucy In The Sky you will get THREE entries into the comments contest! Yes, I am bribing you! That poor post is sad and needs a little love! haha

And just a reminder, if you don't have a way for me to reach you on your blog ( contact me email, twitter handle, etc) then your welcome to leave your email addy so I can get ahold of you. 

If you didn't win this time, don't fret! I will be picking another set of winner's next week and one of them just might be YOU!

XOXO

Review: Lucy In The Sky

Lucy In The Sky
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 288
Buy The Book: Amazon

A riveting first-person tale of addiction, in the tradition of Go Ask Alice and Jay’s Journal.The author of this diary began journaling on her sixteenth birthday. She lived in an upper middle class neighborhood in Santa Monica with her mom, dad, and Berkeley-bound older brother. She was a good girl, living a good life...but one party changed everything. One party, where she took one taste—and liked it. Really liked it. Social drinking and drugging lead to more, faster, harder... She convinced herself that she was no different from anyone else who liked to party. But the evidence indicates otherwise: Soon she was she hanging out with an edgy crowd, blowing off school and everything she used to care about, all to find her next high. But what goes up must come down, and everything—from her first swig, to her last breath—is chronicled in the diary she left behind.

This book really caught my attention. The fact that this is a true story, told from a teen's journal really grabbed my attention. Partying, alcohol and drugs were never something I got into as a teen or even experimented with. Many teens around me however, did. This was a serious and fatal issue when I was a teen, and sadly this has not changed any.

I think what makes this book even more touching is the fact that this isn't just a story. It's a true story. Everything that this girl went through, and did, really happened. A young teen with a whole life ahead of her, did in fact get caught up in the wrong crowd. She spiraled out of control into a world full of drugs, alcohol and other abusive behavior.

This book chronicles the real feelings of teens that can lead them down that twisted path. What it is that attracts them to this and makes it so addicting for them. It also hopefully, gives friends and family warning signs to look for in their behavior and patterns to look for. This was a very real ( probably  because it is!) and gritty look at a teen's addiction to drugs, alcohol and partying and the all too real and fatal affects this can have!

It's a real wake up call to everyone out there and I really recommend this book, especially to teens!

Waiting On Wednesday (20)

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

Erasing Time by C.J Hill

In this high-action and romantic futuristic adventure, there is no escape from the future for two contemporary girls pulled out of their own time.

When twins Sheridan and Taylor wake up 400 years in the future, they find a changed world: domed cities, no animals, and a language that’s so different, it barely sounds like English. And the worst news: They can’t go back home.

The twenty-fifth-century government transported the girls to their city hoping to find a famous scientist to help perfect a devastating new weapon. The moblike Dakine fights against the government, and somehow Taylor and Sheridan find themselves in the middle. The only way to elude them all is to trust Echo, a guy with secrets of his own. The trio must put their faith in the unknown to make a harrowing escape into the wilds beyond the city.

Full of adrenaline-injected chases and heartbreaking confessions, Erasing Time explores the strength of the bonds between twins, the risks and rewards of trust, and the hard road to finding the courage to fight for what you believe in.

Can I just OMG I am so excited for this book!!! I adore the cover and the story sounds action packed and totally gripping! I love stories about twins, they have always fascinated me and I am so looking forward to reading this one! It hits stores on August 28,2012 and it just can't get here soon enough!

What books are you looking forward to?

Review: Hemlock

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Kathleen Tegen Books
Pages: 400
Buy The Book: Amazon

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

There are an abundance of werewolf and vampire books out there on the market. I typically tend to avoid these, they just aren't my cup of tea! Hemlock enticed me in with its beautiful and captivating cover. I found myself wondering about the girl on the cover in the beautiful dress. Wondering why she looked so sad and what was going on inside her head.

I have to say, Hemlock is so much more than just a pretty cover! Kathleen Peacock ( don't you just LOVE her name?!?!?) did a really incredible job with this story. It was unique and original, and stands out in the sea of werewolf tales. I loved how she gave a voice to werewolves and gave them a heart and a soul. They weren't just monsters, they were people who had been infected by Lupine Syndrome. They wanted a normal life, just like everyone else. Above all they were people, with a soul, a heart, and feelings just like you and I.

I loved the way she wrote the character's. The main character was strong and I loved her for it! She's been through a lot and lost a great deal, but she's a stronger person because of it! She is determined to find her best friend's murderer, and I believed with every fiber of my being that she would!

There was a really great love triangle going on, and I enjoyed every minute of it! My heart was torn between the both of them. It's not very often that you see a really well written love triangle, but Kathleen Peacock did it!

There were so many plot twists and turns that I never saw coming! This book surprised me ( in a good way!) in more ways than one. It was such an amazing book and I can't recommend it enough. This is a truly stunning debut from Kathleen Peacock!

She masterfully combined werewolves, murder, mystery, suspense, and action. This book captured my attention from the cover to the very last page. I could not put this book down and I'll bet that you won't be able to either! Hemlock will go down in history as one of my all time favorite reads and I highly recommend it!

In My Mailbox (25)

Hello Lovelies!

In My Mailbox is a weekly Meme hosted by Kristi the Story Siren. This is where us bloggers get a chance to show you what we got this week! Bookish related of course!

My IMM is going up late this week. AGAIN! I was at TLA all week and at a Lauren Conrad signing yesterday. Eeek! I was overwhelmed by all the amazing book events this week and had so much fun!!!! I'm still having YouTube issues so sorry about the weird noises. I'm hoping next week it'll be back to normal!

For Review

Lucy In The Sky

Hanging By A Thread by Sophie Littlefield

Bought

The Fame Game by Lauren Conrad

Thank you so much to Scholastic and Random House for the awesome review books!!! And a huge thank you to Blue Willow Books for organizing yet another incredible event! I had such a blast! You guys Rock My Socks!

I hope you all had an amazing week as well! I can't wait to hear about all of the amazing thins you did this week, and the wonderful books you read! Until next time...

Happy Reading!

XOXO