Mash Up Monday

Welcome to Day two of The Fun or None? Fun Hop! Today is Mash Up Monday where I'll be giving you characters from two different books I'd love to see in a book.
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I'd love to see Nora and Patch from Hush Hush and Daemon and Kat from Obsidian to be in a book? Why? Because, especially if their girls were with them, Patch and Daemon would be at each other's throats. After all, both of these guys absolutely love to irritate others to the point where they want to kill each other. My prediction? These two would either be best friends or deadly enemies. And when i say deadly...well neither are human are they? Kat and Nora I just threw in because those two would definitely be friends if not a little jealous at first. So there's my mash-up! What do you think would happen?

Other Participants':

http://justabooklover.blogspot.co.uk/
http://kissedbittenbybooks.blogspot.co.uk/
http://yalitwit.blogspot.com/
http://thebeaucoupreview.blogspot.com/

http://www.danasquare.blogspot.com/
http://donniedarkogirl.blogspot.com

Salutation Sunday!

If you didn't know, since exams are this week, there will be no reviews or memes, except for my Author Interview with Shannon Duffy for the blog tour! Expect that soon! So the first day is Salutation Sunday where we introduce ourselves. Or, if you already know me, then give you a little more insight on my life.

I'm Nikki and I started blogging 6-7 months ago! I honestly never anticipated any more than 10 followers, my friends and family. And now about 200? You're kidding! I'm so thankful and can't wait to get to know all of y'all! Here's some info!

• If you can't tell, I'm from Texas where all I do is burn away in the hot sun.
• I'm a Pisces and I'm addicted to astrology and legends/myths
• I love it when people are random and say hilarious things! Maybe because I'm one of them!
• I type LOL way too much
• I get embarrassed easily
• I day dream way too much and somehow maintain A's.
• I'm Asian, so think of an 85 as a 50 when it comes to grades...
• I hate stereotypes even though I kind of contradicted myself up there
• One of my favorite quotes. From a book of course: "Every person makes a difference. And the things we do--do matter...And now I believe in fate, especially the kind we make ourselves" -Warped
• I'm rereading this and think it's eerily like my Wattpad account info...
• I write a little on the side, but I don't think I have the patience to continue writing. Blogging is so much better!

Here are the links to other participants' blogs!

http://justabooklover.blogspot.co.uk/
http://kissedbittenbybooks.blogspot.co.uk/
http://yalitwit.blogspot.com/
http://thebeaucoupreview.blogspot.com/

http://www.danasquare.blogspot.com/
http://donniedarkogirl.blogspot.com

Lies Beneath by Ann Greenwood Brown

Goodreads Blurb

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him

So I felt kind of bored this week and decided to write a surprise review! Happy Readings!



Calder is a mermaid. Or, a merman I should say. Along with his three sisters, he’s bent on revenge. And the chance for it comes in the form of Lily and Sophie Hancock, the daughters of the one man who should’ve died in place of their mother. And, they decide, the best way to get to the father is through his daughters. And that’s where Calder steps in. He’s to seduce Lily, gaining their father’s trust slowly, until they lure him to the water. And make sure he never wakes again. Calder’s up to it. He knows he can do it; after all, he’s been waiting all his life for this chance. But what happens when he falls in love with his prey? What happens when feelings that he can’t understand develops? What happens when secrets tumble out in a shocking wave? And what happens when it’s him against the world?

I’ve always liked mermaids, more so than angels or demons. Especially twisted ones. They just seemed all the more dangerous and even as a little girl I remember reading stories online about mermaids, sirens, and selkies. All sea creatures who lured and killed. I’m starting to think I had a few crazy genes. Anyways, when I heard of Lies Beneath, I was hooked. Evil mermaids, predator-falls-for-prey romance, and revenge all mixed into one? I’m there.

Anne Greenwood Brown really does know how to weave an edgy underwater story. And in a male’s POV? Talk about different. I really wasn’t sure if I would enjoy a male’s perspective simply because other books I’ve read with those haven’t exactly turned out great. I really shouldn’t have doubted. Lies Beneath does have some overused ideas, and yet, the way that they’re used makes it seem new and refreshing. Does that even make sense? I mean, Ms. Brown doesn’t really create her own species of mermaids, but instead uses the ones of myths and legends already there, and yet, they just feel even more vile (old word) than usual.

This book was fast paced and action packed, leaving me stunned and giddy. There were twists and turns, a really big one that I guessed, and I absolutely fell in love with our narrator. He was full of stubbornness, cockiness, and he was dangerous and knew it. I loved Lily, the love interest, because of her persistence and stubborn as well. Even better (spoiler)? She was smart enough to figure things out. Not many characters actually figure it out until someone tells them the big fat juicy (almost always) dangerous, life threatening secret.

After three paragraphs of fan girl sentences, here are some things I didn’t like:

·         The secondary characters.  There was no way I could actually imagine them as actually people. They were just a tad stereotypical, a bit too good to be true (or too bad to be true).

·         The ending. The book just leaves you hanging, and I get that there will be a sequel, but some things just didn’t tie up right, even for a first book.

·         Sophie suddenly just went from important supporting character to barely there at all. She was one of my favorites.

 Pages: 303

Series: Lies Beneath #1

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

Rating:  5 stars

 "Forget everything you think you know about merpeople. Forget that freaking Ariel, think Silence of the Lambs, think Friday the Thirteenth."



Wake Giveaway

Goodreads Blurb

Beautiful. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Thea, and Lexi have caught everyone's attention, including the eye of practical Harper. But it's her sister, Gemma, they've chosen to be part of their group.

Sixteen-year-old Gemma seems to have it all - carefree, pretty, and falling in love with the boy next door. But her greatest passion has always been the water. She craves late night swims under the stars, where she can be alone yet belong to the sea. Lately she's had company. Penn, Thea, and Lexi spend their nights dancing, singing, and partying on the cove--and one night Gemma joins them. When she wakes up groggy on the beach the next morning, she knows something has changed.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. As she uncovers the truth about her new mythical powers, Gemma is forced to choose between staying with those she loves or entering a dark world brimming with unimaginable secrets.

Wake was a fantastic waterside read! I thourougly enjoyed it although there were some bad parts. Once again (and I promise this time!) the review will be only be three paragraphs long.

The good: The characters were 3D and I could imagine them as actualy people. Gemma and Harper were like actualy sisters, fighting all the time, but loving each other anyways. The guys were awesome in the story, both dreamy in their own way. My favorite? I'm sorry Harper, but he's mine! I loved the romance and Amanda Hocking twists a new Greek myth to fit her siren story which I loved! The three sirens were definitely evil and I'd hate to ever meet them

The bad: Unfortunately, I felt like the plot of Wake was a bit slow and there wasn't much climax. That's pretty much it! The rest I loved.

Ok, I kept this incredibly short because we all know that you're mainly here for the giveaway! Just fill out the Rafflecopter and hope you win! US only, sorry!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Breenan

Goodreads Blurb

Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

Some authors can think of a completely new and original book even when you think every idea has been exhausted and reused too many times. Sarah Rees Breenan is definitely one of those authors.

I’m going to be using a different kind of “review format” instead of my usual, non-planned ramblings.

Character Rundown: I disliked Kami. Immensely. It seemed she only cared about news. Articles. Information. As if the event, the person, the creature, didn’t matter at all. As if they were just meaningless things. It was seriously so annoying that it got to the point where I wanted to rip her head off. Ugh.  And when some things just seemed so obvious, or at least a bit suspicious, she literally blew it all off and didn’t think to ask about it. Of course, she kind of had to believe it…but read it and see what I mean. I have to admit, though, it was entertaining to see things from her point of view because of her witty and sarcastic remarks which definitely made me laugh more than they should. Other times, she just makes me laugh unintentionally. For example: “Well. Yes. Someone’s trying to kill me. But you don’t have to make such a big deal about it.”  She did grow on me half way in like all characters do, though. I guess when you spend a while in someone’s head, you kind of have to end up liking them. Wow, this is actually a long paragraph.

Jared and Angela were definitely my absolute favorites in this book. Angela was just hilarious to read about and Jared was the same: hilarious. And I loved the connection he had with Kami. It was beautiful and the friend connection Jared and Kami had initially made made me like him even more.

The story: The plot was actually pretty good, although it did have some predictable twists. The magic and so-called “soulmates” had a definite twist on it, giving you an actual explanation instead of just putting it out there. The antagonists were people you could clearly identify, people who were the obvious suspects and that made you all the more frustrated (in a good way). There were a few giant turn of events that I could not predict and to say I was shocked would be an understatement.

The romance: It wasn’t Bam! I’m attracted to you, but I can’t. One week later: let’s get together! To hell what others say. Ugh. I’m so happy this wasn’t like that. Think “slow and steady” instead. Which definitely made everything way better because of all the instaromance stories going around. There was a sort of love triangle with the Lynburn cousins, Jared and Ash, and I think it’s safe to say I’m Team Jared.

The ending: The ending wasn’t how I hoped it would be and was incredibly disappointing, but the 50 pages before the plummet definitely made up for it.

All in all: This is actually one of my firsts gothic novels and I’m happy start off with this one! This is one novel you should definitely read. If you get through the first 50 pages, Kami’s reporter attitude gradually decreases (thankfully), so after that checkpoint, there’s not much to complain about!

Pages: 370
Series: Lynburn Legacy #1
Genre: Gothic Literature/Paranormal/Romance
Rating: 4 stars

"'I have a system where when I stop, I lean casually against something,' Jared told her. 'It makes people think I’m a bad boy. Or possibly that I have a bad back.'"

Showcase Sunday

This week, I think, will only have two reviews because of the major studying I have to do. Bleh. Anyways, I got three books from trades, and honestly, besides those three, didn't receive many. Which is great since I have to catch up on a lot. As in a lot.

All credit goes to Books, Biscuits, and Tea for coming up with this meme where bloggers show you what books or book-related swag we got, no matter how we got it. The question is what, now how this time!

For Review

        

Bought

N/A

Traded

         

Borrowed

 N/A

NetGalley

     

Given

I did get some swag along with the boks I traded for. My camera is currently broekn so I couldn't take a picture, although hopefully I can borrow a friend's and get a picture to y'all ASAP. I also got some swag of Fracture from the author.

I may or may not have a giveaway for Wake with a short review since I'm not quite sure what to think of it. I loved it, but the plot was kind of slow. I'm currently reading Unspoken, and it's pretty good so far, but the main character's getting on my nerves at the moment. I think the stress of finals are getting to me.

I can't wait to get started on Masque and Unraveling! Arise isn't at the top of my reading pile since I haven't actually read Hereafter...oops.

I found out about Meant to Be from the YAmazing Race and when I found out that NetGalley had it, I had to reques tit! It sounds like a fun, light contemporary and definitely something I'd enjoy. Rapture is the final installment and I can't wait to see how Lauren Kate will tie the strings. So many different ways this story could go, expecially after Passion!

What's in your reading pile?