BLOGOVERSARY TOUR: Joint Review with the Craziest Person on Earth

http://fiction-freak.blogspot.com/p/features.html

How it Works

So the workings of my blog (to be revised)
Each year, I only have four 10/5 stars. Those will be my top books of 2012.
Each year, I will also have seven 7/5 stars! these will be my next level of top books for the year!
At the end of each year, I will round up each of these better-than-5-star books and also add on one MEGA ULTRA FREAK OUT star which is like 100/5 stars. Added up, it'll be 12 non-norm ratings, one for each month! I will, sometimes, have less than 12!

Blog Tour: Crewel by Gennifer Albin

HEY GUYS! I'm so excited to be part of the Crewel Blog Tour! So we were supposed to do something PROMO or a review...but I already did a review since I was lucky enough to get an ARC! You can find that here.

So, me being the Nikki I am, will write a letter to Gennifer Albin herself. Here it goes.

DEAR GENNIFER ALBIN:
So you can see how the greeting is in CAPS right? YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY? Because CAPS are awesome and so was Crewel! It was just...I have no words to describe how amazing it was. (Ok, lie since I wrote a review. But it doesn't give Crewel justice!) So, as one of Crewel's biggest fans...
PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THAT GIANT CLIFFHANGER THAT MADE ME WANT TO STRANGLE MYSELF AND DIE IN A HOLE ALONE.
Please?
If you, however, do not agree to my terms, I will be forced to track you down, climb through your window, and steal the manuscript of book 2. I'm serious (I think).

Also, I'd love to say that as your Twitter stalker, I also enjoyed the Starbucks Date stalker  retelling. Seriously. Who knew a date could be that dramatic? (AND ONLY ONE RING? GASP). I, personally think you should write a short story about what happened and what happened after. After  you're done with BOOK 2.
"I agree"
*cough* WHO SAID THAT? That person is awesome.

And can I just say LOVE your writing?
And your storytelling?
And the way you explain everything?
And your name choice?
And your characters?
And the love interests?
And Crewel's plot?
And my pretend copy of book 2?
Yes, we're back to that.
PLEASE?

Crewel is a word? I never knew that. I thought that was just you twisting the word cruel. Wow. What better title is there? Something to do with weaving AND sounds like CRUEL which fits the book? I hope you didn't use all your title magic! Save some for book 2!

TRAILER. AMAZING! It just fit the book so perfectly! and when she's ripped? BEST. SCENE. EVER.
Just thought I'd throw that in. not like you'll read it! (At least, I hope not. There are like a thousand other people writing something like this, I bet.)

But yeah...I think I'm done.

Except, oh. BOOK 2?!?!?!

Have fun, writing.

-Nikki.

Hunt Time!!!!!!

Directions: There are a list of links below that are your key to finding the answers to the questions in the scavenger hunt. Please answer all the question that are listed for the hunt and the winner that answers all of them correctly will win the awesome prize of a box set full of Fierce Reads titles!

Questions:

1. Whats Gennifer Albins favorite thing to drink?

2. What is the last phrase in the Crewel Trailer?

3.  What's Gennifer Albin's favorite number? Pick a number between 1-100.(Guess!)

4. What do the Spinsters weave? Be specific(it is mentioned on Gennifer's  blog)

5. When was the Crewel trailer released? 

                                         Prize: One LUCKY winner will get.......

    

                                   - A box set of ARC Fierce Read Titles!

  

Entry Form: When you have found all the answers click HERE and fill out the form to qualify!  

Rules: 

- If chosen you must reply to the email within 48 hours or another winner WILL be chosen. Open to the US ONLY(SORRY). 

-Must answer each question correctly to win. Winner will be chosen randomly through random.org

-Must provide a working email address in the form!

-You have until October 18th to enter!

LINKS:  Goodreads Synopsis

               Crewel Trailer 

               Gennifer Albin's blog 

These links shall guide you on your quest to a Crewel World.

  

                    Weave Wisely.

Crewel Blurb

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

Short Author Bio

Gennifer Albin holds a Masters degree in English Literature from the University of Missouri. During her student years she served as an editor for Pleaides and The Missouri Review, and since then she’s founded the tremendously popular blog theconnectedmom.com.  She lives in Kansas with her ridiculously supportive husband, two small children, and a Tuesday cat.

Contact Info 
Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook

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Blog Tour: Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Character Guest Post: Emma Atkins (Anna’s best friend)

Want to hear a secret? Come here. 

Oh, please... I don't bite, closer. Anna hates it when I talk about people behind their backs, and since this little anecdote is about her, I'm pretty sure she'd call my behavior "inexcusable" and stop talking to me or something.

Okay, here goes: If you'd told me three years ago that Anna Greene was going to turn out to be my best friend, I never would have believed you. Seriously. Never. 

I remember the day we met. It was the near the end of the first day of school freshman year, and I was walking The Donut when I spotted her fumbling with the latch in her locker. Tallish. Gangly legs. Hair? Out to here. And wearing that horrible Westlake jumper. I thought I should be nice and politely inform her that no one ever wears the jumper. No one. Ever.

So I walked up to her and introduced myself. But before I could tell her the bit about the jumper, she smiled and reached out to shake my hand. She had a nice smile, the sort that makes you smile along without realizing you’re doing so. I can’t remember what she said exactly, but I remember that she made me laugh right away. She didn't seem to be that impressed by my keen sense of style or taken by my accent, and I liked her immediately.

And just like that, I was inviting her over after school.

Frankly, the more we talked that day, the more I realized how little we had in common. She didn't care much about clothes and makeup and I would never in a million years run through mud and hurdle logs “just for the fun of it”. But then we started talking music and neither one of us could shut up. Turns out, she knew the owner of the record store in town so we headed over there and spent the day wandering through the aisles and looking through the wooden bins of CDs. She made me buy the Gin Blossoms and I made her buy the new Screaming Trees. We’ve been best friends ever since.

It's odd, but I occasionally feel this intense need to protect her. And not because she’s weak or anything—on the contrary, she's one of the strongest people I've ever known—but sometimes the instinct kicks in and I can't seem to stop myself. Ever since this guy, Bennett, came to town, I've felt it more than usual.

Bennett. At first I thought he was a creepy stalker, but now that I've gotten to know him better, I admit, he's growing on me. Still, I can't shake the fact that there's something off about him. Like he’s hiding something.

But Anna’s never been happier, and best friends are supposed to support each other, right? So yes, it makes me feel like a bit of a prat that I'm not one hundred percent behind this relationship.

Still, I can't help but think this isn’t going to end well.

Time Between Us Blurb

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett’s unique ability to travel through time and space brings him into Anna’s life, and with him, a new world of adventure and possibility. As their relationship deepens, they face the reality that time might knock Bennett back where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate—and what consequences they can bear in order to stay together.

Author Bio

Blissfully married. Occasional superhero in the eyes of two remarkable small people. Animal lover. Avid reader. Gadget freak. Music addict. Dreadful cook. Happily stuck in the mid-90s. I write young adult fiction about fun stuff like travel, music, romance, and normal people with extraordinary talents.

Contact

Time Between Us Website

Goodreads

Twitter

Facebook

Website

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Book Haul+Weekly Recap (I bought a few version)

So...I...bought...a few...books...and I STILL have to buy 8 more! ACK. MY BOOK LIFE IS CRAZY. And I've checked my TBR. My TBR now has 24 books on it. Who says I'm going to die? ME. So last week, I didn't get much. So I mushed it in with this week's haul. I so wish I hadn't now.

All Books (Not including my eARCs, Broken by A.E. Rought and Gravity by Melissa West)



















Ok, so I would link them, but there are too many and right now, it's super late. When I'm writing this. But the books from top to bottom are:
Every Day by David Levithin
The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
Whispers at Moonrise by C.C. Hunter
Burn for Burn by Siobhan Vivian and Jenny Han
Lovely, Dark, and Deep by amy Mcnamara
Through to You by Emily Hainsworth
Dark Star by Bethany Frenette
Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson
Lost Girl by Sangu Madanna
Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
Mystic City by Theo Lawrence
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Entice by Jessica Shirvington
A Fractured Light by Jocelyn Davies

Swag

Given

Traded

eBooks

Bought

Err...this is, remember, a mix of two weeks (even though last week wasn't much...)

SWAG I GOT FROM A.G. HOWARD!!! EEK! and it's so pretty! Especially the original ALICE picture thing!

SO. A week after I got an ARC of Lovely, Dark, and Deep, I got a HARDBACK of it. So there'll probably be a giveaway for it...without you knowing it...ANYWAYS. I also got Every Day from RANDOM BUZZERS because I'm an AMBUZZADOR! AND THAT AWESOME BURN FOR BURN HARDBACK? THAT'S SIGNED TO ME? The awesome Nicole at Paperback Princess went to the launch party and sent this to me! I didn't even know she had until I got it! EEK! 

Woot! I traded for THROUGH TO YOU and DARK STAR! But now I totally wish I had a hardback of Through to You since I saw it at B&N and it was so shiny! But I can't wait to read these two! I love the premise of second chances and superheroes!

I entered this thing with the publisher where bloggers enter a giveaway for a PDF of Gravity and I got it! WOOT! I also got Broken via NetGalley and Doomed as well, but for some reason I couldn't download after Broken! Eek!

SO. As you can see, I only bought a few! And ugh. I need to buy EIGHT MORE. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. Seriously. I also have to buy my class reading books. Ugh....wait. IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE TOO MANY in that pic! Even though it's...ten books...Oh. I also preordered some books...whoops...

WEEKLY RECAP

Random Musings: Reviews

Blog Tour: Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson

Waiting on Wednesday

Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

And I also have TWO giveaways up and going! You can find those under my tabs or in my tab "Giveaways"!

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Goodreads Blurb

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business--until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers--and the consequences could be deadly.

One of the best contemps for sure...but I say that a lot! But this one is definitely for all those people who love sexy romances and/or guys. It's one of those sad-more-romancy-though kind of books that, even while they deal with real-life (SAD) situations, the romance was one of the biggest parts of the book. And I wouldn't have it any other way! 

I loved the characters! Leah was so kick-butt without seeming annoyingly so. She was so tough and used to this hard life, standing tall all the while. It's just something you have to admire about her. But she has her flaws. She just refuses to show them. And I loved that about her. She takes solace in flying and it seems so...understandable the way Echols put it. Leah was...so complex and she went through a lot of development throughout the book. In ways more than one.

And DANG! Jennifer Echols defintiely knows how to stir up a swoony romance and two equally hot guys. But, you know, only one guy can really capture your heart here. HELLO Grayson. He was like...Ash-like. And that's one of the biggest compliments I can give. Grayson was so aloof and cold towards Leah, but there were those flashes of warmth and kindness that just made your heart melt! It was so adorable...but then Grayson would be aloof again. But by then, we all knew that there was something behind that mask. And DAMMIT. I LOVE GRRAYSON SO MUCH. YOU SHOULD BUY THIS JUST FOR GRAYSON. He was like, the perfect YA bad boy.

*cough*

Anyways, I absolutely loved the plot. It wasn't boring at all. Grayson was blackmailing Leah to, get this, date his brother. But he never says why. And that's one of the biggest, burning questions. If Grayson loves Leah...why would he want her to date his brother? But, the reason made so much sense, and it was so touching. And it does sound like a love-triangle, but it wasn't. One of the boys got the boot in such a way that it...well. I can't say, now can I?

There was obviously a ton of research involved as well. But it didn't really appear that way, unless you were looking for it. I actually learned a lot about flying (but fats and I don't mix well. It went through one ear and out the other) and if I could remember it, I think I'd be a decent flyer and at least not get anyone killed.

Jennifer Echols writes a fantastic love story mixed with the story of someone discovering who they are and what they're worth. Touching and totally hot at the same time, Such a Rush is definitely one for contemporary and chick lit lovers. Real characters with real problems, this is definitely a twist on the norm. 

Pages: 336

Series: Stand alone

Genre: Contemp/Romance

Publisher: MTV  Books

Release Date: July 10

Rating: 5 stars