Waiting on Wednesday: Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill

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

This week's WoW selection is...

Title: Being Sloane Jacobs
Author: Lauren Morrill
Series: n/a
Publisher: Delacorte
Publication Date: January 7, 2014

Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

I just loved Lauren Morrill's debut, Meant to Be, to pieces, and I'm expecting this sophomore novel to be just as adorable.  And from the sounds of it, I won't be disappointed.  :)  Also, I love this cover.  It's so colorful and cute, just like the one for MtB.  I'm sensing a pattern here...lol.


(My daughter was sitting with me when I was working on this post, and we're taking her to see Despicable Me 2 tomorrow, so she pretty much told me I  had to post this GIF since we are also waiting on this movie.  :D)

Now that you know what I'm dying to read, what are you waiting on this week?  Feel free to share it in the comments or leave a link so I can stop by!

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Labels: beautiful covers, being sloane jacobs, contemporary, iwantsit-iwantsitnow, lauren morrill, paper lantern lit, waiting on wednesday (wow)

Review: Belladonna by Fiona Paul + Giveaway

Title: Belladonna
Author: Fiona Paul
Series: Secrets of the Eternal Rose, book #2
Publisher: Philomel
Publication Date: July 16, 2013
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

In Renaissance Italy, love, lust, intrigue and secret societies converge to stunning results!

In the second in the stunning Secrets of the Eternal Rose series, Cassandra Caravello is trying to forget Falco, the wild artist who ran off with her heart, as she grows closer to her strong, steady fiancé, Luca. But Luca seems to have his own secrets. When he’s arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night, Cass’s life is once again thrown into chaos. She must save Luca, and that means finding the Book of the Eternal Rose—the only evidence that will prove he’s innocent.

So begins her journey to Florence, a city haunted by whispers of vampirism, secret soirees and clandestine meetings of the Order of the Eternal Rose. And home to Falco, who is working for the Order’s eerily stunning leader, the Belladonna herself.

Can Cass trust her heart to lead her to the truth this time?

Nothing is as it seems in this seductive thriller, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all.

Much like it's predecessor, Belladonna got off to a bit of a slow start for me.  But knowing that the author takes her time building the story, trying to catch her stride, I knew that I'd get to the middle and practically be unable to stop reading.  And that's exactly what happened.

Fiona Paul has done it again.  She's taken Renaissance Italy and made it even more beautiful and picturesque, but she's also lent an air of mystery and creepiness to the story by setting part of it in Florence, where there have been reports of vampires.  Vampires!  I know, right?  But that aspect is all about perception and what one believes.  Though, I suppose much of this story is, considering a major underyling theme is religion versus science.  But I'm not about to get into that debate here.

So, Cass is all set to start her life with Luca after the events of Venom.  She's forsaken Falco for the life she is supposed to have, the one that would make her parents proud.  But she still can't stop thinking about him.  I'm not going to lie, I'm not the biggest fan of Falco.  Even more so after the thing at the end of this book, but that's not the biggest factor.  He's pompous and a bit obscene, and though he genuinely seems to care for Cass, his heart is not always in the right place with regards to her.  I mean, it seems that every tête-à-tête between them results in him trying to bed her.  Not cool...especially considering what that would do to her reputation as a noble woman.  And he has nothing to offer her.  I understand that forbidden love is exciting, and normally I could get on board with it, but Falco just doesn't do it for me.  Cass is still charmingly innocent in the ways of love -- despite being a bit of a voyeur! -- and I hope she remains so.

Now, Luca...that's a man.  He provides.  He protects.  He is the antithesis of Falco in every way.  Sure, he's not as passionate, but he's respectful and shy, and Luca is just what Cass needs to calm her adventurous spirit before she finds herself in more danger than she can escape from.  And he has a history with Cass.  One that they both need to dig deeper into in order to figure out what happened to her parents and determine what role the Order of the Eternal Rose and Joseph Dubois played in their deaths.

I must admit, the love triangle is not as central to the story in this second installment, which might have something to do with why the pacing picked up sooner and I found myself glued to the pages.  Falco is absent for a large part of the novel, and Luca spends a lot of his time in a dungeon this time around.  For the most part, Cass is on her own.  But that was probably for the best since she's got her own investigation to undertake.  The mystery of the Order of the Eternal Rose, the ageless Belladonna, the strange Dottor Piero...these are what intrigued me most this time around.  That, and figuring out what it all had to do with Renaissance vampires.

I wouldn't say that the story is predictable, though I did guess the direction the story was taking fairly early on.  Like I said, it's all about what one believes or perceives to be true.  I'm open-minded but I also take everything with a grain of salt.  Somehow, my wild, hair-brained theories always pan out.  But the journey to seeing those theories come to fruition is still fun in this case, so it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the novel one bit.  In fact, I was rather excited to see how everything played out.

Though I enjoyed Venom, Belladonna marks a surprising improvement upon the first book and has guaranteed that I absolutely must pick up Starling when it releases next year.  After the ending in this book, I'm not sure what the future holds for our heroine, but I know that she won't give up until she knows all of the Order's secrets.  I just hope she nabs them before they nab her.

Rating:  

the Secrets of the Eternal Rose series

About the author:

Fiona Paul lives in St. Louis, MO where she's managed to persuade fancy universities to award her degrees in psychology and nursing. Between her studies, she traveled around five continents and spent time living in Thailand and South Korea (which is probably why she finds the idea of wearing shoes in the house a little weird).

In addition to writing, Fiona is somewhat obsessive about coffee, music, and adventure sports. Her future goals include swimming with great white sharks and writing a whole slew of novels, not necessarily in that order.

Find Fiona:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

And because I loved the book and because I love you guys, I'm giving my ARC away!  =)

Rules:

• This giveaway is for US residents only. 
• One entry per household.
• Entries will be verified.  Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
• Winner will be notified via email.  Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected.  Please check your SPAM folders!!!
• We are not responsible for lost packages.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Labels: fiona paul, giveaways, historical fiction, paper lantern lit, paranormal, penguin, secrets of the eternal rose, vampires

Teaser Tuesday #64: Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are the books we're teasing this week:

Title: Losing Hope
Author: Colleen Hoover
Series: Hopeless, book #2
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: July 8, 2013 for ebook, October 15, 2013 for PB
Source: from publisher via Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

In the follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him…

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments—and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs.

She smiles at me and clutches her books to her chest.  I can't stop thinking about Saturday night and how I'd give anything to be back in her room with her right now.  Why the hell didn't I kiss her?  I'm kissing her today, dammit.  After school.  Or during school if I can get away with it.  Or right now.

-- at 55% of galley

It is SO awesome reliving Hopeless through Holder's eyes.  Yum.  And that's really all I have to say about that because I want to get back to Holder, er...um, the story.  =D

What are you teasing this week?  Share it in the comments or leave a link so I can visit!

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Labels: alternate povs, atria books, colleen hoover, contemporary, favorites, hopeless, indies, must-read, teaser tuesday, tough subject

2013 Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop

Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop

July 2nd – 9th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Bookhounds

Who doesn't like to read what they want, when they want?  Yeah, that's what we thought.  That's why we're celebrating the Freedom to Read with the freedom to choose here at The Starry-Eyed Revue.  The winner of our stop on the Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop gets to choose their prize:

Yep.  Any book, as long as it's not over $15 USD.  Here's how you win:

Rules:

• This giveaway is international.   As long as The Book Depository ships to your location, you are good to go.  (You can double-check that here.)
• One entry per household.
• Entries will be verified.  Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
• Winner will be notified via email.  Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected.  Please check your SPAM folder!!!
• We are not responsible for lost packages.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now that you've entered here, be sure to check out the other giveaways on the hop...nearly 200 of them!



Thanks for entering & happy reading!

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Labels: giveaway hops, giveaways

Summer Road Trip Giveaway Hop Sign-ups

Hey there, lovely readers!  I've got some exciting news for you!  Jen at YA Romantics, Candace at Candace's Book Blog, and I are all hosting a series of summer-themed blog hops running through July and August.  Sign up for one or for all three of them -- as many as you want -- and let's celebrate some awesome YA reads this summer!

The first hop is hosted by YA Romantics and is called the Summer of Love Giveaway Hop and features YA books with romance in them.  This hop runs from July 22nd to July 29th.  Visit YA Romantics to sign up!

The next one is hosted by us here at The Starry-Eyed Revue and runs from August 5th through the 12th. This one is called the Summer Road Trip Giveaway Hop and features, you guessed it, road trip books.  But not just those involving a cross-country trek by car.  No, we're featuring all kinds of summer trips:  by plane, train, or automobile.  And, yes, boats.  Boats totally count as a mode of transportation.  =)  Sign up in the linky below to participate in the Summer Road Trip Giveaway Hop.

The last hop is hosted by Candace's Book Blog and is called The Last Hurrah and runs from August 18th to August 24th.  This hop features summery reads and is all about those last days of summer, all the fun things you try to squeeze in before summer ends like camping, BBQ'ing, swimming, and so much more.  As long as there's at least SOME summery activity in the book, it qualifies!

Sign-ups for the Summer Road Trip Giveaway Hop:

1.  To sign up, please add the link to your blog in the linky list below, and be sure to add whether your giveaway will be open to US, US/CAN, or INT readers in parentheses behind your blog's name.

2.  On your giveaway post, please include the following:

• The giveaway hop image for the Summer Road Trip Giveaway Hop
• The linky list with all participating blogs at the end of your post, or if you are unable to post the linky list, please include a link to this post

3.  There is no maximum amount of entries allowed, but please keep it reasonable.  With the exit of Google Reader, this is an excellent time to present other ways for your readers to follow your blog:  Bloglovin', Feedly, via email, etc.

4.  Please have your giveaway post up by 9:00 AM Central Time on August 5th.  Your post must be live and accepting entries by 9:01 AM on 8/5.  You are welcome to post your giveaway for this hop as early as 24 hours before the hop is scheduled to begin.  If you realize that you will be unable to host a stop on this hop after having already signed up, please notify the host ASAP via email at mrsjbruce@gmail.com.

5.  This is a YA hop, so please make sure your blog and prizes are family-friendly.  YA books and gift cards of any denomination are acceptable.

Hope you find one or more of these hops of interest.  Now, let's all have a great summer, sharing the awesome books we love!

Happy reading!

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Labels: giveaway hops, giveaways, road trips, summer road trip giveaway hop sign-ups