Beautiful Bombshell

Beautiful Bombshell, by Christina Lauren.

"The smartest thing I've ever done was recruiting Max Stella to help plan your bachelor party."

I looked over at my brother, Henry, after he practically sang this. He was leaning back in his plush leather chair, fresh vodka gimlet in hand, recently returned from a private "session" in a mysterious backroom location, and wearing the biggest grin I think I'd ever seen. He wasn't looking at me when he spoke; he was watching three beautiful women onstage dance and strip to a slow, pulsing rhythm. "Gotta remember that next time," he murmured, bringing the glass to his lips.

"I plan on only having the one," I said.

I've now read three of the books in the Beautiful Bastard series, and Bombshell is the fourth, a novella. Max Stella (he of Beautiful Stranger fame), Bennett Ryan and his brother, Henry, and their friend Will all go to Vegas to celebrate Bennett's impending nuptials to Chloe, whose relationship we first saw in Beautiful Bastard, but things don't exactly go as planned ... and the girls end up in Vegas too, which of course distracts Bennett and Max.

Official synopsis:
The gentlemen from Beautiful Bastard, Beautiful Stranger, and Beautiful Player are out for a wild night on The Strip.

When Max, Henry, and Will steal Bennett away for a weekend of shenanigans and strippers in Vegas, the first stop of the night doesn’t go at all as planned. With their scheme for a Guys Weekend completely derailed anyway, Max and Bennett begin to play a wild game of stealth and secrecy in order to have their bombshells all over Sin City.
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I loved that this was set in Vegas, because I recognized all of the landmarks and hotels that the author references - Bellagio, the Palazzo, the Strip, etcetera. We also get more "time" with Will, star of the future novel Beautiful Player (and there's an excerpt from it in the back of this book, too!) as well as Henry, Bennett's brother, who I think might have been in a few of the previous books but not in any large capacity.

Max has recruited Chloe, Bennett's fiance, to surprise Bennett when they're in Vegas, and although Bennett kind-of feels bad about ditching Henry and Will so fast, of course he invents excuses so that he can see her; they scheduled their bachelor party over Valentine's Day, too, which didn't help.

This was a super quick read and a great addition to the series. If you liked the others in the series, or are thinking about reading the series, I'd recommend reading this novella as well. Each chapter was either written from Bennett's point-of-view or Max's, too, which was interesting because we got to see a little of both men's perspectives - it was almost like a hybrid Beautiful Bastard and Beautiful Stranger novella.

Beautiful Bombshell will be in stores on September 3rd. 4 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of this novel for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

For your reference:

• Beautiful Bastard (BB #1)
• Beautiful Stranger (BB #2)
• Beautiful Bitch (BB #1.5)
• Beautiful Bombshell (BB #2.5) - out 9/3/13
• Beautiful Player (BB #3) - out 10/29/13
• Beautiful Beginning (BB #3.5) - out 11/18/13
• My Q&A with the authors, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings

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A Castle of Sand

A Castle of Sand, by Bella Forrest (A Shade of Vampire #3).

The sight was sickening, but despite my mortification over the sheer magnitude of death surrounding me, my prime concern was Derek Novak. I can't lose you.

He was a vampire. He was a prince. He was the man I loved. The mere thought of losing him made breathing a struggle.

A Castle of Sand is the third book in the A Shade of Vampire series, and I reviewed both the first novel, A Shade of Vampire, and the second, A Shade of Blood, this year. The story of Sofia Claremont, a human, who loves vampire prince Derek Novak, keeps getting more and more complicated, and these books are excellently written and a fun read.

Official synopsis:
What Sofia has with Derek feels like a sandcastle; temporary and something that the waves of life and time will soon ruin...

Since the return of Gregor Novak, the island has turned several shades darker. His hatred toward Sofia and thirst for fresh blood lead to a brutal war igniting between father and son.

Meanwhile, the hunters are gaining formidable strength and resources by the day; they know that the safety of The Shade hangs entirely on its ability to remain hidden from them.

And a sinister secret lies in wait for Sofia within the bowels of an Egyptian desert... a secret that threatens to crush her sandcastle much sooner than she could have expected.
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First of all, you should read the previous two novels before reading this one. I guess it works as a standalone novel, but to get the full experience, you should know Derek and Sofia's history together, as well as The Shade, where they live, and The Oasis, where the enemy vampire clan The Maslens live.

In this novel, Derek wants to marry Sofia, but she knows it won't work: sooner than he thinks, she will be old, and he will still be his immortal 18-year-old self. At the same time, Derek's father, Gregor, orders a culling - a killing of all non-essential humans, so that The Shade's vampires will have enough "food" to drink - which Sophia is vehemently against, for obvious reasons.

This third installment of the A Shade of Vampire series was just as engrossing as the last two, and I can't wait to read the next two in the series: A Shadow of Light, which is already available, and A Blaze of Sun.

4 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I received an e-copy of this book from the author to review. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

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Winds of Salem

Winds of Salem, by Melissa de la Cruz (Witches of East End #3).

"Who is it? Who is making you do this? Who is trying to make you sign the devil's book, you poor child?" Reverend Parris asked.

Abby sat up, eyes wide, staring. Betty followed her lead.

"Do you not see her?" said Abby, pointing. "Why, there she stands!"

They all turned to me.

-Freya Beauchamp, June 1692

Winds of Salem is the third book in the Witches of East End series, the first being its namesake and the second being Serpent's Kiss (both of which I previously reviewed). I'm a big fan of de la Cruz's series' (Blue Bloods and others), and I was able to interview her back in October 2012 as well. Unsurprisingly, Winds of Salem is just as good as her other work, although it does something interesting: it jumps back and forth in time between the present-day Hamptons and Salem, 1692, which sometimes works and sometimes does not.

Official synopsis:
Freya Beauchamp is trapped in 1692, in Salem of all places, with no recollection of her past. A powerful enemy spell has sent her spiraling away so that she is separated by centuries from her mother, Joanna, and sister, Ingrid. This is not good news for a twenty-first-century witch. Not to mention the immediate threat she faces from the wealthy and influential Putnam family. When little Annie Putnam is one of the first to make accusations of witchcraft, her landowner father jumps at the opportunity to consolidate his power and expand his holdings in Puritan Salem Town. If Freya is caught using magic, she will be forced to relive the witch trials, and this time, even her immortality is in question.

Meanwhile, twenty-first-century North Hampton has its own snares. Joanna and Norm consult the Oracle for advice, and Freddie and his pixie allies search for a missing totem that could reopen the passages of time and help bring his sister home. When Ingrid bumps into an old flame, she finds that her new love for Detective Matt Noble is in doubt.

Moving between past and present, Winds of Salem's dizzying plot twists and page-turning suspense is sure to bewitch fans old and new.
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I'm a huge history buff, and I found the Salem portions very interesting. de la Cruz has mentioned Salem before in this series - after all, the Beauchamp women are witches - but never in this much detail. At the same time, though, instead of rotating between the past and the present chapter-by-chapter, there are chunks of the book that are set in each place, so after a while you start to forget about either Salem or the present, which wasn't great.

Ingrid learns more about her mortal boyfriend, Matthew Noble, in this book too, and she runs into an old flame, Thor, now going by the name Troy, who tries to tempt her into being back with him, instead of with Matt.

I would recommend Winds of Salem, but make sure you read the other two books in the series first - it's okay as a stand-alone book, but it makes a lot more sense put into context, especially since it references events and people from the past two novels.

4 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

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Contest: You Are Cordially Invited ... to win a book, plus other great prizes!

Love is in the Air.. And weddings are all around. The MI Savings Mama family is getting married!!!!
 And Guess What....!
You Are Cordially Invited...
Hosted by MI Savings Mama
Co-Hosted by This Mama Loves, Children Teaching Mama, A Safe Haven,Woven By Words and Joy Of Momma Joyner.

This giveaway wouldn't be possible with out these AMAZING Sponsors:

Brilliant Earth - Heart Shaped Pendant with Conflict Free Diamond ($125 Value)


Brian Brundage Designs - BB Pendant ($495 Value)


Wedding Paper Diva's - 2 Packs Cocktail Napkins ($45.00 Value)


ABS - 50 of the Best Core Exercises (book)


Natures Notebook Name in Sand Photo - ($30.00 Value)

*One Lucky Reader will receive the items shown above ( $700.00 Value)
*Giveaway starts August 11, 2013 at Noon est.
*Giveaway will end at 11:59pm est on September 1, 2013
*Giveaway is open to US only
* You must be 18 or over to enter
* Winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter
* Winners will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner will be chosen.
* The lucky winner will be notified by email at the end of the Giveaway.
* MI Savings Mama and the other participating blogs are not responsible for prize shipment or fulfillment

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Disclosure: Books I Think You Should Read did not receive compensation for this giveaway. Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest are in no way associated with this giveaway. Prize fulfillment and shipping will be handled by the Sponsors.

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The School for Good and Evil

The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani.

"Do not question the School Master's selections," said Pollux. "All of you will respect each other, whether you're Good or Evil, whether you're from a famous tale family or a failed one, whether you're a sired prince or a Reader. All of you are chosen to protect the balance between Good and Evil. For once that balance is compromised ..." His face darkened. "Our world will perish."

A hush fell over the hall. Agatha grimaced. The last thing she needed was this world perishing while they were still in it.

I started this book before BlogHer, and then didn't bring it with me because it's so large (about 488 pages) ... I then returned to it a few days ago, and it was as whimsical as I remembered it to be. It definitely evokes the Harry Potter series many times through it, with a dash of Hunger Games thrown in, but it also has its own unique story and characters too.

Official synopsis:
At the School for Good and Evil, failing your fairy tale is not an option.

Welcome to the School for Good and Evil, where best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she'll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.

The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed—Sophie's dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.

But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are . . . ?

The School for Good and Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.
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Sophie has always been Good - she dresses the part, anyway - and Agatha has always been Evil: she likes to wear all black, and learn spells. When the two girls are stolen away from their sleepy town by the School Master, however, Agatha gets placed in the School for Good and Sophie gets placed in the School for Evil. There's surely been a mistake made! ... right?

There's a scene near the end of the book that imitates what would happen if the Hunger Games and Harry Potter worlds collided, in my opinion, but for the most part The School for Good and Evil treads its own path. In the School for Good, the boys are princes and the girls learn how to be princesses, and in the School for Evil, they learn how to create devious spells and facial features like moles and warts are handsome and beautiful.

This book was very long but it was also fun to read. Sophie slowly begins to be more witch-like and Agatha learns that she is Good at heart, and some of the scenes near the end are epic. There's also a sequel that will be published, entitled A World Without Princes, that I'd love to read - check EW.com on August 15th for the cover reveal - and the movie rights for the first novel have already been purchased by Universal.

I would definitely watch The School for Good and Evil on the big screen, especially if it's as great as the book was to read.

4 stars out of 5.

And check out the book trailer - it's awesome!

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Let Love Stay book tour

Let Love Stay, by Melissa Collins (The Love Series, #2).

I try to swallow back my hurt and fail miserably. Driving back to my hotel roomm, I'm lost in thought at the strange turn of events. 

I'm being pushed away from the one person who I never thought I would be without, while being pushed toward the one person I never thought I would have to see again.

Full disclosure here: I read about ten pages of Let Love In, the first book in this series, and then tried to dive in to book #2. Book #2, however (Let Love Stay), basically picks up where book #1 ended, and so I was "forced" to go back and read the first book to get some back story on the main characters, Reid and Maddy (I say "forced" because I love YA books, so it really wasn't that much of a hardship!).

Instead of doing an official synopsis, I'll try to summarize the books for you in my own words. In the first novel, 18-year-old Maddy goes off to college in Ithaca, NY, with her best friend Melanie. Maddy's parents died in a car crash when she was only 10 years old, and Melanie and her mom took Maddy in and have been her surrogate family ever since. At a house party one night, Maddy meets Reid, her suitemate's boyfriend's roommate, who comes across as very standoffish at first, but soon (surprise, surprise) they are attracted to each other and fall in love. At the end of Let Love In, Maddy and Reid have just had a fight, and she gets in a car accident while driving his car and learns that she's pregnant.

At the beginning of Let Love Stay, Maddy and Reid must sort through their issues, especially after she tells him she's pregnant, and figure out what they're going to do. Reid's mom, too, has cancer and is dying, and a girl from his hometown calls him to tell him this; he's been estranged from her for 4-5 years, and must decide if he wants to make amends with her or not before she dies.

There were a lot of things I liked about these books and a few things I did not; since this is a review of Let Love Stay and not Let Love In, I'll try to keep my ramblings contained to this book. The book was a mix of Beautiful Bastard and Beautiful Disaster, in my opinion, and although both of the main characters have tragic backgrounds/pasts, the characters in Disaster (Abby and Travis) did as well, which is probably why I started comparing the two novels so quickly. LLS also has a lot of sexual scenes, but it's classified as NA - "New Adult," the more sexualized version of YA (Young Adult) - so that's to be expected.

I was a little taken aback that neither Maddy's character nor any of her friends even brought up the idea of having an abortion, once she learned she was pregnant; to me, the author was trying to convey a very pro-life message. Although Reid is 21 in the book, Maddy is only 18, which is pretty young to be having a baby; but she immediately decides she's going to keep the baby, even if Reid leaves her over it.

I will say that I really liked the characters in this book, even though they weren't really unusual compared to other YA/NA books, as well as the core story. At the same time, however, I felt their relationship was a little unrealistic. They jumped into being in love very soon after they met, in the first book, but were somehow able to survive all of the hardships and challenges thrown their way, even though there were a ton of them, including accidents, deaths, and the pregnancy. Perhaps I'm a bit jaded from reading a lot of YA stories, but I couldn't help but think that they fell in love super quickly. I did like, however, that they each helped each other get over their painful pasts.

I thought this was the last story in the series, but a third, Let Love Heal, that will focus on Maddy's friend Melanie, will be published in October 2013, and I will most likely read it, as I'm curious to see how Melanie's story turns out.

3.5 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of this book and the prequel for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

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Review and GIVEAWAY: Wink

Wink, by Eric Trant.

You pour kerosene over the Dead-Eye. You rub it clean. You put it in your mouth and suck off the kerosene, then spit it into your palm. You hold open the lid of your left eye, and you shove the Dead-Eye into the empty socket.

Something is released inside you. The pain of losing your eye is gone in a breath. You are filled with electricity, and when you open your Dead-Eye, you see the world for the first time. You see a Boogerbear with such detail that you could count its feathers.

Wink has been compared to a Stephen King novel, but I've read Carrie and The Shining and this is a bit more "tame." However, it's definitely one of the weirdest/most "unique" books I've read lately, and because of that, it might be geared towards a specific audience.

Official synopsis:
In this thriller set in a rural Gulf Coast town, twelve-year-old Marty Jameson finds refuge in the attic from his mother’s abusive rages. But only during the day. At night the attic holds terrors even beyond what he witnesses in his home. With a family made up of a psychotic mother, a drug-dealing father and a comatose older brother withering away in the spare bedroom, Marty feels trapped.

Next door, wheel-chair bound Sadie Marsh obsessively watches Marty’s comings and goings from her bedroom window, despite her mother’s warning about the evil in that house. Evil which appears to Sadie as huge black-winged creatures.

Marty, emotionally torn by the violence and dysfunction in his family, is drawn to Sadie and her kindly mother. But if he is to save his new friend from the supernatural horror threatening them all, Marty must transform himself from victim to hero. And to do so, he must first confront what lurks hidden in the shadows of his attic.
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This novel reminded me a LOT of Betty's Child, which I recently reviewed, at least before it got more in to the supernatural side of the book. Marty lives in an abusive household, and his mother doesn't really care about him; his father knows his mother is a wacko, basically, but keeps her around for sex. He had a brother, Gerald, who he accidentally shot when he was younger, and who lives in the house but is barely alive - he's on a breathing machine and is fed via tube. Marty's neighbor, Sadie, who is in a wheelchair, likes to watch Marty from her house, as he's always up to something interesting.

One of the things I liked about this book is that it let us see different POVs (points-of-view) throughout. Marty used to be close to his Uncle Cooper, and even though Cooper is now deceased, we get a few excerpts from his POV. In addition, we get to peer inside his crazy mother's head too - I thought this passage was especially poignant, about Marty's shooting:

Your youngest son, the mistake, the goddamned stupid mistake from one night of careless sex that wasn't even that great is sitting in a chair on his knees, holding that .38 pistol your husband calls Mad Annie because it is a woman's gun with a woman's one-pound pull on the trigger. The smoke from the shot lingers around the mistake like a gray, smoldering halo.

On the floor beneath the mistake is your oldest son. He is eighteen. He is beautiful. He is a god in a god's body. He rests on the floor beside the chair the way a puppet might fall if you cut his strings and let him drop, arms flayed with his chest on his knees.

"I didn't mean it," your mistake says.  

The ending and also an incident in the middle of this book were especially crazy, and the author (Eric Trant) must have an especially vivid imagination in order to have written it.

3.5 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of this novel for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

GIVEAWAY:

I have one copy of Wink to give to a lucky reader. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below. The contest will end next Monday, August 12th, at 11:59pm EST, and the winner will be emailed on August 13th and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Open to all countries but U.S/Canada winners will receive a print copy; all other residents will receive an e-book copy.

Good luck!

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