2012 Ebook Challenge

Someone to Love

December 21, 2012 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 13 Comments

By Addison Moore

Self Published
Release Date: December 23, 2012
Genre: Contemporary New Adult
Source: SupaGurl Tours

What happens when two people who don’t believe in love happen to fall madly, deeply into the most beautiful relationship they could ever imagine? A train wreck.

Twenty-year old Kendall Jordan devises a seat of the pants plan to “play the player.”

When Kendall spots gorgeous Cruise Elton from across the room, something in her burns to have him. There’s only one problem; Cruise likes the ladies, a lot, and Kendall has never shared so much as a decent kiss with a guy.

Kendall has long since come to discover that love is an illusion that never lasts and Cruise couldn’t agree more. So when Kendall proposes that Cruise tutor her in becoming a female version of himself, Garrison Universities own manwhore, he’s more than happy to comply.

But when real feelings begin to emerge, and neither Kendall nor Cruise know how to classify them, everything they once thought they knew is redefined as they discover in one another.

Author Summary

As you’re reading this, I’m probably chest-deep in a snow drift. We got smacked with a blizzard yesterday and since I have to find my way out of the house eventually, I might as well melt my way out with the heat I’m probably still throwing off from reading Someone to Love. If you have delicate sensibilities, this isn’t the book for you. This isn’t even the review for you. If you’re looking for an intense, hot college romance though, read on.

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Filed Under: *B Rating, 2012 Ebook Challenge, Barbara Recommends, Contemporary/Romance, New Adult, New Adult Challenge, Reviews Tagged With: Addison Moore

A Mackenzie Family Christmas: The Perfect Gift (Highland Pleasures #4.5)

December 19, 2012 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 12 Comments

By Jennifer Ashley

Self-Published
Publication Date: December 15, 2012
Genre: Historical Romance
Source: Purchased

The Mackenzies gather for a clan Christmas and New Year’s in Scotland. In the chaos of preparations for the celebration–the first of Hart and Eleanor’s married life–one of Ian’s Ming bowls gets broken, and the family scrambles to save the day. Daniel busily runs a betting ring for everything from the time Eleanor’s baby will arrive to whether Mac’s former-pugilist valet can win a boxing match to who will be the first of the many guests to be caught under the mistletoe. Ian begins a new obsession, and Beth fears the loss of one of his precious bowls has made him withdraw once more into his private world.

Goodreads Summary

If it wouldn’t send most of you running for the hills, this would be one of those books I could review with nothing but GIFs. I have files of screaming girls, kids flopping on the floor and curiously, a lot of Neil Patrick Harris – all of which I think I could string together to show you how much I love the Mackenzie clan. But my holiday gift to you is that I won’t crash your browsers or cause your Shockwave plug-in to stop working. No wrapping paper to throw away or recycling of boxes needed!

There’s not a single historical romance series I love more than Ashley’s Highland Pleasures and since there are only four books in it and it’s only four years old, I hope that says something. I have a handful of books that have made me wonder if it’s possible to damage them by reading them too often on the Kindle and The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie is one of them. Ian and his Beth are just one of the four Mackenzie couples and assorted relatives at Kilmorgan Castle for the holidays in this wonderful, sweet story.

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Filed Under: *A Rating, 2012 Ebook Challenge, Barbara Recommends, Historical Romance Tagged With: Jennifer Ashley

Indigo Awakening (The Hunted #1)

December 18, 2012 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 16 Comments

By Jordan Dane

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: December 18, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: Netgalley

Because of what you are, the Believers will hunt you down.

Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices no one else can hear. He’s warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne refuses to let her troubled brother vanish on the streets of LA. In her desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers and far too many secrets. Rayne can’t explain her crazy need to trust the strange yet compelling boy—to touch him—to protect him even though he scares her.

A fanatical church secretly hunts psychic kids—gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind—for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them all.

Goodreads Summary

Did you know there is actually a thing called a theory about Indigo children? I may be living in a cave, because I had no idea (no comments from the peanut gallery about my age and caves). I ended up losing an hour once I started on the Wikipedia page and then went off following links – it’s fascinating, even if you don’t buy the ideas. Calling Mulder and Scully!

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Filed Under: *B Rating, 2012 Ebook Challenge, Paranormal, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: Jordan Dane

Mia’s Heart (The Paradise Diaries #2) – Review & Giveaway

December 12, 2012 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 12 Comments

Happy holiday hump day everyone! We’re sort of mid-way through the month and mid-way through the week and depending on where you are in the country, having some strange weather (of course assuming you live in the US and assuming you celebrate the holidays – otherwise ignore my chattering). It seems like a perfect time for an upbeat romantic book and a nice giveaway, right? As part of Kismet’s blog tour for Mia’s Heart, I had the chance to read it and after my review, there’s a form to enter a tour-long giveaway to win a signed copy of the book.

Mia’s Heart (Paradise Diaries #2)
By Courtney Cole

Publisher: Lakehouse Press
Publication Date: November 13, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Source: Kismet Book Tours

My name is Mia Giannis.
I am seventeen years old.
I live in Valese, Caberra.

This has become my mantra and my lifeline, having recently lost my memory due to a scary natural disaster.
Yeah. I have amnesia. Messed up, right?

You don’t know the half of it.

Not remembering anything has turned my world upside down. My parents try their hardest to “remind” me of who I was, but it doesn’t feel right. Or, if what they’re saying is true and that really was me, I’m not sure I like that person very much.

And then there’s my love life. Apparently, Gavin Ariastasis is my oldest and best friend in the world. Also, apparently, we’ve never dated. But now, noticing him for what feels like the first time, he’s making my heart do somersaults. He knows me inside and out—the real me. Plus, he’s sexy and charming as hell. Sounds perfect, right?

But then… there’s the new guy. Quinn McKeyen – tall, gorgeous and deliciously American. His mischievous grin and slow Midwestern drawl turn my insides to mush in two seconds flat making me question who I really am and what I really want.

Seriously. What am I supposed to do with all that?! I feel torn between them, but I barely even know who I am, let alone what I want.

I just hope my indecisive heart will clue me in. And sooner rather than later…before I lose what little of my mind that I have left.

Goodreads Summary

Is it a good or bad thing that when you sit down to write a review, all you initially can think of is, “that was so cute and fun!” And after that…”that was just the sweetest, most fun and adorable thing,” is all that comes to you? Panic time. Even my thesaurus isn’t going to help with this one. Courtney Cole, you’ve done the nearly unforgiveable – made me have to think really, really hard for hours (the pain) to write a review.

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Filed Under: *A Rating, 2012 Ebook Challenge, Barbara Recommends, Contemporary/Romance, Giveaway, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: Courtney Cole

Veer (Clayton Falls #2)

December 10, 2012 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 11 Comments

By Alyssa Rose Ivy

Published: November 29, 2012
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Source: SupaGurl Book Tours

Only when you let go can you learn to live.

Between the death of her mother and pushing through law school without her best friend, it’s been a tough year for Becca. Needing a break from Boston, she moves to a tiny coastal North Carolina town for a relaxing summer. After bumping heads repeatedly with a local cop, she realizes her summer will be anything but quiet.

Three years after a career ending injury ruins his chance to play Major League Baseball, Gavin has a distrust of northerners and lately girls in general. He wants nothing to do with a girl who is only in town for the summer.

When the two give in to their impossible attraction, they realize that they may just have found the key to freeing themselves from the ghosts of their pasts.

Goodreads Summary

Ah, relief. Finally back to a New Adult book! I really have missed reading this category, I hope in 2013 there are a flood of authors who pick up the trend and there are a huge number of books to read about 20-somethings. I was glad to be back in Clayton Falls to see what the gang was up to and get another story. Derailed was good in a sweet, ultra-angsty and tormented sort of way and I wanted to know what Ivy was going to come up with for Gavin and Becca. More sweet, ultra-angsty and tormented was on the menu, in a slightly shorter package.

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Filed Under: 2012 Ebook Challenge, Contemporary/Romance, New Adult, New Adult Challenge, Reviews Tagged With: Alyssa Rose Ivy

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares

December 7, 2012 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 22 Comments

By Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 26th, 2010
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Source: Purchased

“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

Goodreads Summary

My ~~demon~~ dear cat destroyed my Christmas tree right after I put it up and after crying on Cait’s shoulder and eating a purely medicinal Godiva bar, I decided to check Goodreads’ Listopia for some holiday books to improve my mood. I remember when Dash & Lily came out, but I didn’t realize it was a Christmas book. It definitely was just the thing, so I grabbed it and a cup of hot chocolate and snuggled in for a nice read. I even let the ~~demon~~ cat sit next to me.

Dash and Lily don’t know each other yet, but both are spending Christmas in New York, separated from their parents. Dash likes it that way – he’s not exactly a festive guy and he’s not interested in celebrating anything with either one of his divorced parents. Lily is a true holiday believer, stuck behind with her older brother while their parents vacation in Fiji. She’s kind of a loner, a weird girl who has trouble meeting and talking to people – and that’s where the red moleskine book full of dares comes in.

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