{May 4, 2014} {Blog Tour: ARC Review, Excerpt, and Giveaway } Royally Lost by Angie Stanton

From Goodreads: Dragged on a family trip to Europe’s ancient cities, Becca wants nothing more than to go home. Trapped with her emotionally distant father, over-eager stepmother, and a brother who only wants to hook up with European hotties, Becca is miserable. That is until she meets Nikolai, a guy as mysterious as he is handsome. And she unknowingly finds herself with a runaway prince.

Nikolai has everything a guy could ask for-he’s crown prince, heir to the throne, and girls adore him. But the one thing he doesn’t have…is freedom. Staging a coup, he flees his kingdom and goes undercover on his own European tour.

When Nikolai and Becca meet, it’s their differences that draw them together. Sparks fly as they share a whirlwind of adventures, all the while dodging his royal guard. But Becca’s family vacation ends in a matter of days. Will Nikolai and Becca be forced to say goodbye forever, will his destiny catch up to him, or will they change history forever?

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Royally Lost is a charming, uplifting read that I enjoyed immensely. Though a few aspects seemed a tad far-fetched, overall the novel is very well written, and I found it impossible not to root for Nick and Becca. Having traveled across Europe during my teenage years, much of Nick and Becca’s experiences resonated with me and helped me connect with them from the get go, which made this novel all the more enjoyable.

I am always looking to connect with the characters in novels that I read, and Stanton does a great job making both Nickolai and Becca’s actions, thoughts, and responses extremely believable. Nickolai is also quite swoonworthy, down-to-earth, and perfect in every way—of course, being a prince doesn’t hurt, either. I just loved him, and how Stanton portrayed him as an entity set on changing tradition and helping his people of his fictional country. His ideas for his country are modern and reflect the needs of the people, which was great to see, even though he bumped heads with the traditional entourage of the kingdom. He is a well-rounded individual, and I loved reading his story.

Though generally against tales of instant love, having my own hidden, whirlwind romance as I traveled Europe makes me love this story all the more. While my romance wasn’t of monarch proportions, it was still very similar to Nick and Becca’s, and this not only allowed me to connect with the characters on a level others might not be able to, but also allowed me to put aside my aversion to instant love having experienced something similar in my teenage days—something I had forgotten about until Stanton brought it back to my foremost thoughts.

This is a great story, and as I said previously, while some events may seem a bit far-fetched in some aspects, I really loved it all the same. Four stars.

I received this novel from the publisher, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

Amazon | Kindle (only $3.79!) | Barnes and Noble

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Excerpt:

Nikolai opened his eyes, chilled, as a cloud blocked out the sun. Next to him, Becca slept, her hand curled in his. She smiled in relaxed slumber.

He gently released her hand and looked around. A couple of people lounged on the distant beach and a lone man sat in the sand with a camera aimed straight at him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Nikolai turned his back to the beach and nudged her. “Becca!”

“Hmm?” She stirred.

“There’s a guy on the beach and I’m pretty sure he’s taking our picture.”

Her eyes sprang open. “What?” She sat up and spotted the man. “You think he’s paparazzi?”

“It sure isn’t a random tourist aiming a long lens at us. How the hell did he know I was here?” Nikolai slid on his shorts.

“Oh crud.” Becca grabbed her clothes and quickly pulled them on. “You think he’s been taking pictures of us sleeping?”

“That and more. Lord only knows how long he’s been here.” He didn’t notice him when they were in the water, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been lurking in the trees, snapping pictures.

Nikolai stuffed their leftover lunch items into his backpack. How did this camera-wielding jerk find him?

Dressed, with everything packed up, they headed for the motorbike. Their path unfortunately forced them to pass the creep with the camera. Nikolai pulled his baseball cap low and hid behind his sunglasses. He led the way with Becca’s hand firmly in his.

“Prince Nikolai, why did you run from the palace?” The photographer, a short, heavyset man with cameras strapped across his chest moved closer.

Nikolai picked up the pace, but the man stayed with them, walking backward and snapping pictures. This was no official appearance where Nikolai owed the press a friendly smile and kind word.

“Do your parents know where you are?”

He ignored him.

“Your friend is beautiful. Is she the reason you fled? What’s her name?”

Nikolai bristled and fought the urge to shove the man to the ground and bust his camera. He glanced at Becca, her face pink with embarrassment. She didn’t need to be targeted by this oily loser.

“Have you heard that your sister, Princess Alexi, has gone missing?”

Nikolai hesitated for an instant, but then hurried on. The man was lying. He was sure of it, and he wouldn’t let this vile intruder ruin their day.

They reached the bike. He hurried and strapped on the pack and hopped on. Becca climbed up, hugging him from behind. Nikolai liked the feel of her body secure against his. It made him feel better able to protect her.

The photographer kept snapping pictures and wouldn’t back off. “There are rumors that you have renounced the throne,” he baited.

Nikolai stiffened, but didn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction. He started the engine.

“Where are you going next?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Nikolai grinned, revved the engine, and spun gravel as they raced away.

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About Angie Stanton:

Angie Stanton never planned on writing books; she wanted to be a Rockette. However, growing up in rural Wisconsin, with her brothers’ 4-H pigs as pets, dance didn’t work out. Instead she became an avid daydreamer. After years of perfecting stories in her head, she began to write them down, and the rest is history.

Angie is the author of six books including Royally Lost, Rock and a Hard Place, and Snapshot. She graduated with a Journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin, and is a proud double finalist of the National Readers Choice Awards for Love ’em or Leave ’em.

Website: http://angiestanton.com/
Twitter: @angie_stanton
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngieStantonAuthor

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{April 29, 2014} {ARC Review} The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel

From Goodreads: Some sixteen-year-olds babysit for extra cash. Some work at the Gap. Becca Williamson breaks up couples.   

After watching her sister get left at the altar, Becca knows the true damage that comes when people utter the dreaded L-word. For just $100 via paypal, she can trick and manipulate any couple into smithereens. With relationship zombies overrunning her school, and treating single girls like second class citizens, business is unfortunately booming. Even her best friend Val has resorted to outright lies to snag a boyfriend.

One night, she receives a mysterious offer to break up the homecoming king and queen, the one zombie couple to rule them all: Steve and Huxley. They are a JFK and Jackie O in training, masters of sweeping faux-mantic gestures, but if Becca can split them up, then school will be safe again for singletons. To succeed, she’ll have to plan her most elaborate scheme to date and wiggle her way back into her former BFF Huxley’s life – not to mention start a few rumors, sabotage some cell phones, break into a car, and fend off the inappropriate feelings she’s having about Val’s new boyfriend. All while avoiding a past victim out to expose her true identity.

No one said being the Break-Up Artist was easy.

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Admit it. There has always been that one relationship (or two) that you were dying to break-up. Whether it was because your best friend turned into someone different, or the couple was in so deep they couldn’t see how wrong they were for each other, or perhaps just because you were jealous—you’ve wished that someone would come along and break them up. Meet Becca. She’s your person.

I have to admit that I nearly didn’t pick up this novel. Readers just know going in that Becca is going to get caught, that the people in her school are going to make an example of her, and that it’s just not going to end well for her. And because that sounds very much like a bunch of teen movies I’ve seen, I nearly stopped myself before I even began reading. And I’m so glad that I didn’t listen to my inner monologue. The Break-Up Artist is actually a hilarious tale and, though we know how it’s going to end from the very beginning, Siegel makes this novel stand apart from all the teen angst movies and books out there, and I highly enjoyed nearly every minute of it.

Becca has seen how relationships can ruin a person, so she’s made it her job to break up relationships before they get to the stage where they ruin lives. Amazingly enough, well, perhaps not knowing human nature, there are tons of clients willing to pay the masked break-up artist if she can successfully break up the couple in question. And in the beginning, it seems harmless enough. She really is doing some people a favor by breaking them up, as seen by how self-absorbed and forgetful they become around their significant other. It’s true, people change around their beau, especially teens in relationships, and so it makes sense that Becca has found a calling in “helping” her peers return to their right sense of mind.

When Becca is asked to break up Huxley and Steve, she takes on the challenge, and hilarity ensues along the way, but so do some very real life lessons, like fate, friendship, and right from wrong. Becca has a lot to learn in the love department, and at one point even she is duped into the “relationship” throng, going against everything she’s ever preached, and learning that perhaps what she’s doing isn’t right at all. Constantly battling against herself and her desire for friendship, especially as she see’s her true friend, Huxley, return to her, Becca has a lot of growing up to do, and this is the perfect tale to tell it all. Though I didn’t agree with her when it came to her best-friend’s boyfriend—in fact I found her to be quite silly in her antics here—I get what she’s going through, and I just adored how the entire story unfolded. And there’s going to be a sequel of sorts—I can’t wait to see what’s next in store for Becca! Four stars.

In exchange for an honest review, Harlequin Teen has been extremely gracious in allowing me to read an ARC of this novel, via Netgalley, prior to its release today!

Amazon | Kindle | Barnes and Noble

{February 10, 2014} {Cover Reveal} Sacrifice by Brigid Kemmerer (Elementals #5)

Sacrifice: Book 5 in the Elemental Series

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Releases: September 2014

One misstep and they lose it all. For the last time.

Michael Merrick is used to pressure.

He’s the only parent his three brothers have had for years. His power to control Earth could kill someone if he miscalculates. Now an Elemental Guide has it out for his family, and he’s all that stands in the way.

His girlfriend, Hannah, gets that. She’s got a kid of her own, and a job as a firefighter that could end her life without a moment’s notice.

But there are people who have had enough of Michael’s defiance, his family’s “bad luck.” Before he knows it, Michael’s enemies have turned into the Merricks’ enemies, and they’re armed for war.

They’re not interested in surrender. But Michael isn’t the white flag type anyway. There will be blood on the ground tonight…

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Brigid Kemmerer was born in Omaha, Nebraska, though her parents quickly moved her all over the United States, from the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the lakeside in Cleveland, Ohio, and several stops in between, eventually settling near Annapolis, Maryland. Brigid started writing in high school, and her first real “novel” was about four vampire brothers causing a ruckus in the suburbs. Those four brothers are the same boys living in the pages of The Elemental Series, so Brigid likes to say she’s had four teenage boys taking up space in her head for the last seventeen years. (Though sometimes that just makes her sound nuts.)

Brigid writes anywhere she can find a place to sit down (and she’s embarrassed to say a great many pages of The Elemental Series were written while sitting on the floor in the basement of a hotel while she was attending a writers’ conference). Most writers enjoy peace and quiet while writing, but Brigid prefers pandemonium. A good thing, considering she has three boys in the house, ranging in age from an toddler to a teenager. You can learn more about Brigid and the Elemental boys at www.brigidkemmerer.com.

Follow Brigid:

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Elemental Kindle | Nook
Storm Kindle | Paperback | Nook
Fearless Kindle | Nook
Spark Kindle | Paperback | Nook
Breathless Kindle | Nook
Spirit Kindle | Paperback | Nook
Secret Kindle | Paperback | Nook
Sacrifice Kindle | Paperback

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Pre-order your copy of Sacrifice today!

{May 28, 2013} {Review} Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer (Elementals #3) :: PLUS a FREE Ebook, Sneak Peek First Chapter, a Poll, and a Giveaway!

From Goodreads: With power comes enemies. Lots of them.

Hunter Garrity just wants to be left alone. He’s learned the hard way that his unusual abilities come at a price. And he can’t seem to afford any allies.

He’s up to his neck in hostiles. His grandfather, spoiling for a fight. The Merrick brothers, who think he ratted them out. Calla, the scheming psycho who wants to use him as bait.

Then there’s Kate Sullivan, the new girl at school. She’s not hostile. She’s bold. Funny. Hot. But she’s got an agenda, too.

With supposedly secret powers rippling to the surface everywhere around him, Hunter knows something ugly is about to go down. But finding out what means he’ll have to find someone he can trust…
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Brigid Kemmerer whisked me away in her first novella, Elemental, making me a fan of Michael Merrick from the get go. In the first full novel of the series, Storm, I fell in love with all the Merrick’s, learning about their abilities and just how difficult their life was trying to be mainstream. In the novella, Fearless, I was able to see what made Hunter Garrity tick, and I glimpsed a deeper side of him I hadn’t seen before, changing my overall perspective. Then, in the second full novel, Spark, Gabriel Merrick stole my heart, and I was forever transfixed by his brooding nature as his deep-rooted goodness shown through. When I read Breathless, the third novella, I learned that looks can be deceiving and Nick’s yearnings and desires follow a different path than that of his brothers. And now, in Spirit, Hunter Garrity once again takes the forefront, opening his heart and bleeding red among the pages. And I loved it. I loved every last minute of it, and of all the books that came before. Kemmerer is a sheer writing goddess, and her Elemental series is absolutely to die for. Her characters come alive off the pages and endlessly live among the memories and dreams of her readers. At least, they do in mine. And I am already eagerly awaiting the next segment in this amazing series.

Hunter Garrity has been a constant in Kemmerer’s fabulous stories since the first full novel, Storm. We all know him, and at one time or another, we all loved to hate him, but things change, truths are laid bare and, in Spirit, we learn the deep truth about Hunter, about his family, his upbringing, his fears, wants, needs, desires… we learn it all. And, it’s heartbreaking.

Hunter Garrity is very real. Yes, the story is fiction, but the way Hunter carries himself, his heartbreaks, and his disposition are all real attributes that bring him to life in a very real sense. On multiple occasions, while reading, I cried for Hunter—his life is brutal, and to know his background is to understand his past transgressions. If it were possible, I would reach through the pages and give Hunter a hug because, as those of you who have read this astounding novel already know, this boy needs it more than anyone else.

Kemmerer, the master storyteller that she is, weaves a tale that forces readers to feel deep emotions for Hunter, as well as many of the other characters as the events unfold. From unbridled love and passion to the deepest regret, fear, and depression, we feel it all right alongside Hunter, and it takes a true literary genius to really take the reader that deep into the story, to make them one with the characters, and that is exactly what Kemmerer does. I have loved every single one of Kemmerer’s novels to date, but I do believe that Spirit takes the cake. It’s so poignant and breathtaking that I believe I just might have to sit down and read it again. Five stars.

I received an ARC of this novel from Kensington Publishers, via The Midnight Garden Blog Tours and Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.