Winning The Player by Leesa Bow

Winning The Player
Written by Leesa Bow
Published April 14th 2014
266 Pages
Thank you to Destiny Romance and Netgalley
Add to Goodreads
When injury destroyed her dream of playing college basketball, Aubree Taylor fled overseas. Now she's finally home again and ready to move on with her life. Until she runs into Hunter Stone on her first night out, the only guy who's ever meant anything to her – and the last person she wants to see.

Since she ran out on him two years ago, Hunter hasn't been able to get Aubree off his mind. The sexy football star has had girls all over him for years, but Aubree is the only one to have ever seen behind the cocky persona he puts on for the crowd.

Despite her attempts to keep her distance, Aubree is unable to resist the strong attraction between them and it isn't long before they fall into a passionate relationship. She has never been afraid of a challenge, but Hunter's arrogance and inablity to trust are testing her to her limits. Aubree must decide whether to follow her heart and lower her guard…or risk losing the best thing that's ever happened to her.

Stacking The Shelves #019

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online bookshops, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course eBooks. Hosted by Tyngas Reviews.

Short and sweet edition of Stacking the Shelves this week.

Admission: Pandora Jones by Barry Jonsberg

Pandora Jones Admission Pandora Jones Book One
Written by Barry Jonsberg
Dystopian, Science Fiction
Published in Australia May 2014
312 Pages
Thank you to  Allen and Unwin 
Add to Goodreads 
★★★★
Pandora Jones wakes in an infirmary - her body weak, her memory providing only flashes of horrific scenes of death. She soon discovers that her family has succumbed to a plague pandemic which almost wiped out humanity. Pan is one of the survivors who have been admitted to The School - a quarantined, heavily guarded survival-skills facility - to recover their strength, hone their skills and prepare for whatever comes next. Pandora's skill is intuition, but how useful will it be outside the secure walls of The School? And what if it leads her to question where the truth lies...
Plague. Pandemic. Intuition. Secrets. Truth. Courage. Action. Survival.
Pandora can't remember much from before arriving at The School, rescued from the streets of Melbourne where the bodies of the dead lie haphazardly in the destitute streets. Glimpses of a life she miraculously survived show the virus that had spread at an alarming rate. Starting with a cough, the flu like symptoms seemingly killing those infected within hours. But now Pandora Jones finds herself brought to the safety of the walled community known as The School, where teens of all ages are housed in simple down conditions, with meager meals and army fatigues. They are taught to survive the new world, where each night over four hundred students are plagued by nightmares, their soul wrenching cries only further proof what the world has lost.

The former military barracks is walled in, the location chosen to keep the students and instructors healthy and uninfected. Beyond the fence lies a village, where civilians bring supplies to and from The School. The message is clear, students are not to cross the wall. Placed within an orientation group of fellow new students, the group are expected to learn, to train, to eat and work alongside one another, including the charismatic Nate. Nate is the picture of physical perfection, strong and intelligent who loves to run. Other team members all seem to have unique and differing traits, with Pandora's verging on the supernatural. Pandora has the gift of intuition, able to sense someone watching her, a lost item or even person. Fellow team members are skeptical, and none more so than Jen. But to survive The School, the group of teens need to band together. 

As an easy friendship blooms between Pandora and Nate, the two teens are both curious to why lies beyond their surroundings. Finding a route of escape is easy, making it out undetected? Not so much. But when the group are tested on their new survival skills, it soon becomes clear that The School isn't the safe haven they believe it is.

Kelly's Thoughts

I really enjoyed Admission, it blended an apocalyptic storyline, with survival, romance and a psychological teen thriller that is a brilliant start to what is set to be an incredible series. Imagine everyone around you, from teachers, parents, siblings, neighbours and friends that are lying dead in the streets. A virus sweeping the globe and wiping everyone out but a few questionable strangers and yourself. With no one to turn to, and that's where your memories seem to fade. But luckily you were rescued by a small walled community known as The School, which seems more like being imprisoned than taught to survive.

Barry Jonsberg created a world in which the reader won't know whether to flee from or escape to, and nothing is what it seems. I liked Pandora, she's a modest protagonist that wants nothing more than to blend into the background and not draw attention to her gift of insight. Nate soon becomes her partner in crime, both teens sharing a curiosity of what lies beyond the wall. Admission simply has one of the best Prologues I've ever read, 'It took slightly under eight hours for Melbourne to die.' I was completely hooked from page one, and it didn't disappoint. The storyline flows beautifully and to put it bluntly, screwed with my head. You know something is coming, you prepare for it, and then Barry Jonsberg completely surprises you and leaves you wanting more. The cliffhanger is simply evil. Kudos mister Jonsberg. This is one series that I can't wait to continue.

Stacking The Shelves and Weekly Wrap #018

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online bookshops, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course eBooks. Hosted by Tyngas Reviews.

Evertrue by Brodi Ashton

Contains spoilers for book one and two
Evertrue (Everneath: Book Three)
Written by Brodi Ashton
Published in Australia March 2014
368 Pages
Now that Nikki has rescued Jack, all she wants is to be with him and graduate high school. But Cole tricked Nikki into feeding off him, and she’s begun the process of turning into an Everliving herself... Which means she must feed on a Forfeit soon, or die.

Terrified for her survival, Nikki and Jack begin a desperate attempt to reverse the process using any means possible. Even Cole, who they expected to fight them at every turn, has become an unlikely ally, but how long can it last? Nikki needs to feed on Cole to survive, Cole needs Nikki to gain the throne in the Everneath, Jack needs Nikki because she is everything to him, and together, they must travel back to the Underworld to undo Nikki’s fate and make her mortal once more. But Cole isn’t the only one with plans for Nikki: the Queen has not forgotten Nikki’s treachery, and she wants her destroyed for good. Will Nikki be forced to spend eternity in the Underworld, or does she have what it takes to bring down the Everneath once and for all?

Falling From the Sky by Nikki Godwin

April is LGBT Month at Laura Plus Books
Falling From the Sky 
Written by Nikki Godwin
Published February 21st 2014
217 Pages
Thank you to Nikki Godwin
Add to Goodreads
All stability in sixteen year old Ridge McCoy’s life crashed and burned in the plane crash that killed his dad. This summer-long basketball camp is his chance to improve his skills and escape his problems back home. But his summer plans take a turn in an unexpected direction when he meets Micah Youngblood, the guy who runs the carousel at the local mall and has a reputation for devouring straight boys’ heterosexuality for breakfast, alongside his chocolate chip pancakes.

Ridge needs a way to avoid the guys at camp, whose only quest for the summer is to drown in beer and hook up with girls. So when Micah offers to explain how the ten unique horses on the carousel are significant to his tribe, Ridge takes him up on it. Still, Ridge can't decide if this is a bad thing or not. All he knows is that he hasn’t felt this alive since his dad fell from the sky, and as the horse adventures come to an end, Ridge finds himself falling as well, for Mica.

On My Soapbox: Booknerds Etiquette

I've only been blogging for around fifteen months, but you don't need to have an exorbitant membership count or audience to be entitled to an opinion. To say we're a proud and close knit community is an understatement, but as more and more readers are taking their reviews online to share their opinions, it seems we may be forgetting how to set an example of how we support one another. Over the past few weeks I've seen gripes, complaints and bloggers almost ready to walk away from a blog that they've poured their hearts into, all because as book bloggers, it seems some us are losing our way.

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

Fire and Flood
Fire and Flood: Book One
Written by Victoria Scott
Published in Australia April 2014
366 Pages
Thank you to Scholastic Australia
Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying, and she's helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

Stacking The Shelves and Weekly Wrap #017

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online bookshops, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course eBooks. Hosted by Tyngas Reviews.

News


●  Vote for me in the Best Australian Blogs competition Here
●  I've decided to amuse myself by following obscure former celebrities on Twitter. Feel free to make a suggestion in the comments section below.
●  The Divergent movie was released in Australia this week and it looks incredible. For those of you are still undecided whether or not to catch it on the big screen...



Publisher Paperbacks


Red At Night by Katie McGarry

Red At Night (Harlequin More Than Words)
Written by Katie McGarry
Published April 1st 2014
84 Page Novella
Find more information at More Than Words
In Red at Night, Stella and Jonah are total opposites. She's the girl with purple hair from the wrong part of town. He's a high school senior who hangs with the cool crowd. Until a car accident leaves him haunted by guilt, and Jonah starts spending time at Stella's favorite refuge… The local cemetery.

Stella knows she should keep her distance, after all, she spent her girlhood being bullied by Jonah's friends. Once he's sorted out his tangled emotions, Jonah won't have time for her anymore. Too bad she's already fallen for him.

The Worlds We Make by Megan Crewe

Contains spoilers for books one and two in the series.
 
The Worlds We Make (Fallen World: Book Three)
Written by Megan Crewe
Published February 11th 2014
288 Pages
When Kaelyn and her friends reached Toronto with a vaccine for the virus that has ravaged the population, they thought their journey was over, but hope has eluded them once again. Now there is a dangerous group of survivors intent on tracking them down and stealing the cure no matter the costs. Forced onto the road again, Kaelyn redoubles her efforts to find a safe haven. But when the rest of her group starts to fall apart, the chances for her success grow slim. Kaelyn's resolve is strong, but is she willing to surrender everything in order to stay alive? Riveting action and characters full of conviction and courage will captivate readers in this final installment in the Fallen World trilogy.

Sage by Christina Channelle Cover Reveal, Giveaway and Freebie

I know that - what we are. But why do you hate me?

Escape.

It was the only word pounding through fallen angel Sage Cross’ mind when her world came crashing in. Fallon was nothing but a painful memory, something she wanted - no, needed - to forget. Now she has a chance to let that part of her past go and be in a place where she can finally heal. A place where lamia and lapsus don’t exist and she can just be… Sage. But of course, it doesn't last.

Nothing ever lasts.

Her happily mediocre life with her cat familiar, Sunny, and best friends, Janie and Perkins, is nothing but a mirage. Especially when a brooding vampire - first name Adam, last name irrelevant - takes root in her life. Someone who hates her for simply existing, yet she is unable to get him out of her mind.

Or her heart.

With her brother and friends in danger, Sage is the key to either ending it all or causing the destruction of not one, but two supernatural beings.
Fallen angels. Lapsus.
Vampires. Lamia.
Who will survive?

Sage, the final installment in the Blood Crave Series.

Freebie Download


Grab your free copy of Fallen Tears, A Blood Crave Novella on Smashwords.
Click Here to download your free copy and enter the coupon code: XQ59M
The coupon code expires April 30th 2014.

Silver People by Margarita Engle

Silver People: A Tale from the Panama Canal
Written by Margarita Engle
Published March 26th 2014
224 Pages
How can such a narrow
bridge of land
be so important?

One hundred years ago, the world celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal. It was a miracle. Where a mountain once stood was now a path of water connecting the world’s two largest oceans. But creating a miracle is no easy task.

For only a few coins a day, teenagers Mateo and Henry endure homesickness, backbreaking labour, ferocious heat, landslides, and disease to dig through the mountain with little more than a shovel. Thousands around them lose their lives, while displaced souls like local herb girl Anita, and the endangered rainforest itself, do what they can to survive.

This novel in verse tells the story of one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.

Top Ten Tuesday #001: The Most Unique Books I've Read

Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
I've finally jumped on the Top Ten Tuesday bandwagon. Hooray. Hopefully I'm doing this right.

Top Ten most unique books I've read

Dangerous by Shannon Hale


Dangerous
Written by Shannon Hale
Science Fiction, Fantasy
Published March 1st 2014
416 Pages
Thank you to Bloomsbury Australia
Maisie Danger Brown just wanted to get away from home for a bit, see something new. She never intended to fall in love. And she never imagined stumbling into a frightening plot that kills her friends and just might kill her, too. A plot that is already changing life on Earth as we know it. There's no going back. She is the only thing standing between danger and annihilation.

From NY Times bestselling author Shannon Hale comes a novel that asks, How far would you go to save the ones you love? And how far would you go to save everyone else?

Stacking The Shelves and Weekly Wrap #016

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online bookshops, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course eBooks. Hosted by Tyngas Reviews.

News


●  If you enjoy my blog, why not vote for me as part of the Best Australian Blogs competition. Also on the list are the awesome The Notebook Sisters, Happy Indulgence and more. Simply Click Here and vote for your favourite Aussie blog (I'm listed under Diva Booknerd). If you're an Aussie blogger, let us know if you've entered in the comments below.

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

Looking for Alibrandi
Written by Melina Marchetta
Special edition published March 2014
328 Pages
Thank you to Penguin Teen Australia
Add to Goodreads 
★★★★★
For as long as Josephine Alibrandi can remember, it’s just been her, her mom, and her grandmother. Now it’s her final year at a wealthy Catholic high school. The nuns couldn’t be any stricter, but that doesn’t seem to stop all kinds of men from coming into her life.

Caught between the old world values of her Italian grandmother, the nononsense wisdom of her mom, and the boys who continue to mystify her, Josephine is on the ride of her life. This will be the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family’s past, and the year she sets herself free.

Told with unmatched depth and humor, this novel, which swept the pool of Australian literary awards and became a major motion picture, is one to laugh through and cry with, to cherish and remember.
Josephine Alibrandi is not just another teen. She's intelligent, well spoken, responsible and isn't afraid to voice her opinions, even if it is in front of the Sister's at Saint Martha's Catholic School. Jose has always felt as though she didn't fit in, Christina, her single parent mother was shunned from the Italian community, and even though she was born in Australia, she feels Australian's only consider her to be another Wog. The girl can't win.

Jose has never known her father, her mother having fallen pregnant to the boy next door when she was Jose's age, which Nonna has never let her forget. Her teen father never knew about the pregnancy, but moved to Adelaide leaving Christina to face the wrath of her parents. Jose and her mother have an unbreakable bond, and both share a distaste of Nonna and her meddling. Nonna means well enough, but she's constantly worried about her family being judged by the close knit community. Jose is proud of her heritage, but wants to live a little, the problem is that once she attempts to have a life, someone is bound to see her and phone Nonna. Yeah, the girl just can't win.

But two men are about to shake up her life, her father and Aussie Jacob Coote. Nonna's theatrics will definitely be working overtime. Jose will soon find out that life isn't black and white, Australian or Italian, and the two strongest women in her life will love her all the more for it.

Kelly's Thoughts

Looking for Alibrandi is an Australian rite of passage, and I'm embarrassed that it has taken me so long to discover another Melina Marchetta masterpiece. I live in Melbourne, which has almost half of the Italian Australian population. Growing up, I had friends of Italian heritage and now having family members that have married into large Italian families, I loved the European representation, it added a dramatic and source of fun towards the contemporary storyline.

Italian's are a passionate people, and no one can create a more realistic scenario than Melina Marchetta. In the eighties and nineties especially, those of Italian and Greek decent in Australia were widely called Wogs. It wasn't used as a derogatory term, but in the wrong hands it could have been. But throughout Jose's teenage years, sadly she experiences a similar naivety between both the Italian community who are very stuck in their ways and Australian's who's narrow minded views are the reason that some immigrants had decided not to assimilate.

In the midst of it all is Jacob Coote, Australian, public school student and proof that you don't need to be Italian to be overly dramatic. His character although infuriating, played a pivotal role in Jose's life. He represents the typical Australian teen boy that isn't all that different from the old values that Jose's community expects. He attempts to prove that he's more than a stereotype, but fails miserably.

I absolutely loved Looking for Alibrandi, it's such a realistic representation of Australia in the nineties and along with Looking for Francesca, Melina Marchetta has only further cemented her place in Aussie literature folk law.

Looking For JJ by Anne Cassidy: I'm still sobbing

Looking For JJ (Jennifer Jones: Book One)
Written by Anne Cassidy
10th Anniversary Edition Published March 2014
304 Pages
Thank you to both Scholastic Australia and Scholastic UK 
Three children walked away from the cottages on the edge of town toward Berwick Waters. Later that day, only two of them came back. Alice Tully knows exactly what happened that spring day six years ago, though it’s still hard for her to believe it. She’ll never be able to forget, even though she’s trying to lead a normal life, she has a job, friends, and a boyfriend whom she adores. But Alice’s past is dangerous, and violent, and sad... And it’s about to rip her new life apart.

A gripping and emotionally searing novel by accomplished British author Anne Cassidy, Looking for JJ infuses a terrifying subject with humanity and hope.

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