Author: Alice Clayton
Release Date: October 25th, 2012
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Pages: 300
Age Group: Adult
Source: Bought

Rating: ★★★★★

Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a KitchenAid mixer, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O.
Adding insult to O-less, since her move, she has an oversexed neighbor with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard. Each moan, spank, and–was that a meow?–punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has, yep, you guessed it, no O.
Enter Simon Parker. (No, really, Simon, please enter.) When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. Their late-night hallway encounter has, well, mixed results. Ahem. With walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick…

This book was absolutely hilarious. I really wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it, because it was a little of a stretch for me compared to what I normally read. But after hearing from some friends how funny it was I really couldn’t resist much longer. Even the synopsis for this book is funny, so it is really hard to find a reason not to want to at least give the book a chance. I read this book over a period of about two months, off and on between other books I was reading. I really didn’t find much of an issue with this, it was really easy to pick up and get back into; however, I do think it would be even better read in a short period of time if you are able to.

This book has a lot of different focuses. I really didn’t feel like it focused a ton on settings though, most of the funnier moments take place in Caroline’s apartment involving Clive. I can’t even begin to express how hilarious this cat is. There are so many moments throughout the book involving Clive that will leave you laughing. The tension between Simon and Caroline is prevalent from the very beginning of the book. Even though Caroline is constantly awakened due to Simon’s encounters, you can tell that something starts to form between them very early on.

The main focus of the book is the building of something between Caroline and Simon. I was surprised by the amount of depth that went into it, and I really thing Clayton did a wonderful job of writing these characters to make them really enjoyable to read. As I mentioned above, the tension between these two starts off really early. And everything that is tossed in-between helps to bring about some pretty explosive moments between Caroline and Simon. I’m not going to go into everything, but I will say that everything about these characters and how things work out between them makes for a really funny and enjoyable read.

There is obviously a lot of sex in this book, as you can pretty much gather from the title, cover, synopsis, etc. But as many other reviewers have said, it really isn’t that much of a focus as you might think. It is done tastefully in my opinion and really helps to add to the story. Especially early on when you’re introduced to Simon’s activities, and how much it annoys Caroline. I personally really enjoyed the relationship between the characters. So don’t let this scare you away from the book. If it sounds like a book you might enjoy, then it will most likely end up being everything you expect it to be. The comedy factor really helps to sell this book.

Author: Beth Revis
Release Date: January 15th, 2013
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 369
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Bought

Rating: ★★★★

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.
But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.
Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.
FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.

It’s a shame to see this series come to an end; however, this was my least favorite book in the trilogy. It just didn’t feel quite as epic as the first two books. I’m not going to go into any spoilers from any of the books, so don’t be worried about that. I will just discuss why I feel this book fell short compared to all of the others. It was a good conclusion, but I felt like it was a little dry when it comes to the content compared to what you get to experience in books one and two.

Beth Revis is incredible at what she does, and this series really helps to back that up. You get to experience a lot in these books, and it is easily one of the best science fiction series out there today. You are introduced to some amazing settings throughout the series, and Revis really goes to great lengths to make sure you feel engrossed in these settings. In this book particular, I feel as though she went above and beyond with the settings and how she described things.

I feel like the biggest let down with this final book was just the story arc and the characters. I love these characters, and I wish they would have been written as great as they were in the first two books. They are really lacking some things in this book and honestly had some pretty bland moments. As far as the actual story goes, I think the conclusion could have come in a better way. I enjoyed it, but I feel like it was rushed and you don’t really get a chance to truly wrap your head around everything. I personally think this series could have been spread out among 4 books and allowed for a little more depth. I still have a lot of questions that I can’t possibly get answers to unless some day the series gets some form of an extension. It’s always slightly annoying when that happens, especially when dealing with a series you really love.

Despite my issues with this final book, I still highly recommend this series. There is so much awesome that you will get to experience as you read this series that you will truly be missing out if you don’t. And maybe when you get to this final book you will find it to be a little more satisfying than I did. I just can’t get past the fact that she ended it leaving so many unanswered questions, at least for me. Other people might of found answers to all of their questions.

Veronica Rossi graduated from UCLA and studied fine art at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She began writing fiction for teens and received first-place awards in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and SouthWest Writers annual contests before completing Under the Never Sky. It 's since captivated publishers in more than twenty countries worldwide and been optioned for film by Warner Bros. Veronica lives in northern California with her husband and two sons.

I've been waiting so long to be able to share this interview with you all. It took me quite awhile to set it up with Veronica, but I am extremely excited to be able to finally post it. And I greatly appreciate Veronica taking the time to respond to my request for an interview and provide her answers. I really hope you all will enjoy the interview and giveaway!



















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Author: Juliana Haygert
Release Date: April 1st, 2013
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: NA
Age Group: New Adult
Source: Tour

Rating: ★★★★★

Thirty years in the future, a sinister New York City exists in permanent darkness.

A student at the secured NYU, nineteen-year-old Nadine has visions of Victor Gianni, an imaginary guy she has real feelings for. Afraid of being truly insane, she explains the visions away as simple daydreams, but she can no longer deny them when she bumps into Victor in real life. But this Victor doesn’t know her, and turns her away. After the encounter, Nadine’s visions change to those of eerie fates, gods she’s never heard of, demons with sharp claws they are not too timid to use … and instructions.
To discover if she’s losing her mind, Nadine follows the vague directions—with the real, rude and reluctant Victor—leading to a man who knows it all: Nadine can restore an ancient creed by unveiling the clues on her visions, and bring sunlight and peace to the world again. But that’s only if the demons and the other evil forces behind the darkness don’t stop her first.

Author: Melina Marchetta
Release Date: April 23rd, 2013
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 528
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi and his companions travel through Charyn searching for Quintana and building an army that will secure her unborn child’s right to rule. While in the valley between two kingdoms, Quintana of Charyn and Isaboe of Lumatere come face-to-face in a showdown that will result in heartbreak for one and power for the other. The complex tangle of bloodlines, politics, and love introduced in Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles coalesce into an engrossing climax in this final volume.

Quintana of Charyn is an epic conclusion to one of the most memorable series of books I have ever read. I’ve compared the series to some amazing High Fantasy books in the past, but this series seriously holds its own amongst the very best. I have been mesmerized by Melina’s writing and how she has built this world that you get to explore throughout the three book series. Once you step foot in the world, it becomes something you don’t want to leave until the very last page of the final book.

I’m personally sad to see this story come to an end, but I guess that comes with any great series. Melina did an amazing job wrapping everything up and making sure that readers are left with a very satisfying finale to the series. Looking back, I am amazed at how Melina was able to make things play out so fluidly. Everyone would expect for a series to flow together nicely, but it doesn’t always happen that way. In this case though, the series fits together perfectly and will leave you wanting more as you read through each book.

I could go on and on about the characters. If you see my reviews of the first two books you will see where I discuss them more. There really isn’t much more to say in this final review. Melina has created an extremely memorable cast of characters that will remain in your mind long after you have finished the series. You see the characters go through so much throughout the series leading up to this book. And Quintana of Charyn only helps to cement these characters in your mind.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to start this series, I don’t know what you’re waiting for. It is by far one of the greatest fantasy series out there today. So if you enjoy fantasy, you really need to go pick up this series whenever you get the chance to. If you don’t you’re really going to be missing out.

With the close of this series, I am really anxious to see what Melina comes up with next. I have high hopes that she will return to the world of fantasy again in the future, but I guess only time will tell. I am greatly looking forward to reading any of her future work though.

Thank you to Candlewick press for providing me with a copy of this book for review.