Tag Archives: waiting on Wednesday

Oct 28 2014
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Coming Soon: The Heir by Kiera Cass

the heirTitle: The Heir

Author: Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection #4

Genre: Teen Dystopian (sort of) / Romance

Release Date: May 15, 2015

The Overview: 20 years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story. But as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she always thought.

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

The Selection is easily one of my all-time favorite books. I remember the experience of reading it for the first time and how completely engaged I was throughout the entire thing. It was delightful. Even though the second and third books weren’t quite on the same level for me, I am hoping The Heir will bring back some of the more lighthearted elements that made The Selection so much fun. I would like to admit that even though I am a huge fan of the Bachelor  (and competition shows in general), I actually love the Bachelorette even more. Come on – twenty-five men vying for the affections of one women – what’s not to love? Anyway, my point is, I am looking forward to this book perhaps even more so than The One. I absolutely love that Cass continued on with this angle and can’t wait to see the flip side of the selection process! Is it May yet? 

What book are you waiting on?

by Niki Hawkes

Sep 30 2014
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Coming Soon: Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins

miss mayhemTitle: Miss Mayhem

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Series: Rebel Belle #2

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Release Date: April 7, 2015

The Overview: Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and best friend Bee has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can return her focus to the important things in life: school, canoodling with David, her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie, and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant. Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or connect her to David for life.

miss mayhem

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

 I absolutely adored Rebel Belle, and I don’t use the word “adored” very often. It was a charming, witty, and all around kick-butt novel that also happen to include one of my more recent favorite “book boyfriends,” David (swoon!). I have yet to read a book from this author that I didn’t absolutely love, so I feel like I can say with confidence that Miss Mayhem is going to be well worth waiting for!

 What book are you waiting on?

by Niki Hawkes

Sep 28 2014
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September 2014: Review Recap!

Review Recap

 As usual, I read a lot more books this month than I actually posted about… This made me think that maybe I should include a separate category for “read” books to go alongside my “reviewed” books. I’ve seen a lot of other bloggers do this, and I actually kind of like it, but have been hesitating to do it myself because of an irrational fear that no one will want to read the reviews if they already know what’s coming. The key word is “irrational” because I’m so far behind in reviewing the books that it really doesn’t matter. Although, there are a few books that I reviewed immediately, so then there’s the problem of “double dipping.”

 I think I’m putting far too much thought into this.

 Anyway, here’s a look at this fantastic month of reading and reviewing:

 Books Read:

 While I didn’t get a lot of reviewing done, I certainly got a lot of reading done. The two week vacation certainly didn’t hurt me on that front. I LOVED all of these books, so it’s really difficult to pick a favorite, but I think I’d have to go with Silver Shadows. Interestingly enough, my least favorite read this month was Heir of Fire (Gasp! Blasphemy!). It just goes to show the caliber of books I’ve been picking up lately.

 Books Reviewed:

Dualed by Elsie Chapman – 2.5/5 stars

Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine – 4/5 stars

Defy by Sara B. Larson – 4/5 stars

Spirit’s End by Rachel Aaron – 4/5 stars

Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey – 4.5/5 stars

Sadly, I didn’t review nearly as many books as I plan to, but with the release of the first issue of our magazine (The Creative), the amazing cruise to Alaska, and my commitment to my new office job, I’m cutting myself a little slack. As much as I love Rachel Aaron, my favorite book reviewed this month was Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey.

 Waiting on Wednesday Features:

October 21, 2014
The Dagger’s Path by Glenda Larke
The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead

 This is a no-brainer – I’m most excited for the conclusion to the Bloodline series! Although, Glenda Larke is easily a close second!

 Top Ten Tuesday Features:

Top Ten Underrated Fantasy Authors!

Top Ten Books I’m Taking on My Cruise!

Top Ten Fantastic Authors I Need to Read More From!

Top Ten Books on My Fall 2014 TBR!

Escape Reality Book Club:

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

 My Review

 Adventures Beyond the Book Blog:

 I went to Alaska, and it was amazing! I’m going to do a full post for this as soon as I can get through my 4000+ pictures, but here are a few teasers:

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Looks amazing, eh?

 Did you have a good month in reading? Did you like seeing the books I’ve read alongside with the ones I reviewed?

by Niki Hawkes

Sep 23 2014
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Coming Soon: The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead

ruby circleTitle: The Ruby Circle

Author: Richelle Mead

Series: Bloodlines #6

Genre: Teen Paranormal Romance

Release Date: February 10, 2015

The Overview: Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives. After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.

ruby circle

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Bloodlines is officially my all-time favorite YA Paranormal. For the longest time I wasn’t sure I was going to like it as much as VA, but Silver Shadows tipped Bloodlines over the edge for me into my most-awesome-paranormalYA-EVER category. And now I’m dying to get my hands on the conclusion! It’s no secret how much I love Richelle Mead, and I swear this amazing author one-ups herself with each new book. You better believe I will be breaking down the doors at my BN on February 10 to get a copy. Ooooh!! I bet I could even request the day off of work so I can have plenty of time to enjoy it!! Brilliant.

What book are you waiting on? Which series do you prefer – Bloodlines or VA? (“both” is an acceptable answer… I had the hardest time deciding up until just recently) ;)

by Niki Hawkes

Sep 17 2014
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Coming Soon: The Rogue Knight by Brandon Mull

the rogue knightTitle: The Rogue Knight

Author: Brandon Mull

Series: Five Kingdoms #2

Genre: Middle Grade

Release Date: October 21, 2014

The Overview: Cole Randolph never meant to come to The Outskirts, but when his friends were kidnapped on Halloween he had to try and save them. Now he is trapped in a world that lies between wakefulness and dreaming, reality and imagination, life and death. Cole’s in search for his friends has led him to Elloweer, another of the five kingdoms that make up The Outskirts. He is accompanied by Mira, Twitch, and Jace; new friends he’s met here in the Outskirts who each have their own important missions. The group is following news that Mira’s sister, Honor, could be in danger. However, Cole and Mira are soon the ones facing direct threat, and must resort to a fascinating new kind of magic to protect themselves. Their journey brings them across familiar faces, some more welcome than others, until their paths ultimately cross with the infamous man known throughout Elloweer as the Rogue Knight. Will he turn out to be an unstoppable enemy, or a key ally? Every move is filled with danger as Cole and his new friends try and outwit the High King, who will stop at nothing to regain what he has lost.

the rogue knight 2

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Aside from Harry Potter, Fablehaven is easily my favorite middle grade series. I’ve read the books more times than I can count. Since the final book was released, I’ve since gone out and read the Candy Shop War (which I liked), Beyonders (which I did not like), Wild Born (cool!), and Sky Raiders (which is easily my favorite series since Fablehaven). So, even though Beyonders was kind of a disappointment, I’m grateful for this new series – it has me fired up about Mull all over again. I was lucky enough to chat with him for a moment at a book signing and to hear him talk about the “awesome stuff you haven’t even seen yet” coming up in the Five Kingdom series has me pumped!

 As a side note, he also mentioned that after finishing the series he will be working on a spin off of Fablehaven featuring the dragon sanctuaries prominent in book 4!!!!! I am fricken stoked.

by Niki Hawkes

Sep 2 2014
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Coming Soon: The Dagger’s Path by Glenda Larke

The Dagger's PathTitle: The Dagger’s Path

Author: Glenda Larke

Series: The Forsaken Lands #2

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: January 13, 2015

The Overview: It should have been easy — return the stolen feather and restore Ardhi back to his rightful place. But when Saker, Ardhi, Sorrel, and Piper arrive to find the island in chaos, returning just the one feather will not help — not when the other three have mysteriously disappeared as well. As Saker and Ardhi work to mend the distrust caused by Ardhi’s betrayal and attempt to retrieve the other feathers, they slowly find a sort of peace with the islanders. That is, until Saker realizes they unintentionally led the Spice traders straight to the sacred island they were hoping to protect. Now Saker must fight with both the Va witchery and Chenderawasi magic to defend everything that Ardhi holds dear. But Saker’s powers are very new, and their enemies have them surrounded.

The Dagger's Path 2

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

 Glenda Larke is easily one of my all-time favorite fantasy authors. I’ve read every book she has published so far (including the Mirage trilogy which I had to pay big bucks to have shipped over from Australia), and have absolutely loved every last one. She always dazzles me with epic world-building, amazing characters, and well-woven plots, and her work in this latest trilogy is no exception – in fact, it has the potential to be my favorite yet. The Lascar’s Dagger (Book 1 in this series) was phenomenal and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves epic fantasy. I am so excited for this second book I can hardly stand it. And it gets even better – the release day also happens to be my birthday! :)

by Niki Hawkes