Books & Bloggers Swap Reveal

Okay, so today I got my awesome package in the mail from my awesome partner, Emily at Follow the Yellow Book Road.  The first glance when I opened the first flap of the box was this:

I saw the cover of Landry Park, and if I hadn't been at work in the high school library where I work, I would have screamed and danced!  I have wanted this book for a long time, and even last night when I was working at the bookstore I was thinking about how much I wanted it.  So this was very exciting.

Now, here is the picture of everything my awesome partner sent me:

The rules were to give:

1. A book from your partner's wishlist:  Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
2. A book you loved:  Graceling by Kristin Cashore
3.  A book you've wanted to read: Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

My partner had sent an email the first day letting me know she might not get my package mailed by the set date, and she decided since she was late to throw in an extra book, The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa.  Honestly, she didn't need to do that, I totally understood, but with that being the extra book, I'm definitely not complaining either!  Of course I still have to finish the The Iron Fey series before I can start that one, but it will happen!  Another thing that was part of the deal was some kind of book swag, etc.  I got a cool The Fault in Our Stars bookmark too.  I'd actually been talking to my bookstore manager about Graceling last night, so I'm now excited to have my own copy to read.  And  Born of Illusion is a book I remember seeing around a lot, and wondering about, so now I'm very excited to get to read it as well!

Thanks so much Emily!  This was a lot of fun.  I think everyone who can participate should try to do that in the future!

The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey #2) by Julie Kagawa

This is another book I got from my bookstore, and I enjoyed it as well.  Now, while it wasn't as good to me as the first in the series, it still had some parts that I did like even better than the first one.  If you haven't read the first one, there might be some spoilers, so be careful reading on.
Meghan was our main character from the first book, and she found out she was half faery, daughter of the Summer Faery King.  She also made a promise to the handsome Winter prince, Ash, that if he helped her find and save her brother, then she would let him take her back to the Winter court as he was supposed to.  So she goes back with him, but finds that he no longer seems to want to be with her, or as he tells her, there can never be a match between a Summer and Winter in their land. So she truly becomes a prisoner in the Winter palace.  And there are many dangers there, even from the fey that is supposed to be keeping her safe or guarding her.  Soon it comes time for the Summer fey to pass the season scepter to the Winter fey.  Of course this leads to a big celebration at the Winter palace.  During the celebration the Iron fey come and steal the scepter.  So now of course Meghan actually gets accused of it, or the Summer court does anyway, and Ash even gets considered a traitor because he sides with Meghan.  So now they run to try to find the scepter and save their world from war.  The Iron Horse from the last book is back, and he will help out this time, because since his Iron King is gone, he does not support the usurper for the throne.  Even if it is the Iron King's daughter.  Along the journey we meet some more great fey characters, and even learn more about Meghan's past life, the man she'd thought was her father to be exact.  She even gets a visit with her brother and mother and step-father, although not the type of visit she'd hoped for.  And with Ash seemingly gone as a possibility, Puck is still there, a loyal friend, who wants more, and Meghan isn't sure if maybe she feels that way about him too, although she does love him.
So we still have a bit of the love triangle here.  And we learn more about what caused Ash and Puck to no longer be friends.  We get a close look into the Winter court, and see that maybe Ash does really care for Meghan, even if it could ruin his life and relations with his family.
A great story, lots of suspense, it isn't a problem that is solved really quickly, and easily.  So great story!  Now I must get a copy of the 3rd book, because I've got the 4th one sitting on my shelf.

Oh yeah, don't forget to go enter into my Fierce Reads Giveaway and have the chance to be one of FIVE winners!!

The Friday 56 #4

Because I don't really have time once again to do the activity of Feature and Follow Friday, I'm going to participate once again in Friday 56, sponsored by Freda's Voice.  Here are the rules:

Rules:

 *Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

"I didn't get into the party.  One, I wasn't in the mood, and two, dancing with the Winter fey didn't seem like such a good idea.  Especially after I saw a group of drunk, glamour-high redcaps swarm a boggart and tear it limb from limb.  It was like a mosh pit from hell."

    And just like last time I did this, I have a giveaway going on, be sure to stop by my Fierce Reads Giveaway and enter to be one of 5 winners who will get a book from the list!

The Iron King (The Iron Fey #1) by Julie Kagaway

Once again I must ask myself why I waited so long to read this book!  Kagawa's writing is the kind I really like.  It draws me in and makes it hard for me to put the book down.  This is a much different story than the Blood of Eden series, obviously as this one is about fairies, and the other is vampires.  But it is another enjoyable story with characters that you are interested in.  Meghan Chase is the main character, and she is one of those girls who just never seems to fit in at school.  Her life has been sad, her father disappeared when she was a small child, and she doesn't remember much about him.  She has a best friend, a boy named Robbie.  And no matter what he seems to be by her side.  I like Robbie, he is very funny.  Weird things start to happen, including something cruel at school.  When she goes to tutor the cute, popular boy at school, one she's had a crush on, the computers in the lab start saying things on their own, that make him upset, and mad at her.  And then, he goes out and embarrasses her in front of the whole school.  As she goes home, extremely upset, she finds things even worse.  Her mother is hurt, but refuses to go to the hospital.  Her younger brother is acting like he's sick, but also like he's not himself.  He's been scared all week, saying something was in his room watching him.  When Meghan's stepfather comes home, he insists that her mother must go to the doctor.  So Meghan is home alone with her brother Ethan.  She soon comes to figure out something is really wrong with him.  And it is her friend, Robbie, who shows her exactly what.  Robbie is not who he has said he is, he is actually the fairy Puck, and Meghan is also part fairy.  She learns her father is not who she thought he was.  And also now she must go rescue her brother who has been kidnapped with a changeling left in his place.  To do that she must go to the world of the fairies.  Once there, she finds more danger than she expected, finding out just who her father is, and that her brother has been taken by the Iron King Machina.  While there are different types of fairies, this is a kind that is destroying the world of the other fey.  She meets one of the princes of the winter fey, and soon must rely on his help.  She also learns how you must be careful in how you express your gratitude.  Just saying you owe someone can put you life in danger, you don't want to owe debts to some people, or creatures.
I love Meghan, and while there may be a bit of a love triangle, it works okay for this story.  I will have to read on and see how badly or how well it is handled by this author.  I was lucky that these paperbacks were being stripped in my bookstore, well, the 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the series.  So when I get to number 3, I'll be going to the library I guess!  And because I like to share, here is my picture from when I met Julie Kagawa at BEA 2012, before I'd ever read any of her books!

The Friday 56 #2

I am never good at picking out what actors should play characters in books, so once again I'm going to pass on Feature and Follow this week, and participate in The Friday 56, sponsored by Freda's Voice.  Here is what you do:

Rules:*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

"Of course I won't forget about Ethan! He's my brother! Are you really that inhuman, or just stupid?"

To my surprise, a grin spread over his face.  He dropped the bottle, caught it, and put it on the floor.  "The first," he said, very softly.

That threw me.  "What?"

"Inhuman."  He was still grinning at me, the smile stretching his whole mouth so that his teeth gleamed in the fading light.  "I warned you, princess.  I'm not like you.  And now, neither is your brother."

While you're here, check out some giveaways I have going on, or am spotlighting:

• Debut Authors Bash - Win a copy of Splintered by AG Howard

• Shudder Blog Tour Giveaway

• My Own Mr. Darcy Book Blast - $50 Amazon Gift Card