Cleaning Up My TBR With a Giveaway (US Only) - Down the TBR Hole #16

This meme was started by Lost in a Story.  Here is how it works:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

Because I have so many to do, I'm going to try to do this weekly, and do 10 at a time.


1.  Eliza's Freedom Road:  An Underground Railroad Diary by Jerdine Nolan and Shadra Strickland:

It is 1852 in Alexandria, Virginia. Eliza’s mother has been sent away and it is Abbey, the cook, who looks after Eliza, when Eliza isn’t taking care of the Mistress. Eliza has the quilt her mother left her and the memory of the stories she told to keep her close. When her Mistress’s health begins to fail and Eliza overhears the Master talk of Eliza being traded, Eliza takes to the night. She follows the path and the words of the farmhand Old Joe, “ … travel the night … sleep the day. Go East. Your back to the set of the sun until you come to the safe house where the candlelight lights the window.” All the while, Eliza recites the stories her mother taught her along her Freedom Road from Maryland to St. Catherine’s, Canada. 

My thoughts:  
Another subject I used to devour any book on was the Underground Railroad.  However, not sure with this one if I'll get to it.  

Verdict:  Toss


2.  Falling Under by Gwen Hayes:

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.

As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear.

And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul.

My thoughts:
I feel like I have a copy of this on my shelves.  But I'm not sure.  So for now I probably won't keep it.  If I ever get around to going through my books, probably after I move, then I'll know for sure and can re-add it to my list.

Verdict:  Toss


 3.  The Unholy Cause (Supernatural #5) by Joe Schreiber:

A Supernatural novel that reveals a previously unseen adventure for the Winchester brothers, from the hit CW series!

Way back in April 1862, Confederate Captain Jubal Beauchamp leads a charge across a Georgia battleground… Fast forward to 2009 and a civil war re-enactment becomes all too real. When Sam and Dean head down south to investigate they find that history has got somewhat out of hand… 

My thoughts:
Don't know if I own this one, but I know that one day, since the series is ending this year, that day will be soon, I will want to read the stories and get what I can.

Verdict:  Keep


4.  Eureka:  Substitution Method (Eureka #1) by Cris Ramsay:

Welcome to Eureka.
Population: BRILLIANT

It's a town of geniuses-and now it's the smartest series going.

Founded by Albert Einstein and Harry Truman after WWII, Eureka is home to the greatest minds in science and technology. But the creations of these eccentric geniuses threaten to destroy the world as often as they save it. Jack Carter is the everyman sheriff who must use his common sense and unique street smarts to keep a lid on this Pandora's Box of a town.

A secret government think tank that doesn't appear on any maps, Eureka has seen its share of strange problems. But today those problems may be seen by the outside world. People, cars, and buildings are being swapped with people, cars, and buildings from different places. With Eureka's secrets on the line, Carter must find the cause before the town is exposed. And all roads lead to Global Dynamics, the mysterious research facility that everyone seems to work for -- except Jack.

My thoughts:
I loved this TV show.  And I might actually own this book.  However, I know that some day I will want to go back and revisit the quirky town of Eureka.  I also have four other books from this series right after this one on the list:  Brain Box Blues (#2), Road Less Traveled (#3), and Dormant Gene (by a different author - Andrew Crosby)

Verdict:  Keep all of them


5.  Flip by Martyn Bedford:

Alex, 14, goes to bed in December, and wakes in June, in a strange house to a strange family. In the mirror, he sees Flip. Unless Alex finds out what's happened and how to get back to his own life,  he may be trapped forever inside a body that belongs to someone else. What is identity, the will to survive, and what will we sacrifice to survive?

My thoughts:  This isn't even one I remember adding to my list.

Verdit:  Toss


  


6.  The Girl in the Lighthouse (Arrington #1) by Roxanne Tepfer Sandford:

From the time Lillian Arrington was born, she lived an isolated life on a remote lighthouse station with her father Garrett and her young mother Amelia. But Lillian has wishes and dreams far beyond her years.

When her father is transferred to a new station, Lillian is anxious to meet the assistant keepers and their two sons, Heath and Ayden. She had never met children her own age, had playmates, or made a friend.

Heath, the handsome teenage boy who desires to become a doctor someday, welcomes Lillian. However, his younger brother, Ayden, doesn't like her and she struggles to win him over. Before long, a secret bond between the three is forged and to Lillian's delight, they become close friends.

After so many years, Lillian's childhood is beginning to resemble that of a normal girl. No longer is she lonely and isolated from the rest of the world by over-protective parents. Instead, she experiences new adventures, attends school, and falls in love for the first time.

However, her glorious days on Jasper Island are short-lived as her beautiful young mother begins a tragic descent into insanity and passes away. Lillian is left in the care of her sinister grandmother Eugenia Arrington, who, since the end of the Civil War, continues to steadfastly hold onto the once glorious Georgia plantation known as Sutton Hall. It is there that the immoral secrets of Lillian's parents are revealed, and she is left to pick up the pieces of her scandalous past, and somehow, find her long way home.   

My thoughts:  
Hmm, sounds pretty good.  But I don't know, will I ever get around to it?  I also have the sequel to this on my TBR, will do the same with both.

Verdict:  Toss


7.  Hollowland (The Hollows #1) by Amanda Hocking:

"This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."

Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.

My thoughts: 
So I fell in love with this author when I began reading her Trylle series while sitting in line all day waiting for one of the Harry Potter movie premieres.  This is an earlier title of hers, and I don't want to forget it.  Actually, we have a graphic novel in my library that I've begun reading on days when I'm sitting and "gurading" the back exit so kids don't decide they can sneak out that way.  

Verdict:  Keep




8.  My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison:

Finding your one true love can be a Grimm experience!

After her boyfriend dumps her for her older sister, sophomore Savannah Delano wishes she could find a true prince to take her to the prom. Enter Chrissy (Chrysanthemum) Everstar: Savannah’s gum-chewing, cell phone–carrying, high heel-wearing Fair Godmother. Showing why she’s only Fair—because she’s not a very good fairy student—Chrissy mistakenly sends Savannah back in time to the Middle Ages, first as Cinderella, then as Snow White. Finally she sends Tristan, a boy in Savannah’s class, back instead to turn him into her prom-worthy prince. When Savannah returns to the Middle Ages to save Tristan, they must team up to defeat a troll, a dragon, and the mysterious and undeniably sexy Black Knight. Laughs abound in this clever fairy tale twist from a master of romantic comedy.

My thoughts:
If you know me, I love a good fairy tale retelling.  But i this case, I think maybe I'll skip.

Verdict:  Toss


 9.  Kings of the Dead by Tony Faville:

When the H1N1 "Swine Flu" virus mutates it begins to not only kill those who have received the vaccination, but also bring on the unthinkable: the dead reanimate. Cole Helman and his friends are not only survival experts, they've spent hours discussing and preparing for just this event and quickly head to the hills before the cities become clogged with looting and riots. But the group knows all too well that the living dead are just the beginning of their problems, and they'll eventually have to deal with the worst qualities of the living-desperation, greed, selfishness, and cruelty-in this new post-apocalyptic world. And a chance encounter at a secret military installation may reveal a conspiracy bigger than any of them had imagined... Straight out of the apocalypse comes the chronicle of one small group and their experiences with life and death, survival and loss. In a world of the living dead, is one man capable of maintaining not only his community, but his own sanity?

My thoughts:
I might be kind of over zombie books too.  Not sure I've ever heard much more about this one either.

Verdict:  Toss


 10.  Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock:

MACKENZIE AND AMY WERE BEST FRIENDS.

UNTIL AMY WAS BRUTALLY MURDERED.

Since then, Mac's life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac's hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy's killer:

A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome - also known as the werewolf vius - is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy's murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy's boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock's thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filles with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

My thoughts:
I think this is one that is well enough known that if I ever decide I want to read it, I'll be able to find again.

Verdict:  Toss


Final Thoughts:
So, while I'm tossing 8 this week, since I have several kind of combined in the Eureka series, I am keeping 6 .  Have you read any of these?  Would you suggest I keep any I'm tossing?  And if you're inspired to do this on your blog, please feel free to join in and share a link in the comments, since it's not really catching on, I'm not going to waste time with the link up this week.  It will also get you an extra entry into my giveaway at the bottom of this post.    

Giveaway:
Once again this is a US only giveaway, unless you are International and see a book here you really want and would be willing to pay for the difference in the shipping through Paypal or some other way.  This week I'm upping the prize, you get to pick any two books from the pictures below, as long as they don't get traded away, or picked by last week's winner, and I will pick a surprise book from the piles to add to your choice.  Here are your choices:      

Above are my 2018 ARCs

My 2017 ARCs 

Above are my 2014-2016 ARCs.

Once again I'm going to let you pick two, along with me throwing in a surprise third book!  Just enter the Rafflecopter below.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: Maybe Ever After by Cassie Graham

 

Maybe it’ll never happen, or maybe they’ll get their ever after all in MAYBE EVER AFTER by Cassie Graham. Brynn Darling has been in love with her best friend, Easton Cole, for a while now, but after many failed attempts at finding love, she’s ready to move on. When Brynn begins seeing a guy who threatens everything Easton’s ever wanted, all bets are off. Fans of playful, friends-to-lovers romance will devour this angsty yet nerdy story about what happens when you fall in love with your best friend.

Book info:

Title:  Maybe Ever After
Author:  Cassie Graham
Genre:  Adult contemporary romance
Release Date:  January 18th, 2019
Source:  E-galley from Barclay Publicity which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  4 stars

Synopsis:

No one tells you what happens when you fall in love with your best friend.

They don’t tell you it’s like waiting for the answer to a question no one can hear you ask.

Meet Brynn Darling. Successful event coordinator. Celebrity friends. At the top of her game. But after many failed attempts at finding love, and a realization that her best friend is clueless, she’s ready to move on.

Easton Cole has been in the friend zone since . . . well, forever. He fills the void with unimportant people and never gets attached. That is until Brynn begins seeing a guy who threatens everything he’s ever wanted.

All bets are off.

Maybe it’ll never happen.

Maybe she’ll fall in love.

Maybe they’ll get their ever after . . . after all. 

Add to Goodreads → http://bit.ly/2OIx8du

Available on Amazon and FREE in Kindle Unlimited. 

Amazon → https://amzn.to/2TQ2zVx

My Review:
So, I loved the Comic-Con aspect to this story so much!    Now, names were changed, but basically they were doing conventions for a tv show a lot like one of my favorites, Supernatural.  Only in this world, the obvious play on my favorite actor on the show, Jensen Ackles, is single.  And he's into our main character Brynn.  Like, seriously interested!  But I got so mad at Easton.  He honestly was being stupid in how he acted toward Brynn.  Like, he kind of wanted her, but he thought his past or something meant he wasn't good for her?  And really, he's the one who keeps pushing her away, even as he tries to keep her for himself.  

While the characters and the dialogue and all the tv show and convention stuff kept me turning pages as fast as I could, that little part with Easton did irritate me.  It was a usual type of issue in a lot of romances, something you've probably heard me complain about before.  It's probably the main thing that kept me from giving it a 5, because really I enjoyed the story a lot. The author is one I will probably look to read more from in the future, or go back and try some of her other titles as I get a chance. I would recommend this as a fun, sexy, and easy read.  Give it a try!

Excerpt:

Copyright © 2018 Cassie Graham

Real moments were scarce.

            Wait, let me rephrase. Important moments were scarce. You know the ones. The ones that defined your life and shaped you into who you were always meant to be. Or who you always wanted to be.

            That was the beauty of rarity. It forces you to look at your life from new angles – makes you appreciate the struggle you’ve endured before.

            As I caught my breath, the delicious heaviness of Easton on me, I knew I was having one of those rare moments that would forever influence my life.

            Easton pushed my hair back, his touch featherlight. I couldn’t understand how he could be so forceful – so strong – one minute, taking everything he could, and then so soft the next. Easton Cole was an enigma and I desperately wanted to know more.

“My sweet Brynn,” he whispered in my ear, again and it sent shivers through my body.

I was his.

When he looked at me like that . . . I couldn’t breathe.

He settled between my legs and I hummed with contentment, happy to have him close, comfortable enough to never let him leave.

  The alarm on his phone began to ring and our reality smacked me in the face. “What happens next?” I asked in a small voice, feeling even smaller. I didn’t want to leave this room. I didn’t want to pop our bubble. I liked it.

Easton reached for his phone and silenced it. “We go home.”

I blinked, unable to say anything. He didn’t answer my question. Not really. His response was far too literal for my taste, but what was I to do?

So, instead, I kept quiet, watching the sun pour into our room, Easton’s skin turning a beautiful bronze color.

After a while, we broke apart, each of us getting dressed in silence. He stole sweet glances as I piled my hair onto my head and I snuck a few peaks as he brushed and styled his hair in front of the mirror.

Euphoric and sad, I teetered on the brink of begging him to stay here forever. I had no idea what kind of future we faced on the other side of the hotel door.

But my mother’s words rang in my ears, reminding me to take it slow.

Live in the moment, darlin’ girl. Don’t forget to exist in the present while you’re waiting for the future.

Once our things were packed and ready to go, I took a moment to look around the room – our safe haven where so many truths were shared.

I’d forever remember this hotel and the way the room smelled. The way the sheets felt against my skin and the sounds Easton made in my ear as we made love.

I’d remember all of it.

But what I’ll remember most is the way Easton looked at me and the way he made me feel without using any words at all.

About the Author:

A Moscato aficionado, and chocolate mistress, Cassie Graham is a born and raised Arizona girl. Her sass knows no bounds and almost always has something kind to say, no matter the situation. She runs a platform of love and strives to bring those attributes out in every book she writes.

She started writing early in her high school career after an English teacher forced her to write in a journal. Four years and thirty-something notebooks full of words later, she found her passion. If Cassie isn't shoulder-deep in writing a version of a fairytale, you can find her front porch sitting with her husband and daughter, eating all the bread, gossiping with her best friends, visiting Disneyland, supporting strong women, listening to cheesy music and reading great books by amazing people. She loves binge-watching Supernatural, drooling over Dean, Sam and Cas, and going to conventions. She also enjoys spreading love any chance she can. So, if you run into her, give her a hug or a high-five. She guarantees they're magic.

Author of Unable to Resist, Anyone But Him, The Truth of a Liar, Enchanting Wilder, Surviving Wilder, Who Needs Air and The Girl Behind the Red Door.

Follow:  Reader Group | Facebook | Goodreads | Newsletter | Amazon | BookBub | Pinterest  | Instagram

  Giveaway:

• Enter to win a $15 Amazon gift card plus five will win a Cassie Graham backlist eBook!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Two YA Contemporary ARC Mini-Reviews

I'm behind on getting these reviews up!  I couldn't find the emails from the publishers that sent them to me, even though I know or could swear one was a specific request for me to read and review.  Oh well, I did get them done and want to share!  Even though both were published on May 1st, I'm getting them back out in the public eye with these reviews today!

Everywhere You Want to Be by Christina June:

Publisher:  Blink YA Books/Harper Collins
Source:  Physical ARC from publisher which did not influence my opinion in any way
My rating:  4 stars

This is my 2nd book by this author, and once again I enjoyed it.  You can read my review of the first book here:  It Started With Goodbye.  While both books are standalones, they both include the same characters. We met Tilly, our main character in the first book. But this time she gets her own story, as she goes off to NYC to hopefully make her dream of being a professional dancer come true, in what is her last hope she feels after the accident that caused her ankle injury.  This was a pretty quick read, like the first one.  I loved all of the NYC bits, as well as the grandma/abuela.  It made me want to go back to NYC if I ever get the chance.  The dance aspects of the story were fun to read, I used to want to be a dancer myself.  And the romance was sweet as well.  There was a bully in the story, Sabrina, and I really, really like the way the author went with that at the end of the book.  Throughout the story it worked perfectly as well, but the way the author took it at the end, while not typical for YA stories, was definitely more realistic in my opinion.  I don't know for sure that I get the feeling of the fairy tale it was supposed to take after, but that's okay, I still really enjoyed it.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
From author Christina June comes Everywhere You Want to Be, a modern tale inspired by the classic Red Riding Hood.

Matilda Castillo has always done what she was told, but when she gets injured senior years, she watches her dreams of becoming a contemporary dancer slip away. So when Tilly gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend the summer with a New York dance troupe, nothing can stop her from saying yes--not her mother, not her fears of the big city, and not the commitment she made to Georgetown. Tilly's mother allows her to go on two conditions: one, Tilly will regularly visit her abuela in New Jersey, and two, after the summer, she'll give up dancing and go off to college.

Armed with her red vintage sunglasses and her pros and cons lists, Tilly strikes out, determined to turn a summer job into a career. Along the way she meets new friends ... and new enemies. Tilly isn't the only one desperate to dance, and fellow troupe member Sabrina Wolfrik intends to succeed at any cost. But despite dodging sabotage and blackmail attempts from Sabrina, Tilly can't help but fall in love with the city, especially since Paolo, a handsome musician from her past, is also calling New York home for the summer.

As the weeks wind down and the competition with Sabrina heats up, Tilly's future is on the line. She must decide whether to follow her mother's path to Georgetown or leap into the unknown to pursue her own dreams.

Ship It by Britta Lundin:

Publisher:  FreeForm Books
Source:  Physical ARC from publisher which did not influence my opinion in any way
My rating:  4.5 stars

I totally adored this book, although there is a .5 of a star I kept back, that is my own personal issue, one I will probably not address as it would probably make people angry.  I loved the characters, how real they were especially.  I loved all the nerdiness from the comic conventions.  I loved the people who LOVED the shows and were huge fans.  There was so much that made me laugh.  Parts that made me tear up a bit, as well as parts that made me frustrated.  I can't wait to order this book and put it in my school library next year.  There was one line that I hope makes it to the final copy, as it is such a true sentence:

"It's so much more exhausting being around people when you're sad, especially when they're not as sad as you."

If you've ever been sad, but had to still be around other people who weren't sad, then you totally understand this.  The shipping in the book totally reminds me of some of the crazy ships that exist in the world of one of my favorite tv shows, Supernatural.  As a heterosexual woman, I don't necessarily see the things that some people see, like the whole Smokeheart ship in this book reminds me of what people do with Castiel and Dean or Crowley and Dean.  Something that while I get the bromance thing, my straightness doesn't always quite pick up on the other, or at least it didn't used to.  My eyes might be a little more open to that these days.  

If you are a shipper, or enjoy a good lgbtq romance - with a teen girl who just still doesn't know for sure if she is gay or not, and plenty of other good examples of lgbtq characters, as well as the reality of people who are not accepting of this and will fight it in public, you have found the right book.  If you like reading about the craziness of fans at comic book conventions or online with fanfic or Tumblr, etc., this is also probably the book for you.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Claire is a sixteen-year-old fangirl obsessed with the show Demon Heart. Forest is an actor on Demon Heart who dreams of bigger roles. When the two meet at a local Comic-Con panel, it's a dream come true for Claire. Until the Q&A, that is, when Forest laughs off Claire's assertion that his character is gay. Claire is devastated. After all, every last word of her super-popular fanfic revolves around the romance between Forest's character and his male frenemy. She can't believe her hero turned out to be a closed-minded jerk. Forest is mostly confused that anyone would think his character is gay. Because he's not. Definitely not.

Unfortunately for Demon Heart, when the video of the disastrous Q&A goes viral, the producers have a PR nightmare on their hands. In order to help bolster their image within the LGBTQ+ community-as well as with their fans-they hire Claire to join the cast for the rest of their publicity tour. What ensues is a series of colourful Comic-Con clashes between the fans and the show that lead Forest to question his assumptions about sexuality and help Claire come out of her shell. But how far will Claire go to make her ship canon? To what lengths will Forest go to stop her and protect his career? And will Claire ever get the guts to make a move on Tess, the very cute, extremely cool fanartist she keeps running into?