Sunday Post #74 and Stacking the Shelves December 11th, 2016

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.  Can I just say it has been almost two months since I've posted a Sunday Wrap-Up?  Wowza!  However, I have good excuses.  First, November was all about making my 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo, which I did.  Second, well, things have just been crazy busy!  But I'm back, with probably one of the last wrap-ups for 2016.  Since I haven't done one in a long time, I'm not going to go back and recap everything since that October post, instead I'll just do the past week for you!

Last week on my blog:

• Book Blitzes:  Alterations by Stephanie Scott (Giveaway), Mr. Match (Mister series #5) by JA Huss (Giveaway), and Sherlock Holmes and the Nine-Dragon Sigil by Tim Symonds (Giveaway)
• Let's Get 2016 Over With a Giveaway -  closes on Tuesday, followed by a second round being posted that same day!
• Waiting on Wednesday:  Twist (Dive Bar #2) by Kylie Scott
• Cover Reveal:  Salvaged (Saints of Denver #4) by Jay Crownover
• Reviews:  Foreplay (Ivy Chronicles #1) by Sophie Jordan, and My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris 

So, I'm getting behind again on reviews.  I read Foreplay clear back at the beginning of October.  Now, My Super Sweet  Sixteenth Century I did just finish, but I also just got it for a review that needed to be posted by today, so that is why I am so quick getting it done.  My hope is that over my Christmas break from school I can just sit down and hammer out as many reviews as possible.  So look for possibly being bombarded by a couple reviews a day plus any other posts for the end of December and January.  One of my goals for next year is going to be to keep much more on top of reviews.  Let's remember that I'm getting so much more reading done that part of the issue is just the number of books I'm reading.  Plus, now that I have a co-librarian who wants to do more things in the library, things that are more like my original thoughts for a library I want to work in, it keeps me from sitting and doing as much blogging at work as I used to.

Coming up this week on my blog:

• Promo Posts:  Hero High by Mina Chara, This Piece of My Soul:  Tampa Suns Hockey (Clearing the Ice #2) by Robyn M. Ryan, Thrust by Sybil Bartel, Membrane by Michele Corriel, and The Elf by Max Dune
• Let's Get 2016 Over With a Giveaway Part 2 (Tuesday)
• Waiting on Wednesday
• Possible Reviews:  Teach Me to Forget by Erica M. Chapman, The Royals trilogy by Erin Watt, United (Alienated #3) by Melissa Landers (Audio)

Soooo far behind on reviews.  Gah!  As 2016 draws to a close, one thing I'm starting to think about is how my challenges for the year have ended up, most I think I've succeeded at.  I don't know that I'll be hosting any new challenges next year.  I feel like as much as I want to do that, maybe next year I want to concentrate on my reviewing and getting other things like that done on my blog.  More concentrating on reading and reviewing, less on doing things like hosting challenges.  That means for those of you that do host challenges, I'll be signing up for your challenges!  I'm already saving all the emails I get with the challenges everyone else is signing up for, and debating over which I will join for 2017.  I don't want to join too many, but I do want to join the ones that will align with my goals for the next year anyway.  So while I start planning my end of the year resolution/challenge sign up post, just know there's lots of thinking going on about that.  

I have not been to the gym to walk since September.  :-(  I need to get back going.  My only thing that is going to be bugging me, is the fact about how busy it starts to get this time of the year because of everyone else getting their New Year's resolutions started.  Oh well.  Guess in a way I'm doing the same.  One nice thing is that they built a Planet Fitness closer to where I live, so I'm going to see about switching my membership over to that one. Which will give me way less excuse to not go to the gym.

Also, I have continued doing Waiting on Wednesday, although it has been several weeks, months since Jill at Breaking the Spine has posted a new one.  I know that I'm not the only blogger out there concerned and hoping that Jill is okay.  A few of you have mentioned taking over the meme, but coming up with a new name for it.  If you decide to do that, let us all know, maybe a comment on the last WOW post to point us all towards it just in case.  

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected.  Let's just say that there is absolutely no way I can share all the ebooks I've gotten over the past two months with you, those number in the hundreds.  Mostly free, but also a few purchased with Amazon GCs won from authors and giveaways.  I also am not going to include any books below that I may have already tweeted about receiving. The books below are ones that may have been from before this past week, but are ones that I still want to share.  I also have not been as good about keeping track of what egalleys I'm getting, at least not until I get my 2017 blog calendar set up, so won't be sharing those either.  Just some actual physical books below.

In the picture here you can see on the left an ARC that was out for anyone to take at the library where I did a weekly write-in during November for NaNoWriMo.  On the right is a book that my co-librarian picked up for me when he went to the National Council of Teachers of English convention in November.

On the left is the first book in the Redhead series by one of my new favorite authors, Alice Clayton.  I have looked around for it, but finally had to give in and order it at my bookstore.  I ordered it during our employee appreciation days so I could get it for 40% off.  On the right is one of the Dollar Tree store finds.  I haven't read this author before I don't think, but this is one that is right up the alley of the types of books I used to read all the time, and one I hope to fit into my other reads next year.  

On the left side of this picture is a book I received through a trading group on Facebook called The Great Paperback Pay-it-Forward.  You get partnered up with someone, and you set an amount with them, usually $15-20 and then you pick paperbacks off of their wishlist and send them to them.  I know people say why not just buy for yourself, but I like buying for other people and don't feel as guilty about that as buying for myself.  Plus they pick the book they send me, so it's like a surprise!  On the right is a book I got through another trading group on Facebook, this one I just paid shipping for, the other person was just looking to get rid of some extra books.  I don't mind paying shipping for an ARC, to me it is not the same as paying for it.  It is when someone wants me to pay regular finished book price that I have an issue.

Okay, here are some more items I bought for  myself.  First was one of the bargain books that I'm hoping to start doing more writing exercises with this coming year.  So I bought this one to add to my other pile of books to use.  The other one in the background is the adult coloring book that features pages having to do with some of the most popular romances out there these days, including my favorite, the After series by Anna Todd.  In the front you see some dachshund Christmas labels, and a little dachshund notebook.

I mentioned above that I would be probably doing a review of this series this week.  Well, not only do I own these e-books, but I decided I  needed to own the actual paperback copies as well.  So they were bought during my employee appreciation days at the bookstore where I work where I get 40% instead of just the usual 30% off of books.  I loved this series, and can see myself picking them up to read again and again.

Like I said at the start of this, the number of free ebooks I've been downloading has been crazy.  But it's like if it is free on Amazon, has a four star or higher review, I can't seem to keep myself from downloading the different romance titles I hear about.  I've also won a few $5 Amazon GCs that have allowed me to go and then buy the sequels to free books I've got, or other books that I hear about from authors on Facebook that I want to read.  Maybe I can start again in 2017 and list them weekly.  

So that is my really, super-duper quick recap of the past week and before.  I'm going to try to get out and visit a bunch of your weekly posts today and tomorrow, so I hope to hear from all of you how your weeks went and what new things you added to your shelves.  Thanks for stopping by!

Review: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

Book info:
Title:  My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century
Author:  Rachel Harris
Series:  My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century #1
Genre:  YA time travel romance
Published:  September 11th, 2012
Source:  E-book received free from Entangled Teen for honest review
My rating:  5 stars

I had wanted to read this book since I first saw it on display at the bookstore where I worked the year it was published.  So when Entangled Teen was asking people to do some reviews on it, I volunteered to read and review it.  I am very glad that I did, because I ended up enjoying it as much as I'd hoped. 

The main character is a girl named Cat. She is the daughter of a famous Hollywood actress and a famous Hollywood movie director.  Her mother, the actress, however isn't around.  Having always been very self-centered and more concerned about her own career and falling in love with every guy that came along.  So Cat lives with her father and her soon-to-be stepmother.  Cat likes how happy her stepmother makes her father, but isn't really excited for the big sweet sixteen birthday party that she wants to throw Cat.   One thing Cat had requested for her birthday had to do with a trip to Florence, Italy.  Her request on their first day there is to be able to go out and do some exploring on her own. And what she chooses is a guided tour where she gets to see Michelangelo's David.  At the end of the tour she notices a gypsy tent.  She decides for the fun of it to go check it out.  When she gets her reading, the gypsy has a strange reading, and for some reason tells Cat to make sure to learn whatever lessons she is given in the near future.  Cat is confused by all this, but she heads on out of the tent.

Only when she heads out of the tent, now she seems to be in a different time, no longer present day Florence, but now  Renaissance Florence.  A man is calling her name, and when she next looks down, she is no longer in her jeans and normal clothes, but in the appropriate dress for the time period.  She follows the man to a carriage, realizing that she is speaking and understanding Italian somehow.  It seems as if she has been transported into the body of a girl who had been orphaned.  And this girl actually turns out to be a member of Cat's own ancestors.  

She is taken to live with her aunt and uncle, and two cousins, a boy and a girl, both near her age.  She becomes good friends with the girl, Alessandra, and soon falls for the boy, Cipriano's, best friend Lorenzo.  There are mean girls in this time period as well.  One that even asks Cat to get up and sing in front of the rest of a party, something that Cat does NOT do well with, singing.  Cat's new family is wonderful, but she must realize what time period she is.  She tends to use the same kind of slang we use in modern day, often having to explain what things mean, or blame it on coming from her life in London where they do things differently.  She is lucky enough to still have her backpack with her phone and some magazines and cosmetics.  Of course her phone doesn't work, other than she is able to listen to some music.  

At one point Alessandra figures out that something is really off about Cat, and Cat gives in and explains to Alessandra that she is from the future.  Even so, being in this time, it is important to find Cat a husband, something that her uncle does, meaning well, although who he sets her up with is an older man that something feels off about to Cat.  

Now Cat must decide whether she wants to run away with Lorenzo, but in doing so, will he have to give up his dreams of being an artist?  And is it fair to the girl who Cat has taken over her life for now.  Cat also wants to get back home before anything like actually getting married to this guy takes place.  She soon learns that what she was so worried and upset about at home might not be as bad as she thought, that maybe her father's fiance is someone who really does have her best interests at heart, and maybe she can get past how her mother has treated her.

I really liked the story.  The characters seemed very realistic.  Even the mean girl, while yes, definitely a mean girl, was not necessarily doing anything that didn't make sense for a girl of that time period to expect.  I liked the love story, and I liked that Cat didn't expect things to just happen how she wanted and possibly ruin the way things were meant to go.  I like the way the author wrapped up everything at the end as well.  I look forward to reading more books in this series, and seeing what else could happen in another story. 

Review: Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1) by Sophie Jordan

Book info:
Title:  Foreplay
Author:  Sophie Jordan
Series:  The Ivy Chronicles #1
Genre:  New Adult Romance
Published:   November 5th, 2013
Source:  Book I purchased at NOLA Storycon 2016
My rating:  4 stars

Up until now I'd only read some teen books by this author.  Since I've been reading more romance, a lot more lately, when I went to NOLA Storycon back at the beginning of October, I chose to buy this book there and get it signed by the author.  I am glad that I picked this one, as I really enjoyed it.  

The main character is Pepper.  She is in love with her best friend's brother Hunter, but he only seems to see her as his sister's friend.  So in order to try to make him notice her, she thinks that she needs to become more experienced, because she hasn't really dated much up until now.  And she really has no idea how to get him to notice her anyway.  So her friends decide to get her to try to hook up with this bartender that all the girls seem to be hooking up with, or at least kissing or making out with. 

When they get to the bar, the guy behind the bar is pretty hot.  His name is Reece.  And it turns out he's not really quite the way he was made out to be.  He actually seems to be a little offended when he finds out that Pepper wants to use him to get more experienced.  She's only 19, he's 23. Both of them seem to say things that annoy or rub the other one the wrong way, but there is definitely sparks between them.  

He agrees to help her out, although he does it pretty much with an attitude and making her feel kind of weird about it. But they have some good sexy moments, and soon it seems to be more than just lessons and physical, they start to have more than just sparks between them.  And now Pepper has to decide if she still wants Hunter, who has broken up with his girlfriend, or if Reece is really the right  one for her. 

It is definitely an HEA ending.  And I'm excited to read on in the series, and see who is next in the romantic line up.

 

Promo Post and Giveaway: Sherlock Holmes and the Nine-Dragon Sigil by Tim Symonds

NEW RELEASE SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE NINE-DRAGON SIGIL Tim Symonds Genre: Mystery and Thriller Publisher: MX Publishing Publication Date: November 16, 2016 Add to Goodreads

Never had Holmes and Watson found themselves up against a human-being as clever, devious and frightening as the Empress Dowager of China.

It's the year 1907.

Rumours abound that a deadly plot is hatching - not in the fog-ridden back-alleys of London's Limehouse district or the sinister Devon moors of the Hound of the Baskervilles but in faraway Peking. Holmes's task - discover whether such a plot exists and if so, foil it. But are the assassins targeting the young and progressive Ch'ing Emperor or his imperious aunt, the fearsome Empress Dowager Cixi? The murder of either could spark a civil war. The fate of China and the interests of Britain's vast Empire in the Orient could be at stake.

Holmes and Watson take up the mission with their customary confidence – until they find they are no longer in the familiar landscapes of Edwardian England. Instead, they tumble into the Alice In Wonderland world of the Forbidden City.

Purchase Links:

Amazon (Print) | Amazon (Kindle) | MX Publishing

Giveaway

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About Tim Symonds

Tim Symonds was born in London, England, and grew up in Somerset, Dorset and the Channel Island of Guernsey, off the coast of Normandy. After spending his late teens farming in the Kenya Highlands and driving bulldozers along the Zambezi River, he moved to California and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA with an honours degree in Politics.

He lives in the ancient woodland known as the High Weald of Sussex, where the events recounted in Sherlock Holmes and The Dead Boer at Scotney Castle took place. His second novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Bulgarian Codex (MX Publishing 2012), took Holmes and Watson into the very depths of the Balkans in 1900. Holmes and Watson were back in the region – Serbia - in Sherlock Holmes And The Mystery of Einstein’s Daughter (MX Publishing 2014), and not long afterwards in ‘Stamboul’ investigating a plot against the despotic Sultan, in Sherlock Holmes And The Sword of Osman (MX Publishing 2015).

Official Tim Symonds website: http://tim-symonds.co.uk/

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Cover Reveal: Salvaged (Saints of Denver #4) by @JayCrownover

Hudson Wheeler is a nice guy. Everyone knows it, including his fiancée who left him with a canceled wedding and a baby on the way. He’s tired of finishing last and is ready to start living in the moment with nights soaked in whiskey, fast cars, and even faster girls. He’s set to start living on the edge, but when he meets Poppy Cruz, her sad eyes in the most gorgeous face he’s ever seen hook him in right away. Wheeler can see Poppy’s pain and all he wants to do is take care of her and make her smile, whatever it takes.

Poppy can’t remember a time when she didn’t see strangers as the enemy. After a lifetime of being hurt from the men who swore to protect her, Poppy’s determined to keep herself safe by keeping everyone else at arm’s length. Wheeler’s sexy grin and rough hands from hours restoring classic cars shouldn’t captivate her, but every time she’s with him, she can’t help being pulled closer to him. Though she’s terrified to trust again, Poppy soon realizes it might hurt even more to shut Wheeler out—and the intense feelings pulsing through her are making it near impossible to resist him.

The only thing Poppy is sure of is that her heart is in need of some serious repair, and the more time she spends with Wheeler, the more she’s convinced he’s the only man with the tools to fix it. 



After getting to know Hudson a little bit in Charged, not to mention Poppy from Rowdy and Built, this is the book I am soooooo looking forward to, even though with it, one of my favorite series that I discovered this year will be coming to an end.  The book series that got me so much more into tattooed men than I had already been.  The series that helped me to be so excited about getting to meet the author at NOLA StoryCon back at the beginning of October.  Have to share that picture.  :-)

While normally I would adore a cover like this, it's missing one thing that I love on all of Jay's covers, a hot guy to drool over, I mean you can see tattoos on him, but just barely.  Other than that I think it is a perfect cover to end this series.  This will probably also show up as a WOW for me sometime early in 2017.

Book Blitz and Giveaway: Mr. Match (Mister Series #5) by JA Huss

Book info:
Title:  Mr. Match
Author:  JA Huss
Series:  Mister Series #5
Publication date: December 7th, 2016
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance

Oliver Shrike thinks ahead. He likes to make lists and tick off boxes. He plans, he plots, and he’s got everything under control.
Until one day he sees my videos on his dating site. The private erotic videos I make just for him.
When I’m looking at the camera I can practically see his face. Hear the internal arguments. Feel his desire.
Because I’m that kind of woman.
You should delete my videos, Oliver Shrike. It’s your job to keep that dating site on the up and up.
But you don’t, do you?
You watch them. You get off to them. You crave them.
Every week I make a new one with you in mind. I’ve hooked you now, Mr. Match. You’ve been in control for way too long and this is where it ends.

The Mister Series
Mr. Perfect
Mr. Romantic
Mr. Corporate
Mr. Mysterious
Mr. Match

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes and Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

     I stand in front of the tub, each of the three cameras already recording, and shrug the details off with my robe. Once the silky fabric slides over my shoulders it slips down my body in a silent whoosh of air, and makes a soft green puddle of fabric at my feet.
    
     I say nothing. I will say nothing. Let him guess what I’m thinking.
    
     It’s only fair. I’ve been guessing what he’s been thinking since we parted ways four years ago.

     I pose for the camera. Something I do naturally now. Taking a moment to imagine myself staring into his eyes. I forgo the pouty lips and play air-kisses and just stand there. Let him appreciate me. Let him think about all the days and nights we’ve been apart. Let him wonder what I’ve been doing.

     I start fondling my breasts, pinching my nipples to make them hard and bunched. My nails are just long enough, and the steam inside the bathroom just hot enough, to leave red marks on my fair skin.

     He likes that. He likes the animalistic nature of sex.

     I find myself unconsciously biting my lip and stop.

     I am not a weak little girl. I am not trying to seduce him, or entice him, or make him want me.

     He already wants me.

     None of that play-acting stuff matters with Oliver Shrike. Everything with him needs to be genuine.

     One hand continues to lightly scrape the skin of my breasts, while the other tracks down my ribcage with just enough pressure to make marks. It slips easily between my legs and only then do I let myself become aroused.

     My lips part as my mouth opens. My heart beats faster. My skin prickles up, even though the heat in this room leaves no room for chills.

     I will not moan for him. Not on camera. If he wants more he needs to come to me.

     But I do enjoy it.

     When the tips of my fingers find the sweet spot I smile and rub a little faster.

     Do you like that? I want to ask him. Do you enjoy looking at me? Watching me? Do you want more? Do you want to feel me again? My body, my breath on the tip of your cock?

     I come. Silently. He might not even notice, that’s how quiet I am.

     And then I open my eyes and smile as I step into the tub. Sink down into the frothy white bubbles and let the hot water burn me. Turn my pale skin red, make my cheeks flush, relax my muscles, and ease my worries.

Author Bio:

JA Huss is the USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty romances. She likes stories about family, loyalty, and extraordinary characters who struggle with basic human emotions while dealing with bigger than life problems. JA loves writing heroes who make you swoon, heroines who makes you jealous, and the perfect Happily Ever After ending.

 If you’re interested in getting your hands on an advanced release copy of her upcoming books, sneak peek teasers, or information on her upcoming personal appearances, you can join her newsletter list (http://eepurl.com/JVhAr) and get those details delivered right to your inbox.

Blog / Facebook / Facebook Group / Twitter / Goodreads / Newsletter / Pinterest / Instagram

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Waiting on Wednesday: Twist (Dive Bar #2) by Kylie Scott

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  My pick this week is another book in a series, this time an New Adult, or maybe it's just a romance, not sure.  But I love this author, and can't wait to meet her in March at Apollycon.  I loved the whole Stage Dive series, and the first book in this Dive Bar series, Dirty, was so good!  Here's the blurb for book 2 from Goodreads:  

When his younger brother loses interest in online dating, hot, bearded, bartender extraordinaire, Joe Collins, only intends to log into his account and shut it down. Until he reads about her.

Alex Parks is funny, friendly, and pretty much everything he's been looking for in a woman. And in no time at all they're emailing up a storm, telling each other their deepest darkest secrets... apart from the one that really matters.

And when it comes to love, serving it straight up works better than with a twist.





Have you read any books by Kylie Scott?  If not, I totally recommend them!  What book or books are you eagerly awaiting this week?

While you're here, go check out my Let's Get 2016 Over With Giveaway HERE.