In My Mailbox- June 17, 2013

In My Mailbox: Here's what I got in my mailbox last week

MONDAY

Almost Final Curtain (Vampire Princess of St. Paul #2)- Tate Hallaway--PaperbackSwap

Severed Heads, Broken Hearts- Robyn Schneider--review for an Around the World ARC Tour










TUESDAY

Viral Nation- Shaunta Grimes--from publisher for review











SATURDAY

The Cinderella Pact- Sarah Strohmeyer--bought

The Sunday Salon- June 16, 2013

The Sunday Salon
Happy Father's Day!  I'm so lucky to have the best Daddy in the world!  I'm so glad its summer break!  I've been enjoying running in the mornings then cuddling with my puppy.  Tuesday was me and my hubby's 2 year anniversary.  We spent the night at Port Orleans Riverside at Disney.  Yes, we both work for Disney, but it's still nice just to get a night out!

I finished and reviewed the following books last week:

Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols











I fulfilled items in the following challenges last week:
2013 150+ Reading Challenge: 30
2013 ARC Reading Challenge: 21
2013 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 25
2013 Standalone Reading Challenge: 8
2013 Quick Fix Challenge: 13

Right now I am reading Requiem by Lauren Oliver and next up (if I don't get a tour book) is Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

Book Review- Dirty Little Secret

I just finished reading Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

From the author of the “real page-turner” (Seventeen) Such a Rush comes an unforgettable

new drama that follows friends-turned-lovers as they navigate the passions, heartbreaks, and intrigue of country music fame.

Bailey wasn’t always a wild child and the black sheep of her family. She used to play fiddle and tour the music circuit with her sister, Julie, who sang and played guitar. That ended when country music execs swooped in and signed Julie to a solo deal. Never mind that Julie and Bailey were a duet, or that Bailey was their songwriter. The music scouts wanted only Julie, and their parents were content to sit by and let her fulfill her dreams while Bailey’s were hushed away.

Bailey has tried to numb the pain and disappointment over what could have been. And as Julie’s debut album is set to hit the charts, her parents get fed up with Bailey’s antics and ship her off to granddad’s house in Nashville. Playing fiddle in washed-up tribute groups at the mall, Bailey meets Sam, a handsome and oh-so-persuasive guitarist with his own band. He knows Bailey’s fiddle playing is just the thing his band needs to break into the industry. But this life has broken Bailey’s heart once before. She isn’t sure she’s ready to let Sam take her there again…

I enjoyed this little peek into the life of a county star wannabe.  I've always been fascinated by stardom so this was a good one for me.

Reading back over my reviews of the other two Jennifer Echols books I've read (Forget You and Such a Rush), I never seem to like the main character.  But I really liked Bailey.  She was real.  And believable.  And even with everything that her family put her through and made her feel, she still acknowledged that they meant everything to her. 

Then there was Sam.  At times, he seemed like such a good guy.  But then it also just seemed that once he figured out who Bailey was, he was just using her to move up in the country world.  Not cool. 

I liked the plot in this one too.  It flowed nicely and wrapped up well.  This is definitely my favorite book that I've read by Jennifer Echols so far!

I gave this book a rating of 4/5.

Dirty Little Secret will be released on July 16, 2013.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2013 150+ Reading Challenge: 30
2013 ARC Reading Challenge: 21
2013 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 25
2013 Standalone Reading Challenge: 8
2013 Quick Fix Challenge: 13

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.

Contest Winner- Shadow of Night

According to Rafflecopter,

Kerley Sue

 has won a copy of Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness! Please email your address to me at belle2211 (at) yahoo (dot) com by Friday at 11 pm and I'll have your book mailed out to you!

In My Mailbox- June 10, 2013

In My Mailbox: Here's what I got in my mailbox last week

SATURDAY

Triangles- Kimberly Ann Miller--review for an Around the World ARC Tour

Tidal by Amanda Hocking

TIDAL, the next book in New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking’s Watersong series went on sale June 4^th. Called “Amazing” and “Enthralling,” the spellbinding Watersong series is one that you can’t afford to miss out on.

Read my reviews of Wake and Lullaby

In My Mailbox- June 3, 2013

In My Mailbox: Here's what I got in my mailbox last week

TUESDAY

Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3)- Cassandra Clare--PaperbackSwap










SATURDAY

Perfect Chemistry- Simone Elkeles--borrowed from friend

The Summer I Turned Pretty- Jenny Han--borrowed from friend

Requiem (Delirium #3)- Lauren Oliver--borrowed from friend

Throne of Glass- Sarah J. Maas--borrowed from friend

Dirty Little Secret- Jennifer Echols--review for an Around the World ARC Tour

The Sunday Salon- June 2, 2013

The Sunday Salon
Last week was busy with end of the school year things and I started a new run challenge where I have to run at least 1 mile every day.  This is the last week of school.  Wednesday is the last day with the kiddos and Friday is the last day of post planning.  I can't wait!!

I am also holding a giveaway: A paperback copy of Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness plus a few buttons.

I finished and reviewed the following books last week:

Disneylanders by Kate Abbott










I fulfilled items in the following challenges last week:
2013 150+ Reading Challenge: 29
2013 Quick Fix Challenge: 12

I am currently reading Everyone She Loved by Shelia Curran and up next is Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols.

2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge-- June Update

2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

Reading Challenge Details:

• Runs January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013 (books read prior to 1/1/2013 do not count towards the challenge). You can join at anytime. Sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog.
• The goal is to outdo yourself by reading more books in 2013 than you did in 2012. See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you. You can move up a level as often as you’d like but no moving down.
• Books can be any format (bound, ebook, audio).
• Novellas that are at least 100 pages in length, as well as full-length novels, will count for this reading challenge.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• Grab the reading challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads or LibraryThing.

Levels: Getting my heart rate up – Read 1–5 more books
Out of breath – Read 6–10 more books
Breaking a sweat – Read 11–15 more books
I’m on fire! – Read 16+ more books


I am not going to keep a list of the books I'm reading.  I am just going to keep track of how many books I am up to for each month on the last day of the month.  I read 93 books in 2012.

~I am going to try for the Getting My Heart Rate Up level first.

January: 7
February: 12
March: 19
April: 24
May: 30
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:

2013 Quick Fix Challenge-- June Update

2013 Quick Fix Challenge

Challenge Details:

• The challenge runs from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013.
• Sign ups will be open until mid December.
• You don't have to be a blogger to participate. However, leave a comment and tell me what level you're aiming for.
• For bloggers, post up a challenge sign up post saying what level you've signed up for. Be sure to sign-up with your sign-up post in the linky.
• You don't have to review the books you read however if you do, you will be able to post your links to your reviews here. (I'll have a post up for reviews up in January.)
• Books have to have less than 300 pages to count.
• Books such as MG/YA, graphic novels/manga, audio, rereads, can count toward your goal.
  • *Updated* Anthologies and short stories count as well. (I can't believe I forgot about these.)
• Feel free to crossover the books you read for this challenge with other challenges.

(If you have any questions feel free to ask, I feel like I might be missing something here, but I could be wrong.)

Now the Levels/It will hold with:

String: 5 books

Paperclips: 10 books

Duck tape: 15 books

Gorilla glue: 20+ books

 

~I am going to start off trying for the string level
~I finished the String level so now working on Paperclips level
~I finished Paperclips so now working on Duck Tape

 

1.  Crash (Visions #1) by Lisa McMann
2.  Dualed by Elsie Chapman
3.   Eternal by H.G. Nadel
4.  Shut Up by Anne Tibbets
5. Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland
6.  Poison by Bridget Zinn
7.  Invisible Girl by Mary Hanlon Stone
8.  The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
9.  The Returners by Gemma Malley
10. Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott
11. Spies and Prejudice by Talia Vance 
12. Disneylanders by Kate Abbott
13.  
14.  
15.