In Muh Mailbox. [30]

Long time, no posts my darling followers! Sorry about that, I was on vacation with the family :) Anyways, I have an In My Mailbox this week for ya. If you don't already know, this meme is hosted by The Story Siren.

The first two are for review. It was totally unexpected, but that's never a problem, eh? Burning Ambition is apart of a series, so I need to get the first novel before reading that. The other two are from my local library; so naturally they're the borrowed :)

What did you get this week?

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa | Review

Title: The Iron King
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 363
Rating: 5/5

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined… Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

The Iron King is an amazing book that takes you into a magical world of the Fae. From the first page it had me wrapped in it's fingers, and not once let go. The world the author created was vivid and completely magical. It was filled with creatures, trolls, giants, and everything in between. But my favorite had to be the main characters. The ones that told the story; Meghan, Robbie, Ash (hellllo swoonage), and Grim. They were all fun, amazing characters and how they were created were realistic to a point I thought they were real. I found myself getting angry, happy, sad, or laughing with them. No wonder every review for this book is a good one! Between the amazing descriptions, strong characters, and the writing...you have yourself an awesome novel. I definitely recommend this book and can not wait until the next installment comes. Or, ya' know, can not wait to get more of Ash and Robbie! ;)

Favorite line:
"Stop thinking," Ash muttered, pulling me into a spin that ended with me against his chest. "The audience doesn't matter. The steps don't matter. Just close your eyes and listen to the music."
-Ash pg. 170

In My Mailbox [29]

Torn between two vampire brothers

Damon: determined to make Elena his, he'd kill his own brother to possess her.

Stefan: desperate for the power to destroy Damon, and protect Elena, he gives in to his thirst for human blood.

Elena: the girl who can have anyone finds herself in the middle of a love triangle . . . one that might turn deadly.

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Lily's parents have sent her to a fancy boarding school in Chicago filled with the ultra-rich. If that wasn't bad enough, she's hearing and seeing bizarre things on St. Sophie's creepy campus. Her roommate, Scout, keeps her sane, but keeps disappearing at night. When one day Lily finds Scout running from real-life monsters, she learns the hard way that Scout is involved in a splinter group of rebel teens.

They protect Chicago from demons, vamps, and dark magic users. It's too bad Lily doesn't have powers of her own to help. At least, none that she's discovered yet...

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Dude, isn't the first book's cover absolutely hot? xD. I really, really like it. But most of all I'm excited to read The Iron King! This is all I got this week, what did you get?

Review | Brightly Woven

Title: Brightly Woven
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Publisher: Egmont
Pages: 368
Rating: 5/5

When Wayland North brings rain to a region that's been dry for over ten years, he's promised anything he'd like as a reward. He chooses the village elder's daughter, sixteen-year-old Sydelle Mirabel, who is a skilled weaver and has an unusual knack for repairing his magical cloaks. Though Sydelle has dreamt of escaping her home, she's hurt that her parents relinquish her so freely and finds herself awed and afraid of the slightly ragtag wizard who is unlike any of the men of magic in the tales she's heard. Still, she is drawn to this mysterious man who is fiercely protective of her and so reluctant to share his own past.

The pair rushes toward the capital, intent to stop an imminent war, pursued by Reuel Dorwan (a dark wizard who has taken a keen interest in Sydelle) and plagued by unusually wild weather. But the sudden earthquakes and freak snowstorms may not be a coincidence. As Sydelle discovers North's dark secret and the reason for his interest in her and learns to master her own mysterious power, it becomes increasingly clear that the fate of the kingdom rests in her fingertips. She will either be a savior, weaving together the frayed bonds between Saldorra and Auster, or the disastrous force that destroys both kingdoms forever.

Brightly Woven was a captivating novel that had me breathless with each page I turned. This normally isn't the type of book that I would read and love, but the author had a way of taking me in and not letting go with her writing. The author also created a world full of magic, wizards and everything in between that was realistic in plenty of ways. Definitely my kind of fantasy world. The characters were all my favorite! Um, especially Wayland! Can I have him? The relationship between Sydelle and him weaved (no pun intended) perfectly from the beginning. It was pretty much realistic and I adored that. This story is definitely something I'd love to read over and over again.

Favorite line (that shows Wayland's adorable attitude):

"I'm trying to feel sorry for you, really, I am," North said. "If you wait just a moment, I'm sure the tears will come."

"Oh, shut up!" Oliver burst out...

Author Interview | Jackie Dolamore

This was originally supposed to be posted around the release of Magic Under Glass, but the publisher and author were a little busy! But anyways, here's an interview with the creator of an awesome book :) Please stick with my lame and boring questions...I'm working on it!

1.) Where did you first get the idea for Magic Under Glass?

My first novel had been rejected a bunch of times, and I was realizing it was inherently flawed, so I was thinking about what I could write next. I write what I want to read more of, and one thing I wanted to see more of was fantasy inspired by the Victorian era. I've always loved the domestic history of that time, so once I thought of writing a novel set in a brooding Victorian house, ideas started coming quickly...

2.) Do you have any specific places you love to write?

I love to write on the porch and watch the squirrels, but it's not very ergonomic, so I'm kind of stuck in my bedroom at my desk. I dream of a house where my desk in by some windows!

3.) How long did it take you to write Magic Under Glass?

Two years before it was accepted. It was the only book I worked on in two years, however. It was probably three drafts that took about three months each to write, but the thinking months in between were just as important as the writing.

4.) Is there going to be a sequel?

Yes! The sequel just became official. It's called Magic Under Stone.

5.) Are you working on any other works? If so, what is it going to be about?

Well, the sequel isn't written yet, so mostly I am working on that. My next project that is in the simmering stage will probably be a fantasy novel based loosely on the silent film Metropolis. I have another completed book as well that is with my agent at the moment.

6.) What you first saw your book on the shelves, what was running through your head?

It's kind of a dazed, blank feeling. Extremely happy, on one hand, and in other ways strangely anticlimactic. You wonder why everyone in the stores isn't there looking at your book. Instead you're just standing in a lonely aisle looking at three lonely copies. Although, I actually managed to sell a copy to a couple of teenage girls in the aisle at the very first store where I went to look at it. That made my WEEK.

7.) Any last words?

Thanks for having me!

In Muh Mailbox :) [28]

All Hanna's wanted since sophomore year is Seth. She's gone out with other guys, even gained a rep for being a flirt, all the while hoping cool, guitar-playing Seth will choose her. Then she gets him -- but their relationship is hurtful, stormy and critical, not at all what Hanna thinks a perfect love should be.

Bewildered by Seth's treatment of her and in need of understanding, Hanna decides to fulfill her school's community service requirement by spending time with Helen, her terminally ill neighbor, who she's turned to for comfort and wisdom throughout her life. But illness has changed Helen into someone Hanna hardly knows, and her home is not the refuge it once was.

Feeling more alone than ever, Hanna gets drawn into an audiobook the older woman is listening to, a fierce, unsettling love story of passion, sacrifice, and devotion. Hanna's fascinated by the idea that such all-encompassing love can truly exist, and without her even realizing it, the story begins to change her. Until the day when the story becomes all too real...and Hanna's world is spun off its axis by its shattering, irrevocable conclusion.

When someone leaves three mystery flowers outside her dorm door, Laurel thinks that maybe the Avondale School isn't so awful after all — until her own body starts to freak out. In the middle of her English presentation on the Victorian Language of Flowers, strange words pop into her head, and her body seems to tingle and hum. Impulsively, Laurel gives the love bouquet she made to demonstrate the language to her spinster English teacher. When that teacher unexpectedly and immediately finds romance, Laurel suspects that something — something magical — is up.

With her new friend, Kate, she sets out to discover the origins and breadth of her powers by experimenting on herself and others. But she can’t seem to find any living experts in the field of flower powers to guide her. And her bouquets don't always do her bidding, especially when it comes to her own crush, Justin. Rumors about Laurel and her flowers fly across campus, and she's soon besieged by requests from girls — both friends and enemies — who want their lives magically transformed — just in time for prom.

Unsettling. There’s no better word to describe Miranda Barnes’s ability to hear the cries of the dead, feel the wind move her hair when they run by, and—dare she look into a mirror—see the reflection of a ghostly woman behind her. There’s only one person to turn to for support: Etienne. As sexy as he is mysterious, Miranda can’t help but be drawn to him. He believes her; he wants to help her. But there’s a secret in Etienne’s past, something Miranda’s on the verge of discovering. As paranormal activity escalates, passion grows, and soon Miranda is caught up in both love . . . and tragedy.

Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him.

In return for this gift, Wayland North is offered any reward he desires—and no one is more surprised than Sydelle when, without any explanation, he chooses her. Taken from her home, Sydelle hardly needs encouragement to find reasons to dislike North. He drinks too much and bathes too little, and if that isn’t enough to drive her to madness, North rarely even uses the magic he takes such pride in possessing. Yet, it’s not long before she realizes there’s something strange about the wizard, who is as fiercely protective of her as he is secretive about a curse that turns his limbs a sinister shade of black and leaves him breathless with agony. Unfortunately, there is never a chance for her to seek answers.

Along with the strangely powerful quakes and storms that trace their path across the kingdom, other wizards begin to take an inexplicable interest in her as well, resulting in a series of deadly duels. Against a backdrop of war and uncertainty, Sydelle is faced with the growing awareness that these events aren’t as random as she had believed—that no curse, not even that of Wayland North, is quite as terrible as the one she herself may carry.

From the author of Saving Juliet comes a romantic comedy that is good to the last drop. When Katrina spots a homeless guy sleeping in the alley behind her grandmother’s coffee shop, she decides to leave him a cup of coffee, a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans, and some pastries to tide him over. Little does she know that this random act of kindness is about to turn her life upside down. Because this adorable vagrant, Malcolm, is really a guardian angel on a break between missions. And he won’t leave until he can reward Katrina’s selflessness by fulfilling her deepest desire. Now if only she could decide what that might be . . .

_________

That's all I got this week... and I'm really excited about them. What did you get this week? Oh, and by the way, to those of you who celebrate Easter... Happy Easter! May you have plenty of candy to kill of your candy cravings haha. s