Book Spotlight: The 100 (The Hundred #1) by Kass Morgan

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

From Goodreads.com

     The 100 was a book I was very interested in reading, ever since I saw the preview for the show. I was one of the people who didn't even know there was a book till later. Let me tell you, the book was great. 
     The book centers on four different characters, all involved in the 100 who are sent to Earth. The space station these teenagers are living in is slowly running out of supplies. The government decides to send the 100 juvenile delinquents to Earth, to find out the conditions of the planet. The teens have been imprisoned for various crimes and this is their way to "give back" to the community. When the group lands on the planet, all kinds of adventures begin. 
     Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from the book. I was a bit nervous considering it's supposed to be about 100 characters, all at once. Obviously, I knew the story would focus on the predominant characters, but I didn't know who or how many. I liked the number four. I liked the four different personalities, the four different predicaments the characters were in. I don't know that I liked anyone in particular, but I know a few of them drove me a bit nuts at times (which is a good thing). 
    It was also nice to see the back story on the characters. The flashbacks of explanation were in perfect places, and I was very happy to figure out how these characters arrived at the places they were at. I'm excited to see where the story goes from here. 
    Also, yes, I'll be watching the show. Even from the opening pages, you can tell the show will be different. However, I'm super excited to see what happens on screen. I kind of really like the dynamics of the show and the book being released together. Ms Morgan is a wonderful writer and I think this book is a good solid debut. I look forward to seeing what happens next!
     The 100 arrives at bookstores September 3, 2013!

     Happy reading, 

     Valia 

The Elements Book Cover Tag!

Hello lovelies,

So, I did a thing. Yes, I participated in a YouTube book tag! I know, crazy right? Anyway, here it is.

 

Hope you enjoyed! If you'd love to participate, don't forget to leave links below. Thanks for watching!

Much love, 

Valia 

Book Spotlight: A Tale Of Two Centuries (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century #2) by Rachel Harris

     Alessandra D’Angeli is in need of an adventure. Tired of her sixteenth-century life in Italy and homesick for her time-traveling cousin, Cat, who visited her for a magical week and dazzled her with tales of the future, Alessandra is lost. Until the stars hear her plea.

     One mystical spell later, Alessandra appears on Cat’s Beverly Hills doorstep five hundred years in the future. Surrounded by confusing gadgets, scary transportation, and scandalous clothing, Less is hesitant to live the life of a twenty-first century teen…until she meets the infuriating—and infuriatingly handsome—surfer Austin Michaels. Austin challenges everything she believes in…and introduces her to a world filled with possibility.

     With the clock ticking, Less knows she must live every moment of her modern life while she still can. But how will she return to the drab life of her past when the future is what holds everything she’s come to love?

From Goodreads.com

     
     Alessandra is a sixteenth-century girl in need of a twenty-first-century adventure. So when the fates hear her plea, she shows up on her cousin's doorstep, ready to experience this other world for herself. Everything about this century is baffling, including the gorgeous surfer Austin. But Alessandra didn't come to sit on the sidelines, she's ready for an adventure. And that's where the real fun beings. 
     Let me just start out by saying I loved everything about this book. While I really enjoyed the first book, I was a little unhappy in the end there. If you know me and my romantic heart, you know why. Going into Less's story, I was a little nervous, I have to admit. But I am happy to report, I was not disappointed. Honestly, I don't think Rachel can disappoint me. I pretty much adore everything she writes. Anyway, off track here. 
     I really enjoyed Alessandra's character in this book. I liked seeing her blossom out of her shell, exploring the different sides of her personality. Her contrast with her cousin Cat is evident, but the dynamics between those two are great. They compliment each other without being too similar and I loved that. 
     Now, the swoon factor in this book is mighty high. I freaking loved Austin.

 I loved how much of him we saw, how much we got to know about who he is. Just like Less, I wanted to hug him to pieces for most of the book. And his possessiveness when it comes to Less? 

Oh my... Okay, I'm done now. 
     Also, I really liked that we saw Cat and her own story brought to light a little bit. I'm glad that she's getting a happy ending as well. I know that happy endings don't always mean finding your Prince Charming, but it doesn't hurt. And although I kind of wish...nope, not going there. You just have to read both books and figure things out for yourself!
     Alessandra's journey is one fun adventure. This book will have you laughing and on the edge of your seat, which to me spells one fun ride. I'm telling you, I'll read anything Rachel writes. Go grab a copy of A Tale Of Two Centuries for yourself and experience the awesome story of sixteenth century sixteen year old girl dealing with twenty-first century problems. 

This book makes me happy

     Happy reading, 

     Valia 

Book Spotlight: Taste Test by Kelly Fiore

     If you can grill it, smoke it, or fry it, Nora Henderson knows all about it. She’s been basting baby back ribs and pulling pork at her father’s barbeque joint since she was tall enough to reach the counter. When she’s accepted to Taste Test, a reality-television teen cooking competition, Nora can’t wait to leave her humble hometown behind, even if it means saying good-bye to her dad and her best friend, Billy. Once she’s on set, run-ins with her high-society roommate and the maddeningly handsome—not to mention talented—son of a famous chef, Christian Van Lorten, mean Nora must work even harder to prove herself. But as mysterious accidents plague the kitchen arena, protecting her heart from one annoyingly charming fellow contestant in particular becomes the least of her concerns. Someone is conducting real-life eliminations, and if Nora doesn’t figure out who, she could be next to get chopped for good. 

With romance and intrigue as delectable as the winning recipes included in the story, this debut novel will be devoured by all.

From Goodreads.com

     Nora is a small town girl with big town dreams. When she's accepted to Taste Test, a reality TV show for teens, she's more than ready to go. Leaving her family and friends behind, she heads to the big city to prove to the world that she's more than just a small town cook. She meets all kinds of interesting- that's a safe word- people, including the rich and handsome Christian. He gets right under her skin. She works hard to prove herself in a world so different from her own. And if that's not hard enough, someone is sabotaging the show. Now, she has more than just who wins to worry about. 
     Guys, I absolutely loved this book. Nora was a really fun character to get to know. I liked seeing her fight her way past the rich and snobby, showing them her true colors. Sure, there were times where I kind of wanted to smack her, just a little. But that is only because I was rooting for her. It's always a sign of a good character when there is emotional reactions from the readers. :)
     Now, Christian was all kinds of swoony. I liked how they were rivals turned acquaintances turned partners. And then some *wink wink* He was a great solid character who made me laugh out loud more than once throughout the book. I really enjoyed his and Nora's relationship. They were adorable together. I also really like that it wasn't love at first sight. There was definite tension, but it was explored throughout the whole book. 
     Overall, this book is a must read. Anyone who enjoys a good story mixed with some delicious recipes will find a win in this book. Not only are the characters engaging, the book is filled with yummy treats for everyone to try. Seriously, I loved this aspect and the fact that I didn't have to guess what goes into any of the dishes. I could just try them myself. Ms Fiore, this book is delectable and I look forward to reading more of your stories. 
     This book hits the shelves August 27th, 2013. Get it, read it, love it!

     Happy reading, 
    
     Valia 

Blog Tour: The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce

Hello lovelies, 

Today I have a special treat for you. Take an inside look at the way of Ms Bryony Pearce's The Weight of Souls!

Road map to The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce

In a group of people I am the go-to person for a pen or piece of paper, because everyone knows I’m a writer, but as my friends are starting to learn, I’ll be the last person to have something.  

 

I often feel like a bit of a failure; as if I am letting the artistic image down.  I feel as if I should always have a pencil poked into my curly hair, a notebook stuffed in my knickers, a bic in my bra.  But I am perhaps a slightly unusual writer in that when I am in the process of percolating a story I take no notes.  I just my brain get on with it, putting the pieces together, until finally I get a bit of a Eureka moment and I know I have something cohesive.

 

When I get that moment, that’s when you’ll find me frantically scrambling for a notebook.

 

The way my story-telling brain works is that I will develop a character first.  They often appear in my head pretty much fully formed.  I know what they look like and what their ‘problem’ is:  I knew that Cassie from Angel’s Fury had been reincarnated, I knew that Taylor from The Weight of Souls saw ghosts, I knew that Kane (from my new work in progress) was able to jump between worlds.  Then these characters live in my brain, occasionally yelling at me, until I can work out the story that needs to be told about them.  That is what I am always seeking inspiration for – the puzzle pieces that form my character’s complete story.

 

When I have the outline of a story ready to go in my head I write down a one page synopsis, then I sit down and complete a chapter by chapter outline.  That’s when you’ll find me doing research and taking notes.  

 

For the Weight of Souls I did several strands of research:

 

1.

Background – A refresher course on Egyptian Mythology

2.

Setting – I had to revisit London to make sure that my memory of the city matched with its current incarnation.  

3.

Genetics – how Taylor’s family genes could have been altered and the mechanics of passing the curse on from parent to child.

4.

Crowd Behaviour Theory and the theory of Deindividuation – how the V-club could have such control over its members.

5.

Chinese gods, ancient religion and naming conventions (much of that did not end up in the final book as I had to remove the prologue which was all about Taylor’s Chinese ancestor, but some of it remains – Oh-Fa mentions the I-Ching and calls Anubis the ‘greatest of the lords of death’ and the name of Taylor’s mother, Emma-Oh, reflects the name of the wrathful Chinese god Yama who, in Japan, became known as Emma (for a more on my naming conventions please go to Sons of Corax -http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/ - on the 5thAugust where I have a whole blog post on how I chose the names of my characters in The Weight of Souls).  

 

I then had to spend time making up some of my own ‘world rules’

 

1.  The ‘rules’ of the ghost’s interactions with the world (for more on that visit Death Books and Tea -http://deathbooksandtea.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-us.html - on 27th July)

2.

The ‘rules’ of Taylor’s own curse?

3.

The ‘rules’ and history of the V-club (for more on that, visit Reading Under the Stars -  http://readingunderthestars.blogspot.co.uk/ -, also on 27th July)

4.

A bit of extra mythology – how did Anubis end up in the tomb, how can he escape etc.

 

Once I have the whole book plotted out, that’s when I sit down and start writing.  I need to plot properly because I have very little time in the day to write (I have two children) and when I do get some spare time I need to know exactly what has to happen in that chapter and where it needs to go so that I can just get on with it), I also like to do lots of foreshadowing and literary allusion so it is important to me to know what is going to happen later in the book.

 

I don’t know how I compare to other writers in that regard.  Occasionally I am shocked when I speak to my literary friends and discover quite how different we all are.  Steve Feasey (author of the Changeling series) for example, does not plot at all and cannot comprehend the way that I write: it is as mystifying to him as not plotting is to me.  Jon Mayhew (author of The Bonehill Curse and Demon Collector) does plot, but he prefers to write his favourite scenes first, then go back and fill in the parts he is less excited about.  He recently told me that he literally has gaps in his works in progress that say ‘They travel.  Stuff happens.’  I could never do that.  I have to write in a linear way.  

 

So I hope you enjoy The Weight of Souls and this piece of insight into how I write.  

 

If you would like to know more about me or my work, please visit my website www.bryonypearce.co.uk, join the conversation onTwitter @BryonyPearce or like myfacebook page BryonyPearceAuthor.

 

Thank you

Blog Tour: This is W.A.R. by Lisa and Laura Roecker & Giveaway

 

Hello lovelies, 

Today I have a special treat for you. Here's a little inside look at Lisa and Laura and their own, most famous W.A.R...

It is no secret that as sisters, we waged many wars growing up. We used to place large, plastic spiders on our younger sister Stacey's cheek while she slept. We'd snap a photo and surprise her after developing the film. "Oh my gosh! Look what was on your cheek!" Niiiice. There were torn shirts in high school hallways, diary pages read aloud to the neighborhood, bras and underwear thrown out second story windows. It was all sorts of fun. 

But the most famous sister-wars were the ones where we banded together. In the aftermath, of course. Most memorable was when Lisa and I were fighting over one very large, very heavy cordless phone. Think the length of your forearm, the weight of a small baby, with a long, dangerous antenna that pulled from the top. Well, the phone was thrown at my head and most definitely left a mark. Both on me and the phone. It broke. No dial tone, no charge, no chance of resuscitation. We knew immediately that we were screwed. Cordless phones were expensive! They didn't grow on trees! We were careless and insensitive and ungrateful.  

So instead of playing dumb, lying or being honest, we found the nearest shoe box, said goodby and headed out to the railroad tracks that ran through our neighborhood. And we buried the phone in shallow grave. Our mom would page the phone with a wrinkled forehead, frustrated that no matter how hard we cleaned and searched, we could not unearth the stupid thing. That is, unless you headed out to the railroad tracks with a shovel.  

Lisa and Laura Roecker are sisters-turned-writing-partners with a love of all things Young Adult. Some call it arrested development, but the sisters claim it keeps them young. Plus, its cheaper than Botox. Lisa and Laura live in Cleveland, Ohio in separate residences. Their husbands wouldn't agree to a duplex. THE LIAR SOCIETY is their first novel.

 
This is W.A.R. begins with a victim who can no longer speak for herself, and whose murder blossoms into a call-to-arms. Enter four very different girls, four very different motives to avenge Willa Ames-Rowan, and only one rule to start: Destroy James Gregory and his family at any cost. Willa's initials spell the secret rallying cry that spurs the foursome to pool their considerable resources and deliver their particular brand of vigilante justice. Innocence is lost, battles are won—and the pursuit of the truth ultimately threatens to destroy them all.

To enter the giveaway just click on the banner! 

What do you guys think? Will you be checking out This Is W.A.R.? 

Happy reading, 

Valia 

It's Camp NaNoWriMo & other frivolous undertakings of summer.

Hello lovelies, 

So today is brought to you by hectic list making, non stop outfit rearranging, and trying to stuff a bunch of clothes into one suitcase. Does anyone else out there dislike packing? 
Ok good. It's not just me. 
But the pains of packing do bring with them one awesome truth: it's VACATION TIME!!!!! 

If you follow me on twitter, you know how much I need a vacation. I think my tweets have become complain-y (sorry about that). Anyway, in the midst of all the chaos (because seriously, chaos is the most accurate word describing my room right now) I realized it's July 2nd. Where in the world did June go? 
The main reason why I slightly panicked at the fact that its day two of July is because I'm supposed to be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo. My goal is 50,000 words before the end of the month. Which means I'm supposed to be writing almost 1700 words a day. Oops and double oops. Did I mention the fact that I forgot it was July? 
Seriously though, I'm determined to get this done. The book I'm writing right now is fun and different and I love it to pieces. But with a week long vacation, and all the hectic-ness that comes with summer, how am I going to find time to write? (I'm asked this question way too often). So let me tell you how. 
By writing. 
Amazing concept right? 
I think sometimes we forget that everyone has the same amount of hours in the day. It's all about the way you prioritize. Writing is what I do. It's what I love. So it's a natural extension of my day. 
Makes sense. 
On the other hand, I've read some awesome books lately that I fully recommend adding to your TBR. 

 

Hmm, not exactly sure how I ended up reading cooking books back to back, but now I've got myself a whole list of recipes to try out. I'll be posting full reviews for these books in the next few weeks, but for now all you need to know is that they are amazing and you need to read them. I said so.

Well, I'm off to try and make sense of this mess that currently occupies my bedroom. 

Any exciting plans for July? 

Much love, 

Valia