Thursday, July 26, 2018

Let's Talk: "Terror is Our Business" by Joe R Lansdale & Kasey Lansdale

Title: Terror is Our Business: Dana Roberts' Casebook of Horrors
Authors: Joe R. Lansdale & Kasey Lansdale
Genre: Horror
Page Length: 248 pages
Publication Date: May 29, 2018
Date Started: July 19, 2018
Date Finished: July 25, 2018
Rating: 3/5 stars


*I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*

I have to say, I did enjoy this anthology. This is really more of a collection of different short stores and 'cases' more than it is a full novel, which no doubt made it harder for me to read (but more on that after I talk about all the things I did like).

I liked a few different things about this collection, the first being the main character Dana. In my mind I picture her as an Ellen from Supernatural-esque woman. A badass, but also beautiful and funny. She obviously is extremely brave and I liked that she had skepticism. It was refreshing to me that a character in a horror/paranormal/supernatural story was skeptical about the identity of what they were seeing.  

These different 'cases' weren't told like a normal book would have been. The main character, Dana, was often giving a first-hand account of what happened to a club full of people. That meant that she was more focused on telling what happened than describing anything. While I can understand why there wasn't much detail on the setting and surroundings, I couldn't help but wonder if the stories would have benefited from more. I'm trying to decide if I would have liked it better if we were actually there the first time these events happened rather than hearing a recounting. 

One thing that bothered me was that this was supposedly a casebook of horrors, but I wasn't really scared at all. At most, I was interested in whatever something was. I feel that it didn't really scare me because the stories were told in a clinical way that didn't showcase how each event made the main character feel. That could be because I was obviously not sitting in the room hearing Dana tell these stories and listening to her changes in tone and facial expressions. Still, I wasn't scared at all, which is what knocked a star down for me. 

I think the main thing for me is that anthologies don't really do it for me. I like complete stories, not a bunch of little stories, which makes it hard for me because my brain has to completely switch gears instantaneously to keep up with the changing stories. I feel like if someone were to want to read this book, I'd recommend reading a story or two every few days, or even weeks. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book but didn't love it. I feel like it could have benefited from the addition of more sensory or setting details as well as a bit more of the scare-factor. Still, I did like it but I don't think I'll be revisiting this story anytime soon.



Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren



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Monday, July 23, 2018

Everything You Need to Know About "Kingdom of Ash" by Sarah J. Maas!

It really is no secret that the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas is my favorite series. As one of the series that catapulted me back into reading after a dry spell that lasted a few years, it's not only brought me back to my love of reading but also helped me form friendships and strengthen those that I already had. It truly has had such an impact on my life. To know that the final book is coming out in three months exactly is both terrifying and exciting! I've been waiting for this book for two years and I can finally see what happened after Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn. I will finally have some closure! 

I'm putting together this informational post just to condense a lot of release information into one place. I, for one, don't want a fan like myself to miss out on cool opportunities just because they didn't know about them. So here's everything you need to know about Kingdom of Ash's release from special editions, tour information, preorder promotions, and more! 



Cover Reveal + Synopsis

First, obviously we need to start with the cover and synopsis, right? So for those of you who haven't read the entire series, I would just skip until you see the next horizontal line or else you'll be spoiled for the previous books. Before the synopsis, here's the cover (which I'm sure you've seen around!)


I do like the cover, but I'm not sure how I feel about the yellow on yellow? I think we were told that the flames would be foiled so that will make it look super cool I think. In this case, I think I prefer the UK cover over the US, even though I love them both. Either way, I hope that yellow means a happy ending!

Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas’s #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an epic, unforgettable conclusion. Aelin Galathynius’s journey from slave to king’s assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world. . .

Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day…

With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world.

And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever.

As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.



Pre-Orders and Special Editions

I think after the cover reveal, we should talk about where you can get the book? Am I right? There are numerous places you can get the book as well as different special editions! Here's information on all of the different special editions! You can also order signed copies from Sarah's tour stops (information down below with the tour links and such).

  • Available at Barnes & Noble: This hardcover edition will have a poster on the back of the jacket featuring art from Charlie Bowater, pages from Sarah’s writing notebook, and Sarah’s signature on the book cover (under the jacket)
  • Available at Indigo and Books-a-Million: This hardcover edition will feature art from an artist to be announced on the endpapers and Sarah’s signature on the book cover (under the jacket)
  • Available at Waterstones: This paperback edition will feature art from an artist to be announced inside the book. 
  • Available at Target: This edition will feature a removable character card and Sarah’s signature on the book cover (under the jacket)

Regular Editions
Special Editions
Digital Editions
Book Depository: US or UK
US Tour (info down below)
Target (Link soon)
Waterstones
Audible (TK)
iBooks




US Tour

Sarah is also going on tour in the US! I am so excited about this and I also have a little bit of anxiety because I don't know for sure if I'm going to get to meet her? Either way, here's all the tour information and a link to where you can find out more! (note: this is US but she did say that she will be doing a Europe tour later on)


I'll personally be at the event in Naperville and I can't wait! There is just so much excitement for me with getting to meet my favorite author again at a tour stop for the final book in my favorite series! Even though it's three months away and I don't even know if I'll be able to get a VIP ticket, I'm still so excited.

What is a VIP ticket you ask? Well, let me explain! There are three types of tickets: Standard, VIP, and Companion. There are limited numbers of the tickets for the signing but VIP are the most limited at 50 per venue. But what do you get with each ticket?


Companion
VIP Ticket (Limited to 50)
Standard Ticket
-Seating/entrance for two people
-Only one book
-Only one set of merchandise
-Everything in the standard ticket PLUS:
-Photo with Sarah
-Signed, personalized tour copy of Kingdom of Ash
-Prime venue seating
-Pre-signed, special tour copy of Kingdom of Ash
-Exclusive tote bag
-Exclusive art print from Charlie Bowater
-Exclusive tour button
$5-$10 more than the others
$48-$60 based on venue
$24-$40 based on venue

You can visit this link to see where you can order tickets, more information about companion tickets, and information about how the ticket sales is used to benefit underprivileged children! Each event will also host a canned food drive for local food banks. 

At each event, there will be trivia, photo booths, temporary tattoos, fan art galleries, and more! It is not clear how many standard tickets there are, but these events are limited. VIP is especially limited and will likely sell out very quickly!

*All four events are sold out, but there is a wait list at most stores! You can also order signed copies from some of the shops, so I would definitely check that out if you're interested!*



Pre-Order Campaign

At this time, there has not been a preorder promotion announced. It should be announced soon and this page will be updated accordingly! I'm so excited for it nonetheless. All of the special editions, digital editions, and regular editions will count towards the promotion! 



Thanks for reading! I hope this is informative and helpful! 
xoxo
Lauren



Follow this blog by clicking "Follow" on the right hand column! Add me to your Google+ Circles on the left hand column! New content every month from Reviews to Hauls to Tags! Don't forget to check out all the other parts of this blog by following the different links at the top of the page! 

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Let's Talk: "Strength" by Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington

Title: Strength
Authors: Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington
Series: "Curse of the Gods" #4
Genre: RH Fantasy
Page Length: 274 pages
Publication Date: July 20, 2018
Date Started: July 20, 2018
Date Finished: July 22, 2018
Rating: 5/5 stars

Wow I definitely think the wait for this book was worth it! I loved it! My expectations were pretty high considering previous books in this series but this one was awesome. I loved every second of it and I'm eagerly awaiting the final installment in October!

We got to see a lot more of the different worlds in this book. I found it fascinating to explore multiple new areas that we were introduced to. I can't wait to discover even more in the final installment. I also loved seeing more of the gods and their politics. 

Most of all, I just really loved seeing the interactions between Willa and her guys. Not only do I just love each and every one of the guys, but I love seeing the 6 of them work as a cohesive group. Plus, this book is steamier than the earlier ones and I am living for it!

That's really all I can say without spoiling the previous books or this one, but just know that I loved this book so much and I love this series to death! I can't wait for the final installment even though I know that I'll miss this world!



Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for another review and a possible giveaway!
xoxo
Lauren



Follow this blog by clicking "Follow" on the right hand column! Add me to your Google+ Circles on the left hand column! New content every month from Reviews to Hauls to Tags! Don't forget to check out all the other parts of this blog by following the different links at the top of the page! 

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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Let's Talk: "Obsidio" by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Book Review!

Title: Obsidio
Authors: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Series: "Illuminae_Files_03"
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Page Length: 615 pages
Publication Date: March 13, 2018
Date Started: May 26, 2018
Date Finished: July 17, 2018
Rating: 5/5 amazing stars!

Don’t let the amount of time it took me to read this book fool you: it was awesome! Every summer for the past three years, I’ve fallen into severe reading slumps where I read maybe 5 books over the course of three months. It’s just hard for me to read. But that is the only reason that it took me so long to read this book! 

It was fast-paced and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I read it! Especially the last 200 pages…I couldn’t stop and then all of a sudden I had finished it!

What I loved most about this book was seeing the development that each of these characters had undergone from the first and second books to this one! I can see the character arcs that Jay and Amie wrote and I’m in awe! I just love each and every one of these flawed, beautiful characters so much. 

I thought that it had the right mix of action and suspense and romance. The pacing was perfect and the points of view were on point (haha, see what I did there?). Overall, this book was just so well executed. 

That’s all I can really say without spoiling it but I will leave you with these final thoughts: I thought that Obsidio was a fantastic finale to this trilogy. I’ve been reading this story for three and a half years now and I can’t believe that it’s over. I’ve had so many awesome memories because of this trilogy: I’ve made friends, gone to signings, met the amazing authors, and so much more all thanks to this trilogy! It’s heartbreaking to be finished with it but it’s an extremely amazing feeling to finally know how all of my favorite characters end up! I can’t wait to reread this book because whenever I’ve reread an Illuminae Files book, I’ve always ended up loving it even more than the first time around.

I highly, highly recommend this trilogy…especially the audiobooks! I think my next read through with definitely be 100% from the audiobooks because they really are masterpieces in themselves! 



Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren



Follow this blog by clicking "Follow" on the right hand column! Add me to your Google+ Circles on the left hand column! New content every month from Reviews to Hauls to Tags! Don't forget to check out all the other parts of this blog by following the different links at the top of the page! 

Follow my Instagram here. New giveaway will be posted in late May!

Get 10% off of HD Movie Codes (sponsored by Movies Anywhere) when you use "INFLUENCER" at checkout! *I do not receive commission from HD Movie Codes--I just want to save you some $*

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Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Let's Talk: "Red Agenda" by Cameron Poe Book Review

Title: Red Agenda
Author: Cameron Poe
Genre: Political/Spy Thriller
Page Length: 478 
Publication Date: September 21, 2017
Date Started: July 1, 2018
Date Finished: July 9, 2018
Rating: 1/5 stars

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is no way impacts my review*

Honestly, I thought I was going to like this book a lot more than I did. It's a genre that I've never really read before and I took the risk when I started reading it. But I ended up having a lot of problems with this book that I found that had nothing to do with the actual story and more the execution of the novel. I ended up DNF'ing this book at a little over 100 pages. As a general rule of thumb, I give every book I read until at least the 80 page mark before I DNF it, but I ended up leaving this one after reaching the 100-page mark. 

Firstly, the main thing that was a drawback for me was the information dumps and big number of POVs. The first 30-35 or so pages were just introducing each character. No action, no plot, just talking about each character. Most of the characters got 4-5 pages of their entire backstory and how they came to be in this position. It was a huge amount of information thrown at us and I, frankly, didn't remember anything about the characters from those because I was too busy trying to remember if we had met a character before. I get that this is supposed to be a complex military-esque story, but there did not need to be that many POVs, in my opinion. Plus, there should be some mystery to a character. It helps make them interesting. Divulging their entire life story in the first instance that we meet them doesn't aid in readers connecting to the characters. In fact, it does the opposite.

The next thing that I had a problem with was how the story was told. A lot of things were told and not shown. What this means is, we would get chapters where it would be "Character got on a plane and did this," and that would be the end of that action. As readers, there needs to be conflict and tension to keep us engaged. The classic "show don't tell" is advice that I give to every writer I meet as well as try to apply to my writing all the time. This book only told. Any attempt to provide a plot twist or something to WOW the readers had little to no effect.

On par with information dumps and telling, there were moments that we had important things being talked about but not explained. For instance, I didn't know what the OPEC alliance, a major part of this book apparently, had to do with the story even when the characters were talking about it. However, I did know the mechanics behind a listening device. The description of a listening device took up half a page! I get that readers are curious about how things work, but all they really needed to know about this device was that it allowed people to listen to conversations behind doors. Yet, important parts of the plot and fragile alliances were not explained at all. This led to a lot of confusion.

To go with things not being explained, we got a lot of background about people but very little information about the present time and settings. Sure, we got told that a character was based in Houston, but what does that actually tell me about the story? This, again, goes with my complaints that certain things were over-explained while important things were not explained at all.

I did not connect to any of the characters. In fact, most of them either annoyed me or I felt indifferent about. I know 100 pages isn't a lot of time to put character development into more than 5 characters, but I would have liked to see something that made these characters seem realistic. I wanted something to tell me that these weren't flat characters who exist only to service the plot. A story can have a good plot, but without interesting characters and conflict, it falls flat. The only thing that showed a character's real personality made me hate them immediately because they're the perfect example a of toxic and manipulative person.

Also, parts of this book were highly unrealistic. For starters, a man who is trailing a person of interest would likely not decide to lay his head down and take a nap when he's supposed to be surveilling, especially when he's in an area where he could be discovered. Certain airport scenes also irked me very much.

But the number 1 thing that annoyed me from the start and stayed with me throughout the entire book was the female representation. Honestly, I probably would have enjoyed this book more if the scenes that had females in them were completely cut out--that's how bad they were. Let's just say that one character who we meet got 2 half-assed pages of her complaining and then a gross, badly written beginning of a sex scene that was obviously only in their to appeal to the fetishism of lesbian sex.  I don't want to say that male authors don't know how to write intimate scenes featuring women, but this novel was beyond bad in that department.

The same female character, however, was the only character who I kinda enjoyed but still didn't care much about. It honestly pains me to say that this book would have been better without the addition of the female characters because we need more strong female representation in literature. These female characters were not very strong and were obviously only put in to try and add representation. I just...I hated that part of the book so much. I cannot get past the fact that these female characters were only there to further the main male characters' stories.

Overall, I had a lot of problems with this book. Going into it, I was actually really excited to read it and branch beyond my general reading tastes. However, it sorely disappointed. To me, this book felt like a first draft that needed massive polishing and beta readers galore. The idea itself was interesting, but it was not well executed. For me, it could just be because it is so out of the genres of what I usually read that I was "genre-shocked," so to speak. Still, a lot of my problems had to deal with the actual execution of the book and not the plot, which was interesting and could have been amazing had it been written better. I highly doubt that I will return to this book again and I can only hope that other readers enjoy it more than I did.



Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more reviews and possibly a giveaway!
xoxo
Lauren



Follow this blog by clicking "Follow" on the right hand column! Add me to your Google+ Circles on the left hand column! New content every month from Reviews to Hauls to Tags! Don't forget to check out all the other parts of this blog by following the different links at the top of the page! 

Follow my Instagram here. New giveaway will be posted in late May!

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Friday, July 6, 2018

June 2018 Book Haul!

Well, I definitely wasn't expecting to get this many books, especially after such a big May haul. I got 22 total books across the three platforms of physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks. I'm only going to be talking about 19 of them, though. Let's go ahead and dive right in because this is going to be a long one!




The first category is physical books which I got 17 of. I'm only going to talk about 14 of them simply because the other 3 aren't super interesting and were hand-me-downs essentially. Still, I'm excited about all of these and can't wait to read them all! 

First I have a signed arc of  Whisper of the Tide by Sarah Tolscer. I won a giveaway that the author was doing to celebrate the upcoming release of this book and I definitely didn't expect to win. Considering she said she was going to pick a winner before the 3-day Memorial weekend, I was surprised when Tuesday rolled around and she picked me. Now that I have this book, I'm excited to binge this duology!

The next book I got was A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir. I'm beyond happy to finally have this book in my hands after such a long wait. I don't know how I'll be able to handle waiting for the final book to release on account of everyone saying that this book has been destroying their hearts. I'm also planning on doing a reread of the first two books just so that I'm all caught up on heartbreak before this one. One of the highlights of my month was going to a Sabaa Tahir signing and getting to meet her. For the full run-down and pictures, you can check out my blog post about it here! 

Next, I got an arc of Dive Smack by Demetra Brodsky. I got this book because I was involved in a blog tour for it and I'm excited to have it. It's a thriller set in a high school that has been described as Teen Wolf meets E. Lockhart or Mara Dyer meets Riverdale. For my blog post stop, you can check out my post here! 

The next book I got was an arc of The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle. This releases in September and I'm super excited to have gotten a copy through BookishFirst. It's all centered around the question "If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?" This book is about the main character showing up to that dinner. I'm super excited to be reading this and reviewing it soon!

Up next, I have an arc of Terror is Our Business by Joe R. Lansdale and Kasey Lansdale. This is a horror mystery compilation from a father-daughter writing duo. It sounds pretty interesting and I'm excited to be reading and reviewing it for Smith Publicity. 

Next, I went to a used bookstore to trade in some old DVD's and left with a hardcover of City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. I had every Cassie Clare book in hardcover except for the first three in the Mortal Instruments and Clockwork Angel and I've been wanting to get all of them in hardcover for a while. When I saw this one at the store for $5, I knew that I had to get it. My collection is only 3 books away from all hardcovers, which means that my sister is that much closer to getting my old paperbacks and starting her collection!

I went to the used bookstore again to trade in more DVDs and walked out with Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. I've been wanting to read his Kane Chronicles books for a couple years now and decided to get it when I saw this like-new paperback. I was originally planning on getting hardcovers, but I couldn't pass up the $3 price tag for such a beautiful book.

Next, I traded somebody on Twitter for a copy of Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser. The moment that I knew I was going to be getting an arc of book 2, I knew that I wanted to finally get this beautiful book in my hands. I am so excited to have this book and can't wait to do a duology binge this fall! 

I also traded somebody on Twitter for a signed arc of The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Jennifer is one of my absolute favorite authors and when I found out that she was releasing a spin-off/continuation of the Lux series that follows Luc, I knew that I needed it. I just can't believe that I have a signed arc in my hands. I don't even have any signed books by her so this is pretty much a dream come true. Thank you thank you thank you to the lovely people on Twitter who made this happen.

Then, still riding my Jennifer L. Armentrout high after getting an arc, I ordered Wicked. This is the first in a trilogy of hers that I hadn't read yet (because, let's be real, I'll be trying to catch up on Jennifer books for as long as I live) and have been interested in for a while. It's a supernatural/paranormal book set in New Orleans. All I know is that I saw a teaser for the third book and knew that it was finally time for me to get this book. 

Next, I got Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova. The second book in this series just recently released and peaked my interest for this book. When I saw that Amazon had it on sale for $7, I knew that it was finally time to get it. All I know is that it's about magic and witches and awesomeness. I can't wait to read it and, hopefully, love it!

Then I got a completely unexpected package from Macmillan and Wednesday Books: an arc of Sadie by Courtney Summers. I got home from work one morning and found this in my mailbox and completely freaked out. Not only have I been seeing this book everywhere and wanting to read it, but this is the first time a big-league publisher has sent me a book that I didn't win in a raffle or giveaway! The only thing I really know about this book is that it's about a girl looking for her sister's killer and a podcast. 


The final book I got this month was Legendary by Stephanie Garber. I went to Target one day with my sister and, of course, I checked the book section. I had just gotten paid for housesitting and I didn't have the self-control to not get a book. I've already read this book and loved it (you can find my review here) so it was time for me to finally get a physical copy! 



I only got four ebooks this month, but considering how many physical books I got this month, that's probably a good thing. I also only paid for one of them, so I'm pretty proud of that. I'm super excited about all of these and can't wait to read them all!

The first on that I got was Fallen Crest High by Tijan. I've read one of Tijan's other books and really loved that one, so I thought it was time to finally try her most popular series. I enjoyed this book but thought that it fell a little flat for me (you can find my review here). However, I feel like this is an author who's books get better as you go, so I'm definitely going to try the next book in this series. Plus, the characters are flawed and kind of immoral, which I love.

The next ebook I got was a review copy of Captivating Melody by Katherine Mcintyre. This is one that I will be reading and reviewing this summer and I'm excited to read it! Usually, I don't accept ebook review copies because screens give me headaches after long periods of time, but this one sounded so interesting that I couldn't resist! 

Next, I got a review copy of Harnessing the Winds by Morena Silver. This is an RH romance and I'm so excited. I love RH books and this one has pirates! I can't wait for it. This is also another case of me being too interested to turn down an ebook copy. Stay tuned for my review by the end of August!

The last ebook I got was an arc of Seafire by Natalie C. Parker. I got this through Penguin's First to Read program and I can't wait. I've seen nothing but hype and amazing things about this book! The only thing I know about this book is that it takes place on the sea and features a female crew! 



I also got three audiobooks this month. The first of which is The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Braken. Audible was having a sale this month for its members and this audiobook was only $3. Considering how I haven't read this book in years and the movie is coming out soon, I figured it was worth it for me to get and listen to before the movie releases!

The second book I got in their sale was Autoboyography by Christina Lauren. I've heard nothing but awesome things about this book and I can't wait to listen to this cute story! Again, it was one that was only $3, so I couldn't pass up on that sale price!

The last audiobook I got was The Novice by Taran Matharu. This is one of my best friend's favorite books and I've been meaning to read it for such a long time. I'm excited to have this because it means that maybe I'll finally be able to finish this book!



Thanks so much for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I can't wait for what July will bring (I already have some exciting books for my July haul).
xoxo
Lauren



Follow this blog by clicking "Follow" on the right hand column! Add me to your Google+ Circles on the left hand column! New content every month from Reviews to Hauls to Tags! Don't forget to check out all the other parts of this blog by following the different links at the top of the page! 

Follow my Instagram here. New giveaway will be posted in late May!

Get 10% off of HD Movie Codes (sponsored by Movies Anywhere) when you use "INFLUENCER" at checkout! *I do not receive commission from HD Movie Codes--I just want to save you some $*

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Sunday, July 1, 2018

June 2018 Wrap-Up!

Hello everyone and welcome to another wrap-up! I'm not gonna lie and say that this month was great for me in terms of posting or reading. It actually kinda sucked. I did end up reading 6 books, but none of them were on my TBR and 4 of them were rereads. Hopefully July will be a better reading month but I'm just really struggling with this reading slump. It's not that I don't have time to read...it's just that when I have the time to read, I want to do other things like take a nap or watch Bones. Anyway, let's just dive right in!



BOOKS READ
1.
Title: Persuasion 
Authors: Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington
Rating: 5/5 stars
-REREAD-

2. 
Title: Seduction
Authors: Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington 
Rating: 5/5 stars
-REREAD-

3.
Title: The Sound of Snowfall
Author: C.L. Stone
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
-REREAD-

4.
Title: Fallen Crest High
Author: Tijan
Rating: 3.75/5 stars
I had really high hopes for this book after reading Tijan's other book, Ryan's Bed. Unfortunately, I didn't find it met my expectations. However, I did really enjoy this book. I plan on continuing on with the series to see if it gets better. It's easy to binge this book and I was up until 2 hours past when I normally went to bed to read it, so that says something for my enjoyment. I like the premise of the story and I'm excited to read more! The only things that I had problems with was, at times, it was hard to connect to the characters and sometimes things seemed unrealistic or unexpected in a way that isn't probably. Otherwise, I did enjoy this story quite a bit!

5.
Title: 5 Fathers
Author: Kate Morgan
Rating: 3/5 stars
This was a fun read, but not really memorable. It was a bit of a let down but I enjoyed it while I read it. I have a feeling that because of the ending, I will want to read the second book. Overall, I thought the smut was on point but the plot and characters could use some work.

6.
Title: A Portrait of Pain
Author: Jane Washington
Rating: 5/5 stars
-REREAD-
This was such a fun reread and I already miss this world and these characters. I love this series so much and I'm already looking forward to my next reread. There's just something about it that's so different from all the other books I've read. 



BLOG POSTS
May 2018 Wrap-Up!
May 2018 Book Haul!
Top 5 Wednesday: Summer Reads
Blog Tour Review: "Dive Smack" by Demetra Brodsky
Sabaa Tahir Book Tour Experience



MOVIES/TV SHOWS
I logged more hours watching TV and movies than I did reading (*hides behind a couch*). When I'm in a reading slump, I usually just want to watch Netflix more than read, so that's pretty much what I did all month. A whole lot of Netflix and Hulu.

First, I finished my binge of White Collar with the last two seasons. I was surprised that the final season was only 6 episodes. In fact, I'm still crying inside because I definitely wanted it to be a lot longer. Also, just the series ending in general made me cry because while it was a happy ending, it was also sad!

Next, I saw the new Tomb Raider. I've seen the ones staring Angelina Jolie and I've really liked them, so when this one came out I knew that I had to see it. My family bought it on AppleTV and we watched it one afternoon. I thought it was an excellent prequel to the Lara Croft movies and has definitely helped me understand those better.

After that, I binged straight through seasons 1 and 2 of Bones, and most of the way through season 3. What can I say, I love this show. It was always one that interested me when I was younger and now that I saw it on Hulu, I've started binging it. I'm obsessed and I don't care. There's also plenty of material for me to watch (12 seasons of it). I'm already thinking about the next time that I'm going to be able to watch it.

Lastly, I watched The Sixth Sense with my dad's side of the family. I thought I was gonna be super scared because they compared it to The Shining, but it wasn't that scary. There were some freaky moments but after a lot more of the movie, I wasn't scared.



Well, thanks for reading! Hopefully July will be a better month in terms of posting and reading! I have a large stack of review books to be getting through so there will hopefully be a lot of reviews coming soon!
xoxo
Lauren



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