Waiting on Wednesday | A Study in Charlotte | Brittany Cavallaro

Sep 16

A Study in Charlotte

A Study in Charlotte • Brittany Cavallaro

Book cover A Study in Charlotte Brittany Cavallaro

The last thing sixteen-year-old Jamie Watson–writer and great-great-grandson of the John Watson–wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s enigmatic, fiercely independent great-great-granddaughter, who’s inherited not just his genius but also his vices, volatile temperament, and expertly hidden vulnerability. Charlotte has been the object of his fascination for as long as he can remember–but from the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else.

Then a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Holmes stories, and Jamie and Charlotte become the prime suspects. Convinced they’re being framed, they must race against the police to conduct their own investigation. As danger mounts, it becomes clear that nowhere is safe and the only people they can trust are each other.

Equal parts tender, thrilling, and hilarious, A Study in Charlotte is the first in a trilogy brimming with wit and edge-of-the-seat suspense.

WHOA GUYS. A new series that retells Sherlock Holmes. You know I’m always going to be excited about these. I’m digging the fact that Sherlock’s descendant is a girl, but I’m mostly really excited about this “tense energy” and the danger. Also, I love this cover. Like, so much. A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE is way high on my most-anticipated list for 2016, friends.

A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE comes out on March 1, 2016 from Katherine Tegen Books

A Study in Charlotte Brittany Cavallaro

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Waiting on Wednesday | The Great Hunt | Wendy Higgins

Aug 12

Waiting on Wednesday

The Great Hunt • Wendy Higgins
Book cover The Great Hunt Wendy Higgins

Kill the beast. Win the girl.

A strange beast stirs fear in the kingdom of Lochlanach, terrorizing towns with its brutality and hunger. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.

Princess Aerity understands her duty to the kingdom though it pains her to imagine marrying a stranger. It would be foolish to set her sights on any particular man in the great hunt, but when a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention, there’s no denying the unspoken lure between them…or his mysterious resentment.

Paxton is not keen on marriage. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast and protecting his family—yet Princess Aerity continues to challenge his notions with her unpredictability and charm. But as past secrets collide with present desires, dire choices threaten everything Paxton holds dear.

Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale, “The Singing Bone,” New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins delivers a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, outlawed magic, and a princess willing to risk all to save her people.

GUYS. THIS BOOK THO. A retelling of a Grimm Brothers’ tale (albeit one I’ve never heard of) that sounds a little like Beauty and the Beast, although it’s possibly that “Kill the Beast” tagline, is promising enough. But look at that one line there: “…a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, outlawed magic, and a princess willing to risk all….” Umm…YES TO ALL OF THESE THINGS.

I’m so excited to read THE GREAT HUNT that I preordered it already. I can barely contain my grabby hands.

THE GREAT HUNT comes out March 8, 2016 from HarperTeen

The Great Hunt Wendy Higgins

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Book Review | Princess of Thorns | Stacey Jay

Feb 16

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Princess of Thorns | Stacey JayPrincess of Thorns by Stacey Jay
Published by Delacorte on December 9, 2014
Genres: Fairy tales, Fantasy YA, Retelling, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-half-stars

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm’s fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty’s daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora’s throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it’s too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

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Summerfall Teaser

Aug 26

Summerfall (Winterspell # 0.5) • Claire Legrand

Guys, as you might know, I’m incredibly excited about Claire Legrand’s WINTERSPELL, which is coming out on September 30. Nutcracker retelling? STAHP IT. Since we still have some time before WINTERSPELL comes out, though, we get to whet our appetites on a prequel novella, SUMMERFALL. YAY! And because Claire Legrand is awesome, she’s sharing some teasers with us today, the novella’s release day, as well as a chance to win some super fun stuff! So without further ado, here’s some details on SUMMERFALL, as well as your teaser!

Book cover Summerfall Claire Legrand

Rinka is a faery, passionate and powerful, determined to maintain the tenuous peace between faeries and humans.

Alban Somerhart is a human, a reluctant king trapped in an arranged marriage, desperate to prevent war.

Their love could save the kingdom of Cane . . . or shatter it forever.

In this captivating novella, prequel to the upcoming Winterspell, Claire Legrand weaves a story of magic, political intrigue, and forbidden love that sets the stage for the rise of a wicked queen and the journey of a human girl named Clara . . .

Sounds SO GREAT, right?! To keep you all in the know, here’s the cover and synopsis for WINTERSPELL, too!

Book cover Winterspell Claire Legrand

The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.

New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted–by beings distinctly nothuman. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets–and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed–if she leaves at all.

Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

And now…THE TEASER!

Summerfall teaserOOOOH!!! Color me intrigued!

You guys don’t want to miss out on ANY news about Claire’s books, and you certainly don’t want to miss out on SUMMERFALL and WINTERSPELL! Linkage!

CLAIRE’S SOCIAL MEDIA
BUY LINKS

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for some WINTERSPELL swag!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Book Review | Second Star | Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Jul 21

Book cover for Second Star by Alyssa B. SheinmelTitle: Second Star
Author: Alyssa B. Sheinmel (web | twitter)
Genre: Contemporary YA, retelling
Amazon | Goodreads | B&N
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Release date: May 13, 2014
Source: ARC from the Publisher (Thanks FSG!)

A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete’s nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she’s falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up–and the troubled beauty trapped between them.

 

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Waiting on Wednesday (57) | Winterspell

Jul 9

Waiting on Wednesday

Winterspell • Claire Legrand

Book cover Winterspell Claire Legrand

 

The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.

New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted–by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets–and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed–if she leaves at all.

Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

So, shall I list all of the reasons I can’t wait for WINTERSPELL by Claire Legrand? Ok.

  1. Turn-of-the-century New York City
  2. Christmas
  3. “Beings distinctly not human.”
  4. Faery queens
  5. DROSSELMEYER
  6. NUTCRACKER RETELLING

Friends, a retelling of The Nutcracker just gets me so excited. I love The Nutcracker. When I was younger, my family would go the McCarter Theater in Princeton to see it at Christmas time, and since my dad has a soft spot for classical music, there were many holidays when we listened to Tchaikovsky during dinner. Also, there was the movie with Macauley Culkin, obvs. Claire Legrand is an author that I’ve just recently discovered, and I’m totally confident that her retelling will be fantastic. It sounds dark and magical, and THOSE are two things that are perfect together.

UPDATE: I completely forgot to address the fact that the girl on the cover is pretty much K. Stew. She generally bugs the crap out of me, but I’ll allow it. I do like this cover.

WINTERSPELL comes out September 30, 2014 from Simon & Schuster BFYR

Winterspell Claire Legrand

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Waiting on Wednesday (38): Second Star

Nov 13

Waiting on Wednesday

Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Book cover for Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Second Star

WHAAAAAT a retelling of Peter Pan. DO. NOT. TEASE. I’m totally psyched for SECOND STAR. First of all, Peter Pan is one of my favorite stories. I always loved the movie versions when I was a kid, and I don’t just mean the Disney one. I am still fascinated by Neverland, and Peter Pan and Captain Hook and all of it. The idea of this contemporary retelling of Peter Pan with lost brothers and surfers and drug dealing bad boys is just making me all fidgety. BRING IT, Alyssa B. Sheinmel. I am ready for your words.

SECOND STAR comes out May 13, 2014 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Second Star

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Five-Star Friday: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Sep 14

Five-Star Friday is a periodically regular (say what?!) feature that I’m planning on running on Fridays (but not every Friday) in which I talk about (or verbally drool over) a book that I’ve read and ADORED (sometimes they’ll be recent releases and other times they might be older…my piles are tall and the bottoms are old). Yay! I always feel so happy and light and wonderful when I am beside myself with delight over a book, and I want to share the love with you all in the hopes that we can all get together and have an embarrassing, squeal-filled love-fest full of lots of high-pitched “Ohmygod, I KNOW!s” and chest-clutching sighs of contentedness. Huzzah!*

Hello, there, old friend! It’s been a little while since we last caught up with one another. Don’t get all frowny-face on me, though, because have I got a good one for you! TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson, one of my favorite books of the year no question or doubt at all. Because I loved it so much, and because the writing was so sublime, I’m going to do something a little different and review the book in quotes. Just a few; just a taste. But it’s a good, juicy taste, I promise.

Book cover for Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

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