Monday 30 June 2014

Cover Madness Giveaway Hop

Thanks to Xpresso Reads for hosting this giveaway.

I know we're told not to judge a book by its cover but obviously we do. So here are ten covers that are fantastic and beautiful which left me no choice but to read the synopsis. And hey, the story sounds just as awesome as the covers look. Here's your chance to win a pre-order of one of the books shown below.


Rules and Regulations

  • Starts July 1st, 2014 at 12:01AM(EST). Ends on July 15th, 2014 at 12:00AM(EST).
  • To enter please fill out the Rafflecopter form below.
  • This contest is open internationally as long as The Book Depository ships to your country. Meaning TBD is responsible for shipping and This is the Story of My(Reading) Life is not responsible for lost or damaged items.
  • Giveaway prize is a pre-order of one the books listed above.  
  • You must be at least 18 years old or 13+ with parental permission to enter. I will be asking for your mailing address for shipping purposes.
  • Entrants found using more than one Twitter account to enter will be disqualified. 
  • When the winner is chosen they will be announced in the Rafflecopter widget below, via Twitter(if applicable) and emailed. Winner has 48 hours to respond before a new winner is randomly chosen.
  • Please note that This is the Story of My(Reading) Life reserves the right to disqualify any entrants found to be gaming the system. Entries will be check and verified.




Tuesday 24 June 2014

Road Trippin' July



So this is a thing that I'm doing next month with some blogger friends. A month or two ago I was talking with Samantha about how we've not read a lot of road trip books even though we love them. We were trying to think of some but couldn't come up with many. I went and did some research and found quite a few that sounded awesome. So than we were like let's read all the road trip books. And than Juhina mentioned she wanted to read some road trip books too. Of course I was like yes! So Road Trippin' July was born from that.
We decided to read a whole bunch of road trip books in July since road trip books are prime summer reading. It's just a small thing going on. But I have made a Goodreads group where we can discuss the books and fun things that come a long with road trips. There's no official reading list. Although Samantha and I are pretty much reading/re-reading the same books because that's how we roll.


Here's my planned Road Trippin' July TBR:




Like I said it's nothing big. But I hope you guys will come join the Goodreads group, read some(or all) the road trip books and than come discuss and have fun with us.

Happy reading!

Brittany

Sunday 22 June 2014

Showcase Sunday #41

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme held by Books, Biscuits and Tea. It allows fellow bloggers to show off any books or bookish things they've compiled over the week.

Hey friends. How goes it? I'm doing this up quickly because I'm on my way to an author signing today. My very favourite author. EVER. I have one of her books hauled this week. *cough* Diana Gabaldon *cough* So I'll put up pictures next week. I'm sooooo excited! I've had a pretty uneventful week. Just filling my days with soccer. Still as intense with some even bigger shockers than last week.
Book wise, there's some new releases. Chapters is having a buy 3 get the 4th free this weekend, so obviously I took advantage of that. #sorrynotsorry #takemymoney A few review books. Pretenders was just approved although I requested it back in the fall. Weird. I also won a few books and such. Look at all that awesome swag with Tease! 

Purchased

Biggest Flirts(Superlatives #1) by Jennifer Echols
The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Netgalley
 Virgin

Won




What did you guys get this week? Link up your weekly haul.

Happy reading!

Brittany



Wednesday 18 June 2014

Top 5 Wednesday: Naked Hardcovers

Top 5 Wednesday is a meme started by Lainey at Ginger Reads Lainey. Find the list of all the #T5WFamily here.

This weeks topic is:


Top 5 Hardcovers Without Their Dust Jackets!

5. The Program


4. Newsoul Trilogy


3. Why We Broke Up


2. Dorothy Must Die


1. Scorched


So pretty. What are some of your favourite naked book covers?

Happy reading!

Brittany

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Better When He's Bad Release Day Launch with Mini Review

Better When He's Bad by Jay Crownover

Publication Date:
June 17th, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 339
Series: Welcome to the Point
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4/5
Add to Goodreads

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jay Crownover returns with a heart-stopping new series… Welcome to the Point.

There’s a difference between a bad boy and a boy who’s bad . . . meet Shane Baxter.

Sexy, dark, and dangerous, Bax isn’t just from the wrong side of the tracks, he is the wrong side of the tracks. A criminal, a thug, and a brawler, he’s the master of bad choices, until one such choice landed him in prison for five years. Now Bax is out and looking for answers, and he doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get them. But there’s a new player in the game, and she’s much too innocent, much too soft…and standing directly in his way.

Dovie Pryce knows all about living a hard life and the tough choices that come with it. She’s always tried to be good, tried to help others, and tried not to let the darkness pull her down. But the streets are fighting back, things have gone from bad to worse, and the only person who can help her is the scariest, sexiest, most complicated ex-con The Point has ever produced.

Bax terrifies her, awakening feelings she never thought she’d have for a guy like him. But it doesn't take Dovie long to realize . . . some boys are just better when they’re bad.

Earlier this year I found Jay's Marked Men series and to say I quickly became obsessed is a little bit of an understatement. So after some stalking of her goodreads and social media I found out she was also releasing a new series which promised an even grittier book and a very bad boy. Insert my grabby-hands.
Jay sure knows how to write intense inked up guys with very hard exteriors who you can't help but fall in love with along with the tough and strong ladies they find storming into their lives.
Now we get to finally meet Bax. Bax is scary. He's a criminal and a fighter who's just getting out of a five year stint in prison. He's out to find answers and revenge. Bax's hard exterior is iron clad. The guy is all the things you've been warned to stay away from when looking for a date. Bax is an asshole with a major alpha male complex. But hell, thank God he's only in print, because I feel for him.
Of course Bax's world is thrown on it's axis when Dovie is tossed into the mix. Dovie is Bax's best friends sister. The best friend who back stabbed Bax and got him thrown into jail. The best friend that is stirring up shit but can't be found. So in unlikely circumstances Bax and Dovie are found they have to "get along" well they look for answers and Race.
Dovie is no weakling. She grew up in foster care. She knows how to take care of herself. Fend off the likes of guys like Bax. She's fiesty but so good. She wants to change her future and is working hard at that. That is until Bax shows up. He's overly brass and much more experienced than her. But the chemistry between them is sizzling and she can't help but fall hard for Bax's bad self. As with all bad boys though there's a softer interior and Dovie is out to prove that Bax can be equal parts good and bad.
This book isn't just about Bax and Dovie though. It's also about The Point. A tough and run down town where crime of all sorts run rampant. Just think of the roughest and grittiest town you know and up the stakes. And that once you're in the life it's almost impossible to get out of it. But Bax is out to prove otherwise.
I think anybody, that like me, feel in love with the guys and ladies of the Marked Men series will find the Welcome to the Point series a very different environment and set of characters. But don't you worry the sexiness and rawness of Jay's writing is still strongly prominent. And I can't wait to get my hands of the next book in the series.

EXCERPT:

I let out the breath I was holding and took another step closer to her. The water was splashing on the sleeve of my shirt as I reached up to grab both of her cheeks in my palms. “Are you scared of me?”

It was the start of the questions I had asked her what felt like a lifetime ago. Her answer didn’t change, but this time when she answered, she was holding back a smile that made my heart hurt.

“Terrified, but I kind of like it now.”

“Do you trust me?” My voice broke. I had never really trusted anyone but Race and now there was her and my brother and just all kinds of new things making my life so much more complicated and undeniably fuller.

“With my life. I trust all the parts of you, Bax. You need to know that.”

“You going to go to bed with me?” That made her outright laugh and she reached up to curl her hands around my wrists.

“As often as I can and anyplace in between when the mood strikes.” The rest of the blood racing around my system went solidly south.

I dropped my forehead so it was resting on hers and the water from the showerhead was cascading down around us. I was making a mess, but I didn’t care because I had her, and she was my home. “Do you love me?”

The words sounded so foreign, but so right, when I was saying them to her. She brushed her full lips across mine and the last three months without her faded away.

“Do you want me to lie to you or tell you the truth?”

I smiled against her mouth and kissed her back twice as hard as she had kissed me. “Lie to me.”

She reached up and put her arms around my neck and took a step back, dragging me all the way into the shower stall with her. The water was lukewarm at best, and it made me shiver. So did the fact that she started to impatiently pull the tail of my shirt up over my head. A task made increasingly difficult considering I was now soaked head to toe and the material was clinging to me.

“Of course not. You’re the last person in the world I could love.”

Amazon.com   Amazon.ca   Barnes and Noble   Kobo   iBooks   The Book Depository    Chapters


About Jay Crownover:

Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men series. Shewill also be introducing the dark and sexy world of The Point in a new series this summer starting with Better When He’s Bad. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.









Happy reading!

Brittany

Sunday 15 June 2014

Showcase Sunday #40

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme held by Books, Biscuits and Tea. It allows fellow bloggers to show off any books or bookish things they've compiled over the week.


Hey guys. How's your week been? It's Father's Day today, so happy Father's Day to all the dads. World Cup also started on Thursday(for the few people that didn't know...). So that's taken over my life like it does every four years. I'm an England supporter so that was a rough lost last night. But a hell of a game. And man has there been some upsets and shockers so far this cup. I think it's going to be a really interesting and I wouldn't count any country out at this point. But of course England will take it all! (Ha Ha).
Books! So some pre-orders came in and one of them was over a week early. The Grisha Trilogy is one of my faves, so of course I cracked it open right away. And because there was no ARC's(being the last book in the trilogy) I felt like I was one of the first people to get to read it. LOL! I also picked up another new release I've been super interested in. And also a finished copy of The Warrior since I read it as an e-galley. Excellent book week I'd say.

Purchased

The Glass Sentence(Mapmaker's Trilogy #1) by S.E. Grove
The Warrior(Dante Walker #3) by Victoria Scott

E-Books Purchased


What you guys get this week? Link up your weekly haul down below.

Happy reading!

Brittany



Wednesday 11 June 2014

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Struggled to Finish

Top 5 Wednesday is a meme started by Lainey at Ginger Reads Lainey. Find the list of all the #T5WFamily here.


This weeks topic is:

Top 5 Books I Struggled to Finish!


5. The Casual Vacancy
It took me 6 months to get through it. And I didn't hate it when I was finished(I don't think I could physically hate anything Rowling writes). It just wasn't my type of book.

4. Shatter Me
*ducks from thrown objects* Oh, Shatter Me. The angst and my immediate hate of Adam really made this a hard read for me. Mafi's writing is poetic and beautiful but also annoying at times. Juliette was so annoying and weak and I just couldn't handle all of it. I ended up skimming through the second half of the book. But hey, I did continue of with the trilogy and ended up loving Ignite Me. So there's that.

3. White Space
This book was just soooooo confusing. And a total mind fuck. I don't like to spend 600 pages going, "WTF?" Not enjoyable reading for me.

2. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

1. The Ocean at the End of the Lane
This was my first taste of Gaiman and it did not leave me eager to pick up all his books. For such a short book it took me way to long to finish. I could only read two pages at a time. What even happened in this book? I still have no idea. Whatever, I don't care.

What are some books you've struggled to finish?

Happy reading!

Brittany

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Books I've Read This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme held by The Broke and the Bookish.

This weeks topic is: 

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year!

I did a post at the beginning of April to talk about my favourite books read in the first quarter of the year. So you can definitely check that out. But seeing as we're now into June I've read a whole lot more and have some more favourites to add to the list. Anyhow, these are the top books I've read so far this year(one I literally just finished). My second quarter favourite books post will still go up at the beginning of July.

10. Noughts & Crosses


9. Dorothy Must Die


8. Ignite Me


7. Crash Into You


6. Ruin and Rising


5. Saga Volumes 1, 2 & 3


4. Wait For You


3. Cress


2. White Hot Kiss


1. Maybe Someday


I think it's interesting how many contemps made my list. I've always read and love contemps but they've never been my main reads. I guess it just goes to show how moods and age changes your reading habits.
Let me know some of your favourite reads so far this year. Or link up your TTT if you have one.

Happy reading!

Brittany