Waiting On Wednesday #42

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This year seems like a lot of stellar books are coming out. That means, more books for Waiting on Wednesdays!

Title: Modern Girls
Author: Jennifer S. Brown
Release Date: April 5, 2016

A dazzling debut novel set in New York City’s Jewish immigrant community in 1935...
How was it that out of all the girls in the office, I was the one to find myself in this situation? This didn’t happen to nice Jewish girls.
In 1935, Dottie Krasinsky is the epitome of the modern girl. A bookkeeper in Midtown Manhattan, Dottie steals kisses from her steady beau, meets her girlfriends for drinks, and eyes the latest fashions. Yet at heart, she is a dutiful daughter, living with her Yiddish-speaking parents on the Lower East Side. So when, after a single careless night, she finds herself in a family way by a charismatic but unsuitable man, she is desperate: unwed, unsure, and running out of options.
After the birth of five children—and twenty years as a housewife—Dottie’s immigrant mother, Rose, is itching to return to the social activism she embraced as a young woman. With strikes and breadlines at home and National Socialism rising in Europe, there is much more important work to do than cooking and cleaning. So when she realizes that she, too, is pregnant, she struggles to reconcile her longings with her faith.

As mother and daughter wrestle with unthinkable choices, they are forced to confront their beliefs, the changing world, and the fact that their lives will never again be the same…

First off it's one of my favorite genres- historical fiction. Second it takes place in NYC, where I am from. I also love that's a story about a mother and a daughter during a time of turmoil. I should probably get the tissues ready.

Title: Down with the Shine

Author: Kate Karyus Quinn

Release Date: April 26, 2016

There's a reason they say "be careful what you wish for." Just ask the girl who wished to be thinner and ended up smaller than Thumbelina, or the boy who asked for "balls of steel" and got them-literally. And never wish for your party to go on forever. Not unless you want your guests to be struck down by debilitating pain if they try to leave.

These are things Lennie only learns when it's too late-after she brings some of her uncles' moonshine to a party and toasts to dozens of wishes, including a big wish of her own: to bring back her best friend, Dylan, who was abducted and murdered six months ago.
Lennie didn't mean to cause so much chaos. She always thought her uncles' moonshine toast was just a tradition. And when they talked about carrying on their "important family legacy," she thought they meant good old-fashioned bootlegging.
As it turns out, they meant granting wishes. And Lennie has just granted more in one night than her uncles would grant in a year.
Now she has to find a way to undo the damage. But once granted, a wish can't be unmade...

I'm mostly excited for this one because it's something different that I've read before. Who doesn't want wishes? I can't wait to see how this all turns out. Also, the cover is just too pretty to pass by.

Top Ten Tuesday! Songs We Wish Were Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish

Music is something we all can relate to and fall in love with. If someone says they don't like any kind of music, don't trust them. Music and books sometimes go hand in hand. 

I really like this week's TTT. There was a book I read a few years ago that was inspired by the ancient folk song "Scarborough Fair" titled Impossible, by Nancy Werlin.
Here is a little more about that novel: https://youtu.be/WK72j84g_sM

On to my list:

1. "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You." - Heart
A woman picks up a man at the side of a road- no umbrella, no coat- and they make love all night. Years later he discovers she had their child. Does her husband know the child isn't his? How many strangers did she sleep with to conceive the child her husband couldn't give her? How did she know she wouldn't get an STD from a stranger? She didn't even get his name! This 80's classic should give us the whole story. Most likely a New Adult novel.

2. "Live To Tell" - Madonna
What's her secret? Will she live long enough to tell it? This could easily be read as a story of a battered woman, but I think it could also be the story of a international spy who has been betrayed.

3. "Gold Dust Woman" - Fleetwood Mac
A powerful magical king or queen must pick up the pieces from a broken heart. My favorite lyric is "rulers make bad lovers, better put your kingdom up for sale." Would make a good Tudor-like story only there would be magic involved and sold as a fantasy novel.

4. "Till We Run Out Of Road" - Jewel
This would make a good story about a man always on the road for work and learning when it's time to retire. There can be quite a few adventures and quirky characters when traveling.

5. "Seven Devils" - Florence + The Machine
Why did she fall to the dark side? Or is she possessed? Will her soul be redeemed? This eerie song could spawn an eerie supernatural thriller.

Picking songs is extremely difficult for me, but I miraculously narrowed things down.

6. "I Can't Make You Love Me" - Bonnie Raitt
There is something so beautifully tragic about this song that not only makes it one of my favorites but it also makes it perfect for a sad love story. Just asking to be loved and settling for just an inkling of what the person has to offer because you love them that much. They say that country songs are great story songs. Love it.

7. "From Where I'm Standing" - Schuyler Fisk
This is the perfect song for a Friends-to-Lovers book. Even though there are so many of those out there, I usually hear this song when reading one. Listen to it. It's awesome.

8. "Fool of Me" - Me'Shell NdegéOcello
Another haunting song. This would be a great break-up book. Or one that is full of feels. The lyrics are equally as powerful as the instrumental. I can picture reading the words on paper between two characters who are going through their final breakup.

9. "Make It To Me" - Sam Smith
This would make the perfect book about two people who have a chance meeting. Or an internet relationship. This song works for many preferences. It always makes me tear up because I feel like it's so personal. It shows loneliness, hopefulness, and faith in love.

10. "Between The Raindrops" - Lifehouse ft. Natasha Bedingfield
I actually don't know what kind of book this would be but every time I hear it, I think of two people who are perfect for each other but aren't quite there. It would be a hopeful love story. Plus, I love this and both these artists.

Guest Book Review: Rebel Bully Geek Pariah by Erin Jade Lange! (@erinjadelange)

Rebel Bully Geek Pariah
Author: Erin Jade Lange
Publication Date: February 16, 2016
Published: Bloomsbury
Source: Netgalley
Reviewer: Lametria

My Rating:

"The Breakfast Club" gets a modern, high-stakes reboot in this story of four very different teens and a night that changes them forever.

The Rebel: Once popular, Andi is now a dreadlocked, tattooed wild child.
The Bully: York torments everyone who crosses his path, especially his younger brother.
The Geek: Tired of being bullied, Boston is obsessed with getting into an Ivy League college.
The Pariah: Choosing to be invisible has always worked for Sam . . . until tonight.

When Andi, York, Boston, and Sam find themselves hiding in the woods after a party gets busted by the cops, they hop into the nearest car they see and take off—the first decision of many in a night that will change their lives forever. By the light of day, these four would never be caught dead together, but when their getaway takes a dangerously unpredictable turn, sticking together could be the only way to survive.

What a modern twist on the Breakfast Club?! This story, chronicles the tale of four misfit teenagers that are thrown together very randomly, and are forced to share a crazy night together that they will never forget. Who forgets their first crime?

Blog Tour: Faking It by J.D. Hollyfield - Review (@jdhollyfield)

Faking It (UnReal #1)

Author: J.D. Hollyfield

Publication Date: February 1, 2016

Published: Self-Published

Source: Southern Belle Promotions

My Rating:

Fake it till you make it.
That’s Lexi Hall, the wild socialite’s motto for how to live life.
Single and allergic to commitment, Lexi is having the time of her life. Or is she? With a new promotion at the art gallery, and her colorful lifestyle as bright as ever, she swears she has no interest in slowing down. When Lexi receives a phone call that can change her career, she pounces on the opportunity. But what this outgoing diva doesn’t plan for is her new client, the closed off, secluded artist, Hunter James. Fighting to draw the line between work and pleasure, it’s up to Lexi to figure out how to balance her fake life for something real.
Hunter James is an artist without a muse. Lacking the beauty in his life that he craves, his art is beginning to suffer. Unfortunately for the mysterious artist, a past mistake also tarnishes his trust in women. Forced to take a meeting with an art gallery dealer, he accepts knowing he’ll turn her down. He turns them all down. But what he doesn’t anticipate is for the seductive bombshell to turn his world upside down. As his body and mind come alive, he vows to stop at nothing to have her on his canvas and in his bed.
As Lexi’s life begins to brighten with the promise of something beautiful, can she stop faking it and find a reason to make it real? Or will Hunter’s past replace their light with darkness?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks

We haven’t been up in the friendly skies for more than a few minutes before Hunter begins to unclip his seat belt. “I need you to come to the bathroom with me?” “Why? They don’t like too many people standing in the aisle, you know.” “You won’t be standing in the aisle. Let’s go.” I’m looking at him strangely. Until it sinks in. “Why exactly do you want me to go with you?” “Because I can’t stand it any longer,” he whisper-growls. “I need to take you into the bathroom and make them think I am fucking you senseless so these vultures know you’re with me. Get up, let’s go.” He snaps his belt off and attempts to stand. I pull his shoulder down so he falls back into his seat. “Hunter, we can’t both go into the bathroom and do any of that. It’s illegal.” And I also refuse to admit why I know that. “It’s not. I’m sure people still do it all the time. Up you go.” His pupils are beginning to dilate and I know he is serious. The poor man has been festering about the non-competition on each side of us since we took off. “Hunter.” Turning my body toward him, I take my hands and cup his face. I raise my voice so my words are dramatized and so that the two meat cakes on each side of us can hear. “I know you are aching to do so many dirty things to me, but my sores aren’t gone yet. The doctor said we should wait. We don’t want you to get them again, do we?” I tease. I watch the meat cake next to Hunter, scrunch his face and turn away from us. I turn to the aisle and flag down the flight attendant. “Yes, excuse me, do you think I can get some ice? I have some... ya know, blisters... down below, and the ice helps.” I smile while catching the cringing face of my other ex-fan. Mission complete. I offer my attention back to the only person on this plane who I care about. Hunter is stock-still, except for his eyes, which are now as big as saucers. “You realize you just announced to most of the plane that you have genital herpes, right?” “Yep. And now no one will give me the time of day. I’m all yours.” I wink. Hunter’s expression has dissolved into one of humor, although he is shaking his head at me. “You amaze me more and more every single second, Lex. And I do believe that if you’re not careful, we will end up searching out those chapels.” I try to hide the surge of emotions that shoot through my heart. I bring his mouth to mine and with my lips and my tongue, I offer him the best French kiss ever, convincing him just how little anyone else on this plane matters. And just how much he does. It takes the flight attendant telling us we’re about to land for us to break away. I don’t lose eye contact with Hunter and I can tell he is appreciative of what I did. He feels like the man in charge. Even if his prize was herpes. Oops.</div>

Waiting On Wednesday #41

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Title: Dirty (Dive Bar #1)
Author: Kylie Scott
Release Date: April 19, 2016

The last thing Vaughan Hewson expects to find when he returns to his childhood home is a broken hearted bride in his shower, let alone the drama and chaos that comes with her.
Lydia Green doesn't know whether to burn down the church or sit and cry in a corner. Discovering the love of your life is having an affair on your wedding day is bad enough. Finding out it's with his best man is another thing all together. She narrowly escapes tying the knot and meets Vaughan only hours later.
Vaughan is the exact opposite of the picture perfect, respected businessman she thought she'd marry. This former musician-turned-bartender is rough around the edges and unsettled. But she already tried Mr. Right and discovered he's all wrong-maybe it's time to give Mr. Right Now a chance.
After all, what's wrong with getting dirty?

Stage Dive was one of my favorite series of 2015. Now, I'm obsessed with Kylie Scott and wish I lived in Australia so I could be close to the genius that is her. I really liked Vaughan and I can't wait to see how he is on his own. Now, I'm sad the book got pushed back from April 5th to 19th, but either way, I'm reading this sucker.

Title: Keep Me Posted
Author: Lisa Beazley
Release Date: April 5, 2016

Two sisters share the surprising highs and cringe-worthy lows of social media fame, when their most private thoughts become incredibly public in this fresh and funny debut novel.
Sisters Cassie and Sid Sunday have not done a bang-up job of keeping in touch. In their defense, it hasn’t been easy: life veered in sharply different directions for the once-close sisters. Today, beautiful and big-hearted Sid lives an expat’s life of leisure in far-off Singapore, while harried, iPhone-clutching Cassie can’t seem to make it work as a wife and a mom to twin toddlers in Manhattan.

It doesn't help that Sid spurns all social media while Cassie is addicted to Facebook. So when Sid issues a challenge to reconnect the old-fashioned way—through real, handwritten letters—Cassie figures, why not?

The experiment exceeds both of their expectations, and the letters become a kind of mutual confessional that have real and soul-satisfying effects. And they just might have the power to help Cassie save her marriage, and give Sid the strength to get her life back on track.
But first, one of Cassie’s infamous lapses in judgment comes back to bite her, and all of the letters wind up the one place you’d never, ever want to see them: the Internet...

My sister is also my best friend, so of course I love stories about sisters. I also love the challenge of being pen pals when we're so engrossed by the internet and social media.

What has you guys waiting?!

Top Ten Tuesday! Our top OTPs

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish

Valentine's Day is upon us. With all the lovey dovey in the air, we're going to talk about some of our favorite OTPs. By definition, OTP stands for One True Paring. When you're a fangirl, OTPs become like crack. We couldn't decide on just book OTPs so we added a few non-novel ones for fun.

1. Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly - The Office. John Krasinski is like one of my top men ever so of course I love Jim. But the relationship that is Jim and Pam will span everything. They were cute, funny, caused tears and laughter. Their successes were your successes when you watched. When I think of relationship goals, even though they were fictional, they were it.

2. Georgie and Neal McCool - Landline. I could have easily picked Eleanor and Park as my Rainbow OTP but it's my love for her adults that have my OTP heart strong. I think it was their struggle as a couple and Georgie going back and remembering how she fell in love with Neal that sealed the deal for me. Their struggles were real but their love was even realer. 

 
3. Joey Potter and Pacey Witter -  Dawson's Creek. There are too many feelings to put into words about this relationship. Before there were Team Edward and Team Jacob, there was Team Pacey and Team Dawson. I was always Team Pacey because there was something about the sad boy and the sad girl getting together. 

4. Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir and Christian Ozera- Vampire Academy series. I must have a thing for tortured people ending up together. Something about Christian's love for Lissa was just so strong. I loved how they complimented each other to the fullest. I haven't finished this series to see how these two turned out, but I bet it was epic. 

5. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio - This isn't one of fiction. But it's kind of fiction in my head because they aren't together in real life but how I would love for them to be. I love both of these actors separately but when they come together on screen, it's magic. If only their real life friendship could be love. 

6. Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala - Star Wars. I am a sucker for forbidden love. I know some of the dialogue from the films are really cheesy and at times cringe-worthy, but it's what lies underneath. Though they each have their oaths and responsibilities this couple throws caution to the wind to follow their hearts- unfortunately to their doom. 

7. Darrow and Mustang - Red Rising series. They work so well together as leaders. He keeps her at arms length (for various reasons) but when they lead their warriors together - it is gold. (Yes, that is a pun.) 

 
8. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy - Pride and Prejudice. In the words of Sheldon Cooper, P&P is "a flawless masterpiece. He's got too much pride, she's got too much prejudice. It just works." I love the journey they take to overcome their flaws and realize they belong together. 

9. Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood - The Mortal Instruments series. Again, here is my vice for forbidden love with Shadowhunters being prejudice against Warlocks, and the older generations being homophobic. Then Magnus and Alec have other obstacles too. Like the fact that Magnus is immortal and Alec has a jealous steak. Unlike Anakin and Padmé, they get a happy ending. 

10. Monica Geller and Chandler Bing - Friends. There is nothing better than falling in love with your best friend. Friendship is the foundation of lasting love. I cried tears of joy during their milestone episodes. Everyone goes on and on about Ross and Rachel, but Monica and Chandler were my OTP since season 1.

Guest Book Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer! (@marissa_meyer)

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publication Date: November 10, 2015
Published: Feiwel & Friends
Reviewer: Lametria

My Rating:

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

I can’t believe it’s over! The conclusion to the Lunar Chronicles has finally arrived and even though it wasn’t the greatest novel in the series, because Scarlet will forever by number 1, it was still great.