Friday Book Haul [February 27, 2015]

This week I'll be reading:

&

What did you pick up at the library this week?

Book Review: Reborn (Shadow Falls, After Dark, #1) by C.C. Hunter

Reborn by C.C. Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Avg rating: 4.40
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Vampires

Goodreads Summary:
Return to the beloved world of Shadow Falls, a camp that teaches supernatural teens to harness their powers—and where a vampire named Della will discover who she’s meant to be.

For Della Tsang, Shadow Falls isn't just a camp: it's home. As a vampire who's never fit in with her human family, it's the one place she can truly be herself. But when a mysterious new guy arrives at camp, Della’s whole world is thrown into turmoil. Chase is a vampire with secrets, who knows more than he’s telling. But the more time she spends with him, the more she begins to trust this attractive stranger—and feel drawn to him. But romance is the last thing she wants—as she keeps telling Steve, the hunky shapeshifter who won’t stop trying to win her heart. And if Della isn't careful, he just might succeed.　 When a new case puts everyone she cares about in danger, Della’s determined to do everything she can to save them . . . even if it means teaming up with Steve and Chase, who leave her more confused than ever. With their lives on the line, will Della and her friends survive—with their hearts intact?

My Rating: 4.5

I feel like I just gobbled up this book and never stopped to breath! It was so good! I've never read anything by CC Hunter before but she was recommended to me by a friend. I'm not familiar with Shadow Falls which is probably a series that came before this one. Regardless, it all made sense, there was nothing confusing about this book it was straight forward and to the point. It told a story, portrayed emotions, showed character growth and had dimensional characters to boot.

I liked how the book jumped RIGHT into paranormal. The main character already knew she was a vampire so we didn't have to go through the discovery and info-dump phase.

I thought there was just the right amount of love triangle in this book to make it believable. It wasn't over the top and the guys didn't act buddy buddy with each other. It was obvious that they didn't like one another and were in some soft of competition for Della's attention but when it came down to keeping her safe they were on the same page.

I didn't think there was anything special about Steve and wish she would drop him. I feel like he's just "comfortable" for her but she needs to break out of her shell and explore those feelings for Chase. He seems like a better fit to me.

***SPOILER***

That scene where she delivered the baby in the car was out of control... She cut the umbilical cord with a piece of floss?!? I was gagging when I read that. [ delivered the baby in the car was out of control... She cut the umbilical cord with a piece of floss?!? I was gagging when I read that. (hide spoiler)]

I definitely saw Della grow from the beginning of this book, both in her vampire skills and her life skills as a person. I loved all the characters! Her best friends were exactly what she needed and kept her grounded. Their tendency to discuss drama while drinking diet coke was funny.

I wonder if she will ever tell her family and if her dad already knows about the Vampire world. I will definitely be reading the next one!

View all my reviews

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at 

Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that 

we're eagerly anticipating.

Confess
Author: Colleen Hoover
Release Date: March 10th, 2015
Publisher: Atria Books

I haven't read a Colleen Hoover book that I haven't absolutely loved. Her characters make me fall in love and her plot twists keep me on edge from start to finish. I plan to read everything she writes so I can't help but get excited about this one with such a close release date!

Goodreads Summary:

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

What book are you [not so] patiently waiting for??

[My First] Cover Reveal!

So I don't know if you're supposed to do Cover Reveals on a certain day or something but I don't care. I have some that I'm excited about and want to share.

Sweet Temptation (Sweet, #4) 

by Wendy Higgins

Genre:  Yong Adult, Paranormal, Angels

Release Date: Sept. 8th , 2015

I haven't actually read #3 yet but I plan to this month. Really excited to see how it all wraps up!

Hidden Huntress (The Malediction Trilogy #2) 

by Danielle L. Jensen

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic

Release Date: June 2nd, 2015

The exciting sequel to The Stolen Songbird. Find

out what will become of Cécile and Tristan

P.S. I Still Love You  (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #2) by Jenny Han

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Release Date: 5/26/15

The first book was so cute and ended with wide open possibilities! Can't wait to read this.

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns 

and Roses, #1) by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling

Release Date: May 5th, 2015

SJM is one of my favorite authors! I can't wait

to explore this new series of her!

Recipe: Cauliflower Pizza

Cauliflower Pizza

I've been craving pizza lately. They make those pizza's look amazing on the commercials, it's been killing me! So I decided to do a much healthier version using cauliflower crust!

1 head of cauliflower

1 egg

3 tbs parmesan cheese

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregeno

1/2 cup pizza sauce

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

10 turkey pepperonis 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Cut out stem of cauliflower.
• Break cauliflower florets apart and put in food processor or blender.
• Pulse twice and then blend until fine.
• Pour "cauliflower rice" into saute pan and add a splash of water.
• Cook 5-6 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool.
• When "cauliflower rice" is cool enough to touch, poor it into a cloth napkin and squeeze all the water out. (This is very important, if it's not dry it won't stick together. Squeeze out as much water as possible)
• Add cauliflower rice into mixing bowl, add egg, salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, oregano, and parmesan cheese. Mix well
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour mixture in the middle of the pan.
• Pat "dough" mixture out until it is an even, flat circle. Go around the edges and pinch them tight to form a "crust."
• Bake in oven for 40 minutes.
• When crust comes out of the oven, let it cool and then flip it over.
• Spread pizza sauce, add cheese and toppings.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 6-10 minutes.

Friday Book Haul [February 20th, 2015]

I have a busy week at work so I only have these 

two beauties on my list for this week:

Reborn

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Throw Back/Book Thursday

Picture from June 6th, 2014

My 25th birthday with some of my best friends

1 year ago today I was reading:

My Rating: 4/5

Read my review here.

Book Review: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Avg rating: 3.90

Goodreads Summary:
Libby Day was just seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother behind bars.

Since then, she has been drifting. But when she is contacted by a group who are convinced of Ben's innocence, Libby starts to ask questions she never dared to before. Was the voice she heard her borther's? Ben was a misfit in their small town, but was he capable of murder? Are there secrets to uncover at the family farm or is Libby deluding herself because she wants her brother back?

She begins to realise that everyone in her family had something to hide that day... especially Ben. Now, twenty-four years later, the truth is going to be even harder to find.

     Who did massacre the Day family? 

My Rating: 4.0

Another Gillian Flynn novel that makes you question everything you think you know about people and life. This book was dark and twisted with an ending I didn't expect.

Libby, the main character, annoyed me at first. She had this air of entitlement surrounding her because she was a victim in a terrible, horrible crime that happened over 25 years ago. I guess she was used to the money coming in from charities and book sales surrounding the death of her family. She even went as far as getting jealous of another girl who was in a more recent tragedy and was not receiving all the attention from it. It was just weird for her to act like that. She seemed like she had pushed the whole ordeal out of her head yet she still hoped for other peoples sympathy.

Anyways, I loved how this story was told from all different perspectives. It was like a puzzle coming together slowly through glimpses of the past and present. 

***SPOILER***

I knew from the get go that Ben wasn't guilty. I thought maybe Libby had more to do with it then she remembered but that wasn't the case. Turns out Ben was pretty messed up in the head and even worse hanging with the ALL wrong crowd at such a young age. I wasn't totally shocked that Patty Day had ordered the hit on herself, she didn't seem like she could handle all the drama that was becoming her life. I also wasn't surprised that Diondra was involved. 

All in all I think it ended well and I was definitely on the edge of my seat while Libby worked her way through this crime with the people she met in the underground crime solving group. There was no romance aspect to this book and usually I'd miss that but I didn't think it was necessary here.

View all my reviews

Alternative Covers:

"Waiting On" Wednesday - The Heir (The Selection, #4) by Kiera Cass

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at 

Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that 

we're eagerly anticipating.

My first "Waiting On" Wednesday will DEFINITELY have to be:

The Heir
Author: Kiera Cass
Release Date: May 5th, 2015
Publisher: Harper Teen

HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT COVER!

Kiera Cass has done it again. She is definitely top 3 favorite authors of mine; everything she writes is phenomenal. She's also the only book signing I've gone to. Anyways, the Heir. This book was so unexpected. I was just getting over the heartache of The Selection Series coming to an end when she announced that she was doing 2 more. It was the best news I had received in quite some time. When I heard that the characters of this book are the CHILDREN of Maxon and America I knew it was gonna be amazing. I can't wait to experience another Selection Process! It will help with my withdrawals from "The Bachelor."

Goodreads Summary:

Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story. But as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she always thought.

The In Vitro Journey: Blueprint Phase

Becoming a mom has always been a really big deal to me. I am so fortunate to have found someone who not only can’t wait to be a father, but also can’t wait for me to be the mother to their child. Having a baby is something David & I have talked about and wanted for a long time, regardless of the struggles we know it will take to do so. We realize how big of a commitment this is and how it will completely alter our lives forever and we are SO ready for that.  

Over the past five years our love and acceptance for one another has grown exponentially and in the past year we have decided that there’s no time like the present to set foot on this journey. After lots of doctor’s appointments and tests we have recently received a clear picture of what our future holds in respect to getting pregnant. 

Basically, our baby will be made in a Petri dish and directed to my uterus with hopes that it implants and grows. This process is called In Vitro Fertilization and is necessary when the sperm is not able to penetrate the egg on it's own. 

We spoke with a financial advisor to discuss the cost of this type of procedure and left the doctor’s office feeling overwhelmed but educated and excited at the same time. This is something we’ve been saving up for for quite some time and we expected the high cost but the idea of depleting our entire savings account is not something we’re ready for. Also, the doctor recommended that in order to achieve the best results with the process I decrease my BMI (body mass index) by 5% (aka lose 27 pounds).

We took this in stride and decided to get to work on achieving that goal (12 lbs down, 18 to go!).  In the meantime, we plan to increase our savings and decrease our spending. We started to look into different ways to raise a portion of the money we need using crowd funding, however asking for hand outs is a very humbling experience and I don’t know that either of us is ready or willing to do that.

Luckily, we have a lot of positive factors going for us. Both of us are actively working in the real estate industry and creating revenue every day. We also have an awesome support system of friends and family behind us that would contribute without hesitation if we asked. 

We are both so excited to start this journey but more than anything want to make sure we are 100% prepared both mentally, physically, and financially. We are grateful for the support from our family and friends (whether we know you in real life or not) and can’t wait to share our story.

Click here to go to next IVF post

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you all had a day filled with love; whether it be from a significant other, your parents, your co workers, your best friends, whoever you choose! I had an amazing day, my boyfriend woke me up with roses and breakfast in bed (he got me turkey bacon!!). We went to the beach (because yes, it's always 75 degrees in San Diego) and walked the boardwalk. Later we went and saw 50 Shades of Grey and had dinner at P.F. Changs. Dinner was yummy and we have lots of left overs. 

Movie Review: 50 Shades of Grey (No Spoilers)

My good sport of a boyfriend took me to see 50 Shades of Grey tonight.. 

I want to share some spoil free thoughts on the film. 

Where even do I start? 

First let me say that I read all the books a long time ago and loved them. 

When I heard they were making it into a movie I was not into it at all. 

I thought Hollywood was gonna ruin the book and I wasn't really interested in seeing it. 

However, after all the controversy the movie has stirred up, I really wanted to know what other people were gonna see and make of a book and characters that were so dear to me.

I found the movie QUITE cheesy, but who didn't expect that? 

The book wasn't funny but the movie... The movie was super awkwardly funny. 

I think Dakota played a GREAT awkward virgin. Much better than K Stew played Bella (THUMBS DOWN 1000x). 

I did however, feel that the movie was very Twilight-esque. 

When the movie was over I felt a total disconnect between the book and the movie. Not that the story line didn't match up or that they made big Hollywood moves and changed things but because the characters just weren't my characters.

Jamie wasn't MY Christian Grey. He was good though, for the movie, but he still doesn't measure up to my idea of Christian. 

Dakota was better than I could ever imagine but still, she wasn't my Anna.

The ending really annoyed me. I felt so unsatisfied.

Leaves a lot of loose ends and no "happily ever after" feeling at all.

I'll admit I teared up a little in the scene that ultimately "breaks them up". You could see that hard shell that encompasses Christian Grey breaking.. 

So obvi I was breaking too.

My boyfriend wasn't in to it and was really pissed about the endings. He claims every movie I take him to has an annoying ending. What can I say? I'm a lover of TRILOGIES! 

Oh and one last thing, the soundtrack was everything.. So, so, SO good.

Friday the 13th Library Haul!

It would appear that on Friday, 

the blogging tradition is to post the latest haul of 

book you got from the library, online, book store, etc. 

So, without further ado, here's my first ever book haul post!

       The Book Thief          Dark Places          The Truth About Forever

Book Review: The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines, #6) by Richelle Mead

The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Avg rating: 4.43

Goodreads Summary:
Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.

Actual Rating: 5.0


It's over and I'm trying not to cry.

I couldn't imagine giving this book anything less than a 5 star rating even if I hated it. The characters are so dear to me it almost doesn't matter what happens in the book. But of course it's written by Richelle Mead so it really was that good! There was action, laughs, tears, and one big plot twist. I think all the loose ends were tied up quite nicely and the ending was left VERY open. I can definitely see a spin-off series in the future.

Adrian & Sydney have come so far since Vampire Academy. The character development is amazing. They will long remain one of my favorite ships.

I say this in every Mead review but she is SO GOOD at re-visiting events from the last books in the  this book. So much happens from cover to cover and so many books are read in between releases but she ensures that you remember everything you need to remember. She's also really good at bringing back characters from the last series *cough cough* ROMITRI *cough* and making you remember all the feels you had when reading their story. 

I am forever grateful to Richelle Mead for creating this world full of all it's history, the characters, the drama, the action, and most of all the romance. 

View all my reviews

No Alternative Covers

Throwback Thursday

Hi Bloggers,

I'm in the process of importing all my book reviews over here, 

but in the meantime I wanted to get some weekly traditions started!!

What better to start with than THROWBACK THURSDAY! 

But first, some housekeeping items. 

I want this blog to be about more than just books so I hope you check out my other pages. 

Confused about my blogs name? Read about it here. 

Interested in reading a little more about me and my story, start here.

NOW IT'S TIME FOR:

Picture from August 2009

Even though we knew eachother for 7 years before this, this was our first ever picture together. You can tell how much he liked me at the time right? 

Now for all you book nerds out there joining in from Goodreads or Twitter.

It's time for:

1 year ago today I was reading:

My Rating: 4.5 / 5

Read my review here.