"Love Always" Cover Reveal!

Before we get to the nitty gritty of this post (aka the reveal of the cover haha), I wanted to give you all a small backstory on how I met these two amazing ladies. A few weeks back, I went to UtopYA Con in Nashville (since I live less than 30 minutes away from there!) to see my good author friend Megan Duke, whom you have seen a lot of. After seeing her and talking to her for a little bit, I began the daunting task of making my rounds to as many authors' booths as I could before I had to leave. Among those authors were Sonya Loveday and Candace Knoebel, sitting right next to each other at the same table. While signing up for their newsletters, they informed me that from that list, they would be choosing someone randomly to win a Kindle HD6, as well as free ebook copies of all of their books. Well, lo and behold, I ended up winning the giveaway (!!!!!!) and I wanted to say another thank you to these two amazing ladies for being so generous and kind. I received the email a few days ago with the cover reveal pictures, and my jaw literally DROPPED at how gorgeous this cover is. Buuuuutttttt, before I let you guys see it, here is some more inside info on Sonya and Candace (:

To make you even more excited, here is the synopsis from the back of the book:

I’ve met boys like him before. Rich. Bored. Always wearing a silver-spooned smile. But there is something different about him that piques my curiosity. The way he looks at me, like he is staring through the bars of a gilded cage he’s never left. Like he is one breath away from suffocating beneath a mound of responsibilities. He is different from the rest because he doesn’t wear his money… his money wears him. I just don’t think he knows it yet.

She’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. She’s everything I’ve never been able to be. Carefree. Whimsical. A dreamer. Her laugh is infectious. She is irresistible. I can’t help but be drawn to her with an intensity that steals my breath and muddles my senses. I want to know her, need to know her, but how can I allow myself that liberty when I don’t have the freedom to make my own choices?

Phillip and Maggie think they have it all. Even though they come from opposite backgrounds, they each have bright futures paved out, with no distractions holding them back.

Until the fateful day they meet each other. 

After a brief, adventurous time together in The Hamptons, Maggie and Phillip find themselves saying goodbye just as the spark of love flashes intensely between them. Can their budding connection be enough to survive the pulling tides of change, or will they drift apart before they even have a chance to explore what could have been?

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Aaaaaaaaaaand now that you've been introduced to the two main characters, here are little teasers from both Maggie and Phillip :)

WHEW! Am I the only one who is already swooning over these two? I sure hope not! Next up in this post is something y'all might be interested in. I'll give you a hint!

(It involves winning a cool prize and it's a giveaway!)

I'll post the correlating image with this down towards the end of this post, but essentially, the prize is a $20 gift card to Amazon! Who doesn't love being able to use that money towards new books?? Am I right, or am I right? ;)

To enter the giveaway, click here!

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Okay, I guess now that I've made you wait this long, I'll be nice and finally show you the cover to this lovely book.

 *CUE DRUMROLL*

*BEGINNING COUNTDOWN*

10...

9...

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

0...

*LOUD CYMBAL CRASH*


TA DAAAAAAAAAAA!

AH! I still can't get over how much I love this cover! An the quote, my goodness, I can't tell you guys how much I relate to that. Someone call the Fangirl Department right now to come extinguish this major fangirl attack!

If you want to stay in the loop about "Love Always", you can subscribe to both of their newsletters at:

www.sonyaloveday.com

and

www.candaceknoebel.com


The release date is set for August 25th, 2015.


If you want to pre-order it, it is on sale now for only $2.99 on AmazonKindle, Kobo, and iBooks! This price is limited time only, though, and the price will go up on August 8th, so get your ebook copy of "Love Always" while it is still at this awesome price!

I hope you have all enjoyed this cover reveal as much as I have, and remember...

DON'T FORGET TO READ!


Catheryn,

The Book Lioness <3

"The Hybrid Chronicles" by Kat Zhang

Hello again all my lovely booklings! I have got some great things to share with you guys in the next few weeks, including cover reveals, book reviews, book hauls from UtopYA (depending on how much interest there is), and possibly even some author interviews and freebie books! In the next few days, I can make a schedule of all the exciting things to come. But, without further adieu , it's time for me to give y'all a taste of *drumrollllllllllllllllllllllllll*


"THE HYBRID CHRONICLES" by Kat Zhang


My synopsis of the trilogy:


"I should not exist, but I do."

Eva and Addie Tamsyn started off as every other child did--as two souls curled around each other inside one body. However, as they grew older, one of the souls not disappearing, the glances and whispered statements all rang the same question, the same accusation:
Why haven't they settled yet?
As their parents begged the doctors and government to give them just a little more time, Addie and Eva came to realize that they had to settle, Eva gradually fading until she no longer appeared. This brought their parents, doctors, and even the government joy, but Addie had to keep an enormous secret from everyone, even her little brother Lyle. A secret that could mean more gossip, more humiliation, and worst of all, institutionalization.
The secret?
Eva was still there.
Two years after the girls had "settled", they learn that there may be a way for Eva to move, talk, dance, and laugh again. However, being caught was a huge risk, and an even larger possibility, because it's not only considered dangerous.
It's illegal.
Caught in a world where their very existence is considered a threat, Addie aand Eva are forced to come to terms with the fact that living as they are, as hybrid, is one filled with constant fear and caution. However, even in the midst of horrible experiences and terror, love can provide the greatest sense of security there is.
Join Addie and Eva on their exhilerating journey to escape the government's hateful clutches, and their mission to protect all whom they hold dear in their heart.


My Rating:


FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS TO THIS AMAZING TRILOGY!


My Review:


Brilliantly crafted to make you question reality as we think it, "The Hybrid Chronicles" is written in three installments:

I highly recommend this trilogy, because it truly began to make me wonder if we all have our own recessive souls that disappear before we're old enough to remember them as anything more then just an imaginary friend. Kudos to Kat Zhang to how well she developed all of her characters, carefully constructing each separate soul to be different in their own distinct way, and easily distinguishable by the reader. I also highly recommend this book because there is little to no cursing throughout the entire trilogy, opening up the age range for readers much more. It allowed the story to simply grow and develop on its own without any extra, unneeded baggage, and I very much enjoyed the breath of fresh air.

To check out the author or to purchase any of her books, visit her website:

www.katzhangwriter.com

That's all for tonight guys, but make sure to check back soon for author updates, or possibly even a sneak peak at my own novel ;) And if you enjoyed this post, make sure to subscribe to my blog to emails when I make a new blog post. Have a good morning/evening, and most importantly...

DON'T FORGET TO READ!

Catheryn,
The Book Lioness

"Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard

Hey guys! Long time no blog, eh? Well that is changing! And for my first post, post-hiatus, I will be doing a quick review/rating/synopsis over "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard, since I just finished it less than a half hour ago and I'm dying to write this post before I go to bed so you all can feel how intense my emotions towards this book are at this moment in time. So...here I go.

SYNOPSIS:

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own—an ability she didn't know she had. Except . . . her blood is Red.

To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard—the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince—and Mare against her own heart.

RATING:

5 out of 5 stars, hands down. This is one of the most plot-twisty, gut-wrenching novels,  and it had me gasping the entire way through. Highly recommended to readers of all ages and genders.

BRIEF REVIEW:

Oh my goodness, where do I even begin with this book? From the beginning, I was sucked into the book by Victoria's amazing writing skills and her ability to paint such a vivid picture with mere black words on a white page. Fans of "The Selection" series will enjoy this book in my opinion, as to why, I will not say :) There is action, bravery, romance, and lots and LOTS of betrayal. As a quote in the book itself says, "Anyone can trust anyone," and it is proven time and time again in this debut novel for the series. The end of the book had me balling my fist in my mouth to keep me from screaming, which in this case is a very good thing! Haha :)

OTHER INFORMATION:

The next book in the series is titled "Glass Sword" and comes out next February 9, 2016! For more information on "Red Queen", "Glass Sword", or even just the author, you check out Victoria's website here, or her Instagram page here.

That's it for this blog post for tonight, my lovely bibliophiles, but I hope you all have an amazing day and I'll see you for my next blog post, where I will be posting an old review for "The Hybrid Chronicles" by Kat Zhang!

Until next post,

The Book Lioness 

'Without Me' (Mind Breaker Accounts #1) by Megan Duke

Hey guys! So today I am doing my day for Megan's promotional blog tour for her re-releasing books in the Mind Breaker Accounts trilogy! In this post, I will have the synopsis of the book, release date info, as well as a character biography over one of the characters in the book! For more information on the Mind Breaker Accounts, or any of Megan's other books, check out her website here.

WITHOUT ME

Book One in the Mind Breaker Accounts

by Megan Duke

Official Release Date: May 19th, 2015

SYNOPSIS:

Who can you trust if you can't trust your own mind?

For 21-year-old Denni, there is no doubt in her mind that Amos is the one. That is, until Jack manages to catch her attention. When she discovers it isn't just a crush causing this stranger to intrude her thoughts, a secret world of mind control is unleashed around her. It is revealed that both Amos and Jack belong to a special breed of humans called Mind Breakers, and over time Denni learns that the last two years of her life have been controlled by their influence. Soon she realizes that the people she thought she knew, and the life she has most recently grown accustomed to, might not have ever been real in the first place. Her thoughts, emotions, and physical actions are all at stake.

So who can she trust?

This, of course, is Denni's past. Now she is forced to retell her story from the beginning in hopes that the worst of it will never happen again.

ELIZABETH ERIN TAYLOR BECKETT

Nickname: Liz

Age: 21

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Hazel

Born: Manchester, England

Facts:

• one of the Original Seven
• has to have contact in order to keep control
• her twin brother is Amos
• her father volunteered the twins at birth
• their mother was against it
• she is confident and a bit of a snob
• Cox took her in as his "favorite", rewarding her with whatever she wanted
• being in control is the only thing she's ever known

"Mosquitoland" by David Arnold

"I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons, my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange."

My Synopsis/Review:

For Mary Iris Malone, or better known as Mim, the world consists of only Objectives and Reasons. She lives a life where she's taught that habit is king and believes herself to be utterly alone in the world. After an affair that causes Mim's parents to divorce, a new woman is brought into the picture, her new stepmom Kathy. So, when Mim stops receiving letters from her mom three weeks after her father and Kathy relocate to Jackson, Mississippi, she takes on a new Objective: to reach her mom where she resides in Cleveland, Ohio by Labor Day and discover the mystery disease Mim overhears her father talking to Kathy about that her mother is supposedly battling. Along the 947 mile journey, Mim discovers that reasons are hard, it's perfectly okay to admit you're not okay, and that even when you feel the most lonely in the world, the universe can surprise you with the most amazing assortment of friends. Mosquitoland will be released on March 3rd, 2015, and it is available for pre-order currently from most book retailers. I highly recommend getting your hands on one of the most adventurous, surreal, and captivating stories of 2015, thus far. Be prepared to fall in love with Mary Iris Malone.

The girl who's not okay.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Reason: The reason I did not give this book a 5 out of 5 stars is simply because of the sheer amount of vulgar language used constantly and repetitively that sometimes took away from the story itself. Besides this, the plotline was interesting, original, and pure genius. I cannot wait to see how this book takes off after its release date on March 3rd!

"Strings Attached" by Judy Blundell

Okay guys, so I can't actually call this a review since I was only able to read two chapters in, but I still felt obligated to make a post to explain as to why I did not continue through with reading this novel.

Here is the synopsis of the story:

Every favor comes with a price.
When Kit Corrigan arrives in New York City, she doesn't have much. She's fled from her family in Providence, Rhode Island, and she's broken off her tempestuous relationship with a boy named Billy, who's enlisted in the army.
The city doesn't exactly welcome her with open arms. She gets a bit part as a chorus girl in a Broadway show, but she knows that's not going to last very long. She needs help - and then it comes, from an unexpected source.
Nate Benedict is Billy's father. He's also a lawyer involved in the mob. He makes Kit a deal - he'll give her an apartment and introduce her to a new crowd. All she has to do is keep him informed about Billy...and maybe do him a favor every now and then.
Judy Blundell traps readers in a web of love, deceit, intrigue, and murder. The result? One stunner of a novel.

I bought this book last year at my school's book fair because it was on special for only $4 and I thought the storyline sounded intriguing. I hadn't picked it up and actually begun to read it until just recently, but I'm regretting getting the novel. Instead of being "trapped in a web of love, deceit, intrigue, and murder",  I was caught up in a web of confusion and chaos within the first few paragraphs. One of my must-haves is for a character to be revealed partially to me almost right off of the bat, without having to search too hard for it in the beginning. This just didn't bring enough to catch my interest. Another thing was that, although Blundell's writing itself wasn't unsatisfactory, it was choppy and left you having to re-read paragraphs and pages repeatedly to try and catch something that wasn't made clear.

To be fair, I am not going to rate this book for the reason that I did not read it all the way through. Maybe later in the novel, the storyline and the character(s) may have developed into something more graspable, but I just could not bring myself to read anymore.

Happy MLK, Jr. Day everyone and I'll catch you next time for my new blog post!

Don't Forget To Read,
The Book Lioness.

January 2015 TBR Pile

Hey guys! To kick off my first post of the new year, I'm going to list off my tentative TBR pile for this month, or really just my TBR pile that I have for this year that I hope to get through by the end of this month!

(Re-Reading)
Maximum Ride (#3): Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
Maximum Ride (#4): The Final Warning by James Patterson
Maximum Ride (#5): Max by James Patterson
Maximum Ride (#6): Fang by James Patterson
Maximum Ride (#7): Angel by James Patterson
Maximum Ride (#8): Nevermore by James Patterson
Ashfall by Mike Mullin (#1 of the Ashfall series)
What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang (#1 of the Hybrid Chronicles)
The entire Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare
The first 5 books of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

(Never Read Before)
Maximum Ride (#9): Forever by James Patterson
Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin (#2 of the Ashfall Series)
City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (#6 of the Mortal Instruments series)
The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare
Strings Attached by Judy Blundell
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Branded by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki (#1 of the Sinners series)
Altered by Jennifer Rush (#1 of the Altered series)
Legend by Marie Lu (#1 of the Legend series)
The Whispers of the Fallen by J.D. Netto (#1 of the Whispers of the Fallen series)
Rebellion by J.D. Netto (#2 of the Whispers of the Fallen series)
Once We Were by Kat Zhang (#2 of the Hybrid Chronicles)