Waiting on Wednesday #55

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by, Breaking the Spine, which spotlights upcoming releases we can't wait to get our hands on! 

Title: Sweet Peril

Author: Wendy Higgins

Release Date: April 30th, 2013

Publisher: HarperTeen

Anna Whitt, daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a claim. She’d been naive about a lot of things. 

Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind. 

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

When I read Sweet Evil earlier this year, I completely fell in love with the story and Kaidan Rowe. He's one of my favorite guys in YA ever, so how could I not want to continue the series? :)

What awesome title are you waiting for this Wednesday? 

While you're here, enter to win a book involving love, magic, and self-discovery!

Review: Frost by Marianna Baer

Title: Frost
Author: Marianna Baer
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Mystery, Thriller
Release date: September 13th. 2011
Pages: 396 (Hardcover)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Source: Won
Goodreads | Amazon | Author

Leena Thomas’s senior year at boarding school starts with a cruel shock: Frost House, the cozy Victorian dorm where she and her best friends live, has been assigned an unexpected roommate—eccentric Celeste Lazar. 

As classes get under way, strange happenings begin to bedevil Frost House: frames falling off walls, doors locking themselves, furniture toppling over. Celeste blames the housemates, convinced they want to scare her into leaving. And although Leena strives to be the peacekeeper, soon the eerie happenings in the dorm, an intense romance between Leena and Celeste’s brother, David, and the reawakening of childhood fears all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. But does the threat lie with her new roommate, within Leena’s own mind…or in Frost House itself?

Frost is a thrilling novel packed with suspense and a lot of suspicion.  Leena has been looking forward to living in the Frost House from the time she first discovered it.  It was supposed to be her and her 3 best friends, the perfect living situation.  Except there's been an accident, and the girls are stuck with a rather unusual new roommate named Celeste.  A presence seems to have followed Celeste into the house and Leena begins to think it may not just be her imagination.

The book definitely keeps the reader involved with the story.  It plays with your mind, makes you believe that it's something paranormal, but then switches to make you believe it's all in the main character's head.  You never really know the truth, and that's one of the things that I loved about this book.  One thing that disappointed me, though, was that I was expecting more of a scare factor.  The book definitely had it's creepy moments, but I expected my heart to pound or my skin to crawl, and that just didn't happen.

The only character I really enjoyed was Leena.  I found myself frustrated with Celeste a majority of the time, even though she's the one I thought I'd enjoy most.  I usually love the eccentric characters that aren't quite like the rest.  I never really knew whether or not to trust Celeste's brother, David, which made it difficult to like him half of the time, as well.  He wants the best for his sister, or is that just what he wants you to believe?  The author did such a great job of making you feel what her characters were feeling.

Though the book wasn't your typical ghost story, I enjoyed getting to the bottom of what was really going on in Frost House.  The outcome surprised me, and though I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had more paranormal aspects to it, I still have the story on my mind days after reading it.  Baer's style of writing is perfect for this type of book, which is definitely one of the things worth reading it for.

In My Mailbox #54

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren

Review

-Starflower by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

(Paperback from Bethany House)

-The Lies That Bind by Lisa and Laura Roecker

(Paperback from Sourcebooks Fire)

Slow book weeks are completely bittersweet for me.  On one hand, I'm happy that I've only received 2 books this week because I have so many others on my TBR, but on the other hand, getting books is one of the few things that brightens up a bad day, and I've been having a lot of those lately.

Look out for giveaways of these books sometime this month (Starflower) and in January (The Lies That Bind)!

Thanks for stopping by!  What have you received in your mailbox?

While you're here, enter to win a book involving love, magic, and self-discovery!

Review & Giveaway: Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman

Title: Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft
Author: Jody Gehrman
Publisher: Magic Genie Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Paranormal
Release date: June 30th, 2011
Pages: 293 (Paperback)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Author
Goodreads | Amazon | Author

Falling in Love, baking a magical cake, fighting an evil necromancer—it’s all in a day’s work for Audrey Oliver, seventeen-year-old witch-in-training. 

When her mother goes missing and her twenty-one-year-old witchy cousin shows up out of the blue, Audrey knows something’s gone horribly, dangerously wrong. Now it’s up to her to get her own magical powers up to speed before everyone she loves is destroyed by the sorcerer intricately connected to her mother’s secret past.

Strange things seem to happen when Audrey is overcome by intense emotion.  People get hurt and inanimate objects begin to move on their own.  When she finds out that her seemingly irrational thoughts of her mother's disappearance aren't so far from the truth, Audrey knows that there's a lot more going on than anyone can tell her.

When her eccentric older cousin, Sadie, shows up to take care of her and her younger sister, Audrey quickly learns more about herself than she ever would have imagined possible.  After only a few days of living together, Sadie notices the differences between Audrey and her sister and chooses to confront her about it.  Once Audrey learns the truth, that's she's a witch and so is her mom, Audrey begins training sessions in order to get full use out of the powers she has.  This isn't the only obstacle, though, as Audrey begins to fall for a boy named Julian at the same time she discovers who she really is.

The characters were all done really well and they all fit perfectly where they were supposed to.  Audrey was just trying to get a handle on the situation, Meg was full of angst, Sadie was the perfect mentor and Julian was oh so yummy.  The magical aspects of the book, from basic training to using what she learned in battle, were definitely my favorites...aside from the romance, of course.  What I enjoyed most about the romance was that Julian understood that Audrey couldn't tell him her family's secrets and why strange things always seem to happen around her.  Though they had a few rough times because of it, they never denied their attraction to each other.

Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft is absolutely enchanting.  Many readers will be drawn into this fast-paced story from the first page and hold on until the very end.  The mystery behind Audrey's bloodline will keep you guessing and the action will keep you on edge.  Definitely a must-read for all fans of the paranormal!

Thanks to Jody, I have an exciting giveaway to offer my readers!

I'll be giving away one signed paperback of Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft (US/CA)

and one ebook (International!)

Giveaway will end on November 16th
Enter the Rafflecopter below!

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October Wrap-Up and November TBR

For some reason, I just haven't been following my TBR lists, so this month I'll try to keep it shorter.

The books I managed to read:

-Every Day by David Levithan

-The Suburban Strange by Nathan Kotecki

-Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

-Who I Kissed by Janet Gurtler

-Velveteen by Daniel Marks

-Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

-The Elementals by Francesca Lia Block

-The Girls' Ghost Hunting Guide by Stacey Graham

-Blind Spot by Laura Ellen

-Possess by Gretchen McNiel

-Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman (Review to come)

-Frost by Marianna Baer (Review to come)

The books I will definitely read in November:
(books I've gotten for review)

The books I hope to get to (list may change depending on mood):