Movie Review: Beautiful Creatures

As you are getting ready for the weekend, allow me to make a suggestion. The Beautiful Creatures movie is based on the book of the same name by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl. It makes for a great read and the movie is pretty good too! Hubs and I saw Beautiful Creatures on Valentine's and we both really enjoyed it.

Her thoughts:

I was still in the process of reading the Beautiful Creatures book when we saw the movie. (Look for that review, tomorrow, maybe, I think.) I knew going into it the book is 563 pages, so there was no way EVERYTHING from the book would make the cut for the movie. It's sad but true. I've learned not to expect books to movie or TV shows to be exactly. It would probably be pretty boring if it was totally the same, right? 

I did notice they tried to stay pretty close to the book and I think if you were really watching you could see little nods to the books. For example, Ethan and Lena drinking orange soda, in the book the can tab on Lena's necklace is from her first orange soda with her grandmother. Also, the town sign seemed to have a pie on it and there was mention of buttermilk pie in book. So I was happy that the movie threw us book lovers a couple of bones!

I enjoyed the movie itself just for being a movie. As some one born and raised in the South, I felt the actors over did it with the accents just a bit but hey, I might be a little sensitive to that. :) I thought that Alden Ehrenreich was a fabulous Ethan. He is cute and sweet and every time he did his little giggle...swoon! I thought the Macon character was pretty spot on. And I'm a long time Emmy Rossum fan so even though her Ridley was a little different than I expected I loved her in the role.

Overall I really enjoyed it. I really want to go see it again before it's out of theaters and I'll definitely be buying a copy for my DVD/Blu-Ray collection as soon as it's out. I wouldn't say it was the best movie ever but it was worthy of our Valentines Date Night. <3

His thoughts: 

Beautiful Creatures, I believe, blended a range of things that will help it appeal to most audiences. Their is a tragic romance, a mystery and a little bit of action and some very supernatural characters. I liked the fact that Ethan seemed real to me, in that he was awkward at first toward Lena. The town that the movie takes place in also reminds me a lot of the small towns around home, and how you can hardly go anywhere without seeing someone you know. Beautiful creatures strikes me as a classic battle between good and bad, and how each sides fights for power. Overall I give Beautiful Creatures 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for anyone who likes a little supernatural mixed in with a teenage love story . I look forward to finding out how the series continues!

Our own nod to the book: 

'"No butter, salt and tossed with Milk Duds. You'll like it," she said, her shoulders relaxing just a little." 

"I already like it."

~From page 150 of Beautiful Creatures~

(Although, we did get butter too!)

Snow Bound Book Blast

Today in Alli's World we are helping with the BOOK BLAST for Snow Bound by Elizabeth Kirke. This book totally seems like it would be up my alley. I've had a fondness for vampires, really all paranormal type creatures, for years now.  Elizabeth and I have very similar last names, I mean we are an "e" away from being related, right? (But alas we are not.) And there is a giveaway. All together this seems like a pretty awesome Book Blast to me!

More than Magic Swag Giveaway

Chat live with Urban Fantasy author Elizabeth Kirke  

Twitter TODAY at 11 AM EST

use hashtag: #SnowBound

 

After learning how to use magic and fighting vampires, anyone would be bored going back to normal college life. Worst of all, Jen misses the friends she made over the summer. Naturally, Jen is all too happy to accept an invitation to go skiing with the gang during winter break.

She gears up for two weeks of snow, magic, and fun. Just when everything seems to be going great, an uninvited guest turns up. Soon the skiers aren’t the only things going downhill. Jen thought that vampires were just about the most dangerous thing the magical world could throw at her. Unfortunately, she’s about to learn that people with no magic at all can be just as deadly...

Buy the Book at Amazon

Bio:
Elizabeth Kirke wanted to be an author before she even knew what an author was. She used to say that she wanted to be an artist, but that was only because she was too young to write and had to tell stories with pictures instead. She hasn't stopped writing since she learned how. It wasn't long before she dreamed of becoming an author and couldn't be happier now that that dream is a reality.

If she isn't writing...well, let's be honest; if she isn't writing she's probably on Facebook thinking that she should start writing. But, if she isn't writing or on Facebook, she's probably doing something involving books, baking, gardening, or yarn. In an ideal world, she'd be reading and knitting while something from the garden is in the oven. Then again, in an ideal world, she'd have a flock of ducks and a couple of goats.

Like most slightly-nosy, avid readers, Elizabeth can't resist trying to catch a peek at books she sees people reading when out in public to see if she can figure out what it is. While doing just that one day, she realized that it would probably be the coolest-thing-ever if she caught a complete stranger reading one of her books. That's her new dream.

Enter to win a More than Magic Swag Pack:

Signed paperback of Semester Abroad (More than Magic #1)

Limited Edition More than Magic Calendar (filled with exclusive trivia)

2 signed bookmarks

$25 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A GWR Publicity promotional event paid for by Anchor Group Publishing

Cover Reveal: The Hazards of Skinny Dipping

Here is today's cover reveal for The Hazards of Skinny Dipping by Alyssa Rose Ivy! This is a New Adult novel so a little more risqué than my normal selections. But this looks like a good one! I love the colors and the fun, sexy attitude of this cover. ;-)

ABOUT THE HAZARDS OF SKINNY DIPPING:

This isn't a deep book about first loves or self-discovery. If you want a book like that, I'd be happy to recommend one, but I don't have that kind of story to tell. Instead my story is about rash decisions and finding out that your dream guy is bad in bed. It's the story of when I finally went skinny dipping, and how my life was never the same again. Oh, and it's also the story of my freshman year of college and realizing Mr. Right might have been there all along.

ABOUT ALYSSA ROSE IVY:

Alyssa Rose Ivy is a New Adult and Young Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.

LINKS:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlyssaRoseIvy

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5047249.Alyssa_Rose_Ivy

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaRoseIvy

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/alyssaroseivy/

Website: http://www.alyssaroseivy.com/

Review: Dear Cassie

Happy Belated Book Birthday to 

DEAR CASSIE!!

Title: Dear Cassie

Series: Companion to novel to Pretty Amy and The Next Forever

Author: Lisa Burstein 

Genre: Contemporary YA 

Source: Complimentary e-book from publisher in exchange for honest review

More about Dear Cassie can be found at Goodreads.

Dear Cassie was the first book I've read by author Lisa Burstein, even though this would be her third book out. This is a companion novel and it involves the same characters and world as Pretty Amy and The Next Forever but per the author you can read them in any order. I liked Cassie's story because, it seemed fairly reasonable like something that could happen in real life. What I enjoyed the most was watching Cassie's self discovery and development as I read.

I found it interesting, how the story is written from a journalistic point of view from the main character. I think that really helped me as a reader understand Cassie more. I think the information the author chose to hold back to the end worked well with the style of the story. Even though Cassie hinted and I guessed what her secret was long before Cassie actually revealed it herself, I felt like withholding it until Cassie was ready to talk about it was pretty brilliant.

I like how vulnerable Cassie is, even she tries to make everyone think she is such a hard@$$. She knows she's not that tough and pretty much everyone else can see through her facade as well. 

Cassie's story weighed on my emotions, especially sympathy, for many reasons. The lack of a close parental relationship is really sort of heartbreaking. I think that is one of the most detrimental things to Cassie. I hate for her, the mistakes she made and that she very nearly had to face them alone. Her brother gets mad props for being the type of family member she needed.

If you have read my blog for anytime at all you know I easily fall victim to book crushes. Dear Cassie was no exception. I LOVED Ben! He's mysterious, cute, musician, confidant, persistent and also caring, sweet. If I had to be locked away in some wilderness boot camp, I would hope there was a Ben around!

I appreciate rich descriptions and the value such descriptions can add to a novel. And Dear Cassie is chocked full of detailed descriptions. My only pet peeve with the writing of Dear Cassie was the abundant usage of similes. I enjoy like/as statements but there were so many of these types of descriptions it was almost distracting to me. In that, after a while, every time I'd come across one in the text it would almost pull me out of the story. Clearly the author put a lot of thought into the story to come up with such visual descriptions, it's just this reader got a little bogged down in the sea of similes. Though not enough to stop me from reading and Dear Cassie was still a quick, easy, and good read for me.

Warning: I saw a while back on Lisa's Facebook page that she was able to keep something like a 100 plus f-bombs in Dear Cassie. Well, I don't think she was exaggerating. But for some reason the way the word was used didn't bother me as much as it could have. Just be aware if you are sensitive to language, this book may not be a prime choice for you. BUT if you are looking for a story where an older teen makes some mistakes and is able to learn and grow from said mistakes then this maybe a book you'd should pick up.

I think this book is suitable for older teens due to the aforementioned language and adult themes. Although depending on the kid, I think a younger teen maybe able to glean some valuable life knowledge from Cassie's experience.

Again, I really enjoyed the story and the concept of Dear Cassie, I give it 4 out of 5 stars. It kept me coming back and wanting to know what all was going on in Cassie's World. I don't think this is the book for everyone but I found it to be an enjoyable read. I will be going back and reading Lisa Burstein's first book Pretty Amy soon!

Teaser Tuesday (March 5)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of 

Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

'"Oh, 'tis not dead." Giedeon bent over and picked up the weapon. He held it between thumb and finger to rinse it off in the diminishing rainfall, the cloudburst as quick to leave as to arrive."

From the middle grade urban fantasy, Finn Finnegan, by Darby Karchut

More info about Finn

 on Goodreads

Triple Threat Recap

On Thursday afternoon (Feb. 28) I received a tweet from the lovely Lady Reader's Bookstuff inquiring if was going to be at that evening's author event at the Barnes and Noble in Alpharetta, GA. In my head I previously decided not to go. I kinda wanted to because I LOVE author events but the location of the signing is about 2 hours from my house. I was just going to sit this one out. Well the more I thought about it and looked at the authors and their books, I made the spontaneous decision to go. 

It's times like these I am so thankful for my loving, encouraging, up for whatever whim suits my fancy, darling husband. He was sick but he went with me without complaint and even took photos for me! When we get books signed we usually have the author make them out to "Allison & Clayton." This usually gives the author pause but I tell them, "The family that reads together stays together." He's the best. That's all I'm sayin'.

The Triple Threat Tour event featured Megan Miranda author of HYSTERIA, Robin Benway author of ALSO KNOWN AS, and Yelena Black author DANCE OF SHADOWS. I didn't have any of their books so I'm the proud new owner of the three books listed above! Yay more books! (Cause I will NEVER have enough books!)

The authors did readings from their current books which really got me hooked. I can't wait to dig into each book! Then they took some audience questions. And finally got to the signing. The event was on the smaller side which provided some nice one on one time with the authors which was awesome. They were all super nice and gracious. 

The following is paraphrased from my notes from the event.

One of audience questions that generated answers I found interesting was, "What started your writing career?"  I love this question/answer because it highlights how no two authors take the same path. And how even the best got rejected once upon a time!

Megan Miranda--Went to school for science. She was home with her small kids and just worn down when her husband made some remark about "When are you going to write that book?" That was the motivation she needed. :) (In another part of the q & a she did mention that she has incorporated her scientific background in her books.)

Yelena Black--Always wanted to be a writer. She majored in English and got her MFA. Although she did think she'd be writing adult fiction rather than YA.

Robin Benway--Said she didn't know how to be a writer. So she worked in publishing which made her want to be a writer more. She applied to different MFA programs and got rejected by the all...on the SAME day. So she quit her job, took a year off, took a lot of wrong turns but got to the right place. (Later in the q & a she mentioned her love of Sociology. She loves writing families and sympathetic parents.)

*Alli's note: I think that's awesome because so many YA main characters have parents that aren't in the picture for whatever reason.

From left to right 

Authors:

Megan Miranda, Yelena Black, & Robin Benway

Yelena Black 

Megan Miranda

Signing and Chatting

Robin Benway & Me

More Signing! 

Me & Megan Miranda

Me & Yelena Black

And perhaps my FAVORITE photo of the evening, me (on the left) and Yelena were nail twins! We nail opposites but we totally matched the book! Nail art and books. Ah! My favorite things in one!

Cover Reveal: Wait for You

It's no secret that Alli's World LOVES Jennifer L. Armentrout' books. See exhibit A, B, and C. That's why I'm thrilled to share with you guys the cover of her newest book Wait for You, written under pen name J. Lynn. Really, there is nothing Jennifer can't write! I can't wait to read this one y'all!

What do early readers have to say about WAIT FOR YOU?

“J. Lynn creates a wonderful cast of characters that will make you laugh, swoon, and cry. Cam stole my heart.” – Cora Carmack, NYTimes and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of LOSING IT

“For the love of all that is Cameron without a shirt on! Wait for You will have you laughing out loud, fanning yourself and anxiously waiting to know what will happen next.” – Molly McAdams, NYTimes and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of FROM ASHES and TAKING CHANCES

“I don't think I have ever read a NA Contemporary novel with as much depth as this one. It really moved me and by the end I was just speechless over how inspirational and uplifting it was as well as being sexy and cute and funny and emotional.” - K Books

“Wait For You is uniquely different from anything else J. Lynn's written but it might possibly be her best work yet.” – Jenuine Cupcakes

“For all of you in love with Aiden and Daemon, PREPARE YOURSELVES! Your heart will have to expand a little more for Cam.” Total Bookaholic

“For the love of all things CAM, this book deserves more than 5 stars.” – Mundie Moms

“I cannot even begin to explain how much I adored this perfectly crafted contemporary.” – Shortie Says

Excited? Ready to see the cover for WAIT FOR YOU? 

Synopsis

Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…

WAIT FOR YOU is available now!

Amazon
Barnes and Noble

J. Lynn, also known as Jennifer L. Armentrout, is the USA TODAY Bestselling author of the adult romance Gamble Brothers’ series, the young adult Lux Series and award winning Covenant Series. She pretty much writes everything—contemporary, paranormal, and fantasy. All of her books have one thing in common no matter the name or genre: kissing… and stuff. When she’s not busy writing, which is never, she’s usually hanging out with dog Loki, watching reruns of The Walking Dead, or procrastinating on the Internet. You can find out more about Jennifer by visiting the following websites:

Twitter
Facebook
Website