Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis and a GIVEAWAY!

(From Goodreads)  A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

AGH!  This is such a mixed review for me!  Maybe I should tell what I loved and then what I didn’t love?

Wow, this book is a page turner for sure.  I was completely sucked in from the very beginning and I literally plowed my way through this book.  It was so compelling and I have to say, a bit disturbing.  It reminded me of how I felt reading the Hunger Games, the urgency to keep reading to find out what happens.  Only a very well written story can do that.  I think the characters were solid and I understood them and where they were coming from.  How crazy would it be to be frozen in one time and wake up in another time that had ideas, values and lifestyles completely backward and foreign to everything you had ever known?  Yeah, this book stays in your head.  I like that.  There is really only so much you can say without giving everything away here.

And now for what I didn’t love.  I know I am on the conservative side of reading.  I freely admit this and understand it is a difference between me and other readers.  I guess the most bothersome thing in this book for me was the whole “mating season” and how it was described.  It was disgusting and crass.  I do realize, that is exactly what the author wanted me to feel about it, but I think I would have still gotten that point without the descriptions of groping, thrusting and smells.  I just didn’t need the details and it all went on a bit long for me.  That didn’t need to be such a focal point.  If I could tweak that aspect of the book, you would have a girl who would be raving about this book. 

Something I have to say that I loved is the idea that DNA does not the entire person make.  It’s that soul, the spirit inside you that really makes you who you are.

Content wise, there is swearing and plenty of sexual situations.


I'm giving away a copy of this book.  If you haven't had a chance to read this book yet, just leave me a comment letting me know why you'd like to win.  Don't forget to leave your email address so I can contact if you do win.  I'd love for you to follow my blog, but I won't make you.  :)  Happy Reading!

Winner!

Congrats to NC at Truly Bookish who won my giveaway this week for A Time to Love!

Follow My Book Blog Friday

GIVE US FIVE BOOK RELATED SILLY FACTS ABOUT YOU.

1. I read everywhere. I always have a book with me.

2. I am a fast reader

3. If I am really worried about how a book ends, I cheat and read the end so I won't stress about it anymore. (i haven't really done this too much)

4. I almost always finish a book whether I like it or not

5. I hate people reading over my shoulder.  Whatever I'm reading is mine until I'm done with it.  (selfish, I know.)

How about you?  Leave me a link to your blog, I always return a follow.  And if you like romance novels, check out my giveaway that ends today (Friday).  Happy Friday!  

Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Meghan Chase has been looking forward to her sixteenth birthday.  It’s the magical birthday where you gain the independence of driving and the world's possibilities are endless.  Perhaps a romance, or ice cream falling from the sky.  But that’s not how it happens for Meghan.  Instead, Meghan gets a chart topping horrible day at school, a changling for a brother, a fey for a best friend and a whole bunch of creatures that want her dead.  Oh, and definitely no drivers license.  Meghan sets off on a journey through the world of the Fey to rescue her brother with Puck as her guide.  She doesn’t expect to discover that King Oberon is her father, and she is a princess. The world of Fey is unusual and frightening but Meghan is determined to find her brother and bring him home.

Yeah, so I finally got around to reading this book.  The good thing about starting into a series that everyone has been reading and talking about for so long is that you don't have to wait too long to read the next book.  I feel like I'm the very last person to read this though.

I love the cover of this book.  It's so pretty and I'm always drawn to blue so swirly's and blue is right up my alley!  I enjoyed this story, it moved along well and kept my attention.  I'm a girl that reads more than one book at a time unless it really sucks me in.  I put all other books aside to finish this one.  That's saying something.  By the end of the book I found I just wanted to know more.  I wanted deeper understanding of the characters, especially Puck and Ash.  I know there is another book, so hopefully I will get more there, and not more questions.  Meghan is a determined girl.  I love her loyalty to family and friends, even though it was called her weakness.  If you are going to have a weakness, that is a good one to have.  I'm looking forward to the next book.

There is swearing in this book.  Most swear words are used more than once.

Mini Review and a Giveaway: Spellweaver: A Novel of the Nine Kingdoms and a Lynn Kurland Giveaway!

This is the latest book in this series by Lynn Kurland.

In this book we follow Sarah and Ruith around the countryside in search of his evil father's spells so he can destroy them before they fall into the wrong hands.  Of course, Ruith loves Sarah and is quite sweet and attentive but Sarah does her best to put him off because he is, after all, a mighty and magical prince. Neither one can accomplish their tasks alone and so together they face the challenges and surprises that come their way.

What I love about this series is that they are fantasy adventure but there is more romance than many fantasy books.  What?!  I'm a girl that likes some love.  BUT, they are not steamy romance books, they are clean.

Content:
This book contains frequent hell's and damn's.  Bastard is also used frequently in describing someone's half brothers who were sired out of wedlock.

Okay, so in honor of my love for an occasional Lynn Kurland romance, I'm giving away A Time for Love which actually contains two books in one.  (If I Had You and Another Chance to Dream)  These aren't fantasy books like the Nine Kingdoms series, but just straight up romance.

If you are interested in winning, just leave me a comment with your email address.  Giveaway ends Monday, March 28th.

Review: A Cowboy's Touch by Denise Hunter

Abigail Jones is a workaholic. Writing is her life. She is the “truth seeker”, writing to expose corruption and lies. All that overtime work is catching up with Abby though and she finds herself with high blood pressure, headaches and heart palpitations. Her mother and Dr. agree. A three month leave of absence is just the thing Abigail needs to rest her body and mind.

Middle of nowhere Moose Creek, Montana is where Abigail ends up for the summer. Great Aunt Lucy is getting older and some time spent with her is just what the doctor ordered. The slow pace and majestic scenery will calm the nerves and the spirit. Or it would, if Wade Ryan weren’t standing in the picture looking all attractive in his cowboy hat, strong and steady, making her stomach flutter and her heart pound.

Abigail knows she is in trouble of falling deep for Wade and spending ever day in his presence only cements the fact. As she works as a nanny for Wade’s eleven year old daughter, she finds her heart and mind agreeing that a life with these two might be all she ever wants.

Wade is hiding things though. His past is secreted away and locked up tight. In digging deep to find the answers, Abigail is faced with decisions that could tear them apart. How far is she willing to go? What will she risk?

I have to say right up front that I’m a fan of Denise Hunter’s books. I’ve read many of them and I’ve loved them. This was, I think, one of my favorites. A hunk of a cowboy, sizzling attraction and a journey of love and faith. It was a perfect combination for me. I loved it. I like the imperfect characters who make mistakes but know how to be accountable and overcome. And I like examples of forgiveness too, for others and for ourselves. When my heart gets a happily ever after ending, I feel good.

I received this book from Book Sneeze for my honest review.

Follow My Book Blog Friday

Q. How did you come up with your blog name?

I can't even remember how I came up with the name for my blog.  It must not have been an "event" or I think I would have remembered it.  Gee, it wasn't even that long ago... Yup, even as I type here and think, still nothing.  It probably just popped into my head and that was that.  I love reading.  And with that said, I'm going to go "get my read on".  I hear that cowboy book calling to me....

Happy Friday, ya'll!