The Golden Lily Quote Trailer #2

As promised, here is the second trailer... my money for this quote is that it involves Adrian, Dimitri and Sydney. Any bets?

Book Review: Fated

Title: Fated
Author: Sarah Alderson
Genre: YA
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 8/10

Remember Hunting Lila? Yeah, well, it made such a good impression on me, I decided I'd go out and read whatever else Sarah Alderson had written, because honestly, I love it when I find an author who I can read anything and everything of theirs without being afraid of disappointment.

Fated, while drastically different from Hunting Lila, was equally as engrossing. I found myself smirking at Evie's blunders, and her quirky behavior. I love her; she reminded me of myself, in many ways, and that of course made the book very easy to identify to, nevermind all the crazy supernatural things going on.
And when I say 'crazy supernatural things', I mean exactly that, emphasis on the crazy part. I loved the supernatural salad here; while we've all heard of werewolves and vampires (these days, who hasn't?), the Shadow-Warriors and Mixens... well, I've never read book with them in it.

Now that I've successfully gone quite some way without gushing, the gushing shall commence. I'm sorry, but why is it that fictional men are always hotter than the guys I know? That's hardly fair. And Fated didn't disappoint there. Even thinking about Lucas right now, weeks after I read the book, I still get the tingles. He and Evie have that whole starcrossed lovers thing going on, and I guess that helps his image, since you can't help but think of him as a bad boy on a certain level. And then Alderson tops it off with a kiss scene (not saying who with, though!) so hot, I almost had to go take a cold shower afterwards. And I read adult about as much as I read YA; I'm used to steamy. I wasn't expecting that scene though, and to have that dumoed on me like that...

Anyway *cough* yes, great read. Like I said in the Hunting Lila review, I do believe I have found my new favorite author - and I have no doubts I'll be running to the bookstore for the continuation of Fated. Especially since I got a hint from Sarah on her twitter that there would be more sexy times in book #2!

Rowling's New Book

It's been a few weeks already since the news first trickled down through twitter and then burst through to the world: J. K. Rowling, the beloved author of so many, due to Harry Potter, would release a new adult - entirely free from Potter and his world - book later this year.
Well, we now have a title, description, and a date!

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.
Seemingly an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.
Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.
And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?
Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

The Casual Vacancy will reach bookstores on September 27th. 

The Golden Lily Quote Trailer #1

It's still six weeks till the release of The Golden Lily, but Penguin, keeping up with the tradition they started with Spirit Bound, released today the first Quote Trailer for Richelle Mead's upcoming book. Every week there will be a new trailer, and I'll be posting all of them here, so ladies and gents, I present you The Golden Lily's first Teaser Quote Trailer:

Book Review: Avoiding Responsibility

Title: Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding #2)
Author: K. A. Linde
Genre: Adult
Rating: 5/5
(no cover, so I added a picture of the author)

Warning: spoilers for Avoiding Commitment, the first book.

I realise this review will be more of me ranting than any actual useful information about the book, but I still feel the need to say something about this, so here goes...

Well, I'll be damned.
First of all, I have a confession to make: I took Avoiding Responsibility much slower than Avoiding Commitment, because after I gobbled down the other book in a day, I was almost as catatonic as Lexi when she broke up with Jack in New York (so much so that I can't even review that book yet), and I did not want to go there again. So I decided it was probably in my best interest to take this book two chapters at a time, so I could come to terms with the events in the book slowly, rather than have it all dumped on me at once.
It worked out at first, but then I couldn't stop reading, and... luckily, this book didn't break me too. I'm not sure I could have survived that again, to be honest.
I have to say though, that I, along with Clark and Lexi's old friends, never really expected Jack to marry anyone other than Lexi... but am glad she stood her ground. Cheers for her. Ramsey grew on me, despite his crazy name, and I'm glad Lexi had the good sense to finally truly end things with Jack; she didn't deserve all that heartache, even though I'm sure that, in his own, delusinal and warped way, Jack did love her.

Great read - and, honestly, even the heartbreak of Avoiding Commitment was awesome because it means the story was so touching. Kudos to miss Linde, who will be soon having the books officially published as e-books.

Book Review: Fifty Shades of Grey

Title: Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1)
Author: E. L. James
Genre: Adult
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 8/10

Yes, I decided it was about time I joined in the melee. Eveyone is talking about Fifty Shades, and while I first read it late last year, I'm only now reviewing the book here...

I... loved, loved, loved this book.
And to those of you who have already read it, that statement might raise quite a few eyebrows. Let me explain: Fifty Shades of Grey will invariably create heated discussions about propriety and whatnot, but the truth of the matter is that it wasn't the BDSM which captured me, but rather the character development.
Fifty Shades of Grey tells the story of Anastasia Steele, a recently graduated girl who, by a whim of destiny, ends up interviweing the most influential CEO of the century - all because her best friend who was supposed to do the interview, had the flu. To save her friend, Ana goes to interview Christian Grey, the 27 year old multi-millionaire owner of the Grey Enterprises Holding Inc.
First impressions are what stay, or so they say, and Ana's first impression of Christian was that of an arrogant, dominative and control-freak man. But he intrigues her when he expresses a deep desire to help the poor, and feed the whole world, single-handedly, if necessary. Not to mention his hot bod.
After an extremely awkward interview, Ana leaves Christian, happy that she will never again have to lay eyes on him. But apparently life has other plans, and Ana will have to decide if getting to know this mysterious man is really worth all the sacrifices she'll have to make so their... relationship can work.

Okay, now speaking truthfully. Yes, there were some scenes that made me uncomfortable, and I can safely say that lifestyle is not for me. However, like I said before, the character development is something to watch. Personally, I found it fascinating to see both Ana and Christian change so much about their own lives, and step completely out of their comfort zones to try something new. So yes, if you don't get squeamish with hot  - and I do mean... hot - scenes, you should read Fifty. The book has a little of a slow start, so as you read on, you can have a little bit of an idea more or less how hot things get, so you can safely decide if you want to continue or not.

Book Review: Hunting Lila

Title: Hunting Lila (Lila #1)
Author: Sarah Alderson
Genre: YA
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 10/10


First of all, let's take a moment to appreciate this cover. My first thought was "I want those shoes!". I still maintain it ;)

Hunting Lila was quite a ride, and I loved every second of it. There were some moments there when Lila's love for Alex bordered a little on almost-creepy obsession, but for the most part, it was ridiculously cute, and definitely created some very great scenes.
I can see that this review won't be as good as it should be because, well... it's just hard to pinpoint what, exactly, was so great about this book. It just sucked me up, and refused to spit me out until I had finished it. I loved the diversity of the characters, and how even the secondary - and sometimes not even that - characters had all this backstory, and were all so wonderfully developed. Almost the entire time Lila was in California, I kept getting frustrated because for me, as a reader, it was obvious that whatever big secret her borther and Alex were trying (not too successfully, I might add) to hide, it had something to do with people like her.
It's always great when you're so focused on the book, that your emotions run away with you, and, even though, if you were being objective and looking at the book from an outsider's view, you'd probable be able to figure out what the best move would be, because you're so immersed in the story, you're about as lost as the characters about what to do. I love that. And Hunting Lila gave me all that, packed it up in this beautiful packaged of a cover and ended it with a powerful cliffhanger.

I think I just found my new favorite author.

Book Review: Grave Mercy

Title: Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1)
Author: Robin LaFevers
Genre: Historical YA
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 10/10

You know that old saying "never judge a book by its' cover"? Well, the sentiment behind it is really pretty, but I am guilty of doing exactyl what it tells us not to - I judge books by their covers. The way I see things, there's the Holy Trinity for picking up a book by an author you don't know: 1. The Cover; 2. The Title; 3. The Description.

Now, when I first heard of Grave Mercy, some three months ago, I fell in love with the cover. I tend to love historical books as a rule, and the cover made it clear that's what it was, not to mention that dress. I wanted that dress. The title was also interesting, and I was hooked with the description. Therefore, waiting until today to read this book was near impossible.

It's always a little daunting when you start a book you've waited to read for so long. There's always the risk that, after having waited, speculated, and bitten all your nails down to stubs with anxiety for it, the book won't live up to your expectations.
As was made obvious by my rating, Grave Mercy was not one of those cases. Ismae, despite her unusual name, was a lovely, albeit troubled girl to read about. One of the things I liked most about this book is that it spoke of the issues regarding men, and how women were - and at times, still are, even today - treated by the men who "owned" them: their fathers or their husbands. Ismae has been shunned and judged all her life for something that happened before she was born. She couldn't change it, even if she wanted to, and for 17 years, she desperately wanted to. Until, after an arranged marriage that ended before it had even truly begun, she found her way to St. Mortain, the Lord of Death's convent. She arrived there with a heart filled with hatred towards all men, and sure that any human with a Y chromosome (though she didn't call them that, of course) was despicable and selfish.
After she learns all she needs in the art of murder, she is sent on one of the most important missions of life; a mission which forces her to pretend to be a man's mistress. She almost refuses, but has sworn an oath, and goes ahead with the plan. What she never imagined was that maybe not all men are despicable; in fact, maybe one is actually quite agreeable, not to mention handsome...

A thrilling read, filled with great humor, amazing characters, beautiful plot and subplot, lots of intrigue, action and even a good spoonful of romance. Most highly recommended.