Title: Castles on the Sand (Shattered Castles #1)
Author: E. M. Tippetts
Date of publication: 17 Aug 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Coming of age

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 3 stars

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

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

• Be careful not the include spoilers!

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

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

My teaser this week comes from Charade by Nyrae Dawn. It is a heart-breaking NA love story which I haven't finished yet but I like it very much so far. It is the first book in the Games series and I plan to continue right away with book 2, Façade which I got as an ARC from NetGalley.

"Locking the door behind me, I fall against it. I don't feel like Cinderella. More like  Dorothy of Oz. I have no idea what's going on here."

Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne tries to portray the perfect life to mask the memories of her past. Walking in on her boyfriend with another woman her freshman year in college threatens that picture of perfection.

Twenty-one-year-old Colt never wanted college and never expected to amount to anything, but when his mom's dying wish is for him to get his degree, he has no choice but to pretend it's what he wants too.

Cheyenne needs a fake boyfriend to get back at her ex and Colt needs cash to take care of his mom, so they strike a deal that helps them both. But what if Cheyenne’s past isn’t what she thought? Soon they’re trading one charade for another—losing themselves in each other to forget about their pain. The more they play their game, the more it becomes the only thing they have that feels real.

Both Cheyenne and Colt know life is never easy, but neither of them expect the tragedy that threatens to end their charade and rip them apart forever.

Here are the new releases this week. This might be the last post in the current format. I am thinking of changing this to a monthly page on the top bar of the blog. I will be able to add titles as the month goes by if I learn of new books coming out. 

The new titles this week are all second books in series that I have read and reviewed. We start with Blood Warrior by Lindsey Piper which is the second book in the Dragon King series. I loved book 1, Caged Warrior (my review), and I am excited to learn more about the world of the Dragon Kings.

The second title is Near and Far by  Nicole Williams. Lost and Found was a NA cowboy romance which was a nice surprise and I enjoyed it a lot (my review). Can't wait to see how the story of Rowen and Jess continues (I wouldn't mind seeing more of Garth Black, as well). 

The final title coming out this week was a welcome surprise since it is coming out early. This is the sequel to Jessica Sorensen's The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden. After the terrible cliffhanger at the end of book 1, I hope The Redemption of Callie and Kayden finally brings a much deserved happy end to those two. 

Goodreads Blurb

Emma’s struggle with an abusive home life came to a heart pounding conclusion in the final chapters of Reason to Breathe. Now everyone in Weslyn knows Emma’s secret, but Carol can’t hurt Emma anymore. Some are still haunted by the horror of that night, and some must face the repercussions of their choices. Fans of Rebecca Donovan’s debut novel will discover there’s still much to learn about Emma’s life.

Goodreads Blurb

Emma leaves Weslyn and everyone in it behind to attend Stanford University, just as she always intended. A shell of her former self, she is not the same girl. She is broken, and the only way that she’ll be whole again is through forgiveness. Emma must find a way to forgive herself and recognize her own worth before she can receive the love she deserves. This final installment will have readers holding their breath until the very last page.

Author: Rebecca Donovan 
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

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

• Be careful not the include spoilers!

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

This is the final day of the 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge hosted by Good Books and Good Wine. It was my first challenge and I have to say taking part in it was great fun.

Today we share our book blogging mentors. 

I don't really have blogging mentors, just book blogs which I really like and follow. I try to incorporate some of the things I admire in them in my blog with varying success.

My favourite book blogs are not really personal blogs, they are maintained by more than one person but I like the style of their reviews and their overall look/form.

Smexy Books has a special place in my heart. The girls over there mentioned/recommended my review of Neanderthal Seeks Human (I had just started blogging) and I have been their fan ever since. I like their reviews and features. They focus mainly on romance and erotica and I regularly pick new titles based on their recommendations.

Fiction Vixen is a similar multi-author book blog which I read regularly. It is a great place to read reviews and find new books. Recently they teamed up with the girls from Smexy Books and I am looking forward to that collaborations.



The third similar blog that like and follow to is Dear Author. It is offers a wealth of info on romance books and I really like the style of the reviews published there. They post daily deals which are much appreciated. I also enjoy their feature First page where authors submit anonymously the first page of their work for comments. I don't participate in the discussion as I don't feel confident enough to give advice but I follow all the comments.

This is the top 3 of my favourite book blogs. I follow a number of personal blogs and they all have different features that I really like. There are too many to mention, but I would like to thank them all for being my inspiration to start my own blog. I am especially indebted to my Goodreads friends - Katy and Mitch at A Girl, a Boy and a Blog, Lex at Fastidious Reader, Ornella at Unraveling Words, Zemira at YA Fanatic, Tatiana at The Readventurer, Emily at The Book Geek and Jennifer at Feminist Fairy Tale Reviews, reading their reviews and later their personal blogs led to creation of this blog.

Goodreads Blurb

As the captain of a schooner catering to the elite on the Caribbean Seas, Sebastian Stark does his best to avoid any human encounters. Interacting with people isn’t his thing, and he prefers the company of a bottle of vodka, a shot glass, and maybe a whore. There’s no doubt he’s hiding from a checkered past, but he does well keeping everything to himself…

…until the night his schooner capsizes, and he’s stuck on a life raft with one of the passengers.

Raine’s young, she’s cute, and Bastian would probably be into her if he wasn’t suffering from alcohol withdrawal. As the days pass, DTs, starvation, and dehydration become the norm. Even the most closed person starts to open up when he thinks he’s going to die, but when she realizes their traumatic pasts are connected, it’s no longer the elements that have Bastian concerned.

He has no idea how he’s going to Survive Raine.




I came across this book after a recommendation in GR groups (This seems to happen often to me, I found Neanderthal Seeks Human this way and I loved it. I am really happy that the same happened with Surviving Raine.) I was hesitant to pick this book initially. We have just the Hero and Heroine, first on a raft, then on a island, for most part of the book and I wasn't sure how the author will manage to keep things interesting. Believe me, Ms Savage did a great job of keeping the interest in the story of Sebastian and Raine.

I loved the way this book was written. It had some action/adventure, some painful past invading the present, and lots of sexy time.

The story is told from Bastian's POV and we get a foul-mouthed jerk starved for love and affection who becomes overprotective and possessive Alpha for the right woman. Sebastian is a well developed character and despite his flaws and weaknesses I ended up loving him. We see Raine only from his POV and this definitely serves to her disadvantage. She is given a number of positive qualities - innocence, courage, reliability, the strength to forgive, yet her personality does not really stand out. She appeared somewhat bland and passive in her relationship with Sebastian.

I found the first 2/3 of the book really strong both in terms of character development and the unfolding of the story. There was a whole bunch of practical details concerning the survival at sea and on a desert island which I found rather enjoyable. They gave an additional dimension to the story and tied nicely with the general idea of survival.. Bastian is an expert in survival - on the streets, in the fights, in the ocean, on the island.

I liked the way the romance between Bastian and Raine developed. It started with lust on his part and just curiosity on hers, and gradually developed into something more.

This book was going for 5 stars but the final part took my rating one star down. Sebastian and Raine had the same discussions over and over again - his insecurities and self-depreciation and her assurance and unconditional love and devotion. There was no real moving forward in the relationship. I also did not like how overprotective and possessive Sebastian became. There was a particular incident on the island which I feel was not handled the right way, his reaction to it in particular was totally unacceptable.

The final part of the book, especially after the rescue is my least favourite. I did not like the way both Sebastian and Raine acted. It seemed to me that they used (public!) sex to reassure each other of their feelings. They acted like different people from the ones I came to care about in the book so far.

The ending is great, though. It is not a cliffhanger but it does leave you craving the next book which sadly for us will be released some time next year.

Despite the some weaknesses, I really enjoyed this book. It is one of my favourite reads of this year so far. I liked the author's style and the whole mix of adventure and romance so much that I decided to check her other works as well. So, up on my TBR list is Otherwise Alone (Evan Arden Trilogy, #1) and Otherwise Occupied (Evan Arden Trilogy, #1).

14. Tell us your deal breakers!

I interpret this in two ways - general themes/characteristics of book that will stop me from picking up the particular book, and on the other hand - things in a book I am already reading which will make me put it in the DNF pile.

So, here we go with the deal breakers stopping me to pick a book. I generally read all genres, but still there are certain things which I avoid. Stories about vampires and werewolves are not my cup of tea, even though I sometimes I read paranormal romances. Out of contemporary fiction I shy away from erotica and BDSM in particular, stories of CEOs and billionaires meeting innocent (virgin) and naive girl also put me off.

Now, about books that I have already started - I dislike love triangles and cheating, especially when the author condones it is a big no-no for me. I am not a fan of stories with secret (hidden) baby and I really hate it when the characters love each other but keep dating other people because they don't think the other person loves them or they see themselves unworthy of this love. I don't enjoy such stories, but more often than not, I finish the book, just to see the ending.

The real deal breakers that make a book DNF for me have to be flat and unrealistic characters that get on my nerves and unjustified plot developments that come out of the blue. If the story is engaging enough I may skim through to the end, but generally I give up if I can't connect with the characters. Time is too precious to waste it on bad books when there are some many good/wonderful/amazing ones waiting for me to read them.

There was an interesting iconographic recently on Goodreads on the Psychology of Abandonment (why reader do not finish some books). Are some of your deal breaker mentioned there?

The challenge set by Good Books & Good Wine continues with task 13:

This is a tough one, I have read some books that I feel are underappreciated, yet I don't think everyone should read them. I would rather recommend different books to different people depending on their tastes.

One book which I think is definitely not appreciated enough is Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser. It is YA novel that every adult/parent should read. It is not a light read, it is very raw and painful, but it is very well written with strong, complex characters and it sends a powerful message against abuse/bullying or any form of violence. 

On a lighter note, I would like to make another recommendation. This is one is for the lovers of contemporary romance with a quirky sense of humour - Neanderthal Seeks Human: A Smart Romance by Penny Reid (my review). I am not sure it can be classified as underrated but it is a debut novel for Ms Reid and a very successful one, so I am spreading the word: if you are in the mood for a fun romance, I strongly suggest to try this one.

I am joining Day 11 of the 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge set by Good Books Good Wine and today's topic is: Show off 5 of your best blog posts!

I have been blogging about books for almost 6 months now and I don't have that many post as compared to some more established and long standing blogger, but I do have my favourites. 

1. My review of Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid - It was one of the first reviews that I published on the blog and since then I have improved the posting format of my reviews but still I love this one for a number of reasons. I really enjoyed the book and was happy to review it. It turned out my review was the first one in the blogosphere, so I am proud of that. What's more, Penny Reid commented on it, she was the first author to do this, so it made me extremely happy.

2. My review of The Davina Code by Janet Elizabeth Henderson - I love this post for very much the same reasons as the first one. I came across this book by chance (it was recommended in GR group I follow, then I requested a copy to review from another GR group) and really enjoyed it. It was a discovery of a new favourite author :)

3. Teaser Tuesday 01 - I like the Teaser Tuesday meme and I participate regularly in it. It is great fun and a way to make friends with other bloggers and to discover new books. I have changed the posting format over time but my favourite post is the very fist one I did. It was dedicated to a quote about Barrons from Faefever by Karen Marie Moning. This was my introduction into the genre of urban fantasy and the Fever series quickly became a favourite of mine. 

5. Teaser Tuesday 14 - This is one of my latest teasers. It is from Left Drowing by Jessica Park. I loved the book (my review) and I like the new format of the teaser posts I started using. I published both covers US and UK because I love the UK one and the US is the one published on GR.

5. Monthly Blog Recap for June - This is a feature which I started recently. I have done only two monthly blog recaps (April and June, I missed May) but I think they are shaping rather nicely. Most bloggers do weekly wrap-ups but I don't post that much and decided to do it on a monthly basis. I am still working on the posting format but I am happy with the way the June recap looks. I am thinking of including Best reads and Greatest disappointment of the month in the recaps but still haven't not decided how to do it. 

Author's links:

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Pinterest

Here I go again, taking part in Day 10 of the 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge set by Good Books Good Wine. Due to lack of enough time I participate only on some of the days of this challenge (Day 5, Day 8). Today's question is: How do you choose what to read next? 

As most of my fellow book bloggers I have a huge TBR list that keeps getting bigger and bigger so I am never short of future reads. I also regularly stalk AMZ and other retailers for sales and free books to add to my collection. With so many books to read I decide which will be next mostly depending on my mood - sometimes I want to read YA, other times I prefer NA/Adult books, sometimes I like to stay in the here and now of contemporary novels, other times I prefer to lose myself in the world of fantasy and science fiction. 

Having this in mind, new books in much loved series generally take precedence. I put other books on hold when a long and eagerly awaited sequel is released. That said, lately I am getting tired of authors' splitting one story in multiple books, so I either wait for the whole series to be released, or I am sad to say, I just give up on certain series/authors. 

If you feel like commenting, just do it and I will get back to you :)

I received an ARC of this book from Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books via NetGalley.

Ten years ago, Audrey MacLaren chose to marry her human lover, making her an exile from the Dragon Kings, an ancient race of demons once worshiped as earthly gods. Audrey and her husband managed to conceive, and their son is the first natural-born Dragon King in a generation—which makes him irresistible to the sadistic scientist whose mafia-funded technology allows demon procreation. In the year since her husband was murdered, Audrey and her little boy have endured hideous experiments.
Shackled with a collar and bound for life, Leto Garnis is a Cage warrior. Only through combat can Dragon Kings earn the privilege of conceiving children. Leto uses his superhuman speed and reflexes to secure the right for his two sisters to start families. After torture reveals Audrey’s astonishing pyrokenesis, she is sent to fight in the Cages. If she survives a year, she will be reunited with her son. Leto is charged with her training. Initially, he has no sympathy for her plight. But if natural conception is possible, what has he been fighting for? As enemies, sparring partners, lovers, and eventual allies, Leto and Audrey learn that in a violent underground world, love is the only prize worth winning.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

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

• Be careful not the include spoilers!

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

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

This weeks teaser is from Girl with Guitar by Causey Quinn which I read over just one day last week (my review on GR). I won this book in a giveaway I entered and was excited to read it. It was a cute romantic read about an innocent girl determined to follow her dreams and bad boy country music star. It is a debut novel for Ms Quinn and it will be followed by a sequel later continuing the story of Kylie and Trace later this year.



Girl with Guitar by Caisey Quinn

I love this challenge (it is hosted by Good Books Good Wine) but I cannot join in on all days, so after my participation on Day 5 with a tear jerker recommendation, here I am again on Day 8 with a short list of the things I like in blogs: 

I managed to come up with only 10 bullets but I believe they pretty much cover everything I love in blogs. Feel free to comment on any point from my least and I will make sure to reply and check your blog.

Here are the new releases that I am looking forward to this week. We start with two books on Monday. First is Necessary Sacrifices which is the sequel of The Torturer's Daughter (my review). I read and reviewed book 1 in the series as Read It and Reap topic of the GR group Shut Up and Read. It is YA dystopia and I enjoyed it so now I am curious how things will continue in book 2.

The other new release on Monday, 15 July is Frigid by J. Lynn. This was a pleasant surprise since the book was initially scheduled to be released on July 30. J. Lynn is the pseudonym of Jennifer Armentrout under which she publishes her New Adult / Adult works. I have read and enjoyed Tempting the Best Man and Tempting the Player (my review), as well as Wait for You, so I expect Frigid to be just as fun. 

The third book release for this week is Left Drowning by Jessica Park. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy of this book and absolutely loved it. It is one of the best reads for me this year so far so I strongly recommend it. 

So, I saw this challenge on The Feminist Fairy Tale Reviews and decided to join in. It is a 15 day book blogger challenge started by Good Books Good Wine where bloggers have post about a specific topic/question for the day. Today is day 5 and the task is to recommend a tear jerker, so here we go:

The book that made me cry my eyes out all through reading it and I mean not just shedding a tear or two a couple of times, but really crying big fat ugly tears the whole time I was reading it is Where She Went by Gayle Forman. It is the sequel to If I Stay and even though the first dealt with some tragic events - death, waking up after being in coma, for the second book telling the story of the aftermath of these events, was much more emotional. In Where She Went Ms Forman created a haunting tale of loss, fate and second chances. She achieved something rarely done well in novels, a female writer creating a strong, authentic male voice. I have three words to say about Adam - I Love Adam!

If you are a looking for a contemporary story of love and redemption, and if you are ready to have your heart shred to pieces on the road to a happily ever after, I strongly recommend that you read the story of Mia and Adam in If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman. Btw, If I Stay is currently in the process of being made into a movie which I am really excited about. 

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future-and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.