I have decided to participate in a weekly bookish meme, called Teaser Tuesday. It is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. I learned about it from my friend Nix at Unraveling Words. 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 TO 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 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 This Girl by Colleen Hoover. This is the third and final book in the Slammed series (Slammed and Point of Retreat). This series tells a beautiful YA/NA story about love and suffering, growing up and taking responsibility. This Girl offers the story of Will and Lake we already know from book 1 and 2 from Will's POV.

"I walk away, fully aware of the fact that the forehead kiss was probably crossing the line, However, the fact that she slept in my bed last night has already muddled the waters. The line isn't so black and white anymore. I'm pretty sure gray just became my new favorite color."

This Girl by Colleen Hoover


You can also check my review of This Girl on the blog.

Here just one new release for me this week - Samantha Young's Down London Road. I liked a lot the first book in this series, On Dublin Street, and from the excerpts of Down London road which Ms Young has published on her website, I will have to say that her second book in the series seems to be as good as the first. 

May 7

Down London Road (On Dublin Street 2)

Samantha Young

Romance

What books are you looking forward to this week? 

This Girl is the third and final book of the Slammed series by Colleen Hoover. I read the first two books, Slammed and Point of Retreat and enjoyed them, so it was natural to go for the grand finale of the series. I have not written reviews of Slammed and Point of Retreat, but I rated them with 3 stars on Goodreads even though I liked the first one a little bit more. 

This Girl tells the story of Will and Lake which we already know, but this time we see how things happened  from Will's POV. I was a bit worried how it would feel to read an already familiar story but ultimately I have to say I enjoyed it as much as the other two books. Still, I find it rarely justified to repeat things we already know. Ms Hoover, however, managed to pull it off by adding the whole now (honeymoon) aspect with new events and emotions.

The whole story is tightly condensed in honeymoon weekend where Will tells Lake his version of their story. I find it believable that he has not shared all his thoughts and emotions, despite the fact that they have been together for two years now. Yet, at times it seemed over the top and could not really see how they never discussed some of the issues before. 

This book is all about Will. I really liked his voice. He was the same sweet and loving guy we already know, desperately trying to do the right thing in a very though situation. At times he sounded really mature (I guess, life forced him to be this way), at other times, he was just like any other 21 year-old boy in love with a girl.

I also enjoyed the slam poetry which was strongly present in this book, in very much the same way as it was in Slammed (it is one of the things I liked best about it). It is a big part of Will's life and its presence felt natural and convincing. It was through slam poems that both Will and Lake expressed themselves best and I really liked how strong and emotional these poems were.

What I liked most in this book was the happy end which Ms Hoover gave to Will and Lake after all the loss and suffering they had to endure. The epilogue was heart-warming and it completed the story in the best possible way - with a slam poem. 

My main concern with this book remains the familiarity of the story. Reading This Girl felt like reliving the ups and downs of the characters all over again - it was bitter sweet. Still, I missed the excitement of not knowing what will happen next. 

Having said that, I would highly recommend this book to any one who has already started the series. It is  a beautiful completion of a heart-warming love story. For those who still haven't started the Slammed series, go, check it out and share what you think of it. 

And before I go I just want to mention the next series of Ms Hoover - Hopeless. I already read it and really liked it. The second one, Losing Hope (again the guy's POV, though it is not really the same story) is coming out on 9 July 2013. 

Author's links: Website / Facebook / Goodreads

I was provided with an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley. 

One of my favourite YA dystopian series is Legend by Marie Lu. I absolutely loved both Legend and Prodigy and now I can't wait for the final instalment of the series, Champion. The initial information was the the third book will be released some time in 2014 which is really far away for a fan like me. You can imagine how happy and excited was I a few days ago when I learned that Champion is actually coming out on 5 November 2013! 

In a sweet but short interview for Entertainment Weekly Ms Lu revealed not only the release date of Champion but also its cover. I have to say that I personally really like the covers both of Legend and Prodigy, but I think that the cover of Champion is simply amazing. In her interview Ms Lu also shared the basics the plot of the new book, as well as some exciting news about making the series into a movie. I honestly don't know what I am most excited about, the release date, the cover, the story development or the movie news. All of them together make some very, very happy news for the Legend fans!

If you have not yet read this series and you are curious about, you can check my review of Prodigy. 

I am staring a new feature today. At the beginning of every month I will be doing a Blog Recap of the previous month. Some other book blogs that I am following do a similar feature every week, on Sunday, but since I do not publish that often, I decided it will be better to do it once a month. Bear with me while I hope to make this an successful and interesting element of my blog. 

Here we go. 

April Blog Recap

I wrote a total of 20 posts. I have started two features- Teaser Tuesday and New Releases This Week

Teaser Tuesday 01 - Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Teaser Tuesday 02 - Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid

Teaser Tuesday 03 - While It Lasts by Abbi Glines

Teaser Tuesday 04 - Broken at Love by Lyla Payne 

Teaser Tuesday 05 - The Davina Code by Janet Elizabeth Henderson

New Releases This Week - 1, 2, 3, 4

I reviewed 5 books:

Neanderthal Seeks Human: A Smart Romance - romance, chick-lit

Music of the Heart - romance, musicians

The Torturer's Daughter - Young adult, dystopia

The Davina Code - romance, chick-lit

Broken at Love - New adult, romance, college

I also participated in: the cover reveal of Nicole Williams' Lost and Found, published some news on Samantha Young's Club 39, a note of KMM's Fever Series, special post on the occasion of Abbi Glines' birthday and update on Jessica Sorensen's Coincidence Series.

It has been a busy month with a lot of exciting new beginnings. Thank you for your support!