Review: Hooked - Liz Fichera

Title: Hooked

Author: Liz Fichera

Release Date: January 29th 2013

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

Pages: 368

Source: For review

Get hooked on a girl named Fred...HE said: Fred Oday is a girl? Why is a girl taking my best friends spot on the boy's varsity golf team?

SHE said: Can I seriously do this? Can I join the boys' team? Everyone will hate me - especially Ryan Berenger.

HE said: Coach expects me to partner with Fred on the green? That is crazy bad. Fred's got to go - especially now that I can't get her out of my head. So not happening.

SHE said: Ryan can be nice, when he's not being a jerk. Like the time he carried my golf bag. But the girl from the rez and the spoiled rich boy from the suburbs? So not happening.

But there's no denying that things are happening as the girl with the killer swing takes on the boy with the killer smile...

 Eeeep! I love this book so much! When I got approved by Netgalley I couldn't help jumping up and down! And now that I've read it, I can say it's one of my favourites I've read this year and that you all should buy this when it comes out 2013 next month! It's like Perfect Chemistry (one of my fave books ever!) and Catching Jordan and golf!

Fred is one of the best protagonist ever. She (yes, SHE) is just one of those people who you'd love to be friends with - she's loyal, real (as in, not one of those fake popular barbies), and smart. I love how much she cares for her family, even though they've got problems. And Ryan is one of the swooniest heroes I've read about. Yes, he's a spoiled rich boy at the beginning, he really grows and develops as a really interesting and charming character. I loved Fred and Ryan's interactions - they're so realistic. Not to mention, their romance are one of the sweetest :)

You'd think that the "rich boy + poor girl falls in love story" will be so tiring and cliche but this book genuinely surprises me. I cared so  much about each and every character. And to be honest, my favourite romance reads are about two contrasting characters who hated each other at first but couldn't help falling in love.

The writing was awesome and really easy to get sucked into. This book has two dual POVs, from Ryan and Fred's POV and I admit, there were some bits that I had to check near the chapter beginning to find out who's the one narrating. So my only thing to make this better is to make the voices more distinct from each other.

GOLF! I don't know a thing about golf before reading. I now know a lot about golf. I love how Liz Fichera chose golf for this since there's already so many football and baseball YA stories and I think people will really like the golf sport aspect to this book.

Writing this review after weeks of reading it makes me want to re-read. This is one of those books that you'd want to hug and cuddle. Hmm, maybe I could learn how to play golf and get myself a Ryan too? ;)

Showcase Sunday (23)

 

 

Hosted by the lovely Books, Biscuits and Tea, the aim of Showcase Sunday is to highlight our newest books or book related swag and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops and downloaded onto e-readers each week.

BOUGHT:

 

Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

BEST BOOK OF 2012 for me. No words. Read my review HERE.

Radiant by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly #2.5 and from Angela and Clara's POV. Just have to say I'm Team Tucker.

The Edge of Never by J.A. Redsmerski

Reccomended by Jessica from Just A BookLover so :)

FOR REVIEW:

 

Hooked by Liz Fichera

Definitely one of the best books I've read this year. It's like a mix of Perfect Chemistry + Catching Joran + Golf. ;)

SWAG:

poster signed by THE COLLECTOR Victoria Scott and Dante Walker himself!

Woot! Thank you so much to author Victoria Scott and Dante Walker! ;) Look at Dante's message *SWOON* I still haven't put it up on my wall yet *sigh*

 

So, what did YOU guys get this week? Let me know what you think of my weekly haul and leave your links down below, I'll try to go and check them out! :)

You might also like:

The Collector - Victoria Scott Q&A Video!

Hey guys!

I was supposed to post this yesterday, but as usual I'm a fail, so I'm posting it today. *sigh*

Anyway, enjoy this video of the author of my most anticipated book of 2013 - Victoria Scott.

PEEPS. Don't forget that THE COLLECTOR now has a new release date (grrrrr!) which is 2nd April, 2013. I know that's like what, 3 weeks? but still. :/

And if you haven't already added it on Goodreads, please do! I know you want an excerpt and a new trailer approved by Dante himself. ADD IT HERE.

Review: Opal - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Opal (Lux #3)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release Date: December 11th 2012

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal/Sci-Fi

Pages: 452

Source: Bought (kindle and paperback)

MY FAVOURITE BOOK OF 2012

NOT BIG SPOILERS. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BOOK 1 AND BOOK 2.

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

 

Sigh. Guys, I decided not to do one of my   'normal' reviews and instead do a '20 reasons why' thingy. I just LOVE this book so much, I can't even write a proper review.

 

So here's 20 reasons why you should read OPAL: (not that you need a reason :P)

 

 

1. I’m gonna say this again and again and AGAIN. Jennifer L. Armentrout is one hell of a writer. There’s no secret that she’s my all time favourite author ever (well duh. Have you read my 2012 End of Year Book Survey and noticed how half of the answers were of JLA and Opal? Yep.) and God knows how she does it but every book of hers just keeps on getting better and better. Her awesome, addicting and tight writing is just WOW. If we’re like this with OPAL, we’re all going to be mindblown by the time this series ends.

2. The plot and story was action-packed, fast paced and holy god INTENSE. It was definitely more complex and we're thrown in immediately. And it's not just that, there's a lot of humour and funny moments thrown in there. So everyone's happy. :)

3. The characters are what make this LUX series one of my ultimate top series ever. I was dying to get back into their world and be with them again! I wanted to kiss some of them, hug some, slap some *coughAshcough* but overall, they provided the most entertaining and memorable cast I've ever read about.

4. KATY AND DAEMON. I can never ever ever get tired of reading about them. They’re definitely my favourite YA couple and I could continue reading about them always. Their relationship goes through many stuff, but their love for each other always had me grinning like an idiot J

5. DAEMON. Our favourite alien bad boy is back. And OMG. Isn't he the swooniest? If you didn't think so, after OPAL you most definitely will. We get to see many different sides to Daemon. Even more so than in ONYX. We get to see him vulnerable, protective, jealous (always my fave!), romantic, sweet and everything. He made me swoon 99%, but that doesn't mean he's not jerky or sarcastic anymore, because he still is. God, I want my own Daemon. Too bad my neighbour is 80 years old. Too badddd.

6. I just continue to love Katy more throughout this series. First, she's a book blogger. Then she's dating a hot alien. There's more, but that's all you need to know.

7. Dee! If you’ve read ONYX (well, you have read it, right??), then you must know that Dee won’t be the same ever again. She’s not the same Dee in OBSIDIAN or ONYX, but I appreciate how her character changes and continue to grow throughout this series. I admit, at the start of OPAL, I had very mixed feelings about her, but in the end I adored her again. There was this one scene when she was so kickass and I was like ‘You go, girl!’

8. Dawson! I feel so much for him! He was so sweet and charming and nice before, but obviously after the events that happened, he's not and won't ever be the same. I grew to love him, but not as much as Daemon :)

9. There's a certain character that needs their ass kicked. Preferably by Daemon. That should be enough to make you want to read it. :)

 

10. There’s a LOT of sexy, steamy scenes. Nuff said.

11. There's a lot of lines that I loved. Here's one of my favourites:

"Maybe because I never wanted Ash, and I wanted you from the first moment I saw you - and before you start, I know I had a bad way of showing it, but you know I wanted you. Only you."

12. And:

"You've got to understand that you are who I want. Not Ash. Not anyone else." Yes. So Ash, get the message, yeah?

13. I stayed up until 2am for this. It got delivered on my Kindle at about 12am and I just HAD to read a few chapters. Then woke up (on a Tuesday) to continue and after school, I practically raced home to finish this until the night. You should know I don’t do that to any other book. SPECIAL.

14. This book made me cry twice. That's good, right?

15. There's a prom scene! And a date scene! And a club scene! *swooon*

16. Umm. Have you seen the cover? His face. His eyes. His hair. His HANDS. Dear god, his hands. (Yeah, I kinda have a thing for hands.)

17. You'll find out if Daemon says the four letter word. Or not.

18. The ending. *CRIES* Dear god, the ending. It’s just…*cries some more* Completely torn me apart. It was tense, heartbreaking and suspenseful. Hell, I didn’t think I was evenbreathing. My head hurts. My heart still hurts after days of finishing it. You guys know I’m not an emotional person, I rarely cry with books, but THIS. I finished OPAL late in the night, and that scene had me bawling and crying into my damn pillows.

19. There’s a cliffhanger at the end of OPAL. But trust me, it’s all worth it. And even though I want to knock down Jennifer’s door and demand her to give me ORIGIN right now, I still loved it. I really couldn’t see the book ending other than what she has given us. J

20. Umm. Let’s see. What else should I say to persuade you to read OPAL? Well, other than the fact that it’s my Top Book of 2012? ;)

AND THAT'S IT. SIGH. I really wanna go talk to someone about this book. Have YOU read it?

 

2012 End of Year Book Survey

 

 

 

 

Hey guys! Here's my 2012 End of Year Book Survey. This survey was created by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner and this is the 3rd time. Obviously since my blog has only been a year, this is my 1st.

 

Keep in mind that all my answers are what I'm thinking about now. It may change. :)

 

ALSO. You may get tired of how many answers will be 'OPAL', 'JLA', and 'Daemon Black'. :)

Best In Books 2012

Best Books You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)
 

Pfft. This is effing easy. OPAL by my all time favourite author Jennifer L. Armentrout.
 

Breaking it down by genre: (because I’m cheeky)
 

Contemporary: Flawed by Kate Avelynn

Paranormal/supernatural/sci-fi: Opal by  Jennifer L. Armentrout

Dystopian: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Adult: Tempting The Player by who else? J. Lynn (Jennifer L. Armentrout

Historical: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris, Venom by Fiona Paul
 

Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?
 

Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I always didn’t read it because the writing style is so difficult to understand and I put it down after 20 pages. But then I got myself to pick it up again and I finished it. Wow. Only sucky thing is that the sequel sucks. Bad.

Oh, also Pantomime by Laura Lam. That book is a genius. :)
 

Book you recommended to people most in 2012?
 

Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I just say ‘bad boy’ and immediately people are interested. ;)
 

Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?
 

Oh man. There’s LOADS. Rachel Harris, Cindi Madsen, Sarah J. Maas, Wendy Higgins, Trish Doller. I’ll be here forever if I continue.
 

Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
 

Definitely FLAWED by Kate Avelynn. My heart still hurts. That book was so tense and shocking and dark. Most of the time I tend to stick to ‘light’, fun books, so this was SO out of my comfort zone.
 

Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?
 

OPAL by Jennifer L. Armentrout. BIG SURPRISE.
 

Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:
 

OPAL. Oh geez. Can’t we just stop and you all assume that every answer would be ‘OPAL’ or ‘JLA’?
 

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?
 

Can't just pick one. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor and Opal by JLA.
 

Most memorable character in 2012?
 

Can this be favourite, too? Easy. DAEMON BLACK. ;)

Clearly, my obsession should stop. Right?
 

Most beautifully written book read in 2012?
 

Ahh, too MANY! At the top of my head, I'd say Pantomime by Laura Lam.
 

Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?
 

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer. Why? Mostly because I wanted to kill the main characters, and bring back the love of my life. Oh, I wanted to throw my Kindle at the wall but then I remember it's my baby so.
 

On another note, Flawed by Kate Avelynn also had a massive impact on me. And Pantomime by Laura Lam. MIND BLOWN.
 

Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?
 

Harry Potter series? Yeah, please don’t kill me. Also, The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare.
 

Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?
 

My recent fave quote: "Love is such a wild and reckless creature. It cannot be planned or threaded. It cannot be controlled. Love is the only thing more powerful than Fate." Elixir, JLA.
 

Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
 

OPAL. Again. Oh, it definitely has a WTF moment, and lots and lots of steamy scenes. And an evil evil cliffhanger. Can we fast forward to July so I can read Origin?
 

Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).
 

O.M.G. Can you guess? Daemon and Katy from the Lux series. Honestly, I never get bored reading about our favourite Lux couple. I don’t mind reading about them ALWAYS.

 

Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2012 (optional)

New favorite book blog you discovered in 2012?
 

Sam’s blog at REALM OF FICTION. Her reviews, people. HER REVIEWS!!
 

Favorite review that you wrote in 2012?
 

Right now it's Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout? Hmm. Maybe. ;) It’s one of my favourites AND also my hardest review to write. THERE’S JUST NO WORDS.
 

Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?
 

Basically, any review by Sam from Realm of Fiction. Her reviews are always so brilliantly written, thought-provoking and makes you want the book NOW. I heart her, yet so jealous J
 

Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
 

Since no author ever go in England (or near my city), I don’t have any idea. I think all the events/twitter parties I participated in was so much fun.
 

Best moment of book blogging in 2012?
 

Umm. When I learned my Daemon Invasion team were runners up and our names were to be in the Dedications section in OPAL? BEST MOMENT EVER. Also, seeing all our names on my kindle and the paperback (which I’m waiting to arrive) would cause me to faint. No doubt.
 

Most Popular Post/Review This Year On Your Blog?
 

Most popular review is my ONYX review J Which I’m very happy about.
 

Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
 

Can I say every post? LOL. But seriously, I think I wish my WOW and Cover Reveals should get more love, don’t ya think?
 

Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
 

Yep! Actually, I’m very surprised that I completed all of my reading goals. Well, except the Read 2012 challenge since it’s not yet finished. But I completed my 2012 Debut reading challenge – Set Goal: 30. Read so far: 45. And my YA Contemporary Challenge – set goal: 20, read so far: 27. So I am quite pleased :D

Looking Ahead…

 

Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?
 

Not a fair question. Hehe. Just kidding. I’ve got tons. But from the top of my head, I have to say THE COLLECTOR by Victoria Scott, ORIGIN by Jennifer L. Armentrout, TALES OF TWO CENTURIES by Rachel Harris, APOLLYON and SENTINEL by Jennifer L. Armentrout,

Come on, you know a book by JLA would come up there.
 

One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?
 

Hmm. Nothing specific really. Just that I continue to at least post 3 times a week and most of them reviews. Apart from that, I hope I won’t ever abandon my blog or my books. :D They mean too much to me.

 



Phew. That's it, guys! Let me know what you think of my choices and if you have done the End of Year Book Survey, comment me the linky and I'll check it out! :)

 

Psst. My OPAL review will be posted tomorrow. Be ready people.

Cover Reveal and Giveaway: Hover - Melissa West

About HOVER (The Taking #2):

Book two in the heart-stopping new series by Melissa West. The follow-up to the acclaimed Gravity, Hover is another thrilling dystopian romance and is perfect for fans of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, Veronica Roth's Divergent, and Marie Lu's Legend.

August 6th 2012 from Entangled Teen

 

Pre-order Buy links:

Amazon-http://www.amazon.com/Hover-The-Taking-Melissa-West/dp/1620610930/

BN.com-No link yet

Chapters-http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Hover-Melissa-West/9781620610930-item.html

Book Depository- http://www.bookdepository.com/Hover-Melissa-West/9781620610930

 

 

 

 

 

Melissa’s links:

Website-http://www.melissawestauthor.com/

Blog-http://m-b-west.blogspot.com/

Twitter-https://twitter.com/MB_West

Facebook-http://www.facebook.com/MelissaWestAuthor

Goodreads-http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5287439.Melissa_West

My thoughts on cover: I LOVE THIS COVER SO MUCH. The colours, how sci-fi it looks! As you know, purple is my favourite colour and the fact that it's kinda purple/has a purple tint on it makes me very very happy! I thought the GRAVITY's cover was nice, but HOVER's is just breathtaking. Can't wait for more Jackson and Ari's story!!!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Melissa lives in a tiny suburb of Atlanta, GA with her husband and daughter. She pretends to like yoga, actually likes shoes, and could not live without coffee. Her writing heroes include greats like Jane Austen and Madeleine L'Engle.

She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and an M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. Yeah, her blood runs orange.

Represented by Louise Fury of L. Perkins Agency.

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2013 Debut Author Interview: Page Morgan

About the author of THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED!

Page Morgan has been intrigued by les grotesques ever since she came across an old, black-and-white photograph of a Notre Dame gargoyle keeping watch over the city of Paris. The gargoyle mythologies she went on to research fed her imagination, and she became inspired to piece together her own story and mythology for these complex stone figures. Page lives in New England with her husband and their three children.

THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED (The Dispossessed #1) by Page Morgan - debuting May 14th 2013 from Delacorte Books For Young Readers

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Fans of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series and Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy will devour The Beautiful and the Cursed, a wholly original interpretation of gargoyle lore.
It was bizarre and inexplicable, but after it happened no one spoke of it and Ingrid Waverly was forced to leave her life in London behind. She had to trade a world full of fancy dresses and society events for Paris with her mother and younger sister, Gabby.
In Paris there are no grand balls or glittering parties, and, disturbingly, the house her twin brother Grayson found for them isn't a house at all. It's an abbey. A creepy, old abbey with a roof lined in stone gargoyles that one could almost mistake for living, breathing creatures.
And Grayson is missing.
Yet no one seems to be concerned about Grayson's whereabouts save for Luc, a devastatingly handsome servant who has some secrets of his own.
There's one secret about the city that he can't keep hidden, though. There's a murderer on the loose. And every day Grayson is missing means that there's less of a chance he's alive.
Ingrid is sure her twin isn't dead--she can feel it deep in her soul--but she knows he's in grave danger, and that it's up to her and Gabby to find him before all hope is lost.
Only the path to him is more than she could ever imagine.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW with PAGE MORGAN!

1. Describe your book in 5 words.

 Gothic. Dark. Star crossed love. Blood. Gargoyles.

2. Your debut book THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED is slated for release in 2013. Is there anything more you can tell us about the series or characters? And what kind of research did you have to do for the story – do you have any interesting stories to tell?

Yes! May 2013. There will be two more novels in the series along with three short stories available in e-book format. Research is one of my favorite parts of writing. When I wrote the book, I hadn’t yet been to Paris, so I used a lot of online walking tours, photographs, first-hand documents—really, anything I could get my hands on. I loved researching the clothing my characters would be wearing, too. I wish we could still be wearing such elegant styles (minus the corsets, of course!).

 

3. Can you tell us about yourself and your publishing journey? How did you get started?

My publishing road has been very long and bumpy, but I never even considered giving up. There is nothing else I would rather do than write books and tell stories. I love writing. This is truly my dream job.

 

4. What is your favorite part about being a writer? Is it creating the characters or world? Is it being able to get lost in your imagination? Or is it something else?

I think it’s the complete freedom to create something that wasn’t there before. When I was growing up there was nothing more exciting to me than a blank piece of paper and a newly sharpened pencil. Now, I love creating a new Word document and filling in all that white space with whatever my imagination comes up with.

 

5. How did your main character/s come to life? What was the inspiration behind Ingrid Waverly?

When I first started writing, I had Ingrid as the sole POV, told in first person. That quickly changed as I realized the world and mythology I was building was much too big for one POV. So I ended up with four POVs told in third person. Ingrid is the main character still, but there is also Gabby, her younger sister; Luc, the mysterious servant who has some pretty big secrets of his own; and Grayson, Ingrid’s twin brother. It was surprisingly fun to jump between all these characters and give them all their own personalities and voices.

 

6. I'm a sucker for romance in my books, is there something you can tell us about the romance in THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED?

Well, it definitely has a strong romantic element! Ingrid and Gabby have their own tempestuous love lives to navigate. Gabby’s love interest, a demon hunter named Nolan, is especially fun to write: he’s a big, brawny and sarcastic Scot!

 

7. What made you decide to write a Young Adult book? And why gargoyles? (I think we needs some more gargoyles in YA!) :)

I pretty much live and breathe YA so it made sense to write it. And when it comes to the gargoyles…I don’t really know! They’re such ugly, creepy things in real life, and when I learned that they were actually symbols of protection, my imagination just took off.

 

8. Why did you chose Paris as the setting for your book? And have you been there?

It wasn’t really something I had to contemplate. The story just demanded it take place there, and with all the old churches and architecture to work with many of them including chimera/gargoyles, it felt like the right setting. I hadn’t been to Paris, though I did go recently to do some research. My main character, Ingrid, feels like a fish out of water when she arrives in the city and I think I could lend her that because I, myself, was completely ignorant about what Paris really had to offer.

 

9. As a reader, what is the most important to you, the characters or the plot? As a writer, is it different?

I can’t say one outweighs the other. As a writer, you have to have both things: plot can’t happen without character, and characters can’t develop without plot. The two really go hand-in-hand. I can say, however, that plot is always easier for me to write. Character building is where I am challenged as a writer.

 

10. I love the cover for THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED! Did you have any input on the cover? Did you imagined/expected it to look different? And how difficult was it for you to come up with a title for THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED? Is there any significant or deep meaning about the title and the cover?

Like most authors, I had very little input when it came to the title and the cover. My working title, Grotesque, ended up getting the axe! The cover changed multiple times, too. Delacorte was amazing though. Each time the cover changed they always asked me what my thoughts were and they actually implemented a few of them.

 

11. Aside from THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED coming out next year, what else can we expect from you? In 2013 and 2014? New books, new stuff?

With the second and third books in the series to write, along with some original short stories starring some of the side characters, my next few years are filled to the brim! I couldn’t be happier, though!
 

Thank you to author Page Morgan for this interview!! It just made me super excited for this book than before!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I AM DYING FOR THIS BOOK. Aren't you??

Add it on Goodreads then!