FEATURE: This Or That Tag

Thank you to Amy-Anne over at The Blog Hermit (Awkward Donkey) for tagging me for the This Or That post. This is my first time participating in one of these so I’m excited!

The rules:

1.      Answer the questions given to you

2.      Give the people you nominate the same questions

3.      Nominate three people

4.      Let the amazing three know that they've been tagged

So here we go!

Hair up or down?

Definitely DOWN! Even though I live in Miami, FL and it’s way too hot to have my hair down all the time, but it just looks so much prettier.

Dessert or fruit?

As much as I love fruit I’m going to go with DESSERT because hey, it’s delicious, right!?

Dress or shirt and sweatpants?

Shirt and sweatpants (or preferably jeans)! I actually HATE wearing dresses. They just don’t suit my figure at all!

One Direction or Jonas Brothers?

Ummm seriously? Hello!??! Me and the Jonas Brother’s go wayyyyy back!! So yea, I’m definitely a JoBro fan!!

Radio or iPod?

I have to say radio only because I have almost 2,000 songs on my iPod and I’m constantly skipping over things and listening to the same songs all the time. I love the variety the radio offers and that I can find new songs to adore!

Sleepover at your house or at a friend’s house?

Friend’s house! I live with my grandparents so there isn’t much fun to be had there…They’re old school and strict in that sense!

Cookies or apples?

Hmmm, let’s see…COOKIES!!!

Playing cards or painting?

I love games that I can play with other people (I’m a board game junkie!) so I have to go with playing cards!

In a board game, would you rather be a green or a white piece?

Green! Duh! That’s one of my favorite colors! Besides white is sooo boring…I swear I don’t own anything white!

So that’s it for me. Let’s keep the game going. I tag:

Jenn @ Book and Swoons

Ivana @ Bookish Teens

Joana @ Joana In The Sky With Books

COVER REVEAL: Forever Layla by Melissa Turner Lee

What if the woman you envied most is the person you are destined to become?

In 1994, high school senior David Foster was the lackey and soundboard geek for his best friends grunge band. During spring break, the band lands a dream gig playing at a motel in Myrtle Beach, SC. David expected all the girls to ogle the guys on stage, but when a beautiful blonde “Bond Girl” approaches him and calls him by name, he’s shocked to find out she knows more about him than a stranger should.

She even knows about his notebooks and his visions of time travel.

What she thought was a quick time-travel-sightseeing trip takes a surprising turn when she meets the young adult version of the man she’s heard stories about as a child. His fairy-tale romance with the woman he’d loved, Layla, inspired her to accept nothing less than a love just as strong…but hopefully not as tragic. When she won’t tell the younger version of him her name, he calls her Layla—and the world as she knows it changes forever.

About the author:

Melissa Turner Lee holds a BA in Communications with a concentration in Journalism from the University of South Carolina. She has studied fiction writing since 2008, attending various writing conferences and workshops, along with guidance from professional writing coaches. She resides in Spartanburg, SC with her husband and 3 sons.

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FEATURE: Waiting on Wednesday (#21)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Hi Swooners :-)

This week my "can't-wait-to-read" pre-publication selections are:

The Ring and  The Crown (Ring and Crown #1) by Melissa De La Cruz

Expected release date: April 1, 2014

Links: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Summary from Goodreads:

Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the Lily Throne, and Aelwyn Myrddn, bastard daughter of the Mage of England, grew up together. But who will rule, and who will serve?

Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second, Supreme Ruler of the Franco-British Empire. With the help of her Head Merlin, Emrys, Eleanor has maintained her stranglehold on the world’s only source of magic. She rules the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.

But even with the aid of Emry’s magic, Eleanor’s extended lifespan is nearing its end. The princess must marry and produce and heir or the Empire will be vulnerable to its greatest enemy, Prussia. The two kingdoms must unite to end the war, and the only solution is a match between Marie and Prince Leopold VII, heir to the Prussian throne. But Marie has always loved Gill, her childhood friend and soldier of the Queen’s Guard.

Together, Marie and Aelwyn, a powerful magician in her own right, come up with a plan. Aelwyn will take on Mari’s face, allowing the princess to escape with Gill and live the quiet life she’s always wanted. And Aelwyn will get what she’s always dreamed of—the chance to rule. But the court intrigue and hunger for power in Lenoran England run deeper than anyone could imagine. In the end, there is only one rule that matters in Eleanor’s court: trust no one.

Why I'm waiting:

I absolutely LOVE Melissa's writing and this synopsis sounds like a great read. Plus, reviews are in and people seem to be happy so that leaves me wanting it even more...I just can't wait to dive into this book!!!

REVIEW: Half Bad (Half Life #1) by Sally Green

Half Bad (Half Life #1) by Sally Green

Publication Date: March 25, 2014

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Source: ARC provided by publisher

Buy it at: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

*This book was received from the publisher, but it did not influence this review in any way *

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Half Bad by Sally Green is a breathtaking debut novel about one boy’s struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches.

You can’t read, can’t write, but you heal fast, even for a witch.

You get sick if you stay indoors after dark.

You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one.

You've been kept in a cage since you were fourteen.

All you've got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday.

Easy. 

My feelings about this book go from high to low throughout reading. I have to admit that initially I was not at all impressed with the story, but after a few chapters in, it started to become clear to me that this book would not be what I thought it would.

There were so many things that I actually loved about this book and then there a few that I didn’t. For instance, I loved that we got to see the type of person that Nathan is despite what is done to him and what people believe about him. I did not love the fact that he’s so horribly mistreated just because he is labeled something that has nothing to do with the type of person he is. Nathan, is a Half Code. Half White Witch from his mother and half Black Witch from his father. His father happens to be the most wanted Black Witch in the country. So for that, Nathan is treated terribly. That’s one thing that I just could not get over about this book, but it’s also something that I loved. It’s so sad to see someone mistreated for something that shouldn’t matter but I think it’s such an important message to read about. Nathan is hated and despised because he is half Black Witch, though he is actually a kind and gentle person. People assume that because he is mixed that he will be just like his father, but there is no real way of knowing this, and the things they do to Nathan throughout the story are only things that can, in the end, provoke him into becoming what they always assumed he would be: a Black Witch! I hate that Nathan was never given a chance to be anything other than what they thought he was. Even his own sister treated him horribly. She lied to him and tricked him and hated him. He was, however, fortunate enough to be loved by his other sister, brother, Grandmother, and a few friends he met along the way.

I did not like that his friends were “hurt.” I feel like the poor kid didn’t have anyone else and then to take away his friends was just too brutal for me. But again, these are all things that make for a good story. I wasn’t expecting a fluffy read when I picked up this book, but I also wasn’t expecting a harsh one either. All these events lead to a more emotional connection to Nathan, because after some of the “incidents” you really start to feel bad for him.

My only real peeve about this book is that there was pretty much no magic! I mean honestly, when you grab a book about witches and magic you expect there to be magic!

So overall, I wish that the author could’ve given Nathan a small break, just something to get him through, but I get why she had to do what she did. I also really, really, really wish that there was more magic in this book, so I’m hoping for the second installment the author decides to conjure up so serious magical mojo on her characters. 

FEATURE: Waiting on Wednesday (#20)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Hi Swooners :-)

This week my "can't-wait-to-read" pre-publication selections are:

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Expected release date: March 18, 2014

Links: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Summary from Goodreads:

What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying-only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?

When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs-however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settles, she goes into remission.

Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?

Why I'm waiting:

Well I can't deny that i've read some not-so-good reviews of this book, but i've also read a few good ones, so as of right now i'm keeping an open mind and waiting to see what this book will bring me.