Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Sentence Sneak Peek - Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories



The first sentence from each chapter of Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Read via NetGalley

“There were a lot of stories about Annalee Saperstein and why she came to Little Spindle, but Gracie’s favorite was the heat wave.”


“I don’t realize how early I am until I open the door.”


“On the last night of the Cinegore, the sky looked like it needed to call in sick, all yellow-green going dark around the edges like an infected cut, a summer storm heading in hard.”


“It was the first night of summer vacation when my friends M and L and I piled into J’s VW Bug and drove to Phases, the teen dance club deep in the San Fernando Valley, to escape sorrow and find the thing that we were looking for.”


“Marigold hated this time of year.”


“Maybe I’ve just been reading too much Charles Dickens recently, but today doesn’t seem dreary enough for a breakup, you know?”


“There must have been some kind of mistake,” I said.”


“Dear reader, I want to assure you that this is not a story about love or romance, regardless of what you may have read on the cover.”


“Audrey and I are lounging on the sandy banks of Foster Avenue Beach when she tells me she’s going to San Francisco.”


“It was a dark carnival.”


“When I spot him at the other end of the grocery aisle, I freeze.”

“It was August 4th, and I guess it already had been for a while.”

Thursday, May 26, 2016

My Favorite Quotes/Lines - The Shifter Romances the Writer

“Fiction was fiction for a reason.”

“I’m not a mass murderer or anything, I swear. I only kill fictional people.”

“Sexy handwriting. Which was totally a thing.”

“One woman’s boring is another one’s pleasure.”

“She believed in literally feeding the muse.”

“It was impossible to be sad in a hot tub eating pizza.”

“Even if they were just friends until the day they died, he’d savor that moment.”

“No, it was more than nice, it was like breathing again after being held under water for far too long.”

“Apparently, her body hadn’t gotten the message. Or didn’t want to.”

“I love the way libraries smell.”

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Review - The Shifter Romances the Writer

The Shifter Romances the Writer by Kristen Painter

* Rant/Spoilers highlighted like so :)

3 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes

This series continues to be a lot of fun. You find out about more intriguing characters in each book. Plus you find out more news about a character from a previous book that will definitely make you smile.

This time you get the story of Roxy and Alex. She's human and he's a panther shifter. You can tell right away where the conflict will be. I do like the way they meet and their chemistry is pretty good.

Seeing the town once again from a human perspective is interesting. The whole pace felt a bit fast and I would have liked more time for the conflict to gel. It was all over just a bit more neatly then I would have liked.

My rant = Why can't Roxy just be a human, the whole thing bothered me a bit since I'm pretty sure Alex was fine with it. It's a cool solution yes but just seems a bit easy. Plus the whole worrying about whether she was crazy too felt a bit wrong because do supernaturals just not have mental illnesses?

Overall these books are unputdownable and well worth reading.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Sentence Sneak Peek - The Shifter Romances the Writer


The first sentence from each chapter of The Shifter Romances the Writer, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

“Buying a home on her own was the most wonderful, frightening thing Roxy St. James had ever done.”

“Roxy loved her house.”

“You sure I’m not interrupting anything?”

“Roxy was about to head to her office with the intention of making some headway on the new book when she remembered the card Alex had brought over.”

“Alex had already reminded himself three times that lunch with Roxy was just his way of repaying her for the speeding ticket.

“Roxy felt lighter than air.”

“By the time Roxy got home, it was so late in the afternoon it was practically dinner time.”

“The lemonade was a great idea, because Roxy needed something to cool down the fire burning inside her.”

“Morning came sooner than Roxy would have liked, but she had too much to do to lounge around in bed.”

“Alex poured the last of the pancake batter onto the griddle as Diego walked into the kitchen.”

“Grocery shopping hadn’t been any big deal.”

“Alex pulled onto his street after a long but thankfully uneventful shift.”

“When Alex left Roxy’s, she was twenty minutes from meeting Delaney at the spa.”

“Alex woke to the ringing of his cell phone.”

“Alex looked up from his seat on the couch as Roxy walked out from her office.”

“Coffee?”

“Alex checked out Roxy’s house as he did every day on his way to work.”

“Alex finally got out of the shower, dried off, then threw on clean shorts and went back to the kitchen to apologize for being short with his mother.”

“Three hours later, Alex walked Roxy to her door.”

“Roxy was up early after the first decent night’s sleep she’d had in four days.”

“Roxy looked around at Delaney’s house with new eyes.”

“Roxy shook her head in amazement.”

“At a quarter after twelve, the size of the crowd already assembled in the bookstore was astonishing.”

“Roxy smiled up at the stars as she trailed her fingers through the water of Alex’s hot tub.”

“Nearly sixteen hours after leaving his house, Alex was home again.”

Monday, May 23, 2016

My Life as a Fictional Librarian - Lost and Found?

My Life as a Fictional Librarian

All was pretty normal until things started to get a little bit fictional. I know sounds like a tagline for a bad romantic comedy or action movie, but believe me this is no normal library.

I had of course heard of special libraries but this was a special squared kind of library.


Lost and Found?:

Today a girl came to pick up her red hoodie from our lost and found. Then things got a little weird. I turned around to pick it up and the box was gone. Then when I turned again I saw just the sleeve sticking out so I pulled and then I heard a growling sound. After dropping it, out from under the desk bounds what looks like a small wolf holding the hoodie... After screaming the girl just looked at me and said, “Don’t worry about Wolfy he just wants to play.”

That is why I now always skirt wide around the lost and found and just hope that nothing else goes wrong.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Weekend Read - The Shifter Romances the Writer

I love this series and am looking forward to this book. It’s always so much fun and you never know what’s going to happen next.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

My Favorite Quotes/Lines - The Hidden Oracle: The Trials of Apollo

The Hidden Oracle: The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

“Hoodlums punch my face
I would smite them if I could
Mortality blows”

“I visited my wrath upon Britney Spears at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.”

“Is anything sadder than the sound of a god hitting a pile of garbage bags?”

“Zeus needed someone to blame, so of course he’d picked the handsomest, most talented, most popular god in the pantheon: me.”

“I stood up straight, hoping Cade and Mikey would be intimidated by my regal bearing and divine beauty. (Surely those qualities could not be taken from me, no matter what my driver’s license photo looked like.)”

“She reminded me of the strays my sister was always adopting: dogs, panthers, homeless maidens, small dragons.”

“Immortal gods do not get acne. It is one of our inalienable rights.”

“It’s very irritating how quickly you mortals die.”

Seven-layer dip
Chocolate chip cookies in blue
I love this woman.”

“Sure it is,” Percy said. “Some of the best demigods have gotten their start by blowing up toilets.”

“It was lovely meeting you both. Please try not to die.”

“For a moment, I was too stunned to speak. And believe me, I have to be very stunned for that to happen.”

“This is a Catch-88, which is four times as bad.”

“Is your plan to avoid a fight by dying in a traffic accident?” I demanded.”

“Yep,” Percy agreed. “That pretty much describes my entire life: Because Poseidon.”

“I’ve seen men turn into snakes, ants turn into men, and otherwise rational people dance the macarena.”

Crotchkicker McCaffrey.”

“You simply can’t do much with a kiddie pool brain.”

“Nico, we need to have another talk about your people skills.”

“Will turned to me. “I apologize for my boyfriend.” Nico rolled his eyes. “Could you not—” “Would you prefer special guy?” Will asked. “Or significant other?” “Significant annoyance, in your case,” Nico grumbled.”

Will and Nico sat shoulder to shoulder, bantering good-naturedly. They were so cute together it made me feel desolate.”

“And vaya con queso… I believe he is admonishing us to go with cheese, which is always sound advice.”

“I couldn’t recall the last time someone had cared about me enough to curse my enemies with rhyming couplets.”

“Stupid brilliant inventors.”

“We’ll watch out for him,” Austin said. “We’re all he’s got now.

“I managed to master the arcane mysteries of the shower, the toilet, and the sink.”

“Oh, gods— bacon! I promised myself that once I achieved immortality again, I would assemble the Nine Muses and together we would create an ode, a hymnal to the power of bacon, which would move the heavens to tears and cause rapture across the universe. Bacon is good.”

“Oh, why does college have to happen to perfectly good people?”

“I’m too old to be sixteen again!”

“It was still evil, designed to kill. It was just a little subtler about its homicides now.”

“I had to find my children… my friends.”

“Never stop inventing, son of Hephaestus.”

“Not all monsters were three-ton reptiles with poisonous breath. Many wore human faces.”

“Could human brains explode from too many worrisome thoughts?”

“Plus I need a free hand for slapping when you act stupid.”

“But it’s a combat ukulele.”

“I often got sword fighting and tennis confused.”

“I grabbed the instrument, rolled onto my back, and belted out “Sweet Caroline.”

“Show yourself, you cowardly telemarketer!”

“I’d need a miracle. And as a god, I can tell you that those are never distributed lightly.”

“He’s talking to the flowers,” Nico noted. “Is that normal?”

“I turned my face to the sky. “If you want to punish me, Father, be my guest, but have the courage to hurt me directly, not my mortal companion. BE A MAN!”

“I’ve found that when one is searching for danger, it’s never hard to find.”

“I’ve learned that if you act like you are supposed to be somewhere, most people (or ants) will not confront you.”

“I don’t think she had expected to be rapped to today.”

“I am immortal on Wikipedia!”

“After all these centuries, Zephyros had accepted my apology.”
“I discovered I had some tears left after all.”

“But only the deadliest prophecies are couched in the form of a limerick.”

“Actually… I don’t need you to fight. I need you to lay down a beat.”

“You’re the best mama in the whole world,” I added, “and you look lovely today.”

“Good luck! I’m going to get the Lord of Darkness here some Gatorade!”

“I believe,” I said, “the Colossus sneezed his head off.”

“We only have one life, but we can choose what kind of story it’s going to be.”

“For that matter, I never anticipated Percy Jackson and Rachel Elizabeth Dare.”

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Review - The Hidden Oracle: The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan

The Hidden Oracle: The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan

5/5 gnomes


Holy carp, what an awesome book. I didn't think it was possible but Riordan's books continue to be both surprising and ridiculously fun reads. He's a master at making all of this mythology fascinating and making it feel like it's springing off the page.

This story includes characters from earlier books and they are incorporated beautifully. Plus you get a lot of questions answered that you might have had from the end of the previous series.

I don't think I've giggled so much while reading in a while. The humor is definitely on point here.

You'll find plenty of funny and be drawn to all of these characters. New/old characters doesn't matter, I felt really attached to all of them.

Having a mortal Apollo as the main character is a blast. This leads to a plethora of quotable quotes. The use of music is also pretty darn hilarious. The whole character arc so far is emotional/intriguing. I love that the story talks about his love life too and that he's loved plenty of women but also a lot of men too.

He meets a new demigod who's both complicated yet endearingly odd. Their relationship looks to be really important.

Apollo has a lot to learn about being human and slowly but surely he seems to be going in the right direction. Hopefully he lives long enough to learn many valuable lessons.

I can't wait for the next book because I have a feeling that this series is going to be an epic read.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Sentence Sneak Peek - The Hidden Oracle: The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan

The first sentence from each chapter of The Hidden Oracle: The Trials of Apollo, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Received from the publisher for review
* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

MY NAME IS APOLLO.

I HAD NOT BEEN STOMPED so badly since my guitar contest against Chuck Berry in 1957.”

AS WE TRUDGED up Madison Avenue, my mind swirled with questions: Why hadn’t Zeus given me a winter coat?”

ANOTHER THING I have never understood: How can you mortals live in such tiny places?”

SALLY JACKSON was a witch to rival Circe.”

MUCH TO MY DISAPPOINTMENT, the Jacksons did not have a spare bow or quiver to lend me.”

“NOSOI?”

I WILL NOT SAY my life passed before my eyes.”

I SIGHED WITH RELIEF.

I DREAMED I WAS DRIVING the sun chariot across the sky.”

MEG GAWKED.

I WAS NOT IN THE MOOD TO CELEBRATE.

IT WAS ALL HARLEY’S FAULT.

NO ONE KNEW WHAT TO MAKE OF MEG.

I WISHED I HAD A DOCTOR’S NOTE.

NOTE TO SELF: trying to reveal important information just before a three-legged death race is not a good idea.”

AT LEAST WE DID NOT LAND IN PERU.

HAD I EVER BEEN SO TERRIFIED?

THE ONLY BIOHAZARDS we encountered were vegan cupcakes.”

RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE was one of my favorite mortals.”

I WAS A DRAMATIC GOD.

SUN GODS ARE NOT GOOD at sleeping during the day, but somehow I managed a fitful nap.”

WAS I RECKLESS to rush toward such volatile nature gods?”

MYRMEKES SHOULD BE high on your list of monsters not to fight.”

I STUMBLED THROUGH the glade, shouting Meg’s name.”

MY HEAD WOUND MUST have tasted like Wagyu beef.”

“WAKE,” SAID A VOICE.

MEG THRASHED IN HER GOO CASE.

I HAD NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY to see a killing field.”

I HAD BEEN BETRAYED BEFORE.

MEG’S RESOLVE may have been wavering, but Peaches’s was not.”

OH, THIS PART IS DIFFICULT TO TELL.

THE TREES WERE using their inside voices.”

AUSTIN HAD FREED THE OTHER PRISONERS.

EVEN MY SUPERNATURAL POWERS of description fail me.”

SCATTERING WAS THE EASY PART.

I WAS TOO SURPRISED TO SPEAK.

THE PLAGUE SPREAD.

THE DEMIGODS HAD TO TAKE NUMBERS.