REVIEW: On Dublin Street by Samantha Young

Name: On Dublin Street

Author: Samantha Young

Publisher: NAL Trade (US)

Release Date: December 31, 2012 (first pub: August 31, 2012)

Pages: 336, Paperback

Source: For review via Netgalley

Rating: 5 Teacups

Jocelyn Butler has been hiding from her past for years. But all her secrets are about to be laid bare… Four years ago, Jocelyn left her tragic past behind in the States and started over in Scotland, burying her grief, ignoring her demons, and forging ahead without attachments. Her solitary life is working well—until she moves into a new apartment on Dublin Street where she meets a man who shakes her carefully guarded world to its core. Braden Carmichael is used to getting what he wants, and he’s determined to get Jocelyn into his bed. Knowing how skittish she is about entering a relationship, Braden proposes an arrangement that will satisfy their intense attraction without any strings attached. But after an intrigued Jocelyn accepts, she realizes that Braden won’t be satisfied with just mind-blowing passion. The stubborn Scotsman is intent on truly knowing her… down to the very soul.

[summary taken from Goodreads]

Jen's Review

Guys. GUYS. I'm a HUGE fan of Samantha now, I am going to seek out all of her books and READ THEM. Soon. I didn't think I would like On Dublin Street, since it's an Adult Contemporary Romance, and I don't usually go for those. But I've been following Samantha (not in the stalkerish way, mind you) for awhile now, and I knew she wrote YA. I had also heard way too many outstanding things for this one, so I decided to try it out.

AND I'M SO GLAD I DID (this is turning into an all-caps gushing review, just sayin'). I loved everything about this book--from the compassionate, relatable characters, to the scorching-hot sensual scenes. Not only that, but the plot was done very skillfully as well: it kept me up high on my toes. And may I add, I found my new favorite fictional male character of all time? Yes, Braden Carmichael, you are mine. MINE.

Starting off with the characters, oh goodness, the characters. There were so, so many wonderful characters in On Dublin Street! Not only were the main characters well-built, but so were the side characters, such as the Carmichael family! Everyone was so different and real to me, I was distressed when I finished the book. Jocelyn Butler, the main character, was the most genuine and sincere to me; her character grew so much throughout the entire novel, I couldn’t help but feel ALL THE FEELS. Her life as a child was so rough and emotional, it was--CRAY. It's amazing how real she felt. Ellie, Jocelyn's new house-mate, was a favorite character of mine as well. I loved her instantly, with her bubbly, adorable nature hopping around. I seriously would love it to have her as a best friend.

Last, but certainly not least of the characters, Braden Carmichael. This man gets his own paragraph! Guys, I CAN'T EVEN. I doubted him at first along with Jocelyn (no matter how sexy he was), because I pretty much just saw him as a douchebag player. He... Kind of was, until he met Jocelyn. And then, and then, I completely  fell. In. Love. With. Him. As the story progressed, I was able to learn how deep and emotional he really was, too. Sure, he's possessive, protective, and a bit intimidating, but he was also understanding, sympathetic, patient, and sexy, hehe. I could NOT have asked for a better male protagonist.

(Yeah, the romance was amazing. And the smexy-smexy scenes. I'm not even going to start talking about THAT. Just trust me on that.)

Finally, the plot was amazing. With Jocelyn's new hope to find herself in Scotland, her experience of meeting new, better people was extraordinary. The plot was addicting and I constantly needed to find out what would happen next. And the HUGE plot twist in the end! It totally threw me off, and just like Jocelyn, I totally didn't see it coming. I loved the unexpectedness of it all!

Overall, On Dublin Street has got it all--phenomenally well-developed and relatable characters, a panty-dropping romance, and an intensely addicting plot. On Dublin Street has landed a spot in my favorite books of all time!

5 Teacups for On Dublin Street!

*A HUGE thanks to NAL Trade & Netgalley for providing a review copy for me to review!*

Showcase Sunday #13: The EPIC Edition!

Showcase Sunday is hosted by the lovely Vicky over at Books, Biscuits, and Tea! It's a great way to share what you have received for the past week and to also gush over the wonderful books to other bloggers have added to their bookshelves!

So, Jen and I haven't done a Showcase Sunday in absolutely ages and we are super excited to show you all the wonderful books we've received since then!

Bev's New Books:

I've had a great month and this is probably one of my BEST hauls to date!

Apologies for the bad photo!

For review:

Professor Gargoyle and The Slither Sisters by Charles Gilman: Unsolicited review copies, not sure if I'll be reading them but might pick them up during exam time as they're quite short.

Easy by Tammara Webber:  OHMYGAWD!!!!!!  This book... NEED to read it now!  Loads of people said it was one of the best contemporaries of 2012 and I'm so glad it's now out in the UK!

The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines:  *Sighs with content*  Another delicious New Adult book for me to nosedive into!!! The publisher sent me the version with the Aussie cover and I must say I'm rather fond of it :)

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green:  Please excuse me for a moment so I can run around the house and scream with sheer JOY!!!  How many bloggers have told me to read this? LOTS  (You can all stop glaring at me!). I didn't have to think twice about saying YES YES YES to receiving a copy!  I'm so excited about this one and I will be reading it straight after the dreaded exams!

Speechless by Hannah Harrington:This just keeps getting better! I adored Saving June last year so let's hope this doesn't disappoint!

Beautiful Creatures Illustrated Movie Companion by Mark Cotta Vaz:  I was lucky enough to be entered into a draw for a review copy and I really enjoyed it, I want to go see the movie soon! Review to come!

*Thanks to Penguin, Hot Key Books, Harlequin Teen and Quirk Books*

Gifted:

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg:  Thanks to the lovely Nina @ Death, Books and Tea for this!

Various swag (some signed):  Thanks again to Nina!

Nobody But Us swag:  Many thanks to Kristin Halbrook for the signed bookmarks and stickers!

Catalogues (not shown in photo): Thank you to Chicken House and Simon & Schuster for sending me the catalogues for their upcoming books! Very excited for the coming months now!

E-books for review:

 

Dare You To by Katie McGarry:  Let me have another screaming OHMYGAWD moment, please.  I'm getting excited just writing up this post >.<  Katie McGarry!!!  I mean seriously, who WOULDN'T be squealing over this when Pushing the Limits was so PERFECT???

Geek Girl by Holly Smale: A book about a geeky girl?  Yes, please!!!  This book sounds so fun and quirky and absolutely adore the cover!

Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett:  Ahahaha, this one seems so hilarious!  Looking forward to it!

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa:  All you Kagawa fans out there can stop glaring at me for not reading one of her books!  I'm not sure I like the UK cover as much as the US one: where's the hot guy? :O

The Girl in the Wall by Daphne Benedis-Grab: A book about some rich kids in a difficult situation... Gimme!  Haven't seen this much around the blogosphere but I'm looking forward to it.

Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally:  Yay! My first book by Miranda!  Can't wait for this contemp, look out for the blog tour in March!

Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook:  This was for the blog tour, I've finished it and gladly forgotten about it.  It was unfortunately disappointing.  Look out for the review!

*Thanks to Netgalley, Edelweiss, HarlequinTeen, Sourcebooks, HarperCollins and FSB Associates*

Other Newbies on the Kindle:

Brightest Kind of Darkness by P.T. Michelle: Such a pretty cover!

Significance by Shelly Crane:  Very excited about this one!

Perilous by Tamara Hart Heiner: Sounds very thrilling indeed!

Indelible Love by D.W. Cee: Another freebie... who can resist a free book?

Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda: Couldn't resist this at 99p!  And it's about an Asian, books with Asians are hard to come by nowadays!

Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel:  This one sounds really intriguing!

UnEnchanted by Chanda Hahn:  A twist on a fairytale... Awesome!

Jen's New Books:

Don't judge. Just don't. We're all book nerds, right? And we all have that

 thing called a book-obtaining disorder? And because there are SO many books, I won't be posting all the covers.. but I'll still link all of them to Goodreads. :)

Borrowed (from Library and BookLending.com)

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

My Life in Black and White by Natasha Friend

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen

Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines

Down to You by M. Leighton

Ember by Jessica Sorensen

The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen

For Review (from Netgalley, Edelweiss, and ATOMR Book Tours,

and thank you, wonderful publishers!)

Wasteland by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan

Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley

Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

Incarnation by Emma Cornwall

Summerset Abbey by T.J. Brown

The Next Forever by Lisa Burstein

Notes from Ghost Town by Kate Ellison

The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

The Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg

Flight by Alyssa Rose Ivy

A Song For Julia by Charles Sheehan-Miles

Freebies (from Amazon, some may still be free!)

Lonely Souls by Karice Bolton

Become by Ali Cross

Scorched Skies by Samantha Young

Drip Drop Tear Drop by Samantha Young

Severed by Sarah Alderson

Witch Born by Amber Argyle

Between the Land and the Sea by Derrolyn Anderson

Stained by Ella James

The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton

Eternal Eden by Nicole Williams

The Devil's Metal by Karina Halle

The Dark House by Karina Halle

All Over You by Emily Snow

Won (thank you Jenn Renee!)

Sanctum by Sarah Fine

So that's it from us! WOW what a freak load! Link us up to your lovely new book hauls of the week, will you?

Happy reading,
Bev and Jen xx

REVIEW: The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable

Name: The Wolf Princess

Author: Cathryn Constable

Publisher: Chicken House

Release Date: October 4th 2012

Pages: 288, Paperback

Source: For review (from publisher)

Rating: 4 stars

Alone in the world, Sophie dreams of being someone special, but she could never have imagined this.
On a school trip to Russia, Sophie and her two friends find themselves on the wrong train. They are rescued by the beautiful Princess Anna Volkonskaya, who takes them to her winter palace and mesmerises them with stories of lost diamonds and a tragic past. But as night falls and wolves prowl, Sophie discovers more than dreams in the crumbling palace of secrets.

[summary taken from Goodreads]

Beverley's Review

The Wolf Princess is a beautiful, heart-warming tale of three British teenage girls who get whisked off to Russia in a whirlwind of secrets, diamonds and forgotten palaces.  It is a truly sparkling debut from a promising new British author for younger teens.

The setting of this book is what made it a truly magical experience.  There was always a rather dreamy atmosphere present in the pages and this was heightened when the three girls journey to Russia.  Cathryn Constable was generous with beautiful, entrancing descriptions of the country renowned for its palaces and plentiful snow.  Every time I picked up the book, I felt as if I had been transported to an entirely different world.

The characters were pretty average young teenagers but I think younger readers would find it easier to connect with them.  Sophie's selflessness was what really stood out and she would make a great role model for tweens.  Her best friends came in the form of Delphine, the beautiful, rich girl, and Marianne, the typical nerdy friend.

The plot itself was quite interesting and enchanting, and I loved reading about the history and learning about the wolves.  I also picked up a few Russian words (although my pronunciation must have been terrible!) and there was so much culture and magic from the pages.

The Wolf Princess is a truly captivating read, perfect to pick up beside a crackling fireplace.  Sometimes we all need a gentle reprieve from heavier YA books and The Wolf Princess is perfect if you want something to evoke childhood memories and the sense of innocence you always get from books like this.  Let Cathryn Constable whisk you away on a train through a cold, Russian winter night...

4 Teacups for The Wolf Princess

*Thanks to Chicken House for the book!*

Nobody But Us Blog Tour: Blurb and Excerpt!

Today, the Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook blog tour is stopping by.  Below, you will find a blurb and excerpt from the book.  Thank you to Shane at Itching For Books for hosting the tour. To see the full tour schedule, click HERE.

Blurb

Bonnie and Clyde meets IF I STAY in this addictively heart-wrenching story of two desperate teenagers on the run from their pasts.
They’re young. They’re in love. They’re on the run.
Zoe wants to save Will as much as Will wants to save Zoe. When Will turns eighteen, they decide to run away together. But they never expected their escape to be so fraught with danger....
When the whole world is after you, sometimes it seems like you can’t run fast enough.
Nobody But Us, told in alternating perspectives from Will and Zoe, is an unflinching novel, in turns heartbreaking and hopeful, about survival, choices, and love...and how having love doesn’t always mean that you get a happy ending. Described as “beautiful, heartbreaking, and exhilarating” by Kody Keplinger, author of The DUFF, Nobody But Us will prove irresistible to fans of Nina Lacour, Jenny Han, and Sara Zarr.

[summary taken from Goodreads]

Excerpt

ZOE

It's beautiful sleeping in his car.  I've never slept anywhere but in my own bed in my own room.  Unless you count the times I blacked out on the floor.  But I don't think of that as sleeping.

  It's not a deep, constant sleep, because even though my body wants to rest, my brain doesn't.  It wants to be awake with Will, watching what we're passing, looking back at what we're leaving behind. Feeling the touch of his hand on my neck, hearing his steady breath next to my ear.

  Sometimes my body wins, and I doze.  I dream about lying next to Will in ways we never have before, feeling the heat of embarrassment mixed with nervous longing as I sleep; but other times my brain wins and I wake drowsily and ignore the pounding in my head to play with the fairy song of my mom's chimes or to smile at Will and put my fingers on his cheek.  He's handsome to me, in his rough way.  I've always thought he was handsome, since the day he transferred to the home and, later, to my school.

  Being in the home gave him a ready-made group of people to hang out with   He spent that first day walking the halls with Charlie Harmon, who graduates this year and plans on going into the army, and Lexi Simon.  She's two years younger than Will but dropped out a couple of weeks ago when she found out she was pregnant.

  He commented on the bruise on my forehead that day, an unfamiliar voice floating out of a group crowded around a couple of lockers, and I tripped over my own feet.

I suppose everyone else in town was used to seeing them.  The dark marks I tried to cover with makeup.  I figured I had been doing a really good job  because nobody said anything when I showed up with some new disfigurement   But then this guy I'd never met before walks up and talks to me and he makes me doubt everything I thought I believed.

***

What do you think?  I hope that through this excerpt, some of Zoe's vulnerability has been conveyed and perhaps compelled you to pick up the book!

Happy reading,
Beverley

One Year Blogoversary Celebrations Wrap Up!

It's a wrap... This post concludes our One Year Blogoversary Celebrations!  I've had tremendous fun writing up all these posts and reading all your wonderful comments wishing us a Happy Blogoversary! It's been such an incredible journey and I would like to thank you again for your kindness and all-round awesomeness!  Your support is what kept me going XD And I can't leave the blogosphere now, can I? I'm already craving the two year blogoversary ;)  Here's to 2013 being even bigger and better than before for all of us *cheers*

And because we like to wrap things up, if you've missed all the posts, here they are in one handy, condensed list:

Kick Off + International Giveaway, in which I marvel at my own stats, hyperventilate and give away a copy of a YA book of your choice

My Blogging Journey + Highlights, in which I talk about my year of blogging, gradually move up the CRAZY scale and... transform into a wise Asian master (don't ask :P) 

Author + Publisher Thanks, in which I thank the authors who showed me so much kindness from the start and to the publishers who send me books, accept my requests etc.

Spreading the Blogger Love, in which I thank my wonderful blogging friends who are super amazing and supportive and friendly in every way!

Giveaway #2: Signed copy of Kiss, Date, Love, Hate by Luisa Plaja (INT)

Giveaway #3: Two Prize Packs from Templar Publishing (UK only)

Giveaway #4: Copy of Witch's Brew by Heidi R. Kling (INT)

Giveaway #5: YA Prize Pack from Simon & Schuster (UK only)

It's been such a fun-filled past two weeks and I still have the blogoversary 'afterglow'... Now to get on to revision in preparation for exams next month :(

Hope you guys are having a fabulous first month of the year!

Happy reading,

Beverley xxx

One Year Blogoversary Giveaway #5: Win a YA Prize Pack from Simon & Schuster!

GUYS, this is the giveaway concluding our Blogoversary Celebrations :'(  I hope you've had fun celebrating with us: we are very grateful of your company!  'We're here for the giveaway!  Get a move on, woman!' I hear you say... Without further ado, here it is: [click on covers to link to Goodreads]

An Epic YA Prize Pack Thoughtfully Put Together by Simon & Schuster:

Infinite Sky by CJ Flood

The Disappeared by CJ Harper

The Hanged Man Rises by Sarah Naughton

Carnaby by Cate Sampson

I am going to be so jealous of whoever wins this!  Infinite Sky and The Disappeared are two books I must remember to read this year!


Terms & Conditions:

- Fill in the Rafflecopter below - please don't leave personal details in the comments section (for your own safety)
- The giveaway is UK only
- You must be 13 or older to enter
- Neither the publisher or I are responsible for books damaged/lost in the post
- The only mandatory requirement is that you are a follower via Google Friend Connect (GFC)
- Other entries are optional but completing them could give you a better chance of winning :)
- Giveaway ends on 1st March 2013
- I will email the winner who must reply within 48 hours, otherwise the prize will go to someone else.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and don't forget to enter the other giveaways:

Two Prize Packs from Templar (UK only)

An e-copy of Witch's Brew by Heidi R. Kling (INT)

Signed copy of Kiss, Date Love, Hate by Luisa Plaja (INT)

Win a YA book of your choice (INT)

Happy reading,
Beverley

One Year Blogoversary Giveaway #4: Witch's Brew!

Hi everyone! I hope you all are having a lovely time celebrating A Reading Daydreamer's first birthday. To join in on the fun (giveaways), the lovely awesome people at Coliloquy have offered to give away an e-copy of Witch's Brew by Heidi R. Kling after I reviewed it for them. Click here to see my review! 

Witch's Brew
(The Spellspinners of Melas County #1)
by Heidi R. Kling
Published by Coliloquy, LLC

The Spellspinners of Melas County is a fantasy YA romance series about a witch, a warlock, and their fight for their forbidden but prophesied love.
Once soulmates, the witch and warlock covens of the California coast have been estranged for a century. Raised to hate each other, their teenagers meet in the Solstice Stones, a magical battleground where they draw energy from each other to maintain their balance. 16 year olds Logan and Lily have spent years training for their first Stones…only to discover just days before that the enemy may not be what either of them had thought.
In Witch’s Brew, Lily is torn between her feelings for Logan and her coven’s need to know who—or what—he is. The young lovers race against time, their distrust for each other, and the powerful influence of their elders to unravel the mystery of their pasts before their future is destroyed. 

THE GIVEAWAY RULES.

- The only mandatory requirement is that you are a follower via Google Friend Connect (GFC)

- Other entries are optional but completing them could give you a better chance of winning!

- The giveaway is INTERNATIONAL.

- I will email the winner who must reply within 48 hours, otherwise the prize will go to someone else :(

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy reading!
Jen xx

One Year Blogoversary Giveaway #3: Prize Packs from Templar (UK only)

For giveaway number three, Templar Publishing have very kindly offered TWO prize packs for two lucky UK winners!

[Click on the covers to link to Goodreads]

Prize Pack #1:

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
Me, Suzy P by Karen Saunders
VIII by H.M. Castor

I have read Sweet Venom and absolutely adored it (read my review HERE) and I am very much looking forward to reading Me, Suzy P and VIII.

Prize Pack #2:

Don't Call Me Ishmael series by Micahel Gerard Bauer

These books seem like such fun, hilarious reads!

Here's how it will work:  the winner will get to choose which prize pack they want and the runner-up gets the remaining pack!

Terms & Conditions:

- Fill in the Rafflecopter below - please don't leave personal details in the comments section (for your own safety)

- The giveaway is UK only

- You must be 13 or older to enter 

- Neither the publisher or I are responsible for books damaged/lost in the post

- The only mandatory requirement is that you are a follower via Google Friend Connect (GFC)

- Other entries are optional but completing them could give you a better chance of winning :)

- Giveaway ends on 1st March 2013

- I will email the winner who must reply within 48 hours, otherwise the prize will go to someone else.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and while you're here, have you enter these two blogoversary giveaways:

Signed copy of Kiss, Date Love, Hate by Luisa Plaja (INT)

Win a YA book of your choice (INT)

Happy reading,
Beverley xxx

One Year Blogoversary Giveaway #2: Win a SIGNED copy of Kiss, Date, Love, Hate by Luisa Plaja (INT)

Don't forget to enter the international blogoversary giveaway to win a YA book of YOUR choice!

Hi guys, I hope you had fun as much fun reading all the blogoversary-themed posts as I had writing them!  It's been such an incredible journey and your comments have made it so much more worthwhile.  To give you another big THANK YOU, Jen and I have a week of giveaways for you to enter: two are international and two are UK only.

To kick it all off, Luisa Plaja has kindly offered a SIGNED copy of her book Kiss, Date, Love, Hate as a prize!  Please note that the signed option is only for UK residents but don't worry, international followers, she has offered to send a copy via The Book Depository minus the autograph if you live outside the UK!

What if you could change your friends' lives and loves through the settings of a computer game...?
Lex Murphy's group of friends have all dated, hated, ignored and lusted after each other for the last few years. If only there was a way of matching people perfectly to avoid all the unrequited love, dumping and drama! Then Lex's friend George is given a mysterious Sims-like game by his software-testing dad which involves building character profiles in the categories of Life, Looks and Love. Lex and George populate the game with avatars for all their mates, making a few 'wishful thinking' adjustments to the settings - and find that the next day these tinkerings have come true! But how long can this new calm, loved-up atmosphere continue?

[summary taken from Goodreads]

Here are the rules:

- Fill in the Rafflecopter below - please don't leave personal details in the comments section (for your own safety)

- The giveaway is INTERNATIONAL 

- You must be 13 or older to enter 

- Neither Luisa or I are responsible for books damaged/lost in the post

- The only mandatory requirement is that you are a follower via Google Friend Connect (GFC)

- Other entries are optional but completing them could give you a better chance of winning :)

- Giveaway ends on 1st March 2013

- I will email the winner who must reply within 48 hours, otherwise the prize will go to someone else :(

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Happy reading,
Beverley xxx