The Reading Hideaway

Title: Better Off Friends Author: Elizabeth Eulberg Publisher: Point Rating: 5 Synopsis (via Goodreads): For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way. Eventually they realize they're best friends — which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won't ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can't help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated? From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just ...

Title: Shadows Author: Ilsa J. Bick Publisher: Egmont USA Rating: 2 Synopsis (via Goodreads): The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive. Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she'd come to love. But she was wrong. Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don't trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive. Welcome to Shadows , the second book in the haunting apocalyptic Ashes Trilogy: where no one is safe and humans may be the worst of the monsters. Review: Just a heads up that this one contains, yet again, spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.  I was determined to read Shadows after I finished Ashes , but now I don't know if I want to get a copy of Monsters to even finish the t...

I feel pretty special saying that I knew Aprille Legacy via Goodreads before she became published, but I feel even more honored to be able to feature her on my blog! I'm sure this won't be the last time, either. (: So, without further ado: Miss Aprille Legacy, author of Soul Fire and Soul Blaze (released on March 29th). Why the change in cover images for Soul Fire and Soul Blaze ? I decided to change the covers to make them more eye-catching. Also, it was a lot of fun bringing the images together! I’m actually on the cover of Soul Fire and cringe everytime I remember, but the model for Soul Blaze is the beautiful Skye Foster. We had a lot of fun with that sword out in the Adelaide Hills! Do you plan on publishing any other books besides those in the Soul Fire trilogy? Absolutely! Ruthless , my Victorian Steampunk, will probably come out later this year, and then after that I have another series cooking away in my head. Who is a character you would be in one of your ...

Just last Tuesday, Elizabeth Eulberg's fifth novel, Better Off Friends , was released. Me, being a big fan of Elizabeth, had to get myself a copy. What do you know? She was coming back home for another book signing. After Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality was released last year, she had a book signing in Wisconsin. Know who missed it? Me. I don't remember the reason, but there was no way I was missing another signing. No way. So, Kayleigh and I went to see her again together. We got another picture with Elizabeth. She was relieved to find out she would more than likely see us again at her next book signing since we'll still be in high school next year. (It's safe to say that we are the biggest Elizabeth Eulberg fans. What's not to love about her?) =) Last year, when I couldn't go to the signing, my mom went for me to get my copy of Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality signed and Elizabeth gave her extra bookmarks to be included in a g...

Title: Ashes Author: Ilsa J. Bick Publisher: Egmont USA Rating: 4 Synopsis (via Goodreads): It could happen tomorrow . . . An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, wiping out every computerized system, and killing billions. Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom—a young soldier—and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP. For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it’s now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human. Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling post-apocalyptic novel about a world that could become ours at any moment, where those left standing must learn what it means not just to survive, but to live amidst the devastation. Review: Just a heads up that this one contains spoilers. Reader discretion is advised...

Title: Sia Author: Josh Grayson Publisher: Self-Published Rating: 4 Synopsis (via Goodreads):  When seventeen-year-old Sia wakes up on a park bench, she has no idea who or where she is. Yet after a week of being homeless, she’s reunited with her family. At school, she’s powerful and popular. At home, she’s wealthy beyond her dreams. But she quickly realizes her perfect life is a lie. Her family is falling apart and her friends are snobby, cruel and plastic. Worse yet, she discovers she was the cruelest one. Mortified by her past, she embarks on a journey of redemption and falls for Kyle, the “geek” she once tormented. Yet all the time she wonders if, when her memories return, she’ll become the bully she was before…and if she’ll lose Kyle. Review: The action in Sia started from the very first page and kept my attention until the end. Waking up on a park bench with no recollection of her memory, Sia has no idea where to go or what to do. The fact that a seventeen-year...

Title: Orenda Author: Ruth Silver Expected Publication: Spring 2014 Publisher: Patchwork Press Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy Cover Design: Erica Crouch Synopsis (via Goodreads): Lil has a gift, one she never thought possible as she finds herself awake after a strange dream with the tell-tale sign that what she dreamt was in fact real. The dreamscape, was more than just a premonition it happened. She’d been momentarily tossed into another dimension. Where most would consider her crazy, not her best friend Bray. In another reality, one similar and yet slightly different Willow has been kidnapped by the sorceress turned demon, Eilith. Rawlie, Willow’s friend and companion crosses to our universe for help and brings Lil into his world. Filled with frightening creatures and magical elements, Lil demands to go home, until she discovers Bray has been taken by Eilith as well. Unable to watch her best friend die, she joins forces with Rawlie, Jamie and the others to hunt down Eil...