Blog Hiatus.

It's time I made my break official. I won't be around for a while, I don't know how long really. I've just decided I needed a short hiatus from this blog. I'll be back soon though. I just feel like I don't have the time to dedicate more here.

I think I'll take a few days, or maybe even weeks off. I want to back by March to be honest. Stick around yeah? I'll be back soon.

Thank you to all my followers. I have reached 450, something I never thought I would. I am really happy to have this blog and I don't plan on giving it up.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all have a great one with your loved ones ♥

In My Mailbox 50

Library:
Vaclav and Lena by Haley Tanner
A Monster Calls by Patrick by Patrick Ness

For review:
Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

New Feature: Short Story Saturday | The French Maid by Sabrina Jeffries

Title: The French Maid
Author: Sabrina Jeffries
Pages: 30 (E-Book)
Source: iBooks (Free)

Summary: Lady Eleanor Langston has a problem: her husband Henry, prime-minister-in-the-making, is too caught up in his work to notice her. Despite her involvement in his various public appearances, she feels shut out of his life, especially with their one-year anniversary looming. When Henry hires a highly recommended French lady’s maid without consulting her, Eleanor’s anger can't be contained—until she meets her. With Babette’s help, Eleanor arms herself with the one weapon that will make Henry notice her as a woman—her inner siren.

Thoughts: The French Maid turned out to be a delightful short read that I am glad I decided to download. Babette, the French maid, is hired by Henry and instantly sets out to fix Eleanor up to win her husband over. Poor Eleanor has felt neglected the year of her marriage but has never had the courage to do too anything about it, while Henry has meant to interact with her more but makes more excuses than actual time to do so.

We don't really know exactly what Babette does to Eleanor but she is, what seems magically, changed and finally really noticed by her husband, who is usually too caught up with his work to pay much attention to her. A few troubles ensue between them in such few pages though, but I don't want to spoil the story, so I will leave you with that!

We don't learn too much about the characters because of the short length, which is disappointing a bit and Babette really remains a mystery throughout the whole story, leaving us wanting to learn more about her. It is definitely a cute romance about marriage though, that I was happy to read right before sleeping.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 
Buy the book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
About the author: Website

Author Event Recap: Megan Miranda | Reading & Signing

Last year I got a chance to go to quite a few author events and that made me happy. Earlier this year, I looked for a few events at my local Barnes & Noble and saw that Megan Miranda, author of Fracture was going to be there. I was really looking forward to this and since I hadn't read Fracture yet, I bought it also.

The boyfriend and I got there a little late and so Miranda was already talking to everyone. It was a quiet night and there was a smaller crowd than usual, so we still got an up close view of the author as she was talking. We didn't get to take too many pictures though, but I got at least two decent ones and a few with her as well.

She read a little chunk of Fracture and omg! it sounds so good. I haven't read it yet, but I am really looking forward to it. There was a signing afterwards and Megan is so nice! I know that I say that about all author's, but it's so true! She had bookmarks to hand out to fans so I was able to snag one.

There was a quick t-shirt raffle also, and I won! She signed my shirt and even though it is a Large and pretty big on me, I still plan to wear it. I was really glad that I got to meet her (and win a shirt.) I tweeted about having a giveaway for a signed copy of her book, but no one showed interest so I didn't grab a second copy for you guys. I totally should have, I know that now, but oh well!

Anyways, it was a simple and sweet event that I am glad I got to go to (even if I was late.)

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield

This sounds intriguing and mysterious, definitely my kind of book. The cover really creeps me
out because the legs are covered with dirt.

What are you waiting for this week? :)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine

Blog Tour: Review | First You Try Everything by Jane McCafferty

Title: First You Try Everything
Author: Jane McCafferty
Series: None
Publication: 01.17.2012 by HarperCollins Publishers
Source: TLC Book Tours
Challenges: None

Summary: An engrossing tale of a marriage that’s falling apart and a wife who will stop at nothing to keep it together.

From their early days in college, Evvie and Ben were drawn to each other by feelings of isolation stemming from their wounded childhoods, passionate idealism, and zeal for music. Sheltered by their love, they weathered the challenges and trials of the imperfect world around them. But as the years passed, they grew apart. Now Ben has his sights set on a completely different kind of future—alone, or with someone else.

Convinced that Ben cannot live without her, Evvie begins to unravel, as she obsessively devises ways to reclaim the love that she cannot let go of. She gambles on a spectacularly dangerous scheme, one that may ultimately have devastating consequences.

Jane McCafferty has written a highly original, utterly beguiling, and emotionally satisfying novel about marriage. Told from alternating viewpoints, this gripping, psychologically astute, and madcap novel illuminates the power of love to define and transform our lives, for better or for worse.

Thoughts: I'm always drawn to books about heartbreak and I guess I am some sort of masochist, because I enjoy reading books that I know will make me feel sad. I knew I wanted to read this when I first read the summary and I was easily pulled into Evvie and Ben's story because it is a bit strange but also because it felt familiar. I instantly connected with both characters and was absorbed with their pain, wanting to know more.

Evvie and Ben have been together for 16 years, but things have felt a bit wrong for both of them in the last few years. Evvie is a bizarre person, a free spirit that is afraid of the changes she sees and refuses to accept. Ben fell in love with her uniqueness, but after years of their eccentric lives, he gets a middle class job, wears a suit and tie, and slowly falls in love with someone else. Their marriage cannot last and Ben asks for a divorce. Evvie is brokenhearted, feeling lost without Ben. Her behavior gets a little insane and slightly obsessive as she makes every attempt to get Ben back. Ben tries to cut her out from his life feeling that she needs to accept that he no longer wants a life with her, but feeling guilty of the trouble she is going through. Evvie's insanity only grows, as does Ben's determination to keep her away, and eventually this results in an final conflict that gets a little out of control before it is resolved.

The story is told from both points of views, Ben and Evvie's, and we get to experience the turmoil and ache that they both are going through. Evvie is completely distressed that her marriage has ended, and we watch her struggle with her own insanity and her feelings as she tries to change what has happened. Ben, both guilty and sad, recalls his and Evvie's first days together, what drew him to her. We are able to see how slowly their marriage unraveled in a beautifully interweaving of emotions and memories from both of them and how sometimes, things just don't work out. From reading both points of views, I felt torn. I felt like I needed to choose a side, but couldn't because I felt for both characters. I sympathized with both, but felt frustrated at times with both of them as well.

The whole book is definitely an emotional rollercoaster that left me feeling sad and overwhelmed, both because of the way it was developed and how it ended. I definitely recommend this to others; it is a riveting and unusual story about obsessive love and a marriage that falls apart.

About the author:

Jane McCafferty is the author of the novel One Heart and two collections of stories, Thank You for the Music and Director of the World and Other Stories, which won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize. She is the recipient of an NEA award, the Great Lakes Colleges Association’s New Writers Award, and two Pushcart Prizes. She lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Page | Bio
But the book: Amazon

Blog Tour: Excerpt | Waitlisted by Laurel Gans

Title: Waitlisted
Series: None
Genre: Chick Lit
Publication: 10.04.2011 by Etopia Press
Pages: 203

Kacey Barlow had no idea it would be this hard to get into grad school. Her well-to-do family has been attending UI for generations, and admissions had been recruiting her since high school! She was a shoo-in—that is, until they gave her the boot.

She can’t tell her parents, and can’t stand the thought of her friends going off to grad school without her. Her grades are slipping. Her professors can’t remember her name, and her tutor, Taylor, won’t stop hitting on her when they’re supposed to be studying.

Okay, maybe that last one isn’t so bad. But it’s not going to help get her a seat in another school...and applications are due in two weeks...

Here is a short excerpt of the first chapter in Laurel Gans' Waitlisted. I will be posting my review of this in the near future and having a giveaway, so look out for that! Enjoy this little sneak peek :)

Chapter 1

Dear Professor Harper,

Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to microbiology lab today. My roommate was cooking (well, attempting to cook) when she set off the smoke detector. Now, our entire apartment smells of burnt grilled cheese and Febreze. We are attempting to get the smoke smell out of the carpet now so that we do not lose our deposit at the end of our lease. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,
Kacey Barlow

With a little imagination and a click of the send button I have my afternoon free. I sit up on my bed with my legs crossed, the heat of my little computer warming my lap. I can’t help but wonder if the e-mail I sent needed a little more detail to be convincing. Or, perhaps, it had too much detail for a simple get-out-of-lab-free pass. Either way, it is already in the in-box of my professor across campus and I am, most importantly, a senior who is already accepted into grad school. It’s going to be a good day!

I leave my laptop on the bed and stand up to stretch my arms and legs. I haven’t left my bed yet all morning. I couldn’t help it. You try getting out of bed when there is a marathon of The Nanny on. I grab my remote and give my television a break. It’s nearly noon, but I’m still in my plaid pajama pants and faded high school T-shirt.

I leave my room and go directly into the den. It’s not a huge apartment by any means, but for my roommate and me, it’s perfect. On the coffee table are breakfast dishes from yesterday and an unfinished game of Scrabble from the night before. Off the den is a small but functional kitchen. The table is buried under piles of science books covering everything from genetics to organic chemistry. I wish I could say the apartment isn’t usually like this but I can’t. I only lie to professors.

The laminate floor in the kitchen is starting to peel from years of use, and it’s pretty clear the electrical work is not nearly up to code, but I love the place just the same. It’s mine. Well, financially it’s my parents’, but they’re an hour away.

The apartment has an almost eerie silence to it. Not even our neighbor, Noisy Nick, is living up to his well-earned title. Contrary to my little note, I have the place all to myself. My roommate, Natalie, has physics lecture, and that girl does not miss a class. OK, one time she missed a biology lecture, but it was my fault. I had told her it was canceled. I was in the class too, and I had already e-mailed the professor telling him that our apartment had a roach problem, and we needed to wait for the exterminator.

I pop some frozen waffles into the toaster and sit at the kitchen table to wait for the “ding.” Deep within the pile of papers and textbooks, I can hear a low, steady hum. It pauses for a few seconds, then returns. My cell phone. I put it on vibrate last night while Natalie and I were watching a Lifetime movie about a woman having an affair with her brother-in-law who was a kleptomaniac with a drinking problem.

It was really good.

I dig through the mess in search of my tiny link to the outside world. I finally find it and pull it out of the turmoil. I look down at the screen. I don’t recognize the number but I know it is the campus prefix.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Is this Kacey?” a man’s voice answers back.

“Yes.”

My heart begins to pound. Please don’t let this be Professor Harper. I swear I’ll come to lab next week.

“This is Mark Boyd. Your academic advisor.”

My body relaxes. Screw next week’s lab! “Oh, hi! How are you?”

“Good, um, I need to speak with you about your academic record. Are you free this afternoon to come in?”

I sigh. There goes my afternoon off. “Sure. I can come in.”

“Great. I’ll see you in my office around two?”

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

So much for my free time. I put my phone down and turn to face the odd smell coming from behind me. Tiny waves of smoke grow from my toaster. I jump up and unplug the old machine from the wall. I drop my inedible breakfast into the garbage.

Those were my last two waffles!

The apartment begins to faintly smell of the undesirable odor of smoke. I reach into the pantry and pull out my greatest weapon, a bottle of Febreze. I can’t help but wonder if lies count as lies if they come true minutes later.

Buy the book: Amazon

The TBR Pile: February

Last month...well, I didn't do as great as I had hoped. It's okay though, I read some good books and now I am ready for more this month. I know this list is incredibly long (for me) and even though I know I can read this many books, I most likely won't. I will still try though! I can't believe it's February already! It seems like the year is going to fly by again. 

• Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne (started) [January Random Reads]
• Pride's Run by Cat Kalen (started)
• Everneath by Brodi Ashton
• Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake [The Paperbrick Wall]
• The Word Gang by Mark McKenna
• Happy Birthday to Me Again by Brian Rowe
• The Shadow (Borrowing Abby Grace, #1) by Kelly Green
• Waitlisted by Laurel Gans
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
• The Virgin Suicides by Jefferey Eugenides
• Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
• Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin
• What Happened to Hannah by Mary Kay McComas
• The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby [Random Reads] 
• The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry
• The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey
• The French Maid by Sabrina Jeffries
• The Glass Case by Kristin Hannah
• First You Try Everything by Jane McCafferty 

Previous months:

January

Random Reads: The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby

"Basically it’s a meme where we pick a random book from our shelf to read. I’m on Goodreads so I’m using a combination of the sorting feature and Random.org to pick the book I’m going to read."

Since this meme was mentioned in the first post, I was looking forward to it. I think it's a great and fun new way to pick at least one of the books on my TBR list each month. I am always adding more books, but the list never seems to decrease. So I decided to give this a go! Like Sarah, I also used Goodreads and Random.org to pick my new read. Here's what I got:

Another book I own! I've had The King's Rose for years now. I remember really looking forward to reading this and when I finally bought it I put it on my shelf and it's been sitting there since. I am really glad I got another book that I own for this month's Random Reads. Last month's Random Reads was also a book I own and I am almost done with it. I am really excited to read this one because it is YA and Historical Fiction, two of my favorite genre's. Want to join in? Check out this month's Random Reads post.