Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts

Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Back... From Outer Space... Books and More

Hi guys... I must sincerely apologise for my absence here on the blog... I have been reading though, I've just had a little break from blogging and trying to increase my social media skills... and it's taking a lot of my time up...
If you have the inclination then please visit my Instagram account using the links on the right of the page, I've been playing a lot with book photography and I'll put some of it up here but it's all over on my IG account... if you don't wanna use the link then my handle is @Jst1MoreChapter 
Anyhoo... I'm hoping not to leave it too long before my next post this time but!...
I thought, as it's the beginning of August now I'd start back off with a July Wrapup...
The books in my picture are my book buys of the month... the ones on the left are my brand spanky new books and the ones on the right are secondhand/adopted books...
There are 23 altogether which is more than I bargained for but hey books are my passion... this obv doesn't include the ebooks I downloaded on my kindle but there are so many I can't be bothered to count em all... I know I usually put links up to Amazon but I think perhaps that's why I got a little frustrated as it usually takes me ages to do a post  I may do a separate one later with links to my book bargains for you when I have a bit more time
Anyhoo... this month I read:
 Charlie And Pearl 
 Cinder 
 The Little Android 
 Glitches 
 The Queens Army 
 Scarlet 
 Straight Talking 
 Bookends 
And I'm currently reading
Cress by Marissa Meyer    

Monday, 1 June 2015

Bookish Bargains And Reads Of The Week.......

Another week of reading away brings me to write another blog post... After last week's post being quite short I've been putting some reviews up on here that I've had the pleasure of writing lately, so please feel free to check out the rest of the blog and see what I've been up to...

So it took me a little while to get through The Pledge trilogy but I managed to finish the last instalment this week:
The Offering by Kimberly Derting - I'm really pleased I stuck with this Young Adult, Dystopian series as the last book was certainly the best - I rated 4/4.5 stars - you can 1click it at Amazon - take a look at it via Goodreads - and read my review HERE

I also read a few little novellas this weekend... both of them were lovely little gems, short, sweet and very enjoyable:

Double Dare by Rhonda Nelson: I personally gave this New-Adult Contemporary-Romance 4.5 stars, though It has an average rating of 3.8 on Amazon where it's free to download at the moment... or you can take a look at it on Goodreads, you can see my reviews in both places...

It Was Always You (A Gaming The System Novella) by Brenna Aubrey (see the cover to the right): This Young-Adult Contemporary-Romance got 5 stars from me, it's also rated a 5 on Amazon and 3.8 stars on Goodreads... again, you can see my reviews in both places...




And now for my usual Bargain Corner...
Here's some 1-Click's I found this week for all you bargain hunters out there:
Links to Amazon.co.uk - Price of download - ASR = Average Star Rating - #tags = Genres...
 

Well, that's it for me... I've had a busy weekend and am running behind on my posts and Twitter and Instagramme updates, I'm sure I'll be getting called a slacker but I'm trying not to neglect my followers honestly lol...
 
I have work very early in the morning and I'm sure to be pooped tomorrow considering what time it is, so I shall bid you all goodnight and sweet dreams... I'll be back next weekend with more of the above ;)

 

Monday, 25 May 2015

Bookish Sales and Bargains of the Week...

So this week I'm gonna make this really short, I'll post some reviews soon as I only managed to read one book this week, which was:

The Essence (Book 2 in The Pledge trilogy) by Kimberly Derting... I finished it on Friday afternoon and spent the night trying to review it the best way I could... (then I spent the rest of the weekend inebriated in a field watching The Jam... awesome times!) so basically, the storyline and writing is good and I want to see where it's going so I've downloaded the final one in the series The Offering... I don't by any means think it's fantastic, the series seems kinda stuck in the middle of a few different genres and the main characters have a relationship that's almost skittish... anyway, I think it's more for a Young Adult audience and the Paranormal element is more prominent in this second book which I enjoyed... I'm not gonna go on about it too much as I'll be posting my review on here later for you to read...

So, with that being said...

Now for my usual Book Corner Bargains... I nabbed these this week for my kindle, I hope ya'll like em........
ASR = Average Star Rating, all links are to Amazon for you 1click addicts, #tags are some of the genres they're listed under:


Okay, that's all I have peoples... I'll be posting some reviews here shortly... if you live here in England enjoy the rest of your bank holiday :)
                                      .....................Claire xx

Sunday, 17 May 2015

Short And Sweet With A Scattering Of Book Bargains...

Hello my fellow Bibliophiles... this week is gonna be a short and sweet update with all the usual stuff in a condensed version (I think)... I've read two books this week, both have reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, see below for the links, and I may put a few reviews up here on the blog too as I haven't done any of those for a while...

I have discovered though, that I can actually read while working out on the crosstrainer, bike and treadmill at the gym, so I'm doing a little happy dance about that as I'm there every night after work now :)

Anyhoo... without further ado:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Distance-Between-Us-Kasie-West-ebook/dp/B00B0VZRWO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1431819068&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Distance+Between+Us+by+Kasie+WestThe Distance Between Us by Kasie West: I gave this a good 4 stars - it's £3.99 at the moment with an Average Star Rating of 4.3 and the genres it's tagged under are #Contemporary #Romance #Teen #YoungAdult... you can find it to 1click on the above link to Amazon or read my review on Goodreads HERE...






http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pledge-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B0077RQSKA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1431819235&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Pledge+by+Kimberly+DertingThe Pledge by Kimberly Derting: This one got 3.5 stars from me - it's £2.29 on Amazon with and ASR of 3.9... genres include #YoungAdult #Paranormal #Dystopian #Romance... 1click on the above link at Amazon or read my review on Goodreads HERE...







And now for my Book Sale Bargain Corner...  I found these in the sale bin as usual... ASR = Average Star Rating, all links are to Amazon for you 1click addicts, #tags are some of the genres they're listed under:
 
Well, that's all there is from me this week peoples... for more bargains and updates during the week check out my other social media accounts to the right and give me a follow... see ya'll soon...........     Claire xxx

Sunday, 10 May 2015

End Of Week Book Reads, Reviews, Thoughts and Bargains...


Being rather hungover, I've done nothing but lie on my settee and read for the last few days, only getting up to refuel on bacon sandwiches, cups of coffee and shortbread biscuits haha... I've had a three day week at work because of our English Bank Holiday Monday and I took a days Annual Leave on Friday so two long weekends in a row are making me a happy bunny... apart from the hangover *giggle!
 
So this week I managed to read the following books... as there are only three and the reviews are shorter than usual (due to the shortness of the actual books!) I think I'll put the reviews on here too... you'll find, as usual, the main links are to Amazon for all you 1-Clickers, with links to Goodreads as well... also, if you're a regular Goodreader I always accept friend requests, I love seeing what everyone thinks of my reviews and I always take special notice of my friend's reviews for books I'm about to read... anyway, I digress... here are those books I mentioned...


Sisters in Love by Melissa Foster - I've given 4 stars to the first instalment of The Snow Sisters Trilogy... this little book packs quite a lot into it...
Danika is part of the 'Big Sister Programme' and the situation with the girl she's assigned to is quite a good side to the story, Danika also has parental issues where she feels she needs to be the 'responsible and professional' daughter who always does what's expected, and one of those things was becoming a therapist... also, I have to admit that her biological sister Kaylie really rubbed me up the wrong way and that's one of the reasons I haven't started the next book yet...
Blake... jeez where do I start... he's a self proclaimed man-whore with anger issues who wants to change his ways but doesn't seem to be able to, then his best friend and business partner Dave has a tragic accident, Dave's wife then looks to Blake and having to help her and her son with the aftermath spurs Blake on to receive professional help...
Danica and Blake 'literally' bump into each other and they definitely don't 'Hit it off' in the positive sense of the word... Blake comes across as the player he is which irks Danika straight away and when Blake seeks the help of a Therapist, walking through the doors of his first session, he and Danika are both surprised when they recognise each other...
This was a nice, interesting, Cotemporary Romance with issues that were explored in an entertaining way... I liked the main characters a lot and will definitely be reading the rest of the series... the only thing I didn't really like was that I wasn't swooning at the end of it, I wanted more, and maybe I'm just being greedy, but I wanted to hear the L word come from their lips... also, there were a few issues that didn't really get resolved but I'm assuming they will in the following books, however, there's no real cliffhanger so it could possibly be read as a standalone... This review is also on Goodreads!
Sexual situations and language rate it as suitable for 18+  

Books 1 and 2 in the Foreign Affairs Series by Mari Carr and Lexxie Couper...
After a run of bad luck dating the no-good guys of New York, Annie's best friend Monet, drunkenly signs her up to an online dating website where she finds Dylan Sullivan, an Australian Cowboy, or Stockman as it were, who runs a cattle station with his twin brother Hunter... Annie decides the morning after that she should fess up to the Aussie and tell him she wasn't really serious about doing the whole online dating thing, but as it turns out our Dylan is a pretty easy going, charming guy and they end up becoming fast friends...
After a particularly bad day at work, Dylan messages Annie and they make a deal that neither would last long in the other's territory... betting that he wouldn't last long on the mean streets of New York, and she would run back home at the first sight of a snake or crocodile... and this is where their stories begin... they get their wires crossed along the way and Annie ends up in Sydney Airport and Dylan lands at JFK wondering where the hell Annie is!
Book 1 - Princess - 5 stars... Annie Prince is stranded in Sydney Airport all alone with not even a working cell phone, then here comes Hunter to the rescue, a sudden and strong attraction between them makes for an interesting if not guilt ridden rodeo because, she's here for Dylan right?... I thoroughly enjoyed this hot little Erotic Romance... I have to admit that I got more than I bargained for with this one, I love a bit of a cliché and I think I would use the phrase 'it's quality not quantity that counts' in this case... although this is a short story (roughly about 3 hours reading time) I really connected with the lead characters and got a sense of who they were... I loved Hunter, and not just 'cause he was hot with an Aussie accent, I liked his sarcasm, honesty, loyalty and passion! I liked Annie too, and together they smouldered... here's your Goodreads link.
Book 2 - Cowboy - 4 stars... Dylan's story is much like the first, he hops in a cab and ends up at Annie's apartment building where he bumps into her best friend Monet... again like the first book, it was written very well but, it was just a bit too 'samey' for me, it was sort of a repeat of the first book in a different country... don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it - the sex scenes were hot, I liked Monet, and Dylan was funny and charming and I even managed to conjure up an Aussie accent in my head for his dialogue... and believe me, I'd love an Australian Cowboy of my own after reading these books (fans face, checks flights for Sydney)... but I'm gonna have a break from the rest of the series right now, I will pick up the rest at some point though... Here's your Goodreads link.
I would still recommend these first two books to lovers of short, steamy fun... enjoy! ;)

And now for something completely different... well, I say completely different, it's still about books with this, ya know, being a book blog and all that haha... but anyway...

Insurgent - The Movie...
I eventually got to watch Insurgent last night and, although I still really liked it as a movie in and of itself, I have to say it's not a patch on the book!... Without the narration you don't get explanations, and without the inner dialogue of Tris you don't really know what's going on in that pretty little head of hers... it's all a tad confusing with bits taken out and cut short, and others added to the plot like the addition of the box... which was cool but not part of the Veronica Roth's original story...
Also I found it a little odd that Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort have been cast together in two high profile movies in such a short space of time... In John Green's The Fault In Our Stars, Ansel (who plays Gus) is Shailene's (Hazel's) love interest, and in the Divergent series they are actually brother and sister...
Now as for the Allegiant film(s)... I'm really not sure whether I'm looking forward to that or not... it was my least favourite of the books for obvious reasons, although when speaking to one of my bookie friends, she said that it was pretty obvious to her what was going to happen with Tris being so damaged... maybe I was just being an optimist, hopeful that they were going to have a happy ending, but then again... these dystopian novels aren't the stuff of romantic gestures and Happily Ever Afters I suppose, but it still completely broke my heart!... and, with all of these changes that the screenplay writers and Director (Robert Schwentke) are making to the story I'm going to hope that they change it for the better, give us the Hollywood HEA people! You know you want to!

To Read Or Not To Read...
So... I've been humming and hawing over Cassandra Clare's City of Bones... I'm always a bit apprehensive when starting a long series of books that have a lot of hype... so I've read the Blurb and it all sounds good but, I've also read a lot of controversy about this series and I thought it was quite interesting... upon looking into it, it seems that Cassie once went by the name of Cassandra Claire and was a VERY popular Fan Fiction writer in the Harry Potter and LOTR circles... her Draco Trilogy consisted of three Novel length stories written in instalments over 6 years between 2000 to 2006...
Evidence was found of plagiarism and other 'borrowings', it seems there were extensive sequences of action, description and dialogue taken from many different sci-fi novels and popular television shows including Babylon 5 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to name but a few... now, FanFiction.net have rules on plagiarism, I know myself that when you sign up you have to agree to their terms and conditions, you also have to submit it again every few months and maybe this is one of the reasons why!...
Cassandra and her works were removed from the site and a lot of her readers protested, hence, the trilogy was then moved to FictionAlly which is a Harry Potter FF archive... in 2006 after uploading the last instalment, she announced that after a short time, she was going to remove her works from all of the fanfic sites and archives...
I assume, because FanFic is free and you can claim no moneys or benefits from the production of stories based on characters who are not your creation, I have found no evidence of any legal proceedings against her... although it seems she has suffered some consequences of this as there are a lot of readers who obviously don't like her acts of plagiarism...
So, what, may you ask, does all of this have to do with her City of Bones novel?... well, it seems that there are quite a few readers and fans of her fiction writing who have identified the characters in her Draco Trilogy to be eerily similar to the ones in The Mortal Instruments series... so I must ask myself if I'm really all that bothered about this whole controversy... I, in no way support plagiarism but, on the other hand it was fanfic work, not a published series of books. I never read any of her Draco works and I'm assuming that the Mortal Instruments books have all been gone through with a fine toothed comb for any discrepancies whatsoever...
If it wasn't such a hyped up series would I really have bothered to do all of this investigating? Probably not! And do I like the sound of the synopsis? The answer is yes, and I probably would have read it anyway... BUT! now I'm going to read it with a sceptical view, which in turn makes me think that I might not enjoy it as much, and, is it really fair to Miss Clare to be judged on her past mistakes?... hmmmm any of your thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated lol!...


Now for the usual Bargain Corner... here's some 1-Click's I found for all you bargain hunters out there:
 
Links to Amazon.co.uk - Price of download - ASR = Average Star Rating - #tags = Genres...

Well, that's all from me folks... I hope you all have some fabulous books to read this week... feel free to share them with me via the usual links to the right of the page... I'll be back with more next week... much love
Claire xxx
 

Sunday, 3 May 2015

A Passion For Romance... Reviews and Bargain Books Galore...

Having had a hectic few weeks here at JOMC's HQ, I've been avidly reading away at any opportune moment I've had spare... As there are only 3 months left before I go on my holidays I've been doubling my efforts and going to my local gym every night... let me tell you I'm aching lol, but I feel better for making the effort...


Anyway, lets take a look at what I've been reading... I know the other weekend I said I was going start City of Bones by Cassandra Clare but, I have to admit that I haven't even looked at the first page yet heehee, but I will read it soon, I just need to be in the right mood :)... I've needed to escape somewhere carefree and happy, and some New Adult books that have been on my Kindle for a good while caught my eye so... here goes ;)

FYI: as usual, main title links are to Amazon.co.uk for all you 1-click fanatics, followed by a brief description, links to Goodreads and some genre #tags...

Welcome to Sugartown by Carmen Jenner - I gave this 3.5 stars... it was a rollercoaster of a read, with unexpected events... it starts off as fun and light then takes a serious dive into darker territory - take a look at my review on Goodreads HERE ~ #NewAdult #ContemporaryRomance #AdultFiction #CrimeAndViolence





It Started With a Kiss by Lindy Dale - A short, sweet novella that only took me a couple hours to read, I gave this 5 stars as it was such a cute story, funny and well written to boot - take a look on Goodreads HERE ~ #YoungAdult #ContemporaryRomance #ShortStories #ChickLit #HolidayReads






All For You by Marquita Valentine - This is the 4th story in Marquita's Boys of the South Series, they're all standalone novellas - this is the first one I've read (because it was free) and you don't seem to have to read the others to enjoy it... I gave this 4 stars as again it was short, sweet and made me smile... find it on Goodreads HERE ~ #NewAdult #ContemporaryRomance #ShortStories






The Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams by Fiona Harper - This lovely little book of Hopes and Dreams was brilliant... the swoonworthy male lead Alex Black had me drooling and staying up way past my bedtime just like the good little bookwhore I am... just a sweet contemporary romance with no graphic sex or bad language, I gave this one 5 stars on Amazon and HERE on Goodreads too so go check it out and read my review ;) ~ #ChickLit #ContemporaryRomance #RomanticComedy




Break You by Jennifer Snyder - 2.5 Stars for this one, I didn't really connect to the characters, it's a freebie and an OK read, I really wanted to love this but it just didn't happen for me, there are plenty of reviewers who did though - gocheck them out, and my review as well of course, on Goodeads HERE ~ #NewAdult #ContemporaryRomance #Drama






http://www.amazon.co.uk/Marriage-Mistake-Alyssa-Kress-ebook/dp/B006SMMW64/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1430671614&sr=1-1&keywords=marriage+by+mistakeMarriage by Mistake by Alyssa Kress - This gets 3.5 stars from me... I know, I know, the cover is horrendous! I was expecting something quick with limited emotional attachment but!... it was quite the opposite... I have to say I wasn't really into this at first, the male lead is very frustrating... check out the reviews on the Amazon link above and Goodreads HERE it's free to download so what have you got to lose ;) ~ #RomanticComedy #ContemporaryRomance #ChickLit #AdultFiction





Ransom by Rachael Schurig - 4.5 stars for this emotionally charged friends to lovers story full of angst, drama and hot rockers!... check out the reviews and download for free on the Amazon link above and on Goodreads HERE ~ #NewAdult #YoungAdult #CollegeDrama #ContemporaryRomance #ChickLit #Musicians








So, I finished Ransom last night, I'm having a break from reading to get this post done and haven't read anything today, no withdrawal symptoms yet but there's plenty of time lol!... hang on where's me coffee gone?... it's fine, I must have drank it, I have another one now... aaaannnd relax!..,

Ooooh and I have some news - I was offered my first real ARC from author Benna Aubrey the other week and I'm SO EXCITED!!!!!
If you look at my previous posts you'll see that I read Brenna's Gaming the System series, see my review HERE on my blog along with links to Amazon and Goodreads where I also published my reviews. Brenna emailed me about reviewing the fourth book in the series, and Jordan's story For The Win (which is available to look at on Goodreads but as it's not due to be released until the middle of June I don't have any links for Amazon just yet)... so anyway, of course I said yesyesyes!!! because lets face it, I was going to read it anyway... and now I get to read it before anyone else which is totally awesome! And I totally promise to post my review here on my blog as well as the usual booky sites ;) here's the cover -




And now for my next trick... check out the bargains I've cleaved from Amazon in the last couple of weeks, ASR = Average Star Rating and #Tags = genres:


I know there's a heap of bargains there to trawl through, and it seems I download more than I'm able to read, so evidently my TBR list is getting longer by the day haha...

I hope ya'll enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it, I may have a change in genre this week but I make no promises as it all depends on what I fancy reading at the time, if you have any recommendations please feel free to comment or contact me via the social media links on the right of the page... check out the blog later for more bargains, recommendations and reviews...


Sunday, 19 April 2015

Book Talk... Talking Books...

Happy Weekend my lovelies!...
 
I know I haven't posted anything new (other than the odd review) for a couple of weeks... I do have some excuses though... first of all it was my birthday (see my lovely Sugarskull bag I got from my BFF as a prezzie in the pic on the right!) and you know, we had to go out and celebrate me being another year older lol, and I've also been away visiting family which has been awesome... but I've sadly been back to work since Monday, and although I would love to be able to read, review and blog full-time, I would surely become homeless if I couldn't make my mortgage payments haha!


Anyhoo... Last week I finished the Awaken Trilogy by Katie Kacvinsky... now I don't want to repeat myself here, but, I have to say that this Dystopian series was awesome and if you like the Young Adult and Dystopian genres then this may just be a series for you!... You can browse through the rest of my posts, or follow the links below to read my reviews on each of the books, and there should be links to Amazon and Goodreads on there too...
 
  1. Awaken - I awarded the first instalment of the trilogy 4.5 stars
  2. Middle Ground - 4.5 stars for the second book in the series
  3. Still Point - The final instalment I gave 4 stars


After reading Katie's Trilogy, I felt the need for some Smut... yes... you heard me correctly... I needed what I call a 'Reset Book' (or in this case a set of books) - something quick, light and carefree that would make me feel good after the long, heavy onslaught of emotions that always comes with reading something epic... so this week I decided to give Nicola Marsh's Burlesque Bombshells series a whirl... now I haven't put any reviews up this week so I will make time to post one for the series in the next few days, but for now I'll list them below with links to Amazon and Goodreads where I have already posted reviews for the series... if you like a bit of insta-love in your diet then go check these out, they're full of man-crushes, unrealistically beautiful people, insta-lust and just hotness in general... Enjoy!
  • 0.5 - Before - the prequel... the story of how Jess and Jack first met 10 years 'before' Brash... Download it for free via Amazon or take a look at Goodreads
  • 1 - Brash - ten years later Jack and Jess reunite... see it on Amazon and Goodreads
  • 2 - Blush - Reid (Jess' older brother) and Adele meet at the end of Brash... get it on Amazon and Goodreads
  • 3 - Bold - Chantal and Zane's story was my favourite so far... Amazon and Goodreads
These books don't have cliff-hangers and they could potentially be read as standalone's but, I would recommend reading them in sequence (not sequins, although each to their own) as the characters are all connected.
The next books in the series are all of Zane's brother's stories, they haven't been released yet so I don't have any links for you, but they should go as follows:
  • 4 - Bad - Wyatt's story - should be released in July 2015... just in time to be my holiday read yaaay!
  • 5 - Beg - Steele's story - releasing this year 2015 date to be determined
  • 6 - Burn - Kurt's story - releasing early 2016

In-keeping with my smutty mood I have also read Beneath Him by Komal Kant this week (link to Goodreads and Amazon) - I awarded this book 4 Stars, this turned out to be something different to what I expected and I'm not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing... it's a frustratingly annoying love story that compelled me to keep reading... my review is on the above links so please have a look and see what you think... I'll give you The Blurb here which is really spot on:
 
Sometimes love can start with a little hate.
When Sky Hudson first has a run-in with tall, dark, and handsome Nicholas Ruggarson, she wants nothing more than to throw her coffee at him. He is rude and arrogant, and she is glad she never has to set eyes on him ever again.
Or so she thinks.
It turns out, not only does she have to see Nick again, she also has to live with him. Hired as the new nanny to work for Nick’s affluent family, she can’t seem to get away from the womanizing jerk.
With a hot and cold relationship, and an undeniable attraction between them, Sky might finally be the woman to break through Nick’s arrogance and discover that there is more to him than she ever imagined.
If she doesn’t kill him first.
 
 
Now that I've bored you with all of the stuff I've read over the last couple weeks here's my Bargain Bin List!
   I found these in the sale bin as usual... ASR = average star rating, all links are to Amazon for you 1click addicts, #tags are some of the genres they're listed under:

And last but not least... On my TBR list for this week coming I have:
  • Welcome to Sugartown by Carmen Jenner: It's £1.99 at the moment but it was free when I downloaded it. It has an ASR of 4.4 and genre tags include #Contemporary Romance #NewAdult #RomanticComedy #EroticRomance (just to round off my smutty mood :P)


I can't wait to start reading the Immortal Instruments series, I'll most probably be posting again during the week with some reviews and whatnot... so until then remember...

'Sleep is good, and books are better' George R R Martin.