ARC Review: Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young

Rating: 5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Pub Date: 01 Sep 2020

Review:

One fateful night leaves Fable without a mother and abandoned on an island where she has to fend for herself until the day she finds passage off it with the help of a young trader, West. And so begins the start of unlikely alliances as they strive to navigate peril and keep their head above water.

Fable’s story, how she had to strive to live, to survive, broke my heart. I felt so much pain for this young girl, left to fend alone, having to stay on guard all the time. I wanted to hug her and make her life better. Give her food, shelter, protect her. The author wove such a heartbreaking character with a core of steel that you couldn’t help but feel for her.

As for West? He was an enigma, layers and layers of complications and secrets. I wanted to know everything about him, and finding those answers, getting to know him better – drew me in deeper. The ending chapters? Oh, I tipped over the edge and fell for him.

The side-characters, the crew of the Marigold—each one with their unique voices, charmed and endeared me to their plights. As secrets are revealed and pacts made, this story grabs you and hooks you in to the last page.

The world-building and descriptions were excellent. The author’s writing was a pleasure to read and the cliffhanger left me in high anticipation for more. This was my first book by Adrienne Young, and I have to say she completely won me over. I cannot wait to read the next book.

*Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.⁣

Synopsis: As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father. But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive. Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.

New Book Releases – 04 Aug 2020

Hola, Book Dragons! Do you have any anticipated releases today? I got one.

The Morning Flower (The Omte Origins #2) – Amanda Hocking

Synopsis:
New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking returns to the magical world of the Trylle with The Morning Flower, the second book in the Omte Origins arc.

Nestled along the bluffs of the forested coast lays the secret kingdom of the Omte—a realm filled with wonder… and as many secrets.

When Ulla Tulin took her internship at the Mimirin, the only mystery she thought she’d have to solve was that of her birth parents. After a girl named Eliana gets kidnapped while in her care, Ulla knows she has to find out the truth of who Eliana really is—and the only way to do that means traveling to the Omte capital, the place she suspects her mother is from.

Ulla didn’t expect that when she arrived she would discover the identity of a Skojare man who crossed paths with her mother—a man who could very well be her father. When the head of the Mimirin learns Ulla’s father is connected to the Älvolk, a secret society who believes they were tasked with protecting the First City and the only ones who know its location, he sends Ulla and Pan to Sweden where they find him living among the Älvolk. But all is not what it seems with the Älvolk and their urgent quest to find the Lost Bridge to the First City leaves Ulla feeling uneasy—and possibly in danger.

What about you guys? Is this book on your TBR?

∼Lyn

Blog Tour – More Than Maybe – Erin Hahn

Hola, Book Dragons! I’m excited to be participating in the blog tour for the book, More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn. A big thanks to the publisher, St Martin’s Press, for the ARC and for allowing me to participate in the blog tour.

Synopsis:
Growing up under his punk rocker dad’s spotlight, eighteen-year-old Luke Greenly knows fame and wants nothing to do with it. His real love isn’t in front of a crowd, it’s on the page. Hiding his gift and secretly hoarding songs in his bedroom at night, he prefers the anonymous comfort of the locally popular podcast he co-hosts with his outgoing and meddling, far-too-jealousy-inspiringly-happy-with-his-long-term-boyfriend twin brother, Cullen. But that’s not Luke’s only secret. He also has a major un-requited crush on music blogger, Vada Carsewell.

Vada’s got a five year plan: secure a job at the Loud Lizard to learn from local legend (and her mom’s boyfriend) Phil Josephs (check), take over Phil’s music blog (double check), get accepted into Berkeley’s prestigious music journalism program (check, check, check), manage Ann Arbor’s summer concert series and secure a Rolling Stone internship. Luke Greenly is most definitely NOT on the list. So what if his self-deprecating charm and out-of-this-world music knowledge makes her dizzy? Or his brother just released a bootleg recording of Luke singing about some mystery girl on their podcast and she really, really wishes it was her?

In More Than Maybe, Erin Hahn’s swooniest book yet, Luke and Vada must decide how deep their feelings run and what it would mean to give love a try.

Review:

Rating: 4/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Luke and Vada, two teens with a deep love for music, and a secret, unrequited crush on each other. Introverted Luke writes and records songs in secret. He runs a podcast with his twin brother, Cullen and when Cullen broadcasts the song Luke wrote and sang for Vada in secret, oh boy, it opens a whole can of worms.

If you know me or follow my blog, you know how much I love music. So this book was right up my alley. Add in an introverted, gorgeous guy, I’m all done for. Luke was super shy and super introverted. Now for a guy like that, singing in front of crowds is an excruciating ordeal. But he was talented and he had a gift for song-writing and singing. So where did that leave him? I felt bad for him, over his struggles, and his feelings for Vada.

Vada had her own struggles, worrying about money for college with a deadbeat dad. It sucks when the parent isn’t there for you, when they force you to be the adult. Add in the psyche manipulation and a girl’s got a lot of issues to deal with. That’s where the music comes in, as the best outlet for all the unhappiness, frustration, and rage inside.

I love how the author crafted such intense emotions to show how music makes us feel. That intensity showed in Luke and Vada’s feelings for each other. The first half of the book grabbed me by the throat. That first non-date scene? Holy cow, I was awed. The only complaint I have is the slow-burn aspect of the relationship. I wanted more intensity like the first half of the book showed.

Except for that, More Than Maybe was everything I feel about music, how the lyrics and melody of a song can get inside of me and shake my heart.

∼Lyn

BOOK LINKS

Publisher: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250231642
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51178403-more-than-maybe
Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/More-Than-Maybe-Erin-Hahn/dp/1250231647

AUTHOR INFORMATION

ERIN HAHN is the author of You’d Be Mine and More Than Maybe. She teaches elementary, would rather be outside and makes a lot of playlists. So many playlists in fact, that she decided to write books to match them! She married her very own YA love interest who she met on her first day of college and has two kids who are much, much cooler than she ever was at their age. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, aka the greenest place on earth and has a cat named Gus who plays fetch and a dog named June who doesn’t.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website: https://www.erinphahn.com/
Twitter: @erinhahn_author
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17130322.Erin_Hahn
Instagram: @erinhahn_author

New Book Releases – 21 Jul 2020

Hola, Book Dragons! Do you have any anticipated releases today? I got one. I’m on the blog tour for this cute book, so stay tuned for my review on Sunday. 🙂

More Than Maybe – Erin Hahn

Synopsis:
Growing up under his punk rocker dad’s spotlight, eighteen-year-old Luke Greenly knows fame and wants nothing to do with it. His real love isn’t in front of a crowd, it’s on the page. Hiding his gift and secretly hoarding songs in his bedroom at night, he prefers the anonymous comfort of the locally popular podcast he co-hosts with his outgoing and meddling, far-too-jealousy-inspiringly-happy-with-his-long-term-boyfriend twin brother, Cullen. But that’s not Luke’s only secret. He also has a major un-requited crush on music blogger, Vada Carsewell.

Vada’s got a five year plan: secure a job at the Loud Lizard to learn from local legend (and her mom’s boyfriend) Phil Josephs (check), take over Phil’s music blog (double check), get accepted into Berkeley’s prestigious music journalism program (check, check, check), manage Ann Arbor’s summer concert series and secure a Rolling Stone internship. Luke Greenly is most definitely NOT on the list. So what if his self-deprecating charm and out-of-this-world music knowledge makes her dizzy? Or his brother just released a bootleg recording of Luke singing about some mystery girl on their podcast and she really, really wishes it was her?

What about you guys? Is this book on your TBR?

∼Lyn

Blog Tour – Spotlight – Every Reason We Shouldn’t (Every Reason We Shouldn’t #1) – Sara Fujimura

Hola, Book Dragons! I’m excited to be participating in the blog tour for the book, Every Reason We Shouldn’t (Every Reason We Shouldn’t #1) by Sara Fujimura.

A big thanks to FFBC Tours for allowing me to participate in the blog tour and kudos for all the meticulous, hard work.

New Book Releases – 21 May 2020

Hola, Book Dragons! I have 2 new releases for you guys today! I requested Date Me, Bryson Keller – Kevin Van Whye on Netgalley and didn’t hear anything back. But it looks like such a cute read. 

Happy Book Birthday to:

1. Date Me, Bryson Keller – Kevin Van Whye

Synopsis:
What If It’s Us meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in this upbeat and heartfelt boy-meets-boy romance that feels like a modern twist on a ’90s rom-com!

Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new–the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he’s never really dated before.

Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes.

Kai Sheridan didn’t expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there’s more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing. Kai knows how the story of a gay boy liking someone straight ends. With his heart on the line, he’s awkwardly trying to navigate senior year at school, at home, and in the closet, all while grappling with the fact that this “relationship” will last only five days. After all, Bryson Keller is popular, good-looking, and straight . . . right?

Book Review: Dark Skies (Dark Shores #2) – Danielle L. Jensen

Rating: 2/5 🌟🌟

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review:

Dark Skies is Lydia’s story. We learn what happened to her after her ordeal in the first book and we also learn more about the world and politics concerning the countries of the Dark Shores. I have to say, both books have amazing covers. Even without reading the synopsis, you will be tempted to grab the book just for the remarkable covers.

The plot-line was intriguing, knotted with curve balls that you would not see coming. Surprising secrets embedded deep were revealed at the optimum time, adding value to the story. I found the plot-line well-crafted and with enough complications to keep you reading.

The main characters in Dark Skies were Lydia and Killian and the story was shared between their viewpoints. I loved Killian. He wasn’t perfect, he had his flaws, but he accepted them and he tried his best to do the right thing. He was honorable. The author wrote his character so well, I totally fell for him.

Book Review: Dark Shores (Dark Shores, #1) – Danielle L. Jensen

Rating: 2/5 🌟🌟

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review:

The first thing that caught my attention and made me want to read this book was the amazing cover. It’s fabulous and eye-catching. Even without reading the synopsis, I would have grabbed this book from the shelf just for that incredible cover alone.

The plot-line was captivating with a good mix of intrigue and secrets. The world-building was impressive with good descriptions of the crafted world and its countless vagaries and politics.

New Book Releases – 12 May 2020

Hola, Book Dragons! I came across this book on Netgalley and it looks really good. 

Happy Book Birthday to:

The Summer of Impossibilities – Rachael Allen

Synopsis:
Skyler, Ellie, Scarlett and Amelia Grace are forced to spend the summer at the lake house where their moms became best friends.

One can’t wait. One would rather gnaw off her own arm than hang out with a bunch of strangers just so their moms can drink too much wine and sing Journey two o’clock in the morning. Two are sisters. Three are currently feuding with their mothers.

One almost sets her crush on fire with a flaming marshmallow. Two steal the boat for a midnight joyride that goes horribly, awkwardly wrong. All of them are hiding something.

One falls in love with a boy she thought she despised. Two fall in love with each other. None of them are the same at the end of the summer.

What about you guys? Is this book on your TBR?

∼Lyn

Blog Tour – Dark Skies (Dark Shores #2) – Danielle L. Jensen

Hola, Book Dragons! I’m excited to be participating in the blog tour for Dark Skies, the second book in the Dark Shores series by Danielle L. Jensen. 

A big thanks to FFBC Tours for allowing me to participate in the blog tour and kudos for all the meticulous, hard work.