Blog Tour Stop & Giveaway - Review: Love Me, Love Me Not by Alyxandra Harvey

Welcome today's stop on the Love Me, Love Me Not by Alyxandra Harvey Blog Tour  hosted by Chapter by Chapter.  Today's stop is a review as well as a chance to enter the great giveaway that is being run throughout this tour.

Review:

I always enjoy Alyxandra Harvey's writing. No matter the setting or storyline, whether it be ghosts, the faerie realm or shape shifting. I always know to expect something a little unexpected in her books and Love me, love me now is no exception 

I immediately liked the main character Ana. Smart and focused on school but so naive out about love as she attempts to find it and win her wings. I thought Ms harvey captured that crush on the guy who doesn't know you exist and you are physically unable to speak coherently exceptionally well as well as Anna convincing her self that Edward is the boy for her. i like that we got to see Ana's vulnerability as she becomes aware that the feud in itself has become pointless but has no idea how to go about stopping it when adults and children alike are acting on a grudge that they have essentially been born with and despite Ana, herself being unable to be in the same room as a Renard without a physical fight breaking out. i thought her to be well balanced as a main character even though I sometimes wanted to yell at her for her naivete and indecision.

I loved the way Ms Harvey seemlessly wove the fairy tale of a shapeshifting swans and foxes through modern day life creating and urban fantasy that reads as authentic. I liked that despite the modern setting this still had the feel of a fairy tale. The story line itself was also woven well, with a few different plot lines coming together with precision time to leave a story I didn't want to put down until I reached the end a few hours later.

I also loved the connection between Ana and Pierce. Right from the beginning I could feel the chemistry and I wanted to yell at Ana and Pierce, particularly Ana the more they fought it. i read this on Valentines Day so was probably already in a romantic mood but I felt the romance between these two completely.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read and I give it 4 stars.

Sapphired Dragon XX

Love Me, Love Me Not by Alyxandra Harvey

Love Me, Love Me Not
by Alyxandra Harvey

Publication Date:  February 22, 2016
Genre:  YA Fantasy

Dating isn’t easy when you’re in the middle of a blood feud.
Anastasia Vila’s family can turn into swans, but just once she’d like them to turn into responsible adults.

After hundreds of years, they still cling to the blood feud with the Renard family. No one remembers how it started in the first place—but foxes and swans just don’t get along.
Vilas can only transform into their swan shape after they have fallen in love for the first time, but between balancing schoolwork, family obligations, and the escalating blood feud, Ana’s got no time for love. The only thing keeping her sane is her best friend, Pierce Kent.

But when Pierce kisses Ana, everything changes.

Is what Pierce feels for her real, or a byproduct of her magic? Can she risk everything for her best friend? And when the family feud spirals out of control, Ana must stop the fight before it takes away everything she loves.
Including, maybe...Pierce.

This Entangled Teen Crave book contains language, violence, and lots of kissing. Warning: it might induce strong feelings of undeniable attraction for your best friend.
 

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Entangled Page

ABOUT Alyxandra Harvey

Alyxandra Harvey lives in a stone Victorian house in Ontario, Canada with a few resident ghosts who are allowed to stay as long as they keep company manners. She loves medieval dresses, used to be able to recite all of The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson, and has been accused, more than once, of being born in the wrong century. She believes this to be mostly true except for the fact that she really likes running water, women’s rights, and ice cream. Aside from the ghosts, she also lives with her husband and their dogs. She likes cinnamon lattes, tattoos and books..

Author Links:  Website | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads 

 

 

 

The Giveaway

• ·         $200 Amazon Gift Card + Feather Pendant Necklace inspired by the one that Ana, from Love Me, Love Me Not wears

  

  
  

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Blog Tour Stop & Giveaway: The Summer Marked (The Winter People #2) by Rebekah L Purdy

Welcome today's stop on the The Summer Marked (The Winter People #2) by rebekah L Purdy Blog Tour  hosted by  YA Bound Book Tours  Today's stop is a review as well as a chance to enter the great giveaway that is being run throughout this tour.

The Review:

I really enjoyed this second book in the Winter People series.

The story starts a month or so after the end of book 1 with Salome happy with her choice to remain in the Faerie kingdom with Gareth and her best friend Kadie, unaware of the most recent events of Salome's life, heading home from Texas after breaking up with her boyfriend and dropping out of college.

Unlike book 1, where the reader found out about the curse and the Faerie as Salome did, in this book from the beginning we are given a little bit more information, of a vague sort, which puts the reader just enough ahead of Salome and her friends so as to not be completely lost along with her, but not enough to spoil the story as it unravels. This adds to the experience as we follow Salome's and now Kadie's story in the world of the faerie.

I liked that we find out more about the nature of the Faerie in this story and see both  their darker, crueller side and their lighter (but not necessarily good) side.  I also like that we get to see first hand how Faerie cannot be trusted as well as see and learn more about the World of faerie itself. Ms Purdy writes her faerie characters well so we are not necessarily always able to discern which side each faerie character is on and this just adds to the suspense of the tale. Add in the bits of Faerie history we are slowly made privy too which tells the reader there is more to the tale than we were previously expecting and its just going to get better and better.

Ms Purdy layers here twists and turns well in this story so even with the added bit of information we have over Salome and Kadie, we still can't see where the story will lead and this makes it much more exciting.

I loved that we get to see more of Kadie in this story as we find out more about who Kadie is at her heart.  We get to see her in greater details than before, her feelings,  her strengths and her weaknesses and how her story will affect the main story line andI have to say,  I am loving the story line Ms Purdy has set up with her and Salome.

This book is well paced, flows beautifully and you cannot help but not want to put it down until the end. This is one of those books that makes you love a series even more and as soon as you finish it want to immediately pick up the next instalment.

I greatly enjoyed this story and give it 4 stars

Sapphired Dragon XX

The Book

The Summer Marked (The Winter People #2) by Rebekah Purdy
 
    The sequel to the chilling Winter People returns to the world of Faerie, and is a romantic and enchanting follow-up.   Salome left humankind behind to be with her boyfriend, Gareth, in the Kingdom of Summer. But now forces of darkness are rising. Her happily-ever-after is coming apart, and the Kingdom is on the brink of war.   Newly-single Kadie Byers is on her way home for Thanksgiving, imagining a visit filled with hot chocolate, a hot guy for a little rebound action, and some girl time with her bestie, Salome. Except she receives a message from Salome with two important words: PLEASE HURRY.   When Kadie rushes to help Salome, she’s ripped from the human world and pulled into the kingdoms of Faerie, where she's shocked to learn that Salome's monsters are real, and that she's now at the mercy of one extremely vengeful Winter Queen...   Now both Salome and Kadie must find a way to survive the deadly chaos...or lose themselves to Winter's deadly, icy grasp.         Purchase: Amazon | Booktopia  | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | Entangled

ABOUT REBEKAH L PURDY:

Rebekah Purdy grew up in Michigan, where she spent many late nights armed with a good book and a flashlight. When not hiding at her computer and getting lost in her stories, she enjoys reading, singing, soccer, swimming, football, camping, playing video games and hanging out with her kids. She loves the unexplainable like Bigfoot, the Dogman, and the Loch Ness Monster (lots of good story material)! She admits to still having all the books she bought throughout her childhood and teen years, and she may or may not have an obsession with anything chocolate...

Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook│

Exclusive Excerpt:

Gareth kicked himself back onto his feet. The silver of his blade glinted as he swung it once more. This time the weapon connected with the backs of the troll’s legs, severing the tendons. The troll yelped in pain and collapsed into the  ferns.

 

“Turn your head,” Gareth told me.

 

My throat thickened, and I buried my face against the horse’s side. Two more loud howls erupted, then all went silent.

 

“It’s okay, he’s dead now.”

 

I pulled away from Adaba and stared in horror at the giant head lying in the leaves, its lifeless eyes still glowed even in death. Thick black blood dripped from the foliage. I covered my mouth as nausea overtook me.

 

Gareth wiped his sword off and hurried to my side. He clutched me tight to his chest. “Shh…just close your eyes and count to ten.”

 

“I feel sick.”

 

“I know. Just don’t look at the body, okay? I need you to stay right next to Adaba while I scout out the woods.”

 

“Wait—you’re leaving me alone?” My voice quivered. I so didn’t want to be left with the severed body. Hell to the flipping no.

 

“Only for a moment.” He disappeared into the undergrowth, not giving me the chance to argue.

Several minutes passed before he reappeared, breathless.

 

“Are you all right?” I caught his arm. His skin was slick with sweat.

 

“Get on your horse.”

 

“What?”

 

“Salome, you have to go.”

 

I swallowed the rock-like lump in my throat. “By myself?”

 

“Yes—this troll was only a scout. The others aren’t too far out.”

 

No. This isn’t happening.

 

“Others? But you’ll be killed. I-I can’t leave you.”

 

Gareth turned to Adaba. “Take her to the Ruined Court and hide. If I’m not there in two days’ time, get her to Summer.”

Adaba whinnied and shook his mane as if he understood. Gareth sheathed his sword and picked me up, his arms tightening around me. His lips crushed mine with urgency, as if he was taking his last breath. And I clung to him, absorbing his heat and his woodsy scent. When he pulled back, he set me

atop my mount.

 

“Gareth, please…” Tears streamed down my cheeks. I reached for him, as if that’d really keep him from going anywhere.

 

He slid a dagger from beneath his tunic and slipped it into the belt of my gown. “Don’t be afraid to use this.”

 

“Please.”

 

“I love you, Salome.” He swatted Adaba’s flank, and the horse carried me into the woods.

 

As we rode away, I heard the distinct sound of heavy footsteps tromping through the brambles.

 

I jerked on Adaba’s reins. “Turn back. We can’t leave him.”

 

But the horse ignored my feeble attempts and galloped deeper into the forest. A sob raked through me as I realized that I might never see Gareth alive again.

The Series So Far:

THE WINTER PEOPLE

Author: Rebekah Purdy

Release Date: September 2, 2014

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Pages: 320

ISBN: 978-1622663682

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes
& Noble

An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world.

 

Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn’t forgotten their warning to "stay away." For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of
maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
 


 

Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she’ll have to
decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.

The Giveaway

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Review: Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru by Tera Lyn Childs

Title: Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru

Author: Tera Lynn Childs

Published: 14 September 2015
Publisher: Entangled Crush
Source: Entangled via Netgalley
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: *** 3/4  

My Review:

What a great start to a new series by Tera Lyn Childs. I really enjoyed this novel.

Sloane and her Mother have moved to Texas after an incident that left Sloane in a whole heap of trouble back in New York. All Sloane wants is to go back to New York and her old life and resents her mother for moving her so far away.

Truman (Tru) is her next door neighbour and according to her mother a bad influence and not someone she want should be friendly with if she ever hopes to get back to new York. However Tru is not what he seems and he has secrets of his own and as Sloanes connection with Tru grows stronger, Sloane starts to question some of her previous assumptions.

Tera Lynn Childs first foray into YA contemporary is in my opinion definitely a success. In this fresh and sweet story, she has created characters that I care about and am interested in and want to know more about.

Whilst the book itself works as a stand alone within itself, Ms Childs also sows the seeds for subsequent books with threads that have been started and flow through the book creating the background tapestry and you just know ( or at least I am hoping) that they will form part of the frame work of subsequent stories in the series.

I loved the way Ms Childs drew both Sloane and Tru. With all her whinging to go back to New York, Sloane could have become very annoying very quickly but Ms Childs was able to balance the whininess with the thought and growth Sloane Makes during the novel.

As the reader, we learn some very big secrets Tru very quickly, which immediately makes him a sympathetic character rather than just the bad influence that Sloane believes him to be. This also helps the story along as we are rooting for the two them from the beginning which makes all the difference. The novel is also split between Sloane and Tru's point of views which also helps to round out the story.

The story itself is reasonably simple, straight forward and flowing. There are some twists but many will guess much of the ending in advance. However this is not so important. at least for me, as I had developed enough feelings for the characters to follow the rest of their journey and will most definitely be reading on in this series. This is however the main reason why I didn't give this story a higher rating.

With great characters and an enjoyable plot, I give this novel 3 3/4 stars.

 

Sapphired Dragon xx

About The Book:

Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru (Creative Hearts #1) by Tera Lyn Childs


When life gives you a blank canvas, make art.
Sloane Whitaker hates everything about moving to Texas. She hates leaving behind her friends and half her family in New York, starting over senior year at Austin’s NextGen Academy, and having to say she lives in Texas. Most of all, she hates that it’s all her fault. If she wants to earn her way back to the Big Apple, she has to prove she can still be the perfect daughter.
Which means no vandalism art, no trouble at school, and absolutely no Tru Dorsey, her serial screw-up neighbor, who loves nothing more than pushing her buttons.
But from the moment he vaults onto the roof outside her bedroom, there is something about him that makes her want to break every rule. Suddenly it’ s not the ten things she hates about Tru that are at the top of her list. It’s the ten reasons she doesn’t want to be without him.


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