The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell

"It’s the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.

When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause."- GoodReads.

Hardcover, 293 pages

Published March 7th 2011 by Harcourt Children's Books

Source: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley. 


This was a stunning novel. From the cover to the last page I was hooked. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres to read and I this one is now on my favorites list.
Saundra Mitchell has amazing story telling skills.  The writing was beautiful and so very appropriate for the time period.


I thought, because of the description, that it was going to be a lot more paranormal, but the paranormal stuff didn't start actually happening into a little ways into the book. There were little things here and there at first, but mostly it was introducing you to the time period and how proper young ladies and gentlemen of that time period were supposed to act, which I loved.
I absolutely adore that time period. Especially the balls and the dresses. How amazing those must have been.


The characters were all wonderful too. Even the mean or annoying ones were great because they were time period perfect.
And the romance was so sweet. Nathaniel was such a mysterious and intriguing character. I loved when he was present. Such a scene stealer. Though I loved his character, I loved Tom as well. He was so sweet and gentlemanly, especially when it came to Zora.


And the ending! Oh during the last few chapters I could not breath. I was on the edge of my seat and kept saying "Oh my gosh, that did not really happen!" to myself.
Even though there is a second Vespertine book, I'm pretty sure that it's not going to be about Amelia. She might make an appearance in it but from the description it sounds like it is going to be about another character from this book. If you haven't read this one I wouldn't suggest reading the description of the second though. You don't want any spoilers.
I am very excited and cannot wait for The Springsweet. 
If you love, or even just like, historical fiction, romance, and a little bit of paranormal thrown in, read this book.

Quick Readathon Wrap up.

I know this is hours late, but life was busy this weekend. I wish that I could have been more active in commenting and mini challenges and all that. I did at least finish a book and start another. Not great, but better than nothing.
In October I will be much more involved as my husband will be deployed then so having 24 hours to myself to just read will be no problem.

Hope everyone had a super fantastic 24 hours and got tons of reading done!
And thank you cheerleaders for stopping by and leaving all of those positive comments :D

If you didn't get to participate in the readathon this time, have no fear. As I mentioned before there is another one in October. Keep on eye on the website for sign ups for the next one!
Learn all about the readathon HERE!

Have a great rest of your Sunday :D

Readathon Update.

Oh man, I have been way more busy today than I thought I was going to be. So out of the 15 hours the readathon has been going on I've only read about 2 hours. Gah!
But I am almost done with my first book and am hoping to read a lot tonight.

Hope everyone is doing great!

Goodmorning, Readathoners!!

 I am a little late with my opening Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon post since they just started hour 4 I believe, so that leaves me with 20 hours to read. I don't think I will be able to read for 20 whole hours as I have plans today. But I am going to read as much as I can and hopefully be able to do some post throughout the day.
If you are participating leave a link so I can keep up with how awesome you are doing!

1)Where are you reading from today?
Colorado Springs.

2)Three random facts about me…
I am left handed.
I am addicted to cereal.
And am equally if not more addicted to "The Office".

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
Right now I am just planning on finishing "Bumped" by Megan McCafferty. I don't know if I want to continue with my NetGalley books after that or read some from my shelf that I have been putting off.

4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
Just a lot :)

5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?
I'm not really a veteran. I've only done this once before. So just have fun :) 
And let me know if you have any awesome tips :D

The Reaping- New Cover! & Giveaway!

Just about a month ago I got to read and review an awesome book called 

"The Reaping" by M. Leighton.

I loved this book! You can read my review for it HERE.

This past weekend I got a very cool email from Michelle telling me that

The Reaping got a makeover!

And it is my honor to share the new cover with you!

*drum roll*

Here it is!

How awesome is that?!

I have some serious cover love for this one. It is so creepy and fits perfectly with the story.

Those eyes really freak me out. Don't look at them for to long or they might steal your soul or something.

And I think a giveaway is in order to celebrate the new and amazing cover.

So from now until April 21st you can enter to have a chance to win a copy of "The Reaping"!

Don't forget, this is an ebook, so make sure you have a way to read it before you enter.

Just click HERE to enter!

Here is the synopsis:

"Every hell has its devil. And Carson is about to become intimately acquainted with hers. 

Seventeen-year-old wallflower Carson Porter has always dreamed of being something special, but what she gets isn’t what she signed up for.

Yeah, a girl’s supposed to change as she gets older, but this is ridiculous! Shiny skin, greener eyes and a run-in with the flesh-eating dead are just a few of the changes Carson has to adjust to, not to mention the arrival of very hot and very dangerous Derek Hrolf. If all that wasn’t enough to turn her once hum-drum life into something unrecognizable, a twin sister that haunts her from the shadows and a wheeling, dealing collector of souls will definitely do the trick. The question is: what will her life become? And what will she become?"- GoodReads.

Get to entering! You don't want to miss out on this one!

Mercy by Joshua Grover-David Patterson

"When Georgina Fulci’s plane crashes into the Atlantic, her troubles have just begun.

Desperate to get home to her family, Georgina and a handful of survivors must find a way to escape an uncharted island… while fighting off hordes of the living dead." - GoodReads.

Published: March 24th 2011, Ebook

By: Joshua Grover-David Patterson

Source: Requested Review

Zombie stories are among some of my favorites, so the second that I read the word zombie in the request email for this story my interest was automatically piqued. 

Mercy is told in journal form and is the story of wife and mother Georgina who is on her way back to the US to go home to her family,  when her plane crashes and strands her and only a handful of other people on an island. Out of the hundreds of passengers on the plane, only 7 survive, 2 of them barely hanging on in some kind of coma.  When one of the unconscious ones dies, everyone is sad because they thought they were getting better. But then when the person who was supposed to be dead stands back up and starts trying to chomp on them, they figure out they have a really big problem.

They thought their biggest problems were going to be finding food and clean water and making shelter to sleep in. Fighting against the walking dead never even crossed their minds.

Now they are all wondering if there is anything for them to go back to? Or have the zombies attacked everywhere?

My favorite thing about this story is that it brought back the slow and steady walkers. Every zombie movie or story now is about how fast they are and you cannot out run them. 

This one isn't about how fast can they go, it's about how many there ends up being, and they are quiet so they can really sneak up on you. I really enjoyed that aspect.

I also enjoyed that it was told in journal form, though sometimes it got very wordy. Georgina kept saying she had limited paper and ink, but then she would start going into something that happened and it took a long time to tell. So for me, some of the stories could have been a little shorter. At times they didn't feel like they went with what was happening, so it pulled me out of the "zombie apocalypse" feel of the story.

Other than being a bit long at a few parts it was a pretty good zombie story.

If you would like to check this one out it is available for Kindle and Nook for only $2.99.

And if you want to check out any of Joshua's web pages you can find him on Twitter, Facebook, or his blog.

The Liar Society by Lisa & Laura Roecker

Kate Lowry didn't think dead best friends could send e-mails. But when she gets an e-mail from Grace, she’s not so sure.

To: KateLowry@pemberlybrown.edu
Sent: Sun 9/14 11:59 PM
From: GraceLee@pemberlybrown.edu
Subject: (no subject)

Kate,
I'm here…
sort of.
Find Cameron.
He knows.
I shouldn't be writing.
Don't tell.
They'll hurt you.

Now Kate has no choice but to prove once and for all that Grace’s death was more than just a tragic accident. But secrets haunt the halls of her elite private school. Secrets people will do anything to protect. Even if it means getting rid of the girl trying to solve a murder...

Paperback, 361 pages

Published March 1st 2011 by Sourcebooks Fire (first published February 8th 2011)

Source: Bought

Warning: By reading this book you will have the sudden urge to drink lots of Starbucks, 
start wearing long strands of pearls, and dye your hair pink.


I had been pining for this book for what felt like forever. And then everyone started
reading it and gushing over it, authors were making crazy videos to show how much
they loved it, pink haired avatars were everywhere on Twitter. There was some serious
Liar Society love going around.
I was seriously green with envy of anyone who got to read it before I did. When my copy
finally arrived in the mail , when it was finally in my hands, I got really nervous. All I could
think about was what if it wasn't as amazing as I thought it was going to be?
All of my worries and doubts went away within the first few pages.


Kate was a badass, but still so realistic. The downs in her life made her extremely easy to 
relate to. She was damaged from losing her best friends, one to death and the other just 
didn't want to be her friend anymore. Kate wasn't perfect or fearless by a long shot, but she
trusted her instincts and kept pursuing the clues she kept getting about Grace actually being
murdered.Even when her parents sent her to see a shrink because they thought she was just 
obsessed with what happened to Grace, she kept going. The girl had gumption.


I really did not like the parents though. I know they were working and busy, but anytime their
daughter just needed to talk or needed them to believe her they thought it was a better idea
to send her to a therapist. They never once just talked to her. Their daughter went through 
something really tragic and they were more worried about her hair being pink then what
she was going through. That bugged me a bit.


The love story was sweet, but not the main focus, which made for a much more 
enjoyable read. The story telling and dialogue was incredibly witty and snarky which 
kept me hooked through the whole thing. I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed 
this book, but I think it would be better if you got yourself a copy and saw for yourself. 
I have some serious love for this book and cannot wait to see what awesomeness
Lisa and Laura have up their sleeves for their next book.