Julie James Party

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So barbies, if you know/talk to me or at least follow me on Twitter, you know I'm that crazy reader fan NO author wants to have and the author who has to suffer this is Julie James. I love all and every single one of her books as much as I love sleeping, eating, reading and being lazy. Which is a lot of love. A LOT. Julie James is hands down, one of my all time favorite authors EVER! And in just TWO days, April 3rd, her newest book About That Night is going to be released, and I can hardly wait. Seriously, I'm going to RUPTURE from excitement.

If you see this Top Ten Tuesday of the "Top Ten Books I Want To Reread" which means my top ten favorite books since I only reread absolute favorites, Julie James 4 books DEFINITELY make the cut.

 So it's a no brainier that I am high above the sky and over the moon with happiness over the fact that in TWO DAYS only, 42 HOURS ONLY!!!  I will be able to read Julie Jame's newest release, this truly makes me want to throw up from excitement. Honestly, I changed my Twitter picture to the book cover of About That Night. I have been tweeting a countdown for the release of About That Night and driving my twitter followers crazy about HOW FREAKING EXCITED I AM! Just look:

Here are all her books, I read each one and loved them a million times and forever will!

 Just the Sexiest Man Alive
Published October 7th 2008 by Berkley

Nothing fazes Taylor Donovan. In the courtroom, she never lets the opposition see her sweat. In her personal life, she never lets any man rattle her- not even her cheating ex-fiance. So when she's assigned to coach People's "Sexiest Man Alive" for his role in his next big legal thriller, she refuses to fall for the Hollywood heartthrob's charms. Even if he is the Jason Andrews.

Jason Andrews is used to having women fall at his feet. When Taylor Donovan gives him the cold shoulder, he's thrown for a loop. She's unlike any other woman he's ever met: uninterested in the limelight, seemingly immune to his advances, and shockingly capable of saying no to him. She's the perfect challenge. And the more she rejects him, the more he begins to realize she may just be his perfect match. 

Julie Jame's debut novel is crazy funny and a glimpse of the talent to come in her next books. With a witty, powerful and strong heroine- something James's masters at!-  and a to die for hero, this is a book that will hook you and make you addicted to Julie James's writing. Trust me, I speak from experience!
Buy: Amazon |  B&N | The Book Depositary

Practice Makes Perfect 
Published March 3rd 2009 by Berkley Sensation 

When it comes to the laws of attraction, there are no rules The battle between the sexes is about to make these two lawyers hot under the collar. Opposites collide when two lawyers try to make partner at the same firm. Payton Kendall is a feminist to the bone. Cocky J.D. Jameson was born privileged. But when they?re asked to join forces on a major case, they gain a newfound awareness of each other?s personal assets. The partnership spot will be offered to only one of them, though. The competition heats up. Sparks fly. Let the games begin.

The second book by Julie James is surprisingly even funnier and better than the first and this becomes a pattern in James's books, her books get better and better and better! The chemistry between the characters and situations they are in will make you fall in love with Julie James's writing, AGAIN!
Buy: Amazon |  B&N | The Book Depositary

Something About You
Published March 2nd 2010 by Berkley 

Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends with a death. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago- and for nearly ruining his career.

Work with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it's no joke; the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes- and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension.

 Now if I ever had a single teeny tiny doubt about James's amazing talent, it flew right out the window and is now buried and can never resurface again. After reading Something About You, it seems James is incapable of writing anything even .0000001 bad. Fun characters and witty dialogue? Check. A heroine with a backbone? double check. A hero with a sexy scruff, a badge and a bike? please preform CPR to my swooning self.
Buy: Amazon |  B&N | The Book Depositary

A Lot Like Love
Published March 1st 2011 by Berkley Sensation 

As the daughter of a billionaire and the owner of the city's top wine store, Jordan Rhodes is invited to the most exclusive parties in Chicago. But there's only one party the FBI wants to crash: the charity fundraiser of a famous restaurateur, who also happens to launder money for the mob. In exchange for her brother's release from prison, Jordan is going to be there—with a date supplied by the Bureau.

As the top undercover agent in Chicago, Nick McCall has one rule: never get personal. This "date" with Jordan Rhodes is merely an assignment— one they're both determined to pull off even if they can't be together for five minutes before the sarcasm and sparks begin to fly. But when Nick's investigation is compromised, he and Jordan have no choice but to pretend they're a couple, and what starts out as a simple assignment begins to feel a lot like something more.

After reading Something About You, it seemed impossible that Cameron and Jack's story can be measured up to let alone topped but Julie James has it in her! Which lead me to believe and conclude, that her latest release will be her best one yet since her books get BETTER AND BETTER AND BETTER! I can never get tired of rereading them.
Buy: Amazon |  B&N | The Book Depositary

 About That Night
Expected publication: April 3rd 2012 by Berkley Sensation 

HE’S PLAYING GAMES

Though Rylann Pierce tried to fight the sparks she felt for billionaire heir Kyle Rhodes the night they met, their sizzling chemistry was undeniable. But after being stood up on their first date, Rylann never expected to see him again. So when she finds herself face to face with Kyle in a courthouse nine years later, she’s stunned. More troubling to the beautiful Assistant U.S. Attorney is that she’s still wildly attracted to him.

BUT SHE’S MAKING THE RULES

Just released from prison, Kyle Rhodes isn’t thrilled to be the star witness in a high-profile criminal case — but when Rylann comes knocking at his door, he finds she may be the one lawyer he can’t say no to. Still as gorgeous and sharp-tongued as ever, she lays down the law: she doesn’t mix business with pleasure. But Kyle won’t give up on something he wants — and what he wants is the one woman he’s never forgotten...

Buy: Amazon |  B&N | The Book Depositary 
Book Excerpt

If you scroll down to the end of the 2012 Most Anticipated Books post Emma and I did you see that About that night is my most anticipated book of 2012. I have been pinning and waiting and dreaming about it for MONTHS and now, in just a a few days I will finally be able to read it! YAAAY! I strongly suggest you give Julie James's books a chance, she IS a contemporary romance superstar!! Her books have it all, loveable characters, great intriguing plots, humor and wit and romance you wished you had. If you like contemporary books and haven't read anything by Julie James, I suggest you hit your Barnes & Noble now and for my YA lovers who want to dip their toes in adult books, Julie James is a great author who will hook you to the genre!

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My Favorite Bloggers

So yesterday's TGIF at Greads was "Book Blogger Retreat: If you could gather up a handful of book blogger friends to spend a weekend away talking books, where would you go? Tell us about it." and I was inspired and decided to switch it up and make a post of the bloggers I love and I'm grateful for meeting them!

The Australians:

 

Emma- my co-blogger: Well she IS my co-blogger for a reason and even much more than that, she's one of my dearest friends even though she lives on the other side of the world and we never met. But that's the beauty of the internet, surprisingly, we first met in a writing website and ever since, we've been tight. She's really the best, we can talk about ANYTHING and also she's one of the few teens I know who also read adults books. She's perfect and we're perfect as a team :D

 

Celine- Forget Me Not: We bonded over her crazy appreciation of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and her extreme love (and somewhat obsessive, but who am I to judge when I'm worse? lol) of St. Clair. The rest, is HISTORY! I can't go a day with out tweeting here (guess what I'm doing now?)

Sarah- Saz101: Besides writing the best reviews (I'm jealous of her talent!) she's ummmm... INSANE! it's hard not to love Sarah, there has literally got to be something WRONG with you not to love her. She's funny, she's sweet, she's more funny and we love books and book fictional guys. Yaay!

(P.S. Sarah does IS NOT Fabio (maybe she is....) or she does NOT like Fabio, she she mentioned him once and we had a long funny conversation about Fabio and now he's the symbol of our friendship HA. 

All over the world bloggers:

 

Mary- Anxirium: My first blogging friend! Mary is like the first friend you make in kindergarten and you NEVER forget! She NO LONGER blogs but now we talk even more, Goodreads and Twitter! We might not always agree on books but we do agree on the most important things: Contemporary is the BEST genre EVER! It's very hard to find fellow bloggers who love contemporary as much as me so Mary is an all time favorite friend.

Hannah- Paperback Treasures: Thanks to Mary, she introduced me to Hannah who's a fellow contemporary lover! WE MUST UNITE! and not just that, she also loves the new adult genre (characters 17+ out of high school) which is becoming one of my favorites so Hannah is Plus she's a great person to talk to!

Ari- Reading After Midnight: << my book soul mate. What she loves, I love, what she dislikes, I dislike and vice versa. It's crazy, we go through the SAME reading experiences when we read books *knocks on wood* and I don't want that to change. I value no other blogger/reviewer/reader opinion more than I value hers! Plus she's one of the nicest people ever.

(How CUTE are these buttons?! I had to put both!)

Jennie- My Cute Bookshelf: why do I love blogging? where else would I find a book blogger who adores reading as much as me AND ALSO loves make-up AND manga? Jennie is like my blogger perosn soul mate!!

Sam- Realm of Fiction: Another sweet blogger who I love talking too! Her reviews are genuine and  always replies and visit the blog and she's really a great person overall. Super nice<3 

I do talk to more bloggers, but these are the few people that I visit their blog daily and always! You should definitely check their blog out :D

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|Review| Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Title: Grave Mercy
Author: Robin LaFevers
Series: His Fair Assassin #1 (companion series)
Expected publication: April 3rd 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: Historical, YA romance, fantasy
Source: Review copy from Netgalley, thanks!
Rating: ♥♥♥♥ and a 1/2

Goodread's summary:

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Racquel's thoughts:
Confession time, contemporary might be my favorite genre to read and I value you it dearly but I happen to be very, very, very fascinated by historical novels. I went though a phase a few years back where I went crazy and bought about 6 historical YA books to read and while their stories weren't particular the best, I simply loved them for the world and time they are set in. But now I can say that I have read a wonderful historical YA novel and loved it not only for the time period but also for the fantastic story! 

Grave Mercy definitely earns it's spot in my favorite books shelf. I read it in one sitting, intrigued from the first graphic chapter. Like always, I was fascinated with the world and time period of Grave Mercy, assassins trained by nuns? who wouldn't be interested?! Ismae is a heroine I fell in love with immediately, she is a strong girl despite going though many ugly things and her backbone grows further when she is admitted to the covenant of the St. of Death.

What made Grave Mercy a favorite read to me is the romance. Which happens to be much more than that. Ismae never trusted or liked men and after she moves to the covenant where she is surrounded by females she completely lost hope in the male species so when the love interest (who I will not mention the name of so I you can read and figure of for yourself!) comes along, big yet tender, he is a novelty Ismae never dreamed of being real. Let me tell you, I read every line, every scene between Ismae and her love interest twice. I cannot begin to tell you the heat I was feeling during their exchanges! My heart was skipping so much beats, I was afraid of a heart failure throughout this book. Ismae might be trained in so many ways and skilled at death but due to her dislike of men, she posses an innocence in love that makes the romance a million times sweeter.  

Now don't think this book is solely romance- and don't forget it's a great one at that- but there is more depth to it than that. Through this romance, Ismae learns who trust, to question what she thought and was taught is unquestionable and it helped her to grow and develop as a person, her own person and not a weapon. 

I was warned by a few people that this book slows down towards the middle but I experienced no such thing. I was called for dinner, did I go? Nope. I had to take a shower before it got really late but oh, what is the problem with taking another past-midnight shower when I can keep devouring the book? The suspense of who the villain pushed me to read non-stop and I couldn't wait to get more of Ismae and her love interest who has come to be one of my all time favorite fictional hero's! His interaction with Ismea is so heartwarming, so real and funny at the same time, it's hard not to fall in love with him!  

The only thing holding me back from a full 5 heart no matter how crazy I am about this book is how since there are a lot of things to cover in the second half of the book, the pacing moved on too fast and I missed Ismea and the hero's alone time but besides that, this book is spectacular in my eyes and I already cannot wait to read it again! With witty banter that put a goofy smile on my face, a hero worth killing for, a heroine that is just as strong as the loveable hero, a set of rounded characters and a plot that kept me on my toes, it is extremely, extremely, extremely hard not to adore Grave Mercy. 

Rating: 4.5 hearts~ a real treat to romance lovers, fans of kick ass heroines and heroes and historical novels!

 (taken from advance reader's copy, subjected to change)

First line:

I bear deep red stain that runs from my left shoulder down to my right hip, a trail left by the herbwitch's poison that my mother used to try to expel me from her womb.

Favorite:  

"I am too tired to spar tonight, my lord." 

Teaser: 

"What, pray tell, am I to do with her?"

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Faves of 2011: The Random

Day Four: The Random

1. Fave first sentence

Racquel's pick: 

Something About You by Julie James

"Thirty thousand hotel rooms in the city of Chicago, and Cameron Lynde managed to find one next door to a couple having a sex marathon." 

 I love this! It was a great set up to the plot of the book. Julie James is a genius.

 

Emma's pick:

Matched ~

'Now that I've found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night?' I love how it links to the recurring line of the Dylan Thomas poem. It makes me wonder how completely magical it would feel if I ever had a reason to utter those words.  

2. Fave book title

Racquel's pick:

Double Clutch by Liz Reinhardt 

Double Clutch means: "A pattern of breathing in which a runner inhales two breaths for every breath exhaled." The way I interpreted it is Brenna has 2 guys after her & she can only choose one. Awesome!

Emma's pick:

 Shatter Me, Shiver, & Ballad ~

I like sweet, short titles. But some words are just odd, and others draw me right in. These three are my favourite by far ♥

3. Fave reading experience (ie: created a great reading memory)

Racquel's pick:

 

 Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Every time Emma & I agree, it's always on VA & are reasons are exactly the same.
Emma's pick:

 Vampire Academy series ~ 

Can I just point out I read this entire series from Friday night til Sunday night? That weekend, I simply lived and breathed Rose and Dmitri. Thought of nothing else, looked at no other thing. When I finished Last Sacrifice, I felt so, so deprived, but there was still that satisfied, elated feeling inside.

4. Book with the best food in it (made you so crazy-envious-hungry)

Racquel's pick:

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Anna, her dad & his best friend have Poke-N-Eat days, they go diving, catch goodies and cook on the spot. Fresh sea food straight out the water is DELICIOUS!

Emma's pick:

 Um, lol... I don't know... All the books I read either don't even mention food, contains tasteless meals that are purely for protein and nutritional purposes, or it's just scraps of whatever they find along their journey. Although I have to say, the food in The Hunger Games before the actual 'game' sounds pretty delicious.

5. Book with the most sensual weather (made you shiver/sweat)

Racquel's pick:

Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton

 Again book set in books make me feel like I'm in the beach! I hate the summer, I'm a winter girl but if at a beach, summer becomes my favorite.

Emma's pick:

Shiver ~

Even the title says it all... And the fact that the plot relied so much on the cold (or not cold) weather. Every time Sam felt vulnerable, I just wanted to wrap him in a thousand blankets and cuddle with him by a blazing fire.

6. Most embarrassing book cover (feeling sheepish in public or just plain ugly)

Racquel's pick:

Hard Evidence by Pamela Clare

Thank god I read this one as ebook because yikes, there was no way I was leaving my room with a cover like that! it's hot, but not in public xD (P.S. I LOOOVE Julian♥)

Emma's pick:

 Spirit Bound & Perfect Chemistry ~

I kinda miss reading from pages of paper, but I would NOT want to take these books out as lovely as these books are.

7. Can’t believe you waited this long to read the book (!)

Racquel's pick:

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead 
I waited until the series was complete! That's definitely long! 

Emma's pick:

 Crossed by Ally Condie ~

Okay, it was a little less than a year, but still. I counted down the days until the release date (which I never do) and to my disappointment, it wasn't available as an eBook. My friend had it pre-ordered and promised to lend it to me when it came, but that never happened either! I found it in the school library a week later, and oh, I cried sweet relief!

8. Book you'd give your mum/sister to read

Racquel's pick:

we have definite different book taste! 

Emma's pick:

 Hahahaahahhaha. Neither of them read, so...

9. Book you'd give your dad/brother to read

Racquel's pick:

again, we have definite different book taste!  

Emma's pick:

 The Maze Runner ~

To my brother, because anything else would be plain awkward. (Although he has read Twilight, and actually liked it.)

10. Book you'd like to give your past-self to read

Racquel's pick:

 IDK...

Emma's pick:

 I don't know if I can really answer this, hahah... but maybe Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List.

11. Book that lived up to (or superseded the hype)

Racquel's pick:

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
VA went BEYOND hype♥ 

Emma's pick:

Vampire Academy & The Mortal Instruments ~

I waited quite long to read these two series, mainly because I couldn't get a hold of them, but because I didn't want to read it, then wait. But VA is now finished and I picked up City of Bones in the library during English class and couldn't go back! So yes, these two series were amazing, and they definitely superseded the hype!

12. Book you stayed the latest to finish (confess!!!)

Racquel's pick:

There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

I stayed up until like midnight & I usually can't read past 9 o'clock. I'm an early reader, not a late one.

Emma's pick:

Unearthly & Shatter Me ~

In the holidays, I'm practically nocturnal and do all my reading in the middle of the night. But these two, I stayed up way past 3am (Unearthly - 4am), regardless of the fact that I had school/work the next morning.  

13. Book you were *dying* to get your hands on the most

Racquel's pick:

 Chain Reaction by Simon Elkeles
 I have been dying to read this book since 2 years ago when I knew PC was going to be a trilogy.

Emma's pick:

Crossed ~

Yep, as I said before, I feel like I waited so long, I hugged it for the entire day and wouldn't let it go.

14. Fattest brick of a book you read (by page count)

Racquel's pick:

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

past 600 pages, definitely a lot! I'm not complaining though;D

Emma's pick:

Everything I read now is on my iPad, so I really wouldn't know. The thickest book I own is definitely The Host at 619 pages.

15. Killer cliffhanger award

Racquel's pick:

 Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

is he alive, dead, guilty, not guilty, who trust?!?! 

Emma's pick:

Crescendo ~ 

Agh agh agh!! I stopped breathing at the last page, and it was really quite horrible. The half year wait felt like forever!  

I spent Christmas Eve typing this up. That's just how awesome my life is ;D -Ems 
I love your dedication! You're inspiring<3 -Rac (I can't shorten my name, it sounds like rack which therefore sounds like boobs.)

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