Review: Gilt by Katherine Longshore

Gilt (The Royal Circle #1) by Katherine Longshore
May 15th, 2012 ∙ Viking Juvenile
Source: Author (Thank you!)
Format: ARC
Page Count: 398

In the court of King Henry VIII, nothing is free—

and love comes at the highest price of all.

When Kitty Tylney's best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII's heart and brings Kitty to court, she's thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat's shadow, Kitty's now caught between two men--the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat's meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.

Review:

After recently falling in love with historical stories, I’ve been eagerly anticipating any book that falls under that genre, Gilt especially. I opened the book to page one, read a few sentences and was already giddy as I knew I was in for treat!

In the beginning I found myself a tad disconnected from the story due to the language, but found that reading a few sentences or a page out loud quickly transported me right back into the story. This only occurred for a short period of time at the start, after that I had no trouble as I grew more familiar with the speech.

Set in the 1500’s, Katherine Longshore has painted a real, yet honest picture, which allows readers to get a better understanding of what it was really like back then and a behind-the-scenes look into Court.

Gilt isn’t just about glorious gowns, feasts fit for a king, jewels, glitz and glamour. It’s so much more. It deals with the challenges which females faced back then, expectations which they were supposed to meet and consequences if they disobeyed the rules, their husbands or acted unruly. And under the microscope of the Court, allowing everyone to see your mistakes, if you acted up it was even worse.

The further into this book I got, the more engrossed I became. I literally had to drag myself away as I didn’t want to stop reading.
Katherine Longshore has done a remarkable job bringing the setting to life, making it picture perfect to imagine.

If you’re a historical buff or interested in the Tudor era, I completely recommend Gilt!

Brilliant.

4/5

STORM BLOG TOUR: Interview with Chris Merrick!

Hello and welcome to the eighth stop of the epic Storm Blog Tour for Brigid Kemmerer's amazing debut. I’m very pleased to be apart of the tour as this book is amazing! You can read my review here. Now before you pull a Fred Flintstone and scurry off to pick up a copy of Storm, I suggest making use of, ELEMENTAL, the short story prequel, which for a limited time is FREE to download from Amazon! But before you go, read on for an interview with the lovely, Chris Merrick! Trust me, you don’t want to miss it! ;D 

Interview:

1. First impression of Becca? (mwah)
*blushes* I thought you were going to ask questions about the book.

2. What are your interests? Apart from being so damn fine?
My element is water, but we’re supposed to lie low, so Michael won’t even let me join the swim team. Luckily we live close to the Chesapeake Bay, so I can walk half a mile to see the water. I like being outside. (A shrug.) In the spring I’ll go out for baseball.

3. Who was your first kiss? Good/Bad/Scarred for life
I was twelve. Abby Sorensen did it in the school hallway on the way back from lunch. She’d never said a word to me beforehand. I think someone dared her to do it.

4. What are three things that mean the world to you?
Michael, Gabriel, and Nick. But don’t tell them.

5. What do you think of your element, water? Are you ever jealous of your brothers’ abilities?
I’ve never been jealous of them. Water...this is going to sound stupid. (Long pause.) It’s like, your element talks to you. It’s a part of me. All the elements are connected, so I can sense my brothers’ abilities, but wanting something other than water...never.

6. Siblings can be a handful but at the same time you can’t live without them. What’s something, either a quality or attribute, you love about each of your brothers?
Michael is strong. He keeps us together. Gabriel is fearless. He keeps us safe. Nick’s our moral compass. He keeps us from killing each other.

7. If you had to pick a theme song to represent your life, what would it be?
Something Beautiful by NeedToBreathe

Schedule:

Tuesday 24th April: This or That with the Boys of Storm - Shiirleyy’s Bookshelf

Wednesday 25th April: Fantasy Casting - saz101

Thursday 26th April: Brigid Q&A: YOU ask the questions! - Eleusinian Mysteries

Friday 27th April: Keeping up with the Merrick Twins + Review Roundup - Badass Bookie

Saturday 28th April: Storm Excerpt - Forget-Me-Not

Sunday 29th April: Video chat - Book Probe

Monday 30 April: Chris Interview - Reading Wishes

Tuesday 1st May: Guest Post by Brigid: Five Secrets of the Elemental Series - Amaterasu Reads

Where to find the lovely Brigid and her masterpiece, Storm!

Blog - Twitter - Facebook - Goodreads - Amazon - Book Depository

Giveaways!

You can fill out this form for EACH of the blog posts outlined below during the tour. 9 days, 9 bloggers, 9 chances to get extra entries in to win some AMAZING prize packs!!

International Prize Pack 1: Elemental (ebook) + Storm + Spark preorder
International Prize Pack 2: Elemental (ebook) + Storm + Spark ARC
International Prize Pack 3: Storm + Spark preorder

Australian Prize Pack: Storm ARC + Spark preorder

Australia/New Zealand Prize Packs (10 winners): 1 copy of STORM + 1 STORM book jacket + 1 SPARK book jacket

Thanks to Allen & Unwin and Brigid!!

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY »

Author Interview with Elizabeth Norris

Super excited to read Unravelling even more so after getting to interview the author, Elizabeth Norris! Read on to learn more about the book, Liz as a reader and her love for quotes!

Describe Unravelling in 140 words or less, twitter style.
UNRAVELLING is a gripping story of one girl’s fight to save her family, her world, and the one boy she never saw coming.

What inspired you to put pen to paper and create Unravelling?

I was in a long distance relationship and thinking about two people who love each other but live in different worlds, and thinking about that and the plot, I wrote the story I wanted to read.

During the writing process of Unravelling, how did you deal when parts or scenes weren’t working out as planned?

I complained a lot. No, I outlined the whole book and when I was writing it, while there were moments when things didn't feel like they were working out, I pushed through it. For me, if I can get a draft done, then I can go back and fix things. But when I'm frustrated I complain a lot to my friends.

As a reader, what type of books do you look for when perusing the shelves?
I'm easily seduced by covers. I tend to buy anything with a striking cover, and that's how I've found some of my favorite books. But I read everything from contemporary to high fantasy and middle grade to adult, stories that are plot driven and books that are quiet. It depends on what mood I'm in but mostly I read it all.

Let’s talk quotes:

If Unravelling were a quote what would it be?
I guess it would get it's own quote. One of my favorite lines from Unravelling is: "Life is a fragile thing. Apparently the whole world is fragile too. But it'll beat on. Because it has to."

All-time favourite quote from a movie?

"With enough courage, you can do without reputation." (Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind)

A favourite book quote of mine includes...
"The truth doesn't set you free, you know. It makes you feel awkward and embarrassed and defenceless and red in the face and horrified and petrified and vulnerable. But free? I don't feel free. I feel like shit.” (Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta)

My top 3 favourite book quotes are…
1. "You save yourself or you remain unsaved." (Lucky by Alice Sebold)

2. "So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight." (The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

3. “They made me see that the world was beautiful if you were beautiful, and that you couldn't get unless you gave. And you had to give without wanting to get.” (The Once and Future King by T.H. White)

A quote that I live by…
"This above all: to thine own self be true." (Hamlet by William Shakespeare)

Unravelling by Elizabeth Norris

Gilt Blog Tour: Tudor Tuesday - Jane Seymour

Welcome to the third stop for the Tudor Tuesdays Blog Tour! Read on to find out about, Jane Seymour, who was known as Henry’s most beloved wife, an amazing teaser from Gilt and a giveaway! Make sure you grab the highlighted word as you'll need that to enter the giveaway at the end of alll the posts! Have fun and good luck!

Bio:

Jane Seymour, the third consort of Henry the Eighth, was born about the year 1504.

For six years Jane Seymour had been the lady in waiting to Anne Boleyn. Though Henry was interested in Jane, she was not willing while he was married. Jane's sweet and charming demeanour captured Henry's heart and they married just days after Anne was beheaded. Jane Seymour was the only one of Henry's wives to fulfil a Tudor queen's ultimate role -- the birth of a legitimate son. For this, she would be regarded as Henry the VIII's best wife.

But, ironically, unlike her predecessors, Jane Seymour was never crowned queen. Rumour had it that the king had postponed Jane's coronation until she proved herself capable of bearing heirs. The real reason though was that there weren’t enough funds to host the ceremony. The date was slotted for October 1536 -- within ten months of their wedding. But when October came, an outbreak of the plague and a series of uprisings in England's North prevented the ceremony from taking place. To pacify the rebels, Henry agreed to their demands that when the queen was crowned it would take place in the North, at York -- a promise that went unfulfilled.

Days later after giving birth, Jane fell ill from puerperal fever, a common cause of death for women after childbirth during that time. The queen made a slight recovery, but on October 23 Henry was summoned to his wife's bedside. Hours later, Jane died quietly in her sleep. She was 28 years old and had been queen for just 18 months. In his later years, Henry would remember his time with Jane as the happiest in his life. When Henry died in 1547, he left instructions to be buried with Jane, his most beloved of all his wives.

Teaser:

Kitty!” A girlish cry nearly dropped me to my knees. “Joan! Alice! I’m so glad you’re here!”

We turned to see Cat scampering the length of the great hall, dukes, duchesses, and courtiers scattering, bowing, and curtseying in her wake. Everyone watched her progress to see whom the queen considered important enough to greet with such ecstasy. The sleeves of her crimson gown billowed, tucked in at the wrists by gold-embroidered cuffs. A series of pearl-and-ruby ropes hung around her neck, anchored by a gold pendant enameled with a brilliant crowned rose.

Jane pinched my sleeve and I followed her into a curtsey of my own. It felt so strange making obeisance to my best friend.

“Oh, stand up for pity’s sake,” she cried, and threw her arms around me.

“Kitty,” she said, and then whispered in my ear, “finally, someone I can talk to!”

Giveaway - The Low Down:

Make sure you grab the highlighted word from my post and all the rest to enter to win one of 3 GILT prize packs. 3 people will receive a finished copy of the book, and some GILT bookmarks.

To enter fill in the Rafflecopter below once you have the words to complete this sentence

In the ____ of King ____ VIII, who you ____ can get you in, but ___ you ____ can get you ______

-     Contest is open to residents of the US only

-          Entrants must be 13 years of age or older

-          The winners have 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen

-          Please do not put your email address in the comment

In My Mailbox #9 aka crazy, awesome edition!

Massive book load this week! Can’t wait to get started and make my way through all these awesome books! What I got this week:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont

Storm by Brigid Kemmerer - AMAZING! To read my review click here. To find out about the blog tour which starts tomorrow check out this post, where you'll find all the details. Trust me, you won't want to miss out on all the fun, interviews, giveaways and more!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Preloved by Shirley Marr

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Signed:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver – The lovely Sarah at Saz101 got Lauren to sign my book of Before I Fall at the signing in Sydney.  If you haven’t already, you must get a copy of this amazing book! Thank again, Sarah! <3 Clicky here to read my review.

Hope you had a great week! Feel free to share what your favourite book, ARC, swag or goody you received this week was! Comment away! :D

Storm Blog Tour + Giveaways: The storm is coming . . .

A Storm is coming! Over the next week, forecasts are predicting a massive Storm front progressing steadily across the Southern blogosphere. Authorities warn of effects being felt across the globe, with multiple storm point touch downs, interviews, exclusive extras and massive prize packs. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to batten down the hatches for one epic storm event. Whether you're one of these lucky people who've already read Storm by goddess-turned-author Brigid Kemmerer, or you're impatiently waiting, you have to know that this is one of the most exciting young adult paranormals 2012 has to offer. Over the next nine days, nine bloggers are very excited to be bringing you the Storm Blog Tour! Tune in to your feeds and favorite blogs for never before seen character interviews, a video chat, an interactive Q&A with Brigid, and an exclusive excerpt from Storm itself! If that's not exciting enough, there are fourteen massive prize packs up for grabs, both AU/NZ and internationally! Check out tour dates below, and be sure to tune in to each stop to enter the giveaway!

Schedule:

Monday 23rd April: Chris/Becca/Hunter Interview - Read Me Love Me Bookmark Me

Tuesday 24th April: This or That with the Boys of Storm - Shiirleyy’s Bookshelf

Wednesday 25th April: Fantasy Casting - saz101

Thursday 26th April: Brigid Q&A: YOU ask the questions! - Eleusinian Mysteries

Friday 27th April: Keeping up with the Merrick Twins + Review Roundup – Badass Bookie

Saturday 28th April: Storm Excerpt - Forget-Me-Not

Sunday 29th April: Video chat - Book Probe

Monday 30 April: Chris Interview - Reading Wishes

Tuesday 1st May: Guest Post by Brigid: Five Secrets of the Elemental Series – Amaterasu Reads

 Giveaway Packs: 

  
International Prize Pack 1: Elemental (ebook) + Storm + Spark preorder

International Prize Pack 2: Elemental (ebook) + Storm + Spark ARC 

International Prize 3: Copy of Storm + Spark Pre-order

Australian Prize Pack: Storm ARC + Spark preorder

Australia/New Zealand Prize Packs (10 winners): 1 copy of STORM + 1 STORM book jacket + 1 SPARK book jacket (Thanks to Allen & Unwin and Brigid!!) 

 ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

In My Mailbox #8

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they've borrowed, received in the mail or bought in the past week.

Haven’t done an IMM in the last 3 weeks, so here is all the goodies I’ve received since then.

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig – I had already brought a copy of this but after hosting Elisa Ludwig on my blog in celebration of my birthday and Pretty Crooked, she sneakily asked for my address and sent me a signed copy, wishing me happy birthday.

Gilt (The Royal Circle #1) by Katherine Longshore – After spreading the word like mad that Katherine Longshore had a new website which she was celebrtating with a giveaway, I was luckily enough to win an ARC!! Was very excited for this book and I can gladly say it lived up to my expectations. Read, loved, review coming soon!

Gilt Swag – Postcard, bookmark and door hanger

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – This book is a favourite of mine so when I saw that it was being auctioned, I got bidding. The auction also included a necklace which I forgot to include but here’s a description: double-sided necklace crafted by an artist in the author's hometown of Asheville, NC. One side of the necklace features the Eiffel Tower, the other side is pink with a chandelier." Anna is signed by the author addressed to me and includes a little message written in an awesome purple pen! The best part was that the money raised went to a great cause! I *hope* to meet Stephanie Perkins in the future but since I have no idea when that might happen this will do for now! :)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter #1) – I’ve been meaning to read the series and finally (after a bit of persuasion) I took the plunge and brought book one! Happy now, Brodie and Taneika? ;D

Revived by Cat Patrick – A gorgeous story that I loved, for more gushing read my review here!

Touch (Denazen #1) by Jus Accardo – Super excited to read this after Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives did a post including 8 amazing reasons why you need to read this book! She certainly sold me and I was very lucky to win the giveaway she was hosting!

(A massive thanks to Elisa, Katy, Stephanie, Hardie Grant Egmont and Jacinda!)

Review: Revived by Cat Patrick

Revived by Cat Patrick

April 1st, 2012 ∙ Hardie Grant Egmont

Source: Publisher

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 327

As a little girl, Daisy Appleby was killed in a school bus crash. Moments after the accident, she was brought back to life.

A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency’s true goals, she realizes she’s at the center of something much larger — and more sinister — than she ever imagined.

Review:

After seeing the US cover for Revived I was expecting quite an action packed paranormal story with a dystopian feel, but what I got however was a little different to what I originally imagined, however it was just as amazing as I thought it would be!

Daisy is pretty cool as she co-authors a blog, likes to read and overall is a unique character. Matt is gorgeous; he’s sweet and caring and lovely. Cat Patrick blew us away with Luke from Forgotten and she hasn’t let us down with this newest addition. All the characters were amazing but the one who stood out to me and shined in this book the most was hands down, Audrey. Wow. Cat has done an incredible job fleshing her out and not only that but she’s amazingly well written too! Fun, sweet and one of a kind, she broke my heart big time.

Revived is the kind of book you want to take slow, drag out because you don’t want the story to finish but at the same time you can’t stop reading the pages quick enough because you need to know what’s going to happen next.

Also, “God” was creepy... *runs away and hides*

As it the neared the end, the action and suspense was off the radar and had me in a page flipping frenzy, scared, worried, needing to find out what was around the corner!

If your looking for a lighter paranormal with that gorgeous contemporary vibe and style of writing, you’ve hit the nail on the head with Revived!

The characters are amazing, the story simply hooking and the pace perfection. Cat Patrick has done it again!                                                               

4/5

Review: Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

Storm (Elementals #1) by Brigid Kemmerer

April 24th, 2012 ∙ Kensington

Source: Won

Format: ARC

Page Count: 432

Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they have more power than you dream.

Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her, Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys—all the ones she doesn't want. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water—just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They’re powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life’s at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who’s hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming . . .

Review:

Before I get started on those moreish Merricks, I must mention Becca! Boy, do I LOVE this girl! Feisty, kind, tough and smart, not only is she all that and more but I had such a great connection with her! She’s the kind of character I’d love to be friends with.

The Merrick Brothers – woah! They are the definition of hotness! The story mainly revolves around Chris, however his brothers are plenty involved and you get to know, meet and crush on them many times throughout the book. The list goes on and on with reasons why I love the Merricks but one is because they are refreshingly real, with problems, troubles and hassles of their own. Also, Gabrielle packs a mean punch.

Chris is gorgeous. My, my, my am I head over heels in love! The boy is amazing, makes me swoon in delight and despite not always being on the best of terms with his brothers, he’s always got their back. He’s so caring and kind towards to Becca and it’s so sweet how he gets when he’s around her.

What can you expect from this pack of brothers? Hostility, testosterone levels off the chart and fist fights, which lead to some pretty funny moments I might add. Think there’s lots of tension between the brothers? Well just wait til you bring in an outsider from town, who takes an interest in Becca and it just adds to the fire!

I’m going to miss these characters like mad but luckily this is a series, so we haven’t heard the last of them yet!

I was grinning so much during this novel, luckily I wasn’t in a public place otherwise I would of looked like a loony!

I did suspect a few things which turned out to be true, but then again I seem to have a pretty good intuition about people and situations. However this certainly didn’t take away from the story and how much I enjoyed reading it!

Brigid Kemmerer - where did this talented, amazing lady come from! Her prose is beautiful and flows easily; it had me in a page flipping frenzy. Her characters are simply amazing and totally relatable, especially the boys of the story as they were written so spot on and true to life.  It has the perfect teenage vibe. Seriously, is Brigid a teen or something? Because it sure felt that way!

Mix in a kickass protagonist, smoking hot brothers, the elements, a thrilling plot and a good dash of swooning and you’ve got Storm!

If for some silly reason your on the fence about this book, don’t be. Go order a copy right now, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll love it just as much as I did.

5/5

WARNING: Squealing, shrieking, grinning and chuckling may occur when reading this epic book!