Wednesday, January 2, 2019

2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge - Sign Up

The 2018 Series Enders Reading Challenge is in the books, and Holly and I decided we're in this for yet another year. Welcome to our 6th Annual Series Enders Reading Challenge. While the rules this year are essentially the same as last year, we did tweak the wording on a few and add some clarification so please be sure to check them out for a refresher.

This challenge is for all of you series readers who are scared to death of that last book in the series. You anxiously await it. You stalk it. You get your hands on it as soon as possible. But then…you put off reading it for fear that it might not be everything you thought it would be. Or, maybe you just have a backlog of series started and you need to finish that last book.

Join us in knocking out those pesky last books in a series. This is your chance. Here’s your motivation. Better than that, we have prizes!

Challenge Guidelines:

  1. This challenge will run from January 1, 2019 until December 31, 2019.
  2. Anyone can enter. You don’t have to have a blog just as long as you review your books somewhere: on your blog if you have one, Amazon, Goodreads, etc.
  3. Any genre, length, or format is acceptable as long as it is the last book in a series where all books in the series have been published and no more books are currently intended to be published in the series. If an author makes a decision somewhere during the year to add on to the series, we will count both the original last book in the series and the “new last” book in the series assuming the author isn’t going to write more than one additional book. Last book published in a series doesn’t count if more books are expected to be published.
  4. You can list your series enders ahead of time, but this is not required. If you decide to list them up front, feel free to change them throughout the year as necessary.
  5. When you sign up in the linky, please use the direct link to your post about joining the 2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge. If you don’t have a blog, please post about it on Facebook or Twitter and include that direct link as your sign up.
  6. You can sign up until December 15, 2019. This allows you to join the challenge at any time during the year.
  7. On the 25th of every month, we will post a wrap up on both Somewhere Only We Know and Words Fueled by Love with a linky for you to link up your reviews for the month. The monthly giveaway will be open until the next wrap up post goes up (ex. From January 25th to February 25th). For each link to a review, you will get an (1) entry into a drawing for that giveaway. This will be open internationally. Please link each review separately as each link in the monthly wrap up linky acts as an entry in both the monthly giveaway and the grand prize giveaway at the end of the year.
  8. Monthly giveaway prizes will be an e-gift card of your choice up to $5 (USD) from Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. While the challenge and giveaways are open internationally, please make sure that you can receive e-gift cards via Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. We want to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to participate and to receive the prizes. Please remember that Holly and I are funding the giveaways out of our own pockets as something that we want to do, and we would like to continue to do so.
  9. If you miss a wrap-up post and giveaway, you can link your review the next month. Please do not try to link to one review twice. We will be verifying these.
  10. December will be the wrap up for the entire year. All reviews linked from January through December will be entered into a Grand Prize giveaway. Also due to Christmas, the December wrap up will post on December 23rd and will be open until January 23rd.
  11. You don’t have to follow Somewhere Only We Know or Words Fueled by Love to participate in the challenge, but you do have to follow both of us in order to be entered in the giveaways.
  12. Please make sure we have a valid email address or other means of contacting you if you choose to participate. Linking up to Goodreads is perfectly fine, but we have found that Goodreads is not a reliable source for contacting someone should you be selected as one of the monthly giveaway winners. This could be due to your Goodreads notification settings or Goodreads themselves could be at fault. We're not sure which. And since we want to make sure that everyone who is eligible for one of the giveaways will receive their prize should they win one month or the grand prize at the end of the year, it is up to you to ensure that we can contact you and that you respond within a reasonable amount of time (usually stated in the email notifying you of your winning).

Levels: (how many series enders you are planning to read)

Level 1: 1 – 5
Level 2: 5 – 10
Level 3: 10 – 15
Level 4: 15+

If you have any questions, please contact us at: Sandy's Email or Holly's Email or comment on one of the Series Enders blog posts on either or both of our websites.

To join the challenge:

  1. Write a blog post about joining the 2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge on your blog. For those of you who would like to participate but don’t have a blog, post about it on Facebook or Twitter.
  2. In your post, please include: the button, a link back to the sign up page, a link to both Somewhere Only We Know and Words Fueled by Love, the level you hope to achieve, and (optional) a list of the series you hope to complete.
  3. Place the button for the challenge in your sidebar (use the “grab this code” at the bottom of the post here).
  4. Link up in the linky using the direct link to your post/tweet/etc.

And that’s it! Welcome to the 2019 Series Enders Reading Challenge. Good luck!

This reading challenge is hosted by Somewhere Only We Know & Words Fueled by Love.


Like last year, we had to use Simply-Linked for the yearly sign up linky because InLinkz has made some changes to the basic package. The monthly link ups will be the typical InLinkz linky that we used for the past challenges.

Monday, December 31, 2018

Bring Down the Stars - Review

Bring Down the Stars (Beautiful Hearts Duet, # 1)

By: Emma Scott

Publication: August 19th 2018 by Amazon Digital Services

292 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Retellings

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon $3.99 | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--I fell for Connor Drake. I didn’t want to; I fought against it, but I fell in love with him anyway. With his words. With his poetry. With him. The gentleness and beauty of his soul that speaks directly to mine. He writes as if he can feel my heart, hear its cadence and compose the exact right lyrics to accompany every beat and flow.

I’m in love with Connor…so why do I feel an inexplicable pull to his best friend, Weston? Grouchy, sullen, brooding Weston Turner, who could cut you down with a look. Fiercely intelligent with a razor sharp wit and acid tongue, he’s the exact opposite of Connor in every way, and yet there’s electricity in the air between us. The thorny barbs Weston wraps around himself can’t keep me away.

But the more time I spend with these men, the more tangled and confused my emotions become. When they both sign up for the Army Reserves during a time of increasing strife in the Middle East, I fear I’ll never unravel my own heart that sometimes feels as if it will tear straight down the middle…for both of them.

**********

Bring Down the Stars is an emotional, angst-filled novel of unrequited love by bestselling author, Emma Scott, and is inspired by the classic tale, Cyrano de Bergerac. (Roxanne) It is Book I in the Beautiful Hearts Duet, coming this summer. Book II, Long Live the Beautiful Hearts, to be released a few weeks later. THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL LOVE TRIANGLE #confusedhearts #notamenage

When I read the description of Bring Down the Stars, I was sold that it was a book that I needed to read, but I wasn't sold that it would start or end in a place I'd be happy with. I mean the story of Cyrano de Bergerac is well known. A man speaks for another man in love with a woman. I mean obviously there's more to it than that, but I could tell immediately from the description that it was likely Weston was the one giving his words to Connor in order to woo Autumn. But that would mean that Weston wouldn't be with Autumn, yet Weston would be the one I should be rooting for. Starting a book off knowing that inevitable conflict (well all books have conflict, but this particular conflict is what I mean) is ahead had me hesitating.

Despite my hesitation, Bring Down the Stars hooked me quickly. I easily felt the connection between Autumn and Weston. And even the gravitational pull toward Connor and his easygoing charisma. Each character has depth. Connor's struggles to live up to his family's wishes for him. His family is so gracious to Weston and his family, and even Autumn's. They weren't black and white characters. Weston's history with his father and even how his mother's words shaped his view of himself, his worth, and his options for his future. Autumn's romantic history and her family dynamics. All of these characters were more than surface level. Even the side characters like Connor's parents, Weston's mom, Paul, Ruby, Edmond (who I imagine was fashioned in some ways after Javier from Felicity), and Weston's poetry professor.

I was a little frustrated with Autumn. I mean such a large point of this book is the retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac so this couldn't really be avoided, but how much Autumn struggled with the back and forth of Connor. How he felt so different in person versus the poetry, letters, or words he gave her when they weren't together...It seems to me that you've got to go with how you feel when you're together in person versus words shared when apart. So I struggled a little with her indecision. But all of that was necessary for the story.

It's actually hard for me to separate Bring Down the Stars from Long Live the Beautiful Hearts considering I started book 2 immediately after finishing this one. I read in the car on a day trip 3 hours away from home (and then 3 hours back). I basically finished both books in two days total--unheard of for me this past year.

I also want to say that the last poem of Bring Down the Stars did not disappoint. Often times when I'm reading a book that builds up a character's talent in songwriting, poetry, writing, riddles, etc, I end up being disappointed with the lyrics or samples of their art included in the book. That was not the case with the main poem of this book. It was beautiful in every way and I could read it over and over again. I won't share it with you guys, but I will share a few of my other favorite quotes:

-"I can't help myself. I don't want casual. I want electricity. I want someone I can talk to for ages, someone who sets my blood on fire. And not just physically, you know?" Ruby pursed her lips. "Gee, don't expect much, do you?" "Only everything," I said. "And why not? That's exactly what I have to give."

-I wouldn't touch you so quickly, I thought. I'd wait. Draw it out. Build up the moment so that when it happened--when each of us feels the other's skin for the first time--it'll be something sublime. Something earned.

-"I'm starting to memorize you," he said. "Not just your words but how you talk. The silences between words. The sound you make when you're thinking. The quiet where you try to hold back, and the little floods where you don't."

Bring Down the Stars was more than I expected it to be. I hoped I would like it. I hoped I could make it past the inevitable conflict that was expected from the book description and the very beginning of the story. And Bring Down the Stars exceeded my expectations. Knowing what was going on in Emma Scott's life during the time of writing these two books made these books even more emotional. My heart goes out to her. Bring Down the Stars gets 4 Stars. Have you read Bring Down the Stars? What did you think? Let me know!

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Sunday Post & Stacking the Shelves - 12/30/18

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~ It's a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Last Sunday we were at my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's house. We hung out until right after lunch and then came home. We'd planned to make and decorate cookies for Santa, but we never ended up getting around to them. By the time we got home and had dinner there was no time. Monday, we went to my parents' house. We already did Christmas with them two weeks ago so we just went to spend time together. My brother, sister-in-law, and their kids came also, and we played games, ate soup, and just hung out. Monday night was the mad rush to get Santa done after the kids went to bed. Thankfully they were both exhausted from playing so hard the day before. Tuesday we got up and opened presents. My kids aren't old enough to really wake up early so we just got up at normal time, but that was beyond fine with me. Little Boy is still only a little over a year old so a lot of the events went over his head, but he still had a blast. Little Girl is 3 now so she's enjoying Santa and Christmas more and more. For lunch we went over to Husband's mom's house. His older sister and their family were late getting on the road so we didn't open presents with them until after dinner. Wednesday, Husband was back to work, and we were back to normal. Usually, I put off taking down the tree until New Years Day, but this year that thing had to go. We're planning soon to take up the carpet and put down laminate so we've got to clear out that room ASAP. Friday I had a dentist appointment so the kids spent most of the day with Grammy. After the dentist I had to get groceries. I came home and put them away, then shredded the meat off a rotisserie chicken. The kids got home and I put them down for nap and quiet time. Then I worked on taking the tree down some more. And then I made bacon chips to take to my aunt's house for a party with her family. Saturday we did NOTHING! It was glorious.

THIS PAST WEEK:

Monday: No Blog Posts
Tuesday: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Wednesday: Can't Wait for Be the Girl by KA Tucker
Thursday Review of The Ones You Fight For (The Ones Who Got Away, # 3) by Roni Loren

UPCOMING THIS WEEK:

Monday: Review of Bring Down the Stars (The Beautiful Hearts, # 1) by Emma Scott
Tuesday: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wednesday: Can't Wait for Wednesday
Thursday December 2018 EOM Wrap Up
Friday: 2018 EOY Wrap Up

Don’t forget to link up for the 2018 Series Enders Reading Challenge! You have until December 15th, 2018 to sing up. Each month there will be a giveaway for those participating with an end of the year giveaway too! Click on the picture below or the link above to find out more!

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Stormcaster (Shattered Realms, # 3)

By: Cinda Williams Chima

Publication: April 3rd 2018 by HarperTeen

544 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The third book in the thrilling four-book Shattered Realms series from New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima

The empress in the east—the unspeakably cruel ruler whose power grew in Flamecaster and Shadowcaster—tightens her grip in this chilling third installment in the series.

Vagabond seafarer Evan Strangward can move the ocean and the wind, but his magical abilities seem paltry in comparison to Empress Celestine’s. As Celestine’s bloodsworn armies grow, Evan travels to the Fells to warn the queendom of her imminent invasion. If he can’t convince the Gray Wolf queen to take a stand, he knows that the Seven Realms will fall. Among the dead will be the one person Evan can’t stand to lose.

Meanwhile, the queen’s formidable daughter, Princess Alyssa ana’Raisa, is already a prisoner aboard the empress’s ship. Lyss may be the last remaining hope of bringing down the empress from within her own tightly controlled territory.

Multiple intricately interwoven storylines converge in this gripping novel about a brave, coordinated effort to undermine a horrific tyrant.

Alex, Approximately

By: Jenn Bennett

Publication: April 4th 2017 by Simon Pulse

400 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--In this delightfully charming teen spin on You’ve Got Mail, the one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

Classic movie buff Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online by “Alex.” Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new arch-nemesis. But life is whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever-it-is she’s starting to feel for Porter.

And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, # 3)

By: Jenny Han

Publication: April 4th 2017 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

320 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.

Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.

But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

That's it for my shelves and recaps of my past and upcoming week. What did you add to your shelves this week? Any bookish news you want to talk about? Let me know!

Thursday, December 27, 2018

The One You Fight For - Review

The One You Fight For (The Ones Who Got Away, # 3)

By: Roni Loren

Publication: January 1st 2019 by Sourcebooks Casablanca

416 pages

Genre: Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--How hard would you fight for the one you love? Taryn Landry was there that awful night fourteen years ago when Long Acre changed from the name of a town to the title of a national tragedy. Everyone knows she lost her younger sister. No one knows it was her fault. Since then, psychology professor Taryn has dedicated her life's work to preventing something like that from ever happening again. Falling in love was never part of the plan...

Shaw Miller has spent more than a decade dealing with the fallout of his brother's horrific actions. After losing everything―his chance at Olympic gold, his family, almost his sanity―he's changed his name, his look, and he's finally starting a new life. As long as he keeps a low profile and his identity secret, everything will be okay, right?

When the world and everyone you know defines you by one catastrophic tragedy...
How do you find your happy ending?

I normally do not read books in a series out of order like this. But for some reason, I got pulled into the description and cover and everything for this book. And I figured if I liked this one, I could go back and read the prior two books in the series. Considering that each book follows a different main character, reading these out of order shouldn't be too much of a problem.

The One You Fight For completely pulled me in. I had so many questions that were propelling me through the story. I read 50% quickly, but then I became disappointed. The book took a 20% detour from the main storyline for the characters to have sex. I don't enjoy descriptive scenes like this. Perhaps the genre should have given this away for me though. Regardless, I was really disappointed with this and skimmed ahead through this section. But I was disappointed because I felt like the story stood on its own without having to throw this detailed section in the middle of the book.

Given the topic, I really appreciated that Roni Loren didn't turn this book political. It was just a story and not an agenda or a message. Speaking of that, at first, I was a little disappointed that Taryn's program wasn't spelled out a little bit more. I wanted to know more about it in a show vs tell kind of way. But then I figured if there was some epic program out there to prevent school shootings then it would be implemented around the country already. Nevertheless, I'm so glad that this book wasn't about spreading a message. I hate when authors do that and given the content it could have easily headed in that direction.

The One You Fight For hooked me early, but I found myself confused and disappointed when we took a 20% detour for the characters to hook up. I want to know the stories of the other characters, but I can only imagine that the descriptive scenes aren't unique to this book alone so I'll probably skip them. The One You Fight For gets 3 Stars from me. And I'm kind of sad about that because I likely would have enjoyed it so much more if I didn't have to skim 20% of the book for some filler sex scenes. Have you read The One You Fight For? What did you think? Let me know!

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Can't Wait for Be the Girl

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

Be the Girl

By: KA Tucker

Expected Publication: January 21st 2019 by K.A. Tucker

pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--From the national bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths series and The Simple Wild comes a poignant story about a girl trying to change her future while evading her past.

Almost sixteen-year-old Aria Jones is starting over. New postal code, new last name, new rules. But she doesn’t mind, because it means she can leave her painful regrets behind. In the bustling town of Eastmonte, she can become someone else. Someone better.

With the Hartford family living next door, it seems she will succeed. Sure, Cassie Hartford may be the epitome of social awkwardness thanks to her autism, but she also offers an innocent and sincere friendship that Aria learns to appreciate. And Cassie’s older brother, Emmett—a popular Junior A hockey player with a bright future—well … Aria wishes that friendship could lead to something more. If he didn’t already have a girlfriend, maybe it would.

But Aria soon finds herself in a dicey moral predicament that could derail her attempt at a fresh start. It is her loyalty to Cassie and her growing crush on Emmett that leads her to make a risky move, one that earns her a vindictive enemy who is determined to splinter her happy new world.

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!