Top Ten Tuesday: Best Summer Reads

Here on the east coast, it's a very rainy Tuesday. So what better TopTen to feature than our favorite summer reads. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme/feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Maybe our list of sunshine reads will bring back the sun for our last few weeks of summer!

Wake (Watersong, #1) by Amanda Hocking - Review

Now I have to tell you that I feel as though I've mislead you all. This will not be a full fledged review because I did not make it all the way through Wake by Amanda Hocking. Please continue reading to find out why...

Cover Reveal! Lullaby (Watersong #2) by Amanda Hocking

So today, one of my favorite authors, Amanda Hocking, revealed the cover for the second book in the Watersong series called Lullaby! The first book in the series, Wake, comes out this August. She also revealed in her post that Lullaby's release date has been bumped up to this November! Thank you Miss Hocking!

Giveaway #5! My favorite eBooks!

It's giveaway number 5 time! Well, as most of you very well know, I'm a huge fan of self-published eBooks! A lot of times, I think eBooks get a bad rap because people don't think they are of good quality writing, that they are publisher's rejects or that they aren't worth the time it takes to read them. Well, as a frequent reader of self-published eBooks, I hope to prove the naysayers wrong. One of the best examples of the wonders of self-published eBooks is Amanda Hocking. Her titles rose to popularity on the eBook market and are currently published with St. Martin press. Her books are simply wonderful and are a great example of what treasures one can find when reading self published books.

Giveaway #4!

Hey guys! It's giveaway time again! While I normally have some sort of theme when doing giveaways, I figured with this one, I'd just plain give away books! Who doesn't love to win free books? This particualr giveaway will have 3 separate winners!  Each winner will get a pool of books to choose from and they will be sent to you straight from Book Depository! If it's a book that is not yet out, I will pre-order it for you :)

My Blood Approves (My Blood Approves #1) by Amanda Hocking - Review

I’m going to start off with the most obvious thing to say about this book… it’s about vampires. The totally rad Amanda Hocking has brought us yet another riveting tale of mythical creatures and this time, it’s the blood sucking variety. I started reading this after I had already finished the Trylle Series by Miss Hocking and I have to say that I was a little apprehensive. It takes a really, really great and unique vampire story to get me to love it… and she did it!

Ascend by Amanda Hocking - Review

Well people, Ascend comes out in April so I thought I’d reread this book as I did with the first two books in the Trylle series and give you a little insight into how this awesome series comes to an end!

Giveaway Number Two- "Switched" and "Torn" by Amanda Hocking

I know that I said last week a giveaway would be up on Friday, but I got super busy and wasn't able to post this weekend! BUT today is the day :)

With Amanda Hocking's second book in the Trylle Novels being re-released on February 28th, I thought I'd do a giveaway of the paperback editions for both the first book, Switched and the second book, Torn! These are awesome books, both of which I have reviewed so check out the reviews if you'd like to learn more!

Torn by Amanda Hocking - Review

As this second installment of the Trylle Novels is rereleased on February 28^th, I thought I’d reread and review this book to encourage some people to pick it up. This series by Amanda Hocking is creative, wonderful and hard to put down.

In Torn, book two, we again follow Wendy, the changeling and Trylle princess, on her adventures. This time though, Wendy gets herself and her friends in a little bit of a predicament. After fleeing the Trylle compound with her biological brother Rhys, she returns to her old home to see her adoptive family. Once there, she and her family members are captured by a different breed of troll and taken to a different compound, far away from their Minnesota home. Once there, Wendy begins to find out a lot more about herself and the past that Elora has lead her to believe was the truth. Without giving too much away, this book introduces us to a sort of love triangle? Square? Trapezoid? I’m not exactly sure which shape it creates but Wendy has to sort through some serious feelings as she has three different boys vying for her affections. As if that wasn’t enough, she must also make the choice between her duty and her own free will.

Virtue by Amanda Hocking - Review

I was having one of those weekends where I was super busy and didn't want to get into a long book I wouldn't be able to sit and enjoy for a long period of time. So, I bought Virtue by Amanda Hocking to read. I had heard it was a quick little read that was very enjoyable and as I've said before, (and maybe even gotten a little preachy on the subject) I love Amanda Hocking's work.  

This book follows the story of Lux and Lily. Lux must steal Lily from her castle home for his master, even though he has no idea why. He goes to a ball where she will be and lures her out of the ballroom and outside with him. After falling for Lily's innocence and loving nature, he lets her escape into the dreaded woods that surrounds their castles land. After this one defining moment, Lily and Lux must decide what is right and the difference between good and evil.

Hollowland by Amanda Hocking - Review

This was my first zombie book and let me say, I was a bit hesitant to start. I have no idea why, but the blood and gore associated with zombies freaked me out (which is a little strange considering my attraction to vampire stories…). With Hollowland, I once again put my faith in Amanda Hocking and I was not disappointed.

Hollowland follows Remy King on a quest across what is left of the future United States after a zombie disease took hold of much of America’s population. Remy and her unlikely friends including an ex Rock star, a medical student, and lion named Ripley, battle zombies on their way to find Remy’s brother. He's  been moved from their previous quarantine center to a safer location and they must fight through the wasteland that is the U.S. to reach saftey. Everyone knows that Remy’s brother is extremely sick and fragile but no one expects the truth… which you’ll have to read the book to find!

Switched by Amanda Hocking -Review

Amanda Hocking is probably my favorite author of the moment. I’ve read the Trylle Series a few times but I decided that I needed to reread them and put them up on the blog to encourage anyone I could to read them! I’m doing so now because the Trylle series is being published in paperback this spring and so even if you don’t have an ereader, you’ll be able to enjoy these awesome stories.

Switched is the first book in a series of three (Torn and Ascend are the second and third installments of the Trylle books). This story follows Wendy who has never quite fit in with her family. The only one who seems to agree with her is her mother, who happened to try and kill her when she was six. Wendy soon finds out that she is in fact a troll, and not the type of troll you’re thinking of (bright pink hair and a rhinestone bellybutton came to mind). The Trylle are a tribe of trolls that are more or less humans that have abilities and are more in tune with nature. Wendy is thrown into a world where she is expected to act as royalty and forget the family that raised her. Of course there is a sexy male lead, Finn, who struggles with his duty to protect Wendy and his feelings for her. This book ends with a bang and will make you start on book two immediately!