Of Beast and Beauty

Author: Stacy Jay
Goodreads Rating: 4.02
Pages: 391
Format: ARC from ALA13

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

The Distance Between Us

Author: Kasie West
Goodreads Rating: 3.94
Pages: 320
Format: ARC from ALA13

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.
So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.
She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

Aquifer

Author: Jonathan Friesen
Goodreads Rating: 3.43
Pages: 303
Format: ARC from ALA13

Only he can bring what they need to survive...
In 2250, water is scarce, and those who control it control everything. And they’ll do anything to maintain their power – deceiving, dividing families, banning love... even killing those who oppose them.
But above all, they seek to control knowledge and communication – ensuring the truth that will bring their downfall will never be known. But one person verges on discovering it all.
Sixteen-year-old Luca becomes the Deliverer, the only one allowed to contact the people called ‘Water Rats,’ who mine the essential water deep underground and bring it to the ‘Toppers’ who desperately need it above. 
But when he meets a Water Rat who captures his heart and leads him to secrets – secrets about a vast conspiracy, and about himself – the net around him tightens. Luca and those around him must uncover and share the truth needed to overthrow tyranny – even as they fight for their lives.

Replica

Author: Jenna Black
Goodreads Rating: 3.64
Pages: 368
Format: ARC from ALA13

Sixteen-year-old Nadia Lake comes from a high-class Executive family in the Corporate States. Her marriage has been arranged with the most powerful family in her state, which means she lives a life of privilege but also of public scrutiny, followed everywhere by photographers, every detail of her private life tabloid fodder. But her future is assured, as long as she can maintain her flawless public image — no easy feat when your betrothed is a notorious playboy.
Nathan Hayes is the heir of Paxco — controller of the former state of New York, and creator of human replication technology, science that every state and every country in the world would kill to have. Though Nadia and Nate aren’t in love, they’ve grown up close, and they (and the world) are happy enough with their match.
Until Nate turns up dead, and as far as everyone knows, Nadia was the last person to see him alive.
When the new Nate wakes up in the replication tanks, he knows he must have died, but with a memory that only reaches to his last memory backup, he doesn’t know what killed him. Together, Nadia and Nate must discover what really happened without revealing the secrets that those who run their world would kill to protect.

The Princess in the Opal Mask

Author: Jenny Lunquist
Goodreads Rating: 3.67
Pages: 352
Format: ARC from ALA 

Every Fairy-Tale Ending Has a Price. . . .
Orphaned as a child in the crumbling village of Tulan, Elara is determined to learn her true identity, even if it means wielding a dagger. Meanwhile, in Galandria's royal capital, Princess Wilha stands out as someone to either worship or fear. Though no one knows why the king has always made her conceal her face--including Wilha herself.
When an assassination attempt threatens the peace of neighboring kingdoms, Elara and Wilha are brought face to face . . . with a chance at claiming new identities. However, with dark revelations now surfacing, both girls will need to decide if brighter futures are worth the binding risks.

ALA Recap

Oh my goodness my friends. I had the craziest two days I think that I have ever had. I was really nervous when it was the night before and I all I did was ask myself "What was I thinking!?" Two days? Not even two full days? At a Book Conference? In a city I had never been to before?

Needless to say, it was two of the best days I've ever had. We had a 6AM flight out of New York, and we landed shortly before 8AM in Chicago where I don't think I can even explain my excitement at being there. I love traveling be it road trips or really anything. I don't get to do it often, and more so now, having a big kid job, it makes traveling hard.

Everyone said that I was crazy for doing this. For dragging my poor, wonderful boyfriend to Chicago for a book convention. I didn't think we would get to do much sight seeing, and I'm sure we missed a ton of really cool things, but I got to see everything that I wanted to, eat what I wanted to, and even grab all the cool books that I wanted!

So excited I couldn't even talk.

So where was? 8AM we made it to Chicago, and we didn't make it to the convention center until like 8:30. I didn't realize that my hotel was attached to the convention center so I made the poor man drive to the center even though it was right there. I guess it was only fair as we drove in a circle (3 Times to the same Hotel) when I was jittery and wanted to get to ALA. I just wanted to be there already!

Right away we hooked up with Bailey and her mom Jamie, and they gave me the lowdown on what ALA was like as this was my first time there. They told me about how they have a post office in the hall, on the floor! (BEA Listen up!) I mostly wandered while Mike went to hold my spot in line for Sarah Dessen because I missed her at BEA, no way that was happening again...

The Bean!

Right away I got a ton of books, and when I went to meet Mike on line, he was shocked as I had to organize everything. (I also won't lie, I ditched the books with him so that I could free up my shoulders and walk around a little bit.) We wound up leaving a little early to check into the hotel which was actually a really awesome place. There was a fitness center and pool (Which I knew when I booked it, but by the time that it came time to go 6 months later, I left my bathing suit at home.) 

Amazing.

I think my favorite part of this trip was that I was able to not just do the conference, but also see some of Chicago. I didn't feel tied down to the Convention Center because I didn't have to be at a signing at least once an hour. I was able to get out and sight see and we got to see so many sights! We went to see the Bean, and we got to walk around Chicago. I never realized how artsy this city was.

I was terrified and I loved it.

Of course we went and tried some Deep Dish Pizza which was delicious and I was only able to eat while slice while Mike had 3. We had to walk the pizza off, and we decided to do that while visiting the Skytower. It was a really amazing experience, and I would love to repeat it! I think the biggest problem is that it was completely packed and you couldn't get a chance to do something fun because everyone wanted to push their way into the 4 little boxes that hovered over the city. It was terrifying sitting on that because while I understood I was in a safe little box, it did not feel like I was in a safe little box.

We spent most of the next day in the hall as well, wandering around, sadly, Bailey and her mom had to leave somewhat early, because they were flying out Sunday the same way we were. The remainder of our last day was spent wandering before we caught or flight back home. Which was a pain, but thats a story for another time. I cannot wait to go back and explore another new city!

All the great books!

PS. Sorry this took so long to get up, but better late than never, yeah?

Conjured

Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Goodreads Rating: 3.47
Pages: 368
Format: ARC from ALA13

Eve has a new home, a new face, and a new name—but no memories of her past. She’s been told that she's in a witness protection program. That she escaped a dangerous magic-wielding serial killer who still hunts her. The only thing she knows for sure is that there is something horrifying in her memories the people hiding her want to access—and there is nothing they won’t say—or do—to her to get her to remember.
At night she dreams of a tattered carnival tent and buttons being sewn into her skin. But during the day, she shelves books at the local library, trying to not let anyone know that she can do things—things like change the color of her eyes or walk through walls. When she does use her strange powers, she blacks out and is drawn into terrifying visions, returning to find that days or weeks have passed—and she’s lost all short-term memories. Eve must find out who and what she really is before the killer finds her—but the truth may be more dangerous than anyone could have ever imagined.

Doon

Author: Carey Corp and Laurie Langdon
Goodreads Rating: 4.15
Pages: 368
Format: ARC from ALA13

DOON…

Veronica doesn't think she's going crazy. But why can't anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months.

But the Scottish countryside holds other plans.

Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna's great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation. Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed for...or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.

DOON is loosely based on the premise of the musical Brigadoon, with permission from the Alan Jay Lerner Estate and the Frederick Loewe Foundation. Follow the journey at http://www.DoonSeries.com

~Destiny awaits!

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Goodreads Rating: 3.84
Pages: 360
Format: ARC from ALA13

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…
Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. 
Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?
Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery... who makes you want to kiss back. 
Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.
Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch.

OCD Love Story

Author: Corey Ann Haydu
Goodreads Rating: 3.98
Pages: 352
Format: ARC from ALA13

When Bea meets Beck, she knows instantly that he's her kind of crazy. Sweet, strong, kinda-messed-up Beck understands her like no one else can. He makes her feel almost normal. He makes her feel like she could fall in love again. But despite her feelings for Beck, Bea can't stop thinking about someone else: a guy who is gorgeous and magnetic... and has no idea Bea even exists. But Bea knows a ton about him. She spends a lot of time watching him. She has a journal full of notes. Some might even say she's obsessed. Bea tells herself she's got it all under control, but this isn't a choice, it's a compulsion. The truth is, she's breaking down... and she might end up breaking her own heart.

Untold (The Lyburn Legacy #2)

Author: Sarah Rees Brenna
Goodreads Rating: 3.96
Pages: 356
Format: ARC from ALA13

Free from bonds, but not each other
It’s time to choose sides… On the surface, Sorry-in-the-Vale is a sleepy English town. But Kami Glass knows the truth. Sorry-in-the-Vale is full of magic. In the old days, the Lynburn family ruled with fear, terrifying the people into submission in order to kill for blood and power. Now the Lynburns are back, and Rob Lynburn is gathering sorcerers so that the town can return to the old ways.
But Rob and his followers aren’t the only sorcerers in town. A decision must be made: pay the blood sacrifice, or fight. For Kami, this means more than just choosing between good and evil. With her link to Jared Lynburn severed, she’s now free to love anyone she chooses. But who should that be?

Burn For Burn

Author: Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Goodreads Rating: 3.92
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 368
Reviewed by: Nicole

BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...THEY GET EVEN.
Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.
Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.
Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him.
Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.