July #ShelfLove Challenge: Why Do I Read What I Read?



July topic: Why do you read the books you read? Explore why you gravitate towards certain genres and/or authors. How do you pick the next book you will read?

I was putting lots of thought into this month's topic, mulling over why I read what I do and how I pick books when I realized the answer is really very simple: I am a complete and total, 100% without a doubt, mood reader. There's really nothing more that goes into what I read and when I read it other than my mood at any given moment. 


I never make a monthly TBR list because I never know what I'm going to feel like reading (which is a shame because I do love any excuse to make another list). I love giving myself the freedom to pick and choose anything I want based on how I feel at the time. I never like feeling locked in to picking up a certain book. Sometimes I finish a book that's part of a series and I enjoyed it so much that all I want to do is dive right into the next book. Sometimes I want a break and I'll pick up something completely different. 


When it comes to genres I'm typically reaching for contemporary romance - young adult, new adult, or adult. I'm a sucker for romance - bring on the swoon, bring on the angst, bring on All The Feels! Once in a great while I'll feel like mixing things up and I might go for something paranormal or maybe historical. But it's always something I decide on in the moment. Do I want something light and fluffy? Something angsty? Something dark and edgy? Maybe a tearjerker? The options are limitless... but it's always, always based on my mood.

How about you? How do you decide what to read? Do you have a strict TBR? Just grab whatever? Go for the newest releases? Let's chat about it.



Release Day: Torn by Jennifer L. Armentrout


   
I've been excited for this second book in the Wicked Trilogy ever since I finished the last page of Wicked. It feels like it's been a looong time, but TORN is finally here! I'm super excited to help promote the release of Jennifer L. Armentrout's TORN today!

The highly anticipated second book in New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Wicked Trilogy is available today! Be sure to grab your copy of TORN!


Torn between duty and survival, nothing can be the same.

Everything Ivy Morgan thought she knew has been turned on its head. After being betrayed and then nearly killed by the Prince of the Fae, she’s left bruised and devastated—and with an earth-shattering secret that she must keep at all costs. And if the Order finds out her secret, they’ll kill her.

Then there’s Ren Owens, the sexy, tattooed Elite member of the Order who has been sharing Ivy’s bed and claiming her heart. Their chemistry is smoking hot, but Ivy knows that Ren has always valued his duty to the Order above all else—he could never touch her if he knew the truth. That is, if he let her live at all. Yet how can she live with herself if she lies to him?

But as the Fae Prince begins to close in on Ivy, intent on permanently opening the gates to the Otherworld, Ivy is running out of options. If she doesn’t figure out who she can trust—and fast—it’s not only her heart that will be torn apart, but civilization itself.

 Amazon ** iBooks ** Kobo ** Barnes & Noble

"You need this book. You need this series. It's paranormal at its best. It's New Adult at its best...Can I give this book more than 5 stars? I would if I could." ~Valerie, Stuck in Books

  EXCERPT

I lifted my right hand, reaching for my iron stake out of instinct, even though I knew it would do no good against the prince.

“You shouldn’t do that.” His voice was deep with what reminded me of an English accent. “I know you want to, but it would be very, very unwise of you, Ivy.”

My hand twitched. Creepy Prince smiled slightly. “Your friend has been very helpful.”

That got my hackles up. I slid my sunglasses onto my forehead and forced my tone to stay calm and level. “I’m sure she has. Speaking of Val, happen to know where I can find her?”

His lips curled in a semblance of a smile as he stepped closer. The prince was tall, taller than Ren, who was pushing six foot two. My entire back stiffened as I forced myself to hold my ground, even though every instinct demanded that I run and run super fast, because he had almost killed me once before. Correction. He would have definitely killed me if he hadn’t realized what I was and had, I guessed, healed me.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said, instead of answering my question, his pale blue eyes fixed on mine.

My hand curled into a useless fist. “That is extremely creepy to hear.”

That cold smile returned. “Why don’t we talk? There are seats across the way.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

The slow smile increased but never reached his eyes. “Oh, I know it is.” 

Fine hairs rose on my arms.

“What exactly can you do right now?” he said in the same coldly polite voice. “Refuse me?” Creepy Prince laughed, and it wasn’t a bad sound. Again, it was something that was just cold, as if he were mimicking what a human would do. “You can’t.”

“I can.” My palm itched to grab the thorn stake secured under my pant leg, but I held still. I might be reckless, but I wasn’t stupid.

“Really? I will have to beg to differ on that. You see, humans surround us. So many of them, and I have an extraordinary appetite.” His eyes appeared to glimmer as his gaze slithered from the top of my curly head down to my toes. “A rather impressive appetite for many, many things.”

“Okay. First off, ew.” My lip curled. “Secondly, I don’t want to hear about any of your appetites.” 

One dark eyebrow rose. “Oh, but you should know that I could kill twenty of these humans in less than five seconds and feed on the rest, leaving them to believe that it was this little red-headed girl who murdered these innocent people.” His voice dropped even lower as he leaned in and icy air brushed my cheek. “You deny me this, those lives will be on your hands, little bird.”

Anger flushed hotly as my eyes met his. There wasn’t a single part of me that doubted anything he said. He had me. God, I hated to admit it, but he had me.


"Drama! Action! Romance! Twists! Torn had it all...Torn was a perfect continuation of the Wicked Saga." ~Kim, Kimberlyfaye Reads

   
   

Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans…

Don’t miss the first title in the series, WICKED!

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo

 

About Jennifer L. Armentrout: #1 New York Times and #1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.  

Website ** Facebook ** Twitter ** Novel Goodreads ** Author Goodreads

   
   

The Sunday Post #20


The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog, 
showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is
coming up on your blog in the week ahead. You can find the info here:

This has been the week of cell phone service issues. Always fun, yes? All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, I have no service at home. Everywhere else I'm golden. At home, no dice. I've talked to AT&T, I've talked to Apple Care, I've gone back to the Apple Store... and it's been a little slice of heaven (note heavy sarcasm) but nothing has changed. I knew there was a reason I've hung on to that old-fashioned thing called a landline! :) 


Tuesday, July 12: On Top Ten Tuesday I shared random facts about me. Most people gasped at my non-coffee drinking status (gasp! are you even human? how do you make it through a day?) and my lack of a sweet tooth (gasp! are you even human? how do you make it through a day? LOL) but it was fun to share. And I had a blast reading random facts from others who participated in TTT. 


Wednesday, July 13: Top 5 Wednesday's topic was books that left me wanting a sequel. I love me a good stand-alone, and yeah sometimes series carry on too long, but still... there are some books/series where I still want more.


 


  
Finished
I loved the audiobook re-read of Silas and Dylan's story.

This book was featured several times in Jennifer L. Armentrout's The Problem with Forever. It made me curious since I'd never read it as a child. The references to it in TPWF definitely make more sense now.

Current
For some reason I'm not flying through this one like I did with Webber's Easy and Breakable. It's been a week and I'm at about the 65% mark. Still, I'm enjoying Boyce and Pearl's story.

My audiobook re-read of the Rusk University series continues.


KINDLE: 






How was your week? Any new books? Any news to share? 
You know I want to hear about it! :)

Top 5 Wednesday: I Need a Sequel!


Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at GingerReadsLainey.
Click HERE for a complete list of participants and future topics.
We all have them... books that ended and left us wanting and needing more. So this week's Top 5 Wednesday is about the books you wish had sequels. It can be a stand-alone or a series that ended but you still want more. Here are my picks:



THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN
Holly Black
Possibly the only stand-alone I've ever finished and immediately wished for a sequel. The ending was slightly open-ended but as far as I know there are no plans for a sequel. But I need to know what happened to Tana. 
And then there's Gavriel... 

ELEANOR & PARK
Rainbow Rowell
Yeah, I can imagine what Eleanor's postcard to Park said, and yeah, I can imagine a future for them, but I'm desperate to check in on these two precious souls and make sure they're okay.

UGLY LOVE
Colleen Hoover
Oh how I would love to revisit Miles and Tate a few years down the road and see what their life is like now.

I'LL MEET YOU THERE
Heather Demetrios
Josh and Sky's story ended on a hopeful note and was completely satisfying. But I would still like to have more. Their story made a huge impact on me and I continued to think about them long after I finished the book. 

OPPOSITION
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Anyone surprised at this one? :) I always want more Daemon Black in my life. If JLA kept writing I would keep reading. I do not tire of the Lux world. 
Or Daemon Black. 
Did I mention Daemon Black? 

What book (or series) do you wish had a sequel?



Top Ten Tuesday: Who, Me? (Random Facts About Me)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme 
This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is random facts about ourselves. I never get tired of reading random facts about people, or those tags where everyone answers a bunch of random personal questions, so I'll be in heaven checking out all the Top Ten posts today. But before I dash off to immerse myself in random facts about everyone else, here are some random facts about me.

random fact #1


I loathe coffee. Always have. Don't like the taste, don't like the smell. The emphasis placed on coffee and the utter dependency on it makes me equal parts confused and amused. The only time you'll ever see me with a Starbucks cup in hand is when I'm enjoying the occasional chai tea latte (usually iced). But coffee? NEVER.

random fact #2


Next fact is that I have no sweet tooth. None. I can do without chocolate and candy and cake and ice cream... whatever. Very, very rarely I'll have a little something but usually - nope. Does nothing for me and I'd rather have something salty/savory. (Cheese and crackers for the win.)

random fact #3


I looove musical theater. Wicked is a favorite, Mamma Mia is fun... but Phantom... Phantom of the Opera holds a piece of my heart. I am totally enamored of the story and the show and I can totally geek out over it. One of my most surreal moments was sitting in Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End watching the production of Phantom. Life. Made.

random fact #4


I'm a total morning person. Yes, I'm one of those people. And yes I know it can be a bit obnoxious. But I can't help it. My internal clock has me up and at 'em by 5:15 every morning, pretty much seven days a week. The flipside of this is that by 9 PM I am done. Lights out. See ya in 8 hours or so. I don't know how you night owls do it. 

random fact #5


I always review books *immediately* after finishing them. I'm already starting to formulate my thoughts into a review as I'm closing the book. Buuut, for some reason I've been totally slacking on this lately and it's weirding me out. I'm practically obsessive about reviewing but right now I'm about, um, fifteen books behind. Just thinking about is stressing me out so let's move on...

random fact #6


I am practically phobic when it comes to lizards. Like, lose-my-mind phobic. Unfortunately, here in Florida, the mean little freaks are everywhere so, yeah... I have to deal. 

random fact #7


I've been with the same company for almost 25 years. (Yeah, I started when I was about seven. 😉) For the last 12 of those years I've been the EA to the Board of Directors. I *love* my job. I work for three amazing people that I respect and admire, the atmosphere is usually fairly low-key, and I love what I do.  

random fact #8


So I'm not some child-hating shrew but I've never wanted kids of my own. Ever. I've always known that the motherhood thing was not for me. I love the freedom of picking up and going whenever we want, I love that my home is never messy and always peaceful, I love grown-up vacations and disposable income, and I get to be the star of my own life and not take a supporting role to a little human's needs. 😉 My stance is that to live in my house you must be able to fend for yourself - and that means no pets, no plants, no kids. #sorrynotsorry

random fact #9


I had a planned elopement. It didn't start out that way. But it didn't take long into the planning for me to realize that, while I wanted to be married, I cared nothing about a wedding. So we scrapped the wedding plans, told everyone we were going on vacation, and came back married. That was 17 years ago and I've never regretted doing it our way.

random fact #10


I rarely ever watch TV. On occasion I watch Game of Thrones with my husband but that's the extent of my TV watching. I have zero interest in reality shows (which seems to make up 90% of what's on) and there's nothing I'm interested enough in to follow week after week. I hate feeling tied to the TV. I don't have Netflix, don't own a DVR and I am completely out of the loop with what's on TV and popular. When people start talking about the latest episode of whatever I totally zone out. 💤💤💤

Can you relate to any of these?
Tell me a random fact about you... I wanna know! 😊


The Sunday Post #19


The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog, 
showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is
coming up on your blog in the week ahead. You can find the info here:

Happy weekend! Hope everyone had a great week. The big news here this week is hot, hot, and another big helping of scorching hot. It hit 100 degrees a couple days and it's just so miserable. Oh, and don't forget that lovely Florida humidity. Can we skip to winter, pretty please? But hey, by next weekend it's only going to be 94. Break out the sweaters and jackets!

Yesterday I had lunch with some family I hadn't seen in maybe 10 years and it was a little reunion of sorts. Me, my sisters and my mom got together with my two cousins and aunt (girls lunch!) and had such a great time. I'm so thankful to my cousin for taking the initiative to organize it.


Tuesday, July 5: Where Is The Love?
Top Ten Tuesday's theme was about books we enjoyed but have fewer than 2,000 GoodReads ratings. I was totally surprised at some on my list - and it was interesting to see what made everyone else's lists, too. (I still can't get over The Summer I Found You having less than 2,000 ratings. Ack!)

Wednesday, July 6: On Wednesday I took part in the cover reveal for Long Way Home, the next book in Katie McGarry's Thunder Road series. I adore this series and am so excited for this third book. January 31st seems sooo far away, though! *taps foot impatiently*
Thursday, July 7: I love That's What He Said Thursday's. I mean, any excuse to revisit some swoony quotes from some swoony guys, amiright? This past week it was Grant from Abbi Glines' Rosemary Beach series. Gotta love a guy who is willing to put it all out there and say what he feels. 

Friday, July 8: I got a little ranty in my review for This One Moment. It couldn't be helped. When a book contains not one, not two, but at least three annoying and overused tropes... one must rant. 


 


  
Loved. This. Story.

More Cam. Always more Cam.

Just started this yesterday and I can't wait to really get into it. 

My re-read of the Rusk University series continues - this time on audio. I'm not loving the narration of this one as much as All Lined Up (that one was perfection) but it's still so great to revisit these characters.


PHYSICAL BOOKS:



KINDLE: 







How was your week? Any new books? Any news to share? 
Fill me in... I'd love to hear!