Waiting On Wednesday: Haunting Violet

This week's WoW book is Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey! It will be released on June 21, 2011.

SUMMARY: Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years participating in her mother's elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost, one who suffered a violent death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose. Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother's scheming through an advantageous marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who can help her is Colin, a friend she's known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet, but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies?

I absolutely love a good ghost story, and this one looks awesome. PUBLISHED ON JUNE 21, 2011!

Giveaway: The Ylem by Tatiana Vila

CONTEST IS CLOSED

The Ylem by Tatiana Vila

An ancient book, a seventeen-year-old girl and an exotic boy from a supernatural world hold the key to freedom for a long-oppressed race, but that freedom could come at the cost of the human world. Seventeen-year-old Kalista is suffering from a broken heart, so when her playwright father proposes they move their lives from New York to New Mexico because he is in need of inspiration Kalista is 100% on-board with him. New Mexico proves to be the perfect balm for her wounds and she is just starting to feel some of her old spunk when Tristan Winfield comes into her life and pulls all of her barriers down. Kalista is captivated by Tristan's unusual silver eyes and feels an inexplicable connection to him, which begins to manifest itself in her dreams with bizarre images of a waterfall and an orb. While searching for an explanation for her troubling dreams, Kalista discovers an ancient book which holds the secrets of a supernatural race of creatures. But when Killings hit town, she realizes her finding has come at a high price. She's in the middle of a power struggle now, a struggle that seems to be linked to the secret wrapped within the pages of that book. A secret she and Tristan are part of... Published on April 23, 2011.

Interested in reading this new e-book? Tatiana will let one of my readers do so!

Rules:
Open to anyone who can read an e-book! Ends on June 23.
Extra entries for being a wonderful blog follower
or advertising about this giveaway.
One winner will be randomly chosen and emailed.
Fill out the form to enter, but comments are appreciated!

Click here to fill out the form!

Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe

Title: Happy Birthday to Me
Author: Brian Rowe
Published: April 2011 by CreateSpace

My Rating: 4 stars
Tags: YA | Family | Realistic/Fantasy
Includes: Sexuality

First Lines: The nightmare was real. My face was covered with sweat. My legs were killing me, and my back felt like someone had run it down with a semi truck.

Cameron Martin, a senior in high school, is living on cloud nine. He's dating the beautiful Charisma, is a star on the basketball team, is popular, handsome, and waiting for his acceptance letter to Yale. But all this changes one day when he wakes up older. And by older, I mean an entire year older. Soon, every day that passes, Cameron is aging a whole year. First comes the beard, followed by the slowing metabolism, and even worse, gray hair. Cameron's life drastically changes in a matter of weeks, as he quickly becomes even older than his parents.

The premise of this story was really intriguing and caught my attention right away. The book never dragged at all or became boring at times. The author created a good set of characters and it was pretty interesting reading from a guy's point of view, which I'm not used to. Cameron's character was very believable and realistic. His emotions were spot on and I could distinguish each reaction to his condition well - he went through doubt, anger, sadness, etc. The role the parents played in this young adult book was also interesting. They were present at mostly all times in the story and it was nice having this change in YA. Their emotions were also very realistic to their son's mysterious condition. Cameron's best friend, Wesley, was a memorable and original character that I enjoyed getting to know. Even when everyone else seemed to run away from Cameron, Wesley stayed and supported him through his tough time. Charisma on the other hand...ugh. She was one of the most annoying and selfish people I've ever read in a book but contributed so much to the story and was fun to read about. Overall, I really liked the characters, even the ones I wasn't supposed to like.

From page 129
Some people in the hallways gave me sad looks, and others turned away from me, as if they assumed that my condition was contagious. I thought it would be interesting if everyone started aging rapidly over the next few weeks, but I didn't see that happening. This was an obstacle for me to solve alone.

Even though the actual writing itself wasn't the greatest I've ever read, the story itself made up for it. Cameron's unique illness, aging rapidly every day, was so creative and there was even a little message behind the story. The mix between genres in the book, realistic and fantasy, surprisingly meshed well together. If Cameron's condition really did exist, then this could be such a believable novel. I think that the ending was a bit ridiculous and over the top, but it definitely left room for the sequel (which I'm excited to read!). I have no idea what will happen next in Cameron's story but I can't wait to find out.

Cover Thoughts: I think it suits the novel well and it catches your attention. I had many people stop and stare, before asking what I was reading. I like how the text looks like smoke, too.

Book Supplied by: Author for review.

Winners (Part 3 of 4)

Yet another post of a few more winners from my Marvelous May Masterminds event/giveaways! Thank you to everyone who entered.

My Life, the Theater, and Other Tragedies by Allen Zadoff goes to...

Erin F from Quitting My Day Job

The Sweetest Thing signed by Christina Mandelski goes to...

Laura C

Heidi Ayarbe book SWAG and Colombian treats goes to...

Patricia from Patricia's Particularity

Are You Going to Kiss Me Now? by Sloane Tanen goes to...

Thao H from The Neverending Recipes