Tag: #bloggerrecommendations

Spotlight For: Love, Lies & Spies by: Cindy Anstey (Excerpt & Giveaway)

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April 29th Blog Tour Date

Be sure to follow the full tour for Love, Lies & Spies here 🙂

 

Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: April 19th 2016
Genres: Historical, Young Adult, Romance, Humor

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo 

Synopsis:

Juliana Telford is not your average nineteenth-century young lady. She’s much more interested in researching ladybugs than marriage, fashionable dresses, or dances. So when her father sends her to London for a season, she’s determined not to form any attachments. Instead, she plans to secretly publish their research.

Spencer Northam is not the average young gentleman of leisure he appears. He is actually a spy for the War Office, and is more focused on acing his first mission than meeting eligible ladies. Fortunately, Juliana feels the same, and they agree to pretend to fall for each other. Spencer can finally focus, until he is tasked with observing Juliana’s traveling companions . . . and Juliana herself.

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Friends That Still… (F*THS Book #2) (+18) by G.L. Tomas Book Review

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Friends That Still… (Friends That Have Sex book #2) (+18 readers)
By: G. L. Tomas
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Interracial
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: ebook
Release date: March 24th 2016

Goodreads | Amazon

Synopsis:

Teddy’s back in Miami with her mind made up. Live like it’s your last day. Love like it’s your last day.
The moment those steel-blue eyes gazed back into hers, there was no question. Asher wasn’t just the only one she wanted, but the only one she needed. This time around there would be no more room for regrets, but would they ever be more than friends that still…?

 

Book Review

Picking up where we left off in book one, (F*THS) in this duology, we get caught up on Teddy and how her treatment in Minnesota has gone.

I really liked the focus and pace of the story this time around. Teddy was not only trying to make an actual effort to establish a life for her self and accomplish something like with school and working to pay for her tuition. I also liked that she seemed to stay focused on the real and important relationships in her life. i.e. Reggie and Asher.

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That Thing Between Eli & Gwen by J.J. McAvoy Book Review (+Giveaway)

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April 19th Blog Tour Date

That Thing Between Eli & Gwen blog tour organized by Indiesage PR. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour here. 🙂

 

That Thing Between Eli & Gwen
By: J.J. MCAVOY
Genre: Comedy, Romance, New Adult, Drama, Multicultural, Contemporary
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Format: ARC ebook
Release date: April 21st 2016

Goodreads |  Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Synopsis:

Eli Davenport thinks he’s found the perfect woman to be his wife. She’s a doctor, like he is. She’s brilliant, like he is. And she’s wealthy, like he is.

Guinevere ‘Gwen’ Poe thinks her fiancé is the perfect man. He’s handsome, successful and he was her first…

But when Eli’s bride runs off with Gwen’s fiancée on his wedding day, they are left to pick up the broken pieces of each other..

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The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses Book Review + Giveaway

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Happy, Saturday, guys! It’s finally here: The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses Book Tour hosted by MMSAI. So, be sure to follow the full Book Tour Schedule 🙂

 

TUB Cover_new 

THE URBAN BOYS
Author: K.N. Smith
Pages: 292
Release Date: September 29th, 2015
Publisher: Two Petals Publishing

Genre: Middle School, Paranormal, Diverse, Action, Friendship

Rating: 4 Stars

Amazon | B&N | Goodreads | Apple

Synopsis:

The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses is an action-adventure story about five teen boys who are mysteriously exposed to a foreign energy source that gives them extremely heightened senses. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell become hypersensitive gifts that forever change the world. The story chronicles their effortless interrelations and later exposes the testing of their deep bonds. It introduces the reader to an array of supporting characters who alter the boys’ lives forever. The Urban Boys offers young and mature readers central themes of loyalty, responsibility, honesty, fear, and triumph, which become artfully integrated with cinematic-level action and high drama. The story twists, turns, and grinds through elements of paranormal and action-adventure in a diverse, exciting, edge-of-your-seat narrative!

Overview: The story’s small town of Danville Heights, a carefully crafted universe, contrasts with the dark, gloomy town of Sandry Lake, where evil abounds. Upon the boys’ mysterious incident with the energy source, they’re instinctively called to Sandry Lake to root out evil. Their senses guide them each time. However, secrecy about their mission, furious battles with evil thugs, extreme fatigue, and stress and pressure soon overwhelm the boys, but they must find a way to embrace their fate. A lurking, Dark Stranger seems to know their plight, and a strikingly beautiful, fearless girl lends way to heightened confusion. Shocking details about these two characters, and the evil antagonist, the dreaded Druth, twist and grind the story even further.

Despite tension and fierce battles, will the boys hold it together long enough to fulfill their destiny?

Intriguing, intelligent, and full of action, The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses offers a memorable, emotion-packed, thrilling ride for young and mature readers alike!

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Book Review Post for: Spark Joy

Greetings, Guys:

Before I get into the review, I have to be honest: I think that we as human beings are hoarders; on a physical and emotional level. We collect and collect piles of excess weight in our lives and we continuous carry all of this baggage around with us-to work, to family event, on dates, into relationships etc.

And I’m the type of person who always feels like that weight is going to land me in a ditch somewhere, so I am always looking for ways to relieve that pressure and let go of those unhealthy tethers that follow me around.

Therefore, in the spirit of the New Year, and as a person who color-coordinates her closet (yes, color coordinate) I jumped at the opportunity to read and review Marie Kondo Spark of Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up.

Synopsis:

A comprehensive, illustrated manual on how to declutter and organize specific items throughout the house, from kitchen and bathroom items to work-related papers and hobby collections. User-friendly line drawings illustrate Kondo’s patented folding method as it applies to shirts, pants, socks, and jackets, as well as images of properly organized drawers, closets, and cabinets. Kondo also add in-depth advice on moving, packing, and dealing with necessary objects that may not spark joy—answering all the questions she’s gotten since her first book. This manual is perfect for anyone who wants a home—and life—that sparks joy.

B&N | Amazon | Target | Goodreads

 

Review

For those of you who have not heard about the book before or its function and overall purpose, Spark Joy is based on the idea of gaining an overall sense of commitment to cleanse your life, which sparks overall joy or a sense of contentment in your life. The Komati method actually is meant to transform a person’s internal outlook on life through external cleansing by starting in the home or living space. Where else is a better place to start really; as you go through all of your belongings to really get a sense of yourself and what brings you happiness.

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Book Review: Graceling (Graceling Realm #1)

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Graceling (Graceling Realm #1)

By Kristin Cashore

Genre: YA, Action, Adventure, Paranormal, Romance

Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads | B&N | Amazon

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight – she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po’s friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace – or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away…

Graceling Review:

From start to finish, I loved everything about this book. It was given to me by my younger brother and it had been sitting on my shelf for some time, but it only took the first two pages for me to get into it.

I found this story to be so compelling and I loved the way the book had so many different levels: female independence, gender equilibrium relationships amongst Kasta and most of her male counter parts, Love, friendship, combat, adventure, comedy and even a layer of evil so unspeakable with King Lec. It made my heart stop, my stomach turn and my skin crawl.

I do not think that I can praise this book enough for giving me Kasta. A character so uniquely independent and self-driven with a powerful perspective and aspirations aimed toward helping those in the 7 kingdoms. Kasta knows what she wants and what she doesn’t want in her life and she does not let anyone, not even Po take that away from her by trying to change her mind. And what was even more rewarding, was Po’s acceptance of Katsa as she was and his unwavering love for her and contentment of being by her side without trying to change her.

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Book Review Post For: Instant Happy Journal (365 days of inspiration, gratitude, and joy.)

Hiya,  Guys:

I am here to do a quick book review, but with this week’s book, things get a little bit personal. However, with the New Year literally around the corner, I don’t think it’s all that surprising that I chose this book, rather why it chose me.

The selection of this book, if not immediately obvious, was based on the idea of with the New Year, marks the beginning of a new start. And with my recent move and job setting change back in October, adjusting has been harder than I initially anticipated. So, one of my New Year resolutions was to find a new balance with this new stage in my life.

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(ignore my hand writing scribble please `-_-`)

Granted this new change will not happen automatically, or easily, I knew it’d be important to figure out small ways to progress the comfort level of this change; ergo, Karen Salmansohn’s Instant Happy Journal.

I was fortunate enough to receive this book from Bloggingforbooks just two days before Christmas(how cool is that?) and was able to gaze through it before beginning my 365-day journey with this journal.

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I’m four days in and I am loving it so far 🙂 and the best thing about this book is that you can get it at any point in the year and work your way through your own 365-day journey. Not just at the beginning or at the end of the year.

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It is the perfect ‘you time’ book and great, I found, for meditation prompts to just take a quote or fact of the day and apply it to your life in that moment. Plus: it’s an easy travel book; small, compact and durable.

That’s it for this post, guys. As always, thanks for reading and I’ll see you all again in the New Year <3.

Until next time,

Gia.

I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day! xxoxoxoxoxo

 

Book Review: Food52 Vegan Cookbook

I received this lovely cookbook from Bloggingforbooks and initially I was motivated to review this cookbook because my brother has been curious about becoming vegan since he switched up his eating habits.

He even asked me for a few tips and advice since I’m a vegetarian and do frequently make vegan dishes. However, I am no expert and since I have been a vegetarian for over seven years, I’ve developed my own internal method and regimen when it comes to the foods I eat.

So, when I saw the opportunity to review Gena Hamshaw’s Food52 Vegan book it felt like fate because besides the recipes, the book offers beginners tips, ingredient substitutions options and a whole section on general vegan cooking basics.

Food52 Vegan by Gena Hamshaw

It was really difficult to pick just one thing to try out and review, so I ended up doing three from this book: Roasted Ratatouille, a Penne with Summer Squash, Corn and Herbs, and Sweet Pea Hummus, with a few alterations because of personal preferences.

Now, my photography skills are not as great as those in the book, but I am extremely proud of the fact that my creations resemble the originals so closely. ^__^

Sweet Pea Hummas by Gena Hanshaw

First, I did the Sweet Pea Hummus:

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This was really fun for me because I had never made homemade hummus before and it turned out fantastic! Not to mention, I that I am a snacker with crackers.

If I wasn’t spreading the humus on some Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits…

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Then I was spreading on some rye toast and topping it with some scrambled eggs…

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Or putting it a veggie tortilla wrap with a Boca spicy chik’n patty. Soo yum!

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Next, I tried the Penne with Summer Squash, Corn and Herbs recipe:

Penne with Summer Squash, Corn and Herbs by Gena Hamshaw

The first alteration I made to this one was that I used zucchini (which the book offers as an alternative) instead of summer squash because I felt that the dish would be sweeter than I would have liked.

The second alteration I made what I used my favorite pasta for this dish which was Ronzoni’s Garden Delights for an added pop or color and nutrition. And I topped it with a bit of tofu.

Gianna J's penne with tofu recipe photo

The third and final recipe I tried was the Roasted Ratatouille

Roasted Ratatouille by Gena Hamshaw

 

and it was really, really good.

Gianna J's roasted ratatouille recipe photo

Overall, I think this book is hidden goldmine. The recipes are extremely varied and easy to follow. The only thing I would like to point out is that if you are unfamiliar with figuring out how to adjust serving size portions, the recipes in this book could be a bit confusing.

All of the dishes in the book give serving suggestions, but since I was trying these out for only two people, my measurements and estimates were about a quarter or half of the recommended amounts in the book.

Thanks so much for reading. Until next time,

Gia.