Book Review: You Always Change The Love of Your Life (For Another Love or Another Life) by Amalia Andrade + Giveaway

---

You Always Change The Love of Your Life (For Another Love or Another Life)
Author: Amalia Andrade
Reading Level: Adult
Genres: Non-fiction | Self-help | Interactive | Illustrated
Released: December 31, 2018
Review Source: Penguin Books Original

A delightful interactive roadmap for getting over a broken heart, with quirky illustrations, song lyrics that totally get it, recipes for eating your feelings, the unique comfort of making lists, and much more A broken heart can feel like the end of the world, but bestselling author and illustrator Amalia Andrade knows this simply isn’t true. Change is not a defeat or a surrender, but rather a promise. Because if the “love of your life” doesn’t work out, there is always a chance for something new—a new love, or a new life. In these pages, you’ll find the secret code for interpreting text-message read receipts, loving odes to Beyoncé, the ideal playlist for crying in the shower, and much more.

This book is not your typical self help book. From the very beginning the reader is taken through a journey of not only self care, but also self discovery. Amalia Andrade, the author, takes you on a path of humor and heart break as she guides you through heart ache.

Now when you think of this genre of book, fun and engaging typically are not adjectives you would supply. This book is not just perfect for a once over read through. I read this book several times before starting my review and wish it was around when I went through my own heart aches.

The illustrations and activities in the book themselves are quite helpful. Amalia supplies you with her versions of helpful tips and allows the reader to supply their own. Throughout the book you can read her personality and know she writes this book from a place of love and wants to help those around her.

To summon up, this book is one to hold onto. We might be wise away from a relationship and heart ache, but this book will guide us back to be the self we love.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amalia Andrade was born in Cali, Colombia, in 1986. She studied literature at Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogotá. She’s been drawing forever. She’s written for several magazines in both Colombia and the United States. She believes strongly in the power of keeping a diary. When she grows up, she want to be a mix between Sylvia Plath and Tina Fey. She lives in Bogotá with her cats.

Beyond the page, Andrade has many more stories to share—from her upbringing under the Cali cartel to attending rehab for love addiction. She is available for interviews.

GIVEAWAY:

Open to US resident only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kheryn Callender

---

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story
Author: Kheryn Callender
Reading Level:
Genres: Contemporary Romance | LGBT
Released: October 30th 2018
Review Source: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)

A fresh, charming rom-com perfect for fans of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Boy Meets Boy about Nathan Bird, who has sworn off happy endings but is sorely tested when his former best friend, Ollie, moves back to town.

Nathan Bird doesn’t believe in happy endings. Although he’s the ultimate film buff and an aspiring screenwriter, Nate’s seen the demise of too many relationships to believe that happy endings exist in real life.

Playing it safe to avoid a broken heart has been his MO ever since his father died and left his mom to unravel—but this strategy is not without fault. His best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again, Florence, is set on making sure Nate finds someone else. And in a twist that is rom-com-worthy, someone does come along: Oliver James Hernández, his childhood best friend.

After a painful mix-up when they were little, Nate finally has the chance to tell Ollie the truth about his feelings. But can Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after?

 

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story is the cutest story. It's also a story you can knock out in 1-3 days of reading. It is a LGBT, but don't let that stop you from reading it, if you haven't read this type of genre before. The book is heavily based on its characters and their lives. At times you will get frustrated with them, but then you wanna hug them too. You do get sucked in to the story and that's the art of writing a good book by an author.

The story behind This is Kind of an Epic Love Story is not your typical easy romance, things are complicated. Nate, the main guy here, makes sure of that. He is done believing in "happy Ever After". That's BS for him. Of course, things never stay the same as one predicts. Nate will be tested and tried, but in the end, I think the outcome he earned. Sometimes, the best things in life are not easy to come by. This is why in life, you need a really strong support system to have on your side.

If your looking for a fun, romantic quick read, try This is Kind of an Epic Love Story!

Waiting on Wednesday: Last Seen by Sara Shepard - #TheAmateurs

Waiting on Wednesday 

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

LAST SEEN

Series: The Amateurs #3

Author: Sara Shepard

Release Date: November 6th 2018

Publisher: Freeform | Disney Book Group

At first, the mystery they’re tasked with seems to have nothing to do with Aerin or her kidnapper. But as Seneca, Maddox, and Madison hit the Jersey Shore to gather clues, they begin to uncover the true background of the killer and the horrors that shaped him into who he is. The scavenger hunt leads them to the family of a recently kidnapped boy, a serial child-snatcher, and dark secrets they could never have seen coming.

As Aerin struggles to play nice with the person who killed her sister in order to buy herself time, her friends work feverishly against the ticking clock that could mean her life, and every clue they uncover leads Seneca to suspect she's more connected to the killer's history than she ever realized.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SARA SHEPARD is the author of the first and second book in this series, The Amateurs and Follow Me, as well as two New York Times bestselling series, Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game, and the series The Perfectionists. She graduated from NYU and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. Visit her online at @sarabooks on Twitter and Snapchat, and @saracshepard on Instagram. 

Praise for The Amateurs:

“Chilling and romantic and full of surprises.”

—Cecily von Ziegesar, New York Times best-selling author of the Gossip Girl series

“A delicious and suspenseful page-turner. I want more!”

—I. Marlene King, Executive Producer, Pretty Little Liars

Giveaway: The Brightest Stars by Anna Todd - #TheBrightestStars

The Brightest Stars

By Anna Todd

Published by Frayed Pages, Inc.

In Stores September 18, 2018

Internationally bestselling author Anna Todd returns with a gripping novel about a young woman’s quest to keep her family together, despite the lies that are tearing them apart.

Karina knows the harsh realities of military life. And like anyone who has grown up around an army base, she knows the background noise that follows a soldier home from war. That’s why she’s forging her own quiet life in her own little house. But she hasn’t turned her back on her family. She’s the glue that holds them together—when her father is deployed, when her brother, Austin, has another brush with the law.

Karina knows that she has to look after herself, that she can’t always fix what’s broken. But when Austin’s behavior worsens and her father’s reactions grow more extreme, Karina feels her own edges beginning to fray. That’s when she meets him—a closed book she’s desperate to open.

At just twenty, Kael is a handsome, brooding soldier struggling with the aftermath of two tours in Afghanistan. He’s emotionally damaged and closed off. Quiet doesn’t begin to describe him. But as Karina gets used to his stable presence, she finds it hard to ignore the way he makes her feel. In their time together, she finds the stillness she has always wanted and never found. She lets down her guard. And she lets herself fill in the blanks about this mysterious man.

But illusions quickly made are quickly shattered. That’s when Karina has to find her own courage—to untangle the truth from the lies, and decide what she’s going to do about it.

A riveting story about the love and lies, THE BRIGHTEST STARS will stay with you long after the last page has been turned.

---

About the Author

Anna Todd is the New York Times bestselling author of the After series, The Spring Girls and the upcoming The Brightest Stars. Always an avid reader, she began writing stories on her phone on Wattpad, the reading and writing multiplatform for original stories, with After becoming the most read series on the platform with over 1.5 billion reads. The print edition was published in 2014. It has been published in over 30 languages, with more than 11 million copies sold worldwide, and is a #1 bestseller in Italy, Germany, France and Spain. The film adaptation, which Anna is co-producing, is set to be released in early 2019. Anna and her husband currently live in Los Angeles.

Find her at AnnaTodd.com, on Twitter at @imaginator1d, on Instagram at @imaginator1d, and on Wattpad as Imaginator1D.

Get A Sneak Peek!

Click here to download chapter 1 of The Brightest Stars

Social Media

#TheBrightestStars

Visit the Official Website

Follow the author on Twitter and Instagram

Find the author on Wattpad

Anna Todd, is partnering with me for a giveaway.

---

THE BRIGHTEST STARS

Shine bright! One (1) winner receives: 

• Anna Todd’s The Brightest Stars 
• And an Alex & Ani star bangle bracelet.

Giveaway open to US addresses only.

Prizing and samples provided by Anna Todd.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox

---

The Witch of Willow Hall
Author: Hester Fox
Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Genres: Gothic | Historical | Mystery
Released: October 2nd 2018
Review Source: Graydon House via Netgalley

For fans of The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman, A Secret of Witches by Louisa Morgan and The Haunting of Maddie Clare by Simone St.James comes an addictive historical debut about strange power, fierce love, family secrets, and how the past haunts us in ways that demand to be seen.

When a scandal sends the affluent Montroses fleeing from their home in Boston and into rural seclusion at the stately Willow Hall, daughter Lydia resents the move. Especially when it becomes obvious that Willow Hall hides dark secrets that no one in the Montrose family anticipated. And when tragedy strikes, the sinister presence lurking in the house and its surrounding woods starts encroaching on the Montrose’s lives. Summoning powers she barely understands, Lydia must engage the forces around her to keep her family safe, while protecting the blossoming love she has with her father’s handsome business partner, John—who has secrets of his own.

The Witch of Willow Hall is a gripping historical fiction with the elements of a classic Gothic novel including thrills, chills, magic and drama. It reminded me of mash-up between The Scarlet Letter and Jane Eyre with the magic of Harry Potter or The Raven Boys thrown in. I truly enjoyed this book.

The Witch of Willow Hall takes place in the 1800s, after the Salem witch trials. When scandal surrounds Lydia Montrose's family, they is forced to flee Boston, and while it's her sister's fault she feels as if she is branded too, like Hester Prynne tarnished those who associated with her in The Scarlet Letter. In the country she discovers a new part of herself, something she thought she left buried as a child, something that scares her. It was really Lydia and her willful obtuseness which frustrated me the most while reading. She would acknowledge her powers or something that happened then turn around and make excuses, pretend it never happened and act surprised when someone else doesn't ignore them as she does. I'm a big fan of character development and I felt that besides Lydia and her sister, John Barret is the only other character with any sort of development. All others seemed static and shallow in comparison.

I loved the mystique of Willow Hall and John Barrett (tall, dark, handsome and brooding...yes, please!) and the overall story was very engaging, but it also felt more like a book to the beginning of a series or duology and many things were left unanswered or open as the book was quickly ended after a long build-up. But there was a great romance in the story which reminded me of those found in the classics like Austen or Brontë novels. The Witch of Willow Hall is a quick and engaging read for anyone who like historical novels with a Gothic and magical twist that keeps you guessing.

---

“Hester Fox's THE WITCH OF WILLOW HALL offers a fascinating location, a great plot with history and twists, and characters that live and breathe. I love the novel, and will be looking forward to all new works by this talented author!" --Heather Graham,New York Times bestselling author

"Beautifully written, skillfully plotted, and filled with quiet terror, readers will devour this absorbing, Gothic tale of romance and suspense. Perfect for fans of Simone St James and Kate Morton." -- Anna Lee Huber, the national bestselling author of the historical Lady Darby Mysteries

"Beautifully written, with an intriguing plot full of suspense and mystery, The Witch of Willow Hall will cast a spell over every reader." -- Lisa Hall, author of Tell Me No Lies and Between You and Me

"I was entranced by this intriguing and spellbinding novel with its messages of love and loyalty and being true to who you really are. I hope Hester Fox goes on to write many more such novels--I for one will be buying them." -- Kathleen McGurl, author ofThe Girl from Ballymor 

"With its sense of creeping menace and chilling undertones, this compelling story had me gripped from the first page. The vividly drawn characters cast their spell so convincingly, I couldn't stop reading until I discovered what happened to them. A wonderful debut novel.”--Linda Finlay, author of The Flower Seller

Book Review: Presidio by Randy Kennedy

---

Presidio 
Author: Randy Kennedy
Read By: George Newbern
Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Genres: Mystery | Suspense | Thrillers
Released: August 21st 2018
Review Source: Simon & Schuster Audio

Set in the 1970s in the vast and arid landscape of the Texas panhandle, this darkly comic and stunningly mature literary debut tells the story of a car thief and his brother who set out to recover some stolen money and inadvertently kidnap a Mennonite girl who has her own reasons for being on the run.

Troy Falconer returns home after years of working as a solitary car thief to help his younger brother, Harlan, search for his wife, who has run away with the little money he had. When they steal a station wagon for the journey, the brothers accidentally kidnap Martha Zacharias, a Mennonite girl asleep in the back of the car. Martha turns out to be a stubborn survivor who refuses to be sent home, so together these unlikely road companions attempt to escape across the Mexican border, pursued by the police and Martha’s vengeful father.

The story is told partly through Troy’s journal, in which he chronicles his encounters with con artists, down-and-outers, and roadside philosophers, people looking for fast money, human connection, or a home long since vanished. The journal details a breakdown that has left Troy unable to function in conventional society; he is reduced to haunting motels, stealing from men roughly his size, living with their possessions in order to have none of his own and all but disappearing into their identities.

With a page-turning plot about a kidnapped child, gorgeously written scenes that probe the soul of the American West, and an austere landscape as real as any character, Presidio packs a powerful punch of anomie, dark humor, pathos, and suspense.

Presidio is the story of a car thief named Troy who is returning home to help his brother Harlan track someone down. Turns out Harlan’s wife has run off with all of his money, and Troy feels an obligation to help out after years of being off on his own. I enjoyed getting to know Troy through his journal entries mixed into the book. It is a bit strange to remember that there was a time without surveillance everyone and someone could just hop from motel to motel, stealing cars and clothes and whatever else. The descriptions of the small towns in the Texas desert were so vivid and accurate I felt like I was back in one. 

I felt the story was very well written and moved right along, and I really enjoyed it as an audio book. The narrator, George Newbern, has just a hint of a Texas accent, which sounded perfect for the characters. There was enough of a difference in each character voice to tell them apart as well. I was a little sad when the story was over as I wanted it to just keep going.

Giveaway: Part of Your World #ATwistedTale #5 by Liz Braswell

Part of Your World (A Twisted Tale #5)

By Liz Braswell

In Stores Now, released September 4, 2018

Published by Disney Book Group

What if Ariel had never defeated Ursula?

It's been five years since the infamous sea witch defeated the little mermaid... and took King Triton's life in the process. Ariel is now the voiceless queen of Atlantica, while Ursula runs Prince Eric's kingdom on land. But when Ariel discovers that her father might still be alive, she finds herself returning to a world—and a prince—she never imagined she would see again.

Hashtag #ATwistedTale

Visit Books.Disney.com/book/part-of-your-world

Follow Disney Book Group on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

Disney Book Group, sent me a copy to check out, and is partnering with me for a giveaway.

---

I love all things Mermaids & Sirens. If you look up the meaning of my name, it's basically means Siren (water goddess) in Brazilian mythology.

Here is a sample, this is "A Pequena Yara" (The Little Yara), its inspired by The Little Mermaid, based in Brazilian mythology.

---

Read Every Twisted Tale! 

One (1) winner receives:

• Full set of all five A Twisted Tale books, including the newest release, Part of Your World.

Giveaway open to US addresses only.

Prizing and samples provided by Disney Book Group.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Summer's End by Kristy Brown

---

Summer's End 
The Summer Solstice #1
Author: Kristy Brown
Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Genres: Romance | Paranormal
Released: July 24th 2018
Review Source: Author

She wakes up in the hospital, badly burned with no identity.

He’s been trained to kill her before she burns the world to ashes.

When they finally meet, will he be able to take her life now that he’s started to feel for her?

His fate is already written.

The prophecy is already set.

Love between them is forbidden.

Summer's End, propels the reader into a possibly deadly romance that neither character fully

understands. You are introduced to two protagonists, Summer and Alex. Summer has lost her

memory in a fire with only a scar on her face as a reminder. Alex is a brooding young man who

is on a mission to save the world. This book playfully allows the reader to see the story between

these two characters. It's a struggle of not only young romance, but powers so enormous it

engulfs them both.

Reading this book made me eager to see how the romance of Summer and Alex would develop.

How and why are they so important to each other when they had never met? Kristy takes her

time to set up all the dominoes so that not only are we rooting for the protagonists, we are also

anticipating so much more. As book one of the series, I'm impatiently waiting to read the

following books.

Trailer Thursday: SEAFIRE by Natalie C. Parker

---

SEAFIRE

Seafire #1

Author: Natalie C. Parker

Release Date: August 28th 2018

Publisher: Razorbill

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric's armed and armored fleet.

But when Caledonia's best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all...or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?

The first in a heart-stopping trilogy that recalls the undeniable feminine power of Wonder Woman and the powder-keg action of Mad Max: Fury Road, Seafirereminds us of the importance of sisterhood and unity in the face of oppression and tyranny.

Trailer Thursday: The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest

---

The Iron Flower

The Black Witch Chronicles #2

Author: Laurie Forest

Release Date: September 18th 2018

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Dark forces are on the rise in this sweeping sequel to The Black Witch by critically acclaimed author Laurie Forest.

Elloren Gardner and her friends were only seeking to right a few wrongs when they rescued a Selkie and freed a military dragon. The last thing they expected was to be thrust into a realm-wide underground resistance against Gardnerian conquest.

While the Resistance struggles to fight back against the harsh rulings of the Mage Council, more and more Gardnerian soldiers descend upon the University…led by none other than Lukas Grey, now commander of the nearby military base. Though Elloren tries to keep him at arm's length, Lukas is determined to tie himself to her, still convinced that she is the heir to the power of the Black Witch, a legacy of magic that will decide the future of all Erthia. As his own magic calls out to her, seeking to awaken a dark force within, Elloren finds it more and more difficult to believe that she's truly powerless, as her uncle always claimed.

Caught between her growing feelings for the rebellious Yvan Guriel and the seductive power offered by Lukas, Elloren must find a way to stay true to what she knows is right and protect everyone she loves…even if that means protecting them from herself.