Judge A Book By Its Cover #1

Judge A Book By Its Cover is a weekly feature I plan on posting every Sunday so as to show my love towards pretty covers and give some credit to the awesome cover artist, or publishers if I can't find specific information.
Don't count on me to post on new books every week though, because 1. we don't have weekly new books with lovely covers and 2. I'm too lazy to search for new books every week x)

So, to kick off this exciting new feature, I went to my goodreads to-read list and selected this one title which cover I instantly fell in love with.

Title: Born At Midnight
Author: C.C. Hunter
Series: Shadow Falls #1
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Cover Design: Angela Goddard (love her YA designs!)

And yes, part of why it was on my must-read picks was because Midnight was in the title.
Aww.
Not to mention the purple and pink colour scheme and oh, the cover's just so perfect, right?








The other books in the series obviously followed the same design which is plain gorgeous.
And did I mention how the keywords in the title was the same as I what I used to use for my blog urls?
Midnight, Dawn, and I was so tempted with Dusk when Cheryl suggested it, once again.
But nah, no fun following the series :P

Giveaway: The Hunted

@ The Magic Attic

I've actually came across this post last week and was thinking damn, I must have this.
And a week crawled by and it slipped my mind to blog about it.
Oops.

Anyway, I'd wanted to wait until I've posted about it because yes, it earns extra credit and also, I really wanted to share about this book.
Granted, this was the first time I've heard about this book but it doesn't sound like just any vampire fiction.
Well, okay, maybe it does, with it's old ordinary-girl-meets-handsome-guy routine but there's just something I couldn't quite place that appeals to me.
Plus, it has achieved rather high ratings on Goodreads.
Definitely a series I can't miss.
Hop over?

Goodreads Description:
Elena Manory is by no means an ordinary teenage girl. Being born with the ability to heal herself from any injury, and with the knowledge that on her eighteenth birthday she will become a Vampire, Elena is aware that she is more than a little different from other girls her age. It isn’t until she meets William Granville, an alluring and impossibly handsome vampire, that she begins to question her destiny and what secrets the Institute of Magical Intervention and her adopted family have withheld—secrets that could change the fates of not only her own life, but of the lives of all the immortals. As events spiral out of control, William may be the only person Elena can place her trust in. He, and Elena’s magical family, must fight to save her, joining forces to defeat a common, deadly foe. For William, it is his chance to save the girl that he has searched eternity to find.

Review: Intuition

Title: Intuition
Author: J. Meyers
Genre: YA paranormal
Goodreads Description: Luke and his twin sister Sera have unusual abilities. Hers is a gift—she can heal with a touch of her hand. His is a curse—he can see the future but he can’t do anything about it.

On a hike up the mountain, Luke has a vision unlike any other—one that leaves him terrified. Knowing that it will come true—and that he must do everything in his power to stop it—leaves his own future uncertain.




I never was a big fan of short stories but I thought I might try my luck with this one.

This is actually a prequel leading up to the main story, Intangible.
It didn't rock me or anything, but it did give me a sneak peek as to what to expect between the twins, Luke and Sera.

It was really more of an introduction than anything else.

Letting you into the little secret that have been kept closely between the twins, in fear of facing isolation and being treated like freaks.

But it fulfilled its purpose.

It kept me wanting for more.

Although it was not quite enough to make me beg for it.. yet.

The first chapter of Intangible looks promising as it dove into the vision Luke Saw, which set the plot for the story.

And it ended well in an cliff-hanger, leaving readers intrigued.

Of course, the best part was that the prequel Intuition + the first chapter of Intangible is available free at Smashwords (for anyone who can access the Internet), Amazon (for Kindle users) and Barnes and Noble (for Nook users).

Not enough to turn you on?

Just look at the covers!

Jeez I'm such a sucker for pretty covers.

And Intangible is something I would rate 4 stars out of 5, based on the cover solely.

I'm hoping to raise that up even higher when I get to read it ^^
Looking at the overwhelming positive ratings and responses on Goodreads, I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

"Shall she be the first to die, Seer?"

Goodreads Description:
Twins Sera and Luke Raine have a well-kept secret—she heals with a touch of her hand, he sees the future. All their lives they’ve helped those in need on the sly. They’ve always thought of their abilities as being a gift.

Then Luke has a vision that Sera is killed. That gift they’ve always cherished begins to feel an awful lot like a curse. Because the thing about Luke’s ability? He’s always right. And he can’t do anything about it.

Find out more about the author J. Meyer over here and follow her here, here and here to receive more updates.

If I'm not wrong, she's currently working on the next book in the series.

How exciting! ;)

Review: Anna and the French Kiss

Yum.

St. Clair is funny, smart, a nice guy.
Nope, definitely more than a nice guy.
A natural charmer, and his charisma goes deeper than his mere appearance.

Anna is beautiful.
She has to be, St. Clair had said it to her more than one time.
A lover, in the City of Lights she searches for her true soul mate.

Anna and the French Kiss got me falling in love with France.
The city, the language, the people.
The culture.
I would say Stephanie Perkins have sketched a beautiful image of France, for someone who hasn't visited France before.
Although I may not be one to say, since I haven't had a chance yet either.
But I would swear there in my lifetime I must go there at least once, if not for a wild (and hopefully romantic?) getaway, for the places.

I love how the setting is in France, but both protagonists are actually Americans.
With one British cute guy.
And it's not just American chicks who can't resist a British accent y'know ;)
St. Clair is just, so easy to love.
Although it is rather infuriating when he kept sending mixed signals to Anna.
There were a lot of ups and downs in the book, and in their relationship.
But the events flowed well and the year was gone before anyone realised it.

In all, Anna and the French Kiss kept me breathing along with Anna, feeling like a love-struck teenager with St. Clair's every touch (although, technically, she is one), crying each time he came so close only to run away from her.
A sweet novel starring a cute couple.
It's hard not fall in love with this one.

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Genre: Contemporary YA
Goodreads Description: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

For the two of us, home isn't a place. It's a person. And we're finally home.

After you finished the book, you might wanna visit the author's page.
(I really liked reading through the FAQ page~)
Or maybe show her some support by following her here, here and here.
I did all 3! Wee~ ^^

Can't wait to get my hands on Lola and the Boy Next Door, and I'm already totally looking forward to the release of Isla and the Happily Ever After.
Especially since the latter seems to be the follow-up story of a supporting male character in Anna, despite Stephanie Perkins' sealed mouth about the content.
So, I guessed it.
But according to her, it's a good guess.
Well, let's see come Fall then ;)

Morganville Madness

Welcome to Morganville.

You'll never want to leave.

And even if you do ... well, you can't.

Sorry about that.

I really love Morganville Vampires' introduction x)

So anyway, I have talked about this series countless times.

How it rose to be one of my favourites quickly when I first read Glass Houses a few years back.

And then I came to be waiting for the next title in the series, never wanting it to stop.

Like many other residents.

But we never did had to wait too long.

Because Rachel Caine's a renowned fast writer and her work are never less than perfect.

Yeap, Black Dawn, the 12th book in the series is soon to be released~

Well, at least in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

It'll take some time to come here to Singapore but no doubt it would arrive.

And before the highly anticipated book is released, I've learnt from Literal Addiction that there would be a 12 Days of Morganville Madness blog hop going on from April 20 to May 1, just in time for Black Dawn's release on 2nd May.

Hop over to Literal Addiction to learn about the schedule of events, and then to Page Turners Blog for the first stop in the blog hop.

Enjoy the reviews, interviews and giveaways! ^^