Weekend Wrap-Up & Blogoversary Winners!!

Weekend Wrap-up is where I share what I read this past week, am currently reading, and hope to read this coming week, and (when applicable) the current giveaways/giveaway winners. Occasionally I'll post some other stuff as well.

Feel free to join along and post your own Weekend Wrap-up on your blog/site (if you do, please leave the link in a comment so I can stop by) or, in a comment, share what you've accomplished (reading-wise) this past week. :)

 What I've read this week:



Loved Don't Look Back! Mixed feelings about The Apothecary's Daughter... will post review later.

What I'm currently reading:

About a third of the way done with When the Heart Heals, 53% done with Code Blue, and almost halfway done with Temptation.

  What I hope to read next week:

Excited to read all of these! Hope to start at least three of them this week. :)

Reviews posted this week:

A Royal Marriage by Rachelle McCalla

Eyes Wide Open by Ted Dekker

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

Too Close to Home by Lynette Eason

Current Giveaways!

Enter to win an eBook copy of The Random Acts of Cupid by Amanda Tru - Kindle or Nook format. Open Internationally! Ends 2/28.

Enter to win a copy of The Aristocrat's Lady or Beauty in Disguise by Mary Moore! Two winners will each receive a book! Open Internationally! Ends 3/5

Blogoversary Winners!!

Set one:

The winner is...

Mia (meme_braddock@...)!*

Set two:

The winner is...

Robin (coramdeo540@...)!+

The winners of a copy of Shattered by Dani Pettrey along with a keepsake bookmark are...

Merry (worthworthy2bpraised@...)!*

&

Amy (campbellamyd@...)!*

The winner of a copy of Swept Away by Mary Connealy is...

Bonnie (bonnieroof60@...)!*

The winner of a copy of To Die For and The Secret Keeper by Sandra Byrd plus a bar of Anne Boleyn Essence of Oakmoss soap is...

Lu Ann (worley.la@...)!*

The winner of their choice of one of Laura Frantz's books is...

Jasmine (montanamade@...)!*

The winner of a copy of Placebo by Steven James is...

Elizabeth (elizabeth@...)!*

The winner of a copy of A Bride Opens Shop in El Dorado, California by Keli Gwyn is...

Lu Ann (worley.la@...)!*

The winner of their choice of one of the River of Time books by Lisa T. Bergren is...

Nicole (elocin9-10@...)!+

*Winner has claimed their prize
+Winner has been contacted and has until 2/25 to claim their prize, otherwise another winner will be chosen.

Congrats to all the winners! Thanks to everyone that stopped by my blogoversary celebration - I hope you enjoyed the party, even if you didn't win a prize. :)

Review: Too Close to Home by Lynette Eason

Too Close to Home by Lynette Eason

Women of Justice Series: Book One

Revell / 2012

Find on: Amazon, Goodreads

About the book:

The FBI has a secret weapon. But now the secret's out.

When missing teens begin turning up dead in a small Southern town, the FBI sends in Special Agent Samantha Cash to help crack the case. Her methods are invisible, and she never quits until the case is closed.

Homicide detective Connor Wolfe has his hands full. His relationship with his headstrong daughter is in a tailspin, and the string of unsolved murders has the town demanding answers. Connor is running out of ideas--and time.

Samantha joins Connor in a race against the clock to save the next victim. And the killer starts to get personal.

Too Close to Home ratchets up the suspense with each page even as love blossoms in the face of danger. Read this one with the lights on!

My rating:

My thoughts:

Too Close to Home was another great suspense read! Having read two of Lynette Eason's newer books (When the Smoke Clears and When a Heart Stops), I was excited to finally read one of her older novels.

The mystery was really good and I loved that I was actually able to guess correctly about who the killer was! The case was very attention grabbing and there were many super suspenseful scenes.

I loved the characters and, even though I found Jenna to be a little foolish sometimes, she was still a favorite - along with her dad and Dakota. =)

The only thing that sort of bugged me was how long it took to reveal who the killer was, and then when he/she was revealed, it seemed like it was supposed to be a surprise, when it was pretty obvious by then. This probably only annoyed me because I had guessed who it was fairly early on in the book. I still went back-and-forth, though, about my guess and was surprised that my initial thought was correct.

Still, I loved Too Close to Home and now need to read book two, Don't Look Back, asap. The epilogue was a real teaser! I recommend this book if you enjoy suspense novels with some romance. It was great!

*I did not get this book for review. I bought it when it was free on Amazon Kindle. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

Was my review helpful? If so, please click "yes" on Amazon. Thanks!

Review: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

Find on: Amazon, Goodreads

About the book:

A strange imprisonment

Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage.

When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"

Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple: Beauty and the Beast.

My rating:

My thoughts:

Beauty was a great retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The book had a different feel than most books I read and parts of the book (especially the beginning) seemed to tell the story instead of taking the reader to the actual scenes. While normally I think I wouldn't like that, Beauty pulled it off wonderfully and it added to the fairy-tale feel. :)

After the Beast was introduced, I started to love the story even more! The way he acted towards Beauty was just so sweet. He was probably my favorite character in the book.

There were also quite a few scenes I found very funny (the dress scene foremost). Lydia and Bessie's interactions were just so humorous! :)

Overall, a lovely read. Beauty was very clean and I recommend it you enjoy fairy-tales/retellings. It is now a favorite of mine.

*I borrowed this book from the library. I was not required to write a review, but chose to. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

Was my review helpful? If so, please click "yes" on Amazon. Thanks!

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Characters in Dystopian

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week, they post a subject and the goal is to answer the question with your top ten picks. Once you've done it, link back to The Broke and the Bookish and check out what other bloggers have to say!

Top Ten Characters in Dystopian

This was a tough one to choose because I read a good variety of genres but when I really thought about it, a lot of my favorite characters come from this one. So here's my list.

1) Tris from Divergent by Veronica Roth- What can I say about Tris? She's small, overlooked and fiercely determined. I love how she never wavers, how she does what she thinks is right even when it's hard. She's so tough but also so easy to relate to. She is definitely one of my favorite characters ever.

2) Four from Divergent by Veronica Roth- You can't have one half without the other. Four sees the value in Tris's strength which makes him wonderful. He respects her to make her own decisions while he makes the ones he feels necessary. He's a little rough around the edges but not too tough to admit he has feelings. 

3) Katniss from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- The odds are never in Katniss's favor but she just keeps trying and trying. This girl can get through anything it is because of her grit and tough-as-nails additude that she is on this list. I knew Katniss would find a way through anything.

4) Peeta from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- Peeta is just as tough but in a completely different way. Peeta manages to keep his humanity even in the worst situations which allows him to care for Katniss. I love how gentle-natured he was at heart and how that was shown as a strength in the novel too. Sweet and smart. Is there anything better?

5) Aria from Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi- I loved watching Aria develop strength and understanding throughout UtNS. She starts out being so weak minded but through the things they are put through, she starts to realize just how strong she can be.

6) Perry from Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi- The strong silent type. Accept, we learn that he really isn't. Watching him open up to Aria and seeing the world through his eyes made me fall in love with him.

7) Roar from Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi- How can you not love Roar? He adds a fun, lightheartedness to what is otherwise, a pretty bleak world. It's even better when we get to read from his perspective in Roar and Liv.

8) Juliette from Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi-Talk about a beautiful mind. The way Juliette thinks about everything demanded that I fall in love with her. She has such an awful reality, such an ugly curse and I love how it differs from her kind nature.

9) Adam from Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi- In Shatter Me's world, if you find a moment of beauty, you have to hold onto it or what else will you have? He fights for Juliette and I love how sweet he is with his little brother.

10) Ky from Matched by Ally Condie- The way he keeps words like they are something precious had me from the beginning. I love that he is secretly teaching Cassia how to write. Definitely made him wonderful to me.

So those are the characters that made it onto my list. Who did you choose?