So I broke down and just grabbed a little 11 inch MacBook Air and let me tell you this thing is LITTLE!! But its ok! It just makes it more portable.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
{Review} House of Ivy & Sorrow by @nataliewhipple {Published} @HarperTeen
Josephine Hemlock has spent the last 10 years hiding from the Curse that killed her mother. But when a mysterious man arrives at her ivy-covered, magic-fortified home, it’s clear her mother’s killer has finally come to destroy the rest of the Hemlock bloodline. Before Jo can even think about fighting back, she must figure out who she’s fighting in the first place. The more truth Jo uncovers, the deeper she falls into witchcraft darker than she ever imagined. Trapped and running out of time, she begins to wonder if the very Curse that killed her mother is the only way to save everyone she loves.
› Visit Amazon's Natalie Whipple Page
This one is Witchy!! It will knock off you witchy socks!! There was very few things I didn't like about this one. The main thing was about all magic being dark and bad and that it was up to the witch to control it or be consumed by it. Although I do understand that take on it I do not agree with it. Ive been pagan for almost 30 years lol. (sorry for the rant) But even with that I loved this book!! So glad that I got to read it!! This book is for those who love twisting, turning, creepy, magical stories! This one will keep you reading until the last page and you will fall in love with everything about it! I loved it and the cover! So go read it! Oops sorry it doesn't come out until April! Ok go pre-order it and drool and whine until it comes!
"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
{Review} Beyond the Door by @maureenmcquerry {Giveaway} @ABRAMSbooks
When mythical creatures appear, a mystery of unparalleled proportions begins to unfold for Timothy, his sister Sarah, and school bully Jessica, who must defeat the powers of the Darkness.
Biography
This one was very cute. Not only does the reader give you a great story. She also teaches you how to translate Ogham into English. Although not the traditional way but a way that you could use it as a secret code with friends. I did this with Runes when I was in High School. It was really fun and if anyone got a hold of the note book no one would know what you were doing. This one is deff worth the read!
"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
{Review} Summer of Yesterday by #GabyTriana @SimonPulse
This title will be released on June 17, 2014
Back to the Future meets Fast Times at Ridgemont High when Haley’s summer vacation takes a turn for the retro in this totally rad romantic fantasy.
Summer officially sucks. Thanks to a stupid seizure she had a few months earlier, Haley’s stuck going on vacation with her dad and his new family to Disney’s Fort Wilderness instead of enjoying the last session of summer camp back home with her friends. Fort Wilderness holds lots of childhood memories for her father, but surely nothing for Haley. But then a new seizure triggers something she’s never before experienced—time travel—and she ends up in River Country, the campground’s long-abandoned water park, during its heyday.
The year? 1982.
And there—with its amusing fashion, “oldies” music, and primitive technology—she runs into familiar faces: teenage Dad and Mom before they’d even met. Somehow, Haley must find her way back to the twenty-first century before her present-day parents anguish over her disappearance, a difficult feat now that she’s met Jason, one of the park’s summer residents and employees, who takes the strangely dressed stowaway under his wing.
Seizures aside, Haley’s used to controlling her life, and she has no idea how to deal with this dilemma. How can she be falling for a boy whose future she can’t share?
This was a cool book! No I'm not saying that because I was born in 1982........ ok maybe a little! This one didn't disappoint one bit! It was a wonderful middle school book if you ask me. It was cute and wonderful. This author is just so amazing I have the fortune to meet her last year in Tampa! (Wish I would have had enough money to get her books lol)"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
Thursday, February 20, 2014
{Update} Computer Issues
Well it seems that my poor computer is going to give me issues again ugh. Double Ugh. So the poor thing is going in this coming Sunday. I want to make sure that everyone knows what is going on. So if you peek at the calendar you will see the I have nothing scheduled for Feb 23-28th this is a caution just in case. I moved everything to the first week in March.
We have our first Read On at 4pm on March 8th and Book Babble at 6pm If by chance I do not have the computer back by then (really don't want that to happen) I have already emailed the authors about moving them to the 15th.
I am in the process of getting a second computer so if this one dies on me I have a back up. So its just a work in progress.
{Cohost} {BookBabble} {ReadOn} is looking for a new one!
Do you love to read?
Have a review site for books?
Or maybe you don't but you want others to know what you think about books!
Want to chat it up with authors about their book?
Well look no further than #BookBabble and #ReadOn
I am looking for a reliable person that can come on camera on Saturdays (not all) at 4pm and 6pm EST.
You will need to be able to do the following!
1. Review books in a timely manner
2. Be able to ship your copy to the winner (books are provide via the author/publisher)
3. Do PR for the casts. Via Twitter, Facebook, etc.
4. Be upbeat and have strong internet!
What you get!
You get to read books before they come out as a lot of the times we get hard to find ARCs
You get to chat it up with great authors
You also (this is more for those with review sites) get your site name out there! Which opens the door for more fans, more books!
Want to join?!
Email me at
Jessica@crossroadreviews.com
Subject
CoHost!
Want to join?!
Email me at
Jessica@crossroadreviews.com
Subject
CoHost!
{Review} White Hot Kiss by @JLArmentrout @HarlequinTEEN
This title will be released on February 25, 2014.
One kiss could be the last.
Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses.
Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever.
Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul.
But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne…it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.
Biography
Demons, Wardens, and other dark beasties await the reader in this yup another title from Jennifer Armentrout. This her new series called the Dark Elements Series is sure to knock your socks off. It will hook you from the first page and it will make you screaming for more as this series debut was yummy!!I loved Armentrout's world building and other authors could learn a thing or two from what she does and how she writes. It was so good!! The story will keep you guessing until the last page. And I so can't wait for the next book!! My only issue was the cover. With the paranormal aspects they could have magiced up the cover a little.
"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
{Review} RedDevil 4 by @EricLeuthardt @torbooks
RedDevil 4 is spine-tingling techno-thriller based on cutting edge research from surgeon and inventor Eric C. Leuthardt.
Renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Hagan Maerici is on the verge of a breakthrough in artificial intelligence that could change the way we think about human consciousness. Obsessed with his job and struggling to save his marriage, Dr. Maerici is forced to put his life’s work on the line when a rash of brutal murders strikes St. Louis.
Edwin Krantz, an aging, technophobic detective, and his partner, Tara Dezner, are tasked with investigating the horrifying killings. Shockingly, the murders have all been committed by prominent citizens who have no obvious motives or history of violence. Seeking an explanation for the suspects’ strange behavior, Krantz and Denzer turn to Dr. Maerici, who believes that the answer lies within the killers’ brains themselves. Someone is introducing a glitch into the in-brain computer systems of the suspects—a virus that turns ordinary citizens into murderers. With time running out, this trio of unlikely allies must face a gauntlet of obstacles, both human and A.I., as they attempt to avert disaster.
Biography
Eric Leuthardt was born in Boston in May of 1973. After a few year stint in Stuttgart Germany as a toddler, Leuthardt spent his youth in the Midwestern city of Cincinnati. After many years of taking apart every electrical appliance in the house, catching snakes and crawdads in the nearby creeks, and doing his best to endure the Catholic grade school system, he finally found his calling in a laboratory at the University of Cincinnati. There he spent his summers and most of his free time working on how electric and magnetic fields influence the growth of neurons. He would also frequent the operating rooms early in the morning to watch some of the neurosurgeons remove brain tumors. After a time, while working under a microscope, one of the surgeons working in the lab told him he should think about neurosurgery.The idea took hold (in a big way). Leuthardt went on to Saint Louis University to enroll in a premedical track where he earned degrees in Biology and Theology and then subsequently matriculated to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After having earned his medical degree, he was accepted into the prestigious neurosurgery program at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes Jewish Medical Hospital. During his training he also took time off to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship in biomedical engineering where he and his mentor developed one of the fundamental platforms used for brain-computer interfacing - technologies that enable people to control machines with their thoughts alone.
Since that time, his research has focused on neuroprosthetic devices that link to the brain to restore function to patients with motor disabilities. His work in the field has yielded him numerous accolades as a scientist, a neurosurgeon, and an inventor. In 2004, for his work "A Brain-Computer Interface Using Electrocorticographic Signals in Humans" he was awarded the James O'Leary Prize for Outstanding Neuroscience Research at Washington University in St Louis. In 2007, the Academy of Science in St Louis awarded him the Innovator Award for his research and translation efforts. He was given one of the highest acknowledgments in his field by being presented with the Annual Award of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery in Berlin, Germany. On a national level, he was named one of the Top Young Innovators by MIT's magazine Technology Review. The magazine names individuals under the age of 35 each year whose work in technology has global impact. In addition to numerous peer reviewed publications, Leuthardt has over a 1000 issued or pending patents on file with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and has founded several companies. Leuthardt is currently an associate professor with the Departments of Neurological Surgery, Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also the Director of the Center for Innovation in Neuroscience and Technology, an institute that is creating advanced next generation medical technologies.
When not juggling his frenetic schedule, Leuthardt spends his time at home in University City. He and his wife, Melissa, enjoy chasing after their daughter Ellie Claire and doing their best to keep their two border collies, Rawly and Slider, out of the trash can.
The about this book really does say it all for this one. It was a fast paced thriller. That will have your spin tingling! "*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
{Review} Stolen Songbird by @dljensen_ {Giveaway} @strangechem
This title will be released on
April 1, 2014
For those who have loved Seraphina and Graceling comes another truly fabulous fantasy...
For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.
Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.
But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.
As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.
Biography
This one should be at the top of your TBR list! This one has NO INSTA-LOVE, NO LOVE TRIANGLE, ETC!! It was wonderful! 436 pages of ARC Yummies!! The story was great and the characters where even better! Its a deff must read! This is deff an author you will want to look out for! She knows how to write!"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
{Manga} Is Coming!! {Thanks} @yenpress
Well folks thanks to Yen Press and my daughters love of Manga! It is now coming to the Crossroads!
So make sure you subscribe via Email to make sure you get in on the giveaways!
{Review} No One Else Can Have You by @HaleKathleen @harperTeen @EpicReads
Small towns are nothing if not friendly. Friendship, Wisconsin (population:
689688) is no different. Around here, everyone wears a smile. And no one ever locks their doors. Until, that is, high school sweetheart Ruth Fried is found murdered. Strung up like a scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield.
Unfortunately, Friendship’s police are more adept at looking for lost pets than catching killers. So Ruth’s best friend, Kippy Bushman, armed with only her tenacious Midwestern spirit and Ruth’s secret diary (which Ruth’s mother had asked her to read in order to redact any, you know, sex parts), sets out to find the murderer. But in a quiet town like Friendship—where no one is a suspect—anyone could be the killer.
Biography
This cover is so cute. Yes cute even though its got a moose that is being hung. It really grips you when your looking for something to read. But from the cover to the last page this is another wonderful read! It was a riot! And a must read! Dont let those 1 star reviews scare you. "*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
{Review} Peculiar Children Graphic Novel by @ransomriggs {Giveaway} @quirkbooks
Ransom Riggs's haunting fantasy bestseller adapted to a graphic novel!
As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive.
Biography
A very interesting concept. A lot of books are being turned into Graphic Novels and I love the idea. My one daughter will read anything that is Graphic Novel. She sucks them up and spits them out in about 30 minutes. And this one was no different. As soon as it came she stoled it and it was great!
"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
{Review} The Mermaid of Brooklyn by @amyshearn {Giveaway} @TouchstoneBooks
SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED IN LIFE IS A FABULOUS PAIR OF SHOES—AND A LITTLE HELP FROM A MERMAID. Formerly an up-and-coming magazine editor, Jenny Lipkin is now your average, stretched-too-thin Brooklyn mom, tackling the challenges of raising two children in a cramped Park Slope walk-up. All she really wants is to survive the sweltering New York summer with a shred of sanity intact. But when her husband, Harry, vanishes one evening, Jenny reaches her breaking point. And in a moment of despair, a split-second decision changes her life forever. Pulled from the brink by an unexpected ally, Jenny is forced to rethink her ideas about success, motherhood, romance, and relationships. But confronting her inner demons is no easy task. . .
About this author
Amy Shearn is the author of the novels How Far Is the Ocean from Here and The Mermaid of Brooklyn.I loved this inventive, wonderfully written tale of a single mother who finds herself seeing through new eyes. It was a great book with a wonderful story! {Review} Hollow City by @ransomriggs {Giveaway} @quirkbooks
The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London the peculiar capital of the world. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. Like its predecessor, this second novel in the Peculiar Children series blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reacting experience.
Biography
This book two just blew me away! It was even better than book one with even creepier/spookier pictures. And don't worry folks each picture ties into the book just wonderfully. And although the little girl on the from is missing something. This book is deff not missing anything! It was a creepy continuation of book one and I so can't wait for more!"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."
