#BookReview of The Map of Salt and Stars by @JenniferZeynab

About the Book: This rich, moving, and lyrical debut novel is to Syria what The Kite Runner was to Afghanistan; the story of two girls living eight hundred years apart—a modern-day Syrian refugee seeking safety and a medieval adventurer apprenticed to a legendary mapmaker—places today’s headlines in the sweep of history, where the pain of exile and the triumph of courage echo again and again.

It is the summer of 2011, and Nour has just lost her father to cancer. Her mother, a cartographer who creates unusual, hand-painted maps, decides to move Nour and her sisters from New York City back to Syria to be closer to their family. But the country Nour’s mother once knew is changing, and it isn’t long before protests and shelling threaten their quiet Homs neighborhood. When a shell destroys Nour’s house and almost takes her life, she and her family are forced to choose: stay and risk more violence or flee as refugees across seven countries of the Middle East and North Africa in search of safety. As their journey becomes more and more challenging, Nour’s idea of home becomes a dream she struggles to remember and a hope she cannot live without.

More than eight hundred years earlier, Rawiya, sixteen and a widow’s daughter, knows she must do something to help her impoverished mother. Restless and longing to see the world, she leaves home to seek her fortune. Disguising herself as a boy named Rami, she becomes an apprentice to al-Idrisi, who has been commissioned by King Roger II of Sicily to create a map of the world. In his employ, Rawiya embarks on an epic journey across the Middle East and the north of Africa where she encounters ferocious mythical beasts, epic battles, and real historical figures.

A deep immersion into the richly varied cultures of the Middle East and North Africa, The Map of Salt and Stars follows the journeys of Nour and Rawiya as they travel along identical paths across the region eight hundred years apart, braving the unknown beside their companions as they are pulled by the promise of reaching home at last.

Welcome to Day #5 of The Girl with More Than One Heart by @laurageringer #BlogTour with #Giveaway!

About the book: 

There are times we all feel we need more than one heart to get through. When Briana’s father dies, she imagines she has a new heart growing inside her. 

It speaks to her in her Dad’s voice. Some of its commands are mysterious.

Find Her!  it says. Be Your Own!  

How can Briana “be her own” when her grieving mother needs her to take care of her demanding little brother all the time?

When all her grandpa can do is tell stories instead of being the “rock" she needs? When her not-so-normal home life leaves no time to pursue her dream of writing for the school literary magazine? When the first blush of a new romance threatens to be nipped in the bud? Forced by the loss of her favorite parent to see all that was once familiar with new eyes, Briana draws on her own imagination, originality, and tender loving heart to discover a surprising path through the storm.  

Life Update with Jessica

Hello readers!  This is Jessica with a very important update. If posts are a little wonky it is because I am not actively trying to get things done like I normally do.  The last few weeks have been hell, to say the least.  My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and has of right this second had one surgery.  We just found out today that this coming Thursday, May 24th she will be going back to The Heart of Florida. To have another surgery because they didn't take out her lymph nodes the first time around.  We also learned that she WILL also be going through chemo which we were hoping to avoid.

We ask that you keep us in your thoughts during this time.  

My mom has always been a fighter and I really do believe that she will pull through.  But I am so full of worry that I just don't know what to do anymore. I will be reading as much as I can just to keep my mind off this situation. I am hoping the books keep me in their world while this is all going on.  

My mom had me set her up a go fund me page to see if she could get help with what her insurance won't cover. Such as gas for appointments, bills since she had to quit Uber, and after all this is done money to help her reconstruct what was taken.  If you would like to check it out you can at the link below.   

I will be posting updates to that fund with pictures and more information as we get it.  

#BookBlitz: The Rainmaker by @PetraLandon #Giveaway @XpressoTours

The Rainmaker
Petra Landon
(Saga of the Chosen #2)
Publication date: March 30th 2018
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy
As they race to untangle the past and thwart a power-hungry Wizard, Tasia must face her toughest decision yet. Can she take a leap of faith and risk her deadliest secret?
Tasia Armstrong is no longer a nondescript, friendless and naïve Wizard flying under the radar on the fringes of Chosen society. With her fate now publicly entwined with that of a powerful Shifter Pack, she must navigate the minefield of Pack politics while keeping her secrets and cover safe from the Chosen who hunt her. With a Pack to defend her, a powerful Alpha to protect her interests and friends to watch her back, her life is a far cry from before. But living with the Shifters holds new challenges for a Chosen more used to the shadows.
The stakes have never been higher as old fault lines, long-buried secrets, Wizard dysfunction, and Lady Bethesda’s ruthless machinations draw the Chosen ever closer to a civil war. While Tasia grapples to avoid the pitfalls and confront her demons, it is an unlikely nemesis who forces her to face her moment of truth. Tasia finds herself at the crossroads – at stake are her carefully constructed house of cards and her tangled relationship with the man who holds her enemies at bay. Will Tasia risk opening Pandora’s Box or will she disappear into the shadows again?
Author’s Note : The Rainmaker continues the story from The Prophecy. The books are not standalone and are intended to be read in order.

#NerdBlast: TELL ME NO LIES (Follow Me Back #2) by @av_geiger #Giveaway @JeanBookNerd

About the Book:
Love. Obsession. Jealousy. Murder.

No one knows what happened to pop icon Eric Thorn. His Twitter account? Frozen. His cell phone? Cracked and bloody, buried in the snow. 

Agoraphobic fangirl Tessa Hart knows the truth, but she's finally left her #EricThornObsessed days behind. 

She has no intention of ever touching her Twitter app again. 

But Snapchat... That's safer, right?

After months of living under the radar, Tessa emerges from hiding, forced to face the deadly consequences of her past. 

But in the interrogation room, answers only lead to more questions in the pulse-pounding conclusion to the Follow Me Back duology.




This title will be released on June 5, 2018.

#BookishLife with @cosplayandbooks

This week I thought I'd just update y'all on my (still) boring life and the new way I'm going to tackle my huuuuuge TBR pile...finally.

#BookReview of Dark Tracks by @PhilippaGbooks

About the Book: Luca Vero is a member of the secret Order of Darkness, tasked by his master to uncover the truth behind strange happenings. Together with Lady Isolde, her friend and confidant Ishraq, Luca’s manservant Freize, and Brother Peter, Luca travels across medieval Europe – seeking out the signs of the end of days, judging the supernatural and testing the new science.

Trapped in a village possessed by a dancing madness, the group fights to keep their own sanity. When Isolde dances away in red shoes and Ishraq takes dramatic revenge on their covert assassin the young people discover that the greatest danger is in the men who have come to their rescue. These are the truly dangerous madmen of Europe who carry a dark hatred that will last for centuries. 

Dive deep into the world of medieval legends and disentangle reality from fear in this powerful series from the internationally renowned author of historical fiction Philippa Gregory.

#BookBlitz: Three Day Fiancée by Marissa Clarke @MaryL_MarissaC @XpressoTours #Giveaway

Three Day Fiancée
Marissa Clarke
(Animal Attraction #2)
Published by: Entangled: Lovestruck
Publication date: May 14th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
“Some things can’t be faked…”
Helicopter pilot Taylor Blankenship’s time schedule is maxed out. Between his job, his one hundred and fifty-pound slobbering mess of a dog, and his matchmaking grandmother, he has no time for anyone or anything-especially a woman. If only there were a way to get Grams to back down.
The job of New York City dog walker suits Caitlin Ramos perfectly while she preps for her CPA exam—steady, scheduled, and requiring very little human interaction; a huge seller since she’s still on the mend from a toxic relationship. Men suck. Especially her bossy hot client with the Saint Bernard that thinks it’s a lap dog. No way will she go for his plan to pretend they’re engaged to get his grandmother off his case. Down, boy.
Offered a bargain she can’t refuse, Caitlin finds herself playing the part of fiancée to Taylor. Fortunately, it’s only for three days. All she has to do is fake a relationship with Mr. Bossy Pants in front of his entire family, survive a fierce game of truth or dare with an unscrupulous pair of octogenarians, endure a one-on-one round of Twister with Taylor, and not lose her heart to a guy who turns out to be a lot more than she’d bargained for.

#CoverReveal: The Proposition by A.M. Salinger @xpressotours

The Proposition
A.M. Salinger
(Nights, #6)
Publication date: June 26th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
They call me the Charmer. My best friend Wade tells me it’s because I’m suave and mysterious. But he doesn’t know my secret. The one I’ve kept hidden from him for twelve years. The one I will never reveal to him — Rhys
They call me The Brute. Probably because of my physique. And, let’s face it, because I’m a total dick at times. So Rhys likes to tell me anyway. Thing is, there’s something Rhys isn’t telling me. Something I’m dying to hear from his lips. His sinful confession. You see, I know Rhys’s secret — Wade
Rhys Damon has spent most of his adult life watching Wade Tucker bed woman after woman, his dark desire for his best friend and business partner a secret he is determined to take to his grave, since he knows it will never be reciprocated. With their design firm thriving across two continents, Rhys finds himself content burying his heartache in a string of meaningless, casual sex arrangements. Until the night everything changes.
When Wade Tucker stumbles upon his best friend calling out his name as he pleasures himself, he knows his relationship with Rhys will never be the same again. A year later, the memory of what Wade saw is still branded in his mind and his feelings for Rhys have evolved into something he never anticipated. As tension mounts and the relationship between the two business partners becomes increasingly strained, things finally come to a head the night Wade follows Rhys and discovers him with another man.
After an explosive confrontation, Wade makes Rhys a proposition he can’t refuse: that they try things out for six weeks. Six weeks of exploring a side of each other they never knew before. Six weeks of torrid kisses and sultry touches. Six weeks of screamingly good, scorching hot sex. Six weeks of utterly losing themselves to one another.
But as the end of their proposition looms in sight, can Wade persuade Rhys that he wants more? Or will Rhys’s deep-seated fears stop him from fully surrendering his heart and soul to the one man he thought he could never have?
Discover Rhys and Wade’s wickedly intoxicating story in this sixth novella in the hot, contemporary romance series Nights by A.M. Salinger. Note from the author: although each book in Nights can be read as a standalone, you will enjoy this series even more if you read the books in order!
This is a novella length MM romance with a HEA.

#Preorder #Blast - COCKTALES - A Cocky Collective

Cocktales, a limited-release anthology of original, never before published material, from some of your favorite bestselling authors is coming May 26th!

Cocktales Anthology

Publishing Date: May 26th

Cover Designer: CD Reiss

Each story was specifically written for this anthology.

The goal of the Cocktales Anthology is to raise funds to fight against obstruction of creative expression. Specifically, what we believe are obstruction attempts through the trademarking of common (single) words for titicular use in books / or as a book series (eBooks, print, and audio).

Cocktales will only be available May 26th-August 26th.

#WOW with @marissa_meyer @cassieclare @CCHunterBooks

Welcome to this weeks WOW!  This is what we're reading, waiting for, and one book we recommend. Let us know yours in the comments below!