#BookReview of Winterspell by @clairelegrand

Reviewed By: Rachael

Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

Recommended Age: Young Adult

Genre: Retelling, Fantasy

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book: The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince…but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.

New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted—by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets—and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed—if she leaves at all.

Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

#BookReview of Cat Lady Embroidery by Applemints

Reviewed By: Rachael

Publisher: Quarry Books

Recommended Age: Young Adult

Genre: Nonfiction

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book: Fat, striped, cheshire, or grumpy, this books offers more than 300 embroidery stitch patters for cat lovers. Each set of patterns offers a range of ideas in different styles, shapes, genres from simple to more complex. A purrfect book for embroidery beginners or those looking for fun and simple patterns. Original designs and clear instructions make this book a must have for any embroidery enthusiasts library. 

#BookReview: And I Darken (And I Darken Series, #1) by @kierstenwhite

Reviewed By: Jessica P. 

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Recommended Age: Young Adult 

Genre: Fantasy (Gender Swap Vlad the Impaler) 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

#BookBlitz: A Pilgrimage to Death by @AlexaPadgett @XpressoTours #Giveaway

A Pilgrimage to Death
Alexa Padgett
Publication date: August 14th 2018
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

They murdered her sister. They threatened her church. But their day of reckoning will cost her everything…

When Cici Gurule finds the dead body of a parishioner in the nearby Santa Fe National Forest, she’s horrified to realize the victim bears the same stab wounds that ended her twin sister’s life one year earlier.

Now, as a freewheeling, progressive reverend who’ll stop at nothing to protect her flock, she’ll need to join forces with her detective friend and loyal pair of Great Pyrenees to hunt down the killer before she’s forced to officiate another funeral.

Soon, however, Cici discovers her sister was on the trail of a deep-rooted criminal operation, and her death was no random act of violence. With the criminals out for Cici’s blood, she needs to catch the wolf by the tail…before it goes in for the kill.

Fans of Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, and Stacy Claflin will love Alexa’s Padgett’s new edge-of-your-seat novel! Scroll up and click to start this fast-paced, high-octane mystery thriller!

#CoverReveal: Aftereffects by @authorljgreene @XpressoTours

Aftereffects
L.J. Greene
Publication date: October 8th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
What could be more terrifying than falling in love with the person who is your good place? Maybe realizing just a smidge too late that there can be dire consequences to becoming your best friend’s lover.
The lives of Keir Stevens and Selene Georgiou serendipitously collide mid-span on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, one jarring step ahead of fate. He’s a temporary transplant from Seattle; she’s facing the biggest career opportunity of her life. They have no notion of the common thread that connects them.
As they come to discover they share a similar adversity, their relationship evolves from a fun and frivolous infatuation with nowhere to go into a true friendship with sincerity, humor, and respect at its heart.
It’s awfully hard not to fall in love with that – even if you’re pretty darn certain you shouldn’t.
But when love and friendship suffer their own devastating collision – their interests brutally conflicting – the consequences of blurring the lines between the two suddenly become real. In the end, which one will be the stronger? And more importantly, can either survive?
AFTER EFFECTS is a standalone dual POV adult contemporary romance about the things we choose in life out of all the things that are beyond our choosing – a tale of love and friendship, of time and how we spend it, and of the inner wars that ultimately show us what really matters.

#CoverReveal: Lightning Boy: A Taboo Love Story by Amy J Heart @XpressoTours

Lightning Boy: A Taboo Love Story
Amy J Heart
Publication date: July 30th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Lightning never strikes the same place twice. Unless he’s a boy called L.
My name is Eden and I only want one thing in life—and it isn’t to have sex with some guy I’ve never met in front of three creepy businessmen. But when dirty-copper Coop, who holds the deed to my family’s farm, says jump—I ask how high. And ex-street kid L is nothing like I expect him to be.
He’s so much worse.
Now I want three things.
My dad’s farm back.
To know why a guy as hot as L has never slept with a girl before.
Coop to die a painful death.
And there’s a fourth. Here’s a hint…
It starts with the letter L.
Just like this story does.
Is happy-ever-after possible when your meet-cute happens in front of three voyeurs in business suits?

Add to Goodreads

Author Bio:
Amy J Heart adores damaged bad-boys in dire need of redemption. Heavy on grit and steam, her stories explore the duality of life. She's a little obsessed with the idea that things are never quite what they seem. She loves indie music, mad hair colors, nuclear strength coffee, Siamese cats, and guys with long hair. But not in that order!

Website / Facebook / Goodreads

 

 Disclaimer: "All opinions are 100% honest and my own."  Thanks to Goodreads and Amazon for the book cover, about the book, and author information. Buying via these links allows my site to get a % of the sale at no cost to you. 

FTC Guidelines: In accordance with FTC guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials for bloggers, I would like my readers to know that many of the books I review are provided to me for free by the publisher or author of the book in exchange for an honest review. If am compensated for any reviews on this site I will state that post has been sponsored. 

Comments are DELICIOUS! and now that were using this new format for comments the TOP 3 Commenters will all win bookish goodies each month! So that is just one more reason to comment!  This is open to everyone!  So get commenting!  

Don't forget to check out our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest! 

@CrossroadReview 

#BookReview of Unmarked by @kamigarcia

Reviewed By: Rachael

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Recommended Age: Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy, Horror

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book: The heart-pounding sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Unbreakable, by New York Times bestselling Beautiful Creatures co-author Kami Garcia.

He is here... and he could be anyone.

Kennedy Waters lives in a world where vengeance spirits kill, ghosts keep secrets, and a demon walks among us–a demon she accidentally set free. 

Now Kennedy and the other Legion members–Alara, Priest, Lukas, and Jared–have to hunt him down. As they learn more about the history of the Legion and the Illuminati, Kennedy realizes that the greatest mystery of all does not belong to any secret order, but to her own family. With the clock ticking and the life of someone she loves hanging in the balance, Kennedy has to ask the question she fears most: what is it about her past that has left her Unmarked?