Review: Bittersweet by Kimberly Loth

Bittersweet by Kimberly Loth

Every Sunday Savannah Ray gets an email from her dead dad. She doesn’t know how the emails work but she’s finally ready to start looking for answers. To find those answers she has to go to the one place she swore she’d never set foot in after he died—Haunted Valley, the amusement park. Once there and on the hunt for answers she is distracted by the charming Dallas and falls hard for him. When the answers she finds aren’t what she expected and Dallas betrays her, Savannah must make a choice—succumb to the insanity that destroyed her father or find the strength to rise above it.

HALF OF THIS BOOKS PROFITS WILL GO DIRECTLY TO VARIOUS CHARITIES THAT FOCUS ON SUICIDE PREVENTION.

Pages: 183

Format: Ebook (also in Paperback)

Published by: Kimberly Loth

Genre: YA Contemporary

Rating:
3 stars

 

Review:
It was easy to be drawn into Savannah's life, and it wasn't hard to stay in her story. This was a very quick read and could easily be finished within a day. I loved Savannah, she had such a feisty attitude and she grew a lot from the very beginning. I loved her uncle and her friend, Julia, but I did not like her romantic interest. He grated a lot on my nerves and even when it was explained out, I just wasn't able to accept him. I loved the idea of the book being set around working at an amusement park because I love amusement parks and find it really cool when this story had a major focus on the amusement park. It was sad at times and funny at other times, and I found myself at times trying not to laugh out loud in class while I read this book.
 

Note: I received this book free to read and review. Thanks to Kimberly Loth.

Blog Tour + Excerpt, Giveaway, and Review: Travel Glasses by Chess Desalls

Title: Travel Glasses

Series: The Call to Search Everywhen

Author: Chess Desalls

Publication Date: May 7, 2014

Synopsis:

Calla Winston’s mobile devices sit in a corner of her room, covered  in dust. Weeks ago, she shared photos and laughs with her best online friend. Now, after having felt the sting of betrayal, she prefers being hidden and friendless. She equates privacy with security and technology with pain.

Then she meets Valcas, an otherworldly time traveler who traverses time and space with a pair of altered sunglasses. When an ethereal being knocks Calla to the ground near her family’s lakeside cottage, Valcas uses the Travel Glasses to help her escape. He offers his further protection in exchange for a promise. Intrigued by Valcas and the possibility of time travel, Calla accepts. That is until she learns that his search for her was nomere coincidence.

Calla sets off on her own, taking the Travel Glasses with her. Torn between searching for her estranged father and reuniting with the rest of her family, she tracks down the inventor of the Travel Glasses in hopes of discovering more about Valcas’ past and motivations. The Travel Glasses take Calla’s mistrust of technology to all new levels. But without them, she’ll never make it back home. With Valcas hot on her trail, Calla hopes to find what she’s looking for before he catches up.

Goodreads | Amazon 

EXCERPT

I drank deeply from the crystal goblet. The liquid was cool and its flavor was unfamiliar.

“Aren’t these the type of questions one asks before choosing a fiancée?”

Valcas flashed a wide toothy grin. “You’ll fill your role perfectly.”

“What is my role, exactly?”

He draped his arm around me, pulling me closer so that he could explain in a hushed voice. “I just usurped a new throne. Local custom, law actually, requires that a successor not related by blood to the prior ruler be married. Do not worry. You’ll just be posing, acting. You are naturally beautiful and slightly unapproachable— they will interpret that as being secure in your own superiority. It also helps that you have the aura and freshness of someone from a distant land.”

I gave Valcas a hard look. I already knew that he wanted me to help him pretend to be engaged and that he was protecting me from what attacked me twice at the dock. In my haste to get away from the lake I’d agreed to help him. As reality set in, however, the arrangement was starting to sound a lot more long­term and, worse yet, deliberately planned—very well researched. I wasn’t exactly bad looking, but I wouldn’t consider myself beautiful. Was he trying to flatter me? The food in my stomach churned. I gently pulled away from Valcas’ embrace and smoothed out my napkin.

“What if when you found me I was unattractive?”

“I don’t see how that would happen. A dark­haired beauty was one of the necessary components of the search.”

“What were the other necessary components of the search?”

“Well, basic information such as your age, name, rough location—”

“You searched for me? By name?” When he told me about tracking my attacker, I assumed that his search was not specific to me, that I just happened to be the white light’s target when he found it and that I conveniently could return his favor.

“Yes, you.”

Author Bio:

Hi! I recently authored the first two installmentsof the YA time travel serial series, The Call to Search Everywhen. I'm a longtime reader of fantasy and sci-fi novels, particularly classics and young adult fiction. There's nothing quite like a good fairy tale or fable. When I'm not writing I enjoy traveling, reading and trying to stay in tune on my flute. 

Author Links: 

Goodreads | Twitter | Website

GIVEAWAY
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This tour was organized by Good Tales Book Tours

 

REVIEW

Week at a Glance #7

Goals for this Week:



Currently Reading
Received: Netgalley
Format: E-copy
Review: Yes










Currently Reading
Received: Laura Pauling
Format: E-copy
Review: Yes






Last Week's Accomplishments:

NONE

Cover Reveal: Polaris Awakening

 

ZEUS PROTOCAL 000101: REBOOT, SCAN.

DANGER DETECTED.

THREAT LEVEL: UNKNOWN.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: INCREASE MILITARY PRESENCE.

There’s trouble brewing on Polaris. Under the watchful eye of the space station’s supercomputer, Zeus, the lower classes are awakening to the corruption of their wealthy, privileged, and protected leaders. When the quiet voices of protest get louder and alliances form, change dawns on the horizon. But the small acts of resistance won’t be enough to subvert the system for long. Zeus is alert to the growing threat level, and he will do whatever’s necessary—including purging the lower levels of Polaris—to preserve stability for all.

Inspired by the mythology of the constellations hung around Polaris, the seven stories in Polaris Awakening reimagine the classic characters in a futuristic world where alien creatures are commonplace, combat arenas are used for entertaining foreign dignitaries, slaves and soldiers stand side by side, and music orchestrates a revolution. And their first acts of defiance are just the beginning. Polaris will never be the same.

ZEUS PROTOCAL 000099: ENGAGE THREAT.

There are seven stories contributing to the anthology. And our authors (in order of appearance) are: Kellie Sheridan, Erin Latimer, Erica Crouch, Janna Jennings, Hannah Davies, Terra Harmony, and Meghan Jashinsky.

Week at a Glance Monday #6

Goals for this Week:




Currently Reading
Received: Library
Format: E-copy
Review: No









Currently Reading
Received: Library
Format: E-copy
Review: No







Last Week's Accomplishments:




Finished Reading
Received: Library
Format: E-copy
Reviewed







Finished Reading
Received: Library
Format: E-copy
Did Not Review









Finished Reading
Received: Library
Format: E-copy
Did Not Review

Review: Homecoming by Kass Morgan

Homecoming by Kass Morgan

Weeks after landing on Earth, the Hundred have managed to create a sense of order amidst their wild, chaotic surroundings. But their delicate balance comes crashing down with the arrival of new dropships from space.

These new arrivals are the lucky ones - back on the Colony, the oxygen is almost gone - but after making it safely to Earth, GLASS's luck seems to be running out. CLARKE leads a rescue party to the crash site, ready to treat the wounded, but she can't stop thinking about her parents who may still be alive. Meanwhile, WELLS struggles to maintain his authority despite the presence of the Vice Chancellor and his armed guards, and BELLAMY must decide whether to face or flee the crimes he thought he'd left behind.

It's time for the Hundred to come together and fight for the freedom they've found on Earth, or risk losing everything - and everyone - they love.

Pages: 352

Format: Ebook (also in Paperback)

Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: YA Sci-fi and Dsytopian

Rating: 

4 stars
 

Review:

I loved this book just as much if not more than the first two books in this series. I just can't get enough of Clark and Bellamy! Part of me hopes that this was the last book in the series, because it ended nicely and left me with no lingering questions; but I would love to still read more about these characters. I still loved Glass's perspective, although it was a little slower than the other three perspectives. I enjoyed Clarke's perspective and obviously Bellamy's perspective. One thing that I loved this book just as much if not more than the first two books in this series. I just can't get enough of Clark and Bellamy! Part of me hopes that this was the last book in the series, because it ended nicely and left me with no lingering questions; but I would love to still read more about these characters. I still loved Glass's perspective, although it was a little slower than the other three perspectives. I enjoyed Clarke's perspective and obviously Bellamy's perspective. One thing that I was really happy about in this book is that for whatever reason, I enjoyed reading Well's part. I feel that as a character he has grown from the first book. I still would have enjoyed reading in Sasha's perspective, but it was ok that there wasn't hers.