Waiting on Wednesday (161)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

Royals by Rachel Hawkins  

(May 1st, 2018!) 

Meet Daisy Winters. She’s an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair; a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who’s nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond. 

While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince’s roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown–and the intriguing Miles–might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself.

"He's no prince. But he sure is charming." 
That's it. I'm sold! 

Basically, Rachel Hawkins is one of my favorite YA authors (side note: If you haven't read Hex Hall you're not living your bookish life to the fullest!), and I would read anything she writes! 

Add on Goodreads! 

Find out More about the Author: 

Twitter | Website 

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton
(Coming June 26, 2018)

You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights. 

My Lady Jane was EPIC...royals, romance, horse jokes...it doesn't get much better than that, my friends! So to say I'm excited about My Plain Jane would be a serious understatement. I pretty much try to contain myself from jumping up and down every time I think about this book lol Also I LOVE the cover!!  

Add on Goodreads! 

Find out More about the Authors: 

Website 

Review: Hallowed (Unearthly, #2) by Cynthia Hand

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn’t prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to Unearthly, Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

Review:

After devouring Unearthly, last year's prequel to Hallowed, I found a new series and author to follow, so when the chance came to read and review the sequel, I jumped at the chance. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next to Clara, Tucker, and Christian. Thankfully, Hallowed was even more amazing than the first book. It made me laugh. It made me cry. And best of all, it provided a well developed arc to the story. I couldn't have been any happier to tell the truth!

One of my absolute favorite parts of this book was the characters. I really liked all of them in the first book, but in this one, I just out right adored them. Every single one grew greatly as the book progressed, and I love the paths that they're on. Just like in the first book, Clara is my favorite. Her feelings presented in this one always seemed realistic given the situations, and best of all, she grew to be even more kick-a## in this one! Seriously, this is one girl you don't want to mess with! I also enjoyed seeing the return of Tucker as well as Christian. However, I have to admit: I'm officially on team Christian. There's just something so enchanting and swoon worthy about that boy!

The plot in this one was another high point. From the first page, the action began. There were even more twits and turns contained in this one than the last book. Some were surprising, shocking, and/or just plain out crazy, but they managed to really move this book at a fast and fun pace! I especially enjoyed the emotional turn this book took towards the end. I knew something bad was going to happen from the summary, but I couldn't have ever imagined just what would've occurred. It blew me away, and to be honest, I shed a couple of tears...okay maybe a more than just a couple. I also enjoyed the development in the angel plot as well as the romance one. The angel one provided to be even more fascinating, and the romance one was sweet and adorable, even though my favorite didn't really lead...

Lastly, Cynthia Hand's writing was great in this one! She really dug into the emotions and feelings of her characters in this one...seriously I loved just about every way she spun the book in this one! I can't wait to see what's up next.

Bittersweet as well as fast paced, Hallowed by Cynthia Hand manages to be a great addition to the Unearthly series!

Grade: A+

Hallowed (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads) is now out! 

Source: Publisher via Netgalley (Thanks HarperTeen!)

More about the book/author: website/blog/twitter/chapters 1 to 5 

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Review:

Ever since I first heard about Cynthia Hand's Unearthly, I've been looking forward to reading it because I love books about angels. Thankfully, Unearthly is a enchanting, fiery tale of one angel and her fight for love and freedom.

Unearthly tells the story of Clara Gardner, a girl who's as far from normal as you get. You see, she's part angel, and because of her angel blood, she's given a purpose just like every other angel out there. Though, her purpose leads her and her family to the snowy Wyoming outback and a path she couldn't have possibly ever imagined. Her path will include two boys who may or may not like her to a evil, conniving dark angel, to some friends who may just break or change her. One thing's for sure, though, this won't be an easy task at all.

One of my favorite parts of Unearthly were the characters simply because all of them were so interesting. For example, there's the main protagonist Clara. Clara is definitely not the typical fraidy cat lead. Instead she's brave and always follows her heart, no matter where it may lead her. One of my favorite parts of Clara's character was her relationships with Tucker and Christian. Christian is the typical popular guy, and while I definitely prefer the sweet, charming Tucker over him, I still thought Christian was a pretty decent guy. I also loved the side characters of Angela, Clara's funny side-kick, and Wendy.

Moving on, the plot of this was also made of pure awesome. As mentioned before, I love books about angels, and thankfully, Unearthly didn't let down in that area one bit. I loved the characteristics and back story Cynthia gave her angels because it always lead to new twists and turns I wasn't expecting at all. I also loved the romance sub-plots Cynthia had because they forever had me guessing about who Clara would end up with and I'm sure other readers will be the same.

The only aspect I truly didn't like about Unearthly was how long it took to get to the really good stuff, but besides that I had no problems what so bit with Unearthly.

In all, Unearthly proves to give readers a brand new look on angels and their lives, a look that will leave them simply breathless for the next addiction this this fast paced, addicting trilogy.

Grade: A-

Unearthly will be released January 4, 2011.

Source: Netgalley