Blood,Sweat and Books

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly blog post hosted by Breaking The Spine where readers share which books they are highly anticipating. This week I want to share The Valiant by Leslie Livingston. Why I'm Waiting : First off, I love the setting of this story. Historical Fiction is huge in YA but we don't see many stories set during the times of the Romans and hardly any involving female Gladiators as the main lead. Secondly, the story is going to have Ceasar! Sure he might be a brute to say the least but any involvement with him is sure to make a great story. Tldr, I am just so excited to get my hands on a copy of this book. C'mon February! Expected Publication: February 14, 2017 from Harper Collins Canada The youngest daughter of a proud Celtic king, Fallon has always lived in the shadow of her older sister Sorcha's legendary reputation as a warrior. But when Fallon was a young child, the armies of Julius Caesar invaded the island of Britain and her beloved ...

 FREEBIE FRIDAY!!!! It's time for another edition of Freebie Friday! Each week I compile a list of books that I've found for FREE and share them with all of you! All you have to do is click on the Purchase button and it will take you to the purchase page for that book. Unless noted all books are first in the series. All titles have been linked to Goodreads for your convenience. Young Adult (Paranormal,Fantasy) Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin [ Purchase ] One stupid party. One stupid boy. One stupid kiss. And my life was virtually over. Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind. But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she e...

Author: C.J. Archer Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy Publication Date: May 25, 2013 It's customary for Gothic romance novels to include a mysterious girl locked in the attic. Hannah Smith just wishes she wasn't that girl. As a narcoleptic and the companion to an earl's daughter with a strange affliction of her own, Hannah knows she's lucky to have a roof over her head and food in her belly when so many orphans starve on the streets. Yet freedom is something Hannah longs for. She did not, however, want her freedom to arrive in the form of kidnapping. Taken by handsome Jack Langley to a place known as Freak House, she finds herself under the same roof as a mad scientist, his niece, a mute servant and Jack, a fire starter with a mysterious past. They assure Hannah she is not a prisoner and that they want to help her. The problem is, they think she's the earl's daughter. What will they do when they discover they took the wrong girl? Re...

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly blog post hosted by  Breaking The Spine  where readers share which books they are highly anticipating. This week I want to share The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry. Why I'm Waiting :   This book sounds amazing. I just love Historical Fiction stories set during the time of the Inquisition. Is that morbid? Probably. However, it is a very underutilized time period and so fascinating. For some reason this story reminds me of Grave Mercy (not the concept the wording of the synopsis) and that alone makes my body hum with excitement. I did so love that series. Anyway, enough rambling. I can't wait for this one and am so glad it is almost time for it to be released! Expected Publication: April 12, 2016 from Viking Books I must write this account, and when I have finished, I will burn it. Buried deep within the archives of a convent in medieval France is an untold story of love, loss, and wonder and the two girls at the heart o...

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly blog post hosted by  Breaking The Spine  where readers showcase which books they are highly anticipating. This week I'm turning my spotlight on  My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows Expected Publication: June 7, 2016 from Harper Teen For fans of The Princess Bride comes the comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey. Lady Jane Grey, sixteen, is about to be married to a total stranger—and caught up in an insidious plot to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But that’s the least of Jane’s problems. She’s about to become Queen of England. Like that could go wrong. ___________________________________ Why Am I Waiting? Lady Jane Grey has one of the most tragic stories in history so it will be really interesting to see how the authors can make this Princess Bride esque while still staying truthful to who she was. Unless of course the only likeness ...

Author: Megan Shepherd Series: The Madman's Daughter #3 Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult Publisher: Balzer + Bray Expected Publication: January 27, 2015 After killing the men who tried to steal her father’s research, Juliet—along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward—has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet’s secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor’s own walls. Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor’s long history of scientific experimentation—and her own intended role in it—forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she’ll follow her father’s dark footsteps or her...

Book Trailer Tuesday is a Weekly Blog Post hosted by me at Blood Sweat and Books. Each week I choose two Book Trailers to showcase. One Trailer will be for an upcoming book and the other will be one that has already been released. This week I focus my spotlight on Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz & Revival by Stephen King. Available Now: Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz 10 concentration camps. 10 different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly. It's something no one could imagine surviving. But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face. As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has, and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally from him. And then Yanek himself is taken prisoner -- his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087. He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. He encounters evil he could have never imagine...

This week on From Page to Screen I'll be tackling The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. First Let's Discuss The Book Here is a bit of back story in case some of you aren't familiar with the novel. The Book Thief is a novel written by Author Markus Zusak and it was published originally in August 2005 by Picador in Australia and Knopf books in the US. The Book Thief is narrated by death and is set in Nazi Germany, a place and time when the narrator notes he was extremely busy. The story follows a young girl's relationship with her foster parents, the other residents of their neighborhood, and a young Jewish man named Max who hides in her home during the escalation of World War II.Since publication, the book has won numerous awards and it remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for over 230 weeks. Let's take a look at some of the characters now Liesel Meminger - The protagonist of the story. She is an adopted young girl on the verge of adolescence, with blon...

Author: Robin LaFevers Series: His Fair Assassin #3 Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction Publisher: HMH Books For Young Readers Expected Publication: November 4, 2014 Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own. She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has.. Review "So many mothers dead, so many daughters blamed." Mortal Heart is the third and sadly final book in Robin LaFevers His Fair Assassin Series. This series has been so very near and dear to my heart that I knew even before going into it that Mort...

Author: Kiersten White Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction Publisher: Harper Teen Publication: September 9, 2014 “I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.” Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him. Review After Jessamin leaves her simple Island home to attend a prestigious school in Albion, life becomes a perfect balance of work and school with little time for social interactions. When Jessamin meets a strange but...

Author: Jessica Verday Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult Publisher: EgmontUSA Expected Publication: September 9, 2014 A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author. Summoned to her father's home in 1820's Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which he might be implicated. She is torn romantically between her father's assistants-one kind and proper, one mysterious and brooding-who share a dark secret and may have more to do with the violent events than they're letting on. Spoilers Below Review Of Monsters and Madness was a book I had looked forward to reading from the very moment I came across it on Goodreads many moons ago. I was a huge fan of another book called The Madman's Daughter with similar themes and characters so I was hoping that Of Monsters and Madness would captivate me in ...

Free Ebook July 23rd Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Publisher: Musvit Books Publication Date: June 4, 2014 In the Pacific Northwest of 1928,  Julian Powell lives a life that for most appears to be one of privilege—a  perfect life in a huge house, servants, and carefully groomed grounds. No  matter how idyllic it might seem, it has become a prison for Julian. His days  are filled with the endless monotony of family gatherings, gossip, and brown  suits. Overshadowing him is a life-long illness. Julian finds his only freedom  from his overbearing family in secretly writing books celebrating the beauty of  nature. Occasionally he escapes to the local bookstore, with the hope of seeing  the town’s eccentric, William Neill. Julian’s life changes forever when he  makes the boldest decision of his life. He leaves to take care of an ailing  childhood friend, moving to a place that will take him away from all he has ever kn...