Top Ten Tuesday (68)- Ten Reasons I love the High Fantasy Genre in Books. Movies, and TV!

Hi thanks for stopping by!!! And welcome to my Top 10 Tuesday post! 

Thanks to the lovely ladies at The Broke And The Bookish for creating this weekly meme!

Here's this week's topic.

June 7: Ten Reasons I Love X -- could be a certain book, character, author, your indie bookstore, a fandom, a tv show, reading, a hobby, a genre. Honestly anything you want to gush about.

I think I'm going to focus on a genre instead of just one thing so here we go!

Ten Reasons I love the High Fantasy Genre in Books. Movies, and TV! All the movies and TV shows are based off of books too!

And just a warning there will be some gif usage here lol

1. I love High Fantasy because it lets me escape to other worlds where magic is real and so are monsters.

2. It has introduced me to some of my all time favorite book boyfriends! I'll link the books to the guys names so you can add to your tbr's!  Valek, Hector, Elias, Khalid, Chaol, Rhysand, Anton, Magnus, & many, many more!

3. There's all types of heroines and not all of them are badass/kickass (although I do like those!)

4. Elves, Hobbits, Wizards, and other magical creatures. And Legolas *sighs*

5. Game of Thrones. And my 3 favorite characters. Jon, Danerys, and Tyrion.

6. Harry Potter for so many reasons!

7.  Shannara.

8. Many of you probably won't remember this series but I loved Legend of The Seeker!

9. Merlin of course!

10. And Willow, Chronicles of Narnia, The Neverending Story, Stardust, and so much more!

So what about you? What are some of your fantasy books, movies, or TV shows? And check back next week for my Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The Second Half Of The Year!

Hugs,

Jaime

Book Review- DAUGHTERS OF RUIN by K.D. Castner

Title: DAUGHTERS OF RUIN
Author: K.D. Castner

Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 320
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks

Rating: Loved!

ARC Received from the Publisher for an honest review.

Game of Thrones meets Graceling in a thrilling debut that follows the four fierce princesses of enemy kingdoms as their worlds collide in the throes of war.

Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren have lived together since they were children. They are called sisters. They are not. They are called equals. They are not. They are princesses…and they are enemies.

Not long ago, a brutal war ravaged their kingdoms, and Rhea’s father was the victor. As a gesture of peace, King Declan brought the daughters of his rivals to live under his protection—and his ever-watchful eye. For ten years the girls have trained together as diplomats and warriors, raised to accept their thrones and unite their kingdoms in peace.

But there is rarely peace among sisters. Sheltered Rhea was raised to rule everyone—including her “sisters”—but she’s cracking under pressure. The charismatic Cadis is desperately trying to redeem her people from their actions during the war. Suki guards deep family secrets that isolate her, and quiet Iren’s meekness is not what it seems.

All plans for peace are shattered when the palace is attacked. As their intended futures lie in ashes, Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren must decide where their loyalties lie: to their nations, or to each other. 

I really loved this book and probably would have given it an obsessed rating but there were a couple things that bugged the crap out of me hence the loved rating.

Let's start by saying I freaking hate this cover! Hate it with a passion! If it weren't for the awesome synopsis I probably wouldn't have read this book. The story is about 4 girls and has 4 POV's I really think they should have all had representation on the cover.

Ok now what I loved! I loved 3 of the POV's Rhea, Cadis, and especially Iren's! I love that we get to view this world through each of their eyes! I loved the world building and all of the secondary characters. I wish there would have been a bit more romance but, I'm ok with what I got.

The one thing that stopped me from giving this an obsessed rating was Suki's POV. She was an obnoxious brat and her inner monologue and the way it was written drove me crazy! Absolutely freaking crazy!

But other than that I loved this story and highly recommend it! Also I truly hope this is a series (there's no info saying it is but I hope it is!) because I need more!!!!! 

Dying to Read (114)- DAUGHTERS OF RUIN by K. D. Castner

Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting on Wednesday Meme!

This cover is horrible but the synopsis sounds good enough that I can overlook it! I really hope the publisher considers a re-design before this one comes out.!

Title: DAUGHTERS OF RUIN

Author: K. D. Castner

Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 352
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | iBooks

Game of Thrones meets Graceling in a thrilling debut that follows the four fierce princesses of enemy kingdoms as their worlds collide in the throes of war.

Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren have lived together since they were children. They are called sisters. They are not. They are called equals. They are not. They are princesses…and they are enemies.

Not long ago, a brutal war ravaged their kingdoms, and Rhea’s father was the victor. As a gesture of peace, King Declan brought the daughters of his rivals to live under his protection—and his ever-watchful eye. For ten years the girls have trained together as diplomats and warriors, raised to accept their thrones and unite their kingdoms in peace.

But there is rarely peace among sisters. Sheltered Rhea was raised to rule everyone—including her “sisters”—but she’s cracking under pressure. The charismatic Cadis is desperately trying to redeem her people from their actions during the war. Suki guards deep family secrets that isolate her, and quiet Iren’s meekness is not what it seems.

All plans for peace are shattered when the palace is attacked. As their intended futures lie in ashes, Rhea, Cadis, Suki, and Iren must decide where their loyalties lie: to their nations, or to each other.

So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your pile? What are you dying to read this week?

Top Ten Tuesday (18)- Top Ten Favorite Heroines From Books, Movies and TV

Hi and welcome to my Top 10 Tuesday post! 

Thanks to the lovely ladies at The Broke And The Bookish for creating this weekly meme!

Here's this week's topic.

February 24: Top Ten Favorite Heroines From Books (Or you could pick movies/tv)

I'm going to mix it up so there will be books. tv,and movies!

1. Celaena Sardothien from Sarah J. Maas's THRONE OF GLASS Series.

2. Buffy Summers from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.

3. Sydney Bristow from ALIAS.

4. Marguerite Caine from Claudia Gray's A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU!

5. Anne Elliott from both Jane Austen's book PERSUASION and the movie!

6. Yelena from Maria V. Snyder's STUDY, SOULFINDER, and GLASS Series.

7. Agent Peggy Carter from AGENT CARTER.

8. Meira from Sara Raasch's SNOW LIKE ASHES.

9. Alexa from Sara B. Larson's DEFY Series.

10.  Daenerys Targaryen from GAME OF THRONES. I haven't read the books but I love her character in the show!

So this is my list. What about you? What are your top ten bookish problems?

And come back next week for my Top Ten Books I Would Classify As ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS from the past 3 years! I'm not sure what I'll do but it should be fun!

Hugs,
Jaime

Top Ten Tuesday (13)- My Top Ten Favorite TV Shows of All Time!

Hi and welcome to my Top 10 Tuesday post! I took a couple weeks off because of our annual Top 10 event but I'm back and ready to share my lists!

Thanks to the lovely ladies at The Broke And The Bookish for creating this weekly meme!

Here's this week's topic.

January 13: Freebie!

I wasn't sure I was going to do the freebie one but I decided to share my top ten TV shows of all time with you! You always hear about books from me so I thought I'd mix it up!

1. Roswell. This is my all time favorite! I loved the whole cast especially Jason Behr as Max *swoons*and it's about Aliens!

2. The Walking Dead. I love me some zombies! But I love the study into human nature more! Plus Daryl Dixon is my man! 

3. Game of Thrones. It's no surprise I love high fantasy shows as much as I love high fantasy books and this is my favorite! And it's got a ton of hot guys! Jon Snow <3 comment-3333--="">

4. Alias. Sydney Bristow is my hero and her and Vaughn will be my #1 TV couple ever!!

5. Charmed. The best tv series about witches ever mad IMO.

6. Survivors. This BBC gem only lasted 2 seasons but they were amazing. If you haven't checked out this post apocalyptic show make sure to add it to your lists! 

7. Merlin. It could be cheesy at times but I loved all the actors. Bradley James was the perfect Arthur and I adored Colin Morgan as Merlin also Eion Macken (Gwaine) has my heart forever! 

8. Stargate SG1. Really I loved all the Stargate shows but this one is my fave!! I mean Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson was brilliant!

9. Legend of the Seeker. Another high fantasy series and Craig Horner was awesome as Richard and he's hot! This one was a book series by Terry Goodkind

10. The Challenge. The only reality show to hit my list. But I've been watching this since the first Challenge and I have come to see some of the cast as family! RIP Diem and Knight <3 comment-333--="">

So this is my list. What about you? What are some of your all time favorite TV shows?

And come back next week for Top Ten Books I'd Love to Read With My Book Club/If I Had A Book Club! I'm not sure what I'll do but it should be fun!

Hugs,
Jaime

Interview with Morgan Rhodes and a Giveaway!

Hey y'all! I have Morgan Rhodes here today to talk about GATHERING DARKNESS, book 3 in the Falling Kingdoms series and also she gives an answer about how many books there will be in the series. Check out the excerpt below and then come back for the interview. Oooooh and make sure to stick around and enter the epic giveaway! 
Haven't heard of GATHERING DARKNESS Check it out!

GATHERING DARKNESS

Morgan Rhodes

Release Date: December 9, 2014

Hardcover: 416 pages

Publisher: Razorbill

ISBN: 978-1595147059

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble
If you want to read an excerpt from GATHERING DARKNESS click HERE!

In GATHERING DARKNESS, book three of the New York Times bestselling Falling Kingdoms series, the stakes have never been higher as three teams push forward on a race to find the Kindred, the four elemental crystals possessing ancient all-powerful magic, first:

TEAM WATCHER relies on King Gaius’s cruelty and Lucia’s powers to unlock the Kindred.
TEAM CLEO slays with sweetness and the secret that they hold the key to controlling Lucia’s overwhelming magic.
TEAM KRAESHIA will stop at nothing—including deceit and betrayal—to seize the Kindred and claim Mytica as their own.

Whoever wins will control the fate of Mytica—but fate can be fickle when magic is involved…

SERIES OVERVIEW

In the three kingdoms of Mytica, magic has long been forgotten. And while hard-won peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering.

As the rulers of each kingdom grapple for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed…and four key players, royals and rebels alike, find their fates forever intertwined. Cleo, Jonas, Lucia, and Magnus are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even love.

In AURANOS, privileged Princess Cleo is forced to confront violence for the first time in her life when a shocking murder sets her kingdom on a path to collapse.

In LIMEROS, the king’s son, Magnus, must plan each footstep with shrewd, sharp guile if he is to earn his powerful father’s trust, while his sister, Lucia, discovers a terrifying family secret about her birth that will change everything.

In PAELSIA, rebellious Jonas lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.

Witches, if four, are put to death, and Watchers, immortal beings who take the shape of hawks to visit the human world, have been almost entirely forgotten. A vicious power struggle quickly escalates to war, and these four young people collide against each other and the rise of elementia, the magic that can topple kingdoms and crown a ruler in the same day.

Now on to the interview!

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the series was going to have more than 3 books. Was it always your intention to write 6 books?

From the beginning, it was my hope and my wish for Falling Kingdoms to be six books, which seems to me like a perfect number for a high fantasy series. However, as a writer, nothing is ever guaranteed. So much depends on sales, reader interest, and publisher commitment. I sold the series two books at a time. By the time I started thinking about book four, I had to know – since the other books end on a cliffhanger – will there be the chance for two more? Or do I have to (try to) wrap up everything up with a neat bow by the end of the fourth? Happily, my publisher (Razorbill Books) agreed that we needed six books to tell the complete story in a wholly satisfying way. So…YAY!

So can you tell us a little bit of what we can expect in GATHERING DARKNESS?

The book picks up about a week after the end of Rebel Spring. Jonas is trying to find information on what happened to his lost rebels and meets a new recruit who could be a game-changer, and Magnus is dealing with the jarring news he learned about his father and what exactly to do about it. When a beautiful princess from the Kraeshian Empire arrives to join her brother Prince Ashur as (not necessarily welcome) guests of the king, Cleo begins to wonder if they could be friend or foe to her. A lot happens in this book and I hope readers are ready for a wild ride!

Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?

Not directly. But I think for any writer, their characters are Frankenstein monsters of everyone they’ve met or heard about, little pieces here, little pieces there.

What is your favorite passage/scene from the series so far and why?

The first one that comes to mind is a scene near the end of Gathering Darkness between two characters who start speaking very dangerous truths to each other – about themselves and their own hearts. I’ll admit I’m a sucker for a tortured romance!

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

I am a compulsive book buyer, so my TBR shelf is the size of a small mountain. Currently, I’m reading DUST by Joan Frances Turner, since I needed a zombie fix. Next up, I’m going to read LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Stephanie Perkins. ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is one of my favorite books ever, so I’m looking forward to finally reading the follow up!

Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend?

My YA Book Boyfriend is Adrian Ivashkov. My adult Book Boyfriend is Jericho Barrons. Please don’t make me choose between them! ;)

What inspired you to write YA?

I joke that I may be a *cough*adult*cough* but I am forever sixteen at heart. The troubles we all face in high school, be it difficulties with our parents, our first love, dealing with frenemies, peer pressure, facing the future…are timeless themes that can be dealt with in any genre: contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, horror. Maybe I’m just trying to find the answers the eluded me when I was a teen? All I know is I love writing YA and I have no plans of stopping any time soon! :)

Thanks for stopping by Morgan I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

About Morgan:

photo credit Shanon Fujioka

Morgan Rhodes is the New York Times bestselling author of the FALLING KINGDOMS series. As a child, she always wanted to be a princess—the kind that knows how to wield a sharp sword to help save both kingdoms and princes from fire-breathing dragons and dark wizards. Instead, she became a writer, which is just as good and much less dangerous. Along with writing, Morgan enjoys photography, travel, and reality TV, and is an extremely picky yet voracious reader of all kinds of books.

LEARN MORE

Follow Morgan Rhodes on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram

Find the Falling Kingdoms series on Facebook

#FallingKingdomsSeries

Giveaway Details:

BACK TO MYTICA, WISH YOU WERE HERE.

One (1) winner receives:

·         Falling Kingdoms postcard set,

·         Falling Kingdoms t-shirt,

·          plus copies of Falling Kingdoms, Rebel Spring and Gathering Darkness.

Prizing & samples courtesy of Penguin Young Readers

Giveaway open to US addresses only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dying to Read (57)- PRINCESS OF THORNS by Stacey Jay

Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting on Wednesday Meme!

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales???? Yes please sign me up! And I love Stacey so I can't wait to read it!!

PRINCESS OF THORNS

Release Date: December 9, 2014

Hardcover: 400 pages

Publisher: Delacorte Press 

ISBN: 978-0385743228

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?
With the help of Tane, a tattooed harpoon boy from the Pacific Islands, Avery plots her escape from her mother and unravels the mysteries of her mother’s and grandmother’s pasts. Becoming a witch may prevent her murder and save her island from ruin, but Avery discovers it will also require a sacrifice she never expected—one she might not be able to make.

So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your pile? What are you dying to read this week?