Top 10 Books of 2012 Day 2- Best Book Covers and a Giveaway!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!Today’s topic is Best Book Covers of 2012 (MUST be a book released in 2012. Would be best if it's a book you've READ in 2012, but it's not required) and it’s become pretty apparent that this was the year of the cover with a girl in a pretty dress on it lol and while I liked most of those covers only a few made my list.

And make sure to stop by my co-hosts sites Fiktshun, Confessions of a Bookaholic, A Life Bound By Books, and Magical Urban Fantasy Reads for their lists! Oh and make sure to sign up with the linky to share your lists! And don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a box of ARC’S including Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi Spellcaster by Claudia Gray, Silence in the Shadows by Courtney Allison Moulton, and more! Today’s giveaway is hosted by ME US only! 

Best Book Covers of 2012

1. Incarnate Jodi Meadows. I loved the butterfly and I thought this was absolutely breathtaking!

2. Embers & Echoes by Karsten Knight. I loved the simplicity of the cover and it's really beautiful!

3. Defiance by CJ Redwine. Not a girl in a dress! I loved the forest above and the castle illusion below and the redhead heroine stands out so well!

4. Everneath by Brodi Ashton. K I said there were a few and this is one of my favorites! I love the smoke at the bottom!

5. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi.Loved this book and I loved this cover! The lightening and the blues were just so pretty!

6. Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey. I thought this was a smart cover with a girl in a dress. I love how she's levitating above the water.

7. Masque of The Red Death by Bethany Griffin. The cover artist who did this one got it all right! I loved the MC didn't have a face it was blocked by the parasol. And I'm a huge fan of reds and greys!

8. The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. I just saw the cover remake for this series and I'm pretty mad. I loved this original and thought it fit the series so well. I loved that the MC was crying a tear of blood since she is a vampire.

9. Gravity by Melissa West. This cover is brill and I'm not just saying that because I work at Entangled. It was another simplistic one but it just said soooo much!

10. Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas. If you've read the book; which I hope you all will. This cover is a perfect fit! I love the darker covers and this definitely fits Stephanie's dark story!

Did any of my favorites make your list? Fill out the linky and let me know! And good luck with the giveaway!

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Top 10 of 2012 Day 1- Top 10 Books of 2012 and a Giveaway!

So today’s topic is Best Books I've Read in 2012 (Doesn't have to be released in 2012, just a book you've read in 2012). And I had a hell of a time narrowing it down to just 10 so there are a few honorable mentions added to this list. If you want to know anything about the books I chose just click on the title and it’ll take you to the Goodreads page!

And make sure to stop by my co-hosts sites Fiktshun, Confessions of a Bookaholic, A Life Bound By Books, and Magical Urban Fantasy Reads for their lists! Oh and make sure to sign up with the linky to share your lists! And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!Details are at the end of this post!

Best Books I've Read in 2012 

1. Splintered by AG Howard. Yes it releases January  1^st but I read it in 2012 and it was my favorite of the year hands down!!!!!

2. Grave Mercy by RL LaFevers. This was one fantastic historical fiction with a paranormal twist. I loved everything about this story! Assassins rock!

3. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. High Fantasy is one of my favorite genres and this makes my Top 10 all-time list!

4. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson. Like my 3^rd choice this series is on my all-time list! Rae is an amazing writer and Hector will definitely make my book boyfriends list!

5. Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins. This was the first book of 2102 that I made all of my friends read. I mean I made them drop whatever they were reading to start this one!

6. Shine by Jeri Smith-Ready. Such an amazing ending to one of my favorite series. Many tears were shed.

7. Cinder by Marissa Meyer. A cyborg Cinderella set in a futuristic world yes please! This book was awesome!!!!

8. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. One of my favorite dystopian stories hands down and I loved that it was told in dual POV’s!

9. Masque of The Red Death by Bethany Griffin. Based on an Edgar Allen Poe tale with an awesome main character and two equally sexy leading men whom I still can’t choose between!

10. Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris. Set in a city near and dear to my heart with some of the best sci-fi storytelling set in a real world environment. Plus Ben reminds me of Max from Roswell and the dimension travel reminds me of Sliders J

Honorable Mentions

Renegade by JA Souders. A dystopian tale set in a lush underwater world with one of the most evil villain’s I’ve had the pleasure of reading about!

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead. I love Richelle’s books and this one kicked my ass! The ending *gasps*

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I love Jennifer’s books and even though I just recently read Opal. Onyx was just a little bit more of a favorite.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. Loved this one! Love all of Julie’s books!

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund. A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion that rocked my world! It was a sci-fi/dystopian that I adored!

Did any of my favorites make your list? Fill out the linky and let me know! And good luck with the giveaway :)  Today’s giveaway is hosted by Lisa from A Life Bound By Books so make sure to stop by her Top 10 Post!

Review- Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton

Shadows in the Silence (Angelfire #3)

Courtney Allison Moulton

Release Date: January 29, 2013

Hardcover: 480 pages

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (Harper)

ISBN:  0062002392

Source: ARC from the San Francisco Book Review

Rating: Obsessed!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

From Goodreads.

Your strength in heart and hand will fall. . . .

Ellie knows that the darkest moments are still to come, and she has everything to fight for:

She must fight for Will.

The demonic have resorted to their cruelest weapons to put Will in mortal danger, and Ellie makes an unlikely alliance to save him and to stop Lilith and Sammael, who seek to drown the world in blood and tear a hole into Heaven.

She must fight for humanity.

As the armies of Hell rise and gather for the looming End of Days, Ellie and her band of allies travel to the world’s darkest and most ancient regions in her quest to come into her full glory as the archangel Gabriel.

And Ellie must save herself.

Her humanity withers beneath the weight of her cold archangel power, but Ellie must hold tight to who she is and who she loves as she prepares for the ultimate battle for Heaven and Earth.

In this final installment in the Angelfire trilogy, Courtney Allison Moulton brings her dark world of epic battles and blistering romance to a blazing bright conclusion.

So before I start my review I want to get a little bit sentimental. Angelfire was the first book I ever reviewed on this blog! If you want to see how much I loved that book check out my review here and mind you it was my first so my style has changed quite a bit since then. And then I reviewed Wings of the Wicked right around the time of my one year blogaversary which I loved as well and you can check out that one here. So it only seems fitting that as my two year blogaversary is coming up that this be one of the reviews to close my year out! And Courtney ended this series with a bang!

Ok so on to my review. Shadows was everything I hoped for and more!!!!! Not only because it finally had a lot of Cadan (that helped lol) but because it was an amazing and fitting end to this story! I really don’t know what to say except go get this book when it comes out; and be ready to cry and scream and want to throw things because Courtney brings the heat in this book! Who will survive? Will there be a happy ending? That I can’t tell you but I can say there are a few holy shit moments oh and we finally get to meet someone important from Will’s past! And yes Will fans he is definitely in this book too! Oh and one of the scenes that made me cry the most wasn’t even a Will/Ellie or Cadan/Ellie scene! It was a scene between Kate and Marcus it was possibly the sweetest thing I’ve read in a long time and I’d love to see a story from their POV (hint, hint Courtney!)

Ok enough of the ramble fest go get this book when it comes out!!!!!!!!!!! And check out this scene between Ellie and Cadan J

“I’m not him,” he said as the air rushed from his lungs in an awful, defeated sigh. “I’ll never be good enough, will I?”

“That’s not what it’s about,” I assured him. “I can’t explain what it’s like between Will and me. If things were different…”

“If I were angelic, you mean.”

“No. It’s not about what you are either. That doesn’t mean anything. It’s who you are that I care about and what makes you my friend.” I touched his jaw, which didn’t look so red anymore. “And if you were anything but what you are, like if you were human, then I’d be making a run to the ice machine to get you something for this shiner I just gave you.”

He gave a little smile and I released his face. I walked to my bed, pulled back the blanket, settled into the firm mattress.

Cadan was slower to reach his own bed. He sat down on the edge and leaned forward. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled. “I’m sorry Ellie. I really am”

“It’s all right,” I said, peeking up at him from my pillow. “Get some rest. We both need some.”

“You’ve got a better heart than me.”

“You’ve got a heart and soul of gold.” I told him. “You just haven’t quite figured out how to tap into all of it yet. I have faith in you, Cadan. I believe in you. Once you can believe in yourself, that you really can do good, you’ll see a huge difference in yourself.”

“Thank you, Ell.”

“Now sleep,” I said firmly. “Don’t make me slap you again.”

Top 10 of 2012 Reminder!!!

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd post a reminder to everyone who's signed up that Top 10 of 2012 starts on Monday.  Don't worry if you haven't signed up yet, you still have time. Keep reading for a link where you can sign up today.

Here's a reminder of the week's daily topics -

Monday, December 24th - Best Books I've Read in 2012 (Doesn't have to be released in 2012, just a book you've read in 2012)

Tuesday, December 25th - Best Book Covers of 2012 (MUST be a book released in 2012. Would be best if it's a book you've READ in 2012, but it's not required)

Wednesday, December 26th - Best ________ Of 2012 (Readers/Bloggers choice. Please fill in the blank with ONE of these topics - Villains, Contemporaries, Dual POV's, Novellas, Adult titles, New Adult titles, Love Triangles, Couples, Bad Boys or Debuts. REMEMBER - this list MUST be from books you've READ in 2012)

Thursday, December 27th - Best Book Boyfriends of 2012 (MUST be from a book released in 2012 and from a book you've READ in 2012)

Friday, December 28th - Top 10 Books I'm looking forward to in 2013. (This list should be comprised of books released ONLY in 2013)

The only rules to follow are posting the topics on the dates we've provided.

All the other rules, which are pretty easy to follow can be found by >>>CLICKING HERE<<<

So, if you haven't signed up yet please >>>CLICK HERE<<< and fill out the Linky. 

We hope everyone has a great time for this years Top 10 and we can't wait to see everyone's posts and lists for the week. 

Review- City of A Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster

City of A Thousand Dolls

Miriam Forster

Release Date: February 5, 2013

Hardcover: 368 pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

ISBN:  0062121308

Source: ARC from the publisher

Rating: Really Liked!

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

From Goodreads.

The girl with no past, and no future, may be the only one who can save their lives.

Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a child. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. Nisha makes her way as Matron’s assistant, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city’s handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die.

Before she becomes the next victim, Nisha decides to uncover the secrets that surround the girls’ deaths. But by getting involved, Nisha jeopardizes not only her own future in the City of a Thousand Dolls—but her own life.

City of A Thousand Dolls was a really good read! I will admit that I had a hard time getting into it in the beginning; and I’m not sure if it was the pacing of the story or the huge cast of characters that I had to keep referencing at the beginning of the book. But once I got about halfway through it changed and flowed and I felt myself being wrapped up in Nisha’s story. Oh and btw Nisha was a pretty badass heroine!

I will admit I didn’t like the love interest at all, and there wasn’t an insta love thing going on either they had a backstory that started before the book. But I didn’t like or trust him. There was another fellow that caught my eye though and he was handsome and mysterious and I loved him. Oh and there’s these cats who play a huge part in the story and Nisha can talk to them it distracted me at first but by the end I couldn’t see the story being the same without them!

Overall this was a very enjoyable High Fantasy read and I will be definitely be picking up the companion novel when it comes out.

I chose a passage between Nisha and Tac since I loved him ;)

Josei’s assistant rose and hung the word on its proper hook. He looked at the lati stick Nisha was holding and grinned. With surprising grace, he pulled a shorter fighting stick of dense ebony off the wall and held it one-handed, twirling it slowly. He raised one eyebrow at Nisha, a clear challenge.

Nisha knew she should refuse. The City allowed few men within its walls, and the girls were forbidden to socialize with them.

But she was tired. Tired and angry and scared down to her bones. And today she didn’t care about the City or its rules. The idea of fighting someone who wasn’t testing her sounded even better than beating the stuffing out of a practice dummy.

So instead of shaking her head and walking away, Nisha put down her long staff and picked up a matching fighting stick. She moved to the center of the open floor, muscles ready and knees bent.

‘Come and get me. I’m not afraid of you’

The attendant’s grin widened, and he attacked.

Review- Asunder by Jodi Meadows

Asunder

Jodi Meadows

Release Date: January 29, 2013

Hardcover: 416 pages

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (Harper)

ISBN:  0062060783

Source: ARC from the San Francisco Book Review

Rating: Loved!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble/The Book Depository

From Goodreads.

DARKSOULS

Ana has always been the only one. Asunder. Apart. But after Templedark, when many residents of Heart were lost forever, some hold Ana responsible for the darksouls–and the newsouls who may be born in their place.

SHADOWS

Many are afraid of Ana’s presence, a constant reminder of unstoppable changes and the unknown. When sylph begin behaving differently toward her and people turn violent, Ana must learn to stand up not only for herself but for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

LOVE

Ana was told that nosouls can’t love. But newsouls? More than anything, she wants to live and love as an equal among the citizens of Heart, but even when Sam professes his deepest feelings, it seems impossible to overcome a lifetime of rejection.

In this second book in the Incarnate trilogy, Ana discovers the truth about reincarnation and will have to find a way to embrace love and make her young life meaningful. Once again, Jodi Meadows explores the extraordinary beauty and shadowed depths of the soul in a story equal parts epic romance and captivating fantasy.

 Y’all!!!! I loved Incarnate something fierce and I didn’t know how Jodi was going to keep up the momentum in Asunder! But she did! Asunder was another amazing journey into this beautifully written fantasy world where reincarnation exists and dragons, sylph, and other beasts are dangerous and deadly but, not as much as some of the people that surround Ana every day!

Ana still struggles being a newsoul and what that means during this book and, she has the ever loyal and always swoon-worthy Sam by her side the whole time. I love Sam as much as I did in book one! Ana also has a set of loyal friends that we meet in book one who support her completely and we meet a new person Cris who stole my heart! Like I said I still love Sam but I love him for Ana. Cris is for me and he is just amazing! You’ll have to read the book to see why lol. And to answer some of the questions you have… will we see inside the Tower again? Yes. Will I tell you what happens? No. Is there romance between Sam and Ana? Yes and you will swoon. I do have to admit though nothing beats that scene from the Masquerade Ball in book one but, yes there are swoony scenes.

Speaking of swoony scenes I wanted to share this one with you…..

“When we first met, you asked about the scariest thing I could think of.”

The day had been clear and cold, filled with questions. I hadn’t even known who he was then, just that he pulled strangers from frozen lakes. I wished he could pull me from the frozen shock now. “I remember,” I whispered. “You said not knowing what would happen if you died and didn’t come back. Where would you go? What would you do?” My gut twisted.

“When I couldn’t find you that night, I realized that wasn’t my answer anymore.” He pulled my hand up, placed it over his heart. The beat raced under my fingertips. “If you asked me now. I’d say the scariest thing I can imagine is losing you.”

I didn’t know how to respond.

“I wish I could tell you all the things you make me feel. I tried putting them into music, but even that wasn’t strong enough.”

Dying to Read (16)- Earth Bound by Aprilynne Pike

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 week the book I’m dying to read is Earth Bound by Aprilynne Pike! I loved Aprilynne’s Wings series and was sad to see it end so when I found out she had a new book coming out I was super excited! Also this cover is super cool!

Earth Bound

Aprilynne Pike

Release Date: July 30, 2013

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin)

ISBN: 1595146504

Goodreads

Amazon/The Book Depository

Tavia, the "Earthbound" heroine, is the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed her parents and left her in the keeping of an aunt and uncle. She's safe, she's happy, she should be able to move on with her life.

But... she can't shake the feeling that something's not right- not when she keeps having visions of a beautiful, alluring stranger who wants her to leave her family and flee to Maine, and not when it starts to look like the accident that orphaned her was part of a plot to end her life.

Soon, she's on the run with no one to trust...except the childhood friend she's sworn to love forever, and whose heart she'd have to break to learn the truth about who she is.

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