{Giveaway} Leap Into Books Giveaway Hop

It's Leap Day!!!

Let's join Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Jinky is Reading for another wonderful blog hop.

This time, I'm doing things a little different. My girls over at Starbooks and I have been discussing a couple of really great series, so I am going to let you choose a book from one of these series. The giveaway is international as long as The Book Depository delivers to you.

Shade of Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready














Everneath by Brodi Ashton

or

Fracture by Miranda Megan

Divergent by Veronica Roth

or

Dearly Departed by Lia Habel

a Rafflecopter giveaway


For a complete list of participating blogs...click on READ MORE below...

TBR Intervention Week 2

Well, it's the second week of the TBR Intervention and I managed to read both books I committed to. Yippee.

I absolutely loved this book. It was one of the most moving books I have read in a very long time. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a great romance intertwined with a lot of heartache thrown in on the side.

Read my review HERE!

I also finished this wonderful book. It was my adult read for the week. I enjoyed it immensely. I haven't had a chance to review it yet, but I will sometime this week. I think my favorite character was Adrian, even though he didn't play a huge part. He just seems like my type of guy. I have a thing for fallen angels...is that a bad thing? 

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This weeks commitment...

In Waterfall, American teenager Gabi Betarrini accidently finds herself in Fourteenth-Century Italy . . . Knights. Swords. Horses. Armor. And Italian hotties. Most American teens want an Italian vacation, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archaeologist parents. Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds... until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves catapulted into the Fourteenth Century and in the middle of a fierce battle between knights bent on killing one another.

Reason - I got this book when it was free at Barnes & Noble and haven't had a chance to read it yet. This is a great time to do it...

Mandy is a quiet teenager who just wants to blend in with the crowd rather than stand out as anything or anybody. Mandy's pretty successful at this until her parents decide it's time to move from Boston to the quiet seaside town of York Beach, Maine, to "be closer to Nana". Although Mandy has been vacationing in York every summer since she was a child, she has no desire to live there and is worried about fitting in and finding friends during her senior year of high school.


Nana owns a flower shop in town and while working alongside her, Mandy makes a few friends and observes the oddities of the little town and its inhabitants. When she finds some old and cryptic correspondance hidden inside an antique trunk handed down from her Nana, the "oddities" turn into full fledged mysteries. As she unravels the forgotten and hidden history of the town, she simultaneously unravels her own family's past and current secrets while writing her future. With bits of romance and paranormal along the way, she is able to figure out the puzzle of the correspondance, the magic she never realized was surrounding her, and visions of the past and future. Will she walk away from her personal history and her future or will she realize it's ok to be somebody, even if that somebody is nothing like everybody else?

Reason...I am scheduled for a blog tour and really need to read this book. I keep putting it off so now I have to read it...Right?

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Title: Shade
Series: Shade Series #1
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Simon Pulse Publishing
May 4, 2010
Jeri Smith-Ready's Website
Jeri's Twitter
Jeri's Facebook

Synopsis: 

Love ties them together. Death can't tear them apart.

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.

It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart...and clues to the secret of the Shift.

I'm not even sure where to begin with Shade. I spent most of the book in tears. It has been so long that I have read any book that truly took my breath away, I almost didn't know what to do. Two words to describe Shade - Heart-Achingly Beautiful. The prose is both poignant and eloquent. Every word written is important in one way or another. I tend to skim over paragraphs that I deem unimportant in a book. I can honestly say there is not a single word I did not read with utter interest. The characters were just...wow. Each of them with a dynamic and significant place in this alluringly woven love story.

• Aura Salvatore was born post-shift, meaning she can see and talk to ghosts who have not passed on after their sudden deaths. By day she works with her Aunt Gina, by night she is a supportive and loving girlfriend of a soon-to-be rockstar. 
• Logan Keeley is the rockstar boyfriend. He enjoys being in the spotlight as much as he loves Aura. He just needs to prove this to her. The boy loves a party...too much. His life is about to change in ways he never imagined.
• Mickey Keeley is the oldest of the Keeley Brothers and the second half of this made-for-stardom duo. Mickey is a little more level-headed than Logan, also more brooding.
• Megan is Aura's best friend and Mickey's girlfriend. Megan is self-sacrificing with her feelings in order to support Aura and Mickey which causes her to have some resentment toward her friends.
• Siobhan Keeley is Mickey's twin sister and plays the fiddle as a part of the Keeley Brother's band. She loves her music but knows there are things that are more important in life. 
• Dylan Keeley happens to be the youngest of the siblings and not musically inclined. He is the "geek" who collects action figures and plays video games. 
• Zachary Moore...oh, Zach. How many ways do we love you? As a newbie in the States and at Aura's school, he is both mysterious and sensuous. Aura finds herself drawn to this sexy Scottish boy in ways she knows she shouldn't be. As the last person born before the shift, he holds a completely different set of powers from Aura. Maybe a compliment to her ghost-seeing abilities, maybe a cure?
• Aunt Gina has been a mother to Aura since her mother died when she was three. Gina is someone I grew to truly respect as a person and a mother-figure. She is empathetic, compassionate, but unafraid to take a stand. 

Shade is like any other book I fell completely in love with...I glanced at it in the store and thought a ghost story...nope, don't think so. Then I began reading review after review of how amazing this book was and thought, okay, maybe I should give it a chance. I was already in love with the covers so I decided I had to own both Shade and Shift even if I didn't like them. Well...after the first chapter, I knew I that not liking them was completely out of the question. After the second chapter - I was in love. The third - completely addicted.

This is a tragic love story with a complete different twist. I warn - it is not for the faint of heart. Actions cause consequences - always. Some consequences just aren't worth the actions. The lessons to be learned in this book are very real and should never be underestimated. I was literally torn to pieces a few times. I appreciated Aura's strength in recognizing that things had to change and I equally appreciated that it was tremendously difficult for her to make those much needed changes. Both of these things added to the reality of the love portrayed in the story.

Jeri pulls you so smoothly into the Keeley's world of music and partying that I felt like I was right there with the characters; experiencing their excitement, their misery, their heartache, and their accomplishments. I was drawn into the mystery surrounding the Shift and it's lore. Drawn into all that was Logan, all that was Aura, and all that was Zachary.

Even though I completely adore Zachary, there were a few times I wanted to jump into the book and hit him in the head. I wanted to yell at him as bad as Aura did. Fight for her man...come on.

A couple examples of completely amazing writing...

• I looked past her at my bed, remembering the day Logan lay there with me. The afternoon sun had slanted through the blinds, glowing golden against his bare skin. The light had seemed so much a part of him, I'd imagined it shining from within his body and streaming out the window instead of in. - Page 121

• A hole opened up inside me, so raw I had to curl up on my side away from his light, pulling my good knee to my chest to ease the ache. The hole gaped so big it seemed like I could crawl inside, let the darkness swallow all thoughts of the future that once stretched before us. - Page 281 

My Reviews of -
Shade
Shift
Shine (TBR May 1, 2012)

TBR Intervention Challenge

TBR Intervention is a weekly challenge hosted by Dani@RefractedLight , Ayanami@Whatever you Can Still Betray,  and April@Books4Juliet

The goal of this challenge is to help each other (fellow readers and bloggers) manage our enormous and constantly growing TBR (To-Be-Read) List. The rules are simple and everyone is encouraged to participate. It does not force you to commit to more than what you can manage to read in a week or so, but participants are encouraged to read at least one book within a week. You are free to choose the book you want to read and commit to this challenge. You may post your entry every Saturday, at the frequency of your choice--EVERY WEEK or EVERY TWO WEEKS. However, we will sponsor this event regularly every Saturday.

Here are the rules:

1. Post the book(s) you committed to read in your last TBR Intervention post and tell us something about it. Did you finish it? Did you enjoy it or not? Post the link to your review (if you have one). 

2. Post a book that you want to read and already own. Pick something that has been sitting on your shelf for too long now (6 months or longer). Commit to read the book in the next couple of days or week.

3. Grab the TBR Intervention Button and post it on your blog sidebar so you will be constantly reminded of the challenge, making it easier for you to commit. This will also encourage other readers/bloggers/visitors to join the challenge.

4. Add the link to your post in the Linky below and make sure to visit the other blogs. Comment, encourage, and spread the love to our fellow readers. 

So, this is our first post. I sincerely hope to dwindle my TBR pile a little bit. Chances are I will just end up adding to it, though. 

The book from my TBR pile I commit to read is...

Redemption isn't a word Jim Heron knows much about-his specialty is revenge, and to him, sin is all relative. But everything changes when he becomes a fallen angel and is charge with saving the souls of seven people from the seven deadly sins. And failure is not an option. Vin DiPietro long ago sold his soul to his business, and he's good with that-until fate intervenes in the form of a tough- talking, Harley-riding, self-professed savior. But then he meets a woman who will make him question his destiny, his sanity, and his heart-and he has to work with a fallen angel to win her over and redeem his own soul. 

Reason - I have many of J.R. Ward's books on my TBR pile and keep hearing all kinds of wonderfully amazing stuff about her. Another blogger mentioned her Fallen Angel series so I figured I would start there. 

My problem with books I already own, is I read them immediately. Well most of them at least. I do have a couple I haven't read yet, but they aren't that old. Might as well get them knocked off my list anyway!

My first choice is...

Love ties them together. Death can't tear them apart.
Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.

It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart...and clues to the secret of the Shift.

Reason...

Everyone is raving about these books and when I initially saw them...I thought - nah...not interested. However, the more reviews I read, the more I knew I had to read them. I think the covers are amazing and decided to buy both Shade and Shift in hardcover. I've had them for about two weeks (and yeah, they are the books I have owned the longest without reading) so now is as good of a time as any to start them.