Pros & Cons of ARCs

One of the first things you learn when you start book blogging is what an ARC is. ARCs are Advanced Reader Copies of books that have yet to be published. Ebook ARCs are hard to come by, but a lot more common than physical ARCs.

Obviously the biggest draw to obtaining an ARC is being able to read the book first, before the general community. But I want to look at some more pros and cons of ARCs today. Are they necessary? Could publishers do away with them potentially??

Siren's Song {Sneak Peek}

Welcome to Sneak Peek Saturday!

Current book:
Siren's Song
by Mary Weber

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart {Review}

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett

Visit the Author's website HERE

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Publishing Date: November 3, 2015

Goodreads Summary:

Beatrix Adams knows exactly how she’s spending the summer before her senior year. Determined to follow in Da Vinci’s footsteps, she’s ready to tackle the one thing that will give her an advantage in a museum-sponsored scholarship contest: drawing actual cadavers. But when she tries to sneak her way into the hospital’s Willed Body program and misses the last metro train home, she meets a boy who turns her summer plans upside down.

Jack is charming, wildly attractive, and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists. On midnight buses and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who Jack really is—and tries to uncover what he’s hiding that leaves him so wounded. But will these secrets come back to haunt him? Or will the skeletons in her family’s closet tear them apart?

My Little Free Library!

Once upon a time, I was gifted a Little Free Library! Have you heard of these?? I am ultra sad it has taken me this long to share mine. They are SO neat and you can find them just about everywhere. Essentially, they are tiny libraries that businesses and homes can set up and maintain themselves. "Take a book, Leave a book" is kind of the motto. 

The Wrath and The Dawn {Review}

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh 

The Wrath and the Dawn #1

Visit the Author's website HERE

Publisher: Putnam

Publishing Date: May 12, 2015

Goodreads Summary: 

One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

On Thin Icing {Review}

On Thin Icing by Ellie Alexander

Bakeshop Mystery #3

Visit the Author's website HERE

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Publishing Date: December 29, 2015

Goodreads Summary:

Welcome to Torte-a small-town family bakeshop where the treats are killer good. 

It's the dead of winter in the sleepy town of Ashland, which means no tourists-and fewer customers-for Jules Capshaw and her bakery. But when she's asked to cater an off-season retreat for the directors of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, business starts heating up...until Jules finds a dead body in the freezer.

Someone at the retreat has apparently iced the bartender, a well-known flirt with a legendary temper-that is, before a killer beat him to the punch. Then, from out of nowhere, Jules's own ex-husband shows up at the shop-and soon becomes a suspect. With accusations piling up higher than the snow-and thicker than a chocolate mousse cake-Jules has to think outside the (recipe) box to find the real culprit...and make sure he gets his just desserts.

2016 Reads I Need

I know I will be reading less in 2016 thanks to an adorable Baby Boy who has just arrived. As the year began I knew I was going to need to be more intentional about tours and eARCS I requested. Thus I went through some publisher's catalogs and made a list of MUST READ books of 2016. These are the ones I will look for on Netgalley and through blog tours or launch teams. Here I will just share their lovely covers...

Love-a-Thon Mini Challenge: BINGO!

I just love the graphics the team created for the Love-a-Thon! SO adorable. I will be updating this as needed throughout the day!

Love-a-Thon Questionnaire

Greetings friends, new and old! I just discovered this wonderful LOVE-A-THON this morning and I HAD to jump in last minute. PS Adorable graphic #ftw

Hosted by Alexa, Cee, Hazel, and Mel!

QUESTIONNAIRE!

What is your name?

Alyssa! 

Winter {Sneak Peek}

Welcome to Sneak Peek Saturday!

Current book:
Winter
by Marissa Meyer

New on the Shelves {January 2016}

It's been a long time since I have done a New on the Shelves post (so tell me where I should be linking up!). But I acquired a ton of great books in January. So many that I will just have to list them without showing you each and every lovely cover and description. 

Note: I am sharing books I received from the library, through Netgalley, as gifts, for tours, and what I purchased myself :) I put a star after the books I have already read. 

The Gift of Friendship {Quick Review}

The Gift of Friendship by Dawn Camp

Visit the Author's website HERE

Publisher: Revell

Publishing Date: February 16, 2016

Goodreads Summary:

Whether next door or in the next time zone, our friends provide some of our most important relationships. We cherish time spent with them, bemoan time spent apart, and look forward to the next time we can have coffee or rush to greet them as they walk toward our door. And nothing warms our hearts like stories of true friendship. 
Collecting over fifty true stories from some of today best writers, Dawn Camp offers readers a chance to sit back and experience the gift of friendship. With its beautiful photographs and poignant prose, this collection is a great gift for a dear friend and the perfect pick-me-up any time you need a boost. Contributors include Crystal Paine, Liz Curtis Higgs, Tsh Oxenreider, Myquillyn Smith, Jennifer Dukes Lee, Lisa-Jo Baker, Jessica Turner, Lysa TerKeurst, Bonnie Gray, Holley Gerth, Renee Swope, and many more.

The First Time She Drowned {Pre Order Blitz}

New books are amazing. New books that come with free gifts are even better!

Debut Young Adult author Kerry Kletter is giving you just that!
Pre-order THE FIRST TIME SHE DROWNED on or before March 14th, 2016 and you’ll get a signed poster and bookmark! Supplies are limited to 50 sets, and ship ONLY in the US.

The Gift of Friendship {Sneak Peek Link Up}

Welcome to Sneak Peek Saturday!

Current book:
The Gift of Friendship
By Dawn Camp and various contributors

Favorite Covers of 2015

I love a gorgeous book cover. They really do make a difference, whether we like to admit that or not. Sometimes I wish I could frame a cover and make a gorgeous gallery for my walls. Ahhh...perfection :) These are my favorite covers from books I read in 2015. I limited myself to the top ten(ish), but I could stare at these beauties all day! 

In no particular order....

The Beauty of Grace by Dawn Camp
Before Hubby built me some new shelves, I had this one facing out so I could appreciate these sunny flowers all the time. It was the only book on the whole shelf facing out :)

An Uncertain Choice by Jody Hedlund
This one probably speaks to the super girly girl in me, but a castle! That dress! The hair! I would pick this up based on the cover alone. 

 

Firebird Series by Claudia Gray
Both of these covers. *MAJOR DROOL* I FINALLY got both of these in hardcovers for my birthday. And I just want to stare at them. All day. Every day.

Girl Meets Change by Kristen Strong

I love the simplicity, the colors, the lettering. Peaceful.

Among the Fair Magnolias 
Yum, that dress. It reeks Southern belle, which is just fine with me :)

Siren's Fury by Mary Weber
Do I need to elaborate? 

Spinning Starlight  by R.C. Lewis
This is one of the books that I didn't enjoy as much but the cover is still pretty bomb.

The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston
Also I book I didn't enjoy this much as I had hoped too. But the muted colors, the blue, the white hair...it speaks to me. I constantly look back at the cover. 

Irish Meadows by Susan Anne Mason
Her eyes. Can you look away? The model for book two is just as captivating. 

How to Catch a Prince by Rachel Hauck
The dress. The smile. The emblem. I'd frame this.

All this pretty in one post! What were some of your favorite covers from 2015??

Princess of Tyrone {Cover Reveal}

Keeper of the Stars {Review + Giveaway}

Keeper of the Stars by Robin Lee Hatcher

Kings Meadow Romance #3

Visit the Author's website HERE

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publishing Date: January 26, 2016

Goodreads Summary: 

She blames him for her brother's death. Can she let go of resentment and open her heart to love?

Penny Cartwright found it difficult to understand why her younger brother would choose to join a country singer’s band rather than return to Kings Meadow after college . . . and the separation strained their relationship. Then a car accident made certain her brother could never return.

Trevor Reynolds has chased stardom in Nashville for more than a dozen years, but it remains out of his reach. After an accident kills his young drummer, Trevor goes to Kings Meadow to keep a promise—and perhaps to discover what truly matters in this life.

Thrown together by circumstances, Penny and Trevor must learn to give and receive forgiveness. And if they do, perhaps something beautiful can rise from the ashes of heartbreak.

Glass Sword Release Day Celebration

GLASS SWORD (Red Queen #2) by Victoria Aveyard
Release Day Celebration Blast 

GLASS SWORD

Red Queen #2

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Pages: 448

Release Date: February 9th, 2016

Publisher: HarperTeen

The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder {Sneak Peek}

Welcome to Sneak Peek Saturday!

Current book:
The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder
by Rachel McMillan

Fear of Falling {Cover Reveal}

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

Fear of Falling

By Catherine Lanigan

Coming March 1, 2016, from Harlequin Heartwarming...

If I Run {Review}

If I run by Terri Blackstock

Visit the Author's website HERE

Publisher: Zondervan

Publishing Date: February 16, 2016

Goodreads Summary:

Casey knows the truth.

But it won’t set her free.

Casey Cox’s DNA is all over the crime scene. There’s no use talking to police; they have failed her abysmally before. She has to flee before she’s arrested . . . or worse. The truth doesn’t matter anymore.

But what is the truth? That’s the question haunting Dylan Roberts, the war-weary veteran hired to find Casey. PTSD has marked him damaged goods, but bringing Casey back can redeem him. Though the crime scene seems to tell the whole story, details of the murder aren’t adding up. Casey Cox doesn’t fit the profile of a killer. But are Dylan’s skewed perceptions keeping him from being objective? If she isn’t guilty, why did she run?

Unraveling her past and the evidence that condemns her will take more time than he has, but as Dylan’s damaged soul intersects with hers, he is faced with two choices. The girl who occupies his every thought is a psychopathic killer . . . or a selfless hero. And the truth could be the most deadly weapon yet.