Taylor Fenner's Blog, page 157

Book Review: Romeo & What's Her Name by Shani Petroff

Romeo & What's Her Name by Shani Petroff Blurb: Understudies never get to perform...which is why being Juliet's understudy in the school's yearly Shakespeare production is the perfect role for Emily. She can earn some much-needed extra credit while pursuing her main goal of spending time with Wes, aka Romeo, aka the hottest, nicest guy in school (in her completely unbiased opinion). And she meant to learn her lines, really, it's just:
a) Shakespeare is HARD,b) Amanda (the "real" Juliet) makes her run errands instead of lines, andc) there's no point, since Amanda would never miss her chance to be the star of the show.
Then Amanda ends up in the hospital and Emily, as the (completely unprepared!) understudy, has to star in the most famous scene from Romeo and Juliet opposite the guy of her dreams. Oops?
My Review: Emily Stein has had a crush on Wes Rosenthal for as long as she can remember, but somehow or another she always ends up acting like an idiot in front of him. When she learns that he and his girlfriend have broken up and that Wes is planning to audition for the part of Romeo for their English class project of Romeo & Juliet, Emily decides to audition for the part of Juliet. But mean girl Amanda, who also has her sights set on Wes, also auditions and gets the part. Luckily Emily's friend Jill is directing the Romeo & Juliet scene and Emily convinces her to let her be an understudy so she can still hang out with Wes.
Emily thinks she can relax, I mean understudies never really have to go on stage, right? And with Amanda treating her like a gopher during rehearsals on top of her homework and after school job, Emily doesn't really have time to memorize the lines. But she doesn't really need to learn the lines, right?
Then an unforeseen case of appendicitis forces Amanda out of the role and into the hospital and Emily onto the stage in her place. Emily makes a fool of herself but Wes doesn't seem to mind.
Could it be possible that Wes likes her the way Emily likes him? Or is he just being nice? Does Emily really have a chance with the guy of her dreams or will the mean girl get the guy?
I really enjoyed reading Romeo & What's Her Name. Its light, fluffy, and funny - a feel good read. Reading it made me so thankful that I'm no longer an awkward teen crushing on a cute guy.
Parts of this book were really funny (in a good way) while others left me cringing and wanting to crawl under a table, but its realistic to real teen life. After all, most teens aren't like the girls on Pretty Little Liars with their designer label clothes, perfect hair, and endless confidence; real teens have bed head and wear ratty sweats they hope their crushes will never see them in and I loved that this book showed that. I also loved the relationship between Wes and his brother Neal, it was really sweet.
Overall, I thought Romeo & What's Her Name was a cute Contemporary YA Romance. It is a great book to read when you want something that will leave you with a smile on your face.
My Rating:4/5 Stars
Romeo & What's Her Name is out today, Tuesday, February 7, 2017, from Swoon Reads & Macmillan! Pick up your copy today:Amazon | | | | Google Play Books | IndieBound | | Add to

Book Review: Twisted Palace by Erin Watt

Twisted Palace (Royals #3) by Erin Watt Blurb: These Royals will ruin you… 
From mortal enemies to unexpected allies, two teenagers try to protect everything that matters most.
Ella Harper has met every challenge that life has thrown her way. She’s tough, resilient, and willing to do whatever it takes to defend the people she loves, but the challenge of a long-lost father and a boyfriend whose life is on the line might be too much for even Ella to overcome. 
Reed Royal has a quick temper and even faster fists. But his tendency to meet every obstacle with violence has finally caught up with him. If he wants to save himself and the girl he loves, he’ll need to rise above his tortured past and tarnished reputation.
No one believes Ella can survive the Royals. Everyone is sure Reed will destroy them all. 
They may be right.
With everything and everyone conspiring to keep them apart, Ella and Reed must find a way to beat the law, save their families, and unravel all the secrets in their Twisted Palace.
My Review: Spoiler Alert: Do not read this review if you have not read the previous book in the Royals series, Broken Prince.
So the wicked bitch of Bayview, NC is dead. And Reed Royal has been arrested for Brooke's murder. Oh, and Ella's biological father, Steve O'Halloran, is back from the dead. Yeah - that actually happened.
Ella and Reed's world is crashing down around them. Reed is being accused of a crime he didn't commit and Ella is forced to interact with a man she's not sure she likes. Steve is nothing like how Callum described him and his aggressive push to be super-dad (including a ton of insane rules) rubs Ella the wrong way.
With everyone whispering about Reed being a potential murder behind their backs and Steve working to keep them apart, will Reed and Ella be able to figure out who is framing Reed? Or will Reed accept defeat under the mounting stack of damning evidence against him? Will Ella be able to save Reed before he makes the biggest mistake of his life? Was Brooke really the intended target? Or was it a case of mistaken identity?
One thing is for certain: there's a killer out there that would do anything to keep his or her secrets and their crime from being revealed.
I enjoyed Twisted Palace, but not as much as I loved Paper Princess and Broken Prince. A great majority of Twisted Palace was spent on the murder, Reed's uncertain future, and Steve's unexplainable drive to keep Ella and Reed apart at all costs. While it added a greater depth to the story, the tone felt a lot different than in the first two books - so although I really liked the mystery and the story, I felt like the story slowed down at times. Like the reader and the characters were waiting for something to happen, for some resolution that too time to come.
I still loved all of the main characters but I have to admit I really hated Steve. I know that was kind of the point but I guess I was wishing he would be the cool guy that Callum kept talking about - not the kind of guy that made Callum look like a Father of the Year candidate. And I even felt sorry for Dinah! The sky must be falling!
Overall, I really did like Twisted Palace, especially when everything was revealed at the end and things settled down. Now I'm eager to read Easton's story. Who will be the girl that steals his heart? Somebody we already know? Or someone completely new?
My Rating:4/5 Stars

"Book Mail" Thursday #10

I love #bookmail on Thursdays and this week is especially wonderful. This week's new additions to my ever-growing book collection are...

Ruined by Amy Tintera (Signed Copy), Broken Prince and Twisted Palace by Erin Watt, Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill, and the Red Queen Coloring Book.
I've heard amazing things about Ruined and I am addicted to the Royals Series by Erin Watt, I had an e-galley of Ever the Hunted so I decided to pick up a finished physical copy, and I spotted the coloring book at Walmart and decided to add it to my recent online orders. Believe it or not I've already breezed through Broken Prince and Twisted Palace and I just got them last Thursday! (yes, this post is late, but I did have another blog scheduled for last Thursday.)
Waiting On:  I'm still waiting on a book order from Books of Wonder which will complete my book buying binge... for a little while anyway. I'm still waiting on...





Books Coming Out This Month On My Wishlist:

"What I'm Reading" Wednesday #60

Aha! Finally a "WIR"-Wednesday where I'm actually into a book instead of just starting one. January is in the books and it's officially February... probably one of my least favorite months of the year. There are a bunch of books I plan on reading this month but this "WIR"-Wednesday I'm reading...
The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon Blurb: The Tower Motel was once a thriving attraction of rural Vermont. Today it lies in disrepair, alive only in the memories of the three women—Amy, Piper, and Piper’s kid sister, Margot—who played there as children. They loved exploring the abandoned rooms … until the day their innocent games uncovered something dark and twisted that ruined their friendship forever. 
Now, Amy stands accused of committing a horrific crime, and the only hint to her motives is a hasty message that forces Piper and Margot to revisit the motel’s past, and the fate of two sisters who lived there in its heyday.  Sylvie Slater had dreams of running off to Hollywood and becoming Alfred Hitchcock’s leading lady, while her little sister, Rose, was content with their simple life. Each believed the other to be something truly monstrous, but only one knows the secret that will haunt the generations to come.
Why I Chose This Book | What I Think So Far: My grandmother bought this book ages ago after we both read and loved The Winter People by the same author. At the time I didn't have enough time to read it so she read it first and told me it gave her nightmares and the creeps but I like creepy things. I love this author's writing style and I had actually seen this book at Barnes and Noble before I ever read The Winter People, so this book has been on my TBR list for a whillllle.
 I started reading this book and it immediately put me under its' spell. Why did Amy kill her husband and her son before turning the gun on herself? What happened that one summer and what did Amy, Piper, and Margot discover? What happened to Sylvie? And what is the mystery of a 29th room in a 28 room motel? I can't wait to unravel the mystery. 
End of January / Beginning of February Check In:
Books Read in January: 102017 Reading Challenge Status: 10/30 Books Read
February TBR List:The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahonAfter the Fall by Kate HartWintersong by S. Jae-JonesNever Die Alone by Lisa JacksonKiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Book Review: Broken Prince by Erin Watt

Broken Prince (Royals #2) by Erin Watt Blurb: These Royals will ruin you…
From wharf fights and school brawls to crumbling lives inside glittery mansions, one guy tries to save himself.
Reed Royal has it all―looks, status, money. The girls at his elite prep school line up to date him, the guys want to be him, but Reed never gave a damn about anyone but his family until Ella Harper walked into his life.
What started off as burning resentment and the need to make his father’s new ward suffer turned into something else entirely―keep Ella close. Keep Ella safe. But when one foolish mistake drives her out of Reed’s arms and brings chaos to the Royal household, Reed’s entire world begins to fall apart around him.
Ella doesn’t want him anymore. She says they’ll only destroy each other.
She might be right.
Secrets. Betrayal. Enemies. It’s like nothing Reed has ever dealt with before, and if he’s going to win back his princess, he’ll need to prove himself Royally worthy.
My Review: All it took was one moment for Reed Royal's life to implode. The moment Ella Harper, the girl he's fallen impossibly in love with, walks in on him in a compromising position with his father's ex-girlfriend Brooke.
Ella runs and Brooke claims she's pregnant and that the baby is his even though Reed knows it isn't. Ella leaving town tears Reed up and in the span of the next two weeks his brothers turn on him and everything at Astor Academy goes to shit because Reed doesn't care enough to keep everyone in line. All he wants is Ella back.
Then Ella returns and it's clear that she's not ready to forgive him. But Reed isn't giving up on her, he'll keep pursuing her until things are back to normal. But can Ella ever move past Reed's assumed betrayal? Or are some mistakes unforgivable? And as everything else in the lives of the Royals spin out of control, even if Ella takes Reed back, is something worse coming their way?
Wow, the two writers behind the pen name Erin Watt definitely know how to rip their readers hearts out! The end of Paper Princess shocked me but the twists in Broken Prince had me wanting to pluck my aching heart out and hand it over. This series is so engrossing that the reader will struggle to put it down and resume daily activities.
Reed's perspective, in the beginning, broke my heart and I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen but the hits kept coming - especially the ending! Did not see the Brooke thing coming although I had a vague idea while reading book one about the character that pulls a Lazarus on the very last page.
Overall, I love the storyline and the characters and I'm already itching to start book three! I was worried that The Royals series would falter the way some series do with the "sophomore slump" but Broken Prince is everything fans of the series could hope for. If you haven't already read this series you must give it a try! You won't regret it! I'm also seriously excited that Easton is getting his own book coming out this fall! I am in love with that adorable goofball!
My Rating:5 of 5 Stars!

Book Trailer Reveal: Till Death by Jennifer L. Armentrout

This week I'm excited to share with you a different kind of reveal - a Book Trailer Reveal for New York Times Bestselling Author, Jennifer L. Armentrout's upcoming novel, Till Death! I'm really looking forward to reading this one! 


TILL DEATHby JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUTPaperback, eBook, and AudiobookExpected Publication: February 28, 2017from William Morrow
In New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout’s gripping new novel, a young woman comes home to reclaim her life—even as a murderer plots to end it. . .
It’s been ten years since Sasha Keaton left her West Virginia hometown . . . since she escaped the twisted serial killer known as the Groom. Returning to help run her family inn means being whole again, except for one missing piece. The piece that falls into place when Sasha’s threatened—and FBI agent Cole Landis vows to protect her the way he couldn’t a decade ago.
First one woman disappears; then another, and all the while, disturbing calling cards are left for the sole survivor of the Groom’s reign of terror. Cole’s never forgiven himself for not being there when Sasha was taken, but he intends to make up for it now . . . because under the quirky sexiness Cole first fell for is a steely strength that only makes him love Sasha more.
But someone is watching. Waiting. And Sasha’s first mistake could be her last.
Pre-Order Till Death Today: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | IndieBound 
now on to the reveal... check out the book trailer!

iframe> # 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA.
She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.
Connect with Jennifer L. Armentrout online:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferLArmentrout/Twitter: @JLArmentroutInstagram: authorjlarmentroutWebsite: jenniferlarmentrout.com

Life of a #bookstagrammer

A while ago when I first started being really active again on Instagram I stumbled upon the #bookstagram hashtag. I used it occasionally on and off to post pictures of books I'd gotten from the library or books I'd bought, what I was reading, etc. - but I didn't really get the broader scope of the hashtag at the time. #Bookstagram is more than just people sharing pictures of books, #bookstagram is a community full of amazing, creative like-minded bookworms who love to show their love for books and reading through photographs. 
I began to post on #bookstagram heavily in November then participated in a couple "challenges" in December and again this month and I've enjoyed finding my niche and trying out different ways to be creative with my photographs with props. And the challenge prompts make it so easy! The more I post and interact with other book lovers the more I come out of my shell. Along with this blog and my books, I feel like I've finally found people who get me. #Bookstagrammers are my kind of people! 
So that aside, what goes into creating one of my daily #bookstagram posts?
1. Gathering Materials: I start off by looking at my prompt for the day from whichever challenges I'm participating in then select the book or books I want to use and the props I may want to accent the pictures with. Lately, I've chosen a theme of setting my books on a red background so I used a blanket I have laying around as a backdrop. Mini fairy lights also look awesome in my pictures, especially wrapped around my books. (They're really cheap, I got them on Amazon for like $7!)

2. Arranging My Books  Once I have everything I want to use, I lay the blanket down on a flat surface (usually my bed) and lay my books out on top of the blanket where I want them. Sometimes I stack them, sometimes I stand them upright, sometimes I show their spines, sometimes I tilt them to the side. It depends on what part of the book I want to showcase.

3. Add the Props #Bookstagram props can be anything. They can tie to the book like a mask with a copy of A.G. Howard's RoseBlood or a camera with a copy of Meg Cabot's Pants On Fire. They can tie to the prompt your working on or just be something pretty that looks nice with the book. I've used: scrapbooking paper, fake flowers, bookish candles, Funko Pops, Mirrors, Wine Glasses, Wooden Cutting Boards, Hats, Funky Fabrics, even a Butcher Knife once! 


4. Take the Photo and Make Any Adjustments I try to take my pictures in the best lighting possible, but sometimes (especially in winter) it's cloudy and the room is dark, or it's late in the day so I have to make adjustments to the lighting and crop the images once I've taken the picture on my iPhone. I could use my digital camera but I think it would be too much trouble to upload the photos from my camera to my computer then onto my phone to upload on Instagram. 
5. Upload to Instagram Once everything is to my satisfaction I upload my pictures to Instagram with a description of the prompt (if it's a prompt photo) and some hashtags so people can find my picture. Some hashtags I use a lot are: #Bookstagram#Bookstagrammer#Bookish#Bibliophile#Bookworm#BookNerd#Bookloverbut there are so many that you could use...

Sound like fun? Here are a couple #Bookstagram challenges coming up for February. I challenge you to try to participate in at least 1 for the month of February...
use hashtag: #loveatfirstpage17
use hashtag: #febbooksarelit(I'm just finishing up #JanBooksAreLit and it was really fun!)
use hashtag: #GrimDragon(I'm also doing their January prompts)
For more challenges to participate in check with @bookstagramchallenges
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For more bookish photos follow me on Instagram: @TaylorFennerWrites

Book Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Blurb: Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic. For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female. Amani Al’Hiza is all three. She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.
Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew. 
This startlingly original Middle-East-meets-Wild-West fantasy reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally embracing her power.
My Review: Life is hell for Amani in the small town of Dustwalk, Miraji, where women have no rights at all. A year ago her mother was hanged for killing her abusive father and she had no choice but to move in with her equally abusive aunt and her uncle, who wishes for her to become another one of his wives. Her only escape lies in posing as a boy and competing in a shooting competition. If her perfect aim can win her the contest she'll have enough money to get out of town and travel to the capital to live with her mother's sister. 
At the shooting competition she meets Jin, an attractive foreigner with nearly as good an aim as Amani's. When chaos erupts Jin gets her out of the bar/shooting venue and with nearly no money left to her name Amani is forced to return home, assuming she will never see Jin again. 
Fate has other plans and Amani crosses paths with Jin again, except now Jin is wanted by the Miraji soldiers for treason. They escape Dustwalk together on a mythical horse made of sand called a Buraqi, but can Amani really trust Jin, a guy she barely knows who is hiding plenty of secrets? Will they be able to work together to escape from the soldiers that hunt for them at every turn? As they get to know one another better the lines between allies, friends, and something more begin to blur, but could they really have a future? Or will secrets and lies tear them apart? What does Jin know about Amani that he doesn't want her to find out?
When I first started reading Rebel of the Sands, I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but I quickly got swept away into the story. Amani is a badass character who knows her way around a gun and isn't afraid to defend herself, even though Jin keeps trying to swoop in and save her at every turn. 
I found the clash of Wild West meets Middle East world building to be really unique, even though initially I thought that would be the one thing that would turn me off about the story - luckily it wasn't because I devoured this book quickly, not wanting to put it down until I found out what was going to happen next. 
Rebel of the Sands was anything but predictable because I honestly did not see some of the twists coming, this story definitely kept me on my toes. Overall, if you're looking for an action-packed adventure with a strong female lead, strong supporting characters, and a swoon-worthy male lead, Rebel of the Sands is definitely the book to read. I can definitely see how it captured readers hearts and won best Debut Goodreads Author in the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2016! I'm excited to see how the story will continue in book two!
My Rating:5 of 5 Stars! 

"What I'm Reading" Wednesday #59

I came so close this week to actually being in the middle of a book for "WIR"-Wednesday but Rebel of the Sands was hard to put down and I ended up finishing it before dinnertime yesterday. Does anyone else feel that they read books quicker at the beginning of the year than at the end of the year? Really, just last month I think I barely read three or four books, yet January still has six more days and I've already read 8 books. It's insane. This "WIR"-Wednesday I'm burrowing back into Kristen Middleton's Night Roamers Series with...
Vengeance (Night Roamers Series #3) by Kristen Middleton Blurb: Nikki arrives in Vegas, with Ethan and Duncan, to search for her family. She soon finds out that not everything is as it seems...and isn't sure of who she can trust anymore, as things begin to unfold.
Meanwhile, Celeste takes advantage of the nightlife in Sin City, while joining forces with a new group of immortals, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on Nikki.
Why I Chose This Book / What I Think So Far: I chose Vengeance because I love Kristen Middleton's Night Roamers Series. I mean I blew through Blur (book 1) in one night and read book 2 just as quickly. It really is one of my favorite YA Vampire Series out there. It's sexy, suspenseful and addicting.
 I grabbed a copy of Vengeance last summer but thanks to my huge TBR shelf of physical books I haven't been able to get to this book on my kindle yet. Lucky for me I've been trying to get through some of my unread Kindle books while I wait for some book orders to arrive and a couple books I have on hold from the library. I'm eager to dive back into this series and see what happens next (and of course lust after bad boy, Ethan. Not really shipping Nikki with Duncan here...)

Crossing the Line: Book Controversies, Book Burning, and Book Bashing

As authors we're schooled in how to handle negative reviews: don't react badly, don't respond to the reviewer who gave you a bad review no matter what, and if you're still super bummed about it - go on Amazon and read some of the negative reviews on some of the most popular books out there / our favorites because hey, we all get bad reviews occasionally. Not everyone can like the same books. 
But what about book reviewer etiquette? What crosses the line? How far is too far? When do you go from explaining why you disliked a book in a tactful way to all-out book bashing? 
I've always thought there was a distinct difference between someone who reads a book and complains about the book for whatever reason in cruel, bashing ways and real book bloggers and reviewers, who may not like the book but don't try to be outwardly rude about it. Or maybe that's just the way I handle my book reviews. I may not like every book that I read, but I usually can still glean something out of the book that I liked - even if it is that I was thankful that the book ended. But if I outright hate a book? I probably don't even finish it, let alone write a nasty review about it. 
But the events of the past few days or so and the things I've heard through the grapevine from my blogger friends have me shocked and completely appalled at some small minded people's actions. 
Book Controversies: With the demand for more diverse books to be written and the seemingly overly sensitive opinions of people nowadays books are getting nitpicked more than ever. Two books in a crapstorm of controversy over the past few months have been The Continent by Keira Drake and Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth, which people have cited as been stereotyping and racist. Now, I haven't read either book and I don't plan to because they're not the genre of books I find appealing (and I never even finished Insurgent by Veronica Roth), so I can't honestly give my opinion on the books one way or another. But I do think that people have to remember that these books are a work of fiction. They are not intentionally written to offend people of color, they're just books! Meant to be read for enjoyment. Don't want to read that sort of thing? Then don't! 
Book Bashing and Book Burning That being said I am completely appalled after hearing that a book blogger / booktuber (whatever that is) lit fire to a copy of Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth then used the excuse that she had been intoxicated and was not in control of her actions, therefore should not be blamed or held responsible. 
Are you kidding me?!?! I'm not a drinker, have never been drunk at all in my 24 years of life, but I'm scrambling to figure out how someone, drunk or sober, could possibly think it was okay to burn a book just because they didn't like it. I didn't realize we were living in Nazi Germany. 
This goes back to my point above about etiquette. If you don't like a book, don't bash it! Just explain that it wasn't your taste of book and move on. Bashing a book to that degree - or dear god, BURNING a book - is uncalled for. Maybe it's the fact that I'm an author myself and know how much thought and hard work goes into writing a book followed by the guts it takes to put that project you've worked so hard on out for public consumption and criticism but I don't believe profanity, personal attacks on the author, excessively harsh comments, or physical destruction of any kind towards the book belong anywhere in a book review. 
I understand that it's called an "honest" review for a reason, but please, remember to have some class.