Stacking The Shelves #38 - It's been a year

Stacking The Shelves ( hosted by Tynga's Reviews ) is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

It's been almost a year since I've done a Stacking The Shelves post. It just always seemed like to much work but now I kind of miss doing it so today I'm going to start up again. Here are the books I received in the past week.

These three books I received for review.

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Click Here to Start by Denis Markell

I'm currently reading...

Walk The Edge by Katie McGarry via the library.

That's all for this week from me.

Are there any books above you're looking forward to?

Let me know in the comments below. 

Have a fabulous Saturday everyone!

Hope everyone has a nice 4th of July. 

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ARC Review: Ruined (Ruined #1) by Amy Tintera

Title: Ruined (Ruined #1)
Author: Amy Tintera
Kindle, 368 pages
Published:  May 3rd 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: YA - High Fantasy - Romance - Magic

Emelina Flores has nothing. Her home in Ruina has been ravaged by war. She lacks the powers of her fellow Ruined. Worst of all, she witnessed her parents’ brutal murders and watched helplessly as her sister, Olivia, was kidnapped.

But because Em has nothing, she has nothing to lose. Driven by a blind desire for revenge, Em sets off on a dangerous journey to the enemy kingdom of Lera. Somewhere within Lera’s borders, Em hopes to find Olivia. But in order to find her, Em must infiltrate the royal family.

In a brilliant, elaborate plan of deception and murder, Em marries Prince Casimir, next in line to take Lera’s throne. If anyone in Lera discovers Em is not Casimir’s true betrothed, Em will be executed on the spot. But it’s the only way to salvage Em’s kingdom and what is left of her family.

Em is determined to succeed, but the closer she gets to the prince, the more she questions her mission. Em’s rage-filled heart begins to soften. But with her life—and her family—on the line, love could be Em’s deadliest mistake. 

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo

  Thank you, Amy Tintera, for giving me a new fantasy series that I can excited about! Ah, this book is wonderful, and it kind of hurts that I won’t get to read the second book anytime soon. Amy Tintera created a world that is easy to love, no matter how complicated the politics may be. As you guys may know, I am not much of a fantasy fan, so it always takes me by surprise whenever I really, really enjoy a fantasy novel. And Ruined? Well, Ruined did amazing in the books of a not-so-fantasy-fan. Ruined is told in a dual POV, which I just love so much, so that was definitely an added bonus.

  In Ruina, people are valued for the powers they possess. However, Emelina, a member of the royal family, is regarded as useless because of her lack of powers. When the King of Lera waged a war against Ruina, killed her parents and took her sister hostage, Em pretends to be Princess Mary of Vallos in order to execute a complicated plan to avenge her family and save her sister. As Princess Mary, Em had to marry Prince Casimir of Lera, where she realized that Prince Cas is not what she expected at all.

  One of my absolute favorite things about this book is the blood-pumping action that made it hard to resist to keep turning the pages. My heart was literally pounding because of the action-packed chapters, and I’ve never been more excited while reading a book! I felt everything as though I were the main characters, and that’s just one of the most amazing things ever. Although this book is action-packed, Tintera still managed to make this one well-paced.

  And the romance! The romance just made me feel so giddy. I’m a hopeless romantic, and I just love reading about romances like these. I feel like they’re full of tension, which just makes everything all the more exciting. Em and Cas slowly started seeing more of who the other truly is, and that process of liking each other despite not expecting to do so just makes me happy.

  Ah, Ruined truly is an amazing book, and I just cannot wait for the next books in the series! This is definitely a book that I would recommend. Oh, just please let me have the second book already!

 Totally Awesome! I loved it, would read again.

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Blog Tour - Review: Lucky Me by Saba Kapur + Giveaway!

Title: Lucky Me
Author: Saba Kapur
446 pages
Published: April 5th, 2016
Publisher: Amberjack Publishing
Genre: YA - Mystery/Suspense, Contemporary Romance
Source: via publisher (print arc)

For eighteen year old Gia Winters, having a movie star for a father, a former Playboy bunny as a mother, a Hollywood mansion, and a closet stocked with Chanel is simply another day in the life.

But her world is turned upside down when her father mysteriously hires a group of bodyguards to trail the family 24/7 and threatening phone calls from a "Dr. D" start buzzing daily.

When Gia scores the coveted role of Miss Golden Globe, she is forced to strike a deal with her bodyguard, Jack, who is almost as arrogant as he is attractive. Juggling Gia's romantic failures, fashion faux pas, and celebrity obsessions, the duo investigate a series of clues with the help of a police cadet, who has a special set of skills and an even better set of dimples.

But with the Golden Globes just around the corner, danger levels rise higher than her stilettos as Gia learns that the biggest secrets might be the ones buried in her own home.

In a place where the hills have eyes, high school nemeses, bad hair days, raging parties, and stolen kisses, there can only be trouble for a girl who was just starting to consider herself lucky.

Purchase at: Amazon / B&N / Book Depository / Kobo 

Gia Winters is living the dream. She's rich, popular, lives in Hollywood with her movie star Father, and has a wardrobe to die for. When out of the blue, her Father hires bodyguards for him, Gia and her younger brother, Mike. Gia is left questioning why. Tall, dark and handsome, Jack is tasked with guarding Gia. She suddenly receives a phone call from a blocked number; a man who calls himself Dr. D, who is leaving her mean threats, ones she can't ignore. When the calls become more frequent, she decides to get to the bottom of this with the help of Jack. They need to find answers quick about who this mysterious man is and why she is being staked. 

When the clues they uncover become too much for Gia and Jack to handle on their own, the police now must help find Dr. D before it's too late. 

Firstly, let's talk about Gia. Shall we? 

I'm just going to say it, I REALLY couldn't stand her. She whined way to much. She was always over dramatic about EVERYTHING! She couldn't make up mind about who she liked, or loved (insta-love, surprise, surprise!) About midway though I just wanted to strangle her with the straps on her stilettos. The only good things I liked about her was her sense of humor, her strong will to find out the truth, and how at the end of the book she seems to chill out and act normal.  Even though I didn't really like her the story itself made up for her character flaws. I really wished she would have ended up for a different character than she did but oh well. 

I really loved her bodyguard Jack. He was so down to earth, devoted, funny and fiercely protective of Gia. Jack and Gia's friendship was funny to read. They always were bickering, teasing each other, and of course flirting. Jack ended up being my favorite character in the book and I think it would be awesome to read the story from his POV.

There were a lot of secondary characters throughout the book and surprisingly all of them I really enjoyed. Besides the characters, the storyline was really amazing. I loved the slow build of mystery and all the thrills along the way. There were a couple times I thought I knew who the Dr. D was but come to find out the author was just throwing in a red herring. The conclusion when the reader finally finds out who has been behind everything was so intense. I was on the end of my seat, reading faster to find out how it all comes to an end. 

Without a doubt, Lucky Me was a fun and thrilling ride from start to finish. While I had my pet peeves throughout, I definitely recommend reading it.

I liked it a lot. Would recommend.

About The Author: Saba Kapur

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads 

Saba Kapur is a 20 year-old writer based out of Melbourne, Australia. Her passion for storytelling developed at a young age, born from a deep-seated love of books. Lucky Me is her first novel and an ode to her favorite things: fashion, romance, and mystery. Born in India, Saba spent her childhood in Indonesia and Kiev, Ukraine. She is currently in her final year of college, studying International Relations and Criminology at Monash University. 

Saba hopes to one day become a fabulous lawyer in New York City, with a closet full of stilettos. In her spare time she enjoys reading, watching anything to do with Ryan Gosling, and pretending she's Beyoncé. Saba currently lives with her parents, her older sister, and a large supply of chocolate.

Want to win a print copy of Lucky Me? 

Amberjack Publishing is giving me a copy to give away to you all! 

All you have to do is enter the rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

OPEN US RESIDENTS ONLY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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