Cover Catch-Up (36): Lushly Imaginative!

In "Cover Catch-Up" I share some covers that have either been recently revealed, or that I've just found and really wanted to share. 

Today I have a couple of covers for books that feature worlds slightly similar to our own, but with a bit of a twist...and I'm also extremely excited to read both books!

---

The first book that I have is for the North American version of THE HUSH by Skye Melki-Wegner!

THE HUSH by Skye Melki-Wegner
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Release Date: June 6, 2017

Description:

Chester has taken to the road, traveling from village to village desperately searching for his father, who has disappeared. One night while fiddling to earn a few coins, he accidentally connects to the Song—the music that fuels every aspect of the world, and that it’s illegal for him to interact with. He’s caught and sentenced to death for his crime. Only a licensed Songshaper can bend music to his will.

But someone in the crowd—a member of the infamous Nightfall Gang—stages a daring rescue and whisks Chester into the Hush, a shadowy nightmare mirror-world where Music can be deadly and Echoes can kill.

Susanna, the Captain of the Nightfall Gang has been watching Chester. She needs him to pull off an elaborate plan that will take down the governing body that keeps her an outlaw and made her the fragment she is. Susanna needs him to exact her revenge, even if he dies doing it.

Combining complex stakes, shifting loyalties, nods to fairy tales, and a Western feel, The Hush is a lush and exhilarating fantasy perfect for fans of Catherine Fisher’s Incarceron and Paolo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker.

 

I absolutely LOVE this cover!!! It's both simple and complex all at the same time, and I think it's breathtaking! The violin is stunning, and I love how it looks like it's being broken apart...and with the music notes coming out of the neck of the violin, it looks like it's either breaking apart into song or that the song is breaking it apart which seems PERFECT for the description! I also love the water, and the reflection, and the textured background...gah, it seriously is just so pretty!!! I can't wait to read THE HUSH, and I can't WAIT to see this stunning cover in person!

---

The second cover that I have today is for THE SHADOW CIPHER, book one in the York series by Laura Ruby!

THE SHADOW CIPHER (York #1) Laura Ruby
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
Release Date: May 16, 2017

Description:

It was 1798 when the Morningstarr twins arrived in New York with a vision for a magnificent city: towering skyscrapers, dazzling machines, and winding train lines, all running on technology no one had ever seen before. Fifty-seven years later, the enigmatic architects disappeared, leaving behind for the people of New York the Old York Cipher—a puzzle laid into the shining city they constructed, at the end of which was promised a treasure beyond all imagining. By the present day, however, the puzzle has never been solved, and the greatest mystery of the modern world is little more than a tourist attraction.

Tess and Theo Biedermann and their friend Jaime Cruz live in a Morningstarr apartment house—until a real estate developer announces that the city has agreed to sell him the five remaining Morningstarr buildings. Their likely destruction means the end of a dream long-held by the people of New York. And if Tess, Theo and Jaime want to save their home, they have to prove that the Old York Cipher is real. Which means they have to solve it.

From National Book Award Finalist Laura Ruby comes a visionary epic set in a New York City at once familiar and wholly unexpected.
 

Ah, this is another that I came across and just couldn't stop staring at! I absolutely LOVE how the buildings spell out YORK! It's so gorgeous, and the lighting and composition of the cityscape is breathtaking! It looks like a picturesque photo that someone would take, and I love that you get the peek of the main characters in the corner of the cover, too. I really think this cover is so pretty, but I have to admit that I don't quite understand why the series title has such a prominent placement while the book title itself, THE LOST CIPHER, is super tiny. Nonetheless, I think it's gorgeous...and I want to see those buildings in person!

---

What do you think?
Do you like these covers?
Are there any covers that you're currently loving?

Review - ICED: An Atlantic City Hustlers Boxset (Books #1-2) by Veronica Forand & Susan Scott Shelley

Source: Received an egalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher: Entangled Publishing (Lovestruck)
Release Date: March 6, 2017


Description from Goodreads:

FLIRTING ON ICE

When a sexy, forbidden spark blazes to life between professional hockey player Zac Elliott and the team owner's daughter, he's willing to risk being benched to have her. Their relationship is deeply passionate and intensely private...until the press catches them in the act. The only way out of the penalty box is for Zac to play hockey like life--and love--depends on it...

SIMMERING ICE
Physical therapist Annie Davidson is great at her job but unlucky when it comes to love. All she can do is focus on work...that is until she runs into professional hockey player Alec O'Meara. Alec likes to keep things loose on and off the ice, but the red-headed Annie challenges his beliefs and makes him think about taking their relationship to the net...

---

I read FLIRTING ON ICE and SIMMERING ICE in the box set of the first two books in the Atlantic City Hustlers series, called ICED, and I really enjoyed both of them!!!

REVIEW FOR FLIRTING ON ICE

I really enjoyed both stories, and while I'd say that I liked SIMMERING ICE better than FLIRTING ON ICE, I did still really enjoy Zac and Heather's story! I loved both characters—they were absolutely wonderful and their romance was so sweet! I thought they were perfect for one another! I did feel like their story was rushed a lot more than Alec and Annie's was though, so I do wish that it'd been a little more flushed out—I would've loved to see more of their relationship as it built. Other than that, I thought it was fantastic and I'm definitely looking forward to more of the Atlantic City Hustlers series! 

Along with the sweet romance, I thought that the story itself had a pretty great build, and while it was fairly dramatic, it definitely had me glued to the page! I especially loved how the authors introduced the team, and they left me curious about more than a few of the characters, so I was pretty glad to be able to read this one in a boxset since I was eager for more. :D

All in all, I thought that FLIRTING ON ICE was adorable! Both Zac and Heather were the kind of characters that were really easy to like. They were kind, generous, and I genuinely wanted the best for them, so they were pretty fantastic to read about. I'm glad that we'll get to see peeks of them going forward in future Atlantic City Hustlers books. ;) I'd recommend this one and the rest of the Atlantic City Hustlers series to fans of contemporary romance who like a little drama with their HEA, especially if, like myself, you're partial to sports romances. ;)

--------------------------

REVIEW FOR SIMMERING ICE

Out of the two novellas, I did love SIMMERING ICE a bit more than FLIRTING ON ICE though! I loved Alec and Annie, and I felt like their story was a little more flushed out than Zac and Heather's was, but both were absolutely adorable!! I really loved the team aspects of the story, and the romance was sweet and had a really wonderful build!

What I loved more about SIMMERING ICE was that we saw a lot more about both Alec and Annie. We learned about both of their pasts and why they were reluctant in love, and I thought that the authors did a great job of showing both characters' insecurities. They also did an amazing job at showing the chemistry between the characters! Alec and Annie had amazing chemistry, and they were extremely well suited together! They had so much in common, and I thought they complemented each other perfectly! I was actually pretty amazed how well their relationship was developed because this was a pretty quick read. 

SIMMERING ICE actually holds up pretty well against even full sized romances! It checked ALL of my boxes for romance books, and I really loved it! If you haven't started the Atlantic City Hustlers series yet, now's a good time since you can get this one and the first novella, FLIRTING ON ICE, in the ICED Boxset. ;) I'd recommend them to fans of sweet, contemporary romances! 

--------------------------

As for the ICED Boxset as a whole, I loved that we got both novellas in it! Overall, both titles were fairly short, very sweet, and absolutely wonderful to read. I loved the romances, and I really enjoyed seeing the Atlantic City Hustlers as a team, too! Veronica Forand and Susan Scott Shelley have written a wonderful cast of characters, and I'm definitely looking forward to more from them, especially more of their Atlantic City Hustlers! As I've mentioned, I'd recommend these novellas to contemporary romance fans looking for hot athletes, and relationships that are both sexy and sweet!

---

What do you think?
Does the Atlantic City Hustlers series sound like it's right for you?

Any Boy But You Blog Tour: #Review & #GuestPost from Julie Hammerle!

Source: Received an egalley of the book from Entangled Publishing through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Entangled: Crush
Release Date: February 13, 2017
Number of Pages: 201


Description from Goodreads:

Elena Chestnut has been chatting with an anonymous boy late into the night. It’s a very You’ve Got Mail situation, and she has no idea who he is. He can’t be Oliver Prince, hot-and-bashful son of the family running the rival sporting goods store. Their fancy sales strategies are driving Elena’s family out of business. Elena’s mystery boy has teamed up with her in their latest sales strategy, an augmented reality game, to help her win the grand-prize plane tickets. Money’s so tight Elena’s going to miss senior year spring break with her friends if she can’t win this game.

The girl Oliver's fallen head-over-heels for online had better not be Elena Chestnut. She's his angry, vindictive Latin tutor, the daughter of his dad’s business rival, and the one girl he’d never even think of kissing. She’s definitely not his online crush, because that girl is funny, sweet, and perfect.

When Oliver asks to reveal their names at the Valentine’s Day dance, their IRL relationship will either ruin what they have online, or they’ll discover just how thin the line between love and hate really is.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains swearing, snowball fights, and sexual tension that could melt the North Pole. Read at your own risk.

Purchase Links:
Google Play | BAM | Amazon | Indies | B&N | Kobo | TBD | iBooks

---

REVIEW

Oh boy, oh boy!!! I'm pretty sure this book was made for me! I'm a HUGE fan of You've Got Mail (I couldn't even tell you how many times I've seen that movie, but I've always loved it!!!), and I absolutely adore Gilmore Girls! Add in a star-crossed lovers/dueling families element and you get Any Boy But You!

This book was adorable and I really, really didn't want to put it down...the morning after finishing it, I was suffering from some serious sleep deprivation because I actually refused to put it down until I was done, but I absolutely loved every moment of it! Oliver and Elena were fantastic characters, and I loved that the book showed both of their POVs, and I really loved seeing all of the quirky elements of their town, North Pole! 

Sometimes you just need to read a great feel-good story that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and that's exactly what Any Boy But You does! I loved how Oliver and Elena's relationship built, and I really loved how the game that Oliver designed, which was very Pokemon Go-esque, tied in with their budding relationship. It was believable, but also soooooo picturesque and so perfect for their charcters! And the town of North Pole gave me serious Stars Hollow feels which I absolutely loved, too. There were just so many moments in this book that I just could not stop smiling, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading it again!

Overall, I absolutely loved Any Boy But You! It's perfect for rom-com fans, especially if like me you love both You've Got Mail and Gilmore Girls!

---

GUEST POST

"My Fave Rom-Coms" from Julie Hammerle

I love comedy and I love romance, so of course I love rom-coms. (And I miss them! Why are there no more good rom-coms?!?)

Here are some of my favorites (in no particular order, because they’re all great):

While You Were Sleeping: I just rewatched this one while I was supposed to be wrapping Christmas presents. I got so sucked in, I managed to wrap zero gifts. Sandra Bullock is so delightful, and Bill Pullman is dreamy.

Just Wright: Queen Latifah and Common. Hot. Adorable. Had me smiling the entire time.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: It’s been so long since I’ve seen this movie, but I remember it being adorable and I remember swooning hard over that yellow dress.

27 Dresses: Speaking of dresses. This movie has them. Twenty-seven of them, to be exact. (James Marsden actually gets the girl in this one! Yay for you, James Marsden!)

Notting Hill: We’ve now entered the Julia Roberts section of this list.

My Best Friend’s Wedding: So perfect. I love when Julia Roberts plays kind of a jerk. She is not sweetness and light, and that’s why I adore her.

Love Actually: It’s a bunch of rom-coms in ONE. Amazing. (Tooting my own horn: I’ve loved movie this since I first saw it back when it was released.)

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Apparently I love movies with numbers in the title. This one is so sweet and funny, even with Andie MacDowell as the romantic lead. Burn. Sorry, Andie MacDowell.

The Wedding Singer: Sometimes rom-coms succeed in the rom department, but fall flat when it comes to the com (just like many other Adam Sandler movies). Not this one. It’s hilarious.

Amelie: I saw this subtitled movie sitting in the very front row of the theater, and I still loved it. That’s how good Amelie is.

About the Author

Julie Hammerle is the author of The Sound of Us, which will be published by Entangled Teen on June 7, 2016. Before settling down to write "for real," she studied opera, taught Latin, and held her real estate license for one hot minute. Currently, she writes about TV on her blog Hammervision, ropes people into conversations about Game of Thrones, and makes excuses to avoid the gym. Her favorite YA-centric TV shows include 90210 (original spice), Felicity, and Freaks and Geeks. Her iPod reads like a 1997 Lilith Fair set list.

She lives in Chicago with her husband, two kids, and a dog. They named the dog Indiana.

Connect with Julie: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

---

TOUR GIVEAWAY

One (1) winner will receive a signed copy of The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle (US ONLY)

Enter to win using the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the rest of the tour, here: Any Boy But You Blog Tour

---

What do you think?
Does Any Boy But You sound like a book you'd like to read?

And now that you've seen Julie's top ten rom-coms, what are some of your favourites?

Blog Tour Review: Defy (Sinners of Saint #0.5) by L. J. Shen

Title: Defy
Series: Sinners of Saints #0.5
Author: L.J Shen
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Received an egalley to participate in the blog tour and give an honest review.
Release: February 3, 2017

BLURB:

Defy is a smutty, insta-love, insta-lust short novella. Defy is a prequel to Vicious (Sinners of Saint #1). It is recommended, but unnecessary, to read Defy before reading Vicious.

First included in Hot for Teacher Anthology: 19 Stories Filled with Lust and Love.

My name is Melody Greene, and I have a confession to make.
I slept with my student, a senior in high school.
Multiple times.
I had multiple orgasms.
In multiple positions.
I slept with my student and I enjoyed it.
I slept with my student and I’d do it all over again if I could turn back time.
My name is Melody Greene, and I got kicked out of my position as a teacher and did my walk of shame a la Cersei Lannister from the principal’s office, minutes after said principal threatened to call the cops on me.
My name is Melody Greene, and I did something bad because it made me feel good.
Here is why it was totally worth it.

Buy Links: ONLY $0.99

Amazon US || Amazon UK || Amazon CA || Amazon AU

In the Series:

Vicious (Sinners of Saints #1)
Amazon | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

---

Author Bio:

L.J. Shen resides in sunny California with her husband, son, chubby cat and wild, wild dreams.

Her passion is to write badass stories, sushi, UFC and her awesome family and friends (not in this order, though. Obviously, sushi comes before writing. Oh, and also the family part.)

She spend the first half of her twenties traveling the world and is now paying all the fun with extra shifts in front of her MacBook. Feel free to contact her on her Facebook page. She loves to hear from her readers.

Connect with L.J. Shen:
Amazon | Pinterest | Email | Newsletter Sign up | Facebook
 Twitter | Goodreads |  Website | Instagram

---

REVIEW

As soon as I read the first book in the Sinners of Saint series, VICIOUS, I was immediately curious about Jamie and Melody! Then I saw that L. J. Shen had written a novella for them, and I was extremely excited to read it!! :D

In VICIOUS, we see little bits of Jamie and Mel, but we only see snippets of before and after their relationship starts. We don't get to see any of those in-between parts, or see how it develops, so I was really looking forward to reading about it in DEFY, and it definitely didn't disappoint!  

Having already read VICIOUS, I was familiar with L. J. Shen's writing, so I was definitely expecting there to be sex in DEFY, especially after reading the steamy teasers for it! Once I started DEFY though, I was seriously blown away. VICIOUS was sexy, but it was drawn out and tense before the tension breaks. DEFY, on the other hand, was carnal and so, so dirty almost right away! Also, Jamie is probably one of the dirtiest, if not the absolute dirtiest, talkers that I've experienced in a romance book, and I have to admit, I dug it. I really, really did. It definitely suited him. ;)

  
I don't have issues reading books that are a bit taboo myself, but I know others don't necessarily feel the same, so I will acknowledge that DEFY does feature a pretty taboo relationship. Since it's detailed right in the description, I don't see it as a spoiler, so I'll just go out and say it, Melody happens to be Jamie's teacher. It's definitely taboo for them to be together, but I will point out that Jamie is 18, so it's not actually illegal...just morally questionable. What I found interesting though was that since Melody is the one who should theoretically have the power in their relationship as the teacher, you expect her to be the one who who is influencing Jamie, but that couldn't be further from the truth...I won't detail it to much because I think that will definitely spoil things, but Jamie was definitely the one taking charge. That's probably not surprising considering I've already mentioned how he likes to talk dirty though. :P 

As I mentioned, after reading VICIOUS I was super excited for DEFY, and I really, really enjoyed it! I have to admit that I didn't love it as much as VICIOUS though. I absolutely loved Jamie and Mel together, and really loved getting to see more of the Sinners of Saint book-verse, but I was left wanting a bit more from DEFY. My friend, Patty, and I discussed it a bit, and after talking I came to the conclusion that there were a couple of things that I loved in VICIOUS that I was missing in DEFY. The first was that VICIOUS follows both Vicious and Emilia's POVs, but in DEFY, we only get Mel's POV. I really loved Jamie, and I would have absolutely LOVED to have gotten some of his perspective. Second, I really just loved that we got to see more in VICIOUS. DEFY was a novella, so I did expect it to be shorter, but I still would've liked to see more moments where Mel and Jamie were together, or even more moments with Jamie and his friends. If we'd had Jamie's POV, I think we would've gotten more of both those kinds of moments. Now, I'm holding out hope that L. J. Shen will release some kind of deleted scene or maybe a bonus chapter from Jamie's POV...I would absolutely LOVE that! 

To sum it up, I really, really enjoyed DEFY! While I didn't love it as much as VICIOUS, it was still a wonderful read, and I loved getting to see Jamie and Mel together! DEFY was sexy, steamy, and surprisingly very sweet at times, too. I loved getting to see more of the Sinners of Saint series, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from L. J. Shen in the future! If you're a fan of sexy stories that are a little taboo, and aren't just all fluff, then you should definitely check out the Sinners of Saint series!

---

What do you think?
Does DEFY sound like something you'd enjoy?
Has anyone else started reading this series yet?
Anyone else as obsessed as I am? ;)

Release Day Blitz: Defy (Sinners of Saint #0.5) by L.J. Shen!

Woo hoo!! It's release day for DEFY by L. J. Shen! As I gushed a couple of weeks ago, I loved the other book in this series, VICIOUS, so I've been eagerly waiting for this one...and I got to read it early guys, and let me tease you a bit...it is soooo good!!

---

Title: Defy
Series: Sinners of Saints #0.5
Author: L.J Shen
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release: February 3, 2017

BLURB:

Defy is a smutty, insta-love, insta-lust short novella. Defy is a prequel to Vicious (Sinners of Saint #1). It is recommended, but unnecessary, to read Defy before reading Vicious.

First included in Hot for Teacher Anthology: 19 Stories Filled with Lust and Love.

My name is Melody Greene, and I have a confession to make.
I slept with my student, a senior in high school.
Multiple times.
I had multiple orgasms.
In multiple positions.
I slept with my student and I enjoyed it.
I slept with my student and I’d do it all over again if I could turn back time.
My name is Melody Greene, and I got kicked out of my position as a teacher and did my walk of shame a la Cersei Lannister from the principal’s office, minutes after said principal threatened to call the cops on me.
My name is Melody Greene, and I did something bad because it made me feel good.
Here is why it was totally worth it.

Buy Links: ONLY $0.99

Amazon US || Amazon UK || Amazon CA || Amazon AU

In the Series:

Vicious (Sinners of Saints #1)
Amazon | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

---

Author Bio:

L.J. Shen resides in sunny California with her husband, son, chubby cat and wild, wild dreams.

Her passion is to write badass stories, sushi, UFC and her awesome family and friends (not in this order, though. Obviously, sushi comes before writing. Oh, and also the family part.)

She spend the first half of her twenties traveling the world and is now paying all the fun with extra shifts in front of her MacBook. Feel free to contact her on her Facebook page. She loves to hear from her readers.

Connect with L.J. Shen:
Amazon | Pinterest | Email | Newsletter Sign up | Facebook
 Twitter | Goodreads |  Website | Instagram

---

DEFY TEASERS

I shared these teasers already with the cover reveal, but I'm sharing them again in case anyone's missed them! ;)
 -

 -

 -

You've been warned though...these teasers are steamy and smutty...scroll on to read at our own risk! ;)

---

GIVEAWAY

Enter the release day giveaway using the rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

---

What do you think?
Are you excited that DEFY is out? 

Will you be getting yourself a copy?