1 Year Blogiversary!!

So, I've been blogging for a year today!

Can you believe it? It has certainly surprised me at times, how much time has passed and how much Books and Swoons has grown.

Ehh. Never mind. Growing up is overrated.

I've struggled at times to keep the blog active and to keep up with the demand and pressure I'd put on myself. But it only lately that I've learned that in order to keep blogging and keep myself sane, I have to do this my way and at my pace. I can't keep comparing myself and Books and Swoons to other blogs. I'm also still learning how to balance blogging and reading with having a life. I recently became a new auntie and so I have brand new niece that I go and snuggle every other day. 

But enough about that. It time to celebrate and I want to celebrate by sharing my love for books and swoons and great authors! So you know what that means? It's GIVEAWAY TIME!!

Oh yea, I just did this in real life. Well...I tried anyways.

Here's what I'm giving away: Winner's choice of a signed copy of either Shatter Me or Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi, a signed copy of either Unearthly, Hallowed or Boundless by Cynthia Hand, a signed copy of Under the Never Sky or Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi, and signed copy of Eve, Once, or Rise by Anna Carey and a paperback copy of Divergent by Veronica Roth. 

That's right,* 4 signed books and 1 paperback. *

I'm going to a book signing for Spring Into The Future on April 28th and I decided to do something nice for all my Swooners and I wanted to share my love of some of my favorite series. So, I get to meet some lovely authors and get you some signed books. Sounds like a good idea to me!

Unfortunately, at the moment, I can only ship inside the US at the moment.

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Good luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by and helping me celebrate my 1 year blogiversary!

Cover Reveal - Before You Go by Clare James

Before You Go by Clare James

Expected Release Date: April 8, 2013

Cover Designed by: PhatPuppy Art

Cover reveal organized by: The Bookish Brunette

Summary from Goodreads:

Forgiveness is the only option, but can she learn to forgive herself?

Paralyzed by the past and terrified for the future, Tabitha Kelly is broken.

After a public sex scandal at her college, Tabby moves to a new city with a new school, convinced she can start over. But she soon realizes the changes are not enough. Tabby must take action to help her heal and move on from the past.

And though it sounds crazy, she believes a one-night stand is the best way to take back what's hers. If she can choose where, when, and most importantly, who...maybe she can regain control.

First, she needs a willing participant.

She finds more than that when she meets Noah Adler.

Unfortunately, she can't go through with it. And when she tries to forget about the plan - and the guy - it becomes impossible.

Noah quickly weaves his way into her new life and her heart. But as he comes dangerously close to discovering her secret, Tabby's at risk of losing it all.

About the Author, Clare James:

Clare James spent her childhood, writing, reading, and dancing. Not much has changed since then. except she can no longer get up on toe shoes like she once could. And don't even ask her to go into the splits because she may never get back up.

A new adult and contemporary romance writers, Clare loves a happy ending. She lives in Minneapolis with her two leading men - her husband and young son. BEFORE YOU GO is her debut new adult novel.

Links: Twitter / Website

Currently Reading (#13)

Hiya Swooners,

                So I've been in a weird reading slump. I have so many books on my reading queue but when I start them, I'm not really in the mood to read them. So I start a completely new book that I wasn't even supposed to start causing me to get behind on my reading. And it not like I have plenty of reading time as it is. I've been having a bit of a social life lately and I haven't been able to figure out how to balance out my blogging and reading with my personal life.

So, at the moment I am currently reading 3 books: Taken by Erin Bowman, The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington, and Spellbinding by Maya Gold. I'm not sure when I'll be done with them but I have hope to have a review up and going by Monday for April 1st for Spellbinding since that is it's release day.

I hope everyone has a nice Tuesday!

Cover Reveal - Precious Things by Stephanie Parent

Precious Things by Stephanie Parent

Expected Release Date: May 2013

Cover Designed by: Allie Brennan of B Design

Cover reveal organized by: YA Bound

Summary from Goodreads:
Isabelle Andrews isn't supposed to be here. She isn't supposed to be a freshman at Hartford Community College, she isn't supposed to be living at home and working at her dad's failing bakery, and she definitely isn't supposed to be taking Intro to Electronic Music Production, a class that will get her nowhere toward her goal of an English Ph.D. by age twenty-five. But when her dad's latest business fiasco eats up her college fund, Hartford Community College is exactly where Isabelle finds herself - and thanks to her late enrollment, she doesn't even get to choose her classes. Stuck with Electronic Music and way-too-easy English courses, Isabelle is determined to wallow in all the misery she feels entitled to.

But community college brings some unexpected benefits...like the fact that a certain overworked, over-scheduled Electronic Music professor hands over most of his duties to his teaching assistant. His tall, green-eyed, absolutely gorgeous teaching assistant. When TA Evan Strauss discovers Isabelle's apathy toward electronic music - and, well, all music - he makes it his mission to convert her. The music Evan composes stirs something inside Isabelle, but she can't get involved - after all, she'll be transferring out as soon as possible.

Still, no matter how tightly Isabelle holds on to her misery, she finds it slipping away in the wake of all Hartford Community offers: new friendships, a surprisingly cool poetry professor, and most of all, Evan. But Evan's dream of owning his own music studio is as impractical as Isabelle's dad's bakery, and when Evan makes a terrible decision, everything Isabelle has gained threatens to unravel. Soon Isabelle discovers that some of the most important lessons take place outside the classroom...and that in life, as in Evan's favorite Depeche Mode song, the most precious things can be the hardest to hold on.

About the author:

Stephanie Parent is a graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at USC and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts as a piano major. She moved to Los Angeles because of Francesca Lia Block's WEETZIE BAT books, which might give you some idea of how much books mean to her. She also loves dogs, books about dogs, and sugary coffee drinks both hot and cold.

Links: Blog / Twitter / Goodreads

Blog Tour Stop: Review + Giveaway - The Boys of Summer by C.J. Duggan

Welcome to my stop on The Boys of Summer blog tour hosted by YA Bound. Click HERE to check out the full blog tour schedule!

The Boys of Summer (Summer #1) 
By C.J. Duggan                              
Release Date: December 17, 2012
Publisher: C.J. Duggan
Source: C.J. Duggan and YA Bound for Tour Stop
Reviewer: Daisel T.
Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Goodreads

Daisel's Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary: It seemed only natural to nickname them the 'Onslow Boys'. Every time they swaggered in the front door of the Onslow Hotel after a hard week's work, their laughter was loud and genuine as they settled onto to their bar stools. I peeked through the restaurant partition, a flimsy divider between my world and theirs. I couldn't help but smile whenever I saw them, saw him...Toby Morrison.

Quiet seventeen-year-old Tess doesn't relish the thought of a summertime job. She wants nothing more than to forget the past haunts of high school and have fun with her best friends before the dreaded Year Twelve begins.

To Tees, summer is when everything happens: riding bikes down to the lake, watching the fireworks at the Onslow Show and water bomb fights at the sweltering Sunday markets.

How did she let her friends talk her into working?

After first-shift disasters, rude, wealthy tourists and a taunting ex-boyfriend, Tess is convinced nothing good can come of working her summer away. However, Tess finds unlikely allies in a group of locals dubbed 'The Onslow Boys', who are old enough to drive cars, drink beer and not worry about curfews. Tess's summer of working expands her world with a series of first times with new friends, forbidden love and heartbreaking chaos.

All with the boys she has never been able to forget.

It will be a summer she will always remember.

Warning: sexual references, and occasional coarse language.

          When my friend told to read this book for her, I was like "sure, why not?" and I am glad to say that I loved this book. I swooned, I cried, I laughed and I swooned some more. I literally stopped everything that I was supped to be doing (including 8 hours of work and cooking at home) but it was well worth it.

Tess is tormented by her ex-boyfriend and so she tries to avoid any situation that would put her in the spotlight, so she lives her life in the shadow of her best friend, Ellie. She is looking forward to a summer full of plans with her friends, having fun and relaxing under the sun. When Adam, Tess male best friend, begs her to work with him at his uncle hotel, she never imagined that her life was going to take a completely different route than what she had originally planned.

As she begins working in the Onslow hotel as a waitress, she meets a group of older and hot guys known as the 'Onslow Boys' and her summer begins to change. She starts spending a lot of time with them and she becomes more confident and open. Tess gets the opportunity to spend time with Toby Morrison, aka the boy she has had a crush on since 7th grade. They find that they are both attracted to each other, however, becoming more than friends with him is not that easy.

This book had me laughing and smiling throughout its entirety. It was a fun read and I enjoyed the way it was written. The characters were unique and believable, there wasn't a lot of dram and it was an easy read. Perfect for summer! Everything about The Boys of Summer was fantastic. C.J. Duggan did an amazing job with this story; she was able to capture all the excitement of new adventures with new and old friends and the emotions of falling in love for the first time. The last chapter did leave me curious about what happens next and I can't wait to see what happens in the sequel.

I would recommend this book to anyone and to entice you, here are some of my favorite parts/quotes from the book. Enjoy and happy reading, Swooners!

"That's the thing. I've never met anyone like you, Tess. You think you're no one? You're so wrong. So wrong. You stand in a room with the Angelas, even the Ellies. None of them can compare to you. I remember when you started working at the Onslow, I couldn't keep my eyes off you. You were so terrified. You weren't full of yourself like other girls. Every time you walked into the bar, you were like a breath of fresh air. Even Angela was a bitch to you, you rose above it. You made me see the difference in people. You're not a nobody, Tess, you're a somebody." - Toby

~B&S~

"Did she really babysit you when you were young?" I whispered to Adam who was helping me frantically to polish cutlery.
"She sure did," he sighed.
"That is the scariest thing I have ever heard," I said. "I didn't know your parents hated you."
"I guess when you have three boys, you need the Terminator for the job." - Tess and Adam.

~B&S~

"The full-figured lady sported a grey bob that was immaculately kept in place. No, really, it didn't move; there must have been a full can of hairspray on there. She was clearly highly flammable." - Tess

~B&S~

I arched a brow."Rescue many damsels in distress?"
A crooked grin formed on his lips, but he didn't meet my eyes. "Every day! It's a tireless job." - Tess and Toby

~B&S~

"Like I said," Adam continued, "the male species isn't as complicated as you think, so just go with it and do your own thing." - Adam

About the author, C.J. Duggan:

C.J. Duggan is an Australian author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia.

The Boys of Summer is Book One in her Mature Young Adult Romance Series.

Links: Website / Blog / Twitter / Goodreads / Facebook

***GIVEAWAY***

Enter below to win one of 5 e-book copies of The Boys of Summer, open Internationally!!

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Quotes (#21)

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Lol forever and ever. Morning Swooners!

"Books may well be the only true magic." - Alice Hoffman

"I've known people that the world has thrown everything at to discourage them...to break their spirit. And yet something about them retains a dignity. They face life and don't ask quarters." - Horton Foote

"But luxury has never appealed to me, I like simple things, books, being alone, or with somebody who understands."  -  Daphne du Maurier

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I hope everyone has a good week and please be sure to stop by tomorrow. I'm part of a blog tour for Boys of Summer by C.J. Duggan.

Cover Reveal & Giveaway - Stripped by Brooklyn Skye

Stripped by BrooklynSkye 

Release Date: May 14, 2013

Cover designed by: Lisa PoffPhotography

Cover reveal organized by: YA Bound

Summary from Goodreads:

“I like you.” His voice is low and soft, which I don’t deserve. I look away, down the rutted parking lot.

“Don’t…waste those words on me.”

He touches my cheek. “You just need someone to show you.”

“No.” I ease back again. “I don’t. So please, Torrin, stop trying to swoop in and save me. I don’t need saving.”

College freshman Quinn Montgomery will do anything to avoid the mistake her sister made—killing herself over a boy. But when she is forced into nude modeling at a local college to support her family after a bankruptcy, she begins to crack, just enough to let Torrin, the university’s top varsity oarsman, see that the real Quinn is not as feisty and unapproachable as she wants everyone to think. But letting someone in comes at a steep cost and, it turns out, Torrin is connected to Quinn’s family in more ways than she could ever imagine.

About the Author:

Brooklyn Skye is an author, editorial intern, and just your average awkward girl (especially on the phone!). Her new adult debut, STRIPPED, releases May 2013!

Follow Brooklyn at:

Website * Twitter * Goodreads

***GIVEAWAY***

Enter below to win a signed hardcopy of STRIPPED (if U.S. winner) or an e-copy with Authorgraph (if international winner)

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Review: Mind Games by Kiersten White

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Mind Games (Mind Games #1) 
By Kiersten White
Release Date: February 19, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Personal eARC
Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Goodreads / IndieBound

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary: Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her - except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future. 

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways...or risking each other's lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other - no matter the cost.

There is no way for me to fully explains what happens in this book without giving anything away. So I'll be listing what I loved about this book instead. And *beware: there will be some curse words.*

1. There is a lot of mind fuckery and manipulation going on this book. Fia and Annie are both being used against each other in order to kept under control. And holy crap the ways the are being manipulated is insane. I love the whole mind fuckery we have to deal with.

2. Kiersten managed to keep me intrigued right until the end, just trying to see how Annie and Fia were going to get themselves out of the hot mess they were in. I was definitely surprised with all the twists and turns and with how it ended. I saw it coming but I had hope that there was another way for these two sisters.

3. While some people didn't enjoy the dual POVs, I loved it. I found it as a great way to learn about Fia's and Annie's past and how we got to present day. That's not to say that I didn't get confused at times and would have to stop and mentally tally up the date and person the chapter was on.

4. This is the first time in a long time in which I can remember where I don't have a favorite heroine or hero. Not that I don't care about the characters, I just didn't favor one sister over the other. However, I will say this about Fia: she is seriously fucked up. Poor girl has been forced to do a lot of horrible things and it doesn't seem to end for her.

5. One of my favorite part was when we learn of what James is hiding/planning. I loved and hated it because of poor Fia and what she had to do. What she still has to do. Also, how Annie came to terms with what needed to happen and knew that it was the right thing to do in order to set Fia free. I can't wait until Book 2 comes out and we hopefully get all of our unanswered questions answered.

Waiting on Wednesday (#19)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Morning swooners!

This week pre-publication "can't wait to read" selection is:

The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise

Expected Release Date: April 30, 2013

Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Goodreads / Indie Bound

Goodreads Summary: In the Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, super-smart, somewhat geeky Audrey McCarthy can't wait to get out of high school. Her father's death and the transformation of her one-time BFF, Blake Dawkins, into her worst nightmare have her longing for the new start college will bring. 

But college takes money. So Audrey decides she has to win the competition for the best app designed by a high schooler - and the $200,000 that comes with it. She develops something she call the Boyfriend App, and suddenly she's the talk of the school and getting kissed by the hottest boys around. But can the Boyfriend App bring Audrey true love?

This sounds like a fun, fluffy contemporary in the midst of all the dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and paranormal books out there. Some bookish friends have read the ARC of this and have nothing good things to say about The Boyfriend App.

What are you currently "Waiting on?"

Stacking the Shelves (#21) and Breathless Reads Tour

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

Hiya lovelies, so it been a while since I've done one these so just bear with me. I have a big haul to share with you all.

This first batch was from BookCloseOuts.com:

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Partials by Dan Wells

I also managed to get these signed from a bookish friend who went to Pitch Dark Days tour stop:

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Boundless by Cynthia Hand

I got this from ARCycling a couple of months ago: Point of Origin by Amanda Havard

And I just got this on its release date: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

I was lucky enough to go to the Breathless Read Tour stop here in Miami and I got to meet some really awesome authors: (in order from left to right) Beth Revis author of Across the Universe trilogy, Jessica Spotswood of  Born Wicked chronicles, Fiona Paul of Venom trilogy, Morgan Rhodes of Falling Kingdoms series and Elizabeth Richards of Black City trilogy. 

Starting the panel

Books that I purchased for the signing:

Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Getting my books signed.

It's been a really crazy month and a half but I hope to get back to my regular schedule. I'm excited to dive into all my new books. And I can't wait to visit you and see what new pretties you have so please link me up!