#FF100 Giveaway Hop

Welcome everyone to the Feature & Follow Friday Giveaway Hop! This giveaway hop is in celebration of the 100th week of Feature & Follow Friday, a weekly meme that is hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read! Snaps for the two ladies in charge, Rachel & Alison! There meme is one that I particularly love (mostly because it's on a Friday, which means it's time for the weekend).

For this hop, the blogs participating are doing a feature of another blogger and a giveaway, of course!

Ed and Em's Reviews is proud to feature Veronica from Ronnie's Bookshelf!

When did you start blogging?

I started blogging about a year ago. At first, I was trying to mix sports with books (without realizing what a terrible idea that was). I ended up separating the two about a month later with much success.

What is your favorite part of book blogging?
Book blogging is such a special thing because of the level of conversations you can have with people from all over the world. People you will never meet face-to-face will message you just because of a book you have read. I think there is a higher level of conversation that occurs as well. Book blogging is a great way to recommend books to other people and to get recommendations for yourself as well. You can easily discuss your frustrations with a book and get feedback from others who have read that same book. With book blogging, there are so many ways to be active and it is so helpful to others as they can look at your reviews and decide if they want to read a book. Also, I read a wide variety of books so it is definitely a way for me to keep track of all the books I have read.

What is your favorite book(s)?

Oh gosh, favorite book. I would have to say that right now my favorite books are the first two in the Divergent trilogy and Gold by Chris Cleave. Gold comes out in July, but I definitely recommend it. 

What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?

The best thing that has happened because of book blogging is a discussion that just happened on my blog. I asked readers what they thought of the Divergent vs. Hunger Games debate that I've been hearing about. It was a very interesting response and a lot of people are very attached to their books as am I.

About Veronica: I love to read. I buy books on a whim, get ARC from work, and still manage to find tons of books I don't own every time I go to work. Ask me anything on here or on Twitter.

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I was lucky enough to meet Veronica at the Veronica Roth signing last month. She's a sweetheart and sent me two books that I've heard wonderful things about. You can find her on Goodreads, too!

Giveaway Details:
1 Winner will recieve a signed copy of Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting
Open Internationally
Ends 6/13/2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday (16)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme held on... you guessed it, WEDNESDAY and it's hosted by the wonderful Jill at Breaking the Spine!

Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2) by Laini Taylor

Release Date: November 6, 2012

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

304 Pages

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was declared a "must read" by Entertainment Weekly, was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, and The New York Times called it "a breath-catching romantic fantasy."

With the way the last book ended, I'm seriously aching to have this. I'm sure we're going to need a ton of tissues though. Start stocking up on them now! Also - pretty cover is pretty. I love that it matches the first one with drastic contrast. God. This is going to be good.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Stacking the Shelves (5)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews!

Emily's Stack For the Shelves:

From Netgalley:

Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer

Release Date: July 17, 2012

The Goddess Legacy (Goddess Test #2.5) by Aimée Carter

Release Date: July 31, 2012

League of Strays by L.B. Schulman

Release Date: October 1, 2012

Won:

Josh Lanyon is having weekly giveaways of his books, signed and personalized, on his facebook fan page. I was lucky enough to snag one of my favorite books written by him!

There was a lot of fangirling when I saw this signature. Is it creepy to tell Josh I love him? 

BECAUSE I DO.

Emily Hainsworth's debut novel Through to You is to be released in October. She had a great giveaway on her blog of some Advance Reader Copies (ARC) and swag. I won a glow-in-the-dark bracelet and a signed bookmark. For the win!

Gifted:

I made a blogger friend at the Veronica Roth signing, her name is Veronica (funny that I met her at the Veronica Roth signing, right?) and she saw these two books on my Goodreads "to-read" shelf and was nice enough to send them to me. She's so sweet. Go find her and follow her blog HERE. 

This was from my aunt Cindy. It's funny because I got them at my cousin, her son's, graduation party. She said she had to buy them for me. She's so sweet! :)

LOOK AT ALL THE SWAG. Vicky Dreiling and her assistant were offering free swag. So of course, I took advantage of that. This is going in that giveaway that I'm holding soon. FYI, it's going to be big and it's going to be for my birthday. You're welcome in advance. ;)

Edwin Didn't Get Anything To Put On His Shelves This Week

What did you get for your shelves this week?

Top Ten Tuesday (13)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly Tuesday meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

The prompt for this week is Top Ten Tuesday Rewind (Pick Any Past Topic You Want)! 

I'm picking: Top Ten Books That Made You Cry!

This is in no specific order.

1. Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick

Ilsa is better known for her new Dystopian series: The Ashes Trilogy. After finishing that I needed more, which brought me to Drowning Instinct. The book was amazing. I sobbed like a baby and needed to snuggle so hard after I finished it.

2. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Have you read this? This book. I can't even talk about it without tearing up. I read the end of this book in front of my friends. They were traumatized by my snot-sobbing. All they wanted was to watch the Super Bowl. My bad.

3. Feed by Mira Grant

My. Heart. The ending of this book tore me to shreds. It was so good. And it had zombies. And that's all I have to say about that.

4. Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Another snot-sobbing. This book had such a powerful message. It broke my heart. I loved the main character and I felt awful for her.

5. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I liked this book, but didn't love it. It got really hyped up for me. It was a good book and very well written, but I wasn't wowed by it. It made me cry an awful lot though!

6. The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

This book made me ache. I read it in one sitting. The plot was wonderful and very original. It was an amazing book. I couldn't help up love it! And cry like a freaking baby.

7. Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal

I would've loved this book if it weren't for the ending. It was dramatic and had some serious angst. I cried at the betrayal and had hope for the future at the end. Plus, pretty cover!

8. The Everafter by Amy Huntley

This book was weird and original. I couldn't stop once I started. It's so sad though! My heart was hurting when I finished the book.

9. Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

I love Elizabeth Scott. I literally adore her. I'm a hardcore fan girl. I've read everything she has written. (I'm a creep... Let's get that straight now.) This book is one of the saddest, hardest books to read that I've ever have. It made a seriously harsh topic into a seriously crazy, upsetting book. She wrote it brilliantly and it's one I will never forget.

10. Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters

This book is very heartfelt. It puts a lot of things in perspective and takes a controversial topic and gets down to the nitty gritty of it. It's sad and wonderful and you need to read it, if you haven't already.

What are some books that made you cry?

Teaser Tuesday: Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading!

To participate all you have to do is:

•Grab your current read

•Open to a random page

•Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!) 

 Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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I got this a couple of months ago and I have been really wanting to read it, so I am! The writing is very lyrical, really keeping my interest so far!

"Three days have passed, and still no letter from Beatrice. The only other letters I receive, perhaps four times a year, are from my brother, Lysander, but he's older than me by ten years-- a stranger almost."
Chapter Two, 4%

"His words seemed like magic things to me. I could nearly taste them, like sips of wine."
Chapter 29, 66%

Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

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Blog Tour: Book Review & Giveaway: Angel Eyes (Angel Eyes Trilogy #1) by Shannon Dittemore

Today, Emily is happy to be a part of the Angel Eyes Blog Tour

hosted by YA Bound.

Find the other tour stops here.

Angel Eyes (Angel Eyes Trilogy #1) by Shannon Dittemore

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:

Release Date: May 29, 2012

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Fiction

320 Pages

Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. Everything changes when you’ve looked at the world through . . .

ANGEL EYES

Brielle’s a ballerina who went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and the incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake.

Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption.

Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than Jake or Brielle has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices start.

A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.

VISIT THE AUTHOR:

Goodreads.Twitter.Website.Facebook

FIND THE BOOK:

Goodreads.Amazon.Barnes & Noble

Review:

Angel Eyes was a great book. I grew obsessed with the story very quickly! As soon as I started, I knew I was going to like it.

Of course, my instinct was right. I wanted to read it from the moment I saw the cover. It's so beautiful and mysterious. Plus, it fits in perfectly with the plot and a specific scene in the book. I love when covers are beautiful and make sense in regards to the story.

The storyline in this book was awesome. I don't know what else to say about it. I was immediately captivated by the writing style. The characters were so easy to fall in love with. I connected with Gabrielle, or Brielle as she referred to, very easily. I've never been a dancer, but the book was writing so well, that I could feel Brielle's love for dancing. It made me wish I didn't have two left feet! I've always admired ballerinas, and I'm not sure what it was about Brielle, but her as a ballerina really intrigued me. That sounds so strange, I know, but you'll understand when you read it!

Brielle's father is great. He's there for her when she needs him and tries his best to ensure her happiness. He loves her dearly and didn't abandon her when her mother passed away like many parents in young adult fiction are known to do. Her friends, well the only real friends mentioned in this book are one from the school that she's returned to and one from her talent specified school. Both seem very nice, though the one from her school is a bit annoying at times.

I LOVE JAKE. His backstory is so interesting and his life is just crazy. He's a great match for Brielle. He cares for her deeply. Bonus? No insta-love. There is attraction and acknowledgement of a future together, but they aren't like: "Ooh, I love you so much. Let's get married right now and have a thousand babies because we knew immediately that we were meant to be forever." We all know what I'm talking about. Jake and Brielle's story wasn't like that at all. This book didn't focus on their relationship, though it did have a role in the story.

I haven't read a book about angels that I've really liked until this book. In fact, I loved this book. I've seen a lot of reviews that say people didn't really love it, they just enjoyed it. It wasn't phenomenal. I'll agree there were some issues that should have been edited, and a couple of modern references that seemed out of place in a book like this. Those things did not take away from the book in my opinion. The writing style was slow, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it read perfectly for the characters and the story.

Before reading this, I was a bit nervous. As I said, I haven't read an angel novel that I've enjoyed. I'm not very religious and most angel books seem to shove religion down your throat. I didn't feel that way with this book. It felt more like a paranormal fantasy than a religious novel, which really made me happy. I really, really enjoyed Angel Eyes and I am excited to read book two. I know it will be just as wonderful as the first! 

I received a free e-copy of this novel from the publisher through Netgalleyfor a blog tour in exchange for my honest review.

Giveaway Details:

1 Winner will receive an e-copy of Angel Eyes

Open Internationally

End 6/12/2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On My Wishlist (16)

On My Wishlist is a weekly meme hosted by Cosy Books! (At least I think it is?)

On Emily's Wishlist:

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: March 8, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
320 Pages

It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. 

When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. 

Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.

I cannot wait to read this one. I've had my eye on it since I finished Kirsten's other book, Wanderlove. Wanderlove was one of the best YA books that I've read all year. Kirsten's writing is phenomenal and I would love to read this because it sounds just as awesome! Find my review for Wanderlove HERE.

What's on your wishlist this week?

Follow Friday (16)

Feature & Follow Friday is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View!

Q. You are a matchmatcher -- your goal, hook up two characters from two of your favorite books. Who would it be? How do you think it would go?

A. I swear, Alison and Rachel are picking these hard questions on purpose! Uhm... let's see...

I would put Gale from The Hunger Games with Xochi from Partials. Gale always annoyed me since the very beginning. I think Xochi would kick the crap out of him if he got annoying. She's very blunt. I think Gale needs someone to push him, not someone who will coddle him. This match probably wouldn't get past the first date, but hey... I'm horrible at setting people up.

Who would you couple up?