Waiting on Wednesday: Perfect Lies (Mind Games #2) by Kiersten White

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

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

Annie and Fia are ready to fight back. 

The sisters have been manipulated and controlled by the Keane Foundation for years, trapped in a never ending battle for survival. Now they have found allies who can help them truly escape. After faking her own death, Annie has joined a group that is plotting to destroy the Foundation. And Fia is working with James Keane to bring his father down from the inside. 

But Annie's visions of the future can't show her who to trust in the present. And though James is Fia's first love, Fia knows he's hiding something. The sisters can rely only on each other - but that may not be enough to save them.

Why I want to read it:

I read and enjoyed Mind Games, the first book in the series, and really want read this one to see what happens next.

Review Copy Cleanup 4.0

I'm signing up to participate in the Review Copy Cleanup 4.0. My goal is to read at least 12 books. I'll be keeping track of my progress on this post, Goodreads, and Twitter.

Here are the details:

• The Review Copy Cleanup 4.0 runs from 1 to 28 February 
• It starts and ends at midnight according to your local timezone to avoid confusion 
• To sign up, just fill in the linky below. Link to your sign up post directly, please! The linky is the same on both of our blogs, so you only have to sign up once 
• The linky will close on the 15th, so make you sign up before then 
• When you post your sign up post on your blog, either include the challenge button with your post or link it back to this article so that people know where to sign up. Thanks! (:
• Every book you received for review counts towards the challenge, both e-books and hard copies (even audiobooks for review, if you have those), including all genres and lengths 
• Feel free to use the #RCCleanup hashtag on Twitter for your RCC related tweets or join in the Twitter party at http://tweetchat.com/room/RCCleanup and meet lots of awesome bloggers (: 
• At the end of every week we will post our personal updates, and we’ll include a linky for you to add yours! 

Review books read:

Very disappointed in myself only reading 4 review books.

A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon

I'm joining the A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon. My goal is to read 5 books and I'll be keeping track of my progress on this post.

Here are the details:

Happy New Year! I know a lot of you have probably been wondering when I would get this posted. Well, here it is...finally! The official sign up for A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon! It's just a little under a month away on January 27 - February 2, starting at 12:00am Monday and ending at 11:59pm on Sunday. Times are central standard time so adjust your times accordingly. Of course, like most read-a-thons, the books read must be novels or novellas, adult or young adult are fine, and you can read children's books too (as long as you do read some novels too). Note: Non-Fiction is also okay! You DO NOT have to participate the entire week. Join in when you can, start in the middle, end early...whatever works best for your schedule. As long as you sign in at the sign-in post and do some kind of wrap up post, you're in for the big giveaway at the end. As with my previous read-a-thons, it will be a week of relaxed reading during which we can personally challenge ourselves and whittle away those ever looming TBR piles/shelves/libraries. I hope you will join me! I will not be hosting any mini-challenges. However, if anyone else would like to host a mini-challenge or giveaway, you are more than welcome (Contact me using the contact form above). We will have a few scheduled Twitter chats. Dates/Times will be announced at the sign-in post. Our twitter hashtag is #WintersRespite

Books read:

I was busy a couple days and that kept me from reading. Also I just didn't feel like reading this week, so with that in mind I'm happy with the amount I was able to read.

Love for Books Readathon

I'm signing up to participate in the Love for Books Readathon. I'll keep track of my progress on this post and will add my goals closer to the start date.

Here are the details:

• The Love for Books Readathon runs from Monday, February 17th at 12:01 am through Sunday, February 23rd at 11:59 pm. 
• We will have at least one mini challenge sometime during the week for you to participate in!
• There will be a giveaway at the end of the readathon for all participants.
• Sign up at Novel Heartbeat or Confessions of a Bookie Monster. You may join whenever you like, but to be eligible for our grand prize giveaway, you must sign up by February 18th.
• To join, all you have to do is make a sign-up post and add your post URL to the linky below! You can put your goals and progress (will be required for the final giveaway) in your sign-up post, or you can make it separate. Totally up to you! 
• In order to enter for the grand prize, you must have a post to keep track of your progress so we can see that you participated.

My goal:

Read 5 books. 

Books read:

Pages: 1,585

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 27, 2014)

What I read last week:

What I am currently reading:

What I hope to read this week:

What are you reading?

The Calling by Suzanne Woods Fisher (Review)

Twenty-year-old Bethany Schrock is restless. Her love life has derailed, her faith hangs by a thread, and she is spending the incredibly hot summer days wading through a lifetime’s accumulation of junk at the home of five ancient Amish sisters. About the only thing that holds her interest is the spirited and dangerously handsome Jimmy Fisher–and he seems bent on irritating her to no end.

When the sly old sisters and a guest at the Inn get Bethany involved in running the local soup kitchen and starting a community garden, she suddenly finds herself wondering, Shootfire! How did that happen? Despite her newfound purposefulness, a gnawing emptiness about a childhood mystery continues to plague her. Encouraged by Jimmy Fisher, she will seek out the answers she craves–and uncover a shocking secret that will break her heart, heal it, and point her to love.

I GIVE THIS BOOK:

MY THOUGHTS:
After reading The Letters , book one in the Inn at Eagle Hill series, I didn't have high hopes for this book. It was slightly better than the first one but I think that's only because I knew who almost all the characters were - in the first book I was lost for the first several chapters.

I like how the book is told from several points of view, but that's about all I really liked.

There were so many times when things were repeated, in a different way, within a couple paragraphs that it very much got on my nerves. I found it annoying when something was mentioned by one of the characters and then shortly thereafter (usually within the same setting, same people) was repeated, as if stated for the first time. That seemed to happen quite often.

For a book that takes place with people from the Old Order Amish I was surprised when on several occasions it was made to sound as if everyone had a phone right near them. I know there are phone shanties, but it didn't sound like that was what they were using a lot of the time.

I've heard some say that this book could be a stand-alone but I completely disagree. The story may shift the main perspective to a different character, in this case Bethany, but it still is moving forward from the previous one and adding on to it. There's a back story to the series, how Rose's husband's investment firm went bankrupt and the ramifications of that, so if you were to jump in with The Calling I think a lot of that would be missed.

To me this series is one that you'd read if you want something light when you don't have much time to read and are constantly having to put the book down, as so many things are repeated.

I may read the next book in this series when it releases but it's not on the top of my list to do so.

***I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.***

If you found this review helpful, will you please click yes HERE. Thanks!

The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen (Review)

Finding himself the man of the family, London dancing master Alec Valcourt moves his mother and sister to remote Devonshire, hoping to start over. But he is stunned to learn the village matriarch has prohibited all dancing, for reasons buried deep in her past.

Alec finds an unlikely ally in the matriarch's daughter. Though he's initially wary of Julia Midwinter's reckless flirtation, he comes to realize her bold exterior disguises a vulnerable soul--and hidden sorrows of her own.

Julia is quickly attracted to the handsome dancing master--a man her mother would never approve of--but she cannot imagine why Mr. Valcourt would leave London, or why he evades questions about his past. With Alec's help, can Julia uncover old secrets and restore life to her somber village...and to her mother's tattered heart?

Filled with mystery and romance, The Dancing Master brings to life the intriguing profession of those who taught essential social graces for ladies and gentlemen hoping to make a "good match" in Regency England.

I GIVE THIS BOOK:

MY THOUGHTS:
I have read and greatly enjoyed all of Julie Klassen's previous books and had been awaiting the release of The Dancing Master for almost a year. So I was slightly disappointed when I started the story and found that I didn't like either of the main characters, at all!

Julia was a selfish, spoiled girl who seemed to derive pleasure from defying and vexing her mother. She was such a flirt too! I was honestly rooting against her for so much of the book and that's never good.

Alec was too much of a dandy for my tastes. He cared so much about his appearance that it got on my nerves. If he got one smudge on anything the whole outfit had to change.

Now I did love many of the secondary characters: The Allens, Desmond, Lady Amelia, Mrs. Tickle, and Mr. Barlow. However, my love of them didn't increase my enjoyment of the book that much, since almost every scene they're in, the main characters are in as well.

I loved the cover from the first time I saw it and after reading the story I loved it even more. It was great how it is an exact scene from the book. Her outfit is described as follows:

The woman then help her on with a soft green evening gown with embroidered flowers, ribbon sash, and short puffed sleeves. Her cameo necklace and long kid gloves completed the ensemble.

I think it's just a perfect cover!

I thought the whole reason behind the town not allowing dancing for so long was very silly, and a bit of a stretch, but that on the whole wasn't that big of a deal.

If you have read and loved Julie Klassen's previous books, you'll more than likely still want to read The Dancing Master. However if you have seen many people rave about Julie's books and are thinking of reading one, I would suggest you start elsewhere. My favorites of hers are Lady of Milkweed Manor, The Apothecary's Daughter, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, and The Tutor's Daughter.

***I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.***

If you found this review helpful, will you please click yes HERE. Thanks!