Wishful Wednesday: The Sin Eater's Daughter (The Sin Eater's Daughter #1) by Melinda Salisbury

Wishful Wednesday was inspired by Waiting on Wednesday and Desperately Wanting Wednesday by Breaking the Spine and Parajunkee.

Wishful Wednesday is my own little version of "Waiting On Wednesday". Every week, I'll pick an upcoming book that I'm anticipating the release for and showcase it here on the blog. This week, that book is going to be The Sin Eater's Daughter (The Sin Eater's Daughter #1) by the super talented Melinda Salisbury. 

A lead female progtag, who's also an executoner. OH, HELL YEAH! I was like O_O, when I first read the synopsis for this one on Goodreads. She instantly kills anyone that she touches, she's also promised to the Prince who doesn't seem all that interested in getting too close to her, and she has to choose between doing whatever it takes to protect her Kingdom or choose a doomed love interest. Um, yeah...I'm so there. I don't know about you, but I'm definitely excited for this one. And that cover, gah! It's so wickedly gorgeous, I have such a soft spot for pretty covers that catch the eye.

The Sin Eater's Daughter (The Sin Eater's Daughter #1) by Melinda Salisbury

Expected Publication: February 24, 2015

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Age Demographic: YA Fantasy
Pages: 336

Seventeen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she’s engaged to the prince, Twylla isn’t exactly a member of the court.

She’s the executioner.

As the Goddess embodied, Twylla instantly kills anyone she touches. Each month she’s taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love a girl with murder in her veins. Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to Twylla’s fatal touch, avoids her company.

But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose easy smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he’s able to look past Twylla’s executioner robes and see the girl, not the Goddess. Yet Twylla’s been promised to the prince, and knows what happens to people who cross the queen.

However, a treasonous secret is the least of Twylla’s problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies, a plan that requires a stomach-churning, unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?

To PreOrder a copy of The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury visit Amazon & Barnes&Noble!

Website Twitter Instagram 

Melinda Salisbury lives by the sea, somewhere in the south of England. As a child she genuinely thought Roald Dahl’s Matilda was her biography, in part helped by her grandfather often mistakenly calling her Matilda, and the local library having a pretty cavalier attitude to the books she borrowed. Sadly she never manifested telekinetic powers. She likes to travel, and have adventures. She also likes medieval castles, non-medieval aquariums, Richard III, and all things Scandinavian The Sin Eater's Daughter is her first novel. She can be found on Twitter at @AHintofMystery, though be warned, she tweets often.

You can also find her on Goodreads and Tumblr.

V Mafia Book Excerpt + Giveaway: Salt and Stone (Fire & Flood, #2) by Victoria Scott

How excited are you for the upcoming (just two weeks away, ahhh!!!) release of the second book in Victoria Scott's Fire & Flood series, Salt & Stone?! 

I can't wait and I can't sit on the awesome goodies that I have in store for you either, thanks to the amazingly brilliant and super talented, Victoria Scott. I've managed to somehow get my hands on a rather enticing and super drool-worthy teaser to tide you guys over until the book comes out ANNNNNND a fantastic giveaway for a signed UK copy of Fire & Flood, a signed galley of Salt & Stone, and some signed swag too!

Pretty super cool, don'tcha think?! :)

Fire & Flood (Fire & Flood, #1) 

by Victoria Scott

Published: February 25, 2014

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Age Demographic: YA Dystopia

Pages: 325

Buy Links: Amazon | B&N

Time is slipping away.... 

Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

Salt & Stone (Fire & Flood, #2)

by Victoria Scott

Published: February 24, 2015

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Age Demographic: YA Dystopia

Pages: 320

Buy Links: Amazon | B&N

What would you do to save someone you love?

In Fire & Flood, Tella Holloway faced a dangerous trek through the jungle and across the desert, all to remain a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed for a chance at obtaining the Cure for her brother. She can't quit--she has to win the race, save Cody, and then fight to make sure the race stops before it can claim any more lives. In the next legs of the race, across the ocean and over mountains, Tella will face frostbite, sharks, avalanche, and twisted new rules in the race.

But what if the danger is deeper than that? How do you know who to trust when everyone's keeping secrets? What do you do when the person you'd relied on most suddenly isn't there for support? How do you weigh one life against another?

The race is coming to an end, and Tella is running out of time, resources, and strength. At the start of the race there were one hundred twenty-two Contenders. As Tella and her remaining friends start the final part of the race, just forty-one are left--and only one can win.

NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE ENTICING TO GET YOU IN THE MOOD?! :p

Excerpt from Salt&Stone
by Victoria Scott

I swallow and stare at him in the dark, my entire body itching to feel his touch. When I see the anticipation in his stance, the way he looks at me as if I’m both infuriating and appealing — it makes me feel powerful. But when he takes a step in my direction, that power plummets to some place untouchable. Now I’m a seventeen-year-old girl again, standing in the shadows with someone who feels like he’s lived three lives to my one.

“Come with me,” he orders.

There’s no room for refusal, and I don’t want there to be. He takes my hand to help me step over sleeping bodies, both human and Pandora. When I stumble, he leans over and sweeps beneath my knees. I’m brought into his arms with the same ease I may use to curl a rabbit to my chest. But I’m not such an innocent, silent creature.

I’ve got spirit and fire in spades. Though, right now, as he carries me to the single back bedroom, I have neither. I’m somebody else now. I’m Tella Holloway, Boston girl turned Montana transplant, sitting on the edge of her bed, awaiting her very first date with the boy who makes her parents uneasy. A boy who doesn’t speak nearly enough, but when he does, this girl stops and listens. In my mind’s eye, I’m wearing the silver-sequined dress that’s hibernated in my closet far too long. I feel beautiful and confident, and who cares if he said we’re going to the lake at night? I want to glimpse the look on his face when he sees me. I envision how his entire face will light up as if it’s lit from within. How his full lips will part slightly and his cold blue eyes will soften.

Guy sets me on my feet, and I gaze up at him.

Oh yes. Right there. That’s the look I imagined.

© 2015 Victoria Scott. From Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott, published by Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved.

The giveaway for a signed UK copy of Fire & Flood, a signed galley of Salt & Stone, and some signed swag. Just fill out the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win this awesomeness!

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About the Author

Website * Twitter * Facebook

Victoria Scott is the author of TITANS (Scholastic, Spring 2016), the FIRE & FLOOD series (Scholastic), and the DANTE WALKER trilogy (Entangled Teen). Her books have been bought and translated in eleven foreign markets, and she is represented by Sara Crowe.

Victoria lives in Dallas with her husband and hearts cotton candy something fierce.

Book Review: Sinner (Wolves of Mercy Falls #3.5) by Maggie Stiefvater

Sinner
Wolves of Mercy Falls #3.5

Sinner

Wolves of Mercy Falls #3.5

Maggie Stiefvater

Published: July 1, 2014

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Age Demographic: YA Paranormal Fantasy

Pages: 368

A standalone companion book to the internationally bestselling Shiver Trilogy. 

Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Trilogy. Everybody thinks they know Cole's story. Stardom. Addiction. Downfall. Disappearance. But only a few people know Cole's darkest secret -- his ability to shift into a wolf. One of these people is Isabel. At one point, they may have even loved each other. But that feels like a lifetime ago. Now Cole is back. Back in the spotlight. Back in the danger zone. Back in Isabel's life. Can this sinner be saved?

To PreOrder Sinner (Wolves of Mercy Falls  #3.5) 

by Maggie Stiefvater please visit: Amazon & B&N

(Note: I received an ARC of this book via ATW ARC Tours, in exchange for an honest review.)

The Wolves of Mercy Falls is one of my favorite paranormal romance series. It's beautifully written, gorgeously compelling, and just full of amazing characters that you can't help but love. So, I was extremely excited when I discovered that Maggie Stiefvater was going to write another book featuring characters from that particular series. Sinner is a gorgeous stand alone companion novel to this awesome series, that is beautifully poetic, and full of raw emotional turmoil that will grip readers hearts in the palm of its hand and squeeze them until they burst. Cole St. Claire and Isabel will leave you absolutely breathless and gasping for more.

Right off the bat, Maggie Stiefvater, pulls readers in with the opening line "I'm a werewolf in L.A." and keeps them captivated with the thrilling tale she has spun so beautifully and imaginatively. It's probably the best line in the entire novel, if you want to know the truth. It helps to set the tone right away and showcase Cole St. Claire in a way that defines his character throughout the full length of the story being told. It's a dangerous, terrifying, illustrious love affair that's full of pain, despair, heartache, and amazing emotion that will hook you from the beginning and keep you turning the pages until the last one has been read. It gives you a different perspective on two characters lives in such a way that you can't help but become entangled in their epic affair.

This isn't Mercy Falls anymore, this is L.A. to borrow a lyric from Sheryl Crow, and what you get is something different, mysterious, dark, tantalizing, and alluring. Cole and Isabel are incredibly raw, edgy, broken, and full of strong differing opinions that sometimes it causes havoc in their tumultuous relationship. They are so intensely emotional that it's hard not to fall in love with the idea of the two of them together. As rough as Isabel is, her tough exterior somehow manages to cloak how much pain and hurt she possesses beneath the rough and tumble facade she displays to the world. Cole has made and continues to make so many mistakes in his life, his emotional issues run much deeper than they were ever explored in the Wolves of Mercy Falls and it's heartbreaking to watch his struggles throughout Sinner. Yet, it's one of the most beautiful aspects of the book, how he tries his best to navigate the complicated waters of his relationship with Isabel, reconcile with his past, and rise above everything else. 

As much as Cole is touted the "sinner" in this novel, I was very happy to see that this story didn't exactly fall prey to the "savior complex" troph that I usually see in books of this nature. It was more the route of Isabel and Cole helping one another to save themselves, rather than to save the other one. Or, at least, that's the way that I read it. They both seem to have this uncanny ability to make the other one better, even though their relationship was definitely messy and heartbreakingly complicated at times. Aside from Cole and Isabel, there are some other wonderful characters that Stiefvater introduced that will fill in those few spaces of your heart, characters like Leon, Jeremy, and Sofia. Out of them all, I think that Leon, is the one who really managed to steal my heart. There was just something so magical and right about him, I just couldn't help but love everything that he brought to the story. 

Sinner is so much more than just another paranormal fantasy book about werewolves, it's a story that's incredibly real and raw in more ways than one. It's a story that isn't afraid to highlight the dangers of addiction, the highs and lows of fame, complicated relationships that are full of so much pain and anguish, and heartbreak. It's a story that's teaming with so many realistic real-world issues that you can't help but forget that you're reading a story about werewolves, because it feels as if these things could actually happen. They did happen, they happened to Cole and Isabel and getting to read their story was definitely one of the highlights of my summer, so far. If you're a fan of young adult paranormal fantasy and you enjoy reading books that induce many feels, then this would definitely be the novel for you to pick up. Even though Sinner is a stand alone companion novel to the Wolves of Mercy Falls I would recommend that you read that series first, before you read this book just so that you can understand the back story for Cole and Isabel.

Maggie Stiefvater

Website Twitter Facebook

New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader.

All of Maggie Stiefvater's life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she's tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. 

She's made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

Book Review for The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Published: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Age Demographic: YA Paranormal
Pages: 416

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

Amazon || B&N || Book Depository

“ There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

Maggie Stiefvater creates a stunning new spellbinding world that captures spirit, intrigue, and beautifully crafted world building with, The Raven Boys. She weaves together, once again, a beautiful illusive tapestry of myths, legend, and psychic abilities that will eagerly draw reader's in and keep them deeply entrenched in the rich details the story has to offer. It is a wonderfully written and magnificently developed mystical ride, sure to enrapture reader's leaving them breathless and filled with anticipation. Gorgeously intense and realistically believable, The Raven Boys depicts a truly suspenseful tale sure to entertain. It is a tale that will tug at reader's heartstrings, with rich intensely vibrant and wonderful character's that come to life and leap off the pages.

Blue is the strong and sensible type of girl that reader's will be able to relate to, the most. She's likable in many ways, with a few realistic flaws of her own which makes it easier to connect with her more on a realistic level. She's done pretty well at dealing with growing up in a house that isn't anything less than unusual. Her mother and Calla, Maura, and Persephone are brillinatly colorful, bringing so much life to the pages in their own eccentric ways and personality flare. They add a lot of whimsical unusual fun to the story, enriching it in so many other details, aspects, and facets. Reader's will definitely find themselves enjoying these colorful kooky character's as they get to know them one by one.

The friendship between each one of the Raven Boys, is one of the best aspects of this wonderfully written and enjoyable novel. Each of them possesses their own painful backstory, that Maggie Stiefvater manages to gradually reveal over time. It's heartbreaking and beautiful, but it's such an amazingly touching story. These group of boys are incredibly complex and complicated to figure out at first, but once reader's get to know them along the way they will surely fall in love with each of them. Together, they each bring so much depth and layers to the story. I personally enjoyed how well compatible they were with one another, it made the story much more interesting and enjoyable.

Maggie Steifvater has managed to pen such a beautifully illustrated, deeply rich and intense, emotional story that is just as eloquent and almost lyrical at times. She never fails to set the stage or the mood, with whatever she is writing. Fans of her previous novels, will not be disappointed with The Raven Boys. It is an amazing start to what is soon to be another brilliant series on her behalf. She has truly outdone herself, by writing one of the most character driven novels full of dark beguiling beauty and intrigue.

The Raven Boys is a book that reader's will definitely not want to miss out on!

To Purchase Maggie Stiefvater's Books Visit Amazon.Com

MAGGIE STIEFVATER 

Website || Twitter || Facebook || Goodreads 

All of Maggie Stiefvater's life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she's tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She's made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

Well, what are you waiting for?! Check out this amazing book NOW!!!

{This ARC was provided by ATW ARC Tours, in exchange for an honest review which I have provided. No money exchanged hands, I review books for fun because I love to read. I am not interested in monetary gain. Any piece of this ARC that was or wasn't quoted, is not part of the finished product and should not be perceived as such. Instead, you should compare and check it against a finished copy once it is released.}