The Week’s Entrée #20

Posted June 23, 2014 by Melissa in Uncategorized / 7 Comments

Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by to another edition of The Week’s Entrée. I’ll try to keep everything short and simple this time since I have several new books to share with you today. But first…

Did you hear the news?
Strange Chemistry is closing for good.
Four days ago, Angry Robot Books (owned by Osprey Publishing Group) announced that Strange Chemistry and Exhibit A will be closing effective immediately due to these imprints “not making the cut”. These are very sad news for the authors working on both of these imprints and for us readers alike. All book contracts have been canceled, meaning that we may not see anytime soon the books Strange Chemistry and Exhibit A were going to publish, unless the authors find another publisher or decide to self-publish. 
Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen, Some Fine Day by Kat Ross and Essence by Lissa Ann O’Kane are among the books and authors that have been affected by this news. My heart aches for them since I loved these books so much. I now understand so many things concerning these titles and let me tell you, all of the authors that worked with Strange Chemistry and Exhibit A have fought teeth and nails to get their books into our hands, even when they felt the doors were closing on them.
I think all of Strange Chemistry‘s and Exhibit A’s titles are still available for purchase, so if you want to go check them out before they are taken down, that would be so awesome. The authors need all of the support they can get.
I’ll miss you Strange Chemistry. 
******
*Sigh* With the sad news out of the way, let me show you the big haul of books I got last week.
Books I Bought, Won or Received:

{Bought}

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Published: April 24th, 2012/ Harlequin Teen 
Genre: YA Paranormal

To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for… again.

Enter Julie Kagawa’s dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins. 

I already owned The Immortal Rules as an iBook (got it free) but since I saw the ebook on sale on the Kobo store, I just had to have it for my ereader.

{Won}

Camp Boyfriend by J.K. Rock

Published: April 29th, 2014/ Spencer Hill 
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

The summer of her dreams is about to get a reality check.

They said it couldn’t be done, but geeky sophomore Lauren Carlson transformed herself into a popular girl after moving to a new school halfway across the country. Amazing what losing her braces and going out for cheerleading will do. Only trouble is, the popular crowd is wearing on Lauren’s nerves and she can’t wait to return to summer camp where she’s valued for her brain instead of her handsprings. She misses her old friends and most of all, her long time camp-only boyfriend, Seth. This year she intends to upgrade their relationship to year-round status once she’s broken up with her new, jock boyfriend, Matt. He doesn’t even begin to know the real her, a girl fascinated by the night sky who dreams of discovering new planets and galaxies.

But Matt isn’t giving her up without a fight. As he makes his case to stay together, Lauren begins to realize his feelings run deeper than she ever would have guessed. What if the guy she thought she was meant to be with forever isn’t really The One? Returning to Camp Juniper Point was supposed to ground her uprooted life, but she’s more adrift than ever. Everything feels different and soon Lauren’s friends are turning on her and both guys question what she really wants. As summer tensions escalate, Lauren wonders if she’s changed more than she thought. Will her first big discovery be herself?

*****

Camp Payback by J.K. Rock

Published: April 29th, 2014/ Spencer Hill 
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Alex has big plans for camp this year, starting with making it the best summer ever. Having fun and breaking some rules will get her the payback she wants against her parents and her ex-boyfriend. Because of his disgusting texts, she’s headed to a super strict all-girls school in the fall. 

Then she meets Javier and revenge doesn’t seem nearly as important as getting to know the troubled loner determined to keep a low profile at camp. But Alex’s trouble-magnet personality and Javier’s need to stay in the background don’t mix nearly as well as their irresistible chemistry. 

With her home life eroding under her feet and her last year of summer camp speeding to a close, Alex wants to make her mark on the world and squeeze every bit of fun out of her time with Javier. Too bad her old plans for revenge turn back on her just in time to ruin everything. Will she lose Javier too? 

I won both of these ebooks from the author on the Chapter by Chapter Book Rave online pàrty on facebook. I couldn’t believe my luck when I found out I had won them! They look pretty cool. 



{For Review}

Playing Nice by Rebekah Crane

Published: January 22rd, 2013/In This Together Media 
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Martina “Marty” Hart is really nice. At least, that’s what people think. 
It’s Marty’s junior year at Minster High. Minster’s a small town where making great grades, smiling pretty, helping old people, running the new-student Welcoming Committee, and putting up decorations for all the dances–including the totally awful Hot Shot fall hunting celebration–gets you … what? Marty’s not sure. Instead of dreaming about a sororities-and-frats future at nearby University of Michigan, she’s restless, searching for a way out of the box her controlling mother and best frenemy Sarah have locked her in. When Lil–don’t call her Lily!–Hatfield transfers to Minster, Marty gets her chance. Lil’s different. She smokes, wears black, listens to angry punk records, and lives in a weird trailer with her mother. Lil has secrets–secrets that make her a target for all the gossiping and online bullying Minster can muster. But so does Marty. And Marty sees something different in Lil. Something honest. 
Something real. 
PLAYING NICE is the achingly true story of a girl who’s been following the rules for so long she’s forgotten who she was when she started. It’s about falling in love with the wrong people and not seeing the right ones, about the moments in life when you step out of line, take a chance … and begin to break free.
I was sent this book (digital format) by the publisher since I enjoyed Rebekah’s other  book, Aspen. I might have danced the conga for a few minutes there to shake off my excitement.
From Netgalley…

Feuds by Avery Hastings

Pub. Date: September 2nd, 2014/ St. Martin’s Griffin 
Genre: YA Dystopian

In this breathless story of impossible love, perfection comes at deadly a cost.

For Davis Morrow, perfection is a daily reality. Like all Priors, Davis has spent her whole life primed to be smarter, stronger, and more graceful than the lowly Imperfects, or “Imps.” A fiercely ambitious ballerina, Davis is only a few weeks away from qualifying for the Olympiads and finally living up to her mother’s legacy when she meets Cole, a mysterious boy who leaves her with more questions each time he disappears.

Davis has no idea that Cole has his own agenda, or that he’s a rising star in the FEUDS, an underground fighting ring where Priors gamble on Imps. Cole has every reason to hate Davis—her father’s campaign hinges on the total segregation of the Imps and Priors—but despite his best efforts, Cole finds himself as drawn to Davis as she is to him.

Then Narxis, a deadly virus, takes its hold–and Davis’s friends start dying. When the Priors refuse to acknowledge the epidemic, Davis has no one to turn to but Cole. Falling in love was never part of their plan, but their love may be the only thing that can save her world…in Avery Hastings’s Feuds.

*****

The Good Sister by Jamie Kain

Pub. Date: October 7th, 2014/ St. Martin’s Griffin 
Genre: YA Contemporary

The Kinsey sisters live in an unconventional world. Their parents are former flower-children who still don’t believe in rules. Their small, Northern California town is filled with free spirits and damaged souls seeking refuge from the real world. Without the anchor of authority, the three girls are adrift and have only each other to rely on.
Rachel is wild. Asha is lost. Sarah, the good sister, is the glue that holds them together. But the forces of a mysterious fate have taken Sarah’s life in a sudden and puzzling accident, sending her already fractured family into a tailspin of grief and confusion. Asha has questions. Rachel has secrets. And Sarah, waking up in the afterlife, must piece together how she got there.
Pretty stoked when I saw that St. Martin’s Griffin had approved me to view both these titles on Netgalley! The premises sound downright good and I can’t wait to read them.

*****
To Read This Week:

I’m currently reading The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa and Love Unfeigned by Nadine Keels. Planning on reading a third book this week too and writing plenty of reviews that needed to be written a long time ago. Gotta blame school and work for that, okay? 😉
******

And that’s it for this edition of The Week’s Entrée. What book(s) are you planning to read this week? Any thoughts about Strange Chemistry’s closing? 🙂


7 responses to “The Week’s Entrée #20

  1. So sad for the authors over at Strange Chemistry 🙁 I didn't see that one coming…
    On a positive note, you got quite some lovely reads in your hands, good for you! 😀

    • It is! I'm crossing my fingers that they get picked up by other publishers soon. Tney truly deserve it, so talented.

  2. Oh wow nice haul this week. Sorry to hear about Strange Chemistry & Exhibit A – I'm sure those authors will find new publishers and carry on giving us great books!! The Immortal Rules looks awesome!!

    Chanzie @ Mean Who You Are.