Shopaholic Sundays (1)

Shopaholic Sundays are a new feature here at I Write, I Read, I Review. This is where I will be sharing the books that I have bought, borrowed or received either as review copies from authors or publishers, as gifts from friends, or from winning giveaways.

In addition to this, Shopaholic Sundays is an opportunity for me to share with you the books that I find exciting that are coming up in the following week, and to say a few words and highlight a couple I am really excited about. Let me know which books releasing this week you are excited about, too. :)

Odds are I will be linking this up to some of the new mailbox / showcase / etc. memes that are popping up since part of this is appropriate for that. I just feel that if I am going to get to change something on my blog, then it deserves a real and legitimate change. I want to see something good come of it, and anything that gets people talking more here seems like s step in the right direction.

I would love to hear your feedback on this, guys. :) My goal, as always, is to provide quality content that is interesting, entertaining and able to get everyone talking. 

So, what did I get?

For Review:

Love Sucks
by Sage Collins

Mailee Jones is about to answer the age old question: "How much love would a love sucker suck if a love sucker fell in love?"

Mailee is a Haustrix, an otherwise normal girl with a demon gene that causes her to consume love from any human she touches. Afraid of draining anyone completely, she's been leading an isolated life, relying on Eric, a hunky lust-draining Haustor and the only person she can safely touch. She's content to avoid humans for all but the quickest possible hand-brushes with the dreaded cheerleaders to keep from starving.

Until she meets Logan, a diabetic who is the first human to understand Mailee's anguish over her diet. But growing close to him means risking his love for her. Mailee's convinced it's time to do something--anything--to become human. But the only antidote requires her to release and be systematically infected by demons representing each of the Seven Deadly Sins. Sloth and Pride? Okay, fine, but sins like Wrath and Envy aren't so easy, as proven when possessed-Mailee punches the cheerleader who's making eyes at Eric. Can she honestly get through all the sins?

Not to mention this new issue--is she interested in Eric instead? Because if she turns human, she'll lose him. Forever.

I featured this in a Waiting On Wednesday post recently because I thought the premise was so interesting. So of course I am delighted to have the opportunity to review it. Odds are I will be starting it either tonight or tomorrow, since I am almost done reading Beastly. I am really looking forward to it. 


I Bought: (physical books)

I have two things I want to say about these books:

(1) I've resisted picking these up for a while now. I have learned, time and again, that what is "trendy" and what I actually like do not tend to line up very often. If you look at my one star reviews, a lot of them are for books that I broke down and decided to read so I could weigh in one what all the fuss is about. Will the Fifty Shades trilogy break this trend? We shall have to wait and see. These were requested by Jay. *shakes head* <-- Yes, my boyfriend actually wants to hear about them. Scary, huh?

(2) Whoever is telling employees at WalMart to stock these in the YA section needs to seriously stop! Now! Wow was I mad about that. Just because the author's books have some connection to Twilight, that does not mean they are immediately appropriate for the same audience. I've never been one to be very for controlling what teens read, but this is ridiculous. My issue isn't so much that they can get it -- that'll happen regardless. Rather, I am worried that people are going to pick these up and not realize what they are getting. And the backlash from that, because of store placement, is going to hit YA lit because someone decided this would be a clever marketing gimmick. *flame off*

The one positive thing I will say about this little adventure is that it will do one thing I've been making a habit of lately -- getting me out of my comfort zone. Because I read a lot more now that I blog, one of the side effects I've began to notice is that books can bleed together and this can cause me to have reading slumps or to start and stop multiple books because they just don't click.

I Bought: (for my Kindle)

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1. Storm by Brigid Kemmerer -- Giselle over at Xpresso Reads seemed really excited about this book and the enthusiasm in her review made me want to check it out. I downloaded a sample from Amazon and I am hooked. I cannot wait to sit down with this 'for real' and read from start to finish. It left me with that feeling of "Oh, damn. The sample is done. I want the rest *now*." But I was at the hospital with grandma and didn't bring me card with me, so that could not happen at the time. 

2. Radiate by Marley Gibson -- Another book that ended up in my cart because of Giselle. I was already interested in Radiate, but with all that my grandma has been through in the past three weeks I've been wary to touch any books that have cancer as a plot point. This sounds interesting and inspiring, though. Do I realize this character and my grandma are in different situations? Absolutely. My reluctance was to do with keeping an 'up' mentality for her. This does not seem like it should disrupt that.

3. A Stiff Kiss by Avery Olive -- A while ago Avery wrote a post about having her first book signing and I clicked it, intending to congratulate her and curious what she had written. The blurb for her book sounded so interesting that I decided I should download it and write a review. Even though I am a bit behind on getting things done the way I want to, I figure if I get the book onto my Kindle the odds of it getting read are much higher. 

What Should I Buy Next?

There are certain posts that go up throughout the book blogging community that you can be certain I will follow. BB101 over at Parajunkee's View, Daydreamer's Ramblings over at Ramblings of a Daydreamer and the rambles that go up at Fiktshun's Ramblings all immediately come to mind. The one I want to mention here, though, is Fresh Batch. (Yes, you're getting mentioned again, Giselle.) I am not the greatest at keeping track of what is releasing, but I am also an incurable shopaholic who buys way too many new books. Fresh Batch "helps" with my addiction. :p

Why am I bringing it up here? Well, it's where I am finding the books that I will be talking about here. These are a few books releasing in the next week that I am tempted to buy. If there is one you'd totally love to see reviewed, let me know. :) 

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1. Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins -- A girl finds out that she must tempt people to sin in order to live. For your average 'I want to be a good person' character, that's bound to be a shock. Also, the romance is suppose to be good and that always draws me in. 

2. The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova -- It has mermaids in it, so it already has my attention. But we're adding a menacing element from them and a character who can't remember what happened to him when he disappeared for three days? This is getting strange and I am getting curious. 

3. The Breakaway by Michelle Davidson Argyle -- I've wanted to read this since the first time I heard about it. I don't know what it is that makes me so intrigued by the situation in this book, but I am and odds are I will buy it pretty quick. 

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4. Taste by Kate Evangelista -- Everything about this book has made me only more eager to sit down and read it. The premise is fascinating, the trailer was catchy and the excerpts drew me in. What's not to love? 

5. Insurgent by Veronica Roth -- I absolutely loved Divergent so picking this up is going to be as natural as breathing. And if it's as good as the first book, I'll probably have to schedule a day to read it because when I read Divergent I could not put it down. 

6. The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin -- Harnessing the energy in peoples' dreams to be able to heal, sooth and kill? First up, taking what happens when someone dreams sounds majorly creepy. And then doing who knows what with it to boot? Yeah, you have my attention. This seems a bit different then what I would normally read, but the concept is so interesting I couldn't resist including it. 

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7. Slated by Teri Terry -- The government has the power to erase your memory? I think I'd rather just die, thank you. The possible ramifications and misuses of this are making me queasy just thinking about it. I wonder what the truth is here? I guess I'll need to read to find out. 

8. Beguiled by RaShelle Workman -- A wicked, beautiful, beguiling God who rules a realm of hell? And someone named Venus who needs to go there to save someone? Sign me up. This is another book with an idea that immediately makes me want to pick it up. Yes, I really am that quirky. 

9. Knee Deep by Jolene B. Perry -- Will she make it out of this mess? That's all I can think here, having read the summary. This runs the risk of her jumping from one relationship into another and I wonder what the author will actually do with what she has put together here. I haven't been reading as much contemporary, which is a shame since I love it, so I am pretty tempted to check this out. 

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10. Being Friends With Boys by Terra Elan McVoy -- This is a more 'fun' looking contemporary that I've been hearing about quite a bit. I was always one of the guys growing up so I can relate to what is going on here. I wonder just how odd things will get when someone realizes Char is a girl? 

11. Brownies and Broomsticks by Bailey Cates -- From the cover to the description this looks like it will blend a whimsical magic system and an interesting 'who done it?' mystery. What I particularly like, personally, is that the goal is to clear a character's name rather then to simple figure out who killed Mr. X ... The fact that someone's life / happiness / etc. depends on it makes it more compelling to me.

12. Wrecked by Anna Davies -- Last but definitely not least. I wonder what 'classic tale' we are dealing with here. My money says something to do with Merfolk since we're near water but there's other stuff going on, too, that could have me be totally mistaken. Either way, I definitely want to download a sample and see what I think. 

So, what did you buy, borrow or receive this week? What books releasing in the next week are you eager to read? (You can find a list of what's available here.) I'd love to know, so feel free to leave a comment.