Waiting on Wednesday (35)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

From Goodreads:

In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners, and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her "uncle" Dolf, has been shielded from that side of society ever since her father traded his life for Dolf's, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.

Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.

And Gretchen follows his every command.

Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen. Gretchen should despise Daniel, yet she can't stop herself from listening to his story: that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade. She also can't help the fierce attraction brewing between them, despite everything she's been taught to believe about Jews.

As Gretchen investigates the very people she's always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of her former life as a Nazi darling, or will she dare to dig up the truth—even if it could get her and Daniel killed?

From debut author Anne Blankman comes this harrowing and evocative story about an ordinary girl faced with the extraordinary decision to give up everything she's ever believed . . . and to trust her own heart instead.

A World War II story featuring a forbidden romance and Nazis and Adolf Hitler seems risky, which is exactly why I want to read this book. I look forward to reading it and finding out if all those risks payed off.

What are you waiting on this week? Leave links to your WoW posts below so I can check them out!

(And if you haven't already, check out our giveaway!)

Katherine Rambles About The Raven Cycle Series

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1)

by Maggie Stiefvater From Goodreads:

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.

I received the Raven boys last year from our old librarian after the ARC was sitting in her cabinet for a few months. I wasn’t all too interested in it until I actually started reading. This book was unlike anything I had ever read before, and I loved it. Although it took a little while to get into, it was so worth it. The story first starts a little bit confusing, the reader entera the normal world of Henrietta; the land that held the ley line, psychics, private school boys looking for the lost Welsh king Glendower and a pretty special girl. Many of the things were not understandable at first but after time I fell into the story. Blue, one of the main character lives in a house FULL of physics, but she is not one. All she does is make their power stronger. I love Blue’s character a lot. She’s always been the odd one out in her family, but she is able to become someone of importance and not just the Blue that is only helpful when her family needs extra power.

While getting caught up in this hunt for a bunch of things, I just got swept up in the stories and became really invested in the lives of the characters. There’s Blue whose kiss can kill her true love, Gansey with his dedication to his hunt that he has spent years on, Adam who has to work on staying in Aglionby the private school that he received a scholarship for, Noah whose usual silent presence is reassuring, and Ronan with a bad attitude and deep secrets. I felt a connection to each of these characters and loved them each separately.

Since the first book ends with some major stuff happening and a sort of cliff hanger I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I pre-ordered The Dream Thieves, but then almost forgot about it. I finally picked it up after a refresher read of The Raven Boys. The group is still hunting, and they are some riffs that occur. Adam is getting frustrated after events from the first book and we get to know more about Ronan’s background. I was super excited about learning about Ronan and it did not disappoint! Some things happened with a new character and him. I also loved getting to read more from Adam’s perspective. Adam was my favorite of the boys from the first book, but now they keep getting switched up. The introduction of the Gray Man was a super interesting and mysterious twist in the books. The Dream Thieves was an awesome addition to the Raven Cycle Books and I’m so happy I continued reading The Raven Boys!

I just really love these books, and it’s my second attempt at writing one of these so it won’t be the best, (and I tried to not include spoilers) but I hope I could have convinced someone to read these books (Maybe Megan or Rachel?). I can’t wait for the next book especially since the keep ending on one line cliff hangers. If you want you should really watch the book trailer for The Raven Boys because it’s really pretty. 

Rachel's Dark Days Tour NYC Recap (+ Giveaway!)

On February 18th, we attended the Dark Days Tour Event at the 92Y in New York City. This tour featured four authors: Kiersten White (author of Perfect Lies and the Paranormalcy series), Veronica Rossi (author of the Under the Never Sky series), Sophie Jordan (author of Uninvited and the Firelight series), and Tahereh Mafi (author of the Shatter Me series). Since Megan, Katherine, and I are big fans of all of these authors, attending this event was a no-brainer for us.

source

As if these authors aren't awesome enough, Ransom Riggs (author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children) was there to moderate the event. He's a cool guy and a great author, so I was excited about his addition to the Dark Days Team.

Since the event is run by HarperTeen, the lovely ladies of Epic Reads were in attendance. (Margot and Aubry run the Epic Reads website, and they do weekly Tea Time livestreams.) We saw them briefly before the event started and planned on finding them afterward to talk to them and get a picture, but they ended up leaving before we'd gotten a chance to say hi. :( Oh, well. Next time!

Everyone in the audience received an Epic Reads *book shimmy* tote bag with some Harper ARCs, which was so cool!

TERRIBLE PICTURE QUALITY FTW!

Each person got different books, so everyone was trading with each other. There was an awesome guy in front of me who turned around and said, "Hey, do you want these? I already have them, so just take them..." and kind of shoved them into my hands and I was like, "OKAY IF YOU INSIST. *GRABS BOOKS*" After doing some giving away and switching of ARCs with Katherine and Megan, I ended up with two ARCs I'm really excited to read, so that was a pleasant surprise. FREE BOOKS! *book shimmies*

Waiting for the event to start! (Katherine, Megan, Rachel, Lauren)

Ransom Riggs did an awesome job moderating the event, and I was impressed with how comfortable he was on stage. He has such a great sense of humor and asked really thoughtful questions, so I'm glad he was chosen to moderate the event. Also, he and Tahereh Mafi are absolutely adorable together. (They're married, just in case you don't know. :P)

The event was really fun and entertaining. I've always thought that authors are a truly hilarious bunch, and these women (and Ransom!) are no exception. They're all really funny and also incredibly smart.

Before the event! (I had grand plans to snap pics while the authors were talking, but they asked everyone to not take pictures. What can ya do??)

The event was live-streamed, and you can watch the recorded version here.

Off the top of my head, here are some highlights from the event:

• When asked what actors Tahereh would cast in a movie adaptation of her book, Tahereh said "Justin Bieber" and Kiersten added "as Juliette." Tahereh went on to say that her mom would play Warner. (I WOULD PAY A LOT OF MONEY TO SEE THIS MOVIE.)
• Tahereh apparently used to break-dance with her brothers when she was younger. Kiersten was especially amused by this, and now plans on writing her next YA novel about break-dancing. (For the record, I'd totally read that book.)
• In Kiersten's teen journal entries, she always asked "does this boy like me?" but "spoiler alert: no he does not"
• When Ransom began to ask Kiersten a question, she just stopped him and said, "If it's about math, I don't know." (I FEEL YA, GURL. I FEEL YA.)
• Sophie told the story of her inspiration for Uninvited, which involves a little boy named Timmy who may or may not grow up to be a serial killer.
• And lots of other things that I can't think of at this particular moment. Just go watch the video! It's super interesting/entertaining.

After the Q&A was over, it was time for the signing! While waiting in line, we freaked out about how cool the authors are, tried to balance our massive stacks of books, and made a new friend. (Hi Madison!) When we actually met the authors, I ended up not being able to say anything intelligent to them due to the fact that I was TOO EXCITED TO COMMUNICATE USING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. But it's all good. The authors were all so nice and cool, and they were thanking ME for coming to see them, which was funny because I was all, "uh, thank YOU for writing these freaking awesome books."

I got all of these beauties signed. :D

Overall, it was an exciting, hectic night. The whole event is a bit of a blur, to be honest. There are so many things I wanted to do (tell the authors how much I love their books in a normal and intelligent way, meet the Epic Reads girls, etc.) but I ended up just doing a lot of wide-eyed "I'M SO EXCITED I CAN'T EVEN FORM WORDS" staring around the room.

We ended up with a few extra copies of some of the Dark Days books, so we decided to get them signed and do a giveaway. We've never done giveaways on the blog before, due to the fact that we are broke teenagers, but we can swing it this time, so we're very happy to announce that we'll be giving away a signed copy of Perfect Lies by Kiersten White and a signed copy of Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi.

Some rules:

• US/Canada only. (Sorry everyone else! See above "we are broke teenagers" statement.)
• You can enter both giveaways, but if you win both, we will ask you to choose one of the books and then we'll do another drawing to give the other away. (Also, if you win both, I will politely request that you transfer your awesome luck to me.)
• After we contact the winner, you will have one week to respond. If we don't hear from you after a week, we'll have to pick a new winner.
• The giveaway will end at 12:00 a.m. EST on March 31st.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Introducing: Katherine!

An exciting thing is happening here at Read Write Ramble. Our team of two is becoming a team of three! We're very happy to announce that our friend Katherine is going to be joining us as a blogger. Katherine is our IRL friend who loves books as much as we do, and I think we've all felt like her addition to Read Write Ramble was inevitable, so it's about time that she finally joins us. :)

For those of you who've been around awhile, the name Katherine probably sounds familiar. That's because she has gone with us to pretty much every author signing we've been to, as well as BEA. (So has my sister, Lauren, but she's not becoming a Read Write Ramble blogger...yet. :P) So we talk about Katherine in most of our author signing event recaps. Here are some pictures to refresh your memory:

Lauren, Rachel, Katherine, Megan at Spring into the Future tour (we actually surprised Katherine by taking her to this signing for her birthday)

Lauren, Rachel, MAUREEN JOHNSON!!!!!, Katherine, Megan 

Lauren, Katherine, Rachel, Megan at BEA

Bonus picture of Katherine and Megan reading. Proof that Katherine loves books!

We're still in the process of figuring out how exactly Katherine is going to fit into Read Write Ramble, but we figured we'd introduce her as soon as possible so she can start blogging with us. Please bear with us as we make some adjustments to the site. Profile pictures and bios will change before your very eyes. :)

Like Rachel said, we're really excited to welcome Katherine to the blog! She should be able to provide some new content to the blog, since she's read some books that even Rachel and I haven't yet. Plus hopefully having three people will mean MORE FREQUENT BLOG POSTS.

Anyway, Katherine is basically the coolest person ever. All of our IRL friends like to refer to her as Momma Katherine because she takes  care of all of us and keeps us from doing anything stupid (okay MOSTLY from doing anything stupid). Katherine is that friend who always has a napkin when you spill something all over yourself during lunch. She's also the nicest person I've ever met in my entire life. 

Katherine may or may not have a slight obsession with puppies. She thinks they're super cute and if I were to show her a picture like this, she would become very, very squeaky. So here you go Katherine, enjoy this puppy dressed up as Harry Potter. 

Katherine also runs the Book Club that we started at school last year with Rachel and I. Katherine is every bit as awesome and Rachel and I, if not more so. I'm so excited to finally be introducing her officially to blogging and all of our Internet friends! I know you guys are going to love her! Without further ado, here's Katherine to tell you a bit about herself!

Wow. This is super exciting and am quite honored to be part of this amazing blog. Though I wouldn't call myself more awesome than Rachel or Megan (I think we are equally awesome) I hope I'll be a good enough addition to Read Write Ramble and live up to the standards that Megan and Rachel set. You probably won't remember, but I made a guest post a while back, but now I'm here for good!  So as previously stated I'm Katherine and I love books (go figure).  I also consider myself a decent baker, so if anyone needs a recipe I can help! With the help of tumblr and some other people I also partly enabled Rachel and Megan's Doctor Who and Sherlock watching. When I'm not reading, I'm at school, practicing for band, on tumblr or watching anything. Thanks for this lovely signature and great welcome to the blog!

   

Katherine's Twitter

Katherine's Tumblr
Katherine's Goodreads 

Go forth and stalk Katherine on the internet!

Rachel Rambles About Ignite Me

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me #3)
From Goodreads:
The heart-stopping conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, which Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, called "a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love"

Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.

In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined the best of dystopian and paranormal and was praised by Publishers Weekly as "a gripping read from an author who's not afraid to take risks." The sequel, Unravel Me, blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was "dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense." Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end.

*sighs* Oh, Shatter Me series. Where do I even begin?

When I first read Shatter Me a few years ago, I fell in love with it. I was convinced it was one of the best books in the entire world, and I forced it upon all of my friends and family. I gushed about how much I loved it on the internet, unable to contain my excitement about what I believed to be a truly amazing book.

Since my first time reading Shatter Me, I've changed a lot. It's been over three years since I've read it, and three years is a lot of time. The gap between a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old is quite large, and I am very different from the 14-year-old who originally fell in love with this book. So I guess it's not that surprising that my opinion of the Shatter Me series has changed and evolved as time went on. 

When I look back at Shatter Me, I no longer see the fantastic, groundbreaking book that I once thought it was. I do, however, see a good book, with a beautiful writing style and intriguing story of a girl locked in a cell for 264 days, unable to touch anyone without killing them. Those are the things that I still like about the story. But as I read Unravel Me and gave this series more thought, I realized that those were pretty much the only things I liked. And even the writing style grew to be too much for me; I thought of it as being too dramatic, almost cringe-worthy, instead of beautiful and unique and poetic. After finishing Unravel Me, I decided that the only thing I really enjoyed about the book was Warner, because I think he's a really interesting character. Shatter Me intrigued me because of the story of a girl with a touch that can kill, locked in a cell and slowly losing her mind. But once Juliette got herself out of that situation, I found that there wasn't much else about the story that impressed me.

Clearly, I have some complicated and mixed feelings about this series, and I doubt I'm explaining them the right way. But I wanted to attempt to give an explanation of my experience with this series before I share my thoughts on Ignite Me, so that I can provide some context.

Ignite Me was really fun to read. While I don't love this series as much as I once loved the first book, there's no denying the fact that these books are fun to read, and they entertain me. In Ignite Me, Juliette seems to get her crap together, which was a relief after Unravel Me, where she spent most of the book whining about her life. Because of this, I found Ignite Me to be a lot easier to read than Unravel Me.

I think the most important thing about Ignite Me is Juliette's relationship with Warner. This was interesting to me since Warner is my favorite character in the series, and I think he's really complex and well-written, so I enjoyed reading about the two of them actually having honest conversations with each other and getting to know each other. However, I can't help but feel like their relationship should not have been the most important thing about Ignite Me. This is, of course, the last book in the Shatter Me series. As the conclusion to a trilogy, I think Ignite Me should have focused on, oh, I don't know, THE FREAKING WAR. Not Juliette's love life! There is a war to fight, a rebellion to lead, and yet, much of Ignite Me follows Juliette and her friends sitting around, talking and joking and not accomplishing much of anything. The ending of the book--and the entire series--seemed to come together too quickly and too easily, as if it was an afterthought, paling in comparison to Juliette's drama in her personal life.

While this was frustrating to read, it didn't bother me all that much. As I said, these books are fun to read, and so with Ignite Me, all I really wanted was to read a book that would keep me entertained. That's what Ignite Me did, and while I wish there had been a big, epic conclusion involving the important parts of the story instead of the romance, I don't really need that from this series. The Shatter Me series is fun to read, but I'm not expecting anything deep and thought-provoking, you know? I really just wanted a few hours of entertainment with Ignite Me, and that's exactly what I got. So if that's what you want from this book, then you probably won't mind the lack of An Actual Important Plot.

Ignite Me is not a bad book. It has some romance and sexytimes that I really enjoyed reading about, and since I think Warner is such an awesome character, I love that he has such a big role in this book. However, while pretty much every other conclusion to a dystopian series actually, like, concludes stuff and involves wars and rebellions and struggles, Ignite Me pretty much ignores all that stuff to focus on the romance. If you're looking for answers about the world of Shatter Me and the oppressive government and what will happen after the series, then you will be disappointed. But if you don't really care about that stuff and simply want to read something fun about your favorite characters from the series, then you'll probably be pleased with Ignite Me.

Again, I have some mixed feelings about this series. Honestly, at this point, I probably wouldn't recommend these books to many people. I still think Shatter Me is a very good book, although not nearly as amazing as I once thought it was. I did not like Unravel Me very much, except for maybe Chapter 62. (hehehehe :D) While Ignite Me was fun to read, I wouldn't call it a fantastic book.

I think the main thing I got out of this series is that it's kind of fascinating how much you can change in just a few years. Three years ago, I had different reading tastes, different standards, and different experiences. All of these things affect my reading more than I ever imagined they would, and if not for the Shatter Me series, I might not have noticed these changes. So don't get me wrong, I don't hate the Shatter Me series. If anything, I'm grateful to these books for showing me how much I've changed in the past three years. I had an interesting and very personal experience with this series, and its conclusion leaves me feeling bittersweet.

Waiting on Wednesday (34)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine.

On the Fence by Kasie West

From Goodreads:

She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door…

Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

Fun, original, and endearing, On the Fence is a romantic comedy about finding yourself and finding love where you least expect.

I fell in love with Kasie West's Pivot Point and The Distance Between Us, so naturally, I'm beyond excited to read On the Fence. It will be the perfect summer read!

What are you waiting on this week? Leave links to your WoW posts below so I can check them out!

Mini-Rambles: David Levithan Edition (Megan and Rachel)

So Rachel and I have both been reading a lot of David Levithan lately, so we decided to combine our reviews into one mini-ramble post!

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
From Goodreads: New York Times  bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS. 

While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.

Literally one day after finishing Boy Meets Boy, I picked up Two Boys Kissing and I was blown away. The book is narrated by the generation that died as a result of AIDS telling the story of several gay couples and gay teenagers in the present. All of this is centered around Harry and Craig trying to break the Guinnes World Record for the longest kiss. The book was so much more powerful than I expected Two Boys Kissing to be. The story was written in a format that I've never experienced before and it was beautiful. The contrast between the lives of the gay men killed by AIDS and the teenagers today was stunning and I teared up while reading this book a few times. It was equal parts adorable and sad in a way that only David Levithan can manage. 

I'm really glad that I read this so close to Boy Meets Boy because they were both so beautiful and it was an interesting comparison to have. If you're a fan of David Levithan I definitely recommend reading this book immediately.

Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan
From Goodreads:
First there is a Before, and then there is an After. . . .

The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.

Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

David Levithan has written a novel of loss and grief, but also one of hope and redemption as his characters slowly learn to move forward in their lives, despite being changed forever.


This book is about 9/11, which made me a little wary at first because it's such a tragic event, and I wasn't sure how a novel about it would work. I need not have worried at all, because Love is the Higher Law handles the topic of 9/11 so elegantly. Rather than being a sad, emotionally destructive book, Love is the Higher Law is actually pretty light, considering the subject matter. The beginning of the book is about the events of 9/11, but after that, the book focuses mostly on how 9/11 affects three different characters. It's a powerful story about love, but not just romantic love between people. There is a love story between two of the main characters, but that love story is secondary to the love story between New York City and the New Yorkers who lived through 9/11. It tells the amazing and important story of how the people of New York became united because of the terrible events of 9/11.

Overall, Love is the Higher Law is a beautiful and powerful story, but it was not as emotional as I expected it to be, which was a relief. It didn't make me cry, which was nice, because I don't think I could have handled a deeply emotional book about 9/11. I've read quite a few David Levithan novels at this point, and Love is the Higher Law makes me even more excited to read the rest of his books.

Battle of the Book Boyfriends

This week, Kelly Oram is hosting Battle of the Boyfriends, a fun blog tour in which participants choose one of the boys from Kelly Oram's books and explain why he is the best book boyfriend. So far, I've only read two three (I just read Serial Hottie yesterday!) of Kelly Oram's books, but I really enjoyed both all of them. My favorite of the two three, The Avery Shaw Experiment, is where my favorite Book Boyfriend comes from. (You can read my ramble about The Avery Shaw Experiment here.) That's right, I'm totally Team Grayson, and I'm going to attempt to convey just how much I love him, and why. :) How am I going to express my feelings? Well, I'm going to use GIFs, of course!

First of all, I think I should mention that I kind of accidentally maybe read The Avery Shaw Experiment in like three hours one night when I was supposed to be doing homework.

THE BOOK WAS JUST SO GOOD. I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF.

But let's talk about the cute boy! The limit to which I can talk about my love for Grayson Kennedy?

Avery and Grayson's relationship is SO. FREAKING. CUTE.

THE SHOWER SCENE. *to clarify, this probably isn't what you think it is :)*

THE DANCING SCENE.

PRETTY MUCH EVERY SCENE THAT GRAYSON IS IN.

I absolutely love Grayson's, er, commitment to the science experiment. His journal entries made me smile so much when I read them. :D

This GIF is actually a pretty accurate way to sum up the entire book.

Some of my favorite Grayson quotes (and my reactions to them):

"I covered for her, we had a moment, she looked amazing in a wet t-shirt, it was super hot, and yes, Aves, it was the highlight of my winter break."

"Hey now, you can't just go jumping in the shower with every guy you know. That's totally our thing."

"You think I'm gross? You consider me a brother, but you still kissed me anyway. That is gross."

"I hereby demand as a completely impartial outside observer with absolutely no personal interest in the outcome of this experiment that you need to kiss me again. Right now. For purely scientific purposes, of course."
"For science?"
"Yes! In the name of science!"

"Are you kidding? There is so much science going on up in here that I deserve a freaking PhD."

"What? Just because I was the one who mentioned the hot tub and happened to know that Avery only owns lame one-pieces that look like they came from my grandma's closet, doesn't mean that I bought her the very tasteful swimwear that will probably look killer on her."

"I've got news for you, Aves. When a guy says he wants to take you out in the name of science, he's totally full of it. He really just wants to take you out."

"But you've taken me out like a million times for the experiment. You kissed me once in the name of science."

"Exactly."

Basically, The Avery Shaw Experiment made me fangirl and smile and squeal with happiness a lot because GRAYSON IS SO CUTE.

I could go on and on about Grayson Kennedy, but I want to give you, dear reader, the opportunity to read The Avery Shaw Experiment and experience him for yourself. :) Also, I'll be honest here, this post is one big, fangirly, disorganized mess, so it's probably best if I just end it now.

If you haven't done so already, you should go buy The Avery Shaw Experiment on Amazon. All of Kelly Oram's ebooks are only $0.99, from now until February 16th. GO FORTH AND BUY THE CHEAP BOOKS, MY FRIENDS.

Make sure to stop by Kelly Oram's blog for more information about Battle of the Boyfriends. Also, don't forget to enter the awesome giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*all the GIFs are from tumblr.com*

Kelly Oram Valentine's Day Sale

I've recently discovered a new-to-me author named Kelly Oram. So far, I've read two of her books, The Avery Shaw Experiment and V is for Virgin, and really enjoyed both of them. I'm surprised I've never heard of Kelly Oram before, because her books all seem like they're right up my alley. I'm a huge fan of contemporary romances, and lo and behold, Kelly Oram writes contemporary romances (among other things)!

This week, as a Valentine's Day celebration, Kelly Oram is having a sale on her books! Valentine's Weekend, from Friday, February 14th to Sunday, February 16th, you can buy any of her ebooks on Amazon for just $0.99! So I think you should all channel your inner Macklemore and purchase yourself some cheap books. (But [BLEEP], it was ninety-nine cents!)

Relevant GIF is relevant.

I myself will be purchasing quite a few books during this sale, and I'm excited to dive into more of Kelly Oram's stories. If you're new to Kelly Oram and are looking for a recommendation, I think The Avery Shaw Experiment is a good book to start with. :) It was my first Kelly Oram book, and I adored it.

So, to recap: awesome sale! Good books! Low prices!

And that's not all! In addition to the book sale, Kelly Oram is hosting Battle of the Book Boyfriends on her blog and various other blogs (like ours, duh). There will be cute fictional boys involved, not to mention a bunch of giveaways! Head on over to Kelly Oram's blog for more information. (My Battle of the Boyfriends post will be up toward the end of the week.)

Some important links:

Kelly Oram's blog

Kelly Oram's Amazon page

My review of The Avery Shaw Experiment

My review of V is for Virgin

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day! I hope you all snuggle up on the couch with a good romance book on Valentine's Day (because who needs a date/significant other? not me!). And if you haven't found the perfect romance book to drown your I'm-single-again-on-Valentine's-Day woes, then you should head on over to Amazon and pick yourself out a Kelly Oram book. Come on, you cannot beat a $0.99 book!

*all the GIFs are from tumblr.com*