The Best Books Ever

Like Moonlight at Low Tide By  Nicole Quigley Published on September 11, 2012 Published by Zondervan Source: ARC from publisher For Missy Keiser, returning to Anna Maria Island, Florida, means two things: her mother made another poor decision with men, and Missy will have to reenter a world where she’s known as “Messy,” a social pariah who dared to have a crush on Sam King, the most popular boy in school. But much has changed in the three years she’s been away. Missy’s next-door neighbor is no longer an elderly woman but Josh, an intriguing boy who seems genuinely interested in her. At school, she’s surprised to find few people remember who she once was. And any remaining taunts of Messy are silenced when Sam King gives her his nod of approval. Just as things seem to be perfect, Josh’s sudden distance, her mother’s latest relationship implosion, and her brother’s strange behavior threaten to ruin it all. Missy is forced to decide between the boy she’s always wanted, a ...

I found myself reading a book that I just couldn't put down recently, and that made me curious about other books that keep you up all night.   Everyone's got a book or two which they just found themselves reading straight through, after all.  Check out our selections below! The list of books that kept me up all night is ridiculously long—I'm one of those people who says, "I'm going to bed!" meaning "I'm going to read in my bed!" every single night, and then I look at the clock and it's 3:00 and I know I'm going to be dysfunctional the next day. So I'll give you the book that most RECENTLY kept me up all night, which was REMARKABLE by Lizzie K. Foley. The writing is absolutely hilarious and insanely charming, plus the book is full of pirates and lake monsters and mistaken identities and explosions. There's even an ice sculpture of the Large Hadron Collider, which made me want to be friends with Lizzie K. Foley forever and e...

Every Perfect Gift By  Dorothy Love Published on December 4, 2012 Published by Thomas Nelson Source: Publisher for review Sophie has spent a lifetime guarding her heart and a long-held secret. It will take all of her courage to speak the truth and embrace the future God has planned for her. The year is 1886, and Sophie Robillard returns to Hickory Ridge, Tennessee, after living in Texas for 15 years as the ward of Ada and Wyatt Caldwell. Now that the town's population has exploded, her intention is to reopen the long-defunct newspaper office that so captivated her when she was still an orphan. The rejection she experienced as a child because of her mixed parentage has left deep scars that she hopes can be healed by succeeding in this new venture. Ethan Heyward was uprooted from his home as a boy following an unspeakable tragedy. Horace Blakely, a millionaire businessman, took Ethan under his wing and eventually put him in charge of the construction and opening of Blue...

Princess of the Silver Woods By  Jessica Day George Published on December 11, 2012 Published by Bloomsbury Source: Net Galley When Petunia, the youngest of King Gregor's twelve dancing daughters, is invited to visit an elderly friend in the neighboring country of Westfalin, she welcomes the change of scenery. But in order to reach Westfalin, Petunia must pass through a forest where strange two-legged wolves are rumored to exist. Wolves intent on redistributing the wealth of the noble citizens who have entered their territory. But the bandit-wolves prove more rakishly handsome than truly dangerous, and it's not until Petunia reaches her destination that she realizes the kindly grandmother she has been summoned to visit is really an enemy bent on restoring an age-old curse. The stories of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood get a twist as Petunia and her many sisters take on bandits, grannies, and the new King Under Stone to end their family curse once and for...

The Hallowed Ones By  Laura Bickle Published on September 25, 2012 Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Source: Netgalley Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers can get a taste of the real world. But the real world comes to her in this dystopian tale with a philosophical bent. Rumors of massive unrest on the “Outside” abound. Something murderous is out there. Amish elders make a rule: No one goes outside, and no outsiders come in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man, she can’t leave him to die. She smuggles him into her family’s barn—at what cost to her community? The suspense of this vividly told, truly horrific thriller will keep the pages turning. Here's my biggest complaint about this book: it ends .  I pretty much devoured this book over a few days of breaks and downtime at work, and I really really want more books in this series, right now. The next book is slated to be out in fall 2013, and I pretty much...

... and end up at Short and Sweet Reviews.  I was inspired by another blog (childrenofthe90s.blogspot.com) and their hilarious posts about what people search on Google to end up at their blog.  I decided to take a peek into our Google Analytics to find out what people were searching to end up at our blog. I was amused and a little horrified. (DISCLAIMER:  There is a significant amount of snark in this and is only meant for comedic purposes) Now, let me begin by saying that most of the search entries were "Best ___ book ever" which makes sense since we run our Best Book Ever feature weekly.  However, some of the more... unique search entries I wanted to share with you.  If you know why people are searching these things and why they might end up at our site- feel free to comment and let us know.  And please- if YOU searched one of these things to end up at Short and Sweet please let me know so I can give you a virtual high five (or perhaps a slap on...

Winter White By  Jen Cantolina Published on October 9, 2012 Published by Poppy Source: From Publisher for review Isabelle Scott and Mirabelle Monroe are still reeling from the revelation that they share more than just the roof over their heads. The media has pounced on their story and the girls are caught up in a flurry of talk-show appearances and newspaper interviews. They've put on a happy public face, but someone is leaking their true feelings to the press, and while it seems like the world is watching their every move, at least they have each other. But with cotillion season right around the corner, Izzie and Mira have barely had time to process their new found sisterhood. Mira has dreamed of making her debut in a gorgeous white gown forever-now, if only she could find an escort. Izzie, meanwhile, is still struggling to find her place in Emerald Cove and it's seeming ever more impossible with EC mean-girls, young and old, doing their best to keep her down. As c...

We're taking a week off from talking about books, to give all of our esteemed contributors a week away from my harassing about book topics so they can instead spend the holiday, if they celebrate it, with their families.  And, today being Thanksgiving and all, we at Short & Sweet Reviews just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all of our readers, commenters, lurkers, followers, friends, and internet family with not one but TWO giveaways for you all. First up, for our US readers (or international people who have an address in the US that they can ship to) you have a chance to win a Mystery Box of YA Books!   This is a mixture of ARCs and finished copies of recent YA books. (Don't worry - it won't be a total mystery! We'll be sending you a list of book to choose from, so you'll be assured to get stuff that you want to read!) a Rafflecopter giveaway And you've got a second chance to win, if you're an international reader, or maybe you just want to ...

Thanks to AToMR Tours, we're spotlighting a brand new New Adult contemporary book, Make It Last, by Bethany Lopez.  Keep scrolling to check out an excerpt of the book and then enter to win a copy for yourself! Make it Last (Friends & Lovers, #1) By  Bethany Lopez Published on November 12, 2012 In a small town, it's hard to recover from being dumped by your high school sweetheart. That's just what Briana has to do after Colin leaves her to follow his dreams. She focuses her energy into her friendships and the pursuit of her own goal of becoming a chef. Just when she finally feels like she's on the right path, he comes back to town. Colin knew breaking up with Briana before leaving for college was the right thing to do. He was determined to leave small-town life behind forever, and that included his high school girlfriend. But when a sports injury puts him on the sidelines, he's forced to return home. Seeing Briana again brings back a lot of memories...

The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart By Leanna Renee Heiber Published on November 2012 Published by Sourcebooks Source: Publisher for Review For Natalie Stewart, a normal life has never seemed so far away. Her only solace, Lord Jonathan Denbury, is wanted for murder. To clear his name, Denbury must return to England and assume the role of his demon doppelganger. But Natalie begins to doubt his true motives, especially as a new gentleman begins whispering in her ear. Natalie and Denbury may be able to visit each other in their dreams, but they can't escape the darkening shadows. Amid spontaneous explosions, friends turned enemies and dangerous secrets revealed, there's still a demon who has Natalie's scent, and someone is trying to resurrect the ultimate evil. Welcome to Short and Sweet's stop on the Twisted Tragedy blog tour!  Today we have a brief interview with the author and a giveaway! Author Interview 1. What books really inspired ...

Hello everyone!  I have been a total slacker with the Sunday Giveaways... and apparently am continuing since I am posting this giveaway on a Monday, ha ha! I have TWO giveaways to talk about today! The first is over at our Facebook page- sadly it only has 20 entries so far... pitiful!  All you have to do is like the post and share it on your wall and you are entered!  Sarah and I have a whole list (and it is a big one) for you to pick from! Go HERE to enter! Giveaway number two are these three books- all in hardback!     Want to win these books?  Enter the Rafflecopter below: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Miss Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman  November 13th 2012 by Henry Holt and Co. Meet Erin. Smart student, great daughter, better friend. Secretly the mastermind behind the popular advice blog Miss Fortune Cookie. Totally unaware that her carefully constructed life is about to get crazy.  It all begins when her ex-best friend sends a letter to her blog—and then acts on her advice. Erin’s efforts to undo the mess will plunge her into adventure, minor felonies, and possibly her very first romance.  What’s a likely fortune for someone no longer completely in control of her fate? Hopefully nothing like: You will become a crispy noodle in the salad of life. Author Bio: I am the author of two YA novels, MY INVENTED LIFE and MISS FORTUNE COOKIE. I also contributed a short story to the anthology THE FIRST TIME. Though I grew up on a sail boat and loved traveling the world as a kid, I'm still afraid of the ocean...

Fathomless By  Jackson Pearce Published on September 4, 2012 Published by Little Brown Source: Finished Copy for Review Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant -- until Celia meets Lo. Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea -- a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid -- all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality. When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to t...

Thanks to AToMR Tours, we're spotlighting a brand new New Adult contemporary romance, The Edge of Never, by J.A. Redmerski!  Keep scrolling to check out an excerpt of the book and then enter to win a copy for yourself!  ( Due to sexual content and language, this book is recommended for readers 17 and over.) The Edge of Never By  J.A. Redmerski Published on November 15, 2012 Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart. Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far...

Last week's topic of funny books got me thinking about some of the great memoirs that I've read over the years, so I wanted to touch on a genre of books that we don't often get into over here.  This week, I asked everyone to share with me their favorite non-fiction book .  Memoirs, cookbooks, self-help, anything -- if it was a walk into the real world, it was fair game to be picked.  Read on to check out everyone's awesome suggestions. STIFF by Mary Roach - You're dead! Great - now what? You'd be surprised how many options you've got. Mary Roach explores the myriad of choices your corpse has, from crash test dummies to rotting in a variety of environments for the purposes of forensic research. Me? I'm going with composting. Mindy McGinnis , debut author of  Not A Drop To Drink  (2013, Katherine Tegen) On of my very favorite non-fiction books is ON WRITING , by Stephen King. I almost never read books about the craft of writing—I often find the...

Zom-B By  Darren Shan (Illustrations by Cliff Nielson) Published on October 16, 2012 Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Source: Finished Copy from Publisher When news reports start appearing of a zombie outbreak in Ireland, B's racist father thinks it's a joke-- but even if it isn't, he figures, it's ok to lose a few Irish. B doesn't fully buy into Dad's racism, but figures it's easier to go along with it than to risk the fights and abuse that will surely follow sticking up for Muslims, blacks, or immigrants. And when dodging his fists doesn't work, B doesn't hesitate to take the piss out of kids at school with a few slaps or cruel remarks. That is, until zombies attack the school. B is forced on a mad dash through the serpentine corridors of high school, making allegiances with anyone with enough gall to fight off their pursuers. So as you may have guessed already, I am a sucker for anything weird and creepy, and anyt...