Book Review: The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

Title: The Book of Ivy (The Book of Ivy #1)
Author: Amy Engel
Published: November 11th, 204
Publisher: Entangled: Teem
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Synopsis: After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.
This year, it is my turn.
My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and restore the Westfall family to power.
But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.

Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…

Book Review: Amour Amour by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Title: Amour Amour
Author: Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie
Publication Date: December 11th, 2014
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Synopsis: The best aerial technique won’t land 21-year-old Thora James her dream role in Amour—a sexy new acrobatic show on the Vegas strip. Thora knows she’s out of her element the second she meets Amour’s leading performer. Confident, charming and devilishly captivating, 26-year-old Nikolai Kotova lives up to his nickname as the “God of Russia.”
When Thora unknowingly walks into the crosshairs of Nikolai’s after-show, her audition process begins way too soon. Unprofessional. That’s what Nik calls their “non-existent” relationship. It’s not like Thora can avoid him. For one, they may be partners in the future--acrobatic partners, that is. But getting closer to Nik means diving deeper into sin city and into his dizzying world.
Thora wants to perform with him, but when someone like Nikolai attracts the spotlight wherever he goes—Thora fears that she’s destined to be just background to his spellbinding show.

5 Magical Stars!

Amour Amour Blog Tour --Interview + Giveaway

Hello everyone! Today, the Amour Amour blog tour has a stop here at Bookish Musings and I've got an interview with super authors, Krista & Becca Ritchie! It's my first time interviewing anyone and while I was nervous putting these questions together, I was incredibly excited too! If you know me, you should know I'm obsessed with the Addicted Series and at this point, Krista & Becca are one of my favourite authors that I'd read anything by to be honest. So, while I anxiously await the next book in the Addicted series, I'm glad we've got this stand-alone from the sisters to feed our withdrawals. 

Read on for the interview and then enter their amazing give-away at the end of this post!

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About the Book -Amour Amour

Love is a circus

"Every day,” he says lowly, “I hold a person’s life in my hands. The circus is based one-hundred percent off trust. I give it all to someone, and they give it all to me.”

The best aerial technique won’t land 21-year-old Thora James her dream role in Amour—a sexy new acrobatic show on the Vegas strip. Thora knows she’s out of her element the second she meets Amour’s leading performer. Confident, charming and devilishly captivating, 26-year-old Nikolai Kotova lives up to his nickname as the “God of Russia.”
When Thora unknowingly walks into the crosshairs of Nikolai’s after-show, her audition process begins way too soon. Unprofessional. That’s what Nik calls their “non-existent” relationship. It’s not like Thora can avoid him. For one, they may be partners in the future--acrobatic partners, that is. But getting closer to Nik means diving deeper into sin city and into his dizzying world.
Thora wants to perform with him, but when someone like Nikolai attracts the spotlight wherever he goes—Thora fears that she’s destined to be just background to his spellbinding show.

This sexy and exhilarating New Adult Romance can best be described as Cirque du Soleil meets the steamy, athletic romance of Center Stage.
*standalone & no love triangles—recommended for readers 18+ for mature content* 

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Be sure to check out all the Amour Amour tour stops here.

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Series Review: The Cahill Witch Chronicles

Titles: The Cahill Witch Chronicles -- Born Wicked | Star Cursed | Sisters' Fate
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Purchase: Book Depository | Amazon | Indigo.ca | Barnes&Noble
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Synopsis: Cate Cahill and her sisters are considered too eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship --or an early grave.
Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But she's only got a few weeks left before she must declare her choice between marriage or joining the female version of the Brothers, the Sisterhood.
However, after finding her mother's diary, she discovers that the Cahill girls are in grave danger. They aren't safe -not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood -not even from each other.
5 stars for the entire trilogy

Book Review: One Condition by Nova Raines

Title: One Condition (The Lust List: Kaidan Stone #1)
Author: Nova Raines
Publication Date: November 18th, 2014
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Synopsis: Hayley Wade's rock star dad partied himself into an early grave and left Hayley with a pile of dangerous debt. She plans to pay it off, but her drug-addled father wrote an impossible task into his will: to inherit his wealth, Hayley must steal back a family heirloom he lost to a gold digger. Kaidan Stone grew up surrounded by the world’s biggest stars, but never wanted to be in the limelight. When he makes The Lust List, he becomes America’s newest celebrity obsession overnight. 
After Kaidan saves Hayley from a run-in with the aggressive paparazzi, sparks fly, and she discovers the heirloom is in his California mansion. It’s the answer to all her problems…but she’ll have to betray Kaidan to get it.

November in Review

Reading
During November, I read 11 books. Here's brief thoughts on each. I'm a bit behind on reviews but I'll be doing some major catch up soon.

Addicted After All by Krista & Becca Ritchie ★★★★★  
I finished this on November 1st but I did include it in my October wrap-up. But here it is again.  I don't even need an excuse to talk about the Addicted Series because it's all I do anyways. A fantastic conclusion to Lily & Loren's story that's realistic yet satisfying.
Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan ★★★★
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It's about the family and friendship kind of love more than the romantic kind but it's such a delight anyway. The main character is hard to relate to because she's such a genius but Erin McCahan wrote her in such a way that I understood her and her thought process. In the end, this book totally made me smile.
Dirty Rowdy Thing by Christina Lauren ★★★★
Another great read! While Sweet Filthy Boy might be my favourite in this series so far, DRT is a close one too. I really am enjoying this series. It's just so fun.
The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin ★★★
I'm still conflicted over this book. I think there's a huge part of me that's not satisfied but at the same time, I do love these characters and Michelle's writing. I think for now, I'm satisfied with the first two books in this series and I'll just not acknowledge this one until I have a better idea of how I feel.

Just One Day by Gayle Forman ★★★★★
Just One Year by Gayle Forman ★★★★★  
Just One Night by Gayle Forman ★★★★
I adore this series from start to finish. I'm going to be doing a full review of the series soon! There's such a great feel to this story and it's one of the best tales  about discovering yourself. Really, really a great read.

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter ★★★
At the time I was reading it, I was quite addicted to this book. Upon finishing it however, I didn't have a great urge to pick up the sequel right-away. That may be because I didn't really feel any sort of connection to the characters but it was a good read.
Everneath by Brodi Ashton ★★★
Again, it was quite addictive. I was so intrigued and mesmerized but I didn't feel any sort of overwhelming love by the end. The ending was quite emotional though and I cried, quite a bit.

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood ★★★★★
Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood ★★★★★
The Cahill Witch Chronicles is absolutely one of my new all-time favourites I can assure you. I'm reading the last book currently, and then I'll be doing a full series review. These two books were so so good! I don't understand why everyone hasn't read them yet. Heartbreaking romance, amazing sister relations, female empowerment undertones and females who take charge. Can't recommend it enough.

Watching
The list of shows to watch decreased because some were cancelled, and some I no longer had the energy to invest time in.

HTGAWM was fantastic. That finale blew my mind. I eagerly await its return so it can continue to blow my mind and so Alfie Enoch & Jack Falahee can be back on my tv screen.
The 100 continues to set new standards for cinematography and writing. Season 2 has already wrecked me in so many ways. Some of the best plot lines and characer development on tv I can confidently say.
Jane The Virgin provided me with weekly doses of cuteness. It's so fantastic and well-written. Jane and Rafael get my heart beating.
Arrow & The Flash continue to be brilliant.
The Mindy Project has really let me down this season though and I don't really feel like watching it.
Watched only 2 movies this month. Big Hero 6 & Mockingjay. Big Hero 6 was so cute and emotional. Truly wonderful. I think overall, it's a movie about dealing with gried and overcoming it and I think Disney handled it wonderfully. When it comes to Mockingjay, I can agree that it was powerful and moving. But I think they could have easily made the movie in 1 part instead of 2. Truth be told, nothing really happened in the movie but you could argue it set up the next.

That's all for November. I can't believe the end of the year is almost upon us already! I'm going to be blogging more often in January as I get some important tasks done with. Let me know if you guys had a favourite read or movie/tv show during November.