Blog Tour: Transfusion(Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, #1) by Nikki Jefford

Hi everyone. So today I have a book tour to share with you all. I am including my review, giveaways, and other tour stops along the way. I hope you enjoy!

Transfusion(Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, #1) by Nikki Jefford

Page Count(E-book Edition): 231 pgs
Publisher: Nikki Jefford
Released: December 9th, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Read: March 18th-26th, 2013
Source: Xpresso Book Tours

Synopsis: 

If there is one thing eighteen-year-old Aurora Sky wants, it's to get off the iceburg she calls home. Being kissed before she graduates wouldn't hurt either.

Then a near-fatal car wreck changes everything. Government agents step in and save Aurora's life in exchange for her services as a vampire hunter. In Alaska. Basically, she's a glorified chew toy. All thanks to her rare blood type, which sends a vampire into temporary paralysis right before she has to finish the job.. by hand.

Now, Aurora's only friends are groupies of the undead and the only boy she can think about may very well be a vampire. And if she's a vampire, will she be forced to kill him?

Transfusion was a very enjoyable read. Nikki Jefford was able to break all the vampire stereotypes, and make her own new vampire species. She was able to piece together Aurora and Fane's love, while adding in the vampire hunting with danger.

Obviously, Aurora and Fane were my 2 favorite characters, while Noel came in close 3rd. Aurora is this witty, comical, sarcastic senior in high-school that made me chuckle and smile while I turned the pages. Even though she has been through quite a lot, she made the best of every situation with her side comments. Fane is this mysterious,(SPOILER ALERT!) charming vampire that I came to love as he interacted with Aurora. He stole my heart from the beginning, and  had me swooning every time he is mentioned. Noel is a character I adored. She is part of this "groupie" at their high-school and has just become friends with Aurora. Not only did she really care for Aurora like a sister, she really helped her out in the end like any close friend would have done. Noel was like a little kitten; I just wanted to hold her and hug her tight! Oh, and yes, Dante. Boy, he was scrumptious! I actually imagined him looking like Emmett Cullen(Kellan Lutz) in The Twilight Saga. For all you twilight lovers like me, you may get the comparison I'm trying to make: Dark hair, skin, big and muscly ;) I could have cried with happiness when Jefford added this little part in the book when Dante was interested in Aurora. You could probably hear me chanting TEAM DURORA! TEAM DURORA! Sadly, Nikki chose not to commit to their possible love :(

When Aurora became a Vampire Hunter, her whole demeanor changed, in a good way. She became tougher and a better fighter than before. Aurora was very calm in most of the vampire killings throughout the book, which is a trait that I admire. I know that if that was me, I'd probably either go crazy or break down and cry.

All in all, Transfusion was a great jump start to Nikki Jefford's new series, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Northern Bites.

Tour Stops:

If you are interested, I am linking the tour schedule here for you to check out as well. Have fun!

Where to Purchase:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

About The Author:

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt. She is the author of the Spellbound Trilogy and upcoming Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter series. Nikki married Sebastien, the love of her life, while working as a teaching assistant in France. They now reside in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands, 70 miles northeast of Forks, Washington.

Author Links:

Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

Book Trailer:

Giveaway Time!:

Rules:

• To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter forms below
• When the top giveaway's winner is chosen, it will be announced here and the winner will be emailed by me. Please check your email, because I am only giving the winner 48 hours to respond. Another winner will be selected if this occur's.
• Please enter your email address in the form below, and not in the comments please!(:
• I ask that all entrants be 13 years or older.
• The first giveaway is INT(international)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This Tour Grand Prize includes everyone that has entered throughout the tour. Feel free to enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hope you enjoyed! See you soon!

♦Haley♦

Blog Tour: Ever(Ever, #1) by Jessa Russo

Hi guys! So today I have my first blog tour of Ever by Jessa Russo. I will inlcude my review with all of the information you will want/need on Jessa. Enjoy!

Ever(Ever, #1) by Jessa Russo

Page Count(E-book Edition): 295 pgs
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Released: October 1st, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Read: March 18th-25th, 2013
Source: Review copy provided by Jessa/Curiosity Quills Press

Synopsis: 

Seventeen-year-old Ever’s love life has been on hold for the past two years. She’s secretly in love with her best friend Frankie, and he’s completely oblivious.

Of course, it doesn't help that he’s dead, and waking up to his ghost every day has made moving on nearly impossible.

Frustrated and desperate for something real, Ever finds herself falling for her hot new neighbor Toby. His relaxed confidence is irresistible, and not just Ever knows it. But falling for Toby comes with a price that throws Ever’s life into a whirlwind of chaos and drama. More than hearts are on the line, and more than Ever will suffer.

Some girls lose their hearts to love.

Some girls lose their minds.

Ever Van Ruysdael could lose her soul.

(from Goodreads)

Ever, for me, was a semi-hard book to get into. It was almost as if something was holding me back, and I think that the lack of plot movement until about halfway through was it. In the beginning, I was waiting for something to happen, something to unfold. I was happy with Toby and Ever canoodling and such, but I wanted action, cliffhangers and all the good stuff if you get my drift. Boy, was I in store for all of that plus more..

Ever, Toby and Frankie. The perfect stereotypical love triangle. Actually, I wouldn't really consider it a love triangle until the last 10-15 chapters or so. It was really Ever and Toby, with Frankie as a ghost, and then something happens to Frankie that I shall not mention for the sake of those who want to read this book. I actually didn't mind their love triangle, because it wasn't forced, but I did have one problem with it because Ever kept mentioning it. She kept fluctuating between Toby and Frankie, and kept going over the same exact points every time. For Frankie, she knew he was a ghost, and there would be no way to act on her feelings for him and vice versa. For Toby, she felt guilty for dating him, because she felt like she was betraying Frankie by being happy with Toby. It's all confusing, I know. It got quite irritating after a while, but it soon dwindled down into nothing.

I absolutely loved Jessie! She is the perfect best friend for Ever, and a sister that I would love to have. She protected, defended and stood up for not only Ever, but occasionally Frankie and Toby, and Ever's mom. With her, I adored Greg. He seemed super cute and friendly with Ever and Jessie. In Ever's time of needs, he was there for her, by either having a hand on her shoulder, or on the small of her back, guiding her in moments of need. He seemed like the perfect guy best friend or big brother for Ever.

Man oh man, can Jessa Russo write some steamy makeout sessions! My eyes were glued to the page, oh my. She made it seem as though you were in the room as it was happening, no matter how weird and awkward that sounds, haha(:

My heart started beating so fast when every. single. part/secret to the story unfolded in Ever's kitchen. In the span of about 2 minutes, plot twist after plot twist after plot twist unveiled itself on the story, and left my mind going WHAT JUST HAPPENED :OOO. I'm pretty sure my mouth gaped open, due to the amount of information that was let out. Then, it got even better near the end when even more plot twists and secrets were revealed. I can honestly say I was super surprised at the end. I was left with a huge cliffhanger!

Ever was a hard book to get settled into, but once I was totally indulged, I was thrown around on a major roller coaster of events. I was honestly shocked near the end, but I'm excited to read the next in the series, Evade.

*A big Thank You to Jessa Russo and Curiosity Quills Press for providing me a review copy. Thanks for letting me participate in this book tour!*

About the Author:

I'm an unashamed super fan of all things paranormal romance. I read, write and breathe paranormal YA, rarely straying from my comfort zone. Seriously. I love the stuff.

When not writing or reading, I'm out and about making memories with some seriously awesome people - for an introvert, I'm pretty extroverted. ;-) You can bet that I'm also ALWAYS secretly planning my next trip to New Orleans. (If my eyes glaze over, I'm in one of my stories, or NOLA.)

I have a husband I love as much now as I did when we first fell in love over ten years ago, and a daughter we're doing our best to raise with manners, values, and spunk.

Southern California will always be home, but I'm open to suggestions.

Links:

Jessa's Website

Jessa on Twitter

EVER on Amazon

On Barnes & Noble

Goodreads/EVER

Goodreads/EVADE

On Jessa's Website, she is hosting a giveaway of one signed paperback copy of EVER, and one signed paperback copy of EVADE(coming soon). Please click the link and enter if you are interested! I know I am! ;)

Well, that wraps up today's post! I hope you enjoyed it, and I thank Jessa Russo and Curiosity Quills Press for giving me this chance to participate! I had fun(:

♦Haley♦

Review of: Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot+Giveaway

Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot

Page Count(eBook edition):422 pages
Publisher: Butterfly Books, LLC
Released: October 17, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary/Romance
My Rating: 4 stars
Read: from October 19 to December 23, 2012
Source: Anne Eliot herself! Thank you so much! ♥

Synopsis:  

After a car accident--an event he considers a prank gone bad--pop star, Hunter Kennedy is forced to hide out with his aunt in small-town Colorado. He’s supposed to rest, heal his scars and attend high school in disguise until the press dies down. But he only wants to get back to work.

Worse, the girl who’s been assigned to make him over into a geek is a major geek herself. Vere Roth is a chattering pixie, a blushing tornado and a complete social disaster. He’s never met a girl who’s never-been-kissed, believes in romance and thinks Hunter’s a 'nice' guy.

Funny thing is...Hunter is nice around Vere because she’s his first real friend. He also can’t seem to stop sharing his secrets or keep her out of his heart. Knowing he’d never deserve a girl as sweet as Vere, he resigns himself to the friend zone, and helps his new bestie with her own makeover.

She tortures him daily for ridiculous guy advice on how to snag her life-long crush. A guy Hunter thinks is totally wrong for Vere, and sadly, one who has taken note of Vere’s transformation.

When Vere asks her best friend for some kissing advice, Hunter can’t resist...

And that’s when things get out of control...

(from Goodreads)

When I first started this book, I had no clue that I would deeply adore it. Unmaking Hunter Kennedy was a very cute, laughable love story that I'm sure you too, would fall in love with it.

Hunter Kennedy is basically this big pop star in this band called GuardeRobe. He is shipped off to Colorado to live with his Aunt Nan, and The Roth family. Hunter is this ultra hot, tall, blazing blue eyed guy,who, frankly, I fell in love with. You could think that he was this perfect pop star with no problems whatsoever  but that isn't true. He actually attempted suicide and has scars on his wrist from self harm. I was surprised that Anne added that bit, but very happy with how she handled this delicate subject.

So, we follow Hunter through his new home and The Roth family. Vere and Charlie Roth are siblings that now have to welcome Hunter into their life. But, there is a catch. They need to disguise him into this geeky persona so now one will recognize him at their high school, giving him his new name; Dustin Mchugh. I really enjoyed watching Vere and "Dustin's" relationship grow as they camouflaged him in a weekend. I experienced how Vere had to deal with Dustin's "assets", like his hair, eyes or perfect bone structure. Have I mentioned that I adore him?

At first, I was kinda ehhh about Vere, but she grew on me and I begun to relate to her in all of these situations she was put in. Like, every time Curtis, her crush, came around she blushed like crazy and her heart went wild. I was seriously imagining me in those moments! Once I realized how much we had in common, I couldn't get enough of her; she was so cute, like a teddy bear with and attitude! Also, I found myself laughing so hard at Vere's humor!

There is no doubt, a serious attraction to one another as the story progresses. I was up on my couch rooting for them the whole way. How can one not with these collection of quotes?!:

He laughed low and ran a finger along the top of her mouth. His touch sent shivers of sparkles down the back of her neck. “You have heart shaped lips in a heart shaped face. Has anyone ever told you? This one—this top lip alone—could drive a guy out of his mind?”

A strand of her golden-brown hair caught in the breeze and settled itself across her chest before it whipped up and caught against her lips. Lips that have never been kissed. Remember that, dude.

"Thought you were too chicken to try this," she added. Her voice had came out all raspy-sexy. Her eyes were heavy with sleep. A length of hair slid over her shoulder, curling around her tanned hips! Tangling into the little red bikini bows!

Ugh! That last one almost killed my poor heart!

On a more serious note, I really appreciated how Anne added that aspect of suicide into the story. While it wasn't real, it most certainly portrayed what some teens go through on a daily basis. Self harm and suicide is on the rise, which scares me a lot. If you or a loved one are self harming and/or thinking about committing suicide, please get help. You are worth so much in this world. Please look in the back of this book, as suicide hotline numbers are provided. Please, you are not alone in this battle. ♥

All in all, I really enjoyed Unmaking Hunter Kennedy and I recommend this to anyone who loves contemporary romance with lots of humor and cuteness(:

Now... GIVEAWAY time!!
Thank you, Anne Eliot, for giving me this opportunity(:

I have one copy of Unmaking Hunter Kennedy up for grabs

Rules:

• To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below
• I ask that all entrants be 13 years or older.
• This giveaway is U.S only, due to postal prices.
• When the winner is chosen, it will be announced here and the winner will be emailed by me. Please check your email, because I am only giving the winner 48 hours to respond. Another winner will be selected if this occur's.
• Please enter your email address in the form below, and not in the comments please!(:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

♦Haley♦

Showcase Sunday #1

This is my first Showcase Sunday! (: If you are interested, click here for more info(: The book I will feature is one you may have seen with yesterday's post.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

1. Cruisin' by Sarah Mlynowski

Page Count(e-book Edition): 36
Publisher: Harper Teen Impulse
Released: December 4th
Genre: Young Adult Novellas
Source: Amazon Kindle Store

Synopsis:

From the critically acclaimed author of Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) and the Magic in Manhattan series comes a fun short story about taking the plunge on the high seas, where not everything is what it seems.

Kristin is ready to take the next step. . . . The only problem is she hasn't found the right guy to take it with her. That's why she agreed to go on the ominously named Cruise to Nowhere with her best friend, Liz. There are plenty of cute guys on the ship to choose from if only Kristin can work up the nerve—and stop worrying about the reports in the tabloids that passengers on cruises have been mysteriously disappearing and that someone suspects it has to do with . . . vampires.

(from Goodreads)

I literally got this book the day it was released, and for only a dollar! I most likely won't do a review on this just because of how short it is. Maybe a paragraph or two.. Who knows? Happy Blogging!

♦Haley♦

Currently Reading Updates(:

Since I feel like I've abandoned you guys, I'm going to do a a little post about my thoughts on the books I'm reading, just to keep you guys up to speed. Ready? OK lets go!

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

1. Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot
                                 
Page Count(e-book Edition): 422
Genre:  Young Adult Romance
Source: Anne Elliot herself! Thank you so much Anne! :')
My progress: 87% done

Synopsis:

After a car accident--an event he considers a prank gone bad--pop star, Hunter Kennedy is forced to hide out with his aunt in small-town Colorado. He’s supposed to rest, heal his scars and attend high school in disguise until the press dies down. But he only wants to get back to work.
Worse, the girl who’s been assigned to make him over into a geek is a major geek herself. Vere Roth is a chattering pixie, a blushing tornado and a complete social disaster. He’s never met a girl who’s never-been-kissed, believes in romance and thinks Hunter’s a 'nice' guy.

Funny thing is...Hunter is nice around Vere because she’s his first real friend. He also can’t seem to stop sharing his secrets or keep her out of his heart. Knowing he’d never deserve a girl as sweet as Vere, he resigns himself to the friend zone, and helps his new bestie with her own makeover.

She tortures him daily for ridiculous guy advice on how to snag her life-long crush. A guy Hunter thinks is totally wrong for Vere, and sadly, one who has taken note of Vere’s transformation.
When Vere asks her best friend for some kissing advice, Hunter can’t resist...
And that's when things get out of control...

(from Goodreads)

My thoughts so far:
I really, really like this book. Anne Elliot does a great job at balancing humor with  romance. A very cute, quick read. Keep your eyes out for my review coming to a computer near you soon! Haha(:

2. Belle's(Belle's #1) by Jen Calonita


Page Count(Hardcover Edition): 356

Genre:  Young Adult Contemporary
Source: Library
My progress: pg. 244

Synopsis:

Fifteen-year-old Isabelle Scott loves her life by the boardwalk on the supposed wrong side of the tracks in North Carolina. But when tragedy strikes, a social worker sends her to live with a long-lost uncle and his preppy privileged family. Isabelle is taken away from everything she's ever known, and, unfortunately, inserting her into the glamorous lifestyle of Emerald Cove doesn't go so well. Her cousin Mirabelle Monroe isn't thrilled to share her life with an outsider, and, in addition to dealing with all the rumors and backstabbing that lurk beneath their classmates' Southern charm, a secret is unfolding that will change both girls' lives forever.

(from Goodreads)

My thoughts so far:
I like this one a lot too! There are some things that bother me a bit with Mira, like how she has no backbone against Savannah, but maybe by the end, she will stand up for herself and Izzie! I'm hoping so!

And the third one I just started a few days ago and literally have not read a word of it, so I will just give you guys the synopsis, book cover and title(:

3.  Cruisin' by Sarah Mlynowski (A Harper Teen Impulse Imprint)


Page Count(e-book edition): 36
Genre: Young Adult Novellas
Source: Amazon Kindle Store


Synopsis:

From the critically acclaimed author of Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) and the Magic in Manhattan series comes a fun short story about taking the plunge on the high seas, where not everything is what it seems.

Kristin is ready to take the next step. . . . The only problem is she hasn't found the right guy to take it with her. That's why she agreed to go on the ominously named Cruise to Nowhere with her best friend, Liz. There are plenty of cute guys on the ship to choose from if only Kristin can work up the nerve—and stop worrying about the reports in the tabloids that passengers on cruises have been mysteriously disappearing and that someone suspects it has to do with . . . vampires.

(from Goodreads)
♦Haley♦