Giveaway - The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Keep an eye out for my review of The Night Circus!

Rules
- Open To: UK & Commonwealth**

- Ends 10th June.

- Fill Out Rafflecopter Below.

- There Will Be Two Winners.

- Vintage Books are sending both books out directly to the winners.

** Antigua and Barbuda, Australia,The Bahamas,Bangladesh,Barbados,Belize.Botswana,Brunei,

Darussalam,Cameroon,Canada,Cyprus,Dominica,Fiji Islands,TheGambia,Ghana,Grenada,Guyana,

India,Jamaica,Kenya,Kiribati,Lesotho,Malawi,Malaysia,Maldives,Malta,Mauritius,Mozambique,Namibia,Nauru,New Zealand, Nigeria,Pakistan,Papua New Guinea,Samoa,Seychelles,Sierra Leone,

Singapore, Solomon Islands,South Africa,Sri Lanka,St Kitts and Nevis,St Lucia,St Vincent and the Grenadines,Swaziland,Tonga,Trinidad and Tobago,Tuvalu,Uganda,United Kingdom,United Republic of Tanzania,Vanuatu,Zambia,Zimbabwe

The Blurb 

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.


Thank you to Vintage Books for letting me run a giveaway and providing me with two copies to giveaway to my followers! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Splash Into Summer INT Giveaway

Find linky at I am a Reader Not a Writer

As it's a Splash Into Summer Giveaway I am giving away ONE of these summer books to ONE winner =)

INTERNATIONAL

If UK winner more books will be added. 

~

Rules :

The winner can CHOOSE one book

International (BUT please check this list)

Ends 31st May

Fill out Rafflecopter (Below)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Time Will Come #65

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The Time Will Come - 

Every Thursday l am going to list a book which l really want to read/keep meaning to get to. These are mostly books which have been on my shelf for awhile now but don't have to be, maybe you got it two weeks ago and really want to read it! 

~

Want to join in?

- Pick a book you have been meaning to read

- Do a post telling us about the book 

- Link the post up in the linky

- Visit the other blogs!

The Blurb

When seventeen-year-old Rosie’s mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington’s Disease, her pain is intensified by the knowledge that she has a fifty-per-cent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself. Only when she tells her mum’s best friend, ‘Aunt Sarah’ that she is going to test for the disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie was not her biological mother after all... Devastated, Rosie decides to trace her real mother, hitching along on her ex-boyfriend’s GAP year to follow her to Los Angeles. But all does not go to plan, and as Rosie discovers yet more of her family's deeply-buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonising decision of her own - one which will be the most heart-breaking and far-reaching of all..

Guest Post - Cover Talk By Nikki Jefford + FREE EBOOK & Giveaway

Please welcome Nikki Jefford to Books for Company!

Since Jodie is a diligent participant in Cover Crazy (hosted by The Book Worms), I thought it fitting to talk covers.

ROUND ONE

I was on pins and needles when it came time to hire a graphic designer for Entangled. I looked through online portfolios and chose Najla Qamber because I loved Bound, the cover she did for Kira Saito. I then scanned a photo from Vogue magazine I liked, sent it to Naj, and asked for something similar. I envisioned a young woman with hair blowing in the wind, fading away.
What I got back looked better suited for adult romance.
Luckily, Naj was a dream to work with and said we’d keep at it until I was 100 percent satisfied.
I spent untold hours scouring royalty free image sites until I came across one that grabbed me. My husband calls it the Lady Gaga cover. I did a quick survey on my blog and got strong positive feedback in favour of frozen fairy nymph girl. I particularly liked the mystical quality about her.

ROUND TWO
Book two, Duplicity, which released this week, was by far the easiest of the three covers. I used the same stock model and already knew which of the images I wanted. I also knew I wanted the cover to be green and for her to be holding a pink tulip.

After Entangled received such a warm welcome across the blogosphere I was nervous about Duplicity’s reception, but, personally, I like it even better. I love the colouring and look on her face.

We had to play around with the color contrast at first because in the first draft, she looked ill, but it came together really quick.

ROUND THREE

Insider information: We’re actually back to the drawing board on Spellbound #3: Enchantment. I had wanted it to be red, since Graylee Perez is under a love spell, but she came out looking satanic.

We’re trying a different colour, pose, and special effect. I told Naj I want this – the third and final book in the series – to wow people just as much if not more than the previous covers. She’s on top of it.

All shall be revealed during the Enchantment Cover Reveal on Naj’s book review site: Unputdownable Books, June 7th.

Giveaway

Enter to win the SPELLBOUND SWAG PACK (International)

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· Evil Eye Amulet and Bracelet: In Duplicity, Gray wears an evil eye pendant, also known as a nazar, to protect herself from a spell that’s causing havoc over the witches and warlocks in her coven. The evil eye (a Turkish amulet) is used for both luck and protection against envy.
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· Two Headed Quarter: Two Grays are better than none and two heads are better than one, especially when flipping over who gets to choose which movie to watch with a trick coin. Adrian returns in Duplicity and opens a magic shop.

· Entangled bookmark
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
This giveaway is run by Nikki so she will be announcing the winner, sending emails out and the prizes! Ends 8th June

Find Nikki
Website
Goodreads
Amazon (UK/USA)
Youtube (Trailers!)
Twitter

Free Ebook Copy of Entangled
Amazon - UK/USA

Nab your free copy of Entangled this week during amazon promo days TODAY, tomorrow, or Sunday (May 23, 24, & 27).

Guest Post - Alison Lucy on Megan

Please welcome Alison Lucy to Books for Company!

The Summer of Secrets by Alison Lucy

Alison has very kindly written three teaser introduction posts on the three protagonists. Because they are quite long I am going to space them out over the next week so make sure you keep coming back for the next one!
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Find Alison

Amazon (UK/USA)
Book Depository
Goodreads
Website

Blurb :

One heady summer. Three big secrets. 1989: Newlyweds Danny and Harriet arrive at their honeymoon paradise in the Caribbean. Days later Harriet returns home. Danny is left distraught but finds comfort in the arms of two women. Nine months later, three baby girls are born... 2010: Megan leaves her childhood sweetheart behind in the UK to go in search of her long-lost father. Miles from home and temptation is at every corner - not least in the arms of the gorgeous Ray... Esmé, a Mexican beauty, married Miguel at fifteen. In unlocking the secrets of her past, can she shed the shackles of her enforced marriage? Claudia has led a life of privilege but she's never really known what it feels like to be loved. Could David be the answer? Or will he disappoint her, just like her mother always did? Three women set off on an adventure to uncover the secrets surrounding their missing father. It may be the only way to lay their demons to rest but seeking out the truth could tear their lives apart

Megan

Danny Featherbow’s grandmother, Alice, taught Danny, as a boy, the simple game that he would play every chance he had, until the day he died: the turn of three cards with a stake on the value of the third. So simple, so seductive. Like love.
Within half an hour, Alice had taken all his pocket money.
‘You shouldn’t trust the cards as much as you do, Danny,’ she said, and she turned a silver coin down through her four fingers and back up again in a skilful way that he immediately wanted to master. ‘The cards will always let you down eventually,’ she said. ‘Trust yourself, always yourself, only yourself.’ His grandmother bent close to him and he could smell her rose-scented face cream and see the furrows in her face that it could not help. ‘The trick is to leave the game while you’re ahead,’ she said.
She stood up and returned to the business of keeping their tiny house spick and span in case someone should visit. But they never did.
The following week, Danny won his money back again. In fact, he never lost money to his grandmother again. He stopped taking silly risks and only put his coins on the table if he was more likely than not to get them back. He paid no attention to the voices tempting him to play a hand anyway because you never know. He didn’t bet on maybe. Life was cruel.
He had barely started to learn higher maths at school and yet, on an instinctive level, eleven-year-old Danny was able to calculate complicated probability, percentages and the odds of winning the simple card game she called Acey Duecey. And so it became easy to win.
He could feel his grandmother’s curious gaze upon him as he sat counting the coins he had amassed. He liked to stack the coins in a single tower, reaching a fraction higher with every winning hand, and he liked to imagine that one day he might have a tower of money that was taller than him, taller than his grandmother, taller then them both. A pile of silver that he could climb away from here to the moon and stars.
‘Teach me that thing you do with the coin,’ he said, trying and fumbling.
She reached down to ruffle her fingers through his messy brown hair in an uncharacteristic display of affection and he lifted his bowed head.
‘I think perhaps you were born lucky,’ she said.

He was sixteen before he fell in love. All the girls at school were mad about Danny Featherbow but he barely noticed, which of course only made them giggle behind their hands all the more. His hair stood up in shocks of misbehaviour and was the last trace of boyishness that remained on a serious, handsome face.
Harriet was standing in line at the butcher’s on a freezing cold evening shortly before Christmas. She had milky skin and fine blonde hair, almost white, which fell halfway down her back. It was tied with a dark-green ribbon and immediately Danny imagined untying that ribbon and seeing that hair cascade over those shoulders like spun silk. At that precise moment she looked directly at him, she was staring at him, this angel with the skin and the hair and the shoulders, and all the moisture was sucked out of his mouth so that he felt an insatiable urge to swallow, but he couldn’t and so he started to choke a bit. He thought he heard music. And then the whole world flooded back in and he realised she had been staring because the butcher’s boy was asking him what he wanted and somehow he had to recover his breath and remember where he was. He walked halfway home before he was able to feel normal again. 

Click Here to Continue Reading

Paperback or Hardback (#48)

 Sin Undone - Larissa Lone

>> Paperback 1 </3

Paperback 2 >>

I don't really like girls with those sort of tattoos in the PB 2 so I am straight away put off the PB 2 cover. The PB 1 is way too crowded but I much prefer the picture used and I am much more likely to pick this on up from the PB 2 as I like a bit of romance in a book which the PB 1 hints at. 

  The Swan Thieves - Elizabeth Kostova

<< Hardback </3

Paperback >>-

I definitely prefer the HB, although I am not sure whether I would pick it up still as it doesn't seem like my sort of book. The HB is pretty though with the white swan mixed with the other colours in the cover. The PB is very dull compared to it. 

 The Girl Who Fell From The Sky

<< Hardback </3

Paperback  >>

The more I look at the HB the more I like it. I love that it really goes well with the title of the book (as the girl is following). It's such a simple cover but it really intrigues me and makes me want to find more out about the storyline. 

Please note, some covers l feature are also in other formats. For example a HB cover is usually also in PB and a PB cover is also sometimes on a HB etc.

Also sometimes the PB may be a UK one and the HB may be USA.

It's just a way to compare covers.

</3 - Meh
<3 - Like

<33 Love

Cover Crazy #66

Hosted by The Book Worms

Glass Heart - Amy Garvey
I really like that you can tell this is part of the Cold Kiss series =)

I love this cover because :
- I just love love the frozen effect used, it's so awesome!
- The glass heart is amazing, I love how you can see it's melting a tiny bit. The detail is amazing. 
- Really like that her lipstick is the main colour in the cover. Red & lips mean love and kissing!
-I really like the type of font used with the patterns over the words.
- A book which actually makes it clear that it's a sequel!  

Dislike :

- I can't really think of a way this cover could be improved. I just love it! 

Lovely, Dark and Deep - Amy McNamara

Well I love snow and I rarely see covers which use snow to make an amazing and attractive cover but this cover does exactly that. 

I love this cover because :

- I love the shapes the snow makes on the tree trunk.
- Love the effect of the tree, it makes the book feel very natural which is definitely a plus for me. 
- The title has been added in a way which makes it stand out but doesn't get in the way of the picture. A very clever way!
- The person sitting under the tree, alone, makes me wonder what the book is about? Especially because of the title. What is this person doing out in the snow?

The Time Will Come #64

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The Time Will Come - 

Every Thursday l am going to list a book which l really want to read/keep meaning to get to. These are mostly books which have been on my shelf for awhile now but don't have to be, maybe you got it two weeks ago and really want to read it! 

~

Want to join in?

- Pick a book you have been meaning to read

- Do a post telling us about the book 

- Link the post up in the linky

- Visit the other blogs!

Sing Me To Sleep - Angela Morrison

I was so so excited to read this one when I got it from a swap! The cover is just ADORABLE and after reading the blurb I felt so emotional I knew I had to read it. Sadly because it's not a book from a publisher the time hasn't come for it. I so hope to get to it soon. I keep looking at it on my hardback bookshelf and wishing I had the time, I am always so tempted to take it off the shelf to have a little flick through! I can see there may be some tears when I am reading this book. I am actually kind of hoping there is as I haven't had a book which has made me feel strong emotions for a while now!

The Blurb

THE TRANSFORMATION Beth has always been "The Beast",that's what everyone at school calls her because of her awkward height, facial scars, and thick glasses. Beth's only friend is geeky, golden-haired Scott. That is, until she's selected to be her choir's soprano soloist, and receives the makeover that will change her life forever.
THE LOVE AFFAIR
When Beth's choir travels to Switzerland, she meets Derek: pale, brooding, totally dreamy. Derek's untethered passion,for music, and for Beth, leaves her breathless. Because in Derek's eyes? She's not The Beast, she's The Beauty.
THE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE
When Beth comes home, Scott, her best friend in the world, makes a confession that leaves her completely torn. Should she stand by sweet, steady Scott or follow the dangerous, intense new feelings she has for Derek?
THE HEARTBREAK
The closer Beth gets to Derek, the further away he seems. Then Beth discovers that Derek's been hiding a dark secret from her ?one that could shatter everything.

>

Waiting on Wednesday #64

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

What She Left Behind - Tracy Bilen
Published : 1st May 2012
Publisher : Simon Pulse
How awesome does this sound? The blurb straight away draws you in and I really want to get to know more about Sara within an instance. I think this book could easily be one of my favourite of 2012 if it's written in the right way and Sara is a strong character. It sounds like she goes through a lot in this book so I just hope she is a down to earth character who I can get along with! I need a good book which is hard to put down as I lack in time, hopefully this will force me to find time. 

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The Blurb :
“Don’t even think of leaving… I will find you,” he whispered. “Guaranteed.”
Sara and her mom have a plan to finally escape Sara’s abusive father. But when her mom doesn’t show up as expected, Sara’s terrified. Her father says that she’s on a business trip, but Sara knows he’s lying. Her mom is missing—and her dad had something to do with it.
With each day that passes, Sara’s more on edge. Her friends know that something’s wrong, but she won’t endanger anyone else with her secret. And with her dad growing increasingly violent, Sara must figure out what happened to her mom before it’s too late…for them both.

Paperback or Hardback (#47)

Unholy Magic - Stacia Kane

>> Paperback 1 </3

Paperback 2 >>

I definitely think that PB 1 stands out much more because of the lighting and colours. It's really quite pretty in a way. I do dislike all the writing at the top left though, it makes it too crowded. PB 2 is ok, nothing special though and that one too is kind of crowded. 

Ecstasy Unveiled - Larissa Lone

<< Paperback 1 <3

Paperback 2  >>-

I like both of these covers but again, they are both quite crowded with lots of texts. PB 1 is awesome; I love purple & it's nice and bright therefore stands out (Plus the body ;]). PB 2 is ok. I dislike the pattern coming from the right and if that wasn't there I would like this one a lot more. 

          The Unwritten Rule - Elizabeth Scott

<< Hardback </3

Paperback  >>

Neither of these covers are amazing or stand out a lot but I do prefer the HB. That's just because I tend not to like covers which have faces on with no effects or anything added. The HB seems to sort the story a lot more too!

Please note, some covers l feature are also in other formats. For example a HB cover is usually also in PB and a PB cover is also sometimes on a HB etc.

Also sometimes the PB may be a UK one and the HB may be USA.

It's just a way to compare covers.

</3 - Meh
<3 - Like

<33 Love

*Review* - The Breakaway by Michelle Davidson Argyle

The Breakaway - Michelle Davidson Argyle

Series : No

Released : 1st May 2012

Publisher: Rhemalda Publishing

Format : Paperback

Source : Author

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)

Overall rating

 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................

When Naomi Jensen is kidnapped, it takes her parents two days to realize she’s missing. Escape isn’t high on her list of priorities when all she has to return to is an abusive boyfriend and parents who never paid much attention to her. For the first time in her life she’s part of a family—even if it is a family of criminals. But she’s still a captive. In a desperate attempt to regain some control in her life, Naomi embarks on a dangerous plan to make one of her kidnappers think she’s falling in love with him. The plan works too well, and when faced with the chance to escape, Naomi isn’t sure she wants to take it.

.................................... My Thoughs  ....................................

In Short

- I was gripped throughout most of the book. 

- The characters were well developed and unique. 

- The first 200 or so pages were intense and gripping but the ending was a bit disappointing and not engrossing at all.  

- Naomi was a great main character

In Long

I have to admit when I first started to read The Breakaway I thought I was going to struggle to get into it. The writing didn’t flow straight away but after a few pages everything took its place and started to come together. Within a few chapters I was totally gripped. The whole storyline that Naomi has a rubbish home life along with her being kidnapped really made for a tense storyline which was so unpredictable. I never knew what Naomi or her kidnappers were going to do next and this made everything a lot more intense. I was totally intrigued!

The characters are all well developed, although it takes me a while to get to know some of them I felt they were all unique and added their own little thing to the storyline. There wasn’t really that many twists in this book but I didn’t feel it really needed them, the storyline was strong enough on its own.

One of the things which took it down from 5 stars to 4 stars is because of the ending. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it but I found with the last 75 pages or so I just wasn’t gripped. This felt strange as for the previous 200 pages or so I had been totally engrossed! I just felt the ending is meant to be the most intense part but it wasn’t, I was actually able to put the book down towards the end whereas I wasn’t for the first 200 pages. Also sometimes the writing seemed to fall a bit in standard and didn’t flow as well.

Final Thoughts
The Breakaway was a great read, I was gripped throughout most of the book and I loved not knowing what was going to happen next for the majority of the story. Naomi is a character I was able to emotionally connect with and feel sympathy for which was an important part of the book.

Cover Crazy #65

Hosted by The Book Worms

When I saw the covers for this series I had to do a cover crazy on my favourite three!

Love & Other Perishable Items - Laura Buzo
I so love this cover, it's such a girly cover which makes me love it even more, such an improvement on the previous cover. 

I love this cover because :
- I love the font used for the title and the placement of it.  
-The effect of the jar and with the love heart in, I wonder what it means and what the book is about?
- Love how the word love is in pink/red and the same colour of the heart. 
- I like how they haven't tried to fill the white space with silly patterns etc!

Dislike :

- I don't dislike anything. 

Erasing Time - C.J. Hill

The more I look at this cover the more I love it! 

I love this cover because :

- Love how the girls are so alike yet a tiny bit different, I wonder if this has anything to do with the storyline? 

- The timer is so clever, definitely makes this cover stand out and more unique. I love how it shapes around the faces. 
- The tagline is one which grips me and straight away makes me think this is a book I will enjoy!
- Cover's which interlink with the title are always a winner for me so I really like that there  is a timer when the title is called 'Erasing time'

Dislike :

- I dislike that the authors name is in a random pink colour

Apology + Holiday

Hi All!

I am so so sorry for my lack of posts and not doing The Time Will Come this week. If you want to leave your The Time Will Come links below and I will check them out.

I am going away next week but I am doing all the posts this afternoon so posts will be up as normal and two reviews! 

I am really struggling for time at the moment but I am going to try harder to get all posts sorted out the week before! I apologise =)

I just had to add this picture of my nephew and niece =)

*Review* - Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent - Veronica Roth

Series : #2 Divergent

Released : 1st May 2012

Publisher: Harper Collins

Format : Paperback

Source : Publisher

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)|Book Depository

Overall rating

 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................

War looms in sixteen-year-old Tris’s dark dystopian world as disputes between the factions grow. Tris must now fight against all odds to discover the truth that can save her and the people she loves. Sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge – and the choices she makes will have devastating and unexpected consequences.

.................................... My Thoughs  ....................................

In Short

- I have fallen even more in love with Tobias in this book!

- For some reason I felt a bit confused at a lot of points in this book.

- There is a lot of characters so it's hard to keep track of who is who. 

- The ending keeps you hanging ... ye.. really bad!

In Long

I so want to say I adored Insurgent as much as Divergent and easily give it a 5 stars like I did with Divergent, sadly I can't! I do feel like this is my fault as I didn't seem to always understand what was happening yet from all the other reviews I have seen everyone else did so it may just be me, which makes me rather annoyed at myself! By not understanding what was happening I mean at certain times I had no idea who was who and who was on whos side (confusing sentence right! ;]). I just felt like I got a bit overwhelmed because there is SO many characters and towards the end there is so many sides with different people who at some points 'switch sides'. Saying that, this is literally the only fault I have with this story and to be honest, it's not a huge one! I just wish things would have been brought down a level with a few less characters. There was just so many characters I often forgot who it was and who they were to Tris, Best friend? Enemy?
Putting all that aside, I adored this book. I have grown to love Tobias even more in this book, at so many points I just wanted to give him a big cuddle. He compliments Tris and her character so much and I love how much she leans on him for support, he really brings her back down to earth in this book at a number of points. The other characters are all well developed and all come into their own in this book. I love how some change so quickly in this book and I never seen it coming, so many little twists where the characters are concerned. 
The storyline is so amazing. Veronica did what she did in Divergent and managed to make the story line grow bigger and better with every chapter, becoming more and more engrossing. Like I have said above though I was quite confused at lots of points so I felt this did stop me from being able to get into the storyline as much. This is the only thing which held me back. 
Of course, Veronica has left us with a huge ending. I am so excited to read the next in the series! To be honest I don't know where Veronica is going to take the book but I am in no doubt she will take the characters and storyline another level in the next book! VERY EXCITED HERE! 

Final Thoughts

Insurgent is a great book which managed to follow on from the huge 'Divergent' and built on the storyline and characters which made Divergent so amazing.