Waiting on Wednesday (times two!) (75)

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Throne of Glass
Sarah J. Maas
August 7th, 2012

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

Reading this one now, and it's great! I'm glad to that the model looks like how I imagine Celaena. The eerie castle backdrop is perfect!

The Lies That Bind

Lisa and Laura Roecker

December 1st, 2012

Kate Lowry thought she’d retired her pearls for good. But that was before Taylor Wright fails to show up for school Monday after the biggest party of the year.

Kate realizes soon enough that the party and Taylor's disappearance are connected--only not in the way everyone thinks. And as if it’s not hard enough to find a missing girl, Kate is forced to team up with the one person she has worked so hard to avoid--not to mention the one person with the potential to come between her and Liam.

As usual, Kate has her hands full searching for the truth amidst many layers of lies.

After all, things are never what they seem at Pemberly Brown.

The Liar Society was so much fun, I can't wait to see what happens next (and see if Kate's rocking blue hair like in the cover)!

What are you waiting on?

Image + Summary from Goodreads

Win an ARC of The Liar Society

Contest Policy

Winner will receive my ARC of The Liar Society, plus a few bookmarks! Perhaps even an extra surprise...who knows! ;)

Enter the form below to enter:

Check out my review of TLS and my interview with the authors if you need more convincing to enter! ;)

And feel free to share your answer to my "favorite detective" question in the comments!

Blog Tour Interview w/ Lisa & Laura Roecker

Today, I'm honored to have two very awesome authors here to answer some questions about their debut novel - The Liar Society (which I adored - click to see my review). So prepare for the amazingness that is Lisa and Laura Roecker: 

Quick! Describe The Liar Society in 7 words or less!

Dead BFF emails, Kate searches for truth.

Awesome answer! I was stunned by how seamlessly you two wrote The Liar Society. What was the experience like writing together, and how did you two share the work? 

Woohoo! Seamless is such a fantastic word. The best word to describe the experience of writing together is FUN. Basically, we play hot potato with the manuscript. Lisa writes the first chapter, Laura edits her work and adds another chapter, Lisa edits her work and writes the next. We continue on until we have a finished book. It's fun because we get to be both readers and writers at the same time and you never know quite where a book will take us.

What inspired you both to write The Liar Society? 

Lisa lost someone close to her and used to send him emails. In The Liar Society, Kate has lost her best friend Grace and sends her emails. The only difference is, Grace writes back.

Who are your top favorite sleuths from books/movies/tv shows? 

Nancy Drew all the way. We grew up devouring Nancy Drew books. We've heard Veronica Mars is amazing, but sadly never watched. One day, we'll have a marathon.

There's a mystery you two need to solve -- What three things would you need and who would you want to help you solve it? 

Lisa's phone (Laura's is basically the equivalent of a Jitterbug), one of our laptops and a car. Kate has to ride a bike everywhere and that kind of sucks. We'd definitely want Seth as our sidekick. He has all sorts of random information in his brain that would come in very handy. Although, not sure he'd be interested in hanging out with a bunch of thirty-somethings! Creeper!

Lol! Is there anything else you'd like to add?

We hope everyone enjoys The Liar Society--we had so much fun writing it!

If you found this interview entertaining, you are going to love, love, LOVE The Liar Society so much more!! 

Also, don't forget about the big contest LiLa's are having -- info below on how you enter: 

"And if you want to enter The Liar Society Blog Tour of Awesome contest, and really, who wouldn't want to enter!?! There's a $100 Amazon gift card up for grabs! Just click here and enter the super secret password, MYSTERY, for an entry. Remember you can enter one time for each stop on our blog tour, so be sure to click here and see where else we're visiting this month to maximize your chances of winning."

The Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roecker

The Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roecker

Release: March, 2011

Pages: 361

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Source: LiLa's and Paul; Bought e-copy

Summary:

Kate Lowry didn't think dead best friends could send e-mails. But when she gets an e-mail from Grace, she’s not so sure. 

To: KateLowry@pemberlybrown.edu

Sent: Sun 9/14 11:59 PM

From: GraceLee@pemberlybrown.edu

Subject: (no subject)

Kate, I'm here… sort of. Find Cameron. He knows. I shouldn't be writing. Don't tell. They'll hurt you. 

Now Kate has no choice but to prove once and for all that Grace’s death was more than just a tragic accident. But secrets haunt the halls of her elite private school. Secrets people will do anything to protect. Even if it means getting rid of the girl trying to solve a murder...

Review: Fresh, funny, and oh so mysterious, The Liar Society is the epitome of "super-amazing-fantastical-spectacular" (it is so awesome that one word just isn't enough to explain). 

Kate, The Liar Society's narrator, may be a dash of Veronica Mars, but she's unique in her own way. By the time I reach chapter 3, I knew I was going to love her character. She's smart, witty, funny, and easy to agree and relate with. Even secondary characters like eager-to-please neighbor Seth and the mysterious Liam are all well fleshed out and entertaining in their own ways.

Past and present chapters work well together with this story, and they slowly reveal the mystery of the night Grace died. Or, did she die? The mysteries surrounding Grace and Pemberly Brown (Kate's school) do not disappoint, especially the killer twist ending that will leave you begging for a sequel and more of Kate. 

Kate's sleuthing skills and the intriguing mystery will keep you entertained and curious from beginning to end. If you love mysteries with a spunky heroine, The Liar Society is your story.

Highlights: How on Earth did the Roecker sisters write so flawlessly? I mean, really? I seriously forgot there were two of them, because the Roecker sisters were definitely on the same page -- the writing is tight and true to Kate's character, with no unusual moments where you can tell there are two writer's. 

The mystery is flawlessly pieced together - there's enough suspense and everything is steadily revealed. It's not just a mystery book, it's hilarious and amusing. The Liar Society is without a doubt the best humorous yet mysterious novel I've read in years.

Lowlights: I predicted the ending long before it came, I think I just got lucky with that anyway. Even so, there was still so much to be curious about - don't let this book pass you by! 

Rating: