Feature & Follow # 32

 

Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers. But you have to know, the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

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Here’s this week’s question:

Have you ever read a book that you thought you would hate?

Did you end up hating it?

Did you end up loving it?

Or would you never do that?

This is an easy question for me to answer. I have never read a book I thought I might hate. If the blurb dosen't hook me in or I read reviews which are not favorable, then I simply pass by that book and move onto something I know I will like.

Sorry if my response is a little mundane.

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So what's your FF?

To play along visit Parajunkee & Alison Can Read

Follow them, follow their Featured Blogs and then visit as many blogs as you can, posting your answers.

And don't forget to leave your link in the comments section below!

Swoon Thursday # 33 Clockwork Prince

 

 

The fabulous girls over at YA Bound created this super HOT meme.
 

Here's how it works. From the book you're currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering. 
 

Shout it out on Twitter with the hashtag#YABound, post it here in the comments, or grab the adorable button above and share it on your blog!

 

 

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My swoon for this week comes from

 

Clockwork Prince

 

- Book 2 from The Infernal Devises series by Cassandra Clare.

 

 

First - The Blurb:

 

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

 

 

Second - My Thoughts:

 

I am barely half-way through this book so my thoughts on this one are limited.

 

All I can say at this stage, is that I am continuing to enjoy the series and look forward to seeing how it all resolves itself.

 

 

 

Third - My Swoon:

 

He curled his fingers around her hand where it lay on his arm. His own scorched her skin, as hot as fire. And then he turned her and drew her toward him.

 

They stood face-to-face, chest to chest. His breath stirred her hair. She felt the fever rising off him like mist off the Thames; sensed the pounding of the blood through his skin; saw with a strange clarity the pulse at his throat, the light on the pale curls of his hair where they lay against his paler neck. Prickles of heat ran up and down her skin, bewildering her. This was Jem---her friend, as steady and reliable as a heartbeat. Jem did not set her skin on fire or make the blood rush fast inside her veins until she was dizzy.

 

"Tessa," he said. She looked up at him. There was nothing steady or reliable about his expression. His eyes were dark, his cheeks flushed. As she raised her face, he brought his down, his mouth slanting across hers, and even as she froze in surprise, they were kissing. Jem. She was kissing Jem. Where Will's kisses were all fire, Jem's were like pure air after a long time of being closed up in the airless dark. His mouth was soft and firm; one of his hands circled the back of her neck gently, guiding her mouth to his. With his other hand he cupped her face, running his thumb gently across her cheekbone. His lips tasted of burned sugar; the sweetness of the drug, she guessed. His touch, his lips, were tentative, and she knew why. Unlike Will, he would mind that this was the height of impropriety, that he should not be touching her, kissing her, that she should be pulling away.

 

But she did not want to pull away.

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Okay, so what do you think?
 

If you liked my Swoon, please leave a comment below!

 

Teaser Tuesday # 32 - Clockwork Angel

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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A few weeks back I read The Mortal Instruments (Books 1-5). Having enjoyed both the series and Cassandra Clare's writing style, I decided to give The Infernal Devises a go.

 

So, my tease this week comes from

 

Clockwork Angel

First - The Blurb:

Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.


Second - My Thoughts:

I just completed this book, and yeah, definitely liked it.

Set in the 1800's, it's a little different from my more modern day reads. I usually tend to gravitate towards stories set in this century. However, in this case, it was nice to have a change.

The characters, although not too dissimilar from those in TMI (The Mortal Instruments), are still unique, and one becomes quickly drawn into their world of mystery, intrigue, lies and deception.

Not heavy on the romance, but there is plenty of action and a few surprises.

My rating - 4 out of 5


Third - My Tease:

He took her by the shoulders and pulled her closer to him, his fingers knotting in the fabric of her dress. Even more than in the attic, she felt caught in the eddy of a powerful wave that threatened to pull her over and under, to crush and break her, to wear her down to softness as the sea might wear down a piece of glass.

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If you liked my tease, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or if you don't have a blog, then please leave your ‘teasers’ in the comment section below!