The Qwillery giveaway!

Among Thieves will be given away to a commenter at the Qwillery's website, check it out!

Divergent ARC giveaway!

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEFpdERackY5N0t4Qm1wSDhMYWNjcEE6MQ

If you want a shot at winning this ARC go to this blog!  This is a great book and worth a try at winning!

The Vespertine: Saundra Mitchell

I heard about this book on Good Reads and decided to place a hold on it.  I read the book in about 2 days, meandering over a few other books as well.  I can't say I loved it, but I enjoyed the novel. 
The book is written in the flavor of 1889, the words and actions are flowery and overdone.  The setting varies from Broken Tooth, Maine to Baltimore, Maryland.  The main character, Amelia, is sent to live with her relatives in Baltimore as a kind of "coming out" to society and a chance to snag a husband.  Amelia is dramatic and incessantly curious of the new events and environment surrounding her.
The reader finds Amelia in a depressed state back at her familial home with her brother and his wife.  From there the novel progresses through the events that led up to Amelia's morose.  At her relatives' house, Amelia becomes friends with her stylish cousin, Zora.  It is at that house that Amelia discovers her strange gift: she can see futures in the "vespers"/as the sun is setting.  With Zora, Amelia begins regularly using her gift for her friends and classmates.  She thinks highly of her gift and impresses even high members of society (mostly young females she meets).  Throughout this eventful discovery, Amelia finds herself falling in love with Nathaniel.  Nathaniel is a mysterious character, unfortunately, he doesn't have the money or status necessary to truly court Amelia, rendering their meetings and "dates" secret.  For a few chapters the book follows Amelia pushing the limits of her gift and even hosting "seance" type activities. 
Happiness never lasts forever, Amelia fails to predict the demise of someone very important to both her and Zora, leaving a certain character (not Zora) very mad at her and out to kill.  This is where the action heats up and the reader, who has been skimming along, really gets drawn into the novel. 
The ending is satisfactory with a slight cliff hanger.  I would recommend this book to young teens/adults (female), who enjoy fantasy and romance.  For me, the book was too flowery, but I know that some readers enjoy the true "flavor" of a book and will like the writer's dialogue. 

Timeless: Alexandra Monir

I'll admit it, the first thing that drew me to this book was the face of a beautiful girl looking wonderingly from the cover. However, what drew me into this book isn't the pretty cover. The description on the inside of the book is really intriguing and gives just enough information for the unassuming reader to buy the book or check it out from the local library.

Michele Windsor, the protagonist of the novel, loses her mother in a drunk driving incident. Devastated, she is sent to live with her ridiculously wealthy grandparents who had previously "disowned" her mother. Her mother was, in part, disowned because of Michele; when she was just a young adult, her mother had fallen in love with a mysterious young man by the name of Henry Irving. As Henry Irving was not especially rich or famous, the Windsors disapproved. In order to marry her first love, Michele's mother runs away with Henry Irving only to be seemingly abandoned by him before Michele's birth. Michele and her mom live along with each other for company.

After the aforementioned terrible car accident, Michele is sent to live with her wealthy grandparents, the Windsors. Unable to get comfortable in her new extravagant home and unwelcoming school, Michele looks through boxes brought from her California home and finds an interesting key. When the key draws her to a lock containing Clara's (an ancestor) diary, Michele is miraculously transported back to 1910. There she meets her ethereal ancestor Clara, as well as her love interest, Philip. Can a relationship survive the gap of time?

I liked this book from the start, the writing is descriptive, but not to the point of annoyance, the main character's feelings and anxieties are tangible throughout the novel, and the reader gets a sense of the pervading atmosphere of the novel. This book is great for readers who enjoy fantasy/magic, romance, and intrigue. I was so happy to reach the end of the book and find a "To Be Continued".