My Weekly Wrap Up: 27/06/2015

I'm really proud of myself this week! I have posted for the last five days in a row, which is really surprising for me. I have been suffering from the worst blogging slump - before this week I'd posted only 17 posts in 4 months. But something just clicked this week and I was finally able to do some blogging. I really hope I can keep this up and get back on track.

My weeks have mostly been filled with working and not much else. But I did get to attend an amazing event at Bloomsbury's offices in London last week. It was an evening with Sarah Crossan and Jenny McLachlan, who were there talking about their latest books. It was such a fun event and those two had us all in stitches. I went with my best friend, Kevin, and we had a great time catching up.

I've been realising that I am acquiring books at an alarming rate and really need to cut down. We shall see if that actually happens though!

FAR TOO MANY!!!

Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher

When reclusive novelist Senna Richards wakes up on her thirty-third birthday, everything has changed. Caged behind an electrical fence, locked in a house in the middle of the snow, Senna is left to decode the clues to find out why she was taken. If she wants her freedom, she has to take a close look at her past. But, her past has a heartbeat... and her kidnapper is nowhere to be found. With her survival hanging by a thread, Senna soon realises this is a game. 

A dangerous one.

Only the truth can set her free. 

Marrow by Tarry Fisher

Margo is not like other girls. She lives in a derelict neighbourhood called the Bone, in a curse house, with a cursed mother, who hasn't spoken to her in over two years. She lives her days feeling invisible. It's not until she develops a friendship with her wheelchair-bound neighbour, Judah Grant, that things begin to change. When neighbourhood girl, seven-year-old Nevaeh Anthony, goes missing, Judah sets out to help Margo uncover what happened to her.What Margo finds changes her, and with a new perspective on life, she's determined to find evil and punish it - targeting rapists and child molesters one by one. But hunting evil is dangerous, and Margo risk losing everything, including her own soul. 

Under the Influence by L.B. Simmons

Dalton,

I love you once. A love I thought irrevocable. A love I mistakenly believed could transcend both time and circumstance. Under the influence of my dimwitted, naive, traitorous heart, I became intoxicated with what I now know was simply a figment of my self-indulgent imagination. So drunk on the feeling, I couldn't see what was right in front of my face. So foolishly enamoured, I blindly followed my heart into the depths of an emotion that would ravage me.

Years later, I know now what I wish I knew then. I am stronger. Smarter. Tougher. I will not allow myself to be broken again.

I loved you.

I raged for you.

I wept for you.

And now, I'm letting you go.  

Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan 

When Bree Prescott arrives in the sleepy town, lakeside town of Pelion, Maine, she hopes against hope that this is the place where she will finally find the peace she so desperately seeks. On her first day there, her life collides with Archer Hale, an isolated man who holds a secret agony of his own. A man no one else sees.Archer's Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love. 

The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon

Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o'clock news - the little baby left in a basket at a dingy Laundromat, born to a crack addict and expected to have all sorts of problems. I imagined the crack baby, Moses, having a giant crack that ran down his body, like he'd been broken at birth. I knew that wasn't what the term meant, but the image stuck in my mind. Maybe the fact that he was broken drew me to him from the start.It all happened before I was born, and by the time I met Moses and my mom told me all about him, the story was old news and nobody wanted anything to do with him. People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids, and kids grow up to be teenagers. Nobody wants a messed up teenager. And Moses was messed up. Moses was a law unto himself. But he was also strange and exotic and beautiful. To be with him would change my life in ways I could never have imagined. Maybe I should have stayed away. Maybe I should have listened. My mother warned me. Even Moses warned me. But I didn't stay away.And so begins a story of pain and promise, of heartbreak and healing, of life and death. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. But most of all... a love story.

Clipped Wings & Inked Armor by Helena Hunting

From her dark hair sweeping below her waist to her soft, sexy curves, Tenley Page intrigues tattoo artist Hayden Stryker in a way no one else ever has... especially when she asks him to ink a gorgeous, intricate design on her back. Yet for all her beauty, there is something darkly tragic and damaged about Tenley that Hayden relates to.Covered in ink and steel, Hayden is everything Tenley has never dared to want, awakening a desire to explore more than the art adorning his stunning body. Trapped by a past that leaves her screaming from nightmares, Tenley sees Hayden as the perfect escape. Although he has secrets too, if they both keep themselves guarded perhaps their intense physical connect will remain only that.But nothing, not even passion, can keep them safe from their pasts. 

Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker

Elizabeth Greay may look harmless, but don't let that fool you. She can take out five necromancers with a single sword and slay a wizard at fifty paces. But when she's found carrying witch's herbs, she's thrown into jail with no chance of escape. Only magic, which she's fought against all her life, can save her...Now, with Elizabeth's chances of survival in the very hands of those she has been trained to fight, she faces an impossible choice:Magic or murder?

The Last Summer of Us by Maggie Harcourt

A story of love, lies, grief, friendship and growing up.
A story of three best friend crammed into a clapped-out car full of regrets and secrets, on a journey that will change their lives for every.

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

In a split-second, Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows, to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life for ever.

Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating...

The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

The New York Public Library: haven of countless stories and the makeshift sanctuary of Echo, a runaway pickpocket. Amid the stacks and shelves, she's found by the Ala, an ancient creature with feathers for hair and magic running through her veins.
The Ala gives Echo a home amongst her people, who exist far from human eyes beneath the streets of the city. Straddling two worlds, Echo survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market and grows up to become daring, brash and fiercely loyal.
So when a centuries-old war threatens the only true family she's ever known, Echo decides she must act. Legend has it only an elusive mythical being - the Firebird - has the power to end the conflict. Finding it will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants... and how to take it. 

The Dark Light by Julia Bell

Rebekah has live on New Canaan her whole life and has never thought to question the strange beliefs of her community or the extreme teachings of their charismatic leader. But then Alex arrives, with a dark past and a soul that needs saving, and the girls are inexplicably drawn to one another. Soon Rebekah starts to question everything she has ever known, and Alex starts to suspect that she isn't on the island to be saved, but to be sacrificed...

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

When he's sent to Latham House, a boarding school for sick teens, Lane thinks his life may well be over.But when he meets Sadie and her friends - a group of eccentric troublemakers - he realises that maybe getting sick is just the beginning. That illness doesn't have to define you, and that falling in love is its own cure.Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about true friendships, ill-fated love and the rare miracle of second chances. 

The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell

Feodora and her mother live in the snow-bound woods of Russia, in a house full of food and fireplaces. Ten minutes away, in a ruined chapel, lives a pack of wolves. Feodora's mother is a wolf wilder, and Feo is a wolf wilder in training. A wolf wilder is the opposite of an animal tamer: it is a person who teachers tamed animals to fend for themselves, and to fight and to run, and to be wary of humans.When the shimmering resentment of her neighbours turns to murderous hostility, Feo is left with no option but to go on the run. What follows is a story of survival and adventure, trust and tenacity, and the toughness that the love between mothers and daughters inspires. And, of course, wolves.

Breathe & Resist by Sarah Crossan

When Oxygen levels plunge in a treeless world, a state lottery decides who will live inside the pod. Everyone else will slowly suffocate.Years later, society has divided into Premiums and Auxiliaries. Only Premiums can afford enough oxygen to live a normal life. Dissenters to the regime are ejected from the Pod.Aline belong to a rebel group. On the verge of capture, she is rescued by a Premium boy. They escape the Pod but with only two days' worth of air. Outside they unearth conspiracy on a breathtaking scale.

Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan

When Apple's mother returns after eleven years away, Apple feels whole again. She will have an answer to her burning question - why did you go? But just like the stormy Christmas Eve when she left, her mother's homecoming is bitter sweet. It's only when Apple meets someone more lost than she is, that she begins to see things as they really are. 

Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan

Armed with a suitcase and an old laundry bag, Kasienka and her mother head for England. Life is lonely for Kasienka. At home her mother's heart is breaking; at school friends are scarce. But when someone special swims into her life, Kasienka learns that there might be more than one way to stay afloat. 

Concentr8 by William Sutcliffe

Concentr8 is a prescription drug intended to help kids with ADD. Soon every troubled teen in London is on it. It makes sense, doesn't it?Keep the undesirable elements in line.Keep people like us safe from people like them.What's good for society is good for everyone. Isn't it?

Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar

Tamaya and Marshall are unlikely friends. They walk to school every day, avoid the woods and steer clear of the school bully, Chad - who loves tormenting Marshall. But you can't always avoid the things that scare you. One day, they do go into the woods where Chad is waiting for them. But there is something else, something weirder - fuzzy mud. And then things get truly scary...

Flirty Dancing by Jenny McLachlan

Bea Hagg is in deep trouble. She entered a TV dance competition with a mystery partner... who turns out to be the unbelievably hot Ollie Matthews. Boyfriend of the school's meanest girl.Now Bea must prepare for the fallout as national humiliation beckons. And at school she faces something far worse: Pearl Harris.Bea is soooo dead. 

Love Bomb by Jenny McLachlan

Betty Plum knows nothing about boys and her only passionate kiss was with a cat. So when the gorgeous Toby explodes into her life Betty needs help!
Her best friend isn't speaking to her and more than ever Betty wishes her mu hadn't died. But when Betty finds letter from Mum hidden in the attic she realises what true love is all about...

An English Boy in New York by T.S. Eaton

The master of mohair is back!
Fresh from his triumph at Knit Fair UK, Ben Fletcher has now been invited to New York to take part in another competition, and his imagination is already working overtime: dinners, romantic strolls in Central Park with his girlfriend Megan, and epic knitting!
But Megan mysteriously pulls out, so Ben is forced to take his mate Gex - wannabe gangsta and major liability.
Things are starting to go wrong already...
Is Megan cheating on Ben? And can he last a week without wanting to push a knitting needle up Gex's nose? 

One by Sarah Crossan

Tippi and Grace. Grace and Tippi. For them, it's normal to step into the same skirt. To hook their arms around each other for balance. To fall asleep listening to the other breathing. To share. And to keep some things private. The two sixteen-year-old girls have two heads, two hearts, and each has two arms, but at the belly, they join. And they are happy, never wanting to risk the dangerous separation surgery,
But the girls' body is beginning to fight against them. And soon they will have to face the impossible choice they have avoided for their entire lives. 

Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine 

A teenage girl will soon discover, there are some things which burn brighter than fire.

Iris's father Ernest is at the end of his life.

Her best friend Thurston seems like a distant memory to her.

Her mother has declared war. She means to get her hands on Ernest's priceless art collection so that she can afford to live the high life.

But Ernest has other ideas.

There are things he wants Iris to know. Things he can tell her and things that must wait till he's gone.

What she does after that is up to her. 

The Kiss by Lucy Courtenay

Imagine the perfect kiss. A legendary kiss that makes people crazy with love. Imagine a summer's night, on a moonlit beach in the South of France, as French boy Laurent kisses 16-year-old Delilah after the best chat-up line she's ever heard. BOOM! Delilah is pretty sure the Kiss is fiction, despite her head-spinning holiday fling. But with all the sudden crushes, break-ups and melt-downs happening back at home, the Kiss starts looking a little too real for comfort. If only Delilah could keep track of where it's gone... Who knew one kiss could cause this much trouble? 

As Black as Ebony by Salla Simukka

Not posting summary as it's third in a series!

Breakaway by Kat Spears

When Jason Marshall's younger sister passes away, he knows he can count on his three best friends and soccer teammates- Mario, Jordie and Chick- to be there for him. With a grief-crippled mother and a father who's not in the picture, he needs them more than ever. But when Mario starts handing out with a rough group of friends and Jordie finally lands the girl of his dreams, Jason is left to fend for himself while maintaining a strained relationship with troubled and quiet Chick. Then Jason meets Raine, a girl he thinks is out of his league but who seems him for everything he wants to be, and find himself pulled between building a healthy and stable relationship with a girl he might be falling in love with, grieving for his sister, and trying to hold onto the friendships he has always relied on.

Tonight the Streets are Ours by Leilla Sales 

Seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley is recklessly loyal. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But she's tired of being loyal to people who don't appreciate her - including her needy best friend and her absent mum.
Arden finds comfort in a blog she stumbles upon called "Tonight the Streets Are Ours", the musing of a young New York City writer named Peter. When Peter is dumped by the girlfriend he blogs about, Arden decides to take a road trip to see him.
During one crazy night out in NYC filled with partied, dancing and music - the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does - Arden discovers Peter isn't exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn't exactly who she thought she was, either. 

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE!!!!!!

The Lies About Truth by Courtney C. Stevens 

Sadie Kingston, is a girl living in the aftermath. A year after surviving a car accident that killer her friend Trent and left her body and face scarred, she can't move forward. The only person who seems to understand her is Trent's brother, Max.
As Sadie begins to fall for Max, she's unsure if she is truly healed enough to be with him - even if Max is able to look at her scars and not shy away. But when the truth about the accident and subsequent events come to light, Sadie has to decide if she can embrace the future or if she'll always be trapped in the past. 

Map to the Stars by Jen Malone

Can one down-to-earth girl plus a very famous boy and a whole lot of paparazzi ever add up to a perfect Hollywood ending?Seventeen-year-old Annie Shelton isn't sure why her mom thinks moving to Hollywood will allow them to escape the drama of their small-time life in Georgia, but she's along for the ride. When Annie's mom snags a gig as makeup artist to a teen movie ido and finagles and spot for Annie to accompany her on his European promotional tour, Annie's pretty sure she'll be fangirling over architectural sights rather than teen heartthrob Graham Cabot.But then of course she actually meets him. As Graham and Annie fall for each other in the most romantic cities in the world, Annie realises that this turn of events may not be quite as glamorous as she thought. Instead of red carpets and celebrity couple names, they are navigating a minefield of keeping secrets from Graham's fans, overprotective assistantsm stage 'momager', and beefy bodyguard. And when paparazzi make an appearance, Annie has to decide whether their love is worth the harsh glare of a flashbulb.

Velvet Undercover by Teri Brown

Samantha Donaldson's family has always done its duty for the British Crown. In the midst of World War I, sevent-year-old Sam follows in their footsteps, serving her country from the homefront as a Girl Guide and messenger for the intelligence organisation MI5. After her father disappears on a diplomatic mission, she continues their studies of languages, high-level mathematics, and complex puzzles and codes, hoping to make him proud.
When Sam is asked to join the famed women's spy group La Dame Blanche she's torn - this could be the adventure she's dreamed of, but how can she abandon her mother, who has already lost a husband to the way? But when her handlers reveal shocking news, Sam realises there's no way she can refuse the exciting and dangerous opportunity.
Her acceptance leads her straight into the heart of enemy territory on a mission to extract the most valuable British spy embedded in Germany, known to the members of LDB only as Velvet. Deep undercover within the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Samantha must navigate the labyrinthine palace and it's many glamorous - and secretive - residents to complete her assignment. To make matters worse she finds herself forming a forbidden attraction to the enemy - a dangerously handsome German guard. In a place where personal politics and treacherously entangled in wartime policy, can Samantha discover the truth and find Velvet before it's too late... for them both?

This is Where it End by Marieke Nijkamp

10:00 a.m The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finished her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03 a.m The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting
Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival. 

Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas

Ollie and Moritz are best friends but can never meet, because if they ever did one of them would certainly die. As recluses from society, they develop a fierce bond through letters that become a lifeline. But when Moritz reveals the key to their shared, disturbing past in a mysterious German laboratory, their friendship faces a test neither one of them expected.

Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry

Sylvan Threadgil, a night soiler cleaning out the privies behind the tenement houses, finds an abandoned newborn baby in the muck. An orphan himself, Sylvan rescues the child, determined to find where she belongs. Odile Church and her beautiful sister, Belle, were raised amid the applause and magical pageantry of the Church of Marvels, their mother's spectacular Coney Isalnd sideshow. But the church has burnt to the ground, their mother dead in its ashes. Now Belle, the family's star, has vanished into the bowels of Manhattan, leaving Odile alone and desperate to find her.A young woman named Alphie awakens to find herself trapped across the river in Blackwell's Lunatic Asylum - sure that her imprisonment is a ruse by her husband's vile, overbearing mother. On the ward she meets another young woman of ethereal beauty who does not speak, a girl with an extraordinary talent that might save them both.As these strangers' lives become increasingly connected, their stories and dark secrets unfold...

YAY! I've blogged so much this week that I actually have posts for this!!!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favourite Top 10 Posts

A Colleen Hoover Mini Review Extravaganza

Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Jurassic World Review

The Unpopular Opinions Book Tag