National Young Readers Day!

Hi, everyone! Some time ago, we were contacted by Alyse from Casper, a US mattress company to be part of the National Young Readers Day. I am assuming this day is celebrated in the US, and that's really terrific because well, it's a day for readers. So happy National Young Readers Day to our friends in the US! 

As part of the celebration, Janhvi and I will be sharing our favourite childhood and bedtime stories with you. So without much ado, let's get on to it. Please note that this is totally based on our memory! *winks* 

The minuted I said bedtime stories, Janhvi said Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Jack and the Beanstalk. Cute, right? 

 

As for me, I remember that my parents used to tell me Indian mythological stories so I could fall asleep. Unfortunately, mythology still continues to put me off to sleep. *winks* 

On a more serious note, I remember reading many individual books of Panchatantra, which are essentially Indian fables that are extremely sweet and entertaining. 

What bedtime stories do you remember? Let us know in the comments below, and happy reading to you all!  

Review- The First Life of Vikram Roy by Laxmi Hariharan

Goodreads Summary:

His family is being held to ransom by a deadly mastermind. 

Vikram never should have left his family, but when Vikram's father bring his half-brother Vishal home, life will never be the same. 

Vikram thinks things will be better now that he's gone. He's met the love of his life, his future looks bright and then everything is shattered. 

Now, his family's life is hanging in the balance, and only Vikram can do what needs to be done to save them. 

From the bestselling dystopian fiction author with over 200 reviews and ratings of her dystopia books across Goodreads, Amazon and other retailers. 

"A killer ending and the pacing of the story and the build-up is really good. I related to Vikram, really liked it." Richard Sheehan, Author and editor 

"I raced through the book... And the killer ending! Oh my God! It left me with a hangover, and makes me want to physically push the author to write the next book in the series faster." Ritesh Kala, Book reviewer & blogger 

If you’re looking for books like Hunger Games, then this dystopia romance, The Ruby Iyer Series is it.

REVIEW:

In the recent past, I have been on a Laxmi Hariharan reading spree. I read The Ruby Iyer Diaries sometime ago, and then I almost read her The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer, UnTamed (a short story that's a part of the Uncommom Bodies anthology) and The First Life of Vikram Roy back to back, which kind of made me get used to the author's beautiful writing style and enchanting story-telling. What I can say without second thought is that The First Life of Vikram Roy is the best I've read by Laxmi so far. 

Just like any reader out there who has read the first book in the Ruby Iyer series, I was super curious about the mysterious and very tantalizing cop, Vikram Roy. He was unlike any Indian cop I've read about before, and that too as hero of the book, he stood out a lot in a very unconventional and alluring way. So naturally, when I got to know about The First Life of Vikram Roy, I was really interested in reading it to get to know Vikram better. My friend Ritesh (you can read his review of the book here) was absolutely right when he said that I will like this book. 

In terms of its execution, The First Life of Vikram Roy is very similar to The Ruby Iyer Diaries, in the sense that we have direct access to the head of Vikram as an innocent, cute and extremely mature child to a sensible, responsible and still mature adult. There's so much in this book that helped me understand Vikram better, as a reader and all of it was absolutely good and sometimes difficult to know. On the surface, it might seem like Vikram's life is easy, but deep down, his life is full of hardships. I mean, he doesn't even get to enjoy his childhood, because he is too busy being the adult that his home needs. I feel for this guy- oh so much! 

Without giving away any spoilers especially when it comes to the story, I will conclude by saying that the reason I find this to be Laxmi's best work is because this book has everything- puberty, teenage drama, romance, mystery, suspense, thrill, emotions, feelings, a killer ending... You name it and the book has it. And that ending! I need to know more, so I'm excited to see what happens next. 

*A copy of The First Life of Vikram Roy by Laxmi Hariharan was provided by Read Out Loud in exchange for an honest review. We thank them for the book. 

RATING: 

2015 Diwali Giveaway! (India only)

Hello, guys! Diwali is here, and that means there's happiness and lights all around. To brighten up your already bright Diwali, we have a giveaway for you. Without much ado, let's get onto what's in store for one lucky Indian reader! 

But, before that- here's wishing you and your loved ones a very happy Diwali! We hope you have a lovely time. Don't burst crackers, eat loads and just have fun. And squeeze in some reading during the holidays, if you can. *winks* 

P.S: Those cute elephants though!!! ♥

This is a mostly non-fiction giveaway, where you can win the following two books: 

Also, the winner will get some bookmarks made by me!

As always, giveaway rules are simple- 

*The giveaway is open for residents of India only.

*To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter from below.

*If the form doesn't load, go here. 

*Once a winner are picked, she/ he will have 48 hours to respond, or else, we'll be compelled to pick  another winner. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy reading, guys! 

Review- The Fall Up by Aly Martinez

Summary-

I wanted to jump. 
He made me fall.

As a celebrity, I lived in the public eye, but somewhere along the way, I’d lost myself in the spotlight.

Until he found me.

Sam Rivers was a gorgeous, tattooed stranger who saved my life with nothing more than a simple conversation.

But we were both standing on that bridge for a reason the night we met. The secrets of our pasts brought us together—and then tore us apart.

Could we find a reason to hold on as life constantly pulled us down?

Or maybe there’s only one direction to go when two people fall in love at rock bottom—up.

Review-

I got interested in The Fall Up by Aly Martinez because of the interesting cover and the summary. I was very curious to see how a romance would play out between a celebrity and a common man. This is my first time reading anything by Aly Martinez and while I have to say I liked The Fall Up, I wasn't blown away by it.

Levee is a celebrity. She is a pop princess. She has everything one would want in life but she always feels really depressed and lonely. That is why she goes to the bridge where she is actually contemplating jumping. This is where she meets Sam. I liked Levee but I wanted to go more in depth why she felt the way she did. Yes, she had a history and wanted to save the world but I still wanted more details.

Then we have Sam. Sam meets Levee on the bridge and he is reminded of how his younger sister committed suicide. He doesn't want to be responsible for anyone that way again and so he starts talking to Levee without knowing who she is. I liked Sam and I liked reading from his pov. His intentions towards Levee were always good and he was very much attracted to her.

Sam and Levee's romance was really good. Things obviously don't go slow but its not insta love or anything. I liked how unaffected Sam was with Levee's celebrity status. In a way I think it was a bit too easy for them to overcome the external factors which could affect their relationship and I found it a little hard to believe.

Again, the one place where I would have liked to go more in depth remains what Levee is suffering from. I couldn't understand it so well. But other than that, Aly Martinez writes a really engaging story. I loved all the conversations between Levee and Sam and I can't wait to read more from her. I liked The Fall Up.

Waiting on Wednesday #142

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

More Than Enough by Jay McLean

Publication Date: November 16th, 2015

Summary-

If I told you to jump, would you ask how high? Or would you just jump? If there were no reason behind it, would you still take the leap? What if I told you that at the end, there would be nothing? What if you made a splash on the world and lived in an eternal state of floating? Would you make waves? What if you couldn't float? What if air lost the battle, and you lost the war? Would you want to know what was on the other side? Would you care? Or would you just jump... because I was the one that asked you?

It feels like I've been waiting since ages for Heidi and Dylan's book. Really hope it is as good as the previous one.

What are you waiting on?

Release Day Launch- The Play by Karina Halle

A troubled Scottish rugby player who doesn't play by the rules.
A vivacious man-eater who's given up on love.
When it comes to Lachlan and Kayla, opposites don't just attract - they explode.

Kayla Moore has always been comfortable with her feisty, maneating reputation. At least it was fine until she hit her thirties and saw her best friends Stephanie and Nicola settle down with Linden and Bram McGregor, leaving Kayla to be the odd one out. Tired of being the third wheel with nothing but one-night stands and dead-end dates in San Francisco, Kayla decides to take a vow of celibacy and put men on the backburner.

That is until she lays her eyes on Linden and Bram’s cousin, hot Scot Lachlan McGregor. Lachlan is her sexual fantasy come to life – tall, tatted, and built like a Mack truck. With a steely gaze and successful rugby career back in Edinburgh, he’s the kind of man that makes her want to throw her vow right out the window. But Lachlan’s quiet and intense demeanor makes him a hard man to get to know, let alone get close to.

It isn’t until the two of them are thrown together one long, unforgettable night that Kayla realizes there is so much more to this brooding macho man than what meets the eye. But even with sparks flying between the two, Lachlan can’t stay in America forever. Now, Kayla has to decide whether to uproot her whole life and chance it all on someone she barely knows or risk getting burned once again.
Sometimes love is a game that just needs to be played.

AMAZON  ***   AMAZON UK  *** AMAZON AU *** B&N *** iTunes

Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of Where Sea Meets Sky, Racing the Sun, The Pact, Love, in English, The Artists Trilogy, Dirty Angels and over 20 other wild and romantic reads. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.

Halle is represented by the Waxman Leavell Agency and is both self-published and published by Atria Books/Simon & Schuster and Hachette in North America and in the UK.

Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle , on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more.

 FACEBOOK   TWITTER   GOODREADS   AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

Happy reading! :)

Review- Untamed by Laxmi Hariharan

Book Summary:

Wolf girl Leana Iyeroy, the first hybrid in her family, only ever wanted to be 100% human. An unexpected encounter with the Hugging Saint of Bombay forces Leana to face the wolf inside her. Will she finally make peace with herself? A magic-realist, coming-of-age tale. 

REVIEW:

Untamed is a short story written by author of The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer, Laxmi Hariharan. In the near future, the story will feature as part of the Uncommon Bodies anthology. Going by the highly interesting story Laxmi has written, the curiosity to read the anthology is piqued and it will be intriguing to see if the other stories will be just as gripping as Untamed, and if they will live up to the expectations of this very well written work. 

The most interesting part of Untamed was its connection to The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer, which was a recent read. After meeting the violent and spine-chilling Dr. Braganza and the very fierce and kickass Ruby Iyer, it was such a pleasure to meet the next generation of the family- Leana Iyeroy. And as that was written, it's difficult to not appreciate the creativity in that surname. How ridiculous that it struck while reviewing and not while reading. Kudos to Laxmi! 

Untamed was a really nice and refreshing story that took place is 2060, so there is definitely a lot of thought that went into it and there's impatience to know where the story is headed next. Every part of this very, very short story was well done and well developed. But like the problem is with all short stories, there is that greed for more! 

Plus, the most important aspect of the story: Werewolves. Always. Work. 

*A copy of Untamed by Laxmi Hariharan was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. We thank Laxmi for the book. 

RATING: