Shoved Through My Mailslot #2

Shoved Through My Mailslot is a bi-weekly meme here at a Book Lover's Ramblings, it's purpose is to showcase all the books (or bookish items) I got in the mail or bought over a two week period.

Last week: Mail

I received The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa from HarlequinTEEN, which I won in a giveaway through Ashley Suzanne. I was so excited, I still am, when I got the email saying I won, and when I opened the package I squealed with joy. My cousin looked at me like I was a giant dork, especially when I kept smiling like this ➝ :D And I absolutely LOVE this cover! I love the bloody tear, and shiny parts (they look gray in the pic). Take a look at the synopsis and tell me you wouldn't squeeee!, too.

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.   

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

  

I also got a copy of Nightspell from the author, Leah Cypess, for review (she even signed it to me!). In celebration of the Nightspell paperback release, which is May 29, Leah is hosting a small review-only blog tour, and I'll be participating over at my other blog, Paranormal Book Nook. I think this cover is gorgeous, too! Summary is below.

Here be ghosts, the maps said, and that was all.

In this haunted kingdom, ghosts linger--not just in the deepest forests or the darkest caverns, but alongside the living, as part of a twisted palace court that revels all night and sleeps through the daylight hours.

Darri's sister was trapped in this place of fear and shadows as a child. And now Darri has a chance to save her sister . . . if she agrees to a betrothal with the prince of the dead. But nothing is simple in this eerie kingdom--not her sister, who has changed beyond recognition; not her plan, which will be thrown off track almost at once; and not the undead prince, who seems more alive than anyone else.

In a court seething with the desire for vengeance, Darri holds the key to the balance between life and death. Can her warrior heart withstand the most wrenching choice of all?

Last week: Bought

  

The Selection by Kiera Cass came out on Tuesday, and I was able to pick it up Thursday! This is one of those rare books, for me at least, where I first saw the cover and was like, "I have to read this book! I don't care what it's about, it must be mine!" and then I read the description (below), which made me want it even more. The 2nd pic is of the inside cover, which I think is just too pretty to go without a pic of it's own.

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.  

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Another book I got on Thursday was Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross. What really made me pay attention to this book was the cover, I love bloody white roses, and then I found out it was retelling of a bunch of different fairytales, and I absolutely love fairytales and retellings of them. Check out the description below.

Mirabelle's past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents' tragic deaths to her guardians' half-truths about why she can't return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined.

In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who's a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren't pretty things, and they don't always end in happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy tale curses of their own . . . brothers who share a dark secret. And she'll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns.

Trial by Fire is yet another book I picked up Thursday. Ever since I read Raised by Wolves back in March, I have been very impatiently waiting for Trial by Fire to come out in paperback, which, thankfully, it did on Tuesday. I'm not gonna post the synopsis, because I think it is a bit spoilery for Raised by Wolves.

This week: Mail

  

So awhile ago I signed up for a Remembrance bookmark from Michelle Madow, and this week it came in the mail along with 3 business cards for the book. I vaguely remember signing up, so I was a little surprised when I got an email from Michelle a few days before, saying the bookmark was in the mail. Also, the bookmark is HUGE. It doesn't even fit in my bookmark drawer, and the only other bookmark I have of this size is for Last Breath by Rachel Caine (seen here).

Found out about this when I was scrolling through a 2012 YA Debuts list on Goodreads. So on Monday I ordered The Last Princess from Barnes & Noble, and it arrived on Thursday. I absolutely love the cover, and it sounds really good, too.

Happily ever after is a thing of the past.


A series of natural disasters has decimated the earth. Cut off from the rest of the world, England is a dark place. The sun rarely shines, food is scarce, and groups of criminals roam the woods, searching for prey. The people are growing restless.


When a ruthless revolutionary sets out to overthrow the crown, he makes the royal family his first target. Blood is shed in Buckingham Palace, and only sixteen-year-old Princess Eliza manages to escape.


Determined to kill the man who destroyed her family, Eliza joins the enemy forces in disguise. She has nothing left to live for but revenge, until she meets someone who helps her remember how to hope—and to love—once more. Now she must risk everything to ensure that she not become... The Last Princess.

I read the first book, Divergent, a couple weeks ago, and soon after finishing it I pre-ordered Insurgent, which finally came on Friday. I don't think the description is spoilery, so here you go:

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

I received some Lux series swag from Jennifer L. Armentrout, which was a pleasant surprise, as I wasn't expecting it to come until next week. I haven't read the series yet, but I plan to soon. I pre-ordered the new Obsidian paperback and it should come soon *crosses fingers*. (I'll post better pics of the swag soon. I tried to make sure you could read everything, but it looks like that failed.)

This week: Bought

I bought a lot of books this week and Ascend by Amanda Hocking was one of them. It's the 3rd and final book in the Trylle Trilogy, and I absolutely LOVED the first two books, Switched and Torn so I'm super excited to start reading this book. The description isn't spoilery, so it is below if you want to give it a look.

Wendy Everly is facing an impossible choice. The only way to save the Trylle from their deadliest enemy is by sacrificing herself.  If she doesn’t surrender to the Vittra, her people will be thrust into a brutal war against an unbeatable foe.  But how can Wendy leave all her friends behind…even if it’s the only way to save them?

The stakes have never been higher, because her kingdom isn’t the only thing she stands to lose. After falling for both Finn and Loki, she’s about to make the ultimate choice…who to love forever. One guy has finally proven to be the love of her life—and now all their lives might be coming to an end.  

Everything has been leading to this moment.  The future of her entire world rests in her hands—if she’s ready to fight for it.

Starcrossed has been on my list ever since it came out last year, but it wasn't high on the list so I patiently waited until the paperback came out, which it did on Tuesday! From what I understand it's a big Greek Myths retelling, and I absolutely LOVE Greek Mythology. The description is below.

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is--no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

Sweet Evil also came out on Tuesday, and ever since I found out about it late last year I've wanted it. The cover is gorgeous and I love how it's just the title and author name on the front, no blurbs from other authors or anything of the like. It's also about the children of fallen angels (see synopsis below), which I've had a fascination with ever since I read Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz.

What if there were teens whose lives depended on being bad influences? This is life for sons and daughters of fallen angels in Sweet Evil.

Tenderhearted Southern girl, Anna Whitt, was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage, and her will-power is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

A cross-country trip to meet her father forces Anna to face the reality that hope and love are not options for her kind. When she confronts her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Yet another book that came out on Tuesday, Destined is the last Wings book and I was able to get it Saturday! I absolutely love the Wings series, so I'm both excited and sad that this is the last one. The description is very spoilery for the rest of the series, so if you want to read it click the title link.

Tempest Rising is a book that I've been waiting ever so patiently to come out in paperback, which it officially does on Tuesday (May 8th). I snagged it at my local B&N while I was there to get Destined. Check out the description below.

As her seventeenth birthday approaches, half-mermaid Tempest Maguire will have to make a decision. Stay on land? Or give herself to the ocean? The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kona, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water’s temptation, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her—and that the entire ocean’s future hangs in the balance.

With all the books that came out in the last two weeks I had a pretty big haul, 

& next STMM will probably be just as long :D

What did you get shoved through your mailslot in the past two weeks?