☆ VBB Weekly – 1.1.2017 ☆ - Vilma Iris | Lifestyle Blogger

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☆ VBB Weekly – 1.1.2017 ☆

Happy New Year, friends! Thank you for your continued love and support, for taking the time to comment and like and follow me! It means more than I can say!

Yesterday I posted my top 13 books of 2016, check them out in the pic below, but make sure to also see the entire list here and here (standalones).

Note: Rock Chick Reawakening is not pictured.

WHAT I’M READING

Reading Now: Listening To: Reading Next:

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New Review + Recommendation

Buy the book | Read my review

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New Review + Recommendation

Buy the book | Read my review

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NEW RELEASES

Franco by Kim Holden (Available Now)

Franco Genovese is the drummer for world renowned American rock band, Rook. He’s got it all. A killer smile. Tattoos. Talent. Razor sharp wit and humor. And a heart as big, and generous, as they come.
Life is good. Steady. Uncomplicated. Just the way he likes things.
Until one night at an unassuming L.A. bar changes everything.
Enter Gemma Hendricks.
She’s a successful young architect from Northern England with an adorable smile, sarcasm for days, and an unparalleled trusting heart.
The attraction is instant.
So is their friendship.
It’s also temporary because they’ll both be heading home, thousands of miles apart from each other, in a few days.
Or is it?
There’s something Gemma wants more than anything else.
And when Franco propositions her to provide what she’s looking for, everything changes.
Will it transform friendship into love, or will it be their ruin?

Can be read as a standalone.

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Retreat by Jay Crownover (Available Now)

Every once in a while, you need to get away from it all.

I was a woman on the edge, shaken and shattered after a breakup that felt like it tore my entire world apart.
My best friend, sick of watching me drown in misery and melancholy, harassed me until I agreed to go with her on a week-long wilderness retreat.

She promised days spent bonding and getting in touch with our inner bad-asses. It was supposed to be all about the two of us roughing it and making do with the bare minimum. She assured me we were going to be pushed to our limits in ways that were unimaginable. Neither one of us could have ever guessed just how right she was.

Nowhere in the glossy brochure did it say anything about the fact I was going to have to battle the insufferable but deliciously rugged and sexy trail guide instead of the elements. The brochure also forgot to mention the part that warned when you left civilization behind, there was no place to pack your inhibitions and fears.

I was told that I would be facing a week where the only thing I should expect was the unexpected. However, no one mentioned that I was going to have to fight for my life…and my heart as soon as I ventured into the unknown.

I was a pro at hiding from my feelings but when it came time to face a real threat, one that could change everything, I learned I was more of a no surrender, no retreat kind of girl.

Retreat is a standalone novel, the first in the Getaway series which centers on the hardheaded and brokenhearted Warner brothers and the women that dare to love them.
These boys are very good at putting the wild in wilderness.

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Bad Mommy by Tarryn Fisher (Available Now)

When Fig Coxbury buys a house on West Barrett Street, it’s not because she likes the neighborhood, or even because she likes the house. It’s because everything she desires is next door: The husband, the child, and the life that belongs to someone else.

Standalone book.

 

 

 

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One Careful Owner by Jane Harvey-Berrick (Available Now) – 99¢

Alex is lost and alone, with only his dog, Stan for company. He doesn’t expect kindness from anyone anymore, but sometimes hope can be found in the most unlikely places. He has a second chance at happiness, but there’s a dark side to Alex, and a reason that more than one person has called him crazy.

Single mother Dawn is doing just fine. Except that her ex- is a pain in the a**, her sister isn’t speaking to her, and her love life is on the endangered list.

At least her job as a veterinarian is going well. Until a crazy-looking guy arrives at her office accompanied by an aging dog with toothache. Or maybe Alex Winters isn’t so crazy after all, just … different.

Dawn realizes that she’s treated him the same way that all the gossips in town have treated her—people can be very cruel.

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Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken (Jan 03) Read my review
Recommended fantasy series

I’ve been orphaned by my time.

The timeline has changed.

My future is gone.

Etta Spencer didn’t know she was a traveler until the day she emerged both miles and years from her home. Now, robbed of the powerful object that was her only hope of saving her mother, Etta finds herself stranded once more, cut off from Nicholas-the eighteenth century privateer she loves-and her natural time.

When Etta inadvertently stumbles into the heart of the Thorns, the renegade travelers who stole the astrolabe from her, she vows to finish what she started and destroy the astrolabe once and for all. Instead, she’s blindsided by a bombshell revelation from their leader, Henry Hemlock: he is her father. Suddenly questioning everything she’s been fighting for, Etta must choose a path, one that could transform her future.

Still devastated by Etta’s disappearance, Nicholas has enlisted the unlikely help of Sophia Ironwood and a cheeky mercenary-for-hire to track both her and the missing astrolabe down. But as the tremors of change to the timeline grow stronger and the stakes for recovering the astrolabe mount, they discover an ancient power far more frightening than the rival travelers currently locked in a battle for control. . . a power that threatens to eradicate the timeline altogether.

From colonial Nassau to New York City, San Francisco to Roman Carthage, imperial Russia to the Vatican catacombs, New York Times #1 best-selling author Alexandra Bracken charts a gorgeously detailed, thrilling course through time in this stunning conclusion to the Passenger series.

Must read Passenger first.

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Fifty Shades Darker (movie tie-in) by E.L. James (Jan 03)

A special edition of E L James’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel, Fifty Shades Darker, that includes her own photos and caption commentary from the making of the film—and an excerpt from her forthcoming book, Fifty Shades Darker, As Told by Christian Grey.

Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship. But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Ana cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Ana learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven, and demanding Fifty Shades. While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Ana must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.

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Real Good Man by Meghan March (Jan 03)

Fall for a woman over text messages? No way in hell.
Reality can never be as good as the fantasy, right?
Wrong. It’s better.
Banner Regent is smart, funny, and she’s so far out of my league, she might as well be royalty.
I’m a mechanic from Kentucky. She’s a New York City party girl.
We were never supposed to meet, but one text started something neither of us saw coming.
How do you seduce the woman who already has everything?

Show her what it’s like to be with a real good man.

Real Good Man is book one of the Real Duet, but don’t worry, you won’t have to wait long for the conclusion! Logan and Banner’s story will conclude in Real Good Love.

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X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos by Kami Garcia (Jan 03)

How did Fox Mulder become a believer?

Read this dark thriller to find out why millions of people became obsessed with The X-Files.

In the spring of 1979, seventeen-year-old Fox Mulder has bigger problems than applying for college. Five years ago, his younger sister disap­peared from their home and was never heard from again. Mulder blames himself, and his mother blames his father, who has retreated into his top-secret work for the State Depart­ment. In Fox’s senior year, his dad has moved him to Washington, DC―away from his friends on Martha’s Vineyard.

While Mulder doesn’t mind the fresh start and not being known as “that kid with the missing sister,” he’s still obsessed with finding Samantha. So when a local boy turns up dead and another child is abducted, Mulder can’t stop himself from getting involved. Could there be a link to his sister’s case? As he uncovers the truth, Mulder and his friends find themselves on the trail of a serial killer.

Sucked into a world where conspiracies, the occult, and madness overlap, Fox Mulder starts to believe.

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X-Files: Devil’s Advocate by Jonathan Maberry (Jan 03)

How did Dana Scully become a skeptic?

Read this dark thriller to find out why millions of people became obsessed with The X-Files.

In the spring of 1979, fifteen-year-old Dana Scully has bigger problems than being the new girl in school. Dana has always had dreams. Sometimes they’ve even come true. Until now, she tried to write this off as coincidence. But ever since her father’s military career moved the family across the country to Craiger, Maryland, the dreams have been more like visions. Vivid, disturbing, and haunted by a shadowy figure who may be an angel . . . or the devil.

When a classmate who recently died in a car accident appears before Dana, her wounds look anything but accidental. Compelled by a force she can’t name, Dana uncovers even more suspicious deaths―and must face the danger­ous knowledge that evil is real.

But when a betrayal of faith makes her question everything, she begins to put her faith in being a skeptic.

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History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (Jan 03)

Fourteen-year-old Linda lives with her parents in the beautiful, austere woods of northern Minnesota, where their nearly abandoned commune stands as a last vestige of a lost counter-culture world. Isolated at home and an outlander at school, Linda is drawn to the enigmatic, attractive Lily and new history teacher Mr. Grierson. When Mr. Grierson is charged with possessing child pornography, the implications of his arrest deeply affect Linda as she wrestles with her own fledgling desires and craving to belong.

And then the young Gardner family moves in across the lake and Linda finds herself welcomed into their home as a babysitter for their little boy, Paul. It seems that her life finally has purpose but with this new sense of belonging she is also drawn into secrets she doesn’t understand. Over the course of a few days, Linda makes a set of choices that reverberate throughout her life. As she struggles to find a way out of the sequestered world into which she was born, Linda confronts the life-and-death consequences of the things people do—and fail to do—for the people they love.

Winner of the McGinnis-Ritchie award for its first chapter, Emily Fridlund’s propulsive and gorgeously written History of Wolves introduces a new writer of enormous range and talent.

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The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti (Jan 03)

Hawthorn wasn’t trying to insert herself into a missing person’s investigation. Or maybe she was. But that’s only because Lizzie Lovett’s disappearance is the one fascinating mystery their sleepy town has ever had. Bad things don’t happen to popular girls like Lizzie Lovett, and Hawthorn is convinced she’ll turn up at any moment-which means the time for speculation is now.

So Hawthorn comes up with her own theory for Lizzie’s disappearance.  A theory way too absurd to take seriously…at first. The more Hawthorn talks, the more she believes. And what better way to collect evidence than to immerse herself in Lizzie’s life? Like getting a job at the diner where Lizzie worked and hanging out with Lizzie’s boyfriend. After all, it’s not as if he killed her-or did he?

Told with a unique voice that is both hilarious and heart-wrenching, Hawthorn’s quest for proof may uncover the greatest truth is within herself.

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Hard Hitter by Sarina Bowen (Jan 03)

He’s a fighter in the rink, but he’s about to learn that playing nice can help you score…
 
As team captain and enforcer, Patrick O’Doul puts the bruise in the Brooklyn Bruisers. But after years of hard hits, O’Doul is feeling the burn, both physically and mentally. He conceals his pain from his coach and trainers, but when his chronic hip injury becomes too obvious to ignore, they send him for sessions with the team’s massage therapist.After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend, Ari Bettini is in need of peace of mind. For now, she’s decided to focus on her work: rehabilitating the Bruisers’ MVP. O’Doul is easy on the eyes, but his reaction to her touch is ice cold. Ari is determined to help O’Doul heal, but as the tension between them turns red hot, they both learn that a little TLC does the body good…

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Everything You Want Me To Be by Mindy Mejia (Jan 03)
Recommended thriller

Full of twists and turns, Everything You Want Me to Be reconstructs a year in the life of a dangerously mesmerizing young woman, during which a small town’s darkest secrets come to the forefront…and she inches closer and closer to her death.

High school senior Hattie Hoffman has spent her whole life playing many parts: the good student, the good daughter, the good citizen. When she’s found brutally stabbed to death on the opening night of her high school play, the tragedy rips through the fabric of her small town community. Local sheriff Del Goodman, a family friend of the Hoffmans, vows to find her killer, but trying to solve her murder yields more questions than answers. It seems that Hattie’s acting talents ran far beyond the stage. Told from three points of view—Del, Hattie, and the new English teacher whose marriage is crumbling—Everything You Want Me to Be weaves the story of Hattie’s last school year and the events that drew her ever closer to her death.

Evocative and razor-sharp, Everything You Want Me to Be challenges you to test the lines between innocence and culpability, identity and deception. Does love lead to self-discovery—or destruction?

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Rock Chick Reawakening by Kristen Ashley (Jan 03)
Recommended romance — top fave

From New York Times bestselling author, Kristen Ashley, comes the long-awaited story of Daisy and Marcus, Rock Chick Reawakening. A prequel to Kristen’s Rock Chick series, Rock Chick Reawakening shares the tale of the devastating event that nearly broke Daisy, an event that set Marcus Sloan—one of Denver’s most respected businessmen and one of the Denver underground’s most feared crime bosses—into finally making his move to win the heart of the woman who stole his.
Can be read as a standalone novella, but best enjoyed after reading the Rock Chick series.

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Satisfaction by Lexi Blake (Jan 03)

The sizzling second novel in a sexy new contemporary romance series featuring the Lawless siblings—from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake.

Brandon Lawless is a man on a mission: obtain the information that will clear his father’s name. He’s willing to do whatever it takes—even seduce his enemy’s personal assistant, the beautiful and innocent Carly Hendricks. But with her beguiling smile and captivating intelligence, Brandon soon realizes he doesn’t want to deceive Carly, he wants to win her over—both in the boardroom and the bedroom.

Then a twisted crime leaves Carly vulnerable and Brandon finds himself reeling. The stakes of his mission are now life or death—Carly’s life. And Brandon realizes he’s lost his heart to an amazing woman and his plan must succeed, because the stakes are no longer just revenge, but a once in a lifetime love.

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Separation Games by CD Reiss (Jan 03)

There are a few unbreakable rules in the game.
Stay collected. Compartmentalize. Think your next move through.
Never let your heart dictate your tactics.
The heart is impulsive.
The heart makes bad decisions.
The heart doesn’t see the long game.
The heart may have decided to get Adam back, but when the endgame comes, the heart’s going to be the one to break.

This full-length novel is the conclusion to the Games duet.

 

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The Summer Palace by C.S. Pacat (Jan 05)
Recommended fantasy romance series

Set after the events of the Captive Prince trilogy, The Summer Palace is a story about Damen and Laurent during summer. It’s an epilogue of sorts to the Captive Prince series.

See my review

See an interview on the series with bestselling authors

 

 

 

 

 

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UPCOMING RELEASES

(Click images to purchase – you will not be charged until book is released.
Stars indicate books I’ve already read and loved.)

★ Visit THIS PAGE for the full list of upcoming releases ★

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book sales 2016 banner rev

Current sales list for Amazon U.S. Click on image to purchase; click here to search my reviews.

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YOUNG ADULT

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NEW ADULT + ADULT

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ONGOING RECOMMENDATIONS

2016 favorites sq 2016 favorite singles sq 6-star reads sq 2016 book recs 2016

Happy Reading!!! ♥

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