Guest Review: For The Love of Ash by Taylor Lavati

 

Title: For The Love of Ash

Author: Taylor Lavati

Published: March 9, 2015

ARC provided by author in exchange for honest review.

Synopsis:

Maggie Larken is a reformed party girl. After her parent’s death, she’s left to raise Asher, her nine-year-old brother.

Luke Wilson has done everything his parents have ever asked of him. A new teacher, Luke constantly questions where his life is headed.

When Luke and Maggie meet, neither is in the market for a relationship. But sometimes life has other plans. Both navigate new waters as they try to decide where their priorities should lie, while also seizing what they want.

In this heartbreakingly real tale of love, Maggie and Luke discover what being a family truly means.


What I Thought:

For The Love of Ash was an amazing read, from the characters to the real life plot twists. There was a lot to follow, but it was easy to follow. The scenes in the book were described so well that I thought I was there experiencing what was happening with the characters.

Maggie amazes me. She gives up her life to take care of her brother after their parents died. She not only is his sister, but becomes a mother to her brother. She takes care of him and puts his needs before her own. She doubts her parenting abilities but shows she can handle everything life throws at her.

Luke cares for his siblings when he returns home from college to protect his younger siblings from their abusive father. There is some child abuse, but we don't see it happening, we see the child after the fact.

Luke and Maggie are much alike in more ways than one. They are both caring for their younger siblings and being a parental figure in their lives.

For the Love of Ash is a book I highly recommend. It's a page turner and an easy read. It's a single book so you can jump right in and enjoy it. I enjoyed the entire book and wished it didn't have to end. Everything was so real and interesting. I couldn't put the book down and I doubt you will be able to as well.

Review by Katlynn from Kat's Reading Corner

Fun Fact Friday (#67)

Fun Fact Friday is a meme hosted by Lettora at I’m Booked! If you’d like to join and do your own Fun Fact Friday, just ask! At I’m Booked! Every week we’ll give you five new, fun facts. This week’s five facts:

1. The Amazon River once flowed in the opposite direction, from east to west.

2.  Fossil evidence suggests that fish have been on Earth for about 530 million years.

3.  The Amazon River discharges 5 times as much water as any other river on the planet.

4.  Cat kidneys are so efficient they can rehydrate by drinking seawater.

5.  There's a restaurant built into a grotto in Italy.

50% off Tours at I'm Booked!

Hey guys, I'm Booked! Tours are currently offering tours at 50% off as a temporary promotion. If you're an author interested in touring with us have a look at our services here.

Cover Reveal: Wild Blue Yonder by Megan Tayte

Synopsis:

IN A WARPED HEAVEN, SHE MUST CHOOSE HER FATE: OBEDIENCE OR REBELLION

When Scarlett Blake chose life-after-death as a Cerulean, she expected to grieve for all she left behind: her boyfriend, her best friend, her mother, her home. But at least Cerulea, her heaven, would be… well, heavenly. Right?

Wrong.

The world in which Scarlett awakens is very far from her idea of a utopia. Picturesque, sure, and serene. But there can be no paradise within the unforgiving walls of a prison, be they of cold, hard stone or beautifully blue water.

Now Scarlett faces her hardest decision yet: be a good, dutiful Cerulean, or be true to herself and fight for freedom.

And if she can find a way to escape, what then? Can she finally reunite with her lost sister? Can she save Sienna from the murderous Fallen? Can she evade her destiny with the Ceruleans?

Can Scarlett Blake ever reclaim her life-before-death… or must she let go of all she loves?



Author Bio:

Once upon a time a little girl told her grandmother that when she grew up she wanted to be a writer. Or a lollipop lady. Or a fairy princess fireman. 'Write, Megan,' her grandmother advised. So that's what she did. Thirty-odd years later, Megan writes the kinds of books she loves to read: young-adult paranormal romance fiction. Young adult, because it's the time of life that most embodies freedom and discovery and first love. Paranormal, because she's always believed that there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy. And romance, because she's a misty-eyed dreamer who lives for those 'life is so breathtakingly beautiful' moments. Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in Robin Hood's county, Nottingham. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a paleontologist; and her baby daughter, a keen pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she's not writing, you'll find her walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.

Website link:
http://megantayte.com/



Participating blogs:

Write for the World

A Lick Of Romance

Maureen's Books

Tome Tender

A Thousand Words A Million Books

Palmer's Page Turners

Just A Bookworm

Book Wormie Joss reviews

Bookfever

To Read, or Not To Read

Beth Art From the Heart

Insane About Books

It's All About Books

A Belle's Tales

Lost in a Good Book

The Pen and Muse Book Reviews

The Bibliophile Confessions

Kirstie's Passionate About Reading

Princess of the Light

Tina, The Bookworm

Fun Fact Friday (#66)

 Fun Fact Friday is a meme hosted by Lettora at I’m Booked! If you’d like to join and do your own Fun Fact Friday, just ask! At I’m Booked! Every week we’ll give you five new, fun facts. This week’s five facts:

1.  Elephant brains can weigh as much as 5 KG (11 LB), more than the brain of any other land animal.

2.  Every year about 98% of atoms in your body are replaced.

3.  A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball of rubber. A ball of solid steel will bounce higher than one made entirely of glass.

4.  Sloths take two weeks to digest their food.

5.  Slugs have 4 noses.

Fun Fact Friday (#65)

Fun Fact Friday is a meme hosted by Lettora at I’m Booked! If you’d like to join and do your own Fun Fact Friday, just ask! At I’m Booked! Every week we’ll give you five new, fun facts. This week’s five facts:

1. The weird bright dots you see floating when you look at the sky are your white blood cells.

2. Almost a third of the world's languages are spoken only in Africa.

3. A koi fish named "Hanako" lived for 225 years.

4.  There's an Island in Brazil where civilians are forbidden to go: it has up to 5 snakes per square meter.

5.  1.3 million Earths could fit into the Sun.

Want to know what speed you read?

I've been meaining to repost this for a while. Have you ever wanted to know what speed you read? Maybe you already know but want to retest yourself or beat your record. I came across this little test after visiting Goodreads and basically it gives you a general idea of how quickly you read and tells you, based on your score, how long it would take you to read various novels  and how many novels you could get through on your e-reader before it needs recharging.

Have fun:

Source: Staples eReader Department

Let me know your score in the comments!

Fun Fact Friday (#64)

Fun Fact Friday is a meme hosted by Lettora at I’m Booked! If you’d like to join and do your own Fun Fact Friday, just ask! At I’m Booked! Every week we’ll give you five new, fun facts. This week’s five facts:

1. Dogs are as smart as a 2-year-old baby. They can learn and understand over 150 words.

2.  At rest, your brain uses one fifth of a calorie per minute.

3.  Between 10 and 20 volcanoes are erupting somewhere on Earth every day.

4.  Cats sweat through their paws.

5.  A newly-discovered species of rust-eating bacteria will have consumed the wreck of the Titanic within 20 years.

Discussion: How Important is your Follower Count?

As I’ve been blogging over the years my views on followers and following back have changed slightly. When I started off I made it my job to get as many followers as possible and to follow as many bloggers as I could find. I was fixated on numbers and had the idea that the more followers I had the better my blog was. I followed other blogs whether I liked them or not because I wanted to integrate myself into the blogosphere. This worked to an extent. I gained followers quickly and I found other bloggers to follow but I found that the number of followers I had didn’t correlate the number of comments I got or how many page views I received. I was also completely focused on Google Friend Connect and I thought that the only way I’d get more readers was to have hundreds, maybe even thousands of followers.

That’s all changed, I no longer do follows-for-follows and I only follow blogs that I find interesting. Most of the comments I receive come from those that don’t follow me on GFC or any platform but they still regularly comment when they see something that interests them. If people do follow me they’re more likely to use Bloglovin’, Twitter or even send me a friend request on Goodreads. Because there are so many different ways to find other blogs and read their content, I’m not too fussed about how many people follow me directly or even indirectly.

I suppose it depends on how you measure your blogs success. Some people write special posts for every milestone. Some people hold a giveaway for every hundred followers they get. At the same time, some people don’t even have the option to follow or subscribe on their blog. I personally like to bookmark my favourite blogs because it’s an easy way to keep track of my favourite article.

How important are followers to you?

May Giveaway: Get organised with a Notebook [INT Ends: 31/5/15]

It's the start of the month which means it's time to kick start a new (international) giveaway! Since you guys liked the journal giveaway so much last time, this month I'll be giving away notebook in case you missed out last time and still want an opportunity to get organized. If you want to be in with a chance of winning then enter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck!

Fun Fact Friday (#63)

Fun Fact Friday is a meme hosted by Lettora at I’m Booked! If you’d like to join and do your own Fun Fact Friday, just ask! At I’m Booked! Every week we’ll give you five new, fun facts. This week’s five facts:

1.  A quarter of all ice-free land in the world is used for grazing livestock.

2.  The gastric-brooding frog gives birth through its mouth.

3.  Oceans cover 71% of the Earth's surface.

4.  63 Earths can fit inside Uranus.

5.  43% of the world's olive oil production is done in Spain.