Juliet by Anne Fortier

Juliet

Author: Anne Fortier

Pages [hardcover]: 464

Available now!

Opening Lines: They say I died. My heart stopped, and I was not breathing-in the eyes of the world I was really dead.

Memorable Quote: There is lust and then there is love. They are related, but still very different things.

Favorite Characters: Giulietta & Alessandro

Summary:

When julie Jacobs inherits a keey to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy, she is told it will lead her to an old family tresure. Soon she is launched on a winding and perilous journey into the history of her ancestor Giulietta, whose legendary love for a young man named Romeo rocked the foundation of medieval Siena. As Julie crosses paths with the descendants of the families involved in Shakespeare’s unforgettable blood feud, she begins to realize that the notoious curse-”A plague on both your houses!”-is still at work, and that she is the next target. It seems that the only one who can save Julie from her fate is Romeo-but where is he?

Review:

I was lucky enough to review this book for Pump Up Your Book as part of the Juliet blog tour. I’ve been excited to read this and was delighted to participate.

Julie Jacobs is your average girl, who wants nothing more than a less-annoying twin sister and to pay off her debt. When her Aunt Rose dies unexpectedly, she’s sad but hoping to inherit a fortune. Instead, she recieves a letter that will send her to Siena, her birthplace, and on a wild treasure hunt that will change her life forever.

I loved this book! I’m a bit of a history geek, especially when it comes to love stories. This book has touches of history, romance, a treasure hunt, and of course a few bad guys pop up along the way. Julie is a great main character-the story is told through her eyes, while alternating chapters tell about the Romeo and Giulietta that lived in Siena is the 1340s. While Julie may not make the best decisions sometimes, it makes for a great read.

While this book is certainly perfect for any fan of Romeo and Juliet or history, I’d recommend it to just about anyone. I loved it, and I hope others do also. I give Juliet 5/5 stars.

 

Follow the Juliet virtual blog tour as it makes its way around the web!

Tuesday, September 7

Spotlight at The Book Connection

Wednesday, September 8

Guest blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner

Thursday, September 9

Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book

Friday, September 10

Book reviewed at Caught Between the Pages

Monday, September 13

Guest blogging at Thoughts in Progress

Tuesday, September 14

Interviewed at The Hot Author Report

Book reviewed at Ohio Girl Talks

Wednesday, September 15

Book reviewed at Teresa’s Reading Corner

Book reviewed at Carpe Libris

Thursday, September 16

Book reviewed at Life in Review

Book reviewed at The Bookish Type

Friday, September 17

Book reviewed at A Room without Books is Empty

Monday, September 20

Book reviewed at Review from Here

Book reviewed at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Tuesday, September 21

Interviewed at Review from Here

Wednesday, September 22

Book reviewed at Broken Teepee

Book reviewed at CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, September 23

Book reviewed at Debbie’s Book Bag

Friday, September 24

Book reviewed at Book Reviews by Buuklvr81

Monday, September 27

Book reviewed at A Moment with Mystee

Book reviewed at Yzhabella’s Bookshelf

Tuesday, September 28

Book reviewed at My Favorite Things

Book reviewed at A Mom After God’s Own Heart

Wednesday, September 29

Book reviewed at Acting Balanced

Thursday, September 30

Book reviewed at Just One More Paragraph

Book Releases September 2010

New book releases for the month of September. All links go to their Goodreads pages:

Vanished by Meg Cabot
Jess Mastriani was misunderstood by her teachers and had a crush on the local bad boy, but that didn’t mean she was trouble. But trouble found her when she survived a lightning strike and discovered that a newfound talent had been bestowed upon her.

Now, whenever she sees a picture of a missing child, Jess knows exactly where he or she is when she wakes up the next morning. Reuniting lost children with their desperate parents is one thing, but Jess must choose whether to use her power for good…or for evil.

 
The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “Duffy,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen

Let me set the record straight. My name is Charlotte Silver and I’m not one of those paranormal-obsessed freaks you see on TV…no, those would be my parents, who have their own ghost-hunting reality show. And while I’m usually roped into the behind-the-scenes work, it turns out that I haven’t gone unnoticed. Something happened on my parents’ research trip in Charleston—and now I’m being stalked by some truly frightening other beings. Trying to fit into a new school and keeping my parents’ creepy occupation a secret from my friends—and potential boyfriends—is hard enough without having angry spirits whispering in my ear. All I ever wanted was to be normal, but with ghosts of my past and present colliding, now I just want to make it out of high school alive….

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

A terrible secret. A terrible fate.

When Brie’s sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie’s world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don’t know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.

As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don’t line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith’s final night…a secret that puts her own life in danger.

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie’s dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

Twelfth Grade Kills by Heather Brewer

It all comes down to this.

Vlad’s running out of time. The Elysian Council has given him weeks to live, and that’s if the Slayer Society doesn’t kill him – along with all the citizens of Bathory – first. Then there’s the issue of Vlad’s father, who may or may not still be alive after all these years, and oh yeah, that tiny little detail in the Pravus prophecy about Vlad enslaving Vampirekind and the human race. So much for college applications.

In this epic finale to Heather Brewer’s heart-stopping Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, dark secrets will be revealed, old friends will become enemies, and warm blood will run cold. Just be careful it isn’t yours.

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

Fragile Eternity
Book 3 of the Wicked Lovely Series
Book 1 Book 2

Author: Melissa Marr

Pages [hardcover]: 389

Available now!

Opening Lines: Seth knew the moment Aislinn slipped into the house; the slight rise in temperature would’ve told him even if he hadn’t seen the glimmer of sunlight in the middle of the night.

Memorable Quote: “Sometimes being human sucks.”

Favorite Characters: Niall and Aislinn

Summary:

Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone—but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he’d ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen.

Aislinn never expected to rule the very creatures who’d always terrified her—but that was before Keenan. He stole her mortality to make her a monarch, and now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she’d ever imagined.

In Melissa Marr’s third mesmerizing tale of Faerie, Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other in a milieu of shadowy rules and shifting allegiances, where old friends become new enemies and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos.

Review:

 Because this is the third book of the Wicked Lovely series, it’s hard not to compare it to the other two books. I think I might like them better, but I still liked this book. It was more fairy politics than the other two books, filled with negotiations and meetings between the Dark, Winter, and Summer courts. It felt like the author was constantly building up to something that never happened, but I suppose the plot will move further in the next book.

That said, it’s not like nothing major happens on this book. Because things do happen, that I wish I could talk about, but I can’t without spoiling everything

The tension between Keenan and Donia, Aislinn and Seth, and Keenan and Aislinn builds to a boiling point. Who’s love will prevail?

Fragile Eternity gets 4/5 stars. I’d definitely recommend looking into it.

August 2010 Wrap Up

Unfortunately, it’s September. That means school is just around the corner, and I have to say good-bye to another lovely summer. On a plus side, only one more month until The Lost Hero, the next Camp Half Blood book comes out. And I can’t wait.

This month, I read:

Tell Me a Secret-Holly Cupala
Only the Good Spy Young-Ally Carter
Avalon High-Meg Cabot
The Thyssen Affair-Mozelle Richardson
Glimpse-Carol Lynch Williams
The Wedding Gift-Kathleen McKenna
The Iron Princess-Julie Kagawa
Heist Society-Ally Carter
Prada and Prejudice-Mandy Hubbard
Simon’s Choice-Charlotte Castle
Sleepless-Thomas Fahy
The Space Between Trees-Katie Williams
The Picture of Dorian Gray-Oscar Wilde
The Red Pyramid-Rick Riordan
If I Stay-Gayle Foreman
Jane Erye-Charlotte Bronte

Books I purchased: 3
Borrowed from friend: 3
Checked out from library: 4
Review books: 6

Challenge Status:
What’s In a Name?  4/6
Jane Austen Challenge 0/8
2010 Chick Lit Challenge 7/8
2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge 14/50

How was your August?