Emily's Reading Room

Rush by Eve Silver Publication: June 11th 2013 So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to know? When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn. AMAZON | B&N | KOBO | iTUNES EXCERPT He catches my wrists and holds them, just tight enough that I can’t hit him anymore, but not so tight it hurts. I freeze, heart slamming against my ribs, because I’m angry a...

Take Me On by Katie McGarry Publication: May 27th 2014 Acclaimed author Katie McGarry returns with the knockout new story of two high school seniors who are about to learn what winning really means. Champion kickboxer Haley swore she'd never set foot in the ring again after one tragic night. But then the guy she can't stop thinking about accepts a mixed martial arts fight in her honor. Suddenly, Haley has to train West Young. All attitude, West is everything Haley promised herself she'd stay away from. Yet he won't last five seconds in the ring without her help. West is keeping a big secret from Haley. About who he really is. But helping her-fighting for her-is a shot at redemption. Especially since it's his fault his family is falling apart. He can't change the past, but maybe he can change Haley's future. Hayley and West have agreed to keep their relationship strictly in the ring. But as an unexpected bond forms between them and attraction mocks the...

In the past weeks it's been quiet on the blog. I've been busy with work and preparing for my US trip. I'll be there for a bit under four weeks and I'm so excited! Want to guess where I'm going? Below are books that are set in the cities I'm visiting. Not pictured are Fort Lauderdale, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park. What should I do in each city? Do you have any special recommendations? Know of any bookish events? Will post all September reviews in October. The winner of my last giveaway will also be drawn in October and there will be no Behind The Pages post in September.

Today is release day for THE WINTER PEOPLE by Rebekah Purdy and we’re here to celebrate with a giveaway and an excerpt! Help us celebrate the release of this amazing book and enter to win a Winter Emergency Kit! The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy Publication: September 2 2014 An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world. Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn’t forgotten their warning to "stay away." For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
 Salome discovers she...