Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Follower Appreciation: Bundle of Books Giveaway #2

This week WinterHaven Books has another bundle of books you might enjoy. Again, a HUGE thank you to our followers for visiting our blog. Be sure to check back next week to see if there is a bundle of books you'd like to win and curl up with this winter! 

Thank you to all of our followers and bloggie friends!!
Be sure to fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win and let us know what book you're interested in reading. Because of the number of books we'll be shipping, this giveaway is open to US Residents only. 

This week we are giving away the following ARC editions:
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski (ARC edition)
Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater (ARC edition)
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston (ARC edition)
Burning by Danielle Rollins (ARC edition)
Stone Rider by David Hofmeyr (ARC edition) 
Burn Girl by Mandy Mikulencak (ARC edition) 
Our Lady of Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke (ARC edition)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Follower Appreciation: Bundle of Books Giveaway #1

WinterHaven Books would like to take a moment to thank our followers for continuing to visit our blog despite us taking a little break these past months to focus on family and friends. As a token of our appreciation, we'll be hosting weekly giveaways of some of the books we've been lucky to come across. Be sure to check back next week to see if there is a bundle of books you'd like to win and curl up with this winter! 

Thank you to all of our followers and bloggie friends!!
Be sure to fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win and let us know what book you're interested in reading. Because of the number of books we'll be shipping, this giveaway is open to US Residents only. 

This week we are giving away the following ARC edition books:

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy MicGinis (ARC edition)
Destined for Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon (ARC edition)
Mirrored by Alex Flynn (ARC edition) 
Nightfall by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski (ARC edition)
Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund (ARC edition)
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin (ARC edition)
Zodiac by Romina Russell (ARC edition)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Review and Giveaway: The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Published: November 1, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?
My Thoughts
“Once they met, the rest of it, the love between them, was inevitable..”

“She smiles so big that I know that whatever happens will be worth it.”


Love.. love.. love.
The Sun is Also a Star is another great example that Nicola Yoon has found her place in YA fiction. This is the first book I’ve read in a while, and all avid readers know how frustrating it is not to be able to enjoy your hobby. So thank you Yoon for penning a beautiful, simple, captivating story about a boy and a girl whose lives change after a chance meeting. It’s nice to know that with the right story, I can fall into my happy place, travel with fictional characters and simply enjoy their journey.

In this novel, we meet Natasha Kingsley who sees the world through a scientific lens of observable facts. There’s no room in her life for fate, destiny, and the possibility of falling love. If it can’t be seen, measured, quantified… then it just doesn’t exist. However, when she meets a funny, poetic, Korean boy the day she and her family are to be deported back to Jamaica, she wonders how she miscalculated so much.

Daniel Bae is a hopeless romantic that loves to write poetry. However, growing up in a Korean household where his parents have already decided his future, where he’s to go to Yale and be a doctor, he’s not quite sure how to navigate around the expectations he has no desire to fulfill. Then he meets Natasha, and as they spend a New York day together, new possibilities begin to take shape for him.

I truly enjoyed this novel. I knew after the first few pages that it was going to be an experience I wouldn’t soon forget. The story is not complicated, dramatic or over the top. It’s sincere and heartfelt. There are moments and passages that made me just stop and think about life and the choices we make. I love books that make me contemplate beyond the lines.

One thing I enjoy about Yoon’s writing is her creative narrative. Not only do we get the dual POV of Natasha and Daniel, but we also get insight into secondary and tertiary characters that you don’t realize play a crucial role in the main characters’ lives. We also get some fun insight into topics that balance love and science. Somehow, Yoon makes it all fit into a story that just flows.

Lastly, the ending was spot on! Yoon was bold in her decisions and I loved that! Not everything ends perfectly and sometimes things happen for a reason.

Overall, Yoon’s managed to impress me with her consistently in writing amazing stories with characters that have staying power. So glad I’m able to add another fave YA author to my list.
5 Snowflakes

If this sounds like a story you would enjoy, enter through Rafflecopter for a chance to win an ARC edition of The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. Also, I would love to hear why you think you'd enjoy this story. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway