Book Haul 1/1/2016

Haul:

Hi, Readers! Happy New Year! I received quite a few books and gift cards for Christmas, so I thought that I'd do my first Book Haul of 2016! Let's get started!


First, the books that came as gifts! These two books were from my dad and his girlfriend. :)

Goodreads Summary: The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon—when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743.
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life . . . and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire . . . and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
Goodreads Rating: 4.17 stars with over 420,000 ratings (wow!)
Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Time Travel
Get The Book: Amazon
Edit, Read the review here: Outlander

Initial Thoughts: I'll be honest, I'd read this just for the genre listings. Historical Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, and Time Travel? Yes, please. I'll probably read this first. I'm in desperate need of a good Historical Fiction, and it's been recommended to me by like 50 people. Plus Dad's girlfriend is mega excited to be able to talk to me about the series.

Goodreads Summary: After they cause a terrible accident at their old high school, twin witches Mardi and Molly Overbrook are sent to live with their “aunt” Ingrid Beauchamp in North Hampton, on Long Island’s mist-shrouded East End. Because the twins cannot control their powers, their father begs Ingrid to tame them over the summer, before the White Council exiles the girls to Limbo.
Trouble continues to bubble and boil when the girls meet the younger Gardiner boys, who are just as handsome and sexy as their older kin. But all is not as it seems. As Ingrid helps the girls learn to control their magical impulses, Mardi and Molly have just this summer to figure out how to grow up, how to love, and how to be a family.
Goodreads Rating: 3.65 stars with just under 100 ratings.
Genre Listing: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Witches, Mythology, Magic, Romance
Get The Book: Amazon

Initial Thoughts: I always like a good witch story. I've never heard of this book before, and that has me intrigued. I feel like just based on the blurb and the cover, it could end up being a little cheesy. Still interested in reading it, because well it's a book and I read those.

The following books were purchased with the B&N gift cards I got from various people.

Goodreads Summary: Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Goodreads Rating: 4.03 with over 150,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, Science Fiction
Get The Book: Amazon

Initial Thought: Totally a cover buy. I rarely do that, but I couldn't help it. The cover is so interesting. I think it's been on my to-read list for a while as well.  I've been wanting a solid Apocalypse type of book. The ratings give me hope it'll fulfill my craving :).

Goodreads Summary: What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
Goodreads Rating: 4.20 stars with over 240,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Adventure, Teen, Apocalyptic
Get the Book:  Amazon
Edit: Review of Legend
Initial Thought: I can't remember how many times I've been in a bookstore and picked this up and for whatever reason put it back down. I finally took a plunge and bought it, and I am so excited to read it! I'll probably read this right after Outlander. All though I'm tempted to call an audible and read this first. This might be the book I'm most excited for.

Goodreads Summary: Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies . . .
Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires - the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger . . . and the Strigoi are always close by.

Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever . . .
Goodreads Rating: 4.15 stars with over 379,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Young Adult, Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Teen, Supernatural
Get the book: Amazon

Initial Thought: I've been wanting to read this for a very long time now. However whenever I went to look for it I couldn't figure out what was the first in the series, and I think there's a ton of spin-off series? Anyways, I was always confused when I tried to find it and gave up looking for it. Apparently the big #1 on the spine was too hard for me to comprehend. Soo at some point I'm going to read this. I need more time to read.