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Summer is just around the corner and my reading time will pick up as I sit in the sun with a book.

Here is my bookish wishlist.

What’s on yours?

The Way Back to You
by Michelle Andreani, Mindi Scott

Landline: A Novel
by Rainbow Rowell

Carry On
by Rainbow Rowell (Hardcover)

Passenger
by Alexandra Bracken

P.S. I Like You
by Kasie West

My Lady Jane
by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Ever the Hunted: A Clash of Kingdoms Novel
by Erin Summerill

Strange the Dreamer
by Laini Taylor

Siren’s Song (The Storm Siren Trilogy)
by Mary Weber

Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories

Forever Doon (A Doon Novel)
by Carey Corp, Lorie Langdon

Books for trade. Ship to U.S. only. ISO: clean, contemp YA. #booksfortrade pic.twitter.com/SkWiBgcFSf

— Heather Gardner (@FireIcePhotos) May 15, 2016

I also have these books for trade. If interested, comment below.

Love & Gelato
by Jenna Evans Welch
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published by Simon Pulse
May 3, 2016
Amazon

A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this sweeping debut novel filled with romance, mystery, and adventure.

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept from Lina for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

Review

It’s been a really long time since I’ve been into a brick and mortar bookstore, but yesterday I wandered into a Barnes and Noble to look at the new YA releases, and this one literally jumped off the shelf at me. Who doesn’t love gelato, ice cream cone cover images and a story line set in Italy? I devoured Love and Gelato in less than 24 hours, staying up late into the night to finish. It is  a breath of fresh air to have a teen read free of swearing! Lina’s mom has died of cancer, but that’s not the focus of the mood, so the book remains light even though she hits some spots of mourning and heart ache. Set, in Tuscany with rolling green hills, stunning sunrises and beautiful sculptures, the reader will feel transported to a different time and place where lavish parties are still held in mansions the Medici’s used to roam. There are interspersed journal entries from Lina’s mother’s own time in Italy as she unravels what she is doing in another country with a strange man she’s never met.

I loved everything about this book with the exception of a few rough spots in the beginning where conversations rambled on a bit too long. I would have loved to have gotten to know Thomas a bit more–he was intriguing as a side character. Definitely a great summer pick, especially if you like contemporary YA with a dash of world travel and sweet treats.

Content-highlight to reveal teenage pregnancy with a professor, drinking

Jenna Evans Welch spent her high school years in Florence, Italy, where she drove a scooter, danced in fountains, and ate entirely too much gelato. She now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and young son. Read her blog, The Green Lemon, at JennaEvansWelch.com.

About the Book

Title: THE CROWN’S GAME
Author: Evelyn Skye
Release Date: May 17^th, 2016
Pages: 416
Publisher: Balzer+Bray
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love . . . or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear . . . the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

About the Author

 Evelyn Skye was once offered a job by the C.I.A., she not-so-secretly wishes she was on “So You Think You Can Dance,” and if you challenge her to a pizza-eating contest, she guarantees she will win. When she isn’t writing, Evelyn can be found chasing her daughter on the playground or sitting on the couch, immersed in a good book and eating way too many cookies. THE CROWN’S GAME is her first novel. Evelyn can be found online at www.evelynskye.com and on Twitter @EvelynSkyeYA.

Website | Twitter |Facebook | Goodreads | Tumblr | Instagram

The Giveaway

1 winner will receive an ARC of THE CROWN’S GAME. International.

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Find the complete Tsar’s Guard Parade Schedule at Evelyn Skye’s website!

About the Book

When Cal finally gets a chance with Kate, the girl he’s loved since grade school, their easy friendship quickly blossoms into a meaningful romance. But the WWII draft calls him to the war in the Pacific, and with his small chance of return, Cal prepares to part from Kate for good. Inspired by a true story, “By the Stars” shows that love, faith, and perseverance can overcome any obstacle.

About the Author

 Fall 1862 — Following her husband’s tragic death, young widow Abby Butterfield Browett’s first responsibility is to her son. Her desire to provide a secure future for her child has led her to accept a proposal of marriage from Isaac, a man twice her age. In her heart, she knows that Isaac lacks the fire and zest for life that defines Abby, but her son will be cared for. Can she be happy with only that?
Despite her reservations, Abby joins her fiancé on the journey to the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, unprepared for the challenges that begin soon after they embark. When their trouble turns dangerous, it is a group of rough frontiersmen that come to their aid. The incident provides Abby the excuse she needs to turn back and postpone the wedding—and in truth, she simply can’t forget the connection she felt with Scooter, the leader of their rescuers. But as hostilities arise between the local Indians and the white frontiersmen, Abby’s focus turns again to the safety of her son. When the young boy disappears following an attack, Abby disregards propriety and turns not to her fiancé for help, but to Scooter. In the face of unimaginable odds, the pair embarks on a quest to find Abby’s son, a journey that will test their courage and faith as never before . . .

About the Author

Darryl Harris has been a magazine publisher for more than thirty years. He currently serves as a bishop at BYU- Idaho, and previously presided over the Korea Seoul Mission. He lives in Idaho Falls, ID.

Giveaway

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Blog Tour Schedule

Fire and Ice is happy to have author Elissa Sussman on site today for an exclusive guest post about fairy tale re-tellings that influenced her newest book Burn. Also, be sure to check out the giveaway at the end of her post!
Title: BURN
Author: Elissa Sussman
Release Date: January 19^th, 2016
Pages: 272
Publisher: Greenwillow
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

After helping to rescue Princess Aislynn, Elanor has finally rejoined the rebel camp she calls home. Stolen from her parents at a young age and forced into service by the Wicked Queen, Elanor now wants nothing more than to see the queen removed from power. But Elanor has secrets, mistakes she’s spent years trying to forget, and the closer the rebels get to the throne, the harder it is for Elanor to keep her past hidden away.

With fellow rebels on her side—including Princess Aislynn, Thackery, and the handsome and mysterious Matthias—it is time for Elanor to make a decision. Will she protect her secrets? Or risk everything to save the people she loves?

The thrilling companion to Elissa Sussman’s masterful and original fairy tale, Stray, that will appeal to readers of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and fans of Wicked, Into the Woods, and the Disney princess movies.

About the Book
Title: STRAY
Author: Elissa Sussman
Release Date: October 7^th, 2014
Pages: 384
Publisher: Greenwillow
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

 I am grateful for my father, who keeps me good and sweet. I am grateful for my mother, who keeps her own heart guarded and safe. I am grateful for my adviser, who keeps me protected. I am grateful for the Path, which keeps me pure. Ever after.

Princess Aislynn has long dreamed about attending her Introduction Ball, about dancing with the handsome suitors her adviser has chosen for her, about meeting her true love and starting her happily ever after.

When the night of the ball finally arrives and Nerine Academy is awash with roses and royalty, Aislynn wants nothing more than to dance the night away, dutifully following the Path that has been laid out for her. She does not intend to stray.

But try as she might, Aislynn has never quite managed to control the magic that burns within her-magic brought on by wicked, terrible desires that threaten the Path she has vowed to take.

After all, it is wrong to want what you do not need. Isn’t it?

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAUmtw45Mgg

When Disney Movies and Musicals Collide: Creating The World of The Four Sisters Books
by Elissa Sussman

Anyone who follows me on social media knows that I am a huge nerd. I am in particular a huge nerd about 1. musical theatre and 2. Disney movies. Lately I’ve been grooving to HAMILTON and singing the praises of A GOOFY MOVIE, but bring up INTO THE WOODS and any of the Disney princess movies and I’m yours for about four days.
It’s not hard to see how INTO THE WOODS shaped the world of STRAY and BURN. The Sondheim musical mixes a bunch of familiar fairy tales (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and others) to create its own story, one that gets darker and darker as the musical goes on. In fact, the concept of The Path, the strict doctrine that rules Aislynn’s life in STRAY, was shaped by the lyrics Little Red Riding Hood sings in the first act: “the prettier the flower, the further from the path”.
The influence of Disney movies, as well, is all over Aislynn and Elanor’s stories. While re-watching CINDERELLA for a college paper (again, big nerd), I was inspired by the appearance of the fairy godmother. Here she is, someone with extraordinary powers, yet she shows up to help Cinderella and then disappears. I couldn’t help asking: what’s her deal? Who is she? And so the concept of a book with a fairy godmother at the center became the inspiration for Aislynn’s story.
Though STRAY and BURN are both original fairy tales, I was influenced by some pretty common stories. There are fairy tale tropes and imagery woven throughout the world, from the language (“thorns” as a swear word) to the Academy’s version of corporal punishment (being pricked by a spindle). Play “find the fairy tale” and you’ll discover over a dozen different references.
Each book however, has two fairy tales that provided the most inspiration. STRAY is a very (VERY) loose retelling of Cinderella, with elements of Little Red Riding Hood (especially in regards to The Path) mixed in. BURN, on the other hand, draws a lot from Snow White (from the role of Wicked Queen to Elanor’s physical description) with a sprinkling of Sleeping Beauty.
Take all those elements, mix in some feminism and some tasty recipes, and you’ll have the world of The Four Sisters – original fairy tales with a familiar foundation. Enjoy!

Elissa Sussman is a writer, a reader and a pumpkin pie eater.

She received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and in a previous life managed animators and organized spreadsheets at some of the best animation studios in the world, including Nickelodeon, Disney, Dreamworks and Sony Imageworks. You can see her name in the credits of THE CROODS, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG and TANGLED.

She currently lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and their rescue mutt, Basil.

Website | Twitter |Facebook | Tumblr | Instagram | Goodreads | Pinterest

The Giveaway

1 winner will receive a signed paperback of STRAY and buttons. US Only.

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Tour Schedule

Week One:

1/11/2016- Dazzled by Books– Interview

1/12/2016- Seeing Double In Neverland– Review

1/13/2016- The Eater of Books!– Guest Post

1/14/2016- RhiReading– Review

1/15/2016- Two Chicks on Books– Interview

Week Two:

1/18/2016- Stories & Sweeties– Review

1/19/2016- Fire and Ice– Guest Post

1/20/2016- Owl Always Be Reading– Review

1/21/2016- Dark Faerie Tales– Interview

1/22/2016- Night Owl Book Café– Review

Blog Tour Schedule

Roman’s Holiday by Susan Aylworth

Author Susan Aylworth

Blog Tour Giveaway

Ends 1/21/16

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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