♥ The Bookworm Box ♥

Those of you that follow me on facebook, instagram or twitter know just how excited I got when I saw on The Bookworm Box's facebook-page that I had won a box! I was beyond thrilled, because (a) international orders hadn't been possible yet, and (b) I wouldn't've been able to afford a box, even if international shipping had been an option yet... but let me tell you, those boxes are absolutely worth every cent you (can) spend on them, and I hope I'll be able to purchase the odd box every now and then in the future!

That being said, it should come as no surprise that receiving my [The] Bookworm Box had me more excited than Christmas morning - and I love Christmas!
And I was surprised at how fast it actually got here - I emailed my address over to the busy bees worms on April 22nd, and despite having been held up at customs (luckily I didn't have to pay any fees, but they did open the box, go through it, and plaster it with their ugly tape), the box already got here yesterday! That's barely two weeks!

To share my excitement over this extraordinary bookmail, I'll happily, step-by-step, walk you through everything that was included in my box - which was by far more than I had expected!

Since this post will contain a whole bunch of pictures, I'll make sure not to post them the biggest - but feel free to click any and all pictures you are curious to see, as it will enlarge them (-;



Opening the box, the first thing you see is the cute little "The Bookworm Box"-sticker decorating the inside of the lid - showing, just like the outside of the box, the amount of love that has been poured into assembling these boxes!

On top of it all, you can find a note informing you of how much money has been raised, as well as of upcoming things - like "Good Deeds, Great Reads, Overseas!" - an option to "purchase a book for a soldier overseas. We will package it up and mail it in your name." - which sounds like another great idea of the wormsies!

...a first peek inside, revealing the first goodies...
...building up excitement!

The first thing I retrieved from my box was this awesome keychain from Lit-Cube!

Book Geek & Proud! about sums up my life, so it's pretty perfect!

"What is Lit-Cube?

Lit-Cube is a monthly subscription box for readers. We strive to pair hand-picked books with high quality literary themed products to bring you a magical reading experience each and every month."

Next in the box was a little paperbag, containing a bottlecap-magnet sporting the cover of Amy J. Hawthorn's Lacey Temptations (Crave 1), a pen reading "Amy J. Hawthorn - Romance hot enough to satisfy the darkest cravings" (the top of the pen actually is a flash-light, to go with the darkness - how cool is that?!),

a signed bookcover-card showing the cover of her book Crave 2: A Craving for Two, and three smaller cards, for Azrael's Light (Demon Runners of Unearth), Sunlight's Kiss (Demon Runners of Unearth 2), and Crave 1: Lacey Temptations.

Next up was a CD!
Griffin Peterson's Exclusive Spring 2015 Sampler!
LOVE!

If you've read Colleen Hoover's Maybe Someday, you'll remember Griffin as the "music behind Ridge". (:

The next thing I found in the box was a signed bookmark from author Jamie Rae, advertising her novel Call Sign Karma.







Now... on to what I of course was most curious about! The books!

First up was Jacked by Tina Reber.

I have to admit that I wasn't familiar with the book before - I think I liked the cover on facebook or instagram once, but that was it. It sounds great though, so I am definitely look forward to reading it!

Have you read it? If so, what were your thoughts?

blurb;

"We all have skeletons in our closets. 

Doctor Erin Novak was only sixteen when she was accused of a crime she didn't commit. Since that moment, she has made it her life goal to pursue emergency medicine, pouring her heart and soul into assuring another innocent life isn't lost to the hands of the wicked.

We all have secrets we've never shared.

Detective Adam Trent has lost control of everything, starting with losing his partner to a punk with a gun and then everything else to the crushing guilt. Now a member of the elite Auto Theft Task Force in Philadelphia, it's his job to be one step ahead of the criminals stealing expensive cards in the city. Too bad the television cameras keep getting in the way of his investigation.

We all have pasts that we can never escape.

A stolen car, a tragic chase, and a traffic stop crosses the fates of these two, tying them together in ways that are unimaginable. As their love and trust grows, so do the enemies that threaten their survival, testing the strength of their commitment. Can true love endure half-truths, past pains, and secrets never meant to be shared?

Some things are just out of our control."

The second book my Featured Bookworm Box included is Collide by Gail McHugh.
I haven't read this one yet either, but I did at some point add it to my amazon wishlist - so YAY! While I would have of course loved signed copies of books that I have read and loved, I am almost more excited to have received books that I haven't read yet - this way I have new reading material, and who knows - maybe I'll love these books just the same - isn't that the great thing about these boxes?!

blurb;

 "Her mind tried to fight a bloody battle against what her body already knew. 

She wanted him, and she wanted him badly.

On the heels of her college graduation and the unexpected death of her mother, Emily Cooper moves to New York City to join her boyfriend for a fresh start. Dillon Parker has been sweet, thoughtful, and generous through Emily's loss, and she can't imagine her life without him - even as her inner voice tells her to go slow.

Then she meets Gavin Blake. A rich and notorious playboy, Gavin is dangerously sexy and charming as hell. Their first encounter is brief, but it's enough to inflame Emily's senses. When their paths cross again through an unexpected mutual acquaintance, she tries to deny the connection she feels, but Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome won't let go so easily.

As she discovers Gavin's  pain-filled past, and Dillon's true nature begins to surface, Emily knows she must take action or risk destroying everyone - including herself. But how can she choose when she can't trust her own heart?"

Aaaaaand, last but certainly not least, a Bookworm Box pen!
I love pens - this one, as well as the other one that was in the box, will wander into my for-when-university-starts-in-October-stack <3

As you can see, that seemingly little box held a lot of great things - as I said in the beginning of this post, I think The Bookworm Box is absolutely worth every cent spent on it - you get two signed books, along with a lot of amazing stuff, and it's all for a great cause (or two)!
A HUGE thank you goes out to Colleen Hoover and her family (go Granny, go!), as well as everyone else involved in making The Bookworm Box what it is <3 this would not be possible without all the awesome volunteers donating time and love, the amazing authors donating books and swag, and everyone else donating goodies! Please know that all you are doing does not go unnoticed and is not being taken for granted! <3

"Grace Grows" by Shelle Sumners

"Grace Grows" is Shelle Sumners' debut novel, which was first published in 2012.
The copy on which my review is based is a German copy published in March 2013, called "Wie Tyler Wilkie mein Leben auf den Kopf stellt und was ich dagegen tun werde" ("How Tyler Wilkie turns my life upside down and what I will do about it").

To someone on the outside, Grace Barnum seems to have it all: a dreamjob that pays well, a loving, steady boyfriend with an intention to marry, parents that love her and friends that care.
But when Grace meets Tyler Wilkie, the young and charming musician that walks her neighbor's dogs, her world comes crashing down and Grace realizes that a lot of the things she does in life aren't to make herself happy, but to please
-amongst others-  her mother. She starts questionning her decisions and choices, her lifestyle and the way she has had her future all mapped out.

Grace is responsible.
Tyler Wilkie is anything but that.
And he is about to turn her world upside down.

Grace changes her ways, and finally stops putting what she really wants last. She quits the job she has been unhappy with, and pursuis a less-paying, but more satisfying occupation. She second-guesses her relationship with her boyfriend/fiancé and makes decisions that won't please everyone around her. But Grace isn't the only one that changes - Tyler's life, too, takes a turn when he gets the chance to sign with a label and is suddenly in the spotlight.
The reader gets to follow the story from Grace's point of view, learns about her life, Tyler's life - their lives togehter, as well as apart.

Opposites attract, they say, and the story of Tyler and Grace makes it obvious that they also compliment and complete one another. Sometimes, the unknown is all we need to find ourselves - and while Grace might say that Tyler has turned her life upside down... I'd say he just shook it up enough to make things fall into all the right places.



Several things about this book caught my interest when I first picked it up from a store back in April last year:

1. I was in Hamburg, Germany, for school and was on a really low budget, so I searched their "damaged goods basket" - due to little holes in the backcover and the last couple of pages, I got this book for only 2,50€. At the original price of 9,99€, I would have most probably walked past it and on to the "English books" section, as I am no fan of translated books - SO much gets lost in translation, I'd rather read a book in the language it was originally written and published in.

2. The blurb immediately caught my attention, starting with "Stell dir vor, jemand schreibt den Soundtrack deines Lebens. Jemand, der dich liebt." ("Imagine someone who loved you wrote the soundtrack to your life."). It right away made it sound like a super cute story.

3. In addition to #2, the book has a QR-Code on its back which is supposed to enable you to listen to the songs that one of the protagonists, Tyler, writes for Grace. Being a lover of both books and music, as well as a huge fan of Colleen Hoover's "Maybe Someday" that comes with its own soundtrack provided by Griffin Peterson, I thought I might have found a book similar to it...

4. It had a sparkly "Must Read!" staff-recommendation sticker on the cover. I mean... come on, how bad can a book be if recommended by the store?

5. It came with two playlists - one sporting songs by musician Lee Morgan, "aka Tyler", as well as one that lists songs important to Grace and Tyler, songs mentioned at one point or another as the story unfolds.


The Aftermath:

1. It took me a almost nine months to get through this book. Granted, it's 512 pages, but it wasn't because I am a slow reader - on the contrary, it just took me an eternity to get hooked. Hooked-ish, even. I had already read about half of the book by the time I finally got to a point where I wanted to read on... and then, towards the end, I again started to loose interest. Talk about a story's climax (no pun intended).

2. Was the story cute? - Yes. No. I mean... yes. Yes, it was. Somewhat. And at points even a lot. But... not the kind of cute that makes me think Oh God, I shouldn't be reading this in public - I think I'm gonna cry! or Awwwww - please, please, pleeeease don't let this story end! ... mhno, this book and I, we just didn't hit it off enough to have that kind of relationship. At the same time though, I have to say that the book did have its very funny moments - so it would definitely get more points for humor than cuteness!

3. The QR-Code on the back of my book lead me to the publisher's website (Fischer Verlag). I did find links to listen to two of the songs on there - but those links were broken. The only alternative offered was buying the songs on itunes; I wish there had been a direct option (via the QR code or a listed URL - an easy, lazy way for the reader, if you want to put it that way) to listen to the songs online, without having to buy them if one wants the "full book and music experience". You can, however, search for the songs on YouTube and listen to (most of) them there, as Lee Morgan has shared them on his channel. Thank you Lee Morgan! Another big thank you to the author herself, who has also shared the songs on her website. The QR-Code not working really is the publisher's fault, but as I said - it would have been a nice and lazy way to listen to the songs (-;
[And yes, I hang my head in shame - my love for Colleen Hoover might have given me unrealistically high expectations regarding the whole concept, but... but... big sigh. It would have been nice, had it been closer to what I had expected - but believe me when I say that the rest of my review is nothing but my opinion on this book, disregarding my CoHo-induced at-first-sight interest in it.]

4. We all like different things - and that's good! If we all liked all the same things, the world would be one boring place to be. One can't judge a recommendation - someone else's taste - but one can't judge a book by a stranger's sparkly sticker either! (;

5. As I said before, it would have been nice to have easy access to all of Ty's songs while reading the book, as I do believe that that would have made it easier to fully feel the story. It simply would have set the mood a little differently. Grace's and Ty's Playlist is to remain unjudged - but I really did like that the author included the list in the end of the book. It's definitely a plus for anyone who likes music.


Altogether, I would like to give this book a 3.5/5, and am - despite of my mixed feelings regaring the book - looking forward to reading more from Sumners in the future. I might also go and pick up an English copy at some point, because parts of the book really did make me wonder just how much had gotten lost in translation... maybe I would have found some of the chemistry I missed had I actually read the "original" version.

Find the German version that I read here on amazon.
Find the English version here on amazon.
Visit Shelle Sumners on facebook and/or her website.
Visit Lee Morgan on youtube to listen to some of Tyler Wilkie's songs.