Stacking the Shelves (7/15/12)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Visit Tynga's Reviews to know more about this weekly meme.

This is our first time since December to join a book haul feature! Well It's time we break the no-post-on-Sundays curse. :) So here are the titles I got in the past 2 weeks.

From NetGalley

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Lucky in Love (Lucky Harbor #4) by Jill Shalvis

At Last (Lucky Harbor #5) by Jill Shalvis

Forever and a Day (Lucky Harbor #6) by Jill Shalvis

Bought

Torrent (River of Time #3) by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Tiger's Curse (The Tiger Saga #1) by Colleen Houck

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Won

Fated (The Soul Seekers #1) by Alyson Noel (ARC) 

The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats (Signed)

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Gifted

Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1) by Anna Banks (ARC)

Thank you so much to ate Precious of Fragments of Life, Lisa of Badass Bookie, J. Anderson Coats, Lauren of Epilogue Review, NetGalley (Grand Central Publishing & Harlequin Teen) and my Mom! 


What books did you get this week? Please feel free to leave a link of your post in the comments.

Review: Second Kiss by Natalie Palmer

Second Kiss by Natalie Palmer

Paperback: 168 pages

Release date: April 5th, 2011

Publisher: Tate Publishing

Goodreads Rating: 3.81

Goodreads Summary: Gemma Mitchell is a normal girl who somehow gets herself into abnormally embarrassing circumstances. And while she thinks she's the biggest loser in school because of them, there are a few people in her life who would disagree. One of those people is her best friend, Jess Tyler, who is opposite to her in every way. He's popular, good looking, athletic, and intelligent, and he can't get enough of Gemma. But while Gemma is dealing with problems like wrong locker combinations and Valentine's Day dances, Jess is living in a world of serious issues that are foreign to Gemma, until she realizes that he's holding on to her for dear life. 
Humorous and true to life, Second Kiss is an entertaining saga about a boy and girl who find that their lives have a lot more meaning once they have shared them with each other.

Gemma Mitchell is a normal girl who is somehow always caught up in some embarrassing situations. And while she thinks less of her, there is one person who’s always beside her. Her best friend, Jess Tyler--he's popular, good looking, athletic, and intelligent, and he can't get enough of Gemma. How this two people can realize that they’re for each other, if they both think things will be awkward? And will they say their feelings for each other before it’s too late?

I like the book; I’ll say it was passable. I thought the notion was good but when we get to the whole story I sometimes feel there was something missing. There are parts wherein I find it was too fast paced, that I felt those part where should the story continues. Though with all these grievances I have, I found myself liking Jess and somehow Gemma too throughout the story. Jess was the supporting and compassionate friend who has hidden feelings for Gemma. While Gemma’s the innocent and humble friend who’s also always next to Jess as his friend. I like her character because the author didn’t make her like the other cliché girls we could read in other books. Why? Because even though she really can’t help loving Jess and wanting to be with him always, she tried to stand on her own. She found new friends and tried to keep her feelings with Jess and leave some pride for herself. 

Friendships broke and new were found, standing on your own feet and doing the right thing before it was too late and taking up your chances on something, was this story is all about. I still recommend this to those readers who want to read easy and simple story on their shelves, but I’ll still stand on my view of the book. Mediocre.