Our Favorite Spooky Reads! 👻


Happy Halloween! It is our favorite time of year here at The Book Bratz and between Halloween and the mysterious Mercury Retrograde both happening in the same day we are super hyped. To celebrate we are sharing some of our favorite spooky reads to help us celebrate. So relax, eat some candy and check out some spooky books you can dive right into! 

*Click the covers to be redirected to goodreads* 

    
   
   
   
   

What are some of your favorite spooky reads!? Let us know below!


Waiting On Wednesday: The Betrothed by Kiera Cass


"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine where we highlight some of the upcoming books we can't wait to read! 

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Title: The Betrothed (The Betrothed, #1)
Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Hardcover, 400 Pages
Publication Date: May 5th, 2020



Summary: Hollis Brite, a daughter of nobility has captured the heart of the king. But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she’s dreamed of. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she wants is one she never thought to imagine.

As an absolutely MASSIVE fan of The Selection series, I was jumping for joy when Kiera announced that there were going to be more books from her! So, needless to say, I immediately went and put this book on my TBR, and I've been counting down the days until May 5th ever since. Who else is excited?!

What are you waiting on this week? Leave your links so I can stop back! 

Spotlight: The Delinquent Crown (Olexia Legends, #1) by Sydney Faith

Today we are super excited to have Sydney Faith on the blog, so we can show you all about her newest release, THE DELINQUENT CROWN! So before we hit you with all of the need-to-know information about the book and Sydney herself, let's get into the excerpt...



EXCERPT TIME! 
*Drum roll*

“Are you sure… are you sure it’s safe?” Miri asked, wringing her hands. “Aren’t there… creatures?”

“Nothing to be scared of, you beldurra!” Kayta chided, floating on her back. The black makeup on her eyes and cheeks ran down her face when she dunked herself under the water.

“Only small harmless fish,” Siymin assured her, wading to the center of the pool.

Miri chewed her lip for a moment, untying her boots and taking off her socks. She dropped her jumpsuit on the ground, leaving her in shorts and a shirt as well. She walked to the edge of the water, stutter-stepping at the end of the grass.

“Miri, it’s fine,” Nick said, holding his arms out to the sides. He stood near the side of the pool where the water came up just below his armpits. “And the water’s great!”

Glancing to her right, Miri found a long, flowered vine growing on an overhanging tree. She reached for it with a smile and backed up, running toward the pond. She soared over the edge and let go, free falling into the water with a squeak.

“Look at you!” her brother said as she emerged from the clear water. She soaked in the pleasant sensation of warm water, rinsing away the dirt and grime on her skin. Miri laughed, swimming around the natural pool. It was droplet-shaped, the small edge draining to a brook that snaked through the forest and merged with the river.

“I miss that laugh,” Nick said quietly, more to himself than to his sister.
They swam and splashed each other until they became tired, sitting in the sandy shallow part of the water at the widest end of the pool.

Kayta was the first to hear the noise over the splashing of the waterfall. She shushed the conversation, pointing up with a single finger. A buzzing hum grew in the air. Kayta stood as quiet as possible, followed by the others.

“LaKaio?” Nick whispered. Following Kayta and Siymin’s lead, he crouched behind arching tree roots and overgrown bushes, trying to peer around them without being seen.

Siymin nodded with a tight upper lip, pointing out to the woods. Three LaKaio zipped by on their boards followed closely by six more.


About THE DELINQUENT CROWN! 

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Title: The Delinquent Crown (Olexia Legends, #1)
Author: Sydney Faith

Summary: Olexia is a wild and dangerous world filled with magic. Miri and Nick find Olexia by chance but choose their fate when they step through the portal. A shard of glass and a hastily-written letter from their mother are all they have to solve their puzzling past. In Olexia Miri and Nick find danger and unlikely allies, and with their help, they learn to wield their newfound powers and find out the truth about Olexia's buried secrets. When the ruthless Council leader learns the siblings harbor a powerful artifact, he sends his bloodthirsty LaKaio soldiers to hunt them down at any cost. With time running out and secrets about their past being revealed around every corner, Miri and Nick must decide if they're going to hide away or rise up against the sinister leaders of Olexia.


About Sydney! 


Sydney Faith

Sydney Faith is a young adult author who, after a lifetime of living in her make-believe worlds, decided to start sharing them at 17 in the form of books.When she’s not writing, Sydney enjoys creating YouTube videos about writing and books, baking and eating chocolate chip cookies, and thinking about writing. As a Midwesterner, you’ll find Sydney pointing out cows on road trips, enjoying the state fair, and complaining about the snow.



Doesn't this make you super excited for THE DELINQUENT CROWN? As fantasy fans ourselves, putting this post together was really exciting -- thank you to Sydney for sharing the excerpt and for being willing to work with us! And lucky for all of you, the book is already out, so you can read it RIGHT NOW!! 😊💗

Review: With The Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Title: With The Fire on High
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Hardcover, 400 Pages
Published May 2019


Summary: With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain — and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life — and all the rules everyone expects her to play by — once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.

When I first saw the cover of this book, I knew I absolutely had to have it. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but sometimes a gorgeous cover is what it takes to draw me in. So as soon as I looked into this book, I added it to my TBR, because it sounded really interesting, and -- like I just said -- the cover was absolutely gorgeous. I also read Elizabeth Acevedo's debut novel, THE POET X (you can read my review here!), so I had high hopes for this one. And let me just say, she definitely didn't disappoint.

As the summary explains, Emoni is a teen mom who is trying to chase her dream of becoming a chef, but things such as school, strict teachers, nasty girls at school, college (and the tuition it requires) are all standing in her way. But when she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to join a culinary arts class at her school, she's feeling a bit daunted by all of the challenges (both mentally and financially) that come with it. But when she takes that leap of faith and chases her dream, some unexpected things happen.

I absolutely LOVED this book, just as much as I loved THE POET X, if not more. For starters, the imagery of the food was absolutely gorgeous, and I loved the little recipes at the beginning of each section. I definitely am considering trying a few of them! As for what else I enjoyed in this book, I also loved Emoni's character and how she acted as a mother to Emma, on top of everything else she has to juggle, because no matter how stressful her life got, she always put her daughter first. I think seeing a teen mother in a YA book whose teen pregnancy is NOT the crux of the story was a really refreshing and positive change. 

Okay, now onto Malachi. He is just so adorable, and such a good friend and a good person to lean on, and every time he showed up on the page, I felt my heart flutter a little bit. He seemed like one of those genuinely good guys that everyone wants to get to know, and by the way everyone else in the book interacted with him, that certainly seems possible.

Seeing the way that Emoni worked so hard to make her dreams come true was really, really inspiring. If there's anything that I can take away from this book, it's definitely the idea that there is no situation too difficult to make your dreams shine through, even if it requires a lot of hard work and even some sacrifice. I was cheering Emoni on from the beginning of this book until the very end, and seeing everything she accomplished made me feel really warm and glowy inside.

Overall, I absolutely loved With The Fire on High. Not only does it have a gorgeous cover, but it also has some gorgeous imagery, characters, and themes. And it made me pretty hungry, as well! So if you haven't read anything by Elizabeth Acevedo yet, or you read THE POET X and wasn't sure if you should pick up her prose novel, I definitely recommend picking it up. I can't wait for more of Elizabeth's work!



 

10 Rom-Coms That Will Make You Swoon!


Everyone loves a good rom-com that is going to make you laugh and leave you all warm and fuzzy inside. 2019 and what already appears to be 2020 are going to be the year(s) of rom-coms! Today we gathered a list of our "must read" rom-coms! (Tweet Cute doesn't come out until 2020, but Amber read and ADORED it!)





Tweet Cute by Emma Lord, January 21st, 2020
Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account. Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time. All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built. As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.

💖💖💖 


The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory, July 16th 2019 
Maddie and Theo have two things in common: 1. Alexa is their best friend 2. They hate each other. After an “Oops, we made a mistake” kiss, neither one can stop thinking about the other. With Alexa’s wedding rapidly approaching, Maddie and Theo both share bridal party responsibilities that require more interaction with each other than they’re comfortable with. Underneath the sharp barbs they toss at each other is a simmering attraction that won’t fade. It builds until they find themselves sneaking off together to release some tension when Alexa isn’t looking. But as with any engagement with a nemesis, there are unspoken rules that must be abided by. First and foremost, don’t fall in love.

 💗💗💗


The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, May 14th 2019
Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs. Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.

💝💝💝


If I'm Being Honest by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegmund-Broka, April 23rd 2019
High school senior Cameron Bright’s reputation can be summed up in one word: bitch. It’s no surprise she’s queen bee at her private L.A. high school—she’s beautiful, talented, and notorious for her cutting and brutal honesty. So when she puts her foot in her mouth in front of her crush, Andrew, she fears she may have lost him for good. In an attempt to win him over, Cameron resolves to “tame” herself, much like Katherine in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. First, she’ll have to make amends with those she’s wronged, which leads her to Brendan, the guy she labelled with an unfortunate nickname back in the sixth grade. At first, Brendan isn’t all that receptive to Cameron’s ploy. But slowly, he warms up to her when they connect over the computer game he’s developing. Now if only Andrew would notice… But the closer Cameron gets to Brendan, the more she sees he appreciates her personality—honesty and all—and wonders if she’s compromising who she is for the guy she doesn’t even want.

 💜💜💜


The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston, April 2nd 2019 
The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston. Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year's ExcelsiCon isn't her last, she'll consider her career derailed. When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That's easier said than done when the girls step into each other's shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these "princesses" race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.

 💛💛💛



99 Percent Mine by Sally Throne, January 29th 2019
Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach… Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough. When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade. Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that's inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.

💓💓💓


Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan, April 30th 2019
Elouise (Lou) Parker is determined to have the absolute best, most impossibly epic summer of her life. There are just a few things standing in her way:* She's landed a job at Magic Castle Playland . . . as a giant dancing hot dog.* Her crush, the dreamy Diving Pirate Nick, already has a girlfriend, who is literally the Princess of the park. But Lou's never liked anyone, guy or otherwise, this much before, and now she wants a chance at her own happily ever after. * Her best friend, Seeley, the carousel operator, who's always been up for anything, suddenly isn't when it comes to Lou's quest to set her up with the perfect girl or Lou's scheme to get close to Nick. * And it turns out that this will be their last summer at Magic Castle Playland--ever--unless she can find a way to stop it from closing. Jennifer Dugan's sparkling debut coming-of-age queer romance stars a princess, a pirate, a hot dog, and a carousel operator who find love--and themselves--in unexpected people and unforgettable places. 

💕💕💕


Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo, May 7th 2019
10 00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she's just performed her hit song "Heartbeat" in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She's about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She's in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger. 11 00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She's very cute. He's maybe curious. 12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same.

 💚💚💚


Don't Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno, May 14th 2019
Rosa Santos is cursed by the sea-at least, that's what they say. Dating her is bad news, especially if you're a boy with a boat. But Rosa feels more caught than cursed. Caught between cultures and choices. Between her abuela, a beloved healer and pillar of their community, and her mother, an artist who crashes in and out of her life like a hurricane. Between Port Coral, the quirky South Florida town they call home, and Cuba, the island her abuela refuses to talk about. As her college decision looms, Rosa collides - literally - with Alex Aquino, the mysterious boy with tattoos of the ocean whose family owns the marina. With her heart, her family, and her future on the line, can Rosa break a curse and find her place beyond the horizon?

🧡🧡🧡



Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi, June 11th 2019
Sana Khan is a cheerleader and a straight A student. She's the classic (somewhat obnoxious) overachiever determined to win. Rachel Recht is a wannabe director who's obsesssed with movies and ready to make her own masterpiece. As she's casting her senior film project, she knows she's found the perfect lead - Sana. There's only one problem. Rachel hates Sana. Rachel was the first girl Sana ever asked out, but Rachel thought it was a cruel prank and has detested Sana ever since. Told in alternative viewpoints and inspired by classic romantic comedies, this engaging and edgy YA novel follows two strongwilled young women falling for each other despite themselves.

That is the list of our 10 swoon worthy rom-coms of 2019! (and one 2020) There is always something about rom-coms that will hold a special place in everyone's heart. 💖



Have you read any of these? What is your favorite rom-com!