Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker.

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.

"'I imagine the moon would be a thing of beauty on a night like this. But I prefer what I'm looking at right now.' His eyes remained focused on Mariko as he spoke." p. 209

TITLE: Smoke in the Sun
AUTHOR: Renee Ahdieh
PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam's Sons
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: June 5, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: Books I Enjoyed That Are Outside of My Comfort Zone

*in no particular order
**PREPARE TO BE SHOCKED AND (MAYBE NOT SO) AMAZED! LOL ;)

10. TIGER'S CURSE by Colleen Houck--I really liked this one! The series as a whole was nice too, though I'll admit there were parts that dragged and were awful slow. Lots and lots of storytelling within storytelling, and you know how I am with slow paced books, so that I stuck with this series was astounding!

9. NOCTURNE by Syrie James--maybe not so much a stretch but this was a book I took a chance on since I was buying it from the "Romance" section at Borders and was burned by a few titles in there when I thought there wouldn't be so much sex in them. This one was beautifully! Think The Beauty and the Beast but with VAMPIRES! (sniff and a sequel that will likely never happen now!)

8. THE DIABOLIC by S.J. Kincaid--I remember a LOT of hype about this one and I forgot what led me to finally break down and give it a read despite some hesitancy. The space age futuristic setting was my biggest fear for unenjoyment but I ended up loving it and of course the series is now on hiatus!

7. DOOMED by Tracy Deebs--on the outside, this book felt more contemporary and techy like what with the cover and the need to stop a computer virus and all. But since it was Tracy Deebs I decided to give it a try since it had been on Netgalley and whoa. This book was awesome!

6. SCARLET by Marissa Meyer--yes, yes I know, I know. When I read Cinder I can't remember what state of mind I was in. I struggled with it. It was an okay read in the end, but I wasn't sure I would continue it but decided I'd give the series one more go--probably one of the last times I did that--and read Scarlet. Let's just say thanks to her, I fell in LOVE with the Lunar Chronicles! 

5. SHATTER ME by Tahereh Mafi--I think when I read reviews about this one being a little hard to read with Juliette's mindset and writings I was a little hesitant to read it. But then people kept talking about how amazing it was that I eventually gave in when I found the original hardcover in the bargain section of my once only Books-a-Million. Sadly that store has long since closed.

4. THE 5TH WAVE by Rick Yancey--aliens...yeah I wasn't sure I'd like a book like that. But then again, people kept talking about it and I decided once again to give it peer pressure where the pressure really was just my mind nagging at me! Despite a bit of a slow pace, I really enjoyed this one and the series at large!

3. THE BIRTH OF VENUS by Sarah Dunant--my pre-blogging days read and proof that I wasn't always a paranormal junkie! Lol. I had a trip to Italy back in high school, so I think I read this one past its release date because it was about Italy. Though I no longer own it, I remember really liking it despite being the girl longing for a book with vampires in it!

2. THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova--hello coincidence! Lol. I picked this one up because of the obvious. It was once again the pre-blogging days, but it sounded like a fun read! Despite some slow pacing and history overload, I remember really really enjoying it!

1. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas--no surprise here! This started out as required reading in high school--unabridged style--and for whatever strange reason, my vampire loving heart LOVED this one! Yes, I loved a book without a single paranormal being in it! It surprised the hell out of me too! Lol. I think it was his long seeded plan for revenge that got my interest. I love a good revenge plot! Must be the evil part of me, lol!