In My Mailbox #39

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It gives bloggers the chance to appreciate the books they got last week and to meet new people.

Interesting posts:

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent (Review)
The Lens and the Looker by Lory S. Kaufman (Review)
Interview with Ruth Warburton + Giveaway
Sign-up for the I ♥ YA GIVEAWAY HOP

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The books I was gifted:

Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Switched by Amanda Hocking

I got these amazing books and a huge bunch of pretty bookmarks from Michelle from Much Loved Books - thank you sooo much!

The book I won:

Anew by Chelsea Fine

Thanks to Chelsea Fine.

The books I bought:

Everneath by Brodi Ashton (my review)

My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent

Moon Spell by Samantha Young (Kindle)

Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens (Kindle)

I got Moon Spell and Overprotected for free from Amazon.

The books I got for review:

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Slated by Teri Terry

Heaven by Christoph Marzi

The Mayfair Moon by J.A. Redmerski

Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler

Rock and a Hard Place by Angie Stanton

Huge thanks to NetGalley & Random House, Hachette Children's Books, J.A. Redmerski, Ann Redisch Stampler and Angie Stanton.

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I really couldn't be happier about the books I received last week. Thanks to everyone who sent me books this week, especially Michelle who sent me three books I've been dying to read! Thankfully my exams will be over in two weeks and I will finally be able to read as much as I want to without feeling bad about wasting time that I should have used to learn.

Remember to sign up for the I ♥ YA GIVEAWAY HOP and read my interview with Ruth Warburton and enter for a chance to win her debut novel A Witch in Winter.

What books did you get in your mailbox?

Carina

P.s.: I reached 1000+ GFC followers last week! OMG! Thank you!!!

Review: Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens
Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing
Date of Publication: August 15th, 2011
Source: Received from author
Pages: 280

Goodreads Summary:

I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister's guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal. That was the problem. What could I do? I did what any other girl would do-I fell in love with him.

Zoe's sister darts in front of cars. Her brother's a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don't see Zoe lost in her broken life. Zoe escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoe's autistic sister. After Zoe is convinced he's legit, angel and lost girl come together in a love that changes destiny. But Heaven on Earth can't last forever. 

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My Rating: 4.0 / 5

What I thought about it:

Heavenly is a very surprising and beautifully written story about falling in love and the doubt that everything could actually work out and turn for the better. You get to see how Zoe has to struggle with her life and the things she has to deal with and it's lovely to see how Matthias changes her attitude and helps her to cope with her problems.

Actually, Heavenly is the first story about angels that put a focus onto faith and believing in God. While most other angel novels only refer to this topic every now and then, it's an important part in Zoe's story. Without having noticed it, her belief enables her to see Matthias who is her autistic sister's guardian. And even though I'm usually not into novels with religious undertones, it was just enough to explain her ability to see him and didn't overwhelm me with questions of faith.

For the biggest part of the novel, Heavenly seemed to me like a contemporary novel with a few paranormal elements added. It mostly concentrated on Zoe's struggle to finally feel welcome in her family, without trying to hurt her parents by telling them how she truly felt about her situation. But exactly this made the angel aspects very believable and turned this novel into a great introduction for a series.

Heavenly has a variety of characters that are both, likeable and unpleasant. Our main characters, Zoe and Matthias, belong to the former group. While it's very easy to understand Zoe and see how everything tends to overwhelm her from time to time, Matthias, too, is a very interesting character. Most of the time he is a very calm (sometimes even a little bit too calm), but a few moments let you see that there is a different side of him, which I'd love to see more of in the sequel.

I'm a little bit on the fence about the secondary characters, though. While it seems like her family situation improves towards the end, I had a hard time accepting the behaviour of her parents and her brother. Some reactions could be excused but overall I just felt sorry for Zoe. The same goes for her "friends" - some of them probably don't even deserve to be called humans.

Overall, I truly enjoyed reading Heavenly and after that very surprising ending I'm sure I will continue reading this series. For everyone who likes angel stories, this could definitely be the next good book to read; and even for someone who usually prefers realistic fiction, this could be a could "entrance" into the paranormal world.

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The second novel of the series

Penitence

was released on April 29th, 2010 by Grove Creek Publishing.

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The third novel of the series

Absolution

was released on October 1st, 2010 by Grove Creek Publishing.

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Have you read Heavenly? What did you think about it?
Carina

In My Mailbox #16

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It gives bloggers the chance to appreciate the books they got last week and to meet new people.

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The books that I bought this week:

Marked by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Betrayed by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Chosen by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Untamed by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

I heart you, you haunt me by Lisa Schroeder

The books that I got for review this week:

Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens *

Click: An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker *
* from author, thank you!

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Soooooo many books in one week, this is CRAZY. But I loved this week just because of that. :D Everyday books came into my home and I looove putting new books onto my shelf.

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Carina

P.s.: Don't forget to enter my Starcrossed-Giveaway! :)