COVER REVEAL | Darkness Watching by Emma L. Adams (Darkworld #1)

I have a fantastic cover reveal for you today from an author I have chatted to on twitter occasionally, fellow Brit, Emma L. Adams. The cover reveal is for Emma's first new adult, paranormal, fantasy novel and the synopsis sounds incredible, I cannot wait to read this book when it's published.

I absolutely love the colours used in the Darkness Watching cover - my two favourites, purple and blue - and I love the menancing purple eyes which look like cat eyes. I wonder what kind of demon or sorcerer these belong to. I also love the frost creeping in at each corner and I wonder if this is related to an aspect of the story? Looking forward to this so much.

Darkness Watching 
(Darkworld #1)
Emma L. Adams
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy,
Publication Date: September 30th 2013

Add to your TBR shelf:

Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn is one interview away from her future when she first sees the demons. She thinks she’s losing her mind, but the truth is far more frightening: she can see into the Darkworld, the home of spirits– and the darkness is staring back.

Desperate to escape the demons, Ash accepts a place at a university in the small town of Blackstone, in the middle of nowhere – little knowing that it isn’t coincidence that led her there but the pull of the Venantium, the sorcerers who maintain the barrier keeping demons from crossing from the Darkworld into our own world. 

All-night parties, new friendships and a life without rules or limits are all part of the package of student life – but demons still stalk Ash, and their interest in her has attracted the attention of every sorcerer in the area. Ash is soon caught between her new life and a group of other students with a connection to the Darkworld, who could offer the answers she’s looking for. The demons want something from her, and someone is determined to kill her before she can find out what it is.

In a world where darkness lurks beneath the surface, not everyone is what they appear to be..

About the Author
Emma spent her childhood creating imaginary worlds to compensate for a disappointingly average reality, so it was probably inevitable that she ended up writing fantasy and paranormal for young adults. She was born in Birmingham, UK, which she fled at the first opportunity to study English Literature at Lancaster University. In her three years at Lancaster, she hiked up mountains, skydived in Australia, and endured a traumatic episode involving a swarm of bees in the Costa Rican jungle. She also wrote various novels and short stories. These included her first publication, a rather bleak dystopian piece, and a disturbing story about a homicidal duck (which she hopes will never see the light of day).

Now a reluctant graduate, she can usually be found in front of her writing desk, creating weird and wonderful alternative worlds. Her debut novel The Puppet Spell, published in 2013 by Rowanvale Books, is a fantasy tale for young adults and the young at heart, inspired by her lifelong love of the fantastical, mythology, and video games. Emma also writes supernatural fantasy novels for older teens and adults. Her next book, Darkness Watching, is the first in the upper - YA/New Adult Darkworld series, and will be published in September 2013 by Curiosity Quills Press.

More information about Emma L. Adams available from:
Website // Blog // Facebook // Twitter // Goodreads

Completed Series | Uncompleted Series TAG - Video

The Prince - A Selection Novella | Book Review

The Prince - A Selection Novella
Kiera Cass
Genres: Dystopian, Romance, Young Adult
Publication Date: March 5th 2013
Number of Pages: 64
Source: Bought from Amazon Kindle UK Store

Add to your TBR shelf:

Before thirty-five girls were chosen to compete in the Selection...

Before Aspen broke America's heart..

There was another girl in Prince Maxon's life...

The Selection has been one of my favourite books that I've read during 2013 and as I put off reading The Elite so that the wait for Book 3 in 2014 is not too long, I decided to download and read The Prince which is an accompanying short story to the series. I wasn't expecting much from The Prince as most of the novellas I've read seem to be hit or miss/ good or bad. I was however pleasantly surprised by The Prince though and enjoyed reading scenes from The Selection in Prince Maxon's perspective. I'm not sure I quite warmed to Prince Maxon in this story the same as I did within the first book but it was good to understand that life isn't simple for him and that he is completely confused by his feelings. A definite recommended read for any The Selection fan.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & The Olympians #1) | Book Review

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & The Olympians #1)
Rick Riordan
Genres: Fantasy, Supernatural, Young Adult
Publication Date: April 1st 2006
Number of Pages: 375
Source: Borrowed from my local Library

Add to your TBR shelf:

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves. 

The Percy Jackson series had been recommended to me so many times and people were almost shocked when I said I had never read it. It's one of those series that I hadn't really heard about until the first movie came out and then more and more people were telling me to read the book and then watch the movie. Well I finally caved and picked up the first book from my local library - it was one of those amazing finds when you least expect it situations and I took it as a sign that I finally need to start the series. And boy, I can't believe it's taken me this long to start reading it.

The Lightning Thief is a fast and entrancing adventure novel following Percy and his not-quite-ordinary friends Annabeth and Grover. I really enjoyed Percy and Grover's characters however I didn't quite 'warm' to Annabeth's - I just felt her character was there for the sake of having a girl. I loved the Greek mythology element to this story and it was this element that kept my constant interest throughout the story. This book was such a quick and easy read, and was the adventure journey was written so quick-pasted that it kept my attention glued and yet still gave me all the descriptions and details that I craved. A fantastic read for all ages, fully worthy of it's 5 star rating. I've already reserved the second book at my local library.

BookTuber Interview #2 with KimberleysBookNook

Welcome back regular readers and a big hello to any new readers joining us. Welcome.

Haven't I got a fantastic surprise for you today! Following the success of BookTuber Interview #1 with Dani on Books, I have another great BookTuber interview for you and with one of my favourites nonetheless- KimberleysBookNook. Kimberley is one of those BookTubers that I watch all her videos, she is such a lovely friendly person and this really comes across. It also helps that we have such similar tastes in books :-) I hope you guys enjoy Kim's answers to my questions and don't forget to check out her channel and say I sent you!

Hi Kim, please describe your channel and the type of books which you enjoy reading.

My channel is a place for me to share my thoughts on books I've read and show books I plan on reading. I love doing tags created by other booktubers, and also creating new tags myself. Anything that's a bit of fun and gets everyone's brain ticking, sharing books and connecting people to other booktube channels. I also like to get a little bit personal, giving my subscribers a sneak peak into my life, by sharing my Document Your Life videos on my channel. I love reading a variety of books from young adult, new adult, and adult. I enjoy true stories, dystopian, paranormal romance, YA and adult contemporary, and chick-lit. I just like to mix it up.

What made you decide to start your channel and what are the main reasons you keep making videos?

I had watched booktube videos for a few years, and always wanted to make my own videos, but didn't really have the courage to get started. Eventually, my teenage nephew talked me into it and I just decided to give it a go. I had a warm welcome instantly by other booktubers such as Catriona from LittleBookOwl (a fellow Aussie), she was was super sweet and helpful and we've become quite friendly. Also Amira from AmirasBookReviews was great in giving me advice on editing etc. I continue to make videos purely because I enjoy it. It's become a fun hobby for me, and I love the booktube community.

What is your favourite book?

I honestly can't choose just one favourite. Can I say five? I love The Help by Kathryn Stockett, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stepanie Perkins, Marching Powder by Rusty Young, and Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Just to name a few.

If you could read one genre for the rest of your life, which genre would you choose?

Probably dystopian. I love that there are so many different possible alternate realty worlds to read about in the dystopian genre. Sure, some get a bit repetitive, but generally each story has a fresh, new concept that I would never have imagined myself.

If you could live in any book world created, which would you choose?

I joked in one my Q&A videos that it would be Anastasia's world with Christian Grey from Fifty Shades of Grey, but of course I was kidding (mostly hehe). No, I'd say the world of Harry Potter, that would be so cool. That, or Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. All those sugary treats. :)

What has been your best/favourite booktubing moment so far and why?

The first book I was sent to review was a YA book about a circus, set in the 1920s. It was called Showtime, and was written by an author named Chloe Kayne. She was really lovely and was kind enough to do a video for my channel, answering questions about her book and her experience in writing it. I also love that some of the tags I've created have really taken off and become pretty popular among the booktube community. :)

Where do you store/show-off your books and how many do you own in total?

I have a huge bookshelf in my lounge room that takes up an entire corner of my wall. I just counted and I have a whopping 417 books on my bookshelves. That's not including books I have in boxes on my lower shelves, and ebooks. Wow! I have a problem, haha.

Where is your usual place to read and what would your dream reading place look like?

I usually read in my little reading nook in front of my bookshelves - you can see a picture to the right. I also like to read in bed or in my garden. I live near the beach, and have a view of the ocean from the back of my house, so I can also sit up on the balcony in Summer and read listening to the ocean. I also think the two places in the other pics below would be awesome reading spots.

Lastly, which blogs/channels can we usually find you stalking when you're not creating content for your own channel?

Some booktuber channels I love are:
Katytastic: She's full of energy and her videos are always funny and interesting.
LittleBookOwl: She's a sweet, friendly Aussie girl, and we like similar books.
Jhaughn18: She doesn't take herself too seriously and she also has similar reading habits to me. 
TheArtsygal12: She always looks gorgeous in her videos and gives great reviews on the books she's read. She can talk for 15 minutes and I don't get bored.
Padfootandprongs07: She's a crazy girl but has some great videos and book recommendations. She sent me Unwind by Neal Shusterman for Genre Swap, and it's become one of my favourites.
Also, ColdTeaAndCrumbs (of course): You like similar books to me, and I love your book hauls and Wrap Up videos.
Some none booktube channels I love are: TheGridMonster, JLovesMac1, zoella280390, EllesGlitterGossip, and Troye Sivan.

Thanks so much for featuring me on your blog, Sam. It was fun answering your questions.
Kimberley xx

___________________________________________________________________________________________

A big thank you to Kim for taking the time to answer my questions. I'd definitely love to read in that hammock on top of the water - although what if I needed a toilet break or to grab a cup of tea? I bet I'd end up falling out and getting soaking wet - although that would be refreshing if it was boiling hot :-)

Don't forget to follow Cold Tea and Crumbs to read another BookTuber/Blogger Interview in 2 weeks.
See you all then. x

Bout of Books 8.0 Wrap-up

Bout of Books 8.0 has now finished. It ran from midnight on Monday 19th August and until midnight Sunday 25th August. As part of this challenge I set myself the goal to read  200 pages per day which was the most I have ever read as part of a reading challenge - got to keep pushing the goal posts :-)

So the total page count I challenged myself to read was 1400 pages across 6 days. (I couldn't read on Wednesday due to watching the City of Bones movie - which was fantastic!) This meant I needed to read 234 pages a day to meet my goal and so I leapt into the challenge on Monday and began my reading. So how did I do?

Monday - 281 pages	Thursday - 264 pages	Sunday - 84 pages
Tuesday - 284 pages	Friday - 144 pages
Wednesday - 23 pages	Saturday - 74 pages

Bout of Books 8.0 Total        1154 pages

So I was slightly off completing my goal. Life got in the way a little once the weekend began but I still read more than I normally would have within the week so I'm very happy with my total in the end. I also completed a number of books from my TBR pile which was great.

Here are the books I read during the 7 days:

184 pages	138 pages	64 pages	375 pages
192 pages		180 pages Uncompleted

So guys I hope you all completed your goals for the Bout of Books 8.0 readathon and if not I hope you at least had fun reading. I can't wait for the next Bout of Books readathon (9.0) in January 2014. Check our the Bout of Books blog for more information in the meantime.

FAE Review + GIVEAWAY | Blog Tour Stop

FAE
C.J. Abedi
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Supernatural
Publication Date: July 30th 2013
Number of Pages: 361
Source: Netgalley and Diversion Books

Add to your TBR shelf:

Caroline Ellis sixteenth birthday sets into motion a series of events that have been fated for centuries. A descendant of Virginia Dare, the first child born in the lost colony of Roanoke, and unaware of her birthright as the heir to the throne of the Light Fae, it isn't until she begins a tumultuous relationship with Devilyn Reilly that the truth is revealed.

Devilyn is the only one of the Fae who is both of the Light and of the Dark, and struggles to maintain that precarious balance to avoid succumbing to the power of the Dark within him. He is the only one who can save Caroline from those who would destroy her and destroy all hope for unit among the Fae. He promises Caroline that he will protect her at all costs, even when it means protecting her from himself.

Told from the alternative perspectives of Caroline and Devilyn, FAE draws on mysterious, myths and legends to create a world, and a romance, dangerously poised between Light and Dark.

About the Authors
C. J. Abedi is made up of the sister writing team Colet and Jasmine Abed who wrote the upcoming series Fae.  They have always had a love of writing and began collaborating on many projects when they were very young.  Their passion for all things creative led them to the world of the entertainment industry where they have worked since completing their education.

More information available from:
FAE Website // Facebook // Twitter // Pinterest

Read excerpt of FAE via Scribd

This book was a fantastic read and I was pleasantly surprised when this story was not the typical fantasy/supernatural story and is actually more about the romance between Devilyn and Caroline and the history surrounding Roanoke Island and The Lost Colony. I think for me personally the history element of this book was my favourite and I loved that this matched the fairy element perfectly - Instead of the usually colourful, glittery fairies or evil creatures with wings, claws and sharp teeth, the fairies in Fae are more Greek-god like and I thought this married the historic element fantastically and was a welcome change.

Marry, Kiss & Cliff TAG

#BoutofBooks 8.0 TBR Pile Mini Challenge

Hi guys and I hope you are all enjoying what you are currently reading.

I'm participating in Bout of Books 8.0 at the moment and, as well as reading as much as you can, there are also challenges which you can enter everyday. It makes the whole Bout of Books readathon that much more fun in my eyes and one of today's challenges is the TBR Pile Mini Challenge hosted by Musings of a Book Shop Girl. So here are the questioned involved with this challenge along with my answers. Feel free to do this challenge too, even if your not participating in Bout of Books - it makes a lovely little TBR list or Wishlist type post :-)

Click on any of the books to go to their goodreads page.

Which 5 books are at the top of your TBR pile at this moment?


I've owned Legend for a little while and have just not got round to it - absolutely no reason why at all either. Beautiful Disaster and Dead Until Dark are new purchases for this month and I want to get started on both asap! Also Vampire Academy and Charm are both waiting for me to pick them up from my local library.


If I gave you a wad of cash and sent you into a bookshop right now, which 5 books would you buy to add to the stack?


Firstly, yes please - I need help funding my addiction :-) All these books have such amazing covers, are all being raved about and I cannot get my hands on 1/2 of these in the UK at the moment - it is a nightmare. Nearly making the list was also The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. It's currently only available in hardback in the UK at the moment and I am dying to get my hands on it but £10+ is a bit expensive for my monthly book budget.

Let me know if any of these are in your TBR pile or your Wishlist. 
I'd also love to hear what you thought of any of these if you've read them already.

Coralina (The Nine Princesses Novellas #2) | Book Review

Coralina (The Nine Princesses Novellas #2)
Anita Valle
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Publication Date: November 28th 2012
Number of Pages: 184
Source: Bought from Amazon Kindle UK Store

Add to your TBR shelf:

Coralina Corissa, known as "Coco" to her eight sisters, is the prettiest princess of a hundred kingdoms. And she knows it. Her beauty has always given her anything she wanted... and any man she wanted.

Runa Realm is facing a new threat. Strange bandits, disguised as nobles, are attacking beautiful women to steal their hair. Coralina isn't concerned. Until Prince Luxley, her favourite (but not only) lover, gets clobbered by a peasant called Gord, who mistakenly assumed the prince was a bandit.

Outraged, Coralina plans to punish the peasant by deliberately breaking his heart. But Gord is nearly blind. For the first time ever, Coralina must rely on more than her looks to ensnare a man. But the harder she flirts, the more Gord seems to hate her. And the more her own heart (and hair) becomes endangered.

Coralina is such as enjoyable easy read just like Book 1 Maelyn. I loved the 'lesson learnt' aspect of this story and that Coralina learns that she cannot continue to string along men's hearts. Overall this book was a fantastic quick read and would be a great bedtime story for kids and also for us 'older people' as a quick enjoyable read. Took me about 2 hours to read and loved every moment. I cannot wait to read book 3 when it is published - Heidel. Check out Anita Valle's website for publishing date or description.

Top Ten Tuesday | Things That Make My Reading, Blogging and BookTubing Life Easier

Hi guys. Did you know I've never done a Top Ten Tuesday post before!

I love reading these weekly posts on all the blogs that I follow but have never actually done one myself. This is partly because I was usually struggling to find the time to do them but I also could never quite get a full list of 10 items for a topic. So since I'm now able to spent more time on my blog, I decided it was only right that I did a Top Ten Tuesday post and since this week's topic was 'Things that make my reading/blogging life easier' it also gave me opportunity to research some more ways to speed up the blogging/booktubing process and automate aspects where possible.

So grab a cup of tea and enjoy my Top Ten Things that make my reading, blogging and booktubing life easier. I hope you discover something new that could help make your life that little bit easier too :-)

#1 Overdrive - Accessing my Library's Digital Catalogue
I'm fortunate that my local library has a Digital Catalogue on ebooks and audiobooks and, even though the current collection is not large and is mostly adult books, I have been able to find some great ebooks and audiobooks to read/listen. (Currently have Tunnels Audiobook and I've got my eye on Poison Study ebook). With the use of my Overdrive Kindle App, I can quickly access my library's catalogue at any time or day and, as long as the book/audiobook is available, I can download it instantly and start reading/listening. I sincerely hope my library continues to grow this system as it is certainly something I can see no reason to stop using it. At some point though, if the catalogue continues to increase at its slow pace, I will run out of books! :-(

#2 My Notebook - The Fountain of all Cold Tea and Crumbs Knowledge
If it wasn't for my little notebook that I carry around with me everywhere, then there would be no regular content on the Cold Tea and Crumbs YouTube and blog. I am that kind of person who relies on creating lists to stay productive and remembering important information. Brain like a sieve as the saying goes! In the early days of Cold Tea and Crumbs I didn't need a notebook as there was less to remember but now that I am addicted - yes I think its fair to say that I am addicted - to the booktubing/book blogging community than a notebook is needed. I write down everything - people who have tagged me to complete a tag - then short notes on my answers, video and blog post ideas, my schedule and anything else relating to Cold Tea and Crumbs. If I ever lost this little notebook I would be mortified!

#3 Social Share Buttons - Sharing content across multiple platforms easily and quickly
I'm sure that everyone has a million social media accounts with all the big contenders (twitter, facebook, pinterest, tumblr and goodreads) and it can be a job in itself publishing content across all of these platforms. I hate copying and pasting content but in order to save time sometimes that's just what you have to do. Well I still try to not do this where possible, who is going to read a book review on my blog if they've already read it on goodreads or tumblr? I therefore use the social share buttons on my blog to share my content in snippets across my social media sites. By using this I can share my content with thousands of people who don't know anything about my blog in about 15 minutes maximum. How great is that? If you don't have social sharing buttons on your blog yet, I'd seriously consider it - I use ShareThis and it's so simple to install.

These buttons don't work but they are located at the bottom of the post 

if you want to share this post with your friends.

The Great Gatsby | AudioBook Review

The Great Gatsby - AudioBook Version
F. Scott Fitzgerald (Narranted by Jake Gyllenhaal) 
Genres: Classic Literature, Romance
Publication Date: First published in 1925
Number of Pages: 180
Source: Bought from Audibles.com

Add to your TBR shelf:

In 1922, F. Scrott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new -- something extraoridinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned." That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's -- and his country's -- most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter -- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning --" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means -- and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. "Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, event unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbour Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem.

I didn't know what to expect from The Great Gatsby when I started reading it, I'd never heard about the book until I saw the movie trailer. I wasn't won over by the movie trailer, as although it looked picturesque with all the big parties and the amazing cast, I didn't know anything about the storyline and the movie trailer didn't portray that much actually happened in the film. I decided to read the book in the end because it seemed to be very popular among other booktubers and so I thought I'd check it out to see if I was missing something - the fact that the audiobook was only about 6 hours long (the book is 180 pages) then I wasn't going to waste too much time listening to this story if I didn't like it.

Bout of Books 8.0 | The Books to be Read and Goals

Bout of Books 8.0 officially starts midnight on Monday (19th August) and will last the entire week until midnight Sunday (25th August). As part of this challenge I've set my goal as 200 pages per day which will be the most I have ever read as part of a reading challenge - got to keep pushing the goal posts :-)

Now I'm actually not going to be able to read much on Wednesday as I'm having an evening meal at Pizza Express after work and then watching The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - so excited. So because Wednesday will be a none reading day I'm spreading my total of 1400 pages across 6 days which will actually mean I'll need to read 234 pages a day to meet my goal. Challenge excepted!

So in order to reach my page count goal and to get me motivated during the week I've picked out 7 books which I aim to read and which are a total of 1455 pages. Here are the books:

184 pages	375 pages	279 pages	138 pages
64 pages	223 pages	192 pages

So guys I wish you all the luck if you are completing the Bout of Books 8.0 readathon too and don't forget to comment below if you are also taking part in Bout of Books 8.0 and don't forget to leave a link to your blog, YouTube channel, tumblr, twitter, or any other social media platform you'll be using to post updates and which books you'll be reading so I can follow your progress and wish you good luck.

You can follow all my progress via the #BoutofBooks hashtag and also my Twitter account - just click this button to follow me:

Follow @ColdTeaCrumbs

Good Luck