Annnd the Winner of Dreamland is....

(insert fake drum roll here)

PopinFresh!

Thanks to random.org for picking out the winner of Dreamland, the first giveaway this month for Sarah Dessen Extravaganaza! Didn't win? Check out those links right over there for a chance to win something --->

♥Amber

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox was a meme created by Kristi over at The Story Siren as a fun way to share what everyone got.


I had a happy mailbox this week. In contests, I received:

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeenyear- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she fi nds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

Your best friend hates you. The guy you liked hates you. Your entire group of friends hates you.

All because you did the right thing.

Welcome to life for Mena, whose year is starting off in the worst way possible. She's been kicked out of her church group and no one will talk to her—not even her own parents. No one except for Casey, her supersmart lab partner in science class, who's pretty funny for the most brilliant guy on earth.

And when Ms. Shepherd begins the unit on evolution, school becomes more dramatic than Mena could ever imagine . . . and her own life is about to evolve in some amazing and unexpected ways.

Ballads of Suburbia by Stepahnie Kuehnert

Kara hasn't been back to Oak Park since the end of junior year, when a heroin overdose nearly killed her and sirens heralded her exit. Four years later, she returns to face the music. Her life changed forever back in high school: her family disintegrated, she ran around with a whole new crowd of friends, she partied a little too hard, and she fell in love with gorgeous bad-boy Adrian, who left her to die that day in Scoville Park....

Amid the music, the booze, the drugs, and the drama, her friends filled a notebook with heartbreakingly honest confessions of the moments that defined and shattered their young lives. Now, finally, Kara is ready to write her own.

--With this, I also got the soundtrack to Ballads (a very awesome choice of songs by the way), and a signed copy of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone.

For review:

Stealing Margo by Chad Perry

When Baltimore attorney Margo Capolini is abducted by a well-meaning, West Virginia hillbilly, she is plunged back into her unfinished life as an 80's singer- a treacherous underworld of rock music, predatory characters, and heart-wrenching tragedies. News accounts of Margo's brush with death propels her into the national spotlight, where she finds herself in pitted against the adult daughter she abandoned at birth- in a contest that can have no winners. Do past mistakes have a life of their own? What lies beyond death? What was it like to be an 80's female pop star? Stealing Margo is driven by spiritual mysteries, unfulfilled desires, and the overpowering love for a daughter Margo has never known. Like racing a Porsche on a West Virginia back road, when Stealing Margo reaches its destination, you'll know you've been for a ride.

The bought:

Books 3-6 of the Morganville Vampire Series by Rachel Caine. I did a happy dance when those came in too.

That's all for me, what did everyone else get?

♥amber

Rock This! Thursday

Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert

Kara hasn't been back to Oak Park since the end of junior year, when a heroin overdose nearly killed her and sirens heralded her exit. Four years later, she returns to face the music. Her life changed forever back in high school: her family disintegrated, she ran around with a whole new crowd of friends, she partied a little too hard, and she fell in love with gorgeous bad-boy Adrian, who left her to die that day in Scoville Park....

Amid the music, the booze, the drugs, and the drama, her friends filled a notebook with heart breakingly honest confessions of the moments that defined and shattered their young lives. Now, finally, Kara is ready to write her own.



I've been anticipating this book for a while now. I absolutely loved Stephanie's first novel, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, and had a feeling that her next release was going to be just as good. I won an ARC of Ballads through a contest Stephanie held on her blog for spreading the word. I have no shame in saying I did a complete giddy dance when it came in the mail. I probably should be reading the other books in my TBR pile, this one got bumped up, and so far it is excellent! Make sure to look out for this one next month or you can even save a few dollars if you pre-order from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

♥amber

More Along for the Ride Stuff - Yay!!

First, if Sarah-Land reaches 2,000 members by Friday, the first two chapters of Along for the Ride will be released! So what are you waiting for? I know you want to join because well um, it's Sarah Dessen and it's awesome. So click here and sign up!

Also look at the new video! I am loving it!



Find more videos like this on Sarah-land
*crosses fingers that her order from B&N will for some crazy reason arrive early....like as in tomorrow*

Giving It Away For Free - You Don't Want to Miss This!

Giving It Away For Free

(the only time Momma would approve)

Serena Robar is giving it away for free the entire month of June. That’s right. A book a day, every day in honor of her latest book release Giving Up the V. All you have to do to is sign up for her newsletter and you are entered to win. Enter once and you are in the running to win a book every day the entire month of June.

Review: The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

The Dead Girls' Dance: Morganville Vampires Book Two by Rachel Caine

Release Date: April 7, 2007
Publisher: NAL Jam
Pages: 256 pages

Claire Danvers has her share of challenges - like beina a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains, dealing with the homicidal girls in her dorm, and above all, finding out her college town is overrun with vampires. On the up side, she has a great roommmate (who tends to disappear at sunup) and a new boyfriend named Shane...whose vampire-hunting dad has called in backup: cycle punks who like the idea of killing just about anything.

Now a fraternity is throwing its annual Dead Girls' Dance and - surprise! - Claire and her equally outcast best friend, Eve, have been invited. When they find out why, all hell is going to break loose. Because this time both the living and the dead are coming out - and every body's hungry for blood.





In the second book, Rachel Caine keeps the ball rolling. This series is like crack. Once you start reading, you cannot put it down, and you are fiening for the next. (Not that I know what crack is like by the way, I'm just guessing here.)
The worst of what Claire's problems seem to be is that Shane's half-psycho dad is back on a revenge mission, and it looks like they all seem to be in the way. Then you add Monica who is still ten shades of crazy, plus a whole bunch of other stuff swinging out of left field that I can't mention because it will ruin the book for you, but that's exactly what I'm loving out of this series! There was only one thing that I predicted on what was going to happen. Rachel Caine does a great job of keeping you on your toes with this one.
Character wise...I'm still loving everyone. You can see the slight changes and the effects of what's going on in the town on how everyone is acting. One thing I enjoyed was seeing Eve being a force of nature you really wouldn't want to mess with especially if it involves her friends. Claire is still a great character to see this world through, and might I mention I am somewhat pleasantly surprised that she maintains a forgiving heart so to say. Michael...holy crap! *zips lips because everything will be spoiler related* And Shane...I just love him. End of story.
There has been some choices made and some secrets revealed which only means crap is going to be hitting the fan in Morganville! And I for one am excited to dive right into once my order from amazon comes in the mail. (Sorry if this is kind of fangirl like, but expect that in future reviews dealing with this series.)
♥Amber

Sarah Dessen Talks About Along for the Ride