Title: Act Like It by Lucy Parker
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Carina Press
Publishing: November 30th, 2015
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Rating:
     
Goodreads Synopsis:
This just in: romance takes center stage as West End theatre's Richard Troy steps out with none other than castmate Elaine Graham

Richard Troy used to be the hottest actor in London, but the only thing firing up lately is his temper. We all love to love a bad boy, but Richard's antics have made him Enemy Number One, breaking the hearts of fans across the city.

Have the tides turned? Has English rose Lainie Graham made him into a new man?

Sources say the mismatched pair has been spotted at multiple events, arm in arm and hip to hip. From fits of jealousy to longing looks and heated whispers, onlookers are stunned by this blooming romance.

Could the rumors be right? Could this unlikely romance be the real thing? Or are these gifted stage actors playing us all?

Lucy Parker bewitched me since the start. These two characters, I came to adore them and it pleases me to say I enjoyed this book quite a lot. LIKE A LOT A LOT. It fills me with joy when I find books - amazing books - you can reread for the rest of your life. And I think Act Like It is like that. 

 The London theatre scene was my favorite, and it's the first time I read about theatre in a book (I think!) It captivated me that this was going to be a huge part in the book (and it was!) I adored seeing them interacting on scene and all the little quirks about this job. It was really interesting to see it come to life. 

The two fabulous characters: Lainie and Richard. I. ADORED. THEM. My heart was jumping out my chest every time they interacted together. It has hate/love, fake dating, guys. We have actual hate to love meanwhile they are fake dating. They are celebrities and co-stars. It's like the perfect book - I've wanted a book like this for a while now! And Lucy Parker enchanted me completely. 

• There's SO MUCH BANTER. 1000% you'll fall in love with this ASAP. 
• There are these times when they can't stop from touching like little things *a hand, shoulder, leg* It's the fact that they want to keep them there with them (!!!) 
• Their relationship was such a happy thing to watch develop. *cries* I love fake dating. 

Lucy Parker has gone to the top of my list of authors to watch. Act Like It left me a nice impression and kept me in love with the characters for all those pages. She did a fantastic job writing about Richard and Elaine! I found them super cute and funny and their banter is top 10 in the book world. If you like theatre and celebrities and fake dating and hot couples who banter in a good way and kiss when they can't stop themselves any longer, this book is definitely for you.

Hi, The Book Voyagers here! This is the first (of many, we hope!) of lists of book recommendations of a certain theme/trope. For today we're going to attempt to put up a list of books with characters that have their own restaurant/are chefs, also if it has like lots of delicious food in it!

Title: Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: November 3rd, 2015
Link: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis:
Stay Tonight. Stay Forever.

When Audrey Casella arrives for an unplanned stay at the grand Hotel Ruby, she’s grateful for the detour. Just months after their mother’s death, Audrey and her brother, Daniel, are on their way to live with their grandmother, dumped on the doorstep of a DNA-matched stranger because their father is drowning in his grief.

Audrey and her family only plan to stay the night, but life in the Ruby can be intoxicating, extending their stay as it provides endless distractions—including handsome guest Elias Lange, who sends Audrey’s pulse racing. However, the hotel proves to be as strange as it is beautiful. Nightly fancy affairs in the ballroom are invitation only, and Audrey seems to be the one guest who doesn't have an invite. Instead, she joins the hotel staff on the rooftop, catching whispers about the hotel’s dark past.

The more Audrey learns about the new people she's met, the more her curiosity grows. She’s torn in different directions—the pull of her past with its overwhelming loss, the promise of a future that holds little joy, and an in-between life in a place that is so much more than it seems…

Welcome to the Ruby. 

*Waiting on Wednesday* is a weekly meme that was created at Breaking The Spine. Thank you!!!


Book Title: The Star-Touched Queen
Series: N/A
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publishing: May 3rd, 2016
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Goodreads Synopsis: 
Cursed with a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, sixteen-year-old Maya has only earned the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her world is upheaved when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding  of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. But when her wedding takes a fatal turn, Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Yet neither roles are what she expected. As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds friendship and warmth. 

But Akaran has its own secrets - thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Beneath Akaran's magic, Maya begins to suspect her life is in danger. When she ignores Amar's plea for patience, her discoveries put more than new love at risk - it threatens the balance of all realms, human and Otherworldly. 

Now, Maya must confront a secret that spans reincarnated lives and fight her way through the dangerous underbelly of the Otherworld if she wants to protect the people she loves.

THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN is a lush, beautifully written and vividly imagined fantasy inspired by Indian mythology. 




Book Title: Passenger
Series: Passenger #1
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publishing: January 5th, 2016
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Goodreads Synopsis:
passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever

We - at The Book Voyagers - adore diverse reads and intriguing plots, and most of all - we love stories that leave us wanting more. The Girl From Everywhere is a book you need to put in your TBR as soon as possible. It has all of these factors and so much more inside those pages. It's a book that you will definitely say "yikes, Heidi Heilig is something else."

We decided to interview Heidi Heilig because we just wanted to know more. We hope that you enjoy this next interview as much as we do - and find out more about the magical, character-driven book - The Girl From Everywhere.



TBV: Hi, Heidi!! We're excited to have you here with us and talk about your upcoming book - The Girl From Everywhere (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
Heidi: Thank you for having me and for the sparkle-confetti!

TBV: So first things first, for those who don't know about this book, can you tell us what it is about?
Heidi: THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE is Nix’s story. Though she was born in 19th century Honolulu, she’s lived all her life aboard a black pirate ship captained by her father, who uses antique maps to sail through time to places and eras both historical and mythological.


TBV: What inspired you to write it? A traveling-time ship is just simple a wonderful idea.
Heidi: Thank you! Frankly, I’ve always loved time-travel--both for the twisty turns of chronology, and the way the past is littered with regrets that in real life we can never undo. And being from Hawaii, my father and I spent a lot of time on, near, or in the water when I was a girl. The literal idea for a time traveling ship actually came from the ocean itself--it connects every piece of land and it is ageless--it seems that if you were to use a vehicle for time travel, a sailboat would be the natural choice.

TBV: You can go anywhere if you are on board of The Temptation. If you were part of the crew, when in time would you go? Who would you just love to meet in person?
Heidi: Oh gosh, what a tough question--there are so many possibilities! I’m sure my answer will change every time I think hard about it, but right now, I feel like going back to ancient Egypt to meet Pharoah Hatshepsut would be incredible. For those who don’t know her, Hatshepsut was one of the rare queens of Egypt. She was an excellent ruler: successful in war, but more importantly, she ushered in an era of peace and prosperity, broadening international trade resulting in a flowering of art and architecture in her country. She also described herself as “the most beautiful of women,” and I love it when women know how lovely they are. There is a wonderful statue of her in the Met, depicted with the traditional ceremonial beard that the Pharoah’s wore. I visit her every time I’m at the museum.

TBV: This next question is something we really want to know *ha!*: If you could do a crossover with another book, what book would you love to see interacting with your characters and scenery (or vice-versa)?
Heidi: Again, another question with a lot of possible (and interesting) answers! But the answer that came immediately to mind is PROMISE OF SHADOWS by Justina Ireland. (PROMISE OF EVERYWHERE? Or THE GIRL OF SHADOWS maybe?) I think Nix would feel quite at home with the rich modernized mythology of Ireland’s world, and Zephyr knows a lot about fates worse than death. They could commiserate about difficult family members, and honestly Zephyr might help Nix lighten up. After all, Zephyr starts off in a pretty shitty (pun intended) place, and she’s still cracking jokes. I like to think they’d be friends.


Heidi: The first character who came to me was Nix herself! That’s probably because she’s similar in some ways to my sister--she cares deeply about the people in her life, she’s a little bossy, she’s very smart. The second character came very shortly after, and that was Slate. He’s a bit more like me--let’s just say he’s . . . ‘difficult.’ The relationship between the two of them is something I’m really proud of, and that developed, like any good relationship, over time.

TBV: Speaking of the characters - they are from all around the world. Would it bug you if they were casted incorrectly or whitewashed in graphics/edits?
Heidi: Definitely! I actually think that the plot of the story (and the themes of the story) would make much less sense if the backgrounds of the characters were ignored. I don’t want to spoil the story, but part of Nix’s arc involves discovering who she is and where she fits in the world, and while the theme is universal, the actual plot is specific to her as a biracial, hapa haole girl.
But there is nothing to fear on that front. One of the things I’ll always love about my editor is that, when we were discussing the cover (and specifically, the eyes in the wave), she told me: “The last thing we want is for her to be white-washed!” She (and the team at Greenwillow) have made it clear to me they’re committed to celebrating the diversity in this book.
 

Title: Just Visiting by Dahlia Adler
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary
Published: November 17th, 2015
Buy: Amazon | B&N |
Rating:
                          

Goodreads Synopsis:
Reagan Forrester wants out—out of her trailer park, out of reach of her freeloading mother, and out of the shadow of the relationship that made her the pariah of Charytan, Kansas.

Victoria Reyes wants in—in to a fashion design program, in to the arms of a cute guy who doesn't go to Charytan High, and in to a city where she won't stand out for being Mexican.

One thing the polar-opposite best friends do agree on is that wherever they go, they’re staying together. But when they set off on a series of college visits at the start of their senior year, they quickly see that the future doesn’t look quite like they expected. After two years of near-solitude following the betrayal of the ex-boyfriend who broke her heart, Reagan falls hard and fast for a Battlestar Galactica-loving, brilliant smile-sporting pre-med prospective... only to learn she's set herself up for heartbreak all over again. Meanwhile, Victoria runs full-speed toward all the things she thinks she wants… only to realize everything she’s looking for might be in the very place they've sworn to leave.

As both Reagan and Victoria struggle to learn who they are and what they want in the present, they discover just how much they don't know about each other's pasts. And when each learns what the other’s been hiding, they'll have to decide whether their friendship has a future.

• Dahlia doesn't belittle anything and she puts the truth in words and it is real. The world is a cruel place where good people get the bad side of the coin. And sometimes you have to deal with it in the best possible way. We have Reagan, a girl who lives in a trailer park and wants to escape. I have a soft spot in my heart for Victoria but Reagan wants to be heard and she was heard. I heard her. She just wants to go to college and live with her best friend. As I said, Adler doesn't belittle anything - she portrays poverty in a way  that she doesn't leave out and beautifies the hard parts. 
• She doesn't black out the sex scenes and she shows us (in a non-explicit way). People shouldn't be afraid of reading about sex. It happens. It's important that the young audiences know about this. 
• Reagan and Victoria's friendship made my day/night/month. It makes you think (if you don't have one) that YOU WANT ONE. A person who gets up in the morning to go help you out if you need it. A person who tells you your truths. A person who will love you even in the hardest times. 
• Victoria Reyes. This character has probably become one of my favorite female characters. She is a Latina and I don't read a lot of books with Latinas as their main characters. Her character filled me with joy because she practically voices out everything wrong in the country when it comes to the treatment Latinxs get from the people around them. 

"I mean, maybe it's fun if you have a boyfriend or whatever, but considering every guy in this town is either scared of my skin color or thinks I'm hot because I'm "exotic," I'd rather spend every weekend playing Scrabble with my mother or giving myself and Reagan manicures."

• And not only does Victoria voice it out, but also Reagan - when Dev is in her trailer and her family just arrived: 

"I know several things he doesn't, like my parents will instantly be suspicious of his brown skin, and it will be glaringly obvious in their expressions and in every word they say."

Finally I want to say that I was very excited for this book to come out. And after reading I've come to the conclusion that everyone needs a Victoria or a Reagan in their lives. That friendship that you just know it's going to last until the end of times. Thank you Dahlia! This book is going to my list and it's never going to disappear.