Review: Queen of Tomorrow (Stolen Empire #2) by Sherry D. Ficklin

 Queen of Tomorrow
(Stolen Empire #2)

by Sherry D. Ficklin

July 14, 2015

280 pages

Goodreads  Amazon

Goodreads Summary:

Sophie—now Catherine, Grand Duchess of Russia—had a tough first year at Imperial Court. Married at sixteen to Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne, and settled in their own palace, things are finally looking up. As a new day dawns, she thinks only of securing her future, and the future of their country, during one of the greatest political upheavals of her time. Fighting desperately against forces trying to depose the Empress Elizabeth and put the young Prince Ivan on her throne, Sophie soon finds herself in the middle of a war brewing between her beloved Prussia, and her new empire. But even as she navigates the fragile political landscape, she quickly realizes that she has only begun to discover the tangled web of deceit and infidelity woven over the lavish court of Oranienbaum Palace.

When a strange and delicate alliance forms between the young couple, she glimpses a future of happiness, only to see it lost in a moment at the hands of those who still seek to end her life—and prevent her reign. Out of favor with the empress and running out of options, Sophie will have to sacrifice her own innocence on the altar of Russia if she is to save the nation, and herself. To survive, she will have to do the unthinkable, betray those closest to her and become something greater and more dangerous than she ever imagined she could be… a queen.

Stacking the Shelves #50

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that lets us share what we've added to our shelves.

One of my local bookstore was closing and it had a huge sale where everything was 50% off. As you can see, I kind of went a little crazy! #sorrynotsorry Ripple and I don't know which one to read first ;)

Clockwork Angel graphic novel
Clockwork Prince praphic novel
On the Fence by Kasie West
The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes
Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes
Strange and Ever After by Susan Dennard
The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
Ensnared by A.G. Howard
A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
After the End by Amy Plum
Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke
Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Compulsion by Martina Boone
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon

Sorry, no Goodreads links this time :P

What did you guys add to your shelves this week?

Review: Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

Of Beast and Beauty

by Stacey Jay

July 23, 2013

391 pages

Goodreads  Indigo

Goodreads Summary:

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.