#BIR2012 Day 1: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare / Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen / plus 2 GIVEAWAYS

Best I've Read is back! I'm excited to be taking part in this for the third straight year. Through out the entire week I'll be spotlighting some of my favorite reads along with hosting some giveaways. I'm not the only one featuring my favorites, myself along with Page Turners, Once Upon a Twilight, Reading Lark, Books Complete Me, Portrait of a Book, Amethyst Daydreams, A Reader's Ramblings, Cindy Thomas, YA Author, I Am A Read, Not a Writer, are all also taking part in this year's week long feature. 

In addition each of our posts, don't miss all of our top favorites which will be featured on Best I've Read's blog along with giveaways! Collectively as a group we came up with our shared favorites which are being featured on the BIR blog each day. So you have numerous chances this week to win some fabulous goodies. You can check out each blog's individual schedule's here. Next week you'll have more chances to win goodies with our annual Mundie Moms Best of series. 

Don't miss today's BIR2102 blog favorites: The Raven Boys & Pushing the Limits

*************

Kicking off this week's series I don't think it's going to be a surprise to anyone why Sophie & I both listed City of Lost Souls as one of our favorite reads this year. Cassie gave us plenty of romance, action scenes, some shocking revelations, and of course one heck of a cold hearted villain who even had us fallen for him at first. She also gave us what we wanted..... Magnus & Alec, Jace & Clary, Simon & Izzy, and Jordan & Maia. Of course one of our favorite moments included a boat, water and Jace & Clary. 

By: Cassandra Clare

Published by: Margaret McElderry Books

Released on: May 8th, 2012

Purchase from: Simon & Schuster | Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

Series: The Mortal Instruments Series #5

COLS special content

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?

Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series -quoted from Goodreads

You can read my full spoiler free review here. Thank you to Simon & Schuster, I've got a copy of City of Lost Souls to giveaway to one lucky reader! To enter, please fill out the form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Best I've Read Book Feature #2- Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

This is one of my all time favorite books from this year! You'll see it at the top of my 2013 favorites list next week. I'm a huge fan of Robin Hood, and this story blew me away! I LOVED getting an entirely different side and version of this story. Not only that, but it was from girl's point of view. Okay, it might also have to do with the romance that takes place in this book that also sold me, and the fact that Scarlet is an unforgettable heroine, at least for me. If you're a Robin Hood fan you have to read this book, and even if you're not a fan, but you love a well written story, you have to pick this up!

By: A.C. Gaughen

Published by: Bloomsbury Teens

To Be Released on: February 14th, 2012, 

Purchase from: IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for -quoted from Goodreads

You can read my review for it here. Thank you to Bloomsbury, Amethyst Daydreams and I are hosting a giveaway! One lucky reader will win a copy of Scarlet. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway