Top 15 Reads of 2015 (so far)! (Plus Giveaway)

Hello and Happy Wednesday readers! Welcome one and all to a very special edition of One Guy's Guide to Good Reads. I'm taking a step back today to continue on a tradition I started last July 1st! Are you ready for some awesome? Here we go!

Today is the first day of July meaning that the year of 2015 is halfway over! We are six months gone guys! Where has it disappeared to!? Wow! Well, to celebrate passing the halfway point I am going to count down my Top FIFTEEN Reads of 2015! You read right, my top 15 favorite reads of 2015 thus far! This list has been chosen from books I have read that were released in 2015. While I have read many, many amazing books in 2015, unfortunately many of them were older reads so this has been rather difficult to come up with only fifteen. This list also covers all genres I enjoy. I've got a nice grab bag of all genres featured here! 

At the end of the year, I will continue the tradition again and narrow this list down to my Top 15 Books of 2015! It'll be a really rough decision, but I know if the second half of the year is as good to me as the first, it'll be awesome. 

Alright, let's get cracking! I'll be sharing The cover, synopsis, and purchase and Goodreads links for each novel. As an added bonus, click the cover to read my review of each novel! 

*Please note the following novels are in no particular order*

1. Hooked by Christine Manzari

If you ask the confident and snarky skater girl, and she’s in the mood to share, she’ll tell you her name is Cat. She might even tell you that she’s hooked on graffiti, 80s movies, and having fun—the riskier the better. Cat will share a good time with you, but she won’t ever trust you enough to share her heart. It’s protected by secrets and she’d like to keep it that way.

Cat knows one thing for certain: Love isn’t really her thing.

If you ask the confident and rich pretty boy, he might tell you his name is Huck. He might even tell you he loves a challenge and is used to getting his way. He won’t tell you that his life is a mess because he risked his heart by trusting the wrong girl. Huck is ready for a change, he just wasn’t ready to get hooked on someone like Cat.

Huck knows one thing for certain: Love hasn’t done him any favors, but Cat just might be worth the risk.

Cat and Huck think a one-night stand seems harmless, but when all the little secrets they didn’t share turn out to be toxic truths, they realize how easily a one-night stand (or a few) could ruin everything.

The thing is, you can be ruined in more than one way. Once you’re HOOKED, what wouldn’t you risk for the chance at more?

2. The Forgotten Mountain (The Collectors' Society #3) by Heather Lyons

After years spent in Wonderland, Alice Reeve learned the impossible was quite possible after all. She thought she left such fantastical realities behind when she finally returned to England.

Now Alice has become a member of the clandestine Collectors’ Society, and the impossible has found her again in the form of an elusive villain set on erasing entire worlds. As she and the rest of the Society race to bring this mysterious murderer to justice, the fight becomes painfully personal.

Lives are being lost. Loved ones are shattered or irrevocably altered. Each step closer Alice gets to the shadowy man she hunts, the more secrets she unravels, only to reveal chilling truths. If she wants to win this war and save millions of lives, Alice must once more embrace the impossible and make the unimaginable, imaginable.

Sometimes, the rabbit hole leads to terrifying places.

3. Queen of Tomorrow (Stolen Empire #2) by Sherry Ficklin

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. 

          

4. Stolen Fire (Kindling Flame #4) by Julie Wetzel

Night. A time of quiet, of peace, of rest, and now, a time of terror.

With an uncontrolled vampire plaguing the city, the Vampire Council of Brenton once again calls on Darien Ritter for help.
Overwhelmed with the issues of a new menagerie and plans for his wedding, Darien still manages to step up and answer the call. The only problem is, he suddenly finds himself a little too… human.

          

5. Hunted (Donvan Circus #4) by Liz Long

Lucy Sullivan finally belongs with the gifted Donovan Circus. Members are finding their rhythm, even the new folks from the Grayson Circus who joined after the last attack. Lucy feels like a trusted leader who can win the gifted battles and prevent humans from discovering their existence.

When tragedy strikes camp, a distraught Sheffield sends Lucy and her gifted team to hunt down the enemy – Alex, a Chameleon with a wicked ability for war. He’s out for blood and won’t stop until Lucy and her friends are dead.

This time, it won’t be Lucy’s gift that is tested – it will be her morality. To save her circus, the price will be greater than she ever expected. This time, she will lose someone she loves. And it will change everything.

          

6. Deadland Rising (Deadland Saga #3) by Rachel Aukes

The search for hope in a shambling world...

Winter has arrived. 

It has been nearly one year since the zombie hordes claimed the world. As the plague eats away at its victims’ bodies, the Fox survivors search for a safe place to rebuild what they have lost. But a dangerous new threat has risen, hunting them from every direction. To survive, Cash, Clutch, and their small band of refugees must put their faith in a group of strangers and a new government with radical plans. It will take all of the Fox survivors’ strength and courage to endure in this barren, hostile world. Even that might not be enough.


(Deadland Rising is a journey through Dante Alighieri's Paradiso, the classic tale on the seven virtues… zombie apocalypse style!)

          

7. Earth God (World Aflame #4) by Jon Messenger

THE EARTH GIVES WAY TO THE SEA,
THE SEA BOWS BEFORE THE WIND,
THE WIND FEEDS THE FLAME,
THE FLAME BURNS THE WORLD OF MAN DOWN TO THE EARTH.

The Fire Elemental has risen and its followers, the Fire Caste, have destroyed the planet. Humanity hangs on the cusp of extinction; their only hope now lies with the troubled Wind Warrior, Xander Sirocco.

Xander has absorbed the power of the Wind and Water Elementals but at great personal cost. Finding Sammy has been his anchor through the chaos around him, but now he finds himself wondering if saving her is enough.

Sammy remains a prisoner of the Fire Elemental, her mind trapped, as the dragon possesses her body. Her love for Xander keeps her going, but will her passion be enough to stop the Elemental from killing Xander once and for all?

Humanity's last hope rests in Xander finding the Earth Elemental. Claiming the power of the Earth is the last step before he can confront the dragon holding Sammy hostage. Unfortunately, he's not the only one who knows the location of the Earth Elemental.
It's a race against time between Xander and the dragon to claim the last of the Elemental power and bring an end to a war that's spanned millennia.

Earth God is the exciting conclusion to the bestselling and award-winning World Aflame series.

          

8. The Shameless Hour (Ivy Years #4) by Sarina Bowen

The girl who’s had everyone meets the boy who has no one.

For Bella, the sweet-talking, free-loving, hip-checking student manager of the Harkness men’s hockey team, sex is a second language. She’s used to being fluent where others stutter, and the things people say behind her back don’t (often) bother her. So she can’t understand why her smoking hot downstairs neighbor has so much trouble staying friends after their spontaneous night together. She knows better than to worry about it, but there’s something in those espresso eyes that makes her second guess herself.

Rafe is appalled with himself for losing his virginity in a drunken hookup. His strict Catholic upbringing always emphasized loving thy neighbor—but not with a bottle of wine and a box of condoms. The result is an Ivy League bout of awkwardness. But when Bella is leveled by a little bad luck and a downright sinister fraternity stunt, it’s Rafe who is there to pick up the pieces.

Bella doesn’t want Rafe's help, and she’s through with men. Too bad the undeniable spark that crackles between the two of them just can't be extinguished.

          

9. The Harvest (The Last Orphans #2) by N.W. Harris

Shane Tucker and his friends thought they managed to save the world from the destructive machine that killed off most of its adult population. Unfortunately, a war nobody was prepared for has only just begun. Now they find themselves joining ranks with a secret organization that will train them to fight for the right to survive. Taking refuge alongside other teenage survivors in a hidden base set deep within the mountains, they will learn how to repel an imminent attack by an ancient race of aliens.

Determined to safeguard the children under their charge, Shane and his friends compete for the ultimate prize—a suicide mission against the flagship of the alien fleet. While Shane's feelings for Kelly deepen, along with his need to protect her, he finds emotions clouding his judgment. He’ll gladly die for her. But he refuses to die with her. No amount of training can prepare them for what is to come. Everything the brave teenagers have endured thus far will be eclipsed, with the freedom of humanity hanging in the balance.

The Harvest is the heart-pumping sequel to The Last Orphans by N.W. Harris.

          

10. Amusement (Carnival #2) by K.B. Nelson

Love isn’t easy.

Charlie Scott is homesick and tired. She misses the town and the people she left behind. Living a life on the run hasn’t been easy for her, and she’s ready to face the consequences, even if it means leaving the love of her life, Blue, behind.

Home is where the heart is.

Eight months after returning home, Charlie’s life is finally in order. She has a job she loves and her relationship with her father has never been better. But underneath the image of her perfect life, trouble bubbles to the surface.

You can’t escape your past.

Torn between a normal life and the life she left behind, Charlie remains steadfast in her resolve to create a better tomorrow for herself and for her friends. But life has a way of throwing curveballs, and this next one hits her right in the face—Blue returns to Lakeview a changed man.

Second chances are rare..

There are two things Charlie knows for certain; she loves Blue, and he’s not good for her. Charlie must come to terms with her past and her present. She must determine if she could possibly have a future with the man she threw her life away for. She has a second chance at love, but is it worth the risk when her future could hang in the balance?

Don’t miss the exciting, heartfelt final chapter in the epic love story between two lost souls fumbling their way through life and love. Not suitable for those under the age of 18.

     

11. Hexed Hearts by Becca Vincenza

Colette had known all her life that she was half human and half werewolf. She had no expectations of a life filled with love and adventure.

Everything changed on her 21st birthday. A curse cast by witches centuries ago set things in motion, things she could have never imagined. A past that Colette has no clue about has come back to steal her away.

When Hunter, her destined but very unexpected mate, arrives, she is at a complete loss. She must learn to forget an old love and how to make room for a new love.

The curse is being recast and Colette must stop it in order to save the wolves, all the while finding who she really is.

This is a New Adult, there is some subject matter not suitable for those under the age of 18  

          

12. The Ruin of the World (The World Without End #4) by Nazarea Andrews

When the zombies rose, we thought the world ended. It didn’t—it just broke, in a way we couldn’t fix. And we found ways to continue, reasons to fight. Faith. Family. Politics. Obsession. The most dangerous of all—hope. But when all of that is stripped away, and nothing remains but rage and betrayal—that is the true end of the world.

Return to the World Without End, for a final battle for hope and survival in the exciting conclusion to Nazarea Andrews’ phenomenal series.

     

13. Defend (A Lost Tribe #2) by Kallie Ross

After emerging from her Descent into an uncharted underground world, Ollie Miller is sure of three things. First, her feelings for her best friend, Mateo, are far from platonic. She can't even look at Mateo without blushing at the memory of his lips on hers. Second, an evil man named Zadok is plotting to destroy the civilization above the surface. Third, there is no way to save the earth without returning underground. At least this time, she will have her mother along with Mateo and her friends to help guide her.
On their journey, noor, a mystical blessing guides them, but only if they’re willing to follow. Ollie’s determined to save the tribe from their evil leader, even if it means facing off with her long-lost grandfather. As Zadok comes face to face with his runaway daughter and his granddaughter, his plan starts to unravel, but is it too late to stop the destruction that he put into motion? Can the tribe survive and the surface be saved? Will Ollie learn to trust her own heart before it is too late?

Defend is the conclusion to Ollie's discovery of a lost tribe in Descent. Don’t miss this adventure, brimming with ancient secrets and a thrilling underworld.

          

14. Past Heaven by Laura Ward

Not every love story has a happy ending. Some just change your life.

Liz Atwater’s happily ever after was torn from her the instant her husband, Jack, was murdered. She is forced to pick up the shattered pieces of her life and raise her three young sons alone.

Reynolds Carter’s picture perfect Hollywood life ended the moment the paparazzi got hold of his girlfriend’s cheating scandal. As he watches his life unfold in the tabloids, he comes to a crossroads in his career and his purpose.

When Reynolds takes on the challenge of a new project, his world collides with that of Liz. Neither of them expected their professional relationship to evolve into friendship, or love.

But life is never simple.

Faced with complications from family, friends, and colleagues, Liz and Reynolds are left to decide whether two people from such different worlds can find happiness together.

Can they get past the pain, fear, and guilt and risk their hearts to love again?

Not every love story is just a happy ending. Some completely change your life.

     

15. NoWhere But Here (Thunder Road #1) by Katie McGarry

Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she's curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn't mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both. Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They're the good guys. They protect people. They're…family. And while Emily—the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club's most respected member—is in town, he's gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it's his shot at his dream. What he doesn't count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down. No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.

          

 *****

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win your own signed copy of Hexed Hearts by Becca Vincenza
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Alright readers, there we have it! My FIFTEEN Top Reads of 2015 (so far)! I had SO much fun compiling this post for you guys. What have you been reading this year? See any of your favorites here? These reads have all made 2015 one of the best bookish years of my life! As you can see, several of these are part of a series (with a majority of them being series finales) that you will NOT want to miss. Take advantage of those links folks, add these incredible novels to your TBR today!

What are YOUR Top Reads of 2015 (so far)? I'd love to hear your picks! Share your thoughts in the comments below! Enter the giveaway before you leave!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Until next time, Happy Reading! 

-Ethan