The Nerd's Word #9: Waiting On Showtime by Chloe Kayne + Swooning Over Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

"Waiting On" / On My Wishlist:

A book I cannot wait to get my hands on.
hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine & Book Chick City

SHOWTIME

by Chloe Kayne

Expected publication: August 1st 2012 

The grandeur of the traveling circus is at its peak in the early 1920s when fifteen-year-old Laila Vilonia is searching for an escape from her bleak future. Behind the gates of the legendary Marvelle Circus, she is thrust into a mysterious world she never knew existed—a paradise populated with outcasts. It’s in this glamorous new home that Laila sparks a controversial romance with notorious Sideshow performer, The Disappearing Man, and learns just how dangerous her new life can be.
Touring the picturesque eastern coast of America, Laila’s immersed in friendship, vaudeville, festivals, sequins, and serial killers. But behind the curtain, a sadistic plan is brewing that will crack the very foundation upon which she’s become so dependent.
"High octane drama unfolding from the first page." -Beth Bruno, author of Wild Tulips.

Aside from that attractive cover, the thing that intrigued me the most about this book is the fact that it's a 1920s circus romance. The plot and the story line sounds very original. I have never read a YA circus romance. (The Night Circus doesn't count because it is not YA. Read THIS POST by Erin Morgenstern.)

What are you waiting on?

Swoon:

Lines and/or scenes from a book that made me swoon.
hosted by the girls at YA Bound

This week's swoon is a Sam and Grace love scene from Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater.

Sam took a breath and stepped to me. I could feel my heart pounding, though I couldn’t understand why it was. He picked up the ties where they attached to the side of the dress and put his arms behind me. But instead of tying them, he dropped the ties and pressed his hands up against my back, his hands hot through the thin cotton of the dress. It felt like there was nothing between his fingertips and my skin. His face rested on my neck. I could hear him breathing; each breath sounded measured, restrained.
I whispered, “You like it, then?”
Then, all of a sudden, we were kissing. It felt like such a long time since we’d kissed like this, like it was deadly serious — for a second, all I thought was, I just ate pizza, until I realized that Sam had, too. Sam slid his hands around to rest on my hips, wrinkling the fabric, erasing my doubt, his fingers tight with wanting. Just that, just the heat of his palms through the dress, holding my hips, was enough to make my insides twist fiercely. I was wound so tightly it hurt. A little sigh escaped from me.
“I can stop,” he said, “if you’re not ready.”
“Don’t,” I said. “Don’t stop.”