The Selection has been on my reading list for YEARS. I'd say for a good 2-3 years. The synposis is intriguing: the Hunger Games meets The Bachelor; 35 women from all different areas and castes of this new country, Illea, come together to fight for the crown...and the heart of Prince Maxon.

The Selection as it is called, is a competition to find Prince Maxon a wife and the next Queen of Illea.  The novel never tells us when this takes place, but as the story goes on, it seems to be far in the future. They tell us that there have been two new world wars, making the total 4, and it sounds like the United States are broken up into different areas, each fit with their own caste. Two being the highest, Eight being the lowest of the low.

The main story/plot is told throughout 3 books; The Selection, The Elite, and The One.

Our main character is America, a five, who gets thrown into the competition by her current boyfriend, a seven, Aspen. He doesn't think he could give her what she needs so he recommend she join The Selection, to get a bit of money and to have a shot at something different.

America is stubborn, fights Aspen and her family on this decision, but eventually says yes and joins the competition-- she is, to her surprise, chosen as one of the 35 women.

The story rolls on from there over the course of the three novels and my goodness, it's addictive. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I read all 3 books in one night. I woke up in the middle of the night, around 1 AM and didn't go back to sleep till the 3rd book was finished, at 7 AM. That's how good these books are.

I haven't done that since my Twilight days and it felt really good.



I simply could not put the book down, I needed to know what was happening between Aspen, America, and Maxon. I needed to know which girl Maxon would pick, or if everyone would find out each other's deepest, darkest secrets. I needed to know everything-- I was completely enveloped in the drama.

This is probably my top 5 favorite book series to date, and I'm an addict of book series. There was something so magical, whimsical, and dramatic about these books. You get invested in the characters and their stories and you just can't stop reading. That's what I deem as a great book series.

There are additional stories to these novels, which I will be covering over the next few weeks. Those books are JUST AS GOOD.

It's been a while since I've felt this way about a book, my words don't do my love for The Selection justice.

Kiera Cass is my new favorite author, just saying!

What have you read & fallen in love with recently?

April has been a long, crazy month. It's the first month after the whirlwind that was losing my dad, and a lot more has happened.

My family and I have to move from our house, (which means a lot of interior design posts coming soon), and I traveled for work twice. This weekend, I got back from Pennsylvania where I was at QVC. I've talked about this before but for my brand, around every 4 months, there is a huge show on QVC called the Today Special Value and I go down with my coworkers and basically stay up for over 24 hours and tweet, take photos, etc.

It's a huge deal for everyone and it's honestly really exciting. It's exhausting but it exhilarating at the same time.

I got home Saturday and on a wind of spontaneity, my friends who are still in college, called me to come up. I got dressed super fast and running on 8 hours of sleep (from Thursday-Saturday), went out with my friends and lived like a college student for a night. It's home for me and I always feel like myself when I'm in my college town and with my friends.



All that being said, I ended April on a fantastic note. April was filled with highs and lows, but there was plenty of room for favorites!

1. YSL Touche Eclat Limited Edition: Concealers are my obsession and this is the top dog. I've been meaning to buy this forever but with a $42 price tag, I've hesitated. Well, when I saw this limited edition "I Am Not a Morning Person" version, and it was 10% off at Nordstrom, I bit the bullet. I love this! The packaging is perfection, and the product inside is even better. I use it with my other concealers to add a brightening effect and it really makes a difference. I feel more awake when I apply this and I'm scared because now that I love it, I'll always want it. Sorry, bank account.

2. Belvita Breakfast Biscuits: Is this weird? I don't care! I want to include non beauty favorites as much as possible. I've had an obsession with these bad boys for the past few months but I don't know, this month I was just feeling them. They fill me up as if I've eaten a huge breakfast in the morning and I'm grateful for that. I need breakfast the moment I wake up and these are great to keep in my bag or at my desk. My favorite flavor is Golden Oat and they're so tasty for a morning breakfast.

3. The Selection Series: A few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep. I thought I'd read a little to put myself back to sleep. Well, I ended up staying up till 7 AM and read 3 full books, start to finish. Those books were The Selection series that I've been meaning to read for the past year or so. I won't go into too much detail because I want to do a Book Review Wednesday post but this is a definite favorite!

4. Halogen Shoes: I hate buying shoes, especially for Spring but that has all changed. While looking on the Nordstrom website I discovered my new favorite shoes. Halogen is a great Nordstrom brand that I've bought in the past but their studded heels & flats are my new favorite. They're super comfortable and so stylish without being too trendy. I hate heels so much but these are incredible. They fit great and are really comfortable. I want them in every.single.color & I might just do that.

These are just a few of my favorites, but take a look below to see what else I loved.



What did you love in the month of April?