Hey guys! I’m here to do my first subscription box unboxing. This one is for the October 2016 And the Story Begins subscription box that I ordered. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with the books I received because both books are ones I would buy myself and read. By the time I signed up for this particular service, I only had three genre’s to choose from because all the others were sold out: Mystery, Romance, and Surprise. I chose Romance since it seemed like the safest bet and I’m so glad I did!

If you’ve never heard of the And The Story Begins box, it’s a subscription box service that sends two books to your door on the 26th of every month for $9.99. Because of the low price, I wasn’t quite sure what type of books I would receive, but it turned out okay for me. Both books were gorgeous trade paperbacks…that I didn’t already own!

Subscription Box Arrival

What’s Inside the Box

This is the packaging…and it is so, so well done.

The cute wrapping style made me smile.

  

Now to unwrap the books….

 

Yep, that’s right. I received a Katee Robert book (one I didn’t have in print!) in my first ever subscription box! Did they know me or what? The other book I hadn’t heard of or read, but it’s definitely one I would read so I was excited about receiving that book as well.

About the Books

Both Flirting in Italian and Queen of Swords look new, though they did have a little discounted mark on the end of them. I don’t know why that surprised me but it did. In the end, though, I decided I was okay with that discounted mark for my first subscription box because I received a book by an author I absolutely love and adore.

Flirting in Italian

 Lauren Henderson

Flirting in Italian #1

YA Contemporary Romance

352 Pages

Released June 11th 2013

Ember | Penguin Random House

Book summary

Four girls. One magical, and possibly dangerous Italian summer.

Family mysteries, ancient castles, long hot nights of dancing under the stars . . .

and, of course, plenty of gorgeous Italian boys!

You can buy this one in Print on Amazon for $8.99 or $7.99 in e-book.

Find FLIRTING IN ITALIAN by Lauren Henderson on Goodreads here

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Queen of Swords

Katee Robert

Sanctify #1

YA Paranormal Romance

352 Pages

Entangled: Select

Released May 27th 2014

Book Summary

When the cards tell Ophelia Leoni she’s supposed to marry the Prince of Hansarda, the gunrunner grits her teeth and boards the starship that comes for her. It doesn’t matter if the ship’s commander is the gorgeous stranger she just spent a wild, drunken night with. As a Diviner, she’s painfully aware the cards don’t lie. Ever.

Boone O’Keirna knows Ophelia is trouble the second he sees the way she moves. Not about to let the little hellcat marry his sadistic half-brother, Boone pretends to be the Prince’s emissary and kidnaps Ophelia. Too bad they can’t be in the same room without him wanting to throw her out an airlock–or into bed.

Even as they fight each other–and their explosive attraction–Ophelia and Boone sense something is wrong. Too much is going their way. Soon, they realize while the cards may never lie, the truth is sometimes hidden between them…and the future king of Hansarda is not one to take defeat lying down.

You can buy this one in print on Amazon for $14.99 or $5.99 in e-book.

Find QUEEN OF SWORDS by Katee Robert on Goodreads here

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Overall Subscription Box Thoughts

I had a pretty great experience with the And The Story Begins subscription box. I was excited about both books I received, so much so that I went ahead and ordered the second book in both series (which I got in the mail this week!).

 

And for the curious, here is both sets of books side by side

In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that, ultimately, I decided not to continue this service at this time. It had nothing to do with the books I received or the great packaging of the box and everything to do with trying out a lot of different subscription boxes before I settle on one or two to stick with for a while. When I signed up for this service, I also subscribed to the Fresh Fiction Box service, a few days too late for the October box, but I will be receiving the November box soon and I’ll have an unboxing post of it sometime in early December (to give people the chance to open their boxes first).

Have you tried a subscription box service? If so, which one(s) have you tried? What was your experience with it?