October Coming Soon

October Upcoming

October 1^st

Vertical Drop by: L.J. Anderson

Torn (Connections #2) by: Kim Karr

Breakaway (Assassins #5) by: Toni Aleo

Finding It (Losing It #3) by: Cora Carmack

Drawn Together (Brown Siblings #6) by: Lauren Dane

Perfect Ruin (Internment Chronicles #1) by: Lauren DeStefano

Wicked and Dangerous (Wicked Lovers # 7.5) by: Shayla Black

October 8^th

Fireblood by: Trisha Wolfe

White Trash Damaged (White Trash #2) by: Teresa Mummert

October 15^th

Unbound by: Cara McKenna

Revealed (House of Night #11) by: PC Cast

Just One Year (Just One Day #2) by: Gayle Forman

Never Fade (The Darkest Minds #2) by Alexandra Bracken

October 22^nd

Teardrop (Teardrop #1) by: Lauren Kate

Mine (Real, Raw & Ripped #2) by: Katy Evans

The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) by: Michelle Hodkin

The Temptation of Lila & Ethan (The Secret #3) by: Jessica Sorensen

October 29^th

Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1) by: Sophie Jordan

Forgiving Lies (Forgiving Lies #1) by: Molly McAdams

Beautiful Player (Beautiful Bastard #3) by: Christina Lauren

The Iron Traitor (Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #2) by: Julie Kagawa

HAPPY READING!!!

Fearless Review

Book Review

August 5, 2013

Fearless

by: Devon Hartford

3 Stars ★★★

Blurb ~  After moving from stuffy Washington D.C. to laid back San Diego, Samantha Smith hopes to shed her troubled past and reinvent herself as a freshman at San Diego University.

Her parents are pressuring her to major in Accounting, because it’s the safe thing to do. But Samantha really wants to try something more adventurous.

When she crosses paths with a handsome tattoo-clad bad boy, her life is turned upside down, and Samantha finds herself juggling more adventure than she ever dreamed possible.

Review

ARC Given to me By Author for Honest Review

Easy to say this was pretty commonplace for the NA genre. Needless to say I enjoyed Fearless. Once I understood and was able to over look Samantha’s neurotic behavior and frequent crying fits that is. The story took on a very generic feel at times. It almost felt a bit clichéd for the age group but overall it was an interesting romance. 

The ever present tattooed man-whore becomes Sam’s teacher and she has to find a way to become her own person without her parents wants’ being an issue. Finding a passion for the arts is something new to Sam and she is able to be herself and express herself in an otherwise creative way. A way that an accounting major would never be able to accomplish. 

Sam looks forward to the anonymity of a large school. Being stigmatized throughout high school Sam can’t wait to start fresh and become whoever she is meant to be without all the pain from her past following her around. Then she meets Adonis… No really, that’s his name. Of course with a name like that, he does not disappoint and is the most well known and most wanted man on campus. Sam doesn’t understand his fascination with her. Considering she tries to let her roommate have the hunk of man-meat Sam is not accustomed to dealing with the male species.  Of course making enemies with the three most popular cheerleaders on campus doesn’t help matters. 

Art class becomes more than Sam bargained for when Adonis is the male model and he’s posing nude. Once she is able to overlook this fact she beings to appreciate art more and more. Adonis himself is actually pretty well known in the art world and he becomes her mentor/teacher on the topic.

From the female perspective I didn’t really like Adonis. Sure he was nice to look at and an amazing artist but his cocky personality was a bit over the top. When Sam walked in on him with another chick, it was more annoying than upsetting because, well, I just didn’t need to see that. 

At times Sam appears very childish but in the end of the day I think she so badly needs a ‘release’ it’s not even funny. The reason it got 3.5 stars was in part Sam’s personality and behavior but also the ending. I can take a cliff-hanger (barely) and I can take a HEA but when the characters are left confounded and confused by their own future I feel let down by everything I just read. I need some sort of conclusion at least to some of the issues involved and I just didn’t feel that. Sam, to me, is the type of character who has so much soul searching that she would be better off alone, at least for the time being. And dealing with all her emotional drama is exhausting. 

Overall I am most impressed by the author being a male. I think aside from Sam’s neurotic and overly emotional personality the story was written rather well coming from a guy. Many times even female writers have trouble capturing the opposite sex’s POV but I think Devon Hartford tackled this issue very well. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Adonis and Sam; I just hope there story doesn’t have too many more bumps in the road. 

HAPPY READING!!!

The Redemption of Callie and Kayden Review

Book Review 

August 3. 2013

The Redemption of Callie & Kayden (#2)

by: Jessica Sorensen

4 Stars ★★★★

Blurb ~ The dark secret Kayden has kept hidden for years is out. Worse, he's facing charges for battery. The only way he stands a chance against the charges is if Callie speaks up, something he'll never ask her to do.

Callie knows Kayden is going back to his dark place and desperately wants to save him. But saving him means admitting her secrets aloud. Callie and Kayden are stronger than they think, especially when they're together. Together they move forward, face their demons, and finally start to heal from their traumatic pasts.

My Review 

Finally the long awaited sequel is here. I know I read The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden when it first released. To say I have been anxiously awaiting the release of this one is a huge understatement. Now that it’s here I must admit I may have hyped it up a bit more than it was. I was not as impressed by this one as I was with book one. In fact my hugest concern was how similar some of the plot points were to other novels I’ve read. I kept saying, “didn’t I just read this somewhere else,” and it seems I did.

“Kayden is like me in so many ways. He’ll hide it inside himself until he breaks. And if her breaks, I might not make it to him in time.”-Callie

We know from book one that both Callie and Kayden have issues they keep locked behind closed doors. In order to be together the two must overcome and deal with their issues. That’s what I felt the book was really all about. Kayden has to delve to the heart of his pain and pick up the pieces of himself that his father keeps breaking off. This is where things got tricky for me. Kayden seemed like a different character this time around. His mindset was all over the place and I couldn’t help but viewing him as the before and after Kayden. It helped that both Kayden and Callie’s POV’s were told as I don’t think Kayden’s journey is something Callie could have portrayed or understand as he did since she had her own issues to tackle. 

“I need to save him and myself and make us happy together.” – Callie

Callie continued to impress me. Not only was she self-dealing with her issues, she provided an impregnable wall of support for Kayden even when he tried pushing her away. I thought she was much stronger than him in this book and her unwavering support served as a backbone and gave Kayden what no one in his family could or even tried to do. 

Overall I was hoping for more. The story was great and even with similar plot points to other novels I enjoyed it. Definitely looking forward to the continuation fo their story and to see how things turn out for Violet and Luke. (I cannot wait to see Luke take on Violet – “She’s kind of a scary chick, with studs on her clothes and one in her nose. She wears a lot of black and she always has this look on her face like she’s about to start a fight.”-Kayden. Seems Violets a bit of a wild child and Luke, like everyone else, has more than enough to handle but I can’t wait to see how he takes on Callie’s outlandish and oversexed roommate.

HAPPY READING!!!

Winning Back Ryan Review

Book Review 

August 4. 2013

Winning Back Ryan

by: S.L. Siwik

4 Stars ★★★★

Blurb ~ After a horrible day at work, I came home to find my boyfriend...in a curious position. After determining why he was unhappy, I, Anne Watson, decided to try and fix our broken relationship. My four closest male friends, however, had another idea. Revenge.

My Review 

Have you ever come across a book that is almost impossible to gather your thoughts around? Well, that’s how I feel about Winning Back Ryan. It’s one of those stories that until you read it, it’s truly hard to determine if you’ll like it or not. In fact most of the story I disliked the main character but slowly as she revealed more and more of herself it was easy to understand why she made the decisions she did and how she came about them in the first place. I’ll admit the blurb pretty much sums up the whole story though, so if that alone is a turn-off then I suggest moving on. 

I was sort of disappointed by the blurb. To me it makes the story seem a bit more exciting than it really was. The dramatic attempted rape scene doesn’t happen till the very end and most of the story consists of Anne whining about Ryan, the cheating scum who for some reason she wants back. I got this book for FREE and I’ll admit it was a steal. I’m not one for stories where the heroine is weak, spineless or even pines after the asshhole. But Anne was an endearing character. Having been raised in a stricter environment than most of us are accustomed to, she was determined to not screw up her life plans. Having given herself to Ryan and dedicated a portion of her life to their relationship walking away is not in her plans. And Lord help this girl because even when she walks into Ryan throwing an orgy in their apartment she still has a difficult time sorting her feelings. Where most of us would grab a knife after catching him the first time, she still can’t, no she won’t give up. 

Anne’s friends don’t like Ryan, in fact its news to Anne when she finds out they never did. Instead they tolerated him for her sake. Her best friend Brian becomes a bigger shoulder for her to lean on than ever before. Eventually she begins to see Brian’s feelings for her but rather than betray Ryan and ruin her friendship she backs off. Of course Ryan is still in the background and once Anne begins to move on and let go, the ever present ex is back to cause more trouble. 

There were many things I didn’t like about this story. More like actions of the characters. For instance when the truth of her friends betrayal and participation in Ryan’s cheating come into play. I can never understand why people have to do things so ridiculous and out of the ordinary when a simple conversation will suffice. I also was not on board with Anne’s plan to lure Ryan back in. Although this was an interesting concept for the story because though, I know personally, I would never try and regain the heart of someone who so carelessly stomped all over mine, there are many people out there as determined and strong-willed as Anne to not give up. 

The writing and story overall was good. There are many serious issues tackled within the story and I thought that together they helped make it stronger and serve as a representation of each characters personality. I wish Anne could have found her own self-worth earlier on and moved on from Ryan right when he showed his true colors but alas, sometimes even the strongest of souls find it hard to give up on those they love, especially when you have so many years already invested with them. But I’ll be honest when push comes to shove, this girl will fight tooth and nail. Ryan better watch out because when she reaches her boiling point, there’s no simmer option for her.  Fans of friends to lover relationships will enjoy this story. I will certainly read other work from this author and look forward to what other craziness she has in store for us.

HAPPY READING!!!