Review: Girl of Nightmares

Book Review

Girl of Nightmares by: Kendare Blake

3 Stars

Blurb: It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.

Flat Out Love Review

Book Review

Flat Out Love by: Jessica Park

★★★★ 4 Stars

Blurb: Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it. When Julie's off-campus housing falls through, her mother's old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side ... and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there's that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That's because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie's suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that ... well ... doesn't quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.

 Flat Out Love was a refreshing mix of smart-witty dialogue with a big mystery that keeps readers pondering all the clues like members of the Mystery gang. 

Book Review Feb. 4

Beautifully Damaged by: :L.A. Fiore

4Stars

Blurb: Ember Walsh was always the quiet one, enjoying a book and a glass of wine over the noise and crowds of a club, but when her best friend asks her to come out and meet the boy she likes Ember's world is turned upside down. He appears like a mythical avenging angel, inked, gorgeous and completely out of her league but one look and Ember no longer wants the quiet, she wants him.

Trace Montgomery has buried his damaged past with women and fighting until one day he meets an angel and suddenly he wants more, he wants her. For her, he's determined to overcome his demons but will the dark secret that links their pasts bring them closer or will it tear them apart.

I really should have written this review last night when I finished the book. I just don't have as much to say about it now. This book takes on a very similar aspect to many others, young college student meets troubled guy covered in tattoos that loves to fight... Sound familiar (Taking Chances, Beautiful Disaster etc...).

Book Review Feb. 3

Beautiful Bastard by: Christina Lauren

5 Stars

Blurb: An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling. Discover the story that garnered more than two million reads online.

Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.

Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office. As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other.

Hottttt!!! One word to describe this book. Thanks to an ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I'm now wishing I had my own panty rippin' boss. Yeah, Mr. Ryan can be a bit of a bastard but Chloe can dish eat it just as easily. 

The chemistry between these two would melt steel. Brings to mind the elementary school lesson; the more a boy like you the more he picks on you. And boy, do these to fight. 

"I hated her so much in that  moment. I hated that she was right and I was wrong, and I hated that she was forcing me to make a choice. I hated how much I wanted her, most of all," Mr. Ryan.

These two have nothing but a love-hate relationship throughout the majority of the book. Most times it's comical because you can only hope these two see the light.

Book Review Feb. 2

Reached by: Allie Condie

 5 Stars

(This is the final book in the series...)
All through the day I had numerous thoughts on how much I loved this book. I was so happy we got to see Xander's point of view and what a selfless guy he turned out to be. I was a bit shocked by the almost sudden appearance of Lei (who's hidden identity seemed annoyingly convenient) but then I had to remind myself how sped up everything was. Months and weeks pass in matter of pages and usually that leaves some sort of disconnect between the characters but thankfully that was not the case with Reached.
I found the sudden uprising of 'The Rising' to be too rushed. Ky and Cassia make it to them and in no time they are usurping the 'Society.'
Which brings me to my favorite shock moment in the entire book. I thought the idea of the Society creating the initial virus was genius and what they did with the pills to control the citizens, mind-blowing. Best of all the 'Society' actually being the Rising in order to 'predict the outcome' and still maintain control was a genius twist. A little far fetched to be given so much information at one time but alas it is a dystopian world and excuse the French but, 'shit happens.'

Getting Caught Up

 10 Books for the New Year

To say I've been behind is an understatement. But hey I graduated with two degrees now and can dedicate more of my time to book reviews than before. I've become beyond obsessed with Goodreads and if I'm not reading I'm adding books to my To-Be-Read pile. (Which is astronomically impossible to get through...) So here are some copied reviews I did in the past month or so. Figure we gotta start somewhere... Unfortunately I haven't read anything extraordinarily gripping or jaw dropping but I know it's in my future... Just gotta find it, which I'm happy to do..

The Protector

Lately I've been going through books like missing socks in the washing machine. Thanks to procrastination and finals this book and its peers are the chosen few. As the third book in the series I was definitely impressed. My reaction now is Damnnit!! Damnnit!! Damnnit!! The book was great and I read the last two but I cannot find the next installment in any nearby bookstores or surrounding libraries.. Gasp... Though working at a library in times like these comes handy at this particular moment in time not so much.

Any kinda man with an accent and I'm hooked. As long as he's not an asshole and if it's not asking too much is a lil buff then count me in. Jazz is all these things and a Navy Seal in a special forces taskgroup called STAR. Vivi Verreau (she's French can you tell?) is a member of GEM which is also a covert group of secret agents if you will. Together they fight bad guys, save the day and live happily ever after.

The characters were great although the setting was a bit off. I found myself forgetting where they were even though technically it didn't really have much precedence in the story.

I'm off to bigger and better things now since Gennita Low does not have anything new to offer fans or me. Hopefully Santa will bring me Hawk's story and I can finally complete series.

Book Lust

On my right sits my 'Book Lust' journal and no it's not a little black book of sorts if that's what your thinking!!! Flip over two pages and written in bold black ink on the top left corner is the number 220. My journal is actually a recording of all the books I've read. Every time I finish a title I record it in the journal yada yada yada. The book is very useful though because as I read so much it serves as a refresher course. Alas this new blog which will I hope will work the same way only better with visuals and more of my radical comments.

In case your wondering 220 is the number of books I read from 2007 to 2008. At some point in time I'd like to tack that up here but maybe one day I will have a secretary and she or he can do it.

I should warn you there is a definite madness to my book obsessions. Rarely do I ever read non-fiction (at least none that are that memorable). It saddens and angers me how unrated fiction has become. But who cares, right?

I'm a sucker for a cheesy/dirty romance/vampire love story/sci-fi thriller with the occasion YA novel thrown in... I'm sure you get the drift. Their is no method to my madness as they say.

Enjoy....