Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Review: Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Slammed
by











But then reality started setting in and things happened that changed the course of their relationship Layken and the boy next door Will.  I'm not going to tell you what they are because even I was shocked when I read what was really happening and I just want you to be shocked too because it's just that juicy of a story.  Regardless of their now unfortunate events where they are not able to see each other, they still see each other but each moment is harder and harder for the two of them.  Between their intense relationship and this beautiful slam poetry it's ridiculously hard not to fall in love with this book. 

All the characters are great, from the instant best friend to the two quirky brothers and to the sadness that occurs with Layken's mom.  They are about to embark on even harder times right now and I can't wait to dive into what their world has become after the first book. Again I can't help but say this has to have been one of my favorite for this year.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Book Highlight: Insanity by Cameron Jace

Title: Insanity
Author: Cameron Jace
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Expected publication: December 20, 2013

After accidentally killing everyone in her class, Alice Wonder is now a patient in the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum. No one doubts her insanity. Only a hookah-smoking professor believes otherwise; that he can prove her sanity by decoding Lewis Carroll's paintings, photographs, and find Wonderland's real whereabouts. Professor Caterpillar persuades the asylum that Alice can save lives and catch the wonderland monsters now reincarnated in modern day criminals. In order to do so, Alice leads a double life: an Oxford university student by day, a mad girl in an asylum by night. The line between sanity and insanity thins when she meets Jack Diamond, an arrogant college student who believes that nonsense is an actual science.





Excerpt from chapter 1

The writing on the wall says it's January 14th. I am not sure what year. I haven't been sure of many things lately, but I’m wondering if it’s my handwriting I’m looking at.
There is an strange key drawn underneath the date. It's carved with a sharp object, probably a broken mirror. I couldn’t have written this. I'm terrified of mirrors. They love to call it Catoptrophobia around here.
Unlike regular patients in the asylum, my room is windowless, stripped down to a single mattress in the middle, a sink, and bucket for peeing--or puking--when necessary. The tiles on the floor are black-and-white squares, like a chessboard. I never step on black. Always white. Again, I'm not sure why.
The walls are smeared with a greasy pale green everywhere. I wonder if it's the previous patient's brains spattered all over from shock therapy. In the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum, politely known as the Warneford hospital, the doctors have a sweet spot for shock therapy. They love watching patients with bulging eyes and shivering limbs begging for relief from the electricity. It makes me question who is really mad in here.
It's been a while since I was sent to shock therapy myself. Dr. Tom Truckle, my supervising physician, said I don't need it anymore, particularly after I stopped mentioning Wonderland. He told me that I used to talk about it all the time; a dangerous place I claim I have been whisked away to when my elder sister lost me at the age of seven.
Truth is, I don't remember this Wonderland they are talking about. I don't even know why I am here. My oldest vivid memory is from a week ago. Before that, it's all a purple haze.
I have only one friend in this asylum. It's not a doctor or a nurse. And it's not a human. It doesn't hate, envy, or point a finger at you. My friend is an orange flower I keep in a pot; a Tiger Lily I can't live without. I keep it safe next to a small crack in the wall where a single sun ray sneaks through for only ten minutes a day. It might not be enough light to grow a flower, but my Tiger Lily is a tough girl.
Each day, I save half of the water they give me for my flower. As for me, better thirsty than mad.
My orange flower is also my personal rain check for my sanity. If I talk to her and she doesn't reply, I know I am not hallucinating. If it talks back to me, all kinds of nonsense starts to happen. Insanity prevails. There must be a reason why I am here. It doesn’t mean I will easily give in to such a fate.
"Alice Pleasance Wonder. Are you ready?" the nurse knocks with her electric prod on my steel door. Her name is Waltraud Wagner. She is German. Everything she says sounds like a threat and smells like smoke. My fellow mad people say she is a Nazi; that she used to kill her own patients back in Germany. "Get avay vrom za dor. I an coming in," she demands.
Listening to the rattling of her large keychain, my heart pounds in my chest. The turn of the key makes me want to swallow. When the door opens, all I can think of is choking her before she begins to hurt me. Sadly, her neck is too thick for my nimble hands. I stare at her almost-square figure for a moment. Everything about her is four sizes too big, all except her feet, which are as small as mine. My sympathies, little feet.
"Time for your daily ten-minute break," she approaches me with a straitjacket, a devilish grin on her face. I never get out. My ward is underground, and I take my break in another empty ward upstairs, where patients love to play soccer with a hedgehog’s head.
A big muscled warden stands behind Watlraud. Thomas Ogier. He is bald, has an angry-red face and a silver tooth he likes to flash whenever he sees me. His biceps are the size of my head. I have a hard time believing he has ever been a 4-pound baby.
"Slide your arms into the jacket," Waltraud demands in her German accent, a cigarette puckered between her lips. "Slow and easy, Alice," she nods at warden Ogier, in case I misbehave.
I comply obediently and stretch out my arms for her to do whatever she wants. Waltraud twists my right arm slightly and checks the tattoo on my arm. It’s the only tattoo I have. It’s a handwritten sentence that looks like a thin arm band from afar. Waltraud feels the need to read it allowed, “’I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.’” I was told I have written it myself while still believing in Wonderland. “That Alice in Wonderland has really messed with your head.” She puffs smoke into my face as she mocks me.
The tattoo and Waltraud’s mocking is the least of my concerns right now. I let her tie me, and while she does, I close my eyes. I imagine I am a sixteenth century princess, some kind of a lucky Cinderella, being squeezed into a corset by my chain smoking servant in a fairy tale castle above ground, just about to go meet my Prince Charming. Such imagery always helps me breathe. I once heard that it was hope that saves the day, not sanity. I need to cool down before I begin my grand escape.






Things you might want to know:

Cameron writes books that he can't find elsewhere, basically to amuse himself. Everything Cameron does is for fun, so don't take him seriously. Never call him a writer. He hates that. He prefers the word: Storyteller, or the boy next door who claims he can tell stories.

If you like his books, horaaaay! He loves ya too. If ya don't, hoooray! Now we know in advance that this relationship isn't going to work.

Although his books are ordinary on the surface, they hold many secrets that he might reveal one day. What matters the most to him are characters struggling to find their identities and place in the world.

Things you don't need to know:

He celebrates his birthday twice a year, the day he was born and Friday the 13th. He wants to live in a bubble house. He is a damn good guitar player. He is damn good architecture college drop out. He likes boats, beaches, bears, beards, bananas, bars, barfights, beans, bikes, bones, butter, babes, bakery, blizzards, and pirates (he thought it was spelled Birates when he was a kid.)

And honestly, writing in third person sucks! It's so fake. 




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Highlight hosted by Good Choice Reading Blog Tours

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Review: Take This Regret by A.L. Jackson

Take This Regret
By: A.L. Jackson
Release Date: April 5, 2012
Series: Take This Regret #1

Description:
There are some mistakes we make that we will regret for the rest of our lives. For Christian Davison, it was the day he betrayed Elizabeth Ayers. For five years, Christian has regretted the day he walked away from his family and will do anything to win them back. Can Elizabeth forgive someone who has committed the unforgiveable? Or are there some wounds that go so deep they can never heal?

Review:

Ok so that little novella before this book did not do it any justice at all.  It was all fluff compared to this book which was raw and real and thoroughly entertaining with need, fear and desire.  A.L. Jackson did a wonderful job expressing the true feeling of regret on different levels throughout the book and exposed how significant fear can truly be.

 

We meet Christian a few years after he left Elizabeth, he now works for his father and is still living his life full of regret, never able to let himself be with anyone.  All he could ever think about was the child he let go and the woman he was in love with, she held his heart.  Randomly one day he sees this little girl in a store and yeah you’ve guessed it, it’s his daughter.  Seriously, what are the odds but it was cool to see the connection they had with one another that they instantly knew they belonged together, father and daughter.

 

Of course through some trials and tribulations Christian gets to see his daughter and becomes a staple in their household.  It’s the beautiful things that you can experience with children and their inquisitive minds that gets me going.  They just know so much and are so honest and pure it’s a beautiful thing to read about and Lizzie’s love for her father is just perfect.  But of course Elizabeth still fears Christian is going to destroy her daughter the way that he destroyed her.  There are a lot of tears in this book and you so obviously see they want each other but still she holds back.  It’s hard letting go of the past sometimes but to move forward it needs to be done.

 

Overall this book was really heartwarming, emotional and simply beautiful.  The author did a great job of describing these difficult emotions and how to get through them.  I would definitely read more about these characters and I love it when kids are involved, they bring such lightness to the picture.  I’m not so sure about the cover though it looks rather dark, and sure regret and fear are dark subjects but it just doesn’t seem to fit. Otherwise I loved it.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Review: Hopeless For You by Hayden Hill

Hopeless For You
By Hayden Hill
Release Date: November 3, 2013

Description:
"If I am more alive because love burns and chars me, as a fire, given wood or wind, feels new elation, it's that he who lays me low is my salvation, and invigorates the more, the more he scars me."
― Michelangelo

Ash Jensen, a squeaky-clean sophomore at the University of Tennessee, has a trail of baggage a mile long―she buried her fiancé only a year and a half ago. She swore she'd never love again but when she finds herself interned to a yummy Canadian conservation officer that promise is tested big-time. Kade Gyllenhahl sports wild tattoos, a rebellious attitude and a fohawk to die for. He's definitely the wrong man for her and she knows it.

Kade doesn't have time for a girl like her. She's a pretentious, unreadable princess who lives her life by her parents' rules. Kade knows nothing about her past and he'd prefer to keep it that way. Besides, he'll lose his job if he sleeps with Ash. Now if only he could get his mind off her.

When the two of them end up alone and isolated on a routine field trip in the woods, things get a little complicated...

One man afraid of commitment.
One woman afraid to love again.
Two lives.
Two hearts.
One life-changing journey.

Review:

This was a really great story about two people who need to learn to let go and believe in themselves.  Hayden Hill wrote a great story about these two main characters and their experiences and I’m definitely interested in finding out what is happening with the secondary characters as well.

We meet Ash as she’s about to embark on an internship in Canada to help with studying Falcons.  She’s very much the perfect child in everything she does and always follows what her parents tell her to do, but this is not the person she is, she wants something different from life.  Her matched pair for this adventure into the wilderness is Kade and Blaine (forgot to mention her bff goes with her on this trip too).  The four of them set off into the woods and it seems as if its one thing after another that happens to this little group.

I really enjoyed watching how bad things can happen but turning a positive spin on them, I’m not going to say what happened because it’s just too good that you have to read it for yourself but there is definitely action in this book on various levels.  The instant connection between the Ash and Kade (even before they officially met) is sweet.  We all know its insta lust but still it’s sweet because even with the awkwardness between the two in the beginning something finally clicked and they belonged together.  Sure I don’t think marriage should be thrown out as randomly as it was in this book it was still kind of sweet.  Like I’ll take you forever, who doesn’t want that?

The setting was beautiful and entertaining, the characters were very relatable and interesting with some good fun thrown in, overall this was a very enjoyable book to read and was at points addicting.  I felt their pain, their loss, their heartbreak and their adrenaline rushes from all the things they had to do.  I definitely do not think I can survive in the woods the way they did.  Definitely a good book to curl up with and read through.
Disclaimer:
I received this book from NetGalley and Hayden Hill Books, so that I may give my honest opinion and a review. Whether it is good or not please do not let it discourage you from purchasing/reading the book yourself and forming your own opinion. What might be good for me may not be good for you and vice versa. With that said, Happy Reading Everyone!!!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Promo: The Art of Forgiving by Anna Bloom - Excerpt/Giveaway



The Art of Forgiving by Anna Bloom
The Uni Files - Christmas short
New Adult Contemporary Romance
Published December 11th, 2013

Benjamin Chambers found the girl, won the girl, and then lost the girl all in two months. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t that girl. The one that had already got away once.

Left to his own devices, wallowing in self-pity, drinking whiskey and killing ballads on his guitar Ben is looking forward to the worst Christmas in history. That is until an unexpected offer of help arrives.

Given the best Christmas gift he could ever wish for, the chance to spend one more day with the girl that got away. Ben knows he just has one day to convince Lilah that they are meant to be together, before he has to make some big decisions about his own future. Just one day to set right the mistakes that he has made, but will it be enough?

Ben may end up finding out that The Art of Forgiving isn't something you can teach, it is something that you have to earn.






“Thanks for saving Christmas dinner, Ben.” Lilah swirls last dregs of wine around her glass and drains it down.

“You’re very welcome.”

She bites her lower lip a little and then pushes back from the table, rising unsteadily to her feet. “Uh, my god I need to go to bed.” She makes some awful groaning noise and reaches one hand for the table to steady herself.

Her eyes catch mine and I shift uncomfortably. Come on Ben. . . This is what you have been waiting for. . . You complete arse.

“Can I grab the couch?” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. Smooth Dick of the Year Award goes to me.

“Nah, it’s cool you can share with me,” she says. I stare open mouthed but she avoids all eye contact and zig zags to her bedroom.

“Night guys.” I say to the others and then chase after her.

“Keep it down hey?” Tristan calls after me.

I wave my hand at him, and as I shut Lilah’s door behind me I can hear them both shouting “Aaaah.” Luckily she does not hear. She is just standing in the middle of the room. It’s the first time I have ever been in here and I take a moment to pivot on my heel and look about, whistling as I do. It’s massive with just a bed. Nothing else. Just a giant bed.

My brain is instantly bombarded by about a million dirty thoughts all at once. “Minimalist huh?” I manage to say around a smile which I hope does not look leery.

“Yeah, I am a no fuss kind of girl,” she says turning to face me.

She so is. I take my eyes off the room and focus on her. It might be the unnecessary bottle of wine but the air seems so heavy it feels like I can’t fill my lungs with it. “I know,” I say eventually.

The next moment happens in slow motion because I swear I am not expecting it at all, but Lilah just hikes her T-shirt up over her head and slides her jeans down her legs revealing a mind-blowing hot pink underwear set.

What the fuck? Did I miss something?

She dives under the duvet and for a moment I stand there wondering what it is she wants me to do. She says nothing, so in lieu of instructions I strip off my own jeans and unbutton my shirt, leaving on just my boxers and T-shirt. Then with the stealthy motions of a jungle cat I slide myself onto the bed before she can change her mind and tell me to sod off.

She doesn’t. “You can come under if you want.”

Two seconds later I’m under the duvet and I physically can’t stop myself from sliding my body alongside hers. The warmth of her skin seeps into mine and I wonder just how long it has been since I last felt warm. She stretches herself a little and we fit into all the little grooves that are unique just to us. I take a deep breath and the smell of her skin fills my head, it is far more intoxicating than the wine. “You know that song,” I whisper into the darkness.

“Yes.”

My fingers sting with the need to reach out and touch her, but for once I try and use words to talk to her, not actions. “It’s all I can think about, it is all I can play. I just don’t know how to move on from this.” The whole truth would be that I don’t want to move on from this and I definitely don’t want to make a move that does not involve her, but I keep that to myself.

Instead I kiss my favourite spot on the back of her neck.

Her body freezes after my kiss, but before I can apologise she relaxes back against me and says. “Neither do I.”

I close my eyes and wait for her to add something else. Shame I can’t close my ears along with my eyes.

“I don’t know how to be with you now,” she says. I hold my breath for her to finish whatever it is she is battling to say. “But I also don’t know how to not be with you.”

I somehow manage not to grab her and pull her into me, to try and convince her to be with me again. I don’t have to. She turns to face me, her body so close to mine it hurts. I make a resolution, a promise in the dark, which I plan to keep for the rest of my life. “I will do whatever it takes to make you want to be with me.”

I lean forward ever so slightly and kiss her on the lips. I wait for her to tilt her mouth up to mine but she doesn’t. Instead I move my hand around her back and start to trail my fingers up and down her spine.

What the hell am I going to do? Lilah McCannon does not know how to be with me anymore, and I don’t know how to be without her. How will this ever work?  What can I do to make her understand that she is literally the only girl that I have ever been interested in? Ever. I thought I’d made her understand. I thought she knew how I felt, but now I’m beginning to realise that I never convinced her of my feelings. Not enough for her to realise that she is the one that I put above all others.






Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens. Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series she also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys – all in the name of her art.

                  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Review: Lost to You by A. L. Jackson

Lost to You
By: A.L. Jackson
Release Date: January 29, 2013
Series: Take This Regret 0.5

Description:
People come into our lives. Some stay, and many go. Some build us up, while most tear us down. They become our friends, our enemies, our lovers, our tormentors.

Christian Davison came into mine, and I knew I’d never be the same.

To Elizabeth Ayers, New York City had always been a dream. She’s worked her entire young life to make it here.

Groomed to one day take over his father’s law firm, attending Columbia University was Christian Davison’s only option.

Neither wanted anything more until they sat across from each other at a café table after being paired as study partners.

Christian wants her, but Elizabeth knows better than to give into their intense attraction. Yet there is little she can do to stay away.

Lost to You, the prequel to the bestselling romance, Take This Regret. A New Adult novella, recommended for readers 17+. It’s unnecessary to have read Take This Regret to enjoy Lost to You.


Review:
This was a sweet story, I haven't read the next one yet because I'm a complete believer of reading things in order so I had to read this one first.  We meet the two main characters and follow them through their love story.

We meet Christian and Elizabeth as they are starting out in college going to be prelaw and somehow end up being study partners.  There's an instant attraction on both sides but they continue to be friends and only friends.  There are minor bumps in the road mostly caused by their own insecurities or past experiences but they get past that and little by little they realize just how much they care for each other.

It was a short book and definitely a happy love story with a great ending.  But I hear so much about the next book that I really have to read it to get the gist of what's going to happen now.

Review: Crash into You by Katie McGurry

Crash into You
By: Katie McGurry
Release Date: November 26, 2013
Series: Pushing the Limits #3

Description:
From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life—that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers…and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker—a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks—no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

Links

Review:
This by far has been one of my favorite books in this series.  The two characters couldn't be any different but you couldn't help but love them the same.  Katie McGarry is doing an amazing job with this series and it just keeps getting better and better the more I read into them.  Although I will say that I was hoping the next book would be about someone else but it's all good just the same.  I will definitely be all over that one as well.

Isaiah is a tough kid and best friends with Noah, his recent love interest found someone else in the last book, Beth, but he found someone better in Crash into You.  We meet Rachel who is so out of left field to be in their little group but she absolutely loves cars and one thing leads to another and now she's in debt to someone street thug for drag racing and getting caught with the wrong people.  It's a hot mess but Isaiah and Rachel have to work together to get Eric off their backs for good. 

There are a lot of underlying problems with both characters in terms of their families and I love how completely different the issues are but how very similar they are.  The overprotectiveness of Rachel's brother when it comes to her and their mother and the connection Isaiah's mother is trying to make with him after leaving him for so long.  This books main focus was definitely on protection of each other and taking care of your own.  It was sweet at moments and adrenaline rushing at others.  I didn't really expect the ending that happened but I think it was all for the best.  Sometimes we don't all get the bubbly happy ending we all wish for sometimes it gets hard and you have to go through these hard things before you get to the good stuff.

I love the cover of this book because it's just adorable and I love the people representing the characters.  Everyone in this book had a certain part to play and I thoroughly enjoyed that everyone throughout the series was a part of this book as well.  There was Noah and Echo, Beth and Ryan and of course Isaiah with the introduction of new characters such as Rachel, her four brothers, Abby and Logan.  There are so many possible story lines and plots to go to with the introduction of these new characters that I can't wait to see what Katie McGarry will come up next.  All I know is Rachel's brother West's story is next but I was secretly hoping for her twin Ethan. 

Overall this book was amazing in every way.  It was sweet, adorable, macho at times but very family oriented and gave you a new point of view on different ways that family can tie you down.  You need to be stronger for yourself and brave to be out in this world because you just have to be yourself and sometimes that's the hardest thing to be.  Amazing!

Disclaimer:
I received this book from NetGalley and Harlequin TEEN, so that I may give my honest opinion and a review. Whether it is good or not please do not let it discourage you from purchasing/reading the book yourself and forming your own opinion. What might be good for me may not be good for you and vice versa. With that said, Happy Reading Everyone!!!

Friday, December 6, 2013

Book Highlight: The Saving of Benjamin Chambers by Anna Bloom


The Saving of Benjamin Chambers by Anna Bloom
New Adult Contemporary Romance
Published December 4th, 2013

Benjamin Chambers needs saving, he just does not know it yet. Bored of his life of repetitive gigs with a band going nowhere fast and one night stands with girls who are only interested in his role as a lead singer, something has got to change. It’s just what do you do when the only life you know involves messing around with guitars and attempting to run away from any female attention that comes your way.

Ben has a New Year’s resolution and one that he is determined to keep, quit the band and get a life of his own. Little does Ben realise that on his last night with his band Sound Box he is going to meet a girl who will turn everything he knows upside down.

As Ben sets himself the challenge to find ‘The Girl’ again, he may be about to learn that in an effort to rescue her, he himself will be the one to be saved.








       Delilah, Lilah or whatever she is called is, standing over on the far side of the room, her back against the wall wearing a figure-hugging red, floor-length dress. Her dark hair and eyes stand out in contrast. She looks like a Forties movie star, all curves and perfect poise, watching everyone with a critical eye. She hates this place and she hates the people that are here, that is clear to me straight away.
       I want to jump off the stage to get to her. I can’t tear my eyes away, even though Dave has picked up my guitar and shoved it back into my hands, hissing, “play, you idiot.”
       I am walking to the front of the stage still staring when I notice that I am being watched but not by her.
       Some guy who looks like a pretentious arsehole is watching me watch her and then he starts to move across the floor to get to her before I can leave the stage. I am stuck like a rabbit in headlights, rooted to the spot as I watch him clearly move towards her like he is proving he has ownership.
       When he gets to her he pulls her in close and winds his hands around her waist. I have to physically restrain myself from leaping off the stage and punching him. That’s what I want to do, a deep urge burning inside me. Jump from the stage, bop him on the nose, hopefully causing significant blood loss, and then throw her over my shoulder and march her off with her someplace. Someplace where I can kiss her and talk to her, in no particular order. Then I may well ask her to marry me because I am pretty sure that I want to.
       I don’t though, I don’t move from my spot on the edge of the stage. I start to play my guitar instead but not the song the rest of the band are expecting. Luckily it has a long intro so they are able to catch up.
       As I start to sing ‘Wonderwall’ I watch as the banker wanker twirls her onto the dance floor.
       It’s not a song for twirling, what is he doing the bloody arse?
      She has her hands on his shoulders and her back to me but I can clearly see an enormous diamond ring sitting on her left hand from my spot quite a distance away on stage.
       Damn it to hell.
     I nearly stop singing, but I hold it together and as I head into the second verse my choice of song becomes even more appropriate.
      The banker wanker pulls her in even tighter and I get a nasty taste in the back of my mouth. I am just in the middle of the chorus when they take a turn and I catch a glimpse of her face.
      That’s what does it. That very moment gives me something completely different to live for.
       Her.
      She is biting her lower lip and the beautiful eyes are staring far away in the distance, framed by a frown. She looks like she would rather be anywhere then where she is right now. She looks lost, but on top of that she looks lonely and I feel a bubble of something well up inside me, something like joy. Joy at the fact that this guy holding her, who’s obviously bought her the ring, has no idea what she is feeling. I don’t think he has looked at her face once, not to read it the way that I am. This is good. It means that if I can get to talk to her again then I can make sure my words are the right ones, the ones to make her notice me, the ones to make her want to at least talk to me. And, well, if that fails then I will just crinkle my freckles at her, pick her up and throw her over my shoulder and march off with her hoping for the best.
       I know that I will do anything to save her from whatever is causing her sadness and by doing that I have a feeling she will save me.








Anna Bloom is a contemporary romance writer who writes about life as it happens. Combining a busy schedule of looking after two small children whilst working in a local school and completing The Uni Files series she also spends a lot of time imagining kissing hot guys – all in the name of her art.

                  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 


Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Review: Come What May by Faith Sullivan

Come What May
By: Faith Sullivan
Release Date: May 29, 2013
Series: Heartbeat #2

Description:
Adam is through with love.

He unravels blaming himself for what happened with Katie.

His final moments with her echo through his nightmares.

She owns him body and soul.

To dull the pain, Adam invites a string of women into his bed. Fueled by alcohol and desperation, his meaningless hook-ups provide little comfort. When he closes his eyes, it's Katie he sees.

The only one who helps to ease his guilt somewhat is Jada. But as his new ambulance partner, Adam considers her off limits. He doesn't want to get seriously involved with anyone, much less her. Yet he can't stop fantasizing about the feel of her caramel skin against his.

Despite his intentions, Adam's bond with Jada deepens as they respond to a series of emotional calls. Their mutual attraction becomes undeniable. But how can he give his heart to Jada when it still belongs to Katie?


Review:
So I definitely remember the first book and how at the end I was like huh because it completely flipped the script on us.  Well this book continues on from that moment.  But this is all about Adam as you know what happened in the end of the last book, if you didn't read it go check it out. 

So we meet Adam and he's still pretty beat up about what happened to Katie even though in his mind he didn't even know her, not technically anyway.  But there was a definite connection that was there.  But this Adam, he's not as loving as he was in the first book this is the real him, and he's just a player trying to get his mind off someone who for some strong reason he feels he loves but doesn't particularly know why.  Any who back to the story.  Adam is a paramedic and they changed his rotation and the amount of people per ambulance so that means he has a new partner.  Jada.  Can she calm down the player that he is?

Throughout the book while they get to know each other I definitely feel the pull towards one another and the little flirtations they have going on.  It's sweet and real.  They definitely have feelings for one another but something keeps holding them back from getting together. If it's not one thing it's another but still they continue to be partners because it's their job and at times they get closer to that almost moment without crossing over.

But even if this is all happening with his partner still Adam cannot get Katie out of his head, and the ending of the book.  Yeah you've guessed it another shocker and now I'm really lost haha.  It's great though because now it really leaves you wondering what is real and what isn't and is there such a thing as fate and all that good stuff.  I'm curious to see what happens next.  Is it going to be Jada or Katie. 

Disclaimer:
I received this book from the author, Faith Sullivan, so that I may give my honest opinion and a review. Whether it is good or not please do not let it discourage you from purchasing/reading the book yourself and forming your own opinion. What might be good for me may not be good for you and vice versa. With that said, Happy Reading Everyone!!!

Review: Crashing into You by B. D. Rowe

Crashing into You
By: B.D. Rowe
Release Date: October 3, 2013

Description:
Bookish college sophomore Sydney Baker wants Evan Taylor with every ounce of her being. The hottest stud on campus, Evan is six foot four, ripped, stacked with muscles. He's even easy to talk to.

There's just one problem: he's her roommate Melanie's boyfriend.

But when Melanie tragically dies after a night of wild partying, Sydney and Evan turn to each other in a time of intense grief. And it doesn't take long for their close friendship to blossom into something more.

Unfortunately for Sydney, secrets from the past soon put her relationship with Evan to the test. Especially when a sexy blonde freshman makes her way into Evan's life, and tries to rip away everything Sydney holds close to her heart.

Review:
So I am not one hundred percent sure how I felt about this book.  I thought the characters were a little one sided and I didn't really feel for them as much as I wanted to.  I think it could have been a great story and towards the end it could definitely have gone single white female but it just was. 

We meet Sydney who is now someone who doesn't drink because of what happened when she was in high school and drunk driving, not her but still she was involved.  Ok that's very honorable not wanting to drink and all but the way she went about it was slightly annoying.  She needed to respect other people's opinions a little more.  The tragedy with her roommate was weird all around because really why wouldn't you check on your roommate at all, just to be curious.  But any who it's all about the relationship she wants with Evan, who was dating her roommate.

Evan, sounds like a popular guy who isn't really sure what he wants or just likes to go with the flow as long as he gets something out of it.  They throw the word love out there a little too easy.  It just doesn't seem connected at all because one minute she's like I can't the next she's all like I love you.  Very confused girl that's for sure.

Overall it took me a while to get through it and it just wasn't believable.  I didn't enjoy or relate to the characters.  Not even the gay roommate as he seemed like a very forced characters.  I really like the cover but I just don't see Sydney and Evan in it. 

Disclaimer:
I received this book from NetGalley and B.D. Rowe so that I may give my honest opinion and a review. Whether it is good or not please do not let it discourage you from purchasing/reading the book yourself and forming your own opinion. What might be good for me may not be good for you and vice versa. With that said, Happy Reading Everyone!!!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Pre-Release Event: Tell Me When by Stina Lindenblatt

 
Tell Me When
By: Stina Lindenblatt
Release date: January 20, 2014

Description:
Amber Scott should be enjoying life as a college freshman. She should be pursuing her dream of becoming a veterinarian. She should be working hard to make sense of her precalculus math class.          
She shouldn’t be waking up her college roommate with screaming nightmares. She shouldn’t be flashing back, reliving the three weeks of hell she barely survived last year. And she definitely shouldn’t be spending time with sexy player Marcus Reid.

But engineering student Marcus is the only one keeping Amber from failing her math course, so she grudgingly lets him into her life. She never expects the king of hookups will share his painful past. Or that she’ll tell him her secrets in return, opening up and trusting him in a way she thought she’d never be able to again.

When their fragile future together is threatened by a stalker Amber thought was locked away for good, Marcus is determined to protect her. And Amber is determined to protect Marcus…even if that means pushing him away.
Links to the book:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes&Noble

Excerpt:

Amber

I glance back at Emma, who’s busy looking through a rack of fleecy pajama bottoms, then walk out the store and into the solid wall of a person.

“Kitten,” the wall says as I step back. Marcus’s gaze jumps to the store’s name and his mouth slides into an amused grin. “You don’t need to get sexy underwear for our tutoring sessions, but I won’t say I don’t appreciate it.”

“Ass,” I mutter, momentarily forgetting the ass helped me learn a math concept I’d been struggling with.

“Anything to make you happy, Kitten.”

I somehow manage not to roll my eyes at the name. Telling him not to call me that hasn’t helped. It’s only encouraged him to use the name more. I narrow my eyes instead. “I thought you said you weren’t stalking me.”

“I’m not.” He lifts a plastic bag from the bookstore, and removes a book with a teenage girl and a male angel on the cover. “I was buying a birthday present for my friend’s sister. And now that you mention it, how do I know you’re not stalking me?”

From the corner of my eye, I spot a guy checking me out. Marcus brushes a strand of hair from my face. I flinch when his fingers touch my cheek, but then I see the other guy scurry away.

I think of Marcus’s reputation for not getting attached, of the way he jumped between me and that guy at the party. I take a deep breath, almost positive that what I’m about to do is incredibly stupid. “What are you doing Friday night?” 
About the Author

Born in England, Stina loves to travel, and has lived in England, the US, Canada, and Finland. She spent a semester in graduate school living in central Finland, and a summer during her undergrad degree working in Helsinki. She has a Master’s of Science degree in exercise physiology and has worked with elite athletes. In her free time, Stina is a photographer, mother of three adorable kids, and devoted wife. She currently lives in Calgary, Canada.

Author social media links:
Website/blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads



Giveaway:
(1) $25 Amazon e-gift card, (1) eBook copy of Tell Me When gifted from Amazon (when it releases).

(3) eBook copies of Tell Me When gifted from Amazon (when it releases).

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