Thursday, October 16, 2014

Review: Secondhand Heart by Kristen Strassel

Secondhand Heart
By: 









Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Review: Remember When 3: The Finale by T. Torrest

Remember When 3: The Finale
By: T. Torrest
Release Date: November 21, 2013
Series: Remember Trilogy #3

Description:
"I’d spent too long in limbo.
It was time to put The California Plan back into effect."

~Layla Warren

I’ve been in love with Trip Wiley since I was sixteen years old.
Yep. That Trip Wiley.
Academy award-winning actor, known philanthropist, People’s Sexiest Man Alive two years running…
Yeah.
It’s not like I’m some delusional stalker-fan. It just so happens that he was my high school sweetheart back in 1991.
In the years since, he’s simply been The One That Got Away.
We just can’t seem to get on the same page at the same time.
Our timing may have sucked, but the feelings had already been confirmed. Years ago.
At least his were.
He doesn’t know that I had chosen to love him back.
I need to fix that.
And I need to do it now.


Remember When 3 is the third and final book in the Remember Trilogy.
It’s a story about taking chances and following your heart…
and knowing that sometimes, you just have to learn when to let go.

**Intended for ages 18+ due to some questionable language and graphic sex.**

Review:



First off let me just say that I love reading series when they have been completed, this way I don’t have to wait in undying anticipation for the next book to come out, because it’s already there.  T. Torrest has taken me on a journey between these two characters that I have fallen in love with and this last book did not disappoint, because everything is not always greener on the other side.

This was definitely a great ending to an amazing series that I have happily read through and through.  Trip and Layla obviously belong together, ever since high school when they first met; there has always been something strong there between the two.  They just needed time to figure everything out first before they could be together.  You know there’s a lyric to a song that goes:

Would have come back for you, I just needed time
To what I had to do, caught in the life

This pretty much sums up the both of them.  They both had to figure out what their purpose was in life and how to deal with it, but more importantly how to deal with it together.  That’s what this book was about, Layla finally makes the plunge and gets back together with Trip (it happened suddenly during a tragic time), but they put all their eggs in the basket and just went for it.  But you know it’s not always so peachy keen sometimes life gets hard and it’s how you deal with them that make you the person you are and that shows what type of relationship you really have.

It’s always hard trying to find the right rhythm of life when being together, but it’s worth it in the end. 

Overall this book was just as amazing as the other two in the series and it literally left me with watery eyes at the end and my hand to my heart because it was just that perfect.  If you read anything this year at least read this series it will bring you up and down and most importantly up again to such a major love high.  Big Smiles for this series!

I love the cover as much as I’ve loved the others because it’s simple and it’s only about them, not about anything outside of them just the two of them.  Everyone made a little appearance in this book, even unexpected characters but again everything had to happen for a reason.  Perfect series.  Thank you to T. Torrest for writing it.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Review: Remember Me 2: The Sequel By T. Torrest

Remember Me 2
By: T. Torrest
Release Date:
Series: Remember Trilogy #2

Description:
You know how sometimes, your high school crush grows up to be an insanely famous movie star? Okay, probably not. But I do.~Layla Warren

Back in high school, Trip Wiley’s fanbase only encompassed the denizens of the nothing little suburb of Norman, New Jersey. 

Ten years later, all that is about to change.

In the summer of 2000, Layla Warren is enjoying her career as a journalist in New York City (well, sort of), while Trip spends most of his time grabbing Hollywood by the balls. In the days before what will turn out to be his skyrocketing fame, they’ll find themselves confronted with some life-altering choices. 

Remember When 2 is the second story in an NA romance trilogy. It will bring you back to that exuberant and riotous time of life in your twenties when you struggled to figure out your place in the world and the person you were meant to be…

…and the person you were meant to be with.

**Intended for ages 18+ due to some questionable language and sex.**

Review:
I didn’t think this series could get any better, but it really did and T. Torrest has totally caught my attention.  With writing first about the nineties and now writing about what happens after college, the whole find yourself stage of life that we like to call our twenties.  It’s an adventure that I’m happy to be on and I love me some Trip and Layla because the two of them spark my interest and I’m not getting enough of them right now.  Kind of sad the next book is the last one in the trilogy but let’s focus on this one first.

So we meet up with Layla again after college and now working in the real world trying to become a reporter at a small insert newspaper.  But she’s having a hard time getting an in even if she is dating the boss.  But that’s all beside the point because she finds out that after nine years Trip is in town and he can become her in to becoming the reporter she wants to be.  Especially now that Trip is the up and coming it boy in movies.  But this isn’t just a regular type of reunion, the two of them have something magical that they share and have always shared since the very beginning.  I know that my heart dropped at the end of the first book and this book just added to that because my emotions were up and down.

Throughout the whole book you couldn’t help but root for the two to finally get back together, but there was always something in the way.  Or someone.  Either way there was a lot of back and forth between the two of them and still you just want them to figure things out and go with it already.  I love their relationship and I’m excited about them finding one another again.

All the old characters are back in this book including her best friend Lisa who is definitely a great help for Layla, everyone needs someone to talk to and just let everything out.  There are also some new people but still nothing surpasses Trip and Layla.  There are some things that concern me about where Trip is going in his life but I’m hoping he will straighten himself out just a little bit, but then again Layla could use some realization as well.


Overall this book was yet again an amazing read by this author and from this series and I’m off to read the final book (tear I’m going to miss them) and I’m hoping for some more great stuff and not another cliff hanger that makes me want to pick up the book right now.  You definitely have to read this series, it’s worth every word.   

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Review: Night Sky by Suzanne Brockmann, Melanie Brockmann - Giveaway/Excerpt

Night Sky
By:,
Release Date: October 7, 2014
Series: Night Sky #1

Description:
SHE’S THE ULTIMATE WEAPON IN FIGHTING DESTINY.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann and her daughter Melanie Brockmann have written a pulse-pounding novel of paranormal suspense set in a near future both fantastic and frightening. “Original and exciting, NIGHT SKY propels readers into a dangerous future. Loved it.” —Melissa Marr, New York Times bestselling author of Made For You and the Wicked Lovely series

Skylar Reid is shaken when Sasha, the little girl she babysits, is kidnapped. Scared that the weird dreams she’s been having about Sasha are real—and even more afraid that Sasha is already dead. When a mysterious girl with extreme butt-kicking abilities roars into town on a motorcycle and, well, stalks Skylar things get even weirder. Supergirl Dana tells Sky that she also has abilities – that a hormone in their blood makes them stronger, faster, smarter. A hormone that the makers of a new drug called Destiny will murder to get their hands on.

Dana and Milo, her dangerously hot yet oh-so-forbidden partner in crime, want Sky to join them in their mission – to mold Sky into the ultimate weapon. She can sense there’s something about her abilities they’re not telling her. But the only way to save Sasha and stop other girls from being taken is to embrace the weird…and fight Destiny.

More Praise for Night Sky:
“A gripping page-turner from first to last...the start of something that can only be described as ‘greater-than.’” —Kirkus STARRED review
“Action-packed, mysterious, charming and witty. I'm ready for more!” — Gena Showalter, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Alice in Zombieland
“Full of adventure, humor, and just the right amount of Brockmann wit...I love this book!” —P.C. Cast, New York Times bestselling co-author of the House of Night series.

Review:
This book was an intense hard driven adventure of a time that le very beginning what was going to happen from the very beginning to the very end with so many more questions to be answered.  Night Sky was though provoking and these two authors did an amazing job of sucking you into their world and making you feel everything that was happening throughout the book.  Can we just simply say this was actually quite an amazing read?

We meet Skylar who seems to be ordinary but then weird thing start happening around her and to her, she starts discovering these amazing abilities that she didn’t even know she had.  With her pal Calvin by her side through the whole thing they go on an adventure to find their neighbor who was kidnapped.  With a variety of abilities and the help of not only her sidekick Calvin but also a kick ass girl named Dana and a much needed hottie named Milo they go out to learn more things not only about themselves but what is really going on in their little world.

Again this book had an immense amount of adventure and craziness that you couldn’t’ help but wonder what was around the corner next.  Between the intense smells and puking, the moving of objects and the internal homing abilities this book just went out there and it was definitely just out of bounds exciting.  I don’t think there are many more ways I can say how good this book was but you just have to pick it up and read it.  The mysterious Dana and her tough attitude with Sky and her soft demeanor but some serious abilities that even surprise Dana herself the two of them team up against the bad guys and go in search for what matters to both of them, making things right and finding others with abilities as well.

There are fights, abilities, criminals, frame jobs, even a slight love interest that keeps yours interest throughout the whole thing.  At first I really didn’t think I was going to like it, because I haven’t read anything sci-fi in a while, but I’m glad I stuck with it because when I really got into it, I just couldn’t put this book down.  I hope in the next part in this series Dana finally finds what she’s looking for.  Also who the hell is that old stinky lady and I mean stinky in the literal sense. Oh so much more to explore and can’t wait to see what is going to happen next.


The cover is great, very simple very strong in the sense you can tell something intense is going on in the book and it definitely did.  The main characters all are so different but special in their own way.  Can I just say Cal’s would you rather are quite hilarious and he’s definitely the comic relief in this book.  Milo on the other hand the very sensitive super nice good looking boy who is there for everyone is also a great addition and love interest for Sky.  Sky herself turns out to be a pretty cool person when she starts to discover all the things that she can do.  Dana of course, the strongest of them all and quite simply the leader is also very contradictory of herself, because you know she still has hope but she doesn’t want to show it.  Very interesting read overall and very thought provoking and intense.

Excerpt

"Look what I can do look what I can do," the woman, who I nicknamed Little Miss Sunshine because of her fancy clothes, yanked a massive-looking gun out of her bag.

Everyone in the store hit the deck at the sight of the gun—everyone except Calvin and me.

She pointed the barrel at my face.

A wave of deja vu washed over me. It was mixed with a hefty dose of panic and combined with at least a small degree of consolation that Calvin, as always, had my back.

"Oh, hell no!" he barked. All the fear had vanished from his tone, and now he just sounded pissed. "You wanna mess with someone? You wanna put your gun in her face? You're gonna have to shoot me first!"

And then, things got really weird.

"Hey!" someone called form behind Little Miss Sunshine. It was a girl, older than me but probably only by a year or two. She'd appeared as if out of nowhere, but she must've come in through the front doors while my attention was on that gun. Dressed in full motorcycle garb—a red leather jacket and black steel-toed boots—she hollered again. "Hey, you!"

Little Miss Sunshine whirled around.

Motorcycle Girl charged froward and flicked the pistol out of crazy lady's hands as easily as if she was removing a piece of lint from a buddy's jacket.

The gun spun a couple times before landing on the floor. Motorcycle Girl kicked it back into the air with her foot and caught it with one hand. She tucked it deftly into the back waistband of her pants and then slammed the crazy woman down onto the ground using the palm of one hand. I could have sworn Little Miss Sunshine took a nosedive before Motorcycle Chick even touched her, but then again, I'd been seeing all kinds of crazy things this week.

"Whoa," Calvin said, while the crowd gasped again.

Little Miss Sunshine landed, hard, and made a gurgling sound. She looked up once at me and pointed, still smiling that awful smile, before her face dropped to the ground.

The room once again was silent. 

Motorcycle Chick turned, running a hand gruffly through her platinum-blond pixie cut as she looked at me and frowned, her eyes the color of icicles.

Around us, the crowd began to move almost as one, with everyone rushing for the door.

I was about to turn too—getting out of there seemed like a brilliant idea—when Motorcycle Girl spoke again. Her words stopped me. "Way to protect everyone here, Sky. What were you waiting for? A sign from God?"

I looked at Cal—Cal looked at me. And I knew we were both thinking the same thing.

How the hell does this girl know my name?

Goodreads Link


Buy Links

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/BNNightSky

About the Authors:
Suzanne Brockman, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author, has won 2 RITA awards, numerous RT Reviewers’ Choice, and RWA’s #1 Favorite Book of the Year three years running. She has written over 50 books, and is widely recognized as a “superstar of romantic suspense” (USA Today). Suzanne and her daughter, Melanie Brockmann, have been creative partners, on and off, for many years. Their first project was an impromptu musical duet, when then-six-month-old Melanie surprised and delighted Suz by matching her pitch and singing back to her. Suzanne splits her time between Florida and Massachusetts while Mel lives in Sarasota, Florida. NIGHT SKY is Mel’s debut and Suzanne’s 55th book. Visit Suzanne at www.SuzanneBrockmann.com.

Social Networking Links


Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclaimer:
I received this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire, 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, October 1, 2014

Review: Remember When By T. Torrest





Remember When
By: T. Torrest
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Series: The Remember When Trilogy #1
Description
Years before Trip Wiley could be seen on movie screens all over the world, he could be seen sitting in the desk behind me in my high school English class.
This was back in 1990, and I cite the year only to avoid dumbfounding you when references to big hair or stretch pants are mentioned. Although, come to think of it, I am from Northern New Jersey, which may serve as explanation enough. We were teenagers then, way back in a time before anyone, himself included, could even dream he’d turn into the Hollywood commodity that he is today. 

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you who Trip Wiley is. But on the off chance you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade, just know that these days, he’s the actor found at the top of every casting director’s wish list. He’s incredibly talented and insanely gorgeous, the combination of which has made him very rich, very famous and very desirable.

And not just to casting directors, either.

I can’t confirm any of the gossip from his early years out in Tinseltown, but based on what I knew of his life before he was famous, I can tell you that the idea of Girls-Throwing-Themselves-At-Trip is not a new concept.

I should know. I was one of them.

And my life hasn’t been the same since.

Review:
Gasp! I think my heart just broke a little bit, I can feel my heart in my throat because this book was amazing beyond words, and there is strictly a strong feeling from deep within.  I haven’t felt this deeply about a book in a long time and I’m so happy I was granted access to this book on net gally.  T. Torrest is an amazing writer who captured my heart and my memories in so many different ways. Major plus for being from Jersey, brings the realness of this book straight to my home and my heart.

We meet Layla who is starting her senior year and is part of the popular crowd although you wouldn’t think it really mattered what crowd she was in because really this book is not about that at all.  This book is about meeting your first love and spending the most amount of time with your best friends before you’re off into the real world, going your separate ways.  Before all these changes can happen in walks in Trip, a new kid and one who is super attractive in everyone’s eyes and Layla is immediately drawn to him as well.  The way their relationship grows from real friendship was a great thing.  There was no insta love, no insta lust, none of that, well at least not on the outside because through and through they became friends first before anything happened between the two of them.

These groups of friends were pretty tight knit and enjoyable to read about, each one bought a different aspect to the group that you couldn’t help but relate to a friend in your own life, and that’s what made this book more real.  There are a lot of explicit scenes but I think they were necessary because this is what teens go through now and the innocence in this book was refreshing and entertaining. There were so many moments where I found myself smiling and completely relating to all the characters, it definitely made me laugh and smile and feel for all of them in one way or another, there was 100% connection with this book.

I can’t gush enough about this book and can’t wait to read the continuation of this story because really my heart dropped at the end and it left me wanting more, so much more because I know there is a great story here and T. Torrest did an amazing job inviting me into her world of characters.  It’s been a really long time since I’ve read a book that made me not want to put it down, I wanted to stay up late reading it because of this, and that’s a hard thing because I wake up early in the morning so I have to get some kind of sleep but I just couldn’t help reading this book as much as I could before I knocked out. 

I love the cover; it reminded me of one of the best parts in this book.  It reminded me of the jersey shore and no not the television, the real thing, what it’s really like.  This book was amazing and I loved every second of it. 

Author Links:

Advance Praise
There are so many things I loved about this sweet and funny book. The writing was flawless, the story was addictive; I cried, I laughed out loud and I swooned... I devoured every single minute... all the way through it was handled with so much love and a huge dash of humor... You felt it all and it was such a wonderful experience... Remember When was fun, it was sexy, it was a giggle a minute, it was beautiful....yep, it was perfect. ~Jenny and Gitte, Totally Booked Blog

If you think you know what this book is about based solely on the synopsis, you would be wrong. Remember When is so much more... I laughed out loud, I cried, I swooned, I squeed... I angered, I hurt, and I was in total angst a couple of times... [and] I am SO utterly, undeniably, completely, and overwhelmingly in love with Trip.~Kathy, Romantic Reading Escapes

Disclaimer:
I received this book from NetGalley and Smith Publicity, 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!!!