Review: The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia

The Lovely Reckless

By: Kami Garcia

Release Date: October 4, 2016

Description:

I’ve become an expert at avoiding things that could hurt me—which means I will figure out how to stay away from Marco Leone.

Seventeen-year-old Frankie Devereux would do anything to forget the past. Haunted by the memory of her boyfriend’s death, she lives her life by one dangerous rule: Nothing matters. At least, that’s what Frankie tells herself after a reckless mistake forces her to leave her privileged life in the Heights to move in with her dad—an undercover cop. She transfers to a public high school in the Downs, where fistfights don’t faze anyone and illegal street racing is more popular than football.

Marco Leone is the fastest street racer in the Downs. Tough, sexy, and hypnotic, he makes it impossible for Frankie to ignore him—and how he makes her feel. But the risks Marco takes for his family could have devastating consequences for them both. When Frankie discovers his secret, she has to make a choice. Will she let the pain of the past determine her future? Or will she risk what little she has left to follow her heart?

Review:

Now I have never been shy about expressing how much I love reading stories with multicultural backgrounds, so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it.  This is definitely one of those books that explore being from the right and wrong side of the tracks, but really no matter where you are from it’s up to you how you will turn out.  I loved it from beginning to end!

We meet Frankie who is trying to remember and get over her boyfriend’s murder, which is a tough situation to be in and she is definitely in the whole avoiding phase of everything.  She moves in with her father and this is where she finally starts to find herself again, even with some old friends around she makes new friends and starts living her life even if it is recklessly at first.  These new people in her life give her meaning again, something she lost when she lost Noah. 

Marco is a great character someone who is doing the wrong things but for all the right reasons, sometimes that’s okay and sometimes it’s not and it takes meeting Frankie to realize what are the right things he should be doing again.  His reaction to her is very intense and even though there was a slight insta-love atmosphere about their relationship it didn’t bother me so much, because once you stopped thinking about it you could see how good they were for one another.  They bought out the best in each other, they really were like opposites attracting in a way.

Overall I really enjoyed the story because it had action, teen angst, real life addictions, the good and the bad all rolled up into a great story that kept me interested throughout the whole book.  This is definitely the type of book I enjoy reading.  Adding the Spanish aspect of everything just made me love it even more, we really do need more Spanish characters in young adult/new adult books.  Well really probably in all books in general.  This was a great story, the setting was interesting, the difference in the good side and the bad side of town was also intriguing.  This is a great book to sit down and read and enjoy.  I know I couldn’t put it down because I had to know who was going to do what and if they were going to do the logical right thing. 

I really liked all the characters too, some of them showed real dimensions and even though I wouldn’t have minded finding out more about the secondary characters I got just enough of a look into their lives that I really felt for them and their situations.  Great story.

Disclaimer:

I received this book from NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group/Imprint, 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!!!

Advance Praise

“Sexy, fast-paced, and action-packed—this is Kami Garcia like you’ve never seen her before.” —Tahereh Mafi, New York Times–bestselling author of Shatter Me

“The Lovely Reckless has everything I hope for in a book. Packed with the perfect blend of suspense, drama, romance, and heart, Kami Garcia has truly topped herself.” —Colleen Hoover, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Hopeless

“With a feisty heroine, an irresistible bad boy, and an attraction so sizzling the words practically burn up the page, The Lovely Reckless is an insanely addictive, sexy, rush of a read you’ll return to again and again!” —Alyson Noël, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Immortals series

“A perfect blend of electrifying romance, pulse-pounding street racing, and page-turning suspense.” —Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Problem With Forever

“Rip-roaring and hyper-real, Kami outdoes herself.” —Holly Black, New York Times–bestselling author of The Darkest Part of the Forest

“Kami Garcia turns up the heat with The Lovely Reckless! The Fast and the Furious meets Romeo and Juliet, with a romance guaranteed to get your pulse racing.”—Carrie Ryan, New York Times–bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth

“The Lovely Reckless is a thrilling ride full of twists and turns and a love story that will melt your heart!” —Katie McGarry, award-winning author of Nowhere but Here

Review: My Wild Irish Dragon by Ashlyn Chase

My Wild Irish Dragon
By: Ashlyn Chase
Release Date: September 6, 2016
Series: Boston Dragons #2

Description:
ONE JOB OPENING
TWO SHIFTERS APPLY...
SPARKS FLY
Dragon shifter Chloe Arish is hell-bent on becoming a Boston firefighter. She uses her Irish charm and fake documents to score an interview, knowing she has to work every bit as hard as a man-harder if she wants their respect.

Born into a legendary Boston firefighting family, phoenix shifter Ryan Fiero can't possibly let someone best him on the training course or the job. He'd never hear the end of it. When a feisty new recruit comes along who's determined to do just that, Ryan plots to kick her out-until their sizzling chemistry turns explosive... 

Boston Dragons Series:
I Dream of Dragons
My Wild Irish Dragon

Praise for Ashlyn Chase's Flirting with Fangs series:
"Merges the paranormal and real world seamlessly... Truly entertaining."-Long and Short Reviews
"Hot sex scenes and a breezy tone with a nice, happily-ever-after."-Booklist

Review:

I haven’t read anything paranormal in quite some time but I figure seeing as Halloween is coming up let me give it a go.  Ashlyn Chace did a really great job with this paranormal romance.  It was very much the great genre I remembered.  Although I don’t believe I’ve ever read much about dragons in the past, but shifters absolutely and there were a number of shifters in this book.

We meet Chloe who is a dragon from Ireland, and I love all the Irish accents throughout the book, I can picture them all talking in my mind and loved every second it.  Something about accents so intriguing.  Even though I’m sure to foreigners we have an accent as well.  Any who so she is very keen on becoming a firefighter and showing what she has to offer, this is where she meets Ryan.  He’s tough and ready to prove himself as well especially coming from a very large family of firefighters he has a lot more to lose.

The chemistry they have in the beginning and towards the middle of the book is so palpable and energy filled between the two of them, you can just feel it when you are in a room with them.  It’s intoxicating.  When they finally did explode together you couldn’t help but cheer for them, of course they have a few obstacles in their way but the way they overcome it with compromise is quite impressive.  These two definitely have ever lasting type of chemistry.

Overall I thought the book was great. The story was interested, the language barrier made you laugh from time to time, who knew American sayings were so confusing at times and easy to mess up.  The drama between the two main characters and all the other characters in the rest of the book weren’t too major but it was all resolved very nicely and amicably.  I like it when everyone somehow in some way gets what they want.

Love the cover, exactly what I pictured Ryan to look like, and super yum.  Quick read, great paranormal romance. 

Disclaimer:
I received this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca, 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: Play By Piper Lawson

Play
By: Piper Lawson
Release Date: September 14, 2016

Description:
PLAY is a quirky 70k word standalone about life, love, and the pursuit of orgasms. 
I mean, video games.

IT'S (A)LIVE!!! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G0OI1SW 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm Payton Blake. A successful, balanced twenty-something girl living the dream. 

OK. So it's a big-ass lie. 

I could be all of those things. If I had friends outside of work. And if I didn't mainline watermelon slushies like they were a food group. It wouldn't hurt if I'd had sex in the last year, either. (My best friend insists Jorge the Nightstand Boyfriend doesn't count.) 

But when you know where you're headed, who needs to enjoy the ride? Even if part of me longed for a little between-the-sheets adventure, Max Donovan would be the last guy I'd call. 

Sure, he made the indie video game that broke the internet. His eyebrow piercing's sexy, in an 'are-you-in-a-band?' way, and fighting with him gets me off faster than Jorge on bezerker mode. But he's arrogant. Presumptuous. Colder than a cactus and twice as prickly. 

None of it changes the fact that I crave Max Donovan like a watermelon slushy on a hot summer day. 

I should ignore him. But I can't, because he just became my biggest client. And whether he'll admit it or not, he needs me even more than I need him.

Game on, Max Donovan.

Review:

I don’t usually say this but this book was fire! It was so hot and addicting I almost contemplated calling out of work just so I could finish reading it. Piper really did an amazing job on the writing of this book, it was captivating, thrilling, and oh so sweet. 

We meet Payton who is working her way up in the financial world trying to be as successful as she can be when she lands a meeting that my just make her year.  That is until she meets who it is and then the fireworks begin, constant bickering back and forth between her and Mr. Max Donovan.  He’s the head of a gaming company and oh so sexy with his eyebrow piercing.  But they are both very strong personalities and the tension between the two of them is too hot.  There were some scenes in this book that even made me blush. 

The two of them are working together to make Max’s new endeavor more successful than his last, but Max of course wants to do it his way and his way only.  It’s hard when you lose all trust in people, letting anyone in even a little bit can be a difficult thing.  You feel like you can’t give them not even a small part of you but Payton knows just how to crack into his shell. 

The story line between the two of them was great because they aren’t the same person, they are grown adults and even though it may have been a little instant connection they showed that it was instant lustful connection and throughout time they fell for one another.  This is real life and it could really happen exactly the way the book described it because I’m sure it happens every day.  So the realistic aspects of the book, the interesting gaming jargon and the bonus of throwing in an event like comic con, which I aspire to go to one day was just overwhelmingly fabulous in the book.  It bought everything together and just that much more enticing. 

This was a quick read because you didn’t want to put it down, the interaction between all the characters were addicting.  The cover is very sexy, although I will say it’s missing the eyebrow piercing because that just adds to the sexiness as it’s mentioned so much in the book, and the perfect mouth.  Fantastically spicy read that I would recommend to everyone asap!  It comes out today so make sure you pick it up and I promise you will not regret it!

Disclaimer:
I received this book from NetGalley and Victory Editing, 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: The 48-Hour Hookup by Sarah Ballance

The 48-Hour Hook Up
By: Sarah Ballance
Release Date: September 12, 2016
Series: Chase Brothers #4

Description:

Who knew a sweaty photo would be good for business?

Now unwanted booty calls are coming in as fast as work orders, and Liam Chase needs to get away. Cue a job upstate. His new client is hot as hell, but he left NYC to escape attention, not to hook up with the city’s “Runaway Bride”.

With three disastrous relationships under her belt, it’s clear Claire Stevens’s judgment sucks. And what’s she’s feeling for America’s newest sex god? Obviously another hormone-fueled mistake.

But when she accidentally fells a tree on his truck, leaving them stranded in a winter storm with a chocolate-snatching raccoon, there’s something to be said for body heat.

Too bad neither can trust their explosive chemistry…

Review:

This was a very fun quick and easy read, great for reading on a rainy day, or stuck in the snow somewhere maybe it will give you some inspiration on dropping a tree on someone’s car who knows where it may lead.  Smile! What a way to introduce the characters, it was priceless and definitely memorable.

We meet Claire who is known in social media as the runaway bride, she’s out hiding in the woods at her family’s cabin and she somehow randomly just happens to call for an HVAC guy and it happens to be the very viral HOT HVAC Guy.  Their meeting as previously stated was very memorable but there connection took a minute to generate.  They are both obviously very good looking people, very much looked at on social media and neither on purpose but it just seemed to happen for whatever reason.  It’s a match made in heaven really because who better to understand the struggles of trying to lead a normal life then those that were exposed publicly. 

Their growing relationship does take its up and downs but man oh man how one person can be so disaster prone I’ll never know but it was definitely entertaining to watch all the mishaps happen.  Overall this was a very sweet book with a cute story, in the beginning it was a little iffy but then I started to love the book and the ending was just perfect.

I hadn’t read the other books in this series yet but I’m very interested in seeing how all these couples got together.  Even though I’m coming in at the end of the series it was bittersweet to watch it end but it was the sweetest ending ever.  Very loving and touching there at the end. Can’t wait to see what happened with the other Chase Brothers.   

Disclaimer:

I received this book from NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC, 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: Just One Week by Alice Gaines

Just One Week
By: Alice Gaines
Release Date: September 12, 2016

Description:

Her brother’s best friend is not only the hottest man Michelle Dennis has ever seen, he’s the reason she left town eight years ago. Of course he’s the one waiting at the airport. Worse, he made sure they’re staying in the same house.

Alex Stafford is expecting to pick up his friend’s kid sister, not a full-fledged bombshell. He was planning to apologize for their past, but the feelings he had years ago come roaring back…and this time, there’s no denying them.

Keeping his hands off is a test he’s bound to fail—especially when they’re stuck in close quarters. But falling in love with Michelle, living in her world, isn’t an option for a guy like him. And remembering that will save them both a lot of heartache…

Review:

I’ve always enjoyed the classic story of girl being in love with her brother’s best friend.  Hey things happen and it’s always a possibility, and one that happens quite often.  Of course it happens but usually it’s much unrequited, but then there are those times when it is requited.  This was a lovely story about two people who had a bit of a falling out when they were younger and getting back together many years later.  It’s sweet and the author did a great job.

We meet Michelle as she is on her way back to a place she didn’t think she would go back to, especially after the fight she had with her brother’s best friend, Alex.  Oh to profess ones love and have it shut down, it’s tough.  But of course she’s thrown into the ring with Alex right away and right off the gate.  There is some tension, but a plan forms to seduce him.  We all know how plans tend to work out don’t we?

Alex is still kicking himself for the way he acted way back when but he knows he’s going to make everything right.  He always felt like because of his learning disability he was never worthy of someone like Michelle.  But it’s hard because no one knows about this and he likes to keep things to himself.  Which is never a good idea by the way.

I don’t want to give too much away but this was a very quick read and kept you very interested.  There were some really steamy scenes in this book and there were just emotions that made you want them to work out in the end.  It was cute and quick and fun.  Loved the sense of family that they all have in this book.  Great read. 

Disclaimer:

I received this book from NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC, 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!!!