Working It, Kendall Ryan

Amazon UK

Amazon US

ARC received by author for an honest review

‘Working It’ is about Ben a drop dead gorgeous male model and Emmy a southern bell from Tennessee, so obviously they fall in love.

I enjoyed this book, although I didn’t love it. In my opinion it wasn’t one of Kendall’s best pieces of writing and was quite short.  I loved the idea of Ben being a model, not a really rich business man like most erotic novels, and his description was mouth-watering. I think that if the book was longer his feelings towards Emmy and their relationship wouldn’t have been as rushed.

I liked Emmy’s character although I didn’t think she was very strong willed, she gave in very easily at every difficult situation, sleeping with him for the first time, the threesome and the baby, she debated it for a second and went crawling back to Ben every time, doing anything to please him. And as much as I enjoyed reading the scene with Bray I felt it was very out of place in the book, came out of nowhere and innocent southern Emmy went along with it as if it was a normal thing.

My favourite character at the beginning of the book was Fiona, I saw a lot of comparisons to Miranda Priestly in the Devil Wears Prada, however as the book went on she became a lot more desperate and to me her character changed a drastic amount, she went from this strong woman who runs a business, to this desperate woman who tries to manipulate Ben into loving her.

To me the book had a lot of potential, the characters were all amazingly written and the story line could have been great, but because the story was so short I didn’t think the relationships had enough time to grow and we were sort of being thrown from scene to scene. That being said I will be reading the next 2 books in the series to see what happens with Ben and Emmy and if Fiona continues to get in between them.

The book could have been better, but like I said I will be reading the next book in the Love By Design series, so I give this book a 2.5 star rating

Back to Life, Danielle Allen

Amazon USA

Amazon UK 

"Before you, I just existed. I didn't really live. I didn't really feel. I was going through the motions. And then I met you..." I stroked his face and gazed up at him. "And you brought me back to life."

Danielle Allen asked me to read the ARC of this book for an honest view. I didn’t read the synopsis or other reviews before reading it, so I did not know what to expect. I found that this book was extremely well written, captured by attention for the first page and held it all the way through. I couldn’t put it down, literally, I read it in a day, and by the end of it I had the biggest book hangover.

Back to Life is based around the main character Sahara, who pretty much ran away from home after an accident changed her life. 10 years after she finally started living again, thanks to Tyree ‘The Game Changer’

I have never felt so emotionally drained by the time I finished the book, and I just want to read the sequel to find out what happens. Danielle wrote the book from Sahara’s point of view, so when she was drawn to Ty, I felt like I was, the way she described situations, feelings, experiences was beautiful. The way she wrote Ty’s character had me rooting for Sahara to choose him from beginning to end. He was loving, funny, sexy and worked hard to get to where he is. The dream boyfriend.

However, it’s not all smooth sailing which kept me interesting, Sahara had to return home because of unresolved issues, and of course she sees her first love Emanuel, which turns her world upside down. I was not a fan of Emanuel from the beginning as I knew he was going to change things between Sahara and Ty.

The book ending on a cliff hanger destroyed me, I just wanted to read the happy ending for Sahara and Ty but I couldn’t as it hasn’t been written yet. Reading their love story in this book gives me hope that it will continue and survive in the book/s to come.

I would recommend this book to anyone, as I think it is suitable for all YA and Adult readers. I give this book a 5* rating, I was really impressed. 

Waiting on Wednesday 3

My third 'WoW' hosted by Breaking the Spine

The Book I am waiting for to be released is:

Working It, Kendall Ryan

Coming November 11, 2013

A story of heart-stopping, toe curling passion by the beloved bestselling author of Hard to Love, Resisting Her and The Impact of You

Waiting on Wednesday 2

My second 'WoW' hosted by Breaking the Spine

The Book I am waiting for to be released is:

Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1), Sophie Jordan

Coming November 5, 2013

Before she goes after the life she's always wanted, she's about to find the on she needs.

Torn, K.A. Robinson

Chloe has never really wanted to be in a relationship after her abusive childhood. She has the two people that matter too her Logan and Amber, until Drake comes along and turns her life upside down.

Drake has the carefree life, he’s in a band and gets all the groupies, he is not the relationship type that is until Chloe walked into his class and everything changed.

I thought I would slowly work my way through the Tennessee Valley Author Event reading list starting from the top, being the Torn series. Halfway through reading Torn I realised I had already read it, yet reading it again I was still hooked even though I knew how it ended.

I enjoyed the love triangle drama that was included in this book, and I enjoyed watching the battle Chloe had to whether or not the love she felt for Logan was friendship or the real deal. However I found Chloe’s character quite irritating and agreed with everything Amber her best friend was saying to her. It got to the point where I was no longer routing for her, however I was routing for Drake to be with her as his character stole my heart.

Drake’s bad boy image, sarcastic and cocky personality made me love him, and I enjoyed seeing the other side of him when he was alone with Chloe or performing onstage, his lyrics always showed the reader how he was feeling. The sex scenes between Chloe and Drake in this book captivated me, the description and emotions were intense and you really felt the passion between the two characters. I enjoyed being able to compare the Chloe and Logan sex scenes with Chloe and Drakes as that’s where you can really tell who Chloe was really into. As Chloe described the sex with Logan as ‘nice’ I am sure the sex with Drake would be ‘mind blowing’.

I felt like Chloe’s back story played a big part in this book, because it explained why she is the way she is, and why she acts the way she does. Although you don’t really hear much about her back story just snippets here and there until she tells Drake the entire story and her mum calling doesn't really affect the story all that much, however does lead onto the next book.

I enjoyed this book and give it a 2.5 star rating.

Price of a Kiss, Linda Kage

Running from her psycho ex-boyfriend the last thing ‘Reese Randall’ needed was from Mason to come along with even more baggage.

Mason Lowe needed to keep his job to help support his family and that was that, he didn’t care what other people thought of him, until Reese came along, knowing he needed to keep his distance from her but he just couldn’t.

I thought the story line Linda Kage thought up was really good, it’s not every day you read a book about a college gigolo and end up routing for him and the girl to get together, but Linda got you to empathise with Mason and understand that he had to do this, he had to sell himself to help his family survive with his sisters medical bills and his mum not being able to afford rent, he needed to do this.

The connection between Mason and Reese had you wanting that relationship for yourself, they were best friends and could be themselves around each other – yes ‘Reese’  was hiding her real name from him, but that didn’t matter because when they were around each other they were both so real and the passion and chemistry between them was incredible. They both knew how they really felt about each other which is frustrating as Mason’s job kept them apart.

The book doesn’t drag at all and isn’t very repetitive, there any many different relationships throughout the book and Linda shows you that it doesn’t matter how different you are from someone you can be friends or more.  However I felt as if Eva, Reese’s cousin’s role in the book didn’t really mean anything she could have not been in the book and it would have been exactly the same. Sarah, Mason’s sister on the other hand helped the progression of their relationship seeing Mason in a different environment, relaxing and the love he has for his family showing through was incredible.

I connected with both of the characters on a physical and emotional level and it’s one of the first times I fell in love with the leading lady as well as the man. I really liked Reese’s awkwardness but also abruptness and I was able to relate to that, I also liked being able to understand what was going on in her head, read her thoughts so to say. The vulnerability Mason shows to Reese had my heart aching throughout, I also liked how he would be able to put that wall back up straight away as if nothing had happened, it showed you even more how vulnerable and broken he is.

I really enjoyed this book, and therefore give it a 4* rating.

Undescribable, Shantel Tessier

Sam’s life was perfect; she has just moved from Dallas to St. Louis with her boyfriend Jax and made new best friends with Holly and Micah.

Slade is the ultimate playboy, sleeps with a different girl every night, in the corner of the bar, in the toilets anywhere it doesn't matter, but when Sam calls him looking for Jax his whole world changes.

I enjoy when the author writes from the point of view from the different characters, it gives you an insight into each of their thoughts and the reasoning behind their actions. So when I saw that Shantel Tessier had done this I was happy. I enjoyed the way Shantel had 3 main stages in her book, Larry’s the bar, Slade’s house and Slade and Micah’s parents’ house, these 3 stages contain drama, important talks and love shared.

What Shantel did which is different from a lot of books I have read is have the leading man (Slade) fall for Sam just by hearing her voice, getting mesmerized by the way she says his name over the phone. I also enjoyed the way they met, Slade inviting Sam to have a threesome with him and Ginger in the toilet of Larry’s without even knowing who she was – not the best footing for a relationship but it was really funny to read.

Now I do love a side story and this book had a couple, I enjoyed the relationship between Micah and Holly and liked how now and again it would pop up into the story in the right places and then after they had their happily ever after when Micah proposed there was another one that only got started between Josh and Courtney, which didn't progress much as it happened at the end of the book, but you can imagine it working out well for them.

Even though Sam and Slade’s relationship involved a lot of arguments it wasn't too repetitive as their arguments  led to mind consuming make up sex, and the details about the movements and the thoughts Shantel went into helped you get a real idea of the relationship between Sam and Slade.

In true Sam and Slade style when they said ‘I love you’ wasn't like your usual fairy-tale ‘I love you’ when Sam finally talks to her mother again she has to deal with losing her all over again when she dies, Sam has a break down and realizes that she can’t be without Slade, she doesn't want to lose him like she lost everyone else in her family, and even though she was trying to hide her love for him to protect herself she can’t hide it anymore.

The ending of the book surprised me, which I was happy about. Usually with these types of books it flashes forward a couple of months or a year and there’s a wedding or a baby between the two main characters. This book didn't do that, it ended with Slade saying ‘I’m ready to give her the world, starting with my last name’ yes that put the idea of a wedding in your mind, but you don’t see it and you don’t see all the other couples getting together and living happily ever after, you are able to make up the ending for the characters, which is great.

I really enjoyed reading this book and give it a 4* rating. 

Tall, Tatted and Tempting, Tammy Falkner

Kit was keeping secrets from everyone, but Logan was going to be her undoing.

Logan’s life was far from perfect, but as long as he had a girl in his bed at night he didn't care – until Kit came along and turned his life upside down.

This story is your classic happy ending romance story, it was good but not great – it had the potential to be so much better. I found that it was quite rushed it went from Kit wanting to get a tattoo, punching Logan in the face to sleeping in his bed and having feelings for him all in the space of 2 days. If Tammy Falkner made the story longer, included more about their back stories or their lives now before they met and took longer for them to get together I think the story could have been great.

That being said, I enjoyed the story line and I liked the twist of Logan being deaf as at the beginning you read from Logan’s point of view and you think he is just your standard cocky bad boy, but the twist of him not being able to hear grabbed my attention more than it would have if he wasn't, however I wish they focused more on Kit learning sign language for him when she can’t read more than just once and then her suddenly having learnt it.

I also enjoyed the twist of one of Logan’s brother’s having cancer, but again I think Kit calling her father after running away should have been lengthened as well as when Kit goes home and her mum suddenly wants to help her and there’s this country wide press conference.

This book is good, but should have been longer with a lot more explanation and detail. 

I give this book a 2* rating.

Escaping Me, Elizabeth Lee

Whitney has escaped her ex-boyfriend by spending the summer with her mum and sister. The last thing on her mind is a new guy so why does she keep bumping into Cole?

Cole got kicked out of his house by his brother and the last thing he wants is to draw attention to himself, so why did he help her?

When I read the reviews of this book, I thought this book was right down my street and I was right.

I was expecting the book to start with Whitney walking in on her ex-boyfriend in the middle of having sex with some random girl, but it didn't and too my surprise I was happy that it didn't as the way it started held my attention more because it was different. It started off with Whitney and Cole’s first encounter and from that moment I was hooked.

Whitney’s perfect looks and Cole's bad boy image I knew that they would be together and their sexual chemistry was insane. Though the book had a lot of drama and a lot of arguments between different characters it held my attention the entire way through and not once did I think it was repetitive.

This stories ending was different than most, as Cole was moving to Georgia to start up his own business Whitney was going to stick at the school she was already at and try at a 2 years of a long distance relationship, I like how neither of them were going to change their lives for each other until Whitney was able to transfer to a school in Georgia, you never see their relationship get that far you see them struggle as they have to do long distance for 4 months and see the strength of their relationship.

This book makes you think that no matter where you are both from and who or what gets in the way, love can conquer all if you let it.

I enjoyed this book a lot and will happily give it a 4* rating.