Soulmates, Holly Bourne

Amazon USA

Amazon UK 

Poppy is a 17 year old who doesn’t believe in love.

Noah is a heartthrob guitarist sleeping with women to fill a void.

I haven’t cried at a book in a long time, but the ending of this book broke my heart, I cried. I cried for the love that couldn’t continue and the love that had such potential. It is such a beautiful book and an amazing love story.

At the beginning I wasn’t took fussed about this book, Poppy seemed to annoy me because she was such a cynic; she hated clichés and the ‘norm’. She moaned a lot, especially about where she lived in ‘Middletown’ but as the book went on and she met Noah she got less annoying. I am not sure if it’s because her character changed so drastically and she became a cliché or if it was because I loved Noah.

From the Noah appeared in the book I loved him, he wasn’t afraid to tell Poppy how he felt even though she could throw it back in his face, he wasn’t scared of this unseen force pulling them together, he embraced it and wanted to be with Poppy, he loved her.

The friendship between Poppy and Ruth got on my nerves, I found myself kept wanting to shout at Poppy to just stop being friends with her; she was so snobby and slutty. Throwing herself at Noah in front of Will and Poppy was really low, but Poppy would just let it slide and I never understood why.

The ending of this book shocked me, I thought this would be a classic Young Adult love story and they’d live happily ever after, but I was so wrong. They were torn apart, unable to stay together because of what their love was doing to the world, the freak weather and power outages. I cried, I felt like their love was so strong and should have been able to overcome anything, but the one thing they couldn’t do was sacrifice the world so they could be together, and it was heart wrenching. Reading the letter Noah wrote to Poppy at the end honestly broke my heart, I woke up after reading this book feeling drained – honestly had a book hangover.

I enjoyed the storyline of this book, even though Poppy's character was annoying, it was well written. A real love story. I give this book a 3.5* rating.

Waiting on Wednesday 7

Only one 'WoW' this week

hosted by Breaking the Spine

Pretty Little Things, Teresa Mummert

Coming March 11, 2014

Annie grew up with a warped family who didn't shelter her from the horrors of the world. In fact, they threw it at her feet.

When she meets a boy who shows her affection shew struggles with feelings she had never experienced before. But her family is not willing to let her go easily.

Even if Annie is able to escape their control, the damage done to her will haunt her for the rest of her life.

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COVER REVEAL & TEASER

Whats Left Of Me, Amanda Maxlyn

Book Summary

Life works in mysterious ways.

Four years ago I became known as the girl with cancer.

I refuse to cry.

And I refuse to give in.

A relationship with a man is the last thing I’m looking for right now, but one night with Parker changes everything. He is persistent, and he knows what he wants. Me.

He doesn’t treat me like I’m fragile.

But he doesn’t know, and I’m not ready to tell him.

What if it changes everything?
Tragedy found me when I was seventeen.

Love found me when I was twenty-one.
My name is Aundrea McCall, and this is my journey.  

Teaser

I’m grateful when I reach the door to the ladies room that there isn’t anyone around. I reach for the handle when I hear from behind me, “Not going to use the men’s room again?” I know that sexy voice. It’s the same one as earlier this evening in this same area.

With my heart picking up pace, I turn around smiling sweetly, “No, I’m going to sit down and pee this time.” My smile spreads a little wider and I say a silent thanks to sweet baby Jesus for letting me find my voice this time.

He doesn’t respond. He just steps closer to me with the corner of his lips spreading upward.

I don’t breathe.

I can’t breathe. Not when he is this close.

God he smells amazing. Like a mixture of spice and mint. Maybe a hint of beer too. It's the type of scent that would awaken a primal desire within any female, and good God do I feel awakened.

“You ran off before I could thank you for the dance earlier.” No, thank you. His voice is a faint whisper and his face is now so close that our noses are almost touching. I glance down at his very attractive red lips just as the corners of his mouth move up into the most beautiful smile. Shit. He knows I’m looking at his lips.

I’m transfixed by him. In this very moment, I would do whatever he said or answer to any name he called; even if it was one of those fluffy names like baby or princess. All I can think about is the desire flowing through my body for those lips to be on mine. I would take him in this hallway. There I said it. Or, did I think it?

Do something.

Anything!

I look back at his lips. 

Fear of Falling, S.L. Jennings

Kami had her two best friends, they were her family. She didn’t need anyone else and in her eyes it wasn’t worth it, the pain of seeing them hurt when she couldn’t return their feelings.

Blaine has just got his life on track, owning Dive, he’s moved on from the playboy he used to be and is now just trying to survive.

I must say after reading some of the reviews for this book I was disappointed. I thought it was going to be amazing, and it had the potential to be, the storyline was a good one. However I found it so repetitive. And Blaine’s nickname for Kami was so fitting ‘Roadrunner’ because that’s what she spent the whole book doing, running away from her feelings, running away from her fears, running from her father.

I liked Blaine’s character but at the same time thought he was a bit silly sticking around trying to ‘save’ this girl he didn’t even know, she didn’t let him in enough to be able to love her in my eyes, all she did was push him away and he was always there when she came to her senses and came back to him, which I found was unrealistic.

I don’t even know where to start with Kami’s character, there was so much potential to make her character great, to show the reader how you can grow and change your life with the right people around you. But Kami’s character to me just seemed too weak, to scared, didn’t care whether she lived or died and I didn’t like that.

The ending of the book when it only took her 3 months after her father attacked her one last time, to finally get her life on track was a little farfetched. If anything she should have been more broken then she was at the beginning because it was a new opened wound, but she just got on with her life, living happily without Blaine after she sent him away, it just didn’t really add up to me. She had spent the whole book being broken and unable to love and be loved and she got over that so quickly without any help and after an attack that should have ruined her.

I feel that S.L. Jennings had such a good story line, but failed to make it as good as it could have been. I give this book a 1.5* rating.

Freebie 3

Choices, Sydney Lane

USA Link: http://www.amazon.com/Choices-ebook/dp/B00DK7EGCI

UK link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Choices-ebook/dp/B00DK7EGCI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379504093&sr=1-1&keywords=choices+sydney+lane

Fate brought her here, but will her choices destory her dreams?

Quincy Priest made all the right choices in her small town, black-and-white life. But being perfect is tiring. So. Very. Tiring.

Wanting desperately to step out of her sisters shadow, Quincy jumps at the opportunity to attend college with her best friend. The quiet bookworm with family secrets comes out of her shell. But when Quincy meets not one, but two perfect guys, she has to make a choice. In doing so, she might forfeit the relationship she secretly longed to find.

Declan. Sweet, handsome, and perfect. He makes her feel cherished for the first time in her life.

Brody. Sexy, hot and irresistible. He could tear down her carefully built walls. 

Before she can become the woman she wants to be, Quincy will make mistakes. And suffer one unimaginable loss.

The Impact of You, Kendall Ryan

Trying to keep her past in the past, Avery has spent the most recent years of her life trying to stay in the background, being unnoticed by everyone, that is until she stumbles across Jase at a frat party.

Jase likes women and sex, commitment is the last thing on his mind. But his life is thrown upside when his mum tries to commit suicide, showing him not to take things for granted, so when he sees Avery at a frat party standing out like a sore thumb, he can’t stop himself, he needs to know her.  

After reading reviews for this book and hearing all the hype about it, I was so excited to finally read it and I must say I was far from disappointed. At the beginning of the book I thought we were going to have to wait until Jase found out what Avery was hiding before we did, but Kendall sneakily dropped hints throughout the book about what was going on with Avery or as Jase calls her “Whistle” and it helped with the suspense of when Jase was going to find out.

I liked Jase’s character that we never got to see his ‘bad boy’ days so to us the reader he was always the Jase we got to meet, the loving and caring person. The boy that made your heart race and stop at the same time with his kindness and forwardness.

I felt as if Kendall wrote Avery’s character really well, you really could see her insecurities and her doubting herself, there were no moments where suddenly Avery would be strong, like in some books, this was a gradual thing, which was helped along by Jase being her ‘life coach.’

I felt the story line for this book was different to some, with a sex scandal and an attempted suicide, but also the same in some ways as there was a love triangle and arguments, but all that makes for get reading. The first few sex scenes had me wanting Avery to let Jase carry on because I was so into the books, but I am glad that she didn’t because I felt as if when they finally got to have sex, it completed the book without there having to be a ‘happily ever after ending’ that and Avery getting on the fact she took nude pictures of herself and they went around her school. 

Her and Jase are together and it hasn’t been easy them getting there and it probably won’t be easy after that, but that’s life and I feel that Kendall wrote the ending as if it would happen in everyday life, no false hopes just reality. 

Jase stole my heart and I give this book a 4* rating.
I am excited to read more books by Kendall Ryan

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.

Marked, Elisabeth Naughton

Casey has been living her life for 27 years without anything interesting happening and then within moments of meeting Theron it all changes.

Theron prides himself on his loyalty and doing the jobs his king has set for him, being an Argonaut was his life but when he meets Acacia he thinks that he’s found his soul mate.

I love reading books based around Greek Mythology like the Starcrossed series by Josephine Angelini and the Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout so if I don’t like the first couple of a book I won’t carry it on knowing I won’t be hooked from the beginning. I must say Elisabeth Naughton’s Marked didn’t disappoint. Like most Greek Mythology books for Young Adults it is based not around the gods itself but a breed of people in-between Gods and humans.

Although Marked may be a short book it did not lack details and descriptions about the characters and places along the journey. I enjoyed the relationship between Theron and Casey and the constant battle Theron had with himself for him to do the thing he thought was right, Acacia was his soul mate so he couldn’t let her meet her sister so she could die. And the constant battle Theron faced with Casey being human and him having feelings for a human was unheard of, but when he found out she was a misos (half-breed)is even more unheard of as most of the Argoleans even know they exist. But he believed she was his soul mate and his love for her kept growing even with him fighting it.  

I enjoyed the fact that each individual character had their own background story which leads on to the follow up books that go on following another set of characters around as Theron and Casey have managed to get their happily ever after at the end of that story. Although they will appear in the other books they won’t be the prominent characters.

The sexual chemistry between Theron and Casey is hard to ignore, you get a feel for it the first time they meet, the sensations that run through Casey’s body, the dream Theron has after his attack. The way each touch between them is described will make everyone woman want to be in Casey’s position under Theron’s muscly body.

I liked how the book was rounded up and how towards the end Hades made an appearance to ‘fix’ everything but also cause trouble that would provide him entertainment as well as give Elisabeth a way to carry on writing this series.

I really enjoyed reading this book and give it a 4* rating. I look forward to reading Zander's story in the next book of the Eternal Guardians series, I give this book a 3* 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.

College Girl, Shelia Grace

Alexis Reed has learnt to disconnect herself from feeling anything like love after her father walked out on her for a life of drugs and alcohol.

After losing his brother in a car accident Ryan Bennett never wanted to have the fear of losing someone again, so he never got close enough to let it happen.

This story gripped my attention from the beginning, watching Alex fall in love with someone who spent the whole book trying to fight his feelings for her and seeing her experience new feelings she didn’t know her body could feel. Although parts of it were a bit repetitive as Ryan kept leaving her, because he believed he was not good enough for her and Alex constantly getting herself into helpless situations.

The whole ‘forbidden love’ angle wasn’t played out as much as I thought it was going to be with Ryan being Alex’s Calculus TA which I enjoyed; they focused much more on the age gab and insecurities of both of the main characters.

Although I enjoyed the book, I was disappointed in the ending. Throughout the book Alex kept bringing up how she wanted her ‘happy ending’ and Shelia Grace gave her, her happy ending by Ryan proposing to her and of course she said yes. I knew the book was going to end happily, but I thought the ending was a little bit hard to believe in a real life situation as it happened after Ryan had again left her with a note after a night together saying “Don’t wait for me.”

I would recommend this book to any YA book reader, giving it a 4* rating.