Reviewing: Upside Down

Upside Down

By: Lia Riley

What It's About!

If You Never Get Lost, You’ll Never Be Found

Twenty-one-year-old Natalia Stolfi is saying good-bye to the past-and turning her life upside down with a trip to the land down under. For the next six months, she'll act like a carefree exchange student, not a girl sinking under the weight of painful memories. Everything is going according to plan until she meets a brooding surfer with hypnotic green eyes and the troubling ability to see straight through her act.

Bran Lockhart is having the worst year on record. After the girl of his dreams turned into a nightmare, he moved back home to Melbourne to piece his life together. Yet no amount of disappointment could blind him to the pretty California girl who gets past all his defenses. He's never wanted anyone the way he wants Talia. But when Bran gets a stark reminder of why he stopped believing in love, he and Talia must decide if what they have is once in a lifetime . . . or if they were meant to live a world apart.

My Thoughts!

I received this book through NetGalley in turn for an honest review.

This book was a good summer read. No I probably won't read it again, but it kept me interested and had a good flow. I liked the author's style. I liked Bran's character. He was rough around the edges and saw deep into Natalia. Called her out on her bull crap. We all need that from a guy from time to time. =)

Reviewing: Head-Heart

Head-Heart

By: Olivia Besse

What It's About!

Formerly entitled Etoile.


From afar, Elodie Marais is just a typical 19-year old girl roughing it in Manhattan. She hates her job, her love life sucks and she's totally getting ripped off by her landlord. Like most of her starry-eyed peers, she'll do anything for the Triple P's—Prada, a Promotion and the elusive Perfect Boyfriend. But Elodie and her friends aren't your average new adults who are bored to tears by their uninspiring lives—they're fashion models. 

Just as she's starting to make waves in the modelling world, two very different men vie for her doe-eyed attention. She may get Prada, she may even get that promotion, but maybe finding the perfect boyfriend was going to be more complicated than she thought.

My Thoughts!

I received this book through NetGalley in turn for an honest review.

Boy am I going to be honest...
I didn't like the book at all. It is very hard for me to rate a book a 1. This one...I had no problem with. I didn't respect nor like the character. You would think having such a difficult upbringing being raised in an orphanage in a foreign country would make someone more appreciative for the better things in life. All I heard throughout the book from Elodie was complaining. She did drugs. She didn't live a healthy lifestyle. Instead of eating she smoked cigarettes and drank coffee. I don't think that is a good example as to what a heroine is supposed to be. Maybe my expectations are too high. The boys were also nothing exceptional. Tyler was needy and full of himself. While James, was controlling and obsessed with his job. I don't think Elodie deserved to be with either one of the guys. I didn't like her personality at all. I will not be reading any more of this series nor would I refer it to anyone. A total waste of my time. I have never came so close as to putting down a book and quitting mid read. So aggravating. 

Reviewing: Dare To Kiss

Dare To Kiss

By: S.B. Alexander

What It's About!

Besides her family, Lacey Robinson’s only other love is baseball. She’s on top of the world when Arizona State University approaches her to discuss a scholarship. To be the first girl ever to grace a college boys’ team is beyond what she has ever dreamed.

Her fastball is impeccable, her curveball equally as good, and her slider annihilates anyone who dares to step in the batter’s box. But fate has its own way of throwing curveballs. When she looses her mother and sister to a home invasion, baseball and her dreams die with them. Tragedy has a way of seeping deep into her psyche, causing nightmares, panic attacks and blackouts. Diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, her psychiatrist recommends a change of scenery and picking up the things that she loved to do, and for Lacey that is baseball.

After a move clear across the country, only two things matter to Lacey—overcome her PTSD and make Kensington High’s baseball team. But trying out for the team comes with obstacles—the captain, Aaron Seever, doesn’t want a girl on the team.

Her life is further complicated when she meets Kade Maxwell, a tall, sexy and drool-worthy bad boy who has a magical touch that awakens her feminine side and a kiss that slowly erases her nightmares. But getting involved with him may be dangerous when Kade’s archenemy returns to town to settle a vendetta.

To complicate matters, her PTSD has taken a turn for the worse. She has to find a way to heal otherwise she may not have a chance at anything in life, especially love.

My Thoughts!

I received this book through Net Galley in turn for an honest review.

It's important to know that the reason this book got a three star rating was because of Kade and his brothers. I liked reading about them. Lacey not so much...like at all. I get that she went through a tragedy that will haunt her for the rest of her life, but come on. She was not a very pleasant person. Drama didn't follow her everywhere she went. Her actions and personality strung that along. She was very self centered and acted like everyone owed her something. Especially when it came to baseball. (The whole five minutes that any baseball was written in.) So much for judging a book by it's cover. I wouldn't have chosen her for the team, for her lack of respect, punctuality, and lack of dedication and skill. I did not like her. I didn't bond with her through reading. I wasn't rooting for her to succeed in baseball or her relationship with Kade. To be quite frank he deserved better.

Speaking of Kade. I found her to have more chemistry with Kelton than with him. Weird. They just didn't fit to me. Maybe it was the whole polar bear thing. Or the fact that he let her treat him like crap and kissed her butt throughout the book that got me. On numerous occasions I told him to grow a pair.

The murder of her mother and sister was a huge part of the book, but we never found out what happened to them. That bugged me. Also I found her father to be really absent and secretive. I'm thinking something illegal is going on with that one.

I don't think I'll continue to read the rest of the series. Especially after I found that book 2 was just a continued story of Kade and Lacey. Just not my cup of tea.

Reviewing: Broken

Broken

By: M.L. Young

What It's About!

Bailey Wrenn is a small town girl with a big back story. Her mother left when she was young, leaving her in the care of an out of touch alcoholic father that barely noticed her existence. After trudging through life with no clear direction, she begins to wonder if she needs to leave this scarred memory of a town behind and finally move on. When Bailey hears from her friend Julie that life in Chicago is great and she should come out sometime, she takes that open invitation, and comes to visit her old friend with no idea of when she’s going to leave.

One night, after Julie drags her from the apartment to see a local fight, she sees Kyle, a mysterious MMA fighter with a winning streak and an elusive personality. He doesn’t talk to anybody after his fights, and disappears faster than Bailey can blink. One day during a chance encounter filling out job applications, Bailey runs into Kyle at his work, and the electricity between them is bright enough to light up the city.

It’s only when they begin to get close, though, that things are turned upside down. An old boyfriend and a brutal and devastating past makes Bailey believe she can’t be close to another man ever again, even if he seems perfect. She feels alone. She’s broken. 

My Thoughts!

I received this book through Net Galley in turn for an honest review..

I was very generous to give this book a three star rating. The only reason it got a three was because it kept me interested to read it quickly.

Kyle and Bailey were boring! There was no chemistry. No passion. They never argued..no problems. Too storybook unbelievable perfect. I didn't believe it. I didn't buy their love.

There was quite a lengthy memory sequence where Bailey remembers her mother leaving and we never really got any answers as far as where her mom went and why. That bugged me. It also irked my nerves that her dad was a pretty serious alcoholic, then all of the sudden got his life together when she left. Bull (cough cough) crap. If you're going to paint us the dark picture of her father failing as a parent due alcoholism and scaring her enough to run...maybe she should be human in it taking a little more than a phone call to mend a broken relationship. She was too quick to forgive in my personal opinion.

I didn't really care for Bailey. I found her to be whiny and poor pitiful me throughout the read. It was always about her. It just wasn't my kind of read all around. I won't read it again and I wouldn't refer it to others. Just my opinion...

Reviewing: The Siren

The Siren

By: Kiera Cass

What It's About!

"You must never do anything that might expose our secret. This means that, in general, you cannot form close bonds with humans. You can speak to us, and you can always commune with the Ocean, but you are deadly to humans. You are, essentially, a weapon. A very beautiful weapon. I won't lie to you, it can be a lonely existence, but once you are done, you get to live. All you have to give, for now, is obedience and time..." 

The same speech has been given hundreds of times to hundreds of beautiful girls who enter the sisterhood of sirens. Kahlen has lived by these rules for years now, patiently waiting for the life she can call her own. But when Akinli, a human, enters her world, she can't bring herself to live by the rules anymore. Suddenly the life she's been waiting for doesn't seem nearly as important as the one she's living now.

My Thoughts!

I usually get caught up with reading and reviewing...not so much selecting a book through my own choosing. Any who! I really enjoyed Kiera Cass's previous book series. (The Selection) So when I saw that she wrote a book about Sirens I got all giggly.My daughter Loralei's name description means siren. I love mermaids. Sirens. All that stuff. A little too much compared to others. Okay, I'd trade these legs for a fin in a heart beat...I won't lie. So aside from my weird fascination with the creatures this book was a great read. I'd pay for it again. I'd read it again. I'd suggest it to others. It does have a different feel to it compared to the Selection series. It's more serious. A bit more dark. If a reader knows what a siren is, it shouldn't come surprising that it would be dark. This isn't a little mermaid book where the heroine is combing her hair with a fork daydreaming. She has a second chance at life, because of the ocean. She has a debt of years of service to pay and the sisterly bonds of the siren sisterhood is the only relationship allowed. This book was so much deeper and bigger than what I imagined. Just when you think you have it figured out another story unfolds. Put it on your To-read list. Read it before the summer is over. You won't regret it!

Reviewing: Cracks In The Armor

Cracks In The Armor

By: Helena Hunting

What It's About!

Chris, a sexy tattoo artist, tries to win the heart of Sarah, a grad student with little interest in him, in this second e-short and follow-up to Helena Hunting’s gripping love story, Clipped Wings—“twisted, dark, incredibly erotic…a love story like no other” (USA TODAY bestselling author Alice Clayton).

Part owner of the Chicago tattoo shop Inked Armor, Chris Zelter is a talented artist who decorates skin with gorgeous designs. He might look the part of the typical jacked-up, inked-up bad-boy, but underneath is a fiercely loyal, complicated man. Kicked out at sixteen, Chris has had to fend for himself for the last twelve years, making his Inked Armor crew as much family as they are business partners. For him, it’s enough—until he meets Sarah Adamson.

A grad student waitressing at the local strip club, Sarah is used to propositions and crude comments. The job is a means to an end—finish her MBA, pay off the tuition loans, and get a good job. Then she won’t have to rely on anyone to take care of her. So when brawny, tatted up Chris begins hanging out at the club, she rebuffs his advances. At first. But Chris isn’t like her usual clientele: despite his hard exterior, he’s almost…sweet.

Sometimes, the people with the roughest edges have the biggest hearts.

My Thoughts!

I received this book through NetGalley in turn for an honest review.

It takes a lot to make me rate a book 1 star. I just couldn't bring myself to give this book two stars. Where or where to begin. I understand that it is a novella, but it was super short. I've read longer. This book needed to be longer. I get that it's a part of a series and there was one or so book ahead of it and I was jumping in, but the amount of confusion I had reading this book was maddening. You have to catch the reader up more. Write every book with the intention of speaking and teaching the reader about the story as if they jump in mid series every time. I was so frustrated I wanted to put the book down, but I make it a rule not to do that. Once I start a book, no matter how horrible, I finish it. It's odd to me that the story is about Chris and Sarah's love, but you start the book having them already together. No Romantic detail. In fact when I started the book. I wasn't rooting for Sarah at all. I was waiting for Chris to break up with her. She was so whiny. Not the strong heroine I look for in a female character. Chris wasn't sure where there relationship was going and how Sarah felt, and I have to say I wasn't either! I will say the clip of Tenley and Hayden's story caught my interest, but I'm so scared to even go there..

Reviewing: Carnelian

Carnelian

By: B. Kristin McMichael

What It's About!

Everyone has a past, but for most it isn’t as long ago as Seth Sangre. His past is literally thousands of years ago. Seth’s life led him to the present seeking something that might help him save his country from destruction. He has been in the present for over three years now and just found exactly what he has been looking for.

Mari had dreams that college will be a fresh start, one where she would start over and not fall for the good looking player like high school. Unfortunately for her, that’s exactly what ends up falling into her lap on the first day she moves into the dorms. Now she has to hold to her promise to herself and not fall for the handsome Seth. But he doesn’t plan to make it easy for her. Seth has already marked her as his next conquest. As the semester progresses, Mari learns that Seth might just have a life of his own that’s actually from the past. Suddenly Mari finds her future along with her past put into question. She’s connected to Seth far more than she ever wanted to be and maybe the player isn’t who she thought he was. If Mari can trust her heart enough to follow him, Seth will lead Mari on an adventure of a lifetime and reveal family secrets she never knew existed.

My Thoughts!

I received this book through Net Galley in turn for an honest review.

I wasn't sure about this book at first, but I ended up liking it. It kept me interested. No I wouldn't read it over again. I didn't find any quotes that stuck with me to keep, but it was a good light read. Mari did put up a fight falling for Seth but gave in like we knew she would. The whole time travel Egyptian thing was interesting. A lot of questions went unanswered, but that is the catch in the first book of a series. The want for more! I think there is more to the story of Mari and Dee. The Goddess was pretty clear that Seth & Mari may not necessarily end up together. I also had a sickening feeling that somehow Seth's father and Mari's mother had something going on in the past life. I just hope Seth and Mari don't end up as brother and sister, because that would be sickeningly awkward...