When my dirty mouth gets me in trouble: An apology and Jessica Park GIVEAWAY!!!

No, I'm not giving away Jessica Park, but my dirty mouth has got me down on my knees begging for forgiveness! And what better way to beg than to giveaway a free paperback copy of Left Drowning, Flat-Out-Love, and Flat-Out-Matt!!

So what exactly did my mouth do??

Well, I was completely and totally honored and beyond enamored when Jessica Park offered me an ARC of Left Drowning and asked me to review it. I was humbled. I was thrilled. I was ass backward and damn excited. I love me some Jessica Park!

I said YES, obviously.

I had my review posted on goodreads before it went live, and planned on publishing it to Amazon as soon as I could. Once it was released, Jessica even kindly asked that we get our reviews up on Amazon as soon as we could. I believe my exact reply was, "I will do it as soon as I get home from work!."

Home from work came and I published my review to Amazon...yay me!

As y'all know, Amazon has stricter limitations on what can and can't be said in reviews. Often times I get the "your review could not be posted" notice from Amazon. Saying what I want to say without using dirty words is hard dammit! However, I totally understand the policy because some people out there would abuse the dirty word freedom and make us dirty word pacifists look bad. So every time I publish a new review to Amazon, I hold my breath, cross all my parts, and pray.

After publishing my Left Drowning review, I did not get my "you have a dirty mouth" notification from Amazon. Success!!

Ummmm...no.

I just realized today that my review never went live (I think it was the vagina)! I do not blame Amazon at all! I should have double checked to make sure it did go live. This one's on me. Jessica Park gave me a gift and I totally dropped the ball, I dropped it hard!

First off, I must sincerely apologize to Jessica Park! I screwed up, and am truly sorry! Second, I am going to have a JP giveaway. One lucky winner will win paperback copies of Left Drowning, Flat-Out-Love, and Flat-Out-Matt. Yep, all three (will ship anywhere in the US). Enter using rafflecopter below.

All you have to do is "like" Jessica Park on facebook and you're entered. I also have a few ways to earn bonus entries. I've also reposted my review of Left Drowning (the dirty version) and a blast from the past, my review of Flat-Out-Love. My reviews have definitely evolved over the years, lol!!

I hope y'all enjoy Jessica Park as much as I do!

READ ON!

Left Drowning by Jessica Park
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

If two vaginas could mate; I'd probably just go ahead and have Jessica Park's babies...

Jessica Park knows a lot, but the one thing that she knows better than anyone else is dialogue. It's what made me absolutely fall in love with her in Flat-Out-Love (hence the vagina mating). She's random in a way that makes perfect sense, and she makes me laugh...a lot!

Her fingers form dialogue better than any mouth I'ver heard, and her fingers pleasure better than any mouth I've ever experienced. Wait....ummmm, yeah. Lets just say her words and dialogue kick ass. In Flat-Out-Love it was her random hilarity and wit that had me begging for more. In Left Drowning, the wit returns but her dialogue begins to diversify into something...something, more! Something HOT! Several times she leaves me completely shocked with my "did she really just go there" thoughts. Hell yeah she did. The queen of words just made me squirm.

I have to stop right here and express my undying love for Sabin. Sabin is the equivalent to that moment right after you've had just enough to drink. The moment right before you've had too much. The moment where you love everything, laugh at nothing, and in that moment you feel warm. Sabin is that warmth. He is that laughter. He is that moment. That boy needs his own book dammit!!

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I instantly fell in love with Left Drowning...because I didn't. If we must put a star label on it, I was bouncing back and forth somewhere between three and four stars. It was a good book, a really good book. And seeing the story through the eyes of other readers, I know people will absolutely fall in love with it, but....

I had to bathe in my own thoughts before I got to that point.

My issues were minimal, but seemed to have a significant impact on the book initially. I think my biggest issue was the scene at the lake where Chris and Blythe first meet. To me, the whole situation was awkward, random, and a little too much too soon. Nothing against Jessica Park herself, but I've always had issues with insta-love in books. This whole scene was insta-everything. It was hard for me to read, but then again that's more about my personal preference and not necessarily a writing flaw. I just couldn't get past the too much too soon with their first meet, and I didn't feel the instant connection. I just didn't feel it.

I think getting hit hard so early with what is suppose to be the foundation of Chris and Blythe's relationship kind of threw me off, but I eventually got back on track.

What almost derailed me again later was that so much started to happen. Almost too much drama, too much story. They were all broken dealing with personal issues, which is why they all beautifully fit together, but it was almost too much at times. Too much going on. It made it hard to feel too deeply because my emotions were spread so thin. Plus, sometimes I am a total book cynic. The random coincidences bordered on the line of unrealistic. Meeting Sabin and Chris so close together, the scars, both being at the hotel. Chris being, well...Chris. I tried to feel the romance and fate of it all, but my cynicism kept showing. Damn me!

A book doesn't have to be perfect in order to find something amazing between the pages...

I did end up finding something amazing between the pages. I know I'm appearing to be a bit bipolar concerning my feeling towards Left Drowning, but it wasn't a book I could just read and instantly know how I felt about it. It took weeks of letting it marinate in order to get my thoughts and feelings in order. It's a book that made me see everything.

I saw this book as a five star book, but I also saw it as a three star book. I saw what I didn't like, and I saw what I wanted it to be. I saw the heart of Jessica Park in the writing, and in the dialogue. And despite the weighted intensity of the emotions created by the multiple character issues, I felt it. I felt the emotions. I felt the heat. I found an unconditional respect for a book that despite its imperfections, got under my skin.

I was surprised by the heat and intensity of the moments between Chris and Blythe. Jessica Park definitely pushed the sexual boundaries in a way that highlights her writing diversity. She wasn't afraid to talk about the things that....shhhhhh, we're not suppose to talk about. She also wrote an amazing group of characters. Did I mention Sabin?? Did I mention this book is something different?

I decided to round up to four stars and also say that despite some not so perfect parts, readers will definitely go a little nuts over Left Drowning. You will get the Jessica Park wit that we've grown to know and love, but also something you didn't necessarily know that you were looking for.


Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagle likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother's? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn't supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she's never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection.

But here's the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations—it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed.

This book is flat out amazing (pun definitely intended)!!! I was so in love with the characters and their witty banter. The dialogue was absolutely phenomenal; the story will have you laughing, crying, and dropping your jaw to the floor in a huge OMG turn of events. The genre was in a category unto itself. You have your teenage/highschool YA fiction or your thirties plus romance/self discovery novels. It was refreshing to finally have a book about the time in which you are transitioning from young adult to adult! I love everything about this book; it is one you will re-read over and over again! Sequel???Yes please!!!!

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