Showing posts with label 4 Stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4 Stars. Show all posts

Monday, August 1, 2016

IT ENDS WITH US by Colleen Hoover: Review & GIVEAWAY!


IT ENDS WITH US
BY COLLEEN HOOVER
"Colleen Hoover reminds readers that love is a fragile thing, built from courage, hope, and tears. Every person with a heartbeat should read this book."
– Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Visit www.ItEndsWithUsBook.com for teasers, tour dates and more.

ABOUT IT ENDS WITH US:
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened. 

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters, It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

MY REVIEW: 
4 of 5 stars

 This book will linger...

It's an ironic title, "It Ends With Us." Its fancier than ironic; its incongruous, a paradox. This story will do anything but end. This book will linger. It's like tiny grains of sand you find in random places weeks after you return from the beach. It's a thought you have as soon as you wake up, but aren't even aware you're having it. And then once you realize it, everything comes crashing down. 

It will linger leaving an aftertaste of hurt, confusion, happiness, sadness. You'll want so badly to be happy. You should be happy. You're suppose to be happy. The ending was happy. It was. Right? 

It was ambivalent. 

From the very first scene at the restaurant, I knew where this story was headed, and I was scared. I was terrified. Some people have anticipatory anxiety. I had anticipatory emotions. However, what I didn't expect was the link created between my emotions and that of the victim. I didn't want to see the ugly truth. Even in this moment, my heart still clinches so tightly to the good, the excuses echoing in the back of my mind. It brought me to a level of understanding that I never wanted to experience. I wasn't just a reader looking in, I was caught right in the middle of wanting something that I knew I shouldn't. Those wants still haunt me, the "buts" the "what ifs." I'm weaker than Lily because I still haven't let it go. It's like being caught in a storm of desperate rationalization. 

Part of me wishes I could have been more invested in the relationship between Lily and Atlas; there was so much depth to this story that could have been explored. I honestly feel they needed an entire book just to develop their foundation. It was difficult not being able to experience their story first hand. I think maybe that's why I was able to invest so much more into Lily and Ryle. Or maybe this was just how things were suppose to be. Maybe this is why it's so painful. So real.

I wouldn't call this book a love triangle, but two relationships paralleling each other. The names of the characters were a little distracting at first, but are overshadowed later by an emotionally poignant love story. Two different types of love stories. Love in a way you haven't experienced before.

This book pulled me out of my comfort zone, and won't easily be forgotten. 

READ ON!!



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Slammed, This Girl, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, Maybe Someday, Ugly Love, Maybe Not, and Confess. She lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. Please visit ColleenHoover.com.

FIND COLLEEN ONLINE: 
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Grab your copy of IT ENDS WITH US:
Kobo











 THE GIVEAWAY
 #ItEndsWithUs 

Enter the Rafflecopter  to win a signed copy of IT ENDS WITH US and a limited edition Everything’s Better in Boston magnet (trust us, you’ll get it after you read the book)! (3 prize bundles in total) Contest is open until August 26th. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

TOUR DATES

BOSTON, MA
Tuesday, August 2nd
BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH
7:00 PM
279 Harvard Street
Brookline, MA 02446

MADISON, NJ
Wednesday, August 3rd
SHORT STORIES COMMUNITY BOOK HUB
7:00 PM
23 Main Street
Madison, NJ 07940

NEW YORK, NY
Thursday, August 4th
STRAND BOOK STORE
7:00 PM
828 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

CINCINNATI, OH
Friday, August 5th
JOSEPH-BETH BOOKSELLERS
7:00 PM
2692 Madison Road
Cincinnati, OH 45208

CHICAGO, IL
Saturday, August 6th
ANDERSON’S BOOKSHOP
2:00 PM
Meiley-Swallow Hall
On the campus of North
Central College 31 S Ellsworth Street
Naperville, IL  60540

LOS ANGELES, CA
Sunday, August 7th
CHEVALIER’S BOOKS
6:30 PM
126 N. Larchmont Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90004

PHOENIX, AZ
Monday, August 8th
CHANGING HANDS BOOKSTORE
7:00 PM
6428 S. McClintock Drive
Tempe, AZ 85283

HOUSTON, TX
Tuesday, August 9th
BARNES & NOBLE – Town & Country
7:00 PM
12850 Memorial Drive
Houston, TX 77024

DALLAS, TX
Wednesday, August 10th 
HALF PRICE BOOKS
7:00 PM
5803 E. Northwest Hwy
Dallas, TX 75231 
www.halfpricebooks.com

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Monday, November 9, 2015

NOVEMBER 9 BLOG TOUR: Enter for a chance to win one of five prize bundles!!



NOVEMBER NINE
BY COLLEEN HOOVER

"November 9 is yet another breathtaking novel by Colleen Hoover that's full of blushing, gushing, and heartache. I loved every page and breathed in every beautiful word."
—Anna Todd, Author of the After series

Visit (here) for teasers, tour dates and more.

November 9November 9 by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

ABOUT NOVEMBER NINE:
Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day of her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

Can Ben’s relationship with Fallon—and simultaneously his novel—be considered a love story if it ends in heartbreak?

ORDER NOVEMBER 9:
Kobo

MY REVIEW:
From the very first chapter, I knew this book was going to be something special. I applaud Colleen Hoover for broadening her writing talent over the years, trying new things, but as I read November 9 I was pulled back to the beginning. The very beginning. I felt this book contained the essence that has been the foundation her fantastic career has been built upon. She knows how to simplify complexities with innate attention to detail and an unrivaled ability to see the beauty in all things. I spent so much time highlighting whole passages, single lines, fragments....it was inspiring. It may not be like anything she's ever written before, but it is exactly what we've come to expect from Colleen Hoover. Palpable emotions, anger, love. This book has the ability to strip the reader bare, exposing everything. Leaving everything, and staying with you for a very long time. You need to read November 9 with a clean mind. Go in blind. Go in ready. Colleen Hoover novels aren't meant to be described; they're meant to be felt, and I felt every single word. With such high praise, the only reason I couldn't rate this novel five stars was due to the dramatized plot twist. The Ben twist. As I type this, I'm still not exactly sure how I can verbalize why the new realizations effected my overall feelings of the book, I just know that it was a pivotal moment where things did change. I know I will be the minority on this, but I almost felt the book lost something with the plot twist. I think every feel, every experience that was felt up until that point would have been just as perfect without it. Perhaps my emotions just peaked too soon. Perhaps I'm just weird. Regardless, a book doesn't have to be perfect to me to be perfect for you and this book definitely has the potential to be just that. Perfect.

 READ ON!





















 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Slammed, This Girl, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, Maybe Someday, Ugly Love, Maybe Not, and Confess. She lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys.

FIND COLLEEN ONLINE:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

NOW FOR THE FUN....THE #NOVEMBER9 CONTEST!
Enter the Rafflecopter to win a prize bundle of one signed copy of NOVEMBER 9 and a pair of #November9 sunglasses! (5 prize bundles in total) Contest is open until November 30th.

Use one of the teasers (here)



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Monday, August 10, 2015

That Baby by Jillian Dodd: Review and GIVEAWAY!

That Baby by Jillian Dodd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Links:
iBooks
Kobo
Amazon

 It’s amazing how a few little words can change your life. 
It starts with a simple I love you. 
It’s made official with I do.
And becomes incredible with I’m pregnant.
Jadyn is the girl I love. The girl I’ve always loved. 
Our lives are like single threads meticulously woven together—the result an exquisite tapestry of past, present, and future. 
Then there are the words that will unravel me.
A few little words that will change my life.
That Journey

 I was in my final semester of nursing school when I stumbled upon a book. This particular book caught my attention because of my unfeigned obsession with the idea of best friends becoming lovers. There is something so incredibly special about the evolution of a love that begins with the purity of friendship. It also makes the build, the tension such an amazing experience. I wanted That Experience. What I got was a journey.

That Boy will forever be one of my favorite books of all time. Sometimes when you read a friends-to-lovers romance, you are briefly told about the friendship. The entire focus of the book begins with the romance, but the relationship has no shape. No foundation. Something is lost. That Boy let me experience the friendship. But it also did more than that. I was seized by so many different facets of love; love between family, friends, lovers. I didn't just experience it, I lived it.

I knew That Baby was coming, so I waited....and waited.

 And waited.

Several covers later, and countless re-reads, That Baby finally arrived.

I don't think I realized how much I missed these characters until I was heart deep, existing on a journey that started so many years ago. Jillian has poured so much heart into every single one of her characters.

 In past books, Jayden definitely wore the crown for most frustrating female, but in That Baby Lori strips the title and takes it to an entirely new level. It was nice to see so much growth from JJ. Danny and Phillip are exactly the same, but in the most amazing way. However, we do get to experience a few things (both past and present) from Danny's point of view, which only made me love him more. We also get to experience Phillip's point of view during a most heartbreaking moment. These experience were priceless.

The humor was also there, so many laugh out loud moments, but it was the emotional impact of the ending that had me holding on for dear life. So many feels. So many great memories. For some, this series isn't perfect, but it was absolutely perfect for me. Thank you Jillian Dodd for that experience!!

 READ ON!

 Important things to note about this series:
*This series does not contain a love triangle!
*Sometimes Jayden will frustrate you to epic proportions, but hang in there.
*You will fall desperately in love with Phillip and Danny. Desperately.
*That Boy (Book #1) is currently FREE!! 
Amazon
iBooks
Google Play
Kobo
*My Review of That Boy


The Giveaway
THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL!
*OPEN TO US RESIDENTS ONLY
*ALL ENTRIES WILL BE VERIFIED
GOOD LUCK!

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Monday, August 3, 2015

Bad Romeo by Leisa Rayven: Review & signed paperback GIVEAWAY!

Bad Romeo by Leisa Rayven
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Synopsis 
When Cassie Taylor met Ethan Holt at acting school, sparks flew. She was the good girl actress. He was the bad boy about campus. But one fated casting choice for Romeo and Juliet changed it all. Like the characters they were playing, Cassie and Ethan's romance seemed destined. Until he broke her heart and betrayed her trust. Now the A-list heartthrob is back in her life and turning her world around. One touch at a time. 

Cast as romantic leads once again, they're forced to confront raw memories of the heartbreaking lows and pulse-pounding highs of their secret college affair. But they'll also discover that people who rub each other the wrong way often make the best sparks

 My Review
My New Years resolution for July, was to read more books that weren't new releases. As a blogger, you're constantly drowning in new releases. So if you miss one, it's hard to rewind because there are always new books to read. Trying to work in an older book with current releases and review deadlines, can be almost impossible. I often worry that in my crazy race to get them all read, I'm missing something. I need to go backwards. I want to be less of slave to release dates, and just read. Just. Read.

Everything.

I had the pleasure of meeting Leisa Rayven at RT2015. Somehow, in my living under the rock that is my life, I hadn't heard of her, or her books. However, she was one of the loveliest individuals, truly. I adored her. Then in July, I got to spend some time with her in Las Vegas and I loved her even more. She is funny, gracious, kind, and absolutely adorable!!

OH MY GOD! What if I don't like her book!??

 The very thought terrified be, but in my quest to read more non-new releases, I decided to give Bad Romeo a shot.

I loved it!!

 There is a very fine line between love and hate. This is a romance that blurs that line while using it to feed and build tension between the two main characters. That beautiful tension is something that I felt the entire book. It was so aggressive that I physically felt it. It was intoxicating. The air was so thick with chemistry that it was hard to breathe. When I talk about tension, I'm not just referencing sexual tension. Though if female "blue balls" is a thing, then lalalalalala....I'm a damn smurf!

 Did I mention this book is incredibly funny too?

 I guess ultimately, it had to be the author's innate talent for character development that had me so indelibly connected to the story that I could not put it down. I didn't want to!

 I think the only reason I'm not running naked with my bedazzled five star flag is that even though I loved the progressively building tension and character development, it did get a little repetitious towards the end. The book alternates between the past and present, and since so much time was spent developing their past, I feel the present missed some of that same care and development. I also got a little turned off by Cassie's incessant need for sex. It was great to see somewhat of a gender role reversal, but it was taken just a bit too far, and in the end it took something away from the emotion and feeling of when they finally do come together.

Despite these minor imperfections, I'm still absolutely in love with this book and highly recommend it. I read to find stories that develop characters with this kind of intensity, tension, and passion. I read to find books that pull me in, and refuse to let me go. I read to find books that I don't want to be let go from. I read to find an experience. I read to find this book.

READ ON!

 Buy Links:
Amazon
iBooks
Barnes & Noble
kobo

GIVEAWAY
*Open to US residents only
*Easy one click entry using rafflecopter
*Several ways to earn bonus entries
*One winner will receive an autographed paperback copy of Bad Romeo

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Wednesday, July 22, 2015

New Review: Racing the Sun by Karina Halle

Racing the SunRacing the Sun by Karina Halle
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Release Date: July 28th, 2015
Atria Books |  384 pages | ISBN 9781476796482

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Where Sea Meets Sky comes a new adult novel about a young woman who becomes a nanny in Capri and falls for her charges’ bad-boy brother.

It’s time for twenty-four-year-old Amber MacLean to face the music. After a frivolous six months of backpacking through New Zealand, Australia, and Southeast Asia, she finds herself broke on the Mediterranean without enough money for a plane ticket home to California. There are worse places to be stuck than the gorgeous coastline of southern Italy, but the only job she manages to secure involves teaching English to two of the brattiest children she’s ever met.

It doesn’t help that the children are under the care of their brooding older brother, Italian ex-motorcycle racer Desiderio Larosa. Darkly handsome and oh-so-mysterious, Derio tests Amber’s patience and will at every turn—not to mention her hormones.

But when her position as teacher turns into one as full-time nanny at the crumbling old villa, Amber finds herself growing closer to the enigmatic recluse and soon has to choose between the safety of her life back in the States and the uncertainty of Derio’s closely guarded heart.

My Review
No one can argue, Karina Halle is maddeningly flawless with her ability to create fantastical imagery. Her innate ability to transport her readers to exotic places, seeing everything through the eyes of her characters, is her gift.

This gift was overwhelmingly evident in Where Sea Meets Sky. The artistry of her writing was inspiring, but unfortunately the plot could not keep up. It was good, a nice story, but the strength of her descriptives smothered it. It was missing something, It needed something. A plot to match the power of her writing.

Racing the Sun got it right! I was engaged in the plot just as much as I was with the beauty of her writing. When reading a book, sometimes it’s painfully obvious that the author is trying to tell a story. The effort is obvious. Karina Halle doesn’t try, she is telling a story.

I hate comparing books to other novels, but in this case I do it with the most positive of intentions, with the intent of expressing the stories classic romantic feel intertwined with a uniquely written modern day romance. Derio and Amber’s story was reminiscent of a mixture between Beauty & The Beast and Jane Eyre. I really couldn’t put it down.

The tension. The build. Did I mention the tension?

It wasn’t without flaws. However, they didn’t tarnish my overall feel for the book. I was left with a few unanswered questions about “the accident” and the ending’s resolution did transpire a little quickly. I understand how the “tragic event” made Amber re-evaluate her issues with their relationship, but her one-eighty was rather abrupt. She just seemed to drop her concerns without any real resolution.

Maybe I’m being selfish. In fact, I know I am, but I also wish we could have gotten more out of the epilogue. I guess I just needed more Derio and Amber. See. Selfish.

Overall, I found this to be a great summer read. Truly engaging and enticing. I seriously couldn’t put down. In fact, I may have to go read it again.

READ ON!

PRE-ORDER NOW:
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Apple iBookstore
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Books-a-Million
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Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Gold by K.A. Linde: Review & Giveaway


Synopsis
The prey becomes the predator.

 Love. That cursed four-letter word no longer belongs in Bryna’s vocabulary. The only four-letter word she knows now is gold. 

 ...and fuck

She’s well acquainted with that one. And that’s exactly what she plans to do. She’s no longer the golden girl, and when she meets a businessman who promises everything she could ever want from the arrangement, she intends to get her money’s worth.

Follow the conclusion to Bryna’s gold digging story in this scandalizing, duplicitous second book to the USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde’s All That Glitters series.

★★★★ 4 Stars ★★★★

My Review
Diamonds (All That Glitters, Book #1) was met with mixed emotions; readers were suffocated by their own ambivalence and frustration. These emotions fueled intense feelings, both negative and positive. I personally thrive on any emotion a book can create, even if that feeling strongly resembles hate. For others though, these emotions can alienate them from truly connecting to a story or most importantly, the characters. In this case, it was the heroine, Bryna, who was the trigger. The loaded gun. She was an absolute mess. The entire story was a mess.  You are kind of left hating everything.

But I liked it.

Not only did I feel that Diamonds was a necessary foundation. I also felt the author purposely forced the readers to hit rock bottom in order to build something amazing from the ashes. To quote myself from my original review of Diamonds:

“I wasn't so much in love with this book, as much as I'm in love with where it's going.”

 Gold went there.

I LOVED IT!! But what absolutely kills me, is that I can’t detail why without MAJOR spoilers.

THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS!

I just need to emphasize to you that the relationship in Gold, THE relationship (you’ll know the one I’m talking about) is fantastically indescribable. I loved everything about him. Them. Their journey.  These are the type of relationships I read to find! This was an entirely different book, an entirely different Bryna.

It even has an HEA! Which terrifies me. Truly horrifies me. With two more books left in this series, the other shoe is bound to drop. Damn you shoe! What the hell will K.A. Linde do to me next? I can’t wait to find out.

The thing I want for everyone to get out of this review is that despite how you felt about Diamonds, you need to read this book. Don’t get smothered by your own negativity, continue the journey.

It will take you there.

READ ON!
★★★★ 4 Stars ★★★★

Books in the Series
Diamonds (All That Glitters, #1)
Amazon
B&N
Kobo

Gold (All That Glitters, #2)
Amazon
iBooks
Kobo

 Platinum (All That Glitters, #3)
Release TBD. The third stand alone book in the All That Glitters series. Follows Trihn Hamilton, one of Bryna's best friends, in their junior year of college as she navigates her parent's expectations and the heady lifestyle she and her friends have created in fabulous Las Vegas.
Goodreads
Silver (All That Glitters, #4)
Release TBD. The fourth stand alone book in the All That Glitters series. Follows Stacia Daniels, the second of Bryna's best friends, in their senior year of college as she struggles with the consequences of her jersey chasing desires in fabulous Las Vegas.
Goodreads
GIVEAWAY
K.A. Linde is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card!
 K.A. Linde's GOLD Release Week Giveaway
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