I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.
This is another book that I started to read and didn’t like. For about the first 30 pages I was not liking the book. I didn’t like where it was going, I wasn’t sure I was going to like the heroine. The hero was confusing because he has like four brothers and all five of them have names that start with the same letter. I was worried!
Needless to say I shouldn’t have been worried. I LOVED IT! I finished it so quickly once I got into the story and finally figured out who was who. I really liked it. I want the whole series NOW.
Our heroine isn’t my favorite, but I liked her independence, the fact that she stands up for herself and doesn’t let the hero get away with any crap. Our hero is one of my recent favorites. He really stood out compared to what I have been reading lately. I really loved the brothers and I am so excited about their books. The writing was really great. The plot was very interesting. It wasn’t at all like it sounded or what I was expecting which I like.
The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor Cover
Usually when I read a book slowly it’s a bad thing. In this case it wasn’t. This was a book that I didn’t feel I had to rush to finish. I really felt that with this book you could take a slow pace. You could also read another book and come back to this one without struggling to remember what happened. I really liked this book. The writing was brilliant. The plot was great. It’s not the most exciting thing I ever read, but it was like a slow, lazy afternoon. If that makes sense.
The main character really struggles with identity, independence and growing up in this novel. I wish I could know what happens to her after this, but I doubt we will ever know. I loved the love story. It was so sweet. I couldn’t believe the ending. I was SHOCKED which I think is hard to do to me nowadays. All the characters have their own story to tell. This book just happens to be from Bettina’s perspective. Any woman could read this book and relate. It made me think of myself at that age.
I think I will always view this book with fondness.
Ok so there are three of these books out so far by the amazing Chelsea Fine. The Finding Fate is each a different couple who are connected in some way or another to the people from the previous one. I love everything by Chelsea Fine and these were not an exception.
BEST KIND OF BROKEN Finding Fate 1: Honestly, I read this a while ago. I tried to re-read it, but couldn’t wait to read the second one so I kinda skimmed it the second time. It does start out a little slow for me, but it is good. It was one though that I did like, but its not one of my favorites by Chelsea Fine. Characters are good and it does set up well for the other two books.
4/5 stars
PERFECT KIND OF TROUBLE, Finding Fate 2: This one was better than the first one. I really liked it. It’s my second favorite in the series so far. I really liked both of the main characters in this one. The entire scavenger hunt idea did get a little old after a while though. Just because it sounds like something they can do in one sitting, but of course it takes them DAYS. The ending was really sweet though. I wasn’t totally on board with it until the very end, then I fell in love with it.
Both characters had so many issues and while it doesn’t seem like they worked through a lot of their current problems, they did grow as people and can now deal more with those outside issues. I would love an epilogue from these characters a few years down the road because they were both just so cute.
4/5 stars
RIGHT KIND OF WRONG, Finding Fate 3: This was my favorite one! I really liked this book. The plot and the characters were great! My favorite couple to date. I also think he is my favorite guy so far in this series! But I like bad boys 😉
The plot was really well developed. The characters developed well. Probably my favorite part was that our guy was very no-nonsense. He didn’t fight his feelings at all which was a nice change of pace. He knew they were inevitable from the begging and was ok with it. I just really liked that. Our girl got a little irritating with her denial, but it wasn’t too bad. My favorite one in the series!
4.5/5 stars
A great way to spend a weekend is reading these books!
So last week the preorder link became available for Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout. It is the second book in the Dark Elements series. Now I LOVE the first two books in the series, Bitter Sweet Love and White Hot Kiss. I wanted Stone Cold Touch as soon as I finished White Hot Kiss. I am a HUGE Roth fan. He is wonderful! Armentrout always writes some of the BEST guys! Anyway. I went to BEA this year and missed getting an early copy of Stone Cold Touch by TWO PEOPLE! So I actually spent the whole day asking people with the bag from the event if I could get their copy. Eventually I found a girl who gave me her copy!!! So I GOT AN EARLY COPY!!!
I have to say that I LOVED LOVED LOVED Stone Cold Touch. IT WAS AMAZING AND BETTER THAN THE FIRST TWO!!! Therefore you should go pre-order it today because you need it ASAP! It’s important!
Also Jennifer is doing a really cool event for the last book. The choice is in the readers hands who Layla ends up with. For event details click here.
Now since we get to vote who she ends up with I know EXACTLY who I would pick. It’s not a contest after reading Stone Cold Touch. So go preorder it, read it, and then vote! I will post my review and my guy choice on the day the book releases, but not till then. Hopefully people agree with my choice!
This book starts out really well. The opening scene was interesting enough that you want to keep going. The writing style isn’t bad. There are chapters from his and her POV. Most of them are from her POV though and I wanted more from his POV. Mainly because just doing it every once in a while is weird to me. Either commit and do POV back and forth or not at all. Also would have been cool to get a POV from the characters in the next book to get an idea of where that’s headed. Just a little peak so that the torture of waiting for the story is that much better. It makes me want to read the next book more when I get a little insight into the characters in the next book.
This was also a book that you can read at a slower pace and be ok with. Some books I read I have to read in one sitting. I just can’t stop. However if you need to stop aka need to sleep because you work then this book will let you do it. Its good enough that you get excited to start it again, but also can stop and go to sleep or go do whatever it is you need to do. Since I read this during the week it workout for me. I like to save books I can’t stop reading for the weekend when I actually have that time to dedicate to read them.
Now this is a book you can read as a standalone, but it is part of a series. It takes place in the same area with characters that are interconnected. It wasn’t bad to read as a standalone, but I think you get more out of it if you have read the others. Plus you fall in love with certain characters and the following books allow you to check in with them.
The ending felt a little easy. I felt like we were building up to more of a climax than what actually happened. Also I want to know what happens more to the characters. I guess that can come from the next book since it deals with characters in the same universe and even the same family. However I think there is a way to give the reader a little more without giving anything away for the next book. I just really wanted to get more of where the characters go because its very up in the air. She doesn’t have a life plan and he doesn’t either. Its very much “Where do we go from here?” without answering that question. I like answers so I wanted to know.
We are so pleased to bring you the Release Day Launch for Jennifer L. Armentrout’s STAY WITH ME! STAY WITH ME is a New Adult contemporary romance being published by Avon (William Morrow), an imprint of HarperCollins, and is a part of Jennifer’s With You Saga!
As I lay there, trying to swallow a loud, obnoxious yawn, I remembered something he’d said when we first met, about life being too short. I imagined he had firsthand experience with shortened lives while he was serving. That mentality came from experience. I got that now. Could even understand it, but there was something I didn’t understand.
“Why?” I asked.
There was a beat. “Why what?”
Jax sounded tired, and I should shut up or point out that I was now tired and could sleep, so he could leave. But I didn’t. “Why are you here? You don’t know me and . . .” I trailed off, because there really wasn’t anything left to say.
A minute went by, and he hadn’t answered my question, and then I think another minute ticked on, and I was okay with him not answering because maybe he didn’t even know. Or maybe he was just bored and that was why he was here.
But then he moved.
Jax pressed against my back, and the next breath I took got stuck in my throat. My eyes shot open. The sheet and blanket were between us, but they felt like nothing.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Getting comfortable.” He dropped an arm over my waist, and my entire body jerked against his. “It’s time to sleep I think.”
“But—”
“You can’t sleep when you talk,” he remarked.
“You don’t need to be all up on me,” I pointed out.
His answering chuckle stirred the hair along the back of my neck. “Honey, I’m not all up on you.”
I freaking begged to differ on that point. I started to wiggle away, but the arm around my waist tightened, holding me in place.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he announced casually, as if he wasn’t holding me prisoner in the bed.
Okay. The whole prisoner thing might be melodramatic, but he wasn’t letting me up. Not when he was getting all kinds of comfy behind me.
Oh my God, this was spooning. Total spooning. I was spooning with an honorary member of the Hot Guy Brigade. Did I wake up in a parallel universe?
“Sleep,” he demanded, as if the one word carried that much power. “Go to sleep, Calla.” This time his voice was softer, quieter.
“Yeah, it doesn’t work that way, Jax. You have a nice voice, but it doesn’t hold the power to make me sleep on your command.”
He chuckled.
I rolled my eyes, but the most ridiculous thing ever was the fact that after a couple of minutes, my eyes stayed shut. I . . . I actually settled in against him. With his front pressed to my back, his long legs cradling mine, and his arm snug around my waist, I actually did feel safe. More than that, I felt something else—something I hadn’t felt in years.
I felt cared for . . . cherished.
Which was the epitome of dumb, because I barely knew him, but feeling that, recognizing what the warm, buzzing feeling was, I fell right asleep.
STAY WITH ME Synopsis:
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You and Be with Me comes a daring tale that pushes boundaries . . .
At 21, Calla hasn’t done a lot of things. She’s never been kissed, never seen the ocean, never gone to an amusement park. But growing up, she witnessed some things no child ever should. She still carries the physical and emotional scars of living with a strung-out mother, Mona—secrets she keeps from everyone, including her close circle of college friends.
But the safe cocoon Calla has carefully built is shattered when she discovers her mom has stolen her college money and run up a huge credit card debt in her name. Now, Calla has to go back to the small town she thought she’d left behind and clean up her mom’s mess again. Of course, when she arrives at her mother’s bar, Mona is nowhere to be found. Instead, six feet of hotness named Jackson James is pouring drinks and keeping the place humming.
Sexy and intense, Jaxis in Calla’s business from the moment they meet, giving her a job and helping her search for Mona. And the way he looks at her makes it clear he wants to get horizontal . . . and maybe something more. Before Calla can let him get close, though, she’s got to deal with the pain of the past—and some very bad guys out to mess her up if she doesn’t give them her mom.
Jennifer L. Armentrout/J.Lynn Bio:
# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV.
She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.
I didn’t want to do it. I really didn’t.I resisted for a while and would have kept resisting, but one of my friends got a free copy from the publisher so I decided to read it. That’s right. I read The Fault in Our Starts. I read the book, which was the cause for me almost getting killed at BookCon (not really, but really it could have happened.)
Since the movie comes out TOMORROW I figured I should post by review of the book before I run to Redbox to rent it!
Now I have never read a John Green novel before. I have resisted doing so until now. This book has changed my mind about John Green. I would now like to go and read all of his books and make sure that I really do like his books. Many people have told me that The Fault in Our Stars is not his best book so I am excited about the idea that there is something better out there.
Before you ask, no I haven’t seen the movie. Now I am going to. I was going to see the movie no matter what but now that I have read the book I really am going to see it.
At the beginning I was a little doubtful. There were some words that I felt didn’t really fit. Example, she describes the main guy Gus as “dead sexy”. I don’t know if a 16 year old really thinks of guys as “dead sexy”. Also she mentions that he makes her “skin feel more like skin” (pg. 31). “He kind of turned me on” (pg. 17). I did not like such descriptions. They seemed a little cheesy, but it may just because I am older and not a 15-year-old girl.
I did really like Gus. I thought he was cute. He had some great qualities such as not trying to actually win video games, but save innocents/Hazel. He had some great lines and I did cry when he died.
One thing I liked about this book was the mortality of the characters. There isn’t any focus on characters who don’t have cancer. Cancer seems like something you really don’t truly understand unless you have it, someone close to you has it or you know someone who has died of it. Cancer is this big scary thing that we really don’t understand and we really can’t even do anything about.
It did take me a little while to get into the story, but I eventually got it. I might enjoy it more if I read it a second time, but I don’t know. I liked his style of writing. I thought there were some really great lines.
“I want to minimize the number of deaths I am responsible for” (pg. 28).
“You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do its killing” pg. 20
H: “I’m trying to observe young love in its many splendor awkwardness”
G: “Yes its difficult to ascertain whether he is trying to arouse her or perform a breast exam” pg. 19
Isaac: “Thank you for explaining that my eye cancer isn’t going to make me deaf” pg. 15
One thing that I will harp on is the focus on V for Vendetta in this movie. Hazel is supposed to look like Natalie Portman in that movie. I accepted this, even liked it cause not many people can pull off the shaved head look as a girl and look good. Natalie Portman is one of those women though. HOWEVER I was not happy with how Hazel handled this movie. Example: “Pixie haired gorgeous girl dislikes authority and can’t help fall for a boy she knows is trouble” (pg. 17). THAT IS AN EXTREMELY OVERSIMPLIFIED EXPLANATION OF THAT MOVIE. V for Vendetta is one of my favorite movies. It is probably my significant others favorite movie. Now Hazel says “It was kind of a boy movie. I don’t know why boys expect us to like boy movies. We don’t expect them to like girl movies” (pg. 35). What? NO. I am a girl. I have seen this movie. I love this movie. I disagree that it is a girl movie. I think this movie is too complicated to have in this book. They are not on the same level. John Green is diminishing the awesome nature of this movie in this book. I hated the whole part about V for Vendetta.
Overall, I do give it a 4/5. I really did like it. It wasn’t too long, it was just certain things that I really didn’t like.
If you are a girl and haven’t seen V for Vendetta, go watch it. like right now.
“My daddy always told me, you could never run out of second chances…”
Tegan Callahan has sworn off bad boys for good. Growing up on tour with her rock star brother, she knows first-hand the damage they can do. She’s looking for a nice, safe, stable guy – until a chance encounter with a devastatingly sexy stranger makes her question everything she thought she wanted.
A troubled soul…
Ryland James arrives in Beachwood Bay on the run from his mistakes. He knows he’s the last thing Tegan needs, but somehow, he can’t stay away. There’s something about her fierce beauty that draws him in – and makes him vow to protect her, whatever the cost.
A passionate destiny…
Their bond is undeniable; the stakes, higher than ever. But the past won’t stay gone forever, and soon, Ryland must make the ultimate choice: will he risk everything he treasures in the world, or keep Tegan safe – and sacrifice her love forever?
*This book contains adult situations and explicit content. 17+*
Melody Grace is the New York Times bestselling author of the Beachwood Bay series. A small-town girl turned SoCal beach lover, after spending her life with her nose in a book, she decided it was time she wrote one herself. She loves steamy romance novels, happily-ever-afters, and lusting after fictional menfolk. She is author of USA Today & international bestselling Beachwood Bay series.
I pre-order this in DECEMBER! Needless to say that I have been looking forward to this for a while. It did not disappoint. Harlow is one of my favorite girls in the Rosemary Beach series and I loved both of her books. Grant is absolutely adorable. Abbi Glines did not disappoint with this one. I did get teary-eyed at one point, which honestly there are several times where you could get tear-eyed.
I really liked the character development of Harlow. She wasn’t the strongest character from when we first meet her. She really grew throughout her two books. At the end of this one, she is very strong, but in a quiet way. She has such inner strength that I think all girls should have.
Grant is Grant…aka he is wonderful. He has always seemed so sweet to me and I love that he finally got his own books and his own girl. As soon as Blaire pointed her gun at him in the first Rosemary Beach novel I have looked forward to his book.
I give it a 5/5. I don’t always give Abbi Glines books 5/5, but this one was very good.
Ok, one thing I really didn’t get was that Nan giving Harlow her blood was such a big deal. I mean it is nice of her to day, but really was it that big of a deal? The doctors just said it was BETTER if it came from a relative, not that it was going to kill Harlow unless it came from a relative. I just didn’t seem like it was that big of a deal. I wasn’t impressed and I still don’t like Nan. Hopefully by the time her book comes around I will like her more, but so far its not looking good.
I really liked that she did Kiro POV chapters. I really want Dean to have a book and I am so excited to read Kiro and Emily. It will also be really sad because we know the ending of the story and it’s a heartbreaking one.
I am also very much looking forward to Mase’s story! Now that we have met Major I am wondering if he will have a side romance OR maybe get with Nan????? The plot thickens!Also more importantly where did Blaire’s brother go? I really wanted to hear more from him!
Now while I really liked the ending, I also didn’t like it. I know it doesn’t make sense, but I was almost disappointed. I thought maybe Harlow would die or maybe be in a coma for longer. I don’t know. I was a little put off by it. However I still really did like it!
I also wanted more from Grant’s father. I liked the couple interactions that we had with him, but we don’t get a lot from Grant’s side. No clue about his mom, very little about Grant’s place in the company or the job he has. I just wanted a little more background on Grant.
As usual for an Abbi Glines book I read it in one sitting, refused to do anything else till I finished. Really great story and I can’t wait for the next Rosemary Beach book!!!!
Finally after a couple months of waiting to know how everything will end, Rain Shadow Book 5 is about to come out! Published next Wednesday, September 24thAngel and Luke’s story comes to a conclusion.
Blurb: When Angel Sharpe first discovered Luke Barringer, lying in the desert near death from thirst, she quickly realized that he would change her life forever. But never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that he would turn her world inside out.
Now the good news is that another Barringer Brother will have his own story and I am so excited about that story!
Here is my review!
I LOVED IT! I thought the ending was great. I believe that each volume gets better and this is no exception!
I knew from the third book that she would be the Starlight baby. I’m pretty sure many others guessed this as well. That did not diminish the actual reveal and aftermath from that storyline at all though. I mean I would have liked to have been shocked, but this was also just very cute. I love that her real parents are doctors.
I was also a little curious about Cash so I was glad to see more of him here than in other volumes. I am hoping that he gets a HEA though so maybe a side story in another Barringer or just a short novella?
Jericho I still love. I was really hoping that he would go back to log with Gabe and marry the women we met in Volume 4 who lost her husband. I was surprised when his storyline changed course and he went back to the MC. I am hoping that we see more of him because I want him to have a HEA, but now I am not so sure what will happen with our beloved Jericho. (I do love that name though).
I did like Luck and Angel throughout the book. They are not my favorite couple from Tess Oliver, but they were good. I am hoping that the other Barringer Brothers will prove to have amazing relationships that I love more.
I really wanted a more extended epilogue, but since there is more to come from the Barringer Brothers series hopefully at the very end we can learn more about what happens to our happy, first couple!
5/5
I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review
BookAngel 