Review: A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

A Midsummer's Nightmare really was great. Reading it made me reflect so much on my own life, and my own feelings, as you will understand from reading this (very personal) review. I gave it FIVE STARS because it was so great!

What is A Midsummer's Nightmare about?

Whitley Johnson's dream summer with her divorcé dad has turned into a nightmare. She's just met his new fiancée and her kids. The fiancée's son? Whitley's one-night stand from graduation night. Just freakin' great.

Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.

Filled with authenticity and raw emotion, Whitley is Kody Keplinger's most compelling character to date: a cynical Holden Caulfield-esque girl you will wholly care about.

What did I think about A Midsummer's Nightmare?

I accidentally stumbled across A Midsummer's Nightmare when searching Amazon and Goodreads for a good book. I have read so many books now that I struggle to find something to read that I actually really enjoy. As a result of reading a lot of 'OK' books, my Amazon recommendations that I rely so heavily upon has been setting me astray from the great books out there. Anyway,  after searching through the two sites I found A Midsummer's Nightmare which seemed promising from the blurb and it really lived up to my expectations! Actually it surpassed my expections! I really really loved it, as I am sure you can understand by the five star rating I gave it!

God this book was really great! The story line wasn't completely original or anything like that (which I don't really expect). I mean there is only SO many storylines that can be written to fit in the genre. Due to this I have found that a lot of books go way over the top, and that makes the story less realistic and harder to connect with the characters in the book. I digress, back to my review of the book! What makes this book so special is not the story line its self, but they characters and the way that the book is written that really captivates you and compels you to want more and more.

I cried so many times reading this book, I don't know if that is just because I can really relate to Whitley's situation (not that I have fallen in love with my step brother, that would be weird cause they are younger than me!). My parents got divorced before I was born so I didn't really know any different than having seperate parents. I was very lucky as my step dad was great and I saw him as my dad, as my dad was absent most of my life and didn't really have much contact with him while I was growing up. Over the years I have had occasional visits with my dad, and at the moment we are trying to reconnect after him being absent from my life for most of my life. However, it is hard because he has remarried and has a daughter, and it is difficult seeing that family dynamic that they have that I never got to have with him. Do not take this as a pity story because I really do love my step mom, she is great and I don't remember a time that she hasn't been in my life (and I am 24, so they have been together for a long time!). And my little sister is great! I love her very much and she is cute as a button and she makes you want to give her anything she wants because she has this great personality and infectious happiness. When I say anything she wants, I mean within reason, she is not spoiled or anything, she is a very happy go lucky kind of girl, a lot like Bailey in A Midsummer's Nightmare. When I visit sometimes I feel like I am on the outside looking in. Like I am reading a book or watching a movie and I am not really there, as if my reality is fiction. I think that causes a disconnect with me and my father and has possibly contributed to the way our relationship is now and has been for so many years. Do not get me wrong, my father is not a bad dad or anything like that, I think he struggles with long distance parenting (seeing as I live on a different continent, it can be quite difficult) and I think that it helps that I am an 'adult' now so he doesn't have to be strict and impose rules on me. Now when I visit it is a lot more relaxing and fun and slowly but surely we are building a relationship.

Like Whitley, I am stubborn. I am not good with communicating my feelings with people and can sit around with something for days, months or even years without telling people what or how I feel. People in my family can continue on with their lives without even knowing that I am struggling with emotions and feeling, because on the outside I look and act (well I think I do) as if nothing is wrong. To me (and this is also where I am very similar to Whitley's character) crying in front of others is a weaknesses and can cause people to pity you and therefore I do not like to do it, this further makes me bottle everything up inside of me. Like the saying, 'what comes up, must come down' or apt, what goes in, must come out. Eventually I explode and that can derail me for days at a time and I shut myself off from the world, separate myself from reality. Like Whitley, I do not like being vulnerable, and this makes dealing with situations with my dad a lot more difficult to resolve. How can someone fix something if they do not know it is broken? Not that I am broken, just got a dew dings and dents (like Whitley).

For this reason, I really loved Nathan's character. He really is a great guy (sadly he is not real). Anyway, he really pushes Whitley to talk to her father and repair their broken relationship. As a stubborn teenager myself, can I just say it is not easy to be open up to people and be vulnerable, and I have been told my whole life by people in my family 'if you want a relationship with your father, you have to push for it'. At the time, I was a firm believer, and to some extent still believe this, that the parent needs to be the one making the effort to build and maintain a relationship with their children, at the end of the day we are children, you are the adult. However as I got older I realised that someone has to make the first move, whether that is through increasing communication, or like me, staying in my dad's house instead of my older sisters when I went to visit. This is what Nathan pushes Whitley to finely understand and makes his character really endearing.

Like Sylvia, Whitley's future step mom, my step mom was the bridge between my father and me. She was the one that would discipline me when I visited my dad's house. She was the one that I could talk to about talk to about things that were going on in my life. She was the one that I went shopping with, and spent most of the time with. Unlike Whitley's situation, I did not suddenly gain a step mom and two step siblings at the age of 18, as Sam (my step mom) has been with my dad since as long as I can remember, so it was more natural than Whitley's situation. However I did gain (another) step dad and three step siblings at the age of 18 on my mothers side (my family tree is so complex, true modern family), so I really have had a similar experience to that of Whitley. At this point I already had a step dad and step mom as well as a couple half siblings and a step sister, so I think I had a handle on the whole rapid family expansion thing by this point, so for me it wasn't so stressful.

Over the years I have learned that gaining a step family adds value to a family, not devalues my position within it, much like Whitley's situation in A Midsummer's Nightmare. In addition, me gaining step parents, especially step dads, helped me to have a more normal upbringing (as weird as that may seem) as I got to grow up in a home where my 'parents' were with the people that made them happiest, and didn't just stay together for the kids. Even though it may hurt the kids initially when a family breaks up, in the long run it is more damaging to bring up children in a home where their parents are unhappy. Furthermore, by gaining new parents I was able to have a father in the house growing up. From the age of four til twelve I had lived with my first step dad and that allowed me to have a dad that I got to cuddle up with on the sofa, or sit on his lap, or looked after me when I was sick. And then when I was 18 my mom started dating my second (and hopefully final) step dad. Scott (step daddy number two) was a little bit different from my first step dad, maybe it is because I am not a 'little' girl anymore, but I also think he is not the cuddly daddy type either so our relationship is a bit different. There is more of a camaraderie esque type of relationship between us but I still push the boundaries sometimes and cuddle with him on the sofa when I make him watch Disney movies with me or call him dad (mostly when I want something). Most people think I am messing around when I do it as they think I just want something from them, but the truth is no matter how old I get, I will always be a little girl who needs a daddy.

Once this was all written down, I considered deleting this and writing a simpler review that was less personal, as you will now know, I do not like to share my real emotions and feelings. And putting it out there on the internet is not a small scale share session! The whole review may not even be read fully, however, I decided that this was the best way for me to explain why I loved A Midsummer's Nightmare so much, was to explain why I felt so connected with the story. And that is all a result of Kody Keplinger's amazing writing ability! I cried so many times as the story unfolded, and for me that is what makes a good book! Not crying, I don't need to cry for the book to be good, I just need to feel some emotion and connection with the characters. The story line does not need to be completely original or over the top dramatic, sometimes simple really is better! So everyone read this book, it is BRILLIANT!

Review: Forgiving Lies by Molly McAdams

I do not know why it took me so long to read this book, because I loved all the other book I have read by Molly McAdams. So I have finally read this book and was very happy!

What is Forgiving Lies about?

A matter of secrets...
Undercover cop Logan "Kash" Ryan can't afford a distraction like his new neighbor Rachel Masters, even if she's the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. To catch a serial killer, he needs to stay focused, yet all he can think about is the feisty, long-legged coed whose guarded nature intrigues him.

A matter of lies...
Deceived and hurt before, Rachel would rather be a single, crazy cat lady than trust another guy, especially a gorgeous, tattooed bad boy with a Harley, like Kash. But when his liquid-steel eyes meet hers, it takes all of Rachel's will-power to stop herself from exploring his hot body with her own.

A matter of love...
As much as they try to keep it platonic, the friction between them sparks an irresistible heat that soon consumes them. Can Kash keep Rachel's heart and her life safe even as he risks his own? Will she be able to forgive his lies ... or will she run when she discovers the dangerous truth?

What did I think about Forgiving Lies?

I am just going to get straight into my review of the book, instead of starting with the character breakdown, I am just going to start expressing my love for this book!

This book has everything! A complex love story, with some suspense in the 'will they, won't they' department, characters that you can fall in love with, and some danger to keep you on your toes! And to top it all off, the best sex scene I have ever read about! It was so good I had to read it three times, and I have read a lot of naughty books and they have NOTHING on Rachel and Kash!

Review: Broken by Kelly Elliott

What is the Broken about?

Layton Morris and his brother Mike grew up not knowing what it would be like to live in a normal home. With no running water or electricity in their home, no parents around to protect them, they quickly learned how to survive and depend only on each other.

When a tragic accident takes Mike away from Layton, and the only other person that he ever let into his heart walked away from him, leaving his heart shattered, Layton focuses all of his time and energy into the ranch he and his brother dreamed of. He makes a vow to himself to never let love in again. The last thing Layton needed or wanted was more heartache.

Whitley Reynolds grew up in a privileged home in upstate New York. When she landed the star football player in high school no one was surprised, not even Whitley. She dreamed of a life with Roger living in New York City and happily followed him there.

Review: Nothing Left to Lose by Kirsty Moseley

I have finally completed reading Nothing Left to Lose by Kirsty Moseley. Warning: the book is very long so if you are looking for a quick read, this is not it.

What is Nothing Left to Lose about?

Annabelle Spencer’s life is every girl’s dream. She has wonderful parents, great friends, and of course the perfect boyfriend, Jack Roberts. That all changes on her sixteenth birthday when her life comes crashing down around her. Her dream night turns into a nightmare when Jack is murdered right in front of her, and she’s kidnapped by his murderer, Carter Thomas, a big time drug and arms dealer.

After five months of being with Carter, she’s found, but the experience has totally changed her. She’s no longer the happy-go-lucky girl that everyone used to know and love; she’s now cold, hard and suffers from night terrors. It appears that Carter broke not only her body, but her spirit too. A shadow of her former self, her slogan for life is now: ‘If you don’t care about anything, then you have nothing to lose’.

Carter is currently serving time for the murder of Jack, a conviction that Anna helped secure. But his retrial is coming up because some key evidence appears to have been tampered with. Unbeknown to Anna, death threats are being received by her father, the Senator. It appears that Carter is still interested in Anna and will stop at nothing to get her back.

Ashton Taylor is brought in to protect her. He’s a newly qualified SWAT agent, a bright spark, the agency’s new golden boy. He is assigned undercover, posing as her boyfriend. His job is to help her through college and keep her safe until the end of the trial in eight months’ time.

For three years she has been the broken, damaged girl, refusing to feel emotion or pain, but can Ashton help her rebuild her life and finally deal with the grief of losing her childhood sweetheart? Will he be the one to make her see that life is, in fact, worth living and that not all men will hurt her?

All the while, the shadow of the trial looms over the both of them, taunting them, reminding them that it isn’t over yet. After all, Carter Thomas will stop at nothing to be reunited with his ‘Princess’.

Due to heavy subject matter and sexual content, this book is recommended for ages 17+

What did I think the Nothing Left to Lose?

The book starts off by introducing you to Annabelle "Anna" Spencer, and her boyfriend Jackson "Jack" Roberts, as they wait in line to get into a club (fake IDs in hand), for Anna's 16th birthday. While waiting in line, Anna and Jack are approached by Carter Thomas and his friends, who offers to get Anna into the club without having to wait in the long line. Anna turns down his offer when it becomes clean that Jack is not included in the offer. Once Anna and Jack eventually get into the club, they have a great night, dancing and drinking the night away. As Anna and Jack had decided that her birthday would be the night that they would go all the way, Anna is anxious to leave and enjoy the rest of her night with Jack.

Unfortunately, Carter has other plans for how she will spend the night on her birthday. When Anna refuses to leave Jack, Carter takes matters into his own hands and kills Jack in front of Anna and kidnaps her, where she will remain for the next 10 months

Three years later, Anna is free of Carter, however is not free of the nightmares that haunt her as soon as her eyes are closed. Gone is the fun loving 16 year old that she once was. Carter Thomas took everything good from Anna. In her place is a broken girl, who is scared to be touched and hates the attention of men, so she hides her body with loss clothing. To protect herself, she has mastered martial arts and self defence training, so that if she ever comes face to Carter Thomas again, she will be able to protect herself.

"He can't hurt me anymore, no one can. I have nothing left to lose" -Annabelle Spencer

However, this protection mechanism is not limited to Carter. When men touch her, Anna reaches by breaking their nose to ensure that they understand not to touch her again. Sadly, this has caused her to be kicked out of numerous schools over the past two years. With her father running for president, and Anna having one last opportunity to start over at a new school, Anna is introduced to Ashton Taylor, her new near guard and pseudo-boyfriend.

After the death of his parents, Ashton Taylor grew up in foster care, with a rebellious streak in his teenage years, Ashton was on the path to becoming a law breaker, instead he turned his life around and decided to follow the law instead of breaking it. Now Ashton is a bad ass. He has just graduated from the police academy where he finished top in his class, setting 5 out of 7 records. Ashton has aspirations of working for SWAT on the front line, which is highly competitive and hard to get into. Ashton is given the mission of keeping Anna safe for the next 8 months, on the lead up to Carter's re-trail. If Ashton can successfully completed this mission, he will be given a job on the Front Line. The only problem - no near guard has managed to last more then a couple of months.

"All things worth having are worth fighting for" -Ashton Taylor

As soon as Ashton meets Anna, he is enamoured by her, and even though Anna is reluctant to admit it, she finds it hard to resist Ashton. Anna pushes the boundaries as often has possible, often leaving the compound without guards, Ashton realises that he has his hands full if he wants to protect Anna.

"Her eyes only flicked to me for a split second and held no reaction whatsoever before she turned to her father. My heart skipped a beat and my stomach tied in a knot. I wanted to run to her, wrap my arms around her, and tell her everything would be okay. I wanted to make her smile and hear her laugh. Oh fuck it; I really am in deep shit!" - Ashton Taylor

Anna struggles to deal with her feelings and attraction to Ashton, as she still is very much in love with Jack. She feels a lot of guilt over his death as she believes that she is to blame. After all, he was killed so that Carter could have her. As Anna and Ashton need to attend her new school under the guise of boyfriend and girlfriend, Anna has to learn to tolerate Ashton's touch. Anna is surprised to learn that he enjoys Ashton's touch and her body starts to crave the moments when they hold hands, or lock lips. This brings on a whole new layer of guilt for Anna as she feels like she is betraying Jack.

"There was just something about Ashton. He was slowly fixing me, I could feel it. The trouble was though that I actually felt guilty for letting him" - Annabelle Spencer

Then there is Carter Thomas. He is a drug dealer, murdered, and all around bad guy, with a very unhealthy obsession with Annabelle Spencer. While in jail, Carter sends Anna a letter every week, detailing how much he loves her, and that he can't wait to see her when he gets out of jail. Anna never receives these letters, as her father ensures that they are intercepted, so that Anna can continue to live as much of a normal life as possible. How will Anna react when she finds out at her father and Ashton have been keeping the letters secret from her?

"This is why Ashton's here, a SWAT guy. I finally get why he was assigned to me. Carter wants me dead [...]" - Annabelle Spencer
"He doesn't want you dead, Annabelle" -Tom Spencer
"Well what does he want?" - Annabelle Spencer
"He wants you back" - Tom Spencer

I originally read Nothing Left to Lose last year, when it was available on Wattpad. I have to start with an admission. I am a little bit obsessed with Kirsty Moseley. She writes the most beautiful love stories ever. I have read every book she has written at least twice! I absolutely love her books, and that why it is so painful to admit that this book kind of let me down. :(

It is not that the writing is bad, because it isn't, AT ALL! As always, Kirsty Moseley writes with a beautiful, flowing style that makes the book easy to read and understand. The main characters and the back story to the characters are brilliant. The book is creative. It provokes emotion from you. So why did I find this book lacking???

On paper this book is brilliant and the concept is compelling and captivating. I mean all you have to do is read the blurb and I think you will agree that the book sounds brilliant before you have even turned one page. So what was the problem?

Let me just clear this up before I continue. I DO NOT think that the book is bad, by any stretch of the imagination! I just found that the book was a little bit too long and the will they, won't they, back and forth was a little drawn out. I think that one thing that really impacted my enjoyment of the book, is that I read it when it was on Wattpad, and I really enjoyed it then, however, before it was published, Kirsty Moseley announced that there were going to be some changes. So the whole way through the book I think I was analysing the book and looking for the alterations, rather than really enjoying the story.

The next book in the series is Enjoying the Chase due to be released in the Spring of next year. This will be about Nate Peters, Ashton's best friend from the Police Academy in LA. I will definitely be reading this book and I am already counting down the days!

Review: Mine by Katy Evans

I have literally just finished reading Mine and thought I would share what I thought of the book with everyone. The book was released yesterday and I have been a little slower than some of write a review, this is due to fact that I decided to re-read REAL so that all the events from the first book were fresh in my mind.

What is the Book about?

The heart is a hollow muscle, and it will beat billions of times during our lives. About the size of a fist, it has four chambers: two atria and two ventricles. How this muscle can house something as encompassing as love is beyond me. Is this heart the one that loves? Or do you love with your soul, which is infinite? I don’t know. All I know is that I feel this love in every molecule in my body, every breath I take, all the infinity in my soul. I learned that you can’t run if you tear a ligament, but your heart can be broken into a million pieces, and you can still love with your whole being.

I’ve been broken and put together again.

I’ve been loved, and I have loved.

I’m in love, and I will be forever changed by this love, by this man. I used to dream of medals and championships, but now I dream solely of a blue-eyed fighter who one day changed my life, when he put his lips on mine…

What did I think about this Book?

I really loved REAL (the first book in the series), and I was worried that this book would not meet my high expectations as I have found some sequels can't recapture the magic from the first book, as with the first book there is the relationship development that really draws you in, and then the second book as to be just as captivating without that element, so the author really has to be creative with ensuring that they can make you love the characters just as much in the sequel. And Katy Evans doesn't disappoint, as I was really emotional and reading Mine.

I really loved Remy in the first book, but in Mine my Remy loving was kicked up a notch. He is so perfect in his imperfections, you just cannot help yourself from falling in love with this lion of a man, who loves so fully and openly.

"You're everything I never knew I wanted" - Remy

The book starts when the last book ends, with Remy about to start his first match of the new Underground Champion Season. With Brooke back at Remy's side, Remy is ready to take on the world and reclaim the championship title from Scorpion. Unfortunetaly Brooke struggles to deal with all the attention that Remy receives from his female fans, letting her jealousy take over.

"Who cares what they scream when I'm crazy about you?" - Remy

However, when Brooke finds out that when she left Remy , and he went black, Pete and Riley ordered him girls to keep him company as he had done in the past. Brooke struggles to deal with the information and pushes Remy away. In her head, she knows that she has no right to be angry and upset because she left him during his darkest period, after he had just lost the championship, and he was left to cope the only way he knew how. Her head can understand this, however her heart and soul are crushed by the revelation, causing her to blame herself for leaving Remy when he needed her most, and also she is mad at Remy for sleeping with other women so some after she was gone.

"You said no to me, for months and months. I was dying for you. I was going crazy.[...]You withheld yourself from me until i was... dying a little inside with wanting you. You've got more willpower than Zeus! But the first women they bring to your door... the moment I'm gone, the first whores they happen to bring..." - Brooke

Remy doesn't know how to deal with how upset Brooke is, especially knowing that he his the reason she is hurting. He tries to comfort Brooke and refuses to let her go when she begs him to leave her alone. The whole next day he tries to bridge the gap between the two lovers, and is extra attentive. When Brooke refuses to touch, kiss or look at Remy, he devices his own plan to get her to touch him again, and that involves him allowing his opponent to get a few hits on him in the ring.

"You are going to love me until I die. I'm going to make you love me even if it hurts, and when it hurts, I'm going to make it better, Brooke" - Remy

I just LOVE Remy. He is such a passionate person and his hot headed actions just shows the lengths that he would go to just for Brooke's touch. He is a bad ass fighter, with a gorgeous face with dimples that no one can resist, but the thing that makes him so irristible is his drive and determination and protective nature towards whose that he loves the most.

"Don't worry, Rem, I'll protect her as if she were mine." - Pete
"She's not yours, dipshit. She's MINE." - Remy

Once they get over this little hurdle, there is more instore for the two lovers and they find that Scorpion still holds a vendetta against Remy, when he sends a gift to Brooke under the guise of being from Scorpion. When Brooke opens the box, she is horrified to find that the box is full of scorpions. Brooke panics when she is stung a few times by the scorpions, and when her tongue starts to swell up, she finds it hard to breathe. Remy, being the hot headed, sexy fighter that he is, seeks vengance on Scorpion, and declares that this season he will not only win the championship back, but he will anilate Scorpion for what he did to Brooke.

"He is Reminton Tate. He's a man who falls and gets up again and again. He pushes, plows, plunders, goes on." - Brooke

And this this just some of what happens in the first 20% of the book! I have left so much out that happens in the rest of the book because I don't want to spoil the storyline for anyone else how wants to the read the book after reading this review. I would strongly recommend that if you have not read REAL, that you do before you read Mine as you may find it difficult to understand why the characters behave in certain ways.

"Like you said, I'll love you if it kills us. We all die. I'd rather die loving the hell out of you." - Brooke
"Baby, I'm the one who'll love the hell out of you." - Remy

In the first book, Remy used music to communicate what he was feeling to Brooke as he was not good at expressing these feelings in words, and this method of communication is still used by Brooke and Remy in Mine, however, it is not as exclusive in terms of their communication as it was previously, especially as the book progresses, as Remy starts to vocalise his feelings with Brooke more.

"Pressing our foreheads together, I watch his expression as intently as he watches mine ... and we both listen to this amazing song. Not just any song. His song. Iris" - Brooke

I would strongly recommend, that when reading the book, stop reading the book and listen to the song that is mentioned on YouTube, or Spotify, which ever medium you prefer, as I swear this will make you understand Remy and Brooke's relationship so much better and you will start to fall in love with the both of them! Katy Evans does a brilliant job of selecting the perfect songs to show all the emotion that each person is feeling at that moment in time and also it really makes you understand what they want to say and share with each other.
I have selected two of the songs from the book, that I think best show Brooke and Remy's feelings, Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, however I found this cover version of the song which I fell in love with by Sleeping with Sirens and Shania Twain - In this Moment

I am really in awe of Katy Evans ability to write the characters seemlessly, in a way that the audience can really understand them, as if they were real people with real flaws, and character traits. She writes in a way that always keeps you captivated and keeps you wanting to read because you want to know more. Katy Evans really is a great writer and I know that any book she releases, I will buy without even reading the blurb because she makes me feel like I am connected to a character and the book in a way that other books have not been able to do. She writes characters that you can't help falling in love with.

"Do you still love me?" - Brooke
"You've got to be kidding me." - Remy
"Do you still love me, like before?" - Brooke
"I'm fucking insane about you! I told you I loved you with every petal of every rose." - Remy

The next book set to be released in this series is Remy which is out on the 26 November, which is only a few weeks away. YAY!! This book is not a continuation form Mine, but REAL from Remy's perception. I will definitely be downloading this to my kindle when it is released!

Review: Rule by Jay Crownover

I actually read Rule when it was first released, and remembered loving it, so decided to read it again after a read Jet (the second book in the series), as I couldn't remember the specifics of the book so struggled to follow Jet. So to remedy this, I have decided to re-read both books and write my reviews.

What the Book is about?

Opposites in every way . . . except the one that matters

Shaw Landon loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule is everything a straight--A pre-med student like Shaw shouldn’t want--and the only person she’s never tried to please. She isn’t afraid of his scary piercings and tattoos or his wild attitude. Though she knows that Rule is wrong for her, her heart just won’t listen.

To a rebel like Rule Archer, Shaw Landon is a stuck-up, perfect princess-and his dead twin brother’s girl. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. He doesn’t have time for a good girl like Shaw-even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is.

But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule have to figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love . . . or each other.

What did I think of the Book?

There are many words that can be used to describe Rule Archer, artist, bad boy, metal head, troubled, grumpy, tough, loving, hot headed the list is endless, but there is one word that sums him up perfectly and it is spelt, H.O.T- HOT! With a body that is tatted up to the max, with piercings everywhere and an attitude to match his persona. He's the guy that you see in a bar, and can't take your eyes off, and when you look around you see that everyone else is doing the same thing! At the end of the night he picks a girl, takes her home, and the next day sends her own her way. He lives his life his way, and doesn't apologies for anything he does or says. He is the ultimate bad boy!

Review: Carter Reed by Tijan

I discovered Tijan through my kindle recommendations, when I it recommended that I read Fallen Crest Public and I fell in love with her and her writing.

What is the Book about?

Emma decided to skip the gym and went home early. It was the last easy decision she made because she found her roommate being raped by the boyfriend. She had two choices. Call the cops and be killed by his family’s mafia connections or kill him first and hope to survive. There was no choice to her. She killed the bastard first and went to the one person who could protect her. Carter Reed. He’s a weapon for the rivaling mafia family, but he’s also Emma’s secret. Not only was he best friends with her brother, but she’s the reason he became that weapon in the first place.

What did I think about the Book?

I love Tijan's books, because she always writes and creates the most complex and interesting characters. She always bases a book around a strong female character and an equally strong male lead with a dark and dangerous story line, and Carter Reed is no different.

The book starts with Emma, coming home to find her roommate, Mallory, beaten and being raped by her boyfriend, Jeremy. All instinct takes over, and Emma grabs the gun that she has her apartment and shots Jeremy. Things become very complicated as Emma knows that Jeremy Dunvan was the son to the mob boss Franco Dunvan from the Bartel Family. As Emma witnessed the murder of her brother at the hands of the Bartel Family, she knows that she needs to get help before they seek revenge for his death. With no-one else to turn to, she seeks out her brothers former best friend, Carter Reed, who got a dangerous reputation, as he is an assassin for the Mauricio family, the rival family to the Bartel's.

"I have been protecting you since you were a child, Emma. I'm not going to stop now." - Carter

The problem is that Emma has not seen Carter since her brother's death, and is unsure if he will help her. When she finds Carter, she discovers that he is no longer the boy that used to sleep on her sofa as a child when his father became abusive, but a hard face killer. Emma tells Carter what happened with Jeremy Dunvan, and Carter offers to help her stay alive, only if she agrees to stay with him where he can keep an eye on her, however she will have to leave Mallory and all her friends behind. Emma is torn as to whether she can leave Mallory behind, who has seeked refuge at Ben's house, a friend of Mallory's, who secretly loves her. When Carter point's out that Emma is the one that killed Jeremy, therefore the Bartel family will becoming after her not her friend, she realises that she doesn't have a choice, if she wants to stay alive, she must go with Carter.

"I wanted you to live your life free, but when you came to me, I couldn't allow you that freedom anymore. You have to be with me. You have to be with me at all times" - Carter

Emma thinks that Carter is offering her safety to fulfil his obligation to his former best friend, however as the story develops, Carter lets his walls down when he is with Emma, and opens up to her about his past and his involvement with the Mauricio family.

"I've been protecting you since I joined the Mauricio family. You were why I joined them in the first place" - Carter

When Emma finds out that everything that Carter has done in his life, all the bad he did, was done to protect and keep Emma save, when she didn't even know that she was in danger. Emma's feelings for Carter deepen as time goes on and they start to develop a pseudo-relationship.

"Your mine Emma. You always have been" - Carter

One night Carter and Emma go out to Octave, a club owned by Carter, and when they are leaving, their car is ambushed by the Bartel family members. Carter springs into action and Emma sees the Cold Killer first hand. Will this change the way that she thinks about him? Will Carter be able to protect Emma from the Bartel family and can he stop them from seeking her out?

As always the book is dark and twisty with characters that captivate your attention. Like all the other books that I have read by Tijan, the main focus is family and the unbreakable connection between Carter and Emma. Carter who doesn't have any contact with his abusive father, and Emma, who doesn't have any living relatives left, find solis and a family like bound in each other. They share a deep love for each other, and will do anything to keep the other safe.

This book is about love and romance with a undertone of danger and fear, which makes the story different from most romance books. Tijan has done a brilliant job of enabling the reader to connect with the characters and I have actually fallen in love with Mr Reed myself. He is hot, tough and fearless when it comes to protecting the woman that he loves. If you like a book that has suspense, drama but mostly love, romance and passion, then this is the book for you.

Review: Free Falling by Kirtsy Moseley

Kirsty Moseley is one of my favourite authors (if not my favourite). When I saw that she had released a new book, Free Falling, I had to read it there and then! I didn't even bother reading the blurb because I knew it was going to be great.

What is the book about?

They say that your school years are supposed to be the best years of your life, and that you should make the most of them because you’ll miss them when you’re all grown up. Up until Maisie Preston’s senior year, she would have totally agreed with that statement. Life was great, she had everything going for her, excellent grades, great parents, an annoying yet caring twin brother, and an impossibly sweet boyfriend.

Everything was perfect - that is until the arrival of Zach Anderson. A misfit delinquent that seemed to bring with him a lot of bad karma. Is it just a coincidence that his arrival marks a significant change in Maisie’s life? Up until senior year, life was perfect, but things seem to be going downhill fast.

What did I think about the book?

This book is kind of a sequel to Always You, however you do not need to read the first book as Free Falling can be read as a stand alone book.

Basically, the connection between the two books is that Maisie Preston in Free Falling is the daughter of Clay and Riley Preston from Always You. There is no reference to the prior book in the sequel so do not worry if you haven't read the first book (even though you totally should because it is amazing!!!)

Like it's parent book Always You, Free Falling is a brilliant book and a must read for everyone. It was just as captivating and enthralling as it's predecessor, if not more.

Warning: once you start to read this book will not want to put it down!

Review: Always You by Kirsty Moseley

I first read Always You last year, but when Kirsty Moseley released Free Falling a few months ago, I reread the book and loved it just as much as I did the first time around.

What is the Book about?

Riley Tanner has a best friend, the best friend a girl could ask for. He’s supportive, loyal, honest, trustworthy, kind, and thoughtful. He’s also the biggest player in school.

Their relationship has always been easy and affectionate, but after Riley’s month long vacation, things become a little strange. She starts to look at him in ways that go way beyond the ‘friend zone’. Add in her best friend’s rival, and things become a whole lot more complicated.

What did I think about the Book?

From the very beginning of the book, I was hooked. I loved the two main characters Riley and Clay and their relationship.

What I really like about this book is that the characters already know each other and have this amazingly close bond before the book starts. With most books, it starts with the two characters meeting for the first time and shows the evolution of their relationship/friendship until it blossoms into the love all loves.

Review: Lost and Found by Nicole Williams

I have read most, if not all of Nicole Williams books, and I have to say she is one of my favourite authors. As I have so many of her books and have not been disappointed by one yet, I trust a book that has her name on it, and instantly know that I am in for a good read. Lost and Found was no different!

What is this book about?

Rowen Sterling is a girl is a girl that has spent the last five years numbing her pain with boys and alcohol. When she is sent to Willow Springs Ranch in Montana for the summer after she graduates high school. Her mom, who neglected Rowen for most of her teenage years, agrees to pay for Rowen to attend her dream art school, ONLY if Rowen proves she can work hard and stay out of trouble. Cooking breakfast at the crack of dawn for a couple dozen ranch hands and mucking out horse stalls are the last things in the world Rowen wants to spend her summer doing.

Until Jesse Walker saunters into her life wearing a pair of painted-on jeans, a cowboy hat, and a grin that makes something in her chest she’d thought was frozen go boom-boom. Jesse’s like no one else, and certainly nothing like her. He’s the bright and shiny to her dark and jaded.

While at Willow Springs Ranch, Rowen learns the true meaning of love and family, as she builds loving relationships with the whole Walker family. However, when her secrets are exposed to the whole Walker family, Rowen worries whether the relationship that she has forged will be strong enough to withstand the fall out this causes in her own family. 

Review: True Love Story by Williow Aster

All the books that I read, I go on my Amazon recommendations, which could be quite precarious sometimes, however it seems to have directed me to a good one this time. I was a bit apprehensive to download this book at the start due to the title as I thought, that is a big claim to make, but I eventually gave it a read and have kicked myself for not reading it sooner. True Love Story is the first published book by Willow Aster and I have to say CONGRATULATIONS, because I loved the book.

What is it about?

Ian Sterling is a guitar playing god in the music industry. He is hot, talented and charming. How can any woman resist? Sparrow Fisher, a preacher's daughter, finds that resisting Ian Sterling is hard to do, even when he pushes her away. 

I know what you are thinking, good little preacher's daughter, and a bad boy musician, she tames him, blah blah blah. Well that is not what this story is about. Sparrow, in essence is a good girl, but she is not a goodie-two-shoes by any means, she has her own dreams and plans to leave her small town and go to college in New York with her best friend. When Ian and Sparrow first meet, Sparrow has a boyfriend, however this doesn't stop Ian from pursuing Sparrow. 

When her boyfriend, proposes marriage after they have been dating for only 4 months, she decides to end the relationship, as she feels that she is too young to get married and there is the little problem of not being able to get Ian Sterling out of her mind. 

Over the years, Sparrow and Ian meet up and they start a relationship starts to build between the two. As the relationship builds, they become more committed to each other, and they enter and exclusive relationship, or so Sparrow thinks.

Review: Ruined by S. Pratt

Ok so where to start with this book... I read the blurb and thought, "hmmm, that sounds interesting." 

What is this book about?

On the outside you would think that Bailey Micheals had a great life, she was engaged to a handsome and successful man, had a great job and owned a house in a town she loved. However, Bailey gave her heart away many years before, to a man that she cannot have. Despite this, she cannot stay away from Angel and finds any chance she can to spend time with him. 

This the basic outline of the story, the I thought this is quite mysterious, so I gave the book a try. To my dismay, this was a BIG mistake!

What did I not like about this book?

Nothing really happens for most of the book, apart from Bailey and Angel have a very sexual relationship, whenever they are near each other. So it is a book full of sex with not much story behind it. There are times in the book when there are flashbacks to Bailey's adolescence, of her memories of Angel. S. Pratt writes the book in a way that gives the book mystery as you are lead to believe that it her secret lover may be her coach at school. 

I normally try to write a review without spoiling the story for others, however for you to understand why I hated this book, I have to reveal the big mystery behind this book, so if you are going to waste your money and read this book STOP READING NOW!

Review: REAL by Katy Evans

I finished reading Real by Katy Evans earlier this week and from the moment I started to read it, I couldn't put it down. I really liked the book and gave it four stars on Goodreads.

What is the book about?

Brooke is a dedicated athlete, who worked throughout her adolescence to achieve her dream of completing in the Olympics. Unfortunately, during the trails she, her ACL tore and she has say goodbye to the Olympics. Brooke decides to pursue a career in Sports Therapy.   

One evening, her best friend drags her along to an underground boxing match, where she catches the eye of Remington Tate, a champion boxer who is known to be a rule breaker. Brooke finds watching Remy fit in the ring, unbelieveably hot and when she walks away from the ring, Remy runs after her (after KO his opponent in the ring) as he has to know her name. The next time they meet, Remy offers Brooke a job as his Sports Therapist, meaning that Brooke will have to leave her home in Seattle behind, and travel the country with Remy and his team. The only problem... Brooke doesn't believe in sleeping with the "boss", and she struggles with her desires in an attempt to maintain a professional relationship. 

REVIEW: Wanted by Kelly Elliott

I read Wanted by Kelly Elliott last year, but I couldn't remember what the book was about or what happened, and when Saved (the Sequel to Wanted) was released, I decided that I should reread the first book so that I got a better understanding of what  and why things where happening in the second book.

Originally I gave the book a 4 stars on Goodreads, and I still stand by this.

What is it about?

The story is about Ellie Johnson, a 18 year old, whose has suffered from verbal abuse from her mother since she was a little girl. Her mother always told her that no boy would ever love her or want her. As she got older, she tried to dating, however she always seemed to choose guys that cheated on her, which supported her mother's taunts and Ellie began to believe that she would never be wanted or loved. In Ellie's senior year of high school, she catches her boyfriend cheating on her, and she calls her older brother Jefferson to come and pick her up from school. Jefferson has always been very protective of Ellie, and when he arrives at the school, with his best friend Gunner, Ellie is arguing with her boyfriend in the hall.

From the first moment Gunner and Ellie laid eyes on each other they had an instant attraction to each other. Surprisingly, Jeff gives Gunner the OK to pursue his sister, however Ellie is hesitant at first to further their relationship past friends as she continues to be haunted by her mothers words.

Meanwhile, Ari, Ellie's best friend, has had a crush on Jeff since she was 10 years old. The only problem is that Jeff, is downright rude whenever Ari is around. He refuses to accept that he has feelings for Ari, whereas Ari refuses to accept that he doesn't have any feelings for her. So when he pushes her away, she tries to pull him in. This leads to some explosive confrontations, until Ari finally gives up and moves on. Little did she know that it would take her moving on for Jeff to accept he has feelings for her and actually fit for the 'women he loves'.

What did I like about this book... 

The story is written mainly in the first person, from the point of view of Gunner, Ellie, Arianna and Jefferson. For a majority of the book it is written in just Gunner and Ellie's perspectives, however there are a few chapters in Ari and Jeff's point of view, that looks at their dysfunctional relationship. I really like that the book doesn't just concentrate on one relationship, as sometimes in books they make the relationship so dramatic that you think, 'how can you put up with that??' With the book separating the drama between the two couples, it allows you to get all the drama that you want from a story, as well as maintaining some resemblance of reality.

So what did I not like about this book... 

...well, I didn't like that the book relied on instant love. That just makes me angry because you cannot know that you love someone because they touch your arm!! I mean seriously. I would have more respect for the book if it was that they found them so attractive they were really attracted to each other, and that they lusted after each other. But LOVE... I do not think so. 

REVIEW: Resisting Her by Kendall Ryan

So I have been a really bad blogger recently as I have not posted in a while. This is not due to the fact that I haven't read anything to blog about, because I have. I have gone a bit book crazy in my absence, with 9 books that I need to write a review for...

Last night I finished reading Resisting Her by Kendall Ryan. The book was easy to read and is not overly long (I finished it in a day).

The story is about an FBI agent, Colby Fletcher aka Cole, who is very career driven, and a bit of a workaholic. One of his missions is to enter a cult compound and extract the cult leader, and rescue the cult followers. Cole finds Savannah, a 19 year old girl, hiding in the corner in one of the backrooms. Cole feels a need to 'save' her and when she is later relocated to a Halfway House, he just can't seem to stay away from her. After they spend an afternoon together he gives her his number. That night she calls him in tears and he brings her home to stay with him. They develop a relationship once Cole admits that he has feels for Savannah and realises that he cannot 'resist her' any longer.

I had really high hopes for this book, as the story line was so strong for the first 75% of the book. The opening plot was very original and the characters were captivating. Kendall Ryan did a really good job of showing how venerable Savannah is, as her mother died and she was separated from the only family and life shes ever known. She was thrust into this different world and she has some internal struggles, trying to decide  if what she was brought up to believe in the cult was actually true. Ryan also does a great job at showing Savannah's personality changes as she gains more confidence in herself and the character evolves, and by the end of the book she is no longer that sad scared character that she was in the beginning.

As a mentioned before, the I enjoyed the first 75% of the book and there was so much promise, however I found the last 25% to be lacking any sort of story apart from Savannah and Cole having a lot of sex, nothing really happened. Throughout the book there are references made about Dillon  the son of Jacob (cult leader), who believes that Savannah belongs to him. He ends up tracking Savannah down and leaves threatening notes outside the apartment and on Cole's car. At this point in the book I was getting excited about there being some sort of showdown between Cole and Dillon  I mean Cole is a FBI agent after all!! Alas, that is not what happens. Cole ends up taking Savannah away for the weekend and he calls his boss who brings Dillon in for questioning, and the FBI team happen to uncover a lot of marijuana in his car. He ends up being arrested for dealing drugs and sent to prison for a few years. Talk about an anti climax!!

I was hoping that Ryan was leading us into the sequel of the book to where Dillon would be released from prison and he would come after Savannah, but from the looks of things, there is no sequel set in the pipeline. BOOOO!!

In all, I like Ryan as an author and will definitely read some of her other books in the future. Hopefully they have a stronger ending though!

Review: The Love Game by Emma Hart

I finished reading The Love Game by Emma Hart this morning.

Basically the book is about Braden, a good looking player, and Maddie, a straight laced girl from Brooklyn, who both attend University in California. One night while out with friends, Braden states that he wants to sleep with Maddie, however she is not the sort of girl that sleeps around and the only way into her pants is for her to fall in love with him. On this same night, Maddie and her friends decide that someone has to teach Braden what is it like to be used for sex and then disgarded, therefore they decide that Maddie needs to make Braden fall in love with her, sleep with him and then leave him. And thus the story begins.

They realise that first impressions aren't always right. Maddie realises that there is more to Braden than the egotistical person she preserved him to be, he is kind, caring and most importantly someone she can talk to. Braden learns that Maddie isn't as straight laced as she asks and that she has seen more pain in her life than most see in their lifetime. Along the way, they realise that they both have failed with their plan to 'hump and dump' when they accept that they have real feeling for each other and they fall in love.

When I read the blurb reminded me of the movie How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, as the storyline has similarities, however the book is more about finding and falling in love, and also about fighting and not giving up when love becomes hard.

The book is written in the perspective of both Maddie and Braden, which sometimes can ruin a book as the authors has to their style of writting so that the audience can get a full feeling of the personality of each character. I think that Emma Hart does this well in this book with Braden, however when she is writting in the POV of Maddie, I think it would have been better. Maddie is a character that has suffered so much sadness with her mother being killed in a drive by shooting (which Maddie witnessed), which lead to her fathers struggle with depression and her brothers drug addiction. When reading the book from Maddie's perspective, you do not feel the sadness and worry that Maddie is expereincing unless Maddie is talking about her parents.

One thing I really liked about the book is that when Maddie was retelling the story about her mother's death and her best friend's attempted suicide, Hart takes the story back to when it was happening, which made me feel like it was happening right then and there and really made you feel the sadness and helplessness that Maddie was feeling at the time of the event.

Another thing that I really loved about this book was that Maddie and Braden didn't instantally fall in love, Emma Hart made the characters gradually fall in like, then in love with each other. And even when they realised that they had fallen in love with each other, they were reluctant to acknowledge their feelings. In most of the books that I have read lately, there is instant love which is so unrealistic and it was nice to read a book that was believable.

As a whole, I really enjoyed this book and would read it again, and read other books written by Emma Hart. She is a great writer!

Let me know what you thought of the book...