The Sea of Pages

Release Date: May 7, 2013

Publisher: Atria Publishing

Age Group: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 272 

Series: Torn #1

Buy: Amazon 

  Chloe hasn’t had the best life. With a mother who is gone more often than not, she has had to raise herself. After graduating high school, she leaves to start a new life away at West Virginia University with her best friends Amber and Logan, determined to leave her demons in the past. On her first day, she meets a stranger who takes her breath away at first sight. Until she met Drake, no one had ever sparked her interest. Now this tattooed and pierced bad boy is all she can think about, no matter how hard she fights it. Falling for Drake was never part of her plans, but when it happens, things seem to do anything but fall into place. Dealing with a tragic past, Drake has never cared about anyone else but himself and his band. But when Chloe takes the empty seat next to him in class, things start to change. Instantly drawn to her, he begins to wonder if one girl can take a cold hearted womanizer and change every part of him? Long hidden feelings are revealed and friendships tested to the brink.

MY THOUGHTS:

I have a love hate relationship with love triangles. Sometimes I think they’re the greatest thing ever but sometimes I hate them and want to throw my kindle across the room. In this particular book we have a love triangle involving Chloe, Logan, & Drake. The first part of this love triangle involves Chloe and Logan who have been friends forever and Chloe counts him as one of her closest friends, much to his dismay.  Then we have Chloe & Drake who she is immediately taken with when she sees him in class.  Then of course the drama begins.

As I said before I have a love-hate relationship with love triangles but the problem with this book is I didn’t feel much of anything towards it. I think the main problem I had was I didn’t particularly like Chloe. Although I know she was suppose to be indecisive because uh hello two hunky guys fighting over you, I still felt she was too wishy washy.  I also would have liked a plot outside of the romance. It sometimes dragged and nothing really happened. I also felt that the relationships between the characters felt a little flat. I would have liked a little more backstory. Chloe keeps talking about her past but we don’t really get to hear any of it. That being said the whole “who is she going to be with” aspect is what kept me hooked. I wanted to know who she was going to pick and this is what kept me from giving up on the book.  The book ends on what I’m assuming is a cliff hanger but really she chose who she wanted to be with so I’m not particularly interested in the next book.

Overall, I liked this book but didn’t love it. The love triangle kept me hooked but the characters didn’t do much for me. I’d recommend this to fans of Beautiful Disaster and Thoughtless.

NOTE: I received this book via Netgalley for a honest review. 

RATING:

★★★

Release Date: September 12, 2013

Publisher: Orbit

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Paranormal

Pages: 352

Series: Jessica McClain #1

Source: Netgalley/Publisher

Format: ARC

Buy: Amazon 

Born the only female in an all male race, Jessica McClain isn’t just different—she’s feared.

After living under the radar for the last twenty-six years, Jessica is thrust unexpectedly into her first change, a full ten years late. She wakes up and finds she’s in the middle of a storm. Now that she’s become the only female full-blooded werewolf in town, the supernatural world is already clamoring to take a bite out of her and her new Pack must rise up and protect her.

But not everyone is on board. The werewolf Rights of Laws is missing text and the superstitious werewolves think that Jessica means an end to their race. It doesn’t help when Jessica begins to realize she’s more. She can change partway and hold her form, and speak directly to her wolf. But the biggest complication by far is that her alpha father can't control her like he can the rest of his wolves.

When a mercenary who’s been hired by the vampires shows up to extract information about the newly turned werewolf only days after her change, they find themselves smack in the middle of a war and there's no choice but to run together. When it’s up to Jessica to negotiate her release against her father’s direct orders, she chooses to take an offer for help instead. In exchange, Jessica must now swear an oath she may end up repaying with her life

 

My Thoughts:

Full Blooded is a fun, sexy, fast paced urban fantasy that deals with Jessica McClain being the only female werewolf in the history of all werewolves.

Amanda Carlson wrote a great heroine.  Jessica is strong, confident and funny without being too arrogant. She works under an alias as a private detective with her partner Nick and right off the bat we learn that not only is she the only female in a race of male werewolves but she is also a threat to the entire werewolf race due to a prophecy.  The prophecy states that if a  female wolf be born she will the end of the  entire werewolf race.

Aside from all the cool werewolf folklore we also get some hunky guys. First we have James, who is second in command to Jessica's father.  He is completely loyal to her father and sounds extremely hunky. Most notably we have Rourke. No one really knows what he shifts into but he is feared among all races. Although Rourke was hot, I would have loved some more scenes between him and Jessica. I could definitely feel the chemistry but I felt a little more scenes wouldn't have hurt.

My only issue with this book was the ending. I felt like it was just getting momentum and then bam it's over. It felt a little hurried. I would have liked a couple more chapters properly end the book.

Overall, I loved the characters, reading about the myth and loved how fast paced it was. It was a great book and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Rating: 4/5

  Cami Broussard has her future all figured out. She’ll finish her senior year of high school, then go to work full-time as an apprentice chef in her father’s French restaurant, alongside her boyfriend, Luke. But then twenty-year-old ex-Marine Julian Wyatt comes to live with Cami’s family while recovering from serious injuries.

 

And suddenly Cami finds herself questioning everything she thought she wanted.
Julian’s all attitude, challenges and intense green-brown eyes. But beneath that abrasive exterior is a man who just might be as lost as Cami’s starting to feel. And Cami can’t stop thinking about him. Talking to him. Wanting to kiss him. He’s got her seriously stirred up. Her senior year has just gotten a lot more complicated….

 

I’m going to be honest with you… I totally judged this book by its cover! I thought it was just going to be a cutesy romance with little depth but jokes on me! It was a great coming of age story that deals with the uncertainty of growing up and finding first love.

Cami, our main character, has always known she’s wanted to be a chef but now with senior year and her father pressuring her to join college she’s not so sure what the future entails. I have to say I loved that we actually get to see Cami in her element. Although I’m a terrible cook it was still fun to read about Cami coming up with new dishes for her family to try. She was a great heroine she still had her faults but ultimately was a strong driven character. I loved her interactions with Julian! It was funny to her act so snarky towards him and not take any of his crap.

Julian has just returned from the war and is still coming to terms with the loss of his leg. He starts off as a total jerk which is understandable due to his injuries but as time progresses we see him and Cami become closer.  I loved how much he cared about her and even though he wanted to be with her he did his best to encourage her dreams even if it meant being separated.  Also watching him come to face with his injuries revealed a vulnerable side to him that was great to read.

I have to say by far my favorite thing about the book was the humor. I loved reading about Estella, Cami’s stepmom, passive aggressive behavior while making weekly dinners and Cami’s Dad”s snobbish attitude to any food besides french food.  My favorite scene has to be Cami throwing a muffin at Julian.

My only complaint was the ending. I love a epilogue and I would have loved one showing how Julian and Cami where doing. It didn’t end abruptly or anything but I feel a little insight as to how they were doing and if they reached their goals would have been nice to read.

Overall, Stir Me Up is a great well-written book for fans of contemporary romance. It has great characters that grow individually as well in their relationship.  I can’t wait to read more from Sabrina Elkins!

Rating: 4/5

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Author: Jessica Lemmon

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Hachette Book Group

Format: Ebook

Source: Publisher/ Netgalley

Pages: 288 

Rating: 4/5

Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

 ONCE BURNED

Sadie Howard never dates a guy more than once-but Fate has other plans for her when it comes to Aiden Downey, the one that got away. Aiden loved her, left her, and broke her heart. Yet suddenly she’s bumping into him at every turn, driven to distraction by his wicked grin and rock-hard body. Now she can’t resist finishing what they started-as long as she doesn’t let herself fall in love . . .

TWICE AS TEMPTING

Aiden Downey threw away the best thing he ever had when he let Sadie go, and now he’s determined to win back the woman he’s always wanted. Sadie agrees to let him into her life-and her bed-as long as there are no strings attached. But Aiden’s not about to make the same mistake again. Can he convince her to take a second chance on a once-in-a-lifetime love?

 

Sadie Howard is a strong, confident woman who unfortunately was unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend, Aiden via a phone call.  I am a huge sucker for romance books! I love reading them but unfortunately sometimes I find myself reading the same plot and characters over and over again. That was not the case with Hard to Handle.

I loved Sadie. She had her heart broken by Aiden but was still a strong character and not weak heroine. Having said this I have to say I was extremely annoyed by her woe is me bit. You can clearly see how hard Aiden is trying to win her back and show her he made a mistake but Sadie continues denying him which I found a little annoying. Aiden was a great character as well. I thought he was going to be a cocky  womanizer but instead he was a sweet guy who saw what he missed when he dumped Sadie.

I have to say it dragged for a little while there but was right back on track. I just wished we would have got more of Sadie and Aiden as a couple. We got all this build up but I feel once they got together it was rushed. Considering Sadie’s trust issues it would have been nice to see them work to trusting each other again.

Overall, it was a great read. The romance was sexy and sweet and the characters were great. It’s a great fun read.

RATING: 4/5

Nadia Faber is a survivor. After losing both her parents at age 12 and being thrust abandoned into the despicable foster care system, Nadia never lost hope. She never gave up. Not even after Trace, the love of her life, was arrested and taken away for trying to protect her from their sexually abusive foster dad. 

I really liked the first part of the book. The characters where great and I loved the dynamics between the four of them. Nadia was a great character. She was tough, sweet and easy to connect to. Trace was greatly written as well. It was refreshing to read how nervous he was around Nadia. Usually in New Adult/Young Adult the love interest is cocky and knows he'll get the girl. So reading how Trace stammered when he first met Nadia was cute.

It's the second half I didn't like at all. It felt rushed and forced. I would have liked if we could have read what happened to Nadia after the boys went away. I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I had in the first part. Also, that ending was annoying! It was abrupt and rushed. I'm not sure if I'll read the second one.

Overall, the romance was sweet if not a little rushed but nonetheless I enjoyed reading this story. 

Release Date: October 10, 2013

Author: Mina Bennett

Genre: New Adult

Publisher: N/A

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy: Amazon

Summary via Goodreads:

He's the only thing she has left to believe in...

Marissa was the first person to break Jacob's heart. When they were children, she made it very clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. She didn't mean to, but her mother had ordered her to stay away from her Sunday school crush: "He's a nice boy - don't you ruin him." So she kept her feelings hidden, telling herself that no matter how sweet he seemed, he'd still end up turning on her, like everyone else did.

Jacob never loved anyone like he loved Marissa. He knows he should try to forget about her, especially now that he's engaged and she's happily married - or so everyone says. Even though they've grown and gone their separate ways, in their tightly-knit community, that still means seeing each other at every Sunday service, church picnic and backyard barbecue. He swears that her eyes still have that sad, haunted look, but he manages to keep his distance.

Until one night, when everything changes.

With Jacob's relationship in shambles and Marissa pushed to the breaking point, they're drawn together by an unstoppable force. Temptation is irresistible. Giving in is unthinkable. But it soon becomes clear that nothing - neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation - can keep them apart.

Upon reading the blurb I got really excited about reading this story. I love when friends fall in love and love seeing how it plays out in the plot. Also it sounded really ominous which intrigued me. Sadly, I feel like I was promised one story but instead got another. The main problem I had with this book was the pacing and the characters. 

I really liked Jacob. He was sweet and endearing. Seeing how much of a crush he had on Marissa was cute but I didn't feel any chemistry there. It made it hard to believe they where in love. They hardly interacted and when they did their scenes felt a little flat for me. 

I would have liked it if the author took some time to develop the relationship not only with Jacob and Marissa but Marissa and Mark as well. I also felt confused as to why Marissa is an outcast. Yes, she's quite and introverted but why was she considered an outcast?

Overall I liked the story but felt it would have been better with a little character development.