Snowed Over by Angie Stanton

Title:  Snowed Over

Author: Angie Stanton

My Rating: 4 Stars

Purchase: Amazon Kindle  B&N Nook

To college student, Katie Brandt, ‘Home for the Holidays’ sounds like hell. When her parents separated, their holiday traditions shattered like a dropped ornament. What could be worse than celebrating Christmas with her suddenly single mom and mom’s new boyfriend?

Alex Walker, an engaged 20-year-old, dreads going home for his own reasons. He has a daunting task ahead of him and wishes he could skip the holidays altogether. So when a friend of a friend needs a ride north, Alex finds that having beautiful Katie seated by his side proves to be just the distraction he needs.

A simple ride home for Christmas turns into a nightmare when light snow rages into a full-scale blizzard. Katie and Alex find themselves stranded, and a vacant cabin becomes a haven from the storm. Under different circumstances, time alone with Alex would be the ultimate Christmas gift, but Katie knows Alex is engaged and she must hide her growing attraction.

However, Alex harbors a secret that just might change this holiday from the worst Christmas ever, to the best.

My thoughts:

I love Angie Stanton's books. Being from WI, I love that she writes about places in WI and that I not only know where they are and how to pronounce them, but it helps me relate to the story more.

Snowed Over was no exception. Not only could I relate in terms of location but also weather. In WI is gets pretty cold and as I read this book, I could literally feel the cold as they experienced it.

Snowed Over was a very cute novella. I loved the story. I loved the characters. And I loved the ending. I would definitely be interested in hearing more of Alex and Katie's adventures.

Read More

Chance Encounters by J. Sterling

Title:  Chance Enounters

Author: J. Sterling

My Rating: 4 Stars

Purchase for Amazon Kindle

 

 

Summary (from Goodreads.com):

Caroline Weber was a normal girl who thought she had her life figured out. After graduating from college in New York, she moved to San Francisco with her boyfriend, Clay. Everything in her life felt perfect. There wasn't anything she would change...

...until she met Jackson Parks.

Is it possible that a chance meeting with a stranger can make you question EVERYTHING you thought you wanted? Caroline tries to carry on with her life as if nothing has changed...but the truth is, nothing can ever be the same.

Chance Encounters is an emotional love story about trusting and following your heart, even when it's leading you down a difficult path.

Sometimes other hearts have to break in order to keep yours intact.

My Review:

I love YA and I love contemporary romance - this book is like getting both in one. It is written in a YA style but the characters are older than your typical YA book. a.k.a This book is right up my alley.

Chance Encounters is about love at first site, it's about wondering if you are with the right person, it is about taking chances, and it is about breaking hearts. I think my favorite line from the book was "Sometimes other hearts have to break in order to keep yours intact."

I have been in a bit of a book slump lately, with it taking me far too long to get through a book. I started this book and finished it within 24 hrs. The story was sweet, emotional, and entertaining - the perfect mix to break my reading slump.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that loves a love triangle, love at first sight, and a happily ever after. Can't wait to read more from Miss Sterling!

Read More

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title:  Obsidian

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

My Rating: 4 Stars

Purchase for Amazon Kindle

 

 

Summary (from Goodreads.com):

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

My Review:

This was the first book I have read by Jennifer Armentrout, and it did not disappoint. It had hot guys, aliens, sexual frustration...wait, did I say aliens? Yep, but not the little green slimy ones. These are the hot, hot, hot ones, and boy do they have an attitude!

I loved this book, the characters, the story line, everything kept me glued to my Kindle and laughing out loud more than once.

I recommend this to anyone and everyone!

Read More

What a Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

Title: What a Boy Wants

Author: Nyrae Dawn

My Rating: 4 stars

Purchase for Amazon Kindle

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Review:

 ♪♪ What a boy wants, what a boy needs ♪♪

The title of this book makes me want to start singing the song by Christina Aguilera (with altered lyrics of course) and that brings me back my younger years which in turn sets me in the right frame of mind for this book.  It really is a perfect circle. That being said, as a thirty-something mom of 3 kids, this book may be considered a little young for me. That, however, did not stop me from reading it.  After all, YA books are great for making us aging folk feel young at heart, right?

What a Boy Wants is written from the perspective of teenage boy, Sabastian, who has decided he doesn't believe in love after experiencing his mother's heartbreak time after time.  He is cocky, confident, and has decided that all he ever wants or needs from a girl is a hook-up.  However, his simple plan is set astray when he starts noticing his best friend in a different way that she has ever seemed to him before.  Is this love?  And more importantly, is he capable of love?

This was a very cute, sweet, funny and light-hearted read for me.  Ms. Dawn did a very good job writing it in the male's perspective and her writing style reminded me alot of Tammara Webber's (whom I absolutely love!) And then there is the cover...I have to say that the cover fits Sabastian perfectly.

I am not sure that the book grabbed me from an emotional standpoint and it seemed fairly predictable to me, since I sort of figured out what was going to ensure during the first chapter.  The emotional aspect may just be because of my age and I wasn't able to relate.  Add a little more mystery and some more emotion and this would have been a 5 star book for me though.

I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to read a story from a male's perspective and wants to experience a light-hearted, sweet, teenage story.

Read More

Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

Title: Point of Retreat

Author: Colleen Hoover

My Rating: 5 stars

Purchase for Amazon Kindle

 

 

Summary (from Amazon):

Hardships and heartache brought them together...now it will tear them apart. Layken and Will have proved their love can get them through anything; until someone from Will's past emerges, leaving Layken questioning the very foundation on which their relationship was built.

Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge...how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop 'carving pumpkins.'

 

My Review:

 

22 hours is all it took
for Colleen Hoover to reclaim my heart
The characters she writes
that boy
that girl
tear at my heartstrings
and send my emotions a whirl.

(That's my mini slam dedicated to Colleen Hoover.  Colleen: I think you are one of my favorite people right now!)

Point of Retreat is the second book in the Slammed series by Colleen Hoover and is as bemazing as the first!  As I did with Slammed, I skipped right past reading the synopsis and dove right in, so I was utterly surprised to find that this is written in Will's POV. Seeing things from his side, gave me a whole different light to him.  In Slammed I saw him as very mature, responsible, mostly in control, and sometimes a little hard-headed.  Although I still see some of those after reading Point of Retreat, I also got to see the vulnerable and not-so-much in control side of him, his struggles, his heartbreak, but also his determination and strength.

Will loves Lake, Lake loves Will, this cannot be denied.  But is their love for each other for the right reasons?  And is their love strong enough to survive being questioned?

"Sometimes two people have to fall apart, to realize how much they need to fall back together" – Author Unknown

I lost count on the number of times that I cried throughout this book.  My emotions were all over the place (that damn vase had a lot to do with it).  One minute I was laughing and the next minute I found myself crying or frustrated beyond belief with one of the characters.  When a book is able to do that to me is when it deserves 5 stars, and that is just what I gave it.

Okay, time to play suck and sweet...my suck is that there is a wait until the next book is released.  My sweet, however, is that I have a new favorite author and a couple new books in my re-read category.

If you haven't read Slammed, the first book in this series, you need to stop what you are reading now and go buy it.  While you are there, pick up Point of Retreat because it is so butterflying amazing and a great follow-up to the first book.

(Note: if you are confused with my choice of words such as bemazing and butterflying, go read the book and it will all make sense.)

Read More

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

 

 Title: Slammed

Author: Colleen Hoover

My Rating: 5 Stars

Buy for Amazon Kindle

Summary (taken from Goodreads):

'Slammed' is the first of a two book series. The second book, "Point of Retreat," will be available for download after March 2nd, 2012.

After the unexpected death of her father forces eighteen year old Layken and her family to move across the country, away from everyone and everything she knows, her outlook on life is anything but hopeful.

Enter Will Cooper: the attractive twenty-one year old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry. After a night together that turns out to be everything but the expected, both Layken and Will are left with feelings they never knew they could have. Unfortunately in Layken's life, things are never what they seem. Just as quickly as it develops, their relationship is derailed by a shocking revelation, sparking a tumultuous battle between their hearts and their ethics.

As if the dramatic turn of events in her life isn't enough, Layken is slammed again when her mother reveals a secret of her own. A secret so intense, all of Layken's current problems pale in comparison to her seemingly insurmountable future. Unable to confront the changes that lie ahead of her, Layken ignores her conscience as she turns to Will for solace. Struggles ensue as both Layken and Will search for a balance between that which keeps them apart and the feelings that pull them together.

My Review:

I got schooled this year
by
a
Book.
a book that I'm seriously,
deeply, madly, incredibly,
and undeniably in love
with.

When a book dominates my Goodreads feed with 5 star ratings, I jump at the chance to see what the hype is about.  That is the situation with Slammed by Colleen Hoover.  I had no idea who Colleen Hoover was (*hangs head in shame*) and I had no idea what her book was about, but with that many 5 star ratings, what do I have to lose, right?

I jumped blindly into this book without even glancing at the synopsis but came out with my eyes wide open (albeit, a little bloodshot from crying.)  Slammed is about poetry, love, heartbreak, death, sacrifice, responsibility, The Avett Brothers (had to throw that one in there for you Colleen) and overcoming hurdles that life throws at you. I don't want to attempt a summary of the book for fear that I will give away spoilers, but I will say that it is an emotional journey that you shouldn't dare miss. 

I give Slammed 5 stars due to the emotional turmoil it put me through, the heartache I felt for the characters, the way that it made me laugh out loud, and the fact that it kept me from sleeping because I just couldn't put it down. 

I would recommend this book to anyone that loves YA and loves to experience an emotional journey and with a price of only $2.99 for the Amazon Kindle book you can't go wrong.  So go!  Click over to Amazon and pick up this book now!

And with that, I am off to Google poetry slams in my area.  After reading about them, I kinda want to experience one for myself. 

(By the way, the opening of my review was an adaptation of a poem from slammed, giving all the credit to Collen for that one.)

Read More

Fissure by Nicole Williams

Title: Fissure
Author: Nicole Williams
Rating:  4 Stars
Purchase for Amazon Kindle

My Review:  

In Nicole Williams' Eden series, we follow the story of Bryn Dawson and her swoon worthy, perfect, every bit of a man, William Hayward. In Fissure, we get a story of William's every bit as swoon worthy brother, Patrick.

I fell in love with Patrick with the little bit of him we got to experience in the Eden series so I was overly excited to read a story that was not only dedicated to just him but is also told from his perspective. *insert girly squeel here* While it is not necessary to read the Eden series before this one, I think it is beneficial so that you know the background of the story and characters.

This story picks up approximately a month after United Eden in which Patrick had professed his love to Bryn right before she was betrothed to William, the love of her life and Patrick's brother. Not surprisingly, Bryn chose William but this left Patrick with a big whole in his heart that he didn't know how to fill despite the many women that would no doubt line up to try and help him fill it.

In an attempt to get him out of his funk, Patrick's father enrolls him at Standford. Patrick is not amused with this idea and spends the first couple of days lounging around campus, cat-calling as the co-eds of Standford passed by on their way to class. When he finally does attend class, he ends up sitting next to the one person that had the nerve to call him out during his cat-calling escapades, Emma Scarlett...and her big, beefy boyfriend of 6 years.

Patrick soon finds that Emma is to be the one to fill the void in his heart, however, her, her boyfriend and her brothers do not make this an easy feat for Patrick.

I loved this book, I love Nicole's writing style and I so love Patrick's wittiness. This book has romance, it has action, and it has a little bit of paranormal. I so badly wanted to give it 5 stars. I agonized over it but I just couldn't put that last star to it for a couple of reason's. First, it wasn't until the ending that I found myself not able to put the book down. The ending is very action packed, but I would like to have seen more of that throughout the rest of the story. Second, I really, really would have liked to have seen more of the paranormal aspect of the story with the immortality show through. However, I have no doubt that we will witness more of this in the next installment of the Patrick Chonicles, Fusion.

Read More

Rock and a Hard Place by Angie Stanton

Title: Rock and a Hard Place

Author: Angie Stanton

My Rating: 5 Stars

Purchase for Amazon Kindle

 

 

Summary (from Amazon.com):

One day while watching the Interstate exit for her dad’s long awaited return, Libby’s life is rocked when Peter Jamieson steps off his tour bus and into her life. After a couple chance meetings with Peter, Libby breaks away from her perfect behavior and her life changes course.

Peter longs for normalcy away from the screaming fans who know nothing about the real him. He is amazed to discover Libby has never heard of him or his band. Soon their friendship turns to love. While Peter battles his family's growing interference so he can spend time with Libby, she struggles with her eccentric aunt who turns more bizarre each day.

Their lives are torn apart when Peter's family intrudes and Libby disappears. Peter’s desperate search for her comes up empty. Can they find their way back to each other while the world plots against them?

My Review:

What is it about a story with a rock star that gets to me every time? This was such a sweet story with a feel-good ending.

Libby has lived a hard couple of years after the death of her mother and sister and then having her father abandon her, leaving her to live with her low life aunt. With no friends and no true family there for her, she lives her life dreaming of the day her father will return for her and life will be okay again.

After an uncharacteristic meeting of Peter, a member of a famous band, Libby finds herself now dreaming of a boy she never before knew existed.

This book receives 5 stars in my book, not because it was perfectly written, but because it was a good story, I couldn't put it down, it held enough emotion to bring actual tears to my eyes, and I got an ending I was happy with.

Read More

Eternal Eden by Nicole Williams

Title: Eternal Eden

Author: Nicole Williams

My Rating: 5 Stars

Purchase for Amazon Kindle

 

Summary from Amazon.com:

College sophomore Bryn Dawson is a self-proclaimed poster child for normal. However, the day William Hayward enters her life, normalcy is the last thing Bryn will be able to count on if she wants to be with him. Too mysterious and appealing to be good for a girl, Bryn feels drawn to him in a way that seems out of her control—as if fate is orchestrating it.

Despite every red flag and warning siren going off in her head telling her not to, Bryn falls hard for William, knowing he’s categorically different from anyone she’s ever met. She never imagined how right she was. When William takes her deeper into the rabbit hole of his world, Bryn must decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice to be with him, knowing no matter what, fate always finds a way to have the last laugh.

Spinning a new twist on star-crossed lovers, Eternal Eden will put Bryn through a gauntlet of turmoil, challenging her to find the power within herself to become the heroine in her own story.

My Review:

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book. I had to force myself to put my Kindle down while reading this just so I could feed my kids, go to work, sleep, etc. (you know, normal responsibilities that wouldn't get me fired or have child services knocking on my door.)

Although there is no man on earth, Mortal or Immortal, that is as perfect as William is portrayed in the story, I thoroughly enjoyed the romance between him and Bryn. The way that Nicole Williams wrote this story triggered so much emotion that I found myself laughing and crying with the characters.

I purposely waited to read this book until right before Fallen Eden comes out because I am impatient when it comes to waiting for books in a series. I am glad I did because even the week left until Fallen Eden's release seems like too long to wait to continue on with Bryn and Williams story!

Read More