Mini Reviews Monday

A typical day in the life of Charley Davidson involves cheating husbands, missing people, errant wives, philandering business owners, and oh yeah...demons, hell hounds, evil gods, and dead people. Lots and lots of dead people. As a part time Private Investigator and full-time Grim Reaper, Charley has to balance the good, the bad, the undead, and those who want her dead. In this eleventh installment, Charley is learning to make peace with the fact that she is a goddess with all kinds of power and that her own daughter has been born to save the world from total destruction. But the forces of hell are determined to see Charley banished forever to the darkest corners of another dimension. With the son of Satan himself as her husband and world-rocking lover, maybe Charley can find a way to have her happily ever after after all. 

4.5 stars!

I just adore this series, and Lorelei King adds a whole new layer to the awesomeness with her impeccable narration. It's one of those series that's a genuine joy to read, and I'm always eager to get back to it when I'm forced to put it down.

While this book didn't add too much to the overall storyline or do much to push the points of the previous books into the spotlight, it was still incredibly enjoyable, and I flew through it. I was endlessly entertained and amused by Charley and her merry band of misfits, swooned over Reyes, and even teared up a time or two over Charley's cases. 

It leaves with a bit of a cliffhanger, though! Book 12 releases on Halloween of this year!

Vanessa Mazur knows she's doing the right thing. She shouldn't feel bad for quitting. Being an assistant/housekeeper/fairy godmother to the top defensive end in the National Football Organization was always supposed to be temporary. She has plans and none of them include washing extra-large underwear longer than necessary.

But when Aiden Graves shows up at her door wanting her to come back, she's beyond shocked.

For two years, the man known as The Wall of Winnipeg couldn't find it in him to tell her good morning or congratulate her on her birthday. Now? He's asking for the unthinkable.

What do you say to the man who is used to getting everything he wants?

5 stars!

This was quite possibly the slowest burn romance I've ever read. Ever. 

That said, I really loved it! The characters were well developed and quite likable, the plot had good pacing, there was a good bit of humor and steam when the heat finally hit. It was a pleasure to watch the friendship and romance between Vanessa and Aiden unfold, and once the intensity between them finally  picked up, they felt very solid and well deserved. 

It's not a short book by any means, at around 670 pages, but I was surprisingly not bothered by that. Most contemporaries just can't handle that many pages, but Mariana Zapata has quietly proved to me that she can pull these lengths off. 

She was my nightmare. Every time I closed my eyes, I watched her fall into that inferno. Over and over, I failed to save her.

I hadn’t been able to reach her, and the guilt only burned hotter over time. Four years later, I was the unreachable one.

Heroes aren’t always saints. Sometimes, we’re nothing more than jaded sinners driven by sleepless nights and hearts full of darkness.

And then I met her. She was a dreamer who managed to soothe my scars and heal my wounds.

But, as the flames closed in around us, I feared I wasn’t the right man to save her. That is until I realized she was the one woman I’d burn the world down to protect. 

3 stars!

Aly Martinez is one of my auto-buy authors, and she's written three of my all time favorite books (Fighting Silence, The Fall Up and Retrieval). She's an insanely talented writer and her stories are riveting and intensely emotional. 

Unfortunately, this one just didn't jibe with me, and it's entirely a case of "it's not you, it's me" here. 

While the writing was great and the plot pretty solid, I just wasn't invested in either hero or heroine, and couldn't connect to either one. 

I love a good alpha, but more often than not Jude was too alpha, giving me the unfortunate feel of reading a Kristen Ashely novel...if KA's heroes could speak in complete sentences and use proper grammar. And if the books had a viable plot.... And the heroine at least had some personality.... And the side characters were enjoyable... But I digress.

That said, I couldn't put it down and finished in just over a day. I definitely wouldn't take my word on this one, since nearly everyone else is loving it!

#1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning returns with the epic conclusion to her pulse-pounding Fever series, where a world thrown into chaos grows more treacherous at every turn. As Mac, Barrons, Ryodan, and Jada struggle to restore control, enemies become allies, right and wrong cease to exist, and the lines between life and death, lust and love, disappear completely.

Black holes loom menacingly over Dublin, threatening to destroy the Earth. Yet the greatest danger is the one MacKayla Lane has unleashed from within: the Sinsar Dubh—a sentient book of unthinkable evil—has possessed her body and will stop at nothing in its insatiable quest for power.

The fate of Man and Fae rests on destroying the book and recovering the long-lost Song of Making, the sole magic that can repair the fragile fabric of the Earth. But to achieve these aims, sidhe-seers, the Nine, Seelie, and Unseelie must form unlikely alliances and make heart-wrenching choices. For Barrons and Jada, this means finding the Seelie Queen who alone can wield the mysterious song, negotiating with a lethal Unseelie prince hell-bent on ruling the Fae courts, and figuring out how to destroy the Sinsar Dubh while keeping Mac alive.

This time, there’s no gain without sacrifice, no pursuit without risk, no victory without irrevocable loss. In the battle for Mac’s soul, every decision exacts a tremendous price.

4 stars...I think?

I don't think I've ever been more conflicted on how to rate a book. Parts of Feversong were amazing, stunning, freaking spellbinding 5 stars. Annnnnd other parts were purple prose, sketchy plot issues (not sure if I can call them plot holes, per say, but it's something along those lines!),unnecessary POVs and outlandish developments 2 stars. As you can imagine, I'm quite conflicted!

Not gonna lie, I skimmed a good portion of the POVs that weren't Mac's. I've never been a Dani fan - but I will give props to Moning for taking me from despising her to finding her okay over the course of this story -, and the other view points I found a bit irrelevant, especially once I hit the end.

But back to Mac, and more importantly, Barrons! 

Ahh...Barrons. That man is fine, and will forever rein as one of the kings in my book boyfriends society. There was quite a bit of relationship development between Barrons and Mac in this story, and I freaking reveled in it. A lot of the issues I had with how they were handling themselves and each other post-Shadowfever, and I'm happy to report that they were all resolved. The development that happens in this story left me teary eyed and swooning something fierce. Seriously, I can't put into words how much I adored where they went in this book.

I do wish there were some more sex scenes, though. ;) Especially considering there were paragraphs of moderately graphic sex in the other books!

Despite the sometimes ridiculous turns this book took, I was completely addicted and wrapped up in what was happening. I barely put the book down, and finished the near-600 page novel in about 6 hours. This series is definitely one that grabs your attention and refuses to let go. 

I feel a bit sad that it's over, even though I'm happy overall with how things wrapped up. This is one of my all time favorite series, and it's a bittersweet feeling to have it finished. Huge thank you to KMM for brining this series to such vivid, glorious life! 

Well, that review definitely wasn't mini, haha. Let me know your thoughts on that one if you've read it! 

Mini Reviews Monday

#1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews launches a brand new Hidden Legacy series, in which one woman must place her trust in a seductive, dangerous man who sets off an even more dangerous desire…

Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.

Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.

Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.

4.5 stars!

This was such an enjoyable book! It was one of those urban fantasy that's not so over the top and confusing that it's not enjoyable; it was firmly based in the real world and it made it easy to fall in to. The characters had great chemistry, the tension was fantastic, and the action spot on. The narration was incredible too. 

My childhood was perfect.

I’ve led a charmed life, and I’m not going to blow it now by picking the wrong guy.

I’ve got my sights set on my brother’s best friend.

He’s known my family for years. He’s reliable and kind and handsome.

Sure, he’s been avoiding me since I was six.

I’m a bit aggressive for him, maybe.

But he’s the one… right?

2.5 stars!

Eh...? It was just okay. The thing with two out of these 3.5 books is that it feels like it's trying too hard. Trying too hard to be funny, relatable, sexy...just trying too hard. The heroine was incredibly immature and ground against my nerves, and hero was a douche when the conflict happened. 

To most people, princes, princesses, counts and dukes are found only in the pages of the most famous of fairytales. Crowns, priceless jewels and gilded thrones belong only in childhood dreams.
But for some, these frivolous fancies are truth.
For some, they are real life.
On Manhattan’s Upper East Side, people have always treated me as someone special. All because of my ancestral name and legacy. All because of a connection I share to our home country’s most important family of all.
I am Caresa Acardi, the Duchessa di Parma. A blue blood of Italy. I was born to marry well. And now the marriage date is set.
I am to marry into House Savona. The family that would have been the royals had Italy not abolished the monarchy in 1946. But to the aristocrats of my home, the abolition means nothing at all.
The Savonas still hold power where it counts most.
In our tight-knit world of money, status and masked balls, they are everything and more.
And I am soon to become one of them.
I am soon to become Prince Zeno Savona’s wife…
… or at least I was, until I met Achille.
And everything changed. 

3 stars!

The Italian setting was absolutely gorgeous, and made me want to hop on the next flight to Italy and spend my days exploring grape vines, stuffing my face with delicious food, and then burning off those calories with horseback riding and sex. ;)

That said, I struggled to connect with the story. Neither protagonist really worked for me, and I felt like the writing was far too flowery, taking away from the story and the characters.

What happens when your life goes to crap the week of Christmas? You invite a hot Marine you met in an airport bar to come home with you for the holidays, to distract your crazy family from the truth. 

With a handsy aunt, a meddling mother and a father concerned for the wellbeing of his daughter's eggnog, there's no chance Sam and Noel will have time to fall in love...or will they?

The Stocking Was Hung is a standalone, Christmas story that will make you laugh, make you HOT and maybe even make you say, "Awwwww" a few times.

3 stars!

This was funny, sexy and a quick read. Parts were a tad over the top, even for Tara Sivec, and the romance was quick, but it still worked for the story and I had a fun time. Plus, that title!

{Book Review} Reliquary (Reliquary, #1) by Sarah Fine

From Goodreads

Mattie Carver’s engagement party should have marked the start of her own personal fairy tale. But when her fiancé, Ben, is violently abducted the next morning, her desperate quest to find him rips her away from small-town life and reveals a shattering truth: magic is real—and Ben is hooked. It’s not the stuff of storybooks. It’s wildly addictive, capable of producing everything from hellish anguish to sensual ecstasy almost beyond human endurance.

Determined to find out who took Ben and why, Mattie immerses herself in a shadowy underworld and comes face-to-face with the darkly alluring Asa Ward, a rogue magic dealer, infamous hustler…and her missing fiancé’s estranged brother. Asa has the power to sense magic, and he realizes Mattie is a reliquary, someone with the rare ability to carry magic within her own body, undetected. Asa agrees to help find Ben on one condition: Mattie must use her uncommon talent to assist his smuggling operations. Now, from magic-laced Vegas casinos to the netherworld clubs of Bangkok, Mattie is on a rescue mission. With Asa by her side, she’ll face not only the supernatural forces arrayed against her but the all-too-human temptation that she fears she can’t resist.

My Thoughts 

3 "Conflicted and Addicted" Stars

Reliquary is the first book in Sarah Fine's Reliquary trilogy, an adult urban fantasy that blends magic, lies, sex, and action into an addictive guilty pleasure read. The synopsis pretty much covers the premise of this story, so I'm going to jump right in with my thoughts.

At first, I'll admit to being rather unimpressed. While the world was fresh and intriguing, I was a little confused by the different classes of magical powers. There's sniffers, or sensors, that can ferret things out (magic, emotion, ect), conduits (no magic powers, but can funnel magic into objects or people), reliquaries (no magic powers, but can carry and store magic in their bodies), and then there's those naturally gifted with different kinds of magic, such as pain, manipulation, lust, and one or two others. That part I understood, but the names for the natural magic people had me confused, and struggling to remember which was which.

Then there was Mattie herself. Let me tell you, it's been a very long time since I'd read a heroine as naive, sheltered, and downright frustrating as Mattie was for the first 60% or so of this book. She reminded me of Mac during the first two books of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series; the same sheltered, immature, self-pitying and entitled traits that Mac had were prevalent in Mattie, and had me drawing quite the parallel to Fever. Mattie lacked Mac's stronger characteristics, such as confidence, fire, and adaptability, and for the majority of the book she read so damn young. If I didn't know better, I would've pegged her for a YA heroine, rather than an adult of at least 25. 

She did redeem herself a bit at the 60% mark and beyond, and I enjoyed her more so in the second book, so I'm glad to have kept going.

My next issue was with Ben, Mattie's fiancé. What a tool, seriously. He was so damn smarmy that it made my skin crawl. Every time he was on the page, I wanted to smack him upside the head. 

He's addicted to the high that magic brings him, and has used magically infused items of compulsion and lust on Mattie for the course of their relationship. And she wasn't hardly mad about that!!!! 

It sounds like I didn't like this book at all, but that wasn't the case! Let's talk about what I did enjoy.

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but there is a love triangle, and I didn't mind it. Me, the queen of anti-love triangles! I thought it was done in a way so as not to be infuriating, and introduced early enough that the reader sort of follows along with Mattie, rather than growing attached to a specific love interest right off the bat. Mattie's chemistry with Asa was intriguing and sexy, and he was the total opposite of Ben. Despite my dislike of Ben, Mattie's commitment to him was admirable, and palpable throughout the book.

Then there was Asa. Initially, I was a little skeptical on him, but as the story wore on, I was more and more interested. He's definitely a bad boy, and I'm a sucker for them. He was ballsy, kind of a dick, talented, and I wanted to know more about him. Plus, he had a Pit Bull he absolutely adored, and there's few things sexier than a man that treats his dog that way. 

There were a few surprise bits of information about Asa that I did not see coming, and I was happy to be a bit blindsided by them. It definitely added some bold layers to his character.

The process of getting magic from an object into a reliquary was absolutely fascinating, and doubly so when it was Mattie and Asa together. Their chemistry during those scenes was off the charts, and the give and take of control was delightfully kinky and unexpected. It's not for everyone, but my dirty hussy mind was quite happy about that flying of the freak flag.

I personally think this would make an awesome TV series, haha. 

Like I said, it really started to pick up at the halfway point, and I couldn't put it down. I devoured this and the next book (4 star read) in the space of a day and a half, and I can't wait till the release of book 3 in December.  

Overall, I'd recommend this book if you're looking for a darkish, sexy, and guilty pleasure read. It's also a good one if you want urban fantasy that's still very much grounded in the real world.

June Wrap Up

Hey, everyone!

Happy 4th of July!

I can't believe we're in July already! It's hotter than hell, and I'm looking forward to the fall. 100-ish degrees every day isn't fun!


June was a very busy life month, and a slowish reading month. Well, it ended slow; in the beginning of the month, my reading was quite fruitful! I'm hoping July ups my reading, and there's some awesome releases I can't wait for. Let's recap June!

June Reads

Defenseless (Salvation, #5) by Corrine Michaels - 3 stars

Healer (The Healer Series, #1) by B.N. Toler - 1 star (book is atrocious)

Still Life With Strings by L.H. Cosway - 5 stars

Tempted (101 Nights, #4) S.E. Reign - 3 stars

Captured (101 Nights, #5) by S.E. Reign - 3 stars

Twisted (101 Nights, #6) by S.E. Reign - 3 stars

Cornered (101 Nights, #7) by S.E. Reign - 4 stars

Death Wish (Ceruleans, #1) by Megan Tayte - 3 stars

Forget Me Not (Ceruleans, #2) by Megan Tayte - 4 stars

Save Me (The Archer Brothers, #3) by Heidi McLaughlin - 2.5 stars

Wild Blue Yonder (Ceruleans, #3) by Megan Tayte - 3 stars

Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1) by Robin LaFevers - 4 stars

Listen to Me (Fusion, #1) by Kristen Proby - 4 stars

Total - 13

2016 Total So Far - 82

*Including rereads

Challenge Updates

79 of 130 / 61% complete / 14 books ahead of schedule 

Grave Mercy
Listen To Me

2016 total so far: 37 - goal complete

Defenseless
Still Life With Strings
Death Wish
Healer
Tempted

Favorite

Everything about this book was enjoyable! 

Made Me Want To Stab Someone

This one made me so furious, I can't even describe it. 

Book Boyfriend of The Month

Shane!

Elijah, if only for his bedroom prowess. ;)

The Sunday Post/It's Monday, What Are You Reading

Hey, ladies

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. It's Monday, What Are You Reading is a fun weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date where we share what we've read and reviewed over the past week and what we plan to read next. 


I'm flying home from the Arizona conference today, and I am exhausted. A little TMI, but my period came early, so I'm flying with crippling cramps, nausea, other stomach...issues, and head and body aches. Fun. I really hate flying and airports!

The conference was...different. I'm grateful to have been sponsored to go, and it was insightful in some ways. However, what I've mostly gotten out of it was:

1. My feet hurt and I am tired
2. I have the attention span of a goldfish
3. I really...don't like being around people. At all. 

This Week's Recap

Suggest Me Some Books!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite 2016 Releases So Far

Waiting on Wednesday

TBR Thursday

Cover Lust, No. 29

Coming Up

????

Read This Week

3 stars!
The heroine pissed me off, but overall it was an enjoyable read. Very quick and easy!
Audiobook

Currently Reading

What Will I Read Next?

No clue!

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{Book Review} The Baller: A Down and Dirty Football Novel by Vi Keeland

From Goodreads

From New York Times and USA Today Bestseller, Vi Keeland, comes a sexy new novel.

The first time I met Brody Easton was in the men’s locker room.
It was my first interview as a professional sportscaster.
The famed quarterback decided to bare all.
And by all, I don’t mean he told me any of his secrets.
No. The arrogant ass decided to drop his towel, just as I asked the first question. On camera.
The Super Bowl MVP quickly adopted a new hobby—screwing with me.
When I pushed back, he shifted from wanting to screw with me, to wanting to screw me.
But I don’t date players.
And it’s not because I’m one of the few women working in the world of professional football.
I’d date an athlete.
It’s the other kind of player I don’t date.
You know the type. Good looking, strong, cocky, always looking to get laid.

Brody Easton was the ultimate player.
Every woman wanted to be the one to change him.
But the truth was, all he needed was a girl worth changing for.
Turned out, I was that girl.
Simple right?
Let’s face it. It never is.
There’s a story between once upon a time and happily ever after…
And this one is ours. 

My Thoughts

3 "It's BYE-Week!" Stars

I'll be honest and say I bought this book mostly for it's ab-tastic (and pec-tastic, and arm-tastic, and cock-tastic) cover, but I did take into account the glowing reviews. I've been in the mood for these lighter, sexy contemporary romances lately, and this seemed to fit the bill.

Sadly, I was disappointed. 

I felt almost no chemistry between Delilah and Brody. She was definitely infatuated and I even wound up believing her love for him, but whenever Brody's POV was on, I read nothing but sexual attraction on his part, and only when he was around Delilah. When he wasn't with her, she hardly ever crossed his mind. He's a bit of a dick, and not even in a good way. He's just a dick.

This lead to the romance feeling forced, the drama and angst boring and over the top, and the sex, while objectively hot, didn't have enough to flesh it out. 

I'm usually completely clueless on the lingo when it comes to sport romances and don't pay much attention to it, but I live in the south. Even though I'm not much of a fan, football - college vs. professional, but still - is the way of life down here, and it's hard not to absorb some of it. The author lacked in her research of the sport, enough that even I could pick up on it. 

For example, there's a week during the season where a team doesn't have a game. This is called a bye week, not a bi week, as it's called in the story.

There's the introduction of a third and completely unneeded point of view about half way into the story, and there's more than a slight love triangle (for the hero instead of the norm of the heroine having multi love interests), though it winds up not going anywhere. Love triangles are the bane of my existence in and of themselves, but when the character is awful and it's handled poorly, it infuriates me even more.

So why three stars instead of 1? For some reason, I couldn't put the story down. I blew through it in less than a day, and stayed up way too late to finish it. It was addictive, and some parts were laugh out loud hilarious. I really liked Delilah as a character, despite her questionable taste in men, and the banter between her and her best friend was great. 

I did wind up somewhat enjoying the story, but I'm definitely the minority for not loving it. Check it out yourself if you're brave!

- The Bibliophile Babe

{Book Review} Play (Stage Dive, #2) by Kylie Scott

From Goodreads

Kylie Scott returns with the highly anticipated follow-up to international bestseller Lick.

Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast-at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn't plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn't count on finding the one right girl. 

Anne Rollins never thought she'd ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls-especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn't end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?

Add to Goodreads

My Review

3 "It's Like Junk Food!" Stars

Anne Rollins returns home after a long work day to find her roommate gone and her apartment half empty. With rent due soon and not enough money to cover both her own half and her long-gone roomie, Anne is feeling pretty grim. With the coaxing of well connected her friend, Anne decides to put off sulking for one night and head to a raucous party for the popular rock band, Stage Dive. 

There she meets her teenage wet dream: Stage Dive's drummer, Mal Ericson. The cocky, charismatic and slightly manic bad boy is instantly smitten with Anne. Anne, as you can imagine, is starstruck. 

After speaking together, the two quickly strike up a deal: move in together, and start up a fake relationship in the name of good PR. With Mal wanting to straightening his image up, and Anne strapped for cash, it seems like a win-win. 

Of course, things can never be that simple. As they get to know each other better, secrets crop up and feelings begin to creep in. A whirlwind romance with your teenage fantasy... what could go wrong?

I've been in a major rockstar/music industry kick the past few days (why, I don't know; it's not usually my thing!), and after scouring my Goodreads TBR for something to fulfill that craving, I settled on Play. Admittedly, the cover is what sold me on it. ;) I have a thing tattoos and muscles. Who doesn't?

It was far from a perfect book, but I enjoyed it! Sometimes you just want a book where everything is straightforward, funny, and fast paced. Literary junk food is the best way to describe it. I breezed through Play, and while I shook my head at the characters more often than not, it was a very satisfying read.

First, the not so great:

- Mal. I'm really not sure what the intent was with his character, but half the time he came across as a complete idiot, and the rest of the time he seemed like an oblivious ass. His brand of humor was so egotistical. 24/7, around the clock self flattery. Sometimes it was funny, and a well few well placed doses of some of his banter could've made the book, but it was so extreme it bordered on aggravating. 

- Anne was a complete doormat. She was quintessential people-pleaser: falling over herself in order to make others more comfortable, making herself miserable so others can be happy, and all that jazz. The chick couldn't say no, and had zero backbone.She didn't even protest when Mal moved himself into her apartment without her consent, or any of the countless other times people walked all over her.

- Anne has some parental issues that didn't add much to the story and never really went anywhere. It felt like her problems were there solely because you can't have a stable family in the fictional world, because everyone loves drama.

- A second love interest that isn't a big enough play to make it a love triangle, but is prominent enough to be annoying. Enough said. 

- It needed some proof reading. I'm often forgiving of grammatical issues and typos as I read a good bit of self-published work, but these things were basic. Boy's when it should have been boys', a when there should be an an, and the like. 

We could deal with things alone. Of course we could. But it was so much better together. 

And the things I did enjoy!

- Despite my aforementioned issues with their individual characters, Mal and Anne had fantastic chemistry. Their romance is a bit (okay, a lot) insta-love, but it worked for them.

- Smokin' hot sex scenes, for all my fellow smut sluts.

- The side characters. This is book 2 in an interconnected series, and I was so intrigued by some of the other band members, especially the couple from book 1. I bought book 1 as soon as I finished this one! 

(They don't need to be read in order)

- A fast paced, absorbing storyline. This was a super quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

- I snorted with laugher on more than one occasion. Mal had some good banter going on with his bandmates, and even he and Anne had a few conversations that were hilarious.

- I'm not a rock star romance fan, but I loved the tone of the story. That's a winner in my book!

- Tattoos. 

- Mostly angst-free! 

"You're that good, huh?"

"Miss Rollins, you have no idea."

"You know, I honestly can't tell if your ego is repulsive or just impressive."

Overall, I'd recommend Play if you're looking for a fun, junk food read that you'll breeze right through. It was highly enjoyable, funny, sexy, romantic, and engaging. 3 stars!

"Whatever you're imagining, it's bigger."

"I'm not imagining anything."

"I'm serious, it's basically a monster. I cannot control it."

"Malcom..."

"You're pretty much going to need a whip and a chair to tame it, Anne."

"Stop it."

Stats:

Rating: 3 stars

Genre: New adult, contemporary romance

Series: Stage Dive, #2 (can be read as standalones)

POV: 1st person, single perspective

Warnings: Sex, swearing, very mild violence and drinking

Cliffhanger: No

HEA: Yes

On My Goodreads Shelves: 2015, Guilty Pleasures, Looking Forward to The Squeal, Fun and Easy Reads, Enjoyed

Length: 304 pages

Published: March 25th, 2014

My own copy

- The Bibliophile Babe

Book Review: Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

From Goodreads

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City.

To the Green-eyed Lovebird:

We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.

You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.

We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.

Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…

I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.

After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half?

M

My Review

NOW

Matt in his thirties, and is a gifted photographer for National Geographic. He's a little jaded with life now that he's in the office instead of out in the field, his (now ex) wife cheated on him with a coworker and friend, and no matter how hard he's tried, he's never been able to shake his longing for a girl he loved more than 15 years ago.

THEN

Matt met Grace, a gifted musician, in college, and their connection was instant and strong. They quickly became best friends that morphed into lovers that turned into something intense, but undefined. After months of this, life slowly starts pulling them apart. He's offered a job with National Geographic that's nearly unheard of for someone of his age and experience, and her music professor wants her to tour with a few of his other students for more than a year in Europe. With lifelong dreams pulling at them and their never really talked about relationship on the line, they go their separate ways. 

NOW

When  Matt inexplicably spots Grace on the subway one day, he throws cation to the wind and posts a Missed Connections ad on Craigslist. With the help of one of her student, Grace (now a music teacher) finds the ad, and they slowly start falling back into what they used to be. Things are very different now, and as secrets are revealed, our lovers are put to the test yet again. 

3 "Did I Read What Everyone Else Did?" Stars

*clears throat and wipes sweaty palms*

Well...this is awkward. Quite literally every blog or Goodreads review I've read has done nothing but rave about this book. People give it insanely high ratings, and I don't think I've seen lower than 4.5 stars. Combing that with my slight obsession with Craigslist missed connections ads (have you read any of them? They're so damn funny!), I one-clicked this baby as soon as it went live on Amazon.

With that in mind, I was expecting this incredible/amazing/wondrous/insert adjective experience. And I did get that....for the first few chapters. After that everything fell apart for me. This barely escaped a 2 star rating.  Let's get right to it, shall we?

This novel is told in three sections: the now (Matt now, without Grace), the then (college Matt, with Grace) and the now (Matt now, with Grace). It's told in both Matt's and Grace's perspective, though Matt is a bit more prevalent. While many are labeling it new adult, I'd definitely classify it as adult, despite the bit where they're in college. 

I absolutely loved the first "now" portion. Matt's voice was so easy to fall into, I enjoyed his slightly jaded but still witty character, and despite the fact that he's still hung up on his college girlfriend, it didn't come across as desperate or obsessive. He viewed Grace as the one that got away, rather than "I know she'll come back to me someday...or else" that I was expecting. The banter he had going with his boss made me laugh out loud! 

Then I got to the "then", and while I enjoyed the first few chapters, it started going down hill. I loved the chemistry and easy familiarity that Matt and Grace instantly had, but that was pretty much it. This is where I started seeing everything coming from a mile away. I'd think "there's no way it's going there. That's way too obvious!", only to read on and find out that's exactly where it went! 

It was so incredibly frustrating to have such transparency in this story. I'm not exaggerating when I say I saw everything coming from the moment Grace's professor was introduced and when Grace and Matt first had sex. 

This book rode so heavily on the "big plot twists", banked so hard on the shock value for the readers, that the rest of the story just fell by the wayside. Once the stage is set for said twists to happen, the pacing became choppy, the characters flat, and the chemistry non-exsistant. I didn't want Matt and Grace to be together again, and both of their characters wound up being people I was glad to be rid of by the end of the book. Matt went from someone I enjoyed to someone I just didn't like, and Grace's character was at complete odds with the woman Matt describes. 

Despite its numerous issues, it was a very quick read and did have a few bits of truly beautiful writing, like this paragraph (I don't necessarily agree with this, but it is pretty) :

You can't re-create the first time you promise to love someone or the first time you feel loved by another. You cannot relive the sensation of fear, admiration, self-consciousness, passion, and desire all mixed into one because it never happens twice. You chase it like the first high for the rest of your life. It doesn't mean you can't love another or move on; it just means that the one spontaneous moment, the split second that you took the leap, when your heart was racing and your mind was muddled with What Ifs - that moment - will never happen the same way again. It will never feel as intense as the first time. 
At least, that's the way I remember it. That's why my mother always said we memorialize our past. Everything is better in a memory.

While this book was not for me, I wouldn't take my review as law. Everyone else has loved it, so ignore the black sheep and try it for yourself! Then you can come back and commiserate with me in my lonely existence. :p

STATS:

Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Adult, contemporary romance

POV: 1st person, duel perspective

Steam/sexual content: Some steam, mild sex scenes

Warnings: Some mild drug use

Series: Standalone

Cliffhanger: No

HEA: Yes

Length: 320 pages

My own copy

Add to Goodreads

- The Bibliophile Babe

Reading Slump No More!

Hey, guys!



Since early June or so, I've been in the worst reading slump. Nothing was holding my attention, it took me days to finish a single book, and I hadn't read a 5 star worthy read since I didn't know when. I'm so happy to report that that is gone! The book that kicked it was The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent. It seems like an author I like, a fast paced setting, an anticipated release and an unusual take on paranormal is just what I needed to get back into reading.

Last Sunday I finished Bad Romeo instead of shelving it as a DNF, and I suddenly wanted to do nothing but read. I'm back to being able to get lost in a book, reading lightning fast, and I had both a 4  star and a 5 star read. Yay!

I finished 8 books last week. Six physical books, two eBooks, six full length novels, one short little story and a fairly short, smutty anthology. I'd been trying to finish Bad Romeo for weeks, but the rest were completed within a day or so. This was with a very full work schedule, too! Pretty happy with myself, in case you couldn't tell. :D


Here's what I finished. Reviews will be coming for all of these over the next week or two, and one has already been posted and is linked below.

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I was not bested! 2 stars.

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2 stars. My review is here.

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3 stars

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This just might have been the dirtiest, smuttiest book I've read all year, and that's saying something because I read a lot  of book porn.
3-3.5 stars, still deciding.

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Part one, very short. An okay 2.5 stars.

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5 stars! Beautifully done novel. 

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A fair smut collection. I liked the second book best, though the third was admittedly hot. 3 stars.

Add to Goodreads

Not Cosway's strongest novel or my favorite in the series, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it! 4 stars.

Have you read anything good lately?

- The Bibliophile Babe

Book Review: The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon

Goodreads
Amazon (currently .99 for Kindle!)

From Goodreads:

If I tell you right up front, right in the beginning that I lost him, it will be easier for you to bear. You will know it’s coming, and it will hurt. But you’ll be able to prepare.

Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o’clock news – the little baby left in a basket at a dingy Laundromat, born to a crack addict and expected to have all sorts of problems. I imagined the crack baby, Moses, having a giant crack that ran down his body, like he’d been broken at birth. I knew that wasn’t what the term meant, but the image stuck in my mind. Maybe the fact that he was broken drew me to him from the start.

It all happened before I was born, and by the time I met Moses and my mom told me all about him, the story was old news and nobody wanted anything to do with him. People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids, and kids grow up to be teenagers. Nobody wants a messed up teenager.

And Moses was messed up. Moses was a law unto himself. But he was also strange and exotic and beautiful. To be with him would change my life in ways I could never have imagined. Maybe I should have stayed away. Maybe I should have listened. My mother warned me. Even Moses warned me. But I didn’t stay away.

And so begins a story of pain and promise, of heartache and healing, of life and death. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. But most of all...a love story.

People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids. Nobody really wants messed up kids. And Moses was messed up.

The Law of Moses is a new adult romance that follows Moses Wright and Georgia Shepherd, a broken boy and a simple girl who, despite being polar opposites in nearly every way, form an intense connection and become tied together in a way neither expected. The story is told in alternating 1st person, and follows the pair from the ages of 17 and 18 to 24 and 25, respecitvely. 

Georgia is a small town girl with dreams of joining the rodeo. With a lifelong gift for horse breaking, she helps her family run an equine therapy business. She has a gentle, simplistic view of life, and her thoughts revolve around horses and her dreams...until she meets Moses.

"It's working for you. Cracks and all. In fact, if your brain wasn't cracked, none of the brilliance could spill out."

Moses has bounced around from family member to family member since he was abandoned as a newborn, and is finally sent to permanently stay with his great grandmother in Podunk, Utah. 

Moses has a stunning gift for paining, and a more sinister gift as well: he can see dead people. Their memories bombard him, and he can't predict when or where he will see them. The only rhyme or reason is they never speak, and they're always tied to a person he's interacted with. Consumed by imagines and memories that are not his own, Moses furiously paints to rid himself of the dead. Often labeled crazy and unstable, he's feared and shunned wherever he goes. The only one who tries to get to know him is Georgia, and before long they fall in love. 

It can't last of course, and when tragedy strikes Moses, he is forced into a mental health hospital. Terrified or letting Georgia in further, Moses cuts ties....or so he thinks. Years pass, and a twist of fate lands them right smack back into each other's lives. From there we're swept off in a whirlwind of heartbreak and healing, and we watch as Georgia slowly breaks the laws of Moses once and for all.

I can't open Facebook or Goodreads without seeing something about The Law of Moses. With a 4.44 star rating on Goodreads and a cool-as-fuck cover, I happily bought it. 

I swear, I'm destined to always be the odd person out when it comes to the "hip" books. The stories everyone raves about have me feeling like "really? Did we even read the same book?". Unfortunately, The Law of Moses wasn't an exception. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad book, but it was not the amazing 5 star read that everyone professed it to be.

I didn't buy the bond between Moses and Georgia. Georgia claims to be in love with Moses during the first 100 pages, and Moses later reveals he felt the same. I'm assuming we're suppose to feel a gut wrenching loss when they're separated, but so little time is dedicated to showing any sort of connection that it just wound up feeling a bit creepy and desperate. Literally all we see are a few conversations, Moses being an ass, Georgia being idealistic, them sleeping together, and Georgia endlessly pining over Moses's various physical attributes and his artistic ability. It read like a fling instead of the love it was advertised as. We see a better connection between Moses and his best friend, Tag, than we do Moses and Georgia!

It got much better towards the ending, when the two had something holding them together, but until then it was awkward, forced, and fleeting.

There are so many different plots going on in this book, and I never really got which was the main point, aside from the obvious. We're given hints of ideas and short twists into other directions, so much so that at the end it felt like things were either unresolved or just kind of slapped together. Like Moses being able to see the dead - that could've been such an amazing storyline. Why is he seeing them? How? What does it mean? Can anyone else do it? None of that is answered, and not a single character seems to question it! 

Even if the author didn't want to answer what was going on with Moses, his talent could have gone in so many different directions. Instead it just sat there, something for Moses to angst over and get paid for, but never showcased outside of the events towards the end of the book. There's a part in the book where Moses talks of traveling Europe and using his talents to show people what their past loved ones are showing him, and it only covers a couple of paragraphs with no details. That was something I wanted to know more about!

It took nearly half the book for me to realize this was a paranormal book, even though it's the least paranormally book I've ever read. For the first part of the book I just thought Moses was off his rocker.

There's a couple other things that were glossed over or just quickly wrapped up, things that didn't really need to be in the story. A subplot of the book is the recent disappearances of some local girls, and Georgia being attacked in the very beginning of the book. It's talked about then, and at the very end of the story, but nowhere else. It was superfluous to me.

There's so many plot twists, but it was frustrating as I kept guessing nearly all of them before they happened. 

The pacing of the book is odd, too. The time jump isn't very smooth, the flashbacks are jarring, and it was slow as molasses in some spots and entirely too fast in others.

The little synopsis I wrote up there? That took up nearly 2/3 of the book. It's hard for me to review this one since the big twist happens towards the end, but I can't tell you a lot of things without spoiling!

Part of the problem was that I just didn't care for either character very much. My favorite person was Moses's best friend, and I wish he had more screen time (page time?). He was funny and cut right through Moses's crap. The second book in the series, The Song of David, is his story, and I'll probably grab that eventually.
I found Georgia to be annoying, and dumb. I get that during her teenage years she's young and naive, and I think that's what the author was aiming for,. To me though, Georgia came across as flat out stupid. Between saying "I seen" and not knowing who Michelangelo was, I wanted to just shake her. She's been to school, so it's not like she's uneducated!

Moses is harder for me to nail down, and I flipped back and forth on liking him. Sometimes I ached for what he feels, and other times I wanted to shake him nearly as much as I did Georgia. I did enjoy reading his perspective more than Georgia's, and he was easier to connect with. 

"I love you. You scare me and fascinate me and make me want to hurt you and heal you all at the same time."

I did enjoy the book for the most part, even though it took around 150 pages to start picking up. I think my expectations warped my enjoyment of the story, since I was anticipating being blown away and it was just an average read. 

Because she had wanted me when no one else did, I had immediately been suspicious. I had immediately distrusted her. And I had always held it against her.

That's not to say that I didn't like it, though. There's some good character development for both Moses and Georgia, especially at the ending. I cried more than once, and the story definitely shows some powerful emotions. Towards the end I was getting sucked into the story, and would reach up to brush my hair out of my face only to find myself crying without realizing it. While there's definitely some scenes that hit hard, the edge of remorse and pain is constant and subtle during the last quarter. It crept up on you, and made the big scenes all the more potent.

The way Moses talks about art and how he interacts with the dead was absolutely fascinating, and left me wanting more. 

The closure we're given was spot on, and heartfelt. I loved how the author had her characters think of "5 greats", or five things they were grateful for when things got difficult. It was a very positive message, and integrated well into the story. 

I liked this story, and would recommend it if it sounds like something you'd be interested in. Take it with a grain of salt, and grab some tissues. It's a refreshing read for the new adult genre, that's for sure. 

STATS:

Rating: 3 stars

Genre: New adult, contemporary romance, paranormal, very slightly biblical

Length: 328 pages (softback)

Series: Standalone with a spinoff

POV: 1st person, alternating

Steam/sexual content: Very mild

Warnings: Nothing too disturbing, just sad

Cliffhanger: No

HEA: Yes

My own book

- The Bibliophile Babe