Wednesday, December 2, 2015

W...W...W... Wednesday

W… W… W… Wednesday, hosted by Taking on a World of Worlds, is a weekly meme showcasing what you just finished reading, what you are currently reading, and what you plan to start reading next.





What Did You Recently Finish?

Finally! This took forever for me to finished, but I wound up enjoying it. I'm eager to continue! Urban fantasy/PNR almost always takes me a long time to get into; I almost didn't grab the second books in the Fever and Kate Daniels books, and those wound up being two all time favorite series. 


What Are You Currently Reading?


 My name is Evie Claremont and this was to be the making of me–my freshman year of college. I’d been hoping that once I’d arrived on Crestwood’s campus, the nightmare that I’ve been having would go away. It hasn’t.
I may be an inexperienced seventeen-year-old, but I’m grounded…sane. I look for rational explanations to even the strangest circumstances. Since meeting sophomore Reed Wellington, however, nothing makes any sense. Whenever he’s near, I feel an attraction to him–a magnetic kind of force pulling me towards him. I know what you’re thinking…that sounds fairly awesome. Yeah, it would be…if he liked me, but Reed acts as if I’m the worst thing that has ever happened to Crestwood…or him. But get this, for some reason every time I turn around he’s there, barging into my life.
What is the secret that he’s keeping from me? I’m hoping that it’s anything but what I suspect: that he’s not exactly normal…and neither am I. So, maybe Crestwood won’t be the making of me, but it could be the breaking of me. I’ve been left to wonder if the dark future my dream is foretelling is…inescapable.
 

Audiobook I'm not too far into, but I'm not very impressed so far. It's seriously Twilight-esque so far. 


 Millie Cross knows what it's like to burn for someone. She was young and wild and he was fierce and even wilder-a Chaos biker who made her heart pound. They fell in love at first sight and life was good, until she learned she couldn't be the woman he needed and made it so he had no choice but to walk away. Twenty years later, Millie's chance run-in with her old flame sparks a desire she just can't ignore. And this time, she won't let him ride off . . .

Bad boy Logan "High" Judd has seen his share of troubles with the law. Yet it was a beautiful woman who broke him. After ending a loveless marriage, High is shocked when his true love walks back into his life. Millie is still gorgeous, but she's just a ghost of her former self. High's intrigued at the change, but her betrayal cut him deep-and he doesn't want to get burned again. As High sinks into meting out vengeance for Millie's betrayal, he'll break all over again when he realizes just how Millie walked through fire for her man . . .
 

Really struggling to finish this. Maybe it's just because they're double my age, but I'm having trouble connecting with any character! I'm also a huge fan of complete sentences and proper enunciation, something that the hero thinks is optional....




What Will You Read Next?


These covers are truly awful!

Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places-and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.

But this new vampire is hardly ordinary-and neither is the demon inside of him.
 











Tuesday, December 1, 2015

November Recap

Hey, ladies!



I don't understand how it's already December. Truly, I do not!


November has been my slowest reading month this year, though that's okay! Since meeting my Goodreads goal a couple months ago, I've been more discerning in my book choices, rather than the whole I-know-it's-crap-but-it's-getting-my-challenge-goal-filled-faster mentality. It's been over a month since I've read a less than 3.5 star, and most are averaging 4-4.5 stars. This was another good month!




New Books Read: 12


















Rereads: 1





Total: 13


Audiobooks: 7


Audiobook Hours: 140 hours, 13 minutes




Total for The Year So Far: 250



Favorites
5 beautiful stars! This is my second favorite non-gritty contemporary by Halle. Such an emotional, sexy, heartbreaking and amazing story. 


A wildly entertaining forbidden love story!
My review
This is my new favorite Colleen Hoover book, excluding the Never Never novellas with Tarryn Fisher. 



Biggest Disappointment


Fucking love triangles. 



Best Smut


There's this one shower scene, and I just... holy christ. Someone please give me a dirty talking Scotsman for Christmas. 



Most Surprising







Best Protagonist 


Kayla and Lachlan!



Worst Protagonist


Pick Marc, you indecisive, obnoxious little brat!



Book Boyfriend of The Month

Meet my harem.


David

Marc
Lachlan 

Ben

Lee





- The Bibliophile Babe




Monday, November 30, 2015

It Was On Sale! (Book Haul!)

Hey, ladies!


I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday! If you happened to be doing any Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday shopping, I hope you scored some good deals! Being the antisocial, short tempered person that I am, I did all my shopping online. Got some things for the dogs, and a few books for myself. #HallmarkOfATrueCrazyDogLady



Audible is having a $4.95 sale on a good selection of books until tomorrow, and I snagged a few of those in the sale. Also, I love Whispersync. Love it.




Audible Haul

A Stone in the Sea ~ 

He wanted nothing at all… 

Until he found she had everything to give… 

Sunder lead singer and guitarist Sebastian Stone has everything—fans, fame, and fortune. He also has a heart full of bitterness and a reputation for a short-fused temper. But an outward reputation rarely reveals the true man inside. Facing assault charges after trying to protect his younger brother, Sebastian is sent to Savannah, Georgia to lie low until the dust settles in L.A. 

Shea Bentley is beautiful, kind, and hiding from the very lifestyle Sebastian has always embraced. 

When the mysterious, tattooed stranger begins hanging out at the bar where she works, Shea is quick to recognize he is nothing but trouble, but she's helpless to the way her body lights up every time his intense gray eyes tangle with hers. 

They both soon find themselves drowning in a sea of desire and passion that won’t let them up for air. 

Sebastian knows firsthand secrets never die, and he’s not the only one who’s hiding them. 

Loving someone always comes with a price. But will it be Shea’s past that costs them everything? 
 



This was a heartbreakingly beautiful read! Review to come soon.

 A full-length, standalone romance from the New York Timesbestselling author of Archer's Voice.

Dirt poor. Hillbilly. Backwoods hick. Mountain folk. 

Tenleigh Falyn struggles each day to survive in a small, poverty-stricken, coal mining town where she lives with her sister and mentally ill mother. Her dream of winning the college scholarship given to one student by the local coal company and escaping the harshness of her life, keeps her going.

Kyland Barrett lives in the hills, too, and has worked tirelessly—through near starvation, through deep loneliness, against all odds—to win the Tyton Coal Scholarship and leave the town that is full of so much pain.

They're both determined not to form any attachments, but one moment changes everything. What happens when only one person gets to win? When only one person gets to leave? And what happens to the one left behind?

Kyland is a story of desperation and hope, loss and sacrifice, pain and forgiveness, but ultimately, a story of deep and unending love.


 Virgin. Sex addict. Daredevil. Alcoholic. Smartass … Jackass. Her five friends are about to be filmed. Reality TV, be prepared.

Rose Calloway thought she had everything under control. At twenty-three, she’s a Princeton graduate, an Academic Bowl champion, a fashion designer and the daughter of a Fortune 500 mogul. But with a sex addict as a sister and roommate, nothing comes easy. 

After accepting help from a producer, Rose agrees to have her life filmed for a reality television show. The Hollywood exec is her last chance to revive her struggling fashion line, and boundaries begin to blur as she’s forced to make nice with a man who always has his way. 

Twenty-four-year-old Connor Cobalt is a guy who bulldozes weak men. He’s confident, smart-as-hell and lives with his equally ambitious girlfriend, Rose Calloway. Connor has to find a way to protect Rose without ruining the show. Or else the producer will get what Connor has always wanted—Rose’s virginity. 

This New Adult Romance can be described as Friends meets The Real World. Expect fist fights, drugs, sex of varying degrees, crude humor and competitive alpha males. Definitely for mature readers audiences only.


This is so far out of my normal reading. We'll see!


In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.
 


 Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?



Kindle Haul

In addition to these, I have the Whispersync Kindle versions of Kiss The Sky, Kyland, and A Stone in The Sea.


Mmmm....I'm intrigued. ;)


Eighteen is hard.
And so is Mateo Alesci.
He’s hard to read, hard to predict, hard in every way that counts. He wants things from me.
Dirty things, nasty things, forbidden things.
And I have to give in.
His attention is completely inappropriate, but I can’t say no. The way he looks at me… the way he watches me through my bedroom window… the way he drags me deeper and deeper into his completely forbidden fantasy world just… turns me on. 
He knows it turns me on.
He holds all the power. He holds all the cards.
He holds my entire future in his hands.
And I have to give in.
Because Mr. Alesci is my teacher.
And I need everything he’s offering.



I fell in love once.

It was amazing. She was amazing. Life was amazing.

I lived for each time I could see her, and nothing else mattered, not that our families were enemies, our time together was forbidden, or we had to meet in secret.

Our love could conquer all.

Until it didn't.

So I was ripped away from the love of my life and shoved into hell, forced to continue without her.

It shattered me, broke the best parts of me, left me permanently damaged.

Or so I thought.

Years later, I swear history’s trying to repeat itself because she’s back in my life, and I’m just as drawn to her as I was before. But I'm older and wiser now, and I know she should stay away from a worthless ex-con like me.

So, I will not let her in. I absolutely refuse to hurt her. I will keep her away.

Then again, sometimes risking your greatest fear to get to a smile makes everything worth it, and besides, I’m not sure I can resist her, anyway.

This is the story of how Felicity Bainbridge changed my life forever, starting one summer day long ago after I was forced to change a dirty diaper...

--Knox Parker
 


 Melanie Winters and Daniel Montgomery shared a love most only dream of, a love they believed bonded them together for life. 

When their world is shattered by the tragic loss of their daughter, overwhelming grief and misguided guilt distorts the truth, and their relationship ends in uncertainty and unanswered questions. 

For nine years, they drift through life, each unable to forget the one who holds the strings to their heart. In an attempt to escape the pain of her past, Melanie finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage, while Daniel loses himself in a career that means nothing without Melanie by his side. 

Now, when their lives again intersect, neither can deny the connection they felt so long ago. But will the power that drew them together be enough to heal the wounds from their past, and will they have the courage to overcome the insecurities and fears that threaten to keep them apart? 

Pulled is a story of attraction and separation, of destiny and duty, of a love so strong it refuses to give up even when all others have. 


- The Bibliophile Babe



Sunday, November 29, 2015

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 hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Mine was low-key and relaxing. My immediate family did our own Thanksgiving on Tuesday, and I opted to stay home from the drama session known as actual Thanksgiving with the relatives. I'm quite happy with that choice. ;)



The Christmas lights are up on the house now! It's still too warm to get a tree, but hopefully it'll cool down to where it won't be a sweat-fest while selecting one soon. It's been in the mid 70s for quite a while. Does not feel like it's almost December!



I feel tired, gross and crampy, so today I will be doing nothing but napping and reading. :p


I'm still really enjoying walking at night. On Friday night, I was lucky enough to stumble across this gorgeous, tiny little owl! Couldn't get close enough to it to get a clear shot, but here it is. I think it's a screech owl, or maybe a burrowing owl?


He was no bigger than a Coke can!



Steps this week:

Sunday - 11,853
Monday - 17,642
Tuesday - 13,588
Wednesday - 23,692
Thursday - 17,016
Friday - 15,335
Saturday - 11,778

Total - 110,904



This Week's Recap








Coming Up*

Book Haul!

November Wrap Up

W...W...W... Wednesday

{Book Review} Kyland OR Stinger by Mia Sheridan

Cover Lust No. 6

*as always, subject to change!



Read This Week

5 stars!

Audiobook, 4 stars!
Audiobook reread, 5 stars!





Currently Reading

I'm so torn on this one! I'm really enjoying it, but I bounce from empathy to extreme annoyance with these characters. It's an audiobook, and the narrators do a fantastic job. 

Still reading this, just a chapter or two each night. I'm enjoying it, slowly but surely. 

Only about 20% into this, and maybe it's because it's not for my mood right now, but I'm not as wowed as I was by the previous two. 






What Will I Read Next?

One of my favorite writing duos! You aren't told much about this character in the Addicted series, but I'm curious to see if my perception changers once I'm in her head. 

Audible is having a sale now through Dec. 2nd, and I snagged this and the above. Can't wait!


I'm on contempoary kick, it seems! This is the only CoHo book I haven't read. Curious about it, since I wasn't big on the first book. 





- The Bibliophile Babe




Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Controlled Burn Book Tour

Hey, ladies!





I'm happy to be part of the blog tour for Controlled Burn by Shannon Stacey! I haven't finished the book yet (I'm around halfway there), since it's been a very busy week, but I am loving the firefighters. ;)




Rick Gullotti lives the good life. He fights fires, dates beautiful women—though none long enough so they cast wistful glances at jewelry stores—and has great friends. And thanks to helping out the elderly couple who own his building, his rent is low. But when concerns about their health lead him to contact their only son, his life starts getting away from him.


Jessica Broussard has no interest in leaving sunny San Diego or her cushy corner office for Boston, but her father—who happens to be her boss—dispatches her to deal with the grandparents she's never met. She's unprepared for the frigid winter, loving relatives who aren't the monsters she's been led to believe, and the hot, scruffy firefighter who lives upstairs.



At first, Jessica is determined to get back to her comfortable life as quickly as possible. All she has to do is talk her grandparents into selling their monstrosity of a house and moving to a retirement community. But she underestimates Rick's dedication—and his considerable charm. Nobody's taking advantage of his friends on his watch, even if that makes the tempting southern California girl with the long legs his adversary. Unfortunately for them both, the only thing more urgent than the matter at hand is their sizzling chemistry, and it's quickly becoming too strong to resist.




                               Goodreads | Kobo Books |  GooglePlay  | B&N | Amazon






This is the second book in her Boston Fire series, though they can easily be read as standalones. I haven't read anything by this author before, and I'm having no problem keeping up with this story.

Like I said, I haven't yet finished it, but I'm really enjoying it so far. It's a really cute, low-angst story! The characters are enjoyable and realistic, with a nice build up to a relationship. I love how they haven't just fallen into bed together right off the bat! I'm enjoying the side characters, especially those firefighters. Excuse me for a minute, I have to go set something on fire.....





About Shannon Stacey:



New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily ever after and riding her four-wheeler. From May to November, the Stacey family spends their weekends on their ATVs, making loads of muddy laundry to keep Shannon busy when she’s not at her computer. She prefers writing to laundry, however, and considers herself lucky she got to be an author when she grew up.

Giveaway Info:  
Thanks to the team at Harlequin and Carina Press, one lucky winner will receive the following:




a Rafflecopter giveaway