Monday, February 29, 2016

Book Review: Us by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy! (@SarinaBowen) (@ElleKennedy)


Us (Him #2)
Author(s): Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy
Publication Date: March 8, 2016
Published:
Source: Author in exchange for honest review

My Rating:

Can your favorite hockey players finish their first season together undefeated?
Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He's living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves–Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There's just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice.
Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It's not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn't help that his new job isn't going as smoothly as he'd hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves.
Or can they? When Wes's nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly?
Warning: contains sexual situations, a vibrating chair, long-distance sexytimes, and proof that hockey players look hot in any shade of green.
Hat Trick! In hockey, a hat trick is when a player scores three times in a game. Even though this is the follow up to Him, Us is a total score in my book. When I think of follow ups with the same main characters, I get nervous. I wonder if things are just going to be regurgitated or if it’s going to read stale. All of those fears were blown out the window with the return of Jamie and Wes.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Cover Reveal! Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen (@SarinaBowen)



I personally can not WAIT for this book to come out. I loved the series that this is a spin-off from. Instead of listening me go on, just look at the hotness that is this cover.


COMING SEPTEMBER 6th: A sexy new hockey series from Sarina Bowen. 

In high school they were the perfect couple—until the day Georgia left Leo in the cold...

Hockey player Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart, and succeed in the NHL. But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.

Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast...

"Romantic and hilarious, Rookie Move will hook you from page one. Nobody does hockey like Sarina Bowen." --Elle Kennedy, New York Times bestselling author of the Off Campus series.


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Thursday, February 25, 2016

Blog Tour: You're Still the One by Rachel Harris - Review (@RachelHarrisBks)


You're Still the One (Country Blues #1)
Author: Rachel Harris
Publication Date: February 15, 2016
Published: Entangled Publishing
Source: InkSlinger PR

My Rating:

Love is one dare neither of them can take...
Arabella Stone, Nashville’s darling, is eager to shuck her prim-and-proper rep, and a few wild months spent checking items off her “ summer bucket list” is the way to do it. First up: kiss the man she’s crushed on since she wore a training bra, the bad boy of country himself, Blue bassist Charlie Tucker.
For Charlie, a beautiful woman flirting with him isn’t out of the norm—but a beautiful woman bolting after the hottest kiss of his life sure is. And when he finds out his kiss-and-run Cinderella is none other than Arabella Stone, daughter of his label’s CEO, he knows he’s in trouble. Because not only is she a Stone, she’s also his employee for the next few months at the recording studio he just bought.
Over the course of one thrilling summer, Arabella and Charlie chip away at her bucket list and fight the simmering attraction between them...knowing that once it's all over, so is their time together.


I now want to start a bucket list after reading this book and checking them off with my husband. If he wants to help, there may be some he doesn’t want to help with. LOL. I really did love this book. While reading about her musical crush, it brought me back to my youth and having NKOTB posters all over my room and what it would have been like to meet Jordan Knight. Oh those are the days and now I’m showing my age.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Waiting On Wednesday #43


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


Title: Drag Teen
Author: Jeffery Self
Release Date: April 26, 2016


A fantastic, fabulous, funny YA debut from Jeffery Self, one of the gay icons of the YouTube generation, that follows one high school student on a drag race to his future.
Debut YA author Jeffery Self takes us on a road trip with an insecure high school senior who has one goal: to be the first in his family to leave Clearwater, Florida, and go to college. The problem is, he has zero means of paying for school -- until his friends convince him to compete in a drag teen competition for a college scholarship.
I love drag queens. It sometimes can be an unhealthy obsession to the fact that I believe I am a drag queen living in a woman's body. Logically, with this love of fabulous, a book titled Drag Teen would get my attention. This seems like it will be funny and heartfelt. I already know I'm going to think of the episode of Dawson's Creek when Pacey entered the beauty contest. (Dating myself with the DC love.)

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday! Books we enjoyed recently that weren't our typical genre


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish

This is a great topic this week. I unfortunately don't have any to contribute but Stephanie does! Look at her choices below.



1. The Prophet, by Michael Koryta

When I hear that football is involved I usually shun it. I hate football. But when this was handed to me at Book Con and it was called "Friday Night Lights meets In Cold Blood" I was interested. I ended up loving it.


2. Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story, by Jewel

I usually don't read memoirs. Jewel is different though because she writes beautiful, meaningful songs. I came to learn that memoirs are not boring when you love the person you are reading about.


3. Zombies vs. Unicorns, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier 

I hardly ever read short stories because I like getting lost in a novel's longer narrative. These stories were a great completion of fantasy tales that let you decided if you prefer zombies, unicorns, or both. Many of the authors I was already familiar with and having their ideas all in one book makes it a good one for the book shelf.


3. Sentinels Books 1-4 and Sentinels Anthology, by Rich Bernatovech, Jamie Fay, and Luciano Vecchio 

The only graphic novels/comic books I ever read were Star Wars. After winning a raffle for the Sentinels collection I branched out. I really enjoyed the stories and characters that were not from the Star Wars universe. At this year's New York Comic-Con I bought more comic-books and a graphic novel to read this year.

4. The Dark and Hallow Places, by Carrie Ryan 

This is actually the last book in a trilogy. I usually only like zombie stories when they are comical: iZombie or Warm Bodies. These are serious brain and flesh eating zombies in story with good world building .


5. The Cripple of Inishmaan, by Martin McDonagh

The only times I ever read a play is when I had to in school, or after I already saw the play and loved it. It is amazing how much plot and character development can come from a story that is made up only of dialogue and stage directions.


Blog Tour: We Were Here by Daisy Prescott - Review (@daisy_prescott)


We Were Here
Author: Daisy Prescott
Publication Date: February 22, 2016
Published: Self-published
Source: InkSlinger PR

My Rating:

In the 90s …

texting involved paper and a pen …
… our selfies were Polaroids ...
… our favorite music was on mix tapes.
Sex was dangerous, music was raw, and falling in love felt nostalgic.
We were friends and lovers.
We thought we knew everything.

We knew nothing.
We were here.
Set in the early 1990s, a time before the internet, social media, and smart phones, We Were Here is the prequel to Geoducks Are For Lovers. This book can be read as a standalone.


"This story has it all! Just like a mixed tape; we get a dose of steamy romance, angsty ballads and sweet love songs woven together in a compelling, heartwarming and sometimes heartwrenching journey of self-exploration." Helena Hunting, New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author



When I first got my kindle, one of the first books I downloaded was Geoducks Are for Lovers by Daisy Prescott. At the time, I wasn’t really into romance, at least adult romance. Something about the cover drew me to it. Long story short, I fell in love with the characters. But what always bothered me was I wanted to know where this group of friends began. With We Were Here, my wish is granted.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Guest Book Review: The Wrath and The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh! (@rahdieh)


The Wrath and The Dawn (The Wrath & The Dawn #1)
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Publication Date: May 12, 2015
Published: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Reviewer: Lametria

My Rating:

One Life to One Dawn.
In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all.
Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?
Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end.
Just when I thought I was growing out of the YA fantasy genre, I came across this story. I’m not a big fan of Aladdin and I’ve never read Arabian Nights, but I do know that this story is based off of those stories.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Blog Tour: Ink & Lies by S.L. Jennings - Review! (@MrsSLJ)


Author: S.L. Jennings
Publication Date: February 9, 2016
Published: CreateSpace
Source: Sassy

My Rating:
From International Best Selling Romance Novelist, Hope Hughes, comes a gripping, heartfelt tale of two lovers, fighting for the freedom to…
No. Scratch that. Too cheesy.
…two people, torn apart by the tumultuous tides of life, only to discover refuge in…
WTF? What does that even mean? DELETE.
…two people, confused as shit as to where they should be and who they should love and none of this means a damn thing because it’s all lies!
Lies.
I’m not Hope Hughes. I’m not some fierce woman romance machine. Hell, I’m not even a woman.
I’m a liar.
And while I refuse to believe my own BS, deceit masked in heartfelt phrases of love and devotion, I want to make herbelieve them. Because maybe—just maybe—if she can find the soul within my words, she’ll also be able to find the truth scribbled on my heart.
You see, I once lived for the perfect plot twist.
I just never expected to actually live it.
This is my story. Well, maybe her story. I just wish I could make it our story.
The one I’m still writing.



Mind blown! That is all I could say about this one. Well, not really. There are a lot of things I can say about S.L. Jennings’ new standalone romance. I could say how funny and intricate it was. I could talk about how there were so many beautiful written dialogue between August and Fiona. Speaking of August and Fiona, let me tell you a bit about this.