Loving Mr. Daniels 5/25/2014

Loving Mr. Daniels by Brittainy C. Cherry

It was easy to call us forbidden and harder to call us soulmates. Yet I believed we were both. Forbidden soulmates. 

When I arrived to Edgewood, Wisconsin I didn’t plan to find him. I didn't plan to stumble into Joe's bar and have Daniel's music stir up my emotions. I had no clue that his voice would make my hurts forget their own sorrow. I had no idea that my happiness would remember its own bliss. When I started senior year at my new school, I wasn’t prepared to call him Mr. Daniels, but sometimes life happens at the wrong time for all the right reasons. 

Our love story wasn’t only about the physical connection.It was about family. It was about loss. It was about being alive. It was silly. It was painful. It was mourning. It was laughter. It was ours. 

This book was kind of a random surprise for me. I've been having a hard time finding books that sounds interesting and somewhat entertaining. I was skeptical of this story because I feel like I have been reading a lot of forbidden relationship type stories, especially involving teachers. Don't get me wrong, some were amazing but some were also very cringe worthy. 

Overall I give this book 4 bubbles. I genuinely enjoyed it and there were many aspects of the story that I just loved. 

We meet Ashlyn as she is going through some really hard times. She just recently lost her twin sister and is now moving to live with her father that she doesn't really know anything about and his new family. She is a nineteen year old high school student and starting her senior year in a new town. 

Before she starts her new school, she meets Daniel, a musician that she connects with on many different levels and they have that immediate connection. They meet, they swoon, and we get a good dose of insta-love. Everything comes crashing down on them when they realize they can't have an open and honest relationship with each other.

I loved this story because it had so much more than sex going for it. There is an important box of letters in this story and I truly feel like they made this story what it was. The other characters in this story were also something that just completed it. One character in particular reminded me of Patrick (Nothing) from The Perks of Being a Wallflower and I just loved that character and everything he was about. 

I don't want to give away too much because it was a wonderful story and I liked learning about all the different characters and how they all changed and affected this story. 

Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in the NA genre but with some slight depth. This was refreshing and new, in a strange way, and I loved it. 

Full Steam Ahead 5/17/2014

Full Steam Ahead by Valerie Chase

Seven days aboard a luxury cruise. 

The perfect getaway from it all. 

At least, that’s what Georgia Cantwell is hoping for...

With her inbox filling with menacing emails, Georgia just wants to run away from her shattered life on her sorority's winter break cruise. What she doesn’t need is green-eyed Jace McLaren seeing through her tacked-on smile and stealing her breath away with each tantalizing kiss. 

Growing up with a father in jail, Jace knows from experience that if you’re going through hell, there’s no way out but through. He has always steered away from girls like Georgia with her ice-queen attitude, but she’s in real trouble, and despite himself he pushes past her walls.

This was a pleasant surprise! 

Overall, I give this book about 3.5 bubbles. I really liked it for many different reasons but it wasn't a 4 star for me.

I enjoyed the story and I thought it was a fun, light, easy read. I'm extremely impressed that this is a debut novel. 

That being said, there were some things I wish were changed. I wish the ending was slightly different and this whole story wasn't only 6 or 7 days long. I wish we went more in depth with the relationship between Jace and Georgia, and there was more depth. When Jace talks about his past and goes into detail about his life, I don't feel like we deserved it quite yet. Georgia came off as a brat to me at times, and this made me feel less in her favor. 

When it came to the ending, I wish we saw more conflict and struggle. I think it would have been a better story if things were not fixed so easily. It was a bit of a too perfect ending for my taste. However, because of this the book can be classified as a simple and easy read and that is not a bad thing. 

Overall, this book was fun. I would read it again if I was in the mood for a simple read and I am excited to see what else Valerie Chase writes because I feel that she does have a lot of potential when it comes to this specific genre and style of writing. 

Nowhere but Here 5/13/2014

Nowhere but Here by Renée Carlino

Kate Corbin has lost her spark. From the outside, her life seems charmed. She has a handsome, long-term boyfriend and a budding journalism career at a popular Chicago newspaper. But in reality, her relationship is going nowhere, and she’s quickly losing motivation for what she once believed was her dream job. When her boyfriend dumps her unceremoniously, Kate loses all hope of finding love. 

With no living family and few friends, Kate confides in her boss. Trusting that the hungry, ace reporter is buried somewhere deep inside, he gives Kate the opportunity to jumpstart her career. The assignment: to interview the famously reclusive R.J. Lawson, a wealthy tech genius who disappeared years ago but recently reemerged as a Napa Valley vintner. The week takes an unexpected turn, however, when Lawson refuses to divulge any information. Desperate for a lead, Kate turns to Jamie, a vineyard hand who shows her the romance of wine country—and stirs her aching heart. But his connection to Lawson is ambiguous, and when Jamie disappears before the end of the week, Kate is left to investigate another story: the truth behind the man who stole her heart

5 bubbles!! I absolutely loved this book and everything about it!

Words cannot describe how I am feeling about this book right now. I just finished it this past Friday night and I can honestly say that I cannot wait to read it again. I'm going to save you guys the rant today about my opinions on the new "in" literature and get straight the the review!

We meet Kate, a journalist who is living a pretty bland life. We see the inside of her job, her friends, her boring boyfriend and the we get a small glimpse of her past when she talks about her mother and Rose. We are introduced to a pretty simple character that has flaws and a rocky past just like every other human out there.

Kate is sent off to Napa to get an interview with a man that is well known but very off the radar and he has finally agreed to give Kate this interview for a Chicago newspaper. While there she meets this wonderful man named Jamie who slowly opens her up to exciting things and teaches her about a different lifestyle. While she is staying in Napa for this interview she slowly starts spending more and more time with Jamie and becomes interested in him and begins to fall in love with him. Things soon change for Kate when Jamie picks up one day and leaves without an explanation and she is left to go back home to Chicago and figure out everything that happened between them on her stay. 

This story is wonderful and while everyone should know by this point that I am usually the first one to rage about insta-love, what surprised me about this book, was how much I loved it. This was a light, wonderfully fun story that I recommend to everyone who has every had an interest in any romance novel or you're just a sucker for sweet stories. I loved this because the Kate and Jamie were believable, they had realistic characteristics, there was no brooding alpha male and it was different. To me, the plot was kind of predictable but it did not take away from the story and I am still happy with the story as a whole. 

Now go out there and get this story! 

Coming Home 5/9/2014

Coming Home by Priscilla Glenn

Leah Marino hasn’t been on a date in two years. After discovering the man she loved had manipulated and deceived her, she refuses to even entertain the idea of a relationship. Instead, she focuses her attention on taking care of her family, a role she’s assumed since the death of her mother and the one place she knows her kindness won't be taken advantage of again.

When a nostalgic trip back to her childhood home results in a chance encounter with Danny DeLuca, a smart-mouthed mechanic who’s as attractive as he is mysterious, Leah's carefully cultivated walls begin to crumble. She finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Danny, despite his unreliable behavior and mixed signals. 

But Danny has a secret...

5 HUGE bubbles! 

 Oh my god, I loved this book. It was everything I look for in simple, light, sweet stories. I could go on and on and on about all the amazing things this book has to offer but I'm only going to list a few. 

• No "alpha" male
• Realistic conflicts
• Wonderful character build up

As I list these things, you are probably thinking about how this is such a short list and obviously simple things to love about this book but again, I feel like these are hard things to find in a lot of the new young adult books coming out and it was so refreshing to read about characters that actually had an emotional relationship to build on, there was no petty jealousy, rage, or crazy over controlling characters that we are supposed to swoon over. I will now put this small rant to rage and continue with the review.

Leah and Danny are our two main characters and I really liked almost everything about both of these characters. They were realistically written and introduced in a wonderful way. I feel that the relationship was built up perfectly and written in a wonderful way. They were not both immediately drawn to each other and Leah had to actually work to get to know Danny. There was no insta-love and I genuinely enjoyed reading about the relationship between Danny and Leah from when they first met and how they went about dating and learning about each other.

Throughout this story, we are all very aware that Danny has a secret and from the blurb alone, we also know it could be one that ruins the relationship before it can even start. The reason I loved this part of the story was because it was a secret that could actually affect you, me, or the random person next door. It was a secret based solely on an accident and it something that happens more often than not. At first, I thought this story was going to be slightly predictable from the secret alone, and this was before I even knew what it was. Boy, was I wrong!

I'm glad this story was not predictable and I'm glad I'm being somewhat vague with this one review because I refuse to give away anything. I loved this story, and it's as simple as that. Happy readings!

Making Faces 5/2/2014

Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Ambrose Young was beautiful. He was tall and muscular, with hair that touched his shoulders and eyes that burned right through you. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore.

Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us

Oh that was rough. I was not prepared for the emotions this book comes with.

5 bubbles. Hands down. 

This was an amazing story about loss and learning how to come to terms with all of the different challenges you are faced with at certain points. This is also a story that can be added to your shelf of books that has the power to always make you cry. 

For me personally, this book started slow and I really wasn't sure how Amy Harmon was going to build up this relationship but she did it, and she did an amazing job. I loved this story because it could be classified as new adult but it is slightly different. This story grips you and tears you apart in different ways. There were times in the book, where I knew what was going to happen but it didn't change the emotions I felt with it and how it was so touching while reading it. 

Unfortunately, I can't give away a lot. I don't want to post anything that could be classified as spoilers because I don't even want to risk giving away anything in this book. It was beautiful and such an amazing story. I'm so glad I picked it up and I recommend this to anyone who is looking for a touching new adult novel. 

Archers Voice 4/29/2014

Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan

When Bree Prescott arrives in the sleepy, lakeside town of Pelion, Maine, she hopes against hope that this is the place where she will finally find the peace she so desperately seeks. On her first day there, her life collides with Archer Hale, an isolated man who holds a secret agony of his own. A man no one else sees.

Archer's Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives with an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love.

4 bubbles! 

I have to admit, I judge books by their covers. I usually don't go for books with half nude guys because to me, this means I will probably be reading more about sex and insta-love than hard feelings and struggles. I'm glad I pushed through and decided to read this book anyway. 

I was very surprised by the story in Archer's Voice. Bree was a simple heroin, she wasn't this poor tortured women who never realizes her worth until some guy comes along, she has different struggles we all face but hers are a little more extreme. She moves to this small Maine town to get away from her past and rediscover a new life. She meets Archer, or kind of forces her friendship on him. Archer is known as the weirdo in town. Everyone knows his family but an accident left him with some disabilities and the town seems to forget that he is an individual with feelings and expectations too. 

Bree and Archer become fast friends after she pushes him into the friendship. He is shut off from most because how everyone has treated him most of his life but Bree ends up getting through to him and forming a friendship. 

I really loved this book because of the different writing communication challenges we are faced with and the build up of Asher and Bree's relationship. This is another book where a character is seeking themselves and they realize they can't always rely on others to help put them back together or to even try. 

I would definitely recommend this book. It's a light read, but still very entertaining. There are some graphic sex scenes but they don't take away from the actual story. 

In This Moment 4/24/2014

In This Moment by Autumn Doughton

Every moment possesses its own kind of magic...

Aimee Spencer learned the hard way that for some moments, there are no take-backs, no rewinds, no do-overs. A year ago her world imploded and Aimee has been running ever since. She doesn't want to feel. She doesn't want to remember. To bury the ghosts that haunt her, she is living a life that has become unrecognizable. 

Cole Everly is a golden boy with a cocky smile and an attitude to match. He's grown accustomed to girls throwing themselves at his feet, but when Aimee trips and literally lands in his lap one afternoon, she's not at all what he expects. Difficult, damaged, closed-off. If Cole needed to make a list of qualities to avoid in a girl, Aimee would probably match up with every single one of them. He knows that he should stay away but he's drawn to her in a way that he can't exactly explain.

Four bubbles, hands down. 

In This Moments was a wonderful story about rediscovering who you truly are after everything you thought you knew, changes instantly. 

I immediately fell in love with this book. I love the fact that Autumn Doughton went against a lot of the typical norms we are seeing in new adult/romance, but she kept it simple. Insta-love was addressed, and laughed at and I enjoyed the relationship built in this story. 

Cole wasn't nearly as douchey (can I say that?) as he is perceived, and for that I am thankful. Yes, his sexual exploits are made known but he isn't mean about it and you never have to read about the narcissism that is usually presented with these characters. 

I loved the build up of this relationship because very realistic issues are discussed. I loved the fact that Aimee was able to recognize the fact that she needed to work on herself in order to have a healthy relationship with Cole, and how she was becoming dependent on him to help glue herself back together. 

I was surprised how Autumn decided to write about the tragedy that Aimee faced and I'm glad she decided to use the story she did. Not everything is tied up, and the reasoning behind the car accident is still being questioned, and that's ok. 

Overall, I would recommend this book for a lighter read but it can get heavy in some parts. It was fast and simple but still touching. I really enjoyed it. 

Maybe she is inside you. But I don't think she's making a racket because she wants to get out. I think she just wants to make sure you know she's there.