Believe 4/15/2014

Believe by Erin McCarthy 

Robin used to be a party girl… until she got black out drunk and woke up in bed with her best friend's boyfriend. Now she's faced with being THAT girl, and couldn't be more disgusted with herself. She can't even tell her friends the reason for her sudden sobriety and she avoids everyone until she meets Phoenix—quiet, tattooed, and different in every way that's good and oh, so bad…

Phoenix is two days out of jail when he meets Robin at his cousin's house, and he knows that he has no business talking to her, but he's drawn to her quiet demeanor, sweet smile, and artistic talent. She doesn't care that he's done time, or that he only has five bucks to his name, and she supports his goal to be a tattoo artist.

I randomly discovered this book one night when I was just looking for something random and light to read. I had never heard of this series and I just kind of jumped into this book. Now this is the third book in the True Believers series but it could be read as a stand alone. 

I felt that this book moved very fast and there wasn't a lot of character development. We meet Phoenix very early in the book and it seems that him and Robin just jump into a relationship. We get to the "I love you" at 50% and I have to admit, it moved way too fast for me. 

Honestly, I wasn't really into this book. I don't like alpha males that resort to violence for everything that pisses them off, I feel like it is an overplayed flaw that every new adult author uses. I don't know where this trend came from and why so many people feel the need to write about it's getting old. 

The only thing I really liked about this book was how flawed Robin was. She genuinely had her problems with many different things. I think it is great that addiction was kind of brought up in the story but I feel it maybe should of been addressed a little bit more.
The ending was wrapped up too quickly for me and I thought it was kind of humorous that Phoenix and Robin agreed to simply just work on their flaw together and that was that. 

Overall, I give this book about 2.5 bubbles. I didn't care for it too much. It was a fast and easy read that could be use to kill time but it wasn't anything to go crazy about. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone that was looking for a good story to get lost in, and I won't be reading it again any time soon. 

Taking Shots 4/11/2014

Taking Shots by Toni Aleo

No matter how hard she tries, Eleanor Fisher never thinks she’s good enough, from her job to her weight to her love life. After enduring years of abuse at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, Elli has been drifting through life in a daze. Until, that is, she meets Shea Adler on a promotional shoot for the NHL’s Nashville Assassins. Before Elli knows what’s happening, the gorgeous Shea breaks the ice and shatters her world.

A brilliant athlete inside the rink, Shea Adler is tired of the life he’s living outside of it: the girls, the money, the drinking. But everything changes when he meets Elli. After laying eyes on this feisty, witty, beautiful woman, he feels like he’s just taken the hardest hit of his life. No matter how skeptical she is, Shea knows they are meant to be together—if only he can convince Elli to put her insecurities aside before she misses out on a shot at love.

I kind of stumbled upon this book by accident one day. I was searching on Amazon for something to read, I read the blurb and thought, well I love hockey and romance so why not give it a shot?

I'm so glad that I did!

My mind was absolutely blown that this was a debut novel. I thought the plot was great, the characters were well developed and the conflicts were somewhat realistic. The first time I read this book, there were some things that needed to be fixed. The spelling and grammatical errors were kind of annoying after a while, but this book has been reedited since.

Let's start off with Shea. I really liked his character because of the fact that he wasn't some mysoginistic jerk that liked to treat women like absolute garbage for no reason. Yes, in the book it points out that he was rather premiscuious but he wasn't mean about it, like a lot of the other popular male characters everyone is swooning about. I enjoyed learning about his character and I feel like Toni went into great depth explaining all the different things about him throughout the whole book.

Now we get to Elli. I have to be honest, she kind of drove me insane at times. We learn that she used to be this thin, stereotypical beautiful women that depended on her looks for a career. She gets sick and gains a lot of weight, moves back home and starts up her own business that is built on passion alone. She ends up alone for a long time because of issues with her body image and overall self esteem. The reason she started to annoy me throughout the book was because I was getting annoyed with reading about her insecurities when it came to her body and what she looked like, don't get me wrong, I have read far worse when it comes to this topic but if I had to make one small change, that is what I would change.

The reasons I loved this book was because it was so fictional and kind of happy fantasy on one end, but then it had some realistic factors, like women dealing with body image and problems throughout the relationship based on insecurities.

There is one thing I have heard a lot about when it comes to this story, and that was the length and the amount of detail that was given to us. I personally really loved this. I love really long books and I get excited when they are over 400 pages because I get so much character build up and detail!

Overall, I give this book 4 bubbles. I really, really liked it. It was a fun, light read that was entertaining. There is no cliffhanger but it is part of a series. The series is focused on different characters and you do get to read small details about Elli in Shea in the other books.

Maybe Someday 4/8/2014

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.

Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…

So I had no idea where this book was going when I first started it. Colleen Hoover has never really steered me wrong, I mean, we share this common love for The Avett Brothers, how could she? 

I'm glad I went into this book with neutral expectations. In no ways did I think it was going to be a bad book but I wasn't prepared for how much I was truly going to love it. 

5 bubbles, of course!

This book has so many different aspects that I don't think a lot of authors could pull off. 

Here be spoilers! 

We meet Ridge, this musician and eventually friend, that helps get Sydney back on her feet when her world comes crashing down on her. Through this time, we also learn that Ridge is deaf. When Ridge's disability is first brought up in the book, I had no idea how Colleen Hoover was going to effectively connect us with him. I thought this was going to be near impossible since some communication is needed between Sydney and Ridge. She gave us the communication between characters, it's just slightly different than what we are used to in the New Adult world. Don't get me wrong, there were times when I was frustrated with the lack of verbal communication but it really added to the story. 

Next we have a love triangle. I have mixed emotions about love triangles. I feel that they are usually hyped up and over played or someone is always made out to be the bad guy in them. In this love triangle, no one is made out to be the bad guy and I honestly felt sorry for everyone involved. I'm glad the story folded out this way because there was not a lot of petty, sad drama involved in it and it was actually understandable and slightly realistic. 

Now lets get to Sydney. I really did like Sydeny's character overall. There were times where I wish she would just let everything be and remove herself from certain situations but I also understand why she didn't. I never felt that she was unjustifiably whiney. I really hate that in main characters, so for this, I am grateful. I like the fact that her ex boyfriend and friend weren't a huge part of the story and the way she handled all of it was a bonus anyway. 

And it other great news, this was a HEA and there was no cliffhanger. 

Would I read this again? Of course.

Do I recommend this to others? Yes! Yes! Yes! 

Bad For You 4/3/2014

Bad for You by Abbi Glines

Addiction was something Krit Corbin accepted as part of his nature a long time ago. He decided to embrace it and flip his finger at the rules. Women had always been the number one thing on his list of addictions. He couldn’t get enough. Being the lead singer in a rock band had only made access to his favorite addiction that much easier.

Being alone was the only thing Blythe Denton understood. The small town minister’s family that raised her hadn’t accepted her as their own. The minister’s wife had always made sure Blythe understood just how unworthy she was of love. When Blythe is sent away to college and given a chance to finally be free of living as an unwanted burden, she looks forward to having peace in her life. Being alone isn’t something that bothers her. She escapes reality in the stories she writes.

Well there goes my money. To think I had hope because Misbehaving was actually bearable. 

I'm kind of upset about the time I wasted on this book but at the same time I got a few good laughs out of it. I'm not sure if it was things I was supposed to be laughing out but oh well, right?

Spoiler Alert! 

Oh my god, how I hate Blythe. She puts Bella Swan and Anastasia Steele's straight up ignorance to shame. How can one character be so naive and stupid? I get it, she lived in a sheltered home her whole life and abuse played a role in her development but I really don't think anyone is that stupid. Speaking of abuse, why did we briefly cover some scene where Blythe is obviously molested and it's never addressed again? Isn't molestation a pretty traumatic event? If you want to add some depth to your novel, and you decide to go this route, don't make it some nonchalant topic that is discussed in one paragraph and then move on. 

Next we have Krit. We have met Krit in past novels. We know what he is like, we know he is a total douche towards women and that he is probably suffering from sex addiction. He is literally just like almost every other male character in the Sea Breeze series. Original, amirite? Now rest easy ladies, he eventually changes for Blythe because of his deep love and addiction for her. Swoooooon. Man, if this story doesn't give you hope that you can change that one guy down the street that you are totally in love with and possibly close to stalking, I don't know what will. 

I may be way off with this idea but as I was reading this book, I felt like we were dealing with huge daddy issues. I felt that Krit was acting like a daddy figure in Blythe's life and that Blythe was looking for just someone, anyone, to love her since her own dad didn't. I may be reading into this too much and those few psych classes I took a couple years ago could be influencing me, but I just felt this huge ick factor with the Krit and Blythe's relationship. 

And the sex scenes! Oh my god. No one talks like that! Well, maybe some people do but is it really fantasy material? The adjectives used in these scenes were cringe worthy. If you or anyone you know, tastes like sunshine, please get medical attention right away because chances are, you need it!

Overall, I give this book a giant one bubble. I hated it. 

Recklessly 4/2/2014

Recklessly By A.J. Sand

Wes Elliott just met his match…and she might actually burn his entire world down.

Surfing and sex. This is Wes Elliott's life. And it's just the way he likes it. `

After seeing his parents stay in a loveless marriage his entire life, and burying away a heartbreak from his past, he knows where romance is best left: crappy chick movies. He'd rather lust and eventually leave, and that's exactly what the plan was when he met Lana Langston.

Except…turns out she’s only in it for the thrills, too. She's always only in it for the thrills: life in the literal fast lane on her motorcycle, and the hot nights in forbidden places without the awkward talks in the mornings after. She's Wes Elliott in way tighter jeans.

Oh how I loved this book. We meet Wes in Documentary and you get to see what kind of person he is but man, get a whole book of him and it just adds to the reason why I like his character so much. You'd think I would hate this book because it has the whole main male character that loves meaningless sex, and if you haven't realized this yet, that is usually the type of book I stay away from. 

We also meet Lana in this book. Lana is a lot like Wes in many different ways and as I was reading this book I had so many ideas and predictions about what would happen and I was wrong about ever single one of them. Lana frustrated me at times but her problems were real and I really loved that. This wasn't a story where you read about the main characters problems and think, "How is this even an issue?!"

Recklessly would be considered a light read in my opinion, but there were some heavy topics and I loved the way A.J. Sand wrote about them. It wasn't like she was trying to throw in some issues that would add some depth to the story and call it good. 

Overall, I give this book 5 bubbles. I loved it!

Would I read it again? Obviously.

Would I recommend this? Yes, yes, yes. 

Misbehaving 3/31/2014

Misbehaving by Abbi Glines

Jason is sick of living in his rock star brother’s shadow. So when he ships off to Sea Breeze, Alabama, he’s looking for a much deserved escape and a chance to blow off some envious steam. Falling for the local bad girl was definitely not the plan. But as the new duo enjoys some naughty fun in the Alabama sun, Jason learns that even though Jax is the musician in the family, he’s not the only brother who can rock someone’s world

I've been meaning to review this book for quite some time because it's been the first Abbi Glines book since Because of Low that I haven't kind of hated. I actually would rate this book with 3.5 bubbles simply because it was different than her books that she has been writing for the past two years now. 

Let's get to the actual review now!

First, I'll talk about the things I did like. I really liked the fact that Jess was who she was. She was not this extremely naive virgin whose life seemed to be based in a children's story where nothing goes wrong. Her mom obviously had her problems and the town of Sea Breeze was not the biggest fan of Jess because of her past. 

Then we have Jason. I didn't despise him because he wasn't this womanizing alpha male we seem to be reading so much about in the new adult genre. I am so thankful for this. He actually was a nice male lead. Did he have his moments where I kind wanted to shake him? Sure, but I didn't hate reading in his point of view and I didn't despise him like a lot of the popular male characters in the NA books these days. 

Now, I feel like Abbi Glines is used to writing some of the same stories, I will give her credit because she does know what sells and she is able to grab the attention of so many young women. Jess and Jason's story was somewhat similar to the other stories Abbi has written but the fact that the naive virgin/womanizer was missing changed this story so much in my eyes. 

Would I recommend this book? Sure. It was a light read and fun and entertaining where it needed to be

Being Kalli 3/29/2014

Being Kalli by Rebecca Berto

At Nineteen, Kalli Perkins has never been in love and doesn't ever intend to be. She has her issues handled. She's managed to keep her secret of what happened to her nine years ago from her mother, although her mother's usually high anyway and barely notices Kalli or her little brothers.

One night at a party, Kalli makes a bet with her friend, Nate, that could change everything. But she didn't count on him. Nate's very capable of satisfying her, not only under her clothes but in her heart, too. She just doesn't know it yet.


I have some mixed emotions on this one, and they are not all that great. I was given a copy of this book for an honest review and that's what I am going to give. 
Overall I give this book one bubble. 

This review will contain spoilers!

I had some problems from the start. I was very aware that sexual abuse was going to play a part of this story from the very beginning, just with the way some situations were described from Kalli's point of view and from the brief descriptions we are given on Kalli's past. This is just my personal opinion but when sexual abuse plays somewhat of an important role in a story, I become very uncomfortable when the main character is hyper sexualized and we get to read in detail about how attractive the guy on the receiving end of her blow job is.

While this book may be a wonderful read for others, when I started reading more about Kalli's abuse, I could no longer handle the story. I didn't like how one moment I was reading about 10 year old Kalli and what she was feeling while being abused and then quickly changing and reading about the different kind of sex she was having, or planned on having. I feel that the author was tempting to add depth with the sexual abuse and the addict mother but was also trying to cater to what is popular in NA right now. 

I honestly never really thought that much of Nate either. I know he played a different role than a lot of the main male characters in NA, but he just seemed like a friend that was very infatuated with Kalli. 

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book because of my own personal boundaries. Maybe the book changed drastically once I stopped reading but I can't really bring myself to see if it did.