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Review Round Up #12

Posted December 20, 2019 by Lily B in Reviews / 18 Comments

Review Round Up #1210 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
Series: standalone
Published by Disney-Hyperion on October 1, 2019
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Library
Buy on Amazon
Rating:4 Stars

Sophie wants one thing for Christmas-a little freedom from her overprotective parents. So when they decide to spend Christmas in South Louisiana with her very pregnant older sister, Sophie is looking forward to some much needed private (read: make-out) time with her long-term boyfriend, Griffin. Except it turns out that Griffin wants a little freedom from their relationship. Cue devastation.
Heartbroken, Sophie flees to her grandparents' house, where the rest of her boisterous extended family is gathered for the holiday. That's when her nonna devises a (not so) brilliant plan: Over the next ten days, Sophie will be set up on ten different blind dates by different family members. Like her sweet cousin Sara, who sets her up with a hot guy at an exclusive underground party. Or her crazy aunt Patrice, who signs Sophie up for a lead role in a living nativity. With a boy who barely reaches her shoulder. And a screaming baby.
When Griffin turns up unexpectedly and begs for a second chance, Sophie feels more confused than ever. Because maybe, just maybe, she's started to have feelings for someone else . . . Someone who is definitely not available.
This is going to be the worst Christmas break ever... or is it?

Sophie has been looking forward to spending some private time with her long term boyfriend, Griffin, and now with her parents on the way to South Louisiana to take care of her pregnant sister, it looks like Sophie will get just that. Except, she overheard Griffin talking about needing space from Sophie, so instead she flees to her grandmother’s house early to nurse her heartbreak. Her family has a wild idea to bring back the fun for Sophie when her grandmother decides it would be fun to set Sophie up on 10 Blind Dates, and aunts, uncles, friends, and cousins are all eager to join in.

This was such a cute read. I absolutely adored it and devoured it in two sittings. This YA book had everything I always want in YA. A fun storyline, a wonderful family relationship. I absolutely adored the relationship between Sophie and her grandmother as well as Sophie and her older sister. It was just so positive and something I root for in YA books.

The romance was adorable, so cute and slow and just absolutely perfect.

This book is a must-read for Christmas. It gave me all the feels, it was just a cute, fun, positive YA book that has left me looking forward to more from this author.

Review Round Up #12Christmas at Two Love Lane by Kieran Kramer
Series: Two Love Lane #1
Published by St. Martin's Press on October 3, 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Holiday
Pages: 352
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating:2 Stars
Heat:one-half-flames

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The best gift of all is the one you share with someone else. . .
From the moment he strode through the iron gate and into the offices of Two Love Lane on a crisp December day, it was obvious that Deacon Banks was something different. He wasn't a Charleston native, not with that adorable Yankee accent. And unlike the usual client at the elegant matchmaking agency, he had no interest in finding a woman to marry--just a few no-strings dates while he was in town.
Macy Frost takes her professional services very seriously--how could she not, when she's rumored to be a direct descendant of Cupid? Tech entrepreneur Deacon says he's just trying to make his social-climbing aunt happy by being seen out and about with a few prominent beauties, but Macy insists she can make her client fall in love...for real. And Deacon can't help but think she might be right. As charming as the palmetto trees and magnificent harbor may be, it's the beautiful, breath-of-fresh-air Macy who's become Deacon's favorite part of the scenery. But can the hopelessly romantic Southern belle stop trying to fix him up and just let Cupid do his work on her own heart?

Macy Frost works as a matchmaker in her own company with her three other friends in Charleston. They run a very successful business and have had amazing results in putting people together. So when Deacon Banks arrives in town and only comes to visit Macy to satisfy his aunt’s demands, Macy isn’t going to let him go that easily, when a woman who believes in finding true love wants Deacon to give her girls a fair chance, because she feels she can find him the right match.

Until she realizes that match is her.

And everything seems to go downhill from there…

Macy believes in finding love for others, but not herself. That to me is a bit awkward, especially when matchmaking is literally her job, but she pushes back if it’s her.

I had a super hard time with the characters in general and didn’t really feel connected to them, nor did I like them.

The girl’s try to set Deacon up with Macy, when they realize he has feelings for her and Macy is avoiding him, by conveniently ditching him on dates. When Macy catches on to what’s happening, she gets butthurt and feels betrayed like he had hurt her somehow and she can never trust him again. She says this, and then literally in the next moment does the exact same thing to Deacon’s Aunt, by going behind her back to set her up with a man and is so proud that she had thought of that plan.

Wait?

What?

Seriously?

God.

That made my head hurt. I didn’t enjoy it. I skimmed the last part. Deacon didn’t even want a serious relationship till like the last two pages of the book. It was weird, it was boring.. It just didn’t work for me and the characters just all felt two-faced, and flat.

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Review Round Up #9

Posted November 19, 2019 by Lily B in Reviews / 14 Comments

Review Round Up #9Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson
Series: Jessica McClain, #1, #1
Published by Orbit on September 11, 2012
Genres: Paranormal, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: Won
Buy on Amazon
Rating:3 Stars
Heat:two-half-flames

Born the only female in an all male race, Jessica McClain isn’t just different—she’s feared.
After living under the radar for the last twenty-six years, Jessica is thrust unexpectedly into her first change, a full ten years late. She wakes up and finds she’s in the middle of a storm. Now that she’s become the only female full-blooded werewolf in town, the supernatural world is already clamoring to take a bite out of her and her new Pack must rise up and protect her.
But not everyone is on board. The werewolf Rights of Laws is missing text and the superstitious werewolves think that Jessica means an end to their race. It doesn’t help when Jessica begins to realize she’s more. She can change partway and hold her form, and speak directly to her wolf. But the biggest complication by far is that her alpha father can't control her like he can the rest of his wolves.
When a mercenary who’s been hired by the vampires shows up to extract information about the newly turned werewolf only days after her change, they find themselves smack in the middle of a war and there's no choice but to run together. When it’s up to Jessica to negotiate her release against her father’s direct orders, she chooses to take an offer for help instead. In exchange, Jessica must now swear an oath she may end up repaying with her life.

Phew. I had this book forever, or what feels like forever. My son picked a wrapped book for me and this was the choice. The book follows a girl named Jessica McClain and she is the world’s only female werewolf and because of that, there is a prophecy that says she will bring some sort of destruction to the wolves and now every werewolf is on edge and there are some out to get here.

I found this book okay. Just okay. It wasn’t great and reminds me of a bit of Bitten, the other only one female werewolf read. I think my issue with this was entirely Jessica. I found her aggravating and falls victim to the trope of too stupid to live. Luckily for Jessica, she is a werewolf so she isn’t killed easily and has a support network of males who would put their life on the line to protect her.

It just drove me nuts with all the stupid decisions she made and flying off the handle without considering how it affects others, and her family and friends screaming at her to get away and it took some time for the repercussions to sink in but even when they do, she still learns very little.

As of right now, I don’t have plans on continuing with this series. I gave it a generous 3 stars.

Review Round Up #9Spellbound by Tricia Drammeh
Series: Spellbringers,
Published by ATW Publishing on August 2, 2014
Genres: Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 263
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Freebie
Buy on Amazon
Rating:3 Stars

The Demon Re’Vel stalks his prey in the forest of dreams, slowly gaining control over the mind of his victim. Rachel doesn’t realize the Demon is real. In fact, she doesn’t believe in magic, Demons, Hunters, or any of the other things the Alexanders have warned her about. She resists their protection, but can’t resist her overwhelming feelings for Jace.
Alisa has been drawn to Jace since the day she saved him from a Hunter attack. A mere human in a world of Spellbringers, Alisa has been embraced by the Alexander family as a hero, but not everyone is willing to accept her. Jace’s intimidating older brother, Bryce, keeps his emotions and his secrets hidden. When Bryce confides in Alisa, it puts her relationship with Jace and the entire Alexander family at risk.
Danger, secrets, and betrayal collide, and when the Demon makes his claim, the small, southern town of Oaktree becomes a battleground for Rachel’s life.
Formerly published under the title 'The Claiming Words,' Spellbound is a completely re-written, re-vamped novel featuring added scenes, additional chapters, and a new ending.

A cute YA paranormal that follows two girls. Alisa and Rachel in a dual POV. Rachel is a gifted Spellbringer, Alisa is a normal girl that somehow gets involved with the Alexander family - who are also a family with special powers.

This wasn’t bad. I liked the plot. I thought it was interesting. It did drag a bit at times and it felt repetitive. The girls sounded way younger than their 17 years of age. There was a lot of teenage boy swooning going on and falling madly in love way too quickly and thinking about marriage at such a young age. I don’t know how realistic this is for 17 year olds, maybe fanciful for someone young, like the age of 14 and 15 who don’t have a better understanding, but not many 17 year olds I feel still act like that. I could be wrong, but that’s not how my experience was.

I found Rachel to be an infuriating character. She had these Hunter’s that were looking for her and she was constantly rejecting trained professionals to protect her and kept putting the Alexander boys and her best friend in danger and it kept happening, so you’d think she’d learn? nah..

Like I said. It’s cute for a YA read, but I feel like it should be on a younger side.

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Review: The Keeper by J.L. Bryan

Posted November 12, 2019 by Lily B in Reviews / 33 Comments

Review: The Keeper by J.L. BryanThe Keeper by J.L. Bryan
Series: Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper #8
Published by J.L. Bryan on December 27, 2016
Genres: Paranormal, Ghosts, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 302
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Gifted
Buy on Amazon
Rating:4 Stars

The South Channel lighthouse is a crumbling antique at the mouth of the Savannah River, abandoned and forgotten for generations. Local stories still tell of a mysterious woman in white who often stood at the old lighthouse, watching the sailors come into port...even long after she died.
Now the property by the lighthouse is owned by a famous movie star in search of a remote beach getaway on sleepy Tybee Island. Unfortunately, old ghosts haunt her new retreat, stirred up by the construction of a luxurious new mansion. Ellie, Stacey, and their team must remove the ghosts, who grow more dangerous and aggressive every night, threatening the lives of the client and her family and personal staff.
The lighthouse has a dark history, with many ghosts, and mysteries to unravel before Ellie can send them on to the other side.

If there is one book series that I can count on to pull me out of my slump, that’s Ellie Jordan by J.L Bryan and like the past few books in this series, this one does not disappoint.

Ellie is back, still trying to deal with the events of the last book as she struggles with the new management that took over her agency and finding the ghost that haunts her dreams.

In this one, we follow Ellie and Stacy to an island with a lighthouse, currently owned by an actress. As Ellie and Stacy scramble to capture the ghosts that haunt the house of the actress before her family comes to town, they are also trying to uncover the mysterious magician that haunts one of the theaters they believe might be connected to Anton Clay.

Chilling, entertaining and always fun, J.L Bryan delivers in another fantastic Ellie Jordan installment that held me captive and chewing through the pages.

I can’t get enough of Ellie and Stacy and how far they have come now and how close they seem to be getting what Ellie truly wants. There were a few good surprises in this book, the character development was great and I found myself enjoying this as much as the others. It also wraps up some loose connections from the previous installment.

I cannot wait to see what’s in store for Ellie and Stacy next, especially after that kind of an ending.

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Review: The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty

Posted May 16, 2019 by Lily B in Reviews / 15 Comments

Review: The Echo Killing by Christi DaughertyThe Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty
Series: Harper McClain, #1
Published by Minotaur Books on March 13, 2018
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 356
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought
Buy on Amazon
Rating:3.5 Stars

When a murder echoing a fifteen-year-old cold case rocks the Southern town of Savannah, crime reporter Harper McClain risks everything to find the identity of this calculated killer.
A city of antebellum architecture, picturesque parks, and cobblestone streets, Savannah moves at a graceful pace. But for Harper McClain, the timeless beauty and culture that distinguishes her home’s Southern heritage vanishes during the dark and dangerous nights. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Not even finding her mother brutally murdered in their home when she was twelve has made her love Savannah any less.
Her mother’s killer was never found, and that unsolved murder left Harper with an obsession that drove her to become one of the best crime reporters in the state of Georgia. She spends her nights with the police, searching for criminals. Her latest investigation takes her to the scene of a homicide where the details are hauntingly familiar: a young girl being led from the scene by a detective, a female victim naked and stabbed multiple times in the kitchen, and no traces of any evidence pointing towards a suspect.
Harper has seen all of this before in her own life. The similarities between the murder of Marie Whitney and her own mother’s death lead her to believe they’re both victims of the same killer. At last, she has the chance to find the murderer who’s eluded justice for fifteen years and make sure another little girl isn’t forever haunted by a senseless act of violence―even if it puts Harper in the killer’s cross-hairs…

At the age of twelve, Harper McClain found her mother brutally murdered in their beautiful Savannah home. Since her killer was never found, the unsolved murder of her mother left Harper obsessed and drove her to become one of the best crime reporters in the state. Now years later, another killing occurs and Marie Whitney has echoes of Harper’s mother’s murder. There are so similar, down to the finer details that Harper is sure that it is the same killer that killed her mother years ago, surfacing after all this time. But no one seems to believe her. Now Harper is left alone trying to find the killer in a world where no one seems to believe her hunch, but her actions might leave her more alienated and losing everything in order to bring forth justice.

This book was…

Interesting. I liked it. For the most part, I thought the story was compelling for the most part. I think the set up had me very invested in finding out how all of this ties together in the end even if the killer becomes obvious halfway through.

I liked the writing. I thought Christi Daugherty’s writing is really good. My issue wasn’t with the story and the concept so much as it was with Harper. This is a very character driven book and if you don’t like the main character, it can definitely hinder how you feel about this book and it did with me. I liked Harper to begin with but then her obsession turned into recklessness and started testing her morality and it showed me that there are many lines that she is willing to cross despite who it hurts in the process. I found her reckless, impulsive, a user and morally questionable. I agreed with Luke and the other characters about their stance on her visit to the victim’s daughter. Even when the author played the outcome more subdue. I felt like this was a good example of how Harper really did not care the lengths she went to find this killer, or how her actions would affect multiple people in this book and her actions have caused a lot of consequences as a whole. That for me was just a little much, she wasn’t even a detective.

There was a bit of a push and pull romance going on here with Luke, the cop. She’s a crime reporter, his a cop, they shouldn’t have a relationship, they want a relationship, but they shouldn’t and Luke is also a casualty of how far she was willing to go. I love Luke, he was such a great character with a lot of heart, but I agree with his words in this book to her and don’t want to see this relationship work out.

Overall, I liked the writing, I liked the concept. It was a solid read, but ultimately I just did not care for Harper. I will probably continue on with the series because it left a hook interesting enough to see how it plays out, but I’ll be more cautious.

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Review: Wilder by Rebecca Yarros

Posted March 29, 2018 by Lily B in Reviews / 10 Comments

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.
Review: Wilder by Rebecca YarrosWilder by Rebecca Yarros
Series: The Renegades #1
Published by Entangled: Embrace on September 19th 2016
Genres: New Adult, Romance
Pages: 402
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Gifted
Buy on Amazon
Rating:4 Stars
Heat:three-flames

He’s Paxton Wilder.
Twenty-two-year-old, tattooed, smoking-hot leader of the Renegades.
Five time X Games medalist.
The world is his playground—especially this year—and for the next nine months I’m stuck as his tutor on the Study at Sea program.
He’s too busy staging worldwide stunts for his documentary to get to class.
But if I can’t get him to take academics seriously, I’ll lose my scholarship…if I don’t lose my heart first.
Six unlikely friends on a nine-month cruise with the Study at Sea program will learn that chemistry is more than a subject and the best lessons aren’t taught in the classroom…but in the heart.

Paxton Wilder is a motocross king and an adrenaline junkie, he is also the founder of The Renegades - a group of people who do crazy stunts.

Leah Baxter is his tutor who takes on a summer of semester at sea in return of being a tutor to someone on board. Lead is smart, stubborn and comes with a lot of scars. Paxton is carefree and wild. The only reason Paxton is even on the ship is due to his father’s demand that he finishes college or else the plug on his TV show is pulled and a ton of people lose their job.

Leah did not know exactly what she was getting roped into but soon she is thrown into an adrenaline driven, exciting and scary world of Paxton and The Renegades.

This was, interesting. I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. The story was highly recommended to me by a friend who loves this series and me being in a romance slump, she felt would hopefully help me get past some of it. Though, I still feel stuck, I really liked Leah and Paxton they were very much polar opposite but they were so good together.

The chemistry was sizzling, the romance was slow and wonderful and the setting for all of this was just perfect.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a new adult romance without lots of heat and a mix of drama thrown in at the end, which I felt worked well for this.

I enjoyed the first 30% of the book a lot. It did plateau for me after that for a while, but at the end it did manage to pick right back up again and I found myself very invested and enjoying it.

Wilder was a good character, he had that bad boy streak without being overwhelming. Leah was sweet and it was obvious she cared a lot. I also found her to be really understanding and patient with Paxton despite everything she went through in the past.

I enjoyed this, maybe not as much as I wanted to but it was a great romance, with some heat, a bit of drama and a great overall setting.

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I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, Charlie Thruston (Narrator)

Posted March 13, 2018 by Lily B in Audio, Reviews / 18 Comments

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, Charlie Thruston (Narrator)I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, Charlie Thruston
Series: Jasper Dent, #1
Published by Audiogo on April 3rd 2012
Genres: Young Adult, Thriller
Pages: 9
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Buy on Amazon
Rating:4 Stars

What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?
Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.
But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.
And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.
In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

Jasper “Jazz” Dent is a pretty likeable teenager, he is both handsome and charming. But Jasper is also the son of a notorious serial killer Billy Dent with his own set of demons that keep him up all night. Billy Dent had the tendency of taking his kid to “work” and with that Jazz has learned how the killers work.

When a body turns up in the small hometown of Lobo’s Nod, Jasper is convinced that it’s a work of a serial killer. With Dear Old Dad still locked up in the penitentiary, it couldn’t possibly be his work of art, but something about the bodies is making Jazz really uncomfortable and familiar.

Now Jazz joins the police in a wild hunt as they try to identify and catch the serial killer before any more bodies pile up, after all, he seems to know how to think like one.

This was such a thrilling ride. Wow! I don’t usually like Young Adult Thrillers, but this one does not read like one. Jasper is flawed, super flawed and is battling a lot in his head and in his dream. He has seen so much bad done by his dad that he actually has to remind himself about humanity. Sometimes, it’s really hard to be in Jasper’s head as he battles with something on a primal level that has been ingrained with him through his Dear Old Dad (as he calls him)

This book wasn’t always an easy listen and made me super uncomfortable at times, but the writing was amazing. The story flowed, the characters were interesting. I especially loved Howie, Jasper’s best friend, he seemed so original and fun. It was creepy to see how some serial killer’s thing, it most definitely left me cringing. The storyline definitely kept me hooked and coming back.

The narrator for the audiobook was Charlie Thruston and he did an amazing job. I loved how he altered his voice for most of the characters and his impression of Billy Dent really hit the spot and made my skin crawl.

Overall, this was a fantastic read with great characters, great narrator, and a storyline that definitely gave me the chills when listened on audio. It really bought the whole experience to a new level.

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Review: Unearthed by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner

Posted February 26, 2018 by Lily B in Reviews / 15 Comments

Review: Unearthed by Amie Kaufman, Meagan SpoonerUnearthed by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
Series: Unearthed, #1
Published by Disney-Hyperion on January 9th 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 384
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Library
Buy on Amazon
Rating:3.5 Stars

When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying's advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.
For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study... as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don't loot everything first. Mia and Jules' different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.
In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race's secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race...

The Plot

Earth intercepts a message from an ancient Alien race that is supposed to be extinct, about the technology on their planet Gaia and how it can be an earths doom or salvation. I was super excited for this because space, aliens, another planet, sounds fun right? I found myself a bit confused. This book had some science fiction notes to it, but a large part of it felt like it took place on earth. Most of the book follows these two teenagers, each other on Gaia on their own accord to save one of their family members back home. Mia is a scavenger and wants to bring back a power cell in hopes to buy back her sister from a contract she locked herself in. Jules wants to save his father by unlocking the secret behind the second message that they uncovered, warning the earth about possible dangers. They enter a temple and together they must solve puzzles in order to uncover what this alien race is hiding. But everything is set in this rock temple that feels more like they are back on earth than anything. I really LIKED the concept of this book, I thought it had a lot of potential, but the plot in book one felt a little odd until the end. Most of the book we follow these kids solving these puzzles which can feel tedious reading about.

The characters

I had no issues with the characters for the most part. I like Mia and I liked Jules and I liked that the author kept them true to their nature most of the book. Jules is book smart, Mia is street smart. She knows how to lie and deceive in order to stay alive and ends up throwing Jules under the bus several times in hopes of keeping them alive when danger started nipping at their heels. The characters weren’t always likable for me, but I think that’s what drew me to them. They felt human, they both had a bit of a selfish reason to be there and both lied to each other in order to try and benefit themselves. But it was also nice to see them evolve as characters by the end of the book and realize that they are going to have to set their differences aside in order to save humanity.

Romance

The romance was awkward. Did not work for me at all. I would have been fine without it in this book. I don’t generally like relationships that are built on lies and both of these characters lied and deceived each other at the beginning of the book. Also, it was awkward with all the goo goo eyes the two were throwing at each other and felt a bit of instalove for me really.

Pacing

Oh gosh the pacing felt terribly off for most of the book. It was awkwardly slow. I didn’t care to read about the puzzles because I found that I was rereading what they needed to do in order to understand how they were solved. It’s different when you are watching a movie, over your brain trying to scramble to make sense of what is happening. Also, because this was from two POVS, Amelia’s and Jules there was a lot of stuff that kept being super repetitive and I felt like the author kept rehashing things we already knew over and over again, it got boring up until like 70% of the book when it finally started to pick up. I enjoyed the last 70% of the book, the pacing picked up, it got exciting, and I found myself pushing more to finish it.

The ending

I don’t even know where to go with this. It confused me. I can kind of guess what is going on in general, but the big reveal at the end was a bit odd and I am not too entirely sure if I care for it. Remember, I was really looking forward to the whole alien, science fiction part of this book and I am not really getting much from it yet. Hopefully the conclusion will be so much better, because I am looking forward to see how it ends.

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Review: A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody

Posted January 8, 2018 by Lily B in Reviews / 18 Comments

Review: A Week of Mondays by Jessica BrodyA Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody
Series: standalone
Published by Straus and Giroux on August 2nd 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Pages: 463
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Library
Buy on Amazon
Rating:4 Stars


When I made the wish, I just wanted a do-over. Another chance to make things right. I never, in a million years, thought it might actually come true...

Sixteen-year-old Ellison Sparks is having a serious case of the Mondays. She gets a ticket for running a red light, she manages to take the world’s worst school picture, she bombs softball try-outs and her class election speech (note to self: never trust a cheerleader when she swears there are no nuts in her bake-sale banana bread), and to top it all off, Tristan, her gorgeous rocker boyfriend suddenly dumps her. For no good reason!
As far as Mondays go, it doesn’t get much worse than this. And Ellie is positive that if she could just do it all over again, she would get it right. So when she wakes up the next morning to find she’s reliving the exact same day, she knows what she has to do: stop her boyfriend from breaking up with her. But it seems no matter how many do-overs she gets or how hard Ellie tries to repair her relationship, Tristan always seems bent set on ending it. Will Ellie ever figure out how to fix this broken day? Or will she be stuck in this nightmare of a Monday forever?
From the author 52 Reasons to Hate My Father and The Unremembered trilogy comes a hilarious and heartwarming story about second (and third and fourth and fifth) chances. Because sometimes it takes a whole week of Mondays to figure out what you really want.

Sixteen-year-old Ellison Sparks is having the worse kind of Monday. She gets a ticket for running a red light, takes a really bad school picture, fails at her softball try-outs and her class election speech, and to top of the day, her boyfriend Tristan dumps her with a lame excuse.

Defeated Ellison thinks she can do better and wishes for a do-over, what she doesn’t expect was to experience the same day over and over again with a chance to make it better for herself.

This was cute and a bit of a reminiscence of groundhog day. I liked the storyline a lot and that the author chose to use that kind of inspiration in a young adult novel not only to grow her character but also to teach a less.

Be yourself and do what makes you happy and hopefully everything falls into place.

Ellison was a bit frustrating at first, but she was a teenage girl who gets dumped by her popular rock star boyfriend and she has no idea why. Suddenly, when presented the chance to fix her day, Ellison seems to think that the only way she can break this cycle is if she can keep Tristian from breaking up with her. While doing that, she forms a rocky relationship with her best friend Owen when she tries to focus so hard on getting what she thinks she wants, versus what she really wants.

I liked that Ellison grew as a character, despite the little flop in the end that made me grate my teeth a little - but I loved the way things turned out and how she used the day not only to better herself but to also help fix her family life and her relationship with Owen.

I loved Owen in this book and wish there would have been more of him, but their relationship just ended up being so cute and heart-melting that it made it a stronger enjoyable part of the book.

Overall, this is a sweet, cute, YA Contemporary that I enjoyed from page one till the end and I am glad it teaches a lesson about discovering who you are and what really makes you happy and not just letting people influence you.

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Review: An Ex for Christmas by Lauren Layne

Posted November 29, 2017 by Lily B in Reviews / 19 Comments

Review: An Ex for Christmas by Lauren LayneAn Ex for Christmas by Lauren Layne
Series: Love Unexpectedly #5
Published by Loveswept on November 7th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Christmas
Pages: 218
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Bought
Buy on Amazon
Rating:4.5 Stars
Heat:three-flames

She’s making a list—and checking it twice. But is there a nice guy among all her naughty exes? The New York Times bestselling author of Blurred Lines returns with a charming friends-to-lovers rom-com.
When a psychic tells spunky, superstitious Kelly Byrne that she’s already met her true love, she becomes obsessed with the idea of tracking him down before Christmas. Kelly immediately writes up an “Ex List” and starts contacting old boyfriends to figure out which one is the one. When her college sweetheart rolls into town, Kelly convinces herself that they’re meant to be. The trouble is, sparks are flying with someone she’s never given a chance: her best friend, Mark.
Mark Blakely has watched the guys on Kelly’s list break her heart, and he’s not looking forward to watching them do it all over again. Mark’s always been there for her, but the timing’s never worked out for their relationship to be something more. Now, just as Mark is ready to move on, the sexual tension between them is suddenly off the charts. With Christmas morning around the corner, he just hopes Kelly will wake up and realize that everything she wants has been right in front of her all along.
Lauren Layne’s USA Today bestselling Love Unexpectedly series can be read in any order
This ebook includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

When a psychic tells a superstitious Kelly Byrne that she had already met her true love, she becomes obsessed with tracking him down so she isn’t alone for Christmas. Kelly makes an “Ex List” and starts contacting her old boyfriends to try and figure out which one of these guys are her true love that she has passed up on. But, Kelly never expected that this Christmas sparks might be flying with someone else.

Mark Blakely has been Kelly’s best friend forever. He has watched the guys on Kelly’s list break her heart and isn’t really looking forward watching, or experiencing that again. Plus, Mark has been sitting on the sidelines long, and is ready to move on to something more. All he has to do is convince the woman who is looking elsewhere to see what is in front of her.

YES! This is exactly the type of romance I adore and always on the look out for. Kelly and Mark were so perfect together in this book. It’s been a while since I have enjoyed or read a romance, so when I picked this one up and was unable to put down, I knew I had a winner.

I enjoyed the humor and the romance. I totally love best friends to lovers tropes, so I was sold on this right away. Plus, Layne has a way of building up romances that are both adorable, tension filled and steamy. I really liked the build up, I loved when sparks flew between the two with both became aware of each other.

I loved that they co-own a dog and how wonderful and protective their friendship/relationship was. Turning the pages both warmed my heart and made me giggle. Layne does a great job of lacing humor into her books.

If you love Christmas, this really brings romance and holiday to the table as Kelly is a complete Christmas junky.

I did like Kelly, I liked her spunk and her personality, but her belief in the Sight and superstition turns into a gospel she lives by and feels a little crippling at times. When she was starting to discover her feelings for Mark, she never took the time to sit back and think about the woman’s words, what they meant, and that maybe, just maybe she didn’t have to live by them. It was especially exasperating when she mentions that she always wanted to feel like that about someone, as she does for Mark.

Mark totally won the story for me, I wish if she author was going to put one chapter from his POV in it that maybe there would have been more. I’d really liked to get into his head and find out his thoughts on Kelly’s process and how he felt about it, because it felt like Mark had a big role in what kept happening to Kelly and her Ex’s.

There was a bit of unnecessary drama thrown into the end, I honestly did not expect Kelly to actually get through her list and I would have been fine with that, especially with the way she felt for Mark.

But this was a totally cute, totally feel good Christmas romances that just melts your heart. I think it’s perfect for the holiday season.

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Review: A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo

Posted November 3, 2017 by Lily B in Reviews / 7 Comments

Review:  A Line in the Dark by Malinda LoA Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo
Series: standalone
Published by Dutton Books for Young Readers on October 17th 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Glbt, Mystery, Contemporary
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought
Buy on Amazon
Rating:4 Stars
Heat:one-half-flames

The line between best friend and something more is a line always crossed in the dark.
Jess Wong is Angie Redmond’s best friend. And that’s the most important thing, even if Angie can’t see how Jess truly feels. Being the girl no one quite notices is OK with Jess anyway. While nobody notices her, she’s free to watch everyone else. But when Angie begins to fall for Margot Adams, a girl from the nearby boarding school, Jess can see it coming a mile away. Suddenly her powers of observation are more curse than gift.
As Angie drags Jess further into Margot’s circle, Jess discovers more than her friend’s growing crush. Secrets and cruelty lie just beneath the carefree surface of this world of wealth and privilege, and when they come out, Jess knows Angie won’t be able to handle the consequences.
When the inevitable darkness finally descends, Angie will need her best friend.
“It doesn’t even matter that she probably doesn’t understand how much she means to me. It’s purer this way. She can take whatever she wants from me, whenever she wants it, because I’m her best friend.”
A Line in the Dark is a story of love, loyalty, and murder.

A Line in the Dark is a book that came highly recommended to me, and since I was already eyeballing it in the store, I felt like this would be perfect for a November read.

I was right, because I truly enjoyed this book.

The book follows a teenage girl named Jess, who is extremely passionate about drawing. Jess has a best friend named Angie and the two have been thick as thieves for a really long time, until Jess notices a girl approach Angie at the Creamery where she works and it kind of puts a wedge between them.

Margot is gorgeous and has her eye out on Angie, which makes Jess extremely uncomfortable and jealous because of her own feelings towards her best friend that she is unable to express or too scared to. The two start dating and Angie and Jess end up in a fight because Angie notices that Jess doesn’t seem to like Margot but at the same time Angie isn’t aware of Jess’ feelings towards her.

Jess attends an art program at the school that Margot goes to (a boarding school for the wealthy) and that causes her to stumble onto some deep secrets that Margot and her best friend Ryan are hiding.

Well, this secret leads to Ryan’s death after a Christmas party and these kids end up being investigated because they are the last to see Ryan alive.

This book is done in two parts. The beginning throws you into what happened, but the first part is before the incident and the second part is the investigation following the incident. I thought this book was really well done, I really enjoyed the writing, the characters, the plot was interesting. It had diversity, but it also had a plot.

This is not a book that is meant to be spooky, and I know some people felt that way when they saw the cover. This is actually a contemporary young adult with a mystery and a twist. It’s about a girl, who is trying to sort of find herself as well as try to deal with the fact that the girl she is in love with, she cannot have.

This book, I am warning now, does not come with a happy ending. It is not a romance, even if it features a romance.

It also reads as an older Young Adult, it is sex positive, but no there are no explicit sex scenes in it. It does have drinking and some cursing.

I did have a hard time putting this down, I was completely invested in the plot line and the characters and I really wanted to know what happened. The ending threw a real curve ball and it was, I did not expect that but it explained some things.

The only issue I think I have is that, the beginning was not how the rest of the book completely unfolded and I felt that the killer should probably have been more affected maybe by what happened? But all in all, I really enjoyed this, it was an interesting read and I always appreciate a book with diversity and a good, engrossing plot line.

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