Book Review: Us by Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen

Five months in, side effects 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?

My Review:

I loved this book. I love both Elle and Sarina and I think they both have such a way with romance, especially when it has a hockey element in it, and I loved loved loved this sequel to their first novel, Him.

I just gotta say…the biggest reason why I loved this book so much is because of the realism of it. And there are two parts to that. One…I love that Jamie and Wes don’t just live happily ever after after book one. Relationships are hard work. They aren’t all sunshine and rainbows as much as we wish they were. Some books and movies just paint relationships as so perfect. We never really get to see what happens AFTER the kiss, you know what I mean? The fact that there are struggles in this relationship, and there are ups and downs, and they have to fight for each other, even when they sometimes don’t feel like it, just made the book feel so much more real to me.

And the second part of that is…I’ve only had experience with heterosexual relationships. And I connected with this so much. Which just shows again and again and again how much you can connect with love and friendship and affection and compassion and all of that, whether its a heterosexual and homosexual relationship. I loved every minute of that.

Plus I just adore Jamie and Wes so much. Everything about them is so genuine, so real, and I wish I knew them in real life because I would so want to be friends with them. Except I wouldn’t interrupt them so often like the others… ;)

Also, I just don’t think anyone is as capable as causing my cheeks to go as red during steamy scenes the way these two do! I know that I definitely use them as inspiration when I write my own NA. Those scenes are just so good, and I read a good chunk of this book in public, which was even better, because no one knew what was going on with my red cheeks haha.

Rating:

4 out of 5 stars

Top Anticipated January Releases!

January 8, 2016January 7, 20161 Comment

Young Adult

*****

The Killing Jar by Jennifer Bosworth

Seventeen-year-old Kenna Marsden has a secret.

She’s haunted by a violent tragedy she can’t explain. Kenna’s past has kept people—even her own mother—at a distance for years. Just when she finds a friend who loves her and life begins to improve, prostate she’s plunged into a new nightmare. Her mom and twin sister are attacked, and the dark powers Kenna has struggled to suppress awaken with a vengeance.

On the heels of the assault, Kenna is exiled to a nearby commune, known as Eclipse, to live with a relative she never knew she had. There, she discovers an extraordinary new way of life as she learns who she really is, and the wonders she’s capable of. For the first time, she starts to feel like she belongs somewhere. That her terrible secret makes her beautiful and strong, not dangerous. But the longer she stays at Eclipse, the more she senses there is something malignant lurking underneath it all. And she begins to suspect that her new family has sinister plans for her…

Release Date: January 12th, 2016

My Thoughts: It has been way too damn long since JBos put out a boook and I’m absolutely dying to get my hands on it. Her first novel was amazing, and surprised me in so many ways. I can’t wait for this one.

The Siren by Kiera Cass

A girl with a secret.
The boy of her dreams.
An Ocean between them.

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again.

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude…until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of.

Falling in love with a human breaks the Ocean’s rules. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

Release Date: January 26th, 2016

My Thoughts: Kiera Cass is amazing and I can’t wait to read this. I know she originally self published and I’m a terrible person because I never read it but now that its being officially published, I can’t wait to read it. Its not really my thing, sirens, that sort of thing, but I didn’t think I’d like The Selection either so there’s that.

*****

New Adult

*****

Built by Jay Crownover

Sayer Cole is frozen inside. At least, that’s what it’s felt like for as long as she can remember. She’s yet to let anyone past her icy exterior – and the one guy she thinks might melt her heart couldn’t possibly be interested in someone so uptight.

Rough, hard and hot-as-hell, Zeb Fuller has rebuilt his life and his construction business since protecting his family sent him to jail all those years ago. His elegant client, Sayer, makes him feel like a Neanderthal in denim, but despite the many hints that he’s been dropping to get to know her better, she seems oblivious to his charms.

Just as things finally start to heat up, Zeb’s past comes back to haunt him and he needs Sayer’s professional help to right a wrong and to save more than himself. As these opposites dig in for the fight of their lives, fire and ice collide in an unstoppable explosion of steam…

Release Date: January 5th, 2016

My Thoughts: Already read it. Already LOVED it. I did my anticipated releases way too late.

The Score by Elle Kennedy

Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn’t have the first clue about what she’s going to do after college. To make matters worse, she’s nursing a broken heart thanks to the end of her longtime relationship. Wild rebound sex is definitely not the solution to her problems, but gorgeous hockey star Dean Di-Laurentis is impossible to resist. Just once, though, because even if her future is uncertain, it sure as heck won’t include the king of one-night stands.

It’ll take more than flashy moves to win her over

Dean always gets what he wants. Girls, grades, girls, recognition, girls…he’s a ladies man, all right, and he’s yet to meet a woman who’s immune to his charms. Until Allie. For one night, the feisty blonde rocked his entire world—and now she wants to be friends? Nope. It’s not over until he says it’s over. Dean is in full-on pursuit, but when life-rocking changes strike, he starts to wonder if maybe it’s time to stop focusing on scoring…and shoot for love.

Release Date: January 11th, 2016

My Thoughts: I absolutely LOVED The Deal and The Mistake. Elle Kennedy writes amazing books and I’ve watched Dean for quite some time so I can’t wait to read his story. I’m dying. Its only days away and I’m already so so so excited.

*****

What books are you most excited for in January?

Book Review: Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

August 6, 2015August 6, 2015Leave a comment

Genre:

New Adult, help Contemporary, this site Romance

Pages:

276 pages

Part of a Series?:

Standalone Novel

Release Date:

July 28th, 2015

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

iBooks

Sarina’s Website / Elle’s Website

GoodReads Summary:

Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend…and a big one to learn about himself.

My Review:

Warning: The following review is based on a book that features a male on male relationship. Yes, this book is sexy and awesome but if you are uncomfortable with this, please click away now. And probably never come back.

I just read this book a few days ago and I am in love love love love love with it. The first time I ever read a male on male relationship was in Sarina Bowen’s The Understatement of the Year and I knew that I was totally hooked on books like this. I adore both of these authors so so so much and I’ve been pushing them on pretty much every single person I know and I was ECSTATIC when I learned they were writing a hockey book about two guys falling in love, and they were writing it TOGETHER.

Rewind to a few nights ago when this book was released. I had preordered it in order to get it around 9 pm so I could stay up all night and finish it. That was the plan. Then I had some last minute things go through on my debit card and I didn’t have enough money for the preorder to go through. I was so SAD. Luckily, a good friend of mine sent me an Amazon gift card and I was able to buy it. Saved by Chris! You rock, Chris. I’m just saying.

I stayed up all night to read it and I just…I love everything about this book. I love that it had two beautiful hockey boys. I love the romance and the friendship between those two characters. I love that you can hear both Sarina and Elle’s voices in the book but they write so beautifully together and its just perfect. I love that they teach younger kids about hockey, the way they learned it as kids. I love the sex scenes because holy moly, grab me a cold washcloth, those things were steamy as hell! But what I loved the most about this book was the character of Jamie.

There are not enough bisexual characters in YA and NA and as someone who is bisexual and struggles to keep her anger in check at the completely misunderstanding of what that means…it means a lot to have a character like Jamie in the book. While I definitely adore Wes to no end, I think the person I fell in love with the most was Jamie. Jamie struggles to figure out who he is. He likes girls but he loves Wes too, and its a hard thing to go through. Its confusing as hell but I love how fearless he can be and I love that he feels this attraction and he has these feelings for his best friend and he just goes for it. I LOVE Jamie Canning so much. I wish he was a real person that I could just hug and love and be friends with because Elle and Sarina created a great character in him. He’s real and genuine and familiar and I connected with him from beginning to end.

But just like both of these authors tend to do…they made me laugh and cry and they made me want a cold shower STAT and they just wrote an incredibly GREAT romance novel about two people trying to figure shit out and finding each other in the process. I can’t speak highly enough of Elle and Sarina and their books and I love that they wrote a book together and I loved every minute of the book they wrote together. Brava, ladies, please do it again sometime soon!

Rating:

3.75 out of 5 Stars

July Book Wrap Up!

August 2, 2015Leave a comment

Books Pledged to Read in 2015:

150

Am I On Track:

8 books behind. Not even stressed at all.

Books Read So Far:

Total Books For July:

Dream of You Novella

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Re-Read)

Rome

Nash

Rowdy

Forever With You (ARC)

Asa

Penguins with People Problems

Upside Down

Him

* * * * * *

Favorite Book of the Month:

Forever with You by Jennifer L Armentrout

This book just blew my mind. It was a story very close to my heart as well so…yeah, what is ed it just meant a lot. And JLA just gets better with every book.

Least Favorite Book of the Month:

Upside Down by Lia Riley

I definitely didn’t hate this book but I wasn’t massively in love with it either.

Books I Want to Read Next Month:

With This Heart by R.S. Grey

The Rose Society by Marie Lu

The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi

Hollywood Witch Hunter by Valerie Tejeda

Just One Song by Stacey Lynn

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Jubilee Manor by Bethany Hagen

Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines

Full Re-Read of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

* * * * *

Book Review: The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

July 18, 2015August 18, 2015Leave a comment

Genre:

New Adult, cost Contemporary, price Romance

Pages:

297 pages

Part of a Series?:

The second novel in the Off Campus Series

Release Date:

April 28th, viagra order 2015

You Can Find the Book At:

Book Depository

GoodReads Summary:

College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants. For this hockey star, life is a parade of parties and hook-ups, but behind his killer grins and easygoing charm, he hides growing despair about the dead-end road he’ll be forced to walk after graduation. A sexy encounter with freshman Grace Ivers is just the distraction he needs, but when a thoughtless mistake pushes her away, Logan plans to spend his final year proving to her that he’s worth a second chance.

Now he’s going to need to up his game…

After a less than stellar freshman year, Grace is back at Briar University, older, wiser, and so over the arrogant hockey player she nearly handed her V-card to. She’s not a charity case, and she’s not the quiet butterfly she was when they first hooked up. If Logan expects her to roll over and beg like all his other puck bunnies, he can think again. He wants her back? He’ll have to work for it. This time around, she’ll be the one in the driver’s seat…and she plans on driving him wild.

My Review:

While this review will NOT contain spoilers, I cannot guarantee there will NOT be spoilers for The Deal. Please read that review here.

Okay so when I read The Deal by Elle…I thought, I love this book. This book is amazing and she won’t be able to top it because I just totally love this book and I just love it. I finished it and was like, in heaven, and I’ve been shoving it down all my friend’s throats and NO ONE HAS READ IT YET. Lame. Its okay. But anyway, I love The Deal.

So when The Mistake released, I got it on release day. I needed it. I adored what little we saw of Logan in the first book and I had to read his story, especially knowing the feelings he has for his roommate Garrett’s girlfriend, Hannah, the couple in the first book. I didn’t know that I would love it even more than I loved the first book.

First off, I love Grace. I love how bumbling she is and how she’s kind of trying to figure boys out, and she’s intimidated by Logan and his experience and his charm…but she’s also strong as hell and she doesn’t let anyone, including him, walk all over her and that’s badass as hell. She’s a feisty person, even when she doesn’t believe it and I adore her.

But I really love Logan. Because he’s kind of an idiot. Its obvious he’s attracted to Grace and its obvious that he genuinely likes her too. Sure, he just kind of uses her to get Hannah out of his head but he actually likes her and anything with a brain and a pair of eyes can see that going down. So watching him totally screw it up…you kind of want to pat him on the head and say “Oh, Logan” with a big sigh. Because you also can’t help but love him. He has the hockey player thing down, and he wants nothing more than to be drafted, and Elle just creates sexy hockey players. Seriously. Why am I not more into hockey…I need to rectify this and soon…

All in all, great romance, steamy scenes, both characters are absolutely amazing, loving all the hockey parts in it and I seriously can’t wait for another book in this series because Elle has me totally hooked.

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: The Deal by Elle Kennedy

April 26, 2015April 24, 20153 Comments

Genre:

New Adult, information pills Contemporary, Romance

Pages:

358

Part of a Series?:

The first in the Off-Campus series

Release Date:

February 24th, 2015

You Can Find the Book At:

Check your local bookstore!

GoodReads

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads Summary:

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice… even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

…and it’s going to be oh so good.

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

My Review:

In my continued quest to find really good sports related NA romances, I found The Deal by Elle Kennedy, and I’m so incredibly glad that I did.

I’m becoming more of a hockey fan as I read more and more romances that take place along the hockey life. Seriously. I might watch more hockey.

I liked The Deal a lot because while it had some similarities to Sarina Bowen and her series, it really stood on its own. While there was a definite seriousness to The Deal, there’s also a lightheartedness too. It was awesome just to see these two characters come together, under the weirdest circumstances. Hannah enlists the help of Garrett to win the heart of another boy and instead falls for him. He’s sexy and impossible and I know he drives me crazy, but I’m with Hannah…he leaves me panting and wanting more too.

I love Hannah the most though. She’s so…real and she makes me laugh. I love that she falls madly in love with a boy she barely knows and enlists the help of Garrett to figure out how to get him. It’s absolutely fantastic and sounds like a romantic comedy where the plan is obviously doomed to fail but you enjoy the journey to the explosion any way. You know that Garrett helping Hannah is just going to lead to them falling in love but I loved every single minute of it.

Simply put, I enjoyed this book. I loved Garrett and Hannah and I loved their antics and their ups and downs and I loved the integration of hockey and I loved Logan too, who had a small part but will be in the next book and my god I can’t wait for that! Elle has a way of making you care not just for her main characters, but for all the people she introduces and I love that.

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars