Book Review: Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

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

Book Review: Rowdy by Jay Crownover

Genre: 

New Adult, shop Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 

322 pages

Part of a Series?:

Book #5 in The Marked Men Series

Release Date: 

October 21st, 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

iBooks

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

After the only girl he ever loved told him that he would never be enough, Rowdy St. James knocked the Texas dust off his boots and set out to live up to his nickname. A good ol’ boy looking for good times and good friends, Rowdy refuses to take anything too seriously, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. Burned by love once, he isn’t going to let himself trust a woman again. But that’s before his new co-worker arrives, a ghost from the past who’s suddenly making him question every lesson he ever learned.

Salem Cruz grew up in house with too many rules and too little fun—a world of unhappiness she couldn’t wait to forget. But one nice thing from childhood has stayed with her; the memory of the sweet, blue-eyed boy next door who’d been head over heels in love with her little sister.

Now, fate and an old friend have brought her and Rowdy together, and Salem is determined to show him that once upon a time he picked the wrong sister. A mission that is working perfectly—until the one person that ties them together appears, threatening to tear them apart for good.

My Review:

Moving along in my determination to finish the Marked Men series ever since I fell massively in love with Jet in book two, now we are on to Rowdy and Salem. And I’m not going to lie, this was the book that I was probably the least excited for. I have this thing about names. I know that sounds kind of weird but its true! I don’t like weird names. My friends laugh because my book characters have been Summer and Charlie, McKinley and Jake, Zoey and Ash, Evie and Austin, Sydney and Carson, Lucy and Jesse. Boring names, according to them. I honestly had no idea how I was going to get past their names.

Yeah, I got past their names so fast. And that’s because Jay creates such beautiful, familiar, fantastic, amazing, emotional, awesome characters in both Rowdy and Salem. What I love the most about these two is that this is a reconnection for them. Its sort of like Saint and Nash but not really. Rowdy and Salem have always been in love with each other, always, but it just took a lot of time and distance and reconnection for them to figure it out and once they do? Bam. Its just gorgeous as hell. These two characters are vibrant and alive and they are the most memorable in the series because of how real and unique they are.

I also love the story that goes along with this, other than just the romance. I love Salem finding her place in Denver, and I loved the story with her sister and her family. Obviously I don’t like what happened TO her sister because its just awful as hell but I like that we get to see how Salem changes from who she was when she was with her family and how strong she is now and how she’s able to be there for her sister. Its a touching story, and seeing Salem dealing with her past and moving into the future, its just awesome. I also love that we see Rowdy struggle with the same thing, struggling to put aside what happened in the past and accept all the amazing people that have come into his life and become his family.

They both go through similar struggles but they’re brought together and I think being together is what makes them even stronger by the end of the book and I love that kind of story. I love that there isn’t one relying on the other but they rely on each other, make each other stronger and they come out, together, in the end, bigger and better people. That is what makes this book SO damn good.

Rating: 

5 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Nash by Jay Crownover

Genre: 

New Adult, buy more about Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 

302 pages

Part of a Series?:

Book #4 in The Marked Men Series

Release Date: 

April 29th, 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

iBooks

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

Will their past determine their future?

Saint Ford has worked hard to achieve her childhood dream of becoming of nurse. Focused on her work and devoted to her patients, there’s no room for love. She doesn’t need a guy making waves in her calm, serene life—especially when he’s the unforgettable hottie who nearly destroyed her in high school. Dark, brooding Nash Donovan might not remember her or the terrible pain he caused. But he turned her world upside down… and now he’s trying to do it again.

Saint has no idea that Nash isn’t the cocky player he once was. Uncovering a devastating family secret has rocked his world, and now he’s struggling to figure out his future. He can’t be distracted by the pretty nurse he seems to meet everywhere. Still, he can’t ignore the sparks that fly between them —or how she seems so desperate to get away from him. But the funny, sweet, and drop-dead gorgeous Saint is far too amazing to give up on—especially since she’s the only thing in his life that seems to make sense.

When Nash discovers the truth about their past, he realizes he may have lost her heart before he could even fight for it. Now, Saint has to decide: is Nash worth risking herself for all over again?

My Review:

So besides Jet, I think Nash ended up being my favorite in this series. I absolutely love the story of Saint and Nash. Oh I love it so much. By this book, I knew that I was completely sold on this series. Done. Over. I’m a huge fan and I’m ready to just lay down my heart to the Marked Men. And then here’s Nash to just make me fall massively in love with him.

Saint isn’t as much my favorite as Nash but I can see her, I can relate to her. Simple words said when she was in high school have had an affect on her for her entire life. Her entire life! That’s incredible. But it feels very very real. Words have an insane power over us, both good and bad. Sometimes, I think, especially the bad. Which is what happens to Saint, and what makes it worse, those words are said by none other than Nash himself.

Then you have Nash, who is revealed to be the son of the man he thought was his uncle his entire life. And as he’s finding out this incredible truth, which feels like a punch in the gut because Nash already saw him as a father figure and feels betrayed, he also finds out the guy is dying. Legit dying. And it brings a lot of things into perspective. After drinking himself into a stupor and then being “saved” by Saint…the two of them just keep running into each other. Its magnetic. They’re obviously meant to be together.

I think the best part of this book, to me at least, is the way they are brought together. How their insecurities and the drama going on in their lives and both of their tendencies to be scared at times gets in the way but they just keep getting pulled back together. They have an incredibly beautiful romance and I love Nash from page one to the very last page of this series. Because even as his world is being turned upside down and he finds out he has a father, and he has to take over Marked and open up a whole new shop, and all of this, he just takes it. He goes with it in the best way he can and he makes it work. And he falls in love along the way.

Only book four and the feels are real…stay tuned for books five and six…

Rating: 

5 out of 5 Stars

Top Anticipated August Releases!

There are SO many amazing books coming our way this August but I’d like to share with you, pill today, the ones that I’m highly anticipating! I have read some of them but there are a lot I haven’t and I’m ready to read them. Check them out, add them to your TBR list, and share what books you’re looking forward to this month!

Young Adult: 

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

The Diviners #2

After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. Now that the world knows of her ability to “read” objects, and therefore, read the past, she has become a media darling, earning the title, “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” But not everyone is so accepting of the Diviners’ abilities…

Meanwhile, mysterious deaths have been turning up in the city, victims of an unknown sleeping sickness. Can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld and catch a killer?

Release Date: August 25th, 2015

My Thoughts: I cannot believe this book is finally coming out. The Diviners came out THREE years ago and I’ve been dying for a sequel since then and I’m so excited that I will finally have this book in my hands by the end of the month!

How to Say I Love You Out Loud by Karole Cozzo

Words are strong. Love is stronger.

When Jordyn Michaelson’s autistic brother joins her at her elite school, she’s determined not to let anyone know they’re related. Even if that means closing herself off to all her closest friends, including charming football stud Alex Colby. But despite her best intentions, she just can’t shake the memory of kissing Alex last summer, and the desire to do it again.

Can Jordyn find the courage to tell Alex how she really feels—and the truth about her family—before he slips away forever?

Release Date: August 4th, 2015

My Thoughts: I have already read this book, and I’m so incredibly behind this book. Its a beautiful romance and a great story about having a brother with a disability and I just love it all.

Not After Everything by Michelle Levy

Tyler has a football scholarship to Stanford, a hot girlfriend, and a reliable army of friends to party with. Then his mom kills herself. And Tyler lets it all go. Now he needs to dodge what his dad is offering (verbal tirades and abuse) and earn what his dad isn’t (money). Tyler finds a job that crashes him into Jordyn, his former childhood friend turned angry-loner goth-girl. She brings Tyler an unexpected reprieve from the never-ending pity party his life has become. How could he not fall for her? But with his dad more brutally unpredictable than ever, Tyler knows he can’t risk bringing Jordyn too deeply into the chaos. So when violence rocks his world again, will it be Jordyn who shows him the way to a hopeful future? Or after everything, will Tyler have to find it in himself?

Release Date: August 4th 2015

My Thoughts: This is an absolutely amazing debut novel by a dear friend of mine. She was awesome enough to give me an ARC of it a few months ago and I devoured the hell out of it. You need this book in your life. You need it.

Jubilee Manor by Bethany Hagen 

Landry Park #2

In Landry Park, Madeline turned her back on her elite family, friends, and estate to help the Rootless. Now, in Jubilee Manor, she struggles to bring the Gentry and the Rootless together. But when Gentry heirs—Madeline’s old friends—are murdered, even she begins to think a Rootless is behind it, putting her at odds with the boy she loves and the very people she is trying to lead. If she can’t figure out who is killing her friends and bring them to justice, a violent war will erupt and even more will die—and Madeline’s name, her estate, and all the bonds she’s forged won’t make any difference.

Release Date: August 11th, 2015

My Thoughts: I have had this book in my pile since May and I haven’t had a chance to read it yet and that makes me incredibly sad because the first book, Landry Park is just incredible. Its hailed as a sort of Hunger Games meets Gone with the Wind and that is just a winning combination for me.

Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines

To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: the cocky, popular, way-too-handsome-for-his-own-good football god who led Lawton High to the state championships. But while West may be Big Man on Campus on the outside, on the inside he’s battling the grief that comes with watching his father slowly die of cancer.

Two years ago, Maggie Carleton’s life fell apart when her father murdered her mother. And after she told the police what happened, she stopped speaking and hasn’t spoken since. Even the move to Lawton, Alabama, couldn’t draw Maggie back out. So she stayed quiet, keeping her sorrow and her fractured heart hidden away.

As West’s pain becomes too much to handle, he knows he needs to talk to someone about his father—so in the dark shadows of a post-game party, he opens up to the one girl who he knows won’t tell anyone else.

West expected that talking about his dad would bring some relief, or at least a flood of emotions he couldn’t control. But he never expected the quiet new girl to reply, to reveal a pain even deeper than his own—or for them to form a connection so strong that he couldn’t ever let her go…

Release Date: August 25th, 2015

My Thoughts: Oh Abbi Glines. I adore her as a person so much but I haven’t been caught as a fan of hers yet. I’m excited about this one a lot though. Football and romance is a weakness for me so I’m not giving up on her. I am very excited for this one.

The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To:
– find the liquor cabinet blindfolded
– need a liver transplant
– drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To:
– well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle.

Release Date: August 18th, 2015

My Thoughts: I adore Huntley and I’ve loved everything she’s written so far so I’m excited to read more of her books. This is definitely one that will end up in my pile.

New Adult:

Better When He’s Brave by Jay Crownover 

Welcome to the Point #3

Titus King has always seen his world in black and white. There is a firm right and wrong in his mind, which is why as a teenager he left behind the only family he’d ever known to make a better life for himself. Now a police detective in one of the worst cities in the country, he can’t deny his life has turned into a million different shades of gray.

The new criminal element in The Point has brought vengeance and destruction right to Titus’s front door, and walking the straight and narrow seems far less important now. The difference between right and wrong is nothing compared to keeping those he loves alive. To add to his already strained moral compass, the beautiful and mysterious Reeve Black has made her way back to town. This girl might be as dangerous to Titus as the guy trying to destroy the Point but he can’t walk away because he needs her—in more ways than one.

Reeve knows all about the threat trying to destroy The Point. She knows how ruthless, how vicious, and how cruel this new danger can be… and instead of running away, she wants to help. Reeve knows that she has a lot to repent for and saving the city, plus the hot cop that she hasn’t been able to forget might just be the only way she can finally find some inner peace.

With an entire city poised on the brink of war, Titus and Reeve stand in the crossfire—and it will take two brave souls to fight for the ultimate love.

Release Date: August 11th, 2015

My Thoughts: Okay, lets be real. I haven’t even read this first two yet. But I’m planning on that in the next couple weeks and then hopefully I will get to read this one too. I finished the Marked men last month and it WOWed me so I’m excited for this series.

Childrens/Middle Grade: 

Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan 

Who cut off Medusa’s head? Who was raised by a she-bear? Who tamed Pegasus? It takes a demigod to know, and Percy Jackson can fill you in on the all the daring deeds of Perseus, Atalanta, Bellerophon, and the rest of the major Greek heroes. Told in the funny, irreverent style readers have come to expect from Percy, ( I’ve had some bad experiences in my time, but the heroes I’m going to tell you about were the original old school hard luck cases. They boldly screwed up where no one had screwed up before. . .) and enhanced with vibrant artwork by Caldecott Honoree John Rocco, this story collection will become the new must-have classic for Rick Riordan’s legions of devoted fans–and for anyone who needs a hero. So get your flaming spear. Put on your lion skin cape. Polish your shield and make sure you’ve got arrows in your quiver. We’re going back about four thousand years to decapitate monsters, save some kingdoms, shoot a few gods in the butt, raid the Underworld, and steal loot from evil people. Then, for dessert, we’ll die painful tragic deaths. Ready? Sweet. Let’s do this.

Release Date: August 18th, 2015

My Thoughts: If its Percy Jackson, its in my mailbox, its in my arsenal. I loved the first one of these that was released last year so I’m definitely excited to having this come my way!

The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers

I’m not sure what it is about this kid Duncan, but his crayons sure are a colorful bunch of characters! Having soothed the hurt feelings of one group who threatened to quit, Duncan now faces a whole new group of crayons asking to be rescued. From Maroon Crayon, who was lost beneath the sofa cushions and then broken in two after Dad sat on him; to poor Turquoise, whose head is now stuck to one of Duncan’s stinky socks after they both ended up in the dryer together; to Pea Green, who knows darn well that no kid likes peas and who ran away—each and every crayon has a woeful tale to tell and a plea to be brought home to the crayon box.

Release Date: August 18th, 2015

My Thoughts: If you haven’t read the first one, you are missing out. It is one of the cutest kids books I’ve ever read and Drew Daywalt was kind enough to do an interview for this blog, and was just awesome as hell. I can’t wait for the sequel ;)

General Fiction: 

X by Sue Grafton 

Kinsey Millhone #24

X:  The number ten. An unknown quantity. A mistake. A cross. A kiss.

X:
 The shortest entry in Webster’s Unabridged. Derived from Greek and Latin and commonly found in science, medicine, and religion. The most graphically dramatic letter. Notoriously tricky to pronounce: thinkxylophone.


X: 
The twenty-fourth letter in the English alphabet.

Release Date: August 25th, 2015

My Thoughts: I’ve been reading these books since I was a kid, probably before I was actually mature enough to read these books haha. But I’m excited to read the next installment and I’m ready for this series to finally come to an end one day LOL.

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What are your most anticipated releases of August! Share in the comments below!