Book Review: Rowdy by Jay Crownover

August 6, 2015August 6, 2015Leave a comment

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 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

August 5, 2015August 5, 2015Leave a comment

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 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

Happy Release Day: “Not After Everything” and Michelle Levy Spotlight, Review and Giveaway!

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015Leave a comment

So I’m sort of doing this on my own today, click but that’s because I’m so excited for the release of this book today and I’m so excited for Michelle and I want to implore all of you to grab this book and read it! We’re going to learn more about the super awesome Michelle Levy, her brand new, incredible book and you’ll even have a chance to get your hands on a copy too!

So let’s get started!

Meet Michelle Levy

Michelle Levy originally is from Denver, CO and is now a resident of our Los Angeles, CA. She has worked as a casting director for both movies and television in the past. She has a Great Dane named Magnus and a cat named Max and can sing and play piano but won’t do it so don’t ask ;) Not After Everything is her debut novel.

You Can Find Her At:

Her Website / Her Twitter / Her GoodReads / Her Facebook / Her Instagram

About Not After Everything

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?

Find Her Book at Your Local Bookstore or the Following Links:

GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Book Depository / iBooks / Amazon

My Review

I am so so so in love with this book. So in love with this book. I met Michelle over a year ago at a book event for, I think, Jessica Brody. I’m pretty sure. And I just adore her. She’s a lover of books and she’s insanely encouraging and I was excited to learn about her debut novel. She was a moderator at the Ontario Teen Book Fest this past March and she slipped an ARC my way. Because she’s the most amazing person in the entire world. I knew immediately I had to go home and read it. And I did. And I devoured it.

I’ve seen comparisons to The Spectacular Now and to Eleanor and Park. I definitely agree with those. If you like either of those books, definitely read Michelle’s books. You’re going to love her book if you loved those books. But Michelle’s book stands on its own and I loved it from the first page to the very last. The two main characters are just incredible. Tyler and Jordyn are as different can be, or at least they seem so on the outside. Tyler is the football guy, the one who is supposed to have it all, until its revealed he really has nothing. Jordyn has the angry goth girl look going on but she has a loving family, she has direction, and she’s incredibly caring and loyal. When the two of them find their way to each other…its just beautiful. Its beautiful and heartbreaking and perfect.

Michelle has a way of creating her characters that just blows my mind. They’re both so real and familiar and yet different and out of reach at the same time, and its a great balance. You feel for both of them, you feel connected to both of them, but you’re frantically turning the pages in order to learn more, to find out what happens to them because she makes you care about them right away and I just love it. They’re memorable and I read this book MONTHS ago. I still remember how both of them made me feel and what I still feel for this book.

Then you get down to the story. Michelle is an incredibly beautiful writer and her prose is just fantastic but she also has a way of speaking to you as if you’re really that person, as if you’re a friend that Tyler is confiding in. I felt like I was right back in high school with him, and Jordyn, and all the feelings and struggles they both go through felt like my own high school romance all over again. She makes it feel real and genuine but its also unique as hell. There are some unexpected twists and turns and it doesn’t turn out at all the way I had expected it to. I had an idea of where things were heading and when they took a 180 and ended up in a completely different direction, I had to sort of pause for a moment. How on earth had that happened? But it was the exact perfect ending for this book and I applaud Michelle for writing an incredibly novel from the first to last pages.

The Giveaway!

Its SUPER easy. You have until August 8th to repost this image on Instagram with the hashtag #NerdGirlMichelleLevyGiveaway. The winner will win an ecopy (Kindle, Nook, etc) of Michelle’s Not After Everything! Make sure to tag me as well!

* * * * *

Congratulations Michelle on your debut novel! I am so insanely excited for you and I wish you all the best for you and your beautiful beautiful book!

Book Review: Rome by Jay Crownover

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015Leave a comment

Genre:

New Adult, unhealthy Contemporary, online Romance

Pages:

387 pages

Part of a Series?:

Book #3 in The Marked Men Series

Release Date:

January 7th, 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

Fun and fearless, Cora Lewis knows how to keep her tattooed “bad boy” friends at the Marked in line. But beneath all that flash and sass is a broken heart. Cora won’t let herself get burned again. She’s waiting to fall in love with the perfect man—a baggage-free, drama-free guy ready for commitment. Then she meets Rome Archer.

Rome Archer is as far from perfect as a man can be. He’s stubborn, rigid, and bossy. And he’s returned from his final tour of duty more than a little broken. Rome’s used to filling many roles: big brother, doting son, supersoldier—but none of those fit anymore. Now he’s just a man trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life while keeping the dark demons of war and loss at bay. He would have been glad to suffer through it alone, until Cora comes sweeping into his life and becomes a blinding flash of color in a sea of gray.Perfect may not be in the cards, but perfectly imperfect could just last forever . . ..

My Review:

While this review will not have any spoilers, there is potential for spoilers for Rule and Jet. Please click those titles for reviews!

Moving along in the Marked Men series…Rome. Oh Rome. I don’t even know where to begin with Rome.

I think what I mostly like about this book is Cora. Cora is a this tiny little pixie who is a spitfire and keeps her boys in line, and that sometimes includes Rome as well. But Rome brings out a softer side in her and I think she does that back for him. I think the circumstances that brought them together were unexpected but I love that they were able to bring them together. Okay, that’s so vague and its hard to write about Cora and Rome without writing spoilers.

So here’s the thing. Both Cora and Rome have their past affecting their future. Cora is confident but when it comes to love and all that, she wavers. She had her heart broken BIG time. And that’s enough to keep anyone at arm’s length. Then you have Rome who is back in civilian life and not quite sure what to do with it. He’s haunted by the experience he had in the military but he also misses it so much and isn’t really sure what to do with his life now that he’s out.

Bring those two together? And it just makes for an incredibly beautiful romance. Truly. I’m getting choked up just thinking about it. They are completely unconventional and they begin a romance after a sort of “whoops, did we just have incredibly amazing sex together?” thing and I think that’s amazing. They obviously had the chemistry and they just went for it and its incredible. The idea of the little spitfire and the big military guy together? Its kind of comical but I love it too at the same time.

But I also like what this starts for the series. Rome sort of ends up in a situation and it really sets up for the rest of the book. He and this place become a central part of the rest of the series and I love that. I love what it becomes and I wish it were a real place because it feels like a sort of home for them to come together and celebrate and that sort of thing. Its hard to explain if you haven’t read it but I really hate writing about spoilers but I really do love what this book sets up for the rest of the series. I love that we get to see Saint, who is going to appear later in Nash’s book, and I love that it just where this family really starts to become a family.

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars

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: Signs Point to Yes (ARC) by Sandy Hall

July 16, 2015July 22, 2015Leave a comment

This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy of the novel obtained through snail mail at the permission of Fierce Reads, information pills Macmillan Teen and Swoon Reads. This is in no way had an effect on the integrity of my review. Please note that published novel will differ from this ARC.

Genre:

Young Adult, doctor Contemporary, website Romance

Pages:

272 pages

Part of a Series?:

Standalone Novel

Release Date:

October 20th, 2015

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

Jane, a superstitious fangirl, takes an anonymous babysitting job to avoid an unpaid internship with her college-obsessed mom. The only problem? She’s babysitting the siblings of her childhood friend and new crush, Teo.

Teo doesn’t dislike Jane, but his best friend Ravi hates her, and is determined to keep them apart. So Teo’s pretty sure his plans for a peaceful summer are shot. His only hope is that his intermittent search for his birth father will finally pan out and he’ll find a new, less awkward home. Meanwhile, at Jane’s house, her sister Margo wants to come out as bisexual, but she’s terrified of how her parents will react.

In a summer filled with secrets and questions, even Jane’s Magic 8 ball can’t give them clear answers, but Signs Point to Yes.

My Review:

This book is so short and sweet and awesome, I can’t even handle it. Its a Swoon Reads book, which I love, because Swoon Reads is super awesome and gives a shout out to those working their butts off to get published :) And I’ve read a few other titles and I was excited to get this one in the mail.

I absolutely adore Jane. She’s just…everything about her is just great. I love that she’s unsure of the future and that she’s superstitious and she consults her Magic 8 Ball. I like that she’s obsessed with writing weird obscure fan fiction (okay because seriously, I want Little Women/Doctor Who crossover fic). I like that she’s just figuring stuff and I like that when she collides with Teo, they have such a cute relationship. I absolutely love it.

Because I really miss sweet romances. I love that Teo and Jane so obviously like each other and that they aren’t really sure what to do about it and its just so cute. Its definitely swoon worthy. Sometimes a short and sweet romance is exactly what I need and I like the way that they crash together eventually. Its just fun to watch. Like watching a romantic comedy.

But I also like that there are genuinely important concerns to teenagers in there. Teo wonders about the identity and location of his father. Jane wonders what she wants to do with her life and struggles when she doesn’t have an answer for that. Even Jane’s sister, who is a secondary character, has her own struggles, ones that are quite close to my heart, and I loved every single minute of this book. I can’t wait to read more Swoon Reads because the fans are picking them and they obviously do a great job with them!

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars