Month: August 2013

Giveaway Winners

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helium-balloons Thank you to everyone who entered our very first giveaway! We all appreciate you guys taking the time to read our reviews and/or joining in the discuss on Facebook with us.

I used Random.org to pick the winners for both books – mom2cyrusncash won Pivot Point and Loida won The Sea of Tranquility! Congratulations to both of you and check your emails for more details. 🙂

Thanks for participating everyone. Stay tuned in the future for more possible giveaways. Feel free to check out our Facebook page along with the blog. We post daily with different things – from price drops and new releases to general book discussions

~ Clio

An Early Look: Review: Cake by Lauren Dane

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imageARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

This novella is part of the Harlequin’s new Cosmo Red-Hot Reads line. (The first one, by Sylvia Day, will be released tomorrow). It definitely lives up to name of the line.

Gregori is a successful multi-media artist. He’s also very, very hot with his tattoos, nipple rings and beard. Wren, currently attending art school, is working hard to get her graphic novel published. Her job as a bike messenger helps pays the bills. Wren has been delivering packages and paperwork for Gregori for a year now.

They have slowly developed a friendship in that year. She always makes her deliveries to him last so that they can chat about his work or her art school. He provides her with scrumptious treats and hot tea.

Underlining the friendship is a super-charged attraction. When they do finally have sex, it is scorching. It scares Gregori how amazing the sex is and how at ease it is to be with Wren. He’s divorced and very wary of being in a relationship. He is the first to back away.

Wren is a fabulous, take-charge heroine. She sees that Gregori is skittish and scared but doesn’t back down from what she wants and doesn’t let Gregori push her aside. She shows him in every way that their relationship will be different than the marriage he had.

“I came here to get some distance between us. To cool things off.” She stepped closer. “I know. I came here to put an end to such silliness.”

Although, this is a short read, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything in the story. I belived in Wren and Gregori’s HEA. Wren is a fierce heroine. I adored her. She never let Gregori give in to his insecurities about their relationship.

This novella will be out Monday, September 15. Go and pre-order this! You won’t regret it!

~Thalia

Pre-order It Now Cake

Review: North Country Hero (Northern Lights #1) by Lois Richer

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3 stars

Kyle is a war veteran who lost a leg in Afghanistan. Sara is a victim of childhood abuse who has a lot of love to give. They get to know each other while working for a new school for at-risk teenage boys. Sara tries to overcome her adversity and shows her love through cooking and serving others. Kyle is bitter because of the physical damage he has suffered, but Sara softens his heart.

I totally loved the rural Canadian setting: beluga whales, snow and ice, polar bears and Northern Lights. The boys attending the school were sweethearts (a little unbelievable for troubled teenagers, but okay). The cast of characters were likable and well-developed.

One thing I didn’t like was how lost and unsure of herself Sara was. Sara’s actions showed her as well-adjusted in society but the author wrote her thoughts as self-doubting at every turn. It seemed contrived.

I did like the love story and how slowly the relationship grew. I thought it was realistic for two people afraid of taking a risk on another person. Though predictable, I enjoyed the emotional push and pull until the Happily Ever After.

North Country Hero is a Love Inspired Christian Romance, so expect a lot of talk about prayer, God, faith, and the Bible. Most of it was written in naturally but there were a few hokey, Pollyanna instances that evoked an eye-roll. Christianity was an integral part of the plot and main character.

My sure sign of a good book is one that makes me laugh and cry. North Country Hero had my heart bursting and tears flowing.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

–Calliope

Buy It Now North Country Hero

Review: Rush by Maya Banks

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imageThe book opens with Gabe Hamilton mentally lusting after one of his best friend’s (much younger) sister at the grand opening of his hotel. Mia Crestwell is attracted to Gabe as well. They end up making out at this party. They stop and he tells her to meet him at his office the next day.

Gabe offers Mia a job as his personal assistant. She’s naturally confused. He explains, “The purpose of your working for me is so you’d be at my side at all times. And I’d have you when I want & how I want.” Let me backtrack a little to mention that Mia is a recent college graduate. Gabe is 13 yrs. older than her AND the sister of one of his dearest friends & business partner. This is his proposition to her. It gets worse. She accepts! It gets much worse. He hands her a contract to read stating the terms of their relationship.

The contract states that Mia will “cede power to him not only in the bedroom, but in all aspects of their relationship as well.” Gabe’s end of the contract is “that all her needs would be met, physically and financially. There was nothing at all about emotional needs.” Does Mia sign this contract? Of course, she does, otherwise there wouldn’t be a book. I wish there wasn’t a book. And I wish this was not the first book I won on Goodreads. 😦

The rest of book book lives up to the horrible premise of the book. A lot of excuses are made about why Gabe behaves the way he does. None are valid enough to justify his treatment of Mia. I gave this book 2 stars because I did like his friends, especially the sarcastic Ash.

I won this book though the First Reads giveaway on Goodreads.

~Thalia

Buy It Now Rush (The Breathless Trilogy)

Review: Inescapable, by Amy Bartol

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I love angels!!!

I found this series after I read another angel series, and I’m so glad I did. I loved it even more after I realized the author is from my state. Gotta support the local authors, you know. 🙂

Anyways, this book is about Evie Claremont. She is starting the next chapter of her life as a freshman at Crestwood college. She is sad to leave her Uncle, who raised her, but she’s excited to see what’s in store.

That is, until she meets Reed Wellington.

Mr. Perfect.

More like Mr. Irritating. He wants her gone and she doesn’t understand why.

Then she meets Russell.

Mr. Cute southern boy who you can’t help but love. Who also turns out to be the best friend she’s ever had.

Strange things start happening to her and she can’t explain them. But Reed always seems to be there or know what’s happening. But he’s not telling her anything.

“So, since you know I’m not a fish, and I know you’re not a fish, what does that make us?”

“That makes us completely and utterly screwed.”

Well, that is, until the unthinkable happens and she is changed forever.

There was a love triangle, of course. Someone gets hurt. Someone gets really hurt and I get really mad. There is also a shocking ending. Lucky for us, books 2, 3 and 4 are out. There is a 5th coming soon. I’m DYING to read the 5th book!!

I can’t quite put my finger on why I love this series so much, but I just do. I’ll be rereading all four books before the fifth comes out. I can’t wait!!

~Melpomene

Buy it now Inescapable (The Premonition Series (Volume 1))
Buy it now Intuition (The Premonition Series (Volume 2))
Buy it now Indebted: The Premonition Series (The Premonition Series (Volume 3))
Buy it now Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4))

Review: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay (and giveaway!)

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This is a difficult review to write because I loved the book, the storyline, the characters, the plot, pretty much everything. So it’s hard to be objective and write almost anything.

The book starts off a little slow and at first I was wondering when it would pick up. But after reading the whole book I realized that the slow start was necessary. This book packs in all the emotions and by the end I was overwhelmed with the feels.

It’s almost impossible to say anything without being spoiler-ish and I think with this book it’s important to not have spoilers.

This quote pulled me in right away.

“I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.”

Nastya and Josh tell the story from alternating points of views and this technique definitely worked for this book.

This was not just a romance, this is a suspense, a young adult novel but also an adult one as well. I can’t say enough good things about this book so instead I’m going to give away the book so one reader can see for themselves!

To enter the giveaway make sure you’re officially following this blog and make a comment as well. On Thursday, the 15th I’ll post the winner – which will be chosen by a random number generator.

Good luck!

5 stars

~Clio

Buy it Now The Sea of Tranquility: A Novel

Review: The Long, Hot Texas Summer (McCabe Homecoming #2) by Cathy Gillen Thacker

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3 stars

Justin and Amanda are unexpectedly thrown together to start a ranch for boys with social service needs. As they work on the ranch, a spark develops, and they spend the rest of the book exploring their chemistry together. That, and working on getting the ranch ready to open on time.

This book was predictable and the characters were underdeveloped. But the plot was cute, Justin and Amanda were likeable (and beautiful, of course), and the writing was good.

All in all, The Long, Hot Summer isn’t really special in any way, but it is a cute, straightforward romance with the requisite three scenes of intimacy.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

–Calliope

Buy It Now The Long, Hot Texas Summer

Review: I Could Pee on this: And Other Poems by Cats by Francesco Marciuliano

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image“Her sweater doesn’t smell of me
I could pee on that”

This is a witty and hilarious book of poetry written from a cat’s perspective. The book is divided into four chapters: family, work, play and existence. In each chapter, each poem is a cat’s ponderings on that particular theme.

Yes, the poems can be silly. I mean, just look at the title of the book. But the poems are also insightful. After reading certain ones, you think “Truly, that’s what my cat is thinking when he/she decided to scratch my face.” Most importantly, reading this book will cause you to smile and smile and smile some more. And then you will laugh and laugh and laugh some more.

“Did you know?
Did you see?
Did you count?
How many times
I had to smack that moth
On your forehead
With my paw?
He’s dead now, though
Definitely dead
One more smack
You’re welcome”

You don’t have to be a cat lover to enjoy this delightful book. This is one my favorite gifts that I have received. When I read it, it makes me smile because not only am I thinking “that’s exactly what my cat does!” but I am also thinking of my thoughtful friend who gave me the book. Thank you, E for one of the best gifts ever!

~Thalia

Buy It Now I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats

Review: On the Island (On the Island #1) by Tracey Garvis-Graves

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islandSometimes we all need to read a book that doesn’t make you think at all….we need to read a book that makes you forget…..it’s been a while since I stayed up past my bedtime reading a book…one that had me waking up a few times during the night wondering what happened…too excited to remain asleep…..one that finally made me get up early and stay in bed for hours trying to get it read….just so I could see how the characters got to their happily ever after….this was that book! I loved it…..No, it wasn’t life changing. It wasn’t something that makes you change how you view the world…it was pure escapism….something that you needed without even knowing you needed it….it was delightful to be so wrapped up in Anna and TJ’s life that I was able to forget my own for a little while….again, I simply loved this book….sorry I waited so long to actually read it……I hope I don’t wait so long to read her other books…..

I hesitated a very long time reading this book. I kept hearing wonderful things about it, but I read the description (something I rarely do) and it put up a huge mental block for me….the description and my imagination of the subject matter really put me off of this book. I didn’t see how I could ever get past a part of the book and this was before I even started it!!!! However, the subject matter I feared (teacher/student relations) was handled seamlessly by the author. Tarvis-Graves did a wonderful job and there was not a moment I felt uncomfortable with anything in the book. Don’t pick up this book until you have a chunk of time set aside….you’ll be wondering the whole time how it’s going to get to the ending!!!!

~Urania

Buy it now On the Island: A Novel

Review: One Week Girlfriend(Drew+Fable#1), by Monica Murphy

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This book completely caught me off guard. I saw NONE of this coming!!

Drew has to go home for Thanksgiving and he doesn’t want too. He hasn’t been home in two years and he likes it that way. So he decides he needs a buffer and asks Fable to act like his girlfriend for the week. There is no way he’s going back there on his own!!

Fable lives with her useless mom and 13 yr old brother. She works two jobs just to take care of her bother, since her mom doesn’t care about anyone but herself. She hates her jobs and feel alone. She hates being alone. So when Drew offers her money, in exchange for one week of pretending, she jumps on it. How hard can it be?? Little did she know…

The secrets and lies that surround Drew are so horrible, I felt awful. No wonder he never goes home.

Fable didn’t understand why he didn’t wanna go home every chance he got. After one week, she knew why. And things will never be the same again.

Word of warning, this ends in a minor cliffy. But at least the second one is out, so you can jump right to it. So no worries.

~Melpomene

Buy it now One Week Girlfriend: A Novel