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

Review: Pivot Point by Kasie West (and giveaway!)

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11988046 You know how you buy some books because they sound good-ish at the time and then when you finally read them months later you wonder why the heck you bought the book in the first place? (Maybe that’s just me…) Well, this book was so the opposite of that. I was expecting an average book when I began this but got an amazingly well written and captivating book instead. Yay to pleasant surprises!

Addie Coleman lives in a city where everyone has a type of paranormal power of the mind. Her power is a form of clairvoyance that allows her to take a decision she needs to make and see into the future (within limits) both paths that the choices would lead to. When her parents get a divorce she has to decide which parent to live with. Her mother is staying in the city Addie has grown up in and her father is moving out of the city into the normal world where no one has powers. Addie chooses to look into the future over the next 6 weeks to see which one she should choose.

Just the plot of this book is rather unique, with all of the YA books that I read I haven’t come across another with anything close to it. This is the author’s debut novel and I was blown away by that because of how well written and thought out the book comes across. I was surprised many times by different twists and plot points. Pivot Point has some suspense, a little bit of YA romance and while some of the characters have paranormal powers it is not heavy on that part. So if you normally stay away from the paranormal type books I would give this a chance!

Even better than the plot are the characters. Addie and her friends are all very fleshed out. Addie, in particular, was great – I understood her emotions and all of her actions made sense to me. I completely hate when I read a book and I spend most of the time wanting to smack the main character. Happily, that was not the case here.

If you’d like to win a copy of Pivot Point you need to do 2 things – follow this blog and comment on this post. I’ll post the winner next Thursday the 15th.

5 stars

~ Clio

Buy it Now Pivot Point

Review: The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

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princeNever been both, so happy to see a book end and sad at to finish the last page as I have with TPoT. This is one of the types of books I love the most…so beautiful that you ache with each word you read…yet at the same time your gut is clinched in knots that are painful and your heart is pounding out of your chest because of the horrors you are witnessing. yes, I said witnessing. I did not simply *read* this book….I was there. I experienced it. I witnessed it. I felt it….There were parts I laughed so hard that I almost had tears rolling out of my eyes…there were times where I felt so much pride that I wanted to cry…there were times I felt such righteous anger that I had tears of anger blurring my vision….there were times I felt so lost and hopeless that I could only cry….and there were times that this book actually brought chills upon my skin….Finally, there were times that I had no choice except to put the book down for a while and walk away and try to distance myself from it. At times it was simply too much for me to bear….

The grandparents reminded me of characters from a Fannie Flagg novel. So eccentric, outrageous and lovely that you hate your childhood, just because you didn’t have them in it. There is no way you could not feel pure enjoyment at some of the happenings in the town. At other times, I was so mad I could taste bitter bile in my mouth….so angry, I felt my pulse pounding. But most of what I felt was a sorrow that stayed with me, even after I laid the book down and tried to forget.

I grew up in the South. Besides the ending (which was the only objection I had to this entire book, I felt the ending was just too much….too contrived to be believable), I felt that this novel was not a work of fiction. It was a life that could be found in many many a Southern town. I bet I knew some of these people. I bet some of me can be found in these pages. I felt fierce pride at so many moments in this book. Pride for perhaps the first time at being a Southerner. At other times, I knew for a certainty why I no longer live there. This…Book….Was…..Very….Real to me….

It would be so easy to point the finger at any of the characters in this book and tell them why they were wrong. It would be just as easy to understand why they were as broken as they were.

What one can not so easily explain is how they are still beautiful and how you have no choice but to love each and every one of them. What is so hard to accept about your own self is that you feel sorrow for them. That despite the horrible things that they did, you understand that they are all good people. That they all have a fierce love for family. That they did so much wrong, but that in the end, they honestly did the best that they could in that moment in time.

I like to think we are all above how we were raised. That every bad rotten thing we experienced or witnessed has made us into a better person. I like to think that we all have the power within us to *always* do the right thing. Life however has taught us all otherwise. Can any one of us not think of a single time where we have had wrongs done to us and wish we had behaved differently? No, most of us have not done atrocities to those we love….nor have we had atrocities done to us….but can any one of us look back and not see one instance where we wish we had chosen a different way? A better way. Reacted differently? In the end, they are just people who did what they did and wished that they had behaved differently. They suffered for the choices that they made, because they had to live with those choices. They did not simply act and move on….

We should all take away from this book that the choices we make not only effect other people, they also effect us. There is no running away from the past. The past is a part of you that you always carry with you….No matter how much you deny it or reject it…it is still a part of you. Good or bad, it helps to shape you into the person you are today. No, we do not have to constantly live in the past….but let us all hope that we have learned from our own personal history. It’s never to late to change your life…I sincerely hope that it’s never to late to make amends and try to make it right….

~Urania

Buy it now The Prince of Tides: A Novel