Clio

Review: Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher

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5982474Oh how very angry this book made me. And it did so in varying shades, slowly at first and then by the end I was basically running to my computer to write this review so there was no lag in my reaction time. I basically went from a slow simmer in the beginning to a burning rage at the end. Which really rarely happens to me with books because I almost never finish books I don’t like. I’ve been making a better effort to finish these kinds of books so I can review them for this blog. Because I would never review a book I didn’t read fully. So I am glad I finished this book so I could fully express my distaste!!

Logan Witherspoon was recently dumped by his girlfriend Brenda of 3 years. He found out she cheated on him and she then dumped him. Logan spends the first portion of the book lamenting this loss, but not really lamenting the loss of Brenda, much more so the loss of the possibility of getting laid. While he was angry at being dumped he seems much more angry at the idea that Brenda never allowed him to get past “second base” but cheated on him fully with another guy. Logan is extremely bitter about this. Which starts my slow simmer.  Being angry at being cheated on is completely understandable but Logan goes on and on and on about what a wonderful, amazing guy he was for not pushing Brenda to have sex with him.  When in reality that’s what a decent human being is supposed to be like.

Logan meets Sage Hendricks when she moves to his school that year and is in his lab with his friend Tim. Which brings me to point 2 of my anger level rising. Logan describes TIm as this disgusting slob. Every single time Tim is mentioned he is talked about as eating more food, as being grossly huge and just fat. At first I figured he was going to turn into a bad guy in the book and that was the reason for the description but nope, Tim is nothing but a good guy and a great friend. So basically Logan is an ass that describes his friends in very negative terms for no reason even though they’re good people.

Sage, meanwhile, is a cute girl that Logan is attracted to but who is not allowed to date. Logan finds this odd and they get closer and closer. Sage finally discloses her biggest secret – she is actually a boy. Her parents hate that she dresses like a girl and this is the first year she has been allowed to go to school in a very long time. She sneaks hormone pills in order to grow breasts and is hoping to get a sex change operation in the future.

This obviously gives Logan a completely good reason to freak out. They had kissed right before this revelation and he was understandably freaked out. I totally got this part of Logan, and his reactions in this part of the book made sense to me. However, as the book goes on Logan’s reactions no longer made sense to me at all. He knows this about Sage from a relatively early point in the book yet things still progress between the two so it felt like a yo yo for most of the book.  Which led to more of my hatred of Logan. I really wanted to smack him. His reactions for most of the book were extremely superficial and felt like we never got to go much past that. When for the briefest of moments we would get there he would pull back immediately.

I was left frustrated by this book. I thought Sage was believable, as was Logan and unfortunately the whole book probably was too.  I, however, did not enjoy it. Logan was an ass an not someone I want to read about.

2 Stars

~Clio

Almost Perfect

Review: Between the Lines Books 1-3 by Tamara Webber

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I’m going to do this review a little differently and review the whole trilogy at once because, well, I read all 3 books at once. Which I love. I was able to not have the anxious wait in between books which is a good and a bad thing. That build up of excitement wasn’t there but I also didn’t have to experience any disappointment if that build up anticipation didn’t meet my expectations. So I’m going to divide my review into 3 parts- one for each book.

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Between the Lines #1

Reid Alexander is young Hollywood star who is used to getting what he wants- cars, movies and girls. Emma Pierce is a small time actress who just got cast in Reid’s next movie. Reid quickly sets his sights on Emma. Emma is very down to earth and notices quickly that Reid expects things to come easily to him. But she is still very attracted to him and unsure of herself. When Emma meets Graham, another young actor in the movie, they begin to hang out and Emma finds herself also attracted to him.

I liked the dynamics of the books and the dual points of view- from Emma and from Reid. Reid decides Emma is what he needs in his life and we as the audience gets to see how he maneuvers things to make that happen. From Emma’s point of view we can see how Graham is very kind to her and how quickly they fall for each other. Of course issues arise and Emma begins to date Reid instead. With the secondary characters around them playing important parts – I loved to see the different worlds of each of these young actors. Some were born into it and some worked very hard to get there. This first book set the stage for young love though at turns it’s hard to see exactly for who.

4 stars

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Where You Are (#2)

This book had an altogether different feel to it than the first one. While the majority of the first is on a movie set, this one moves around a lot. From New York, to Texas and then back to Hollywood. It starts out with Emma and Graham declaring their love for each other and dealing with the fact that Graham has a young daughter. From there the plot revolves around Brooke, the temptress best friend who has been waiting for Graham to wake up to what’s right in front of him for years. She teams up with Reid to break up the two to get to the ones they think they want.

A series of potential misunderstandings are luckily sidestepped by the young couple. I really liked seeing how both Emma and Graham were pretty open and communicative with each other. Reid and Brooke really seem to deserve each other by the end of the book and I was surprised that’s not where it went. I was also surprised there was another book to go as the book seemed to wrap up all that I cared about.

4 stars

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Good For You (#3)

This book revolves around Reid Alexander. He is a complete party-er and has gotten into multiple situations that he had to be gotten out of by his PR rep or lawyer. His most recent scrape means he needs to do community service. Enter Dori. She is a genuinely good person and wants nothing to do with Reid and doesn’t really want him around while he does his time. Slowly they begin to have pull on each other until they realize they are both falling for each other.

This book for me was completely out of nowhere. It felt nothing like the other two and to be honest I didn’t really care for Reid at all. I didn’t see the point of his own book, or if he got his own book I was waiting for something more interesting. Dori felt completely boring to me and I could never really get into her storyline at all. I’ve heard many other people with opposite opinions of mine, including another muse actually, but I wish this would have ended with just the 2 books. I was surprised to find out there was a 4th book in the series (the last one) but I will not be purchasing it.

2 stars.

So my personal recommendation is to read the first two and enjoy them. They’re cute, enjoyable, funny and sweet. Skip the next two.

~Clio

Between the Lines #1 Buy it Now Between the Lines (Between the Lines #1)

Where You Are (#2) Buy it Now Where You Are (Between the Lines #2)

Good For You (#3) Buy it Now Good For You (Between the Lines #3)

Review: A Beauty Uncovered by Andrea Laurence

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This is the second in the Secrets of Eden series by Andrea Laurence .  I had not read the first one before I picked up A Beauty Uncovered and didn’t find that it detracted from this book at all.

Brody Eden is a reclusive CEO who rarely, if ever goes out in public due to major scarring he has over half of his face which has made his life pretty miserable. He has a past filled with secrets and protects himself and his family fiercely from anyone who would discover those. Brody’s gruff demeanor keeps everyone at bay, which is just where he wants them.

Samantha Davis has her own issues she’s dealing with and just wants this new job to work out for once and doesn’t want to screw it up.  She’s intrigued by Brody from the beginning but intent on not becoming interested in him at all for her own reasons. That doesn’t exactly go as planned.

“No woman, sparkly or otherwise, had ever deliberately touched his scars like that. With every fiber of his being he wanted her to do it again.”

I really enjoyed this book overall, I liked the dynamic between Samantha and Brody. She is plucky and strong enough to not let him get away with anything and he is strong enough to appreciate that in both an assistant and someone he’s interested in.

This is part of a series about a family of foster children who bonded and are a close knit family now that they are all grown and successful. However the brothers and sister have some pretty big secrets that are an overarching thread through the series. Normally with series like that I can be irritated with a few different things – unnecessary cliffhangers and dramatic hinted at secrets. However, A Beauty Uncovered was able to not do either. While there are heavy secrets, they come out in the open in a reasonable amount of time, without the dramatic drawing out I hate in some romance novels. With the cliffhanger- which there was a mini one- it was done in such a way that it set up the next book nicely, making me want to read that one, and still liking the one I just got done with. I felt this story was wrapped up well. And I want to read the rest too!

4 stars.

~Clio

Buy it Now A Beauty Uncovered (Secrets of Eden)

Review: The Derby Girl by Tamara Morgan

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17830252 Gretchen is a “tough girl” that does not need help from anyone. She’s a roller derby girl, covered with tattoos and has multiple jobs. She hasn’t quite been able to get her life and future on track. Enter Dr. Jared Fine, who is not so great with the ladies. Or rather he is great with the ladies, just not this one.

While Jared tries to be gallant and rescue Gretchen, she just doesn’t need rescuing. As they start to date and maneuver about their incredibly different worlds they both get more and more drawn in to each other. Gretchen does not fell for any of Jared’s smooth lines and forces him to be real with her which completely throws him for a loop. Meanwhile Jared forces Gretchen to be open to the idea of him being there for her.

I kind of loved this book. I’m not surprised because I have a thing for tattoos and Gretchen has major tattoos everywhere and there are a few that intrigue Jared in particular and are the focus of some scenes. My favorite thing about this book is the banter between Gretchen and Jared. As she calls him on his ridiculously smooth moves I could just picture the astonishment on Jared’s face. As this carries throughout the book it just made me laugh every time.

The external forces that come into play in their relationship were also interesting, but for me the best part was specifically the two main characters. Oh – and the dog. Jared rescues a freaking dog very early in the book so I was obviously done in at that point. How can I not love a dog rescuing Dr. who falls for a tattoo covered tough girl??

4 stars

~Clio

Buy it Now The Derby Girl (Getting Physical)

Review: No One’s Angel by Kelly Walker

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18109730 Angel and Arion met while playing video games online and struck up a close friendship immediately. When Angel virtually disappears Arion is crushed and has his heart broken. When a bedraggled Angel shows up on his doorstep he is overjoyed at seeing her again and hopes to kindle a true relationship with her.

But Angel is terrified of something and is determined to keep that to herself. She won’t allow herself to get to close to Arion or let him into her world because she’s scared he’ll be affected by those she’s trying to keep in her past.

I really enjoyed this book for a few different reasons. The novelty of a romance set up like this, with a meet cute happening online was very current and I thought it was well done. It wasn’t the typical meet online type story since it was through gaming. I thought the romance between Angel and Arion felt realistic. There was also a lot of mystery and action tied into Angel’s past catching up to her.

I thought this was a nice YA/NA book that fans of the genre will enjoy.

3.5 stars

~Clio

Review: Once We Were by Kat Zhang

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16109664 This is the captivating sequel to What’s Left of Me that I reviewed and gave 5 stars to a few weeks ago. This releases today! Once We Were picks up shortly after the conclusion of What’s Left of Me. Addie and Eva escaped the governmental institution and find themselves in league with a group of underground hybrids who are all on the lam. They immediately want to be part of the resistance and to make a difference.

However they discover there is a lot of waiting around to be done. During all of the waiting the girls learn how to withdraw and to give each other much needed private time. Eva uses that time to get closer to Ryan and learn how to maneuver around all that comes with hybrids dating each other.

“But the thing is, sharing hands doesn’t mean sharing goals. Sharing eyes doesn’t mean sharing visions. And sharing a heart doesn’t mean sharing the things we love.”

Meanwhile their new found friends are taking part in the resistance in ways both big and small. Eva feels a desparation to get things going immediately and to make a drastic impact. This causes her to convince Addie to make some questionable choices.

There are a lot of differences between this and the first book. For the first 50% or so there was not a ton of action, which I honestly liked. This part of the book was more focused on the relationships between Addie, Eva and the rest of their hybrid group. I really loved seeing the girls trying to figure out how to date and how to determine who gets control of the body and when.

When the action does get started it was definitely exciting and while I knew something was going on – I couldn’t quite figure out what that was, which I liked.

While I did love this book, I didn’t love it as much as the first one. I think it’s mostly because the novelty of hybrids had worn off for me. I still can’t wait to see what is going to happen next for both the resistance and those hybrids that are under the government’s control.

4 Stars

~Clio

Buy the first one if you haven’t already! (It’s only $2.99 right now) What’s Left of Me: The Hybrid Chronicles, Book One

Buy it Now Once We Were: The Hybrid Chronicles, Book 2

Review: The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

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17332556 This book releases tomorrow! First of all how amazingly beautiful is this cover?? I judged this book by its’ cover immediately and was so excited to get to read and review it.

I’ve never read any of Sherry Thomas’s other books, but I’ve heard good things about them so I was even more excited to read this after I heard those.

This is a wonderful story of magical worlds, Royalty and a young girl. Iolanthe Seabourne discovers at the outset of the book that she is supposed to be the greatest elemental mage of her time. Which really shocks the crap out of her considering she’s pretty average in most things.

After she summons lightening to fix a ruined elixer her whole world changes and she finds herself on the run from those who want to harm her. Iolanthe finds that she has an ally of sorts in Prince Titus of Elberon and hesitates to put her faith and trust in him.

But Titus has his own agenda as well. Together they have to face their foes.

I love the magic elements in the book, the author did a wonderful job of world building. The setting for the majority of the book is at an all boys school, which is different since Iolanthe is female. Titus had thought he prepared for every contingency but he hadn’t thought of the possibility of a female that he would have to help. I enjoyed seeing how they worked through this and it was humorous to see the boys at the school and the issues that came with that.

But my favorite part of the book is a spoiler. I won’t spoil it but the way Iolanthe and Titus train is pretty different and those scenes were my favorite.

Oh, also this is going to be a trilogy but there was NO shocking cliffhanger that so many trilogies have. I want to read the next book but only because this one was so great.

Seriously, go get this book. You won’t be disappointed!

4.5 stars.

~ Clio

Buy it Now The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy)

Feedback Wanted!!

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936386_10200242490248306_709002509_nWe muses were talking about what we look for in reviews. I read tons of reviews – on Goodreads, and on other review blogs mainly.  Many times if it’s a person/blog I trust I will buy based on those reviews so I really value reviews. Same with the other muses. But we realized that we also read reviews for certain books looking for spoilers. That’s right – big, fat spoilers.

Now traditionally I don’t read spoiler reviews because I like to go into a book pretty blind. But there are books that I’m very iffy about and if I can find a spoiler review I’ll read it to determine if the book is worth my times. Other times there are books that I am dying to read but haven’t been able to for one reason or another – it’s not out yet, haven’t purchased it yet, too many books, etc. Those times I look at spoiler reviews to alleviate my book anxiety and it helps me read the books at a more normal pace when I do get them instead of racing through them to find out what happens.

So all of that to say…we are going to start a new feature called Spoiler Saturday. Starting in October we will be posting a spoiler review every Saturday. It will have clear marks that it is a spoiler so no worries that you could stumble upon it unknowingly!

We’d like to know from our readers what books YOU would like to see spoiler reviews of. Either books that are already out, upcoming releases, pretty much anything. Let us know here, on Facebook or on twitter so we can try to give you those spoiler reviews you want!

~ Clio (and Daisy clearly wanting your opinions!)

Review: The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman

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74915 A close friend recommended this book to me as one that was fairly balanced on the good and the bad parts of Wal-Mart. The idea intrigued me instantly because I worked there for a while after high school and I have a few family members who work there as well. Not to mention that I shop there because of the limited choices in my area, and of course due to the savings they provide.

The author does a great job of detailing so much about Walmart that is usually not made apparent to consumers for one reason or the other. He details how the company began and how it evolved into the huge world power that it is now.

What Fishman does so well is take one case study and examine it from all angles to show how the impact is both good and bad. Early on in the book he uses the tiny company Makin Bacon to show how Walmart could take a small company and make a huge impact. The owner of the company explains how Walmart makes it possible for it to even exist. Not only did Walmart help the company start but even though the item is sold in other companies without Walmart’s business Makin Bacon would literally have to close its doors.

On the flip side the author goes into detail about Walmart’s negative perception. Part of the issue stems from their unwillingness to do almost any press or even allow their vendors to talk to the media, whether good or bad. Fishman goes into greater detail about how Walmart affects the communities and local businesses in the area.

I found the descriptions of the vendor relations and how Walmart keeps their low prices truly low extremely fascinating. I thought this book did a great job of showing positives and negatives. I generally enjoy nonfiction books only if the author can prove the subject interesting enough. This one did not disappoint.

Buy it now The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works–and How It’s Transforming the American Economy

Authors are even better in person…

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I love authors way more than traditional celebrities. Meeting Tom Cruise wouldn’t really faze me but meeting my favorite author would make me go into complete fangirl mode. However, I had never had a chance to meet any authors at all before this summer.

935196_4296103779079_1580414677_n In July some book friends of mine informed me that New York Times best selling author Khaled Hosseini of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns was coming to Ohio to promote his new book And the Mountains Echoed. I was ecstatic! This is an author whose books really moved me and I admired. The signing was huge, with a couple of hundred people coming out to meet him. Khaled did a Q&A talk where I found him humorous and really engaging. Also way cuter than I expected! Due to the size of the event there was no picture taking, but I did get my book signed and got to shake his hand.

My next author meeting was totally different. Tessa Dare and Gayle Callen were coming to Dayton.They both write romance novels – Tessa wrote The Spindle Cove series that I had really enjoyed and Gayle I had yet to read. This was at a bookstore in Dayton where there was a small crowd. This was much more interactive and I really loved seeing them talk to us so candidly. I thought they both were really funny and I thought it was awesome that Tessa recognized a friend of mine from their Twitter interactions. I’ve since read Gayle’s latest release that I had signed and loved it. I left there a bigger fan than I was going in.

971108_10200258989500777_870582190_n I then was able to go to a small bookstore in Delaware, OH and meet Patrick Rothfuss who has a huge fan following. The Name of the Wind is a fantasy novel a fellow muse convinced me to read, which I completely loved. This small bookstore was packed and Patrick was amazing. He was hilarious, answered many, many questions in philosophical and funny ways and he stayed way late. Patrick was willing to take pictures with every single person and signed multiple books for just about every fan there.

So my experiences so far have been vastly different. But the common thread they all shared were that the authors were SO great. Since in general authors are like idols to me maybe I assumed they would think they were better than their fans, or thought they’d act snobby. If anything, my meeting these authors made me love them even more. If you can manage it I would highly recommend going to one!!

~Clio

Look for any of the books from these awesome authors here: Search