Colleen Hoover

Review: Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

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I tried something new with this review. I asked my daughter, we’ll call her Sassy, to buddy read it with me. She’s 17 and hates romance but because of the mother daughter relationship I wanted her to try it. Her reactions are italicized. This is the second CoHo book I’ve given to her. Her first was Slammed and she was so mad at the main character for being so immature and not thinking of the hero and his circumstances. So I was super excited to see how she’d react with these two. Sassy usually reads fantasy that has a minor focus on romance. So watching her read a straight up romance makes me smile. I’m waiting for the day she comes to me and asks to read another of my books. But I won’t hold my breath.

Regretting You was written from both the mother and the daughter’s points of views. This intrigued me. And seeing that the girl is a newly 17 year old, I was curious if her actions would be something Sassy would agree with, or not. I went in without reading the blurb and I’ve very glad I didn’t. And because of that, I felt all the emotions had a quite a few gut kicks. Mothers and daughters aren’t without their dramas and this had plenty. This gave me Slammed feelings all over the place. Both had to deal with feelings they never anticipated on having and I felt EVERYTHING. Moms protecting their daughters from hurt is the right thing to do but they shouldn’t lie. That makes things worse and brings more hurt. However, daughters should also not make things harder for the moms in trying situations.

If you have an older teen daughter, then I recommend you buddy read this with her. I had Sassy stop after a few chapters and give me her first impressions. Let me preface by saying that Sassy is a very independent girl. She’s never been boy crazy and won’t change for one. What you see is what you get with her. She is very straight forward and has no patience for shenanigans. So saying that her reactions were quite funny would be an understatement. She’d come out and yell at me for the behavior of characters I had no control over. I’m like, “Blame Colleen! I didn’t create them!”

My favorite was when she came out after the first sex scene, which was mild, and said, “That was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever read.” I died. I don’t even know how she handled everything else. But I’m guessing she skipped some parts, since she never said anything.

She was mad and disappointed in Clara’s behavior quite often. “No amount of guilt justifies those actions.” As a mom, I’m happy about that because I’d to think if she were faced with distressing circumstances that she would react differently. She’d be more level headed.

First impressions:
-It was better than Slammed.
-Clara was stupid teenager.
-I can see Colleen’s sarcasm in each character’s personalities. She was probably like that as a teenager.
-I like how she writes the boys. I like them more than the girls. Just like Slammed, I liked Will more than Lake.
-Morgan made silly mistakes but all in all she did the best she could with the circumstances she was dealt with.
-How could a mom of boys write a mother/daughter relationship so well?!
-The end(no spoilers) was super cute and sweet.
-I’d totally wear an orange prom dress.
-When is she writing that fantasy? I’m still waiting. I’d read that in a heartbeat.

Thank you, Colleen, for writing a book that I could share with my daughter. Thank you for giving us new topics to talk about.

~Melpomene and Sassy

Don’t forget to grab a copy! It’a also FREE on KU! https://amzn.to/38tJQr1

Review: All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

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As with all marriages, there’s ups and downs. But what happens when the downs seems to take over? How do you cope? How do you get up each day and keep going on like everything’s okay? All Your Perfects shows what happens when you do that. When you don’t talk about what ails you, even as your world falls down all around you.

This book was brutal and heart breaking, but in the end, healing. Not all marriages can be saved. But not all marriages need to end. When talking doesn’t work anymore, action is needed.

“…I promise to love you more when you hate me than when you love me…”

My heart was in my stomach for practically this entire book. You should see my % updates. I was a wreck. The pain could be felt through the pages of this story. The struggles between Quinn and Graham were heartbreaking. Plain and simple, this book shook me. It made me question my views. It made me wonder. It also made me want to go to my hubby and hug his neck and never let go.

“…I promise that I will love you more during the storms than I will love you during the perfect days…”

In the end, there is a healing. A healing of the body and soul. Is it wrapped up in a nice little bow? No. In fact, healing comes in different forms and not every form works with every couple. You need to trust that whatever path you take is the one that was meant for you. But I do believe this was the perfect way to end this journey.

Well done, Colleen, on another real story with real feelings and real actions that left me an emotional wreck and useless to my family. I look forward to your next roller coaster manuscript.

~Melpomene

Buy All Your Perfects https://amzn.to/2ySBEmE

Review and Giveaway: Without Merit by Colleen Hoover

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“So many people dream of living in a house with a white picket fence. Little do they know, there’s no such thing as a perfect family, no matter how white the picket fence is.”

I am always so excited when I get to read a new Colleen Hoover book. I’m so anxious to see what she’s going to do to my heart. From the very first sentence I knew I was going to like Merit. From the second one, I knew this family was going to be different. So I orderd pizza for the kids and I settled in to spend the evening reading. Best night of my year.

Without Merit is a story about a girl who keeps all the many secrets of her family. She hates it but she does it. But everyone has their breaking point, and when Merit reaches hers, the Voss family won’t know what hit them.

After the emotional book, It Ends With Us, Colleen switched gears and went back to her Slammed roots and gave us this fabulous story. This is a book that I recommend you read along with your teens. It deals with some tough and very poignant issues that many of them, and us, face today. I personally, will be having my kids read this. In fact, this will be their first CoHo book and I’m rather excited over this fact. While they may not have to deal with many of the issues being faced in this book, they may find that Merit is just like them.

This story is a mass bundle of quirkiness and emotion. I was drawn in by the over the top idiosyncrasies of each member under the Dollar Voss roof. I wish I knew this family. They’re as unique as their names. I don’t wanna say anymore, because you need to just dive in and immerse yourself in this world.

Without Merit isn’t a romance story really. It’s a life story. At first I thought Merit wasn’t the “usual” character, but then I got to thinking, “What is the usual character?” She stressed over and struggled with daily life. She feels her family is a bunch of crazies. She wishes for peace in her world but doesn’t know a healthy way of finding it. I don’t know about you, but she sounds pretty “usual” to me.

“It used to feel like I was on top of the world. Then one day, I noticed that it felt like I was no longer on top. I was just floating around inside of it. And then eventually, it felt like the world was on top of me.”

Colleen, thank you for writing a story that hit me right where I needed to be hit. Thank you for giving me lots to think about in my children’s and my own life. You bury me.

~Melpomene
Enter to win a signed hardcover of Without Merit HERE

Buy Without Merit http://amzn.to/2yB3kqU

Spoiler free review and Giveaway: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

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01 iewu Imagine all the people you meet in your life. There are so many. They come in like waves, trickling in and out with the tide. Some waves are much bigger and make more of an impact than others. Sometimes the waves bring with them things from deep in the bottom of the sea and they leave those things tossed on the shore. Imprints against grains of sand that prove the waves had once been there, long after the tide recedes.

Have you ever preordered a book, without even a blurb? I mean, the story wasn’t even written yet, but you did it cuz you LOVE the author so much and know that whatever she writes you’ll buy. Well, that was me back in October. I preordered It Ends With Us, by Colleen Hoover, and then I was waiting like everyone else. Luckily I was able to read an advanced copy, so I know the impact this book is going to have and I HIGHLY recommend each of you grab a copy for yourselves. Go in blind. You MUST. Don’t read a single spoiler. Trust me.

To say that I love Colleen Hoover, would be an understatement. I love and read all of her books. I know what to expect when I read them. There will be laughter and love and a nice dose of angst. But with this book… This book is so much more than that. Nothing could prepare my heart and mind for all the emotions that this book would bring out. It Ends With Us is the most real book she has ever written. It’s probably the most life changing one also. It’s real. It’s raw. It’s life.

This book will make you think. The world is not just black and white. There is grey everywhere you look. I can honestly say that I went in reading with one point of view and I left knowing, not that I was wrong, but, there’s just more to a story than you may know.

This book will make you be a better friend. You will want to be that person for someone. The one to listen and give advice. The one who will say what needs to be said, even if they don’t want to hear it.

This book will make you strong and proud. Without saying anything else, whoever reads this book will walk away with the strength to be brave and bold.

I spent a good portion, of my reading, with my stomach in knots. I’ve never hated and loved characters so much before. They were perfect and imperfect. My mind was all twisted. I didn’t think I could fully comprehend this story’s impact, until hours later. Even now, I know it’ll be greater than anything I could think of. I recommend it everyone.

I realize this is probably the most vague review ever, but there is no way I could say anything without saying, well, anything. Just trust me.

Buy it. Read it. Let it change your life.

~Melpomene

Buy It Ends With Us

Enter the giveaway HERE.

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Waiting on Wednesday~ It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

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TITLE:
It Ends With Us
AUTHOR:
Colleen Hoover
GENRE:
Romance
PAGES:
384 pages
PUBLISHER:
Atria Books
RELEASE DATE:
August 2, 2016

SYNOPSIS:
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up. She graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant and has a total soft spot for Lily; and the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head, but Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his no dating rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan, her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

With this bold and deeply personal novel Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all too human characters, “It Ends with Us” is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

Preorder HERE

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Melpomene’s Top 15 of 2015

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01 blog top1
I decided to stick with a top 15 instead of 25 this year. 25 seemed a bit overachieving, so I toned it down a smidge. And I was going to write this long and beautiful post, but then I realized I just can’t write long and beautifully, so you get short and sweet. Here you go.

1. Before We Were Strangers: A Love Story by Renee Carlino

2. November 9: A Novel by Colleen Hoover

3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

4. Iniquity (The Premonition Series Book 5) by Amy Bartol

5. Breathe (Colorado Mountain Series Book 4) by Kristen Ashley

6. Restless Waters: A Left Drowning Novel (Left Drowning Series Book 2) by Jessica Park

7. The Song of David (The Law of Moses Book 2) by Amy Harmon

8. Kyland by Mia Sheridan

9. The Forgotten Mountain (The Collectors’ Society Book 3) by Heather Lyons

10. The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis

11. Where Sea Meets Sky: A Novel by Karina Halle

12. The Air He Breathes by Brittiany C. Cherry

13. Bad Romeo (The Starcrossed Series Book 1) by Leisa Rayven

14. Burned: Fever Series Book 7 by Karen Marie Moning

15. The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 13) by J.R. Ward

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The Gamble (Colorado Mountain Series Book 1) by Kristen Ashley

Elude (Eagle Elite Book 6) by Rachel VanDyken

Walk Through Fire (Chaos) by Kristen Ashley

Gus by Kim Holden

The Raven (Florentine series Book 1) by Sylvain Reynard

What were some of your favorites??

~Melpomene

Review and Giveaway: November 9 by Colleen Hoover

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01 nov91 Can you imagine seeing a person only one day a year, with no way of getting in touch with them? What happens the other 364 days? What do you do? How do you live a life without that person, with whom you have this amazing connection with?

“You can’t leave yet. I’m not finished falling in love with you.”

Sometimes you read books that you like so much and you have a hard time putting those feelings into words. This is one of those books. November 9 packed an emotional punch that rivals even Point of Retreat for my top CoHo spot. From the very first chapter I was sucked in, and every chapter that followed, I felt my heart being stretched to the point of splintering. It has everything I like in a book, romance, heartache, and quite a few “Holy Crap!” moments.

SYNOPSIS
Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day of her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

I fell in love with Ben almost instantly. I admit it. He made me laugh and swoon, and of course, cry. I loved everything about him. Was he perfect? No. Was he perfect for Fallon? Oh yes. I swear, some of the things he would say, made me crack up. Fallon could hold her own with him completely, but he had a way of being the perfect book boyfriend without even trying. The banter between these two, was perfect. They were both so quick witted and I found myself giggling quite often. It reminded me of seeing interactions online between Colleen and her sisters. People who have true emotional connections are the ones who could pull these off perfectly.

I have a feeling the audible is going to be amazing, and I’ll be startling quite a few people with my outbursts.

“Who knows what could happen between now and then. Hell, I didn’t even have hair on my nuts five years ago.”

See?! Hilarious!!! There are many more where this came from.

Now on the flip side, there were so many scenes that made me step back and collect myself. They were beautiful and poignant and life changing, for all involved. Every year they part ways I am sitting on the edge of my seat hoping for them to decide to just chuck it all and stay together, but I understand why they didn’t.

So many things happen in this book, that I would love to tell you, but that would spoil the story. There’s a few twists and turns that will knock your socks off. I may have gasped a time or two, while reading. Heck, I may have even squealed also. But what I can say is that the constant “booksting” scenes were some of the best scenes. It was like sitting with a group of friends. Ben and Fallon were just like we are, in our book clubs. They were saying all things we say.

If you want a book that will have you shedding happy and sad tears, then this is the book is for you. If you want a book that will twist your heart, then this is the book is for you. If you want a book that will leave you emotionally satisfied and physically drained, then this is the book for you.

Buy it. Read it. Love it.

~Melpomene

Be sure to go HERE and enter the giveaway!!

Buy November 9: A Novel

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Don’t miss Colleen on tour for NOVEMBER 9:

DALLAS, TX

Monday, November 9th

HALF PRICE BOOKS

10:00 PM

5803 E Northwest Hwy

Dallas, TX 75231

http://www.hpb.com

RSVP and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/571747856307832/

CINCINNATI, OH

Tuesday, November 10th

JOSEPH-BETH BOOKSELLERS

7:00 PM

2692 Madison Road

Cincinnati, OH 45208

http://www.josephbeth.com

RSVP and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/910564405703742/

CHICAGO, IL

Wednesday, November 11th

ANDERSON’S BOOKSHOP

7:00 PM

26 S. La Grange Rd.

La Grange, IL 60525

http://www.andersonsbookshop.com

RSVP and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/877624532344894/

RIDGEWOOD, NJ

Thursday, November 12th

BOOK ENDS

7:00 PM

211 E. Ridgewood Avenue

Ridgewood, NJ 07450

http://www.book-ends.com

RSVP and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/176661676006949/

WHITE PLAINS, NY

Friday, November 13th

BARNES & NOBLE #2202

7:00 PM

230 Main Street

White Plains, NY 10601

http://www.barnesandnoble.com

RSVP and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/760158847428849/

MIAMI, FL

Saturday, November 14th

BOOKS & BOOKS

5:00 PM

265 Aragon Avenue

Coral Gables, FL 33134

http://www.booksandbooks.com

RSVP and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/903716756377916/

BOSTON, MA

Sunday, November 15th

BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH
5:00 PM
279 Harvard St
Brookline, MA 02446

http://www.brooklinebooksmith.com

RSVP and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1484734548495141/

LOS ANGELES, CA

Tuesday, November 17th

CHEVALIER’S BOOKS

7:00 PM

126 N. Larchmont Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90004

http://www.chevaliersbooks.com

RSVP and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1008186655868793/

AUSTIN, TX

Tuesday, December 8th
BOOK PEOPLE

7:00 PM
603 N. Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78703
512-472-5050
http://www.bookpeople.com/

RSVP and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1642732965964748/

Review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

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01confess “Are you here to save me?”

Perfection. Utter perfection. In fact, I think she may have been channeling her inner Tarryn Fisher with all the twists and turns this story was filled with. This book is definitely unlike anything Colleen’s ever written before. I loved every gut wrenching part. My nerves are officially spent. But I couldn’t stop reading. I have never stayed up til 2:30 reading a book before. I felt happy, then devastated, hopeful and then shocked. And then happy all over. Full circle.

SYNOPSIS
Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

OMG!!! This story was filled with so many emotions. I had no idea what to expect. Colleen made me cry from the very beginning. I was totally caught off guard. Then throughout the story I was tearing up all over the place. Then there this underlying tension, that I couldn’t shake off. But then it was like BAM!! Then it all made sense. And let’s not discuss the ending. I swear she brought me full circle and I was bawling in the end.

I don’t feel lost in him at all, because it’s the first time I’ve ever felt like someone truly found me.

When Colleen said that she was going to combine art with her story, I thought, “Cool! If she can incorporate music, why not art?” But I was no where prepared for the hauntingly beautiful paintings that were going to be portrayed. They invoked so many emotions, and I only saw them in black and white. I bet seeing them in color will make me break down. But what makes this story even more emotional, is that these confessions are real. They were written by readers. My heart was twisted as I was reading them. There is so much hurt in this world, I just can’t fathom that.

Besides confessions, this story is about love. It’s about what you will do for those you love. How you will turn your life upside down, for those you love. How you will make the hardest decisions you’ve ever made, even if they’re the wrong ones, just to make your loved ones happy.

“I’m afraid if I listen to my heart once, I’ll never figure out how to ignore it again.”

“If only I could be so lucky.”

Colleen paints a picture of hope, forgiveness and taking a stand for what’s right, in the most beautiful way. But I’m wrecked now, so someone hold me, please.

Buy it. Read it. Love it.

~Melpomene

Release Date: March 10, 2015
Buy Confess: A Novel

Review: Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

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01neverHow odd to be made of flesh, balanced on bone, and filled with a soul you’ve never met.

OH.MY.GOSH. What did I just read??? My mind is still reeling from this experience. Colleen and Tarryn are officially the dynamic duo.

Synopsis
Best friends since they could walk.
In love since the age of fourteen.
Complete strangers since this morning.
He’ll do anything to remember.
She’ll do anything to forget.

Charlie and Silas can’t remember themselves or the people around them. They have no idea what’s going on. But as the days progress they are finding glimpses into their lives that show them that they may not be what they thought they were. They make choices that they hope will soon bring some clarity to their situation, but in the end I was still yelling. I needed them to figure this out.

“I may not remember anything about her, but I would bet her smile was my favorite part of her.”

This book was one twisted roller coaster ride, with the emphasis on twisted. I have never yelled so much while reading a book. But I loved it. I had so many ideas, on where this story was going, but I was way off. And when I finished I just sat back and thought, “Holy crap!! What? Where? How? Who?”

When I first heard that Colleen and Tarryn were writing a book together, I was curious. Colleen is know for her HEA with a hefty dose of angst and Tarryn for her twisted and emotional, makes-you-wanna-throw-your-kindle-against-the-wall kinda books. So when you put them together, hold on to your butts. If I were to read this story, without knowing who wrote it, I never never would’ve guessed it was written by them. But after reading this, I can totally see glimpses of both of them in it. Well done, girls. Now I am waiting on pins and needles, for the next book.

What it really comes down to is: Buy it. Read it. Love it.

~Melpomene

Buy Never Never right NOW!!!

Melpomene’s Top 25 of 2014

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What a year!!!! Seriously!!! I have read so many great books, that trying to pick only 25 nearly gave me an ulcer. Stressful. While many of these weren’t released in 2014, I didn’t read them until this year. But here it is:

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1. Flat-Out Celeste by Jessica Park
2. Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan
3. Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover
4. The Collectors’ Society by Heather Lyons
5. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
6. The Deep End of the Sea by Heather Lyons
7. Bright Side by Kim Holden
8. The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon
9. Elicit by Rachel Van Dyken
10. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

The rest are in no particular order
11. Even the Moon has Scars by Steph Campbell
12. Becoming Calder and Finding Eden by Mia Sheridan Those two go together. They’re a combo pack.
13. Jacked by Tina Reber
14. Hope at Dawn by Stacy Henrie
15. Red at Night by Katie McGarry
16. The King by JR Ward
17. Vain by Fisher Amelie
18. Greed by Fisher Amelie
19. Maybe Not by Colleen Hoover
20. Until the End by Abbi Glines
21. Burying Water by KA Tucker
22. Infinity + One by Amy Harmon
23. Until We Fly by Courtney Cole
24. Hate: A Love Story by Laurel Ulen Curtis
25. Letting Go by Molly McAdams

What are some of yours??