This is my opinion on the books I read. Remember, don't take it personally and don't get all shitty with me over it. I don't bash the author personally unless the author has bashed the shit out of me and yes one has. So I will bash Madeline Sheehan forever. Otherwise if a book sucks it doesn't mean the person sucks, I've had books I loved and hated by the same author before, it happens. Not everything will please everyone. This is only my opinon and how these particular books made me feel.
My account was removed from GR so at the moment I'm severely lacking in reviews and books but rest assured for the 2013 year I've read over 300 books.
4 YA Stars
Synopsis -
Sometimes finding love means taking the scenic route ...
Living with her faultfinding mother has taught Leslie not to ask for much. Just watch your step, stay on the sidelines, and take what you can get. But she wants a mom who thanks her for cleaning the kitchen instead of yelling at her for missing a spot, and a boyfriend who does more than score her a seat at the popular table—someone who actually notices her sitting there.
So when Cain, the school heartbreaker, turns his Carolina blue eyes her way, Leslie can’t help but be tempted, even if he’s her boyfriend’s best friend. Things get even more complicated when Leslie strikes up unlikely friendships with Meredith, Cain’s girlfriend, and Dennis, a boy addicted to cigarettes and solitude. Despite his tough exterior, Dennis seems to understand Leslie in a way that no one ever has, and to need her as much as she needs him.
For the first time in her life, Leslie feels like she could belong. She’s just not sure where.
Review -
It's been a while since I've read a YA book, and I sort of missed the sexual tension. Most of the books I've been reading lately don't build up to anything. This one was realistic in the build up it takes sometimes to get to the realization that the relationship is something more or the first kiss. I think I needed that reminder that love doesn't come in the first chapter and they're ready for marriage in a month. It gets old and boring extremely fast.
Leslie has to deal with crap from everywhere, she gets it at home from her ungrateful asshole of a Mom, and she's got a boyfriend who ignores her and always acts like she's annoying him. She just wants to fit in and be loved. She doesn't have many friends since she moved and she's been hanging around her boyfriends popular friends and still feels like an outcast. When Leslie's boyfriend cheats on her with the bitch of the popular crew, she's taken under the wing of Meredith and Anna. Meredith is dating Cain, who Leslie fantasizes about on a daily basis. She thinks he's her ideal and she's insanely attracted to him. He's a big flirt and soon his flirting goes beyond simple flirtation into something more.
( Damn you for making me look through pictures of hot ginger guys. It's like having to choose between chocolate and ice cream. So difficult. You found my kryptonite.)
Leslie meets Dennis the day she runs out of the school cafeteria because she's angry with her jerk boyfriend and when she starts ditching lunch again to avoid Cain because his advances go too far, they soon become friendly and start talking. Leslie is torn between her new friendship with Meredith and wanting to spend time with Dennis. She gets a job at the same store that Dennis works in to see him more, but things don't always go their way. She thinks she's got competition from a girl named Shannon. Shannon hangs all over Dennis any chance she gets and is always bugging him and trying to spend time with him.
Leslie decides she'd like to be friends with Dennis even if he wants to be with Shannon because they've helped each other through some difficult times. They learn to trust each other and confide in each other. Leslie wants him as a friend no matter what even if it breaks her heart to see him with another girl.
Leslie does her happy ending and things eventually take a turn for the better. This is a simply written book. It's not a very complicated read that makes you think, you just sort of follow along. I did like the story line and the small dramas from their past. This was a cute story with an abrupt ending. It was happy but I am a sucker for having a small glimpse of the future of a happy couple. Still a good book anyway. Enjoy.
5 How Does This Series Stay Awesome? Stars
Synopsis -
Locke and his trusted sidekick, Jean, target the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the most exclusive and heavily guarded gambling house in the world. Its nine floors attract the wealthiest clientele—and to rise to the top, one must impress with good credit, amusing behavior... and excruciatingly impeccable play. For there is one cardinal rule, enforced by Requin, the house's cold-blooded master: it is death to cheat at any game at the Sinspire.
But someone in Tal Verrar has uncovered the duo's secret. Someone from their past who has every intention of making the impudent criminals pay for their sins. Now it will take every ounce of cunning to save their mercenary souls. And even that may not be enough.
Review -
The first book about the Gentleman Bastards was about prestigious con men who lived a life of luxury and came up with elaborate scams to rid the rich of their money and it was extremely entertaining. I saw some of the reviews liken it to Ocean's 13. The first book was way better than the movie. You had Locke's back story and saw how he grew up to become such a smart man to come up with elaborate scheme's with lots of flair. He is an extremely clever character. You meet Jean in his early years and see how they both grew up into the lives of the Gentleman Bastards. You saw them lose some of the Bastards to a terrible situation involving some very powerful magical men for hire.
In this book, it takes a completely different turn. It's crazy but they pull an even more elaborate scheme on a the Sinspire, what we'd call a casino. Yeah yeah yeah, Ocean's 13, but things get crazy when Locke and Jean are poisoned and are forced to work for a man who blackmails them into helping his career. The archon of Tal Verrar is an evil man who uses his police powers in every wrong way possible. He wants Locke and Jean to rouse some pirates on the ocean to start a war with the Archon, which I'd liken to a police chief, so that he can continue to con the ultra rich Priori to keep funding his military and his paychecks. His false war would ensure he'd have a job for the rest of his life, as the Priori want to get rid of him and his military as they see no need to continue paying for something that's unnecessary.
Locke and Jean are on a swashbuckling pirate adventure in this book before long. They try to follow the Archon's plan to build up a ship's crew and set sail on the ocean and piss off some pirates, but nothing goes as planned. The God's of the Sea take out their vengeance on them for not adhering to strict laws of putting a ship into the ocean. Locke and Jean have to put aside their scheme of taking the Sinspire for a huge haul of cash and learn that they can't fake being a ships captain and crewman. The crew of the ship that Locke aka Kosta and Jean are on soon mutiny. Jean won't let Locke go alone so they both soon find themselves alone out in the middle of the ocean in a small boat. They weren't thrown overboard because they did after all, save the crew from prison.
Things take a turn for the worse after a pirate ship comes and takes over the ship that Locke and Jean just vacated and picks them up as well from their small dinghy. They're all now prisoners of the pirate ship and things aren't looking good.
Anyway, I could go on and on because there's over 500 pages of this book to be read. It would make a fantastic show or series. It's amazingly written. I was in another world as I'd read this book. I'd get lose in the world and the time, the magic, and the characters. I love this series and have already jumped into the last book of the series. I'm ready to get a jump on it, even if it does take me a long time to read. These books are to be savored and enjoyed. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves reading adventurous stories. Enjoy!
4 Omg What Happens Next Stars
Synopsis -
My father was most certainly NOT an innocent man. As the leader of the Gypsy Brothers MC, he was guilty of many things. But he died for a crime that he didn’t commit, framed by an enemy within who then stole his club and everything he had ever worked to protect.
Including my innocence.
When Dornan Ross framed my father, he set into motion a series of events that could never be undone. My father was murdered by Dornan Ross and his sons when I was fifteen years old.
Before my father died, Dornan Ross and his seven sons stole my innocence, branded my skin and in doing so, ensured that their lives would be prematurely cut short. That they would suffer.
I’ve just turned twenty-one, and I’m out for blood. I'm out for revenge.
But I didn't expect to fall for Jase, the youngest brother in the club.
I didn't expect that he would turn my world upside down, yank my heart out of my chest and ride away into the sunset with it.
Now, I'm faced with an impossible choice - Jase, or avenging my fathers death?
Review -
Ok, this was a short story and you have to realize this is going to go fast. It might seem a bit rushed but that's ok, the storyline more than makes up for how quickly this book flies by.
Juliette was raped and beaten to within an inch of death when she was just 15 years old by Dornan Ross and his 7 sons. That night she lost much more than her virginity. She was forcibly raped by Dornan and 6 of his sons and the 7th child, Jase, was forced to rape Juliette at gunpoint. Juliette ended up in a hospital and was soon to be killed with a deadly overdose if she hadn't had help from a friend named Elliott. He snuck her out to protect her from being killed by the MC who she later found out, killed her father.
Juliette lived a hard life after the terrible incident. She was suicidal and depressed all the time. She wanted revenge and wanted them to suffer, so she came up with a plan when she got old enough to get her small inheritance. Juliette decided to get close to the MC and kill Dornan and his sons off one by one. To do that she was going to have to take drastic measures to ensure they never found out who she was. She takes a trip overseas to get a lot of plastic surgery done and completely change up her looks and even fix some of the damage that was done to her at a young age.
This book was quite well written. It made me want to jump right into the next book. It's not out yet so that is so frustrating. I can't wait for the next one to come out so I can jump on in and see what happens to the next brother and also see if there is a romance beginning to grow between Juliette and Jase. Jase is sweet and kind and gentle and nothing like his father or brothers. I want to see good things for them together. They deserve happiness after having to deal with Dornan's dumbass. Enjoy!
3 Dirty Bitch Stars
I'll get to the dirty bitch part in a few. Need to wrap my brain around some shit first.
First the blurb -
An internship cataloguing ancient pottery. A war-hardened soldier who’s impossible to resist. A priceless Egyptian artifact. And a devious scheme that is fraught with danger. Antiquities major, Auggie Stonefield, is about to experience a winter break she will never forget.
Teaser:
“Tell me what to do.” I kissed his neck. “I want you to forget the pain, all of it,” I whispered. I pushed his long hair behind his ear. “I want you to feel only me, touching you, kissing you.”
Alright, let's get down to business. August is a strong girl who wants a family Christmas with her parents and wants to begin some new traditions during the holidays. She doesn't have much time with her family and she wants to make new and normal memories with them. It's not long before they brush off her idea of making a turkey and baking confections to run off to France with some rich family friends.
Auggie's idea for a normal family holiday is crushed and she takes an intern job she previously had turned down. She's going to be helping her favorite professor catalog some ancient artifacts into a database for 2 weeks with his popular hot and single son Ethan. I know what you're thinking. Pull your head out of your vagina. You perv. :D
Auggie ends up almost getting into an accident on the way up to the Professor's house. She almost runs over a man walking in the road. She's terrified she's killed him but he gets up and explains that he jumped out of the way and she didn't hit him with her car. She has a chance meeting with him again at the store she stops at before getting to the professor's secluded house in the woods. It was an awkward encounter to say the least.
Unknowingly she almost ran over the Professor's long lost son, Dalton. He shows up her first night in the guest room as she's asleep. He doesn't know the guest room is in use and they end up in an awkward moment with her screaming her head off and Dalton making a comment about her looking hot in her flannel pajama pants in front of his brother Ethan and his dad, Thomas.
Auggie gets her work done alone because Ethan would rather be doing fun stuff on his vacation instead of helping to file away information on artifacts in boxes. The more time she spends with the brothers, the more she learns about their personal family problems. Ethan tells Auggie about Dalton being a womanizer who doesn't care about women's feelings and Dalton leaves every night and doesn't come back until morning most days. The one night Ethan takes Auggie to a club to let off some steam, she sees for herself what Dalton is doing. He's drinking himself stupid with a girl under each arm at the club. The girls are all over him and sticking their tongue down his throat.
Auggie falls for Dalton anyway. Ethan lets his unhappiness be known with Auggie for falling for Dalton's tricks and charm. The argument was half assed. It's like it was cut in half or something. No point was made about anything at all. That leads me to the next half ass thing happening in the book, the plot to steal Cleopatra's arm band. It was so predictable, and the fact that Auggie and Dalton didn't figure it out sooner kind of pissed me off. They aren't idiots, why were they being portrayed as such?
Ok the dirty bitch syndrome has been getting to me in books lately. This dirty bitch syndrome has been happening when the main character in the book knows for a fact that the guy she's attracted to is screwing around like a dog in heat. He's a player and a womanizer and she knows he's had his dick up in some rotten cooch the day before/hours before/just left the hoebags bedroom/she walks in on them gettig it on, but she still is just so damn hot and tingly for him that she spreads her legs for him immediately. WTF? That shit just grosses me the fuck out! It wasn't a consensual threesome with someone she knows, it was some random toss off bitch who bangs everything. I have a problem with this shit lately. Authors: PLEASE STOP!
After the dirty bitch syndrome hit in the book, I blocked out the first half including the dirty bitch shit and just read the rest of the story. Bits and pieces of the story were confusing and handled way too easily. Things wrapped up too quickly and easily. Not much was talked out in the book. I still felt like Auggie and Dalton didn't really know each other well, it was just a sexual attraction. They were cute together and Dalton is what a lot of girls will fantasize about. Dalton is the next hot ex-military/injured vet book boyfriend. This is a pretty fast read, so if you want quick gratification and a lurve story, then this book is right for you.
3 WTF Stars
Um, huh? The mistakes in the book were enough to throw off 1 star for me, but the story and the sheer dumbassness(new word) of the main character were enough to drop another. It wasn't a terrible book, but it wasn't the greatest either. Let's get into the blurb to get an idea of where to go from here.
Synopsis -
I am weak.
I am lonely.
I am a slut. I am strong.
I am Dominant.
I am independent.
I am Seven James.
My entire life, no one has wanted me, and that was fine, because I sure as shit didn't need anyone else. Blah, Blah Blah, insert sad story here about negligent parents, and shitty siblings, and you have my life story in a nut shell. When my college boyfriend dumped me, it was just icing on the cake. Five years, and a booming career later I am here to collect my revenge.
That was until a delicious plaything walked into the kink club I frequent, and rocked my typically un-rockable world. Causing me to break the one rule I have lived by since Daniel Alexander walked out of my life, never have sex with the same person twice. Ever.
Warning!!!! Hers contains sexually explicit situations that may be uncomfortable for some. These include FF, FMF, and MFM interactions.
Ok first off, I'm starting with the warning. It was a useless label. This isn't an erotica novel, this is a new adult novel. The sex scenes were meh. The kinkiest thing she's done in the book is use a strap on. I think reading too many books with this same kink has completely desensitized me. If the descriptions were longer than a couple sentences and the feelings were passing from the character to the reader, it might have been hot. Not a tingle though. So it's safe to say I liked the book even though the smexy time was seriously lacking.
I liked Seven's character, she was a strong woman who knew what she wanted and got it, even if she had to be childish and go after an ex boyfriends company to get her revenge years later. Her ego was more than a little bruised. Seven did get on my damn nerves by keeping a best friend around who's stabbed her in the back and licked her in the cooch one too many times. Yeah her best friend Star slept with her brother when she was younger and she's been fucked in the head ever since. I had a hard time being convinced that the trauma that Seven went through in her younger years made her as fucked off as she acted in the book about Star and having a love life. Star got on my fucking nerves and I disliked her character so much that I'm not reading the second book in the series because honestly, I don't fucking care about her happily ever after. Seven has sex with a man named Levi after acquiring her ex-boyfriends company in a hostile takeover. Ok it wasn't that hostile. She meets Levi in the kink club and takes him back to her home where she proceeds to bang the shit out of his asshole and then sends him on his merry fucking way. What?.....there's no sweet and nice way of saying that, might as well call it what it is, butt fucking. She works out her strap on and blows his back out and says GTFO in the kindest way possible. Monday morning as she heads into the office...do I even have to say it? Really? You already know right? Yup.
Levi is on the board of directors of the company and he won't take the hint that she's done with him and attempts to flirt and be cute, and send her flowers, and volunteer to go with her on a 2 week sex romp, I mean work trip, to London to fix the fuck up of a company that's bringing down their bottom line. Levi does some romantical shit and they have sex in public and from then on she's in lurve. Yeah, but you know it's not that easy because she's CUH-RAY-ZEE.
Seven's belief that she's so fucked in the head she can't be loved is understandable. When she sent him away, even for someone who felt like she was unlovable, left me scratching my head. Love makes you selfish. Vagina wanting penis in it, makes you selfish too. Mainly because he agreed to be her fuck buddy if that's all she was willing to give and she told him she didn't want to see him again. I'm over here thinking, "But I thought she was a SLUT!". I don't know WTF happened. Somehow she wsa able to turn her vadge off. Down vadge, in the dungeon you go. I guess feelings can make a vadge inert. Who knew?
The saving grace of the book comes in, I see some normal. She decided to act normal for once and helps Levi in his situation with his ex wife who's trying to bleed him dry. They finally have something to build a relationship on so a foundation had been built and when she apologizes and has the emotions of a normal person when she get's sick and apologizes to Levi. Hey she is normal. I love how the ex was handled in the book, he needed some kind of comeuppance or I'd have been pissed btw.
The book ended on a happy note and gave me something to smile about and stop scratching my head over. The book was so disjointed up until the end. I knew if I waited it out I'd have a satisfied ending. I couldn't DNF it for some reason and that's a good thing. That means it didn't piss me off and make me want to throw shit, just seriously annoyed me at times. That's actually a good thing. If you can get some kind of emotion out of me while I read, it's a good thing. I've read books that elicit nothing but a yawn. Annoyance means it can be turned to happy if given the right situation. It came and I was happy.
If you can look past some really strange mistakes in the book like....
"What small country did you concur this week?"
I am a gluten for punishment.
Yeah, there's a couple more. But if you can shake those off and keep going then you might actually like this book. The way the book was going I was happy to find that in the end I did really like it. I'd have changed a few things but then again, maybe her publishers were being asses. I don't know. It all seemed to come together in the end anyway. It just worked out. Enjoy!
4 Swoony Stars
Synopsis -
She’s running from the law, and the law wants her bad.
The opportunity was just too damn delicious for Ginger Peet to pass up. The purse full of money she finds—$50,000 to be exact—could give her and her teen sister the new start they need. So she grabs the cash, her gothy sibling, and their life-sized statue of Dolly Parton, and blows outta Nashville in a cloud of dust. Chicago, here we come...
Turns out, Chicago has some pretty hot cops. Hot, intense, naughty-lookin’ cops like Derek Tyler, who looks like he could eat a girl up and leave her begging for more. And more. Tempting as he is, getting involved with the sexy homicide lieutenant next door poses a teensy problem for a gal who’s on the lam. But one thing is certain—Derek’s onto her, and he wants more than just a taste.
And as far as he’s concerned, possession is nine-tenths of the law.
Review -
I'm going to try to make this short and sweet as I'm busy trying to figure out a new blog. I'm going to be a contributor on Kat's Blog! Yay!
Ok first of all, I have a super bad habit of not reading the blurbs before reading a book. It might have helped because I read the book first and didn't know that it was 50 grand. That's a lot of damn money. I am a book cover whore and I also take recommendations from my book cover whore friends. They said this was a good book and they were right. It's pretty good. I only took down a star for that small bit of stupid that happened there towards the end.
Ok let me explain the toopid here, she was in danger if she went back home. Guess what the bitch did? Yup, she went back home. She had good intentions and tried to do the right thing, but she's a fucking idiot for not answering her damn phone. I almost she got some more bad shit done to her, so she could learn her hard headed ass a lesson. Yup, I said it! I wish evil on a fictional character! Does that make me a bad person? Hell no it doesn't. LOL
Let me also just say that my dirty imagination and the description of Derek given in the book make him so much hotter. My brain was steaming during the naughty scenes. It was nothing over the top, as I do tend to enjoy a good BDSM book. This was just full on passion between two people who have an intense connection. I can get down with that.
Derek is a no holds barred, pulls no punches, loses no time kinda guy. Just what I like in a man. He will make you swoon and need a cold shower while reading this. So basically what I'm saying is, I've got a new book boyfriend to add to my list of hotties. That is so not a bad thing.
Plagiarist Alert!
Her blurb is actually author, Roni Loren's bio.
This thief has plagiarized Kristi Avalon's, Billionaire Bodyguard. (http://www.amazon.com/Billionaire-Bodyguard-Book-Bodyguards-ebook/dp/B00ALJDTIU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386185918&sr=8-1&keywords=Billionaire+Bodyguard)
The author's photo is stolen also http://www.businessinsider.com/author-elizabeth-nelsons-fake-photo-2013-12
I wouldn't be surprise if this thief's other books are also plagiarized. Spread the word if you can.
This is the actual cover of the re-release of the book.
4 Freaky Stars
ARC provided by NetGalley
Re-release on January 7th, 2014
This book is well written and does have a pretty kinky side. I wouldn't review these books if I didn't enjoy it. The book also does seem more realistic in the kink than the others I've read. When a kinky situation is going to happen between multiple people in other books it just goes way too smoothly and everybody has a kinky ole' grand time. In this one it was kind of awkward and as you sit there feeling crunchy along with the characters, you know this is more like what would really happen in real life. It's weird, and feels off until everybody agrees on the kink. Don't ask me how I know.
The book starts out with Madison getting head from a hot guy with tats that she's interviewing for the job. Andy is a dream man for a lot of women and he's having his interview with Madison when the book opens. You learn later in the book that Andy is aggressive and when he wants it from you, he'll get it and you would be hard pressed to deny him.
Before Madison can put a stop to the sexy interview she's laid out on the kitchen counter getting banged into oblivion by Andy when she looks up and sees a man watching them have sex. He runs off when he gets caught watching. Madison later finds out that he's the other interviewee for the job and calls him back for an interview. Madi decided against hiring Andy because she knows she'll never get any work done and all she'd end up doing is having tons of sex instead of getting any work done. Gabriel gets the job.
Gabriel is a bit geeky and shy. He's tall and a bit awkward. He accomodates Madison's requests to help clean up her kinky book store and organize the orders that come in and so on. Madison soon realizes she's a bit turned on by Gabriel's watching her have sex and starts to have kinky thoughts about Gabriel. She catches him reading kinky books and attempting to hide the bulge in the front of his pants and wants to humilate him and seduce him. She wants to learn more about the enigma that is Gabriel. He keeps everything about himself hidden. She wants to learn more.
Madison is soon doing some kinky things with Gabriel and working her way up to a kinky threesome with both Andy and Gabriel. I'm going to stop there and not give anything else away. You want the kink, you go read. All I'm going to say is, there is an HEA. It may not be the one I wanted because I'd have been so completely happen to have Madison end up with both guys. Ok ok, bit of a spoiler. But it's still a happy ending nonetheless and things work out as they should. This does explore a different side of kink than most other books choose. All kink is good kink. Enjoy!