Up In Flames by Nicole Williams - Review

Now at this point, I’m sick of reading New Adult books that follow the track of Fifty Shades of Greyand the like. It’s depressing reading romances about college age students who are falling in love, all the while battling their pasts full of sexual abuse. That seems to be a theme in romantic fiction as of late and I’m starting to need something a little bit more upbeat and less depressing. That’s when I read Up In Flames by Nicole Williams. It was my saving grace for the NA genre because I was about ready to throw in the towel for a while!

Elle is your typical small town girl. She’s practically engaged to the town’s sports hero, she’s working at her dad’s restaurant and after graduating high school her life’s been laid out for her. She doesn’t need to worry about a thing... and she’s sick of it. She’s tired of never letting loose. She’s frustrated at dating a guy who barely touches her and most of all, she’s had enough of being told what to do and how her life will be. That’s when she meets Cole. Cole is a smoke jumper in town for the summer to work during wildfire season and he’s the exact opposite of who Elle should want. With his fiery demeanor and his smoldering looks, Elle knows she’s in for trouble, but she dives in anyway.

I really, really needed this book. I wanted a standalone that was romantic, steamy, fun and that’s what I got in Williams’s Up In Flames.

Elle was a character that I could very easily relate to. She grew up in a very tight knit family and community and while they only wanted what was best for her, they planned her life. She was left with no decisions and she felt lost. Of course when you’re a kid, your parents tell you that you can be whoever you want to be, but they also have a plan for you. A plan to help you succeed. In that way, I really felt for Elle. She’s at a critical point in her life where she has to either follow along with the plans laid out for her, or she can break free and forge her own way.

Annnnd then there is Cole. I mean this guy is smoking. He’s the bad boy with a sweet heart that fights forest fires... YES PLEASE. I loved Cole and his role in helping Elle grow to be the woman she wants to be.

This book was quick, light hearted and fun and I really enjoyed it. Beware (or take note!), there are some pretty steamy scenes in this one!

8 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

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Waiting on Wednesday (14): Dominion (Guardian Angels #1) by Melody Manful

It's Waiting on Wednesday time again! For more information on this weekly meme that helps to showcase those books we can't wait to get our hands on, check out Breaking the Spine!

This week, I decided to feature Dominion (Guardian Angels #1) by Melody Manful. I'm really in the mood for a book like this. Mystical creatrues, forbidden love and high school... why is that the magical combination for me this week? I have no idea, but I do know that I can't wait to get my hands on this book!

 

I Dare You.
Look Over Your Shoulders.
Do You See Them?
They are behind you...
They are always behind you.

Abigail Cells had a nightmare the day before she met Gideon, the new guy in school who has every girl drooling just to be near him. In her nightmare, she was murdered by a magical creature. As she gets to know Gideon, she begins to remember pieces of her nightmare, and was shocked when Gideon turned out to be the creature from her nightmare. Who is Gideon really? Should Abby allow herself to fall completely for him, or is he the next disaster waiting to happen?

What are you waiting on!?

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The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test, #3) by Aimee Carter - ARC Review

I am so excited to have gotten an advanced copy of The Goddess Inheritance. I’ve been waiting for this finale for a long time and I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed. I’ll try and make this review as spoiler free as possible for those who haven’t taken a dive into The Goddess series.

This epic finale is just that... epic. Never have a read a finale to a series that was this action packed. Normally it’s a little bit of action thrown in with a whole lot of loose ends being tied up. In TGI, the characters are constantly at battle, getting captured and plotting to get their loved ones home safe. I could barely keep up with the fast pacing of this book and I read it in one sitting.

When I began reading TGI, I had forgotten how much I like how Carter begins her books. She starts out in the middle of a conversation that has you a tad bit confused and works her way backwards. In that way, you get more information and you begin to click the pieces of her intricate puzzle into place. We start with a conversation between Ava and Walter that has us confused about allegiance, Kate’s well being and which members of the council really know what’s going on. Carter's particular way of immersing her readers in the story is unique and creates a need that has readers never wanting to put the book down.

Carter doesn’t spare our hearts in this one guys. She is not afraid to take the lives of the characters we love most with an ending so climactic that it really felt like you were in the middle of a battle of the Gods!

I was a bit worried that this would be another book in the series where we didn’t get to see any of Henry and to an extent that was true. We get to see more of the ruler of the Underworld than we have in past books, but not enough for my liking. If I had one complaint about the series as a whole, that would be it. We see more of Kate and James together than we do the Kate and her husband… which I won’t complain about because I really, really liked James. He became a big favorite of mine, especially after reading his section of Carter’s previous novella in the series The Goddess Legacy. James and Kate have a fun relationship and seeing them interact reminded me of my best friend.

Overall, I loved this series and The Goddess Inheritance was a great way to end it. I’m a huge fan of Greek Mythology retellings and Carter is one of the few that does it right. With the perfect amount of passion, romance, betrayal and deceit, The Goddess Test series is one you can’t miss out on.

9 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

Haven’t started the series yet? Check out my reviews for the rest of the books in the series!

The Goddess Test (The Goddess Test, #1)
The Goddess Hunt (The Goddess Test, #1.5)
Goddess Interrupted (The Goddess Test, #2)
The Goddess Legacy (The Goddess Test, #2.5)

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Clash (Crash, #2) by Nicole Williams - Review

I started reading Clash soon after I read the first in the series, Crash. While it wasn’t my favorite New Adult book, it was entertaining, I liked the characters and the writing style and so I decided to continue on in the series.


Clash picks up after a few months have past and Jude and Lucy are headed to their respective colleges in New York state. They’re just a few short hours away from one another and they promise to visit each weekend. While the relationship issues that they had in highschool like coming from different worlds and grand theft auto are over, they’re discovering that while distance may make the heart grow fonder, it may also grow jealous.

I can’t decide if I liked this book better than Crash. I really liked how the two main characters were now in college and trying to be successful in a new environment, but the plot as a whole had me slightly annoyed.

It was a lot of immature jealousy and going back and forth between silent treatments and acting out to get attention. Lucy was frustrating because she was the one causing a lot of the problems in their relationship. She was overly jealous and resorted to petty tactics to try and keep Jude’s attention. The problem with this was that she had never lost his attention. Girls were all over Jude because he was the star of the football team and a bad boy, but he never once thought of anyone other than Lucy. I was annoyed with Lucy’s distrust.

There were some surprising twists and turns and the ending had me in a mushy puddle on the floor as Lucy redeems herself somewhat. Overall, it was a quick, easy and enjoyable read. If you’re sensing a trend here... that’s how I like my NA books. Short, sweet and saucy.

7 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

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The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) by Rick Riordan - Review

I read the entire Percy Jackson and the Olympians series quite a while ago, but with the upcoming film release of the second book (and my ecstatic enthusiasm for the series) I thought I’d review them here on the blog. Hopefully, I can encourage a few to pick up these wonderful books.

Book one, The Lightning Thief, introduces readers to the world of Percy Jackson just as his life is turned upside down. Percy is just your average kid. He’s got severe ADD and some misinterpreted behavioral problems that have him bouncing from boarding school to boarding school in NYC. Labeled as a bad seed, many of his teachers treat him as an outcast and so do his peers…except for Grover, his loyal best friend who needs crutches to walk. Chaos quickly ensues as Percy finds out that his deadbeat father who never came around is actually the Greek God, Poseidon and Percy himself is a demigod! Cue a whirlwind adventure as Percy and his gang of misfits set out to discover who stole Zeus’s lightning bolt... and to clear Percy’s name.

The Percy Jackson books are simply put, pure magic. Really, all of Riordan’s books are magical. He has this crazy ability to take an educational topic, like Greek Mythology, and transform it into a story that will grab the attention of you, your 30 year old brother and your 10 year old cousin. There are so many reasons that I love these books, but I’ve narrowed them down to a couple of the absolute best.

Creativity. Transforming your ideas about the Greeks, Riordan animates Ares into a motorcycle riding bully, Hermes into a spandex wearing messenger and portrays Poseidon as a Hawaiian shirt wearing beach man. He pulls out the most interesting qualities or characteristics from all of the Gods and spins them with a modern twist.

Characters. In the first installment of the series, Percy really discovers himself. For the first time, he’s not a troublemaker with dyslexia. He’s antsy because he’s built for battle and sitting still for that long makes him jumpy. He can’t read as well as others because his brain is hardwired for Greek and so words tend to get jumbled up. Annabeth has a chip on her shoulder the size of the Grand Canyon but she’s smart, she’s sassy and not afraid of adventure. Think Hermoine Granger but way more into battling monsters from the underworld.

Riordan’s World. This has to be my favorite part of these books and book one only gives us a taste. In the world of the Greeks, their Gods move with civilization. So now Mt. Olympus is above the Empire State building, an entrance to Hades is at a record label in L.A. and the world is constantly a battle ground for demigods and monsters. I love thinking that down the street, it’s not really a car accident but a demigod driving ran into a Minotaur. J.K. Rowling did this with Harry Potter and it’s great to see that someone besides Rowling herself has a talent for melding our world so seamlessly with fantasy.

If you haven’t read these books yet, get on it. While the first movie wasn’t my absolute favorite, The Sea of Monsters promises to be a better take on the books. I’m excited to see what they do with this movie and especially excited to meet all the new characters in person!

10 out of 10

Happy Reading ;)

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Waiting on Wednesday (13): Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin, #2)

It's time for Waiting on Wednesday... a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to showcase those books you can't wait to get your hands on!

I've been craving a good historical fiction. I am a huge, huge fan of medival times and books centering around that era and so this week I'm featuring Dark Triumph (his Fair Assassin, #2) by R.L. LaFevers.

Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. Naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, the convent views Sybella as one of their most dangerous weapons.

But those assassin’s skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drove her mad. Her father’s rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother’s love is equally monstrous. And while Sybella is a weapon of justice wrought by the god of Death himself, He must give her a reason to live. When she discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?

This heart-pounding sequel to Grave Mercy serves betrayal, treachery, and danger in equal measure, bringing readers back to fifteenth century Brittany and will keep them on the edge of their seats

I read Grave Mercy last year and fell head over heels in love. It's the perfect combination of history, intrigue, romance and death. I mean... it is a story about young woman being trained at a conent as assassins. LaFever's world will draw even those weary of historical fictions in as you can't help but root for all of the characters in their efforts to keep their government from falling into complete corruption.

Dark Triumph is set to center around another character in the story and I can't wait to read more about her. She was the mysterious outlying character that you couldn't quite understnad and I can't wait to read what LaFevers has in store for us this time!

What are you waiting on this week?

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Hopeless by Colleen Hoover - Review

Hopeless... where do I start with my review of Hopeless. This was a very deep and dark read with twists and turns that had you gasping aaaaand then  crying. Yeah guys, this one was pretty upsetting in a number of ways. I read it and I’m still processing how I feel.

I’m going to give you the tagline from the book as the synopsis. Of course you can go on Goodreads and read what it’s about, but I don’t think that’s an accurate or fair depiction of what you’ll read.

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than the lies...

Sounds ominous, right? Yeah you’re nervous about what the big mystery is. And I guess that’s the biggest strength of Hopeless. You go into the story thinking it’s your typical NA romance where an innocent, home schooled girl meets the bad boy in town and they fall in love. But it is so much more than that. Readers begin knowing very little about the characters and plot and come out with an explosion of information, intrigue and a hefty dose of reality.

Hopeless as a whole is not about Sky and Holder’s romance. It’s about Sky’s reality, or lack thereof. Their relationship is strong and Holder’s guidance, insight and support help Sky through a whirlwind of truths that lead her down a path to discover who she is and where she came from. She’s left at the end of the journey to discover for herself, what her future holds.

I know, I know I’m being way too cryptic and you really have no idea what the books about but really I can’t go into much more detail. Your world will  be rocked when you see the depth at which this book reads. You will quite literally fall down the rabbit hole as Sky’s world is turned upside down with the knowledge that her life is a lie.

The romance is heartwarming, the story is eye opening and you’re left at the end wondering “What in the world would I do if I were in Sky’s place?”

Not my most informative review yet, but if this review gets even one person to pick up Hopeless just to see what the mystery is about, I’ve done my job. It’s a book worth reading, but make sure you have a few hours and some tissues to spare  because you won’t want to put Hopeless down once you pick it up.

8 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

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