Month: August 2014 (Page 40 of 43)

BOOK REVIEW – Reckless (Thoughtless #3) by S.C. Stephens

August 11, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Reckless (Thoughtless #3)
by S.C. Stephens
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

5++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Stars

Words cannot describe how much I LOVED this final installment of the Thoughtless series. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. I didn’t believe it was possible, but I grew to love Kellan Kyle more and more with each passing page.

I didn’t know what to expect from such a scary title like Reckless, especially after Kiera and Kellan’s tremulous journey through the former two novels in the series. But, the novel exceeded my expectations and I couldn’t have been happier with the way this story was written. The length to which Kellan goes to show his love for Kiera is boundless and touched me at such a deep, emotional level I could barely contain my contented sighs and smiles.

He is everything a husband should be and saying that doesn’t do him one bit of justice. What he feels for Kiera is beautiful and passionate and I love S.C. Stephens for coming up with this fabulous, FABULOUS series that has stolen my heart and found a permanent residence on my favorites shelves-both digitally and paperback. Like I said, there are just no words to describe how much I adored Reckless.

Each and every character got the ending they deserved, and some of the characters even found redemption from their less than stellar actions in the other novels. I was nervous at the beginning when I first started reading that he was going to be such a prominent entity, but I loved the presence of Denny, one of her closest and best friends. I love that we were able to see the progression in Denny’s personal life post-Kiera. It added a sense of peace, contentment, and finality that only added more, you guessed it, love and passion to the story.

While I am sad to see this series come to an end, because it is definitely one of my all time favorites, I am also glad it’s over and K and K got their happily ever after-they freakin’ deserved it. S.C. Stephens, ever the queen of angst, still had me on the edge of my seat, gritting my teeth, and getting angry at many of the secondary characters, one in particular, even though I just knew in my heart this novel had to have a happy ending. Kudos.. So I am excited to say I will not stop talking about Reckless to my friends and family members until they give this series a shot-because no matter how much crap all of these characters went through to get to their HEA’s, the journey you go through is so heartwarming and heartfelt, you will enjoy every, well…almost every, minute until you get to the satisfying and perfect ending for all the characters you have grown to know and adore.

BOOK REVIEW – Bared to You (Crossfire #1) by Sylvia Day

August 11, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Bared to You (Crossfire #1)
by Sylvia Day
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

I don’t know how I feel about this book. There are a lot of factors that influenced my rating. For one: I stopped in the middle of this book to start another book I REALLY wanted to read and could not wait to start..so that’s not really giving this book a fair trial. I do think it says something that I could so easily leave this book, though.

I actually was surprised at how interesting and well-written it was at first, and I really liked Gideona and Eva.

But some things bothered me the more I kept reading, but I will stay with the positives first:

Like I mentioned before, I did like the characters a lot. I loved Cary, Eva, Gideon, etc. I didn’t even mind Magdelene, since she wasn’t such a beyotch near the ending. I liked that Day didn’t make it totally BDSM. I know, I know, when I started the book I expected it to be that way and when it wasn’t I really enjoyed it. So when Gideon eventually led into the “you’re submissive…”, I had to roll my eyes-maybe because I thought it wasn’t going to happen because most of the book was over when it did happen. I know when people start this book they like that aspect of erotica, but I guess that is the one thing about Fifty Shades I would liked there to have been less of. So to the point: I did not mind the way Day ended up making the Dom/Sub relationship. It wasn’t overly done and I liked that.

I really don’t know why I became more disappointed toward the ending, and this is the part where I can’t be totally fair. I DID interrupt the story to read another book, so this in turn did interrupt the proceedings of the novel. I can’t put a finger on why this wasn’t five stars, because when I first started reading I was hands down-“Oh this is better than Fifty Shades,” and “This is definitely 5 stars..”. I left this story, read a HANDS DOWN five star book, and I truly believe it made this less of a 4 or 5 star read for me.

Soo I will not analyze why I disliked parts of this book, because in a circumspect thought process, I was thinking about a totally different series and how I wish the next novel in THAT series was out so I could be reading that.

Overall a decent read, and it had a lot of promise. Maybe the next in the series will delve into their problems and make them a more steady, complete couple.

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BOOK REVIEW – Providence (Providence #1) by Jamie McGuire

August 11, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Providence (Providence #1)
by Jamie McGuire
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

HOLY STALKER I think I’m in love! Imagine if your fate was irrevocably altered, all the events leading up to that moment blown to pieces, because the love of your life decides to ‘finally’ sit on the bench next to you?

What if you couldn’t stand by any longer and watch an unfathomable fate unravel before your eyes? These scenarios are the embodiment of this novel, and while it takes a minute to decide if the course of action taken is best suited for all parties involved, I ultimately found that I loved Jared, and no one else could make the cut.

Nina’s father has just died, and she feels the world crashing down on her. Suddenly, a mysterious, handsome stranger occupies the seat beside her, and she can’t help but feel comfortable around him- throw in some “chance” encounters and we have an attraction brewing. I hate, no loathe, insta-love, or at least the corny kind with bad dialogue-but this attraction is more than that, it’s so much deeper than that, and I can’t help but to be drawn to the love projected in this story. Jared is the sweetest being and I found myself on an automatic *awww* setting. It’s ridiculous, really, the devotion and determination Jared puts forth.

But, alas, we can’t have a romance without an annoying, plot-altering scenario that makes you angrier by the second-or at least that’s MY default setting-frustration. Nina, while a very likeable and in some cases loveable character, made me want to pull my hair out. She commits the ultimate taboo of romance novels in my eyes, and that skewed my perception of the story a bit. I don’t like when people are strung along, nor do I like when one of the main characters is in a tortured state of mind-for NO REASON. So yes, I was bothered for a chunk of the story, and couldn’t justify giving it 5 stars for that reason.

Jamie McGuire is a very talented author, and I have really liked everything she has written thus far. In one case, I bordered on obsession and couldn’t think straight for a couple days, incoherently babbling to those who could care less about a certain someone in a certain story with a name that starts with the letter T(I promised myself I WOULD NOT mention that certain story-it’s not fair to compare, lol). I can’t wait to see what else Jamie can bring to the table, and I will forever be a loyal fan to her, and her addictive writing style.

BOOK REVIEW – Flat Out Love (Flat Out Love #1) by Jessica Park

August 11, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Flat Out Love (Flat Out Love #1)
by Jessica Park
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

I have been asking people constantly for good recommendations for what to read next, and while they have all been good, this is the book I have been waiting for. The books don’t have to be over the top sappy romance (although I love those stories too ;)..), just well-written with the right amount of sass and a compelling story line. I was completely consumed and enthralled in this story and could not put it down. There was a certain amount of relativity that was easy to identify with, thank God, which I have been having a terrible time of lately.

Stunning, breathtaking, beautiful, heartbreaking and the perfect amount of angst and/or heartache are just a few of the words that come to mind when assessing Flat Out Love. Celeste, Matt, Finn, Flat Finn…just the best characters ever-especially Flat Finn lol. Celeste was the most intriguing character to read about, and I truly enjoyed the journey of Julie trying to help her leap out of her comfort zone. My breaking point? When Celeste tells Matty she loves him-can you cue the huge smile and awwwwwwwwwww? I teared up like crazy-nothing like a brother realizing how much his sister loves and idolizes him. I cherish those tender moments, because those are what real life is all about, and I couldn’t help but to relate that to my younger sister and I-the love we share (while when we were younger I swear we fought so much it almost led to hair being pulled out-a complete show of my inner strength as an older, more mature sis-yeah, right *rolls eyes*). You can’t help but to root for all the characters and wish them the very best, and this is a hard thing for the author to accomplish since in many books you just want to smack some sense into at least one of the main people.

An absolutely amazing read and I loved every second of it, even if I did see the ending coming within like….30 seconds lol. But that just goes to show you have much I LOVED this book! I hate complete and utter predictability, yet I couldn’t help but love every minute of the predictability. The perfect mixture of sweet, funny, witty, and entertaining I have ceaselessly been searching for; yet another staple to add to my favorites collection. I don’t know if the online plot could ever work for me again, but this author nailed it, and I am going to enjoy it in the here and now and continue to search for more books that have the stamina to match this one and many other of my long time favorites. I will most definitely be revisiting this read very soon in the near future.

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BOOK REVIEW – Awaken (Abandon Trilogy #3) by Meg Cabot

August 11, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Awaken (Abandon Trilogy #3)
by Meg Cabot
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Anything at all.
One. Two. Three.

Blink.

Once upon a time I read literally everything, and I do mean everything, Meg Cabot wrote. I would wait forever for her books to come in and I would read them to the point of exhaustion. My favorite was the Mediator series. Jump twelve years later to 2013 and I still think about her fun, witty writing and why I loved the books so much. I was so happy to find this series and see that she had added some more stories to her long list of awesomeness. I immediately bought Abandon, and while it was okay (it could be dry at times) I knew there was so much potential for the rest of the series.