Author: Chelsea (Page 49 of 111)

BOOK REVIEW: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

September 4, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

In the beginning there was nothing. And then there was everything.

There are very few things in this world that I take for granted. I have always had a better-than-I-ever-could-have-imagined life, that has never been a secret, but I didn’t act….spoiled….I guess. I always knew that I had super cool parents and unheard of privileges-I loved it, and I never forgot that. But one thing that I absolutely, positively, definitely took for granted…was life. Breathing fresh air, walking outside, hearing birds chirp and trees rustle as the cool breeze brushed my skin in autumn…I won’t lie-Those things?? Those are the most beautiful things in the world-Fall especially, seeing as it’s my favorite season-and I took every crisp breath of fresh air for granted.

Life is a gift. Am I wasting mine?

Not many kids, teenagers, sometimes even adults, realize how amazing their lives-however significant or insignificant they think it is-are. We walk onto our front porch, stretch, sit in a rocking chair looking out into our yard, the woods, a field, whatever we may see, and sip our coffees (or in my case, a soda, preferably Coke or Mountain Dew) and wipe the sleep from our eyes without even thinking about how beautiful this recurring gift is. We hug our dogs, puppies, sons, daughters, families….and think it’s a certainty. It’s not. Each day is a gift, and we often forget to acknowledge it….But Madeline knows the cost of living-and her price is solitude. And oh, what she wouldn’t give to have what we have-even for just five minutes.
I keep thinking about the summer I turned eight. I spent so many days with my forehead pressed against my glass window, bruising myself with my futile wanting. At first I just wanted to look out the window. But then I wanted to go outside. And then I wanted to play with the neighborhood kids, to play with all the kids everywhere, to be normal for just an afternoon, a day, a lifetime.

I think my long introduction has a lot to do with me coming to terms with how amazing my life is-and can be. I complain a lot, you know? It might be human nature, it might just be me, I don’t know. But, every once in a while, I get these small bouts of gratitude where, just for a moment, just a brief, tiny moment, I thank God for everything I have and become mushy and nostalgic as I think about my family, my two little pups (added a new addition this weekend!), and my lovely-most-of-the-time husband. I even find myself quoting my favorite movie (not the book, don’t get it twisted): ‘It’s a beautiful life -insert husband name here or whomever you wish- Hazel Grace’…though, I find it comical to say Hazel Grace because…I’m weird and it annoys the hubbs. As a little girl, when people asked me what I wanted to do, I knew. I would say: I want to be married and have babies and be a stay at home mom who also works for her dad (however THAT was going to work out). I know…not too exciting, right? Well, it was to me.
For the first time in a long time, I want more than I have.

It was what I wanted…and things don’t always work out as we plan. Had it been my decision, I’d have married my high school sweetheart during college-or hey, right after-and we’d have a baby by now and a big, beautiful house. But these things take time, and life isn’t about planning everything out piece-by-piece. I got my Happily-Ever-After….My house, my puppies (still working on stubborn ass for part two), my job with my dad plus more, and, after 10 years of dating, my husband-Moves like a snail, that one. But it didn’t happen as I had planned or when I wanted it to-that’s life. Anyway, my point in all this is that Madeline didn’t get these moments, these rare opportunities. Life hands us a deck of cards, but we don’t totally get to decide how they are dealt and where they are distributed. Maddie didn’t get to see the world, she didn’t get to meet other kids growing up-She dreamed of a better life, of a larger world than outside her house…but that’s literally all it could be: A dream.

Madeline: I’m not a princess.
Madeline: And I don’t need rescuing.
Olly: that’s ok. i’m no prince
Madeline: You think I’m pretty?
Olly: for a fairytale ghost spy princess? definitely

I think this book hit me so hard because it was so unexpected. I requested it months and months ago on Netgalley, and I wanted it more than my next breath…but I didn’t get it-I even got denied twice. I mean…ouch. So I waited. And I waited. And I waited some more. And when this finally appeared on my IPad’s library…I stopped the series I was in the middle of and immediately began EE. Needless to say that, while it was cute and I found it very sweet, I wasn’t in love with it like I had thought I would be-Talk about your very soul aching. I had thought this was going to be the book-I was so disappointed.
Sometimes you do things for the right reasons and sometimes for the wrong ones and sometimes it’s impossible to tell the difference.

But then something happened-SOMETHING HUGE-not even in the story, really. All of a sudden I hit a part where, as my friend so astutely pointed out, I started to care not only about the two main characters individually, but as a couple. Olly and Maddie came to life for me-their reactions, their heartache, their struggle hurt me almost as much as it hurt them. It felt as if someone had taken a bag of feels-literally, a bag of GD feels-and socked me in the stomach with them at full force. I couldn’t breathe, I was tearing up (for real, this rarely happens), and I was so invested in them that I couldn’t bear for any more problems to arise, causing them irreparable sadness. I suddenly knew that everything I questioned, everything I wasn’t sure of…..I knew it was just the way it was meant to be and given a second chance to read this, I wouldn’t change a thing-Not one thing. It hit me out of nowhere and I was caught in their adorably tangled web of IM Messaging, window writing, sporadic meeting, and brief glimpses through two panes of glass-Only one house away but as vast as an ocean separating two continents.
He takes a deep breath. “In my head I know I’ve been in love before, but it doesn’t feel like it. Being in love with you is better than the first time. It feels like the first time and the last time and the only time all at once.”

Maddie, Madeline, or Mads, as Olly calls her, has a very rare disease where, well, I guess I’m kind of confused on, but the point is she can’t leave her house, have contact with anyone aside from her mother, caretaker, tutor, or anyone on the approved list-She especially can’t meet that boy next door…that beautiful, funny, tortured, and clever boy next door. But it’s not because of his lack of trying.

One thing I’m certain of: Wanting just leads to more wanting. There’s no end to desire.

Olly moves in next door near the beginning of the book. I can’t say much. All I can say is that his family has their own demons and Mads sees all….It doesn’t take long for the two to realize how much they crave the other’s thoughts and company…seeing as their bedroom windows (conveniently) face each other only three feet or so apart. I loved Olly…but I didn’t luuuuurrrvvvv Olly until a certain point. I’m not going to say more….I will only admonish that he is supportive, kind, sad, loyal, protective, and…hmm…curious. Despite the risks, despite the warnings, he is curious. Even when, in his heart, he knows he should stay away, he still can’t let their interactions go. He craves her laughter, her voice, her thoughts, even as everything can only end in heartbreak for both of them.
Madeline: Yes. I have a solution to our problem.
Olly: listening
Madeline: Let’s agree to just be friends, ok?
Olly: ok
Olly: but no more checking out my muscles
Madeline: Friends, Olly!
Olly: and my eyes
Madeline: No more talking about my freckles.
Madeline: And my hair.
Olly: and your lips
Madeline: And your dimple.
Olly: you like my dimple?
Madeline: Friends!
Olly: ok

Inevitably, the two fools fall in love. And naturally, being the fool that I am, I foolishly fell in love with the fact that they fell in love. And I can’t explain it for you guys, I really can’t, because this was a three until a certain important, pivotal, ground-breaking part….But at that point it all just clicked and the light bulb switched on and I became a hard core fangirl, hehe shocking, and it was all history from there. I was texting people frantically, I was freaking out over things I had read in reviews (sigh, don’t read reviews, people, bad advertising!!!!), and the knots in my stomach were growing larger and larger and the tears were coming more and more frequently….until eventually my heart was shred in two.
He pulls me into his arms and we’re wrapped around each other, his face buried in my hair and my face pressed into his chest, no daylight between our bodies.
“Don’t die,” he says.
“I won’t,” I say back.

I can’t say this book is perfect-far from it-but it was….it was perfect for me. I had wanted to read it for months. I was almost obsessed in my quest to get this novel in my hands…and then when I finally had it, I almost became disappointed. How can anything come of such cuteness? Well, I’ll tell ya-Young love is a powerful thing. It can move mountains, if only because teenagers are so stubborn, and it can make a desperate attempt at keeping someone alive a failed experiment in two seconds flat…if only because you are willing to risk it all for love.
He’s much too smart to fall for this, but he wants it to be true. He wants it to be true more than he wants the truth. The smile that breaks across his face is cautious, but so beautiful that I can’t look away. I would lie to him again for that smile.

That was a common theme in this book, and Madeline is faced with so many choices that can make or break her-literally. And once she met Olly, everything changed: Her world was blown to bits and flipped upside down. Life is about the choices we make, who we are and who we want to become. Life is precious. Life is short. We only have one life to live…But are you really living if you aren’t willing to ever take any risks? I guess Madeline found out what her life was worth….Have you?

*****************************

It was Everything I didn’t expect,
It was Everything I asked for.
It was Everything that mattered,
It was Everything and so much more.

Guys, I didn’t expect to love this book once I started. I was so unsure….but then something happened…something that changed it all. And of all a sudden-BAM! The tears, the feels, the longing, the heartache…the
hope
.

Review to come.

BOOK REVIEW: Wayward (Wayward Pines #2) by Blake Crouch

September 3, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Wayward (Wayward Pines #2)
by Blake Crouch
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
I'll follow Anna's lead here- Don't read blurb

“Hell is coming to you.”

I have so much to say….but don’t I always??? I want to write an amazing, detailed, long review, but that wouldn’t do this series any good, I think. I believe that, while I would LOVE to go on and on and on about all the amazingness that is this series, it would stunt the curiosity I piqued in everyone with my first review of the beginning book. So, I’ll keep it short and sweet with just a few points to make things curiouser and couriouser for everyone that chooses to read this:

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts.

Ethan: Ethan grew so much in this story. In book one, we didn’t know a lot about him, and we didn’t know what kind of guy he really was-What he was made of, if you will. We knew of his tryst, of his adoration for his wife. We knew he was stubborn beyond words…and that his determination, if nothing else, would keep him alive. So, essentially, in this one, we begin to see even more of his cleverness and quick wit, setting in stone his intelligence and willingness to make things right…and the helplessness….don’t forget his reluctance and helplessness. They go hand in hand with this story. Let’s see what he’s made of.

“Do you hear that?” Ethan asked.
“Hear what?”
For five seconds, Ethan was silent on the line. “That’s the sound of me not giving a fuck.”

Atmosphere: The atmosphere, while still eerie, is blown to bits in this one after the big ‘reveal’ of book one. I can’t say it’s as creepy as it was in the first installment, but there was still an underhanded malice that made you question where things were going and how things could possibly get better for the town’s residents. And since I am obsessed with my dear Ethan…this was a big appeal to me, the worrying.

For every perfect little town, there’s something ugly underneath. No dream without the nightmare.

The Writing: Gahd, do I love Crouch’s writing. It’s virtually impossible not to become wholly immersed in this story with his writing style. In book one, sure, I could understand people not loving or being a bit put off about the amazing fragmented sentences (which I loved, if you can’t tell), but I never had a problem with them. In this story, I was so sucked in that I didn’t even notice it-I even picked up a new book because it was released yesterday (9/1) and thought, ‘Wait, this isn’t how you write!’ So, as you can see, I am in love with his writing.
A shiv straight into Ethan’s gut would’ve felt better.
He lost his breath.
Saw the world suddenly through a blur of tears.

Imagery: Beautiful. Vivid. Startling. What more can you ask for?
A millennium without air or light pollution made for pitch-black skies.
The stars didn’t just appear anymore.
They exploded.
Diamonds on black velvet.
You couldn’t tear your eyes away.

So, as you can see, I’m obsessed. So that’s how I will end this: Read it, don’t read it-that’s your call. But I, my friends, am knee deep, up shit creek, whatever phrase you wana use, in love with this series.

YESTERDAY IS HISTORY.

Obsessed.

TOMORROW IS A MYSTERY.

Obsessed.

TODAY IS A GIFT.

Did I mention I’m obsessed?

BOOK REVIEW: Pines (Wayward Pines #1) by Blake Crouch

September 1, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Pines (Wayward Pines #1)
by Blake Crouch
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.

2013 International Thriller Award Nominee

The international runaway bestseller is now a Major Television Event from executive producer M. Night Shyamalan, starring Matt Dillon and premiering May 14th on FOX.

“Where’d you live before Wayward Pines?”

“I’ve always lived here.”
“You’ve never left this town?” Ethan asked.
“You can’t leave,” the boy said.
“Why?”
“You just can’t.”
“I don’t accept that.”
“That’s why you’re going to die.”

Not too long ago, it feels like yesterday, really, I saw a television commercial for a show called Wayward Pines. It was utterly compelling and drew me in every time the commercial aired. I never got around to watching it, I never really catch TV shows unless they’re re-runs of my all time favorites, so I kind of forgot about it….and Oh. My. Gosh….am I glad I did.

The final strands of horizontal sunlight were striking the cliffs at his back, and he turned around and took a moment to stop and watch the glow fade away.
When the light was gone, the rock turned instantly to the color of blued steel.
And the nature of it changed.
It was still beautiful.
But more remote.
Indifferent.

I was totally blind when I went into this, not really knowing what I was getting myself into. There were only three things I knew: 1. It is addicting. 2. The sentences are kind of fragmented, sending a message of nonchalance, simplicity, and rushed situations for our main character-Which I loved. And 3). We were in the mind of an unreliable narrator-Which I also loved. And honestly…that’s all anyone needs to know.

“Thanks for your help, and your concern,” he said, pressing G three times until the button illuminated, “but I think I got it figured out.”
“What?”
“It’s this town that’s wrong.”

Who wants to read a book that is totally spoiled for you? Okay, okay, if it’s a severe love triangle or I think a main character may be in danger of dying, I might do a little reconnaissance to see how it happens, who they end up with, or what the situation might be. Hey! Don’t judge! I just don’t want to be devastated, so sue me. But all in all, especially in these types of thrillers, which I am SO TOTALLY IN THE MOOD FOR, I like the idea that I know next to nothing about these stories.

…All he wanted to do was to curl up in a bed in a dark room. Sleep off the pain. The confusion. And the base emotion underlying it all that was getting harder and harder to ignore.
Terror.
The strengthening sense that something was very, very wrong.

I will give you a little to go off of, though. Our main character, Ethan…he’s not what you would call an upstanding guy. He’s not a bad dude, per se, but he definitely has had some shaky behavior and indiscretions in his past. And, for the first time in as long as I can remember, this aspect didn’t bother me. Maybe it was his loyalty and fierce love now, in this moment, but, for whatever reason, I loved him.

Are you losing your mind?
You tell me.
I can’t.
Why?
Because I am you.

I loved his determination, his iron-clad will, his unwillingness to believe the bull shit he was obviously being fed….I loved his reactions to this freaky as fuck town he landed in. He’s confused and alone, and everyone is hell bent on calling him crazy, saying he’s delusional, that everyone in town is happy and why don’t you try and make a life of it here? It’s so nice! Why don’t you have your ID or wallet?? Are you lying to us, Mr. Burke? How dare you do such a thing! Needless to say I’m already finished with book two-Yeah, I love this series that much.

The scream could only be compared to human suffering or terror. Like a hyena or a banshee. Coyotes at their maddest. The mythologized Rebel Yell. High and thin. Fragile. Terrible. And on some level, humming under the surface like buried electrical cables, was a dim awareness that this wasn’t the first time he’d heard it.

Chilling and grotesque, Ethan is stuck in a town with virtually no way out…and no answers. Continually running in circles and trying to find answers-each one more spine-tingling than the last-Ethan is going out of his mind. Cloaked in an eerie atmosphere that you can’t help but to fall in love with, I guarantee this could be your next page turner. I wish I could say more, but that’s not in the spirit of this book, so I’ll be blunt: While depraved and intentionally mysterious, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat. And, while not for everyone, anyone who loves a good thriller and a man determined to win-at any cost-will likely find great enjoyment out of this book. I hope that these measly words will be enough to influence you to give this one a chance. Easy. Dark. Manipulative. What more could a girl ask for?

**************************************

Epic. Absolutely, positively epic. Chilling.

This series will be the end of me. Bad. Ass.

Review to come 🙂

BOOK REVIEW: How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller

August 28, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
A meth dealer. A prostitute. A serial killer.

Anywhere else, they’d be vermin. At the Mandel Academy, they’re called prodigies. The most exclusive school in New York City has been training young criminals for over a century. Only the most ruthless students are allowed to graduate. The rest disappear.

Flick, a teenage pickpocket, has risen to the top of his class. But then Mandel recruits a fierce new competitor who also happens to be Flick’s old flame. They’ve been told only one of them will make it out of the Mandel Academy. Will they find a way to save each other—or will the school destroy them both?

“What takes more guts? To fight for your own life at any cost-or prove that you’re willing to lose it?”

Well, well, well….I am so beyond happy. <<< Eew that sentence, but it’s so true! Months ago, I read a series that I absolutely cherished, adored, obsessed over-I Hunt Killers. It took me a long time to get over my Jazz boy, and anyone that didn’t grasp my level of obsession over him would have to have been blind or wholly disinterested. But what do you do when you can’t make extra books appear out of thin air when your favorite series of the year ends? You find similar books.

I don’t care about Ghosts or girls anymore. I don’t give a damn about proof. This monster is just waiting for a chance to kill it’s creator. One way or another, I’ll get out. And then I’m going to destroy him.

But, as it was, when I started this, I couldn’t stop thinking of my wonderful Jazzy boy. So, this was put on hold until I could get my head out of that world and I could focus on this one. My long winded story ends here, I promise-This weekend I couldn’t get into my book, so I scoured my e-library and saw this beauty. It suited my mood, it reminded me of a favorite, had an addicting and compelling story, and it had an amazing male lead that had me rooting for him from beginning to end. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this book…but, in the end, it was a thrilling page turner that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I would sacrifice almost anything to stay here with her. And that’s exactly why I have to leave. She will keep me from becoming what I need to be. And if she tries to save me, I will end up destroying her.

And that’s the best part-It wasn’t extremely fast-paced, it wasn’t action on each and every page, and it wasn’t what you’d expect. But, with all that being said, it was so much better. It was chilling, intense, underhanded, and brutal in it’s subtlety. I didn’t need non-stop action, nor did I need millions of things to happen at once. This story was so manipulative and gripping that I never once was thinking about anything but what was happening in front of my face-that is so rare for me. I am always thinking to the next chapter, the next page, the next problem, but because this was so intense I was so worried for our main character that I only cared what was happening to him in the here and now.
I thought this time, I was willing to do anything. Now Mandel will know that it’s all just an act. Because there’s one thing that I will not do. Not even to save the world from a monster. I won’t let Joi die.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I went into this, but I never expected for it to have The Testing vibes mixed with an I Hunt Killers theme I so immensely craved. And, even more than that, it was sad. Our poor boy, who had lived an inexplicably sad and undeserved life, was hurting-and rightfully so. More than once my heart ached for him and was torn to shreds as he imagined his little brother right beside him, even though he never truly could be again.

I’m not a lost boy, and I’m too old for a Wendy. But I want to remember her once before I let her go. All I get is a faint whiff of jasmine before my dream’s interrupted. And then the last person I’ll love is gone for good.

I choked on tears, wished for a better life than what he got, and hoped for him to make it out of Mandel Academy alive….but that’s hard to accomplish when you set out to make enemies.

Second period just started, and I already have five enemies, a pretty blond stalker, and zero friends. It’s a record, even for me.

Flick (No, that’s not his real name) is a thief, a boy so good at pick-pocketing on the streets that all it takes is a flick of his wrist and he has your license, your money, your life in his hands-clever, eh?? His humor is exactly what I love in these books. Thrown into a world he’d have never wanted after losing his mother and almost identical brother, the only two happy things in his life, and being beaten for the most minuscule things (I mean it-like, being beaten to a bloody pulp) by his father, Flick is what you could probably call a ‘tortured’ male lead.
When I was younger, I’d make Jude stand beside me in front of my mother’s closet mirror. We looked so much alike. I couldn’t see what the difference was-I couldn’t understand how my father could love one of us and loathe the other.

So, when he is offered a chance to go to Mandel Academy in exchange for information that will help him take down his father, the reason for all the bad things in his life, he accepts….but at a price-he must leave Joi, his last happy thing, behind without a word or notice.

Suddenly I see the problem with Jude’s brilliant advice. Be who you want to be, he said. Well, the person I’d like to be would save View Spoiler »Violet « Hide Spoiler. But that would be dangerous. I could die trying-and there’s only one of me to sacrifice.

I’ll be quick-Joi is who makes him strive to be better, what keeps him from flipping his switch and turning into a monster. She helps anyone and everyone, never turning down even the most lost of souls, and she is a ray of sunshine in his-and many other children’s-bleak world. But don’t be mistaken-Joi can be a badass, too. But I don’t want to spoil that for you ;).

Maybe he’s not going to give me the choice to trade my life for hers. Maybe he’s found another way to force me to watch the girl I love be destroyed.

All in all, I never expected much from this story. I didn’t know where it was going or when the blurb would come into play-but I was never bored. And the minute the blurb does kick in? Wow. The things Flick has to do, the intense, multi-layered cast of CRAZY characters he has to encounter and go through….Wow. Keep your eye on a certain…yeah, never mind. Just watch out, ‘K? It’s never safe. Never trust anyone. And don’t do anything you can’t live with. This chilling cast of characters will make your head spin…..and I still am thinking about it, even a day after finishing.

This is how it feels to lose your last hope. To stop treading water. To unplug life support.

BOOK TOUR + REVIEW + GIVEAWAY – Blurred Lines by Lauren Layne

August 26, 2015 / Chelsea / 2 Comments

Lauren Layne has not-so-slowly became my absolute favorite author. From the first book I picked up and the many that followed, I have never once read a story that hasn't made me smile in contentment and sigh with satisfaction. Each and every character she creates is unique and quirky, always burrowing a permanent place in my heart. If you haven't read a story by this amazing author, you are missing out on a truly enriching and heart-warming experience. When you pick up a Lauren Layne book, you know that, if nothing else, you will be smiling and laughing all day as the warm fuzzies envelop you. We are so glad to be a part of the Blurred Lines tour and hope you choose to give this one a try-Look below to see my review, a giveaway, and a hilarious excerpt from this beautiful novel.

BOOK TOUR + REVIEW + GIVEAWAY – Blurred Lines by Lauren Layne

Blurred Lines by Lauren Layne
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
In a novel that’s perfect for fans of Abbi Glines and Jessica Sorensen, USA Today bestselling author Lauren Layne delivers a sexy take on the timeless question: Can a guy and a girl really be “just friends”?

When Parker Blanton meets Ben Olsen during her freshman year of college, the connection is immediate—and platonic. Six years later, they’re still best friends, sharing an apartment in Portland’s trendy Northwest District as they happily settle into adult life. But when Parker’s boyfriend dumps her out of the blue, she starts to wonder about Ben’s no-strings-attached approach to dating. The trouble is, even with Ben as her wingman, Parker can’t seem to get the hang of casual sex—until she tries it with him.

The arrangement works perfectly . . . at first. The sex is mind-blowing, and their friendship remains as solid as ever, without any of the usual messy romantic entanglements. But when Parker’s ex decides he wants her back, Ben is shocked by a fierce stab of possessiveness. And when Ben starts seeing a girl from work, Parker finds herself plagued by unfamiliar jealousy. With their friendship on the rocks for the first time, Parker and Ben face an alarming truth: Maybe they can’t go back. And maybe, deep down, they never want to.

Review – An adamant 5 stars!

We begin walking, and the tension seems to fade, and I think we’re back to normal. Back to where we should be.

But then…
Ben slowly reaches out a hand toward me, and I’m confused right up until the moment his fingers brush mine.
The gesture is tentative. Sweet. And maybe just a little desperate for something that neither of us want to name.
Ben-my best friend in the whole world-is holding my hand.

Sigh. I’m biased. So so sooo biased…except I’m not. Every time I go to pick up another Lauren Layne novel, I get extremely nervous. I’ve even gotten to the point where I don’t even read them as soon as I get the ARC (‘cuz you know I’m a stalker for that shit) because I am excruciatingly nervous that ‘this book will be the LL book that doesn’t do it for me.’ Imagine that-My favorite author writing a book that doesn’t make me swoon or giggle or cry. That would surely be the end of me. So, while this book sounded EXACTLY like what I needed, I didn’t rush to read it right away when I received it. I’m weird like that. But, when my two great buddies asked me to read this with them, I literally couldn’t say no. I mean, I can’t say no to an LL book, right? They picked it up and were so excited….but lo and behold, guess who came out of this one with the largest smile on their face and no regrets?? That would be moi…naturally.

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When I saw this was a story about friends with benefits, I knew that it would either go strongly one way or the other: I’d either love it or hate it. I’ve never been huge on friends-to-lovers romance-it’s just not something I seek out. I don’t dislike it, per se, but I mostly enjoy when the people don’t know each other at first. But, from the moment I picked this up, I knew it was a winner. I was laughing, smiling, and had so many feels just from two chapters. The dialogue, AS ALWAYS, was so realistic and on point that I could barely contain my ridiculous urges to bust out laughing. The characters were people that I immediately became obsessed with, which isn’t that easy to do-I’m so picky with my leads. And the story was just extremely…lighthearted and effortless. The most genius thing about Layne’s novels isn’t that her stories are as sweet as cotton candy-it’s that within that fluff there are real emotions and tough situations that never fail to make my heart ache and my eyes to well up. The angst is never over done and there is just enough that you don’t feel like you are reading a snooze-fest of a happy book (Because, come on, admit it-books with zero angst these days barely stand a chance-we lubbs the drama). And while my two ~~cynical Sally~~ wonderful wonderful friends found more that aggravated them with the characters and their decisions than joy, I thought it was perfection. But don’t I always?

She’s already moving up the stairs. “Suddenly that D you got in biology is making total sense. You apparently missed the entire section on how hormones work.”
“It just so happens that biology is a specialty of mine,” I call up the stairs.
“Earlier today, you didn’t know what the uterus was,” she calls back.
“I knew,” I mutter.
Mostly.

And here’s what’s funny about that: It’s not like I go in all balls to the wall and say, ‘No matter what, I’m giving this a 5-I mean, it’s Lauren Layne!’ No. I actually am the opposite. I am a fair reviewer and I go in with an open mind for each and every story for each and every author. I don’t play favorites-My mind is strong. But I can’t help what the heart wants.

I feel like Lauren Layne takes thoughts directly from my mind and writes exactly like I would if I had even a little ability to do so. She inserts humor in the most wonderful places to soften harsh blows and….Sigh. Will there ever be a universe where I’m not obsessed with LL? I don’t think that’s possible. Which makes me wonder-I have no idea why 20,000 people don’t jump on this woman’s books immediately upon release. I don’t get it. Certain authors, and I certainly won’t say who, release a book and all of a sudden there isn’t one person on my feed who isn’t reading it-and the sad thing is, I think [some of] these authors don’t have half the heart that Layne does. But that’s just me.

I hold her. I pet her hair. I let her soak my T-shirt with her tears, and supply her with ample tissues to cry into. (She’s not a dainty cryer, this one.)
Whatever the cause, the tears always rip at me a little bit, like there’s this pressure on my chest that I don’t know how to relieve. I mean, all girls’ tears do that.
But Parker’s especially. She’s my girl.

Ben. Oh. Em. Gee. Ben. I didn’t know how I’d feel about my boy at first…but from the minute he held Parker as she bawled uncontrollably, I was hooked. He was mine. I’d totally be his. Even with all of his man-whorish ways, he still always put Parker first-always. Call me a sucker, but Ben Olsen pushed all the right buttons. Best friends from college on, he never let a girl get between him and the person that made him happier than any guy friend could. To sum up?? Ben made my heart flutter and my soul soar…And he really didn’t have to do anything but defend Parker. Man oh man I have problems.

And then there was Parker. A lot of people, from what I can tell, didn’t like Parker and the way she handled many situations. I, on the other hand, felt connected to her. I felt like she was a super realistic character-And I know, I know we all like ‘flawed’ characters and we expect certain behavior, but I don’t think readers really all mean it when they say that. Because, yes, Parker was flawed. She had some issues when it came to making decisions and not being a total hypocrite-she was-but here is the kicker: So am I. A lot of you people might not like me that much if you really knew me, considering I can’t make a decision to save my life. And I am a total hypocrite. What’s good for the goose is certainly not good for the gander, for me, sometimes. I am so bad about that. And I know I’m being a tad extreme comparing myself to this character, but I’m trying to prove a point. Layne’s scenarios are completely realistic, at least to me, because not one of us is perfect. And I know in books we don’t want to read about ourselves, but just look at it from every perspective, ya know?

“There is too a rule about shirts in the kitchen,” I insist. “House rule number fourteen. Speaking of which, where are my house rules?”
“Hard to say,” he says, opening the fridge and glancing at it’s meager offerings before pouring a cup of coffee instead. “But I may have used them to mop up OJ the other day. Or maybe as a coaster for my beer.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh wait, no, I remember. I just plain threw them away the old-fashioned way.”

So…yeah. Another huge win for me. And it’s so shocking to me this isn’t more popular than it is, already, because this might be my absolute favorite by her. But, I say that a lot about her books. That says a lot about this author: No matter how many times I say nothing will ever top one of her books I just read, I always come out at the end of a new book gushing and proclaiming my love for it. So….as I was desperately hiding in the bathroom on my husband’s birthday trying to finish this beautiful, fantastic book, I realized how far I would go to get more Lauren Layne-Making time where there is none (seeing as how I was supposed to be done a half hour prior). So, Lauren, can we please have lunch sometime? I know we’d be the BEST of friends. Seriously. Besties. Call me. 😛

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Excerpt

Most of the time, having a girl for a best friend is awesome.
Among the highlights:
(1) My color-blind self never has to worry about going out the door looking like a sad clown.
(2) The Brita water filter is always replaced on time.
(3) Parker actually likes doing laundry for fun, and she only complains when I sneak my stuff in with hers about 30 percent of the time.
Oh, and as this morning’s adventure displayed, she’s an excellent excuse when a person needs to rid himself of clingy one-night stands.
But then there are the not-so-great parts. Like when she’s spent thirty-five minutes looking at lamps.
“Just get that one,” I say, lifting my arm to point at a random floor lamp as the noisy, child-filled scariness that is IKEA threatens to choke me.
She barely glances at the one I’ve selected. “It looks like a uterus.”
“What the fuck does a uterus look like?”
“Like that lamp. And honestly, for as much time as you spend rummaging around in women’s panties, you really should get familiar with their parts.”
“Isn’t the uterus the—” I break off, looking for the right word to describe the random memories from eighth-grade sex-ed class.
Parker lifts her eyebrows. “The baby cave?”
Like any normal guy would, I wince. “Christ. Why would I need to know about that? I use a condom.”
“Several of them, judging from the state of your bedroom,” she says, tilting her head to study the lime green lamp shade in her hands. “Do you think this would clash with my bedspread?”
“You’re asking the color-blind guy? Like I have any clue what color your bedspread is.”
“Seriously? Don’t act like you’ve never seen it. Two nights ago you flopped onto my bed in your sweaty gym clothes and it took me two washes to remove the man stank.”
I shake my head. “Poor Lance. Do you make him wear a plastic bag when you guys hook up so he doesn’t get his man stank on your sheets?”
“Lance doesn’t have man stank.”
I frown. “Hold up. If I have man stank, Lance has man stank.”
“No.”
I open my mouth to argue, but instead I shrug. That’s another thing you learn having a girl best friend. You pick your battles.
“You have two more minutes to pick your lamp,” I say. “I’m starving.”
Parker adjusts her purse strap on her shoulder. “Oh, I’m not buying a lamp. I was just browsing.”
I inhale deeply to rein in my women suck rampage when I catch her smirk.
“Oh, I get it,” I say as we move toward the end of the store where we’ll pick up my dresser. “This is payback. You’re mad because I made up that story about you having a creepy doll collection.”
“Actually, it was more punishment for destroying the house rules. I’m totally laminating them next time.”
“Or you could just create an online version and keep them in the cloud like normal people born after 1980.”
I see a little lightbulb go on in her head and almost regret giving her the idea. Not that it matters much. I’ve never really followed her fussy rules anyway, although for the most part I try to not be too much of a dick. The towel incident this morning notwithstanding, it’s like I said, Parker loves laundry. I knew she had extra clean ones stashed away.
“Seriously, don’t get that color finish,” she says, shaking her head at the dresser box I’m about to pull off the shelf.
“Wood is wood,” I say with a shrug, starting to maneuver the huge box onto our flat cart.
“No, there’s old-man wood and there’s modern wood.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Old-man wood, huh? You and your kinky fetishes. Do you make the dolls watch?”
She ignores me, and uses her hip to push the box I’d started to move back onto its shelf. “That one.” She points.
“Espresso?” I ask, reading the label.
But Parker is now typing away on her phone. I shrug, pushing her out of the way so I can get at the box she indicated.
“How about tacos?” she asks, glancing up briefly from her phone.
“I just had Mexican last night,” I say through a grunt as I move the box into position.
“You said I could pick.” She gives me a challenging look, her goldish brown eyes practically daring me to argue with her.
“If it was a unilateral decision, why’d you even ask?”
“Unilateral. Good word. And it was a test. You passed,” she says, trotting to catch up with me as she replaces her phone in her purse. “So how did you and Airhead meet? The Beta Phi party last night? She looked like she was eighteen.”
“Airhead?” I ask.
“It was written on her pants. Literally.”
“Oh, right. Those weren’t her pants. Lindsay left them last week.”
She makes a disgusted face as she pulls her long dark hair into a messy bun. I don’t notice most things about Parker as a girl, because, ya know, it’s just Parker, but she does have some damn good hair. It’s all Victoria’s Secret model–-like, long and dark with lightish streaks running through it.
The rest of her is kind of Victoria’s Secret-ish, too, but other than an initial moment of whoa when we first met, there’s never really been anything between us. I guess you could say I like her too much.
That and she’s dating Lance, and I like the guy. I mean, we’re not best friends or anything, but it’s impossible to live with Parker and not have some sort of friendship with her significant other.
Lance and I stop short of braiding each other’s hair, but we watch games together on occasion. I’d never make a move on his girl—even if I wanted Parker.
Which I don’t.
“So let me get this straight,” she says, as I swipe my credit card through the self-checkout machine. “One of your booty calls leaves her pants, which is weird, by the way, and then a week later, an underclassman sorority girl willingly puts them on?”
I shrug and give her a look out of the corner of my eye. “What’s wrong with that?”
Parker closes her eyes and sort of scratches at her eyebrow. “You don’t tell your mother any of this, do you?”
“Sure, we actually have a family blog, and I list my sexual activity for the week every Sunday. Is that weird?”
She ignores me, pulling out her phone again.

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About the author – Lauren Layne

Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance.

Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren’s gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.

Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you’ll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.

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