Tag: Contemporary Romance (Page 88 of 98)

BOOK REVIEW – Vain (The Seven Deadly #1) by Fisher Amelie

BOOK REVIEW – Vain (The Seven Deadly #1) by Fisher AmelieVain (The Seven Deadly #1)
by Fisher Amelie
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Wow. Just wow. A story about a girl who has an infinite amount of money at her disposal, a band of loyal worshippers, and any guy she wants; even those that are already taken.

I must admit, I had high hopes when I started this novel, and I kind of hated the beginning. Maybe we are supposed to-I don’t know. What I do know is that at a certain point in Vain, you realize you just can’t put it down.

I grew to love Sophie and those around her, especially Ian. He is everything a hero figure should be-loving, kind, caring, sweet, protective, and even funny. He has all these characteristics, yet Fisher Amelie manages to keep the story from becoming mushy. Actually, the story is anything but mushy. Overshadowed with poverty, fear, action, destruction, and tragedy, Vain manages to take romance and mix in all the right elements to make this a page turner.

After reading Vain, I felt giddy and also had a twinge of sadness because the story was over-I wish there could have been a little more to the ending of the story, but overall it was a very fulfilling read of growth and finding your passion in life. I would recommend this to any of my friends or family members, even those who aren’t 100% sold on the genre of romance.

BOOK REVIEW – Fallen Too Far (Rosemary Beach #1) by Abbi Glines

BOOK REVIEW – Fallen Too Far (Rosemary Beach #1) by Abbi GlinesFallen Too Far (Rosemary Beach #1)
by Abbi Glines
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Damn it, just..(sighs)..damn it. Apparently I love torturing myself with tremulous endings and cliffhangers becuase I have been reading book after book where they end with a bang…a massive unfinished bang. I read the reviews and I still couldn’t wait another week to read it so I could just smoothly transition to the next in the series instead of setting myself up for a tortuous week of waiting. This is clearly my fault..I was warned.

Let me start off by saying I absolutely love Rush. He is the oh so perfect badboy we all adore. For one, when Blaire is mislead to believe she has a place to stay at his house by her never present father, whom Rush hates by the way, he doesn’t make her leave. Well..at the last second he lets her stay-but that’s just a technicality we can overlook. After that, Blaire wants to make it clear she isn’t a mooch so she does everything a good houseguest should, all the while Rush is observing and absorbing more than she knows. I think we all know where the story mostly leads, as the formula for this type of story has a template that is rarely wandered from.

I did like this book, I did. I just wish Blaire had a LITTLE more conviction, in the sense of not being so sure that she likes Rush despite his bad boy behavior right away: i.e. girls and parties all the time. Just a little resistance to the whole scenario would have been nice. But overall, Blaire and Rush are great characters, especially after the halfway point. This is when I couldn’t put the book down. Things were finally starting to happen…the formula, you see? ha.

The beginning is why this is only a four star read for me; I wasn’t truly drawn in until the 1/2 way point, and from there the book was ingrained in my mind until I could finish it. Bad boy tears are a big weakness for me, and when they were shed, a part of my heart went into this story, making the second installment a necessity-and soon. I can’t wait to read Never too far, and to find out if Rush and Blaire’s story ends as a happy one. I don’t know what I’d do otherwise.

BOOK REVIEW – The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence #1) by Jessica Sorenson

BOOK REVIEW – The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence #1) by Jessica SorensonThe Coincidence of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence #1)
by Jessica Sorensen
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Wow, an absolute page turner…I only started this novel because I was bored and then I just couldn’t put it down-Isn’t that always how it happens? I finished it in less than a day.

A story that can be explained as both tragic and happy, where two people truly “meet” under the worst of cirumstances. They are forever imprinted into each other’s lives, never to forget not only that one circumstance that fatefully pulls them together, but all the events that lead up to it. They both have dark secrets and scars (both physical and mental) to show for those secrets, and no one who has truly cared to know what’s beneath Kayden’s scars or Callie’s sudden baggy clothing meant to shield herself from the rest of the world.

They both have crutches that help them to get through their dark times, and it truly horrified me that they felt they needed to do these things to feel alive again. It saddens me to think of all the people in plain sight that feel they have no one to turn to for emotional support or help, that they feel they need to do these things..it’s heartbreaking. And that’s the way I felt the whole novel, just when one of them would experience something happy, they would go to a dark place, much like how their lives were at certain points of time.

The whole novel keeps leading up to a dramatic ending we know is coming, but it doesn’t effect the shock factor of what comes to be, despite us knowing that we are being lead somewhere we don’t want to go. The final words give me the chills, finalizing what happens with a bang.

So until the release of the second novel, I’ll be waiting and hoping for the best in the second book, because I don’t think I could survive another brutal cliffhanger like this one.

Purchase on Amazon or iBooks

BOOK REVIEW – The Edge of Never (The Edge of Never #1) by J.A. Redmerski

BOOK REVIEW – The Edge of Never (The Edge of Never #1) by J.A. RedmerskiThe Edge of Never (The Edge of Never #1)
by J.A. Redmerski
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

I, for lack of better words, WAS IN A GLASS CASE OF EMOTION near the end of this book. The world dropped from beneath my feet and I thought I was going to die-yes, literally die.


Words cannot express how much I loved, no..wait, hold on-LOVE Andrew Parrish. He was the sweetest, most endearing guy I have read about in a long time.

His passion for life was so refreshing and I found myself drawn deeper and deeper into his story. Never one to hold back on the things he wanted to do with his life, he pushes Cam into uncharted territory where she can explore her innermost passions and desires. What Andrew doesn’t know is that Cam will do the same for him, in ways he never imagined possible.

I really enjoyed the journey from when they first met, ummmmmm buy me a bus ticket please…., to the finale of their road trip. The whole novel I just couldn’t put my finger on what Andrew’s secret was, and the closer we got to finding it out, I was getting increasingly anxious- rightfully so, I might add. I never even saw it coming. Shame on me.

Anyone who picks up this novel will be drawn to the path of self discovery Camryn and Andrew face, bringing out the best of each other. I absolutely adore and fall in love with climactic endings with a bang, and while it isn’t an action filled bang, it is a large bang indeed and I couldn’t help but to be pushed over the edge of loving this book.

BOOK REVIEW – Frigid (Frigid #1) by J. Lynn

BOOK REVIEW – Frigid (Frigid #1) by J. LynnFrigid (Frigid #1)
by J. Lynn
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

I’ve loved you my entire life,” he said, eyes locked on mine. “And I would love you for the rest of my life if you’d let me, Syd.”

Anyone who takes the time to talk to me knows that I have been waiting anxiously for the release of this novel. It’s no secret, I’ve been somewhat obnoxious in waiting for it’s impending introduction to the book world. With me, this happens frequently; I highly anticipate an upcoming book, and then when I get it, it doesn’t live up to my expectations. I don’t think I ever doubted how much I would like Frigid, but I did find myself wondering if it would even come close to her other works and if there was even room in my heart for another favorite. Apparently I have no qualms about pushing other favorites aside to make room, because from chapter 1, this book stole a piece of my heart. I loved it, undoubtedly.

“I was Kyler’s best friend.
And because of that, he would never love me the way I loved him.”

Sydney and Kyler have been best friends since they were little and met on the playground. He pushed her down, and in turn, she made him eat a mudpie the next day. They were best friends from that day on. We get a sweet incite to their childhood lives in little snippets at the beginning, and while they weren’t flashbacks per se, they were little memories put in place when either Kyler or Sydney had inner dialogue. I don’t always love past tense situations in a current story, but in this case it helped build these characters into people we truly care about.

Sydney has always loved Kyler-even through all of the girls and partying. He is her best friend, and she his. They can truly be themselves around each other and would do anything for the other person. But Sydney secretly loves him, which makes it even harder when his parade of girls grows even larger. She continues to bite her tongue, and they continue to be each other’s [though they don’t know it] everything.

Sydney Bell had always been, and would always be, a few pedestals too high for me.”

And then we have Kyler…ooooh, sweet Kyler. He too, has always had a thing for Sydney. Whenever a guy attempts to hit on Sydney, Kyler enters to be her savior and overprotective…friend? Forever parading around with tactless girls for senseless one night stands, he continues to hide his feelings for Syd, because he believes she will always deserve better than him.

“I thought about the time I’d climbed the tree to get into her bedroom. She’d been sick with mono and our parents had been keeping us apart for obvious reasons, but I’d been worried about her. Syd had always been small and I’d felt like I needed to take care of her.
I’d fallen out of the damn tree and nearly broken my leg.”
“Even as sick as she’d been, when she saw me her smile lit up her face and her blue eyes sparkled and shit.
I’d always been a sucker for her eyes.”

Finally, finally, they get snowed in while at a cabin in Snowshoe. They are forced to truly look at each other and see what the other person wants…to an extent. What would a romance novel be without a little misunderstanding, grovelling, and angst? Inevitably, Kyler and Sydney begin to scratch the surface of how much they mean to one another, and when they do, sparks fly. I can’t even begin to explain what makes me tick, but when I read a love scene, this is a prime example of what grips me. A love scene doesn’t have to be done perfectly, but you have to fall in love with the characters. If you truly connect with them, you’re on an emotional roller coaster ride just like they are-you feel so deeply what they feel that you get swept into their personal moment like it’s your own. Do you know how many times I have read a love scene and just been like…oh okay, movin’ on. Not with Kyler and Syd- I felt it to my core. All because of the characters and the snowy, romantic world she built around them. I loved these two people so much, even more so together; I cared deeply what happened to them.

“You think I’m beautiful?” His gaze roamed over my face like he was committing every freckle to memory.
“I’ve always thought you were beautiful, Syd.”

I don’t know that I have ever been more content with a couple…this is a bold statement, because wasn’t it inevitable that they get together? Yes, a little. But what got to me was how strong their roots were. Let me explain. They go back to ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. They know everything about each other. They like [love] each other no matter their flaws. They do everything together. When one has problems, the other considers it their problem as well. There are so many more instances, but the point is, I truly felt complete with these two. AND THAT TATTOO. GAH! It has the sweetest, deepest saying, and it made me love Kyler more than I already did. Overall a fun, light read…and well worth the wait.

*****

Oh…My Gosh. This book was just…SO adorable. JUST what I needed- a fun, light read with a friends-lovers romance. *review to come tomorrow* sigh. I just..can’t. Kyler…welcome to Chelsea’s Book BF club 😛

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