Night Owl by M. Pierce

I shit you not, I one-clicked this because of one word in the title. I have a thing for owls.

From the very first sentence, I loved the writing style. Very much to the point. It felt like the author was cutting through all the bull-shit. I quickly realized that this book was intense. No doubt comparisons will be made to others in this genre. If that's what gets you to read this book, then so be it. But make up your own mind and love (or hate) this book for what it is.

Laurence is the perfect wing man. Every man needs a Laurence.

Little Bird was so much stronger than I thought her character would be when I started reading this book. Not a martyr, but a realist. She chooses to act in ways that some might compare to a doormat, but life isn't perfect, and you try to make the best of really crappy situations

Night Owl is a grade-A asshole with very few redeeming qualities (the few he does have include the car/lawn scene). 

Until he's not and your heart is destroyed for him. And not like a crumpled piece of paper. Mine felt like it had been put through the shredder, taken out and cut up with scissors, and then burned in a fire pit. And in case my recovery for even a moment gave me hope, it was pushed off a cliff with the final words. At this point, I'm still trying to figure out if I flew off the edge with a parachute.

I live for broken characters who manage to redeem themselves. Their path to salvation isn't always pretty but the end result restores some of my faith in the human character every.single.time. Even if they are fictional.

I was addicted to this book. I'm still reeling from it.

God this was so vague...

Welcome to Sugartown by Carmen Jenner

My parents are both trained pastry chefs. So I should know how to bake a pie. But I can’t even boil water without looking up instructions (true story). After this story, I’m so tempted to become Betty freaking Crocker if it meant that Elijah Cade would eat my pie.

Oh - you’ve read this story? You want to bake pies for Elijah as well? I DON’T SHARE!

I really Really REALLY liked this story. It started out innocent enough. Ana lives in Sugartown with her family and runs the pie shop, right across from her dad’s garage. It’s a very small town, with all the fixings you’d expect to go along with it; the pretty boys that are douches, the gossips that encourage defamation, and no real way out.

And in rides Elijah. Because he shows up on a bike, is gorgeous, and tattooed to the high heavens, you know there’s a story, and you better believe it will be a good one. That is, if he ever lets anyone close enough to discover it.

Him and Ana together are hot. If you read the synopsis, you know she's, uh, innocent. And, well, he’s ridden his bike around the block more than a few times. But it still works for them. As their relationship progresses, you slowly learn a bit more of Ana and Elijah as individuals. You being to hope that our boy gets his head out of his arse quickly enough before it starts to diminish hope of an HEA.

And then all hell breaks loose.

Up until this point, I was so taken in by the witty banter; the lightheartedness of it all. And then, all goes to shit in the story.

Some people like some warning that crap is about to go down. I couldn't care less. As long as I like the story before and after the pivotal moment, the main characters can turn into kangaroos for all I care (HA! — Because I read this books while practising my Aussie accent, I just had to).

I’ll try not to give anything away during the rest of this review, so I beg for your forgiveness for making all this very vague.

Elijah has one hell of a past. And it literally catches up to him. Like any hot-as-f***, brooding, complicated man, he chose not to share that part of himself with Ana. And to say that she’s confronted by it in a horrific manner is really an understatement.

Persistence seems to be a theme after this point, but things aren’t looking for great. I’m praying that this is not one of those WTF cliffhanger books. I mean, I can handle those once in a while, and yesterday was not the day. Then our Elijah does something dumb. I mean really dumb. At this point, I was taking my glass of chocolate milk, raising it in the air, and drinking for Australia (it will all make sense!). I don’t drink, but I was praying to the chocolate-gods to give me strength to get past this point.

Ana and I chose different paths when it came to dealing with Elijah’s dummery (give me a break — sometimes words need to be made up). Sure this was added to a list of flaws, but when you choose not to lay claim, you can’t bitch about it either.

Then the author went somewhere I didn’t think she would. And it broke my heart. It actually had me taking a breather, because long gone were the days of laughing and blissful sighing. The events after ward were fully warranted, but it only broke me further.

Through all this, I have to admit that I fell in love with Holly (the best friend), Bob (Ana’s dad), Jackson (Ana’s cousin), and Sam (Ana’s brother) more than I ever though I would. They got me through parts of the book where I wasn’t sure anyone could shine a bit of sunshine on.

THEN MY BATTERY DIED ON MY EREADER AS THEY WERE SHARING M&Ms! Panic rocketed through me. This is not how it was going to end! At 11:45pm EST, I was tearing through the house looking for an extra charger.

With 3% battery, I finished the story of Elijah and Ana. I don’t rate books by stars. I rate them on whether I think they are worthy of physical space on my bookshelf.

I will allocate 4 spaces to Welcome to Sugar Town - 1 paperback for me, 1 to lend out, 1 as a back up, and 1 in the event I ever meet Carmen Jenner and grow a pair to ask for a signature.

Four Seconds to Lose by K.A. Tucker

Received an ARC. Giving an honest opinion.

You know the moment when you start reading a book, and you immediately acknowledge that the remaining 99.9% is going to be really good, and leave you hungover like someone who started celebrating St. Patrick's Day at 9am? Yeah...that was me at 8pm Sunday night. Monday morning was rough and I wish I hadn't given up coffee because the lack of sleep caused by this book was plain nuts!

If you've read K.A. Tucker's previous books (Ten Tiny Breaths or Only Tiny Lie), you'll know who Cain is. If you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, you can remedy that by reading the aforementioned books. But all is not lost my dear book fiend. Because unlike some series' where all the characters are tried together and you need to know all the minuet details, this book can serve as a stand-alone.

So the basics.

Cain owns a strip club. Charlie is a dancer. Cain doesn't sleep with his staff. Charlie needs money. Charlie and Cain have an undeniable connection. Charlie doesn't really exist.

More often than not, I imagine myself in the story. I think about what it would be like to be one of the characters. Not necessarily the main one(s), but just in the background so I can observe like a diligent fly on the wall.

It really helps when the main object of my affection is portrayed in a way that I'd be willing to eat ice-cream off his body. And a he's decent guy to boot. And tall. And hot. Ice-cream can cool you down...unless you're eating it off his body. S*** - where was I going with this? No really...I absolutely just lost my train of thought. And now I'm staring at the cover, thinking how beautiful he looks from the back.

In the case of Four Seconds to Lose, I wanted to work in a strip club (please note my carefully chosen words here since this will end up on the world wide web, and the last thing I need is in 15 years for my son to read that I wanted to be a stripper. Though to each their own). I would gladly buy the highest heels, wear the shortest skirts, and discover what Victoria's secret actually is if it meant that Cain would be my boss.

One of the things that really stood out for me was how authentically male Cain's POV was. I mean this with wholehearted respect, but at times I had to keep reminding myself that these scenes were not written by a man. I really didn't comprehend the magnitude of this feat until Ben started showing up in more scenes. He was the perfect tormentor, and though I immediately sensed that this was more of a 'no harm no foul' type of banter, it really provided insight to what drives guys insane without an ounce of a female bullshit that can sometimes sneak in from the sidelines and make the guys look like delicate flowers.

All the characters that I love made appearances in this story, but it was never about them. Things happened to Cain and Charlie that forced me to suspend my idea of the perfect reality and embrace the craziness that was their lives. But I fell for this book so hard that their insanity was my Valium.

I really liked Ten Tiny Breaths. I wanted to marry One Tiny Lie. But Four Seconds to Lose? I would have it's freaking babies.

Nocturne by Andrea Randall & Charles Sheehan-Miles

mother
of
all
things
that
are
holy
!

Right from the audition, I was smiling like an idiot, actually saying out loud that, Hey! I played the flute! Yeah, about one page in, and I was a complete goner.

Three years later, and the chemistry between the two main characters would be obvious to a blind man in space. Yet it's not an instant 'hook-up' for the characters. They antagonize each other like their next breaths depended on it. They have moments of unguarded honesty. While I'm screaming at my iPad 'f***ing kiss her already', the raw sexual tension goes from a slow simmer to a clusterf*** of all hotness at the perfect pace.

Once these two crazy kids finally acknowledge what others have noticed for quite some time, it's not long before the cracks begin to appear. You see, their love is messy, riddled with obstacles. Yet even with all the forewarning, you still hope that they pull their heads out of their asses.

And then all hell breaks loose. In what I can say is one of the hottest, most desperate moments in the book, turns into the knife that gutted me. I know that there are faults with the characters. Hell, they aren't even close to perfect. But it's very hard to blame  two pathetic souls that are falling apart. So I'll blame James. Yes - everything that happened after was James' fault.

It's James' fault that I stopped breathing five years later. It's his fault that I went to bed at 4am EST when I had to get up at 6. If it wasn't for him and what he said to his friend, it would have been all ladybugs and lollipops! I would have been fine to put the book down, and finish it the next night. BUT NO!

Ok...I truly understand that it's not all James' fault. The other guy had a messed up sense of what he wanted for his life. Back when all hell broke loose, James found a kink in the armour that had been there already, and used it to do something he thought was helping his friend. The other guy should have grown a pair and manned-up!

But he didn't. He did the stupidest thing he could with quite possibly the stupidest women ever. I know this sounds harsh, but if you KNOW it's not you, you don't go through with it! Yeah, he took your life, but sweetheart, you gave it to him on a pretty silver platter knowing fully well that what was going on wasn't real.

AND THEN, like the other guy hasn't been an a**hole enough already, he asks the love of his life the most selfish thing possible. It works for a while...like a Bandaid for a shotgun wound in the head! And just when you think he couldn't be any more of a dick, he tops himself. And when the love of his life realizes her worth, I started bawling an ugly stream of tears. Reading it and 'watching it' play out with such unfathomable brutality was nothing short of  astonishing. I couldn't believe that it was happening AGAIN! that I was being left for the dead AGAIN!

I'm not a poet, and I'm pretty sure that these are some famous words that won some acclaim many years ago, but I would die a thousand literary deaths if I could read this story for the first time again and experience everything that was Nocturne.

Link to buy --> http://amzn.to/185cY12http://amzn.to/185cY12

Red Hill by Jamie McGuire

I’m not going to lie – I’m a wuss. I’m afraid of my own shadow. I’m absolutely petrified of the dark. And I have a fantastic imagination. Mix all that together, and you have someone who slapped her best friend in utter fear when that friend decided to jump out from a dark corner and ‘surprise me’.

So even though I bought Red Hill the day it came out, I waited almost 3 weeks to read it. Because it has zombies and I’m a wuss.

Leading up to the release of Red Hill, I noticed a lot of ‘ooh...it’s a zombie book’, to which the author more than once rebutted that it’s not about zombies, but so much more (this is purely paraphrasing, so don’t sue me if you think I’m mis-quoting Jamie McGuire).

Holy mother of all teds!

This is not a zombie book. This is a book set during a zombie apocalypse. The dead are walking; is that frightening? Yes. How they came to be? That scared the living beejesus out of me because it seemed so plausible.

I’m not sure what kind of review this will turn out to be, but at the moment, the best I can do is pose this question to you: in the event of catastrophe, what would you do for the ones you love, whether it be your children, the love of your life, your siblings, your parents, or even complete strangers?

This is what I was thinking about 20 pages in. And forget the fact for a moment that there are ‘shufflers’ taking over the world. I started to shake. I started to cry. I couldn’t imagine my life without the people I cherish the most. Yet this is the exact predicament that the three main characters find themselves in. Their stories are interwoven in a very intricate pattern that even skipping a few lines that you might deem inconsequential is not worth the nerve damage you will suffer later trying to piece the puzzle together.

The story is told from 3 different points of view. Scarlett is looking for her daughters. Miranda is with the people she cares most about, but desperate to get them to her father’s place. Nathan has his daughter Zoe, but with everything that’s going on, has to be brave for her.

There are so many crucial secondary characters that made this story an absolutely heartbreaking thriller for me.

“We’ll be together, and we’ll wait for you” gutted me.

My heart absolutely shredded for Ashley.

And Andrew had me believing in redemption.

This was not an easy read for me. This was beyond anything that I was expecting, and I feel quite ashamed that I waited 20 days to read it.

This isn’t a story about zombies. I’m also not going to lie and say it isn’t a tiny bit scary, because it is (but this is coming from a scaredy-cat). But in the end it’s about the absolute need to protect the ones you love. Because in the end, that’s all that matters.

Cover & Synopsis - Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher

Title: Mud Vein

Author: Tarryn Fisher

Expected Release Date: December 2013

Cover reveal organized by: Shh Mom Reading

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18246727-mud-vein?from_search=true

Synopsis

When reclusive novelist Senna Richards wakes up on her thirty-third birthday, everything has changed. Caged behind an electrical fence, locked in a house in the middle of the snow, Senna is left to decode the clues to find out why she was taken. If she wants her freedom, she has to take a close look at her past. But, her past has a heartbeat...and her kidnapper is nowhere to be found. With her survival hanging by a thread, Senna soon realizes this is a game. A dangerous one. Only the truth can set her free.

About the Author

I am a real life villain, truly. I drink sick amounts of Starbucks. Most of the time my hair smells like coffee. I was born in South Africa, and lived there for most of my childhood. I moved to Seattle just for the rain. Rome is my favorite place in the world so far, Paris comes in at a close second. I read and write more than I sleep. When I was eleven, I wrote an entire novel about runaway orphans, using only purple ink. I am addicted to Florence and the Machine and will travel to see concerts. I love scary movies and giraffes. I spend way too much time on Facebook. Meet you there?...

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authortarrynfisher

Twitter https://twitter.com/Tarryn__Fisher

Author website http://www.tarrynfisher.com/

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5410816.Tarryn_Fisher

Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

*NOT THE ACTUAL COVER*

>>>>>

I’ve NEVER been so angry at those little signs in my life. They’ve always behaved; minded their own business; stayed out of my books.

Until Colleen BUTTERFLYING Hoover put them in the copy of Finding Cinderella that was sent to me. And now all I want to do is kick the a** of the person that came up with them.

Now I know the novella is not out yet, you’re probably very jealous, but I got it through legitimate means, so suck it! You have two things going for you though; one – it will be out to the masses in November, and two – it’ll be FREE!

If you’re a fan of Colleen Hoover, you’ll know who Daniel and Six are. If you are a fan of Colleen Hoover and think I’m talking about Daniel Craig and the number 6, you’re nuts and shouldn’t read the rest of this...I SAID STOP!

Okay, so this a novella told from Daniel’s POV.

................................................................it’s really hard to compliment an author when your words might be misconstrued as insults to their previous works. So let’s clear the air. I adored Slammed. Fiended for Point of Retreat. Fell hopelessly in love with Hopeless. Wanted to make Losing Hope into a pillow so I could hug it every night while I slept with it.

While reading Finding Cinderella, I was like, Holder who? Will? Don’t know a Will. Now Daniel...yeah! This novella is THAT good. Screw good, it’s THAT eating-Reese’s-Pieces-on-top-on-french-vanilla-ice-cream-while-watching-a-YouTube-video-of-IandLOVEandYOU amazing!

The characters that I loved in Hopeless and Losing Hope make appearances, but to be honest, I never for a moment thought of them or their stories. This is the story of Daniel and Six, and Ms. Hoover never deviates for that.

It’s been a while since I’ve laughed so honestly while reading a book. I don’t think there’s anyone out there who can take ‘It’s a human?’ and have the reader almost pee their pants, and then subsequently get the hiccups from laughing for 5 (not six – god I’m funny!) minutes straight.

I’ve also had by heart shattered by books countless times. And this story took an over-sized sledgehammer to my ever-fragile organ. I can’t really talk about the story too much without giving stuff away. So when you get the notice that Finding Cinderella is LIVE, go and download it immediately. Then drink a large coffee with an espresso-shot so you can read it right away.

The only fault I found with this story was that it ended. And those >>>>>! GAH!