A new start. It’s the only thing keeping Allie Harper going when she packs up her life and moves across the country to Woodshill, Oregon. She’s about to start college, desperate to leave the ghosts of her past behind her. Even if that means never talking to her parents again.
Now the hard part – finding an apartment before classes start. Just when it seems she’ll have to live out of her car, Allie visits one more place. It’s beautiful. With one exception: can she stand being roommates with campus bad boy Kaden White? Sure, Kaden is sexy with his tattoos and careless attitude, but he’s also an arrogant jerk. With nowhere else to go, Allie moves in.
The first thing Kaden does is make a set of rules. Either Allie obeys, or she’s out:
1. Don’t talk about your girl problems. 2. Keep your mouth shut if I bring someone home. 3. We will NEVER hook up.
Easy enough, thinks Allie. Who would want to get involved with a brute like Kaden? But the more she gets to know him, the more she sees beyond his gruff facade. He, too, is harboring some painful secrets. For Kaden and Allie, it gets harder and harder to ignore the sparks between them. And the lines between the rules start to blur-
Begin Again is a beautiful romance that shows us just how possible it is to start over. To find freedom in heartbreak and love in the most unlikely places.
Trigger Warning: rape, sexual abuse, talk of suicide
“…Death and the stillness of death are the only things certain and common to all in this future…” -Friedrich Nietzsche
Rose is dying. Her body is wasted and skeletal. She is too sick and weak to move. Every day is agony and her only hope is that death will find her swiftly before the pain grows too great to bear.
She is sixteen years old.
Rose has made peace with her fate, but her younger sister, Koren, certainly has not. Though all hope appears lost Koren convinces Rose to make one final attempt at saving her life after a mysterious man in a white lab coat approaches their family about an unorthodox and experimental procedure. A copy of Rose’s radiant mind is uploaded to a massive supercomputer called Aaru – a virtual paradise where the great and the righteous might live forever in an arcadian world free from pain, illness, and death. Elysian Industries is set to begin offering the service to those who can afford it and hires Koren to be their spokesmodel.
Within a matter of weeks, the sisters’ faces are nationally ubiquitous, but they soon discover that neither celebrity nor immortality is as utopian as they think. Not everyone is pleased with the idea of life everlasting for sale. What unfolds is a whirlwind of controversy, sabotage, obsession, and danger. Rose and Koren must struggle to find meaning in their chaotic new lives and at the same time hold true to each other as Aaru challenges all they ever knew about life, love, and death and everything they thought they really believed.
Old habits die-hard. But in this sexy, heartwarming romance, a musician who’s addicted to the temptations of the road falls for a good girl who makes him want to clean up his act. Mason Dell’s band, Pushing Limits, is a sensation, and he’s having a blast on their biggest tour yet. Then he gets a call from his best friend, who’s in the Navy, asking him to find out why his sister isn’t answering her phone. The dude once saved Mason’s life from a suicide attempt related to a gambling problem—so the two-and-a-half hour drive from L.A. to her small town is nothing. What he finds is a sweet, successful boutique owner who’s too busy to notice when her phone dies. Nicole McCormick has nothing better to do than work. She’s bored with all the men she’s been dating: stable, career-oriented guys who are nothing like her destructive father. Mason’s is a breath of fresh bad-boy air. Their sexual connection is explosive, and with her shop undergoing renovations, Nicole even joins Pushing Limits on the road. But when Mason falls off the wagon, that’s one path she swore she’d never go down again. While Nicole picks up her broken heart and heads home, Mason misses her like crazy. Although he wants to forge a future with her, he just doesn’t know how to leave the past behind. But for love, it’s time to learn.
Leah thought that the turmoil in her life had come to an end. That is, until the boy-next-door who’s just moved in, turns out to be none other than her old childhood best friend, Damon. Rekindling their friendship, the two become inseparable and life seems perfect until Leah learns a tragic secret; Damon is terminally ill and has only one more year to live.
Leah and Damon decide to embark on an adventure to have the time of their lives and cross out every to-do on their ‘Bucket List’. With the clock ticking and time precious, will they be able to complete every goal before time runs out?
Nineteen-year-old Maia has spent her life haunted by dreams of a man with uniquely brilliant blue eyes. She never expected she’d actually come face-to-face with him, or that he’d be the harbinger of a chaotic new life. But as shocking as meeting Blake is, it’s less unsettling than her sudden ability to adversely affect electronics and seemingly control—even heal—plants.
Before she can figure out what’s happening, Blake’s cryptic warning about the impending approach of something big manifests as a freak earthquake, destroying Maia’s home and killing her parents. Devastated, Maia has no choice but to turn to Blake, where she learns that the earthquake was not as natural as it seemed. The reigning Terra guardian, or Mother Earth, has gone rogue, wiping out her replacements in a series of orchestrated natural disasters around the world—and Maia is next.
Worse, she’s the only one who can stop the Terra guardian from destroying not just Earth, but the fabric of the universe itself. Now, thrust into a world of celestial beings charged with the protection of the universe, Maia must come to terms with her new powers and the idea that her destiny was shaped long ago. And she must do it all before she faces off with the woman who controls nature itself.
Intelligent and thought-provoking, A Chosen War takes the idea that everything is connected and wraps it in a globe-spanning adventure with just a tinge of romance.
My review:
For those of you who have followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I have recently started reviewing New Adult books. The genre is growing on me. As with all genres’, you have the exceptional books, the good books, and the bad books. A Chosen War falls somewhere between exceptional and good. Why does it fall between exceptional and good? Because I didn’t feel that connection with two of the main characters….which is important in books that I review. What also caused this book to fall exceptional and good was that the plot seemed to creep at points.
I think that A Chosen War did fit into the paranormal, fantasy, romance, and New Adult perfectly. I loved that there were guardians (or praeses) of the earth, animals, plants, air, water, and the moon with mythical guardians, called Talis, who guard the Council that watches over them. It was a perfect blend of mythology (angels, demons) and the author’s own imagination. The way that each praeses interacted with their environment was pretty cool. Blake was the praeses of the Sun, Leo was the animals, Reed was the plants, Lana was water, Poppy was Air and Selene was the moon. The ruler of them all was Gaia (Earth). Actually, the Sun ruled them all but Gaia co-ruled with him…if that makes sense. They were like the King and Queen of the praeses.
Maia, I actually didn’t like at first. She was socially awkward, riddled with anxiety and really didn’t want to be the new Gaia. She even kept pushing Blake away. Well until Russia and then she did a 180…which drove me nuts. I understand that her past made her not trust people. Also, I didn’t like that the author started mentioning her past with her abusive grandparents and then just dropped it. Again, something that makes me go nuts.
Blake was too patient, in my eyes. It must have killed him to not say anything and let her find everything out for herself. I am going to say this, I thought his written Australian accent was kinda annoying. The expression “Yeah-nah” drove me absolutely crazy when I saw it. Also, he decided to and go live with Heidi and look how that turned out (read the book)
I did find the romance between Maia and Blake to be very cute but almost too sweet. Actually the romances between Leo and Lana, Reed and Selene, Poppy and Mac were the same way. Saccharine sweet. I did like that they were able to communicate without talking. Which was very helpful when Blake was living with Heidi because she couldn’t read his thoughts.
Heidi was a bad, bad girl. She struck a deal with an unknown man (he wasn’t revealed until the end of the book). She was abusive towards Selene and decided to exterminate her replacements and succeeded until Maia. Put it this way, she was so bad that her powers were voluntarily leaving her and going to Maia….which is something that was unheard of.
The end of the book was a cliffhanger, which I didn’t like. I do want to read book 2 because I need to find out about certain things/events.
How many stars will I give A Chosen War: 3
Why: While I loved the storyline, I couldn’t connect with either Blake or Maia. I also felt that some of the dialogue was a little annoying (like Blake saying “Yeah-nah”….a lot) and that the story did lag between Blake going to live with Heidi and the end of the book. But, saying that, I did like the “treat the Earth right” theme that ran through it and I am interested in reading book 2 when it is published
Will I reread: Maybe
Will I recommend to family and friends: Maybe
Age range: Late teen
Why: Language, violence, and some sexual situations
**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**
The world has changed: demons of legend now live among humans, integrated into society through Government programs, wishing for peace.
Elixia Albelin, however, isn’t sold. As an Agent-in-training, she knows firsthand the blood-thirst of demons and isn’t jumping to befriend the monsters plaguing her dreams. But when a mission sours, Elixia’s sister is caught in the crossfire: taken. Abandoned by those meant to protect her family, Elixia is left with only one option if she wants to retrieve her sister—a taboo option that goes against everything she believes in.
She must sell her soul.
Now, bound to a beast and living on borrowed time, Elixia has to navigate the demonic world to find her sister within a cesspool of human traffickers and serial killers. Enemies control her fate, the simplest truths are questioned, and misperceptions must be shattered. Only one thing remains consistent—Elixia must find her sister before time runs out. Or become the very thing she fears most: a soulless monster.
Gritty, powerful, and exciting, A Soul to Take is a gripping début that explores prejudice, justice, and the consequences one family faces when those two collide.
My review:
I have been on the fence about New Adult books. I have read some that could have been classed as a true Young Adult and then others that made me wonder why it was classed as New Adult. Not that I didn’t like reading those books, I did, but I thought that they were miscategorized. Luckily, A Soul To Take definitely fits into this category.
I really liked Elixia. She just didn’t stop….even when she was told too. She was determined to find Shellie (Sarafina) after Shellie was abducted from their shared apartment by demons. During that same abduction, Elixia was basically killed but brought back and Marked by an unknown demon. Her being Marked had unexpected ramifications. She was put on leave at her job and had to cover the Mark up. She was also reckless and took unnecessary risks. But that is what made the book, in my eyes. She also had a bad temper and was basically persona non grata at any of the events that the noble’s had.
The whole demon aspect fascinated me. To me, the demons acted like vampires. They needed blood to survive, like vamps, but unlike vampires, they could go out in the sun. Actually, according to the book, they loved the sun and had a whole nation in the sunny part of the world (where Elixia lived was kinda like Seattle….always raining and gloomy). They had saved humankind during a war and all they asked was to be fully integrated into human society. Not that they weren’t bad, I mean they are demons after all, but some weren’t as bad as others….if that made sense. The evil demons, called The Network, ran human trafficking rings where children and adults were sold to the highest bidder. All for their blood. These same demons were the same ones who kidnapped Shellie and when Elixia found out, I could totally understand why she was frantic to get her back. See, those adults and children were only used for their blood. They were drained, or Kissed, and discarded. So totally understand Elixia’s fear.
Sebastian/Damien was such a tease during the book and I loved it. I loved how the author kinda strung you along with him. I mean, you know nothing about him except he was a very powerful demon and he worked for Elixia’s Maker. It took until about 40% into the book or so for the author to drop a couple of big bombshells about him (read the book if you want to find out what). I also couldn’t figure out if he had feelings for Elixia or not. I thought I had it figured out when he fed on her but he wiped her memory and the next chapter picked up after she blacked out. Drove me absolutely bonkers but again, I loved it.
The sub-storylines in the book (all of them) were all wrapped up by the end of the book except the one with Angelica and the humanoids. That should make things interesting in the second book because of what the humanoids contain (again read the book if you want to find out what). Angelica was also very interesting and kinda creepy. I am going to go out on a limb and say she will be in book 2, along with the humanoids.
The last part of the book, notice I didn’t say ending, had a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming. A couple of them are huge and I am wondering about those (don’t want to spoil the book!!) and how they will play out in the trilogy.
How many stars will I give A Soul To Take: 4
Why: This was a great, action-packed book with an awesome take on demons. While some people might think that it’s too long, its 418 pages, I thought that it was the perfect length. The characters are intriguing (notice I didn’t say likable because some of them weren’t) and the storylines were compelling. Definitely looking forward to reading the next two books!!
Will I reread: Yes
Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes
Age Range: Older Teen
Why: Violence, some mild language, and one sexual situation
**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**
November Fox has never even heard of other dimensions when a teleporting magical cube appears on her doorstep. With a hole in her heart and a cosmic identity yet to be discovered, the orphan rock star accepts an invitation to find the key within herself that will unlock the mysteries of form.
Little does she know, The Architect, from the race of philosophical beings who create our world of form, has been watching over her all her life.
Grieving Erica, a teacher and writer from London, finds The Architect’s fascinating letter in a glass bottle washed ashore on Brighton Beach. Pages continue to magically appear as she, too, is compelled to follow November’s quest.
Realities eclipse as we embark on a metaphysical adventure through time and space. November learns that harnessing the power of her mind and heart is fundamental, if she wishes to unlock the cube and escape the sometimes sinister, sometimes wonderful dimensions into which she is propelled.
Combining elements inspired by the new thought movement, the law of attraction, magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder, November learns that she can use the power of dreaming, imagination and positive thinking to remake herself and her world.
November Fox will be enjoyed by readers who liked wisdom-filled, visionary fiction fables like “The Alchemist,” the escapism of “Alice in Wonderland” or the Mind-bending nature of the movie “The Matrix.”
As an idiosyncratic fantasy/science fiction crossover, it is suitable for teens and adults alike.
It comes with 39 illustrations with an Augmented Reality technology feature, enabling readers to further expand their experience.
“Things aren’t always as they seem, do we wake or do we dream?”
My review:
November Fox is the first book that I have ever read that incorporates augmented reality in it, and it fascinated me. While I didn’t try it, I found the concept intriguing. Very intriguing and I can’t wait to see how this technology changes reading books in the future. For more information about augmented reality and what extras you could find in the book, click here and scroll down the page.
The main characters that make up the book were very interesting.
Let’s start with The Architect. He is from a race of philosophical beings that build worlds. In his words, he has created the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, along those lines. Forbidden from contacting humans, The Architect rebels. He finds a TV in a penthouse and discovers that it only follows an abandoned baby who is named November Fox. He watches over November her entire life and cares for her in his way.
The next character introduced is Erica. Reeling from the sudden death of a very close friend, she is inconsolable. She decides to leave London (where she is a teacher) and go for a walk on a beach. It is there that she finds a red bottle laying on the beach. Inside, written on papers, is a story about an architect and about a young woman named November Fox. As November’s journey grows and continues, more pages magically appear in the bottle.
Everything brings us to November Fox, the woman who the Architect has been watching all of her life. She had grown up to be a world-famous, vegan rock star who had just played the last show of her world tour. November awakens the next day, feeling a bit tired with her life on the road (for lack of a better word) and wants a more profound life purpose and a more balanced existence. So imagine her surprise when she goes out to find her dog, Honey, and find a package addressed to her. Inside the box was a cube and an invitation for her to join LOTNE (Leaders of the New Earth), her cube’s name and birthdate. With opening it, starts her journey to unlocking the mysteries of Form.
I won’t get too much into the book except each chapter is a lesson that everyone should heed. While I didn’t gain the insights that November did, the lessons were valuable.
I will say that Klaus was adorable. He is a baby elephant, obsessed with cake and his timepiece who happens to meet November in the first phase of her journey, and he keeps her company to the end. I also enjoyed Charlie the carpet.
Rebmevon had to be one of the creepiest characters that I have read. For some reason, I had visions of the little girl from The Ring whenever she came up in the book. And her storyline is tragic but the lesson associated is very valuable and unfortunately, November couldn’t face it.
The end of the book was fantastic. Erica and November’s storyline merged, and The Architect was still watching over November. The author did do a great job of setting up for the next book, and the twist thrown in threw me.
I would give November Fox an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread November Fox. I would recommend it to family and friends.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Sarlice and I came to Tanza to escape from the Zeikas, and we were not prepared for a country on the brink of war. Where should our loyalties lie—to our home towns, to Tanza or to each other?
The Zeikas have their fire magic, dragons and demons, but they lack the Kriite ability to communicate across vast distances using the waves. I know one thing—the skyearls will not give up Tanza without a fight.
Soon I will have a skyearl of my own, and the miracle of flight along with it. I was slow to come into my powers in Jaria, but I was wrong to think Krii had no purpose for my life. They have a new name for me here in Tanza: Astor Talon.
‘Tanza’ is the second in “The Astor Chronicles”, a series of epic fantasy adventure novels for a new adult audience.
My review:
I enjoyed reading this book. It is a fantasy with a lot of action put in it and is an easy read. This is a book that cannot be read alone. You need to read Talon first.
I had trouble understanding what was going on in the first couple of chapters. It seemed like Tanza immediately picks up where Talon left off. I was left to puzzle over what wavelengths were. I was confused and I do not like reading a book where I am confused.
I was thrilled that there is a glossary at the very end of the book. I was able to reread those chapters with a better understanding of what is going on. Also, kudos to her, including the glossary. It also had how to pronounce some of the names. I am a weirdo who likes to know how the names are said. I know I’m not the only one.
This book is filled with action, which started after Talon bonded with his skyearl. The Zeikas is an extremist religious group who are determined to kill anyone who doesn’t agree with them. Tanza is next on their list. Tanza is protected by a barrier. It does take the Zeikas a while before they succeed in breaching the barrier.
The battles in this book were impressive, on both ends. From the demons/conjurers/dragons on the Zeika side to the Anzaii/Rada-kin/skyearls on the Tanza side, the battles were epic. I couldn’t get enough of them.
The religious undertones of the book were right. Krii is, and I am going to assume this, like Jesus and the Zeikas are like Satan. The battles are a battle between good and evil, but the lines are blurred behind the Tanza lines too. There are extremists on both ends, and the extremists can cause a lot of harm (and they did in this book).
The ending of the book was a bit anticlimactic., I understood why the author wrote it this way. In no way did she end the battle between Tanza and the Zeikas with Tanza winning. They won one battle and drove the Zeikas away, for now. Who’s to say in the next book that the Zeikas will come back and take over the land?
I wasn’t expecting certain things to happen at the ending and was thrown for a loop when it did. But, thinking about it, there were huge red flags thrown up in the last chapters of the book. I shouldn’t have been that surprised.
How many stars will I give Tanza? 4
Why? A great fantasy book with well-written characters. If you didn’t read book 1, like me, I suggest you go and read it. If you don’t, then make use of the glossary at the end of the book.
Will I reread? Yes but after I read book 1
Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes but will also suggest reading book 1 first
Age range: Adult
Why: No sex (but there is mention of rape and the threat of rape in the book) and lots of violence.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
In a poignant romance from the author of This One Moment (“Hot, intense, and filled with emotion.”—Rachel Harris), the rock stars of Pushing Limits have hit the big time. But fame gets tough when love presents a fork in the road.
At twenty-one, Jared Leigh had been prepared to give up the life of a touring musician to be a father after getting his girlfriend pregnant. When she told him that she’d gotten an abortion, Jared was devastated. Now at least he has the groupies to keep him company—until a blast from the past rocks his world.
Callie Talbert hasn’t seen her sister’s ex since high school. But after Callie bumps into Jared while she’s grocery shopping with four-year-old Logan, there’s a spark that wasn’t there before. Jared quickly realizes that her deaf “son” is the same age his own child would have been. When Jared demands to know more about Logan, Callie panics. There are things she just can’t tell him. Besides, Jared’s a bad-boy rocker, not a dependable father figure. He’ll move on to his next gig soon enough . . . right?
Trouble is, Jared refuses to be pushed away, and the more quality time he spends with Logan, the more he’s captivated by the woman Callie has become. When the truth is revealed, Jared only hopes that the three of them have what it takes to become a real family.
I started reading this book and judging it. Yes, I judged a book by its cover and by the synopsis. Now, I am going to avenge myself. Read this book. It is that good.
I didn’t like Jared’s character in the beginning. I thought because he was a rock star, he was all about money and girls. The first chapter painted him like that. After he bumped into Callie and Logan, he started to change. I could see him falling in love with Callie. I could see the promise of what a great father he would be to Logan.
I didn’t like Callie. She lost her entire family in a freak accident when Logan was 1 year old, which is sad. Keeping Jared in the dark about his son was wrong. She wasn’t thinking straight and had been listening to her sister. The same sister who told Jared she had an abortion. But not telling him when he got in her life was wrong.
The romance between Callie and Jared was a slow burn, and it was delicious to read. The sex wasn’t that bad, either.
My only complaint is that it’s book 2 in a series. It can be read as a standalone book.
I would recommend My Song for You to anyone over 21. There is explicit sex, language, and mild violence.
If you enjoyed reading My Song for You, then you will enjoy these books:
I like my sex dirty. It takes a hell of a lot to tilt my moral compass, and I always follow when it’s pointing at something I want. That goes double when it points straight at the one girl in all of Chicago who’s not dying for a piece of me.
She’s all I can think about, and that’s a problem, because she wants nothing to do with me. But I’ve seen her deepest secrets, her darkest fantasies, and they match mine to a fucking T.
I want her.Bad.
Now I need to show her how good it can feel…to beshameless.
3 Things I liked about Shameless:
The storyline. One of the rare few times I would like the storyline of erotica, but I loved this one. I mean, sex aside, it was a solid story about 2 people falling in love. And since we are on the subject of sex, the sex scenes were wow!! Except for 1 scene, I liked them.
Jane. She is a character that I could relate to. I mean, she works 2 jobs, had to fix stuff herself via Google and YouTube, andis down to earth. I could see her being BFF with me if she was a real-life person. I was also very jealous that she ended up hooking up with a Chris Hemsworth lookalike.
Chase towards the middle and end. I felt that Jane had changed him. It might have started as sex, but it evolved quickly, and I liked seeing it. Gave me the warm fuzzies.
3 Things that I disliked about Shameless:
Chase at the beginning of the book. To be blunt, he came across as an asshole. A huge, sex-obsessed asshole and I wanted to choke him.
Addison. Jane’s best friend. I would have killed someone if they had hired a stripper to come to my house under the guise of a handyman. Sorry, but that would have been a friendship ender-for me. But Jane had the last laugh.
The anal sex scene. I am OK with anal sex and light bondage, and I am OK reading it. But when it crosses over into the gross category, I draw the line. And this was gross.
I would recommend Shameless to anyone over 21. There is explicit sex, language, and mild violence
If you enjoyed reading Shameless, you will enjoy reading these books:
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![Tanza - epic fantasy novel (The Astor Chronicles Book 2) by [Greenslade, Amanda]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51HWcr4SzZL.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
![My Song for You: A Pushing Limits Novel by [Lindenblatt, Stina]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/518v7EuthSL.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
![Shameless (Playboys in Love Book 1) by [Maxwell, Gina L.]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51yNAwmBIKL.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
