Friday, December 21, 2012

Cover Reveal: Wrecked (Clayton Falls #3) by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Wrecked (Clayton Falls #3) by Alyssa Rose Ivy
Cover designed by Once Upon a Time Covers.


The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: Spring/Summer 2013
Publisher: Self-Published

When your past catches up, it's time to stop running.

Jake Mathews messed up yet again— but this time his misstep lands him in the hospital. He wakes up to find the girl of his dreams and the memory of having his deepest secret revealed.

Emily Taylor needs a break. She's been working double shifts as a nurse just to pay the bills while trying to heal a broken heart. The last thing she needs is to fall for a patient. 

Strapped with community service and the knowledge that he's disappointed everyone in his life, Jake is determined not to let Emily slip through his fingers. Emily wants Jake, but can she really open herself up to heartache again?

VISIT THE AUTHOR:
FIND THE BOOK:

Hosted by:

What do you think of the cover? Have you read any of the books in this series?
I just finished the first two books in this series, and I think the covers fit pretty well with the content of the novels. They all match, which I love. I am a sucker for matching covers. I like this cover, as much as I liked the others - except for the awkward placement of the kiss. It really looks uncomfortable.

Follow Friday (45)

Feature & Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

Q. What have you learned from book blogging that you didn't know before about the publishing industry?

A. To be honest, I didn't know much of anything going into this. Since Ed and I started blogging in February, I've learned quite a bit. I have learned about the process of requesting and receiving galleys and ARCS, which is much different than I thought it would be. I learned what galleys and ARCs really are - before I started blogging, I didn't know that they were uncorrected proofs. I know all of the lingo now, too. I now know that there are multiple departments in a publishing company. It's not just a EVERYBODY DOES EVERYTHING industry, which I kind of figured before, but now I understand the different departments. So yeah... I've learned a lot!

What have you learned about the publishing industry since you started blogging?

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Book Review: Where There's Smoke (Good Girl Series #1) by Karen Kelley

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
297 Pages

Sexy wannabe-demon Destiny Carter is in Ft. Worth, Texas, with one week to corrupt a soul. Or else. She slips into a slinky red dress, and heads straight for the delicious, corruptible looking cowboy at the bar. But Chance Bellew has his own agenda-saving souls. He's not your typical angel-he likes drinking and sex way too much, and not necessarily in that order. And then he meets Destiny...



WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS MATERIAL UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18. 

VISIT THE AUTHOR:
FIND THE BOOK:

Review:
This book… Dear God, this book. I honestly don't know how I finished it. 

Here's the plot: Destiny is dead. She went to hell, but she's not a demon yet because she didn't bring enough souls with her to hell (or something like that). So they send her back to Earth to convince someone to go to hell, and she'll get to be a demon. She's got a week to do so. Chance (aren't you loving these names?) is a nephilim, half-angel, half-human. It's his job to convince people, especially those who are about to become demons, to join the ranks in heaven. He's got one week to convince Destiny that she should give up her dream of being a demon and find happiness in heaven. Along the way, they have copous amounts of sex, and… That's it. They just have a lot of sex. That's the plot.


The characters are dreadful. I hate Destiny. She's nasty, and not just because she's trying to be a demon or because she has sexual relations in a public place within the first ten percent of the book, but also because she treats everyone around her like crap. I know, I know. Demons aren't nice, but she's not a full demon yet - she still has her soul! There are so many inconsistencies… Like, why, if she's been dead for decades, is she JUST NOW being forced to coerce souls to the dark side? Her past is a jumbled mess that was so unlike the times that she's supposed from (the 50's, I think) that I wanted to scream. And Chance… Oh, Chance, how I don't understand you. In fact, all of the male characters in this book were strange. I thought God preached abstinence, yet these half-angels are sex fiends. THIS IS WHY I HATE PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVELS WITH ANGELS. No more. No, thank you.

The writing is just as awful as the characters. The sex scenes were not, in fact, sexy. They were awkward and constant. The awkwardness ranged from clinical terms for part of female genetila to dirty talk that did nothing but make me cringe. In the first twenty percent alone, there were three sex scenes, the female MC went to a porn shop and the main characters watched a porno together. 



I know this is supposed to be erotica, but really? ...This is a joke, right? Give me something! I skimmed the sex scenes, because even though there were a lot of them, they were written awfully. The characters were awkward. It wasn't like they didn't work well together. They had chemistry, I guess. But they don't even know each other! The first sexual experience they have together is the first time they meet. In a bar. That still has patrons inside. And then Chance just leaves her there. Really?


The book could've been a lot better, if the plot had taken precedence, but no. This book isn't romance. The romance in this doesn't even make sense! The main characters don't even know each other, yet claim to be in love! I can't say it enough: this has the plot of a badly written porn flick. And not even one that gets to the point! This was so drawn out! If you took out the sex scenes and the book probably would've been about a third shorter. I kept looking at the percentage on my kindle and thinking, "REALLY? I'm only that far in? There's so much left! When will this hell end?"

I wasted too much time on this book. I kept hoping it would pull through, but by the end, I was just morbidly curious about how the the story would tie up. It was a cheesefest, of course. I do not recommend this book.

I received and e-copy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley for my honest opinion and review.

Cover Reveal: Dangerous by Suzannah Daniels

Dangerous by Suzannah Daniels
Cover designed by Okay Creations.

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: February 10, 2013
Publisher: Self-Published

Stone Hamilton had never known fear...until the accident. Since then, his life has spiraled out of control. He's been kicked out of private school, deemed a disappointment by his father, and forced to endure his own guilt, anger, and grief. The last thing he wants is a relationship with someone who will have expectations of him. But once he's enticed by the shimmering pink lips of the oh-so-popular, academically-excelling, straitlaced hottie from his new school, he knows he's in trouble.

Seventeen-year-old Dara Golding has one goal for the summer: make enough money to buy a car, so that she can drive to school her senior year. After starting a new job, she realizes that she'll be working with the brooding, motorcycle-riding, bad boy who started attending Quail Mountain High last year. With his less than stellar reputation, he's everything she's afraid of...and that makes him dangerous.

Their undeniable attraction has Stone struggling with his inner demons. As Dara slowly allows Stone to claim her heart, a little white lie to cover an ugly truth could determine whether she's his savior or the final straw that will break his sanity.

VISIT THE AUTHOR:
FIND THE BOOK:

Hosted by:

What do you think of the cover? 
It sure has us intrigued, especially Emily, who is all about the sexy misunderstood badboys. It sounds like the cover will tie in very well with the book - that's always a plus!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday (41)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!
This week's theme is: 
Top Ten Favorite Books of 2012




*There are so many books that I loved this year. It's painful to only pick ten. You can see all of my favorite books that I've read this year HERE.*
What are your top ten books read in 2012?

Teaser Tuesday: Hysteria by Megan Miranda


Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading!
To participate all you have to do is:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!) 


 Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


--------------------

"Scarlet was not the color of blood. And despite what Nathaniel Hawthorne led me to believe, it wasn't the color of shame either."
Chapter 1, 1% eARC
Hysteria by Megan Miranda
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Monday, December 17, 2012

Book Review: Country Mouse by Amy Lane and Aleksandr Voinov

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: April 23, 2012
Publisher: Riptide Publishing

Owen may be a bit of a country mouse, but he's loving his vacation in London. After a long day playing tourist, he's on the hunt for some cheap beer and a good burger. Instead he finds a man hunting him, an arrogant prick with only one thing on the brain: the kind of meat that doesn't come on a bun.

Eighty-hour weeks at a trading desk don't leave Malcolm Kavanagh much time for meaningful relationships. Besides, in his world, everything's a competition-even sex. When his newest one-night-sub fails to show, Malcolm sets his sights on the pretty young Yank on the bar stool beside him.

Owen's all for an adventure with a native, but he's not the pushover Malcolm thinks he is, and Malcolm's not as shallow as he tries to be. They both soon learn that nothing's too intimate to share with a stranger, and the strangest things happen when two people share the most important pieces of their hearts.

WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS MATERIAL UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18. 

VISIT AMY LANE:
VISIT ALEKSANDR VOINOV:
FIND THE BOOK:

Review:

I'm not sure that I fully understood Country Mouse. While the idea behind the romance is interesting, the way it played out was subpar. The story itself was too focused on sex and the budding relationship seemed too quixotic.

As previously stated, Amy Lane's writing and I just don't seem to get along. Maybe it's because many of her story lines are too unrealistic for contemporary fiction. Maybe it's because I have weird taste in books. Who knows. My point in saying this is that I requested Country Mouse from Netgalley because of co-author, Aleksandr Voinov. I really enjoyed the other novel I read by him, Gold Digger - see my review HERE - and I wanted to see how he handled what sounded like a less intense story (from what I've read, his books all deal with controversial and dark issues). I also wanted to see if he could help pull me out of this Amy Lane funk. Sadly, that second thing didn't work out. 

These two authors have very different writing styles that had some serious clashing points within the story. Aleksandr's prose is mature, his characters well developed and… broody. On the other side of this, Amy Lane's writing has always felt very amateur to me. Her stories are jam-packed in a way that annoys me rather than intrigues me. She always piles issues one on top of another for the main characters to resolve, and half of them actually take away from the story instead of helping it. They are pointlessly added to draw in more conflict. As I write this I am think of the last Amy Lane novel I read, Chase in Shadow. I don't mean that I'm basing my opinion of this novel off of Chase in Shadow or any of Ms. Lane's other stories, I am stating my issues with Amy Lane's writing traits and pointing out the distinctions between these two authors. Luckily enough, Country Mouse was not overcrowded with struggles, which made it a better, but not great, read.

The pace of the novel and relationship between the characters progressed way, way too quickly. I can understand why they pushed the romance as hard as they did, seeing how the book was so short. I could've read it in less than an hour, if I'd read it in one sitting. If the novel had been longer and the budding relationship given a genuine time frame, I think I would've enjoyed this a lot more. There were also some passages in the novel that I that I had to reread several times because they didn't make sense to me, more towards the beginning of the novel, and even after rereading them, I still didn't really understand. I don't think I'll ever understand British comedy - besides Monty Python... does that count?

I did enjoy the characters in this one. As I said previously, I think they could've had a real relationship had the plot line been drawn out. Owen and Malcolm are very different, but I loved that they were both able to bring out the real personalities and emotions of the other. Owen, the American traveling through Europe with his ex-girlfriend and good friend, sees himself as a "country mouse" and is more set on seeing the sites than seeing someone's bedroom. Malcolm, the dominant Brit, has a dirty itch to scratch and thinks that this little country mouse would be perfect for a night of play. But after one night, they realize they want more. I found myself annoyed by the pretty powerful insta-love. The sex scenes were very well done. That being said, the way the authors tried to write this as a lite BDSM novel seemed so weird to me. It didn't fit. So while the scenes were hot, they just confused me more.

I'm definitely going to read more Voinov, but I am officially breaking up with Amy Lane books. (I feel like I've said that before, but I mean it this time!) This story was overall enjoyable, but nothing mind-blowing. It's more likely to please fans of the M/M romance genre that are looking for a story with more sex and less love. Personally, I'm all about the love.


I received an e-copy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley for my honest opinion and review.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Stacking the Shelves (33)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme, hosted by Tynga's Reviews, where bloggers share the books and goodies that they've received over the week.

Edwin Didn't Get Anything To Put On His Shelves This Week

Emily's Stack for the Shelves:

Netgalley:

Thank you, Netgalley and Harlequin!

For Review:
Big thanks to Ksenia from Macmillan!

Won:
Thank you to Audris from YA Bookmark!


Lots of hugs and thanks to Lisa from A Life Bound By Books!

Swag:
Signed Hysteria Bookmarks and Signed Bookplate from Megan Miranda
Thank you, Megan!

What did you get for your shelves this week?
 
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