The Perfect Game by J. Sterling

Title: The Perfect Game
Author: J. Sterling
Blurb:
He's a game she never intended to play.
And she's the game changer he never knew he needed.

The Perfect Game tells the story of college juniors, Cassie Andrews & Jack Carter. When Cassie meets rising baseball hopeful Jack, she is determined to steer clear of him and his typical cocky attitude. But Jack has other things on his mind... like getting Cassie to give him the time of day.


They're both damaged, filled with mistrust and guarded before they find one another (and themselves) in this emotional journey about love and forgiveness. Strap yourselves for a ride that will not only break your heart, but put it back together.


Sometimes life gets ugly before it gets beautiful...

Links:
The Perfect Game on Goodreads

The Perfect Game on Amazon

J. Sterling's Website

 Kala's Review:

I have really mixed feelings about this book. The first half is almost a clone of Beautiful Disaster with Jack acting like a huge player who "never sleeps with the same girl twice" and gets in fights a lot (aka Travis). Cassie acts exactly like Abby as the girl who can resist him, but not really, and he instantly falls for her. They start dating quickly and he becomes possessively obsessed with Cassie. He even gives her an arbitrary nick name the first time they meet - Kitten (which makes as much sense as Pigeon, but at least is something cute instead of the cockroach of birds). Jack also beats people up, treats every other girl (EXCEPT Cassie and her best friend) like a slut.

Speaking of the best friend, Cassie's best friend is a clone of the BFF in Beautiful Disaster too. She fluctuates between warning Cassie off of Jack and telling Cassie to forgive Jack's constant bad behavior.

Despite the similarities to Beautiful Disaster, I still enjoyed the story for the most part.

The book starts deviating in plotline towards the middle when Jack gets drafted (for baseball).  

Major spoilers after this point!

Jack cheats on Cassie, which I don't understand at all. I know he was drunk, but he was completely uninterested in this girl who won't leave him alone yet he KEEPS drinking until he's so drunk he goes home with her.

Of course, the girl ends up pregnant. Then Jack, who is the biggest moron ever, decides he has to marry the girl. He can't stand her, is in love with Cassie (who is willing to forgive him despite him cheating AND getting a girl pregnant), but he insists on torturing everyone by marrying the girl.

AND HE DOES IT. Despite Cassie coming down the day before to beg him not to. That conversation broke my heart and the way he treated Cassie during that conversation, especially when the other girl shows up, was unforgivable. Completely unforgivable.

But then, of course, the girl was faking the pregnancy (and Jack, the biggest moron ever, can't wait to see a pregnancy test or a PATERNITY TEST... this girl is a huge slut and he doesn't wait for a paternity test??).

So Jack dumps her and waits six months to beg for Cassie back. I admit he did it in a cute way, but I didn't care at that point. He was not redeemable at that point. He just wasn't. So I couldn't feel like it was a happy ending, despite it being a happy ending.

I was impressed by the author's writing style though. The book was well edited, has a nice cover, and was formatted well. Though I had some issues with the story itself, the book flowed really well and was a quick and easy read. I will be checking out additional books by this author

3 out of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/444239414

Losing It by Cora Carmack

Title: Losing It
Author: Cora Carmack
Blurb:
Virginity.

Bliss Edwards is about to graduate from college and still has hers. Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, she decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible-- a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

Links:
Losing It on Goodreads

Losing It on Amazon

Cora Carmack's Website

 Kala's Review:

I enjoyed Losing It, but I wasn't blown away by it. Slammed is a MUCH better teacher/student/I didn't know/OMG love story, but Losing It is still decent.

I have to say, I hated the names. I'm not a big fan of wacky names in general, but there are times when the names grow on me. In this case, the names were just all off-the-wall. Bliss is a difficult name to take seriously on a heroine, and Garrick isn't bad, but it sounds like someone's SCA roleplaying name. We also have Cade, the guy best friend who is secretly in love with Bliss.

(sigh)

The story itself is a quick and easy read and the characters are mostly interesting and fleshed out. However, the virginity thing was made in to such a huge deal that I was starting to wonder if I bought one of those faith-based books on accident. I didn't, but Bliss' craziness over the whole virginity thing borderlined on over the top.

While I liked Cade as the best friend, his character kind of got ruined when he became the third wheel in a sort of love triangle that went nowhere. Bliss made it pretty obvious she wasn't interested in him like that, but he didn't want to take no for an answer and then he turned from the sweet best friend into kind of a jerk. I know his feelings got hurt, but love isn't always requited. It's a believable scenario, but I didn't feel like the Cade thing added anything to the storyline.

Garrick was kind of generic and suffered from the 'too perfect' syndrome that so many romance novel heroes have. He has a British accent, he rides a motorcycle, he's so hot that women can't seem to stop throwing themselves at him, he's an actor (at least he's not famous!), he's completely understanding and sweet about the virginity thing...

The only downside to Garrick was that I didn't feel like he fought the student/teacher relationship thing at all. He said he did, but he kept grabbing Bliss and kissing her at school. It was kind of strange. It felt like Bliss tried a lot harder to fight it, but Garrick is the one who had everything at stake.

The romance between Garrick and Bliss was cute, overall, and I enjoyed reading about the progression of their relationship. Their almost sex scenes (V-CARD!) were steamy!

While I thought Slammed was FAR better than this, I still enjoyed Losing It and will probably be checking in to other books by this author.

3 out of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/443551750

Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick

 Title: Finale
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Blurb:
Fates unfurl in the gripping conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Hush, Hush saga.

Nora is more certain than ever that she is in love with Patch. Fallen angel or no, he is the one for her. Her heritage and destiny may mean they are fated to be enemies, but there is no turning her back on him. Now Nora and Patch must gather their strength to face one last, perilous trial. Old enemies return, new enemies are made, and a friend's ultimate betrayal threatens the peace Patch and Nora so desperately want. The battle lines are drawn—but which sides are they on? And in the end, are there some obstacles even love can't conquer?

Links:
Finale on Goodreads

Finale on Amazon

Becca Fitzpatrick's Website

 Kala's Review:

SIGH

BECCA FITZPATRICK!  WHY??

This book suffers the exact same "unnecessary fourth book syndrome" as Breaking Dawn, in all the wrong ways.

I enjoyed the first three books of this series.  They weren't the best written stories ever, but I got attached to Nora and Patch and Vee and Scott.  Then came Finale.  As a side note, this book also might earn the "Worst Title Ever" award.

Reasons why this book sucked:

(SPOILER ALERT FRIENDS)

1) Nora gets everything she ever wanted.  The same thing happened in Breaking Dawn where Bella basically gets it all, no matter how impossible it should have been. See rest of this list for details.

2) Vee has been Nephilim this whole time, she just didn't know it.  What?  Seriously?  This is so beyond stupid and completely ruined Vee's character.

3) Patch gets to "feel" forever.  Apparently Detective Basso was an archangel in disguise!  Because Patch has been such an awesome fallen angel, he lets him stay immortal AND he gets to "feel" now! WOO.  Sorry, but this is dumb. 

4) Patch turns against his own people.  He and Nora talk another angel into gathering every fallen angel feather so that every single fallen angel will be chained in hell forever and ever.  He does this because he is so in loooove with Nora that he will destroy the lives of all of his friends.  Apparently he is the only "good" fallen angel out there.

5) Dabria and Patch and cheating allegations.  Again.  Nora, being the immature and overly jealous teenage girl that she is, thinks Patch might be cheating on her.  Again.  Haven't we been through this before?

6) An immature teenage girl is the leader of an army of Nephilim.  This might be the #1 most ridiculous part of this story.  Their former leader was an imposing older man.  He went completely bonkers and did a blood transfusion to turn Nora Nephilim so he could make her leader of his army.  What army is going to follow a high school girl in to war?  Seriously?  Nora attends her high school classes (sporadically), and then goes to war meetings after school.  It's so beyond dumb.

7) Nora's training sessions.  She does 15-mile sprints before school every day!  Does this girl ever sleep?  The training sessions are boring as hell.  And so overdone in these YA Paranormal books.  Every YA Paranormal these days has tons of "training" sessions and they're almost all boring.  She also spends one day learning swordfighting with Patch and suddenly becomes a samurai ninja girl.  Nice.

8) The epilogue.  There's a hint of a relationship starting between Scott and Vee during this book.  But then Scott gets killed (boohoo).  Then we get this epilogue of Nora at Vee's wedding, where she's marrying some character we've never met and for some strange reason I DON'T CARE. 

So basically, Nora gets Patch.  Patch gets to feel.  All the fallen angels are dead so Nora doesn't have to swear fealty, ever.  Vee is Nephilim, so Nora doesn't have to keep hiding stuff.  Vee gets married to her true love (some guy named Gavin that we never meet).  Everyone lives happily ever after (except Scott who died, but he was barely a blip in this book anyways so I didn't even care).

All this is wrapped up in hundreds of pages of terribly boring dialogue, boring training sessions, even more boring dialogue, and a scant few action scenes (that aren't particularly well done).

To say I'm disappointed in Finale would be an understatement.

1 out of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/223161867

The Unofficial Zack Warren Fan Club by J.C. Isabella

Title: The Unofficial Zack Warren Fan Club
Author: J.C. Isabella
Blurb:
Welcome to the big leagues. To secrets and scandals. It's all about the game. Who's playing. Who's not. Who has no idea about the game. And...wait, what game are we playing?

I'll leave that for you to decide.

Where to start is the big question for Chloe Baker. How was she supposed to explain to Zack Warren that she started a fan club for him when she was a kid? It was just a game. A way to make friends and have fun. She never thought it would spiral out of control. And never. In a million, gazillion years, did she think it would follow her to college. How could she tell him her best friend Lana kept the club alive? That she had nothing to do with the craziness?

Chloe didn’t understand why she cared so much about Zack's opinion of her. She hated him. He hated her. They had very mutual feelings of dislike for each other. So he'd just hate her even more when or if he found out.

And that's totally fine...she thinks.

Zack Warren had a soft spot for Chloe Baker. He likes the way she walks. He likes the way she talks. If he was poetically inclined, he’d write a sonnet about her ass.

It's Zack’s junior year of college. He’s got things to worry about. Scouts from the major leagues. Baseball games. Contracts. Grades.... His father ran away to Vegas with Chloe's mother. He didn’t have time to worry about a girl. But he did. He worried about Chloe a lot, especially with that jerk Max sniffing around her. It's weird though, to like your stepsister, right?

But Zack could argue that he saw Chloe first. Way before his dad met her mom. He was too young to stake a claim. But just didn’t care anymore.

He’s done playing games.

Links:
Zack Warren Fan Club on Goodreads

Zack Warren Fan Club on Amazon

J.C. Isabella's Website

 Kala's Review:

This book was very disappointing. I've never read anything by this author before and I love discovering new self-pubbed authors, but I'll have to think twice before buying anything of hers again.

One of the biggest problems is the editing. I try to be understanding of a few small errors in self-pubbed books, but this one has either a spelling or grammatical error on nearly every page. It's also double spaced which makes it really annoying to read on Kindle.

The story itself had potential, but just fell flat. I couldn't connect with Zack or Chloe and the plot itself was just silly. The whole idea of Chloe starting a fan club for Zack in elementary was semi-believable, but the idea that dozens of girls would join it and continue it on into college is just bizarre. What's even more bizarre is that Chloe's "best friend" would continue on with this club despite Chloe not wanting to be involved AND despite having a boyfriend.

Also, the club was a really minor part of the book (until near the end). The majority of the book contains long boringly detailed chapters about how Chloe and Zack take down wallpaper and paint rooms in their parents new house (Chloe's mom married Zack's dad). There is also another ridiculous subplot of a guy friend of Zack's who can't take no for an answer and constantly stalks Chloe, but it's also just over the top stupid.

I got so bored with this book that I ended up skimming huge chunks of it while I tried to find something good. I couldn't find much. The writing was juvenile and simplistic, the chapters were long and boring, the POV switches prove that this author cannot write a male POV at all, and the characters are all flat and cardboard.

I would not recommend this book to anyone - there is MUCH MUCH better self pubbed stuff out there for under $4.

2 out of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/439757940

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Blurb:
"There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

Links:
The Raven Boys on Goodreads

The Raven Boys on Amazon

Maggie Stiefvater's Website

 Kala's Review:

Thank you to Scholastic for providing me a copy of this book via netgalley.com.  :)

The very beginning of this book and the very end of this book are phenominal. Unfortunately, the middle is dreadfully boring and confusing to the point where I seriously struggled to get through nearly 200 pages of this novel.

I loved Scorpio Races and thought Shiver was okay. The blurb of this book excited me as well, and I couldn't wait to read another Stiefvater book. Then I opened it up and got even more excited. Blue and Gansey were both fascinating and I couldn't wait to see how they end up meeting up, and what happens from there...

But after that meetup, the story just collapsed for me. I found Adam kind of boring and I don't see someone as eccentric as Blue falling for someone that boring. He is sweet and nice, but I felt myself skimming the pages where he and Blue were interacting because it was all so boring. I also thought Adam was kind of a jerk to Gansey, considering Gansey seemed to want nothing more than to help him. I get that he was prideful, but Gansey obviously had good intentions and Adam treated him pretty badly (especially towards the end after the big confrontation).

Gansey was far more interesting at the start, but he even fell a little flat for me in the middle. He was so focused on the quest, and I was hoping to see more interaction between him and Blue. We get this amazing setup in the first few chapters, with Blue seeing his dead spirit on St. Mark's Eve, and the prediction of Blue kissing her true love and killing him... then he and Blue barely interact. The only time I saw any chemistry between them were the "visions" that Blue had a few times of them. Their actual interactions were boring.

The last couple of chapters picked up again, but at the end I was left feeling somewhat cheated. I can't say there was no plot, because a lot of things happened, but they weren't what I was expecting and they definitely weren't better than I was expecting. I wasn't emotionally attached to Noah, or Barrington, or Neeve, or any of the characters who played such a huge role at the end of this book.

That said, this book wasn't awful. I just didn't love it. I will probably continue the series, as I'm interested to see how things work out for Blue and Gansey.

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/419788782

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Blurb:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Links:
Cinder on Goodreads

Cinder on Amazon
 
Marissa Meyer's Website

 Kala's Review:

I'm a sucker for retellings of Disney stories. You know all those cheesy Disney Cinderella remakes? Yeah, I've seen them all. The Hilary Duff one. The Selena Gomez one. All of them. AND I LOVE THEM!

I took awhile to pick this one up, because there was something about the sci-fi cyborg aspect that turned me off. I wish I hadn't waited so long though, because this book was awesome! It's sci-fi, but a lighter version that's easy to read and not as tech-heavy as the hardcore sci-fi tends to be.

Marissa Meyer's world building was a bit shaky at first and I struggled to get a feel for what it looked like, but her characters were all fleshed out and compelling and I got sucked in to their storylines almost from the first page.

There was a "twist" at the end that was obvious from nearly the beginning. I think the first time the author hinted at it, it was extremely obvious. I don't know if she meant it to be obvious or not, but it definitely was. I won't go in to further detail because it would spoil the story, and because the story was still so much fun that it didn't matter.

I am pretty upset at Meyer though, for that ending! Cliffhangers will be the death of me, for real. I can't wait for Scarlet (which appears to be Snow White plus Cinder!). Great book! Highly recommend! Don't let the sci-fi aspect scare you off, this is a great story!

4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/353799133

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Blurb:
It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future-and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

Links:
Where She Went on Goodreads

Where She Went on Amazon
 
Gayle Forman's Website

 Kala's Review:

I liked this book so much more than If I Stay, and I don't know that I can really explain why. A lot of reviewers seemed to have disliked Adam's point of view compared to Mia's, but I preferred it.

If I Stay had that bittersweet sort of ending that left a lot of unanswered questions, and this book answered all of them. Adam was so broken when Mia was in the accident, and Mia leaving him afterwards shattered him completely. It tore me apart to read about the pain he suffered when she left him and when she reappeared in his life.

The writing was beautiful again, just as in the first novel, but I felt far more attached to the characters this time. Although there wasn't much 'plot' in this book, just as in the first, I didn't feel like it dragged. During If I Stay, I got bored of all the flashbacks. That wasn't the case with Where She Went. The breakdown and rebuilding of Adam and Mia's relationship was masterfully interwoven from chapter to chapter.

I admit I was concerned with how Forman would end it, but my fears were for nothing because the ending is satisfying and beautiful and left me sitting here with a happy smile on my face. This book is very, very good!

4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/436187255

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Blurb:
Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

Links:
The Knife of Never Letting Go on Goodreads

The Knife of Never Letting Go on Amazon
 
Patrick Ness' Website

 Kala's Review:

This is one of those books that I have mixed feelings about. I struggled to read the awkward prose, but I mostly enjoyed the plot, which was so convoluted and twisted that you just can't help but keep turning pages to figure out was happens next.

Ness has created a fascinating futuristic New World - settlers from Earth (presumably) have moved to this new planet and made it their own. There are settlements all over the planet, a planet which was taken by force by the settlers from the resident aliens (called the Spackle).

Todd lives in one of these settlements, Prentisstown, which is a town full of only men. The men can all hear each others thoughts, which they call Noise. One of the big questions we have, right from the start, is what happened to all of the women?

In a month's time, Todd will "become a man." All boys "become men" at the age of 13 in Prentisstown and Todd is the last boy to "become a man." But before that can happen, Todd (and his dog, Manchee) come across something in the woods that starts unraveling everything Todd has ever known. He and Manchee must set off on a journey across the New World, running for their lives, all while trying to figure out how much of what Todd knows is truth and how many lies he has been force fed since he was a baby.

I can't say I mostly enjoyed reading about Todd's adventures. The tension was good, but there never felt like a lull in it. Todd was subject to bad thing after bad thing after bad thing up until the end where Ness leaves you with a huge cliffhanger of a bad thing. It was hard to feel hope for Todd's predicament.

Todd also was a difficult protagonist for me to like. He was very rude and stuck in his ways. He did eventually come around, but for most of the novel I was really annoyed with his behavior. He just wasn't a pleasant person to be inside of for nearly 500 pages.

One of the biggest issues I had with this novel was the prose. There are purposeful spelling and grammatical errors, most of which I could deal with... but they were sporadic. For example, everything ending in "tion" was spelled with "shun" instead. Like, information would be informayshun. It makes sense when considering Todd's lack of education, but Todd spelled plenty of other difficult words without issue.

Ness also has a habit of having Todd learn something, but keep it from the reader. For example, Todd would ask a question and get the answer from someone's Noise, but he wouldn't let us in on it. He would just get mad.

Ness also has a strange way of writing action scenes that I found difficult to follow. A typical one would look something like this:


I wait-
Davy pulls on the reins-
I dodge-
I wait-
"Effing horse!" Davy shouts-
He tries to jerk on the reins again-
The horse is twisting round one more time-
I wait-
The horse brings Davy round to me, careening him low in the saddle-
And there's my chance-

And so on for 3-4 pages.

It was an interesting way to write them, but I personally didn't like it.

I'm debating with myself as to whether or not I will finish the series. I'm curious to see what happens, but I am not feeling obsessively "OMG I NEED TO KNOW" about it at the moment and I have about a dozen library books sitting here waiting to be read that are looking far more appetizing to me at the moment. I may pick this series back up in a few weeks and see how I feel then.

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/311247830

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

Title: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Author: Ally Carter
Blurb:
Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

Links:
I'd Tell You I Love You on Goodreads

I'd Tell You I Love You on Amazon
 
Ally Carter's Website

 Kala's Review:

This was one of those fluffy cute books that reminds you of fluffy cute Disney movies like Starstruck or Princess Protection Program. It's unrealistic and silly, but it's okay because it doesn't take itself too seriously. Gallagher Girls is just plain fun!

The main character, Cammie, is a teenager in an elite spy school. She ends up meeting a townie, a local boy (Josh), that she falls for. Sneaking out to meet boys is completely against the rules, so hilarious hijinks ensue as Cammie tries to pretend to be normal for Josh while dealing with a new teacher who takes spy school to a whole new level.

I'm definitely planning to continue reading this series as I get them from the library. Very cute story!

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/431246801

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Lost Prince
Author: Julie Kagawa
Blurb:
Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them. 

That is Ethan Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he'd dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

Links:
The Lost Prince on Goodreads

The Lost Prince on Amazon

 Julie Kagawa's Website

 Kala's Review:

ARC of this book provided by publisher from netgalley.com.  Thanks! :D

I just recently got introduced to Julie Kagawa's books, having only just finished The Iron King last week.  I've been hearing so much about The Lost Prince and I wasn't sure if I should read the entire Iron Fey series in order.  Unfortunately the next three books after Iron King were on hold at the library and I got approved for The Lost Prince, so I decided to go for it. 

I'm SO glad I did!

While reading this ahead of the rest of the earlier Iron Fey books might have caused a few spoilers, I don't think it will ruin the rest for me.  This book focuses solely on Ethan (and his friends), with short cameos from some characters from the earlier books.

Ethan was only a little boy (around 4 years old) during the original Iron Fey novels, and this book starts with him as a teenager dealing with the aftermath of everything Meghan left behind when she left to rule her Iron kingdom.  He has been tormented by the Fey for years, and has become withdrawn and bitter, making for a fascinating character.

Kagawa takes us on another journey through Nevernever, visiting a few familiar places and many many more new ones as Ethan reluctantly adventures through faeryland in an attempt to save his one (sort of) friend who has gone missing.  A dogged female school newspaper reporter (Kenzie) ends up accompanying him, and with her he starts to realize that maybe things aren't always what they seem at first glance.

I was so happy to see all of the familiar faces (Meghan, Ash, Puck, Grimalkin), but I was also ecstatic to meet the new ones as well.  Ethan is an amazingly complex character and it's fun to read about this adventure through his eyes.  He is a tough guy, as Kenzie likes to call him, but he has his reasons for being that way and eventually that tough guy exterior starts to crack.

Kierran is another interesting character, though I find myself less enamored with him and his love interest.  I found Ethan and Kenzie far more compelling.  While I didn't find Kierran as interesting as Ethan, I still enjoyed his storyline and I liked him as a character a lot more before the love interest showed up. 

I do have to say, the cover is not as gorgeous as her other covers.  Perhaps it is better in person (I only received an ebook version of it), but I found the covers of Iron King/Iron Knight/Iron Queen/Iron Daughter to all be stunningly beautiful and this one just isn't on that level, in my opinion.  The photoshop work around his face is jarring. :(

Overall, great novel!  I can't wait to dig in to the rest of Meghan's books while I wait for the sequel to this to be released! 

Highly recommend!

4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/432428459

Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

Title: Monstrous Beauty
Author: Elizabeth Fama
Blurb:
Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.

Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.

Links:
Monstrous Beauty on Goodreads

Monstrous Beauty on Amazon

Elizabeth Fama's Website

 Kala's Review:

I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up this book.  Maybe some cheesy mermaid version of Twilight?  Something along the lines of a more well written <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12425532-of-poseidon">Of Poseidon</a>?  I don't know. 

I definitely didn't expect THIS.

This book is a masterpiece.  It was the epitome of hauntingly beautiful.  From page one I was sucked in and I couldn't put this book down all day until I finished it, which is the best possible feeling ever when reading a book (as everyone knows).

Syrenka is a monster, but you end up feeling so much for her.  By the end, by the time I really understood her, I was shattered.  Though she does some truly awful and unforgivable things, her motivations make sense by the end and you can't help but feel sorry for her and root for her.

Hester is an interesting girl.  Seventeen and an old soul who discovers the secrets of her past as she tries to figure out what the mystery surrounding Ezra and Syrenka.  I love the way she speaks - it's so realistic and, at times, amusing.  The conversation with her and the boy in the cave (the first time she meets Ezra) and between her and the boys at the village who are hitting on her were both hilarious.

My only issue with the story might be the insta-love.  While I understand why it happens, it was still a bit jarring.

While the characters absolutely shine and drive this novel into complete awesomeness, the mermaid lore can't be overlooked.  I LOVE Fama's mermaids.  There are no Ariels in this world!  The mermaids are feral and beautiful and scary and fascinating.  Her descriptions were so vivid I could imagine exactly what they looked like, and I LOVE they they're not just women with fish tails.

I can't believe this is considered young adult - it's that incredible.  I really think adults, even those who may not necessarily enjoy paranormal books, would still like this one.  It's a character driven story with some paranormal aspects.

Elizabeth Fama has written something truly incredible with this book and I will definitely be following her work from here on out.  Outstanding novel! 

5 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/381673489

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron King (The Iron Fey #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Blurb:
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Links:
The Iron King on Goodreads

The Iron King on Amazon

Julie Kagawa's Website

 Kala's Review:



For the first few chapters of this book I couldn't help but wonder if I was reading something different from everyone else.  So many reviewers I trust rated this book highly and I was wondering if I was missing something.

At the start, Meghan is completely unlikable and whiny.  She has a best friend that she treats terribly.  I was really disappointed with how mean she was to Robbie at the start and I seriously wondered why he was even friends with her.

However, as this book progressed and I really got into the meat of it, I had a change of opinion.  Or Meghan changed.  Or both? 

I started liking her a lot, despite the whole damsel-in-distress syndrome she suffered from throughout the first 85-90% of the novel.

Where Iron King started to shine was when Ash was around.  He was an interesting and complex character (and the chemistry he had with Meghan didn't hurt!).  Part III of this book was absolutely phenominal!  I couldn't put it down.

While slow to start, the journey Kagawa takes you on is absolutely magical.  I was skeptical about Nevernever at first, but as the story went on I felt as though I was really there.  I didn't like Meghan at first, but later on I felt myself rooting for her and liking her and wanting things to work out for her.  I even felt myself admiring her at the very end.

I immediately put the next three books in this series on hold at the library.  I can't wait to dive in to them and continue Meghan's journey.  And I want to see more Ash.  And Puck.  And Ash and Puck bantering together. 

Yeah, all of that.

MORE PLEASE!

4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/311115698

Forever Mine by Elizabeth Reyes

Title: Forever Mine
Author: Elizabeth Reyes
Blurb:
Seventeen-year old Sarah’s life is turned upside down when her single mom is sent to jail. She’s forced to move, leaving behind everything she’s ever known, including her best friend Sydney. Lost and bitter in a new school, her one goal is to save money and move back home. Then she meets Angel Moreno.

Enigmatic but gorgeous, Angel is almost too good to be true. Except for one thing, his archaic belief that guys and girls can never be “just friends”. The problem? Sarah’s best friend Sydney is not a girl.

With their unexpected romance intensifying to places neither ever experienced, how long can Sarah keep Angel in the dark about the guy waiting for her back home?

Links:
Forever Mine on Goodreads

Forever Mine on Amazon

Elizabeth Reyes' Website

 Kala's Review:

This book was a huge disappointment. I've heard good things about this author, but after this book I'm hesitant to try anything else by her. The only redeeming qualities are the side characters, which are also the only reason I may cave and read another of her books.

Angel (the male lead) is an insecure controlling asshole. I don't care if he's gorgeous, he has major issues which are (yet again) romanticized in a young adult romance. He makes an off-hand comment at the start of the novel about how he doesn't think men and women can be friends. From that point on, Sarah is petrified to tell him about her best friend Sydney (who is male). Towards the end, after Angel finds out about Sydney, he still insists that Sarah tell him every single time she talks to Sydney on the phone. And Sarah accepts that, because we don't want to push Angel's patience too far! We must give up our friends for our boyfriends if they object to them for completely arbitrary reasons!

Sarah (the female lead) is just plain weak, boring, and stupid. She is so devoid of personality that I can't even think of one positive thing to say about her. She lets Angel control her, and in fact, embraces it. There is a specific line, that I can't find right now, where she flat out says she "embraces" Angel's controlling behavior. She also talks about how she loves how possessive Angel is and she wishes she'd had a man to take care of her when she was younger. There is definitely no thoughts about being a secure, independent woman here!

The whole pervy coach storyline was ridiculous. I was hoping that the author was making it so obvious and over the top in order to throw us for a loop and make him actually a decent person, but instead she just went with the obvious. And Sarah, knowing this guy is a huge perv, keeps doing stupid things to spend time alone with her. The "climax" scene at the end where she goes running with him in the wilderness was so dumb. Sarah is the epitome of the TSTL heroine (TO STUPID TO LIVE!).

I also just didn't feel any spark or connection with Sarah or Angel. Both were so wooden and cardboard and boring. Sarah was, like I said before, devoid of any personality. Outside of his possessive and controlling behavior, Angel was too. The romance was so blah and boring as well. I like characters I can feel something for, and these two were not it.

I found Alex and Sofie (Angel's siblings) to be far more interesting, but they're not around nearly enough.

Another major issues I had with the book was the random changing of perspective that happened without any clear chapter break or break in the storyline. We would switch from Sarah to Angel in the middle of a scene and I found it jarring and awkward.

1.5 stars.





Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/430292237

Freeing Carter by Nyrae Dawn

(Sorry for the lack of updates!  I have had an extremely busy weekend at work, combined with the latest expansion to World of Warcraft coming out.  Not enough time to read!)

Title: Freeing Carter
Author: Nyrae Dawn
Blurb:
His whole life Carter’s fought to hold it together: To help Mom run their store. To be there for his special needs sister, Sara, and be the perfect boyfriend Mel wants. To dominate on the basketball court—the only place he ever feels free. And to carry Mom up the stairs when she’s too smashed to make it on her own.

It isn't like she has a problem. Mom loves them. If she doesn't drink every day, she's not really an alcoholic, right?

Wrong.

Then Kira Dawson, a girl with a bipolar wardrobe and rotating hairstyles comes to town. Somehow, she sees the truths he hides from the world. “You have skeletons, too, Carter Shaw. Don’t think I don’t know it.” For the first time, he wants someone to see his inner scars—to really know him.

When his mom finally goes too far, will Carter be able to man-up, even if it means turning his back on her and stepping out from behind the façade he’s fought so hard to keep in place?

Links:
Freeing Carter on Goodreads

Freeing Carter on Amazon

Nyrae Dawn's Website

 Kala's Review:

I originally rated this 3 stars after reading, but after giving it some thought I bumped it up to 4. I really liked this book.

Carter, the main character, has so much to deal with. His mom is an alcoholic who struggles hard with her inner demons. His little sister, Sara, has special needs and he struggles to help her and deal with his mom. He also has grown apart from his girlfriend and knows their relationship is no longer a good thing, but hesitates to break things off.

A new girl, Kira, moving to town jump starts a change in his life that brings all of these struggles to a head and helps Carter start to deal with all the bad in his life.

Kira is an awesome character. She's smart, funny, eccentric, confident. I like that she has the cajones to wear what she wants and do crazy stuff with her hair. I like that she doesn't care about conforming to the popular standard. I like that she is pretty and knows it, but isn't conceited about it either.

Carter was a bit on the wussy side at first, but I think throughout the novel he grows up a lot and learns that he has to actually deal with his issues - he can't ignore them and shove them in a closet forever. For a long time he has lied about his mom's disease and tried to hide it. When it starts spiraling out of control to the point where it effects his little sister, he finally realizes he can't keep hiding it and does the right thing.

This author is really really talented and has a knack for creating realistic characters that you really grow to care about throughout the book. She also creates diverse characters of different backgrounds and ethnicities without making it feel like non-white people are thrown in as token characters. I've read all of her books now and love most of them. She's definitely on my auto-buy list at this point. :)

4 of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/411386035

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Blurb:

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

Links:
Anna Dressed in Blood on Goodreads

Anna Dressed in Blood on Amazon

Kendare Blake's Website

 Kala's Review:

She turns to me. "We're in on the secret now, aren't we Cas? And it's taking us out of the world."

"That's usually the way it works," I say softly.

When I first started reading this book I was a bit apprehensive about it. I don't mind ghost stories, but I had a hard time wrapping my mind around ghosts that are tangible and 'killable' I suppose. I get the idea of banishment and spells, but stabbing with a knife? It was weird, at first.

But then I got sucked in to this story and it all made sense.

Cas is a teenage boy and this book is told from his point of view. He has inherited the job of killing murderous ghosts after his father was killed by a particularly nasty one. He and his quirky pagan/white witch mother travel around the country seeking out ghosts.

His journeys land him in Thunder Bay (Canada) where he finds out about a ghost named Anna, who was killed while wearing a white dress. The dress is now bathed in her blood which earned her the nickname Anna Dressed in Blood. Anna haunts her old house and murders everyone who enters.

Until Cas.

For some reason she doesn't kill him.


"Go," she orders, queen of her dead castle. "I don't want to kill you. And it seems that I don't have to, for some reason. So go."

Cas sets out to find out the story of Anna, and that's where this book truly shines. Along the way he meets up with a few new friends (classmates from his school) who are both interesting and fun and not the stereotypical cliche friends we get in every YA novel.

Carmel is the preppy cheerleader/popular girl/prom queen, but she's so much more than that. I'm so glad that Blake didn't turn her in to a Cordelia (from Buffy) and made Carmel a smart and funny person as well as being the popular girl. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Carmel in the sequel!

I'm not going to say anything more about the plot, because I don't want to ruin anything, but the story is just beautifully told and fun to read. It's scary, but not overly so. It's romantic, but not to the point of being sappy. The words are just not coming to me! I'll say this... it's unique. And I mean that in the good way!

Every time I open a new book I'm always hoping it will be amazing. I always want to read that next amazing book that leaves me thinking about it long after I've finished. The kind that I want to re-read as soon as I finish it. And again a few days later. And again the next week.

This is one of those books.

In a genre so full of the same cliche tropes over and over, this book truly stands out as that special something.

5 of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/387672921

The Blonde Theory by Kristin Harmel

Title: The Blonde Theory
Author: Kristin Harmel
Blurb:
Harper Roberts is a corporate attorney in Manhattan.She’s smart, attractive, and funny. So why can’t she find a date? Men flock to her at parties when they think she’s a dumb blonde. But, as soon as they realize she’s a Harvard-educated lawyer, they flee.Harper’s best friend is a magazine editor who suggests Harper go on assignment for a month as a 'dumb blonde' and see if it changes her dating perspective. So, for two weeks, Harper goes undercover. She changes her wardrobe, her conversation, her body language. The result is a series of comical encounters.Soon, Harper must take a good look in the mirror and realize that it’s not just men who judge people on their looks.

Links:
The Blonde Theory on Goodreads

The Blonde Theory on Amazon

Kristin Harmel's Website

 Kala's Review:

Picked this one up from the library because I've read a few others by this author and thought they were decent.

What a mistake!

I despised this book!

The female lead (Harper) is a rich and powerful 35-year-old attorney. The book starts off with her boyfriend dumping her because she made partner at her law firm and he expected her to quit her job and pop out babies. Not sure how something like that could stay hidden for a year in a relationship, but okay.

After the boyfriend dumps her, she can't find another one. She dates, but everyone is scared away by her powerful profession and her wealth. She never makes it past 3-4 dates and she's pretty upset that she is in her mid-30's and alone.

Harper and her friends (three of them, so it makes a very Sex and the City-ish foursome) then come up with the great idea for her to dress like a slut and act stupid in order to attract more men (aka The Blonde Theory). So Harper starts wearing skin-tight red dresses instead of Armani suits and starts saying "Like" in between every word and suddenly she's getting tons of dates!

But of course, they aren't the kind of guy Harper wants (DUH). Who would have thought that pretending to be something you're not would attract guys that you don't want?

A sexy handyman enters the picture and she pretty much treats him like garbage the entire novel. At the end she realizes he's not so bad and despite her treating him like garbage, he asks her out and you THINK it's going to be a happily ever after...

But ...

NOPE! Can't have that!

Epilogue comes and Harper says she only dated him for 6 weeks, but they just weren't meant to be. So she's alone. Don't get me wrong, there are some situations where the heroine ending up alone is the best, but this one just rubbed me the wrong way. I was tricked in to believing we were getting a HEA, then it was grabbed away.

First, I find it really hard to believe that she would have that hard of a time finding a man. She's a gorgeous blonde and she's a lawyer. The author makes it seem like every single successful man wants a submissive stay at home wife. There are probably thousands (tens of thousands) of successful men in NYC who would have no problem dating a successful, hot female lawyer. It's just idiotic to me that the only guy who can accept Harper for her is a guy she's not even attracted to.

Second, the concept of Harper figuring out she wants a guy who likes her for her is great. I love it! But that epilogue was fucking stupid. Without the epilogue, we could still have had the same realization AND a happy ending AND it would have been a better story.

At this point, I'm just going to avoid this author in the future. I've read three of her books and none blew me away. The other two were kind of "meh" and this one is just terrible.

1 of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/426210313

Fall Guy by Liz Reinhardt

Title: Fall Guy
Author: Liz Reinhardt
Blurb:
Evan Lennox is going nowhere fast. She's living with her grandparents after her parents bailed on her, she got kicked out of her posh private school, her ex-boyfriend proved to be the biggest sleaze imaginable, her former best friend is a back-stabber, and her current best friend is stuck in backwoods NJ. To top it all off, one teeny, tiny fire she lit to burn some memories of her ex goes a little out of control and winds up igniting a good piece of a very powerful family's pecan orchard.

Evan lands her pampered behind in court and gets sentenced to community service. Which she knows she deserves. But the hard labor and humiliation may be her undoing.

Until she meets Winchester Youngblood on the site.

Everything about him is tricky, confusing, not at all what it seems, and so sexy, Evan can't resist pulling closer. But every step she takes to get to know him gives her more of a reason to back up and put him as far out of life as she possibly can. Because Winch is one hundred percent complicated, and Evan isn't looking for that. At all. She needs to meet a nice, responsible guy, not share searing kisses with the charming hustler she met after they both got sentenced in court.

But Winch is so much more than what he seems, and Evan finds out that she's falling hard for the guy everyone underestimates and writes off. And Winch realizes that Evan is the one person who's ever challenged him to ask for more out of his life, and her courage inspires him to try to be the person she sees when she looks at him. With every single odd stacked against them, Evan and Winch need to find out whether they have what it takes to fall for each other.

Links:
Fall Guy on Goodreads

Fall Guy on Amazon

Liz Reinhardt's Website

 Kala's Review:

I found this author recently, when I bought Lengths (which she co-wrote) and really enjoyed it. I decided to pick this book up and I wasn't disappointed. Fall Guy is a quick read that introduces you to some really interesting and flawed characters. When I finished it, I went looking to see when the sequel would come out.

Evan Lennox is the female lead and she was different from most we read about in YA/New Adult lately. She's not a shy, bookish girl who is beautiful but thinks she is plain. Evan knows she's gorgeous. She also has a bad history of making huge mistakes and she ends up in court after accidentally on purpose setting fire to an orchard at her ex-boyfriend's house.

At court she runs in to Winchester Youngblood (I'm not usually a fan of off-the-wall names, but this one really grew on me). Winch is also in court and both he and Evan end up getting stuck in community service together. While in community service, they start up a relationship which doesn't go how either of them planned.

I love how kick-ass Evan is. She knows what she wants and goes after it. When Winch starts acting like a jerk, she calls him on it and doesn't take his bullshit (which I appreciate, considering how common it is these days for authors to romanticize controlling stalkerish asshole behavior).

Winch is a complicated guy with an even more complicated family. I found that whole dynamic fascinating and I'm very much looking forward to learning more about this family in future books. I don't want to say too much about his family because it will give away a lot of the plot, so I'll just leave it at that.

The writing was a little stilted in places, but overall it was decent. I flew through this book while on vacation last weekend and I carried my Kindle around with me everywhere until I finished it. Though it wasn't perfect, it was compelling and it's hard for me to badly rate a book that I got so immersed in.

4 of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/420620346

Down to You by M. Leighton

Title: Down to You
Author: M. Leighton
Blurb:
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance- Please be advised that this book is NOT YA friendly, not even in a New Adult category!

The scorching tale of one girl, two brothers and a love triangle…that’s not.

Olivia Townsend is nothing special. She’s just a girl working her way through college so she can return home to help her father run his business. She’s determined not to be the second woman in his life to abandon him, even if it means putting her own life on hold. To Olivia, it’s clear what she must do. Plain and simple. Black and white.

But clear becomes complicated when she meets Cash and Nash Davenport. They’re brothers. Twins.
Cash is everything she’s always wanted in a guy. He’s a dangerous, sexy bad boy who wants her in his bed at any cost. He turns her insides to mush and, with just one kiss, makes her forget why he’s no good for her.

Nash is everything she’s ever needed in a guy. He’s successful, responsible and intensely passionate. But he’s taken. Very taken, by none other than Marissa, Liv’s rich, beautiful cousin. That doesn’t stop Olivia from melting every time he looks at her, though. With just one touch, he makes her forget why they can never be together.

Black and white turns to shades of gray when Olivia discovers the boys are hiding something, something that should make her run as far and as fast as she can. But it’s too late to run. Olivia’s already involved. And in love. With both of them.

Both brothers make her heart tremble. Both brothers set her body on fire.

She wants them both.

And they want her.

How will she ever choose between them?

Links:
Down to You on Goodreads

Down to You on Amazon

M. Leighton's Website

 Kala's Review:

This book was just "okay" to me. I found myself having issue with how Olivia behaved quite often and I didn't particularly like her very much. The "twist" ending was obvious from nearly the start and I didn't like it at all (more on that later).

Olivia is a bartender and a student who lives with her cousin, Marissa. Marissa is a huge bitch who constantly puts down Olivia and treats her like garbage. Marissa has no redeeming qualities at all. She's evil just for the sake of being evil for no apparent reason.

Marissa has a boyfriend named Nash, and instantly Olivia is attracted to him and wishes she could have a boyfriend like him. She ruminates OFTEN about how she would love a boyfriend JUST LIKE NASH because he's SO AWESOME. Nash gets Olivia a job working at his twin brother's bar (and the twin is named... CASH... UGH).

Nash is supposedly awesome because he has a job and is a nice guy (and also really hot). Olivia also has a thing for Cash, because he's hot and rides a motorcycle and is a "bad boy." She claims she has a thing for bad boys and just can't keep herself away from them. So she starts a relationship (sorta) wish Cash. Cash is very sweet to her, a monster in the sack, helps her with her broken down car, helps her with her dad's ranch when her dad is in trouble, and acts like an all around nice guy. Even so, Olivia complains internally the entire time because she wants a "nice guy" like Nash.

Olivia also flirts like crazy with Nash, which doesn't really seem to bug her that much despite him having a girlfriend (WHO HAPPENS TO BE HER COUSIN). If a guy is in a committed relationship and is flirting with you, he's probably a douchebag and probably isn't the "nice perfect guy" you think he is.

However, Olivia doesn't see that. She keeps pining after Nash while banging Cash.

Then comes the twist that I saw from probably around chapter 5?

SPOILERS AFTER HERE!

I'm not a big fan of historical romances, but I absolutely LOVE Virginia Henley's "The Pirate and the Pagan." I don't like the rest of her books that much, but that one is my absolute favorite. Maybe because of that book I was able to pick up on the twist so quickly.

The twist is...

Cash and Nash are the same person. When Olivia finds this out, she is upset. She's not upset that she was sleeping with her cousin's boyfriend though. That doesn't seem to bother her that much. She doesn't seem overly concerned with the entire thing for very long at all. Yeah, she got mad for a few days, but when Cash came and said "I broke it off with Marissa" she jumped right back in to a relationship with him - happy because she now has her "perfect" guy (the "nice" guy Nash mixed with the "bad" boy Cash).

The reason behind the deception was so convoluted and silly, I still don't even really understand it. Then the book ends with a huge "TO BE CONTINUED" dun dun dunnnnnnn!!!

Seriously?

Ugh.

I am giving it two stars instead of one because I enjoyed a lot of it. The ending was REALLY weak and Olivia's behavior was annoying as hell, but it was a quick and easy read and I liked parts of the storyline. I'd be curious to see other stuff written by this author, but I wasn't very impressed by this book.

2 of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/425345683