Review: Rush Me by Allison Parr

Title: Rush Me
Author: Allison Parr
Blurb:

When post-grad Rachael Hamilton accidentally gatecrashes a pro-athlete party, she ends up face-to-face with Ryan Carter, the NFL’s most beloved quarterback.

While most girls would be thrilled to meet the attractive young millionaire, Rachael would rather spend time with books than at sporting events, and she has more important things to worry about than romance. Like her parents pressuring her to leave her unpaid publishing internship for law school. Or her brother, who’s obliviously dating Rachael’s high school bully. Or that same high school’s upcoming reunion.

Still, when Ryan’s rookie teammate attaches himself to Rachael, she ends up cohosting Friday night dinners for half a dozen football players.

Over pancake brunches, charity galas, and Alexander the Great Rachael realizes all the judgments she’d made about Ryan are wrong. But how can a Midwestern Irish-Catholic jock with commitment problems and an artsy, gun-shy Jewish New Englander ever forge a partnership? Rachael must let down her barriers if she wants real love–even if that opens her up to pain that could send her back into her emotional shell forever.


Links:
Rush Me on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
* I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!!*

I've rated this 3, but it's probably more like 3.5. I actually really liked it - so much so that I started reading it when I got off work at 430 am and liked it so much that I stayed up to finish it.

Some parts of the book were a bit far fetched (like the random walking in to a pro football player's party, and the whole coming back to get her lost scarf and ending up staying to watch tv and play poker thing...), but I liked it. I'm a big fan of the rock star/sports star trope and Allison Parr did it pretty well.

I love how snarky Ryan and Rachael are to each other at first - I fully admit I also love the hate-turns-in-to-love trope too! Their constant arguing was funny to read and their eventual relationship progressed sweetly.

I know a lot of people will dislike that we first meet Ryan while he's getting a blow job from a groupie - but I liked that he wasn't Mr. Perfect from the start. So many times in the rock star/sports star trope we get heroes that are just too perfect - and Ryan definitely was not!

A lot of people also will dislike that Rachael can be a total bitch, but I found her insecurity to be pretty realistic. I thought, actually, that Ryan was a little too defensive when Rachael would get upset with him, especially when he was getting a blow job when they met. He acted really offended that Rachael was upset by having unprotected sex and I was annoyed with him for that.

Even so, this was a fairly good book for the genre. The characters were unique (Rachael being Jewish is something we don't often see in romance novel heroines) and the story flows really well - it's paced in such a way that you keep turning the pages wanting to know what happens next.

I'm very curious to see what this author comes out with next. Definitely a good first novel. :)

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/575856509

Review: Reckless by S.C. Stephens

Title: Reckless
Author: S.C. Stephens
Blurb:
Can love survive when life gets Reckless?

When the band hits it big, Kiera and Kellan must ask themselves: Can their love for each other survive the constant pressures of superstardom? The friendships they've formed, the new family they've found, and the history they've forged will all play a part in helping them navigate the turbulent waters of the band's exploding popularity. A greedy executive hell-bent on success, a declining pop star looking for an edge, and a media circus that twists lies into truths are just some of the obstacles the lovers will have to overcome if they are going to remain together. Fame comes with a price-but will it cost Kiera and Kellan everything?

Links:
Reckless on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I really really really wanted to like this book a lot. While Thoughtless and Effortless weren't without flaws, the books were both compelling and I found myself sucked in to Kiera and Kellan's trials and tribulations. Reckless just doesn't come anywhere near that.

This book just shouldn't have been written. It really brings nothing new to Kellan and Kiera's relationship. In fact, the two get along just fine for pretty much the entire novel outside of a few minor spats that Kiera gets over almost instantly. The first 20-25% of the book is downright boring. I was wondering what the heck I was reading, because I haven't ever been BORED by S.C. Stephens before.

Perhaps it's because nothing new was introduced. I mean, yes, Kiera gets drunk and Denny takes her home and takes care of her (Kellan is out of town). But Kellan doesn't get mad about it and Denny is a perfect gentleman. Yes, one of Kellan's exes shows up and blackmails him about a sex tape, but Kellan's former man-whore status was already a dead horse beaten to death in the first two books. Kiera is mildly upset about the tape, but gets over it after a page or two. We spend the majority of the first 20-25% listening to KIera and Kellan call each other husband and wife (THEY ARE NOT ACTUALLY MARRIED) and be all lovey dovey with each other. It's cute, but a couple getting along perfectly doesn't make a good novel.

The middle of this book is good. I really liked the conflict that Sienna Sexton brought to the picture. While Kellan and Kiera still got along perfectly throughout all of it, it made sense and was still interesting because I wanted to find out exactly how everything was going to play out with Sienna as Kellan's fame continued to rise.

SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

Then we get to the last 20% where things just go to shit again. Not in the sense that Kiera's life goes to shit. Quite the opposite. There is a car accident, but we're never afraid Kellan will die. He doesn't, of course, and the accident suddenly changes the public opinion on Kiera and from that point on, we spend probably 100 pages reading about how perfect life is for Kiera and Kellan and all the D-Bags.

Seriously, it's like a 100 page epilogue and that doesn't even include the ACTUAL epilogue which is pretty much pointless. Before we even get to the epilogue, we get to read all about how Kiera and Kellan have a 'perfect' wedding (in the hospital), how all of Sienna's fans suddenly hate her and now everyone loves Kiera (when before all the fans thought Kiera was 'stealing' Kellan from Sienna), how Kiera and Kellan go to the Grammys and of course the D-Bags win, how Kiera gets pregnant and has a baby, how her book becomes a huge self published bestseller and gets picked up by a traditional publisher, how they buy a huge house on 11 acres and it's so perfect...it just goes on and on and on. Complete overkill!

Then we get a horribly long epilogue that really doesn't say anything new. I mean, we already know that Kiera and Kellan are happily married with a baby and a Grammy and a #1 album and a bestselling novel. What could the epilogue POSSIBLY TELL US? And the answer is... nothing really.

Stephens also tied up EVERY OTHER character's storylines as perfectly as possible. Griffin turns in to the perfect dad who marries Anna. Denny and his girlfriend get married and live happily ever after as they become the perfect managers for the D-Bags.

This book just reeked of Breaking Dawn syndrome. Completely unnecessary and everyone gets exactly what they want in the end without really losing anything. If the first 20% and the last 20% were cut out, this book would have been a lot better. Pretty much the only interesting parts were the entire storyline with Sienna (til the end) and almost everything with Griffin and Anna.

I don't know. This book just really disappointed me.

2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/403143603

Review: Wait for You by J. Lynn

Title: Wait for You
Author: J. Lynn (aka Jennifer Armentrout)
Blurb:
Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…

Links:
Wait for You on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This is more of a 3.5, but I'll round up to 4 because I'm a fan of Jennifer Armentrout's other stuff.

Wait for You is good, but it's just not anything special in the NA genre. It's well written, characters are fleshed out, decently paced, interesting plot... but it just doesn't have the same spark for me that the Lux or Diety series have.

Avery is way different from the rest of JLA's heroines. She's skittish and weak and for awhile, it was difficult to like her. She was realistic, but she definitely wasn't my favorite. I tend to prefer strong heroines, the weak ones drive me nuts.

Cameron is perfect, but he tends to be too perfect. He's amazingly good looking playboy, has a sexy tattoo and a six-pack, all the girls fall all over him... but the minute he meets Avery he is a sweetheart who turns in to a one-woman man. I struggled to find a flaw with him and I have a hard time believing a guy can be THAT perfect.

I found the back story and the conflict between Avery and her parents more interesting and complex than her relationship with Cameron. Cameron chases after Avery like a puppy dog for the majority of the book, until she finally gives in and starts dating him.

That said, the story was still cute and a fun read. There just isn't much originality here.

4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/550435791

Review: Rocked Under by Cora Hawkes

Title: Rocked Under
Author: Cora Hawkes
Blurb:
Falling in love isn't always easy or pleasant. The intense and angst-filled story of Emma and Scott is a painful, gut-wrenching and exhausting portrayal of how hard it can be to let go...

Picking up the pieces and starting again in the US, Emma enrols in college with her cousin, Ashley. She is finally free to do what she wants and live how she chooses, and no man will ever rule her decisions or emotions again.

That is, until Scott Mason walks on stage...

Intense bad boy Scott is the lead singer of a popular local rock band. A ladies’ man and Ashley's long-time friend, Scott holds an instant fascination for Emma — she finds herself drawn to him, even though he represents everything she hates and needs to stay away from in a guy. He treats females like he does a cigarette — light it, use it, and lose it.

For her cousin's sake, Emma makes an effort to get along with Scott, but she soon discovers that there is more to him than first appears, making him even more dangerous in her eyes. Behind the façade of friendship, jealousy, obsession, fear and insecurity fester — an internal battle rages as she fights her attraction and does everything she can to stop history from repeating itself.

One thing she knows for sure is that if she breaks her rule, it may destroy her.

Links:
Rocked Under on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
The big problem I had with Rocked Under is that the characters are so awful until the last couple of pages that they're nearly impossible to like.

SOME SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!

Our main character, Emma, is a Brit who recently transplanted to a college in the USA (can't even remember what school or even what state!). She is roommates with her American cousin, Ashley, and neighbors with the frontman of a local rock band (Scott) who happens to be good friends with Ashley.

The entire plot is Emma and Scott dancing around their attraction for each other in the most obnoxious ways possible. We spend most of the book reading about Emma being attracted to Scott, but refusing to act on it because 1) her parents have a fucked up relationship and 2) Ashley told her Scott is a player.

Emma spends a large amount of time drunk in nightclubs, allowing guys to kiss her and feel her up while Scott watches. Scott spends a large amount of time having almost public sex with girls while Emma watches. And while they're watching each other, they appropriately seethe with jealousy.

Scott also likes to punch people out and is constantly beating up guys that hit on Emma - he's probably worse about this than Travis (of Beautiful Disaster fame). I personally do not think it's romantic at ALL to have a guy (who is not even the girl's boyfriend) constantly yanking other guys off the dance floor and punching them out just because they danced/kissed the girl. I can't even count the number of guys that Scott punched. The only one who deserved it was the boyfriend, Adam, that Emma had for awhile.

Speaking of Adam, for 30% of the book, he is referred to as Adam. At around the 30% point, he suddenly becomes "Ad" which is just weird. Adam is not THAT long of a name and doesn't really need to be shortened!

Further on Adam... I just don't get this character. For a LONG time he is a sweet, nice guy, then after he takes Emma's virginity he suddenly turns in to a major prick? Like, the personality switch nearly gave me whiplash. It came out of nowhere and up until right before the virginity losing scene there were NO signs of it.

Back to Scott and Emma...

I don't know. These two were just a mess.

Scott does try to start things with Emma several times and she rejects him, over and over and over. Then she cries when he goes after other girls. If you're going to reject the guy, you don't really get ownership over him anymore! You don't get to say who he does and doesn't get to sleep with. You had your chance (or should I say CHANCES).

Ugh.

I just didn't like either of them, and when I can't stand the main characters I don't really care about rooting for their relationship to work out. I found myself just rooting for them to finally get it on so the book would be over so I could stop reading about Emma dancing at Soundz and acting skanky while Scott acts like a drugged out manwhore.

2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/540161589

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Title: Love Story
Author: Jennifer Echols
Blurb:
She's writing about him. he's writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines..

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.

Links:
Love Story on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I am debating right now between one and two stars for this and I'm hating that I feel I have to rate a Jennifer Echols book so low. I really enjoyed Such a Rush and Going Too Far, so I was expecting to enjoy Love Story too. What a disappointment this book was! The ONLY reason I have it at two stars instead of one (RIGHT NOW) is because up until the abrupt and terrible ending, I was kind of digging the story and it seemed like things were just about to turn around.

Love Story starts off slowly. The first dozen or so pages of the book are a story written by the main character, Erin. She's written a bodice ripper of a historical romance between a rich girl on a horse farm and a stable boy. The story is mirrored after her real life, where she's had an unrequited thing for the stable boy (Hunter) since she was 12. Somehow, just as she's presenting her story to her college level creative writing class, that stable boy shows up as a sudden transfer. He reads the story and realizes it's about him and then... stuff happens.

After Hunter realizes the story is about him, he then starts writing these really awful and wacky stories that are supposedly all about Erin. His stories are supposedly so sexy (according to all their classmates), but I found them terrible. Hunter basically writes stories about how he's having sex with all these random people (a drunk girl at a party, a fortune teller, etc).

SPOILERS BELOW

Erin has a tragic past that isn't really even worth getting in to here. Because of this, she has lived with her grandmother on a Kentucky race horse farm. Her grandmother insisted that she major in business to take over the farm. Erin didn't want to. When Erin decides to major in something else, her grandmother basically disowns her in the most fucked up way possible. On the night of Erin's graduation, her grandmother takes her in to her office where Hunter is waiting. Grandma then proceeds to tell Erin that Hunter is getting her inheritance, her college fund, and will be taking over the horse farm. If that's not enough, Grandma also completely cuts off all support from Erin, including health insurance, so that Erin has to work a bunch of hours at a coffee shop to barely make ends meet. Erin is so dirt poor she can't afford to eat anything but ramen noodles and peanut butter/crackers.

Wow, what a nice grandmother!

And the thing is, Erin isn't even upset at Hunter. She makes a few vague comments about him stealing her inheritance, but most of the book is her whining about how much she's in love with him, or being jealous because he's flirting with someone else.

We find out at some point that Hunter is not actually a business major, as he was supposed to be in order to run the horse ranch. In fact, he is pre-med and states he is lying to Erin's grandmother in order to get a free education. Erin doesn't seem upset by this. In fact, she praises him for it.


Erin's classmates tore apart her historical romance, so she begins writing stories about her childhood, which they supposedly like better. Her teacher, Gabe, starts praising her work highly and telling her how talented she is. Erin doesn't want to run the horse ranch. She loves the horses, but she wants to be a romance writer. That's her dream. Supposedly she's pretty good at it.

There is even this whole conversation between Erin and Hunter where they talk about how horses are "in her blood" and she even states that people in novels always use that as an excuse to force characters in to doing stuff they don't want to do. She realizes that, and then Echols uses it to force Erin back to the horse ranch? Seriously?

Hunter lies to Erin, telling her that her dad will be at the farm, in order to get her to go back for a visit. I don't know why this would get Erin to go back. Her dad BEAT her mom and was part of the catalyst that caused her mom's death. Why in the world would she want to go see him?

It ends up not mattering, as it was all a manipulative lie in order to get Erin back to the farm. I don't even know WHY we had to get Erin back to the farm. I was expecting some kind of show down with her grandmother that never comes. Instead, Erin stays with Hunter's dad in Hunter's room (while Hunter stays in Erin's old room in the mansion). It makes no sense.

While on that trip home, Erin overhears a conversation between her grandmother and Hunter. In this conversation, it's revealed that her grandmother knows Hunter is pre-med. She sent Hunter to that college so that he could manipulate Erin in to being a business major again.

Erin is, obviously, upset by this betrayal. So, she does what any normal girl in this situation would do. She doesn't confront Hunter, she has sex with him. Totally normal, right?

Uhhhh, what?

After they have sex, she still doesn't confront him. She snuggles with him and is all 'in love' or something. Then they go to creative writing class where the story she had written before the trip is read and discussed. The story is about Erin losing her virginity to a complete jerk that she and Hunter both knew from back home. Hunter flips his shit and starts screaming at her in front of the whole class. The teacher takes the two of them back to his office where they have it out, sort of.

The teacher then acts like a therapist for them as they discuss all their romantic problems. It's weird. The teacher also tells Erin that she hasn't got a chance in hell at the internship she has been working for and, in a way, tells her she's not cut out to be a writer. How did we go from Erin being the most talented writer in the class to Erin should give up writing and run home with her tail tucked between her legs?

Right after that, Erin wakes up and Hunter is in her room packing her stuff. He tells her she needs to go home and see her grandmother. She simply says okay. Then the book ends.

What the heck? Where is the rest? I feel like this is an unfinished book and that ending infuriated me. I don't demand all loose ends be tied up, but the MAIN CONFLICTS of this story are the Erin/grandmother relationship which is NEVER resolved in any way and the Erin/Hunter relationship which seems like it's on the brink of being resolved, but the book suddenly ends.

From the previous Echols' novels I've read, I've noticed she has a tendency for rushed endings, but at least all her other books HAD an ending. This one leaves every major conflict in the story open. It also implies that Erin has to give up her dream of being a writer and go back to running the horse ranch.

Every character in this book was just so unlikable. Hunter does some pretty manipulative and deplorable stuff to Erin, but we're supposed to like him because he is in love with her? He 'stole' her inheritance, conspired behind her back with her grandmother to manipulate her in to giving up her dream and doing something she doesn't want for the rest of her life, he flat out lies to her on multiple occasions to get her to do things she doesn't want to do... he sounds like a real stand up guy! He also doesn't seem to be able to apologize for all his shit behavior. Instead, he runs around acting like he's in charge of Erin, like he gets to say what she can and can't do. HE is mad at HER because of some stupid shit in high school (omg, people made fun of him for being a stable boy! poor hunter!).

Erin's grandmother has zero redeeming qualities. I think Echols wants us to think grandma is tough as nails on the exterior, but inside is a nice sweet person... but we NEVER MEET HER to find any of this out. We get a few snippets, like Hunter claiming that grandma was really upset when Erin is in the hospital after getting hit by a car. Other than about 2-3 sentences where Hunter claims something nice about the grandmother, we get nothing.

Erin herself is just so off the wall. I don't understand her feelings or motivations. Hunter basically acts like an awful person, has stolen her inheritance, has lied to her, has manipulated her... but because he's so hot and makes her legs turn to jelly when he touches her, all that bad behavior is okay? Because she's in love with him? WHY is she in love with him? Because he wrote a story about making a solar system and watching her ride a horse? Because he writes stories about fucking all sorts of random girls to make her jealous?

Sorry, but this book is a total miss. Maybe I was expecting too much after enjoying several of Echols' other books? I don't know. But this one was terrible. When I finish reading a romance, I like to feel happy at the end, not infuriated or confused. Love Story needed 2-3 more chapters. It needed actual conflict resolution.
 
2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/487617841

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Title: Beautiful Disaster
Author: Jamie McGuire
Blurb:
Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

Links:
Beautiful Disaster on Goodreads 


Kala's Review:

For the record: I received this book for free on netgalley.

I will admit that I found this book very engaging and I couldn't put it down once I started. It flowed beautifully and the characters, while heavily flawed, were compelling. I have never read a romantic novel set in the college years - everything these days seems to either be high school or late 20's+. I like the setting, as I feel it opens up a lot more options to address issues that an author may not be able to dig in to in a YA novel.

That said, while this book had some sex and a lot of drinking (definitely brings me back to my college years!) it also features a hugely abusive relationship that is never really redeemed. Travis is an extremely violent and unstable person, and while I see the appeal of the "bad boy" at first, he never changes for the better. Instead, our "good girl" Abby is the one who changes, which made me so sad because she was such a great character.

This book starts off at an underground fight club where Travis is a fighter and Abby is the virginal nice girl. Eventually Travis and Abby become friends and, due to some really unrealistic circumstances, end up living together for awhile and eventually becoming lovers. After the first time they have sex, Abby decides she doesn't want to turn it into a relationship and leaves. When Travis wakes up and finds her gone, he trashes the apartment, breaks windows, blows up her phone, and otherwise acts like an insane violent stalker.

Abby and Travis eventually get back together, break up, get back together, break up, and every time there are violent episodes where Travis loses control and Abby even has to stay at an unknown location, because she is afraid of Travis finding her. During their breakups Travis has sex with other girls, but when Abby goes on a date with another guy he forcibly drags her out of the car and ruins her date. In fact, any time a guy even looks at Abby, or speaks to her, or speaks about her, he goes into a violent rage and beats the crap out of them.





SPOILER ALERT!

In the end, they supposedly live happier ever after with a Vegas wedding at age 19 and matching tattoos, but that's so unrealistic considering he never got better. Like I said, Abby is the one who decided to change and just accept that her boyfriend is an overprotective violent psychopath.

Abby herself is a very interesting character. I really enjoyed the secret hidden background and I liked how for the first half of the book she didn't put up with any of Travis' shit. She dumped him after the Vegas thing and I thought that was the best thing she could do. But then she took him back. I would have preferred to see Travis grow up some, get some anger management therapy, and work on fixing his issues. Alas, it was not meant to be.

There were a few plot devices that I found a little unrealistic, but the absolute worst was the impromptu "I can't get no satisfaction" sing along in the cafeteria with the football players as backup singers. It was so cheesy and so High School Musical and doesn't belong in a novel. Maybe that kind of thing can work in a movie, but it does not work in a book and I think I eyerolled about 20 times trying to get through it.

Overall, while I did enjoy the book, I hate the romantification of abusive behavior that it promotes and that's why I can't give it more than 2 stars. I would read something else by this author though, because I think she has talent for telling a story and I'd be curious to see what else she can do.

2 of 5 stars.


Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/381298677

My Top Ten Books of 2012

Kala's Top Ten Books of 2012

In no particular order, here are my ten favorite books from this year.  My favorite genres are, in case it wasn't obvious by my reviews, young adult/new adult romance and paranormal.  Some of these books were published prior to 2012, but I didn't read them until this year. 

*  Slammed by Colleen Hoover *

When I bought Slammed, it was still a self published book and I had zero expectations.  I was absolutely blown away by Hoover's story and have since bought and read and devoured and enjoyed her other two books.  Can't wait to see more!


* Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

I heard about this from some reviewers I follow on Goodreads, all of whom LOVED it.  I definitely did too!  Can't wait to read the sequel in 2013.

* Easy by Tammara Webber *

Easy is another one that was self published when I first read it and it totally WOWed me.  This was the second "New Adult" book I read and it's what got me hooked on the genre.

* Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama *

The best mermaid story I've ever read.  Hands down.  Every other mermaid book I've read has been fluffy and silly.  Monstrous Beauty blew me away.

* Daughter of Smoke and Bone / Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

These two books are probably the best books I've read. Ever.  Laini Taylor is not only obscenely creative, but also ridiculously talented. 

* Saving June by Hannah Harrington *

I wasn't sure what to expect when I was approved for this one on Netgalley.com, but I was really pleasantly surprised when I finished this amazing novel about a girl dealing with the aftermath of her sister's suicide.

* On Dublin Street by Samantha Young *

I call this book "What 50 Shades SHOULD Have Been" because it's all the good parts (the hot, sexy alpha male lead, the steamy sex scenes, the romance) without all the bad (abusive stalker male lead, wussy pathetic female lead).  I haven't read any of Samantha Young's young adult stuff, but she's definitely a huge talent in the erotic romance field.


* Insurgent by Veronica Roth *

The sequel to Divergent wasn't quite as good as it's predecessor, but it was still pretty amazing!  I love this series - it's unique and interesting and fun.  Roth has done a great job creating a world that will suck you in from page one.

* Something Like Normal by Trish Doller *

This one is told from a male point of view about a soldier dealing with PTSD after coming back from the war.  That sounds pretty heavy, but the book is actually a sweet love story between him and a girl he used to know from high school who helps him deal with his demons.  Great book!


* Onyx / Opal by Jennifer Armentrout *

Who would have thought an alien love story could be this awesome?  Not me!  But it IS!  I absolutely LOVE the Lux series and, fortunately, Jennifer Armentrout is a prolific and quick writer.  No waiting years for sequels in this series!  THANK GOD! 

Hope you guys enjoyed the list!  Happy New Year to everyone, and here's to a bunch more great books in 2013!

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Title: Hopeless
Author: Colleen Hoover
Blurb:
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.
Links:
Hopeless on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:Colleen Hoover is so ridiculously talented. Slammed was, by far, one of the BEST books I read in 2012. The sequel wasn't as good, but still miles and miles ahead of almost everything else I read this year. As soon as I found out about Hopeless, I put it on my to-read list and bought and read it the day it came out.

SO GLAD I DID.

This book is amazing! I'll admit, I liked Slammed better, but only because Slammed was a little more innocent and fluffy compared to this. Hopeless tackles much bigger obstacles and Colleen Hoover handles them beautifully.

SOME MINOR SPOILERS BELOW

There is another book with a slightly similar premise - The Boy Who Sneaks in my Bedroom Window. When I got it, I was looking forward to reading a book about a girl dealing with the aftermath of childhood molestation. That author completely screwed it up. When I started reading Hopeless and realized that it was also about a girl dealing with the same issues, I was a little worried... but I shouldn't have been. It was handled so perfectly, and so realistically.

The main character of Hopeless, Sky, is a messed up 17 year old girl. She has been home schooled her entire life and her mother has finally agreed to let her go to a real high school for her senior year. Unfortunately, Sky's best friend, Six, has helped her get a reputation as a slut.

Sky has made out with several of the local boys, but she mostly does it to try and feel something. Unfortunately, she doesn't feel anything but numbness when she's with them. She spends the entire time staring at her ceiling, bored out of her mind.

Because of this, Sky is surprised to meet Holder, a guy who sparks something in her that is new and scary and exciting.

As Sky's relationship progresses, the secrets about her past begin to unfold and WOW. I wasn't expecting some of it! The molestation part isn't a big secret - that is pretty obvious from the first or second flashback. But the rest of it? Definitely wasn't expecting!

I absolutely fell in love with Sky and Holder. They're both flawed but likable, something so rare in YA/NA these days. I'm constantly hating the main characters of novels but in this case, I adored both of them.

Pretty sure Colleen Hoover was already on my auto-buy list, but if she wasn't she has definitely solidified her spot there now!
 
5 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/461069569

Make it Last by Bethany Lopez

Title: Make it Last
Author: Bethany Lopez
Blurb:
In a small town, it's hard to recover from being dumped by your high school sweetheart. That's just what Briana has to do after Colin leaves her to follow his dreams. She focuses her energy into her friendships and the pursuit of her own goal of becoming a chef. Just when she finally feels like she's on the right path, he comes back to town.

Colin knew breaking up with Briana before leaving for college was the right thing to do. He was determined to leave small-town life behind forever, and that included his high school girlfriend. But when a sports injury puts him on the sidelines, he's forced to return home. Seeing Briana again brings back a lot of memories, and Colin wonders if he made the right decision. It doesn't take long for him to realize he wants her back, and this time, he wants to make it last.

Links:
Make it Last on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I didn't hate Make it Last, but I was really unimpressed by it. The book is short - very short. I read the entire thing in about an hour, give or take a few minutes. Not sure on the page count, but it's barely longer than a novella.

The basic storyline is simple and sounded good, but the biggest issue for Make it Last was lack of conflict. Briana and Colin dated during high school. Colin went away to college and dumped Briana because he didn't want to do the long distance thing and he wanted the freedom to have fun at school while playing football and joining a frat. Three years later, he got injured and lost his chance at the NFL and returns to town. Briana, still bitter about him dumping her, supposedly hates him.

This is where the conflict should have been, but just wasn't. There was a tiny bit the first few times they run in to each other. Briana is a little snarky, but generally just is politely cold to him. They finally have their big blowup and within minutes are having sex and "back together." That happens around the halfway point. From there on, there is nothing. They make out, have sex, talk about their future. It's just dull.
 
2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/485210873

Avoiding Responsibility by K.A. Linde

Title: Avoiding Responsibility
Author: K.A. Linde
Blurb:
Lexi has finally given up her once destructive relationships and moved onto bigger and better things with a sexy new man in town. Just when she is starting to figure it out with him, her world is tilted once again with a phone call from none other than Ramsey Bridges. A year after his entrance into her life, Ramsey is trying to make amends and does the one thing she never expects—invites her to Jack's wedding.

The wedding she had evaded at all costs. But no matter what she does, Lexi can't seem to escape her past with Jack. But does she really want to?

Despite the explosive chemistry between Lexi and Ramsey, she is skeptical about trusting him after everything that has happened. When things are amiss with him, she starts questioning his motives. Can Ramsey be the one to remove Jack from Lexi's life permanently or should she move on with her blossoming new life?

Links:
Avoiding Responsibility on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book was almost as much of a roller coaster as the first.

When Avoiding Responsibility starts, it's a year later and Lexi isn't speaking to Jack or Ramsey. She's dating some unknown mystery guy and is surprised when Ramsey calls to ask her to Jack's wedding. She is a badass and says HELL NO. At first.

Then we start flashing back to see what happened over the last year, and we find out about the relationship that started and ended between Lexi and Ramsey.

I admit, I was left feeling unsatisfied at the end of Avoiding Commitment. Not because it was a cliffhanger, but because I felt like Lexi just got totally shit on by the end (by Jack and Bekah) and it felt like the "bad guys" won. The only part of the ending of Avoiding Commitment I liked was Lexi finally standing up to Jack and realizing how poisonous he was to her.

Then Ramsey asks her to the wedding. She says no, of course, but then she finds out Ramsey is in New York WITH JACK for Jack's bachelor party. Somehow, Lexi ends up at Jack's party where a drunken Jack begs her to come to his wedding.

Of course, Lexi agrees. This part bugged me. I hated that she would agree to go to his wedding to Bekah. There was absolutely no reason for her to go, other than to make herself feel like total shit. Again.

But she does go. And there is a bunch of the same sort of underhanded passive aggressive conflict between Lexi and Bekah, ridiculous sexual tension between Lexi and Jack, and the hint of something really special between Lexi and Ramsey.

At the end of Avoiding Commitment I was completely Team Jack, hoping and praying for some sort of redemption in this book.

**SPOILER ALERT**

That redemption doesn't come. However, I was okay with it. While the end of this book has some loose ends, I felt better about things. I felt that Bekah finally got a tiny bit of what she deserves. I felt like Jack stooped so low that I didn't even want him to redeem himself anymore. And Ramsey stepped up and I'm really hoping that things work out for him and Lexi in book 3. I'm really hoping that Bekah and Jack both end up alone, but I'm starting to realize they deserve each other and will probably make each other miserable.

K.A. Linde has a real talent for creating these realistic and flawed characters that you can't help but feel SOMETHING for. Her books also flow so well that you just lose yourself in the pages and suddenly it's two hours later and you're done and you're wondering what the heck just happened.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what else she comes out with and she's going on my auto-buy list for sure.
 
4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/471712861

Falling by Jolene Perry

Title: Falling
Author: Jolene Perry
Blurb:
Dana is definitely not the kind of girl to be living in the dump of a wilderness lodge she finds herself waitressing in. But when Craig, the sexy cop who’s handling the murder case where she’s a witness, suggests it—it seems like a good idea. Now she’s got no BMW, no shopping and an assortment of hairy Alaskan men who definitely belong in a run-down old lodge. Her exciting visits from Craig are getting less exciting, and the lodge owner, Jason, is quickly moving from grouchy and judgmental, to funny, smart and unexpectedly complex.

Jason knows exactly the type of girl Dana is—beautiful, spoiled, and high maintenance. She’s everything that hurt him in the past, and why he now lives as far away from city life as he can manage. If he wasn’t so hard-up for help, he would have never said yes to his friend, Craig. Despite his reservations, Dana becomes the perfect antidote to everything in his life—both his disaster of a divorce and precocious little sister who shows up on his doorstep. Jason realizes he’s falling for Dana too late to stop it, or even slow it down.

As the trial approaches, Dana knows it’s time to move on with her life—but is her life back in the city she left or with a guy she never meant to fall for?

Links:
Falling on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
Falling wasn't bad, but it also wasn't anything that really excited me either. When I finished it, I nearly forgot about it until I went to organize all my recently read books on the Kindle and remembered it.

The story starts off with this weird scene where Dana (our lovely heroine) is in a car crash and I guess witnesses a murder. In the hospital, she meets Craig the cop, who acts completely inappropriately and seduces her. In order to keep her safe until the trial, he sets her up in a broken down lodge run by his WIFE'S cousin, Jason.

Jason isn't a big fan of Dana, as he's apparently used to Craig bringing his girlfriends up to his lodge so he can screw them behind his wife's back. Dana doesn't feel much guilt about sleeping with another woman's husband because he claims the marriage is "rough."

Eventually Dana figures out what a jerk Craig is and actually starts feeling bad about being the other woman, but up until that point I was not a big fan of her either. And that takes awhile to happen, unfortunately.

Jason is a reclusive guy going through a divorce. Once Craig and Dana split up, he and Dana slowly start acting on their own attraction to each other and begin a relationship. Dana does all sorts of dumb things like go on to his computer without his permission, copy his work in progress novel, READ it, and sends it to an agent to read.

While Dana had good intentions, going on someone's computer and reading their personal stuff is such a huge violation of privacy that Jason doesn't get nearly as upset about as he should considering how whiny he is about being such a private person. Dana's reason for violating Jason's privacy and her excuse is "We weren't getting along back then." And apparently that's good enough for Jason.

What??

Anyways.

Overall, the love story between the two is cute and I liked it. My issues with the book were the minor things listed above and the fact that as a whole, the book just doesn't have that ZING factor. I was much more impressed with Perry's collaborative effort with Nyrae Dawn (Dizzy) and because of that, this book was a little disappointing.

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/478276246

The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski

Title: The Edge of Never
Author: J.A. Redmerski
Blurb:
Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?


Due to sexual content and language, this book is recommended for 17+ – Adult Contemporary Women’s – New Adult Fiction
 
Links:
The Edge of Never on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book wasn't terrible by any means, but I don't understand all the OMG GLOWING 5STAR THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER reviews.

The characters were, for the most part, likable and well written. I like how they both had fleshed out back stories and most of their stories were not dumped on us via weird monologues, but instead was slowly revealed over time.

I had some issues with the book though. At first, I really liked how Camryn was independent and interesting, but she ended up being a complete wuss. I also don't like how the author constantly had every male character (except the few good guys) turn in to a wannabe rapist. I hate that.

First, Camryn is at a club with her best friend. She's on the roof of the club chatting with a guy and her best friend's boyfriend shows up, beats the crap out of the guy, then tries to force himself on Camryn. Ok, he was a total douchebag and I get that. No problem.

Later on, Camryn is on the bus and she's chatting with Andrew. There's another guy on the bus who later tries to rape Camryn in the bathroom and she has to be saved by Andrew.

Okay, fine.

But then Andrew goes into this macho man mode that totally put me off. He tells Camryn that she can no longer travel by bus, he will not allow it. She MUST either take a plane home or go with him. She agrees. WTF? She barely knows this guy and she's letting him tell her what to do?

Fortunately, Andrew acts decently throughout the majority of the book so I didn't flip out too much by his "I'm the man, you will do as I say" behavior. But later on, he and Camryn have this weird conversation where he tells her that he won't have sex with her because he can't do that unless she agrees that he will own her.

Say what??

Then Camryn starts talking about how she's sexually submissive (girl, you are submissive in EVERYTHING, not just sex) and there is this whole dominant/submissive thing that's just thrown in there and seems completely opposite to Andrew's personality throughout the rest of the entire book.

I also just can't stand the whole "I can't breathe without you" or "I will die without you" or "I want to own you" crap, and there is a decent amount of that. Whenever I read that kind of stuff (and there's a decent amount of it in The Edge of Never) I want to just do this:



(sigh)

I didn't have a huge problem with the reveal Andrew made at the end, though I did think it was out of nowhere and went bad way too fast.

Overall, the book wasn't bad. I liked the main characters (outside of those issues above and most of that wasn't commonplace in the book, it happened sporadically). The plot was interesting and the writing was decent.

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/466521690

That Wedding by Jillian Dodd

Title: That Wedding
Author: Jillian Dodd
Blurb:
The gorgeous engagement ring on my finger mimics my happiness.
I feel so sparkly, glittery, and full of promise, because I absolutely know he's that boy.
The boy I want to marry. My prince. My happily ever after.

But then our pastor starts asking lots of questions.
His parents say I haven’t dealt with my past.
I have horrible wedding disaster dreams.
I can’t find the perfect dress.
I have to manipulate him to get my way.
An old boyfriend asks me to run away with him.
My best friend says I'm going to ruin everything.
And forever starts to sound like a really long time.

Which totally freaks me out and makes me question everything I know.

Should best friends get married?
Will my past affect our relationship?
Are my horrible dreams a warning?
Will I ever find a dress?
Could his sexiness be clouding my judgment?
Am I going to ruin everything?
Or is it just a case of cold feet?

And then I have to decide. Am I willing to give up on true love forever, or am I going to listen to my heart and marry him?

 
Links:
That Wedding on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I wasn't a big fan of this book. In fact, I struggled to finish it.

Main issues:

1) Jade is not the same character she was in That Boy. She's petty, manipulative, insecure, spoiled, and often a complete bitch. She treats Phillip pretty badly throughout the book, culminating in the whole "pity hire" scene. She was unlikable - all the negative qualities of Becky Bloomwood without the charming aspects.

2) There!!!!! Are!!!!!! WAY!!!!! TOO!!! MANY!!!!!! EXCLAMATIONS!!!!!!! The author often uses 2, 3, 4 exclamations (and sometimes multiple question marks too). Jadyn constantly is EXCLAIMING! EVERYTHING! It's distracting.

3) Too much sex! I like steamy sex scenes as much as the next person, but these characters spend the entire novel having sex. Or talking about how awesome sex is with each other. Or talking with their friends about their prior sexcapades (which Jadyn apparently had MANY of behind the scenes in That Boy that we are just finding out about).

4) Boring! The book was WAY too long and not a lot happens. If Jadyn and Phillip aren't having sex, they're getting drunk. A lot. Jadyn spends SO much time drinking in this book - and the bar scene near the end was pretty awful. Nearly 400 pages of Jadyn drinking and whining about her wedding and EXCLAIMING EVERYTHING!!!! was probably 200 too much.

Sorry, but this book just wasn't that good. I ended up skimming the last 50 pages or so because I was so bored and I didn't want to NOT finish.

2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/464291753

Good For You by Tammara Webber

Title: Good For You
Author: Tammara Webber
Blurb:
Reid Alexander's life is an open book. His Hollywood celebrity means that everything he does plays out in the public eye. Every relationship, every error in judgment is analyzed by strangers. His latest mistake totaled his car, destroyed a house and landed him in the hospital. Now his PR team is working overtime to salvage his image. One thing is clear—this is one predicament he won’t escape without paying for it.

Dori Cantrell is a genuine humanitarian—the outward opposite of everything Reid is about. When his DUI plea bargain lands him under her community service supervision, she proves unimpressed with his status and indifferent to his proximity, and he soon wants nothing more than to knock her off of her pedestal and prove she's human.

Counting the days until his month of service is over, Dori struggles to ignore his wicked magnetic pull while shocking him with her ability to see past his celebrity and challenging him to see his own wasted potential. But Dori has secrets of her own, safely locked away until one night turns her entire world upside down. Suddenly their only hope for connection and redemption hinges on one choice: whether or not to have faith in each other.

 
Links:
Good For You on Goodreads 
 
 Kala's Review:
I have mixed feelings about Good For You. Reid has been such a dynamic and interesting character and I was curious about how Tammara Webber would write his love story.

At the start of the book, Reid is up to his usual antics - partying, womanizing, and drunk driving. After being completely wasted and plowing in to a house, Reid finds himself in front of a judge who sentences him to a month of community service building houses.

He meets Dori at the home building site where she is a volunteer. Dori is such a goody-two-shoes it got to be annoying. She says things like "Popsicles!" instead of cursing and spends every minute of her free time doing some sort of volunteer work (she delivers Meals on Wheels, works for Habitat for Humanity, works with kids, etc). I have no idea how she finds time for all of that! On top of it all, she's the preacher's daughter.

Dori is described as plain faced and wears baggy ugly old clothes all the time. She takes an instant disliking to Reid and the two spend the first half of the book bantering back and forth with insults. She is attracted to him though (he's a hot movie star, who wouldn't be?), and for some reason Reid is attracted to her. I don't really know why.

Reid's POV throughout the story was pretty good - though I found his transformation to be REALLY fast. The guy has been a larger than life, party-going celebrity for years and makes a very sudden switch to sober, stay-at-home, celibate good boy.

I also don't really know how this relationship will work. Reid is a celebrity. A huge A-list celebrity. While he and Dori have a great relationship when they're hanging out alone at his house, he can't stay cooped up in there forever. He's going to be on location a lot for movies, at premieres, at parties, etc. How does Dori fit in to all of that? It's never really brought up.

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/460369161

Where You Are by Tammara Webber

Title: Where You Are
Author: Tammara Webber
Blurb: Graham Douglas doesn’t do romantic relationships, but he was knocked for a loop when he met Emma Pierce on the set of his last film. As they grew closer, he did everything in his power to keep from falling for a girl being pursued by superstar Reid Alexander. Now home in New York, his life is once again under control, until Emma appears and shows him how not over her he is.

Emma Pierce is forsaking an up-and-coming Hollywood career to embark on a life she’s only dreamed of—the life of a regular girl. After spending months burying her feelings for the two night-and-day guys who vied for her heart while filming her last movie, a twist of fate puts her in a coffee shop in the middle of Manhattan with the one she still misses.

Brooke Cameron was a fresh-faced Texas girl when she arrived in LA. Now she’s a beach sitcom star turned conceited heiress on the big screen. Having just survived three months on location with her ex—Hollywood’s reigning golden boy—she’s older and wiser and has set her sights on her close friend Graham. The only thing standing in her way is the girl he can’t forget.

Reid Alexander can sum up his life in one word: boring. Between film projects, there’s little going on outside of interviews, photo shoots, and the premiere of the film he finished last fall. The next-to-last thing he expects is to get a second chance with Emma, the girl who rejected him. The last thing he expects is for his still-bitter-ex to be the one to offer it to him on a platter.

(Mature Young Adult / New Adult)
 
Links:
Where You Are on Goodreads

 Kala's Review:
It took awhile for me to read this because I was so disappointed by the first book in this series. However, I love this author and eventually decided to buy Where You Are and give it a go.

SO glad I did! This book blows book 1 out of the water!

Where You Are alternates between four POVs, Emma, Graham, Brooke, and Reid. It's done in a way that's easy to read and understand and definitely brings a lot to the story. Usually I'm not a big fan of rotating POVs constantly, but this story needed it!

The plot basically revolves around Emma and Graham's relationship, with Brooke (and sort of Reid) doing everything they can to break it up because Brooke wants to be with Graham and Reid wants a second chance with Emma. You also really get a feel for the characters this time around - I felt like I finally understood where all of them were coming from. One of my major issues in Between the Lines was we only really got to know Emma and Reid (and Reid only kind of), yet Emma ends up with Graham.

When the book comes to its climax, it's not a surprise. The surprise is all the twists and turns it took to get to what you know is inevitable and the ride was well worth it. Reid is one of my favorite characters and I liked how this book ended for him (despite me being unhappy with how he ended up in Between the Lines).

Great read!

4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/460369285