Review: Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

Title: Beautiful Bastard
Author: Christina Lauren
Blurb:
An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling. Discover the story that garnered more than two million reads online.

Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.

Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office.

As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other. Originally only available online as The Office by tby789—and garnering over two million reads on fan fiction sites—Beautiful Bastard has been extensively updated for re-release.

Links:
Beautiful Bastard on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
Alright, because I was approved for this via NetGalley/Gallery Books (thank you!), I went ahead and read it.

I still have a major issue with p2p fanfiction being marketed as original. If you want to see a great post on WHY I feel it's unethical, read this comment by Alicia.

Now, on to the book...

I like to read a lot of Twilight fanfic (the actual fanfic, not the p2p kind with new names!) and my boyfriend always calls it Twilight porn. THIS STORY is exactly why he calls it that. If ever there was a story that was pretty much porn without a plot, this is it.

Bennett and Chloe hate each other. For the first 2/3-3/4 of the novel, they have a lot of hate sex. They snipe at each other in public, then in private they have rough sex. Shirt ripping, buttons flying everywhere, bent over the desk type of sex. The sex scenes themselves are pretty hot - I will admit that.

But that's all there is. Lots of sex.

Towards the end, the sex becomes less hateful and the characters snipe at each other less frequently, but it's still just a sex story. I can give you the entire plot in a few lines:

Hate sex
Hate sex
Hate sex
Hate sex
Hate sex
Hate sex
Hate sex
Love/Hate sex
Love/Hate sex
Argument/Break up
Make up
I love you sex
The end

The book wasn't poorly written, but there just isn't any substance here. It's Edward and Bella having hate sex all over an office. That's it.

2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/471025587

Waiting on Wednesday... on Thursday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I had every intention on posting this yesterday... but real life intervened and I was too busy to get online!  As usual, so many books I'm looking forward to!  I just recently saw the trailer for Reckless by S.C. Stephens and it got me really excited about the book coming out (FINALLY!) on March 5th!

Here's a really awesome fan-made trailer:

Happy Reading all! <3

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Blurb:
Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion...she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit--more sparkly, more fun, more wild--the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket--a gifted inventor--steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Links:
Lola and the Boy Next Door on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
It took awhile for me to get around to this book, mostly because while I wanted to read it when it came out, I wasn't willing to pay $11 for the ebook. Finally I got it from the library and...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

I might be in the minority who liked this one a LOT more than Anna and the French Kiss. While I liked Anna, I just didn't connect with Etienne at all.

NOT so here!

I LOVE Lola. And I LOVE Cricket (except for his name, ugh). I think I connect so well with Cricket because he's exactly the kind of guy I would go for in real life. Slightly nerdy, socially awkward, sweet as pie.

His blue eyes are bright. Sincere. Desperate. "Go out with me tonight. Tomorrow night, every ni-" The word cuts off in his throat as he sees something behind me.

Oh, Cricket. I don't know how any girl could not hand you her heart on a sleeve after that whole scene.

Lola is this crazy, quirky girl who is trying to figure herself out. I love her crazy outfits and overall weirdness. I thought the whole talking to the moon thing was over the top, but whatever. I just skimmed that part.

Max disappointed me. :( However, his reaction was probably pretty damn realistic. Considering how much I loved him at the start of the novel, I was so sad to see him turn in to such a douchebag. I knew things would go horribly wrong with him and Lola, but damn. Bad Max. Bad.

My only real issue was that I wished we got to delve in to Calliope a little more. I found her really interesting, despite her being the generic mean girl throughout most of the book.

I love Stephanie Perkins. I love how her characters are always so different, but so real. It's going to be hard to wait on a library copy of Isla, but I still refuse to pay that much for an e-book. :(

5 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/414310688

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Title: Everneath
Author: Brodi Ashton
Blurb:
Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

Links:
Everneath on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
Everneath got a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews from reviewers I know and trust, but as I was reading I was wondering if we were reading the same book! It's not that I thought the book was bad - it was alright - but these same people are very stingy with the glowing reviews so I think I was expecting more!

I like the premise of the story - a retelling of Persephone/Hades in a modern day/high school environment. However, I think the execution was lacking. A lot.

MAJOR spoilers below!

The thing is, I feel like authors are too afraid to make their hero do anything truly bad. You CAN have a likable hero who isn't perfect (primo example - Dex in Karina Halle's Experiment in Terror series!).

Let me back track a bit before I get back to that.

The basic plot line is that Nikki was in a relationship with Jack. Something happened to make her "forfeit" willingly (aka pretty much kill herself / give herself to the underworld/hell/Everneath). However, she gets to come back to the real world for six months before she has to go back to the Everneath forever.

I'm not quite sure WHY she gets to come back. We're told a little of the mythology behind Persephone and Hades, but we never really see why Nikki is allowed the opportunity. It was a little confusing.

We are eventually told what happened to make Nikki "forfeit" herself and when we find out, WOW. All I could say was "That's it? For real?" I was expecting some kind of ultimate betrayal from Jack, but instead it's nothing like that.

Jack's ex girlfriend came out of his room. That's it. Nikki didn't catch them having sex. She didn't catch them kissing. She didn't catch them with their clothes in disarray. She just saw the ex walk out of his room.

...

Jack has been her friend for years and her boyfriend for months that she's completely in love with. He was the "player" who NEVER had a girlfriend until Nikki. While I understand her having some insecurity, was seeing something THAT simple and small enough to put her into a state of despair bad enough that she would be willing to basically go to HELL over it?

I was really disappointed that Ashton didn't have the balls to at least make Jack make a mistake big enough to send Nikki into a depression. Instead, Jack didn't even do anything wrong. The ex girlfriend was just there in his room when he got back, trying to seduce him, and he kicked her out right away.

I think my biggest issue with the book is that Jack is just too perfect. The guy has no flaws. He's ridiculously good looking, popular, football player, head over heels in love with Nikki, aka perfect in every way. I'm sorry, having dated a lot in the past, BEFORE Nikki, doesn't count as a flaw!

Perhaps I just prefer more realistic characters instead of the vanilla Bella Swans we see so often in YA Romance/Paranormal these days.

That said, the story wasn't bad. The writing was good, I really felt Ashton did a great job portraying Nikki's despair when she returns from the Everneath (after 100 years!). The plot moves along fairly quickly and it was an easy read.

I plan to finish the series. I just think it could have been a lot better!

3 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/532781033

Hot Ticket by Olivia Cunning

Title: Hot Ticket
Author: Olivia Cunning
Blurb:
Book #3 in reading order of events in book series, per author

There are things in bassist Jace Seymour’s past that he is unwilling to share with anyone. To cover his guilt and anguish, he seeks dominatrix Mistress V (Aggie) to temporarily placate his inner turmoil.

Aggie doesn’t have much use for men–besides the power rush she gets when they’re begging for mercy at her feet–but Jace isn’t like her usual clients. His cool defiance and unexpected dominance in the bedroom drives her to distraction and quickly steals her heart.

When circumstances threaten Jace’s position in Sinners, Aggie must help him regain his rightful place in the band while showing him that time and love can heal all wounds.

Links:
Hot Ticket on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I absolutely LOVED the first Sinners book (Brian and Myrna). I felt a little meh about Sed/Jessica and I sorta liked the Trey threesome book. In those three books we really don't see much of Jace or get to know him very well at all, so I was a little bit worried when I got to his book.

And I shouldn't have been.

Cause JACE IS AWESOME!

I loved him! BDSM and dom/sub stuff isn't usually my thing, so I was really expecting to have mixed feelings about this one. Instead, I loved it!

Getting to know the story behind Jace was my favorite part. Where he came from. His past. His feelings about his bandmates. I thought all of the tie-ins between Jace's pre-Sinners past and various bandmates was a teensy bit convenient, but it was still okay.

I LOVED Aggie. I think she completely won me over in the mugging scene. I don't want to give anything away, so I won't go in to more detail, but yeah. Aggie rocks!

While I loved Aggie, I thought she got kind of clingy after that scene and while she redeemed herself later, her overly mothering/nurturing personality was reallllly annoying.

The sex was hot, as usual. Olivia Cunning writes some really awesome 'alternative lifestyle' sex scenes! I did laugh out loud a few times during the scenes with Eric - now I'm REALLY curious to read his book and see his motivations for why he is the way he is!

If you're a fan of the Sinners books and/or love erotic romance with a side of kink, this book is DEFINITELY something you should check out!
 
4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/527739936

In My Mailbox Part Deux

In My Mailbox (weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren)

I read extremely fast.  Like ridiculously fast.  Sometimes I wish I read a lot slower because I tend to fly through books so quickly that I just couldn't afford to buy them anymore at $10/each!  When I got a Kindle and discovered free and cheap self published books, it was like

But then I realized that a LOT of those free books were crap.  While I still love seeking out those diamonds in the rough when it comes to self published books, I really wanted to read all the stuff coming from the big name publishers too.  However, when you read 300+ books a year, those can be big $$.  Then, I discovered the library.

Yeah, I know.  I probably should have discovered it long ago, but what can I say?  I like to own books and re-read them.  I still buy a lot, especially the ones by authors I know I will want to re-read, but DAMN the library is awesome!  I usually go once every 7-10 days and pick up a bunch of books.  Here's my current haul, which I'm extremely excited about!  I've already read four of them!

Hope everyone else is having a great week!  Happy reading!

The Thing About the Truth by Lauren Barnholdt

Title: The Thing About the Truth
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Blurb:
In this humorous love story from the author of "Two-Way Street", an unlikely romance is the best sort of surprise—but the wrong secret can ruin everything. Kelsey’s not going to let one mistake ruin her life. Sure, she got kicked out of prep school and all her old friends are shutting her out. But Kelsey’s focused on her future, and she’s determined to get back on track at Concordia High.

Isaac’s been kicked out of more schools than he can count. Since his father’s a state senator, Isaac’s life is under constant scrutiny—but Concordia High’s his last stop before boarding school, so Isaac’s hoping to fly under the radar and try to stay put for a change.

When Kelsey and Isaac meet, it’s anything but love at first sight. She thinks he’s an entitled brat, and he thinks she’s a stuck-up snob. So it surprises them both when they start to fall for each other. Kelsey’s happy for the first time in months, and Isaac’s never felt this way about anyone before. But nothing’s ever completely perfect. Everyone has secrets, and Isaac and Kelsey are no exceptions. These two may have fallen hard, but there’s one thing that can ruin it all: the truth.

Links:
The Thing About the Truth on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book was disappointing. I read Two Way Street this past week and thought it was alright, so I was hoping another book by Lauren Barnholdt would be just as good, if not better. Perhaps some of her other stuff is, but this one isn't.

I have two big issues with this book. First, the entire plot of the book is a past/future retelling of a ginormous event that happened because of a lie. We start off in the "Aftermath" where Isaac and Kelsey are about to get expelled. Isaac hates her for a lie she told and Kelsey hates herself.

Here's the issue... the lie (in my opinion) was so minor. It came about at the tail end and even when she does it, it seems like such a small thing. The majority of the "Before" part of the book is the build up of Isaac and Kelsey's relationship. I thought this was reasonably well done. Then the reveal of the "lie" and what happened to get them expelled happens and it's so underwhelming.

Then in the last two pages at the end they kiss and make up and it's all good now.

I mean, I knew there was going to be a happy ending (it's YA romance after all), but ALL this build up to this supposed HUGE event and they have an obscenely short and fast reconciliation.

My other major issue with the book is the cardboard secondary characters. None have real personalities. Marina is the slutty crazy girl. We never really learn anything about why she behaves this way, she's just the stereotypical 'mean girl' villain. Rielle is the shit best friend. We don't really get to learn much about her either, other than that she's a terrible best friend but for some reason Kelsey keeps being best friends with her.

I know the main focus on the story was the relationship between Kelsey and Isaac, but I would have loved to see more fleshing out of the secondary characters.

Goodreads says two stars means "It was okay" and that's pretty much exactly how I felt about this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. It was just "okay."
 
2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/529012839