Book Review: Playing for Keeps (Neighbor from Hell #1) by R.L. Mathewson

Done with being the world's biggest pushover, Haley decides that things are going to change starting with the aggravating neighbor who has too much charm and not enough restraint. What she didn't expect was to sucked into his world, but Haley has a game plan and she won't let herself forget just what the bad boy next door is capable of.

The last thing Jason expected was for his little shy neighbor to go Rambo on him over some ruined flowers. After he decides to take her under his wing he can't help but that notice that she fits very nicely in his life. Now the only left is to convince her that this is anything but a game.

 

Hands down, one of THE best books I've read this year. I haven't laughed so hard while reading a book in a while. This book was nothing short of amazing. 

I don't even know where to start. Maybe with the fact I've never read anything from this author before. Why? Possibly because I'm brain damaged or something. There's really no other reason for me to not have read this series. 

The characters were fabulous. I LOVED Jason. He was such a jackass and such a damn turd but you can't help but love his antics and in turn, him. Poor Haley. I felt so badly for her. I just wanted to go kick Jason's ass for her. I want to go into everything that happened within these pages so that you can see why it was so awesome but I can't. I can't steal that first-read-magic from you. I'll just say this ... Jason meant to make Haley's life hell and Haley figured that ignoring the issue would make it go away. It reminded me of elementary school. Every girl had that one dude in class who would not leave us the hell alone and we would try everything within our powers to get him to stop because we just didn't understand why it was happening. Boys seem to like to irritate and tease the ones that they like ... that's all I'll say. 

The sparks were just flying between these two characters on every single page. It was a great thing to experience because it made for such a light-hearted and fun read. Unfortunately, I was an idiot and blew through this book entirely too quickly. That's easy to do when the plot seems to be written so effortlessly and the characters are so captivating. 

Here's the deal, if you like romantic novels that are sweet and funny and you like plots that move along at an exciting pace or if you just like a good book, this is the one for you. I'm a big fan of this author and I can't wait to read more books in the series. Absolutely marvelous. 

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Book Review: Walking The Edge: Corpus Brides #1 (Corpus Brides Trilogy #1)

Walking the edge
The next step might be the last...

A woman without a past
Left amnesiac after an accident, Amelia Jamison’s instincts slowly rise from the depths of oblivion to question her life as the wife of a cold, manipulating, and distant man. Wisps of a dream show her another man she may have known intimately, but is he a memory, or a figment of her imagination?

A man with too much information
After many aliases, today Gerard Besson is simply a police commissaire in Marseille. When a mysterious woman starts to follow him, he is suspicious. But things aren’t what they seem, and as he reluctantly gets closer to her, dredges of his painful, buried past spring to light and make him question her identity.

Each seems to have led two different lives
But neither is prepared for what awaits them when they cross the fine line between knowing your true self and that of your alter ego.

Danger is the name of the game, and as it catches up with them in the French Provence, both know they better be ready for the inevitable fall. 

 

This is one of those books that I wish I just hadn't picked up. The writing wasn't horrible but something was missing and it ended up just irritating me. I don't believe that I'll be grabbing the next one in the series or another one by this author at this point. 

I was really excited to get this one, I found the blurb intriguing: a woman with amnesia, an abusive "husband", stirring dreams about a mystery man and killer skills that the amnesiac doesn't know how she acquired. Unfortunately, the blurb was the most exciting thing about the book for me. When you first start the story, you're thrown into Amelia's life while she's trying to figure out who she is and where she fits into the world. That was pretty interesting. I could sense a fire burning within her but it never blossomed into anything for me. I was wanting this wolf in sheep's clothing type of thing and I think that may have been the intention but I just never saw it. 

I didn't understand the immediate chemistry between Amelia and Gerard. Well, that's not true. I understood it - they wanted to shag each other ... that's not difficult to pick up - but I didn't think that it really fit into the novel. It didn't seem like it was truthful to the story that they were in. And the thing is ... that's the whole story ... figuring out how these two fit together. But to me, it just didn't work. There wasn't enough. Of anything.

The story as a whole just didn't do anything for me and if I'm being brutally honest, I found it a tad boring. Walking The Edge didn't keep my attention, I wasn't chomping at the bit to read more and when I was finished with the last sentence, it didn't resonate with me. I didn't want to talk to anyone about the book or bug my husband with all of the details (I'm sure he's thankful) and I didn't want to pick it up and immediately read it again.

Not the novel for me but I'm definitely in the minority on this one and don't take just my word for it on this book, read a few more reviews from other bloggers and see what they think. Maybe my radar for good books is off right now because mine is the ONLY rating on Goodreads that is under 3 stars. Oh, well. On to the next book!

* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *

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Review: Untraceable (The Nature of Grace #1) by S.R. Johannes

Summary

16-year-old Grace has lived in the Smokies all her life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival.

When her dad goes missing on a routine patrol, Grace refuses to believe he’s dead and fights the town authorities, tribal officials, and nature to find him.

One day, while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and a secret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Grace travels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father.

Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships and lives. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves.

Rating

★★★☆☆

Review

Oh, Untraceable. How I wish I loved this book. The blurb was really interesting when I read it a couple of months ago and agreed to review this novel. But I didn't read the blurb before I picked it up and started reading. That was a big problem. I think that subconsciously, I do this on purpose (not reading the blurb before I start reading). I like picking a book up, not knowing ANYTHING about what is going on and being pleasantly surprised by everything going on. Most of the time, this works out ... I don't have any preconceived thoughts or opinions about what is going on. But this time it backfired ... dude, I'm telling you ... I had NO CLUE as to how old the main character, Grace, was. In the very beginning, I thought that she was a teenager but then the further I got into Untraceable, I really started to think she was in her 20's. At one point, I even flipped back to the cover to see if it could give me a hint and the picture of the chick on the cover looks like she is in her 20's as well. Yes, I could have just read the blurb but I wouldn't let myself and for all I know, her age could have been disclosed in the first paragraph but I somehow missed it and I didn't go back to check. 

I guess what I'm getting at is that it didn't read like a teenagers thoughts ... it was oddly a mix of both. To be honest, I really didn't even like the main character. Hey, not liking a character isn't necessarily a bad thing - sometimes that's the intention. But I don't think that it was this time. Another piece of honesty ... this main character was a little shit. She had nothing but snarky and rude comments for her mother and pretty much everyone around her and that really bothered me. Now, I have been lucky enough to not have lost one of my parents. Maybe this was a coping mechanism but all of the hatred just felt completely unnecessary. It really turned me off early on. 

All of that being said, there were a few unexpected twists and turns that I enjoyed quite a bit and that kept me reading to the end of the book. Thank goodness that they happened because if the inner monologue that was going on in the beginning was how the rest of the book was written, I would have put this one down long ago. 

I know that this review sounds super negative but I did like Untraceable. I'd be interested to see what happens in the next installment because it seemed like everything was closed up pretty tightly barring one thing and I kinda want to know how that would play out in another novel. 

Find Untraceable here:

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Review: The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1)

Title: The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1)
Author: Aimee Carter 
Date Published: April 2011
ISBN: 9780373210268 
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 293

Summary

Every girl who had taken the test has died. Now it's Kate's turn.

It's always been just Kate and her mom - and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld - and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy - until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.
 
If she fails...  



Rating & Review

I've always been interested in Greek mythology. It's nothing that I've obsessed about and read everything that I can get my hands on, but I know most of the gods and goddesses so this book was pretty interesting for me. By no means to you need to have this huge amount of background info on Greek mythology in order to enjoy this book but I think that a bit of knowledge might come in handy. It will just give you a sense of a back story to The Goddess Test.

Jumping right in, this book was pretty good. I enjoyed how the author really stuck pretty true to the actual mythology and then wove her story in between those firmly established tales. Each of the characters that she created for this novel were pretty in line with how I would imagine that particular god or goddess to be in the modern day. Except for Hades. Hades is the god of the underworld, in case you didn't know. I just think someone who is in charge of world damnation would have been ... mean or have a gruff undercurrent to his character. I never really expected him to be almost timid or shy. Sure, I get that he's tortured by things in his very long past but still, something seemed off about him to me. I would think that Persephone leaving him would have made him more aggressive or dominating with his dark side but it really just turned him into a pansy in this book. I think I was waiting for him to come out of that shell and just take control or do something, I guess. I don't know. Like I said, something was off about him.

I really liked the character of Kate. Man, the author wrote a great history for Kate and her mother. I really liked the mother as well - especially the further that you get into the story. But Kate ... she started to get whiny. I haven't heard anyone else say that after they have read this, I could have just been irritated and looking for something to be wrong ... but I wrote whiny on a post-it, so if it was important enough to waste a post-it on, I figured that I would bring it up. Sounds silly but you have NO IDEA how many post-its disappear at our house. Our boys take them to write "tickets" or stick on the cats or their own faces. We blow through a lot of them. I don't take post-it usage lightly. Lol.

Anyhow, pretty good book ... there are quite a few characters, so make sure that you read this with a clear mind at first until you can get everyone straight. Worth looking into if you love Greek mythology or you're just looking for a change of pace from your other books.

Buy The Goddess Test on Amazon
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Mystery Man (Dream Man#1)

Title: Mystery Man (Dream Man#1)

Author: Kristen Ashley

Date Published: July 2011

Publisher: Forever

Pages: 528

★★★✰✰

Gwendolyn Kidd has met the man of her dreams. He's hot, he's sexy, and what started as a no-names-exchanged night of passion has blossomed into a year and a half-long pleasure fest. Sure, it's a little strange that he only appears in her bed at night, but Gwen is so sure he's the one, she just can't turn him away...

Hawk Delgado knows more about Gwen than she could ever imagine. She's gorgeous, headstrong, and skittish about relationships. But Hawk is facing his own demons, demons that keep him from connecting with anyone. Yet when Gwen is drawn into Denver's lethal underground scene, Hawk's protective nature comes out full force. The problem is, when Gwen gets a dose of Hawk's Alpha attitude in the daylight, she's not so sure he's the one anymore....

Oh, do I have a review for this one. I'd like to say that it will be all rainbows and unicorns, but this one is going to get pretty rough.

That being said ... it wasn't a HORRIBLE book ... after all, the premise was pretty interesting: having a relationship with a man for over a year and a half, having only honestly met him once and all other meetings are when he comes to you at night and you (ehem) enjoy each other ... yeah, it's risque but it's interesting. I figured with a premise like that, the book just HAD to be awesome.

Unfortunately, it just didn't hit awesome for me. And I have some extremely nit-picky specific reasons why.

Let's get this show on the road ... I have a lot of ground to cover. Okay ... sometimes there was this weird phrasing in the book ... I don't know if the author was trying to blaze new trails in the literary world or what, but not using pronouns in sentences where they are needed REALLY makes the sentence look like a checklist. And there were a few times when it looked like editing was being attempted ... like someone intended to combine two sentences and instead of removing some words to merge the two, they just literally put them together and removed the period between them. It started off as weird and ended with just being annoying.

Moving on, lets talk about the characters. On one hand, I thought that the character of Elvira was very well established, I loved how spunky/mouthy/sassy she was. She is actually the only character that I felt was ... complete. I didn't wonder anything about her. That could be because of the way she was written - she's a no frills, don't mistake what I'm saying, take it like a man, type of woman. So maybe she commanded that I like her. Now ... on the other hand ... all of the male characters ... had absolutely no depth. It was pretty sad. I didn't understand where any of them were coming from or their motivation or even who in the heck they were. They were just ... shallow. And not shallow = self involved ... I mean shallow = boring. Also, all of the male characters seemed to have been made with a cookie cutter ... they were all so similar. They were bad-asses (the author's word). So they all dressed like a bad-ass and acted like a bad-ass and talked like a bad-ass and combed their hair like bad-asses and walked like a bad-ass and brushed their teeth like a bad-ass. GOT IT! They are all bad-asses. But why?!? For example: Why was Dog a bad-ass? Because he had a gnarly beard? Because he rode a bike? Because he owns an awesome house in the hills? I just don't get it.

Speaking of bad-asses ... if you are truly a bad-ass, would you call yourself a bad-ass? I'm pretty sure that if you're a self-proclaimed bad-ass, then that means you aren't really one. And if THAT is true then this book is full of frauds and that makes it even worse.

Another thing with the characters ... they were all attractive! All I can say is, I want to live in Denver because it sounds pretty amazing. Eye candy on every corner ... every single guy is hot ... with their sultry looks, flowing locks, disarming dimples and manly gaits. There must be some type of secret screening that you have to go through before you can move to Denver ... note to self: look into job specifications for a Denver residence screen-er ...

These last ones, I'm going to list really quickly before this review turns into a novel by itself ... #1. Honey, babe and baby are acceptable nicknames but when every character is called that, it becomes a bit confusing and annoying, honey. #2. Sometimes, the phrases that the bikers used was weird ... for example: "She is in residence now" ... they sound like the military and while that goes with the pic of dog-tags on the cover, the rest of their vernacular just didn't mesh with it. #3. Hearing the phrase "Sorry I cut you" has a different connotation here in Texas ... it means that you cut someone ... with a knife, or a chainsaw or you shanked them ... maybe on accident. In the book, it means that you hurt them ... cut seems pretty specific when you're not actually cutting someone ... #4. No self-respecting 33-year-old says "yowza". Ever. #5. If you're a dude and your dad hits on your girlfriend, maybe by saying that she has a nice ass ... IN FRONT OF HER ... you punch him in the face and leave. You don't chuckle. That was freaking weird.

Last but definitely NOT least, we are going to play a game. It's called Never Have I Ever. It's easy to play, you say "never have I ever" and then name something that you have or haven't done. If any of the players of the game have done it, you have to hit yourself in the face with a book ... preferably one of those hardback editions of the Websters Dictionary that has been sitting on your parents bookshelf for the past 30 years. Now, I get to go first because it was my idea ... and this is really my show right now ... okay ... Never have I ever ... used the word SQUISHY more than 20 times in a book ... unfortunately, at this point, Ms. Kristen Ashley (the author of this book) would have a big knot on her forehead.

Oh, I almost forgot!! The book did have one major redeeming quality ... the characters were Denver Broncos fans. Almost boosted my rating to a 4 star ... then I saw another sentence with the word "squishy" in it ... bumped it back down to a 3 star.

Save the Date

Title: Save the Date

Author: Jenny B. Jones

Date Published: January 2011

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Pages: 312

★★★★★

You are cordially invited to the wedding of the year with the most unlikely bride and groom. Save the date . . . and say your prayers.

When funding for Lucy's non-profit job is pulled, she is determined to find out why. Enter Alex Sinclair, former professional football star and heir to Sinclair Enterprises--the primary donor to Lucy's non-profit organization.

Both Lucy and Alex have something the other desperately wants.

Alex has it all . . . except for the votes he needs to win his bid for Congress. Despite their mutual dislike, Alex makes Lucy a proposition: pose as his fiancee in return for the money she desperately needs. Bound to a man who isn't quite what he seems, Lucy finds her heart--and her future--on the line.

 

 

 

Save the Date was so much fun to read! It was witty, sassy, full of humor and romance. It's not your traditional romance novel. I think that it was better. I haven't read a book that really made me laugh in a long time.

Jones made her characters completely real. The way that the characters interacted with each other was almost like a look into my family. There were a few different plots that were going on in this book but it didn't feel like it. The story flowed so well that I read it in a day and a half and I was wishing that it was a little longer so that I could get more of the back and forth that went between the two main characters.

I have other books that I need to read and review and I don't want to. I want to sit down and read this one over and over and over. It will never be one that I loan to anyone because I couldn't bear it if I didn't get it back. I just can't say enough good things about this book. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT! 

The Medusa Amulet

Title: The Medusa Amulet

Author: Robert Masello

Date Published: April 2011

Publisher: Bantam

Pages: 464

★★★★★
In this new spine-tingling thriller by Robert Masello, the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Blood and Ice, a brilliant but skeptical young scholar named David Franco embarks on a quest to recover a legendary artifact: a beautifully carved amulet that was created by Benvenuto Cellini, the master artisan of Renaissance Italy.

What begins as a simple investigation quickly spirals into a twisting, turning tale of suspense and intrigue, a race against time that carries Franco across continents and centuries in a desperate search for this ultimate treasure—and a work of unimaginable power . . . and menace.

Aided only by a beautiful young Florentine with a conspirator’s mind and dark secrets, Franco is soon caught up in a life-and-death struggle from which there is no escape. Relentlessly pursued by deadly assassins and demons of his own, in the end he must confront—and defeat—an evil greater than anything conjured in his worst nightmares.

Full Disclosure: I did receive this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest reivew.

 

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time!!! I absolutely love how Masello wove fiction and history together to make this wonderfully mysterious and gripping story. Masello really grabs you by the collar and pulls you into the storyline quite quickly and then yanks you around a little. That sounds really horrible ... but it's amazing!! You really think that the story is going into one direction and then all of the sudden, then you do a 180 and you wondering what in the world just happened.

I really enjoy reading books that pull from history. Masello really knows his stuff. Reading The Medusa Amulet made me research a lot of the facts that he put into his book. Granted, this is fictional, this is not a true story. But a lot of it is based on speculation and actual facts. Fabulous!!

If you like Dan Brown or Steve Berry, this is an author that you'll fall in love with immediately. His writing style is a little different from Brown and Berry, but it's just as enchanting. I wish that I didn't have other books that I need to get through, because I would be rereading this one!

Great book, you have to give it a shot!  

Obsidian (Lux #1)

Title: Obsidian (Lux #1)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Date Published: November 2011

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Pages: 361

 ★★★★★

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

Three words ... MY. NEW. FAVORITE!!!

This book is absolutely awesome. Armentrout developed an amazing character in Katy. She's this spunky and (extremely) sassy teenager who holds nothing back when it comes to the leading male, Daemon, (who happens to be my new favorite male character). Daemon is mouthy and bossy and full of himself and apparently, drop dead gorgeous. The rapport between these two main characters is like watching someone throw gasoline on a fire - you know it will be cool to look at and fun to be around but it's so hot that you don't want to go near it.

If this ever turns into a movie ... please, for the love of everything soft and fluffy, cast Channing Tatum as Daemon. You and I both know that it's the right thing to do.

Anyhow. Armentrout pulls you in from the very first page. Her style of writing is so .... laid back (?!?) ... I can't think of another word for it ... you just feel like it's happening around you. She doesn't add any extra descriptions that you don't really need. Everything she writes is pertinent to the story and can't be cut out ... no filler (yay)!!

Great book ... I recommend it to anyone who wants a fun summer read. This is definite "by-the-pool" reading. I can't wait to read it again. 

Pick it up. Read it. You won't be disappointed!!

Divergent

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Date Published: May 2011

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Pages: 487

 ★★★★★
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I can't begin to explain how much I love this freakin' book!

At first I was thinking that Divergent was going to be another tired play on the post-apocalyptic genre that has become so popular lately. Unfortunately for all of the other books in that category ... you won't hold a candle to Divergent. Ever. Don't even try.

I know what you're thinking - it can't possibly beat HUNGER GAMES ... uh ... totally did. Easily. Within the first chapter.

Not that HG isn't good ... it is. But it's not the new literary bible that everyone is making it out to be. Especially since I've read Divergent.

This book is nothing short of amazing. It's one of those that I stayed up (while I was sick with the nastiest cold EVER and all I wanted to do was sleep) with and just HAD to finish the page I was on and then I would go to bed. But wait! There's more! I have to finish this other chapter and then I'll get some sleep. Then it turned into another chapter and another. Until it was 4am and our kids were going to be up in two hours. But I didn't care. I threw caution to the wind, knew that I wasn't going to be in the greatest mood the next day, but I didn't care. I just had to keep reading. Eventually I woke up to my Nook hitting me in the face because I had fallen asleep. And I didn't care. Not a curse was said when I nailed myself in the face because the book is that good!

It's just good. Veronica Roth is amazing. And I love this book. I need to go read the next one now.


**Update**
I'm re-reading Divergent for what has to be the 17the time. I fall more in love with the characters with each reading. Not that I didn't read the book completely the first time ... but I always find things that I missed with the previous time that I read it. I think that I get so excited about what is going to happen that I start skimming the pages just so that I can get to the next part. The characters that Roth has introduced to us through this book are written beautifully. I hate it when an author creates a "perfect" character ... characters are meant to have flaws and seem more human than just someone that is made up. Especially after seeing who has been slotted to be in the film, I can totally hook each written character to their movie counterpart and it's believable. Great book, worth a read!!