Sunday, January 11, 2015

Elegy by Amanda Hocking

Genre: Mermaids
Hardcover: 542 Pages
Published: August 6, 2013
13615701Series: Watersong
            1. Wake
            2. Lullaby
            3. Tidal
            4. Elegy
Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Readers won't want to miss the explosive final book in the Watersong series by New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking

Now that Gemma holds the key to breaking the siren curse, the stakes have never been higher. At last, a future with those she loves—and a romance with Alex—is close enough to touch...but not if Penn has anything to say about it. Penn is more determined than ever to have Daniel for her own and to destroy Gemma and Harper along the way, and Penn always gets what she wants. Now a final explosive battle is about to begin, and the winner will take everything Gemma holds dear.


My Review:


Well... Took me forever, but I finally finished this book. I was so exhausted from being bored to death that it took me years to finally finish this story. Haha jk. not years, but months! I was sadly very disappointed with this series. The beginning of this series was fascinating and I enjoyed it very much. I am a huge fan of Hocking, but this series just wasn't my cup of tea. I realized as interesting and beautiful these sea creatures are, I just have come to the conclusion I don't like them. I have read other mermaid books and the end result is always the same: Eghh no not reading another book about mermaids. So it's safe to say I don't really remember what I read so this review is basically useless... sorry you spent time reading it and I wasn't much help. Buttttt fear not! I have provided a link where you can look up other reviews by bloggers and hopefully that will help you. 



Hard to Love by Kendall Ryan

16147062Genre: Romance
Ebook: 227 Pages
Published: January 8, 2013
Series: Stand Alone
Rating:★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Cade’s always taken risks…

Cade takes cares of his sick younger sister by doing what he does best--cage fighting and starring in adult movies, his newest harebrained moneymaking scheme designed to pay for his sister’s growing medical bills. But when his latest gig finds him admitted to the ER sporting an erection from hell, thanks to the little pill given to him by the director, he can’t get the pretty little nurse who treated him out of his head, even though he knows she’s so far out of his league it should be illegal. 

Alexa’s always played it safe…

Tired of being pigeonholed as the sweet, innocent one, hardworking nursing student Alexa has been looking for ways to break out of her Goody Two-shoes image. When her friend suggests the outlandish idea of losing her virginity to the sexy and sure-to-be-skilled porn star, Alexa is mortified. But then when Cade refuses her proposition, she finds herself pissed off and embarrassed. When she tracks him down to give him a piece of her mind, she isn’t prepared for what she finds. Watching him care for his little sister tugs at her heart, and suddenly it’s no longer just about losing her virginity, but about helping Cade. Because Lord help her, she might actually be falling for a porn star… 



My Review:

The opening line was all it took for me to get hooked to this book!
It only contained 9 words: “Dammit. I knew a four-hour erection wasn’t normal.”
It is possibly the funniest lines I have ever read and it had me giggling right from the beginning.


Poor Cade needs to make a few quick bucks for his little sisters overgrowing medical expenses. She has spina bifida and they are struggling to survive. To get that quick money he decides porn is the way to go, but soon realizes his heart is not up for this difficult task. As his day at the movie set starts to go downhill he soon ends up at the ER with a four hour long erection. There he meets a student nurse, Alexa who can't help, but blush at his situation. 

Alexa is from a totally different world than Cade-- rich lifestyle, country clubs, but there is a definite spark between the two characters. What I liked about this book was how it captured my attention. However, the downfall began when things between the two characters heated up and life got in the way. They both fell for each other and eventually had to stay away for their own good. What I didn't like was the fact that things were just annoying. I mean if they both like each other why let life get in the way. I guess I had difficulty accepting the fact that they both didn't try enough on their ends. Yeh, the story picks up pace and the love starts to deepen, but somewhere in the middle I started to loose interest. Overall, a quick and easy read where a porn star meets a virgin. 



Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski

16081272Genre:Romance
Paperback: 426 Pages
Published: November 15, 2012
Series: The Edge of Never
            1. The Edge of Never
            2. The Edge of Always
            3. TBA
Rating:★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

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 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


My Review:
  
This book is a beautiful story about love, friendship, living in the moment, being honest, true, living life to the fullest, not being afraid to follow your dreams and never losing hope even if the world is conspiring against you. I CANNOT STRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS BOOK! I absolutely adored it. I loved the concept, the characters and the story it self. It's not often that I can read a book and want to read it all over again. I am definitely not the kind of person to re-read books, but this one not only captured my attention, but it captured my heart.

Before I start with the review here are a few of my favorite quotes from this book:

“What compels any of us to do the things we do when deep down a part of us just wants to break free from it all?” 


“I think when you fall in love, like true love, its love for life. All the rest is just experiences and delusions.”

“…dwelling and planning is bullshit,” he says. “You dwell on the past, you can’t move forward. Spend too much time planning for the future and you just push yourself backwards, or you say stagnant in the same place all your life.” His eyes lock on mine. “Live in the moment.” 



"Depression is pain in its purest form and I would do anything to be able to feel an emotion again. Any emotion at all. Pain hurts ,but pain that's so powerful that you can't feel anything anymore, that's when you start to feel like you're going crazy." 


"THE HEART ALWAYS WINS out over the mind. The heart, although reckless and suicidal and a masochist all on its own, always gets its way." 




Camryn is a 20 year old girl living in North Carolina. Her life was full of joy, happiness, fun, and going out all the time. She used to run naked into the freezing lake every winter, but soon she started to lose everything. She lost her boyfriend, Ian to a car accident, her brother got arrested for killing a man during a drunk driving accident, and her parents divorced because her father was cheating on her mother. All these things caused her pain and sadness. One day she decided to get on a bus and just leave everything behind. That's when she meets Andrew and her life changes in the most beautiful way possible. But you will have to read to find out what happens! 

PODs by Michelle K. Pickett

13425802
Genre:Dystopian, Sci-fi
Paperback: 312 pages
Published: June 4, 2013
Series: PODs
            1. PODs
            2. TBA
Rating:★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it's in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it's a balm for the broken soul. 

After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. That's the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters. 

Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure.



My Review:

Personal note: This is my first review in over three months. I was in school and dealing with finals so writing this review was exciting and refreshing. I apologize for taking so long to post another one, but life just gets in the way sometimes.  I can't believe I went three months without reading a book!! (well for fun that is) So lets get to the review shall we?


Yet another sci-fi dystopian novel that didn't capture my attention. Honestly, lately every single book that I have read has the same story line and it's starting to get boring. The girl in distress, it's the end of the world, prince charming comes to save the day and bla bla bla... I have yet to read a book that has truly captured my attention and made me jump with joy!

Reasons why I didn't enjoy this book and some things I just didn't get!

1. The book talks about a virus. Okay... what virus?? What is the name? How did it start? How was it created? Why is it affecting certain people and not the rest? I mean c'mon! How does a virus not have a name!? I mean we live in a society where we name our cars and we can't come up with a name for a virus! That is outrageous in my opinion. The book talks about lots of highly educated scientist and doctors and they can't come up with a name!? Pshhhh okay!

2. The main character wasn't someone I saw myself connecting with at all. At times  she felt very emotionless to me and I just didn't find that attractive in a main character. I mean she was part of a world that wasn't going to be there in a few days. She was leaving her family, friends, school, and everything she loved behind and she couldn't express her sadness. Plus her just accepting everything that was happening just didn't make sense. If I was in that situation I would definitely have been angry, sad and probably would have cried my eyes out.  

3. The POD system didn't make any sense to me. I mean why have all these underground PODs for kids who were smart and could run the world after the current world died. Why force these kids to be separated from their loved ones in order to keep the world going. Let the kids make the choice for themselves. If they are old enough to chose what to wear I definitely think they are old enough to decide if they want to sped their last moments with their loved ones.


Overall, this novel had an interesting promise, but for me it just left too many questions unanswered. The idea was good, but the execution fell short. I know this book is part of a series, but I will not be continuing on just because I honestly don't have any patience to see what happens next.