ARC: Her Secret Prince (Royal Holiday #2)

Her Secret Prince (Royal Holiday #2) by Madeline Ash

Publisher: Tule Publishing (Holiday Books), 2015

117 pages, kindle edition

Source: Netgalley

Release Date: April 7th 2015

Genre: Adult, Chick-lit, Romance, Contemporary

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

At sixteen, Dee Johnson gambled her heart on her best friend Jed Brown – and lost when he disappeared without a trace.

Ten years on, Dee’s life is uprooted when Jed turns up on her doorstep, asking for her help.

Dee has been left behind by everyone she’s loved: her parents, her close friend Alexia, and a stream of lovers. She moves fast with men and suspects this is why they move on fast. Now that’s Jed’s back in her life, she’s taking no chances. Despite the attraction ripping at her seams, she holds back, knowing she wouldn't recover from being loved and left by him a second time.

A constant traveler, Jed has only felt at home once in his life – with Dee. Now that he’s found her again, he's determined to make up for lost time. He'll never leave her again.

Until an unexpectedly royal revelation threatens to strip Jed of his freedom and future – including his place by Dee’s side.

My Review:

the author has got a unique kind of writing but it sort of held the lack of potential to be an amazing story but the main characters Dee and Jed do not feel as well rounded as they could have been and the storyline and some scenes are not as meshed together as they needed to be, but I wanted to get truly invested in what was happening. Sometimes I felt as if I was being told what was happening instead of being shown instead, I wanted to so badly to go on a journey with them but I think I expected a little too because of the previous book and at the time I did not realise that these book were written by different authors. This would have been an amazing read if it all meshed together with a flow about it like waves. I suggest you give this book a try, because what is said in this book is my own opinion, you may like how the story plays out.

Author Bio:

Madeline lives and writes in Melbourne. She is an author with Destiny Romance and Tule Publishing.

Online, she calls madelineash.net home, although she does have capricious blogging tendencies so might not always have fresh tea ready for visitors. That's not to say she doesn't welcome company.

She writes contemporary romance.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

ARC Review: Rock & Release (Summer Love #1)

Rock & Release (Summer Love #1) by Riley Edgewood

Publisher: Victory Editing, 2015

365 pages, kindle edition

Source: Netgalley

Release Date: January 2nd 2015

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Formerly released as a three-act serial, Rock & Release is now one complete novel.

She wants something easy. What she needs might be something else.

Cassidy Evans is looking for an escape over her college summer break. And when one night with a few too many martinis leads her to sexy guitarist, Gage Logan, she may have found exactly that.

He's hot and he's sweet, and in the bedroom he's enough to make Cassidy forget her own name. Multiple times. But as her heart opens to Gage, feelings she's been trying to avoid slip through, too. Regret over her rocky relationship with her parents. Pain from her brother's recent death. Guilt over a fallout with her best friend... As much as she craves Gage, she can't unlock her heart the way he deserves.

Enter Luca James, international rock star and lead singer for Gold Rush Standard. Cassidy can't stand his music. She can't stand his arrogance. And, when he sets his sights on more than the drinks she serves him, she especially can't stand how she's drawn to his no-strings-attached flirting.

Soon Cassidy will have to make a choice: ignore her heart and go after the carefree life she covets, or stand strong to face a bittersweet reality.

Either way, she risks losing everything she truly wants.

My Review:

In this book Cassidy tries escaping the depression from her brothers unexpected death. I’ve lost someone super close to me so I understand. But I also like that se said “screw reality, I’m going to have fun working at a bar for a summer.” I even like Gage and the hot sex they have. What I do not like is that she runs off with a rock star. He is such a total dick head excuse the pun she goes with him because she is starting to have a real feelings for Gage. Come who the hell does that? I think I’m in love, I need to run away with another man. It’s really a stupid thing to do.

This story all started with a promise. Cassidy, mourning the loss of her beloved brother and seeking a break from reality, meets an amazingly sweet and handsome man. I would think the loss of her brother would have been more important in the story that her grief would be discussed more, but it rarely wasn’t, this story was meant to be about someone making changes in their life after losing a loved one, but you never feel their grief not until the very end of the book.

At almost about the half way through the book I was ready to throw the towel in and I never give up on book. I found the other book to this series or book the author did prior to this book I felt emotions from the characters and I thought Luca was totally unnecessarily part of this story. If he really did have to be a part of this story Cassidy really didn’t need to run off with him. All that really did was make me like her less and want to remove this book from my kindle. But I did continue to read on and finish it so I could review. We did also learn a lot more about Cassidy’s brother, also have the only emotion evoking portion of the book when Cassidy visits her brother’s grave.

My Rating:

Author Bio:

Riley Edgewood writes sexy love stories about characters along that sometimes scary, often thrilling path toward self-discovery, where high school years are a few miles back in the rearview mirror and nothing but possibility stretches out on the road ahead.

Riley lives in the DC area and spends most of her time with her characters, playing with her toddler and husband, and pretending she knows how to be an adult. Former dancer. Current writer. Lifelong lover of accessories, books, and the beach. And cats. Can't forget the kitties. Of which she has two.

Her favorite new adult authors include Tammara Weber, Colleen Hoover, and Cora Carmack.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | 

ARC Review: Mary Hades (Mary Hades #1)

Mary Hades (Mary Hades
 #1) by Sarah Dalton

Publisher: CreateSpace, 2014

288 pages, kindle edition

Source: Netgalley

Release Date: April 30th 2014

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror, Romance, Thriller, Mystery, Supernatural

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Not many seventeen year old girls have a best friend who’s a ghost, but then Mary Hades isn’t your average teenager.

Scarred physically and mentally from a fire, her parents decide a holiday to an idyllic village in North Yorkshire will help her recover. Nestled in the middle of five moors, Mary expects to have a boring week stuck in a caravan with her parents. Little does she know, evil lurks in the campsite…

Seth Lockwood—a local fairground worker with a dark secret—might be the key to uncovering the murky history that has blighted Nettleby. But Mary is drawn to him in a way that has her questioning her judgement.

Helped by her dead best friend and a quirky gay Goth couple, Mary must stop the unusual deaths occurring in Nettleby. But can she prevent her heart from being broken?

The first in a series of dark YA novels, Mary Hades follows on from the bestselling Kindle Single 'My Daylight Monsters'. A spine-tingling tale with romance, readers will be shocked and entertained in equal measure.

With some scenes of horror and some strong language, this book is best suited for readers aged fifteen and up.

My Review:
Mary Hadess really caught my eye because of the cover, I know we ain't meant to judge things by the way they look but this book caught my eye because of it. The cover was enough to catch my attention it is enough time to read the synopsis. I love Young Adult  and a really good Thriller,  but most times when reading ghost stories they seem to become victims of a bland plotting, not so great writing or stupid cliches. Yet Mrs Dalton hits all the right spots and hit the ball out of the park for a home run.

This book is a medium length read, on my kindle it says 288 pages, making this book a great companion for the car rides or a day out at the beach. Mary Heads follows an English teenager Mary who can see ghosts, on a week-long holiday with her parents and dead bestie, Lacey to a small town/village named Nettleby in North Yorkshire, England. Nestled between five moors Mary and Lacey stumble onto strange deaths and the ghost of a murdered girl hell bent on getting revenge on her killer, but together with new, living friends they must figure out who killed the girl before she claims yet another life, and there is a bit of a romance thrown in  there.

I am seriously really glad i read this novel. it is well written, set and paced just right and does not contain any plot holes. I like that it is set in England and read the whole thing with an in my head (Rihanna's accent even though i know she ain't from England). The characters were real and relatable, I could not stop laughing at how accurate Ms. Sarah Dalton pegged Mary's parents. I am already hoping with the next novel in the series is just as good. If you love paranormal,Young Adult then this book is for you, Grab it now you won't be sorry you made the right choice.

My Rating:

ARC Review: Green

Green by Keith C. Clark 

Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing, 2014
428 pages, paperback

Source: Netgalley

Release Date:  March 18th 2014

Genre: Adult, Friendship

Links: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon UK

     

Synopsis (from Amazon US):

Green follows its African American hero, Wish Fitzgerald, through parts of five decades as he struggles against bigotry, tragedy and more to achieve his improbable dream of playing in the storied Masters golf tournament. Woven into Wish's journey is his on-again, off-again friendship with wealthy white county club scion Jackson Spears. The unusual friendship that begins as teenagers ultimately changes both boys forever. This is a story about how racism begets racism, about a hero who is hard to love but easy to root for, about the often immense challenges and great rewards of friendship across racial and socio-economic lines and especially about not giving up on your dreams.

My Review:
When Aloysius Wish Fitzgerald and Jackson Spears meet in 1969 they form an unlikely friendship. Wish is poor and black and Jackson is wealthy and white, they being to bond over golf, Wish is obsessed with sports and Jackson’s overbearing father hopes his son will able to master it. Wish words a caddy to stay close to the game at one time or another when most golf courses wouldn’t allow black players due to the racism of most people like Jackson’s father. Wish helps Jackson not only with his game but also with his confidence. It is a favor that Jackson repays later in life as the narrative moves through roughly four decades of family, business and sports struggles and triumphs.

Race and racism is a recurring thing, but it is never an issue between any of the books primary characters, Jackson’s father is a bit of cartoonish dick head (sorry for the language). They are on the fringe as Wish pursues his dream of becoming a professional golfer, as the narrative tension refreshingly comes from the character chasing their own dreams or from their refusal to let go of their own stubborn and stupid notions. But on one hand the stories moral lesson is at times as character relinquish those same stubborn notions after some quick dialogue and reflection, race is a difficult and self-reliant and even though each decade presents them with their own challenges their lives just never seem in danger of going off course and getting out of control.

But even so it is easy to root for wish and this fact keeps the story from moving along. The golf jargon may get a bit thick for most non-golfers at one time or another it is necessary to the action and detailed enough to please most golfing fans.


My Rating:

ARC Review: Love Hurts

Love Hurts by Malorie Blackman

Publisher: RHCP Digital, 2015
576 pages, kindle edition

Source: Netgalley

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Anthologies, Short Stories

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Malorie Blackman brings together the best teen writers of today in a stunningly romantic collection about love against the odds. Featuring short stories and extracts about modern star-crossed lovers from stars such as Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak and Patrick Ness, and with a brand-new story from Malorie Blackman herself, Love Hurts looks at every kind of relationship, from first kiss to final heartbreak.

My Review:

The synopsis makes you believe that Love Hurts was to be a collection of new and original works by these authors, but in all truth only five were new, and others were pulled from other existing books, a large portion of which I  had read already. Blackman has curated a bundled of romantic scenes from Young Adult novels and smashed them all into one, Which was confusing.

With pulling the extracts from completed work already is that readers may no connection or knowledge of the plot. Issue with being given random excerpts is that because we were not given the entire beginning of the story, It most often felt rushed and alot like instant-Love, so the pacing was off most times. Most excerpts made me feel like i had just walked into the middle of something. I struggled to pick up what was happening, why was a couple fighting (I had no idea what lead them to that state or even who they were). 

Even though I had problems with this book, Love Hurts shows that love maybe painful it can still be beauitful. i provides us with everything from awkward first meetings to first kisses with a handsome man to an all consuming relationships, but reminds us that everyone experiences love, soldiers, siblings robots, friends, strangers, and online acquaintances.

My Rating:

ARC Review: Imitation (Clone Chronicles #1)

Imitation (Clone Chronicles #1) by Heather Hildenbrand

Publisher: Alloy Entertainment (Powered by Amazon), 2014

272 pages, kindle edition

Source: Netgalley

Genre: Young Adult, Science, Dystopia, Romance, Fantasy

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Synopsis:

Everyone is exactly like me. There is no one like me.

Ven wrestles with these contradicting truths every day. A clone of wealthy eighteen-year-old Raven Rogen, Ven knows everything about the girl she was created to serve: the clothes she wears, the boys she loves, the friends she loves to hate. Yet she’s never met the Authentic Raven face-to-face. Imitations like Ven only get to leave the lab when they’re needed—to replace a dead Authentic, donate an organ, or complete a specific mission. And Raven has never needed Ven . . . until now.

When there is an attack on Raven’s life, Ven is thrust into the real world, posing as Raven to draw out the people who tried to harm her. But as Ven dives deeper into Raven’s world, she begins to question everything she was ever told. She exists for Raven, but is she prepared to sacrifice herself for a girl she’s never met?

My Review:

Ven was made as a clone of Raven Rogen. She’s trained to know the details of Raven’s life. But she’s not Raven. I think the stark contrast of the real Raven and Ven is supposed to get the reader to like Ven even more. That just didn’t work for me. I mean, could Raven really be that shallow and conniving? Maybe I just can’t buy the whole nature vs nurture debate within the book. Since Ven is Raven, I don’t think that she is so much an angel to Raven’s devil.

Oh, and there’s insta-love. What I hate more than insta-love, is insta-love that I don’t buy. The relationship between Ven and Linc doesn’t seem genuine. What it does seem is obvious and predictable. I like romance to be exciting and new. I found myself just groaning and trying to see when the real story was going to start moving on to something interesting when Ven and Linc were together.

The story in itself started out interesting. I like conspiracies. I like seeing how far and how twisted everything gets in these types of books. Unfortunately towards the end it became pretty predictable as to what was going on. The mystery of who was good/bad and what was going to happen was lost. I was pretty sad because the book started out strong.

My Rating:

ARC Review: My Lea (A Broken Love Story #1)

My Lea (A Broken Love Story #1) by E. Mellyberry

Publisher: E. Mellyberry, 2014

369 pages, kindle edition

Source: Sarah and Abbie

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Link: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A simple girl.

A broken guy.

One horrible incident.

When Lea Amelia landed her feet in San Francisco for her overseas study, her idea of freedom was simple, like eating junk food ten times a day, sitting in front of the TV in her PJs, or going out late with her friends without the need to check in with her mother constantly.

Then she met Andrew Jaya, her brothers’ best friend. A twenty-two-year-old guy whose physical appearance looked like he was crafted straight from God’s heavenly hands, but possessed a past as bleak as if it was drawn by Evil himself. A conflicted guy who wore sadness like nobody’s business beneath his mask, a perfect-looking mask she slowly peeled away.

He was also the guy who hurt her.

Suddenly, everything about her was no longer simple.

Andrew Jaya had convinced himself that not feeling was good for him. He'd been doing it splendidly for almost his entire life. But that was before his best friend’s sister stepped into his life and ruined it. After weeks of knowing Lea, all of those warm and wonderful feelings he’d long ago denied to himself started to reappear. Problem was, the brighter the light, the bigger the shadows that came with it.

His traumatic past refused to let him go.

When the unthinkable happened, the easiest thing to do was to run. But life often proves that the easiest way is usually the hardest.

My Review:
DNF

What is there to say about this book. I read the book up to a certain chapter and after that I just had to call it quits, and I don't call it quits on anyone or anything, but this book made me eat my words alright.

Myself and everyone else can safely say the male lead Andrew aka Drew was a down right Fxxken moody Prick (excuse the language everyone). I liked Lea she was sweet, soft-hearted and caring, the total opposite to Andrew.

This book was slow starting out and it picks up gradually as you read further into the book. Some people will connect with the book some people won't, this book its and alright read if you can handle the contents of the book.

I give the author props for writing this book in English when English isn't her first language (reason for 2 stars).

My Rating