Review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

CONFESS

Author: Colleen Hoover

Publication Date: 03/10/2015

Audience: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

Summary from Goodreads

REVIEW

Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

STOLEN: A LETTER TO MY CAPTOR

Author: Lucy Christopher

Publication Date: 05/04/2009

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction

It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.

This is my story.

A letter from nowhere.

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?

The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.

 

Summary from Goodreads

REVIEW

Review: The Impossible Knife of Memory

THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Publication Date: 01/07/2014

Audience: YA

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction

For the past five years, Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

Summary from Goodreads

REVIEW

 

Review: My Forever by Kira Adams

MY FOREVER

Author: Kira Adams

Publication Date: 05/18/2014

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

 

Grief and loss can make a person act out in all the worst kinds of ways. Madalynne Johnson has always been a bit of a handful, but with the loss of her brother, separation of her parents, and her boyfriends unexpected news of joining the army she has gone into a full on tailspin.

Parker Grant experienced loss firsthand when his brother took his own life. Darkness closed in. Madalynne saved him; showed him the light. And even though he isn’t sure what the future holds--he wants Madalynne and this time he won’t give up without a fight.

My Forever is the second book in the Infinite Love series.  

 

Summary from Goodreads

 

 

REVIEW

 

 

Thanks again to Kira Adams for providing me with a ePub copy in exchange for an honest review!

 

Ummmmmmmm.  Well.  Sad day.

I absolutely LOVED Learning To Live, so it was with excitement that I started My Forever fully expecting to blow through it in no time.  Imagine my extreme disappointment when it seemed as if My Forever was written by a completely different person.  There was tons of info dumping and repeating of already known facts, granted the POVs switched between Madalynne and Parker so you can expect some overlap but the way it came across seemed forced and unnecessary.  In fact the switching of the POVs felt really choppy and inconsistent.

There was also the case of extreme hypocrisy on Parker's part.  He goes on and on about how he felt disconnected from Madalynne and pushed her away after the suicide of his brother Bo but when Madalynne's brother, Mason, is killed in war and she starts pushing Parker away and shutting him out she's a bitch.  He even gives her an ultimatum instead of allowing her the space she requests.  Granted how she is dealing with her grief isn't the best but I feel like Parker could have been more supportive.

I really think that the reason I didn't like My Forever is because I didn't like Parker and I felt that his and Madalynne's relationship was volatile at best.  She conforms to him, does everything to make him happy, but he gets to do what he wants no matter what she thinks about it.  Sorry, no.

 

In the end My Forever just wasn't for me but there were a LOT of 4 star reviews on Goodreads so I may be the minority here.  In cases like this I highly suggest giving it a shot because it could be other readers will get more out of it than I did.

 

Review: Red at Night by Katie McGarry

RED AT NIGHT

Author: Katie McGarry

Publication Date: 04/01/2014

Audience: YA

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

In Red at Night, Stella and Jonah are total opposites. She's the girl with purple hair from the wrong part of town. He's a high school senior who hangs with the cool crowd. Until a car accident leaves him haunted by guilt, and Jonah starts spending time at Stella's favorite refuge…the local cemetery.

Stella knows she should keep her distance—after all, she spent her girlhood being bullied by Jonah's friends. Once he's sorted out his tangled emotions, Jonah won't have time for her anymore. Too bad she's already fallen for him.

Summary from Goodreads

REVIEW

Review: How To Love by Katie Cotugno

HOW TO LOVE

Author: Katie Cotugno

Publication Date: 10/01/2013

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Before:
Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he's never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.

After:
Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena's gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she's finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn't want anything to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said Sawyer's being back wasn't stirring something in her. After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice.

Summary from Goodreads

REVIEW

Review: Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover

FINDING CINDERELLA

Author: Colleen Hoover

Publication Date: 10/14/2013

Audience: YA

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Review: Bared To You by Sylvia Day

BARED TO YOU

Author: Sylvia Day

Publication Date: 06/12/2012

Audience: Adult

Genre: Romance, Erotica, Contemporary

Review: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

I'LL MEET YOU THERE

Author: Heather Demetrios

Publication Date: 02/03/2015

Audience: YA, NA

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads Archive Review: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

I knew going into this that I would probably love it, I mean Colleen Hoover IS AMAZING. At least, the two books I had read by her prior to this were amazing. What Ugly Love cemented for me was the fact that Colleen Hoover belongs on my insta-buy list. The lady can do no wrong. Ugly Love is beautifully tragic. The secret that Miles has locked down deep inside broke my heart into a million pieces it was revealed. I'm not even kidding. I started hyperventilating because it was way too easy to imaUGLY LOVE Author: Colleen Hoover Publication Date: 08/05/2014 Audience: New Adult Genre: Contemporary Romance

Goodreads Archive Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

OPEN ROAD SUMMER Author: Emery Lord Publication Date: 04/15/2014 Audience: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary, Romance

 

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

 

Picture and Summary from Goodreads

 

REVIEW

 

Loved this one!!  I seriously need my BFF to become a country superstar...or infiltrate T. Swift's circle of peeps!

 

The Logistics:

Open Road Summer is told from the POV of Reagan O'Neill.  Reagan's BFF just happens to be country singer Lilah Montgomery, AKA Dee to her friends.  Reagan tags along on Dee's concert tour which is lucky for us readers because we get to live vicariously through Reagan as she becomes fast friends with hunky Matt Finch and has a grand time being Dee's VIP.

 

I absolutely adored Dee and Reagan's friendship.  It came across as so real and genuine and deep.  They had history and I could feel it.  I can't help but think how awkward I would feel to tag along with a rich and famous friend, feeling like I'm living off of their fame, but I could tell that Dee made sure Reagan felt comfortable, that she knew she was wanted and not a burden.

 

And Hello Matt Finch!  With his own battle wounds and swoontastic voice it's no wonder Reagan couldn't keep herself from falling for him.  Their relationship is not always easy but it wouldn't feel real if it was.

 

Bottom Line:

With easy to love characters and a fun setting (who doesn't think a tour bus would be fun?!) Open Road Summer is a perfect summer read.  The friendship and romance will have you smiling, laughing out loud, and sighing like an idiot.  I highly suggest reading it in the warm shade on a hammock with an ice cold sweet tea in your hand.

 

 



 

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

BETTER OFF FRIENDS

Author: Elizabeth Eulberg

Publication Date: 02/25/2014

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

 

For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?

From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again — and one kiss away from true love?

 

Picture and Summary from Goodreads

 

 

REVIEW

 

 

This book was so cutesy and fun to read.  Ive decided that cute and fluffy are how I prefer my contemporary romance reads.  Not that serious issues deter me but real life has enough issues without me reading about them.  Of course Better Off Friends does have a major issue it is centered around...Do Macallan and Levi belong together as more than just friends?  I was really impressed with how well the author stretched out the story and still kept me guessing as to what would happen in the end.

 

The story is told from both Levi and Macallan's POVs with back and forth commentary in between chapters giving off the feeling that they're telling us their story through their eyes while sitting side by side. I thought that was a pretty great idea and really enjoyed it.

 

The only reason this book is a four instead of a five is because of some formatting issues.  I read this on my NOOK and all of the commentary in between chapters was poorly formatted making it hard at first to tell who was talking and what was going on. I eventually figured out how it was supposed to read and was able to look past it until the final chapters when things were coming to a head.  I could tell it was supposed to read like Macallan and Levi were talking over each other in their narratives but it just seemed really sloppy and confusing. I'm hoping it was just my format.

 

Other than some tiny things I really had no issues with this book.  The characters and storyline really had me hooked and invested in the story. It made me wish for a friendship like theirs.

~ Goodreads ~

Panic by Lauren Oliver

PANIC Author: Lauren Oliver Publication Date: 04/04/2014 Audience: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary, Romance    

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

  Picture and Summary from Goodreads     REVIEW  

Ooookay so I'm pretty sure I went into this with the wrong expectations. I'm not really even sure what I was expecting but what Panic ended up being was not what I thought. That being said it was still an ok read. For the people comparing this to Hunger Games, you guys didn't read the same book that I did. Panic is really more a coming of age, rite of passage type of book. It's gritty and surprisingly real life, a story set in poor town USA with a cast of teens dealing with their own issues. The...more Ooookay so I'm pretty sure I went into this with the wrong expectations. I'm not really even sure what I was expecting but what Panic ended up being was not what I thought. That being said it was still an ok read. For the people comparing this to Hunger Games, you guys didn't read the same book that I did. Panic is really more a coming of age, rite of passage type of book. It's gritty and surprisingly real life, a story set in poor town USA with a cast of teens dealing with their own issues. The game of panic is something you would hear about happening in the real world, a group of kids performing dangerous dares for an endgame prize. The pacing at times was slow and for me kind of dry but it still had heart racing excitement and suspense that kept me turning the page. Overall while I did enjoy parts of Panic, there were still moments where I was easily distracted from the story. Could be that it just wasn't my cup of tea. ~ Goodreads ~

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

HOPELESS

HOPELESS #1

Author: Colleen Hoover

Publication Date: 12/19/2012

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Mystery

 

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.

 

Picture and Summary from Goodreads

 



 

REVIEW

 

*sigh* Now that was an amazingly great read.  Full of laugh out loud moments paired with swoon worthy romance and a serious issue at heart, Hopeless has easily made my favorites list. 

 

Right off the bat I instantly connected with Skye.  The interactions between her and her two best friends really brought out the fun in the book. The interactions between Skye and Holder gave me hot flashes. 

The romance was heart stopping, the friendship heartwarming, and the mystery surrounding Sky's past suspense worthy.

 

Hopeless was a delicious read that kept me enthralled, there was no putting the book down.  If everything she writes is this good, I have a feeling I will be going on a Colleen Hoover book spree.

 

 



"Let me inform you of something," he says in a low voice. "The moment my lips touch yours, it will be your first kiss. Because if you've never felt anything when someone's kissed you, then no one's ever really kissed you. Not the way I plan on kissing you."

p. 126, Paperback edition