Review Of: Salt and Blood

“When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.”

These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to the spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to Quivira, Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling cornstalks of this village lost to time.

Ash is plagued by memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the town’s history of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels drawn to Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.

As the community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash must fight not only to save her mother, but herself—and discover the truth about Quivira before it’s too late. Before she’s all in—blood and salt.

I was really, really looking forward to Salt and Blood.  Horror plus romance = my favorite thing. 

The first few chapters seemed to be heading in the right direction, but, then the rest of the book happened. Sadly, Salt and Blood left me feeling bored in both the romance and horror departments.  I didn't really feel anything between Dane and Ash, I didn't get goosebumps from the corn, and the ending left me feeling like I had completely wasted my time.  It did pick up towards the last few chapters and I started to feel excited but how things are wrapped up throws all the good parts out the window.  

I obviously liked it enough to finish it, which is saying something, but I figure in a few days most of the details will fade away.  As much as I would like to know how things finally end up, I seriously doubt that I pick up the second book.

Sexy Saturday Spotlight: Where I Belong

Sexy Saturday Spotlight is a new feature I'm going to test out. It's going to be where I put a spotlight on some of the sexier books I read, usually ones that come with a warning for 18+ due to sexual situations.

This week the spotlight is shining on Where I Belong by J. Daniels.

When Mia Corelli returns to Alabama for a summer of fun with her childhood best friend, Tessa, there's only one thing keeping her on edge. One person that she’d do anything to avoid.

Benjamin Kelly. World’s biggest dickhead.

Mia hates him with a fury and has no desire to ever see him again. When she decides to start her summer off with a bang and finally give away her v-card, she unknowingly hands it over to the one guy that excelled at making her life miserable, learning a valuable lesson in the process.

Always get the name of the guy you’re going home with.

Ben can’t get the girl he spent one night with out of his head. When she leaves him the next morning, he thinks he’ll never see her again. Until he sees her lounging by the pool with his sister.

Mia is determined to hate Ben, even though she can’t forget him.

Ben is determined to prove he’s not the same guy he used to be.

What happens when the one person you wish never existed becomes the one person you can’t imagine being without?

Where I Belong is told from the POVs of Mia and Ben, the transition from one to the other is smooth and easy to follow.  The relationship between Mia and Ben is strained due to their history but full of chemistry and delicious tension...which makes it that much more satisfying when they give in to each other.  While there are plenty of steamy scenes there is enough story line to keep the book feeling like a romance novel rather than a book full of just sex.

I did fully enjoy Where I Belong, but there were actions and scenarios that irritated me.  Like how easily Mia forgives Ben.  The dude tormented her as a child, causing her to feel insecure in her skin because she was overweight and had braces.  But as soon as she returns to her hometown, having lost the weight and the braces, Ben has a miraculous turn around and is full of lust for her.  I kind of would like to see how he would have felt about Mia if she had returned without braces but still heavy...would he have felt the same? Granted he has gone through a lot of change himself so it's possible he would have still given her a chance but I kind of doubt it, especially since he's dreading her arrival prior to seeing her.

Where I Belong is the first book of a series of companion books.  I'm hoping to be able to get into the next books but sometimes I have trouble with companion books since I'm stuck on the original couple's story.  Either way I'm sure it will amount to some heated stories.

Review Of: What I Thought Was True

Gwen Castle has never so badly wanted to say good-bye to her island home till now: the summer her Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, takes a job there as the local yard boy. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

I absolutely adored Huntley Fitzpatrick's My Life Next Door so I was super excited to get my hands on her next book What I Thought Was True.  I had to stop and start the book twice, a year apart, before I could finally force myself to finish it.  I don't know if it was that I didn't like the characters or the story itself but something kept me from falling in love with the book.

Gwen is trying to find herself, she's struggling with the fact that she doesn't have a set plan for the future whereas it seems like her best friend and cousin both have their future's mapped out.  All Gwen knows is that she desperately wants to leave town rather than find herself stuck like her parents and grandparents. At the end of the book, while a lot of things have changed, everyone still seems to know what they're going to do except Gwen.  In fact, Gwen doesn't really make a whole bunch of decisions aside from whether or not she is going to give Cassidy (love interest) a second chance, or really, a first chance.  The entire time she seems hell bent on thinking of Cass as an ass but at the same time pines after him like a love sick puppy.  When we have enough of a flash back memory to piece the whole story together (because to be truthful we as the reader have no idea what is going on for most of the book) it turns out that  Cass really didn't do a whole lot to deserve Gwen's wrath. And the advice from Gwen's dad? Not that fantastic....not even that much of a lead up to it other than the mention in the summary.

Whatever the reason, What I Thought Was True and I just didn't see eye to eye.  Even so I'm not giving up on Fitzpatrick, she has proven that she can write a book that I love, this just wasn't it.

Review Of: Roomies

Graham Malone is my roommate, my personal eye candy, the reason I get up in the morning smiling (that could be from the illicit dreams I have about him too, I suppose. Let's move on.). He's also beautiful to look at, but his heart is where his true beauty lies. Take away the exterior and the interior still shines. 

I love him. I mean, I'm pretty sure I do, having never been in love before. Anyway, it seems legit. 

And now his brother Blake is here, and, well, he's the complete opposite of Graham. Sarcastic, brooding, and totally available. But he's leaving soon, and Graham's the one I want. I shouldn't have to remind myself of this, right? I wouldn't have to if Blake would quit looking at me like I'm something yummy and he's starving.

Here's a toast to roomies; the ones you should never fall in love with. Or something.

Yes, Roomies could be classified as your generic, over done, love triangle contemporary but I can't hold that against it because it was so adorkable (yeah, I just made that up). 

Yes, it drove me insane that Kennedy and Graham could not see what was in front of them but they were so fun to watch/read that I can forgive them their shortcomings.  

Yes, Kennedy"s inner monologue took a couple of chapters for me to wrap my brain around it, in fact it borders on annoying, but she is so full of sass and attitude and sarcasm... I loved it and her.  

So while I don't have a lot to say about Roomies I do believe it's worth a read, especially if you're in the mood for a short and easy to get through story about two people who were made for each other.