Saturday, October 31, 2015

REVIEW - Reap (Scarred Souls #2) - Tillie Cole


TITLE - Reap (Scarred Souls #2)

AUTHOR - Tillie Cole


(Released Nov 10th)

Synopsis:




Raised as a prototype for the Georgian Bratva's obedience drug, 221 fails to think, act, or live for himself; he's his master's perfectly-crafted killing puppet. Standing at six-foot-six, weighing two-hundred-and-fifty pounds, and unrivaled in to-the-death combat, 221 successfully secures business for the Georgian Mafiya Boss of NYC, who rules the dark world of the criminal underground. Until his enemies capture him.

Talia Tolstaia dreams to break from the heavy clutches of Bratva life. She dreams of another life--away from the stifling leash of her Russian Bratva Boss father and from the brutality of her work at The Dungeon, her criminal family's underground death-match enterprise. But when she stumbles upon her family's captive who is more monster than man, she starts to see the man underneath. A powerful, beautiful, damaged man whose heart calls to hers. But sacrifices must be made--blood for blood...life for life...souls for scarred souls...




My Review:




I gotta be honest, I wasn't sure I actually wanted to read this. Not because I had doubts on whether it would be good or not, I knew it would be good. I just wasn't in the mood for this sort of genre or story. I was going through a PNR phase and didn't want to stop the flow, so I was a bit annoyed to have to read something else. 
Anyway, knowing I had to get it read in time for release I made a start. Within a couple of chapters, I remembered why I loved Raze so much, the combination of the originality, the characters and of course Tillie Cole's writing, and again I was totally hooked. After reading it straight through without pausing, I was annoyed with myself for grumbling about reading it in the first place. It was totally addictive, and unputdownable, as I knew it would be, once I got it started. 

In this story we follow 221, a Georgian slave. He has been held captive since he was 8 and now at 29 he is a beast. He was conditioned to kill. After being fed on new fangled drugs, and kept chained up 24/7, all he knows is to submit and bow to his 'Master's' every command. 

I can't say too much about 221 as it will spoil not only this story, but also Raze if you haven't read that book yet. Although, if you haven't why not?? ;) 

The leading gorgeous lady this time is Talia, a Russian daughter of Mafia bosses. She is also the sister of Raze (Luca). She knows some of what happened to Luca in the past, and knows he has revenge to take, and scores to settle. She doesn't expect to be meeting the huge beast of a man, Zaal. 6 foot 6, and built like a brick. With his long black hair, bronzed skin, and covered in scars and ink, she is shocked from first sight, and it soon turns to interest, and a mixture of pity and lust. 

What grows between Zaal and Talia is so sweet and almost like 2 teens finding love for the first time. Zaal is not like anybody else Talia has ever known. After everything that happened to him over the 20 years he was prisoner, he should be unsalvageable, yet something so innocent and almost childlike is present in him, and Talia can't help but want to take care of him, and make him whole. 

I absolutely loved this story, I still enjoy the background of the Russian Mafia and dark and gritty underworld, that some of the characters have experienced. But I also love the relationships between the characters. The couples are so perfectly matched. Some of the moments between them are heartbreaking, but also stupidly hot. Zaal can't help but exude some sort of sexual magnetism in his buffed and ripped body. His piercing green eyes and dark features. And it affects Talia just as quick and strongly as his past moves her. 

What I also loved big time in this book, was the fact that we got some chapters from Luca (Raze) I absolutely loved Raze, and was almost sad when his story ended. Yet to actually find that he has a huge chunk in Reap was fantastic, we still get to follow him a year on, and what is happening between him and Kisa. And yes they are still such a gorgeous couple. And this story shows him getting some revenge on the part of his past, that is still eating at him daily. So another bonus!

Tillie Cole's storytelling was at it's best. With her amazing world building, and the details she puts into everything, even the Russian language put in here and there, that helped to really picture the characters with the accents. I loved it all. Dark, gritty romance at it's best!!


Heart to heart.
Scarred soul to scarred soul.
 





STAR RATING:


Plot = 5/5
Characters = 5/5
Heat = 4/5
Writing Style = 5/5
Overall Rating = 5/5







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(Released 10th Nov)




Thursday, October 29, 2015

REVIEW - Threat - Elena Ash




TITLE - Threat

AUTHOR - Elena Ash



Synopsis:



"Let the games begin, Leah Parker. I'm about to make your summer very interesting." 

David f**king Banducci. How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. He was the biggest thorn in my side when we were young. Back then, he was tall, hot and dangerous--hell, he still is; more so, actually, plus an arm full of tatts. He used his popularity and charming, cocky smile for evil. He never missed a single chance to tease me, torment me, or make my life miserable. Worst of all, I never knew why he targeted me to begin with. 

You'd think time would heal all wounds, but whoever said that was a lying sack of sh*t. 

Because I'm an adult now, so I should be over it, right? Well that's kind of hard now that my absentminded father is married to his stripper mother. Thanks, Dad. 

Now I'm stuck on the back of his motorcycle, clinging to his muscular form for dear life as we trek across the country to my dad's lakehouse. And worse yet, he's found new ways to torture me. Ways that send chills down my spine. Ways I just might not be able to resist... 

And all I wanted was a nice, quiet summer to myself. 

THREAT is a sexy, full length, standalone romance with a HEA...if you can handle him first.






My Review:


Threat was not what I was expecting. I was expecting your typical step brother romance, but what I got instead was something unique. I found many things I liked about this story, but I also found a couple of things that I couldn’t get past. This book does have a lot of heat though, so if you like some steamy scenes, this book is for you.

Threat is a story about Leah. She is an only child being raised by a single father after her mother abandoned them when she was young. Her father is known to make reckless decisions at the drop of a hat. With his latest decision, he brings a new step mom into the family along with her adult son, Threat. Only Threat is the same bully who tortured her in school. Threat doesn’t care much for his mom and is looking to make it on his own in life. He will do anything to succeed, even if it means he has to be selfish in order to do it.


Rather than these two being step siblings for a long period of time or even at a younger age, this story already takes on a different direction. The fact that these two knew each other in school and actually hated each other adds some depth to the storyline. I think these two are characters that we can love to hate. When we see Threat through Leah’s eyes, we sure love to hate him. He is selfish (and admits so when we are in his head). With that being said, Leah is not perfect either. Through Threats eyes, we can see how her personality is seen by others. She actually comes off as a stuck up brat who is selfish as well.

I really liked being able to see these two characters develop. I think that when they are confined together, they brought out the best in each other. I think that they have a lot of underlying personality traits in common that it helps them see how their own reactions are coming off to other people. I really liked their interactions with each other and some of the deeper conversations that they have together. I also like how Threat attempts to help Leah overcome some of her past heartbreak in order to become a better person.

There were a few things in this story that I did not like. I think this story progressed too fast. There were a couple of times I had to stop and remind myself that only days had passed rather than weeks. I felt that the tempo of the story was too fast to be organic and made me feel like things were rushed. I also felt that Leah was very hard for me to like. Even towards the end, I was still finding her annoying and selfish. I will say that I admire the way the author wrote her in the end though. I really thought that this story would end differently (in a bad way), but was surprised that it ended differently. That was redeeming Leah for me.

Overall, this was an ok book. While I enjoyed parts of the story, I felt it fell flat for me overall. I just wish that both characters were more complex. Threat was a great character and I loved reading about him, but Leah was bland for me. I liked the plot and the overall idea, but I think that it could have been executed in a different way which would have improved the story significantly. I would not really recommend this to family or friends.



Favorite Quotes:

“It’s been a long time, turtle.” 

- Threat


“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I have a life, and social skills, and I’m not some uptight virgin living life vicariously through brain dead romance novels.”“Yeah? And  you’re also twenty years old, you still live at home, you have a shitty dead-end job, and a rap sheet,” I spit out. 

- Threat and Leah, Threat



Star Ratings:

Plot = 3/5

Characters = 3/5

Heat = 5/5

Writing Style = 3/5


Overall Rating = 3/5










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REVIEW - Resentment - Nicole London




TITLE - Resentment
AUTHOR - Nicole London



Synopsis:



Re•sent•ment

The act of hating – no, fucking loathing Dean Collins. 
(Yes, I’m well aware that’s not the actual definition, but it might as well be . . .)

It’s been ten years since we've seen each other and the feelings are still as strong.

I’m not going to bore you with all the details of how our love was once intoxicating, consuming, and perfect.

Because it was . . . until it wasn't.

I've been fine without him. I haven’t missed his cruelty, his coldness and his spite. 

And after the ugliest breakup in the history of breakups, I forced myself to move on. 

Year by year, the feelings I had for him slowly drifted away, but one encounter with him recently changed everything. One encounter made me realize how the heart doesn't forget shit, and how my mind is going to have to work overtime to make sure I never forget my definition of resentment.


My Review:


Resentment is a story that is told over a long period of time. It's not your typical romance novel. Author Nicole London did an amazing job when she was writing this story. The plot was written beautifully and I really loved all the twists that were thrown in. This book was not at all what I was expecting. With that being said, I am delightfully surprised.

Resentment starts out with the main character being in high school. Most the book is told from Mia's point of view. Mia is the socially awkward teenage girl who is only focused on her future. She's had a really tough life at home and is just counting down the days until she gets out of high school and goes to college. She wants nothing to do with the popular crowd. Then she starts to get to know Dean, the quarterback of the football team and Mr. popular himself. Just by meeting him her whole life was changed.

The first quarter of this book outlines Mia and Dean's interactions with each other while they were still in high school. For a while there I wasn't a sure how I felt about this as the description made the book seem a little bit different, but after getting further into the book, I realized how detrimental this was to the story. Without having this background information, I don't I think the rest of the story would've been as interesting as it was. I love the writing style on this book in the way that the author decided to lay the book out.

What I like most about this book is that the first half could be a young adult book. It matches the time period in which the main character is in. She's a teenager and is told from a teenager's point of view so it made sense that the book had a young adult feel to it and that the writing mirrored what a young adult might think or say. Then as we got inside the adult life, we were able to see a big difference which shows that she has grown and that she's now an adult.

The only negative thing that I can say about this book is that later in the book we get to read scenes from the teenage years from Dean's point of view. I think this could've been written a little bit better as I thought there were a lot of repeating of the same words and not really adding anything new to the story. With that being said, I think we get a very good glimpse into why he acted the way he did when they were teenagers and why he still is acting the way he does now. I think it's always important to get into both characters heads because you get to see where they're at and how they're feeling. We're always told the people perceive things differently, but we don't really realize it until we can get inside another person and truly see how other enter bring the same situation that we may interpret differently.

Overall, I really like this book. Honestly the only thing that I didn't like about the book isn't even that big of a deal. It didn't take away from the book for me, just made it be a little bit repetitive for a chapter. With that being said I would recommend this book to my friends and family and anybody else that asked for a book recommendation. Good job Nicole London for writing an amazing book!

Favourite Quotes:


"You know, I did come here for something." He steps into the room and close the door. "But, now that you claim that you're accepting applications for your club, can I fill one out? "
"We don't accept douchebags," I say flatly. "Your application wouldn't make it past round one." 
- Mia and Dean, Resentment

"Why are you standing there with your hand over your heart like that, Mia?" My mother walks into the foyer. "Have I unknowingly installed in American flag in the hallway? Are you pledging allegiance?" 
- Mia's mom, Resentment

"I'll wait for Eric to come," I say, hating that my body is reacting to his touch. "I'm not interested in being arrested right now."
- Mia, Resentment


Star Ratings:

Plot= 5/5
Characters=5/5
Heat=5/5
Writing style=5/5
Overall=5/5








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Top 10 Lists - Fantasy


For this weeks top 10 list on SBR blogs, we're bringing you Fantasy!






Depravity - M.J. Haag - Goodreads
Benella just wants to help her family survive, but does fate have other plans?

Runes - Ednah Walters - Goodreads
Raine was a normal teenager with a normal life up until she meets the mysterious new neighbor. Once she learns the truth about him, will she choose to learn more about him or walk away?

Significance - Shelly Crane - Goodreads
Maggie is a teenage girl who has lost everything and has no future to look forward to. That is until she meets Caleb and her whole life changes drastically.



Bound by Duty - Stormy Smith - Goodreads
Ameila has always known that she is far from a normal human. All she wants is to have one normal experience before she is set to give her life away to another, but will fate allow her to or will it demand she fulfill her duty sooner than she expects?



Ignited - Desni Dantone - Goodreads
Kris has a huge target on her back for death, or so she thinks. She knows that she has almost died 4 times in 14 years, but does not know why she has such luck. When the mysterious stranger who continues to save her life shows up, she learns that there is more in this world than humans know about and she is right in the middle of it all

A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas - Goodreads

An addictive, dark and gritty tale. A human girl forced to live in the Fae realm. 


The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare - Goodreads

An incredible look at hidden worlds, the sort that are only visible to certain people. Full of magic, ancient rules, and imminent war.

Hunted - Evangeline Anderson - Goodreads

A warrior who vows never to take a bride and a bride who fears everything the warrior is.

Lions Heat - Lora Leigh - Goodreads

The boogeyman of the breeds Jonas its finally forced to meet his mate, but there are enemies who still want to destroy the breeds and they plan on using Rachel and her daughter to do that.

Shadow - Laurann Dohner - Goodreads

Part Human, part animal the New Species have all struggled in their own way when they've found their mates, but none more so than Shadow, who's mate Beauty on paper is as weak as they come. Beauty disagrees.







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Thanks for reading our Top 10 Fantasy. Next week Top 10 New Adult

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

REVIEW - Waiting For Him - Samantha Cole.



TITLE - Waiting For Him (Trident Security #3)

AUTHOR - Samantha Cole




Synopsis:

The Sexy Six-Pack returns with more teamwork, more suspense, and, most of all, more hot and steamy romance! 

Twelve years ago, eighteen-year-old Ben 'Boomer' Michaelson's world had fallen apart. Not only had his best friend, Alex Maier, been killed, but Alex's family had perished as well, including his seventeen-year-old sister, Katerina. The car accident occurred less than thirty-six hours after Ben and Kat had declared their love for each other, leaving him devastated at the loss of the only woman who'd ever held his heart in her hands. 

After spending the past twelve years with her father in the Witness Protection Program, Kat finds herself all alone in the world. The last thing she wants to do is put her high-school sweetheart in danger, but he's the only person she has left who she trusts with her life. They need to find out who is after her and why. She just hopes they are both still alive when the mystery is solved. 

Ben, now a former Navy SEAL working for a private security company, is shocked to find his new client is a ghost from his past. He knows he can't refuse to help her, but when it's over, he will have to let her go. She deserves better than the man he's become. 

Will Ben and Kat survive? Or will he once again have to bury the only woman he's ever loved? 

What I thought?


O.M.G!!  It's the first thought that comes to my mind for typing this review.  How does Samantha Cole do it?! What an amazing author. I started reading this series and with this being book #3, I just can't believe Ms. Cole can still have me hooked! From the beginning to the end there's always something going on. Never a dull moment.   This book has a great story-line with details, sexy men, romance and steamy-hot sex scenes. Samantha Cole also writes with emotion. I smile , make a sad face, and sometimes I just want to jump right into my kindle and have fun too ;)

Waiting for Him Trident Security book 3 is a smoking hot read.  The characters from the previous books are in this one as well which I like how the story continues. This is about Ben and Kat.  The story starts with Ben's world falling apart when his best friend and the woman he loved died in a car accident. Well 12 years went by and Kat needed the help of the Trident men.    When Ben sees Kat standing there, he faints.  So Ben and his teammates help he out. Ben realizes that he loves Kat with all his heart and he would do anything including stop his lifestyle, but  he saw her reading Kristen's book and she had some interest in the BDSM lifestyle. So one day he showed her The Convent. Ben calls Kat- Kitten.    Then the story continues and the plot gets better so you're going to have to one-click this book to find out as I don't want to spoil it.   


Some quotes/parts of the story I liked:



"Kitten, there is nothing about you I would change. Your eyes are so expressive, sometimes I can't stop looking at them, especially when you laugh."

"I can't help it, Kitten. You say the funniest things. You've always been able to make me laugh." She pinched his side and he grabbed her wrists to stop her. "Okay, Okay. I'm not laughing at you. But why bowling?" Her head went back to rest on his strong upper body."Because we always had the best times when we were bowling. You,me, and Alex."

"She's my life. I don't care if I have to get on my knees and beg, or tie her ass up and kidnap her, but damn it, I'm not letting her get away this time. I love her and I've got to get her back."

"Kitten, I love you with all my heart. You're my sunshine, my moonlight, my past, and my future. My life was beautiful with you in it the first time, and it's beautiful again, now that you're back in my arms. I had a dream last night about Alex. I know it sounds weird, but he gave me his blessing and made me promise to take care of you forever. Whether real or imagined, it's a promise I intend to keep. Marry me, sweetheart. Grow old with me and make the rest of my life beautiful too."




Star Ratings:
Plot- 5/5 stars
Characters- 5/5 stars
Heat- 5/5 stars
Writing style- 5/5 stars
Overall rating- 5/5 stars





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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

REVIEW - Lux - Courtney Cole!



TITLE - Lux (Nocte #3)
AUTHOR - Courtney Cole






Synopsis:


LET THERE BE LIGHT. 



My name is Calla Price and I’m broken. 


My pieces are all around me, floating on the wind, even as I desperately try to grasp them. 



Who is dead? Alive? Insane?



What is the truth?



I don’t know. 



I do know this: The darkness is strangling me. With every breath, I choke on another lie. 



My mind has protected me, but that shield will soon be lowered. 



All will be revealed. 


Every answer to every question. 



It’s all been leading to this. 



Don’t be afraid. 


Be terrified.





My Review:


So I finished this final chapter in the Nocte trilogy a few days ago now, but for once I had no clue what to right in this review. It's incredibly hard to put into words my final thoughts on this conclusion to a series that I've have been hooked to this year.

I can't even begin to give any kind of background or summary of the story, or the characters. This whole series has been a completely mystery, put together with puzzle pieces and cryptic clues, that we have had to hunt for throughout the books. At times, It's been incredibly hard and really taxing on my poor old brain. Sometimes I was just lost, and in a constant state of "what the hell just happened there?" I'm still sat thinking that same thought even now.

I actually thought I had my head around Nocte, I was completely overwhelmed with just how clever and original the story was. Although I never guessed the twists, or the secrets, I was floored at the end, but the parts that were explained and revealed were quite easy to comprehend.
Then on to Verum, and I was totally lost, even at the end I was still baffled. So confused that by the time Lux was sat on my kindle, I had to re-read Verum first to try and get a grasp of the story again. And yep, I was still none the wiser for it. I was just hoping that Lux would explain a lot as it went.
We did get a small teaser of back story with Initium. It was only half a novella, but the short part it told was actually crucial to the story, and the characters background, and I'm glad we got to see it.

So back around to Lux. I had so many theories and questions buzzing around my head, and I tried to go into the story with a completely open mind, but it was tough going. This particular story was telling us snippets and flashbacks of the past. We basically went back in time, and got to piece more of the jigsaw from the early days, and yes it definitely helped and I was following really well. Some of my questions were answered and I felt quite on top of it. Until the last chunk. Then I was kind of doomed. It's not that the end was disappointing, or that it didn't conclude properly, it did. But I'm not sure whether I expected it to go a different way. It was still very clever, and well thought out, but it was a little confusing. But I fully understand why it went the way it did, it was such a unique story, and it deserved an clever and unique ending, that nobody was expecting, and I really wasn't. Yet I still feel it's hard to give my final thoughts on what I thought of Calla's conclusion. I'm happy with it, but still a little dazed and confused. Almost like I would like another epilogue or chapter explaining it to me in simple terms. lol


Anyway, besides the story itself I have to comment on the sheer genius of Courtney Cole's writing. That woman is amazing. She not only devised and wrote one of the most cleverest and unique stories I have ever read, she also managed to write this story as not just an author telling a story, but she had me feeling exactly how I can imagine Calla felt; Lost, confused and totally scared out of my mind. lol Some parts of Calla's story were so involved, it was hard to comprehend what was real and what wasn't, and that was down to just how well CC pulled the readers into Calla's head and had us feeling exactly how she would of been feeling. I was so sucked into this story, time was passing, and I had completely stepped away from everything around me, until I got to the end.

“You have the power to change it. You always have, and you always do. Change it to the way it should be. Do it.” 


If you are reading this review, you have probably already read the first 2 books in this series, and are wondering about the last one. I would whole heartedly say read it now! This story was absolutely gripping, every single page, and I was literally reading and holding my breath. The atmosphere, tension, and fantastic mystery made this book so entertaining. And if you happen to have read this review, and haven't read Nocte and Verum first, seriously do not even wait, go grab them now, this series is incredible!!! Psychological, at times dark, at times sad, and all round mystery, plus an epic love story that seems to have lived through pretty much everything and anything. Definitely read!!


"All I know is that when he is with me, I feel invincible. I feel strong. I feel like me, but a better version." 



STAR RATINGS:

Plot = 4.5/5

Characters = 5/5
Heat = 3/5
Writing Style = 5/5
Overall Rating = 4.5/5







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