The Hazards of Skinny Dipping by Alyssa Rose Ivy | Review & Giveaway

 

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Synopsis:
This isn't a deep book about first loves or self-discovery. If you want a book like that, I'd be happy to recommend one, but I don't have that kind of story to tell. Instead my story is about rash decisions and finding out that your dream guy is bad in bed. It's the story of when I finally went skinny dipping, and how my life was never the same again. Oh, and it's also the story of my freshman year of college and realizing Mr. Right might have been there all along.

Ok...so I admit I hadn't read anything by Alyssa Rose Ivy before this *gasp* I know right?! How lame am I? I definitely feel like I am missing out after reading this one and will be adding her books to my TBR shelf!

I so enjoyed this book. I loooved that she didn't make it insanely long just for the sake of more pages but it didn't leave a bunch up in the air either because she cut story lines too short. It was paced perfectly and was the perfect length. I was able to sit and read it in one sitting and that was awesome.

Let's talk about the characters. We'll start with our heroine, Juliet. I liked her...most of the time. She was spunky but not bitchy or mean. She had such a witty since of humor at times. Snarky I think is the perfect word for her. I am one of those wallflower types of people I feel like and totally admire the people who can be witty at the perfect moments! However....when it came to Dylan I wanted to shake her! Dylan. Blech. I want to punch him in the throat and break his trachea all Jason Statham style. It's odd too because he's not like this evil person, but I cringed every time he was around and I was really really nervous about it. Something about it him just was unsettling and very sketchy. Then Reed...*collective sigh all around* Reed is dreamy. He's that guy that would protect you and have your back and open your door for you and all the cheesy romantic things that everyone loves, even if they pretend they don't. He's not belittling though. He's patient and kind. I really loved him.

 There were moments where Juliet was so aggravating because she couldn't see what I could see. I wanted to yell at her and point out what she was doing wrong...but alas you have just have to watch it all play out. Right when you sigh and think everything is going to really good now...there's a twist and your back to holding your breath waiting for that perfect ending. There are funny moments and sad moments and perfect moments.

 This is a book that you will totally be able to lose yourself in for a few hours and be frustrated with at times, but in the end is so worth it!

Alyssa Rose Ivy is a New Adult and Young Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Connect with Alyssa:
Good Reads | Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook

***Giveaway***

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One Tiny Lie Teaser

I am so so excited for One Tiny Lie! Just a couple weeks away! Here's a little teaser

Check out my review of Ten Tiny Breaths right here!

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

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This is another book that I have been sitting here stewing about for a few weeks since I read it. I just find it so hard to put into words what I am feeling about it! You can find my rambly review of book one RIGHT HERE.

This book was sooooo crazy. Julie Kagawa has this perfect way of writing where things are gritty and intense and you start see the light and the end of the tunnel "Everything's going to be ok!!" and then all of a sudden in the last chapter the light goes out and you are left sitting there feeling empty and sad and like you have been hit by a train or some other really powerful force. It's intense!! I don't quite know what to make of it either. Did I enjoy that book? Did that really all just happen?! Do I really have to wait for freakin' ever for the next book?! gah!!

This is my first series of Julie's and I wish.....so wish I had read them when they were all out. Then I might be able to give it 5 stars, but the questions and the things left in the air drive me nuts!!! In a way this series reminds me of my favorite YA series of all time by Patrick Ness, Chaos Walking. It just has the same dark undercurrent that leaves you breathless the whole way through. That's really the only book series I have been able to compare this to in my mind.

Like the last book, this book really does take you to another world and you get lost in it. I can clearly picture everything in my mind and watch it all play out and I love that so much!!! I was much happier with the amount of time we got with Kanin too. I so love him as a character and was sad we only got a snippet of him in the first installment. He just has so many layers to him and I feel like he has a lot to tell.

All in all I do love this series. It has the possibility of being one of my favorites, but I need all the books to be out before I can actually say that it is for certain. So...in a year I'll let you know! ;)

Tag Team Review: This Girl by Colleen Hoover

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"Then this girl...
Holy hell, this girl..."

Synopsis:
Colleen Hoover’s New York Times bestselling Slammed series has brought countless readers to their knees with a whirlwind of love, passion, and heartache.

Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.

In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from his point of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series.

Other books in this series:
#1 Slammed
#2 Point of Retreat

My review:

"..she's the first person in the last two years of mfy life who gives me any sense of hope about the future... This girl isn't anything like any girl I've known. This girl is..."

*swoon* I love love love will. I think he's perfect. He's reliable and sweet and charming and creative. He's everything I personally want from one of my book crushes. I loved him in Colleen's first two books and I love him even more now.

When I read that this book was going to be made and what it was going to be I was wary. I just wasn't sure how she could go back and tell a story we already knew in such a way that we would still be in to it. I wasn't sure if there would be new information or if it would be repetitive and because of that, be a bit dull. It really wasn't. She went through it in a fun way and a unique way! I really loved it!

It wasn't just a different POV. There were new tidbits of info and getting to hear how Will strugged with the situation instead of just Layken's thoughts, really was awesome and made it like reading a new story a lot of the time.

"Sometimes two people need to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together."

Reading about the hardships they faced made me so emotional. Anytime I am able to feel what a man is feeling I always feel so much more emotional for some reason. Watching these two go through everything a second time wasn't easy, but it is all so worth it. We get to feel everything will does. The sadness, fear, jealousy, everything and it really does do a number on you but I loooooved every second of it!

I don't think you HAVE to read Slammed and Point of Retreat immediately before reading this one, but you should read them at least once before. This Girl directly follows Point of Retreat and though there are new storylines and new snippets, but the book is told from the perspective of Will talking to Layken and telling her his feelings after so many of their big moments. It's so beautiful and so sweet.  If you haven't read it yet you definitely need to!

"Telling her exactly how I feel about her is the easiest thing I've ever done. The honesty comes so naturally."

Now! Check out my friends Tammy and Kim's review of this  butterflying awesome book!

"I am going to keep my review short and sweet. As I have said on several occasions, Colleen Hoover does not disappoint! This Girl did not disappoint,...."

Tammy and Kim's Blog | Facebook

Suddenly Royal by Nichole Chase | Review and Giveaway

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Synopsis: Samantha Rousseau is used to getting her hands dirty. Working toward a master’s degree in wildlife biology while helping take care of her sick father, she has no time for celebrity gossip, designer clothes, or lazy vacations. So when a duchess from the small country of Lilaria invites her to dinner, Samantha assumes it’s to discuss a donation for the program. The truth will change the course of her life in ways she never dreamed.

Alex D’Lynsal is trying to keep his name clean. As crown prince of Lilaria, he’s had his share of scandalous headlines, but the latest pictures have sent him packing to America and forced him to swear off women—especially women in the public eye. That is, until he meets Samantha Rousseau. She’s stubborn, feisty, and incredibly sexy. Not to mention heiress to an estate in his country, which makes her everyone’s front-page news.

While Sam tries to navigate the new world of politics and wealth, she will also have to dodge her growing feelings for Alex. Giving in to them means more than just falling in love; it would mean accepting the weight of an entire country on her shoulders.

I don't know about you guys, but who didn't dream of being a princess one day?! This book is like every young girls dream come true and it made me smile and it made me swoon and it just made me feel good! It was such a great read. You know how sometimes you want to sit down and read a book and feel good and happy? You want a yummy prince and happy endings? This book is totally that. It was exactly what I needed and was hoping for when I picked it up!

This book isn't about love triangles or full of angst like most books that seem to be coming out. It's not full of drama between Sam and Alex, aka Prince Yummy. Sam is thrust into this new life and new world and it's about her coping and dealing with the change in her life and situation. The romance between the two of them really builds up in a nice sweet way...not a drama filled whirlwind. Not to say that it didn't have ups and downs, because where would the fun in that be, but it was not an emotional roller coaster and I personally was really grateful for that!

The plot of the story is completely unrealistic I know, but i feel like the relationships were realistic. You could relate to Sam in ways that you wouldn't really think you could given her situation. It's really nice and refreshing. Plus I really loved the secondary characters like Alex's sister and Sam's assistant. Also, I am totally curious about Alex's brother that we dont' even meet but we hear about..I feel like there is a story there!

All in all it was a nice, light, happy read. Sometimes you just want to feel good! You don't want to feel like you were put through the ringer and this definitely won't do that. It was a one sitting book for me because it flows really well and is so enjoyable. I am really really hoping for more books in this series so I can hear the stories of some of the other characters! *crossing fingers*

***Giveaway***

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A Moment by Marie Hall

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I read this book a few weeks ago and just wasn't sure at all how to go about writing a review for it. I was engrossed in the story which is always a good thing in my opinion! However...there was something about it...something that made me really really uncomfortable and made me cringe.


Here is the synopsis because it is written better than anything I could:


Ryan Cosgrove and Liliana Delgado are on a collision course with destiny. They don’t know it yet, but before the night is over their lives will be forever changed.

Spending Valentine’s Day at a burlesque bar, hadn’t been Liliana’s ideal way of spending a Friday night. She’d much rather be back on campus doing homework… until she meets Ryan. Tall, athletic, and gorgeous, Lili can’t keep her eyes off him, and despite his gruff manners and drunken disposition she’s intrigued.

Ryan’s got demons, and they’re deep, dark, and eating him alive. Regardless of his attraction to the petite brunette he’s tired of fighting, of pretending the last fifteen years haven’t been a daily struggle just to get out of bed every morning. That night he decides to end his pain, to leave it all behind and float away into the blessed darkness of oblivion. But fate has other plans for him, Lily finds and rescues Ryan, determined she’ll not only save his body, but his soul too.

This is their moment…
I know bad things happen to people every day. I just didn't need the details, especially when I could figure it out already based on little clues we were given throughout the story. I honestly had to skip over the part where we were actually given details. He was a child. I don't want detailed info about things happening to children. Maybe I am naive and unrealistic. IDK. It just was not necessary for me to understand the story and for me to understand what Ryan was going through.

I did really like the connection between Lily and Ryan. I thought they had some really sweet moments and I was rooting for them the whole time...hoping and praying that they could get over their past issues and Lily's current dilemma to make it work with each other. It was important for me to finish because I desperately wanted peace and new beginnings for these two.

There were some really good moments in this book, but it was definitely a book that is hard to read. Also, I felt like there were lots of different things going on and throughout the book it just skips time..like a lot of time. It will be like 6 months later. Next chapter 4 months later..etc. Parts of it were really rushed through and it felt odd based on the heavy subject matter to me.

I agree with another review who made the comment that some stories are just meant to be told..but not enjoyed. This was one of those. It was dark and intense, but there was hope. People can survive through awful circumstances. The next book is supposed to be about the cousin, Alex, I do believe and I do think that that would be a story I would want to hear.

Cover Reveal | Pretty Little Lies by Jennifer Miller

Pretty Little Lies by Jennifer Miller
Genre: Adult contemporary romance
Release date is June 12, 2013

Synopsis:

A little lie can change the course of everything. . .

Like every other eighteen-year-old in love, Olivia has dreams of spending forever with the love of her life. Luke is all she’s ever wanted – until she overhears something she was never meant to. In a matter of seconds, Olivia’s heart is shattered. Olivia handles it the only way she knows how - she runs- leaving behind her family, friends and the boy she loves.

Seeking comfort and an escape, Olivia finds it in resident bad boy Deacon. He’s everything Luke isn’t – and that’s fine with Olivia.

Now, seven years later, Olivia is older, wiser and headed back to Chicago looking forward to a fresh start and reconnecting with her best friend Pyper. What she doesn’t expect, is to come face to face with the boy she left behind and discover that even though she may have left, her feelings for him didn’t.

Can Olivia put aside the pain in her heart and trust Luke? Will the ties to her past ever let her go, or will she continue to let her life be affected by pretty little lies?

Connect with the author:

• Jennifer's website 
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest