Showing posts with label 2013 New Adult Reading Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013 New Adult Reading Challenge. Show all posts

Friday, February 22, 2013

Giveaway!! "Rocked Under" By: Cora Hawkes Review & Tour

Rocked Under
By: Cora Hawkes
Synopsis from Goodreads
Falling in love isn't always easy or pleasant. The intense and angst-filled story of Emma and Scott is a painful, gut-wrenching and exhausting portrayal of how hard it can be to let go... 
Picking up the pieces and starting again in the US, Emma enrols in college with her cousin, Ashley. She is finally free to do what she wants and live how she chooses, and no man will ever rule her decisions or emotions again. 
That is, until Scott Mason walks on stage... 
Intense bad boy Scott is the lead singer of a popular local rock band. A ladies’ man and Ashley's long-time friend, Scott holds an instant fascination for Emma — she finds herself drawn to him, even though he represents everything she hates and needs to stay away from in a guy. He treats females like he does a cigarette — light it, use it, and lose it.  
For her cousin's sake, Emma makes an effort to get along with Scott, but she soon discovers that there is more to him than first appears, making him even more dangerous in her eyes. Behind the façade of friendship, jealousy, obsession, fear and insecurity fester — an internal battle rages as she fights her attraction and does everything she can to stop history from repeating itself. 
One thing she knows for sure is that if she breaks her rule, it may destroy her.
About the Author
Cora Hawkes lives in England with her man and their four children. She thinks the kindle is the greatest invention ever and hers is mostly filled with paranormal and fantasy romances. Favourite books are Kresley Cole's IAD series, Jennifer Armentrout's Covenant series and Heather killough-Walden's The Chosen Soul series. 
Apart from family-time, reading and writing, she LOVES music and going to gigs. She hates soaps and rarely watches TV but loves The Vampire Diaries, True Blood and Gossip Girl.
My Thoughts
    I have such a thing for new adult books now. There is something about being in your early 20s and having absolutely no idea what direction your life can take you. Its at this cusp that we find both Emma and Scott, two wildly incompatible yet totally made for one another people.
The book starts out with a very confused Emma finding her way through America. She's just moved in with her friend, not knowing anyone and unsure of her place in the world. One night at a bar she meets Scott, bad boy and rock God. Attracted to Scott, Emma finds herself drawn to him. Yet everything he is seems to go against everything she ever believed in.
I don't know how to even describe this book without giving away much, but I will say it is intense. There are a lot of things at work here and you have to read it fairly carefully to catch it all. With that said, you know when you read and you get that weird little thrill when two characters interact? Well, I totally had that. I hated them, I loved them, I wanted to cheer, I wanted to cry. It was super emotional and an utter roller coaster but I adored it. The story moved quickly and when I was finished, I was so stinkin' excited to see its part of a series.
Book Details
Publisher: Author Self-Published
# of Pages: 279
Date of Publication: December 31, 2012
ASIN: B00AVDXD00
Source: Blog Tour Selection
Challenges
#27  for the 2013 E-Book Challenge
#29 for the 2013 Women's Reading Challenge
#31 for the 100 Books in a Year Challenge
#31 for the 150+ Books in a Year Challenge
#22 for the 2013 Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge
#4 for the 2013 New Adult Reading Challenge
#26 for the 2013 Where are You Reading Challenge {United States}

Links

Website: http://corahawkes.blogspot.co.uk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cora.hawkes
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoraHawkes (@CoraHawkes)
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6542403.Cora_Hawkes


Giveaway
Enter to win 2 Prize packs that consist of Signed copies of Rocked Under, a wristband, a signed postcard, and a mug. There will also be 5 ecopies as secondary prizes.

99488013/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

Excerpt

I had never picked up a guitar in my life — and it showed. Scott handed me a beautiful, black acoustic guitar. I didn't even know how to hold it but I tried my best, and at least Scott was smiling again, which is what I had aimed for. 
He chuckled and moved his hand down over his face to try to hide his amusement. "You don't hold it like that…Here…” 
I was sitting on the edge of a big footstool and he came to sit behind me. He shifted forwards until I was sitting between his hard, warm thighs. I was so aware of him that I froze. I didn't dare move. He came closer and put his arms around me to reach the guitar. His naked chest came into contact with my back, making my core temperature rise to dangerous levels. His scent was enveloping me, taunting me, and this time there was no escape. 
His head peered over my shoulder causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. 
"Hold it like this," he whispered close to my ear as he moved my hand into the right position. 
His breath tickled me, making a shudder run down my back. 
He paused for a second and I thought he had noticed. "And if you," he slid his hot hand under my thigh gently and lifted it for me until only my toes were touching the floor, "raise your knee, you can rest it here." 
"Okay,” I whispered. It was all I was capable of saying with his hands all over me. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. 
He took his hands away and rested them on my thighs. "Now try." His voice was gruff. 
I started playing but my mind was focused on the parts of my body that he was touching. I was dreadful. He was just so there that I couldn't have concentrated if my life had depended on it. 
He turned his face towards my neck and I heard him inhale through his nose gently. His grip on my thighs tightened as he shifted closer to my backside and his forehead hit my shoulder heavily. 
Shit! I'm going to spontaneously combust any goddamn bloody minute now if he doesn't stop.

Friday, February 8, 2013

"On the Plus Side" By: Tabatha Vargo Review


On the Plus Side

By: Tabatha Vargo

Synopsis from Goodreads

Big girls need love, too, but at what cost?

Lilly is loaded, not only with money, but with weight. Both things she could do without. But even with her undesired millionaire status, she doesn’t hold on to false hopes of finding true love. So when a sexy stranger comes into her life dripping with seduction, she finds it hard to resist. The bigger they are the harder they fall and Lilly falls straight through the floor in love with Mr. Sexy.  
Too bad he’s there for all the wrong reasons.  
The chance of losing it all will make you do some crazy things and Devin’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep his life together. All seems lost when out of nowhere he’s approached by a Millionaire Momma with an offer he can’t refuse. But even a womanizer like Devin has a heart and when the short, chunky girl with the carefree attitude breaks through his icy façade, he finds that losing everything takes on a whole new meaning.
My Thoughts
    Whew! I just finished this book this morning before I went to work (I totally got up early to finish it, it was kind of insane) and even now I’m left in a lurch as to what I thought about it. I liked it but there were so many things that just made me mad that I can’t get it out of my head. The librarians I work with say if you can’t get a book out of your head, it’s a good thing so we’ll just have to wait and see.
    First off, I’m totally going to start this off and say I’m a chunky girl myself. Proud, confident, and self-assured I was excited to read about another plus sized gal finding love. Trust me honey, these Missouri boys just ain’t cutting it for me. So I did love Lilly in certain ways. She’s plus sized and insecure about her weight, but confident about her social and working areas in her life. She has good friends and lives life to the fullest. She’s incredibly sweet and when Devin walks into her jewelry store, she’s flattered by his attention and kind of immediately falls for him.
   Now Devin, oye. A bit of backstory - Devin’s family is getting ready to lose everything. Lilli’s family is loaded so when Lilli’s mom overhears of Devin’s money problems, she approaches him with a proposition. She will pay him to pretend to be her boyfriend. He is honestly a nice boy and finds this behavior distubing, but he ultimately decides he can spend time with Lilli, get money and no one is hurt.
     I had two huge pet peeves with this story. First off, I kind of resented the idea that Lilli had to have a boy paid to be her boyfriend. I know the point was that ultimately it wasn’t needed, but it was so dang crazy of her mom to even think of. I don’t resent Devin but the idea a mom would do this boils my blood. I don’t know if we are supposed to like the mom or not, but throughout the story I disliked her immensely.
      Secondly, while I liked Devin and think he redeemed himself ultimately in the end, I hated how he kept referring to her weight. It seemed like whenever we were in his head he was referencing her weight, what she looked like, and how her chunkiness would impact his life. Over and Over and Over. Maybe boys think like this, I don’t know, maybe it was done to show he was insecure, but in my opinion it was a little overdone. We know she was heavy, let’s get over it.
     On to the positive stuff, I am so happy the plus size romance heroine got her man! I liked their journey, it seemed like life kept throwing things in their way and they worked through it. Beyond the repetition of the weight, I liked how Devin viewed Lilli. He loved how she was kind and how she wanted to get involved with his family. I think the relationships began with Devin’s family were realistic and honestly, Devin’s relationships with Lilli’s friends seemed incredibly real to me too.
     I guess what I’m trying to say in this long review, while I had a few problems with certain aspects of the book, I honestly enjoyed it. I loved the epilogue with Devin and Lilli and when I finished I was left with a big old smile. If you can get past the crazy mother and the mentions of poundage, you are left with an incredibly lovely romance filled with friends, hope and love. I’m looking forward to what Tabatha comes up with next and I’ve gotta admit, I hope Devin and Lilli at least make a cameo!

Book Details

# of Pages: 340
Date of Publication: January 21, 2013
Source: Personal Purchase

Challenges
#11 for the 2013 E-Book Challenge
#10 for the 2013 Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge
#11 for the 2013 Women's Reading Challenge
#11 for the 100 Books in a Year Challenge
#11 for the 150+ Books in a Year Challenge

#10 for the 2013 Where are You Reading Challenge {Charleston, North Carolina}
#2 for the 2013 New Adult Reading Challenge

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

"Beautiful Bastard" By: Christina Lauren Review


Beautiful Bastard
By: Christina Lauren

Synopsis from Goodreads

An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling. Discover the story that garnered more than two million reads online. 
Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard. 
Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office. 
As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other.
My Thoughts
    I’m gonna admit this first off - the entire reason I picked this book was absolutely because of the terrible reviews on Goodreads. People were saying it was the worst book of all time, the characters were terrible, the dialogue atrocious and tons of other not to nice things. Totally fine, we all have those books we looove to hate. So, what did I do but go and request it from Edelweiss in order to see just how terrible it was. Only, it wasn’t.
    I’m not going to say this is wonderful literary fiction because it isn’t. However, I was a little shocked at how negative the reviews were when I found myself kind of liking both Bennett and Chloe. It’s not realistic in the least and if people acted this way in real life I’d be calling the cops, but otherwise I found it pretty entertaining.
    Chloe is working as an intern for Bennett’s company. He is an executive and she is his assistant. Its a trope used since the romance genre began, but it works. There is a delicious give and take in this book that I found fascinating that frustrated other readers. She hates him, he thinks she’s a shrew, yet they are explosive together.
     Each chapter is written from a different perspective - one from Bennett and the next chapter from Chloe. I think it gave the story a good balance and I enjoyed seeing each character’s perspective. Bennett was so overwhelming at times and could be so overbearing, I found myself just hating him. Yet, I liked seeing Chloe bring him to his knees so to speak.
     It felt very Fifty Shades of Grey to me, which I’m sure was the author’s intention. Originally published on the Internet under the name The Office, Beautiful Bastard is another piece of fan fiction for Twilight. Nothing makes me madder than when people talk badly about fan fiction. I don’t read fan fiction but I have a great respect for it. Sure there is crap out there, but there is crap writing everywhere. Its ok to not enjoy a book but I hate it when people want to get grumpy because it began as fan fiction. As I read this story, I was not assaulted with ideas of Twilight (which I HATED) and I thought it was a pretty good piece of fiction.
     Beautiful Bastard does have its annoying points. Bennett can be completely overbearing and frankly, if he behaved that way in my world I’d be callin’ the cops for harassment. But I think part of the fun is letting yourself fall into that world of make believe and fantasy. I wouldn’t behave that way but I kind of liked the thought once in a while, you know?
     I guess what I’m trying to say, I liked the book. Bennett and Chloe were unique and I enjoyed falling into the fantasy that was there world. I am definitely planning on reading the sequel Beautiful Stranger. Unique in its tone, I think the authors will find success in the post Fifty world.

Book Details
Publisher: Gallery Books
Date of Publication: February 12, 2013
# of Pages: 320
ISBN: 978-1476730105
Source: Edelweiss
Links

Challenges

#3 for the 2013 E-Book Challenge
#3 for the 2013 Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge
#3 for the 2013 Women's Reading Challenge
#3 for the 100 Books in a Year Challenge
#3 for the 150+ Books in a Year Challenge
#3 for the 2013 Where are You Reading Challenge {Chicago, Illinois}

Sunday, December 30, 2012

2013 New Adult Reading Challenge

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2013 New Adult Reading Challenge

This year I have found myself reading a ton of "New Adult" romance, so why not join a challenge?

Hosted by: Danya at A Tapestry of Words, Basia at Basia's BookshelfTara at Tater’s Tall Tails and Victoria at Confessions of a Twenty Something Fiction Writer


I am going to set a goal for "Moving Out" or reading a minimum of 10 this year.

Rules & Regulations:

  • The book must feature a protagonist who is past the average age for graduation from high school (18 in most places) and under 30. If they’re exactly 18, you can make the judgment call based on content. (If the majority of it is set in high school, it’s probably YA.)
  • They don’t have to be contemporaries! Fantasy, dystopian and paranormal fans rejoice, your books count too. As long as the characters fall into the comparative age group on whatever planet or in whatever world, it works.
  • You don’t have to have a blog to participate, but you must post your reviews somewhere accessible online (like Goodreads).
The Levels:
  • Just Graduated: Read a minimum of 5 New Adult books
  • Moving Out: Read a minimum of 10 New Adult books
  • Living On Your Own: Read a minimum of 20 New Adult books
  • Fully Independent: Read a minimum of 30 New Adult books

2013 New Adult Reading Challenge
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