Posts Tagged: ARC

Friday, November 22, 2013

Review: Wait for You by J. Lynn

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I received this book for free from William Morrow Paperbacks in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Wait for You by J. LynnWait for You by J. Lynn
Series: Wait for You #1
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Source: William Morrow Paperbacks
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four-stars

Some things are worth waiting for...

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago--an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe--please God--make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn't need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she's building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing...

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that's just so... so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet...

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she's has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for...

I was a big fan of Obsidian when I read it way back, but this was my first foray into Armentrout’s more adult works as J.Lynn, and wowza! If you thought Obsidian was full of chemistry and sexual tension you ain’t seen nothing yet!

Before there can be great chemistry, we have to have great characters; J.Lynn delivers! When we meet Avery we know that something pretty terrible has happened. Among other signs, she’s cut herself off from her past, including her family, but we don’t know exactly what or what it all entails for a while. Albeit it’s not incredibly hard to guess most of it, it still makes her a bit of a mysterious tragedy which I always enjoy in character arcs. I immediately liked her, too. She’s real genuine with a great sense of humour, a smart head on her shoulders, and she has the same quirk as me about never ever wanting to be late or it’s like the end of the world. Plus, she totally plowed into a hot guy on chapter 1 and then ran away like she was being chased by the devil. She’s my new BFF!

The guy in question is none other than sex-on-a-stick gorgeous, Cameron Hamilton. It may be your cliché “hottest guy ever who has fuck buddies but now wants to settle down after meeting protagonist” story, but for once I simply didn’t care. This book is so addicting, the characters so obscenely compelling – bring on all of the clichés! Me likey! There is absolutely no lack of chemistry, no shortage of passion, and just the right amount of conflict to make us devour every single page. Cameron and Avery don’t quite…. get along at first. Avery not really believing that he’s for real. It’s not that she plays hard to get, but rather she respects herself enough to not want to be someone’s game. (Another reason to love her!) Cameron, however, will do what it takes to prove himself to her. This is the foundation for plenty of amusing scenes, dialogue that cracked me up, and, as you can expect, tons of charm.

There’s also some darkness that intrudes on this romance. We slowly learn of Avery’s secrets after seeing her work through internal struggles from self blame to shame as well as a lot of anger. Even though tragic pasts are nothing new to the NA genre, it’s still a deeply moving storyline that offers psychological depth to the story.

With characters that lure you in and a romance that will make you swoon, Wait For You is a hot and emotionally dangerous roller coaster ride without a harness or breaks! I highly recommend it to every romantic at heart!

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

Review: Darkest Fear by Cate Tiernan

Review: Darkest Fear by Cate Tiernan

Posted by on 11/19/2013 • 23 Comments

From lack of excitement to a protagonist I despised to a very bizarre romantic arc, I was happy to be done with this one. To paint a quick picture: the only interesting part of this book is in the blurb.

Darkest Fear starts with an intriguing Jaguar Shape-shifting lore that, for the most part, is well crafted. The narrative when in Jaguar form is particularly clever. I was certain it was the promising start of an impressive series, especially when only a few chapters in, something monumental happens. Something ominous that proposes an epic mystery to come. However, once this scene passes we get a whole lot of mundane happenings, from Vivi finding a job, to her day to day life, to detailed scenes of her baking various things. How…

Review: How to Love by Katie Cotugno

Review: How to Love by Katie Cotugno

Posted by on 11/18/2013 • 25 Comments

Don’t let my 3 stars sway you against this one. How to Love is a pretty good book for many reasons. First it touches on a subject I personally have not often come across in books – teen pregnancy. I found this was handled realistically and fairly. I also really enjoyed the way it was told in past and present perspectives, allowing us to slowly unravel the messy, emotionally conflicting details of Reena’s relationship with the father of her child – Sawyer. We learn how it started, but most importantly how much it has changed. How much they both have changed. On that note, the reason I did not love this book despite finding it otherwise engaging: Sawyer LeGrande!

To be frank. Sawyer LeGrande is an ass. Since the story…

Review: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Review: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Posted by on 11/15/2013 • 33 Comments

Guys! This is not a story about a girl flying in space in a dress! That’s only in the first chapter. I swear!

Actually, most of this book is a survival story. After a crash land on an anonymous planet, Tarver and Lilac have to find a way to get along and stay alive amongst the wild animals and Lilac’s questionable state of mind. It’s not a fast paced read, but rather a slow trek on this mysterious planet full of whispers, visions, ghosts, and other bizarre happenings. This is what keeps it completely enthralling. You get that constant need to read just one more chapter to try and get some answers as to what exactly is happening in this weird place. Is Lilac going insane, or are the voices…

Review: Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally

Review: Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally

Posted by on 11/12/2013 • 18 Comments

I’ve come to expect a super sweet, romantic, and character oriented read when I pick up a Kenneally book and this is, again, exactly what I got from Racing Savannah. This one has its own charm that separated it from the others as it’s kind of like the “new generation” of this series. We see glimpses of our beloved characters from the other books who have now gotten a bit older and their relationships are moving ahead which was very exciting to see, and bittersweet because it made me miss them! 🙂

This time our wonderful protagonist is Savannah. She has a passion for horse racing – well horses in general – and a take-no-crap attitude that I loved. As a girl, she unfortunately get the expected chuckles and odd…

Review: The Plague by Lisa C. Hinsley

Review: The Plague by Lisa C. Hinsley

Posted by on 11/11/2013 • 27 Comments

I guess I should have expected it, but Plague was a lot more… grossly detailed and harder to read than I expected – and not in a good way. I knew I was in for a heartbreaking read, but this is really nothing but a short story of a family’s harsh misfortunes during a plague epidemic. Which, I admit, sounds like it could be a good read, except it was simply too… graphic. Too quick of a disturbing tale and not enough depth to balance it. It’s an explicit story of a dying family. Period. We don’t ever get out of this boarded up house to see how the world is fairing other than just the knowledge that everyone is dying. The few technical details we do get are fuzzy…

Review: Golden by Jessi Kirby

Posted by on 11/07/2013 • 26 Comments

This was such a beautiful read! I literally had goosebumps when I turned the last page. It’s one of those all encompassing stories that leaves you to ponder your own past experiences, your own hopes and dreams – past, present, and future.

Do you often read back through your diaries or journals and reminisce on your high school days? In Golden, one teacher gives all his students just that opportunity. The class assignment is to fill a journal with everything you’re hoping for yourself, then in 10 years this journal is sent back to you. I loved this idea – almost wishing we had this teacher at our school. It had me both wondering and cringing at what I would have written in there myself. Golden combines a coming-of-age story…

Review: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Posted by on 11/05/2013 • 20 Comments

To be perfectly honest, by the time I read this book I had completely forgotten what it was about. I thought it was a book about the end of the world – and okay in a way it is, but very different from what I had envisioned. Nevertheless, it’s a solid story in a lot of ways, and with 400+ pages it could have become an intensely powerful, in-depth read, but instead it felt overcrowded at times with topics like rape, mental illness, and ex best-friend drama (as well as ex-boyfriend) that felt rather directionless. On the other hand, it does offer a slightly different perspective on alternate dimensions, or at least it worked on delivering it in a highly suspenseful way.

The main reason why I wasn’t able…