Charged (Saints of Denver #2)

Author: Jay Crownover
Release Date: May 24, 2016
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 361
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Summary

Avett Walker and Quaid Jackson's worlds have no reason to collide. Ever. Quaid is a high powered criminal attorney as slick as he is handsome. Avett is a pink-haired trouble maker with a bad attitude and a history of picking the wrong men. 

When Avett lands in a sea of hot water because of one terrible mistake, the only person who can get her out of it is the insanely sexy lawyer. The last thing on earth she wants to do is rely on the no-nonsense attorney who thinks of her as nothing more than a nuisance. He literally has her fate in his hands. Yet there is something about him that makes her want to convince him to loosen his tie and have a little fun...with her. 

Quaid never takes on clients like the impulsive young woman with a Technicolor dye job. She could stand to learn a hard lesson or two, but something about her and her guileless hazel eyes intrigues him. Still, he's determined to keep their relationship strictly business. But doing so is becoming more impossible with each day he spends with her. 

As they work side-by-side, they'll have to figure out a way to get along and keep their hands off each other--because the chemistry between them is beyond charged. --Goodreads

The Rundown

I wish that I could put my finger on it as to why, but you know how just about every series has that one book that just took you forever to read? In Crownover's Marked Men series, that book was Rome. I think Charged may be my Rome of the Saints of Denver series. 

It's not that it was bad at all, in fact I absolutely loved Quaid and Avett, who we met near the end of the Marked Men series. There was just so much going on with a crazy action packed plot, as well as setting up the romantic interests of the main characters for the last two books in the series, that I savored this book. I probably only read a chapter or two a day for a month because I new I'd have book hangover when I got to the end and I was right. 

I'm such a Crownover groupie that I don't think she can do anything wrong with her words. Her stories and characters are just...ahhh!!! Tattoos, fast cars and bikes, and hot steamy scenes all over the place. Need I say more?

What I loved more than anything about Quaid and Avett's story was seeing a bad girl step up and be her own hero while saving a good guy from thinking he's not good enough. The boys can't always be the one's doing all saving. I mean, where's the fun in that? 

If you like New Adult romances and you're not reading any of Jay Crownover's series...I don't know what you're doing with your life. Seriously.

Rating: 4/5 Stars. Hot. Steamy. Sexy. Action packed. 

Worth Fighting For (Fighting To Be Free #2)

Author: Kirsty Moseley
Release Date: December 6, 2016
Publisher: Forever
Pages: 352
Genre: New Adult, Romance

*I received a copy of this book as a NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own. Thanks NetGalley!*

Summary

It's been years since Jamie Cole's seen Ellie Pearce. He's immersed himself in the life that he'd once fought to leave and taken over his old turf--creating dangerous rivals. He has nothing to lose--until Ellie comes back to town. 

Ellie has moved on. She met a man in London--a man she's marrying. She hardly allows herself to remember the boy who broke her heart at 18. But when tragedy strikes, Ellie's forced to return to New York. She thought she could handle seeing Jamie again, but she can't deny he's still a part of her. Now amidst threats from Jamie's enemies and fighting to keep her sister safe, Ellie must decide to return to her fiance or surrender to the fire that still burns with Jamie. --Goodreads

The Rundown

Gah! When I read Fighting To Be Free earlier this year, the ending had me slamming my hands down on my desk practically shouting "NOOOOOO!!! You can't leave them like this!!!" Thankfully, Kirsty Moseley must have heard my shouts because a sequel was quickly in the works and landing an ARC of this felt like an early Christmas present.

Moseley did not disappoint with this follow up, set three years after the ending of the first book. This story is packed with a ton of action, heartache, tension, and steamy romance to keep the pages turning. It was such a treat seeing Ellie grow into herself, heal, and repair what was an especially strained relationship with her mother in the first book while adding strength and depth to her relationship with her younger sister. And Jamie...wow. It was such a journey to see him live in near darkness when he felt he had nothing good to live for without a family, and without Ellie, to becoming the man he was well on his way to being for Ellie all of those years ago. 

Set against the backdrop of a seedier NYC, complete with the car thefts, drug deals, and gang turf wars that is Jamie's new world and shifting to the suburban manicured lawns of Ellie's old life will have reader's feeling like they're first row for a summer blockbuster action movie. Moseley threw out so many twists and curves (and a hot hot hot romance rekindled) that I finished this book in a few hours. 

My only critique, much like the first book, is at times the dialogue was heavy on the cheesy side. I get that it's an action filled new adult romance, but come on. If a boy tells me I'll "Be so happy that I'll crap rainbows" that would basically throw an automatic kill switch to whatever steamy scene was taking place. I'm also not one for pet names in real life or stories, and I rolled my eyes every time Jamie called Ellie "little girl." Just...yuck. 

That aside, this story will tug at your heart, especially when it comes to that age old question of does your first, real, passionate love ever lose their space in your heart? It was no doubt by the end of Fighting To Be Free that Ellie and Jamie shared a deep, loving connection, but are they still meant to be after a lot of time and heartbreak? Grab a copy of Worth Fighting For when it hits shelves to find out!

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars. Great action, hot romance!

The Romantics

Author: Leah Konen
Release Date: November 1, 2016
Publisher: Amulet Books
Pages: 336
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Comedy

*I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own. Thanks NetGalley!*

Summary

Perfect for fans of Lauren Myracle and Rainbow Rowell, The Romantics will charm readers of all ages. Gael Brennan is about to have his heart broken when his first big relationship crumbles on the heels of his parents' painful separation. Love intervenes with the intention of setting things right--but she doesn't anticipate the intrusion of her dreaded nemesis: The Rebound. Love's plans for Gael are sidetracked by Cara, Gael's hot-sauce-wielding "dream girl." The move Love meddles, the further Gael drifts from the one girl who can help him mend his heart. Soon Love starts breaking all her own rules--and in order to set Gael's fate back on course, she has to make some tough decisions about what it truly means to care. -Goodreads

The Rundown

I needed this book in my life so much while I was reading it. Seriously. This was a fun, quirky, touching romantic comedy! And Love was the narrator. Love herself telling a love story. Can a book be any more fun???

I loved Gael right from the beginning and was majorly rooting for him. Who doesn't cheer for the cool band geek (I mean in marching band hierarchy the only people cooler than saxophonists are percussionists, right?) to get the girl? Here you have a kid rolling along through his senior year, adjusting to separating parents, taking AP classes, and having who he thinks is the perfect girlfriend when she hits him with the ultimate betrayal: seeing his best friend behind his back. He gets angry, decks his best friend, and goes home to drown his sorrows in miniature Snickers bars and Netflix. If you didn't have a similar day in high school, I'm pretty sure you didn't go to high school.

In steps Love with her wisdom and unique view of the world to put Gael on the path toward the girl who is going to bring out all of the very best in him, but even Love makes mistakes and so begins the hilarity that is The Romantics. This book reads like the hit rom com that opens on Valentine's Day weekend, and let's be honest, sometimes we all need a book like that. We know who needs to end up together and see it way before the characters do, but the journey they take to get there is so fun that we ride it out with them. 

Another bonus is the unique narration of a love story being told by Love. Other then The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak I can't remember reading another YA book with such an interesting point of view. 

Do you love Love? Do you love laughing? Do you like watching good souls come together? Pick up The Romantics today!!

Rating: 4/5 Stars. Too cute! 

Top Five Things About Me & NaNoWriMo

I feel like a failed blogger. I haven't posted in nearly two weeks because of Halloween, Halloween programming, slacking off on reading as I do NaNoWriMo prep work, and having this tiny version of me that takes up a lot of my free time (aka my almost two year old daughter). 

As many of you know, November is National Novel Writing Month (break it down to the super fun to say NaNoWriMo). I won't even tell you how many years I've started NaNoWriMo or NaNoWriMo Camp and been on a roll for maybe a week if I'm lucky, and then something will come up and I'll miss a day or things will get crazy with Thanksgiving and before I know it, everything else is hitting their 50,000 words and I'm over here with 8,000. Every. Time.

But this, 2016, is my NaNoWriMo year! Even if my novel lives on a flash drive forever, it's still one I finished. Here are some fun facts about me and my NaNoWriMo 2016 project (with funny GIFs mostly for my own amusement)! Are you doing NaNoWriMo? I'd love to hear how you're doing so far!

1) Genre: New Adult Romance

via GIPHY

Because who doesn't love a good love story? I have been a fan of NA ever since I picked up "Losing It" by Cora Carmack. From that moment on I knew if I ever wrote a novel, it'd be New Adult.

2) Meet River O'Neal. 

via GIPHY

I watch a lot of Peaky Blinders. River O'Neal may not be a 1920s British gangster like Cillian Murphey's character, but he's just so pretty. River happens to be smart, a talented photographer, extremely funny, and a genuinely nice guy. You're welcome ladies.

3) So. Many. Feelings

via GIPHY

River and Camryn were close friends for just a year in high school before life took them down different paths that ultimately led them both back to their hometown after college. Camryn was able to get help for the traumatic abuse she endured as a child, but when returning home puts her in front of River, she has to find the strength to break down her own walls and let him in. River never understood why Camryn pushed him away that night all of those years ago. River often thought of Camryn, but his choices took him down a path he's not proud of. In front of her now, will he ever be good enough? Second chances at love while owning up to your past and embracing your future. 

Very tentative synopsis. Subject to change :)

So many feelings.

4) Theme Song: Existentialism on Prom Night by Straylight Run

Let's be real. So much music is influencing my project. But this song is the one I keep coming back to. It's so beautiful and I find myself listening to it a lot when I'm trying to nudge River and Camryn to trust each other again. 

Have listen here!

Favorite line: Sing me something soft. Sad and delicate. Or loud and out of key. Sing me anything. We're glad for what we've got. Done with what we've lost. Our whole lives laid out right in front of us. 

5) Thank You Coffee

via GIPHY

The past three days since NaNoWriMo started, I've gotten the majority of my writing in after my daughter goes to bed. And the dishes are done. And dinner is put away. And lunches are packed. And laundry is folded. I've punched in my word count just before midnight and my day starts just before six in the morning. Bless you coffee.