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Friday, April 29, 2016

Review: Deep (A Stage Dive Novel) by Kylie Scott



Deep by Kylie Scott
(Book #4 in the Stage Dive Series)
Published by St. Martin's Griffin


Positive. With two little lines on a pregnancy test, everything in Lizzy Rollins' ordinary life is about to change forever. And all because of one big mistake in Vegas with Ben Nicholson, the irresistibly sexy bass player for Stage Dive. So what if Ben's the only man she's ever met who can make her feel completely safe, cherished, and out of control with desire at the same time? Lizzy knows the gorgeous rock star isn't looking for anything more permanent than a good time, no matter how much she wishes differently.

Ben knows Lizzy is off limits. Completely and utterly. She's his best friend's little sister now, and no matter how hot the chemistry is between them, no matter how sweet and sexy she is, he's not going to go there. But when Ben is forced to keep the one girl he's always had a weakness for out of trouble in Sin City, he quickly learns that what happens in Vegas, doesn't always stay there. Now he and Lizzie are connected in the deepest way possible... but will it lead to a connection of the heart?

I LOVE series like this one. I am a huge fan of the companion novel, because I always want to know what is going on with characters that I love, but it's also nice to see other people in the world get their own stories. This is actually the fourth book in the Stage Dive series, but it can definitely be read as a standalone. You will get some spoilers from previous books, because all of the characters make appearances, but this is a complete story on it's own. I have actually only read books 2-4 in this series, because I didn't realize I was starting with a second in the series when I picked up Lick (it has one of my favorite tropes, so I didn't bother to look it up before I started it), but I've loved every one of the books I have a read and have big plans to get my hands on book one sometime soon!

I actually think this one might be my favorite of the ones I've read so far. While the surprise baby trope isn't necessarily my favorite, I didn't mind it here, because Lizzy and Ben were the two characters that stood out to me most in the other books. I was so desperately hoping that they would get their own story and I am so glad they did. Lizzy is fiercely independent and can be absolutely tough as nails, but she's still got a vulnerable side and a huge soft spot for a sexy, bearded bassist. Try as she might, and even she knows it's in her best interest, she can't seem to keep from gravitating back to Ben time and again. Ben is a mess. I don't think that poor guy truly understand real feelings and what to do with them and while he has a hard time staying away from Lizzy, he also has a hard time staying with her, too. 

This book is full of sass, sweetness, jealous rock star outbursts, all seeing security guards, over protective family members, and seriously, sexy fun times. If you are a fan of romance and you can appreciate an awesome, tight-knit cast of characters, I definitely recommend checking out any of the Stage Dive novels. 



*Book cover photo and description from Goodreads

Monday, April 25, 2016

Review: The Leaving by Tara Altebrando


The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
Published by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: June 7th, 2016

- Review copy provided by Bloomsbury for honest feedback -

Six were taken. Eleven years later, five come back--with no idea of where they've been.

Eleven years ago, six kindergarteners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to.

Until today. Today five of those kids return. They're sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn't really recognize the person she's supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they're entirely unable to recall where they've been or what happened to them. Neither of them remember the sixth victim, Max. He doesn't come back. Everyone wants answers. Most of all Max's sister Avery, who needs to find her brother--dead or alive--and isn't buying this whole memory-loss story.


So much of this book was so good. We get three POV's in this story. Scarlett and Lucas were both victims of The Leaving and while they can't remember any of the things that have happened to them in the eleven years since they have been gone, they both have a strong sense that they have more of a past together than just being at the same place all that time. Of course, they have a hard time trusting themselves and each other, because with each snippet of something they think they remember from the time they were gone, things get more confusing and suspicious. I always enjoy a story with an unreliable narrator, but this one takes it just a little bit further, because not only are we not sure we can actually trust anything they are saying, these characters can't even trust their own thoughts and instincts.

Our third POV is Avery, the younger sister of one of the victims of The Leaving. Avery's brother, Max, didn't come back with the others and of course no one remembers him. Avery refuses to believe that Max isn't still out there somewhere and she also doesn't believe the other returned kids when they say they don't remember anything. You see, Lucas and Max were best friends before they were taken, and Avery doesn't understand how you can just forget a person. Desperate to figure out what happened to her brother, she inserts herself into the investigation.

No one really knows what's going on, but little by little they start unraveling the truth. And so many times I found myself unwilling to put this one down, even though I had to get back to work or go to sleep, because I was just as desperate as these kids to figure out what was really going on and to learn the truth about why this all happened. I had no proper predictions about who was involved or what really happened, so it was nice to find out at the same time the characters did. The truth about what went down was interesting enough and if it had been fleshed out a little more, I might have been more satisfied when I turned the last page, but by the time I got to the end I just felt like I needed more. There was such great build throughout the whole story and I guess the ending just felt a little to flat when all was said and done.

Overall I really did enjoy this one. Despite my need for more at the end, this was such an interesting mystery all along the way. There were definitely things that happened that I did not expect and connections between characters that I didn't necessarily see coming. It has solid writing and such a cool premise. It's definitely worth giving a look once this one hits the bookstores.



*book cover image came from goodreads.com

Monday, April 18, 2016

Bookish Goals for 2016

I know I am incredibly late to this party, but I have been absent for quite a while and only recently had a sudden desire to start doing some blogging again. After all this time, I've found myself missing it lately and miracle of miracles, I still remembered my blog password! SO I figured, what better way to kick this whole shindig off again, than with some of my personal bookish goals for 2016. I'm not going to let a little thing, like it already being half-way through April, stop me!

I've got three things I really want to work on reading wise this year and with determination and a little luck, I think I might just be able to improve my reading game!


#1: Unfinished Series



I have countless completed series on my bookshelves. Some of them I've never read a single book in the series, but most of them I read the first book and really loved it, but wanted to wait until all books in the series were available so I didn't have to wait in between. The problem here is, I accumulated said books in these series, but for whatever reason never picked them up and started (or finished) any of them. It would be absolutely crazy to say I want to finish every completed series I own, I'm not even going to pick specific series that I want to finish this year (the above picture is just to show an example of some of the pretties), but I definitely want to get at least 2 or 3 of these series under my belt by the end of 2016.


#2: Out of my Norm



It's not that I only read one or two types of books, though I do love NA romance in all it's tropey, cliche, sexy, and fun glory, and can literally spend months reading one after another of these bad boys, but I try to mix it up a little. Lately, I've really gotten into fantasy and urban fantasy, and literary fiction has also won several spots on my bookshelves, but there are a couple of genres that I almost never read and I'd like to give them a shot this year. Number one being non-fiction. I want to be the type of person who reads about real things that happened, but I've just never gotten into it. Horror, thrillers, and mysteries are some other groups that I've only dabbled in a little. I'm a big wuss, so creepy/scary books kind of make me nervous, but I'd like to grow up and be a big girl this year. I've actually already read a couple of thriller/mystery novels this year, those genres are seriously growing on me. Another big thing I want to get into this year are graphic novels. I love browsing through them at the bookstore, but I've always been so hesitant to actually pick any up. I don't really have much of a collection of them yet, but I've got enough to dip my toes in and see if I like the pretty, illustrated waters.


#3: Reading Focus

This one might just be impossible, because I have always been a person who starts a book and then starts another one or two books simultaneously. It's good for my fickle and ever changing reading moods, but it's also annoying and I feel like I never actually get anything read. This is a personal pet peeve about myself and my motivation to stop doing this gets stronger every day. I currently have something like four books that I am reading and it is completely ridiculous. 


There you have it. My main bookish goals for the rest of 2016. I'm feeling very optimistic! What are some of the goals you guys have made for 2016 and how have you been doing with them? I'm right here cheering you on!

Here's to the rest of 2016! 

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