A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)

Goodreads Summary
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

My Thoughts
Sarah J. Maas has done it again. I'm not quite sure how she comes up with these amazingly different characters, but she is a master at it. Each of her male characters are so different from one another, but they are all so incredibly easy to love. Tamlin and Lucien are no different. 

This book is so much more than I was expecting. I have seen and heard some amazing reviews, but I didn't want to get my hopes up because I've been disappointed before. Not this time. From the moment Feyre arrived in the fae world I was hooked. I knew that this book was something special. The world was just so beautiful and yet dark and broken. I could picture everything happening before my eyes and that isn't usually the case for me. 

I'm extremely curious to see where book two will take us. I hope Lucien finds a little bit of happiness because he definitely deserves it. I also want more Feyre and Tamlin in my life. These two practically sizzled. 

Get your hands on a copy of this asap!!
  

Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold (Broken Hearts & Revenge #2)

Goodreads Summary

The war rages on between Gemma and Hallie in the second installment of the Broken Hearts and Revenge series.

...I cut out this section of the summary due to major spoilers of the first book. You can however find it on Goodreads if you really need to know...

Gemma and Hallie find themselves locked in an escalating revenge cycle. Just when Gemma thinks she has the upper hand, the biggest bombshell of all is dropped. And it’s one that threatens to change her life forever. This exciting sequel to Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things To Mend will leave you begging for the third installment.

My Thoughts
After finishing Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things To Mend I immediately knew that I had to get my hands on this book. The last book finished on such a tense note that I had to know what Gemma was going to get herself into next.  

This second installment was even more intense than the last. If you don't like drama then this isn't the book for you, but I rather enjoyed it.  Gemma and Sophie, with the help of Gwyneth and the gorgeous, yet dorky Ford, have quite the task ahead of them. Ahhh I can't say anything else or I'll give too much away. 

I will say that I quite liked Josh in the first book (and I did in the second too) until the last chapter or so when I became team Ford. He was always a close second for me because he and Gemma had some adorable moments, but my love for Josh had me placing him as the runner-up. Well Gemma made me change my mind. I'm definitely team Ford now. 

I think that if you like young adult contemporary novels than you will simply love Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things To Mend and Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold. Just go ahead and read them now so that you'll be ready for the third installment when it comes out sometime next year.

 

A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)

Goodreads Summary 
Lose your heart to your new bad boy book boyfriend. Wes Carter - sexy, edgy, behind bars, with emotional scars as permanent as the ink on his skin, just waiting to be healed by love...

Their love is forbidden. But won't be denied... Can true love heal the deepest scars?

For Kat Lane, teaching inmates at a New York prison is her way of upholding the legacy of her beloved father, murdered fifteen years ago. But when new student Wes Carter walks into her classroom, she's shaken by the strength of her attraction to him. Carter is as handsome as he is dangerous, as mysterious as he is quick-witted - and he ensures people keep their distance. Yet vibrant Kat bypasses his defences and challenges him to reveal the real man behind the intimidating reputation. As their emotional barriers crumble, their inescapable but forbidden feelings cannot be ignored. But will Kat's discovery of Carter's role on the night her father died force them apart...or bind their hearts for ever?

A Pound of Flesh is a tale of loyalty, redemption and all-consuming love against the odds, introducing an irresistible bad boy hero... 

My Thoughts and All The Feels
It is no secret that this was my most anticipated read of 2015. I first fell in love with this story about five years ago when Sophie Jackson wrote weekly (sometimes monthly...or longer) chapters of the story and posted them online. I would drop everything and immerse myself in this world of convicts and lovers.  I loved the original story line and the passionate characters. 

Five long years later, I actually possess a copy of this beautiful book. I will say that it's not the exact same as the original. There are plot lines that were lost and some characters that didn't make the final cut, but I still really loved it. I did at times find the story to be a little choppy due to cutting scenes, but I don't think you'd feel the same way unless you'd read the original numerous times. There were aspects cut that I agreed made sense and there were some that I really missed (mostly the ending). I don't want that to lead you to believe that I didn't love this...I did. 

Kat and Carter (yes I thought their names were fitting and Carter is just as sexy as Cullen) are like fireworks. They are explosive on their own, but together they put on quite the show.  Their chemistry is beyond sexy. There is something really special about both of them and it's really a miracle that they met at all. You have to pick up this book so that you can meet them too. You won't regret it.

Get your copy June 9th!!!


  3/4

Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend (Broken Hearts & Revenge #1)

Goodreads Summary

Hot sun. Blue waves. New romances. Old secrets.

Gemma had her summer all planned out, but it takes a sharp turn when she gets dumped and finds herself back in the Hamptons after a five-year absence.

Being there puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friends (that is, before Gemma ruined her life). But people don't hold grudges forever. Do they?

Gemma intends on making amends, but a small case of mistaken identity causes the people she knew years ago—including Hallie and her dreamy brother, Josh—to believe she's someone else. As though the summer wasn't complicated enough already.

Filled with summer sun, boys, and friendships gone sour, Katie Finn's first novel in the Broken Hearts and Revenge series sizzles and delights.

My Thoughts
I hate to admit that I could have read this MONTHS ago after getting an advanced copy through NetGalley. I just thought it was another contemporary and never got around to reading it. I had no idea, until a month or so ago, that Katie Finn is Morgan Matson's pen name. If I had known that I would have read it asap. I love Matson's writing!!

This book did not disappoint...at all. The characters were great. Gemma is a sweetheart even if she did a terrible thing when she was eleven. She may make some really stupid decisions along the way, but I genuinely think she did them for the right reasons (excluding what she did when she was eleven). Josh is a contemporary lovers dream. He is athletic and yet adorably nerdy. He loves The Princess Bride for pete's sake. I loved when he got nervous and actually flushed...so cute. Gemma's friend Sophie was a little underdeveloped, but I like where her character is headed. I think Gemma needs her. 

Although the plot was a little convoluted, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Gemma was a little dense at times, but I'd like to believe that she was just naive and in denial.   

This book left is on a major cliffhanger, but thankfully the second book Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold is already out. Check this out if you enjoy Morgan Matson or contemporary novels in general. I highly recommend it.

Afterworlds

Goodreads Summary
Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings…

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.

My Thoughts
I feel like this took me all of May to read. It is a massive book, but it's also technically two books which I know is not a good enough excuse.

I really enjoyed Darcy's journey to get her book published. I found her discovery of the publishing world to be really insightful and honestly scary at times. I had no idea how many hoops authors have to jump through even after their book has been sold to a publishing house.  I enjoyed her relationship with her sister/accountant. I thought that was really endearing. I adored her relationship with Imogen and respected Scott Westerfeld's choice to have such strong LGTB characters.

Afterworlds itself I found to be a little slow and at times boring to read. I liked Lizzy as a character, but didn't really buy her falling for the death god.  I, like a few "fans" of her book, preferred her to end up with the special agent.

At times I found the book to be a little confusing. At the beginning of the novel Darcy goes out to an author party at a bar and no one questions if she is legal to drink or not. She just graduated from high school, but looks old enough to be 21? Really? There were small moments where I thought maybe Scott Westerfeld was British and that was why no one questioned things, but he isn't. I don't know...maybe this only bothered me.

At the end of the day this is a good book. Was it my favourite? No, but it was an enjoyable read.

An Ounce of Hope (A Pound of Flesh #2) US Cover Revealed

I am so excited that the cover for An Ounce of Hope has been revealed. It's gorgeous!!!

 Remember A Pound of Flesh comes out June 9th...go pre-order now if you haven't already. The follow up An Ounce of Hope comes out in January of 2016, but you can pre-order it as well.

If you haven't already you should check out Sophie Jackson's twitter account, website and her facebook account.

My Story

Goodreads Summary 

For the first time, ten years after her abduction from her Salt Lake City bedroom, Elizabeth Smart reveals how she survived and the secret to forging a new life in the wake of a brutal crime.

On June 5, 2002,  fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart, the daughter of a close-knit Mormon family, was taken from her home in the middle of the night by religious fanatic, Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. She was kept chained, dressed in disguise, repeatedly raped, and told she and her family would be killed if she tried to escape. After her rescue on March 12, 2003, she rejoined her family and worked to pick up the pieces of her life.

Now for the first time, in her memoir, MY STORY, she tells of the constant fear she endured every hour, her courageous determination to maintain hope, and how she devised a plan to manipulate her captors and convinced them to return to Utah, where she was rescued minutes after arriving.  Smart explains how her faith helped her stay sane in the midst of a nightmare and how she found the strength to confront her captors at their trial and see that justice was served.

In the nine years after her rescue, Smart transformed from victim to advocate, traveling the country and working to educate, inspire and foster change. She has created a foundation to help prevent crimes against children and is a frequent public speaker. In  2012, she married Matthew Gilmour, whom she met doing mission work in Paris for her church, in a fairy tale wedding that made the cover of People magazine.

My Thoughts
I knew this would be a difficult read, but I didn't realize just how difficult. This took me forever to read because I could only read so much before I would have to put it down again. This book was so heartbreaking that I could only take so much of it at a time.  

Elizabeth did a great job at telling her story. I think she knew that there were so many people out there that were curious to know what actually happened to her and how she coped with everything afterward. I will say that she frustrated me at times. I was never frustrated that she didn't try to escape because I understood that. What frustrated me was that sometimes to, I think, protect the reader she didn't fully explain what was happening. I'm not sure if they were moments she really didn't want to think about or if it was her Mormon beliefs, but she chose to sensor some moments. 

I'm amazed by her.