Showing posts with label 4.5 stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4.5 stars. Show all posts

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Review: Puddle Jumping by Amber L. Johnson


Puddle Jumping
Publisher: Self-pub
Release Date: July 1st 2014
Purchase: Amazon 
Blurb:
When it comes to love there’s no such thing as conventional.

Everyone thinks Colton Neely is special.

Lilly Evans just thinks he’s fascinating.

Once friends when they were younger, their bond is cut short due to her accident prone nature and they go their separate ways. Years later, they meet again and Lilly learns that there is something special about the boy she once knew, but she has no idea what it all means. And she’s not sure if she’s ready to find out.

When he walks through the corridor of her school the first day of her senior year, she knows that it’s time to get to know the real Colton Neely. The more she learns, the deeper she falls.

Their friendship grows into love, even as Colton does not express it in words. But one decision threatens to break down the world that Lilly has tried so hard to integrate into and she must figure out if the relationship can survive if they are apart.




Can I be won over in only a little over a hundred pages? The answer is yes, yes I can, and I just have been. This novella has something I was unaware I needed, and it pleases me to no end to have discovered this little gem among self-published books. Why? Because Puddle Jumping set my heart on fire the moment I read the prologue and it consumed me until the very last page. The rush and the giddy excitement, however, lasted beyond that. Yes, it's mostly a love story. It's also unarguably the best $0.99 I've ever spent.
"I don’t believe there’s such a thing as conventional love. Love is bending. Love is breaking. Love is constantly learning about the other person until you go crazy because it will never be perfect, but there’s no fault in trying."
This is an account of how two people who can't be more opposite found each other and fell in love. It completely centers around them; from their fleeting relationship in childhood to the time their paths crossed again as teenagers. The entirety of the story and the secondary characters are purely built around the lives of our main characters, Lilly and Colton.
There have been a lot of words to describe me over the years: precocious, hard-headed . . . indestructible.
Lilly, our narrator, is exactly those words and more. She's also constantly understanding and accepting. And more importantly, she sees Colton for what he is beneath the label he's known by most people; that he's special in every sense of the word. 

Colton is a fascinating character. He's different but he's far from being just all that. He's also a virtuoso in the arts and I admire that he tries so hard to be an even better person, and to be what he believes is worthy of Lilly's love. These two are beautiful apart, but together? they're all fireworks. Their relationship is straightforward, no one plays mind games and not once did it become suffocating.

Because this is a story with only a hundred and twenty-five pages to set itself up, there's also less chance for development in secondary characters and more room for quibbles. Besides Colton's mom, the other characters surrounding them lack growth and are essentially two-dimensional. That said, it's easily overlooked because again - this is only a hundred pages and it all boils down to how much I enjoyed everything about this. 

Amber Johnson created such a romantic, squeal-inducing and moving story that touches on the importance of compassion and having an open mind. She weaved a tale that veers away from any stereotype and depicts the challenges and tribulations of being with someone special.

I can't recommend this enough for people who enjoy a sweet romance and are in need of a lighthearted yet eye-opening and unforgettable read.



4 and a half feathers. An amazing read!





About the Author 
Amber is a full time mom, full time wife, is employed full time, and writes when she can. She believes in Happily Ever Afters that occur every day - despite the obstacles that real life serves up on a regular basis. Or perhaps they're sweeter simply because of them. She always has 2 rubber bands on her wrist, a song in her head, and too much creamer in her coffee cup that reads 'Cocoa' - because she's a rebel. If she's not at her desk, with her boys, or behind the computer, she's supporting live music with her arms raised above her head and eyes closed, waiting for the drop.

Follow her on these sites
    



Friday, July 25, 2014

Review: Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally


Breathe, Annie, Breathe
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: July 15th 2014
Purchase: The Book Depository | B&NAmazon 
Blurb:
Annie hates running. No matter how far she jogs, she can’t escape the guilt that if she hadn’t broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honor his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.

But the training is even more grueling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she’s at war with her body, her mind—and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms…and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.

"Breathe, Annie, Breathe is an emotional, heartfelt, and beautiful story about finding yourself after loss and learning to love. It gave me so many feels. Her best book yet." — Jennifer Armentrout, New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You 



This is only my second Miranda Kenneally book after reading Catching Jordan a few years ago and I'm berating myself for taking too long to follow it up. I adored her debut and promised to keep track of her new releases, but school happened and I'm a forgetful person. But better late than never, right? Going into Breathe, Annie, Breathe, I have a slight idea of what I can expect from it but I'm also hoping to be taken by surprise. In the end, this book delivered everything I loved in this genre and will go down as my favorite Miranda Kenneally book by far.

And what a poignant yet uplifting contemporary this was! It was the type of story I needed: something to fully lose myself in and that in the end, will make me feel light and happy. While Breathe, Annie, Breathe satisfied those expectations, it is also not quite what I expected because there's more to this book than fluff and feel-good; it's can also be a little dark, very emotional and beautiful.

I absolutely loved how driven and determined Annie is. I first admired her character for stepping out of her comfort zone by committing to join the Music City Marathon. The book opened with her at the early stages of marathon training. It's not a secret that she's doing it on behalf of her deceased boyfriend, Kyle, who had always dreamed of running a marathon. What people around her doesn't know is that it is also to distract herself from thinking about him. To be honest, I was more conflicted and impatient at first with the mystery that surrounds Kyle's death but I soon realized that it's one of the things that made this book stand out. Kyle became a fleshed-out character through Annie's memory and we see a glimpse of their relationship throughout the book. It was so easy to feel for Annie's hurt and love for him. I can only imagine the heartbreak she was going through while harboring guilt over his death, and my respect for her grows with every step she took to honor him. The story progressed with Annie running the distances required to train for a marathon and I was hit with another dose of hard reality as I witnessed how grueling and physically taxing training could be.

And the romance? One of the most convincing I've read in quite a while! I love Jeremy and his growth arc with Annie. He has easily won me over with his charm and distinct personality. He's a complex and imperfect character; into extreme sports and an adrenaline junkie. That said, I understand where he's coming from and the reason why he's always chasing the next thrill.
"If you don't put yourself out there, if you don't take risks, you can't truly feel. 
And I'm ready to feel again"
I enjoyed the sweet, slow-burn romance between him and Annie that only deepened with time. It ultimately became a part of Annie's emotional healing and acceptance, and of her letting another person in. I can't think of anything I didn't like about this book. How can I when I was so completely immersed from the first page? I adored the characters, the fast-paced writing, and the story that is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.


P.S. I think it's time to binge on Miranda Kennelly's other books in Hundred Oaks series!



  



About the Author
Growing up in Tennessee, Miranda Kenneally dreamed of becoming an Atlanta Brave, a country singer (cliché!), or a UN interpreter. Instead she writes, and works for the State Department in Washington, D.C., where George W. Bush once used her shoulder as an armrest. Miranda loves Twitter, Star Trek and her husband.

Follow her on these sites
  



Friday, December 13, 2013

Review: The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram


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The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram
Release Date: May 4th 2013
Publisher: BlueFields
ebook: 278 pages
Blurb:
When Avery Shaw’s heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how—scientifically. 

The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She’s going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can’t do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who broke her heart.

Avery finds the solution to her troubles in the form of Aiden’s older brother Grayson. The gorgeous womanizer is about to be kicked off the school basketball team for failing physics. He’s in need of a good tutor and some serious extra credit. But when Avery recruits the lovable Grayson to be her “objective outside observer,” she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for, because Grayson has a theory of his own: Avery doesn’t need to grieve. She needs to live. And if there’s one thing Grayson Kennedy is good at, it’s living life to the fullest.




Another exceptional witty contemporary romance by Kelly Oram has been one of my top reads, the Avery Shaw Experiment!

In this review I would like to point out three(3) things. 

FIRST:The concept. The prose of the story was easy to grasp. To proved that,I finished reading this book in just 3hrs! The premise of the book was for Avery to experience and record the 7 stages of Breakup which she had to present in their science fair. Once I started reading The Avery Shaw Experiment I couldn't put it down. The words just flew through me while I'm reading it and I feel every part of it as real as a highschool student life like with Avery. I liked how Kelly work on both main characters' POV. Readers get a glimpse of Avery and Grayson thoughts throughout the story which added as an added point for it to be more appealing and for the readers to understand each characters' actions. 

SECOND: The character's. I saw that everyone of them was believable and three-dimensional. Avery was the shy, pretty-nerdy type of girl. You see she's been "in love" for Aiden, her almost twin--but they're really just friends--since she thought she was. While Aiden was as nerdy as Avery, he's been oblivous to Avery's feelings not until Avery revealed it which unfortunately--but not for me--didn't go well. And here my fellow readers is where we will meet Grayson *sigh* . Grayson was the total opposite of Avery and his brother Aiden, he's what we could call "The King" in their school. He's with the popular kids, has a reputation with girls--I know that's inevitable with those gorgeousness in  place *another sigh*. But other than those physical qualities, Grayson was also a nice and funny guy,he doesn't put up with jerks or mean girls so his "popular" friends are all nice. He's also the partner of Avery throughout this experiment and who helped her to cope with the 7 stages. His sincere feelings for Avery made him a worthy book boyfriend. Of course there are the secondary characters whom I LOVED. Libby I cannot tell you how much I liked her to be my friend, she's Avery's friend in the story. A very straightforward person that made me laugh and had my eyes huge everytime she opens her mouth. There's also the Geek friends and the Popular ones, all of them are engaging that added spice to the story.

THIRD: I ❤ Kelly Oram. She does have the power to pull in the readers into her stories.She brought a funny tale to love, heartache and friendship.  It does not only tackles all about boyfriend-girlfriend relationship but also how a different sides of group of friends could make a perfect relationship without the  labels. I assure you that from the start until you finish the book that there's no dull moment in this story. If you are looking for a light, funny, short yet very tasteful read then I recommend this book for you. So READ IT ;)

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 Author Bio

Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. She's obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children.
Follow her on these sites
  




Monday, November 11, 2013

(Blog Tour) Review & Giveaway: One & Only by Viv Daniels


One & Only
Genre: NA Contemporary
e-Book: 264  pages
Release Date: November 8th, 2013
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble Kobo Smashwords 
One night they can't forget...

Tess McMann lives her life according to the secrets she's sworn to keep: the father who won't acknowledge her, the sister who doesn't know she exists, and the mother who's content playing mistress to a prominent businessman. When she meets the distractingly cute Dylan Kingsley at a prestigious summer program and falls in love, Tess allows herself to imagine a life beyond these secrets. But when summer ends, so does their relationship -- Dylan heads off to Canton College while Tess enrolls at the state university.

One love they can't ignore...

Two years later, a scholarship brings Tess to Canton and back into Dylan's life. Their attraction is as strong as ever, but Dylan has a girlfriend…who also happens to be Tess's legitimate half-sister. Tess refuses to follow in her mother's footsteps, which leaves her only one choice: break the rules she’s always followed, or allow Dylan to slip away for a second time. 

...And only one chance to get things right.


I have a love/hate relationship with NA fiction. I used to be an avid fan of it, until my love for the genre slowly whittled down as the months passed by and I noticed a formula the more NA books are released. There are quite a few that I fell in love with, and a lot of others that I did not. Nonetheless, I never stopped holding out hope of finding more that–for me– will stand out in the genre, and I am glad One & Only proved that decision to be a rewarding one.

I am very very pleased to find that Viv Daniels chose to go a little bit off the beaten path in her NA debut novel. There are still elements which are associated in NA books but her writing was especially refreshing and easy to get absorbed in. Excluding the steamy scenes, this book has a contemporary YA feel to it which is probably another reason why it appealed to me so much. 

The characters in this book breathe and I was captured by Tess right off the bat. I absolutely loved that she’s driven and dedicated to reaching her dreams, even if doing so would mean standing up to her selfish father whose rules had always shaped her and her mother’s life. And then there’s Dylan… adorable, geeky, handsome and honest Dylan who stole Tess’ heart at that summer camp two years before. I swear his character is a welcome respite from the archetypal bad boys in NA. I’ve got to say I immensely enjoyed reading about a hero who doesn’t like to play games and is not emotionally scarred for a change. 

The story just flows that I burned through the book in a matter of hours. It’s not the most all-consuming book I’ve ever read, but the smart romance and Viv Daniels’ way of dealing with the difficult aspect of the story helped as I sped through it. The depth of it combined with self-deprecating characters made the book sincere and above all else, real.



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Author Bio
Viv Daniels writes love stories for the young and young at heart. Like many of her characters, she met her husband in college, and knows all the ins and outs of navigating that kind of relationship — from how to date when you’re both flat broke to how to fit two people in narrow dorm room bed. 

 Her favorite new adult authors include Tammara Weber, J. Lynn, and Cora Carmack.

 Viv can usually be found on her Facebook page or Twitter feed, chatting with readers about her favorite New Adult fiction, or sharing pictures of cute boys.

Follow her on these sites
   



Giveaway
5 copies of One & Only (print/eBook)
One & Only charms
5 New Adult novels
$25 GC to Amazon or B&N
Open Internationally

Also, Viv is generously giving away a swag pack to one of our lucky readers! The swag pack will include: a One & Only bookmark, an assortment of gifts and books from her and other new adult authors, and a One & Only charm.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your email address to enter. Thank you for stopping by and good luck! 

And the winner is...
Jennifer!





Wednesday, October 10, 2012

(Blog Tour) Review + Giveaway: Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr


Carnival of Souls

Paperback: 306 pages
Release date: September 4th 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Goodreads Rating: 3.88
Goodreads Summary: In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures--if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live. 
 All Mallory knows of The City is that her father--and every other witch there--fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it's only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls. 
From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series and "Graveminder," comes a brand-new tale of lush secrets, dark love, and the struggle to forge one's own destiny.

Carnival of Souls is a powerfully engaging story set both in human world and The City, an intriguing paranormal realm where daimons and witches exist. The City is a daimon-ruling-world where everyone is labeled by the caste system and those in the lower caste sell pleasure and blood. Once in a generation, a deadly competition is held that gives every daimon a chance to join the highest caste and be given the biggest respect. 

Interwoven in this book are the lives of three people: The City ruler’s long lost seventeen year-old daughter Mallory who wants normalcy and was raised in human world by his witch stepfather; Kaleb, a lower-caste daimon determined to win in the competition and achieve far more for himself and his packmate, Zevi; and Aya, an equally indomitable competitor and elite daimon who is bent on doing what no other woman had– join The City’s government. These three were some of my favorite things about the book. If you’re like me who’s always apprehensive about multiple point of views, worry not because Melissa Marr handled it smoothly and managed to pull it off with grace. It was a great experience to be in the minds of diverse and richly-developed characters. Admittedly, my favorites are Belias and Aya. What can I say? I have a soft spot for bad-ass female characters and their love interests.

The heart of this book is in its world-building. You know what they say about the power of writing to suck you in right from the beginning. Well, Melissa Marr took me herself to the dangerous and dark world of the carnival from page one. It also has a quite complicated plot that doesn’t reveal itself in the summary. It divulges the story to the readers in just the right pace. 

I have a confession to make… This is the first Melissa Marr book I’ve ever read. I know about the Wicked Lovely series which I’ve been meaning to read since I’ve become a booksnake (a level-up from bookworm according to my college friends) but unfortunately haven’t had the time and resources to do so. When Carnival of Souls arrived in the mail, I swear I could have danced in front of my mom’s guests. So yeah, too much excitement comes with great expectations. I think I’d set the bar too high. I’m not saying that CoS disappointed me. No, I loved this book although I had a few issues with some things. First is the underdeveloped chemistry between Kaleb and Mallory. There were times when I felt disconnected when I should have been cheering them on in their relationship. The second one would be the ending. I think it was rushed and raised more questions than it did answers. Despite the fact that it’s the first book in the series, I felt like there should have been more. 

To sum it up, I highly enjoyed and recommend Carnival of Souls and I will be waiting with bated breath for book two. This is a must-read for fantasy readers who are looking for a unique and magical read!

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Author Bio

I write books. I read books. That's all you need to know. The books matter, NOT the author. 
Follow her on these sites: Website││Twitter|| Goodreads





Giveaway
As part of the blog tour, Pinoy Book Tours and HarperCollins provided a paperback copy to give away!
Open to PH residents only 
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