Book Review: Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen (ARC)

Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: Brooklyn Bruisers #1
Audience: +18
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Release Date: 06 Sep 2016
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

The first novel in a sexy new series featuring the hockey players of the Brooklyn Bruisers and the women who win their hearts—from the USA Today bestselling author of the Ivy Years series.

In high school they were the perfect couple—until the day Georgia left Leo in the cold...

Hockey player Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart, and succeed in the NHL. But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.

Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast...

*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or my rating of the book in any way.

Sports romance is becoming one of my top 5 romance subgenres. This paired with my newly discovered love of hockey, made me desperately need to read Rookie Move. Let me tell you, it was an awesome decision.

It's always interesting to read about second chances, about high school sweethearts getting a second chance at a relationship, mostly because it's interesting to see how they evolved and how the relationship can grow, but also because it's cute. I admit it! My inner romantic goes giddy over second chance stories, I think I've already told you that. Georgia and Leo's story is particularly beautiful because of what happened to make them break up. It's a sad story, really.

Georgia was a great character. Her story is heartbreaking. There's a beautiful scene between her and her roommate, Becca, where she realizes that fear and courage aren't mutually exclusive, and I loved that scene. And it also touches on the fact that some crimes affect your loved ones as well. Georgia is fearless even with her past, and I loved reading about that.

Leo was such a sweetheart. I loved him so, so much. I think even as a teenager, he was a great man, and I was so happy that he got to find his happy ending, because a guy like that deserves that and more. We don't get to see much of his life from the time he was apart from Georgia, aside from a few mentions here and there. I would have wanted to see more of that, but this is probably due to the fact that Brooklyn Bruisers is a spin-off to Bowen's Ivy Years, and there's a possibility that some of those scenes are in those books.

I was also glad that there was a lot more sport in this book. The sport wasn't just something some of the characters did, but at times it kind of felt like another character in the book, which was nice. I am curious to see how the author will approach the various aspects of the sport in the future books, depending on the main character's involvement in the team. And, yes, I may be very happy about who the hero of the next book is.

This was my first Sarina Bowen book, but I'll definitely check her other titles out while I'm waiting for the next Brooklyn Bruiser book to come out.

Book Review: Relentless Flame by Jillian Davis

Author: Jillian Davis
Series: Hell to Pay #2
Audience: +18
Genre: Paranormal romance
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Release Date: May 4th 2015
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Reading Alley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Immortal. Colossal. Suave. Indebted killer Dante Blackstone has the world at his feet. Every vice, any desire, is his for the asking—until he finds the one person he cannot have: one sweet, diminutive woman who could bring about Dante’s destruction.

Despite her supernatural ability to heal others, a devastating act of evil has left Hannah Miller broken in body and spirit. As she rebuilds her life while on the lam, a not-so-chance meeting with Dante chips away at the walls surrounding her fragile heart. But before their fledgling love can take flight, Dante’s boss sends an evil minion with one mandate: Eliminate Dante’s new reason to break his eternal contract.

As they fight to survive, Hannah’s amazing gift gives Dante one chance to save them both from the vicious minion. How can any love survive eternal hell and annihilation?

The answer lies in Dante’s inferno.

*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from Reading Alley and Crimson Romance in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or my rating of the book in any way.



There are books in series that are good, and then there are books that kind of set the bar for the next installments in the series. Relentless Flame is that book for the Hell to Pay series.

First of all, let me tell you that the cover model looks so similar to Kevin Sorbo. If you don't know who Kevin Sorbo is shame on you, and go search him. I had to get that off my chest before talking about the book. My love for the book has nothing to do with KS, just FYI. Anyway, moving on.

Dante is the kind of hero that I love to love. He is cocky, he is sure of himself, and he knows what he wants and acts accordingly. The part that I love about him? He is so freaking adorable when he's out of his element. I giggled like a loon reading his first interactions with Hannah, because he was so confused by her. Here you have an old-as-dirt man that has been with more women than he could ever count, and Hannah renders him speechless. I loved that so much, mostly because I love reading about the inner struggle of any character to realize that they can be bested. Aside from the funny stuff, I love that with him you can sort of see the old, kind of classic upbringing. I love his speech patterns, his vocabulary, even the little phrases in Swedish. A testament to Davis' writing style really, because it was a different experience than with reading Peter's book. I loved that book, yes, but this book had an old-soul feel to it.

Hannah was awesome. Her life was so tragic, and I am so happy with how the story ended for her. I was impressed by her, really. She has an interesting ability, to heal people, and it's interesting to see how that ability isn't helping her heal her soul. I found that aspect of her really intriguing.

I like how the story is going for Jerahmeel. I love how both the previous book and this one show how he is slowly losing it. I also like that he's not portrayed in a typical way, he isn't smooth or silent or just deadly. He seems more deranged, and I like that.

I liked the pacing of the book, it felt fast enough to keep me on my toes, but slow enough to not make the relationship between Hannah and Dante forced. This book also introduced a new character, Ruth, and her book is next. I'm curious how that will go on, and how the rest of the Indebted start fighting for their freedom. I'm not ready for the series to end, though. Is it too much to hope for a spin-off?

Comic Book Tuesday #13: Monstress #2 by Marjorie M. Liu

Author: Marjorie M. Liu
Series: Monstress #2
Genre: Comic Book, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: December 9th 2015
My Rating: 4 cups
Source: Netgaley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Maika fights to cross the wall. Elsewhere, the Warlord makes her move.

*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley and Image Comics in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or my rating of the book in any way.

This second issue of the Monstress comic book picks up right after the first one ends. We get to see the struggles of Maika to get away from the people hunting her, as well as from herself.

We also get to see a little bit more from the villain's POV, and so far I'm wondering who the biggest threat is. I haven't yet decided if Maika's more in danger because of other people or because of herself.

The art is, as in the first issue, beautiful, with dark colors, although some rich colors do appear because of some new characters.

My favorite thing about this issue was the ending, which presents a different view of the history of the world in this comic book. It's difficult to talk about it without giving too much away, but I like how it gives a sort of unbiased view of what happened before this particular story. I adore it, anyways.

I did however felt the need for the issue to be bigger, maybe not as big as the last one, but I felt like the story is so rich and complex, that I wished it lasted longer. All of that aside, a good installment and I am curious to see what happens next.

ARC August 2016: Week 2 Progress Update

Hello fellow readers! I hope your weekend went great and that it will continue to be fantastic. I decided to give you an update for my ARC August challenge. In case you don't remember, I planned on reading at least 27 books during this challenge. Here's where I stand after the first two weeks:

ARCs read that were part of my initial list:

ARCs read that weren't part of my list:

I know I said on Twitter that I was going to start with my oldest ARC on my initial list, Menagerie, and I was going to, honestly! But for some reason my heart wasn't into it, and I decided instead of DNFing, to work my way up to it. Plus, I was craving some fast paced books. Also, I recently got some other books that I need to get to, that are ARCs and that weren't part of that list. I hope to get to read them all *fingers crossed*.

So as of right now, I've read 3 books out of 27, and 1 book extra. Pretty proud of myself, considering I've had to do some work around the house and could only read at night, before bed. Hopefully soon I'll get some free time on my hands.

Did you make any progress on reading the books you wanted to during this challenge?

Book Review: Kayden/Simon by Alexandra Ivy and Laura Wright (ARC)

Author: Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright
Series: Bayou Heat #21-22
Audience: +18
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
Release Date: August 9th 2016
My Rating: 4.5 cups
Source: InkSlinger PR
Blurb (from Goodreads):

ENEMY TO LOVER

Kayden is obsessed with revenge after his parents disappeared when he was just a cub. Now the gorgeous Hunter has discovered the man responsible for betraying them - Joshua Ford - and it’s time for payback. Beginning with the kidnapping of Joshua’s daughter, Bianca. But last thing he expects is to be confronted with the horrifying realization that Bianca is his mate. Will he put revenge before his chance for eternal happiness?

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Sexy male model, Simon refuses to give up his exciting life in New York City to return to the slow heat of the Wildlands. For a decade, many pantera have tried to capture the rogue Diplomat and bring him home, but all have failed. Now it’s Tryst’s turn. The hard, brilliant, and gorgeous, Hunter is the ultimate tracker. But can the admitted beast-girl of the Wildlands capture her prey without losing her heart in the process?

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from INKSlinger PR and Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or rating of the book in any way.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. First of all, I've never before read this series (shame on me, I know), so I was a bit afraid that I'd be lost, that maybe I wouldn't understand the way the series works.

I am very happy that that was not the case. Yes, there are chunks of story that I'm missing, but I didn't feel that way while reading this book, I didn't feel like I was lost in an unknown place, which is a fantastic thing, especially for series this long.

The second thing that surprised me was the format. I felt that writing two stories into one book was a very unique idea, and also a very good one. It made the pacing be a little bit more smoother, more relaxed and yet fast paced. And because they're two stories into one, there's no need to drag the story to get to the page count that you need to get to, so the book is basically filled with scenes that need to be there, if that makes sense. Even with the two stories inside, I feel like the authors did a great job at creating the world and for making it as rich as it is.

Speaking of the two stories, I liked them. Kayden is a guy that has suffered a lot, especially since his parents disappeared when he was really young. I liked that even so, he didn't let that anger and that pain rule his judgement. I liked him, and I hope to read more about him in the next books. Bianca is a heroine that I enjoyed reading about. I liked that by the end of the story she finds courage to do certain things that I don't think in the past she would've done them.

Simon's story was my favorite one out of the two. Simon is a hero that hides stuff, and he hides them really well. I loved him, really. He's one of those characters that just need a bear hug, you know? I liked his interaction with Tryst, I liked seeing him trying to keep one step ahead of her. Tryst is a unique character. As the blurb says, she's more her animal than she is human, and I don't think I've ever read about a character like that before. It was interesting, but I would've wanted to read more on that subject. Maybe if the story was longer, we could've explored that side of Tryst more, but even so, I enjoyed reading the way she sees the world.

Like I said, I really enjoyed this book and I'll definitely be checking the other books in this series out. I may have (happily, I might add!) just found yet another paranormal series to fall in love with.

The Olympic Book Tag

This amazing book tag was created by Shannon from It Starts At Midnight and it is absolutely glorious. When I was a kid I used to watch the gymnastics events, synchronized diving, diving. I also used to watch show jumping, because the horses are gorgeous, but not so much anymore. Anyway, on with the tag.

I actually loved this book, from the very beginning. Especially since it starts with the girl hiding in a library. I'd hide there and never get out. EVER! Can you live from pizza and books?

I read The Edge Of Never about three years ago, and I remember loving it. I might do a reread soon.

Look, there's no nice or cute way for me to say it. Unless it's in erotic romance, in which case there's a threesome, I don't care for love triangles. And it's not a triangle. It's usually a character (most of the times female) that's attracted to two other characters (most of the times males) and doesn't know who to choose, because that character kind of needs to grow up and understand that there's love and then there's lust, and in no way does finding someone attractive means you're a cheater, but kissing someone else does and for the love of all the bookish gods, let's not have love triangles anymore please and thank you!

Look, Sophie Kinsella is probably one of my favorite authors ever, and she's on my Auto-buy list and probably will stay there forever. However, the Shopaholic series confuses me to no end. Because, and this is an honest question of mine, HOW MUCH TROUBLE CAN YOU GET INTO AND NOT LEARN ANYTHING FROM IT???? Becky seriously doesn't learn a goddamn thing, and it becomes frustrating. I actually put this one aside, because maybe I'll forget what the series is all about and pick this one up and like it, but honestly, I feel like 3 books about these characters are enough. Sorry, Shopaholic fans out there.

I realize now that haven't read many book set during the summer, which is very sad. I did love Nantucket Blue a lot.

Helm's Deep, people, Helm's Deep. 

Although I've stopped reading this series a while ago, I do remember one of the plot twists in this book that had me reconsidering, in a way, the books that I did read. Not a huge one, necessarily, but an important one. Maybe I'll pick the books up again sometime.

I think I've only ugly-cried during only a handful of books. One of them is this one. Because what else can you do when a character is drawing a portrait of their loved one and their child and then you get to learn the ugly truth, that I won't mention because major spoilers, but it's painful and I'm feeling like crying just thinking about it?!

Although a good book, Ironskin was too slow-paced for my taste.

Y'all were expecting me to say Harry Potter weren't you? I thought about it, and I realized that while, yes, it is a childhood favorite, it's not the book that I first fell in love with. The Hunchback is a fantastic book, and while it has some moments when I was confused, because most of the action is supposed to happen over the course of just two days, I loved it.

There are so many animals in Harry Potter that I adore. But you know what? I want to know what happened to Croockshanks. 

It's not that this book is bad, because it's not. My main issue is that I knew who the killer was before the detectives confirmed it. I felt disappointed that the author showed from the first few pages who the killer was. Sure, there's a certain twist at the end that kind of makes up for it, but barely, really.

The relationship that Wesley and Bianca have is pretty weird, and not a platonic friendship in any way, but I like it.

So I admit that I haven't read many books featuring Olympic sports. The only one that I can think of is Girl Against The Universe. I do imagine that at least one of the books from the Play by Play series by Jaci Burton features an Olympic sport, but I'm not sure.

*phew* I had fun doing this tag! Thanks Shannon for making it! Did you make the tag? If you did, let me know so I can check it out.