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.