Review: Crush by Nicole Williams

Posted in 5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Crush by Nicole Williams
Series: Crash #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: April 23rd 2013
Purchase: Ebook • Paperback

Football glory. A giant diamond. A wandering eye.

Jude and Lucy are happily engaged . . . but that doesn’t mean life’s a bed of roses.

Once again, Jude and Lucy are torn apart by football training and a summer job that creates new tensions. This time Jude’s the one with trust issues. Will Lucy’s life-changing news bring them back together or end their relationship for good? Can love triumph forever?

God, Nicole Williams. I love you so much. Not only for writing one of my favorite series ever, but for giving me Jude Ryder. I seriously love that boy so, so much. I keep falling in love with him again and again each time I read a book in this series. And alas, Crush is the third and final book in this incredible series featuring Luce and Jude and their sweet, heartwarming romance.

I don’t really like how Goodreads gives the summary for Crush, so here’s my take: Luce and Jude still have problems in their relationship, but hey, not every relationship is perfect, right? Jude is on his way to becoming an all-star football player, and the money he’s making is getting to his head. Luce wants everything to stay the same because she’s happy with their relationship, so she’s getting pretty worried with how money will affect Jude and their relationship.

AH! Nicole Williams does an incredible job bringing the Crash series to its conclusion. Though Crush isn’t my favorite book in this series (Clash is), I still loved it. It was so nice to see how Luce and Jude deal with life in college, and how they decide on what they want in the future. I love that they’re taking their relationship seriously, questioning how they can make their relationship work and last forever. Because Luce and Jude are definitely a forever thing. They’re one of my absolute favorite couples ever, because their relationship is just so sweet, loving, passionate, and just down-to-earth and genuine. Throughout the entire series, I was just waiting for Luce and Jude to finally have the happily-ever-after they’ve been waiting for since they first met in high school, and Crush did not disappoint me. I was smiling so hard in the end, because Crush ends beautifully, leaving no doubt that the happy couple finally got their HEA.

I don’t really have much more to say, other than repeating myself over and over again how amazing this series is. I am now a huge fan of Nicole Williams and am willing to read anything she writes. I highly recommend the Crash series. It’s sweet, it’s fun, it’s romantic, and it’s got the best couple ever! The Crash series is for sure a favorite of mine, so go and get started if you haven’t already!

Since I’ve ended my reviews for both Crash and Clash with quotes from ~~my darling~~ Jude, here is one final quote showing just how incredibly sweet and absolutely swoon-worthy he is:

“That it doesn’t matter why I ran,” he said, staring at me without blinking, “because I came back. I’ll always come back, Luce. No matter how many rip-roaring fights we have and no matter how many miscommunications we have. I’ll always come back because you’re where I belong.”

5 hearts!

Reading Order: Crash series

#1 ~ Crash: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Clash: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Crush: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

25Jun2013

Top Ten Tuesday {5}: Books I’ve Read So Far In 2013

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lacey

It’s Top Ten Tuesday again, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! This week’s theme is…

Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far In 2013

So I’m looking through my Goodreads to see what books I should put on my TTT, because I seriously cannot remember what books I’ve read earlier this year. And ahhhh there’s soo many that I can put on my list, so many incredibly amazing books that I’ve read so far this year. This makes me so utterly happy. Here are my top ten (in no particular order). You can click on the covers to read each book’s summary!

1. The Crash series by Nicole Williams has recently become one of my absolute favorite series ever. Seriously, I don’t know why I never read it sooner. It has the perfect romance (okay, it’s not exactly perfect, but I still love it) with a bad boy who is so freaking hot. Jude Ryder is just… *swoon* I HIGHLY recommend this series to romance lovers. It will make you laugh, cry, and fall in love with ~~Jude~~ all the characters.

2. So apparently, Unspoken was the very first book I read in 2013. Woohoo, starting off the year with a bang, because Unspoken is one of my favorite books ever! It made me laugh SO HARD I was nearly in tears, but the ending just gutted my heart. WHY DID YOU DO THIS SARAH REES BRENNAN???? Why do we have to wait until AUGUST to read the next book? The wait is torture! I MUST HAVE MORE JARED.

3. Sins & Needles was completely mindblowing. After I finished it, I couldn’t get the story (and ending!!!) out of my mind! It’s such a refreshing and unique story about a con artist, and the whole book was so intense. The plot is insane, but in a good way! I have no idea how the author came up with it, but I’m so glad she did. And, ahem, I may have a thing for hot tattooed men, sooo….

4. I’ve got two words for you: Will. Cooper. Colleen Hoover is a god (or should I say goddess?). Her books have all become absolute favorites. This Girl was the perfect conclusion to the Slammed series. I could not have imagined a better ending for Lake, Will, and their families. If you haven’t read Slammed yet, you definitely should! It’s so heartfelt, sweet, and there’s Will Cooper, who is one of the most swoon-worthy boys I’ve ever read.

5. Eleanor & Park is the most perfect romance book I’ve ever read. I am just in awe of it and Rainbow Rowell for creating a book with the sweetest, most adorable romance ever that captured my heart. It makes me wish I could find something that Eleanor and Park have. Eleanor and Park couldn’t be more different, but somehow, they just worked. Their story is perfection. End of.

6. I sobbed my eyes out at the end of Clockwork Princess. I was crying and sobbing by BUTT OFF, not only because it was so amazing and beautiful and sad and heartbreaking, but also because Clockwork Princess is the last book in this trilogy. And I honestly can’t think of a series right now where I felt so sad reading the last book because it was the end. Cassandra Clare did an incredible job bringing this series to its conclusion.

7. With All My Soul is also another final book in a series. It’s an amazing end to an amazing series. And do you know how much I love Tod? Because I love him so so much. He’s my favorite forever-19-years-old, blond, blue-eyed reaper cutie. Okay, he’s the only one I’ve read, but still. This book was intense. The entire time, I had no idea what would happen, or if there would be a happy ending, but thank goodness, Rachel Vincent doesn’t disappoint!

8. Warner. Warner Warner Warner. WarnerWarnerWarnerWarnerWarnerWarnerWarnerWarner. Oh, sorry. I just had to get that out there. Um, I might have a slight obsession with a guy named Warner, from Unravel Me. He’s just so… beautiful. Incredible. Breathtaking. I was absolutely Team Adam from Shatter Me (book #1), but then… Unravel Me happened. And I did a complete 180 and fell in love with Warner. And his dimples. *faints* ~~God Juliette, I am so freaking jealous of you and chapter 62.~~

9. If you didn’t already know from our review, Shirley, Cathy, and I LOVED Prodigy. It was action-packed and crazy intense. June and Day are total badasses, and I loved them so much more than I already did in Legend. Prodigy is an amazing sequel to Legend, and I’m just dying to read the third book now, because Prodigy’s ending broke my heart.

10. So I recently read and reviewed Dare You To, and oh gosh, it was so good. It’s the second book in the AMAZING Pushing the Limits series, and I just fell in love with it. And Ryan! *Sigh* He’s just the sweetest boy ever. The ever-amazing Katie McGarry is a favorite author, and I’m so going to read anything she writes. SO excited for Crash Into You!

So what are your favorite books so far this year?

18Jun2013

Top Ten Tuesday {4}: Books At The Top Of My Summer TBR List

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lacey

Yay! It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is about…

Top Ten Books At The Top Of My Summer TBR List

Click the covers to go read the blurbs!

Lacey’s Choices:

Shirley’s Choices:

17Jun2013

Spotlight: Frigid by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Posted in Spotlight by Lacey

Frigid by J. Lynn
Series: Frigid #1
Publication Date: July 15th 2013

For twenty-one-year-old Sydney, being in love with Kyler isn’t anything new. They’d been best friends ever since he pushed her down on the playground and she made him eat a mud pie. Somewhere over the years, she fell for him and fell hard. The big problem with that? Kyler puts the ‘man’ in man-whore. He’s never stayed with a girl longer than a few nights, and with it being their last year in college, Syd doesn’t want to risk their friendship by declaring her love.

Kyler has always put Syd on a pedestal that was too high for him to reach. To him, she’s perfect and she’s everything. But the feelings he has for her, he’s always hidden away or focused on any other female. After all, Kyler will always be the poor boy from the wrong side of tracks, and Syd will always be the one girl he can never have.

But when they’re stranded together at a posh ski resort due to a massive Nor’easter, there’s nothing stopping their red-hot feelings for each other from coming to the surface. Can their friendship survive the attraction? Better yet, can they survive at all? Because as the snow falls, someone is stalking them, and this ski trip may be a life-changer in more ways than one.

Today is an exciting day – we have FOUR HUGE SURPRISES for you! Jennifer L. Armentrout’s (writing as J. Lynn) FRIGID is set to release on e-book at the end of July. If you’re anything like us, you’re probably on pins and needles and just cannot wait to get your hands on a copy of this book.

FRIGID has already been given the honor of being named a Romantic Times Top Pick and we’re super excited for you to be able to read it as well!

Well, there’s good news! Are you ready for those four awesome surprises? Here we go!

1. Due to all the excitement surrounding FRIGID, we have decided to run a special e-book pre-order promotion. We have worked out a deal with the distributor to release FRIGID a full two weeks early — on JULY 15th!!! — if we meet our e-book pre-order goal. EEEEP! That’s right, if you are like the rest of us and want to be able to read FRIGID in its entirety before its original release date, all you have to do is PRE-ORDER THE E-BOOK NOW! What are you waiting for? GO! Pre-order it!

Pre-Order Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

2. Need something to hold you over until FRIGID releases? Well, starting right now, you can read the first three chapters of FRIGID for free! Just read below!

Frigid Sneak Peek

LINK

3. Can’t get enough of the hot FRIGID cover? Want to see some behind the scenes photos that are sure to make you swoon? You’re in luck! Below you can watch a slideshow of all the behind the scenes photos from the photo shoot! Go on and watch it. We’ll wait, because there is still one more great surprise!

LINK

4. And last but not least, if you live near Philadelphia, PA, you’re in for a very special treat — Jennifer will be in Philly in November signing not only FRIGID but also the last book in her immensely popular COVENANT series, SENTINEL! But that’s not all, Adam, the super hot cover model from FRIGID will be there as well! So, yes, you’ll get to meet Jennifer and Adam! Plus, there will be other great prizes that you seriously won’t want to miss out on (dinner with the author and model, perhaps?)! Stay tuned for more details to come!

We hope you’re as excited as we are! So now….Go pre-order FRIGID! Go read those chapters! Go watch that slideshow! And Enjoy!

16Jun2013

Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Posted in 5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Dare You To by Katie McGarry
Series: Pushing the Limits #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: May 28th 2013
Purchase: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. “Dance with me, Beth.”

“No.” I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again….

“I dare you…”

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk’s home life, they’d send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom’s freedom and her own happiness. That’s how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn’t want her and going to a school that doesn’t understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn’t get her, but does….

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can’t tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn’t be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won’t let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all….

God, Katie McGarry. You are ruining my life. Not only did Dare You To cause me to not pay attention in class (because I just HAD to read during class. There was no way I was waiting til I got home to read), but also… my standards in guys are getting way. too. high. KATIE MCGARRY YOU ARE RUINING MY LIFE AND I LOVE YOU FOR IT.

In case you didn’t already know this, I loved Pushing the Limits. Like, loved loved loved it. It’s one of my favorite books of all time, and one of the few books that have made my cry a huge, sobbing mess. I rarely ever cry for books (I get teary-eyed more often than crying), but Pushing the Limits was just… incredible. Heart-wrenching. Absolutely fantastic. So if you haven’t read it, you should definitely check it out. But Dare You To is quite different than Pushing the Limits. It has a whole different feel to it that is still simply amazing. We have already been introduced to Beth in Pushing the Limits, and her story is with Ryan. I was pretty surprised when I found out that Beth wouldn’t end up with Isaiah (whose book I am SO EXCITED to read!!!). But of course Katie McGarry would find a way to make everything work out in the end. And it did!

Beth, at the start, is basically… a bitch. She’s very mean and pissy to everyone, including her uncle, Scott, and Ryan. But the thing is, I still liked her character. Yes, she gets very frustrating because of her hesitance and reluctance to have a relationship with Ryan, but I never hated or disliked her for her bitchy behavior. And honestly, her attitude is pretty reasonable, considering her mother is a drunk, a drug abuser, in love with her abusive boyfriend, and doesn’t give a crap about Beth. Beth’s deadbeat father left when she was young. She had no adult to take responsibility for herself and had to grow up on her own. So she’s definitely a tough girl. What I loved and was sad to see go away is Beth’s friendship with Noah and Isaiah. Once she moves in with her Uncle Scott, he wants her to cut all ties to her old life, including Noah and Isaiah. She meets up with them once or twice (and we get to see Echo!!!), but overall, she knows that she’s done with her old life. She’ll never have any best friends as awesome as Noah and Isaiah, but she can’t keep living in the past anymore. She has to move on, and Ryan is a huge part of that process.

Ryan Stone. *swoon* Ryan is probably one of the sweetest, most incredible boys I’ve ever read. He’s not a bad boy. He’s a good guy through and through. I never expected to like reading about a jock, and a baseball player at that, but Ryan is just… amazing. I fell completely in love with him and his heartwarming gestures. Katie McGarry is able to write him in such a way that he has depth, that shows us how much he loves baseball, and that he’s so much more than a jock. And he loves to write too! Rarely do I ever read about a guy who loves to write and can write well, so it was a nice and refreshing change, one that made Ryan all the more endearing.

And that bottle of rain. So. Damn. Sweet. My heart was going wonky for him during that scene.

One thing I love is that Beth is very straightforward. From Pushing the Limits, we know that Isaiah is in love with Beth, but we’re not sure if she feels the same way. In Dare You To, once she meets Ryan and finds a connection with him, she knows that she’ll never return Isaiah’s feelings, because she loves Ryan. And I was so glad that she got that. She shot Isaiah straight down, didn’t allow him to be strung along on a love that would never work. I really liked that about Beth, admired and respected her for it.

I loved seeing both Beth and Ryan grow and mature throughout the book. And the ending was so intense! So did not expect that. Basically, I loved everything about Dare You To, and am so so so excited for the 3rd book in the series to come out! I am 1000% sure that Isaiah’s story will be perfection.

Reading Order: Pushing the Limits series

#1 ~ Pushing the Limits: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#1.1 ~ Crossing the Line: Ebook • Goodreads
#1.5 ~ Breaking the Rules: My Review • Ebook • Goodreads
#2 ~ Dare You To: Shirley’s Review • Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Crash into You: My Review • Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads
#4 ~ Take Me On: Ebook • Hardcover • Goodreads

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