Category Archives: Reviews

Audiobook Review: Until the Sun Falls from the Sky by Kristen Ashley

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Until the Sun Falls from the Sky by Kristen Ashley
Series: The Three #1 (full reading order below)
Audiobook Publication Date: August 9th 2016
Length: 16 hours and 26 minutes
Narrated by: Abby Craden
Links: Audible • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review

Lucien has been living under the strict edicts of the Vampire Dominion for centuries but he’s tired of these ancient laws stripping away everything that is the essence of the vampire.

So he’s taking it back.

And this is because Lucien has been watching and waiting for decades for Leah to become available for a Selection and he will not be limited with what he can do with her. He will have her, all of her.

Therefore, Lucien is going to tame Leah, even if he gets hunted and killed for doing it.

What neither Leah nor Lucien expects is the strong bond that will form between them, connecting them on unprecedented levels for mortals or immortals. And what will grow between them means they will challenge their ways of life and their union will begin The Prophesies which makes them one of three couples who will save humanity… or die in the effort.

I am always so easily charmed by Kristen Ashley’s audiobooks, especially ones of books that I’ve already read, because she always finds the best narrators for her incredible stories. Abby Craden is a new-t0-me narrator but her narration for the heroine of Until the Sun Falls from the Sky is so on point. She was so enjoyable to listen to! If you love listening to the audio versions of books you loved, like I do, Until the Sun Falls from the Sky is one that I highly recommend. The narrator does the story complete justice. And if you’ve never experienced the fascinating paranormal world of The Three series, you definitely need to use your credit on this one!

Leah Buchanan comes from a long line of highly-esteemed vampire concubines, people who serve vampires for a period of time by providing them with blood and receive lavish compensation in return. Vampire sugar daddies, anyone? Despite how OTT this kind of thing is, I still found myself fascinated by this paranormal world and the characters, both vampire and human. At Leah’s first Selection, where vampires get to choose their concubine, she is chosen by the one and only Lucien, the most powerful of all vampires. But Leah isn’t happy about being chosen by the most highly-respected vampire of all-time – she wants nothing to do with vampires, and she won’t give in to capitulation to Lucien so easily, no matter how alluring and addicting he is.

Leah is strong, independent, and courageous – I loved how she was never afraid to stand up to Lucien, even though he could rip her in two without a thought. Lucien is… a giant jerk. At least in the beginning. He’ll stop at nothing to have Leah, completely submitted to him, and he’ll seduce her to get her to yield. He’s a little overbearing and very much a dominant alpha-male – but once you start to understand his feelings for Leah, things don’t seem as bad. He’s been waiting twenty years to have her, so his possessiveness and over-protectiveness is a little warranted. And once they’ve fully fallen for each other, your heart will definitely want to melt – these two are utterly perfect for each other!

Besides Leah and Lucien’s fascinating, addicting romance, there’s also a larger story that connects them to the future couples of The Three series. So if you’re going to get this first book, just be prepared to want to get the rest. And like I said before, Abby Craden does a wonderful job of bringing this book to life. Her dialogue of Lucien did get a little monotonous, but it was easily forgivable when everything else was narrated perfectly. I’m excited to listen to more of her in the final book of the series, because I seriously loved this audiobook!

UNTIL THE SUN FALLS FROM THE SKY is now available on Audible: http://amzn.to/2bvrAQh

5 hearts
lacey

Reading Order: The Three series

  

#1 ~ Until the Sun Falls from the Sky: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ With Everything I Am: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Wild and Free: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

Here’s an audio excerpt from Until the Sun Falls from the Sky!

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Release Day Review: Furious Rush by S.C. Stephens

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Furious Rush by S.C. Stephens
Publication Date: August 23rd 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Too fast, too furious-and way too hot to handle . . .

Mackenzie Cox has a lot to prove. Daughter of a racing legend, she is eager to show the world that she has inherited her father’s talent in the male-dominated sport of professional motorcycle racing. The last thing Kenzie needs is to be antagonized by her rival team’s newest rider, Hayden Hayes. Plucked from the world of illegal street racing, Hayden immediately gets under Kenzie’s skin. His insinuations that Kenzie is a spoiled princess who was handed her career fuels her desire to win, and much to her surprise, Kenzie soon learns she performs better when she’s racing against Hayden.

As Kenzie and Hayden push each other on the track, the electric energy between them off the track shifts into an intense–and strictly forbidden–attraction. The only rule between their two ultra-competitive teams is zero contact. Kenzie always does her best to play by the rules, but when her team slips into a financial crisis, she has no choice but to turn to Hayden for help. The tension simmers during their secret, late-night rendezvous, but Kenzie has too much to lose to give in to her desires. Especially when she begins to doubt that Hayden has completely left his street life behind…

“Race me or chase me, Kenzie.”

I love sports romances, but I don’t typically come across ones about motorcycle racing, so I was super intrigued when I read the blurb for Furious Rush (and saw that gorgeous cover!). S.C. Stephens’ books have been a hit-or-miss for me in the past, but this book was definitely somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed some parts, especially the racing, but some characters annoyed the crap out of me. I did think it was pretty cool that this book felt like Romeo and Juliet but with motorcycle racing (and no deaths). So if you’re looking for an exciting, unique sports romance with a steamy forbidden love, I’d say give this book a try – hopefully some of the things that bugged me won’t bug you too!

Mackenzie Cox is the daughter of a former racing legend, so she’s got big shoes to fill. But more than that, the fate of her father’s motorcycle racing company rests in her hands, because it’s in dire need of some money. If she can win her races, she’ll be able to keep the company afloat. She’s focused and her head is in the game… that is, until Hayden Hayes enters the equation and makes her lose her strict control.

“Racing gives me a high… but you make me feel alive.”

A former illegal street racer, Hayden’s just signed on to race for Kenzie’s opposing team, a team that she’s forbidden to fraternize with. But what happens when Hayden becomes the only one who’s able to push her harder than ever before and make her a better racer? As they secretly meet up on the track, the chemistry between them kicks up – but then feelings get involved, and soon enough, they’re falling head over heels for each other. But what happens when their secret is found out?

I loved the idea of Hayden and Kenzie being on opposing sides, of being ‘enemies’ in motorcycle racing and then falling for one another. Hayden is a huge jerk in the beginning – he’s totally sexist and a horndog – but he grew considerably better as the book went on. I loved that he didn’t even try to fight falling for Kenzie – he wanted to be with her and that was that. I was surprised by how freaking sweet he turned out to be and how devoted he was to Kenzie!

Kenzie, on the other hand, put up one hell of a fight, so much so that it grew tedious at times. But I didn’t hate her, and my main problem with Furious Rush were the secondary characters. Sometimes secondary characters can make or break a novel for me, and the ones in this book very nearly made me want to DNF. Kenzie has the worst friends ever – they make so many idiotic, rash decisions that I wanted to choke them. Her father is even worse, but since he’s supposed to be somewhat of an antagonistic characters, I won’t get too mad about that.

Kenzie and Hayden’s romance and their thrilling races were the highlights of the novel for me. It was almost exhilarating reading about them racing each other, because they give their all for every race. I really enjoyed the way their romance developed but I can’t say I’m excited for their sequel. The ending left me with a bad feeling… but I’m probably going to read the next book just to see how it’ll turn out. I’m really hoping the series only gets better!

3 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

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ARC Review: Ravage by Tillie Cole

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Ravage by Tillie Cole
Series: Scarred Souls #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: August 16th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Is finding one’s true love worth committing the greatest sacrifice of all?

Taken as a teen, prisoner 194 was stripped of his name and freewill, meticulously honed to be a ruthless machine. Even as he tries to fight his captors hold on him he knows that obedience is the only way to save his sister, who is the one person that keeps him from turning into a monster.

As a young girl Zoya Kostava barely escaped the brutal attack that killed her entire family. Now twenty five she lives in secrecy. That is until she hears her brother also survived and is living with their greatest enemy.

Zoya risks her safety and anonymity to find the brother she thought dead and is captured by a beautiful, brutal man. A man who both captivates and scares her, in him she sees a soul as lost as her own.

They both have so much to lose will they be able to save each other…and survive.

I LOVED the first two books in the Scarred Souls series, so I’m a bit bummed out that I didn’t quite love this third book as much. I enjoyed some parts, but as a whole it just didn’t live up to the previous books – I never really connected with the characters or romance, which was a shame because I was so excited about the main characters. Still, if you’ve been a fan of Tillie Cole’s dark romances like I have, Ravage is just as gritty, intense, and thrilling as you’d expect. The romance just wasn’t believable enough for me to truly love this book like I’d hoped to.

I was insanely excited when I heard Ravage would be about Zoya Kostava. Tillie Cole knows how to entice her readers, because that snippet at the end of book two had me salivating for more. Zoya’s family was murdered when she was a young girl, and she was assumed to be the only survivor until she finds out that one of her brothers is alive. But on her quest to reunite with Zaal, she becomes a pawn to a game bigger than she realizes, one with a target right on her brother. She is kidnapped by a ruthless killer… who turns out to be so much more than he seems.

“We are different. Me weak and you strong. Me a Georgian and you Russian, but our broken hearts are tired and old. Our spirits are low, though not broken. But our souls, though thoroughly tested and hardened through pain, are resilient.” Her lips twitched, and she added, “They are the same.”

Abducted and sold into underground slavery, Valentin and his younger sister were forced into horrifying conditions no child or person should ever go through. Valentin was pumped with drugs to become a mindless killer while his sister was forced into sexual slavery. But as mindless as Valentin became, he never forgot about his sister and only allowed the things to be done to him in order to keep her alive. His latest task given by his “Mistress” is to kill a man named Zaal, and his way in is through Zoya. But even as his captive and being psychologically tortured day after day, Zoya never gives up information on her brother, and her resilience astounds Valentin.

I had survived the massacre that took my family, but lying here, I realized that the years spent away in hiding I was simply existing.
And it took a monster to revive my heart. It took a killer to touch my soul.

I loved Ravage… up until the romance started to kick in. The main reason I wasn’t into the romance was because of how unbelievable it was. I never understood how or why Zoya and Valentin started to fall for each other. Their feelings developed too much too fast, especially after what Valentin makes Zoya go through. I started liking the romance better once Valentin became fully invest in Zoya, but I still couldn’t fully connect.

If you love the Scarred Souls series, chances are you’ll probably enjoy Ravage too. It’s another fast-paced, crazy intense, action-packed installment, just a little weak on the romance side. I’m still incredibly excited for more of the series – Valentin’s sister is the heroine of the next book, and I seriously can’t wait to read it!

3 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Scarred Souls series

Raze by Tillie Cole Reap by Tillie Cole
  

#1 ~ Raze: My Review • Ebook • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Reap: My Review • Ebook • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Ravage: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Riot: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1-2 ~ Scarred Souls: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

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Release Day Review: Sugar Rush by Sawyer Bennett

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Sugar Rush by Sawyer Bennett

Sugar Rush by Sawyer Bennett
Series: Sugar Bowl #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: August 16th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

In the steamy and suspenseful sequel to Sugar Daddy (“A totally gripping take on romance and revenge!”—Lauren Blakely), a heartbreaking rift threatens to unravel a dangerous alliance . . . and a fragile new love.

After posing as an escort for the Sugar Bowl online dating service, Sela Halstead is looking for one thing: payback. She’s closing in on the site’s heartless founder, Jonathon Townsend, and she needs Beckett North, Townsend’s business partner and her lover, by her side. She’d thought that their intimate nights together had forged an unbreakable bond, but after a shocking betrayal, Sela begins to doubt the brilliant bad boy. When push comes to shove, can she trust Beck to do the right thing?

Now that he understands the truth, Beck will stop at nothing to secure the reckoning Sela deserves. But between his desire for her and his disgust for JT, Beck doesn’t exactly have a lot of control over his emotional state. Left with no other choice, he must summon all his discipline to maintain JT’s trust and pretend that they’re still friends. But how far will Beck go to prove his loyalty to Sela? He nearly lost her once. To keep her, Beck might have to kill for her.

Note: Sugar Rush ends on a cliffhanger. Sela and Beck’s story concludes in Sugar Free!

Sugar Rush is a fantastic follow-up to Sugar Daddy! To say I had high expectations would be an understatement – the cliffhanger ending in Sugar Daddy nearly killed me, so Sugar Rush became one of my top anticipated reads, and thankfully Sawyer Bennett didn’t disappoint. I’m so happy with the way things were handled in this book. If you enjoyed the first Sugar Bowl book, make sure to get your hands on this sequel – you need to continue on with Sela and Beck’s story!

I’m not going to spoil anything from the first book in case you haven’t read it yet, but at the end of Sugar Daddy, Beck knows he’s effed up. He’s got a ton to make up for – and while I would’ve loved a little more groveling than we got, I liked the way the author resolved this conflict. It’s not gratuitously dramatic and it’s handled with maturity and of course, love.

“I intend to spoil you, Sela,” he murmurs. “I want to give you the world.”

Sela continues to want revenge against the man who raped her, but her love for Beck is making her reconsider her plans by leaving her past in the past and moving on with the man of her dreams. JT is as vile and disgusting as ever though – Sawyer Bennett has really written a great antagonist in him.

The pacing is pretty slow, but I was still hooked on the pages and dying to see what would happen at the end. And of course, there’s another cliffhanger that has you salivating for the third and final book (which I’ve actually already read… 😉 ) I have to admit, I liked this sequel even more than I did the first – Sugar Rush is an intense, emotional, and suspenseful follow-up to Sela and Beck’s addicting story. If you love Sawyer Bennett, this is definitely a series you need to try out!

4 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Sugar Bowl series

Sugar Daddy by Sawyer Bennett Sugar Rush by Sawyer Bennett 

#1 ~ Sugar Daddy: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Sugar Rush: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Sugar Free: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (Oct. 11, 2016)

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Audiobook Review: Some Kind of Perfect by Krista & Becca Ritchie

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Some Kind of Perfect by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Some Kind of Perfect by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Series: Addicted #3.5, Calloway Sisters #4.5 (full reading order below)
Audiobook Publication Date: August 2nd 2016
Length: 23 hours and 36 minutes
Narrated by: Mark Boyett, Therese Plummer, Stephen Dexter, Maxine Mitchell, Gregory Salinas & Jessica Almasy
Links: Audible • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review

Falling in love was just the beginning

The conclusion to the epic ten-book series about the unbreakable strength of family, friendship, and love.

Lily & Lo are back one final time. Childhood best friends and soul mates.

Ryke & Daisy are back one final time. Wild risk-takers and flirty adventurers.

Connor & Rose are back one final time. Genius rivals and intellectual teammates.

Ten years of laughter. Of heartache. And love.

This series… I honestly can’t believe it’s over! I’ve been putting off reading/listening Some Kind of Perfect because I really, really didn’t want to let go of these beloved characters, but now I’m so happy I finally got to experience this final Addicted/Calloway sisters book. SKoP is a full-length epilogue novel to the series, so it must be read after you’ve read the entire series. And yes, the series is pretty long which can seem daunting, but I promise, once you get into it, you won’t want to let go of these characters either. And if you have been keeping up with the series, you HAVE to experience Lily, Loren, Rose, Connor, Daisy, and Ryke one last time!

I don’t really want to spoil anything about this book or what goes on in it, but honestly, if you love the Addicted characters, you will only fall head over heels in love with them all over again in SKoP. We get all six characters’ POVs, and they are just as true to themselves as they have been throughout the series. I think that might be my favorite part of Krista and Becca Ritchie’s incredible development of their characters – that no matter what life throws at them, no matter what they go through, whether it’s scandal or even parenting, they are still the same characters we know and love… only better.

Listening to SKoP was an incredible experience, and I know I’ll definitely go back and listen to it again (probably after I listen to the entire series… again). I loved all six narrators, especially since Rose, Connor, Daisy, and Ryke’s were all the same ones from past audiobooks. Maxine Mitchell and Gregory Salinas were great as Lily and Lo, but I have to admit I do miss Erin Mallon and Charles Carr’s narrations. I’m not sure why LiLo’s narrators changed, but I’m still happy with their new voices!

This is one of the few series where I have read all the books AND listened to them in audio. The Addicted series is seriously one of my all-time favorite series in the whole world, and it’s for sure my number one New Adult series to date. I’m not sure anything could live up to the fantastic writing, the brilliant character development, and the unforgettable characters this series has. But I’m seriously looking forward to more from K&B, especially the spinoff series, Like Us!

SOME KIND OF PERFECT is now available on Audible: http://amzn.to/2btff2S

5 hearts
lacey

Reading Order: Addicted/Calloway Sisters series

Addicted to You by Krista & Becca Ritchie Ricochet by Krista & Becca Ritchie Addicted for Now by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Kiss the Sky by Krista & Becca Ritchie Hothouse Flower by Krista & Becca Ritchie Thrive by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Addicted After All by Krista & Becca Ritchie Fuel the Fire by Krista & Becca Ritchie Long Way Down by Krista & Becca Ritchie Some Kind of Perfect by Krista & Becca Ritchie

#1 ~ Addicted to You: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1.5 ~ Ricochet: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Addicted for Now: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2.1 (Calloway Sisters #1) ~ Kiss the Sky: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2.2 (Calloway Sisters #2) ~ Hothouse Flower: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2.5 ~ Thrive: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Addicted After All: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.1 (Calloway Sisters #3) ~ Fuel the Fire: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.2 (Calloway Sisters #4) ~ Long Way Down: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.5 (Calloway Sisters #4.5) ~ Some Kind of Perfect: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

Here’s an audio excerpt from Some Kind of Perfect!

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