Review: One with You by Sylvia Day

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

One with You by Sylvia Day
Series: Crossfire #5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: April 5th 2016
Links: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

Gideon Cross. Falling in love with him was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. It happened instantly. Completely. Irrevocably.

Marrying him was a dream come true. Staying married to him is the fight of my life. Love transforms. Ours is both a refuge from the storm and the most violent of tempests. Two damaged souls entwined as one.

We have bared our deepest, ugliest secrets to one another. Gideon is the mirror that reflects all my flaws … and all the beauty I couldn’t see. He has given me everything. Now, I must prove I can be the rock, the shelter for him that he is for me. Together, we could stand against those who work so viciously to come between us.

But our greatest battle may lie within the very vows that give us strength. Committing to love was only the beginning. Fighting for it will either set us free … or break us apart.

Heartbreakingly and seductively poignant, One with You is the breathlessly awaited finale to the Crossfire saga, the searing love story that has captivated millions of readers worldwide.

It’s been a long time coming, but One with You is finally here – and what a wonderful conclusion to the Crossfire series it is!! Eva and Gideon have grown so much, have put so much effort into their relationship, and you can clearly see the culmination of it all in this final novel. I really can’t believe this series is over! It’s one of my top favorite series of all time, and Gideon is one of my top book boyfriends – I’m going to miss everything about the series so much!

I’d built my empire with the past in mind. Now, thanks to her, I would continue to build it for our future.

Eva and Gideon are slowly coming public with their marriage, and the fact that these two are so much more stable and mature than they were when they first met makes everything so much easier. They have a lot of pressure on them from the paparazzi, from their parents, from their jobs, but as long as they have each other, they can handle anything and everything. I absolutely adored how much character growth and development these two have shown throughout the series, how they worked so hard to overcome their struggles together to make their marriage work. Theirs is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love, a soul-deep connection that people only dream of, and the romance in One with You is just as powerful and intense as it was in Bared to You, if not more.

Happiness came in so many forms. Mine was Gideon.
“Miss me,” he ordered.
I blew him a kiss. “Always.”

Gideon is as perfect and sexy as ever. Eva is as awesome and fiery as ever. I love these two so, so much! There’s a lot going on in terms of the plot of this book, but any time it was just Eva and Gideon, I had hearts in my eyes. They can be so flirty and fun yet raw and passionate – Sylvia Day writes these two characters in such a way that they feel so real and genuine. They never once lose that spark that makes their characters shine.

Marriage suddenly didn’t seem like enough to safeguard what she meant to me. Why wasn’t there something more binding than a mere piece of paper that gave me the right to call her my wife? Vows were a promise, but what I needed was a guarantee that every day of my life would have her in it. I wanted my heart to beat in rhythm with hers and stop when hers did. Inextricably entwined, so I would never live even a moment without her.

I loved the way things ended for Gideon and Eva. Do we get the answers to every single question we have about the rest of the characters? No… but I honestly felt pretty okay with that. Yes, I would’ve loved getting Cary’s full story, or even Eva’s father’s story – but I feel like if everything wrapped up picture perfect, it wouldn’t have felt genuine. The Crossfire series is very much about Gideon and Eva, and I can’t complain about how their story ends. It took skill to write such a satisfying conclusion for such a sweeping, all-encompassing romance as Gideva’s, and of course Sylvia Day didn’t disappoint!

Reading Order: Crossfire series

#1 ~ Bared to You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Reflected in You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Entwined with You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Captivated by You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5 ~ One with You: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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5Apr2016

ARC Review: Paper Princess by Erin Watt

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Paper Princess by Erin Watt
Series: The Royals #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: April 4th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

From strip clubs and truck stops to southern coast mansions and prep schools, one girl tries to stay true to herself.

These Royals will ruin you…

Ella Harper is a survivor—a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone.

Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from.

Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals.

He might be right.

Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees.

“You may have lost your family, but you’re not alone anymore, Ella. You’re a Royal now.”

OH. MY. GOD!!! I’ve found my newest obsession and it is the Royal family!

WOW. This book kind of stunned me, in the best way possible. I’d been dying to read Paper Princess when I found out who the two authors were behind the Erin Watt pseudonym (Elle Kennedy and Jen Frederick) and since I LOVE EK and JF’s books are also great, I had pretty high expectations. I admit was a little wary about this being labeled YA, but after reading it, I definitely consider it more NA than YA, even though the characters are still in high school. It’s not crazy sexy, though there is a ton of sexual tension, which is just as good – so if you’re worried about this being a tame read, rest assured, it isn’t!

After the death of her mother, Ella Harper finds herself in not the most ideal circumstances, but she’s a survivor, and she’ll do whatever it takes to keep on going to the next day. But when the best friend of her father, who she’s never met, comes and plucks her off the streets and into his home, her life is forever changed. Because Callum Royal and his Royal sons are practically from another planet – they’re rich, entitled, spoiled, and nothing like her. The Royal boys are hell-bent on making life miserable for Ella, but she’s no meek, shy girl. She stands on her own two feet, never backing down, and always surviving, knowing that every day that passes gets her closer to turning eighteen and getting away from this new life.

This will never be my home. I don’t belong in splendor, I belong in squalor. That’s what I know. It’s what I’m comfortable with, because squalor doesn’t lie to you. It’s not wrapped in a pretty package. It is what it is.
This house is an illusion. It’s polished and pretty, but the dream Callum is trying to sell is as flimsy as paper. Nothing stays shiny forever in this world.

Reed, the second oldest Royal son, is leader of their group now that Gideon, the eldest, has left the nest for college. Reed doesn’t make it easy for Ella to get accepted in their house, their school, their lives… despite the insane amount of chemistry going on between them. Theirs is the perfect enemies-to-lovers romance, and I was glued to the pages thanks to the fantastically written tension and banter. I LOVED Ella – she’s a tough heroine with a big heart and a spine of steel, and I admired her so hard. Reed is sexy as hell… though at this point I’m not quite sure I love him just yet. He has so much potential to become even better, and I can’t wait to fall head over heels in love with him in the next Royals books.

I loved the Royals boys as a whole, though. Reed, Gideon, Easton, Sebastian, and Sawyer. I’m intrigued by every single one of these boys – each of them is so different and unique from the other. Their characters came to life in this book, and I’m dying to find out more about them.

Paper Princess was the addictive kind of book that I couldn’t. put. down. I finished this at 2AM – I loved it!! It messed with my head in the best of ways, and it’s a perfect enemies-to-lovers read. Fair warning though, the ending will make you want to SCREAM. Thankfully the sequels are only a few months apart, so it won’t be too awful of a wait for Broken Prince and Twisted Palace!

“You belong with us. You’re the best thing that ever happened to this family.”

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

Reading Order: The Royals series

#1 ~ Paper Princess: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Broken Prince: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Twisted Palace: Paperback • Goodreads (Oct. 17, 2016)

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7Mar2016

Early Review + Excerpt: Us by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Us by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy
Series: Him #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: March 8th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the authors in exchange for an honest review

Can your favorite hockey players finish their first season together undefeated?

Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He’s living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves–Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There’s just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice.

Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It’s not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn’t help that his new job isn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves.

Or can they? When Wes’s nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly?

Warning: contains sexual situations, a vibrating chair, long-distance sexytimes, and proof that hockey players look hot in any shade of green.

Jamie and Wes are back and better than ever!!

Love is friendship set on fire.

Us was a highly anticipated sequel to a book I adored last year, and if you can believe it, I loved Us even more than Him! Going into this, I had no idea what direction Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy would take Wes and Jamie’s story, but I had faith in these two authors, and they didn’t disappoint. Us is another sexy, hilarious, heartfelt read, but what’s different about it from its prequel is that it felt a lot more meaningful to me. Parts of Us made me freaking tear up, and I almost never cry for books! If you loved Him, you will no doubt love Us, so make sure to get your hands on it as soon as you can!

I fucking long for the day when I can proudly introduce Jamie Canning as my boyfriend. When I can talk to my teammates about my personal life and tell them about Jamie’s amazing family, or invite them over for drinks without having to see Jamie duck into the guest room when he has to go to bed. Because he’s not a guest in our condo, dammit. It’s his home. And he’s my home.

Ryan Wesley is living his dream – playing professional hockey and living together with his best friend and love Jamie Canning in Canada. Except… he can’t live his dream out in the open because he’s keeping the fact that he’s gay and has a boyfriend a secret from the hockey league. Jamie goes along with it, because he doesn’t want to be the reason Wes’s rookie season doesn’t go well – until things start spiraling out of their control. Nosy people start invading their lives, their relationship becomes strained from the time apart when Wes is away at games, Wes and Jamie are put on the spotlight… and life just gets too hard.

But I chose happiness over other people’s skewed opinions and cruel judgments. I chose Wes.
But now I have to hide that choice. I have to pretend that Ryan Wesley isn’t my soulmate.

This book was everything. I seriously loved it, even when I hated the fact that these two wonderful, sweet, sexy, adorable men had to hide their love for one another. Their relationship gets rocky and strained in a way I didn’t expect, and everything feels raw and real, but I honestly couldn’t put this book down. My heart hurt for Jamie and Wes, for the loneliness and depression they face, but these two are the type of characters who will put a smile on your face even when everything seems down. The bond and love they share is beautiful, and I have to say, I love these two even more now after the trials and challenges they had to overcome to make their relationship work.

I loved being back with Wes and Jamie. And I loved the new secondary characters who are introduced. Blake is a hilarious, crazy teammate of Wes’s, and I can’t help but hope he’ll have a book of his own (with a certain someone). I really loved Us even more than Him, because this sequel made me FEEL so much more. I’m so happy that Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy decided to write more Jamie and Wes, and I’m praying that they’ll collaborate on more books!

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

Now here’s an excerpt from Us! ❤

At long last, I’m twenty paces away, then ten. Then I’m opening our door. “Hey babe!” I call out like I always do. “I made it.” I drag my duffel over the threshold, then toss my suit coat on top, abandoning these things beside the door, because all I need now is a kiss.

Only then do I notice that our apartment smells amazing. Jamie has cooked dinner for me. Again. He is the perfect man, I swear to God.

“Hey!” he calls, emerging from the hallway leading to our bedroom. He’s wearing jeans and nothing else except—and this is unusual—a beard. “Do I know you?” He gives me a sexy smile.

“I was going to ask the same thing.” I’m staring at the sandy-blond beard. Jamie has always been clean-shaven. I mean—we’ve known each other since before facial hair. He looks different. Older, maybe.

And hot as blazes. Seriously, I can’t wait to feel that beard against my face, and maybe my balls… Jesus. The blood is already rushing south, and I’ve been home fifteen seconds.

And yet I’m just stuck there in the middle of the room for a moment, because even though it’s been eight months since Jamie and I started up together, I’m still a little stunned at my own good fortune. “Hi,” I say again, stupidly.

He walks forward, his easy gait so familiar that my heart breaks a little bit. He puts his hands on my traps and squeezes the muscle there. “Don’t go away for so long. If you do that again, I’m going to have to sneak into your hotel room on the road.”

“Promise?” I ask, and it comes out like gravel. He’s close enough now that I can smell the ocean scent of his shampoo and the beer he drank while he waited for me.

“If I ever get a winning lottery ticket and a day off, I’ll do it,” he says. “Hotel sex after a game? Sounds hot.”

Now I’m measuring the distance to our sofa and counting the layers of clothes I’ll need to remove in the next ninety seconds.

Reading Order: Him series

#1 ~ Him: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Us: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

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25Jan2016

Release Day Review: Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros
Series: Flight & Glory #4 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: January 25th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

There are some debts you can’t repay…

Josh Walker is loyal, reckless, and every girl’s dream. But he only has eyes for December Howard, the girl he has yearned for since his high school hockey days. Together they have survived grief, the military, distance, and time as they’ve fought for stolen weekends between his post at Ft. Rucker and her schooling at Vanderbilt. Now that Josh is a medevac pilot and Ember is headed toward graduation, they’re moving on—and in—together.

Ember never wanted the Army life, but loving Josh means accepting whatever the army dictates—even when that means saying goodbye as Josh heads to Afghanistan, a country that nearly killed him once before and that took her father. But filling their last days together with love, passion, and plans for their future doesn’t temper Ember’s fear, and if there’s one thing she’s learned from her father’s death, it’s that there are some obstacles even love can’t conquer.

Flight school is over.

This is war.

I had no idea it was possible to fall even more in love with Josh and Ember from Full Measures, but Rebecca Yarros proved me wrong. Full Measures was one of my favorite reads of last year – I fell so hard for Josh and Ember’s story! So when I heard they would be getting another book, I jumped at the chance to read it. I mean, how could I turn down more Josh Walker? And now, after reading Hallowed Ground, I love them even more than I did in Full Measures. Through the trials, the heartache, the deployments, a war, they’ve come out on top and stronger than ever. This book was incredibly emotional – I nearly cried about 3 times, and I rarely ever cry for books. There were so many ups and downs, but overall it was a beautiful, fantastic follow-up and conclusion to Josh and Ember’s story.

Here was my salvation.
December was my saving grace.

Hallowed Ground is book 4 in the Flight & Glory series, but you only need to read the first book, Full Measures, to first be introduced to Josh and Ember. Still, I highly recommend reading the series in order so you get the full effect of each of the characters’ appearances in Hallowed Ground. If you’re a fan of Ember and Josh, Paisley and Jagger, and Sam and Grayson, then you absolutely need to read this final book.

“You are my dream now, December Howard. You are everything to me. My heart beats for you, my soul is only whole when you’re near. You’re my home, my shelter, my wildest fantasy, and I cannot imagine a future where you’re not mine, because I’m yours in every sense of the word.”

I don’t want to give anything away in the book, because when you read it, you need to experience everything first-hand. Rebecca Yarros has a brilliant talent at writing and bringing emotion to life through her words, and after every book I read from her, I only become a bigger fan. Her words pack a punch, and hands down, Hallowed Ground was the most difficult to read. This book hurt – it very much ripped my heart with all the emotional, gut-wrenching scenes between Josh and Ember. You get frustrated, you laugh, you want to cry… you seriously feel a whole spectrum of emotions. But I promise, everything – all the heartache, the ups and downs – will be worth it in the end. The epilogue seriously left me with a smile on my face and I couldn’t be happier with the way things ended for Josh and Ember.

“You are a flesh-and-bone wet dream, and you owned me the first fucking moment my mouth touched yours.”

I am so, so happy I decided to read Full Measures last year. If I didn’t, I would’ve been missing out on one fantastic, beautifully-written series. Josh is still one of my all-time favorite book boyfriends, and I can only hope for many more from Rebecca Yarros. As sad as I am to see the Flight & Glory series end, I’m so excited to see what’s next from the author!

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

Reading Order: Flight & Glory series

#1 ~ Full Measures: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Eyes Turned Skyward: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Beyond What is Given: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#4 ~ Hallowed Ground: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

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25Jan2016

Release Day Review: Boiling Point by Tessa Bailey

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Boiling Point by Tessa Bailey
Series: Crossing the Line #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: January 25th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Falling for a con man is the most dangerous game of all…

Con artist Austin Shaw’s been in disguise so long he’s not sure where his fake identities end and he begins. Now that he’s been strong-armed into working for a specialized undercover unit working with the Chicago police—criminals with unique “skills”—the last thing he needs is to risk his iron control. Especially when it comes to a certain stunningly sexy hacker who tempts him with every look of disdain.

Polly Banks will never, ever trust a con man. On the trail of a ruthless crook who destroyed the only family she’s ever known, Polly is unnerved by the shadow who follows her every move. The one who makes her pulse pound and breath short with lust. Austin. He’s infuriating, enigmatic, and pure sex appeal, and she’s determined to resist him.

But an untrustworthy man of disguise can become anyone he wants…including a man that Polly must trust if she’s to escape their dangerous game alive.

If you know me, then you know I love Tessa Bailey’s books, dirty-talking heroes and all. I love how each one of her men is completely besotted with his woman, how his alpha and protective instincts come alive around her. So of course I had high expectations for Boiling Point, especially since I loved the previous two books in the series, and Tessa didn’t disappoint! This read is another winner, full of steam, dirty talk, and suspense. I absolutely loved the way Austin and Polly were together – if you love books with fiery-hot chemistry between the main characters, you’ll want to pick this book up.

Goddammit, he’d never felt an ounce of possessiveness over another human being in his thirty-one years. But just then, he wanted more than anything to walk up behind Polly, wrap an arm around her hips, and drag her back against his lap. Look those tossers right in the eye as he licked up the side of her smooth neck. Mine, you pathetic drunks. You wouldn’t last a minute up against the brilliance of how she thinks. How she reasons and makes decisions. Piss. Right. Off.

While Boiling Point can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading the series in order. Each book leads up to the next, and you get a fuller understanding of the backgrounds of the characters. We first meet Polly, a hacker, and Austin, a con man, at the end of Risking It All, get to know them a little better in Up in Smoke and now we finally get their story in Boiling Point. To avoid going to jail, Polly and Austin have been recruited by the Chicago police along with several other interesting individuals to use the skills they’ve illegally honed to catch criminals. They get off to a very antagonist start, in spite of the insanely hot chemistry between them, but when they become partners for a case Polly personally wants to lead, they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.

I loved how… different Polly and Austin were. Though Polly is a computer hacker, she uses her skills in a very Robin Hood-esque way. She’s pretty aloof and cold towards Austin, angry that he evokes such passion from her, and she is very stubborn when it comes to not falling for his advances. Austin is the con man of the group but beneath the cocky exterior and various disguises and personalities hides a man desperate to be seen – by Polly. He is utterly taken with her from the start, and when she needs his help for a case, he jumps at the chance to help her… and win her heart.

“All yours. You’ve been its cruel keeper for months.” He tilted his hips, presenting himself to her in a way that should have been crude, but on Austin, it was all animal grace. “At any time at all, you could have demanded me. Sent me to my knees to lick you off with one word. Grabbed my cock through my pants in front of everyone and told them who it belonged to.” His eyelids drooped as if the scenario was an aphrodisiac. “Please yourself with me, Polly. My boy. My cock. Own it all.”

An interesting change to Tessa’s typical dirty-talking heroes is that, even while still completely alpha, Austin hands over the reins to Polly when it comes to sex between them. I loved this exchange in control that allows Polly to trust in Austin and deepen the connection between them. And holy hell, the dirty talk. I’ve read almost every single one of Tessa Bailey’s books, but even Austin’s filthy mouth stunned me (and totally turned me on).

I loved Boiling Point – maybe not as much as Risking It All (because Bowen will forever be my all-time favorite hero), but this is still a fantastic, sexy, entertaining read that fans of the author don’t want to miss. I loved getting to see the previous couples in the series, but there’s also an introduction of a new character who will be the hero of the next Crossing the Line book. We get a little background on him, and to say I’m excited for Henrik’s story is an understatement. I can’t wait to see what Tessa has in store for Raw Redemption!

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

Reading Order: Crossing the Line series

#0.5 ~ Riskier Business: Ebook • Goodreads
#1 ~ Risking it All: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Up in Smoke: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Boiling Point: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#4 ~ Raw Redemption: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

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