Tag Archives: standalone

ARC Review: The Fine Line by Alicia Kobishop

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The Fine Line by Alicia Kobishop

The Fine Line by Alicia Kobishop
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: December 6th 2013
Purchase: Ebook • Paperback
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

High school senior Liv Evans has one rule: No attachments. She’s lost enough in her life and has vowed to do whatever it takes to make sure she never again feels the emptiness of losing someone she loves. Boys are a fun distraction, but a serious relationship is something she’d rather live without. Her determination for a future free of pain and heartbreak is put to the test when she meets–and quickly forms an unexpected bond–with Logan Tanner.

Logan has always been a free spirit, but ever since a life-changing event took place, which left him doubting the integrity of those who are closest to him, he’s taken that term to a whole new dangerous level. Learning the hard way that life is too short for worries or work–and that women can’t be trusted–Logan has exchanged steady work for street racing. When Liv walks into his world, everything he thought he knew about life and women is challenged.

In The Fine Line, Liv and Logan will discover if it’s possible for true love to have a future, or if history is destined to repeat itself.

Ah, what a book! I had the best time reading The Fine Line. It has a wonderful set of characters, a fantastic story I was hooked onto from the first page, and one delicious street racing boy named Logan. It’s not the most perfect book, but if you want an exciting, heartfelt contemporary romance, then I highly recommend The Fine Line.

Olivia Evans is a high school senior who doesn’t do relationships. Like, at all. Sure, she’ll make out with guys and just have fun, but she won’t have a boyfriend. Because her whole life, people who she loved always left her. The people she grew to love and care about would always leave her in some way, making her devastated, and then one day, she decided it was enough. She wouldn’t let anyone get close to her heart again, because then, it wouldn’t matter if they left or not, and she wouldn’t be hurt. But then things change the second Liv meets Logan.

“You can’t live your life based on ‘what-ifs,’ Liv. And change is inevitable. It’s the one thing you can always count on. Stop worrying about what might or might not happen and follow your heart. How can you expect to ever be happy if you don’t?”

Oh, and did I mention I was really impressed with the writing? It flowed so well and smoothly. And I loved the little bits of humor that popped up here and there. The Fine Line made me laugh and grin, but then it would make my heart hurt, and I loved that.

When Liv and Logan meet, sparks fly. But… they don’t do anything about it. Neither of them are relationship type people and so they become friends, even with the tension building up between them. And throughout most of the book, it’s the whole, When will they finally get together? But even though I was just waiting for Liv and Logan to explode and get together, I really enjoyed reading their time together as friends. They get a little jealous over other guys and girls, but when they’re friends, Logan and Liv are so darn sweet together.

But no matter how hard Liv tries to push Logan away, he worms his way past her wall and into her heart. And Logan is just the sweetest! Here we have this badass boy who street races, and he’s so loving to Liv. My heart hurt so much for Logan, because he loves her so much, and yet Liv is so resistant to the idea of being in a relationship. Still, Logan doesn’t give up.

“Liv, I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve never wanted another human being as much as I want you. And I don’t just mean like this. I want to make you happy.”

There’s heartache and heartbreak along with the sweet and loving, and there is never a dull moment in The Fine Line. Liv learns to let Logan into her heart, even though there’s always a risk of losing him. Their journey towards finding happiness together is wonderfully written. And for those who like a little excitement and thrill in their romances, the ending part of the book won’t disappoint. I enjoyed reading this book so much! Thanks to the author for providing a copy to review!

4 hearts
lacey

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

Review: Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

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Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: February 1st 1996
Purchase: Ebook • Paperback

Wedding Day

Pretty, flighty Daisy Devreaux can either go to jail or marry the mystery man her father has chosen for her. Arranged marriages don’t happen in the modern world, so how did the irrepressible Daisy find herself in this fix?

Alex Markov, as humorless as he is deadly handsome, has no intention of playing the loving bridegroom to a spoiled little feather-head with champagne tastes. He drags Daisy from her uptown life to a broken down traveling circus and sets out to tame her to his ways.

But this man without a soul has met his match in a woman who’s nothing but heart. Before long, passion will send them flying sky high without a safety net… risking it all in search of a love that will last forever.

This book is slightly old, but it’s so. freaking. GOOD. I fell so hard for the characters, their love, and their story. It’s a book about finding love, and finding love in the last person you’d ever expect to find love in. It’s a book about setting aside one’s pride to have a chance at happiness. Oh my goodness, this book is just divine. It’s got a heroine who learns and grows and toughens up, but still has a heart of gold. It’s got a domineering, alpha-male hero who’s a total jerk but you love him anyway (especially when you see his soft side starting to show). And there’s a circus! With animals!

Daisy Devreaux and Alex Markov are arranged to be married. They’re total strangers, but Daisy’s father has arranged their marriage anyway because Daisy has no money, and Alex owes her father a favor. And so they have to marry, at least for six months. The beginning of the book starts off with Daisy and Alex at the altar, and Daisy… has completely forgotten her groom’s name, and can’t even finish her vows. That right then made me laugh and fall in love with Daisy. And the book continues to be humorous and light-hearted. Daisy and Alex are both in a situation they don’t want, and while Daisy, being the old-fashioned girl that she is, wants to make the best of their marriage, despite them not even liking each other. But Alex is mean and cold-hearted and certainly doesn’t care about what Daisy wants. I wanted to hate him, but I never did. Alex was a jerk to Daisy, but he was honest and yeah, okay, sexy as hell too. 😉

Alex mostly was a jerk to Daisy because he wanted to scare her off and make her leave their marriage, but Daisy never does. She’s dumped into a marriage she doesn’t want, forced to work in the circus with Alex, but she’s a fighter and won’t give up so easily. Alex starts to be impressed with Daisy, but of course, he won’t show it. He works her hard, but she works even harder, and she falls in love with the animals in the circus. And slowly, she starts to fall for Alex too. But Alex has a painful past, and he doesn’t believe in love for himself. He truly believes that he doesn’t have the capacity for love, but Daisy has set her mind on making him believe he can love, and love her.

I actually came across this book on the Heroes and Heartbreakers website when I read this post about favorite phrases that come from romances, and Kiss an Angel was one of the featured books. Alex, being the über-alpha that he is, is prideful and slightly arrogant (in the sexiest possible way, mind you). He’s never had to bow down and beg for anything or anyone, and he’s not about to start anytime soon. But being with Daisy, growing to care for her, has made him open his eyes, and heart, just a little.

I’m begging you. Daisy said that all the time. The same words that had poisoned Sheba Quest’s spirit two years ago when she’d pleaded for his love rolled off Daisy’s tongue without a second thought. In the morning she’d stick her toothbrush in her mouth and call out, “Coffee! Please! I’m begging you!” Last night, she’d tickled his earlobe with a soft, sultry whisper. “Make love to me, Alex. I’m begging you.” As if he needed to be begged.
But begging didn’t threaten Daisy’s pride at all. It was simply her method of communication, and if he were ever foolish enough to suggest that begging might be demeaning, she’d give him that pitying look he’d come to know so well and tell him to stop being so stuffy.

And then, when Alex makes the biggest mistake of his life, and hurts Daisy in the process, things change for him. I cried like a baby at this part. Alex fucks up, he loses the best thing that’s ever happened to him, but he makes amends. He knows he made a mistake and he tries his hardest to fix what he did. And he has to forget about his pride, because it’s holding him back.

Alex spoke in tight, hard tones. “You know what the irony in all this is. Daisy’d do it. She wouldn’t even think twice about it.” He gave a rough bark of laughter that bore no trace of humor. “She’d be on her knees in a second because she’s got a heart beating inside her that’s strong enough to take on the world. She doesn’t care about honor or pride or anything else when the well-being of the creatures she loves is a stake.”
He turned his face upward, and his mouth tightened with scorn. Although he was on his knees, he had never looked more glorious. He was every inch the czar. The king of the center ring. “I’m begging you, Sheba,” he said flatly.

Even with the humor and adorable animals in Kiss an Angel, it’s a heartfelt, poignant book about transformation, and how love can heal and mend even the most broken of souls. “I’m begging you” is such defining phrase for Alex and Daisy. It’s Daisy’s go-to phrase, something she says lightly, but it’s a phrase that Alex can’t even imagine uttering before he meets Daisy. And you absolutely must read this book to see how Alex and Daisy have helped and changed each other in so many ways. Their love story is beautiful.

He began kissing her tears away, and she rubbed her fingers over his cheek. “You really love me, don’t you?”
“I really do,” he said huskily, “and this time I want you to believe me. I’m begging you, sweetheart.”
She smiled through her tears. “All right, then. Let’s go home.”

These were all the quotes that were featured in the H&H post, and after reading those, how could I not want to start reading Kiss an Angel immediately? This love story is truly an unforgettable one. I laughed and cried and laughed some more, and it was just a roller coaster of emotions.

5+ hearts! One of my favorite books of all time!

5-hearts

lacey

Blog Tour + Review & Giveaway: A Risk Worth Taking by Heather Hildenbrand

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A Risk Worth Taking by Heather Hildenbrand

A Risk Worth Taking by Heather Hildenbrand
Release Date: October 22nd 2013
Source: I received an ARC from the author for the blog tour in exchange for an honest review
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When 22-year-old Summer Stafford’s parents split halfway through her senior year at college, Summer’s world is rocked. Everything she thought she knew—heck, everything she thought she wanted for her own life—feels like a lie. The truth is love is a risk. And the true kind, the kind that lasts, might even be a fairy tale.

Reeling from the divorce, Summer derails her own future by breaking up with her parent-approved boyfriend and giving up her lifelong plans for a big-city career. She moves back home, business degree in hand. Dad needs her to fill the gaps her mother left behind; Summer needs to find who she is outside of the cookie-cutter life that failed so miserably for her parents.

Ford O’Neal’s future involves one person: himself. He doesn’t have a permanent address and he definitely doesn’t commit. To a place or a person. Raised by hippies, he plans just far enough ahead to secure his next stop, this one landing him at a work-study program at Heritage Plantation where he can grow his own herbal and medicinal creations.

Summer is gorgeous and smart and fun to be with, the perfect way to pass five months. It won’t be love—Ford’s got too many things to accomplish, too many places to go, before he settles down. Yet Summer pulls him in, challenging him to rethink his own philosophy.

When Ford’s five months are up, each of them must decide if love is really worth the risk.

Buy Links:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble

review

I wholeheartedly loved reading this book! It was funny, sweet, entertaining, and just a great romance. I fell in love with the characters and the romance and the story. At its heart, A Risk Worth Taking is about figuring out what you want in life, and taking risks for the things you want, for the the things that make you happy. And if love is in the equation, if you find that one special person who means the world to you, then you should absolutely go for it.

You’re not living unless you’re risking.

The story is told through Summer and Ford’s POVs. I loved reading both of their POVs, and I felt the author did a tremendous job moving between the two main characters. It was one of the most well done dual POVs I’ve ever read. The story flowed and connected very well, and the writing was fantastic.

Summer Stafford moves back home to the farm after breaking up with her steady, stable, boring boyfriend to help support her father, because her parents are recently divorced, and the farm needs some help that Summer can provide. Summer has all this built-up anger within herself at her mother, because she feels it’s all her mother’s fault that her parents are divorcing. Summer has always thought her parents’ love was the ideal, but finding out that it was all a lie is disappointing. She feels deceived, and is now skeptical about whether true love really does exist.

Ford O’Neal is the new temporary hand at Summer’s farm, and when the two meet, they connect. Ford is a bit different from your everyday guy. It’s not just that his parents are hippies, or that he’s an herbalist. He’s thought-provoking and challenging and real. He makes Summer question things about herself she never thought about before.

“You should never settle. Life’s too short. Do things that make you happy.”

I loved reading Ford’s POV. I loved the way he thinks and his care-free, live-in-the-present view of the world. And when Ford and Summer finally get together, even though they know they can’t last because Ford has to leave, it’s not just Ford changing the way Summer thinks. Summer also changes Ford’s way of mind. She’s all he thinks about, and vice versa, and I could just feel them falling in love. It’s romantic but bittersweet as well. Because even though they’re falling in love, they can’t be together once Ford leaves at the end of the summer.

“I thought you said love is a risk,” I whispered, another tear escaping the edge of my eye.
Ford caught it with his fingers and wiped it away before pressing a lingering kiss against the corner of my mouth. “It’s a risk worth taking.”

Ford and Summer have both found things worth risking for, and they’ve both realized what they truly want in life. I can honestly say that I adored reading their journey together, of falling in love and discovering the world through new eyes because of each other. Their love is real and passionate, and it’s wonderful how the author manages to make the reader connect so well with them. A Risk Worth Taking is a great contemporary romance that I highly recommend.

4 hearts!

4-hearts

lacey

about the author

Heather Hildenbrand

Heather Hildenbrand was born and raised in a small town in northern Virginia where she was homeschooled through high school. She now lives in coastal VA, a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean, with her two adorable children. She works from home, part time, as a property manager and when she’s not furiously pounding at the keyboard, or staring off into space whilst plotting a new story, she’s lying on the beach, soaking in those delicious, pre-cancerous rays.

Heather loves Mexican food, hates socks with sandals, and if her house was on fire, the one thing she’d grab is her DVR player.

Heather is a co-founder of Accendo Press, a publishing group she operates with fellow authors: Angeline Kace and Jennifer Sommersby. Accendo (a-CH-endo), A Latin word, means “to kindle, illuminate, inflame, or set fire.” This is something Accendo strives to do inside a reader’s imagination with every title released. For a complete list of titles and author bios, visit www.accendopress.com.

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Review: Beautiful Illusion by Jacquie Underdown

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Beautiful Illusion by Jacquie Underdown

Beautiful Illusion by Jacquie Underdown
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: October 1st 2013
Purchase: Ebook
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher (Escape Publishing) in exchange for an honest review

A beautiful, spiritual story about a woman who meets the man of her dreams — and then wakes up…

The last thing Leah thought she’d get out of a shocking car accident was the perfect boyfriend. But there was Brennan in the hospital bed next to hers — equal parts charm, cheek, and chocolate. Their relationship, their love, her life, is almost too good to be true.

Then, to Leah’s horror, she discovers that it is. Her new life with Brennan is only a fabrication of her injured mind — a coma dream that ends when she wakes up.

Struggling with injuries and grieving for a man that never existed, Leah battles to put her life back together. But a series of coincidences hint that for some people, love can transcend all barriers and achieve the impossible.

When I saw this book on Netgalley, and I read the summary, I knew I just had to read it. The blurb is just so intriguing–the heroine meets the love of her life, but it turns out that their meeting, their life together, wasn’t… real. It was all a dream. To be honest, I would never have wanted to read this book if I hadn’t loved the blurb, and yet it gives away such a huge part of the story that I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. So does the blurb hurt or help? If you don’t mind how it gives away the huge plot twist, then by all means, give this book a try. But for those who hate spoilers, this book might not be right for you.

I still enjoyed reading this book, despite how I was waiting and waiting for the time when Leah would wake up from her coma and her dream. Always, in the back of my mind, during Leah and Brennan’s love story, I would be wondering, Is this when she wakes up? Is this when she’ll lose the love of her life? I kept thinking and wondering the entire time, so I couldn’t really connect with the main characters. Their story was all a dream and wasn’t real, so I was never invested in their story or their romance. That’s not to say this isn’t a good book. I still liked it! But I didn’t LOVE it. Still, Leah and Brennan’s story was sweet and heart-warming, a romance that seemed very natural.

Leah meets Brennan in the hospital after her accident, and they are very sweet and flirty together. They’re not sure whether they’ll ever see each other again, but they want to. They want to try to have a relationship, to see how far a relationship will take them, because during their time at the hospital, they connect. They have conversations and become friendly, even though both sides want more. The first half of the story is told in Leah’s POV, and her narrating is very simple and straightforward. She and Brennan fall more deeply in love with each other each passing day, and it was all mellow and slow. But it wasn’t until Leah wakes up that things… get exciting. More interesting. Because in reality, she’s never met Brennan or his family. And yet she feels in her heart she does.

I wasn’t a fan of the writing, but Jacquie Underdown stepped it up for the second half of the book. I liked the story much better, because I honestly had no idea what would happen. Is Brennan even real? If he is, will Leah ever see him again, get the chance to love him, have the life they were meant to have before she woke up? The story really took a different turn after Leah wakes up, and I ended up really liking how Leah copes with the loss of Brennan.

While Beautiful Illusion isn’t the BEST book out there, it was still really interesting to read. If you’re intrigued by the blurb, like I was, who knows, you might end up loving it!

3 hearts for me!

3-hearts

lacey

Review: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

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Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: November 13th 2012
Purchase: Ebook • Paperback

I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

THIS BOOK LEGITIMATELY TOOK MY BREATH AWAY. (The cover is trippy trippy though right?)

Going into this book I already had a pretty positive mindset, I suppose you could say. I just knew that it would be one of my favorite books because of all the wonderful things that Lac said. But when I read the summary, my thoughts kind of wavered and I was kind of skeptical because the summary just didn’t sound really appealing. Just the way it was written, didn’t make me feel like it was going to be my type of book, but I was wrong and this book is amazing.

I’d definitely recommend this book to um… anyone. I feel like it touched all these different characteristics and topics that books usually–okay fine nvm–cover. The entire time I was trying to figure out the person who tried to kill, or sorry, killed Nastya. But it was also amazing, like it always is, to listen to her story and see how her life was before, and how much she changed.

I also cried multiple times in this book. Most of those times were when she was with her family </3 BUT also with Josh and Drew. I love them. I wish I was best friends with Drew and Josh. Like honestly, they can be my protective older brothers. But this book was just lakfjd;alkjdflkajsf so perfect I actually want to re-read it right now.

**IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THIS BOOK YET DO NOT READ THE PARAGRAPH BELOW IT WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE. But if you did read it, then read the paragraph because I’m probably going to blow your mind away, but probably not.**

OHMYGOSH. Also, at the end when Josh asked Emilia what she saw when she died and it said how SHE TOLD HIM HER LAST SECRET AND SHE SAID “YOUR GARAGE” OMFG SHE WASN’T FREAKING LYING. BECAUSE REMEMBER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK WHEN SHE WAS RUNNING AND FOUND JOSH’S HOUSE AND WAS LIKE, FOR SOME REASON I KNOW THIS HOUSE. OMFG GUYS. SUDDEN REALIZATION AS I WAS PROCRASTINATING. OMG. AND THIS ALSO CONNECTS TO WHAT JOSH’S GRANDFATHER SAID ABOUT HOW WHEN HE DIED HE SAW THE SWING AND HE ENDED UP THERE OR SOMETHING AND MARRYING HIS WIFE. FORESHADOWING AND FLASHBACK MUCH KATJA MILLAY!!?!?

5-hearts

shirley

P.S. This review was supposed to go up 2 months ago…heh. Life and school kind of took over. + procrastination, but that’s always a factor. For example, I’m procrastinating on my homework right now.