Review: Eversea by Natasha Boyd

Title: Eversea
Author: Natasha Boyd
Publisher: Headline Eternal
Release date: May 1st 2014
My rating: 4 stars

Blurb on Goodreads:
An orphaned, small-town, southern girl, held hostage by responsibility and self-doubt.

A Hollywood A-list mega-star, on the run from his latest scandal and with everything to lose.

A chance encounter that leads to an unlikely arrangement and epic love affair that will change them both for ever.

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This is a book for all you ladies out there who have ever fantasised about running into your celebrity crush in your local town of all places and and living that romantic dream. Funnily enough I'm not the kind of girl who has celebrity crushes or cares about celebrities at all really, but this book kind of made me want to!

Jack Eversea is the movie star that every girl is in love with. He's living it up in LA with his perfect job and the perfect girlfriend and the perfect life. That is until said girlfriend's true colours are shown and she's discovered doing naughty things with someone other than Jack. This isn't Jack's story though. This is the story of Keri Ann Butler, your relatively ordinary woman just trying to keep up with her work and restore the Butler House which is the pride of the town. She's patiently waiting for her brother to finish up his studies and come back to house sit so she can finally start her life, and has sworn off men as well as any other distraction that could risk tying her down to her little old town. The last thing she ever expected was the face of her film and book hero, world famous actor Jack Eversea, to walk into her life and jazz things up.

This book was such an easy, quick read that was just the right amount of emotional turmoil and sappy, and I mean that in the best way. I loved the two main characters and the way in which their story was told. I really enjoyed how controversial Jack's character came across and the way it made me question whether what he was doing was okay or not. I really loved Keri Ann's character and personality. She was fun to read about and was written in a way that everybody would find something about her to relate to. The setting was beautiful and I loved the tidbits of information that were put in, including and especially the turtles. I was surprised to find I genuinely enjoyed and appreciated the writing style that Boyd has. Since NA can be a very hit or miss genre, I tend to find that the writing of the majority is extremely poor.  Here however that isn't the case. It was captivating and emotional far better than I could have expected. 

The pace of the novel was excellent.  It didn't feel like the story was developing too quickly or too slowly and there was no instalove thank goodness. The secondary characters were great in that they were vivid and enjoyable and added to the story of the two main characters, without taking over the novel or being shoved too far in the background.

Overall this was a great romantic read which didn't necessarily give the typical ending and has me itching to pick up where things left off and find out what happens next. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book, Forever Jack. 4 awesome stars!

Review: Tease by Amanda Maciel

Title: Tease

Author: Amanda Maciel

Release date: May 1st 2014

My rating: 5 stars

Blurb on Goodreads: 

Emma Putnam is dead, and it's all Sara Wharton's fault.

At least, that's what everyone seems to think when Sara, along with her best friend and three other classmates, has been criminally charged for the bullying and harassment that led to Emma's shocking suicide. But Sara is sure she hasn't done anything wrong, because Emma brought it on herself. Sara is adamant that she was the victim - not Emma.

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This book has been appearing pretty frequently in my various feeds, and I've been super intrigued to find out just why so many people couldn't even bring themselves to finish it.

As you may already know, this book begins after the death of a high school girl, Emma, who has committed suicide after being bullied and such. We get to see what happens after her death and what effects it has on everyone involved, as well as the sequence of events that led up to her death. However, this isn't told from Emma's perspective, or her family's or friends'. It's told from the perspective of Sara, one of the girls accused of bullying Emma and making her hate her life so much she'd rather end it than carry on living. And the worst part? Sara isn't even sorry. In her mind, Emma is a selfish girl who's ruined her life in taking her own.

This book was so so powerful. It packs a serious punch and makes you feel just a little bit sick inside. I found Sara to be such a complex, troubled character,  and I switched between feeling for her and being disgusted by her throughout the novel. This just shows how brilliant Maciel's writing is, and I truly feel that it's because of her outstanding writing that the book is as powerful as it is.

There is no particular plot development or twists, as it's mostly character driven and the 'plot' so to speak has already occurred.  I love reading these kind of books but only when they are done well because they heavily rely upon the author's writing skills to keep the reader engaged.  In that sense I feel Amanda Maciel has done brilliantly, because despite it not being an 'enjoyable' book per say, it was definitely gripping and I couldn't put it down. She made me desperate to understand why. Why did Sara bully Emma? Why was she so adamant that was not sorry for what had happened? And the more I read, the more I understood.

In my opinion, Sara is just as much a victim in this story as Emma is, albeit in a different kind of way. People seem to allocate the term 'victim' to those who are unable to fight back or tough it out. Just because Sara is a bitch, doesn't mean to say she is not also a victim. She is the victim of an extremely toxic relationship with her one and only friend Brielle.  Brielle has used Sara's friendship and manipulated her in horrible ways, making Sara depend on her as her only friend, messing with her emotions and bringing her into situations that put Sara at risk. It was horrible to read about, and even worse to think that on a subconscious level,  Sara knew what Brielle was doing but felt powerless to stop it. That doesn't mean to say Sara is innocent and not at fault, because she has her own brain and she should use it to make her own choices. However she is still just an impressionable kid at the end of the day. She looked up to her one and only friend, who was her role model in a way when her own parents had stopped being good examples and left her to herself whilst giving her big responsibilities to handle such as her brothers.

I really think that Sara was sorry from the very beginning and regretted what she had done from the moment she found out Emma had killed herself, but didn't allow herself to aknowledge that remorse. She's the kind of girl that toughs these things out, and the only way she could handle all the people out there with their accusing stares was to convince herself they were wrong. I absolutely loved how she developed throughout the book, and was able to finally accept what had happened and what her role in Emma's death had been.

Emma is a girl I will never understand. She was quiet and mysterious and Sara never truly knew her which means we as the reader didn't either. It is sad but true that people often glorify the dead and ignore the bad qualities that that person may have had, and this shows in Amanda's brilliant novel too. Whilst everyone accuses Sara of bullying a sweet innocent girl, Emma was no angel by any means. She never seemed to try and make friends or explain herself to anyone and she did hurtful things to Sara such as taking her boyfriend. It may seem childish and minor, but that had a big impact on Sara. If we think about it, besides Brielle and her brothers, Sara's boyfriend was the only other person she really had, who she felt cared about what happened to her (even though he didn't really and he was as bad as Brielle in my opinion). When Emma took him away, she practically took away 50% of the people Sara had, which undoubtedly hurt. This doesn't justify Sara's bullying, but it makes me understand her a little.

All in all, this novel was amazing; from the way that it was written, to the issues it tackles and the way that it allows the reader to decide who's really guilty of bullying and who can be blamed for what happened. I can see why some people didn't finish it, but character development is a thing people! You have to give it a chance  and remember that no one is truly innocent. There is so much more I could say about this book, but I'll stop gushing now and end by saying that I will most likely be getting myself a physical copy of this book because it's one that really made me think and that I will most likely be revisiting.

*this book was kindly given to me for review via netgalley*

Review: Wake For Me by Isobel Irons

Title: Wake For Me
Author: Isobel Irons

Release Date:  15th December 2013

My Rating: 4/5 stars

Blurb on Goodreads: When Viola Bellerose breaks up with her “up and coming” Irish rock star boyfriend, the feisty winery heiress takes it in stride—by making out with a hot stranger and accidentally crashing her Mercedes into the East River. Whoops.

Somewhat unfairly, in her opinion, Viola now spends her days in a coma, trapped inside the prison of her own body. With each passing day, she finds herself becoming more lost in a world of vivid and terrifying dreams, in which a tall and tortured doctor often appears in a romantic role.

First year intern Sam Philips is barely surviving his complicated life, dealing with his older brother’s death, avoiding scary charge nurses and working endless hours--all while competing against his fellow interns. His solace is the time he spends with his favorite patient, the girl he’s nicknamed Sleeping Beauty. Convinced that her coma can’t last forever, Sam spends hours at her bedside, spilling his secrets to the unconscious girl.

But what the outwardly shy Sam could never guess, is that his Sleeping Beauty is actually aware. That she's secretly hanging on his every word, and falling head over heels in love with him. That even as Sam tries to save her, someone else might be trying to kill her.
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When I received this, I just knew I was in for a great read. After reading Isobel Irons' Promiscuous and now Wake For Me, she is undecidedly one of my new favourite contemporary authors. Irons is just so good at writing not only attention grabbing plot lines that aren’t all fluffy and overly lovey-dovey, but also wonderful characters that pull on the heart strings with their compelling back stories and the way they act and think and develop. You can’t help but grow attached to them all! And the plot, well let’s just say I felt like I was watching a hit drama on the telly! I just couldn’t put it down.

Speaking of the plot, let me just explain that to you a little. The story revolves around our two main characters, Viola and Sam, with the chapters alternating between their POVs. Viola is a rich heiress of her father’s very successful wine company. Sam is just your average guy facing his troubles and trying to survive his first year of internship. As fate would have it, they meet one night, just for a moment, and the next day Viola winds up a patient at the place Sam is working, trapped in a coma. Unbeknown to everyone, Viola is actually rather aware during her coma, and can hear everything Sam says as he tells his Sleeping Beauty all about his childhood, his fears, and his life in general. They are surely falling for each other without really realising it and without even having spoken to one another (I don’t count the couple of sentences from the bar haha!). That just a brief summary of what happens in life the first half of the book. Thereafter things become 50 kinds of crazy and…well, you’ll have to read it to find out!

In terms of writing style, Irons has not disappointed me. Whilst reading from the POV of Viola whilst she is in her comma, I genuinely felt like I was struggling to differentiate between reality and dream (or nightmare). The images her writing conjured up in my mind were equally glorious and terrifying. I felt Viola’s frustration and battle with the horrific images her mind managed to conjure up, which just shows how brilliant Irons’ writing is! The pace was pretty good, and I loved how the events flowed well, without the feeling of being pulled from one scene and thrown into the next. The only issue I had was the ending, as I felt it was a bit abrupt, like it was cut short. I felt it could have been written in a little more detail as a couple of things weren’t too clear and could have been concluded a little better.

Character wise, Sam had to be my favourite. He was so sweet and innocent, and his constant timidity and need to apologise was adorable (in that annoying kind of way). He was just so kind and caring that you couldn’t help but love him. Viola was a great character, and was definitely one I alternated between loving and hating. I loved her strength and perseverance, her unwillingness to let her coma affect her future and her decided determination to get better, find out what was happening to her and who (if anyone) was after her. Equally, I hated her prissy stuck up attitude which is a result of her rich background, her rudeness towards Sam at times and her using him to her benefit. She became a bit childish at times which bugged me but is kind of to be expected after everything she goes through. Either way she was just written so well. The secondary characters are all extremely likable but aren’t so central to the plot. Sam’s best friend and fellow intern is probably my favourite of the secondary characters and I cannot wait to hear his story!

All in all, this book was a definitely brilliant contemporary read with enough drama and suspense to take it to the next level.  Brilliant addition to the NA genre and I’m just so pleased I got to read this! I would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys a good contemporary with more to the plot than just the romance. A well-deserved 4 stars!

 

*This book was kindly offered to me in exchange for an honest review*

Review: Third Degree by Julie Cross

Title: Third Degree
Author: Julie Cross

Release Date:  25th March 2014

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Blurb on Goodreads: I used to be “Isabel Jenkins, child prodigy.” As lame as that sounds, at least it was an identity. But now I’m not sure what I am. I just failed the most important exam of my life—the emotional readiness test required to get into a medical residency program—and it turns out my parents can’t stand each other. Now I’m trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces of my life, and that means re-enrolling as a college freshman, but this time I’m shutting the books and majoring in being eighteen.But so far, my roommate hates me and I’m not into the party scene. The only good thing about school has been getting to know my insanely hot RA. Marshall Collins makes me wonder about everything I missed while I was growing up too fast. Pretty soon we’re hanging out constantly, but for the first time, I find myself wanting more than a no-strings-attached physical relationship. And the lesson I really need is one Marsh definitely can’t teach me: love. Because I’m going to be alone forever if I don’t learn fast.

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My actual rating was 3.5 stars. This is what I think of as a rare breed of NA fiction. The story doesn't depend on steamy scenes to sell it, the story sells itself. It was far deeper and written so much better than I had expected it to be based on the (terrible) cover! I absolutely loved this contemporary for that reason; because it deals with college-aged people and the scenarios and dilemmas they face.

Being a child genius and having been treated as such ever since she was adopted at a young age, Isabel Jenkins aka Izzy has never really been 'normal' and doesn't even know what that word really means. She's been on the fast track to following in her fathers footsteps and becoming a surgeon since she was first admitted to college at just 12 years of age, and has never stopped to think what she's missing out on. That is until she is stopped dead in her tracks, and refused passage to the final steps to becoming a surgeon when she fails a psych test. According to the shrink, she needs to experience life as a normal teen to reconnect her emotions and be a better surgeon, and the best way to do this is to head back to college and see what she missed out. Here she meets Marshall Collins aka Marsh, who takes it upon himself to ease her back into society and keep her social mishaps to a minimum. But things are never as straight forward as that!

This book was actually a cute, quick, fun read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The setting was essentially your average college setting, but the story was pretty different. I loved Izzy and her wacky sense of normal. Her high level of intelligence matched with her equally high level of social awkwardness had me smiling, smirking and even cringing on her behalf. As much as her thought process sometimes baffled me and her IQ intimidated others, she was quite relatable in her fear of being alone, her sense of being adrift and not knowing where exactly she belonged. She was easy to like and her development throughout the novel was clear and well done.

Marsh was so super cute! He's one of the sweetest fictional guys, and so far from the standard badboy, tatted up tough guy found in most NA novels. I absolutely adored his devotion to his family, his loyalty to his friends and his selflessness towards just about everybody. I loved how he took Izzy under his wing and made it his job to help her and understand her, and how he learnt to trust her as she learnt to trust him. Together they made it a gorgeous tale of love, belonging and learning to trust. Cross's writing is engaging and entertaining. I really liked the pace set in the book and the way in which all the dilemmas were resolved/saw through. It felt real, and yet happy. As much as these two main characters were well developed and easy to become fond of, I just wish we had seen a little more of the background characters such as Jesse and 'Shirtless Carson'. 

All in all, this book is a great addition to the NA genre and is a super cute, well written contemporary with a substantial plot that was engaging, entertaining and adorable. I definitely recommend it to all you contemporary/NA lovers!

*This book was kindly offered to me in exchange for an honest review*

Review:Naked Edge by Charli Webb

Title: Naked Edge

Author: Charli Webb

Release Date: 1st December 2013
My Rating: 2/5 stars

 

*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review*

Skylar's family was forced into the witness protection program when she was only seventeen. After her mother died years later, Sky moved back in with the only family she had left. She knew she'd run into her high school sweetheart but she didn't expect the changes she found in Rowdy. He wasn't the sweet boy she left so many years ago. He'd turned into a womanizing jerk but that didn't stop her heart from wanting him.

I had such high expectations for this book. The premise sounded amazing and alot like the new adult novels I thoroughly enjoy. It was even pitched towards those who enjoyed Jay Crownover’s Marked Men series. I would love to say that I was blown away by this book, or even that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Sadly that wasn’t the case.

The characters I found to be rather bland and cliché, but not in the good cliché way. Skylar was just too bratty for my liking. She would take little things way too seriously and get overly emotional, only to then act blasé and nonchalant when serious stuff went down. She irritated me massively. Rowdy isn’t any better. He switches between running hot and cold faster than anyone. Ione minute he’s purposely trying to hurt Sky and the next he comforts her over mundane occurrings.  The supporting characters were just that, fillers to give the book some bulk but didn’t add anything of value to the actual plot unfortunately.

The writing of this book wasn’t particularly enjoyable for me personally. I found it choppy and mixed paced, dragging in some parts and skipping what I considered important details in others. The climber’s vocabulary was rather heavy for something that was supposed to be romantic new adult fiction, and I found myself getting increasingly annoyed at the frequent use of terms I didn’t know. I knew there was a glossary at the end of the ebook but I didn’t want to keep scrolling through to the end of the novel and then trying to find my page again, as its pretty time consuming on an e-reader. I feel like the premise for this book had so much potential, it could’ve been something amazing, but it fell majorly short. 2 stars for a great concept though.

Review:Promiscuous by Isobel Irons

 

Title: Promiscuous

Author: Isobel Irons

Release Date: 10th January 2014

My Rating: 4/5 stars


*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review*

"It’s like a fucking Cinderella story up in here. Only, it’s high school. So there aren’t any happy endings."

^ That line right there sold it for me. I read that, and new it was something I had to check out. And boy let me tell you, there was no false packaging with this one. What you see is what you get, and then some.

This is the story of 18 year old Natasha “Tash” Bohner. And I know, her last name was made for taking the piss out of but honestly, that’s the least of her fricking problems. This is a story of shitty life situations, labels of society, and real life problems that don’t get swept under the rug or even given a directed spotlight (you know, the kind where the author shows you just enough about said life problem to make you all happy and crap when they 'resolve' it in their story). No. None of that BS here. Being dealt possibly the worst hand life could have given her; this is about Tasha's journey of self-discovery and how real people deal with things in every day real life. Realistic fiction in its rawest yet finest form. Have I mentioned how real it is? (Okay okay I'll stop). So, that being said, if stories with traumatic experiences such as bullying, sexual abuse, suicide and eating disorders as well as no particularly happy endings aren't your thing, then this definitely isn't for you. Go pick up the original Cinderella or something.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Isobel Irons' writing style is pretty damn captivating. The whole time I felt like I was actually listening to Tash as she told me her story, and not like I was reading a novel. The writing feels very personal, which makes sense as Isobel mentions that this is her story for the most part too. That raw edge made this book all the more powerful and unforgiving. The moment you open this book and start the first page you're thrown into the deep end. There is no warm up, no shallow easy beginning to dip your toes in to grow accustomed to its feel. Nope. Hold your breath and swim biatch or prepare to drown. Straight away it feels like Natasha is attacking, almost willing you to put the book down and walk away. For me that was practically a sign that she had something to hide, and made me push on all the more harder. Her dry wit and cynicism were actually right up my alley and made her all the more relatable to me as I could just feel how she was using them as well as her 'slut' label as a front, to throw people off what she was really like inside. The story itself was the perfect length. It didn’t take forever to build up or get to the point, and it didn’t drag on forever after.

There were a variety of characters present in this story, each adding their own dimension to the plot and giving this story far more depth than the dreadful cover allows us to believe (I'm sorry, I hate it). Tash's best friend Margot was the sweet to her sour. She was strong in ways that Tash was lacking and vulnerable in ways Tash wouldn't dream of being. They balanced each other perfectly and through their own little perfect pact kept each other (and me) sane through the shit storm that is their life. I loved how the issue of bullying as well as anorexia was tackled in this relationship. I like how Tash (and by default Isobel Irons) was honest enough to admit that actually, the fact that Margot's bones stand out so badly is kind of gross. That doesn't make Tash a horrible person, it makes her honest. Anorexia is terrible and gross and real, and should be faced, not cowered from or tip-toed around. I like how she knew when to leave Margot be, but supported her when she needed it and helped her get better. I adored Margot's family and their easy going nature, their big hearts and funny as hell personalities. They brought out the better side of Tash. I found it particularly sad that Tasha found it so hard to believe that her teacher as well as The Perfect Boy aka Grant Blue could actually think she deserved better. It just went to show that people that have confidence issues, particularly those traumatically induced such as Tasha's, don't even realise just how badly they have been affected. It was beautiful when she realised actually, what had happened to her was terrible, but was in no way her fault and she didn't deserved the shit she was dealing with. She is better than that, better than all those who sought to destroy her and had just as much right to want better for herself as everyone else. Grant Blue's character was key in Tasha's story. I loved how he was perceived as some perfect kid when in reality, he was just as flawed as the next person. It was great to see him open up to Tash in the way that he did, as it was essential to making her realise not everyone is what society labels them as and that flaws don't make imperfection. As cheesy as it sounds, they are both imperfectly perfect in their own way.

In short, this is a powerful, moving book of realistic fiction that cuts the crap and exposes just how bad high school can be, but how the simple things like friends and self believe can make all the difference, and that change starts with your own perception of yourself. I would most definitely recommend this book if you're looking for something moving and honest to read and aren't so easily offended. And even if you are, you should still read this book because I'm sure Tash would be more than happy to knock you off that high horse of yours and give you a much needed reality check.

Review: Ready to Fall by Daisy Prescott

Title: Ready To Fall

Author: Daisy Prescott

Release Date: 17th December 2013

My Rating: 4/5 stars

 

Told from the (alpha)male perspective of the drool-worthy John Day, this is an adorably cute, funny, adult contemporary romance that will have you sighing in satisfaction.

 

Living on an island away from the craziness that is the mainland, John Day is the heart-throb of all heart-throbs; tall, with rugged bearded good looks and never seen without his plaid shirt and dog named Babe, this self-sufficient lumberjack weakens knees. When his neighbour rents out her beach cabin for the winter months to a Diane Watson, John finds himself playing saviour and tour guide to the beautiful brunette. Being both in the middle of crappy love life situations, they agree to be the ultimate friends. As the time goes by and they get to know each other, they soon realise that friendship might just not be the kind of relationship they really desire. This is a spin-off from Daisy Prescott's debut novel, Geoducks Are for Lovers, however it is not necessary to read that book before picking up this one, as I didn't and I still loved and understood every second of it.

 

This was such a cute read! Well, cute might not be the right word. It was romantic and steamy but without being overly so. The characters were so loveable, with their realistic life problems and sweetness. They were especially intriguing as we got to see them all through the eyes of our male main character, John (yes, feel free to take a moment to swoon over him yet again!). His no-nonsense alpha-male attitude and outlook made for a refreshing take on the contemporary romance genre, as its only one of a handful of male POV contemporary romances I've read. Diane made for the perfect love interest, with her less than stellar background and sad reasoning for moving to the island making her vulnerable but without being helpless and annoying. There was no case of insta-love here, as the romance was drawn out at a good pace and built steadily. The supporting characters of Maggie, Quinn, 'Tom Cat', Olaf and even Diane's work friends added a necessary depth to the story that added dimension to the novel. The only slight downside to this story that I could find was that I felt that these supporting characters could have maybe played a slightly bigger role in the story or made more of an appearance just to change the tone of the novel every once in a while. We did get to see John's Aunt and Uncle though and that really helped in building John's character in my mind. 

 

This may be an adult book, but I feel as if any young adult or new adult reader could just as happily enjoy this book. It's a light, quick, easy read that is so very enjoyable and sweet enough in nature that any and all lovers of contemporary romance will adore it. People always seem to think that summery reads are the best contemporary romances, but this is a book that puts that statement to shame. Set in winter months, published in winter; this book is a stellar example of how awesome winter romances can be and how to do them well.

 

The writing was beautiful and flowed so effortlessly, with an enjoyable pace and great plot development. Some may argue that it is rather predictable, but to be honest aren't all contemporary romances? I mean isn't that what we love about them, and why we can't seem to get enough? For me, this book was perfect. It had the right balance od sweet moments, steamy moments, dramatic moments, sad moments and euphoric moments. It kept me absolutely hooked and was impossible to put down.

 

I read the whole thing in one sitting, with a smile on my face through it's entirety and long after I put it down and went to sleep. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am a little sad that I only have the ebook because I loved it so much, I feel a physical copy deserves to be housed on my bookshelf. If you're on the fence about getting this book, let this review the nudge that helps you with your decision. I cannot possibly recommend it enough!