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Bound is the first book in the Guardians Series by M.J. Stevens. The first half of my book had me flip flopping my ideas on characters and my interest level in the plot, but by the time we hit around the half way point I was so invested in the story and the action and intensity was still on the rise. So much happens in the second half of this book, it was tough for me to put it down. Sometime that I loved from the start of the Bound was the futuristic setting. It is fantasy/science fiction and the book had cool helo pads and the main hub of the city/guardian tower was well described. I imagined it all as very stark and imposing with clean lines and harsh edges. It fit well for the tone of the story.

Mellea is just a girl from a not so well off family just trying to save enough money to go to university after secondary school. Her parents hit some tough times, but it was only ever alluded to in the beginning of the book what actually happened to them. We know that their father had some sort of "run-in" with the guardians of the city and now he hates them. The towns people and city people are all on edge because citizen after citizen are dissapearing. I felt like tension and conflict were only a moment away. Something bad could have happened at any point during the book. I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. And when it did..oh boy things got intense very quickly. It was fast paced plot action, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

I enjoyed how honest Mellea was. I think it was because she didn't grow up in this world of politics and scheming openly so she just tells it like it is. It was refreshing. I also liked how much of a hard time she gave Leo. He just met her and scooped her up and claimed her as his own. Rude much? As you can tell, I was not a huge fan of Leo. My opinion of him eventually changed, but it took a while. In fact, it wasn't even the claiming part that made me dislike him. It was his interaction with Mellea in her room the first time they met after the claiming that made me narrow my eyes in anger a bit. But as the story progresses we get to know him more and I liked the real Leo much better.

Bound is a good start to what looks to be a really interesting and fast paced action fantasy series. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? What just is going on with the Guardians and the disappearances. The answers might surprise you. Beware of a cliffhanger ending and some unanswered questions though. This was a solid start to the series and it has made me interested in continuing with book 2. A great job for M.J. Stevens debut novel.

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Dante, oh Dante- how can I express how much I love thee? This final installment of The Dante Walker trilogy has been all I expected and more. It might even be my favorite book of the trilogy. It is right up there with the first book, and I loved that one so much.

Dante Walker is such a complicated character. Some people love him, some people can't stand him and some people want to have his babies. I, for one, can't get enough of him. I fall into categories 1 and 3 soundly. I love how complicated and flawed Victoria Scott made him. He is a bad boy that can charm the pants off of anyone. I freakin' love his humor. But I also love the insight you get into him. His doubts and fears that he keeps buried in his head. Those made me swoon almost as much as the romance. There is just something about Dante. Actually, to sum up- I think Dante himself says it best:

"You're attracted to me, I know. Everyone is. Don't start second guessing your sexuality. It's just a Dante Walker thing." ;)

I like Charlie and she is great in this book as well, but for me this is really all about Dante. When Charlie shows up it is mostly through him and his feelings and thoughts about her. (That might not have been the case all the time, but Dante kind of takes over my mind and it seemed that way to me.) I was completely fine with this. I don't think there are enough books out there that tell a male main characters story. I love that the girl is secondary in this series.

This book earned every bit of its' 5 star rating, but if I haddd to pick something to critique it would be the sheer amount of secondary characters. There were A LOT of them. Sometimes it was difficult to keep track of just what everyone was doing at any given time. But it wasn't a big deal. I loved all of the action. Don't forget there is a war between Heaven and Hell going on and Charlie didn't ever seem to be safe enough for Dante throughout the whole book. So you know he is going to be amped up to protect her. I love him in protective mode. (ok, before I go into a longer rant about things I love about Dante I will wrap this up.)

If you like paranormal young adult, read this series. Victoria Scott has done an incredible job making a trilogy that is so much fun to read and try to piece together. I want to re-read the whole thing right now. I am not ready to let Dante go.

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Biggest Flirts is my first book by Jennifer Echols. (I know, what the heck have I been waiting for??) It was a lot of fun, and I love the idea behind the series. Each book will focus on different characters from this high school and they will center around which superlative they may be awarded in the year book. Since this book was a cute and fun summer read. Light and breezy with a few "issues" sprinkled throughout, it has the potential to be a fantastic summer series. I can easily see myself gobbling up book after book outside by the pool.

This was the story of Will and Tia, and they were voted....wait for it....Biggest Flirts! I bet you didn't see that one coming, huh? When the book started, I immediately got this flirt vibe from Tia so it was no surprise to me that she would be nominated, but Will didn't strike me that way at the start. My opinions on the two of them actually flipped as I was reading the book. Tia has some issues because of her older sisters dealings with guys. Because of that she keeps guys at a distance, only hooking up and never dating, but she came off as a little skanky to me at first. And Will came off as a total sweetie. But then when school started Will was flirting with Tia and dating someone else, and he went down a little in my book.

Don't worry though, the more I saw Will and Tia together the more they won me over with their bantering dynamic. I ended up enjoying both of them a lot. The plot uses the good ole: "Pretend-to-be-flirty/dating/fill in the blank,until-the-fake-feelings-turn-into-real-ones. But that cliche completely works for me. It was a lot of fun to read. I also loved Tia's friends, and I can't wait to see what their superlatives books will be. The writing in Biggest Flirts is smart and keeps the tone of the book very upbeat. Biggest Flirts is great for flirty fun if you are looking to get lost in a nice book for a couple of hours.

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Kissed was a lot better than I expected. I don't mean that in a bad way; I have just been reading a lot of books that I have enjoyed but I have kind of just idled through while reading. I am not really sure why, but Kissed snapped me out of that phase. It was a unique paranormal books and it held my attention from the first page to the last. The writing, the plot and just the overall concept were all super intriguing to me.

I was immediately drawn into the craziness of Naomi's life. Her parents were nuts, and the things that her "religion" did turned my stomach. I wanted her to get out of that house so badly. When she met Ruth on the bus and Ruth told her about her foster parents and how she escaped her home, I wanted Naomi to immediately do the same thing. That wasn't the way things worked out, but I didn't understand why she didn't confide in Ruth and try and get out of there that way. Even so, the way things did play out was really interesting.

I loved the book even more when she arrived in Las Vegas. I wasn't expecting there to be more than one love interest with her and it was so surprising that even my loyalties wavered. I am not sure what I feel about her "choice" at the end of this first book yet. Kai helps her out when she is at home. He seems really nice and I loved how he looked out for her, but once she is in Las Vegas, which is most of the story, Kai is not in the picture at all. Puck is though and I feel like we got to know Puck a lot more than Kai, and so I started to like both of them. Just like Naomi. I don't want to say that this is a love triangle book because that really wasn't the main focus. The main focus was figuring out just what was going on with herself and with everyone around her. I liked that we had almost all of our questions and unknowns answered in Kissed. We found out what the deal was with the Guardians, the destroyers and the Shades. I saw the twist or surprise reveal for who the Master Destroyer was for a good portion of the second half of the book, and I was satisfied to find out I was right.

Kissed is a great paranormal book. This is Kimberly Loth's first novel and I was really impressed with it. It is a series that I want to continue on. Not a maybe continue if I have time, this is one where I will be looking out for book 2. I can't wait to see what Naomi is going to do next. There are still big things going down and I also feel like there will be a bigger role for the love triangle in the next book. I don't know what I want her to do with that one yet, but I can't wait to find out.

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This is the fourth book I have read by Angie Stanton and by now I know that she is an author that I can turn to when I am looking for a "cute pick me up" type of read. Her books always have cute guys and adorable romances. I have also been noticing that I have been reading a lot of Europe books lately. I think it it s a theme for summer. It is a theme that I am really enjoying. It helps make the book feel like a fun vacation. And speaking of vacations, the European cruise that Becca and her family went on sounded pretty awesome. And then on top of a pretty epic vacation, she goes and meets a PRINCE at her very first stop. I mean, it is every girls dream.

Becca and Nikolai meet they are instantly drawn to each other. It was a bit like insta love, but not exactly because the prince didn't take one look at Becca and fall in love. He looked at her and thought she was interesting because he some similarities in her. They both have problems with their parents- like every other teenage on the planet. So maybe it wasn't something totally unique that drew them together, but it was enough to catch his interest. Then once Nikolai met her, she kept his interest because she had no idea who he was. Nikolai is not used to people being able to speak freely around him, and I think that is what he liked the most. He felt like a normal teenager with her.

Royally Lost was a very cute story. The only hold up I had with it, was that it felt a bit unrealistic and convenient at times. For the cruise they stopped at a different city every day and for the first couple of cities Nikolai just happened to be there at the same time. He had run away from the palace and from his parents and he was free to go anywhere he wanted and he just happened to be in all the same places as Becca at the same times? After the first couple of "chance" meetings they started to make plans to meet up. And then at one of the ports he literally runs along side of the boat and jumps onto it. What?! Who can do that??? Minus those feats of happenstance and extreme athleticism, Royally Lost is a great book to sit by the pool with and just enjoy. It is endlessly cute and fun and it will make you smile. It reminded me of The Princess Diaries 2 movie. (i'm specifically thinking of the scene where Becca and Nikolai were out by the lake and they fell asleep and a paparazzi showed up.) Royally Lost might not be the most realistic book out there, but if you are someone who thinks it would be cool to go to Europe and to make a prince fall in love- ie. EVERYONE this book will make you smile.

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The Echoes of Love takes place in Italy, which was a large part of the reason that I picked up the book. I have always wanted to travel to Italy. This was my first Hannah Fielding book and I chose it because so many of the reviews said that she has beautifully descriptive writing. Holy cow! I felt like she transported me TO ITALY through her words. At times I felt like there was more description and scene setting than there was plot advancement, but that was part of the beauty of this book. The writing was so pretty. I could say flowery or poetic and romantic, but to me pretty is the best way to describe it. It made me feel like I was reading an epic love poem between Venetia and Paolo.

The thing that I loved the most about Venetia was her job. She was decent as a character too, but her job as always fascinated me. She's an architect and a restorationist, working mostly in Mosaics. Her restoration work reminded me of Amanda Peet's character in that Freddie Prince Jr. movie, Head Over Heels (the one where she moves in with a house full of models, remember?) Her job lent itself well to all of the descriptions. Special attention was given to describing the buildings. It was great.

The love story between Paolo and Venetia was really nice as well. It had kind of an epic love story feel to it. They fell hard and fast, with an unexplainable attraction to the other. You eventually find out why that is, but it is not revealed until the end of the book. So just sit back and enjoy the ride until then. I liked the story a lot but it did have its lagging moments. Times where it was just page after page of description and not a lot of plot advancement. I will admit to skimming a couple of times to get to the next event. But this is not a quick action packed book like a lot of the young adult books I have been reading lately. You need to be in the mood for more of a romantic stroll when you pick up The Echoes of Love. There are secrets and intrigue as well, and foodies will appreciate all of the attention given to the meals in the story. Hannah Fielding has a beautiful slow writing style that is meant to be savored, not rushed through, so if you are a fast reader, be sure you set aside some time to read The Echoes of Love. I think you will appreciate it.

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What I loved about Just Breathe was how character driven the story was. The plot was good and all, but the characters came to life. They made the story. We got to know both of the main characters so well, even though Just Breathe was told only from Elle's point of view, which is pretty impressive. Dominic shone through Elle and the reader gets a fantastic picture of who he is. Just Breathe really focuses on how Elle and Dominic are getting/have gotten over their respective last relationships, which did a number on each of them.

Elle is so cool. She is a librarian and she loves books just as much as I do. It was hilarious to see her get so genuinely mad about the person that was underlining some of phrases in the library books. She refused to continue reading one of them that had some underlining. It just ruined her reading experience. What I also loved about Elle was how excited she got to recommend books to others. She just lit up like a child at Christmas.

It was hard to see both Elle and Dominic so wrecked over their exes because they both seem like such genuinely good people. People you can't help but sympathize with. Elle is a complete sweetheart and Jason, her ex, just went out of town and somewhere during his trip stopped calling. She found out he moved away without a word. (and don't worry- his jerkiness does not end there.) Dominic's ex lied to him left and right. She did not have her life together at all. It was just so sad because Dominic seemed unreal. I can't imagine anyone not being blown away by him. Elle has a condition called synesthesia, which makes her sensitive to certain sounds and textures. Dominic went completely out of his way to make sure he planned "safe" and pretty amazing dates for the two of them. (like Zookeeper for a day! I want to do that!!)

But as with any good book, things are not always smooth sailing for the two of them. As much as you want everything to be roses and butterflies because they are both just such good people, I could tell that they each had secrets. Elle tells us what hers is and Dominic's were not hard to figure out. I spent a good portion of the book wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. And it did drop. But don't worry. Just Breathe is a really nicely wrapped up standalone so you will get the whole story, and it is a good one. A nice book that made me feel very content. (

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Wow, this book was really engaging. It is a retelling (kind of) of Goldilocks. But I found it to be more of an awesome shifter paranormal romance/action adventure book. Hannah is annoyed when her father uproots her from her New York city life to bring her to the middle of nowhere to live in some random house in the woods. To say it was a change for her would be an understatement. I think she adjusted magnificently. If I was thrown in the woods with no electronics working, I would be pretty annoyed. But she just picked up and started to practice her cross country running. And that is where the book really started to get interesting.

In the woods Hannah eventually runs across giant wolves and bears. Her father was sent out to investigate a mine that was having a bunch of tunnels collapsing. And I just knew that somehow the wolves and/or bears were involved in it somehow. We learn pretty early on that Jake Bear is a bear shifter, but Hannah doesn't find out for a long time. The book is told in dual POV between Jake and Hannah. I really enjoyed reading Jake's sections because they explained his "connection" with Hannah. He didn't understand the pull he felt towards her.

I loved Hannah's personalities. She is a gentle and calm person, but when she wants to find something out she can be very determined and has a bit of a stubborn streak in her. I liked the bits of sassiness that peaked out of her from time to time.

I became so engrossed in this story. The pacing and plot was varied throughout the book. Sometimes it was nice and slow with lots of detail and other times it was fast and we were running through the woods with Jake involved in action packed fight scenes. I loved the romance between Jake and Hannah. They both seem like such great teens that you wanted to see them together.

I was fascinated by the spirits part of the story, but I will it was explained a little bit better. I was kind of confused on the history and the division between the wolves. Other than that though, I thought the story was super interesting. I loved Patria's writing style. She really did a great job telling a unique story. This is so much more than your average re-telling.

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I expected this book to be a fun cute read. And it was, but it was also more than that. This really was a coming of age story for Holly. She is a true numbers girl as Dax called her. She is outwardly emotionless- analytical, logical and a "fixer". The Chapel Wars is about Holly finding out what she wants, who she is and about finding her emotions really. She is only 17 but she takes on so much responsibility that it is really easy to overlook her young age.

I enjoyed Holly immensely. I adored her analogies and see how she explained things. Lindsey Leavitt did such a great job with the writing of this book. It felt very conversational and welcoming. Holly seemed like a friend of mine, and her story felt like we were catching up over coffee. Just like her grandfather said, you can't help but like Holly. She is like a breath of fresh air, swooping into every room. She has so much energy, she is always working. I was so impressed with how she handled everything with the chapel. Overlooking the minor fact that it would be hard for her to get the chapel outright when she was a minor, everything else felt very authentic. I liked exploring the Las Vegas Strip with Holly and Dax.

I loved Dax. I loved his accent. I loved how emotional he was. It was so much the opposite of Holly. It was adorable seeing him try and gauge her reaction and see what she was thinking of the two of them. It was nice to see the guy at a loss about that. Normally it is the girl that is always trying to "define the relationship."

The Chapel Wars was exactly what I was expecting in some aspects, and completely different in others. I didn't expect the outcome, and there were more than a few decisions and turning points in the book that surprised me. It kept me on my toes. This was my first experience with a Lindsey Leavitt book, and I am excited to read more of her works because her writing made me feel like I was best friends with the main character.

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Such a cute story. Wish you were Italian is the second book in the If Only series. But each book in the series is a standalone romance story written by a different author. If the other two books in the series are as adorable as this one, I need to read them too. Wish You Were Italian takes you on a fun adventure through some beautiful Italian cities.

Pippa is a fun loving girl, just looking for some freedom. Her mom is an art Gallery owner and she wants Pippa to follow in her footsteps. So she sends to her ITALY (!) to take a class on art. How freakin' awesome is that? But Pippa just wants to explore the country and take pictures. She doesn't want to work in an art gallery. She wants to be a photographer. So once she gets over to Italy, she makes the very impulsive decision to write to the art school and say she will not be attending and take these 3 months to herself. Her freedom summer. Which sounds awesome, but it is pretty dangerous for a 17 year old girl to be doing on her own. She does tell her friend and grandma at home where she will be staying, so she wasn't totally off the grid, but still. It made me a little nervous. Once you can get past that aspect, the story is crazy cute. It will make you smile.

Pippa makes friends really quickly in Italy. She even gets invited to stay with her new friend, Chiara's family. With her hot cousin, Bruno. But Bruno isn't the only guys she meets. At her first gelato stop, she meets Darren, a really cute and nice american boy. One of my favorite parts of the book was Pippa's friend back home's journal that she sent with Pippa. Each day she had different "tasks" for Pippa to complete. They were so much fun. I looked forward to see what new task Morgan would have in store for us that next day. It was a really cute way to kind of shape the story.

Wish You Were Italian is a really cute book for when you are looking for a feel good young adult contemporary romance. It was a little predictable, but sometimes that is just what I want. I want to pick up a book and know that it will make me smile. That is what you get with Wish you Were Italian. It left me craving an italian vacation, some pizza and some gelato.