**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**A Beautiful Thought is the 5th book in the beautiful series, but it can be read as a standalone. I haven't read any of the other books in the series yet, and I was not lost or confused at all while reading A Beautiful Thought. I think it  is a testament to a good writer when they can write books that really standalone but also work as part of a series. It would be really easy to throw some carry over from previous storylines and confuse new readers, but Alicia Rae did a great job of keeping mentions relevant to this book and anything that wasn't was fully explained. She made it easy to just pick up this book before reading any of the others. I kind of got a glimpse of who the couples were from a couple of the previous books, and now I want to read Lily's story.

Gail is such a kind hearted individual. She is so giving to other people, and I loved the close bond that she had with her family. I loved watching her with Lily's daughter as well as with her younger sister Caroline. It is so admirable what she was doing for her. I really liked that Damon appreciated Gail's heart as well. I really liked Gail and Damon as individuals as well as together. I do, however, wish there was a little more build up between the two of them before they jumped into a semi-relationship. Gail needs a roommate because of some financial pressures in her life and Damon is looking for an apartment. Lily throws the two of them together in a bit of matchmaking. And pretty much right after they start living together, they act on their attraction. It was a bit of insta love. That was my only hold back with this story. I wanted a slower buildup, but once I got over that they were involved early on, their story was really sweet.

There are plenty of roadblocks thrown in their path to keep the story interesting. I thought that A Beautiful Thought was a kind of typical adult contemporary romance, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The dual narrative point of view really worked for this story, and allowed the readers to get to know both Damon and Gail very well. If you are a fan of contemporary romances, check out any book in the Beautiful Series. I would suggest starting with Gail or Lily's story.This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**

Meeting his Match is a standalone title, as well as the first book in the Match Me series. It is from Entangled's Lovestruck line and I think I have found one of my new favorite imprints from Entangled. These books are perfect for when I am in a romantic kind of mood. Ok, let me set the stage for you. Reagan sends her successful professional Matchmaker of a best friend down to help out her brother in law find his soul mate. Caine is a complete workaholic, and hasn't really made time for anything else in so many years. I really liked the premise of the story, it was simple, but it worked oh so well.

Addison is a force of nature. She just sweeps into Caine's life and kind of starts mixing everything up. I loved it. It was exactly what he needed. She really was like a breath of fresh air in his life. I  was immediately drawn to the fire that they each brought out in the other. Addison has her own sad past that has clouded her view of love. She saw her grandparents beautiful marriage and her grandmother also told her that everyone got their one true sole mate and once you found them, that was it. That was the only person you were meant to have. Addison found her soul mate in her high school sweetheart. She was married to him young and completely happy...until he died overseas. Now she thinks her chance for love is gone, so she sets other people up. She is a very thorough match maker. She even bought Caine a whole little group of fluff ball puppies to make Caine more approachable, and she named them after the ninja turtles. How can you not love that??

I loved Caine. He is a guy that knows what he wants and he is not afraid to put in the hard work for it. He is charming. And when he turned that charm on Addison, I have no idea how she held out as long as she did. Ummm hello...I just want to put in him a room with me and have him call me Darlin' all day. Yep, that would be great. At first him and Addison completely butt heads, but eventually  he comes to like her. And then the real fun begins. Addison puts the breaks on big time, and Caine is so adorable in his attempts to convince her. I just really loved their dynamic. Their chemistry jumped off the page. The story is swoony and sweet and hot at the same time. It is a great story to make you feel good. I loved the dual point of views, and I loved how Addison affected Caine thinking. It was great to see how invested in her he was. Caine makes the list of my book boyfriends for sure.

Meeting His Match is a great premise for a series of standalone romances. I really want to see the story on Caine's brother. It would have to be a prequel story I guess, so I am not sure how that would work, but his relationship with Reagan is something I want to find more about. Then again, I want to see more of Addison and Caine (and all those cute little puppies!) so I am going to need a bunch more books. Yep, please get on that Katee.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**

Everything's Fine is a really powerful read. You know those books that reach through your chest and rattle you? They just shake up all your insides and make you feel. Not always pleasant feelings, but definitely powerful feelings. Everything's Fine is told both in the present as well as through a series of flashbacks. It it about the best friend of a girl that killed herself. You really get a full picture of how her decision affected a ton of people around her.

What I loved about Everything's Fine is that it was just as much about Kira as it was about her friend Haylee that killed herself. Kira throws around the "F" word a lot, trying to reassure herself, and everyone else, that things were in fact fine. I have no idea how anyone could possibly believe her though. My heart went out to Kira. To be left in the aftermath of what her friend did, with no answers had to be one of the hardest things for anyone to go through. Kira spends a lot of the book looking for Haylee's journal because she is scared about what Haylee wrote about her. I was so freakin' curious about what was written in this journal. And I was really surprised when I finally found out. Janci Patterson will make your jaw drop more than once. I kept finding myself saying, "holy cow!" I can't believe that just happened.

Everything's Fine is like getting a glimpse into the dirty laundry in people's lives, and you cannot stop reading. Haylee's family is full of secrets. But this book is not all gloom and doom, there is also a really sweet silver lining for Kira. In the form of Nick. I'm not going to say whether he is a romantic interest or just a friend, but he was Haylee's cousin and I loved how there he was for Kira. It was super sweet, and I found myself looking forward to their scenes together.

Everything's Fine is a powerful book about loss, about how to deal with the aftermath and about getting some answers. I loved it. I felt for Kira so much, so I was happy that so much of the book dealt with her, and her trying to actually be "fine". But there parts with Haylee were fascinating as well. I don't want to say that her parts were happy, but it was satisfying to find out some answers about her. She is such a sad, depressed girl, so the answers were not always cheery, but they did offer some kind of closure. This book broke my heart multiple times. It is so hauntingly beautiful. I am so thoroughly impressed with Janci Patterson and her writing and ability to tell such an emotional story. Must read more books by her now!

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

The Best Laid Plans is one of those books where you start out liking it, and then you see something about one of the characters and you think "oh, I don't know about that..." and it makes you nervous about how it will affect your view of the book, but then you keep reading and the book just keeps getting better and better and you are super excited that you finished it. The Best Laid Plans was so good overall. I ended up loving Malcolm and Jayne, and their story was satisfying and their character growth was so impressive. But at more than one point, I saw myself thinking that it was all going to blow up in their faces and I just didn't know if I could watch it happen. Does that sound weird? Well, you are just going to have to read it to see what I mean.

Jayne and Malcolm are so similar in so many ways. Their high school stories shaped so much of the people that they became. It was interesting to get glimpses into their past scattered throughout the story, so we could piece together why they are the way that they are. Watching the two of them have to overcome and make peace with their pasts was one of my favorite parts of the stories. Oh, that and the fact that the two of them had some sizzling chemistry! Watching the two of them together was something else. It was hot.  The Best Laid Plans is categorized as both new adult and adult on goodreads. I personally think it is more adult. The characters are 10 years out of high school and it had a more adult feel to it.

The Best Laid Plans is the perfect book to grab cold drink and hang out by the pool with, or to curl up with a blanket on a rainy day. Either way, you will get lost in the sexy romance. You may want to smack Malcolm a few times, I know I did, but you also probably won't be able to not fall under the spell that Tamara Mataya casts. The characters are so fully fleshed out. Their insecurities, their personalities, their thoughts and feelings all feel so vivid. It was truly a feat. I felt what they were feeling. That is always a sign of great writing to me.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

Demons of Desire is the first book of Debra Dunbar that I have had the pleasure of reading. I absolutely loved it! I am waiting on the edge of my seat for the next book to come out. This is my first journey into the world of Succubus. I have read one other series that featured an Incubus, but this was my first experience with the female version. And to make her even more interesting she is a half breed- half succubus and half elf. Throw in an awesome New Orleans setting, some vampires, some witches, and you have a whole lot of fun. Demons of Desire had two major storylines going on at the same time. On one hand there is the whole inner battle that Amber has accepting her demon side, and on the other hand there is this warring coven storyline. Someone. or multiple someones are trying to kill off the land around New Orleans. The who and the why are what we have to figure out. I ate it all up. The characters, the plot, the world were all awesome.

Amber hates that she is half succubus. She feeds off of sexual energy to survive, and she can get past that but she hates that once she is intimate with someone they are essentially tied to her for life. She is certainly a work in progress as the story goes on. Not only is she dealing with other big bad demons, she is warring with the "demon" inside of herself. It was also really cool seeing her embrace both her demon powers as well as her elf powers. She is so impressive, and powerful for someone so young. And so mature. I respected her for her maturity most of all.

I loved watching her grow and accept herself with the help of her Incubus tudor Irix. I LOVE IRIX. I am just going to put that out there right now. He is full of awesome. I loved seeing all the different sides. He is so complex and not at all what he seems on first glance. He is the nicest "demon" I have ever seen. I can't wait to see more of him and Amber. It was just so strangely endearing to see that everything he did was for her. Even when he went and slept with other people, it was to feed her energy. I think in the next book, I want to see even more of the two of them, and I think I want to see a little bit of a jealous Irix. I think Amber would eat that up. (and I would too!) I would also love if the next book was told in dual point of view between him and Amber. Can you tell that I can't get enough Irix?

People that like Urban Fantasy need to read this book. This series is going to kick ass! It has action, magic galore, tons of different creatures, and great character chemistry. Demons of Desire is the first book in the Half-Breed series, and I can already tell you that I love it. In fact, this is one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series, and it is only the first book. I need to read Debra Dunbar's Imp series as soon as possible.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

The Homeroom Diaries is a hilarious story told in the form of a teens diary, complete with tons of awesome illustrations. It is hard for me to decide which I enjoyed more- the story through Margaret, or  "Cuckoo" as she has everyone call her, entries or her pictures to go along with the entries. It was a close call, both were equally awesome and both totally hilarious. The Homeroom Diaries is told from Cuckoo's point of view, but because it is her diaries it is told in a kind of easily accessible stream of consciousness. I loved every page of this book, even the sad ones.

Cuckoo does not have it easy. She has had more than her fair share of crappy things happen to her, but still through it all she is holding it together remarkably. I know the counselors at her school don't think so, but I do. I admired the heck out of her. And I loved seeing her with her friends. Check out how they describe themselves in one of these pictures from the book.*

 

The illustrations added a fantastic level of humor to the story. I lost count of how many times I flat out laughed out loud while reading Homeroom Diaries. And these were not dainty little giggles or chuckles, they were full out laughs, where I had to re-read paragraphs just so I could laugh again.

Homeroom Diaries is not just funny pictures though, there is a kick ass story in there too.Cuckoo and her friends are trying to implement this "project happiness" idea of theirs throughout the story, and you get a behind the scenes look at their everyday life. And trust me, tons goes on with them. I loved getting to know each of her friends, and I especially loved the alternate endings that she made for them. Cuckoo hates endings, and she is constantly writing alternate endings for books and movies and people. I hope that means there is another book coming out, because I am not ready to say goodbye to Cuckoo and her BFFs!

*Pictures were taken with permission from  the book’s official Instagram. Check it out for some awesome sneak peeks at the artwork!

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

Phantom's Dance is a contemporary re-telling of Phantom of the Opera. The story was great. I thought Lesa Howard had a beautiful dichotomy in her writing between the young, upbeat, and sweet feel of the teenagers in the story, along with the dark vibe that is the Phantom. Fans of the Phantom of the Opera should not mist Phantom's Dance by Lesa Howard. It was really cool to see the Opera and music get substituted with dancing. They so often go hand and hand, but Ballet is an excellent art to see woven into the story of the Phantom.

Christine moves to Houston to attend the prestigious Rousseau Academy of Dance. She is clearly an excellent dancer, but things in her life are holding her back from moving up to join their second company. I will admit that I didn't know very much about the technical side of Ballet, except for a few phrases I have seen thrown around in movies and tv. But Lesa Howard made the world of dance so easily accessible for her readers. I never felt lost or ignorant of the art. And the hard work that these dancer have to go through made me admire Christine so much. She is such a dedicated and hard worker. 

I really enjoyed Raoul and how he was introduced in the story. He is a football player that, along with his teammates, go to the dance academy to learn some techniques to help with their flexibility and to make them more resilient towards football injuries. I thought that was brilliant. He is such a wonderful guy. Sweet, dependable, and so understanding with Christine. I loved how he was really there for her when she needed him. He was something that she really needed in her life. I liked him a lot more than the Raoul from the movie version of the Phantom that I watched.

Phantom's Dance also worked in some step up- esque type dancing, which was another cool and unique add on to the story line. Lesa Howard really knew how to make this book interesting and engaging from start to finish. Phantom's Dance made me smile, creeped me out, and surprised me. It was a solidly good read. Fans of dance and of Phantom of the Opera should check it out!

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

Normal is the Watchword is the first book in a new series from Jasmine Tru called the Watchword series. Right off the bat I was drawn to the beautiful and vivid cover. The story started off pretty interesting. We are dropped into the life of Juniper, or Juni who is trying to complete her senior photography project to win a scholarship to college. I really liked the start of the story. It was very every day life writing. It helped me get to know the characters well and get a feel for their friendships and relationships. The book took a while to get going into the main storyline, but once that part of the book got started, everything seemed to happen at lightning speed.

Juni is out taking pictures for her project one day, and she witnesses as murder. Throw in a mysterious guy at school, with lots of secrets of his own and a kidnapped best friend and you have quite the exciting story on your hands. I enjoyed Normal is the Watchword. I liked Juni a lot and I liked Darius enough. I wish that the interaction and relationship between the two of them was a bit more fleshed out. It all happened kind of quickly because of the pace of the events, but Juni seemed to accept some pretty crazy explanations from him very easily. I guess there was "crazy" happening all around her, which made the explanations easier to swallow.

The plot of Normal is the Watchword was interesting and very fast paced. If you like books that have lots of action, intrigue and suspense. I thought it was a good start to the series, and I am interested in seeing what will happen next. I wish there was a little bit more detail woven into the characters and storyline. At parts, it felt a bit rushed to me, but I think that fast pace will appeal to some of the younger YA audience looking for a faster read. If you like angel and paranormal reads with lots of action, The Normal series is worth checking out.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

Death's Academy is a middle grade book that is just so much fun. I don't read many middle grade books for my blog, but every once in a while one comes my way that I just can't let slip by me. And Death's Academy looked like some magical fun. And it was all that and more. Death's Academy is a school for "hoodies" aka reapers and "halos" aka angels.

Midnight or Night for short is a reaper, who is scared of not passing his entrance exam to get into school. It doesn't help matters that his dad is famous for something- and not in a good way, and Night has no idea what it even is. I loved Night and his awesome tech savvy friend, Mal. The two of them made a great team.

The world that Michael Bast created in Death's Academy will appeal to readers young and old alike. It was hilarious to see some of his references and drawings in the book. The reaper families each had their own hellhounds and they were dachshunds!! How adorable. There are plenty of magical creatures in this book to hold any readers interest, and it was cool to see unicorns as the bad guys. Michael Bast does a great job of flipping the world on its' head and changing things up. I loved figuring out just what it was that happened with his dad all those years ago and along the way Night goes on quite the adventure himself to rescue his friend.

Death's Academy is a quick and enjoyable read. I think younger readers will really enjoy this funny and quirky book about reapers. The ending stops before school at Death's Academy even starts, so I hope that means there will be a second book where we can see Night at school. I think that this series is going to be an easy hit among younger readers, and even older readers will appreciate this book. It was a great read.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

First off, I would like to point out that Game Changer is not the first book in the series. I thought it was when I signed up for the tour, and goodreads didn't put a series name down with this title. It can technically be read as a standalone, and I wasn't lost or anything like that, but it was clear to me that there was a preceding book (at least one) about other characters. I enjoyed Game Changer but I do wish that I had read Night Games first.

Game Changer is equal parts romance as it is about the game of baseball. I really liked that. One did not overshadow the other. It was a bit unrealistic that the major leagues allowed a girl to play. I know they brought it up in the book as a concern that they brushed aside, but I do not think the major leagues are ready for a female player. However, having said that it certainly was interesting to see how Collette West dealt with it. I think if a major baseball team did accept a woman ball player, it would be handled much in the same way that it was with Sasha. With publicity and PR stunts and all the hair and makeup and everything. It was really a very astute take on social media and public perception.

Sasha and Brooks have a lot of history between the two of them. I enjoyed watching them dance around each other. It was clear that they have each liked the other for a long time, but Sasha's brother and Brooks best friend, Kyle is the main thing keeping them apart. He is dead set on separating the two and making each one think the other is not interested.

Game Changer was a treat in regards to both the baseball and the romance. Collette West does not hold any punches with her storyline. She is not afraid to put a character in a bad spot, but never fear this was a feel good read for me. I am not going to spoil anything, so you will just have to read to find out what happens with Sasha and baseball and Sasha and Brooks. But read Night Games first. I will be checking that book out next. I love a good sports themed romance. Everyone else that does as well should check out this series!

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs