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

Make it Right is the second book in the Bowler University series by Megan Erickson. Each book can be read as a standalone. Max made some mistakes in the first book, so it might actually be better for once if you read this one out of order. If you start with Make it Right, you won't be colored on your opinion of Max. But I really enjoyed reading these in order because Max's transformation was pretty impressive. Make it Right is a new adult contemporary romance and it is told in dual narrative between Max and Lea. We met Lea near the end of the first book, and as soon as she was introduced, I knew that I was going to love her as a main character. And I so did. She is a tough cookie, but a complete control freak. Control over everything made her feel safe after her accident as a kid.

I loved the author's note at the start of the book, about giving Max a second chance. Yes, he made some mistakes in the first book. Yes, he wasn't the picture perfect boyfriend for Kat, but I should put it out there that he wasn't an awful guy. He lost his patience a couple of times, and he made a big mistake with his friend Alec, but I was really excited to learn more about him and his family. And I was not let down at all. Megan Erickson did a fantastic job getting under the surface of Max. It was clear as day to see the differences between his family and Lea's family. Max and Lea had tons of issues thrown at them as a couple, but the more impressive progress made in Make it Right was the individual growth that they each exhibited by the end of the book. They each had their own demons to overcome before they would work as a couple.

Make it Right is a fantastic book. The romance and characters will make you feel lots of feels. You will swoon, and you will see a very different version of Max. It was so nice to see him find the girl that actually took a second to see past his facade and care about what he wanted. Lea took the time to actually see Max. It was touching. But more than anything, Make it Right made me happy because it solidified the fact that I found a new author love. You read one book by an author and you love it and you are excited. But when you read another book by the author and you love it too, and more than that you can see the quality of developed characters, and creative and satisfying plots, you start to get even more excited. Megan Erickson is an author that I am confident should be added to my auto buy book. Her books just make me happy. Up next is Make it Last, Cam's story- and I can't wait!

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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

Yay for some good new adult paranormal. We need more of that, in my opinion. And yay for Alyssa Rose Ivy for creating an original storyline. It was part kidnapper story, part shifter and a whole lot of interesting. I really enjoyed Dire. I wasn't sure what to make of the romance a lot of the time. I liked Cage, and Hunter left me with mixed emotions. But I do know one thing for sure, I need to get my hands on a copy of Dusk as soon as possible because I am dying to know what is going to happen next. Alyssa Rose Ivy created this world I think set in the world of the Empire Chronicles and the Crescent Chronicles because the creatures are the same and a king was alluded to, but there hasn't been any character cross over yet (although I haven't completed the Empire Chronicles, so maybe there is) I think that was a really cool way to set up a book. I love that the paranormal world is the same one that I loved in Crescent Chronicles. It is not as daunting, but still felt fresh and different since we were exploring a different creature.

Cage and Mary Anne are driving home in a snowstorm when they are stranded and found by Hunter and his crew. Cage and Mary Anne have known each other their whole lives, but were never more than neighbors until this trip. I couldn't get a good read on Cage before the wolves were introduced. I didn't know if his feelings were genuine or not, and because of that I didn't write Hunter completely out. I am just a mess of emotions between the two of them. Yes, Cage seems to care about Mary Anne the more the book went on, and yes Hunter is technically the person holding them hostage, but I have no idea who I want the romance to be between. And the awesome thing about Dire is the book doesn't go one way or the other! There isn't really a ton of romance. The bulk of the story was set up on Mary Anne and this world she found herself thrown into.

I can't even get into how terrifying this must all be for Mary Anne and Cage. I mean being forcibly taken into this whole new world, and being so powerless to do anything is scary. I admired Mary Anne a lot. And I admired Cage for sticking by her side the whole time. He really does seem like a good guy.

Alyssa Rose Ivy certainly knows how to keep a girl on the edge of her seat. This was unlike any book that I have read in a while. I can't get a good read on what is going to happen in the coming books. Sure, I know some things, and I have a guess as to what the conflicts will be, but the Dire Wolves Chronicles is turning out to be anything but predictable. There was a lot of stage-setting in this Dire, and I feel like the romance and conflicts are really going to take off in Dusk. I am not revealing any of my "teams" or "sides" until I read the next book. But fans of Alyssa Rose Ivy will really enjoy Dire. It is another solidly enjoyable read. (not that I am surprised, I seem to love everything Alyssa writes.) People that are burned out on new adult contemporary should give new adult paranormal, and Dire, a chance!

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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

A Blind Spot for Boys is so much more than just a cute young adult contemporary romance. It is about finding yourself, and experiencing new things, and family, and relationships and really so much more. There is also a really cute romance. :p I felt like I was discovering the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu right along with all of the hikers in the story. The beauty in Justina Chen's book is the writing. It was elegant and detailed. The story flowed along beautifully and I could vividly picture all of the scenes, even feel the horror of the mudslide.

Shana and Quattro have each experienced too much sadness for people their age. Quattro has lost his mother and Shana's father is suddenly going blind. They are each on this journey, or dream walk hike to Machu Picchu for different reasons. Neither of them are looking for a relationship, and they ended up each finding each other, but for me that was secondary to the whole storyline. It really wasn't but I still felt like there was a bigger message at play than just a romance. And I loved that about A Blind Spot for Boys.

I enjoyed how real the book felt. Justina Chen didn't sugar coat things. When Shana's dad first learns that he will lose his sight in 6 months, he does not take it well. In fact, he doesn't take it well for most of the book. This might sounds weird, but I really appreciated that. Not that I wanted him to be unhappy and take it out on his family, but come on! I know I wouldn't be all sunshine and roses if I found out something like that. I would be scared and grumpy and not pleasant. This book is about a different journey for each of the characters. It was a treat to see all of it. And Grace just stole my heart! I loved her!

A Blind Spot for boys is a powerful read. Shana is on the search for the kind of photos that will "crack your heart open" and that is really what this book is about. What will crack the hearts open of each of the characters. Plus it both made me yearn to go to Machu Picchu and at the same time, terrified to. It is such a beautiful place, and A Blind Spot for Boys was a beautiful story.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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

Into the Fire is the first in a new young adult paranormal romance series written by Kelly Hashway writing as Ashelyn Drake. Kelly wrote a really nice note at the start of the book explaining that that because Into the Fire is equal parts paranormal and romance she is using both her paranormal writing name as well as her romance writing name. Seeing as I love both paranormal and romance books, her foreword made me even more excited for Into the Fire. I have not yet experienced a book where the main character is a phoenix. Basically, the only phoenix I was familiar with before was Fawkes.

I think they are fascinating creatures and Ashelyn Drake did a great job making them her own in this book. Her Phoenixes get 5 lives, but the most important transition by far is between the first and second life for them. That is when they become a full phoenix and that is also the life where they forget everything about their first life. I am not quite sure why this is the only like they forget about, but I am guessing that it has something to do with the fact that they weren't a full phoenix before this first transition. But that isn't really something covered by the book.

The book starts out with Cara's brother going through the transition and everyone takes it pretty hard. I suppose it would be tough to watch someone you are so close with forget all about you. But this story is more about Cara and the new guy in town, Logan. Logan is beyond adorable. He is so cute with Cara. I loved that the book really was very evenly split between their romance and "imprint" and the phoenix history. I will say that I called the hunter right off the bat. I didn't want it to be who it was, but I was not surprised at the reveal towards the end.

You learn a lot of phoenixes and phoenix hunters in this book. I do wish we got a little bit more hunter history though. I think that would have been interesting. Either way, Into the Fire is a great read. The book flows along at a brisk pace and it is so easy to get swept up in the story. I read this book in one sitting and I enjoyed myself the whole time- right up until that humdinger of an ending! It was not what I wanted to happen at all! The second book had better do some damage control for that because it looked pretty serious left where it was. I can't wait to see what the author is going to do. I am going to continue this series for sure. If you are a fan of paranormal romance books and you are looking for a new creature to discover and fall in love with, check out Into the Fire and the Birth of the Phoenix series. I love finding series about unique paranormals, and Ashelyn Drake did a really good job with this one.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**Bespoken is the first book by new author, Marie Michelle Coleman. It is a new adult paranormal series called Nightangel and Daydreamer series. Casey lives two separate lives, one as a high powered, overworked associate in a large law firm, and the other as a pretty serious daydreamer. I enjoyed Bespoken. I had a few hiccups with it, but overall I thought it was a strong debut for Marie Michelle Coleman. Casey's daydreams are about a creature named Gabriel, who is a nightangel. I had never heard of a night angel before, so I was really intrigued.

Turns out a nightangel is part angel part vampire. That was certainly a cool combo. Casey was interesting. Some of the time, I really liked her and some of the time I couldn't figure out my feelings for her. I can't exactly pin down what it was about her that irked me, but whatever it was, it was pretty minor. Gabriel took a while to grow on me as well. But for very different reasons. Because Casey was all over the place in the start of the book, I had no idea whether she liked her daydream Gabriel or was scared of him. I really loved the descriptive writing in Bespoken. The daydream landscapes were always so vividly painted. I think that Marie Michelle Coleman did an excellent job describing everything.

Another one of my favorite parts of the story was actually watching Casey at her law firm. I know, I am probably the only one on earth that will say this because she was overworked most of the time, but I could just relate to the environment. (not necessarily just because of the work load though.) The whole law firm scene reminded me of my summer with "big law". I got a kick out of watching another associate go through the typical stuff.

As for the whole nightangel- gabriel- Casey aspect, I am having a really hard time reviewing without being too spoilery. Bespoken definitely took me by surprise a few times, and because of that I think this is just a book that you are better off experiencing for yourself. It took me a while to get into. The book starts off fine but very quickly we are thrown this new guy int he world and Casey is freaking out because it is her daydream. I just thought she handled the whole thing very strangely. I had no idea how she knew some of the things she knew about him and they weren't explained to us until much later on, if at all. So it was kind of a choppy start. Even her first daydream meeting with Gabriel after she saw him in her world was weird. But once I kept reading, the book kind of evened out and got better. I just fell into the flow of the story, I think. And once I did, I enjoyed Bespoken.This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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

Finding Mr. Darcy is a younger feeling YA story that will appeal to people who enjoy Jane Austen and a heroine has to kiss many frogs to find her prince kind of story. There are guys galore at this high school. And Liza seems to be jumping all over the place. She wasn't really, but there are three...count them three love "interests" in this book. Finding Mr. Darcy: High School Edition was a cute read and I was pleased with the way things turned out. I did have some character issues with the book but the Jane Austen aspect of the story and the writing were wonderful.

Liza starts out as kind of a loner with her best friend Janie. I really liked Liza and Janie both at the start of the story. Liza was kooky with her Jane Austen t-shirts and proper way of speaking. She was endearing. She lost a little bit of that appeal to me throughout the story with the way she was ping ponging back and forth between the guys and how she wouldn't tell Will how she felt. She is young though and at times she acted immaturely, like someone her age is prone to do.

Janie is a good friend. She was jealous at times, but I thought considering everything she was remarkably loyal. I think I liked Janie most of all. Will, Ben and Ryan are the guys in this book. Let's just cut Ben out of the equation because I don't think anyone will actually put him as a front runner, but Will and Ryan had me going back and forth quite a bit. There are ups and downs with all of the characters throughout the story and you feel like you are thrown into a Jane Austen inspire high school soap opera. Or maybe the Jane Austen contemporary version of the vampire diaries or something.

I did enjoy the way Erin Butler wrapped everything up. I think Liza ended up with the best guy for her, but it was almost too much at times for her to figure it out. I enjoyed the story, but I think it would appeal most to a younger YA crowd. The Jane Austen aspect of the story was by far my favorite. I loved Liza's trip to England and I loved all of the Austen inspired assignments and balls that they had. This made me want to dive back into Pride and Prejudice. I'm glad that Liza had a few epiphany growth moments about herself and how she was acting towards the end of the story as well, they redeemed her in my eyes. Finding Mr. Darcy might not have been my favorite book of 2014, but it was a good read. One that I think fans of Ms. Austen and a girl just trying to find her way in high school might really enjoy.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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

The premise of Again sounded different and intrigued me and I have had such good luck with Lisa's books in the past, especially her new adult books. So I knew I couldn't pass up on Again. And I am so glad that I did. Even though the premise was unlike most new adult books that I have read, the plot tended to be a little bit predictable but it worked really well for this story. I enjoyed getting wrapped up in the story of Kate and Carter. And I also really liked that this was a complete standalone story. Not a standalone as a part of a series, but a true standalone. Everything was neatly wrapped up in the end, and while I would love to play in the world of these two some more, there is something satisfying about everything being so nicely wrapped up. (I don't even know if that made any sense. Summary- Sometimes I just like a standalone.)

Kate and Carter have each made some pretty big mistakes in their lives. And they were both looking for a second chance to try and be a different person. Kate through reinventing herself as a college freshman when she was really 29 and Carter by trying to hide his past from the new girl. I have no idea how Kate managed to pull of 19. I mean that is probably the craziest part of the story. I want to know her secret, especially since she was practically an alcoholic. That ages a body, but she must have one heck of a moisturizer to seem that youthful. (ok, age rant over.)

I admired Kate's determination to make something more of herself. I thought it was telling of how strong of a person she was that she went to these lengths to go after what she wanted. I can't even imagine the Kate that I got to know in Again sleeping with a married man. She grew so much. And Carter! Carter is just the biggest teddy bear. He wants to take care of everyone. It breaks my heart that he was painted to be such a bad guy. He is the opposite. This guy has the biggest heart. I just wanted to hug him. All the time.

Lisa worked her magic again in Again. I love watching her develop character chemistry and romance. Her books are so fluid. They make you want to keep turning pages until you get to the end and find yourself wishing for more pages. The story was great. I did see the "twist" coming a little ways off, but it didn't ruin anything for me. I still had that OMG moment, and I was still so happy about Kate and Carter's story. You will want to read Again, Again and Again.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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

Her Best Shot is the first book in the new adult Hot & Nerdy trilogy by Shannyn Schroeder. I love so many things about the way this trilogy is set up. First, I love that the books are releasing each within a month of each other- at the ends of September, October and November of 2014. That is perfect for people that don't like waiting long in between books. Second, the books are told in dual narrative between each of the main guys and girls and I think you all know by now that is my favorite story telling narrative method. and Third, the trilogy follows a group of three friends. The books are each of their stories, BUT the cool part is that each of the books take place in roughly the same time period. For example, Her Best Shot is the story of Layla and Phin. Layla was on her way to spend spring break with her friend Felicity when her car broke down and she met Phin. The third book, Her Winning Formula is Felicity's story and it takes place on their spring break trip that Layla was supposed to go on. What a cool concept right? I can't wait to read the second and third books and see how they all fit together.

Ok, now let's talk some more about Her Best Shot. As I mentioned, it is the story of Layla and Phin. Layla is super smart. She picks up on things almost immediately, she loves to be in control and she hates losing at things. She is beyond your average nerd. I mean, she goes to MIT and the book starts out with her getting a job as a code analyst. Phin could not be more different, where Layla likes to calculate odds and plan her moves out ahead, Phin is much more a fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy. And this is defiantly a story of opposites attract. Most of the book takes place over 1 week so the attraction is pretty instant. They moved a bit fast for my tastes, but it was clear to see that they had a real connection. But Layla had a panic attack and did a complete 180 of her personality at one point. I was kind of thrown. I wish we had gotten a little bit more insight into her panic attacks so that I could understand her drastic mindset change a little better. It was a strange point in the story too, and while I  completely detested Phin's method, I actually think what he did to Layla was for the best. She was about to make a huge mistake in my opinion. It was right around this time in the story where everything stopped being predictable and started getting a whole lot more interesting. I really didn't know where the author was going to take us next and I was so excited to find out.

Her Best Shot is a quick read. At under 200 pages it felt more like a very short story than a novella. It was fleshed out and felt complete, which is impressive for its' length. The only thing I wish there was more of was some background on Layla's panic attacks and then the outcome of the tournament! I want to know who wins! haha. Her Best Shot is perfect for when you are looking for a quick, pick me up read. The romance is great and the characters are likable. But like I said before, the real winner here is how Shannyn Schroeder structured the trilogy. I just love that all of the stories take place in the same time frame. I can't wait to meet Layla's friends and see what they were up to while she was off falling for Phin. The Hot & Nerdy series is a very cool concept, one that I would like to see more of in New Adult.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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I love Eliza Gordon. Her romances are quirky and full of humor. They are great reads to put a smile on my face. Must Love Otters was one of my surprise favorites of 2013, so I was super excited to read Neurotica. And while the story was completely different, there was still that same brand of charm and humor that I have come to love about Eliza's writing. Neurotica is the story of a Jayne. The story starts out with Jayne in her therapists' office, where we got a pretty good idea of some of her Neuroses. Jayne is afraid of intimacy. I really respected her for seeing a therapist, and I loved that her therapist suggested that Jayne write some erotica help her with her visualization and to get her more comfortable with the idea of S-E-X. Now, I feel like I should say that even though a main part of this book centers around the idea that Jayne is afraid of sex and the fact that she writes and later publishes her erotica novels, that Neurotica is actually a clean book. It is adult, but there are no graphic scenes, and it would actually work as new adult because the main characters are 26 or so.

Neurotica has a great cast of characters. I really enjoyed them all. There was Luke, the owner of the Piewalkers food truck. I have a love of foodtrucks and of witty names, so this one was right up my alley. I would track this truck down across the nation if it was real. Just sayin'. Then you have the best friend Gretchen, who was always there for Jayne, sometimes in a tough love kind of not so gentle pushing way, but that was just Gretchen. She really cared for Jayne and wanted the best for her.  I actually really liked their dynamic. And then there is Holden. While I really did like Luke, I also really liked Holden. I thought he was beyond adorable. No more information on that. Read the book people!

Jayne really wants to be a writer. She wrote the obits and sale notices at her job (while she was working there) and she was forever trying to pitch them on all kinds of articles. I admired her tenacity at work. They totally didn't deserve her there. In her spare time she wrote science fiction and fantasy books, and throughout Neurotica we got to see chapters of her books written under her pen name. I really would have preferred to see some erotica chapters as the story went on and Jayne made some character growth progress on that front, but we only saw her fantasy book. I was so wrapped up in the story of Jayne that stopping that to read the excerpts from the book were sometimes a bit of a drag for me. I caught myself starting to skim some of them.

Neurotica is so much fun to read. I loved all the dorkdom and star wars references. Eliza Gordon is great with her word choice and one liners to advance the humor of the book. She not only has the overly funny in your face humor aspect down, but also the subtle wit form of humor in spades. Reading her books is like reading a finely tuned work of art. I really love her writing. The ending did leave me wanting more though. Add another chapter or two Mr. Gordon. Please! Neurotica was a great read.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs