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Awake is a young adult thriller. I absolutely love the cover of Awake with the rose and the barbed wire, and the concept of a cult, because I don't read too many books with cults in them. I was in the mood for something creepy, and I had heard amazing things about Natasha's last book, the Cellar. Alas, Awake didn't work out quite the way I wanted it too. I liked it alright, but it certainly wasn't my favorite. Most of the reason that I didn't flat out hate this book was because the concept was intriguing to me, and I genuinely wanted to see where the author was going to go with it. Which to me means that Natasha's Preston's writing was not the issue for me. Awake was a technically solid book, as far as writing goes.

First, and this is a minor point, but the summary says that Scarlett couldn't remember anything before the age of 5, but the story has the age at 4. I know that is a little point, but honestly 5 in the story would have been better. Because I can't remember anything before the age of 4! (or 5 for that matter) The things that I do remember, I am pretty sure are not my own memories, but rather memories of stories that other people have told me. But fine, if Scarlett is freaked out because her lack of memories feels scary or weird to her, I could get on board with that. It is everyone else's reactions that had me pulling me hair. They were flat out shocked whenever they found out that she couldn't remember. Like it was the weirdest thing they had ever heard. And that was where the author started to lose me. It felt like a disconnect with the summary and with the story. I know that sounds weird so let me try and explain that means. (I have seen different versions of the summary floating around as I format this post, but the issues with the story remain the same. These things still bugged me even though the summary cleared it up. I am glad that the summary was modified though, I think that will help with other readers checking out Awake.)

My other main issue was with Summary Noah and Noah in the story. In the summary, it makes Noah seem like he is going to be protecting Scarlett from the cult, but then when I was reading the book, it really did not seem to be that way. You do get more answers as the story progresses but I couldn't connect with either of the characters because they just seemed so out there to me. Noah is creepy beyond belief and Scarlett just fell flat for me. I found Awake to be confusing and too many things just didn't jive and add up in my mind to make this story work. Fans of creepy stories and cults and darker versions of people (think really messed up) might get the appeal of Awake. I wanted this book to work out for me, but it just didn't. I didn't hate it, but I really didn't love it either.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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

When an Omega Snaps is the third book in the adult shifter series, called A Lion's Pride. I have not read any of the other books in this series, but when I saw the premise for this one, I was just so darn excited for it that I knew I had to read it. From what I can tell each book is on the shorter side, and features a different member of this pride. I wanted to start with Leo's story because I loved the idea 1) of the pride omega. I had no idea, but omega's are the peacemakers of the group. Leo is known for being calm and clear headed. I like that because it is such a contrast to how you typically hear shifters described in stories. I thought Eve did an awesome job at painting Leo out to be this levelheaded guy.

And then I love the idea of such a calm force becoming jealous and a bit crazy. I think we all know by now I like my book boyfriends with a touch of possessiveness or a wee bit of a jealous streak. And they extra points if this is out of character for them typically. Because I also love my book boyfriends to be sweet, or at least to have a gooey marshmallow center. With Leo I got the best of both of these worlds. I loved seeing him so out of sorts with Meena.

And Meena was a force all on her own. Oh wow is she forceful and in your face. She was a bit too forward for my liking, but I respected that she went after what she wanted. And she is the complete opposite of Leo, which was fun to watch how they mixed, meshed and even clashed sometimes. When an Omega Snaps is a fun and quick read . People that dislike in your face loud women, might have an issue with Meena, but I thought her big personality worked well in the story. I would love to read more books about Omega's, and I am interested to see if this is always their role in the pride (or pack) or if this was a new take on Eve's part.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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Blackmail Boyfriend is a whole new genre for author Chris Cannon. I love her going down in flames series, and I love contemporary romances, so I was happy to give this one a read. And I did enjoy it! I think I like her paranormal series more, but this was a cute little read. Blackmail Boyfriend starts out with the kind of crazy twisted web of lies, that made me want to run and grab a snack before I went on a little further. Let me set the stage for you:

Bryce has a crazy ex girlfriend that doesn't get that they are broken up. Bryce hooks up with a popular girl Haley over the weekend and decides to start telling people (I think to send a message to his ex that they are over.) Popular Haley uses another Haley's name because popular Haley recently got back together with her beefcake on again, off again boy toy, and she doesn't want him to get mad at her. "Other Haley" (our main character) shows up at school on Monday hearing these rumors that she hooked up with Bryce. Meanwhile, "other Haley" can never find a boyfriend because her older, and majorly intimidating, older brothers scare all guys away. So when Bryce realizes he used the wrong Haley's name, he tries to set the record straight. But "other (our) Haley" decides to use this to her advantage. She forced Bryce into a fake relationship to make other guys see that even with her brothers she is still datable and approachable. Still with me?

And don't worry, I didn't spoil anything because all of that happened in the first chapter of the book. So as you can tell, it was a flurry of fast acting, and yes sometimes immature reactions. I knew I was in for one wild, and fun!, ride. It took me a while to adjust myself to the speedy pace of the book, and to warm up to the characters, but once I did, I really enjoyed Blackmail Boyfriend. Haley and Bryce were cute with each other, mostly because I think everything about the whole situation took them each by surprise. It is a high school ride that completely reminded me of a teen high school soap opera.

Blackmail Boyfriend is great for fans of high school romances. It was at times a little immature, but always a whole lot of fun. So buckle up and get ready for a fast paced good time with Blackmail Boyfriend.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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3.5/5
Wild Hearts is the fourth standalone title in Bloomsbury's young adult contemporary "If Only" romance line centered around an impossible problem: you always want what you can't have! Each of the books has a cute if only sentence, and Wild Hearts' is "If Only...their fathers didn't hate each other." Brie's father is a land developer and he is hired to create a new hotel in a small rural town...where wild mustangs run. I bet you can guess that the town is not too happy with that. And cue, Logan's father being the mad ranch hand. Along with the rest of the towns people.

I thought Wild Hearts was a very cute little romance. It was very light hearted and a read that will make you feel good. For being an irate town of protesters, I thought that Logan was actually very welcoming. Maybe a little too welcoming, if that makes any sense. My only snag with Wild Hearts was that most of the town was so nice and understanding. Which normally, I would love. But these people hated Brie's father, they were protesting on their front yard the first night they were there, but the sheriff told them to stop and they all backed off. I would have thought that if the community was as small as it seemed that the sheriff would be on the side of the townspeople, but everyone seemed so logical. At one point Logan was like, well your dad has all the proper permits so there isn't really anything we can do. WTF? haha it just seemed bizarre for a teenage boy that was so connected with the horses to act so calm and rational about everything.

But I suppose if my only hang up on the story was that everyone in the town was too nice, I guess that isn't really a bad thing. It was just a little surprising how quickly Logan took to Brie because I would have thought he would have really disliked her. At least at first. But Logan and Brie were super cute together. I loved watching them with the horses. Wild Hearts was just a whole lot of fun. I have read a couple of the books in the If Only story line, and they are true standalones. I wouldn't even call If Only a series. It is just a line of books, by different authors that center around the theme that you want what you can't have. Which is the perfect thing for young adult books. There are so many ways authors can go with it. And Wild Hearts was a great take on the If Only line. A cute read for any time of the year.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**Where to start with this one? Letters to Zell is a hilarious and zany ride that takes what we knew of fairy tale princesses and turns it on its' head. Told in letter format, Letters to Zell starts off with a letter to Zell (Rapunzel) from Ceci (Cinderella- but don't call her that! She hates it!). Apparently, Zell up and left her princess friends to run off and tend to Unicorns. Zell, Ceci, Bianca (Snow White) and Rory (Sleeping Beauty) are all a part of a book club, and the other princesses are not too happy that Zell left them without any notice.

The letters drop you right in the middle of their world, and it takes a good bit of time to get your bearings. Since the book is told in letter format, and alternates between the princesses, the author- Camille Greip, has to weave details into each letter. Although this method took longer than a couple setting the stage paragraphs or even chapters would have, it felt more authentic to the story telling method. If these princesses were really writing letters to their friend, they wouldn't explain the world they all grew up in, in one go around. (If my friend wrote me a letter and described Florida, it would be one bizarre letter.) So even though this often left me a bit confused until I could gather enough details to paint a picture of the world, I kind of liked it. It made me feel like I was on a scavenger hunt of sorts.

Let's talk a little bit about the letters. They completely cracked me up! I loved Binaca's. She is so crass. All of her letters started with "Important F-ing Correspondence from Snow B. White" Bianca is also still living out the pages of her story, so her letters were of particular interest to me. The book on a whole was a lot of fun to read. I loved the concept of these princesses bonding together and doing something so ordinary as drinking (a lot!) and having a book club. Parts of the story did seem to drag on a bit, and I had to put the book down a few times and pick it up again later, but overall, I enjoyed this story.

Letters To Zell reminded me of the song "Fairytale" by Sara Bareilles. Where all of the Fairy tales have taken a decidedly less happy(and maybe more realistic?) turn than their happily ever after. Each of these princesses are trying to figure out what they really want to do with their lives. I think this is a great book for people in their 20s to read, because I feel like we all are trying to figure out our passions and what we really want to do. And I think everyone has at some point wondered, or known someone who has wondered, if the path they were on was the right one. This takes that idea, throws in some adventure, princesses and a whole lot of wine, and takes us on a journey to answer that questions. And there are a lot of laughs, and some behavior unbecoming of fairytale princesses, along the way.


This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**Tangled Up in Blue is the first book in the new adult contemporary romance series, Ikana College by author J.D. Brick. I really liked that Tangled Up in Blue was told in dual narrative, and I really did like the two main characters- Blue and Keegan. But the story fell a little flat for me. On one hand, the romance was interesting and the story was solidly good. Fans of new adult will enjoy the romance and the college setting. But people who are getting burnt out on new adult, or who dislike new adult that is all the same, this may not be the book for you.

For the record, let me say, that I am not burnt out on New Adult. New Adult contemporary romance is my favorite age group for contemporary romance. But Tangled up in Blue felt very generic as far as new adult romances went. It was good, but it wasn't anything different to make it stand out in my mind. But now, let's talk about what I did like in Tangled up in Blue. I liked the set up. I liked that Keegan was thrown into this big party house, which was totally not her scene. It made for lots of built in roommates (characters) for the story. I liked the way J.D. Brick used dramatic elements in this story. She didn't just keep throwing drama in your face, but it was kind of there in the background, in the form of a kind of sort of ex, Blue's mysterious past and Keegan's stalker of course.

The stalker storyline, by the way...totally creeped me out! I would have flipped if that happened to me. Keegan way handling it too calmly in my opinion. So why wasn't this story a bigger hit with me? Something about Blue's connection with Keegan felt off. Cheesy maybe? I'm not exactly sure. I liked it, and it has all the ingredients that would make this a new adult hit with me. And while the end result was something that I enjoyed, it didn't become the home run I was hoping for. The story felt long in parts.

Bottom Line: This is a good, but kind of generic new adult contemporary romance. If you can't get enough of the new adult genre and like your romances a little on the cheesy side, Tangled up in Blue would be a great pick for you. If you are a little worn out on New Adult, I would say pass on this one. Will I be continuing on in the series? Maybe. I am interested in what is going to happen next, so we will see.


This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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

The Boomerang series has been one that I have been wanting to read for a long time. And the plot summary of Bounce appealed to me the most out of all three books so far, so I decided, why not? Let's start with number Bounce. And I am so glad that I did. Bounce was such a fun read and honestly, it was a giant "awh" book. That is the only way I know how to describe it. Bounce made me say "awh" so many times while reading it. If you are looking for a cute book that will put a perma smile on your face, read Bounce.

I like that so many of the characters from the series play such large roles in Bounce. That will be great fun for fans that have read the entire series, but it was also great for me as a first time reader because I felt like I got to know them, even thought I hadn't read their stories yet. I loved Skyler. She was interesting and watching her with Grey was a giant Awh all the time. Skyler needs money and she is roped into auditioning for a role in a movie with her actor friend Beth. Guess what? Skyler gets the role and her life turns into a big whirlwind adventure after that. With lots of ups and downs and luckily, lots of Grey.

Grey just melted my heart. I loved that he was positively smitten with Skyler from the very start. It was a refreshingly new take on new adult. Even though Grey was far from innocent, his adorable fascination with Skyler seemed cute and innocent to me. I was rooting for him from the very first scene. I can't get enough of him. This was a cuter new adult story than I was expecting, and it turns out that I loved that so much about Bounce. Yes, there are road bumps and obstacles and some not so light topics touched on in the book, but still the overall feeling was fun, flirty and so utterly adorable. Fans of the Boomerang series will fall in love with Grey. And fans that are new to the series should start with Bounce. I was really happy that I did!


This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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My Thoughts
Winter's Bride is the first book in an adult paranormal romance series, called the Elders of the Seasons. The first book follows the winter lord. I loved the concept behind the Elders of the Seasons. There are four elders that rule the land. Each one of them gets to take a turn to rule, during...you guessed it, their season. The other piece to the story that I really loved was that the Elders all lived together in this one city. It was a tiny town because while the elders were not mean per se they were pretty scary to a lot of people, so there are not too many people that move to live closer to them, but the people that do live there have a pretty good life.

Winter's Bride follows the story of Dawn, a young woman in this small town and the Winter Lord. The Winter Lord has never had any interest in marrying, until a string of events surrounding one of the other elders has forced him into taking a bride. And then he meets Dawn....What was actually really sweet was that Dawn has had a crush/ infatuation with the Winter Lord for as long as she can remember. I liked the interaction between the Winter Lord and Dawn, and I really liked the concept and the storyline.

My only issue with Winter's Bride was that Dawn sometimes seemed like a lost little girl. She was a bit naiive, which didn't fit in the situations she found herself in. Some of the scenes were a bit over the top as well. The Winter Lord was hard to get a read on as well. I would have liked to see a bit more inside his head to get a better idea of what he was thinking and truly feeling. But the pull of the elders kept me more than enough interested in the storyline. I can't wait to see where Nellie C. Lind is going to take it next.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**My Thoughts A Sweet Possibility is the second book in the new adult/adult contemporary romance Archer Cove by Natalie Charles. I had no idea that this was the second book in the series at all, and it read a like a complete standalone. This line from the summary totally sold me on the book, "All baker Jessica Mallory wants is a modest thigh gap. And her own chocolate shop." I have no idea why but I love the modest thigh gap and chocolate addict conundrum. It is totally adorable and cute, just like Jessica. I also loved Nate. Pretty hard. So I think it is safe to say that A Sweet Possibility was a really sweet book. Definitely.

Jessica is quirky and funny. Kind of like a smidgen of Bridget Jones mixed in with spunk and something that is uniquely her own. And Nate is just pure adorable-ness. I could not get enough of him. I loved how infatuated he was with Jessica. Those kind of sweet crushes get me every time. Jessica gets dumped and decides to make some changes in her life to get herself together and to open her own chocolate shop. (She does it for all the wrong reasons, but nonetheless the reader knows what is going to happen.)

Nate steps in to help Jessica and watching the two of them together just made me smile. A Sweet Possibility is a bit of a predictable read, but it is predictable in all the ways you want it to be. I can't wait to read the first book in the Archer Cove series, because I am sure that it is just as fell good as this one. My only holdback with this book was something that I only noticed after I had finished reading. I know that might seem a little strange, but I was just loving every page of this story that this point didn't even cross my mind until I was done. Click to see what it was.

I wanted more Jessica and Nate together. By the time the really good together stuff was happening it was the end.

Bottom Line: A sweet Possibility is a really sweet friends to more contemporary romance. I would totally check it out, when you ate looking to satisfy your romance sweet tooth.


This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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Oh Elisabeth Grace how I love you and your books! Let me count the ways. Actually that is kind of what I am going to do. This is going to be a mini review because I have read and COMPLETELY LOVED so many of Elisabeth's new adult and adult romances that I am afraid I will get too gushy here. So I am just going to quickly run down the reasons why you need Jamie McTavish and this book in your life. ASAP.

First, I'm going to let this graphic speak for itself:

Done! Jamie McTavish is hot and swoon worthy and I would like a moment or two alone with him. Seriously, that alone is enough of a reason to make me want to read Indecision. (Not to be confused by the similarly titled and similarly covered series, Indiscretion series.)

Second, Elisabeth writes not only great romance but she writes great characters, and great plots. Great everything. Period. Her books are so engaging, and well written, you will not be able to put them down. I devoured this book in one sitting. And when I was done I seriously contemplated [picking this book right up and starting it all over again.

Third, Indecision might be my favorite book of all of hers. But please don't make me pick, because I go back and forth with a lot of them. But all of them are worthy of re-reads in my opinion and there are so few authors that I can say that about.

The takeaway here should be that is you love new adult or adult contemporary romances, love solid story building, love swoonworthy men (in uniforms!) then why the heck are you still waiting?? Indecision is the perfect book for you! Go read it now.



This review was originally posted on Book Briefs