Going Under is such a touching story. It really is. It was so nice to see someone fight for someone and have such pure intentions. I loved the progression of the story, and I loved getting to know Jessie and Claire. Fans of contemporary romance need to check out this series!

Claire is a typical "perfect" teenager. She was smart and pretty and nice, but my favorite thing about her was her spunk. She is super feisty and it was so much fun to read about her and her best friend, Payton. Jessie rolls into town and right away he makes an enemy- of the quarter back he is about to replace, and Claire's boyfriend. So I knew this book was going to be drama right from the start. But it is so much fun to read, and like most reality shows(or whatever your guilty pleasure is) it totally sucked me in. I liked that jessie was kind of a bad boy at the start. It made him seem realistic. he wasn't head over heels from page one, but the more he saw of claire the more he liked. It just flowed. I could feel their feelings start to develop. That is what I loved the most. plus once you got to know the real jessie, he is such an angel!

Plus, I love the way Claire always fought for him. It was so nice because no one has ever cared enough about him to stick up for him. It was almost like the two of them against the world and I was totally on their side. This is such a sweet, sweet love story. Rich girl, poor troubled boy. It is not an original idea but there is a reason that it is a popular plotline. When it is done well, it can be compelling and super cute. and Going Under was certainly done well! I really hope there is a book 3. I want to see what is going on with Jessie and Claire when they go away to college and before the "3 years later" part at the end.

Right away I was drawn to Rua with its awesome cover and its cool and mysterious summary. I didn't really know what to expect when I picked up the book and that was half the fun! Rua was pretty much just as mysterious as it's summary. It is a fast paced adventure right from the start and it sets up what looks like a really promising series!

Celeste has all these weird things happening to her. Like birds following her everywhere. Just that alone would totally freak me out. Plus she has crazy nightmares and weird things just keep popping up. I was so intrigued by what was going on and I just wanted to keep reading so I could figure it all out. I have a feeling that we are going to learn so much more about Celeste and I can't wait! I know Celeste is the main character, and I really liked her but Tink- her best friend was totally my favorite! He is just made of plain awesome. I loved watching them together.

Rylan is the love interest in Rua and while I did like him, and I really enjoyed the mysterious aura that surrounded him, I would have liked to find out just a little bit more about him. I also felt like the romance was a bit rushed.

In fact, my biggest issue was that the plot itself seemed a bit rushed. I really enjoyed everything that was going on. This is a really cool paranormal book, but I wanted to enjoy it for a little longer. I wanted to see some more details, foundation and questions being answered. Maybe we will find out about some of my questions in the next book? I thought a few things could have been fleshed out a bit better, but this book has really good bones. Which means that I am really interested to see what is going to happen in book two. If you are looking for a quick, really interesting paranormal YA book, check out Rua!

I loved the summary of Dark Promise but the cover was not my favorite, so I didn't really know what to expect from the book. I really like Julia Crane's writing so I wanted to give it a try. I am so glad that I did! Dark Promise is one of my favorite books of 2012, and my favorite fey book ever! I loved it all. I loved the characters, the plot and the world that Julia and Talia masterfully created.

Rylie has such a perfect little life, with her super sweet boyfriend Adam, and great parents. Then she basically gets whisked away against her will into faery. I was so swept up in the story. I felt like I was right there with Rylie. Adam is such a great guy that initially I hated the other guy- Kallan simply on principal. But the more I got to know him, the more I got to liking him and then really liking him and then to 100% rooting for him! Even if you are not a fan of love triangles, you need to check this one out. It is different, I promise.

This is an author duo that I am a huge fan of! I love how deep their writing is. It feels more vibrant somehow. The emotions seemed heightened, and the beautiful colors of faery land seemed brigter. I loved exploring the landscape along with Rylie. I feel like she fell in love with the world even though she tried her best not to. I even caught myself liking the king I teensy tiny bit. His character is so evil but there is some deep sorrow in him as well.

If you are a fan of fey books, you have to read dark promise. Right now, no excuses. I loved this book. And man, oh man that ending was just wow. I completely loved it. I need book 2 RIGHT NOW! I have not been this anxious to read a sequel in a long time. It is now two days after I read the book and I am still thinking about it. That is how much I liked Dark Promise.

Ok, so this review is going to be different than most of my other reviews. I am going to be reviewing both books 1 and 2 together. I will give my general thoughts on the series and then try and break down book 1 and book 2. It will be hard for me because I loved book 1 so much that I immediately had to start reading book two right after and as a result, I can't really separate the two books completely. But the good news is, that I totally loved both of them! Normally, after I am done reading a book, I take some time and jot some notes and impressions down for my review. But As soon as I finished Ember I just had to pick up Iridescent and keep reading. I think I paused for all of 1 minute.

Let's start with book 1. Ember throws you right into the action, and while I was a little confused for the first 5-10 pages, I quickly got my bearings and I became engrossed in the story. I loved seeing the sparring and the back and forth between Candra and Sebastian. They were so cute! I also really liked the depiction of the angels in this book. They are not really super religious angels, but more like spiritual angels. This means that the books are not preachy AT. ALL. These are actually angels like I have never encountered before- they are very human. But with wings of course.

Ember had a big task. There were tons of questions that needed to be answered and Candra certainly wasn't going to stop until she got them. And even though the characters are sometimes pretty dense as to their feelings, there is actually a really great romance in Ember.

Iridescent picks up relatively soon after Ember ended. This book focused more on Draven. And as much as I wanted to hate him, but I didn't really. I found myself more mad at Sebastian. I knew what he was doing but I just wanted to slap him for being an idiot! Agh! There is a ton of action in these books as well. I loved the way Ember ended but I was kind of nervous about what would happen in this book. But a ton of stuff happened!

Fans of angel books need to read Ember and Iridescent! Carol Oates is so great at creating tension between characters. Holy cow! I love her writing- it's so descriptive. Ember is one of the best angel books I have ever read!

I read the first two books in the Noctalis chronicles by Chelsea M. Cameron and I really enjoyed those books, but they were paranormals. I had never tried a contemporary by ms. Cameron, so My Favorite Mistake was my first experience. I have to say, I am a fan! Chelsea M. Cameron is now going on that list of authors that I will pick up any book they write. I know her writing is going to be good, her characters are great and her guys are pretty darn irresistible.

Taylor is a spitfire. For real. She doesn't let any guy close- in fact she doesn't let guys get away with much of anything around her. I would imagine that her hard exterior would scare off most guys. But it totally intrigues Hunter. I really liked Hunter. At first glance he seems like such a hard ass but he really wasn't. Oh sure, he can bicker with the best of them, but somehow he makes even that seem endearing. It was pretty funny to watch him and Taylor's verbal sparring matches. It was my favorite part of the story.

My Favorite Mistake is a deeper than normal love story. I loved it. There are all the cute aspects of falling in love, but there are also other elements. Both Hunter and Taylor have had a tough past and they both have secrets and issues they need to work through. They are actually really alike each other, which is why I think they work so well. I loved uncovering their secrets and watching them grow individually as people and together. It was really a great read. It is upper YA/ new adult, which is my very favorite category for contemporaries. My Favorite Mistake is an excellent realistic fiction addition to the new adult genre. It was not a mistake in reading this book. It was a very good choice!

This book is so flippin' cute! I mean, just look at the cover! It's a guy fairy godmother. With wings. How can you not love that? Don't ask me, because I have no idea. Plus both of the main characters are sarcastic. I love me some sarcasm.

Ash is top of his class and he wants to be a sandman when he grows up. So he expects it to be a shoe in for him. Imagine his surprise and anger when he didn't get assigned to the sandman for his apprenticeship, but rather he was put on fairy godmother duty. It totally cracked me up. He even got wings. Just about the worst thing to happen to a 17 year old guy. He gets assigned to Kendall, a girl almost as sarcastic and stubborn as him. Kendall was in a car accident a couple months ago and she lost her father. A lot of this book was watching her struggle with her pain. I thought her progression was very real and natural. And Ash was just so awesome through it all. You could really tell how Kendall kind of snuck up on him and before he knew it, he liked her. I thought it was beyond adorable.

There are still a lot of questions I have for the second book. I did not see the "villain" coming at all. It totally shocked me, but know that the cat is out of the bag- I need to know what is going to happen next. Book 2 is going to be so good! My only complaint about Not Your Average Fairy Tale is that it seemed too short. I flew through it in one sitting. I wanted more, more, more! But that is just my greed. The writing and the pacing are great, and the characters were sarcastic masterpieces. Not Your Average Fairy Tale took me by surprise and I can't stop smiling just thinking about it.

Violet Midnight is the start to a really cool new series. I was a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in high school so as soon as the book jumps right into a scene where the main character calls a cross bow out of thin air and kills a vampire, I knew I would like this book.

Emma is freakin' awesome. She is a hunter, although since she is one of a kind I don't really know how everyone knows to call her the hunter, but the name isn't really too important. What is important is that she kicks butt! Although I would hate not sleeping or eating or drinking. I love food! (I would probably get way more done if I didn't have to sleep though) When Emma met Jake, I could feel the connection the two of them shared. It was so cool to watch them try and uncover the mystery surrounding them.

Violet Midnight is an interesting take on vampires. I was riveted. The book is pretty brisk. The action just keeps moving alone. There are no dull moments or lags in the storyline. It took awhile before we got any sort of real answers but it was so worth it. The plot just kept building and building until there was an epic ending! I loved Violet Midnight and I can't wait to read the second book. I am a little curious as to the direction that it is going to take. I'm excited to find out!

This book is nuts. In an awesome way. I was so interested in everything- the detailed setting of the story, the mysterious curse that plagues Luca, and the hauntingly beautiful writing. Of Blood and Bone is so well executed.

The first two sentences of the summary perfectly describe Luca! (and Of Blood and Bone) In case you don't feel like scrolling up just one paragraph, here are the sentences, "Luca Minaldi is powerful, rich and mesmerizing. But he is also a reclusive enigma." This book is such an enigma. I loved the concept of it and the twists and turns keep coming until the very end of the book. It was so great. Of Blood and Bone kept me thinking long after I was done reading.

I loved Luca, but I hated how tormented he seemed. I felt so bad for him. Eva is so good for him. Although I have to admit that if I were in her position, I would probably run after the first incident. It was scary! But she doesn't. She is super persistent and I loved that about her. She is a very strong girl, which I admired but she does have a weak patch about 3/4ths of the way through the book. I understand and sympathized but I wanted her to pull herself together a little quicker. But other than that I really liked her, and I loved Luca. Though, I must say that I think I liked the old cover more. Both are really pretty, but I thought the other cover fit the story better.

Of Blood and Bone will keep you guessing until the end. It is an adult book, not YA. This book made me want to visit Malta. I am so excited that there is going to be another book in the Minaldi Legacy series, I am hooked. I need to know what is going to happen. I loved that Of Blood and Bone didn't end on a cliffhanger, but it certainly left me curious. It was more of sinister foreshadowing. Dun, dun, dun!

Just This Once is such a realistic love story. Of course, when I say realistic I don't mean that if you take a Vacation to New Zealand you are sure to walk away with a perfect and famous rugby player, but Drew and Hannah were such real characters and the things they go through in the book are things that struck such a chord within me. I loved the natural progression of the story and it just made me happy. I felt happy watching Drew and Hannah fall for each other, and figure out a way if they could make it work.

I love Hannah, and I see so much of myself in her, but oh my gosh is she stubborn. She won't let anyone help her. I understand that she thinks she needs to be strong, I feel like I am like that too, and I also understand that opening yourself up to someone is a risk. But she took it so far. She wouldn't let anyone in. She had to grow up way too early and that was a big part of why she is the way she is but still she had Drew- possibly one of the most caring and giving guys EVER! And no matter what he was always trying to prove himself to her. She is lucky that he is just as stubborn as her because the average guy would have given up.

But Drew is pretty perfect. He likes to say that he is a simple guy. That he likes fishing and rugby and relaxing at home. But I wouldn't describe him as simple. I would describe him as the perfect guy. He loves to just relax and hang out, but he is such a good listener and you can tell that he really cares about everyone in his life. I wish more guys like him were out there. (preferably in florida lol) I do wish a little bit more happened with his "womanizing past". There were references to his past but as soon as he saw Hannah he never so much as looked at another woman so it was hard for me to imagine him just sleeping around. I would have liked to see his past worked into the story a little more.

Just This Once makes me want to book a trip to New Zealand right now! The description of the country and the togetherness of the community make it sound incredible. It sounds beautiful, and Rosalind James just put New Zealand on my travel list. Beautiful writing and a beautiful romance made me fall in love with Just This Once. It is a book that I would recommend whole heartedly to fans of contemporary romances.

to see my thoughts on Gravity, check out my review for the blog tour!

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