Wow, Inhale, Exhale completely blew me away. I'm not even sure what the last book was that I gave 5 gavels(stars), but Inhale, Exhale earned every one of those 5 gavels! It is a standalone contemporary romance and holy cow it was so good! The plot, the characters, the romance- I just couldn't get enough.

Jillian and Grant make the most awesome couple. And Grant is the perfect book boyfriend. He is a great mix of smart, sweet, manly, and just the right hint of possessiveness that I like in my book guys. I loved how focused he was on his career, but as soon as he got to know Jillian, even as work driven as he was he just couldn't get her out of his head. It was beyond adorable watching him think about her all the time. Inhale, Exhale is a split point of view book, which I love, so it alternated between Jillian and Grant's point of view. I kind of wish we got to read a few more chapters from Grant's voice, but that is just because I am a sucker for great guy point of view.

Jillian was so interesting to me. As soon as she said she wanted to work in linguistics, I was pretty much hooked. This girl and I could be friends for sure. That is such a unique career choice and major choice. You can just tell that Jillian is the kind of girl that thinks about things. She has a great sense of humor and I loved that Jillian and Grant would stay up all night talking. Their conversations were Grants favorite thing! How awesome is that?

Sarah Ross' writing is flawless. I was immediately engaged in the story. I wasn't bored at all, there were no lulls or slow parts. The plot was so great. There were sub plots woven into the overall story of Jillian and Grant, including Jillian's deadbeat boyfriend, Christian. Man, I hated that guy! I just wanted him out of the picture ASAP. Especially after certain "developments" in the story.

If you are looking for a great new adult romance, this is it! It is steamy and sweet all at once. I loved Inhale, Exhale so much. Probably one of my favorite new adults books that I have read to date!

Off Limits is the second book in the off series. I didn't read the first book and I didn't need to in order to understand and completely enjoy Off Limits. Each book is about a different set of characters. The first book was about Ryan and his soon to be girlfriend Danny. Off Limits is about Ryan's younger sister, Emily. At the start of the book there is a very short, but helpful, summary of the first book. It was just worked into the first chapter or so of Off Limits and it gave me everything I needed to know to get caught up. Off Limits works well as a standalone and I thought it was a great summer romance read.

Emily is a college student who wants to be a sports journalist. Cool career choice, right? I should note that Off Limits is an adult book, but because of the college age group I felt that it was more new adult ish to me, but anyways be warned that this is an adult book title. Emily is a unique person. She is so sweet and kind and in so many ways, very sheltered. But she is also fierce and strong and so intuitive. I loved how easily she was able to walk up to a person- any person, and instantly charm them and become their friend. She just has one of those personalities that you can't help but like. And the best part is that she seemed completely genuine and believable to me. I really liked Emily.

Jax on the other hand comes off a bit brash and rough. he doesn't care what other people think. He doesn't care about how he acts and how other people feel around him. He is a marine, and his time in the marines becomes a main theme in the book for why he is the way he is. Jax certainly has a secret or two up his sleeve that Emily will have to pry out of him- if she can. I liked how reluctant Jax was to even admit that maybe he liked Emily. It certainly didn't feel rushed at all. In fact, I thought the pacing of the story was perfect. The build up to Jax and Emily was great and completely realistic. Sawyer Bennett did a great job setting up the story and really building on some of the background details, like Jax's job and with the adorable dog Harley. It was those extra things that made the story for me.

The only thing I can think of that irked me a little were a few teeny tiny minor details. I mean, when I tell you the example that I have on the top of my head you are going to think that I am crazy, but here it is. At one point it was mentioned that Emily was in 3 inch heels, and then later that night Jax described her in mile high heels or something like that. Now I know that seems silly and tiny, and you are right it is a tiny detail, but 3 inch shoes are not a mile high. I could easily go to court in 3 inch heels and run, and jump, and walk all over the place in them. 5 or 6 inches is more of what I would consider really high heels. But maybe that is just me because I am so short?

Another thing I liked about this book is that each character had their own issue(s) to work through. They shared the spotlight. And it made them seem even more perfect for each other in my opinion. They just compliment each other so well. Fans of contemporary romance will love Off Limits. I know I did.

Cryptid tales is a really interesting concept. At first, it seemed like it was going to be your average girl can talk to ghosts story, but it is so much more than that. I really enjoyed learning all the backstory and throught that went into the description of the cryptids and their unique abilities. I thought the romance aspect of the book was a bit rushed but I will see where it goe in the next installment. I read this book in the omnibus so it had the first four books all in one volume on my kindle. I have only read the first book so far, but I plan on reading and reviewing each book separately. It is nice having all the books in one place but having them all in one kindle file did make it kind of difficult to see how much I had read in that one book, instead of just how much I had read in the whole omnibus overall.

Shay can talk to ghosts, she can see them, she can touch them, and that is just the beginning. Throughout the book as she learns more about what she is, she developes new powers and new features. She kind of starts to change. I liked that the first book, Reveal set up the stage for the rest of the series. You learn about the cryptids, and you also learn all about Shay and her life. The bad guy is revealed and the book ends in a run in with him, but leaves you with a cliffhanger ish ending that makes you want to turn the page and just start the second book immediately. Shay was my favorite part. She is so sympathetic and you can easily tell that she really wants to help all the ghosts that she sees. I loved seeing her interact with Jeremy. And I thought it was adorable that he was her "best friend" growing up. (honestly, I liked Jeremy more than I liked her love interest Hugh)

I loved that the cryptids were more than they appear at first glance. These are not just people that can talk to ghosts. They can shift and they have different powers that are unique to the individual. I thought that concept was really interesting and I thought it was developed into the sotryline really well. I thought that the romance aspect was kind of rushed though. It felt a little like insta love to me. Shay has an instant connection with Hugh, for reasons that we find out later, and that was fine. It didn't bug me at all, but what did bug me was that after she started to talk to Hugh, her infatuation turned right into love without any development. Now I know there are three more books, so I am sure that their relationship will get a lot more page time and hopefully it will grow into something that I feel is more substantial, but I thought it was lacking a bit in this book. Other than that, I thought Reveal was a great start to what seems to be a really interesting series. There are secrets and a bit of mystery, some creepy spookiness and lots of paranormal goodness.

The Rules for Disappearing is one of those books that is so different than everything else I have been reading lately. Sometimes I feel like I read the same storyline over and over. And it is a storyline that I love, but nonetheless it starts to get a little old the more you read it. But that is just not the case with The Rules for Disappearing. I loved how fresh and unique the concept was to me. I loved that the main character had some edge and anger to her. I loved how there was a mystery that we needed to solve, along with a reluctant romance, and along with amazing character development. The Rules for Disappearing was a complete win for me!

Anna, or Meg, or Isabelle, or whatever Anna's name of the week was. I swear the poor girl had to change lives and names a million different times it seems. I can't even imagine how that would be. I love that she created the idea of a "go-bag". She had to be ready to go at a moments notice and she had no idea who did what to land her and her family in the witness protection program. That also had to be frustrating. So by the time the book starts, and now Meg and her sister "Mary" get dumped in the middle of nowhere it seems like, it was really easy for me to picture how annoyed and frustrated she must have been with everything. So it made perfect sense that she didn't want to make friends or stand out at this new place. I would have done the same thing. But of course, when you want to stand out you can't get noticed and when you just want to quietly blend in you stand out like a sore thumb. And it was no different for Meg/Anna. Being a new girl in a tiny town drew lots of attention to her, and right away there was a potential love interest. But it was not insta love at all. Maybe insta curiosity, which was super cute.

Ethan was kind and charming. I loved that he was always offering to drive Meg/Anna places and that he would take her home from work just so that she didn't have to walk out in the cold. Ethan is the kind of book boyfriend that you could easily see yourself dating in real life. He was the real deal, and not a jerk at all. I mean, bad boys are fun in books but I wouldn't want to date one.

What I loved about The Rules for Disappearing was that it was an adorable romance stuck inside this cool and kind of creepy mystery. Why did Anna and her family end up in the witness protection program in the first place? What happened, and why do they have to move around all the time? Why wasn't their first or second move and new identity enough? I also loved that this book kept me on my toes. I didn't always know what was going to happen. There were a few twists and turns that completely took me by surprise. I haven't read anythign by Ashley Elston before, but I am already a fan of her writing. It just seems effortless how she makes everything work. All of the characters fit together like a beautiful puzzles and her writing style was almost lyrical to me. I really just loved it. The whole package of The Rules for Disappearing worked for me. Fans of contemporary romance, realistic fiction, action, suspense, mystery, and heck just about anything should pick up this book immediately. You will love it just as much as I did! I don't even think my review did this book justice. There is such depth and complexity in every character, even the secondary characters. Ashley Elston paid such attention to even the smallest of details in her writing, that I want to go back through the book again and see what little things I didn't pick up on in the first reading. I really and truly enjoyed this book.

I fell in love with The Shapeshifter's Secret as soon as I started reading it, so I jumped at the chance to read the second book in the series. I have been waiting for The Siren's Secret for a very long time. I couldn't wait to get back to Heather's magical world of shapeshifters and water nymphs and the evil guild. The Siren's Secret did not let me down! But what is even more interesting is that it was not exactly what I expected the sequel to the first book to be. It was darker and had a different overall tone. I liked the contrast to the first book. It was really interesting and honestly, it just makes me all the more excited to read the third book. I can't wait to see what Heather is going to do next. She has proven that she has such versatility with her writing and it makes me excited to see what else she is going to come up with.

The Siren's Secret jumps right in after The Shapeshifter's Secret ended. After Julia's first year at school had ended and she was home over the summer. She quickly runs into Caleb and Terrance and right away I knew that this book would be love triangley. I am personally a fan of Caleb and I always have been.

Julia is more conflicted than ever in this book. She finds out a secret and she spends most of the whole book trying to figure out what to do. It made for a much darker theme. Julia feels a distance between herself and pretty much everyone else and that made me sad at times. But it also made it harder for me to like her a little. I understand that she was going through some crazy stuff and how isolating that must have felt for her, but I think she could have been a little nicer to her friends. She had a few brat like tendencies in this book but her friends were great. I love Sierra and Gabe so much and this book just proved how awesome they are.

Julia isn't the only one with secrets in this book. It seems to be all over the place, but there are plenty of new things that come to light. I loved learning about all of the new secrets, including the curse from the title. I do wish the curse was explained a little bit better but it was explained enough so that you got the idea. The Siren's Secret is a fast paced book that has everything, some action, some adventure, some twists and turns, and just a hint of romance. It wasn't actually too love triangle esque, most of that just came from inner conflict from Julia. I love this series and I can't wait to see what Heather has in store for all of us next.

Emancipating Andie completely blew me away. I am going to try and keep the gushing down to a minimum in this review, but there is no way around that statement. I totally and completely love love LOVE this book. It is my favorite book that I have read in a long time. Favorite of 2013 for sure. Priscilla Glenn just has such a way with words and with emotion. Her writing makes me feel something. I connected to Andie and Chase in a way that I haven't connected with characters in a while. The book alternates between their two point of views, and you all know how much I enjoy that style.

Andie seems like she has her whole life figured out. But she is completely playing it safe. I get the appeal. I have done that a time or two myself. It is easy to just play it safe and she fell into that routine. And then along comes Chase and he just completely shakes things up for her. He gets under her skin and he can be a little bit of a jerk sometimes. Except that he isn't really a jerk at all once she gets to know him. For the record, that is the only type of bad boy I like. I call it the pseudo-bad boy. Oh sure, he talks a big bad boy game and he can have some jerk tendencies but when you really look at him and get to know him he is just a big mushy teddy bear. Just like Chase.

I loved how passionate Chase is. About everything. He is really living his life each and every day. I think that was really attractive to Andie. Now when the book starts Andie has a boyfriend, and I really respected the way the author handled that. It is a tough situation and not one that a nice girl like Andie would ever expect herself to be in, but it sometimes happens and Colin just never seemed right for her. He was a nice enough guy, but he just seemed so uninspired by things that Andie loved. And that was my main problem with him. Sure, he was a little boring, but I would have been able to get past that. But he never supported Andie as a writer and that really irked me. Chase on the other hand, seemed to get to know Andie better in the 2 day car trip they shared than Colin did in the 2 years or so they were together. But Priscilla didn't go for the cheap cheating shot, which I really appreciated. Things between Andie and Chase were innocent enough for the most part even though you could totally tell that they liked each other.

Emancipating Andie was profound, emotional, perceptive and just an overall amazing book. I caught myself re-reading parts just because I loved them so much, and I caught myself smiling like crazy at more than one instance while reading. This is just one of those books where you pick it up and from page one to the last page you are just in love. I feel like this book was written just for me. And when an author makes a book speak to you like this it becomes personal and special. Priscilla Glenn has that gift. I would recommend Emancipating Andie to anyone and everyone. Seriously, just do yourself a favor and read this book.

Awaken was a really intense and kind of powerful read. There is a lot going on. There is mystery mixed with paranormal mixed with romance and action, plus characters you love and characters you want to die a slow and painful death. I haven't read a book that had this much going on and where it worked so well in a long time. Sometimes it can feel like a cluster you know what when a book tries to do too much, but not with Awaken. I can already tell that this is bound to be a favorite series of mine.

Bre is unique because she isn't just a straight tough girl kitt butt character but she isn't overly weak either. She is a mixture of both, and because of this she was very realistic. People aren't just tough all the time or wimpy all the time. Bre had a hard time letting go of her D-bag boyfriend Josh. Who, by the way I wanted to stab in the eye every single time he opened his jerky mouth. I couldn't stand him. But eventually she kicked him to the curb and I may have cheered in my head when that happened. Ok, fine, I totally did let out some woot woots! (I really hated josh)

But who needs Josh when there are also Austin and Collin around, who are actually great guys. I thought for sure that I would be team Austin because he was just so nice to Bre and he was so there for her and compared to Josh, Austin is guy gold! But then Collin showed up. And he didn't show up until at least half way through the book, which was a little strange to me, but as soon as he was there I couldn't look at anyone else. Collin just seems so right for Bre. Austin is a great friend to her but I had a hard time seeing him as anything else.

What was great about Awaken is that there is always something going on. Between the paranormal premonitions, which was done really cool by the way, there was also this mystery that kind of surrounded everything. And at the heart of the mystery for me was Eve. I just wanted to figure out what was going on with that girl. The next book is going to be just as epic as this one was, I can just tell. Sometimes you just know when a book is going to work for you, and Awaken just clicked for me. The writing is awesomely detailed and flows perfectly. I never thought the pacing was too fast or too slow, the characters were all developed and the plot was so intriguing. I need the second book right now.

What I liked most about Your Guardian Angel was that I didn't see the main twist, for me anyways, coming at all. I started reading the book and I thought, "huh, I didn't expect that to happen" and then I kept reading and kind of got used to the idea of "that" happening ("that" equals some important event and is purposely vague for spoiler purposes) and my idea of the book changed as I got more and more comfortable with the idea. Then all of a sudden, boom! another change happens and it threw me for another loop. It took me some more time to get used to the new twist but ultimately I loved the way it all happened. Skyla Madi did a good job keeping the plot interesting throughout the book.

Ruby is put through the ringer in Your Guardian Angel. Sheesh, she really had to deal with a lot, but once she gets to sage academy I felt like the book really started. You get to meet all sorts of new characters. The most important secondary characters being her new best friend, Mila and her guardian angel, Eli. Both relationships happened really quickly and normally snap friendships bug me even more than insta love, because I tend to see a lot of insta love as just infatuation anyways, but friendships should be based on something a little more substantial in my opinion. Now, that being said, I completely loved Mila. She is just a cool girl. She always had Ruby's back and she is just a genuinely nice person. I wish Ruby had more people like Mila on her side.

Eli was interesting and their "relationship" was interesting. You can probably guess that relationships between guardian angels and goddesses like Ruby is not allowed. And you can also probably guess that they are going to fall in love anyways. I would have liked to see a little more development of why they liked each other, but I did like that it took them awhile before either of them even thought about acting on anything. I also liked the little jealous moments when boys at school noticed Ruby. I guess we will see how this all plays out in the next book because in the first book it was much more Ruby driven and information driven about the world of vampires and goddesses, which I appreciated. I thought that the plot was a little slow in parts, but other than that I really enjoyed the book. I thought it was a great setup for the next book in the series, Sun Kissed. The ending was a real humdinger though! Man! It was kind of depressing actually. But you know what? I kind of liked that too. Not every book needs a happy ending and this is just the first book in a series, so there is plenty of time for things to turn around and for things to happen. I liked that this ending kind of shook things up. It makes me more interested in reading the second book. If you like young adult books with paranormal creatures in a magical school setting and lots of action and fights, then you should check out this series.

Awakened drops you right into the middle of the action. The story starts right out with a bang, is what I mean. It was a little confusing at first, but then again that just helped me connect with the main character, Jade, that much better. She was just as confused as I was. She didn't know what was going on and it must have been so scary for her to be attacked and then transported to a strange new land. After the initial shock, the world that Kriston Johnson created started to be described and the players all started to fall into place. It was then that I got more into the book. I was able to get to know the characters and kind of fall into a a nice reading pace. Awakened is an exciting book and it turned out to be a series that I am interested in checking out further.

Jade is a tough gal. I knew I was going to like her when she was being escorted through Elyndia for the first time with her apprentice (not paladin) guard who she wasn't sure if she could trust, and she had just met up with her ::coughsurprisecough:: magical friend from back home and she started making demands and calling the shots. Hello bad a**!! She is gutsy and I really enjoyed that about her. I also kind of liked that I felt like the romance was secondary to the action in the plot.

The fantasy world is very rich and detailed. I thought it was a little too much going on too early in the story and that led to some confusing and feeling a little overwhelmed with the story and plot but you soon get the hang of everything and it was a pretty interesting concept. I loved the idea of all of the magical creatures coexisting in this world, and the fact that there are so few elementals left was interesting. Which is why bad guy Draven is after Jade. At first you aren't really sure why, but you do know that she is important. Very important. I'm hoping some more answers are forthcoming in the next book, but I am intrigued enough to want to continue on. Kriston Johnson's writing is clear and easy to read and I really enjoyed Jade. Fans of fantasy and magic should check out the Awakened.

I wanted to start out this review by talking about the cover for a little bit. I really like the cover, but I love it after reading the book. I think it is the perfect cover for this story. There are just so many things that I like about it. I love how it is black and the girl in the middle is not only not the focus, but is kind of grayed out so that she is secondary to the blackness around her. That is just how Leah, or Christine was for a lot of the first half of the book. I think the cover goes great with the story and that just makes me like it even more. Ok, now onto the rest of the review. Hidden was a really interesting book. It had a bit of a slow start. Not really uninteresting slow, just kind of depressing slow. I was so sad for Leah. I just wanted to hug her and tell her that she is such a sweet girl and not to believe everything. I was so excited when she was taken from her awful environment and those mean girls.

Hidden is very mysterious. I think that was a lot of the appeal for me. I didn't always know exactly who I could trust and what everyone's motives were. I thought there were plenty of twists and turns in the story and all of the characters, even the secondary characters added to the overall story progression and plot. I really liked how everything and everyone was incorporated into the story. As for the twists, I saw a few of them coming but there always seemed to be something extra up M. Lathan's sleeve. She is a tricky one and I loved her writing style because of that.

My favorite part of the book was the relationship between Christine and Nathan. It was so crazy to see how well they worked together. I loved how similar both of them are, they can relate to each other so well. Everything about the two of them is adorable and natural. Neither one of them had a lot of friends in the past so they were both kind of awkward, but as soon as he showed up at her door with a newspaper that said "play with me" I was a goner. And then when they came up with nicknames for each other, even more gone. I just love the two of them.

M. Lathan created a really interesting world with the idea of hunters and copies. I thought the concept of copies was a unique twist with the whole paranormal creature hunter idea. I thought her writing style made it really easy to connect with Christine and all of the characters really and it made the story really enjoyable for me. I was able to lose myself within the pages of Hidden effortlessly. This is a series that I am looking forward to continuing.