In too Deep is such an emotional book. It deals with some pretty tough and serious topics, but man oh man does it do so in such a phenomenal way. I completely fell in love with this book. Gracie came to life for me almost instantly. And even though there were a few times I wanted to shake her, she was stronger than even I gave her credit for. I really loved reading her story. It was beautiful, in a raw and very very real way.



Unfortunately, the story that Gracie goes through is an all too common one. We got to see first hand the struggle that she faced with Noah. On one hand, she didn't want to let him hurt her anymore and she saw that maybe he wasn't as changed and reformed as she thought he was, but on the other hand she does love him and he does always say all the right things to make her want to give him. A few times throughout the book, I even caught myself wanting to believe him, and I was completely surprised. I think that is a testament to Michelle Kemper Brownlow's amazing writing more than anything else, because normally I would say kick him to the curb and don't look back. But that is the wonderful thing about In too Deep. It kind of grays and blurs all of the lines. You feel like you are in Gracie's shoes and at times you are just as confused about what she should do as she is. She really surprised me with her strength. At first, I pegged her to be kind of a weakling. One of those girls that guys could easily mold and oppress, but then you get to know her and you can see that is not who she is at all. Sure, there were times when I wanted to slap some sense into her and times where I just couldn't stand the decisions she made, but it just made her a more three dimensional character. And we got to see her thought process throughout everything, which just makes you fall in love with her even more. I loved how personal the writing seemed.

I think you can see it coming that I love Jake. He is just sweet and dependable and totally nice. I just want to hug him and smell him. (is that weird?) Gracie deserves someone nice like him. In Too Deep is an emotional journey that I wasn't expecting to be so incredible. I expected to like the book, even love it, but I didn't expect to be as touched as I was by it. This book really spoke to me because it seemed so real. I could just picture this happening at any university, with any group of people. I loved how gritty and real In too Deep was. This is a book that I would confidently recommend to any fan of contemporary, realistic fiction, young adult, new adult, romance...I think you get the idea.

I read this book days ago and I had to stop myself from writing a review directly after or even a few days after because I was afraid it would be too gushy. So here I am, writing the review for my blog tour stop and I am still afraid that my review may be too gushy but I also want to let you guys know how much I absolutely LOVE this book. Lost is going to be on my top 10 list of 2013 and right now it is sitting right on top of that list in the number one spot. (And honestly I don't see that changing anytime soon.) Lost is powerful and emotional and just so great to read. Nadia Simonenko did such a great job with the writing. Lost is all about secrets, and how secrets can haunt you and being your own personal demon. I think there is just so much for people to relate to in the first book in the Lost and Found series.

Lost follows the story of two twenty somethings, Owen and Maria. Owen and Maria each have their own deep dark secrets that they are always carrying around with them. But through some sneakiness of their two friends they get to meet each other and get to know each other. It should be noted that Lost deals with some very real and troubling issues of abuse and rape, but I have never read another book that has handled those tough issues in such a delicate and amazing way. I just loved what Nadia did with the plot of this book. And Maria and Owen are two amazing characters. I love how loyal they each are. Once Maria saw that owen had a secret like her, she dubbed him "lost" as well and from that moment forward she never once wavered. She was always there for him, even though it was really hard for her at times. I loved that about her.

I'm normally not one to fall in love with lots of quotes from books but there were so many that just really resonated with me. One part of the book really spoke to me and I thought was just so beautiful and powerful. Owen was deciding whether or not he could share his secret with Maria. And when you tell someone a secret so deep there is a huge fear of rejection tied into it. And Maria just looked at Owen and thought, I know that look. He's told me his secret and now he is worried that I am going to hurt him with it. Oh man! I read that page probably 5 or 6 times before I was finally able to move on. I just think that Nadia's writing is so insightful and on point and I completely fell in love with all of it.

Maria and Owen's story is a tragic but beautiful one. I loved the romance that was in the book. It was never rushed, it never felt fake and it was always worked seamlessly into the bigger issue of the secrets and trust the two of them had with each other. And the best part is that I got the satisfaction of watching them get together (because they are just so perfect for each other) but right after the end of the book the author lets us know that this is just the beginning of Owen and Maria. I can't wait! I have not been this excited to read a sequel in a LONGGGGG time. This is one of those books that deserves more than my 5 gavel rating. I was blown away by Nadia's characters, story and most of all her incredible writing. Lost is a must read book of 2013. Must read for everyone. Do yourself a favor and read Lost today!

I have been very into new adult beachy reads this summer, and Romancing the Bookworm completely satisfied my beach reads craving. It was great! Totally sweet, fun and romantic. The story follows around Tamara, who is a bookworm to the point of being a hermit. She hardly ever interacts with people and she doesn't have many friends outside the pages of her books. But one of her only friends gets her to come along on a spring break trip with her and the story really jumps off from there. There are plenty of funny scenes and antics and the book kept my attention the whole time. I really loved it.

Tamara loves to read, and being a book blogger it gave me an instant connection to her. She reads everything, but it seems like she has a soft spot for romance books. I thought it was hilarious that both of the main guys in the book also fessed up to reading romance novels. One of the things I loved about Tamara is that as the story progressed you could literally seem her "layers" being pulled back. She started to get bolder, she started doing more and more things with other people, and she started really coming into her own. It was great to see her development and to watch her bloom into such an awesome girl.

Tamara's friend, Ronni, is also pretty awesome in her own regard. I loved that she is so there for Tamara. She really did a lot to try and get her out of her shell. One of the great things about Romancing the Bookworm is that even though Tamara is the main character and Xavier is clearly her potential love interest, but the book does not just focus on the two of them. Ronni and her brother and Zander all have pretty significant roles in the story and readers get to know all the characters really well. Kate Evangelista does an excellent job with her character development.

As I said earlier, Xavier is Tamara's potential love interest and right off the bat he has this "plan" to get Tamara and he seems so smitten. Its beyond adorable. For the longest time I didn't know exactly what his plan was or why the plan was in action. Why Tamara? Well, you will have to read to find out. But be prepared to wait for most of the story before all is revealed. I loved that Xavier loved Tamara just for being herself. Tamara is a size 14 and he was crazy for her curves. It was such a nice change of pace from the average pretty thin girl that all the guys go crazy for.

Romancing the bookworm is a total beach read. It is so much fun. There is plenty of comedic relief as well. Im one of those people that will get embarassed for the reader and a few times I caught myself blushing or pushing the book away when something particularly compromising happened to Tamara. Come to think of it, most of those things happened in the bathroom. Haha. If you like New Adult books and you like romantic comedies and beach reads, Romancing the Bookworm is the perfect book for you!

I thought the concept of Stitch was so cool! I mean, it was totally creepy and kinda scary when you think about everything that this "government" of sorts was doing to people. Stitching them so that they would think they were living out various lives on tv dramas for entertainment for people. How crazy is that? But Stitch is more than just a cool concept. It is honestly one of the best dsytopians that I have read in a long time. And book two, Shudder did not dissappoint. It is such a kick ass sequel. So much is going on! There is action from page one.


Shudder follows five different point of views. I know that sounds like a lot, but it is not hard to keep track of anyone. The book flows really nicely. The different people are in different places during the story and the chapters pretty much all go in the same order so you know who is coming up next. I am normally not one for a book with more than two point of views because things tend to spiral and get confusing from there, but Samantha Durante did a great job of keeping everything organized and it was really easy to tell whose story we were on in any given chapter. I actually liked all the point of views with this story. It worked.


My favorite part about Shudder is that you finally get some more answers about everything that is going on. Through one of the characters we got to see kind of an inside look at some of the people in charge of the whole city, or government, or whatever they are classifying themselves as. They told their side of the story and through that we got to know more about the original virus that ravaged the population in the first book.


Samantha did an awesome job weaving in some of the backstory from the first book into this book. It really helped jog my memory about what happened in the story. I really enjoy Samantha Durante's writing style. It is very engaging. Alessa and Issac and the whole gang of characters all play big roles in this story. Alessa has some strange things happening to her and I am not 100% sure that I buy the explanations that she has been getting for what it is, but I guess time will tell. There is another big twist in Shudder that I kind of saw coming once I started reading but it was still a nice little OMG moment at the end of the book when it was revealed. And it totally made me want to get a copy of the last book in the trilogy right away! Shudder is a story that really builds. It just kept getting better and better right until the end! I think I liked Shudder even more than I liked Stitch! This is a must read for fans of dsytopian. Don't miss this trilogy.

I think what I liked most about Program 13 is that it is so different than the books that I have been reading lately. I've been so into new adult contemporary romances that sometimes I forget how much I love sci-fi and fantasy and paranormal books. Program 13 reminded me how cool sci-fi books could be!

Emile Reed was human, and is now cutting edge technology as a computer program. And no one really knows what these computer people are capable of or why they are really here. Emile has such a unique perspective, both as a computer and when she is herself as a girl. I loved seeing the world through her human eyes and watching the computer program within her battle with who she is. I also loved that the "black outs" that she experienced were written as ways to get back some of her memories and they also served to give us a peek into the company that makes the computer programs. And the people. I loved it as a way to get some answers and backstories.

The group that made program 13 creeps me out. You don't get a ton of answers about what is going on and why up front in the story, but so much is going on and the plot is so fast paced and action filled that I never had time to stop and be annoyed with my lack of answers. I was constantly intrigued with what was going to happen next. I got swept up in the fast pace of the book.

At first, I didn't know what to make of McVeigh. I mean, Emile does meet him under rather strange circumstances. But once I got to know him a little better, I really started to like him. When he walked in on Emile in her pod and was so great about the whole thing, I gave him the thumbs up.

If you like fast paced, action packed science fiction books, you will really enjoy program 13. There are so many close calls in this book and the plot, while not overly complex, does have a few twists and surprises up its' sleeves. I think this book will leave you excited to read the next book in the series, like I am.

3.5 stars

The Last Dance took me through so many different emotions. I was happy, I was sad, I was shocked, I was laughing. This is one of those books that makes you feel things. It takes you on an emotional journey. Ivy and her friend Mira are a hoot. Where Ivy is serious, Mira is totally zany and unpredictable. And then you have Kellan. And honestly, those three characters are enough to make this book great. But the story is also so compelling. Kellan had a super serious injury from football that kind of mimicked the symptoms of a stroke. I have witnessed first hand what a stroke can do to a person and it is a very scary thing to lose control of your body in the way that Kellan did.

Ivy's parents push her towards what they think greatness is. They make her take all AP classes, and play classical instruments, and go to a great school to become a great doctor. And Ivy likes all of that and she is the perfect daughter, but she likes making and playing music more than the idea of medical school. Her link to Kellan is when she becomes his tutor after his injury. Kellan is bitter at first for obvious reasons, but as soon as he gets to know Ivy, he starts to see what an awesome person she is. And he opens up too.

The book is told in split point of view, alternating between the two of them. This is always a plus for me. I just love getting that inside peek into a guys head. And as usual, the writing is great. I love Kiki Hamilton's writing style. She makes all the of the characters very approachable.

Mira is a hoot. She is always dressing in crazy outfits and always saying exactly what she is thinking. And overall, she is a really solid friend to Ivy. Sure they had a little snag and a few bump in the road, as you can probably expect, but she always came through in the end. The one thing that bugged me a little was that she changed her outfits. I wasn't exactly sure why she changed her super unique style and she never really talked about it. I would have liked to have gotten some more insight into that decision of hers. I also kind of wanted Kellan and Ivy to talk about the Homecoming dance. They never did, even after Kellan found out what happened that night. I thought it was a little strange to just let it hang there. But those are both small points overall.

The Last Dance is a very feel good book. I just felt happy after reading it. And it is a pretty quick read too. I devoured it in one sitting and when I was done I was just satisfied. It could have a follow up if Kiki Hamilton wanted to write one but it also stands great on its own! The Last Dance will put a smile on your face.

I loved, loved loved the first book in the series, The Boys of Summer so much. The intensity of the romance in it totally took me by surprise. So I was super excited to read the sequel. And when I found out the sequel would be about Sean, I was even more excited. There were times in the first book that I liked Sean even more than Toby. (I still loved Toby though)


An Endless Summer takes place three years after the first book left off and Amy is back from boarding school. I decided to try and have a clean slate for Amy and not let any of my feelings about her from the first book bleed into my reading of the second book and boy was I glad that I did that. I really liked Amy right off the bat as a new character. She is strong, super independent and she gets things done. This girl is NOT lazy. But holy cow, is she stubborn! I don't think I have ever seen someone have a harder time accepting help from others. Especially such cute and nice others like Sean. Let me tell you, if Sean wanted to help me, I certainly would not put up nearly as big of a fuss as Amy initially did.


Sean is great. Like I said, I liked him so much from the first book that really what I was looking for in this book was chemistry between him and Amy. I was kind of already on his side and I wanted to see if Amy would be a good match for him. Right away, you could see sparks between the two of them but it took forever for anything to actually happen! I wish something would have happened a little sooner because CJ Duggan writes romance AMAZINGLY! I can't get enough of it. The one hang up I had was Amy's age. I thought Tess was a bit young for the Onslow boys in the first book and Amy is a few years younger than Tess. So I thought she was a bit young for the upper 20s Sean. But she is so mature and independent that you can very easily set aside her actual age.


If you liked the Boys of Summer, you need to get your hands on a copy of An Endless Summer as well. You will not be disappointed! I am officially a fan of CJ Duggans writing. She can write a compelling story with a sizzling and very realistic romance. You will get sucked into the world that she created in minutes. This is an author to check out for sure.

I have seen some mixed review for this book. Some people loved how light and fun it was and thought it was a great summer romance, while others thought it was played out or overdone. Nonetheless, I thought it looked adorable and I was really excited to read it. I am a sucker for fun beachy reads and an even bigger sucker for the boy/girl next door romances. I enjoyed the Summer of No Regrets. I can see what people are saying about a few things being kind of run of the mill in young adult, but it didn't bother me at all. It's a story line that the author can do so much with and it's a winner in my book. Personally, I love when authors take a storyline that may have been done a few times and put their own twist on it. Their writing really shines through that way to me. I get a better sense of the kind of author they are. And I have to say, Katherine Grace Bond really impressed me. I loved her characters and her writing was fun and engaging.


Brigitta is unique and kind of spunky. This is her story and you really get to see a lot of progress and growth from her as a character and as a young lady throughout the Summer of No regrets and that is a huge plus from me. I love being able to go from the first page to the last page and see lots of good character progression. Brigitta comes from a unique family as well. Her dad's religious views rub off on Brigitta in that she becomes almost obsessed with different religions and trying to see what would work best for her. I havent really seen that done in many young adult books before and I thought it was really interesting. And then Brigitta meets Luke. Sigh, oh Luke.


You guessed it, I really liked Luke. Right off the bat, you know he is hiding a secret. And I knew exactly what it was because I knew what the book was about but you get confusion from Brigitta and you go on this emotional rollercoaster ride with her while she is trying to figure it all out. At first, I thought she seemed a little immature about everything but she soon comes into her own and I thought that then her and Luke were a good match. I really liked reading about the two of them.


The Summer of No Regrets is a really interesting read. I think anyone that is looking for a cute and kind of quirky summer romance should check it out. The real star of the book is Katherine Grace Bond. I loved her writing style. She immediately drew me in and I can't wait to read another book of hers.

Fevered Souls is like a series of novellas all put together in one book. They call the book a "series" and each part an "episode". It kind of reminded me like a tv series, where each episode was a like a weekly episode and the book was like a mini series. Normally, I am not a huge fan of novellas, but if you are like me, you should not let that put you off to trying fevered souls. Because the exception for me is when they are all bound up together in one omnibus. The reason I don't love really short stories is that if I do get attached to the characters, I normally want more than 50 pages. But here you get a bunch of episodes, and all in all it adds up to about a book. The only difference is that they are very fast paced and keep you moving right along through the story without much stopping. The plot is always moving forward- quicker than it does in most full length novels.


Dax is a demon and you find that out pretty much right off the bat in episode one. Fevered Souls doesn't do the whole "keep you in suspense for 3/4th of the book" thing that seems so popular these days. I thought that was kind of refreshing. You just got to see how the story played out and for once, you knew all the cards and players. It was nice. The players in Fevered Souls are Dax and Cara.


Right off the bat, Cara likes Dax, and my first thought was oh no, I don't want the fast paced plot to include insta love. (not everything can be super fast) But then the whole betrothed and mates thing was explained and it made sense. At first Dax wanted nothing to do with Cara, but then he lets his guard down and as soon as that happens, it is like the flood gates of emotion are opened. Dax became extremely protective of Cara, and through this we get to learn why when we find out about all the different kinds of demons. Dax seems like the best kind, and I kind of like his hellhound. Such a cutie.


In the first series of Fevered souls, you get to learn about Dax and you can see the brewing of a war. Im not sure if the war is just going to be between the demons yet or if humans will get involved in some way. That looks like it will be fleshed out more in the next series, but I am certainly intrigued by the concept of this book. I really like the pacing of the book, but I would also like a little more details. Each of the episodes kind of recaps what happened in the last episode and I didn't really need that because I was reading them all back to back, but I can see how it would have been nice if I had been reading them one at a time.


I liked some of the secondary characters, like James. He likes Cara too but there is no sort of love triangle at all. Cara only has eyes for Dax. But James sub story line looks kind of mysterious and interesting. Cara has a dream about him towards the end of the book and we don't really know what happens with him so I am definitely going to be keeping an eye out for my sweet guy James. If you are looking for an interesting and quick paranormal read, you should check out Fevered Souls.

I loved the message that inspire sent. The characters were, for the most part, really good people and they were trying to make a difference. The plot of Inspire was also interesting. It fits perfectly within the New Adult age group. All of the characters were ready to start college and they had one last summer of fun. So they were a bit on the younger end of the New Adult books, but they all seemed pretty mature.

Paige is the main character and she is such a sweetheart. Honestly, she seems like the nicest girl alive. I can certainly see how some people would describe her as too perfect- super smart, super pretty, very kind, forgiving and generous. But there is just something about her that even though she seems too good to be true, you just can't help but love her. I would have liked to have seem a little more fault in her, but overall I really liked her character. I loved getting to know her through her dance charity that her and her best friend started up. And I really liked seeing her dancing worked in throughout the story.

Paige's parents are very well off, and for her last summer before college they decide to buy an RV and go camping for two months. While they are camping Paige meets a whole group of guys and girls at the RV campsite that are her age and about to head off to college too. At first she has some trouble winning over the girls in the group, but then an "incident" occurs and the girls bond over that. After the incident all of the girls are very close. I wish there would have been a little bit more of a middle ground for the girls in the group. Meaning, I would have liked to see a slow build of their friendship instead of one minute they actively disliked Paige and the next they act like they have been best friends for years. But nonetheless, Ashley and Brittany did seem to be good friends to Paige in the end.

The romance in this story is all over the place. It had me swooning over Travis, and the next minute questioning his motives. I liked him, and then I didn't trust him, and then I liked him again. I loved that about it. Some parts of the book were predictable but others totally threw me for a loop. Inspire kept me on my toes the whole time I was reading it. And the romance between Paige and Travis was H-O-T, hot for sure.

Overall, Inspire was a fun and heck I'm just going for it- inspiring read. There are some darker moments and some dark themes, but even so Inspire seemed like a pretty light, happy go lucky book. One you can just pick up and down in one or two sittings. There were some cliche parts for sure, but I didn't mind that. I still really liked the book. I found the characters very well developed and the story was really cute. If you are looking for a nice summer read, Inspire would be a good choice.