Garden of Eden is a quick, and mysterious read. It seemed almost like a prequel to the Legend of Eden series. It sets up everything, and still leaves tons of questions unanswered, and leaves you wanting to pick up the next book to find out what is going on on this mysterious island. The book starts off right in the middle of the action, with the “catchers” on the prowl. You don’t really know who the catchers are, but you do know that they are after children under 18. We have no idea why though.

Eden escapes attack, but all of her siblings are taken and she is locked in the attic for her protection. But even though her parents say that they want to protect her, they are awful to her. They basically starve her and keep her as a prisoner. But a few chapters into the book, Eden sneaks outside with her only friend Will (who conveniently showed up right when the rest of her family was taken by catchers) and they both get captured and whisked off to this strange island in the middle of nowhere and forced to attend this school with a bunch of other kids who are captured. I still am not too sure who we can trust and who we can’t, so I haven’t really formed too many opinions on the two guys in the story.

Most of the book is Eden asking a bunch of questions and trying to figure out what was going on. That was my favorite part of the story. I loved how inquisitive Eden was. She somehow seems important to the people on the island, but we don’t find out why. But I really admired how determined Eden was to figure out what was going on. I would have been totally freaked out, but Eden was fearless and she found a good group of friends that seemed like they would help her get some answers. The book ends on a pretty explosive note. There are still a tons of whys floating around in my head, but what they did find out seems so cool and unique! I just need to read the next book to find out more of what is going on. I think the story will really come to life in the next book, because we ended in such a cool place. There is just so much that needs to happen in the next book! I can’t wait to find out more about Eden and this mysterious island.

The holdout really surprised me. I went into it expecting to like it, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. It had a really great amount of depth, while still being just as addictive as the reality tv it was about. Robin is a contestant on a show called the Holdout, which is basically exactly like the tv show Survivor. But the cool thing about the story is that it takes places after the show has wrapped filming and Robin is back in the real world watching the show as it airs week to week. In the meantime, in her real life she is serving as a juror in a trial. The holdout goes back and forth between present day, when the episodes of the holdout are airing, and flashbacks to when she she was in the Philippines competing.

I saw the holdout as a book about personal growth and discovery for Robin. I really felt for her that people started out seeing her as stuck up and kind of snobby on the show, because she comes off as so genuine and nice to me in her real life. But as the story went on, and we got to know her more and more of the episodes aired, I felt like we got more insight into her life and who she is as a person. I also really enjoyed that we got to know the dynamics of her whole extended family.

I couldn’t stand Grant! I felt so bad for Robin as I watched her get used. He just pissed me off so much. But even though I hated Grant, I liked the part that he played in the story. He was so integral to Robin finding herself, and getting over her embarrassment of getting played. One of the great things that Laurel Osterkamp does with the Holdout, is how she really captures the nature of reality tv on our society, especially with social media. All of the feedback that Robin was getting over twitter, and on the streets and in magazines is just like stuff we see everyday in real life. All of the flak she caught for every single one of her decisions. People are such harsh critics about everything and it is so easy to judge while sitting in your house watching it all play out on tv.

The holdout is a fantastic book! I loved how the author moved back and forth between jury duty and the airing of the episodes, and the actual filming of the competition. It added a real depth to the story. I read The Holdout in one sitting and when I finished, I found myself wanting more.

This series just blows my mind. You guys all remember how much I LOVED Darkness of Light, and Fire in the Darkness delivered just as much as the first book. I could not put it down. it kept me guessing right up until the end, and I think I actually gasped out loud a few times while reading.

Ember is awesome in Fire in the Darkness. She has this amazing dry sense of humor. She just deadpans these great one liners and she is constantly cracking me up. I love watching her zing Eli over and over again. But even though she is all fierce and kick butt and can totally hold her own, we get to see so many different sides to her. We see some of her darker Demon side, as well as a more vulnerable and dare I say it-softer side.

I was a little nervous when the book first started that we wouldn’t see much of Eli this time around. The book starts off a little after the first book left off, with Ember on the run from the Seelie Queen after she finally found out what she was. But never fear, soon enough Eli and his gang show up. Eli puts up a big front about doing what he needs to for his family and how everything was an act for him, but you can see right through him. I loved watching him and Ember interact. The way they bantered and pushed each others buttons was so funny, and so clearly filled with URST. And when he showed up in her dreamscape and didn’t like Torin, I squee-ed like a little girl.

But Eli isn’t the only guy in Fire in the Darkness. I have to say, I didn’t see the whole Lars thing coming! But that is the beauty of the darkness series. It keeps you on your toes. You won’t be able to put this book down. This is quickly turning out to be one of my favorite paranormal series, not just of the year, but of all time. There are so many new surprises in this book, I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone, so you will just have to experience the magic of Fire in the Darkness for yourself.

At the start of this year, I was obsessed with New Adult contemporary romances, and then a few months ago I kind of started to get burned out on them. Lately, I have been loving my paranormals, but Never Let Go is such a great story, that it made me want to get back on a contemporary kick. I swear I can’t make up my mind. I love my contemps and my paranormals. Never Let Go is a great example of the new adult genre.

I will give this warning though- if you don’t like love triangles, this may not be the book for you. Paige, the main character of never let go, is totally torn between two guys. Sweet, responsible Andrew, and sexy and seemingly dangerous Spencer. I really liked Paige. I connected with her right away. She seems like such a buttoned up and straight laced girl, but she is really not afraid to speak her mind. She has spunk, and I love my main characters spunky with a side of sassy. She seems totally terrified of not only sex, but everything when it comes to guys. I mean, she was even nervous when Andrew or Spencer would touch her arm. It seemed a little extreme to me, but she never really had the opportunity to be around guys her own age. First with an all girls boarding school and then with taking care of her grandmother full time. I got her strange seclusion.

Andrew seems like such a nice, and overall good guy. And normally that is exactly who I go for. I love dependable and sweet and caring, but for some reason, Andrew never really did it for me. I liked him and I thought he was sweet and would be decent enough for Paige but the thought of them together never got me excited.

Spencer on the other hand, I could totally see with Paige. They pushed each others boundaries. They were exciting and challenging and I felt like Paige came to life around him. Plus, I just knew there was a sweet softie just waiting beneath the surface of Spencer.

Never Let Go is the first book in a series, which I didn’t know until the end of this book. And I have to say that I am super excited to read the next book! If you enjoy New Adult romances, Never Let Go is a must read. The writing is great and so descriptive and the characters rock, which is crucial for romance driven stories.

Love and Relativity is an awesome read! I really enjoyed it. If you are looking for a great romance, this is the book for you. I have previously read preservation by Rachel Wade, and that book dealt with a kind of tough subject for me to read about and I thought she did a great job with it, so I was super excited to read Love and Relativity. Rachel Wade has a great writing style and it makes reading her books kind of addictive. I love how she writes romance, the build up is such a big part of the romance for me and Rachel Wade does a great job with that part.

Emma is cool. I like her attitude with life. She has a good head on her shoulders and she is not afraid to stand up for herself. I loved watching her and Jackson butt heads over and over again. But, I have such a soft spot for Jackson, that at one point I could tell she really, and unintentionally, hurt him and I found myself getting mad at her. I was so surprised, because normally I connect more with the girl main characters, especially since this book is told all from her POV, but I just loved Jackson. Maybe even more than I liked Emma. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know why she did what she did and why she thought being honest about it was better, I just thought there was a more gentle but still honest way to go about it. And also, don’t get me wrong, Jackson made me want to shake him a bit too another time in the book, but I don’t know there is just something about him that made me want to hug him. Among other things…

I really liked the dynamic between Jackson and Emma. I loved how protective he was of her. I like my book boyfriends with a tiny jealous streak sometimes. It is just hot if they don’t overdo it. And Jackson mixed with Rachel Wade’s gift for writing a great romance is a pretty deadly combination. I loved it. This book had so many quote-able parts for me, which is when I know I am totally digging the writing. When I continuously say- ooh I like that. That is a very good sign. I will say that I am not completely in love with the cover. I think it fits the book well, since it has a very romance cover vibe and Emma is into romance books, but those type of covers are just not for me. I feel like Young Adult and New Adult covers should be distinct from romance covers, but that is just my two cents.

Love and Relativity is a great read. I loved the setting in the book. Having lived in Florida my whole life, I knew the places they lived and visited and it is always nice to have a pre-image to go along with reading. It made it very easy for me to imagine that I was right there with them. Fans of New Adult romances should check out Love and relativity. I think you will really enjoy it.

Attempting Elizabeth is a fun read. I love Pride and Prejudice and I know there are quite a few young adult stories that follow the same plot idea, but I am always a sucker for a new spin on the classic. Attempting Elizabeth kind of reminded me a little bit of Austentacious by Alyssa Goodnight, which I loved! It had kind of a magical feel to the story.

I liked Kelsey. I related to her love of book characters, and I connected with how she connected with Elizabeth herself. (if that makes any sense) I commonly find myself wishing I was more like the super witty, or sassy or totally kick butt heroines in my favorite books. At first, I was a little worried about Kelsey because I liked her as a character but I didn’t love her. I can’t really pinpoint a reason why. She didn’t annoy me, she wasn’t a mary jane, but for some reason I was just kind of meh about her. And then as the book went on, and I got more and more into the story, I realized that I was kind of meh about her because she didn’t even really know who she wanted to be yet. Attempting Elizabeth is completely about Kelsey finding herself and finding out who she really is as a person. This is her coming of age story. And that is really kind of beautiful.

I thought Kelsey going back and forth between the book and real life was a really cool plot idea. I loved the back and forth and I thought that Jessica Grey did an excellent job with that aspect of the story. And then of course she also did a great job with Mark. I loved Mark and his adorable accent. The romance is kind of slow going for a while in the book, but that was ok for me because this book was so much more about Kelsey’s personal journey. At least I thought so anyways. Attempting Elizabeth was the perfect lighthearted read for me right now. I think fans of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen will really appreciate and enjoy this book.

Unchosen is the second book in the reaper diaries series. I really enjoyed the plot line of the first book so I was really excited for Unchosen. I have mixed feelings about this book in the reaper diaries series. Overall, I enjoyed it. I thought it was a good plot progression for the series, but I felt like it was kind of slow in parts and there were large chunks of the book where I wasn’t really sure that anything was happening. However, I saw a lot of great growth for Molly as a character and that made me really happy. I know a lot of people took issue with Molly in the first book, and while I didn’t dislike her for being immature and her language, I did notice that she wasn’t the most mature teen in the world. I thought it made her REALISTIC though, and I appreciated that. In Unchosen though, I could see Molly growing up. I got to see more of her thought process and I understood her a little better in this story and I loved that.

Molly has a lot going on. She still has the whole gang from the first book, including class mates and teachers that are not her biggest fan, but now she also has a soul box in her possession and gets into trouble with the school. Plus this new lawyer lady showing up and with her crazy connection to anubis the plot certainly thickens in this installment in the reaper diaries. I liked learning new things about Molly and her powers, but I felt like it was a bit too much information at once sometimes. I found myself getting kind of confused or lost at certain points. Sometimes I would have a hard time keeping track of the info and other times I wouldn’t quiet know why the characters were doing what they were doing. It’s hard to explain but I didn’t really know what direction they were going in sometimes. BUT, eventually it all comes together. I figured it out and got caught up, no problem. I enjoyed Unchosen. I think it will be a great connector between the first book and the next book in the series. The third book is set up to be AWESOME, by the way!

The romance was kind of light for most of the book, but that didn’t bother me at all because this was Molly’s story. She was trying to figure things out and she was pretty busy! She was getting attacked left and right it seemed like, so I don’t know where she would have had time for much of anything else. Unchosen is a fresh take on reapers. I really like the mix of egyptian mythology into the story. That is still my favorite part. Overall, I think that Molly stepped up her game in this book and I loved that, but I also thought that the plot was a bit slow and suffered a bit of “middle book syndrome”. I am certainly interested to see what is going to happen in the next book though. I think it is going to be epic!

Matchplay is the first book in the matchplay trilogy and you can buy the whole trilogy in one boxed set, which is nice. I like to be able to read all the books back to back if I so choose to. Matchplay is a very quick read, but the writing is very good even if the book itself is only 200 pages. It’s a short on time book and sometimes those can feel too rushed to me, but Matchplay didn’t.

Rainy Dey is just starting college. And man, oh man, would I be mad at my parents if they gave me a name like that, but she seems to just go with it. She gets to school with no one, but she makes quick friends of her roommate and her roommates brother. And right off the bat she meets Aaron, the big man on campus. (which I never really understood because I went to such a big college that there was no way that everyone on campus would know one guy that was the most popular, but I guess if you went to a smaller school it could happen.) Her roommate Olivia quickly warns her against Aaron, stating that he is bad news and it seems like Rainy wants nothing to do with him. Especially after she finds out about the “tournament”. But lo and behold she is partnered with him in an art history class and they have to work together. The plot is formulaic and not unique but it is a plot that, if done well, works for me. I enjoy this kind of formula if the characters are good. And I liked Rainy.

I haven’t made my mind up about Aaron yet. Is he a good guy? Is he still a bad guy? You will have to decide for yourself. But Rainy starts developing feelings for him through their work on the project and eventually he wears her down. My favorite part of the book was their development and bonding through the art history project. I really liked the art back story into rainy’s life, and I thought Aaron’s attempts to learn more about her were really cute. Matchplay seems like a solid first book in the matchplay series. I would recommend it to people who are looking for a cute, quick romantic comedy-like read.

When I read the summary for this book, I thought it seemed super cool. I don’t get a chance to read too many psychological thrillers, but I watch lots of these types of movies and I love them. Unfortunately, Dead Dreams just was not the book for me. I thought the story was jumpy and confusing.

I thought this was going to be a story about Brie. And while she is the main character, it really isn’t a story about her at all. It is about a chain of events that happen to her. My biggest problem with this book was that I didn’t really understand the point of it. It felt like it was missing a plot. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of stuff happened, but they felt like things that could be a really cool story surrounding a main plot. I didn’t really know what Brie was doing with her life before her new roommate showed up. I didn’t really know what she was doing during the story except for working, and I never really felt like I got to know her.

The mystery surrounding Brie’s roommate was interesting enough, but it was so confusing. I know that’s how it was meant to be, but it just frustrated me. I tried multiple times to get into this book, but I had to force myself to keep reading. I think some people could really enjoy the mystery surrounding this story and would totally get into the creepy, and unique story telling, but it just wasn’t something that I enjoyed.

If Only We is a beautiful story. It really is a heartwarming and feel good read. Adrienne gets a summer do-over. We don't know how exactly, but she travels back in time and gets to re do the last 3 months of her life. And there are plenty of things that she would like to change. If Only We is the story of her second chance to get it all right. I loved the overall story of If Only We. I think this is a great debut book for Jessica Sankiewicz.

The book starts at the end of Adrienne's summer and she is not too happy. She is still broken up about putting it all on the line with her friend/crush Chevy when she worked up the courage to tell him that she liked him. And he kind of just brushed her off with the lets be friends line, without really giving her a reason why. It kind of made him seem like a jerk. I was worried that I wouldn't like him, but he really grew on me in her do-over summer. I was pretty skeptical of him at first, but he completely won me over. And he eventually explains himself, which made up for everything. I liked Adrienne. She wasn't always the most mature, but then again she is only 18. But I really liked the way she went after things. She didn't freak out about this second chance summer, she faced it head on. She figured out the things that she wanted to accomplish and change and she set out to do them. I like a go-getter attitude. I felt bad that she was so nervous about telling her mom about nursing. I liked that when she decided it wasn't something she was passionate about, that she changed directions and went for something she liked. And I loved what she chose because it really seemed to suit her. But I didn't really get why she put off college. The first two years are mainly just generic classes that can be used for any degree or major, so I didn't know why she didn't sign up for some regular classes and then try a few different things to see what she liked. But that was really my only criticism with her. Other than that, I really liked how she faced her mistakes and how genuine of a person she seemed to be.

The secondary characters in If Only We were great as well. We really got to know Chevy and even her step sister, Kaitlin. I thought it was really cute how the two of them bonded. This is the story of just normal family and friends. The things Adrienne goes through are things you can immediately relate to. She is trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. And she is trying to get over rejection, and not disappointing her parents. If Only We is just so relate able. There are touching, tender moments, and sad moments and pretty much everything in between. And the ending will just make you smile. I loved the way jessica tied everything up. If Only We is a really good standalone novel. I enjoyed it.