Angie Stanton certainly knows how to write a powerful book. I even shed a few tears while reading Rock and a Hard Place. This is the story of a first high school love. It's powerful and real and raw and I loved every second of it. There are a lot of characters that have it rough. They get cut a bad hand in life, but holy cow, I don't think they hold a candle to what Libby had to go through. This poor girl! Her mom and sister died in a car accident. Her dad couldn't deal with his grief so he dropped her off at her awful aunt's house, where she lives in filth and can't do anything except try and stay out of her alcoholic aunts way. And that is just the beginning of the book. That doesn't even begin to cover all the stuff that happens to her throughout the story. I just wanted to give her a hug!

Libby is a strong girl. She has to be to survive. And then she meets Peter. They are so sweet together. Their relationship was so cute and adorable and pure. It was all consuming, just like so many first loves are. They would rush home to try and talk to each other, and stay up late into the night and their whole worlds seemed to revolve around each other. Except that unlike normal high school love, Peter is a rock star. I thought Peter was a breath of fresh air. He seemed so unaffected by his fame. I really liked him.

What I liked about Rock and a Hard Place is that the progression of their relationship felt so realistic to me. There were plenty of bumps in the road but nothing felt forced, nothing seemed contrived. It was just two people trying to be together against everything they were each dealing with. This is just the kind of story that you have to read to appreciate the beauty of it. At first glance it seems like a cute love story that you would take to the beach, but it is far from a light read. There is depth and so many raw emotions that make this a much deeper book. It deals with tough issues. I think Angie Stanton is such a bold writer. I loved that about Rock and a hard Place. Romance fans need to read this book and realistic contemporary fans need to check it out too. I think there is something in this book that will appeal to so many different readers.

Everyone knows by now that I am a mythology addict. I just gobble it all up. I always loved mythology in high school and college (I almost minored in greek studies. I had enough classes to.) And then once I discovered Young Adult mythology books it was like the gods were smiling at me. Two of my favorite things combines together. Umm, YES PLEASE! But a lot of the books star to seem a little similar after a while, but that is not something that bugs me. It is a formula that works for me. But From Gods is from a new and fresh perspective. Which was really great! It is told from the Demi Gods generation and it was a fun and kind of mysterious action adventure story. This is the second book I have read by Mary Ting. (the other one was a new adult written under M. Clarke name) and I have to say, I am a HUGE fan of hers now. She knows how to tell a story and make it come to life.

Fans of mythology and of adventure tales need to read From Gods. Skylar has a mysterious father that her mom never likes to talk about, but when she visits her cousin Kayla she meets a group of hot "brothers". She is drawn to Mason, but there is no form of insta love in this story. In fact most of the time, they are each trying to deny that they even like the other one. The brothers are demi gods, but even once Skylar finds that out, we still don't really know what she is. She doesn't seem to have the same kind of powers as the other guys, and I couldn't think of which god her special ability reminded me of. It was a big surprise to be for a lot of the book. You have to wait a while to get your answers, but it is worth it.

I loved how protective Mason was of Skylar, even when he was denying that he liked her. The dynamic between the two of them becomes more and more adorable and intense as the book goes on. It felt like a natural progression for me. I think that is one of Mary's talents- writing swoonworthy and completely believable relationships/dynamics between people. I love reading about her characters. Not to mention that there are super creepy Vultures all over the place and a quest like adventure, make this book an absorbing and fascinating read. From Gods is a great and different addition to the Young Adult Mythology genre.

Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. takes place in the future- in the year 2069 to be exact, when time travel is not only possible, but it has been perfected. The government can time travel and it regulates it strictly. It won't allow private individuals to have their own time travel, but the exception is the 5 or 6 private companies that were able to fund and create their own time travel through their own means, were grandfathered into the system. They are able to continue their time travel businesses but they are HEAVILY regulated by the government. (on a teeny tiny side note, I'm not sure how each of these businesses got their own patents, which means they must have found 5 different ways to time travel, but that is besides the point.) I thought that Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. was an incredible unique concept, and it was really well executed. I really enjoyed the ride through time that this story took me on. It has been listed as New Adult, but it could completely pass as Young Adult as well. The characters are an appropriate age for either genre and it felt a little tamer than most New Adult books in romantic content.

Bianca is the main character. She works for her families time travel company, and she is just one trip away from getting her travelers/ guide license to be able to be a time guide on her own. And the part about being a guide is her induction day. An induction day is so special because it is kind of like a day throughout time where almost anything goes. (the rules all seem to be bent for induction.) I loved learning about what Bianca wanted to do with her Induction day. Bianca is a huge stickler for the rules, and being out in the middle of Alaska means that she pretty much has had no opportunity to get into any kind of trouble. But this all changes when Tristan Helms walks into her business and life.

Tristan is a huge pop star, who like so many nowadays, is battling a drug addiction. He has been clean for a few months, but that all gets tested and pushed to the limit throughout their travels. Bianca's parents are going through a government inspection/audit so they are unable to accommodate Tristan, but when he offers them triple their usual rate, they allow Bianca to go with him on her very first trip alone. As you can probably guess they hit all sorts of bumps and roadblocks. But they go on one heck of a journey. I was enjoying the book and then when they leave New York and show up at a huge famous music fest, the book took a turning point for me. It went from enjoyable to super intricate and interesting due to a plot twist. I loved how delicate and complex time travel is. The implications of it seem to be endless, and P.K. Hrezo did such an awesome job playing out different scenarios and ripple effects and they led to some pretty cool plot twists. The second half of this book, I was glued to my seat. I couldn't put it down. This was a great journey. Lot's of fun with a bit of a mystery woven in for the main characters to solve, and of course a great adventure that takes you all throughout time. A really unique read.

Jase was a more emotional read than I expected it to be. This story is a roller coaster ride. There are so many ups and downs to this story and relationship. Jase and Carly at first glance seem to be complete opposites, but then as the story goes on, they seemed more and more alike to me. And man oh man, they were all over the place as a couple. Extremely hot when they were together, but they had more than their fair share of bumps in the road and a lot of the time they were one step forward, and one bigger step back. But overall, their tumultuous journey together made for a read that felt realistic and was enjoyable. It wasn't perfect, but then again real life very rarely is.

Carly is super sheltered. She is a smart girl that is 19 and goes to Stanford but she is extremely inexperienced, I don't think she had ever been kissed before she met Jase. She described herself as being a shy geek girl, and while I did think that she was smart and very into science, reading and school, I didn't find her shy at all. She was quiet when she first met Jase, but after day 3 or 4 she seemed anything but shy. And then after that she didn't have any problem letting people know what she was thinking. I liked her a lot, but I found her to be more hotheaded, like Jase, than quiet and shy. (which is why I thought that they were more alike than they would care to admit.)

Jase is a womanizer. Never sticking with one girl too long. He thinks all girls are the same. Jealous, possessive, and super controlling. Which is why Carly intrigued him so much. She didn't seem to be any of those things and he was immediately drawn to her. There was a bit of insta- love but if you push through that first part, their relationship totally blossoms and it becomes more than that insta-attraction. M.J. Fields does a good job delving into her characters, and I felt like I really got to know the two main characters.

Jase is told in Dual Narrative, but it is mainly from Carly's POV. Jase's chapters were much shorter and just randomly scattered throughout the story. It worked for me. The plot in Jase is very fast paced. At first, I thought it felt a little choppy because everything was happening so fast, but I quickly adapted to the flow of the book, and I found myself getting into the story and just riding the tide that the plot takes you on. There were plenty of twists and turns going on in the story. I started to feel bad for Carly and Jase, they just couldn't seem to catch a break. One thing after another kept happening to them. This story was an emotional roller coaster ride for me. Jase and Carly worked well together. They each did things that annoyed me, but overall they were both good characters and in the end, I was rooting for them. Which for me, is what it's all about. Jase felt a little too rushed and choppy for me at the start, but overall it was an enjoyable read. I can see tons of people falling in love with Jase (the character and the book) because he is a bad boy with a gooey marshmallow center.

Wow! This book was so much fun. It made me feel like I was living it up on the Las Vegas Strip right along side with Peyton, Savannah, and Courtney. The three Diamond sisters are each so unique. The book was split up into multiple different characters views. The chapters each alternated between the diamond sisters and the resident "it" girl at their soon to be high school, Madison. There were also little sections scattered throughout from a school online website, where people were posting rumors and things that were going on. It reminded me of part Twitter, part Gossip girl blog. I thought it was a perfect add in to the atmosphere that the Diamond sisters found themselves living in.

Peyton, Courtney, and Savannah are uprooted to live with their absentee father in Las vegas, and overnight their whole lives changes. I appreciated how well the girls each handled this huge change. Sure Peyton was a little grumpy, and sure Savannah was a little spend happy with all of her new money, but I thought overall, they handled themselves really well in this tough situation. I also thought that the celebrity lifestyle was portrayed to a t! Michelle Madow did such a fantastic job creating an atmosphere that seemed to realistic to how teenage/celebrity lifestyle seems to be. It is like the Las Vegas Gossip Girl. I ate it all up.

I really liked all of the Diamond Sisters because they were each so different and I feel like we got to know each of them really well, but if I had to rank them I like Courtney the most and Peyton the least. Courtney seemed like the most level headed of the three and i thought she made the best decisions overall. I liked Savannah, but I wish she was just one year older. She seemed so young at just 15, and everything she was doing just made her seem so much older. I think that is why I like the idea of her with Nick because he seemed to treat her the best. Peyton just seemed like such a sourpuss all the time and in some ways she acted the most immaturely. I understand where she was coming from, but attitude still bugged sometimes. At the end of the story, I started to get a glimpse of a much nicer Peyton, and that made me like her a lot more.

And then there is Madison. I have no idea what to think of her. I guess she was the "mean girl". And by I guess, I mean that she can be one heck of a B, but for some reason, I just want to believe her soft underbelly. I'm still deciding on who the real Madison is. I will have to get back to you on that one after I read the next book. And you better believe, I will be reading the next book. I am hooked on the world of the Secret Diamond Sisters and I can't wait to go back for more.

A yummy New Adult treat that takes place on a cruise. How awesome does that sound? Like tons of fun, right? But then you add in surprising depth and really wonderful romance that felt so natural to me and I was hooked. I stayed up until 3 am reading this book. On a work night. I love that the series is going to continue, but the next book is going to be Georgia's friend, Yasmin's story. I hope that Georgia and Jace show up a lot though because I am smitten with the two of them.

Georgia is the southern belle who is prim and proper on the outside, but she is crumbling apart on the inside. We know right off the bat that she has this big secret. Like blackmail worthy, big. But Georgia keeps everything to herself, even though it is visibly destroying her. I was dying to learn what her secret was, but Valerie Chase keeps us in suspense until almost the end of the book. She can't keep food down, she has lost weight, and basically she is an emotional wreck. And the only person that cares enough to look past her walls and call her on her BS is Jace. A guy that until this cruise, was just a school mate acquaintance. There is a big group setting of college sorority sisters and frat brothers on the cruise so there were lots of secondary characters there to make things interesting, but the main focus on the story was definitely Jace and Georgia. Which was perfect for me, because I could not get enough of these two. They are seriously one of the most perfect couples that I have read about in a long time. I just lurve them!

Full Steam Ahead is told in dual narrative, which is my favorite way to read romance stories. I just getting both the guy and the girls perspective. Jace is a complicated guy too. He takes the time to really watch Georgia. And together, they each break down the other person's walls. Georgia is just as good for Jace as Jace is for her. I thought the cruise was a fun setting for this steamy romance, but the character connection and emotional depth really bumped this book from good to great for me. I know it is early in 2014 but this is going to be a hard contemporary book to top. The writing is great, the characters are so fleshed out, and the romance is heartwarming. I want more Georgia and Jace! Valerie Chase is a new author that you need to read. Full Steam Ahead was a total hit with me.

Lingering Echoes is kind of a tough book. It is beautiful but in a sad and broken way for a lot of the story. It is tragic and emotional, but Erica Kiefer deals with some really hard deaths. I liked the summer time, lake/ cabin setting. I think the setting was perfect because it allowed all the characters to basically be together 24/7, so they forged quicker bonds. There was mystery, mixed in with some pretty great character growth. This whole story was about growth.

Allie seems like such a broken girl at the start of the story. At first she comes off cold and and kind of rude, but then I reminded myself that even coming back to this place was super hard for her. Even when she was being kind of cold, I always was on her side rooting for her. There is just something about her that you can't help but like. And then when she started to open up, and when she was with Damian, I really started to like her. She is just a teenage girl that is dealing with a huge amount of grief and guilt.

And then there is the whole Damian aspect of the story. He seemed to be really good for Allie. He made her feel safe and he pushed her to go outside her comfort zone with the water. It was just really nice to watch Allie blossom with him. And Damian seemed to grow and open up when he was around Allie too. They were good for each other.

There were lots of twists and turns in Lingering Echoes, some were predictable and some that I didn't see coming. It was a nice mixture. The story has great pacing. It wasn't too fast or too slow, but towards the end it did pick up quite a bit during some of the more frantic events. People that like emotional reads, will really enjoy this beautiful story dealing with death and dealing with grief, and how to move on when you don't think that you can. I loved watching Allie start to become ok again. It was a great character journey to witness.

The Stephanie Plum series is so much fun. It is one of those super long series that I know I can just pick up at any time, and I know that I will enjoy the story. The mystery is always interesting and the characters are a riot. I listened to this book on audio cd. It is the first book in the series that I have listened to the audiobook version of the story. I thought the narrator was great. I loved her voice of Lula, who is pretty much the star of this book. She never fails to crack me up.

The murder mystery in Finger Lickin' Fifteen is the death of Stanley Chipotle, a famous chef. So Lula and Stephanie go undercover (ha! yea right, like anyone in Trenton doesn't know who the two of them are by now)to enter the BBQ cook-off to try and solve the mystery. All of your favorite characters are back in this story and they are just as great as ever. I love the consistency in this series. You don't need to read each any every book to know what is going on. Each book is a contained mystery, but there are character subplots that flow throughout the series, so it is always a good idea to read them all in order.

Lula is hilarious in this story. I loved watching her try out different rib recipes. And seeing her with Stephanie's grandma is always a hoot and a half. This book made me laugh more times than I can count. Stephanie and Ranger, Lula and Joe Morelli are just such a winning combination. If you have not read this series yet, what are you waiting for? The romance and the mystery is a great combination. I listened to this book on a car trip with my boyfriend and his family and everyone loved it. His mom and dad, and his brother all thought it was funny. I don't think anyone in the car fell asleep, everyone was so interested in the story. Great addition to the series.

Dirty Blood is a MUST READ for any fan of YA paranormal. Fully developed, lovable characters, a fantastic romance, and a super awesome plot- Dirty Blood had it all! I am so addicted to this book. I can easily see myself re-reading it and enjoying it over and over again.

This book is action packed, right from the very first chapter where Tara is unexpecdely drawn into a crazy fight. And that is just the beginning. I loved learning about the Hunters and the werewolves. and this dirty blood business is extra fascinating. I can't wait to see what is in store for us next on that front.

Tara is stubborn and I loved, loved, loved the fact that she never just blindly accepted the fact that Wes kept a lot of secrets and wouldn't always answer her questions. She continued to get fed up with him when he was being all mysterious. I loved it because I know that I would be the same way. Too often in YA books, a girl meets a hot mysterious guy and as soon as he shows an interest in her, she is willing to accept a lot of half answers and goes on blind faith without any basis for that. Not Tara. She is smart, and shrewd and she demands answers before commiting. Even though there is a very strong magnetic connection between her and Wes.

And Wes is just awesome. I really, really liked him. He was annoyingly mysterious at times but eventually he got the hint that he needed to share things with Tara if he wanted to be with her. I look forward to getting to know Wes even better in the next books. I snuck a peek at the summary for book 2 and i'm nervous to see this new guy Alex pop up. I have read a few reviews (because I became obssessed with the series after reading this book!) and everyone is saying that they LOVE Alex. This makes me scared. I really like Wes and I don't want some new guy swooping in and stealing the show. I am curious to see how I will like Alex in the second book.

Overall, Dirty Blood is such an epic and wonderful book. The writing is fantastic! The characters are fleshed out and realistic and the plot is so engrossing that you will easily find yourself sucked in. To say that I am excited to read book 2, Cold Blood is the understatement of the year. I need to read it right now! My only warning is to not start this book when you have other things you need to do. Dirty Blood is hard to put down!