Oh, My Shattered Heart

Last night I finished reading the sixth installment in Cassia Leo's Shattered Hearts series, Chasing Abby.  WoW...just, WoW!  This book seriously took me on a huge emotional journey and that doesn't happen often.  There aren't too many books that make me cry.  Honestly.  I can only think of one other right now off the top of my head and that is The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (and if you deny that you cried too, you're a big fat hairy liar!).  

First, when I began reading this I was really disappointed in the fact that Miss Leo suddenly aged two of my favorite characters almost a decade and I was really having a hard time getting over that.  I just felt like it was wrong, especially since as a reader, I just got to know them and fall in love with them.  I put my displeasure aside, however, for the sake of hearing Abby's story.

Abby was adopted as a baby.  She has also lived her whole life being protected and sheltered due to a heart condition she's had since birth.  She finds out on her 18th birthday who her birth parents are  and this sets forth a journey she would've never imagined.

Enter Claire & Chris Knight, waiting anxiously, patiently, and prayerfully for 18 years to meet their first born child.  When Abby walks through their front door, they feel like their lives are finally complete; they are going to have the best summer ever.  Nothing ever goes quite as planned though.

It starts out as a summer of discovering her other family, discovering more about herself, and discovering true love for Abby, but what happens will break your heart and leave you aching for Abby.  It will leave you wanting to take all the hurt away from the young girl who has already gone through so much in her short 18 years. No joke, grab the tissues, people because it's a doozy!

As I said, I wasn't so thrilled with the direction this book started out in, with Claire and Chris already aged so much but Leo kept their characters very much in line with what you might expect them to be like more than a decade later.  They maintained their friskiness but it was a more mature version of them. Leo did a great job!  Again, I was proven wrong...and I'm happy for that.  I'd rather be proven wrong a million times than end up disappointed with a book I'm reading.

I'm not sure where the author is planning on taking this series from here of if this is how it ends, but it was a good ride.  She did shatter my heart in this latest book, but I'm grateful for happy endings.

I'm So Excited...and I Just Can't Hide It!

Oh em gee!  I am so excited today because one of my fave authors, Miss Melody Grace, had a rather surprising announcement today on her Facebook page.  Being the super sweet nerdy girl that I am, I am going to share the news with YOU!  Per her page, she states:  

**NEW SERIES ANNOUNCEMENT**

I'm so excited to finally share the big news with you all: in just a couple of weeks, I'll be launching a sexy new serial, the DIRTY DANCING series! 

I've been totally addicted to serials this summer, and I couldn't wait to try one for myself. There will be 3 books in the series, launching 11/5, 11/12. and 12/1. They're hotter than anything I've written so far, and I can't wait for you to read them!

Here's the blurb for #1, FIRST POSITION, coming November 5th!

"A man dances the same way he fucks. His stamina, his rhythm, the slow grind of his hips. Some people are born to it, others learn through years of careful study. 

And dancers? We do it best of all.

The moment I saw her, I knew. Her innocence is intoxicating. My lust is fierce. Primal. To watch her dance is to know the torment of true temptation.

She will be mine."

**

I soooo cannot wait because I have really loved everything I've read from her so far with her Beachwood Bay series. She creates some fascinating characters that are like real people you want to know, living in a small beach community that you feel like you want to belong to as well.  Hopefully she will be continuing on with her Beachwood stories, but it will be fun to read some new, racier books as well.  Bring 'em on, girl!

I Love Books

That is is all.  You may now resume your normally scheduled activities.

Colleen's Ladies Deliver

As a devoted follower of one of my fave author's, Colleen Hoover, I also follow one of her fun Facebook pages called Colleen Hoover's CoHorts where it is essentially everything Colleen.  What I love is that she actively participates in the fun on the page too. It definitely makes her seem like more of a "real" person to me rather than some of these other mega-authors that have "people" who operate their pages for them because they're, of course, waaaay too important to do that kind of thing themselves.  Stuff like that keeps you humble, keeps you real.  If there's one thing I've noticed from following Colleen's Facebook fan pages and her personal page, it's that she's real...and I appreciate that.

Anyhow, someone on the Colleen Hoover's CoHorts page asked for suggestions for other authors similar in style which had many ladies contributing.  Most authors I had heard of and agreed with many.  Lots of good ones were listed that I enjoy reading.  One book and author, however, was mentioned a handful of times that intrigued me.  Well, when I'm intrigued I have to find out more, so I HAD to purchase the book on my iPad immediately. Within minutes I was the new proud owner of Stepbrother Dearest, by Penelope Ward.

To be totally honest with you, I was intrigued because I thought it sounded dumb. Stepbrother Dearest?  Puuleeeze!  I just didn't actually think it could possibly be that good.   The description didn't even sound all that great either;  really, a stepbrother and stepsister give in to their temptations and get it on?  That's actually kind of weird and sick.  Well I learned (even though I totally should've known) that just as you can't judge a book simply by it's cover, you also can't judge it on the title alone.  Hand to God, I LOVED it!  I was completely wrong about it.

We meet semi-shy Greta, a high school senior, whose life is basically turned upside down when her step dad's estranged teenage son, Elec, comes to stay for the year all the way from California.  He's dark, he's rude, he's brooding, and he's totally hot too!  Greta can't help the attraction she feels to him but chalks it up mostly to teenage hormones and tries to ignore it. Unfortunately for her, Elec loves to goad her on.  He finds all kinds of excuses to get her riled up and then, he kisses her and things begin to change.

Although Elec and his father don't get along, Greta doesn't really understand why until one night things come to a head and she defends Elec and protects him.  In doing that, he begins to let his self-built walls down a bit and let her in.

Without giving too much away from the story, they have a romantic moment that stays with them even after separating and not speaking for seven years.  Then, they see each other again due to circumstance.  That wasn't supposed to happen.  What they discover is so deep and profound.  The way they relate to each other when they both let down their defenses and start being honest with each other and following their hearts is beautiful.  This story is like a roller coaster in so many ways in how it led my emotions up and down and all over the place.  I just couldn't get enough of it!

What I liked is that this wasn't a story about incest, which is what I initially thought it would be.  There was so much depth and emotion in the story and it lived up to the hype I heard about it too.

This was my first time reading anything by Penelope Ward but I loved these characters so much that I'm definitely excited to read more by her soon!

Whatcha Reading?

So...whatcha readin'?  Anything good?  Anything by a new author?  Anything that brought out the tissues or made you want to pull your hair out?  Although I've read several great stories lately, none have caused that kind of emotion in me in a looooong time!  

I did, however, just finish up reading Stay With Me by the lovely author, J. Lynn, also known as Jennifer Armentrout.  Stay With Me is the third book in the Wait for You series and as in typical fashion, it delivered.  It was a quick read with a fast paced story line.  It was a hard-to-put-down one, for sure!

In short, this is the story of Calla who is a college student and discovers that her junkie mom has stolen all of her college savings as well as racked up several thousand dollars in debt in her name, so she goes home to set things straight.

Her mom, however, has skipped town and there are some big, bad, ugly guys looking for her and willing to use Calla to find her.  Insert the hunky bartender to just can't leave Calla alone...but Calla has a lot of secrets.  She just doesn't realize that the bartender happens to already know her.

There are parts of the story that are a bit slow and I had to push through to keep going, but not many.  I really liked that both main characters, Calla and the bartender, Jax, each had their own issues that although different, were still similar enough that they were able to connect on a level because they truly understood each other.  I loved that Jax wouldn't let give up on Calla despite her naivety and running away from the important stuff.  He was a mature male character who not only taught her how to love him but more importantly, how to love herself.

Another thing I really liked is that characters from the past stories were brought in as friends of Calla.  I love when authors do that and connect all of the characters together in this whole little fictional world.  

This was definitely a good read and I would recommend it to others.  Although it's part of a series, you can read it as a stand alone just fine.  Everything I've ever read from Jennifer Armentrout/ J. Lynn has been a hit with me and I was pleased to see that continue.  She is a master with words and one of my favorites! 

Next up, part 5 in Inglath Cooper's wonderful Nashville series.  This time it's Thomas' story! I can't wait!

It's Fall Ya'll

There's nothing like Autumn.  I love it!!  I love all the pretty colors of everything, the yellows. oranges, reds, and browns.  I love that everything suddenly has to have a pumpkin flavor too like our lattes, candy, breads, desserts, etc.  I love the smells of bonfires and the sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet.  I love having a "perfect day" smooshed between crisp, cool mornings and chilly evenings.  I love jeans and sweatshirts, sweaters and boots, and I love snuggling up with a blanket and reading on a rainy day.  Really, there's not much I don't like about Fall.

So, with that being said, enjoy my favorite time of year because you KNOW I will!

Book Nerd 2014 Reading List

That's the key to happiness, I think.  Drinking good coffee and reading.  I mean, all you have to do is add "while snuggling on the couch" or "while by a warm fire" and you're got the trifecta of happiness really.  Every morning I take time to drink some coffee and have some time to myself and I read.  It's a sick addiction, but one I'll gladly keep feeding.

This year, 2014, has been one where I've really read A LOT of stuff.  I was in to a lot of the chick lit for a while but this year I ventured into the romance genre more.  I must say, it's H-O-T too! These authors, man they know how to make me blush!  I thought I'd take a minute to chronicle what I've read so far this year and give you some (very) brief descriptions of the books and my thoughts on whether they're worth your time.  Of course you may disagree, and that's fine, but you'd be wrong.  ;)

Wait for You (1-3) series, by Jennifer Armentrout
The Dark Elements (1 & 2) series
Lux  (1-4) series
**I love anything this gal writes so you can't go wrong with her.

Painless (1-3) series, by Devon Hartford
Victory Run (1-3)
**These are written by a man...and sometimes it's blatantly obvious.  Overall though, he has great character development and it implores me to continue through pages of boring "biker speak" so I could get into the meat of the story and I was glad that I did.

One Week Girlfriend (1-4) series, by Monica Murphy
*Cute stories, typical romance, interesting story line.

Trailer Park Princess, Delia Steele
High Class Harlot
**Hmmm, I want to like this writer a lot because if I ignore the persistent use of bad words from her characters and the almost forced descriptions of the characters, I kind of like the stories.

Grown Up Kind of Pretty, by Joshilyn Jackson
**I'm going to be honest here in saying that I do not remember much about this one.  I've read a handful of book by Jackson though and have enjoyed them all, as I remember enjoying this.

The Selection (1-3) series, by Kiera Cass
**Think The Hunger Games, add in royalty and that's basically what you've got.

The Arrangement series (1-15), by H.M. Ward
Damaged (1 & 2) series
The Secret Life of Trystan Scott  (1-5) series
Proposition  (1-5) series
Secrets (1-5) series
Stripped
**If you like steamy hot erotic novels, these are the way to go.  All of the above have to deal with the same family, The Ferros, so the story lines intertwine and connect in intricate  and fun ways.

Nashville Nights (0-3). by Stacey Mosteller
**Really enjoyed the characters in these and loved their stories!

Shattered Hearts (1-5) series, by Cassia Leo
Luke (1-8) series
Unmasked (1-3) series
Knox (1-4) series
Chase 
Black Box
**Another newly discovered author, like Ward, Leo write steamy and h-o-t novels.  Some have great stories while others are a bit thin.  Everything is very detailed and explicit.

The Callahans (1-3) series, by Melody Grace
Beachwood Bay (1-6)
**Grace is another author that I love.  She could probably write anything and I'd read it and love it.

The Coincidence (1-6) series, by Jessica Sorensen
The Secret (0.5-4) series
**I love Sorensen and you will too!

Vain (1-3) series, by Deborah Bladon
**I'd never heard of this gal before I found these but must say that I really enjoyed them.

Random (1-4) series, by Julia Kent
*Before reading the Random series, I'd heard of Kent but never read anything by her.  I now want to devour everything by her.  I truly loved the Random series!

Nashville  (1-4) series, by Inglath Cooper
Crossing Tinker's Knob
*Couldn't seem to put down the Nashville books as I just kept wanting to know what would happen to the sweet country girl and that boy she picked up on the side of the road.  :)

Crossing Tinker's Nook was easily one of my Top 5 favorites for the year; I heart it!

Guarded Hearts (1 & 2) series, byKristy Moseley
**This one is escaping my memory.

Because of Ellison, by M.S. Willis
*Another in my Top 5 for the year.  I adored this story!

Forgiving Lies (1 & 2) series, by Molly McAdams
Needing Her, novella
Sharing You, novella
Capturing Peace, novella
*McAdams is one of my girl crushes and she could write anything and again, I would love it.

Heartbreakers, by Samantha Grey
*No memory...I'm thinking that must mean they weren't all that great if I cannot remember anything about it that stands out.

Beautifully Broken series, by Courtney Cole
The Paradise Diaries (1 &2)
*I really enjoy most everything that Cole writes.

Unfiltered (1-7) series, by Payge Galvin &  Katy West
*Stumbled upon these by accident and ended up really liking them.  The stories all are based off the lives of the characters that initially appear in the first book.  Very enjoyable.

The Chase (1-3) series, by Jessica Wood
*Decent stories, typical romance.

Maybe Someday, by Colleen Hoover
Ugly Love
**Colleen Hoover is another of my favorite authors and makes me wait entirely too flippin' long for her books!  Blast her!

Better When He's Bad: A Welcome to The Point Novel, by Jay Crownover
Marked Men Novels: Jet, Rome, Nash, Rule
*I had tons of fun getting to know these sexy, hunky,  inked up guys in these novels!

Fearsome (1 & 2), by S.A. Wolfe
*Good, although I don't remember much

The Sarah Kinsley Story (1 & 2) series, by C.J. Berry
*Don't remember much

Losing It (1-4) series, by Cara Carmack
*I usually enjoy everything Carmack writes so I knew I'd like these too.