Review: Captive by Brighton Walsh

He’s the most dangerous man she’s ever met…and she’s falling in love with him.

Madison Frost is desperate to escape her life. Daughter of a prominent businessman, she has everything a girl could ask for. Except for a family who’s present in her life, and anyone to talk to outside the four walls of the prison she calls home. Madison dreams of one day leaving her life behind. She never thought being kidnapped is how it would happen.

Now she’s being held captive by a man who’s as frightening as he is sinfully gorgeous. Enormous, muscular, and filled with secrets, the man they call Ghost is an enigmatic mercenary, and Madison is trapped with him. She doesn’t know who hired him or why, but the more time she spends at his mercy, the more she realizes he’s not what he seems. Beneath his rough exterior lies an unexpected gentleness and a heart as broken and battered as her own.

But as Madison lets down her walls, Ghost holds tight to his, hiding secrets that could destroy everything. 

MY THOUGHTS:

4 out of 5 stars

The very second that I heard that Brighton Walsh had a new book coming out, I added it to my to-read list.  There was no doubt in my mind that it would be great and that I would love it and that I would be inundated with swoons and UNFs.

Then I read the synopsis and a teeeeeny tiny little bit of me got worried because I am not generally a fan of  captor/captive story lines.  Okay, so maybe I was a little more than worried.   Maybe I was a lot worried.

But then I remembered that I am a huge fan of Brighton Walsh and that I have thoroughly enjoyed every single things she has written.   And there was no way she would write something squicky.  No way.

So I told that teeny tiny worried voice in the back of my head to get over it and I jumped at the chance to get my hands on an ARC.

Yeah...I was not disappointed.

At first glance, Madison and Ghost seem like polar opposites.  She is a college student that comes from a life of privilege and he is a hired thug that dropped out of high school.  But you know what they say about judging a book by its cover -- don't.   They have more in common than either one of them ever expected.

And without giving anything away, that's when things get interesting.  

At its simplest, yes, Captive is a story where the captive and her captor develop feelings for one another.  That much is true. But once you peel back that first layer, there is soooo much more.  And not one single word of it is squicky.

Definitely give this one a shot.   You'll be glad you did.

Review: Love Me to Death by Marissa Clarke

Medical research scientist Elena Arcos has always lived her life under the radar, which is not easy to do when you live with the craziest woman in the world. But eccentric Aunt Uza is a picnic compared to the other people who enter her orderly life after she is shot in a convenience store robbery.

Elena finds herself rocketed from comfortable predictability to supernatural insanity courtesy of her own private angel of death who happens to have the sexiest accent on earth and a body to match. Her death angel is convinced she’s some kind of freaky half vampire thing and that her deceased dad was the real deal: a blood sucking monster.

Yeah, right. She’ll play along, but then she doesn’t have much choice seeing how as the guy claims to be some immortal law enforcer and has taken her prisoner.

* * *

Nikolai Itzov had expected to fight the urge to torture the progeny of his father’s murderer, but he’d never anticipated battling the urge to kiss her her.

As a Slayer, an elite law enforcer descended from Azrael himself, his charge from the Underveil General is clear: Kill her or die. He has been told she is one of them--an Undead. Nothing but a parasite to be destroyed. But he has been told wrong.

Nikolai and Elena find themselves in a life and death battle to stop a plot designed to lift the Underveil and enslave humans.

With her analytical mind and his centuries of training and experience, they might be able to foil the plot with their lives and maybe their hearts intact. But in order to succeed, he must help her become the very thing he hates the most: an Undead.
 

MY THOUGHTS:

4 out of 5 stars

I used to read PNR's like they were air I needed to breathe.  For every title I started, I had at least four waiting for me to finish.  Have you seen the book igloo on Pinterest...yeah, I could probably build it with the books I've accumulated.

And then, just like that, I dropped the genre completely.  Because sometimes you just need to read something different...and then you discover all the books in your new favorite genre and the cycle starts over again.  Hence my stack of YA and NA and Fantasy books that I can use to build neighboring igloos.

There was something about this book though, that made me want to read it NOW.  Even though I wasn't looking for a PNR, I NEEDED to read it.  (And ok, yes I'll admit it...the cover wasn't hard to look at).  So when I was flying to attend a conference a couple of weeks ago, I had it all set on my Kindle ready to go -- 2 flights and a 3 hour layover in between...perfect!

Thrown headfirst into a world she didn't know existed, Elena Arcos has quite the situation on her hands.  Vampires, hunters, elves, shifters, new powers...welcome to life underneath the veil.  Oh, and Nikolai - can't forget him.  Especially once they are joined together by magic that doesn't break easily.

Oh, and there is the tiny little bit about a prophecy.  So that also complicates things a bit.


I have to confess that I was a bit confused with the story at the beginning -- granted my PNR wheels were a bit rusty, but it took me a few chapters to visualize the different worlds and beings that exist "beneath the veil".  But once I did, I was hooked.  I found the story to be funny, attention-grabbing, and...well, lets just say that all the elements that I look for in a paranormal romance book were there.

As a reader with an overwhelming number of books on my to-read list, I sometimes feel like starting a new unknown series can be a bit of a risk - especially when it is an genre that has been off my radar for a while.  No risk, no reward though, right?  While this book is primarily the story of Elena and Nikolai, the world that has been built and the other characters introduced are intriguing and I look forward to reading more in this series and more from Marissa Clarke. 


Thank you to Entangled Publishing for allowing me a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Coda (Coda #1) by Emma Trevayne

From Goodreads:

Ever since he was a young boy, music has coursed through the veins of eighteen-year-old Anthem—the Corp has certainly seen to that. By encoding music with addictive and mind-altering elements, the Corp holds control over all citizens, particularly conduits like Anthem, whose life energy feeds the main power in the Grid.

Anthem finds hope and comfort in the twin siblings he cares for, even as he watches the life drain slowly and painfully from his father. Escape is found in his underground rock band, where music sounds free, clear, and unencoded deep in an abandoned basement. But when a band member dies suspiciously from a tracking overdose, Anthem knows that his time has suddenly become limited. Revolution all but sings in the air, and Anthem cannot help but answer the call with the chords of choice and free will. But will the girl he loves help or hinder him?

So, I remember when Ms. Trevayne first announced that Coda was going to be published.  I was so completely excited for her as I am when any of my "book friends" make that announcement.  That's what we're all here for right?  New stories filled with amazing words?

But now I'm going to let you in on a teeny tiny little secret -- I get very nervous reading books by people that I know, be it online or in real life.  I mean think about it -- it can be a little scary when you know the author and the author knows you're reading their book and omg, what if I just don't like it?  Then things are awkward even though they shouldn't be and maybe probably it is just me that feels like that...but there it is.  I was scared to read this book.

Even though I love all things dystopian.  

And even knowing there was a musical element to the story when music plays such an important role in my own life. 

So yeah, I'm kinda kicking myself for having had this book since it's release date and just now getting around to reading it.  


This book sang to me.  And I don't mean that in a punny way or in a cutsey way trying to tie it back to the title.  But yeah, the musical element sold me from page one.  Music is such a personal thing to me.  The emotions that can be evoked by the perfect combination of sound and lyrics...indescribable.  Think about it -- we have playlists for working out, for kitchen dancing, for evoking a good cry on those days where crying is the only thing that will make you feel better -- and the audacity of a government to decide how and what music should make you feel?  Repulsive.  And terrifying.  

Cue my connection with Anthem.  I get him.  I can't even imagine being so dependent on something that you want to love and hate all at the same time.  Or having to live in fear of the day when people you love are given their first hit of what should be something so intensely personal.  And in the same breath, I think of the fact that the twins have lived their whole life without experiencing music and it makes me so sad.  Not that the music that the Corp provides is real music.

But what if there WAS real music out there.

What if Anthem could make it happen?  

I can do this.  The others are up there, waiting for me, bathed in lights that are the only thing making this place familiar.  Soon the kaleidoscope will be whirling to my rhythms, painting a crowd moving to my songs.

Mage stands behind his newly enhanced drum kit, Phoenix is at my old xylophone, Scope is surrounded by an array of things only the creative would call instruments.  Glass catches beams of blue, green, and purple and sends strange rainbows across the unconvinced expressions.  

My guitar leans against a speaker.  It has a voice of its own, and it's calling me.  Play me.  
 
I felt so much of this book.  There was everything within the pages.  Anger, elation, sadness, frustration, a little bit of romance and an "I know I did NOT just read that" moment that had me hunting down the author on twitter and letting her know that I was not amused.  Unfortunately, she zipped her lips and refused to tell me anything. **coughs** MEAN  **coughs**  (Though I did eventually forgive her.)

So, yeah.  When I started writing this post, I was worried that it was going to be a tough one to write.  Not because I didn't like the book, but because there was so much that I DID like about it -- and you know me and my No Spoiler policy.  Maybe it rambles a bit and maybe I only make sense to myself, but if you only take one thing away from this review, let it be that you need to read this book.  

 

Review: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

So I've been sitting on this review for a few weeks for a couple of reasons.  First, I've been in probably the worst book slump I've had in years and two, I don't read many books with a horror element, so I'm not really sure how to even talk about it.

Except that I found myself really enjoying it, so I feel like I NEED to talk about it.

Coming back to the fact that I don't read many "scary" books, I don't know much about the foundation of this book The Island of Doctor Moreau, but I didn't really find that to be an issue when reading this book.  Back story was included in a way that didn't feel like I was reading a recap and there was enough of it where I was able to read without feeling like I was on the outside of an inside joke.  So on that note, well done Ms. Shepherd.

This story is dark.  Period.  There are twists and turns and some really really scary elements that both fascinated me a little bit and freaked me out at the same time.  The whole "playing God" thing and how it can get out of hand...yeah, I'm not going to get into the real life parallels or anything but I definitely found myself thinking about them long after I finished reading.  I love it when books do that -- when I can be completely sucked in by the plot, imagery and descriptions while reading, but then have the themes and tropes linger into my own introspection and thoughts when I don't even have the book in my hands.

There is a love triangle in this book, but honestly, it didn't really take over the story for me -- but what I did notice is that I really didn't have a "favorite".  I liked Montgomery.  I liked Edward.  I liked that Juliet was conflicted, but not a doormat.  This story was not overrun with swoony moments, and while I'll be the first to admit that I am a sucker for good "swoonage", they would have been out of place with the tone and darkness of this book.  Is "dark swoonage" a thing?  Because maybe it could be called that?  Whatever it was, it worked.

I read this book right before my book rut started...and I think it was a good thing.  It had a little bit of everything.  Historical elements, the creepy factor, some romance, the fantasy...and the WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE ending that makes me really excited for the next book.

I definitely recommend it to anybody who is having an "I can't decide what I want to read moment."

 **On a side note, I had the chance to briefly meet Ms. Shepherd at the BookMarks Festival this month and she is lovely :) 

Review: The Ballad by Ashley Pullo

Disclaimer—This is a work of fiction intended for a mature audience. The lack of violence, virgins, love triangles, tragedies and alpha-stalking males may not be suitable for all readers. The Ballad is a Modern Romance designed to involve the reader in the authenticity of life, love and all things in between.

Chloe LeGrange is a singer/songwriter guided by her internal rhythm and raw emotions. Adam Ford is a sexy attorney, disciplined and emotionally guarded. Her impulsive behavior is counter-balanced by his calm composure but a stable relationship can often divert one’s own path to self-discovery.

The Ballad is written in the unique narrative style of Chloe’s lyrical approach to life, with unpredictable crescendos and intimate verses.
How does love start?
When does love end?
Or maybe it’s the middle of the story that really counts, the part when life happens, either propelling the relationship into a beautiful romance or dissolving into a predictable wasteland. Join Chloe and Adam on their journey through the picturesque streets of Brooklyn, so passionate and intense that a simple love story becomes a romantic ballad.

So, this book completely took me by surprise.  I stumbled across it through a post on Facebook of all places and figured why not give it a shot.  

I couldn't put it down.

The story starts in the summer of 2013 and works its way backwards, telling the story of the immense love between Chloe and Adam.  I wasn't sure how that was going to work really, knowing results before the set up.  I love a good Happy Ever After, but this is a Happy Ever Beginning and I'll admit to being a bit confused.  But holy cow, by the third chapter I was loving the concept.

It was like taking a jigsaw puzzle apart slowly piece by piece.  Instead of seeing a bunch of jumbled parts in the beginning, we see how each individual moment fits with the others to create the bigger picture.  We see how seemingly insignificant words, phrases, actions become so much more to Chloe and Adam, but not in a glaring "a-ha!" way.  And that's what I really loved.  Don't get me wrong, I am a sucker for Lloyd Dobbler moments, but I also love the little things.  The pinky touches, the silly words, the stories told in secret whispers that only they know.  I love layers.

Ms. Pullo writes beautifully.  Her words and the composition of the story have almost a lyrical quality that make The Ballad seem more than just the title of the story.  The ebbs and flows of the relationship between Adam and Chloe read like song and it is one that I want to listen to over and over.

This review was really difficult to write and Im hoping that when I reread it later, it will make more sense.  But if you take one thing away from my ramblings, it is this - please please please go check this story out.  I finished it 3 days ago and I haven't been able to get it out of my head.

 

On the Island - Tracey Garvis-Graves

You know that feeling when you finish a really really good book and when you put it down you sort of feel like nothing you ever read will be as good as the one you just finished?  I call those book hangovers and I have one.  It is ugly. 

I remember seeing On the Island mentioned quite a bit when it was first published last summer and I've had it on my Kindle for months, but it had gotten buried somewhere on page 4 or 5 and I had forgotten about it.  On a whim, I started reading it on Wednesday afternoon and from the beginning, I couldn't. put. it. down.

I have to confess, I think part of the reason I had put off reading it so long is because the first thing I noticed when reading about the book was that it told the story of a 30 year old teacher being stranded on an island with a 16 year old student.  I mean, hello -- giant red warning flags, right?  But I sort of hate that it is even mentioned because that is SO not what this story is about and yet it was always kind of in the back of my mind saying "what kind of book is this going to be?".  Until all of a sudden, it was gone. Please don't let my ramblings scare you off -- I promise I wouldn't tell you to read something squicky.

Trust me.

Anna and TJ are on their way to a summer in the Maldives when tragedy strikes and their plane crashes.  After they survive the impact, they somehow make it to a deserted island where they hope for rescue.  Surely somebody will be searching for them, right?  Right?

Right?

Hours turn to days...to weeks...to months...to years.

As the story progresses, you find yourself pulling for these characters, for Anna and TJ to survive.  You don't see 30 and 16, you see trust and growth and strength.  Told in alternating POVs, this book evoked every possible reaction.  I laughed, I smiled, I cried, I was scared, I cried, I cheered, I was angry...and when I finished it, I was sooooo sad.  Not because of what happens, but because it was over.  Gah, it is so hard to write what I want to say without giving anything away.

Tracey Garvis-Graves writes beautifully.  The story was fluid even with the alternating POVs and captivating.  I look forward to reading more by this author.   

On a side note -- Jaime and Bri and Tara and Jess...WHY did you not make me read this one sooner? 

The Original Sinners - Tiffany Reisz

While I'm in the middle of reading a book for my book club and waiting for Jack to finish reading a book so he can help me with a blog post, I decided to revisit some favorites:

 

I don't know what to say about these books. I don't think anything I can put down will be the right thing or enough...without getting too personal. Every time I finish one, I'm flung head first into emotional overload but in the best way possible.

I never ever thought reading a book, much less a series tagged with the term erotica or BDSM could make me feel these things. Yes, those elements are there and necessary - these books wouldn't be what they are without them. But those things are not ALL that this series is about - there is so much more.

It is no small secret that I despise the Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy.  ABHOR it.  Loathe it.  To this day, I don't know how or why it got published, but that's not my call and another discussion for another day.  While the BDSM way is not for me, I have encountered others that have experienced the lifestyle and after reading this books, I can say that I GET it. I can see it.  With her words, Ms. Reitz allows the reader to appreciate the beauty in something that society (thanks to books like FSoG) likes to stigmatize and trivialize. 

Reading each book, I connected with every single character. Nora - where has she been all my life? And Zach and Wesley, sweet sweet Wesley. And even Soren.  And Kingsley and Michael and
Griffin, especially when he wears a kilt.    **Shrugs**  Can't help it.

I never write long reviews -- I'm an emotional reader and it is hard for me to "critique" because I feel awkward putting my thoughts out there when usually they are based on nothing but my emotions -- but my feels for this series...they deserve words, inadequate as they may be.

I feel every word of this story.  Not exaggerating.

The intensity can be overwhelming, but it is also delicious. I found myself wincing at parts and reading though my fingers, but with every page turn I wanted to immerse myself in the depth and the feelings. Soak in it like a warm bath with candles and lots of wine until I get sleepy. I can't speak French worth a damn, but every italicized word or phrase was like a whispered kiss (-- well, except for 5 words that will haunt me until The Mistress comes out this summer). When you read it, you'll know what I mean. Half my updates on Goodreads were in a language I shouldn't understand, but when I was reading, I felt fluent. Because these books are more than just words.

The Siren was sassy
The Angel was enlightening
The Prince...was emotion.

I will say that these books won't be for everyone, but if you feel like stepping outside your comfort zone, they are worth the chance.  What Tiffany Reisz does with her characters is nothing short of magic. I can't think of another series of books that has grabbed me so consistently and yet each book does so in a completely different way. 

The Mistress has an expected publication date of July 30, 2013 and I'm hoping my good luck continues and I get to read it in advance.  **Prays to the Netgalley gods and unabashedly begs**

You can learn more about the author and the series here.