Review: The Man I Love (The Fish Tales #1) by Suanne Laqueur

Synopsis

Erik "Fish" Fiskare loves the theatre, but he’s more intrigued by the wizardry behind the red curtain than the spectacle center stage. That is, until Daisy Bianco steps into the spotlight. The moment Erik lays eyes on this ballerina, his atoms rearrange and the young stagehand will never be the same.

For two years, the romance thrives within a tight-knit circle of artists and friends. Then, a newcomer arrives—James, a brilliant but erratic dancer with a misguided infatuation and a burning desire to belong. Rejection sets James on a course for destruction and when the smoke clears, Erik’s world is torn apart. He soon discovers that in the face of heartache, grief and betrayal, love is not always enough to make you stay. And sometimes, it’s the only thing that can bring you back. 

Spanning fifteen years and following a man's thrilling emotional journey back to the truth of himself, this award-winning novel has gripped readers and placed Laqueur as one of the most exciting debut authors of 2015. The Man I Love is an epic tale of love and forgiveness that will linger long after the last page is turned.

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Buy here --->> Amazon UK | Amazon US

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My Review

4.5 Beautiful, Enigmatic Stars!!

I don't even know where to begin with this review and explain to you all about what I felt whilst reading it.I tell you now this book really makes you FEEL everything! So much happens and all the up and downs make you feel like you are interlinked with all these characters.This story was much more that just a normal story.This was real, powerful and consuming.

'In the dark. What are you like in the dark?'

When I got asked to review this arc I had no clue what it was about and I read the title and was like Fish Tales? Tell me it's not about a guy who turns into a fish or something bizarre like that haha. Luckily I checked goodreads and well that's when I discovered that this book has amazing reviews,so I thought why not lets give this a shot. i didn't actually read the blurb or reviews it was more on the ratings and I prefer not going in with too much information since I know it can put me off at times, causing me to miss out on some incredible books.

'This was the real story.This was how it started.Not with locked eyes during romance and sex, but with blood.'

I don't feel like I need to summarize the book since the synopsis gives you most of that anyways but what it misses out is what a painful, brutal journey you experience whilst reading this book. I recommend you go in blind and experience everything. One of the things I absolutely loved was the writing. This book is written BEAUTIFULLY!

'Her gravity was so strong, his attraction to her so complex and layered, he felt he was drifting in another dimension.'

The story starts so lovely, it has a slow and beautiful sensation of falling in love, feeling on top of the world.Light and airy, like you could do anything.It's brutal how this book lulls you in to a sweet innocent atmosphere away from anything painful and then allows it all to crash down on you when you least expect it.I remember getting half way and to that one massively painful part and being so angry. SO angry. I couldn't believe the turn things had taken and how had it got there. I was Eric, I understood what he did and it may have been wrong but it was real and I felt like in that position I would have done the same. My heart broke for him and everything else fell short. Nothing else mattered, I rooted for him wanting him to be successful finding happiness again yet I felt his ache, even in all the happy places there was this raw ache that wouldn't allow him to be fully happy.

'I could never hate you.But now I can never love you.The two nevers cancelled each other out.Leaving nothing.'

But in the end after all the pain, anger, misery and failure, every single emotion he went through things had to be forgiven. Everything he went through, which I went through with him, there came a point where it all made sense where there was this calmness and dulling of the pain. So in some ways time does heal. Things had to get right again and it would only become like that when every missing part of Eric was put back together in a sense. I never thought I would feel like that by the end but I did and that's a first which makes this author even more awesome.

'They gathered together in the evenings, yet each struggled alone.'

I can't wait to read the rest in this series and I'm hoping they are all as amazing as this one. I need to know what happens with all the other characters and if things would go back to normal, what is normal? I have a lot of unanswered questions I hope they will get answered in the next books. Btw there are so many sections and quotes I highlighted. SO MUCH!

*ARC provided by the author for an honest review*

Review: The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred

Synopsis

Sweet tea, corn bread, and soup beans—everyday fare for eight-year-old Alix French, the precocious darling of a respected southern family. But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both of their lives forever.

Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick's abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer.

Suddenly, Nick is gone—leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick's abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friends. But finally, she's starting to get her life back together. Her divorce is almost final, her business is booming, and she's content if not happy—until the day she looks up and sees Nick standing across the counter. He's back…and he's not alone.

Once again Alix is plunged into turmoil and pain as Nick tries to win her love, something she resists with all her strength. Only one thing might break the protective wall she's built around her emotions—the truth about Frank Anderson's death. But when that truth comes out and those walls crumble, neither Alix nor Nick is prepared for the emotional explosion that could destroy as well as heal. 

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Buy here -> Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review

3.5-4 Intense Stars!

Wow it's been a while since I've wrote a review and a while since I've read anything but I've had this book on my list for ages and decided to get around to it. I loved the first book I read by Katherine Allred called What Price Paradise. It was right up my street and I couldn't stop reading it from start to finish it flowed and kept me captured to the end.

“You can’t turn love on and off like a light switch, no matter how hard you try. All you can do is wall it off, one brick at a time, until you’ve created an impenetrable fortress around your emotions. And once that fortress is built, you camouflage it so well that even you can’t see it anymore.”

This was a truly intense book with beautiful aspects to it and it made my heart hurt, made me want to stop so many things that happened and change things and make this book longer with more happier parts! Not that it was all doom and gloom it's just that a lot of the happy parts you ended up remembering and instead of feeling light and happy, they just broke your heart a little bit more.

I hated the separation aspect of this book I really wanted things to get better a lot sooner in the book and not so many years along.Both characters where too young when things started to go bad,they were confused and Nick had more problems than a boy that age should have. He made a choice that okay fine he made that choice but all these years? why couldn't he come back earlier?

“No one should have to go through life with only half a heart”.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I'm glad it got me back into reading.Also hope to read more books by this author!

Cover Reveal: Dark Notes By Pam Godwin

They call me a slut. Maybe I am. Sometimes I do things I despise. Sometimes men take without asking.

But I have a musical gift, only a year left of high school, and a plan. With one obstacle.

Emeric Marceaux doesn’t just take. He seizes my willpower and bangs it like a dark note. When he commands me to play, I want to give him everything. I kneel for his punishments, tremble for his touch, and risk it all for our stolen moments.

He’s my obsession, my master, my music. And my teacher.

Adult 18+ only

Genre: Dark student teacher romance

Add to Goodreads

Expected release date → April 2016

Meet the author

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Pam Godwin, lives in the Midwest with her husband, their two children, and a foulmouthed parrot. When she ran away, she traveled fourteen countries across five continents, attended three universities, and married the vocalist of her favorite rock band.

Java, tobacco, and dark romance novels are her favorite indulgences, and might be considered more unhealthy than her aversion to sleeping, eating meat, and dolls with blinking eyes.

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Review: The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh

Synopsis

One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end.

Buy Here --->> Amazon US| Amazon UK 

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My Review

5 Royal Stars!!

The Wrath and the Dawn is book one in this series, I'm sure sure how many books will be in it or if it will be a duology but I am hoping for more than just the two because I don't think I will ever want it to end. I was swept away with this amazing storyline and I need more, so much more.

“My soul sees its equal in you.”

I randomly came upon this book because someone on Goodreads had liked a 5 star review and I was wanting to find a good book to get into. When I clicked on it and read the synopsis I was like oh this story I have heard of. Someone told me it or read it to me and for the life in me I can not remember who. If it is you, you the person reading this review do let me know! This story always intrigued me since the moment I heard it and so I got this book.

First let me touch on the fact that me and YA have quite a bumpy relationship. I always say I'm not a massive fan because I find that the characters or storyline is just not for me and characters come across immature. BUT then we get the amazing YA books that make you question if that was a YA novel you read because it blew your mind. This was soo one of those extraordinary ones that takes you away to a whole new world and when you close the book you realise how dull reality is compared to this colourful setting of this book.

The writing had a poetic essence to it taking you away into a far away land. The characters were amazing I need to know more, what the hell happened? What will happen next. Tariq annoyed me, just go away! And Jalal intrigued me I want to see him getting maybe a few chapters in the next book or having his own book because I need to know his story and how he reacts to what happens near the end of the book. Khalid, the King is such a tortured soul and he deserves happiness and I'm hoping it all ends well and he gets a happily ever after. I'm hoping Shahrzad is pregnant *fingers crossed*

The release date is too far away!!

Review: Falling Completely (Starling Falls, #1) By Aidan Willows

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Synopsis

MALIYA
Falling in love is not for me. I don’t do relationships, they never end well.
I don’t believe in fate, soul mates or happy, fairy tale endings. I’m definitely not a sweet little princess in search of her prince. 
I have a plan to follow and falling in love is not part of that plan.
Nothing is going to change my mind.
Not even a domineering, gorgeous, blue-eyed firefighter who seems to be everywhere I go.

CALEB
The moment I saw her, I knew.
I knew the funny, curvy, raven haired beauty was supposed to be mine.
She may not agree with me at the moment, but I’m a patient man.
I’m not afraid to play dirty to get what I want.
And I want Maliya Abbott.



When her sister decides to move from London, across the Atlantic Ocean to Starling Falls to run an estranged relative’s bakery, Maliya Abbott is pretty sure her sister has lost her ever-loving mind. 

Not wanting to be separated from the only family she has left, Maliya goes with her, a move that was only supposed to last a year. After all, training to be a doctor at the same University her parents did had always been her goal. 
What she hadn’t planned on, was meeting Caleb Jameson. A man who is adamant they are destined to be together. That would be great, if she actually believed in any of that crap. 

She also hadn’t planned on his insane, lovable, meddling family trying to derail her plans.

Maliya is a smart girl. She knows what she wants and what she doesn’t want. She definitely wants to go to Oxford University and train to become a doctor. She definitely does NOT want anything to do with Caleb Jameson. 

Now, if only she could get her stupid heart to listen to her head.

Authors Note: 18+ For mature readers only. Book contains graphic language, scenes of a very sexual nature, a dirty-talking and determined alpha male, a sassy and food obsessed heroine who talks to herself far too much, a cynical and suspicious geriatric aunt, a meddlesome family, some very unhelpful friends, a mind controlling goldfish and a possibly cannibalistic cat…

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My Review

3 Stars!

This is book 1 in the Starling Falls series and the author Aidan Willow's debut novel. This one is about Caleb, one of the many hot Jameson brothers in the family and Maliya who has traveled with her sister to help her get settled into Starling Falls to run their estranged family members bakery.She is only going for a year and then has to return to carry on with her career plan.She never would have thought that in this strange little place she would find someone who made her feel the way Caleb does. There is no denying the connection and sexual chemistry between these two!

This book reminded me of Until series by ARR and I have been wanting to find more series like that one. I enjoyed this book, the funny moments, the sweet ones, the sizzling chemistry and much more. I liked how there wasn't unnecessary drama, no crazy ex or just all out annoying stuff happening apart from when Maliya annoyed me near the end with something I felt was not needed. I felt like it came out of nowhere and didn't feel like it was something she had throughout the book.Maybe if some part of it was mentioned at the start or throughout the book it would have been different. I guess I wasn't expecting it so it kind of put me off. I loved how determined and focused Caleb was, he never gave up and he made me laugh.

Also the brothers are awesome! I'm intrigued as to how Nate's story will go he is just so mysterious and aloof that it makes me want more of him. I'm looking forward to more from this author and to see how she grows and how the Jameson brothers stories progress!

*ARC provided by the author for an honest review*

Pre-Order/ Book Spotlight : Debt By Rachel Dunning

99c Pre-Order Sale
526 Pages
Standalone Novel
New-Adult Romance / Sports Romance

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DEBT

By Rachel Dunning

Expected Release Date: March 30, 2016

The Debt Collector

I pay my debts, and I expect others to.

I was raised in the slums of London, I knew nothing of privilege. My father was murdered when I was seventeen. Morty figured my father's passing meant I would automatically take on dad's debts. I refused.

And I paid for that refusal.

So did my sister.

So now I fight. All I know how to do is fight. The best cash is in the states, so that's where I am now. A big fish called Vito came along offering me a "favor" when I arrived.

Another debt.

I paid for that one too.

I knew Kyla Hensley would be trouble when I met her. But I wanted her. I could see through the falsehood of her wannabe-slutty clothes and her sexy legs. So I chased her.

Besides, trouble is my middle name.

Kyla Hensley

I was brought up in privilege, but I lacked everything else. My father is a business tycoon who buys and sells and doesn't care who gets rolled over in the process.

I never knew my mother, and all I have of her is a photo with a note scrawled on the back in French saying "I'm sorry." The only Female Figure I had growing up is my dad's wife who is a bleach blond with seven boob jobs. We never bonded.

I drink. I party. I meet guys.

But I wasn't always like that.

I've had a string of lovers in the last few years, the worst and most recent of which was Vince Somerset. My best friend Vera was dating a guy called Rory Cansoom who is the opposite of Vince in so many ways, and yet so the same.

She and I hit the road for the summer, getting away from the two college psychos and just trying to have some fun.

But there's a funny thing about trouble, the more you run from it, the more it finds you.

Which is when I met the Debt Collector.

It was only supposed to be sex. He made that clear. I made that clear.

That's all it was supposed to be.

I never expected to fall in love. I never expected to fall so deeply, madly, uncomfortably in love with a man who is wrong, so wrong for me.

And yet...so unbelievably right.

Content Warning

Not intended for readers under the age of seventeen.

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Excerpt

~Kyla~

I push my head back against the wall, not sure what’s coming, but not fighting it either.

“Who are you?” he repeats.

“I...I don’t know what you mean.”

“I see you at a bar in Texas, then I look for you all over Nashville. And suddenly you’re at my side in a hospital, following me into this warehouse. Who are you?”

“I didn’t follow you into the warehouse. You needed to pick up your truck, and you were stumbling.”

“So?”

“So I wanted to make sure you were OK.”

“And?”

And I want you to take my clothes off and I want us to live happily ever after. “That’s it.”

Logan grins, a deadly look for him with his dimples. “Don’t do that,” I say.

“What?”

“Smile.”

“Why not?”

Because you’re beautiful. “Just don’t.”

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Links:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A02LNLC

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A02LNLC

Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01A02LNLC

Amazon Australia: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01A02LNLC

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/debt/id1071559413?mt=11
Nook / B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/debt-rachel-dunning/1123196983?ean=2940152548570

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/603988

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28400056-debt

About the author

Rachel Dunning hit the scene in August 2013 and is the author of the highly praised Naive Mistakes Series, Truthful Lies Trilogy, Johnny Series and the paranormal romance series, Mind Games.

A prolific writer, she sticks to stories where Alpha Males aren’t pricks and where women have guts.

She’s lived on two different continents, speaks three different languages, and met the love of her life on the internet. In other words, romance is in her blood.

Get Rachel’s Newsletter

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Review: How He Really Feels (He Feels Trilogy, #1) by Lisa Suzanne

Synopsis

Julianne Becker is desperately in love with her boss, Nick Matthews. She has daydreamed about him since the day she first met him a year earlier, but she is firmly stuck in the friend-zone until New Year’s Eve, when the game completely changes and she finds out how Nick really feels about her. They embark on a sexy affair that’s everything Julianne ever dreamed of... except she can’t tell anyone about it. What will happen if anyone finds out about their secret relationship? And how will her lifelong best friend, Travis Miller, react when Julianne begins a relationship with someone who isn’t him? 

How He Really Feels is a novel that explores relationships and love between coworkers and friends. It contains some adult situations and is intended for mature readers.

Buy Here -- Amazon UK | Amazon US

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My Review

2.5 Stars!

So after finishing a series I was left in a book funk and to try get out of it I picked this book up thinking I needed something sweet and straight forward which yes this kind of was but there were too many points where it didn't work for me. I've had this sitting in my kindle app for ages and after seeing some 5 star reviews maybe I expected too much?

"Everything in my life was insignificant until I met you, and now you are all that matters."

I thought this would be a little more alpha male book with more story I guess. As I was reading I felt like the main characters did have chemistry and that was all good yet it went so quickly the relationship even though they had known each other for a year we didn't get to know much about that year or about Nick as a person. I didn't feel like it had that gradual building up of character or personality that I as a reader fall for. I didn't feel connected to him which was a real shame.

Julianne Becker the heroine did some stupid things that really annoyed me and at one point I was going to stop reading it all together. Her friend? He just pissed me off. That's all I have to say about him to be honest. I felt she was way too obsessed with this boss but hey I guess it can happen *shrugs* I don't think this was a book fr me or it may just have been the mood I was in at the time but don't let me opinions keep you from reading this may be a book you end up enjoying!

Review: Elite (Eagle Elite, #1) by Rachel Van Dyken

Synopsis

When I won the annual Eagle Elite College Scholarship lottery, I was thrilled. After all, my grandma had just died and I wanted to take care of my aging grandpa -- he couldn't be a farmer in Wyoming forever. And graduating from Eagle Elite meant opportunity.

But I wasn't counting on meeting Nixon.

Nor was I counting on the rules of the Elect.

1. Do not touch The Elect.

2. Do not look at The Elect.

3. Do not speak to The Elect.

And worst of all? Don't discover the secret they hide, because in the end, you may just realize... it's about you.

*This is a New Adult Book, blood, violence, cursing, sexual references, and drug use. Not recommended for those under 17.*

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Buy here - Amazon UK | Amazon US

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My Review

4 Elite Stars!!

Okay I am kicking myself for not reading this sooner! A friend of mine had been telling me to read it for a while and I blew it off, just not really giving it much thought and then I realised that I requested this book from NetGalley ages ago and never got round to it. I decided to finally put me foot down and get reading. I remember starting a few pages but I was in a book funk and gave up to try again at a later time. Right now I have my reading mojo back and I was totally ready for it. I actually really enjoyed it and will definitely be reading on.

This is book 1 of Eagle Elite series and its got the whole mafia/criminal family thing going on which I had no idea about. My preconceived idea of this book was that it was some sort of spy/agent book? A school to train people in powers? Okay I can feel you all thinking what the hell? ..I don't even know what to say *shrugs* I guess I should stop assuming things.

"Maybe the world isn't as shiny and fun as you once thought. People are mean. Humanity is a cruel joke, Trace. I'm just trying to prevent them from getting the last laugh."

So the book, lets get back to the book. Trace is starting Eagle Elite College which is basically a college for the rich kids or those that will make the next presidents and so on. Trace is nothing like these people and the only reason she is here is because she won some sort of lottery that the college holds so one lucky winner gets to attend the college with all the rich people and so on.Trace is so out of her depth and it only gets worse when she meets Nixon and his crew who basically own the school and create all the rules. From then on things don't exactly go smoothly.

“—Nope. You’ve already broken a rule. I’m speaking, New Girl.” Chase smirked. “Geez, Nixon, this one’s going to be hard to break in.”

“They always are,” Nixon replied, lifting my chin with his hand. “But I think I’ll enjoy this one.”

Nixon, oh Nixon at the start I was like what the hell? Why are you so mean! But with all assholes you end up loving them in the end. Well actually is went more like me hating him to liking him to feeling lost and losing interest in him and just not knowing how I feel. I liked him as a bad boy or more of the guy in charge. On another note I got this feeling of a love triangle which I thought or was hoping didn't exist but now I'm a little miffed and seriously don't want the next book to be a full n love triangle because they usually really irritate me and someone always gets hurt and i start hating the girl for loving two men. Like please woman, stop being greedy!

Okay I'm going to quit ranting and get onto book 2, lets hope all goes well and it only gets better since I have heard a lot of people love this series. I want to be one of those people! ;)

*Arc provided by NetGalley for an honest review*

Review: Between Shadows by Chanel Cleeton

Synopsis

A sexy new thriller about love and revenge from the author of the Capital Confessions and International School series… 

X lives by three rules: Show no weakness. Trust no one. Don’t get caught. She lives by the rules they gave her. 

The Academy—set in London, shrouded in secrecy—it trains spies, computer experts, and assassins. Their mission? Dispensing justice and altering the course of world politics. Or so they think. In a world where secrets are weapons and some kills are impossible to forget, everything X thought she knew about her life is about to change. 

They taught her to fight. To blend into the shadows like a ghost, to operate on the fringes of society, to change her identity with ease. They taught her to kill. 

She’ll need every skill they taught her, to stay alive. 

Pre-Order Here --->> Amazon UK| Amazon US

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My Review

3.5 Stars!!

This is the first book I have read by Chanel Cleeton and I am pleasantly surprised. After not reading for what seems like ages but I''m sure it was only a day or two but it felt like a long time anyways this was great. I loved how action packed it was but not over the top or too much. It's been a while since I read anything consisting of adventure/ action in it and this really worked.

'We're in way over our heads and I need him as an asset more than I can want him as a man.'

The characters were likable, even though X did annoy me at times.I loved how Luke and X had great chemistry. I wanted to know more about them or have Luke's POV. I wanted more on their relationship and romance, also the whole Academy thing could have been explained better or been a bit more detailed I think that's where it dropped points. I needed more!

This is book 1 of a series but can be read as a standalone. It's a fast- paced book which will keep you on the edge of your seat! I'm looking forward to the next book I wonder who it will be about.I would have loved for Luke and X's story to continue on, I'm not sure how it will all come together but it definitely started off well and hopefully it can only get better.

*ARC provided for an honest review*