A beautiful walking disaster...

Reading if one of my favorite things to do.  I love to get lost in a good book and let the movie play in head.  I love to start a book, but sometimes I get so hooked that I can't put it down.  I must keep reading so I can find out what is going to happen next and when I get to the end I am sometimes sad that I finished it so fast.  That's okay though-- I just ready it again! 

I want to start share some of the books I've read.  I have to start by sharing a couple of my favorites...

Jamie McGuire wrote a book that I absolutely fell in love with.  I have read it half a dozen times and sometimes when I am between books I will pick it up and read through some of my favorite parts.  It was so good that I read it in less than 2 days and than turned around and read it again.

Beautiful Disaster

Book Synopsis: 

INTENSE. DANGEROUS. ADDICTIVE.

Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

and than she wrote the book from Travis' point of view...

Book Synopsis:

 Can you love someone too much?

Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

Some of my favorite's: 

“One of these days you're going to fall in love, son. Don't settle for just anyone. Choose the girl that doesn't come easy; the one you have to fight for, and then never stop fighting. Never” 

“There's a girl, Dad."
He smiled a bit. "A girl."
"She kinda hates me, and I kinda..."
"Love her?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. I mean...how do you know?"
His smile grew wider. "When you're talking about her with your old dad because you don't know what else to do.” 

5 STARS AMAZING!

I don't like to give the story away so I will just say this...

I just fell in love with these books from the first few lines and I find myself going back to them often.  Travis is the perfect "bad boy" who really has a heart of gold.  Abby is doing a lot of trying to avoid what she knows is so right for her out of fear.  America and Shipley are perfect together and for their friends.  

All I can say is everyone must read these 2 books!  

Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park

Book Synopsis:
Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.

When Julie's off-campus housing falls through, her mother's old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side ... and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there's that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That's because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie's suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that ... well ... doesn't quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.

Flat-Out Love comes complete with emails, Facebook status updates, and instant messages.

I give this book at 4.75 out of 5 stars!  I FLAT OUT LOVED IT!  I was drawn in from the get go!  Poor Julie's college experience was not starting out on the best foot at all and then she gets thrown into the Watkins family who has there own quirks!  She is great about it though and just rolls with the punches.

I was instantly taken with Celeste she is quiet the character.  Then there is Matt who although seems like the total geek I really liked him and loved his friendship with Julie.  Finn was the mysterious older brother off living the adventurous life.  Then there was the odd parents who never seemed to be around.  Something was just off and as much as I tried to put my finger on it I just wasn't sure?!?!

This book has some really funny moments!  Love the Facebook status updates--they are fabulous!  The instant messages between Finn and Julie go from make you laugh to OMG!! When you get to the elevator IM's you will know what I mean.  Matt's T-shirts are funny!  This book will just take you in!! You will laugh, cry, your heart will beat fast and your stomach will get butterflies!

When the big secret comes out I was so upset for Julie, for the Watkins family for everything they have been living through.  It was almost too much.  My heart was truly breaking.  So I stayed up into the wee hours of the night to finish the book and see what would happen.  I don't want to give anything away so all I will say is you MUST READ THIS BOOK!!!

It is FLAT OUT FANTASTIC!

Some of my favorite lines:

• “If you can't stop thinking about someone's update, that's called "status cling.”
• “Normal people can become very annoying if put in annoying situations.”
• “You can look back now and see how you should have known, but you were focusing on the facts instead of the feeling.”  
• “So we've pulled the chute, and we're drifting, riding the sky. It's just you and me. You can hear me now that we're falling like this, remember? I tell you that I don't want this to end. I don't want to land and reach the real world, because I like our world up here better.”
• “He just wasn’t the guy, you know? I want the guy. The everything guy. Not the dumb Prince Charming, nauseatingly-perfect everything guy. That’s pathetic. I want the flaws-and-all everything guy.”

Devoured Series by Emily Snow

Book Synopsis:

 Sienna Jensen had no plans to return home when she graduated college last spring—after all, her dreams lie in California. But when she discovers her grandmother’s Nashville home has been foreclosed, and the new owner has started the eviction process, Sienna has no other choice but go back to Music City. And she comes face to face with the flawed, gorgeous man she never thought she’d see again. The man who now holds the deed to her grandma’s estate.

When millionaire rock star Lucas Wolfe finds the outspoken redhead glaring at him from across a courtroom, he’s both infuriated and intrigued. He still can't get the night Sienna almost spent with him out of his mind, and the chemistry between them is as undeniable as it was two years ago. He craves Sienna more than ever. And just like everything Lucas hungers for, he’s determined to have her.

Now, Lucas will do whatever it takes to lure Sienna into his bed, even if that means making a deal with her: ten days with him, playing by his rules, and he’ll hand over the deed to her grandmother’s home. Though she agrees to the arrangement, Sienna is conflicted. Because of her duty to her family. Because of promises she’s made to herself and a past that still haunts her. And as Lucas’s game of seduction continues, and Sienna is introduced to his dark, erotic world and even darker background, she realizes that at any moment, she could be devoured.

I want to begin by saying that I totally get Sienna.  I saw myself in her in many ways.  She was a people pleaser and tended to keep her mouth shut and just do as she was told.  She had a bit of rough life, but a grandmother who means the world to her.  It took a few things happening in her young adult life for her to find her "bitch", backbone or voice!  Whatever you want to call it.  So I loved Sienna!

Lucas is your hot sexy rocker that you totally want to please, but are also a little scared of because of what he could do to you.  Sometimes I want to slap him and others times I just want to say "yes sir"! :)

Kyle is his personal assistant and she is also his sister.  I love her, too.  She has a heart of gold and wants what is best for her brother--that would be Sienna!

As Sienna goes to work for Lucas for 10 days so she can get her grandma's house back it is a crazy time.  Lucas seems all in one second and all out the next.  Poor Sienna is so scared to let go when we all know she already has it is just a matter of telling herself she has.  Then when she finally lets go it is amazing!  Too bad the devil rears her ugly head and screws it all up!!!  Lucas tells her to get out---her time is done.  Tells her that her grandmother will get her house back and she needs to just go.  It is heartbreaking!  I want beat Lucas.  

I will say in all this Sienna does find herself.  She makes the changes in her life that she needs to make to make her happy.  She stands up for herself.  This part makes me happy!  

Months later she gets a text from Kylie to turn on the TV and watch a certain channel.  She does and it is a premiere video of Lucas Wolfe and his solo debut.  She reluctantly watches the video and then there is a knock at her door.  Someone wants another chance!  

STAY TUNED for CONSUMED (Book 2) 1/15/2013

Favorite Lines:

“Not really. But I'm a huge fan of your ass. I could write a song about your ass. "
"You've never even seen it."
"Feeling is believing.”

 “And yes, it is you. It’s always been you.”

"One of these day, you're going to have to stand up for yourself.  No matter what someone's holding over your head.  When you do, you'll be able to accept that there are people who love you." 

All Over You

(Devoured .05)

Book Synopsis:

Before Sienna was devoured, before Lucas was consumed, they were all over each other . . .

Lucas Wolfe is used to getting what he wants—from everyone but one person, that is—so when he meets the wardrobe assistant hired to work his band’s newest video, he’s got to have her. From the moment Sienna first obediently whispers “Yes, Mr. Wolfe”, he knows she’s perfect for him.

Three days.

And he’ll have her stripped down and bound to his bed.

Set two years before the events of DEVOURED, ALL OVER YOU is the story of Sienna and Lucas’s first encounter.

Oh my word!  That is all I can say.  It all works for me now!  I read this last night and then I had to jump right in and read Devoured again.  I can't wait for Consumed to come out 11 days so I see how the story ends!  After reading both books I suggest that you still read Devoured first and then read All Over You.  I like that I found out how the first met after.  It just makes sense to me.  I think you will be disappointed if you read All Over You first, but that is just my opinion.  

The Devoured Series by Emily Snow is a MUST READ!!! Consumed comes out on 1/15/13.  Emily also has another book out that is getting so fab reviews called Tidal so be sure and check it out, too.  I just downloaded it!  You can check out Emily's blog as well as other great authors on my Fav's List --->

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

I am very excited to be doing my first book review!  I just finished reading this amazing book by none other then Colleen Hoover!  She is a favorite author of mine as I loved Slammed and Point of Retreat!  I am not one to give things away when I give a review, but I want to leave you wanting to read the book!  So I hope you enjoy my first of many book reviews.

 

Book Synopsis:
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

 

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

 

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

 

 

I really must begin by saying I was taken with this book within the first few pages!  I couldn't put the book down.  I had to read every word and couldn't wait to find out what would happen next.  First off Sky is not your average teen--she has been home schooled her whole life by her adopted mom who also doesn't allow TV, telephone, Internet or any of the creature comforts most teens are use to.

She and her best friend Six have finally convinced her mom into letting Sky go to public school, but Six is leaving for 6 months on an exchange program.  That's alright though because Sky will met the awesome Breckin and they will become fast friends.

When Sky goes to the grocery after school and runs into Holder things start getting good!  Holder is rough around the edges, but a sweetheart underneath it all.  He stole my heart pretty quick.  He says some pretty amazing things throughout the book, too!

As you read the truth starts to unfold and a love starts to grow between Sky and Holder. You won't be able to put it down.  You are going to be swept away by Holder!  He just has this way about him and he was meant to be with Sky. 

I will say this is so much more then love story so be prepared! 

When you finish reading the book you need to go to Colleen's blog and read this little present from her: It is "best first kiss" from Holder's POV!  Oh My Word!!

Some of my favorite lines:

• "You're a liar," he whispers.  "You're a whole lot attracted to me and I'm about to prove it."
• “Its real, Six. You cant get mad at a real ending. Some of them are ugly. Its the fake happily ever afters that should piss you off.” 
• (I could actually copy about 3 pages, but I'll just give you this line...) “I want you to keep them open...because I need you to watch me give you the very last piece of my heart.” 
• “Does not-your boyfriend realize I'm Mormon?" I nod. "It turns out, Holder doesn't have an issue with Mormons at all. He just has an issue with assholes.” 

I could go on and on, but you need to just get the book and start reading it for yourself!  Enjoy!