Elite by Rachel Van Dyken

Elite by Rachel Van Dyken
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Publisher: Rachel Van Dyken
Date Published: January 1st 2013
Genre: New Adult Romance
Source: Author

I had an incredibly hard time reading this book. I ended up not finishing it. I kept trying to read it, but I only managed to drag it out.

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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.

Escaping Reality by Lisa Renee Jones

Escaping Reality by Lisa Renee Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Publisher: Julie Patra Publishing
Date Published: July 21st 2013
Genre: New Adult Romantic Suspense
Source: Publisher

I had an incredibly hard time reading this book. I ended up not finishing it. I kept trying to read it, but I only managed to drag it out.

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Synopsis:

Infinite possibilities….
Infinite passion…..
Infinite danger….

His touch spirals through me, warm and sweet, wicked and hot. I shouldn’t trust him. I shouldn’t tell him my secrets. But how do I not when he is the reason I breathe? He is what I need.

At the young age of eighteen, tragedy and a dark secret force Lara to flee all she has known and loves to start a new life. Now years later, with a new identity as Amy, she’s finally dared to believe she is forgotten–even if she cannot forget. But just when she lets down her guard, the ghosts of her past are quick to punish her, forcing her back on the run.

On a plane, struggling to face the devastation of losing everything again and starting over, Amy meets Liam Stone, a darkly entrancing recluse billionaire, who is also a brilliant, and famous, prodigy architect. A man who knows what he wants and goes after it. And what he wants is Amy. Refusing to take “no” as an answer, he sweeps her into a passionate affair, pushing her to her erotic limits. He wants to possess her. He makes her want to be possessed. Liam demands everything from her, accepting nothing less. But what if she is too devastated by tragedy to know when he wants more than she should give? And what if there is more to Liam than meets the eyes?

Facade by Nyrae Dawn

Facade by Nyrae Dawn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Date Published: July 2nd 2013
Genre: New Adult

Okay, so I never did read the first book. But I've read this one.

Delaney packs up and goes in search of the people her father hurt after her father committed a crime. There she meets Adrian, sexy playboy and ladies man. But its just an act. Inside he's just a tortured soul looking for a way out. Delaney sees through his facade and decides to do something about it. Together they fall in love and open up to one another.

I love, love, love Adrian! He's one of the sensitive guys you can't help but fall in love with. Only, he hides it from the world so everyone thinks he's an arrogant womanizer.

Delaney is equally as loveable. She tries to right her fathers wrongs. And she ends up falling in love in the process. She's sweet and she can see past Adrian's crap.

It's such as sweet and heartbreaking story. You really feel for them.

Now to go back and read the firs book ;)

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Synopsis:

Can love save them?

After her father commits a crime that shatters her family, eighteen-year-old Delaney Cross is tired of pretending everything is all right. Packing up her car, she sets out to find the people her father hurt. Her search leads her to places she’s never been—and into the arms of Adrian Westfall.

To the outside world, Adrian is a sexy, charming ladies’ man. But his playboy persona is just an act. Secretly his soul is tortured by a memory too painful to share. Only Delaney seems to see through his façade to the real man underneath. And for the first time in his life, Adrian feels he can begin to open up about his past.

Together, Adrian and Delaney share a passionate love they never expected to find. Yet both still harbor their own secrets. When the dark truth is finally revealed, will it bring them closer together—or tear them apart forever?


Kacii

Wicked Cravings by Suzanne Wright

Wicked Cravings by Suzanne Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher: Montlake Romance
Date Published: April 16th 2013
Genre: Paranormal Romance

I was scared to read this book after how amazing the last one was. But it turned out alright. I didn't hate the author and I loved this book, obvious by the five star rating.

Jaime is damaged goods. Her wolf is straddling the line between turning rogue and barely holding onto her sanity. She works at an animal sanctuary for dogs because she knows how it feels to be beyond traumatized. Between keeping her hold on her wolf and just trying to get by, she shouldn't have time for a crush, but she hasn't let it go since she was a little kid. Tired by Dante's continued act of disinterest she looks other ways.

Dante is a workaholic. Being Beta means that he doesn't have time for fun... until Jaime. He's so scared of finding his mate and expecting her to give the ultimatum; her or his job, that he doesn't realize what he has until its almost too late.

This book was great. I think I liked the first one better, but that's because of Taryn. She is the best character I've read about in a long time. Jaime is a close second, I'll give her that. And Dante is just as cool as Trey. So there was no need for me to worry. I loved this book.

Cannot wait to read the next one!

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Synopsis:

Despite having been besotted with Dante Garcea since she was a child, wolf shifter Jaime Farrow figures that it’s time to move past the crush. If he wanted her, he wouldn’t have ignored her flirtatious behavior, right? Hiding her intense attraction to him isn’t easy – especially now that they're part of the same pack again – but with bigger issues to worry about and with the submissive wolf act to maintain, Jaime is resolute on moving forward. Now if only the workaholic control-freak would let her…

As the pack Beta, Dante doesn't have the space or time in his life for a relationship. As such, he ignores his intense hunger for the willful – and sometimes crazy – Jaime. Yet when her flirtations abruptly end, Dante finds that he doesn’t like losing her attention. He finds something else too – Jaime's hiding something. Determined to uncover her secret, he sets out to break through her defenses, even though being around her intensifies his cravings for her. What he finds is a problem that Jaime is convinced not even a powerful Beta can solve.

Kacii

Feral Sins by Suzanne Wright

Feral Sins by Suzanne Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Publisher: Suzanne Wright
Date Published: March 4th 2012
Genre: Paranormal Romance

This has to be the best effing book I've read in for-freaking-ever.

Taryn is awesome. It's a fact. You've got no choice but to except it. She is brash and free and has that whole dominant female thing going for her. She has a quick mouth and it's hilarious. Her life is kind of screwish at the beginning because her dad's an asshole who's trying to get her to mate an even bigger asshole. She has a ton of issues. She's also latent, meaning she can't shift into wolf form. If I was into chicks I'd so go for her. Shame she'd be taken and is fictional. But she is wicked cool.

Trey has issues of his own. Like the fact his father banished him for winning a challenge against him. He had to go with half of the pack (the ones who were on his side of the debate) at the age of fourteen and start his own pack as alpha. Talk about a hard childhood. And now his fathers dead his uncle is alpha and wants to merge the packs back together. With him as alpha of course.

Together they help each other out. Taryn get's a temporary mate away from the asshole her father wanted her to mate and Trey gets an alliance with her father with plenty of wolves against Trey's uncle. A great deal. But maybe not so temporary. Once the sparks have flown Taryn and Trey may just realise there's more than sexual attraction between each other.

What did I think of the book? It was awesome! By far one of the best books I've read in ages. It had just the right level of spunk. Taryn was by far my favourite character. Man, I envy her. And just how silly is that? Envying a fictional character? Just shows how cool she is. She has her quirks but she doesn't care what people say or do; she's her own person, so free and full of a humorous light that radiates from the pages of the book (er, the screen of my Kindle).

And Trey. Super hot. Crazy sexy. I absolutely loved him. Sex between Trey and Taryn was so hot! The crazy shit they did together was so sexy and awesome. And I really liked that Taryn gave in some but not always. It made it interesting.

Oh and here are some of my favourite quotes from Taryn:

"I'd rather lie under an elephant suffering from diarrhea with my mouth open wide."
"Love is giving someone the power to completely destroy you, and hoping that they won't."
"Crazy bitch? Oh no, honey I'm an angel, I swear. The horns are only there to hold up the halo."
"I'm not tire. I'm just checking my eyelids for holes. It could take awhile."

So yes, this was an awesome book (I need a new word. I'm using awesome too much. Blah). And I definitely recommend reading it.

I'm not sure if I want to read the next book though. I'm a little afraid I won't like it, y'know? This book was just so great I don't think any of the others could compare. And the others are different characters. So I may not like them at all. Trey and Taryn have a super cool relationship and are great to read about. I don't want to be disappointed with other characters. And at the same time, I don't want them to be exactly the same. I hate it when authors make all of their characters exactly the same. So I'm a little nervous about continuing the series, but I may just go on because of my curiosity. I think Dante is next. I guess the only way to find out whether or not I'll like the others is if I read them.

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Synopsis:

If your inner wolf and your body react rather enthusiastically to a psychotic Alpha male who’s own wolf has a tendency to turn feral, it can’t be a good thing, can it? Entering into a bargain with him wouldn’t be good either. Unfortunately, Taryn Warner, a latent wolf shifter, doesn’t have many options open to her right now. Okay, she has no options. Basically it comes down to whether she’ll do what it takes to escape the arranged mating with the sick SOB that her father set up. As the answer in this case is yes, it looks as though she’ll have to agree to Trey Coleman’s deal…she’ll have to mate with him instead. 

Having always disliked shifter politics, Trey Coleman hadn’t bothered trying to form alliances with other packs. Now that his uncle – a wolf with many alliances – means to take Trey’s territory and his pack, he has no option but to form some alliances of his own very quickly or he’ll be easily outnumbered in the upcoming battle. He figures that the easiest way to do that would be to mate with a female who’s Alpha is powerful and influential. There’s only one problem with that – he would then be stuck with her, and the last thing Trey wants is a mate. When he hears of Taryn’s situation, he offers her a deal – if she falsely claims he’s her true mate and allows him to claim her, he’ll save her from her arranged mating and then let her leave after the battle with his uncle is over. 

Sounds like a pretty straightforward deal...but soon Taryn and Trey realize they got more than they bargained for. Their mating instincts to protect and possess are weighing on them, they crave each other’s touch and company, and their inner wolves don’t like it whenever they’re apart. Add in that they’ll have to deal with this for an entire three months until the day of the battle finally arrives, and they’ve got themselves a recipe for disaster – or maybe for something quite the opposite. 

Warning: This novel contains an extremely sarcastic Alpha female, a broody possessive Alpha male, bitter in-laws, voyeuristic enforcers, a whole lot of dirty talk, and steamy bedroom battles for dominance. 


Kacii

Beat of the Heart by Katie Ashley

Beat of the Heart by Katie Ashley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Publisher: Katie Ashley
Date Published: October 16th 2013
Genre: New Adult Romance

AWESOOOOOMMMEEE!!!!

AJ is the crazy Hispanic sex-god of the band. He is soooo much awesomer in bed than I would've expected. Master hottie and super cool dude. Mia has a hell of a past. And not the good kind. But she's feisty and part of a huge kick-ass Italian family. They work so well together.

Okay. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE AJ. And Mia. She's kick-ass. I think I said that already. I always knew AJ would be a fun character, but day-um he totally blew me away. I kind honestly say I like him more than Jake, and I liked Jake a ton. But AJ--he's something else.

And Mia! God, she was awesome. Abby was feisty, but in a cute kitten-who-thinks-their-a-tiger way. Mia is the effing tiger. She was awesome. And yeah, she had insecurities and stuff, but she dealt with it.

I loved AJ and Mia They were the perfect couple. This is definitely my favorite book so far.

Would I recommend it?

You bet your baby's Kindle I do. (Okay, that was kind of lame, but whatever.)

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Synopsis:

After years of bad relationships and a cheating ex-fiancé, twenty-eight-year-old Mia Martinelli prefers healing her patients’ hearts on the Cardiac Care floor rather than risking having her heart broken again. But that all comes to a screeching halt when caring for the head roadie for Runaway Train puts her into the orbit of drummer and Latin Lover, AJ Resendiz. After a scorching weekend of steamy passion, Mia’s intention of getting out with her heart unscathed is challenged by the stud with the wicked sense of humor, especially when he wants to continue seeing her. But when the harsh reality of AJ’s hoard of female admirers sends her insecurities into overdrive, Mia bails, leaving him handcuffed to his bathroom shower. 

AJ never imagined that after two weeks of the best sex and female companionship he’d ever experienced, he would need rescued by his band mates from his shower prison. Although he tries to forget the sensual brunette whose curves made his mouth water, AJ can’t get her out of his mind…or his heart. Months later when he finally seeks Mia for answers as to why she left, nothing could prepare him for their life-altering reunion. 

Can AJ prove to Mia that regardless of the women after his body, his heart belongs only to her?


Kacii

Freefall by Tess Oliver

Freefall by Tess Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Publisher: Tess Oliver
Date Published: August 8th 2013
Genre: New Adult Romance

A different take on a classic cliche of new adult.

Nix left high school and started his own tattoo business. Having his dad dead from a racing accident and his mom off in Paris somewhere- he has his issues. Not to mention his grandmother has alzheimers and his sister wants to put her in an old folks home. A year ago he found a picture of a model and kept it in his wallet. And now, a year later, he finds that same model walking in the front door of his tattoo parlor with her douche bag boyfriend. Scotlyn lost her entire family in a car accident. She lost her voice too. And now after being pulled off the streets by Lincoln he's forcing her to get a tattoo to cover up her scar, the gift from the car accident. When these two people meet sparks fly.

I really liked this book. It was a new take on new adult. I've read tons of new adult this year, probably 80% of what I've read this year has been new adult. And honestly? It's pretty much all the same. Messed up girl plus messed up guy equals uber hot messed up couple. This is following that pattern, but at least the background story is a little bit different. A race car driver dad. Different? Check. An entire family killed in a car crash. Different? Just a bit. It was different enough for me to like it.

I think if a new adult author were to break that pattern it would make a better story. But it may not be new adult anymore if they did break the pattern. Only one way to find out. So authors and aspiring writers out there, please oh please, I'm daring you to break the chain.

A fun read.

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Synopsis:

After leaving high school, with a hard won diploma and the title of most likely to break hearts, Alexander "Nix" Pierce has left his wild, out of control years mostly behind him. A small inheritance from his grandfather has given him the funds to open up his tattoo shop, Freefall, and he has started to pull his life together. Aside from trying to keep his best friend, Dray, from killing himself in the fight ring, and his slight obsession with a pin-up model he's never met, Nix's life is going smoothly . . . until Scotlyn James, the object of his obsession, walks into his shop.

Ever since a tragic accident killed her family and left her alone in the world, Scotlyn James hasn't spoken one word. Up until now she didn't care that she had no way of talking to people. Her awful aunt would never have listened, and Lincoln Hammond the arrogant, selfish man who pulled her from the streets of Los Angeles wouldn't hear her words if she could speak. But when Lincoln insists she get a tattoo to cover up a scar on her side, Scotlyn meets the artist, Nix Pierce. And now she longs for her voice. Now she has found someone who will hear her.


Kacii

Escape In You by Rachel Schurig

Escape In You by Rachel Schurig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
 

Publisher: Rachel Schurig
Date Published: October 13th 2013
Genre: New Adult Romance

Jet Taylor, or Taylor, as Zoe calls him, is a total bad boy. But deep inside he's just another wounded soul. And he falls head over heels for Zoe. Zoe had it all. Until her mother's sickness means that Zoe has to quit her life to help her mother. Two messed up people who fall for each other.

Okay, so I'm a little bored with this theme of broken people falling for each other. It's becoming redundant, which is why I'm giving it a three star. Maybe not fair rating a book down for becoming a cliche, but the other star I took off because of the drinking-and-suicidal cliches. It's just one book full of cheesy lines and cliches.

Any book that is written without spelling and/or grammar mistakes deserves at least two stars, and I did give the author credit for not throwing in another cliche I'm finding among New Adult--damsel in distress. At least the girls in this book could take care of themselves.

Like I said. It's an okay book. It's not terrible or anything. I'd read it to pass the time, but I probably wouldn't read it again after that. It's not addictive. There's no shebang flash BOOM! Nothing to hook the reader to the book. I think the novelty of cliches just makes the interest fade. Maybe it's what you need. A good filler-story.

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Synopsis:

This is a complete story with no cliffhanger! 

Jet Taylor is the quintessential bad boy. A womanizer. A fighter. Dangerous. The type of guy most girls do their best to avoid. But Zoe Janes is no saint herself. In fact, she sees in Jet the perfect opportunity to distract herself from her responsibilities at home and the mistakes that keep her trapped there. He’s gorgeous, likes to party, and is clearly only interested in having fun—just like Zoe. 

The more time they spend together, the harder it is for Zoe to stick to her “fun only” mantra. Jet is getting under her skin, making her believe things could actually be different. She knows they’re both trapped by the sins of their past but Jet is starting to make her think freedom might actually be possible. 

And that makes him the most dangerous boy of all.



Kacii

Accidentally in Love with...a God? by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Accidentally in Love with...A God? by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Publisher: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
Date Published: February 17th 2012
Genre: Supernatural Romance

Such a thrilling read! I've never read anything like it.

Emma Keane has lived her entire life with a voice inside her head. He dictates a lot of what she does, and he never leaves her alone. Trying to find a love life is impossible. Trying to be a regular human being is impossible. All Emma wants is to be normal. So after awaking from a coma she goes to Mexico to find the voice inside her heads' body. Because he says he has one, and he is real, she's not crazy. Right?

Guy (at least, that's what Emma calls him), has been stuck in a cenote for seventy plus years. He's a god who was supposed to hunt down and kill the evil Mayan priests that had stolen women from villages across Mexico. But he opens a jar filled with something evil that disintegrates him to dust and traps him in the cenote. But Guy can talk to Emma in her mind and he feels the need to protect her because she is everything he wants and needs.

Not my best summery, but it'll do. I was very pleased with this book. I wasn't expecting the book to keep me on my toes and so engaged. I loved the author's quirky sense of humor, the way she made the characters so realistic, and all of the great characteristics the book had. The fact that she could make the characters viewpoints so different and yet make total sense was amazing. When the characters got into an argument the reader could see both sides without being too biased. It was like watching a really difficult court case. Fantastic!

I had such a fun time reading this book, it wasn't exactly light, but it had a lightness to it that made it all the more engaging. Such a great read. I'll definitely be reading more from this author.

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Synopsis:

Twenty-two-year-old Emma Keane has a secret friend. He’s powerful, mysterious, and devastatingly handsome. In her dreams, anyway. 

In real life, he’s an enigma. Maybe just a teensie jealous. Definitely overbearing. He’s also a voice only she can hear. 

So who or what is he? He won’t say. But if she wants to be free, to be normal, Emma will have to trek to the jungles once ruled by the Mayans and find the forgotten ruin holding the answers.

However, the ruthless deity she’s about to unknowingly unleash on the modern world might not be so easily extracted from her life. Bottom line, he’s got enemies, and now, so does she. 



Kacii