Review: Come As You Are by Theresa Weir

Come As You Are by Theresa Weir

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Published September 20th 2013 by Belfry Press

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Molly Young has a secret. To keep it she holds the world at a distance. Behind her lies a trail of dumped boyfriends who came too close to discovering what no one can know. When her estranged father dies of an unexpected heart attack he leaves an even deeper secret, one tied to Molly's.

At the funeral repast Molly is unable to tolerate the shoulder-to-shoulder mourners and runs out the door and down the street to the nearest bar. Come dawn, with no memory of the past ten hours, she finds herself in bed with a beautiful stranger. She slips away before he wakes up, unaware of the role he's about to play in her life. Is he the one guy who can convince Molly to face her painful secret and become the person she's meant to be?

~~

Hmmm. There are lovers and haters of this book. If you've read a lot of NA then you'll know how the formula works. Girl with tragic past meets boy with equally tragic past. They collide. They insta-love each other. They talk, they share and then...boom! out of nowhere they stop talking/communicating without finding the answers first.

I've never read Ms Weirs work before so I have nothing to base it on. I found this book very dark and almost sinister. I must admit I didn't like Molly. For someone who has suffered so much I couldn't help feeling that she should have got past this and made some adjustments to her life. I understand that her adoptive father was shitty to her, and celebrating is funeral was no picnic. Her reaction to bad stuff is drinking and grabbing the nearest guy for sex? Okay, maybe for some it is.

I couldn't help feeling that the whole story was a little too contrived. I know that's how NA books are. The weirdest, strangest, connections get made that way but an adoptive fathers biological son that she never knew about. That takes some story telling.

On the whole the story WAS quite simple. But as I wrote, I didn't get Molly, I couldn't get into her pysche and reason with her or understand her.

So, 2.5 out of 5. Ms Weirs writing is an extra star. And I DID like Ian despite the relationship malarkey :)

- CBx

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Review: Model Misfit (Geek Girl #2) by Holly Smale

Model Misfit by Holly Smale

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Published September 26th 2013 by HarperCollins Children's Books

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“My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek.”

Harriet knows that modelling won’t transform you. She knows that being as uniquely odd as a polar bear isn’t necessarily a bad thing (even in a rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year, though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this.

What Harriet doesn’t know is where she’s going to fit in once the new baby arrives.

With summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant grandmother’s ‘chaperoning’. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she goes.

Because, this time, Harriet knows what a broken heart feels like.

Can geek girl find her place on the other side of the world or is Harriet lost for good?

~~

Review of Geek Girl Here

Thank the heavens for Harriet Manners! Now, whenever I drop something, stumble over nothing or am just plain lost for words, I remind myself that Harriet would always be in a worse situation.

Model Misfit starts with, as usual, Harriet getting into quite a cuffuffle with a lot of gold. Gold costume, gold around her hair, gold paint. She is terrible at spotting errors in her time keeping and ends up almost too late for her final GCSE. All things go south for Harriet from here.

But not quite so. Her step mum, Anabelle, is expecting baby any time soon, her dad is besotted over being a father again, both seemingly forget about Harriets mere presence. Nat, her bff is leaving her for a trip to France, and so HM is left with Toby, the stalker. A whole summer could not be worse. But then. WILBUR!!! Saves the day. A with a small flick of a hair brush Harriet is flying off to Japan with her estranged and rather weird Grandmother, Bunty.

For the first time in Harriet's life she finally feels like she's making friends. Not people who want to ridicule her geekiness. No, they like her for who she is. But, as her modelling days take over her life, something makes those days become unbearable. Someone is sabotaging her. Except nobody believes these freak accidents aren't her own fault. They think she's not focused enough, or just plain stupid.

Model Misfit was everything I wanted in a sequel to Geek Girl. Harriet hasn't changed at all. I really love her for being always honest and truthful to who she is. Yes, she's still only fifteen and very naive but she's very likable.

I also hate the fact that her boss, Yuka, does not even spend the time of day to explain ANYTHING to Harriet. Surely if you think a model is clumsy you would want to forewarn her about what will happen during the session. I can't help feeling angry for Harriet.

Nick, the Lion Boy boyfriend, is back in this one but I'm not convinced everything is as it should be with him. He was pretty unfair on Harriet as well and he knows her far better than his aunt Yuka.

A great sequel, still full of exciting facts, and a very different and beautiful backdrop of Japan.

I can't wait for the next installment of Harriet's life :)

- CBx

Review: Unspoken (Woodlands #2) by Jen Frederick

Unspoken by Jen Frederick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published September 13th 2013 by Pear Tree LLC

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Whore. Slut. Typhoid Mary. 

I've been called all these at Central College. One drunken night, one act of irresponsible behaviour, and my reputation was ruined. Guys labelled me as easy and girls shied away. To cope, I stayed away from Central social life and away from Central men, so why is it that my new biology lab partner is so irresistible to me?

He's everything I shouldn't want. A former Marine involved in illegal fighting with a quick trigger temper and an easy smile for all the women. His fists aren't the danger to me, though, it's his charm. He's sliding his way into my heart and I'm afraid that he's going to be the one to break me.

Impulsive. Unthinking. Hot tempered. 

I allow instinct to rule my behaviour. If it feels good, do it, has been my motto because if I spend too much time thinking, I'll begin to remember exactly where I came from. At Central College, I've got fighting and I've got women and I thought I was satisfied until I met her. 

She's everything I didn't realize I wanted and the more time I spend with her, the more I want her. But she's been hurt too much in the past and I don't want to be the one to break her. I know I should walk away, but I just can't.

~~

I loved this book! There is such passion and emotion on every page. You cannot read this and not want to stand up to horrid gossip-mongers and general causers of grief. And deposit a pile of manure on each and every one of them!! Especially in high school or college because those years are supposed to be revelating and empowering. Those years are where we find our inner selves and embrace it all.

But not for AM or AnnMarie. She made a mistake ONE TIME. And now pays for it every day. After living in self-exile away from the communal areas of college, AM is partnered with Bo, and cutely, made project partners for a term assignment.

For AM, Bo is someone who is devastatingly gorgeous but wouldn't look at her in a thousand years. The fact that he keeps starting conversations and staring at her makes her edgy. And a little bit hopeful.

For Bo, AM offers a refreshing outlook on life. She makes him laugh, and she's not caught up with all the BS that hangs around college. And then he finds out why.

Both AM and Bo have a great deal of revealing to do. Both are willing to make sacrifices which don't always end well.

The surrounding characters of AM and Bo are all equally great, and the story serves a warning for everyone entering the halls of higher education.

- CBx

ARC Review. Play (Stage Dive #2) by Kylie Scott

Play by Kylie Scott

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Expected publication: April 1st 2014 by St. Martin's Griffin

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Kylie Scott returns with the highly anticipated follow-up to international bestseller LICK Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn’t plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn’t count on finding the one right girl. Anne Rollins never thought she’d ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn’t end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?

~~

Sadly I was disappointed by this book in the Stage dive series. I've read Lick so many times. It's one of my favourite books to read when I get in a funk and don't know what to read next.I loved the characters and I loved Mal.
In Play, I didn't love Mal so much. Aside from his uber-flamboyant attitude and his playful chatter he didn't come across as likable at all. What I mean by that is he just wasn't real enough. The book makes him look and sound like an idiot by the end, nor capable of having a normal conversation with anyone.
I also didn't like Anne much either. Her placcid, "okay, just think about the sex" quirk worked for a while but then I got frustrated with her for not sticking up for herself more. Two times that spring to mind are when Mal is feeling up the music exec (I would have stormed out, and yes, I know they were still 'faking' but even so.... The second time was when Reece and Mal were fighting out front. Instead of leaving them to it she gets involved and then gets a thump in the eye. And THEN she acts like 'oh, its okay, just stop fighting and be nice'. It didn't sit well with me.
The inclusion of the other characters IS great. Dave and Ev are still super happy (yay) and while we still don't know too much about Jimmy, Ben or even Sam, we know things are stirring underfoot.

-CBx

ARC Review: Breathe Into Me by Sara Fawkes

Breathe Into Me by Sara Fawkes

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Expected publication: April 8th 2014 by St. Martin's Press

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How did my life get so broken?  It’s a question Lacey St. James asks herself every day.  Stuck raising her little brother in a trailer park while she works a dead end job at a grocery store, she has a stalker exboyfriend, a bad reputation, and no way out.  

And then, she meets Everett, who changes her entire existence.

Everett is an outsider who’s housesitting his family’s mansion off the coast, and for reasons Lacey can’t understand, he’s completely transfixed by her. He seems determined to show her that life can offer more than she’d ever hoped for, if only she believes in herself.  She desperately yearns to trust him, but what happens when she finds out that everything he’s told her is a lie? 

~~

This book follows the same New Adult pattern as I've read countless times. There is nothing new here. The story has become so depressing I'm considering putting the news on to hear some happy news. At this time I'm at 72% and don't know if I can read any further.

Some situations in the story have come across as so unbelievable that I just can't continue.

The premise is pretty bleak. Lacey has been verbally and emotionally abused, raped, and still lives in the same town as these other horrible people. She's trying to get on with her life but as she keeps saying - its a small town. As in, everyone knows everyone else or is connected somehow. The part I've just read about her visit to the police station has me so angry because I just can't believe that what happens next and that turn of events would actually happen in real life. Not where rape is concerned. Laws are in place for this no matter where you live.

As I wrote, the pattern is standard NA. The only person Lacey seems to trust is hot new boy in town, Emerson. In time she turns to him to aide her woe. Along with that I'm also getting tired of the same titles to books like this as in "...into me, ...on me, ...into you, ...around you" etc. I think the publishing companies should change their advertising tactics and become more original. The books could be mistaken for being in the same series by different authors.

I'm also wondering if the more horrific the story, the more stars the book gets. An extra star here for the writing. The author does that very well. I know readers are probably wondering why I still read NA. I'm hoping soon I'll come across an original gem :)

- CBx

Review: Rocked by Clara Bayard

Rocked by Clara Bayard

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Published February 25th 2013

She's dreaming of a life of excitement and romance. 
When rising rock star Joe Hawk wanders into the diner where Liss works her dark night is brightened by his incredibly blue eyes and sexy smile. The attraction is immediate and every moment is charged with erotic heat. 
He's searching for something real.
The first impression is easy. Taking the next step is much harder. The plus sized beauty has to overcome her insecurities to take a risk on a man whose life is the opposite of everything she's ever known and changing faster than either of them realizes.
From the first electric touch their chemistry is undeniable and the possibilities are endless

This book was free on Amazon so I swiped it because I love Rock Star stories going for ordinary girls. In this short story, Lisa works at an all night diner. On a quiet night a gorgeous unassuming guy walks in and sits. They share conversation and then, being a gentleman, he walks her home.

The story is very sweet. There are no twists or turns. Everything goes very smoothly except for self doubt on Lisa's part.

This could only get 3 stars in my opinion because nothing really happens except at the end. I thought this one would be another Lick by Kylie Scott and I know there are a ton of follow-on stories to keep the tale of Lisa and Joe going. It's a shame the author didn't combine the books to a novel size rather than cut it up into novellas.

Anyway, a good, nice read if you like Rock Stars!

- CBx



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Review: Picture Perfect by Alessandra Thomas

Picture Perfect by Alessandra Thomas

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Published March 26th 2013

Fashion design major Cat Mitchell has a closet full of gorgeous clothes - and not a single thing fits. After two years of runway modeling for easy cash, an accident shattered her lower leg bone and her self-esteem in just one swift fall. Ten months of no exercise, prescription steroids, comfort eating and yoga pants meant returning to campus as a size twelve instead of her former size two.  

When her gorgeous long-time friend with benefits sees her for the first time after her accident and snubs her in front of all her friends, Cat’s self-image hits rock bottom. Her sorority sisters all insist that she looks gorgeous, but all Cat sees is the roll of her stomach when she sits down, or the dimpling at the back of her thighs that wasn't there last year. Cat’s therapist prescribes something radical to stop the downward spiral - nude modeling for a nearby college's human form drawing classes.  

When Cat faces her fears and bares it all for the class, she realizes that she's posing naked in front the most gorgeous, buffest guy she's ever seen in her life. He asks her out after the class, and after one steamy night together, Cat's absolutely smitten.
Nate’s pretty close to perfect – he takes Cat rock climbing when he discovers that it makes her feel strong and becomes a great chef after he learns that the perfect pesto sauce makes her swoon. Cat starts to feel like her old self again - confident and beautiful - as long as Nate's around. Even when he discourages her from entering the Real Woman Project, a design competition for plus-sized apparel, she reasons that he's just trying to prevent old body image wounds from splitting wide open again. 

But when Cat goes home with Nate for Thanksgiving, she discovers something shocking from his recent past that proves that he hasn’t always been so encouraging of women of all shapes and sizes. Cat has no idea what to think, but she does know one thing - this might destroy their relationship before it's even had a chance to get off the ground. 
Before Cat can figure out whether the real Nate is the sensitive, adoring guy she fell in love with, or an undercover asshole, she'll have to finally feel comfortable in her own skin - even if it means leaving him forever.
(This book contains sex and adult language.)

I liked this book, I didn't love it. The tale of Cat is a unique one. Primarily because she's overweight and depressed about her size -- by accident. Her horse threw her the year before and now she has a rod in her leg with bolts attached and any form of exercise causes her pain. Hence the weight issue.

What I did like was the ending where she realises that beauty is only skin deep and if you aren't beautiful on the inside then you don't project it on the outside.

What I didn't like was the constant references to her 'thin' days where she was a stick-insect type model and she constantly craves that life again.

While the story has a positive moral story behind it, I did begin to get bored of Cat and her constant "I hate myself" and "I wish I was size zero" moments. Plus, anyone could see that as her time was being absorbed by Nate, and his good nature, it wasn't exactly a healthy relationship. Cat had a habit of living in a surreal world, not the real world.

Nate was a likeable bloke with good intentions, until the Thanksgiving incident. But I don't think the calamity was enough time to rearrange his thinking of fit is good and fat is lazy. I know the scenario at the fashion competition had a great impact but I wouldn't be so convinced so quickly if it was me.

- CBx



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