Review: The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die by April Henry

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The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die
Author: April Henry

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

“Take her out back and finish her off.”

She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.

And that she must run.

In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.

MY THOUGHTS

Since I have read Girl, Stolen by this author in the past, I kind of knew what type of story I was going to read about.  Author April Henry loves to create suspense, drama, and thrills while throwing a little bit of what-the-heck and sympathy for the wrong people into one plot.  In a nutshell, author April Henry is amazing.

This was a read that was start to finish without taking breaks.  I couldn’t take any breaks because I was too engrossed in the thrill ride.  Then when it ended, I wanted to turn around and read it again.  Cady and Ty’s story will leave you hurt, angry, excited, hopeful and mesmerized.  While the ARC copy came in at 213 pages, it still felt too short for this reader.  The ending approached way too fast and I wanted it to keep going.

This author is wonderful in creating a story in which will leave you guessing while you fall in love with the writing, characters and plot.

MY RATING
[sc:rate4 ]

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Review: Temporary Arrangement by Karen Erickson

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Temporary Arrangement
Series: The Renaldis #0.5
Author: Karen Erickson

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

“Look, but don’t touch “

“The Renaldis”

Alone and broke, Paige Stewart can t believe her good luck. Who hires a virtual stranger out of a New York City coffee shop to care for their adorable grandson? Apparently Claudia Renaldi does.

Widower Matteo Renaldi isn’t pleased that his mother found a replacement nanny so soon after he fired the last one. Yet little Matty takes to Paige like no other nanny before. And Matteo can t deny he s quite taken with her as well. She’s beautiful. Sweet. And far, “far” too young for him.

There’s something about the gorgeously sexy Matteo that fills Paige with longing to break through his wall of formality and touch his softer side. But no one knows better than she that crushing on her boss is one thing. Acting on those feelings is forbidden. Foolish.

Inevitable

Warning: Sexy, grumpy Italian hero who is determined to keep his walls up. No matter how much his son s sweetly beautiful nanny drives him to distraction

MY THOUGHTS

Temporary Arrangement is officially listed as a 0.5 length novella.  This is basically a prequel to the main story that releases soon.  A bunch of people seemed to be upset about this and didn’t know that the story was going to be short and without a finished ending.  I knew this going into the story so it wasn’t a problem for me knowing ahead of time.

I loved the characters in this book.  This is the set up story on how Paige acquires the nanny position with Matteo Renaldi.  There are some steamy scenes near the end and it does end rather abruptly.  Again, this is a prequel to the true novel that is going to be released.

I hope in the next read, we get to learn more about the history of Paige’s previous employer, Matteo’s relationship with his deceased wife, and much more!

This is one story that I am looking forward to reading more about!

MY RATING
[sc:rate4 ]

AUTHOR WEBSITE / GOODREADS / AMAZON

Review: Secrets & Lies by Kody Keplinger

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Secrets and Lies
Author: Kody Keplinger

SUMMARY
(From Amazon)

Kody Keplinger both returns to the halls of Hamilton High and explores new territory in her collection of two e-book exclusive novellas. In these short stories, the author revisits a familiar cast of characters from THE DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) and A Midsummer’s Nightmare. Explore the uniquely teen world of high school drama, secrets, and romantic entanglements from completely fresh perspectives that will intrigue fans of Kody Keplinger and new readers alike.

MY THOUGHTS

Secrets & Lies features two short novella’s by author Kody Keplinger.  If you are not familiar with this author in the young adult world, then I highly recommend that you start with The D.U.F.F.  I will also warn you that this authors writing is highly addictive.  Once you read one book by Ms. Keplinger, you will not want to stop at one.

Novella One: Abbreviations & Alliterations
The main characters featured in novella one are Casey Blithe and Toby Tucker.  If you have read The DUFF then you know that Casey is one of Bianca’s best friends.  Toby was a guy that Bianca briefly dated in The DUFF.  With this short story we get to see both of these characters slowly fall in love with each other.  Casey is also having a hard time admitting that she is falling for Toby and doesn’t want to let anyone know they are dating.  She is afraid that Bianca will find out since there is the unspoken girl rule of not dating your friends ex.  Toby goes along with it being a secret for a little while, but eventually he wants to know when they can tell everyone.  Toby doesn’t understand why it has to be a secret since Bianca is happy now with Wesley and they only dated briefly.  Eventually, this story plays out with Bianca finding out.  There is drama, but not as big as it would be if it would have been a full length novel.  I felt that this novella was beautifully done and Toby was sweet.

Novella Two: People Worth Knowing
In this novella we get to go back to Hamilton High that was featured in A Midsummer’s Nightmare. The main characters of this novella are Bailey and Brody.  Bailey is the little sister from A Midsummer’s Nightmare and I am glad we got to see a little of her life in this one.  Again, characters from the previously mentioned book are present and we get to reconnect with them as well.  Bailey has had a crush on Brody Frasier for some time.  He is smart, athletic and popular.  When his sister Justine notices the crush, she lures Bailey into her circle of popular friends.  Justine is not a nice person and she proves this on several occasions.  Serious bullying is done and the author handled the touchy subject really well.  I am glad that we got to see how strong Bailey can be for her age emotionally and mentally in this novella.

While I enjoyed both short stories in this book, I think the first novella was my favorite.  Toby and Casey were fun to read about and I think it is mainly because I loved The DUFF so much.  Revisiting those characters were wonderful.  I still enjoyed the second novella but it had a feel of being for the younger group of teens.  I personally can’t wait to see who the author writes about next!

MY RATING
[sc:rate4 ]

AUTHOR WEBSITE / GOODREADS / AMAZON

*I received this digital ARC free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Review: Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley

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Own the Wind
Series: A Chaos Novel #1
Author: Kristen Ashley

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Tabitha Allen grew up in the thick of Chaos–the Chaos Motorcycle Club, that is. Her father is Chaos’ leader, and the club has always had her back. But one rider was different from the start. When Tabby was running wild, Shy Cage was there. When tragedy tore her life apart, he helped her piece it back together. And now, Tabby’s thinking about much more than friendship…

Tabby is everything Shy’s ever wanted, but everything he thinks he can’t have. She’s beautiful, smart, and as his friend’s daughter, untouchable. Shy never expected more than friendship, so when Tabby indicates she wants more–much more–he feels like the luckiest man alive. But even lucky men can crash and burn…

MY THOUGHTS

Own the Wind is the first book in the Chaos Novels by author Kristen Ashley. It is a spin off from the Dream Man series with the main characters being Parker “Shy” Cage and Tabitha “Tabby” Allen.

After reading Motorcycle Man and getting the “Tack” tingles, I was excited to hear about a spin off series featuring the other Chaos MC members.  I really didn’t think another character could measure up to the pedestal that I had Tack on, but the author came pretty close with Shy Cage.  Like the book mentions, he is like a younger version of Tack. Which makes it more Kristen Ashley crack with no sleep until the book is finished. Yes there are run-on sentences,  over used words, and plenty of dialogue that needs deciphering, but it is still addictive.  I swear there must be hidden messages in the wording because once you start one, you can’t put it down.

Tabby Allen is the Tack’s daughter. Tack is the head of the Chaos Motorcycle Club. So this makes Tabby the princess for lack of better words.  She has been sheltered and protected ever since she started living with her father.  She has also had a secret crush on Shy Cage.  Shy is a trusted member of Chaos.  He is also a player and enjoys his random hookups as much as possible.  When Tabby needs to be brought in from a bad situation, Shy decides to teach her a hard lesson.  What happens ends up breaking Tabby’s heart and she moves on from her crush with Shy.  Fast forward and she is getting married to Jason who is just a regular guy and not part of the MC world.  When he unexpectedly dies in a car wreck 3 weeks prior to them getting married, Tabby is crushed.  This sets up the status of “single” for Tabby.

I for one didn’t like Tabby in this book.  To me she is too compliant even though she is suppose to have a backbone being Tack’s daughter.  I felt she just went along with things and never really stood out as her own character in Own the Wind.

Shy was hot. There is no other way to describe him. He is definitely letting off the Tack vibe and I could actually picture him being a younger version of Tack.  This made for sexy scenes and hotness whenever he spoke or sauntered into a room.

The ending felt rushed and it was kind of let down in the action scene being off the page.  I would have liked to have read about the big bad meeting that they went to in order to find Natalie (Tabby’s drugged up best friend).  The epilogue was classic Kristen Ashley with the reader getting a sneak peek into the future for this couple.

While I loved revisiting the Chaos Motorcycle Club — plus other characters in the Dream Man series — it didn’t have quite the impact that Motorcycle Man had to me.  While fans of this author don’t want to miss out in this new spin off series, new readers might want to at least read the last book in the series that it originated from.  Not necessary but it might set up the club members for you a little better.

“May feel like you’re falling’, Tabby, but remember, I’m at the bottom ready to catch you.” — Shy

MY RATING
[sc:rate4 ]

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Review: Beauty Awakened by Gena Showalter

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Beauty Awakened
Series: Angels of the Dark #2
Author: Gena Showalter

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

His name is Koldo. He is scarred, powerful, his control legendary-and he lives only for vengeance, determined to punish the angel who viciously removed his wings. But if he yields to the forces of hatred, he will be kicked from the heavens, eternally damned.

She is his last hope. Nicola Lane was born with a defective heart, yet this fragile human shows surprising strength as demons stalk her every move, determined to end her. She is the key to Koldo’s deliverance…and his downfall. Though he fights duty, destiny and his first addictive taste of desire, his toughest battle will be the one for Nicola’s life-even if he has to sacrifice his own….

MY THOUGHTS

I am a huge fan of Gena Showalter.  I admit that I am not caught up on all her current releases, but what I have read in the past has been awesome.  I love her writing and the worlds that she creates within the pages of a book.   As you can see from the description I posted above, this is the second book in the Angels of the Dark series.  I haven’t read the first book yet, but I didn’t have much of a problem following along with the story.  While I am sure I probably missed out on recognizing certain details — such as this author appearing in the previous book — I didn’t feel cheated by jumping in feet first with book two.

The characters were written beautifully.  Koldo was heartbreakingly wonderful.  While he is hard to enjoy at times, other times he makes you want to weep at his feet.  While Showalter usually writes kick butt heroines, we get to see a vulnerability with Nicola that is a bit softer than the norm.  Also, while the sexual tension and chemistry is definitely in this book, it isn’t as high on the sexual scenes that Showlater usually includes. It is still steamy and hot, but not as fluent as in her other works.

While I am a fan of this new series, I still feel the need to revisit her previous works to get my fix of what I have become accustomed to.  Definitely a series I will keep reading though because I can’t stop reading what this author writes.

MY RATING

[sc:rate4 ]

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