CONTEST CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shattered Souls
Author: Mary Lindsay
Source: Personal Purchase
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Publisher: Philomel
(December 8, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0399256226
A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny and danger
Lenzi hears voices and has visions – gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can’t help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she’s a reincarnated Speaker – someone who can talk to and help lost souls – and that he has been her Protector for centuries.
Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn’t make a decision soon.
I debated with myself several times on whether or not to post a review for this book. I didn’t finish it, but I did make myself read to the halfway point. Since it is classified as a Did Not Finish on my shelves, instead of a review I thought I would just share with you on why I couldn’t finish it.
First character in the hot seat is Lenzi. Can we get any weaker than this character? Does she even still have a spine intact and a brain in her head? I know this seems a little harsh but seriously, I thought she was one of the worst characters I have read about in a long time. This character has mastered the art of whine and selfishness. The only strength this girl had was mad and slightly OCD paper skills called origami.
Second character in the hot seat is Zak. Seriously? This is the type of character you want for a romance interest for a teen? If this guy came within fifteen feet of my teen daughter I would snatch the shotgun from my husband and send him running for the hills praying I miss the bulls eye of his family jewels. He is worse than the bad boy image that you are afraid to bring home to meet the parents. Why would someone be attracted to a boy who gets drunk and tries to seduce you while you are visiting your fathers grave? Oh and this was part of a birthday gift to Lenzi. Sorry to tell you Zak, but that present is one you can handle yourself. But no, Lenzi keeps kissing his butt and basically thinking he is a God among men. I am sorry but mentally abusive men who have a thing for belittling a woman while not being able to hold their liquor is not an attractive man to hold high on a pedestal.
So you would think the author, who decides a triangle might help save this story, would learn the lesson on abusive and emotionally battering men. No. She decides to bring in man number two named Alden, who just happens to be her Protector. You hear the word Protector and you think he might just be the one for Lenzi. Then the author ruins it by having him tell Lenzi that her fear and pain is a big turn on for him. Um, hello? This borders on creepy and just plain sadistic.
At this point, I had to put the book down and just deal with the eye twitching I get when I don’t finish a book. I just couldn’t stomach anymore of the characters and I can’t even remember what the point of the plot was suppose to be.
That seems to be the question of late, and also one that has been eating away at my thoughts. When I started this blog a few years ago, I was worried about many things. One of the main worries and questions I had was how much should I blog? Should it be daily? A few times a day? A few times a week?
As my blog has grown and many of you have stuck with me throughout the few years I have been blogging, you may have noticed that my blogging has slowed down. When I first started, my goal was to post reviews a few times a day. It was not unusual to see that I posted 2 to 3 reviews a day since I read so many books. I can usually finish two books a day with no problems. Plus, I always try to stay ahead of the game by reading as much as I can over the weekend so I have a bunch of books to post about during the week.
While I still have a stack of books waiting to review on my desk, I have slowed down in the posting process and become more sporadic in posting them. Sometimes I will post one to three reviews a day, and other times I will not post anything for a day or two.
I finally realized that I don’t want posting to be a chore. I want to post when I can without worry. I have lost a few blog followers for changing up my posting schedule, but I have accepted that this is my hobby and not a job. I want to enjoy reading, friendships made through blogging, and have time for my family as well. I know it is a given that I will lose even more followers for this, but I also made a choice in not caring about those numbers in the followers gadget. I love hearing from each and everyone of you, but if you feel the need to unsubscribe from my blog just because I don’t post every single time — several times a day — then I don’t know what to say or do to stay. I am hoping that my reviews that do post are enough of a reason to follow my blog, just as it is for other reviewers, but sometimes people have different tastes and change up who they follow daily.
I am in the process of trying to figure out a balanced medium and it is something I struggle with everyday. Do I want to post like I did before? Yes. But I also want to be able to venture out more into the realm of other bloggers and spend time chatting to you about books. I also don’t want to reach the point of ‘blogging burn out’ that others seem to reach.
So for today’s discussion tell me how you feel about blogging? Do you see yourself as a daily blogger or as you feel like it? Do you worry about losing everything you have worked for while slowing the pace down? What do you think would be an acceptable number of posts per day to keep you interested in reading a blog?
Where It Began
Author: Ann Redisch Stampler
Source: Amazon Vine
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon Pulse
(March 6, 2012)
ISBN-13: 978-1442423213
Sometimes the end is just the beginning.
Gabby lived under the radar until her makeover. Way under. But when she started her senior year as a blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight months with Billy were bliss…Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there.
And Billy’s nowhere to be found.
All Gabby wants is to make everything perfect again. But getting her life back isn’t difficult, it’s impossible. Because nothing is the same, and Gabby’s beginning to realize she’s missed more than a few danger signs along the way.
It’s time for Gabby to face the truth, even if it means everything changes.
Especially if it means everything changes.
I was so excited to get this book in advance from Amazon Vine. It sounded interesting and I was in desperate need of a young adult book to bring back my passion for this genre. Unfortunately, this book was not as great as I was hoping it would be. I think I will be in the minority in saying that this book is not one that will live up to the hype, but this is only my opinion.
Gabby was not a character I enjoyed. I was to the point of wanting to rip her from the pages of the book and slap some sense into her. I just didn’t like how the author portrayed her. At times, she was annoying and a pain in the butt, but then there were times when you wanted to give her a hug and a shoulder to cry on. While this could be an interesting combination for a character that would leave the reader interested in more, it left me frustrated and to the point of wanting to just put the book away. I can understand the confusion that the character goes through, but her attitude was not one I wanted to read about. You can tell that Billy is not someone to trust or want to be with, but naive Gabby doesn’t seem to grasp this. Even a brain injury couldn’t excuse the behavior of wanting this boy.
This book starts out great, but quickly falls into the trap of predictability, boredom and characters with shallow intentions. I felt that this book was a let down, but could have been better with further exploration of the characters and plot.
Yours To Keep
Kowalski Family #3
Author: Shannon Stacey
Source: Personal Purchase
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Publisher: HQN Books
(February 21, 2012)
ISBN-13: 978-0373776863
Emma Shaw needs a husband, and fast! Not because she’s interested in romance—after all, she’s too busy with her landscaping company—but because Grandma Shaw is coming to town, and she will have nonstop questions about Emma’s (stagnant) love life.
Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he’s recruited by Emma to be her fake fiance. Sean doesn’t like the deception, but he can’t help his attraction to the feisty brunette. A little pretend kissing won’t hurt anyone—especially when there’s no chance he’ll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he’s not planning to call home. But when fake, innocent kisses lead to very real, explosive sparks, Emma and Sean discover that their big ruse might just lead to happily-ever-after…
In the third book in the Kowalski family love drama, we get to meet Sean and Emma. I am going to start off by saying that this is my favorite book in the series so far and I wish the author would send Sean to me for Christmas! I wouldn’t mind having him bundled up in a red bow — with nothing else — under my tree for a present!
When Emma is in need of a soon-to-be-husband, she thinks of the first person she thinks of and blurts out Sean Kowalski. She finds herself in trouble though when her Grandmother decides to return for a visit from Florida to meet Emma’s future husband. Emma is in a panic and reaches out to Sean after his return from the army and proposes her scheme to him. Sean is floored finally find himself fake engaged to a woman he has never met. He agrees to the scheme since Emma seems to be doing it out of love her Grandmother and not greed. What ensues from this crazy scheme is laughter, blunders, and slow building romance between Emma and Sean.
I don’t think I laughed so much in this series until I started reading this book. I loved the post-it notes that Sean leaves on the bathroom mirror for Emma to find when he needs to drop little secrets of himself to keep up the charade. What this man goes through for Emma is so hilarious at times that I kept getting weird looks while reading it from my husband. You can’t help but feel sorry for Emma and Sean, but you can’t seem to want to put the book down either. I just had to know what would happen next no matter how crazy or sweet it was.
I also loved how previous characters in the series were included as well. I enjoyed seeing how the characters have grown over the year and are still included in the family dynamics of this book. A great book in a great series that keeps getting better with each book! I need more Kowalski men!
She snorted and looked out her window. “Oh yes, Sean Kowalski. Your amazing kisses have made all rational thought fly out of my besotted brain. If only you could fill me with your magic penis, I know we’ll fall madly in love and live happily ever after.”
–Emma to Sean, page 135