Books à la Mode | a book, beauty, and fashion blog: series

Showing posts with label series. Show all posts

Monday, June 12, 2017

The Lawmen: Bullets and Brawn Series by Elizabeth Heiter Giveaway (Open Internationally!)

Bodyguard with a Badge (The Lawmen: Bullets and Brawn #1)
Elizabeth Heiter
from Harlequin Intrigue (Harlequin // Harper Collins)

Take the shot... or take a chance?

FBI sniper Andre Diaz saved Juliette Lawson from a deadly hostage situation. But only hours later, he receives the surprise of his life when she takes him hostage in order to escape Quantico. Now the federal agent knows just how desperate Juliette is to stay hidden from her dangerous cop ex-husband.

Putting her trust in another law enforcement officer is difficult. Yet Juliette senses Andre is definitely one of the good guys. Perhaps he truly can protect her from the secrets she's been running from—unless her deadly past catches up with them both first.

Police Protector (The Lawmen: Bullets and Brawn #2)

She's become his whole world... and she's under fire

Ever since forensics analyst Shaye Mallory survived a police-station shootout, Detective Cole Walker has felt personally responsible for her well-being. Then another shooter takes aim at Shaye. Cole decides the only thing he can do is stay right by her side until he finds the man who wants her dead.

Cole knows that he must set aside his attraction to Shaye if he's going to do his job. But as the days—and nights—go on, it becomes harder and harder to resist his feelings. And, as danger moves ever closer to them both, Shaye realizes that her safety might cost her the life of the man she loves.

Secret Agent Surrender (The Lawmen: Bullets and Brawn #3)

This undercover agent can't disguise his true desire!

Undercover DEA agent Marcos Costa is shocked to see Brenna Hartwell—his very first crush—cozying up to the brutal drug lord he's about to bust! He hasn't seen her since childhood, but he never imagined she'd turn to a life of crime. What the hunky agent doesn't know is that Brenna's working her own bust as a rookie cop undercover.

Brenna didn't think she'd ever see Marcos again, especially not on her first undercover mission! She knows she has to keep her distance... but while she and Marcos play out their daring ruse, their youthful passion reignites. One wrong move could blow their covers. Can two loners used to self-reliance trust their lives—and hearts—to each other?

Giveaway!

Books à la Mode is giving away one print copy of each book in the Bullets and Brawn series—that's three winners total! Yay!!

To enter, all you have to do is tell me in the comments below:

What is your favorite thing about romantic suspense books?

Please make your comment MEANINGFUL. Comments solely consisting of stock responses or irrelevant fluff like "Thanks for the giveaway!" will not be considered for entry. Elizabeth and I really want to hear from you guys! :)

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

Sponsored wholly by the author—a huge thank you to the lovely Elizabeth Heiter!

Giveaway ends June 26th at 11.59 PM (your time).

Open internationally—yay! That means anyone in the world can enter, provided you have a verifiable email and postal address.

Void where prohibited.

Winners have 48 hours to claim their prize once they are chosen, or else their winnings will be forfeited.
Although I do randomly select winners, I am in no way responsible for prizes, nor for shipping and handling.

As a reminder, you do not have to follow my blog to enter, though it is always very much appreciated ❤

Good luck!

Friday, January 8, 2016

2 Heart Review: Mastered by Maya Banks

Mastered (The Enforcers #1)
Maya Banks

Page Count: 358
Release Date: December 29th, 2015
Publisher: Berkley (Penguin Random House)
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Sullivan and Partners!)
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Breathless Trilogy comes the first novel in the Enforcers series—a bold new direction in erotic romance that explores the games men and women play, and the price they’re willing to pay for pleasure.

What he wants, he takes with no remorse or guilt.

She stood out in his club like a gem, unspoiled and untouched. A lamb among wolves, she clearly didn’t belong. Drawn to her innocence he watched as she was surrounded by men who saw what he did—but no one but him could touch her. He summoned her to his private quarters. He sensed her fear. He also recognized the desire in her eyes. And he knew she wouldn’t leave before he possessed her. She had no need to know his secrets. Not until he had her under his complete and utter control.

What he wants, she isn’t sure she can give him.

The moment he told her want he wanted, she couldn’t resist. Instinct told her to run, but her heart said stay and walk the fine line between pleasure and pain. Though she wasn’t sure she could ever completely surrender, the primal part of her wanted to try, even knowing this man could break her in ways she never imagined. Because once he possessed her, he owned her and it would be too late to turn back. She can only pray that he doesn’t destroy her in the end.

Review

DNF @ 27%

I'm going to preface this review by acknowledging how painful it is to write. Maya Banks's KGI series is one of my favorite romantic suspense series ever, so I was over the moon when given the opportunity to give her new trilogy, The Enforcers, a shot.

Unfortunately, I have almost nothing good to say about Mastered, the first installment. I can't bash it completely or discredit her as an author because I know what she's capable of, but Mastered is a cheap, clichéd Fifty Shades knockoff, featuring even more despicable characters and written in as equally ridiculous writing style.

Mastered begins with Evangeline (literally, "angel") stuck in a wonderfully stupid scenario: her best friends/roommates collectively dolling her up for a night at Impulse, the most exclusive and expensive club in all of New York; of course, this is accompanied by some of the worst monologues of vain, gratuitous compliment barf I've ever read:

"You look hot. And I don't say that as your best friend trying to make you feel better about yourself. I say that as another female who is aware that a much hotter female is in her territory and I'd like to scratch her eyes out because I know I don't have a chance in hell of looking as good as she does."

"You don't get it, Vangie. And hell, I think that's half the turn-on for guys. You have no clue how beautiful you are. You're all big eyes, gorgeous hair, a figure to die for and you're good and sweet to your soul. If you had any hint of interest, you'd have men tripping over themselves to get next to you. They'd treat you like the queen you deserve to be treated as, but you honestly have no idea and that just makes them want you even more."

And of course, Evangeline bats these "you're sooooo hot" statements away—the innocent, doe-eyed, clueless saint she is:

[She] shook her head, utterly baffled. "You guys are crazy. I'm a twenty-three-year-old recently ex-virgin who's as gauche as they. I'm barely off the farm and have a southern drawl that makes New Yorkers roll their eyes and want to pat me on the head and say, 'Well, bless your heart.'"

Because we couldn't just have a flawless bombshell main character; we needed a completely un-self-realized idiot bombshell main character.

This huge night at Impulse is solely for the purpose of pissing off her abusive ex-boyfriend, Eddie, whom they know will be at the club that night, to "show him what he missed out on." As if that isn't immature enough, her friends are sending her alone, via taxi, because they only have one VIP pass among the five of them. Already, this is sounding like a bad teen rom-com, because there has to be a punchline to it. But there isn't. A girl alone in a dark sex club to confront her maniacal jackass ex? At least her friends are looking out for her safety. (The sex club part is a spoiler technically, but it won't spoil anything for you because it really is irrelevant).

The owner of Impulse, of course, is the predatory, unstable, neurotic Drake Donovan, who isn't only strong, tall, and handsome, but also rich, powerful, mean, and dominant in every which way, including in the bedroom. Oooh. Drake notices Evangeline standing out in Impulse like a sore thumb (hello? She's completely insecure and alone!) and it's love at first sight. He knows she's different, worth fighting for, etc. Just by looking at her from afar.

My immediate problem with Drake was not his all-encompassing dominant personality, but his utter lack of reason or manners. Yes, he's obviously a Dom who gets whatever he wants because he knows he can, but at the expense of treating others disrespectfully and being a temperamental dickhead. Drake treats any woman who isn't Evangeline like garbage, with very little forethought that goes into his infuriating thoughts and actions. Not sexy, not cute:

"Oh, I know damn well what I'm passing on," he drawled. "And I couldn't be any less interested in a skank who throws herself at me with promises to please me when the very sight of you displeases me very much."

Normally I would have powered on, but when Drake pretty much sexually assaults Evangeline upon their first meeting—yes, first—and it's supposed to be a sexy scene, but is so poorly written that it wouldn't have been sexy anyway, I knew at that moment that I couldn't give this book more than 1 star. It was just too outrageous (unrealistic, weird, strangely and coarsely executed) for me to continue.

I stopped reading completely when Drake, upon their second meeting, offers Evangeline a magical, optimistic solution to her current woes, including a new place to live (for free), complete responsibility over her financial worries, as well as her family's, and her roommates' (since they will be short one person's portion of rent if Evangeline moves in with him, after all), AND spoil her materialistically AND give her the best sex of her life. ...What? Literally, he spits out one paragraph saying all this and I knew I was done.

I wish I could tell you that it gets better, or the characters get some sense knocked into them, or the sex scenes improve, but alas, 100 or so pages in, I was faced with the same frustrating, static story, so I gave up. I don't know how the book ends, other than that there's a cliffhanger ending since the sequel, Dominated, is a direct continuation of Mastered—which I find distressing—so I can't comment on the broader story elements, such as the climax or ending. I have very little motivation to find out however, and when I finally put this book down, I was overcome with a giant wave of relief.

Pros

I thought I was a Maya Banks fan before this—it's really making me rethink my position though // Intriguing (albeit unoriginal) plot that had potential

Cons

Everything else. Every single thing.

Love

Here's a collection of my favorite quotes due to their WTF-ness. I stopped at three because Drake's unreasonably hilarious behavior just goes on and on and on; consider this section a preview. It's NSFW, but mostly because you'll be laughing very hard which will make your boss and coworkers very suspicious. Unfortunately, it's also actually NSFW (warning: poorly executed smut ahead) so you don't want to be caught reading this in public:

"He sat her ass on the edge of his desk and with an impatient gesture, he swept the surface of his work area clean, knocking the contents to the floor. Shit scattered in all directions and her eyes widened, her pupils dilated so that only a thin ring of blue circled the black orbs as she stared warily at him.

Not only does this start off with a stock scene from any B-grade office porno, but that dilation thing just freaks me out. My pupils looked like that the one time I tried LSD, and it wasn't as angelic as the author makes it out to be.

It had taken every ounce of his restraint not to tear his pants down and plunge so deeply into her that she would feel him to her soul.

She would feel him TO HER SOUL. Because his peter's that big. Ha ha. Get it??

He was becoming more pissed by the minute, and he was seething as he stared at her. The idea of those bastards putting their hands on what he'd already claimed, fondling her, disrespecting her, had his teeth on edge, and his temper, already bad enough, was becoming overwhelmingly foul.

To provide some context, this is all in response to finding out that Evangeline works a night job as a bartender. A FREAKIN' BARTENDER. And this is literally the second time they've met, and he's already marked her as "what he'd already claimed." This dude has no chill.

Verdict

A nasty "hero," a moronic heroine, unintentionally comical dialogue, and a ludicrous storyline all litter this first installment of The Enforcers. Full of clichéd scenes, overused phrases, and a completely unoriginal and unappealing plot, Mastered is not Maya Banks's best work. Not only did I find the story intolerable, but also the writing unrefined and unseasoned. I'm sure there are authors out there who could have made even this smutty, absurd plot work, but Banks is not one of them. I cannot recommend Mastered to any audience—even romance and BDSM lovers won't find much to enjoyment in this—and I'm glad I didn't bother finishing it; reading this was ever only bad for my blood pressure

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

5 Heart Review: Day 21 by Kass Morgan

Day 21 (The Hundred #2)
Kass Morgan

Page Count: 311
Release Date: September 16th, 2014 (hardcover)
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group)
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, FSB Media!)
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

They thought they were alone.

They were wrong.

It's been 21 days since the hundred landed on Earth. They're the only humans to set foot on the planet in centuries... or so they thought.

Facing an unknown enemy, Wells attempts to keep the group safe after a tragic attack. Clarke strikes out in search of other colonists, while Bellamy is determined to rescue his sister, no matter the cost. And back on the ship, Glass faces an unthinkable choice between the love of her life and life itself.

In this pulse-pounding sequel to the New York Times bestseller The 100, secrets are revealed, beliefs are challenged, and relationships are tested. The hundred will struggle to survive the only way they can—together.

Review

Bellamy stared wide-eyed, as Clarke told him what she remembered about Mount Weather, how it was supposed to be a shelter for the U.S. government in times of crisis. "But my parents said that no one got there in time."
"Well, maybe they did," Bellamy said. "Could they have survived the Cataclysm here? By going underground?"
Clarke nodded. "And I have a feeling they never left. I think this is where the Earthborns live."

Day 21 picks up right where the distressing cliffhanger in The 100 left off, and the plot structure and narrative flow of the two books are almost identical. As with the first book, this sequel is told from the alternating third-person perspectives of Clarke, Wells, Bellamy, and Glass, and is a combination of present-day action and revealing snippets of backstory.

The biggest thing for me, personally, that has changed since I read the first book, is that I've since watched the CW television series. I just finished season 2 actually; it had me reeling for more, which is what inspired me to give the book series another try. Unfortunately, after having experienced the mastermind of the TV show, the books pale miserably in comparison. Not terrible by any means, as the journey of teenage delinquents determining the survivability of post-apocalyptic Earth is still a thrilling one, but just very, very weakly executed, when compared to the TV show.

In short, the TV show will have your jaw dropping and your heart racing at every scene; reading the books after watching the show will ruin everything for you. So I don't recommend the series if you've already seen the show.

For the most part, my quips with Day 21 are the exact same as they were in the book The 100, which I reviewed back in August: the characters are poorly developed and the writing style is highly unseasoned—it reads like a teenage fan-fiction novel that's meant to be super dramatic, but really isn't. In a purely literary sense, this series is a major disappointment. The concept of exploring Earth for the first time in over a century is amazing, but its presentation is just really lacking in Morgan's writing.

Day 21 presents the novel situation of dealing with Earthborns, or the "natives" of Earth that never left the ground during the Cataclysm (aka the nuclear disaster that sent Clarke's, Wells's, Bellamy's, and Glass's ancestors up to space as refuge in the first place). In the eyes of the Earthborns, Clarke and the other hundred aren't just foreigners from the sky... they're invaders. The mutual distrust between the two populations lead to the book's main conflicts, which are written to be shocking and suspense-ridden, but are actually just really drawn out and don't lead anywhere (unlike in the television series, where the action and suspense are immediate). While Day 21 does expose readers to darker themes, I feel like these twists and turns had the potential to be very powerful, but Morgan's mediocre writing dulls the majority of the impact of any serious or "life-changing" implications.

Add this to the fact that the characters are all equally generic and unlikable, and all the romantic relationships are incredibly shallow, and we've got ourselves a dud with Day 21. Insignificant and gratuitous romance plot lines are among my biggest book pet peeves, and they were at their mildest and most improbable in this second installment of the The 100 series, which only intensified my dissatisfaction with it further.

Pros

A consistent continuation of the first book; in style, structure, and content, the two are very similar // Plot picks up right where it left off in The 100 // New thrilling plot twists and revelations // Darker themes than the first book and more opportunity for adventure given

Cons

Most of the "shocking" revelations and plot twists are predictable, and not that potent // None of the romantic relationships seem realistic or at all complex; there are four ongoing in this book, if you count the Wells-Clarke-Bellamy "love triangle" and they're all lackluster // Most of the weaknesses in this book are identical to those in the first book, including annoying flashback scenes, constant, confusing narrative shifts, and very unimpressive writing style (read my review for that here) // Simply not as good as the TV series. Skip the books, just tune in to the CW!

Love

Bellamy shrugged. "I don't really know how to live any other way. I've always been taking care of her. It's like... we aren't born for ourselves alone. You have to take care of other people."

Verdict

While I acknowledged all the literary and stylistic shortcomings of the first book in The 100 series, I still ate it up because I was so impressed by the dystopian world-building and the dynamic plot line involving teenage delinquents exploring uncharted territory. That was before I started watching the TV show, though, and now that I have, coming back to the book series has been a cringe-filled bore. Kass Morgan really had her head in the right place when she created this entertaining YA sci-fi series, but unfortunately for her, the TV show just did a better job of bringing it to life. Day 21, the second book in series, has proven that the storyline just needed a fresh interpretation (and perhaps, a cinematic touch!) to really achieve something. My opinions are obviously completely biased due to having watched the TV show, but that doesn't stop me from recommending it wholeheartedly; on the other hand, the book series is agonizingly bland in comparison.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

6 Heart Review: Perfect Couple by Jennifer Echols

Perfect Couple (Superlatives #2)
Jennifer Echols

Page Count: 336
Release Date: January 13th, 2015
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher via tour publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Simon Pulse and Itching for Books!)
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

In this second book in the Superlatives trilogy from Endless Summer author Jennifer Echols, Harper and Brody think they’re an unlikely match—but the senior class says they belong together.

As yearbook photographer, Harper is responsible for those candid moments that make high school memorable. But her own life is anything but picture perfect. Her parents’ bitter divorce left her wondering what a loving relationship looks like. And ever since the senior class voted her and star quarterback Brody “Perfect Couple That Never Was,” her friends have been pushing her to ask Brody out.

Brody doesn’t lack female admirers, but Harper can't see herself with him. He’s confused about the match too. Yet they find themselves drawn together—first by curiosity about why the class paired them, then by an undeniable bond.

The trouble is, though they’re attracted to each other, they have a hard time getting along or even communicating well. If they’re the perfect couple, this shouldn’t be so difficult! Soon it becomes clear their class was wrong, and they throw in the towel. But they feel so changed from making the effort, they can’t forget each other. What if this match made in hell is the perfect couple after all?

Review

We'd been in various advanced classes together since middle school, but the way he dressed made him look like he'd taken a wrong turn from the gym. That's how Brody had always been: grinning, a bit of a mess, and a world away from me.

Jennifer Echols's Superlatives series stands out to me because it follows three best friends, Tia, Harper, and Kaye, and their romantic lives—each book designated for each respective girl—in a modern-day high school setting. Contemporary YA romance is probably my favorite genre (ever!) so I quite enjoyed Biggest Flirts, which is Tia's story. Perfect Couple is Harper's story, and while it does contain the same youthful charm as the first book did, I didn't find myself enjoying it as much.

This book wasn't boring or hard to read in the least bit; overall, I got through it quickly and did not regret picking it up. It's just that I wasn't very invested in the main characters, whose realness was one of the primary strengths in Biggest Flirts.

Harper, our first-person narrator, is rather bratty and immature for being the smart one, which irritated me a lot. At first I was thrilled that this second book was told in her perspective since she's the bookworm of the three friends, but I found myself rolling my eyes at her so-called intelligence frequently. It's one thing for a protagonist to be Type A, but completely another for her to overreact at every "injustice" that she is slammed with and to have the most redundant obsessive tendencies-slash-paranoia. She isn't just anxious, but also a generally bad person: flighty, superficial, completely absorbed in what other people think of her and her social status, instantly in love with Brody even though she has a boyfriend.

I think I feel this harshly because she isn't just unlikable, but she's also weakly characterized. Echols doesn't give her enough of a personality or relatable voice, as she did with Tia. Harper's dialogue comes off as rather stilted and her point of view is very info dumpy.

The second-most annoying part of the book: the insta-love. There are SO many things I can contribute to this topic (considering ~80% of the romance novels I've read involve an undeveloped romance plot line) but I'll refrain from using this review as a ranting space. But literally, Harper has always known Brody as the hot unachievable athlete, but suddenly decides she's worthy of him because of the yearbook superlatives—because other people think so. Not because she discovers she likes him, or because she discovers he likes her, but because other people told her so. Being voted for Perfect Couple that Never Was (is that REALLY a thing, people? Really?? Anyone have that in their own yearbook?!) does not mean they're together... but Harper thinks it means they're immediately in a relationship. Unfortunately, Brody doesn't see it that way (as expected) even though he does find her attractive, which is where things go awry.

Speaking of Brody, he's fun, but still a rather flat and undeveloped character. The instant love may have been problematic, but in addition he was just too plain—nothing special. More importantly, I didn't feel he and Harper had any chemistry, despite their superlative nominations. The whole relationship, the basis of the novel, just didn't convince me. A poor romance plot could be justified by likable leads or tons of character development, but in Perfect Couple, I found none. Brody remains the same dull "hero" until the end of the book, and Harper the equally snooty "heroine."

One thing I do applaud is how Harper has other things going on at home; her attention isn't solely fixated on Brody. She feels tied down to her mom's B&B, rarely lending her time to do what SHE wants—which, okay, isn't the toughest family situation YA has ever encountered, but it's still a refreshing break from the hardly believable Brody mess. Eventually, being named to the Perfect Couple title with him makes her realize something more than her attraction: that her world is smaller than it needs to be since she is doing what other people want or expect, instead of exploring all her possibilities. I think this is a valid lesson that all young adults will learn at some point in their lives, so I'm glad it was a part of Harper's story.

Pros

Light, easy-flowing plot // Lots of drama (that every good high school romance needs) // Recurring characters (Tia, Sawyer, Will, etc.) make the cast seem more familiar, like revisiting old friends // Grounding and realistic lessons about teenage love, not just a formulaic boy-meets-girl story

Cons

Weak dialogue // Unremarkable and unrealistic plot // Harper is unlikable and melodramatic // Brody is unmemorable // No character development. At all // Internal and external conflicts are too disparate // Echols's style isn't anything to write home about // Disappointing after Book 1, Biggest Flirts

Verdict

Fresh and entertaining yet still full of high school relationship drama, Perfect Couple is a decent continuation of the Superlatives series. Unlike the first book, whose characters really stood out and left an impression on me, this one seems more plot-driven—although admittedly, the plot itself isn't that strong either. I was more excited to revisit Tia and Will from Biggest Flirts in this book, and given the opportunity, I'd try Book 3 for Sawyer and Kaye, no doubt. While I am glad I got to read the second installment in this light-hearted romance series, I'm even gladder to leave Harper and Brody behind

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

7 Heart Review: The 100 by Kass Morgan

The 100 (The Hundred #1)
Kass Morgan

Page Count: 323
Release Date: March 18th 2014 (CW tie-in release)
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group)
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, FSB Media!)
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

No one has set foot on Earth in centuries—until now.

Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth's radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents—considered expendable by society—are being sent on a dangerous mission: to recolonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life... or it could be a suicide mission.

Clarke was arrested for treason, though she's haunted by the memory of what she really did. Wells, the chancellor's son, came to Earth for the girl he loves—but will she ever forgive him? Reckless Bellamy fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only pair of siblings in the universe. And Glass managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find that life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth.

Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind's last hope.

Review

"At least we know you'll be able to hold your own with the other delinquents when you get there."
"Get where?" Clarke grunted, trying to free herself from the guard's grip.
"We're clearing out the detention center today. A hundred lucky criminals are getting the chance to make history." The corners of his mouth twitched into a smirk. "You're going to Earth."

Having interviewed Kass Morgan at my blog last year and given the success of the CW series based on the books, I was plenty eager to give The 100 a try. While I haven't read a staggering amount of YA dystopian, the books in the genre that I have tried (e.g. classics like The Giver and the Uglies series), I absolutely loved; given my background, my initial impressions of the premise were highly anticipatory.

The book is told from four different teenagers' perspectives—Clarke, Wells, Bellamy, and Glass. All narratives aside from Glass's are told in a concurrent timeline, through the eyes of the delinquents who have been forced to settle on Earth for the first time in centuries. While Glass's story, which takes place back on the mothership, was initially the least interesting, it eventually pans out to serve as an anchor—a tie to the surviving, but still unstable lifestyle back in space.

Kass Morgan creates a vivid high-tech world in The 100, where citizens are divided by social standing and resources are limited—of course, except to the upperclass. Back on Earth, the prospects are obviously grim, but it's still a thrill of a journey to follow Clarke, Wells, Bellamy, and the other 97, as they each rediscover a planet that they've only read about in books, yet have such a deep internal connection with. I appreciate the idea of providing different points of view, but think it was slightly too ambitious for the author to try to squeeze a Lord of the Flies-esque conflict AND a love triangle AND an undercurrent of radiation's aftereffects (say what?) into everything. It's all interesting until it just becomes too much; I'd have much preferred one central conflict with stronger relationship-building and more background insight.

While there is no one thing fatally wrong with any of the characters, all four of them are too generic, too idealized. Everyone loves having attractive/smart/clever characters to read about, but they all start to blend together when the author tries to make them all perfect, especially since everyone thinks in close third person. The unrealistic and unextraordinary characterization prevented me from developing any sort of attachment to any of them. The only one that seemed remotely human and believable was Bellamy, our resident rebel. But then again I've always been a sucker for bad boys with a past...

That said, the story itself is filled with drama and tension between the main characters (and secondary characters!) which makes The 100 exciting to read. The sheer nature of the resettlement of our planet is enthralling; Morgan does well with engaging readers to the surprises and twists scattered throughout the novel. There's definitely lots of action-filled scenes and, love it or hate, an INTENSE cliffhanger ending, that just leaves you thirsty for more.

Structurally, I found The 100 quite hard to work with. The constantly changing perspectives get a bit disorienting because it's not just a "he said, she said," but rather a "he said, she said, another he said, another she said." Kind of exhausting. On top of that, each of the narratives are very heavy on backstory which, in good fiction, is absolutely necessary. But when it takes up 50% of the book in the form of italicized flashbacks, it gets out of control.

Pros

Fascinating storyline and world-building // Engaging; keeps you hanging on constantly // Dramatic Earth-bound adventures and minor plot twists // Bellamy is a strongly written character // Ending makes me want to read the second book! That's what ultimately matters, right?

Cons

Abundance of flashbacks is annoying; causes disorder in the flow of the storytelling // Constant narrative shifts also gets chaotic // Stylistically unimpressive // All the characters are grossly idealized (i.e. sweet, pretty/handsome, kind, brave, etc.) and thus pretty forgettable (with the exception of Bellamy) // Cliffhanger ending may cause distress

Love

Bellamy brought his hands behind his head and tilted his face toward the sun, exhaling as the warmth seeped into his skin. It was almost as nice as being in bed with a girl. Maybe even better, because the sun would never ask him what he was thinking.

Verdict

Despite my numerous quips with the lacking characters and structure of The 100, I found myself enjoying it while reading and left wanting more once finished. It's definitely a plot-driven sci-fi novel with lots of action and lots of suspense; if that's your thing, you should totally give it a chance. Kass Morgan's debut is one of those books that isn't mind-blowing, but is still hard to put down, so I definitely understand its appeal to mainstream young adult audiences. While unimpressive in a literary lens or by composition, The 100 is still a promising first installment in an exciting dystopian series

Sunday, August 10, 2014

10 Heart Review: Only with You by Lauren Layne

Only with You (The Best Mistake #1)
Lauren Layne

Page Count: 260
Release Date: July 29th, 2014
Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing; Hachette Book Group)
Source: Complimentary ARC provided by author, via tour publicist, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Lauren Layne and Tasty Book Tours!)

Love is the biggest gamble of all...

Cocktail waitress Sophie Dalton doesn't exactly have a life plan. She's perfectly happy being everyone's favorite party girl. But when a Las Vegas bachelorette party goes awry and an uptight businessman mistakes Sophie for a prostitute... well, Sophie wonders if it's time to reevaluate her priorities. Swearing off her thigh-high boots for good, Sophie slinks back home with damaged pride-and a jackpot of a hangover.

Yet what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay there. On a trip to Seattle to open a new office, Grayson Wyatt meets his latest employee-who turns out to be the same woman he recently called a hooker. Wealthy and gorgeous, Gray is a man used to getting what he wants. And it doesn't take long to figure out that smart, sassy, sexy Sophie is everything he's been looking for. As their late nights at the office turn into hot morning-afters, they realize their Vegas misunderstanding may lead to the real thing...

Review

Something twisted in Sophie's stomach. "So you [guys] aren't serious?" She didn't know why she'd asked. Or why the answer was somehow important.
[Gray's] eyes opened and they locked with hers before drifting to her mouth. "No. A couple casual dates. More companionship than romance."
"Oh," Sophie said, licking her dry lips. "I don't like you," she blurted out, feeling very much like a fourth grader. But she'd had to say something. He was just so close.
"I don't like you much either," he said.
But the way their bodies leaned toward each other made liars out of both of them.

Very few books can make me laugh out loud—particularly in the romance genre, unless it's over how ridiculous the dialogue or characters are—but Lauren Layne had me clutching my sides with her rare ability to combine heart-melting romance with caustic humor in this first full-length novel.

The magic lies in the protagonist, Sophie; a smart, but under-ambitious social butterfly who's always been happy with just being the fun one, she is probably one of the most lovable female characters I've "met," ever. Only with You is mostly from her third-person perspective, which sets the tone of the novel perfectly: just like her, it's snappy, sparkly, and witty. You can't not crack a smile every time Sophie makes a family-inappropriate remark or dives into a hilarious faux pas with Gray.

And it all starts when he mistakes her for a prostitute. The first time they meet.

Readers, you've been warned: this is not a sweet, love-at-first-sight kind of romance. It's a Wait—you're-not-a-gold-digger?!?!? kind of romance. And it's one of the best I've ever read.

Sophie's your typical fun-loving, confident party girl, but as her masked vulnerabilities are slowly revealed, readers discover she's also got a darker, more rebellious side. She refuses to fit into the cookie cutter mold of her lawyers-and-doctors family, or to live up to her boring-as-nude-pumps, perfect orthodontist sister—not because she isn't good enough, but because she doesn't want to risk disappointing anybody. For a girl who's always at ease with herself and possesses the uncanny gift of making others feel at ease with her, she's actually pretty vulnerable, and she's got quite a bit of figuring out in her life to do.

You'd think Grayson Wyatt would have less to worry about. For one thing, he's employed... hell, he's CEO, he's rich, he's respectable—and he's very much not as social as Sophie is. In his cold wall of solitude and brooding, he's a loner, always alone, but also... really lonely. There were deep aspects about his history that cut me deeply, but for the most part, his persona is hilariously stiff and awkward... not awkward in that he's poorly written, but awkward as in OMG!! The situations he and Sophie get themselves into will make you laugh so hard! His reserved personality is definitely a huge contrast to Sophie's bubbly, social demeanor, making them polar opposites, but you know what they all say: don't opposites attract?

The two spend the majority of the book hating each other's guts while constantly, secretly thinking about one another naked... the heated office arguments, the brilliant back-and-forth witticisms, and the sultry glances create the ultimate sexual tension. Gray's difficulty expressing genuine feelings, as well as Sophie's fear of being the class disappointment—as always—further accentuate the impossibility of an actual relationship between them, but somewhere along their journey of late-night, soul-searching talks, chance encounters, and small, but significant surprising revelations, they each find themselves falling into the least expected trap of all: love.

While the enemies-to-lovers plot isn't unheard of in the world of romance novels, Layne puts a sarcastic, but entirely provocative, spin to it. Nothing in the novel was trite or overdone; from the weighty characters, to the mortifying situations they get into, everything is so original, so entertaining, and best of all, so cuttingly hilarious.

The sizzling chemistry between Sophie and Gray (that could only result from such polar-opposite individuals) is so well developed and believable. The slow construction of their emotional connection made me ache and squirm and swoon, because it felt like real romance. It isn't ridiculous insta-love that gives romance novels such a bad rap—it's the real thing.

Only with You is a bright and playful romance that still manages to convey the painful, frustrating emotions of falling in love under resistance and the beautiful art of the unexpected human connection. As the heat builds up, and walls begin to fall, Sophie and Gray find themselves longing for things they vowed to never want, yet now find themselves aching for... but only with each other.

Pros

Funny!! Made me laugh out loud // Tone is light, fresh, and entertaining // Loved Sophie and her outrageous but hilarious family // Gray is your classic tall, dark, and handsome—the perfect wounded hero with a hard shell // SO MUCH PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL CHEMISTRY BETWEN SOPHIE AND GRAY. I CAN'T EVEN // Hot, hot makeout and sex scenes—wowwee! // Everything a good contemporary romance should be

Cons

He has steely gray eyes and his name is ~~Mr. Grey~~ Gray? Where have we encountered this before??

Love

"We met at the gym, actually," Brynn said, setting her hand on Gray's overworked bicep. "He was at the treadmill next to me, and when I dropped my iPod, he picked it up."
"Naturally, I had to ask her to dinner," Gray said with all the emotion of a cyborg.
"Oh, naturally," Sophie said around a piece of bread. Her mother gave her a warning glare.

This book made me crack up more than a several times, but that conversation just had me rolling!

On a more serious note:

"Are you sure we should do this?" she asked breathlessly.
"No. I'm never sure of anything with you."

Verdict

A sexy, vibrant twist on the CEO-meets-secretary romance trope, Only with You is a modern, energetic, and masterfully portrayed love story that both smolders in sexual tension, and provides uproarious bouts of comic relief. Sophie's sarcastic, self-deprecating bits of humor and easygoing radiance (I dare you not to love Sophie Dalton!) and Gray's solid determination to resist her inevitable charms, make for a steamy, catch-and-release game with a corporate flush—but as we all know, love is never just a game. Lauren Layne combines all of my favorite things—colorful characters (is Gray a color?), amusing banter, hot sex, and heartfelt emotion—in this exemplary, hard-to-put-down first novel in the new The Best Mistake series; I confidently say it's my new favorite contemporary romance—which is pretty impressive, considering it's my favorite genre!!

Thursday, June 19, 2014

4 Heart Review: Love with a Perfect Cowboy by Lori Wilde

Love with a Perfect Cowboy (Cupid, Texas #4)
Lori Wilde

Page Count: 384
Release Date: May 27th 2014
Publisher: Avon (Harper Collins)
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher via tour publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Harper Collins and Tasty!)
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde returns to Cupid, Texas, and asks the question: Do you ever forget your first love?

Melody Spencer had long-ago wiped the dust of Cupid, Texas, off her cute shoes... and done her best to forget the chiseled jaw and strong arms of cowboy Luke Spencer. Their families might be part of a long-time feud, but he was her very first love, even if it turned out they never wanted the same things.

But now Luke's come striding back into her life, tempting her with the memories of long, lazy evenings and hot, passionate kisses. And he has an ulterior motive—as Mayor of Cupid, he knows Melody's business savvy can help save their beloved hometown. His smooth talking might get her to Texas, but that doesn't mean he'll get her in his bed. Still, people do say love can be more perfect the second time around...

Review

Look what had happened when [Luke had] tried [dating Melody] fifteen years ago.
Ah, crap, he was setting himself up for a hard tumble down a rocky cliff.
Yeah? Guest what? He didn't give a good damn. He wanted her and that's all there was to it.

This is one of those second-chance love stories that I thought I'd enjoy—I mean, cowboys? Texas? A forbidden relationship? What's not to love?—but there are so many issues I had with it. It's not a complete carwreck, I'll admit; it has a linear plot, characters easy to sympathize with, and the occasional witty line. But overall, I just didn't find it a very palatable novel.

Melody Spencer traded the wide skies of Cupid, Texas for the bright lights of New York City fifteen years ago, and hasn't looked back since. When her first love—the one with whom things never worked out because of a family feud—shows up in the Big Apple at her weakest moment, begging for her help, she can't help but remind herself that—even though she left Cupid behind—it is where her roots are, and she needs to do her part to save the crumbling town.

The aspect of a family feud keeping the two once-lovers apart attempts to create a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story, but it just didn't seem very complicated or tragic to me. I know the taboo aspect of the relationship is supposed to be sexy, but because Lori Wilde gave no depth to either character, it was hard to follow the romance.

Melody and Luke's cheesy instalove is also a huge problem. The moment Melody lays her eyes on Luke—again—her knees weaken, she swoons, she realizes she still loves him, etc. etc. etc. Every other line in the book is Luke noticing Melody's beauty or intelligence or kindness, which isn't only irritating, but also detrimental to the story because it reduces Wilde's style to simplistic telling, not showing. The dialogue and superfluous descriptions are not only stilted, but they're also ridiculous; I was literally laughing at the writing.

A few examples of the cringe-worthy dialogue and wording:

"You're a terrific catch. Looks like someone would have snared you by now."
"Thanks for the compliment," he said. "But I could ask you the same thing."

...how romantic, how smoldering, how smooth!

A seductive purr hummed over her lips, and a heavy breath drove her exquisite tits straight up into his chest. Through flaring nostrils he inhaled her feminine aroma, the flirty flavor of spice, licorice, and kiwi perfume permeating his olfactory receptors, sailing into his brain, flitting between neurons and skimming over synapses, firing off a timeless male response.
Exotic.

...flaring nostrils? Olfactory receptors?? A timeless male response???? What the fuck!!

God, she was beautiful and sexy and irresistible. Luke genuinely liked her. She was quick-witted and professional, eager, goal-oriented, a real-go-getter. Beautiful and self-confident in maturity. Multifaceted.

...why don't we just put the thesaurus down, Lori, and stop going on like this..

She wriggled beneath him and he was instantly hard enough to cut sheet metal with his dick.

...well, at least it's original.

"Do you have any idea how damn sexy you are?" he whispered.
She laughed. (I would have laughed too.)
Of course she did, the seductive wench.

...seductive wench???/ ?? Is that normal??

Did she have any idea what she did to him? Wearing that little red dress held up by strips of material no thicker than a strand of linguini?

...beautiful and poetic, as you can see.

He imagined chewing those straps right off her body, and licked his lips.

...okay, this is where I lost it. As did Lori Wilde.

Pros

An okay standalone novel, although it's the fourth (and last) in the series // Quick read; fast-paced

Cons

Romance is hardly romantic // Even the plot outside the romance, regarding saving Cupid, isn't well done // Both characters are idiots—no character development or depth at all // Instalove... or re-instalove? // Everything, from the flirting, the backstory, and the sex, is stilted, rushed, and just hard to get into // Unrealistic // Annoyingly repetitive

Verdict

While the author hasn't committed any major crimes in Love with a Perfect Cowboy, it was a sore disappointment because of how shallow and lacking the characters, the romance, and the subplots were. The synopsis seemed intriguing, but the "forbidden relationship" isn't explored deeply and just comes off as outrageously ignorant, and the forced dialogue and laughable descriptions don't help its case either. Maybe diehard Lori Wilde fans will be able to enjoy this last installment in the Cupid, Texas series, but I sure don't recommend it