Tag Archives: 3 1/2 stars

Review: Borrowing Trouble

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Juggling a new boyfriend who is constantly MIA for work, his mom who likes her just a little too much, a best friend whose husband might be sneaking around, and a busy career saving clients from sexual harassment lawsuits is pulling Marisa Tanner apart at the seams.

Being with Trip is good, but is it real? Will he bail on her like her past boyfriends or for once in his life will Trip be able to maintain focus longer than the time it takes to close a business deal?

A follow-up to Risking Ruin, Borrowing Trouble maintains Mae Wood’s distinctive style of smart and sexy chick lit.

(Blurb from Goodreads)

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This is book 2 in the Give Me Memphis series. You can see my review for book 1, Risking Ruin, here.

Borrowing Trouble starts off where it left off, with Marisa and Trip still together. Like the blurb states, Marisa is becoming  a bit overwhelmed with everything, and feels like she is being pulled at all angles. Trip seems so sure about their relationship, and Marissa isn’t quite as sure. Can love really happen that fast? She is a bit insecure as to how Trip feels about her, and how she feels about Trip. Totally normal emotions in a new relationship.

Trip’s mother loves Marissa, and Marissa just isn’t quite sure how to act. Plus Marissa’s best friend is having marriage problems.

As you can see, there’s a lot going on in the book, and other things that I won’t give away. With that said, though, I do feel like the book was missing a major climax. There were a bunch of conflicts happening and being overcome, but I just didn’t feel much of a climax in the book.

All in all, it was a good book! If you’re looking for a contemporary romance read, give this series a try.

My Rating: 3 1/2 stars

3 and a half stars

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Find the book

Goodreads          Amazon

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***I received a free copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.***

Review: Fallen

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There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce – he goes out of his way to make that very clear. But she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, Luce has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret…even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, FALLEN is a page-turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

(Blurb from Goodreads)

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This book didn’t do it for me. Too bad since I actually bought the paperback. I mean, it was definitely good, the writing was good, the story was good. But I just felt like it was a little predictable and lacked the excitement I was looking for.

Just like the blurb states, Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce. In fact, he’s a bit mean to her. The first time she lays eyes on him he gives her the finger. I just feel like this is already overdone in young adult books. For instance, in Twilight, and Hush, Hush, the main male lead characters act the same way – mean. They are clearly attracted to the leading lady, but want to avoid her because of their supernatural being. I just feel like it’s already been done before.

Luce is also in a boarding school because the police think she is responsible for a classmates death. If I was in her same situation I think I’d be scarred and think about it all the time. I’d feel horrible. But I just didn’t see Luce have a reasonable reaction.

Maybe I was just disappointed because of all the hype surrounding this book. It was definitely a good read, but I won’t be continuing the series.

My Rating: 3 1/2 stars

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Review: Miss Taken

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Love……………………The Ultimate Loss of Control

Rain and Raven Medici are identical twins. Although they come from a loving close-knit family their childhoods couldn’t have been more different. Raven went to school and was exposed freely to the outside world. Rain on the other hand was born with a blood disorder and denied many normal childhood experiences.

Once grown, Raven becomes a lawyer at their dad’s firm Kane & Medici in NYC. Rain along with her only childhood friend Tommy Conte, builds a very successful business as professional photographers. Traveling between Europe and Manhattan, and enjoying a world that was kept from her, Rain vows never to be controlled again.

Dominick Kane is a product of his upbringing. He’s powerful, self-assured and knows he can achieve anything he desires. Nothing gets in his way. There is only one thing he has ever failed at. A relationship with his father Vincent Kane. Upon his father’s death, Dominick vows revenge. The events he sets in motion put him on a collision course he himself will be unable to control.

In a bizarre twist of fate, Dominick kidnaps Raven as part of his plan for revenge. Only to discover afterward, he has taken Rain by mistake. Rain knows she can never survive being confined again. So she strikes a bargain with the devil and agrees to help Dominick get back what he feels rightly belongs to him. His father’s share of Kane & Medici.

Dominick decides to use the strong attraction growing between Rain and himself to control her in every way imaginable. Too bad no one ever taught Dominick you can’t control the heart. Nothing could have prepared him for the effect Rain would have on his.

Will this plan of revenge turn into unconditional love? Or will Dominick and Rain’s need for control ultimately destroy them and any possible chance for a real future
together…….

(Blurb from Goodreads)

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I kept going in cycles in this book. I love it….I’m getting bored, did Rain just take him back again? And repeat.

As you can see from the blurb (because I hate giving anything away) Rain falls for Dominick aka her kidnapper. While I actually don’t have a problem accepting that, I do have a problem with how fast it happened, and how she just agrees to things that I feel like don’t benefit her. Sometimes I was just like, why are you staying?! Why are you helping him??

But.

The fact that I had such a reaction means that I was invested in the book, and therefore Ms. Scornavacca did a good job. 🙂

Like I mentioned above, I did have a lot of back and forth liking and getting bored problems with this book, but overall I DID like it. I just wished that Rain had a bit more of a backbone.

My Rating: 3 1/2 stars

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***I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.***

Tales of Aradia: The Last Witch Review

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Title:  Tales of Aradia:  The Last Witch

Author:  L.A. Jones

Published:  2012 by CreateSpace

Genre:  Young Adult, Teen Fantasy, Paranormal

Buy: Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

Unknown to the humans who hanged innocent people at the Salem Witch Trials, real witches of the hidden race were slaughtered on the belief that they had betrayed the hiddens to the humans. Not one witch survived the genocide, or so it was believed for more than three hundred years. One day a girl named Aradia moves to Salem, Massachusetts, and all that changes.  

(Blurb from Goodreads)

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Ross and Liza are coming home from a doctor’s appointment in which they just got bad news; the chances of them ever having children are slim to none.  Driving home they almost get in an accident and swerve off the road.  With the car now broken, Ross decides to look for help and hears a baby crying.  Long story short, that baby becomes their daughter, the child that they wanted but couldn’t have, Aradia.

This was a good book.  I liked how Aradia knew she was special, but didn’t know why.  She has no clue that she’s a witch, and it takes them moving to a town of other ‘hidden’ beings to figure out what she is.  The story had a nice flow and kept me interested and wanting to go back for more.

However, Aradia did get on my nerves.  Her sense of humor was pretty dry, and I kind of felt embarrassed for her on occasion when she tried to be funny.  She felt a little immature as well, but it is a young adult book and she is a young adult.  So it was just her personality, and that’s fine, she just got on my nerves a bit.

It wasn’t just Aradia who got under my skin; it was her friend Roy too.  I just wish he had more self-confidence; the lack of it was unappealing.  But again, they are young characters.  I’m hoping that he’ll gain some confidence through the series.

Another little thing that stuck out to me was the mentioning of CVS.  This was when Aradia had just moved to Salem, Massachusetts and she was talking to a student at her school.  She was telling him to pick up some medicine.

“Pick some up on the way home.  It’s easy to find.  They’ll have it at CVS.”

“What’s CVS?”

“Oh, right.  Um, Walgreens?  Any drug store (—)”  (location 31 on Kindle)

Again, this does not affect my rating; I’m just throwing it out there.  I’m from the area, and I promise, we know what CVS is (and Walgreens too).  Lol.

Besides Miss Aradia not being my favorite person, she did grow on me, and I did enjoy the story.  All in all, a good young adult book and I recommend it.

 

My Rating:  3 1/2 out of 5 stars

 

~Pam

 

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.*****     

The Tower (Deck of Lies #2) Review

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Title:  The Tower (Deck of Lies #2)

Author:  Jade Varden

Published:  2012 by Jade Varden

Genre:  Young Adult

Purchase The Tower from Amazon

 

 

 

This is the second book in a series, and the story continues right away.  Who killed Laurel?  River is still the prime suspect and Rain still believes he is innocent.  She decides that since most others are out for his blood, she’ll have to be the one to prove his innocence.  On Rain’s quest for clues the police take interest in her.  They think that she might have been involved in Laurel’s death.  That she might have been an accomplice to River.  Rain’s flabbergasted and scared, but she doesn’t let it stop her from moving forward to try to find the real murderer.  But in her pursuit she finds more than she’s looking for.  Maybe she would have been better off in the dark….

As I mentioned this is the second book in a series; I definitely wouldn’t recommend reading it as a standalone.  (But the first one is really good, so go read it!)  The story picks up right where it left off.  I was hoping for more Rain and River interaction, but he was jail.  Also, Rain’s father was his lawyer, so her going to see him was out of the question.

There were a lot of names and family history going on in this book, and I had to keep backtracking and thinking about who was who.  I probably just should have written it down, but that was something that I didn’t really like in the book.  I like to read to enjoy, not think too much about what it is that I’m reading.  You know?

A lot more facts about Rain’s life were revealed, and we were left with another cliffhanger!  I did really enjoy the story though, and I’m looking forward to the next one in the series.

 

My Rating:  3 1/2 out of 5 stars

~Pam

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.*****