Sunday, December 31, 2017

Review: Reawakened (Havenwood Falls HIGH #2) by Morgan Wylie

Reawakened Reawakened by Morgan Wylie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this eARC novel from Red Coat Publishing. This is my honest review.

Living in Havenwood Falls is an okay place, but for Macy, she feels a bit trapped. Not being able to leave her town for more than a month without losing her memory of everyone and everything from Havenwood Falls is killing her a little bit. Macy wants to travel and explore. And then with the pressure of having to make a huge decision on her 18th birthday in about a month is really stressing her out.

Thankfully she has an awesome boyfriend, a best friend, and pretty much enough support from her parents and family.

But when Macy's witch hunter effects come to light earlier than expected and she almost attacks her boyfriend, who ironically is a witch, Macy freaks out. She just needs a few days alone, exploring, before she makes one of the biggest decisions of her life.

So she leaves. She goes down the mountain and sees what is it like outside of Havenwood Falls.

Then she meets extended family who thrives on their witch hunter intuition, and they give her another choice: to stay with them and hunt with them.

Now Macy has to decide what she really wants to do with her life, and she has to make the decision fast because her time away from Havenwood Falls is coming to the 1 month mark, and she is definitely starting to forget a lot about her life at home.

I am really starting to enjoy these books! Macy was a bit too indecisive for me, but man did I love her boyfriend, Gallad. He was a good guy stuck in a bad boy body and he definitely knew how to make Macy swoon - along with me! I actually would have preferred having Gallad in the book more than what he was, but I know it's Macy's story so I can't be picky ;)

I get Macy's inner battle that she is having, and I feel like her mother should have been more supportive and forthcoming with information about Macy's circumstances. But then again, Macy shouldn't have been a stubborn teenager and should have forced her mother to listen to what she was going through at the time.

Overall this was a good book and I'm glad I was able to get a chance to read this book! I'm looking forward to more in this series!

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Saturday, December 30, 2017

Review: Save the Date by Morgan Matson

Save the Date Save the Date by Morgan Matson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this free eARC novel from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Charlie, being the youngest of her 4 siblings, is so excited for her older sister's wedding because that means she gets to see EVERYONE in the same house for the first time since forever. And it's a good thing, too, because her parents have just sold their amazing house for something smaller since Charlie is going to college next year.

But the upcoming weekend is going to be busy with no only the wedding but also the interviews the family is doing for their mother's comic strip. Grant Central, one of the most popular comic strip's in the paper, is coming to an end, so everyone wants to interview the family that inspired the cartoon. And because the family in Grant Central had a dog, the media thought it would be a great idea to get a dog as well! During the wedding weekend...

Eventually, everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. The wedding coordinator they hired was a fraud and mixed up their entire planning, so they were getting the wrong decorations and suits 2 days before the wedding. The house's alarm system is going off everytime someone opens the door and needs to be replaced. The circuit breaker broke, so they had no electricity for awhile. Then they needed to find someone to marry them when plans fell through...

Charlie, determined to make this weekend the perfect weekend with her entire family, made it her mission to fix everything before her sister and brother-in-law could find out about it. With the help of the new wedding event planner worker, Bill, she succeeded for the most part.

But when she got some devastating news about her family after everything was done, Charlie realized that life is not perfect, no matter how hard she tries. And she's going to have to find a way to accept that, because everything is about to change starting now.

I have to admit - I haven't read all of Morgan Matson's books. I've been meaning to, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. But I was really excited to get this eARC and decided to just read it now to make sure I got it done, and I loved it!

This book is so exhausting, to be honest. There was so much stuff going on it was chaotic and overwhelming for me as a reader. I kept thinking to myself, "If this is how a wedding can go wrong, getting married in a court house seems like the best plan!". I had to take breaks from this book just to get a breather in and realize that my life is not that crazy.

Charlie lived in a fantasy world for most of her life, it seems like, and this weekend was a wake up call to her. Being the youngest and seeing everyone go off to live their own life was her whole life. For her to realize that not everything is perfect and amazing was a bit of an eye opener for her, but she needed it. It helped her make hard decisions that she was hiding from, and learn to expect the unexpected.

Fans of Morgan Matson will love this new addition to their collection and new readers will love this fun, quirky, and constant moving novel!

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Thursday, December 14, 2017

Review: Ink & Fire (Havenwood Falls # 7) by R. K. Ryals

Ink & Fire: Ink & Fire by R.K. Ryals
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this free eARC novel from Red Coat Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

Harper is cursed. She's been cursed since she was a child and predicted a man's death by writing it down. Harper can't write anything - not even her name - because she gets possessed by a demon and they make her predict the most awful things.

Even with this curse, though, Harper learned how to read and write, even though she doesn't do it as an adult. The people of Havenwood Falls found a way to teach her with her curse, and Harper is thankful for that, even though she desperately wants to be able to go in a bookstore and read as many books as she wants. But audiobooks have done her well so far, she supposes.

Harper is living her own life, though, and she just bought a house! But there was a signature that her aunt forgot to sign on the paperwork, so Harper decided she can sign her own name, surely... Except she doesn't. She's writing a message for a stranger named Lucas Fox and has predicted his death.

Now Harper has the guilt of sentencing ANOTHER man to death. When Lucas shows up, though, she realizes that he's not a normal human, like her first 'victim'. Instead, he is an angel, and he knows exactly what he is capable of against this demon - the demon he sentenced to prison many, many, many years ago.

With the help from the citizens of Havenwood Falls and Lucas, Harper is starting to understand what her power REALLY is and how she can live with it, instead of being afraid of it.

This was a great novel! I felt so, so, so bad for Harper because growing up not being able to read...!! That is literally hell for me as a reader and librarian! That would be a terrible way for me to live, to be honest.

The instant relationship between Harper and Lucas was a bit much, but I'm glad on how it ended because it made it better about what happened between the two of them and more realistic for me, so it turned out okay in the end. Lucas was so cocky, but if you've been living for as long as he has, I'm not surprised, haha!

The progression with Harper's backstory was amazing and I loved being able to get the little pieces to finally understand how she got her power, so that was great. And I'm glad that Harper is more comfortable with her life now. I can see her doing great things in the town of Havenwood Falls!

Can't wait to go back and catch up on this series to learn about other characters!

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Monday, December 11, 2017

Review: Undeniable by Cherie M. Hudson

Undeniable Undeniable by Cherie M. Hudson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Chase has had hearing problems her whole life. She has has 22 years to accept it and move on, because otherwise she would be suffering for no reason. No, Chase has learned to live with her crappy hearing and makes sure that everyone around her understands that she is not disabled - she just works a lot harder to have a conversation sometimes.

After an intense first semester as an art major, Chase decided that academics might not be the right scene for her at the moment, and is now living with her parents and working at a pet store. But, hey, she's cool with that. Life goals, right?

Plus she gets to see her awesome nephew, Tanner, who beat leukemia cancer at age 2 as much as she wants to, and hangs out with her sister, Amanda, and brother-in-law, Branden, as much as is properly allowed.

The only hitch to her life is Caden - Branden's Aussie cousin. The cousin whose bone marrow matched her nephews and who ended up saving his life. The Aussie who saw Chase for the first time and fell in love with her.

Even though Caden is going through intense veterinarian school in Australia, whenever he has a moment free, he flies to the US to "visit his cousin". Well, yeah, he loves hanging out with Branden and Tanner, but the REAL reason? He needs to see Chase as much as he can to try to convince her that she is just as in love with him as he is with her.

The only problem is that Chase is determined to never fall in love again after the last time she made that mistake. Caden is not taking a hint though... and there is only so many times Chase can turn him down with her permanent scowl on her face.

Put in a jealous ex, an injured, homeless dog, and a disapproving father, and Chase is realizing what she really wants in life and now she has to figure out how to make it come true.

This was a typical new adult novel that I've read before, but I certainly had fun with it because of Caden's persistence, goofy attitude and Chase's fight to fend her herself attitude. These two are hilarious and are always butting heads with each other because they are determined to win what they want - which is the completely opposite of one another, by the way.

The story with Doofus the dog is amazing and I would have been happy with just that, to be honest. Gotta love dogs, and ones that fight to survive as well!

I don't know how Chase fought as much as she did against Caden, because you believe me, if an Aussie falls in love with me, I'd be right there professing my undying love back to him! Though I don't think that living in Australia would be in my future...HAVE YOU SEEN THE INSECTS THERE!?! THEY ARE HUGE!!! I can't deal, man, I just cannot deal...

Overall I really enjoyed this story, and I'd be really interested to read the other books in the series to see how the other characters overcame their issues to have their happily ever ending :)

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Sunday, December 10, 2017

Review: Awaken the Soul (Havenwood Falls HIGH #5) by Michele G. Miller

Awaken the Soul Awaken the Soul by Michele G. Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this free eARC novel from Red Coat Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

Breckin is one of the supernaturals in Havenwood Falls - a nephilim. He's just living out the rest of his days as "normal" before he's forced to join his father in the "family business".

But when he sees a fellow classmate get attacked in the woods, he is swayed to help her. Which is not normal, because Breckin is never inclined to help humans. They just exist, and Breckin ignores them, but not with Vivienne.

He saves her from the reaper, Sebastian, by healing her. Technically Breckin shouldn't have interfered with the reaper's job, but there was something about Vivienne that made him want her alive and healthy, so he healed her. Which made Sebastian really mad and on a vendetta to get what he was supposed to have.

And the kicker? Vivienne might not be quite...human... So now Sebastian is after her for a whole nother reason.

But a connection has started between Vivienne and Breckin - something earth shattering, and both are now in over the heads with this new development. Something that may risking their lives for good.

I have just discovered the Havenwood Falls series - both adult and YA - and I am really starting to love them! This one is so far my favorite! I love that we get a second novel about these characters July 2018 - you can bet I'll be getting that in a heartbeat because I loved both Vivienne and Breckin and I want more!

Because these stories are so short, I think having an additional novel for them is good because we get to know the characters a bit better and can really get involved in the storyline that the author is creating.

Vivienne is one fiery girl, and I love her interactions with Breckin when they start to talk to each other. And Breckin is one hot angel - at least in my head ;) But I love the inner struggle that Breckin is having - especially with the choice he is going to have to make in 4 months on his birthday.

I desperately want to figure out what Vivienne is and how it is going to change the dynamics of this novel, because I have a feeling she may be more powerful than Breckin by the end of it, which would be awesome!

So glad I got a chance to read this book and can't wait for the rest in the series that I'm going to catch up on! :)

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Saturday, December 2, 2017

Review: The Last Girl on Earth by Alexandra Blogier

The Last Girl on Earth The Last Girl on Earth by Alexandra Blogier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Li is a human girl. Not a big issue, right, being on Earth and all? Except it is, because when the Abdolrean race came to Earth, they killed all of the humans, making their race extinct. Li was saved by a Abdolrean, one who knew her biological mother and father and swore that he would protect Li and raise her as his own daughter.

So Li has had to learn to survive like an extraterrestrial race - one that dominates humans. She has to be stronger, faster, smarter, and can live among them without anyone suspecting that she is the last of her kind.

With her testing coming up to determine where she is going to be training for the next 7 years, Li is a little bit stressed right now. She definitely doesn't need to be falling for an alien guy, when she has to make sure she can become an officer - which is one of the rarest and hardest job to get.

But Ryn snagged her eye the first time she saw him, and he was definitely interested in Li as well. It was a match made in heaven, but a lot of forces are trying to get in the way of their feelings for each other.

As much as Li is loving her time with Ryn, she does realize that she is risking her life for him, when she needs to focus on her life and career.

Things get extremely worse by the end of her training, and Li is going to have to make some tough decisions to determine what will be her future.

Okay, I would probably have given this book 3 stars, rather than 4, but it has so many negative reviews on Goodreads that I wanted to try to give some positivity about this book for potential future readers.

I enjoyed this book. I didn't think that there was in "instant" love connection between Li and Ryn - it did take a few chapters for them to finally hook up, and that is pretty typical for a YA romance/sci-fi/any genre really. She didn't see him across the room and walk over to make out with him, so it took a little flirting and intense eye contact before they decided to be together.

And since this is a shorter book, it happened "all of the sudden" because of that reason as well, I would guess.

I felt for Li because she was literally the only one of her kind in a place where they loathe her species. So Li had a lot of feelings going on inside of her, and she is also a teenagers, so she's expected to be going through a lot of different emotions.

And to top it off, she has to become another species that is BETTER than her species. If that isn't intimidating, then I don't know what is. In fact, Li is pretty badass when you think about it.

Now, there were some things that I think could have been better in this novel, but overall I liked it a lot.

Though one of the things that really frustrated me was when they mentioned how the Abdolreans thought that humans were violent and mean and deserved to be demolished. And how that made Li feel like they were right when she had to DEFEND HERSELF AGAINST ABUSE!!! Because she was getting attacked, and Li decided to fend for herself, she instantly thought that she was violent because of that action. BUT IT WAS SELF DEFENSE AND THAT IS JUST WRONG!!! WRONG!!!

Okay, that was the part that I was most mad about, but I get it. It was part of the back story, and I'm still getting over it, but it's still not enough for me to be giving this book a low star rating.

I think that will be a lot of readers who will enjoy this book when it gets released in January 2018. I hope others will appreciate the beautiful story that Alexandra Blogier created and how intricate she created all of the different universes.

I would definitely be interested in a sequel to see what else happens to these characters, and I am never hoping for a sequel because that means I will be waiting forever for it.

I really enjoyed this! So glad I got an eARC novel!

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