Review: Moonlight Sins by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Moonlight Sins by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

Julia has decided to start fresh with a new job that takes her away from her family and friends. She's worked in numerous places as a nurse, but this time she will be living in the house where her patient lives, taking care of her basically 24/7 until something changes or there will be a different arrangement.

So traveling to New Orleans is a big step for her. And the night before she leaves, she meets a sexy, attractive, and very intriguding guy: Taylor. Julia decides to let everything go and just have fun for a night - have a one-night stand with a stranger that she will never see again.

Except Taylor left out a few details about himself... including the fact that he is one of her "bosses" in New Orleans, and he knows exactly who Julia is, while she doesn't even know his real name. Lucian de Vincent is one of the richest person in the world, along with his two older brothers Gabriel and Devlin. Their nicknames are Lucifer, Demon and Devil which give an indication at how their personalities are.

Lucian is used to having any girl he wants, whenever he wants, without having to ask. But with Julia, once she realizes who he is and that she will be working for him, is not like any girl he's ever been with. Which makes him want her even more.

There are a lot of mysteries at the house of the de Vincents, including the brothers and the history of their family. Julia is about to get mixed up in the dangers of Lucian's life, but she is also getting mixed up with Lucian, even though she is trying so very hard to stay away.

Soon, though, everything is about to explode, and Julia may be caught in the misfires...

I was so, so, so happy to be able to get this as an eARC!! I loved that it is an adult series - we don't get too many of those from JLA! And it was nice to be able to imagine myself in Julia's shoes and actually be the appropriate age for the hot guy character for once ;)

Julia protects herself so much, that she forgets to live, which is so sad. Her past has jaded her future, and she is just living day to day instead of really enjoying life and everything she can do while she is still young. I'm so glad that she got out there and decided to move and try something new. It was still a pretty secure change, but it was just the start of changing the rest of her life and she definitely needed that change.

Lucian is such a bad boy. But the readers will definitely love that aspect of him (umm, hello? Daemon?). From the very beginning of this book we get a very good look at how naughty and bad he is, but the reader also sees that Lucian is starting to get out of that stage and want something different out of life.

The second he sees Julia, Lucian knows exactly what he wants and he is just persistent enough to keep pursuing it until he gets it.

The mystery aspect of this book was good. Having the family's history as a tie-in was nice and being able to get a lot of backstory was great. I called the person who was pulling the strings for the mysterious things around the house, though I was swayed to think of other characters as the culprit, so it was nice mixture of suspense.

The romance is really the main theme of this book, which I loved so much, but the mystery was a great thing to keep the story going.

I am so excited to read about Gabriel and Devlin's story, who I am assuming that book #2 and #3 will be about since this one was nicely wrapped up. Gabriel is so lovable and Devlin is a bit...intimidating. So it will be interesting what kind of girl they both end up with.

I have a feeling that readers are going to really enjoy this book and will be anticipating the next book in the series as soon as they finish this one!

Loved it! :D

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Review: Airports, Exes, and Other Things I'm Over by Shani Petroff

Airports, Exes, and Other Things I'm Over by Shani Petroff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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

Sari has things going on for her. She just went to an AMAZING concert with her best friend, and then she is going to Florida with her boyfriend for spring break. No parentals, sunshine instead of Manhattan's dreary weather, and sometimes hanging out with her grandma, who she was staying with.

But when Sari shows up to the "party of the year" where her boyfriend is, she finds Zev kissing his ex-girlfriend. Now, things are going dreadfully wrong. She escapes to Florida, hoping that she can get over Zev's betrayal, but nothing seems to be working. Not even the cute boy she saw at the pool, sadly.

Then Sari gets a phone call asking her to perform at a club. She gets to play her guitar and sing her songs in front of hundreds of people! At a very popular club! All she has to do is get home and get ready for her big break, but her parents won't let her come home early, and the day she is scheduled to go back, a huge storm is rampaging through New York, which is delaying flights left and right.

To top it off, she is stuck with Zev bothering the crap out of her and the new, hot guy, Fitz, helping her as much as he can. Sari just wants things to be better, but it seems that there are a lot of forces that are determined to make things worse.

Now on top of Zev's betrayal and whether she wants to forgive him, she has to figure out a plan to get home before her life long dream of being a perform goes up in smoke.

This was a cute little novel. I felt really bad for Sari - she was always getting one type of bad luck following another bout of bad luck. She just really couldn't catch a break, and when she did for a little bit, she didn't really appreciate it until it was gone.

I didn't like the way she acted around Fitz. She was just tagging him along while she was trying to figure out her life, and that wasn't nice at all. I know that's not the way that she saw it, but that was how I was reading it.

I get the no trust with Zev thing, but she was not only give him whiplash with her moods, but me as well. It was hard to keep up with her emotions, but I guess that's what makes this book realistic, because most teenage girls act like this.

Zev was very persistent, and I liked that about him. He was determined not to lose the best thing in his life and kept trying over and over again. Trying even when I would have given up, honestly, haha.

Overall this was a good book. I'm glad I got a chance to read it, and I'm sure many readers out there will really enjoy this story of second chances and life long goals and dreams.

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Review: The Power Club by Greg Gildersleeve

The Power Club by Greg Gildersleeve
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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

Damon lives in the district because he has a supernatural power - he can conjure darkness around himself, making everyone near him blind by the darkness. Everyone who lives in the district has a power, a gift, and they must stay there if they want to keep their power - per the government's rules.

Damon loves his power, and he wants to join a Power Club so he will then be able to use his power in public. Otherwise, he has to not use it, and Damon definitely doesn't want to do that.

When he tries out for a group with Kyle, Danner and Vee, they reject him because his power isn't that cool and not very useful for them. But when Damon gets ganged up by 3 older kids and Damon is the one who wins, they decide he is pretty cool, and he joins their Power Club along with Ali and Denise.

Pretty soon, though, Damon doesn't just want to be a part of the Power Club - he wants to be a hero and save people who are in trouble. But when his group, the government, and the bullies who ganged up on his all try to stop Damon in different ways, Damon has to make sure that he is really doing what he wants, or if it would be too much of a risk overall.

This was such a fast read! Seriously, just a couple of hours and I was done! Whoo! I really enjoyed this story and thought it was a great way to incorporate the idea of wanting to be different and unique, while being surrounded by people who just want to be ordinary and normal.

I got the feeling that there may be another novel coming in the future, the way that Greg Gildersleeve ended this novel, but maybe it was more for the effect of things are going to happen, but you as the reader will have to figure it out in your own imagination. Could be either, but if there is another book, I can definitely see a lot of middle-grade readers very happy about it.

This has a lot of relationship issues that the characters had to work through and they had their own personalities and ambitions in life, so it was nice to see kids so young want something so strong to work toward.

While this is definitely a light read that will keep kids entertained, it has a lot of subtle messages hidden in the text that I feel like parents will really enjoy and would want to read along with their kids.

Very much enjoyed it! :)

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Review: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aza's best friend Daisy hears about a billionaire from their area has gone missing, and Daisy is determined to find out information about him so they can get the $100,000 reward. And since Aza knows the billionaire's son, Davis, Aza is the go to person to start smoozing up to Davis. It also doesn't help that Aza kinda sorta likes Davis, so talking to him after a long time of no talking is a bit stressful for Aza.

And Aza doesn't need any more stress in her life because of her condition that she is in - spiraling from one thought to another to another and another until Aza can't escape from the quicksand that is her own thoughts and mind. But Aza is learning how to cope with it...she thinks...maybe.

Having the mystery of Davis's father is a great distraction, though, even if she is conflicted on how to keep her investigation separate from her feelings for Davis.

The longer Aza keeps her symptons to herself, the more her thoughts are taking over, but Aza is FINE... right? Aza is going to have to figure out what life really means and what she wants from life in order for her to overcome the inner struggles that are fighting their way to the top, before she is too far gone.

I adore John Green. His novels are so inspiring and enjoyable and addicting. This novel was the perfect follow-up novel to The Fault in Our Stars because it is so original and unique and powerful. It is completely different, and yet it is it's own novel that takes the reader away to a whole other side of the word "illness" and makes the reader understand circumstances that they may never have experienced if they never read this book.

The beginning of this book jumps you right into Aza's mind - the spiraling and the vastness where your thoughts can take you to. The never ending spiral that will take you away from society and trap you where no one can reach you.

To make that the first scene for the readers to experience was an amazing idea by John Green. It has the readers instantly understand what Aza goes through and how difficult it is for her, even if it may be hard to explain to the people around her.

There were moments in this novel where I was in Aza's head with her, where I literally felt like I was having those conversations and how I thought it would never end. John Green did an amazing job giving readers an inside look at this mental illness that Aza has, which shows just how much of an amazing writer he is.

All of the characters in this book were partially broken - either with a disease, missing parents, or poverty. These characters are not perfect, even if they are situated in a perfect world. This definitely showed how an everyday, normal person really lives, and how they live day by day.

Aza's friends and family are not perfect, and they make mistakes that hurt others, but the one thing that was very prominent in this book is forgiveness and acceptance, and I love that so much. There is not enough of that in today's world, and to be able to read it in a novel is just amazing for me.

I am so glad that I finally read this book and that I own a signed copy of this book. I definitely won't be forgetting this story any time soon, and I will now be looking forward to John Green's next novel, whenever that may be :)

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Review: The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

The Iron Trial by Holly Black
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Call has grown up learning to hate magic from his father. But because both of his parents were taught to use magic, Call has to go through a series of tests to see if he is going to be trained for the next 5 years. So, naturally, Call is going to fail his test. It shouldn't be too hard, since he is always failing something in life and if there is anything physical ed related, his injured leg with his limp will help him out in that case.

Except Call is failing so terribly, that he actually gets picked by a Master! Call doesn't want to go, but it seems that he doesn't have a choice in the matter and leaves that very day without his father.

Now Call has to try to fail his lessons, so then he might get to go home that way. After being told that won't work - that instead his magic would be bound, locked, and he will always feel like a part of himself is lost - does Call then start to really become serious in learning how to use the elements and be one of the best in his class.

Then dark, hidden secrets start to get unraveled - things that Call would have never dreamed of. With these new revelations, Call has to determine what to do, because a war is abrewing, and it seems that Call might be in the middle of it...

I actually enjoyed this novel a lot! I loved the inner struggle that Call had the entire time. I felt so bad for him being bullied in normal school, and then when his new friends stood up for him in magic school? It seriously made me feel warm and fuzzy to know that he finally belongs somewhere.

I know a lot of readers have said this is a Harry Potter alike novel, and I admit that I can see that, but I don't think that this book is a Harry Potter book. There are so many differences, but if everyone is only going to focus on the similarities, then of course that is all you are going to see. The main difference though? Call doesn't want to be there, and Harry did. That alone tells you that these are two different people and two different stories. For people to base this book and give it a low rating because of a few similarities of a popular series is ridiculous and immature.

I loved the first month of training for Call, Tamara and Aaron. I can just picture the three of them getting so annoyed by having to separate sand into different piles, but I can also see how that is strengthening their magical skills.

The only reason I'm not instantly picking up the next books in the series is because the 5th and final book is not published yet. I'm not going to get so involved and committed to this series, only to have to wait 10 months to read the ending. So I'll probably either re-read the book, or hopefully remember the important parts of this first book, and then dive into the next 4 books of the series to see how it ends. I have a good idea, but I still need to know!

I definitely enjoyed this book and it will be a great series to recommend to readers who have enjoyed Harry Potter and Percy Jackson :)

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Review: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This book...it is so intense.

I'm not doing my typical synopsis of the book, and then my thoughts/comments. This book just needs to be read to be able to understand the depth of the story and to fully understand how raw this book is.

I love Colleen Hoover and everything she has written. And this book? The fact that it was based on aspects of her life and she was brave enough to write about it in a way to make all readers comprehend and completely understand how this event changes everyone's lives - whether it be the people causing the issue or the ones who witnessed it - is so amazing.

I could never in a million years know what Lily was feeling during this novel. I say that I would be the strong one, the one that wouldn't fall into the statistics, but I will never know until I am in that situation - which I hope to Hell that I never am. And for her to go through that feeling twice in her life, through 2 different viewpoints of it? It's so sad and gut wrenching.

Ryle and Atlas are both great guys for completely different reasons. I loved being able to read about Lily and Ryle's relationship as it was happening, and I loved reading Lily and Atlas's relationship through the letters Lily wrote when she was 15-16. Both loves of Lily's life were necessary, even if many would disagree with this sentence. Lily became the great person she did because of these two men that she fell in love with and the experiences she went through with each of them.

I am so, so, so mad that it took me this long to read this book. Seriously, I had no excuse because it's been on my personal bookshelf at my home since the day it was released into the world.

But honestly? I'm glad I decided to wait and really get connected with this book - to really feel what I needed to feel. And waiting a couple of years to ensure that I'm more mature and older, to really understand the consequences of decisions and to better know myself, was worth it. I have never gone through this event - not really - but being able to understand how I would have acted during this helps me feel the raw, bitterness of this story.

If you are like me and have been wanting to read this, but haven't gotten around to it, I would highly recommending opening up the book and start reading. Because it won't take long to get sucked into this story, and then you will be hooked until the very end.

Colleen Hoover is a goddess of writing, and I have 2 more of her novels sitting unread on my shelf that I will find and start reading soon to make up for my stupidness of leaving her books hanging.

Such a great, great novel.

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Review: Forlorn by Gina Detwiler

Forlorn by Gina Detwiler
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

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

Grace has had a lot of bad luck so far in her 17 years, but little does she know that she has a guardian angel who has been saving her over and over. And it all started when she was in a car accident with her parents. Grace was the only survivor, and there was no humanly way she should have survived that accident.

Now, she has just survived another incident when a student comes to school with a gun and starts shooting. Her guardian angel was there with her, but so was Jared - a hot loner who isn't who he seems to be. In fact, he's a Nephilim - a hybrid of human and angel. And ever since he saved Grace's life, she can't stay away from him.

Grace has a way to stop the demons from winning the never-ending war, and she is going to find a way to make it happen and save Jared from being changed by his father. Even though Grace is only human, she has been thrust into the supernatural world throughout her whole life, and now she is going to find a way to save the boy she loves.

This book...wasn't really for me, to be honest. I love a good romance and a good story about fallen angels/supernatural aspects, but I just couldn't connect to this novel. The different point of views was hard to keep track of at the beginning because the reader wasn't introduced very well. Then Grace isn't a really likable character for me. The author didn't really give a lot of emotions when it came to Grace - something for the reader to REALLY feel when it was her point of view. One minute she is hunky dory, curious about Jared, then the next she is madly in love, but doesn't really have the emotional aspect to show us readers.

It was just very distant for me.

And then the angel/Nephilim aspect was a little too teachery for me, and not very well because the narration would go in and out when they were telling the characters about the history.

I don't know...sadly it just didn't keep me as entertained as I would have liked it, and I found a lot of reasons to get distracted from reading, which is never a good sign for me.

I was hoping for something more, but I'm sure that other readers will enjoy this story a lot better than I did when it comes out on the 30th!

I'm very glad that I was able to get an eARC of this book, and I will look into the author to give her other books another chance in the future :)

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