Review: Long Way Home

Long Way Home by Katie McGarry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am so glad I finally got my hands on this book! I completely fell in love with this series - especially with the tag line of "West Side Story meets Sons of Anarchy". I mean, who wouldn't love that?! (Okay, some people wouldn't love it, but I'm not one of those people!)

The first two novels of this series were amazing and this new novel did NOT disappoint by the end of it!

The way this novel started off was SO INTENSE!!! Having Violet and Chevy get kidnapped by the Riot Motorcycle Club and being abused was not how I saw this book starting, but it definitely but a different, darker setting to the book than the other two started off with. I mean, all of them were a bit dark because it is about a motorcycle club rivalry, so it is going to get dark and intense. But Violet started off for the first two chapters being this tough girl and then she went quiet. I missed her spitfire attitude, but it definitely showed how much that interaction affected her mentally.

I love, love, love Violet. She was raised by a motorcycle club with all sorts of badass guys and her daddy taught her to stand up for herself. So of course, she did just that, but she's been having a lot of issues taking orders from the club. I mean, she was raised not to take any orders, so I'm surprised that the group is trying to treat her like any of the other women in the group. She is strong willed and knows what she wants, no matter what anyone else thinks.

And Chevy is so conflicted about everything. About life: whether he should join the motorcycle club when he turns 18 or if he should continue to play football. If he should pick Violet over the club. Really, if he should pick the club is the main inner struggle he has throughout this whole novel. But Chevy is loyal to everyone and is always trying to figure out the right thing to do to make everyone happy.

I also really loved the ending to this book. It wrapped up every issue that the previous books had, and this one, into one swoop and wrapped up a lot of issues that were left unresolved - just a teeny tiny bit - from the other novels.

AND O.M.G. THE TIE-IN WITH PUSHING THE LIMITS SERIES!!!!! I admit, I didn't see that coming AT. ALL. But I love it so, so, so, so much!

This was seriously a great way to end a series and have all of the happy feels come at the end. Sometimes it is a bittersweet moment to finish a series, but I really think that this was the best ending I have ever read. I am absolutely happy with everything and not one thing is bugging me about this ending.

I honestly hope that Katie McGarry won't write another book in this series, and I don't say that EVER because I always want more. But I feel such a happiness inside of me after finishing this, that I would be scared to read another novel after this one with the risk of something being unresolved with the new continuation.

So, yes, I am going to make everyone I know read this series and hope that everyone loves it as much as I did :D

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Review: The End of Our Story

The End of Our Story by Meg Haston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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

Bridge and Wil became instant friends the first day that Bridget started at her new school in Florida. Once Wil started talking to her and invited her over, they were inseparable after that. They went from best friends to boyfriend and girlfriend, and life was good. But at the end of junior year in high school, everything fell apart. Now, Wil and Bridge don't even talk to each other. They ignore one another in the halls and know nothing about each other's lives for the past year.

All of that changes, though, when Wil's father dies. Bridge thought of Wil's father as her own, so she went to him for moral support and to be there for him. One thing lead to another and they ended up dated again. But things are not as they once were, and Bridge needs to find out what has changed.

This was an intense story! I found out what happened way before the reveal, but the way the author wrote this book made me second guessing until the end. Wil's perspective was moving from the past to the present and Bridge's viewpoint was pretty much what was happening present day. I thought that this was a very well written book and I definitely loved the story.

Bridge is a work in progress. She did some bad shit and has since made up for it. She doesn't want to ruin her chance of getting into a great college and getting to leave to a bigger place than the FL town she's grown up in.

And Wil loves to build things and just wants life to stay the way it is. He knows what he wants and he's a very mature guy for his age. He even mentioned that he couldn't wait to be a grown up. Many of his friends agreed saying that they can't wait for college parties, but he meant that he couldn't wait to be in his 30's or 40's.

Both of these characters are so mature and well behaved - I loved them so much!

But that ending... Meg Haston left it wide open about what happened and I NEED CLOSURE!!! What happened?!?! Why can't I have answers?? Will she write another novel? It is always going to be this ending? Because it's seriously killing me not knowing. I guess I have to make my own story about what could happen, but I don't want to guess!

Gah, okay, besides this ending, I really enjoyed this novel and I am very glad that I got to read this free eARC. I will definitely be looking out for a sequel (ehem...) and more from this author in the future!

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Review: If I Fix You

If I Fix You by Abigail Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

The synopsis of this book intrigued to me to no end when I first read it, so I was very excited to get a copy to read and find out if the book was just as good as the summary. And it definitely was! I really enjoyed this book and flew through it once I started reading.

Jill has been having the worst summer of her life and she doesn't even know how to deal with anything going on. Her mother left Jill and her dad, things are in a very tense place with her best friend Sean, and she has to get up at the butt crack of dawn before the sun comes out to run with her friend Clare for cross country. Then she gets to enjoy life for a little bit to go work at her father's auto shop and fix cars - which is Jill's true passion.

When Jill gets a new neighbor, mysterious and gloomy Daniel, she thinks things might become more interesting. Especially since the first night she notices them in the house, it seems like his home life might be very similar to hers when his mother is screaming and yelling at him. Living her whole life with her mom and dad fighting and arguing in the house, Jill can understand how he might be feeling right now.

Because even though Jill is mad that her mom left, she is also upset about the REAL reason that she left and Jill can't forget the scorching scene she saw when she walked into the house the day before her mom left. Jill can't forgive her mom for destroying her family and her sense of what is right and wrong in her life.

So with Daniel, she can confide in him and tell him the whole truth of what happened. And she starts to really see Daniel for who he is. She tries to fix his crappy life that he was delt.

But in the end, Jill realizes that she can't help Daniel until she can help herself, and the only way to do that is to confront the two people who betrayed her trust the most.

This was a fantastic novel! I love Jill and I feel so much for her during this terrible summer she is going through. I couldn't even imagine how she is feeling. It must be very emotional for her. I loved that she was a tomboy and loves to work on cars! And that she is actually employed to work on cars and that she's not just "tinkering" or "playing" with them - she really knows what she is doing at age 16!

I'm so glad that I got to read this and I am definitely going to keep my eye out for more books by Abigail Johnson in the future!

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Review: Pretty Fierce

Pretty Fierce by Kieran Scott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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

When I saw this book was available to read early, I fell in love with the synopsis and instantly downloaded the copy onto my Kindle. I was really excited to read about a daughter of two assassins because I was like, "She must be a badass!"

And Kaia is a badass for the majority of the book. She didn't blink when she found the hitman in her house and she didn't think twice about torturing him to find out why he was in her living room. Only when her very normal boyfriend Oliver walks in does she blink because now her two very opposite worlds are colliding and she's not sure how to fix it.

I liked how this novel did flash backs to Kaia's worst memory, making the story whole by the time the reader gets to the very end of the novel. The last time Kaia was on a hit mission with her parents was the last time she saw her parents. After that, she had to live with friends of her parents and have a normal life. Like going to high school. It was what Kaia wanted, but she wanted it with her parents with her.

The suspense and being with Kaia when she was trying to figure out why all of these different ethnicity of people are after her was very suspenseful and it was nice to learn with Kaia. There were a lot of surprises that happen throughout the novel that kept me interested in this book.

And the best part? It's a standalone! No sequel to pine over!

Also, even Oliver has some secrets under his belt that makes for a shocking surprise at the end of the novel!

Overall, I was very happy with this book and I'm glad that I got to read it early! I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more by this author!

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Review: Defending Taylor

Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

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

I have loved this series since the beginning and was very excited to get this copy free to continuing with the series.

I do have to say, though, that I was not impressed with this particular book of the series. I didn't like Taylor that much and the way she just assumed things would work out for her really annoyed me. She knew her dad had a lot of power as the Senator and thought that she could use that power for her own good, when it really backfired in her face.

Another thing that I don't really like is when kids decide to do something to try to make everyone else in their life happy except for their own selves. Taylor was going to apply for college at a college she didn't really want to go to and major in a subject she absolutely hates just because she thought her family wanted her to do that. To have that pressure on one person is terrible and makes for a stressful life.

And the worst part is that Taylor next talked to her family about this struggle she was having, but just kept making assumptions of what was expected of her. I am the type of person that if something is bothering me, I will go to the source to get answers and talk through things. Life is too short to be wasting it on "what-if's" and "maybes". Do what you want to do and be happy, no matter if it upsets someone else.

There wasn't a whole lot about soccer in this novel, and the thing I love about Miranda Kenneally's novels is the sport aspect of the story. All of the other novels stuck with the sport related issues, but this novel was not focused on soccer like I thought it should be. I know there were more pressing issues at hand, but I still think it should have had a bit more overall.

So I thought this book was okay. It is definitely my least favorite out of the series, but I'm glad that I got a chance to read it and conclude the series (so far? I'm not sure if there are any more?)

I'll definitely be on the lookout for more novels by Miranda Kenneally!

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Review: Coming Up for Air

Coming Up for Air by Miranda Kenneally
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

I am so happy that I was granted access to read this book early! Ever since I picked up Catching Jordan, I have loved this series so much and I love reading about all of the different sports. This one, being swimming, was no exception.

I am not a swimmer - can't even FLOAT - but reading Maggie's love for it made me excited for her (even though swimming terrifies me!). That is how I know that Miranda Kenneally is an amazing writer - she makes me want to join Maggie in on swimming even though I'd die if I got in a pool. But I am an athlete, so I get Maggie's dedication to do the best she can in her sport and to always try to beat herself.

Also, Maggie competing for the Olympics in swimming while she is in high school? Just craziness! I couldn't even imagine being that good that I could advance to the Olympics, so I was most definitely rooting for her the whole time.

I love Maggie's tradition of meeting with her friends every Friday night to make sure they see each other with their busy schedules. That shows how close they are. They are so busy in high school between swimming, cheerleading and baseball that they schedule a time for each other. I know they were worried that they would grow apart when they all went their own ways after they graduate, but if they are that determined in high school, they are going to be best friends for life and always find time for one another.

Maggie's proposition to Levi is hilarious. I think it was an excuse to hook up with him because she's secretly wanted to for awhile, but of course since we are reading from her perspective, we find out that's not the case. But it was obvious to everyone that they were meant to be with each other so no one was really surprised when the cat got out of the bag.

I seriously loved this so much. I need to read the previous book in the series (I realized I haven't yet! Yikes!), but this was an amazing ending to the Hundred Oaks series. The way it ended signified that it would be the last book? Am I the only one that got that feeling? If it is, it was amazing. If it wasn't, then I am of course excited for more. Either way, this could not have been a more perfect book and I am so glad that I was able to read it early!

I will definitely be recommending this to fans of Miranda Kenneally or fans of sports/romantic novels!

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