Review: Absinthe of the Heart by Monica James

Absinthe of the Heart by Monica James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this eARC novel from the author. This is my honest review.
Release Date: April 3, 2018

London Sinclaire and Holland Brooks are sworn enemies. Not because of anything they did, but because their mothers were best friends, before a terrible betrayal happened between them 17 years ago.

Now, Holland is focused on getting a scholarship to be a lawyer and get out of her judgmental town. And to escape the tortures that London, or "Sin" as he likes to call himself, has been giving her since they were 5 years old.

But when Holland get in trouble, Sin unexpectedly helps her get out of it. Something she never would have expected. And because of that one event, Holland finds herself in a situation where she still hates Sin, but now she wonders who he really is deep down..

Throughout their whole lives, Holland and London have been intertwined in each other lives, but they don't really how deep that goes until everything comes spiraling down around them through their history.

O.M.G...!!!! I just....this was not what I was expecting! I loved it!

I loved the angst and the banter and the sexual tension and the hatred all rolled into one. A few times, I thought it was a bit much, but then the story took a turn 180 degrees and then I was immediately hooked once again. It was a roller coaster ride following Holland and London's story, and I loved every minute of it!

I was a bit confused at first, because this story actually starts with their mothers story and how things got so terrible for them. I had to keep reading the synopsis and figure out who this story was about because it wasn't matching up with the characters, but once I got to the meat of the story, I was so very grateful for having that back story to remember and know exactly how things went down to create this mess of a life that Holland and London are now living.

And let me tell you right now, there is a cliffhanger ending. I hate cliffhangers, so I was a bit upset by this reveal. I guess I didn't realize this was a series, and then to have that ending, it was a bit of a bittersweet ending. Lets just say that I got this as an eARC and now I have to wait EVEN LONGER than normal... sigh...

It's okay though. I may need that long of a time to recovery from this amazing story, and it will give me a reason to re-read this novel again and go through all of the events that Holland lives through.

And I am so glad that my life was much more simpler than hers is...

I am so grateful that I got this eARC and I will definitely be pushing this book when it's released!

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Review: Bad Boy Brody by Tijan

Bad Boy Brody by Tijan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this eARC novel from the author. This is my honest review.
Expected release date: May 7, 2018

After Brody's brother dies in a car accident, Brody goes of into the deep end. He hides his depression through alcohol and sex, and he has gotten the nickname, Bad Boy Brody, for his new behavior.

To straighten out his reputation and get him on the right track for his acting career, he decides to do a film out in Montana about a true story...in the middle of nowhere. Montana is not the place Brody really wants to be, but it will stick it out until the movie is wrapped up.

But when Brody hears about Morgan - the girl who lives with the wild mustangs - and sees her a few times, his life is about to change. Because not only is this movie about her family and her life, but she is the most magnificent person he has ever seen. Brody is enamored by her and is constantly thinking about her.

Morgan is more horse than woman nowadays. She would stay with the mustangs 24/7 if she didn't need food and clothing. And if the weather would stay nice all year round. But when everyone starts showing up for the movie, she finds herself curious about the main star. Usually, Morgan would avoid all contact with people, but she is now getting near the house to talk to Brody.

There is a connection between the two of them that they just can't ignore.

The more they are together, the more they want to know more about each other. But Brody and Morgan live two very separate lives from one another. Lives that don't really work to have a future together.

And with Morgan's past being brought back to the present because of the movie, the more the world wants to know more about this mystery girl.

Their worlds are about the collide, and collapse when dark secrets come to life.

This was a really great book! I think I must have signed up for it before, and I just forgot, because I was pleasantly surprised to find this in my Amazon and email account! I will say, I'm not a huge fan of the cover or the title, honestly, but I do love a story about horses and mystery, so I was still glad to dive right in when I got it on my kindle!

Brody and Morgan both have their dark past that they are trying to hide from, and they do it very differently from one another. I loved reading about Morgan connecting to Shiloh and Shoal in a connection that only very few people feel with horses. I have not had the pleasure, but I do think that that bond is a vital thing to hold on to for as long as a person can.

The instant connection between Morgan and Brody was a bit cliched for me, but I thought that the scenes with the two of them were very on fire! They got each other on a level that no one else around them understood, and I appreciated that even though they were two opposite people.

I'm very glad that I got a chance to read this eARC and I am definitely going to make it a bigger priority to read more of Tijan's books! I have a few that I've been burying in my kindle, so I need to find them and start reading them because I'm always hearing great things about them!

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Review: Aftermath by Sandy Goldsworthy

Aftermath by Sandy Goldsworthy
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

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

I was really excited for this novel because the synopsis sounded amazing, but I was a bit disappointed overall. I just couldn't connect with Emma and Lucas, and the story was very slow for me. I'm sure the second book would be a faster paced book, but I just wasn't a huge fan of this book, sadly.

However, it was an original book that is unlike other books I've read - which is great because a lot of YA books are becoming very similar lately.

I am sure that other readers will enjoy this book a lot, but it just wasn't for me right now, sadly. Maybe I will try it again later to see if I connect to it better than now.

I am very glad that I got an eARC of this novel, though!

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Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

On the island of Neverland - an island that is not that easy to find - the islanders live a different life than most. They don't age the same, they have simplistic rules, and they like their way of living.

When their lives get threatened by change, the villagers get very nervous and defensive. When Tiger Lily was first brought into the village, the people were uneasy with this different tradition. And even when Tiger Lily grew up, she was an odd little duckling - never wanting to do anything that the other women do, who can out hunt all of the men in the village, and is always roaming the forest that is dangerous and forbidden.

Tiger Lily got into too much trouble in one time, and now she is being forced to do something she doesn't want to do, but will because her father, Tik Tok, expects her to follow the tribes rules. So then Tiger Lily decides to go into the forest over and over, to see her new friends: Peter and the Lost Boys who are feared by her tribe. But they are just boys and Tiger Lily likes to hangout with them.

But her two lives are pulling her into two separate directions, and she needs to decide which one she will end up keeping in the end. When everything starts to fall apart around her, Tiger Lily needs to make a decision - one that might destroy everything she cares about...

This was a great book! I know the Peter Pan story, but I'm not a know it all about the story, so it was nice to get a different look at a substory of this fan favorite. I loved that it was through Tink's viewpoint - especially considering she can't speak but she can see and feel what everyone else was feeling.

Tiger Lily is my girl. Seriously. She is a bada$$, no drama, simple girl who only wants to live day to day. She is a girl of little words, and she doesn't show much emotion, because she doesn't want to be weak in any way. She is a survivor, and I respect that. When she starts hanging out with the Lost Boys, she starts to act like a girl - like her age - for once and let her guard down a little bit. That is her world, but she has responsibilities and duties in her village that she can't forget about.

The story with Hook and Peter and Wendy was a great twist and turn event. It was nice to see a different version of the popular story.

I'm very glad that I got a chance to read this book, and I definitely won't forget the very tragic and dark ending to this novel. It will definitely stick with me next time I watch Peter Pan in my future!

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Review: The Fragile Ordinary by Samantha Young

The Fragile Ordinary by Samantha Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.
Release date: June 26, 2018

Comet is a shy bookworm who has 2 friends, and is only trying to survive high school so she can become the person she is meant to be forever in college. High school Comet is not the Comet she wants to be, because she is shy, bullied, and invisible, all at the same time. Only her two friends keep her company - and that is becoming strained since all Comet wants to do is go home and get lost in her books.

When a new American comes to her school, she is shocked at how attracted she is to him. Tobias is so much like her book boyfriends in her books, that she is stunned when she sees him for the first time. But the more she has classes with him, the more she realizes that he is a jerk, and not at all like her book boyfriends.

When they get paired up together in their English class, Comet realizes that she may have judged him wrong too quickly. Sure, he's a jerk, but there is a history there that Tobias is trying to hide from and disappear from, so he is being a completely different guy than who he really is.

After more and more time spending together, Comet and Tobias realize that they are GOOD for each other. Comet is making Tobias realize that he doesn't have to hide his true self, and that being real is okay for him. And Tobias is helping Comet get out of her shell and live her life, rather than live multiple lives through her characters. In fact, Comet goes a few DAYS without reading, when she would always constantly have her nose in a book.

Just when things were becoming amazing for the two of them, they received devastating news that destroys them - not only doubting their own selves, but also blaming the other person.

Their days of being a new, improved person might be over before it even began, because as much as Comet didn't want to be like her parents and be dependent on one another, she has realized that she may only be this outspoken, brave person when Tobias was in her life...

This book is about every girl who fan girls over fictional worlds and characters created by authors! Samantha Young was able to get every detail of Comet down to explain to "non-readers" why a person would spend the majority of their day with their nose in a book. I know it certainly explained me pretty well!

Though I do have to say that I don't have Comet's parents issues in my life, thank goodness. I couldn't imagine my parents ignoring me and not caring about me, but would rather be wrapped up into each other so much that there wasn't enough room to let me into their lives and their love. That was so sad to read, because I know that there are parents out there like that, and no one should have to grow up in that environment. I'm very glad that Comet came out of her shell enough to finally tell them how she felt about her home life.

And the storybook love between Comet and Tobias? Classic. It was so swoon worthy when they finally realized that they both liked each other and not other people, and the way Tobias took charge when he needed to was amazing. Comet was getting her very own book boyfriend in real life, but also realizing that this can happen to her without having to read a book to get those feelings.

This was a great novel and I am so glad that I got a chance to read an eARC of it beforehand!

I am pretty sure that a lot of readers are going to be able to relate to this novel and they are going to swoon with Comet. It might also give readers hope that it CAN and WILL happen to them one day, and until then, reading books to get that feeling is an okay buffer :)

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