Tuesday, February 24, 2015

REVIEW: After Ever Happy (After #4) by Anna Todd

It’s never been all rainbows and sunshine for Tessa and Hardin, but each new challenge they’ve faced has only made their passionate bond stronger and stronger. But when a revelation about the past shakes Hardin’s inpenetrable façade to the core—and then Tessa suffers a tragedy—will they stick together again, or be torn apart?

As the shocking truth about each of their families emerges, it’s clear the two lovers are not so different from each other. Tessa is no longer the sweet, simple, good girl she was when she met Hardin—any more than he is the cruel, moody boy she fell so hard for. Tessa understands all the troubling emotions brewing beneath Hardin’s exterior, and she knows she’s the only one who can calm him when he erupts. He needs her. 

But the more layers of his past come to light, the darker he grows, and the harder he pushes Tessa—and everyone else in his life—away. Tessa’s not sure if she really can save him—not without sacrificing herself. She refuses to go down without a fight. But who is she fighting for—Hardin or herself?





My Thoughts:

When you love people, you don't let them destroy you along with themselves, you don't allow them to drag you through the mud. You try to help them, try to save them, but the moment that your love is one sided or selfish, if you keep trying, you are a fool.

So, here we are at the end. What a ride it's been!! A journey of emotions for me. So many emotions. I've only just now turned the last page and already I'm feeling a little melancholy. I'm gonna miss these guys!! 

When I neared the end of After We Fell, I was so happy and satisfied with Hardin and Tessa and the progression they'd made. Hardin had grown and changed so much. I loved him and his determination to be a better person. But then we had that huge bombshell dropped into Hardin's lap and I just knew that things were about to get a whole lot of crazy. If there's one thing that Hardin's an expert at it's self destructing and sabotaging the good in his life. And man, doesn't he do it good this time around!! I really wanted to throttle him. He was at his very self loathing, destructive best.

It's impossible to change people who have their mind set on who they are. You can't support them enough to make for their low expectations, and you can't love them enough to make up for the hate they feel for themselves.

Tessa still managed to frustrate me at almost every turn. There were times when her decision making left me scratching my head. Even up until about eighty percent through the book I wanted to curse at her. But after the events that go down in London, does she deserve the way Hardin treats her? Hell no!!! Sometimes despite loving someone so completely, we get to the point where we say enough's enough. Your heart and your soul can only take so much pain and hurt.

I'm nothing! I'm a fucked-up piece of shit with fucked-up parents and a fucked-up head.

Hardin Scott. Where do I start with him. Frustrating, infuriating, maddening, exasperating... But boy, I love the guy with everything that I have. I cannot express my love for him adequately. I seriously didn't think it was possible to fall in love with him more than I already was, but as I was getting towards the end of After Ever Happy, my heart was so full of him. It was fit to burst. The growth of this man was phenomenal. He is loving, patient, caring and considerate, all while maintaining that Hardin edge. And gosh do I love his dirty words!!!

I have to say that I hadn't cried a great deal throughout these books. Yes there were moments when a got a bit teary, but there was always a million other emotions going on at the same time. But reading the epilogue took me forever. I cried so damn hard!! Happy tears, sad tears, frustrated tears, angry tears. I cried them all. And even now just thinking about it I'm getting a bit emotional.

No two relationships are the same. We can't tell the heart who to love and who not to love. It has a mind of its own. We love who we love and that is that. Relationships and love come in all forms. And even though Tessa and Hardin's relationship was at times volatile and destructive, their love was a constant. Even through all the bad, and there was lots, I never doubted that love. When they were on, it was a beautiful thing to read. 

I'm so grateful to Anna Todd for giving me all the Hessa feels. Thank you for the 2587 pages of insane angst and emotional turmoil. But above all, thank you for giving us, the reader, the chance to take the journey of love with Hardin and Tessa.  

Whatever the hell our souls are made of, they are the same.

5/5 All The Feels Stars!!

A huge thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia for providing me with a review copy. 

Monday, February 16, 2015

RELEASE DAY BLITZ - EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: The Return by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Return Release Week Blitz banner

We have been dying to bring you the Release Blitz for Jennifer L. Armentrout's THE RETURN! THE RETURN is a New Adult Paranormal Romance and is a part of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Titan Series. Seth is looking to be just as dangerously delicious as we all hoped!!

  The Return - Cover

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THE RETURN Excerpt: 

I was a half-blood, but I was also the Apollyon, a child of a pure and a half, a union that had been forbidden for thousands of years because an Apollyon was more powerful than any pure or half could ever hope to be.
And I always got to the traitors’ hideouts before they did, so the Sentinels were usually left with the cleanup, which I was sure absolutely thrilled them.
The first to enter was a female half-blood dressed just as I was. Her black hair was pulled back in a neat little knot at the top of her head. She was older, probably in her mid-thirties. It was pretty rare for a Sentinel to live that long. Her dark skin paled as she stopped just inside the entrance. She clenched titanium daggers in her hands like she expected something vicious to pop out from under the bloody mess.
The female Sentinel tipped her chin up, and the overhead light sliced across her broad cheekbones. She bore a jagged scar under her right eye, the skin lighter in tone. She saw me and froze.
My smile widened.
Behind her, another Sentinel rushed in, almost mowing her over. He saw me and whispered, “Seth.”
He’d said my name like I was the monster under his bed, and I sort of liked that. Then another Sentinel and another rolled in. The fifth took one look at my interior design work and keeled over. Slamming his hands on his knees, he hurled up his dinner.
Nice.
Our society existed completely unknown to the average mortal and had operated under what was known as the Breed Order for thousands of years. The Order had been dismantled, which meant halfs were no longer forced to choose between becoming Sentinels—hunting down violent creatures, protecting pures, enforcing laws, and otherwise usually dying pretty damn quickly on the job—or servants, which was a job that really wasn’t a job, but more like slavery. Since then, many pampered pures had signed on to be Sentinels, making up for the loss of the halfs who’d pretty much said “screw this shit, I’m out.”
This wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
For example, the dumbass puking all over my blood-covered floor was a pure. When he straightened, his face a greenish hue, he backed away, shaking his head. “I can’t,” he gasped out. “I can’t do this.”
Then he turned and hauled ass out the doors.I sighed. This was why we couldn’t have nice things.
  THE RETURN Synopsis: 

The Fates are cackling their bony asses off... 

It's been a year since Seth made the deal with the gods that pledged his life to them. And so far, the jobs they've given him have been violent and bloody--which is kind of all right with him. But now Apollo has something else in mind for Seth. He's got to play protector while keeping his hands and fingers off, and for someone who really has a problem with restraint, this new assignment might be the most challenging yet. 

Josie has no idea what this crazy hot guy's deal might be, but it's a good bet that his arrival means the new life she started after leaving home is about to be thrown into an Olympian-sized blender turned up to puree. Either Josie is going insane or a nightmare straight out of ancient myth is gunning for her. 

But it might be the unlikely attraction simmering between her and the golden-eyed, secret-keeping Seth that may prove to be the most dangerous thing of all. 

Because history has once again been flipped to repeat.


Author Photo
About Jennifer L. Armentrout: 
# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.  


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Thursday, February 5, 2015

BLOG TOUR - AUTHOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Eleven Weeks (Crazy in Love #2) by Lauren K. McKellar


Eleven Weeks (Crazy in Love #2)
Release Date: 01/2015

Summary from Goodreads:
Seven shots

Five siblings

Two boys

One heartbeat …

***
Stacey is good at pretending.

She pretends that the boy she's in love with doesn't exist.

She pretends that she's happy to live and die in this small town.

She pretends that her life is carefree while her best friend's life crumbles before her very eyes.

But Stacey's got a secret ...

And it's going to ruin everything,



Buy Links: 


About the Crazy in Love series
The Crazy in Love series consists of three titles: The Problem With Crazy, Eleven Weeks and The Problem With Heartache.

Links to Book One – The Problem With Crazy:



About the Author
Lauren K. McKellar is an author and editor. Her debut novel, Finding Home, was released through Escape Publishing on October 1, 2013, and her second release, NA Contemporary Romance The Problem With Crazy, is self-published, and is available now. She loves books that evoke emotion, and hope hers make you feel.
Lauren lives by the beach in Australia with her husband and their two dogs. Most of the time, all three of them are well behaved.

Author Links:


Author Interview:

Where did you come up with the inspiration for Eleven Weeks?
The idea for Eleven Weeks was sort of twofold, I guess. First, I’d decided I wanted to do a novella to make the Crazy in Love series a three-book experience. My good friend and writerly co-conspirator Stacey Nash (also an author, of a whole heap of talent) suggested I write about Stacey and Michael.
At first, I was hesitant. A few people had noted that they found the character of Stacey (the best friend of my protagonist, Kate, in The Problem With Crazy) to be a little unlikeable, but then it gave me the best plan ever. I could use this to show why at times she was a little distant or hostile. This could be Stacey’s redemption!
I believe a lot of things happen to make us the way we are, and hopefully this gives people some insight as to why Stacey wasn’t always there for Kate in book one of the series.

Who is your writing hero?
If I could be any author, it would be hands down Colleen Hoover. I adore her work, and I love her style – for me, writing is all about producing books that make people feel, and that’s what her titles always do to me, by the bucket-load! I don’t want to be the next Proust or Malouf – I just want to offer people escapism and connect with them emotionally. If I can come even halfway close to that, I’ll be stoked.

What’s next for the Crazy in Love series?
Well, book three, The Problem With Heartache, is out February 26, and will see Kate do a little bit of a road trip as she travels to America with a massive rock ‘n’ roll band. It’s a dual POV book, which was a really fun challenge for me, as I’ve never written from a masculine perspective before. It was super fun.

Fast five:
Beer or wine: Wine.
MC or paranormal: Oh, tough one! Most likely MC, but I do love me some good paranormal reads!
Indie or traditional: I’m hybrid published, so I’d say both!
Chocolate or candy: Chocolate … but right now I’m on a health kick, so please don’t tempt me!
Rock or pop: Bit of both please. There’s no reason I can’t have a side of Taylor Swift with my alternate music!


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