Title : Blue Wide Sky: A Smith Mountain Lake Novel – Book One

Author : Inglath Cooper

Series : N/A

Rating : 5 Stars

Blurb : First love. . . forever love. Sixteen-year old Gabby Hayden wasn’t the kind of girl who gave a hoot about boys. She had a few real loves. Water-skiing, going out on Smith Mountain Lake with her dad and her dog. Anything else ranked a distant second. Until the summer smart, caring, gorgeous Sam Tatum gave her his heart.

It had been the most wonderful time of her life, lazy days hanging out at the dock, skinny-dipping at midnight, staring up at the stars from the back of Sam’s truck. They are planning their future together when Sam’s father is transferred to South Africa. Devastated, Gabby and Sam promise to wait for each other during the two years before he returns for college. But lonely and angry, Sam makes a mistake that will change the course of both their lives.

Years later, an unexpected diagnosis brings Sam home to his parents’ house on Smith Mountain Lake where he believes he can find peace and acceptance. What he finds, however, is the girl he once loved, now a woman unwilling to lose him again, a woman who will make him realize that both love and life are worth fighting for.

Review : If you are searching for a book with a lot feelings and a lot of romance combined with a very deep background-story-this is the book for you! When I have read the blurb, I already had an image in my head including some ideas about what could happen and how the author could have developed the story…. I never expected a story full of “action” – and this is not what you can expect(which I don’t mean in a negative way).

I love Inglath Cooper’s writing style! The way she has chosen her words is beautiful! It’s not over the top, not too cheesy, but also not to objective. In combination with the awesome characters, it was fun to travel through the story of Sam and Gabby. There are not many authors who are able to write a book of such length without adding at the same time not too much and not too less “information” to the story while giving just some tiny hints about something that will happen later. I often have read books with huge plot twists or an “overseized” story which gets squeezed into a book half as long as this one. This was not the case with this one!

> > > I have received this book as an ARC from the publisher. < < < > > > In exchange, I promised an honest review. < < <

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Title : Every Last Word

Author : Tamara Ireland Stone

Series : N/A

Rating : 4 Stars

Blurb :If you could read my mind, you wouldn’t be smiling. Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can’t turn off. Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn’t help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she’d be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam’s weekly visits to her psychiatrist. Caroline introduces Sam to the Poet’s Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more “normal” than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

Review :

With this book it was different. Sam (or Samamtha which depends on the way she is able to deal with her OCD) is such a lovely character- it’s easy to understand her feelings, the toughts that are a constant part of her life. In combination with the description of her surroundings it’s easy to merge into the book (as a reader). The writing style is also good and does not cunfuse with changing point of views (which is often the case when authors try to describe what people with OCD’s experience).

You have to be aware that this is a book which can be also read by young adults. So if you hope for some steamy sex scenes this is not what you get. But look out: you instead get a very sweet love romance which isn’t too cheesy, but also not too “objective”. But at this point, I also want to explain why this book “only” got 4 stars. At some points I wished this book would be a little bit longer. The relationship Aj and Sam have is very sweet but in my opinion it developed a little bit too fast. What I loved about the book even more? The ending! Not only because it was surprising, also because it shows what a great writing style Tamara Ireland Stone has!

> > > I have received this Book as an ARC from the Publisher < < < > > > In Exchange I promised an honest Review < < <

HEA? :

Title : My Clarity

Author : M. Clarke

Series : My Clarity ,#1

Rating : 5 Stars

Blurb : Still reeling from the death of her father, Alexandria hopes to find both independence and reprieve from her grief by heading off to college. However, life throws her a serious curveball when she discovers that her roommate isn’t quite the person she had imagined. Smoking, tattoos, and street racing for fast cash are Elijah’s only interests. A harsh life has made him apathetic and indifferent, until Alexandria enters his life. When their paths cross, turmoil abounds. An inevitable encounter, an undeniable attraction, and an unexpected chance at love—will it be enough?

Review : I have totally no Idea what M. Clarke was thinking about when writing “My Clarity” – even if I really would love to know. But I can tell you what I was thinking when I was reading it. I loved it – From Beginning to End with no “but’s”.

And I believe the Author was trying to personally “kill me softly” I mean all those vivid pictures in my mind about “Grease” ?! I mean PLEASE this is the Grandmother of all music movies – who says he does not like it … should reconsider his taste STRONGLY.

In addition, I was starting to “hum” a song along during reading when I noticed where the journey was going. It was an old song and I did not even know the text anymore – I just remembered the meaning and the feelings I always had when hearing it.

And what shall I say … I was crying UGLY really UGLY tears – while reading along with Alexa a certain letter. I actually wondered so much if the author knew about this song when writing this novel that I wanted to mention it here – so I googled it with what little I remembered about it and I really found it.

(Spoiler Alert : Do not google this song if you do not want to know anything about the story) It is called “Tell Laura I love her” http://www.songtexte.com/songtext/dickey-lee/tell-laura-i-love-her-2bcaf41a.html !

What else should I say … the novel is flawlessly written – The dialogues are perfect and the characters are great. I SO cannot wait to read the next Story I saw there will be coming soon.

> > > I have received this Book as an ARC from the Publisher < < < > > > In Exchange I promised an honest Review < < <

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Title : Heat

Author : Lis Lucassen

Series : N/A

Rating : 5 Stars

Blurb : Under a burning sun more than a thousand miles from home, Lynn Stevens is trying to get her life back on track and leave memories of that one fateful night behind. She meets Dan, a young man with strangely erratic behavior and smoldering brown eyes, who is on an involuntary vacation with his parents. In him, she sees her own struggle reflected every time she is starting to get too close.

Dan doesn’t like being touched. But when he sets out to uncover Lynn’s secret, it means he’ll have to tell her some secrets of his own.

Review : THIS was my fist Dutch based novel (at least as far as I know) and if my knowledge is right it was also the debut novel from this author.

Heat by Lis Lucassen is a wonderful novel about healing and doing “the right thing”. The story is written flawless and fluent (Even if I have to assume it had to be translated – I am always in struggle with translated novels because often you feel that something is not placed right)

Dan and Lynn are two lovable characters that have been written so deep that the reader feels for them during every step of their way. And I loved their witty discussions.

f I was to look for something that I did not like about the story than only one thing comes to my mind. I was wondering all the time during the reading why the author so carefully tried to avoid to give the Island a name ? I would have liked to have a name so I could relate to a certain setting for the surrounding.

I am wondering about one thing …Steve … Somehow it seems he should get his own story.. will he ???

Please let me recommend this wonderful read to everybody that likes deep emotions and great characters … ENJOY

> > > I have received this book as an ARC from the publisher. < < < > > > In exchange, I promised an honest review. < < <

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Damaged

Avelyn Paige

N/A

Stars

Evie Carter has faced trials and tribulations her entire life. Her teenage years have been ripped away from her as she battles cancer. Just when things can’t get any worse, her doctor delivers the news that it’s finally time to make a life or death decision. Her options are limited and come with deadly consequences. The miracle drug that is meant to save her life changes her on a cellular level. She might not be damaged anymore, but she might just be damned in her new life.

When I started reading the first pages of the book my thoughts were like ” How is this book supposed to fit to the cover which shows this woman in leather clothes, boots and this special kind of hair?” After this moment the drastical change came -for me pretty unexpected. After this you are confronted with a totally different genre – a genre which normally isn´t my cup of tea, but in this case surprised me….

I got a story including interesting characters whose past is a secret as you just kind of fall into the story which is set somewhere you don´t get to know much about-exept of a very detailed description of the surroundings which helps to imagine the setting. In combination with a very lifely writing-style, it´s easy to cennect with the story and characters in general.

I rated this book with 3.5 (4) Stars. So there have to be some reasons why it didn´t get the full 5 Star-review. For me there are some “too obvious” time leaps which at some points just tear you out of the story at a point during which you just started connecting with the scene. So you have to connect with it over and over again which is at the end worth it, but during reading a little bit disturbing.As a reader we also know that the characters all have their own head, that they make decicions you as a reader might not understand … So I understand that Evie is a special kind of “human” who also seems to be”especially special” as she has even better powers than others in the world of “Damaged”. But even then it would have been good to see her struggling more about the fact that she just isn´t allowed to live a life on her own, to make own decisions, to insiston her rights to get to know what is happening to her.

She falls into her new role in my opinion just too easily which is maybe the case because of her trust-worthy new partner who surprises her in more than one way(you will find out while reading). I thought about the points I mentioned and asked myself the question why I might feel this way. This debut novel has got around 135 pages which is rather short compared with other novels of this genre. I am sure that with more pages for the characters to fill, I would feel different about the mentioned aspects. My feelings also tell me that I am obviously interested in getting to know more about this story. So I would be happy to read a second book some day…!?

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Title : Grayson

Author : Lisa Eugene

Series : N/A

Rating : 4 Stars

Blurb : An insane love that will keep you from falling—or push you right off the edge.All she needed was a job…The last thing twenty-four year old grad student Angie Roberts needs is to worry about her new boss’s father. After all, she’s never even seen him. He remains sequestered upstairs in a house that looks like it should be the main feature in an episode of Hoarders.

She had no idea the house was such a dump when she took the job. But she’s concerned about the safety and health of the old man living under such horrid conditions.

What she got was a mystery…Despite warnings not to venture upstairs, she wanders up to the second floor. What she sees is shocking. The man she finds is a gorgeous, sexy, middle-aged man– and he’s stepping out of the shower. But something is definitely not right. Why would this wealthy, handsome man live in a house in such disrepair while his nine-teen year old son resides in a lavish penthouse?

Why does he hide away from society? Why does he come to her rescue and then run away?What she discovered was heartbreaking…Angie learns that forty-four year old Grayson Whitmore suffers from schizophrenia. Paranoid, he retreats into his own world.What she ended up with was a treasure…Angie is determined to get through to Grayson. They form a friendship that blazes into an inconceivable love fired with raging passion. Angie must now come to Grayson’s rescue because the wicked that has been perpetrated on him is unconscionable. First, though, she must gain the trust of a man whose mind does not allow for such a thing.

Review : Actually I can say for sure that I never have read a book like this.

When I started this book I talked to a friend(who also has read the book) about my expectations which obviously aren’t including the story I got.

A wonderful story including a man who wasn’t allowed to live his life until someone really tried to understand him. Alone for this the book should get 5 Stars,but I can’t forget my “problems” including some parts in which I wished the book would be some pages longer.

Also there should be at least some tiny hints of fear or struggling.

Deep down I know I won’t forget this book that fast!

> > > I have received this book as an ARC from the publisher. < < < > > > In exchange, I promised an honest review. < < <

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