IMPASSION by B.C. Burgess

Boy did it take me some time to write this review. I read the book in a day. Seriously, I couldn't put it down; I was up 'till 4 in the morning & didn't even regret it the next day. However, finding the time to write the review did take me a while. But it's finally here! 
Drumroll please....

note: there might be some teensy weensy spoilers (I suck at rooting them out). I was so excited when I heard this was coming out; it had been on my to-read list for EVER (now the next one's on my to -read list, but such is life). It was GREAT!!
DESCENSION was amazing, but it really focused on Layla's parents and their story. This time, we got to see how Layla dealt with everything & how her & Quin's relationship developed. And let me just say, I LOVED it!!
it got steamier & sweeter & really honest. & the author writes it in such a way that you forget that they've only known each other for a short period of time (until you re-read parts of the book to go review it). I found Quin a little annoying when he was groveling for Layla to forgive him, but it's just because it annoyed me that he wasn't completely honest with her & then immediately expected her to be ok with it; honestly, I think I was more mad than Layla was. It doesn't even matter though, cause they were so cute together!! I'd put up some of my favorite quotes, but it would probably end up being most of the book.
I like that we get to scenes from the bad guy's point of view as well & I'm not sure what to think about this new guy, but I'm really hoping he won't get in between Layla and Quin; because if he does, I will be very upset.
I LOVED Alana; she was such a bubbly kid & reading about her with Layla got me thinking about Layla and Quin's future. Which is why I NEED them to stay together. okay? it is vital to my well-being!!! so this new guy can just go bug off; I don't care if  he is Layla's counterpart or whatever. they can just team up to save the world in a completely platonic way.
I don't know what else to say about the book without giving away any details. But I loved the cliff scene (obviously) and the welcoming ceremony scene; the way Burgess writes about it, I really wish it were real.
She gives a lot of really good descriptions, without taking attention away from what's happening in the book.
& I absolutely love that Layla's a coffee addict just like me! Which is why I chose to share this with you:

I can't wait to see what's next!

Make-Up Reviews! :$

"I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else. It's the way I take them OFF that makes me better than you." -Jessica park, First Comes Love

So I've been out of it for a while; we were out of power, then the internet wasn't working and just a whole bunch of other stuff that kept me from logging on. (and a sidenote: I'll be out again, seeing as how I'm going to Europe in a couple of days, and it's kinda hard to log in when you have no connection)

But when I'm not logged on, I'm reading, so I have different reviews to make up for the time I wasn't here. 

I read Starcrossed and Dreamless by Josephine Angelini, Illusions and Destined by Aprilynne Pike, Easy by Tammara Webber, First Comes Love by Katie Kacvinsky, and Thomas & January by Amelie Fisher. 

Starcrossed & Dreamless

This was an interesting take on the Greek Gods. In Starcrossed, we meet Helen who lives a perfectly normal, secluded life with her dad (she knows absolutely nothing about her mother). That is, until the mysterious Delos family comes to town. 
The entire bunch is as good-looking as... well, Greek gods. But that doesn't stop Helen from hating their guts for no particular reason except that they're from a different House. 
Once they get over the whole murderous rage thing, Lucas (one of the Delos boys) and Helen are extremely attracted to each other, but like in any YA book, and any Greek story, the hero and heroine can't be together. But as the tension builds, it gets harder to resist. 
I'm not entirely sure about the plot because I don't understand if it's trying to recreate the Iliad (due to all the allusions they make to it and the repeat of the characters), but it also went off on this entirely different thing & the whole issue with the Houses was pretty confusing. The Lucas-Helen problem was also pretty frustrating, since they kept making these decisions but couldn't stick to 'em.
The way the story developed was interesting though, and the plot twists kept surprising me, especially at the end! *** 3 stars :) 
Favorite Quote: 
“She decided that if Lucas was gay then she was going to have to get a sex change operation. He would be so worth it.” 
― Josephine Angelini, Starcrossed

*spoilers ahead! do not read if you haven't read Starcrossed*

Dreamless picks up where Starcrossed left off: badly for Lucas & Helen since they can't be together due to the fact that they're "cousins" & Greek tragedies are known for the chaos that comes from incestuous relationships. But, fear not! there's a new guy in the picture. Put your hands together for... Orion! (Whom I really like by the way. Is it bad that I'm rooting for the other guy?)

Orion helps Helen in the Underworld and he's a friend to her when she can't be with Lucas. There's also a new bad guy! duhn duhn DUHN! 

The plot grabbed me more than Starcrossed and the characters have improved; Helen is considerably more bad ass, Lucas is more sensitive-mysterious, Claire was more prominent, supportive & funnier, and Matt was awesome in the first book and he was awesome now too. 

Also, if Helen doesn't want Orion, can I keep him? 

The action in this book was much more dramatic, and that ending will have me reading the third book. **** 4 stars! <3

Favorite Quote: 

“Helen decided that the saying about "time healing all wounds" was a bunch of bull and probably only worked for people with very poor memories. The time she's spent apart from Lucas hadn't healed anything. The distance only made her miss him more.”
― Josephine Angelini, Dreamless

Illusions & Destined 

Illusions is the third book in the Wings series by Aprilynne Pike. The entire concept is super interesting. I wasn't too fond of the love triangle 'cause David seemed more like a friend, not a boyfriend. I'm team Tam all the way. But the flower people (in the literal sense) are totally captivating! I didn't like Spells too much, I don't know exactly why, but it bored me & I had given up on the series 'till I stumbled on Destined in goodreads & it got me curious. yay! for curiosity! who says it killed the cat? It got me back on this series!

I expected the ending for both Illusions and Destined, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the plot as it unfolded. 

I don't hink I can review them separately, so I'll just say that everything I loved about Wings came back three-fold. The characters' chemistry, the drama, action, the cleverly placed remark that makes me giggle like a two-year-old. & that ending!! the letter really gave me closure but (spoiler! skip this part if you don't like 'em) I'd love an epilogue for Tam & Laurel! (hint, hint, ;) Ms. Pike) 

**** 4 stars for Illusions

***** 5 stars for Destined 

Favorite Quotes: 

“He'd been back for about two weeks, and everything in Laurel's life had been thrown into Chaos. Sexy, sexy chaos.”
― Aprilynne Pike, Illusions

“I think I could have won state today. Apparently, you put a troll on my heels and I turn into a superstar.”
― Aprilynne Pike, Destined

Easy

Easy by Tammara Webber was easy to choose... Incredibly easy. (For those of you who read it, you'll see what I did there) 

but, WOW!! Emm... I don't know how to review this book; it was a gratifying read to say the least. Nice to read something that's not just fluff. This book dealt with a variety of real-life issues. From the more common and less threatening ones like stupid boys & broken hearts to serious and dangerous ones like rape, murder, and a person's future.

I loved Lucas and Erin. Erin's back bone got Jacqueline through a lot and Lucas' support was great. I also admire Jacqueline for not giving up.

The writing style was great and the characters were unique and refreshing. I'm going to cut my review short because I feel like I'll just get repetitive about the things I loved... which is the entire book. :-) 

4.5 stars *****

Favorite Quote:

 “You're full of contradictions, Ms. Wallace." 

I looked up at him and arched a brow. "I'm a girl. That's part of the job description, Mr. Maxfield.” 
― Tammara Webber, Easy

First Comes Love

APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE! A STANDING OVATION PLEASE!

This book is going down in my all-time favorites! I'll be re-reading this over and over and over again. Where to start? The characters of course! I love how Dylan was so eccentric and her point of view on life was different, but it makes you think. And Gray. Poor Gray. No wonder he was like that. He needed someone like Dylan to bring him back to life & boy did she! 

I love the way the story progressed; you could see each one opening up to other and their little adventures made me jealous. I'm even inspired to take a page from Dylan's book & be a bit more spontaneous. 

Teh same way Dylan brought Gray to life, Gray centered Dylan. He gave her a home and I loved that. This was such a great read, I don't even know how to describe it properly. all i kow is great is not strong enough. 

***** 5 SHOOTING FLAMING STARS!!! 

Favorite Quote: 

"Take life seriously. That you have to do. Don't take yourself seriously, that's the key. Let it all go. Don't care for a second what people think of you. In fact, go out of your way to keep them guessing." 

-Katie Kacvinsky, First Comes Love

Where's My Happy Ever After?

This is a review for Someone Else's Fairytale by E.M. Tippets

& here's the blurb from goodreads.com:
Jason Vanderholt, Hollywood's hottest actor, falls head over heels for everygirl, Chloe Winters, who hasn't gotten around to watching most of his movies. She becomes the woman every other woman in America is dying to be, but it just isn't her fairytale.


The blurb doesn't give much away and the cover is kind of mis-leading, so I was not totally prepared for this book. I picked it up by chance; I was at a really intense part in ANOTHER book I'm reading, and needed a break. I found a link for this book on Twitter, and decided it's be light enough to take my mind off the book. 
Well, it DID take my mind off the other book, but it was by no means light. I expected this book to be predictable: where it's love at first sight for the characters, something happens, they break up, one of them realizes they were an idiot, and they get back together to live happily ever after. 
I know there's that saying "don't judge a book by it's cover", and I've always understood the way it applies to people, but as for books, I'm a cover-judging person. And this book has changed my standing on that. 
I expected the plot to be really fluffy & I was SO WRONG!! and I'm glad I was (You can understand the magnitude of this event; since I'm rarely happy about being wrong). 
Chloe's thoughts and actions got me involved and interested; as the plot unraveled, I found I couldn't put the book down. I liked how Jason respected Chloe so much that he was willing to only be her friend as long as she needed it. He was also completely honest with her about everything he had done, even though it made him uncomfortable. I completely agree with him about Chloe being so strong; I really admired the way she stood up to all her challenges. She also thought things through, and once she made a decision she acted on it. 
It was also really interesting to see how Chloe's behavior affected Kyra's behavior; she led by example, because Kyra really needed a role model at the moment, one who wasn't trying to control or stifle her. 
I loved every single part of this book, and I'm so glad it wasn't what I expected. It shocked me, entertained me, and gave me a lot to think about and I commend the author for that. 
5/5 stars *****

Quote of the Day

"Normal people can become very annoying if put in annoying situations" -Jessica Park, Flat-Out Love

Holy Hot Werewolves!!

I don't know how I found out about this book, but I'm glad I did.
Mayfair Moon by Jessica Redmerski

My werewolf craving is definitely satisfied (although I have another werewolf book on my to-reads, I don't think it'll be as good as this one :p ) Anyways, I'm just putting it out there that I prefer werewolves over vampires & I REALLY like this book.

In the beginning, I was a little confused during the fighting parts and some of Adria's emotions weren't very clear to me (But I guess they weren't very clear to her either, so that's understandable). But, when exactly did she & Isaac fall in love? One second she doesn't know who he is and he says nothing; the next, they're in love. & it wasn't like it was love at first sight, but it wasn't a gradual thing either; it was just like poof! we're in love. oh well, I'll re-read the book, maybe it's just me. Another thing that'll have me re-reading the book is the werewolf details, I didn't understand some of them (but I think that's just me too).
oooh! this one isn't me: Adria should've told Isaac at the end! That's gonna cause problems in the next book, I just KNOW it!
The fact that the release date for Kindred is July 20th has me hanging on the edge of my seat!
Once I got over the fact that I don't know when they fell in love (and I got over it pretty quickly!) i fell in love w/t them. I like their passion and their relationship dynamic, but that Adria doesn't forget who she is.
I love Zia, Seb, Nathan, and Harry. I'm really hoping we'll see more of them in Kindred! Oooh! and Daisy too!
The plot is one of the most original plots I've read and by part two, I was so involved I couldn't put it down; I stayed up 'till 2:40 A.M reading it, then I was stuck thinking about it; that cliff-hanger ending!!! Ahhh!!
Counting down the days 'till the Kindred release....

Quote of the Day

"The person, be it a gentleman or a lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

-Jane Austen

Soulmates, but better :)

So recently, I've read a couple of books; I just didn't feel like reviewing them. Instead I'm going to review a series that I just read for the second time.
It's by Shelly Crane, and totally worth the second read.

The first book is Significance: 

The entire series (except Reverence, which is just three chapters) is told from Maggie's point of view. & let me just tell you: I ADORE MAGGIE! Even though she gets lost in Caleb, she doesn't lose herself (does that make any sense?) I love that Ms. Crane was able to create a concept of soul mates where the pair makes a whole, but each continues to be themselves. Actually, scratch that; they're a better version of themselves thanks to the Ascension (wink, wink)

Anyways, in Significance, we see how Maggie meets Caleb and learns was Aces are. But meeting her soulmate is not everything that happens to this seventeen year old girl; there always has to be a bad guy. Unfortunately for Maggie, her villain is kinda deranged. 

So it's not all happiness and fairy-tale endings for Maggie & Caleb. They have to deal with the crazy bad guy, TWO guys still hung up on Maggie, and her dad (who has just remembered how to be a father). 

It's a great book. Shelly Crane gives new meaning to the term soul mates, adds a little magic, and gives the good guys something to fight for; the recipe for a great series!

But Significance is only the beginning; next comes Accordance (heads up! If you haven't read Significance, don't keep reading).

 In Accordance, Caleb and Maggie are in California (to protect themselves from the Watsons) with Bish -Maggie's over-protective brother- and Kyle -Caleb's cousin who happens to be in love with Maggie. Here, Maggie discovers something new about herself, and begins to unravel the mystery behind why the imprints stopped. 

Also, Maggie and Caleb have their first fight, and boy, was that intense! But the fun part about fighting is that you can make up, or should I saw make OUT ;) 

Maggie uses her abilities to help people and in one of these instances, the gang picks up an interesting stray. They also get an unexpected visit (duhn, duhn DUHN!)

To say the least; there is A LOT going on in the second book, and the ending is a major cliff hanger that will have you BEGGING for Defiance. 

Now, I'd review Defiance in detail, but it's too hard without giving anything away, so I won't. Instead, I'll say that the series is definitely worth reading again, and again, and again (like I'm about to do, as soon as I'm done here). 

& I can't wait for Independence. Seriously. I'm dying. there's not even a set date for it's publishing & there's no teasers!! I need SOMETHING!!

Ms. Crane, if you're reading this, I applaud you for creating such amazing characters and weaving their story so flawlessly, but can we PLEASE get something? Anything? Pretty please with a cherry on top. & an oreo cookie. & chocolate syrup. & sprinkles. & a banana split. I'm gonna stop now 'cause I'm getting hungry & I think you get the point.