"Friday Favs": Snake Eyes (The Mask Series Book 3) by Melissa Pearl

Genre: Y.A. Romance, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. 248 pages

Price: $2.99 ebook, (at time of post)

Publisher & Date: Evatopia Press. January 29, 2015

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating: ***NEW RELEASE***

Price I Paid: $2.99,  FYI I love any book by this author

My Rating: 

My Thoughts: The Curse of Using Her Gifted Eyes 

       Caity and Eric are just trying to get back to a "normal" life after Two Faced, where she became involved in the whole drug doping gambling Professor Hoffman fiscal with the FBI. However their social, school and relationships peace does not last long. Now while Eric would rather Caity never involve her self in any more dangerous situations, other forces may not let her go or give her the option. Caity is gifted and it's those gifts that may also be her curse that may be her breaking point and all her relationships too. Danger never seems to stay far away from her and how can Caity justify turning a blind eye to things when she has a gift that can help?

       I enjoyed this book but it was just really hard to watch Caity get pushed into a difficult situation and have her hands tied, again. Obviously she wasn't allowed to give away certain things when put into a situation, but with Eric's trust issues, it's obvious how bumpy this book was going to turn out. Eric tried making their relationship more and scored brownies points in this book, but I kept wanting him to trust Caity more even if things seemed sketch. He should know her enough by now to know when she's playing a part and not being herself. Even Dale trusted Caity more in this book than Eric did. Oh, and poor Nicole, Caity's roommate and BFF, was a bit sidelined in the story, but she is awesome when it counts. Plus I still absolutely love how Dale and Nicole are integrated in this series.

       Overall, I liked the book but I'm extremely excited to get the last book as the ending should be epic! This books ending is a cliffhanger, but Melissa has graciously planned it out, so her readers won't be left hanging for long. Which is good, because phew! there are some things in this book that will make you cry, so keep some tissues handy if you are anything like me. And be prepared to be a bit caught up in the book, so I suggest placing a "Do Not Disturb" sign till you finish the book. Caity and Eric have to be together that's all I must say, but I'm sure Melissa won't disappoint her readers as she hasn't yet, in my humble fan biased opinion.

"Romance Thursday": When Girlfriends Chase Dreams by Savannah Page

Genre: Woman's Fiction, Humor & Satire, 465 pages

Price: $0 FREE (at time of post)
*$10.19 paperback

Publisher & Date: Pearls and Pages. March 20, 2013

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating:  .8

Price I Paid: $0 (got it FREE on January 12, 2015)

My Rating:

My Thoughts: BFFs & Wedding Drama, But A Cute Realistic Lengthy Read

       My reason for choosing to read this book was for nostalgia's sake, plain and simple. However this book was anything but plain and simple. Sure it was a light read in that it could be taken at face value, but the book had some emotional depth in it's character's situations that were rather thought provoking, which was not at all what I was expecting. In fact this book is apparently the forth in the series of When Girlfriends by Savannah Page. Rest assured a reader can begin with this book or just read this book by itself, as I did, and I'll explain why.

        The book is about Claire Linley and her looong and rather tumultuous journey to walk down the aisle to say the words to finally become Mrs. Conner Whitley. Claire honestly thought that after getting that ring from her fiancé, Connor, in the awesome movie like proposal that all would kind of fall into place. However things just do not go her way and the whole DIY wedding is not working out for her, even with the aid of her BFFs, emphasis on the 'S'. Claire has Sophia the baker and chef (and closest BFF), Lauren the go get them businesswoman, Emily the photographer and traveling free-spirit, Jackie newly-wed to the rich husband with all the perks that come with it, and Robin the friend who has the cutest baby they all love Rose. How do I know all that? Well author goes over not just Claire's life but her friends lives as well. It's great if you aren't familiar with the series, but it makes the book too lengthy at times. Especially when the story is supposed to be about the wedding and Claire not everyone else in detail.

         Truthfully I was looking for light read, possibly RomCom, to just relax and remember my fond memories of being a bridesmaid for one of my BFFs. This book however, was so not about that, I've read books like that and this was not a light read laughing all the time book. No, this book went for reality with a touch of humor to help it along. Claire may have had disaster after disaster happen to her, and allowed the stress and worry turn her into a Bridzilla, whom I wanted to shake and shout at to get her attention, girl seriously needed a high dose of chill pill. I mean poor Connor just had to take it and her friends, Oh I got a bit frustrated at them, but not until two thirds into the story when things really seemed awful and bleak for Claire, did I really start liking the book. I know odd right? But finally real life dawned for Claire, she started figuring out the wedding wasn't going to solve everything so why should it BE your everything. I think that's a moral truth for a lot of situations not just weddings. 

        Overall, I liked the book. This was my first book that I have read by Savannah Page and it might not be my last. I wish the book just hadn't bee so lengthy, because at times Claire would ramble off and I felt myself wanting to skip pages going 'And this is relevant?' I suppose a reader wants to get to know the character and since the author seemed to be going for something more than a superficial story about planning a wedding, so I could see why she would give so much more dialogue and background, but it still felt too much. Despite the length I still loved Claire and Connor's story, their story alone could be a separate novel that would be super cute and great to read.  So if you want a good book with some BFFs, drama, wedding plans that go awry, and a book that's a bit lengthy check this book out.

"Wednesday's, Wonderings & Wanderings": So Many eBooks, So Little Time

         I ask this question a lot because, I literally have like a million ebooks in my library. That said I probably will never read all of them, which rather makes me sad. I love reading and whether the books are awful, or not, getting lost in a book is an activity I find relaxing. I can also multi-task, so reading while watching TV or listening to music isn't an issue. 

         In fact there are a couple books that I read when listening to a new album and when I re-read said books or listen to the album again, I swear I can remember that part in the book or hear the song playing in my head when reading that chapter again. Strange right? 

         Well I think that's how a lot of memories work by association with things. Generally I have a CD for every trip I've taken, don't know why it is but it just happens, but I don't usually have a specific book for my trips. I read books too fast so it's great I have my eReader now, or else I'd have to do the old school thing and lug around a bag of books.

"Y.A. Tuesday": Mirror X (The Van Winkle Projects) by Karri Thompson

Genre: Y.A., Science Fiction & Dystopian, 362 pages

Price: $3.99 ebook, $16 paperback

Publisher & Date: Entangled Teen (Sold by Macmillan Publisher), Jun 30, 2014

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating: .2

Price I Paid: Zip,**I received a free copy in return for an honest review**

My Rating:

My Thoughts: Wanted to Love the Book, But . . .

     Imagine waking a thousand years in the future, finding out you had be in a cryogenic sleep all that time only to be awake as the "Miracle" for the new world? That is exactly what the main character Cassie Dannacher feels upon awakening in the new world of 3025. Cassie had been only a 17 year old girl traveling the world with her paleontologist mom, and her team, when next she knows her world of 2022 is gone and all she knows now is lies, deceit and secrecy.  All Cassie knows for sure now is if she wants the truth about herself and the world she now finds herself living in, she will need to rely on her doctor and geneticist Dr. Michael Bennett, who seems to also be hiding a few things from her despite their *ahem, connection. 

      I really wanted to like this book as this is not my first and probably not my last read in the Y.A. dystopian genre. However, I just could not get past how overly cheesy and fast Cassie fell for guys, especially Dr. Bennet. I mean seriously I know she is a girl and is a bit hormonal, but come on, connections or biology aside, realistically no girl would be all swoony upon waking up. No, a real girl would totally be either loony or cray cray at that point, personally I'm voting cray cray, with tears galore since even Cassie asked for her momma, I know I would (I ain't ashamed). The whole Cassie and Micheal relationship just seemed overly forced into the plot and didn't flow as naturally as it could have making me almost wish it didn't exist until at least half way through the book. It's not till the latter half that I'm actually a bit more okay with it, but then it's more complicated and all a mess that honestly it makes the book hard to love and enjoy thoroughly.

      Overall this book and the concept is relatively really innovative. I applaud the author for taking some crazy ideas and spinning them into a new dystopian that can be unique in the genre that has been flooded in the wake of more big name books in recent years. This book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I use bit lightly. Will I read the second book, most likely as I truly did enjoy the story, it's just the relationships I had a hard time with. So in the end, yes I do recommend it, because I'm hoping the series turns into a great one.

"Misc. Monday": Sugar and Spice by Various Authors

*****COLLECTION GONE AS OF 1/31/2015 *****

Genre: Anthologies & Contemporary Romance, 8 Full length Novels

Price: $0 .99 ebook *Special price, Proceeds go to the charity Love146*

Publisher & Date: Amazon Digital Services, Inc. December 18, 2014

Book Link:  Click Here

Listed Rating: .8

Price I Paid: $0 .99 ebook, But for 8 books that's practically a steal and it's for charity too

My Rating: 

Books &Authors Included:

Maverick by Anna Cruise

Fever by Melissa Pearl 

Escaping Me by Elizabeth Lee 

Finding My Forever by Heidi McLaughlin

Girl With Guitar by Caisey Quinn 

Draw Me In by Megan Squires 

Begin with Goodbye by Kelly Walker 

Beautiful Collision by T.G. Ayer

My Thoughts: And Everything Nice!! (Including This Price!)

       This box set has some great authors and books put together, which means readers have a great deal listed for a great price. I've been wanting to read a few of these authors and I've had my eye on a couple of these books, so now thanks to this box set, I can enjoy these novels without feeling any buyers remorse of overspending on books, which happens frequently I must confess *sigh.
      There is one book in this set I have had the privilege of reading, which is Fever by Melissa Pearl. Fever is the first in her Songbird series and boy is that series one of her best! If you are a fan of music, dance, singing, and romance then that series is all you need look into. Fever's cast and characters are fun, talented, gorgeous and the story, I won't spill any beans but it's truly a must read.
      Overall a reader really can't argue with the price of this box set especially when proceeds are going to charity. These authors made it easy for anyone interested in getting a hold of their books to try out their style by putting, not a taste, but a full length novel in this box set. So snatch this deal up while ya still can. Seriously this Anthology is going away by the end of this week on Jan 31st, so run to Amazon or whatever website and buy it up.

"Friday Favs": Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Genre: Gothic Fiction (Romanticism), Social Criticism and Bildungsroman, 296 pages

Price: $0 ebook, $4.50 paperback or $17 Hardback (at time of post)

Publisher & Date: Amazon Digital Services, Inc. May 12, 2012

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating: .4

Price I Paid: $0 for the eBook and $7 for Paperback in 2005

My Rating: 

My Thoughts: Classic Romanticism At It's Best

         In a time when women were not authors let alone heroines of a story in contemporary literature, Charlotte Bronte defied the norms of society and wrote for her gender and made head way with the skill of her pen. Through the story of Jane Eyre's life, Charlotte brought forth many issues of gender classifications, social class issues, faith, love and much more, including danger, mystery, death, and of course romance with the sweetest HEA.

        Jane Eyre is orphan and left as a ward to her Aunt Reed. Life is one sad tale after another for Jane and one may think it a rather depressing story when reading it the first time, but reading it with an open mind a reader can see Bronte crafting a story within a story. Jane endures each struggle and comes out all the better for each one. She is a model for women in not settling, even when Jane was offered all she could dream of with Mr. Rochester, she chooses to reject it as it would all be a lie in the sight of God. She kept to her principles and knew her life would be somewhere else. Jane kept her head on straight and was not swayed when things seemed hard or when an easy option came. Bronte uses Jane's life to illustrate many social points to readers of the time, but many points can still be applicable to the discussions on Feminism and talks on society in today's classes or lectures on such topics. 

         Overall I've read this book about 6 times and every time I re-read it I love it all the more. It's a classic and classics just never get old. Bronte wrote with such wit and character that Jane Eyre feels like a modern novel at times despite being from the 19th century. Noting how Jane had struggle after struggle she still remained able to love in the end, if that doesn't speak of classic romance I don't know what does. Jane Eyre is and will probably always remain my favorite book and my standard for romance books.

"Romance Thursdays": More Than Rivals by Mary Whitney

Genre: Contemporary Romance & Woman's Fiction, 300 pages

Price: $3.99 ebook, $10.46 paperbook (at time of posting)

Publisher & Date: Posit Publishing, November 9, 2013

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating: .4

Price I Paid: $0 (got it FREE on March 16, 2013)

My Rating: 

My Thoughts: Predictable but Pleasant Political Read

       If you are a reader looking for danger, suspense and scandal . . . look elsewhere. This book is a sweet romance filled with witty banter, flirtation and real romance. Its not a book you need to over think or isn't over sexualized, it's just a pleasant romance to read a cold day. Where to rivals might realize they have something in common that could be more than a race.

      Though the plot and outcome may be cliche the characters are still cute and you still want them to have their HEA. Ursula Robles, or Lily, is a hard worker who as a single mom, a nurse and County Supervisor that decides to make a run for Congress. State Senator Jack Bengston is a privileged son of politics who's background groomed him for the Senate and higher. These two should be perfect rivals but turnout to be a perfect match instead, they can't help being friends and perhaps more, if the politics weren't between them. Ultimately it will come down to love or the Congressional seat?
      Overall the book is a good read that with a flowing plot that keeps you in Lily and Jack's relationship till the end. A reader may how how it might end but may still be a bit surprised at some of their decisions and how they choose to go about their relationship. It's a sweet romance were normally rivals in politics are known for being vicious and backstabbing, but here Lily and Jack are seen finding their equal and possible love, but question it's timing. So pick this book if your looking for a pleasant political read that will leave you happy in the end.