For twenty-one-year-old Sydney, being in love with Kyler isn’t anything new. They’d been best friends ever since he pushed her down on the playground and she made him eat a mud pie. Somewhere over the years, she fell for him and fell hard. The big problem with that? Kyler puts the ‘man’ in man-whore. He’s never stayed with a girl longer than a few nights, and with it being their last year in college, Syd doesn’t want to risk their friendship by declaring her love.

Kyler has always put Syd on a pedestal that was too high for him to reach. To him, she’s perfect and she’s everything. But the feelings he has for her, he’s always hidden away or focused on any other female. After all, Kyler will always be the poor boy from the wrong side of tracks, and Syd will always be the one girl he can never have.

But when they’re stranded together at a posh ski resort due to a massive Nor’easter, there’s nothing stopping their red-hot feelings for each other from coming to the surface. Can their friendship survive the attraction? Better yet, can they survive at all? Because as the snow falls, someone is stalking them, and this ski trip may be a life-changer in more ways than one.

 

This month I went through like a week long phase where I wanted to read nothing but mushy new adult romances, and my target was J Lynn, also known as Jennifer L. Armentrout. I suck….I haven’t been trying out much books in the New Adult genre. I don’t know if I’ve really read any until now. They make me nervous, okay! When I think New Adult, it almost makes me thing of teen pornish stuff. I was wrong. I admit it! I was wrong. Please stop yelling at me now. New adult is definitely more sexy and…well…steamy…but it’s with adults! Honestly, little kids and younger teens probably shouldn’t be reading this stuff. I’m not for book censorship, but I definitely think that adults should take an interest in what their kids are reading. Back to the point, though, I was like obsessed for a week with new adult books. I’m highly anticipating another week full of smut, but I have no idea which New Adult author to try out next /= Frigid wasn’t as good as Wait For You, but I was still obsessed with it, and I had it finished in less than 48 hours. The characters were lovable (for the most part), the plot was definitely interesting AND steamy, and the writing was amazing. On the downside, the ending wasn’t that great, and, once again, the female character bugged me!

I don’t know how Armentrout does it, but ALL of her male characters are amazing. I don’t care what book it is, I always fall in love with her male characters. Kyler was hunky, fit, smart, sexy, caring, loyal, honest. He was everything that I could possibly ask for in a guy. It made it that much better that Kyler and Syd had been best friends their whole lives. I mean…come on. What girl out there doesn’t dream about falling in love with her best friend? It was just too cute! On the downside, Syd wasn’t my favorite character. Armentrout might create brilliant male characters, but I have never fallen in love with ANY of her female characters. They all turn out whiney, dramatic, and way too innocent. I want to see Armentrout create some fabulous kick ass female character. Not someone who is about to break apart at the drop of a pen.

Everything in this book was amazing and addicting except for the ending. Like in Wait For You, the ending tanked. It was too predictable and wayyyyyyy overdramatic. Whenever I start a contemp book of Armentrout’s, I usually know what’s going to happen at the end of the book by like the first 3 chapters. Just because you write contemporary does NOT mean that it has to be so predictable. Add a little twist! Do something that readers won’t expect! Yes, contemporary books help readers relate to reality, but having such a predictable ending almost makes me feel like the author think I’m stupid. Just do something a little out of the norm for once!

Even though the ending wasn’t that great, I did love the book. Not as much as other books that Armentrout has written, but I did enjoy it. Not to mention that Kyler was just too amazing to pass up. I was a big fan of this book!

Pages: 240

Publication Date: July 15th 2013

Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary

Source: Ebook

Rating: :

 

Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…

 

Wait for You is one of the most beautiful, heartfelt, and sizzling books that I have ever read. It’s about a girl named Avery who has experienced a traumatic event in her hometown of Texas, and she ends of moving thousands of miles from home to go to college simply to get away from her family and her past that haunts her. Things don’t go quite as she planned, though, and soon she’s receiving threatening emails, calls, and texts from an unknown number.

Cameron Hamilton, a.k.a Cam, goes to school with Avery, and they run into each other (literally) on their was to astronomy. From there, feelings develop and Cam becomes a permanent role in Avery’s life. With Avery’s past, things don’t go quite as smooth for them, and Avery must learn to let go of her past if she’s going to keep Cam in her life.

That description I just gave doesn’t even come close to giving this book justice. This was seriously one of the best books that I’ve read this year. I have a new book boyfriend in Cam, and let me tell you…I’m still mourning this book. It was one of those books that I just could not put down. It got to the point where it was interfering with my school work, and finally I just had to force myself to put it down so I didn’t fail the class. Even then, it wasn’t my best work since I was scrambling to get back to this book asap.

I have to hand it to J Lynn, because Cam is one of the best male characters I have read about. He was snarky, gorgeous, all man, and sensitive all in one package. He was always there for Avery. It was even nice to see the little boy in him peek out every now and then. I didn’t love him nearly as much once he and Avery got together. The snarkiness that Jennifer L. Armentrout is known for started to leak out of him just a little bit. The whole “I’m your boyfriend” act was a little annoying…but I still loved him. It seems to be a constant theme in most of her contemporary writing, though, that her male characters lose some of their appeal in the last 100 or so pages.

As for Avery, I wasn’t the biggest fan of hers. She didn’t bug me during the first half, but honestly, I was too focused on Cam to even pay her that much attention. The last half of the book, she got on my nerves quite a bit. She was whiny, depressing, and way too involved with Cam if she couldn’t even realize that she was fine on her own. I mean, I know she missed him (not giving away too much), but get yourself together woman! That seems to be another theme in Armentrout’s books. The girls depend soooo much on the male characters. For once, I just want to see her write about this strong female lead who depends only on herself. It’s fine to have a male love interest. Heck, it’s even wanted! But I for once want to see the female survive on her own.

As you can probably tell from my comments above, the last 100 pages of this book were kind of a dud. Those pages actually took it from a 5 to a 4. It became to mushy and depressing. It was also really sad to see this wonderful writing go to just okay writing. And it was horrifying to watch Cam’s character lose some of his appeal from the beginning. I still liked the book….but it was sad to watch it die down a little /=

Overall, I was a big fan of this book. I had a week where I read nothing but Armentrout’s/Lynn’s work. It was wonderful! I would encourage everyone to go read this book. I’m pretty sure that it’s only out in ebook, but I wouldn’t hold me to that if I were you. Whatever the case, go read this book! And make sure you let me know if you love Cam just as much as I do [;

 

Pages: 332 pages

Publication Date: February 26th 2013

Publisher: Avon

Rating: :

 

Teaser Quote: “And this must be Avery?”

“Oh, God, no,” Cam said. “This is Candy, Mom.”

His mother’s eyes widened and a bit of color infused her cheeks. “Uh, I’m…”

“I’m Avery,” I said, shooting Cam a look. “You had it right.”

She spun around, smacking Cam across the arm. Hard, too. “Cameron! Oh my God. I thought…” She smacked him again and he laughed. “You’re terrible.”

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

 

I’ve been itching for another adult series ever since the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong ended last year. It’s not too hard to please me with adult books. I love most that I read. For years, I’ve heard how awesome and popular the Black Dagger Brotherhood series is, so I gave it a shot! The series is about this band of brothers…who aren’t really brothers….who are vampires. This particular book focuses on the King of the brothers, Wrath, and his love interest, Beth. It took me probably about 75 pages to start enjoying the book. Up till then it was bland and boring…and I honestly considered putting down the book. I had to reach out to people on our Facebook page to see if it was worth continuing. Most of them said yes, so I did….I continued the book. I ended up really enjoying it. I didn’t fall in LOVE with it…but I liked it [=

My biggest issue with this book were the main characters. I'm sorry ladies....but Wrath just didn't cut it for me. I found him oversensitive, overprotective, a bit of a cry baby, unreasonable, and he just wasn't very attractive by the end of the book. Likewise, I didn't like Beth either. That probably means they were perfect for each other. It was a bit difficult to thoroughly enjoy a book when I didn't like either of the characters.

Now here comes the part where all the Black Dagger Brotherhood fans are probably going to want to skin me alive. I skimmed....a little bit. I didn't skim the parts with Beth and Wrath!....well.....at least not until the end when they're emotions and annoyingness got amped up. But...I HATED all of the multiple POV's...and I HATED the characters who were in the POVS. I don't remember all of characters names, and since I already returned this book I can't look them up..so here goes. Mr. X's POV was disturbing and disgusting. He gave me the creeps and I wasn't reading about him. The cop...Butch? I hated him. He seemed like a creepy serial killer slash rapist. And if he said "baby" one more time in his creepy little voice....uh uh. No. I was NOT reading about him. And then finally there was another girl...who....I can't remember her name. She belonged to Wrath in the beginning. I didn't even know WHY she had her own POV? Why the hell was she important? I skimmed through her pages because she didn't belong in the story. So there were way too many POV's (5, I think?) and three of them really didn't need to be in the story. It was like J.R. Ward ran out of things to say and included other POV's to make it longer...or to meet her deadline. Others are going to disagree, and that's fine, but it was my one major complaint in this book.

On a more positive note, I did really enjoy the concept of the book. There were some really, really, REALLY hot scenes! Won't complain about that [; I also really enjoyed some of the other brothers. Not all of them, but some. I really want to read Z's story! I bet that one is going to be really good. The whole idea behind this book was awesome...and some of the story was really addicting and well written. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but I did finish it.

When it comes to the other books in the series, I will read them....eventually. I didn't fall in love with this series, and I don't think that's going to change. Some of the writing was very confusing, and I think that's more to do with J.R. Ward than the actual book itself. But I'll eventually finish!

 

Now that you Black Dagger Brotherhood fans are probably itching to smack me....tell me...what is YOUR favorite book in the series? And who's your favorite brother???

 

If you like this book, you should read:

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Touch the Dark by Karen Chance

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

 

Pages: 393

Publisher: Signet Eclipse

Publication Date: September 6th, 2005

Source: Library

Rating: :

 

Teaser Quote: “Whoa. Fangs. She had fangs.

She leaned in, prodded them a little. Eating with those puppies was going to take some getting used to, she thought.

On impulse, she brought up her hands, turned her fingers into claws. Hissed.

Cool.”