Book Review: Hello Love by Karen McQuestion

 Synopsis:A year after the death of his wife, Christine, Dan is barely holding on. But one thing gets him through the long, lonely nights and that is his cherished dog, Anni. When she is stolen from his front yard, Dan and his daughter, Lindsay, are devastated. Meanwhile in another part of town, Andrea Keller is recovering from the heartbreak of a messy divorce. After she rescues a defenseless dog from an abusive tenant, her life changes in ways she never could have anticipated.

Dan and Andrea cross paths again and again, only to keep missing each other and the opportunity of a lifetime. As Anni works to find her way home, can she bring together these two lost souls desperately in need of a second chance at happiness?

Just Add Champagne gives it 3 stars.

Look at that little duffer! 

and...

If someone stole my dog, man I would be pissed (well depends on if that day they didn't decide to eat carpet or bread) 

So, someone steals this poor little doggie from Dan and his daughter. 

Turns out the guys who steals the dog is a scumbag (no shit)  and Andrea rescues the duffer. (yay! hero). Anyways, Dan and Andrea keep meeting up, and then they start dating.  With one thing in common - there love of dogs. They eventually realize that this dog is the same one.  I won't go into details as they contain spoilers, but I liked how it turned into a steady romance, and not just bam I love you.  Dan and Andrea are both recovering from past losses; so it takes some time for them to open up.

This book was a quick read and I enjoyed it.  #3 stars. 

1 dog. 2 Families. Joined? Will they let the dog choose?

Book Review: Snowblind by Christopher Golden

 The small New England town of Coventry had weathered a thousand blizzards...but never one like this. Icy figures danced in the wind and gazed through children's windows with soul-chilling eyes. People wandered into the whiteout and were never seen again. Families were torn apart, and the town would never be the same.

Now, as a new storm approaches twelve years later, the folks of Coventry are haunted by the memories of that dreadful blizzard and those who were lost in the snow. Photographer Jake Schapiro mourns his little brother, Isaac, even as---tonight---another little boy is missing. Mechanic and part-time thief Doug Manning's life has been forever scarred by the mysterious death of his wife, Cherie, and now he’s starting over with another woman and more ambitious crimes. Police detective Joe Keenan has never been the same since that night, when he failed to save the life of a young boy . . . and the boy’s father vanished in the storm only feet away. And all the way on the other side of the country, Miri Ristani receives a phone call . . . from a man who died twelve years ago.

As old ghosts trickle back, this new storm will prove to be even more terrifying than the last. - goodreads
Perfect book to read while its a little snowy.  I mean, just imagine that you are out building a snowman, perhaps tobogganing and some fog comes up, and bam your dead.

What?!

Yup, thats the premise of it. Snow Zombies.

Every big ass snowstorm these 'snow zombies' (they aren't actually called that in the book, but I just felt like they explain the things the best) come back and try and get more victims. But this time the snow zombies try and warn the town and all the people who lost someone in the first freak snowstorm.

Such a weird idea but it worked.

3.5-4 stars.

Book Review: Eight Days A Week by Amber L. Johnson

Gwen Stone has secrets she’s not ready to reveal. After a recent promotion at work, she needs a caretaker for her children. She’s frenzied and in a lurch and pretty much ready to hire the first person who comes along. So she does.

Andrew Lyons needs to get out of his sister’s apartment, and a Craigslist posting may be the answer to his prayers. But what he thought was an ad for a room rental turns into a job offer he can’t refuse. Accepting the nanny position could change his life, if only he had a clue how to be a grownup.

A working mother, a shirtless manny who looks good in a towel, two children who need more than than a babysitter, and hours of kids’ TV can only spell disaster for everyone involved.

Because a manny should always mind his own business.

And he definitely shouldn’t fall in love with his boss.  - goodreads

-3 stars-

This book was cute. And different. Not many stories focus on a male nanny, which was a nice change of pace to show that boys can in fact raise children (and do it well). Although, many stories focus on falling in love with your boss.

Andrew (Drew) is 25 years old, and is expected to settle down. So he answers a Craigslist ad for an apartment, however this apartment deal is also a nanny job.  He takes it on, because well, the girl is hot. Turns out Drew is actually really good at being a nanny. And the girl, well she is still hot.

One pet peeve with the book, and its not even with the book, its with people's views in general. Why is it always a bad thing if someone wants to travel, jump around from job to job before settling down? Let them get it out of their system. Or understand that not everyone wants or can succeed at a 9-5 job.  Rant Over.

And as you read in my prior paragraph, the girl was hot. With a hot male lead. You can guess what was going to eventually happen. The sex scenes in this book were unexpected. This isn't to say that they were bad. I just wasn't expecting them in this book, and they were pretty steamy. Which made the romance side of the book believable.

I really enjoyed the "Manny Tips" that were interspersed throughout the book such as "note to self: kids burn to crisp and cry when left in the sun for hours. SPF is required".  It was a bit of a comic relief. Also, the whole thing being in a males perspective was also a nice change of pace from the books I've been reading lately.

I only gave it 3 stars however because it was fairly predictable (expect of course for the "big" twist). However, I did enjoy reading it as it kept me intrigued and wanting to see just how Andrew's life turned out.

”Love doesn’t have an end, or a time frame. It’s not nine to five – not just a few days a week. Love works overtime. Every day. Even on weekends. And one extra day to prove it’s real.” 

Book Review: The Possibilities by Kaui Hart Hemmings

In the idyllic ski town of Breckenridge, Colorado, Sarah St. John is reeling. Three months ago, her twenty-two-year-old son, Cully, died in an avalanche. Though single, Sarah is hardly alone in her grief. Her father, a retiree, tries to distract her with gadgets from the QVC home shopping channel. Sarah's best friend offers life advice by venting details of her own messy divorce. Even Cully's father reemerges, stirring more emotions and confusion than Sarah needs. Still, Sarah feels she is facing the stages of grief -- the anger, the sadness, the letting go -- alone.

Barely ready to face the fact she will never again hear the swoosh of her son's ski pants, or watch him skateboard past her window, Sarah is surprised when a strange girl arrives on her doorstep. Unexpected and unexplained, she bears a secret from Cully that could change all of their lives forever.

(received via net galley for an honest review)

 I really liked The Descendants, and was kind of hoping this would be the same. It wasn't. It was slow and it took me a long time to read. 

Sarah's son Cully died in a freak avalanche.  And she is trying to deal and cope with this. Of course its hard, especially to pack up his things and finding out things about him. I couldn't even imagine. Then meeting his friends, his "girlfriend', finding ut he had a life separate to what he had with you.

This may be a bit of a spoiler, but, it was kind of predictable. I mean, why else would your dead son's girlfriend (who you had no idea about) show up out of the blue? But really?

(SPOILERS)

You are pregnant with your dead boyfriends child, and you want to give it to the mother?!!

and 
the mother is actually considering it?!

Are you frekaing kidding me?

I just can't even out into words how I feel about this!

(end SPOILER)

My favourite part of this novel was Sarah's father. His humour was such dad-like humour; and I'm a sucker for that.

I wish I liked this more than I did. 

Book Review: So Much A Part of You by Polly Dugan

Two young women who've dated the same man navigate love, destiny, loss, and choice in this powerful debut.

Anna Riley and Anne Cavanaugh have had a lover in common, but it's not until a pivotal moment in one of their lives that their paths unforgettably converge. "Beautiful and connected in unexpected ways...." (Jodi Angel), the linked stories in So Much a Part of You "read like whispered secrets." (Scott Nadelson)

Peter Herring was the center of Anne's universe in college, and now, a few years later, he's become the center of Anna's, and merely a minor player in his ex-girlfriend's world. That is, until Peter and Anna are invited into Anne's parents' home to visit with her dying mother, and he finds himself drawn back into her orbit. Years later, when her own mother is dying, Anna will find herself yearning to reach out to Anne, with whom she had shared such a brief but intimate bond, and find solace in that moment from long ago.

Perspective evolves with time, and so with time, what Peter means to each woman-as lover, as friend, as connection to the past-also evolves. Through exploring Anne's and Anna's ties to Peter and unfolding the narratives of the people who weave meaningfully in and out of their lives, Polly Dugan reveals the power of family secrets, the ripple effects of her characters' emotional choices, and how poignantly their intertwined relationships shape who they are and how they love. 

Sometimes when I read a book it is a reminder to READ THE SYNOPSIS before you start reading. I admit, the cover drew me in. 

At about 30% I was ready to call it quits, but then I kept going. And for about 30 percent more I was intrigued. Glad I kept writing. Then At about 80%, I was like... really? why did I keep reading?

Probably what most of you are thinking right now. 

I didn't realize that it was 6 stories that tie into 'one' story. Usually I am a fan of these stories, seeing how everyone is interconnected. However, I found some (alright more than half) of the stories a waste.  I liked the Peter/Anne/Anna story, but the rest (especially the animal shelter one) didn't really flow... That they were just there because one name was in common, but really they had nothing to offer.

And because of such short stories; I felt no connection to any of the characters. Again, the most I felt was with Peter/Anne/Anna, because the story was the longest.

I kind of wish I trusted my instinct and stopped at 30%. 

Book Review: Scratch by Rhonda Helms

In her DJ booth at a Cleveland dance club, Casey feels a sense of connection that's the closest she ever gets to normal. On her college campus, she's reserved, practical-all too aware of the disaster that can result when you trust the wrong person. But inexplicably, Daniel refuses to pay attention to the walls she's put up. Like Casey, he's a senior. In every other way, he's her opposite. 

Sexy, open, effortlessly charming, Daniel is willing to take chances and show his feelings. For some reason Casey can't fathom, he's intent on drawing her out of her bubble and back into a world that's messy and unpredictable. He doesn't know about the deep scars that pucker her stomach - or the deeper secret behind them. Since the violent night when everything changed, Casey has never let anyone get close enough to hurt her again. Now, she might be tempted to try.

(Received via netgalley for an honest review)

This was a very quick read. Which was exactly what I was looking for on snowy day.

Casey has a dark past, something she has to live with every day. This prevents her from becoming to emotionally close to anybody, and as a results lives a pretty secluded life.  This  isn't to say Casey was boring. She went to university, has weekly meals with her grandparents (not painting a pretty good picture of her boring life), and she DJs.

However, as there is always one person for everyone, Daniel is hers. She pushes him away, but he keeps coming back. Eventually they find common ground and trust.  

EVENTUALLY, she tells her story. Which is another way to keep people reading till the end. You know something bad happens, but you only get little snippets at a time.

Man, did I just want to shake her and tell her to grow up and to let people in.  By allowing herself to open up, it wold allow her to heal. To accept that she had a shitty, unforgettable, and horrific experience (that no one should have to go through). 

While I only gave this 3.5 stars, it is because I wanted more. I felt like there could have been more depth in growing the characters. 

I am not going to go out and say that I would recommend you to run out and buy it, but if it happens to be laying around and you want something to pass the time, why not read it.The one thing I enjoyed was at the end of the book, Rhonda provided a playlist for Spotify - which I thought was pretty cool. 

Book Review: Now I See You by Nicole C. Kear

At nineteen years old, Nicole C. Kear's biggest concern is choosing a major--until she walks into a doctor’s office in midtown Manhattan and gets a life-changing diagnosis. She is going blind, courtesy of an eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, and has only a decade or so before Lights Out. Instead of making preparations as the doctor suggests, Kear decides to carpe diem and make the most of the vision she has left. She joins circus school, tears through boyfriends, travels the world, and through all these hi-jinks, she keeps her vision loss a secret.

When Kear becomes a mother, just a few years shy of her vision’s expiration date, she amends her carpe diem strategy, giving up recklessness in order to relish every moment with her kids. Her secret, though, is harder to surrender - and as her vision deteriorates, harder to keep hidden. As her world grows blurred, one thing becomes clear: no matter how hard she fights, she won’t win the battle against blindness. But if she comes clean with her secret, and comes to terms with the loss, she can still win her happy ending. 

Received via net galley for free in exchange for an honest review.

Another memoir about someone I don't know. I really need to stop being nosey.  Some guilty pleasure of mine for sure.  Even when I googled her name, nothing came up that was like "ding ding ding thats her"

The topic intrigued me though. I mean, what if you were just going in for your regular eye check up and BAM you're going blind. And this type of blind isn't going to happen overnight, its going to gradually happen. I think maybe sometimes it might have been better if it just happened. That way you have to accept it. Not push it to the side for the pity party to be 5 years in the making.

I wish she would have asked for help. To tell people what was happening. Although that being said, I don't think I would have been upfront about it either. Because thats all you will be to people.  A blind chick.

I also really liked the crass language. No fucks given.

So yes I do recommend it, you don't have to know who she is to enjoy it.

BOOK Review Compilation : Noise, The Obsession, The Murder Farm

I'm lacking a bit with the book reviews, my apologies. So to speed things up I am going to do 3 in one. That's right. Three. The only thing they have in common are they all received 2.5 stars. And all were given to me for free via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The three books are:

Noise by Brett Garcia Rose
The Obsession by Liliana Lee
The Murder Farm by Andrea Maria Schenkel




The world is an ugly place, and I can tell you now, I fit in just fine. 

Lily is the only person Leon ever loved. When she left a suicide note and disappeared into a murky lake ten years ago, she left him alone, drifting through a silent landscape. 

Or did she? 

A postcard in her handwriting pulls Leon to the winter-cold concrete heart of New York City. 

What he discovers unleashes a deadly rage that has no sound. 

A grisly trail of clues leads to The Bear, the sadistic Russian crime lord who traffics in human flesh. The police—some corrupt, some merely compromised—are of little help. They don’t like Leon’s methods, or the mess he leaves in his wake. 

Leon is deaf, but no sane person would ever call him disabled. He survived as a child on the merciless streets of Nigeria. He misses nothing. He feels no remorse. The only direction he’s ever known is forward. 

He will not stop until he knows. Where is Lily? -goodreads

First, I picked this book to review on the cover art. I found it so invigorating. Maybe that's the wrong word. But it drew me in. And that's about the only thing this book has going for it. 

It had potential. The synopsis was very intriguing. But, all through reading this I was like, hmm he's a very angry individual who needs to get some help. And help that doesn't include punching and/or killing a guy

It was cool that they used a deaf guy as the main character, but I just couldn't help wonder...why? It made no difference. Maybe that's why though. And also he kept saying that he was the way he was because he was from Africa. I'm not from Africa, but that kind of seems like a vast generalization. 

She thinks she's in control...but he's about to prove to the haughty princess that she is the plaything.

Princess Shanyin has a harem of male concubines to serve her every sexual fantasy, but from the moment she sees the handsome Chu Yuan, she has to have him. At her request, the Emperor gives the aristocrat over to Shanyin for her pleasure, setting off a power play of sensual torment and dominance between them. Trapped in Shanyin’s harem for ten days, will the proud Yuan surrender to his own dark desires, or will he turn the tables on the wicked and depraved princess? - goodreads

Alright. The Obsession. Well for one the Princess is obsessed with the sex. I mean, she felt that because her brother had concubines, she should too. Enter 30 sex slaves. This is a small number compared to her brothers 120 though. So don't think she is a complete slut.  She just likes loves it.  

Anyways, there is this one soldier who caught her eye, and he said no to her. Well this just doesn't sit well with her. She orders him to be hers for 10 days. He isn't one of the slaves, so he actually doesn't have to do anything, but he 'agrees' too.  It's the classic case of you want what you can't have. He is very adamant about not having sex with her, everything else is fair game though, or so it seems. 

I did enjoy that it had some back story though, and you kind of got to see into the trouble mindset of the Emperor being drunk with power. I can't pinpoint exactly what I didn't like about the book. Nothing really stood out and it isn't very memorable to me.  I read it just to finish it, and while it left a bit of a cliffhanger, I don't think I will be reading the next installment.

 

"The Murder Farm" begins with a shock: a whole family has been murdered with a pickaxe. They were old Danner the farmer, an overbearing patriarch; his put-upon devoutly religious wife; and their daughter Barbara Spangler, whose husband Vincenz left her after fathering her daughter little Marianne. She also had a son, two-year-old Josef, the result of her affair with local farmer Georg Hauer after his wife's death from cancer. Hauer himself claimed paternity. Also murdered was the Danners' maidservant, Marie. 

An unconventional detective story, "The Murder Farm" is an exciting blend of eyewitness account, third-person narrative, pious diatribes, and incomplete case file that will keep readers guessing. When we leave the narrator, not even he knows the truth, and only the reader is able to reach the shattering conclusion -goodreads

This book had potential. Although everything in the synopsis is what happened. 

I enjoyed the way this book was written through the various people who were part of the case. It was definitely different that way.

 

It was an okay short and quick read. I just feel like it could have been a bit more in the way of character development. I would have liked it to be longer if we got to know the Danner family more than what was written. I didn't care that they all got butchered.  Although it sounded like Mr. Danner deserved it.
 

 

 

 

Embarrasing Moment and a book review of I Like You Just The Way I Am - Jenny Mollen

For today's blogtober prompt, we are asked to talk about our most embarrassing moment.

 I get really flustered easily. And when I know I have to put myself out there I get major anxiety to the point where I just don't do anything. That being said, I can't really remember any huge embarrassments.  Major cop out hey?

Sure that time I got walked in on by parents. That sucked.  Or when I shit my pants. That hugely sucked. But I got over it. Actually no, it still burns in my mind... so  ya....  there it is.

So, speaking of embarrassing moments, this memoir Jenny Mollen wrote is full of them

This was another case of "I have no idea who this person is but lets read their memoir" 

And I'm glad I did. 

It was hilarious. I really don't know what else to say other than that.  Its a great, easy, laugh out loud read that I recommend for sure.

So, other than that stellar review what should I tell you? 

My favourite stories were the bachelorette party and the stalking therapist one. Again, you will just have to go and read them for yourself. She doesnt' hide away her crazy, and that's what makes it funny. And she is bat shit crazy at times.


“Something about having been with the same man made me feel especially close to her-like she and I had a shorthand that only people who'd had the same penis inside them could understand.” 


Also, go follow Jenny's twitter and instagram feed. Hilarious as well.


Synopsis: Jenny Mollen is an actress and writer living in Los Angeles. She is also a wife, married to a famous guy (which is annoying only because he gets free shit and she doesn’t). She doesn’t want much from life. Just to be loved—by everybody: her parents, her dogs, her ex-boyfriends, her ex-boyfriends’ dogs, her husband, her husband’s ex-girlfriends, her husband’s ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriends, etc. Some people might call that impulse crazy, but isn’t “crazy” really just a word boring people use to describe fun people? (And Jenny is really, really fun, you guys!) In these pages, you’ll find stories of Jenny at her most genuine, whether it’s stalking her therapist (because he knows everything about her so shouldn’t she get to know everything about him?); throwing a bachelorette party so bad that one of the guests is suspected dead; or answering the eternal question,Would your best friend blow your husband on a car ride to dinner if she didn’t know you were hiding in the backseat?

I Like You Just the Way I Am is about not doing the right thing—about indulging your inner crazy-person. It is Jenny when she’s not trying to impress anyone or come across as a responsible, level-headed member of society. With any luck it will make you better acquainted with who you really are and what you really want. Which, let’s be honest, is most likely someone else’s email password.- 

(received via netgalley for an honest review)

Party Games by R.L Stine - Book Review

Figured this was an appropriate book to review before Halloween. The return of R.L.Stine and his Fear Street series.

Her friends warn her not to go to Brendan Fear's birthday party at his family's estate on mysterious Fear Island. But Rachel Martin has a crush on Brendan and is excited to be invited. Brendan has a lot of party games planned. But one game no one planned intrudes on his party—the game of murder. As the guests start dying one by one, Rachel realizes to her horror that she and the other teenagers are trapped on the tiny island with someone who may want to kill them all. How to escape this deadly game? Rachel doesn't know whom she can trust. She should have realized that nothing is as it seems… on Fear Island.- goodreads











And well... I have to say the 12 year old in me who loved Fear Street was a little disappointed. Granted I have matured quite a bit with my reading skill level, I just hoped that the nostalgia would carry me through it. It did, but not really.

Rachel has a crush on Brendan. Brendan invites her to a party on an island. Her friends warn her not to go.  Rachel goes. Within minutes of getting off the boat to the island, someone is hurt, most likely dead. That's when my spidey senses woulda been, you know lets head back to the mainland where there is a hospital, not oh well...hopefully my party will get better? But... Brendan likes games. He wants all of his parties to feature somethign that everyone will remember. The injured boat driver apparently is not enough.

Enter game. Enter all the spooky, scary, death stuff that one comes to know with reading Fear Street.


I am glad that R.L. Sitne is back, if only that the younger generation can now get the shit scared out of them. Although, maybe they should stick to the older books....


3 stars... for nostalgia

Exposed by Jessica Love- Book Review

  You don't think we've met? We have, more than once. I sat next to you once at the airport, and you asked me what time it was. I hoped you wanted to strike up a conversation. We sat at tables next to each other at that coffee shop on the corner, where the atmosphere and coffee both have character. 

Remember when I caught you staring at me when I came out of the court house? Or was it the exquisite old building where I practice law? You were embarrassed, but I didn't mind at all. In fact, you made me smile. 

Maybe we met at one of the “special clubs” I enjoy in Seattle, or Portland, or Vancouver or San Francisco, Denver or Las Vegas. You know, clubs where clothing is optional and anything goes, with friends or with strangers. I admit I like that, but “no” always means “NO.” 
I’ve been told I am as cold as the antarctic, or as hot as a black sand beach in the Caribbean; it’s said I am either indifferent, or too passionately engaged. These are labels and don’t really matter to me any more. I’ve been called a slut, a force, a lawyer, a nymphomaniac. You decide which one was the insult if you'd like, I don’t really care. This book is about who I am and why I’m that way. I describe a few events in a story you will think explains everything. It does not, but will give you an idea of how I grew up, how I discovered sex, what I like about men and what I don’t, how close I came to being murdered and how that led to my discovery of who I really am. 



Sometimes, when explanations fail, story is all we have. And though my story may be very different from yours, you and I are very much alike in that place where we hide our desire.

 (Received this book via netgalley for an honest review)

3 stars.

That was a very long winded synopsis for this book. But basically it sums up what this book is about.

I give this books 3 stars, because I really enjoyed the beginning of it. Then it somehow lost my interest. I think the beginning was enticing, because she kept giving us little snippets of her past, and saying how these certain (sexual) escapades made her who she is today. A very successful lawyer who likes to participate in group sex at a 'secret' club.  All fine and dandy... The problem I had was that the emphasis she placed on her past voyeuristic sexcapades making her a bad seed and everything, didn't really come into play later into the novel... Or maybe it did and I just skimmed through those parts?  I just felt like there as a discontinuity with why she liked fucking in public and the whole reason to her law mission... 

I didn't even realize that Jessica Love was the 'author' of this book.  So, the story may be more 'true' than it is let on as well...  Or just a clever marketing ploy.

So all in all, it was a decent read. But not great. I kept reading just to see what would happen, then ... nothing... 

"Everything passes. everything weary, everything breaks"

Hush by Anne Frasier - BOOK REVIEW

It's criminal profiler Ivy Dunlap's job to unravel the psyches of the most dangerous men alive. None haunts her dreams more than the killer who took her son's life sixteen years ago, then silently disappeared into the dark. Now an urgent request for help from the Chicago police has reawakened Ivy's greatest nightmare. 

The Madonna Murderer has returned to fulfill his calling. This time Ivy understands the killer instinct. She knows what man is capable of. This time she's ready to confront her deepest fear, face-to-face. For the very last time.. - goodreads

(received via netgalley for an honest review)

First... how great is that cover. 

Secondly... I give this book 5 stars. 

The Madonna Murderer has resurfaced (although we don't know why) and Ivy Dunlap is called back into the scene. She is a criminal profiler, and this one hits close to home. As she was one of his victims. 16 years ago.  The MM targets single mothers (who he deems as whore) and baby boys.   She is partnered with Max Irving, homicide detective with a teenage adopted son.  I am SO glad that there wasn't a romantic sideline to this story between the two, sure the novel hinted at it a bit, but it was not the main focus.

The pace was fast, and the character development was very well written. You felt a connection with every person, even those people who only had 3 pages dedicated to them. I know this may sound weird, but my favourite character was the serial killer. I enjoyed how Frasier characterized him and got into his past a little into why he possibly went to this type of lifestyle, definite mother issues.

It was a great read that kept me turning the pages long into the night, which is a huge plus for any thriller type book. I just wanted to know how it would end! Sure it was predictable at times, but also not at all. (How's that for a succinct review?)

Go read this book if you like crime thrillers!

 

Night After Night by Lauren Blakely - Book Review

Their world was sex, love, and lies.
He intoxicated her. Commanded. Consumed.
With a dirty mind and a mouth to match, Clay Nichols is everything Julia never knew she wanted and exactly what she cannot have. He walked into her life one night and unlocked pleasure in her that she never knew was possible. Possessing her body, captivating her every thought. Which makes him way too dangerous for Julia to risk her heart, given that she has a price tag on her head. She ran after one mind-blowing week with him, but now he's back, and determined to make her his own.
No matter the cost.
She was a sexy drug to him. Fiery, unforgettable, and never enough, Julia is an enigma, and Clay isn't willing to let her go without a fight. But she's got dark secrets of her own that threaten to destroy any chance of happiness. She's a wanted woman - the stakes are high, her every move is watched, and yet the lure between them can't be denied. Can two people burned by love trust again when desire and passion are met by danger at every turn? - goodreads


(Received via netgalley in exchange for an honest review)

The copy I recieved had a prequel. Called The First Night. I really don't know why this just wasn't the first couple of chapters in Night After Night, but whatever...the whole thing with novellas bother me if you are just going to write 3 parts anyways... But I digress.

Clay is a lawyer. He likes the control in the bedroom. He hates liars, due to his ex-gf being a crack addict. or something. 

Julia is a bartender. She likes control in the bedroom, but she also likes giving up control. She has a big secret. She also carries handcuffs in her purse. Although this seems to conflict the whole " I haven't had sex in a year" line---see:liar.

Can you see where the plot is going? It didn't get there in this installment. I assume that it will be talked about in the 3rd installment, called After this Night.

Anyways... 

They both like the hot sex. While it wasn't the hottest, it definitely wasn't tame. I mean, I did read it in one sitting. The turn-off was some of the dirty talk though. I mean, I get your coming and you can't come until she comes, but you wont' let her come until you say its okay to come. made me not want to come. 

The characters, I think this is the first time where I actually liked the male more. And I wish it was in his POV for the majority. I felt for him. He didn't want to have liars in his life, and now he is getting into one big one.  He just came off as a good guy.

For a quick, steamy wanna forget about responsibilities pick up this book. I think it would be great for a beach read. 

BOOK REVIEW: Drunk Mom by Jowita Bydlowska

Three years after giving up drink, Jowita Bydlowska found herself throwing back a glass of champagne like it was ginger ale. "It's a special occasion," she said to her boyfriend. And indeed it was. It was a party celebrating the birth of their first child. It also marked Jowita's immediate, full-blown return to alcoholism and all that entails for a new mother who is at first determined to keep her problem a secret. 

Her trips to liquor stores are in-and-out missions. Perhaps she's being paranoid, but she thinks people tend to notice the stroller. Walking home, she stays behind buildings, in alleyways, taking discreet sips from a bottle she's stored in the diaper bag. She know she's become a villain: a mother who drinks; a mother who endangers her child. She drinks to forget this. And then the trouble really starts.

Jowita Bydlowska's memoir of her relapse into addiction is an extraordinary achievement. The writing is raw and immediate. It places you in the moment--saddened, appalled, nerve-wracked, but never able to look away or stop turning the pages. With brutal honesty, Bydlowska takes us through the binges and blackouts, the self-deception and less successful attempts to deceive others, the humiliations and extraordinary risk-taking. She shines a light on the endless hunger of wanting just one more drink, and one more again, while dealing with motherhood, anxiety, depression--and rehab.

Her struggle to regain her sobriety is recorded in the same unsentimental, unsparing, sometimes grimly comic way. But the happy outcome is evidenced by the existence of this brilliant book: she has lived to tell the tale - goodreads

(Received through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Confession: I love reading memoirs of people I have no idea who they are. I guess I am just nosey.  I find it so compelling to read someone elses' story, especially one like this that takes some guts to write. 

On that note; Drunk Mom is a great read. Its brutally honest, at times cringe worthy, but that is what makes it special.

I'm not a mom, or a drunk. But I do love myself a glass of wine. And some of the descriptions she gives, also ring true to me (and I'm sure to any other social drinker). I found it very interesting to see exactly how far people go to hide something. Hiding beer in diaper bags, going out of your way to throw the empty bottles out.  You know your doing something wrong when you go though that length. 

A kudos and a slap in the face to her boyfriend.  He is either very very dumb or very very passive.  If I was in his position, I would have walked out countless times, but he gets a high five for being there for their son. 

This memoir also shows how much it is the persons choice and want in order to become sober. All of a sudden something switched in Jowita's mind that she needed to, and more importantly, wanted to become sober. She said she was attending meetings before, but was never 100% into stopping drinking. So of course she relapsed. 

My only concern about this memoir, is that it was written only a short while after Jowita is sober (again). I hope that by writing this memoir was therapeutic to her and allows her to stay on the sober train, if not for herself, for her son.

For a memoir, go read this. Its very enlightening, and I couldn't put the book down until I scrolled all the way to the end. Plus the cover is pretty awesome. 

“There's this parallel, perhaps less conscious desire, which is to numb myself to the world. To deal with the world tomorrow. Living is difficult. Dying is difficult.”