Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how. Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how. One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love. Wren is quiet and a bit shy, she isn't the trouble maker in the family, the prom queen, or even the jock, she just kind of tows the line and does what is expected of her, she doesn't feel she is the shinning star her siblings seem to be. When Wren meets Grayson a troubled lacrosse player at her family restaurant the chemistry is instant and although their relationship is rocky, they both work really hard to make it work despite all the obstacles that keep getting in their way. I liked and disliked this book equally. This book is in two POV's Wren and Grayson's so you can kind of get what the other is going through at the same time. while it had a sweet love story, I wanted to see more of a building up to a relationship rather than an instantaneous were in love and dating kinda story. I wanted there to be more whoooing. Yeah that's right I just used that phrase! and a little more romance. There always seemed to be something or someone trying to get between them, and some of the situations I didn't really feel matched up with Wren's personality in the way she reacted to those situations. Over all I enjoyed the book but by the end I was ready for it to wrap up, and get all these crappy frienemies out of the way. Again I think this a book a lot of teenagers will like, its got a lot of great characters, and for the most part the flow of the book worked. I think this is a good beach book, and something that most readers could get through pretty fast. I gave this book a 3 out of 5 star rating |
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With his head down, bulling through various assignments to make his version of the American dream a reality, a troubled Marine reaches the end of his rope, only to let go and tumble into a turbulent affair with a high-ranking woman on the fast track to general. The first woman appointed to the US Air Force Academy has built a tinderbox wall around her salacious past and is now one of the good ol' boys on the Inspector General team. What the Marine doesn't know is that he will be the spark to ignite this powder keg of her past and in the end be left alone to rummage through the pieces. This story starts out on the commuter train, the main character Brick takes this commuter train everyday to work. The story is told from Brick pov in a series of flash backs that begin with his childhood, unsuccessful forays in the dating scene and follows him through his life in the military on his quest to be more than mediocre. I will be honest I went back and forth with this book, there were times were I was full of understanding and sympathy for the young boy and at other times frustrated with what seemed like a huge self esteem issue that has followed him through life, and made it seem like he just couldn't catch a break. There were characters I loved and loathed, and thou it took me a while to get through this book, at times I found it a little dry for my taste; with that said I have also been working ridiculous hours at my "real job" and might have just been too tired to really appreciate some of the parts I was reading at that point in time. Over all I thought it was well written and flowed well and never as a reader did I feel out of the loop when the author was describing military terminology or exercises. The author is very direct writing from the male perspective so there is no overly powerful flowery writing, which I will admit as a reader is a nice change. I think the author did a great job getting us into the lead characters head and understanding his life and emotions and why he is the way he is. I gave this book a 3.5 out of 5 star rating I was gifted a copy of this book by the author in exchange for a unbiased review. Title: Dreams of Perfection Author: Rebecca Heflin Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing LLC Release date: May 7, 2014 Page count: 252 Genre: Contemporary romance Best-selling romance writer, Darcy Butler, is holding out for perfection in the form of her own carefully-crafted heroes. Once blissfully engaged to be married, Darcy’s post-traumatic commitment phobia is depriving her of the very thing she wants most: her very own happily-ever-after. Now, here she is just six months shy of her thirtieth birthday, and not a Prince Charming in sight. Successful lawyer, Josh Ryan, is the boy-next-door with a soft spot for the less fortunate, and Darcy’s best friend without benefits. Darcy often comes to him lamenting her love-life, or the lack thereof, whereupon Josh patiently doles out his sage advice. Problem is Josh is in love with Darcy. But when Darcy finds herself looking into the handsome face of the man who graces the cover of her soon-to-be-released novel, she’s convinced her dreams of perfection have come true. Or have they? This is a perfect beach read, or lazy day just to get absorbed in a book that didn't have too heavy of a subject line, which was perfect for me after the heavy subject matter of the last book I read. This book reminded me of a Danielle Steel novel. It was a great story. Girl dreams of Mr Perfect but when Mr Perfect literally falls out of the pages of her most recent novel and shows up at her door, something is missing, while they have fun together, something is missing and she can't quite place it. Its a classic friends turned lovers story the character are spunky and fun, there were a few lulls but nothing that wasn't too off putting. All in all this was a cute fun book to read, that was a perfect distresser after a long day at work. I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. So if you are looking for a feel good read this is probably not your best choice of book, I'll let you know that straight out the gate. Me Before You has a pretty heavy and controversial plot covering the topic of assisted suicide and the morality behind such a heavy decision. This story is deep and moving and while it doesn't have a rosy happily ever after ending you would want or hope for the author remains true to her characters and the story not pulling any punches with this controversial story line. Will Traynor was powerful, successful handsome, and lived each day to the absolute fullest. He loved his life and filled it with adventures, that pushed his strength and stamina; that is until he was the victim of a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down; his once full active, independent life has now become, filled with being cared for daily by his nurse, unable to do the most basic of tasks that we all take for granted. Will is angry, sarcastic, and longs for the life he used to have. Lou Clark is a waitress at a local cafe, happy with the status quo, with no ambitions to leave it; until the owner of the cafe informs her that the cafe will be closing down. Still living at home, Lou helps contribute to the family finances and immediately sets out to find another job, after a string of unsuitable positions. Lou is offered a position as a caregiver on a six month contract that will change her life in ways most unexpected. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story, the characters are flawed but so relateable the majority of the story is done in Lou's pov and we are limited to a few sections of Will's pov which I think was brilliant, so none of us can every really know what was going on in Will's head, how much pain he was in or how miserable he really was trapped inside his now broken body. I found myself thinking about the moral conflicts facing each of these characters and what is right and wrong when you are faced with looking at someone else's point of view, and what I would have done if I were in Will or Lou's shoes. I think the author has done an incredible job getting right into the nitty gritty of the situation and the complexity of emotions going on with all the characters. It was an extremely thought provoking story, one that I am not afraid to admit had me crying, big fat ugly tears, wishing the story had ended differently but knowing that there was no other way for the author to remain so true and authentic any other way. I gave this story a 5 out of 5 star review “Find Me.” These are the words written on Tessa Waye’s diary. The diary that ends up with Wick Tate. But Tessa’s just been found . . . dead. Wick has the right computer-hacking skills for the job, but little interest in this perverse game of hide-and-seek. Until her sister Lily is the next target. Then Griff, trailer-park boy next door and fellow hacker, shows up, intent on helping Wick. Is a happy ending possible with the threat of Wick’s deadbeat dad returning, the detective hunting him sniffing around Wick instead, and a killer taunting her at every step? Foster child. Daughter of a felon. Loner hacker girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare. But she’s going to find this killer no matter what. Because it just got personal. I will be honest it took me a while to really get into this book, I found it started out a little slow for me, and I set it aside for a bit and read something else and then picked it back up when I was ready for it. There were a few glitches with my e copy and the text for some reason was messed up on a few pages so I feel like a might have missed some very important information a long the way so I will definitely be getting another copy as this was missing the final chapters as well >( . Once I got into the book and I was feelin' all the characters I actually blew through this book pretty fast. It was a slow start for me but quickly got interesting when i got in the right frame of mind for the book. Wick is a bit of a loner having had a pretty crappy childhood, she uses her hacking skills (she learned from her conman dad and group of thugs) to hack into peoples lives and find answers for her clients, nobody gets hurt and she is making bank to get her and her sister to a different life. Until her ex best friend Tessa Waye's diary ends up in her possession, with the inscription Find Me written in it. We get small bits about Tessa through her diary entries about the events leading up to her eventual suicide and what prompted her to kill herself, Wick is determined to use her hacking skills to work out who is responsible. This book had a lot of potential to be absolutely great but, the story was slightly predictable and some of the characters fell a little flat for me, I would have liked a little more spark between Griff and Wick, and her foster family was too disconnected to get a real feel for any kind of relationship between them. While I enjoyed the distraction after I got into the book, I found it fell flat of my expectations; from the reviews I had read I was expecting exceptional and I found it was just okay for me. I gave this book a 3 out of 5 star rating. |
Reviewers : Kathy & DiKathy :I love to read. I learned to read at a really early age and was never without something to read growing up. Reading is a cheap easy vacation, when you can become so engrossed in what you are reading that you can see, smell, hear and taste everything in your minds eye. I'm just a ordinary girl living life one page at a time. Archives
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