Dark Wild Night by Christina Lauren

Lola and Oliver's marriage might have only lasted a handful of hours, but even after they ended it their friendship remained. Both are so comfortable around each other and see their friendship being perfect... So why ruin a good thing?

I feel like I say this every time I read one of their books... But this just became my favorite Christina Lauren book. 

Dark Wild Night continues to follow the story of what happens after three friends go to Vegas and end up marrying three men they met while there. This time we follow Lola and Oliver.

I can't even start to express how much I loved these two characters. Lola is completely different from any other female lead they have given us in the past. First off Christina Lauren often write these bubbly strong in your face leading ladies you love, but this time they give us Lola. She is a shy-timid-a tiny bit antisocial writer of a recently opted for film graphic novel. Like serious, how can I not like her!?! She reads and writes badass comics! Speaking of comics it brings us to our lead male... Oliver. The steamy Aussie that owns his own comic book store. Y'all not only is Lola my favorite female, Oliver is my favorite male. He is perfection! He had me realizing that we don't have nearly enough nerdy leading guys in books. The last time I got an adorable nerdy boo was Simon and that was way back when City of Bones came out... LITERARY WORLD WE ARE LACKING IN NERDY MALE LEADS PLEASE CHANGE THIS!!! Because Oliver yall... GOOD GOD, is so yummy. Has me head over heels!

The relationship between these two is next level lovey. I love that it's usually the girl having to work around the guys hectic work schedule in books like these, but in this one they flipped it and strayed away from a pattern that would be easy to fall into. They have a leading lady who is owning her job and her success and a man who is fully ready to support. Plus they highlighted something so very important, feminism. Yeah you read that right! They manage to bring up feminism in a new adult romance book, and they do it flawlessly! Lola stances on how people interview her had me wanting to jump straight into this book and high-five the shit out of her! Bold move CL, very bold move; loved it. Oh and major props on the massive amount of comic book references! They had me so giddy about all the little bits they added in. Everything from the Sex Criminals reference to the hilarious DareDevil movie joke completely sealed the deal. They also continue to break the norm by giving us a leading man who isn't an A-hole turns nice guy. Yeah, I love those stories as much as the next, but it's great when the nice guy doesn't finish last. Oh and I know that most of the secondary characters are ones we've seen before but I can't post this review and not talk about Not-Joe. He has to be one of my all time favorite side characters. Every scene he is had me dying!!!! Every bizarre comment that leaves is mouth kills and brings the best comic relief.

This story is such a feel good read and keeps that feeling the whole time. All the sexual tension will have you frantically flipping through pages to find out what will happen next. From page one you'll be cheering for these two love birds and their unique flirty friendship too turn into something more. I loved that this book took a different direction plot wise than the two previous ones. It wasn't about waiting for a plot twist bomb to drop, it was all about the building of a relationship. All about taking a friendship to the next level. I know how much people love the Beautiful Bastard Series but in my opinion the Wild Season Series surpasses it. It has such a hilarious concept and then these two back it up. These two writers get romance and have yet to let me down.

I loved this friends to lovers second chance romance story. This is a summer must read.

10/10 Stars
-Angela 
 

Lovely Vicious Series by Sara Wolf

Seventeen-year-old Isis Blake hasn’t fallen in love in three years, nine weeks, and five days, and after what happened last time, she intends to keep it that way. Since then she’s lost eighty-five pounds,changed her wardrobe/hair, and moved to the nowhere Ohio to help her mom escape a bad relationship. All the girls in her new school want one thing and that's Jack Hunter. The only thing Isis fells for him is her fist against his face... and now it's game on.

I fell upon this book after seeing the reviews and I knew it would be a book I'd read in the near future... Seeing the cover had me move it too the top of my list... I Cover Lusted hard for books one and two. Oddly, even though this isn't a perfect book series, I'm pretty sure it's the one that just got me out of my reading slump.

The Lovely Vicious Series was surprisingly good! The lack of polish is actually what won me over with this read. The story follows two main characters. Isis and Jack. When I first started this series I thought, "Jack is a great character and all... Like Jack you're cool, BUT DAMN! Isis stole the show!", She is amazing! I haven't laughed that loud while reading in so long. Isis is the "ex-fat girl" who has recently moved to a new town. She winds up at one of the parties the popular girl from school throws. While at this party she ends up sticking up for a girl that our leading male, Jack, is making fun of. By sticking up for I mean she punches him in the face. AND IT IS AMAZING! From then on out Isis and Jack are in a prank war. Isis though a little insecure, due to being burned in the past, is still a strong leading protagonist. Doesn't hurt that everything she says is hilarious!

“Did you have fun? How many boys did you make out with?” She asks. “Seventy. At least.” “How many shots did you take?” “Fourteen. I let go of the wheel halfway home and Jesus drove me the rest of the way.” 

For the most part she oozes confidence. I absolutely love that she doesn't take bullying laying down. She stands up for herself and doesn't let the haters get her down. I love that she says everything she's thinking, and every time she thinks out loud I died... Just so funny. I liked that even through all that witty banter she finds ways to slip really quotable beautiful lines in. Jack is your typical Ya hottie. He is the Ice Prince that leaves a trail of broken hearts all while looking like an Abercrombie model. Their relationship was something I would usually complain about because there is a lot of build too it, but I really enjoyed their banter and overall loath for one another. The sub characters like Wren, Kayla, Sophia, and Avery I personally didn't care for. Kayla is Isis' only friend, Avery is her enemy, Sophia is Jacks kind of gf, and Wren is the nerd. That's all you really need to know about them. Sophia does become a little more important in book two but I still stand behind not caring about any of them. I will admit that as the series went on my point of view on the leading characters changed. Books one and two I was in love with Isis, but by book three I was over her. Jack however I loved by the end. Book three really made him stand out. I didn't think he was swoon worthy till the second half of Brutal Precious (book 3). He stole my heart in that last novel.

“Living is really weird. You never get used to it. But it happens anyway. And sometimes you find things that make it a little more comfortable, and you try to hold on to those things, and the tighter you hold, the faster they slip away.”

As far as the plot went I thought it was enjoyable. It stayed constant. I will say that if it wasn't for Isis in Lovely Vicious and in Savage Delight and Jack's development in Brutal Precious I would have had a laundry list of complaints about it. The bullying aspect was a little much. Some parts of the story

become a little too convenient. Any and everything involving the principal got on my nerves. Along with any part about Isis' ex, Will... And the story for the most part is rather predictable. Even with all that I still enjoyed reading it. For the most part I knew what the big secrets were, and I saw most of the endings events coming... I did not see that last few sentences in book one or two occurring however.

I mean seriously when everything starts happening at the end of Savage Delight I was like "WTF?! NO SARA NO! YOU CAN'T DO WHAT I THINK YOU'RE ABOUT TO DO! NO! WAIT NO!!!!!!" The ending of book two, of all three, was my favorite. It got really deep and ended wonderfully. I do think that book one and two were way stronger than book three, and I wanted more out of the last book. With how the first two ended I was hoping to be wowed by the finale. Sadly, I got an ending I saw coming and was a little underwhelmed. I do think the great thing about this series was it left me wanting more and had me wanting to finish the series. Again I wish they would have gotten stronger as it continued, there were a lot of predictable moments, but the way Sara Wolf writes will have me reading her writing in the future. Overall I was pleased with this book and it gave me the push I need to rock out April.

8/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Revisit a book: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was by accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. The world is in shambles and no one has time to worry about the 17 year old girl. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war and The Reestablishment has changed its mind about her... Maybe Juliette is more than an untouchable body. They're seeing her with new eyes, and seeing her as a weapon.

Leah and I decided around the end of last year that we were going to try to do this thing where we go back and read books that we loved and see if we still feel the same way about them after so much time. I figured since I'm currently waiting on a book shipment this would be the perfect time to pick up an oldie. Decided my first one this year would be Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. I've seen this book popping up here and there again, and a lot on insta lately. Shatter Me is a book I read end of 2013 begging of 2014 (give or take some time). After reading it I gave it a five star rating and threw it on my all time favorites shelf. I wont lie either after all this time and after you finish a series, all the books involved in it kind of run together. So I remembered what happened in the series but couldn't remember what happened in which book.

So after all this time do I still love it? Do I still feel the same about it? Is it still one of my all time favorites? 

The answer too those question is YES. 

I looked up my old review for this book one goodreads and re read it to jog my memory... and decided that I'm going to post the review that I wrote for that and put a few alterations in it. Because there are a few minor things I need to add...

Breathtaking, wonderful, and stunning.... I could use any of those words to describe this series but they would all be understatement. Mafi's writing is beyond refreshing and unique. It's something so hard to describe or even put into words, and I know that my review wont do it true justice.

I found myself drowning in her words and not wanting to come up for air. I wanted the waves of her writing to crash over me and pull me further and further out. I'm pretty sure I held my breath the whole time I was reading this series (which might I add at the time I finished in less than two days).  Never has a writer made me fall so in love with characters and made me feel like whatever happened to them was happening to me. Her characters will steal your heart and soul. Juliette will make you feel empowered and brave. Adam will make you remember what love feels like. Warner will show you everything you secretly want and OH BOY WILL YOU WANT IT, and Kenji will be the friend you've always wanted.

The characters are truly on a level all their own. We all know it's one thing to fall in love with a character(s) but it's a whole other thing to fall in love with a writing style. Mafi's writing had me head over heels. Every single sentence could be quoted. It's one lyrical and poetic verse after another.

“My body is a carnivorous flower, a poisonous houseplant, a loaded gun with a million triggers and he's more than ready to fire.”   

I could go on for days... weeks... no years about this book. I would go so into detail and fine tooth comb and break down every chapter if I could, but I wont because I would never want to tarnish, or give out any details to someone who hasn't had the chance to read this masterpiece, because that's what this series is. It's the Mona Lisa of ya novels. A slight mysterious smile that you can't turn away from. It makes you want to scream out loud and kiss Tahereh's forehead and thank her for writing something so on point. so on point. I could read this book again and again with no shame. The plot never slows down, the sub characters will sweep you are your feet, and the "OMG" moments are always short of small. The only thing I really need to change from my original review is I remember more of an OMG moment at the ending, and I don't fully remember why I freaked out as much as I did. It doesn't really end on a cliffhanger, but even that being said I am still completely in love with how it did end.

I could seriously keep going, but I'll spare you the novel of a review I could write and leave you with this.....
You know how you meet someone with such passion for what they do and all you can think is "wow, this person was born to do this" well Tahereh Mafi was meant to be a writer, and I'm SO very thankful that she is! Thanks for the permanent goose bumps, tears, laughs, and never ending book hang over that you have rewarded me with. I am forever in your debt. Even after a year plus you  made me fall in love all over again. So, I'm pretty sure at this point in time I don't really need to say if I still did or didn't love this novel...

10/10 Stars
-Angela

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkosi

"I leap without feet to land, my cloth head is filled with sand. I have no wings, yet try to fly... what am I?"...

The second and dramatic second book two of The Winner's Curse series perhaps mmmmm.....

I was very, very lucky to get an Arc of The Winner's Crime. This book is set to come out March, 2015. With the approach of this books release date coming up fast I figured I would re-post this review since 1) I got this ARC forever ago and 2) because I originally posted it right when our blog started.

I know that when it comes to reading books I only care about one true thing, and that is how the book ends. I REPEAT: IT'S ALL ABOUT THAT ENDING! Doesn't matter if it's the first book or last book in a series. If you don't bring a strong ending then don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya... The thing Marie Rutkoski doesn't disappoint on is book endings. The Winner's Crime is no different.

TWC starts off where the first book left off. Krestle is still set to marry the Valoria's crown prince in an ever so awk marriage arrangement. She's still struggling between what is right and what is wrong; who to trust and where her true alliance lies. (Even I still don't know whose side I'm on). Marie Rutkoski isn't just skilled at book ending she's amazing at dropping oh so subtle hints that are usually closely followed by "WTF" moments. This book is sprinkled like a cupcake with surprises that I can't wait for you all to get a taste of.

This book is however very much a second book in a trilogy. It has moments that are a little slower. As usual you know that they are there to lay so much ground work for what will be coming in the next book. The thing I love about this story is Krestle isn't at all your usual suspect as far as ya fem heroines go. She isn't a dagger slinging, muscle having, archery shooting wild women. What she has though is something I think we often overlook in stories, and that is brains. Krestle is oozing with smarts. She has a silver tongue and a quick wit that often lets her see things other over look. This make her even more like-able, believable, and more dangerous than most would think. Arin is still a strong, smart, and very like-able leading male in this novel. And yeah he is still as mysterious and grey eyed as in book one (swoon! grey eyes <3333). He also may or may not have several sneaky tricks up his borrowed shirt sleeves.

Something I absolutely loved about this whole novel is the brief and amazing moment Rutkoski has between Krestle and the father she fears she will never be able to impress. The moment is beautiful and is written to perfection. The thing I really craved was more Arin and Krestle moments. This one didn't have as many as I hope for BUT I'm hoping it's because book three will be overflowing with steamy star-crossed lover-ness and I can be super giddy and heart eyed  that whole book. I just want to shake them both and scream "come on and get together already and make beautiful piano playing babies!". Still the main thing I have to say about this book is THE ENDING THE ENDING THE ENDING!!! IT IS PERFECT, and is worth some of the more book building moments, and slower paced scenes. I have NO doubt that the ending of this series will knock my socks off. Add this series to you TBR list.

8.5/10 Stars
-Angela

(The Winner's Crime BookDepo)

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

Sydney becomes captivated by Ridge, her mysterious neighbor from the other side of the apartment complex. She can't stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony. There's also something about Sydney that Ridge can't ignore either. When a series of events brings them together, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one.

"I need someone who is willing to watch me brave the ocean and then dare me not to drown..."

First off December has been the month for good reads. Everything has been so good! Second I've been on a total Colleen Hoover kick. Third I think going into a book completely blank and with the smallest amount of information about the novel is the way to go. 

I picked up Maybe Someday only knowing that it was a story about a girl who falls in love with her musician neighbors and I assumed they hit it off. This book was so surprising. The story and the characters were SO far off from what I thought. All were such a pleasant surprise. 

Sydney and Ridge’s story was so different, and so original. It’s going to be so hard to review this book due to the fact that something right away was such a surprise. I'm going to give NO hint too what it is regarding because not knowing. and the fact that others kept it such a secret really made this story amazing.

This book seriously starts off with face punch. Literally. Sydney catches her boyfriend of two years cheating on her. With her best friend/roommate. When her neighbor broke the news to her about her friends romance she ends up staying with him and hes roommates. The two bond over music and instantly become very close.
She becomes a muse to Ridge, and helps break his writers block. From there a friendship starts to become more than that. 

They however try so hard to keep it platonic, because Sydney clearly just got out of a tough relationship, and because Ridge has been in one of his own for years. This is the thing about Maybe Someday that I loved. It was all about building a friendship then turning into a relationship. It's so hard to say it wasn't a typical relationship because it's not but at the same time it is. The characters are both so well written. I love stories where either the girl is super sassy, and/or the guy is kind of a jerk turned nice guy... Neither of them are these things and I thought I was going to hate that... NOPE. They are nice, compassionate, natural people. 

Colleen Hoover is the Queen Bee of building up stories, sprinkling it with little surprises, then when she thinks you're not looking she reaches into your chest cavity and pulls out your heart.

When she finally has everything presented to you and door A and Bs are set in front of you, you wont know how to feel. This was another one of her books that I didn't think I would end up so upset over, but I was. I was on a roller-coaster of emotions. I didn't think Hoover could surprise me any further than she did with Ugly Love, she managed to do so much more than that. Every sentence down the the very last word was so poetically and beautifully written. Not kidding, the last sentence of this book couldn't have been more perfect. May Someday is yet another book this month that will be moving to the Hall of Fame Shelf. Yes it was just that good. I will continue my Hoover obsession and will be purchasing anything she puts out in the future. 

10/10 Stars 
-Angela

Ugly Love: Colleen Hoover

Ugly Love: Colleen Hoover 

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, in a drunken blaze of glory, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. But that doesn't stop them from being attracted to one another. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for it, so that just leaves the sex. This arrangement could really work out for the both of them, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her: Never ask about the past and don’t expect a future.
They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all. So where will this leave them..?

HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER!!!! MY HEART IS SO PERFECTLY BROKEN! I DON'T THINK I TOOK A BREATH THE WHOLE TIME I READ THIS BOOK! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME COLLEEN HOOVER!!! I HATE YOU BUT I LOVE YOU! YOU RUINED ME AND I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH! 

IF YOU CAN'T GUESS IT BY MY NON STOP CAPS THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO THAN SCREAM "I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!". 

WOW JUST WOW! I DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHEN I'LL GET OVER THIS BOOK HANGOVER.

Ugly Love was nothing like I expected it to be. I excepted it too be like a 50 Shades of Grey fan fiction with just a butt ton of thrown together steamy scenes... No, it wasn't it was so much more. I knew I was going to like Miles (because he sounded so hot), but I had no idea that I was going to love him. That he was going to have an actual back story... That he was going to be actually interesting in a realistic way... I had no idea he was going to break my heart.

All that being said I have a few bookish confessions to make before I really get into the review, I choose to read this book 1) because I heard it was becoming a movie and if there's anything I love nearly as much as reading it's seeing movies 2) because this is who they have playing Miles:

Yeah I didn't notice the dog at first either...

and 3) I also need to admit that I didn't get what was so appealing about this book that it was actually going to become a movie... I get it now. I get all the hype and talk surrounding this book. I have NEVER, EVER, EVER cried so hard in a book. That's the very last thing I thought this book was going to make me do.

The characters in this book felt so real. Tate was naive and normally that would make me wanna punch a B, in her case it made me love her. Unlike most leading ladies she isn't overly sassy, or has incredible lol rebuttals, she was realistic. Her brother Corbin, OMG CORBIN, I loved every single thing about him. He has to be one of my favorite sub characters ever. He was what I imagined a brother would be and even with him not being a constant character just his presence had me. Then there's Miles and he is hands-down the star of this book. The moment you meet him you hate him. He is a mysterious mess and I thought he was going to annoy me fast. He won me over once they started going into his back story. The further they went into it the more I could feel what was coming... Yes, I knew where this story was going and what was going to happen but in no way, shape, or form was I actually prepared for it. I was a blubbering weeping ball of emotions.

The switch between time and POVs was done flawlessly and revealed the perfect information at the perfect time to keep you hooked and wanting more. Colleen set up this story so at first you would only like Miles because of his looks (which I've already made clear I was guilty of)...

"his shirt isn't buttoned. I'm staring at his stomach. Oh my word he has the V. Those beautiful indentations on men that run the length of their outer abdominal muscles, disappearing beneath their jeans as if the indentations are pointing to a secret bull's-eye."

And yes, he is a looker, but by the end I could have cared less about what he looked like. He could have worn a bag over his abs for the last half of the book and my heart would have still been his. The relationship between Tate and Miles is like nothing I have read before. It was something else that really surprised me about this book. Saying it was complicated would be an understatement. I thought that the steamy scenes were going to take up most of this book, but it didn't... Normally that would be something that would make me rank a book lower, but the scenes were so well written and again realistic. They were well placed and well thought out. Just enough to make this book not "too much" which is what had me falling hard for this read, way harder than I anticipated. The scenes are hot though like dump a bucket of water on your head hot. Miles and Tate's conversations roll so smoothly and the moments between them are so; I don't even know a word for them, they're just perfect (that word really doesn't do justice). Not only is he romantic but he made average things so hot.

Orange juice is hot, rugs are hot, scrubs are hot, and curtains are so so hot. whoosh. 

Honestly though the scenes that turned out to be my favorite were just "average scenes", like when they all go and visit Tate and Corbin's family for Thanksgiving. That whole section had to of been my favorite. I loved how I thought this story was going to be Tate's but turned out to be Miles'. I love how I thought this book was going to be a light sexy read but turned out to be a heartbreaking love story. I just loved how everything came together while falling apart.. Because when all Miles story is finally shown and is laid out in it's fullest I was basically like this...

I want to rant and rave even more about this book, but this is something you really need to read and experience for yourself. Ugly Love might just be the biggest surprise read I've had all year. I can't express enough how impressive the characters, plot, and play out of this story are. I didn't think that this book was going to be so hard on me... And yes, it hurt. And yes, it was a total sobbing fest, but that ending... Good golly miss molly.. That ending was perfection. I don't know if I can ever forgive Colleen Hoover for what she did to me, but God dang it I love her so much for it. I didn't see this coming and I've never been so happy to be emotionally slapped in the face like I was reading this.  

THANK YOU COLLEEN HOOVER! You gave me a book hangover that even the strongest ibuprofen couldn't cure.

*please give her a round of applause people* 

10/10 Stars 

-Angela