Taking Chances by Molly McAdams

"Eighteen-year-old Harper has grown up under the thumb of her career marine father. Ready to live life her own way and to experience things she's only ever heard of from the jarheads in her father's unit, she's on her way to college at San Diego State University." -Goodreads

Alright, *cracks knuckles* let's do this.
Taking Chances was like reading Beautiful Disaster all over again. I was past being annoyed. Every single person and event in this book set me off. This book had me laughing... at it, not with it.

Harper is one of the most throat punching females I've read in the longest. She comes from a very sheltered background. VERY ridiculously sheltered. Girl hasn't even gone to a mall before. Yeah, I don't believe it either. I get that your dad is a strict marine guy, but I can't understand why he would want to keep her from a mall. Makes no sense. Then Harper is the type of girl that EVERY guy wants. Every guy must have her. If you've read any NA you know what I'm talking about. When this occurs in books I get so annoyed. Every guy within a ten mile radius turns into a giant caveman just knowing she is close. All the guys that are falling head over for her are dying too: take care of her, protect her, declare their love for her; all while being un-deserving of her at the same time. Why all these men are doing this is beyond me. Harper is boring as watching paint dry. She has no personality and no depth. On to Chase, the tattooed bad boy from the right side of the tracks. He is of course a man-whore, rebel, tough guy. He slores around campus and the ladies just love him and his arrogant ways. Now Brandon. Good god help me. McAdam's had to top the bad boy so she just takes Chase and decides "hey how can I make him better? Give him an amazing personality? Ha, no that would be ridiculous... I'll just make him a hotter version". So what does she do? She of course makes him a quick tempered underground mma street fighter *cough beautiful disaster cough*. She doesn't stop there though she gives him grey eyes... but grey eyes aren't enough! His eyes change colors!!!!! He literately has all the eyes yall! Like I know this is a real thing that can happen... but it's really not at the same time.

So as you can guess there's a love triangle between the three of them. The first 200 plus pages are Chase and Brandon dick measuring, fist fighting, pounding their chest, and practically peeing on Harper to make their turf. Someone is either punching someone or running off in tears. You're probably thinking at this point that Harper is just going to bounce back and forth between the dudes... You're wrong. She starts dating Brandon but is sleeping with Chase... Cool your jets it's not a spoiler. This is where the story goes from bad to worse. The plot starts spiraling out of control.

This is where I start rambling and dropping spoilers! Look away if you don't wanna know.

So Harper is cheating on Brandon and gets knocked up by Chase. She doesn't tell anyone but his family! WHO DON'T EVEN TELL HIM!!! LIKE WTF MOM AND DAD!? Then she sees Chase tell him she broke up with Brandon days ago-which is a lie- continues to keep the baby a secret- finally breaks up with Brandon- Chase stumbles upon the ultra sound because Harper is living with his family. Not him just his family. He gets all lovey and of freaking course wants to marry her. So they start becoming legit and things start to actually get kind of cute, but that last all of like two seconds. A random girl is introduced at the shop Chase works at (failed to mention as a college student he somehow managed to become a full time tattoo artist). So of course this girl is hell-bent on breaking the two up so you guessed it she drugs him at a party, takes pictures of them together, and sends them to Harper. This of course send Harper into a jealous rage. (Don't worry Brandon is there to be a shoulder to cry on) She has a moment with Brandon decides to put on her big girl panties and face Chase. Even though Chase swears he never did anything and doesn't remember it happening Harper still dumps him and says she needs space. He says he loves her and will give her time... He them leaves the house... you flip the page only to find out in the first paragraph that he died right after leaving the house! WTF. Seriously goes straight from the fight to wham dead. This is what really did it in for me... because at this point in time I'm solely reading so I can be fully pissed... After he dies home-girl goes back to Brandon!!! Like with no time passing at all. Chase's family actually convinces her to do it! STFU right???  Wait for it.... Now after all this Harper gets pregnant again. This time it really is Brandon's... here it comes. THE KIDS END UP CALLING CHASE UNCLE CHASE!!!!!!!! UNCLE CHASE!!!! Uncle. Chase. GTFOOH!!!!

If Brandon and Chase were character in a different book, with different settings, and a different plot then they might have stood a chance. I'll be real; I didn't love them but they were alright. Harper and the plot were my biggest issues. There's no doubt McAdam's can write this story was just not my cup of tea.

1/10 Stars
-Angela

Easy by Tammara Webber

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into their sophomore year. After two weeks of being sad and a hermit she wakes up to her new reality... That this really wasn't how she wanted her life to go, but she needs to pick up the pieces and move forward.
So I was told that this book was a lot like Beautiful Disaster... Hmmmm no because it didn't suck. So thanks for almost making me not read this book (you know who you are!).

When I first started reading this I was a little underwhelmed. We have our gloomy leading lady Jackie, who is being all gloomy because she gets dumped by her long time boyfriend, and then almost gets raped at a Halloween party... (Insert leading male rescuer here) When Lucas stop the attack from happening. After this scene all I could think was "Oh its gonna be one of these reads, sigh". I'm sure you all get what I'm referring to and if you don't then you probably don't read enough Ya... Anyways after Lucas rescues her we start actually getting into the story and characters. Jackie is a pretty average character. I only liked her to a certain degree, but I found myself never fully being engaged with her character. Some of her choices through out the story were a little ehhhh in my opinion... Like willing going to places she knew her attacker would be. Also with a lot of situations she was put in I didn't get why she was so compelled to just cave in and go along with things.

Lucas however I favored a little more. I particularly like that he wasn't the typical looking male ya dude. I overall have no true negative to mention about him. The only thing I have to say about him is sometimes I felt like he became a little too convenient... Having him have so many jobs was really unrealistic. Like there aren't enough hours in the day, or week for you two have 10 jobs, tutor kids, volunteer with a womens self defense calls, and go to school! Just can't happen, and sometimes he was doing all those things in one day. BUT, I like his presence and the way he fit into the story. His background story was something I would usually complain about, but how Webber put it into the book actually had me liking it. For the most part I really enjoyed him.

The plot is a little scattered and at some points does feel a little rushed. However I really liked this book and the way the story turned out. I liked that the plot focused a lot on women standing up, banding together, and learning to stand on their own. The best part of not just the plot but with the story was that it did have a very addictive pull to it. I found myself wanting to come back to it after having to set it down, and wanting to know where it was headed.

Even with a few small fumbles, I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I might be a little late to jump on this wagon, but better late than never right?.. Easy wasn't my favorite read but it wasn't a book I felt I suffered though. If you're looking for a fun, quick read, with a good amount of romance this book might just be for you.

7.5/10 Stars
-Angela  

Angela's March Reads

Ahhhh March, you came and went so fast. March was.... well it was a climb reading wise for me. Saying I was in a slump would be an understatement. I couldn't seem too truly get into anything. As usual I had some high highs and low lows. This month I read a total of 20 books. Not my best numbers, but still ahead in my reading. I wasn't as active as I usually am on here or any bookmedia. I had some vacation time this month and just caught up with friends, family, and my home life. It was also my birthday this month so I was rather busy. (Planning on posting my birthday book-haul soon.) Leah and I have been planning some up-coming events so that ate up a lot of time as well. Hopefully I can catch up on some reviews in April. As far as my March reads go, here you have them:

Transparent- Natalie Whipple
Conviction- Kelly Lou Gilbert
My Heart and Other Black Holes- Jasmine Warga
Confess- Colleen Hoover
Hopeless- Colleen Hoover
Maybe Not- Colleen Hoover (Re-Read/Audio Book)
Obsidian- Jennifer L. Armentrout (Re-Read)
Onyx- Jennifer L. Armentrout (Re-Read)
Opal- Jennifer L. Armentrout (Re-Read)
Origin- Jennifer L. Armentrout (Re-Read)
Opposition- Jennifer L. Armentrout (Re-Read)
Beautiful Disaster- Jamie McGuire
To All the Boys I Loved Before- Jenny Han
The Last Time We Say Goodbye- Cynthia Hand
Keep Me Safe- Maya Banks (DNF)
Lovely Vicious- Sara Wolf
Savage Delight- Sara Wolf
Brutal Precious- Sara Wolf   
Sisters of Shiloh-Kathy Hepinstall, Becky Hepinstall Hilliker
We All Looked Up- Tommy Wallach 

My top picks this month are: Confess, Lovely Vicious, and my two re-reads, The Lux Series and Maybe Not. I usually wouldn't pick re-reads in my top picks for wrap-ups but since I was so sluggish with my reading and nothing else really stuck I'm going to go ahead and toss them in. Lovely Vicious was the book to break my reading slump, and I'm sad I read it so late in the month. This book had me laughing hard with it's strong leading lady and catchy one liners. Maybe Not is a book you've recently heard me talking about... I saw recent because I read it last month, and yes again this month. Well listened to it this month. The audio book for Maybe Not is amazing, even the second time around it still had my sides splitting. One of my all time favorites. The Lux Series, yes all five, are making in my top picks because even as a re-read I still loved everything about it. Daemon Black. That's all I need to say. My very top spot goes to Confess. Confess easily made it's way to number one this month, and on to my list of all time favorites. A new March release from Colleen Hoover had me balling in the first ten pages, with an unforgettable ending. Colleen Hoover write life altering books and a favorites list wouldn't be complete without on of her books on it.


My book fails were easy to pick as well. The biggest letdowns were: Transparent, To All the Boys I Loved Before, and Beautiful Disaster. Transparent was a book I was really looking forward to. With it's pitch comparing it to X-men I found myself letdown with its lackluster story and predictability. To
All the Boys I Loved Before was a contemporary read that has a lot of hype following it... I however found the story boring. When I heard a girl writes love letters to her ex loves and then the letters get out I figured the story would be filed with a lot of poetic thoughts and drama. Sadly there was nothing specials about it. And for my biggest disappointment, well I know you all saw this one coming, Beautiful Disaster. Saying it sucked would be going easy on this gross little number. It's not only one of the worst things I've read all month, it's one of the worst things I've read all year. Ugh thinking about it again puts me in a rage.

I'll just stop right there... See y'all in April.

-Angela

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

I haven't been this pissed off reading a book since Bad Romeo. Beautiful Disaster was a cluster eff of a read managing to throw everything I hate in a book into one novel.   
My first issue with this book are the characters. Our leading lady is Abby Abernathy. Then there's our leading man Travis Maddox. I can capture my feels for both of them at the same time. I HATE THEM!!! I CAN'T STAND THEM!!!! Actually that really undersells how I feel towards them but whatever. Abby is DUMB! there's is no other word I can use to describe her. I have never wanted to tear a characters hair out more than hers. She is such a plain character that turns out to be more boring than watching paint dry. It's clear that the writer wanted to make it out to be that Abby would be this special snowflake but it was the fail of fails. Her sub story is that she comes from this terrible up-bringing... Even though the premise behind her tale was set up to be a success it too failed! This brings me to Travis... Oh God I don't even know where to start with this this Patrick Bateman in training. This boy was two shakes of lambs tail away from cutting Abby up and making her into a skin suit. I would gladly let "Mr. Grey see me now" than let him touch me with a ten foot pole. He is creepy, abusive, controlling, scary, unattractive, cocky, and bizarre. This dude is beyond unstable. I also imagine him to be a  mouth breather so that just adds to the growing list of reason I hated him. McGuire writes it so that Travis is this womanizing-college frat-man whore. Girls vagina literately bust out of their pants every time they see him. This causing me to roll my eyes so hard that they almost dislodged from my head!

This leads me to problem two and three with this book. Maybe it's just me (doubtful but maybe) but if I was about to hook up with a dude and I opened his besides table and there was an endless amount of condoms and KY Jelly I would fly out of that room so fast that boy would think he was Dorthy... And if that didn't make up my mind then the fact that he brings home not one, but TWO girls and sleeps with them in the living room while I'M IN HIS BED! would of had me never ever speaking to him again. NO GIRL IN HER RIGHT MIND WOULD HAVE SWEPT THAT UNDER THE RUG! The scene made me want to vomit then drink the cleaning  products under my sink. Travis has major bipolar, drinking, jealousy, and personality issues. Travis also manages to keep Jesus abs the whole time without ever working out... HA NO! 

My fourth issue is the "love triangle"... It slightly reflected the same way the one from Twilight did, as in it was pointless. You never once think that Bella's not going to choose Edward. Never once did you think. "Wow Jacob might actually win the girl", No! that doesn't happen! Why this B would choose the travesty that is Travis over the handsome pre-doctor gentlemen is beyond me... Again Maybe that's just me. On to issue five, NO GUY NO GUY EVER!!!! WITH ANY AMOUNT OF PRIDE, STANDARDS, OR EVEN ONE WITH HALF A BRAIN WOULD LET THE GIRL THEY ARE COURTING SLEEP IN THE BED WITH ANOTHER MAN. You're telling me that you still want to take this girl on a date even though she is living with another man and laying in bed with him every night (no the pre-doc wasn't clueless to these acts)?!?!?! YOU STILL THOUGHT SHE'D END UP WITH YOU?!?! Please GTFOOH! No, there's no way I'm believing this. I also don't believe Abby could be dangling these two dudes by their balls when they both openly know she is bouncing between them like that white ball in a game of pong. Nope, again I just can't!  

My sixth issue is the plot. It's all over the place. It's one spotty scene after another of Travis trying to dick measure with any and every guy. Once I heard this dude had tribal tattoos and was in an underground fight club (did I fail to mention this, YEAH HE IS IN A POOR EXCUSE FOR A FIGHT CLUB!!!) I should have known to put this book down... HMMMM TRAVIS I HATE TO BREAK IT TOO YOU BUT YOU ARE NO BRAD PITT. I also struggled to remember if this was high school or college... They had a set freaking lunch time!!! Did no one else catch that?! Oh and the fact that Travis kept beating the snot out of people with NO repercussions! WHERE THE EFF WAS THE PRINCIPAL DEAN??? OH and don't get me started on the whole high-school musical sing along thing. (Seriously, what the hell did I just read?) No just No!  

My seventh and I think final issue (JK I could probably go on for days) with this book are the sub-characters. America is the worst best friend in history of friends. Shep is the worst family member in the history of the world. The only character that I thought made any sense was Kara!! She was the only character I liked. I kept screaming "THANK YOU!" every time she spoke!  

"Do you know what codependency is, Abby? Your boyfriend is a prime example, which is creepy considering he went from having no respect for women at all to thinking he needs you to breathe."

Why Abby kept blowing her off also blew my mind. There were just so many things I couldn't get behind. I know that the great part about books are that they can be anything. That they can go anywhere real or unrealistic. But this was just to far from either. I just can't really get over how much I disliked everything about this book. The characters, weak. The plot, weaker. The romance, the weakest.

Whatever Walking Deads on so I'm over this.

 2/10 Stars 
-Angela 

(Beautiful Disaster BookDepo)