He scared me. He thrilled me. And after one touch, all I could think about was getting more… Makayla never thought she’d set foot in an underground mixed-martial arts club. But if anyone needs a medic on hand, it’s these guys. Trouble is, at her first sight of the club’s owner she’s the one feeling breathless.
All sleek muscle and restrained power, the man they call Torment plays to win at any cost. Whether it’s in the ring or in the bedroom, he knows exactly when to use a soft touch and when to launch a full-on assault. He always knows just how far he can push. And he’s about to tempt Makayla in ways she never imagined…
My Rating:
My Review:Against the Ropes by Sarah Castille was a very generic read for me. It's another MMA fighter erotic contemporary romance with a twist: our hero, Torment, is not only an underground fighter, but also a billionaire!!! Oh...wait. We've read that one before. Nevermind. Anyway, it's a formula we are all familiar with: Good girl (Makayla aka Mac) meets bad boy (Torment aka Max Huntington) at Redemption, a full service gym/training center that also serves as a place to host unsanctioned underground fights. Torment, who just so happens to own the place, offers Makayla a part time position as a way to get to know her. At first she declines, but after being threatened by a collections agency over school loans, she decides the 2nd job might just be a blessing. Or is it because she can't stop thinking about the hot owner of Redemption? Add in the promiscuous best friend (Amanda) and a male character (Dr. Drake) that serves as an illusion for a love triangle when we all know he doesn't have a shot in hell of getting the girl and you have yourself another generic new adult romance. Against the Ropes also suffers from a few inconsistencies and unrealistic situations. But despite all of this, Sarah Castille was still able to create an entertaining story with a sexy alpha male, spunky heroine, and smoking hot chemistry/sex scenes.
Here is what I liked. The author was able to infuse well paced humor throughout the story. Once Makayla starts to get to know the other fighters at Redemption, they slowly form a bond. I enjoyed the camaraderie, and there were quite a few laugh out loud moments, especially when Mac gets drunk and Torment walks in on her playing strip poker with the guys. Even though I sort of had issues with her promiscuous best friend Amanda, I couldn't help but laugh when Mac and Amanda were on the phone and Amanda was relaying some of the kinky things Dr. Drake was...
***Author Note: This is not a love story. This is a story of love gone wrong.***
Growing up the way I did, you’d think I’d be more screwed up than what I actually am. Soon as I turned sixteen, I left that bump in the road I called home and took my chances on the street.
Best decision I ever made.
Now, at the age of twenty six, I’m educated, employed and damn good at my job.
My friends have become my family. Like me, they know what it’s like to grow up unloved.
But the saying is true: The world makes way for those who know where they are going.
That’s me. I know where I’m going and I’ll get there eventually. On my own terms and at my own pace.
But then there’s him.
I feel his eyes on me. I see him hiding in plain sight. He watches me.
He makes me feel.
It’s unconventional.
But it’s real.
I’m sure you’re wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker.
So am I.
This isn’t a story.
This is my life.
My Rating:
My Review: I originally had no plans to review this book. It was one of those filler stories I decided to use as a quick read before I started something new. However, after reading the book and trying to sum up my feelings in a few sentences on goodreads.com, I came to realize that this story affected me more than I initially thought. And to be quite honest, I still don't know exactly how I feel about it. Belle Aurora definitely pushes a lot of boundaries with RAW. Boundary pushing/crossing can be a good thing. It provides a challenge to readers, such as myself, who yearn for something different in a genre that is overwhelmed with the same formula. That being said, in order for a new concept to work, it has to be executed with care. Thus the problem with RAW.
The above synopsis is a bit vague so I will give you a brief summary as to what the story is about without major spoilers. Alexa is a social worker and damn good at her job. She loves helping troubled kids and this probably stems from her own troubled childhood. She has two best friends, Nikki and Dave (who is gay). This is not your typical love story mainly because Alexa's love interest just so happens to be her stalker. Yes...I said stalker. She has known for quite some time (a year or more if I remember correctly) that she is being watched. Instead of feeling uneasy, she feels safe and even gets disappointed during the times when she senses he is not there watching her. Weird right? Anyway, one evening after work, she is nearly raped outside her apartment building. And that's when her stalker, Twitch, comes to her rescue...
Title:SICK Author:Tom Leveen ISBN: 1419708058 Reading Level: Young Adult Genre: YA, Horror Theme(s): Zombies Length: 288 pgs Binding: Hardcover Published: 2nd October 2013 Buy:Amazon.com, BN.com
Synopsis:
Breakfast Club meets The Walking Dead as a group of unlikely allies tries to survive a deadly outbreak.
Brian and his friends are not part of the cool crowd. They’re the misfits and the troublemakers—the ones who jump their high school’s fence to skip class regularly. So when a deadly virus breaks out, they’re the only ones with a chance of surviving.
The virus turns Brian’s classmates and teachers into bloodthirsty attackers who don’t die easily. The whole school goes on lockdown, but Brian and his best friend, Chad, are safe (and stuck) in the theater department—far from Brian’s sister, Kenzie, and his ex-girlfriend with a panic attack problem, Laura. Brian and Chad, along with some of the theater kids Brian had never given the time of day before, decide to find the girls and bring them to the safety of the theater. But it won’t be easy, and it will test everything they thought they knew about themselves and their classmates.
My Rating:
My Review: Zombie books are hitting bookshelves left and right and are being snatched up just as quickly. The problem is finding one that stands out from the rest. When I came across the synopsis forSICK by Tom Leveen, I was instantly intrigued. Leveen usually writes contemporary YA and has a knack for portraying angsty, teenage characters in a realistic, genuine way, such as his novel ZERO (you can read my review for Zero HERE). So when I heard that Leveen was writing about a group of misfit friends that must survive a zombie outbreak, I couldn't have been more excited. This should have been an easy slam dunk for him. Unfortunately, SICK is his first novel that misses the mark.
Here is what I liked about the novel. First, I think Leveen did a great job with...
Title:Indelible (The Twixt, #1) Author:Dawn Metcalf ISBN: 0373210736 Reading Level: Young Adult Genre: Teen, Paranormal Romance Length: 384 pgs Binding: Paperback, E-book Published: 30th July 2013; Harlequin Buy:Amazon.com, BN.com
Synopsis:
Some things are permanent.
Indelible.
And they cannot be changed back.
Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.
Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future...and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.
Somewhere between reality and myth lies…THE TWIXT.
My Rating:
My Review:Indelibleis a refreshing YA paranormal romance that is reminiscent of the dark original fairy tales. I could tell by the book blurb that Dawn Metcalf was going to give us something different and when it comes to the original concept of Indelible she doesn't disappoint.
There is a world known as theTwixt, a place that cannot be seen by the human eye. Ink (our hero/anti-hero) and Inq (his sister) are scribes, created not born. They were made with the sole purpose of marking humans with the signatura of their fae counterparts. I was captivated with some of the mythology and world building. I liked how Ink would take Joy with him when he was called to do a task and found it neat how he would use his tools to "cut" an invisible slit in the air that once opened, became a gateway to another world or dimension.
While Joy wasn't my favorite heroine in recent YA literature, she...
The story revolves around former United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who
traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic
that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate
humanity itself.
My Rating:
*GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED*
My Review: Adapting books into movies is the new fad in Hollywood. With zombie mania taking over just about all aspects of multi-media, it's been getting increasingly more difficult to find a zombie tale that stands out. World War Z, based off of the popular novel of the same name by Max Brooks, is the first zombie movie in quite a few years that tries to take itself seriously. And for this reason I was intrigued. Okay, and maybe because Brad Pitt was starring in it. Zombies and eye candy, right? But anytime I hear about a movie being delayed for reshoots, I get nervous. Originally, World War Z had a December 2012 release date but due to extensive reshoots, it was decided to move the film to summer 2013. Before the movie hit theaters, I had planned on reading the book version, but once I learned that the movie was heavily deviating from the novel, I decided not to read it so I could go into the film with an open mind. I'm relieved I went with my instincts, because my 3 star rating probably would have been lower.
Here's the thing. I liked the story and the general direction WWZ was going in. Gerry (Brad Pitt), a man who once had a dangerous job as a United Nations employee, gave it all up for his family. The movie doesn't get into much detail here, but you get the sense that Gerry was tired of spending long periods of time away from his wife and daughters. It's also not stated what he currently does for a living but I sort of assumed he was a stay-at-home father and appeared quite happy at making his girls breakfast and packing their lunches. I like that Pitt's character doesn't fall into one of the many stereotypical male characters, ya know, the one where the husband/father gives up his dangerous career to make his family happy but secretly yearns to get back into the field and jumps at the opportunity when it comes knocking at his door. Nope, I never got that feeling from Gerry; he appears content and happy with his role as doting husband and father. However, this all changes when zombies enter the picture. In order to protect his family, he is forced to go back out in the field to help find the origins of this devastating pandemic. Yes, I mean literally forced. While his old UN ties help get his wife and daughters to safety, his old boss has his own agenda. If Gerry wants his family to remain on the ship with protection and 3 square meals a day, then he must go. If he refuses, him and his family will be dropped back off into the ravaged, zombie-invested city they barely escaped. I definitely felt bad for him because seriously, what kind of choice is that?
Let's back up for a moment. Gerry's previous job makes the beginning of WWZ somewhat believable as he navigates his family through the city of mass hysteria as people start changing into zombies within seconds. Although you don't quite know exactly what his previous set of skills were, you can tell by his calm, take- charge demeanor that he's had some kind of training. I actually liked his wife. Again going back to stereotypical characters, it was so refreshing to see that this wasn't the case with her. Instead of the typical, hysterical females we are used to seeing, Gerry's wife did everything he said, remained calm, no bitching or crying-- basically she appeared to have complete trust and faith in her husband and his abilities to keep them safe. Gerry's daughters on the other hand...I'll get to that later. I also liked the female soldier he meets up with later in the film. She was pretty hardcore, although she annoyed me towards the end when she...yeah, I'll get to that in a bit as well.
The zombies themselves were pretty interesting, even though you don't get a real up close and personal look at them until the end. They also deviate from some of the characteristics we are used to-- these zombies are super fast, not slow. Also, they are not drawn to people by scent. What gets these walking dead fired up is sound. They kind of walk around in a dormant like state until they hear something. Cool, right? Yeah, well, it could have been cool if it wasn't for...I'll get to that in a moment. I promise.
The last thing I liked about WWZ is the shift in priority "the cure" takes. There are so many zombie movies and books out there that focuses on finding the cure. But what if you find something that can camouflage you from the dead? I reviewed a zombie book earlier in the week called FIEND by Peter Stenson that focused more on the discovery of what they needed to do in order to NOT turn into a zombie rather than actually finding a cure. In WWZ, a kind of camouflage presents itself first, which takes precedence. I'm trying to be as vague as possible, but I guess what my point is, I like the twist and it is more realistic. After all, not all cures can be found in a week or a month. It may even take years.
If you are still with me so far, thank you for being patient. Because I am sure at this point you are wondering what possibly could be so bad after talking so highly about the movie. Here is where it all went wrong. Remember how I said World War Z is the first zombie movie in awhile that tries to take itself seriously? Well, one thing I CAN'T STAND is a movie that tries to take itself serious yet is filled with cliche after cliche. Like I said above, the movie starts off solid. Gerry and his family are stuck in city traffic when zombies start to make their debut. They steal an RV which is smart since it's (a) big enough to push other unmoving cars out of the way and (b) can possibly serve as a temporary home instead of being cramped in a car. I was slightly annoyed with Gerry's daughters; I guess since his wife didn't fit the typical stereotype, they figured to make his kids do all the whining and not listening. But whatever, small price to pay if the rest of the movie goes smoothly, right? Just when I am thinking this, one of his daughter's has an asthma attack. And it JUST so happens they forgot the inhaler at home. Why I didn't see it coming when they had talked about packing the inhaler before they left the house, is beyond me. But it should have been my first warning that more cliches were coming. The asthma attack forces them to stop at a grocery store that has a pharmacy inside. Okay, cool, they can grab the meds and some supplies. Once they go inside, it is complete chaos. People, including police officers, are running up and down the isles, ransacking the place. So what does Gerry and his wife decide to do? Yup, you guessed it. They SPLIT UP. WTF! Isn't written somewhere or in some Survival 101 Guide, NEVER SPLIT UP??? Because you know what happens when they split up. Gerry's wife gets accosted, one of his daughters is screaming her head off. Oh, and let's not forget the RV is gone when they finally get back outside. Yup, cliche after cliche...
...And the cliches continue. Once they learn that sound is what attracts the zombies, you can guess what the rest of the movie is filled with. Yup, people making noises over and over and over again. Here are a just a few examples:
1) Riding rusty, SQUEAKY bicycles in the RAIN in hopes to get to the plane faster. Really??? They were better off walking quietly and letting the hard rain cover their footsteps!
2) The epic scene in the trailer where the zombies scale the walls in hordes. The only thing that saved that scene was how awesome it looked. But you know what caused it? A whole CITY of people singing and if I remember correctly, the sound was even louder because the singing was being projected through speakers.
3) Towards the end, Gerry and a couple of others need to get into a certain part of a lab that is overrun by zombies. Gerry says no guns since it will attract sound. Do they listen? Nope. Soldier chick not only takes a gun with her, but uses it. You're smart enough to imagine the consequences of that.
4) Gerry appears to forget his own advice to stay quiet as possible as he and his little group: (a) walk on broken glass, (b) "accidentally" kick something across the floor, (c) push a creaky door inch by inch instead of just opening it quickly.
World War Z had a lot of potential. The focus of the story was engaging, the non-stereotypical characters were refreshing, and the zombies were interesting. But why ruin a perfectly good movie with cliche after cliche? I'm not stupid. I get movies like this need to build suspense and I can handle a scene here and there. But when characters keep making the same mistakes over and over again, I can't help but get annoyed and extremely frustrated. Oh, and I forgot to mention the 3D. Or should I say, what 3D? I am not a huge 3D fan like some people, but after being blown away at seeing Man of Steel in that format, I figured what the hell. I now wish I hadn't because I can't remember one scene that was shot in 3D. A definite waste of a few extra dollars. A sequel to World War Z is apparently already in the works and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I can see the potential because of the way WWZ ends. But I cringe at the thought of sitting through another 2 hours of cliches.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win 1 of 3 e-book copies ofWorld War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Warby Max Brooks, the novel this movie is based on! I have 3 e-copies of the book so 3 winners will be announced. This is an International giveaway! All are welcome to enter! Ends 7/31 a Rafflecopter giveaway
Title: Anthem for Jackson Dawes Author:Celia Bryce ISBN: 1599909758 Reading Level: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary YA Theme(s): Cancer, First Love Length: 240 pgs. Binding: Hardcover Published: 30 April 2013 Buy:amazon.com
Synopsis:When Megan arrives on the cancer ward for her first treatment, she's
frustrated to be on the pediatric unit. There's only one other teen
there: Jackson Dawes. He's cute, rebellious . . . and obnoxiously
charming. Megan can't stand the way he meets his illness with such
positive energy. But when her own friends are scared off by her illness,
Megan finds she doesn't really mind Jackson's playful antics. As they
begin the tentative stirrings of first love, they also start the most
aggressive round of treatments on their tumors. Can the power of first
love overcome the heartbreak of cancer?
My Rating:
My Review: Anthem for Jackson Dawesis a quiet little novel that had the potential to pack a strong punch with its challenging topic and themes, but somehow fell short on its delivery. Characters weren't fully developed, and the story itself was just coming together when the author decided to wrap things up quicker than you can blink. That being said, there is no denying Celia Bryce is a talented writer. The poems at the beginning and the end of the book are beautiful (and make more sense once the story is over) and despite me wishing for more, I did like how the scenes were purposely short, almost giving it a journal-type feel.
The story is set somewhere in the UK, so for those who are from the US, just go into the novel with an open mind. It's not a difficult read by any means, but there may be words or phrases that aren't familiar. Thirteen year old Megan, who has a brain tumor, arrives at the hospital to start treatment. It only takes her a few moments to digest the fact that she has literally walked into a cancer ward for babies and little kids: "Toys being banged. Something rattling. Another thing chiming. Whirring. Squeaking. Somewhere to the right there was a baby crying." She is outraged that she will be spending the next several days in a "kiddie ward". She even thinks to herself: "Where were the other patients? People like her? People her age?" Perhaps she asked that question too soon because that's when Jackson Dawes comes barging into her life, the only other person around her age staying on the same ward. Megan immediately dislikes him, thinking him rude, obnoxious, and the thing that irritates her the most-- why and how can he be so happy?
What I liked the most about Anthem for Jackson Dawes and what I think the author portrays well is the different ways people--children in this case-- deal with having cancer. Megan is fueled with anger and bitterness. Jackson is jovial and mischievous, always trying to look at the bright side of cancer (in his opinion, not mine!), such as not having to really worry about school and driving the nurses crazy with his pranks and disappearing acts. Then there is Kipper, a little girl who refuses to use her real name while in for treatments. Her mother tells Megan that her daughter made her swear she would not reveal her real name. Could it be that in order for Kipper to cope during treatments and stays at the hospital, she chooses to go by a fake name and live in an imaginary world?
Celia Bryce also subtly weaves in a few philosophical questions that Megan and Jackson are left to ponder. Megan, coming face to face with the possibility that she could die, has a hard time coming to terms with why some people get to live long, healthy lives while others perish so young. Her grandfather is nearly 100 years old and while her family prepares to celebrate another birthday with him, Megan doesn't want to go to the party even though she loves him dearly. Although we mostly get to see Jackson's silly side, the one thing that seems to bother him is what kind of legacy would he leave behind if he should die. Will he be remembered? Maybe the reason he causes so much trouble is because it is his way of making sure he will never be forgotten...
There are quite a few reviewers that didn't care for Megan, some finding her annoying and immature. Maybe it's because I work with kids, but let us not forget that she is only 13 years old and many children around that age can try our patience. And while I have never had cancer, I do know what it is like having medical problems at a young age, so you try to find any way you can to cope. That being said, it was nice to see Megan start to warm up to not only Jackson, but to the little ones in the ward. Jackson teaches her how important their role is, that they must set an example to the younger patients. She learns this by watching Jackson somehow convince Kipper to take her medicine when no one, including her own mother, could do it.
But while I loved all of these things, the story lacked development. I know that may sound crazy since I just mentioned some of the themes running through the book, but that's all it is, just glimpses and impressions. None of these themes are fully explored. It is the same with the characters. Just when the layers of Jackson are starting to peal away to reveal the true young man under the goofy exterior, the story ends. It almost feels like we only get a small slice of the story.
Oh and while I am on the topic of lack of character development and feeling like things aren't fully explained, I noticed something quite interesting. Is Jackson Dawes black??? I absolutely don't have a problem with this (I am bi-racial) but the author sticks in this small detail that I picked up around page 180: "Megan stared down at the pure black fingers wrapped around hers. Her hand looked pale and tiny in his." When I read this and I started imagining Jackson Dawes as a young black kid, it made the story and this mysterious character that much more interesting. But Celia Bryce does not elaborate on this tidbit of information. Maybe she did that on purpose, after all, that's not the point of the story. But it does make me wonder....
Anthem for Jackson Dawes would be a great classroom read for middle schoolers and for those who want to ease into the topic of cancer and first love. While not as powerfully moving as other books/movies in the genre such as Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper or the tear jerker Now Is Good, there is something beautifully haunting about the story that sticks with you for awhile. But there is no doubt that the novel could have easily benefited from an extra 50+ pages to fully flush out the main characters and story. Oh, and for those out there that didn't like the book because it was terribly depressing? It's a story about kids that have cancer for crying out loud!!! Why are people surprised???
Title:Extreme Love Author:Abby Niles ISBN:1620612461 Reading Level: Adult Genre: Contemporary Romance Theme(s):MMA Fighting, Plus Size, Weight Loss Binding: Paperback/E-book Length: 266 (E-book ARC copy) Published: 30 April 2013 Buy:amazon.com
Synopsis:New body. New clothes. New men.
Used
to the average Joe, Caitlyn Moore is overwhelmed when the supremely
masculine Dante Jones walks into her life and expresses an interest in
her. At first she pushes him away, refusing to encourage the attention
of a cage fighter. Then she learns Dante has a love ‘em and leave ‘em
reputation. What better way to fine-tune her non-existent flirting
skills than with a male who won’t stick around? But Dante has no
intention of being a practice dummy; he’s out for all or nothing. Now
Caitlyn must accept Dante—violent career and all—or let him go.
Dante
“Inferno” Jones has one goal: win the Welterweight Championship. At a
time when focus is crucial, the last thing he needs is a distraction.
Yet Caitlyn Moore becomes a challenge he can’t resist. When the
light-hearted pursuit shifts to a battle to win her heart, his focus is
shot. Faced with losing the biggest match of his career, Dante must
decide if his extreme life also has room for Extreme Love.
My Rating:
My Review: First I want to thank NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for providing me with an ARC copy of Extreme Love in exchange for an honest review. I've been reading a lot of boxing/MMA fighting romances lately so I promised myself I would take a break and read something else before delving into another one. I'm glad I did because I honestly don't think I would have been able to appreciate Abby Niles labor of love as much as I do now. I had no idea going into this book that our female protagonist, Caitlyn, had been a BBW (big, beautiful woman) and that the heart of the story would be about her struggle with accepting the new body she has worked so hard for. I guess I missed the first line in the synopsis: "New body. New clothes. New men."
There are so many significant themes that the author addresses in regards to Caitlyn's weight loss journey. One example is struggling with body image; although she has lost 80 pounds and is a size 12, when Cait looks at herself in the mirror, she still sees herself as the fat girl with the double chin. There is one topic that Abby Niles focuses on that made me quickly realize the theme of weight loss was something personal and not just a random plot device and here it is: just because a person is overweight does NOT mean they are "unfit". HALLELUJAH! Someone finally hit the nail on the head and truly gets it! We live in a society where people automatically think that if a person is fat, that means they eat nothing but junk food, and never exercise because they are lazy. While that may be true in some cases, there is a huge majority of overweight people that struggle to lose the pounds for a variety of different reasons. Genetics is one thing. My best friend and I are exactly the same height, 5'2. Doctors say that at 5'2, I should weigh around 108-120 pounds. While that may work for my best friend since she has a smaller bone structure than me, I would look like a skeleton due to my larger bone frame. Also, people suffer from hormone conditions, such as myself. I have always had a weight issue. In my early teens I learned that I had a condition called POS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). Women with this condition struggle with losing weight. I will never forget my doctor saying, "losing weight for you will be like riding a bike up a hill." Before learning this (and before all of my back issues), I was a very active girl. I rode a bicycle, went out in the woods and built forts, learned to hunt with my dad, etc. But no matter how active I was, I always was a big girl. I felt self conscious at school, especially going to gym class. It wasn't so much my peers that made me feel bad, but the gym teachers. Boy do I have stories, but the point I am trying to make is, Cait is truly a relatable character and I knew before I even read Abby Niles'sAcknowledgement page that Extreme Love was written with some sort of personal experience. Even though Cait struggles with body image issues which affects her love life (or lack there of), she doesn't let it deter her from her goal: to create an exercise program for people like her called "Altering Assumptions". It's a program not just for individuals struggling to lose weight, but also to help "alter" the misconceptions that many people have about those who are overweight.
You can't have a romance without a hero, and Dante is one sexy alpha MMA fighter. While he may not be as extreme as some other possessive, alpha male protagonists I've read in the past (he is not moody or brooding which was a bit refreshing), I loved his story and what motivated him to become the fighter he is. I also liked the fact that while Dante finds Cait and her curves a turn on and sets out to pursue her, he also has misconceptions about overweight people. Yes, our hero is far from perfect! I've read quite a few romances with BBW as heroines and the males love them for who they are, extra curves and all. But I don't ever recall reading one where the male hero actually thinks the same as most people do, that losing weight isn't hard and all a person has to do is go on a diet and go to the gym. This of course pisses Cait off. But to see Dante's preconceived notions fall away as he gets to know Cait was touching and added a sense of realism to the story.
I also thought Abby Niles did a great job with the secondary characters in Extreme Love, such as her best friend and roommate Amy and her friend Paul. Cait truly had a wonderful support system. But it was Sentori, Dante's nemesis, that stole the spotlight from time to time. He is the type of villain that we've seen before, but still a well written character. Oh the things he does to distract Dante from his training! By the end of the book, I couldn't wait for them to get in the cage so Dante could kick his ass!
So why only a 3 star rating? The characters are good, the story is good, but could have been better. There was just something missing, a few pieces that could have madeExtreme Love amazing. I didn't walk away from it yearning for more because I didn't want it to end. I yearned for more because it left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. While I loved Cait and Dante together and they definitely had chemistry, I was disappointed that there were only basically 2 major sex scenes in the book. Now, I've read books like this before, so I don't necessarily need a book saturated in sex. But this all depends on if the author can build the right amount of tension. And I think that is one of the weaknesses of this book. I feel like the tension was just building-- hell, I thought the pool house scene where Dante has Cait pinned up against the wall with her bathing suit top down was HOT, HOT, HOT. But by the time I got down to the last few pages of the book and realized there was not going to be any more Dante and Cait lovin', I felt a bit...bereft.
Another thing that kind of rubbed me the wrong way is Cait's weak stomach concerning Dante's profession. I understand Cait's reservations about getting into a relationship with Dante because of her insecurities. I've often felt I only deserve a certain kind of man because of my weight issues. I even get the author trying to show Cait's misconceptions about the kind of career Dante has as a fighter (especially considering his misconceptions about her weight loss struggle). But I couldn't help but roll my eyes a few times whenever Cait mentioned that she didn't think she could accept Dante's violent lifestyle. I tried to be open minded because I am not the girlfriend/wife of a boxer, or wrestler, or MMA fighter. But I am a fan of all of those things-- I still remember watching boxing fights with my dad when I was little, watching PPV wrestling events as a teenage girl with my best friend (come on, all those half naked male bodies can do crazy things to a girl's teenage hormones!), and will always be a huge 80's-90's martial arts action movie fiend-- I love me some Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Seagal, etc. Maybe Cait's reservations about Dante's career was just another excuse to push him away because of her own insecurities. But I couldn't help but be irritated with her at times.
I also was disappointed with the whole Santori vs. Dante show down. Not the cage fight, that was okay. But something else that happened. I don't want to ruin the ending for everyone but come on, I wanted to see Santori and his goons get arrested or something! You will see what I mean when you get there. He does something so shady that he deserves more than Dante just kicking his ass in the cage!
Despite these things, Extreme Love has a lot of heart. It may not be one of the best MMA/fighter romances out there, but it is a good romance with great characterization. Cait is the kind of female protagonist that women will relate to. She is the type of character that will inspire you and maybe in some cases, like Abby Niles has said on her blog, be a hero to those who have struggled with weight loss and the humiliation of those who make assumptions.
Title:Hell On Wheels (Black Knights Inc., #1) Author:Julie Ann Walker ISBN:1402267134 Reading Level:Adult Genre: Romantic Suspense Theme(s): Bikers, Special Ops, Romance Binding: Paperback Length:384 pgs Published:7 Aug 2012; Sourcebooks Casablanca Buy:amazon.com
Synopsis:Black Knights Inc.—Behind the facade of their
tricked–out motorcycle shop is an elite special ops team assigned the
jobs too hot for anyone else to handle.
Hold On Tight... Ex–Marine
Nate "Ghost" Weller is an expert at keeping his cool—and his
distance—which makes him one hell of a sniper. It's also how he keeps
his feelings for Ali Morgan in check. Sweet, sexy Ali has always revved
his engine, but she's his best friend's baby sister...and totally off
limits.
Rough Road Ahead Ali's never seen
anything sexier than Nate Weller straddling his custom Harley—or the
flash of danger in his eyes when she tells him she's in trouble. First
something happened to her brother, and now she's become the target of a
nasty international organization. With Nate, her life is in the most
capable hands possible—but her heart is another story altogether.
My Rating:
My Review: First and foremost, before I even delve into this review, let's turn our attention for a moment to the cover and title of this book. Hot guy with a gun, wearing a sexy black tight v-neck t-shirt, and a bad ass motorcycle (later I would find out its name, Phantom) in the background. Hell On Wheels??? Oh, HELL YEAH! I really can't explain my joy when I came across this book. Maybe it's because I have a thing for bikers-- I am obsessed with the FX tv show Sons of Anarchy, and my boyfriend just so happens to ride as well. Also, the romantic suspense genre is starting to get a bit...boring, especially when it comes to the hero being a covert special ops agent. But combining the two worlds? I'm game! Now, I know it's been done before, how could I forget Jaci Burton's Wild Ridersseries. But the key is, it hasn't been over done. Julie Ann Walker is a new author that I was hoping would give us something fresh in this overly saturated genre. While she doesn't fail in this mission (like that? hehe), she does have some work to do to smooth out the kinks.
First with what I liked about Hell On Wheels. The story opens with 2 people that are deeply hurt by loss but in completely different ways. You have Ali, our heroine, who has just been told that her beloved older brother Grigg has been killed on a mission. Then you have Nate, our hero, who not only suffers from the loss of his best friend, but also is being torn to shreds with guilt. Why does he feel guilt you ask? Well, that is for you to find out! What I can say is that Walker is fantastic with evoking emotions. It's been a long time since a romance novel has caused me to tear up or to feel heaviness in my chest. There are two scenes that come to mind, one with a flash back scene between Frank and Grigg and another with secondary characters Frank and Becky. I will leave it up to you to pin point the exact scenes.
Not only does Walker give us a great tortured hero (who is alpha, but not over-the-top) and smart heroine (helpless females get on my nerves after awhile), she also is good at creating realistic and likeable secondary characters. Each of these characters have a role that we've seen done over and over again, such as Ozzie the geeky tech, Becky the house mechanic, and Frank, the gruff boss who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Once these characters were introduced, I thought the book was going to go down hill. But somehow Walker brings a freshness to these cliche character types. Ozzie is my favorite. He is hilarious, not only because he annoys everyone with his singing and song choices, but because he is constantly quoting movies. Might I also add that while at first I imagined Ozzie to be nerdy since he is a wiz with computers and techie stuff, my imagination quickly changed with the way Walker describes him: "The guy was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Mr. Spock's favorite hand gesture ad the slogan 100% Trekkie, which was slightly incongruous when compared to the shoulder holster and the mean-looking, matte-black gun secured to his side. He looked like some strange combination of geek and warrior. The man you'd call if you needed to invade a small country or translate a message written in Klingon." Sexy, right? :)
If you are a fan of lots of sex scenes, you won't find it here. BUT WAIT! What Walker DOES do exceedingly well is sustaining the heat meter. When an author can create sexual tension, build on it, and you don't even realize the book is halfway over and the main characters haven't done the deed yet, then you know the author has a skill. And what's even better is the fact that Nate and Ali aren't the only ones that have a serious case of sexual tension. So does Frank and Becky, which will be the main leads in book 2, but I am getting ahead of myself!
Now to why I only gave Hell On Wheels a 3 star rating. The beginning of the book absolutely scared me. The first couple of chapters didn't flow and I had to keep telling myself that this is a new author, give it time, the wrinkles will start to smooth out. And thank God they do. But some of her word choices were repetitive and it wouldn't have been that noticeable if they weren't bigger words, like "capitulated" and "surreptitiously".
I also got annoyed with the way she wrote some of Ali's inner dialogue. I get that Ali doesn't like cursing, but does she really spell out the word "hell" as "H-E-Double Hocky Sticks" in her head??? Imagine that throughout the whole story. Yeah, quite irritating. My other big issue is the majority of the characters sounded the same, like they all had the same voice. Each character should sound different, have a distinct personality and I felt that other than maybe Ozzie, the dialogue and prose kind of runs together. I will say it does get a better by the middle to the end of the book; Nate starts to sound like Nate and Frank starts to sound like Frank.
My last issue is something that happens with many first books in series. While I loved her secondary characters, there were a few minor ones that she spent too much time on. There were paragraphs I skimmed and a few pages I skipped. And I hate doing that. It's always tough to find a balance when you're trying to build your world and set up your characters for future books.
Overall, I think thatHell On Wheelswas a solid first book in a planned series. For a debut author, I think Julie Ann Walker has a lot of potential. While she isn't as steamy a writer as say veteran erotic romance author Lora Leigh, they do share a similarity in plot formula, such as the hero who falls in love with his best friend's baby sister, or the hero who thinks he is too old and jaded to be with the woman he wants. Lora Leigh is the queen of writing those plot devices, so we shall see how Walker makes them her own. I also think she has a great sense of humor, especially the Dum Dums lollipop drama between Becky and Frank. You will see what I mean when you read the book! Speaking of those two, Frank and Becky's story will unfold next in In Rides Trouble, due out next month on September 4th. I know, the release dates for Hell On Wheels and In Rides Troubleare only a month apart! Book 3,Rev It Up, comes out on October 2nd. I look forward to reading some more biker, special ops yumminess!
Title:Savages Director: Oliver Stone Actor(s): Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta, Salma Hayek Rated: R Genre: Drama, Suspense, Mystery Runtime: 2 hr., 9 min. Release Date: 6 July 2012 (Theatrical) Frank's Rating:
Synopsis:Laguna Beach entrepreneurs Ben (Johnson), a peaceful and charitable Buddhist, and his closest friend Chon (Kitsch), a former Navy SEAL and ex-mercenary, run a lucrative, homegrown industry-raising some of the best marijuana ever developed. They also share a one-of-a-kind love with the extraordinary beauty Ophelia (Lively). Life is idyllic in their Southern California town...until the Mexican Baja Cartel decides to move in and demands that the trio partners with them. When the merciless head of the BC, Elena (Hayek), and her brutal enforcer, Lado (Del Toro), underestimate the unbreakable bond among these three friends, Ben and Chon-with the reluctant, slippery assistance of a dirty DEA agent (Travolta)-wage a seemingly unwinnable war against the cartel.
Frank's Review: Let me start by saying I have always been a fan of Oliver
Stone's movies. From his conspiracy theory laden JFK to his ultraviolent
take on crime and journalism in Natural Born Killers and of course who
didn't love Wall Street. Yes, I can even admit that I enjoyed parts of
the oft panned Alexander. SAVAGES is no different. Starring Taylor
Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, Benicio Del Toro, and John Travolta, the story revolves around the definition of savages: members of society that are
regarded as primitive and uncivilized. That is what all the characters
in this movie are in some way, shape, or form. I am jumping ahead a bit.
Stone uses a camera like another character in the movie.
His uses of vivid colors interspersed with gray shots of the ocean
splashing on the rocks are beautiful. He never ceases to amaze me with the way he
sees the world in colors. Different ways of handling the filming either
via hand held or in some instances using a security camera to tell the
story keeps the audience interested and involved.
As far as his
character development goes, I do feel Stone drops the ball here a bit.
All of the characters fit into the story a little too neatly. But the actors
pull off these characters well. Kitsch (Chon) and Johnson ( Ben) play
the lead roles of the best pot dealers in the US. Kitsch is Hollywood's
newest "it" guy and I feel this role was perfect for him. I at times felt like I
was watching him inFriday Night Lights again. The journey of Johnson's
character from the peaceful botanist to the do-anything-for-love-savage
was my favorite storyline in the movie. The rest of the cast was good. However, Del Toro was GREAT. His turn as the strong-arm for the cartel was
amazing. He is so smarmy and gritty you can almost smell him through
the screen.
Where Stone falls short is this: I feel he sold the movie as an action
packed flick. In reality, it is a drama and commentary on the USA's war
on drugs mixed with shots of brutality. Stone's strengths in his movies usually lie within the conspiracies, but I feel he stretched it in this one. If
he would have given us a straight popcorn movie I probably would have
loved this film. Instead, because Oliver tried to shovel the atrocities
of this story at us and then cop out in the end, he didn't allow the audience to
see all of the people as Savages.
All in all Stone gave us a good summer movie. The visuals were
at times stunning and the acting was good. Out of 5 stars I would give SAVAGES a 3. Thanks for reading my review.
Like Frank's review? Want to know more about him or have a question for him? Check out his Guest Blogger IntroductionHERE!
Title:The Hunt Author:Andrew Fukuda ISBN: 1250005140 Reading Level: Young Adult Genre: Horror Paranormal YA Theme: Vampire, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian Binding: (hardback; my copy was a paperback ARC) Length: 304 pages Published: 8 May 2012; St. Martin's Griffin Buy:amazon.com My Rating: Synopsis:Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.
Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.
When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?
My Review: I was super excited when I won an ARC copy of The Hunt from LibraryThing.com. There had been a lot of buzz before its release, some calling it the male version of The Hunger Games, only with fangs. With so many YA vampire books out there, finding something that stands out in this genre is like searching for a needle in a haystack. I really wanted to love The Hunt, and while it does delivery some chills and some nail biting suspense, the story somehow falls short and is riddled with plot holes.
The Hunt does have an interesting premise. Vampires are now at the top of the food chain and humans, now called "hepers", are obsolete...until the dictator comes on television and announces that there will be a lottery. The lucky winners of this lottery will have the honor to participate in the last "Heper Hunt", and it is revealed that several humans have been raised and groomed specifically for this event. Gene, one of the winners, should be ecstatic that he will get the chance to hunt down the last "hepers", to taste fresh blood and tear through human flesh. But no one realizes that he is actually a human and has spent his whole life pretending he is a vampire. Talk about living in a pit of snakes, right?
I do like that the story was told in a male's point-of-view. There are so many books out, especially in the vampire genre, that are targeted for girls. While the book is girl friendly (there is a romance that develops), I think The Hunt will definitely appeal to boys. The vampires in this book are not romantic nor are they particularly attractive. They have long fingernails, eat raw meat along with the blood drinking, and go into some sort of drooling trance when they either think, see, or smell "hepers". Yeah, they definitely aren't your Twilight or Vampire Diaries bloodsuckers. In fact, they sort of remind me of zombie-vampires since they will devour a whole human, not just drink their blood. I'll come back to that in a minute.
I have to give Fukuda credit where credit is due. The man can build suspense. Gene is a human, living as a vampire. Ever since he could remember, his father taught him that he had to suppress his natural human reactions and urges-- no sweating, no laughing, no shivering, no goosebumps, no squinting, etc. There were quite a few scenes where I felt my heart pounding in fear for Gene. One that comes to mind is when he is in class (at night) and the teacher calls on him to read something off the board. Because they are vampires and have sharper eyesight, they don't need a lot of light. Gene can barely see and he knows if he were to squint his eyes to try to make out what's on the board, his cover would be blown, especially when all his vampire classmates turn to look at him when he doesn't speak up right away. Then he starts to sweat which is another no-no. There are quite a few tension building, nail biting scenes like this, so I can't take that away from the author.
There is a lot of controversy over how Gene acts towards the other humans once he comes face to face with them. Some readers were outraged at his behavior, that he had a superiority complex and was more worried about his own survival than warning or helping his own kind formulate a plan. I actually liked this twist and whether others want to admit it or not, this course of action is quite realistic. Gene has been literally raised with vampires. Other then his father drilling the do's and don'ts of survival in his head, Gene knows no other life. He doesn't even understand what his father meant when he would say, "Never forget who you are." Those words would haunt him even years after the death of his father. He knows more about vampires then he does about humans, and everything that has been taught to him about humans seems distorted. But even he doesn't realize what's true and false about his own kind. After all, books, videos, photographs have all been destroyed. So in my opinion, Gene thinking he is smarter then the humans that were raised in the Dome is not a farfetched idea. And maybe in a way he is in the sense that his survival skills are unmatched since he literally has been living with the enemy without them knowing. But that doesn't mean the humans in the Dome are stupid or without skill. I think one thing they teach Gene is loyalty. I won't say any more for fear of too many spoilers, but hopefully it will help you keep an open-mind while reading.
Here are my issues with The Hunt. The one that drives me crazy the most is their means for transportation. HORSES. Really??!!! Are we living back in the 1800's??? I am not a horse hater; in fact I love horses. But this doesn't make sense. Vampires have taken over the world (well, at least in Gene's world). They have the technology to build the Institute and create the Dome, which has the ability to close once the sun goes down to keep the humans inside and the vampires out (because vampires can't control themselves around humans, which I will get to in a minute). So, they have all this technology and the only reason they don't use cars (as far as I could tell) is because they think it is safer to ride in a carriage being pulled by a bunch of horses than in a car. God forbid if a car should run out of gas or blow a tire and they get stranded as the sun comes up. Umm...ever hear of tinted windows for vampires??! You're telling me with all the technology out there, the best they could come up with is horses??? Oh, I guess they never thought about all the things that could go wrong with a carriage, or the fact that the horses throughout the book seem skittish because they can sense the vampires aren't quite normal. Maybe because they are predators??? Okay, I need to get off this topic before I start throwing something >=(.
My next issue...why is there no backstory in The Hunt? I get it is going to be a series. I don't need everything spelled out for me. A little bit of mystery is good. But freakin' come on! Throw a dog a bone! And this is going to lead me right into my next issue that I sort of alluded to above. We have vampires that are sort of like zombies in that they not only drink blood, but will completely devour a human. When I say devour, I mean they will eat skin, internal organs, bones, EVERYTHING. Remember me saying that they go into this weird, creepy drooling trance when humans are mentioned or seen on television? They are worse if one is in close proximity. They literally lose control, go mad, all thinking ceases to exist. The humans don't have to have a fresh cut in order to set them off; vampires CANNOT control themselves AT ALL if one were to walk in a room. That is why the Dome was created by the vampires, so that if by some chance they lost control, they wouldn't be able to get to them. So...here is my problem with that. If these vampires can't control themselves at all, how did so many people "turn" into vampires without being eaten??? This is why backstory is so vital to a new series with new mythology. I mean, how did these vampires come into existence? Did it start out with a virus? The only thing Gene does mention is his fear of getting scratched or bitten. But considering how vicious and strong these vamps are, I can't see too many humans being able to get away without getting devoured.
Here is my last big issue (I have quite a few more, but those would only cause spoilers). While I loved the premise of the story, and started to realize that Gene might not be the only human pretending he is a vampire in order to survive, I find it a bit unrealistic. The vampires have no inventory of families? So if a whole family is thought to be vampires and say 2 family members disappear--they just stop going to school or don't show up for their job-- you're telling me that the vampire authorities wouldn't get curious? They wouldn't approach the other family members and ask where they are? In the very beginning, a little human girl shows up at school and falls asleep (another no-no). The vampires eat her once they realize she is human. So...they didn't put 2 and 2 together that if a human child was sent to school pretending that she was a vampire that maybe her parents could be human as well? Or that other humans are doing the same thing? Yeah, so many plot holes!
Andrew Fukuda's The Hunt started off strong. It was refreshing to read a vampire book through the eyes of a teen boy and I have no doubt that this will be a book that will even appeal to reluctant readers. It's bloody, gory, and pays homage to the vampires of old while still retaining some originality. Fukuda shows skill at writing suspenseful scenes and more then once I found myself holding my breath in anxiety. But what hurts this story severely is the plot holes. Lack of backstory is the biggest issue. While this may be Fukuda's plan since The Hunt does end on a cliff hanger and book 2 is in the works, I think giving his reader a little more information in book 1 wouldn't have hurt. When I finished reading it, I was so annoyed that my original rating was actually 2 out of 5 stars. But after a few days of reflection as I started making my list of likes and dislikes, I came to realize that I genuinely liked the main character and had no major issues with the writing itself. It was the holes in the story I had issues with. So my final, upgraded 3 out of 5 star rating is because I want to remain optimistic that Fukuda did this on purpose and he has some brilliant plan to fill in the holes in book 2 by giving us some awesome, original backstory. One can hope, right?
