Review: A Girl by Any Other Name by M.K. Schiller

A Girl by Any Other Name by M.K. Schiller

Publication Date: January 17th 2014 by Totally Bound

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

About the book:

Everyone tells him he needs to move on, but how can a man function without his heart?

Ten-year-old Caleb Tanner wants nothing to do with Sylvie Cranston, the annoying weird girl who moves next door to him and gets him in trouble for swearing. But at twelve, they become friends when he teaches her how to hook a fishing line and she shows him the value of a selfless act. At fourteen, he falls in love with her.

At sixteen, she dies.

Or so he’s told. But Cal never believes it. Sylvie has become part of his soul. He knows her like the steady beating of his own heart. He’d know if she was dead. Cal looks for her, prays for her and finally he just waits for her.

Nine years later, she walks into the community college English class Cal is teaching. Only this girl claims her name is Sophie Becker and she doesn’t know him. Cal knows better. He’s determined to get the girl he loves back—and protect her from the danger that took her away all those years ago.

My Thoughts:

I loved A Girl By Any Other Name! I read it in less than one day only putting it down so I could sleep.

The story begins by taking us back to the past where Caleb and Sylvie first meet at ten years of age. Their story seamlessly drifts back and forth from present to past, establishing the intense and profound love between these two.

Sylvie Cranston moves with her father next door to Caleb Tanner in Prairie Marsh, Texas after her mother dies.  Caleb and Sylvie get off to a less than good start all the while cracking me up in the process.  Over time though, these two become very important to each other, and close even though Sylvie is definitely hiding something.  Their friendship gradually turns into something more as the years pass, although Sylvie seems to keep Cal at arm’s length when he clearly wants so much more. The danger Sylvie has been hiding from abruptly crashes into their lives, and Sylvie dies in the process.

Cal can’t accept this. In his heart he knows Sylvie is still alive.  He goes on with his life, barely, all the while looking for her and never giving up.  Ten years pass but the memory of Sylvie is never out of Cal’s mind, his love for her haunting him, making it impossible to ever have a meaningful relationship.

This all changes when Sophie Becker enrolls in his college English class. Cal believes her to be Sylvie, but she denies his claims. Sophie has another thing coming if she thinks Cal will just give up, though. 

Oh I just loved this story so much! The gradual friendship built between Cal and Sylvie when they were young was so very sweet and wistful! I just love a Southern gentleman and Cal’s momma raised this boy right! I adored the way he stuck up for others, not only Sylvie but his little sister and mother as well. The relationship with his little sister in the beginning cracked me up so much; all his internal thoughts were hilarious!  This story is told primarily in Cal’s POV and I loved being his very male mind. 

Cal in the present is very much possessive and protective, and who could blame him? The romance was wickedly HOT! Fiery passion that comes from intense longing and emotional connection!  Oh, man I fell so hard for Cal! Yet, issues from the past still lurk and shadow the present brightness.

It’s hard to write a review without spoiling things but I think the blurb makes it clear what is happening here.  That doesn’t mean you won’t be glued to your e-reader trying to piece everything together because so much is still a mystery.  I did wonder a couple of times why Cal didn’t piece some of this together a little sooner, but that didn’t dampen my reading pleasure at all.

I can’t recommend this story more! M.K. Schiller’s addictive writing stirred up so many emotions! This is a story of undying love and longing, heartbreak and tragedy, but also filled with witty humor, and seriously hot scenes! A Girl By Any Other Name will have you sighing in satisfaction, and your heart soaring from the high!

4.5 Stars

Release Day Review & Giveaway: Worth the Chance by Vi Keeland

I'm excited to be part of the Release Day Launch for Worth the Chance by Vi Keeland, because the story is wonderful! This tour is hosted by AToMR Tours. Click here for a complete tour schedule. My stop includes a review, excerpt, and giveaway.

Worth the Chance (MMA Fighter #2) by Vi Keeland

Publication Date: February 17th 2014

A New Adult/Adult Contemporary Romance

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords | iTunes

About the Book:

Meet Liv Michaels
It may have been seven years, but I’d know him anywhere. Sure, he’s grown, filled out in all the right places, but his captivating blue eyes and cocky grin are exactly the way I remember. Even though I’d much rather forget.

Liv Michaels is almost there. She’s smart, determined and weeks away from landing the job she’s dreamed about for years. Time healed old wounds, even her broken heart from the devastation of being crushed by her first love.

Meet Vince Stone
Women love a fighter, especially a good one. Lucky for me, I’m damn good. But there’s one woman that isn’t interested. Not again, anyway.

Vince ‘The Invincible’ Stone is every woman’s fantasy…strong, sexy, confident and completely in control. Growing up surrounded by chaos, he’s learned never to get too attached. Love will drag you down. He adores women, treats them well, puts their own needs before his own…for the night anyway. With the biggest fight of his life coming up, his focus should be on training.

When fate brings Vince & Liv back together again, there’s no denying the chemistry is still there. But can Vince erase the old scars their past left behind? Or will Liv hurt him instead?

My Thoughts:

Liv and Vinny had an unlikely romance.  Liv was the geeky tutor and Vinny was the school heart throb with girls throwing themselves at him left and right. Even before Liv started tutoring Vinny she had a mad crush on him, but after spending one and one time together she was a complete goner.

Unfortunately, things didn’t end well. Liv fell hard and had her heart broken and she and Vinny parted ways.  Seven years later a writing assignment throws their lives together once more and old feelings surface again, burning brighter than ever.  Of course, Liv is hesitant.  She’s not the naïve school girl anymore, and so she keeps Vinny at arm’s length.  But Vinny won’t have it. In the past he felt all wrong for Liv, and he let her get away. He won’t make the same mistake twice.

I love, LOVE, second chance romances.  When there is that prior connection and there are deep feelings on both sides mingled in with hurt from the past, it’s a pleasure to see it all finally work out.  The HEA is so much sweeter then.

This story is told from both Liv and Vinny’s POV with flashbacks shedding light on what happened between them in the past.  Vinny is my favorite type of guy: possessive, protective, and caring. Liv was also lovely. She was no pushover, but not unreasonable or unmoving either.  Plus, as a book lover and writer by profession, this girl’s focus can’t help but speak to the book nerd in me.

Liv and Vinny’s relationship is fiery! Parts of it reminded me a little of dom/sub type of relationship which was oh-so-hot! There is more going on and secrets from the past threaten the love Liv and Vinny finally find again.  But you just know things have to work out.

This is a companion to Worth the Fight.  I enjoyed that story so it was a treat to see Nico and Elle again and “be part” of a momentous event in their lives, and see their HEA still is going strong.  I loved that Elle immediately befriends Liv so that Nico and Elle are there for both Vinny and Liv to help navigate their relationship. 

I was hoping for another story with Jax, a secondary character we meet and I just found out there's one planned for July: Worth Forgiving, so yay!

I loved this second chance romance! Vi Keeland wrote a compelling and captivating story! 

4 Suns

Click on title for Goodreads link:

   

About the Author

Vi Keeland is a native New Yorker with three children that occupy most of her free time, which she complains about often, but wouldn't change for the world. She is a bookworm and has been known to read her kindle at stop lights, while styling her hair, cleaning, walking, during sporting events, and frequently while pretending to work. She is a boring attorney by day, and an exciting smut author by night!

Connect with Vi Keeland:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

As part of this post we have this awesome giveaway.  Just fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win: 

(8) Sets of "Bookchick glasses" and 5 custom wine charms, one of each of Vi Keeland's book covers – International

      (8) Sets of "Bookchick glasses" and 5 custom wine charms, one of each of Vi Keeland's book covers – International

Review: The Island by Lisa Henry

The Island by Lisa Henry
Published January 10th 2012 by Loose Id

Shaw is in Fiji to sell a stolen painting to the crime boss, Vornis. It will be the deal of a lifetime, if Shaw can pull it off. But then Vornis parades his latest toy around in front of him—a captured DEA agent whose time is running out. It’s none of Shaw’s business, and it doesn’t matter that under any other circumstances Lee would be exactly Shaw’s type: he’s young, he’s hot, and he might even have a personality if they hadn’t beaten it out of him. Too bad there’s no way Lee is getting off the island. Too bad there’s nothing Shaw can do for him. And too bad there are some lines that even Shaw won’t cross.

Keeping his hands off Lee proves harder than he thinks, but Shaw’s not stupid enough to fall for the tortured captive of a dangerous crime boss, is he? If he did, it wouldn’t be just his job he would be risking—it would be his life.

Publisher's Warning: Readers with a history of rape or sexual abuse may find elements of this story disturbing.

My Thoughts

Everything here was contradictory. The island itself, so beautiful, so peaceful. So terrible.

Beautiful, horrifying, hopeful and harsh… A dramatic blend that kept me riveted and emotionally invested the entire time! 

In The Island, the reader is transported to a beautiful place that’s so well described you can’t help but feel in the moment. When Adam Shaw lands on a remote Fiji island to deliver a stolen piece of art work to a dangerous drug lord, he expected to be in and out of Vornis’s grand estate within days of receiving his $95MM for the artwork and adding a few influential contacts to his network. What he didn’t bargain for was that he’d meet one of Vornis’s toys who was captured during a raid of his Columbian estate and brought to the island to be tortured and killed. The entire time Shaw struggles with keeping Lee alive and maintaining Vornis’s trust while he figures out a way to save them both.

Overall Lisa Henry did a spectacular job of creating a setting that drew the reader in like a Venus Fly Trap. To juxtapose something so alluring and magnificent against something so harsh and ugly really stretched my emotions thin. I wanted to enjoy the beauty that Shaw saw in the island and the Pacific, but having Lee constantly in the periphery made it difficult to embrace the tranquility and beauty that existed.

The characters in the story truly lifted off the pages and felt so real, but the standing ovation goes to Adam Shaw. My allegiance to this character never wavered for one moment. I completely sympathized with his position throughout the book, and it was tough to see him struggle with his feelings that he was complicit to the crime simply by being there. Alongside Lee, I had a constant trust in Shaw that he would be his savior. Despite the limits that were tested, I couldn’t figure an alternative to Shaw’s reactions and responses to what happened on the island.

A beautiful boy, a beautiful beach, a beautiful moonlight, and it was a travesty.

There were many moments when I felt I couldn’t continue to suffer alongside Lee during his captivity. It broke my heart every time he felt he was losing hope and one of the most poignant moments in the story nearly brought me to tears when he reminisced all the moments his captors couldn’t take away from him. Hope was so fragile throughout his entire experience, so I admired his strength to hold on to what he could. Powerful and painful at the same time.

The midway twist really shifted the story into overdrive. I was not expecting what went down, but it was perfectly executed in such a way that I was knocked off my chair and left gasping for a few moments. Wow! 

Overall, I knew this story would move me based on the reviews I read, but I never thought it was brand an emotional scar on my brain. However, as painful as some of the scenes were to witness, I couldn’t have asked for a more appropriate ending. Well done Lisa Henry! Well done!

4 Suns

Review: Second Chances (Second Chances #1) by T.A. Webb

Second Chances (Second Chances #1) by T.A. Webb

Published October 17th 2012 by Dreamspinner Press 

Mark Jennings is at a crossroads. His finance job in the Atlanta nonprofit scene stresses him out, his mother is dying, and his relationship with Brian Jacobs has crashed and burned. He needs a distraction, some way to relax, and a massage seems like just the thing. He never expected his massage therapist, Antonio Roberto, to become his best friend.

Despite their differences—Antonio is a divorced single father—the two men forge a firm friendship that weathers Mark’s reconciliation with Brian and Antonio’s questionable taste in women. Over the years, Antonio remains constant in his support, though others in Mark’s life come and go through a revolving door.

When a young boy runs away from the group home where he works, Mark finds another door opening. Through it all he holds on to the things his loved ones taught him—about family, about friends and lovers, about life and death. Most importantly, he realizes that sometimes the greatest gift of all is a second chance.

My Thoughts

The noise in my head calmed down and I started to just concentrate on my body reaching for something besides the grief that lived in me almost bone deep.

Intense, fast paced and mind consuming. That’s the best way I can describe Second Chances. When I read this book, I did what I haven’t been able to repeat in ages…I read a book in one sitting! This story took me well into the night and way past my bedtime because it was simply UNPUTDOWNABLE!

In this story, we meet Mark who is going through a challenging time in his life. His partner cheated on him and left the relationship, and now his mother is dying during a time when work is consuming what little energy he has left. So when he decides to pamper himself with a massage, he meets Antonio, and they slowing becoming best friends. What transpires of their relationship is a genuine commraderie that helps Mark get through some difficult times, during which he loses someone he loves and struggles with allowing his previous partner to reenter his life.

Antonio suffers through a few challenges of his own as he tries to makes ends meet and pay his child support so he doesn’t lose connection with his son. When Mark suffers yet another tragic event in his life that shakes his core, Antonio is there to pick up the pieces and help his friend get through those dark moments. As the years pass, and these two friends continue to rely on each other, their relationship becomes even more complex, which ultimately redefines Antonio’s life.

I simply loved the depth and multiple layers of this story. There were so many ancillary events and characters that I tried to capture because they each added their own element of sincerity to the core of this story, some of which included Mark’s family. His father and sisters were amazing to say the least. However, it is Mark who commands the stage throughout the book. He is strong in many ways, but I was never fooled by his surly, hard-edge demeanor because during his weak moments he exposed moments of vulnerability and frustration that were too hard to miss.

My biggest regret in reading this story was how I perceived Antonio from the onset. I never fully embraced or trusted this character, so I was skeptical of him from the beginning, which I’ll be a big girl and admit it was an error on my part. I wish now that I would have evaluated him through a different lens because there was more to him than I gave him credit for, which I didn’t realize until it was too late.

Overall, my reading experience for Second Chances was intense, emotional and gripping. I definitely won’t forget this story anytime soon. Love…

4 Suns

Upcoming Release & Sneak Peak: Unravel by Calia Read

Take a sneak peek into Calia Read's new book UNRAVEL, scheduled for release on Monday, February 17th. Are you ready to unravel the truth?

Six months ago, I was happy. I was simply Naomi Carradine.

One month ago, I was admitted into a psych ward.

Yesterday, Lachlan visited me. Kissed me. And told me that I’m starting to lose my mind.

Hours later, Max haunted my thoughts, reminding me I’m not crazy and that he needs my help.

A few minutes ago, I drifted further from reality, trying to unravel the past.

And now...everyone thinks I’m insane. But, I know he's real, and I know he needs me.

Do you believe me?

Her office has been quiet the entire time I’ve been here. But a static noise reaches my ears. It’s loud and makes me shriek. It sounds like a radio not quite in tune. And then I hear a voice behind me.

“Naomi.” The hairs on my arm rise. “No one will believe you.” The voice becomes louder, powerful, darker. Paranoia makes me turn in my seat. Nothing is there, at least in the physical sense. But I feel something. The presence is so ominous it feels like it’s only a matter of seconds until the bowels of hell reach up and swallow me whole. I remember the girl I saw in the hallway. Her eyes flash through my mind. “How the hell am I still here?” I don’t want to get to that point. I know I’m close. Darkness is ready to pull me under. “Naomi? Are you okay?” I look up at Dr. Rutledge, but I hear Lachlan’s voice. “The Naomi I know would have never just given up so quickly. She would have fought to stay in the present.” And then Max’s. “If you love me then don’t give up.” Their words mesh together. Their voices become one. And it becomes a small piece of hope for me. I give her a blunt nod. My body is shaking. “I’ll tell you.” She sits there calmly, waiting for me to tell my story. But before I say a word, I hold her gaze. Pay attention, I say with my eyes. Listen closely. Hang onto every word. But most of all, please believe me.

 
Calia Read lives in Germany with her husband and their four kids. She's currently working on the third book in the Sloan Brothers Series, Ruin You Completely.

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Blog Tour (Review & Giveaway): Undertow by Amber Lynn Natusch

Today Waves of Fiction is excited to join Shh Moms Reading for Amber Lynn Natusch's blog tour of Undertow. For our stop, we have the book details, a review, character casting, playlist and a giveaway!! Enjoy!!

Undertow by Amber Lynn Natusch

Published October 30th 2013

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

How far does a girl have to run to escape a lifetime of pain and loss at the hands of Alaska's notoriously unforgiving Bering Sea? Twenty-seven-year-old Aesa Fredriksen thought landlocked Columbus, Ohio would suffice, and it does until the fear of regret drives her to return to Dutch Harbor in a final attempt to make amends with her nearly-estranged father. Intent on salvaging the wreckage of their relationship, she reluctantly agrees to join him—the only family she has left—as he heads out to fish for king crab, forcing her to brave the very waters that pulled him away from her as a child. The waters that stole her mother's life.

When the day finally arrives for the Norwegian Queen to sail off into an uncertain future, Aesa can't help but fear the worst. Beyond the violent swells and impending storms, there is far more than death and danger awaiting her on her journey: love awaits her too.

Decker, a young but seasoned member of her father's crew, is a force of nature as strong as Aesa, He's her perfect match, and even she can't deny it. But he too is a man of the sea, and with memories of tragedy and abandonment etched so deeply into her mind, can she overcome her demons and let him in or will she drown in her darkness, forever caught in its undertow?

My Thoughts

“Life could change in an instant, leaving no time for regret.”

Exciting, refreshingly unique and romantic. A perfect storm reading adventure!

Aesa Fredriksen has lived her life at the mercy of the Bering Sea. Having grown up as the captain’s daughter, she knew firsthand the dangers of crab fishing when Mother Nature decided to wield an angry bat at the fishermen that sailed her sea. When the death of her mother and a falling out with her father, leads Aesa to flee the fishing town and complete her medical degree, she soon realizes that staying away is not a permanent option. Aesa finally decides to head back home after nine long years of distance from her father in the hopes of mending their relationship. However when he asks her to join him on a fishing expedition before she leaves for her residency, she’s forced to once again face the sea that has taken so much away from her.

During this expedition, she meets one of her father’s crewmen, and Decker teaches her not only how to mend her broken past but also move beyond the pain of her childhood. Falling in love with a fisherman is not what Aesa ever intended for herself, and she fights against what her heart tells her. However, when Decker refuses to give up and forces her to face her demons, she finally has a chance to have more than the pain of losing someone she loves to the perilous sea.

Overall, I have to say that I really enjoyed Undertow. There was a cadence to this story that was easy to catch. I was able to experience the dangers of the sea with characters I quickly came to like, which made the journey dramatic yet enjoyable all in one pass. It was easy to care for Aesa as we witness the pain she suffers from losing those she loves to the Bering Sea. Her automatic survival response to flee when she’s in danger of being hurt was completely understandable, and I never faulted her for her reactions. However it was nice to see Decker refuse to allow her to take the easy way out and at the same time fight for the one he loves. These two proved to be a perfect pair that were ultimately able to find a middle ground.

Amber Lynn Natusch proved she knows her stuff when it comes to a fisherman’s life. It was like watching an episode of Deadliest Catch blended with A Perfect Storm and an enjoyable element of romance and intrigue. The cast, plot and narrative blended really well to provide the reader with a journey that proved to be exciting and enjoyable. Well done!

4 Suns

Book Excerpt
“I'm sure that you have a lengthy list of requirements for the men you date.” He chuckled lightly before his tone regained its seriousness. “You should. Standards are important.”

“I don't have a list at all,” I countered. “I don't really date. I don't have time, but, on those rare occasions when I do, my finding is that men typically want only one thing from me. What's even more fascinating is that, whether or not they get it, the outcome is the same.”

“And what's that?” he asked, his playful expression hardening.

“They leave.” My voice was softer than I had expected to hear it, implying a certain sorrow that I didn't really feel. At least I didn't think I felt it.

“Those aren't men, Aesa,” he said, staring back out the window before him. “A man doesn't seek out a woman because he wants to screw her and leave, nor does he leave because he can't screw her at all. That's an asshole. A real man goes after a woman because he knows that life with her far surpasses that without her. He should be stimulated by her very presence, lack of clothing notwithstanding. That is a man. Apparently you don't have much luck finding any of those.”

My breath caught at his words. He was an oracle, a beacon of wisdom, found in the most bizarre place. How and why he knew what he did was still a mystery, but I couldn't help but think of the story behind it.

He had inadvertently cut to my core when it came to men. What disturbed me most was whether I had somehow always known that the choices I made would ultimately result in those men leaving. Was it both nature and nurture leading me to recreate that which I'd always known—solitude? What I had once thought was indifference to the level of commitment I found in the opposite sex suddenly seemed like self-sabotaging behavior instead. It made me wonder if I would always be alone. Surely the “men” Decker spoke of wouldn't want someone as emotionally unavailable as me.

“I guess I don't.” It was all the response I could muster while in my introspective stupor.

“Maybe you should start a list after all,” he added, turning to face me again with an expression that was far more at ease. “'Not an asshole' would be a great number one.”

Blog Tour Playlist

"Never Let Me Go" Florence and the Machine

"Take Care" Drake featuring Rihanna

Blog Tour Character Casting

Aesa

Decker

Author Bio

If you’re dying to know more about me, allow me to put you at ease. I’m a sharp-tongued, sarcastic cancer, who loves vegetable smoothies, winter storms, and the word portfolio. I should NEVER be caffeinated, and require at least eight hours of sleep to even resemble a human being. At thirty-four, I just now feel like I can keep a straight face while saying the word “rectum” (which is actually a huge lie because I just laughed out loud while reading this to my husband). I live with my iPod firmly affixed to my body, drive too fast, and laugh/cry at inappropriate times.

Social Links

Facebook | Twitter | Blog

Be sure to enter this blog tour giveaway for a chance to win the following:

5 ebooks of UNDERTOW

$25 GC Amazon or B&N winners choice

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour & Review: Jase (Men of Steel #1) by M.J. Fields

Today, Waves of Fiction is excited to join xPresso Tours for M.J. Fields's blog tour of Jase (Men of Steel #1). For our stop, we have the book details, a review and the author's bio. Enjoy!

Jase by M.J. Fields (Men of Steel #1) 

Publication date: July 13th 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Purchase Links: Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

I sat in my room at our family’s tattoo parlor, Forever Steel staring at the phone. I hadn’t stopped looking at the picture of this crazy, quirky, insanely beautiful blonde haired blue eyed siren that invaded the Jersey Shore a month ago.

Carly Smythe was not my type at all. She was a twenty year old student at Stanford University in California, smart as hell, and funny. The shit kicker was she was so awkwardly unaware of what any man with pulse could see, and that was that she was a damn heartbreaker with a body that made me hard the very first time I saw her.

She made me crazy, she snuck out to see me, and then avoided any sexual advances I made on her, until I finally kissed her, and I didn’t wait for an invitation either: I took those pouty little lips and made them mine.

Carly was also an avid reader of those books, you know “Mommy Porn.” So my game had to be stepped up. Who the hell am I kidding? She could see through my game immediately, and it didn’t have the same effect it did on every other girl I hooked up with. And she didn’t go running for the hills, either. I fell hard… and fast.

Abe (her cousin) knew all the shit that had gone down in my life for the past five and a half years and in order to make this work, which I wanted it to… I needed to set the record straight, put it all on the line, give her the 411, and let her decide if after everything, she still wanted to give it up to a guy like me. A tattooed, pierced, f-up, with a past that was sure to send any girl into a tail spin. She was not any girl, she was…different.

My Thoughts:

Quite entertaining with a dash of sexy! 

Jase (Men of Steel #1) by M.J. Fields was exactly what I was looking for when I was searching for an entertaining love story that was filled with an ample amount of drama. Despite catching a few pacing and flow issues, I had a really good time reading this book!

In this series premier of the Men of Steel series, we meet the first Steel brother, Jase. He works in the family business that specializes in tattoos and piecings, and for the past few years has been living his life on the edge. During a summer beach party, his best friend Abe brings along his cousin, and Carly catches Jase’s eye immediately. However, when she notices that Jase is in a rocky relationship with a jealous hothead, Carly stays away despite Jase’s mild flirting. After breaking up with Pam, Jase takes a chance at catching… and keeping Carly’s attention, but their volatile summer fling is put on hold when she heads back to the west coast for collage.

Throughout their on-again-off-again relationship, they hit their fair share of obstacles and misunderstandings that makes it impossible for them to enjoy one another for any stretch of time. After finishing college, Carly is offered a job in New Jersey where Jase lives, but any hopes of being with him are long gone. What was supposed to be the research assignment of a life-time ends up being more than she ever bargained for.

As you can tell, I’m keeping quite a few of the details in the shadows, but suffice it to say, Jase and Carly are one hot mess! Throughout Carly’s college years, she and Jase try unsuccessfully to have a long distance relationship. It was hard to see Carly struggle with certain emotional moments only to have Jase create added turmoil in her life. I think the issue I had with them as a couple was that I never really felt they made a good pair. Jase did his growing up behind the scenes because we got very few perspective chapters from him. Carly went through a significant amount of tough times while in college and having Jase drive her batty didn’t feel right for me.

The strangest part to this whole equation was that I really like both characters individually, but not as a pair. So I believe I might enjoy reading their novella , as well as the other books in the series to get snippets of these two in order to convince myself that they work well together.

As far as the writing goes, there were evident issues with the pacing and flow. That was clear when I would read certain excerpts and feel like I might have missed a paragraph or two. I’d lose track of characters and find myself lost for a few paragraphs. However, strangely enough I still enjoyed this story immensely. I laughed at a few scenes here and there. Some of which I’m not quite sure were intended to be funny. I got frustrated with the characters in a way that wasn’t close to be annoying.

Overall, I enjoyed this books despite the less than flawless execution. As I said before, I look forward to reading more about the Steel brothers in the other installments. Bring it on!

3.5 Suns

About the Author:

I am very new self published writer,and had no clue what I was getting into, still don’t—but I like it!

My imagination became apparent at age three. Sigma was my very first (imaginary) boyfriend. He lived about fifteen miles from my family’s farm. I took him chicken noodle soup every night on one of our snowmobiles, regardless of the season. Apparently he was very ill and “Thank God” I was able to care for him.

At eight my love for writing blossomed. My cousins and I (of course I was the president) wrote a newsletter and sold it to our family members.

Years later I decided to put it back into print to entertain my cousin on an aircraft carrier on 9/11 and very far away from home during a scary time for our country, (protecting our butts).

Fast forward to 2012. I read 50 shades and thought, I wanna do that!

I have two complete series The Love Series, and Wrapped and two new series Burning Souls and Men of Steel. Thirteen books in sixteen months. CrAzY and wonderful.

I love love! (I would love to reference a Pink song here but I will save my inappropriateness for my books.

I enjoy watching people grow and change with self realization and moments of clarity that sneak up behind you and smack you in the head. I love people and have always been able to see both sides of a story. Each person that comes into our life leaves us with something it is what we choose to do with it that helps us grow.

I live in central New York in the middle of nowhere and am surrounded by family and friend. I ran a small business out of my home and have recently closed my door to pursue this dream full time. I spend time writing and doing the typical Mommy things. Our house is full of pets, friends, and noise ninety percent of the time. I would have it no other way.

I love people,music, laughter, hugs, books, and talking about books.

I’m very excited to share that I have recently signed and am now represented by with Marissa Corvisiero.

Author Links

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