Day: January 6, 2015

Review: The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen

Posted January 6, 2015 by Holly in Reviews | 11 Comments

Review: The Year We Fell Down by Sarina BowenReviewer: Holly
The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen
Series: The Ivy Years #1
Also in this series: The Year We Hid Away , Blonde Date , The Understatement of the Year (The Ivy Years, #3), The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years, #4), The Fifteenth Minute (The Ivy Years, #5), The Fifteenth Minute (The Ivy Years, #5), The Year We Hid Away (The Ivy Years, #2), Extra Credit
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: March 24th 2014
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: First
Genres: New Adult
Pages: 268
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves wants someone else.
What now?

She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.

Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.Also, he’s taken.

Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.

They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.

But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.

"I absolutely loved it, and I can't wait to read the rest of her books." Colleen Hoover, bestselling author of Hopeless.

"I bought - and read - this entire series in a week. It is OMG-awesome-NA-at-its-finest." Tammara Webber, bestselling author of Easy.

Keywords: new adult, college, Ivy League, hockey, disability, sports romance.

For fans of: Colleen Hoover, Elle Kennedy, Kristen Callihan, Cora Carmack, Tammara Webber

Corey, the heroine, is confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She wasn’t whiny or filled with self-pity, but she did ruminate about her situation and changed circumstances a lot. I thought her attitude was a good one, but her internal dialogue rang true. I felt the same about Hartley. His broken leg wasn’t really his issue, and he had a great attitude, but his insecurities made sense given his past.

Their friendship developed over the course of months and felt genuine. The transition from friends to lovers worked, though I wish it had happened just a bit sooner.

One thing I want to comment on: I liked the cessation of drama between the couple once they declared themselves. Things were a bit angst-y there for awhile, but then it was done. There were still outside situations to be dealt with, but nothing crazy between them.

This wasn’t my favorite book of the series, but the strong characterizations, engaging plot and excellent writing really drew me in.

3.75 out of 5

The Ivy Years

four-stars


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Best of 2014: The Heroes

Posted January 6, 2015 by Rowena in Features | 13 Comments

best of 2014_heroes

Rowena: This is always my favorite category of the year. I mean, how can it not be with all of the hot guys we read about every year? It was pretty easy for me to choose my favorite heroes of the year which surprised me.

  1. Bo Randolph from Unspoken by Jen Frederick. There aren’t enough words in the dictionary to describe how much I love this guy. He was everything that I hoped he would be, maybe more. I loved the fierceness of his love for Ann Marie and his protectiveness toward her made me swoon all over the place where he was involved. He was such a huge sweetheart that was hella good in the sack and really, you can’t go wrong with that guy. I just loved everything about Bo. Love, love, love him!

  2. Drew Baylor from The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan. Drew Baylor won me over the minute we got into his head and he said, “I’m not going to say that it was love at first sight. No, it was more like, oh, hell-yes-please, I’ll have that. With a helping of right-the-fuck-now on the side.” He said things like this and getting to know him was such a freaking treat that I ate up every single scene with him in the book. The way he felt about Anna and the fumbling he did in the beginning where she was concerned made me fall more and more in love with him. He was one of my favorite heroes of 2014 because I couldn’t get enough of him.

  3. Adam Hartley from The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen. Sarina Bowen is probably my favorite new to me author of 2014 and my love for her writing started with the introduction of Adam Hartley. He was one of those characters that came to life in the story and my love for him was real. He was so real to me. He drove me crazy when Stacia returned from abroad but I got over my annoyance with him because I loved him as a person. He wasn’t perfect but I loved that about it. I loved that he was hobbling around and humbling himself at the same time and I absolutely adored the way that he loved Corey. Loved him!

  4. Bridger McCaulley from The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen. Bridger’s story broke my heart. Right from the very beginning I adored Bridger. I loved the relationship he had with his little sister Lucy. I loved the love he came to feel for Scarlett and I absolutely adored him for the lengths in which he went to protect those near to him. His wasn’t an easy life and it would have been understandable for him to be bitter and mad at the world but Bridger didn’t have time for that. He was much too busy keeping secrets, raising his younger sister and trying to keep his grades up in school. Bridger’s story made me cry buckets and he stayed with me long after his story ended because dammit, I loved the hell out of him.

  5. Daniel Quinn from Before You Break by Christina Lee. When we first met Quinn in All of Me, I had no idea that I would come to love him as much as I did by the time I read his book. I was completely unprepared for how much I’d love his book and how much I’d love him. I loved seeing him grow over the course of his book and I loved seeing the man that he grew up to be. I loved the chemistry he had with Ella and their phone conversations. My heart completely went out to him and by the time his book ended, I was sad because I wasn’t ready to let him go. LOVED HIM!

Honorable Mentions: Tanner Riggs from One in a Million by Jill Shalvis, Max Cooper from The Shape of My Heart by Ann Aguirre and Zachary Fox from Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh. All three of these guys made me all swoony in one way or another. They made my 2014 just a little bit better. 🙂 I just noticed that my top 5 heroes of the year are all from NA books, does that make me a Cougar? Haha.

Holly: I didn’t have trouble picking my favorite heroes of the year, but I sure did  have trouble narrowing them down to five.

  1. Drew Baylor from The Hookup by Kristen Callihan. Drew was refreshing in that he wasn’t adverse to finding true love. He wasn’t necessarily looking for it when it happened, but he didn’t back away from it once it did. I loved how devoted to Anna be was, and how he fumbled with her. I also loved seeing his vulnerable side. He wasn’t perfect, and that just made him more attractive.

  2. Max from Falling for Max by Shannon Stacey. Max is another unconventional hero. He’s shy, sweet, mildly OCD and unlike any hero I’ve read before him. He was nerdy and adorable, and I just wanted to wrap him up and put him in my pocket.

  3. Bridger McCaully from The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen. Bridger. Oh, Bridger. I don’t even know where to start with this guy. He was strong, loyal, funny and unafraid to stand up for what he believed was right, or to take care of the people he loved. His desire to care for his baby sister and his willingness to do whatever he needed to give her the best life possible really touched me. I adored him.

  4. Zachary Fox from Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh. Fox was bold, passionate, a little bit wild and sexy as hell. He’s possessive and jealous, but also tender and caring. If you’re looking for an alpha hero, he’s the one.

  5. Max from The Shape of My Heart by Ann Aguirre. Max really surprised me. He started out as such a bad boy – leather jacket and motorcycle included – but he turned out to be so much more than a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. He pulled himself up and out of a poor, rough beginning and was working hard to make something of himself. He wasn’t afraid to go after what he wanted, or to make himself vulnerable. I loved how quick he was to admit his feelings and how eager to work on his relationship. I admired how he stuck to his convictions and didn’t let anyone walk all over him, the heroine included.

Honorable Mentions go to: Sam Brody from It’s in His Kiss by Jill ShalvisDavid from Rock Courtship by Nalini SinghXavier del Torro from Night’s Honor by Thea Harrison

Who were your favorite heroes from 2014? Can you narrow them down to five?


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Guest Review: Held Against You by Season Vining

Posted January 6, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Held Against You by Season ViningReviewer: Tracy
Held Against You by Season Vining
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: January 13th 2015
Genres: New Adult
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars

A gorgeous bounty hunter. A wanted woman. A passion they can't deny.

Accused of a horrific crime and on the run, Kat has been rejected by everyone she loves. She's a fugitive from her past, flitting from town to town with nothing but the clothes on her back—until she meets a man who literally stops her in her tracks.

A notorious bounty hunter with powerful instincts, he never fails to capture his prey. But there's something about Kat that gets under his skin–and it's not just the naked innocence he sees in her pretty eyes. Behind his ice cold demeanor, he has his own darkness... and now his lively, vulnerable mark is about to crack him wide open.As they travel across the country together, both captor and captive are unable to deny the spark of attraction between them. Will their journey bring them together...or will their dangerous secrets tear them apart?

Tracy’s review of Held Against You by Season Vining

Kat is on the run. She’s been running from the law for the past 4 weeks and she hates the person she’s had to become – a liar and a thief – but it beats life in prison.

She’s finally apprehended in Seattle by a bounty hunter who is determined to get her back to San Antonio. He’s attracted to her but tries to ignore it. The problem seems to be that Kat keeps getting under his skin and he can’t find a way to get her out. No matter how he tries to keep the emotional walls he’s built up and strong, Kat seems to keep tearing them down.

Between running from a guy that the bounty hunter says is a hit man and fighting their own attraction, Kat and the man that she has named Steel (as he won’t give her his true name) end up on a journey that will change both of their lives forever.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book when I read the blurb. I knew it sounded incredibly interesting and I loved the cover but beyond that I didn’t have a clue what would happen. In the end it was so much more than I anticipated.

Kat is a woman who would do just about anything for those she loves. We find that she’s accused of murdering her step-father but when we found out the reasons behind it all – and that it was an accident – I couldn’t hate the girl too much. Kat was trying to save her mother and ended up screwing up her own life. Once she’s caught, she wants away from Steel, yet…there’s something about the man that draws her and she can’t seem to make herself hate him. I loved how their relationship wasn’t smooth sailing and ebbed and flowed as I thought it should. I mean, hello, the guy is there to turn her in so she can serve time in prison. There are ISSUES!

Steel (we do eventually learn his first name) is a man who has all he’s ever wanted and is the best in his business – but he’s not happy. He wanted what his mentor had – money and notoriety – and he got it to a certain extent but he was lonely. I loved how he didn’t just open up to Kat – in fact she annoyed the crap outta him at first. He was a hard nut to crack but once he cracked he was a good guy that I thought was perfect for strong-willed Kat.

The story took us places I never thought we’d go when the story began and I was glued to the pages from the minute I started. This is SO not your typical romance! It was a love story, however, just with a rougher and grittier twist to it that I really enjoyed reading.

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

This title is available from St. Martin’s Griffin. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

four-stars


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