Day: July 14, 2015

Review: Mayhem by Jamie Shaw

Posted July 14, 2015 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Mayhem by Jamie ShawReviewer: Rowena
Mayhem by Jamie Shaw
Series: Mayhem #1
Also in this series: Mayhem, Riot, Riot, Chaos, Havoc
Publisher: Avon, Harper Collins
Publication Date: January 20th 2015
Genres: New Adult
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

When college freshman Rowan Michaels meets gorgeous, up-and-coming rock star Adam Everest, she knows a player like him is the last thing she needs after her ex-boyfriend shattered her heart. But she can't stop thinking about the kiss they shared on his tour bus.

On the first day of school, Rowan is stunned when Adam saunters into her French class. He's soon failing miserably, and, on a whim, she offers to tutor him. But Adam doesn't recognize her as a makeup-free, glasses-clad college student—a far cry from the beautiful, mysterious "Peach" he met at his concert.

During a wild weekend on tour with the band, Rowan can't help falling for the sweet guy buried beneath Adam's rocker persona. Yet she knows she could never compete with the girls constantly throwing themselves at his feet. She'd just end up hurt … again.

Peach is all Adam thinks about, though, and when Rowan realizes this, she has a decision to make: stay just friends to protect her fragile heart … or reveal the truth about the night they met and admit she's fallen completely, hopelessly in love with him.

I came across the third book in this series when I was browsing through Edelweiss and after reading the blurb, I wanted to meet these guys in the band. I wanted to know who Shawn was (hero of Book 3) but in order to fully appreciate them, I knew that I would have to start at the beginning.

So I dove into Mayhem and didn’t look back and man was it a good ride.

While out at a show with her best friend, the last thing Rowan ever thought she’d see was her boyfriend of three years, at the same show, shoving his tongue down her throat. Shocked and hurt, Rowan rushes out of the club to get some fresh air…and maybe cry a little. This is where she meets rock star Adam Everett. Adam is about to go on stage when he comes across a cute girl crying her eyes out over some loser boyfriend who she just caught cheating on her.

Before he knows what’s what, she’s on his tour bus and he’s comforting her in the only way that he knows how to comfort her …by trying to sleep with her. When he gets turned down, he’s surprised because let’s face it – that never happens to bad boy rock star Adam Everett but when he shares an explosive kiss with her, he didn’t think that would be the last time he saw her.

When Rowan shows up at class on Monday, the last thing she expected to see was Adam Everett show up in her same class. She thought that the last thing they would have shared was that kiss that rocked her world but when Adam doesn’t remember or care who she is, her life resumes. They don’t run in the same circles so when she ends up tutoring him, she’s taken aback by how fast she starts to fall for him.

I think my favorite part of the book was the romance between Adam and Rowan. I loved how they came together. They didn’t jump into a relationship and Adam didn’t change his ways at first. I loved seeing the chemistry smoke up the pages of their story until they were finally on the same page. I thought Jamie Shaw did a fantastic job of telling their story. Of showing the two of them fall in love (even though we only got Rowan’s POV). I enjoyed getting to know both characters and I loved that there weren’t a lot of games being played here. Rowan was right to try to protect herself from the kind of love she knew would come from loving Adam. He wasn’t ready for her and I loved seeing him fall in love with her. Their relationship wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t always easy but they eventually got it right and I fell in love with the two of them at the same time they were falling for each other.

This was an enjoyable story about two people falling in love with each other amidst a whole lot of outside influences. It’s not easy being with a rock star who has girls throwing themselves at them every single day but I liked seeing Adam and Rowan fumble their way toward that happy ending. This was a great introduction to this series because it made me thirsty for more. I can’t wait to jump into the next book.

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Avon Impulse. You can purchase it here or here in e-format.

four-stars


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Monthly Reads: June 2015

Posted July 14, 2015 by Rowena in Features, Giveaways | 5 Comments

mr-big

Rowena: I’m back! I was a reading machine in the month of June. I only re-read one book and I re-read that one because Ames had just finished it and adored it so that made me want to dive back into Nate and Liv’s story. I enjoyed it just as much this time around so I’m glad their story held up for me. I love those two!

I read 16 books in June. Yay me!

Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young (re-read) | 4 out of 5
The Duke and the Lady in Red by Lorraine Heath | 4 out of 5
Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway | 4 out of 5
Making Your Mind Up by Jill Mansell | 1 out of 5
Last Year’s Mistake by Gina Ciocca | 2 out of 5
The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi | 1 out of 5
After Hours by Claire Kennedy | 1 out of 5
Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis | 4 out of 5
Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley | 4 out of 5
Pixelated by L.S. Murphy | 3 out of 5
Faking Perfect by Rebecca Phillips | 3 out of 5
A Million Times Goodnight by Kristina McBride | 1 out of 5
Most Likely to Succeed by Jennifer Echols | 3 out of 5
Mayhem by Jamie Shaw | 4.25 out of 5
Riot by Jamie Shaw | 3 out of 5
Chaos by Jamie Shaw | 4 out of 5

I read a lot of books that just didn’t work for me. Most of those books were contemporary YA books that I was actually looking forward to so I’ll start with my least favorite read of the month and that is a tie between Making Your Mind Up by Jill Mansell and A Million Times Goodnight by Kristina McBride. I liked these books the least. The Jill Mansell book drove me up the wall because of those damn kids of Lottie’s and the Kristina McBride book drove me bat shit crazy because the main character kept making stupid decision after stupid decision. I wanted to punch both main characters in the nose. Grr.

My favorite read of the month probably goes to Mayhem by Jamie Shaw and Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley. I really enjoyed both books. I loved the grown folks romance in the Kristen Ashley and I enjoyed the romance between Adam and Rowan in the Jamie Shaw. Both books left me with a big, fat smile on my face and made me thirsty for more from their series. Good, good books!

Holly: I was really bad about recording my reads in June. If I don’t log them as soon as I finish, I’m pretty sure I miss a few here and there. I hate it when I do that.  According to what I do have logged, I read 19 books.

White Out by Linda Howard (re-read) | 4.25 out of 5
Archangel’s Enigma  | 4.75 out of 5
Back to You by Lauren Dane | 4 out of 5
Now You See Her by Linda Howard (re-read) | 4.25 out of 5
Sincerely, Carter by Whitney Gracia Williams | 4 out of 5
Secrets at Midnight by Nalini Singh (re-read) | 4 out of 5
Opening Up by Lauren Dane (re-read) | 4 out of 5
Cry No More by Linda Howard (re-read) | 5o ut of 5
The Beast of Blackmoor by Milla Vane (from the Night Shift anthology) | 4.25 out of 5
Sweet by Tammara Webber | 4 out of 5
Scarlet Heat by Evangeline Anderson | 3.75 out of 5
Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley (re-read) | 4.25 out of 5
Moonlight on Nightingale Way by Samantha Young (re-read) | 4 out of 5
Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh (re-read) | 4 out of 5
Soaring by Kristen Ashley (re-read) | 3.75 out of 5
Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh (re-read) | 4 out of 5
Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh (re-read) | 4.75 out of 5
Ruby Shadows by Evangeline Anderson | 3.5 out of 5
The Will by Kristen Ashley (re-read) | 3.5 out of 5

Excluding re-reads, my favorite reads of the month were Archangel’s Enigma, Back to You and Sweet. My least favorite read was probably Ruby Shadows by Evangeline Anderson. The bones of the story were pretty good, but that book needed editing like whoa. Plus, the heroine made questionable choices considering she was literally in hell for most of the book.

This month we’re giving away:

Sweet by Tammara Webber
Mayhem by Jamie Shaw
Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley

If you want to be entered to win, leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite – and least favorite – reads of the month were. Also, be sure to tell us what book you’re interested in reading. You can put your name in for more than one book, but you’ll only be allowed to win one, so choose wisely.

So…what was your favorite read of the month? And your least favorite? Use the Rafflcopter Widget to enter! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Guest Review: Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis

Posted July 14, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Second Chance Summer by Jill ShalvisReviewer: Tracy
Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis
Series: Cedar Ridge #1
Also in this series: My Kind of Wonderful, My Kind of Wonderful, Nobody but You, Nobody But You
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: June 30th 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

RESCUE ME
Cedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it's the last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a job, and there's an opening at the hottest resort in her hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot property in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker, and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating smile . . .

The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things his own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing, she has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes, slow dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if he can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second chance . . .

Tracy’s review of Second Chance Summer (Cedar Ridge #1) by Jill Shalvis

Aidan is completely surprised to hear that Lily Danville is coming back to town. He had a thing for her 10 years earlier but after the deaths of her sister and father she left town. Now she’s back and Aidan, as much as he tells himself he doesn’t, wants to know if he can finally make something of a relationship with Lily.

Lily isn’t thrilled to be back in Cedar Ridge but circumstances in San Diego changed to the point that she had to take her best friends offer to work in the resort salon with him. Returning to town brings up a whole bunch of memories that Lily’s done a great job of stuffing down and she’s not ready to face them. On top of that she really likes Aidan but she’s got so much guilt about her sister’s death that she doesn’t feel that she deserves love. On top of that she’s anxious to get out of town when a better job comes along – which never happens.

Aidan is a persuasive guy and is pretty much relentless with Lily – but in a thoroughly good way. She tries to stay away from the man but she finally realizes that she cares about him too much to ever let go.

Although this story definitely included some angst it wasn’t between the MC’s and I really liked that. I thought that the overall tone of the book was pretty light-hearted even though there were some serious issues happening in the story.

I adored the relationship that Aidan had with his family – Gray (+ his wife Penny), Hudson, Kenna and his mother, Char. Overprotective, yes, but I always felt the love even when they were arguing and disagreeing. The pranks the guys played on each other were pretty classic and I loved the good natured way they handled it all.

Lily had had such a lonely life, really. Yes, her mother was still alive but rarely around as she was travelling quite a bit. Lily tried to deal with the deaths of her sister and father the best way she knew how – which was to run away from everything and try to ignore her feelings. This worked for a while but when she came back to Cedar Ridge Aidan forced her to see A) how she’d been ignoring her feelings and B) how to deal with them. I just loved them as a couple and loved their HEA as well.

A great start to a new series. I can’t wait to read Hudson’s book next.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This title is available from Grand Central Publishing. 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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