5 stars

Book Review — Carnage by Lesley Jones

May 16, 2014 by Aestas · 65 Comments

I love him. From the instant I set eyes on him when I was just 11 years old I have loved him and nothing will ever change that. He owns me. He owns my heart and he owns my body and no matter how many lies are told, no matter how many people conspire to keep us apart, despite the fame and the distance, we will find a way.

WOW. WOW. WOW!!!!!!

What a beautiful, gut-wrenching and epic love story!!

This was a non-stop, edgy, passionate, and emotional roller coaster ride from start to finish and I LOVED IT!!!! It made me feel everything. It consumed me. It took over my life. I couldn’t put it down, didn’t want to stop reading, and I know that I will never forget this story.

But please note that this is not your typical romance story. It completely shattered all my “book rules”, but my love for this story makes it an exception to my rules and this is without a doubt one of my top favorites now. I know I’ll be re-reading it for years to come but just please go into it with a very, very open mind.

So, what’s the story about? …. I’m going to tell you as little as possible because this is truly the kind of story that you should just experience for yourselves but here’s what the story is about:

“I was eleven years old, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was staring into the eyes of the boy I was going to love forever.”

… then that boy grew up to be a world famous rock star. Carnage tells a story that spans two decades. We see Gia and Sean grow up together and fall in love. True, unchanging, unwavering forever LOVE.

“I’ll love you forever G, wherever I am in the world, whatever I’m doing, it will always be you.”

I’m torn about how much to tell you about the story. If you genuinely want to know nothing, just skip down the review past the part with all the quotes and just read the stuff I wrote after them but here’s a little bit if you want to have an idea of what you’re getting into….

This author has an incredible writing style that puts you right into the characters’ hearts. I loved the innocence of their teenage love. They were so full of hopes and dreams and plans…

“I’m fifteen years old, he’s seventeen and there’s nothing we don’t know about love and life, we have it all worked out… We have a connection that no one else understands, we know that other people think we’re just a couple of kids and we know how wrong they are.”

But as Sean’s band grows in popularity, things change. To the world, he was a rock god. To her, he was just the boy she’d been in love with since she was a kid. I don’t want to give away too much but I want to share this one line because it’s just such an epic moment. Here’s this guy with a world of fame, women, drugs, and scandals thrown in his face and he gets up on stage and this is what he says…

“All you ladies in the crowd tonight have gotta appreciate the fact that I’m a one woman type of bloke and I love my girl. I’ve love my girl since the very first day I set eyes on her and back then she was just a girl… but I’ve had the pleasure these past few years of watching her grow into an absolutely beautiful young woman and as much as I love touring and playing in front of you lot every night, I’m counting down the days till I’m back in England and in her arms.”

The intensity of their love for each other doesn’t change but there are outside influences that tear them apart and I feel that you should know that a part of this book is a second chance romance. They are torn apart for a few years and even though their love for each other always is the most important thing in their hearts, there is a love triangle of sorts. It’s probably not what you’re thinking though because it certainly wasn’t what I expected. Just like the rest of the book, it was totally unconventional and I honestly thought the way the author portrayed it was brilliant.

“Such sad eyes. Who hurt you, Georgia? Who took the light out of those pretty blue eyes, eh?”

At the lowest point in her life, Cam helps her heal and slowly brings her back to life even knowing that her heart will forever belong to Sean. And I don’t want to give things away but I’ll just say that please be understanding as you read — all is not as it seems.

“Cam, I really do like you but you need to know, you need to understand… There’s only him, it will always be him, there’s no room for anyone else. Wherever we go with this, you need to understand that my heart is sealed and there’s only him that’s locked inside.”

*Sniff*

Love is messy.

My heart hurt so much. It’s like the worst kind of romantic pain when the heart has been broken enough to cause emotional devastation but not enough to make you stop loving that person with every fiber of your being. So you love and you hate and you hurt so much because you still love that person with all your heart and always will. It’s ugly, raw, and devastating. But it’s real. I loved this book because it portrays a kind of “forever love” I believe in so strongly.

But even though there is separation, it’s not forever and we do see an absolutely epic, beautiful reunion, The thing is that even though I loved Cam, Gia’s heart belonged to Sean and always would.

“There’s no one else. There never was. It’s still only ever you.”

“… it’s suddenly all too much, he cries, I cry, we cling to each other and everything is just as it should be. Sean and Georgia, Georgia and Sean. Us against the world.”

Gah. I can’t even read that without crying.

There is so much more that happens but I’m going to stop here because I hope I’ve told you enough to make you want to discover the rest for yourselves. This is the kind of story you just need to be brave about, dive in, and let it take over.

“Georgia Rae, when we made love you used to cry”… He waits for me to sing my bit. I try to swallow down a sob but I just end up singing through it…

“I said I love you like the stars above, I’ll love you till I die.”

Guys, throughout the entire story, my heart was pounding, fluttering, melting, breaking. There were no lulls. The intensity poured off of every single page. You know that feeling you get where you’re almost breathless with how much you care for the story?? Where you have tears in your eyes just because you are feeling so much?? That was what I felt like from start to finish. This story will give you ALL THE FEELS.

I know so many of you are curious about the ending and I refuse to spoil it but I will say this: I can totally understand why someone would hate the ending, and I can also totally understand why readers are completely in love with this book. The story ends at a place that makes perfect sense given the events that occur, but there will be a sequel coming out this summer. Given the events that happened, I think I need the emotional separation between these 2 phases in the story so I don’t regret reading this book now, even though I’ll be looking forward to the sequel. BUT just please remember that this is an atypical romance with an unconventional “romance” ending. It breaks all the rules and is not what we’re used to so just go in with a very open mind. It’s beautiful and devastating at the same time.

This was my status update when I finished the book…

I hate that I loved this book so much. But I did love it even though right now I hate it.

Even though the story was entirely unique, the closest in feeling only that I can come to is actually “Thoughtless” (ish). The love of this girl’s life becomes a rock star and gets sucked into the uglier side of that world: drugs, women, scandals, fame, etc. but they just have this kind of passionate love that defies everything life throws at it and just doesn’t let go. Gah, it’s very painful and messy and there are elements to this story that would sometimes send me running for the hills in some books but with the way it was written, I just loved it.

LOVED IT.

I also want to note that this book is currently in the process of being professionally edited and a free upgrade will be available as soon as that is complete. Right now, there are a fair number of “errors” in the book: spelling, grammar, misused words, incorrect punctuation etc — BUT — I loved the story enough that I totally overlooked this element of it so please don’t let it stop you from reading it, just be aware and forgiving as you read. Oh, also there was this one recurring line in the book that I still really don’t like and I figured that in the interest of full honesty, I’d just mention that it exists. (PS: don’t wait for the corrected version to start — just dive in now. It’s worth it!)

I finished reading this book a day ago and I’m still sitting here feeling overwhelmed with the emotions from it. It still feels like I literally just finished reading. The kind of emotions it evokes are so raw and powerful that they just don’t let go. I love that this book was so different. I love that it broke all the rules. And I love that I loved it despite the fact that it broke all the rules. But most of all, I am so grateful to have experienced this epic love story. I know I’ll never forget it. I know I’ll re-read it over and over again. And, I know it’ll always be in my heart.

Rating: 5+ STARS!!! An unconventional, atypical, epic love story.

PS — Bring tissues.

Casting images — click here and here (I’ll let you read into them however you want… )

If you want my review of book 2, click here.

Book Review — The Resurrection of Aubrey Miller by L.B. Simmons

April 26, 2014 by Aestas · 125 Comments

“I think some people are just inexplicably bonded. Drawn by forces beyond their own comprehension, they have no choice but to gravitate toward one another. Destined by fate to keep crossing paths until they finally get it right…

You call me your moon… I call you my soul mate.”

Buy THE RESURRECTION OF AUBREY MILLER (Kindle)

WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!

I loved every single word of this beautifully written, profound, and powerfully uplifting story. LB Simmons has written a stunning novel that explores the unbreakable bonds of friendship, the healing power of love, and the strength of finding a way to believe yourself in even the darkest of times. This is the kind of story that will grab your heart and never let it go. A must-read for everyone!!

Every once in a while, you come across a book that truly speaks to your heart, that keeps you up til the wee hours of the morning because you just can’t put it down, that fills your heart with every possible emotion, and that you want to read as fast as you can to find out what happens next but also don’t want the story to end… for me, this was one of those books. I was hooked from the moment I read the prologue. It just drew me right in and after only one page, I’d already fallen in love with the story, had a smile on my face, and couldn’t wait to find out about the resurrection of Aubrey Miller.

“The simplicity of living astounds me.
But it’s the terror of death that devours me.”

The story is told to us by Aubrey Miller, a young woman who has been surrounded by death her entire life. Everyone she’s allowed herself to love dies in an untimely fashion, and she becomes convinced that she is somehow responsible. This belief consumes her, and she decides to do the only thing she can — she withdraws from the world entirely. She puts up walls to keep people away, to keep them safe. By hiding her blond hair underneath layers of dye, concealing her shining blue eyes behind contacts, and covering her face with piercings, she assumed the persona of Raven Miller, a closed-off, unapproachable young woman with no apparent interest in relationships or friendships. A mask, she hopes, that will deter people from ever getting too close to her. But somewhere, locked deep inside, a part of her still craves connection and desperately hopes that one day she’ll be able to love again.

We begin the book on her first day of college where she meets the two people who would change her life forever — her exhuberant roommate, Quinn, and an unexpected childhood friend who had always held a piece of her heart and had never truly let her go… Kaeleb. Over the course of the next four years, they formed unbreakable bonds of love and friendship. And as these bonds strengthened, we began to see slowly see the mask that was Raven fade away, and the light that was Aubrey begin to shine again.

“I’ll help you get lost any time, Sunshine. The only deal is you have to promise to come back. I never want to lose you again.”

I have to start off by saying that the writing just blew me away!! But this book is not just beautifully written, it’s carefully crafted. Each sentence has a greater meaning within the whole of the story and each moment brings something of value to the overall journey.

Despite the fact that there were several moments where I had to reach for the tissues, there were countless times when I found myself laughing out loud (the whole “swear jar” thing was pure gold!!), or cheering Aubrey on, or swooning over Kaeleb, or chuckling at their banter. I’d like to really highlight the fact that despite there being painful parts that made my heart ache, this is not a sad, depressing, dark story at all. In fact, I would consider this to be a very uplifting story that carries a beautiful message about learning to appreciate life to it’s fullest and not being afraid to love.

The romance in this story is absolutely gorgeous and deeply heart warming. Kaeleb and Aubrey’s childhood friendship had bonded them closely and when they reconnected, it was like the bond was still there even though Aubrey had hidden so much of herself away. And while this story is so much more than a romance, their love is a central theme and a crucial part of her healing. I loved the way he saw right through every wall she built to keep the world out. He saw right into the heart of the girl he’d never truly let go of and was determined to bring her back to life.

“You’ve always been my sunshine. Ever since we were kids. I know you’re still in there, Bree. And I will find you.”

This book had everything in the perfect balance and I think there’s something in this story that every single person will be able to appreciate. Aubrey’s journey was a powerful emotional experience. Through her eyes, I lived through her pain, I experienced her hope, and I felt her healing.

When I finished the last page I sat there with happy tears streaming down my face, hugging my book and letting the full weight of the story sink into my heart. Aubrey had been through many difficult and painful experiences, but each triumph was another step out of her own personal darkness and into the light. And the message you’re left with really makes you sit back and think about your life.

“That’s my purpose. What’s yours?”

In the same vein as The Sea of Tranquility and Hopeless, this story will have you laughing one moment and wiping tears the next as these endearing characters take you on a heart warming, deeply emotional journey filled with romance, drama, and humour. Truly, this book had it all.

Rating: 5 STARS!! Standalone, New Adult contemporary romance.

Buy THE RESURRECTION OF AUBREY MILLER (Kindle)

Casting:

Raven (Aubrey) — heroine
Kaeleb — hero
Quinn — best friend

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Book Review — Room For You (Cranberry Inn #1) by Beth Ehemann

April 5, 2014 by Aestas · 4 Comments

“Life is a sum made up of small parts, Kacie. Some are good; some are bad. You and the girls are definitely one of the good. The best good there is and I’ll fight like hell to keep you here.”

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! It was a sweet, swoony, heart-melting, romance, perfectly balanced with just enough angst to keep me on my toes. Brody stole my heart and this book will definitely be going on my top favorites list!!

As a little intro, the heroine is a single mom with two little twin girls, and the hero is a famous hockey player (but she doesn’t know that) and when a storm strands him at the Inn she runs with her mom and he has to stay a few days…. ok, and just get this — he calls her little girls his Twinkies!!! OMG *SWOON*

I knew from the start that this book was a winner. Only a few pages in and my heart was fluttering, I had a permanent smile on my face, and I just got completely swept away in the story. It had that totally sweet, happy, romantic bliss feeling to it — the kind that just makes your heart feel full to bursting.

Brody was the biggest sweetheart you could ever imagine. He melted my heart and I literally could not stop swooning. Every time I thought he’d done the swooniest thing I could imaging, I turned the page and swooned even harder. This guy was caring and protective, but also patient and understanding. I loved how accepted all three of them into his heart and took up his self-appointed mission of bringing fun and happiness into their lives.

I loved that even though the connection between Brody and Kacie was strong from the start, there was no insta-love here. Kacie’s trust was severely damaged having had both her father and husband walk out on her, and Brody had never been in a serious relationship before. Plus there was the fact that with her daughters in the mix, they didn’t want to rush into anything that might upset their lives, so the romance really took the time to build at a very realistic pace.

“Did he kiss you?”

“Nope, nada…It wasn’t like that, HE wasn’t like that. He was really sweet…but God, I felt it, Lex. Every time out bodies accidentally touched when he brushed past me and his hand rested on the small of my back and when he smiled at me across the dinner table – it was there. This ridiculous pull, this tension. It was totally there.”

I loved how Brody understood the hurt in Kacie’s past and was determined to work as hard as he needed to prove to her that he genuinely wanted to give them a serious shot. I’ll admit that there were times when I found Kacie’s fear of their relationship to be a little frustrating but I also found it understandable given how her badly the important men in her life had treated her. But I loved Brody’s unwavering “we can do this together” attitude and I loved how he never gave up trying.

He took my face in both hands…”You’re not a conquest and I don’t play games. I told you I haven’t really ever done the girlfriend thing and you haven’t done the boyfriend thing in a long time. Let’s figure it out together.”

I also absolutely adored the way Brody was with Kacie’s little girls — watching over them, playing dress up with them, taking them puddle jumping and giving them a ride in the limo. I loved how respectful he was of Kacie’s relationship with her kids. He was falling in love with her but completely accepted her with them and was fully understanding that they were her first priority in life. Here’s one of the little scenes with the him and the twins…

“Brody, are you sick?” asked Piper.

“Yeah, do you have a fever?” Lucy asked, tugging on my shirt.

I bent down to her level as she felt my forehead. “Nope, not sick. Why?”

They looked at each other and shrugged.

“Mom was on the phone with Auntie Alexa and she said you were hot. If you’re hot, you have a fever. Do you need medicine?”

Isn’t that just adorable???

I honestly just loved this book from start to finish!! It was such a treat to just stumble across a book that gave me everything I could possibly want in a story. The writing just flowed — I loved the style and it kept me connected to the story the whole way through. I am also so happy to know that Brody and Kacie (and the Twinkies) will have their story continue in the sequel Room For More which is currently available for purchase. I will be diving into it as soon as I finish writing this!

I’ll admit that at first, I was going to go with 4.5 – 5 star rating but this is now the day after finishing my read that I’m writing this and I honestly when I think back on the story, all I can think of is how much I adored it so I’m going to go with a full 5 stars! This really was an absolutely gorgeous story. I am so glad I read it and highly recommend it for all fans of swoony romance!!

Rating: 5 stars

** SERIES READING ORDER **
This is a complete series about the same couple.

BOOK #1 — ROOM FOR YOU
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

BOOK #2 — ROOM FOR MORE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

NOVELLA #2.5 — ROOM FOR JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE
Buy for Kindle

Book Review — The Will by Kristen Ashley

March 25, 2014 by Aestas · 15 Comments

“It’s never too late to reach for happiness, and no matter what life has done to you, it’s never too late to find it.”

W-O-W!!! This book was EPIC. Absolutely PERFECT!!! ♥♥♥♥♥

Before anything else, I just want to say that if you’re already a Kristen Ashley fan, you’ll understand when I say that this book is “Vintage KA” style — PURE GOLD!!! And, if you’ve never read a KA book before, this would be an awesome book to start with!! It’s a standalone romance and is since it’s so fantabulous, it would be a wonderful introduction to this author’s amazing books 🙂

A few things right off the bat….

1) This might honestly be my favorite KA book. Or, gah, that’s like choosing a favorite child, but it’s definitely one of them. And without a doubt Jake and Josie are one of my favorite KA couples. This is coming from the perspective of someone who has read nearly every single book KA has written too!

2) This book is looooong!!! It was 9568 “locations” on my Kindle and every single word in them was brilliant!! I am so happy that it wasn’t edited down!

3) EPIC FEELS. This book has them. In bucket loads. From the very first page to the gorgeous, heartfelt, tear-enducing epilogue at the end, this book made me feel.

4) This is worth mentioning again: — VINTAGE KA, guys. ‘Nuff said ♥

Ok… on to the real review…

The pure joy felt when opening up a new KA book is just exhilarating. You know that you’re in for a wild ride filled with fantastic writing, Alpha males, and sexy romance… and this book had it all!!

Kristen Ashley truly is one of the most talented authors I’ve read. In my eyes, no one writes like her, and I really mean no one. If you’ve read her books, you know what I mean. Her descriptions and just the way she writes is so unique to her that it’s almost like she has her own language. If you were to give me ten random paragraphs of writing from various authors, I’d be able to pick out which one she wrote in a heartbeat. You feel it so strongly. Every word just sinks into your heart and soul.

The story takes place in the town of Magdalene where Josie returns for the funeral of her beloved grandmother. Her work takes her traveling all over the world but her grandmother was everything to her and she takes some time off to come back and stay at her house after. When she goes in for the reading of the will, she find that her grandmother put into motion a very unusual request which brings Jake Spear into her life in a way she never expected…. and so begins one of the very best romances I have ever read ♥

Less than two pages into this book and I already had shivers running through me and my heart was racing. There was this moment right at the beginning where their eyes meet across the cemetery and I didn’t even know the characters yet but the feels just hit so strongly and I was hooked!!!

I love all kinds of romance but lets be honest, a lot of them are about couples between 18-35 and I loved that this one was about a couple in their 40s. Jake actually had three kids (PS — I adored them) and both him and Josie had a certain… stability (?) and no-nonsense attitude to their characters that I guess came with simply having made a lot of mistakes in their lives and (more importantly) having learned from them. I loved that this book basically acknowledged that not everyone finds their forever love early on and what it also meant was that having lived without it for so long, both Jake and Josie valued it so highly when they got it, they both knew how precious what they had was and that was just beautiful.

“Never keep anything from me, I don’t give a shit how you think I’m gonna react. I’ll react how I react. I will NEVER harm you doin’ it. But I got enough experience with what doesn’t work between a man and a woman to know that keeping’ shit from each other is a big fuckin’ part of that….. Every inch of you, outside and any way you can get inside, baby, physically or emotionally, is mine.”

My heart felt full to bursting throughout the whole time I was reading this. There’s just no other way to describe it. I was just so with the story that like the randomest little things would make me tear up (even if they weren’t sad) just becauseI was feeling so much.

I love love loved Jake. Talk about ALPHA!!! He was bossy but in a loveable way with a total take-no-bullshit attitude. And yes, a few of you know already that he was a boxer but guys, he was so much more than that too. He had so many sides to him, so many roles, so many talents ( 😉 ) …. he was a great father and a gorgeous lover and yes, he was also one heckuva badass fighter, but at the end of the day, he was just a wonderful guy who cared for his loved ones more than anything else in the world and was willing to go to any lengths to bring them safety and happiness. He stole my heart… and he still has it.

“You good?” he asked into the top of my hair.

I stared at the shadowed wall of his chest.

“Josie?” he called when I didn’t answer.

“I’m afraid,” I admitted softly.

His arms pulled me closer and I felt his lips on my hair when he answered, “Beat that back, honey. No reason to be scared. Not with me.”

Josephine was all kinds of cool!! She was… gah, it’s hard to explain… she was a hoot! Very proper and she spoke in a very cultured manner — and by that I mean that words like illuminating, alas, distressing, prowess, vociferous, fibbed, ungentlemanly, await, hence, irksome, and more were all part of her regular vocabulary. But while she had this very collected side to her, she also had the biggest heart and had such a beautiful personality. She was feisty and smart and fun and I loved the way she cared so deeply not only for Jake but also for his children. She was just awesome!!

And the dynamic of the two of them playing off each other was pure gold!!! With her being so proper and him being so chill… they were so different but yet they just fit perfectly together. It was brilliant!!!!!!

“What’s next?” I queried.

“Don’t know, Josie. Just know whatever it is I want you to be a part of it and I hope like fuck you want the same.”

What I loved about them most though was how no matter what life threw at them, they didn’t let themselves get dragged down the wrong path. There was just a refreshing lack of ‘stupidity’ from either of them in this book. Don’t laugh, you know what I mean. Gosh, it was just such an amazing feeling to genuinely have that heartfelt respect for the characters. I not only liked them both as people but also agreed with and understood their decisions and the way they handled their lives, families, and relationships. They had each others’ back, supported each other, and didn’t let anything bring them down.

This book was one gorgeous, epic moment after another. I read so many scenes literally clutching at my heart or squeeing out loud with the hugest grin you can imagine on my face. I not only have whole paragraphs of text highlighted text but there are a few sections where I highlighted several pages on end.

Also, while Kristen Ashley is well known for her Alpha male characters, another thing that many of her fans will eagerly agree to is that she writes magical epilogues and I can say with full certainty that this was one of the most heartfelt, emotional, and deeply powerful epilogues she’s ever written. Tears were pouring down my face. It was just so beautiful!!

On a bit of a random note, I think was makes KA’s alphas so amazing is that they each perfectly ride that balance between dominant, possessive, caring, and badass — they’re family men, fighters, protectors, lovers, friends, everything. Some are a little ‘safer’, some are a little ‘edgier’, some more dangerous, others more swoony … and each one of them has a slightly different mix of all these qualities that makes them unique. They each ride that line between almost too much and just absolutely right. It’s like, they’re extreme enough to make your heart race but they feel just real enough to make you accept them. They’re not perfect people though, they have all kinds of flaws and vices and often even make us mad but we love them as they are. They really are the perfect Alpha males.

“To have what Jake had you had to be born the man he became. You couldn’t want it. You simply were going to be it until you were it.”

The Will is one of the most beautifully written and genuinely heart warming romances I have ever read. This is the kind of book you can lose yourself in. It had everything we have come to love from VintageKA — a loooooooong story, oodles of details, phenomenal dialogue, family dynamics unlike any other, hot & passionate romance and that special and totally unique language style that carries the weight, meaning, and heartfelt power that only a Kristen Ashley book can ever deliver.

This book was perfection. I do not have a single complaint. Quite simply, this was KA at her best!!

“I never wanted anything but you, Jake… And I wanted you before I even knew you… You’re everything I ever wanted, darling.”

Rating: 5+++ STARS!!!

** Note: This book is the first of a new 3-part series. Each book will be about a standalone romance about different couples!! This book can be read on it’s own — you don’t need to read any other book before it!!

_________________________________

*** FULL SERIES (STANDALONES) ***

THE WILL (Jake & Josie)
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Get the Audiobook | Read my Review

SOARING (Mickey & Amelia)
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Get the Audiobook | Read my Review

THE TIME IN BETWEEN
Buy for Kindle

Purchase

And, if you’re new to Kristen Ashley books, here’s the complete reading order of all her series 🙂

Book Review — Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

March 17, 2014 by Aestas · 51 Comments

“I never realized how powerful desire could be. It consumes every part of you, enhancing your senses by a million. When you’re in the moment… all you can do is focus on the person in front of you.”

Buy MAYBE SOMEDAY (Kindle)
Buy MAYBE SOMEDAY (Paperback)

Once again, Colleen Hoover has delivered an emotionally charged masterpiece that will capture your heart! Maybe Someday is not your typical romance but I promise you, it is one of the most deeply passionate and uniquely beautiful books I have ever read.

Pure perfection!

5++ stars!!

At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.

Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…

Maybe Someday was utterly unique and refreshingly original. I honestly do not have a single other book to compare it to, nor have I ever read a plot line even similar to this one. Everything from the way the characters met to the twists and reveals all took me by surprise and kept me guessing the whole way through.

Colleen Hoover’s writing has this beautifully gripping, compelling quality to it that draws you right into the lives of her characters. From the first few lines, I was fully immersed in this story and stayed connected until the very last word.

Ridge was the kind of guy who everyone will fall in love with – a gorgeous, sweet, talented musician with a heart of gold and who was also hiding a big secret. Everything about him made me either swoon or melt.

Sydney was one of those heroines who I just immediately liked. She was kind, endearing and earned my respect more than once with the way she handled the situations she was put in.

I truly loved everything about this book and about their romance – the texting, the flirting, the slow but powerful build of their connection… the music, the song writing, the heart ache and also the pranks. The strong emotional undercurrent that ran throughout the entire book was so intense that you could just feel it in every single scene.

There were moments that made my laugh so hard that I had to stop reading until I could recover and moments that broke my heart so completely that I just sat there with tears streaming down my face.

The way Ridge and Sydney connected through their music was hypnotic, beautiful and downright hot. They each had something that the other needed and pretty soon, the lines between making music and falling in love began to blur.

There was also an incredibly awesome feature worked into the book where real, listenable songs that had been written and recorded specifically for this book were integrated throughout the story in such a way where you would be prompted to listen to them at the exact right time. And holy wow were they just out-of-this-world incredible!!! For me, the most special part of all was being able to listen to the song after watching them create it from scratch together. It was truly just a magical experience.

The story is also told in alternating POVs so the reader really gets to see all the different sides of the story and is really able to connect to each character individually.

Now, here’s the thing that you can’t really tell from the blurb of the book: this is actually a forbidden romance but just so not in the typical way.

*** If you want to go into this book entirely blind, then just stop reading here ***

All you need to know is that this book is absolutely incredible, beautiful and unique. It’s truly a must-read and you can buy your copy here and start reading it.

But… if you want a little idea of what to expect from the story, then read on. I don’t reveal any major twists and I don’t tell you how the story ends, but because of the complexity of the situation, I felt the need to talk a little about how it made me feel.

Here goes…

I’m just going to lay it right out: there’s a love triangle. But this is not your average love triangle. Just like the rest of the book, this one is completely different and unique and despite the fact that as a reader I’m not usually fond of triangles, I absolutely adored the way this one was written.

We actually found out very early on in the story that Ridge had a girlfriend, Maggie, and it was abundantly clear that she wasn’t just a random girl he was semi-attached to. No, this was a girl who he was completely and totally, til-the-day-I-die in love with. She was kind, sweet, loving and honestly just a beautiful character both inside and out. But when Ridge and Sydney met, they too had an undeniable, soul-deep connection. Now, before you ask, this is also not a cheating book either. Ridge loved Maggie and would never want to hurt her, and Sydney had just come out of a relationship where she was betrayed by her boyfriend so in no way would she ever want to put another girl in the situation she was in. But, despite their best intentions, that connection between her and Ridge grew stronger and stronger even though they both fought it with everything they had.

“Having her so close feels as though we’ve created our own personal space and nothing from outside our world can make its way in, and nothing from inside our world can make its way out.”

Emotionally, my heart was all over the place. I genuinely did not know what to feel. I was so conflicted because there was no right or wrong here. No good guy or bad guy. I knew that this was Ridge and Sydney’s story so my heart was rooting for them but I couldn’t help but wonder… what if this had been Ridge and Maggie’s story? Because in that case, Sydney would have been the “bad guy” for representing a threat to their relationship. I mean, as much as I hated to admit it, didn’t Maggie deserve to be with Ridge just as much as Sydney? And it didn’t help that both Sydney and Maggie were such wonderfully sweet people and neither of them had any flaws that made it easy to justify disliking them for any reason.

“Hey, Heart. Are you listening? You and I are officially at war.”

This is not a book where you can hate anyone. You can’t be annoyed with anyone, you can’t fault anyone, and there is no one to blame. There’s nothing that makes you feel better about or justifies what you’re feeling. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt and I couldn’t pick a side. It just hurt. But I had no idea who I was hurting for. The best answer would be everyone.

“Nothing in my life has ever felt so good, yet hurt so achingly bad.”

There were no ‘teams’. No black, white, or even grey zones. There were just people. And feelings. Strong, powerful, all-consuming feelings. And choices. Impossibly painful, heart-wrenching choices and still… no. right. answer. But honestly, the fact that this book was able to mess with my emotions so strongly was one of the things I loved most about it.

“God, I hate feelings. Or I hate my conscience. The two are constantly at war and I’m not sure which one I’d rather turn off.”

The thing is, you can’t help who you fall in love with. No matter what the brain insists on, at the end of the day, the heart calls the shots and no matter how much we try and fight it, or deny it, it’s the one thing that can’t be covered up.

I loved that the author had the guts to write a story where there was no “bad guy” because it meant that there was no easy way to justify your feeling and with the way it was written, I truly felt each character’s conflict as though it were my own. Especially Ridge. I swear I spent half the book just wishing I could hug him.

This was one of those rare books where I never once, not even for a single moment, was angry or annoyed with anyone. Not to say that I wasn’t conflicted about their actions because holy hell was I ever torn and utterly unsure of everything I was feeling but at the same time, every single thing that happened was understandable. I was rooting for everyone’s happiness and I loved that I was never (not even in the end) made to hate anyone.

The ending was really just brilliantly laid out and incredibly well paced leaving me with the most wonderful feeling knowing that every single part of the story had been wrapped up.

This book kept me up reading til 4:30AM. I couldn’t put it down, couldn’t glance away from the page, and as desperate as I was to find out what was going to happen, I just didn’t want it to end.

It was fresh, unique, and unpredictable. I felt fully connected to each of the characters and I honestly don’t have a single complaint to make. This book is perfect. Truly perfect.

I can’t recommend it highly enough. Read this book. Live it. Love it. Allow it to take over your heart. It’s an unforgettable journey that every reader should take.

Rating: 5++ stars! Standalone romance.

Also, on a side note, I really strongly visualized every single thing in my head as I was reading. Every scene, every character, every location is crystal clear in my mind so I’m going to pray to the movie gods that this story ends up on the big screen because it would make one helluva movie! 😀

Buy MAYBE SOMEDAY (Kindle)
Buy MAYBE SOMEDAY (Paperback)

Book Review — Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan

January 30, 2014 by Aestas · 32 Comments

“Only you. Only ever you.”

Buy ARCHER’S VOICE (Kindle)

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!

Archer’s Voice was one of the most heartwarming and uniquely beautiful stories I have ever read. Mia Sheridan’s ability to convey strong emotions and vivid imagery through her writing is absolutely captivating. This was a gorgeous tale of survival and the healing power of love. I strongly encourage everyone to read it!! Without a doubt, it is now one of my top favorite books!

Before anything, I just want to mention though is that this is a standalone novel. Yes, it is a part of the Sign of Love series, but that is a series of standalone novels — each main story is separate from the others. You do not have to read any other book before this and it has a complete resolved ending that beautifully wraps up this entire story.

I really thought that this book’s blurb did a perfect job of describing the story without giving too much away. I’ve thought long and hard over how much I should tell you of the story and decided to just post the blurb here instead of saying anything about it because I really feel like this is one of those stories where the less you know up front, the more you’ll love it as you read:

When Bree Prescott arrives in the sleepy, lakeside town of Pelion, Maine, she hopes against hope that this is the place where she will finally find the peace she so desperately seeks. On her first day there, her life collides with Archer Hale, an isolated man who holds a secret agony of his own. A man no one else sees.

Archer’s Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives with an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love.

This is one of those stories that really grabbed my heart from the first word. I was barely 2% into the book before I had tears in my eyes. I was already completely invested in the story. I truly think that that’s a sign of great writing because I mean, I didn’t even know these characters yet but I already cared so much!! My heart was breaking for them and I desperately wanted to know more.

We were told the story mostly from Bree’s POV but with a few flashback scenes from Archer’s childhood. This was perfect really because it allowed us to follow her story while still connecting emotionally to Archer. And then later on, we also a few present day scenes here and there from his perspective as well.

The story unfolded beautifully in layers. With every little bit I learned about Archer, my heart broke more and more. The pacing was wonderful — there was no insta-love, and nothing was rushed, but I still felt that sizzling connection between them right from their first encounter. My heart was literally just bursting as I watched them get to know each other.

It was absolutely beautiful to watch their connection build. They became friends first but you knew there was so much more between them. I was completely drawn into their story. Their interactions were perfectly detailed — every glance, every gesture, every little exchange between them captivated me just a little bit more.

Archer Hale stole my heart. I really mean it. He’s now definitely one of my top favorite book boyfriends. Mysterious, misunderstood, sweet, silent, beautiful, broken, shy, powerful, protective…. I can go on and on but this man just had the biggest heart you can imaging and every single time he grinned, my heart melted.

Bree Prescott was such a wonderful heroine. She was just genuinely a good person — kind hearted, caring, and sweet. I was never annoyed with her and I loved her for what she did for Archer and for the way she say right into the real him.

Their chemistry was scorching. This is genuinely an Adult romance and once things got going between them, holyyyyy hell was it ever H.O.T. Even just their first kiss had me swooning. Totally butterflies-in-my-stomach moment.

“He… broke his lips from mine to look down questioningly into my face, to see if I was okay with what he was doing. His gentleness and his concern with what I desired made my heart squeeze tightly, and I smiled a small smile. “Yes,” I breathed out. “Yes.”

Archer Hale was not your typical hero but he made my heart melt like few others ever have.

“His eyes told me everything… We communicated a thousand words, without a single one being spoken.”

This book took me through every possible emotion. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love. The story was slow building but perfectly paced for this story — taking the time to fully develop Archer and Bree’s connection to each other, and the reader’s connection to them. It felt real and I experienced every moment right alongside them.

It was so wonderful to see Archer’s trust build as their love grew. Every little act meant SO much and my heart literally ached with love for him.

“I want to be able to love you more than I fear losing you, and I don’t know how. Teach me, Bree. Please teach me. Don’t let me destroy this.” He looked at me beseechingly, pain etched into every feature of his face.

Oh God, Archer, I thought, my heart squeezing tightly in my chest. How do you teach a man who has lost everything, not to fear it happening again?

The thing I appreciated most about this book was that there was no unnecessary drama. I understood and respected both Archer and Bree’s decisions. I loved them together, but also individually.

As the book built towards the ending, things got more intense and I couldn’t flip the pages fast enough but I finished it with happy tears in my eyes and literally just sat there for several minutes smiling and just feeling everything. It was a beautiful, emotional, and entirely unique story — so different from anything else I’ve ever read. I can’t recommend it highly enough!!

Also — can this please get made into a movie???? Seriously – I can picture every scene in my head. It would be absolutely incredible!!

“He smiled back and put his lips against mine, mouthing, “I love you, too,” against my mouth, as if he was breathing love into my body.”

Rating: 5 STARS!!! Read this book, guys!!

Buy ARCHER’S VOICE (Kindle)

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