Just a Girl by Ellie Cahill

Blurb:
In this pitch-perfect novel from the author of When Joss Met Matt (“One of those books that make you forget everything around you.”—Sophie Jordan), a rock ’n’ roll diva must choose between her career and her heart.

After getting kicked out of her own band—by her own boyfriend—Presley Mason finds herself back in Wisconsin, helping her parents run their renowned music store. Instead of belting out powerhouse vocals to sold-out crowds in L.A., she’s stocking shelves and inspecting rental violins. But the shop isn’t all bad: When she’s vacuuming up late one night, she bumps into the guitar teacher with the smoldering amber eyes and the killer tattoo. And that’s when things take an interesting turn.

Presley soon finds that Paul Kellerman is as good in bed as he is on guitar. So why isn’t he stoked to share his band, Jukebox Bleu, with her? Turns out Paul has crippling stage fright, which he’s been self-medicating without much success. But when Jukebox Bleu’s lead singer gets called for military service, the other members beg Presley to front them. Even though she swore never to mix men with music again, the temptation to perform is almost as intense as her chemistry with Paul. Now Presley must decide what’s more important: a second chance at love . . . or rock stardom.

    

My Review:
4 stars — I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

Earlier in the year I read Ms. Cahill’s book Call Me, Maybe, and while overall it was a great read (4 stars), I remember being a bit let down by the ending.  Probably b/c it was initially a 5 star read for me and didn’t end that way.  But I really wanted to give Ms. Cahill another shot, mostly just because of how much I enjoyed the first half of that book.  So I requested this book, and while I never got a 5 star feel from it, I was also not disappointed, so it was more of a 4 star read throughout, and that was satisfying enough for me to seek her out in the future.

Presley wasn’t necessarily my kind of girl…not someone I could naturally vibe with.  But I really appreciated how spunky she was, and my heart did hurt for what she went through with her original band.  I loved seeing music from her perspective, and how much it meant to her.

As with the previous book I read of Ms. Cahill’s, I felt like I needed more from Paul’s story.  It’s not that every book needs to be dual POV, but I guess I felt like there was more I could have learned about Paul and I felt a little shortchanged.  He was pretty darn swoony, even if a little screwed up.

The highlight of this book for me was the steamy bits.  But in a strange dichotomy, while I felt like the physical chemistry was oooo baby, I would have appreciated a little more meat in the just general romance department.  They really got together based on physical chemistry alone, and while we did get some beyond that, I would have loved to know more of what drew them to each other beyond that.  What can I say, I wanted more.  Which makes me wonder if this should have been 3.5 instead of 4, but whatever…

And I will note that I wasn’t really impressed with Presley’s initial decision about Paul and the band, but it didn’t anger me like the decisions made in Call Me, Maybe did.

There were a bunch of smaller side things that I loved in this book.  I loved Presley’s parents.  They were awesome.  I loved the relationship she had with them.  I loved the musical aspects, and the Thursday nights at the store (even if occasionally I wondered how realistic that would be).  I loved the band members of Jukebox Bleu.  I loved Paul’s sister, even as volatile as she could be.  And I even loved the little twitter, texting or playlist breaks between the chapters — felt like they really added to the story (though I would have loved to actually meet Liz at some point then).  I ESPECIALLY loved the playlists.  They were spot on.

So if you’re looking for a steamy new adult read, this one definitely delivers.  If I’d been looking for more, I might have rated it lower, but I was satisfied with what I got out of it.

Turtle Bay by Tiffany King

Blurb:
If you’re a teenager in a small, rural area, how do you exist when your eccentric, free-spirited parents are the town freaks everyone laughs at?

For sixteen-year-old Rainbow Honeywell—or Rain, as she insists on being called—the answer was to become the queen of all pranks. She never wanted to be a troublemaker, but the label quickly stuck when everyone in Huntsville, Kansas, became a target. All she wanted was to deflect the negative attention off her parents, but Rain’s plan backfired to the max, landing her in a heap of trouble with the local authorities and expelled from high school.

An unexpected inheritance offers Rain an opportunity for a new beginning when she and her family move across the country to the quaint beach community of Turtle Bay, Florida.

Determined to make the best of her second chance, Rain vows to walk the straight and narrow, hoping her parents will fly under the radar while she soaks up some fun in the sun, sandy beaches, and hot, tanned guys. Unfortunately, she picks the wrong new friends, and a late night party lands her back in the kind of trouble she had been hoping to avoid. As the newbie in town with a record, Rain takes the brunt of the punishment when an unforgiving judge chooses to make an example out of her and slaps her with enough community service hours to keep her busy until she is old and gray.

Facing the harsh reality of paying for the actions of others while atoning for her own past sins, Rain is paired up with Josh Shaw, a judgmental local lifeguard whose love for the beach and the environment is eclipsed only by his distaste for those who trash it. As far as Josh is concerned, Rain is guilty and got what she deserved, regardless of her side of the story. To make matters worse, a tropical storm sits in the Atlantic, threatening to wreak havoc on the small beach community.

Things slowly change as Rain begins to appreciate her surroundings through Josh’s eyes, proving she is not the person he thinks she is. Their feelings for one another blossom as the tropical storm grows into a hurricane and bears down on Turtle Bay. With impending danger looming, the small beach community must come together in order to ride out the storm.

    

My Review:
4 stars — I absolutely adore Ms. King’s YA contemporary books, they are some of my favourites in this genre.  And for some reason while I bought this book immediately when it came out, I didn’t get to it right away.  But it was exactly what I always love about her books, so I shake my head at myself for leaving it so long. (also, it’s currently only 99 cents people — if you love YA contemps, I recommend checking it out)

This is probably going to be a bit of a lackluster review, b/c I finished this book 2 days ago, and have read 2 more books since then…I hate doing that, but travel always screws me up.  What can I say?  The romance was definitely sweet, and I liked how the relationship progressed from intrigue to “sort of” hate to understanding to crush to more.  It was the perfect YA romance in my opinion.  And we definitely got enough of it to keep me satisfied.

I really enjoyed both Rain and Josh, though this was really Rain’s story.  Rain could have easily annoyed me with her viewpoints on Josh and the aftermath of the party, but I thought in the end she was written very authentic teenager, and it didn’t last so long as to drive me nuts.  Just enough to make her believable, but then give us some growth.

There were some tiny side plots that I was a bit confused about.  I felt like Farrah was going to have a bigger part in the story, and then she just didn’t.  I really feel like she has more to say.  Maybe there was an initial thought to write more books and make it series-esque, and then it just didn’t pan out?  That makes me sad, b/c I would love to learn more of Farrah’s story.  And then there was the Evan storyline.  Part of me liked what was brought there, but I felt somehow off about it.  Like I wasn’t quite sure what all it brought to the story as a whole.  But I also read this book off and on with a big break in the middle, so that sometimes messes with how I see the story as a whole.

In the end the part that stood out to me the most and just totally made me love this story were Rain’s parents, Butch and Buttercup.  I LOVE when YA’s actually have parents that EXIST and are important to the story.  So many times they’re just written around and it’s just not realistic.  And while Butch and Buttercup were unbelievably unique and different, they were great parents and I really loved what they brought to Rain’s growth.

All in all, it was exactly what I was looking for from Ms. King.  She writes a lot of different ages, from YA to Adult, but for me it’s her YAs where she shines.

The Secret Life of a Dream Girl by Tracy Deebs

Blurb:
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains adult language, references to drinking and drugs, and a kiss so steamy it’ll fog up your ereader.

Hiding in plain sight is harder than it looks…

Dahlia Greene—aka international pop superstar Cherry—is undercover as a normal high school student. She just wants to experience what real life is like, so when she overhears hottie Keegan Matthews nervously talking about liking a girl, she sees the perfect opportunity to live a real life and play a little matchmaker. What was not part of the plan was falling for a guy she can never tell the truth.

Keegan Matthews has been secretly crushing on Dahlia ever since she started at his school. Sure, Dahlia thinks he’s crushing on some other girl—not realizing his Dream Girl is actually her—but he figures, play along with her tips to woo someone else, let her get to know him, and then make his move. But with so many secrets in the mix, their romance is doomed from the start…

    

My Review:
4 stars — I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

So this is my second book from the Creative HeArts series (I previously read Mariely and Cabot’s story Crazy, Stupid Fauxmance), and I think I’ve figured out the pattern in them — they can be read as standalones from each other (though you will become curious about the other characters b/c you get drive by mentions of them), but they seem to each be setting up their own multi-book story arcs.  So yet again I was left feeling a bit unfulfilled by the ending, but at least this time I wasn’t blind-sided by it.  It’s like when reading Mariely and Cabot’s story, I saw on Goodreads that it says “Mariely and Cabot book 1” or whatever, but at that point I didn’t quite understand the ramifications of that.  Sometimes when there are multiple books with the same couple, you might get a HFN, if not an HEA.  I found that with this book we got a bit more of a HFN than we did with Crazy, Stupid Fauxmance, but I guess I still felt like the pacing was a bit weird with how these were laid out.  It makes me want to wait for all the books in the series to be out so I can just binge them.

OK, sorry for that huge aside, I was just getting my thoughts out.  I actually really enjoyed this one.  I enjoy the whole rockstar in disguise trope, and I really felt for Dahlia (or Cherry).  We didn’t delve too deeply into her past, so you don’t see concrete examples of how her father used her, but it is alluded to heavily.  And she really is in a tricky position trying to stay under the radar so no one realizes who she really is.  Sometimes I find it hard to believe when no one recognizes the star who is incognito, but I bought the explanations in this book.  She definitely had a lot going on inside her, but I feel like there’s still so much more to learn about her.

And Keegan had my heart breaking.  I lost my father to cancer when I was a teenager, so I can really feel for everything he’s going through in that part of his personal life.  And then on the other hand, he was so fricking adorable with how much he liked Dahlia and how nervous he was about it all!  I just wanted to squeeze him.  There was some interesting depth to his character that I loved (with him being in this arts school, but not really having a particular art that he is talented in).

And the chemistry between these two was just fantastic!  That kiss!!!  Holy smokes, that kiss.  *swoon*  I loved the romance in this book.  It was both sweet and hot.

And damn it all, yet again I want to read Finn’s book (book 2), even though I’m pretty sure it’s an even less satisfying ending than books 3 and 4 were.  Maybe I’ll wait until the next installment is almost out and then get into it.

So basically my only disappointment with this book is that I don’t have concrete answers on when more is coming out.  Because I’m uber greedy like that.  😛  But you can bet your bippy I will be all over it when it does come out!  No pressure Ms. Deebs.  *snicker*

Getting Lucky Number Seven by Cindi Madsen

Blurb:
What’s your lucky number?

Lyla Wilder is done being the shy, chemistry nerd extraordinaire. While every other college student is out having fun, Lyla is studying. With her cat. Well, she’s played it “safe” quite enough, thank you. So she creates a “College Bucket List”?with item #7 being a night of uninhibited, mind-blowing sex…

But she needs some help from her man-whore best friend.

Hockey player Beck Davenport thought Lyla’s transformation would be subtle. Man, was he wrong. With every item she ticks off, Beck finds himself growing seriously hot for his sweet, brainiac best friend. And if he’s not careful, he’ll end up risking their friendship in order to convince Lyla that he might just be her lucky #7…

    

My Review:
This was a reread (and the cover above is the old cover, there’s a new one that better matches the second book, which is totes on my wishlist).

ORIGINAL REVIEW: 4 stars — Exactly what you always get in a Cindi Madsen book — adorable quirky characters who have great chemistry. And apparently I am short on words today, cause that’s all I got. Thoroughly enjoyed the book, don’t take my lack of verbosity as anything but a rift in the space-time continuum. 🙂

ON REREAD: 4 stars — I find it absolutely hilarious that I reread this right before going on a vacation, and so have to sit on the review for almost a week, and thus I’m still not going to have much to say.  I’m not sure this is the right use of irony, but whatever that thing is that people say is irony when it’s really not (coincidence? bad timing?), well I just ran into a lot of it.  I really enjoyed Lyla and Beck’s story.  It had a lot of the elements that I tend to be drawn to in a story — friends to lovers, ugly duckling, etc.  I remember parts of Lyla’s quest not sitting right with me, but for the life of me a week later I forget what exactly bothered me.

But I will say that above all, the chemistry in this book is the shit.  It’s definitely what stands out the most.  There were some misunderstandings that were a bit cliche, but watching Lyla and Beck interact made up for it.  If you’re a fan of this trope, and you love great chemistry, then I definitely say give this book a try.  🙂

Remember Jamie Baker by Kelly Oram

Blurb:
Remember Jamie Baker is the explosive and long awaited conclusion to the Jamie Baker trilogy. With all the action of the best superhero science fiction and epic romance as only bestselling teen romance author Kelly Oram can write, this book will have you laughing, swooning, and wanting to save the world!

Plagued by memory loss, Jamie Baker searches high and low for the answers to who she is, where she comes from, and why she’s able to do things other humans can’t. A not-so-simple task when she’s hiding from the people responsible for her amnesia—an evil scientific research company that wants to capture her at any cost.

When Jamie’s quest for the truth reveals a devastating betrayal from the one person she thought she could trust, she’s forced to team up with a secret military organization in order to ensure her safety and stop Visticorp’s horrific human experimenting once and for all.

    

My Review:
4.5 stars — SO WORTH THE WAIT!!!  OK, so technically I didn’t wait as long as some fans, b/c I put off reading book 2 when I first got it because I knew the conclusion didn’t have a release day yet (or heck, was even written).  But even if I had been waiting those few years, it would have been worth it.  I LOVED Being Jamie Baker (4.5 star rounded up to 5), and then was majorly conflicted and a bit let down by More Than Jamie Baker (3.5 star rounded down to 3), so I was uncertain how the series would end.  BUT OMG.  Well, as you can see, I loved it.  Like seriously, everything I loved about this series was just there and present, and all the things that detracted from it for me were mitigated and reasonable.

I felt like in book 2 there was so much Teddy and, well, I hated him, so that really worried me coming into this book.  Especially b/c Jamie was so oblivious to him.  But none of my worries were founded in this book.  Teddy was still there, but in a much more behind the scenes capacity that made me so relieved.  And Jamie still felt compassion towards him, which given who Jamie is – it makes sense.  But she wasn’t blinded to all his faults.  THANK THE BABY JESUS.  So while he still causes all kinds of grief, it all worked much better in the book for me.  Seriously, you cannot know how relieved I am.

The memory loss thing was intriguing.  I didn’t expect it to take over so much of the plot, but I guess that’s because I didn’t really think about what all it would mean for Jamie.  But it was well done.  Occasionally I had moments where my interest waned, but that could be because I’ve had too much life stuff going on at the time I was reading this, and so I couldn’t just read and devour like I normally would.

Ryan Miller was everything we love about Ryan Miller and more.  If you thought you were in love with him before, prepare to fall in love even more.  He is such a funny character, b/c he is so sweet and positive and thoughtful, but he’s also this arrogant and kind of cocky guy…but somehow it’s endearing.

The chemistry was through the roof.  OMG.  Superkisses.  I forgot how much I love superkisses.

The side characters were AMAZING!!!  I LOVED all of them, from the Major, to the new Aces, to Abiodun, but especially Tyson!!!  They added so much and I just adored the scenes where they were all bantering back and forth.  What a great military family.

And the ending was perfection.  From the edge of your seat climax, to the more epilogue-esque conclusion.  I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to go, and though I would have been satisfied with any number of ways, Ms. Oram wrote it perfectly and beyond my expectations as usual.  Seriously.  I want to read it again, and probably will when I have time to soak it all in with no distractions.

Level Up: A Geek Romance Rom Com by Cathy Yardley

Blurb: Geeky introvert Tessa Rodriguez will do whatever it takes to get promoted to video game engineer– including create a fandom-based video game in just three weeks. The only problem is, she can’t do it alone. Now, she needs to strong-arm, cajole, and otherwise socialize with her video game coworkers, especially her roommate, Adam, who’s always been strictly business with her. The more they work together, though, the closer they get…

Adam London has always thought of his roomie Tessa as “one of the guys” until he agreed to help her with this crazy project. Now, he’s thinking of her all the time… and certainly as something more than just a roommate! But his last girlfriend broke up with him to follow her ambitions, and he knows that Tessa is obsessed with getting ahead in the video game world.

Going from friends to something more is one hell of a challenge. Can Tessa and Adam level up their relationship to love?

---

EXCERPT: 

Now Harold flushed, anger in his eyes.  “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Tessa,” she said.  “I’m a friend of these girls.  And I could ask who the fuck you are, coming over here, trying to be intimidating, and throwing your pitiful masculinity around like it’s something to be either proud of or afraid of, which is a joke.  Since you obviously can’t threaten anybody physically–I’m fairly certain Hailey here could pound you into a crimson stain on the pavement in a hot minute–you’re trying to overcompensate by making veiled sexual and financial threats, acting like homosexuality is somehow an insult, and basically being an asshole.”

Harold was staring at her.  So were the girls. Hell, so was he.

“I could ask who the fuck you are,” she repeated, with a smaile as sharp as a razor, “but I’ve known a million guys just like you, and frankly, I just don’t care.”

“You couldn’t even handle a man like me.” he spat out.

“Please.  the only sizeable thing on you is your inferiority complex,” she shot back.  “So why don’t you use that needle dick of yours as a compass, and find the door?”

---

5 Stars!!!!  AND ITS FREE!!!!

I Floved this book! The cover has such relevance to the story and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a cover that had nothing to do with the story so this one is a favorite for me.  This book is diverse and touches on sexist issues.

Tessa is like the ultimate geeky fangirl.  She is a coder, which, we already know is difficult for a woman working in a male dominated field.  She is a bit of an introvert so she has two things working against her in this field.  But she is also fiercely competitive, passionate about her friends, and she isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or others.  She references some of my favorite fandoms too so shes extra cool in my book.  (DW, Sherlock, Firefly to name a few) Honestly, I don’t know if the show they reference in the book (Mystics) is a real series, but if it is I want to see it.  She’s a bit of an outcast because she is the only female in her family that doesn’t want the ‘conventional’ life.  While her sisters are having kids and starting families, she is focusing on her career.  Tessa is a self aware woman.  She knows her worth and what she is capable of and refuses to settle.  In a career made up of mostly guys, she gives as good as she gets. And I admire her greatly for not quitting.

Now to Adam, Oh man! I really thought Adam was gonna be shy and let her take the lead, and he did for the most part.  But he surprised me in the bedroom.  It was like when the sun goes down, a whole ‘nother Adam came out to play.  He was a bit agressive in his pursuit.  It was pretty hot.  He also really respected the fact that she wanted to get the job on her own merits and not have her gender be a factor for or against her.  I really liked that about him cause he didn’t try to swoop in and save her even though he wanted to. And he even asked her a few times if he could help her, so for him to ask without just going ahead and doing it showed me the kind of character he was ya know. He respected her choices and her decisions without trying to persuade her or minimize her contribution.  Which, we all have had happen to us at some point or another.  He just had this really great balance of shyness and masculinity.

I really like this book.  Sidenote: The side charcaters are fricking hilarious.

Top Ten Favorite 2016 Releases So Far This Year

(Images link to Goodreads, Titles link to Amazon)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish in which you make a list of ten to do with a certain topic.  This week’s topic is “Top Ten Favorite 2016 Releases So Far This Year.”  (And apparently we both interpreted that differently… 😉 ).

Curly Carla’s Top Ten:

1. Crazy About Love by Cassie Mae. Just finished this book, in short, I loved it.  My review.
2. Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid.  I can’t wait to start this one, I just finished the first one.
3. Star Dust by Ali Winters.  This was a great book!  My review.
4. The Player and the Pixie by L.H. Cosway & Penny Reid.  I’m so excited about reading this!
5. Logan Kade by Tijan.  I love this author!
6. Us by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy.  Another author I love.
7. Dawn of Ash by Rebecca Ethington.
8. Never Never by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher.  I was a bit disappointed in this series.  My review.
9. Always April by Tammy Falkner.
10. Order of Dust by Giselle Simlett.

Lenoreo’s Top Ten:

OMG, I was so happy to have such a straightforward and simple topic, that I then proceeded to misread and originally made a TTT of my top ten favourite reads of 2016 so far.  Thank the baby Jesus that only 4 of them weren’t from 2016, so I only have to make a few alterations.  My brain has decided to leave on vacation for my book convention a day early.  :S

1. #Junkie by Cambria Hebert — my 5 star review.
2. Playing Defense by Cate Cameron — my 4 star review.
3. Us by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy — my 4.5 star review.
4. Love Me Never by Sara Wolf — my 4.5 star review.
5. The Playmaker by Jordan Ford — my 4.5 star review.
6. You Can’t Catch Me by Becca Ann — my 5 star review.
7. #Rev by Cambria Hebert — my 5 star review.
8. Crazy About Love by Cassie Mae — my 5 star review.
9. Bet on Me by Rachel Higginson — my 4.5 star review.
10. Point of Origin by Rebecca Yarros — my 4.5 star review.

So what are your top reads of 2016 so far??  Did any of ours make your list?  Share your links!!  I won’t get to them this week likely, but I will endeavour to take a peek after I’m home!

Deja Revu June 19th, 2016

Déjà Revu is a weekly review round-up that is open to all book review blogs.

• $2,000 GC & Seven Books – Ends: 6/30/16
• $50 Gift Card – Ends: 6/24/16
• $50 Gift Card – Ends: 7/1/16
• $100 Starbucks Gift Card – Ends: 6/30/16

Fantasy

• Truth witch by Susan Dennard – Joood @Just Another Girl and Her Books *SATIRE*

Science Fiction

• SuperNova by Liz Long – Lenoreo @Celebrity Readers
• This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner – J. Hooligan @Just Another Girl and Her Books

 

Contemporary

• Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros – Lenoreo @Celebrity Readers

Paranormal

• Lady of the Dead by Gretchen S.B. – the Twisted Book Carmudgeon @ Lilac Reviews

Romance

• Crazy About Love by Cassie Mae – Lenoreo @Celebrity Readers
• Bet on Me by Rachel Higginson – Lenoreo @Celebrity Readers
• Point of Origin by Rebecca Yarros – Lenoreo @Celebrity Readers

Woman’s Fiction

• Lust Is The Thorn by Jen McLaughlin – Empress DJ @ Books and Bindings

 

Fantasy

• Army of the Winter Court by Ali Winters – Moxxley @ Platypire Reviews
• Neverland Evermore by Sarah J. Pepper – Moxxley @ Platypire Reviews

General Fiction

• Paradise Found: Cain by LB Dunbar – Moxxley @ Platypire Reviews

Mystery

• The Madness of Mercury by Connie di Marco – Felita @ Lilac Reviews

Paranormal

• Dead Medium by Peter John – Bob @ Platypire Reviews

Romance

•  On Higher Ground by Melissa Collins – CurlyCarla@CelebrityReaders
• Taking Shots by Toni Aleo – Lenoreo @Celebrity Readers

Suspense/Thriller

• Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman – Felita @ Lilac Reviews

Woman’s Fiction

• It’s In His Touch by Shelly Alexander – Empress DJ @ Books and Bindings
• It’s In His Heart by Shelly Alexander – Empress DJ @ Books and Bindings
• It’s In His Smile by Shelly Alexander – Empress DJ @ Books and Bindings
• The Space Between Sisters by Mary McNeal – Empress DJ @ Books and Bindings
•  The Contract by Melanie Moreland – Empress DJ @ Books and Bindings
• The Hang Up by Tawna Fenske – Empress DJ @ Books and Bindings
• Fighting For Freedom by Brandi Kennedy – Felita @ Lilac Reviews

OTHER

• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett – Joood @Just Another Girl and Her Books

 

Woman’s Fiction

• The Prince and the Player by Tia Louise – CurlyCarla@CelebrityReaders

Crazy About Love by Cassie Mae

Blurb: Single again on Valentine’s Day, struggling actor Alec Tucker agrees to help out his longtime friend—and unrequited love—Theresa Jones by filling in as one of the bachelors for her company’s charity auction. Alec figures it couldn’t hurt to meet someone new. Still, working with Theresa reminds him of all the reasons he never got over her. So it feels a little bittersweet when, out of nowhere, a beautiful young street artist buys a date with him for a whopping four grand.

Little does he know, Theresa’s had a major change of heart. She’s crushed when someone else wins a date with Alec—but she isn’t going down without a fight. After a pep talk from her best friend, Theresa makes a desperate move that goes against her better judgment . . . and things only get crazier from there. But with Alec ready to move on and Theresa afraid she’s pushed him away for good, maybe a little crazy is exactly what they need—before they both miss their shot.

5 Stars

I think this is the ninth book I’ve read by Cassie Mae.  (Still working on the rest) This one is my favorite book in this series, and I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that I already know these characters from the previous books so I came in with a decent back story.  I had feeling Theresa and Alec from the very beginnig, so this was just like really really good.

The thing I like about this story was that Cassie (Can I call you Cassie?) was able to keep the emotions poignant and elevated throughout the story.  I didn’t get bored at all. This story takes place in one night (Valentines Day) in a dual POV.  To be able to do a book in a the same setting is very difficult.  I have read others that missed the mark.  For her to be able to hold my interest was really inpressive to me.

I liked how she threw in the flashbacks breaking up the monotony of the setting.  It also gave me a better idea of where Theresa was coming from because, in all honesty, I thought she was kind of a bitch in the beginning.  When I was reading Alec’s POV, I thought she was kinda using him.  Knowing that he loves her and still torturing him with the friend zone.  It made me mad at her. But once I read her POV, I got a better idea of why she was holding him at arms length but not letting him go.  Theresa, I forgive you and I gotta say you got some balls girl! I would not have been as open minded to some of the stuff you went through.  Kudos to you for trying and for sticking it out.

Alec is a sweetheart. He is probably one of the sweetest male MC’s I’ve come across.And there has been some talk of him being a better book boyfriend than Wesley from Switched.  I am here to throw my vote in on this.  I’m sorry Alec but Wesley wins still. You can be the third best boyfriend.

Of Cassies Mae’s books, it goes Wesley from Switched, Eric from The Real Thing, then Alec from Crazy About Love.  But you’re in the top three so you should be happy about that.

Anyway, go read this book. It’s good.

 

This is the fourth series I have finished this year.  Completing my self imposed goal on the Finishing the Series challenge over at Bea’s Book Nook.

Point of Origin by Rebecca Yarros

Blurb:
In Legacy, Colorado, our inheritance is simple: Fire and Heartbreak.
Sebastian Vargas…he’s both.
He was my best friend. My first love. My everything.
Until he was my nothing.
It’s been ten years since the wildfire that turned our small town to ashes, taking the lives of our fathers and their elite hotshot crew.
Six years since Bash disappeared with my heart.
No explanation. No goodbye.
But now he’s home, fighting to resurrect the very thing that destroyed us both.
One look, and I’m breathless.
One touch, and he’s relentless.
And I’m not careful, he’ll burn me to the ground again.

    

My Review:
4.5 stars — Oooooo!!!  I sincerely hope this is the start of a new series by Ms. Yarros, b/c I want to know ALL THE STORIES!!  This little novella was a great introduction to the town of Legacy and the Hotshots.

And Bash and Emerson were fantastic!  Lots of angst and heartbreak, but also lots of great sexy times and genuine love.  I started this one late last night and actually had a hard time putting it down and not reading until the wee hours.  And normally a novella just leaves me unfulfilled, but their romance just fit perfectly.  I think if the drama had been drawn out more it might have gotten annoying.

I loved how strong Emerson was…the way she stood up for herself and up to the council impressed me.  And the way she handled Bash especially.  Bash was actually the more screwed up one of the two.  But he pulled it out in the end (and wow, that sounded dirty).

And now I just need to wait for more in what I’m hoping is a series.  Knox and Harper???  YES PLEASE!!