Waiting To Be Heard - Amanda Know

Because of the book Dangerous Girls, I suddenly had to read the original story where it was based. How it was so interesting yet disturbing and so twisted. I wanted to know if it was also true to life. During the course of my reading there were parts that were really similar except for the ending.

This is the second memoir that got me hooked. It was so interesting to read the other side of the story from the news.

Amanda was a naive girl who made mistakes and stupid decisions. All the shit happened because she failed to realize the importance of having a lawyer. The language barrier, immaturity, confusion, perhaps drugs, clouded memory, intimidation, various reasons could also be blamed why she went to prison.

However, because of this book, we are able to understand her her. The book is aptly named for her story. We can assume she was tried by publicity, we can assume that she really is innocent and we can also assume that she is guilty. But what's important is that she was able to let her thoughts, her feelings, her actions be understood. She is a good writer I must say. I like her play of words and how she expressed herself and I must say that she is an interesting character. This book gave us a blow by blow account of her trial in her view and what she was thinking at that time.

This book is recommended to those who love true crime stories with legal battles and all that stuff.

Making Faces - Amy Harmon

“If God made all our faces, did he laugh when he made me?

Does he make the legs that cannot walk and eyes that cannot see?

Does he curl the hair upon my head 'til it rebels in wild defiance?

Does he close the ears of a deaf man to make him more reliant?

Is the way I look a coincidence or just a twist of fate?

If he made me this way, is it okay, to blame him for the things I hate?

For the flaws that seem to worsen every time I see a mirror, for the ugliness I see in me, for the loathing and the fear.

Does he sculpt us for his pleasure, for a reason I can't see?

If God makes all our faces, did he laugh when he made me?” 

This is a beautiful story about friendship, loss, death, trust, love and finding oneself.

Narrated in third person views of Fern, Bailey and Ambrose, alternating situations of past to present.

It tells us about how 2 broken people found love and how both of them help and heal each other. We get to understand the mind of a sick person just waiting to die. We get to understand the mind of a girl with ugly girl syndrome. More importantly, we get to understand the mind of a man who thinks he has the world within his reach when suddenly it was taken all away.

This is a nice and refreshing story. This leaves us with lessons of not taking for granted the life that we have and to make it worthwhile and to value friendships.

I liked how it was written in such a way that we get the inside thoughts in three perspectives.

This is recommended to those who love light stories with heavy subject matter.

Dangerous Girls - Abigail Haas

“Wouldn't we all look guilty, if someone searched hard enough?”

To get me off my book funk I started to read something new, something not usually part of the genre I normally read. This is my first murder, crime, trial type of book and I loved it! It is a total mind f-ck! Just when I thought I knew what’s going to happen next, something big is revealed!

I liked the writing style it was like I was reading a movie. It was narrated in such a way that the situations run back and forth from past to present.

I liked the tone and tempo and pacing. It was not too long and yet I've read all the angles. I also liked how the chapters are short.

And little by little when the secrets begin to unfold I was floored! I really didn't expect any of it. It was a whirlwind of emotions; I felt Anna's pain, anger and disappointment and the betrayal!

I read it in one sitting, I couldn't put it down. The book is told in Anna's view and through her we get to understand the profile of a suspect and lots more. 

There were so many questions, so many secrets and so many betrayals. And the ending was not what I expect! It was brilliant!

I was so glad I read this, now I have a new genre to watch out for! For fear of giving away the story i will now stop gushing about this book. Read it and you will not regret it. =)

In the Fields - Willow Aster

Someday…

I will hold your hand

Dance in the sand

With our favorite band.

Someday…

I will steal a kiss

Little miss,

It will be bliss.

Someday…

I will shout that you’re mine,

Caroline…

Till the end of time.

Someday.

Beautiful and heartfelt story of love unaccepted by society, a love tested through time and a love so strong no matter how long and how far, the intensity is always there.

From the very first line of this book I already know that this will bring me ugly tears. And it so did!

I loved both the hero and heroine Isaiah and Caroline. I love them for their strength, resilience, their ability to forgive and their mature way of accepting whatever life throws them. With every chapter I read, my love for them grows, with every chapter I read, my tears fall for them as well.

Despite their young age, I truly felt their love for each other. This is true love at its purest form. Love not marred by sexual needs or requirement. Love that started out as friends and grows despite not being openly together.

My heart broke for both of them when society pushed them apart. My heart broke for them when the cruel thing happened. My heart broke for them that because of her irresponsible parents, they were forced apart. I felt the pain, the unfairness and the anger.

I cannot imagine how I hated Caroline’s parents. Especially her mother where until the very end there was no remorse on what she did to her daughter. 

I also loved the secondary characters such as Papa, Sadie, Ruby and Davis. Gracie is such an angel as well. Because of them, they make us remember that there are still good people everywhere. It makes you hopeful that you will meet one like them when you least expect it. 

This book gives us hope that someday and somehow, something good is going happen to no matter the obstacles may be.

This book is highly recommended. From the first line of the story I was hooked. It was also the same case when I read the author’s first book (True Love Story), from the very first line I could not put it down. I also loved the little title chapters and though it is mostly told in Caroline’s view, there are also chapters in Isaiah’s view. The story was slow paced during the first half which made me feel the connection of the main characters. The second half where a bit fast paced and I wished the author could have maintained the pacing so we have more pages and pages of the book. I wanted more! This story will be attached to my heart for a very long time. I love it. 

Carter Reed - Tijan

“You're mine, Emma. You always have been. I won't let you go.”

Carter Reed is the first book I have read from the author Tijan. What attracted me to try it out was the hot cover. 

This is a story about childhood friends, Emma and Carter. While Emma live her life normally after the death of her brother, Carter on the other hand became part of the family of one of the most powerful mobster.

Told mostly in Emma's POV, it was also nice that there were bits of Carter's insights.

While I found Carter hot and really liked his character, i felt the opposite for Emma. I got confused and irritated at her. One minute she's strong and steadfast, the next minute she's become a weakling with low self esteem. One minute she's determined to ask for Carter's help then suddenly wanted to back out. She's desperate for help yet she chose to waste time before saying anything. Then she wants him but she doesn't want him to touch her. She couldn't handle her feelings and tends to get lost on guilt and misplaced responsibilities. I also couldn't understand Emma's friends, Theresa and Amanda, they hate Carter then they love him. They think he's bad for her, then they tell her that he loves her.  

I got confused with the story as well. From a somewhat dark topic to light topics. From mobs and killers to gushing about work, promotion and pretty shoes. The author was able to constantly shift the setting and the tone of the story from dark to light. I would have preferred it to be steady and more dark romance. The story didn't exactly match the tone because it was heavy and the tone how it was written was light. The only one constant thing is that Carter is hot, the ultimate rich and dangerous bad boy.

I also couldn't feel the connection of Emma and Carter. I think it was too fast and that they weren't together all the time and that they only met again after so many years past. I would have preferred a back story on how their feelings have developed over time.

This book is recommended to those who love mobster type of story but doesn't really like the tone to be heavy all throughout, a mix of suspense and light romance.

Madeleine Abducted (The Estate Series 1) - M.S. Willis

"Dream of me, Maddy. See me as I want to be; not the nightmare who torments you, but the devoted and mystified man who worships at your feet."   

Told in alternating views, mostly of Madeleine, Aaron and Xander.

Although it is captivating and thrilling, this book is not for the faint of heart. There is violence, gore, brutality, slavery, greed and utter madness.  

Aaron and Xander are both hot characters but are not the usual hero we read about. They come from the dark side, meaning they are killers and they are definitely not out typical good guy. The hero is Aaron and Xander is his loyal bodyguard. 

This is the first book in The Estate Series and it focuses on Aaron. The next book is about Xander.

The setting is an estate ruled by Aaron's father. The ruler has gone mad and really brutal and the son has become sick of it. There was a scene where it became really hard to read and fathom. 

The story is also about Aaron and Maddy and how their struggle to fight for the love they feel for each other. I felt their connection at first, even before Maddy was abducted and i felt how strongly they feel about each other. 

Initially i thought there's a love triangle between Aaron, Maddy and Xander but the connection of Aaron is Maddy is so strong that any character would have felt wrong for her. 

The book reminded me of The Black Dagger Brotherhood series because of the power struggle and the muse behind the king. Only this has more violence and mature topic because of the use of slaves. And it also had a somewhat erotic feel to it but not really that high. There were only a few love scenes and it was heart felt and a breath of fresh air from the heavy topic.

This book is recommended to those who enjoy reading action packed books with a bit of romance, but be reminded of the dark topic underneath. 

Found In You - Laurelin Paige

"Certainly even people like us—people who had been so broken that we destroyed others around us—deserved happiness of our own. We didn’t have to spend our entire existence making up for our mistakes. Did we?"

This is book 2 and the continuation of Laurelin Paige's Fixed series. 

Just when we thought that Hudson and Alayna's story is at a good place suddenly things became unbearable. I had to stop at 50% because i couldn't take the angst. I got frustrated with the characters. I wanted to strangle and shake them to wake up.

  

Anyways, this is a story about two broken souls trying to heal each other and making it work. I loved them since book 1, their funny banters and their interactions. Of course the hot scenes are not far behind.

I was shocked at the extent of Laynie's obsessive past. And I was equally shocked to know the extent of Hudson's sociopath tendencies. 

I loved Alayna (Laynie) in book 1, I still do but I got really frustrated with her. I wanted to stop her from spilling her secrets to the wrong person. Her being upfront was used against her. I was also disappointed in her for keeping secrets. I thought she was better than that. I didn't like the secrets. She became dramatic and insecure. She tends to over analyze. she doesn't know how to deal with her feelings hence, she overreacts. Even when Hudson was looking out for her she even got mad and unreasonable. I'm also got tired of her running away and her throwing his past in his face when they disagree. Despite this, I enjoyed her scenes with Sophia. It was funny and witty.

The same goes for Hudson for still keeping some things from Laynie. But I understood his point for not wanting her to know the details of his past. But I loved him for what he did for Jack. And i love him even if he couldn't say it i can feel his love for Laynie.

As for Celia, from the very start I already wanted to strangle her. I really believed she is a manipulative bitch. There's so many characters that riled me up and I wanted to smack all of them.

I loved Mira and Jack though. Very supportive and funny. After the 50% mark, I didn't think more secrets will be uncovered and boy i was so wrong. I didn't see it coming. More secrets, true personalities and motives are revealed.  

In summary both of them have kept secrets that almost ruined their relationship. Both struggling with trust, doubts and fears. Hopefully in book 3 they let go of all of these. The ending is not a cliffhanger and they are in a pretty good place. 

Bound to You - Carol Marinelli

I got this free in Amazon. When you look for it in Goodreads the title is What Goes Around with a different cover. This cover (kindle edition) i have though doesn't exactly match the story because when you look at it you immediately think it's somehow erotic. But it's not. There's not much hot scenes in this book, but the subject matter is quite heavy. I tried to read this when i was looking for something with not so much angst. When i read it i could not put it down. It captured my interest. I liked the characters though they have their quirks.

Told in alternating POV of the new wife (Lucy) and the ex-wife (Gloria)

The quote "what goes around comes around" is exactly what the book is all about. It's also about adultery, bitterness, anger, acceptance, forgiveness, passion and love. 

Lucy's mind is funny, crazy and superficial. I loved her character, she may be a bitch but she has her reasons. I understood her. I get her. Despite all what she did, she is a good mother to Charlotte. I couldn't understand her anger towards her mother at first, but eventually i did and that she redeemed herself. 

Gloria's mind is more mature and she is the epitome of an understanding wife and ex-wife. She has a kind heart.

Both weighed down by bitterness, guilt, anger and grief what happened to the ex-wife also happened to the new wife. From the other women, the journals, their grief, the slimming club and the situations that their husband subjected to them.

I cannot even begin to describe what kind of a kinky bastard their husband has become. His never ending string of mistresses. But the book has taught is that despite all his mistakes, he was also a good husband and a good father. Yes, the sexy old man is a kinky bastard but still forgivable.

I also couldn't believe Jess, her best friend. And Luke! I liked him, i didn't expect the ending. But i was rooting for them about halfway through because i felt that there could be something. His hatred is so strong and as they say there is a fine line between love and hate. 

This book is recommended to those who love reading about marriage. This is the first book I've read that told the alternating view of the new wife and the ex-wife. It's new and refreshing and surprisingly i really liked it. When i read the blurb i instantly got it.

“I’ve spent my life keeping my worlds apart and now they’ll all be coming together, in this very room. Everything that I’ve carefully separated will be curdling right here under this roof.”

What Goes Around…

Lucy thought she had firmly buried her past when she set eyes on and snared that sexy older guy at work. She gave no thought to the consequences when she swooped in and stole Gloria’s husband.

Twelve years on things couldn’t be better for Lucy. Well, his little problem in the bedroom department might need working on but surely it’s a small price to pay for a seemingly perfect life.

That is until karma wields its hammer and shatters Lucy’s fragile world…

Reading Order - Fixed series - Laurelin Paige

Fixed on You (Fixed 1)

Found in You (Fixed 2)

Forever with You (Fixed 3) 

- cover not yet released 

- expected publication January 2014

Fixed On You - Laurelin Paige

“I’m drawn to you, Alayna. Not because I want to hurt you or make you feel a certain way, but because you’re beautiful and sexy and smart and, yes, a little crazy, maybe, but you’re not broken. And that makes me hopeful. For me.” 

“The magnitude of your importance in my life can’t be put into words.” 

“This, precious. This is for real.” 

I never though i would love this story but i did! I so did! This is the first book in the Fixed series.

This is a story of two broken people. Two persons with past issues affecting their present and future. One has an obessisive personality in terms of relationships, while the other one runs away from it.

You'd think they couldn't make it work but they did surprisingly not without effort though. And they have a lot more in the coming sequels to their story.

I loved everything in this book, from the hot characters to the seriously hot hot hot love scenes. Attraction is felt but not the connection at first but eventually did soon after and boy it was palpable! They have similar backgrounds from un-supporting family members to not having others understand their issues.

I loved Alayna she's strong despite her past issues. She's not one to hold back what she wants to say. She's upfront and there's no irritating unspoken words between them despite how hard it is for her. I like how she submits so easily to Hudson.

Hudson is deliciously hot. Despite what he's saying i really believe he is not hopeless and possibly fall in love. If you loved Gideon Cross and James Cavendish, you will also fall in love with Hudson Pierce! Oh my!

I feel contempt for Sophia and Brian! Boy i wanted to strangle them! How can they be like that to the one they supposedly love. Anyway i cannot wait to read more of Alayna and Hudson. Good thing i also have book 2, but we will have to wait for book 3 coming out January 2014.  

This book is highly recommended. This reminded me of another series i really really love, the Crossfire and Up in the Air series, both having broken characters and both fixing each other.

Covet - Tracey Garvis Graves

“Maybe that's how it starts. You stumble upon something that helps you cope, fills a void. Makes you feel something different than what you currently feel. You know in the long run it probably won't be good for you, but you do it anyway. Tell yourself you can handle it.”

Another beautiful novel from the writer of The Island, one of my favorite books ever. 

This is a story about Claire and Chris Canton, a typical suburban stepford-ish family in the outside, but are experiencing troubles on the inside. The story focuses on the premise of how to become the good husband versus being a good father. It's also about marriage and how to keep the passion going through thick and thin.

Told in alternating POV of Claire and Chris and also bits of Daniel. I loved that all the main characters in the book have their own POV. It's very interesting to get inside the husband's mind and the close guy friend.

The husband, driven by the need to succeed and catch up their finances, he lost time for his wife. His wife needing attention turned to another who willingly gives it to her without question.

I felt Claire's heart break when Chris turned her away during his depression. I felt the strong connection and attraction between Daniel and Claire's. I loved Daniel because he really respected Claire but i also felt sadness for him when the two women he loved left him.

I also loved Claire she's so strong and resilient and despite her disease she was able to take care of her family throughout Chris' absence. I also commend her for being patient with her husband and despite her moment of weakness and for being truthful to to Chris and Daniel. She's not one to hold back and i liked it. I liked Chris eventually when he redeemed himself and finally put forth the importance of his family.

This book is recommended for those who love to read stories inside a marriage as there's not a lot of books that deals with this topic. This book reminded me of the Spiral of Bliss series and Arsen, both books I loved so much. 

This book is beautifully written, very heartfelt and the issues were so real. This left us with valuable lessons and their story will stick to our minds for a long time. 

Honor & Betray - Theresa Mummert

"We can make new memories. I'll be whatever you need me to be."

The book makes you want to live in a world of fantasy where you get to sleep with an older, gorgeous alpha, bad boy professor. It's erotic, arousing, satisfying, yet you know it is utterly disturbing.

This is the fourth book in the Honor series. The story is short it just seemed long because it is retold in William's POV since the previous book was told in Emma's. Though it is the same scenes as the previous book, you don't feel that is just the same making it boring because it is in a different perspective and you get insights from the mind of the hot, bad boy William. The secrets and the mystery behind his character is enough to make you want to finish and devour it. I love it. My favorite part was when the dominant force shifted to Emma and William accepted it. I loved it. It totally spiced things up even more.

It was a fun and hot. It was a nice conclusion to their story (I am not sure if this is really the end of their story). I was glad that William isn't that bad and that he has a sliver of conscience left in him.

I waited so long for this book and I'm really glad that they are now in a good place.

Reading Order - Honor Series - Teresa Mummert

Honor Student (Honor #1) - Emma POV

Honor Thy Teacher (Honor #2) - William POV

Honor and Obey (Honor #3) - Emma POV

Honor and Betray (Honor #4) - Emma POV

I'm not sure if there's going to be next sequels of this series. But for the meantime this is it. If you look in Goodreads though there is Book 5 and 6 coming up. So let's see what the author announces next.

The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty

“She found it soothing to get caught up in a brightly colored, plastic world where all that mattered was how much you ate and exercised, where pain and anguish were suffered over no greater tragedy than push-ups, where people spoke intensely about calories and sobbed joyfully over lost kilos. And then they all lived happily, skinnily ever after.” 

Told in third person, in alternating POV of Cecilia, Rachel and Tess. This is a story about secrets and how it affects the future of three families. The book tackles real life marriage issues and how each and every one deals with it and how it affects another family without you knowing it.

I found it a bit scattered. There were inner thoughts that I find unnecessary to the story. Lots of ramblings, frustrations, lives of friends not really relevant. I was confused at first about how the lives of the three women would link.

It was confusing, dragging, scattered, too much details yet it was interesting enough and it grabs the readers attention.

I found myself fast reading through most of the scenes but stop and devour it when it becomes interesting.

The turn of events was perfect and you would now guess until you've read it. There's an air of mystery and suspense to it.

The book left us with a lesson that we know very well - what goes around comes around.

The ending was a culmination of every secret they kept. I loved the epilogue though I wished it also included the other characters.

Love and Lists - Tara Sivec

“You spidermanned the one you love.” 

Another great, funny and obnoxious book from Tara Sivec. If you loved her Chocolate Lovers series, then you will also love this book. The story is about the grown up Gavin Ellis. We've met him when he was still a kid in Chocolate Lovers. Now he's back and fully grown up. He's 25 years old and and in love with his best friend Charlotte. Gavin is the son of Carter and Claire Ellis while Charlotte is the daughter of Jim and Liz, their business partner and best friends. It was fun to catch up with the gang. I've missed Carter, Claire, Jim, Liz, Drew and Jenny. Now we have a whole bunch of new funny characters such as Tyler, Rocco and Ava. Though I still find the first two books in Chocolate Lovers more funny in my view, I am still satisfied and still laughed along the story. It was great to get to know that the foul-mouthed five year old is in love and even better that he fell in love with his family's best friend's daughter. This is recommended to those who want a light and funny story without the angst, erotica and drama for just a while. 

Guilty Pleasures - Kitty Thomas

I decided to have a fantasy filled weekend reading and decided to have a Kitty Thomas marathon. I've had the pleasure of reading Comfort Food before and recently Tender Mercies. Now I moved on to Guilty Pleasures. This book is another fantasy, but it is centered on married couples. 

It is disturbing but yet it is amazing. It's about Michael and Vivian, a married couple who lost the passion and spice of their relationship. I didn't like the Vivian or rather i did not understand her issues at first. But i liked her husband Michael and i get it when he took matters in his hand and tried to resolve their issues. About middle of the book I already had a feeling of what the ending will be. But I still stuck it out and devoured the book. What happened next is a lust filled, fantasy of becoming fulfilled sexually for the characters. 

This is recommended for those who want to escape angst and real issues and just delve into fantasy and dream even for a short time. I read it for 4 hours straight only. It was only a short book but it was worth it. Again i cannot stress how good Kitty Thomas is on short BDSM fantasy stories. 

Tender Mercies - Kitty Thomas

“You may get me to say the word, but know this, you will never truly own me. That right belongs to my real master. You may take his symbol off my hip, but there will always be a scar that reminds us both what was there. And you might take his collar off my throat, but you'll never erase his name from my soul.”

This book is written for fantasy purposes. This is about escaping real life, submission, degradation, bondage and the likes. Told in alternating POV of Grace and Asher. 

The story is not part of the typical issues in real life, and deals with unappealing subject matter. There are parts that are hard to accept and fathom. There were also those that you would find incredulous.

Though Asher is not the usual swoon worthy alpha male because his kink is rather hard to accept, the author was able to make the readers like him, if not love him despite it.

Also, despite Grace's stupidity, I still liked her because of her resilience. I felt for her when she lost her self-worth. I found it rather repetitive when she chastises herself for her inability to submit to Asher in the beginning, but it was still acceptable because of what happened to her with Lucas.

It was a nice story, not really short but was able to finish it in a day. It would have been good if the author gave a short insight on how these three characters developed their kink, but then it wouldn't set it apart from other BDSM stories. This was different because it felt like an erotic fantasy on the characters and not just kink driven by past issues. The fantasy also worked because the hero was affluent and not the typical joe.

This book is recommended to those who want to escape the angst for a while and delve into lust filled fantasy. Kitty Thomas is one of the go to authors for short BDSM stories.

Uncharted - Tracey Garvis-Graves

“When you have nothing, everything feels like something.” 

This is a short novella supporting the first book On the Island.

Well who would have thought that there is a great story behind Owen Sparks. I loved it! I loved Owen and his kind heart. It was also nice to catch up with Anna and TJ and the magical island. This is a really nice story. It's heart warming and light and a perfect in between angst filled books. I felt in love with Owen even if this is just a short story. I loved his character. It was a refreshing and relaxing read.

Incidentally, I've read recently that the book On The Island has been optioned for movie and that they are going to incorporate Uncharted into the film. Here is the link: 

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/MGM-Options-Cast-Away-Romance-Novel-Island-30912.html