Friday 22 February 2019

What If It's Us Spoiler Free Review



What If It's Us
What If It's Us
by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

Release Date: October 9th, 2018
Synopsis:


Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.

Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.

But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?

Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.

Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.

But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?

What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?

What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?


But what if it is?

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC for an honest review

I gave this book 4 stars. This book made me sad. I’m just gonna go right out and say it. This book made me sad and I wasn’t the happiest when reading it.

I have read Becky Albertalli’s books before and loved them. I have yet to read any Adam Silvera books (other than this one) and now I’m not entirely sure I do because if this isn’t nearly as sad as his normal books then I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle his normal books.

I didn’t even need to look it up to know exactly which author wrote which character. From reading Becky Albertalli’s books in the past I could tell you that Arthur was right up her alley. Arthur was such a ray of sunshine, he was funny and talkative. He was very much a likable character.

Ben is probably the character most like me. Which means he wasn’t exactly my favorite. He was so pessimistic and dark and unsure of himself and I felt as though there was a mirror in front of me saying “This is you”. Ummm I feel personally attacked by this book character.

The story was really cute I have to give it that, but the way things ended had me a bit sad and confused. I know that it’s a pretty realistic ending, but damn it! I didn’t come for realistic! I do sort of hope that maybe there will be a sequel that will be a little less realistic and a little happier. I mean, chances aren’t high on that one, I won’t hold my breath.

Overall, you need a good LGBT romance. I know you do. This is a good one if you like either of the authors or even if you just want to expand your horizons. Not a bad place to start.


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Thursday 21 February 2019

Kill Switch Blog Tour: Excerpt and Review

BlogTour-SBPRBANNER.jpeg
Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas
Release Date: February 11th
Kill-Switch-EBOOK (1).jpg

Kill Switch, an all-new standalone dark romantic suspense by Penelope Douglas.

WINTER

Sending him to prison was the worst thing I could’ve done. It didn’t matter that he did the crime or that I wished he was dead. Perhaps I thought I’d have time to disappear before he got out or he’d cool off in jail and be anything but the horror he was.

But I was wrong. Three years came and went too fast, and now he’s anything but calm. Prison only gave him time to plan.

And while I anticipated his vengeance, I didn’t expect this.

He doesn’t want to make me hurt. He wants to make everything hurt.

DAMON

First thing’s first. Get rid of her daddy. He told them I forced her. He told them his little girl was a victim, but I was a kid, too, and she wanted it just as much as I did.

Step two… Give her, her sister, and her mother nowhere to run and no fuel to escape. The Ashby women are alone now and desperate for a knight in shining armor.

But that’s not what’s coming.

No, it’s time I listened to my father and took control of my future. It’s time I showed them all—my family, her family, my friends—that I will never change and that I have no other ambition than to be the nightmare of their lives.

Starting with her.

She’ll be so scared, she won’t even be safe in her own head by the time I’m done with her. And the best part is I won’t have to break into her home to do it.

As the new man of the house, I have all the keys.

Kill Switch is suitable for readers 18+. While it can be read as a stand-alone, all of the characters are developed throughout the series. The first two books, Corrupt and Hideaway, are now available through Kindle Unlimited!

Now-Live.jpg

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2t3W5r4

KS-Teaser-2.jpg

Excerpt:
WINTER

“I’m sixteen, and I’ve never been kissed.” I put my hands on his chest, feeling my breasts grazing his body. “I waited for you.”
“Winter…”
“I waited for you,” I repeated, panting and brushing his lips with mine. “But I won’t wait forever.”
I layered my lips with his and dipped my tongue out, flicking his lip as I rolled my hips on him. The unmistakably hard ridge of his cock rubbed against my panties through his jeans, and I moaned.
He grabbed me under my arms, holding me up to his face. “That better not be a threat,” he bit out.
And then he took my face in one hand and snatched up my lips, biting my bottom one, almost chewing it like he was starving.
He groaned, I whimpered, and we both gave in, holding each other in our arms, our mouths melting together.
I was fast and clumsy, and I couldn’t keep up with his kisses and tongue in my mouth, but I loved every second.
He nibbled and bit and took with force, gripping the back of my hair to tip my head back and eat at my neck. He moved from my throat to my chin to my jaw and then back to my mouth, and I clutched at his shoulders, tugging on his sweatshirt as I dry-humped him. God, I couldn’t stop myself. He felt so good. It was like an itch that I needed to scratch more and harder.
I tugged at my bow tie, unable to breathe.
Pulling it loose, I unbuttoned my top button, finally feeling freer and diving in, hugging him to where he was sucking on my neck.
My hips moved back and forth, grinding into him
“Winter…” he groaned, pulling back. “I don’t want to…”
I picked up pace, and he grabbed my ass, helping me move.
“Don’t want to what?” I gasped out.
“Make you dirty.”
I slowed, touching his mouth with mine and kissing him softly.
Why would he think that?
“You won’t.” I shook my head, touching his face. “We won’t go all the way. We’ll just play.”
He breathed out a laugh.
I kissed him, and he dug his fingers in again, making my body explode and every inch of skin come alive. God, I loved it when he did that.


About Penelope: 

Penelope Douglas is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Her books have been translated into fourteen languages and include The Fall Away Series, The Devil’s Night Series, and the stand-alones, Misconduct, Punk 57, and Birthday Girl. Please look for Kill Switch (Devil’s Night #3), available now.
She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and their daughter.

Connect with Penelope:

Be alerted of her next release: http://amzn.to/1hNTuZV
And all of her stories have Pinterest boards if you’d like to enjoy some visuals: https://www.pinterest.com/penelopedouglas/


My Thoughts:

I received an ARC for an honest review

Disclaimer: If you haven’t read the first two books in this series yet, then don’t read this review. Although it is spoiler free, I can’t guarantee that if you know nothing about the series. Do yourself a favour and read the first two books first without knowing much. It’ll be great I promise.


I gave this book 5 stars. This is by far going to be one of my favorite books of the year. There is something about this series that always has me on the edge of my seat. I love the angst, the relationships, and the antics. 

The gang is finally back together. Well, not fully together, there is still tension, but it’s entertaining tension. The last book left us off with Damon finally back where he belonged and so this book was bound to see some more hands-on conflict between the Horsemen and conflict there was. I loved reading about all of their antics and pranks.

This book finally put together all the puzzle pieces that we were missing. So many gaps were filled in where we didn’t even realize they were missing from. Penelope Douglas did an amazing job of organizing all the plot points together and adding shock after shock. I expected nothing less from Damon’s book.

I have to say that Damon is probably my favorite of the Horsemen. What can I say I have a thing for the bad boys. I loved the first two books but the anticipation for those two had nothing on the excitement I had for this one.

Damon is really flushed out in this novel. While we did find out more about him in Hideaway, we got a full-fledged human being in Kill Switch. With all of his sharp edges, we also got some of his soft spots. Damon was never who we thought he was. He was so much different than what we believed him to be even after Hideaway. Damon is an antihero of the best variety.


I had to wait till the book actually came out in order to read the little snippet of Nightfall at the end as it wasn’t in the ARC and I have to tell you it’s very confusing. Guys, we’re really gonna be in for it when Nightfall comes around, I can already tell. And without giving too much away, it does have a very Lord of the Flies vibe going on. It has me very intrigued.


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Wednesday 20 February 2019

Top 5 Love Interests You Would Have Broken Up With

I haven't done a to 5 Wednesday in so long. I meant to do it weeks ago but I totally forgot about it. But alas, when top 5 Wednesday finally decides to do another "do whatever post you want" week I will post that post that I was supposed to two weeks ago.

I have many feelings about shitty book boyfriends.


5. Stefan Salvatore



People to this day still love Stefan and it blows my mind because he was actually the worst. Especially in the show. In the book, he was just annoying and broody and his entire storyline was just insta love and I hated it. Honestly, I just think he was horrible to Damon, he forced Damon into becoming a vampire and then was so horrible to his brother all the time because he was the "evil" brother. Stefan was so far up his own ass, I would have broken up with him. He has no sense of family loyalty. Stefan just lived under this guise of the white night, he was the "good guy" that prided himself on being good but wasn't actually.

4. James Stark



This guy was borderline abusive. He was the "brooding" love interest that had a shitty past, but he was just terrible at being a boyfriend. I legit don't understand why Zoey actually stayed with him, but I guess she just generally had really bad taste in men. Honestly, Heath was probably the best choice in my opinion. She didn't deserve him anyway.

3. Tamlin



Does anyone actually like him anymore? He was just such a terrible boyfriend and I didn't even realize it at first. I don't think they ever technically had a break up break up, but if I was Feyre I would have had a ball breaking up with Tamlin the Tool.

2. Adam



I realize that she does end up breaking up with Adam, but that's legit only because of their powers and not because of their feelings. Adam just rubbed me the wrong way the entire time I was reading the series, I was pretty much always team Warner.

1. Shay



She should have ended up with Ren. But nooooooo she just had to hook up with asshole Shay. It's been a long time since I read that series so I can't remember exactly what events caused me to dislike him so much, but he was the most present in my mind when I thought of characters I would break up with.


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Sunday 17 February 2019

Guilty Reader Book Tag



I haven't done a book tag in forever so I'm ready to finally do another one! Obviously, I wasn't tagged for this. I just felt like doing it so I'm gonna do it. 
Here is a link to the Original


Have You Ever Regifted A Book That You’ve Been Given?





Lol no. However, I have gifted people with books that I bought myself and didn't want anymore. I did do this with their knowledge, it was more like "Oh you want to read that! I have a copy that I don't want any more" and then I either straight up gave it to them or added it onto a birthday or Christmas present or something. I wasn't being sneaky about it.

Have you ever said you’ve read a book when you haven’t?

Did you mean: University

I'm an English major. I don't have time to actually read all the books I'm assigned. Partially because I don't want to read those books and partially because I just don't have the time. 

Have you ever borrowed a book and not returned it?

Nada. I hate when people don't give me my books back so I make a point to always return the books I've borrowed from people no matter how long I've had them or how long it has been since I've seen them. 

Have you ever read a series out of order?

Sure, all the time. Nothing crazy, like high fantasy, but definitely romance. You know those book series' where all the books are about different characters so order doesn't really matter. All the time.


Have you ever spoiled a book for someone?





Lol funny story actually. Back in high school, I think it was the ninth grade maybe. In my friend group there were the few of us that loved reading and so we would talk about books all the time. My best friend at the time did not enjoy reading so anytime we could talk her into reading a book was a success. So we had just gotten her to read The Fault in Our Stars which we had all loved. Then whilst we were walking to our regular lunch hangout she was walking in front of me and a couple of our other friends and we were discussing TFIOS and my friend said something along the lines of "It was so sad when August dies" and sadly my best friend was close enough to hear this. She was sooooo pissed. She immediately stopped reading the book. She was so mad.

Have you ever doggy eared a book?





My first copies of Harry Potter are all dog ears and cracked spines. It pains me to open them.

Have you ever told someone you don’t own a book when you do?

I don't think I have. I might have just so I wouldn't have to lend them the book, but an instance is not coming to mind.


Have you ever told someone you haven’t read a book when you have?




Lmao Fifty Shades of Grey. There is no way I'm admitting to people in real life that I've read Fifty Shades. There is no way. Especially considering I was like, eleven when I read it.

Have you every skipped a chapter or a section of a book?





If there is a particularly difficult scene for me to read in a book I will skip over it. I feel no shame over this. Sometimes these parts just make me too uncomfortable, even go so far as to make me nauseous and I'm not a masochist so I skip over them. I also just did this with Breaking Dawn because I didn't actually want to read it but I kinda wanted to know how it ended. I did not read any of the first two parts of it.

Have you ever bad mouthed a book you actually liked?

I feel like I definitely have. One is not immediately coming to mind but I know deep in my soul that I have in fact done this.



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Monday 11 February 2019

Kill Switch Release Day

release blitz SBPRBANNER.jpg

"I've done far worse than what I went to prison for.
She has no idea how bad this can get."
Kill Switch, an all-new standalone dark romantic suspense by Penelope Douglas is live!

Kill-Switch-EBOOK (1).jpg

WINTER
Sending him to prison was the worst thing I could’ve done. It didn’t matter that he did the crime or that I wished he was dead. Perhaps I thought I’d have time to disappear before he got out or he’d cool off in jail and be anything but the horror he was.
But I was wrong. Three years came and went too fast, and now he’s anything but calm. Prison only gave him time to plan.
And while I anticipated his vengeance, I didn’t expect this.
He doesn’t want to make me hurt. He wants to make everything hurt.
DAMON
First thing’s first. Get rid of her daddy. He told them I forced her. He told them his little girl was a victim, but I was a kid, too, and she wanted it just as much as I did.
Step two… Give her, her sister, and her mother nowhere to run and no fuel to escape. The Ashby women are alone now and desperate for a knight in shining armor.
But that’s not what’s coming.
No, it’s time I listened to my father and took control of my future. It’s time I showed them all—my family, her family, my friends—that I will never change and that I have no other ambition than to be the nightmare of their lives.
Starting with her.
She’ll be so scared, she won’t even be safe in her own head by the time I’m done with her. And the best part is I won’t have to break into her home to do it.
As the new man of the house I have all the keys.
Kill Switch is suitable for readers 18+. While it can be read as a stand-alone, all of the characters are developed throughout the series. The first two books, Corrupt and Hideaway, are now available through Kindle Unlimited!

Now-Live.jpg

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2t3W5r4

Kill Switch Teaser 1.jpg

About Penelope: Penelope Douglas is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Her books have been translated into fourteen languages and include The Fall Away Series, The Devil’s Night Series, and the stand-alones, Misconduct, Punk 57, and Birthday Girl. Please look for Kill Switch (Devil’s Night #3), available now.
She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and their daughter.

Connect with Penelope:
Be alerted of her next release: http://amzn.to/1hNTuZV
And all of her stories have Pinterest boards if you’d like to enjoy some visuals: https://www.pinterest.com/penelopedouglas/

Sunday 10 February 2019

January Wrap Up

I completely forgot to do a December Wrap Up and by the time I noticed it was the end of January so I figured no one would really care to see it at that point. However, I am actually doing my January Wrap Up. Also, to let you guys know, I'm still running a Giveaway for some of my favorite books of 2018 on my blog! You can check it out here.

1. Maddening


I gave this book 3 stars. This was the second book in the Cursed Superheroes series. I enjoyed it, but honestly, the books in this series are just too short for me to actually give them a higher rating. If they were longer and more fleshed out I would enjoy them more.

2. Rule's Property


I gave this book 3 stars. I did actually really enjoy this book. However, I don't think it's actually that good of a book and most definitely not for everyone. If you are looking for a novel with an overbearing love interest you might want to check this one out.

3. Blood and Sin


I gave this book 5 stars. I really enjoyed this one. As you guys know I've really been getting into Laura Thalassa novels lately. They can sometimes be pretty hit or miss, but this one is absolutely a hit for me. I've always loved the story of the girl that's a supernatural being who has to go up against the "hunter" and they fall in love and such. Hopefully, the second book will be out soon and I'm dying to see how the story continues.

4. The Vanishing Girl


I gave this book 4 stars. Another Laura Thalassa book! I didn't enjoy this one quite as much. I loved her writing as always but the story itself didn't sit as well with me as the former. Still worth a read if you want a new adult sci-fi romance.

5. Drago


I gave this book 5 stars. It's been just over a month into 2019 and I've already read some of my favorite books of the year. I can just tell. This one was one of them. I bought it as soon as it came out and I devoured it. This darker NA romance was the first of a long stream of darker romance novels that I couldn't stop picking up throughout the past month. If you haven't read Sarah Brianne's Made Men series I highly suggest you start if you are interested in this kind of story.

6. Bound by Love


I gave this book 5 stars. After reading Drago I was dying for another Mafia romance or just anything that had darker themes like that one. I remembered that this book had come out recently and just dove right in because these two characters are some of my favorites. It was an emotional rollercoaster and If you love this series as much as I do I would highly recommend reading this book.

7. Twisted Loyalties


I gave this book 5 stars. I have been waiting for Fabiano's book for so long and the fact that it came out and I didn't even hear about it made me lose my mind. It's so weird remembering all of the other things I had read about him in his sisters' books and then reading his book. I'm honestly so excited where this series is leading him.

8. Twisted Emotions


I gave this book 4 stars. I did enjoy this one, but it didn't pack the same punch for me as Twisted Loyalties did. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it was about this book that I didn't enjoy as much. However, it is still a really good book and if you enjoyed the previous books I see no reason that you shouldn't also enjoy this one.

9. Untouchable


I gave this book 5 stars. This one was actually not that dramatic of a book. I was expecting a lot more drama than there ended up being, but I still looooooooved it. The thing is this book is fucking long. The author probably could have cut some of it out because this book was, if I remember correctly, around 500 pages long. Although it took me a long time to read I never skimmed or skipped sections to try and finish it. I was genuinely interested in what would happen next. 10/10 would recommend.

10. The Silver Swan


I gave this book 2 stars. In an attempt to find something like Untouchable I went through several books, sampling them, trying to figure out which one I wanted to read. I settled on this one but obviously, that was a mistake. This was not a good book. I got maybe halfway through and I just could not handle the writing or the story anymore. I would like to thank everyone who suggested this book to me because without them I probably wouldn't have had a low rated book in this wrap-up.

11. Black Boy


I gave this book 4 stars. So I have this thing where whenever I read a book where someone is talking about their oppression, I can't give them anything under 4 stars. It feels wrong. So maybe this is a bit biased of me so I would definitely suggest reading other reviews on it. This book is about a young Richard Wright and his struggles as a young black man during the Jim Crow era. I had to read this one for a class on swearing and obviously, this one was a pretty good candidate.

12. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas


I gave this book 4 stars. Like I said before I can't give stories of oppression anything less than a four, so bear that in mind. This is the story of Frederick Douglas' life as a slave. It's really fucked up and really makes me admire the inner strength Douglas must have had in order to get through this. This was something else I had to read for school. I'm actually really happy about the change in pace of this semester. Last semester I was reading so many books written by old white men and now I'm actually reading ore diversely for school.

What books did you guys read this month? I'd love to hear about some!


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