Book Haul #24

It was my birthday last week, but I didn't get any books since my friends and family know I read a lot and they prefer to gift me money instead of books that I may have already read or may already own. So.. I got myself a present with some of the birthdaymoney and ordered a bunch on TBD, but I did it just yesterday so they'll be here sometime in September. However, I did receive a little somthing--my gorgeous US paperback of Just One Day by Gayle Forman--and I purchased a few e-books in addition to one review copy. If you've read any of these, let me know so I can push them up on my tbr list and be sure to leave your links below so I can visit you back. Have a great weekend, lovelies!

Physical copies

Just One Day (Just One Day #1) by Gayle Forman

I was a little sad when I saw that they had changed the original cover design for paperback version, but when I held this pretty in my hands, trust me--it's so incredibly gorgeous. Can't wait to read this book!

E-books

Indelible (The Twixt#1) by Dawn Metcalf (arc from Harlequin Teen)

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

All Our Yesterdays (All Our Yesterday #1) by Cristin Terrill

Fire with Fire (Burn for Burn #2) by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Good (Too Good #1) by S. Walden

Broken and Screwed 2 (Broken and Screwed #2) by Tijan

Infraction (Breach #2) by K.I. Lynn

This week's 'thank you' goes to Harlequin Teen and Netgalley.

Oh, and if you haven't yet, take a chance and participate in my birthday giveaway of a book of your choice from my favorite reads. You can find the giveaway here. Good luck!

What did you get this week? Leave your links below and I'll check out your goodies :)

In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Mod Podge Bookshelf and Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Review: Breach by K.I. Lynn

Title: Breach (Breach #1)
Author: K.I. Lynn
Published: April 21st 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Delilah Palmer has control of her life and outward personality, blocking the truth just below the surface. A façade meant to be normal and hide the scars of her childhood. She’s made a good life for herself, became a lawyer, and is free from the tortured past that haunts her daily. Until he comes along and breaks open the cracks.
Nathan Thorne has a past of his own. On the surface he is loved by all, personable, extroverted; everything Delilah isn’t. Hidden beneath is a dark and tormented man that only Delilah has to power to unveil.
Crammed in a small office together they see through each other’s masks, and the draw becomes too much, igniting an explosive relationship. Holloway and Holloway Law has a strict non-fraternization policy, forcing them to conceal their breach. Despite their efforts, separation becomes impossible, deceptions escalate, and Nathan has trouble coping; teetering on the edge of being overtaken by his past demons.
What secrets does he harbor that could keep him from giving in? What keeps him from healing and moving forward? And Delilah, where does she fit into all this turmoil?
Can they accept love and deal with all the trials that come their way when secrets are exposed? Or will they fall through the cracks of their pasts and be consumed by all that haunts them?

Saw this tagged as adult and erotica on Goodreads and it pushed me away. I enojy adult literature, but erotica not so much. I need more in my stories than just steamy scenes. When I stumbled upon a few reviews that claimed to be heartbroken about the main characters, I was instantly intrigued because so many of my Goodreads friends were adding Breach to their shelves. Plus, who can turn away from a pretty cover ;)

The night after we left the club made me face that fact. How I thought and felt about him changed; he wasn't the asshole I thought he was when I first met him. He was a broken man, and it made me wonder--can two broken souls make one whole person?

The story. We have Delilah as our main character. She's suffered from bullying by her own family. Her dad hated her, so did her stepmom and -brother. They caused her emotional scars that she can't seem to heal in any way. Enter Nathan. He created quite a show with his great looks in their office and gets his very own fanclub among the ladies working there. The only one who isn't showing her cleavage or acting like a love-sick fool is Delilah. After a long night at the office, they get the kinky on and so it begins. It's only a matter of time before someone finds out and the both of them lose their jobs, or worse, they get emotionally attached.

My thoughts. The first part of the book was more of an erotic story fulfilling Delilah's fantasies of being man-handled by a rough, intense guy. Don't get me wrong, it was hot, but definitely to rough for my taste. She had bruises and bites all over her. He had them, too. Their kinky was intense! However, after the first half, it became an emotional story. I would have never guessed that I'd cry over this book. At one point it became too much. I enjoyed their chemistry, notes, texts. I liked how Nathan gave Delilah something she'd never had before and healed her emotional wounds. Until.. It all came crushing down.

You see, Nate has his own demons. We know this from the first moment they meet. However, we don't know everything until before something terrible happens. It was hard to breathe when I found out his secret and everything that happened after that.. I was a mess of tears and heartache. For both of them. Do I agree that this is a normal relationship? NO!!!! I hate how physically abusing it was. I didn't like how Nate was mentally abusing with his words when they had sex, but Delilah wasn't put off by it and was rather the opposite of put off, so I guess that's OK? I don't know.. Whatever floats one's boat, right? (Since a lot of you have questioned the extent of mental abuse during those scenes, I'll say that he didn't like bully her, but to me it'd be humilating to hear those words said to me and it didn't feel sexy at all.)They're so broken that it doesn't seem right that two so broken people can make one whole. They do! I was so surprised by how they completed each other. I have a love-hate relationship with Nate. The fact that he was able to build Delilah's confidence, help her with her demons and heal her was beyond amazing, however, what he did was just.. cruel. I hate him for it.

All in all, it was a surprise for me. I had no idea it would turn out like this and how emotionally invested I would get. This book blew me away with its raw hurt and the emotions came to me with a vengeance. I am so looking forward to the sequel. I need to know what happens. It's not even about want anymore, it's about need. As much as I enjoyed this book, I can't give it that many stars stars. I don't agree with the realationship they were in even if it was consensuous. Plus, the erotica part didn't appeal to me that much either, I wish there would have been less of that and more of the emotional journey these two were on. Anyhow, it's definitely worth exploring. I can tell you right off the bat that this isn't for everyone. You will have hate and maybe even love towards this book as did I, but I can guarantee you that you will have emotions. It's just that kind of a book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Meet the author

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Summer Lovin' Read-a-thon 2013 Wrap-Up

Hey, lovelies! I hope you all had a great weekend. It's so very sunny outside and unfortunately I got a sunburn. Meh.. It's not all that bad though, I've had worse. I guess that's what I get for laying out in the sun all day even if I use sun cream. The wheather has been superb though--not a cloud in a sky and it totally goes with the theme of this read-a-thon. I had so much fun and I'm looking forward to participating in even more read-a-thons since the first one was a success on my part. I didn't end up reading that much from the list I created for myself, but I read quite a bit nevertheless. You want to know what I read? I'll give you the complete list of day by day and a few thoughts on the books I read.

Day 1: Started Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter. Read to page 117.
Day 2: Started Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown--15% in. Continuing Born at Midnight.
Day 3: Read to 20% of Thousand Words and read to page 220 on Bron at Midnight.
Day 4: Read to around page 300 of Born at Mifnight
Day 5: Read to 50% of Thousand Words
Day 6: Finished Thousand Words. Read two additional novels: Wrong Kind of Love by Amanda Heath and Elite by Rachel Van Dyken.
Day 7: Finished Born at Midnight and started (and will hopefully finish) Breach by K.I. Lynn.

So I ended up reading..

Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter
I ended up liking it a lot. The MC was pretty well-written and even though her constant kissing thoughts regarding the two guys who drooled over her bothered me a bit, I still think Kylie was a decent character. I liked the friendships and the few twists and turns that took me by surprise. I also enjoyed the world-building which was quite different from the usual supernatural world I have come across so far. I think this one will get a decent four stars.

Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown
Another great story for me. It was my first ever Jennifer Brown's book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had no idea sexting would be that big of an issue and Ashleigh's story touched me in a way I didn't expect. I will definitely read more by Ms. Brown. As I gathered from that little interview with her at the end of the book, she writes issue books that are different and really make you think and these kinda books suit me well. Also, her writing is good so yes, definitely an author I'll explore more when I have time.

Wrong Kind of Love by Amanda Heath
Ok, so I read the first book and skimmed parts of it, that's why I haven't marked it as read on Goodreads. I did like the best friend of the MC and the MC's twin brothers though so I knew I wanted to read their book someday. I was rooting for Caden all the way and of course since it's from his and Grace's POV we know that they'll end up together, there's no other option. However, I was so annoyed by Grace that I wanted to sucker punch her at times. She was almost as annoying as Ms. Anastasia Steele. Ugh.. I liked the main idea and Caden was ok, but overall it was meh for me.

Elite by Rachel Van Dyken
This read-a-thon is all about firsts for me as I see. I didn't plan on reading it, but I ended up doing so since I was intrigued. I heard it was about a secret society among our ordinary one and I knew it was a book I wanted to pick up. Ok, so the beginning was a bit awkward. It got better, but again, the MC just ruined it for me. Every time someone said something that wasn't like.. didn't make sense immediately, she asked them if they were high. Wtf? So when I'm in a mood to be silly and say silly things and laugh about them I'm immediately tripping and so is everybody else? I think she was just too dumb. Sorry. The secret society thing was different though and it ended up being a first of that kind (I don't want to give away the society's um.. essence.) so I want to know more and I'll pick up the sequel even if the main character is a tad annoying.

and I'm currently reading Breach by K.I. Lynn as we speak. It's pretty good, but very very VERY steamy. Kinda reminds me of The Crossfire series by Sylvia Day. I know both of the MCs have secrets and I want to know what they are. I can tell that it's not just all adult fiction with the very graphic steamy scenes, but there's a story beneath all that. I hope it'll come out soon though since I don't think I can handle all that steaminess anymore. I need a real story not just an erotic story, you know..

AAAANNDDD that's it for me this week. I'll go and try to finish Breach now and I hope you guys had indeed a great weekend and please stop by to see my review for one of the most intriguing books I have ever read. It'll be up tomorrow and on Tuesday I'll have a giveaway for US/Can peeps so a lot of stuff to look forward to next week:)