Review: Wait for You by J. Lynn

Title: Wait for You
Author: J. Lynn (Jennifer L. Armentrout)
Published: February 25th 2013
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Some things are worth waiting for…
Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.
Some things are worth experiencing…
Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.
Some things should never be kept quiet…
But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?
And some things are worth fighting for…

We all know how talented Jen is and I have seen very few reviews that didn’t have great words to say about Wait for You so naturally I was excited to jump into this. I did get a lot of awesome things from this novel, but I can’t say I’m totally obsessed with this book. Let me break it down for you in detail.

“As long as the sun’s shining, shit can’t be that bad.” 

The story. Avery is a 19 year-old freshman in college and on the first day of school she runs into this gorgeous guy Cameron. Let’s just say that this isn’t the last time these two meet unexpectedly. Soon they are forced to spend time together and so the unlikely friendship begins and maybe, just maybe it’ll blossom into something more. Only if Avery is able to let go of her past and move forward.

My thoughts. I did very much enjoy the banter between Avery and Cameron and even though at first I didn’t feel their chemistry (it may have been from lack of sleep), the more I spent time with them, the more I felt their attraction towards each other. I also liked Avery’s new friends Brittany and Jacob as well as Cam’s roommate Ollie and their friend Jase. What I also liked was how Jen managed to write the book as an evolving piece which took its time and didn’t rush into the L-bomb or anything near that before it was actually time. It felt organic.

Now.. What I didn’t like. There wasn’t much, I can’t really pinpoint out the exact moment I realized that it wasn’t that original of a story. Maybe it’s not supposed to be. Jen’s writing makes up for the lack of originality, but at the same time, I’m a contemporary lover and perhaps it’s due to the fact that I have read so many New Adult books lately that they all melt a little together for me. Nothing except for Cam – being a great guy, not a mysterious, haunted, broken man – stood out for me. And I wasn’t a fan of his at the beginning either. He just kinda grew on me.

All in all, I did enjoy Wait for Me and I’m looking forward to spending time with the other characters in addition to Cam and Avery in the following sequels. I hope that they’ll all be as good as Wait for You if not even better since I have faith that Jen can pull something more original out of the bag. Perhaps my issue with this one was the lack of originality due to having read many similar books, but hey – Jen’s writing is awesome and if you’re a fan of New Adult and contemporary at that, then I advise you to check this baby out.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Giveaway: Celebrating 1 year anniversary of Lengths by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt

I read Lengths last year /you can read my review here) and I think it's one of those books that suits perfectly for summer. It's got a gorgeous ocean, two beautiful main characters, a cast of awesome side characters and a bit drama. So what're ya'll waiting for *tries to make a southern accent* Go, get it! :) It's on sale all weekend (8/9 through 8/11) for 0.99 :)

Title: Lengths
Author: Liz Reinhardt, Steph Campbell
Release Date: August 9th 2012
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Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Nineteen-year-old Whit Conrad leaves her conservative Pennsylvania home for sunny California, looking for independence, a fresh start, and a place to stash her grief. She promptly finds a job at a tattoo parlor, a craptastic first apartment, and one friend—Ryan—who is a little less friend, a little more benefits.

Deo Beckett is a soulful surfer with a passion for tattoos and beautiful women. On the eve of his twenty-second birthday, he finds himself living with his grandfather, recently unemployed, and seriously adrift. He doesn’t know much about what he wants out of life, but he does know his current situation isn't cutting it.

When Deo meets Whit, she’s all sexy makeup and fierce, smart-ass fun. It doesn’t take him long to see past her tough shell. And when he gets a good look at what's under all the superficial stuff that usually gets his attention, it leaves Deo wondering if there might be more to life than living fast and free.

Too bad Whit has a past she doesn't plan on sharing—no matter how hot Deo is. She might want him, but she knows better than to let her guard down.

Deo falls for Whit, and falls hard. But everything about her, down to that mysterious tattoo and the way she thrashes in her sleep, tells him that the girl he loves is hiding something. And the more he pushes for answers, the more Whit pulls away.

Having your guard up is one thing, but are the lengths Whit goes to to protect her secret worth throwing away the second chance she has at happiness with Deo?

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Meet the authors

Liz Reinhardt

Liz Reinhardt was born and raised in the idyllic beauty of northwest NJ. A move to the subtropics of coastal Georgia with her daughter and husband left her with a newly realized taste for the beach and a bloated sunscreen budget. Right alongside these new loves is her old, steadfast affection and longing for bagels and the fast-talking foul mouths of her youth.
She loves Raisinettes, even if they aren't really candy, the Oxford comma, movies that are hilarious or feature zombies, any and all books, but especially romance (the smarter and hotter, the better), the sound of her daughter's incessantly wise and entertaining chatter, and watching her husband work on cars in the driveway.
She is the author of the Brenna Blixen series (Double Clutch, Junk Miles, Slow Twitch), the Youngblood series (Fall Guy, Perfectly Unmatched), and co-writes with the awesome Steph Campbell in the Lengths series (Lengths, Depths, Limits, Ties, Riptides).

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Steph Campbell

Steph Campbell grew up in Southern California, but now calls Southwest Louisiana home. She has one husband, four children and a serious nail polish obsession.

Steph's works include Delicate, Grounding Quinn and Beautiful Things Never Last; My Heart for Yours and My Fate for Yours (with Jolene Perry); A Toast to the Good Times (with Liz Reinhardt) and the bestselling new adult LENGTHS series with Liz Reinhardt: Lengths, Depths, Limits, Ties & Riptides.

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Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Wither (The Chemical Garden #1)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Published: March 22nd 2011
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By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?
Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?

I didn’t really plan on giving this series a try, but then suddenly most of the bloggers started to showcase the third book in this series – Sever – in their book hauls in youtube and around blogoverse and I have to admit, I became interested. Then I revisited the GR of the first book and re-read the synopsis. Guess what? I liked it. And I gave it a try.

“Tell freedom I said hello.”

The story. Wither follows Rhine in her journey of breaking free from a horrible situation she has landed in. Rhine and two other girls are brought to this incredible mansion to marry Linden. The guys in this world die at 25 and girls when they’re 20. Only the first generation lives longer than that. Linden’s Father turns out to be a horrible man and all Rhine can think about is escaping. She has to pretend happiness in this marriage based on polygamy and her days are only brightened by the other girls friendship when they care to offer it and this server Gabriel who shares her interest of being free and dreaming bold thoughts.

My emotions. I try to watch this interesting (Estonian) show every night that basically features intriguing stories as well as daily news around the world and about 6 months ago they showed this bride abduction (?) story where a bunch of guys took a girl from the street and forced her to marry their friend. And that’s how it happens with every single lady in that country. I don’t remember where it was though. This is basically the case here. I was thoroughly disgusted by all of this and it pains me that it really is like that for some people in this world. I didn’t think less of Linden as a character because he lives in this world and it’s not outrageous to have multiple wives to bed with one,but he's not aware how they made their way to the selection and how brutally they were treated. He's oblivious to all of it. I still hated this polygamous marriage he had with Rhine, Cecily and Jenna. Cecily, being the youngest – only thirteen!!! – it was just unacceptable for me that she got pregnant first and..  I just can’t tell you how much I wanted to vomit at that thought. It’s horrible. She was also annoying most of the time, but there were moments I wanted to hug her and I understood why Rhine was so protective over her. For me, the best part of the book were the relationships between the Sister wives.

On the other hand, I listened to the audiobook and I really, really liked the narrator who made every character different and I felt their presence and personality through her voice. The plot in general was good and Rhine as the MC was great. She’s a survivor by nature and her genuine concern about her sister wives was heart-warming. I became engaged in the story pretty quickly, but I think that not much happened in Wither in general, but at the same time as we already gather from the synopsis, most of it takes place in a house where Rhine is under watchful eyes – not that much can happen. I am team Gabriel since he cares about Rhine only, but Linden wouldn’t be bad to end up with. I just think his lifestyle and dreams aren’t suitable for Rhine and she has a better match in Gabriel. I hated Vaughn – Linden’s Father with pure passion. That man was creepy *hides*

Overall I think this world is intriguing and it’s an eye-opener in the sense that there are a lot of cases like this out there in the world. It was a mix between sci-fi and dystopian and I think there could have been a bit more to the history of this illness and how this world came to be. I will definitely see what’s next to come for Rhine. I think the narrator did an amazing job with this book. I hope the next one will be even better. On another though, I don’t think it’s exactly suitable for younger YA readers even if the book is supposed to be in the YA category.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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Review: Just Remember to Breathe by Charles Sheehan-Miles

Title: Just Remember to Breathe
Author: Charles Sheehan-Miles
Published: August 30th 2012
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Alex Thompson’s life is following the script. A pre-law student at Columbia University, she’s focused on her grades, her life and her future. The last thing she needs is to reconnect with the boy who broke her heart.
Dylan Paris comes home from Afghanistan severely injured and knows that the one thing he cannot do is drag Alex into the mess he’s made of his life.
When Dylan and Alex are assigned to the same work study program and are forced to work side by side, they have to make new ground rules to keep from killing each other.
Only problem is, they keep breaking the rules.
The first rule is to never, ever talk about how they fell in love.

I have never read a romance book written by a male species representative. Haha, that sounded weird. Ok, I haven’t read a romance novel by a male author and boy was I ever surprised at how Mr. Sheehan-Miles pulled at my heart-strings and twisted them throughout the novel. I sure want to read the rest of the books in this series after having a good experience with Just Remember to Breathe.

“When I'm ninety, I want you to tell me that it's my turn to ask you a question, and if that miracle happens, then my question is going to be, 'Do you still love me?' and I hope that answer will still be yes.”

The story. We have a dual POV book with Dylan and Alex as our MC-s. Dylan is a young injured war veteran and Alex is his ex-girlfriend. These two are bound to meet again since they both attend Columbia University in NYC. Forced to work together on a project, they set rules to not talk about the past. Too bad neither of them can hold off too long and soon their past will come to haunt them in the most cruciating ways.

My thoughts. We, readers, get the story as they tell it to us, but Dylan and Alex’s feelings stay hidden from each other for quite some time. What bothered me the most was that in the beginning there was so much telling rather than showing and we get most of the story right away as they both explain it to us. It didn’t keep me from getting invested in their story though. I have met only one person in my life who has gone to war. I know it’s a big issue to people from the states and perhaps it’s an even more emotional read to people who have been through similar situations even as a by-stander. At first it was hard for me to get an understanding of who the MC-s were as persons, but as the novel progressed, they grew on me.

I especially enjoyed the side characters such as Kelly, Alex’s sisters and Dylan’s friend Sherman. Throughout the book we get to know them pretty well and I came to care about their storylines. Luckily Alex's sisters get their own companion novels. Nevertheless, the main focus is always on Dylan and Alex who are struggling to cope with their explosive break-up when he was in war and try to move on from the hurtful past. There are other storylines in addition to their romance, such as Dylan’s guilt over his dead friend, Alex’s crazy-strict and rule-following parents, a guy who wants to get some with Alex and stops at nothing to get what he wants. 

You know, I have had this book for such a long time. I don’t think it was the strongest New Adult book I have ever read, but it made me care and it definitely won’t be the last book I’ll read by Charles. I’ll get to the other two Thompson sisters’ stories soon and hopefully they’re just as good if not better. I shed quite a few tears during this story and the ending couldn’t have been any more perfect. You hear me? P-E-R-F-E-C-T!!! I think this novel is worth exploring. You would be surprised at how a man can write such a good romance novel of second chances. Read on!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Excerpt and Giveaway: What Endures by Katie Lee

Today I'm excited to bring an excerpt and giveaway to you. If you've seen (or read) The Vow by Nicholas Sparks, you'll probably enjoy this one. I hope you enjoy the excerpt and be sure to participate in the giveaway:) Good luck, lovelies!

Title:What Endures
Author: Katie Lee
Published: August 1st, 2013
Genre: Contemporary New Adult
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Purchase: Amazon

Jason Kincaid is young, hot and successful.
An All-Star outfielder for the Seattle Mariners, he finally had everything he ever wanted, including a second chance with his high school sweetheart, Megan Williams. But their hopes for a ‘happily-ever-after’ are dashed by tragedy.

A horrific car accident wipes out most of Jason's memories. Unable to recall anything from the last fifteen years of his life, Jason is suddenly adrift, his once charmed life now in ruins. Megan finds herself in the untenable position of having to deal with the fact that the man she’s helping to rebuild his life may look, and even act, like her beloved fiancé, but in reality, isn’t any longer.

Trying to protect herself, as well as Jason, Megan fights the attraction between them. . .to no avail. As their potent connection inevitably draws them closer, Megan wonders,
With the memories of their relationship gone, can love endure? 

Excerpt

“So is the interview over?” she asked lightly.
He grinned and she caught the mischievous twinkle in his eye which should have warned her that he had something up his sleeve. “Not quite. I do have one other question.”
The warning bells finally sounded in her head. “What question?”
His grin widened, as he leaned forward on the table. “When did you get that tattoo on your hip?”
She stared at him as her mind raced, trying to process what he had just said. He met her gaze calmly, as if waiting for her to put the pieces together.
“How’d you know. . .“ Was he remembering she wondered? Something about his expression, however, told her that this particular bit of knowledge was not the result of a recollection but something sneakier.
“Home movies.”
“Home mov-“ she started and stopped suddenly as the answer came to her. She looked at him with wide, questioning eyes and he nodded slowly in confirmation.
Suddenly, a mental image of the beach house popped into her mind and she realized much too late that the house was brimming with personal things of her. . of him. . .of them. And then she started to panic, doing a mental inventory of the collection of home movies that she and Jason had and how each one had been made. Which one of those had revealed her tattoo to him? For one brief, horrifying instant, she actually wondered if they had ever made one of those home movies. A part of her wanted to rush right out to the beach house that instant and start gathering up those DVDs.

All of the excerpts I read--one of was hot, one of them was the opening scene of the book (which I have already read, I did a sneak peek into the book when I got my arc for the blog tour which takes place in September. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll like this one since it's so promising. However, I picked this one because it's a little funny. The ending of it ;)

About the Author

Katie Lee has had a lifelong love affair with books. She fell in love with her first book in the second grade and hasn’t looked back since. She first took up writing as a hobby, wanting to craft her own magical adventures, and through the love and encouragement of family and friends, decided to get serious about writing and share her stories with the world.

She currently resides in Maryland in the United States. She works for the government during the day, and her spare time is devoted to writing. She gains inspiration from all sorts of things, but mostly from the fun and adventurous trips she takes when she can. She loves hearing from her readers so drop her a note!

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