Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson | Book Review

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Format: ebook
Genre: Historical Fiction, Regency Romance (clean)
Publication Date: 12 March, 2012

Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she’ll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, Marianne finds that even the best laid plans can go awry.

From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, Marianne finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing. Will she be able to rein in her traitorous heart, or will a mysterious stranger sweep her off her feet? Fate had something other than a relaxing summer in mind when it sent Marianne to Edenbrooke.

My heart would obey me, I was certain. I simply needed to be strict with it.

-Marianne, Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

Knocked this one out in under 8 hours! Yeah, it's that good...also a little predictable, maybe a bit cheesy, but very fun and worthwhile. I honestly had fun reading Edenbrooke.

It's a hard book to put down, mainly because it's such a sweet, sweet romance. It's the kind that makes you sigh wistfully--multiple times. Donaldson gives us a lovely picture of the Regency time period (handsome gentlemen included), and keeps hearts racing with her perfectly paced romance. And if that weren't enough, there's the added drama of a mysterious man who threatens to tear it all apart...which would be devastating, because these are characters you will root for! They are bright and funny, have noble ambitions, and frequently carry on conversations that are uniquely entertaining.

I really like that Donaldson focuses on the relationships between the characters. Marianne is struggling to renew her relationship with her sister and father after their mother's death, but doesn't know where they all stand. Their subtle change in perspectives throughout the book is compelling. Philip is also struggling to find his place in a world that has suddenly changed for him. He and Marianne both begin to help each other out, and now I'm audibly sighing because Philip *le sigh* and Marianne together just melts. my. heart! It's is just a very solid and clean romance.

The inevitable comparison:
I know you're curious, so yes, It does compare to Pride & Prejudice (or any Jane Austen novel, really)...in the sense that you get those same happy, feel-good, twirling feelings from this story. It's one that makes you feel in love with...love. It's one of the good ones! And yet it doesn't try to be P&P at all. It has a very different story to tell. I think people who both love and hate P&P will enjoy this book for that very reason. For one thing, it's a little more daring--according to the standards of the time period. It's also more adventurous, I think; less social commentary.

But enough P&P comparisons. This book stands on its own! It's not perfect. But it is very much worth reading, and I can't recommend it enough.

Temp. Guide

Read this if:
...you like love stories and want to be swept off your feet by a gentleman good book.

Content Warning
Clean read!

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Purchase Edenbrooke:

Amazon  /  Barnes & Noble  /  Book Depository

Julianne Donaldson:

Blog  /  Twitter  /  Facebook

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead | Book Review

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy #6)
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Paperback
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance, YA
Publication Date: 7 December 2010

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose - for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She'll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living pony who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

Join Rose, Dimitri, Adrian, and Lissa in Last Sacrifice, the epic, unforgettable finale to Richelle Mead's international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series.

As an adoring fan of the series, I wanted to love this book...but just couldn't. After all that has happened so far, I expected more; more action, more sacrifices on Rose's part, more meat to the story, and more unpredictability. As is usually the case with the Vampire Academy series, I was hooked as soon as I began reading. There is something about these characters and their situations that sucks me in every time I think I'm just going to read "a few" pages.

But as much as I couldn't put the book down, I feel like a lot of that had to do with the fact that I was recalling the characters I had loved from previous books. I think there was too much of Rose's spunky and fierce personality missing from these pages, and she's not the only character I noticed that with. Gone is Adrian's charming swagger, replaced by a character held together only on the surface, and gone too is Dimitri's calm but strong presence, replaced by a character who I swear was close to hormonal tears many times throughout the story. Their circumstances may have brought them to these places, but I just couldn't accept that these were the same characters I had grown to love so much.

*Spoiler*
And it is just me, or did it seem like Rose and Dimitri weren't quite the Guardians that we know them to be? It seems like they were either caught unawares, injured, or came too close to defeat too many times.
*End Spoiler*

I was left with many unsettled feelings about the ending of the story. The proud Damphir protocol that we've seen throughout the series is either changed or breached behind the scenes, allowing for things to be tied up oh so neatly. Although I had expected a happy ending to the story, I didn't expect it all to be so...easy. Yes there were heartaches and sacrifices, but nothing on the scale of the sacrifices that had been made in previous books in the series. I had prepared myself mentally for the moment when the "Last Sacrifice" would come along (I've been brought to near-hysterical tears three times in this series, so I wanted to be prepared this time). Yet I was (gasp!) bored when it happened.

So...definitely not the book I was hoping for. I really wanted more for the ending of this fantastic series, but I feel like this one was a let down. Although...it does have a happy ending, which is what I know we all wanted. And now that I think about it, it's weird to wish that worse had happened, even if it would have been more believable.

Temp. Guide

Read this if:
...you're a fan of the series, and want to know how it ends.

Content Warning
*This section may contain some spoilers about content!*
Highlight between the brackets to reveal the text.
{Violence, death, one sex scene (not very detailed), and a few steamy scenes.}

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Purchase Last Sacrifice:
Amazon

Richelle Mead:

Website

Of Blood and Bone by Courtney Cole | Adult Book Review

Note: this review discuses mature themes found in this book, and is therefore recommended for the 18 and older crowd.

Of Blood and Bone by Courtney Cole (The Minaldi Legacy #1)
Publisher: Lakehouse Press
Format: eGalley (courtesy of Kismet Book Tours)
Genre: Romance, Mystery, Adult
Publication Date: 16 September 2012

As a little boy, Luca Minaldi was told he was a monster.

As an adult, he knows it is true. He lives in Malta, a fairytale-like place filled with sunshine and sea, beauty and secrets. And Luca’s darkest of secrets is the best kept of them all.

Eva Talbot arrives in Malta for the summer to finish up her doctoral dissertation. When she meets Luca, a mysterious and handsome shipping tycoon, there is an instant attraction, a disturbing and beautiful energy that she has never felt before. But she senses the darkness that lives within him. Eva is hired to care for his mother, who suffers from dementia, but it is Luca who Eva will eventually risk everything to save. Her life becomes a swirling chaos of darkness and romance, of secrets and mystery. And the question that emerges will become the most important answer of all.

Can she save Luca from the darkness that plagues him without losing herself? The answer is a matter of life or death.

Of Blood and Bone is a romantic story that deals with dark themes, giving it a mysterious and chilling atmosphere. There are some brutal things that happen in these pages, and while I knew that it had adult themes before I read it, I'm not sure I was expecting quite so much. There are some horrible events in the story, and I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but...they were written so excellently. There was one part that I was especially impressed with, even though the action that is taking place is just completely wrong. I've included it below my review, in case there are some curious readers; if that does not describe you, then do not read the one and only quote after this review.

For those of you who like hot romance, rest assured that there is MUCH steam waiting to be released from between the pages of this book. Very much steam. I try not to talk about the sex in books too much, since I know that there are pre-teens who read my blog (one especially--yes, YOU! Stop reading!), and I like to keep it clean for them. But let me just say that not only does Courtney Cole include steaming hot sex scenes, but she also manages to create a very definite contrast between the sex scenes (the bad ones, and the intimate ones). Worth noting, because I think there is a fine line between both when dealing with certain topics, and Courtney keeps each on the right side of line, even when other factors come into play.

Sadly, I was never quite sold on the relationship between the two main characters, as they fall in love pretty instantly. The main character is a smart and successful woman who is very stable and knows what she wants in life, and how to get it. Yet she turns into jello at the mere sight of Luca, and professes her love a few days later. I really hate coming across insta-love.

 Another thing that I particularly wanted to mention, is that even though Eva is in a different country, those around her continually speak using expressions and sayings that are very much American. The people's accents are mentioned, and the culture of the island was described so beautifully, that it was a bit of a let-down to have the conversations between the characters read as utterly American.

Yet--suspending disbelief--I was compelled to finish the story in record time, to discover what would come of Eva and Luca's seemingly doomed relationship. I very much enjoyed the psychological aspects of the story--and all the complications that come from them--and was desperate to know how things would end. Definitely one to read if you like to analyze personalities, and human behaviors (also if you like a hot romance).

     I enjoy the vibration of the sound against my lips, the heat of her breath against mine. Everything is visceral now, an explosion of sensations and my vision blurs.

     She is soft and I am hard and I rage against her, taking her over and over until her eyes glaze and her screaming stops.

     Her heart is pounding against my chest and her body is so very fragile.

     So I break it.

-Of Blood and Bone by Courtney Cole

Temp. Guide

Read this if:
...you like romance mixed with a good psychological mystery.

Content Warning
*This section may contain some spoilers about content!*
Highlight between the brackets to reveal the text.
{Contains very mature content including rape, brutal murder, a detailed miscarriage, and lots of very descriptive (but hot) sex scenes.}

Read an Excerpt of Of Blood and Bone here!

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Purchase Of Blood and Bone:

Amazon  /  Barnes & Noble

Courtney Cole:

Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook

The Carny by Brooke Moss | Book Tour Review

The Carny by Brooke Moss
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
Format: eGalley (courtesy of Enchanted Book Promotions)
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult
Publication Date: 7 July, 2012

At a town fair on the coast of Oregon, handsome Native American carny, Vincent Youngblood, bestows an unforgettable kiss on shy, awkward teenager, Charlotte Davenport. Then he disappears without another word, leaving her baffled and enamored.

Ten years later, Charlotte is still living in the small fishing town of Astoria, while being trained to--reluctantly--take over for her philandering hotelier father when he retires. After all, who else will do it? Her two perfect sisters are busy being married to their flawless husbands and having cookie cutter children, while Charlotte remains single, childless, and every bit as mousy as she was a decade ago.

As Charlotte struggles to climb out from underneath her judgmental parents thumb, the carnival rolls back into town, and Charlotte finds herself face to face with Vin again. He's back to run his father's carnival, walking away from a promising career in medicine he started in Chicago. Will her biased and judgmental family accept her relationship with a man who is not only a Native American, but works as a carny for a living? And what unsavory secrets bind the well-educated and seemingly superlative Vin to that ramshackle carnival? After all, you can’t judge a carny by its cover.

If you were looking for a romantic book that will have you sighing, then you've come to the right place. I began this book expecting a run-of-the-mill love story, but what I got is a terribly sweet romance with surprising depth, that had me saying "awww," over and over again. I love the connection and communication that goes on between Charlotte and Vin. I love that when there was a misunderstanding, these two characters were able to talk things out, and understand each other. And that ending! *faints* Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself.

One of the points in the book is about racism--specifically the hypocritical aspect of claiming not to be a racist, while actually being racist. While I like that the book approached this topic, I can't help but feel like it some of it was over the top. I thought the references to hypocritical racism were funny in the beginning, because I've encountered similar situations and conversations before...but they kept happening, and a few of the comments made by Charlotte in an attempt to dissuade racism, came across as unnecessarily long, and awkwardly worded, lectures about race equality.

With that said, I not only love the issues that are presented in the book, but I also love how they are dealt with. Charlotte's family is pretty dysfunctional, and that means there is a lot of family drama--most of which gets heaped on Charlotte's shoulders, as she is the last child to leave the nest. She's a sensible girl in a stressful situation, and all she needs to set herself down the path of her dreams, is a little nudge.
*Enter tall, dark, and handsome.*
*Cue swooning.* 


Brooke Moss used tried-and-true story lines, but gave them the perfect original twists. Charlotte and Vin are such a great pair, and together (or apart) they both learn more about themselves, and how to deal with their situations in life. I definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a romantic story.


Side note: Sometimes I get stuck in a YA rut, where I basically only read YA for years at a time...and then a book like this comes along, and reminds me of the perks of being an adult, and of reading about adults. Thanks, Brooke Moss! ;)

Temp. Guide

Read this if:
...you like love stories, you have a thing for the carnival life, and you don't mind a good heaping of family drama.

Content Warning
*This section may contain some spoilers about content!*
Highlight between the brackets to reveal the text.
{Some swearing, racial slurs (which are addressed each time they occur), hot HOT make-out scenes, and a few instances of implied sex.}

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Purchase The Carny:

Publisher  /  Amazon  /  Barnes & Noble

Brooke Moss:

Website  /  Twitter  /  Facebook  /  Blog

Book Review: There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Format: eGalley (courtesy of Netgalley)
Genre: Contemporary Romance, YA, Christian Fiction
Publication Date: 10.04.2011

In a small cottage house in rural Ireland, Finley is forced to face a past she can't outrun.

When Finley books her trip to the "Emerald Isle" as a foreign exchange student, she hopes to create a new identity and get some answers from God. After all, since her brother's recent death, God seems to have forgotten she even exists.

Now all she wants to do is let her heart heal, see the sights in her brother's favorite country, and work on her college audition piece for a prestigious music conservatory. She plans to use her brother's journal from his time in Ireland as her guide, yet from the moment she boards the plane and sits next to Beckett Rush, teen star of the hottest vampire flicks, nothing goes according to her well-ordered plan.

The peace and beauty of the Irish village are no match for the chaos that soon becomes her life. When she gets roped into working as Beckett Rush's personal assistant, she finds this famous wild child is not quite what he seems. And as she grows closer to the mysterious actor, her own secrets refuse to stay put.

As things begin to unravel, Finley takes desperate measures to control her own life and fill the empty spaces her brother left behind. When it all comes crashing down, Finley must discover how to give her past to God . . . if there's to be any hope in her future.

“This is Ireland, Finley. It's rough. It's wild. And it is holy.”

-Beckett, There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

The number one sign that I'm liking what I'm reading: tears. They don't make an appearance for just any book. Though I may experience a vast array of emotions while reading a book, my tear ducts don't give it up very easily. Needless to say, I cried while reading this book. More than one time (gasp!). And most of the time they were tears of joy and satisfaction--an even rarer reading experience. I usually only cry when bad things happen--favorite characters dying, or lovers breaking up--the usual. But THIS. This one brought out the tears, and in such a sweet way.

I initially put the book down a few chapters in, because I was sure I would like it. I didn't like the main character, and what I had seen so far made me think it was the setup to a flimsy and predictable plot. I just wasn't very into reading it. It wasn't until a week later when I couldn't sleep, that I decided it was time to finish the story. From then on, I saw characteristics I hadn't seen before, and I realized there was more to the MC as well. The story develops into a deeply moving plot having to do with relationships, self-worth, control, and spiritual well-being.

This book is good for the soul.

With a beautiful setting, and the clever situations the characters find themselves in, I fell hard for this book. There are quite a few cliches present--the typical mean girl character being on of them--but there are also different character traits and storytelling techniques the author uses, that gave a new spin on a not-so-new plot. For instance: I love the fact that both characters are famous, that they both understand each other so much it infuriates them, and that spiritual faith played such a great part in the story.

You've probably already guessed it, but yes, there are Christian themes in this book. They are central to the plot, but rather than feeling preachy and overdone, they feel very light and ethereal. The few parts that are a little more heavy on the Christian themes are perfectly placed, and so admirable.

Again: this book is good for the soul. You will feel different after reading it. Maybe it won't change your life, but it will make you feel something beautiful.

Read this if:
...you believe in God, and you like beautiful landscapes, celebrity characters, and deeply moving plots.

Fever Symptoms:
Crying, loss of sleep, increased heart rate, and sudden bursts of sound.

Content Warning
Clean read!

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Purchase There You'll Find Me:

Amazon  /  Barnes & Noble  /  Book Depository

Jenny B. Jones:

Website  /  Twitter  /  Blog

Book Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Poppy
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
Publication Date: 09.05.2011 - Today!!

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: she and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.

Inspired by Aristophanes' play Lysistrata, critically acclaimed author of The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) Kody Keplinger adds her own trademark humor in this fresh take on modern teenage romance, rivalry and sexuality.

I want to be normal, but no one talks about sex, so how should I know what normal is?

-Kody Keplinger, Shut Out

To be honest, I wasn't sure I could handle what would obviously be a lot of talk about sex--if you've read the description, it is only a logical guess. I've tried a few books before that attempted to broach this topic, but none of them worked for me. But after seeing a few raving reviews, curiosity got the best of me and I found myself picking this book up from the bookstore one day, and picking it up again to read the same night. And I did. not. put. it. down. I read this book in one sitting, staying up until 4:30 the next morning to finish, 'cuz yeah, that's how I roll.

Back in April I read Bumped by Megan McCafferty...and wasn't much impressed. There really isn't much comparison between the two aside from the sex themes--one is dystopia, and the other is contemporary--except for the fact that the message both are trying to get across is the same: that you don't have to conform to other people's idea of normal; a message that especially applies to the females, in both books. While I never felt I really got right the message from Bumped, I definitely got it from Shut Out, and in a way that was surprisingly tasteful and enlightening.

What starts out as an attempt to end a decade-long feud between the two sports teams, turns into a battle of the sexes, and eventually a lesson in understanding as certain truths are revealed (and one big one that I never thought was coming) The realizations the characters come to are amazing, and I feel like I experienced something as I read. Their situations are exactly those of teenagers nowadays: feeling the pressure to either have sex, or to lie about it. As we get deeper into the story, this topic gets more importance as the girls come to find that our perception of others is often wrong. They begin to see not only each other, but themselves differently, as they follow the main character, Lissa, to who leads them through the strike.

But Lissa is a hot mess. She has control issues that run her life, she doesn't see what is often right in front of her, she is in denial about a few things, and she is struggling to cope with the death of a loved one. She's a real teen, who has problems of her own, but she takes charge and somehow manages to get herself through all the chaos. Even when it suddenly becomes personal.

The problems Lissa and the other characters face in the story hit close to home for me, and I assume they will for others, too. While I'm past my teenage years, this is definitely a book I wish I had at that age. Its message has the ability to make a deep impact, but it is subtle and doesn't feel preachy or forced. This won't be everyone's cup of tea, and I get that. For me, it is one of the best books on the subject that I have read, and has become an instant favorite.

Oh, and the love story? Believable, romantic, and completely swoon-worthy. You didn't think I'd forget about that, did you?

Read this if:
...you want a great love story nestled deep in the throes of a boy's worst nightmare; a shut out.

Fever Symptoms:
Loss of sleep, Inability to release hold of book, Accelerated reading, Inability to function, and the sensation of missing a limb after finishing.

Content Warning
*This section may contain some spoilers about content!*
Highlight between the brackets to reveal the text.
{Open discussion (and a few quick descriptions) of sex, and sexual acts, lots or profanity (especially the 'F' word), and a few sentences about others who are drinking underage.}

Watch the trailer!

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Purchase Shut Out

Amazon  /  Barnes & Noble  /  Book Depository

Kody Keplinger:

Website  /  Twitter  /  Blog