Quote of the Week

“There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love.”

Christopher Morley, Pipefuls

Monday, January 27, 2014

Book Review: Undeniable By Madeline Sheehan (Undeniable #1)


Genre: Steamy Romance  
Publisher:  Madeline Sheehan
Publication Date: December 31, 2013
LinksAmazon   Goodreads
 Star Rating:

Warning: This is not a "typical love story". This is an all-consuming, soul-crushing, tear-your-heart-into-pieces story. It’s intense, gritty and raw, dark and disturbing, and it doesn’t happen overnight. This is an epic love story that knows no boundaries and has no time limits. It grows and develops—with hurt, sacrifice, and heartache—over the span of a lifetime.

Eva Fox is the princess of the Silver Demons Motorcycle Club. Growing up with bikers in the club lifestyle is all that she knows. When she’s a young girl, Eva meets the reason for her existence. Deuce West is the sexy, biker bad-ass of the Hell’s Horsemen Motorcycle Club. Like Eva, he was born and raised in the club—but that’s where the similarities end. Their first meeting is innocent, but as Eva matures into a woman, their chance reunions evolve into a fit of lust and love. Fate continues to bring them together time and time again, but their twisted journey is filled with pain, betrayal, and bloodshed that could tear them apart. Eva sees in Deuce what he cannot see in himself—a man worthy of love—and Eva spends her lifetime proving to him that her undeniable love is the one thing he can’t live without.

This is Eva and Deuce’s story.

It wasn’t easy.
Nothing worth doing ever is.
And love is worth everything.

 
My Overall Impression of the Book:

What can I say about Undeniable.  Well first of all I think my sense of the book was a little off because of the mood I was in when I started reading it.  I feel the book would have been a lot better if my emotions were not out of whack.  With that being said the disclaimer given was correct.  This is a tear your heart out earth shattering love story. There are no butterflies or rainbows in this story, but I love the authenticity of the story.  I mean this is real life. People cheat, people get used, people get disrespected, and people get their heart broken. This story is raw and gritty and not for the faint of heart. 

Characters:

Deuce – Is a jerk.  No ifs ands or buts about it.  He is the leader of the Hell’s Horsemen Motorcycle Club and he first meets Eva when she is five years old.  They meet again and again until she is an adult and then things get really interesting.  I disagree with most of his actions and I warn you again that some people will be offended by this story, but things like this happen in real life.


Eva – I don’t know how I feel about her.  She made me angry on quite a few occasions but, I feel like she continues to get the short end of the stick.  She is the princess of the Silver Demons Motorcycle Club and her father Preacher is the King. Preacher loves his daughter but I disagree with the way he raised her, but hindsight is 20/20 and all a parent can do is raise his/her child to the best of their ability.


Kudos to the author Madeline Sheehan for being unafraid to tell a raw heart-wrenching love story.  I applaud her courage to tell is like it is.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Scandal's 2014 Midseason Premier Date



So ABC Network is never satisfied until Scandal fans are shacking and twitching with anticipation.  The hit series does not premier until 27 Feb 2014, unlike most network series that start their midseason premier in January.  I am sure the February premier date will not discourage die hard Scandal fans from tuning in just see what awesome coat Olivia Pope will be wearing that week.


2014 Movie Release Dates: That Matter to Me


2014 MOVIE DATES
Expect my upcoming reviews on the below movie titles this year.  I can't say I am ecstatic about the lineup but this list is not half bad.

OPENING DATE
MOVIE
January 10
The Legend of Hercules
January  10
The Adventurer:  The Curse of the Midas Box
January 10
Raze
January 10
Banshee Chapter
January 17
Ride Along
January 17
Jack Ryan
January 24
I, Frankenstein
February 7
The Lego Movie
February 12
Robocop
February 14
About Last Night
February 21
Pompeii
February 28
The Son of God
February 28
Nonstop
March 7
300: Rise of an Empire
March 21
Divergent
March 28
Noah
April 4
Captain America:  The Winter Soldier
April 4
Jinn
May 2
The Amazing Spiderman 2
May 2
Belle
May 16
Godzilla
May 23
X Men:  Days of future Past
May 30
Maleficent
June 6
Edge of Tomorrow
June 13
How to Train a Dragon 2
June 20
Think Like a Man 2
June 27
Transformer 4:  Age of Extinction
July  11
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
August 8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
August  15
Expendables 3
October 3
Gone Girl

Friday, January 3, 2014

Book Review: Stitch (Stitch Trilogy Book 1) By Samantha Durante



Genre: Dystopian & Paranormal Romance
Publisher:  Samantha Durante (Self Published)
Publication Date: July 30, 2012
LinksAmazon     Goodreads
Star Rating
Synopsis 

Her heart races, her muscles coil, and every impulse in Alessa's body screams at her to run... but yet she's powerless to move.

Still struggling to find her footing after the sudden death of her parents, the last thing college freshman Alessa has the strength to deal with is the inexplicable visceral pull drawing her to a handsome ghostly presence. In between grappling with exams and sorority soirees - and disturbing recurring dreams of being captive in a futuristic prison hell - Alessa is determined to unravel the mystery of the apparition who leaves her breathless. But the terrifying secret she uncovers will find her groping desperately through her nightmares for answers.

Because what Alessa hasn't figured out yet is that she's not really a student, the object of her obsession is no ghost, and her sneaking suspicions that something sinister is lurking behind the walls of her university's idyllic campus are only just scratching the surface...

The opening installment in a twist-laden trilogy, Stitch spans the genres of paranormal romance and dystopian sci-fi to explore the challenges of a society in transition, where morality, vision, and pragmatism collide leaving the average citizen to suffer the results.

My Overall Impression of the Book:

I was gifted this book by the author for an honest review.  I give Stitch 2 Stars with a caveat.  Although I give this book 2 stars, I will be reading the sequel.  I know I know…if I gave the book two stars, why in the world would I read the second book.  

Well…

To be perfectly honest I would have just given up on the book all together if I was not gifted the book for the purpose of a review.  Simply put…the majority of the book was boring.  I mean somebody shoot me now boring.  The book revolves around Alessa…yet another college student that loses her parents at an early age.  Where have I seen that before…in every romance novel EVER.  But that was not the worse part of the book.  Alessa was just a boring character.  Her life was boring, her friends were boring, even her encounters with the ghost were boring.

To make matter worse, she became obsessed with this ghost.  A ghost that, as a reader, I could care less about.  She spend so much time in the first half of the book researching this dang ghost that I wanted to scream.  Her emotional reaction to the ghost and her feeling toward the ghost made no sense until the last 1/4th of the book.  By the time the book got interesting…I was already over it.

I just did not love these characters.  This is Samantha Durante’s  first novel, so I am sure that her storytelling will improve with time.  

As stated before, I will read the second book.  The last 1/4th of the book was intriguing enough that I would like to know what happens with the characters.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Book Review: Origin (Lux #4) by Jennifer Armentrout

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series
Publisher:  Entangled: Teen (August 27, 2013)
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
LinksGoodreads Amazon

 
Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything.

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on?

And will they even be together?

My Overall Impression of the Book:

Oh Jennifer…you are still amazing.  What can I say about this book?  I liked this book but I did not love it.  It was missing something.  This book did not evoke the same emotion as the first three books in the series did.  If I do not want to want to throw my Kindle across the room at least twice while reading a book, you have failed :-).  I did like the innocent intimacy between Kate and Daemon…who is still awesome by the way!!  This book also had a lot of surprises that I appreciate in this series.  The Origins…now that was a very creative and interesting way to breathe life into the series, keeping things fresh.  One thing I love about the Lux series is that when think you have things figured out, there is always something lurking around the corner!!   This is one of my favorite YA Paranormal Series by far.  I can’t wait for the final book.

Characters
 
Daemon – Love him still!!  There is something about that sexy green eyed alien that makes my toes curl :-).  In this book you get to see a very different side of Daemon.  Don’t get me wrong he is still a jerk and he is still awesome, but he is also very much in love…and you can see this in every action that he makes.  He will do anything, say anything, and destroy anything for Katy.  He was a man on a mission from page one, but this mission is only the beginning.  I can’t wait to see if his love for Katy is strong enough for him to do what’s right in the next book.

Katy – I liked Katy in this book, which is a change from the last book.  In the last book Katy left me royally pissed off, but I think she redeemed herself in this book.  At the end of the day they are all teenagers who are dealing with bad situations, so sometimes there is no right answer.  Her whole life has changed in a matter of a year and she is trying to deal with that.   Can’t wait until the next book to see the kind of woman Katy becomes.  She has some hard choices ahead of her.

Plot and Writing
 
The writing is great as usual.  Ms. Armentrout is a professional.  This is the 4th installment of the Lux series.  Jennifer has done an excellent job progressing the storyline.  Each book adds something new and fresh about the world of the Lux.   This story was all about sacrifice.  Everyone that was a part of this story sacrificed something for someone else and, I think that was one of the best parts of the book.  The book was also action packed and fast paced.  Yet again we are left with a cliffhanger, but this cliffhanger was not as devastating to me as the last one, but it is still very intense.  I look forward to the final book in the series and the resolution of the Lux and the Origins.