Bout of Books 17: Update Day 1

Currently Reading: 

• Vampire Shift by Tim O'Rourke

Books Completed:

• Merciless II: The Exorcism of Sophia Flores by Danielle Vega

Pages read today: 260

Total pages read: 260

Books to read:

• The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
• Dragonbane by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Thoughts:
I think day 1 was a win! I finished one book already and hope to keep this going, if I do I feel like I can definitely get through 4 books. Also the books on my to read list are tentative and of course can be switched for other books at anytime but I have been wanting to get to dragon bane for quiet some time. Let me know how your first day was.

Review: Ripple by Heather Smith Meloche

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Published: September 20, 2016
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Pages: 320

Source: First to Read
Synopsis:
When their too-adult lives lead them down self-destructive paths, these broken teens find a way to heal in this YA novel perfect for fans of Ellen Hopkins.

With her impossible-to-please grandmother on her back about college and her disapproving step-dad watching her every move, Tessa would do anything to escape the pressure-cooker she calls home. So she finds a shot of much-needed power and confidence by hooking up with boys, even though it means cheating on her boyfriend. But when she's finally caught red-handed, she’ll do anything she can to cover up what she's done.

Jack is a prankster who bucks the system every chance he gets—each transgression getting riskier and riskier. He loves the thrill, and each adventure allows a little release because his smug smile and suave demeanor in the face of authority doesn’t make life at home with his mom any less tough. He tries to take care of her, but the truth is he's powerless in the face of her fragile mental health. So he copes in his own way, by defacing public property and pulling elaborate pranks, though he knows in the end this’ll only screw up his life even more.

As they both try not to let their self-destructive patterns get the best of them, Tessa and Jack gravitate toward one another, discovering the best parts of themselves in the process. An honest portrayal of the urges that drive us and finding the strength to overcome them. 

My Rating:

★★★★★

Review:

I received this book from the First to Reads program for an honest review, all reviews and opinions are my own.

I feel like this will be a long review because of how close to home this book touches. This one hit me in the feels, I did not expect it but it did.

I liked how the chapters switched back and forth between the two characters. This makes it easier to see what is going on each of the main characters heads.Though they both are in different situations they are similar and I think that brings them closer together. I know a little something about that since both my husband and I come from troubled backgrounds with family, and I think that is one thing that pushed us closer together. Family can break up a relationship really fast but when the two came together like they did in this book to sort of help each other through the others pain it creates a bond that doesn't let go.

Tessa irritated me at times with how weak she made herself and put herself in harms way when with other boys. She needed to go through it to learn and become stronger, but it was still very dangerous. I can relate a bit because I went through things that if I look back now and know what I do now I wouldn't have gone through what I did but at the age I was and with what I knew I had to go through it to become the stronger me. She needed to learn to stand up for herself and make people see what she wants in life. I know its hard because parents want to live through their childs life but that isn't always the best for them.

Jack had to learn to live for himself he had a lot of responsibility and sometimes it is okay to be selfish. I know first handed how hard it is to be the adult when you yourself are a kid, but it does make one stronger in the end. Without giving away to much he learned to grow and let go of somethings sometimes you can't be the only one to carry such a burden.

Bout of Books 17

It is back!!!! Bout of Books 17! For those that don't know what Bout of Books is:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I have not been reading as much as I used to because of my new job but hopefully this will get me through a few books this week. So here are some books that I have lined up for myself to get through.

I know four books is going to be a lot for me especially since I have only been maybe reading a book a week but I am already part of the way through The merciless and we will see about the rest. What are you guys going to be reading? Are you participating?

Review: The Smaller Evil by Stephanie Kuehn

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Published: August 2, 2016
Publisher: Dutton Books For Young Readers
Pages: 256

Source: First to Read
Synopsis:
Sometimes the greater good requires the smaller evil.

17-year-old Arman Dukoff is struggling with severe anxiety and a history of self-loathing when he arrives at an expensive self-help retreat in the remote hills of Big Sur. He’s taken a huge risk—and two-thousand dollars from his meth-head stepfather—for a chance to "evolve," as Beau, the retreat leader, says.

Beau is complicated. A father figure? A cult leader? A con man? Arman's not sure, but more than anyone he's ever met, Beau makes Arman feel something other than what he usually feels—worthless.

The retreat compound is secluded in coastal California mountains among towering redwoods, and when the iron gates close behind him, Arman believes for a moment that he can get better. But the program is a blur of jargon, bizarre rituals, and incomprehensible encounters with a beautiful girl. Arman is certain he's failing everything. But Beau disagrees; he thinks Arman has a bright future—though he never says at what.

And then, in an instant Arman can't believe or totally recall, Beau is gone. Suicide? Or murder? Arman was the only witness and now the compound is getting tense. And maybe dangerous.

As the mysteries and paradoxes multiply and the hints become accusations, Arman must rely on the person he's always trusted the least: himself. 

My Rating:

★★★☆☆

Review:

I received this book from the First to Reads program for an honest review, all reviews and opinions are my own.

This one was a tough one to rate, many of the characters in the book are mysterious and even the one he grew up with is kind of mysterious. Arman even himself is all over the place, he wants to grow and find answers in life and get away from his toxic home life. He finds the answers here but not how he originally wanted them I believe. He like many people want an easy way out and Beau even though he lied to him he made Arman think for his self and have to rely on his self. Sometimes the only person in life that we can fully rely on is ourselves.

The girl Arman first runs into at this place is definitely a mystery as well, and I think only there to confuse him even more rather than help. Many of the people at this place are different and they don't give him much to go on, he also doesn't ask many questions when he first gets there. That is one thing I had problems with he said he liked Beau and looked up to him but didn't exactly explain how this came to be, was it just because he paid attention to Arman? If the characters were a bit more flushed out then I think this could have been a great book. 

This definitely shows that all people from all walks of life have their own problems regardless of what they are given in life. There are also others that want to ruin a good thing even though they think they know better. It is always good to question and question everything. Arman has many problems that he takes medicine for but I think the one that stands out is the one where he scratches himself until he bleeds when he is in a stressful situation or scared, or really any high emotion he can't really deal with. He learns that doing that to himself is a way for him to release the emotions that he keeps bottled up and it isn't healthy. I know some illnesses require medicine but others don't need it, the brain can do some amazing things. 

In the end I couldn't give this book a low rating because it did make me think about many things. Though at first I thought it was going to be a cult type thing it didn't begin like that so there were some good points through out this novel. I just think it could have done better in some spots. Let me know what you think? Do you think that some times medicines are over hyped/ used? 

Review: Greyworld (Book #1) by Nhys Glover

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

Published: February 13, 2016

Publisher: Belisama Press

Pages: 145

Source: Red Moon Book Tours

Synopsis:

Don't believe what they tell you in movies and on TV; ghosts don't haunt people. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's no such thing as ghosts, I'm just saying they don't haunt living people – because basically they don't know we're here. 

How do I know that? Because I can see them. I have since I was a little kid. But I didn't have a grandmother who taught me how to help people move on, or Bruce Willis as my ghost shrink. Nope, I just got to stand around like a zombie staring at people nobody else could see, wondering if it was me or the rest of the world who was crazy. 

Then, just when I'd worked out what my version of 'normal' was, and was content with it, Jake came along - the anomaly - the Grey who didn't play by the rules. What was worse, he couldn't be just any old Grey, could he? Oh no, he had to be the most gorgeous guy I'd ever laid eyes on, living or dead. And he was set on rocking my world, whether I liked it or not.

Buy Link:

Amazon

Bio:

After a lifetime of teaching others to appreciate the written word, Aussie author Nhys Glover finally decided to make the most of the Indie Book Revolution to get her own written word out to the world. Now, with more than 100,000 of her ebooks downloaded internationally and a winner of 2013 SFR Galaxy Award for 'The Titan Drowns', Nhys finds her words, too, are being appreciated. Living in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales of England, Nhys these days spends most of her time "living the dream" by looking out over the moors from her window as she writes the kind of novels she loves to read. The ones that are a little bit different and wholly romantic.

Author Links:

Website│Facebook│Twitter│Book Trailer

My Rating:
★★★★☆

Review:

I received this book from Red Moon Book Tours for the book tour, all reviews and opinions are my own. If you would like to check out the rest of the blog tour click here for the official schedule.

The two characters were Jake and Beth, I liked how the chapters were separated and you got to see both of their points and each of their feelings. Many paranormal romances has a lot of action this one didn't but that did not dissuade from the story. I really liked how cute Jake and Beth were toward each other. It was like the girl next door kind of story but with ghosts and some other stuff mixed in. Beth grows a lot in a short amount of time. She learns more about her gift and learns to not only trust in that gift but believe in what she is doing.

Beth also has a sister named Charlie and though I didn't really like Charlie I definitely think she can be a redeemable character. I understand how some people fear things that go against what they believe in and will fight whatever is against them with all they have before believing, but it's her sister. I am interested in seeing how Charlie comes along in the rest of the series.

Beth also questioned everything and wasn't afraid to find out the real answers she might have been scared of the possibilities but that did not stop her from seeking those answers. Jake fought it a little but would rather know the truth in the end, I like how even though both of their worlds are coming undone they are both their for each other when it matters.

~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt:

"What do I look like to you? I assume there's some reason you think I'm a ghost," her voice went up at the end as a question, and her pale eyebrows lifted too. Was she making fun of me?

I decided two could play at that game. "Is this where I'm supposed to say you're pretty?"

She laughed and shook her head. "I'm not my sister. I have no illusions about my looks. And if you said I was pretty I wouldn't believe you. So, no. I want to know why you call me a ghost."

I sobered up and decided to address the elephant in the park directly. "I can see through you. You aren't solid and colourful like the rest of us. Like the tree behind us." I hated to break it to her. After all, she said she wasn't dead, and yet she obviously was. How was someone supposed to break something like that to a ghost?

She looked at her own hand, as if trying to see it as I did. Of course, she wouldn't.

"It's okay. You can go to the Light or whatever. They say it's great on the other side," I found myself muttering stupidly. Crap, this was not as easy as it seemed on TV.

She looked up at me, her eyes filled with compassion and empathy. "So they say. Do you want to know what I see when I look at you?"

I hadn't thought about that. Wouldn't she see me like the rest of the people around us? I mean, we're the living, after all.

Her eyes became even more sympathetic and I began to feel like an idiot who was missing the point somehow. I could see she was fighting not to reach out and comfort me with a touch.

"You're transparent to me, too. I call you Greys. And there aren't fifty shades of you. You're all just one transparent grey."

It was my turn to look at my hand. It was as solid as it always was. Maybe she was just saying that to get even with me for breaking the news to her so badly?

"I'm as solid as those people sitting over there," I nodded with my head to the three co-eds and one guy sitting on the grass no more than ten feet away. Already they'd looked my way a couple of times, clearly wondering who I was talking to.

"There's nobody there. I can see two guys about to sit down to our right. But it's too cold for most people to be out today. Spring seems to have deserted us."

"It's not spring. It's September and this is an Indian summer," I choked out. Things were deteriorating fast. She must have died in spring and was stuck in that time forever. Always chilly, never to enjoy the pleasures of summer again.

For a moment she just stared at me. That's when it hit me. She thought I was dead. She thought I was the ghost. This was getting seriously screwed up.

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Review: Under Her Skin by Margo Bond Collins

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy
Published: June 3, 2016
Publisher: Bathory Gate Press
Pages: 270
Source: Red Moon Book Tours
Synopsis:

She's lucky he's a charmer…

Lindi Parker works hard at being human, not an easy task for a snake shifter. She has no desire to search for others like her—until a new case changes everything. When Lindi learns that she she's not the only shapeshifter in the world, she also realizes she might be next on a killer's list.

In order to save herself and the abused children she works with, she will have to team up with Dr. Kade Nevala, a member of the shifter tribe responsible for eradicating weresnakes—and the most attractive man Lindi's ever met. Even more terrifying, she’ll need to embrace her serpent side, a choice that has enormous consequences for Lindi, and for everyone around her.
  

Buy Links:

Amazon│iTunes│Kobo│Paperback

Bio:

Margo Bond Collins is addicted to coffee (mmm...caffeine) and SF/F television, especially Supernatural (mmm...Winchesters). She writes paranormal and contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and paranormal mystery. She lives in Texas with her daughter and several spoiled pets. Although she teaches college-level English courses online, writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about heroes, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and the women who love (and sometimes fight) them.

Author Links

Newsletter│Amazon Author Page│Email│Website│Blog│Twitter│Google+│Goodreads│Goodreads: Under Her Skin│Facebook│Pinterest

My Rating:

★★★★☆

Review:

I received this book from Red Moon Book Tours for the book tour, all reviews and opinions are my own. If you would like to check out the rest of the blog tour click here for the official schedule.

Let me first off say I love the names of the main characters Lindi and Kade. Second off, I like how the shifters in this book actually turn into the animal and not a half and half form. Though as the book goes on we learn a little more what Lindi can do as she learns more of who she is. Many that I read either have them in only a half best mode or just most of the time so you forget that they can actually turn into animals. That doesn't happen here and I enjoyed every moment of this book.

At first when I heard that Kade was a charmer I thought he would be a snake charmer or something like that I was not expecting what he turned out to be. Though it did make for an interesting read there was that tension between them that made the relationship a little bit more real. There is the right amount of give and take of friction.

I want to know if there are anymore like Lindi I mean they can't all be what their animal makes them can they? I hope there is another after this one, because there were just to many questions left unanswered especially with what happened at the end I mean there has to be a story there.

The only thing I was confused about was that she has been a snake shifter for her whole life and she has been helping others and some of them are shifters as well, why all of a sudden did they just start smelling her and what she was, when they didn't before.

~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:

He took a step forward, again seeming to loom over me. I leaned farther back, but I was trapped—I would either have to climb up on the bed or push my way past him. I wasn’t sure which would be better.

Then it was too late—he grabbed my upper arms and stared into my eyes. His hands burned hot against my skin. His eyes, too, glittered feverishly, golden highlights churning through the brown.

The intensity of his stare captured me. I drew in another breath, full of the scent of him, and my head swam. Again the color leached out of the room. This time, though, I couldn’t look away from him, couldn’t hide the way my eyes changed, the pupils narrowing and lengthening. The room shifted into shades of gray, and his golden eyes turned silvery as they held my own.

He inhaled sharply as he saw the transformation and his hands tightened convulsively.

“How are you here?” he whispered, shaking his head.

He pulled me closer to him, staring into my eyes. My pulse pounded in my temples. The muscles of my abdomen started to roil; I was about to shift, and I couldn’t control it.

And I might just be okay with that, some quiet, still part of my mind whispered from far away, because this man terrified me. I might have a better chance against him in my serpent form.

But something—some instinct deeper than thought—urged me to maintain my humanity.

I still couldn’t break eye contact; his gaze was hypnotic.

He leaned in and kissed me.

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I Mustache You Some Questions

Four jobs I've had:

• Overnight audit at a hotel
• Overnight stocking at Target
• Manager at McDonald's
• Paper deliverer

Four movies I've watched more than once:

• Hotel Transylvania
• Home (Can I come in to the out now?)
• Descendants
• Cabin in the Woods

Four books I would recommend:

• Any of Sherrilyn Kenyon's books
• Sunshine by Robin McKinley
• Sorceress by Brian Stoner
• Moongazer by Marianne Mancusi

Four places I have visited:

• Las Vegas
• Bahamas
• Corpus Christi
• Fort Lauderdale

Four places I'd rather be right now:

• Home
• Some where Tropical
• Australia
• Ireland

Four things I don't eat:

• Onions
• Sauerkraut
• Cooked carrots
• Cooked peppers

Four of my favorite foods:

• Steak
• Strawberries
• Chocolate
• Dark chocolate malt balls

Four T.V. shows I watch:

• Big Bang Theory
• Lucifer
• Friends
• C.S.I.

Four things I am look forward to:

• Starting some new things
• Starting a new Job
• Going to New Orleans
• Traveling

Four things I am always saying:

• Never regret
• Always live life to the fullest
• Ughhh!!
• Karma will get them in the end

I felt since I haven't posted anything in a little while that this finally needed to go up. I am currently changing some things around in both the blog world and in my own personal life. I should be back to posting regularly once I get a schedule down but until then please be patient. I am also wanting to write a little bit next month for camp NaNoWriMo so that is also what I am preparing for. This month and the next is all about doing different things since I am starting a new job at a new time it will be different than I am used to. Please feel free to do these as well and let me know what you come up with.