Corrupt by Penelope Douglas

                                        🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary:
 Erika

I was told that dreams were our heart’s desires. My nightmares, however, became my obsession.

His name is Michael Crist.

My boyfriend’s older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college’s basketball team and now gone pro, he’s more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me.

But I noticed him.

I saw him. I heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid…For years, I bit my nails, unable to look away.
Now, I’ve graduated high school and moved on to college, but I haven’t stopped watching Michael. He’s bad, and the dirt I’ve seen isn’t content to stay in my head anymore.
Because he’s finally noticed me.

Michael
Her name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika.

My brother’s girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven’t had her body, I know that I have her mind. That’s all I really want anyway.

Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college.
In my city.
Unprotected.

The opportunity is too good to be true as well as the timing. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they’re out.
We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares will come true. 

She has done it again! Penelope Douglas, you genius!!! I can't say enough good things about this book!!
This book had everything! It was so tantalizingly dark but also romantic and thriller-like  (which had me questioning my sanity for even thinking of romance). I couldn't stop reading because I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. It started out with a bang and it ended with one as well. The characters in the book were all so twisted and the more I read the more I uncovered about why they were that way. I wanted to jump inside their heads and uncover their secrets. I won't go into who but certain characters are so deliciously despicable that as a reader you can't help but love the part that they play in the book as well. 
I thought that Erika and Michael were made for each other. They each had flaws, Michael more so than Erika in my opinion, but together they seemed whole. She made him question himself and the actions that he was taking. He made her fight for the things that she wanted in order to make her stronger.
Everything in the book served a purpose toward building to the climax. The flashbacks to the past only added to the intrigue and made the story more interesting and tense. I honestly had no idea what was going to happen in the book while I was reading it. I can usually guess fairly easily what will happen in any given book but this one kept me on my toes. 
 

Sins in the Night by S. H. Timmins

                                          🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary:
The stains on one's soul can only be purged through pain… and blood.

With the looks of an angel, he hides the deadly demon lurking inside. The broken woman I've become knows that he’s twisted and depraved, but the darkest and most disturbing parts of me, are drawn to his deadly flame.
A killer and a psychopath. A man without emotion, or a conscience. He excels at one thing - death.

When your name's on the list, it’s not the devil who’ll come for you… but far worse.

He’s come for me, and as I shiver with a desperate desire to caress his tainted soul, I wait for his sinister touch of evil.

I started reading this book because it was recommended to me for reading Pretty Stolen Dolls by Ker Dukey. I haven't read a lot of dark fiction but I have to say that this book wowed me! 

I loved the characters! They were exactly what I was looking for. They showed strength but also moments of vulnerability. Debbie was someone who wasn't really living after what she had to endure in her life. She had a fire within her that caused her to fight against her captor but was also an intelligence that kept her from acting rashly. 

I also enjoyed Loki. He was a perfect anti-hero! He had such a darkness about him that made him both intriguing and terrifying. I never knew what side of him I was going to see while reading this book. I wanted to know what made him tick. 

I loved this book! It was well executed and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! 

Tainted by Crazy by Abby McCarthy

                                              🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary: 
What do you do when your boyfriend of five years is sleeping with your best friend and you’re in a dead-end job, breaking your back for mere pennies? I’ll tell you what I did. I did the one thing I’ve been dreading for the last thirteen years, I finally went home. I needed to get back on my feet and I needed my Grams. As much as I wanted to pretend life was working for me, it wasn’t.

The problem with home though is that everywhere I turn, her ghosts were haunting me.
Crazy, crazy, crazy, just like her, just like my momma.
I wanted to pretend that crazy didn't exist, but it was all around me, trying to do its best to pull me under.

There’s one problem with that, Keenan Rys. He’s determined not to let it. And I’m determined to keep him away.

I can honestly say that I've never read a book quite like this. If you read the comments from the author at the back of the book, the realism of the book makes more sense. She had gone through things similar to the main character in the book. It added a depth of emotion to the book that I don't think would have otherwise been there had she not been able to pull from her own memories. 

 This book really makes you think about what a person with mental illness and addiction go through as well as the people in their families go through. My favorites parts of this book were when Maple is remembering her mother. 

I would have rated the book higher if it would have focused more on Maple and her family. I had a hard time connecting with the other parts of the book. It seemed like the other things that were going on in the book weren't necessary. I'm not sure why the book dwelled on how one of the characters cheated on Maple and it destroyed her friendship with someone else. It wasn't pertinent to the story. 

Midnight Rose by Dani Hart

                                            🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary: 
 My grandfather had once told me that life was an unpredictable beast—one moment calm with a full belly and heavy eyes, and the next, digging its paws in the dirt, snarling just before it took down its next victim. Until recently, I would argue with that notion, listing all the reasons why my life was as predictable as the tides coming and going. While I listened, I was young and never put much thought into a lot of the things my grandfather told me, but all that changed when the Hunters moved back to Sandpoint. More specifically, Wes Hunter. That was when the impossible became possible and the predictable became unpredictable.

As Abigail Rose looked down on her new world, she couldn’t deny the things she had seen and all the things she had learned. There were days she wished she could go back to her old life, but she had changed. Evolved. She was no longer a love-struck seventeen year old. She was a chosen leader and her path was undeniable. The black and white was fading to gray, and the only thing between mortals and immortals was her.

This book had a slow burn to it but if you stuck with it, it picked up in the end. It did take a while for the author to explain certain things. We were introduced to the main character and learned that something had happened to her years ago but did not learn exactly what it was until almost halfway through the book.

Abby was a very dramatic character at first thinking that her world was ending because of a boy. Originally I had thought that they had dated which was why she was so hurt over everything but that was not the case. She matured a bit as the book progressed which helped me to enjoy her as a character more.

I thought that the dreams and flashbacks of memories that Abby had were tense and kept me on the edge of my seat. They easily kept my attention and most of the time I wanted them to keep going because they were exciting especially the nightmare where she is running through the forest.

Even though it took a while to build up steam it was a good first book in the series to place the groundwork for the story. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book! I have a feeling that things in the story are really going to pick up since the setting has changed, we will learn more about certain characters that up until this point have been mysterious, and Abby is going through her training.

Forgotten Treasures by D. Hart

                                         🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars
Summary:
*** Inspired by a community tragedy ***
(Characters and other events are a work of fiction)

In the aftermath of destruction, hearts were destroyed, strengths were stripped, and vulnerabilities were exposed.

A community was ripped apart after a tragic accident, and the loss hit one family particularly hard as it claimed the lives of three, leaving only one surviving member to pick up the pieces and move forward.

Baylor’s life was wiped clean in the blink of an eye. No family, no home, no name. That is, until she met Brandt. He took a chance, giving her hope and a reason to start over. A reason to rebuild a life full of forgotten memories. A reason to trust. A reason to love.

Finding love in all the right places should be easy, but when truths are revealed, it's anything but. Brandt will help her rediscover the true meaning of unconditional eternal love that will prove painful, life altering, and redeeming.

Together, they will try to face the future and will use each others strengths to learn how to live again. Can they rewrite history, or in the end, will the tragedies of their pasts be too much?


I loved how this book began. I truly felt the main character's fear and confusion of waking up in the hospital. I can't say that I would react any differently than she did. The descriptions that the author put forth really transported me into the story. 

Baylor actually reminded me of myself which drew me into the story even more. She said the most random things at times and seemed to be awkward with the opposite sex. It was both endearing and cringe-worthy because it reminded me of situations where I reacted similarly. All of the characters were wonderful and each one added a needed element to the story. It is just that Baylor stood out to me the most.

I thought that this book was well thought out, making it realistic and heart wrenching. I thought that the progression of the story was very fluid. Everything that happened did so at a good pace in my opinion. I thought that the flashbacks added much needed information to the story to give it even more depth than it already had. 

This story is heart-breaking so bring your tissues if you read it. I highly recommend it! You won't regret reading this book!

The Story of Us by D. Nichole King

                                            🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary:
Moments.

Every life is made of thousands of them, each one strung together with the next. Some are yellow and happy, some are blue and sad, and some…

Some wipe out color altogether.

“I love you,” is what I should have told Maverick.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m still fighting.”

Instead I just watched him leave.

Now my husband, my everything is battling for each breath, and all I can do is stare at the machines as the clock ticks off precious minutes.

The doctors said the first twenty-four hours are critical—but every moment is critical.

You never know which will be your last.

This is our story, and I’m not ready for it to end.


I had a lot of trouble connecting with the characters in this story. I'm not sure why but I couldn't really feel the chemistry between Alieya and Maverick. I didn't really care for Maverick for a majority of the book. I took Alieya's side when it came to him because I thought that he could have tried harder to be there for her. 

The plot was well thought out and I thought that some of the flashbacks added to the story appropriately. I did have an issue with how long the flashbacks centered around their spring break from school. I'm not sure why there was so much focus on that and not more after the fact.

I found the fact that Alieya used colors to express emotions in her life and her drawings. I love when authors use alternative means to explain emotions of the characters that are more creative. 

Overall, this was a good book but I felt the sadness in it was overwhelming. I would have wanted a better balance between the character's issues and the times that they were happy. 

 

Learning to Live by Kira Adams

                                           🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary:
Ciera
All I wanted was to be able to make it through my senior year. I didn’t need the stares, the jokes, or the bullies. I thought I could do it all on my own, but I was wrong. He filled my veins like a poison, the kind you can’t run from. Harsh and uncaring, he was broken, but somewhere along the way he seeped into my pores. There was no way out, so that left me with one choice: to open his eyes to the beauty around him. To help him live.

Topher
She wasn’t on my agenda; it was fate’s cruel way of telling me I needed to get my shit together. To be fair, my head was so far up my ass, I’m not sure how we extracted it. I knew the power I held over my peers, I exuded it daily. I could have any girl I wanted at the snap of my fingers, and yet I found myself fantasizing about her-someone so far off my radar it wasn’t even funny. She helped me understand that sometimes you need to let go to really live. Sometimes being alive means taking risks.

I feel like from the beginning of this book I was thrown into the thick of things. No one could ever call this book boring. I think that the book should have been a bit longer. I would have liked to have more information in certain areas of the book. It just felt as if the book moved on from topic to topic more quickly than I would have liked.

I will say that I felt depressed the entire way through. I don't think that there was enough happiness to offset the sadness in this book. There were so many things that Ciera has to deal with in this book and I was tempted to side with her when she would say "it's not fair". It felt like the character was being tortured. 

 

Needing to Fall by Ryan Michele

                                                🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟stars

Summary:
Have you ever sunk inside yourself to a place of darkness so deep you couldn’t see the light? Had no hope? Felt completely alone in a world filled with so many people?

I have. I’ve lived it, breathed it. 

Why?

Because life hated me. 

It disliked me from the moment of conception, despised me when I was born, loathed me when I bounced from each foster home, and kicked me in the gut when I watched the one thing that meant everything to me leave. 

For years, I drifted, unable to find my footing, never knowing what the word stable meant. Then a single moment in time rocked me to my core, changing me and making that solid ground I so desperately craved crumble at my feet, causing me to fall farther than I’d ever imagined. 

The darkness of the swirling tornado that is depression captured me, pulling me down to its depths, drowning me, suffocating me, owning me.

A depth so deep, I didn’t think I’d survive and didn’t care if I did. I only wanted peace. I wanted the pain to disappear. I wanted to be … free. 

Needing to fall into the cyclone of darkness was the only way I could find the light.


This book hooked me from the first sentence! I had to know more! I had to read more. I wanted to know why Reign felt so hopeless. The author produced so much emotion and power with the way that she weaved her words. 

I felt like I understood the characters and where they were coming from. The way that the author portrayed disorders and the way that they affect the person and those around them was realistic. There wasn't anything that was sugarcoated in the book and I appreciated the realism of it. 

I loved Reign and the power and strength that emanated from within her. I realize that throughout a large portion of the story she is struggling with her issues but I could tell that she had strength because of going through everything that she did. 

The only issue that I have with this book is the plot twist regarding someone from Reign's past. I thought that it was a bit far fetched which made it hard to be immersed in the story. I also felt that the ending was a bit off. A lot of questions are answered one after another towards the end of the book which didn't sit well with me. It makes me feel as if it was rushed. I like those types of things to be spread out. 

The Bright Effect by Autumn Doughton

                                          🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary: 
“Maybe promises are supposed to hurt a little.”

Amelia Bright has lots of plans for the future, and none of them involve falling for a guy like Sebastian Holbrook. With a questionable reputation and an attitude to match, he’s exactly the kind of guy Amelia promised herself she’d avoid. But after an encounter that leaves her charged and breathless, she can’t stop wondering about him and the secrets he keeps hidden behind that tough exterior.

Sebastian knows first-hand that every single choice has a consequence and how a fragile promise can shape a life. Now that his mother is gone and he’s raising his little brother on his own, he’s all but given up on a future for himself. Struggling to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, Sebastian doesn’t have time for games or girls. So why can’t he shake thoughts of beautiful, smart Amelia Bright from his mind?

Equally devastating and heartfelt, Amelia and Sebastian’s story of a rare and unexpected connection is one that will stay with you long after the last page is read. Full of wit and tenderness, The Bright Effect is an unforgettable journey of expectations, regrets and discovering just how far love can carry us in the face of heartbreak.

I really enjoyed this book! It was so raw. I honestly didn't expect this book to be so deep and meaningful. 

I loved both of the characters because they not only paralleled each other but each brought strengths to the table that the other one needed. Sebastian had a hard go of it but was willing to keep sacrificing in order to keep the one bright spot in his life. Amelia is not really living her life for herself but cares deeply for those close to her.

I thought that the relationship that takes place between the two main characters had such a natural flow to it. The chemistry was on point and they complemented each other nicely. When Amelia goes through something horrible in the story she doesn't know how to cope and Sebastian is there for her. They attempt to deal with it and things progressed in such a way that made sense. 

This book was beautifully written and had a flow to it that I really enjoyed. It took me on a journey with the characters that felt realistic. I love to read book where I feel as if I have learned to look at things in a different way and this book did that for me. I highly recommend it!!!

See Through Heart by Amie Knight

                                                  🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary:
Ainsley came into my life in a flurry of vibrant colors, lighting my world up when all seemed lost.

It wasn’t our quiet nights by the creek or stolen kisses surrounded by a sea of cotton that saved me. 

It was her. 

She was my comfort when life threw one ugly tragedy after another at me. 

Until she dealt me the greatest blow. 

Now, abandonment, betrayal, and death darken every corner of my life. Anger and hurt burn bright where love and trust once lived. 

But, now, she’s back. Sure, she’s changed, but I see through it—straight to her heart.


First of all, I know that it is wrong to judge a book by its cover but I love this cover! It's beautiful! I thought that this book was solid and it was slightly different from other second chance romance books that I've read in the past.

I loved the relationships between each of the characters in this book. They were each slightly different because the characters were all different. I appreciated Ainsley and the level of loyalty and love that she had for the people in her life. She was willing to sacrifice her own happiness in order to ensure that those around her were happy. 

Adrian was also someone that I loved in this book. He was steady and strong but felt appropriately vulnerable at different points as well. I don't think that the changes in him after Ainsley returns are believable. The things that he does seem completely out of character for him. I also had a hard time believing the level of friendship between him and Miranda. The characters just didn't seem to have the chemistry I was looking for in a friendship. 

I had a hard time with the book with Ainsley comes back to her hometown.  I didn't understand why she changed herself the way that she did. Was it to distance herself from the events that took place in the past? Did she want to feel outside of herself? The relationship between Adrian and Ainsley felt disjointed to me. I know that they have been separated for quite some time but the author is leading us to believe that there is still a deep connection. I wasn't able to feel that like I did in the beginning of the book.

It appeared as if they came back together very quickly even though Ainsley had been back for months. I also could be the only one that feels this way but it seemed like they finally decieded to be together after being intimate. As is that was all that was needed to fix all of the anger, sadness, and resentment!?! 

I know that it may seem like I hated this book but I didn't. I felt that it was a solid story that I would most likely read again in the future. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes second chance romance or wants to try reading a second chance romance. 

One by Jewel E. Ann

                                               🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary:
Lake Jones is a cover girl for cutting-edge prosthetic legs, a binge-watcher of Netflix, known to spy on her neighbor through her door’s peephole, and fond of laser games with her hairless cat. She’s also a bit sexually-frustrated.

Until …

God bestows a breath of mercy upon her in the form of Minnesota’s NFL starting quarterback. But this gift is no stranger. Lake met Cage Monaghan three years earlier.
It was one day.
One moment.
One kiss that resurrected her dreams of finding love.

His dimpled smile distracts from his imperfections, which include: a love for country music, fishing, and a feline-hating girlfriend.
When life finally gives them their chance, it’s a humorous and heart-wrenching journey to find their place in the world.
"We would be Cage and Lake. We would be unpredictable. We would be reckless. We would give normality the middle finger.”

I could not get into this book no matter how hard I tried. For me, it was just ok. I liked Lake and Cage as characters. They were both likeable and incredibly strong having dealt with what they did in their lives. I loved how Lake was so comfortable with her body knowing that people would look at her differently and possibly judge her for it.

However, I didn't feel the chemistry between them. I'm guessing that as readers we are supposed to believe that their story began with love at first sight because without that nothing that they do makes sense. 

Cage does something incredibly impulsive towards the beginning of the book and I couldn't for the life of me understand what compelled him to do it. I had a hard time seeing them as a couple. 

I wasn't completely drawn into the story as a whole. I felt like the author tried to inject drama into the story and at times it just didn't work. The book was also very drawn out for the kind of story that it was. Even though I finished it, I was bored throughout the majority of it. 

Open House by T.C. Matson

                                            🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars
Summary:
He was all I knew before I didn’t know him anymore…

For eleven years, Riley Stallings remained completely devoted to her longtime boyfriend, Brian Shepard. In the beginning, nothing could put a strain on the newly loves—not even an unplanned pregnancy or her parents disowning her for it. But as time goes on, work absorbs Brian, leaving Riley at home, lonely and empty, to handle everything on her own.

But then she meets him—a man who causes a gravitational pull and prompts the earth to disappear from under her feet. A man who makes her struggle to remember her name—her son’s new teacher.

Knowing all relationships face difficult obstacles, she turns a blind eye and blames the lure on the lack of attention and fights even harder to fix her broken relationship. And then it happens… Brian presents an inconceivable challenge, derailing Riley and forcing new beginnings for everyone. Will their love be enough to weather the storm?

The subject matter makes this book hard to read. I was devastated for Riley during different times throughout the book. There were times when I didn't understand her or the choices that she was making. I got so frustrated with her at times that I wanted to scream at her to do what I thought the right thing was. The thing is...when you aren't in another person's shoes you shouldn't judge their decisions or the reasons that they make them. 

As I thought harder about it, I realized that Riley did the best she knew how to do. She had no  family to turn to because her parents abandoned her and she was afraid. Her world was falling to pieces around and she felt powerless. 

I hated Brian! I have nothing good to say about the character other than if the author wanted to write a character that people would hate, she nailed it. Every word and action that he took, I hated him more. He treated Riley like crap and all she ever did was love him.

Trenton didn't particularly draw me in as a character but he was likeable enough. There is a point in the book when he makes a decision that affects Riley that I didn't understand. It made me think that all of the groundwork that he had done to get her to be with him was crap. He seemed almost a bit fake. I think that might be the case because the author tried to make him the opposite of Brian.

This book was good but I didn't connect with it as much as I would have liked to. The plot was interesting and reading about the inner workings of the relationship between Brian and Riley drew me in, albeit painfully.  

Sacrifice by Adriana Locke

                                         🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars


Summary: 
 My life changed forever the night my husband died.
I was left with a shattered heart, a heap of bills, and our daughter, EVERLEIGH. I don’t want to rely on anyone, least of all CREW GENTRY. He’s my first love and the man who almost destroyed me, the man who has let me down every time I’ve needed him.
But when tragedy strikes a second time, Crew just might be my only hope.

My life changed forever the night my brother died.
I was left with a guilty conscience, a pile of mistakes, and little else. I take care of JULIA GENTRY, my brother’s widow and the love of my life, and their daughter. I know she doesn’t want my help, but she gets it anyway. I owe her that.

When another disaster hits, I’m given the opportunity to make things right. I’m taking it. I'm willing to sacrifice it all.

Such a good book! Sacrifice is such an appropriate name for this book! There are so many sacrifices made by the two main characters in this book. It was a heartbreaking story that was wonderfully written!

The struggles that Julia was going throughout the book broke my heart. While I have never been put in the situation where I didn't have enough money to pay for basic necessities, I do have a small child that I would so anything for just like Julia. I can't imagine being in that situation and the amount of stress that would put someone under. I found her to be such a brave character and I was impressed by her. 

I loved Crew from the beginning of the book. Even though he had made some mistakes in his past, I felt like I could see the man that he really was shining through. I predicted the choices that he was going to make in the book so none of them were surprises to me. He was everything that a man should be towards his family. I loved the way that he was with Julia and Ever. He did everything that he could for them even when he was struggling with knowing what the right thing to do was. 

 This book kept me on the edge of my seat towards the end. I honestly had no idea what was going to happen. I was terrified that something bad was going to happen and I had tears in my eyes until the very end. I had to take frequent breaks from reading this book once I got to about the 80% mark.

The only reason that I didn't give this book five stars is because I felt that it was very drawn out. I feel like a good portion could have been cut out of the book and it would have still been amazing. 

Written in the Scars by Adriana Locke

                                                  🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary: 
 Falling in love is easy.
Falling out of love is the hardest thing in the world.
And Elin and Ty Whitt are terrible at it.

The first time the local basketball star smiled at Elin, she was a goner. It was just so damn easy to fall for the dark-haired hometown hero with his charming smile and strong, athletic build.
Thousands of sleepy smiles, aimless drives down country roads, and squeaks of the backdoor after a swing shift later, reality hits. And it hits hard. Falling in love was definitely the easy part. Watching it break apart was impossible.
Through the tears, the second-guesses, the memories of a life built together, the world keeps spinning. With each turn comes clarity and hope—sometimes in the form of a pair of muddy boots by the back door or from the words of a wise friend.
When Ty shows back up with a new found determination to put his family back together, Elin's torn between the fights of the past and the possibility of a new start. This is the man that holds her heart, the man she loves beyond anything else. But this is also the one person in the world that can cause her the most pain.
Life’s not always easy. Love’s not for the faint of heart. But with life comes lessons and Ty and Elin have the scars to prove it. But it's their love written in those scars that will hold them together … or break them apart.


This was a fantastic book! This is my first Adriana Locke book and I have to say that I am very impressed! I was hooked from the first page. I wanted to know what happened between the two main characters to make them act so awkward and angry towards each other. 

This book ripped my heart out over and over! I was literally wiping my tears away as I continued to read this. I loved all of the characters in this story. I usually just focus on the main characters but in this book I loved Elin's brother, sister in law, and Cord as well. The author wrote in such a way that made me care about every one in the story and the parts that they played in the lives of Elin and Ty. They each had a unique personality that made me interested in what they had to say. 

 There are a few hard topics in this book but I believe that they are things that many people can relate to. I think that is part of the reason why I loved this book so much. I could relate to Elin and her struggles because I am going through something similar. I felt that the issues between them and the ways that they reacted to them were realistic. 

There is an event that takes place towards the end of the story that I felt that the author foreshadowed but I also felt that it was unnecessary torture for the main characters. I don't feel like it was necessary for the event to happen. The book would have been amazing without it. 

I also don't understand how Ty could have possibly changed so much in a few weeks time. The author never really specifies exactly how long he was gone but it seems unrealistic for him to change so much in that amount of time. 

Overall, I felt that this book was well done! I would definitely read more from this author!

Fake Fiancée by Ilsa Madden-Mills

                                                      🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars

Summary:
 Fake engaged to the hottest quarterback in the country? SCORE.

They say nothing compares to your first kiss,
But our first kiss was orchestrated for an audience.
Our second kiss . . . that one was REAL.
He cradled my face like he was terrified he’d f*ck it up.
He stared into my eyes until the air buzzed.
Soft and slow, full of sighs and little laughs,
He inhaled me like I was the finest Belgian chocolate,
And he’d never get another piece.
A nip of his teeth, his hand at my waist . . .
And I was lost.
I forgot he was paying me to be his fake fiancée.
I forgot we weren’t REAL.
Our kiss was pure magic, and before you laugh and say those kinds of kisses don’t exist,
Then you’ve never touched lips with Max Kent, the hottest quarterback in college history.

Three months. Two hearts. One fake engagement.

So, this book has had quite a bit of hype associated with it. It's even a best seller on Amazon. I had read books before about fake fiancees as well as sports romances. I've never really loved any of those types of books but I thought I would give this one a chance anyway. 

I really enjoyed the very beginning of this story and it gave me hope that the author would take this story in a different direction. Sadly, I was mistaken. While the story was fine and there didn't appear to be any hideous amounts of plot holes, it just didn't tug at my heart like other books have before. 

I find that in order for me to connect with a book, it has to make me feel something. This one wasn't able to do that for me.  I thought that it was a cute story but it didn't make me feel anything past that point. The book seemed to follow the typical story lines I've seen in other books I've read in this genre with little differences thrown in. The differences weren't really delved into too much in order to make a difference. 



 

Gravity by H.J. Bellus

                                                🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars
Summary:
Your first love is nothing to joke about. It’s powerful, overwhelming, and something that haunts you forever. When your first love is severed, you lose a piece of your soul. Your world shatters.

My first love, Amos Marshall, left something behind for me. He promised me forever and gave that to me. It’s the GRAVITY that keeps my universe held together. This natural phenomenon keeps me whole to move forward every single day of my life.

Back in his hometown with a life-changing secret to reveal, the problem is I’m too greedy to give up the last piece of Amos that I hold dear.

Gravitational attraction has a funny way of pulling new people into your life. It’s unwanted, but the force is tenacious.

Cub Stent storms into my life piecing together my secret. He fills dark mysterious holes that have been vacant for years.

Does my heart have room for a second love?

Only Gravity will know.


I LOVED this book! There are some familiar story lines that you may have seen already in other books but this book makes them slightly different so that the book feels new and fresh. I would have given this book five stars except I felt that there needed to be some tweaking with the relationship between Cub and Gracie. I also thought that a little more background on Cub would have helped me to understand his past and him a bit better.

I thought that the relationship between Cub and Gracie should have had more of a foundation before it escalated to the levels of intimacy and feelings that were displayed. It felt a bit too much like insta-love for me. I would have also liked to see Gracie and Cub struggle with their feelings more. Everything within their relationship came together a little too easily in the beginning considering their pasts. 

 I loved everything else about the book! I loved the relationship between Amos and Gracie! They balanced each other and brought light into each others worlds. I loved his sense of humor and playfulness as well as his transformation into a warrior when anyone even thought of messing with Gracie. 

I thought that Gracie was such a strong character. She wasn't perfect but she tried to do what was right and attempted to move past her insecurities. She loved those around her fiercely and protected them from harm.

 I would have liked to understand Cub a little better in order to understand why he made the choices that he did. It may just be me but he reveals things to Gracie later on in the book and I can't understand why the author took things in that direction and why Cub made the choice that he did. 

Overall, this book was enjoyable but bring your tissues if you plan on reading it. It will rip your heart out! I bawled through parts of it!



 

Up in the Treehouse by K. K. Allen

                                          🌟🌟🌟 and a half out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars
Summary:
I wanted to tell him all my secrets, but he became one of them instead.

Chloe Rivers never thought she would keep secrets from her best friend. Then again, she never imagined she would fall in love with him either. When she finally reveals her feelings, rejection shatters her, rendering her vulnerable and sending her straight into the destructive arms of the wrong guy.

Gavin Rhodes never saw the betrayal coming. It crushes him. Chloe has always been his forbidden fantasy--sweet, tempting, and beautiful. But when the opportunity finally presents itself, he makes the biggest mistake of all and denies her.

Now it's too late . . .

Four years after a devastating tragedy, Chloe and Gavin's world's collide and they find their lives entangling once again. Haunted by the past, they are forced to come to terms with all that has transpired to find the peace they deserve. Except they can't seem to get near each other without combating an intense emotional connection that brings them right back to where it all started . . . their childhood tree house.

Chloe still holds her secrets close, but this time she isn't the only one with something to hide. Can their deep-rooted connection survive the destruction of innocence?

I was conflicted as to how to rate this book. While I felt that it was a solid story and there wasn't really much I didn't like about it, I feel like I had read it before. I can't really remember what the book is called but at first I honestly thought that I was re-reading something. 

I felt like the book could have been shorter. There were points where it felt as if the story was drawn out. I may be biased about this though because the story felt so familiar.

I also felt as if I didn't quite understand what motivated certain characters to pursue the actions that they did. There was a point where the author has one of the minor characters explain why she did something and I still couldn't wrap my head around it. It didn't make any sense to me. 

If you like reading this particular type of story or haven't read anything like it before, then I recommend that you read it. 

Making Faces by Amy Harmon

                                                🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟stars

Summary:
 Ambrose Young was beautiful. He was tall and muscular, with hair that touched his shoulders and eyes that burned right through you. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore.

Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast where we discover that there is little beauty and a little beast in all of us.

Books like this are the reason I read! This is easily one of the best romance novels I have ever read! I haven't read anything from this author that I didn't like. I think that she is incapable of writing a bad book! Even though I love all of her books, this one is my absolute favorite!

I loved everything about this book! It tore me apart and you will need tissues if you read it. I feel as if the author knows me. Fern is like a carbon copy of me personality wise. I feel like Amy Harmon knew exactly what I went through when I was young and put it onto paper. My heart broke for her with everything that she was confronted with during the course of the book. 

I loved the relationship that she had with her cousin Bailey. It was so playful but also meaningful and deep. They were not going through the same exact thing but they were able to understand each other and communicate on another level. 

I wasn't sure what to make of Ambrose at first but I grew to love him as I found out more about him. He also has a special way of communicating with Fern that I found so romantic. I don't want to give it away but just know that it will make you smile while reading it.

These characters are all lost in different ways but they find themselves through each other. They find out that they are more than their looks and differences from those around them. They grow to love themselves for who they are. There were a lot of life lessons in this story. I learned about myself over the course of reading this novel as well as healing from wounds that seem like they are too deep to heal from.