"After" by Anna Todd

Series: After #1
Genre: Romance/ New Adult
Publication: October 2014
Format: Kindle
Cover Rating: 4/5 Stars

From Goodreads: There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there’s everything AFTER... Life will never be the same. #Hessa

Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She’s got direction, ambition, and a mother who’s intent on keeping her that way.

But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin. With his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, tattoos and lip ring, Hardin is cute and different from what she's used to.

But he's also rude—to the point of cruelty, even. For all his attitude, Tessa should hate Hardin. And she does—until she finds herself alone with him in his room. Something about his dark mood grabs her, and when they kiss it ignites within her a passion she’s never known before.

He'll call her beautiful, then insist he isn't the one for her and disappear again and again. Despite the reckless way he treats her, Tessa is compelled to dig deeper and find the real Hardin beneath all his lies. He pushes her away again and again, yet every time she pushes back, he only pulls her in deeper.

Tessa already has the perfect boyfriend. So why is she trying so hard to overcome her own hurt pride and Hardin's prejudice about nice girls like her?

Unless...could this be love?

My Thoughts: I don't know anyway to write this review other than just by being brutally honest, so just try and stay with me as I sort through the complete mind warp that is After. I'll start off by saying I LOVE angsty romance. If you think the amount of angst is just right, I'm the person sitting at the table that's like "No, keep it coming. Just a little more angst please." Example: I absolutely am in love with Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens. It's one of my favorite books ever. Anyway, the point is this book should have been like the holy grail for me. Unfortunately it wasn't.

I started out this book and I knew almost immediately that I was going to have some real issues with it. The main character, Tessa, is over the top, ridiculously naive and "innocent" (seriously, I hated that word in this book). The love interest, Hardin, is a complete asshole. Sorry for the language but there's no other word for it. He is. There are really no redeeming qualities other than he's the guy you tell your best friend to get the hell away from him because he's toxic. The plot is dragged out over a period of almost 600 pages of nothing but them fighting and making up and fighting and making up, over and over again. Oh, and the supporting characters? Basically their just names that move the plot along. No real substance to them at all.

And yet... I read the whole book. There were many, many times that I asked myself "Why are you doing this to yourself? Put this crap down and go read something else." I didn't. I kept reading it and then when I was on that last stupid page I was furious because I knew I was going to turn myself right around and buy the second book.

I know. I'm just as confused as you are. The only thing I can figure out is that After is like that greasy pizza you have on Monday nights when you're too tired to cook dinner. It's quick, mindless, yet satisfying in all it's greasy cheesy glory.

Bottom Line: Despite the fact that I originally wanted to give this book 1 star, I can't. I read it. I finished it and I immediately went and bought the second novel in the series. It doesn't make sense to me either, but ultimately I can't say I hated the book. ....I guess I feel about it the same way the main characters feel about each other. They love to hate each other.

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

"My Best Friend's Ex" by Me

Genre: New Adult
Publication: June 1, 2017
Format: Kindle
Cover Rating: 4/5 Stars (Come one, look at dude)

From Goodreads: When I found an eviction notice taped on my apartment door, I had two options: find a comfortable cardboard box to call home, or move in with Tucker Jameson. 

Seeing that cardboard makes me feel itchy, I chose the latter. Which shouldn't be that big of a deal since Tucker is one of my good friends. And because he's still pining after his ex-girlfriend and I'm trying to finish my nursing degree, there is nothing to worry about in the romance department, making my last semester an easy one to conquer. 

Boy, was I wrong. 

Rules are set, dinners are made, conversations are had, and a shirtless, swoony roommate walks around in nothing but a pair of black briefs, ruining me for every other man. 

Before I know it, I turn into a panting, lust-filled woman begging for Tucker to kiss me, touch me, and show me exactly what is hiding under those briefs. 

But with great orgasms, comes great consequences. 

Tucker might be my friend and roommate but he’s also my best friend's ex-boyfriend, making him completely off-limits. At least that's what my brain is telling me, my heart is speaking an entirely different language.


My Thoughts: When I picked up My Best Friend's Ex I kind of knew exactly what I was getting into: a guilty pleasure, good drama, and a hot guy with some sexy scenes. What I was not expecting was the laugh out loud moments this book provides. Seriously, I can't remember the last time I was snorting in real laughter while reading a good romance book. Meghan Quinn seems like she would be so much fun to hang out with.

I'm going to be honest though and say I am super torn on how to review/ rate this book. While I liked the plot and the good humor, there were a few issues I had with it. For instance, I hated Tucker. Like, really didn't like this guy. Every other sentence dude is dropping the F- Bomb- and I'm not prissy about swearing. I swear like a sailor and really have had issues trying not to do so around my 2 year old. But this guy seemed like he needed to truly expand his vocabulary. I felt like a part of that may have just been the author trying to make him seem tough or whatever, but it just didn't work for me. But I still could have liked Tucker with that. No, my real problem is he was an asshole. *MAYBE SPOILER-ISH?* Basically Tucker strings Emma along and tells her to wait and see if he can get over his ex, but the whole time he's teasing her and trying to get her to lust after him. Like what? No, bro. So not cool. 

In the end though, and despite wanting to throat punch Tucker in the face for being an F* Boy, I have to say that I did enjoy the book overall. I read it in one sitting and the humor was just too good to rate it anything less than three stars. I'll also probably be trying out more Meghan Quinn books as well, as long as there's no more Tuckers.

My Rating: 3/ 5 Stars

"Inspire" by Cora Carmack

Series: The Muse #1
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance
Publication: December 14th, 2014- Self Published
Format: Kindle
Cover Rating: 5/5 Stars

From Goodreads: Kalliope lives with one purpose.

To inspire.

As an immortal muse, she doesn’t have any other choice. It’s part of how she was made. Musicians, artists, actors—they use her to advance their art, and she uses them to survive. She moves from one artist to the next, never staying long enough to get attached. But all she wants is a different life— a normal one. She’s spent thousands of years living lie after lie, and now she’s ready for something real.

Sweet, sexy, and steady, Wilder Bell feels more real than anything else in her long existence. And most importantly… he’s not an artist. He doesn’t want her for her ability. But she can’t turn off the way she influences people, not even to save a man she might love. Because in small doses, she can help make something beautiful, but her ability has just as much capacity to destroy as it does to create. The longer she stays, the more obsessed Wilder will become. It’s happened before, and it never turns out well for the mortal.

Her presence may inspire genius.

But it breeds madness, too. 

My Thoughts: I love Cora Carmack. Really, I do. Her books are funny and sexy and I always end up liking them. So I was super excited when I found out she wrote a New Adult PNR- like I said before, there's so few good ones out there. I'm not going to lie to you guys though, I almost didn't finish this one. ALMOST. I loved Kalli and I loved Wilder, but I hated their insta-love. They literally met in a grocery store line, said about five words to each other and BAM! That was it for them. Head over heels. ...Okay, it wasn't exactly that way, but close. Here's the thing though, I pushed through it and I'm really glad I did. Yes, there's insta-love, but there's also this really cool, amazing, original story too. If you can get over the fact that these two characters felt love at first sight (or more probable are just destined for each other), then you will enjoy this story.

What's even more crazy was that even though I wanted to give up on it in the first half, by the second half I wanted the next book ASAP. Unfortunately, it looks like the book's publication was put on hold for good reason. After stalking the author I discovered through her blog that she was experiencing some health issues at the beginning of this year and that for now, the second book Inflict, is on hold. It was supposed to be published sometime this year, but so far I haven't read anything saying that's going to happen. Which really sucks because I think the second book is going to be even better than the first. BUT we all need our favorite authors to take care of themselves first so they can write later. Cora is one of those authors like JLA that just spins out books like magic, so I have a feeling it's probably really hard on her to delay a book. Either way, I hope she feels better soon and I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Bottom Line: I would recommend this book to all friends of PNR and Romance, but with a warning about the insta-love.

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

"What You Left Behind" by Jessica Verdi

Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: Kindle
Publication: August 4, 2015 by Source Ebooks
Cover Rating: 2/5 Stars

From Goodreads: It’s all Ryden’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead, he’s failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.

The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions, and Ryden’s convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can’t let go of the past?


My Thoughts: First of all, I would like to say a huge thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book.

What You Left Behind sucks you in from the very first page. I'm not kidding. From the first few pages I knew that I would enjoy this book and that I would go through it pretty quickly (and I did). I really felt connected to these characters and truly cared about what happened to them. They were so relatable. Although, I'm not going to lie, as a new momma there were times when I really just wanted to punch 17 year old baby daddy Ryden in the face for making poor choices when it came to his baby. But overall, I liked him as our narrator and protagonist.

I also loved the chemistry between *all* of our characters. Nothing felt cliche or stiff. I really enjoy when an author takes time to make all the characters feel real and not cardboard. Jessica Verdi did a wonderful job of connecting everyone together.

Okay, so the plot probably reads kind of cheesy at first glance, but I promise it's not, because it's so well executed. Yes, there's teen pregnancy and cancer, but there's also coming of age. It's not your typical Hallmark-y fluff.

Bottom Line: Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Series Review: The Sweet Trilogy by Wendy Higgins

From Goodreads Sweet Evil Description: What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

My Thoughts: My first reaction upon finishing this series was that I just didn't get what all the hype was about. One of my favorite authors had raved about these books, so I went into reading them with pretty high expectations. They weren't terrible. I mean, they definitely held some appeal for me... but they didn't scream "book hang-over" quality.

I did enjoy the fact that there was a lot of Biblical references, and that the plot were pretty original (which we all know is kind of hard to find now days in the YA Paranormal 'verse). However that's about all I can say for my pros list. I just felt "meh" towards every book. 

One of the things that really bothered me was the pacing. The plot felt rushed, the characters chemistry felt a little forced, and in general it seemed like the author didn't give herself time to flush out their relationships, even though the whole series is suppose to take place in a two year time span. There's definitely a bout of insta-love all around, as well. 

Then we have the MC, Anna Whitt. I wanted to like Anna. Really, I did. But she grated on my everlasting nerve most of the time. She was just too much sometimes with her "good behavior" and personality. I felt like the author went over the top with her. 

Bottom Line: Again, these are all just my opinions, and I have friends who loved this series, but it wasn't for me. Would I recommend this series? Maybe as a last resort, but I would definitely suggest getting it from the library and saving your cash for something with a five star quality.

Overall Rating: 3/5 Stars