Just Breathe

Breathe by Abbi Glines

Breathe will always be my gateway book to this author.  I have a friend that reads all New Adult authors and she introduced me to Colleen Hoover and also Abbi Glines (props to Jill-Bud!).  I have adored everything that Colleen Hoover has published and I wait with bated breath until the next book comes out.  I am now starting to adore Abbi Glines’ books as well.  I love how likable the characters are that she has created thus far. 

Sadie White does not have the normal summer job that all the other students from high school have.  She is the breadwinner for her pregnant single mother.  So she has to have a job that will pay the bills and she also has to save up some money so they can survive when her mom has the baby and she starts her senior year of high school.  So when her mom can’t get up for work on Sadie’s first day of summer break, Sadie goes to her mom’s job which just happens to be cleaning for the teen idol Jax Stone.  Will Sadie be able to put away the thoughts of the teen idol so she can provide for her family?  Can she possibly not fall for this guy?  Luckily she has Marcus, the good looking server who works alongside her to distract her from the possibility of Jax getting in the way of her livelihood.

This is what I consider a beach read.  Grab a towel, find some shade on a sandy beach and get lost in reading.  You’ll finish it in a day and you’re glad you stopped by to get to know these characters even if it didn’t last too long.  This is not a long relationship, you just read it, enjoy the fun of it and move right on to the next book.  Don’t look for deep intellectual findings here, just read and enjoy!

I loved Sadie as a POV character.  She was great.  I loved that she didn’t think she had any personality and that she was boring.  But apparently she was beautiful and super hot because every single guy wanted to hang out with her.  No seriously, there wasn’t a boy in sight that didn’t fall in love with her.  The men she worked with, her employer, her friend’s friends, etc.  Do you know who this person is in your life?  I have had a few of these girls that have been in my life that you just can’t even understand how the heck they get so much attention. 

Well, I’m happy I read this book, I can’t wait to read Because of Low (Sea Breeze #2).  I hope Marcus can find some love, poor guy didn’t have a chance. 

What’s your favorite “Beach Read?”

This book is recommended to readers over 18 years old.  Keep Reading my Friends!

You Can't Script Love

Love Unscripted by Tina Reber

I have had this book on my “to read” list on goodreads for a very long time.  I pushed Love Unscripted to the very top when all the stars were aligned perfectly.  First it came available at the library, then I heard about an amazing author event in Nashville (a mere 3 hours away from my home in Birmingham) and Tina Reber was going to be there!  I started reading it the week of the event.  When I had around 100 pages left I was so in love with the characters that I decided to write Tina on Goodreads and just tell her how much I was enjoying the book and that I was going to the event and I was excited to meet her.  She wrote me back!!!  It was such a happy day until I actually met her and that was such a great experience for me.  She was down to earth, funny, and made me feel welcomed at her table.  I really lucked out because the girl in front of me was an aspiring author and picked her brain asking questions that I was too scared to ask and I received a lot of great information.  I also found out that Tina wants to mentor new authors and I didn’t even mention to her that I would love for her to mentor me!  It was an excellent event and it makes my heart happy to be in a room with so many readers and our “rock star authors.”  Oh and not to mention that Tina took a selfie with me!  How cool is that?

I loved this book!  I loved Taryn Mitchell and I thought she was an excellent main point of view character.  She was fun and truthful and real.  I loved Ryan.  Gosh what a great male lead.  He was passionate, loving, honest, and he just made me happy.  Even when he was upset and they fought it was honest and I could see the scene unfolding in front of me.

I loved how Ryan and Taryn met.  The drinking and playing pool and her seriously just hoping to calm him down and take care of him.  I loved that she played hard to get at the beginning.  I loved that she turned down giving him her number.  I loved the weekend at the lake… what am I talking about?  I loved the book and I laughed and cried, and read and read.  I think above everything in the entire book that I loved was how deep their relationship grew with great conversation and over time even if brief.  I felt close to both characters and I believed 100% that they were growing closer in their relationship.  There’s nothing more unreal than a relationship that I can’t put my finger on why they like each other in the first place, but I am overwhelmed by Ryan and Taryn and their love for one another. 

I can’t wait to read Love Unrehearsed!  I’ll keep you posted on how it goes! 

I can only recommend this to 18 and older readers.  Keep Reading my Friends!

Stalkers Suck!

The Keatyn Chronicles: Stalk Me by Jillian Dodd

Keatyn’s life is going exactly as she scripted, she’s in the most popular crowd, she sits at the most coveted lunch table and has the boyfriend that all the girls want.  All is going well until she realizes that she doesn’t want to be with her boyfriend any longer, she’s in love with her best friend surfer buddy and she doesn’t want to sit at the cool table sometimes and then there’s a stalker issue. 

So, I ended up liking this book.  Well I ended up liking it 3 out of 5 stars.  The first half of the book was slow moving and it was longer than it needed to be.  I also was confused about what genre this book should be placed in.  Keatyn is 16, but doing drugs and having sex and is pretty much on her own.  So is it YA?  Because it was way too old for YA, was it NA?  Because she is way too young to be New Adult.  So, I was confused about who should be reading this book and who should not.

The book sped up and I enjoyed the story the last few chapters, I liked Keatyn when she started being herself and stopped caring what her friends thought. 

I bought the entire series and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.  I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going.

I can only recommend this book to readers 18 and older.  Keep Reading my Friends!

Forever is a Really Really Long Time

Forever Too Far (Rosemary Beach #4, Too Far #3) by Abbi Glines

I just started this series and I have read them as fast as the library could get them to me.  With an exception of Never Too Far (book #2) I couldn’t wait for the library and I purchased it on my nook.  These books are fun and fast paced, I can sit down and read one in a day (which is pretty fast for me). 

What I liked:

I still love Blaire.  She is really a great character.  She cares, she loves and she is very compassionate.  She’s forgiving.  She forgives people and wrongs against her very easily with little to no bitterness.  She loves with all she is and that makes her a great character. 

Of course Rush was great.  His character really stepped it up in this book with the wedding gifts, so stinking romantic. 

I actually liked that there was no resolution with his sister and mom.  I can think of way too many books that throw a happy ending with all the loose ends tied up with pretty bows and you think, “Can that happen in real life?”  In real life, Nan would still act the same way, she wouldn’t change because she has never had to before.  I was glad that Grant didn’t forgive her too. 

What I didn’t like:

The language.  I am not saying that certain characters can’t cuss.  Rush is rough around the edges, raised himself and had a rock legend for a father and an absent mother.  He has few morals and is no way religious in any way, therefore I don’t expect him to soften his language for his audience, but daaaaaang.  There was just too much in this book. 

I felt in this book particular that I was unsure on what Blaire and Rush’s relationship stood on.  I know they are attracted to each other, but it was unclear how I could feel confident that their love would last forever.  That is why I am so glad she has written Rush too Far.  I can’t wait to hear it all from Rush’s perspective and find out what he has been thinking from the beginning.  I can’t wait!

I can only recommend this book to 18 and older.  Either way, keep reading my friends!