Review: The Marriage Trap

 

Author: Jennifer Probst

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Synopsis: WIFE WANTED…

Italian billionaire seeks faux fiancée. Willing to agree to anything in return...

In order for his sister to marry, Italian billionaire Michael Conte has to find himself a bride – and fast! When he learns that photographer Maggie Ryan is going to be in Milan, Michael hatches a plan to introduce her to his family as his “fiancée.” Never mind that Maggie is confident, independent, and a control freak. Never mind that she’s everything he doesn’t want in a wife… and everything he wants in his bed!

Convinced that Michael is in love with her married gal pal, Maggie agrees to keep up the ruse if he’ll keep away from her friend. Besides, she’s not attracted to charming, ridiculously hot billionaires who drive her nuts. Once they’re in Italy, however, everything changes – and the sexual tension between Maggie and Michael goes from simmer to naked nuclear meltdown!

But have they found the perfect arrangement… or are they trapped in a make-believe marriage?

Review:

I just recently decided to start a routine of Friday Adult Reads and I think I made a great decision by starting that with this book.

After I finished reading The Marriage Bargain, I wished to know more about Maggie and Probst fulfilled it! Yay!

Fierce and strong-willed Maggie enters this faux engagement with one thing in mind: to keep his brother's marriage safe. But that arrangement won't be easy if his faux fiance is the guy she hated the most.

Michael and Maggie, like the previous couple, weren't opposites at all. They both love control and in this arrangement, they fought for it. I enjoyed this book more because of the banters between the two. I love how the build up of their relationship and wasn't rushed at all. It was very well paced and didn't bore me at all. I was satisfied not to find an unnecessary scene that are usually added just to add length. The characters were also great; not just Michael and Maggie but also the others, especially Michael's mother.

It may have lesser steamy scenes but the sexual tension is crackling off the page. Can't wait for next Friday smut: The Marriage Mistake

Why I love YA?

I came across Jen's book blog and saw something that made my eyes pop: Beth Ravis' graphic of her signed YA library giveaway. Yes, signed! And yes, it's a library since it's almost 50 books! Yay! But the downside is, it's only open to US. Good thing I have a friend that agreed that I can use her address for US giveaways, so double yay for that!

There are several ways to join and one of those is to write a post that describes why you love YA. I thought about it and doubted if I could write something as good as others and then said to myself that all I need is to be honest and answer the question: Why I love YA?

I love YA because I can definitely relate to it being 19 years old. Most of the things the characters are going through are familiar to me, some because I encountered them personally. But the thing is, I love YA not just because of my age and the familiarity. I think I love YA because most authors have the power to bring back the best years of my life. It creates vivid images of those memories I thought I already left behind. Though some books can spark up my emotions, most books that hit home were YA books. Authors like John Green, Gayle Forman, Tiffanie DeBartolo and Miranda Kenneally made me feel like I was inside the book; in the same room with the characters. There were also times that I felt like I was the character.

Some YA books also brought me to the peak of my imagination and gave me glimpse of a world I never thought was possible. Those books by Lauren Oliver and Veronica Roth made me experience the thrill of being on a run, and how it feels like to be hunted. I felt like I experienced those exhilarating things they've done and almost felt the wind on my face.

I may have read other books that might have triggered something, but among all of them it was those YA books that made me feel like I was a part of it and not just some bystander watching or reading, waiting for the story to unfold. It made me feel like I actually belonged to the story.

What about you? Why do you love YA?

Don't miss the chance to win this ultimate giveaway by Beth Revis!

http://bethrevis.blogspot.com/

Review: Incarnation

  

Author: Emma Cornwall

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Synopsis: In the steampunk world of Victorian London, Lucy Weston, a character in Dracula, seeks out Bram Stoker to discover why he deliberately lied about her in his popular novel. With Stoker’s reluctant help, she tracks the creature who transformed her from the sensual underworld where humans vie to become vampires to a hidden cell beneath a temple to madness and finally into the glittering Crystal Palace where death reigns supreme.

Haunted by fragmentary memories of her lost life and love, Lucy battles her thirst for blood as she struggles to stop a catastrophic war that will doom vampires and humans alike. Ultimately, she makes a choice that illuminates for her—and for us—the true nature of what it means to be human.

Review:

"A heart that no longer beats cannot be stilled."

Enter the world where vampires and humans live harmoniously, though some of the latter isn't aware of it. But then, insert the expected villain/s who wants to ruin the peace between the two species.

Incarnation takes us back centuries back to the Victorian era. The poetic description of events and places makes it more believable and compelling to read, especially those who loves to read historical novels set in this era.

Here we meet Lucy, a newly transformed vampire, or shall we say halfling. And among other vampires, she's been the odd one, not having her incarnator with her and not being affected with the sunlight. But aside from those, there's also a bit of history hidden deep in within her very family tree.

At the beginning of the book, I find the poetic/medieval kind of writing interesting but held me back longer than necessary. There were some parts that were overly described thus making it a bit dragging. The action didn't start until the half part of the book which is different from other books I've read. Though the way everything was described, events and places, were thoroughly done and gave a very good mental image.

This is very different from the mainstream trend of vampire books recently. The setting of the book itself gives it a dark and mysterious edge. It gives us an experience of walking at the streets of London and Cornwall did a very good job at it. It didn't feel like it was just written for the sake of the story line. It was like it was really written for the readers experience.

The epilogue gave an impression of a sequel, or maybe the author left it for us to figure out what will happen next. But I really want to know more about Marco and what will happen next. Though I appreciate Nicolas to be there in a conversation with Lucy rather than a narration of what happened after the fight and what's next. It was, all in all, a really good story but it left me wanting more.

Review: Stealing Parker

 

Author: Miranda Kenneally

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Synopsis: Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.

Now Parker wants a new life.

So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?

But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?

Review:

"It's a scary thing to wake up and realize the people you need most aren't nearby anymore... But you keep moving." - Brian

Parker's life was in a mumbo jumbo ever since her mother left them for her friend- a girl friend. Since then, she did a lot of things, some of which she wasn't proud of, just to prove that she's not a lesbian like her mother. But things were still in shambles.

Despite trying to act like a total bitch around guys, Parker wants the real thing. The real romance and not just some one-time thing. She may be tough in front of everyone but her vulnerability starts to show at home.

At some parts in the book, I found that I can somehow relate to Parker. Her disappointments and expectations were real and didn't feel fictional. I love how book characters seem real and not just some people in the page.

Though this might not be that romantic compared to Catching Jordan, I think Parker and Will's moments were cute. They weren't best friends like Jordan and Sam so it was pretty much understandable that they didn't spend their times cuddling and being so damn comfortable with each other. Although I love the fact that his family liked Parker and they didn't judged her like those Christian's did.

I love Parker's reunion with her mother. I like the fact that she finally surrendered and finally called her mother when she couldn't handle it all. It makes me realise that though people may walk out of your lives, someone will always be there for you.

For the second time, Miranda made me enjoy the story with a sport I'm not really familiar with. I love how she keeps it simple and light. I love how she makes me cry too. Can't wait to read her next book!

--

This copy was acquired through a giveaway hosted by Reading after Midnight

Review: Insurgent

    

Author: Veronica Roth

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Synopsis: One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Review:

I just finished reading the book and I'm still in awe. To be honest, every page you turn makes it hard to breath. It's like you're already anticipating something bad along the way that you can't relax and be cool about it. Like Tris, it makes you suspicious. Roth has her ways of making us anticipate the next book without leaving us deathly cliffhangers and that's something I love about her style in writing.

The book shows us how Tris was slowly eaten by guilt over what happened during the night of the attack and how this, along with grief affects her radical thinking.

I love how we explored more characters personality and met new ones. I liked how Roth introduced them to us by giving us small info and not only focus on the antagonist and protagonists that usually happens when the book is having its moment; a very interesting part of the storyline. I love how the storyline is not purely focused on one thing and goes on a straight line. It definitely branches out along the way.

Though romance was obviously not it's focus, I was glad with the amount of Four/Tris moments. Although I sort of hated Tris for her lies and whatnot. There were issues between them and Tobias and it's sad to see them working behind their backs, even though it's for the same cause.

It surprised me how deaths, even of supporting characters affected me by making me connect to what Tris felt and how slowly these became factors of her decision making. 

Over all, I loved the book. I loved the twist not just with the storyline but also with the characters. But I admit, this seems like a filler for an epic ending. I really wish it's epic.

Now, here comes the hard part: waiting for the next book.