Book Review: Rock Bottom

 by R.K. Lilley 

In the second book of the Tristan and Danika saga, Rock Bottom is aptly named. These two are no strangers to tragedy, but their love - intense, passionate, sometimes  irrational - binds them tightly together.

Tristan and the band are doing well, but that means time away from Danika and fighting temptation of drugs and alcohol. Meanwhile, Danika is doing very well in dance, but her anxiety and jealousy while Tristan is away takes it's toll. These two celebrate highs and suffer lows-and it's true, we find out what happens to Danika's leg!

Frankie has some great moments in this book as well, I wonder if we will get a novella about her? The next book in the series is due early 2014, and frankly I can't wait.

To keep this spoiler free, I will keep it short, but I'll leave you with this: Make sure when you start this book you don't have any immediate plans...You will read it all the way through! (I devoured this book in record time, even for me.)

5 stars

Book Review: Girls Are Players (G.A.P. #2)

 by Ingrid Seymour

In this sequel to The Guys Are Props Club, we catch up with Jessica Norton, the snobby game playing pro. At the end of that book, we see her heading down a path of redemption as she admits to herself that she still has feelings for Taylor, the boy that broke her heart in high school.

After the G.A.P. club was dismantled, Jessica was a pariah at her school and once home, has some decisions to make. She runs into some old classmates at a pool party-including Taylor. It seemed like they still had some sort of connection, so Jessica hatches a plan to transfer to Taylor's school in Ohio. With her father's connections, it's a done deal, but Taylor isn't pleased to see her. What now?

Jessica's story is a true redemption story. She was so irritating and vindictive in the first book that I actually dreaded reading about her. However, her story was very well done, and her journey was believable. All of her bitterness stemmed from the hurt of losing Taylor, and not understanding why. Taylor, for his part, was still attracted to her, dating clones of her, and seeming to want something else from Jessica. They both had journeys to take, and this book was surprisingly emotional and heartfelt. Can Jessica stop playing games that are second nature? Can Taylor put words to his emotions?

This was a great sequel and actually surpassed the original to me. Good read!

Book Review: The Guys Are Props Club

 The Guys Are Props Club (G.A.P. #1) by Ingrid Seymour

Maddie fell in love with the wrong guy when she was naive and in high school. Now in college, she has vowed to not be as naive again, and started The Guys Are Props club with her roommate and friend, Jessica. Over the course of the year, many a heartbroken girl has joined the G.A.P. club and followed the tenets with a religious fervor. No guy can be trusted. All guys are players. They decide to turn the tables, and pick out deserving candidates to pull Plays of their own.

The problem is, Maddie isn't feeling so bitter anymore. Jessica, as the leader of G.A.P, is putting incredible pressure on Maddie to get with the program, and Maddie doesn't quite have the balls to tell her no.

Enter sexy Latin dancer Sebastian. He is so attractive, that Maddie assumes he is a player, and ignores his advances. Meanwhile Jessica has decided that he is her next Play. However, Sebastian's honesty and sweetness starts to win Maddie over, and then things get really complicated.

This was a great quick read. I wanted to punch Jessica and was annoyed by Maddie sometimes for letting Jessica run all over her. Sebastian was a sweetheart, and although he wasn't my typical Alpha type, he was the delicious and sensual and a gentleman.

In my copy of the book there was a minor editing blip where one character got mixed up with another, but I still enjoyed reading it a lot. I'm off to start the next one in the series right now!

Recap: Scandal Season 3, Episode 8, Vermont is for Lovers, Too

This week my review is over at Heroes and Heartbreakers! Go take a look and let's discuss!

Book Review: Mine

 Mine  by Katy Evans

Oh Remy! You stole my heart again.
We revisit the lives of Brooke Dumas, a physical therapist, and Remington "Remy" Tate, an underground boxer also known as Riptide. Remy is Bipolar 1 ; he tries to regulate his himself with proper diet and vitamins as well as exercise. When he is successful, his eyes are a brilliant blue. When he gets depressed or angry or his levels are thrown out of whack, his eyes turn as black as his mood.

At the end of "Real", some drama went down, and Brooke left Remy, but they found their way back to each other. Scorpion, Remy's biggest competition in the Underground and sworn enemy, is always a shadow in the background. Melanie, bff extraordinaire is still giving Riley the eye (who wouldn't!), Pete is still mooning over Nora, and Nora is still a bitch, but in the end, this book is all about Brooke and Remy.

They have chosen each other, they love each other, but this book really digs into what happens after the HEA is over. Brooke knows about Remy's illness, but here she has to really confront what a lifetime of Remy's mood swings means.

Mine was a page turner that I hardly put down. Loved every little bit of it! Can't wait to read more.

Did Almost Human Hook You Last Night?

Ok yes, Michael Ealy is easy on the eyes. 

So is Karl Urban. 

Lily Taylor and Minka Kelly aren't bad either, but I digress. The hype that Fox has put behind Almost Human made me nervous-it would be a right damn shame if the show sucked.

Luckily, it rocked!

Det. John Kennex (Urban) has just returned to active duty after an ambush during one of his raids in which he was the sole survivor. We are in the future, and crime fighting has changed a bit-every police officer must ride with a "synthetic", or android. The most current model is the MX, and Kennex hates synthetics because he partially blames one for the ambush debacle. After he rids himself of a MX, he gets a DRM model named Dorian (Ealy). DRMs were taken off of the market because they were considered unstable-apparently their design to be as human as possible made them unpredictable and emotional (duh!)

In this first episode, they learn a bit about each other, of course, and work together to prevent a crime (and a huge loss of life.) Kennex proves that he can still feel all the feelings, and Dorian proves that synthetics can have more to them than what's on the surface. 

There is a lot more to come from the show, and another new episode tonight before Sleepy Hollow! Mondays are about to even more awesome. I enjoyed this first episode, and I'm settling in for a good season.

Book Review: The Edge of Always

 The Edge of Always (The Edge of Never #2)
by J.A. Redmerski

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

We return to the story of Cam and Andrew, a young couple we first meet in The Edge of Never. Always picks up pretty much where Never left off.  

Cam is pregnant, and she and Andrew are in Texas for the moment. She is getting restless, however, and as always, Andrew can read her like a book. He whisks her away to her hometown to have an early baby shower with her mom and best friend. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes, and they lose the baby.

She tries to convince everyone that she is fine, but they can see right through her, and her coping skills turn toxic. Andrew decides they need to get back on the road, to find themselves again, find the magic that brought them together. 

This was a perfect conclusion to a true love story. Cam and Andrew have been through a lot separately and together, and despite their youth, they possess old souls. The adventures they encounter for nearly a year on the road solidify their lifestyle and their love. From singing on stage, to getting roofied, to mourning, they come to terms with everything that sent them into spirals in the first place-even finding closure on events that shaped them before they met each other. 

Through the course of the story (and even harking back to the first novel) Andrew and Cam make small promises to each other ("If I become a vegetable, promise me you will pull the cord." etc.) Their union makes you long for a love like they have for each other. Andrew is the ultimate mate-a perfect gentleman (until he isn't, which is also perfect), a perfect lover, and a perfect friend. Unconditional, honest, and relentless best describes the love they have for each other, and JA Redmerski writes in a way that makes the reader feel like a fly on the wall. You feel every emotion, and there are many as this young couple comes to terms with life-what they were dealt and what they make of it.

The end of the book gives a glimpse of the future, and I don't want to spoil anything, so I will leave it at this: The future looks bright indeed for these two.

The Rundown: Scandal S3E7

Uh, yeah. This was a Very Special Episode of Scandal. It's Kwana Minatee-Jackson's turn to recap at Heroes and Heartbreakers!

1. Mama Pope Lives!

(One does not simply hire Khandi Alexander for flashbacks.)

2. I knew he was a fucking asshole, I didn't know he was a fucking monster.


3. I knew she was strong, but I didn't know how she got there.


4. Looks like Fitz finally caught up...

5. Stupid is as stupid does. Huck told your ass to quit playing...

The Rundown: Once Upon a Time

1.
Tink: Oh heeeey Baby, I mean, Bae, how you dooooing?
Neal: Yeah, that's not my name anymore...and no. But nice to see ya!


2.
Oh lawd, these two. So they find Pandora's Box...


...promptly get jacked for it...
 

...because the Darlings don't give a shit just like the Honeybadger...


...but Good actually wins them over, so Ariel tells Rumple and Regina to save their sister Wendy:
 Regina isn't impressed.

3.
Hook: Hey girl, you know I told Neal about us...but we getting together, right?


Neal: I know you thought I was dead it's cool, but we getting together, right?



Emma: The only male I want in my life is my son...so lets go find him. NOW.


4.
Charming was in the doghouse, but now they are picking out treehouses and shit.


5.
Pan is one tricky little fart.

On the (Fantasy) Casting Couch: Sylvia Day’s Crossfire Series

I have a blog up over at Heroes and Heartbreakers-my take on fantasy casting for Sylvia Day's Crossfire series! Go check it out! (Don't expect to see Henry Cavill's name there ;) )

Isn't he easy on the eyes?

ARC Review: Into the Fire

 Into The Fire (The Ending #2)

by Lindsey Fairleigh, Lindsey Pogue
Release Date: November 22

Read After the Ending first...then read Into the Fire!

Into the Fire is the second entry in The Ending series. The first book found best friends Dani and Zoe trying to get to each other in the post apocalyptic world-a deadly virus has killed millions, and the people who have survived are either Crazies or have Abilities (sometimes both.). Just when they do find each other, they get separated again, and that is how we start book 2.

Dani has been kidnapped and taken to the Colony, where she finally meets Mystery Guy (Gabe) in person. She also has the misfortune to meet the General (talk about your God complex) and discovers horror upon horror under his command. The Colony is a tight ship run by the General and his cronies, but he wants more people to come-and Dani's Ability allows her to send and receive thoughts from long distances. Even under the General's tight thumb, things are not always what they seem at The Colony.

Meanwhile, Zoe and crew are frantically searching for her and dealing with their own demons. Zoe and Jason continue to work through their strained sibling relationship. Becca shows up at their camp and that puts a strain on Jake and Zoe's relationship as the rest of the crew wants to trade her for Dani. With Chris and Harper's help, everyone starts strengthening their Abilities to prepare for Dani's big rescue.

In After the Ending, Dani and Zoe were lucky-they encounters good groups of people to join (for the most part), discovered love, and discovered their Abilities. Into the Fire brings more into these young ladies' lives-more drama, more strife, and even more injuries. They are no longer naive unscathed youths-quickly they have turned into harder, smarter women who are hell bent on survival. This book had all the action and adventure you could want-I couldn't put it down in some parts, and in others I was afraid of what was going to happen next!

Into the Fire was an aptly named page turner, so much so that I cried out in indignation when I flicked to the next page on my Kindle and got the credits instead of a new chapter. As before, the book ends with a cliffhanger, but it's just enough to make you salivate for more. What a great read-I can't wait for the next entry!

Recap-Scandal S3E6, Icarus

This week my recap is over at Heroes and Heartbreakers! 

Click here to say hello!

The Rundown: Once Upon a Time

I'm a little behind on this (so much reading! so little time...) but here we go...

Last week this happened:

Apparently this was supposed to be completely unexpected. Tell us how we feel about that:

This past week, here is The Rundown:

1. I kind of want to punch one of them to see what happens. WHO IS THIS HAPPY?

2. As usual, Regina is awesome. "You losers follow the yellow brick road if you want, I have shit to do, like go find my kid."

3. So, should I tell him I don't have legs? Nah, it's ok.

4. "We are the two most powerful magical beings ever created. We can defeat a annoying little teenager." -Regina

5. Playing dress up is fun!

6. Until you get busted.

7. Hook is all

cuz Neal is alive and he is all

See you next week!