If I Tell You, by Alicia Tuckerman | {ARC} Book Review #329

A huge Thank-You to Pantera Press via Netgalley, for allowing me to read If I Tell You by Alicia Tuckerman, in exchange for an honest review. 

Trigger Warning:
Homophobia, Abuse, Death

Life and love don’t wait until you’re ready, but what if finding yourself means losing everything you’ve ever known?

Seventeen-year-old Alex Summers lives with a secret and the constant fear someone will find out. But when a new family moves to town, they bring with them their teenage daughter Phoenix Stone. When Alex falls for Phoenix, there is no warning. In a small town with small minds, girls don’t go out with other girls, even if they want to.

In fear there is bravery – you can either cling to the edge or have the courage to jump. But what do you do when you’re left spiralling through the freefall?

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Publication Date: March 01, 2018.

What I expected from If I Tell You, was a light, but still kind of heavy WLW story. If I Tell You…is, in fact a really heavy book.

Dax, by Shannyn Leah | {ARC} Book Review #316

Thank you to both the publisher, Macmillan, and to Netgalley for allowing me to read Dax (Bad Boys of Willow Valley, #1) by Shannyn Leah in exchange for an honest review.

This review may contain spoilers.

Dax Colyn is one of the bad boys of Willow Valley. A fearless volunteer firefighter and hard ass mechanic, he makes all the woman swoon and he likes it that way. He keeps people at a distance since his mother died. He doesn’t want to let anyone in, much less a woman he knows he could fall in love with.

Ava Anderson keeps people away, too. Haunted by her tortured past and constantly fearful of the future, it’s only her daughter Olivia and Dax’s dad Rowdy that she’s let in.

But when tragedy strikes, it pushes Dax and Ava together, forcing them both to let go of their fears. They soon learn how hard it is to keep pretending and how easy it is to let others in. Especially when those people are family.

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Publication Date: November 21, 2017.

Prior to reading Dax, I truly didn’t know what to think of this story. I didn’t think very highly of this story, since this book is more or less a fireman story. For some reason I believe I have this predisposition against Firefighter stories? Stop that, Adele. I’m pretty sure I thought I wouldn’t end up liking Dax since I don’t like the cover at all. Even though the cover does have some merit to the story as a whole.

Of Shadow and Stone, by Michelle Muto | ARC Book Review #282

Thank You to Amazon Publishing for allowing me to read Of Shadow & Stone by Michelle Muto in exchange for an honest review.

Gargoyles were created centuries ago to protect mankind, but something went horribly wrong. Now only the sentinel—a mortal chosen to control the stone beasts—stands between them and their human prey.

When the latest sentinel is killed, Kate Mercer is destined to take his place. But Kate has enough going on in her life—like a skyrocketing film career, a delusional ex-boyfriend, and a crazed stalker who will stop at nothing to get to her. But the powers that be have decided, and Kate is transported to Shadow Wood, a mysterious castle that serves as a sanctuary for the supernatural. Although beautiful, Shadow Wood is no safe place for a mere mortal. Yet Kate is drawn not only to the gargoyles but also to Ian McGuire, a charming novelist who might be in the greatest danger of all.

As Kate decides whether to accept the most perilous role of her life, she discovers there are more secrets than answers within the castle’s walls. Her survival and Ian’s depend on her ability to master the gargoyles before time runs out. Is fate really cast in stone?

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Trigger Warning: Stalker, Murder, Torture, Blood

Crazy Over You, by Wendy Sparrow | ARC Book Review #281

A huge Thank You to Entangled Publishing LLC., via Netgalley, for allowing my to read Crazy Over You in exchange for an honest review. 

She’s on the sheriff’s most wanted list.

Waking up with a naked woman holding a knife at his throat is just about the last thing Sheriff Travis Flynn expected. And the brother she’s looking for? A murderer. And dead. Probably. But the real shock comes when she insists she’s not a Lycan.

LeAnn Wilcox isn’t looking for love…especially not from some wolf in sheriff’s clothing. She operates on the other side of the law. Once she finds her brother-alive-she’ll get out of the pack’s territory and go back to her regular, normal, non-furry life of changing jobs and her name whenever her past closes in.

The cool, logical Sheriff has finally met his match, but LeAnn’s life is at stake if she won’t claim her place in the pack, especially once his control over the pack is challenged and her brother’s fate is questioned.

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Crazy Over You is the third book in the Taiming the Pack series by Wendy Sparrow.

Netgalley Reads | ARCs and Reading Progress

I don’t know about you, but I tend to get a little click-happy whenever I’m on Netgalley. There are just so many books that interest me! So I end up requesting a few books. If I get allowed to download and read them, I tend to read a few and then forget about the others. Which is bad, because I know that there’s a chance that I’d end up actually liking the books that I haven’t read. It’s also bad that I haven’t read those books since, to me, I feel like I promised to read those books and I’m breaking that promise when I haven’t read those books.

Blood Guard, by Megan Erickson | [ARC] Book Review #267

Thank you to Loveswept via Netgalley for allowing me to read Blood Guard by Megan Erickson, in exchange for an honest review.

Enter a world of immortal danger and desire—and discover an incredible fate borne of blood.

Tendra: One minute, I’m a bartender in gritty Mission City; the next, I’m whisked away by a vampire named Athan who tells me that I’m the lifeblood of his clan. It sounds unbelievable, but he’s got evidence I can’t deny. Turns out, Athan belongs to an underground society of vampires who feed only on humans with their consent. Their enemies have no such qualms, and they want me dead. The only thing standing in their way is strong, sexy Athan. And the closer we get, the more tempted I am to let Athan feed. . . .

Athan: How could I have known when I snatched this snarky, beautiful human off the streets that she would change mydestiny? As a loyal soldier, I must deliver Tendra to our future king—my brother. Empowered with the blood of ten generations of the Gregorie breed, she is fated to rule as our queen. But there’s something between us that’s so intoxicating, so carnal, I can’t help wanting Tendra for myself . . . even if it’s treason.

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Trigger Warning: Blood, Sex.

Since this is a vampire book, I felt the need to warn you against the blood, and sex scenes.

Blood Guard is the first book in the Mission series by Megan Erickson.

I found the synopsis for Blood Guard to be incredibly interesting. I actually originally thought that Blood Guard was a MLM book. Imagine my surprise when I read Athan’s part of the synopsis and found out that Tendra was actually a female!

The Sham, by Ellen Allen | [ARC] Book Review #264

Thank you to the Ellen Asher, via Netgalley for allowing me to read The Sham, in exchange for an honest review.

When love leads to death, be careful who you trust…

Eighteen-year-old Emily Heath would love to leave her dead-end town, known locally as “The Sham”, with her boyfriend, Jack, but he’s very, very sick; his body is failing and his brain is shutting down. He’s also in hiding, under suspicion of murder. Six months’ ago, strange signs were painted across town in a dialect no one has spoken for decades and one of Emily’s classmates washed up in the local floods.

Emily has never trusted her instincts and now they’re pulling her towards Jack, who the police think is a sham himself, someone else entirely. As the town wakes to discover new signs plastered across its walls, Emily must decide who and what she trusts, and fast: local vigilantes are hunting Jack; the floods, the police, and her parents are blocking her path; and the town doesn’t need another dead body.

WARNING: THIS BOOK IS UNSUITABLE FOR YOUNGER TEENAGE READERS. IT DEPICTS ADULT SITUATIONS, MURDER SCENES, CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SEX AND PROFANITY.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: The idea for this book came to me in a nightmare… It was so vivid that I imagined I was 17 again, at school, in the same group of 4 friends that I used to hang around with. We were involved in a murder and cover-up. I started writing partly as a way to get it out of my head and then the characters turned into real people… and Emily and Jack were born.

As some of the early reviewers have stated, it is quite extreme in chapter one, and necessarily so. This is the incident that sets up the whole book; something awful happens that sets off a train of events for the characters. This book is a mystery in two ways in that we’re: 1) trying to find out who killed Emily’s classmate; and 2) trying to work out who Jack is. I hope you enjoy it!

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Trigger Warnings: Paranoia, Blood, Self Harm, Murder, Suicide

What drew me into the book was not only the cover, but the synopsis to The Sham as well. I only wished that the synopsis lived up to the story.

Antisocial, by Heidi Cullinan | [ARC] Book Review #238

A huge thank you to Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) via Netgalley for allowing me to read this view in exchange for an honest review.

This review will more than likely contain spoilers. 

A single stroke can change your world.

Xander Fairchild can’t stand people in general and frat boys in particular, so when he’s forced to spend his summer working on his senior project with Skylar Stone, a silver-tongued Delta Sig with a trust fund who wants to make Xander over into a shiny new image, Xander is determined to resist. He came to idyllic, Japanese culture-soaked Benten College to hide and make manga, not to be transformed into a corporate clone in the eleventh hour.

Skylar’s life has been laid out for him since before he was born, but all it takes is one look at Xander’s artwork, and the veneer around him begins to crack. Xander himself does plenty of damage too. There’s something about the antisocial artist’s refusal to yield that forces Skylar to acknowledge how much his own orchestrated future is killing him slowly…as is the truth about his gray-spectrum sexuality, which he hasn’t dared to speak aloud, even to himself.

Through a summer of art and friendship, Xander and Skylar learn more about each other, themselves, and their feelings for one another. But as their senior year begins, they must decide if they will part ways and return to the dull futures they had planned, or if they will take a risk and leap into a brightly colored future—together.

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Xander and Skylar are now some of my favourite characters. I loved reading about them and getting to know them as only a reader could. Having read their story, I can honestly say that Antisocial has become one of my favourite novels.

Trust, by Kylie Scott [ARC]|Book Review #229

I received Trust, by Kylie Scott from Kylie Scott via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

After being held hostage during a robbery at the local convenience store, seventeen-year-old Edie finds her attitude about life shattered. Unwilling to put up with the snobbery and bullying at her private school, she enrolls at the local public high school, crossing paths with John. The boy who risked his life to save hers.

While Edie’s beginning to run wild, however, John’s just starting to settle down. After years of partying and dealing drugs with his older brother, he’s going straight—getting to class on time, and thinking about the future.

An unlikely bond grows between the two as John keeps Edie out of trouble and helps her broaden her horizons. But when he helps her out with another first—losing her virginity—their friendship gets complicated.

Meanwhile, Edie and John are pulled back into the dangerous world they narrowly escaped. They were lucky to survive the first time, but this time they have more to lose—each other.

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Trigger Warning: Gun Violence, Gun Violence resulting in Death, Blood, and Explicit Sex Scenes.

Bring Her Home, by David Bell [ARC] | Book Review #226

I was given a copy of Bring Her Home (by David Bell) from Berkley Publishing Group via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Just a year and a half after the tragic death of his wife, Bill Price’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Summer, and her best friend, Haley, disappear. Days later, the girls are found in a city park. Haley is dead at the scene, while Summer is left beaten beyond recognition and clinging to life.

As Bill holds vigil over Summer’s bandaged body, the only sound the unconscious girl can make is one cryptic and chilling word: No. And the more time Bill spends with Summer, the more he wonders what happened to her. Or if the injured girl in the hospital bed is really his daughter at all.

When troubling new questions about Summer’s life surface, Bill is not prepared for the aftershocks. He’ll soon discover that both the living and the dead have secrets. And that searching for the truth will tear open old wounds that pierce straight to the heart of his family…

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Bring Her Home features a father, Bill, who is desperate to find his daughter, Summer.

I liked how we were transported right away into Bill’s story. The beginning is a little hectic at first, since the book starts off with the girls’ having been found. And then we’re thrust into the chaos that proves to be Bill’s life.