Not So Nice Guy by R.S. Grey | Review

Title: Not So Nice Guy
Author: R.S. Grey
Pages:
Publisher: Self/CreateSpace
Goodreads Rating: 4.36 stars
Published: August 9th, 2018
Source: ebook/from author

Description:

"Oh my god. Who that?"
I get asked this question a lot.
"Oh him?" I reply. "That's just Ian."

Just Ian is the biggest understatement of the century.
Just the Mona Lisa. Just the Taj Mahal. Just Ian, with his boring ol' washboard abs and dime-a-dozen dimpled smile.

Just Ian is... just my best friend.

We're extremely close, stuck so deep inside a Jim-and-Pam-style friendzone everyone at works assumes we're a couple - that is until one day, word spreads through the teacher's lounge that he's single. Fair game. Suddenly, it's open season on Ian.

He should be reveling in all the newfound attention, but to our mutual surprise, the only attention he seems to want is mine.

He's turning our formerly innocent nightly chats into x-rated phone calls. Our playful banter sports a new, dangerous edge.

I want to assume he's playing a prank on me, just pushing my buttons like always - but when Ian lifts me onto the desk in my classroom and slides his hands up my skirt, he doesn't leave a lot of room for confusion.

I'm a little scared of things going south, of losing my best friend because I can't keep my hands to myself. So, I'm just going to back away and not return this earth-shattering kiss - oh who am I kidding?!

Goodbye Ian, ol' buddy, ol' pal!

Helloooo mister not so nice guy. 


My Thoughts:

While I love all of R.S. Grey's RomComs pretty equally, I think this one is my new favorite.  Adam & Madeline {The Foxe and The Hound} have been a steady favorite since I first discovered Rachel's books a year or so ago {has it really only bee that long??}, but I think Ian & Sam are my new favorites.  Sorry, Adam & Madeline - I will always love you guys too!

It takes a really fantastic writer to create two characters who are believably just friends, while both secretly wanting to be more.  Almost all the stories I've read of friends to lovers there is something that happens that makes one or both characters suddenly become attracted to each other.  Rachel gives us two amazing characters who are basically head over heels for each other within a few months, but remain very good friends for years.  All without the other having any clue about their mutual feelings.

And, in true Rachel fashion, she is the absolute QUEEN of Rom Coms.  I was cracking up within the first 10 pages, and found myself constantly laughing at Sam and Ian's antics and banter.  Oh, the banter was superb!  They are very clearly the best of friends, and it shows in the way the talk and their attitudes towards each other.  I think I might just live a little for the banter in each of her books {the rest of my living goes to my husband and kids}.

I am so sad to be done with this book - its been one of the highlights of my summer reading and I just really wanted it to go on forever {or maybe more than 24 hours}!  No matter what I have going on, if I find myself picking up one of R.S. Grey's books, I usually finish it within a couple days {and any of her books would have totally been one day reads back when I didn't have kids!}, then immediately regretting my binging because why didn't I make it last??  You would think I've learned my lesson by now, but nope.  I'm the fat kid, and Grey's books are my cake after crash dieting - I eat them up as soon as I get them!

*I received a copy of this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review*

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber | Review

Title: The Evaporation of Sofi Snow
Author: Mary Weber
Pages: 352
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Goodreads Rating: 3.51 stars
Published: June 6th, 2017
Source: Hardcover//Bought

Description:

Ever since the Delonese ice-planet arrived eleven years ago, Sofi's dreams have been vivid. Alien. In a system where Earth's corporations rule in place of governments and the humanoid race orbiting the moon are allies, her only constant has been her younger brother, Shilo. As an online gamer, Sofi battles behind the scenes of Earth's Fantasy Fighting arena where Shilo is forced to compete in a mix of real and virtual blood sport. But when a bomb takes out a quarter of the arena, Sofi's the only one who believes Shilo survived. She has dreams of him. And she's convinced he's been taken to the ice-planet.

Except no one but ambassadors are allowed there.

For Miguel, Earth's charming young playboy, the games are of a different sort. As Ambassador to the Delonese, his career has been built on trading secrets and seduction. Until the Fantasy Fight's bomb goes off. Now the tables have turned and he's a target for blackmail. The game is simple: Help the blackmailers, or lose more than anyone can fathom, or Earth can afford. 


My Thoughts:

Set in the future after the Earth has gone through two more World Wars and all but destroyed itself, The Evaporation of Sofi Snow begins with the sudden arrival of an alien planet next to the moon at the end of the fourth World War.  People called it Planet Delon, The Delonese Death, and Sofi called it as "the blasted planet from the pit of you know where".

Years after the arrival of Planet Delon and Earth has received helped in more ways than one: the aliens, being eons ahead of Earth and humanity, gave them medical and technological assistance in return for a safe place to keep their planet. Humanity itself divided up into Corporations instead of countries, totalling 30 in all, with Sofi's mother as the CEO of Corp 30.

Sofi and her brother Shilo are both part of a gamer team who represent their Corp at the FanFight III games, a fast ticket to fame.  Or to lost freedom.  Sofi and her coding team are the best of the best, and on track to win the third FanFight games when the games are targeted and attacked by forces unknown.  With Sofi barely escaping with her life and Shilo who knows where, the games are replaced with a quest for answers and finding her brother as Sofi must also ask for help from the one person on all of earth so loathes the most: Miguel, the young Ambassador to the Delonese.

Miguel plays the part of a playboy very well, but he also has bigger fish to fry than those offering one night stands.  Being blackmailed by some unknowns, he has to figure out who's trying to use him and why they need Corp 24 to go down in flames.


Sofi and Miguel are an unlikely pairing, but they work so well together in this book.  Sofi has all the tech knowledge Miguel needs to figure out what's going on, and Miguel has access to the Delonese, which Sofi is in desperate need of.  The speed at which things happen in this book will leave your mind reeling and have your heart hammering along with the characters as they discover twist upon twist involving the Corps and the Delonese.  I was shocked and stunned with where this story went, and am dying to read the next book to see what happens {seriously, that was a huge cliffhanger!}.

Mary Weber has quickly become one of my favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint.  While her Storm Siren trilogy was amazing, The Evaporation of Sofi Snow sheds light on something that is going on in our world today: human trafficking.  While we don't have to face off with aliens, we still have humans who are being kidnapped and sold into slavery, here in our very cities, towns, states.  There are over 25,000 people enslaved, and we need to protect ourselves and others against this and help fight for the freedom of those being oppressed.  I'm so grateful for authors who bring to light different causes and needs that we're facing in our own world through their writing.  Mary proves that it doesn't matter what you write about, you can always share your other passions and the world's needs through your stories.  Without being preachy or pushy; with compassion and a heart on fire.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas | Review

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J Maas
Pages: 421
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Goodread Rating: 4.29 stars
Published: May 5, 2015
Source: Hardcover/bought

Description:

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.


My Thoughts:

I was  a little reluctant picking up this book.  Everyone was raving about how amazing it was {for quite a while now}.  And while I'd read Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass when it was published about 5 years ago {and really loved it}, I was hesitant to pick this one up.  I remember loving Maas' ToG, but for some reason I never actually picked up any of the others in that series, and that's kind of stuck with me as far as reading A Court of Thorns and Roses.  That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I got sucked into this book!

Maas gives us a pretty vivid description of Feyre's life, and it's rough.  Her sisters act entitled, even though they are lucky to survive through each winter with whatever Feyre can find to provide for them.  Her father, at best, is absent.  After being forced to flee, they've settled outside a small town, where Feyre can hunt to provide for them and try to keep them safe from they faeries over the wall.

Hunting one day leads Feyre to be taken by over the wall to the world of faerie as retribution for killing a wolf in order to spare the lives of her family.  But, instead of being treated as a prisoner, Feyre is taken in as more like a guest.  She has a fae lady's maid, charming chambers and free roam of most the mansion and grounds, and tends to dine with two very interesting fae gentlemen, Tamlin and Lucien.  Even though that means setting aside her hunting garb for dresses at times, Feyre still has her simmering wit and hunter's mind.

While Lucien seems to be more someone Feyre can converse with {only because he's as guarded as she is}, Tamlin sneaks into her thoughts more and more often, and after time Feyre discovers her curiosity of him has turned into interest in him {of course, like any good hate-to-love story it had to start out with the hate first!}.

While this book is advertised as young adult, it read more like New Adult with some of the steaminess and the gore.  And the steaminess {oh, did I already mention that?}.  I got back and forth between my like of books dealing with Fae, but this is definitely a book I like!  Since I purchased this knowing full well there are two more books out in the series {and I believe plans for at least a few more!}, I was expecting a massive cliffhanger.  Color me pink with pleasant surprise, because there wasn't!  While I'm excited to see where this story goes, I'm happy I didn't feel like I was hanging on a ledge, desperate for the next book.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer | Reiview

Title: Heartless
Author: Marissa Meyer
Page: 453
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Goodreads rating: 4.09 Stars
Published: November 8th, 2016
Source: Hardcover/Bought, Audiobook/Borrowed

Description:

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.


My Thoughts

*THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS*

I. Should. Have. Known!  You know how sometimes you pick up a book knowing it's a retelling, but you want to think its a retelling that twists the ending to be a "happily ever after"?  That was my hope for this book.  As a kid I had an extreme dislike for the Queen of Hearts, and while reading this I just knew there was absolutely no way Cath could ever be that horrid creature from Alice In Wonderland.  No. Way.  Marissa Meyer has a knack for taking things that have me going "there is just no way" and turning it so I'm saying that same phrase with a bit of awe in my voice.  Because there is.  And she always finds it.

Catherine {or Cath} is the daughter of one of the upperclass titled families, the only daughter of a Marquess and his wife.  She is full of life and joy, loving to pour her heart and time into baking, dreaming of a day when her and her lady's maid.  Her desire, passion and just joy made me look at her and say "there is just no way she's going to be the angry Queen of Hearts.  No way."  Oh, I should have known.

The secondary characters bring out so many different aspects of Cath, and, one by one, we see how each could bloom or shatter.  Maryanne, Jest, The King, and even Hatta bring out the different sides to Cath - friend, lover, subject, and ruler {sorry if I'm spelling anything wrong, I listened to the audiobook}.  I don't want to say too much, because it really could give the book away, but its amazing what actually happens - what Cath actively does and what she stands back and allows to happen.

Meyer takes this story and makes it so beautifully her own, but it's also apparant what inspired this story.  Much like her Lunar Chronicles, Meyer doesn't really re-tell the story, but takes elements from it and makes it her own unique masterpiece.  Any time I thought it was going to turn more towards the most recent Alice in Wonderland live-action film {you know, the one with Johnny Depp} or a little like the classic Disney film {honestly, one of my least favorite films}, it never did.

This book gave me a serious book hangover.  When I finished I just couldn't gather the words to describe the feeling, over than heartbroken.  This left me shattered and unable to really say anything other than "I should have known!!"  My husband nonchalantly said that to me as well when he was wondering why I should have known what was going to happen.  And, guys, I really should have known.  I should have.  But I still can't believe it.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne | Review

Title: The Hating Game
Author: Sally Thorne
Pages: 384
Publisher: Willaim Morrow
Goodreads rating: 4.26 Stars
Published:  August 9th, 2016
Source: Audiobook/Library

Description:

Nemesis (n.)
1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome;
2) A person’s undoing;
3) Joshua Templeman.

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.

Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.


My Thoughts:

You know those books that everyone seems to get a hold of before you and is raving and gushing about them? That was The Hating Game for me and my bookish friends.  Everyone had read it and I was hearing so many good things about this book and just dying to read it.  Though I was warned that I would have a massive book hangover afterwards *sigh*.

I borrowed the audiobook of this from my local library, and it was more than worth the wait {though I really didn't hav eto wait very long at all}.  I blew through this book unlike any books I've read recently.  Mostly due to the stellar story, but also because the narrator was pretty perfect {she was the absolute perfect Lucy}.  I was listening to this book every second I got, including using headphones and listening in bed after both my husband and I snuggled in for the night or during my kids' nap/quiet time.

Lucy is the perfect mix of sweet and sassy, adorable and sexy.  She's like a quirky librarian, who always wanted to work in publishing and gets close to her dream job at the publishing house she works for.  She is a professional, bu also honest about her strong feeling towards Joshua.  Her strong negative feelings.

The entire office, possibly the entire company, knows about Lucy and Joshua's mutual hate.  They don't keep it a secret, and despite all the hate, they do work together rather fluidly and keep the office up and running proficiently.  Lucy and Joshua's bosses don't get along, and its almost like the two assistants are acting out all the hostility between the two companies when they merged into one.  Well, right to the brink of needing an HR intervention {or write up!}.

Joshua is written pretty dreamily.  I mean, you kind of expect that, right?  Well, he is dreamy... until he opens his mouth.  Then the banter begins, and swords {words} are flying across the office.  He evntually began to grow on me, but not before wanting to smack him upside the head.

I think it would be difficult to write a book about hating someone so much, and not completely turn off the reader to one of the characters in the hating game, but Sally Thorne knows just when to stop and how far to take the characters without swaying the reader one way or another.  I was on the fence with the characters for most of the book - no Team Lucy or Team Joshua.  I think I was honestly Team Please-Don't-Let-This-Book-End!!  It was the perfect read, and I can't wait for Sally Thorne to write some more!  *goes off to stalk her Goodreads page*