Waiting on November Nine

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

November Nine

By: Colleen Hoover

Expected Publication: November 10th 2015 by Atria Books

320 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--This is a love story between a guy (me) and a girl (Fallon).
I think.
Can it even be considered a love story if it doesn’t end with love?
Mysteries end when the mystery is solved.
Biographies end when the life story has been told.
Love stories should end with love, right?
Maybe I’m wrong, then. Maybe this isn’t a love story. If you ask me…I’d say this might even be considered a tragedy.
Whatever it is—however it ends—I promised I would tell it. So without further ado.

Once upon a time…I met a girl.
THE girl.

Love Colleen Hoover. Her books are always on my auto-buy list. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Waiting on Confess

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Confess

By: Colleen Hoover

Expected Publication: February 17th 2015 by Atria Books

320

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover, a new novel about risking everything for love—and finding your heart somewhere between the truth and lies.

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

I mean, it's Colleen Hoover. What more is there to say? Automatically added to my TBR list, but it just so happens that this sounds pretty stinking good too! What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Waiting on The Certainty of Violet & Luke

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The Certainty of Violet & Luke (The Coincidence, # 5)

By: Jessica Sorensen

Expected Publication: September 16th 2014

300 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Amazon description--Violet Hayes’s life is a mess. Between her stalker, Preston, refusing to leave her alone, her parents’ case still being unsolved, and falling behind in school, she always feels on the verge of losing it. When some unexpected news comes her way, it’s the final straw and she ends up doing something that almost costs her life. Thankfully, she survives and makes a promise to herself to put her life back together and to try and figure out exactly how she feels about Luke Price, the one person that’s always there for her.

But as a recovering alcoholic and gambler, Luke has his own struggles to overcome. He’s also fallen in love with Violet, but fears telling her the truth, that it will scare her away or worse, she won’t reciprocate the feeling. Plus, there never seems to be a right time to say it, either the case, Preston, or life getting in the way.

Can the two of them ever get enough peace in their lives to conquer their fears and finally tell each other the truth about how they feel?

What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Waiting on What If

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

What If

By: Rebecca Donovan

Expected Publication: September 16th 2014 by Forever

352 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Book Depository )

*Note: The above link to Book Depository is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--A new novel by the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Breathing Series . . .

What if you had a second chance to meet someone for the first time? Cal Logan is shocked to see Nicole Bentley sitting across from him at a coffee shop thousands of miles from their hometown. After all, no one has seen or heard from her since they graduated over a year ago.

Except this girl isn't Nicole.

She looks exactly like Cal's shy childhood crush, but her name is Nyelle Preston and she has no idea who he is. This girl is impulsive and daring, her passion for life infectious. The complete opposite of Nicole. Cal finds himself utterly fascinated-and falling hard. But Nyelle is also extremely secretive. And the closer he comes to finding out what she's hiding, the less he wants to know.

When the secrets from the past and present collide, one thing becomes clear: Nothing is what it seems.

Rebecca Donovan's Reason to Breathe was the first book I gave 5 Stars to this year. She's made the auto-buy list. I was so excited to find out that she has a new book releasing soon! What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Ugly Love - Review

Ugly Love

By: Colleen Hoover

Published: August 5th 2014 by Atria Books

320 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

Even though I’ve loved Colleen Hoover in the past (I absolutely fell in love with Slammed, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, Losing Hope, and Finding Cinderella), I was nervous about starting Ugly Love because of two main reasons. The first being that I didn’t love Maybe Someday as much as I wanted. I promise you guys, I was dying to love that book, but this one major piece of that puzzle prevented me from falling in love with Sydney and Ridge like I wanted. And the second reason is solely because of the description. No strings attached sex as the basis for a relationship (and a book) doesn’t appeal to me AT ALL. And so I really wasn’t sure that I would like Ugly Love at all. But I was wrong. And Colleen Hoover wins again.

Before I get all gushy on you guys, let me take a brief moment to discuss what negatives I do see about this book. Aside from the idea of “no strings attached sex” being something that I’m not going to support, I had a few other issues. It’s so true that like Tate, so many women out there enter unhealthy relationships thinking that they can change the other person, the nature of their relationship, or any other number of factors. That part was so real that I couldn’t fault Colleen Hoover for writing that thought process. But at the same time it’s bad enough that women out there think such things are possible, I just don’t want anyone to read this book and think that the end result of this book is realistic for their particular relationship. And I don’t want these types of relationships to be glorified at all. Is it possible? Maybe. Is it likely? Probably not.

So that leads into my next point. Ugly Love is narrated by Tate in the present and Miles in the past. Despite seeing Miles have a deep, committed, love-filled relationship in the past with Rachel, I just wasn’t sure that I could like Miles. He is almost completely emotionally unavailable. You see hints of what could be possible for Miles and Tate, but unsurpisingly, anytime Tate gets too close or Miles feels too much, he shuts down. I worried that my imagination of what actually happened to him in the past might be worse than what actually happened. My imagination caught up with reality right before reality struck. And like she normally does, Colleen Hoover weaved the events and the storytelling just perfectly for me to understand, to be unable to judge Miles (you know...until you walk a mile in their shoes), and to have me so emotionally invested no matter the outcome.

The thing I love most about Colleen Hoover’s books is the way she writes them. She blows everything I expect a book to be out of the water with her unconventional storytelling, prose, and formatting. Almost all of her books have been artistic in nature. Slammed and Point of Retreat with the slam poetry. And Maybe Someday with the song writing and soundtrack included. (I'm sure Hopeless, Losing Hope, and Finding Cinderella were too, but I can't think of a specific example right now.) And now Ugly Love. I’m not even sure I can describe this to you if I tried. It was poetic without being what I would normally consider poetic yet still what I would consider poetic all at the same time. Does that even make a lick of sense? And how she even came up with the idea to format this book like she did…MIND BLOWN, kudos, props, and anything else to the master of unconventionality. Love love love the way she wrote this book. And I love how she tied everything in without hitting you over the head with it. The use of specific words and phrases repeated with and without emphasis to connect the dots for the reader without showing them a neon sign. It’s not abnormal for me to highlight a lot while reading Colleen Hoover, but I was highlighting entire pages. Only a few books out there have ever prompted me to do that. Ugly Love being one of them.

Even though I’ve not experienced anything like what Miles has experienced, I have loved deeply. And I have hurt deeply. And I have wondered if any of it is worth the pain and the ugly parts. And that alone makes this book special. Miles has experienced ugly love and he has to learn whether love at all is worth the risk of such deep, soul-crushing pain. If you’ve never experienced ugly love consider yourself lucky. But you can’t take the good without the bad. And in my experience, no matter how deep and long and wide the pain may be, love is always worth it.

Favorite non-spoiler quotes (because believe me, there are plenty of spoiler quotes I want to include):

My arms forget how to reach out to introduce the person they’re attached to.
My heart forgets to wait and get to know a girl before it starts to claw its way out of my chest to get to her.
Rachel.
      Rachel.
            Rachel.
                  Rachel, Rachel, Rachel.
She’s like poetry.
Like prose and love letters and lyrics, cascading
down
the
center
of
a
page.
Rachel, Rachel, Rachel.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how much you miss people until you see them again.

I come to the conclusion that his appearance is completely contradictory. It’s as if two different creators were at war when he was envisioned. The strength in his bone structure contrasts with the soft, inviting appeal of his lips. They seem harmless and welcoming compared with the harshness in his features and the jagged scar that runs the length of the right side of his jaw.
His hair can’t decide if it wants to be brown or blond or wavy or straight. His personality flips between inviting and callously indifferent, muddling my ability to discern hot from cold. His casual posture is at war with the fierceness I’ve seen in his eyes. His composure this morning contradicts his inebriated state from last night. His eyes can’t decide if they want to look at his phone or at me, because they waver back and forth several times before the elevator door opens.

She watches me do my best to ignore her. She doesn’t realize she’s everywhere. She’s in everything. Every single thing has just become
Rachel.
It’s consuming me.
My thoughts aren’t thoughts anymore.
My thoughts are Rachel.
I can’t fall in love with you, Rachel.
I look at the sink. I want to look at Rachel.
I breathe in air. I want to breathe in Rachel.
I close my eyes. I only see Rachel.
I wash my hands. I want to touch Rachel..

I climb into the backseat and try to figure out where to sit. I don’t know if I should sit directly behind Miles, in the middle, or behind Corbin. Anywhere I sit, I’ll feel him. He’s everywhere.
Everything is Miles.

I should be focusing on his injury, but the only thing I can sense is the fact that our knees are touching. The hand of his that I’m not stitching is resting on top of his knee. One of the tips of his fingers is touching my knee.
I have no idea how so much can be going on right now, but all I can focus on is the tip of that finger.

Sometimes not speaking says more than all the words in the world. Sometimes my silence is saying, I don’t know how to speak to you. I don’t know what you’re thinking. Talk to me. Tell me everything you’ve ever said. All the words. Starting from your very first one.

When I kissed all the other girls, I felt pleasure.
That’s why people enjoy kissing, because it feels good.
But when you like to kiss someone because of who she is, the difference isn’t found in the pleasure.
The difference is found in the pain you feel when you’re not kissing her.

I love being with him but hate myself more and more with each new lie that passes my lips.

I’m happy, because we’re having fun together. I’m sad, because we’re having fun together. I’m angry, because we’re having fun together and it makes me want so much more of this. So much more of him.

”…I flew.”

I’m a bit torn of how to rate Ugly Love. On the one hand, I hate the no-strings-attached storyline, but this book is so much more than that. And the lessons to be pulled from Ugly Love, the emotion it triggered within me, and the beautiful way that Colleen Hoover worded, formatted, and crafted this book leaves me blown away. I’m thinking 4.5 Stars. I can’t give it 5 full stars even though I’ve debated on it because that no-strings-attached relationship is such a large part of this book. Have you read Ugly Love? What did you think? Let me know!

Delilah: The Making of Red - Review

Delilah: The Making of Red (Nova, # 2.5)

By: Jessica Sorensen

Published: March 18th 2014 by Forever Yours

95 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Novella

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--DELILAH: The Making of Red

Delilah Peirce: the Invisible Girl. Men crane their necks around Delilah just to catch a glimpse of her bombshell mother. Delilah knows looks of indifference, of friendship-but never of desire.

Then she meets Dylan Sanderson, the impossibly gorgeous guy who thinks she's beautiful. When he looks at her, she feels needed. When he kisses her, her troubles disappear. And when he tells her he will never hurt her, she believes him . . .

I read Delilah: The Making of Red after Nova and Quinton: No Regrets. Nova and Quinton: No Regrets tells you the end of Delilah’s story so there were no real surprises for me here. I think Delilah: The Making of Red is pretty vague on the outcome maybe if you’re reading it first. I debated on not reading the novellas for this series, but Nova and Quinton: No Regrets made me want to know all the side pieces that fit into the overall story. Plus they were free.

I’m glad to know more about Delilah’s background. She was a character that wasn’t easy for me to relate to in Breaking Nova or Saving Quinton. I never understood how she came to accept what was handed to her. I never understood why she stayed with Dylan. And it’s not even that I completely understand that now since reading Delilah: The Making of Red, but I do feel like I know her better.

The saddest part of all is how many young girls out there are Delilah. How many of them will end up exactly like Delilah. How many of them might not have the same fate, but will struggle to overcome and fight the same battles Delilah faced. Just knowing that breaks my heart.

Delilah is a girl who just wants to be seen. She wants to be loved and appreciated and thought to be beautiful. She wants to star in an epic role that only she can fill. But Dylan isn’t her prince charming. He sees her--sure. But he sees her as someone to be used to get something that he wants. Because Delilah is both naive and insecure, she doesn’t see Dylan for what he is. She doesn’t know that she’s worthy of being treated better—being revered. She settles. She accepts whatever pieces of attention are thrown in her direction, even the scraps.

Though this novella is extremely short, it shows how quickly we can each find ourselves headed down a path of death and destruction. It shows us how much our parental relationships play into our definition of self and how they can leave us searching for love from all the wrong places. Delilah could be any girl out there. She could be you, or your daughter, or your sister, or your friend, or your niece. Her path and her end are haunting and painful.

Ultimately, I’m glad I didn’t skip this novella. Delilah: The Making of Red gets 4 Stars. Have you read Delilah: The Making of Red? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Taking Control

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Taking Control (Kerr Chronicles, # 2)

By: Jen Frederick

Expected Publication: September 16th 2014 by Pear Tree LLC

280 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads )

Goodreads description--A slip of a woman holds me in her hands. Every dream I had of revenge, the very juice that powered my engine from age fifteen to now, is swirling down the drain at our feet. I can deny her nothing. The only thing I fear is her flight. That she will wake up from her emotional fog and realize that I am a manipulative son of a [...] who is more trouble than he’s worth.

That I’ve bought my way into her heart and life.

That I’ll lie, steal, cheat, and kill anything that would take her from me.

If the very heart of you is threatened the only rational response is to strike back harder until your enemies quake at the very whisper of your name.

What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Easy - Review

Easy (Contours of the Heart, # 1)

By: Tammara Webber

Published: November 6th 2012 by Penguin Berkley (first published May 25th 2012)

336 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Library (Anniversary Present)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret
Sometimes, love isn’t easy…

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.

A groundbreaking novel in the New Adult genre, Easy faces one girl's struggle to regain the trust she's lost, find the inner strength to fight back against an attacker, and accept the peace she finds in the arms of a secretive boy.

I’ve had Easy on my TBR list for a while now. Everyone I’ve ever seen mention it would rave about how much they loved it, so reading Easy was a no-brainer for me. I’ve read Between the Lines by Tammara Webber, and I really enjoyed it. So when Husband told me he was buying me some books for our anniversary and Easy was on sale for under $4, I had to pick it up. And I’m so glad I did. Easy was the perfect book for the mood I’ve been in lately. And it’s extremely rare that I finish a book and immediately want to turn around and re-read it. I didn’t. But only because I have so many others that I need to get to. Easy will definitely be one that I come back to for a re-read in the future though.

Jacqueline was recently dumped by her longtime boyfriend of three years. He decided that he wanted to play the field a bit and not be tied down to one person. Jacqueline was heartbroken. Not just over losing Kennedy, but over losing everything that came along with their relationship—having a boyfriend, the friends that came along with him, not being alone, always having a date to the parties, going to school together, the future they had planned. She lost all of that. During her mourning period she missed about two weeks of school and while she’s normally a really good student, Jacqueline has found herself struggling with economics. Lucky for her, her professor is lenient with her, assigns her a project to do to make up her midterm grade that she missed, and gives her the contact information for a tutor who can help her get caught up in the class.

In the meantime, Jacqueline tries to carry on with life as usual. She goes out to a party trying to pretend like everything is normal. But it’s just not. So she leaves the party early to head back to her dorm. Instead she finds herself in a situation in which so many other women have found themselves. She’s being attacked with no real way to defend herself. Fortunate for her, this guy shows up and beats the crap out of her attacker. She doesn’t know the guy, but after that she sees him all over the place. He tried to talk her into going to the hospital or the police station to report what happened, but she refuses. This puts him in a situation where he’s the only person who knows about what happened—besides her attacker—and thus they’re bonded.

There’s much I feel like I can’t share about Easy because I don’t want to give too much away. This is a book that needs to be experienced. I don’t even feel like I can discuss the characters in too much detail without giving too much away, but I’ll try.

Jacqueline could be any girl out there. I felt what she felt. From the heartbreak of her breakup, to her fear from the attack, to her guilt and anger, etc. Everything. Just about every step she made I could see myself making. I loved her character, her story, her feelings. All of it.

Erin is a great best friend and sidekick. When she finds out what happened to Jacqueline, she immediately signs the two of them up for self-defense classes. I love that about her. She makes sure that she and Jacqueline will both be empowered. They will be able to handle themselves if a situation should arise again in the future. And she has Jacqueline’s back in all things.

Lucas has it all. Every aspect a girl could want in a guy just about. I thought when he showed up to rescue Jacqueline that he would be a bad boy, but that’s not exactly the case. He’s smart, he’s capable of handling himself in a fight, he’s not afraid of his feelings for Jacqueline. He’s talented—an artist. He has a past that has shaped him, and while he still holds onto that past, he’s used it to help himself and to help others. Loved me some Lucas.

Oh you guys...I'm telling you too much. I won't discuss any more the characters. Just read this book, okay? Okay!

Book 2, Breakable, is told from the leading male's POV. *I can’t tell from the book description if Breakable is intended to be a retelling of Easy but from the other POV or if Breakable takes place after the events of Easy. Either way, I know Breakable is a book I want to read. Tammara Webber’s flowing writing style makes her books easy picks for me, but I can tell that even if Breakable is a re-telling of Easy (something I’m getting a little tired of), it’s possible that Breakable might be another Losing Hope where it’s more emotional than the original book. The history of this story makes everything magnified. So either way, I’m in.

Easy was a quick read. I blew through it in a little over 24 hours. I was hooked emotionally. And I loved every minute of it. Easy gets 5 Stars from me. Have you read Easy? What did you think? Let me know!

*Since writing this review, I've read Breakable...and it is a retelling, but more. It also includes flashbacks from the past. Review of Breakable to come.

Nash - Review

Nash (Marked Men, # 4)

By: Jay Crownover

Published: April 29th 2014 by William Morrow Paperbacks

400 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Will their past determine their future?

Saint Ford has worked hard to achieve her childhood dream of becoming of nurse. Focused on her work and devoted to her patients, there’s no room for love. She doesn’t need a guy making waves in her calm, serene life—especially when he’s the unforgettable hottie who nearly destroyed her in high school. Dark, brooding Nash Donovan might not remember her or the terrible pain he caused. But he turned her world upside down . . . and now he’s trying to do it again.

Saint has no idea that Nash isn’t the cocky player he once was. Uncovering a devastating family secret has rocked his world, and now he’s struggling to figure out his future. He can’t be distracted by the pretty nurse he seems to meet everywhere. Still, he can’t ignore the sparks that fly between them —or how she seems so desperate to get away from him. But the funny, sweet, and drop-dead gorgeous Saint is far too amazing to give up on—especially since she’s the only thing in his life that seems to make sense.

When Nash discovers the truth about their past, he realizes he may have lost her heart before he could even fight for it. Now, Saint has to decide: is Nash worth risking herself for all over again?

Nash was the perfect book for me at just the right time. I’ve been struggling to find a good, happy book that I could get hooked into and read and read until I finished all the pages. And that’s just what I got with Nash. Because Rome built up Nash and Saint’s story throughout its pages, I was so excited to start Nash. I loved having an idea of what to expect going into Nash without having too much information at the same time. I still didn’t know why Saint seemed to dislike Nash.

How Saint could have been so utterly destroyed by Nash in high school yet Nash didn’t really remember her was something that I was interested to uncover the juicy details about. Saint was an easily relatable character. She has some serious self-esteem issues. While I normally prefer to read about strong, confident females, Saint was just so relatable that I couldn’t help but like her. She does have issues, but she isn’t what I would consider a weak character. She doesn’t berate herself. She didn’t have a high self-esteem in high school and essentially she saw in others’ behavior towards herself what she expected to see. And that behavior and words she carried with her throughout college until now. Who can’t say that they haven't been there? I know I have. While I would typically categorize myself as someone with a healthy self-esteem (perhaps some would consider high), I can remember in vivid detail the day in 7th grade Music Theory class when a girl a year older than me told me that I had big legs. I carried that with me for a long time. And though I still remember the comment to this day, it doesn’t rule me anymore. But Saint had to get there too. She had to overcome, and though her journey wasn’t easy, I really enjoyed seeing her triumph over her own negative view of herself.

I loved that Jay Crownover didn’t use Nash as Saint’s “fix.” Nash didn’t “fix” her. Nash tried and tried to show Saint that he wasn’t the same person he used to be. He tried to show her how much he valued her, but he eventually learned that their relationship would never work as long as Saint viewed herself the way that she did. No amount of a high opinion from others was enough for Saint to overcome her low opinion of herself. This is so important to me, and I think essential for the young girls of the up and coming generation. It cannot be up to anyone else to define your worth. Nash isn’t a religious book by any means, but I’m going to take this opportunity to share that the Eternal God, Self-Existent Creator of the Universe placed enough worth on each and every one of us that He sent His Son, Jesus, to Earth to empty Himself of deity and become the creation, to live a perfect and sinless life and then to die, unjustly on the cross just to redeem ME (you) back to Himself. That is how much each of us is worth. God defines our worth.

Nash is a good character. We’ve seen him throughout all of the other books, and I couldn’t wait to read his story. I figured his story would be more of a struggle for me because of his known “playboy” status. Yet that really wasn’t the case. Nash knows fairly early on that he wants to explore his relationship with Saint. He doesn’t always understand what his feelings for her mean, especially in the very beginning. But I appreciated the fact that he didn’t put too much effort into fighting his attraction to her or fighting the idea of a real relationship with her. Though he never expected to settle down, he sees it happening for his friends all around him and the idea isn’t as foreign as it once was. Of course, we see Nash struggle with the revelation that Phil is his father and is dying of cancer. Watching their relationship more than anything was what brought tears to my eyes. Anyone who has witness a loved one go through cancer can relate to this aspect of the story.

The big conflict between Nash and Saint was a bit over dramatic and obvious from a hundred miles away. Saint’s low self-esteem results in some assumptions and major overreactions. I understand it all, but it was a bit eye roll-worthy. This was the only real letdown for me when it came to the book. Yet it wasn’t annoying enough to distort my opinion of the book. I love how during this part of the book Nash remained steadfast. He let Saint work through her own thoughts and feelings without resorting to any major, over-the-top romantic gestures. This particular situation didn’t require them.

The more I look back on the book the deeper I feel like this story line gets. Nash was another great installment in the Marked Men series, and I love how Jay Crownover set up Rowdy’s story as well. I wish so bad that a chapter from Rowdy had been included at the end of Nash instead of one from Better When He’s Bad, but I understand the marketing strategy there. Nash was everything that I expected it to be, and everything I needed it to be at just the right time for me. Nash gets 4 Stars. Have you read Nash? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Until We Fly

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Until We Fly (Beautifully Broken, # 4)

By: Courtney Cole

Expected Publication: July 7th 2014 by Lakehouse Press Inc

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads )

Goodreads description--Ex-Army Ranger, Brand Killien, has always been good.

A good friend, a good soldier, a good everything. .
The problem is, good hasn’t gotten him anything but a crushed heart.

So after licking his wounds, he decides to move on. And moving on doesn’t include being good anymore.

Bad sounds so much better.

Jaded and detached, Brand is determined to never open himself up to anyone again. It’s not worth the pain. Instead, he becomes closed, hardened, aloof.

But then he’s called back home for a family emergency… a family that he is estranged from. A family that he put out of his mind a long time ago for very good reasons…reasons that involve secrets and pain. Reasons he tried hard to forget.

But home is where the heart is, and it just might be where Brand finds his again.

Why? Because home is where Nora Greene is. A fiery, red-headed spitfire, Nora is a thing from his past. A beautiful, feisty thing. When Brand left, she was away at boarding school.

But she’s back now.

And she wants Brand, scars and all.

What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Waiting on Rowdy

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Rowdy (Marked Men, # 5)

By: Jay Crownover

Expected Publication: October 21st 2014 by William Morrow Paperbacks

400 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--After the only girl he ever loved told him he would never be enough, Rowdy St. James knocked the Texas dust off his boots and decided he was going to do everything in his power to live up to his nickname. Life was all about a good time, good friends and never taking much too seriously. Rowdy learned his lesson early on, when you care that much about anything it can destroy you, and he never wants to risk feeling like that again. Only now he has a new coworker, a ghost from the past who’s making him question every lesson he ever learned.

Salem Cruz grew up in a house with too many rules, too many regulations, and no fun allowed. That never worked for her so she left it all behind as soon as she could, but she never forgot the sweet, blue-eyed boy next door who’d been in love with her little sister. Fate and good intentions from an old friend have placed her right in Rowdy’s path and she’s determined to show him he picked the wrong sister all those years ago. A mission that is going along perfectly until the one person that ties them together shows up and could very well tear them back.

I've enjoyed every single one of the books in this series, and I can't wait to read this one. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Very Bad Things - Review

Very Bad Things (Briarcrest Academy, # 1)

By: Ilsa Madden-Mills

Published: September 9th 2013 by Little Dove Publishing (first published September 7th 2013)

389 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Born into a life of privilege and secrets, Nora Blakely has everything any nineteen-year-old girl could desire. She’s an accomplished pianist, a Texas beauty queen, and on her way to Princeton after high school. She’s perfect...

Leaving behind her million-dollar mansion and Jimmy Choos, she becomes a girl hell-bent on pushing the limits with alcohol, drugs, and meaningless sex.

Then she meets her soulmate. But he doesn’t want her.

When it comes to girls, twenty-five-year-old Leo Tate has one rule: never fall in love. His gym and his brother are all he cares about... until he meets Nora. He resists the pull of their attraction, hung up on their six year age difference.

As they struggle to stay away from each other, secrets will be revealed, tempers will flare, and hearts will be broken.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy... where sometimes, the best things in life are Very Bad Things.

Let me start off by saying that not everyone is going to like Very Bad Things. There’s insta-love (aka love at first sight). There’s talk of being soul-mates. There’s cheesiness. There’s ridiculously fast happy endings. But you know what? Sometimes I just need these types of books. Sometimes I like cheesy. Sometimes I need an unrealistic love story that’s going to hook me until I read every page. And Very Bad Things fit that bill for me.

Very Bad Things is told from alternating POVs between Nora and Leo. Nora is a high school senior. She’s the class president, a star debater, she’s got an IQ of 160. She’s a beauty queen. She’s a talented pianist, and she’s on track to go to Princeton. But Nora doesn’t really want any of that anymore. She only wanted it before to please her mother who demands perfection from her. But Nora’s been through some very bad things in her life and she doesn’t want to pretend anymore. Leo has recently moved to town. He’s older than Nora and solely responsible for raising his younger brother, Sebastian. And he’s terrified of letting anyone too close because he knows how quickly they can be ripped out of your life.

Nora and Leo have this moment when their eyes meet across a parking lot. I think there’s a lot to be said about the circumstances surrounding the events taking place that contribute to said moment. And I can definitely understand having a moment with someone, feeling connected, and then seeking them out after that, but it’s a bit of a stretch to say anything more than that took place within the moment. Nora is pretty set on the idea of Leo from then on out. Yet Leo fights the relationship tooth and nail for much longer than I expected.

The secondary characters could have used a bit more page time. Sebastian and Mila especially since they had the biggest roles outside of Leo and Nora. But even Cuba felt like he could have been explored more. I had many questions about Mila and Cuba. And Sebastian was just such a likeable character that I’d love to learn more about him. I’m excited to say that book 2, Very Wicked Things is Cuba’s story and I look forward to delving deeper into his character. Of course, we’ll have to wade through the man-slut to get to the good stuff, but I’m invested at this point.

Very Bad Things only had two or three graphic scenes, and as new adult books go this is pretty tame.

Truthfully, Very Bad Things isn’t one of those books that I want to dissect too much. I’m not expecting anything too deep, too philosophical, or too poetic or beautiful from a story such is this one. It was good enough that I was interested to keep reading. Very Bad Things gets 3.5 Stars from me. Have you read Very Bad Things? What did you think? Let me know!

Five Ways to Fall - Review

Five Ways to Fall (Ten Tiny Breaths, # 4)

By: KA Tucker

Expected Publication: June 24th 2014 by Atria Books

256 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Purple-haired, sharp-tongued Reese MacKay knows all about making the wrong choice; she’s made plenty of them in her twenty-odd-years. So when her impulsive, short-lived marriage ends in heartbreak, she decides it’s time for a change. She moves to Miami with the intention of hitting reset on her irresponsible life, and she does quite well…aside from an epically humiliating one-night stand in Cancun with a hot blond bouncer named Ben. Thank God she can get on a plane and leave that mistake behind her.

Football scholarship and frat parties with hot chicks? Part of charmer Ben Morris’s plan. Blown knee that kills any hope of a professional football career? So not part of the plan. Luckily Ben has brains to go with his knockout looks and magnetism. After three long years of balancing law school with his job as a bouncer at Penny’s Palace, he’s ready to lead a more mature life—until his first day of work, when he finds himself in the office of that crazy, hot chick he met in Cancun. The one he hasn’t stopped thinking about.

If Ben truly were a smart guy, he’d stay clear of Reese. She’s the boss’s stepdaughter and it’s been made very clear that office romances are grounds for dismissal. Plus, rumor has it she’s trouble. The only problem is, he likes trouble, especially when it’s so good-looking…

Nash (which I haven't reviewed yet) was the perfect book for me to help with my reading slump a while back. But after I finished it…well…it was over. I needed something else along the same lines. I literally got approved for Five Ways to Fall the next day after finishing Nash, and Five Ways to Fall was the perfect book for me to follow up with. I have to say that when I read the description for Five Ways to Fall I wasn’t excited about reading about Reese’s recently dissolved marriage. Too many marriages end in divorce, it’s really sad. But KA Tucker did the same thing to me in One Tiny Lie. She took a topic that I don’t typically enjoy reading about and wrote it in such a way that I couldn’t complain. That’s what she does. I should have known better.

Reese is sassy. She’s snarky. She doesn’t play by the rules. She’s always marched to the beat of her own drummer. She has multiple piercings, tattoos. She rides motorcycles and has a knack for getting caught red-handed (for people who have read Five Ways to Fall--see what I did there?). She loves passionately and hates just as well. So it’s no surprise that she gets married quickly, loves him passionately, and is devastated when the marriage ends abruptly. It’s also no surprise that she’s bitter and wouldn’t mind to see her ex-husband suffer just a little of the same pain that he’s caused her. At the same time, she’s pretty much given up on the idea of men and dating.

Ben, we know really well from all of the previous books. He’s a player, and he’s never tried to hide it. He’s completely upfront with Reese about wanting a good time and a good time only. No strings. No commitments. No feelings. Reese has no issues with that because she wants the same thing. And they slowly become friends. Despite the tension and obvious attraction between them, any attempts at more than friend-zone appropriate behavior is essentially spoiled time and time again. I loved this. To be so open to a lack of commitment, Ben and Reese’s relationship built so slowly. The slow build up made their relationship all the more believable. I would never have bought their relationship--considering the backgrounds of both--if they had come on hot and heavy from the very beginning.

Both Reese and Ben have some major background baggage. Reese’s father dropped her off at a diner when she was little and her mother has tried to change her into what she wants her to be all the while bouncing from marriage to marriage trying to climb the social ladder. Ben’s father has been an alcoholic for a long time--cheating on Ben’s mother and neglecting his family. These two had a lot to overcome and it’s no wonder they both have commitment issues with these parents as their only examples of what committed and “healthy” marriages should look like. Five Ways to Fall was not what I was expecting it to be, but that’s completely a good thing. It was better and more than I was expecting. Despite KA Tucker’s three previous books as proof that she wouldn’t steer me wrong, I somehow doubted. I’m not a doubter anymore and I can’t wait to read more by her. Unfortunately, Five Ways to Fall is the last planned book in the Ten Tiny Breaths series. I seriously hate that because I want more KA Tucker, but also because with each book she’s introduced other characters that I would like to know more about. She could keep writing in this series for eternity and I would be happy.

Like Ten Tiny Breaths, Five Ways to Fall was one of the least graphic books I’ve read in the new adult genre. One Tiny Lie and Four Seconds to Lose I remember being a bit more graphic, but I was impressed with Ten Tiny Breaths and Five Ways to Fall. I have a lower graphic tolerance than some so this was a bonus for me.

My favorite quotes:

I’m going to puke. I’m going to puke doing a facedown starfish if I don’t get up right now.

Mr. Cuervo and I—and all his Mexican cousins—are no longer on speaking terms.

“All out of the kindness of your heart?”
“Definitely for an organ of mine,”…

“Have you always loved yourself this much?”
“I had an awkward year in ‘ninety-nine, but I got over it quick,”…

Five Ways to Fall gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Five Ways to Fall? What did you think? Let me know!

Nova and Quinton: No Regrets - Review

Nova and Quinton: No Regrets (Nova, # 3)

By: Jessica Sorensen

Published: April 15th 2014 by Grand Central Publishing

384 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Today is the first day of Quinton Carter's new life. The toxic guilt of his past left him in pieces-but one girl unexpectedly put him back together. Thanks to Nova Reed, Quinton can finally see the world with clear eyes. She's the reason his heart is still kicking behind the jagged scar on his chest. And he would love to have her in his arms every minute of the day . . . but he's not ready yet.

Playing drums in a band and living with her best friends are just some of the highlights of Nova's life. But the best new development? Talking to Quinton on the phone each night. She wishes she could touch him, kiss him, though she knows he needs time to heal. Yet shocking news is on the way-a reminder of life's dark side-and Nova will need Quinton like he once needed her. Is he strong enough to take the final leap out of his broken past . . . and into Nova's heart?

You guys! Finally a lighter book in this series. I mean don’t get me wrong Nova and Quinton: No Regrets isn’t quite a happy-go-lucky book, but it’s definitely so much more hopeful than Breaking Nova or Saving Quitnon. Man those two books were draining. I was hesitant to read Nova and Quinton: No Regrets initially just because I still felt like I was recovering from Saving Quinton, but my SNL read it before I did and said it was much lighter. So I went ahead and picked it up. And I have to say that it took me no time to read it. I was plugging along and would look at my progress and notice I’d read 30% here and another 30% there. Took less than 24 hours to finish.

Like the previous two books, Nova and Quinton: No Regrets alternates narration between Nova and Quinton. Nova and Quinton: No Regrets is about what happens after leaving rehab. It’s about a boy’s struggle to stay sober. To finding meaning in his life again. To let go of the past that was drowning him. To stop punishing himself. It's about a girl who tries so hard to help people. She wants to save everyone. And she takes on a personal responsibility for what happens with everyone around her. Every life she touches, she’s acutely aware of her impact on that life.

Quinton isn’t sure how much of Nova he can handle in his life, but he knows that she was the one person who wouldn’t give up on him. He can’t just let her go. He knows they have a connection, but he doesn’t know if he can act on that connection. He knows that he has to get his life together alone before he has anything to offer Nova. On the other hand, Nova has gotten her life together, but she still struggles with life’s tough breaks. She knows that she wants a relationship with Quinton, but she can’t pressure him. While long distance relationships are often killed by the distance, the physical distance between Nova and Quinton brings healing to both of them. They have to be separate entities before they can become a unit. They both have more growth to do alone before being together will work.

The secondary characters weren’t as present as they could have been considering Nova and Quinton aren’t actually physically together for the majority of the book. Tristan does have a fairly present role though, and I enjoyed getting to know him better—so much that I preordered his short story, Tristan: Finding Hope. And while I was at it, I went ahead and got Delilah: The Making of Red which I’m afraid will be just as heavy, if not more so, than Breaking Nova and Saving Quinton.

Overall, I enjoyed Nova and Quinton: No Regrets much more than any of the other books in this series. While the others might have pulled some heavier thoughts and feelings from me, this book was filled with hope, which was much needed. Nova and Quinton: No Regrets gets 4 stars from me. Have you read Nova and Quinton: No Regrets? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Wreck Me

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Wreck Me (Nova, # 4)

By: Jessica Sorensen

Expected Publication: October 22nd 2014

350 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Once upon a time there was a girl named Avery Hensley who thought she’d found the guy—the one that she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with. They got married young and had the most beautiful son in the world.

Life seemed perfect.

But not everything is what it seems.

Turned out the guy had another side to him, one Avery didn’t see coming. He wrecked her and broke her into a thousand pieces that she had to put back together again. She swore off guys from then on, vowing never to let anyone hurt her or her son again. She built a wall around herself and planned on never letting anyone through it again.

But then she meets Tristan Morganson. He wrecks Avery in a different way, the kind of way that makes her feel free again, the kind of way that makes her think not all guys are bad. But can Avery trust him enough to let her wall come crumbling down?

What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

The Perfect Game - Review

The Perfect Game (The Perfect Game, # 1)

By: J Sterling

Published: October 11th 2012

379 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Borrowed from my SNL, Holly @ Words Fueled by Love

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--He's a game she never intended to play.
And she's the game changer he never knew he needed.

The Perfect Game tells the story of college juniors, Cassie Andrews & Jack Carter. When Cassie meets rising baseball hopeful Jack, she is determined to steer clear of him and his typical cocky attitude. But Jack has other things on his mind... like getting Cassie to give him the time of day.

They're both damaged, filled with mistrust and guarded before they find one another (and themselves) in this emotional journey about love and forgiveness. Strap yourselves for a ride that will not only break your heart, but put it back together.

Sometimes life gets ugly before it gets beautiful...

This is a MATURE YOUNG ADULT/NEW ADULT novel
Suitable for ages 17+
Contains strong language, sexual situations and references

I picked up The Perfect Game because my SNL and follow blogger, Holly @ Words Fueled by Love, gave it 4.5 Stars. We typically feel pretty similar about the books we read, so since she enjoyed this one so much I thought I might too. And well things were moving along smoothly until I got to about the 70% mark and then I wanted to throw the book across the room, scream and holler, pitch a fit, not pick the book back up, and ask “how in the world does this = 4.5 Stars?” So…yeah….

Jack is your typical NA male. He’s a playboy. And Cassie is your typical NA female. The one woman in the world that our playboy here could possibly turn his life around for. What I did like about this typical couple was that Jack doesn’t really seem to fight his attraction to Cassie. He knows pretty quickly that she’s different and that he wants to be different in order to be with her. He does a 180 from playboy to dedicated boyfriend pretty quickly. Cassie, of course, has trouble trusting his loyalty, especially because she has a scarred past with her father making promises that he either can’t or won’t keep. But Cassie and Jack make things work.

I really enjoyed the baseball aspect of this book. I played softball in high school and really loved playing the sport. I have to say that watching is a lot less fun in my opinion. But Jack is a superstar pitcher bound for the big leagues. And that brings with it a lot of challenges that he and Cassie have to overcome. When he does get drafted they are forced into a long distance relationship and the groupies up their game 100 fold.

The big conflict in The Perfect Game wasn’t a shocker yet it made me pretty angry. Having lived this conflict in my own life in the past, the conflict itself made me sick to my stomach. I typically steer clear of books with this particular conflict, and truthfully probably would have steered clear of this one had I known what was going to happen. But I didn’t know. So yeah. Jack made some terrible decisions throughout the latter half of this book. And while I don’t know that I could (or would) have been able to forgive him, I truly do love seeing characters take the leap and forgive the unforgiveable. It’s not shown in YA/NA literature enough that’s for sure. Characters typically seek out revenge despite how unfulfilling it is.

The ending left me torn. Mostly I felt like it was a little too pretty. Everything tied up so nicely consider how major the conflict was—forgiveness or not. While I do love HEAs (happily ever afters), this one just seemed too neat.

Ultimately, it was really hard to figure out how I wanted to rate this one. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the majority of the book (the 1st 70%), then I HATED the next 10-20%, and with the ending being just a little bit too pretty, I left like the last 10-20% was mediocre. Because of these mixed feelings, The Perfect Game gets 3 stars from me. Have you read The Perfect Game? What did you think? Let me know!

Favorite quotes:

“…I don’t trust myself with you.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “And why’s that?”
“Because I can’t tell whether or not you mean the things you say.”
He uncrosses his arms and leaned into the table again. “What does your heart tell you?”
“Who cares? My heart’s dumb! It believes anything,”…
“So your head wants proof and your heart wants reassurance?”

[have you ever thought about]"how pretty and beautiful words can be? How easy it is to say the things you think someone wants to hear. How you can affect a person’s entire day with just a few measly sentences?”
My slight smile dropped. “But when you don’t follow them up with any action, they’re completely pointless. They’re just sounds and syllables. But they mean absolutely nothing.”

Waiting on Ugly Love

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Ugly Love

By: Colleen Hoover

Expected Publication: August 5th 2014 by Atria Books

320 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

More Colleen Hoover! YAY!!!!!!! What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Just for Now - Review

Just For Now (Sea Breeze, # 4)

By: Abbi Glines

Published: October 30th 2012 by Simon & Schuster

304 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Borrowed from my SNL, Holly @ Words Fueled by Love

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above link to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The day Preston Drake figured out that wealthy women paid well for a set of tight abs and a pretty face his life turned around.

The run down rat-infested trailer he had shared with his alcoholic mother and three younger siblings was now only a place he visited to pay the bills and stock the pantry with food.

He no longer worried about his family starving or living without electricity. The money he made entertaining rich older women more than covered his family’s needs and his own. He had it all figured out. Except…

There was this girl.

She was as innocent as he was tainted.

Amanda Hardy wished her knees didn’t get weak when Preston walked into a room. She hated the fact her heart raced when he flashed his smile in her direction. He had a different girl in his bed every night. He was the kind of boy a smart girl ran from. So, why was she coming up with ways to get close to him? Even when it was obvious he wanted to keep her at a distance.

Maybe her heart knew something the world didn’t. Maybe Preston Drake was more than just a pretty face.

First off, let me just say that I really enjoyed Preston and Amanda’s story. From Breathe, book 1 in this series, I was hoping for a book about Preston. Separately, I was hoping for a book about Amanda too. It wasn’t until the previous book, While It Lasts, that I began to see that Preston and Amanda’s stories would be intertwined. Just For Now follows the new adult pattern, but it also had some unexpected gems that made it one of the better ones I’ve read recently.

Since we’ve been introduced to Preston before this book, I knew he was a player, and so I was prepared to be frustrated with his persona going in to Just For Now. I wasn’t really prepared for Amanda though. I understand having a crush on someone for years to the point of almost being willing to take whatever you can get from them, but she took that to a level I can’t condone. Of course, there’s not much I would actually condone when it comes to character behavior from most new adult books. However, despite Preston’s background and history with women—very similar to Cage—he was different. He actually wanted and welcomed a real relationship much more than most of the main male characters in this genre. Most run like crazy from the idea of an actual relationship until they're drowning in it. While Preston didn’t actually really seek out the relationship with Amanda (she did that), he found himself wanting it fairly early on—even if he didn’t belief he deserved it.

Typical of this genre, the couple encounters a temporary deal breaker. Personally there would be nothing temporary about this deal breaker were I Amanda, but as most of these books go, the couple spends some time apart, miserable, and both hurting, only to find their way back to each other.

I feel as if this review is coming off more negatively than I actually feel about the book itself. You see, I’ve read a lot of NA books lately so this has led to an overload of repetitiveness. I find myself getting sucked into these books because the characters have intense and passionate relationships and eventually overcome conflict (though the conflict usually comes from some stupid decisions the characters have made that could have been avoided). Abbi Glines is one of the masters at drawing me into this type of story. Repetitive as it may be, each one is slightly different in some areas. I love the addition of Preston’s family that he needs to take care of. That aspect reminded me of Noah from Pushing the Limits.

All in all Just For Now gets 4 Stars. Have you read Just for Now? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Beautiful Oblivion

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Beautiful Oblivion (Maddox Brothers, # 1)

By: Jamie McGuire

Expected Publication: July 1st 2014 by Atria Books

416 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster phenomenon continues in the first heart-pounding new adult romance in The Maddox Brothers series.

Fiercely independent Camille "Cami" Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.

Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt.

Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red.

As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.

In the first installment of the Maddox Brothers books, readers can experience the rush of reading Beautiful Disaster for the first time, all over again.

I did really enjoy Beautiful Disaster! This one is a must! What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

While it Lasts - Review

While It Lasts (Sea Breeze, # 3)

By: Abbi Glines

Published: July 31st 2012

304 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Borrowed from my SNL, Holly @ Words Fueled by Love

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above link to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Cage brings his playboy prowess to the countryside as the Sea Breeze hookups continue, from self-published phenomenon Abbi Glines.

Low broke Cage’s heart by getting with Marcus in Because of Low. Cage went into a tailspin that ended in a DUI. In order to salvage his baseball scholarship—the one thing he truly valued besides Low—Cage must take a summer job. At a farm. Away from Sea Breeze. With lots of cows, but no hot girls. Maybe that’s what Cage needs to get back on track.

But wait—there’s that hostile daughter of the farm boss. She’s pretty and occasionally sweet, and there seems to be a lot of sadness and mystery behind her anger. Cage is dying to strip her down—physically and mentally—in the back of the barn. But is he prepared for what will happen afterward?

Cage was a pretty present character in the previous book, Because of Low. He and Low grew up together in a bad neighborhood, and Low is the closest thing to family he’s ever had. He always thought he would eventually give up his wild oats and settle down with Low eventually. But “now” just isn’t the time. In the meantime, Marcus swoops in and he and Low are actually going to get married. Cage is okay with this because he can see how much Marcus cares for Low and he can see that he’s not yet ready—if he ever will be—to settle down. Yet it only takes a farm girl and a summer of working on said farm to wrangle him into shape.

Eva, as the description says, had her life planned out for her. She was going to marry her childhood sweetheart, Josh, until he died in the war. Eva has pretty much determined that she’s never going to love again, but life and love are rarely things that can be controlled. And of course bad boy Cage finds his way under her skin and into her heart. Because they’re kind of secluded when they first meet, Eva doesn’t see the persona that Cage presents to everyone else back home. She only sees the good in him. Until the persona is shoved into her face.

Eva and Cage’s story was fast and fun to read. It was a little "pretty" overall. And While It Lasts fell into the pattern of many, many other new adult novels. I find myself at a loss about what else to say about it. While I devoured it, it wasn’t overly original and it didn’t blow me away. I think this is a testament to Abbi Glines writing and her ability to hook me despite the predictability and repetitive plot points.

While It Lasts gets 3.5 Stars from me. Have you read it? What did you think? Let me know!