Tag: Alec

Posted in Book Tours, Emma Hart, New Adult

BOOK TOUR: Always Remember – Emma Hart

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

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It’s The Book Lovers stop on the Always Remember book tour and I shall be giving you my review 🙂

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Synopsis

How long does it take for a long-distance relationship to break down? Sixteen months.
When Jen and Carl put their relationship to rest after Christmas, Jen’s biggest problem is going back to London ten days earlier than planned – and her ever-present attraction to Samuel ‘Bing’ Edwards.
Bing has no idea why Jen

left Devon so fast. All he knows is that he wants her as much as he did the first day he laid eyes on her – so spending time with her while Lexy is still in Devon isn’t exactly a hardship for him. When he finds out she’s single, the only thing on his mind is finishing what they started at his dad’s fiftieth birthday party.
Feelings that have been a long time building between the two explode, and they both find themselves sucked into an easy yet passionate relationship, with Bing determined to prove to Jen that she’s it for him. That she is The One.
But in a city like London, the odds are stacked against them, and there’s always that one person ready to stir things up…

And Jen doesn’t know how much of that she can take – even for the guy she loves more deeply than she ever imagined, and eventually she breaks. Bing isn’t down with that. He wants Jen, and he wants her by his side for good.

Jennifer Mason must learn that Samuel Edwards doesn’t do giving up. Especially not when his forever girl is involved.

5 / 5 Stars

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My Review

“I promised you forever. When I promised you forever, I promised to love you forever too.”

Being in a long distance relationship is harder than it seems, especially when your boyfriend won’t leave the countryside to visit you in the big city. It took sixteen months for Jen and Carl’s relationship to fizzle out and break up.

Returning back to London ten days earlier than planned, her biggest problem is now her best friends brother – Samuel ‘Bing’ Edwards. Why is it a problem? Because she has been attracted to him for a long time and now she’s single, it’s going to be harder to try and stay away.

Bing doesn’t know why Jen is leaving Devon earlier than expected, but what he does know is that is desperately wants her as his. He’s waited his whole live to have her and over the past two years, since his dad’s 50th birthday and he’s waited patiently for his chance to have her. When he finds out shes single, this is his chance to prove to her he’s not a playboy anymore, he’s changed for the better and he wants her.

Their attraction to each other has been overgrowing for months, and although they throw witty and sarcastic comments to one another, they slip into an easy, yet passionate relationship with Bing determined to show Jen that shes The One for him. End game but how hard will it be to persuade her he’s changed?

Then comes along someone who is always there, stirring the pot and trying to get Bing back. It’s tearing Jen up and she doesn’t know how much she can take – even if she is hopelessly in love with Bing. It comes to a point where she can’t take it but Bing doesn’t give up that easily. He wants Jen forever and he is going to show her just how much she means to him.

What Jennifer finds out is that Samuel doesn’t give up. Especially when she is involved.

Emma Hart never fails to deliver. I have become obsessed with her books and with her along the way too. I can’t praise her enough.  I don’t know how many times I can tell her I love her and her books without sounding completely stalkerish… but I DO! Never Forget was the first book I had read by Emma and since then I have been hooked by her books and her writing style. The way she can have me hypnotized by the plot, the characters, falling in love with them, wanting to smack them, laughing, crying, cringing (In a good way), oh holy, I am like a fangirl with this author and I know she totally knows it too. I even squealed when I was mentioned in the acknowledgements. THAT mention gave me a totally massive grin on my face. So thank you my love!

Always Remember takes place a year and a half after Holding On. We last see Bing and Jen in a compromising position. Did they or didn’t they kiss? Well you find out in this book. And no, I’m not going to spoil it and say, you’ll have to read and find out yourself.

Bing drives down to Devon to pick up Jen due Lexy request. Bing doesn’t know about the break up and Jen isn’t in the mood for spill the beans. She just doesn’t want to be in a car with Bing for 6 hours. She is sexually attracted to him and being so close will be torture, so in true Bing and Jen style, they spit witty comments back and forth to one another until the snow gets too bad to drive and they have to stop for the night. That isn’t good news for Jen because it means spending the night next to Bing as they have to share a bed. No, it’s not good at all as she wants to jump his bones.

During the days before Lexy and Alec arrive home, Jen needs Bing to take her food shopping and he happily obliges. They have a snowball fight and that is where everything changes for them both.

Over the course of the book you watch Jen and Bing grow and find love together, despite the obstacles that are put in their way in the form of a jealous ex. At one point it all becomes too much for Jen to handle. Too much to continually fight against Heidi, even though Bing has no intentions of ever going back to Heidi. His love is too strong for Jen, but when it becomes too much, Bing has to fight to keep Jen his. There is no way in hell he is letting her go. He’s waited years for her to be his and now he’s got her, well she is not leaving him. Not ever.

And Sam knows the perfect way to prove to her that she is the end game.

Can Jen be real? I want her as a friend so badly. She is still sarcastic and witty and hilarious with the things she comes out with not just aimed at Bing, but towards Lexy and Alec too. I will never stop laughing at her comments. They are too comical! But you can always see shes scared to be with Bing. Scared she will be another notch on his bedpost and she doesn’t know if she can trust him. He needs to prove that she can. You can obviously see why though, from Never Forget and a bit of Holding On, but you see her grow and blossom and alright she has insecurities about being with Bing, once they get past that, her journey is one that you’re proud of. She still has a smart and dirty mouth on her but you still her fall in love, find her ‘bada bing’ and that is what I loved reading about. She may have lost her way for a while but her determination and protectiveness/possessiveness comes out in full force. I freaking love Jen and she and Bing are definitely made for one another. They are both potty mouths but together, they calm each other down and you see the love pouring for one another throughout the book. (They still bicker though, but that just makes them, them.)

Now Bing/Sam. Oh Bingaling! Can he be my boyfriend? I won’t tell the other 5000 boyfriends I have haha. Ohh he made me fall in love with him. He is definitely not the playboy he was 2 years ago.  He’s changed over the years, not wanting to whore around and wanting to prove to the one girl he’s always wanted that he’s different, that he can and will be a great boyfriend, if only she will let him. He continually proves to Jen that he’s a changed man, that she is his one. The one what he has always had a crush on, the one he wants forever. He will fight for her and prove just how much she means to him regardless of the bitch wanting them to split them up. No, no one will ever come between them. Ever. And he even demands everyone to stop calling him ‘Bing’, his name is SAM. This just proves how much hes changed during the past 2 years.

“My name isn’t Bing. It’s Sam…I stopped being Bing the second i met you. A real man gives up one night stands for the one girl he cant live without, and you’re that girl, babe. I gave it all up to give you forever.”

You see his romantic side come out and to be fair to him, although he doesn’t really know what he’s doing, by Jesus, the lines he comes out with are completely swoon-worthy (Even if sometimes they are followed by smutty comments – just the way we love him.) The way he treats Jen, and just the way he needs and wants her, oh God, I was falling in love. I keep saying it, but they really are each others ‘bada bings’. They both change for the better, make one another calmer but freaking smoking in and out of the bedroom.

Bing/Sam is still like Jen. Witty, sarcastic and smutty and of course, you all know how amazing their banter is together and when they are not together too. You will be laughing, swooning and blushing at the comments he comes out with. If I was Lexy I would be smacking his arm at the things he was saying in front of her. But it’s in all good humour though and that is what makes Jen and Sam, Jen and Sam.

Bing/Sam was with Heidi for 6 months. But to be fair to him he only went back because the sex was good. It wasn’t because of the bleach blonde bimbo. She was a bitch. She was just on a long list of girls on his bedpost. But now she is back and wanting Bing back. She wants him for one more night and Bing doesn’t want to touch her again – not even with a barge pole. He only wants one blonde and that is Jen but Heidi is making is hard on Bing and Jen and is like a boomerang and keeps coming back, no matter how many times they tell her to F**k off. She continually messes with them one too many times and that is when Bing has to fight to save his relationship. I loved that Jen put her in her rightful place towards the end, when everything worked out for her and Bing. Heidi definitely deserved a bitch slap (Not that it happened). I would be punching her face for being so pathetic enough to want Bing back after he makes it clear he doesn’t want her and for being petty and doing anything she could do to break them up. Oh gurl, you be gettin’ bitch slapped right now!

The alternative POV’s are something I absolutely love reading in books. Each character had their own personality and you could easily distinguish them, which I am so happy about as sometimes male and female POV’s in books can be a bit funky, but Emma knows how to write both male and female POVS and pure brilliance. I loved knowing Sam’s feelings and emotions for Jen and vice versa for Jen. You really get to see inside their heads and know just how much they have liked and now love each other.

Alec and Lexy as much as me? Well YAY because my fav couple is still the couple I fell in love with. They are perfect and still hopelessly in love with one another. They are a big help with Bing and Jen throughout all the drama in the book and you can really tell that they are protective with one another and the people they love. They are still the cutest couple EVER and I loved how they ended up in the epilogue. They truly got their happily ever after.

Oh god, I am not going to tell you what my favourite scene is because it is one massive SPOILER and I am in no way going to give away what happens. Let’s just say I was giddy and I cried and I cried laughed and although I loved the whole book, this is a pivotal point in their relationship and by god I freaking loved the outcome of it. They both go on a journey and for it to end that way, it was the best thing since sliced bread.

The sex scenes are pretty hot if I say so myself. There are a couple of scenes that will get you hot under the collar…they certainly did with me! Jen and Sam’s sexual chemistry is booming; its like a magnet between the two of them. You could see it slightly in Never Forget and certainly in Holding On but it only intensifies in Always Remember. When you read them, you will act like Jen, all breathy with Bing is speaking close to her. *Shiver* I sure as hell was biting my lip and there was one really intense sex scene which I was like just…holy shit yes.

It was the perfect book to finish off the Memories series. The epilogue will have you grinning at how far both couples have gone and how they are still the same people even after growing up. They still have their own personalities that distinguish they all but they still have the same over-powering love for one another, sibling love, best friend love and of course pure love for their significant other. It truly is a perfect send off knowing just how happy both couple are and knowing that they really are each others ‘bada bing.’

For those of you who have yet to discover the wonders of Emma Hart and her Memories series, then check out my review of Never Forget and Holding On. You won’t regret buying these books because you will be given romance, laughter, tears, sexy times and a whole lot of love in these British novels!

And who doesn’t love adding British book boyfriends to their boyfriend list?

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Posted in Book Blitz, Emma Hart

EMMA HART’s pre-release giveaway!

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

So I hope you are all excited to the release of Always Remember?!
I’ve read the EARC and I’ve got to say…I FREAKING LOVE IT!

Jen and Bing are just simply amazing as are Lexy and Alec (Well Duh).

So in the run-up to the release of Always Remember, Emma is doing an international giveaway for book one of the memories series – Never Forget, which is Alec and Lexy’s story and not one to miss.

You can find a teaser for Always Remember and the giveaway at the bottom of this post 🙂

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Synopsis

How long does it take for a long-distance relationship to break down? Sixteen months.

When Jen and Carl put their relationship to rest after Christmas, Jen’s biggest problem is going back to London ten days earlier than planned – and her ever-present attraction to Samuel ‘Bing’ Edwards.

Bing has no idea why Jen left Devon so fast. All he knows is that he wants her as much as he did the first day he laid eyes on her – so spending time with her while Lexy is still in Devon isn’t exactly a hardship for him. When he finds out she’s single, the only thing on his mind is finishing what they started at his dad’s fiftieth birthday party.

Feelings that have been a long time building between the two explode, and they both find themselves sucked into an easy yet passionate relationship, with Bing determined to prove to Jen that she’s it for him. That she is The One.

But in a city like London, the odds are stacked against them, and there’s always that one person ready to stir things up… And Jen doesn’t know how much of that she can take – even for the guy she loves more deeply than she ever imagined, and eventually she breaks.

Bing isn’t down with that. He wants Jen, and he wants her by his side for good.

Jennifer Mason must learn that Samuel Edwards doesn’t do giving up. Especially not when his forever girl is involved.

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Author PhotoAuthor Bio

By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to a terrible two year old and growing bump, due September 2013. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of juice and writes books. She likes to write about magic, kisses and whatever else she can fit into the story. Sarcastic, witty characters are a must. As are hot guys.

Emma is currently working too many books to even count – including Playing for Keeps, the companion book to New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel, The Love Game. She likes to be busy – unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to when all the ideas come to life.

Find Emma online at:

Blog: http://www.emmahart93.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/YAAuthorEmmaHart

Twitter: @EmmaHartAuthor Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6451162.Emma_Hart

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GIVEAWAY!!

One ECopy of Never Forget
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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TEASER!

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Posted in Cover Reveal, Emma Hart, New Adult

COVER REVEAL: Always Remember (#2) – Emma Hart

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

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Title: Always Remember (#2 Memories)
Author: Emma Hart
Release Date: May 13, 2013
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Blurb:

How long does it take for a long-distance relationship to break down? Sixteen months.

When Jen and Carl put their relationship to rest after Christmas, Jen’s biggest problem is going back to London ten days earlier than planned – and her ever-present attraction to Samuel ‘Bing’ Edwards.

Bing has no idea why Jen left Devon so fast. All he knows is that he wants her as much as he did the first day he laid eyes on her – so spending time with her while Lexy is still in Devon isn’t exactly a hardship for him. When he finds out she’s single, the only thing on his mind is finishing what they started at his dad’s fiftieth birthday party.

Feelings that have been a long time building between the two explode, and they both find themselves sucked into an easy yet passionate relationship, with Bing determined to prove to Jen that she’s it for him. That she is The One.

But in a city like London, the odds are stacked against them, and there’s always that one person ready to stir things up… And Jen doesn’t know how much of that she can take – even for the guy she loves more deeply than she ever imagined, and eventually she breaks.

Bing isn’t down with that. He wants Jen, and he wants her by his side for good.

Jennifer Mason must learn that Samuel Edwards doesn’t do giving up. Especially not when his forever girl is involved.

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Excerpt:

JEN

He chuckles low, and I suppress the shiver that’s threatening to run through my body. His hand closes around mine, and he pries the hairspray from my grip. His fingers slip between mine, his palm hot. My eyes flick to our hands and how dainty mine looks encompassed in his.

His other hand rises to my face, his thumb tracing down my cheek to the dent below my ear. It ghosts along my jaw, tracing the shape of it, and finally settles on my lower lip. He tugs it from between my teeth gently, and the pad of his thumb strokes across it.

My eyes rise to his, our faces inches from each other.

“You know it’s you, don’t you?” he says softly, uncertainly.

I nod silently, unable to form any words.

“I mean it, Jen.” He cups the side of my face. “Whatever she tries to say, it’s all lies. Even if she hasn’t said it yet, I can tell you it’s a lie.” He dips his face towards me, resting his nose alongside mine. I let my eyes flutter shut, feeling the realness in the moment.

“I know,” I whisper. “But that doesn’t mean-”

“Don’t. Say. It,” he orders in a hushed voice. “I just got you, Jen. I waited for too long to have you, but I do now, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let her get in between us. I told you, didn’t I? I told you that if anyone doubts us, if you ever doubt us, to come to me.”

“Yes.”

“Then do it. Come to me, babe. Don’t let her get under your skin. She’s nothing to me. She never was anything. Not like you.”

I run my free hand along his arm until it rests on his hand cupping my cheek. “What am I, Sam?”

“Everything, Jen. You are everything. Don’t ever doubt that.”

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 Author PhotoAuthor Bio:

By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to a terrible two year old and growing bump, due September 2013. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of juice and writes books.
She likes to write about magic, kisses and whatever else she can fit into the story. Sarcastic, witty characters are a must. As are hot guys.

Emma is currently working too many books to even count – including Playing for Keeps, the companion book to New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel, The Love Game. She likes to be busy – unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to when all the ideas come to life.

 

Links to stalk Emma:

Blog: http://emmahart93.blogspot.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17341508-always-remember

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmmaHartAuthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YAAuthorEmmaHart?ref=ts&fref=ts

 

 

 

 

Posted in Book Tours, Emma Hart, New Adult

BOOK TOUR: Holding On (1.5 Memories) – Emma Hart

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Synopsis

Living in London after spending almost twenty years in a town with a population of three hundred would be hard on anyone – and Alec Johnson is no exception to the rule.

When Alec followed Lexy to London, he knew his life would change drastically. He just didn’t know how much. With Lexy’s friends and admirer to contend with, he has to show there’s more to the country surfer boy than is ability to ride the waves. With his own shameless admirers, he has to keep Lexy’s trust – and despite her love for him, that’s no easy task.

Beneath her tough girl exterior, all Jennifer Mason has ever wanted to do is paint. London’s School of Art can give her that, and she couldn’t be happier she’s finally breaking free from Lilac Bay. What she’s not happy about is having to leave Carl behind – or his reluctance to visit her while she’s studying.

Their relationship is put to the test as living on her own for the first time and university take their toll on Jen. After all, three hundred miles is a long way to be away from your boyfriend when you’re eighteen years old.

And it’s even harder when you can’t keep your eyes off your best friend’s older brother.

5/5 Stars

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My Review

Alec has moved to London to be with Lexi. Now living in a flat, a job working with her father and having Lexi around him nearly 24/7 is utter heaven for him. That only thing is there is a guy who wants them to split up so he can have Lexi to himself. Oh no, Alec is having none of that! Lexi is his and its going to stay that way for as long as she wants him.

Jen is settling slowly in big, old London. Missing her boyfriend, who refuses to even come down, waiting for her to go back home, its stressing her out and it doesn’t help that she has feelings for her best friends brother. Their sarcastic and snappy comments have been an on-going routine but is that just to hide the sexual attraction she has for him?

Lexi is back in her hometown of London but now she feels like she doesn’t fit in with her old life. Her best friend is a bitch, her guy friend wants to split her and Alec up and she just doesn’t feel like hanging around with this people anymore. She found the real her in Devon and her real friends and she knows Jen and Alec are the real deal, not the fakeness shes been friends with for years, where she lost herself. But shes scared. Will Alec make her see that nothing is ever going to come between them?

Bing has always been a bit of a ladies’ man but he’s also always liked Jen way more than he should. During the summer, they bantered and bit at one another but now shes in London and seeing him nearly every day, the snapping as increased and so has his attraction towards her. He wants her. So will he get her?

You should all know my love of Emma Hart by now. So when I received Holding On (#1.5 Memories) I NEEDED to read it asap. Alec is my book boyfriend so I desperately wanted more of him (and of course Lexi) but also we get Jen and Bing a lot more in this novella.

Emma’s writing is faultless. She knows exactly what to do to keep you reading, to draw emotions from you, to make you laugh, cry, feel anger, you name it, Emma can do it and her writing is exactly what keeps me captivated along with her plots. She could write about a piece of cheese and it would probably hold my attention and make me fall in love with that cheese.

If you haven’t given Emma a chance, then please do, her writing style is a breath of fresh air and you will be turning pages at lightning speed, along with falling in love with all the characters. At one point I was shouting at my Kindle…at who? I’m not going to say…

NOW, if you have read Never Forget (Review can be found here) then you will know that Jen, Bing and Lexi have known each other since they were little, only recently rekindling their friendship. Jen and Bing have this love/hate relationship where they are utterly sarcastic to one another and their banter is simply amazing it was have you in stitches and going ‘ohhh he/she didn’t’. It’s totally hidden sexual attraction yet neither of them can admit it, so they keep on biting at one another.

You can see their chemistry in Never Forget and you can certainly see it turned up a notch in London. One: because Lexi is best friends with Jen, 2: Bing is now friends with Alec and 3: They all hang around together. Unlike in Devon where the comments were fleeting, there are more now they are seeing more of each other.

Poor Jen though. She’s completely uprooted of her life. She’s now in a bustling city, at university so she’s constantly busy, her boyfriend won’t visit her and shes away from her parents. It’s enough to make anyone upset but good thing she has Alec, who has also moved away from Devon too, and Lexi, who is like her soul mate and, well Bing, in some way. Although she has the familiarity of her best friend’s around her, and shes settling in despite missing Carl and crushing on Bing, she is still the witty, crazy, protective Jen we all fell in love with in Never Forget and damn straight, she will never let us forget…not that we would ever want her to change!

Bing is definitely still Bing. He’s a ladies’ man, more in his comfort zone being back at home but something switches inside of him. As I’ve mentioned, he and Jen still bicker and snap at one another, but he definitely address’s why he does this. You see him change, you see him get irritated but you also see his protective streak, not just with Jen but with Lexi. Standing up for her; he’d do anything for his sister. I loved seeing this side of Bing and I know in Always Remember we will get to see more of him all crazy about a girl…oh I’m excited just thinking about him acting this way!!

I did love that Lexi, Bing, Alec and Jen got their own POV’s during the book. We got to understand them more, since Alec and Jen had moved to London, plus we got to delve into Bing and Jen’s heads, readying ourselves for Always Remember. And because of Jen and Bings POV’s, I loved knowing that they had been harbouring secret feelings for one another, only masking them up with witty and sarcastic comments to one another, the only way they know how to cover up their feelings.

Holding On sets us up for Always Remember. We get a glimpse into the life Alec has to adjust to in London while trying to hold back an admirer of Lexi’s, who is more than certain he will split them up and get Lexi. Because of this, it’s hurting Lexi because she’s undoubtingly in love with Alec and she knows Alec loves her. He followed her to London! And would, of course, follow her to the end of the world.

Holding On definitely proves that no matter how long you how known/been together, love holds no time limit, and it really doesn’t for these two. It’s easy to see the love they have for one another is pure and strong and no one in their right mind would be stupid enough to try and break them up. They are the real deal. And don’t worry Alec (swoooon) and Lexi fans; Emma isn’t that horrible to us to break up these two. As I’ve said, they definitely are the real deal and I look forward to them in Always Remember.

The ending though!! I did chastise Emma on Twitter for it, but all is good because I know it only makes me more giddy and excited to read about Jen and Bing in Always Remember even though I want it in my hands now to read!

If you have yet to read Never Forget, shame on you. Go read Lexi and Alec’s story then come back and read more about their life and delve into the start of Bing and Jen’s. Go on, what are you waiting for?

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Author PhotoAuthor Bio

By day, Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to a terrible two year old and cooking baby, due September 2013. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of wine – well, tropical juice now – and writes books. She likes to write about magic, kisses and whatever else she can fit into the story. Sarcastic, witty characters are a must. As are hot guys. She’s working on the companion novel to her latest release and NA debut, Never Forget (Memories #1), and The Love Game (The Game, #1) will release on March 29th. She likes to be busy – unless busy involves doing the dishes. Ironically, that’s where most of her ideas come from. Her debut YA series, The Mauve Legacy, is an Apple iBooks Bestseller – and this makes Emma excited.

Stalk Emma here:

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Goodreads
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Posted in Emma Hart, Family, New Adult, Romance

Never Forget (Memories, #1) by Emma Hart

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

????????????????????????????????????????Synopsis

A city girl.
A small town boy.
A summer they’ll never forget.

Spending the summer at her Grammy’s in Lilac Bay, Devon, is city girl Alexis ‘Lexy’ Edwards idea of hell. That is, until she reconnects with her childhood friend, Jen, and meets Alec Johnson.
Alec is the kind of guy Lexy knows she needs to stay away from. He’s the village flirt, ridiculously hot and very dangerous to her self control. But there’s a problem – she can’t seem to keep him out, even though she knows he’ll break her heart.
As Alec slowly strips away Lexy’s defences and the two embark on a summer romance she never wanted, their feelings grow to more than either expected. But nothing lasts forever, and reality intrudes.
As her world is shaken to it’s core, Lexy’s self made prediction comes true when she discovers she’s spent six weeks surrounded by secrets. Kept out by her family and the only guy she’s ever trusted, she falls apart.
And when Grammy tells her that ‘you might not end up where you wanted to be, but you’ll always end up where you’re meant to be,’ she has to figure out if her meant to be is back home in London, or if it’s been in Devon the whole time

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My Review

“You have to learn …that you might not end up where you wanted to be… But you’ll always end up where you’re meant to be. Maybe Alec is your meant to be”

City girl Lexy used to spend her summers with her Grammy in Lilac Bay, Devon, but it’s been five years since she’s been there and during that time, she’s changed a lot. She doesn’t want to spend two months at Lilac Bay but when an old friend gets in touch, she soon remembers how much fun she used to have at the beach with Jen and now they are rekindling their friendship, it looks like it’s going to be a great summer after all.

But of course, you can’t go a whole summer without adding a boy into the mix and that is where Alec comes along. Handy man to her Grammy for the summer, he’s extremely good looking and very flirty and when he meets Lexy, she resists his charms, due to knowing his reputation from Jen. She doesn’t trust him but he sets out to prove he’s nothing like the reputation he has. That shes the girl he wants to be with.

But when secrets come out, everything changes. Lexy now has to decide if she can trust and forgive Alec for what he was hiding and if she can let him back in, back into her heart.

This is the first book I have read by Emma Hart but it certainly won’t be the last. Never Forget, in my eyes, was perfection. Oh I can’t tell you how much I love the book. From the first page I couldn’t put it down. It had me laughing, crying, and wanting to be in Devon with everyone, because I love Devon and have been to Barnstaple quite a few times and I love it there. Emma Hart’s imagery throughout the book had me falling in love once again with Devon. She made it picturesque, she made me want ice cream and learn to surf and have a great summer on the beach surrounded by friends and boys and of course, get my butt back to beautiful Devon.

Also how awesome is the book cover? I know they say ‘Never judge a book by its cover’ but come on, everyone does that. But I KNEW, even before reading the synopsis that I had to have my hands on this book. The cover is beautiful and romantic and lovely to look at. And the colours displaying romance and warmth and girly feelings that you can’t not look at it and think “Hm let’s see what the synopsis is about.”

The story is one that I instantly knew I had to read.

A city girl and a small town boy who fall in love over the summer. I LOVE these kinds of stories because I am a total sucker for romance and HEA’s.

Lexy isn’t happy that she has to spend two months at Lilac Bay with her family and her Grammy. Don’t get her wrong, she loves her Grammy, it’s just she’s nearly 18 and she would rather stay at home with her friends and using her fake I.D at bars. She’s not happy at all, but when an old friend, Jen, gets in touch, it seems her summer has taken a turn for the better. She knows how much fun they used to have and is glad that she has someone to spend summer with.

Her Grammy’s handy man Alec is a sight that no girl can resist, not even Lexy, even if she does deny that to anyone who asks. Jen – although friends with Alec – tells Lexy about his reputation as a ladies’ man and that in turn makes Lexy know she can’t trust him, so she isn’t fazed by his comments and lets him know that nothing will ever happen between them. She isn’t looking for a summer romance and wants to protect her heart.

But Grammy has other plans and sets it about herself to play cupid. So the more time they spend together, the more that Lexy tries to hold onto her heart but its failing. She’s beginning to see Alec in a new light and it’s scaring her. He’s pushing his way into her heart, but she is with his heart too.

Taking a chance on him, they both open themselves up to each other and fall in love. But then the worst happens and Lexy’s world crushes beneath her. Her family have betrayed her, Alec has betrayed her and the pain is unbearable. Alec and Lexy are heartbroken but he’s determined to make her never forget the time they spent together even if she decides she can’t forgive him for keeping the secret that everyone knew but her.

I have to start off by saying that I absolutely loved Lexy’s whole family. They were amazing to read. They were so close and their banter with one another, oh my, it had me laughing so hard at the things they all came out with, especially Grammy. She’s one hell of a character and was such a great read. I loved everything that came out of her mouth. She seemed like such fun to be around and I would loved her to be my Nan, to give me banter, to tease me and to give me advice when I would be angry/confused/lost/happy – just like Lexy was throughout the book.

Lexy, as her mother called her, was a control freak. She doesn’t want to be in Lilac Bay, she wants to be in London, but day by day, she’s pushing her up-tightness out the window and becoming someone else, someone better. Shes having fun, she’s renewing her friendship with her crazy friend Jen; she’s meeting new friends (and love interest) and is letting her hair down. I loved her journey from being closed up and not wanting a summer romance, to just focus on school to falling in love and letting her defences down. It’s great when you see a character change in them – for the better and grow into the person they were meant to be – just forget along the way.

I have to say, I have a new book boyfriend. ALEC! Oh how you stole my heart from the word get go. He’s confident, cocky, and flirty but he’s also incredible loyal, he’s a sweetheart and he would do anything for his friends/the people he loves. Although he does have a reputation as a bit of a ladies’ man, which is why Lexy was cautious and found it hard to trust him, she too, broke his walls down bit by bit and made him actually have feelings for a girl for the first time. To actually want to be with them and not have them be a one-night stand. I loved watching his journey and growing into himself. I loved watching him fall in love and actually mean it. I loved watching him prove he wasn’t what his reputation deemed him and that Lexy truly was the one person he cared for deeply and the first girl he had ever loved – and will probably only love.

The supporting characters were brilliant. Jen is crazy but loyal and she will tell Lexy how it is but always be there for her. I can’t wait to read her book when it’s out. I know it’s going to be a great one!

Bing, Lexy’s brother. Oh he had me in stitches. Their banter to one another is out of this world. They bicker like siblings do, but you can see that anyone who touches Lexy will get a fist in his face. He’s protective of his little sister but he does love embarrassing her in front of Alec. I would just love for him to be my brother (And I do have a brother). His and Jens book. Well, I can’t wait. I could really see the chemistry between them so I can’t wait to see what happens with these two.

I truly loved the ending. It was reminiscent of her parent’s past and I just cried at it because it was perfect. Perfect for these two who know it’s more than a summer romance and know that they don’t want their love to end at all. What Alec said, oh, I fell in love with him even more. He and Lexy are so right together. They bring out the best in one another and for him to go to all that effort to be with her, I command him!

Emma Hart has written a fantastic novel in Never Forget. You will have laughs, you will cry and you will feel the pain that Lexy felt when her world crushed beneath her. It’s a truly wonderful coming-of-age book. You watch a great family bond become even closer, you watch friendships rekindle, you watch a love affair grow but most of all, you watch two people change right before your eyes, into the best possible person they can be, together and alone.

There were also dual POV’s, so we got to see both Lexy and Alec’s thoughts and feelings towards one another. I love it when an author does this, because it’s mostly the girls feelings we get and we have to guess whether the guy is genuine or not. But Alec’s POV’s were truthful and you could really see how much he wanted to prove himself to Lexy and how much growing up he did. It was real.

I really, really, really recommend this book because one page in and you will be hooked right to the very end. The writing is a breath of fresh air, the plot flows and to be honest, there isn’t enough words to tell you how amazing Never Forget is.

I’d also like to add that I’m super excited for book two, Always Remember, focusing on Bing (I love him) and Jen. It means more Lexy and Alec which is going to be awesome!

Posted in Romance, YA

Such A Rush – Jennifer Echols

Posted on by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

When I was fourteen, I made a decision. If I was doomed to live in a trailer park next to an airport, I could complain about the smell of the jet fuel like my mom, I could drink myself to death over the noise like everybody else, or I could learn to fly.

Heaven Beach, South Carolina, is anything but, if you live at the low-rent end of town. All her life, Leah Jones has been the grown-up in her family, while her mother moves from boyfriend to boyfriend, letting any available money slip out of her hands. At school, they may diss Leah as trash, but she’s the one who negotiates with the landlord when the rent’s not paid. At fourteen, she’s the one who gets a job at the nearby airstrip.

But there’s one way Leah can escape reality. Saving every penny she can, she begs quiet Mr. Hall, who runs an aerial banner-advertising business at the airstrip and also offers flight lessons, to take her up just once. Leaving the trailer park far beneath her and swooping out over the sea is a rush greater than anything she’s ever experienced, and when Mr. Hall offers to give her cut-rate flight lessons, she feels ready to touch the sky.

By the time she’s a high school senior, Leah has become a good enough pilot that Mr. Hall offers her a job flying a banner plane. It seems like a dream come true . . . but turns out to be just as fleeting as any dream. Mr. Hall dies suddenly, leaving everything he owned in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. And they’re determined to keep the banner planes flying.

Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business—until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly.

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My Review

Leah Jones has moved from town to town, trailer to trailer all her life due to her mother always moving them when her boyfriends tell her there is a job for her and now she is finally living in Heaven Beach, in a trailer park next to a small commercial airport.

Leah, at 14, gets picked on at school and her only escape is her job at the airstrip, working for Mr. Hall at his banner advertising business. She can only do office work but it’s her dream to fly an airplane, so when she has saved enough money from her wages, she forges her mums signature and hands it over to Mr Hall, in exchange for a flying lesson. And so it starts.

Fast forward three years and Leah is now flying planes for Mr Hall and she loves it. There’s nothing better than being free in the air, controlling her own destiny and not having to worry about life when shes in the air.

Mr Hall has three sons, Grayson and Alec, who are twins and Jake, who is older than the twins. Although Leah doesn’t know them, she sees them when they visit their father but they don’t associate with her as they think they are ‘above’ her and that shes having an affair with their dad – they cant be further than the truth as Leah thinks of Mr Hall as a surrogate dad.

When Mr Hall dies, from the stress of Jake dying in the war, Leah has no idea what she is going to do as she assumes the business will shut down and she will be out of a job. But instead, Grayson and Alec decide they are to keep the business and keep Leah as a pilot – although Grayson has other ideas and blackmails her in return for keeping her job.

This is where all the major drama appears. Being blackmailed into dating Alec, even though she has no idea why she has to date him as Grayson won’t tell her, you can see the torment in Leah as she needs to keep her job but then she doesn’t like Alec that way – its always been Grayson she has liked, but she really needs the job and so she agrees, reluctantly.

During the course of the book, you see the emotions of all the characters, especially Leah and Grayson. As much as he wants to stay away, he looks out for Leah when her mum isn’t there – which is most of the time – so when a storm is brewing, he takes her to safety, away from her metal trailer to the basement in the airstrip and that is when you know, that he is totally in to Leah, even though he doesn’t want to admit it. But throughout the book, parts where she has to pretend to like Alec, you can figure out his jealousy over the two of them, even though Leah only thinks of Alec as a brother.

Over due course, it was obvious that Grayson had feelings for Leah, and he knew she liked him but he wouldn’t do anything about it. It was about keeping Alec at the airstrip and putting him first before himself, which is actually really nice of him to do, but it hurt Leah to be blackmailed when all she wanted was for Grayson to see her. When he finally got his act together, i was smiling so badly! My poor, flawed, jealous Grayson, you finally got what you have wanted all along.

There is so much more that I would love to talk about, but I don’t want to write a massive spoiler before you are all read it. Let’s just say, there’s an accident which makes characters shift their butts into gear and i was so glad of the ending. It was super cute that all the characters got a happy ending and ended up with the person they wanted to be with.

This is the first book i have read from Jennifer Echols but it certainly wont be the last. I absolutely loved this book and it had me hooked. I read this when I had free time during my holiday to Paris and this story was all i could think about all day until we would come back to the holiday to relax before going back out. When a book gets to me like this, you know its a great read!

Read this book, if it’s the only one you do.