relationships – Z. Elizabeth

BOOK TOUR: Just Breathe – Rachel Brookes

Posted on July 8, 2013April 5, 2014 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

For Savannah Rae, living life without her parents was unimaginable. But being blamed for her first love’s suicide? That destroyed every part of who she was.

Gone were the days of innocence, happiness, and dreams. Now her days simply meant attempting to survive. In her mind, her only means for that was replacing her grief with men, booze and the fast life. And for five years, it worked.

When an opportunity to leave the nightmares of her past in Australia opens up, she takes it. Los Angeles beckons – with hopes of late nights, new beginnings, and the promise of a string of endless men to distract her, she can’t wait to dive in.

One thing she didn’t count on was meeting her match.

In the eyes of outsiders, Tate Connors has it all; the ultimate LA bachelor who is content with his lifestyle of wild nights, women and one night stands. He’s Mr. Unpredictable with looks that could destroy any woman with one glance.

The craziness of Los Angeles throws them into the chaotic path of each other. Savannah becomes the perfect game, and Tate becomes the ultimate prey. Lines are crossed, emotions are smashed, and the idea of who they truly are begins to be tangled.

However, one thing will become clear.

They are more alike than either one could ever have imagined

5 /5 stars

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My Review

“Yes, I don’t own you, Savannah, but you know what? You fucking own me. You have since the first time I met you…”

I’ve known Rachel for a few months now, and I have been utterly peeing my pants over wanting to read Just Breathe, I even made her send me small teasers – okay, that’s a lie, she voluntarily sent me teasers in a DM during the countdown to me getting an ARC of Just Breathe. I’m such a lucky girly! I got more Tate 😉

I’m not sure if I should be telling you this but blah…a few days before I got my ARC, Rachel sent me the prologue and chapter 1 and 2 to tide me over until I got the little gem in my inbox. LIKE WHATTTT, I need more. But I didn’t get anything more. I was and still am under the Tate Connors effect and dear god, all you will too when you read Just Breathe. It’s hard to resist.

As a debut novel, Ms. Brookes has written a cracker of a book. Seriously, it is amazing, and if you haven’t yet downloaded it, I’d get right on it!! From the prologue you will become hooked. You may cry – I sure as hell did and you will swoon because the prologue is just so sweet. It pours with love and Rachel does a brilliant job of making you feel the emotions of the characters involved, especially Sav and Tate.

Rachel’s writing flows, the plot flows and once you start, you will neeeeed to get to the end, to see what happens. If there is a cliff-hanger or if it ends perfectly so book two will carry off from there? If you follow me on twitter, you will know from my posts how much I was loving this book, how much I was loving the characters and how every time I was reading in public, it was like Rachel knew I was surrounded by people so a sex scene had to come alone and get me all hot and bothered.

But because I love Rachel, I could let that go and just focus on the beauty of all the characters, the way they all love each other and of course, the love between Tate and Sav.

Savannah ‘Sav’ Rae hasn’t had the best life; it’s been hard to say the least. Losing her parents at a young age, and then being blamed for the suicide of her ex-boyfriend can turn anyone’s life upside down and so because of this tragedy so doesn’t want to give her heart away again, so she rebels, she becomes a player, she drinks away the pain and uses guys. That’s who Sav is now and it’s how she copes. But when an opportunity to leave Australia and start afresh in LA calls, she jumps at the chance to leave everything behind.

Tate Connors is the ultimate playboy. The ultimate bachelor who is completely content with his ways; booze, girls and wild nights. With one glance of those blue eyes and he can have girls dropping their panties in an instant. Then one spot of Sav and he knows shes a challenge. He wants her and it seems that from the looks of things, she wants him too.

But there’s more to them than meets the eye. What started as a challenge has turned into more, for both of them and with emotions and lines being crossed and tangled, one this is clear, they are more alike than either of them imagined.

Uhh Tate. The blue eyed sex-on-a-plate guy, who you would literally just want to devour, even if it was just for one night. You would definitely get a fix of him and one look and you will be under the Tate Connor’s effect and drop your panties and mumble incoherent words while he smoulders you with his eyes. NO, I am not overreacting, just you wait and see. Tate will surprise you throughout the book. He surprised me a hell of a lot and I loved that about him. He really is unpredictable. One minute hes douche then the next hes all lovely. Much like Sav, hes a broken man, his past still haunts him but he drinks and sleeps around as a persona, to hide away the pain. That is until Sav walks into his life. Once a to him, she switches him upside down until he doesn’t know what the hell he is doing, apart from wanting to be with Sav.

Despite his playboy nature at the beginning, you really do see Tate blossom. You see his protective side, his possessive side, his sweet side, his sexy side but also his vulnerable side, a painful side where we learn about his past too. We see him journey, from playboy to falling in love and it was so nice to see Tate find someone he could love so much and who reciprocated the feelings. He is a jealous boy and at times I wanted to smack him around the head because he was being a silly fool but he got there in the end and you just fall in love with him. Here is to book two and seeing how he and Sav progress with their relationship. DO NOT hurt my boy Rachel, or I will hunt you down in Aussieland and force you to change the book…but you already know this as I have told you I will do this!

Sav is such an awesome character too. Despite her past and her pain, she is strong. She has to be, she can’t let it get to her, so the drink and the partying and the guys become the norm for her.

She is the female equivalent of Tate and when she spots him, she notices all the moves he does, because she does them too. She sleeps with guys then leaves but something about Tate makes her insides fuzzy and she feels. She doesn’t want to though and not feeling helps her with to not deal with her past and the pain.

Despite her being a strong, independent character, you slowly watch Sav break – in a good way – and watch her develop feelings – for her best friends and for Tate. They scare her as she has never really had a girlfriend before and she doesn’t want to love after being told shes the reason her ex killed himself. But it was refreshing to see this side to her. The side where she was vulnerable to love and how her strong persona cracked a bit when a certain event happen on a day where it was such a big night for her.

Despite all this, Sav can really hold her own against everyone, especially Tate and I loved their bickering and banter and their fights. It all added into the sexual tension and the need for one another when they were resisting. But of course, with two gorgeous people wanting to jump one another, it was inevitable that it was going to happen sooner or later.

Tate and Sav have this connection. Like this super sexy and magnetic connection. It’s instant, the moment their eyes meet and you can see they are both affected by one another. Their sexual tension was just holy hell. Their chemistry was electric and you could literally feel it when you read about the two of them together. The banter they gave each other was hysterical, the cute moments were adorable and they were both just made for one another. They had both been dealt the same shitty cards in their life that together, they knew what the other was going through and could begin to help one another out. I loved Sav and Tate together.

I absolutely adore all the secondary characters. Seriously they are the bomb. The bond they have is just unbreakable. They are there for each other; they love one another unconditionally and have each other’s backs. I love friendship groups like this, who can just relax and make fun of each other and banter like hell. Tanzi, Jack, Lucas are just all brilliant and they welcome Sav with open arms.

Now, I can’t forget my love – Mr Davenport. He is swoon worthy and had me from the get go. I went a bit mad to Rachel over him when I first read him because he is bleeding awesome. This line from him just confirmed how bloody brilliant he is and I knew that my love for him would jus grow throughout the book and it did. Simon Baker is my Mr. Davenport.

“For the last fucking time, please call me Simon. You make me sound like some kind of pimp when you call me Mr. Davenport”

Can you see how much I love this guy?! Just remember, I have dibs on him. Yupp, I really do.

Now, after my swooooooning, I have to talk about the sex. C’mon, would you expect anything less from me? No? That’s better. You all know I love sex in books, and by god, Rachel got me all hot and bothered with the sex scenes between Tate and Sav. There a quite a lot and by god, you literally lap them up. Rachel knows how to write a sex scene that is intense and steamy and wants you just want to fan yourself and then search for your own Tate to jump on. They sizzle, burn, pop and where they have sex is just another thing. I love water hahaahha 😉

As I’ve said, Just Breathe is an amazing book. Its full of banter and angst and heartache but its filled with love and friendship and it was a great book to snuggle up in bed with and read on the way to work…baring in mind most of the sex scenes occurred on the way to work.

I would highly recommend Rachel’s book to you lovely lot, you will not be disappointed. I just wish book two was out now so I can carry on Tate and Sav’s journey.

Hurry up Aussie 😉

Book Tours

BOOK TOUR: Fall from Love – Heather London

Posted on June 25, 2013June 15, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Today is The Book Lover’s stop on the Fall From Love book tour. I will be sharing my review with you.

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Synopsis

Struggling to put her life back together after a tragic mountaineering accident kills her college sweetheart, twenty-one-year-old Holly Treadwell is trying to set aside her grief, forge ahead in school, and find herself again.

When Carter Hansen, a guy who brings back horrible memories from the night of the accident, finds his way back into her life, Holly’s unsure if she should let him in. He terrifies her in more ways than one and invokes feelings in her that she thought were buried forever. Regardless of her fears, she knows she must face him in order for her heart to heal.

Everyone tells Carter that what happened on the mountain that night was just a terrible accident, but even then, he can’t help but carry around the guilt and is unable to forgive himself. He’s drawn to Holly and being near her helps ease his conscience and gives him the release he needs.

As Holly and Carter’s relationship grows, they begin to realize that the more time they spend with one another, the more their wounds begin to heal—her grief and his guilt. But when Holly learns the details about the night of the accident—what everyone has been keeping from her—it will rip open old wounds and tear apart what they’ve both worked so hard to overcome…

4 /5 stars

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My Review

If Holly could rewind that night, she would have never let college sweetheart walk out the door. That night changed everything and since her boyfriend died after a tragic mountaineering accident, she is struggling to put her life back together. With the help of her best friend Jenna, she is trying to put her grief aside and get on with her life. But it’s just hard.

Carter Hansen was with Holly’s boyfriend the night of his death. He brings back horrible memories from that night but he finds a way back into Holly’s life. He just wants to know shes okay and he wants her to know the truth about that night too. Although she doesn’t want anything to dowith him, the more time they have to spend together, the more they become friends. He evokes felings in her she thought she’d never feel, but shes scared.

Carter has seen more death in his life than he should have and even though everyone tells him that night wasn’t his fault, he can’t help but feel guilt and he can’t forgive himself. He needs to forgive himself but he needs Holly to understand the truth of that night first.

What happens when their relationship grows, their wounds begin to heal but Holly finds out about that night? That everyone knew apart from her? Will it tear Holly and Carter apart?

When I saw Fall From Love was having a tour, I literally signed up that very moment. I had read the synopsis and had wanted to read the book asap. As soon as it was gifted to me, that was it. I HAD to read it. I was pulled in from the very first page and from then on, I was sucked in and had to get to the end, to know what was going to happen and see the journey that Holly (and Carter) take, along and together.

Ms. London has a way in which she captivates you within the fiction world. She wrote characters in which you care for. You feel for them, whether it’s to smack them across the head, cry for them, want to give advice or want to be their friend, I felt this way with Holly. Wanting to help her through everything she was feeling, wanting to get her to open her eyes, but then I felt the same with Carter too.

You really do go through the motions. You cry, laugh, swoon, want to beat them around the head, want to shout, throw your kindle down, have your own heart aching, but I love these emotions. It made the book and the pain of what Holly and Carter had been through real.

Carter – I loved him. I can’t reiterate how much I loved reading about him. He’s broken, having known so much about death in his 22 years. He has guilt pouring through him, he has pain pouring through him and since that night of Adam’s death, all hes wanted to do was protect Holly. His caring side showing through. Wanting to make sure she was okay, wanting to save her really from the grief that overtook.

Although consumed with pain, feelings shone through Carter. Feelings that he didn’t really understand but feelings that he welcomed, even if he couldn’t share them. He was a great character, he was funny and sweet and vulnerable too. You wanted to help take away the pain, be there for him, be his friend, be his girlfriend. Help him through the night of Adam’s death that he held onto so badly.

But he was a dipstick at times. He wanted Holly, he wanted her more than a friend but he was scared. Scared of losing her, of losing her if things didn’t work out and scared of telling her the truth. You just wanted to smack him across the head and tell him that Holly wanted him too and to just go for it. You could see the confliction go through him. He had lost so much and if he lost Holly too, it would kill him. The journey he takes, you see him forgive himself, fall in love and revert back to his old self, the person who is happy and loved up. It was a great sight to see.

I loved Holly and her journey. You see her retreating, and rightly so when her boyfriend Adam dies. You see the pain, the grief, the longing for him to be there with her. She just can’t get over the fact that one night he was there, and the next he was gone. Ripped from her. Her pain eats her up.

Her journey is a tough one. She takes it day by day. Some days are good, some are bad, but she proceeds to try and get over her grief with the help of her best friend Jenna and Carter. You see her become stronger day by day, fall in love with Carter, but shes petrified of her feelings. Her feelings for Carter and scared about losing him, as he is too.

There is such a strong connection between them, that they try to ignore it, but they both feel it. With the help of loved ones, she finally breaks down the barrier she has up, she lets go of her pain and the grief she holds onto and although she will always love Adam, she loves Carter. When a certain situation happens, you see just how much she loves him, going to him, waiting for him and showing him that he won’t lose her.

I loved watching her grow, loved watching her become herself again, finding herself, finding love and becoming the strong girl she used to be.

There love was a slow build up. From friends, to best friends, to lovers. It was great to see their relationship move slowly, getting to know one another, falling in love over time. Nothing was rushed, it was taken at a steady pace and even though there were so hiccups along the way, everything turns out fine in the end. Everything is sorted out and they finally succumb to their feelings, after shying away and hiding them for so long. Afraid to change what they had together.

My favourite scene includes Carter and Holly. It involves a night when Carter is mountain rescuing and Holly is freaking out. I’m not going to say anything else about what happens, but it’s a pivotal point between these two and one that changes their whole relationship. For the better or for worse? That is something that you need to read to find out yourself 😉

Jenna and Josh (Carters bff) are amazing secondary characters…okay they aren’t so secondary as they are literally a foursome, they all do everything together. They are so cute and funny together, you can see the love they have for one another and for their respecitive best friend. Jenna is awesome, she is always there for Holly, through thick and thin and she will do whatever she can to make sure Holly can get through Adam’s death and slowly convert back into the old Holly, the one who was full of life. She’s there to help her heal. Josh is the same with Carter. Carter and Josh have been best buds since they were little and have been through so much together. Both friends just want to see their friends happy….with each other as its obvious that Holly and Carter want one another. They say the best things to push them together and I loved Josh and Jenna, together, in their relationship and as friends to the two.

Fall From Love is an emotional journey. A journey of grief, friendship, love and overcoming your past to focus on your present and future. It truly was a great book to read, and I would recommend it to all you lovely people to grab your copy and become engrossed within the story of Carter and Holly. It’s definitely real and heart-clenching and a book that should be read by everyone.

Guest Reviews

GUEST POST by Emma Louise

Posted on May 27, 2013May 27, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Hello to all of Zoe’s readers, I’m sure there are a lot of you. Zoe has kindly asked me to be a guest blogger for today, so I’m here to thrill you with a little bit of information about myself and my own blog before allowing you to read one of my short stories.

My name is Emma and I have two writing degrees under my belt. I’ve been studying at Edge Hill University for the past four years. The first three where spent doing a Bachelor Honours Degree – Creative Writing and Film Studies. I then stayed on to do a Masters Degree in Creative Writing. I’ve absolutely loved my time at Edge Hill, and it’s really sad that it’s now coming to an end.

I’m a romance writer. I enjoy writing about situations that would happen to a lot of people. I’m currently working on my manuscript that will be handed in for my final Masters piece later this year and then I hope that I can one day have it published for the world to see. I already have an idea for the sequel… Eager much? I love writing and reading about relationships. They happen all over the world. They can be formed and broken within a second and it’s refreshing to think of all the different situations that relationships can be placed in.

If anyone is interested in my own blog, please do look at it: www.emmaiswriting.wordpress.com and if you like, you can also follow me on Twitter: EmmaIsWriting

For now, please enjoy my short story…

Courage

Two months ago, he cheated on me. Five weeks later, I walked away from him and what was left of our relationship. I know you probably think that I’m crazy for not leaving him sooner, but I need you to understand something. It wasn’t easy. Leaving someone who you have loved for four and half years is never going to be easy.

When he told me what he did, I didn’t cry. I just felt numb. His words found it impossible to sink in. A couple of days later, I wrote a list containing reasons why I should no longer be with him. It started off as half a page long, but gradually, it grew as I continued to remain as his girlfriend. The list is currently five pages long…

46. He cheated on you

47. He hasn’t apologised for cheating

48. He dripped ice cream in your new car

49. He never said “I love you”

50. He cheated on you

The list still helps me to deal with what happened. Sometimes I repeat what I’ve already scribbled down to make an imprint of the hurtful reality in my mind. I don’t want to go into details. But as you can imagine, it took the cheating rat a lot of courage to tell me what he did. Let me tell you something, he may look just as good as James Bond in a tux, he may be a good chef, he may be wealthy (no thanks to his father!) and splash out on luxurious holidays for us, but none of that matters. Money can’t fix problems. Once a cheat, always a cheat.

I bet you’re dying to hear about the slapper who he had a one night stand with? Alright then. She’s a slapper, a home wrecker and an idiotic fool. Did I forget to mention that she’s married? I’m not one to gossip or bitch about other women, that’s not who I am. When I was in my teenage years, my mum taught me that bad mouthing other women wasn’t good for the soul and that if I spoke one bad word, karma would soon be up in my face. But this woman, whoever she is, has the right to be slagged off. What she did was wrong. Not only did she hurt me, but she also hurt her husband. That’s even if he knows, poor man.

I know that wasn’t really bad mouthing her but to be quite honest, I’d rather not waste my breath on the low life bitch who ruined my relationship with the one man I’ve ever truly loved. She’s not the person who betrayed me. She’s just the woman who was chosen for a quickie. I really do hope her husband finds out about what she did and that he divorces her ‘it meant nothing!’ sorry ass and takes every single penny away from her. She deserves to be thrown in a gutter and left for the tramps. Slut.

If you’re wondering why I stayed with him, the answer is simple: I wanted us to work. Yes, I know that I should have left the moment he told me he had cheated, but despite everything he did, I still found myself being madly in love with him. Yes, there are some days where I’d love to go running back into his arms, act like all has been forgiven and carry on like normal. But then, there are those days when I want to knock on the front door of his house and smack him in the face with a frying pan. Problem is, I wouldn’t know what to do with a dinted frying pan.

The man I loved cheated on me. Those worthless few moments with a stranger ruined our relationship. Here I am, three weeks later, gluing my life back together.

This is my story.

A week after the news of the cheating scandal broke, he told me to pack a bag for a weekend trip away. He gave me two clues – bring clothes that I’m comfortable wearing in all day and that I won’t need my passport.

“Can you not just tell me where we’re going?” I asked. This had been the second time I’d questioned him. But to my dismay, he still refused to give me an answer.

“Just, trust me on this one. Okay?” We were sat in the living room. He was slouched in his leather arm chair, eating a packet of prawn cocktail crisps whilst watching a documentary on the television. I, on the other hand, was sat up right. I’d been on edge for the past week since he told me of his filthy, disgusting affair.

“Really? You want me, your faithful girlfriend of four and a half years, to trust you, the man who just had a one night stand with some random slapper?” I wasn’t trying to start an argument. He shouldn’t have used the word ‘trust.’

He sat up; his hand was still inside the crisp packet. His blue eyes looked directly at me. He was trying to win me over with his devilishly handsome good looks.

“Babe, I know what I did was wrong, and I don’t blame you for being angry at me. But I’m just trying to fix this mess.”

I began to shake my head. He reached for another crisp out of the packet and shoved it in his mouth like he’d never eaten before. I didn’t respond. A little voice in my head told me to tell him that this was his mess and that he should fix it. But I knew he wouldn’t. So I took the easy option and found myself walking up the stairs, ready to pack for the weekend.

Early the next morning, we were sat in the waiting room of the train station, waiting for the train to take us to god knows where. Out of the kindness of his cold, selfish heart, he had gone to the trouble of picking up my favourite sweets, my favourite soft drink and bought the sequel to the latest book that I had almost finished.

He had booked the tickets online and collected them from a middle aged woman who worked behind the counter. She was chubby, happy looking, with a smile plastered on her face. I couldn’t tell if she was laughing in response to something he had said or she was just being polite. I couldn’t see his face so I moved over to the vacant seat next to me and leaned over to the right as I rested my arm on the cold metal handle. My view became better. raised my eyebrows as she titled her head back and laughed. As she brought her head back to the normal position. Her eyes locked with mine. She was probably clueless that the attractive man stood in front of her had a girlfriend of four and a half years. Dumb bitch.

“I want us to try and enjoy the trip. Okay?” After he had collected the tickets, he took the seat next to me. The woman behind the counter kept herself busy on the computer beside her, trying to avoid eye contact with either of us. “Let’s just forget about that silly little thing that happened and move forward.” He placed his hand on top of mine. He turned his head to the left, and began to admire a bunch of girls who, I’d say, were in their late teens.

I began to mutter under my breath, not wanting to cause a scene in public.

“How do you expect me to forget that you cheated when you’ve just been flirting with the ticket woman and now you’re checking out girls who are younger than you?” I pulled my hand out from underneath his in disgust. “You disgust me.” I turned my head to the right, not wanting to see him drooling over foolish girls.

“Did you say something?” He asked. I looked back at him as he rose from his seat. Had he really not heard me or was he just ignoring what I had said? I didn’t have time to repeat myself. “Come on. We’ll go sit outside and wait for the train there.” He took his bag and my suitcase out of the waiting room and into the warm August air.

As the train pulled up at our destination, I began to recognise the surroundings. We were in Edinburgh, the city where we randomly met. I looked to my left to see his face. He was smiling. Not a fake smile, you know the smile when you can tell someone is happy. He didn’t have the right to be happy, not after what he had done.

The sky was dark. Rain clouds had grouped together, storming up a wild water shower on the people down below. The station was being remodelled, yet it was still open to the public. Train stations just can’t shut down. People have places to go, places where they may meet someone, to change their lives.

“Are you excited?” He nudged my arm as I continued to stare out of the window. The passengers around us began to stand up out of their seats. Some were stood on their tip toes in order to reach for their belongings in the compartment above. We remained seated.

“Edinburgh is a beautiful city,” I was determined not to answer his question as I continued to stare out of the window at the station.

“I thought that we deserved a break away from home, and maybe the city where we met could help us figure out the next step.” The tone in his voice sounded hopeful. I wasn’t sure what would happen between us. I was still in two minds. The worse thing about it all was that he hadn’t apologised. He never apologised. Not for anything. Heartless fool.

The aisle way on the train began to clear. He stood up and reached for my suitcase above. As he placed the suitcase down, in which I had packed extra clothes just in case I decided to make a run for it.

A scarlet red haired middle aged woman brushed past him. She was old enough to be his mother but that didn’t stop her from giving him a good look up and down. I glared at her. My nostrils flared. Everything about her was fake. Her jeans were low cut. Her top showed off her obvious fake breasts. Her fake eyelashes were bigger than her eyes; her lips looked like they had been coated in lipstick for most of her life and her face was a different colour to the rest of her body. Mutton dressed as lamb.

To my shock, he didn’t look at her. He moved a little bit forward and then once she had walked past, he stepped backwards, to retrieve his bag. Perhaps he really did want to change our relationship, but not looking at one other woman wouldn’t make me forgive him. The problem was still there, in his pants.

I saw him step off the train and look behind for me. I was still sat in my seat. He looked at the window and gestured his hand to me that I ought to get a move on. I didn’t want to move. I wanted the train doors to slam shut and take me somewhere, anywhere. But they didn’t, so I forced myself to depart from the train.

It was mildly bitter outside. Weather I did not expect for the middle of August. The train station was busy. People were coming in and out of the historical city. As much as I wanted our relationship to work, I was tired. Tired of being the one who always said sorry, the one who always broke the awkward silences after an argument. I was tired of being tired.

As we walked towards the exit of the train station, the familiarity of the city was breath taking. It was the city where I had met the man who I thought I would spend the rest of my life with, have children with and eventually, grow old with. It was also the first city I had travelled and explored by myself. I was twenty at the time. Single, and ready to find myself. I found myself after a couple of days, along with a new boyfriend.

“So what do you want to do? Get settled in the hotel and then get our bearings?” He asked as we made our way up the slope and out of Waverly station. The city was just how I remember it, a little different though. Princess Street was still home to all the high street shops, the castle was still the perfect spot to see the sights for miles on a clear day and the bagpipes were ringing in everyone’s ears. The only difference was the road. Well, there wasn’t a road. It was an empty space in the ground, surrounded by miniature hills of rubble and gravel, with builders pondering over what their next move should be.

Tourists began to stop and stare, just like I had done. He had carried on walking, oblivious as to where I was. I continued to stare at the empty road. The builders had started to dig, the noise and vibration carried under my feet. He continued to dig. Deeper and deeper. He wouldn’t be able to fix the mess. He hit something. A ‘cling’ noise sprang in my ears. He’d hit a pipe. He turned the mini digger off but remained in his seat. He waited for the pipe to burst. He hadn’t hit it hard enough. The pipe was calm. The water remained inside of its home, not wanting to disturb normality. The builder switched the digger on and continued on with the work. He hadn’t aggravated the pipe enough.

“What are you doing?” He had approached my side. I thought he would have continued to walk, leaving me to fend for myself in the city. But no, he came back for me. I didn’t want him to come back to me. My suitcase was wedged between us. The tourists left and carried on with their day, full of sightseeing. I watched them leave. I wished I could join them. Pretend like I was a care free person. But I wasn’t. A dark cloud was over my head.

“Do you love me?” I asked him. He had never said it. Not once. Hard to believe, isn’t it? I looked at him. He looked to his left and then looked up at the murky grey sky.

“Course I do.” If there was one thing I knew, I knew that he was a bad liar. “Can we go to the hotel?” He starred into my eyes. I nodded before I grabbed hold of my suitcase handle. It was mine. I needed it.

I looked behind me. A fresh bunch of passengers had just arrived off another train and were making their way towards us. He began to make his way in the same direction, to the top of Princess Street. I knew that he had booked us in at a Travel Lodge. He hadn’t wanted to spend that much money. It wasn’t his money. It was his fathers. Little rich boy was still living off daddy. He didn’t know that I knew. He didn’t know that his own mother had told me to leave. I told her what he did. How he cheated on me with that filthy slut of a girl. His own mother had my back. That said it all.

He was a fair distance away from me now, but I could still see him. He walked with confidence, too much if you ask me. I took a deep breath and turned around. I began to walk towards the train station. I didn’t look back. I was going home. Not his home, mine. I wanted to be free. For so long, my mind had been a mess. Not knowing what I wanted. But now I knew. Freedom is what I had searched for. Not a perfect boyfriend. Not a perfect relationship. His lie was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back.

Here I am, three weeks later, finding myself after being lost. I can’t seem to pull myself together. You want to know the worst thing of it all? He hasn’t called my phone. He hasn’t come to my flat. He hasn’t pack up my belongings and send them over with a messenger. But you know what? I knew he wouldn’t. He’s probably too busy rolling in his dad’s money.

I’m not going to lie to you, it is hard. Walking away from someone you’ve loved and cared for is one of the worst experiences. Every now and then, I catch a whiff of his after shave on my clothes. My heart plummets to the bottom of my stomach, aching to be held by him again. But then, I remember what he did and even though I miss him deeply, I could never put myself in that position again. Especially not with him.

Soon enough, you stop thinking about them. You stop wondering whether they’re going to call, whether they’ve moved on or whether they still talk about you to mutual friends. It’s about time to start thinking of what’s best for yourself. After all, why should we waste our time with someone when they wouldn’t give us the time of day?

Jessica Sorensen, New Adult, Romance, Suspense

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden (The Coincidence #1) – Jessica Sorensen

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

There are those who don’t get luck handed to them on a shiny platter, who end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, who don’t get saved.

Luck was not on Callie’s side the day of her twelfth birthday when everything was stolen from her. After it’s all over, she locks up her feelings and vows never to tell anyone what happened. Six years later her painful past consumes her life and most days it’s a struggle just to breathe.

For as long as Kayden can remember, suffering in silence was the only way to survive life. As long as he did what he was told, everything was okay. One night, after making a terrible mistake, it seems like his life might be over. Luck was on his side, though, when Callie coincidentally is in the right place at the right time and saves him.

Now he can’t stop thinking about the girl he saw at school, but never really knew. When he ends up at the same college as Callie, he does everything he can to try to get to know her. But Callie is reserved and closed off. The more he tries to be part of her life, the more he realizes Callie might need to be saved.

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My Review

At age twelve, everything in Callie’s life changed. It changed her so much that she hacked off her hair, turned into a recluse and locked up everything that happened to her up. Never telling anyone about it. Six years later, it still consumes her every thought and she cannot wait to leave the small town to start college. It may not be a fresh start, but it sure as hell gets her away.

Kayden has suffered in silence from a young age. He vowed it was the only way to get through the pain when it happened. One night after making a mistake, it seems that his life may just be on the edge until he’s saved. Callie is coincidently at the right place, at the right time and saves him.

Four months after and Kayden can’t stop thinking about the girl who saved his life. But luck is on his side again when Callie is at the same college that he is and he will do whatever it takes to get to know her and owe her for that night. But Callie is closed off and doesn’t want to be owed. “I just did what anyone would have done.” But he knows that’s not true, people would have walked away. The more he tries to get to know her, the more is feels its Callie that needs to be saved.

Jessica Sorensen has done it again. First with The Secret of Ella and Micha and now with The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden. She makes me fall in love and feel all kinds of emotions throughout the books and I just can’t get enough. I always ask myself why I take so long to read such amazing book and I literally can’t answer. Well, I can and it’s because sometimes I’m scared. Scared to read it and then have it break my heart. Yes, I know it’s just a book, but no, it’s much more than that to me. I get hooked, captivated and I can’t get it out of my head until I finish it. And even after, I still think about it.

That’s exactly what happened with The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden. I was scared to read it, but I took a chance and I am so freaking glad I did! Despite the ending (WTFFFF), I couldn’t put the book down. Ms. Sorensen keeps me wanting more, keeps me turning every page until I am right at the end and begging for more. Begging for The Redemption of Callie and Kayden to be out now and in my hands where I can read it and find out what happens next. But alas, I have to wait until August. Counting down the day? YES I bloody well am.

Callie has been ‘broken’ since her twelve birthday when something horrific happened to her at the hands of her brother’s best friend. Before that incident she was happy and after, she died a little. She cut her long hair short, started wearing baggy clothes to try and make herself ugly and became a loner. She didn’t want attention on her and she certainly didn’t want any boys around her. She didn’t trust them.

Kayden has been dealing with pain since a young age. He has scars both inside and outside his body and going away to college is his chance to try and forget about his past, about his home. It’s his chance to try and start again, away from all the pain. He still owes his life to the girl who saved him all those months ago and when he finds out that shes at his college and is the girl he accidentally fell on top of, well, he’s going to stop at nothing to get to know her and thank for. Thank her for stopping it.

Callie and Kayden have actually known each other since they were kids but not really enough to call one another a friend, despite the fact that Callie’s dad was Kayden’s football coach for years. But one night, Callie was just coincidentally at the right place at the right time and saved Kayden’s life. Something he will never forget.

Four months later, Kayden arrives at college with his best friend Luke in tow. Callie has already been at college for four months, deciding to get away from home early and she’s found solace in Seth – her new best friend who also has secrets of his own. She’s still afraid of everyone, apart from Seth, so when Kayden wants to spend time with her, Seth calls her out and makes her pick things off the list to do. It results in her hanging out more with Kayden, Luke and of course, Seth and they build a close friendship unit, something Callie would never have thought she would be involved in.

She takes baby steps each day, with the help of the list, but shes beginning to trust Kayden, just not enough to tell him her secret, just yet.

Kayden has dealt with pain all his life and he knows Callie is hurting. From what? That he doesn’t know, but he wants to help her. He has learnt to cancel out feelings and emotions but around Callie, she makes him feel, which scares the hell out of him. He doesn’t want to be feeling but he can’t stay away from Callie. He’s protective of her, he dreams about her and as much as he wants to stay away, he just can’t.

The more time they spend together, the more you can see that Callie is slowly trusting him and Kayden begins to feel worthy of being with Callie. Together they are learning to heal from their pasts with the help and love of one another. It’s a tough journey as they have been hurt pretty badly, but just being together is building them back up.

It truly is a beautiful story. It’s powerful and breathtaking and I felt so many emotions whilst reading. The journey that Callie takes is one that I respect. I was proud of her for taking each day at a time and owning that list that she and Seth made. She powered through them like a trooper and I loved seeing her become happy – at least for a while when she wasn’t thinking about the past – and just living for the moment.

I loved how at the top of each chapter it had something from ‘The List’ that Callie had to do. It was a great way for her to try and regain something back in her life and it was a great way to help her along with her journey into at least trying to get over what happened when she was twelve.

Seth was a fantastic best friend to Callie. He was there for her completely. It was mad to think that they had only known each other a few months, but in that short time they had both confessed their deepest darkest secret to each other and that, in itself, made them close and made them determined to help each other through everything. It was a perfect friendship and I loved how Seth pushed Callie to her limit with the list, knowing she could do it and to not be scared to do things on the list as eventually it was breaking her barriers down and she was ‘getting’ better because of the list. It was an awesome idea.

One of my favourite scenes is actually linked to the book cover. When Callie runs into the rain and just spins around. It was like she just forgot everything for that moment and focused on the rain and how free she felt. When Kayden joined her, it was like there was no one else. At that moment it was just her and Kayden, no one else in the world. It was perfect. They are perfect and my heart was racing in the scene for those two where they had such a raw passion for one another.

Oh god, that cliff-hanger! After I clicked the next page hoping it would be okay, I realized it was the end. I cried. Yes tears ran down my face because Jessica Sorensen, that was evil! LOL. I seriously need The Redemption of Callie and Kayden now! I don’t want to wait until August because I’m not sure my heart can take it. I neeeed to know what happens next.

Sigh, I’ll just have to be patient and count down the days till it’s out.

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden is a book not to be missed out. It’s about coincidences, trust, love, abuse, friendship and of course, being saved. It touches upon emotional, physical and sexual abuse, which is not taken lightly at all and both Callie and Kayden are whittled down to the core but surviving somehow. Ms Sorensen writes about the topic beautifully, and despite everything that happen to them, they are still getting along, day by day, trying not to let it affect them too much. They are broken by it, but together, they find a way to forget for a while and just be as two people.

I can’t say how much I enjoyed this book enough. I’m just still thinking about the ending and how I have months until the second book to see how it all ends.

If you’re like me and HATE starting series that have major cliff-hangers (I didn’t know this one did) then I would say wait until august to read this book but if not, then bloody well get your copy and read it now! You won’t be disappointed and you will fall in love with Callie, Kayden, Seth and Luke. Guaranteed.

Emma Hart, Family, New Adult, Romance

Never Forget (Memories, #1) by Emma Hart

Posted on March 1, 2013March 1, 2013 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!

Family, Romance, Suspense

Too Close – Elizabeth Krall

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

What rules would you break for the one you love? What lies would you tell?

Three weeks before their wedding day, Nicola and Greg discover that they may have the same mother.
They met when Greg joined the San Francisco newspaper where Nicola is the travel editor. After six months, eager to start a life together and raise a family, they decide to marry.
When Nicola finally meets his family in Seattle, and mentions the circumstances of her adoption, Greg’s horrified mother is forced to reveal the shameful secret she has kept for 36 years.
As they struggle to deal with her revelation, their relationship is challenged and strained. If his mother’s suspicions are true, they will be forced into a devastating choice: break all of society’s rules and fight for their love, or break their hearts and give each other up.
It will be the greatest test their newfound love has faced – and their love may not survive.

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My Review

What would you do if the love of your life could somehow be related to you?

Nicola and Greg meet at work. Nicola, after being burnt by her ex-boyfriend, who was also a colleague, has sworn off dating colleagues since then. But then she meets Greg and he proves to her that he would never hurt her and bit by bit he breaks down that wall and they end up falling fast for one another, becoming engaged after just six months.

Three weeks before the wedding and a trip to meet Greg’s family in Seattle, Nicola mentions her circumstances of being adopted after showing a family photo to Greg’s mother. In turn, Greg’s mother Mona is forced to confess and reveal a shameful moment that happened to her 36 years ago; a secret she has kept hidden from everyone. She had a baby and left it, just like the story Nicola told them.

After the revelation, Greg and Nicola’s relationship changes. They both struggle with the fact they could be half-brother and sister, but they try to put it at the back of their mind until the DNA results come back. But it’s harder to forget this situation and it challenges them both. What will happen if they are related? Will they break up and never see each other again or will they break society’s rules and run away together, some place where no one will ever know their secret?

Their love is being tested to the limit and will all these ‘what ifs’ in the way, will their love survive this terrible ordeal?

I came across Too Close on accident really. I was just looking for some books to download on Amazon and this book sprang to my attention. Clicking on it to see what it was about, I knew I had to read it. I had never read a book about a couple maybe being related but from the start I was completely hooked. I wanted to know how the realization that they could be related came to light and how it was dealt with as really, it is such a delicate and emotional issue to deal with but I felt Ms. Krall wrote this book spectacularly. She dealt with the issue in a seriousness matter but also in a way to kind of bring a light release to the issue.

She had me feeling every emotion all the characters’ felt, especially Greg, Nicola, Mona – Greg’s mother and Gwen – Nicola’s adoptive mother. I could see everyone’s side during the waiting for the results, especially both Greg and Nicola’s constant arguments over the whole ‘sibling’ thing because they both had very different views on what to do over it. I was on edge until the DNA results were shown because I just had to know the outcome. I had come to love Greg and Nicola and I hated that it could be over before it truly began for them. I love it when books evoke a whole load of emotions from me because you know it’s a great book when that happens!

As the synopsis mentions, Greg and Nicola meet at a bar one night where everyone from work goes to on a Friday. They seem to really get on and there is an obvious attraction for both of them but Max, a work colleague, tells Greg that Nicola doesn’t go out with work colleagues since her ex-boyfriend cheated on her throughout their relationship with her boss. Greg is determined to make her change her mind about her rule and starts off little, asking her out just as friends. Nicola knows this isn’t true, that it is a date, but somehow she doesn’t seem to care. She likes Greg and after a few more dates, it seems the rule is broken.

They fall for each other fast. Spending nearly every day together and one night, after being together for 6 months, they talk about children and getting married, which leads to them becoming engaged. Although it seems rushed, you can really see the chemistry and the love the both of them have for one another and when you know you’ve found the one, why would you wait? Love has no time limit.

Nicola’s parents and siblings really like Greg, so when it’s her turn to meet Greg’s parents, three weeks before the wedding, shes really nervous. She gets on well with his parents and his sister but when she tells the story of her adoption that is when everything goes pear shaped and secrets from Mona’s past are about to come to the surface and are set to test their relationship and love for one another. Could Greg and Nicola really be brother and sister?

It was so heartbreaking to think that they could be half-brother and sister. It tore my heart apart that Nicola and Greg loved each other so when this revitalisation came to light, it was so hard to watch them both struggle over what to do about that information and how to handle it. Greg seemed to adjust to it, trying to push it to the back of his mind. This was HIS Nicola, and no way could they be related, it just couldn’t be. But Nicola had a hard time dealing with it. She had never wanted to meet her real mother and knowing that the love of her life could be her brother and knowing Mona could be her mother just didn’t feel right to her at all. It was all she could think about.

Greg tried so hard to get her to forget that they could be related. He’d tell her that it’s ‘just me, it’s just us’ and he would do anything for her. For them to spend two weeks not knowing what the results of the DNA test would be was completely harrowing and gripping to read.

Greg has strong religious beliefs and so he knows that incest is a sin. Whereas Nicola isn’t religious and she wants to fight for their relationship if they are related. They fight a lot over this; religion being a main factor over the fights. I also though Greg was being hypercritical over the whole incest fight they had. It seemed he was okay being with Nicola knowing they could be related the past two weeks but when she tells him that there could be a way they could stay together if the results came back positive, he just went off the rails about how incest is a sin.

To love someone so much and find out you may be related, it’s got to be heartbreaking and emotional and such a tough situation to go through. I really understood the way they were acting; biting at one another with their ‘what if’s’ but also needing to be with one another, to support each other throughout the turmoil until they got the results back. I could never imagine myself in this situation, let alone think about what I would do if I was in this position.

I could really feel the emotions pouring from Nicola and Greg. To be put in this position, then having to wait for the results would cause havoc and uncertainty for anyone who goes through results like this or any other results.

You really do root for them not to be brother and sister though, because they truly are meant to be. They have both been badly hurt in the past and to finally meet and fall in love in such a short amount of time seemed like the right thing for them. They loved each other dearly and it’s clear to see they would do anything for one another. Greg fought from the start to breaking down Nicola’s barriers and thank god he was the one to break her rule. It was clear there was an instant attraction between them that going fast was just something that happened and it felt right.

I really don’t want to tell you what happened at the end with the results and I don’t want to write about the end and whether I enjoyed it or not because that would spoil the outcome. Let’s just say I cried at the results and leave it like that.

There are a few scenes I loved reading but I have to say the ‘bondage’ scene at the hotel. That made me completely giggle when I read it because they are both just so comfortable together, they both kind of take the piss out of BDSM, with Greg telling Nicola she would be a rubbish sex slave. I could definitely imagine that scene playing out in my mind, at how at ease they were together and how they could just laugh at the toys in the box that Greg’s sister sent them. It was nice that they could just forget about the situation they were in, even if it was just for a couple of hours. Where they could just be together and not worry about anything.

Gosh, you really do go through the emotions reading Too Close but I am so glad I found this book and got the chance to read it. It was great to see how this situation affected the families and friends they both had and their input and advice into their situation. Each character had something different to input and I loved the friends that Greg and Nicola had, they were with them from the start, supporting them.

Elizabeth Krall has written an amazing book in Too Close and I insist that you all read it!! It is different from other books I read, as I have yet to read a book like this, but boy am I glad. It’s a page turner. It’s about love, a struggle, a journey but most of all fighting for love. I definitely recommend this book to you all!

Colleen Hoover, New Adult, Romance

Point Of Retreat (Slammed #2) – Colleen Hoover

Posted on February 8, 2013February 8, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

Hardships and heartache brought them together…now it will tear them apart.

Layken and Will have proved their love can get them through anything; until someone from Will’s past re-emerges, leaving Layken questioning the very foundation on which their relationship was built. Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge…how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop ‘carving pumpkins.’

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My Review

Point of Retreat picks up from where Slammed ends. If you haven’t read Slammed, don’t read anymore of this review, as it will tell you what happens next in Lake and Will’s life.

After Julia’s death and the hardships to get to where they are now, Lake and Will are together, with nothing to keep them apart anymore. Lake and Will have proved that love can concur all, and they have waited so long to be together. The four of them are now a little family and although Julia is missed every day, they get by; with the love they have for each other.

But when someone from Will’s past emerges, she seems to do more damage than good and when Layken watches an interaction between Will and that person, it devastates her and leaves her questioning and doubting everything about their relationship.

With Lake heartbroken and not listening to a single word Will wants to say, it’s up to Will to prove just how much he loves this girl and how he can’t live without her. And with the help of his new neighbour, he’s determined to make Lake realize just how much he needs and loves her. Will he succeed in getting his soul mate back?

Colleen Hoover is perfection. Utter perfection. Oh Point of Retreat has my emotions all over the place. I was smiling, I was cursing, my heart fluttered, I was angry and I was in floods of tears. WHAT.A.SEQUEL! I couldn’t put this book down either. In Slammed, it’s about the forbidden relationship, the love but also about the loss of the one remaining parent between them both – Julia. Point of Retreat shows us the bind that both Will and Lake have, not only losing both parents, but having to bring up their respective brothers. But more than that, their love and connection that binds them together is also foremost in Point of Retreat too. Their determination to be together, to stand strong together and still try to be the young adults they are whilst helping each other find that balance between being parents and still acting their age.

With Julia’s death, Lake and Will have more in common, dealing with the heartbreak of another family member’s death, but could this be something that could tear them apart? Having so much in common? With them both attending college, yet on different days, Will encounters a blast from the past that he would rather forget about, but since she’s in his classes, he can’t.

Enter Vaughn, the ex-girlfriend who deserted him when he needed her the most. Deciding it’s probably best not to tell Lake about her being in his class, Vaughn wants Will back after coming to her senses and realizing she threw someone as amazing as Will away. But no matter what Will tells her, that he loves Lake, Vaughn hits him with a hard blow and asks him the question: What if he’s only with her because he knows how it feels and he feels sorry for her?

After a confrontation and witnessing something so heartbreaking, Lake takes that question and turns it into something that could ruin their relationship forever. Yes, they have the loss of parents, the bringing up their brothers in common but is that why he loves her? Lake is planted with doubts over his love and tells him he can have days, weeks, even months to think about why he loves her. Months? Like he needs months to tell her but if only she would listen and not block him out, then he could tell her how much she means to him. So what does a guy like Will do to prove him love? Slam Dunk with poetry of course!

But with their love back on track, something even worse is coming their way and now it involves everyone. It’s times like these where this small close family of friends need to stick together and pray that it will all be okay.

I felt every single emotion when this happened – around the 75% mark. Will was frightened, he was scared, he was tired of waiting, not knowing what was happening, but he had to be strong. I cried so much during these few chapters because I hated seeing Will hurting so badly and I just wanted to crawl into my kindle and give him a hug and console him. His love was so strong and powerful that he would do whatever it took to make sure Lake was okay.

Lake kind of annoyed me when she began questioning Wills love for her, but in a way, I could see where she was coming from. They had so much in common at such a young age, that it could be seen as just being together for the sake of this, but in Slammed, they overcame so many obstacles to be together and proved that even when they weren’t together, their love couldn’t be vanquished. I know that now Lake has had to grow up after losing her dad and now her mum, and with Will already knowing what it’s like, their love could be built on that foundation, but even when she’s not here, Mama Julia knows best and is still there in spirit and there with her advice and wisdom to guide both of them through the hard times they are both experiencing.

And she of course, has something for every scenario and feeling both of them are going through, to prove that they can get through anything together. The lyrics, quotes and wisdom throughout the book gave it so much depth and meaning and each one integrated into the scene that was happening with grace and gave a whole lot of emotion back.

I loved the determination of Will to make everything right again with Lake, to prove that their relationship isn’t just based on the factors they have in common, that it runs much deeper than that – about the little things about Lake, her personality, their favourite band, the booth they shared their first Slam together. He poured his heart out during his Slam to win her back and prove that he was so in love with her; everything about her that who cares if they have deceased parents and brothers to look after, he loves her despite those factors.

Point of Retreat was in Will’s POV and I absolutely butterflying love it when authors write in the guys POV because so many are in the females’ that you have to guess their feelings and go off from what the girl is saying. HOLY SHIT! This book made me fall even more in love with this god of a man. I love that we got to see his true feelings, his emotions, his love and his fears come through. He wasn’t a guy afraid to show anything, he bared his soul, and of course, his soul is also bared through his poetry which is why he is so passionate about it. Can’t wait to read the third book which will also be in Will’s POV 😀 WOOP WOOP!

Gavin and Eddie are heavily involved within this book and I love them as much as I did in Slammed, as are my favourite boys Kel and Caulder who are now 11. Oh my boys are growing up! But two new characters in the form of Shelly and Kiersten, the new neighbours are brought into the book.

Oh Kiersten! She’s the boy’s age but well old before her time. I loved her wisdom and advice, which she had obviously inherited from her amazing mother Shelly. She and the boys are really close and they protected and stuck up for her when things in school weren’t going too well, but she never once had a sad smile on her face, she was always happy and always happy to help, much the same as Shelly who was like the adopted mum to Will, Caulder, Lake and Kel. She was there with advice and medicine when they all got ill. It was great to see that even though Julia had gone, they had Shelly to go to.

This close knit family of friends were always there for one another, through thick and thin and you could see how much they loved one another and would help out whenever they could.

I can’t say how much I love this series and Colleen Hoover. This series is perfection. Its powerful, its full of love, its full of amazing poetry and quotes that integrate within the situations at hand and it’s about finding that one person who will own your heart forever, even though the hardships and it’s about loss. I can’t wait to read Slammed from Will’s POV now when it’s out later this year. I can’t get enough of Colleen’s writing. She has be hooked from the beginning, the book begging me to keep going until the end and not stopping till I’ve finished. Read Slammed and then this book – you will not be disappointed and I assure you, you will fall in love with Will and Lake and everyone else involved in this series! I butterflying LOVE IT.

Colleen Hoover, New Adult, Romance, Suspense

Hopeless – Colleen Hoover

Posted on January 25, 2013February 8, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

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My Review

Seventeen year old Sky has been homeschooled all of her life. She doesn’t have a TV, internet or a phone but it doesn’t seem to faze her, until she begs to go to public school for her senior year.

Everything changes for her after school when she goes to get her secret hit of sugar from the supermarket. That is when she meets Dean Holder who has a reputation bigger than her but also stuns her into silence as with just one look he causes her body to feel things she’s never felt before.

Although he scares her, she’s captivated by him and the more time they spend together, the more he seems to bring out so many emotions but then he also brings out memories that she seems to have forgotten to the service. Ones that she has seemed to forgotten for a reason.

Holder is harbouring a secret and although he wants to stay away from Sky, he can’t. He needs to know everything about her but this secret he has will break Sky but when it’s finally revealed, it changes everything in Sky’s life forever. Thankfully Holder is there to catch Sky throughout it all.

Sky never knew why she didn’t feel attracted to any guy she made out with. She just went along with live thinking she’d never feel attracted or feel lust with anyone, but one look at Holder in the supermarket she was stunned. He was the first guy EVER to make her feel these things and he literally made her heart skip a beat which confused the hell out of her as she has NEVER felt anything for any guy before! Although she had been home schooled, she seemingly has a reputation around the town they live in. She and her best friend Six know the truth but Sky plays along with everyone’s opinions on her when she goes to school.

You can see she’s strong, sarcastic and bluntly honest girl who can definitely hold her own against Holder when they argue. But she’s also a girl who has started to feel new emotions that are foreign to her but she acts questions and Holder answers her as honestly as he can. They are the perfect match for each other and although they got together fairly quickly, it seemed to right for them to do that and I love that they didn’t hold back.

The first time Dean Holder is introduced, he’s smoking hot and a little intense. He blows hot and cold the first few times he is around Sky, which only makes her assumption about him being intense all that more truthful. With her attraction to him, she gets pissed off numerous times over his ‘tantrums’ he seems to pull every so often until there is a period where he stays away from her. But Holder is harbouring a secret that he cannot and will not tell Sky as it will break her but staying away from her is something he cannot do. He needs to be with her and needs to know everything about her. There’s just something about her he can’t pinpoint…

I loved Holder from the beginning. You get to understand why he acted the way he did further along in the book and why he just couldn’t stay away from Sky. He’s been on a mission for the past few years and he was beginning to give up until he found Sky. He’s also very attracted to her and even though they hadn’t known each other long, their chemistry and their charge just kept pulling them together. In the short time, they seem to become everything to each other and to me, it didn’t seem all that strange that they were falling in love quickly, especially when they secret comes out.

Everything that came out of Holder’s mouth was just perfect. He seemed to know what to say in the darkest of moments and also in the lightest. He’s not like any boy I’ve ever known and it was such a relief to read about a guy who felt so many emotions and had me hanging on his every word. He just knew what to do and say to make Sky and himself try to forget everything that was going on and he would do anything for her. Just you read and find out yourself!

There is one scene, okay quite a few, but this one, I KNOW everyone has probably written about it in their review and I’m just another person who will too. The scene where it was the best first kiss, that wasn’t a first kiss. HA you will have to read the book to see what I mean. I was getting so flustered over that scene and it makes it much more intense and sexually charged that my heart was pounding so fast in my chest, it felt like I was experiencing this too – that sounds pretty weird I know, but holy moly, that scene!!

Also the scene where I felt all panicky like Sky was a scene near the end where she’s in the shower. I felt all her emotions and my heart was beating with how much I would be like her if that had happened to me. I kept running a hand through my hair while reading that scene.

I really liked reading all the flashbacks. They are an important part in the story and you see how they integrate into Sky’s life and how they mould her into the person she is today. Since her adoption at 6 years old, she has seemingly forgotten everything about her childhood but slowly she starts to remember things she has pushed away from memory and the dreams are just the click into remembering everything before the adoption. She has never emotionally or physically been attracted to any guy until Holder enters her life and down the line you will see why that is…The flashbacks are essential to the plot.

I had many different theories about the secret, some which I were hoping were not true – I have to say, some of them were – but when the BIG secret was revealed , HOLY SHIT, that secret hadn’t even crossed my mind. That was a complete shocker to me and I’m glad I didn’t figure it out because I sat up in bed, mouth open, rereading that sentence. I don’t think anyone saw that coming!

The ending was a flashback and it kind of pulls the whole story together and makes you think back over the whole book, putting the final finishing thoughts to it as a whole. It took me a while to sleep after I read it as tears were continually falling down my face and I couldn’t stop them. Hopeless is now one of my favourite books and I don’t know why it took so long for me to read it.

Colleen Hoover has made me fall in love with her! Her writing style was refreshing, the book had me hooked from the very beginning and I was captivated until the very end, needing to know what was going to happen next to Sky and Holder. From the Sky and the stars to the pinky holding, it all made complete sense to me as to why they felt so familiar and this book is definitely real. It will drag your emotions out and make you feel things for the characters involved; you will feel connected to them.

A book with so much depth, so many emotions, so much love, and one big secret is definitely a book that needs to be read. Seriously, if you haven’t read the amazing Hopeless, download your copy now and understand why this book is now one of my favourites.

Kaite Kavinsky

Middle Ground – Katie Kacvinsky (Book 2)

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

For four weeks Maddie has been living in Los Angeles, trying to be good. But no matter how hard she tries, something inside her won’t be sated. She can’t live a life of half-truths and false pretenses. So one night, she says how she really feels.

That’s all it takes. One night. One bad decision, and Maddie is thrown into a detention center where she’s forced to undergo secretive treatment meant to squash her rebellious streak. The powers that be call it rehabilitation. Maddie calls it torture.

Alone, Maddie will not survive. But if she can find something to hold on to – an image of Justin, their love – maybe she can fight. And if she’s really lucky, maybe she’ll even win.

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My Review

This is book two in the Awaken series. If you have yet to read Awaken I encourage you to do so. The sequel to the book did not disappoint at all!

Middle Ground picks up where Awaken finishes. Maddie is now living in LA with her brother. If you read Awaken, you will know that Maddie is now a part of the rebels and because of something that happened in the first book, right now she should be in a Detention Centre, but her father, who designed and made the DS (Digital school), used his power to make it look like she was. He sent her to live with her brother and to make sure she didn’t get into anymore trouble. But come on, its Maddie!

While living in LA, Maddie, albeit is happy, also misses her boyfriend Justin who is working at intercepting other kids who are on their way to the Detention centres and inviting them to join their cause. The cause is trying to get rid of the DS for good. They believe that people should have the right to go to school, interact face to face without everything being digitalized. But DS keeps kids safe; there is hardly any crimes and everyone who helps run this programme will do whatever it takes to make sure nothing happens to it.

But when Maddie and her friends go to a virtual nightclub, Maddie decides to test the people there and causes trouble in the club. But this incident is her last because before long, the feds are a-knocking and hauling her to the detention centre for rehabilitation into the DS world. Always being rescued by Justin and their friends, this time there is nothing they can do, and no way to get her out.

What goes on behind closed doors is something that no one will ever see or witness apart from the people inside. It is horrific. Maddie figures out that they are brainwashing the ‘patients’ to make them too scared to face the outside world so they will become dependent on the technology once more, and also Maddie is becoming scared too, her only ‘forbidden’ friend in the center is Gabe, who is a member of staff and has never touched a computer in his life. He helps Maddie through everything but it’s down to Maddie to live through the torment she is suffering and find a way out…her only hope of holding on is the love she has for Justin.

I absolutely fell in love with the second instalment. I have to say that Katie’s writing has definitely gotten stronger (I mean no offence at all to this) and I loved how her style kept me captivated and wanting to keep reading right till the very end. The book is descriptive and it definitely gave me vision of what the detention centre was like and how much horror was behind those walls, hidden away from the outside world. The characters are developed so much that you begin to feel every little emotion they felt, especially Justin and Maddie. It was hard not to fall ever deeper in love with these two. Maddie is utterly besotted with Justin, her love for him is overwhelming, and it’s something that got her through her time in the center.

You could easily see that Justin was in love with Maddie too, and it aggravated me that he didn’t say it back to her, because it was completely obvious. But he would do anything to be with her and get her out of the center and back with him, where she belongs. When they are reunited each time they see each other, I just kept wishing she would run away and go with him, but Maddie was a tough thing and stay at the center, helping her friends to understand and discover exactly what was happening to the kids, along with the help of new recruit, Gabe, who fitted nicely into their little group.

The ending completely set it up for the next book. Albeit, it wasn’t a cliff-hanger but it does leave you wondering what Maddie is going to do. Cannot wait to the last book in this installment!

Again, much the same of my review about Awaken, it truly makes you think about a world where technology completely enters the world, where hardly any face-to-face interactions happen outside the house and you do everything on a computer. Yes, it may be ‘safer’ and crime free but you will always get people wondering about life outside a computer, much like the kids who are in the detention centers and of course, the rebels. Would you like to be confined to a computer world for the rest of your life without really any human contact? I know what my answer would be. A definite HELL NO.

Romance, Tina Reber

Love Unscripted – Tina Reber (Book #1)

Posted on October 28, 2012December 3, 2012 by Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

Ryan Christensen just wanted to be an actor. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that accepting a role in an unknown film would toss his career into overdrive. His new fame has cost him dearly; anonymity is no longer an option. His fans stalk him, the paparazzi hound him, and Hollywood studios all want a piece of him. Despite all of that, Ryan Christensen craves the most basic of human needs – to have love in his heart and privacy in his life.

Taryn Mitchell, the story’s protagonist, is a realist. She’s been feigning contentment, running the family pub in Seaport, Rhode Island, while quietly nursing her own internal heartaches. Her feet are fairly glued to the ground and she doesn’t buy into all the hype that has descended on her tiny, coastal town. In her world, men are safe if they’re kept at a distance.

Fate has other plans for these two when their paths cross one sunny afternoon. A group of female fans has attacked him, leaving his shirt torn, his face cut, and Ryan in obvious distress. Bonds between them form from the most dramatic of circumstances while jealousy, insecurity, and the stress of his celebrity life try to tear them apart.

Through all the tabloid lies, secrecy, and pressure, can Taryn’s peace and Ryan’s high-profile insanity live together in harmony?

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My Review

As much as I really enjoyed reading this book, at times I felt like it dragged on and I just wanted to get it over with. 659 pages are a lot when some of the story could have been cut down but as a book worm, i soldiered on to finish it and find out what happens, even if i was wishing it would end, which has never happened to me with any book i have read.

I did love Ryan and Taryn together, especially the way they met and how her best friend was utterly infatuated with Ryan. They start out as friends, Taryn’s pub being a refuge for Ryan after a hard day of shooting for his film and a place for him to relax without his over-exited fans pawning over him. But as all friendships with celebrities who hide away for peace and quiet, the fans found out he was staying with Taryn and so her pub became a place for his fans to congregate, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

Over the course of the book, Ryan and Taryn begin a relationship, much to the annoyance of his female co-star and much to the delight of her friends. Their relationship didnt come without drama, from death threats, stalkers and co-stars but other than that, it seemed everything was kind of perfect, apart from the massssssive drama that happened right before the end of the book. They did good to hold their grounds but I know if i was Taryn, i would have been a hell of a lot more jealous than she was, and i know most people would be too.

As a book worm, I cant just read a book over a few days, it has to be read right there and then, and this book can be either, but if you’re not like me, then I’d recommend taking your time as when i get excited over a book, that’s it.

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