Monday, August 22, 2016

Book Review: Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen (ARC)

Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: Brooklyn Bruisers #1
Audience: +18
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Release Date: 06 Sep 2016
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
The first novel in a sexy new series featuring the hockey players of the Brooklyn Bruisers and the women who win their hearts—from the USA Today bestselling author of the Ivy Years series.

In high school they were the perfect couple—until the day Georgia left Leo in the cold...


Hockey player Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart, and succeed in the NHL. But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.

Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast...

*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or my rating of the book in any way.

Sports romance is becoming one of my top 5 romance subgenres. This paired with my newly discovered love of hockey, made me desperately need to read Rookie Move. Let me tell you, it was an awesome decision.

It's always interesting to read about second chances, about high school sweethearts getting a second chance at a relationship, mostly because it's interesting to see how they evolved and how the relationship can grow, but also because it's cute. I admit it! My inner romantic goes giddy over second chance stories, I think I've already told you that. Georgia and Leo's story is particularly beautiful because of what happened to make them break up. It's a sad story, really.

Georgia was a great character. Her story is heartbreaking. There's a beautiful scene between her and her roommate, Becca, where she realizes that fear and courage aren't mutually exclusive, and I loved that scene. And it also touches on the fact that some crimes affect your loved ones as well. Georgia is fearless even with her past, and I loved reading about that.

Leo was such a sweetheart. I loved him so, so much. I think even as a teenager, he was a great man, and I was so happy that he got to find his happy ending, because a guy like that deserves that and more. We don't get to see much of his life from the time he was apart from Georgia, aside from a few mentions here and there. I would have wanted to see more of that, but this is probably due to the fact that Brooklyn Bruisers is a spin-off to Bowen's Ivy Years, and there's a possibility that some of those scenes are in those books.

I was also glad that there was a lot more sport in this book. The sport wasn't just something some of the characters did, but at times it kind of felt like another character in the book, which was nice. I am curious to see how the author will approach the various aspects of the sport in the future books, depending on the main character's involvement in the team. And, yes, I may be very happy about who the hero of the next book is.

This was my first Sarina Bowen book, but I'll definitely check her other titles out while I'm waiting for the next Brooklyn Bruiser book to come out.



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Thursday, August 18, 2016

Book Review: Relentless Flame by Jillian Davis

Author: Jillian Davis
Series: Hell to Pay #2
Audience: +18
Genre: Paranormal romance
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Release Date: May 4th 2015
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Reading Alley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Immortal. Colossal. Suave. Indebted killer Dante Blackstone has the world at his feet. Every vice, any desire, is his for the asking—until he finds the one person he cannot have: one sweet, diminutive woman who could bring about Dante’s destruction.

Despite her supernatural ability to heal others, a devastating act of evil has left Hannah Miller broken in body and spirit. As she rebuilds her life while on the lam, a not-so-chance meeting with Dante chips away at the walls surrounding her fragile heart. But before their fledgling love can take flight, Dante’s boss sends an evil minion with one mandate: Eliminate Dante’s new reason to break his eternal contract.

As they fight to survive, Hannah’s amazing gift gives Dante one chance to save them both from the vicious minion. How can any love survive eternal hell and annihilation?

The answer lies in Dante’s inferno.


*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from Reading Alley and Crimson Romance in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or my rating of the book in any way.



There are books in series that are good, and then there are books that kind of set the bar for the next installments in the series. Relentless Flame is that book for the Hell to Pay series.

First of all, let me tell you that the cover model looks so similar to Kevin Sorbo. If you don't know who Kevin Sorbo is shame on you, and go search him. I had to get that off my chest before talking about the book. My love for the book has nothing to do with KS, just FYI. Anyway, moving on.

Dante is the kind of hero that I love to love. He is cocky, he is sure of himself, and he knows what he wants and acts accordingly. The part that I love about him? He is so freaking adorable when he's out of his element. I giggled like a loon reading his first interactions with Hannah, because he was so confused by her. Here you have an old-as-dirt man that has been with more women than he could ever count, and Hannah renders him speechless. I loved that so much, mostly because I love reading about the inner struggle of any character to realize that they can be bested. Aside from the funny stuff, I love that with him you can sort of see the old, kind of classic upbringing. I love his speech patterns, his vocabulary, even the little phrases in Swedish. A testament to Davis' writing style really, because it was a different experience than with reading Peter's book. I loved that book, yes, but this book had an old-soul feel to it.

Hannah was awesome. Her life was so tragic, and I am so happy with how the story ended for her. I was impressed by her, really. She has an interesting ability, to heal people, and it's interesting to see how that ability isn't helping her heal her soul. I found that aspect of her really intriguing.

I like how the story is going for Jerahmeel. I love how both the previous book and this one show how he is slowly losing it. I also like that he's not portrayed in a typical way, he isn't smooth or silent or just deadly. He seems more deranged, and I like that.

I liked the pacing of the book, it felt fast enough to keep me on my toes, but slow enough to not make the relationship between Hannah and Dante forced. This book also introduced a new character, Ruth, and her book is next. I'm curious how that will go on, and how the rest of the Indebted start fighting for their freedom. I'm not ready for the series to end, though. Is it too much to hope for a spin-off?


Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Comic Book Tuesday #13: Monstress #2 by Marjorie M. Liu

Author: Marjorie M. Liu
Series: Monstress #2
Genre: Comic Book, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: December 9th 2015
My Rating: 4 cups
Source: Netgaley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Maika fights to cross the wall. Elsewhere, the Warlord makes her move.









*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley and Image Comics in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or my rating of the book in any way.

This second issue of the Monstress comic book picks up right after the first one ends. We get to see the struggles of Maika to get away from the people hunting her, as well as from herself.

We also get to see a little bit more from the villain's POV, and so far I'm wondering who the biggest threat is. I haven't yet decided if Maika's more in danger because of other people or because of herself.

The art is, as in the first issue, beautiful, with dark colors, although some rich colors do appear because of some new characters.

My favorite thing about this issue was the ending, which presents a different view of the history of the world in this comic book. It's difficult to talk about it without giving too much away, but I like how it gives a sort of unbiased view of what happened before this particular story. I adore it, anyways.

I did however felt the need for the issue to be bigger, maybe not as big as the last one, but I felt like the story is so rich and complex, that I wished it lasted longer. All of that aside, a good installment and I am curious to see what happens next.


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