Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Have I mentioned how much I’m enjoying all these New Adult books? With some exceptions, I’ve loved everything I’ve read. Pushing the Limits is in part to blame for it because it was one of the first NA --or adult-ish YA’s-- I read.

Our leads are Echo and Noah. The book is told alternating between them and their stories are equally important. 

First we have Echo. Something happened to her, something involving her mother. But she can’t remember and no one wants to tell her what happened. All she knows is that there’s a restraining order and that she isn’t allowed any contact with her mother; that she has some terrible scars on her arms; and that months ago something triggered an attack that left her in the hospital for days. She’s desperate to put all the pieces together to find out what happened.

Review: The Sleeping Night by Barbara Samuel

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

I came across this book on NetGalley by mere chance. I was intrigued by the setting and the premise so I requested it. It wasn’t an easy book to read but the story was riveting and very romantic. 

The Sleeping Night is set in Texas just after WWII but it goes back in time through the character’s memories and a series of letters that the hero and heroine exchanged during his time in the war. 

Isaiah and Angel were best friends while growing up. Angel’s dad was a progressive man who didn’t mind setting up a store that sold goods to the black part of their small town. His quiet nature and his own experiences during WWI, made him open and close to the black men and women in town, Isaiah’s father in particular. So they grew up together and their connection ran deeper than that of a mere childhood friendship. But it’s an impossible relationship so he joins the military. It will take war, tragedy and love for them to reunite, explore what could be and maybe have a second chance.

Oldie but Goodie Guest Review: Prince of Dreams by Lisa Kleypas

Credit: Zawezome

It's been a while since we posted an Oldie but Goodie review, so today I'm happy because Sarah is back and with her comes a blast from the not-so-distant past!

About Sarah: Who am I? I'm a part-time library science student, part-time librarian, and full-time mom. When I'm not wrangling my little girl or my husband, I'm reading all sorts of books to be able to recommend that "next" book for shy readers or those new to the romance genre. I can be found on Goodreads or on my blog at sarahsbookshelf.com.

Tell me if this sounds familiar to you. You have a huge TBR pile, but there are a few books in that pile that you don't want to read because you know you are going to read them way too fast. You know that you are going to love them and you know that you are going to be sad when you have to move onto something else when you are finished. So you procrastinate and procrastinate reading the book, simply because you don't want it to end. Lisa Kleypas is the author that writes books that fall into this category for me. I cannot help myself when I pick up one of her books. It's like a buffet on a cruise ship: you know you can eat as much as you want, and it's so yummy, but you also know that your time is finite. So the question becomes do you want to savor it? Or do you want to stuff your face as fast as you can, while you can, and suffer the heartburn? For me, it's the face-stuffing/heartburn, because I just can't help how quickly I read when I really like a book. If it's a book I own, I'll probably give it another read in the future when I have more willpower to pace myself.

Review: Where the Heart Lies by Michelle Garren Flye

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

I’ve been reading a lot of stories about widows falling for their husband’s best friends, especially widows whose husbands were soldiers. I think it’s a new trend in Contemporary Romance. This one in particular looked like a sweet story and that’s why I read it.

Alicia’s husband, Ty, died in the war. Since his dream was to move back to his hometown and take care of his father’s bookstore, Alicia decided to do just that. So now she and her kids are in a new town, trying to settle down and adapt to life alone. 

Liam was Ty’s childhood friend but they didn’t stay friends after he joined the military because on a faithful night there was an accident that thwarted the husband’s career in sports and forced him to join the military. An accident everyone in town still blames Liam for, even though it’s been years and Liam was a troubled teen that needed more help than scorn. Now Liam is a college professor and has a PhD, and still everyone hates him. I guess he feels the need to atone for his sins because he still lives there. It makes no sense.

Nice Girls Don’t Review Books

That's my cat! He's now a LOLcat.

This year has been convoluted at best, ugly and frightening at its worst. What started as a series of flameouts and dramas involving authors behaving badly, took an unexpected turn in the form of a blogger plagiarizing. Worse, now we’re in the presence of something that’s disturbing and demoralizing: the Stop the Goodreads Bullies (StGRB). They are a group of people who created a website dedicated to hating, intimidating and bullying, all in the name of a twisted version of good used as an excuse to hide their hateful ways. They consider negative reviews as bullying and personally attacking authors. They say they want everyone to be nice, when in truth what they really want is revenge. These are people who went off their rockers and decided to punish, intimidate and demoralize reviewers (1). Let’s focus on the “be nice” part.

Guest Review: Before the Scandal by Suzanne Enoch

About Sarah: Who am I? I'm a part-time library science student, part-time librarian, and full-time mom. When I'm not wrangling my little girl or my husband, I'm reading all sorts of books to be able to recommend that "next" book for shy readers or those new to the romance genre. I can be found on Goodreads or on my blog at sarahsbookshelf.com.

A few years ago I attended RomCon in Denver, Colorado. It was the first year of the conference and it was a wonderful opportunity to meet many authors (both known and unknown to me), as well as other readers of the genre. I went home with a car full of books (yes, we drove all the way from Connecticut) and this book was in the goodie pile from the event. It took me a long time to take the plunge and give historical romance a try, which is why I'm only just now getting to this book.

Review: One Small Thing by Piper Vaughn and M.J. O’Shea

I bought this book on a whim and read it in one sitting. I wasn’t expecting much, and I certainly wasn’t expecting such a cute story. But cute was exactly what I got.

Rue is a flamboyant cosmetology student that works as a bartender at nights while dreaming of becoming a famous stylist in LA. He’s also very promiscuous. One night when he apparently runs out of men, he decides to make a girl-experiment and has sex with a woman. If you take a look at the cover you can guess what comes next: she gets pregnant. When she tells him that she will give the baby away, he remembers what was like to be an unwanted kid, so he decides to keep the baby. Now he has a newborn baby, school, a job, and no one to take care of it. That’s when he remembers his new neighbor.