I’m over at AudioGals with a review of Kiss Me Like This by Bella Andre, narrated by Eva Kaminsky. New adult romance and the first in Andre’s new Morrison series.
Tag: new adult (Page 9 of 17)
Why I read it: I finally got around to listening to Easy on audio. When I was browsiing my TBR for what next to read, I felt it was the right time to read this one. I bought it when it first came out but the timing was never quite right before.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) He was lost and alone. Then he found her.
And the future seemed more fragile than ever
As a child, Landon Lucas Maxfield believed his life was perfect and looked forward to a future filled with promise — until tragedy tore his family apart and made him doubt everything he ever believed.
All he wanted was to leave the past behind. When he met Jacqueline Wallace, his desire to be everything she needed came so easy…
As easy as it could be for a man who learned that the soul is breakable and that everything you hoped for could be ripped away in a heartbeat.
Warning: Spoilers for Easy follow.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I think part of the reason it took me a while to actually read the book was that I was a bit scared I wouldn’t like it. I adored Easy. Would Breakable be a re-hash? Would it be boring? Would it somehow retroactively impact my enjoyment of the first book? As it happened, I was very much feeling the NA love after successful reads from Kristen Callahan and Sarina Bowen. Being up to date on my audiobook reviewing commitments (which is kind of unprecedented but yay me!) I decided to revisit Easy via the audiobook which was waiting patiently on my TBL. And, about halfway through the listen, when I was searching my TBR for my next read and I was all caught up in the Lucas love, I thought – well it’s time. And there was a beautiful symmetry to listening to Jaqueline’s perspective and reading Lucas’s. I think it wouldn’t have worked as well if I hadn’t already read Easy and it probably helped that I was halfway through the listen before I cracked open the book – because I never caught up to Lucas’ POV but I also had Jacqueline’s perspective fresh in my mind when I read reading. In the end, for whatever reason, none of my fears were realised and I enjoyed the heck out of Breakable. I’d say it’s not quite as good as Easy because it essentially tells the same story but in more detail and from another perspective. So it’s not entirely “fresh and new” (although there are aspects of the story which are). But it wasn’t boring and it didn’t feel like just a “re-hash” either. If anything, it made me love Easy more.
Monthly Mini Review
Blonde Date by Sarina Bowen – A I developed a little crush on Andy Buschnagel while reading Blonde Date. He’s so adorkable and kind and sweetly charming. I was a little worried Katie would tear him up because he strikes me as someone who’d be so devoted that he could be taken advantage of. But perhaps I’m doing Andy a disservice there. Fortunately, in the course of their blind date (the story is almost all set in the course of one night), Katie comes to appreciate just what she has in Andy and my feeling is that she’s not planning to treat him badly. Katie is “blonde Katie” from The Year We Hid Away. Her character isn’t terribly developed in that book, but by the end, there is a hint of there being more to her. I liked that this novella didn’t try and recreate her character, but rather, it expanded the reader’s knowledge, and in that expansion was the nuance and the depth we didn’t see in the earlier book.
I loved that Katie unashamedly loves sex and I liked the way slut shaming was handled in the book. It felt very authentic to me – because we all think things from time to time which are unflattering, let’s face it. What made the difference was that Katie realised and called it.
Peeking through the boughs of the Christmas tree, I snuck a closer look. When the girl shifted her face from one side of him to the other, I recognized her. Debbie Dunn. She wore an unhealthy amount of eye makeup. And was staring up into Dash’s face, and practically rubbing her boobs on his oxford shirt.
My first thought was: Ew. My second was: Have I ever done that? And did it cause someone else to say ‘ew’? My third thought was: Do I care? Am I actually slut-shaming Debbie Dunn because she’s wearing gloppy mascara?
I also loved that Andy came up with creative ways to defend “his girl” without being all he-man and included ways for her to take back some of her own power. It fit his personality so well but also demonstrated that he will stand up for those he cares for.
Why I read it: The author kindly provided a review copy.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.
Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexual preference from everyone. Including himself.
So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.
John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.
And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.
Rikker didn’t exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won’t even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former… best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn’t doing so well. He drinks too much and can’t focus during practice.
Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won’t be easy is the Understatement of the Year.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I can’t even tell you how happy it makes me that this romance featuring a gay couple is part of this series. Sure there are people who, for whatever reason, will not want to read a romance featuring two guys, but I love that it’s just seamlessly integrated into the Ivy Years. I’d love for queer romance of all stripes to be a tag rather than a separate subgenre. Books like these make me think we might get there one day.
Why I read it: After I read The Year We Fell Down I had such a good book hangover, I bought this and the sequel/spin-off novella as well, and proceeded to glom.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) She’s hiding something big. He’s hiding someone small.
Scarlet Crowley’s life was torn apart the day father was arrested for unspeakable crimes. Now the shock has worn off, but not the horror.
It’s a safe bet that Scarlet is the only first year at Harkness College who had to sneak past TV news trucks parked on her front lawn just to leave town. But college will be Scarlet’s fresh start. Clutching a shiny new student ID — with a newly minted name on it — she leaves it all behind. Even if it means lying to the boy she’s falling for.
Bridger McCaulley is a varsity hockey star known for being a player both on and off the ice. But a sobering family crisis takes that all away. Protecting his sister means a precarious living arrangement and constant deception. The only bright spot in his week is the few stolen hours he spends with Scarlet.
The two form a tentative relationship based on the understanding that some things must always be held back. But when grim developments threaten them both, going it alone just won’t work anymore. And if they can’t learn to trust one another now, the families who let them down will take everything they’ve struggled to keep.
*Warning: Mild spoilers for The Year We Fell Down*
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I didn’t think it would happen that I would like the second book better than the first, but it did. Anecdotally, those who enjoyed the first book definitely enjoyed the second as well, although it seems like a 50/50 split as to which was the favourite. The point may be moot anyway, because there’s not a huge difference between “really good” and “really really good”. Both gave me the happy book sigh and both had me glued to the pages. Continue reading
Why I read it: This was a Dear Author Daily Deal I picked up for 99c. I have a thing for the rescue trope.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Amber Scott should be enjoying life as a college freshman. She should be pursuing her dream of becoming a veterinarian. She should be working hard to make sense of her precalculus math class.
She shouldn’t be waking up her college roommate with screaming nightmares. She shouldn’t be flashing back, reliving the three weeks of hell she barely survived last year. And she definitely shouldn’t be spending time with sexy player Marcus Reid.
But engineering student Marcus is the only one keeping Amber from failing her math course, so she grudgingly lets him into her life. She never expects the king of hookups will share his painful past. Or that she’ll tell him her secrets in return, opening up and trusting him in a way she thought she’d never be able to again.
When their fragile future together is threatened by a stalker Amber thought was locked away for good, Marcus is determined to protect her. And Amber is determined to protect Marcus…even if that means pushing him away.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Tell Me When had a strong start but it stuttered for me toward the end. The last third became just too over the top for me and the added melodrama ended up making what was looking to be a B a C. Trigger warning: There is rape and torture referenced in the book. It is not “lovingly described” or anything but what Amber experienced was horrendous, with just about every awful thing you can think of happening to her. And then there was Marcus, who had his own traumatic background.
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