Review: Baby Don't Lose My Number: Fated, Book 2 by Karen Erickson

Never press the “ignore” button on love…

Fated, Book 2

In these uncertain times, Mia Skinner’s Blackberry is her lifeline to independence…and a twenty-four/seven chain to her overbearing boss. When she loses it on a girls’ night out, it’s a disaster with pink slip written all over it—until she takes a chance and calls her number. And ends up talking to Mr. Sexiest-Voice-Alive.

The moment Jacob Miller lays eyes on the phone’s beautiful owner, a bolt of lust makes him want to make a sexy mess of her tidy outfit and perfectly straight hair. Which is a good sign. It means he’s almost fully recovered from a near-debilitating construction accident. Perhaps a little horizontal healing will get him back on his feet for good.

As their passion burns bright and hot, a funny thing happens. Mia’s ignoring her phone—and Jake’s the one itching to get back to work. But he’s building a plan that’ll let her hang up on her increasingly creepy boss for good. If Mia’s willing to meet him in the middle.

Warning: Delicious, toe-curling sex including a lusty scene in a truck flying down the freeway. A hero whose greatest thrill is lavishing all his attention upon the woman he wants more than anything in the world.

Jake Miller is hot. I want me a Jake of my very own. ::dreamy sigh:: He's big, buff, funny, sexy, sweet and steady. He's the kind of guy who's rock solid and always there for the people he loves. I don't care how independent and feminist we may be, there's still a part of us that wants that strong, stable partner than we can lean on when life gets stormy, and Jake is that guy.

Mia is a great heroine. She's a workaholic that's afraid of change and afraid of losing her job to the point of putting up with the escalating inappropriate behavior from her douche of a boss. Her friends try to get her to lighten up and not take so much crap from him, but she just keeps going....right until she meets a sexy guy that makes her laugh, and feel sexy and special in a way that no one else ever has. She's kind and capable and not afraid to lean on Jake when she needs to, but she's also there for her man to lean on when he needs it too as he recovers from the physical and psychological damage of his accident.

Baby Don't Lose My Number is a short, sweet and sexy read. The relationship progresses fast and that might bother some readers, but for me, it worked for Jake and Mia and I loved how they could be hot and sexy or sweet and tender together.

Final Grade: A-

You can download a sample of this book to your kindle or the kindle for pc program if you have it.

Author's Website

Review: My Give A Damn's Busted by Carolyn Brown (DNF)

Summary (from Goodreads):

The latest in a line of (formerly) unlucky in love ladies to run the Honky Tonk, Larissa Morley is ready to show the world she means business! But trouble walks into her happy life when tall, handsome and rich Hank Wells shows up at her bar determined to see the doors of the Honky Tonk closed for good. With her happiness on the line, Larissa will stop at nothing to save her beloved bar. Honky Tonk patrons and readers alike are in for one heck of a sexy showdown as these two lovers face off!

Ok, so I had to have this book just based on the title and the summary. A smartass, witty heroine and sexy man bent on closing her down, but he didn't count on the heat, baby? Sounds like my kind of fun and sexy read. Except it wasn't all that fun....or even that sexy. ::sigh:: I feel led astray, peeps. Let me explain...

Larissa Morley is billed as a feisty (god help me), sassy, witty, tough cookie of a character. She's so country that it feels like she majored in country at the local college. She drives a vintage Mustang (I give her total props for good taste) and runs the local "beer joint." It's so rustic and "vintage" that she won't even call it a bar, it's a beer joint, get used to it. The thing is that all this sass and brass and quoting country songs like there would be a test at the end, felt a bit forced. Especially considering her background and the fact that she basically reinvented herself as this person. Also, her feisty wittiness came across more like immature bitchiness, but that could honestly just be me. She can be funny and she does have revelations about herself and the people around her through the book, but...it just wasn't enough.

As for our hero, Hank Wells (as he sometimes goes by), he's supposed to be this rich and savvy businessman that moonlights as a cowboy from time to time. He comes across as more of a pansy assed mama's boy to me and let me just say it's good that he wasn't in charge of building the family fortune because he's dense as a brick and makes assumptions (usually wrong ones) left, right and center.

The last thing I'm gonna pick on is that the book seems to want to box people into caricatures of who they're supposed to be. The rich are all stuck up and snobby sticks in the mud and the hard working lower class are all fun, interesting and hard working people and you have to pick a team. You're either one or the other, there aint no middle ground. Again, to be fair, I got 3/4 of the way through the book before I stopped so maybe the last bit isn't that way, but that's how it felt to me through most of the book. And frankly, the love scenes between Larissa and Hank left a lot to be desired. As a romance, it felt lacking and as a fun and witty read, it just didn't deliver for me.

I can see how others might enjoy this book, it just didn't have the magic touch for me.

Final grade: DNF (did not finish)

ARC Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: HarperTeen
Pub Date: 02/01/2011
ISBN: 9780061726828

Note: I received a copy for review from NetGalley.

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

It was hard to write a spoiler free review for this book. My feeble words just don't seem to do it justice, but I'm going to make the attempt anyway ;)

Delirium is a beautiful story of forbidden love and the strength of the human spirit. The writing is lush and evocative. You smell what Lena smells, feel the sensations she feels and see the world as she sees it as she navigates through this dystopian world where loving is a crime. Ms. Oliver is adept at writing characters that the reader just can't help falling in love with. From the vibrant and beautiful best friend, Hana, to the handsome and brave love, Alex, to Lena's mother who we learn about in stories of Lena's childhood but she seems so alive that she rivals any other supporting character for a memorable place in the reader's heart.

Our main protagonist, Lena, is just an average every day teenager who is looking forward to life after high school. She looks forward to having the procedure that will keep her from becoming infected with Love, the most deadly of deadly diseases, and her life after graduation, going to college, getting matched with her ideal mate and living in peaceful contentment for the rest of her life. Safe. Secure. Smooth. Then Hana introduces her to an underground world of forbidden music and people and she meets Alex, who opens her eyes and her heart to a world that she never knew could exist. As she evolves farther and farther from the girl that just wants peace and contentment, she begins to realize that the government has lied about so many things, is it possible that they've lied about the dangers of love?

I really enjoyed this story and I love that Ms Oliver isn't afraid to break your heart, in the best possible ways. It's poignant and beautiful and leaves you aching for more.

My final grade for Delirium: A.

Microwaves

Who cleans their microwave? I mean, I always just figured that the radiation from the microwaves would just, I don't know, kill all the yuckies in there. But I'm beginning to think that I'm in the minority here, so I put it to you: Do you clean your microwave? How often: Annually? Semi-Annually? Monthly? Weekly? Can you convert me to your anal-retentive microwave cleaning ways? Maybe I'm just some kind of cave-woman throw back. ::hangs head in shame::

Review: Banished by Sophie Littlefield

There isn’t much worth living for in Gypsum, Missouri—or Trashtown, as the rich kids call the run-down neighborhood where sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell lives. Hailey figures she’ll never belong—not with the popular kids at school, not with the rejects, not even with her cruel, sickly grandmother, who deals drugs out of their basement. Hailey never knew her dead mother, and she has no idea who her father was, but at least she has her four-year-old foster brother, Chub. Once she turns eighteen, Hailey plans to take Chub far from Gypsum and start a new life where no one can find them.

But when a classmate is injured in gym class, Hailey discovers a gift for healing that she never knew she possessed—and that she cannot ignore. Not only can she heal, she can bring the dying back to life. Confused by her powers, Hailey searches for answers but finds only more questions, until a mysterious visitor shows up at Gram’s house, claiming to be Hailey’s aunt Prairie.

There are people who will stop at nothing to keep Hailey in Trashtown, living out a legacy of despair and suffering. But when Prairie saves both Hailey and Chub from armed attackers who invade Gram’s house in the middle of the night, Hailey must decide where to place her trust. Will Prairie’s past, and the long-buried secret that caused her to leave Gypsum years earlier, ruin them all? Because as Hailey will soon find out, their power to heal is just the beginning.

This gripping novel from thriller writer Sophie Littlefield blazes a trail from small-town Missouri to the big city as Hailey battles an evil greater than she ever imagined, while discovering strengths she never knew she had.



This book was darker than I had expected. That is in no way a complaint, but it's worth commenting on. I would not recommend this book for very young readers, but more for middle teens and up, in my humble opinion. Besides being dark, the story was thrilling right up to the last page and kept me engrossed right to the end.

Our lead character is Hailey, a small town girl with a crappy home life and who sits at the bottom of the social ladder at school. I have to say that she has The. Worst. Grandma. Ever. Her Grandma only sent her to school because social services made her, she's abusive, neglectful and deals drugs out of her basement. Yeah, she's a real winner. The one bright spot in Hailey's life is little four year old, Chub. She's more of a big sister/mother to him and caring for him and loving him is one of the only things that keeps her sane and grounded. I loved her relationship with Chub and how it was so natural for her to look out for him and take care of him.
Hailey is a good character and her voice is easy to follow, but my favorite character in the story had to be Aunt Prairie. Aunt Prairie is probably The. Coolest. Aunt. Ever. No matter what happened in the story from car chases to being shot she was always undaunted and in control. Her unflappable calm, sense of humor in even the direst circumstances and her unwavering loyalty to Hailey and Chub was refreshing and awesome to read. Even though Hailey is the MC, I really felt like this was Prairie's story of growing up, making mistakes and finding redemption and a way to make things right.
There is plenty of action in this story and that surprised me a little. I was thinking with the special ability of healing that this book would be rather tame, but I was quickly disabused of that notion and I loved the path the story took.
This book was full of action, suspense and yes, even zombies and I enjoyed every minute of it.

My final grade: B+

Author's website

ARC Review of Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Note: I received a copy to review from the publisher. Publishing date: Nov 30, 2010

This book is a lot like it's cover: Simple, elegant, thought provoking, sad at times, hopeful, haunting, beautiful and layered.

Matched is a wonderful coming of age story that would not have been half so haunting if handled by a less skillful story teller that weaved less evocative prose and relatable characters, even some of the ones you don't like.

I think this story will mean different things to different people. For me, a big part of it is the importance of the successful survival of our species and society balanced against the needs and happiness of individuals. It's a delicate balance that is easily lost and as was asked by one of the characters in the story, where does it end? Where's the line?

Beyond this, it is also a beautiful tale of love in all it's faces and guises. Familial love, friendship love, content love, passionate love, forbidden love, love of a society. It's also about loyalty balanced against personal desires. What we're willing to do for love of others and love of self. It's a story of growing up and becoming awake, aware of the world around us and seeing it and maybe ourselves for what it and we truly are for maybe the first time. Struggling with our place in the world and what's expected of us as well as what we want from the world and ourselves.

Under all that is also a mystery. I'm very curious about this world. The inhabitants don't know a lot about their history or even really what is going on around them in the present. They know only what they are told by the Society, so I'm very curious about what is going on in the rest of the world and even about the possibility of a rebellion and an underground. All these possibilities as well as the questions left at the end and the intriguing characters that I want to see more of kept me wanting more long after the last page of this book was finished. I hope we get to go back and visit this place. I feel a storm coming and I want to see what will happen. So many times it's easy to tell where a story is going and in this case I'm just along for the ride. I don't know where this story will go from here, but I really want to find out.

I want to take a moment and just mention the beautiful writing. It is truly evocative and sensual in that when Ms Condie described the rain I could see the approaching storm clouds, feel the electricity and excitement of the impending storm dance on my skin and watch as the drops fell from the sky. I could feel the moisture and taste it. That is the gift of a truly talented story teller and that is what Ms Condie is.

Overall I highly recommend this book. It is haunting and sad as well as beautiful and hopeful by turns. It is scary and stifling and comforting and loving and funny. Cassia is a truly great narrator and character and I enjoyed her voice immensely.

My grade: A. It was a little slow at some parts, but still lovely and when it picks up I really had no idea how the author was going to handle things and where she was going to take me, but I trusted her to get me there.

New Trailer for Matched by Ally Condie