More Than Forever by Jay Mclean

“Love has no limits. No boundaries. No time. It’s eternal. Forever.”

     This book has made me laugh and cry. The other books in this series have been amazing, but they did not give me the feels that this one did. I didn’t even think that was possible. This novel showed you how Lucy and Cameron met, fell in love (one was basically synonymous with the other), healed each other, and helped heal so many other people around them. I know in the last review I talked about Amanda and how much I loved her. That is NOTHING compared to how I feel about almost every single main character in this book. The pictures below are screen shots of some of the things that I found so funny I needed to screen shot them.

     I don’t even care that my highest rating is a five, I’m giving this a six. The humor in this book is some of my favorite humor. I honestly can’t remember the last time I laughed so much reading a book, or taking a screen shot of a passage because it was hilarious, rather than romantic. The other books all had a lot of intense moments that I feel like maybe I should have cried at, but maybe I was just broken. This book gave me many ugly cries, which I was fortunate enough to endure alone. This story also gave me an ending that I loved more than any of the other endings. It was exactly what I wanted to happen, it made me so happy I almost cried again. I’m still really excited and anxious for the next book, but this ending made me feel okay (I’m lying. I’m not patient. I want to read it now) with waiting for when it’s released. I feel like one of the reasons this book was so great was because you saw glimpses of the couple in the previous books, but you never expected most of what happened to either of them. You never really got a good feel for how amazing all of the characters really are. The dad seemed like kind of a not caring what happens dad in the first book, at least that’s the impression I got. In this book, you really get to see him, and feel what he’s feeling. The love you see with Mark and Cameron, honestly might be one of my favorite parts of the book; it’s perfect. This is the type of book that makes you believe in true love, the forever kind of love. 

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More Than Him by Jay Mclean

"We live in a world of darkness and shadows, where monsters hide and aim to ruin. And they did. They ruined us and turned our dreams into nightmares. But now we’re back. And we’re fighting. Not just for us, or for each other, but for the light.”

     12 hours post Amanda and Logan…

This book was everything I wanted the follow up book to be. I was heartbroken at the end of the last book, but I understood why it had to end the way it did. This book healed those pieces of my broken heart, as well as the pieces of the character’s broken hearts. I loved (and by loved I meant I felt awful for everything the characters went through after the fact) how we saw, really saw, the effects of everything that happened to them, and how they had to work and struggle through everything they had to deal with to become whole again.

     This book is, yet again, another five (I know, I know, everything is a fucking five with me. Not true, I just read exceptionally good books). The story in this book was done very well. The author really takes you through the healing process for each of the characters, the only one we don’t get to see much of their healing process is Amanda’s brother. Even with that though, we get to see how it affects him, and how he’s still able to forgive. I loved all of the main characters in this, the little moments the smaller characters had with Amanda, and most of all, I just really loved Amanda. She’s the type of person you want to be your best friend, your sister, the person that’s there when something goes wrong. This book didn't have the type of drama that was in the previous books, it was a healing book, and it was perfect.

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More Than Her by Jay Mclean

     Good Lord. This book. This book was just so much more than I thought it would be. The first one in this series was intense, but this book…it just took it to a whole different level. This book wasn’t so much drama, drama, drama (okay it was, but it was different than the first book), but it had so many damn feels.

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

For every choice you make there are rewards, or there are consequences.

It was my choice to walk away the first time.

And my choice to chase her the second.

But sometimes you don’t get a choice,

And all you get are the consequences.

     This is as much of the book description as I want to give. It wouldn’t be hard to look it up and read the rest, but this is what I think matters the most from the description. This book, much like the last, is well deserving of a five. Of more than a five. I more than a lot loved the first book, but this book was just (how many times can I write just in one review) so much more in every possible way. I feel so bad for those damn characters, and everything they went through. The normal this was well written, with great dialogue applies, but this book was just so much more than that. There are twists and turns, and there are a lot of things that you never see coming, that looking maybe you should have ( I know I should have). The story in and of itself is good, the writing and how the author makes you feel for the characters is what makes it an amazing read.

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More Than This by Jay Mclean

     I more than a lot LOVED this book (read the book and you’ll get this reference). So much of this book was intense, and then the end blew my fucking mind. I don’t want to tell you any plot points in this book, I want no part in giving anything away. I can tell you there is a lot of drama, there is a lot of sadness and happiness, and a lot of sex (with a whole lot of detail).  The best I can do for you is give you the description you’ll see when you buy it (because you really, really need to).

*Mikayla*

In one night my fairytale ended. Or it may have begun. This is my story of friendship and love, heartbreak and desire, and the strength to show weakness.

*Jake*

One night I met a girl. A sad and broken girl, but one more beautiful than any other. She laughed through her sadness, while I loved through her heartbreak.

*This is our story of a maybe ever after.*

He was right. It made no difference whether it was 6 months or 6 years.

I couldn’t undo what had been done. I couldn’t change the future.

I couldn’t even predict it.

It was one night.

One night when everything changed.

It was so much more than just the betrayal.

It was the Tragedy.

The Deaths.

The Murders.

But it was also that feeling.

That feeling of falling 

     This book is worthy of a five, more than a five really, but that is as high as my scale goes. This book took you through your paces. The language is a little vulgar (I mean this in a good way), and there is a whole lot of sex going on; I tell you this so you can be prepared when you read it. There was so much in this book that I just loved, and I am still in shock over the ending, the beginning, the middle. The story, as a whole, is just a really beautiful one; while a great deal of this book is sad, it’s a beautiful kind of sad. The characters are an interesting mix that you either love or you hate, and while most of them are pretty relatable, and follow the path you expect them to take, they manage to shore up a few surprises (I am still reeling from the last two). While there were one or two things that seemed a little irritating while reading this book, those things were somehow tied together in the end, leaving everything to make perfect sense. I haven’t read the next one yet, but I can tell you I probably won’t do anything else but read it, and the others that follow this weekend.

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Inn Boonsboro Trilogy by Nora Roberts

     The Inn Boonsboro Trilogy is not exactly what you would expect. I didn't want to read these books at first, and then when I was at odds with what to read, I decided to give them a try. I can honestly say that I am quite pleased that I did. As with most of the books I currently own, I have read these ones numerous times. They are so fun, and entertaining. They hit the right spots of drama, and love, and ghosting. Friendship and brotherhood are pretty big themes in the books, as are love and motherhood, with each one done beautifully well. And if you’re interested in staying in the beautiful inn, described in lovingly gorgeous detail, you actually can!!! Book A Room! These books follow three brothers, and three woman through the opening of an inn, and other buildings throughout their small town, as well as quite a few ups and downs dealing with horrible people, the fear of falling in love, and a little bit of history.

     I give these books, as a whole, a four. I loved, and will continue loving to read them over and over again. The stories all hit the perfect amount of drama, with each couple dealing with different problems. They show how love can blossom when you never thought it would again, and it’s beautiful to watch (well, read technically). Almost all of the characters are funny, and the banter between them really brings the books to life. In this picture you seem some of the funny between two of the brothers and one of the children prominently featured in the books.

     The stories, while all connected, each have their own pot of special that makes them interesting and a little bit unique. I say go read these books, or add them to your list. They make me think lovingly of winter (and you should know I hate the cold with a fiery passion) and wish I had a fireplace to curl up and read these in front of. Maybe while one (or all) of the Montgomery boys materialized around me.

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Key Trilogy by Nora Roberts

     Key of Light, Key of Knowledge, Key of Valor. All three of these books were very fun reads for me. As with most of the books I have been reviewing lately, I have read them quite a few times previously (I honestly just don’t have the time right now to search out new ones…soon). The books surround three women and three men and follow them on their quests to find three magical keys that will unlock a magical box entombing three souls of demi-goddesses. Seems a little out there right? Not as much as you might think. There is a lot of humor in the books, a little bit of mystery and sense of anticipation, and a whole lot of love and wonder. The author does a really good job of making you believe a little bit in magic. You come out of the books like you’d come out of a fun dream, wishing it were all real.

     I gave these books, as a whole, a four. They were, as I previously mentioned, a lot of fun to read. There were parts that I didn’t really care for, and the constant questioning of their lovers, especially in the last book, got a little annoying. As the reader, you know damn well what the last girl is supposed to do, but there wouldn’t be a book if she just did it right away. As with most Nora Roberts’s books the dialogue is sharp, funny, silly. The child in the story is adorable, as are most of the children in her stories. These books were very fast reads, I read them all in about two days (at the same time I don’t exactly have what most people would call a life). The characters were also really fun; the mom character is pretty similar to many of the other mom characters the author writes about, which could get old if I didn’t usually find them to be my favorites. Other than her, and the main group, the gods in the story are pretty wonderful. They’re everything you want in Celtic gods, and just a little bit more. Overall, these were fun, take me away from Kansas, types of books. 

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Sparkles by Louise Bagshawe

     Diamonds really are a girl’s best friend, or sometimes what leads to a few enemies, as you will find in this novel. This was my first book by Louise Bagshawe, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It was absolutely nothing like I expected it to be. The first time I read it I had no idea what was happening, and who all of these characters were, or why they being introduced, but I was hooked from the start. This novel, while similar to some of her others, stood out to me the most, and having read them all, it still does. There is so much happening at once in this novel, that all unfolds together perfectly. The twists! (And Turns!) are unexpected and at the same time all come out to make perfect sense. You get that “Aha!” feeling in this book that is lacking in so many other novels today. I have no idea how someone would write a book like this, other than with a great deal of planning and work. There are many that say this book is a great beach read, and, quite frankly, unless you’re planning on having an uneven sunburn, it is not. I could not put it down the first time I read it, and now four years later (having approximately read it 25 times at least), it has still not gotten old, and I still don’t want to put it down.

     This book is very much worthy of receiving a five. The characters are perfectly created. They are realistic, and also reminiscent (to me, at least) of fairy tale characters. The story alone in this novel is worth a five. It was captivating, exciting, funny at times, sad at times, and wonderful 100% of the time. There is nothing negative I can say about this book, I wish I had the capability to have written (or really even thought of) something as good as this. 

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Passion by Louise Bagshawe

     Snipers, assassins, and spy craft, oh my. This book is definitely a fun, and pretty exciting read. You get to see the heroine change from a dowdy teacher into an all-around badass. You see parts of the world you never thought you’d see, and if you don’t want M16 recruiting you after you read this, you’re doing it wrong. It’s hard to give you a synopsis, without giving too much away, so I’m going to break my mold a bit and give you the back cover.

     As you can see from the wear and tear of my book, from the first picture up here, I have read this one quite a few times. It is a little bit different from most of her books (notice I said most, she has another that is quite similar that I’ll be reading again next), a little bit more adventurous, a little bit more dangerous. This was very well written, the dialogue done very nicely. I loved all of the characters in it, even the bad guys. If you can make me feel bad, and want more for the hitman that is trying to kill my main girl character in this book, then you are definitely doing something right. 

     I have to give this book a 4.5. I am not afraid to give out fives to the books that I love (I am not waiting for “the next great novel,” to change my life), and had the main character not turned into such a sappy pile of mush every once and a while, I probably would have given it a full out five. I really think Bagshawe did a great job with the characters, save for the few sappy parts of Will. I was left feeling content with the ending, happy in what I think will happen next for them. I love and hate when a book leaves me wanting more, but every once and a while an author closes it out nicely, as was done in this novel.

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Beauty by Louise Mensch (Formerly Bagshawe)

     If you read this book and didn't immediately run to your local Ulta, Sephora, Mac (insert favorite makeup store here) then you didn't really read this book. Beauty was everything you wanted from a Louise novel. The heroine is brave and beautiful, smart and sassy (again, insert your favorite matching first letter adjectives here to make it more paunchy), she is everything you want to be as a woman. This book followed the normal formula of getting fucked over time and time again, and making it on your own. I don't say this in a negative way though. This book makes you proud to be a woman. It does, like all of her other books, make you feel like you can do anything. I loved Dina, and I absolutely loved Joel. He might be my favorite male character lead in any of her books so far. There were so many parts to this book that I can't say enough good things about, you just need to read it.

     The writing in this was amazing, like you'd expect. It had a lot of the things you come to expect from a Mensch (Bagshawe, whatever) book. It had a great list of characters, all very well developed, and with perfect dialogue. It was also a very fast read. I don't recommend reading this if you have to work though; it will most definitely cause it to drag on for many many hours until you can return to reading (trust me, I know this from experience). This book gets a five. I know I give out a whole lot of super high ratings, and I am pretty easily pleased, but I still think it deserves the score. While this book follows the same type of formula as most of her other books, this one just seems like it is more. More of everything, better developed maybe? I liked and hated (only the ones you're supposed to hate) the characters more. I think the story line was smoother, the emotions shown incredibly well, the characters easier to relate to. It was a good story, that was well written. In short, I loved it (obviously).

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Glamour by Louise Bagshawe (currently known as Louise Mensch)

     Glamour by name, glamour by nature. This book has definitely been one of my favorites for the past few years. I constantly find myself reading a book, and then thinking about this one for some reason or another, and end up reading it (again and again and again). There are two different versions I have been fortunate enough to read, the one published in England and the one published for the US. Normally I find that I like the versions of books from England better, but the US version had one particular scene, that was left out in the English one, that I really thought added that extra bit of healing to one of the main characters. This book follows three young girls, starting out when they are in high school, and then leading them into their early adult lives. Each girl is from a very different background, but circumstances bring them together to be friends that stand the many tests that life throws at each of them. There's a lot of drama, and a lot of ingenuity in each of their lives, and I think Bagshawe (currently Mensch) does a good job of making you believe you can do anything.

     I'd like to give this book a five, because of how much I love it. With that being said, the actual ranking I am going to give this book is a four. The writing is very good, in both versions. The story line is magical. The roller coaster of ups and downs (I didn't want to use such a commonly used metaphor, but it just worked too well) these girls face and deal with are well written, and you want more than anything to see each girl succeed and get everything they're looking for. I really wish we could have seen the mean girls from high school make an appearance later on the books, whether shown in disgrace or stirring up more trouble. There were also a few things I didn't really like about Haya's parts. I don't think we really got to take the time to know and love Jaber like we did her first husband, and it left everything with him feeling rushed and not quite as genuine. Other than that the characters were very well written. You felt each of their pain and all of their joy, and I can honestly say that I wish I was still reading about them. The dialogue was also very well done. It was stiff, and very proper in most of Haya's parts, which was perfect. The Texas twang was also very well done for Sally. The only thing that really annoyed me was the constant use of the word girlfriend when speaking to other women. Other than not wanting the book to end (and it actually ending), and the few random quirks that, while mildly annoying in the characters, were also what made them endearing, this book was pretty fantastic. Definitely one of my favorite books, and not likely to change its status in that area anytime soon.

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Rival by Penelope Douglas

     This book is the sequel to Bully, which I absolutely LOVED. Before even starting this book though, I noticed that the author included a playlist. While I find this to be, quite frankly, awesome as fuck, I noticed a particular band spreading it's evil presence into places it doesn't belong. That awful, terrible, rotten, causer-of-ear-bleeds band...nickleback. Gross. I don't even like typing that name out. In reading the book, I don't remember seeing the name pop up (it's possible I mentally blocked it out) but I think if it's in there that there is only one character it can really be connected to, and that is Fallon's mother. This book was not what I was expecting, but to be honest I had no idea what it actually was that I was looking for it to be. It was better than I thought possible. You get to see an entirely different side of Madoc that you never would have dreamed of seeing (and let us be honest, we were all dreaming of Madoc). You also get to see more of Tate and Jared, which made me really happy, and it wasn't so much that you were sick of them, but the perfect amount. And Jax. (Jesus Christ, is it January yet?!) The author paints a pretty picture of the air of mystery surrounding that boy, and I am dying to read the book that he is prominently featured in. Even if he ends up being a completely terrible person (seriously though, I hope he doesn't), I'm still going to love him after how completely and totally fantastic he was in this book.
     I have to give this one another five. The writing was just as perfect as it was in the last book. The characters were clearly a little older, and they acted and spoke as such. There were a lot of parts where I laughed out loud, most especially at Madoc's comment about Fords. There were also a few times where I'm sure I blushed richly (again, be warned, there is a great deal of intercourse described in all of its glorious detail, but what more could you expect from a book about Madoc). The characters were amazing. They might have been even better developed in this book than in the first (and technically second). I also always love it when an author makes you love and respect a character who is generally considered a terrible person. Fallon's father in this book is that character for me. His speech about building your walls was beautifully written, it is entirely possible I watered up a bit. The dialogue was good, the writing was good, the characters were good, the story was amazing. I fucking love a happy ending, and this one gave it to you ten-fold.

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