The Pact by Karina Halle

     The Pact, by Karina Halle, was exactly what she promised us it would be...a hot, feel good story. Linden and Steph have been friends since they were 21, and started working together at a bar with their friend James. Fast forward a few years and they're at 25, rehashing their horrible dates, when Linden first introduces the idea of a pact to get married to each other at thirty if they aren't in serious relationships. This book takes us through the years, and shows us the ups and the downs of their friendships and relationships. Then comes year thirty and its when shit starts to get real.
     I'm giving this one a four. It was fun to read (except when I was reading the extremely dirty scenes and praying someone wasn't looking over my shoulder), and it was a fast read. I think one of the most exciting things for me was how fast this book came out. One second I'm getting teaser emails from the newsletter I subscribed to (Ps you want to subscribe to her newsletter) and then one second later the book comes out (okay maybe there was a week or two in between there, but it flew by). The characters were all super lifelike and realistic. I appreciated how realistic they seemed and how often the f word was dropped. That honestly made it seem more realistic. The one part that I hated, was the shit talking on my bruins. Who even likes the sharks? (not I, that's for damn sure). It was the only part I genuinely didn't like, but that was for team loyalty reasons. Next time can they at least be Kings fans?
Amazon US Amazon UK Pre Order at Barnes & Noble

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

     "What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them...all at once?
Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hat box her mother gave her. They aren't love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she's written. One for every boy she's ever loved- five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean's live life goes from imaginary to out of control." Sounds like it"ll be a fun read right?
    I am giving this book a 2. I don't like not enjoying a book, almost as much as I don't like giving a bad review. The book wasn't written terribly, nor was it covered in grammatical errors. The story itself is what killed me, and the ending. I was pretty p'd off after that ending to be honest with you. I like conflicts to have resolutions, and I don't like cliffhanger type endings when there is no second book. Be prepared, because that is what happens in this one. There was also something about the way the way the characters acted and spoke that just didn't feel real to me. It felt entirely too made up, when it didn't have to, and I think that was one of the biggest problems for me. I wanted so hard to like this book, and I kept waiting for it to get better, but there were only bits and pieces of it that I truly enjoyed. The only character who really made me happy was Kitty. She was perfect, and also the reason this is getting a two.

A is for Abstinence by Kelly Oram

     A is for Abstinence, the sequel to V is for Virgin, was perfection. Per.Fec.Tion. It was like one big long perfect epilogue. This book took us through Kyle’s bad breakup, and him joining the abstinence team. What this book really showed was Kyle growing up. It was from his perspective, which was really a lot better than I expected, and it showed him slowly working his way towards winning Val back, and keeping her. There were a few ups and downs, and it took a lot for them to start to trust each other.

     I am giving this book a 4.5. The book ended really abruptly. I was definitely not expecting the end to actually be the end. That being said, I am really happy with the ending. While I would love to continue to read more and more about Val and Kyle, I was worried some terrible thing was going to come up after the end. I feel like I am not giving you very many details, but I don’t want to go too crazy and spoil the whole book, which pretty much leaves me useless (other than me telling you that you need to go and read this). This book had me laughing again and again. You’d think you’d get sick of Kyle at some point, but you really don’t. And I LOVED the side of him that we really got to see. It was just done really well, and I almost couldn’t be happier (I really just want to know if Val becomes the President).

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble Books A MIllion

V is for Virgin by Kelly Oram

     V is for Virgin, by the ever entertaining Kelly Oram, was more serious than I expected it to be, while still being really fun at the same time. Valerie was adopted because her mom got pregnant really young (her first time having sex too) and knew she couldn’t raise a child. She gave a necklace and a letter to the adoptive parents, who then gave them to Valerie, and she has always kept with her. She makes a promise to herself that she won’t have sex until she’s married, and she isn’t backing down from that. This inevitably leads to her boyfriend breaking up with her and breaking her heart, and a recorded showdown in a cafeteria that goes viral. We get to see Val pushed to her limits on many different fronts, and constantly being bombarded by offers that she can’t turn down, and offers that she most definitely can. Things spiral out of control, and in the end she needs to do what’s right for her.

     I am giving this book a four. It was serious, but still had a lot of parts that were funny and ridiculously over the top (in the best way possible). I think what I liked most was how true to herself she stayed, and how she could actually see other people’s arguments. I liked how even when she knew doing something would hurt her heart, she still did the right thing for her. This book had a lot of layers to it, and while the main character has a strong message, this book wasn’t preachy in the least. The ending of this book was definitely a surprise (as well as a big time leap), and I am seriously just hoping the next book picks up exactly where this one left off.

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble Books a Million

Cinder & Ella by Kelly Oram

     Cinder & Ella, the fairy tale take on Cinderella, by Kelly Oram, was fantastic. I honestly can’t remember the last time my face hurt from smiling so much while reading a book. This story takes us through Ella’s tragic loss of her mom, her slow painful recovery from the accident, bullying at school, creating a relationship with a father than abandoned her, dealing with evil stepsisters, and an online pen pal she’s having a hard time not falling in love with. It sounds like a lot right? It’s not. This book shows how friendship can help you heal, and that forgiveness is always possible, especially when given the truth. It also shows how people can deal with the truth better than you might give them credit for. This story has the fun factor of Hollywood, and a serious dose of nerd. It’s basically got everything.

     I am giving this book a five. It more than deserves it too. Sometimes I go off of young adult and new adult novels for chick lit and romance (and sometimes even a little mystery and thriller), but nothing has the magic feels that young adult and new adult books have. This one captured it, and I honestly refused to put the book down (even to miss the season finale of House of DVF). The writing in here is really good, the characters are all very well developed, and you get to watch them change and grow, and see how they better themselves. The dialogue was perfect; it wasn’t too studied nor did it feel like the author was trying too hard, it just flowed with perfection. I honestly can’t say enough good things about this book. I cried happy and sad tears, I laughed through almost the entire book, and I was surprisingly content with the ending. You really need to make it a point to go and read this immediately, it’s more than likely better than the book you’re reading now. 

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble Books A Million

Find Her Free Her by Robyn Roze

     Find Her Free Her, the last book in the keeper trilogy, has been my favorite so far. This book was definitely the resolution I was waiting for, and the final answers I was waiting for. This book takes us to Olivia as she travels around the world, adventuring and hiding from Nick. There are a few big blowouts, and a lot of steamy scenes, coupled with some amazing scenery that takes you all over. I don't want to say too much about what happens because I'm pretty sure I'll give it all away.
     I'm giving this last one a 4.5, mainly because of the entire epilogue, which was definitely more than just the labeled epilogue. Very few books ever give me the epilogue I so desire, and this one did a good job of delivering just that. I really liked how this book gave the final answers, and didn't leave me needed or wanting more. It didn't create new questions either. I feel like the actual labeled epilogue almost did create new questions, but really just showed the side of Nick that we expected to see.
Amazon US Amazon UK

Keep Her by Robyn Roze

     Keep Her, the second book in this trilogy by Robyn Roze, was definitely a little more intense than the first. This book takes us into Nick really finding out about Olivia and Jake, and where she’s going to go from there. She’s doing her best to keep her worlds from colliding, and seeing a side of Nick she hasn’t seen in a very long time. She has to decide who and what she can trust, and she has to find some kind of a solution before it all swallows her whole.

     I am giving this book a four. It definitely answered a lot of questions I had from the previous book, and it felt a lot more intense than the other book. The ending was very different as well. In the last book, I didn’t realize it was the end, but in this one I knew it was, even if I wasn’t ready for it to be over yet. We get to see a different side of Olivia, one where she finally snaps, and I think she really needed to do it. The last book is one that I am definitely beyond excited to get going on. 

Amazon US Amazon UK

Keeper by Robyn Roze

     Keeper, by Robyn Roze, was definitely a keeper (see what I did there). Like the warning on Goodreads, this book really does leave you with A LOT of unanswered questions, and a serious cliff hanger ending. This book tells the story of Olivia meeting Jake, and dealing with being in a relationship with him and running/blocking out her past. There’s definitely something really big that happened in her past, and while we get hints (I have a few speculations), we don’t get anywhere near a thumbnail of a picture of what happened to her. And then there’s Nick. At first, he seemed liked a serious villain. I think he still might be, but I just have no idea what to think of him. He’s definitely got a lot of stuff that needs to be atoned for, and I’m hoping we’ll find out what those things are and if he makes up for it in the books to come.

     I am giving this book a four. The only part about this book that I didn’t really like was the tickling. Weird, I know, but when you read it, you’ll see. It just made me feel uncomfortable, and seemed a little unrealistic. Other than that though, the story line is good. It’s definitely intense, and it’s setting up something really good for the future books, which makes it even better. The dialogue in this book really seemed on point. None of the dialogue felt stiff, or forced, and the conversations felt normal and believable. All in all, I’m super excited for the next one. 

Amazon US Amazon UK 

Private Series (4-14) by Kate Brian

     The rest of the Private series novels, 4 through 14, were so good that I couldn’t stop reading to write my reviews, so I’m doing the rest of them in this one. The series was…crazy. Ridiculous. Absurd at many, many points. And So. Damn. Good. This series took some weird and crazy twists that I NEVER saw coming. None of them. I can’t even tell you anything that happened, and if I did, you wouldn’t believe me. What I can say is that Reed and Noelle and Josh and Ivy were some of my absolute favorite characters, through and through. That the bad guys and gals are capital B A D bad. I can’t tell you who lives and who dies, and I can’t tell you who stays together and breaks apart.

     I’m giving this series, as a whole, a four. The crazy shit that happened in a few of the last books didn’t really continue into the last book, and the last book wasn’t any kind of an epilogue like I was hoping for. There was too much not told for me to be really satisfied. The rest of the series though, was fantastic. It was like everything that happened was leading up to the last books (minus the last one). I feel like some of the super out of left field stuff was just a whim that maybe didn’t pan out, but sadly, I’ll never know. I realize I am making this sound super negative, but given everything that happened in the book and at the end, I’d read them all over again. I probably will. 

Untouchable by Kate Brian

     Untouchable, the next book in the Private series, was the best at the end. The Billing’s Girls seem to be saying things with double meanings, and Reed isn’t anybody’s fool. This book mainly shows Reed, and how she’s dealing with Thomas’s death (with a little help from his roommate Josh). Reed isn’t exactly very trusting of the girls, even after they told her they wouldn’t have any more secrets between them. Taylor disappears, and Reed is freaking out about that, on top of that Noelle gives her some insight relating to her new romantic interest, Josh. She doesn’t seem to know who to believe, and the end…the end was a cliffhanger that has me darting for the next book.

     I’m giving this one a 3. It was good, but most of it seemed more filler than thriller. The ending of the book is where things got really intense, especially with how the book ended. This book leaves you with a lot more questions than answers, and a lot more characters seem shady and not quite as genuine as they were starting to seem.

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble

Invitation Only by Kate Brian

     Invitation Only, the second book in the Private series, was a much steadier ride than the first book. This one takes us into the life of Reed and her beginnings in Billings. There is blackmail, and secrets (so many secrets), and traps, and lies, and plans, and a betrayal or two. This book focuses around some information that Reed is trying to find, as well as Reed trying to get invited to the most exclusive, and mysterious, party in all of Billing’s history. It’s where Thomas is going to be, if he’s going to be anywhere, so it’s where Reed needs to be. She also has the little matter of deciding on whether or not to betray her new friends to avoid expulsion (via some blackmail from another Billing’s girl, via some inappropriate pictures taken while she was drunk), or tell the girls what exactly is going on. So when I say it was a smooth ride, I really only mean that Reed actually got into Billings.

     I am giving this book a four. It took some turns I didn’t expect, and the ending was not a happy one. What I like most about this series is Reed’s character, seeing the tests the author (and the Billing’s girls) put her through, and seeing how true she can stay to herself. I like the moral compass aspect, and am curious to see how that continues. More so than anything, my review score is going to be based off of the actual story line for the rest of this series. The character development, and dialogue, haven’t changed in this book from the last, and what I’m really looking at is where the story goes, and what the characters are going to do. So far, so good.

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble

Private by Kate Brian

     Private, the first book in the Private Series by Kate Brian, started out slow, but picked up real quick. I started this series a long, long time ago (sound familiar House of Night series?), and now that all of the books are out, and I have some procrastinating to do, I’ve decided to start reading them (with huge thanks to a super good deal I got on all of them from Amazon). This book is the real introduction book, and while I usually find those to be insanely boring, this one did not fall into that category. If you read this book, and hate what you see at the beginning, KEEP READING. It gets SO much better. Reed, the main character, gets accepted into a super exclusive private school, leaving behind her old gray life, and pill popping mother. When she gets there she hopes to come out of her shell and be accepted, to be one of the girls, and to finally make friends after keeping her head down for a long, long time. She finds things are a lot more f’d up at her new school than she could have ever imagined, starting with her new boyfriend, and ending with her new “friends.”

     I am giving this book a solid 4.5 (which doesn’t really seem so solid). This book, while starting off really slow, was far more interesting than I remember it being. The book had a pretty serious feeling to it, and if what I remember, and feel, is right, it’s setting the stage for some big things to come. I like how there might be a little bit of foreshadowing in this book for what is to come with Ariana (and I hate to be that person to “look” for things in other’s writing), and I like everything about Noelle. This book was written very well; the dialogue was on point, and the characters very well developed. And now, I am dying to get started on the next.

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble

Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

     Perfect Scoundrels, the third book in the Heist Society series, has definitely been my favorite so far. This book follows Kat and her gang as they try and find stolen prototype and plans for said prototype, which belonged to Hale’s family’s company. Kat was hired to track down the will of Hale’s recently deceased grandmother, because her maid (and best friend) believed that someone had changed it. In this they found the family lawyer up to a whole lot of no good, and a set of events to sad to go into detail over (also, I’d be spoiling a lot of moments for you). This book was much sadder than the others, too many deaths came about, but it also had a lot of happy moments. We got to meet quite a few new family members, and there were some good twists that I definitely didn’t see coming in this one. My least favorite thing that happened was that we still don’t know Hales first name (what in the hell!).

     I am giving this one as four. It had the Bagshaw boy’s humor, and a much more serious feel than the others. It could be the recently deceased, and the dealing with the death of a loved one that gave it this feel, but I also think it was much more than that. This book was deeper than the others, and I think that’s where this book went right. I loved the connection we saw between Kat and her dad, and the way he grilled Hale about Kat (there were demands for goats involved, you really need to read it). I also loved how the family (the whole family) worked together, and how they all accept Hale as one of their own. Overall, this one was a roller coaster that I am really glad I went on. 

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

     Uncommon Criminals, the second book in the Heist series, was good. It takes place a little bit after the first one started, where Kat has been doing jobs by herself and generally making everybody mad at her (again). Then, she gets stopped by a stranger in the street and is asked to steal the Cleopatra Emerald back for her. This emerald is well known to be cursed, and after their first successful heist of it (yes, you heard me correctly, first), it seems to be that the crew might actually be a little bit cursed. This book takes you through the whole crew’s journey towards trying to steal the emerald back again, for its RIGHTFUL owner, and uncovers a lot of interesting pieces of family history, and old cons gone wrong surrounding past attempts at stealing the emerald.

     I’m giving this one a 3.5. It was good, but it didn’t have the same feeling as the first one did. The writing was still good, and the scenery was still interesting, but it just wasn’t as funny. I liked the story line in this one a lot, a little bit of history always makes me happy, and I hope that the author continues on with this theme in the next book. I’ve been partial to the WWII references (as it’s my favorite war to read anything about), and I hope she doesn’t stray too far. At the same time, I am hoping that more family secrets come out, and we that we finally get to learn Hale’s first name. 

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble

Heist Society by Ally Carter

     Heist Society, by the ever entertaining Ally Carter, was once again, not what I expected. Now, granted I didn’t read the book description, I just went off of the cover, and the fact that after I finished the Gallagher Girls series, I wanted to keep reading her books. All of this though, is beside the point. The first book in this series was, very much, a good read. In this book we find the main character, Katarina, about to be in trouble at her new private school for putting her headmaster’s car on top of a fountain. She has quit the thief live for good, and just wants to be a normal girl getting an education. Unfortunately, someone (a mob man is my best guess) thinks that Kat’s dad stole his precious paintings, and he’s only giving two weeks until he starts hurting the people Kat loves…her family (which is also a ring of thieves). This book takes them all over the world as they try and figure out who actually took the paintings, why, and how in the hell they are going to get them back.

     I’m giving this book a four. It was a very fast and entertaining read. I loved the brother characters more than anyone else. They were very funny, and perfectly mischievous. The rest of the characters were also very well done, but the brothers were my favorites. I liked this book because it intertwined a few things from the Gallagher Girls series, and I was really, really hoping it would (who’s excited to get to the crossover book? This girl!). The only thing I wasn’t too sure about in this book was the narration. It may be that I just didn’t pay enough attention to the narration, and only felt like it switched, but, for the most part, I just wish it would have exclusively from Kat’s point of view. As I mentioned before, this book was funny (thanks to the brothers), but it also had a sense of danger and suspense attached to it that I was really happy about. It had a few twists that I didn’t expect, but not so many that I was over it. Overall, I’m excited to get started on this next book.

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble