REVIEW; Never Too Far (Rosemary Beach #2), by Abbi Glines

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Drama

Recommend: Yes

SPOILERS

Summary:

Blair is back home trying to sort her life out without Rush being in it. Meanwhile Rush is heartbroken and trying to find a way to get Blair back again. 

But when Blair is forced to return to Rush, she has to find a way to let him back into her life as he has to find a way to be around her without scaring her off again. She wants him back, but is terrified to trust him again after being betrayed.

But as they try to see eye to eye to make progress, other drama poses to threaten everything they've worked for, and their happily ever after doesn't seem to be a possibility no matter how much they try.

My Thoughts:

***Read Fallen Too Far Review***

So thankfully I had the second book to dive straight into after the cliffhanger of book one, but unfortunately, this wasn't as good as Fallen Too Far.

Blair: I really loved her in the first book. She was so self sufficient and independent. But in this, she lost her fight. She just got a little bit annoying making Rush really beg so much to get her back. He had kept something from her, and she deserved to be annoyed. But after finding out she was pregnant she needed to just get over it a little and stop pushing him away so much. She kept moaning on about how incompatible they were and just shuuuut uuuup already!! 


Rush: Still love him but maybe not as much... He could've easily been an ass with what happened but he stood up and took the role he was meant to. But at times I wanted to scream at him to wake up and stop always saying Blair was his priority but then choosing Nan and her stupid drama!!!!!!! Every. Single. Time... But I can forgive it simply as he is torn with his loyalties and just trying to do the right thing by everyone and his actions were entirely understandable considering his circumstances. He also really knew how to make it up to Blair, if she'd get over herself and accept his endless efforts of apology. Like, gah, despite his crappy decisions, when he gave his speeches to keep Blair, it was heart wrenching!


I loved how it alternated POV between Rush and Blair. It gave such a great insight into what both felt but how much they failed at just voicing it simply! Ah the drama that could've been saved if they just said what they felt/thought. But I know, in real life we don't know what the other person thinks so of course were silenced by our insecurities and worries.


Story: This definitely lived up to the first book on the drama element. I did accept the twists of Rush dealing with Nan's drama and Blair on her own drama journey... but the continuation of twisting the whole "Who's Nan's Father?" crap... it just seemed so dragged out. What's the truth? The real true truth? 


Ending: Umm...What? I'm in two minds about this one. In one way, it was an appropriate, albeit abrupt, end to their story. The reader could believe that was their ending and everything was good. But then it was sort of unsatisfactory after all the drama they'd gone through. At least I'd the final installment to start straight after but I think without it, Never Too Far would've felt just abandoned at the end rather than completed.

Overall: 

If you've read Fallen Too Far, I'd definitely say read this. It's a great continuation and still is a gripping read with plenty of captivating, emotional drama! 

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REVIEW; 3.A.M, by Nick Pirog

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: Thriller, Suspense,  Mystery

Recommend: Yes

SPOILER-FREE

Summary:

Henry Bins suffers from a condition named after him. He sleeps 23 hours a day and only wakes up at 3:00am for one hour only. But one day he hears a scream from across the road and sees The President leave the house.

After realising the woman has been murdered, Henry's main suspect is The U.S. President. But can he discover the truth with only being awake for 60 minutes? 

And what happens when he too, comes to be on the list of suspects?

My Thoughts:

I love original pieces of work so when I stumbled upon this, I knew it was my type of thing. It was sitting in my Kindle Library for about a year until I got round to finally reading it and I enjoyed it. 

Novella: To start off, this is a novella. Something I had missed when buying it. It only has about 100 pages and this was a huge disappointment. Even more so as it ends at 70% on the kindle too... There was such a great story to this, but it was too fast and quick. I like proper meaty stories and this sounded like one - granted it was my mistake - but I felt this had so much depth to it, that it could easily have been a proper novel. 

Story: I'm pretty torn with this. Half of me wants to pick apart the errors or problems but then the other half wants to applaud the original idea. 

• The idea of Henry Bins is a really interesting one. How would only being awake for one hour affect and change the human race? How much would the world be altered. Could people be awake for different hours? None of this was really explored and it feels like a missed opportunity. It was simply explained Henry has this condition and just accept it and move on. This felt a little strange as I would've focused a lot more on his condition and the consequences as it was such an unusual aspect of the story. 

• Lassie... uhhh isn't he meant to be a cat? It really didn't fit. I have two cats and just... it was simply frustrating how Lassie was responding to Henry and how he spoke to the cat. Just not realistic and was completely unnecessary too. 

• Amongst everything else going on, there was a slight hint of romance which was as if it was thrown in for the laugh. It didn't fit in with everything else at all and was again, unrealistic. It would've been a lot better had the book been a novel as there would've been the appropriate room for development rather than plonking it in the middle of nowhere.

Plot/Ending: The main appeal of this book was the mystery of "Who Dunnit?" Did The President commit the murder? Most likely not, but we still don't know. I love trying to beat the character into working out the culprit and motive... but this? Come on... the conclusion came out of nowhere and it was just a messy conclusion. Didn't enjoy it or believe it. Just didn't feel right at all and was a slight let down... 


Positives?: Right, so I still rated this 3 stars so there must have been some good points. And there were... To have packed all that was into such a short story was impressive. Yes, I would've preferred something lengthier, but I can't change that. Henry Bins was an interesting character with how he has adapted with his condition and it was a unique and original concept. There were some fun scenes and I did laugh more than once. If you don't read too much into the finer points, it is a great little story. 

Overall: 

Do I/Don't I recommend this? Yeah, sure why not?! It's a short little story that has so much going on and makes for a great read. Won't take more than a few hours to get through and I did enjoy it. Maybe just read it with a light pair of eyes. 

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REVIEW; Debt Inheritance (Indebted #1), by Pepper Winters

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Genre: Adult, Romance, Drama

Recommend: No

SPOILER-FREE

Summary:

Nila Weaver is an up and coming fashion designer, finally making a name for herself away from her Father’s business. But on the night of her success, she is handed to Jethro Hawk. Generations ago a deal was struck, stating the first female born of each Weaver generation was to be handed to the first born of the Hawks, to do as they please with until death. Inexperienced Nila is put through her paces, as she tries to find Jethro’s sensitive side and bide her time so she can fight for freedom. But she has no idea of the extremities of her ancestor’s deal. 

My Thoughts:

Mixed feelings for this book. I love Pepper Winter’s work and was so excited when I saw this was free as the first installment. But ultimately this felt like an unresolved novella. It’s stated as the first book of the series, but yet it more felt like an introduction to the whole story and whilst I really wanted to know more, it makes me wonder will the rest of the series only be tidbits of info? I have no issue with paying for books at all- but I don’t want to pay for something that seems to cover only a few chapters of work. It was like paying for a three course meal but only getting served the drinks and being told to come back and pay again tomorrow in the hope of getting more.

Nila: I really admired her fight and she seemed like a smart girl so I didn’t think how she fought back was appropriate. I was expecting her to be more cunning and pretend to go along with things and fool them into believing her and then acting out, rather than opening her mouth to cause a drama every time. In the end, I didn't care much for her or feel sorry for her that she had found herself in this situation beyond her control. 

Jethro: I didn’t think he was defined enough. He was meant to be of a malicious nature and yet from the get go clearly had a soft spot for Nila. I think it would have worked better had he remained stoic and cold and as he spent more time with Nila, then develop a minimal care for her. He wasn't developed or explained in any detail, so it was difficult to predict his nature and it just got frustrating as he sporadically changed his attitude.

Story: There’s a good story in this; just needed to be more in the first book. I’m not sure if I want to continue this series or not as I prefer bigger and meatier books. Maybe I was expecting it to be of the same nature as Monsters in the Dark and that was my fault. It does only have 222 pages but by 50%, nothing shocking or horrifying had occurred. I think the overall story has promise, but there wasn't enough in this first book to really drag me in. 

Pace: I didn’t really get the pace of this book. I found it hard to follow her conversations with Kite, as she’d be having one and then it would jump back to when they first met or something, making it just complicated to keep up with what was now and what was then. I did read this in one sitting so maybe I just wasn’t paying as much attention as I should’ve. 

Overall: 

I'm not going to recommend it but it is free on Amazon so if it seems at all interesting, give it a go. It just wasn't for me and I may have set my expectations too high, but it didn't fit in with my view of how Winters writes. 

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REVIEW; Beauty From Love (Beauty #3), by Georgia Cates

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Drama

Recommend: Yes

SPOILER-FREE

Summary:

Laurelyn has finally become Mrs McLachlan and they've finally got their happily ever after. They've conquered every obstacle and their love is stronger than ever.

But Jack's history refuses to leave him alone and it's beginning to get to Laurelyn. How many more times can she be faced with his past? And what will happen when his past refuses to stay there without a fight? 

Can Laurelyn learn to accept all that is thrown at her that may threaten their marriage and will their love come out on top?

My Thoughts:

Jack and Laurelyn, my new favourite Book Couple. Thankfully I was able to finish book 2 and dive straight into their final installment and was eager to find out what new dramas would get in their way. 

As this is the final book there's less I can go through as I've really exhausted all there is character wise in my previous reviews. One thing that's been executed very well is the character development. Cates really knows who Laurelyn and Jack Henry are and they don't stray from what you expect them to be like. Their personalities are really grounded and their quirks remain constant, all contributing to an extremely plausible story and I can't help but fall for them even more!! 

Thank God for Addison too! I love her and wish she was present a lot more. Any time Laurelyn let her emotions take the better of her and lash out at Jack Henry, Addison always made Laurelyn see sense. I think she's a wonderful best friend.

I was unsure re the story in this book. After two crazy novels, I was skeptical as to what drama could happen in this that would seem realistic and wouldn't just drag their story out. 

Being honest, for the first half of the book it just seemed like the same old drama being churned up and Laurelyn reacting as she always does. Thankfully, the second half did pick up immensely and I raced through it. But maybe this would've worked better at half the length? I did start to skip the love scenes just as they were the same and dotted throughout at annoying parts. They felt more like a filler in this than an actual component of their story. 

However, I'm glad there was a third book. It was nice being able to read more of the HEA after the wedding stage and smashing the usual cliche that once you get married everything is hunky dory! They still had their struggles but also continued their lives and it remained a beautiful read. 

Overall: 

I'd definitely recommend completing this series with reading this. Although it's more like an extended epilogue, it's well worth it. I like completing stories and I'm so glad I know how their story ends. May not be as exciting as the first two, but so worth the read! 

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REVIEW; Beauty From Surrender (Beauty #2), by Georgia Cates

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Drama

Recommend: Yes

SPOILER-FREE

Summary:

Laurelyn is back in America, missing her Jack Henry but she made a deal and will stick to it. She has bigger issues such as her absentee father entering her life having reunited with her possessive mother and finding herself without a career. 

Jack Henry is heartbroken in Australia. No matter what he does, he can't forget Laurelyn and can't find her due to the lack of details about her life she knew. But after a last desperate attempt, they are reunited. But can they just pick up where they left? Has one of them moved on? Or has one of them done something that could threaten their future? 

A lot can happen in three months apart, and they may not be able to go back to how they were.

My Thoughts:

Always after reading a great first installment, there's always some worry the next book won't be as good or the story will be taken in a wrong direction. But this was done just as beautifully as the first! 

Laurelyn: I feel so much for her in this. She's hurting so much and then returns to a crappy home life with her crazy ex making dangerous moves and her mom not really listening to what her daughter wants. What I love about her character is that although she is so vulnerable, she's still a strong person. Again, like the first book she believes other women over Jack and doesn't really give him a chance to explain - however, this time it worked better than in the first book, mainly because Addison was able to be there to set her straight. 


Jack: That man... epitome of perfection. He is just adorably hot. He loves her so much and the pain he endures just makes you want to give him a hug. I feel like Laurelyn rules them though; the poor guy does everything he can to treat her like a princess (but not in a cringey way) and she shoots him down when things go wrong. He does such a 180 from the first book but yet it's all believable and endearing. 


Story: I loved the plot in this so much. There was a great character development and the little twists were well worked out. There was a lot of sex though, more than in the first book and it got a little.. "oh here we go again, same stuff." Some of them could've been just skipped over like how they were done in the first book. It wasn't as such of a whirlwind as Beauty from Pain, but I still enjoyed it. I cried a few times in this, reading Jack's letter and what happens at 86%. Annoyingly, this book ended at 88% which is so frustrating but at least there's an excerpt of the next installment.  


Writing: I love Cates' control of pacing. Everything happens at such appropriate moments and as with the first book, little aspects of their life are revealed consistently throughout the story. There isn't ever a lull in the story, even when not much would be happening. Sometimes, I'd forget whose POV I was reading from but that was down to just reading too fast out of excitement! 

"You worry so much about protecting your toes that you miss out on the joy of the dance."

That quote... Away from the story, that quote really struck home and it has stayed with me since. Every so often you find a little gem like that in a book that really means something to you and I read it at a time I really needed it, so thank you Georgia Cates for that. 

Overall: 

This wasn't as great as Beauty from Pain. It didn't have a cliffhanger ending but it was an excellent second book. I still loved reading it and went through so many emotions. Laurelyn and Jack are definitely my favourite couple and I am so excited to read their final chapter!

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