REVIEW; Rumor Has It (Limelight #1), by Elisabeth Grace

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: New-Adult, Romance, YA

Recommend: Yes

Book 1

SPOILERS!!! 

Summary:

Ellie has returned to live with her mother following graduating college. After being the star of an embarrassing viral video, all she wants to do is keep a low profile. After falling through the bathroom window of a villa rented by a famous hip-hop artist, that low profile is heavily jeopardised. Mason Nash is taking time off work for a few weeks, and the pair agree to enjoy their time together while it lasts. But when Mason is signed up for a reality tv show, Ellie is thrust into the limelight and they each have to work out what or who they really want. 

My Thoughts:

Ellie: I think ultimately I liked her, although annoying at times. She definitely read as a vulnerable character who was trying to remain true to herself and protect herself from further harm and keep from damaging her career prospects. I feel like she seemed more like a 17 y/o rather than a university graduate though. I appreciate her desire to remain out of the spotlight and she was adapting to the celebrity culture quickly, but she just didn't carry the maturity or personality that I feel a graduate, who lived away from home for a few years, would have. 

Mason: he's not on his way to the book boyfriend list, however he was rather amusing and charming. I didn't really appreciate his brash attitude in assuming Ellie's actions incorrectly. I accept it warranted for the necessary plots, but just felt after ALL they'd been through together, it was rather out of character of him to not even allow Ellie to explain herself, especially after his huge speech re trusting her explicitly. Although I am not a fan of hip-hop, I liked that we got to see some of Mason's family history and his personal life rather than his celebrity one. 

Story: I'd nearly say this is suited for YA readers, apart from perhaps the sexual content, although it was not really explicit. But the interaction and drama screamed YA in my head. The book was written in dual POV and unfortunately I feel this affected my rating; had it been presented from a single POV, the reader could approach the story with the same missing info and make the same judgment of trust, but in allowing us see both sides of the story, it left little to be worked/found out by the reader. 

I feel like there was the attempt to build a solid relationship and chemistry between Ellie and Mason, but a big part of me felt it was a tad Insta-Love like. Quite soon on Mason just "knew" Ellie was different and his interest piqued from their first meeting and that instant attraction put me off a little and I just didn't connect with their chemistry.  

Overall:

I think due to the immaturity of the characters/events, this is perfect for younger readers. It's a decent light story that is well written. 

Goodreads

REVIEW; The Opportunist (Love Me With Lies #1), by Tarryn Fisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Genre: Suspense, New-Adult

Recommend: Yes!

Book 1

SPOILERS

Summary:

Three years ago, Olivia broke Caleb’s heart and he vowed to leave her life and never see her again. Olivia believes he is in her past, until she sees him in a music shop. What she doesn’t expect is Caleb not to even recognise her – he has amnesia and has no idea who she is. Olivia sees this a second chance at love, but every attempt to confess who she really is, is interrupted. She learns of Caleb’s near engagement and soon is in a battle to win Caleb. But threats and blackmail ensue, with a world of secrets ready to burst open. Can true love really win if the chance has already gone?  

My Thoughts:

WELL HOLY SHIT! I love Tarryn Fisher’s work and this is the third novel of hers I’ve got to read. What I really loved in this, is that while there was a happy ending, there wasn’t THE happy ending. It was REALISTIC! I spent the whole book rooting for the pair to just stop messing about and be honest and live their life together. But, that isn’t really how life always works out and this was a refreshing read that depicted that. It shows how two people can always find their way back together, and give each other their heart… but for once a book showed that love does not always trump everything else.

Words cannot describe how much I loved this for those reasons. I’m becoming tired of the whole love/romance genre at the moment as am fed up of the forever happy endings with “The One” that’s all just crap. Life isn’t that perfect that allows the hiccups to occur and two people still get their happy ending. Life happens. Actions done in anger or remorse have effect. People change. People can have an unbelievably strong connection and chemistry – but it still be unhealthy. Anyway… moving on…

Olivia: I think she is one of my favourite protagonists. She is far from perfect but it makes her human. She believes she is a horrible person because of her lies and deceit, but it wasn’t THAT bad. It was done out of love for Caleb and although some actions are rather extreme, she wasn’t the one that broke into someone’s apartment to trash everything and then blackmail a girl… But I really felt for her. She loved Caleb so much and seeing him with Leah broke her, as she knew Leah was a scheming bitch and Caleb was unaware. And yet in the end, she let him go. She was able to put his happiness before her own and this was the ultimate mark of character development.

Caleb: Yeah, I have some issues with this guy! So, we are led to believe that Olivia has done something horrible and betrayed Caleb and that she hurt him… BUT WHAT DO WE FIND OUT?! Well Caleb here was about to cheat on her but she caught him in the act. And somehow, he manages to turn it around onto Olivia because she goes and has meaningless sex with a stranger. If he were any way half decent he would have realised how hurt she must’ve been to have resorted to that… so from that moment I wasn’t a Caleb fan. Also… he comes back and calls Olivia out on lying – HYPOCRITE! But, I still like the guy… I guess that’s the magic of Fisher’s writing. I can pick out all these aspects of Caleb that make me dislike him, but I was still rooting for the pair to get together.

Story/Writing: It’s amazing. I’ve discussed Fisher’s writing style before and it’s astounding. The descriptions are brilliant without boring the reader with paragraphs of scene setting. So much can be evoked in one sentence. I enjoyed the jumping from past to present – especially as it was clearly marked “The Past”/ “The Present” at the beginning of the chapters! I read this in less than 24 hours (the first 68% when I went to bed and sadly at to stop to try get some sleep) as I just couldn’t predict where the story was heading.

 “You can only give your heart away once; after that, everything else will chase your first love”

Please don’t be true or else I am fudged! lol

Overall:

I’d recommend this to anyone my age (22) to read to just be aware of some of the ugliness that comes with loving someone. I could relate to more than I’d like, but also learned a lot from it too. It really shows how sometimes, two people loving each other isn't always enough. 

Goodreads

REVIEW; Girl Undone (TJ Peacock and Lisa Rayburn Mysteries #3), by Marla Madison

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: Suspense, Mystery

Recommend: Yes

Book 3

NO SPOILERS

Summary:

Private Investigator TJ Peacock, and psychiatrist Lisa Rayburn, are hired by Ms Petretti to solve the mystery surrounding her niece’s disappearance. Kelsey Blasko went missing on Tuesday, and turned up in the mall on Friday with no memory of her abduction or what happened.

Meanwhile, criminal blogger Bart Kosick, is being harassed by a persona Headliner. Leaving threats and breaking in, Bart realises the danger when a young girl’s dead body is placed on his property. Both crimes soon interlink as the danger increases and creeps closer to home.

My Thoughts:

Story: Breaking it down simply, this was a good story. I read it within 24 hours so there was definitely an element that drew me in and kept my attention. There were good plot twists and often parallel story lines were interlinked, making a few pieces fall into place. However, at times, some plot holes were answered but I was left unsure of what this meant for the parallel story line. I like in a series when there is a bigger plot going on across the books with an individual “front plot” per book, and I am presuming that was the case for this – Kelsey’s disappearance was the front plot and Bart being harassed the bigger plot. I’m still uncertain how these two plots truly interlinked at the end though due to the sort of cliffhanger ending…

There was multi POV, the reader seeing events unfold from numerous persona’s which kept the pace of the novel alive and moving appropriately.

There were a few typos which broke up the pace here and there, mostly grammar ones that could’ve been noticed with perhaps another read through?

Characters: A negative in this were the quantity of characters. This is book 3 in the series so I assume the rash introduction and background of a few characters was for a speedy introduction to get the reader up to date. But it did become a little confusing. Halfway through the book a girl called “Shannon” was present and I’d to search back to recall who she was by re-reading her introduction at the beginning. 

Overall:

I would recommend this book for anyone requiring a quirky mystery read that isn’t too heavy. If you can get to grips with who is who early on, it’s an extremely easy read! 

Goodreads

REVIEW; I Am Not A Serial Killer (John Cleaver #1), by Dan Wells

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Supernatural

Recommend: Yes!

Book 1

NO SPOILERS!!! 

Summary:

John Cleaver is 15 and helps his mother in the morgue. With a penchant for serial killers, he feels alive when there is a monster active in his neighbourhood. He's aware he isn't like the other kids; he has a list of rules to make sure he doesn't let the monster within him to take over. But as the serial killer becomes more active, John can't help but hunt him, allowing his own demons to come to life. 

My Thoughts:

John: I think he is one of my favourite characters from any book. He was absolutely fascinating and the story is told from his POV and we get an insight into the mind and thought process of someone strongly resisting what he believes to be an internal demon. John is convinced it is his destiny to be a serial killer and so has a list of serious rules he sticks to in attempts to remain "normal" and not become the heinous monster he believes resides deep within. This includes not focusing on anyone doing anything for any length of time to avoid noticing any detail about them and prevent becoming obsessed. If someone makes him angry he will compliment them to remain positive. The main hook for me was definitely exploring John's psyche over the actual plot. 

Writing: This was written fantastically. The whole pacing of every snippet of information and plot twist worked so well. I've been in such a reading slump lately due to life events and this book hooked me in, I was back to sacrificing sleep to read. 

Story: The premise of this novel was brilliant. It was a thriller wrapped up in focusing on the internal battle of John as he yearns to solve the crime and work out who's responsible for the killings, while attempting to manage his own instincts. However, the big plot twist is the supernatural twist in this novel. I am undecided as to if it works or not. In one way, the supernatural theme ran deep enough to be able to wrap up the story well, but it sort of came out of nowhere at the same time. 

Overall:

I loved this so much. Would definitely recommend to anyone who lives a thriller but with a twist. The insight into a teenager's mind who is convinced he is destined to be a serial killer is enthralling and the overall story is brilliant. 

Goodreads