[Review] The Boyfriend Bet by Chris Cannon

The Boyfriend Bet
(Boyfriend Chronicles #2)
by Chris Cannon
ebook, 240 pages
Publication Date: August 22nd 2016 by Entangled: Crush

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains multiple PDAs, after-school detentions, and gambling on the side. Warning: betting on a boyfriend is bad for your health.

Zoe Cain knows that Grant Evertide is way out of her league. So naturally, she kisses him. Out of spite. Not only is Grant her brother’s number-one nemesis, but he has zero interest in being tied down to one girl. She’s shocked—and secretly thrilled—when they start spending more time together.

Zoe’s brother claims Grant is trying to make her his “Ringer,” an oh-so-charming tradition where a popular guy dates a non-popular girl until he hooks up with her, then dumps her. Zoe threatens to neuter Grant with hedge clippers if he’s lying but Grant swears he isn’t trying to trick her. Still, that doesn’t mean Grant is the commitment type—even if winning a bet is on the line.

~ Book provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion

The Boyfriend Bet was the first book by Chris Cannon I’ve read. In fact before reading it I haven’t even heard of Chris Cannon.

I was really excited when I started The Boyfriend Bet. The synopsis sounded promising and the first two-three chapters where actually interesting, but then I noticed how whiney both the main characters were. Zoe was constantly like He won’t like me, because someone else is way prettier and Grant was whining about Zoe being high maintenance, but that he needed someone with low and in all he didn’t even wants a girlfriend.

I got annoyed by these two pretty quick.

Also the thing with Delia, Zoe’s best friend, and Aiden, Grant’s best friend, was totally unnecessary for the story. I didn’t feel any chemistry between any of the characters. Maybe that would come to a later point in the book and I decided to quit to early, but I want my chemistry to be there from an early point in the book. By 31% there still wasn’t any and my dislike for the characters just grew.

So I decided to stop. I know I probably sound like a bitch, but if a book can’t grab me from the very start or at least after 5 chapters in, then I won’t hope for the best.

The writing style was ok though and I’m sure if it weren’t for the characters I would have been able to finish it. Maybe I will give it a try again in a few month. Who knows, tastes do change after all, maybe I will like it then.

I’m sure someone will love this book more than I did. Maybe I just missed a deeper connection to the characters.

Rating: DNF ~ 31%

[Review] Into The Dim by Janet B. Taylor

~ Into The Dim by Janet B. Taylor ~

(Into The Dim #1)
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Date of Publication: March 1st 2016 by HMH Books for Young Readers
Source: NetGalley

 

Synopsis:

When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing.

[Review] Scarred Souls: Raze and Reap by Tillie Cole

Caution: Books contain triggers!

Synopsis of Raze:

One man stripped of his freedom, his morals… his life. Conditioned in captivity to maim, to kill and to slaughter, prisoner 818 becomes an unrivaled and unstoppable fighter in the ring. Violence is all he knows. After years of incarceration in an underground hell, only one thought occupies his mind: revenge… bloody, slow and violent revenge. Revenge on the man who wronged him.

Kisa Volkova is the only daughter of Kirill ‘The Silencer’ Volkov, head of the infamous ‘Red’ bosses of New York’s Russian Bratva. Her life is protected. In reality, it’s a virtual prison. Her father’s savage treatment of his rivals and his lucrative and coveted underground gambling ring-The Dungeon-ensures too many enemies lurk at their door. She dreams to be set free. Kisa has known only cruelty and loss in her short life. While working for her church-the only reprieve in her constant surveillance-Kisa stumbles across a tattooed, scarred, but stunningly beautiful homeless man on the streets. Something about him stirs feelings deep within her; familiar yet impossibly forbidden desires. He doesn’t talk. Doesn’t communicate with anyone. He’s a man beyond saving. But Kisa becomes obsessed with him. Yearns for him. Craves his touch. Needs to possess this mysterious man… … this man they call Raze.

Review of Raze:

I loved the cover of the dual book and I wanted to try something new. Also the synopsis sounded interesting, so I found myself requesting this on NetGalley. I liked this book, but partly I am also disappointed by this book.

I liked Raze as a tortured hero, but I lost my interest in him, when he started to get his memories back. I never like the whole “hero has amnesia and then remembers his old life”-plot. After that the hero always turns into a different person. Didn’t quite happen here, meaning Raze remained Raze, but still I wasn’t a fan of that.

What also bothered me was Raze’s?…Raze’ses?… the hero’s real name, which I won’t mention here because I don’t want to ruin the book for you. I liked the name Raze a lot more, sounded more dangerous.

The heroine Kisa was a weak damsel in distress in my opinion, even though she is the daughter of the Bratva king and leads an illegal death fighting ring. I felt sorry for her though, she gets a lot of abused in this book.

The bad guy… come on, I was quite obvious that HE was the bad guy of the whole story. Nothing exiting there.

One thing I liked about the book though was the writing style. It drew me in from the very first page and I read the book in nearly one sitting.

If you like Mafia books about second chances and dirty fights, you will probably like this. I for my part am not sure what I actually feel about this book and if I would read the second book, but since this is a dual book, I will.

Rating: 2,5 stars

 

Synopsis of Reap:

Raised as a prototype for the Georgian Bratva’s obedience drug, 221 fails to think, act or live for himself; his master’s perfectly-crafted killing puppet. Standing at six foot six, weighing two-hundred and fifty pounds, and unrivalled in to-the-death combat, 221 successfully secures business for, the Georgian Mafiya Boss of NYC, in the dark world of the criminal underground. Until his enemies capture him.

Talia Tolstoi dreams to break from the heavy clutches of Bratva life and dreams of another life-away from the stifling leash of her Russian Bratva Boss father, from the brutality of her work at The Dungeon-her criminal family’s underground death match enterprise. But when she stumbles upon her family’s captive who is more monster than man, she starts to see the man underneath. A powerful, beautiful, damaged man whose heart calls to hers.

Review for Reap:

I liked the previous book Raze enough to finish it, but Reap … I couldn’t finish it. Once I reached 25% I had enough. I felt not one bit connect to the main characters Talia and Zaal, nor did I like them.

Also I wasn’t as invested into the story  as I was with book #1, so I decided to quit. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I will change my mind while reading on.

[Review] First Touch by Laurelin Paige

~ First Touch by Laurelin Paige ~

(First and Last #1)
Genre: Romance, Mystery, Contemporary
Date of Publication: December 29th 2015 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Source: NetGalley

                      

 

Synopsis:

When Emily Wayborn goes home to visit her mom while on hiatus from her hit TV show, she receives a voicemail from her former best friend, Amber. Though the two were once notorious party girls, they haven’t spoken in years. Although the message might sound benign to anyone else, Amber uses a safe word that Emily recognizes, a word they always used to get out of sticky situations during their wild days. And what’s more chilling than the voicemail: it turns out that Amber has gone missing.

Determined to track down her friend, Emily follows a chain of clues that lead her to the enigmatic billionaire Reeve Sallis, a hotelier known for his shady dealings and play boy reputation. Now, in order to find Amber, Emily must seduce Reeve to learn his secrets and discover the whereabouts of her friend. But as she finds herself more entangled with him, she finds she’s drawn to Reeve for more than just his connection to Amber, despite her growing fear that he may be the enemy. When she’s forced to choose where her loyalty lies, how will she decide between saving Amber and saving her heart?

~ My Review ~

I actually thought this was YA, when I picked it up. Why did I think that? This is definitely not YA… not that I’m complaining. I like adult books, I’m just confused about myself. What ghost possessed me so I thought it’s YA… ? I’m puzzled.

Anyway, this review is about First Touch by Laurelin Paige, so let’s get to that.

I loved, loved, loved the writing style. It pulled me in from page one and it’s probably the only reason why I read as far as I did. Wouldn’t it have been so good, I think I would have dnf-ed the book a lot earlier.

One thing I liked was that the main character wasn’t a plain character, but had in fact many facades. Sadly said main characters wasn’t to my liking and – and by main character I mean Emily. It says a lot that I couldn’t remember her name and had to look it up, right? Also she did loose her focus on finding Amber quite a lot whenever Reeve was around. Annoying!

While we are talking about Reeve…. a lot of people on Goodreads where totally blown away by him and here I am, feeling like I missed something important. I wasn’t blown away and as with Emily I still don’t know if I like him. One thing you can say about Reeve though, he has a lot of self-confidence. But he is a controlling freak and needs to be nicer to women.

One of the other reasons why I stopped reading this book was that it was … well, I don’t want to say boring, because it wasn’t, but it couldn’t keep my interest in the long run. Emily was constantly lusting after Reeve, forgetting about her original quest and once they got to over the first “probing” as I would like to call it, this book turned into sex-scenes only. Also it was kind of BDSM, without being it. I know that makes no sense, but I just didn’t like the whole sex scene arrangement.

I want to end this review with a good thing about the book, so… Isn’t the cover pretty? I like the feather design a lot. 🙂

Rating: DNF

[Review] Wolf With Benefits by Shelly Laurenston

~ Wolf With Benefits by Shelly Laurenston ~

(Pride #8)
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Date of Publication: June 30th 2015 by Kensington
Source: NetGalley

              

 

Synopsis:

Ricky Lee has no plans of getting serious about anyone, but he will protect Toni Jean-Louis Parker. Not just because he’s been hired to do so, but because it’s the right thing to do. And if that means traveling around the country with one complicated She-jackal, dealing with chocolate-eating wild dogs, instigating trouble between his brothers, and having the most amazing sex he’s ever had…well, who said his job didn’t have perks?

Toni doesn’t know how she keeps getting herself into these situations. But even she has to admit there’s something about Ricky Lee Reed that she finds kind of interesting…and downright sexy. Now they just have to survive long enough to figure out if what they have is worth fighting for…

[Review] The Gatekeeper’s Son by C.R. Fladmark

~ The Gatekeeper’s Son by C.R. Fladmark ~

(The Gatekeeper’s Son #1)
Genre: Young Adult
Date of Publication: October 1st 2014 by The Shokunin Publishing Company
Source: NetGalley

                      

 

Synopsis:

Junya’s grandfather is a billionaire who keeps the secret to his success hidden in a heavily guarded safe.
His mother is a martial artist who wields a razor-sharp katana—and seems to read his mind.
And a mysterious girl in a Japanese school uniform can knock him over—literally—with just a look.
What do they know that he doesn’t?
Junya’s life takes a dangerous turn on his sixteenth birthday, when someone sets out to destroy not only the family’s business empire—the one that he’s set to inherit—but Junya himself. He’s fighting for his life, and doesn’t know who to trust.
What has his family been keeping from him?
Junya’s journey takes him from the narrow streets of San Francisco to Japan, and through hidden portals to the top of the ancient Japanese Izumo Shinto shrine, to places where death and violence are a way of life. And in a mystical world he’s never imagined, he finds his true destiny.

[Review] Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

~ Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn ~

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Date of Publication: January 5th 2016 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Source: NetGalley

                            

 

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but only if the guy fulfills a specific criteria: he has to be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward, fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time- the kind Mercedes never had herself.

Keeping what goes on in her bedroom a secret has been easy- so far. Her absentee mother isn’t home nearly enough to know about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities, and her uber-religious best friend, Angela, won’t even say the word “sex” until she gets married. But Mercedes doesn’t bank on Angela’s boyfriend finding out about her services and wanting a turn- or on Zach, who likes her for who she is instead of what she can do in bed.

When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her reputation and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process. Funny, smart, and true-to-life, FIRSTS is a one-of-a-kind young adult novel about growing up.

[DNF Review] Wicked Lies by Lora Leigh

~ Wicked Lies by Lora Leigh ~

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Suspense
Date of Publication: September 1st 2015 by St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Source: NetGalley (352 pages)

Purchase: Amazon US | Amazon DE

 

Synopsis:

Jazz has never been known as a good boy.

A good drinker. A good partier. A damned good builder, and a hell of a good liar. Those are all descriptions that come to mind when the citizens of Loudon, Tennessee think of the tall, muscular, laughter-filled charmer they know as Jazz. And Jazz will admit to all of them: he likes to play; he likes to tease. And a little white lie surely never hurt anyone.

Until the sexy, too-shy kindergarten teacher, Annie. Annie sets fire to his lusts as well as to his heart. But Annie has a past he wasn’t aware of. A past that will draw Jazz into the heart of a conflict he had never expected to face. His little Annie is under the protection of the United States Marshal Service for her testimony that has a high profile, very wealthy businessman facing death by lethal injection. A man that will stop at nothing to see her dead.

Now, Jazz has to pull in some serious favors, just as he finds himself fighting not just an overprotective Marshal that he believed was the new school principal, but also a woman determined to save the charming liar that has never been serious. One that has never faced reality. A man that has always sworn himself a bachelor. A man that now is telling the most wicked lies of his life to steal the heart of the woman that has stolen his soul.

[Review] Never Loved by Charlotte Stein

~ Never Loved by Charlotte Stein ~

(Dark Obsession #1)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Date Of Publication: June 23rd, 2015 by Loveswept
Source: NetGalley

Synopsis:

Perfect for fans of Abbi Glines, the first novel in the Dark Obsession series tells the story of a beautiful wallflower who falls for a chiseled street fighter—and learns just how dangerous love can be.

Beatrix Becker spent most of her life under the thumb of her controlling, abusive father. And now that she’s free and attending her dream college, she has no idea how to act like the normal crowd: partying, going on dates, even having a conversation. Then she meets Serge Sorensen. Big and surly with a whole host of riotous tattoos, Serge is supposed to scare the hell out of her. But beneath his harsh exterior, Beatrix discovers a kindred spirit who knows what it’s like to be a misfit. Most exhilarating—and terrifying—is what he does for a living: illegal street fighting.

There’s nothing like the rush Serge gets from the intense athleticism and brutal glory of combat—though his chemistry with Beatrix comes close. Slowly at first, he introduces her to his world, where he lives by instinct, passion, and desire. He even helps her out with her equally traumatized brother. But when Serge gets in too deep with the wrong people, he ends up paying in blood. And suddenly, just as Beatrix has been drawn into Serge’s perfectly sculpted arms, she’s thrown once and for all into the fight of his life.

[Review] The Last True Vampire by Kate Baxter

~ The Last True Vampire by Kate Baxter ~

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Pub Date: June 2nd, 2015

Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Series: True Vampire #1

Source: NetGalley

Synopsis:

As Michael’s eyes lit on a female not twenty feet away, he knew without a doubt that it was her blood that called to him and her scent that had awakened him.This female had tethered his soul and returned it to him.

Soul Survivor

He is the last of his race. The one true king of the vampires. Michael Aristov roams the nightclubs of L.A. after dark, haunted by his past and driven by his hunger. The last of the Ancient Ones, he alone has survived the destruction of his race at the hands of the slayers. Now he is forced to hunt and feed like a common vampire, a creature of lust. Nothing in this world can fulfill his needs…until he meets a woman who’s everything he’s ever wanted. And more.

Sweet Salvation

Her name is Claire Thompson. Her blood is so sweet, so intoxicating—the smell alone draws Michael to her like a moth to the flame. Sly, sexy, and seductive, Claire seems to be the only mortal who can satisfy his craving and seal his fate…forever. Can she be trusted? From their very first kiss, the last true vampire sweeps Claire into a world in which darkness rules desire—and where falling in love is the greatest danger of all…

~~ My Review ~~