Review: Come to me Quietly by A.L. Jackson

5 Stars

Aleena Moore is content with her life. She has goals and dreams and an easy smile. She also has a secret she holds locked inside.

Jared Holt believes he doesn’t deserve to love or be loved. He destroys everything he touches. Haunted by the mistake that shattered his life, he’s fled from the memory of that pain.

Jared doesn’t know why he’s compelled to return, but finds himself drawn back to the place where it all began. The exact place where it ended. When he runs into his childhood best friend, Aleena’s older brother Christopher, he agrees to share Christopher and Aleena’s apartment while he looks for a place of his own.

Aleena is no longer the little girl Jared remembers from his past and evokes feelings in him he never wanted to feel again. Terrified of destroying her, he fights to keep her away. But her touch is something he can’t resist—the touch that sealed his fate.

Their pasts are intertwined and their futures uncertain. The only truths they know are the secrets they whisper in the night.

Buy NOW on Amazon Come to Me Quietly: The Closer to You Series

My Thoughts: My very first thought is...Thank you AL Jackson.... my second thought is I probably shouldn't sing that to the tune of  "Sorry Ms. Jackson by OutKast" in my head. *ahem* This goes out to all the author's mamas, author's mamas mamas - Thank you AL Jackson, I am for real........... 

annnnnnnd I'm back.

When I started this book I was a little bit down because I had just set a book aside without finishing. To some this might not seem like a big deal, but for me it is huge. I rarely, if ever, leave a book unfinished. Even if I end up hating the book in the end, I still feel like I have totally disrespected the author and the book itself if I leave it. So, that being said, I waited a week before I started a new book, THIS book. I can not even describe to you the level of emotion that this book poured into me. I fell so hard and so fast for every single character.

It is not often that I love the female lead as much as I love the male lead. Usually I fall so hard for the guy that the girl is just pissing me off at every turn. But Aly...... this girl was made for Jared. She is every single thing in this world that he thinks he doesn't deserve and absolutely everything he needs She never once wanted to change him, make him into someone he will never be. She only wanted to hold him and love him, even though he is unable to love himself.

Jared, ah this boy, he had my heart in so many pieces throughout this entire book. It is no secret that I fall hardest for the damaged boys when I read. They are the ones my heart beats faster for, the ones I can't stop thinking about when I have finished the book. Jared is no exception, the problem with Jared is that what has broken him can't be fixed. There are no words in the English language, or any other for that matter, that can make him feel any less hatred for himself. Aly accepts this, wholeheartedly, and I love her for it.

I could go on and on and on about these characters but the only thing I really want is for you ALL to read this book!!! I, myself, am about to read book two. Not because I was left with a huge cliffhanger, not because 'OMG what happens next' (ok, well a little this), I simply want to get lost with Jared and Aly again for as long as the next book lasts.

Because I would almost bet my house you will need this.... here is the link to book two.

Come to Me Quietly: The Closer to You Series

~S

Review: Cupsian (Cuspian Saga Book One) by DC Hall

5 Stars

Twins, Kendal and Kennedi Myles are the envy of their peers with: a second string spot on the varsity football team, smartass but loyal teammates, miniature pores, and a killer spray tan. They had big plans for sophomore year, until their mother is slaughtered during a botched robbery.

Forced to move with their estranged father, Kendal becomes fixated with finding their mother’s killer, while Kennedi tries to settle into life with their dad. After discovering a trail of unsettling clues, the pair begin to believe their mother’s death was part of a conspiracy. As the teens’ investigation digs deeper into their mom’s enigmatic past, a mysterious agency stumbles upon them, and the twosome learns they are Cuspians—individuals gifted with supernatural abilities. Kendal and Kennedi are soon faced with the challenge of staying concealed from the shadowy organization hell-bent on enslaving powerful Cuspians, while trying to solve a murder.

Family secrets, bloody breadcrumbs, and deadly obsessions guide the twins through tough decisions and awful mistakes. Desperate for their lives to return to normal, the pair found normal is not written in the stars for either one of them.

 Buy now on Amazon - Cuspian (Cuspian Series)



   My Thoughts: OK guys, you all know how much I LOVE paranormal YA. It is my first love when it comes to reading and I will always, always return to it over and over again. When I heard my friend and possible book twin was writing just that, I got super excited!! DC was extremely hush, hush while writing. Almost zero teasers or hints as to what we were in store for, so that had me even more anxious to read.

   I started this book the minute I got it and I did not put it down except for the times when RL (grrr) made me do so. I was completely engrossed in every single detail, and when I say every detail, I mean - pay attention kids because you will not want to miss anything. This book is written from a dual POV and it is done superbly. I absolutely love having both sides of this story unfolding right alongside each other. Kendal and Kennedi are tied together, not only by being twins, but also in the "other". They are both dealing with the death of their mother but they are coping in completely different ways, while simultaneously learning things about themselves that they never knew or could even imagined.

 If I were to summarize my feelings it would go like this;

   This book is paranormal so -WINNER. The dual POV- AWESOME. The murder mystery aspect will have you doubting EVERYONE, even those you pray are sincere. You get the teenage crushy stuff (Kennedi's POV) that YA rules at. A little bad guy hotness *GULP*. And best of all, a completely original idea. I have never read, nor heard of, another book about this 'type' of character. The author did an excellent job of creating something new that is meant for younger audiences but can definitely be enjoyed by more mature readers as well. I cried, I laughed, I spewed Diet Mt Dew onto my iPad, I gasped, I cried again and then when it was all over I waited patiently  (yeah right) for the next person to finish so we could theorize through PM. 

   I look forward to reading more in the future and can not wait to see what happens next. I do, however, vow to NOT drive the author crazy with my obsessive questions. But, ya know, if I just happen to accidentally on purpose send multiple PMs asking for the next book, I will chock it up to friendly encouragement ;)

 Oh yeah.... watch your step at the end guys..... there is a little bit of a cliff there!!!!! 

Here is a little bit of that teenage crushiness for ya....

Check out DC Hall on Facebook 


*NOTE - This review was originally posted at my former blog*

Series Review: Fever Series (Books 1-5) by Karen Marie Moning

Reading Order

Darkfever Fever Series, Book 1

Bloodfever: Fever Series Book 2

Faefever: Fever Series Book 3

Dreamfever: Fever Series Book 4

Shadowfever  Fever Series Book 5

Fever continues with Dani O'Malley books (will review after reading)

Iced: Fever Series Book 6

Coming January 2015

Burned: Fever Series Book 7

*Note that these books are also sometimes referred to as MacKayla Lane Series*

   My thoughts on the series; I read book one of this series a while back as a book club read. For me it was just 'Okay'. I was curious what would happen next but just couldn't get the motivation to read book two. Several of our book club friends are huge fans of this series so I decided I would try out the remainder of the series in audio. The first 3 books in this series are narrated by Joyce Bean. She does a wonderful job, bringing voice to each individual character in a way that almost feels as tho multiple people are reading the story. By the end of book two I was stating to get hooked so I continued. By the end of book three I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was going to gladly and possibly greedily finish this series.

   That brings me to book four. I began this book like all the others, a quick run and grab at audible.com, no regard for synopsis or credits, etc. When the book began I was immediately alarmed. All my nerdy bells and whistles were screaming at me...... the narrator had changed, it was no longer Joyce Bean in my ear it was Natalie Ross. The voices in my head (literally this time) suddenly sounded different, I didn't know if I liked this new voice. Mind you, Natalie Ross is an excellent narrator, I had just become accustomed to another voice. Cue DUAL NARRATION and Phil Gigante as Barrons (as well as all other male characters). This man's voice (especially his JZB voice) made my tummy flip flop, made me contemplate saying "Yes Sir!" on more than one occasion. Needless to say it made the narration change bearable to say the least. I would gladly listen to him read to me all day. But back to the story at hand.

   As book four progressed I knew that the story was taking a little lull, there seemed to be a lot of facts and info being poured into the story but it wasn't so much that I was bothered. I loved the book overall and the ending was so painful. I was extremely happy, in that moment, to have waited to read this series. I could immediately dive into book five with the same audible-click-download routine. Only this time it involved a little nail biting. The beginning of book five was madness, Mac's madness, the world's madness, the madness that lives within the silvers. I couldn't take it, I couldn't stop listening either. I knew what my gut was telling me but all of the evidence on the 'page' was telling me otherwise. My heart was in pieces. And then I was pushed off a cliff of never ending information, it was so much fact and so much back story that the story that was unfolding felt lost. Suddenly, every single question I had throughout the four previous books where all being answered, only there were more questions and more answers happening all at the same time, it was almost to the point of exhaustion. I felt as though I had been listening to the book for hours and hours, when in reality I was barely a fraction of the way in. I started to question why all of the new information had never been hinted about in the earlier books, why I felt like the first four books became almost irrelevant. It was almost as if a whole series of information was crammed right there into the fifth and final installment (MacKayla's books).

   As the book carried on and began to get closer to the end I was once again drawn into the story and the world. I loved the way it all seemed to come together all at once and made way for the future books. (Dani O'Malley; book one Iced). It is probably going to be hard for me to get into and new POV with Dani, but, I loved her. She is a little firecracker and a big ol' ball of awesome. I am going to take a breather from this series for a bit and read some other things I have had shelved. I look forward to seeing what is to come.

Bye for now ;)

~S