It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Welcome to It's Monday, What Are You Reading!  This is a weekly feature hosted by Book Journey in which you plan out your reading week, as well as let others know what you're currently reading!

This week I read 4 books and posted 9 times.

1. June Wrap-Up
2. Teaser Tuesday
3. July TBR
4. One Year Blogaversary
5. Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch Book Blitz
6. Goodbye to You by A.J. Matthews Book Blitz
7. Review of Forbidden by Lori Adams
8. Waiting on Wednesday
9. Review of Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt

Grace also posted twice.

1. That's What He Said Thursday
2. Friday 56

My currently reading:

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Prom Impossible by Laura Pauling

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

So my goals for this week are to just get as far through my currently reading.  I may pick up Fire with Fire, book two in the Burn for Burn series, and the Golden Lily, the second book in the Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead.

Thanks for reading and comment below with your currently reading, as well as subscribing!

Amber

Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt

Through to You

By Lauren Barnholdt

Published: July 8, 2014

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 288

Opposites attract—and then complicate—in this romantic, relatable novel from the author of Two-way Street and Sometimes It Happens.

It starts with a scribbled note in class: I like your sparkle. Harper had casually threaded a piece of blue and silver tinsel through her ponytail in honor of school spirit day. And that carefree, corny gesture is what grabs Penn Mattingly’s eye. Penn—resident heartbreaker of the senior class. Reliably unreliable. Trouble with a capital “T.” And okay, smolderingly sexy.

Harper’s surprised by Penn’s attention—and so is Penn. The last thing he needs is a girlfriend. Or even a friend-with-benefits. The note is not supposed to lead to anything.

Oh, but it does. They hang out. They have fun. They talk. They make out. And after a while, it seems like they just click. But Penn and Harper have very different ideas about what relationships look like, in no small part because of their very different family backgrounds. Of course they could talk about these differences—if Penn knew how to talk about feelings.

Harper and Penn understand their attraction is illogical, yet something keeps pulling them together. It’s like a crazy roller coaster—exhilarating, terrifying, and amazing all at once. And neither knows how to stop the ride…

Novel provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review Opening Thoughts I went into this book expecting a light, fun contemporary, but I didn't get that with this book. I had heard some pretty negative things from several people that I trust, so I went into this books with expectations at rock bottom. However, the first thirty pages seemed promising. The seemingly beginning of Penn and Harper's relationship was cute and I their characters were cute, if a bit annoying. Sadly, it quickly went downhill, and this book ended up with a 1.5 star rating from me. Characters I did not like either Harper or Penn. They are such stereotypical characters, and I've read quite a few books with characters like them recently and I'm so sick of them, though I believe I would have hated them despite that. Harper is the classic good girl, who doesn't ever do anything wrong, and is essentially the perfect person, and lets everyone she knows down by dating Penn. She was so naive and annoying, and she kept going back to Penn over and over and over again, even as he continued to push her away and hurt her. I didn't understand why she didn't just dump him, she became a character that had no backbone, and let a guy become the center of her world. Penn is the typical resident bad boy with the troubled past and bad home life, nothing I haven't seen, oh say, five million times. I didn't really find him attractive so I couldn't relate to Harper's attraction to him. He was so hot and cold, more cold than hot, though he was charming at times, he wasn't more often than not. He used his injured shoulder as an excuse so many times, and the first or even second time he used it, I could kind of sympathize with him, but by the tenth time, I was just done with him. Plot This book isn't very long, but it's still almost 300 pages and I felt like pretty much nothing happened. I was really bored for a lot of it, but I kept on reading because it's a review book and I like to at least try to get them finished. But this book was really, really boring. The kind of beginning for Penn and Harper's relationship was when Penn convinces Harper to ditch school and they kiss and BOOM! Harper is in love. I don't know that Penn thought that he was in love but he started getting all possessive and crap over Harper, so it was definitely more than someone should have felt after one kiss a couple of hours after you meet a person. So, yes there was insta-love, and yes it was horrid. I didn't feel any chemistry between Harper and Penn, they claimed to be in love with each other but I didn't believe it. I thought that the writing was overly simplistic, and better suited for a younger audience. Overall, I did not enjoy this book. The writing was subpar, the plot was unoriginal, and I didn't like the characters. I would recommend it to people who really enjoy this kind of plot line, or people who are fans of Lauren Barnholdt, though I wouldn't get your hopes up too much because I've heard that this is one of her worst books. This was my first Lauren Barnholdt book and I do think I'll pick up one of her other, more loved books in the future.

Forbidden by Lori Adams

Forbidden
By Lori Adams
Published: April 15, 2014
Publisher: Flirt
Pages: 432
Book 1 in The Soulkeepers series

Lori Adams gives New Adult a haunting paranormal twist with the first novel of The Soulkeepers, a series that blends ancient legends and new myths with an enchanting mix of thrills, humor, and high drama.

When Sophia St. James learns that she’ll be moving from Los Angeles to a podunk town somewhere in Connecticut for her senior year of high school, she isn’t expecting an otherworldly encounter. But there is more to Haven Hurst than meets the eye: it’s home to a family of Guardian Angels, and she is the only one who can see them in spirit form. Sophia soon realizes she wants to see much more of Michael, an irresistible yet volatile Guardian who seems drawn to her too.

As Michael battles his forbidden desire for the beautiful young newcomer, one of Hell’s most notorious Demon Knights arrives. Handsome and charismatic, Dante has come to claim the reincarnated soul of his lost lover trapped in Sophia. Cursed with the demon of Persuasion living inside him, Dante will use his seductive charms to lure Sophia into a dangerous game that ends with the kiss of death—unless Michael, who has captured Sophia’s heart, can now capture her soul.

*Novel provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Opening Thoughts
This review is going to be really hard to write because I read this book over such a long time span. It took me almost two and a half months to read this book, and it's not even that long, it's about 350 pages, which normally would take me two to four days to read. I don't really know why it took me so long, because it's not that I didn't enjoy it, but it definitely didn't hook me. The first chapter was really interesting, but then we went to a couple of chapters that were just major info dumps, which doesn't always bother me but they were done very poorly and I had a very hard time getting through them. 

Characters
Overall, I did like Sophia's character, but I was really annoyed with her at several points, especially during the climax. I felt that there were a lot of points where there was this insane shit going on and Sophia didn't even question it, she was just like, oh yeah, I'm totally satisfied with not knowing anything about what's going on so the reader didn't get any information, but I really needed the information. 
I thought that Michael's character was good but I hated the way he withheld so much information from Sophia, even after he was given permission to tell her everything, so he didn't even have the excuse that he wasn't allowed to tell her. He expected her to figure things out that there was no way she would've have ever figured out because there were things he didn't even tell her existed, yet she was expected to know that this person was this, even though she didn't know that was even a thing. I did ship him and Sophia really, really hard and it was really frustrating for me that it took them almost to the end of the book to get together.
Dante irritated me to no end. I hated the chapters that were told in his perspective. His back story was really complicated and I don't remember getting a lot of information about it, though I may just not remember it since I read it so long ago. I think that we needed like a novella or something about that, though I don't think I'd actually read it, because I didn't enjoy the book enough to pay for it. 

Plot
The plot is not overly enticing. It's interesting, but there are super long periods where you don't learn anything, and then huge info dumps where I couldn't even process everything at the same speed as I was reading it. The concept is pretty common, it isn't anything special, so if you're looking for something really unique then this isn't for you. 
This book is so much about the romance between Sophia and Michael, but it takes them the entire book to get together, which I really didn't understand. There is some good humor that made me smile, but I never laughed out loud. The writing was fine, but nothing overly special. 

Overall, this book was good. It wasn't great, and it wasn't bad, it was just good. I enjoyed it but I don't think that I'll ever reread it. I'd recommend it if you think that you'll really enjoy it, but if not, then don't waste your time.

Thanks for reading, comment and subscribe!
Amber

Goodbye to You by A. J. Matthews Book Blitz

Goodbye To You

by A.J. Matthews

Release Date: 07/01/14

Swoon Romance

New Adult

Summary from Goodreads:

Europe? Nope. Mexico? Nope. Key West?

Not me. This summer, I'm playing nursemaid to my sister. Yeah, I know. Relatively good looking twenty-two-year-olds don't spend the summer bedside in the cancer ward, but that's the plan - until my sister threatens me with bodily harm unless I get on the plane.

That's when I met him. He likes me. Really likes me. But more than that, he loves my boobs -- like can't get enough. I have no idea how to tell him that they'll be gone soon. Courtesy of a preventative double mastectomy. Yep. That's what testing positive for the breast cancer gene mutation will do to a girl.

But don't feel sorry for me. I'm enjoying him, holding on until the last possible minute, while I muster up the strength to tell him, and watch him walk away.

Available from:
Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Excerpt 

My hands drift over his arms and shoulders, caressing the taut muscles under the hot surface of his skin. The smell that’s ever-present—salt and coconut-scented sunblock—is enhanced by the scorching afternoon sun. I don’t need another drop of alcohol for the rest of my vacation.

I could get drunk from inhaling him.

His large hands cup my butt, holding me up, and strong fingers knead at my soft flesh as he stands on his toes in the shallows.

My lips are a whisper away, and he breathes in my moan before I close my eyes and lower my head.

A shower of fireworks goes off behind my eyelids.

Shay answers my groan with his own, and he weaves his hands into my hair. My scalp tingles as he pulls me deeper into his kiss. I wind my arms around his back, slipping a few fingers into the waistband of his trunks. My fingers explore the hard planes of muscle under his scorching skin where back meets quite firm backside.

Shay tears his lips from mine, and a sense of loss sweeps over me until he traces hot kisses across my cheek, my ear, and down my neck.

Then he reclaims my mouth again in a soft, searching kiss.

I whimper, my heart thudding, threatening to explode from the confines of my chest. This is madness, but that doesn’t stop me from returning his kiss with equal ferocity. He tastes bitter and tangy and oh, so sweet. I can’t get enough of his delicious mouth.

I want more. My hands take on a life of their own, moving from his back to his arms to his hard chest with a desperate, grasping yearning.

He wants me. His erection presses against me, and with just the right movement, I could orgasm right here.

I want him with a ferocity I’ve never known. I’d been touched before, all over my body.

But no man has ever touched my heart.

Until now.

I am so fucked.

A bell sounds from the boat, smothering the electrical current sparking between us.

The signal to return. Time to head back to shore.

I’m sad, but grateful. A little more time and he could have convinced me to slip off my suit and get it on in the water.

This man is too hot for his own good—and mine.

I regret now I have to go with Bennie tonight, and that we won’t be back until late.

I’m all about supporting a friend and showing some love, but I’ve got an itch for a beautiful Irish boy that needs to be scratched.

Hard.

About the Author

I wrote my first book at six. A retelling of The Three Little Pigs, illustrated by my grandmother, the book was never picked up and was self-published instead, glued to cardboard with a cover fashioned from wallpaper scraps.

Today, I write stories featuring nice guys (or nice guys in-the-making) in between my other jobs writing research reports for a commercial real estate company, refereeing two young daughters, navigating the teen waters with a too-cute-for-his-own-good son, spoiling a neurotic cat, and making my darling, patient husband shake his head. I'm also an autism mom, chocolate enthusiast, sports-watcher, nacho-eater, and beer-drinker.

A Maryland native, I live in North Carolina now, but dreams of the beach fuel my fantasties, and my characters can often be found strolling in the sand or sailing along a coast.

Author Links:

   

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Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch Book Blitz

Perfected

by Kate Jarvik Birch

Release Date: 07/01/14

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Perfection comes at a price.

As soon as the government passed legislation allowing humans to be genetically engineered and sold as pets, the rich and powerful rushed to own beautiful girls like Ella. Trained from birth to be graceful, demure, and above all, perfect, these “family companions” enter their masters’ homes prepared to live a life of idle luxury.

Ella is happy with her new role as playmate for a congressman’s bubbly young daughter, but she doesn’t expect Penn, the congressman’s handsome and rebellious son. He’s the only person who sees beyond the perfect exterior to the girl within. Falling for him goes against every rule she knows…and the freedom she finds with him is intoxicating.

But when Ella is kidnapped and thrust into the dark underworld lurking beneath her pampered life, she’s faced with an unthinkable choice. Because the only thing more dangerous than staying with Penn’s family is leaving…and if she’s unsuccessful, she’ll face a fate far worse than death.

For fans of Keira Cass’s Selection series and Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden series, Perfected is a chilling look at what it means to be human, and a stunning celebration of the power of love to set us free, wrapped in a glamorous—and dangerous—bow.

Praise for Perfected:

“Compelling, imaginative, and unique. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!”
— Mary Lindsey, author of Shattered Souls

Available from:
Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo Books

About the Author:

Kate Jarvik Birch is a visual artist, author, playwright, daydreamer, and professional procrastinator. As a child, she wanted to grow up to be either a unicorn or mermaid. Luckily, being a writer turned out to be just as magical. Her essays and short stories have been published in literary journals including Indiana Review and Saint Ann’s Review. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and three kids. To learn more visit www.katejarvikbirch.com

Author Links:

   

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ONE YEAR BLOGAVERSARY

Wow, we can't believe that it's been a whole year since we started blogging!  It's definitely been a journey and we couldn't have done it without the support of all of our readers!  We really appreciate you and we hope that you'll subscribe to us so you can keep reading our content for years to come.  We've definitely grown a lot over the past year, both as readers and reviewers, and we appreciate everyone who has supported us through all of this.  Let us know in the comments if there's anything special you want us to do (Q & A, etc.)!

Thanks for reading and keep being awesome!
Amber and Grace

July TBR

Here are the books that I hope to get to during the month of July.  

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

We will be reading this in my English class next year and it's been over two years since I read it last, so I'm going to try to read it once more for pleasure before I have to analyze it.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

This is my summer reading so I should probably get on this.

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

I've started this book and I'm absolutely loving it so I must finish it this month, hopefully within the next week or so, but it's quite long so...

Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt

This is a review copy I've had for some time now and it releases next week so this needs to get read ASAP.

Prom Impossible by Laura Pauling

Another review copy.  Guys, I have a million of them and they need to be read but I have so many books I own that I want to read more so they get put aside but it just needs to be done.

Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Continuing my reread of this series!  They're super short, fast to get through and obviously amazing!

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

This series needs to get reread.  Needs to.

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Not sure I'll actually get to this one this month but I need to read it.  Badly.  Because I've owned it for over a year.  It's bad.

Thanks for reading!
Amber