Review: Slammed

Layken’s father died suddenly, leaving her to gather every ounce of strength to be a pillar for her family, in order to prevent their world from falling apart. Now her life is taking another unexpected turn…Layken’s mother gets a job which leads to an unwanted move across the country. However, a new home means new neighbours… and Layken’s new neighbour is the very attractive Will Cooper.

Will has an intriguing passion for slam poetry, and a matching passion for life. The two feel an irresistible attraction but are rocked to the core when a shocking revelation brings their romance to a screeching halt. Layken and Will must find a way to fight the forces that threaten to tear them apart… or learn to live without each other.

5* Read!

Babes and Books Review: Confess

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

4.5* Read!

Review: Ordinary Beauty

How can you make someone love you when they won’t? And what if that person happens to be your mother?

Sayre Bellavia grew up knowing she was a mistake: unplanned and unwanted. At five months shy of eighteen, she’s become an expert in loneliness, heartache, and neglect. Her whole life she’s been cursed, used, and left behind. Swallowed a thousand tears and ignored a thousand deliberate cruelties. Sayre’s stuck by her mother through hell, tried to help her, be near her, be important to her, even as her mother slipped away into a violent haze of addiction, destroying the only chance Sayre ever had for a real family.

4* Read!

Review: We All Looked Up

Before the asteroid we let ourselves be defined by labels: the athlete, the outcast, the slacker, the overachiever. But then we all looked up and everything changed.

They said it would be here in two months. That gave us two months to leave our labels behind. Two months to become something bigger than what we’d been, something that would last even after the end. Two months to really live.

2.5* Read!

Review: The DUFF

17 year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “Duffy,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

2* Read!

Review: Breathe, Annie, Breathe

Annie hates running. No matter how far she jogs, she can’t escape the guilt that if she hadn’t broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honour his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.

But the training is even more gruelling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she’s at war with her body, her mind—and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms…and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.

3.5* Read!

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight Book Cover

Babes and Books Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Four minutes changes everything. Hadley Sullivan misses her flight at JFK airport, is late to her father’s second wedding in London with her never-met stepmother. Hadley meets the perfect boy. Oliver is British, sits in her row. A long night on the plane passes in a blink, but the two lose track in arrival chaos. Can fate bring them together again?

3* Read!

Review: Losing Hope

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him…

4* Read!

Review: Hopeless

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what 17 year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

4* Read!

Review: The Fever

The Nashes are a close-knit family. Tom, a popular teacher, is father to the handsome, roguish Eli and his younger sister Deenie, serious and sweet. But their seeming stability is thrown into chaos when two of Deenie’s friends become violently ill, and rumours of a dangerous outbreak sweep through the whole community.

As hysteria swells and as more girls succumb, tightly held secrets emerge that threaten to unravel the world Tom has built for his kids, and destroy friendships, families, and the town’s fragile idea of security. The Fever is a chilling story about guilt, family secrets, and the lethal power of desire.

2.5* Read!

Review: Be Safe I Love You

Lauren Clay has returned from a tour of duty in Iraq just in time to spend the holidays with her family. Before she enlisted, Lauren, and her brother, Danny, made the most of their modest circumstances, escaping into their imaginations and forming an indestructible bond. Joining the army allowed Lauren to continue to provide for her family, but it came at a great cost.

2.5* Read!

Review: How (Not) To Fall In Love

17 year-old Darcy is completely unprepared when her car is repossessed from the parking lot of her elite private school. Turns out her father, a semi-famous motivational speaker, has skipped town, abandoning his family while his business collapses. Desperate to sell her expensive jewellery for much-needed cash, Darcy discovers that her dad’s brother runs a funky thrift shop on a street full of eccentric characters, including a coffee shop owner named Liz and one supremely hot fix-it guy named Lucas.

4* Read!

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover Book Cover

ReRead Review: Maybe Someday

I originally read this book for the first time in May 2014, giving it 4.5*.
I wish I had more time to reread, BUT I did manage to fit this one in, and compare my reread thoughts to my original thoughts!

4.5* Read!

Review: The Rosie Effect

With the Wife Project complete, Don settles into a new job and married life in New York. But it’s not long before certain events are taken out of his control and it’s time to embark on a new project…

As Don tries to get to grips with the requirements of starting a family, his unusual research style gets him into trouble. To make matters worse, Don has invited his closest friend to stay with them, but Gene is not exactly the best model for marital happiness. As Don’s life with Rosie continues to be unpredictable, he needs to remember that emotional support is just as important as practical expertise.

3* Read!

Colleen Oakley Interview and Before I Go Giveaway!

I buddy-read and joint-reviewed Before I Go by Colleen Oakley with Brandie from Brandie is a Book Junkie. We both thoroughly enjoyed this heart-breaking read – so much so that I felt compelled to Tweet the author to let her know I was in desperate need of tissues, and it was all her fault. Thankfully, she took it well, and even agreed to be interviewed, and was kind enough to offer a hardback of Before I Go for giveaway (US only, sorry peeps!).

Babes and Books Review: Before I Go

Daisy is 27-years-old and has only months to live. And, each day, she’s finding her way through what needs to be done. Her major worry is what her wonderful, charming husband, Jack, will do without her. She knows that he won’t take care of himself so Daisy has to do it for him. As she searches for Jack’s next wife, she begins to realise that her plan to ensure Jack’s happiness is much more complicated than she expected.

4* Read!