The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry Review

Hey guys, Sammi here!


I was provided a novel by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. (I feel much more professional when I say this.)

That novel was:

I just love pretty covers *swoons* Here is the synopsis:

All they have in common is that they're less than perfect. And all they're looking for is the perfect distraction.

Kate's dream boyfriend has just broken up with her and she's still reeling from her diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.  Aidan planned on being a lifer in the army and went to Afghanistan straight out of high school. Now he's a disabled young veteran struggling to embrace his new life. When Kate and Aidan find each other neither one wants to get  attached. But could they be right for each other after all?

I really enjoyed this novel! It was cute and gave me feels! I really felt for both characters immensely. But I think I fell in love with Aidan.

Aidan was so real to me. I could picture his struggles with one arm and I empithized with his feelings of helplessness. 

Kate was a very good character, but frustrating at times. Her denial of her disease had me wanting to wring her neck at some moments. I was glad she finally got some sense knocked into her at the end. 

The plot and the characters self discoveries were well played out and well written. The romance might have moved a bit too fast for me, but overall it was cute and heart warming.

I went into this book already thinking I'd like it, because I loved the novel Something Like Normal by Trish Doller. Something about soldiers after the war novels really get to me.

Overall I really enjoyed this novel and give it 5/5 stars.

Thanks for reading!

Ta-Ta for now!

2014 Bookish Resolutions!

Hey guys, Sammi Here!

So recently I've been browsing booktube and I've been seeing all these '2014 Book Resolutions' and I thought it was a great idea! So I decided to do one myself, only but here on my blog. Let's begin!

1: Read more library books. 

When I was younger, I used to go to the library and FILL my basket full of books that sounded interesting. This really expanded the variety of books I was reading and increased the number of books I read as well! Plus, I didn't have to worry about money and paying for books! I haven't stepped foot in a library in months (partially because I have some fines. eeep!) and I really miss how much fun I had!

2: Document every book I read.

I have never documented how many books I've read. So the number in my head is probably waaaay off. I've already bought a calendar and I plan to write each book I read on the day I completed it.

3:Stop judging books by their cover.

I am the biggest cover Nazi ever. I judge every book by their cover and it really impacts whether I read the book or not. I'm going to try to read more synopsis' and stop being so judgmental.

4: Read a book a week.

Now this one shouldn't be too hard. I need to stop slacking and pick up some books! This also makes up my goal of 52 books for this year. Even though I am a super fast reader, I am lazy and sometimes I got a long time without reading a book.

5: Pay more attention while reading.

While I'm pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADHD, this is getting ridiculous. It has come to a point where I read a book, I can't recall what happened besides there two characters got together. This is why all of my book reviews are crappy. Sigh, must take notes.

So there you guys have it! Comment down below your bookish resolutions for 2014 and happy reading!

Ta-Ta for now!

Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

Hey guys, Sammi here! \

So. I JUST READ THE BEST BOOK EVER. Well, ahem, sorry about that. Just kidding, I'm not sorry at all!

And it has a beautiful cover:

I literally just realized that was a person in the background as I was searching for this picture. ^ who's observant? Not me. But I am blaming the shiny cover for my lack of noticing sooner. 

Immortal Beloved was fantastic! It's a novel about immortals and magic ( or magick as it's spelled in the book. ) Here is the synopsis:

Nastasya has spent the last century living as a spoiled, drugged-out party girl. She feels nothing and cares for no one. But when she witnesses her best friend, a Dark Immortal, torture a human, she realizes something's got to change. She seeks refuge at a rehab for wayward immortals, where she meets the gorgeous, undeniably sexy Reyn, who seems inexplicably linked to her past.

Nastasya finally begins to deal with life, and even feels safe--until the night she learns that someone wants her dead.

Now. That last part is kind of false in my mind. While reading the story, I felt that Nastasya didn't dwell too much on the fact that someone wanted her dead. She had enough crap on her plate and quite frankly, it didn't appear that she would care if she were to die. Being immortal seems to do somethings to you, let this novel tell you. She kind of just went, 'well, damn' and worried about her other problems.

I feel Cate Tiernan did an AMAZING job on this novel. I honestly didn't expect anything bad from her. Her Balefire series sits proudly on my bookshelf and her Sweep series proudly in my mind. She has a way of making you love every character, even the batshit crazy ones. 

This novel was humorous and heart breaking. You just felt so much for Nastasya couldn't help but love her. The writing was fast paced but rich, sending images and creating scenes in my mind. I would most definitely recommend! And to all you disappointed in Evermore, here is your savior! 

Speaking of Nastasya, I just have to say she's probably my new favorite protagonist. ( WARNING: INCOHERENT GUSHING IN 3, 2, 1) All of her emotions were so... real. They were raw, and you could just connect with her. She freaked out about things like a normal person would. She had so much trouble figuring out herself, and I did too, because she was such of a real person to me. Nastasya one of those people that hate themselves so much to a point where you can't help but love them, can't help but want to just give them a hug. Her sense of self is so skewed. She's scarred and traumatized and basically just a frightened person trying to find a place she doesn't have to be scared anymore.

But Nastasya had a whole other side to her as well. She was funny and snappy. Some of her comments had me laughing so hard. And the way she viewed Reyn was fabulous. She gave him so many hilarious nicknames in her head, I couldn't take it. I thought it was heart warming to see how she took care of the two mortal girls in town, no matter how much she seemed unwilling or not interested.

There really wasn't a plot to this book. While that might seem bad, it really wasn't. I think the entire novel is set up for everything to happen in the next two books.

I give this amazing novel 5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you guys for reading!

Ta-Ta for now!

Late Night Sick Ramblings and Mini Reviews

Hey guys, Sammi here!

So today I just wanted to make a post, basically just to keep you guys up to date on what's happening in my life. I've been sooo slacking in the reading department and I feel bad about it. But at least I have a good excuse today! I was super sick all day, throwing for the first time since I was 10. And to make it worse, I was losing my stuff out the south as well. I probably spent about 4 hours sleeping on my bathroom floor. And some of you must be thinking, "ew. TMI." but I'm just keeping it real with you guys. So due to my ahem, problem, reading was nearly impossible. I fell asleep probably 4 hours ago, and now I'm awake without any chance of falling asleep again. SO, what a better time to tell you what books I've been kinda reading a bit from here and there.

First off:

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and all that jazz. I've already submitted my review but I'll just sum up my thoughts. This book was really good! It was spooky with twists and turns everywhere. I still don't know how I feel about the main character, but I really liked most of the side characters. I won't be posting a synopsis for any of these books. (A+ for laziness.)

Next I reread parts of a book I fell in love with this summer:

Now. THIS BOOK. When I got this book over the summer, we were tenting at Indian River Inlet in Delaware and I spent all night reading this book with my stupid little pen light flashlight that gave me a headache. But it was worth it, as this book is AMAZING. It's a mixture of zombies, but cool like still alive superhuman zombies, and assassin-ish. I just found the book trailer online. Cue screaming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adUV6qZgZdQ The girl who plays Wren (178) is amazing and someone should just give her the part in the movie, if there is going to be one, like now.

The last book is a book I purchased on CyberMonday for like 5 dollars. It's insane:

So while I was searching this cover, I got sucked into all the fanart. WOO that'll rob you of time, they're so great. Anyways, I'm about 50 or so pages in and so far it's good. I'm not super pulled in yet, but that's probably because it's been so long since I read the previous one. I already know the outcome, tumblr, what are you going to do right? So that might be affecting my reading as well. This is the 4th book in Rick Riordan's Heros of Olympus series, so there's not much I can say without spoiling the series. I'm just super excited I got this for so cheap!

Well guys, if you even attempted to read this blog post, THANK YOU. I know it started out bad and just got worse but I felt the need to tell you guys where I've been and what I've been reading. I promise, my next blog post will be much better.

Ta-Ta for now!

Make Me A Match by Tori Brighton Review

Hey guys, Sammi here!

Ooh boy am I excited! I have had such a good-book reading stride and I feel super happy about that. It's probably all the branching out in genres that have happened recently. I've read Paranormal, New Adult, and some awesome Adult novels. I've always kinda been set in my YA ways, probably because I'm a young adult myself, haha! Anyways, today I have another book to share with you guys. It's a fairly recent book, no actually really recent, as it came out on Nov. 30th. And guess what? This book is .99 cents in ebook form until Dec. 4! I better tell you what it is!

It is:

This book is a YA Paranormal Romance. Here's the synopsis:

Teenager Emma Watts doesn’t believe in true love. After all, she’s worked for two years in her family’s PI business catching cheating husbands in the act. Then Owen Emerson arrives (while she’s in the middle of a stakeout, no less), claiming Emma has inherited a deceased aunt’s ability to supernaturally match soul mates. Emma wants nothing to do with her aunt’s powers, nor with the frustrating and perfectly handsome Owen Emerson. Too bad she’s stuck with both for the rest of her life. 

Owen Emerson is a Protector, a person fated to protect Matchmakers for eternity. A guy who does things by the book, Owen figures he’ll rationally explain to Emma her newfound abilities and they can have the professional relationship he had with her much older aunt. But as he soon finds out, Emma Watts is anything but professional. Fortunately, when she has her first vision matching two friends, she has no alternative but to believe Owen’s claims. But Owen isn’t the only one interested in Emma. When the supernatural world discovers how to exploit Emma’s matchmaking abilities for their own, she has no choice but to trust the man who holds her life, and her heart, in his hands. 

Doesn't that sound AWESOME? As soon as I saw this on NetGalley, I requested it, and then I went and got the sample so I could start reading immediately. I knew from the start that I would love it. I have since bought the ebook, but my original copy was provided by NetGalley.

So this book doesn't have a bunch of faults. It's action, angst, and hilarity packed. The main character is 17 year old Emma. She's feisty and sarcastic. Everything that happened, she had an opinion or a comment. She is basically an orphan, father dead and mother gone, run off with a man. All her and her sister have is their Grandmother, and she is a royal pain. So I guess that means Emma has a reason to be a little tough.

Owen is DREAMY. He's basically the guy every girl wants. He's protective, attractive, and hard to get. Their whole chemistry was fire. It was very back and forth between the two, which could be a bit of a fault as well. I loved their banter and how their relationship progressed.

The setting was awesome, as well as the plot. I've never read any story that relates back to Cupid. Cupid sired demigods? YES PLEASE. 

The only faults I found were that as sometimes the characters went too back and forth. Like a 180 in their line of thinking in three seconds. I kind of gave me mental whiplash.

I gave this book a solid 5 out of 5 stars.

I want to thank Tori for providing me with such an awesome story! And you readers for taking your time to view this!

Ta-Ta for now!

Wake by Lisa McMann Review And My NetGalley Dilemma

Hey guys, Sammi here!


So today I'm going to review a book I've reread many a times, a book in which I know my thoughts are in order about. This book is actually pretty 'old', published in 2008, and I have not heard much talk about it in the book community.

It is:

I'm pretty sure there have been a couple of cover changes to this book, but this is the cover of the book I own. I read these in about 2011, when I bought the whole trilogy at Borders (You can tell I bought these a while ago. Lol!) on a whim with a gift card. Of course being younger and not as eager in the whole 'reading-the-back' deal, I'm pretty sure I picked these up because I had seen my older sister with them. I can say for sure now, that it was probably the best thing I could have done. These books were my introduction to the YA genre. I would probably classify this book as a contemporary/ paranormal. 

This trilogy follows 17 year old Janie, a teen with an alcoholic mother who lives on the poor side of town, living off of her mother's welfare payments and Janie's job a nursing home. Janie has never met her father and isn't taken care of by her mother, who spends all day in her room drinking. She has always been an outsider, having to distance herself from other people due to her unique ability: Janie gets sucked into the dreams of sleeping people around her. She is pulled into dreams, basically collapsing where ever she is, and is forced to sit through another person's dreams inside her own head. This ability has taken a toll on her health and her social life. But when Janie is forced to watch a horrific nightmare of Caleb's, a boy who is assumed to be a pot head and drug dealer, she struggles with the feelings she begins to develop towards Caleb. Janie realizes that she wants to learn to control the dreams and even help the people whose dream she's in.

Even though it's a pretty length description, the book is not nearly as complicated as it seems. Lisa McMann has a beautiful way of writing that makes everything seem so simple, but so intense. She takes out all the lengthy descriptions of scenes, and manages to just keep the bones of the story, while still telling a rich, full one. This book kind of reminds me of those stories told in poems, with the choppiness she sometimes includes. Also, she puts in times, like 9:17 or 8:34, to help give you a better understanding. She also uses dates to introduce flashbacks or things that have happened previously in Janie's life.

The romance isn't instant in any sense and there are actually a lot of bumpy roads. The character Caleb is wonderful, a boy with his own problems, but his own fierceness. He's smart and witty, and an overall perfect match for Janie. The character development is very much based on the character's actions, so as the story progresses, you get a very good picture for what the characters are all about.

I definitely give this book a 5 out of 5 stars, and I plan on rereading this again very soon.

I feel like I got super monotone during the end, but thank you for reading this review!

Ta-Ta for now!

Immortal City by Scott Speer Review

Hey guys, Sammi here!

I read ANOTHER book in one day. More like 5 hours. And that book was:

Guys, I am on a good book roll right now. I LOVED this one! Instead of including the official synopsis, I have concocted one of my own. Here we go:

Maddy Montgomery lives in place obsessed with angels. Angel City is named after them, where angels are paid to protect the people who can afford to pay them. They are celebrities and have the ground they have walked on worshiped. Enter Jackson Godspeed, the hottest, dreamiest, and the soon to be youngest Guardian ever. The two meet, drama and romance ensues. And did I mention there seems to be a serial killer on the loose, killing angels? Oh, and Jackson just happens to be their next target.

So there you have it! This book is BRILLIANT. I've seen very mixed reviews on this book, some even as low as one star. I'm giving this book a solid 4.5. I've decided to include spoilers in this one, so the spoilers will be in blue.

To start with, I actually really liked Maddy. She was pretty badass in some scenes. I loved when she told off Vivian, and when she was driving that car to save Jacks. EEP.  The author tries to develop her as a shy girl, but she quickly loses that persona. Her romance with Jackson was pretty cute but also very whiplash-ish. How many times is she going to reject him? Her little 'condition' wasn't a big surprise to me. I was actually rooting for it to happen!

Now Jackson. OMG that boy. He was so cute at times and very uh, unannounced. Showing up in the library and her room? Kinda sweet but a bit creepy. He knew how to have fun, and he was very protective (pun intended)

One thing I found about the two was that I couldn't recall how they were described in appearance. All I remember is that Jackson was hot and Maddy had hair she only ever brushed. I actually didn't mind this, because I enjoy picturing them as I please.

I also really want to say one thing about Gwen. SHE IS US. She's a major fangirl, and knows everything the second it comes out. Loved her.

I found the world to be one of my favorite parts of the story. Angel City is a play on Los Angeles. There's lights, paparazzi, and shiny gold stars of fame. Angels are models and actors. The author gives us ordinary humans a peek into the glamours of the famous life.

The end of this book was awesome. As a lover of murder mysteries, I really enjoyed finding out who the murder was. HUGE PLOT TWIST.

One last thing, this book has some pretty gruesome bits. Blown off hands, chopped off wigs. Yuck. But they are very well written, so not to fear. 

This is it for the hidden spoiler part, I just have a few little spoils to discuss.

So if you have not read this book, Ta-Ta for now!

*SPOILERS*

I literally cringed when Ethan chopped Jackson's wing off. (cue gagging) I didn't think he would get it back, and then he'd have to be mortal. But I guess angels can do anything, because they put it back on. And when it looked like Maddy had died, AHH. But again ANGELS CAN DO ANYTHING. Like come back from watching your body from above. 

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Ta-Ta for now.