Because of Low

Authors: Abbi Glines
Series: Sea Breeze
Book: 2
Format: Kindle
Genre: New Adult
Published Date: October 6th 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Synopsis

Playboy Cage owns the apartment, and he hosts a revolving door of people, in and out, at all times. Most of them are long-legged hot girls who are never there more than a night or two. When Cage’s new roommate, Marcus, enters the picture, he’s just looking to nurse a broken heart. But there’s one particular semi-frequent regular who catches his eye.

Willow—“Low”—is the one Cage wants to marry. But the two of them are night and day, and Marcus can’t see how Low puts up with all of Cage’s womanizing. What she really needs is a real man....like good-looking and sensible Marcus. But that’s going to get real complicated and real messy—real fast.

Review

I am glad I have decided to continue this series even I did not like the first book much. It turned out the sequel was so much better and I enjoyed very single minute I spent reading it. This book reminded me a lot of The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window and From Ashes. They do have a lot in common.

I admit that the book was a bit predictable. Full of cliches if you ask me. A boy met a beautiful girl and a girl saw a handsome boy. BAM!!! Love at first sight. I am not a big fan of insta-love, but it doesn't mean I can enjoy reading one every one and then. Besides that, when Willow met Jefferson for the first time, I could see how the story went.
 
One thing that made me love this book was the characters. They were all so likeable. I loved that each of them had different personalities which made the book even more fascinating. Willow, aka Low, was such a nice, forgiving girl. She didn't hold grudge even she should have and I liked her for that.

Reading this book was a fun and exciting experience. I can't wait to read the next book in this series. One of the best things about reading a series later than everyone else is I don't have to wait for months for another book.

The Edge of Never

Author: J.A. Redmerski
Pages: 427 
Genre: New Adult
Published Date: November 15th, 2012
Rating:  ❤❤❤❤❤

Synopsis
Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?

Review
As much as I want to say that I loved this book, I simply can't. Don't get me wrong, it is a good book. However, it is not that good. Or maybe it was because I started The Edge of Never with high expectation since a lot of people told me it was so good that it would leave me heartbroken after reading.

When I read the first 10 chapters or so, I was so into the book. It was full of surprises. Heck, I love surprises. I was literally on the edge on my seat and "ooh" & "ahh" quite a few times that I am not ashamed to admit. It was, in my opinion at that time, one seriously great book.

Then things started to get a bit messy and weird when Camryn and Andrew began to talk about sex. It was just so unpredictable. I had already known that there would be sexual content in the book, but it still took me by surprise. At that time, I didn't know I was fond of surprise anymore. Not when it was that kind of surprise. The book became a bit kinky.

Anyway, I loved the characters. Camryn and Andrew were great together. The plots and the wording were also nice (except for that "surprise" part), so it was nice and fun to read.

It was supposed to be a tearjerker, but my eyes were as dry as Sahara desert. It made me wonder if it was me or the book was not that emotional as it is said to be. I was happy that the book ended with a happy ending.

Well, to sum up, the book was good enough to read. Entertaining? Yes. Sweet? Yes. Emotional? Maybe. But it didn't rock my world as I hoped it would.

What Happens Next

Author: Colleen Clayton
Pages: 320
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published Date: October 9th 2012 
Publisher: Poppy
Rating:  ❤❤❤❤❤

Synopsis
How can you talk about something you can’t remember?

Before the ski trip, sixteen-year-old Cassidy “Sid” Murphy was a cheerleader (at the bottom of the pyramid, but still...), a straight-A student, and a member of a solid trio of best friends. When she ends up on a ski lift next to handsome local college boy, Dax Windsor, she’s thrilled; but Dax takes everything from Sid—including a lock of her perfect red curls—and she can’t remember any of it.

Back home and unable to relate to her old friends, Sid drops her college prep classes and takes up residence in the A/V room with only Corey “The Living Stoner” Livingston for company. But as she gets to know Corey (slacker, baker, total dreamboat), Sid finds someone who truly makes her happy. Now, if she can just shake the nightmares and those few extra pounds, everything will be perfect... or so she thinks.

Witty and poignant, Colleen Clayton’s stunning debut is a story about moving on after the unthinkable happens.

Review
Such an amazing book! It was just flawless that I really don't know what to start with. The characters, the plots and pace was just simply brilliant. My heart ached for Sid, for what had happened to her, for how people treated her... But I was somehow happy that it happened, otherwise she would not have met Corey. Their paths would have never crossed and we would not have this fascinating book.

What I truly loved about this book was the fact that the main characters were human beings. In several books I have read, the main characters were so unreal. They are flawlessly beautiful, super smart, extremely charming and so on. Please! No one is that perfect. I was glad that Sid was not out-of-this-world pretty or had 4.0 GPA. She was just... normal.

And Corey. God, what should I say? I want a Corey too. He was so sweet and romantic. He might not be super smart or very handsome or popular at school, but who cares? I really liked his character. Well, I liked every characters in the book, but Corey was my favorite.

In short, Ms. Colleen Clayton has become one of my favorite authors. I am totally looking forward to reading her next book.

Breathe

Authors: Abbi Glines
Series: Sea Breeze
Book: 1
Format: Kindle
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Published Date: May 17th 2011
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Rating: ❤❤❤

Synopsis
Sadie White's summer job isn't going to be on the beach life-guarding or working at rental booths like most kids her age. With her single mother's increasing pregnancy and refusal to work, Sadie has to take over her mother's job as a domestic servant for one of the wealthy summer families on a nearby island.

When the family arrives at their summer getaway, Sadie is surprised to learn that the owner of the house is Jax Stone, one of the hottest teen rockers in the world. If Sadie hadn't spent her life raising her mother and taking care of the house she might have been normal enough to be excited about working for a rock star.

Even though Sadie isn't impressed by Jax's fame, he is drawn to her. Everything about Sadie fascinates Jax but he fights his attraction. Relationships never work in his world and as badly as he wants Sadie, he believes she deserves more. By the end of the summer, Jax discovers he can't breathe without Sadie.

Review
I wish I could say I liked the book more than this because I really love Ms. Glines's books. Her The Vincent Boys series is very fascinating (I still need to read book 2, though.)

This book started out pretty interesting and I did enjoy flying through the pages. Then it felt a bit too sugary sweet and unrealistic to me. I don't want to sound impolite, but Sadie was just so annoying as h*ll. I knew she was supposed to get hurt when Jax ended their short-life romance, but seriously, she should have gotten a grip. Not eating or going out was just too pathetic.

Moreover, why did every guy (yes, every one of them) have to fall for her? Yes, I know she was sweet, pretty and naive (seriously?), but does it have to be every one of them? I cannot remember how many times I asked myself, "Him too?". 

Let's move on to her mother, the character that bugged me even more than Sadie. A grown a** woman who had a 17-year-old daughter should not have acted like that. Got knocked up, walking around in her underwear, whining about everything and her daughter had to buy condoms for her. Are you for real? Here is what pushed me over the edge:

Jessica slept all night, and if I tried to wake her, she burst into tears. When she cried, Sam cried, so I just left her alone.

For those of you who haven't read it yet, Jessica was Sadie's mother and Sam was the newly born baby boy. This was the scene after Jessica gave birth to baby Sam. I assumed Jessica was at least in her late 30 and the fact that she cried when her daughter wanted her to take care of the baby was unbelievable.

Anyway, I am still  going to read book 2, just to find out what else is going to happen.