Probably one of the most depressing books I've ever read which in turn made this a chore to get through. I actually had to brace myself every time I pProbably one of the most depressing books I've ever read which in turn made this a chore to get through. I actually had to brace myself every time I picked it up. Grief, depression, addiction, anxiety, rape, incest, death, cutting, homelessness, multiple bad choices. Every character in this is put through the wringer and its exhausting. Its also super repetitive, examining every scene or flashback from each characters POV, back and forth over and over. I probably heard mention of Kate and Tully riding their bikes down that damn hill 100 plus times.
Its Kristen Hannah so its good but I'm glad I'm finished....more
Liked this way better than 50 Shades even if it was just a money grab on James' partLiked this way better than 50 Shades even if it was just a money grab on James' part...more
Couldn't put this one down. A great read, well written even if I did figure out "whodunit" pretty early on, this still never went quite where I was exCouldn't put this one down. A great read, well written even if I did figure out "whodunit" pretty early on, this still never went quite where I was expecting it to....more
Opening Line: “This is how it starts. It’s the end of a long day, one of those craptastic ones you wish you could fast-forward past the bad parts…”
HolOpening Line: “This is how it starts. It’s the end of a long day, one of those craptastic ones you wish you could fast-forward past the bad parts…”
Holy hell this was good! Not what I was expecting and full of surprises; it's a love story and a tragedy. Its little girl lost and I wish it had been longer. Spun is (unfortunately) only a novella but jeez what a story Catherine Mackenzie weaves in the pages provided.
As a huge fan of Spin I was super excited to read this sequel which focuses on celebrity train wreck Amber Sheppard -who we first met in rehab there. This is her story 2 years later as she tries to put the mess of her life back together and OMG it's good. The tone is different from the original, missing some of the snark and humour that made that book such a fun read, but this is also a very different story.
I don't want to give away any spoilers (and Wow in that respect) but I think New Adult fans will love this. Peppered with social media references Amber reads a bit like Lindsey Lohan; a tough, confused, girl who's made some bad decisions and you can't look away from what she's doing next. Her love affair with Conner is ...epic and the final chapter "three minutes past the hour" just killed me, in an ugly cry sort of way. The chapter by chapter playlist included at the end didn't help either.
Amber Sheppard has been sober for two years. Not that you’d believe it if you read anything on social media or picked up a gossip magazine these days. The Paparazzi still always managed to catch her at her worst, and make a front page story out of it. This former It Girl has been trying to get her life back on track, trying to land a decent role but casting agents won’t touch her anymore and today she’s been coerced into being the face of some crappy new perfume called “Fabulous”. Amber is anything but fabulous these days. But it pays the bills and her career is at a standstill.
So for the past twelve hours she’s been running through an abandoned warehouse trying to look scared or devastated or pretentious or psychotic or whatever the hell vision the director had in mind for the ad campaign. During all those hours she’s been trying not to answer her phone, it’s buzzing with yet another message from him. Of course it’s him. It’s always him.
They haven’t spoken for six months and she’s never returned any of his texts but that doesn’t matter. Today is different, today he’s been using their secret language and all his texts say the same thing “meet me baby.” All twelve of them.
Conner Parks, movie star bad boy and the love of her life. Her first crush, first kiss, her reason to breathe. Her family, her everything. Her toxic ruin, her downfall. How can she resist?
“No one said no to Conner when he asked for something. He was like kryptonite to reason.”
The tabloids will of course call this the reunion of the decade if they see her getting on his private jet or anywhere near the airport.
“You’re here.” He says “I’m here.” “I knew you’d come.” I drop my bag on the floor and follow him. Like I always do. Like I’ve been doing my whole life."
“He takes a step towards me. He smells like chemicals and Crystal and the worst idea I’ve had in a long time.”
Opening Line: “I wake up. My shirt crumpled on a fuzzy carpet. My shorts astray on a dresser. And I think my underwear is lost for good.”
Ok that was Opening Line: “I wake up. My shirt crumpled on a fuzzy carpet. My shorts astray on a dresser. And I think my underwear is lost for good.”
Ok that was different and OMG the ending! These cliff-hangers are killing me.
Wow, what a unique, intense, all-consuming train wreck of a story this was and I just couldn’t get enough. Not at all what I was expecting to find from the New Adult category, as it was pretty eye opening -just make sure to have book #2 on standby when you begin (bangs head against the wall)
College students Lily Calloway and Loren Hale have it all; young, beautiful, in love, exceptionally wealthy, and in a great relationship together for the past 3 years. At least that’s how it appears on the outside. In reality things are a little different; nobody would suspect the truth and the unmanageable, secretive mess their lives have become. Together Lily and Loren have a system and as long as nobody teeters too far, it’s working out just fine. Together they’ve mastered the art of hiding their addiction.
Lilly is a shy, caring, somewhat introverted girl. She is also a sex addict. Completely reckless in her choices; hooking up with random guys in bathroom bars, hotel rooms, college dorms, 1 guy 2 guys, gigolos on speed dial, a pendency for porn and an absolute all-consuming need to find her next fix. It`s described in such a way that sex might as well be cocaine, Her addiction owns her in a very real sense which leads to her inability to be responsible for anything, letting her family down and constant shame. It’s a good thing her “boyfriend” Loren understands.
Loren was a little easier to relate to, he’s your standard alcoholic. Standard except for the fact that he’s only 21 and drinks all day, every day to the point of passing out, comatose. His best friend (even above Lilly) is bourbon and his addiction has reached the point of becoming life threatening.
Together Lilly and Loren keep up a united front, hiding each other’s vices from their families and picking up the pieces after especially bad nights. They support each other and have been friends forever, thrust together at the same stuffy country clubs as kids at some point they must have sensed a sameness and after graduation took on the pretense of being a couple so they could indulge in their addictions. They`ve mastered the art of lying and concealment however the real problem may be that their addiction to each other and getting sober is also going to mean having to let go.
Watching these two spiral out of control was consuming in itself and this character driven story took turns that surprised me. Unfortunately though I've lived with an alcoholic and it's not quite as pretty as portrayed here, especially at the level Loren is drinking at. I`m doubtful that he would have a six-pack or be someone you would want to (or even be able to) have sex with. On that note despite Lilly’s addiction most of the sex scenes take place off page. Now I'm off to read book #2 (Addicted for Now). Cheers.
“Promises from Lo are like bars at 2 a.m.--empty.”
“I'll always be yours. No distance or time apart will change that, Lily.”
My thanks to NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) who provided a copy in exchange for an honest review. 397jb4...more
This was pretty good, but I wanted to like it a whole lot more than I actually did. The story premise had me excited and the cover is great but the exThis was pretty good, but I wanted to like it a whole lot more than I actually did. The story premise had me excited and the cover is great but the execution was just all over the place, with too many story ideas all thrown together so that ultimately none of them really work. I’ve also yet to figure out what this book was trying to be; a murder mystery, a child custody story, a military memoir, a PTSD recovery, a legal thriller? It’s all of these things.
And while I’m new to author Lisa Scottoline I’d still been expecting more, or maybe just a more polished story from a “bestselling” author. As it was this felt like a first book, with immature writing and stilted, repetitive, painful dialogue that I struggled to get through without rolling my eyes. There are also several obviously placed red herrings throughout and this is coming from someone who doesn’t usually read mysteries, but I was often like, yeah that’s probably a bad idea.
That’s not to say this was entirely terrible, mostly just disappointing because it had so much promise and so many good ideas.
Don’t Go starts with our main characters wife dying on her kitchen from a knife wound, (this is not a spoiler) someone comes to the door but instead of helping they leave. We then switch over to our main character Dr. Mike Scanlon, who is a serving as an army doctor in Afghanistan. I really enjoyed the army sections of this book (which take up a large section) they’re obviously been well researched and you get a real feel for the living conditions, the surgeries, the comradely with the other doctors and the hardships and horror.
So while Mike is operating on a wounded soldier his wife dies and within 24hrs he finds himself back in America trying to figure out what happened and how exactly he is going to care for a baby who was only a month old when he deployed and now doesn’t know him and screams at the very sight of him. He also discovers that the medical practice he took leave from is in jeopardy and that his wife was not only a closeted alcoholic but having an affair…
So what does Mike do? He signs some papers that give his sister-in-law and her husband temporary guardianship of his daughter and goes back to finish his tour in Afghanistan. This part lost me a bit; I mean wouldn’t the military have granted him some kind of compassionate leave?? Anyways I can’t say much else without getting heavily into spoiler territory but some bad stuff happens to Mike and the second half of the book is spent with him solving his wife’s death/murder, making bad decisions and trying to piece his life back together because nothing was as it seemed.
Definitely an emotional, compelling read with more military issues that I expected, well there was more everything than I expected LOL. I did like the character of Dr. Mike even if he was a bit stupid in his actions. Can’t say that I would actively seek out anything else from this author though. Cheers. ~3.5~ 415jb35...more
I’ll be honest (based on the blurb) this wasn’t quite what I was expecting; yes there’s punk rock, herOpening Line: “I am torturing my father, Colin.”
I’ll be honest (based on the blurb) this wasn’t quite what I was expecting; yes there’s punk rock, heroin abuse and dysfunctional parents. But there’s also you Adam Sharp, and your life story is so much more than that.
Daddy Was a Punk Rocker is an inspiring, funny, horrific, surprisingly relatable and often sad memoir that at the core is a story about the child-parent relationship. This is little boy lost while he waits for his parents to get their shit together.
Adam takes us back to the very beginning with a mother who didn’t want him, refused to touch him or show him any form of kindness. His father Colin was a junkie, but more than that he was a disappointment, swearing that he wouldn’t abandon him yet continually doing just that. Subsequently raised by his grandfather and “Andrew” in Manchester England Adam grows up trying to be the bravest, smartest boy in the whole world so that his father will return and his mother Martine will visit more often and maybe not hit him as much. He tries not to cry, to lift the most weight in gym class, to never let a soccer ball into his net. Adam continually tries to prove himself while growing up. Eventually he comes to a sort of placidity about who his parents are and then it becomes all about escaping Manchester and who he is.
“His house smelled of cigarette smoke and violence.”
Throughout this Adam is always trying to escape; geographically from Manchester but mostly from himself. He relocates a lot; in Sydney, Melbourne, The Channel Islands, Spain, he recreates himself becoming funny and charming and successful and confident. It was kind of heartbreaking actually watching Adam try so hard to be someone else because he felt who he was wasn’t good enough.
I liked that this book followed Adam out of his childhood, I liked watching him attend college for a law degree he doesn’t want, meet girls, travel the world, be a stilt walker. I liked seeing him immigrate to Australia and live in a shed with spiders, be a “sexual experimenter” and then meet his wife Lee. I suffered with you while you bartended and served sandwiches in a casino. And attempted suicide. I watched you eventually find a relationship with your father and allow punk rock into your life. And the epilogue… the epilogue had me choking back tears. Oh No!
My only criticism would be that the beginning felt sort of repetitive, by putting us into the story in short form and then starting all over again with more detail. On the flip side there were certain sections of dialogue that were hilarious (like the nonsensical banter between Adam and his mates or when he first meets Lee at the wedding) I can only hope to read something along these lines in the future.
Thank you Adam Sharp for allowing me this intimate look into your life, what a brilliantly entertaining memoir you’ve put out there into the world.~4.5~
** A copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. 366jb45...more
Killing Me Softly is a love story but not in the typical sense; it’s obsessive, all consuming, violent, inOpening Line: “He knew he was going to die.”
Killing Me Softly is a love story but not in the typical sense; it’s obsessive, all consuming, violent, intense, desperate and ultimately terrifying. And oh my god is it good. I literally could not put this down.
If I could compare this book to anything I would say that initially it reminded me of a combination of 9 ½ weeks and that Richard Gere/Diane Lane movie from a few years ago (Unfaithful) -based on the passion, intensity and utter randomness of our couples first encounter. Of course it then unravels into a tense psychological thriller which much in a car wreck sort of way you can’t take your eyes off of. Throughout I had a feeling of, this just can’t end well.
I should mention that despite the fact that the blurb on the jacket describes this book as ‘erotic’ all the sex scenes are off page; it’s still sexy as hell -in an alarming sort of way. And I’ll admit to being very uncomfortable in sections, shaking my head at our heroine’s decisions and basic lack of “self” (“what the hell are you thinking girl?”) I also doubted myself, doubted Alice and Adam and was left utterly raw and heartbroken by the end. Just the kind of reading experience I love.
Alice Loudon has it all: a comfortable life, a stable (nice) live-in boyfriend, a good job, clever friends, and then one day while walking down a London street on her lunch hour she sees him, standing there, staring, as if waiting for her. The attraction is immediate; it’s unexplainable, like a lightning bolt that neither of them can turn away from. He is Adam Tallis and without speaking a word she follows this complete stranger to his apartment where she proceeds to let him take her clothes off and engages in the most intense love making she has ever known. In fact with Adam she needs a new word for sex. He envelopes her, obliterates her, he is unlike any man she has ever known, and within days she is lost to him.
Abandoning everything (and I mean that literally) Alice leaves her boyfriend and moves in, within months they’re married. Nothing matters except him and them and her world becomes very small. She barely recognizes herself in the mirror anymore as Adam begins to possess every aspect of her being. He worships her, desires her, loves her in an all-consuming way and there isn’t room for anyone or anything else. Alice’s world shrinks to being just Adam; the stranger she fell in love with on a street.
Adam. Her enigmatic husband, world renowned mountain climber, guide and reluctant hero after his last expedition in the Himalayas left half of their group dead. Adam comes with a whole circle of mysterious and exotic friends and it’s when Klaus decides to write a book about the tragedy of the Chungawat expedition that Alice opens her eyes. Reality creeps in, jealousy and doubt takes hold and the tension level rises. How well does she really know this man? Told entirely from the first person we witness Alice’s inner turmoil, doubts and fears as curiosity about her husband’s past and former lovers becomes in of itself an obsession.
“What a ghastly farce it all was. Our whole marriage was built on desire and deception.” 359jb5...more
Opening Line: “Daisy, California Population 2,726.”
As much as I love Amy Lane I have to admit this one was a struggle for me to get through. Don’t getOpening Line: “Daisy, California Population 2,726.”
As much as I love Amy Lane I have to admit this one was a struggle for me to get through. Don’t get me wrong the writing is still fantastic and there are passages that literally take your breath away but the story is so painful, so angry, so freaking desperate and depressing that it almost became more then I could take. I wasn’t even convinced of the love story taking place here, it just seemed a little frantic, a little violent, a little for the moment.
You’d think with a title like “Mourning Heaven” I would have been prepared though, especially after already having my heart shredded (in a good way) by several of Lane’s other books. I was expecting angst and pain here but I was also expecting awesomeness or at least something redeeming or hopeful to cling to throughout this sad story. But with every page angst-riddled and every character broken, tormented and grief stricken this was ultimately just exhausting.
“Oh shit he was disintegrating, dissolving, coming apart again and Peter needed to be there for once, someone needed to be there to catch Bodi as he fell. Peter was up and wrapping his arms around Bodi before one more painful word happened and Bodi was crying like he hadn’t cried when (spoiler) and Peter was crying with him because this was Michael Bodi was crying about and Michael had hurt and Michael had broken and he hadn’t let them fix him and now he would never be fixed and they’d always be a little bit broken in their souls where he’d left a Michael shaped hole.”
Peter moved to the small prejudiced town of Daisy at the age of 12. He’d moved around a lot in his short life and while his mother loved him she was just never able to provide for him eventually depositing him with his Aunt Aileen and her son Michael. It wasn’t all bad though because there was Michael. For Peter his cousin is the sun and the moon, he is everything good and strong and protective and right in the world. Just to hear him breathing through the thin bedroom walls at night makes him feel like everything is going to be okay. And then there’s Michael’s friend Bodi, the boy that Peter loves from the moment he sets eyes on him. Of course it’s not easy being gay in a town like Daisy the church is …well very vocal in its views on that sort of evil behavior and everyone in this backwards town goes to church so it’s not a place you want to be out.
“He’d told his mother that he thought boys were more beautiful than girls, and she’d told him that he would have to be either brave or quiet about that, especially in Daisy.”
The meat of this story however takes place years later; Peter is now 23 and the only one still living in Daisy. Michael his hero, his everything who he hasn’t seen in 6 years is finally coming home and Peter now has the task of finding Bodi and bringing him back too because Michael is coming home in a casket. Slowly we the readers learn what happened 6 years ago that splintered the trio, sending Bodi off in the middle of the night into parts unknown and Michael to the nearest recruiting office where he enlisted in the service.
Together Bodi and Peter have to get through their grief and pay homage to Michael, restoring his motorcycle and giving him a proper send-off while trying to get through the hate, ignorance and prejudice that this town tends to feed on. Bodi is so broken that it will be a miracle if he survives even with Peter’s love and Peter; well he has to learn that even heroes aren’t perfect. 327jb35
Opening line: “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predOpening line: “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.”
Well this was a surprise; the classics and especially mysteries are not my usual fare but due to my recent obsession with the BBC series Sherlock (How yummy is Benedict Cumberbatch) and then watching Downey and Jude Law in the movie Game Of Shadows I realized that I had never actually read any of Conan Doyle’s stories. After some research trying to figure out where to begin, I eventually bought The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes and settled on this story. And wow, I didn’t expect to enjoy this half as much as I did (or at all for that matter) but I guess this is why Sherlock Holmes is still relatable today.
I’d initially expected to have to put in considerable effort just to get through this, I mean it was written in 1892 so it was bound to be very, well literary. You know all formal and tedious. In fact I’d anticipated needing a dictionary just to be able to understand what the characters were talking about, but to my surprise A Scandal In Bohemia turned out to be an absolute delight to read. The actual story is quite basic yet also filled with complexities and hidden meanings and I would also have to call this a romance -of sorts. It’s also funny, relevant, cunning, witty, romantic and ultimately sad. What a great introduction to the world of Sherlock Holmes.
Told from Dr. Watsons POV (now that I didn’t know -I’d just assumed these were Sherlock’s stories.) We begin with Watson “dropping by” Baker Street to visit Holmes. He hasn’t been by his old residence or seen Holmes of late due to his recent marriage and the two have drifted apart. I guess you could say he feels nervous about visiting because he never really knows what state Holmes will be in; elated, depressed, manic, high on opium or cocaine or in some clever disguise? It’s always a bit of a crap shoot. In any case he appears happy today and also excited due to the prospect of a new and exciting case. Sherlock then asks if Watson will assist him;
“I shall be delighted” “You don’t mind breaking the law?” “Not in the least.” “Nor running a chance of arrest?” “Not in good cause.” “Oh the cause is excellent.” “Then I am your man.” “I was sure that I could rely on you.”
The client turns out to be the King of Bohemia; he requires Holmes’ assistance in obtaining an incriminating photograph of himself and one Irene Adler before he marries. It seems this past affair would ruin him because of her “station.” So far the King has tried unsuccessfully to buy it (she won’t sell) to bribe her servants and finally even to steal it but Ms. Adler is always one step ahead. Holmes dons several disguises throughout his case, first as a groomsman to gain access to Adler’s property and spy on her and then later as an (injured) clergyman. Irene Adler is a fantastic character, gaining the upper hand and in the end even outsmarting Holmes. I suppose it’s her cleverness that causes Holmes to fall for her and why in the end she becomes known only as the woman. Cheers 305jb5...more