While It Lasts Audiobook Review

Title: While It Lasts (Sea Breeze #3)
Author: Abbi Glines
Publish Date: April 2013 by Simon & Schuster
Synopsis:

Cage brings his playboy prowess to the countryside as the Sea Breeze hookups continue, from self-published phenomenon Abbi Glines. Low broke Cage’s heart by getting with Marcus in Because of Low. Cage went into a tailspin that ended in a DUI. In order to salvage his baseball scholarship—the one thing he truly valued besides Low—Cage must take a summer job. At a farm. Away from Sea Breeze. With lots of cows, but no hot girls. Maybe that’s what Cage needs to get back on track.

But wait—there’s that hostile daughter of the farm boss. She’s pretty and occasionally sweet, and there seems to be a lot of sadness and mystery behind her anger. Cage is dying to strip her down—physically and mentally—in the back of the barn. But is he prepared for what will happen afterward?

Abbi Glines is known for her sexy New Adult novels, among them, The Vincent Boys, many of which are in a series that are out right now, self-published and published by houses like Simon and Schuster. I hadn't read anything by this author prior to While It Lasts. This is my first audio book of a New Adult novel so I'm not sure if my initial response (not digging it) will happen every time I listen to a New Adult audio book, but I hope they all turn out the same way (me totally digging it)!

This is the third book in Glines’ Seabreeze series, but I was able to pick up along the lines of the story very easily without having read the first two books in the series. Knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to read the first two books by the time I got around to listening to this audio book, I did a little bit of research and I found out the main characters of the first two books and when they happen to come up in the story during the third book, so I knew who they are and the reason why they're there. (Although I will now be adding books 1 and 2 to my TBR pile!)

My first reaction to this audio book was holy cow, their accents are so exaggerated. Cage and Eva, the main romantic interests of the story are both from the south, so they have southern accents. As I live in New England, the only accents I’ve come accustomed to hearing are along the lines of, “pahk the cah in hahvad yahd (park the car in Harvard yard). This would be the Boston, MA accent that found its way into Rhode Island as well. Dropping r’s and adding them in other words (idea = idear, for example) is the accent of choice where I live. So to have the audio book read by a male and female voice actor with southern accents threw me off. I admit I kind of hated the characters in the beginning because of how annoying their accents were to me. It seemed like they were being forced a bit too much.

The two main characters are Eva, daughter of a farmer and widow to Josh (fiancé killed in Baghdad), and Cage, who is stuck on the same farm helping Eva’s father who also happens to be Cage’s baseball coache’s brother. In exchange for working on the farm all summer, his coach will wipe the slate clean for Cage’s baseball scholarship.

When we are first introduced to Eva, she is reading a letter Josh had written prior to his death in case he did die in the line of duty. As Eva is reading the letter she has a hard time getting through it because while she doesn't blame Josh for his death fighting for their country, she blames him for leaving in the first place and not caring enough to make sure they would live together forever, growing old together.

What’s great about first impressions is that they change. As I listened to Eva and Cage’s interactions and how they grew to know each other and that love spark got hotter and hotter, their accents became less of a concern. Although they did talk slower than I’m used to, I found myself enjoying the build up between Cage and Eva. They DID NOT get along in the beginning. More so on Eva’s side, there was definite dislike between the two and it was one of those cases where they didn’t lie to each other, but they withheld the truth so they doubted each other. A lot of those moments where you shake your book and yell out “just tell them already!” happened to me, except it was my kindle and every time I shook it, I would then hug it and apologize.

The audio book is about six hours long, and within the first hour we see a hint of the steamy scenes to come for these characters. There is the typical scene where Cage tries to make Eva jealous with her neighbor, only it doesn’t work out so well for any of them. There’s a few hot lake scenes (they live on a farm, and it’s hot, like they need a reason!), and I just generally enjoyed getting to know Eva and Cage’s back stories. I was surprised at how touching yet simple Glines was able to incorporate the war in Baghdad into her story without it overwhelming the plot. I’m never drawn to stories about the war overseas, but I do like how it's subtly there, holding Eva back from opening back up again and it makes the scenes where she is able to open herself even sweeter.

The only thing I didn’t like about this story was Cage’s cursing at the beginning. I realize that people curse in real life and it's a part of our generations language, but whether or not it was the way the voice actor was saying it every time, it just felt extremely cheesy and it didn't feel warranted. Every time cages character cursed it didn't seem realistic. It's one thing to have a character shout or yell a bunch of expletives, but with Cage it felt forced and just pointless. But I’m realizing that it may have been part of his character development, to have him curse and act a certain way at the beginning, only to behave and become more of a gentleman after spending time with Eva throughout the course of the story.

I recommend this audio book for anyone who wants their southern accent fill, but who also wants to enjoy a coming of age love story between two people who did not see it coming. There are some mature scenes, so I would say this would be a 17+ novel. I’m looking forward to checking out the first books in this series!

My Over All Rating: 

Beauty Blog Tour: Guest Post by Nancy Ohlin

Thorn Abby & Beauty author Nany Ohlin is stopping by today to discuss her "messed up" heroines. This blog tour is being hosted by Mundiemoms.

HEAD CASES

The main characters in my novels tend to have serious issues. In Beauty, Princess Tatiana Anatolia (called Ana) deliberately makes herself ugly in order to gain her vain, narcissistic mother’s affection. In Thorn Abbey, the deeply insecure Tess constantly worries that she will never measure up to her boyfriend’s dead, perfect ex.

Why am I drawn to such messed-up heroines?

For me, there’s something really interesting about an MC

who has a lot of growing up to do. As a writer, I love getting into the “belly of the beast” of a character’s darker moments. In Beauty, Ana shears off her long, lovely hair with a paring knife so her attractiveness won’t be a threat to her mother. In another scene, she puts on a dress that is too tight in order to emphasize her rolls of fat, same reason.

In Thorn Abbey, Tess practically stalks her new crush out of a movie, even though he clearly wants to be alone. Later, she bolts out of a study date with him because he has a book of love poems given to him by his former girlfriend.

Eventually, both Ana and Tess overcome their respective crazies and get to a better place (albeit with various unexpected twists and consequences). As the author, I could have chosen to make these heroines secure, confident, and independent on page 1. But then their journeys would have been a lot less real. And as someone who’s done her share of awkward, difficult growing up, I definitely prefer real—even if it’s not always pretty.


author Photo by Emma Dodge Hanson

By: Nancy Ohlin

Published by: Simon Teen

Released on: May 7th, 2013

Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

Looks to kill for...

Ana is nothing like her glamorous mother, Queen Veda, whose hair is black as ravens and whose lips are red as roses. Alas, Queen Veda loathes anyone whose beauty dares to rival her own—including her daughter.

And despite Ana’s attempts to be plain to earn her mother’s affection,
she’s sent away to the kingdom’s exclusive boarding school.

At the Academy, Ana is devastated when her only friend abandons her for the popular girls. Isolated and alone, Ana resolves to look like a true princess to earn the acceptance she desires.

But when she uncovers the dangerous secret that makes all of the girls at the Academy so gorgeous, just how far will Ana go to fit in?

About the Author:

I am the author of Thorn Abbey, a YA retelling of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and Beauty. a YA retelling of the Snow White tale. 

I've also contributed to several celebrity novels, including a New York Times-bestselling YA trilogy.

I'm currently hard at work on my next YA novel, which will be as romantic and mind-bending as Thorn Abbey (I hope!). 

My favorite cures for writers' block are long walks, long showers, popcorn, chocolate, and really expensive coffee. I talk to myself a lot while I write (you know, to make sure the dialogue zings).

Visit Nancy via her: Website | Twitter | Facebook 

The Giveaway:

Thank you to Simon & Schuster, you can enter to win a copy of Nancy Ohlin's BEAUTY. Follow the tour for your chance to enter. 

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Unremembered Review

Title: Unremembered
Author: Jessica Brody
Release: March 2013
Synopsis:

When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.

Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn't on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn't know, plagued by abilities she doesn't understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author Jessica Brody comes a compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

I like authors that can make me laugh. It doesn't matter the type of book as long as there is some strategically placed humor I tend to enjoy the book. This is the first book I have read by Jessica Brody but it definitely won't be the last. She has that thing called comedic timing and it shows up in her writing. It's not forced, it just comes naturally.

Unremembered is kind of hard to explain. Violet (named in the hospital for her eye color)is the lone survivor of a plane crash. She is pulled from the water and taken to the hospital. She cannot remember anything, it is like her memory has been wiped clean. The authorities cannot identify her either so they put her face on the news. After weeks of no one claiming her she is put into foster care. The interactions with her foster family is my favorite part of the story. I love that it shows foster families is a positive light. The foster brother is my favorite character in the book, he is funny and awkward and does crazy stuff for her.

A boy keeps following Violet and tells her her name is Seraphina and he knows much more about her - stuff like they are in love and that she is in grave danger. She is not sure if she should trust him, but when these abnormal things start happening and men start chasing her, he is the only one she can run to.

This story-line intrigued me; I wanted to know all the whys and hows. It turned out a lot differently than I expected and I cannot wait to see how things work out in the next book.

Overall 3.5

Natural Born Angel Review

Title: Natural Born Angel (Immortal City, #2)
Author: Scott Speer
Published: April 23rd 2013 by Razorbill
Synopsis from Goodreads:

Life turned upside down for Maddy Montgomery when she found out she was half-Angel and was catapulted into the scene of flashbulbs, paparazzi, and the fervent adulation that comes with being in the celebrity Angel world. She's trying to juggle her ordinary life—high school, family, friends—with the intense demands of being in the public eye as heartthrob Angel Jackson Godspeed's girlfriend.

And now Maddy must face the most difficult choice of her life. She's been offered the chance to become a Guardian. This means entering into dangerous and high stakes training, with no guarantee that she can succeed. But more than that, it would mean leaving her mortal life behind—forever—and allying with the Angels at a time when their relationship with humans is heading for war. . . .

I'm happy to say, for those of you wondering, Maddy finally toughens up.  Yes, I was also worried about that aspect of her character. In Natural Born Angel, Maddy has to choose between human life and angel life...between college and becoming a Guardian.  I think it was a well done character developing moment for Maddy. She grows up a little when she makes the decision take on the Guardian training and turn away from what she thought she had always wanted.  Maddy thinks she may be able to change the way the angels do things if she is in the inside rather than the outside looking in.   That's a noble sentiment, right? First, she actually has to pass the training. Maddy must work twice a hard for every inch of success she can find.  Nothing is given to her just because she is the first half human, half angel to try to become a Guardian. Will Maddy make a choice that will forever change her?

At the same time Maddy is training and finding the spotlight in the media, Jackson, who was injured in Immortal Angel, is dealing with his own problems.  Doctor after doctor, treatment after treatment, and still nothing has been able to help him fly again.  He's still a pretty face, but slowly he is losing the media's favoritism.  If he can't fly, he can't make any saves. It’s as simple as that.  As Maddy's popularity is going up, Jackson's is going down. As much as he is happy for her, somewhere inside him, with all the negative answers from the medical community weighing on him mind and heart, he just can't be truly happy.  In the end, will he make a decision he can’t come back from?

Natural Born Angel has mystery and intrigue, murder and pretense, and betrayal and success.  Maddy finds out everything good comes with a cost.  She just has to decide if she is willing to pay it and deal with the consequences.

 
OVERALL RATING

 



Georgetown Academy Book 4 Cover Reveal & Giveaway!

Georgetown Academy, Book Four 
by Jessica Koosed Etting & Alyssa Embree Schwartz

Out June 11, 2013!

(see my review of the 

first 3 books HERE)

When the vice president resigns and Ellie and Taryn’s parents emerge as the frontrunners, the girls find themselves back in the spotlight.

Ellie could not care less about becoming the Second Daughter, but she knows how much the opportunity to make history means to her mother – and women everywhere. With her family taking center stage, Ellie must decide whether she can put her feelings for Gabe on hold - again.

Taryn, so used to captivating the hearts and minds of everyone she meets, is unbothered by the increased media scrutiny. But an inopportune screw-up has her beholden to an unlikely – and unfriendly – source for help.

Overnight, Evan has skyrocketed from social pariah to Miss Popular. As she and her reluctant parents adjust to her new lifestyle, the last thing she needs is a front-page scandal.

Brinley can’t stop thinking about her Stowe-bound hook-up…until her father’s intern, Patrick, starts flirting. Is it time to abandon her fling now that she has a more appropriate suitor?

With the second highest office in the land up for grabs, everyone is picking sides. But where does the heart lie when duty, truth, and love collide?

• Find GTA online: Webpage / Twitter / Facebook 
• Learn more about the first 3 and find buy links HERE!
• Find Coliloquy online: Webpage / Twitter / Facebook

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Coliloquy is hosting an awesome giveaway to celebrate the release of GTA 4.  Use the Rafflecopter widget below and be sure to click "terms and conditions" on the widget to see all the rules because this is not being hosted by PTB, it's a Coliloquy giveaway.

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Reconstructing Amelia Review

Title: Reconstructing Amelia
Author: Kimberly McCreight
Date: April 2013 by Harper Collins
Synopsis:

Litigation lawyer and harried single mother Kate Baron is stunned when her daughter's exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn, calls with disturbing news: her intelligent, high-achieving fifteen-year-old daughter, Amelia, has been caught cheating.

Kate can't believe that Amelia, an ambitious, levelheaded girl who's never been in trouble would do something like that. But by the time she arrives at Grace Hall, Kate's faced with far more devastating news. Amelia is dead.

Seemingly unable to cope with what she'd done, a despondent Amelia has jumped from the school's roof in an act of "spontaneous" suicide. At least that's the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. And overwhelmed as she is by her own guilt and shattered by grief, it is the story that Kate believes until she gets the anonymous text:

She didn't jump.

Sifting through Amelia's emails, text messages, social media postings, and cell phone logs, Kate is determined to learn the heartbreaking truth about why Amelia was on Grace Hall's roof that day-and why she died.

The story line had me intrigued right from the start. What could be worse than the loss of a child? This story revolves around its two main characters Kate, an attorney and single mother, and her daughter Amelia. Kate is often consumed by her work leaving her feeling a sense of guilt for not always being there for her daughter. Amelia is smart, not the popular girl in school by any means and prefers to hang around with her long time friend, Sylvia.

When Kate learns about her daughters death she is devastated. When she finally starts to come to terms with the fact that she will never see her daughter again she is hit with an anonymous text that sends her world spinning.  Feeling that Amelia's death may not have been a suicide she begins to sift through her daughters texts, emails and social media excerpts to search for a clue as to why this happened and who may have had a hand in it.

From this point on the story line continues to jump back and forth between present and past in the form of point of view of the characters, texts, blog entries and postings on Facebook. I personally found this to be slightly distracting at several points throughout the book.

There are some definite  twists that I did not see coming which proved to be a little shocking. When Amelia introduces the cliques in the school I was taken back by how mean some of these characters are portrayed to be, but the story wouldn't have been the same if they were written any other way.

Although this story  did not keep me on the edge of my seat as I expected I feel like there where good intentions, but it was  a slow read for me. At some points the next chapter almost felt predictable, like I new what would be revealed next.

All things considered it was enjoyable and I think it will appeal to older teenagers or even parents of teenagers.

The Beautiful and The Cursed Blog Tour: Author Q & A & Giveaways!

The Beautiful and The Cursed author Page Morgan is stopping by to answer a few questions. This tour is being hosted by Books Complete Me & Once Upon A Twilight. 

If you could pick one favorite thing about Gargoyle mythology – what would it be and why? 

 I love that gargoyles are meant to scare away evil demons or spirits, and that the people within a building that is adorned with gargoyles are supposedly protected against harm. That one little nugget gave me so much to work with!

Other than The Beautiful and the Cursed what has been your favorite YA this year?

I have two favorites: I absolutely loved The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd and Revel by Maurissa Guibord. Next in my TBR pile is Taken by Erin Bowman and Dualed by Elsie Chapman. So many awesome books!

I noticed that the original title was Grotesque; was it hard for you to let go of that title or did you prefer The Beautiful and the Cursed?

It was very difficult to let Grotesque go, since that had been my working title for so long. I actually still sometimes slip and call it Grotesque! But I have to say, The Beautiful and the Cursed is just so much more appealing so I’m happy we changed it!

Can you give us a little insight on Ingrid and Grayson –maybe describe each one of them using only adjectives or 5 words. Whatever works?

Ingrid: contemplative, cautious, intelligent, curious, unafraid.

Grayson: secretive, temperamental, remorseful, reluctant, struggling

How did you choose the genre you write in? 

I wanted to write what I most love to read, and historical fiction with dark, paranormal and romantic elements fit the bill. I actually don’t think I have much control over what story ideas end up sticking and demanding they be written. They just sort of show up and tell me what to do.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you? What has been the best compliment? 

I've stopped reading reviews—they mess with my head—but unfortunately I saw that Kirkus called TB&TC “clumsily executed” and that hurt. The glowing reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly helped assuage the burn, but still… The best compliment has to be from my editor, who called the book a perfect blend between commercial and literary fiction. I wanted to hug her!

I have noticed that you have two covers on goodreads one says hardcover (fainting girl) and the other paperback (girl next to gargoyle) – Which cover do you prefer?

The UK cover (the girl and the gargoyle) has so many awesome elements! I love the moody tone, the rain, the gargoyle, and the title font. But I have to say I prefer the pink and red US cover, even though the girl looks like a total damsel in distress (which Ingrid and Gabby are not!). It just pops right out there and says, “Pick me up! Pet my lovely cover!”

Links to find Page Morgan Online: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads 

Author Bio: PAGE MORGAN has been fascinated with les grotesques ever since she came across an old, black-and-white photograph of a Notre Dame gargoyle keeping watch over the city of Paris. The gargoyle mythologies she went on to research fed her imagination, and she became inspired to piece together her own story and mythology for these remarkably complex stone figures. Page lives in New Hampshire with her husband and their three children.


Giveaway Time : Details from BCM

There are two giveaways during this tour. One is the rafflecopter The second giveaway is for *two* signed, annotated copies of THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED by Page Morgan! Yay! To enter this giveaway, you'll need to follow a few steps, but trust us, it will be worth it! Each blog participating in this tour will have trivia question or a trivia answer. They will be broken down between two teams, TEAM DISPOSSESSED and TEAM WAVERLY, with each blog having either one question or one answer from each team.

Match up as many correct TEAM WAVERLY and TEAM DISPOSSESSED trivia questions and answers as you can, and when you're sure you've got them right send an email to: TBandTCgiveaway@gmail.com with all your answers paired up. There will be a few clues scattered throughout the tour to help you in finding the correct answers, but you do not wait until the last day of the tour to enter. You may enter at any time during the tour. However, once you've emailed in your answers, you may NOT enter again, so be sure to wait until you're certain.

TRIVIA QUESTION & ANSWER

Team DISPOSSESSED Trivia QUESTION: How do gargoyles locate their human charges?

Team WAVERLY Trivia ANSWER: Set her friend’s ballroom on fire.

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