Axel by Harper Sloan [Spoilery Rant]

Axel by Harper Sloan 
Series: Corps Security #1
Source: Free kindle copy
Publication Date: July 7th 2013
Age Genre: Adult

Isabelle has learned the hard way how hard life can be when fate isn’t by your side. It can hand you dreams on silver platters, but it can snatch them right back and hand you nightmares. One thing Isabelle knew for sure fate was consistent with was taking away everything she ever loved.
For the last two years Isabelle has been slowly clearing the clouds of her past. Happiness is finally on the horizon. She has a thriving business, great friends, and her life back. All she has to do is jump over the last hurdle…her ex-husband.
When problems start causing her to fear her new life, and memories that are better left forgotten start rushing to the surface the last thing she needs is a ghost from her past to come knocking on her door.
Axel never thought he would look into the eyes of Isabelle West again, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to now. He’s carried his anger for so long he isn’t sure he can just turn it off, but when he is faced with protecting her and an unexpected desire to have her again, life gets a little more complicated.
How will Axel and Isabelle deal when all their cards are put on the table and everything they thought was true blows up in their faces?

This book makes me want to curse until I'm hoarse. This is my way of warning you guys that there is going to be a lot of those in this review. So if those bother you... please don't read on.

The thing that got me so fucking frustrated was the fucking "misunderstanding" that the author fucking refused to solve, no matter how ridiculous it got. In the core of things, you've got two characters who've been fed wrong information that caused their long separation.

Everyone around them sees their two versions don't match up so something's up. But does anyone come up to them and say "Hey, dude, she thought you were dead/Hey girl, he thought you left him?" Err, no. They just sprout some nonsense bullshit about this not being their story to tell and the two "need to talk". This crucial plot point could've been solved eons ago instead of after 70% of the novel if some of their "friends" got over themselves. 

Or if the stupid as fuck couple involve in this got over their shit. I mean, seriously, Izzy. Someone told you he was dead but lo and behold he's alive. Wouldn't you want to figure the fuck out? To talk to him and see what the hell happened because obviously someone lied to you? Instead you get it into your head that he abandoned you? And you refuse to talk about it because it seems cut and dry to you? Even when people are vaguely hinting that it's really not? Are you fucking kidding me? 

And you, Axel--what. the. fuck. First you're angry at her because after four and a half years of no communication she got married to someone else. Four and a half years. Are you off your freaking rocket? But okay, at least you demand the two of you talk--oh fuck me, you just want to talk about the husband situation. Not the whole what happened twelve years ago. Right.

If you'd just opened your fucking mouths and talked then this book wouldn't have been the nightmarish experience it was. 

Seriously, I can't handle this bullshit. Especially because the moment they finally put all that crap behind them and talked (a conversation that needed only a minute and a half for both of them to figure out they've been lied to, so why did it have to drag the entire book is beyond me!) the book got good. They got good.  I could actually enjoy and occasionally smile at the remaining 25% of the book. It's the only reason I considered maybe giving this three stars.

Even though I hate Axel's entire attitude, and can't understand how a woman who's been through what Iz has can even deal with his possessiveness and jealous-ness. There is sexy alpha-male and then there is taking that a level too high... If I had an abusive husband, I'd probably shy away from other controlling men, even if I knew deep down that they won't hurt me.

But I guess a woman like Izzy, who hasn't overcome one single issue on her own and all her problems simply go away with a man, needs that?

Speaking of which, I didn't find his dirty talk hot in any way. It felt kind of weird and too forced to me, not to mention highly inappropriate considering how Brandon used to talk to Iz. But whatever, whatever floats your boat... 

Will I read more books from this author? Maybe. Ultimately, I hated her method of milking the stupid misunderstanding dry, but I had no issue with her writing and I liked the characters. In fact, they interested me ten times more than the sex scenes, all of which I skimmed, and that's actually a good thing.

Nitzan★

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
Series: The Body Finder #1
Source: Kindle copy
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: March 16, 2010
Age Genre: YA

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.
Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.
Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.

Okay, I'm a little angry too...

This book just might be the biggest disappointment of my year. Seriously, I expected this really interesting mystery with a paranormal twist, a race against time to find a killer, with a side-dish of awesome friends-to-lovers romance.

What I got?

The exact opposite; a bland romance with the whole awesome body finding bit being just an after thought, just something the author throws in to make things a little bit more exciting and unique.

BUT IF THE WHOLE THING IS MENTIONED ONCE IN FOUR CHAPTERS BETWEEN moans and groans about Jay and their relationship and his turning hot, and how she's worried about ruining them, and gasp other girls are noticing him too, the vain, stupid imbeciles! look at them fawning over him--oh, hello Jay *fawns* then IT'S NOT REALLY GOING TO WORK.

Seriously! You can see how unimportant Derting found the whole murdering girls thing by how the murderer has no identity whatsoever. She didn't ever design to give him a name. Seriously, at all times, even after being caught, the characters in the books refer to him as the killer/the murderer/insert other title.

And he has no background, no added information to his character aside for the whole "I like killing girls" bit. Where are the motives, how he came to do it, the little things that make his brain tick, all the things real, exciting murder mysteries have?

And the romance itself? There was nothing to it! I love the friends-to-lovers theme, it's my favorite, but here, I didn't feel it was well done at all. First of all, it seems like Violet only woke up to Jay's romantic appeal when... well, when he became hot.

And then... well, it's just... there wasn't very much of them here. Big parts of this book showed them fighting, tying to make each other jealous, or Jay kind of being the really overbearing boyfriend (without him actually being a boyfriend...)

Which is the main problem, really. Before all the drama started, they were already acting like a couple. Why couldn't it be just a natural progression, without all the BS and drama? Because they were really cute and sweet without all that..

And then, there is the matter of Violet's powers. We don't explore them, at all. There is no real background to them, nor even a curiousness about them from our characters. Violet has powers, and that's it. And everyone freakin' accepts this. No one but the killer even wonders what the f the police captain doing bringing a 16 year old to a crime scene!

There were a lot of interesting concepts in this book, but the execution, or lack of thereof, made this book so very meh. 

Sadly, the only way I'll be reading the next books, is if they're at bargain price, like this one was...

Nitzan★

Moon Dance by J.R. Rain (SPOILERS)

Moon Dance by J.R. Rain
Series: Vampire for Hire #1
Source: Free Kindle book
Publisher: Self Published
Publication Date: August 10th 2009
Age Genre: Adult

Mother, wife, private investigator...vampire. Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.
Now the world at large thinks Samantha has developed a rare skin disease, a disease which forces her to quit her day job and stay out of the light of the sun. Now working the night shift as a private investigator, Samantha is hired by Kingsley Fulcrum to investigate the murder attempt on his life, a horrific scene captured on TV and seen around the country. But as the case unfolds, Samantha discovers Kingsley isn't exactly what he appears to be; after all, there is a reason why he survived five shots to the head.

THIS REVIEW IS A RANT AND CONTAINS SPOILERS. CLICK THE "READ MORE" BUTTON ONLY IF YOU DO NOT MIND THAT. 

Dark Lover by J.R Ward

So as you guys know, I wasn't always part of The Book Babe's Reads. I had my own personal blog before - which now lies abandoned... alongside all my old reviews. But because I feel like some of them don't deserve such an awful treatment, I'm going to slowly move my favorite reviews here! (though some editing may occur, as I'm a little OCD about my reviews, and the older they originally are, the more likely I am to have things I want to rephrase). 

Dark Lover by J.R Ward
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #1
Source: borrowed from library
Age Genre: Adult
Original Review: April 12, 2013

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.
The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world

I'm going to be completely honest and start by saying that originally, I gave this book three stars. But reading through my review, I kept thinking to myself... whhhy? So, there goes half a star. Bye! 

If we're already being honest with each other, I will also admit that while this review is mostly a rant - I have continued with this series, and I even loved some of the books in it. So... don't judge the series based on the first book!  

The first of this (currently) thirteen long series is, unfortunately, completely underwhelming. I had this nagging sense of deja vu the entire read, like... been there, read this, and considering this was way back when I'd just started with adult books and these type of romance-centered fantasies, I cannot imagine how I'd feel about this now. 

The characters were alright. I loved being inside Wrath's head, seeing the duality of his thoughts vs. words first hand, even though the guy got on my nerves sometimes. I loved seeing this really outwardly strong, big, tough guy turn out to be a sad, self doubting and loathing person who can't show his warmth to anyone. Call me sadistic. 

What I didn't like was how the realization he loved Beth did a 180 degrees turn on his personality, suddenly making him show his emotions easily and whatnot. It doesn't work like this. Love is not an immediate cure-all medicine, it just serves to be the catalyst and the support system you need to help you bring the change.  

As for Beth herself.. she was just a kind, strong, sweet girl, who is (for once, and thank god) aware of the fact she is beautiful but never uses it. 

But it wasn't really Beth or Wrath who shone in this book and made me read the next one. Nope, that honor lies within the side-characters, all of whom I adored (Butch, V, Z...) 

Then there were the villains, plural, because we have two types: The Lessers; soulless humans who kill without second thought and The "Righteous"; the vampires who think they're better than the brothers. 

The ones that really pissed me off and brought emotions out of me is the second one (mainly, Marissa's brother). they are basically stuck up a-holes snobs who jump to their own (wrong) conclusions at the drop of the hat. As for the first group, the traditionally evil... I felt like they weren't well done, because ultimately, I didn't care a whit about them. They didn't generate any emotion out of me. 

NOW FOR THE REAL RANT.

The romance in this book is pretty much goddamn awful. 

Case in point: a humongous guy armed to the teeth breaks into your apartment in the middle of the night. You: 

a) Call the police.

B) Run the hell away.

C) Try to knock him out with something.

D) Have wild, unprotected sex with him.  

Do I really have to tell you which option Beth chooses? 

There is absolutely no process of falling in love, no feeling of love. It's just... lust. They're declaring being madly in love when they know nothing of one another, their only base for a relationship their physical attraction.

Once they settled into the relationship, they're adorably sweet, I won't deny that. But as much as I tried, I couldn't shut up the nagging voice that kept reminding me of all the above points. That asked where does this relationship even come from. That kept doubting it.

And the writing... it's good, don't get me wrong, but there were so many povs my head was spinning. I wish Ward would have just focused on a few and discarded of the rest. 

Nitzan★

Brotherhood by A.B. Westrick

Brotherhood by A.B. Westrick
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date: September 12, 2013

The year is 1867, the South has been defeated, and the American Civil War is over. But the conflict goes on. Yankees now patrol the streets of Richmond, Virginia, and its citizens, both black and white, are struggling to redefine their roles and relationships. By day, fourteen-year-old Shadrach apprentices with a tailor and sneaks off for reading lessons with Rachel, a freed slave, at her school for African-American children. By night he follows his older brother to the meetings of a group whose stated mission is to protect Confederate widows like their mother. But as the true murderous intentions of the brotherhood—-now known as the Ku Klux Klan—-are revealed, Shad finds himself trapped between old loyalties and what he knows is right.

A powerful and unflinching story of a family caught in the enormous social and political upheaval of the period of Reconstruction.

All I feel about Brotherhood is conflict. On one hand, I liked learning more about the Civil war era South, and the rebuilding of it after the war, but on the other hand, I didn't really care for the actual story. Or the main character, Shad. And I sort of have a clear reason to why I dislike him - he's a jerk.

"Oh, it's fine to associate with them in private, but I gotta snub my nose at 'em in public." I didn't like that about him. He spent so much of his time worrying about what other people thought - which meant he didn't even think about what he thought. He was so conflicted inside about it that it just tore him up! While this is very historically accurate, I didn't really like the thought of it.

I did notice another thing about Shad, though. No matter how badly his big brother treated him, he wanted to grow up and be just like him. He's doing what he thinks his dead daddy would want, and he's also doing what he feels is right by joining the KKK. Which I do understand on one level, I'd just like to know how he got to be so easily lead around.

He definitely needed to sort out his priorities. His brother was all meanness and spite, so I'm not sure why anyone would wanna be like him. Seemed like he was all trouble. All in all, this was a mostly character driven book, so I don't have much else to say. It was okay, but not fantastic or anything. The history was interesting. I guess it just wasn't really for me.
 

Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn
Series: Broken Hearts & Revenge, #1
Source: Netgalley (Thanks, Fiewel & Friends!)
Publisher: Fiewel & Friends
Publication Date: May 13, 2014

Summer, boys, and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of!

Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the Hamptons for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long?

When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it.

Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is?

Katie Finn hits all the right notes in this perfect beginning to a new summer series: A Broken Hearts & Revenge novel.

Let's just be honest here: doesn't this just look like the cutest summer revenge read? It does. But it really fell short of it's potential for me. For me it's sometimes just a little too hard to understand the motivation for revenge, and BHFaOTtM just didn't have a very plausible plot for me. Why spend most of your life plotting revenge for something that happened when you were a kid? You should just build a bridge and get over it!

Once I finished reading it, all I could think was "bleh, this is a series? Why?" Because it seemed like this all should have ended in the first book, since it was stupid to begin with. But I digress. BHFaOTtM was pretty cheesy on top of being dumb... which kind of upset me. It was easy to guess what would happen next, and I found myself predicting everything before it happened.

And don't even get me started on the characters! BLEH. First, we have the boy that Gemma is hopelessly in love with - Teddy. Who is a crunchy hippy who keeps all of his ducks in a row, does everything right, and is the perfect person. Except he's boring as all get out, is one of those people who has to be involved in anything (even things that don't concern him), and has to have the perfect, sweet, innocent girlfriend. Ick.

I like him already, don't you folks? Besides the debatable love interest, we also have Gemma herself. I'll tell you straight up that she's a liar, and that she has to have everything her way... which I just couldn't stand. She whines too much, schemes a lot, and doesn't really appear to be very smart. Not only is she decidedly not-smart, she's also extremely dense.

Basically, Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend was really not for me. I couldn't get into the plot or the characters, and the revenge angle of the story seemed very one-sided to me. But who knows, this just might be your cup of tea!

The Taste of Apple Seeds by Katharina Hagena

The Taste of Apple Seeds by Katharina Hagena
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: William Morrow Books
Publication Date: February 4, 2014

An international bestseller, The Taste of Apple Seeds is a story of love and loss that will captivate your heart.

When Iris unexpectedly inherits her grandmother's house in the country, she also inherits the painful memories that live there.

Iris gives herself a one-week stay at the old house, after which she'll make a decision: keep it, or sell it. The choice is not so simple, though, for her grandmother's cottage is an enchanting place where currant jam tastes of tears, sparks fly from fingertips, love's embrace makes apple trees blossom, and the darkest family secrets never stay buried.

As Iris moves in and out of the flicker between remembrance and forgetting, she chances upon a forgotten childhood friend who could become more.

The Taste of Apple Seeds is a bittersweet story of heartbreak and hope passed down through the generations.

The wheels of destiny have always been set in motion - in our family as well - by a fall. And by an apple.
While The Taste of Apple Seeds was an alright kind of book, I can't really say that I enjoyed it very much. Don't get me wrong, it was okay... but I feel like it was missing something. For instance, it was missing a pull - there wasn't really anything interesting happening. To put it bluntly, it was pretty dang boring. I feel like it was just pages of description that lead up to an ultimately anticlimactic ending.

The pacing was extremely strange, to go along with all of that description. Sometimes it just went so slowly, just dragging along, and then suddenly it would pick up - like a whirlwind, suddenly everything would be happening at once, and it was so confusing! I felt like the slow writing made me sleepy, and the fast writing just made me confused!

Now, I liked the style - but the pacing definitely needed some work. Something that I found odd was the sheer amount of family history we got in this novel - it honestly seemed to be exclusively about her history, and while that was okay... it was a bit strange. Little bits of history would just pop up randomly; and sometimes I wondered if they even had anything to do with the story!

It was very hard to get a hold on what the story was actually about, that's for sure. I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be about the main character finding herself, and who she wants to be - but I'm not positive about that. I can honestly say that the best part of this story was the ending - everything was resolved, and it made a little bit more sense. I just didn't love this one.

Boy Swap by Kristina Springer

Boy Swap by Kristina Springer
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: October, 2013

Boy Swap: The secret to sisterly love and scholarly bliss.

Research shows that seven out of ten girl fights are over a guy. The Boy Swap Club fixes all that. In an effort to spread around male cuteness and minimize fights and backstabbing, they just share boyfriends. And Brooke Thomas, consummate band member, has been asked to join the super secret club because the president of the club has the hots for her guy.

Brooke doesn't want to share her boyfriend. I mean, who does? But how can she say no? She, a second chair flutist in the school band, finds herself sitting between the Varsity Cheerleader Captain and the Homecoming Queen at the first meeting. Her friends will never believe this in a million years. Too bad she can’t tell them. But she knows. This one event can change her entire life. What if she becomes actual friends with one of these girls? It might be worth sharing her boyfriend.


Besides, he'll always love her best, right?

I can honestly tell you that I thought I would like this one more. It had a super cute cover, and a really fun premise, but the end result of Boy Swap was just BLEGH for me. I was hoping for a fun romance, with a hint of revenge or something - but what I got was anything but that. Or maybe it was just an overload of revenge. Because that's all I really got from this book - "she stole my boyfriend, so I'll get hers", and then suddenly she's all in love with the boyfriend that she was stealing.

And I didn't feel Carter and Brooke, not at all. They had no chemistry, but that could be because Carter had the personality of a cardboard box. Scratch that - cardboard boxes have more character. And many more possibilities.

Don't even get me started on Brooke! I feel like she was way to self-centered (what with the "Boy Swap" club and all). At first I thought she might just be kind of confused, but turns out she just wanted to be popular. I mean, just ask yourself. Would you ever join a club to share boyfriends?

I don't understand girls like that, I guess. I understand wanting to be liked - but you really have to get over that in life. I don't care if people like me. And she shouldn't either! All that matters in life is being yourself, obviously. Not only was Brooke ridiculously self-centered, her "voice" was also very... hyperactive. She jumped from subject to subject with barely any pause in between, which made her read like a bouncy little kid.

She calmed down a little towards the end, though. Which brings me to my next issue - the ending. The ending was way too open, and actually a tad bit strange. It was odd that everything worked out in her favor, because I can honestly say that real life isn't like that.

All in all, don't let all my problems scare you off! It was an enjoyable enough read, I just have a lot of bad things to say about it.

Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux, #3
Source: Bought
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: December 11, 2012

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

You remember how I said that I was devouring this series? I was. I was really enjoying it, averaging a book a day - until I got to this one. For whatever reason, I just read this one so much slower - and I didn't like this one as much as the others in the series.

Now that Daemon has Katy, obviously the angst is gone - and that's a nice thing. I kind of thought that we would see more of them as a couple in this one - and while that did happen, the moments were just too few and far between for my taste.

And don't get me started on the introduction of a new character - Dawson was... interesting, I guess. I wanted to like him, I really did. But I feel like as a character, Dawson didn't really get the development that I hope for in all characters. As in all of these books, development of Daemon won out in the end. That's where my problems truly start - I think that the other characters should get better personalities too! I WANT MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

And in other news, DAWSON IS CREEPY. I want to like the boy, because he's related to Daemon... but I just find him creepy. I don't even know why I do, but... he is. So many things happen that make me sort of doubt the boy, but I guess I'll have to keep reading to find out... and I'm not so sure that I want to do that anymore.

I feel like the longer this series goes on, the less unique the plot becomes. It just seems like it's dragging butt now, so I can't imagine what it'll be like with a few more books! The ending wasn't even surprising at this point.

All in all, Opal disappointed me. It wasn't as good as the first two books in the series, and I don't really know if I'll continue reading it now.

Time After Time by Tamara Ireland Stone

Time After Time by Tamara Ireland Stone
Series: Time Between Us, #2
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: October 8, 2013

Calling Anna and Bennett’s romance long distance is an understatement: she’s from 1995 Chicago and he’s a time traveler from 2012 San Francisco. The two of them never should have met, but they did. They fell in love, even though they knew they shouldn't. And they found a way to stay together, against all odds.

It’s not a perfect arrangement, though, with Bennett unable to stay in the past for more than brief visits, skipping out on big chunks of his present in order to be with Anna in hers. They each are confident that they’ll find a way to make things work...until Bennett witnesses a single event he never should have seen (and certainly never expected to). Will the decisions he makes from that point on cement a future he doesn't want?

Told from Bennett’s point of view, Time After Time will satisfy readers looking for a fresh, exciting, and beautifully-written love story, both those who are eager to find out what’s next for Time Between Us's Anna and Bennett and those discovering their story for the first time.

I remember when I read Time Between Us, I thought it was a pretty good read. I liked it, I liked Anna and Bennett, but I thought that it was a little cliched. I still ended up giving it four stars, though.

Time After Time was a completely different experience for me. I just couldn't shake the thought, throughout the book, that Anna and Bennett just shouldn't be together. They're from completely different worlds! They'd never really be able to keep up an actual relationship - I mean, they could never live together or get married and have kids, because Bennett doesn't belong in 1995, and Anna can't go to 2012. All that they're doing is causing a whole bunch of heartache for themselves.

So really, I couldn't fall for them as a couple. Several times I just wanted Anna and Bennett to let each other go, to just live in the moment. I found myself not wanting them to work out.

I had to push myself through parts of this book, because I felt like the plot just moved so slow! There was a definite bumpedita theme going on here, and the fact remains that the romance just wasn't working for me. The next thing that bothered me was the time travel - I loved it in the first book, I really did.

But in this one, I kept questioning it and everything that Bennett did with it. I couldn't help but think about the fact that he has inadvertently caused a lot of the things that shouldn't have happened. He's messed up a lot of stories, that's for sure.

All in all, Time After Time just wasn't for me. The time travel just didn't work, and I found myself hoping that the lead couple would just break it off.

Doll Bones by Holly Black

Doll Bones by Holly Black
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: May 7, 2013

Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing . . . and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice. But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll – who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity . . .

Doll Bones was something I just picked up. I had no prior interest in it, and honestly, I don't particularly have any interest in it now. My only real interest in it was the scare factor. How scary could a MG book be? But then I started it. And realized, that, well, yes, as expected, it wasn't that scary. But first, let's get this out of the way-- I am deathly afraid of some of those porcelain dolls. They just freak me out, and that being said, well, this one didn't. Ouch, that's pretty sad.

The doll's story was actually fairly mediocre. That may have just been because I was expecting to have the wits scared out of me, but I can't discount the fact that it just wasn't scary. But I need to move on.

I don't very often read books with male narrators, so Doll Bones was unique in that way. Zach was kind of a funny kid, but the more I read from his point of view, the more I realized...he's like twelve. Maybe 13, and they're playing with "dolls"? That was a slight character flaw in itself. I mean, I realize that some people are more mature than others, but does a twelve year old boy really play with dolls? Not in this day and age. You'd be lucky to find a twelve year old that hasn't already had a girlfriend.

But aside from that, I did enjoy Zach and his friends, Alice and Poppy. Their adventure was awesome, and I liked the way that they were around each other. They were just simply friends.

All in all, Doll Bones was neither creepy enough, mature enough or interesting enough to have me hooked, but it was an okay read.

Stealing Harper by Molly McAdams

Stealing Harper by Molly McAdams
Series: Taking Chances, #2
Source: Bought on Amazon
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: May 21, 2013

Chase Grayson has never been interested in having a relationship that lasts longer than it takes for him and his date to get dressed again. But then he stumbles into a gray-eyed girl whose innocence pours off her, and everything changes. From the minute Harper opens her mouth to let him know just how much he disgusts her, he's hooked.

But a princess deserves a Prince Charming who can make her dreams come true. Not a guy who can turn her life into a nightmare.

All good intentions go out the window when Harper starts to fall for the guy Chase has come to view as a brother. He wanted to protect her by keeper her away, but he can't stand to see her with anyone else, and he'll do anything to make her his. But when it comes down to Harper choosing between the two, will Chase have the strength to step back from the girl who has become his whole world if it means she's happy?

Lines will be crossed. Friendships will be put to the test. And hearts will be shattered.

"That's it?" I asked one of my housemates, Derek, as we passed each other in the hall.

Stealing Harper was a big disappointment for me. I was hoping that it would help me to get better insight on Chase, but all it really did was reinforce what  I already knew-- Chase was a jerk. He has his good moments, but most of the time he is what he was in the first book, and that was disappointing as all get out. I was hoping that he had ridiculously deep feelings, but I didn't really get anything from him.

I was hoping to realize that he was better, but he really wasn't. He was still a bit of a flat character, and I didn't really see the love between him and Harper. (AGAIN.)

Honestly, the best part of this was meeting all of Chase's friends from the tattoo parlour. We don't get to see much of them in the first book, so it was a nice change, and I enjoyed knowing that Chase and Brandon had been friends.

The worst part was the deja vu, to tell you the truth. It's literally the same story, with very little to no dialogue change, and very little added. I don't think it helped me at all, or gave me new insight to characters or anything.

Honestly, this just wasn't the book for me. While the first one was alright, this one just annoyed me.

Cover talk: OMG, is that male duck face? How terrible! I'm not a huge fan of the font either, and while I think it's interesting that she's holding the H, no. Just no. I always pictured Chase with more colorful tattoos, so the tribal thing is disappointing, and Harper appears to have bottle red hair. (If this is not the case, please enlighten me.) Also, is it just me or does Chase have no nipples? That's kind of an awkward pose...I am so mean.

Don't Hate the Player...hate the Game by Katie Ashley

Don't Hate the Player...hate the Game by Katie Ashley
Series: N/A
Source: Bought on Amazon
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: April 30, 2013

For Noah Sullivan being the best friend to a douchebag and player like Jake Nelson has never been easy. It's been a rocky road since kindergarten when Jake duct taped Noah to his chair before recess. With just six weeks to high school graduation, Jake accidentally blows his drunken ass up on his grandfather's tractor, and Noah finds himself immersed not only in a whirlwind of grief, but on a quest to find a mystery girl from Jake's past. 

While cleaning out Jake's room, Noah and Jake's dad make a startling discovery. Instead of the obligatory porn collection or pot stash, they find a ring, but not just any ring. Its half a carat of commitment in a platinum setting-proving even man whores have taste. After Jake's mom pleads with Noah to find the girl who meant so much to Jake, Noah begins a modern day Grail quest to track the girl down.

Since Jake was a notorious player with a legendary collection of trophy panties, Noah finds himself in over his head. There are the usual suspects like Avery, the Ice Princess Jake dated for appearances, or Presley, the school mattress Jake dated for convenience. But the trail begins to point to the most unlikely of suspects: Maddie, the Valedictorian and choir girl who was trying to help the unmotivated jock graduate--the girl who also has surprisingly caught Noah's eye and meddled with his heart. 

Hanging out with Maddie shows Noah a different side of Jake--one that was deeply human and surprisingly douche-free. And the more he tries to solve the mystery of the ring and of Jake, the more Noah starts to discover about himself and of love.

As I slowly drifted back into consciousness, my knee jerked upward, banging against the desk.

This is such a hard review to write. I really don't know what I want to say about Don't Hate the Player...hate the game. I enjoyed it for the most part, but lots of times I was left wanting something more.

The romance was mediocre, for one. I was expecting hot, hot, hot romance. But what I got was just a sprinkling here and there, with a little bit of "I Love you's" thrown in. I was so disappointed in it. I didn't feel the feelings blossoming between Noah and Maddie, and I just didn't feel them, to be honest.

Noah and Maddie both fell a little flat for me. Noah is our main character, but I would have loved to have learned more about Jake. I mean, Noah seems like a good guy and all, but I'm more for the reformed bad boy for whatever reason.

In the memories that Noah has of Jake, he seems so young. Like he changed drastically after Jake died, which I suppose is a possibility, but I kind of doubt it. I would have liked to have seen more development on his part.

Maddie seemed sweet, but she seemed way goody-two shoes. I mean, I get that she's the preacher's daughter and all, but I didn't really get it. I couldn't connect with her like I'd hoped I could. She did surprise me with some of the things she did, though, so there is that.

My biggest issue was really that most of the scenes seemed overly forced. I didn't feel like anything that was going on carried any weight. It was kind of weird, honestly. There just wasn't enough angst for me. I feel like my heart should have been in a constant state of breaking, but I didn't feel it, which was unfortunate.

All in all, Don't Hate the Player...hate the Game was cute and predictable, but it was more of a filler read than anything else.