Black Rainbow

Black Rainbow

by JJ. McAoy

 

Is it bad that I read this book awhile and just noticed that I haven't reviewed it yet? Alas, it is far to late to write a dependable review on this book, but I do highly recommend it! I enjoyed the hell out of it, and read it as fast as I can.

 

For those of you know me, you know I adore the student-professor love story trope, and this one was no different, and even better. Because that wasn't even the main, or second conflict! I also adore the Lawyer books, even in the form of The Pact by Jodi Piccoult. But this book was really awesome, and I highly recommend it!!

 

Here's the link to this steamy, New Adult Romantic Suspense novel!

 

 

XOXO,

Kat

 



Outside the Ropes ARC Review

What did I think...

Outside the Ropes by Ashley Claudy

 

Description:

 

In the ring, Regan has control. Outside the ropes, she fights to survive.

Regan Sommers spent her life fighting. Fighting foster parents, kids in the group home, and classmates. But the night she has to fight for her life changes everything.

Now, she's fighting for money in the ring, and from the first punch she's addicted. Every addiction has a price though, and this one is the gym's star boxer, Gage Lawson. He may come in an enticing tattooed package, but his demands are more than she can handle.

The responding officer from that night, Anthony Fields, comes with no demands. He wants whatever she's willing to give, and Regan can handle that. She can definitely handle him.

But no help comes string free, and Regan's not the only one with a hard past and scars to cover. The life she was trying to escape is nothing compared to the danger she's in the middle of now, and she can't fight her way out.

***Reader please be aware: Story contains mature content such as: Drugs, sex, abuse, and explicit language that may be upsetting for some.****  

 



Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Outside the Ropes
Published on: January 1st, 2015
Pages: 438 pages
Format: ebook, Digital PDF
Source: NetGalley
Average rating: 4.13
My rating: 1.5 stars

This is going to be a short one...

I'm going to start by saying that I did not enjoy Outside the Ropes in the least, and after two weeks of forcing myself to pick it up, only to set in back down in favor of actually doing work (I know, it says a lot, doesn't it?), I will officially mark it as a DNF.

The description sounded very interesting, but even after I clicked the "Request" button of NetGalley's, I started second guessing myself.

The main reason I didn't like the book: The writing.

The writing in a story is everything. I've read books where the plot wasn't very good, but the writing was amazing, and I still thoroughly enjoyed the book because the writing was making me laugh my ass off  *cough* Charley Davidson *cough*.

The writing in this was just very... flimsy and non-genuine. Instead of being immersed into the story, I felt like I was staring at a drawing of a rectangle and being told it was a cube.

 

The Characters are a different story. I've never read anything from this author before, so I have nothing to compare it to, and I don't know if she procrastinated until two days before the deadline to write the parts of these books, but I felt the authors desperation for the writing and the characters big time.

 

The characters seemed very superficial, in the way of personality, and the "passion" (or lack thereof) between Gage and Regan just seemed very surface an overdramatized, not to mention how tired reading about them made me. Gage, as both a character and a lover, was very disappointing. Miss Claudy tried very hard to make him this solid, unmovable force of closed-offness, to make him seem like the biggest jackass ever and made him the "cute off from the world by his own making" kind of guy. Yes, you know the type; very cliché. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't. This didn't. Unfortunately, her efforts were very obvious in the writing and instead of trying to develop her characters as people, she wrote them as puppets. Gage just sounded and looked so ridiculous in reading and mind, that I'm almost embarrassed to admit that anytime he opened is mouth, my eyes were rolling- rotten teenager style. I have to admit, when I started this book, I was worried about Regan. The really strong, fighter chicks are often over-written and very unenjoyable... which is exactly what happened. She tried so hard to make Regan this strong, surviving person that she came across to me (on the "inside) as impetuous, needy and fake, which was very much unenjoyable.

 

I also like to be able to differentiate between my characters... but Regan and Gage were so similar... that I could never picture them together, doing anything but maybe having sex... even when scenes were written where they were doing other things, which is never good.

 

Bottom line, I didn't even pay much attention to the content here because the writing makes of break a book... and I'm afraid this book is pretty broken.

 

XOXO,

Kat

Stay with Me Review

What did I think of...

Stay with Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout/ J Lynn

 

 

Description:

 

At 21, Calla hasn’t done a lot of things. She’s never been kissed, never seen the ocean, never gone to an amusement park. But growing up, she witnessed some things no child ever should. She still carries the physical and emotional scars of living with a strung-out mother, Mona—secrets she keeps from everyone, including her close circle of college friends.

But the safe cocoon Calla has carefully built is shattered when she discovers her mom has stolen her college money and run up a huge credit card debt in her name. Now, Calla has to go back to the small town she thought she'd left behind and clean up her mom’s mess again. Of course, when she arrives at her mother’s bar, Mona is nowhere to be found. Instead, six feet of hotness named Jackson James is pouring drinks and keeping the place humming.

Sexy and intense, Jax is in Calla’s business from the moment they meet, giving her a job and helping her search for Mona. And the way he looks at her makes it clear he wants to get horizontal . . . and maybe something more. Before Calla can let him get close, though, she’s got to deal with the pain of the past—and some very bad guys out to mess her up if she doesn’t give them her mom.

Rating: 4.2 stars

Genre's:

 

 

Stay with Me was a really fun read... and more action packed than some of her previous books. I have noticed that through the three of her books in this series; Wait for Me, Be with Me, and Stay with Me; it's been getting more and more action-y. Wait for Me... not really, Be with Me, was more hit and run with the action, but Stay with Me had dead bodies, drug deals, and was a rocky ride.

 

In Be with Me, Calla was the tough-girl, totally outgoing and badass... but I feel like her personality was altered a ton. She had less of a backbone than Teresa did, and was a character with a weaker personality and backbone, which sucked, but I thought it made her even  more real. Because of all she's been through, it made her seem like more of a real person, that she had a weaker mentality of herself and what she deserved than others, and made me enjoy Jax "reeducating" her on herself.

 

Jax, however, was great! A previous military man, he flip-flopped from the outrageous flirting that was Jace from Be with Me, to a more alpha-possessive-protective side than both Jace and Cam possessed.

 

 

"I gotta tell you that I love you that I love you, Calla," he said, and I was surprised the heart monitor didn't catch the fact that it felt like my heart had stopped for a moment. "No bullshit. I do. I love the way you think, even if it's annoying as fuck at times and even then it's still cute. I love that there's a shit ton of things you've never gotten to experience and that you're going to get to experience them with me. That I have that honor. I love your strength and everything you've survived. I love your courage and I love that you make shit drinks, but no one cares because you're so damn nice. I'm pretty sure you're Long Island iced teas could kill people, but that's okay." His lips curved up on one side as his gaze held mine steadily. "I love your sense of humor and the fact you never ate grits before. There's so much that I love about you that I know I'm in love with you. So, honey, you can have all my shirts you want."

 

 

Yes, all of that was in response to Calla admitting that when she thought they were over (which they were not), she stole her favorite of his shirts. This totally made me fall in love with him more than I already was!!

 

I highly recommend this and any other Jennifer L. Armentrout book- she is one of my go-to authors because I know that any book of hers will make me fall in love, cry, laugh and be entertained.

 

 

 

XOXO,

Kat

 

 

Be with Me Review

What did I think of... ?

Be With Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout/ J Lynn

Description:

 

Teresa Hamilton is having a rough year—she’s in love with her big brother’s best friend, but he hasn’t spoken to her since they shared a truly amazing, mind-blowing, change-your-life kiss. She got out of a terrible relationship. And now an injury is threatening to end her dance career for good. It’s time for Plan B – college. And maybe a chance to convince Jase that what they have together is real.

Jase Winstead has a huge secret that he’s not telling anyone. Especially not his best friend’s incredibly beautiful sister. Even though he and Teresa shared the hottest kiss of his life, he knows that his responsibilities must take priority. He certainly doesn’t have time for a relationship. But it doesn’t help that all he can think about kissing the one girl who could ruin everything for him.

As they’re thrown together more and more, Jase and Tess can’t keep denying their feelings for each other. But a familiar danger looms and tragedy strikes. As the campus recovers, the star-crossed couple must decide what they’re willing to risk to be together, and what they’re willing to lose if they’re not…  

 



Oh my god, I waited so long to read this book! After Wait for Me (#1) and Trust in Me (#1.5), but it was always checked out at the library, and I can't tell you how excited I was to finally get my hands on this baby.

 

Boy was it great, too! I have to admit, I was the teeniest bit apprehensive about reading about Teresa, the little sister. But I was hooked from the start. Tess and her infatuation with Jace, her troubles with her "gimpy" leg, and all the troubles that it wrought was a true gift to read.

 

Tess was super cute, and so real, her feelings towards Jace were so adorable. Jace was the tall-dark-and-handsome, mysterious son of a bitch, but he was completely real, too and he wasn't too overdone, like a lot of authors try to do.

 

Rating: 4 stars

 

Genre's:

 

 

Jennifer L. Armentrout is my go-to author, because she has never ever disappointed me. 

 

I have to admit, that as much as I enjoyed the hell out of this book, Be with Me wasn't nearly as good as Wait for Me, although I'm not sure any will ever be that magically amazing!!

 

XOXO,

Kat

 

 

 

 

Recent New Find

New Gem?

Attraction (Elements of Chemistry #1) by Penny Reid

 

 

 

This whole series recently came to my attention... and all I could find were five star ratings, wow! Must be a real winner to have a 4.49 average star rating!

 

Description:

One week.
Private beach.
Invisible girl.
Jerk-faced bully.
What’s the worst that could happen?
Kaitlyn Parker has no problem being the invisible girl, which is why she finds herself hiding in various cabinets and closets all over her college campus. Despite her best efforts, she can’t escape the notice of Martin Sandeke—bad boy, jerkface bully, and the universe’s hottest, wealthiest, and most unobtainable bachelor—who also happens to be Kaitlyn’s chemistry lab partner.
Kaitlyn might be the only girl who isn’t interested in exploiting his stunning rower’s build, chiseled features, and family's billionaire fortune. Kaitlyn wants Martin for his brain, specifically to tabulate findings of trace elements in surface water.
When Kaitlyn saves Martin from a nefarious plot, Martin uses the opportunity to push Kaitlyn out of her comfort zone: spring break, one week, house parties, bathing suits, and suntan lotion. Can she overcome her aversion to being noticed? Will he be able grow beyond his self-centered nature? Or, despite their obvious chemistry, will Martin be the one to drive Kaitlyn into the science cabinet of obscurity for good?

 

This sounds really good guys... has anyone read it that can give me their opinion? Or other books by this same author that they either really enjoyed or really hated?

 

Genre's: New Adult, Romance, Academic/College, Contemporary, Humor/Funny, Short Stories, Women's Fiction/Chick Lit

 

 

XOXO,

Kat