The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.It can. 
She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.
She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.

 I am very late reading this book. It has been on my TBR shelf for years, but I wanted the whole series to be out before I started. I have only started the book series today, reading the first book, and I LOVE IT. It is weird and wonderful. Mysterious and very entertaining. 

Mara Dyer is a very complex character. I love her strength but it also annoyed me at times. Her decisions were stupid, and you wanted to scream at her to listen, but she didn't. Instead of putting me off, it only fueled my hunger to read on. 

Noah, English, sexy, playboy. Classic male protagonist and I loved it. With a twist you don't see coming, his character is awesome. I have to say, not my favourite male ever, but he is up there. 

WARNING!?! THERE IS A CLIFFHANGER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK. 

I seem to be a sucker for books with cliffhangers. Most of the books that I read are series books, so the pain that comes it having to wait for a book to come out, is one I am familiar with.  Luckily I waited for all of the books in this series so I can start The Evolution of Mara Dyer.

4.5/5 stars.

Forgive Me - Eliza Freed

Forgive Me

The thing he loves most in the world will kill him. It's only a matter of time . . . "
College student Charlotte O'Brien is lost and she can't find her way home. Devastated by her parents' tragic deaths, she aches for any kind of connection…and finds it in a man who is all wrong for her. Jason Leer is a rough-hewn steer wrestler from Oklahoma-and the hottest thing Charlotte has ever laid eyes on. Yet he has his own dark secrets…
Burying herself in Jason, Charlotte soon discovers that life doesn't have to be so painful. When they're together their passion eclipses everything-and Charlotte can finally begin to see a way out of the darkness of her past. Fighting for a future with Jason won't be easy, but for the first time since her parents' deaths, this lost soul might have finally found a place that feels like home.

FORGIVE ME by Eliza Freed (November 4, 2014; Forever Yours E-Book; $3.99/£1.99) 

A little excerpt from the book:

And so it goes. The days are blurs of Sean, Jenn, and Margo helping me with the administration of my life. There’s a will, a house, cars, belongings. Too much to comprehend. And my nights are Jason Leer.

He comes when the others leave; always here within minutes of loneliness setting in. He saves me from my thoughts and my memories. Two days ago I showed him the key under the turtle rock and now he no longer knocks. Knocking would imply asking permission to come in and he’s already here.

Something’s different about tonight, though. Sean and Michelle brought dinner over and drove Dad’s tractor back to their house. They left an hour ago, later than expected, and he’s still not here. I haven’t slept without him since the funeral and now that he’s absent, the depth to which I need him scares me.

I look in the mirror as I brush my teeth and my face is distraught. I refuse to let myself consider why. Too afraid it has more to do with Jason’s absence than with my parents. That’s impossible, though. Did he say he had something to do tonight? Did he say anything? Do we ever say anything? I thought I understood. Until tonight. Now that he’s not here the last week no longer makes sense.

I button the last button on my favorite nightshirt and climb into bed. It’s enormous and cold without him. The silent darkness allows the memories to seep in. The moonlight invades my room and everything is gray and sad. Why?

Why did you die?

Why aren’t you here?

Where the hell is Jason Leer?

Tears fill my eyes, and I roll onto my stomach and bury my face in my pillow. I can’t be without them. They have to come back. I hear the truck tires on the gravel of my driveway and hurry out of bed. His truck door moans as he closes it and I go to the back door to meet him. I open it just as he’s fitting the key into the lock.

His smile fades as the look on my face registers. He steps to me and wipes the tears from my face, which makes me cry a little more.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he whispers, so as to not disturb the quiet that’s descended on the house. He smells of cigarettes and dirt. Actual dirt. And I’m so thankful he’s here.

“I was worried.”

“Worried I wasn’t coming?” Jason moves closer to me and I lose my breath as he pins me up against the wall. I nod my head slowly, my eyes never leaving his.

“I came as soon as the rodeo ended.”

“The rodeo.”

“Did you forget the rodeo?”

“No. I know the rodeo is on Saturday.” Jason’s face turns to confusion. “I didn’t know today is Saturday,” I say, and my complete disconnection from the living makes me start to cry again. If my parents were alive, I would know what fucking day it is.

Jason pulls me close to him and kisses the side of my head as he runs his fingers through my hair.

“I need a shower,” he says, but I can’t be concerned with what he needs.

“I need you.”

I lay my soul bare; Jason’s, to do with what he wants because I can’t seem to care about it anymore. He forces me back to the wall and presses his body against mine until I can feel him. Until I can feel something.

Buy Links:

B&N

BAM!

Kobo

Amazon

GooglePlay

iBooks

About the author:

Eliza Freed graduated from Rutgers University and returned to her hometown in rural South Jersey. Her mother encouraged her to take some time and find herself. After three months of searching, she began to bounce checks and her neighbors began to talk; her mother told her to find a job.

She settled into Corporate America, learning systems and practices and the bureaucracy that slows them. Eliza quickly discovered her creativity and gift for story telling as a corporate trainer and spent years perfecting her presentation skills and studying diversity. It's during this time she became an avid observer of the characters we meet and the heartaches we endure. Her years of study have taught her laughter is the key to survival, even when it's completely inappropriate.

She currently lives in New Jersey with her family and a misbehaving beagle named Odin. An avid swimmer, if Eliza is not with her family and friends, she'd rather be underwater. While she enjoys many genres, she has always been a sucker for a love story...the more screwed up the better.

Social Media Links:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Aamzy’s Book Wonders Q&A w/ Eliza Freed

1.      Which came first: the story, the characters, or the setting?

This should be a lot easier to answer, but the story came as a part of the setting. I moved back to my rural hometown a decade after leaving it and as I was driving the country roads I thought to myself, “What if someone moved home humiliated? What if this wasn’t a happy homecoming? What if they were broken? This is where Book 2, Redeem Me, began. Forgive Me was actually written second, as a prequel.

2.      How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way they sound or the meaning? 

I completely obsess over names. Each one’s meaning is researched.  I have the hardest time naming unlikeable characters because I feel bad for real life people with those names. The names in the Lost Souls Series have changed several times throughout the process, even up to the final editing round.

Charlotte was Kathryn, then Ariana, and finally Charlotte. I dressed as a spider for Halloween and my friend kept yelling, “Charlotte” across the room at me, and I thought it’s perfect.

3.      What song(s) would be on the soundtrack to FORGIVE ME?

Rihanna’s Stay, featuring Mikky Ekko. I must have listened to this song three thousand times on repeat while writing a lot of the book. Definitely during every heart-wrenching fight between Charlotte and Jason.

4.      What topics did you want to explore when you started writing the Lost Souls series?

Betrayal, Forgiveness, and Faith

5.      What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I would love to say read, travel, and swim, but the reality is I barely have time to write. Like so many other women, I’m part of an active family and when I’m not writing I’m happy just to be a passenger as they travel through life.

Tall, Silent & Lethal (Pyte/Sentinel 4) - R.L. MAthewson

This is the book that will change it all…….

Never again……

Christofer lives by those words while Cloe would rather die by them……..

Too many years living on the run, of always being seen as nothing more than a monster and a freak, has left Christofer cold and distant. He hates his life, his fate, but he’s made promises and nothing on earth will stop him from keeping them….

Except for the woman that invades his world, takes him by surprise, aggravates him, gives him hope and makes him wish that things could be different, but they can’t…….

Not unless he’s willing to risk everything.

Cloe doesn’t need anyone, doesn’t want any complications, but things quickly change when she accepts a job that destroys her world and brings her the one thing that she never thought she’d find again….

Peace. 

I am a huge fan of R.L. Mathewson's writing, especially her male characters. Christofer did not disappoint. Although he is not my favourite in this series (that has to go to Ephraim), he was everything you expect in a Mathewson male. 

There was a lot more going on in this book than the others and I loved that. Kale had a larger role to play and so did the other Shifters. I felt sorry for Chris. He was everyone's punching bag in this book. 

The reason that this book is not getting 5/5, is because I found it hard to like 
Chloe. She did annoy me at some points of the book. AND THE ENDING!?! What on earth?????????

I would totally recommend this book to everyone. PLEASE READ THIS. IT IS AMAZING.

4/5 stars

Made - J.M. Darhower

Corrado Moretti.

The world knows the notorious Kevlar Killer, but few have ever seen what lies beneath his armor. The abused child. The neglected teenager. The broken man. He always did whatever he had to do in order to survive.

It's kill or be killed.

Throughout his life, he has been there in the shadows, a witness to everything from beginning to end. Bound by loyalty and honor, there's only one thing he would sacrifice it all for: family.

Never get close. Never get attached. It's a lesson that has been brutally pounded into him since childhood, but they're words the DeMarcos make it difficult for him to follow. Through them he finds love and grieves loss, realizing the world isn't quite as black and white as it's made out to be.

Made. 

This book can be read as a prequel to Semper (Forever).

Corrado was, by far, my favourite character in the Sempre (Forever) and Sempre: Redemption. There was just something about him that attracted you to him. This book did him justice. 

Finding out where Corrado came from was heartbreaking. You truly understand why he is the way he is and you love him for it. The fact that he is a killer, The Kevlar Killer, is shadowed by his reasoning. Like I said before, you understand. Some may not like it, but you understand it. 

You meet Antonio Dominic DeMarco, The Boss. Antonio was a hard character to have feelings for. I didn't know whether to like him or hate him. I do know that he was annoying at some stages of the book and awesome in others. 

The story with Maura and Vincent is so cute. Your heart breaks for the two of them.You really see the personality of Vincent, a true Demarco, like Carmine. 

Overall, I loved this book. This was amazing. I read it in one sitting as I'm sure you will. There is only one point of view here, Corrado.

5/5 stars.

P.S. You will hate the last part of the book. 

Shadow of the Wolf - Tim Hall

A world of gods and monsters. An elemental power, rising. This is Robin Hood, reborn, as he has never been seen before… 
Robin Loxley is seven years old when his parents disappear without trace. Years later the great love of his life, Marian, is also taken from him. Driven by these mysteries, and this anguish, Robin follows a darkening path into the ancient heart of Sherwood Forest. What he encounters there will leave him transformed, and will alter forever the legend of Robin Hood.

First, I have to take a moment to talk about how beautiful the book cover is. I bought this on my Kindle, but I want to buy the hard copy, just for the amazing cover.

This is a book which is hard to put into a category.  I will call it a historical supernatural fantasy OR high fantasy. It follows a boy - Robin Loxley - over a series of about 8-10 yrs of his life. I am not sure about how much time has lapsed in this book, so that is an estimate. The other main Protagonist is Marian Delbosque. She is a hard girl to like in my opinion. 

The supernatural elements in this book were very unique. I have not read anything like it. I do feel as though they were a little confusing, and we do not fully know what the special power is. I hope that this will be straightened out in the next book. 

Like most YA fantasy book that I have read, there is one main enemy figure, but there are also others which are evil and cruel. The Sheriff was the main enemy and he really is evil and twisted. This, again, i hope will be taken further in the next book because there is so much more that can be done with this character and there is so much that is unknown about him. Edric, if The Sheriff is evil, this guy is truly psychotic. I loved the way this character was portrayed. It was just right. I sometimes find that characters like Edric are over dramatised, but here it was not. 

The writing in this book was second to none. I had never read anything by Tim Hall, so I didn't know what to expect and I LOVED THIS BOOK. Definitely one of my favourite YA books of all time. Please read it. 

5/5 stars.

P.S. If you do not like cliffhangers, do not read this book. It is not a WHAT ON EARTH type of cliffhanger, but it is still there.

Stone Cold Touch (Dark Elements Series 2) - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Every touch has its price

Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who’s pretty sure things can’t get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could.

But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla’s powers begin to evolve, and she’s offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She’s finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay…

This book was one of my most anticipated books of October and it did not disappoint. I read it in one sitting (which is not unusual when I am reading a JLA book).

If you have not read the first one, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? If you do not want to read any spoilers for the 2nd book, do not read any further. Just know that I give this book and the series so far 5/5 stars.

The book starts a few weeks after the whole bruhaha in the school gym. Roth has gone and Layla is left with only a necklace, Bambi (who is my favourite character out of the whole book) and a broken heart. We find out, pretty early on in the book, that, dun dun duun, a Lilin had been born, and this book is about finding this creature.

I have to be honest and say that I fell for the trap. I, and most probably you too, thought that we knew who the Lilin was. 

The writing in this book is very similar to JLA's other books. The female characters are awesome and the male characters are obnoxious and totally swoon worthy. I did feel the need to punch Roth a couple of times throughout the book and Layla too. I was like get your ish together already.

I have to spend a little time talking about Bambi. That snake is amazing. The scenes with Bambi made me laugh and I ended up loving her more near the end of the book.

Abbot... needs to die. Me and my friends, when watching shows like TVD or The Originals, say that characters need to die when they are evil or try killing our favourite characters. I believe that he is evil. Not in the sense that he is a murderer and psychopath, but I hate him. I am sure many of you feel the same way.

The ending. WHAT THE HELL. If you have read The Lux series, you will know the pain of a JLA cliffhanger. Nothing will beat the end of Opal for me, in the worst cliffhanger ever, but this came close. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Please... ( pouty face).

I highly recommend this book and cannot sing its praises enough. 5/5 stars.

Drops of Rain - Kathryn Andrews

So this book was a total impulse buy. I have loads of books on my to-read list, but couldn't find one that I wanted to read when I came across this book. The synopsis really intrigued me and the book had some amazing reviews. I was excited...



The prologue really sucked me in and the rest of the book was just as good. The fact that both the characters are so eager to get their ideal place at College, isn't really the main focal point of the book. It is definitely a part of it, but the book mainly explores the healing and growth of the characters.

Both characters had been dealt a really bad hand in life, Drew more than Ali, but these two tortured souls found a way to live. Drew is a champion swimmer and Ali a dancer. I loved the fact that Ali wasn't the shy, easily intimidated kind of girl that you find in most books like this. She was strong. There was obviously a little insecurity, but what was different, was that it wasn't played out for most of the book. The problem was dealt with relatively quickly.

The character that i loved the most was Beau. I loved him and his protectiveness. You don't usually see brothers have many heart to hearts but there were some in this book and I found it refreshing.

I give this book 5/5 stars. It was a quick and easy read. It made me shed a tear, smile and it was well written. I cannot wait to read the next book.