June 30, 2015

Review: A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery


Title: A Million Miles Away
Author: Lara Avery
Publisher: Poppy
Release date: July 7th 2015
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 4/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository
Perfect for fans of Nicholas Sparks, this breathtaking story of love and loss is guaranteed to break your heart and sweep you off your feet.

When high school senior Kelsey's identical twin sister, Michelle, dies in a car crash, Kelsey is left without her other half. The only person who doesn't know about the tragedy is Michelle's boyfriend, Peter, recently deployed to Afghanistan. But when Kelsey finally connects with Peter online, she can't bear to tell him the truth. Active duty has taken its toll, and Peter, thinking that Kelsey is Michelle, says that seeing her is the one thing keeping him alive. Caught up in the moment, Kelsey has no choice: She lets Peter believe that she is her sister.

As Kelsey keeps up the act, she crosses the line from pretend to real. Soon, Kelsey can't deny that she's falling, hard, for the one boy she shouldn't want.


Since I read the blurb of A Million Miles Away, I was intrigued and I also wanted to know how Peter could confuse his girlfriend with her twin sister and I liked that it was plausible in this case.

Kelsey is a senior on high school, one of the popular girls, co-captain of the dance group at school and has a handsome college boyfriend, she has a twin sister Michelle with which she often gets mistaken for. Michelle is also a senior, but she's more bohemian, she´s an artist, likes to paint and has a group of eclectic friends and has boyfriend - Peter, they´ve been dating for the last three months, but he doesn´t live in the same city and is about to be deploy to Afghanistan.

And it´s in the day that Peter is about to leave that he meets Kelsey, they strike up a conversation where she realizes that he´s in love with Michelle and ends up liking him (as the boyfriend of her sister), but that´s all their interaction before his deployment. soon after Michelle dies in a car accident, an event that devastates her family, Kelsey's parents start attending a support group without Kelsey (something that seems odd), so Kelsey is floating around in grief, meanwhile her parents are locked in their grief, her friends treat her with caution and her boyfriend wants to keep things normal, he expect to Kelsey to move on, Kelsey gradually starts to live again, only this time without her twin sister.

But one day through skype she receives a call from Peter and her initial intention is to inform him of Michelle´s death, but when he mistakes her, an calls her Michelle and he tells her that just seeing her encourages him and help him amid his situation in Afghanistan, she decided not to tell at the moment and wait for another time to tell him, but every time they talk or through his letters to Michelle there is something that prevents her to tell him the truth, plus she gradually begins to expect this time with Peter, so the lies keep piling up.

I really enjoyed reading A Million Miles Away, it´s a book worth reading, it's a poignant and heartbreaking, romantic (with long distance romance), but there were many times when I wanted to shake Kelsey, because she was still lying and the problem was growing. I do recommend it.

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created bThe Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2015
(in no particular order)


The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1) by Graeme Simsion (Review)
Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2) by Ilona Andrews (Review)
Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels #3) by Ilona Andrews (Review)


The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) by Richelle Mead (Review)
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia (Review)
Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway (Review)


All the Rage by Courtney Summers (Review)
Seraphina (Seraphina #1) by Rachel Hartman (Review)
Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge (Review)


Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone (Review)

HONORABLE MENTION

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes (Review)

What are your favorite books so far this year?
Leave me your link in the comments.

June 29, 2015

Review: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion


Title: The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1)
Author: Graeme Simsion
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Release date: October 1st 2013
Reading level: Ages 18 and up

Rating: 5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository
Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

The Rosie Project is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges.

This is a MUST read book! I loved it, it´s witty and very funny.

Don Tillman is a 39 years-old man, he´s an university professor and has PhD in genetics, is extremely intelligent, socially awkward, has a structured life where his daily activities are scheduled, he´s an efficient person and his thinking is very logical. And one day Don decides to marry because there are statistics that married men live longer, so he decides to carry out The Wife Project, which he makes a questionnaire which specifies all the qualities he expects on his wife and for this he enlists the help of his boss and best friend Gene and his wife Claudia, which guide him on his project. And once all is sort out in The Wife Project, Don has some very funny dates, besides posting on several dating sites. And it´s during this time that Don meets Rosie, a 30-year-old woman, she doesn´t fit into what he expects of a wife, but Don decides to help her to search for her biological father, which makes the two starting to spend some time together and having some very entertaining and humorous situations as they try to discover whom is Rosie´s biological father.

The story is told from the point of view of Don. I loved his character! He´s funny, and his whole life consists of projects because he likes to plan everything, he's very practical, accurate and literal person, but I was sad that he´s used to people laughing at him. I could not help comparing him with Sheldon Copper from the TV show - The Big Bang Theory.

The Rosie Project is an amazing book that you cannot miss it!, it's hilarious, witty, poignant, romantic (in a very peculiar way) and with very interesting twits on the plot. I highly recommend it. I LOVED IT !!

Book trailer

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.
Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Click on the image to look description in Goodreads.

Finished reading
Most Likely to Succeed (Superlatives #3) by Jennifer Echols (3.5 /5 or 4/5)
Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels #4) by Ilona Andrews (5/5)
Curran POV Collection (Curran POV #1-7) by Gordon Andrews (4/5)

What I´m going to read next?


What are you reading today? 
Leave me your links!

June 25, 2015

Review: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead


Title: Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5)
Author: Richelle Mead 
Publisher: Razorbill
Release date: July 29th 2014

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of The Golden Lily - here, The Indigo Spell here, The Fiery Heart - here
Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.
Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.

For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .

Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off.


I really really loved Silver Shadows! It was everything I expected, but the first part of the book was painful to read Adrian´s POV.

Silver Shadows begins a few months after the ending of the previous book, which was left with a mega cliffhanger, Adrian still don´t know where is Sydney and he´s using a lot of spirit on his attempts to find her through dreams, consequently for this he´s having side effects on his mental health as darkness begins to take his thoughts and he returns to his old habits, hoping to combat some of the side effects.

Meanwhile Sydney is lock away and attempting to stay strong and cooperate so that they set her free although sometimes she has setbacks, but the thought of Adrian and her friends comfort her and she has one goal in mind, escape and she´ll do everything she can to see Adrian again.

Silver Shadows is told from the point of view of Adrian and Syndey, alternating from one to the other and although the first chapters from Adrian´s were painful to read, but once he overcome some obstacles, the Adrian we have known in the previous books returns.

I should also mention that I was surprised because some of the things that Adrian can do with spirit in this book, which I don´t remember that the other spirit users characters could do, it was a very good spin on his powers.

Something good for fans of the Vampire Academy series is that we get to see Rose, Dimitri, Lissa and Christian, so we can see more of them.

Silver Shadows is the fifth book in the Bloodlines series, it has more action than previous books, is a quick read, as the story flows nicely, the romance was cute, plus it has a very good ending. It hooked me to read the sixth and final book in the series. I love this series so it will be sad to say goodbye to it.

June 24, 2015

Review: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway


Title: Emmy & Oliver
Author: Robin Benway 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: HarperTeen
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository
Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.

She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.
Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

I really liked Emmy & Oliver, it´s a lovely coming of age book.

Emmy and Oliver were neighbors and best friends for the first seven years of their life, until the day that Oliver was kidnapped by his father and nobody saw him again. Now 10 years later, Oliver returns to his mother's house to find out that his mother never stopped looking for him but now she has a new family and is constantly fearful of losing sight of him and trying to reconnect with him. Meanwhile Emmy is ecstatic because she has her best friend back, she remembers every detail of his best friend, the secrets they used to have, but Oliver seems just barely remember her, so she gives him space, hoping that now that Oliver is back things will get better between them, or at least that's the plan at the beginning.

Emmy is a 17 year old girl, at which her life changed when she was only 7 years old, when her best friend was kidnapped but she never lose hope of ever seeing him again. But because of the traumatic event of his disappearance, Emmy's parents become overprotective, they´re very strict with her curfew and the activities she´s allowed to do, she must not do anything that her parents considered dangerous.

The book is told from the point of Emmy, so through her eyes we get to see how difficult it´s for Oliver to adjust to his new life, as when he was kidnapped by his father, he said something that made him hate-love-missed his mother, but now that he´s back he doesn´t know what he should do and what everyone expects him to do. But it has its lovable moments where Emmy and Oliver reconnect and restart their friendship, to then turn into romance.

I loved Caro and Drew characters, they´re Emmy´s best friends since childhood and were also friends with Oliver.

Emmy & Oliver is an adorable contemporary book about friendship, family, growing up, with lovable characters and little bit of romance. I highly recommend it.

Favorites quotes
"coming home feels like being kidnapped all over again"
"I am so tired of paying the price for something I never did and didn´t even want in the first place!"

Waiting On Wednesday(177): Their Fractured Light

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I´m waiting this week is

Their Fractured Light (Starbound #3) by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Release date: December 1st 2015
A year ago, Flynn Cormac and Jubilee Chase made the now infamous Avon Broadcast, calling on the galaxy to witness for their planet, and protect them from destruction. Some say Flynn’s a madman, others whisper about conspiracies. Nobody knows the truth. A year before that, Tarver Merendsen and Lilac LaRoux were rescued from a terrible shipwreck—now, they live a public life in front of the cameras, and a secret life away from the world’s gaze.

Now, in the center of the universe on the planet of Corinth, all four are about to collide with two new players, who will bring the fight against LaRoux Industries to a head. Gideon Marchant is an eighteen-year-old computer hacker—a whiz kid and an urban warrior. He’ll climb, abseil and worm his way past the best security measures to pull off onsite hacks that others don’t dare touch.

Sofia Quinn has a killer smile, and by the time you’re done noticing it, she’s got you offering up your wallet, your car, and anything else she desires. She holds LaRoux Industries responsible for the mysterious death of her father and is out for revenge at any cost.

When a LaRoux Industries security breach interrupts Gideon and Sofia’s separate attempts to infiltrate their headquarters, they’re forced to work together to escape. Each of them has their own reason for wanting to take down LaRoux Industries, and neither trusts the other. But working together might be the best chance they have to expose the secrets LRI is so desperate to hide. 
Why I'm Waiting?
I really liked These Broken Stars and This Shattered World and can´t wait to read the last book of the trilogy.

What book are you waiting this week?
Leave your WOW links 

June 22, 2015

Review: Pure Blooded by Amanda Carlson


Title: Pure Blooded (Jessica McClain #5)
Author: Amanda Carlson
Publisher: Orbit
Release date: June 16th 2015
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC
Reading level: Ages 18 and up

Rating: 4/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of Full Blooded hereHot Blooded here, Cold Blooded here & Red Blooded - here
Jessica arrives back from the Underworld to find her father embroiled in a battle against the Made wolves. She and her crew drop everything to join them.

Once she arrives, the threat is after her. Jessica is lured into danger when her adversary takes something precious from her. With help from an unlikely source, Jessica goes up against her creator in a battle that will decide the path of everyone involved. She must war against a new set of foes, ones who could not only steal her power, but could take her soul as well.

As I´ve mentioned in my last reviews of this series, Jessica does not rest at all, because this book begins right where the previous ends, this is the fifth book in the series and for Jessica it has been only a few months since she had her first change and becoming the first female werewolf of an all male race. And in just a few months she has managed to amass a great supernatural power that for a few powerful supernatural had take years or centuries to reach such power and that is why all the supernaturals (vampires, witches, sorcerers, demons, gods, etc) want to somehow get her power, so this new adventure is no exception, as she is drawn to the swamps of Florida to help her father but once there she learns the real reason of why it was necessary for her to go to that place.

I feel the plot and is getting a bit repetitive, because in the first part of the book someone wants to steal Jessica´s power, something that has happened in last books, it just change the threat and how they try to achieve the stealing of power. The good thing about this book was that such threat was not a threat throughout all the book, because the problem is solved at the 60% (approx.) of the book and then she has to face another threat and at least this person doesn´t want her power, she just wants kill her for something that Jessica did while she was in the underworld, so it´s simple and pure revenge.

So far in all the books Daniel Walker had been the funny guy, he´s a werewolf friend of Jessica, he eases the tension on the dangerous situations and he´s one of my favorite characters in the series. And regarding the action in Pure Blooded, it has a very good action scenes due to Jessica facing various threats, with the help of some of her friends.

About the romance between Jessica and her mate Rourke, due that they´re constantly under attack, their romance is not moving forward beyond that are a fated mates and they can be together as a couple for brief moments when the situation allows it (which is to be expected in an urban fantasy book). But a plus in this book was that another destined-couple than on the previous books were sort of flirting finally become a real couple, and there is also a hint of another possible fated couple for subsequent books.

And something very interesting is that we get to learn a bit more of the origin of werewolves.

Jessica McClain series is a very good option for those that like reading urban fantasy for adults as it has a lot of action that does not stop and the threats rain from all sides and it has a strong female character, ready to kick butt when situation allows it.
The ending was open, but without a cliffhanger, in fact I feel I missed some pages because I was reading its on my kindle and it finished at 92%, but I really enjoy it!.I'm looking forward to the next book.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.
Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Click on the image to look description in Goodreads.

Finished reading


Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway (4.5/5)
The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1) by Graeme Simsion (4.5/5)
A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery (4/5)

What I´m going to read next?


What are you reading today? 
Leave me your links!

June 16, 2015

Review: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone


Title: Every Last Word
Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release date: June 16th 2015
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository
If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

I like contemporary books that address difficult issues or issues with which I am not familiar, so when I read that the main character of this book has a mental disorder, I knew I had to read it.

Samantha belongs to popular crowd and on the outside she always looks perfect, but she has a secret that no one outside her family knows, she has Purely-Obsessional OCD, making her thoughts out of control and sometimes can be dark, so the day to day is a constant struggle to pretend to be normal and avoid at all costs that someone find out that she must visit a psychiatrist weekly and takes pills to control her thoughts and to sleep because her brain does not disconnect easily.

On her first day back at school she meets Caroline, a scruffy, frank and different from her lifelong "friends" and is through this girl that Samantha comes upon the Poet's Corner, which is a hidden room in the basement of her high school, that few know and she loves at first sight, because the attendees are an eclectic group of students that meet twice a week to read poetry written by them and no one is judged by it, where through poetry they say their fears, joys, sufferings and whatever they say it stays there, which is liberating for Sam. It´ss also there where Samantha meets AJ a guy who plays guitar, writes poetry and is her romantic interest.

Something that I liked is that Sam's mom is present through the story because she really helps to control her condition and she´s there to support her when she needs it. It's good to read about parents in a positive way, because usually they are absent or antagonists in YA books.

Every Last Word is a very good book about a girl struggling with her mental disorder and how she must learn to live with it. The plot is very well written and I was hooked from start to finish, plus it has a twist that I didn´t see coming and I loved the ending.

Top Ten Books On My TBR For Summer 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created bThe Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Books On My TBR For Summer 2015
(in no particular order)
These are the books that I planned to read this summer.

YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery
Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
Most Likely to Succeed (Superlatives #3) by Jennifer Echols



ADULT BOOKS
Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels #4) by Ilona Andrews 

What books are on your Summer TBR list?
Leave me your links!

June 15, 2015

Review: Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout


Title: Hello, I Love You
Author: Katie M. Stout 
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release date: June 9th 2015
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository
A teen escapes to a boarding school abroad and falls for a Korean pop star in this fun and fresh romantic novel in the vein of Anna and the French Kiss.

Grace Wilde is running—from the multi-million dollar mansion her record producer father bought, the famous older brother who’s topped the country music charts five years in a row, and the mother who blames her for her brother’s breakdown. Grace escapes to the farthest place from home she can think of, a boarding school in Korea, hoping for a fresh start.

She wants nothing to do with music, but when her roommate Sophie’s twin brother Jason turns out to be the newest Korean pop music superstar, Grace is thrust back into the world of fame. She can't stand Jason, whose celebrity status is only outmatched by his oversized ego, but they form a tenuous alliance for the sake of her friendship with Sophie. As the months go by and Grace adjusts to her new life in Korea, even she can't deny the sparks flying between her and the KPOP idol.

Soon, Grace realizes that her feelings for Jason threaten her promise to herself that she'll leave behind the music industry that destroyed her family. But can Grace ignore her attraction to Jason and her undeniable pull of the music she was born to write? Sweet, fun, and romantic, this young adult novel explores what it means to experience first love and discover who you really are in the process.

I had high expectations when I started reading this book, because I liked that the love interest was a Kpop singer and I´ll be sincere I was really expecting something like Anna and the French Kiss (one can dream, right?) due to the synopsis, but unfortunately the book did not meet my expectations, but it´s not a bad book, it was okay, is just that I expected more.

Grace the main character, is a Country music "princess", because her father owns one of the most famous and powerful record companies of that genre and her older brother is a famous country singer, so she´s accustomed to harassment by paparazzi, people who approach her for her connections or to be famous by association. But something happens in her life that make her flee Nashville and seek refuge in the boarding school for rich kids on an island in South Korea. Once there she quickly becomes friends with her roommate Sophie, whom is Korean, but spent her childhood in the United States so she speaks both languages ​​perfectly, unlike Grace who only speaks English.

And it´s through Sophie that Grace meets Jason, her twin brother and a famous K-pop singer, which is also in the same boarding, and at first they don´t like each other, but because both hang out with Sophie they spend some time together.

Jason is the lead singer and leader of a famous Kpop group, he´s a jerk and rude at first, unlike his bandmates Tae Hwa and Yoon Jae. Tae Hwa does not speak English, so we don´t get to know him very well because he doesn´t interact with Grace, but Yoon Jae is fluent English and he become friend with Grace, I think of the trio, Yoon Jae was my favorite. Jason is a divo at the beginning of the story, but as he gets to know Grace and lose the attitude, his character improves, but he has its moments where he returns to being a jerk, making this a very slow romance.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Hello, I Love You, especially when Grace goes sightseeing and gets to know a little more of South Korea. The main plot is the romance between Grace and Jason, but there is a subplot about what happened in Nashville that made Grace move to another country, which for me at least was predictable because I had already guessed very early in the story, the big reveal.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.
Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Click on the image to look description in Goodreads.

Finished reading
 Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout (3.5/5)
Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5) by Richelle Mead - Love it!
Reviews to come.

What I´m going to read next?


What are you reading today? 
Leave me your links!