Book Review - Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine

Title: Best Kind of Broken
Author: Chelsea Fine
Series: Finding Fate #1


SYNOPSIS:
Pixie and Levi haven't spoken in nearly a year when they find themselves working―and living―at the same inn in the middle of nowhere. Once upon a time, they were childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now things are... awkward.

All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they're forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.


MY REVIEW:
I have a snooty reader confession to make. I don't usually read books if they don't have at least a 4-star rating on Goodreads. I've learned that anything less than 4-stars on Goodreads usually disappoints me. However, a friend suggested I read Chelsea Fine's books and when I went to the book store, this was the only one they had on the shelves. I liked the description on the back and so I took a risk.

And....what the heck is wrong with people? This book is so much better than the rating it got on Goodreads. It's funny, touching, romantic...with so much anticipation woven into the story that I couldn't put it down. I liked this book. I liked Levi and Pixie. Sure, they're both a hot mess and they make terrible, whacked out decisions...but what fun would it be to read about them if they were perfect? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and just added the rest of Chelsea's books to my TBR list.


SUM IT UP:

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

Book Review - Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Title: Fairest
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3.5


SYNOPSIS:
In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.


MY REVIEW:
The only way to describe this is to say it is a necessary evil. Very evil. There is no happy ending, just a deep understanding as to why Queen Levana is so wicked. And I say this is necessary because I think before the reader moves on to read Winter, they need to have this understanding. I have to admit...I kind of feel dirty after reading this book.



SUM IT UP: 

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

Book Review - Mai Tai'd Up by Alice Clayton

Title: Mai Tai'd Up
Author: Alice Clayton
Series: Cocktail Series #4


SYNOPSIS:
Looking for the perfect mix of smart, sexy, and sassy? Mai Tai’d Up continues New York Times bestselling author Alice Clayton’s Cocktail series, which began with Wallbanger and continued with Rusty Nailed and Screwdrivered.

The gossip mill in the seaside community of Monterey is churning about Chloe Patterson, the newcomer who is starting a sanctuary for rescued pit bulls. It’s rumored that she’s a former beauty queen (true) who ditched her fiancé the morning of their wedding (also true). And that while she’s not looking for a new man, the good-looking local veterinarian has his eye on her. Absolutely, positively true.

When Lucas Campbell isn’t at the family veterinary clinic, he’s paddle boarding in Monterey Bay. Recently single, he’s definitely not in the market for a new relationship, but he still can’t resist taking a second, third, and fourth look at the recent arrival of Miss Golden State.
Neither Lucas nor Chloe has any interest in being tied down. Being tied up, however—now there’s a thought. But are a few Mai Tais, a moonlit night, and the music of Frank Sinatra enough to allow them both to forget their past? Let’s hope Ol’ Blue Eyes knows what he’s doing.

Mix one part tiki, one part kinky, and a splash of old black magic matchmaking, and it’s time to be . . . Mai Tai’d Up. 


MY REVIEW:
One of the things that Alice Clayton is a master of is witty dialogue and hilarious inner monologues. I'm pretty sure I'm going to adopt some of these sayings and incorporate them in my every day life. There were several that actually made me laugh out loud. I thought this story was sweet, funny, and sexy. I enjoyed the rat pack lingo immensely and I think it's wonderful how all of the characters are loosely connected with characters from other books in this series. We get to see some of our favorite characters (Viv, Clark, Sophia, and Neil), but the story is clearly Chloe and Lucas'. 


SUM IT UP:

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

Indie Book Review — Past Heaven by Laura Ward

Title: Past Heaven
Author: Laura Ward
Published: January 26, 2015


SYNOPSIS:

Not every love story has a happy ending. Some just change your life.

Liz Atwater’s happily ever after was torn from her the instant her husband, Jack, was murdered. She is forced to pick up the shattered pieces of her life and raise her three young sons alone.

Reynolds Carter’s picture perfect Hollywood life ended the moment the paparazzi got hold of his girlfriend’s cheating scandal. As he watches his life unfold in the tabloids, he comes to a crossroads in his career and his purpose.

When Reynolds takes on the challenge of a new project, his world collides with that of Liz. Neither of them expected their professional relationship to evolve into friendship, or love.

But life is never simple.

Faced with complications from family, friends, and colleagues, Liz and Reynolds are left to decide whether two people from such different worlds can find happiness together.

Can they get past the pain, fear, and guilt and risk their hearts to love again?

Not every love story is just a happy ending. Some completely change your life.


MY REVIEW:

"Not every love story has a happy ending, but the great ones, no matter how they end, change your life. Love is the only thing in this world more powerful than death. Love transcends. And in the end, all that any of us can hope for, is a love that is past heaven."

I don't know if there is much I can add to my review that says it more perfectly than that quote. Isn't that what we all want? A love that is past even the best we could hope for? A love that transcends beginnings and ends? 

Past Heaven is a powerful story about love, loss, trust, and second chances. It's a story about how even when we're broken by tragedy and loss, we can still be pieced back together into something even stronger by new love. It's a story about how we can have many great loves in our lives, and each one helps mold us into the best version of ourselves.

As a happily married woman, I can't imagine what it would be like to suffer through what Liz did—the tragic murder of her husband. The thought is unbearable and Laura Ward drags us through the grief of that awful night with perfection so we feel the agony and helplessness that Liz and Cindy both felt. 

After Cindy's heart-wrenching intro, we get to live the story alternately through Liz's and Reynolds' point of views. We see Liz struggle to keep herself strong for her boys, and we live through Reynolds' efforts to overcome the public humiliation he suffers at the hands of a woman he thought he loved. Both Liz and Reynolds are still soul searching, trying to discover where their hearts will be safe. 

When Reynolds and Liz cross paths, they find that they have a common goal: keeping Jack's memory alive. They put aside their own heartbreaks to work together on a screenplay about Jack's life goal to close down poorly-run state institutions for the intellectually and physically disabled. Liz and Reynolds soon discover that even though they're from completely different worlds, they can find common ground immortalizing a story they both believe in. What starts out as mutual admiration for one another, however, soon turns into something more and they're forced to make hard choices. Should they pursue a second chance at love or part ways and avoid heartbreak? Because of Liz's three young boys and Reynolds' Hollywood career, starting a relationship together is not as simple as they'd like. But simple isn't always the best choice. They finally decide that sometimes it's the risk—the unconditional faith that things will work out, the reward of waiting—that makes the journey worthwhile.

I found this story to be heartbreaking, beautiful, and hopeful. Ends, no matter how tragic they may be, are also beginnings. I love how Ward once again incorporated her message about people with intellectual and physical disabilities and did it in a way that was thoughtful, tasteful, and believable. 

One last thing...I loved Cindy's character. It was only fitting that the "fun friend," the one with the best one-liners, was the one to unravel and then wrap up this story of heartbreak and love.


SUM IT UP:

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

www.christinemanzari.com

Book Review — Ensnared by A.G. Howard

Title: Ensnared
Author: A.G. Howard
Series: Splintered #3


SYNOPSIS:
After surviving a disastrous battle at prom, Alyssa has embraced her madness and gained perspective. She's determined to rescue her two worlds and the people and netherlings she loves. Even if it means challenging Queen Red to a final battle of wills and wiles . . . and even if the only way to Wonderland, now that the rabbit hole is closed, is through the looking-glass world--a parallel dimension filled with mutated and violent netherling outcasts. In the final installment of the wildly popular Splintered trilogy, Alyssa and her dad journey into the heart of magic and mayhem in search of her mom and to set right all that's gone wrong. Together with Jeb and Morpheus, they must salvage Wonderland from the decay and destruction that has ensnared it. But if they succeed and come out alive, can everyone truly have their happily ever after?


MY REVIEW:
Mad. Wild. Wonderful. Violent. Unexpected. Heartbreaking. Sensual. Beautiful. Tempting.
What a great finale to a different kind of series. Yes, the story is based on Alice in Wonderland, but it's almost unrecognizable in this insane retelling. One of the things I loved was that the love triangle in this story was so well done, I could feel my heart splintering just as much as Alyssa's. How to choose between two men who are so different, yet so perfect for her? When she was with Morpheus...I was Team Morpheus. When she was with Jeb...I wondered how I could ever not be Team Jeb. It was perfect. If there is one thing I would have liked, it would have been more of Jeb in the epilogue, but I will just have to imagine the details myself.


SUM IT UP:

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

www.christinemanzari.com

Book Review — Unhinged by A.G. Howard

Title: Unhinged
Author: A.G. Howard
Series: Splintered #2


SYNOPSIS:
Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.


MY REVIEW:
I liked the first book more because everything was so new and weird, but Unhinged was also a great, dark, twisted read. A.G. Howard has taken the Wonderland story and turned everything on its head to make it even more whacky than the original. Because the story is so dark and there are so many "rules" to Wonderland, I often found myself putting the book down in the first half of the story and digesting all of the details for the rest of the day. But once I got to the last third of the book, I couldn't put it down. There was a huge cliffhanger at the end and I'm really excited to see what happens in the next book.


SUM IT UP:  

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

www.christinemanzari.com

Book Review - Splintered by A.G. Howard

Title: Splintered

Author: A.G. Howard

Series: Splintered #1

SYNOPSIS:

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

MY REVIEW:

Dark, twisted, and very demented. I loved it. This story takes the madness of the Alice in Wonderland fairytale and reimagines it as something seductive yet nightmarish. I enjoyed seeing elements of the old fairytale bent and twisted into an intoxicating story that made me feel I was becoming a little unhinged and mad myself. Wonderful storytelling, interesting characters, addictive romance, fun adventure, and insatiable insanity—the perfect elements for a great story.

SUM IT UP:

Visit me on Goodreads to see all of my reviews.
Check out my website for information on my books, giveaways, and other fun stuff.

www.christinemanzari.com