And before you say anything, I know it's a terrible habit. There's a huge 70% chance that I would not enjoy a book by a new author or someone I'm not exactly familiar with, and I've experienced having to DNF a couple of books because of my massively wrong first impression, and have I learned my lesson? Nope! Definitely not!
I've been shammed! Many times, I tell you! And when will I learn? NEVER. I keep requesting books that end up in the DNF pile. But I'm not even going to blame the book entirely, because for some reason I've turned into a nitpicky reader and if I see something--just a teeny tiny bit--that does not fit well with me... BAM!
ONTO THE BOOKS!
*I received these books as review copies courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.
by Harper Kincaid
Published by Samhain Publishing on March 3rd, 2015
Genres: New Adult, Erotic Romance, Contemporary
Format: eARC (104 pages)
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Just one more can’t hurt…right?
Re-belle-ious, free-spirited Lauren Renwick has decided it’s time to trade her wings for roots. That means no more bad boys, no more foolish choices. Yet when she’s stood up on New Year’s Eve, her resolution to stick to her Mama’s Rules for Dating weakens. Especially when she spots sex-in-leather-and-tattoos, Jackson Sullivan.
One look at Lauren, and Jackson is hell-bent on getting her on the back of his Harley and riding straight for his bed. Their night together is an erotic rush that has a new word popping up on his horizon—forever.
Lauren tries to convince herself he’s just one last fling to get bad boys out of her system, yet she finds herself falling hard and fast for a man with a stalker ex and a meddling Irish family. Plus, he has zero chance of passing her uptight parents’ inspection.
Jackson has Lauren’s back, but if she wants all of his heart, she’ll have to meet him halfway—by ditching rules that hold her prisoner, and learning to stand up for what she really wants.
Okay, so this sounded really sexy. I mean, it's the typical "Girl meets bad boy biker equals hot sex" romance read, and I'm a sucker for those, because I'm not even sure if it's obvious enough but I'm a romance junkie. I love basically anything romance, especially friends with benefits romances. It's my go to after a terrible book hangover and I'm rarely disappointed. I love the way two characters clash, but so perfect, they can't get enough of each other.
However, Rule Breaker is more of an "It's not you, it's me" case. Although there are a few stuff that I was able to tick off my sexy romance check list, there was just one detail that had me lift my pen off the pad. A day after their first super hot hookup, after meeting at Jackson's bar, [Jackson] suggests a trip to his cottage somewhere. Just the two of them, of course, for a crazy weekend of sexcapades. And of course, Lauren agrees, though after saying "But I barely know you" after she's had his dick in her more than twice. (Hah!)
I don't know about you, but despite how hot and steamy their hook up was at the very beginning, a spontaneous trip with a stranger does not sit well with me, because I can see where this is going already. Agreeing to a trip already proves that she trusts him too much, which pretty much warrants for an instalove story, and I'm definitely one of those who hates instalove romances. I honestly cannot fathom how instalove works, and why it's even a thing. But yeah, the moment the trip falls into action, I just had to drop this book and let it go, especially the moment she and Jackson exchange sob stories hours after the hook up. Nope. Not going further, no more.
Even though this was pretty short and just a hundred pages, I don't think my patience is enough to handle such read.
by Michelle A. Valentine
Published by Montlake Romance on June 23rd, 2015
Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Music
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
After his mother dies, rock star Ace White—lead singer of the red-hot band Wicked White—is done with the celebrity game. The phony people, the meaningless one-night stands: he doesn’t want any of it anymore. Quitting in the middle of a sold-out tour, Ace sets out to find some place—any place—where he can be alone.
Aspiring singer Iris Easton’s life has never been easy. First, her mother walked out on her when she was a kid. Now she’s buried in debt, weeks after losing her beloved grandmother. When a mysterious and sexy new guy moves in next door, Iris can’t help but be drawn to his soulful gaze. She can tell there’s something from his past haunting him—something he’s not telling her.
Just as Ace starts falling for Iris, the media go on a worldwide hunt to find the missing rocker. Will true love conquer all, or will the truth be the very thing that tears the couple apart?
I wanted to like this. Rockstar runaway falls for the sweet girl next door, and as much as I love rockstar romances, this one was beyond ridiculous, which I noticed first hand in terms of the writing, which seemed as if I wasn't reading a New Adult Contemporary novel.
At one point, when Ace has moved into the trailer next door to Iris', after he ran away from the media following his foster mother's death, he rescues Iris from being harrassed and the line that popped out of his mouth?
"Touch her again and I'll annihilate you!"
Seriously? I swear, if I was the guy in question, I would have looked at him like "You're kidding, right?", because that was the lamest thing to say even as the knight in shining armor. Annihalate? I couldn't stop laughing for two minutes, no joke. Okay, maybe just a whole minute, but it was still darn funny. Not to mention the forced romance--it was just plain terrible--and the fact that the girl is a big fan of Opera music and sung to him once, all I could imagine was an episode of Glee. I dropped this book faster than any beat. (Hah!)
by Tina Wainscott
Published by Loveswept on June 16th, 2015
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Fans of Jasinda Wilder and Colleen Hoover will adore this emotional new small-town romance—a smoldering tale of first love and long-awaited redemption from USA Today bestselling author Tina Wainscott.
Raleigh West works in an auto shop day and night, trying to put his broken past out of mind. It’s been seven years since the fiery crash that landed his teenage sweetheart in the hospital . . . and him in jail. In an instant, he lost everything: his passion for racing, his hope of escaping his father’s shameful legacy, and the only girl he ever loved. Raleigh hasn’t seen her since that awful night. Never got a chance to apologize. And never forgave himself, either.
When brave, beautiful Mia Wentworth returns to the Florida coast for the first time in what seems like forever, it’s not to see Raleigh. Even so, the moment she arrives she can feel his presence like a gust of wind that gives her goose bumps. Opening her heart to him again seems impossible. But staying away? That might be harder still. Lucky for them both, Mia’s never been the kind of woman to take the easy way out.
So, the synopsis marketed Colleen Hoover and I was instantly grabbed by it, because Colleen Hoover is my queen. She is everything, and I don't care if you say her books aren't that good, because her novels are the holy grail of NA romance, to me, at least. And if you say Colleen Hoover, you have to freaking deliver.
I don't know what this author thought was an acceptable Colleen Hoover comparison. We've got Mia, the good girl and Raleigh, the resident bad boy, a forbidden teenage romance which ended up in a terrible car accident, which landed Mia in the hospital and the hero in jail. Fast forward to seven years, Mia and her parents are back for her grandmother's funeral, and Raleigh is trying to stay on the sidelines, away from her and her family to avoid further drama.
As much as I love second chance romances, Falling Fast just couldn't make me like it, let alone love it. It wasn't even the plot that got me wary. In fact, despite the simplicity of the plot, it was a very interesting one, but my main problem were how dumb and ridiculous the characters were.
Mia, apparently, is a cancer kid, and is pretty much wrapped in a protective shell by her family. Homeschooled, indoors, doctor appointments, chemotherapy, you name it all. The moment she met the Raleigh, they were instantly smitten by each other. But after the accident that caused the end of her teenage lovelife, she was once again forced into hospitalization and her parents overprotectiveness. Granted, she's a character with a sob story, but her actions and the way she could not stand up for herself or Raleigh against her parents just aggravated me so much, I wanted to slap some sense into her.
Meanwhile, Raleigh was pretty much broken over the accident he feels he caused, and although I did feel bad for him at times, he played the depressed loner card too much, it got really annoying. I understand he felt guilty, but with Mia's parents talking trash about him despite the fact that he was the one who watched over Mia's grandmother and spent time with her before she died, he never bothered to stand up for himself.
And let me not get started on Mia's parents--these two were the worst! They were controlling, abusive and incredibly inconsiderate. I hated them so much! I get the idea that it was intentional to have the parents be hateful people, but with the main character as someone with no sense at all, I just couldn't go on with the story.
Don't get me wrong, in terms of writing, it was really good, but if a character or more and I don't click at all, I'm not wasting time on a book that will just leave me frustrated and hanging in the end.
I feel bad whenever I have to DNF a book, but a blogger's gotta do what a blogger's gotta do. So many books, so little time, so why waste?
If you still want to read the books, not a problem! You might even enjoy them since we all have different tastes. I'm just very nitpicky, it's not even healthy.
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