Lisa's Book Review

It hurts my heart to say this but I will no longer be writing reviews for this site as I make the transition from a book reviewer to an author.  It doesn’t seem right to publicly pick apart another author’s work when I am one myself.  I will, however, be posting about books I love on my author blog and maintaining my goodreads account.    Reading for me is an escape from reality, a way to escape all the stresses in life.  It is simply the best hobby ever.  Please never lose your love for reading!

To all of those who read my reviews and supported my blog, I appreciate all of you.  This blog started with five followers and had over 200,000 hits in less than a year.  For anyone who has ever wanted to start a blog but doesn’t think they can do it, let me tell you, you can!  Stick with it, write about what you know and stay true to yourself.

To the authors who have been continually releasing great books, I love you and will be supporting you in any way that I can (I’m a great beta reader ).  Seriously though, without you guys, I wouldn’t have an affordable “vacation” from life every night after the kids go to bed.  Thank you!

The end of this journey actually makes me cry.  It has been an amazing year and you all helped me regain my love for reading and writing.   I will forever be grateful!

Peace, Love and Happy Reading<3

Lisa

Description:

Hope Taylor is a smart Southern girl with a good head on her shoulders and a positive outlook on life. Even though things are simple and predictable, Hope is happy and content.

Her boyfriend is tall, handsome and hardworking. Trent is everything a girl could want in a man and life is going according to plan, until she meets Joey Puccino.

Although Joey is arrogant and gets under her skin, Hope is still drawn to him and her body craves him like a bad drug. Even though she knows it is wrong, the attraction Hope feels is undeniable.

Will Hope choose her simple, yet comfortable life with Trent? Or will she give in to the desire and pull she feels for Joey?

Review:

Summer Rush is a book about being torn between what you feel you should do in your heart and what you feel you should do in your head.  For some of us, we let our emotions run wild but for others, our head always wins out.  Hope struggles with this as she dates Trent and meets Joey.  I think Wilcox did a wonderful job of exploring what teenage girls go through when their hearts are still exploring the meaning of love.

Hope is a mature, smart girl who has been through a lot in her life so it makes sense that she may lean toward following her head.  She takes care of her mother, who was injured in a car accident before she was even born, during the day and works at a restaurant by night.  She has a nice, safe boyfriend who would make the perfect husband but does he put butterflies in her stomach?  Does he make her toes curl?

I really liked Hope’s boyfriend Trent.  He isn’t a bad boy by a long shot but he is extremely caring and considerate.  I liked that he took Hope’s parents to lunch on Saturdays and visited her home for lunch during the week.  He has a heart of gold but maybe Hope needs more.  Maybe she needs someone who can keep her on her toes.  Maybe she needs someone who isn’t quite so…safe.

Hope meets Joey one night at the restaurant she waitresses at.  He is cocky and obnoxious but there is something about him that she just can’t let go of.  When she sees him again the following summer, he has changed and Hope begins to struggle with what she really wants out of life.  Will the past work itself up to the surface again?  When she thinks she has it all figured out, life knocks her on the ground!

I liked the plot behind Summer Rush but it was a little predictable and I would have liked to see more of a connection with Joey before Hope started to think about him daily.  I wanted to believe it but it was lacking some build up for me.  I needed a little more development at the beginning.  I thought the characters Wilcox created were fabulous and for most of the book I was torn between Trent and Joey.  They were both likable for different reasons.  I see the one that did not end up with Hope’s heart is getting his own book and that make’s me very happy!

I give this one a 3.5 out of 5!!!

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Description:

Cade’s always taken risks…

Cade takes cares of his sick younger sister by doing what he does best–cage fighting and fu–er, starring in adult movies, his newest harebrained moneymaking scheme designed to pay for his sister’s growing medical bills. But when his latest gig finds him admitted to the ER sporting an erection from hell, thanks to the little pill given to him by the director, he can’t get the pretty little nurse who treated him out of his head, even though he knows she’s so far out of his league it should be illegal.

Alexa’s always played it safe…

Tired of being pigeonholed as the sweet, innocent one, hardworking nursing student Alexa has been looking for ways to break out of her Goody Two-shoes image. When her friend suggests the outlandish idea of losing her virginity to the sexy and sure-to-be-skilled porn star, Alexa is mortified. But then when Cade refuses her proposition, she finds herself pissed off and embarrassed.  When she tracks him down to give him a piece of her mind, she isn’t prepared for what she finds. Watching him care for his little sister tugs at her heart, and suddenly it’s no longer just about losing her virginity, but about helping Cade. Because Lord help her, she might actually be falling for a porn star…

Alexis’s Book Review:

Kendall Ryan has the recipe down for writing the perfect love story.  There is a dash of impeccable written characters that have a hint of their own issues, a pinch of humor, a sprinkling of angst, and a large helping of amazing attraction.  This book is another one of my favorites from her and I can’t help but be a sucker for the whole opposites attract storyline!

Alexa is still a virgin at 20 (on the eve of her 21^st birthday) when she meets Cade while working the midnight shift as a nurse.  Their hilarious, albeit, embarrassing meeting that night sets up a series of events that bring these two characters together.  I really liked Alexa due to her strong character and her desire to want more for herself. She comes from a privileged background but wants something more for herself than an afternoon filled with wine-spritzers and “happy” pills.   She is the type of person who volunteers at animal shelters and brings food to homeless people.  I think what shocked me the most was how comfortable Alexa was with her sexuality particularly in front of Cade. 

“You might not have been who I ever pictured myself with, but you’re exactly what I need-someone I can let loose and be myself with.” – Alexa

Cade has to be one of my favorite male characters that the author has created to date.  He is in debt up to his ears because he is the sole provider of his six-year old sister, Lily.  Lily suffers from Spina Bifida which has drained Cade financially. To help pay off some of her medical bills, he decides to become a porn star along with his other two professions, cage fighter and construction worker.  Lily is his life and would do anything and everything for her which definitely makes him even more alluring to Alexa. Cade is definitely the sexiest of all her leads, especially with that dirty mouth of his!

“If I have to sacrifice to give you everything you want.  If I have to change who I am, whatever I have to do-tell me.  It’s done.  I can’t believe I thought I could live without you.” – Cade

If you are looking for a fun, sexy read, then you definitely need to pick this one up!

I give this book 4 stars!

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Description:

Five years ago, Kat Harper fell into a dizzying summer romance with her brother’s best friend Bryan. It was a mad, crazy love full of kisses all through the night — but he broke her heart and she had to move on.

Five years later, Kat is finishing her graduate degree and building her business as a jewelry designer, when Bryan, head of his own successful company, walks back into her life. Bryan has been assigned to Kat as her new business mentor and the rules are clear. No hanky panky permitted. That works for both of them. Kat needs to grow her business to help her parents; Bryan needs to run a clean operation after his former business partner’s romantic scandal that rocked his firm.

Kat can handle that because she’s totally over him… right? Except, he still makes her laugh. And he remembers all the things she likes. And he’s more handsome now than he was then. Then there’s the spark between them — the simply undeniable chemistry.

Can they resist each other? Or are they willing to risk everything for a second chance at first love?

Review:

First love…it consumes you.  What happens when your first love ends quickly without any explanation?  It rips you apart.  You think about it even when you are trying to move on.  You compare every guy you date after to that first love.  You wonder what went wrong.  Why didn’t he love you?  This is Kat’s world and little does she know, sometimes love gets a second chance..

I liked Kat.  She’s fun, savvy, and has a passion for movies.  She has a huge heart and is doing everything she can to launch her jewelry business, My Favorite Mistake, so she can help her parents retire and live comfortably.  She is smart which was easy to see through her business decisions and determination.  I liked that she guarded her heart after having it broken but that she didn’t put a prison gate around it.  She has this dream that romance will sweep her off her feet like it does in the movies and it might just take to open her up again.

Bryan is funny, smart and creative.  He shares Kat’s love for movies which is a big part of what brought them together so many years ago.  He isn’t an alpha or overly sweet but a normal guy who owns a successful business.  He’s been in love with one woman for the last five years but he was the one who let her go.  Can he get her back or is it too late?

I could definitely feel the chemistry between the two; they had very similar personalities and interests.  They fit together like two puzzle pieces but they have a lot to overcome before they can give their relationship another shot.  There is the whole student/mentor thing, a lawsuit and the past..all of which are standing in their way.  Just when you think one hurdle is cleared another one comes into their path.  This book brought out a variety of emotions. There were a couple of extremely sexy moments (office and telephone) and some incredibly heartfelt moments (office and airplane).  I wish that I could have gotten more moments of them together as a couple so I could see their relationship evolve and feel the passion between them. At times, the book was very business focused and I wanted to get back to the romance.  With a little more length and romance, this one would have been great!

Overall, I thought this was a good debut for Blakely.  I enjoyed the wit and creativity.

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5!!!

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About the Author:

Lauren Blakely is an unabashed fan of clever jokes, toast, and good guys in novels. Like the heroine in CAUGHT UP IN US, she thinks life should be filled with movie kisses and coffee drinks. Lauren lives in California with her husband and children, and spends her days writing both true stories and make-believe ones.

You can find Lauren and contact her here-

laurenblakelybooks@gmail.com

Twitter  / Facebook / Goodreads / Blog

Giveaway…
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It’s Jillian Dodd’s birthday but you get the present!  WHAT?  Yep…Stalk Me, book one of the Keatyn Chronicles, is FREE!

GET IT HERE <3