Review: BLURRED LINES by Lauren Layne

Title: Blurred Lines

Author: Lauren Layne
Love Unexpectedly #1
Publisher: Loveswept

Publication Date: August 25, 2015

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When Parker Blanton meets Ben Olsen during her freshman year of college, the connection is immediate—and platonic. Six years later, they're still best friends, sharing an apartment in Portland's trendy Northwest District as they happily settle into adult life. But when Parker's boyfriend dumps her out of the blue, she starts to wonder about Ben's no-strings-attached approach to dating. The trouble is, even with Ben as her wingman, Parker can't seem to get the hang of casual sex—until she tries it with him.

The arrangement works perfectly . . . at first. The sex is mind-blowing, and their friendship remains as solid as ever, without any of the usual messy romantic entanglements. But when Parker's ex decides he wants her back, Ben is shocked by a fierce stab of possessiveness. And when Ben starts seeing a girl from work, Parker finds herself plagued by unfamiliar jealousy. With their friendship on the rocks for the first time, Parker and Ben face an alarming truth: Maybe they can't go back. And maybe, deep down, they never want to.

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"Guys and girls can't be just friends. Or not best friends, anyway. Shit gets too complicated."

I love friends to lovers books and this one by Lauren Layne was so good! I loved Parker. I loved Ben. Their dynamic was stellar. I loved that even though Ben enjoys going out and meeting women, he'll cancel all plans to be there for his best friend when he thought she needed him. They had me laughing at their silliness. I cried. When you know how perfect two characters are together, the feels are overwhelming

Review: ME BEFORE YOU by Jojo Moyes

Title: Me Before You

Author: Jojo Moyes
Me Before You #1
Publisher: Penguin Books

Publication Date: July 30, 2013

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Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than her tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel--and he is not interested in exploring a new one.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, Lou sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn't have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

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"It has been the best six months of my entire life."

I am warning you, dear reader, that this review may contain spoilers. If like myself, you already have a sense of how this story will go (as I did after reading the synopsis of the sequel), or if you've read the book then go forth and read my jumbled emotions! Either way, this was an unforgettable read that everyone should give a chance. It's your choice whether to like it or not, of course.

Review: BANG by E.K. Blair

Title: Bang

Author: E.K. Blair

Black Lotus #1
Publication Date: May 9, 2014
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They say when you take revenge against another you lose a part of your innocence.
But I'm not innocent.
I haven't been for a very long time.
My innocence was stolen from me. Taken was the life I was suppose to have. The soul I was born with. The ruby heart embedded in a life full of hopes and dreams.

Gone.
Vanished.

I never even had a choice.
I mourn that life. Mourn the what-ifs.
Until now.
I'm ready to take back that was always meant to be mine.

But every plan has a fatal flaw. Sometimes it's the heart.

**Due to the dark and explicit nature of this book, it is recommended for mature audiences only as some scenes may be particularly disturbing**

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"Nothing is real until you break down the walls and reveal the ugliness."

"What on earth did I just read?" was my first thought after finishing this book. "OMFG" was my second. Dark erotic suspense novels aren't everyone's cup of tea but I'm starting to find it's one of my guilty pleasures. I was so torn on how I'd go about rating this book to be honest. But even though Bang took me way out of my comfort zone, it's undeniable that this book was brilliantly written. I'm still reeling and in shock with how it ended though. WHAT WAS THAT CLIFFY?! Bang would make one epic revenge thriller movie. Holy smokes.

Review: MAYBE SOMEDAY by Colleen Hoover

Title: Maybe Someday

Author: Colleen Hoover

Standalone
Publication Date: May 14, 2014
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At twenty-two years old, Sydney is enjoying a great life: She's in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers that Hunter is cheating on her—and she's forced to decide what her next move should be.

Soon, Sydney finds herself captivated by her mysterious and attractive neighbor, Ridge. She can't take her eyes of him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony And there's something about Sydney that Ridge can't ignore, either. They soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one.

A passionate tale of friendship, betrayal, and romance. Maybe Someday will immerse readers in Sydney's tumultuous world form the very first page.

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“Nothing in my life has ever felt so good yet hurt so achingly bad.”

This was my first CoHo book and it was simply magical. I thought Colleen Hoover’s writing was flawless. The story was told at the perfect pace and all the characters were wonderful. Let me start by saying I’m not a fan of love triangles. I try to avoid them as much as possible, but boy am I glad I stuck with this to the very end. This is a MUST-READ novel. I also highly recommend purchasing the album by Griffin Peterson that accompanies the book. I had what felt like a 4D reading experience! Not to mention, the songs are beautiful and adds so much more to the story.

“Desire is easy to fight. Especially when the only weapon desire possesses is attraction. It’s not so easy when you’re trying to win a war against the heart.”

Maybe Someday is a heart-achingly emotional story that revolves around Sydney and Ridge. They lived in apartments that were situated right across a courtyard from each other. Every night at 8pm Sydney would sit out on her balcony and listen in on Ridge playing his guitar. Ridge is an extremely talented musician who writes songs for his brother’s band. Unfortunately, he’s been experiencing writer’s block. Fortunately for him, Sydney has been creating her own lyrics to his songs.

After finding out that her boyfriend has been cheating on her, Sydney moves in with Ridge and his roommates, Warren and Bridgette. The secondary characters in this book are fantastic! Warren, Ridge’s best friend, was by far my favorite character. One thing I liked about this book was that you get a glimpse of multiple relationships. Of course there's Sydney and Ridge's but then you have Ridge and Warren's too, even Warren and Bridgette's (which was adorable by the way). You also can't help but feel for the third person in the love triangle because they turn out to be so likable.

“I’ve learned that the heart can’t be told when and who and how it should love.  

The heart does whatever the hell it wants to do.”

I don’t want to say much about Sydney and Ridge because I don't want to give anything away. It's something you have to experience yourself. Their relationship was certainly complicated but they were just meant to be together! They both breathed music and every time they wrote music together my heart sang. And even though I felt what Ridge does was wrong, I can’t bring myself to not love the guy. He couldn’t help it and I felt his decision near the end showed how hard he was trying to keep things the way they are (even if his choice crushed my heart into pieces).

"As long as he's a part of it, I'll never live a life of mediocrity.  

My life with Ridge will be nothing short of remarkable."

 It’s official though, I’m a Colleen Hoover fan! 

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Warren

He was a phenomenal character. Funny, caring and lovable. 

He was such a jerk when he questioned Sydney about Ridge (68%)

but it was incredibly admirable what he'd do to protect his best friend.

'Maybe Someday'

The writing of 'Maybe Someday' was heart-achingly beautiful.

I cried during this scene (43%). There was just so much emotion. 

Seeing crossed out lyrics made the process very real.

And then to read this scene while listening to Griffin sing it...

It left me speechless.