Caragh Reviews // Unrivalled by Alyson Noel

Published - 10th May 2016
Publisher - Mira Ink
Format - Paperback
Synopsis - Everyone wants to be someone. Layla Harrison wants to leave her beach-bum days for digs behind a reporter’s desk. Aster Amirpour wants to scream at the next casting director who tells her “we need ethnic but not your kind of ethnic.” Tommy Phillips dreams of buying a twelve-string guitar and using it to shred his way back into his famous absentee dad’s life. But Madison Brooks took destiny and made it her bitch a long time ago. She’s Hollywood’s hottest starlet, and the things she did to become the name on everyone’s lips are merely a stain on the pavement, ground beneath her Louboutin heel. That is, until Layla, Aster, and Tommy find themselves with a VIP invite to the glamorous and gritty world of Los Angeles’s nightlife and lured into a high-stakes competition where Madison Brooks is the target. Just as their hopes begin to gleam like stars through the California smog, Madison Brooks goes missing. . . . And all of their hopes are blacked out in the haze of their lies.

The lovely Cara from Harlequin/Mira Ink offered me this and I snapped it up. I honestly didn't really know what to expect going in to it. I'd only read the Immortal Series by Alyson Noel before and that was a long, long time ago now. I'd heard great things though and it really is quite a gorgeous cover!

I attempted the Buddy Readathon Challenge at the beginning of the month (and epically failed, if you're wondering!) and this was the first book I chose to read. I'm not even exaggerating now - the whole thing took about 3 hours and I devoured it from cover to cover. It is such an easy and relaxing read that you can't help yourself and keep pushing on.

There were of course, things I was a little disappointed with. It had been pitched as being similar to 'Pretty Little Liars' and a mystery type book but I really didn't get either of those things from it. Of course, things happen and i'm left reeling and wondering WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?! But really the mystery aspect was so small. To me, it was competitive and the challenges within the book were it's biggest asset.

The characters were well written and easily likeable, even the ones you're probably not supposed to like that much which i'm coming to believe is just Alyson Noel's golden touch - fantastic characters with real depth and emotion. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with this series. I have a feeling that things are going to get darker, and a lot more complicated.

Brianna Reviews // The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

Published: 7^th April 2016

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Format: Paperback

Synopsis: 40 years of marriage, 8 golden charms, one man’s journey of discovery. When Arthur Pepper discovers a mysterious charm bracelet in his late wife’s wardrobe, he sets off on a journey to discover, charm by charm, her secret life before they met. Having been married for over 40 years, 69-year-old Arthur Pepper is mourning the loss of his wife. On the anniversary of her death, he finally musters the courage to go through her possessions, and happens upon a charm bracelet that he has never seen before. What follows is a surprising adventure that takes Arthur from London to Paris and India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife’s secret life before they met, a journey that leads him to find healing, self-discovery, and love in the most unexpected of places.

I have to admit, normally I wouldn’t even pick this book up (it pains me that I’m so judgemental) never mind read, but within two minutes of picking it up and glancing it’s blurb, I was intrigued; something about the idea of solving the mystery of a charm bracelet and finding out the story behind each one and like Arthur I like a bit of a mystery (and I’ve always liked the idea of charm bracelets).

It’s been a year since Miriam died and Arthur has decided that it’s finally time to sort out her belonging and donate her clothes to a cat charity. Tucked inside a boot in the wardrobe is a heart shaped jewellery box containing a gold charm bracelet, it’s not something he’s seen before and doesn’t look like something his wife would own. While inspecting the charms on it he notices that there is a phone number on the elephant, the dialling code is for a number in India.  Phoning the number kick starts Arthurs quest to find out the stories behind the charms, which makes him break his dull, regimented, hermit routine, he had adopted since Miriam’s death. Throughout his hunt he learns not just about his Wife’s life before him, he also learns new things about himself, as well as re-evaluating everything he though he knew – both good and bad.

I can’t really relate to Arthur's sense of loss at the start of this book, because thankfully I’ve not yet lost anyone that close to me.  But I did find that I could relate to Arthur in other small ways I think most people probably can and definitely the idea of getting stuck in a safe little rut.

I really enjoyed following Arthur as he one by one solved the mysteries of each charm, revealing the rather surprising colourful history of his wife, although I did find that some of the links or clues between one charm and the next were a little convenient, but I find that is often the case with books that centre around solving a mystery and it definitely didn’t take anything from the story.  I loved almost all of the people that Arthur met on his travels (with the exception of De Chauffant, for obvious reasons, Lord Graystock and Sonny) I wonder what might have happened if Arthur had accepted the coffee from Sylvie. With some of the people Arthur met on his travels I wish that we could have found out a little more about them at the end, especially Mike and Sebastien – Although I suppose that is life, you don’t always get all the answers!

At the start I found Bernadette a little bit overwhelming, and I think I might also have pretended not to be in, and although she didn’t really change throughout the book she did seem to step back a bit once Arthur started to explore, and her heart was in the right place. I really liked the grandfatherly relationship that Nathan and Arthur developed and the way that Nathan sought him out for advice.

I don’t want to say too much about what Arthur finds out a learns about Miriam but what he finds out isn’t always what he wants to hear and everything he finds out throws up more questions that he doesn’t have answers for, and makes him question everything, at the lowest points it had me crying my eyes out as Arthur doubted his marriage and whether his wife was happy with him. Luckily Arthurs family and friends step in to show him how happy his life with Miriam had been. I like the idea that it’s never too late to start an adventure.

I have a few issues with the end, mostly with the fact that he didn’t keep the charm bracelet, but that might just be because I’m a little bit sentimental and a bit of a hoarder and don’t like throwing things out or getting rid of them, but I guess it was a fitting end.

The other thing that nagged me was the fact that he just posted the watch through Mike’s letter box, partially because it would have been nice to see Mike again. But mainly because as far as the reader can see Arthur doesn’t appear to check that Mike still lives there, he probably does, but what if he had moved?

In summary I really enjoyed reading this book even if it made me cry my eyes out, I certainly didn’t expect close encounters with tigers, chasing down muggers and nude modelling for students. I hadn’t really expected to have any strong feelings, it seems I need to stop being so judgemental in what I think I will like to read – A little lesson to take away from Arthur.  And it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t mention how much I like Frederica and Arthur's concern over her water intake.

Brianna Reviews // Dare You To by Katie McGarry #2

Published:  22^nd May 2013

Publisher: MIRA Ink

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."
"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....
"I dare you..."
If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does.... Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him. But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

I have to admit my first thought when picking this book up to read was “urgh a whole book about Beth”, as Beth was definitely not my favourite character in Pushing the Limits. So I guess the question is why did I read it, and the answer is that I loved Pushing the Limits and Katie McGarry’s writing so much that despite Beth being the main character I was willing to give it a go – and I’m glad I did.

So this is a sequel to Pushing the Limits, but only in the sense that it takes place in the same ‘universe’, it takes place after pushing the limits and Noah, Isaiah, and Echo all appear; But Dare You To could be read stand alone.

It’s almost two stories in one, one is Beth’s story and the other is Ryan’s story it just happens that they are intertwined.

Beth has to leave Noah and Isaiah and move away to a new place away from everything she know, although not everything as she reconnects with an old friend, Lacy. Here she meets Ryan (technically she met him before moving) and he is unsurprisingly a typical Jock, or at least that is what she and many other see, but Ryan likes to write and he’s gifted at it. It’s a love story I’m sure you can figure the rest out.

The basics of the story line isn’t complicated, (but then there are only 7), girl meets boy, but again like Pushing the Limits, its everything else that Katie McGarry packs in around it. This is not really a love story, it more about working out who you are. 

Beth is trying to work out how she fits into the new life she finds herself in, she also has the opportunity to start again and reinvent herself, but will she? Beth is struggling against herself to work out who she is, and whether she can let people see who she is. Ryan on the other hand, is still trying to work out who he is but he is struggling against trying to be the person other people want him to be and the person he wants to be; He loves baseball, he’s great at it, and his dad approves, but he also loves writing, again he’s great, only this time his dad doesn’t agree. In the end they help each other to work out who they are.

I love that Noah, Isaiah, Echo and even Rico make reappearance in this, and it’s interesting to see them from Beth’s perspective. I have to say I love Scott, I think he’s the right mix or stern and laid back and most of all I love the way he tries with Beth, yes he doesn’t get it all right and he admits that but he tries which is the most important part. I also love Lacy and Chris for being so accepting of everyone and thing, they are the sort of friends you need in life.

I would definitely recommend this book, to anyone, to everyone.  Even though the end is somewhat predictable, while reading the end feels like anything but a sure thing. 

Understandably as its written half from Beth’s POV Dare You To gives an insight into Beth, and why she is the way she is, and it turns out that I don’t actually dislike Beth once I got to understand her, she’s still by far not my favourite.  And for anyone who is worried about Isaiah and his inevitable heartbreak at Beth leaving, he is third in line and meets someone he truly loves in the next book in the series: Crash into You

Caragh Reviews // Talon by Julie Kagawa

Published - 28th October 2014
Publisher - Harlequin/MIRA
Format - Kindle
Synopsis - Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George. Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

Talon was an incredible surprise and a bit of a whirlwind! I didn't really know much about it and i'm one of the few people left who haven't read anything by Kagawa before. Right from chapter one you are thrown in the deep end. Dragons! Enemies! Secrets! Missions! I mean come on, who isn't dragged into a book that is primarily about dragons!

I'll admit, it was a little weird to wrap my head around agiant, scaly dragon kind of morphing into a little frail 16 year old girl but you know what? The logistics don't really matter and I didn't spend too much time thinking about it as the pace of the book had me reading at lightning speed.

For me, Talon had the perfect balance between your typical crush story (hello, love triangle!) and a whole lot of excitement and adventure. Ember was really likeable and relatable which is super important to me. I think the only character that I didn't really connect with was Dante and considering how that goes i'm not totally surprised by it.

What spurred me on whilst reading Talon was the relationship between Talon (the organisation) and St George. I wanted to know where this war came from and why it mattered more than anything else (more on this in my review of Rogue, later!). The book was so fraught with tension over this and honestly, I was kind of stressed out just thinking about the possibilities. The end of the book was so explosive that it left me reeling. What was going to happen? Were any of them safe now? What is Dante thinking? There were so many questions that there was never a single doubt in my mind that the very next book I would read was the sequel, Rogue. Review coming soon......

Maria V Snyder Blogger Event

Hey guys :)

As some of you now know, on Wednesday I got the pleasure of being invited to a blogger event to celebrate the release of Maria V Snyder's newly released book Shadow Study. The fabulous ladies at Harlequin/Mira Ink were so sweet and welcoming. We drove for a total of 11 hours in one evening and it was worth every minute! It was the first event that Brianna and I had attended but everyone was so friendly that it didn't take long before we were all chatting away and sharing our book related interests.

I've been to a few book signings before but they were pretty rigid and nerve-wracking. Perhaps rightly so, they more often than not focused around the author and left very little time to communicate with both other and other fans. I think there's a bit of stigma that book bloggers like us are cut-off and unsociable but I think we, as a group, definitely shot that down on Wednesday night.

The event was fully centered around us bloggers and the community. Mira and Maria Snyder herself were very interested in the community and asked a lot of questions which was lovely! All of the ladies I met were wonderful and I felt very privileged to share a space with them. I've been a long-time blog follower of Michelle from Fluttering Butterflies so it was great to get to say hi to her in the flesh! Big thanks to Michelle for the picture on the bottom of here too :)

We were the last ones to leave the event, armed with paper plates full of food! I had mentioned to Maria and the folks at Harlequin that my long-suffering boyfriend had been waiting outside for hours after driving us all the way there, and subsequently after we all agreed how he's the best boyfriend ever, got sent away with a signed book and food for him! ;)

I could talk about this event forever but as i'm sat at the kitchen counter at the above boyfriend's parents house to celebrate birthdays, i'm seriously swamped with life this week! Thanks to all the bloggers I met, thanks to Cara who organised the event and was a FABULOUS host! And thanks to Harlequin/Mira for having us :)