27 November 2012

Willow Reads: Easy by Tammara Webber

A girl who believes trust can be misplaced, promises are made to be broken, and loyalty is an illusion. A boy who believes truth is relative, lies can mask unbearable pain, and guilt is eternal. Will what they find in each other validate their conclusions, or disprove them all?

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night--but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

Note: This book is mature YA, so please be aware there is sexual content in this book. It's not a lot, and it's not the majority of the book- not enough so for it to be 18+. 

SPOILER ALERT!

Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
Page Count: 230 pages (ebook)
Book Website: http://tammarawebber.blogspot.com/
Published: May 25, 2012
Source: Goodreads suggestion

Goodreads has done it again. It's creepily accurate in finding reads I'll absolutely love, and gahhh. This book didn't even take me 24 hours to read. Even though it's only 230 pages, it's the last two weeks of my college semester- how did I even find the time? xDD 

So anyway, this book.. Amazing. 

Jacqueline (J*) Wallace is in her second year of college as a music education major (MUAHAHAHAHA! THERE ARE BOOKS ABOUT US NOW! WORLD DOMINATION! ) when her boyfriend of three years, Kennedy, decides he wants to see other people. He lets her down hard, instead of easy, and of course after a three year relationship... It sort of sucks; of course she's heartbroken. She doesn't know what to do, she gets behind in school work and avoids him by skipping classes that she only took to be with him. In fact, she only chose that university for the reason that he would be there. So now she's starting to regret that, because she easily could have gone to a music conservatory and did more with her life.

One night, a few weeks after Kennedy broke it off, J's roommate Erin forces her to go to this Halloween party- J's the designated driver. So she goes and decides after a while that she wanted to leave, texting Erin to let her know just to text if/when she needed a ride home. Heading to her truck, J is unknowingly followed by Buck- a guy who she thought was friendly enough. Buck is drunk at the time, and he tries to rape her. This mysterious guy comes out of nowhere, J doesn't recognize him, and he beats Buck up and insists on driving J back to the dorm. 

Shortly after this, J decides to pull everything together- she starts pulling her weight in classes again, and the one class she has the most trouble with is econ- short for economics. Not only is Kennedy in this class, she missed a midterm and about two weeks worth of classes- talk about grade killer, I flinched when reading this. The teacher, Mr. Heller, decides to give her a break and assigns a project for J to do in place of the midterm. He also suggests a tutor, so she can get ahead easier- just in case she had any questions. 

The tutor Mr. Heller suggests is Landon Maxfield. She e-mails him and their entire correspondence is through e-mail; I can relate to music education majors being incredibly busy. As this is going on, she notices the other guy- the one who saved her from Buck's attempted rape- everywhere. He works at Starbucks, he tutors, and does just about everything else. When Erin notices there's something to be had here, she and another friend create the OBBP (Operation Bad Boy Phase)- this other guy, whose name is Lucas, has tattoos... He really doesn't pay attention in class, and because he can fight he seems hardcore... He looks like a bit of a bad boy. 

So the whole book is pretty much J getting over her breakup issues, unearthing eventually that Landon and Lucas are the same person, and gaining a new love- someone who will love and respect her. 

And I ship these two. I ship them hard. I'm hoping this isn't just a one-shot book, I really want to know what happens next. But at least this exists. It does have a happy ending, I won't go into all of it, but I will say that justice does come to J where Buck is concerned. So yeah, happy days. :) 

So, for now, this is it. Happy reading!

*I refer to Jacqueline as J for this review, it's used in the book, and she hates being called Jackie. Character respect, yo. :look:

25 November 2012

Willow Reads: Hidden (House of Night #10)

At last, Zoey has what she wanted: the truth is out. Neferet's evil has been exposed, and the High Council is no longer on her side -- but she's far from done wreaking havoc in the vampyre world. First, a mysterious fire ravages the stables. Then, Neferet makes a devastating move that will test them all.
With the seeds of distrust sown and Darkness breeding chaos at the House of Night, everyone must band together -- but that's proving to be more difficult than ever before. The twins are barely speaking and the House of Night's former enemy, Kalona, has now become their warrior, pushing their trust to the limit. To top it off, Zoey is pretty darn sure she might be losing her mind. She saw something when she looked at Aurox through the Seer Stone that she can hardly explain to herself, let alone her friends. Is it possible that Heath has come back in a different form? Is that why Zoey's so intrigued by Aurox, when it's so obvious that he's dangerous? And who would believe her if she told them? Zoey knows that following her instinct about Aurox might be just what they need to defeat evil . . . but if she's wrong, it could cause the destruction of those closest to her.
With the tension at a breaking point and friendships on the line, can the nerd herd come together to stop the spread of Darkness before it's too late?

SPOILER ALERT.

Title: Hidden (House of Night #10)
Author: PC and Kristin Cast
Page Count: 320 pages
Book Website: www.houseofnightseries.com
Published: October 16, 2012
Source: Been reading these for years.

I really didn't want to do this ever to a House of Night book. They started out amazingly well with the first books of the series... Then comes along this one. Beautiful cover... But looks can be deceiving. Am I the only one who thinks the authors are beating a dead horse? Why can't they just get to it and let us know how they meant the series to end? I only gave the book two stars on Goodreads, Reading the reviews on Goodreads, I know people will back me.

And doesn't Zoey seem like she's turning into a Mary Sue? She's perfect in Stark's eyes, and no harm can come to her. She goes through all of this unscathed? No, that's not possible. Come on. And Lenobia of all people liking a human? Come on.

Will I read the next book, and the book after that? Sure I will. Like everyone on Goodreads, the hook is deep within me. I want to know what happens, but I wish it'd be a little more realistic.

13 November 2012

Willow Reads: Bitter Blood (Morganville Vampires #13)


For years, the human and vampire residents of Morganville, Texas, have managed to co-exist in peace. But now that the threat to the vampires has been defeated, the human residents are learning that the gravest danger they face is the enemy within…

Thanks to the eradication of the parasitic creatures known as the draug, the vampires of Morganville have been freed of their usual constraints. With the vampires indulging their every whim, the town’s human population is determined to hold on to their lives by taking up arms. But college student Claire Danvers isn’t about to take sides, considering she has ties to both the humans and the vampires. 

To make matters worse, a television show comes to Morganville looking for ghosts, just as vampire and human politics collide. Now, Claire and her friends have to figure out how to keep the peace without ending up on the nightly news… or worse.

Spoiler Warning- More Than Usual

Title: Bitter Blood (Morganville Vampires #13)
Author: Rachel Caine
Page Count: 404 pages
Book website: www.morganvilletexas.com
Published: November 6, 2012
Source: Long-term love for this series

I have an absolute love for Morganville. I was gifted the first two books of the series for Christmas my senior year of high school, by someone who really didn't know me but got stuck with me in a Secret Santa. He knew I read a lot, and he had watched me read Twilight... Vampires are in Twilight, so maybe I'd like this series? You know, that kind of thing. I couldn't have been more grateful, because I had wanted to read these books for ages. And now, it's book 13. It's hard to believe that it's only coming up on two years since I turned the first page and became instantly hooked.

So, straight out, I loved this book; my rating on Goodreads is 5 stars, and that wasn't even with hesitation. I may be slightly biased, since I love this series so much. Rachel Caine has caught my heart, much like J.K. Rowling did with Harry Potter. She knows how to hit it right in the feels, though.

One thing you may not like about this book is the changing perspectives- it has happened before in Morganville, and it continues on here. If that kind of thing isn't for you, I wouldn't suggest Morganville... You'll be missing out! But anyway, enough of the chit-chat and into the review.

We start out with Amelie in a prologue, which is about Morganville ID cards- Oliver is pushing the issue, and he convinces her that every resident should have one. You can definitely tell by her tone, though, that Amelie has changed. Why, all of a sudden, does she trust Oliver like a lover instead of the enemy she must keep her eye on? I questioned this right away, but we'll figure out why later.

So then, we're taken through the book. Morganville residents do get their ID cards (and find there's a hunting pass for the vampires- pretty much a license to kill one human a year and have a small fine for any other human they kill), Claire and crew attempt to stop it from happening... Myrnin leaves Morganville, or so we're lead to believe... Hannah is pushed from the mayor's office, and there's an "election" to have the next mayor put into office- but really, Morganville doesn't understand voting. A character we had never heard of in my memory (but I want to re-read the whole series), Florida Ramos, is given the spot by Amelie. This isn't a bad choice, she's a strong leader and she knows exactly how the humans feel- seeing as she is one, and she's tired of the vampires having open season with the humans. She herself lost two children to the vampires, and it hurts her.

Then, things change. Pretty much throughout the whole book, people are pinning threatening pictures and things to the Glass House door, there's even an incident of gas in a bottle thrown through the window- causing a fire. It's all to do with Michael marrying Eve, and then it goes to an extreme. Eve gets beat up, causing some internal bleeding, broken ribs, and lots of pain. While Eve's in the hospital healing, Michael is bitten by Naomi. This makes him have to do everything Naomi says, including when she tells him to tell Eve that their marriage is over... Then he promptly is forced to kiss Claire, causing some problems between Shane and Eve. They're all in their separate worlds now it seems, and everyone's sad. Shane won't even look at Claire, Michael packed up and left the night he ended the marriage, and Claire has to help Eve- after that, she tells her parents she'll be there soon.

But it all wraps up. At the end of the book, Claire saves Amelie's life and in return gets permission for Shane to leave Morganville in addition to getting herself into MIT again. She still loves him, even if he is an idiot. Michael and Eve make up, and Claire goes up to her bedroom to be alone. The realization hits.

"Tomorrow, she'd have to think about how to leave Morganville behind, how to go off to a new town, a new school, a whole new world... and somehow do it without Michael, or Eve, or even Myrnin. 
 And maybe even without Shane. 
But she just couldn't face it now."
And then, later on... And this is the ending of the book, beware.
"Shane's arms went around her. It was slow, and tentative, and done in complete silence. He pulled her closer, and closer, until she was pressed against him, back to front. His lips pressed a slow, soft, burning kiss on the soft, tender skin at the back of her neck.
 'I know you didn't ask me,' he said. 'I know you may not want me to go. But I'm going to Boston, and I'll be there when you need me. You don't have to say anything. I know I have to earn your trust back. It's okay.'
 She caught her breath, sighed, and felt her heart break all over again, in a whole new and beautiful way."
 There's still books 14 and 15 on the way, thank goodness. When I finished the book at 2AM this morning, I didn't want it to end there. I wanted more. xD That's not a good stopping place, Rachel Caine! NOT COOL. xD

But one thing I'm waiting on is the marriage- back a few books ago, Shane said something around the lines of "If we make it through this, promise you'll marry me." Claire said yes, but WHEN IS IT GONNA HAPPEN? I am totally wanting Claire and Shane to get married, and have Claire be Claire Collins and have adorable ClaireShane babies and... yeah.. /shifty Can you tell I'm huge on Claire/Shane? xD

Anywho, for some cool extras head on over to morganvilletexas.com and/or http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialRachelCaine <-- At the youtube there's some ads for the mayor- just fun little videos. Amelie looks like the Overly Attached Girlfriend. Go have fun!


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