Shelf Candy Saturday

I have missed a couple of Shelf Candy Saturday and that makes me sad because we all know how much I love them! Let's get down to the details, shall we? Shelf Candy Saturday is a meme hosted by the lovely ladies over at Five Alarm Book Reviews. It's purpose is to showcase cover art that we find beautiful/interesting/unique/intriguing, etc.

This week, I am showing some more cover love for Miss Amelie. She revealed this cover over on her blog and if you want to find out more about Thomas & January (which I am so ridiculously excited about!!) head on over to her blog where you can read the first chapter! Also, if you haven't read Callum & Harper yet, you should go do that immediately. Shoo! It's on Amazon and B&N and it will be the best $2.99 you have ever spent!

So, on to this cover. If you read my previous shelf candy's you will know that I LOVE the cover to Callum & Harper and I might love this cover even more if that is possible. I am so intrigued! We'll start with the top half. I absolutely love the delicate pattern in the background. It looks like maybe a mix of leaves and ferns. It is subtle and classy looking, almost giving the background a texture of its own. It reminds me of really old wall paper and I think it is the perfect backdrop for the photo and the heart with the initials. I love the photo. It looks young and innocent and the scotch tape is a perfect addition to make it look even more real and authentic. The heart is so very young love, it just screams it. 

The colors and patterns inside the letters of the title complete grab your attention, as does the dark purple background color. You can still see the faint etching of the leaves and ferns but they seem a bit more hidden. It's an awesome contrast and really makes the title pop off of the cover. 

The bottom, to me, is the most intriguing of all! A suitcase? Briefcase? Lock box? It looks like a really old style suitcase to me. There's a lot going on there. The planets, Earth and Mars? I want to know what they symbolize within the story. The American flag combined with the suitcase makes me think of travelling..or new beginnings...it could mean so much! It really keeps you guessing about what exactly could go on within the pages of this book. It's intriguing and curious. The tree is beautiful with all the colors, so vibrant against the otherwise somewhat muted colors of the bottom half of the cover. Why is it so colorful? Why is there a tree planted in a suitcase of soil? What is that crumbled up piece of paper in front of the case? So many questions! Yet again, this cover does exactly what it should. It catches the eye of the reader, draws them in and makes them want to know more about the book. 

Also, as a side note, I love how she has continued with the same sort of theme for the cover that Callum & Harper had. I think the two books would look beautiful side by side on a book shelf! 

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Slammed by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After the unexpected death of her father forces eighteen year old Layken and her family to move across the country, away from everyone and everything she knows, her outlook on life is anything but hopeful. 

 Enter Will Cooper: the attractive twenty-one year old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry. After a night together that turns out to be everything but the expected, both Layken and Will are left with feelings they never knew they could have. Unfortunately in Layken's life, things are never what they seem. Just as quickly as it develops, their relationship is derailed by a shocking revelation, sparking a tumultuous battle between their hearts and their ethics. 

 As if the dramatic turn of events in her life isn't enough, Layken is slammed again when her mother reveals a secret of her own. A secret so intense, all of Layken's current problems pale in comparison to her seemingly insurmountable future. Unable to confront the changes that lie ahead of her, Layken ignores her conscience as she turns to Will for solace. Struggles ensue as both Layken and Will search for a balance between that which keeps them apart and the feelings that pull them together. 

"Hey. You. You who is supposed to be a responsible adult, doing responsible adult things like cleaning your house, feeding your family, walking your dogs, studying...what did you to today?"

Well, to be honest with you, completely honest with you, I sat on my porch for hours. I probably freaked out the old lady who speaks Spanish across the street because I did not move for hours other than to go get another drink and occasionally pee. She may have asked me if I was crazy or possibly maybe asked me if I was planning on robbing her house, I am not sure. I don't speak Spanish. I don't think she understood me either, when I held up my kindle and bounced liked a giddy little chubby girl who just learned she won a lifetime supply of Little Debbie oatmeal pies.

You see, what I did today was sit on my porch in the beautiful Texas sunlight (and p.s Julia is right, Texas does indeed have a shit-ton of bugs) and read from cover to cover Slammed and then immediately purchased Point of Retreat and proceeded to read that from cover to cover. That, my wonderful reading friends, was my day. It was my sweet. Possibly my sweet of the year.

I can't gush enough about this book. I mean, I literally want to gush. I want to jump up and down and proclaim my undying never ending love for Will. I think he has won my heart from all my other book boyfriends (Sorry, Kellan. I told you a long time ago you should have walked away from that bitch.) and I could possibly just live happily ever after with him alone. You KNOW this has to be an amazing book boy if I am willing to give up my life of polygamy with fictional characters.

I don't even know where to start with all the reasons I love this book. The drama! Oh sweet baby Jesus, how I adore the drama. The aching, the need, the desperation, the heartbreak, the laughter, the tears...there is just too much to get into in just one review. My mind is still trying to take it all in. As I mentioned, Will is amazing. Lake is a beautiful, wonderful leading female character. I only had the urge to punch her like...once...maybe. Which is saying a lot because I have some issues with wanting to punch people. It's an addiction or a bad habit, you might say. I loved Kel and Caulder, again, this just shows how amazing of a writer Colleen Hoover is because I have a general distaste for anyone under the age of fifteen. Julia is probably my favorite book mom of all time. Eddie is awesome, Gavin is adorable...

You know, anything else I say will just be gushing. More gushing. Lots of gushing. Just go read the book. If you love YA romance, a good bit of a drama and the most awesome leading man ever, I am pretty sure you will love this book!!

Oh and P.S. Slam poetry is a new fascination of mine!!

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Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I need to read some fluff. Immediately. I need a book that has puppies and flowers and rich preppy kids who drive Mercedes and their biggest problem is the fact that they didn't finish their English essays. Shoot, I need to go play with real puppies and eat candy and watch a comedy.

“At what point does a fly give up trying to escape through a closed window – does its survival instincts keep it going until it is physically capable of no more,or does it eventually learn after one crash too many that there is no way out? At what point do you decide that enough is enough?”

Just by reading the blurb, you know this book isn't going to have a happy ending. I mean, how could it? However, by half way through the book you are trying to convince yourself that something is going to happen to make these two kids lives okay or even just a little bit better. Forbidden is a book that evokes emotions. Really strong emotions at that. Sadly, they aren't happy emotions. Confusion, horror, heart break, desperation, hope...there are so many things that this book brought out in me.

I love Lochlan. (Side note, I HATE the nickname 'Lochie') He's vulnerable and raw. A shell of a broken boy who just wants to feel like he is doing the right thing for someone. Being everything to everyone and never being enough has to be exhausting. I just wanted to hug him throughout the entire book. He broke my heart time and time again. I don't think a fictional character in any books has ever affected me the way that this boy did. Even now thinking about him I just want to cry and that does not happen very often for me. I can read some really sad books and not even get misty but damn, Lochlan makes me want to sob like a baby.

I also just want to say, as a disclaimer sort of deal, that this book doesn't make incest seem like the cool thing to do. It's not telling anyone to go out and get freaky with their sister. This book is about two people who felt like there was no one else in the world who could understand and relate to them except for each other. It's about, at its core, dysfunction and the way that affects a family unit. While there were 'romantic' moments between them, it was almost always a sense of desperation that surrounded them. The inner turmoil that both of them went through showed that they knew this wasn't normal behavior, heck, they told each other it wasn't. Their love wasn't beautiful, it was heartbreaking and frantic.

“At what point do you give up - decide enough is enough? There is only one answer really. Never.”


Oh and P.S...I literally wanted to choke Kit myself.

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Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank God that the sequel is coming out in May. I got to the last page of this book and absolutely freaked out. The ending is raw and real and absolutely emotional to the extreme. It is hard when you become emotionally invested in a character and you read them going through something like what Emily went through can make you forget that you loved the rest of the book. That is just a risk an author goes outside the box of what readers generally expect to happen. Had I not gone online immediately after reading the last page and checking to see if there was a sequel or anything that would give me any sort of closure, I probably would have been writing a completely different review. Without hope that things were going to get better, I might have just chucked my kindle across the room.

The story is about Emily, a high school girl who lives with her Aunt and Uncle. Her Aunt is abusive, both physically and verbally and her Uncle turns a blind eye, choosing to pretend he doesn't know what is going on in his own house. She has two younger cousins and to the majority of the outside world, the family looks like a perfect one. The younger kids are happy, well adjusted, involved in different activities and adored by their parents. Emily goes through life just trying to stay in the background, do what she has to do to stay under the radar to avoid the wrath of her aunt and trying to keep coping until she can leave for college.

She has one great friend named Sara who knows what is going on but hasn't gotten Emily to come out and actually admit it yet. Sara pretty much keeps her sane throughout the story. She is an awesome character. She provides some levity, laugh out loud moments and a voice of reason throughout the whole story. Oh, yeah and it is a long story, just to let you know. I loved the length of it though some parts I thought were not completely necessary. *coughDrewcough* There are also some deleted scenes on the authors website that are pretty stinking awesome. I loved the New York scene!

So Emily is going through life in the shadows, just kind of going through the motions when along comes Evan. Even just moved to the town and is immediately interested in Emily. What an awesome character. He's the perfect mix of caring, cocky, funny, sweet and yet still real. He gets pissed when Emily won't trust him, he is hurt when she won't see him...he's just an all around awesome character. The way that Evan and Sara both love Emily is perfect. They both care so much and yet are still teenagers who want to help their friend but are unsure how to go about it. Emily has told them repeatedly that she is alright, that she doesn't need help and that they can't tell anyone about what happens at her house. It's heartbreaking, it really is.

Obviously, there is a lot about the book I like. I was reading some other reviews and noticed that one of the huge things that people didn't like is that Emily didn't just leave. I thought like that for awhile but the more I read, the more I understood her viewpoint. Her cousins were happy, their parents were good to them even if they weren't good to Emily. She didn't want to disrupt their entire childhood, cause a big scene and scandal when she felt like she could handle everything going on for 500 and some days she had left until she could leave for college. What I didn't understand was the animosity towards Emily from Carol. I don't get why she hated her so much. I don't think it was ever fully explained and I am hoping maybe it is brought up more in the second book.

It's not a book for the faint-hearted, that is for sure but I really enjoyed it. I loved seeing Emily open up to Evan as the book progressed, I loved the true friendship between Emily and Sara. The extent that Evan was willing to go to in order to keep Emily safe was touching and admirable. I am soooo glad I only have to wait a little under a month for the sequel!

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Interrupted by Rachel Coker

Interrupted: Life Beyond Words by Rachel Coker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I went into this book being completely unaware that it was Christian historical fiction so I was a little surprised when I started reading but that was my own fault for not researching more. Sometimes I like to start a book and just be surprised though and this book didn't disappoint!

Allie's mom drove me a little crazy. It was sad when she died but I definitely wasn't shedding any tears. Allie herself had her moments where I had to grit my teeth because she had a way of coming off as abrasive and overly proud but because of her past, I could see (mostly) where she was coming from.

My biggest issue was how long this bitterness and anger clung to Allie. Despite other people offering love and support, she repeatedly turned it down. She was mean, hurtful and just over all unpleasant. I understand the purpose of it but for me, personally, it made it hard to identify and sympathize with her as a character.

The biggest highlight of the book for me was Sam! I am a sucker for a sweet guy. His patience and forgiveness was something to be admired and I enjoyed him thoroughly. I see the parallels between Sam and how a christian person should behave. It did have a happy ending and I felt like there was a moral lesson to be found in the book as well.

As far as the writing style went, the book was easy to read but had some rough spots where the sentance didn't flow in quite the right sort of rythem. I am not usually a fan of the Christian genre anymore (I got burnt out on Janet Oake and the like!) but I am really excited to see how this author grows. I have a feeling the more she writes, the more things will smooth out and she really has the potential to be amazing. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for more from Rachel Coker!

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Where has A Book Club of One Gone?!

I know it is has been a week since I posted but whew, has it been a crazy week! For those of you who don't know, I have four dogs. My dogs are pretty much my life, other than my family and husband. I am working on becoming a professional dog trainer and behaviorist, I worked at a doggy daycare, I spend more time researching dog food than I do researching my own food...the list goes on. I am currently in school, working on an externship with a private trainer and I also volunteer at a local shelter two or three days out of the week. So that keeps me busy on its own but then add in my four pups and it gets a bit crazy. Just to fill ya'll in I have a 5 year old chihuahua named Lucy, a 9 year old pit bull named Banjo, a 2 year old lab/pointer/pit mutt named Roxie and a 1 year old pit bull named Jasmine.

This picture does not do any of them justice it was after about 45 minutes

of trying to get a decent picture of all four of them. 

As an example, cute picture of Jasmine down below. 

My dogs are all rescues and each one came with their own set of issues. Lucy I got first and she had been thrown over a rescue's fence. She was beat up, had crate sores everywhere and the vet's opinion was that she had probably not been let out of her crate other than to be bred, possibly. She's people shy and can be snappy with other dogs. Next came Roxie, we got when she was 7 weeks old from the pound. She came with mange, a hernia and she has pretty intense food allergies. About a year and a half after we got her, we fostered a pit bull named Jasmine for what was supposed to be about a month. Her owner never came back for her. She's the sweetest girl ever but she has hip dysplasia in both hips and her shoulder and needs a very expensive surgery along with different vitamins and supplements to keep her mobile. Lastly came Banjo, who, again, we were supposed to be watching until she could be given to her original owner. When we took her to the vet, we found out she was heart worm positive, not to mention she was severely over weight. We treated the heart worms and she is down probably twelve pounds now.

So, to the topic of this post, I have been MIA because we had a crazy dog week. Banjo tore her ACL, Jasmine had a skin cancer scare (benign thank goodness!) and Roxie's allergies flared up out of control and we could NOT figure out why. So, I spent the majority of the week at the vet office and the time I wasn't there, I was trying to figure out how the heck I was going to pay for all these vet visits. So, needless to say, I was a little stressed out this week. Luckily, Jasmine is okay, we figured out what caused Roxie's allergic reaction (Husband had taken her to the store with him and the people there had fed her half a bag of treats with the best of intentions. Husband should have been paying attention and realized those were a type of treat that she can not have) and Banjo..well, she is still gimpin' around but we are hopeful. So, maybe things will calm down and I can get back to my NORMAL crazy life, lol. Crazy is normal. This crazy? Not so much.

The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe

The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back. Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest 

Because how will she go on if there isn’t?

Why do I do this to myself?! Why don't I check publication dates so that when I finish a book and find myself screaming "What?! No! It can't be over!" I can just go to the sequel that is already published?!

There is an epidemic that had broken out on an island. This by itself captured my attention. I have read a LOT of dystopian/post apocalyptic/people are dying EVERYWHERE/I am hungry books this month. Like...twenty plus of them. This was the first one where the disease was limited to an island. Well, kind of limited. It almost made it more hopeless to me because food was out there, supplies were out there, medicine and help in general was out there, they just couldn't get to anything they needed.

Another aspect that made this book different was that the book was written in a journal style. It focused less on the fact that the electricity was out, that food supplies were low, that sort of thing and focused more on the relationships between the people in the book. I loved the relationship between Kaelyn and Meredith, the way a friendship developed between her and Tessa and I absolutely adored Gav.

It also showed how talents that people have, something that may even just be a hobby, can be cultivated and used in a time of crisis. Tessa liked to grow things, was intrigued by gardening and that became useful during the epidemic. Gav was used to organizing and doing things for himself and that became a leadership type role for him using skills he had picked up through life. It showed how traits that were just a side note in the past come to full light in dark times. Quentin was a bully to begin with and it only escalated as he started to feel the panic setting in because of the situation.

The disease itself, when I really thought about it, was pretty horrifying. It started out as a rash, a cold and then developed into a full blown virus that affected peoples minds. It was described as lower their social inhibitions I think is how they said it in the book. Imagine your loved one getting ill but then acting happier, freer, more honest and outspoken as they got closer and closer to dying. Pretty crazy to think about.

Some people might feel like the book moved a little slowly but for me, it was a refreshing change. However, I am aware that my opinion is most likely biased seeing as how I have been on disaster overload recently. I just really enjoyed the relationship building, the emotions behind every thought that Kae had.

The ending pissed me off though. Won't lie. The ever mysterious Leo, not knowing if a main character was going to make it, not knowing if another main character is getting sick, not knowing what happened to Drew...it just ended so abruptly that I wanted to scream! I really enjoyed the authors writing style, I NEED the sequel but until then, I am off to see if Miss Crewe has any other books out.



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