Showing posts with label Sarah Alderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah Alderson. Show all posts

05 August 2014

Come Back to Me by Mila Gray

Book: Come Back to Me
Author: Mila Gray
File type: Ebook
Releasing date: June 19th 2014
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

synopsis:
Home on leave in sunny California, Marine and local lothario Kit Ryan finds himself dangerously drawn to his best friend's sister, Jessa - the one girl he can't have.

But Kit's not about to let a few obstacles stand in his way and soon Jessa's falling for his irresistible charms.

What starts out as a summer romance of secret hook-ups and magical first times quickly develops into a passionate love affair that turns both their worlds upside down.

When summer's over and it's time for Kit to redeploy, neither Kit nor Jessa are ready to say goodbye. Jessa's finally following her dreams and Kit's discovered there's someone he'd sacrifice everything for.

Jessa's prepared to wait for Kit no matter what. But when something more than distance and time rips them apart they're forced to decide whether what they have is really worth fighting for.

A breathtaking, scorchingly hot story about love, friendship, family and finding your way back from the edge of heartbreak.



This book reminds me of a cupcake with lots of frosting on it.
On the first bite, it tastes divine. On the second, it's excellent but by the time you're ready to take the third bite, you ask yourself 'Is it just me or is this cupcake a little too sweet?'

There's a lot to like about this love. The romance is genuine and sweet, if not cheesy..which it was on many occasions. The writing was simple, understandable and fluid and that worked well for the novel which was paced well. There was never a dull moment and nothing could take me away from the book until I had finished it. 

I've always loved beginnings. The promise of young love or love of any kind, the uncertain future and what lies ahead. The tentative first glances and stares. The first few steps into the real world. Beginnings are always magical. 
But here, I found myself gravitating towards the journey undertaken by both Jessa and Kit. I was stuck in the middle and I wanted to stay there forever. I didn't care about their past or future, I was living the present through them. This is what I ask of NA. I want love and not some overly tortured characters who want to sex each other up, all the time. But that worked for some novels, so I'm going to stay mum about that now. 

But here's the thing, to add complexity, there were several different elements that ran from Army boys to psychological desires to lusty thoughts and finally, back stories among many back stories. (yes, I'm exaggerating and not exaggerating)
All of this added together was a little too much. The cupcake was dense and the frosting sweet.
There were some tiny unnecessary bits, like that epilogue which I believe we could have lived without and the characters individually weren't as appealing as they were when they were together. 

On the whole, Come back to Me, is an entertaining read. If you're in need of some cupcakes and sweetness, then this is it guys.



12 August 2013

Book Review: The Sound by Sarah Alderson.


The SoundBook: The Sound
Author: Sarah Alderson
File Type: Hardcover
Release Date: August 1, 2013
Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

synopsis:When aspiring music journalist Ren Kingston takes a job nannying for a wealthy family on the exclusive island of Nantucket, playground for Boston's elite, she's hoping for a low-key summer reading books and blogging about bands. Boys are firmly off the agenda.

What she doesn't count on is falling in with a bunch of party-loving private school kids who are hiding some dark secrets, falling (possibly) in love with the local bad boy, and falling out with a dangerous serial killer...



IS a thrilling book, thrilling if fails to thrill you?

The Sound by Sarah Alderson, is supposed to be a romance-thriller and as far as I know, when it comes to romance, the ball is in Ms. Alderson's court... as for the thrill factor, not so much.

The Sound introduces us to Ren Kingston, a seventeen year old English girl who's on her way to Nantucket for a nanny job. Ren's plan of action? Lie low and enjoy. But her plan of action doesn't really work the way she initially intended it to work. Ren is introduced to a cliched summer of hot, beautiful boys who love to party and break hearts and a bad boy from the other side, who serves as a competition to the previously mentioned hot boys. So, Ren's summer is off to an interesting start. Do you wish to make the story more interesting? Enters the infamous character of a serial killer who likes to eat Nannies for dinner or lunch or breakfast or anything that suits his time. Our serial killer is sort of a rockstar. He likes them foreign and he's out there to get Ren..and then eat her. If this isn't enough for you, then wait for it, EVERYBODY HAS SECRETS and of course, Ren is the perfect candidate to unravel said secrets. OH YEAH.

When you're about to start The Sound, make sure that you go into it with zero expectations. I'm a romance addict and after reading so much, I've come to realize that fantasy, whether it be urban or paranormal, seems to be just my thing, Fantasy is closely followed by contemporary novels and then dystopian and then science fiction and then..well it just goes on. What I'm trying to say, is that it's because I'm more of romantic that I was able to tolerate the non-thrillyness and non-other-element-ness in the book and I think, that's precisely why, I liked The Sound more than I actually thought I would.

You have to understand, if I were a person who loved mystery and adrenaline then this book would've been a downer for me. And now that we've established that I ignored the absence of thrill, it's safe to say that I atleast noticed that it didn't exist. Which again isn't a good sign, is it?

Alderson's writing style is very simple and clean and I love it. The Lila series is one of my favourites and I can only imagine how empty my life would be if Alex Wakemen never existed. Seriously, my life would've been a dull void of emptiness. I thank god everyday for Ms. Alderson's existence and for her beautiful author-mind that created Alex. *dies*

Anyway, like I said earlier, the writing is very simple and it's simplicity is what helps make the main protagonist sound more real and alive and entertaining. The romance is always subtle but no too subtle. It's there and it's sweet and it's tangy and it's all that the book needs. Alderson's writing works for this book and the romance (and Jesse. YUM.) is the ONLY thing that made this book what it is. I'm not sure how I feel about Ren as the protagonist. The first half felt very bland and slow to me and Ren's narration wasn't really helping it.

It was the second half of the book that redeemed the book for me. It was fun, fast, entertaining and exciting as heck. I'll give this to Alderson: she knows how to write those final-showdown scenes. So much adrenaline. So much anticipation. WOW.

Jesse Miller (the bad boy. *wink wink*) has made his mark. There's this one part where Ren describes Jesse as the mixture of Daimen from Vampire Diaries and Alex Fuentes of Perfect Chemistry. DO YOU SEE WHAT SHE DID THERE?
She used the Alex card on me. She USED the ALEX card on me. She USED the ALEX card on me.
Jesse Miller is perfection. He's intense, broody and oh so delicious. Listen, if not for the romance, read this book for the guy. Please. He's amazing and wonderful and he plays a guitar and his voice is beautiful and he can paint and he can land a solid punch or two. Also,did I tell you about his holy hotness's shirtlessness? OMG.

As I end, all I can say is that even though this book lacks the thrill of a thriller, it's romance and entertaining nature makes up for most of it. Do I recommend you to read it? Yes, definitely. But, I will ask you to proceed with caution. Ciao!







21 July 2013

Mini Review: Tormenting Lila by Sarah Alderson



Tormenting Lila (Lila, #2.5)Book: Tormenting Lila
Author: Sarah Alderson
File Type: Ebook
Release Date: 4th july 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

summary:When Lila and Alex sneak off for a romantic weekend away, Lila’s hoping she’ll finally have a chance to work on Alex’s resolve.

But just as things start heating up news reaches them of a serial killer at loose on the island and it isn’t long before their intimate weekend away is interrupted.

A mind reader, a projector, a protective older brother and a serial killer. One of them is going to find Lila first. She's hoping it's the serial killer.


I must give this five stars because I'm a certified biased pig.

Tormenting Lila, has nothing to talk about. It's a small novella of some 40 pages and it has absolutely nothing in it. Alex (OMG!!!) and Lila are on a holiday in Nantucket and Alex being Alex, makes senseless things sensible. So I'm not complaining.

I will, however, apologise to all those other books that were oh-so-beautiful but were just awarded four or three and a half stars. But you have to see, this book has an 'Alex' in it and I'm sorry, but I'm a desperate groupie when it comes to him.

If you're a Hunting Lila fan and really love its characters, then this novella is just for you. Meet Suki, Nate, Jack, Amber, Lila and ALEX, again and remind yourself why you fell in love with them in the first place. You have shirtless Alex. Horny Alex. Protective Alex. Irritated Alex. Swoony Alex. ALL IN ONE. So go ahead, read it!!

On the brighter side, it's safe to say that this one isn't all that useless. We're introduced to the characters and plot of Alderson's new novel,The Sound which comes out on 1st August. And the prologue and the first chapter have been given along with the novella.And let me tell you all, the prologue is crazzzy, in a good way of course. The bad guy of this novella will be the bad guy of the actual book. So yay!
Also, WOW. I had always wished for a possible something between Amber and Jack and wohoho. Please Ms. Alderson, I will do ANYTHING if you are nice and actually write something about both of them! And now that we're talking about other characters, can something be done we have something with Suki...again?