It's Monday! What Are You Reading? July 4, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by The Book Date is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. 

So, it's been just under a month since I did one of these posts. So there will be A LOT of books in the finished reading category. I'm finally done with my list of ARCs. To start I was really happy to be done. But here lately I've had a really hard time deciding what book to read next. There are so many I want to read that I just can't decide.

Finished Reading

 

 

You can find my review for Shift here and Caged here. I will have reviews up soon for some of the others, but not all.  (Sorry, for the placement of some of these covers, but it just did not want to work with me today.)

Currently Reading

This is a physical book I won a while back and I think it might be a nice change from all the romance I've been reading lately.

What Will I Read Next?

I've had such a hard time deciding what to read lately that I have no clue what I'll read next. But here are some covers or books that stand out to me.

 

HOPE YOU HAVE A HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

April & May Reading Challenge Updates

So it looks like I skipped updating my reading challenges for April. So this post will have April and May progress reports.

I'm finally nearing the end of my ARC TBR list and I couldn't be happier! Not that I don't enjoy reading these books. I just accepted too many too close together (many with only a week between deadlines). This would be ok if I had gotten around to reading some of these earlier. I'm looking forward to reading some books I've had for a while. I picked up Slammed by Colleen Hoover for $1.50 yesterday and would like to get to it sooner rather than later. Plus I've got several books I'd purchased or got free earlier this year that I'd like to read. On to the progress reports.

April Progress

I crossed off two more in April and 1 more in May.

 Debut Novel - Edge of Chaos by Molly E. Lee

Book You Bought - Edge of Chaos by Molly E. Lee

 

May Progress

 Setting begins with B - Game of Fear by Glede Browne Kabongo

 

Completed two in April and one in May for this challenge as well.

 

April Progress

 A - The Arrangement by Mary Smith

E - Edge of Chaos by Molly E. Lee

May Progress

G - Game of Fear by Glede Browne Kabongo

Goodreads Group - 2016 Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

April Progress

None

 

May Progress

 A Book Set in Europe - Bet on Me by Mia Hodell

A Book about a culture you're unfamiliar with - Cross the Stars by Venessa Kimball

 

 There were a few challenges that I didn't have any progress for in April and May. But I did read six books in April and five books in May.

 

It's Monday! What are you reading? May 2, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by The Book Date is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone.

Finished Reading

A great book for a great cause! My review can be found here.

Currently Reading

 

What Will I Read Next?

 

Review: The Arrangement by Mary Smith

 

The Arrangement (New Hampshire Bears) by Mary Smith

Release Date: April 28, 2016

Genres: New Adult, Romance

Pages:89

Source: E-Book, ARC

Goodreads Description:


The Arrangement is a novella being released as a part of the Seduced by the Game Cancer Charity Collection. All proceeds will be donated to support cancer research and patient care. More information may be found at: http://www.seducedbythegame.com/

Vance Pemberton is Irish and his only love is hockey. He sleeps, breathes, and lives for hockey. He’s been in Canada for the past two years paying his dues as the League’s Draft quickly approaches. This is going to be his year. He will be drafted. There’s just one other issue he needs to handle as well.

At the age of ten, Dacey Grion was told her marriage to Vance Pemberton had been arranged. Eleven years later, she has finished university in Belfast, Ireland, her hometown. Now, she waits for Vance to return to Ireland, in hopes they can fall in love and move forward.

It’s not until Vance’s secrets about his family and his life that their arrangement is threatened. What is the right thing to do? Is faith and respect for long-held traditions enough to repair the damage? Can their arrangement be saved? 

Notes about the book:

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a novella and give some more insight into characters introduced in the second New Hampshire Bears book. The action in this book takes sometime before book 2.

Book Quote:

“I'm so selfish in putting my wants and needs before yours. But not talking to you this past week really got me going. I missed hearing your voice and talking with you and then. . ." he stops and looks down at his skates. "Then you showed up at the airport and I knew then I would do everything to show you I care." When he looks back up, there are tears in his eyes.

My Review

When I read book #2 in this series, The Workaholic and the Realist (click title for my review), I was intrigued by two side characters, Vance and Dacey. Then Mary sent me this ARC out of the blue and I was pleasantly surprised to see it was about Vance and Dacey.

Vance and Dacey are in an arranged relationship (think arranged marriage, but starts at a much younger age). They are set to marry. Yet they barely know each other - even though they've been a part of each other's lives since birth. I don't believe I've ever read about a couple that were in this type of relationship. There was also some mystery about them in book two that just made you want more of them.

As the book starts, its glaringly obvious that Vance and Dacey have spent no time getting to know each other. Their relationship is in danger. But you can also see that they care about each other. Then just when you think they are making progress, the author throws them (and you) for a loop! Both characters were unsure what to do in the aftermath. They were loyal to their heritage of arranged marriages and were both deeply disturbed that their arrangement wouldn't work. It was a bit baffling to me. They both felt that the arrangement was their best option. I guess it must be hard to understand if you don't live in this type of world. 

Vance had me calling him bad names and I loved seeing Dacey come out of her meek shell. I still hope we get more of these two.

In addition to learning more about these two great characters, all proceeds from this book will go to a cancer charity. I couldn't find information anywhere on which charity the money will go to. I'm not sure Mary has chosen the charity yet.

Sometime down the road I may offer a giveaway featuring this book. I love the idea of getting a great book in exchange for helping a great charity. If you'd be interesting in a giveaway featuring this book,please leave a comment below. I've tried contests on my blog before. But I just don't get enough traffic and have actually never had anyone enter the contest I've run. So I'm not sure when I'll do such a contest. I'd love to hear from you if you have any suggestions about making my contests/giveaways successful!

Goodreads/Amazon

Stacking the Shelves #18

Welcome to my post for this week’s Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews. This is where I can post about the books and book swag I received this week. I will be posting my list on Sundays and will include anything I received Sunday through Saturday. 

Sorry, I just couldn't get this posted this weekend. Then I had some other posts I wanted to do or scheduled. I was actually going to try to include this in my update post, but thought it would be too long of a post. So it's going on an odd day.

I really thought I hadn't picked up that many new books. BOY, WAS I WRONG! I have put myself on a book purchasing ban. We are going on vacation this summer and I'm trying to save for that. Probably should have thought of that sooner. But, oh well! Of course, freebies are always welcome!

Here’s my list for this week.

FREEBIES

*Please check prices before one-clicking*

 

 

ARCs  & BOOKS FOR REVIEW RECEIVED

 

What did you pick up this week? Be sure and leave a comment with a link to your post so I can check out your Stacking the Shelves haul.

Book Review: The Workaholic and the Realist by Mary Smith

The Workaholic and the Realist (New Hampshire Bears #2) by Mary Smith

Release Date: April 5, 2016

Genres: New Adult, Romance

Source: E-Book, ARC

 

Goodreads Description:

If someone looked up the word workaholic in the dictionary, one would see a picture of New Hampshire Bears’ Keaton Jaco next to it. Not only is he a top defensemen in the hockey league; he’s also working towards a master’s degree and writing a book. His teammates think he’s just a playboy, but his grandmother and one other person knows the truth.

Harlow Goldsmith has never wanted to get married or have children. She considers herself a realist and knows all she wants in life is to be financially stable, travel, and have sex. After turning forty and starting her own editing company, she’s realized she has accomplished most of her goals and has done it without the help of any man.

It’s not until the workaholic and the realist initiate a sexual liaison that they see their lives in a whole new light. With both set in their ways, is a relationship even possible?

Notes about the book:
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

Not recommended for readers under 18 as there are explicit sex scenes.

Book Quote:

“You are my one. You walk in a room and I forget to breath. You laugh or smile and my heart stops beating. I crave being with you every moment I can, and when I'm not, I feel like part of my soul dies. I love you and only you."

My Review

 

 I loved Harlow's character in the first book and was excited to read more about her. The characters make this series for me. They are likable characters that when you don't get enough information about, you wish you knew more. In each book so far you get glimpses of future stars of the book that make you want to read the next book to learn more about these people. With this book, I'm interested to read about the next set of characters, Maxima and Remington; but I'm hoping there will be a future book starring Dacey and Vance. 

Harlow and Keaton have a fun and sexy relationship. Neither is afraid of sex. However, when it comes to committing to a longtime relationship, both are a bit reluctant. Then, of course, some climactic action occurs that causes Keaton to pull away. Unfortunately Harlow is the type of character to hold a grudge and doesn't forgive easily. 

Harlow and Keaton start off in a professional relationship. However, there's a playful banter between the two from the start as they each develop nicknames for each other. I don't always like when characters use nicknames for each other. But every now and then I will find a couple who I feel it works for and this was one of those couples. 

 

Through the climactic action I mentioned above, Keaton is forced to resolve some other stress in his life. I'm trying not to be too revealing to avoid spoilers. This stress was something that I completely understood why he had the feelings he did, but really wasn't sure how to resolve it or if it even could be resolved. I found the way it was resolved to be very satisfying and that I liked the outcome. 

 

Of course there was nothing NOT to like about the sex scenes. I personally have my favorite. :)-

 

I think while I was reading this that I had fallen into some kind of depressed slump that made me not love this book 100%. I'm not sure if it was this slump or the book itself. I came up with some things that I thought I didn't like about the book. But as I examine them closer now I can find things to disprove my thinking on them. So I think I have to conclude that it was just the events going on in my life that affected the way I felt about this book.

Although, I do have to say that this book will forever hold a special place in my heart. 

Yes, that is my name in her acknowledgements. I can't tell you how surprised I was to see that! I've shown several people in my life. :)  (Mary, please don't tell me if there's another Carey that reads for you!)

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble

 

Review: The Muse & The Fairy Tale by Mary Smith

The Muse and the Fairy Tale by Mary Smith

Release Date: February 2, 2016

Genres: New Adult, Romance

Source: E-Book, ARC

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Goodreads Description:

Meadow Hylton has held onto the dream of Prince Charming sweeping into her life and falling madly in love with her. Until it happens, she fulfills her fantasy by writing sports romance books. However, that love has been hit with a bout of writer's block. A new muse on social media helps diminish that block quickly.


Kyson Wick is a newly traded player to the New Hampshire Bears, and he’s thankful for the change. His goal is to be the best hockey player and forget the ex-girlfriend who broke his heart. He’s also hoping a new venture with an author looking for a new cover model is the distraction he needs.


Soon, the chemistry between Kyson and Meadow begins to grow. But when their dreams collide, will the muse be able to fulfill the fairytale?

Notes about the book:

This is the first of Mary Smith's that I've read and I will definitely be reading more of her books. I've read several of her co-authored books with Lindsay Paige.  I did receive an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This books is not meant for anyone under 18 as it does contain mild sex scenes.

Book Quote:

“Meadow, I’m not leaving you. I can’t promise you I’ll turn into Edward Cullen and live forever, but I’m down for tearing this headboard up right now.”

My Review

The only thing keeping me from reading this book in one day was the fact that I had to work the next day.  The writing flowed so well and was entertaining enough that if I had nothing else to do, I could have read it in one sitting.

I enjoyed seeing some of the behind the scenes moments of being an author. The female main character, Meadow, is honest about the pitfalls of being a full-time author. "The downside of being an at-home writer: I never left home."  Although some days in my hectic life this would seem like a dream come true. Then we also get to hear about how she finds her book ideas. "I did go to the gym, but it was mainly to check out hot guys and see what might fit into my current storyline." I'm sure all women (and men??) would admit to doing this at some point or other.

I've always liked when the reader was given a view into the chats that two romantic characters hold before the romance begins. This book employs the use of Facebook chat and again I enjoyed the chatter back and forth. I liked that Meadow and Kyson teased each other good naturedly from the start of their Facebook chats.

I chuckled, wanting to rile her up a bit and see what she was really like.
"Will I be showing my dick on the cover?"
"Good Lord, no! It’s not porn. It’s a book cover."
"According to some reviews, you write some steamy scenes."
"This is true, but that isn’t on the cover. Well, not a lot of it anyway."

Meadow and Kyson's relationship is started as a business endeavor and continues when that is over. Things start out sweet and quickly escalate to HOT. But of course there always has to be someone or thing that throws a wrench into the relationship. For this book, it's someone that is easily hate-able. It's kind of like one of those stupid horror movies where you wish you could just reach into the TV/movie screen and stop the characters from doing some stupid thing that puts them right in harms way. In this book, you know exactly what things need to be avoided and of course they aren't. But how could there not be a happy ending with this kind of title?

There are other side characters that I loved and I hope maybe they'll one day get their own book. Meodow's book editor Harlow would be my first choice. I absolutely loved her! We all need a friend like her in our lives.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone needing a good romance with a Happily Ever After!

It's Monday What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by The Book Date is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. 

Finished Reading

Currently Reading

What Will I Read Next?