Review: Against All Odds (Against #1) by Angie McKeon

1 star for Against All Odds (Against book 1) by Angie McKeon.

I happen to chance upon Against All Odds months before the book is published and am deeply drawn by the wistful and melancholy synopsis. Like a moth attracted to light, I added this book to my to-be-read list immediately and waited patiently for its release.

Some books are worth the world waiting for. Regrettably and disappointingly, Against All Odds is not one of them. The story starts off ok but becomes sluggish and lackluster after the second chapter.

It becomes almost too painful and tedious to continue reading at some point in time as there are too many tiresome repetitive scenes with the characters trapped in a vicious circle of the same recurring issues for unfounded, irrational reasons. Likewise, some of these issues are not properly addressed and leave the reader downright dissatisfied after reading.

This book is definitely one whereby I would have love to slap the characters all the way to Sunday and back.

Against All Odds could have been better developed if the author has spent more time on background story, added age and maturity to the characters and of course, cut the repetition.

Publisher: Angie McKeon
Publication date: 1 Apr 2014

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Our lives shattered... Our hearts broken... Our souls torn to pieces...

He was my world, my whole life. My reason for breathing. I had a perfect marriage, a baby on the way, and I felt fulfilled—almost invincible.

Until the day life hit, leaving me broken, vulnerable, and alone.

She was my life. My ray of hope on the cloudiest day. With her, I thought I had the ultimate safety. A love that would never hurt or betray me. I gave her my heart, my body, and my soul.

Until she broke me, destroying every dream and illusion I had about life, love, and marriage.

In our grief, we made a mistake. A mistake I'm not sure we can come back from.

*Blurb from author's website*

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Review: Grave Peril (The Dresden Files #3) by Jim Butcher

4 stars for Grave Peril (The Dresden Files book 3) by Jim Butcher.

Chicago wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden features yet again in this book 3 of The Dresden Files, a spooky, bizarre novel that begins almost as innocently as any other normal day in daily life.

In Grave Peril, Harry confronts his latest and most dangerous challenge in the person of a ghost of a supernatural being who possesses the power to invade people's nightmares and uses other ghosts to wreak havoc on the living.

The story is well paced and engaging with mysterious, peculiar new characters introduced. We also see new development in Harry's almost non-existent love life of which the ending hinted at further romance progression to come in the next instalment.

Publisher: Roc; Reprint edition
Publication date: 4 Nov 2008

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Harry Dresden’s faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. It comes with the territory when you’re the only professional wizard in the Chicago area phone book.

But in all Harry’s years of supernatural sleuthing, he’s never faced anything like this: the spirit world’s gone postal. All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble — and not just of the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone — or something — is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc.

But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn’t figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself….

*Blurb from author's website*

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Review: Honeymoon in Paris (The Girl You Left Behind Novella) by Jojo Moyes

4.5 stars for Honeymoon in Paris (The Girl You Left Behind Novella) by Jojo Moyes.

Honeymoon in Paris is the enthralling prequel novella to The Girl You Left Behind. This book is a must read for fans who have already fallen in love with the heartbreaking romance stories -- that of Sophie and Edouard Lefevre in France during the First World War, and, nearly a century later, Liv Halston and her husband David.

A mesmerising story of love, devotion, commitment and tells of strength, of faith, of determination and most of all, of belief in oneself in the most tumultuous of times.

Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: 16 Aug 2012

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Honeymoon in Paris takes place several years before the events to come in The Girl You Left Behind when both couples have just married.

Sophie, a provincial girl, is swept up in the glamour of Belle Epoque Paris but discovers that loving a feted artist like Edouard brings undreamt of complications.

Following in Sophie’s footsteps a hundred years later, Liv, after a whirlwind romance, finds her Parisian honeymoon is not quite the romantic getaway she had been hoping for . . .

*Blurb from author's website*

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Review: Reasonable Doubt (Reasonable Doubt #1) by Whitney Gracia Williams

2 stars for Reasonable Doubt (Reasonable Doubt book 1) by Whitney Gracia Williams.

Reasonable Doubt is a short story, one which I finish reading in a sitting and spend less than 60 minutes from start to end. In the strictest sense, this does not feel like a book but just a few chapters of easy reading.

As an entertaining read to tide over the emptiness left by the aftermath of finishing my previous intensive book, this is considered a lighthearted laid-back story.

While I do adore the controlling alpha kind of male in dark romance, I do not care for the abusive kind of personality coming from the lead male character. This is where I find the storyline weak and forlorn as the male protagonist starts out ok but ends up being a total jerk; and the girl who is supposed to be strong in personality ends up being absurdly meek.

Publisher: WGW
Publication date: 31 Mar 2014

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As a high profile lawyer, I don't have time to waste on relationships, so I fulfill my needs by anonymously chatting and sleeping with women I meet online.

My rules are simple: One dinner. One night. No repeats.

This is only casual sex. Nothing more. Nothing less.

At least it was , until "Alyssa"...

She was supposed to be a 27 year old lawyer, a book hoarder, and completely unattractive. She was supposed to be someone I shared law advice with late at night, someone I could trust with details of my weekly escapades.

But then she came into my firm for an interview—acollege-intern interview, and everything fucking changed...

*Blurb from Goodreads*

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Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

5 stars for Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. 5 HUGE stars!

Me Before You is a entrancing love story that brings to life two people who could not have less in common -- a heartbreakingly touching romantic novel that asks, what do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

Jojo Moves has my admiration for taking on a very sensitive subject and proceeding to spin a tale objectively in a lifelike setup. In my opinion, Jojo Moyes sets for herself an extremely challenging task in the days ahead, because I keep thinking, how is she going to be able to write another story that can excel Me Before You?

Reading this beautifully written novel invokes a lot of thoughts, feelings and emotions. It is so engaging that I have difficulty putting the book down. It now owns a piece of my heart, and as with many of the best books I have read, I know that this story and the characters will stay with me for a long time to come.

Last but not least, try not to read the last few chapters out of home, and keep a box of tissue papers within reach. It is a tearjerker indeed.

Publisher: Michael Joseph
Publication date: 5 Jan 2012

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Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.

*Blurb from author's website*

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Review: The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

5 stars for The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes.

The Girl You Left Behind is a timeless love story that is beautifully, exquisitely written; two young women, separated by a century, who are united in their determination to fight for the thing they love most, at whatever the cost.

This historical contemporary romance is a page turner that has me hooked on from chapter One right to the end, and brings me on an intense emotional rollercoaster ride.

I love the part One on Sophia's story especially, where it is shared from first person point of view. The narration gives rise to a progressively sweet yet increasingly precarious atmosphere until the point of no return. So engrossed am I in Sophie's world that I feel disoriented and let down when the story takes on a 180-degrees turn that fast forward itself by a century.

Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: 27 Sep 2012

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Whatever happened to the girl you left behind?

France, 1916. Sophie Lefevre must keep her family safe whilst her adored husband Edouard fights at the front. When she is ordered to serve the German officers who descend on her hotel each evening, her home becomes riven by fierce tensions. And from the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie’s portrait – painted by Edouard – a dangerous obsession is born, which will lead Sophie to make a dark and terrible decision.

Almost a century later, and Sophie’s portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before he died. A chance encounter reveals the painting’s true worth, and its troubled history. A history that is about to resurface and turn Liv’s life upside down all over again . . .

*Blurb from author's website*

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Review: Seven Sons (Gypsy Brothers #1) by Lili St Germain

3.5 stars for Seven Sons (Gypsy Brothers book 1) by Lili St Germain.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.. six years late but better than never.

The Gypsy Brothers series tell of a morally bankrupt motorcycle club and its members, and the girl who seeks her vengeance upon them once she comes of age.

Seven Sons, the first instalment of a total seven, is a refreshing yet disturbingly sad story. The plot is well paced and moves reader along with gripping, heart-stopping fear of safety for the female protagonist. I read the book from beginning to the end within a day, thanks to the 27,000 word count.

P/S: At time of post, this ebook is available for free at Amazon and Smashwords.

Publisher: Lili Saint Germain Publishing; 1 edition
Publication date: 2 Jan 2014

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Her innocence stolen. Her father murdered.

Six years ago, Juliette Portland was viciously attacked and left for dead by by people she trusted. People inside her fathers motorcycle club, greedy for power, who defiled her, shot her father dead and destroyed everything she ever cared about.

Only, she didn't die. She survived ... and now, she's out for revenge

*Blurb from Smashwords*

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Review: Darkness Before Dawn (Darkness #2) by Claire Contreras

2 stars for Darkness Before Dawn (Darkness book 2) by Claire Contreras.

Told in separate points of view, Darkness Before Dawn is the continuation of Blake and Cole's fight to make it to the light.

This is a doable story that pales drastically in comparison with book 1 There is No Light in Darkness. It would have made for a much better script minus the too much crying (by Blake), the excessive copulation (Blake and Cole) and the unwarranted abundant use of profanity.

Publisher: Claire Contreras
Publication Date: 2 Dec 2013

*** Favourite quote ***

The pain in my eyes no longer a visitor, but a full time resident.

~ Darkness Before Dawn
Claire Contreras

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Is love ever enough?

Faced with obstacles she could have never imagined, Blake is brought to darkness and back by forces in her past she never knew existed.

Desperate to stay connected to the only thing he loves, Cole is forced to revisit his past and align himself with the people who knew about Blake’s disappearance.

Separation has forced both Blake and Cole to learn how to live under the worst circumstances, each of them alone in their own hell.

When they reunite, can they be the same two people they were before darkness swept upon them?

Told in separate points of view, Darkness Before Dawn is the continuation of Blake and Cole’s fight to make it to the light.

*Blurb from Goodreads*

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