The Edge of Never by J.A. Redemski

Book description via Amazon:

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?

(Due to sexual content and language, this book is recommended for 17+ – Adult Contemporary Women’s – New Adult Fiction)

J.A. Redmerski… you’re an a**hole and I hate you… but I love you so much! Waahhh! How could you f*ck with my emotions like that?! HOW COULD YOU?! WHYYEEE?

*AHEM* Okay so this book was absolutely NOTHING I expected and went in a totally different direction than what I forethought and it f*cked with my emotions up to the very end. I cried… CRIED! A flippin tear came out of my eye and I swear to you, though there have been a few books that have made me tear up, it’s not too often that a tear or two actually escape onto my cheek. I can think of one other book that has done that to me and this is the second… and I hate that I love it so much because I’m done with it and now I have NOTHING left… NOTHING!

No really, with all dramatics aside, this book seriously raped my mind. Every single page was just… UGH. I can’t believe it’s a standalone.  I enjoyed every page, even when they were trying to build up their friendship at first. I completely fell in love with Andrew and Camryn. They’re both bad ass and don’t take shit from anyone, including each other. Individually, they had no problem holding their own, but together they were a force to be reckoned with. Though they met under abnormal circumstances and their relationship bloomed in a short period of time, their connection and chemistry were undeniable in every page. I had no choice but to fall in love with them and root for them through and through. I laughed, I fell in love with this couple, and when shit hit the fan, I cried like a b*tch.

J.A. Redmerski took my emotions and made them her b*tch. She seriously personified my heart, punched it in the throat, and brought it to its knees. You are an amazing author and I can’t wait to read more of your stuff!

Wallbanger by Alice Clayton

Book description via Amazon:

Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a KitchenAid mixer, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O.

Adding insult to O-less, since her move, she has an oversexed neighbor with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard. Each moan, spank, and–was that a meow?–punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has, yep, you guessed it, no O.

Enter Simon Parker. (No, really, Simon, please enter.) When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. Their late-night hallway encounter has, well, mixed results. Ahem. With walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick…

In her third novel, Alice Clayton returns to dish her trademark mix of silly and steamy. Banter, barbs, and strutting pussycats, plus the sexiest apple pie ever made, are dunked in a hot tub and set against the gorgeous San Francisco skyline in this hot and hilarious tale of exasperation at first sight.

I totally fell in love with this book! I LOVED IT! In fact, saying that I loved it would be an understatement; words just can’t justify how much I loved this book. I couldn’t even begin to write  a review for it that would explain its amazingness! If the minds of R.L. Mathewson and Tara Sivec had a love child it would most definitely be Alice Clayton. I swear… I bet you all get together and discuss world domination…

Anyway! This was HILARIOUS and definitely on my favorites list! The author did such an amazing job with all of the characters, especially Caroline and Simon. I loved them! The sexy banter between them made me LOL throughout the book and their chemistry was oozing out of my kindle. I don’t want to say too much because I really don’t want to give a single thing away but let me tell you… prepare yourself! This will bring out your emotions in the best, most enjoyable way! Throughout the story, I laughed, I was sexually frustrated right along with Caroline, I was blown away by the super steamy scenes when they finally stopped living in denial, I even got a little teary-eyed when sh*t hit the fan.

I love Alice Clayton! She is an amazing author and I will no doubt be reading this over and over because I will never get enough Simon and Caroline! Definitely putting her Redhead series (The Unidentified Redhead and The Redhead Revealed)  on my TBR list like now!

Avoiding Responsibility (Avoiding series #2) by K.A. Linde

Book description via Amazon:

Lexi has finally given up her once destructive relationships and moved onto bigger and better things with a sexy new man in town. Just when she is starting to figure it out with him, her world is tilted once again with a phone call from none other than Ramsey Bridges. A year after his entrance into her life, Ramsey is trying to make amends and does the one thing she never expects—invites her to Jack’s wedding.

The wedding she had evaded at all costs. But no matter what she does, Lexi can’t seem to escape her past with Jack. But does she really want to?

Despite the explosive chemistry between Lexi and Ramsey, she is skeptical about trusting him after everything that has happened. When things are amiss with him, she starts questioning his motives. Can Ramsey be the one to remove Jack from Lexi’s life permanently or should she move on with her blossoming new life?

F***ING WOW. It comes as no surprise that I loved this sequel since I absolutely loved the first book (I’ve read it three times). K.A. Linde does not disappoint! Forewarning to those who haven’t read the first book, you may not want to read this review… In fact, what the hell is your life? READ THE FIRST! GO! NOW! Come back after you’ve read it and then proceed…

Linde uses the same writing style as the first book and alternates the chapters between past and present. The chapters of the present pick up about a year after the first book ended; we find out early on that Lexi and Ramsey had tried to work things out but something happened between them that caused them to separate for a month. Ramsey contacts her again, wanting to fix things, but of course, that means having to cross paths with Jack and Ramsey’s venomous sister, Bekah. The chapters of the past pick up not too long after first book left off; Lexi goes back to New York but due to unforeseen events she reconnects with Ramsey again. These chapters highlight her blossoming relationship with Ramsey and work up to unveiling the reason why she and Ramsey separated in the first place.

Okay, so that totally sounds really confusing but I really don’t want to give anything away. Basically, this book focuses on Lexi trying to have a fresh start with someone else other than Jack, but given their tumultuous past, she never knew it was possible and she still isn’t 100% sure she can do it. She wants a chance at an honest relationship with Ramsey but there’s just so much sh*t to lay out on the table. And is she really over Jack?

In my review for Avoiding Commitment I mentioned that I was torn between the two hotties BUT if you’ve been following me on twitter, I may have mentioned a time or two who’s team I was on. I won’t mention it now but I totally loved the direction this story went in. Like the first, this was a very emotional read. Lexi is a very stubborn person, but I am definitely TEAM LEXI all the way! I love her so much! She has definitely grown a lot throughout these two books. Linde did an amazing job with her character. She also threw in a few shockers that I didn’t even see coming (Touche, Linde, touche!). I will more than likely be reading this series again and again.

I love K.A. Linde’s writing style and her ability to capture the attention and emotions of her readers. She is one of my favorite authors and I will definitely be picking up her future books!

Accidentally On Purpose by L.D. Davis

Description via Amazon:

Emmy thinks her boss Kyle Sterling of Sterling Corporations is a dick.
So, she sleeps with him.

Emmy tries to put the mistake behind her, but then finds herself snowed in with Kyle. As the snow builds, so does the heat in the house between the two. The problem is that Kyle has a steady girlfriend that he is unwilling to break up with. Emmy cuts Kyle off and starts dating Luke. Even as their relationship takes off, Emmy is finding Kyle hard to shake. He is blatant in his feelings and desires for Emmy, putting her in an awkward situation. She tries hard to resist Kyle, but deep down inside Emmy’s motives are shady. When Emmy succumbs to her hidden feelings for Kyle without setting Luke free, devastating consequences ensue.

In addition to her two men, Emmy daydreams about doing violent things to her loud mouthed, opinionated mother.

With some humor and sarcasm, and of course some tequila, Emmy’s world will flip upside down as she deals with the results of “accidentally on purpose” falling for two men at once.

DO NOT let the description of this book fool you. What I thought would be sweet story with a little love triangle action, turned out to be nothing I expected yet everything I love to read about. This story is so full of emotion, I seriously can’t believe that the author only has two books under her belt.

I don’t want to give a single thing away because this really is one of those books that you just have to read to understand it’s amazingness. I was pulled in from the start and wasn’t even sure which guy to root for. I was just as confused and stuck between the two as Emmy was. She made a lot of stupid decisions but somehow I connected with her so I understood that it was essential for her to experience the repercussions of those decisions to build her character. But damn, up to the very end, I seriously wasn’t sure who the hell I was rooting for. I was so conflicted, even when every truth was laid out on the table, I was still not sure! Can she just have both? Um… CAN I just have both?! No? Fine, just kidding then…

Aside from the angst, there were lots of LOL moments and a few that made my heart ache. There was a lot of drama but it was just enough where it didn’t turn into a soap opera. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being made into a movie one day. This was seriously an amazing story. I can’t believe how much happened in only a few hundred pages… and I can’t believe that I still want more! I kind of, sort of want to know more about the guy she didn’t choose… but MAN, it’s going to be hard to accept that he’s not with Emmy. Definitely adding this to my list of favorites 🙂 Can’t wait to read more from L.D. Davis!

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Book description via Amazon:

I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk. 

Full of rage and without a purpose, former pianist Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her pay.

All 17 year-old Josh Bennett wants is to build furniture and be left alone and everyone allows it, because it’s easier to pretend he doesn’t exist. When your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, a hot mess of a girl who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. The more he gets to know her, the more of a mystery she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he may ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a slow-building, character-driven romance about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

Content Warning: This book contains mature themes and subject matter including profanity, drug/alcohol use, and sexual situations/language.

I am completely blown away by this book. This has definitely made it to my favorites list and I think it has the top spot. It was so beautifully and emotionally written, I could feel the pain, the anger, the sadness–just everything. It conjured up emotions I didn’t know I could feel.

Nastya (NAH-stee-ya) has a heavily damaged soul due to a tragic past and she doesn’t want anyone in this new town to know anything about her or her past. She doesn’t speak, she hides who she used to be behind revealing clothes and dark make-up. She comes off as badass; girls don’t like her, guys just want to do her, and the majority of everyone is afraid of her. Josh is pretty damn badass himself. He has an equally damaged soul and everyone stays away from him as if he’s surrounded by a force field. But somehow Nastya breaks through that force field. The more time they spend together, the deeper things get, but how long can any kind of relationship, whether friends or lovers, withstand secrets?

The alternating POV’s between Nastya and Josh contributed a great deal to the rawness of the story. We get more than just a glimpse into the mind of two damaged souls. It’s not a happy read full of sunshine and lollipops. There are no hot, throw-me-around type of sex scenes. There are no proposals or pregnancies, or even pregnancy scares. This book is the farthest from your typical romance novel, yet it’s not all angst and sadness. The only word I can think of that would best describe this story? REAL. It was real. What I mean by that is though the story line is just that–a story–it feels real. Somehow I felt like I was inside of their heads. The author commands real, raw emotions from her readers, and that is definitely what she got from me.

I haven’t done much research on Katja Millay but I am hoping that there is a sequel. I can’t stand not ever reading more about Nastya and Josh. I need to know what the future holds for them because I have to know how the universe will make up for the shittiness that is their pasts.

Seduction and Snacks by Tara Sevic

Book description via Amazon:

Claire is a twenty-something, single mom that grudgingly helps her best friend sell sex toys while she attempts to make enough money to start her own business to give her foul-mouthed, but extremely loveable (when he’s asleep) toddler a better life.

When Carter, the one-night-stand from her past that changed her life forever, shows up in her hometown bar without any recollection of her besides her unique chocolate scent, Claire will make it a point that he remembers her this time.

With Carter’s undisguised shock at suddenly finding out he has a four-year-old son and Claire’s panic that her stretch marks and slim to none bedroom experience will send the man of her dreams heading for the hills, the pair will do whatever they can to get their happily ever after.

Warning: contains explicit sex, profanity and enough sarcasm to choke a horse.

OH. MY. GAWD. I loved this book! I loved it so much I might just consider marrying it. It was f***ing hilarious. There was so much profanity and sarcasm, I loved it! Tara Sevic is officially one of my favorite authors. In fact, I’d like to meet her one day and make her my best friend because her witty and sarcastic sense of humor is SO on point. I feel like she’s the only one that really gets meee *ugly crying*

Anyway… this doesn’t happen too often, but I’m at a loss of words on how to review this book. It’s one of those things you just HAVE to experience for yourself… if you can handle the sarcasm, the heavy use of the words penis, vagina, and f-bombs on every other page. I get that it’s not for everyone, but if you’re like me and have a dirty mouth and dirty mind, you’ll love it. I was seriously laughing out loud throughout the whole book. I was actually cackling like a banshee at some parts. There are also a few sex scenes, which are all pretty damn steamy. I especially loved all the quotes and references to several classic movies.

This book was really different from anything I’ve ever read. It is the PERFECT book to read if you need a break from all the love triangles and angst-filled romance novels. I will definitely be starting the second book in this series, Futures and Frosting, some time today, and will definitely be impatiently waiting for the third that is still in progress.

Fall Guy by Liz Reinhardt

Book description via Goodreads:

Evan Lennox is going nowhere fast. She’s living with her grandparents after her parents bailed on her, she got kicked out of her posh private school, her ex-boyfriend proved to be the biggest sleaze imaginable, her former best friend is a back-stabber, and her current best friend is stuck in backwoods NJ. To top it all off, one teeny, tiny fire she lit to burn some memories of her ex goes a little out of control and winds up igniting a good piece of a very powerful family’s pecan orchard.

Evan lands her pampered behind in court and gets sentenced to community service. Which she knows she deserves. But the hard labor and humiliation may be her undoing.

Until she meets Winchester Youngblood on the site. 

Everything about him is tricky, confusing, not at all what it seems, and so sexy, Evan can’t resist pulling closer. But every step she takes to get to know him gives her more of a reason to back up and put him as far out of life as she possibly can. Because Winch is one hundred percent complicated, and Evan isn’t looking for that. At all. She needs to meet a nice, responsible guy, not share searing kisses with the charming hustler she met after they both got sentenced in court.

But Winch is so much more than what he seems, and Evan finds out that she’s falling hard for the guy everyone underestimates and writes off. And Winch realizes that Evan is the one person who’s ever challenged him to ask for more out of his life, and her courage inspires him to try to be the person she sees when she looks at him. With every single odd stacked against them, Evan and Winch need to find out whether they have what it takes to fall for each other.

After finding herself in front of a judge and being sentenced to community service on Saturdays, Evan meets hot bad boy Winchester. Right off the bat they know that being together would be a bad idea. Everything about the both of them is complicated yet they are both intrigued by that challenge. The more time they spend together the harder they fall for each other, but will it crash and burn in the end?

LoveloveLOVED this book! I LOVED IT. At first I thought the story would be more centered around Evan but I found it to be equally about both Evan and Winch. I feel like I got to know them both equally and thoroughly and I loved them, individually as well as together. I liked that they were both badass; feisty with some attitude, yet held a soft spot for each other. I loved Evan and her temper and especially her snarky comments. She was kind of the good girl gone bad and even though she didn’t always feel deserving, she knew what she wanted and went after it. And of course I fell in love with Winch. He was more of a good boy with a bad boy facade, always fighting against what he wanted due to familial obligations. He tried really hard to be sweet to Evan but something always got in the way. But who wouldn’t love the sweet, bad boy, family guy?!

This was a very sweet, intense, emotional, all-consuming love story. It had a lot of funny moments that made me laugh out loud and there were A LOT of heart-dropping, tear-jerking moments that made me stop and take a breather. The best part about this book was that I couldn’t predict the direction it was going in. I never knew what to expect and it kept we guessing the whole way through. I’m crossing my fingers for a continuation of their relationship in the next book! Or at least a nice update in the next installment. Definitely adding this to my list of favorites and will more than likely be reading this again in a couple of weeks.