Mad Addiction (Crazy Beautiful #2) by Jessica Serra Huizenga

Released: May 8th 2016.

Blurb:

Kelley Brooks is saving herself for Prince Charming.

Ryan Blake, while charming, is definitely not a prince.

Always straightforward and realistic, Kelley Brooks and Ryan Blake know they are not right for each other. Kelley believes in fate and waiting for “the one” while Ryan prefers maintaining distance and control with unattached one-night stands.

But after indulging in a single, meaningless wedding hookup, unexpected circumstances force them into one hell of a complicated situation.

After agreeing to a fake engagement, both Ryan and Kelley must confront their pasts — and true feelings — causing them to question everything they thought they knew about family, commitment, and most importantly, love.

A lie brought them together, but will the truth tear them apart?

And what the heck does happily ever after really mean, anyway?

**This books is for readers over the age of 18 due to strong language and explicit sexual content**

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1TcfonZ
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1TZ8i8y
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1TcfzQ6
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01E2T3D3A
iBooks: http://apple.co/1WovEVA
Signed Paperback: http://bit.ly/25Ux9iq
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1MBjd6u

Kristine's Review:
Reviewed: April 2016.

In Crazy Beautiful the reader is introduced to Kelley and Ryan, respectively as Kinsley and Lucas's best friends, two incredibly loyal and determined  people that would do anything to ensure their best friends happiness, unfortunately that's where the similarities between the two end, where Ryan has mastered the art of the hit it and quit it move, Kelley dreams of Prince Charming and happily ever afters. Ryan is content to sow his oats as it were as far and wide as possible, he never promises anything more than he's willing to give which is sex only, no strings attached, he doesn't need to, he's smart, attractive and has enough charisma to make even his toughest female critic swoon, and Kelley would know, because despite her absolute vehemence for his lifestyle she can't fight her attraction to him, even Kelley can admit that despite his sexual activity he's a good guy, he may not be boyfriend material but he's kind and considerate and he's there for his friends without a word, Ryan has become a quasi friend, but she's not looking for one night, Kelley is desperately seeking the kind of love that will light up her life, the kind of passion and need that will change her world, and she's not willing to settle for anything other than that.

One moment of weakness however changes everything, when the King of One Night Stands and the Queen of Happily Ever Afters collide, everything they had planned shifts, now pregnant and expecting their child, Kelley is forced to put her dreams of a White Knight riding to her romantic rescue on hold, and Ryan is forced to confront his worst fears, parenthood and being accountable for someone other than himself. Desperate not to face judgement and ridicule from those around them, Ryan and Kelley come up with a deal, a fake engagement so that Ryan doesn't appear to be reckless, and Kelley isn't just another notch on his rather large bedpost. They've already had sex, she's already pregnant, what could possibly go wrong?

"I just didn't realize how comfortable I would get around you. It's sort of how I always pictured my life, but twisted and backwards."

Mad Addiction is at times uproariously funny, and yet tender and sweet, the more Kelley reflects on her past failed relationship and what she wants from her future, softens to the idea that there could be more to Ryan than what he's willing to admit, the more Ryan unpacks his past struggles, his sense of abandonment and fear of repeating the actions of others when responsibility became to heavier burden, the more he grows as both a man and a soon to be father and partner. For fans of Crazy Beautiful, the glimpses of Lucas and Kinsley throughout made me smile, but mist of all what I truly adored was the scope and growth you see for both Kelley and Ryan, the moments of pure anguish as you see two people shackled to their pasts, and the absolute soaring joy or seeing them look at what their future could be if they are brave enough to chase it.

"We're real. This is real. You spout all this bullsh*t about true love but I don't think you even know what that f*cking means."

The author shows a talent for drawing in the reader, for crafting a story that is witty and smart, and funny and sweet, where Crazy Beautiful grabbed my attention, it's follow up Mad Addiction had me grinning like a goon, desperate for more of these characters that I couldn't stop thinking about. Engaging from the first page, captivating to the last line, Mad Addiction quells the theory that the follow up never measures up to the first, for an author who is new to book world, she has cemented her place on my MUST READ list.

"And that's the sad, harsh, ironic truth - a lie brought us together, and the truth tore us apart."

About Jessica:

When she’s not making confetti as head honcho over at The Confetti Bar (theconfettibar.com),
co-dreaming with creative women through Monarch Workshop (monarchworkshop.com), and
blogging about her health & wellness journey going sugar-free at Simple Unsweet
(simpleunsweet.com), Jessica loves to spend her nights getting caught up in imaginary worlds.
She lives in central CT with her husband, Clifford, and the cutest cat EVER, named Curious.
She loves colorful things, making people smile, things that smell good, and is obsessed with
lemon water. And glitter. Lots of glitter.
She also loves, well…love. (She’s a sucker for a sweet story.)
You can check out what she’s up to at JSH Books and on Instagram (@jshbooks)
Want to know anything else?
Feel free to say hi at lovejshbooks@gmail.com!

Fame (Not Like The Movies #1) by Lauren McKellar - ARC Review

Blurb:

She’s supposed to cover the stories.
Not be one.

Madison Winters has life in the bag. Gorgeous fiancé? Check. Promotion to become editor of the country’s hottest fashion magazine? Check. Limited edition pair of Manolo Blahniks? Checkity-check.
Catching her fiancé with his pants down isn’t something she expects. In the space of twenty-four hours, Madison loses it all—not even her shoes will be saved.
Swapping sass + bide for sweatpants and Dior for the downward dog is going to be hell. The last thing Madison’s broken heart needs is a run-in with America’s newest playboy. Can she ever recover from this?

Tate Masters has it all—Hollywood’s latest golden boy has washboard abs, a killer smile, and a leading role in the next A-list movie.
Until a secret from his past is splashed all over the headlines, and that ‘good boy’ image fast-tracks to the gutter.
Now the media hunt is on, and they’re baying for Tate’s blood. One night of wild behaviour sees him wake up next to a gorgeous Aussie brunette—and she’s everything Tate’s afraid of.
Keeping secrets has never been this hard.

Find on Goodreads

Purchase Links:

iBooks: apple.co/1Ucw1iP

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1XHjE0l

Amazon PB: http://amzn.to/1L4N9qN

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1TuNDrL

Amazon AU: bit.ly/1oCTUGM

Kristine's Review:
Reviewed: January 2016.

For me Lauren McKellar's writing has always been evocative, her prose beautiful, her Crazy in Love and Emerald Cove series have broached a line between what I would call older YA and NA, veering on the "safer" when it comes to sex, not necessarily fade to black or suggestive romance like what I've come to expect from YA, but her writing has always focused on the connection between in more than just the physical sense. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Fame, the premise intrigued me, the idea itself felt fresh for McKellar, I was in need of something light, something funny, something sexy, something I could lose myself in, forget about my worries and just slip into reader space and be entertained, Fame was effortless, in every sense of the word.

When Madison Winters walks into work one morning she is prepared for her life to change, she certainly wasn't mistaken, the cushy promotion she expected...gone...her loving fiancé...gone...catching him in a compromising position with another woman will tend to do that... in the blink of an eye everything changes, when she's sent to an exotic island for a yoga retreat she figures this might be the break from her new reality she desperately needs, I mean how much else can actually happen to her right?

"The first rule of one-night stands is that you don't stick around, not unless you're hoping for something more."

Tate Masters is living a dream existence, as Hollywood's golden boy, with his squeaky clean image life is good, until tales from his past come calling, suddenly the golden boy is just like every other Hollywood bad boy, his future success depends on his ability to shush the nay sayers and put out a united front with his girlfriend, and keep his head down without raising anymore questions, shooting on an exotic island seems like the perfect thing for him, and really how much could go wrong there?

Madison is strong, resilient, brave, even in the face of her life crumbling she keeps going, from the high flying lifestyle she was quickly becoming accustomed to a much less exotic life, she knows her only option is to not give up, interspersed with sharp wit, exotic locales so beautifully described that the sights and smells bounce off the page and sinfully sexy moments are heartbreakingly honest and raw scenes where you truly feel what Madison is thinking and feeling, the crushing grief of saying goodbye to the life she had imagined, of realising that what she had always believed was true and real had long since disappeared into the ether. Ironically losing everything might just be exactly what she needed in order to figure out what it truly is she wants from her life, written in a way that Fame had me simultaneously devouring the pages whilst trying desperately to savour the feeling that McKellar conjured.

The author shows her depth here, having cemented her place as a go to writer of heavy emotion, one who's ability to discuss even the hardest of topics with sensitivity transcends the usual YA/NA crossover, her talent not limited to one genre, where my previous favourites by the author left me feeling solemn and introspective, Fame was a breath of fresh air, hilariously funny, incredibly sexy, ultimately swoon worthy, Madison and Tate left me smiling long after I turned the last page.

About Lauren McKellar:

Lauren K. McKellar is the writer of contemporary romance reads that make you feel. With a passion for all things fiction, she is a hybrid-published best-selling Australian author of young and new adult books.
In addition to her fiction work, Lauren edits manuscripts for both publishing houses and a host of successful independent authors, working on both structural and line elements. She loves working collaboratively to achieve a common end goal.
Lauren lives by the beach in Australia with her husband and their two dogs. Most of the time, all three of them are well behaved.

Connect with Lauren on Facebook

November 9 by Colleen Hoover - ARC Review

 

 

Blurb:

 

Beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover returns with an unforgettable love story between a writer and his unexpected muse.

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day of her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

 

 

 

Purchase Links: 

 

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1kFuK7J

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1Oz1PiX

Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/1kkjUEF

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1gYxxak

iBooks: http://apple.co/1lQ7wAQ



Amazon paperback: http://amzn.to/1PknsU8

Kristine's Review:
Reviewed: November 2015.

Where do I even start with November 9? I am a huge Colleen Hoover fan...HUGE... FSOG may have been the book that got me reading again but Slammed was the one that kept me reading, I've read thousands of books since then but one I always come back to is Slammed so to say with each new release my expectations are high would be an understatement. My paperback is a mess of coloured tabs and highlighted quotes, ones that immediately stood out as something I needed to remember and revisit.

November 9 is set on the premise that Fallon a once upon a time child actor, and Ben an aspiring writer, meet as eighteen year olds on the day of Fallon's cross country move, they meet and the world seems to tilt on it's axis, they connect on a level neither has seemed to have ever experience before but Fallon is about to embark on a new adventure, one that will hopefully see her life change, they set each other tasks for the coming year with a plan to meet back up in one year's time. They block each other on social media, they don't swap numbers, they are only armed with a plan to see each other again on November 9 the following year, where they can compare notes on the year that has passed and hopefully everything they have accomplished in the time that has passed.

It's an exciting premise, one born out of a greater need to find out who they truly are, to find their place in the world, and figure out who they want to be. Fallon citing her mother's advice as her reason for leaving this connection behind, the theory that you change exponentially from eighteen to twenty three, Fallon wants to find herself again before falling in love, before being lost in someone else, leaving her with five years to find who she is and what she wants to be.

"You'll never be able find yourself if you're lost in someone else."

November 9 isn't just a date that these two will continue to reconnect over the course of the coming five years, nor is it just the title of this book, November 9 holds special relevance as the day Fallon's life changed dramatically as and as result it's a date that holds a darker meaning for her, but with this new and exciting connection with Ben pushing her to test her boundaries, he's succeeding in replacing her sad memories with something to look forward to.

There's so much beauty here in this story, in true Hoover fashion I was instantly swept up in her words, making me forget everything going on in the world around me and truly lose myself in the world she created.

"I missed you, Fallon...A lot. And screw it if I'm not supposed to admit that, but I tried the whole alpha male thing for two seconds, and I just can't do it. So you don't get alpha Ben today. I'm sorry."

With lines like these it's hard not to be swept up in their albeit unconventional romance,  a friendship born out of the unlikeliest of meetings, one that transcends time, one day a year to spend together, a handful of hours to say everything they've both been thinking and feeling never quite feels like enough and yet every moment they share seems better than the last, and as I sped through the pages I didn't once question their connection, because I could feel every emotion seep though the pages, I could feel it hammering through my blood, telling me that what they'd found in that restaurant on the first day was real.

But as with time, life moves forward and as much as every year they meet up and their bond strengthens, them having to say good bye again becomes more and more difficult. I felt myself dreading their goodbyes as much as they did, and I kept repeating over and over in my mind that they should just void their plan, they should stay together, they should be with one another, and they could write whatever story they wanted together.

"I thought I was tougher than a word. But I just discovered that having to say good bye to you is one of the hardest things to do."

Nothing about November 9 ever felt forced, there was never a time that I felt like the author threw in angst for the sake of it to fill the story, there were moments that I was wearing my biggest swooniest grin, other's when my heart seemed so full I almost expected it to burst out of my chest, and there were moments of pure and unadulterated heartbreak, because as Fallon so eloquently described not all romances mean that the hero and heroine have to end up together, as long as they are happy whether it be together or separate that's all that matters.

"Your hands touch someone who isn't me. Your lips make promises against skin that isn't mine."

Lines like that is why I read, it's why I get so lost in a Colleen Hoover book, it's lines like that that have goose bumps prickling my skin, setting fire to my heart, causing me to stop and just breathe in her words, it's those moments that I crave when I read, to be totally lost in a book and it's characters.

I was head over heels with Fallon and Ben, with their journey, with their torment of being apart despite it being of their own doing, of them both battling their own pasts to find a way to be whole on their own and then together, and there were so many moments that truly stole my breath, and left me wanting more, but the last thirty per cent felt rushed, I wanted more, I wanted more from Ben, I wanted to recreate that swoon worthy feeling he gave me in the beginning, I wanted to feel his desperation more keenly. I didn't want to put this book down at any point, sitting at a family party on Sunday afternoon, when my husband noticed my forlorn appearance, he urged me to pick up my book so I could keep reading, I dove back in immediately needing to know more, I know this book will hit all the right notes for so many readers, I loved the pacing, I loved the way we didn't get bogged down in everyday life for Fallon and Ben instead focusing on their time together each year, but in the end the final quarter didn't finish as strongly as I had hoped. Without a doubt Colleen Hoover continues to excel as so much of this showed her growth as an author, as always I'm excited to see what's next for her.

 

About Colleen Hoover:

#1 New York Times bestselling author of books that make you feel good. And bad. But mostly good.

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