Book Review: Raw by Belle Aurora

Author: Belle Aurora

Release Date: January 2014

Publisher: CreateSpace

Pages: 358

Rating: 5 stars

Buy on: Amazon

Add to: Goodreads , Leafmarks

***Author Note: This is not a love story. This is a story of love gone wrong.*** Growing up the way I did, you'd think I'd be more screwed up than what I actually am. Soon as I turned sixteen, I left that bump in the road I called home and took my chances on the street. Best decision I ever made. Now, at the age of twenty six, I'm educated, employed and damn good at my job. My friends have become my family. Like me, they know what it's like to grow up unloved. But the saying is true. The world makes way for those who know where they are going. That's me. I know where I'm going and I'll get there eventually. On my own terms and at my own pace. But then there's him. I feel his eyes on me. I see him hiding in plain sight. He watches me. He makes me feel. It's unconventional. But it's real. I'm sure you're wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker. So am I. This isn't a story. This is my life. ***This book includes situations that some may find uncomfortable.

My Thoughts:

DISCLAIMER: This book contains mature context,drugs, violence and foul language.

Raw is one of those books that talk about hard stuff. It is one of those books that attempt to change the readers view on a specific topic while some fail some others succeed. Raw is one of the books in the later category.

This is not a love story, this is love story gone terribly wrong. The book is written in an alternative pov that makes it even better, at least for me.

Everything starts with Alexa, a child of the system who made it big in Australia as a successful case worker, she is dedicated to her job, she loves the people she is responsible for and she has a stalker. Normal stuff.

I liked Alexa since page one, she is smart, and careful and leads a pretty normal life like every other person until one night everything she considers normal will wash away, she will come face to face with danger, recklessness and she will find her self in a world so much different that he own. But she is not afraid to just jump in and get the best out of it.

Meet Twitch, the stalker. The guy who has been watching Alexa for a year, an unstable psychopath, who needs anger management lessons and he is a bad person in general, from whatever point of view you decide to take it. To be honest, I loved Twitch because he is not your normal anti-hero. The guy is dark and twisted and literally he has no heart. He has nothing inside him that can love anyone or anything. He is scary, terrifying and he is real. A real stalker.

These two, are so much different, yet they have something in common. A memory that has defined both of them differently.

This is a book that shows us that labeling people can be deceiving, because looks don;t always matter. A book about finding your dark side and embarrassing it, a book that will tear your heart in little pieces and throw them out of the fucking window.

While reading this book I came to realise that no one is truly lost until you try till you drop to save him, to help him, to show them that you care. The book was twisted, and sad, with a lot of ups and downs and fucking twists that made me pull my hair out of my skull one by one. When you feels sure that you know something there comes the twist that makes you look at the page like an alien. Like you dont understand what you are reading. I loved that, because its been some time since I read a book that I actually did not want to turn the page because I was terrified of what will happen next. Raw is not an emotional roller coaster is a roller coaster ride gone terribly bad.

To be honest, I dont; know how I feel about stalkers right this moment, but it may have changed my view more than I am anticipating. These are people too that something went wrong in their lives at some point that made them who they are. Everyone goes through something that defines us as humans it is just some people tend to not take it that well and end up on the other side, the dark side.

While the book was exceptionally well written and it had its doses (apart from sadness, terror, mind blowing sex) of (surprise) humor that had me rolling on the floor with tears in my eyes and some romantic scenes (that were followed by pain) the ending was bloody awful. Literally.

I feel that its a cliffhanger so it better be a second book on the way. So, for people who hate cliffhangers and promising endings this book is not for you.

I recommend this book, because it is dark, twisted and something different from what we are used reading on the erotica genre.

this book reminded me of this song: Whore by In This Moment

Book Review: Promise Me This by Christina Lee

Author: Christina Lee
Release Date: October 7th 2014
Publisher: InterMix
Series: Between Breaths #4
Pages: 300
Rating: 3 stars
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Add to: Goodreads, Leafmarks

A new love will test the boundaries of passion between a privileged boy next door and the tattooed, blue-haired girl who helps him embrace his wild side... 

Nate has developed quite a playboy reputation around campus. It's not that he doesn't respect or trust women; he doesn't trust himself. The men in Nate’s family are prone to abusive behavior—a dirty secret that Nate’s been running from his entire life—so Nate doesn't do relationships. But he can’t help himself around one girl…

Jessie is strong, independent, and works at a tattoo parlor. Nate can’t resist getting close to her, even if it’s strictly a friendship. But it doesn't take long for Nate to admit that what he wants with Jessie is more than just friendly.

With Jessie, he can be himself and explore what he’s always felt was a terrifying darkness inside him. Even when Nate begins to crave her in a way that both shocks and horrifies him, Jessie still wants to know every part of him. Testing their boundaries together will take a trust that could render them inseparable… or tear them apart.

My Thoughts

I received this eARC from Penguin Group Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Although,it took me some time to get into the story and it was kind of predictable, I enjoyed Promise Me This. The writing is really nice and it made the characters more real and more likable. The story is being told by two POV;s and I always love that in a book, it just makes it much more interesting. I loved Jessie and her awesome character. The fact that she was off the wall and so much different than other heroines of similar books was pretty awesome.

In comparison to other NA books, this one was kind of original when it came to the main characters and they relationship they developed. Yes,like other stories these two are attracted to each other without giving anything away. Jessie seems to be the bad girl from the good family with the dark side on sex and Nate is the good guy from the broken family with a shy and more closed and restricted personality when it comes to sex because of his past.

The relationship between those two does not have any ups and downs and tough break ups like in other books of this genre. Everything seem smooth and Jessies helps Nate a lot when it comes to finding his personality,trust himself and realize that he is not danger to anyone.

At some points the feelings were flat and did some scenes lacked that anticipation. The conversations were okay,some seemed forced and others were extremely good while others lacked something, as for the humor better not to discuss it. It was bad. 

This is part of a series that I think it helps if you read the first three books in the series but you can also read it as a standalone.

Book Review: Undeniable by Ashley Simone

Author: Ashley Simone
Publication Date: April 15th 2014
Series: Undeniable
Pages: 70
Rating: 1.5 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

What if One Night Could Change Your Life?
Working in a diner by day and desperately applying for graduate jobs by night, Allie Nobokov fears that her future will be one of a single, virginal, cat lady. A chance encounter with a gorgeous stranger, Zac, awakens her desires and she feels an undeniable connection.

When fate pushes them together once again, Allie’s desires run wild – until, just when things start getting hot and heavy, Zac disappears into the night...
How can you deny a connection so strong?
All that is pushed to the back of Allie’s mind when her younger brother shows up on her doorstep, desperately in need of more money than she can provide… Until she sees a classified ad.

“I met a girl and I can’t get over her,”
says the ad, and goes on to describe Allie. “If you look like her, I’ll pay handsomely for one night with you.”
Can Allie summon the courage to answer the mysterious ad and go through with what it entails? And can she convince the enigmatic Zac to push aside his demons and give their love a chance?

My Thoughts: 

This ARC was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Undeniable is a 70 page novella that it can take anyone out there under an hour to read- or in my opinion waste.

It was an easy story to get into as it was easy to get out of, I didn;t even mind the cliffhanger which is something rare for me to be completely honest.

From the first page of Chapter 1, I figured out the main protagonist, Allie. She is the kind of girl that she falls in love easily, can;t stop over thinking someone she just met and she focuses too much on her thoughts of someone she randomly met that puts her real problems aside. Her brother has a real problem and the only thing she cares about is how to get laid. May be her brothers issue pushed her to do what she did but eventually she did it out of her own interest and no one else's.

I couldn't feel anything about her whether that was pity or hate or something else and generally I felt like the characters of the book were shallow and superficial. I don't see the reason to spend another one or two hours to read the next novellas of this one because simply, I wasnt impressed.

At all.

Unfortunately, Undeniable is a boring and uninteresting book.

Efterpi

Black Box by Cassie Leo (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Cassie Leo
Publisher: Create Space Independent Publishing
Release Date: May 10th 2014
Pages: 394
Rating: 4 stars
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Add on Goodreads\

♥️ Three fateful encounters....
♥️ Two heart-breaking tragedies....
♥️ One last chance to get it right.

From New York Times best selling author Cassia Leo, comes an epic love story about rewriting destiny.

Over the course of five years, Mikki and Crush cross paths on three separate occasions. Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.

Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.

When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.

Review

Black box its not your typical love story – in fact its so much different and fresh that any love story out there. Written in a masterful way the author promises heartbreak, gloom and sadness and rejoice in a whole other level.

It all starts with Mikki a girl suffering from bipolar and a past full with unhealed wounds that hunt her everywhere. She feels her past everyday, she sees them, breathes them, she changed completely because of them but she never got over them. That memory never erased no matter how many meeting she had with her phycholgist no matter how many times she tried to kill herself. They are there but under the shadow of her scary past lies a mystery, her savior.

Meet Crush a sexy, sad and rich man who tries to hide from his friend death that happened four years ago,a guy who carries a burden and the worst of guilts on his shoulders a guy who tried to find the only person that made him feel and saved him without her knowledge, a girl that he will never forget no matter what...until he finds her in the most weird place – an airport.

It all started there at the airport a journey of two people that were ''strangers'' until they realised that they know each other and they had met under the most gory and sad circumstances. Their separate tragedies entwine to reveal the utmost purpose of fate. While the days the have together they explore themselves and their limits they also become close. Mikki never had so many first in her entire life but within a few days she managed to find herself and love herself for who she is and for what she wants to be. She embraced life and saw hope in the future for the first time.

The book is written really well but what put me off was the insta love and the too many coincidnces that really made some parts of the book cliché. Other than that the writing was really good, we had a double POV which for me was a huge plus since you get the whole story with no loose ends or gaps.

Its a great read that will make your heart ache from sadness but in the end you will rejoice with utmost excitement.

Twisted by K.A. Robinson (book review by Efterpi)

Author: K.A. Robinson
Release Date: May 7th 2013
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 320
Series: Torn #2
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add on Goodreads

Chloe and Drake have found their happily ever after... Almost.

When Chloe's mother comes back into her life with a bang, it sets off a chain of events no one could have ever expected.
Everyone has their demons, and Chloe and Drake's hit them with a vengence.

Sex, drugs, money, a crazy ex, and Rock n Roll.... Can they survive it all?

Things are beginning to feel a bit... Twisted.

Review: 

ARC Kindly Provided by Atria Books

This book had me pulling my hair so hard I thought I would be bald by the end of it. It was amazing.

While we continue with the story of Chloe and Drake we come face to face with their pasts. Chloe has to deal with her impossible mother trying to avoid involving Drake in this abusive relatioship, but once Drake leaves for his tour with his band everything goes downhill.

In a series of events we get to see Chloe unravel in the worst possible way, and while her cousin is trying to help her deal with her problems Drake has to deal with his fears..jealousy, insecurity and drugs mix with his bad boy attitude in a lethal combination.

The second book of the series Torn is much more serious, concentrates on the problems of each of the characters and how they try to solve them without ruining each other. We get to see that understanding and love can heal every open wound and that with communication you get to tame the most horrible beast.

I loved the writing and how Robinson did a good job with the supporting characters as well. Other than that some drama was unnecessary and some scenes seemed a little forced but that was the only drawback. The book itself was an emotional roller coaster that I never wanted it to stop, it pulled me in and by the time the book was done I came up breathless and wanting more.

Cant wait to read book 3.

Tidal by Emily Snow (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Emily Snow
Release Date: December 14th 2012
Publisher: MagnoliaB Publishing LLC
Pages: 313
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on: Amazon
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Now that Willow Avery is out of rehab, she's got one chance left to prove herself before she’s officially on every producer’s shit list. At least, that's what her parents and agent are claiming. She doesn't really give a damn if she never makes another movie or not—she just wants to get on with her life, get back to her friends, and find her next escape. But Willow is broke. And whether she likes it or not, acting is the only job she knows how to do.

When she accepts the lead in a beach drama, Willow finds herself in Hawaii. And in Hawaii, she finds Cooper, the gorgeous surfer hired to train her for her new role. With the bluest eyes she’s ever seen and the sexiest Australian accent she’s ever heard, Cooper’s different from the men she’s used to. He doesn’t want to use her. And he refuses to let her fail. But when an old friend re-enters Willow’s life—a friend whose toxicity she’s been drawn to time and time before and whose presence brings about the painful memories she's tried so hard to suppress—Willow will have to choose between the girl she was and the person she’s becoming. The lifestyle that helps her forget the pain and the guy she’s falling hard for.

Review:

This little book was just amazing. I had it my nook for god know how long and I just regretted the fact that I didnt read it sooner.

Let me start by saying this: The characters were so well built, so scrutinized tot he last detail, so amazing that It made my heart swell with pain and love and confusion as the book went on.

Meet Willow, a 20 year old actress already on the verge of failure thanks to her shenanigans around the Los Angeles club scene. Being the victim of alcohol and drugs, having two rounds of rehab under her belt she is finally out and already on her last chance to make a good movie before she ends up in porn.

From page one I knew that this would be a tough book, addressing not only celebrity problems, but self confidence and self appreciation, the need to take control of your life and the need to be understood by everyone who think you are someone you are not. Willow is the perfect character, she has sadness in her, she perceives the world differently and she is not acting like high and mighty that most people do in the Hollywood industry- she is just plain and empty on the inside. She is afraid to love and she is afraid to dare, she doesnt care anymore because caring on of the biggest secrets in her life she is exhausted. She just wants to do what she is supposed to and be left alone and then she meets Cooper.

In one word Cooper is brilliant. He is a surfer and has this funny, assholish, bad boy attitude, I want to get in your pants style that makes him one of the best book boyfriends ever. He is broken himself, lost his mother from drugs and was always under the glare of his abusive father, Cooper tries to find his way in the world through surfing – until he meets Willow. Then everything explodes of both of them and its just amazing to watch.

This is not like other books where the girl falls for the guy within chapters, its slow, torturing and beautiful because the narration is just great. The author did a really good job and while we get tortured we get to see the perfect personality of Willow. Get an insight in her world and trust me I felt every single thing,i felt like I could be friends with her.

The author skipped some parts in the book, like the filming of the movie but I dont think that this was important enough, there were the basic scenes and scenes that we should read about but nothing redudant. The book takes place is Honolulu, Hawaii and the description is really good, bringing Hawaii to my feet (almost felt the sand) and being able to draw a picture of the blue sea and the trees etc.

I loved that the ending was not rushed unlike some other, ehm, books and that it close beautifully.