Where Sea Meets Sky by Karina Halle (Where Sea Meets Sky #1)

Original title: Where Sea Meets Sky
Year published: 2015
Published by: Atria
Number of pages: 384
First sentence: “I get an erection the moment I first lay eyes on her.” 

Plot: Joshua Miles has spent his early twenties spinning his wheels. Working dead-end jobs and living at home has left him exhausted and uninspired, with little energy to pursue his passion for graphic art. Until he meets Gemma Henare, a vivacious out-of-towner from New Zealand. What begins as a one-night stand soon becomes a turning point for Josh. He can’t get Gemma out of his head, even after she has left for home, and finds himself throwing caution to the wind for the first time in his life.

It’s not long before Josh is headed to New Zealand with only a backpack, some cash, and Gemma’s name to go on. But when he finally tracks her down, he finds his adventure is only just beginning. Equally infatuated, Gemma leads him on a whirlwind tour across the beautiful country, opening Josh up to life, lust, love, and all the messy heartache in between. Because, when love drags you somewhere, it might never let go even when you know you have to say goodbye.

My thoughts: Oh my god, the feels. I think I remember crying. Yeah I definitely cried some.

Karina Halle has done it again, people! She’s written yet another fun, sexy and heart breaking novel. Throughout this book I kept getting bombarded with feels and I laughed, I cried and I got a bit hot and bothered (read: a lot).

About 10 pages in I realized that the Josh in this book is the same Josh as in Love, In English (Vera’s brother) and I was like “OMG” because I really enjoyed Josh in that book even though he had a small part in it. And let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed by Josh in this one! He is what I would say is my kind of guy, like really. He’s tall (YAY!), he’s got dark hair, tattoos and piercings (swoon). He’s also funny, loving, caring, sexy, a good driver (yes, this is important) and like me he’s afraid of confined spaces and heights, at least that’s the impression I’m getting. So basically if Josh came up to me and asked me to marry him I’d say “HELL YES!”.

What about Gemma? Well, I quite liked Gemma, even though I sometimes wanted to smack her upside down because she’s so unbelievably fucking stupid. Okay, I got that out of my system.

Gemma is actually a pretty cool chick, in that adventurous, sexy kind of way. She’s into all this scary stuff like rafting (through a fucking cave system), zip lining, hiking (okay, not that crazy) and swimming in ice water. She works at a gym and she’s super fit and could probably kick most guys asses. But underneath that bad ass exterior she’s a really sensitive girl who’s been through a lot of hard stuff in her life.

There’s also Amber, who’s Gemma’s cousin from the States. I’m not gonna say much about her since she got her own book, Racing The Sun, which is waiting for me on my shelf. But she’s funny and cute and I really enjoyed her.

Karina – as always – paints a picture of a place I’d really like to visit. She’s got a real eye for detail and she writes in a way that makes it feel like you’re right there with the characters, drinking beer in Mr. Orange and rolling your eyes at Nick the Dick.

So this is a book filled with adventure, heartbreak, love and people finding themselves. I really enjoyed it and I definitely think that you should read it!

P.S. If you can, please go back and read this in a New Zealand accent, way more fun that way!

VIDEO REVIEW: Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

So this is my attempt at a video review. I’m not sure I like doing it this way because I feel like some things get left out. But anyway, enjoy! (Beware of spoilers, they might appear)

Thanks for watching!

The Offer by Karina Halle

Original title: The Offer
Year published: 2015
Published by: Metal Blonde Books
Number of pages: 272
First sentence: “”Live with no regrets.””

Plot: She thinks he’s an arrogant playboy.
He thinks she’s an uptight prude.
But he’s about to make her an offer she can’t refuse.

Nicola Price used to have it all – a great career, the perfect boyfriend, an excessive shoe collection and an apartment in one of San Francisco’s best neighborhoods. But when she gets knocked up and her a**hat boyfriend leaves her high and dry, Nicola’s perfectly crafted world comes tumbling down. And stays that way.

Now, Nicola is the proud single mom to a five-year old daughter and living a giant lie. She can barely afford their ghetto apartment and all the men she dates run when they hear she comes with a child. She’s struggling and scared – and nowhere near where she thought she’d be at age thirty-one.

Her saving grace comes in the form of a tall, handsome and wealthy Scotsman Bram McGregor, the older brother of her friend Linden. Bram understands a thing or two about pride, so when tragic circumstances place Nicola at rock bottom, he offers them a place to live in the apartment complex he owns. It’s pretty much the perfect deal, so as long as she doesn’t mind living beside Bram, a man that, despite his generosity, seems to antagonize her at every turn.

But nothing in life is free and as Nicola gets her feet back on the ground, she discovers that the enigmatic playboy may end up costing her more than she thought.

She might just lose her heart.

Those McGregor brothers are nothing but trouble…

My thoughts: LOVE LOVE LOVE. Okay I know I rave about Karina Halle all the damn time. But there is a reason ya’ll. I even started raving about her before I’d even read one of her books. But you know what? She didn’t disappoint. She has yet to disappoint and if I’m being honest I don’t think she will. Because she is the queen of creating hot guys and amazing female leads! They’re all badass just like she is herself (or at least that’s the feeling I’m getting off of her in social media and stuff, plus her fashion sense, oh god, but wait we’re talking about the book not the woman).

So Nicola, ah Nicola. I loved Nicola. Single mom, never stops fighting, hot. Nicola is everything I would want to be if I’m ever left to fend for myself and a kid. And she’s got an amazing support system as well. She fights so hard to give her daughter, Ava, the very best and she doesn’t want to be a charity case. So of course when Bram makes the offer she’s reluctant at first but then decides to accept for Ava’s sake. Yay mom! I admire that a lot. Because I know that pride can be a problem some times and letting people help is really hard.

Ava is Nicola’s daughter. She is adorable and I wish my future kids will turn out like her! She’s diagnosed with diabetes and though she’s a bit confused about it at first she stays brave and learns how to deal with the “ouchies”.

Other than Nicola and Ava there’s, of course, the leading man, Bram. And oh my Bram what a man (yes there’ll be a lot of Bram-isms here, for sure). He is 35-ish, hot and has a Scottish accent. Does it get any better? Oh yes it does. He’s, wait for it, a god in bed.

“Once you go Bram, you won’t give a damn”

At first I thought that he was just full of himself but it turns out he’s good at what he does. As Nicola herself puts it, she knows when a woman is faking it and none of the women who lands in Bram’s bed ever do. Hot Bram!

“One night in Bram’s bed and your legs are forever spread”

Yeah, but how could anyone ever live up to Bram though? I mean I’d hate to be the guy a girl sleeps with after Bram. Poor fella. I don’t think anyone could ever compete with Bram, at least not in any serious capacity. I mean, not only is he a hot Scot with a golden dick but he’s also kind and caring. He’s good with kids, he’s generous and he drives a Mercedes. Yes, a MERCEDES.

The guy who Karina had in mind when writing Bram was none other than Tyler Hoechlin aka Derek Hale, who is, by far, my favorite alpha male, like ever. It’s too good to be true really.

I would very much like to go on a trip to IKEA with Bram. Disneyland would also work. Hell I’d even go for a drive in his Mercedes 😉

Always and forever Team Perv ❤

#dicks

The Changeling by Helen Falconer

Original title: The Changeling
Year published: 2015
Published by: RHCP Digital/ Random House
Number of pages: 496
First sentence: “He was a handsome boy of seventeen when he chanced on her, washing her red-gold hair in the soft water of a pool surrounded by hawthorns”

 Plot: Some of us are born to be magic.

Aoife is an ordinary teenager, hanging out with her childhood friend Carla, putting up with school. The worst she has to contend with is that the boy of Carla’s dreams is trying to get off with her instead.

But then, after chasing a lost little girl no one seems to be able to see, Aoife starts to develop mysterious powers. Eventually her parents confess that she isn’t their real daughter. Their human child was stolen by the fairies, and Aoife is the changeling left behind in her place.

Shocked and disorientated, Aoife turns to Shay, the taciturn farmer’s son who is the only person who might believe her story. Together, they embark on a dangerous journey, which takes them deep into the underworld and changes everything they thought they knew about fairies.

 My thoughts: As per usual I’m not sure where to begin. I got this from NetGalley (as I sometimes do). And though I read it before it was published I haven’t had time to write this review until now. Sad I know. To be honest, the thing that first caught my eye was the title. I love all things fae and about Changelings, as you probably know the Trylle series by Amanda Hocking – which deals with Changelings – is one of my all-time favorite series. Dissonance by the lovely Mariella Hunt also has the element of Changelings. Anyway I’ll continue with the book in question. The second thing that caught my eye was the cover, I mean it’s gorgeous is it not? I was sold right there. Then I read the synopsis and I had one of those moments when the three cherries flash before my eyes. Like this but with the cherries 😉

Then I started reading and I can’t remember why but for some reason it took me a while to get into it. I think that maybe I wasn’t interested enough. I’d left the book until the very last moment so I was “forced” to read it. Thankfully I got over that. I also had some problems with how you pronounce the name Aoife, haha. Now I know it’s pronounced like Eva but with an F instead of a V, kind of. Which brings me to the next thing!

They are in Ireland. IRELAND!

Yes I know this is very stereotypical but I don’t care, they’re in IRELAND. They’re Irish. The accent and the everything *dies*. I love Ireland. Sadly I’ve never been but I’m hoping to change this very soon.

Aoife is a great character, I like her. She’s kind, funny and most importantly, a teenager. Most often teenagers aren’t actually teenagers in books, so I was very happy to see that Aoife actually continued being a teenager even after everything that happens to her. And believe me a lot of stuff happens to her. I will not reveal too much because I honestly think that you should read this book. I like to believe that you also learn some stuff about the Irish culture when you read this. The story takes place in Mayo and the author lives there so I like to believe that the folklore and stories used in this book is there because that’s what they believe over there. I don’t know this just got weird didn’t it? Let’s move on to something you all will understand. A boy. Of course I can’t read a book without crushing on at least one boy. His name’s Shay (short for Seamus, adorable!) and he’s so cute.

Aoife and Shay go on a journey to like this magical fae land. It’s weird and amazing at the same time. I kind of felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland for a while. There’s this huge cat thing and – you’ll know what I mean once you read it. Anyway, in this fae land there’s this really creepy guy who was kind of like a consort to the fae queen I guess? He’s totally creepy and I felt like vomiting all over him. Not a nice guy.

It ends with something… I’m not going to spoil but here’s what I felt when it happened:

When Shay tells Aoife he doesn’t have grá for her:

If you want to know what grá is your just going to have to read the book 😉

So I loved this book! I gave it five stars and you guys should definitely read it!

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #3)

Original title: City of Glass
Year published: 2009
Published by: Walker Books
Number of pages: 492
First sentence: “The cold snap of the previous week was over; the sun was shining brightly as Clary hurried across Luke’s dusty front yard, the hood of her jacket up to keep her hair from blowing across her face.”

 Plot: To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters – never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City – whatever the cost?
(From Goodreads)

 

My thoughts: First of all this review should have been up over 2 months ago, sorry about that. It’s just that after reading this I didn’t know what to do with myself. I guess there very too many feelings involved or something.

After reading the first two books in the series I was definitely already sold on the story and the characters, but there’d been something missing, they needed something else to earn that fifth star. With this book I got that. I have no idea what it actually was though. After reading this book I kind of felt like I did when I walked out of the movie theater after watching Battle of the Five Armies. I told my boyfriend “straight in the soul” or something like that, I can’t remember exactly what I said since I was crying but the bottom line was that I’d felt something. Something painful, and also a whole helluva lot of rage. In this book I was mad at basically everyone. I was mad at Jocelyn for coming back right when shit’s going down and acting like nothing happened. I’m mad at Jace for the way he acts towards Clary and even towards himself. I’m mad at Valentine because he’s Valentine. No, but, you get a lot of more background info in this book, about what happened when Jocelyn was pregnant with both of her kids and stuff like that. I’m mad at Sebastian because WHAT THE HELL! I mean I’d had this spoiled for me beforehand so I already knew who he was when he was first introduced but the characters didn’t and the stuff that went down was just too much. There were times when I wanted to throw the god damn book out the window. She’s really good at pissing people off that Cassandra Clare, haha. But even though I could kill Sebastian I’m crushing on him so bad. He’s like that psychotic bad boy with all the looks that you just can’t hate even when you should. Surprisingly, I’m not actually mad at Clary this time, sure she’s a naïve little brat but that’s not her fault. Her mother led her to believe that everything was normal so of course she won’t know what consequences her actions will have. Also in this book we get reacquainted with a certain character only for him to die. I wasn’t that mad about when I read it but now…DAMN IT! I mean a lot of people are bound to die in this book with Valentine’s crazy plans culminating and all that but still.

I love how Downworlders and Shadowhunters work together to save everyone from Valentine. I love Magnus Bane, he’s particularly sassy in this book, though I feel it’s going to get better in the next book.

In this book the kids finally learn the truth about who their parents are, and by kids I of course mean Jace. It had been bothering me a lot, him not knowing that Valentine wasn’t his father. Of course he almost goes and does something stupid before he learns this, he is Jace after all. Actually he almost does multiple stupid things, okay he actually does one stupid thing but you’ll have to read the book to find out what.

The book ends happy-ish. I mean they’re all going back to New York, Malec is happening, Luke and Jocelyn is happening, Clace is happening, people are dead, wait, are they really? Again with people being naïve. I have learned to not believe that someone is dead until I see a body, and not even then can I be certain they’re actually dead. I mean in books and movies here of course, I’m not some sort of crazy person. Or am I?

I had to take a pause from reading this series after the third book because I felt like I needed something else but now I feel like I’m ready to get back into the Shadowhunting world. City of Fallen Angels is up next!

Do I recommend it? HELL YES!