For What It's Worth


Monday, June 24, 2013

Post BEA reading and mini reviews…

I’m trying to be a good reader/blogger and get through all my BEA books in a timely fashion and at least get a mini review up for every book I received. (We'll see how that goes O_O)

Here are a couple that sadly didn’t quite work for me but might be something you might be interested in.

Source: The following book were provided by the publisher for free at BEA



17325147What does it take to rise from life’s depths, swim against the current, and breathe?

Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning.


This book is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.
Note: due to mature content recommended for Ages 17+ ~ Goodreads

Thoughts: The angst. Oh the angst! Damaged/abused characters seem to be required for all NA these days and Left Drowning was no exception with two (make that several if you count the side characters). This book actually pissed me off enough to send a long, ranting email to a friend of mine. I’ll spare you that and just say this…

I can see I'm in the minority here but this book just irritated the hell out of me.

What starts as something dark and serious with great potential quickly derails into almost non stop (quite explicit) sex and conflicting/inconsistent actions on the part of the characters. I hate when serious topics such as physical abuse and grief are pushed aside for hot sex. Pages and pages of hot sex. Yeah – yeah the sex helps them heal and create conflict…whatever. I just wasn’t buying it in this book and the ending kind of spun out of control with every character in sight having an issue that was wrapped up in a chapter or two near the end.

There's a twist that isn't even a twist if you're paying any attention at all and I'm stunned that the characters didn't figure it out at a certain point in the book.

I'm sure despite my feelings most readers of angsty New Adult will enjoy this one. But I did not.

****


The Look of LoveChloe Peterson is having a bad night. A really bad night. The large bruise on her cheek can attest to that. And when her car skids off the side of a wet country road straight into a ditch, she’s convinced even the gorgeous guy who rescues her in the middle of the rain storm must be too good to be true. Or is he?

As a successful photographer who frequently travels around the world, Chase Sullivan has his pick of beautiful women, and whenever he’s home in San Francisco, one of his seven siblings is usually up for causing a little fun trouble. Chase thinks his life is great just as it is—until the night he finds Chloe and her totaled car on the side of the road in Napa Valley. Not only has he never met anyone so lovely, both inside and out, but he quickly realizes she has much bigger problems than her damaged car. Soon, he is willing to move mountains to love—and protect—her, but will she let him?

Chloe vows never to make the mistake of trusting a man again. Only, with every loving look Chase gives her—and every sinfully sweet caress—as the attraction between them sparks and sizzles, she can’t help but wonder if she’s met the only exception. And although Chase didn’t realize his life was going to change forever in an instant, amazingly, he isn’t the least bit interested in fighting that change. Instead, he’s gearing up for a different fight altogether…for Chloe’s heart. ~ Goodreads

Thoughts:  This was another case of a damaged character, in this case Chloe who was physically abused by her ex, finding a hot guy, hot sex and a healed heart.

I can’t say this book made me mad (like Left Drowning did) as much as I found it implausible in the 48 or so hour time frame most of the book took place. The characters are both really great so that’s what kept me reading but the whole thing should have played out over months, not days, considering her fear of trusting men. I just didn’t buy into all the sexual situations happening so soon and thought they took over an otherwise interesting story. Yes, they were a sexy couple and the scenes were hot but I need more.

I would still probably recommend this one though because of how down to earth and nice Chloe and Chase were. It was a sweet story with great characters – just crammed into too short of a timeframe with a little too much heat considering Chloe’s past.

18 comments:

  1. A shame neither of these were exactly to your taste.

    I've seen lots of mention of Left Drowning, mostly bad reviews it has to be said, but what strikes me is that there seem to be so many different covers .... I can think of at least 4.

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    1. Really? I haven't seen too many negative reviews for Left Drowning. I think there were only two on Goodreads. the rest were 5 stars - which goes to show that everyone reads a book differently.

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    1. They're a hell of a lot easier to write too lol

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  3. I love mini reviews too. :) These are fantastic! I wouldn't like either book either, I suspect.

    Jessica Park is usually a no-go for me - she does pour on the angst and after a book or so of it, it starts to feel like it's being used as a crutch instead of coming up with a genuine story that moves you. Eh, my opinion.

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    1. A few people have said that Flat Out Love is a must read but this one made me so angry that I'm just not sure. And now you telling me the over the top angst is common for her I think I'll take a pass.

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  4. Well, darn!! The Bella Andre one wasn't great either? I do have some hope that it will be ok since the characters are sweet! I hope your next reads are better!

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  5. Aw... I know what you mean. Too much angst isn't for me either. I have a feeling I would feel the same way. I'm not hopping too quickly on the NA wagon either.

    Oh and I won the Bella book so I'm glad it didn't make you feel the same way as the first. Sounds like a good enough summer read with a bit of suspension of belief. I can handle that. :)

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    1. The time frame was the only real problem for me with the Bella book. The characters are nice. I just felt Chloe's issues would have taken longer to resolve even though Chase is all kinds of wonderful.

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  6. Well taht is unfortunate that neither of these really were your cup of tea...especially since I have the Andre book on my TBR too...

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    1. I really disliked Left Drowning but the Bella Andre book wasn't too bad. I would still read it. I just don't like when sex moves too quickly with characters are damaged. it would have been more plausible for me over a longer stretch of time but I still liked the MC's

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  7. The Look of Love is rushed, and that felt off for me too. But the characters are so great that I enjoyed the book anyway. I hope you continue this series, it truly gets better as it goes.

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    1. The characters were so great that I could somewhat overlook the speed of the relationship.

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  8. I really hate hate HATE it when books and character irritate me. When that happens I find it so freaking difficult to continue reading!

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    1. Yup! It was hard not tot throw this book at times.

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  9. Ugh! What IS it with NA's and seriously F'd up characters?! I'm very cautious about the NA's I read because they tend to piss me off like Left Drowning did for you. An I'm a little afraid to read That one after seeing your review.

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  10. I love the mini reviews and dislike to much angst in my books .

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  11. I would really love to read more New Adult, but they make it so hard for me to like it! They're all friggin the same!! I feel you, I don't need another angsty NA book that sets aside the issues for sex.

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