The Wicked Girls

 The Wicked Girls

 Alex Marwood
 Read by request

  

Amazon Blurb -

On a fateful summer morning in 1986, two eleven-year-old girls meet for the first time. By the end of the day, they will both be charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, journalist Kirsty Lindsay is reporting on a series of sickening attacks on young female tourists in a seaside vacation town when her investigation leads her to interview carnival cleaner Amber Gordon. For Kirsty and Amber, it’s the first time they’ve seen each other since that dark day so many years ago. Now with new, vastly different lives—and unknowing families to protect—will they really be able to keep their wicked secret hidden? 

*****

Wowsers!  Phew, JUST finished it and wanted to get my review done.  This book was excellent!  I totally enjoyed it.

Jade and Bel are two misfits, one from the wrong side of the tracks, the other an unwanted inconvenience in her mother's new well to do life and family.  The two connect on one fateful day and nothing is ever the same for either. 

Fast forward to present time and these girls have been given new lives where no one knows their true identity. They are ironically thrown together at a tourist beachside town where someone is killing young girls.  Amber works at the amusement park and Kirsty is a reporter.  Both are stunned to see each other for the first time since they'd been in court.  

How will they handle this?  What really happened that fateful day?  Were they really Wicked Girls?  Well, you'll just have to read it for yourself ;)

I loved it!  This book had me angry, nervous, sympathetic, and sad.  My emotions ran the  gambit and that is absolute aces in my book :)  I felt for each girl willing everything to be perfect for them somehow.  Great characters.  Some that you just wanted to smash.   When a book gets your dander up you're going to enjoy the ride.  Highly recommend The Wicked Girls, you will NOT be disappointed!

5 cannolis

Rosethorn

Rosethorn

Ava Zavora

Amazon Blurb - 

"I know I could be happy with someone else . . . But it was decided a long time ago. It was always going to be you."

From Morocco to Paris, Sera has traveled the world over but she never forgot Rosethorn, the beautiful, abandoned mansion where she and Andrew used to meet for trysts. Until the day Sera found her mother's diary. Sera's obsession with the shocking secrets it contained tore them apart and sent Sera fleeing to New York with a devastated heart.

10 years later, Sera revisits Rosethorn, only to run into Andrew, all grown up and handsomer than ever. Politeness gives way to a heated confrontation over their painful past. Yet unable to resist each other's lure, both surrender to the undying power of first love.

Fate has brought them together once again, but will the wounds and tragedies of the past destroy Sera and Andrew's second chance - forever?
*****

What can I say other than this book was just fantastic.  You sit and read, your emotions going up and down.  What a ride.

Andrew and Sera are high school sweethearts.  Truly soul-mates, their love is palatable, so passionate.  There are times when they are also like fireworks going off when they fight.  Sera is soooo headstrong and sassy sometimes.  She gives Andrew a run for his money.  It's so sweet learning how they actually grew up together from little elementary school kids and she just never noticed him, but oh how he KNEW she was there :)

When Sera reveals that her dreams and wants aren't the same as what Andrew always thought they both wanted a heartbreaking journey ensues.  Will the two ever find real happiness together?  You just read this book and be prepared to get the SHOCK of your life.  I read the final chapters dreading what I thought was going to happen and then stunned at what did!

The only reason this book doesn't get a five rating is due to not always being clear as to when things were happening in Sera's life.  Wish that was delineated a bit better.  Read this book, you won't be sorry!

4 cannolis

The Dominant

The Dominant
Tara Sue Me
Netgalley Issue














Amazon Blurb -

 Nathaniel West doesn’t lose control.

As the playboy CEO of West Industries, he governs the boardroom during the day; as a strict dominant with exacting rules, he commands the bedroom at night. He never takes on inexperienced submissives, but when Abigail King’s application comes across his desk, he breaks his own restrictions and decides to test her limits.

Abby’s combination of innocence and willingness is intoxicating, and Nathaniel is soon determined to collar her as his own. As long as she follows his orders and surrenders herself fully to him, no one will get hurt.

But when Nathaniel begins falling for Abby on a deeper level, he realizes that the trust must go both ways—and he has secrets which could bring the foundations of their entire relationship crashing down...
*****

Well, I hate saying this, but I just didn't like this book.  The characters did nothing for me. Didn't stir a single feeling of angst, worry, anger, sorrow, nothing.  The protagonist, Nathaniel was, vanilla, to be honest.  Pun intended.

So I found out that this was also, like Fifty, Twilight fan-fic, I can't take it anymore. Though I heard that this series came about before Fifty.  So either E.L. or this gal copied one or the other big time.  

I don't know why I read these types since subs are so against my personality.  I keep hoping that the sub will turn around and just kick the dom in the you know what.  This stems from my feeling that this is degrading and a control issue. Punish and spank for not following the rules my eye.  Just can't deal so I think this shall be my last of this type. Unless someone writes a book about a dom who gets his butt and heart kicked by an awesome gal!

I found the writing not as good as Fifty number one.  After number one Fifty went down the tubes too, but Nathaniel just wasn't nearly as compelling as Christian at all.  Abby was just as boring as Ana, and I had no attachment to the side characters either.  Yes there were plenty of steamy scenes, but even those were blah for me.  Oh and his friend Tim needs to be schooled in loyalty, maybe Nathaniel should tie him up and spank him.  No way would I pal around with Tim anymore.

Sorry for the comparison to Fifty Shades, but the two were so alike it just begged to be done.

For the record these are my opinions, whatever floats your boat is your business, I just state what I think.

2 1/2 cannolis

Damaged 2

Damaged 2
H.M. Ward
ARC received in return for my honest review.

Amazon Blurb -

Home isn't supposed to be dangerous, but for Sidney it is. Returning home means that she has to face her past. It's not just the man who hurt Sidney that makes it horrible, but the family that didn't believe her. They were dead to her, but now that her mom is really dying things seem different. It's a chance to set things right.

What Sidney doesn't realize is that she's dragging Peter into a collision course with his past. Peter must deal with the demons haunting him if he wants to move forward with Sidney. He's willing to give up everything for her, even wade deeper into his past life to help her move forward. But, Peter isn't sure if he can get over what happened to him in New York.

*****

Ok, I'm going to be honest here, this book didn't do to me what the first one did. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the first.  To be honest two weren't necessary.  One book would have taken care of the whole story very well.  There were things in #2 that could have been culled out so that Damaged would have been a more intense book.

I really like Sidney and Peter, but I found some of their behavior just a bit hard to believe in the second.  I didn't like Sean's behavior towards Sidney considering who he loves, which didn't click with me till I read the teaser of The Arrangement at the end of the book.  I found him so abrasive.  The whole Dean and Sam storyline was just way over the top into unbelievable.   The Ferro family in general and all their behavior, again, I wasn't feeling it. The bird???? 

I feel like Peter went from being a mature adult to this teenager.  Again, they were great characters, and I am going to read The Arrangement so I can get a better grip on Sean.  It was ok and an easy read.  I like Ward's writing style.  It flows well and the banter with the characters is enjoyable.   The book didn't bore me and never got tedious which is a big plus for me.

3 cannolis