AUTHOR INTERVIEW ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

January 30, 2015
Great news fellow bookworms! Wonderfully talented authors Marian Tee and Beth Ehemann have both agreed to do interviews with yours truly!!!
 
GAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
 
I'm so excited, I might wet myself...but I will try my best not to. 
 
So...I'll probably post the interview with NY Times Bestselling Author Marian Tee first, then I'll post the one with Bestselling Author of Contemporary Romance Beth Ehemann as soon as I can.
 
Please do sign up for their newsletters so you can stay up-to-date with their new releases and gigs. :)

Some of their works:

Beth Ehemann is responsible for the bestselling series, The Cranberry Inn. 
It consists of three parts or books:
  • Room for You
  • Room for More
  • and Room for Just a Little Bit More
Marian Tee has written lots of books. But here are my favorites:
  • The Art of Catching a Greek Billionaire (1-5)
  • Heart Racer series (1-6)
  • and last but most certainly not the least The Pussketeers series
I strongly suggest ya'll buy or download these books. They're all must-reads.


Ruthless People by J.J. McAvoy

January 30, 2015

Note: This review may contain spoilers, so if you haven’t read the book yet you may want to pass up on reading this review. But if these types of things don’t bother you too much, then by all mean, do proceed in reading this entry. I even encourage it. :)

Before I begin, I’d like to warn you guys. If you have no idea what this book’s about, let me be the first to tell you that it is not intended for readers under 18 due to its mature content. The plot itself requires readers to be open-minded. The language is crude (though I personally find it humorous), there are loads of graphically-described violent acts, as well as explicit sex scenes. The book and this review are not for the faint-hearted. If however, you are into this sort of stories…then I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

Without further ado...

Title: Ruthless People (Ruthless People #1)
Author: J. J. McAvoy
Genre: Romance, Crime, Adult
SYNOPSIS:
To the outside world, they look like American Royalty, giving to charities, feeding the homeless, rebuilding the city. But behind closed doors is a constant battle for dominance between two Bosses, cultures, and hearts.
Ruthless People is a romantic crime fiction set in modern day Chicago, following the life and marriage of Melody Nicci Giovanni and Liam Callahan—rivals by blood and leaders through fear. Their marriage was arranged by their fathers in hopes to end years of bloodshed between the Irish and the Italians.
Liam, next in line to lead the Irish, believes he’s getting a simple-minded wife, one he can control, one who bends to his every need . . . the complete opposite of Melody. Bred to be a Boss, a world-class marksman, master of disguise, with no mercy and no fear. Twenty-four years later, she has achieved more than any man could even dream of, killing anyone who steps in her way. She knows exactly what type of man Liam is, and she would rather die than give up the power she has spent her whole life building. But with no other family left, she must not only learn to work with Liam, but the whole Callahan clan.
The Mafia of the past is evolving, and with rival bosses gunning for them, Melody and Liam will have to figure out how to work as one to take down those who stand in their way, all while keeping up appearances.
Power, Family, and Respect are everything.
REVIEW:
Author J.J. McAvoy really did a marvelous job with this book. Ruthless People is, hands-down, one of my favorites. It’s edgy with a bit of humor and lots of violence.
A bit of background; the feud between the Irish and Italians go way back. They hate each other to the core. To most it’s because of money and business, to some it’s more personal. But whatever their reasons are, this war has to end. It’s not doing them any good, and their bickering (such a small word to use) is giving other families a chance to get ahead of them. They don’t want that. So Liam and Melody’s fathers made an agreement. They marry their children to one another, and as a result, you get the biggest and most powerful mafia family.
Easier said than done though. The chemistry between Liam and Mel may be beyond the scale, but their hate for each other is just of the same level. Watching them kill their way to their problems is entertaining (and a bit disturbing at times). But more than that, being a part of their journey as they learn to get through obstacles together as husband and wife is simply inspiring. We will learn that no matter who you are, if you want your relationship to work out you must both learn to respect and compromise.

TO LOVE:
First of all, I loved how cool and amazing Melody is. Sure she kills and tortures people while drinking fruit shake, but she’s so elegant and sexy while doing it! She’s strong and smart. She doesn’t take crap from anyone, and if you cross her You. Will. Die. 
She’s so keen on proving herself worthy of being called “boss” that she’s willing to do anything. That includes killing Liam. Okay so maybe the last part isn’t romantic, but I still stand by my girl-crush.
Another thing I loved most is that with everything they do, Liam and Melody manages to appear classy. Whether they’re smiling for the camera or beating the hell out of each other. They do it with so much style that you can’t help but imagine yourself in their shoes. I mean, being a member of the Mafia doesn’t exactly put you on the cover of Vogue magazine, but these two just makes illegal look good.
The emotional progress of the characters is realistic. This applies to everyone and not just the leads. They don’t immediately like each other after meeting for the first time, unlike some books I've read. Forming the bond and trust between the members of the families took a lot of work, and I think that is great.
TO BLEH:
By the way, “bleh” is the word I’ll be using to describe things that I didn’t like so much. I think “hate” is just too harsh and doesn’t fit, so I won’t be using that.
Moving on. This took me some time to think of, but I didn’t like the part where they attacked their enemy’s estate so much. It seemed too…easy. I felt like it could’ve been more intense, you know? But they did make it up by how they killed the bastard and beyotch, so…

SUMMARY:
Well, that pretty much sums up my thoughts on this book, Ruthless People by J.J. McAvoy, and I hope you do read the book as well. Book Two titled, “The Untouchables” is now available for pre-order, and “American Savages”, the conclusion to this wonderful series will be published on March 19th, 2015. Exciting!!! :)
Before I forget, for some reason, I pictured Jamie Dornan as Liam. I did so immediately after the first few pages. Anyway, please share your thoughts on this, and enjoy the books!!

J.J. McAvoy's website: http://iamjjmcavoy.com/


On my Reading List as of January 30, 2015

January 30, 2015
So as long as I don't get sidetracked, these books or series of books will be the ones I'll be reading for the following weeks (it would only take days, but I have a day job so that makes things more complicated). 
 
Here they are, in no particular order:

Tille Cole's Sweet Home and Sweet Rome Review

January 29, 2015

Note: There are no spoilers in this review, so for those who haven't read these 2 books yet, no worries. :) I'll try my best to share my opinion without giving away too much. 

This book, or rather these books are my first reviews because these are the last two books I've read. I quite literally just finished them a couple of hours ago, so the memory of Molly Juliet Shakespeare and Romeo Prince is still fresh. 

 
Sweet Home is USA Today's Bestselling Author Tillie Cole's first installment in the Sweet Home series. 
 
In this book, the story is told in Molly's point-of-view, so because she's British, I suggest that while you're reading this, channel a bit of Hermione Granger, if you know what I mean. 

Title: Sweet Home and Sweet Rome
Author: Tillie Cole
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Sports, Contemporary
 
SYNOPSIS:
"At age twenty, Molly Shakespeare knows a lot.
She knows Descartes and Kant.
She knows academia and Oxford.
She knows that the people who love you leave you.
She knows how to be alone. 

But when Molly leaves England's grey skies behind to start a new life at the University of Alabama, she finds that she has a lot to learn — she didn't know a summer could be so hot, she didn't know students could be so intimidating, and she certainly didn't know just how much the folks of Alabama love their football.

When a chance encounter with notorious star quarterback, Romeo Prince, leaves her unable to think of anything but his chocolate-brown eyes, dirty-blond hair and perfect physique, Molly soon realizes that her quiet, solitary life is about to dramatically change forever..."

REVIEW:
Whoooo. I love a good preview! Alright-y, so this is the original excerpt created by none other than Ms. Cole. And when you first read it, you would think that it's a typical good-girl-meets-hot-jock plot. But let me tell you this, there's nothing typical about this story. Our good girl ain't as innocent as we think, and our handsome player is much deeper than what we would expect. 

While I was reading these two books, I could picture it so clearly in my head. I really don't know why, but I could totally see this turning into a movie if given the chance. 

Molly and Romeo's relationship is so intense that if the wrong couple had the same intensity it might be destructive. Another great point is despite their feelings for each other, they didn't stop chasing their dreams. Molly wanted to be a professor and Romeo wanted to be a famous NFL quarterback. I point this out because I've read several books where either the guy or the girl had to give up their careers just to support the other one. I find it equally sweet and annoying. Sweet because obviously they're sacrificing for their love, but annoying because it seems unfair how one gets to live life the way he/she wanted to and the other one (mostly the woman) has to be the one standing on the sidelines cheering on.

What I didn't like so much about this book is the ending seems a bit...hanging. When it read the last page I was like, "Is that it? That can't be it!". But when I read the second book, I understood why it was left like that, and personally I think the author made a good call. 

Speaking of the second book...let's go to Sweet Rome. This is the second installment, and it's basically the exact story and events in the first book, just from Rome's point-of-view. I don't know if it's just me, but I always prefer books that are from the male's POV. I think it's probably because it's the closest we get to hearing men's real thoughts. 
 
SYNOPSIS:
"It makes me laugh when I hear folks think Molly and I rushed into things too fast, spouting that we couldn't possibly have felt what we did for each other in such a short space of time. I say, how the hell would they know? We made it, didn't we? She became my whole life, didn't she? And as for my folks not being real, being true? Tell that to me aged ten, eleven, twelve—damn, all my bastard life—when I was never enough, when I was beaten until I bled for being too good at football and not being everything they'd dreamed: the perfectly dutiful son. Tell that to thousands of kids around the world getting wailed on by asshole parents for whatever stupid reason; tell them evil don't exist in their eyes.

Fuck Romeo and Juliet. This is the story of me and my girl, from my lips. No mushy sentiment, no cheese, just the plain, hard truth, and, because I'm feeling generous, I'm going to let you in on more of our story too."
 
REVIEW:
Right. So once again, pretty solid preview, but here you feel the bitterness and angst of our male lead, which by the way I totally love. 

I like this book so much more than the first one. But admittedly, I skipped a few pages because it's just sort of repetitive. My favorite part is when Rome "showed" us their future together. This is what I was looking for in the book preceding this, but reading it here is better so it's totally worth the wait. It shows both of their successes, career-wise and in their family. You see Rome's vulnerability, his love for his kids, and the undying love he has for his "salvation". 

I admit, reading these two books, I felt somewhat compelled to watch American football games now. It just has that impact on a person once you've read it, you know?

Overall, I would be giving this book a "TO-READ" stamp. It's a good read, it's romantic, intense, with smart banter between the characters. I would give it an 8 out of 10. 

This is all I have for now, BUT the series doesn't end here. There are two more books: Sweet Fall which is Austin and Lexi's story, and well as Sweet Hope, Ally's story which is to be released hopefully soon. 

So I hope this review made sense and I tried really hard not to give anything away, so please don't hate me if the things I said seems vague. Do read it and let me know how you guys liked it, alright?

Thanks for reading. 
 
 

Shout out to these talented people!

January 29, 2015
 
Before I forget (and/or I get sued) I want to thank these amazingly talented artists for making the vector image located in my page. So the picture is of me, vectored by 4 different artists in their own unique styles. 

Thank you very much...


Lots of love guys, and feel free to make me more of your wonderful creations...free of charge, of course. HAHA! Kidding.

View their respective pages everyone. I'm sure you'll like what you see. 


New book from New York Times Best Selling Author Marian Tee!

January 29, 2015
Another reason to celebrate for Marian Tee fans. Part 2 of the Duke's series, which is a third of "The Pussketeers" is now live! Marian Tee's The Ice Around My Heart can now be downloaded on several sites including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iTunes. 

For those who are not familiar with this series, first of all SHAME ON YOU. Second of all, go and download it NOW!

Now that that's out of the way, a short background about this wonderful creation. The story revolves around three men, a.k.a. "The Pussketeers", a trio of European billionaires made notorious by their legendary exploits in the bedroom. They're wealthy, powerful, and sinfully gorgeous.

How Not to be Seduced by Billionaires has three parts: Chased, Courted, and Caged.
~~CEO Constantijin Kastein, who's also Netherlands' #1 playboy found himself enthralled by romantic-at-heart, Yanna Everleigh. But things changed when she threw a challenge to him. Court her the old-fashioned way or forget about her completely.

How Not to be Seduced by Rock Stars has two parts, plus 1 bonus book The Rockstar and his Fangirl:When Fangirls Lie and When Fangirls Cry.

~~Nerd-slash-fangirl Saffi March disguises herself as experienced groupie H (for "horny") in order to have one unforgettable weekend with Staffan Aehrenthal, a rock star and also Sweden's #1 Sex God.

How Not to be Seduced by Dukes is the book preceding The Ice Around My Heart

~~A twist of fate forces 18-year-old Mary Ashton to become the mistress of Rathe Wellesley, the Duke of Flanders and England's #1 Heartthrob.

These books, like all of Marian's creations, will give you a whirlwind of emotions. It will make you laugh, make you cry, and turn you on. Admittedly, she's one of my favorite authors. She can make a story so tragic that every time I read something she wrote, I would end up hyperventilating and go to work the next day with frog eyes. It's not attractive, but so worth it. 


So do yourselves a favor and please read her books. 


Note: I will be interviewing Marian Tee very soon, so if you have any questions for her that you'd like for me to ask, please do leave it as a comment here. I will make sure to tag you as the one who asked it if you prefer. 


 
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