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



What 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.

****


Chloe 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.