Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Ivy Years Series

The Year We Fell Down - Book One

By Sarina Bowen
Rated 4 Stars
Kindle Edition

I have always loved Romance novels but have learned over the years to be able to suspend my disbelief and skip past a lot of badly written icky sex scenes to get to the heart of the story.  So I am finding this new to me author refreshing.  Don't take this the wrong way.  I am not slamming the Romance genre its self but it's just like any other genre there are very good ones and very bad ones and thousands of in-between ones.  And since I read a lot of romance novels it only stands to reason that I run into my fair share of wall bangers.  But my point is that when I find an author who tells a great story, writes really well and touches my heart that's a real red letter day in my reading world.  This is one of those books and Sarina Bowen is an authors I will certainly follow.

 I really liked both characters.  Especially Corey who faced the new life she was unexpectedly dealt with common sense, courage and a sense of humor.  She only whined a little bit but that only made her more human in my eyes.  She deserved more whines than she took.

Hartley, well I had a little trouble with him.  In some ways he was a little too good to be true and in other ways he spent a lot of time with his head up his . . . in a dark place. But I learned to like him even before he got his act together.

As for as Hartley's snooty girl friend, well I had to cut her more slack than she deserved because I have a Granddaughter named Stacia and it's not all that common a name.

Book Description
 March 20, 2014
The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves has someone else. What now?

She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.

Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He's way out of Corey's league.

Also, he's taken.

Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the "gimp ghetto" of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.

They're just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she's falling. Hard.

But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won't, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness -- one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who's afraid to love her back.

The Year We Hid Away - Book 2


These New Adult novels have so much more depth than I expected.  Both of the main characters in this book faced some daunting challenges, the kind of challenges that could believably happen to a young person.  I really love it when I don't have to supped my disbelief a single time in a book about relationships.  I also liked it that I was not sure until nearly to the end whether or not Scarlet's Father was guilty or not. Hat tip to the author for keeping the reader in suspense. 





Book Description

 May 26, 2014
She's hiding something big. He's hiding someone small.
Scarlet Crowley's life was torn apart the day father was arrested for unspeakable crimes. Now the shock has worn off, but not the horror.
It's a safe bet that Scarlet is the only first year at Harkness College who had to sneak past TV news trucks parked on her front lawn just to leave town. But college will be Scarlet's fresh start. Clutching a shiny new student ID -- with a newly minted name on it -- she leaves it all behind. Even if it means lying to the boy she's falling for.

Bridger McCaulley is a varsity hockey star known for being a player both on and off the ice. But a sobering family crisis takes that all away. Protecting his sister means a precarious living arrangement and constant deception. The only bright spot in his week is the few stolen hours he spends with Scarlet.

The two form a tentative relationship based on the understanding that some things must always be held back. But when grim developments threaten them both, going it alone just won't work anymore. And if they can't learn to trust one another now, the families who let them down will take everything they've struggled to keep.


The Understatement of the Year (Ivy Years #3)

Rated 5 Stars
Kindle

My word, this book really got to me.  It is is the first book I have ever read that really address the subject of how  how miserable life can be for a gay young person to live in the closet. At an age when at lot of young people are dealing with all of the issues that come with being a teen ager to have the added stress of knowing their  sexual orientation is going to add complications that will alter everyones perception of them is terribly painful.  Even if they come from loving homes where they are unconditionally loved and accepted they know, in fact have almost certainly already found out, that there are a lot of ugly and hateful people in the world.  


Book Description

 September 29, 2014
What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.

Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he's made an art of hiding his sexual orientation from everyone. Including himself.

So it's a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team's new left wing could destroy Graham's life as he knows it.

John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it's worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only "out" player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.

And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.

Rikker didn't exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won't even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former... best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn't doing so well. He drinks too much and can't focus during practice.

Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won't be easy is the Understatement of the Year.

Blonde Date  - Novella

Rated 4 Stars
Kindle










Book Description

 July 6, 2014
A blind date. A nervous sorority girl. A mean-spirited fraternity prank. What could go wrong?

As a sorority pledge, there are commandments that Katie Vickery must live by. One: thou shalt not show up for the party without a date. Two: the guy shall be an athlete, preferably an upperclassman.

Unfortunately, Katie just broke up with her jerkface football player boyfriend. Even worse, her last encounter with him resulted in utter humiliation. She’d rather hide under the bed than attend a party where he'll be.

Yet staying home would mean letting him win.

Enjoying herself tonight was out of the question. She could only hope to get through the evening without her blind date noticing that he was spending the evening with a crazy person.

Andrew Baschnagel is living proof that nice guys don’t finish first. He’s had his eye on Katie since the moment her long legs waltzed into his art history class. So when her roommate sets Andy up to be Katie’s date, he’d be crazy to say no. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a lot of practice with either girls or parties. Yet.

The Shameless Hour

Rated 3 Stars
Kindle Format

This is the 4th book in Sarina Bowen's Ivy League series and by far my least favorite.  Had I rated this book based on how much I liked the character it would have been rated 1 star.  However as a precautionary tale well written I had to give it at least a three.  Had Bella not set my teeth on edge I would have given the book at least a four and maybe five stars.


Amazon Book Description

She's not looking for a hero. He's not looking for a hookup.


For Bella, the sweet-talking, free-loving, hip-checking student manager of the Harkness men’s hockey team, sex is a second language. She’s used to being fluent where others stutter, and the things people say behind her back don’t (often) bother her. So she can’t understand why her smoking hot downstairs neighbor has so much trouble staying friends after their spontaneous night together. She knows better than to worry about it, but there’s something in those espresso eyes that makes her second guess herself. 

Rafe is appalled with himself for losing his virginity in a drunken hookup. His strict Catholic upbringing always emphasized loving thy neighbor—but not with a bottle of wine and a box of condoms. The result is an Ivy League bout of awkwardness. But when Bella is leveled by a little bad luck and a downright nasty fraternity stunt, it’s Rafe who is there to pick up the pieces. 

Bella doesn’t want Rafe's help, and she’s through with men. Too bad the undeniable spark that crackles between the two of them just can't be extinguished.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Sweet

By Tammara Webber
Rated 5 Stars
Kindle

I loved this book.  The title says it all.  It's a very sweet love story.



Copied from Tammara Webbers website

(Contours of the Heart® Book 3)

He’s the love of her life, but he doesn’t know it.
She’s his one moment of sacrifice in a lifetime of survival.
He was damaged and wild, but resilient.
She’s always been obedient; now she’s restless.

Home for the summer between college and med school, Pearl Torres Frank knows two things: Boyce Wynn is the embodiment of everything she should run from and everything she wants to run to. Rebellious and loud. Unconcerned with society’s opinion of him. Passionate. Strong. Dangerous.

And one more trait he hides from everyone but her:
Sweet.

(Spinoff novel; may be read as a standalone.)

Friday, April 24, 2015

The Winter Sea

Rated 1 Star
Audible

This book was on my audible wish list for over a year.  I should have left it there.  ZZZzzzzzzzzz.

Publisher's description:

Escaping an unhappy marriage and an unsatisfactory job, Cassie Holloway moves to the little Australian coastal town of Whitby Point. There she meets the Aquino family, whose fishing business was founded by their ancestor, Giuseppe, an Italian immigrant, some ninety years before. Life for Cassie on the south west coast is sweet as she sets up a successful restaurant and falls in love with Giuseppe's great grandson Michael. But when the family patriarch dies, a devastating family secret is revealed which threatens to destroy her dreams. Cassie's future happiness now rests with her quest for the truth


Monday, April 20, 2015

Other Side of the Night

The Carpathia, the Californian and the Night the Titanic Was Lost

By:  Daniel Allen Buter
Non Fiction
Rated 5 Stars
Audible

I really liked this book.  I used one of my audible credits and it was a credit well spent. was one of myIt was very well written and contains a whole lot of information that I had never heard before.  It was narrated by Paul Heitscht who did a very good job.. 

Publisher's Summary
After every disaster, someone has something to hide.... 
A few minutes before midnight on April 14, 1912, the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage to New York, struck an iceberg. Less than three hours later she lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. While the world has remained fascinated by the tragedy, the most amazing drama of those fateful hours was not played out aboard the doomed liner. It took place on the decks of two other ships, one 58 miles distant from the sinking Titanic, the other barely 10 miles away. The masters of the steamships Carpathia and Californian, Captain Arthur Rostron and Captain Stanley Lord, were informed within minutes of each other that their vessels had picked up the distress signals of a sinking ship. Their actions in the hours and days that followed would become the stuff of legend, as one would choose to take his ship into dangerous waters to answer the call for help, while the other would decide that the hazard to himself and his command was too great to risk responding. 
After years of research, Daniel Allen Butler now tells this incredible story, moving from ship to ship on the icy waters of the North Atlantic - in real time - to recount how hundreds of people could have been rescued, but in the end only a few outside of the meager lifeboats were saved. He then looks alike at the U.S. Senate investigation in Washington, and ultimately the British Board of Trade inquiry in London, where the actions of each captain are probed, questioned, and judged, until the truth of what actually happened aboard the Titanic, the Carpathia and the Californian is revealed. 
Daniel Allen Butler, a maritime and military historian, is the best-selling author of "Unsinkable": The Full Story of RMS Titanic, Distant Victory: The Battle of Jutland and the Allied Triumph in the First World War, and The First Jihad: The Battle for Khartoum and the Dawn of Militant Islam. He is an internationally recognized authority on maritime subjects and a popular guest-speaker for several cruise lines. Butler lives and works in Los Angeles, California.