*Grabby Hands* Release & Review - Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2) by Nalini Singh

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: Rebel Hard
(Hard Play #2)
Author: Nalini Singh
Publication Date: September 18th, 2018

Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh continues her Hard Play series with a sweet, sexy romance featuring big, fat, OTT weddings, a meddling grandma, and a too-serious hero who needs to be unbuttoned…

Nayna Sharma agreed to an arranged marriage in the hope it would heal the fractures in her beloved family… only to realize too late that a traditional marriage is her personal nightmare. Panicked, she throws caution to the winds, puts on the tiniest dress she can find, and ends up in the arms of a tall, rough-edged hunk of a man who has abs of steel—and who she manages to mortally insult between one kiss and the next.

Abandoned as a child, then adopted into a loving family, Raj Sen believes in tradition, in continuity. Some might call him stiff and old-fashioned, but he knows what he wants—and it’s a life defined by rules… yet he can’t stop thinking about the infuriating and sexy woman who kissed him in the moonlight then disappeared. When his parents spring an introduction on him, the last woman he expects is her. Beautiful. Maddening. A rule breaker in the making.

He’s all wrong for her. She’s all wrong for him. And love is about to make rebels of them both.

Goodreads

Buy Link: Amazon

5 “My heart can barely take all these feelings” Stars

This is the best romance book I read this year. Simple, beautiful, touching, full of feels and sexy AF.

I’m so in love with this book and these characters I don’t think I have words to describe my feelings.

Nayna is the kind of protagonist that steals my heart from page one and refuses to give it to back to me even after the story is over. She’s such a gentle soul. A beautiful person that I wish was real and my friend. Her desire for freedom and adventure never gets in the way of her love and respect for her family, and that balance is just another reason to love her.

Raj is book boyfriend material at its best. Thoughtful, respectful, serious, committed, sexy, smart. I can’t even with this man. He’s ridiculously perfect in a way that should be annoying but totally isn’t. I love, love, love his relationship with his parents and siblings. He’s one of those men who learned that he should treat women with the same care and respect he wants men to treat the little sister he dearly loves. He owes up to his mistakes, fights for the people he cares and protects them in a way that doesn’t feel suffocating.

The chemisty between Nayna and Raj is out of this word. I felt every scene between them from start to finish. Their adorable, sexy and perfect together. It also helps that Raj was so out-of-this-world in love with Naya. The “man who madly loves the woman who is reluctant to commit to her feelings” always gets me.

The romance was everything I didn’t know I needed.

Aside from Nayna and Raj’s perfect relationship, I adored the family dynamic. It was a beautiful thing to see both Nayna and Raj interact with their own families and with each other’s parents, grandparents and siblings. Nayna’s grandmother is probably my favorite character aside from the main couple. She made me laugh out loud more than a couple of times. But in truth, I loved everyone in Nayna’s family. Same goes for Raj’s parents and little sister. In fact, I was dying to read a  YA book about Aditi, because she came across as such a smart and strong young lady.

And there were happy endings delivered like Xmas presents and I can't even bring myself to care that some were unrealistic. Real life is hard so books are allowed to give me as many happy ever afters as they want.

Honestly, I can’t think about anything I didn’t like in this book. Even the annoying sister-in-law had her place in the story and the third person narrative, despite not being my favorite in general, worked wonderfully here. The book was just that amazing!

Well, I don’t know what you’re doing, but whatever it is can’t be more entertaining than reading this book, so stop and go get your copy.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

*Grabby Hands* Release & Review - A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3) by Sarah J. Maas

Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin 
(A Court of Thorns and Roses #3)

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publication Date: May 2nd, 2017

Category/Genre: New Adult Fantasy

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places. In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon 

I would:

• Befriend: Rhy's inner circle (Mor, Amren, Cassian, Azriel)
• Go out on a date & kiss: Cassian and Azriel. Yep, both. 
• Take to a desert island and leave behind: the King of Hybern
• Travel to Vegas and let Elvis Presley marry us: Rhysand. Always and forever.

5 “My Heart is Happy” Stars

Well, that was a fabulous reading week! First, I got to experience Renée Ahdieh’s new magical series, then got lost in a great hate-to-love dynamic with a YA Contemporary Romance, then revisited Beauty and the Beast with a refreshing retelling, now this… this perfection that is this book and this series.

I debated rating it 4,5 or 5 stars, but that ending deserves that final full star. It does, because it’s a happy ending. The happy ending I was so afraid I wouldn’t get, but thankfully Sarah J Maas took pity on me and didn’t go all Leigh Bardugo on me.

What this author gave me, instead, was a story filled with love, friendship and magic. Magic in more than one sense. In fact, magic describes well everything this series is about.

Last year, ACOMAF (ACOTAR #2) was one of the three books I rated five stars. It was perfection in the way it dealt with Feyre’s pain. How it reduced her to ashes to bring her back together. How it portrayed a love story that wasn’t about one being stronger than the other, but about two souls coming together after they were strong individually. How it introduced new characters and made me fall so madly in love with them, I wanted nothing more than to enter their world and be their friend.

This year, ACOWAR (ACOTAR #3) is the second book I rate five stars. It is perfection in the way it continues to portray a strong Feyre who now knows how strong she is. A Feyre who is so different from the insecure girl we met in the beginning of this journey. A Feyre who isn’t afraid to stand up to those she loves and faces her enemies and fights them. A Feyre who doesn’t break when she’s shown the darkness inside of her, but, instead, learns how to love the good and the bad.

“Only you can decide what breaks you, Cursebreaker. Only you.”

“It's a rare person to face who they are and not run from it - not be broken by it.”

ACOWAR is perfection in the way it explores a healthy, beautiful and powerful love story between two people who support each other every step of the way. Rhysand and Feyre’s relationship goes beyond what I expected. It’s about mutual respect, about empowering your partner and being there for them when they make tough choices instead of making the choices for them. It’s about support and love and understanding. It’s everything. It was why I loved Stefan and Elena on The Vampire Diaries. It’s why I’ll always respect a man who respects the woman he loves. It’s OTP.

I’m so, so happy I got to see them together for so much of this book. I’m so, so happy Sarah J Maas didn’t try to break them apart again. Because in allowing them to fight side by side, she also allowed us to be there with these two characters as their love for each other grew and developed into the kind of relationship that makes me believe in happy ever after. Feyre and Rhysand, thank you for existing.

ACOWAR is also perfection in the way it explores friendship. We got to see so much of Cassian, Nesta, Azriel, Mor, Lucien, Elain, and Amren. These are all characters I’ve come to appreciate and love since the beginning of the series—or since they were introduced. And what made me love them so fiercely was their love for each other. Not only romantic love, though I ship Cassian and Nesta with a force that I can barely hold inside me. Those two… Those two!!!!!

But the kind of love that inspired me most was the love they have for each other as friends and family. Family above all. The way Cassian, Rhys and Azriel interact and care for one another as brothers. How they yell because they’re terrified of the other getting hurt. How they refuse to leave the other’s side until they’re fully healed. And then with Mor and Amren, it’s all about the bantering and the laughing—or even the crying when they’re stupid and do things to protect, but end up hurting the other. When they sacrifice. So much sacrifice.

And when they open their arms, their homes and their city to welcome Feyre’s sisters, Nesta and Elain, and her friend, Lucien. When they look at Feyre and say they’ll protect her with their lives.

When Rhysand makes me sob when he delivers the kind of speech that breaks all the walls around your heart. If you’ve been following the series since the beginning, like I have, I dare you not to freaking cry.

No crying gifs will ever be enough to explain what I felt reading that scene. The perfection of it.

And, mostly, ACOWAR is perfection in how it treats its characters and their arcs. Rhysand is beyond words. HE. IS. PERFECTION. He’s friend, lover, hero, strength and vulnerability, sadness and joy. He is Rhysand, and after everything he did for the people he loved in this book, after how he sacrificed and sacrificed, after he stood beside Feyre and supported her through every tough choice, after he opened his arms and forgave people who had wronged him, after EVERYTHING, he was upgraded to my book husband alongside the other love of my love, Jericho Barrons.

But Rhysand and Feyre and the inner circle weren’t the only ones who got special treatment. Enemies turned into friends. Villain’s motivations left that muddy territory ACOMAF left them and came into the light, showing us that there was much more inside them than we first thought. Tamlin hurt himself, hurt Feyre and hurt me, but in the end came through. I know I shouldn’t, but I still feel for him. I feel for the angry man trapped inside him, because ACOTAR showed me he was good, and ACOWAR confirmed that we can still find that inside him. I didn’t want him to get Feyre back (nothing can get between my love for Rhysand and Feyre as a couple), but I also want him to find happiness. I want him to heal.

And finally, SPOILER ALERT HERE:

ACOWAR was perfection in how it wasn’t afraid of giving us a happy ending. Though there will be other books set in this world, it looks like this was the end of the trilogy that tells the story of Feyre. So I’m assuming she won’t be the narrator for the next books coming. That meant Sarah J Maas had to give us some sort of ending—at least an ending to that storyline, and she didn’t disappoint. Feyre fought a battle that had my heart racing the entire time. She faced her enemies alongside the people she loved. She went into that final battle convinced her family (this includes the inner circle) wouldn’t come out of it alive. Maybe she wouldn’t make it, either. And for the love of the Cauldron, I believed her. I knew she wouldn’t die. Nor would Rhysand. But I feared for everyone else—mostly Cassian and Nesta. Then I feared for Azriel. Then Mor. Then Amren. Then Lucian and Elain, because that ship is also sailing and I’m going with it.

I thought Sarah J Maas would take a page from Leigh Bardugo’s book and rip my heart out, but thankfully, OMG, THANK YOU SO MUCH SARAH, my babies survived. All of them.

I can’t even describe how happy that ending made me. I can’t even. I’m unable to even. I just… THANK YOU. Thank you for writing this series. Thank you for making me so happy. Thank you for once again making me stay up until four a.m. because I couldn’t stop reading. And thank you for the pain of having to temporarily let go of these characters when the chapters ended, because this pain means that I found people to love inside your pages. Sarah J Maas, thank you for writing a series I’ll always remember and love.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

*Grabby Hands* Release & Review - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Title: The Hate U Give

Author: Angie Thomas

Publication Date: February 28th, 2017

Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Category/Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon

5 “Important, stunning and real” Stars

The Hate U Give got something like seven or eight starred reviews, so a quick Internet search will lead you to dozens of well-written pieces on how important and relevant this book is. They’re all telling the truth. This story needed to be told, and it needed to be written by a woman who had lived and experienced a similar story and it needed to get all the hype it did. I thought that before reading this book, and I’m sure of it after having finished it.

But I’m not writing about how relevant Starr’s story is. I’m writing about how Starr, her friends and specially her family made me feel. And they made me feel a whole lot.

First thing I’ll say, I expected The Hate U Give to be awesome. This wasn’t an example of hyped book I went into fearing it’d disappoint me. I knew I’d love it. I was ready to love it. I was ready for it to make me cry (which is rare—trust me), but I wasn’t ready for it to make me laugh. Not at all.

I was under the impression that a book with such a heavy topic would be…heavy. It was at times, but it was also light. It was also funny AF. Maybe your life experience won’t allow you to find humor in it, but mine does, because I saw myself in it. I saw my family in it.

No, I’m not a Black woman, but I am a woman of color. A WOC born and raised in a poor community in a third world country, with POC parents, family members, friends and neighbors. I’m someone who has seen neighbors turning to drugs and crime because they thought it was the “easy” way out or because they had no other choice. I’ve heard gunshots too close to home. I’ve seen police cars speeding down my street day and night. I’ve been around injustice and prejudice. I’ve been raised in a family with strong women, fierce mothers and overprotective fathers. I’ve known people like the characters in Angie Thomas’ books. I’ve been one or many of them. And maybe that’s why I could find humor in this story. Maybe that’s why I was either crying or laughing the entire time I was reading it.

Just so you have an idea, here are the only Kindle notes I made while reading:

*I AM SCREAMING* (and the variations: HLAHDGFK SCREAMING!!!! + SCREAMINGGGGGGG)

*CRYING* (and the variations: *Shit, crying again* + *Crying on the bus. So classy* + *Stop! I'm crying*)

Yes, I was that articulate the entire time.

Don’t blame me. Blame Angie Thomas for writing Starr, her Daddy, her Momma, her Grandma, her brothers Sekani and Seven, their friend DeVante, and her Uncle Carlos. Blame all of them, because they were real and they were people. They were freaking people I could relate to because I’ve seen people like that in my life, too. They were people who made me cry with them and laugh with them and hurt with them.

This freaking book. This. Freaking. Book.

I know I can’t come out and say everyone will love this, but I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t. Honestly. I just can’t. I can understand some people having a few problems with some of the choices (I had problems with the story myself), but I can’t imagine this book not making every reader feel.

I felt too much, that’s for sure. I feared for the characters’ lives, I fell in love with all of them, I shipped characters who weren’t romantically involved at all (DeVante, I’m looking at you!), I laughed pretty much every time Starr’s Momma opened her mouth and cried whenever I was scared something bad would happen to her father, I rooted for Starr to find her voice and I screamed when she did. I. JUST. FELT!

Again, maybe you won’t spend half of the book laughing like a maniac on the bus, or crying on the bus, or talking to yourself when a scene is that good (also on the bus, because that’s where I do most of my reading), but I imagine the story of a girl who’s split between worlds while she tries to find her own voice will speak to you. I imagine you will hurt for the people who can’t feel safe around those who are supposed to protect them from harm. I believe you will question some of your ideas when you see a gray world portrayed in so many colors.

The Hate U Give is important because it opens a window (or several of them) into a reality that some of us try to ignore because it’s easier that way. But to me, The Hate U Give is even more important because it speaks to me while portraying situations I’m familiar with… while giving me characters I can relate to.

I can’t write a review to do this book justice, but I don’t need to. My opinion is just one amongst many. But this book will not be one amongst many, and that’s enough for me. Knowing that this book will be as big as it needs to be is enough for me.

So I’m just gonna finish this review with some quotes that helped make this book my favorite read of the year (a position I’m betting it’ll still hold 8 months from now). Come see yourself with me:

• Starr being all of us when we’re doing shit we know we shouldn’t be doing while hoping we don’t get caught by our parents:

Problem is it would’ve taken Black Jesus to convince my parents to let me come. Now Black Jesus will have to save me if they find out I’m here.

• Sekani being the sassy little brother we all want to have:

“Daddy, why you put me on the spot like that with Black Jesus?” Sekani complains.

• Seven being the overprotective big brother we all want to have:

Two loud knocks againt the window startle us. Seven presses his face against the glass. “Y’all bet’ not be doing nothing!”

• Our pastor during one of those Sunday sermons when he’s really feeling it:

Pastor Eldridge just about preached Khalil into heaven. I’m not saying Khalil didn’t make it to heaven-I don’t know-but Pastor Eldridge tries to make sure he gets there.

• Our Grandma being our Grandma and our Daddy being her son-in-law:

“What? I better ask before ya’ll have me sleeping in the house with a murderer, waking up dead!”What in the… “You can’t wake up dead,” I say.“Lil’ girl, you know what I mean!” She moves from the doorway. “I’ll be waking up in Jesus’s face, trying to figure out what happened!”“Like you going to heaven,” Daddy mumbles.

• Our Daddy and our Uncle telling us what we shouldn’t be doing with our boyfriend if we want to see the light of day again:

“Why does Chris always have to be li’l’ to you?” I ask. “He’s not little.”“You better be talking about his height,” says Daddy.“Amem,” Uncle Carlos adds, and they fist-bump again.

• And finally, our Momma showing us while she’s the person we should fear AND love the most:

And on the last message, left a few minutes ago, Momma says, “Oh, so you can’t return my calls, but you can lead protests, huh? (…) I swear I’m gon snatch your life if you don’t call me!”

There are so many more quotes that will stay with me for a long time, but this… this right here is the quote of the book for me:

“He was more than any bad decision he made.”

This book! This. Freaking. Book!

After all of that, all I can say is Go read this book, please. Go get some feelings and make some memories.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

*Grabby Hands* Release & Review - It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Title: It Ends With Us

Author: Colleen Hoover

Publication Date: August 2nd, 2016

Publisher: Atria Books
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST

Lily hasn't always had it easy, but that's never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She's come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up - she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily's life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He's also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle's complete aversion to relationships is disturbing.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan - her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

This book contains graphic scenes and very sensitive subject matter. 

Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon

I would

• Befriend: Lilly
• Go out on a date & kiss: Pre-shit-went-down Ryle.
• Take to a desert island and leave behind: Lilly's father
• Travel to Vegas and let Elvis Presley marry us: Atlas

5 “Raw and Naked Truth” Stars

This book ruined me. It spoke to me. It touched me. It made me laugh and fall in love and cry and beg for everything to be different but nothing to be different at all. I suspect this book will touch a lot of people, but it’ll speak in a different level with only some, and it’ll ruin even fewer. In any case, I doubt people will regret reading it. I know I didn’t.

Let’s just started by putting it out there that I’m a Colleen Hoover fan. Her writing speaks to me. I haven’t read all of her books yet, but the few I’ve read are amongst my favorites from this category and genre. “It Ends With Us” is this author’s best and most powerful book. No doubt.

I don’t want to give spoilers, because I went into this book with no info other than what the blurb reveals, and OMG that was the best decision ever. Guys, do it. Don’t read spoilers because it’ll make the whole experience a thousand times better. Trust me on this one.

So if you see a spoiler-y review:

Instead of going into a detailed version of what happened, I’ll just talk about the characters because this is a character-driven story and the people we got to know and follow were the best part of this book.

We can start with compassionate, strong, be-my-best-friend Lilly. I don’t know what it is with Colleen and her MCs, but she always writes women that I want to be friends with. I LOVED Tate from “Ugly Love” and I love the women she wrote in this book, especially Lilly, who’s so flawed that she’s almost perfect.

Lilly who couldn’t think of five good things to say about her dad when he died, so she stood up there and said nothing. Lilly who grabbed knives to defend the people she loved. Lilly who rescued homeless people because she couldn’t sit and watch them hurt. Lilly who wrote to Ellen DeGeneres because she is a super cool and funny lady. Lilly who fell in love with a neurosurgeon and couldn’t see him in scrubs without wanting to jump him. Lilly who couldn’t forget her first love. Lilly who made the right decision simply because she chose love.

Lilly who made me laugh and cry and love her, just to hate her and love her back. Lilly who’s still making me tear up as I write this review because she portrayed her flawed, independent, smart and strong women can be. I really, really loved Lilly. I wish she were real because I really, really want to hug her right now.

Then we have Ryle. OMG, Ryle. The man who made me fall in love with him hard. He was smart, honest, ambitious, hot, sexy and had an intensity about him that made it impossible not to be drawn to him. He practically got down to his knees and begged me to love him. Then he scooped me up and took me high, so high. Then he dropped me and ruined me. Just to pick me up again before dropping me one more time. The emotional rollercoaster this character took me…. The damn rollercoaster! I felt it all. I was Lilly and I loved him and hated him. I was Lilly, and that is the best thing I can say about Colleen Hoover’s writing, because when it comes to Ryle, she made me feel every single thing her protagonist did for this man, and it hurt like fuck.

Enter Atlas, and I’m almost on the floor because I don’t think I can take anymore. Those letters reminded me of what Colleen did with Miles’ POV chapters in “Ugly Love” because they took me back and they made me feel way too much. Atlas was perfection. He was in need of rescue and at the same time he was rescuing Lilly, even back when he had nothing but his love to give her. My heart hurt for him and for what life had thrown his way. Then it inflated when I saw how far he came, and everything he did with his life. He was a fighter in more ways than one, and he fought his odds and won. I loved Atlas from the first moment, and much like Lilly, I never stopped loving him. He didn’t mess with my emotions the way Ryle did, but my feelings for him were still strong.

Aside from these three major characters, I also loved Allyssa. Loved, loved everything about her. Her friendship with Lilly was perfection. Her marriage was amazing. Her sense of humor was spot on. Everything about Allyssa was right because she was exactly the kind of side character needed to break the heaviness surrounding this story. Colleen knew she had a weapon in Allyssa and she didn’t overuse it, because she showed up when she was needed and she acted exactly the way we needed her to give some balance to the story.

Because if you went into this book thinking you were going to get a light, swoony and sexy read, then I’m sorry because you were probably really shocked. This book had swoony and sexy moments, but light isn’t a word that can describe it. It was raw. It was powerful. It was exactly what I needed without even realizing how much so.

I adored its style—going from narratives in the present to letters that detailed the past. Showing us little details, like Lilly’s tattoo, and then later using the past to explain and put those details into perspective. Giving us the chance to fall for characters with every step they took. Then allowing us to experience rage, then sorrow, then pity, all without taking away the love. Then delivering scene after scene toward the end that made me feel so many things together than I could barely breathe. That scene in the hospital when Lilly makes her decision? Wanting to hold Ryle while also understanding and agreeing with everything that was happening? Gut-wrenching.

Don’t even get me started on how that scene explained the title and gave it a beautiful meaning.

Or how the last line in the book made me gasp. Or how perfect that ending was.

Or how much I loved and hated these characters and wanted to give all of them a group hug.

Yep, this book ruined me. In the very best way possible. Thank you, Colleen, for not holding back and for writing such a beautiful and painful story. Thank. You.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.