Guardian (The Guardian Trilogy #1) - Sara Mack

True love never dies.
Emma Donohue begs to differ.

When a late night accident claims the love of her life, Emma secludes herself in memories of James. In his sandy brown hair and clear blue eyes. In their innocent first kiss and declarations of love. In their plans for a life together after college. But happy dreams can’t rid her of the guilt she carries. She can’t erase her actions the night he died. She can’t erase her reaction at his funeral. And she can’t erase the hollow void that fills her chest and consumes her heart.

The first time Emma hears James’ voice, she’s astounded. It sounds as if he’s standing right beside her, and she fears her shattered heart is trying to drive her mad. But, as she continues to hear the voice, she finds comfort in it. With the help of her best friend Shel and handsome newcomer Dane, she tries to move forward and start living again.

Until the voice in her head turns out to be more. So much more.

You know what they say.
True love never dies.

There is a lot about this story I can't tell you...it would ruin it. It's not that I don't want to tell you...I do! Trust me...I do! That is one of the hardest parts of reviewing good stories, making sure you don't give away any of the good parts. I think that's an even harder part of reviewing paranormal stories. But I wouldn't want to take away the ability to have the emotional ride that I've been on tonight away from anyone else. And yes, I said tonight. I read this book in one straight sitting because I could not put it down!

I guess based on the description, I should have known it would be emotional. But I figured with the accident happening so early on in the book, there was not time to form a connection - oh how I was wrong... here are my status updates while reading this book:

06/29			16.0%	"and I'm crying"
06/29			37.0%	"bigger tears...."
06/29			48.0%	"This book is starting to make me feel like a crazy person! I hate to say it but I hope other people cried as much as I have been"
06/29			70.0%	"uh oh"
06/29			88.0%	"The ugly crying had commenced"

Seriously, I started tearing up 16% into this book...SARA MACK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!?!

Looking back, it's hard to believe this is a debut novel...yup that's right - debut novel. Paranormal stories are hard to write, they have to be believable to get buy-in from the readers, but then there has to be that element of something that also makes it different. It can't be all about vampires anymore. Sara Mack has done that. I don't know if Sara has lost someone, but what I can tell you is that she captured the emotion so hauntingly well, "I don't think that's what is happening. I don't think I'm depressed. I'm just...really sad." I can tell you for me, she had total buy-in...and pretty quickly. I don't give it easily, but I couldn't help but fall in love with the characters in this book.

She gave us a sole mate love, a traumatic event, love, loss, friendship, endurance...and a whole lot to think about. Can you EVER get over a love like that? Can you ever move on? Especially...if you can hear him every day. I can't tell you how many people in this world would love to hear the voice of a loved one they had lost...but what happens then?

And just when you think your heart can't be torn any more than it is (oh yeah, because not only does she still love James, but then there is Dane, who you don't want to love but you can't help but crush on), at 88% into the book - my heart was just completely broken and big, fat, ugly crying started happening. Like front of my t-shirt wet because the tears were dripping kind of crying. I couldn't imagine what was left for Sara to put Emma through, and then I reminded myself this is only the first book.

Then the ending...because yes this is the first of 3 books...OMG! I have my theories, and we will have to wait and see, but let's just say I'm not happy about having to wait until fall until I can get my hands on book 2 (ummm, Sara Mack...if you are reading this...and you need beta readers *raises hands, shaking them aggressively over my head* I might be able to help you out). HAHA!

Basically, if you love a good paranormal romance...I would highly recommend. Oh, but make sure you have the puffs handy!

"Em - Things have been crazy busy lately so I wanted to go old school and put it on paper (this way you can keep it forever) and tell you I love you more than you know.

More thank the sun

More than the stars

More than breathing

More than life itself

Until the end of forever

James"

 

Barely Breathing (Breathing Series #2) - Rebecca Donovan (re-read)

"I've spent most of my life trying to make it to a future that still hasn't happened, or avoid a past that won't let me go. I don't remember when I've ever just stopped to live in the present, to hold on to the seconds I'm in."

Emma Thomas’s struggle with an abusive home life came to a heart-pounding conclusion in the final chapters of Reason to Breathe, the first installment of The Breathing Series— Rebecca Donovan’s bestselling romantic-thriller (USA Today). Now her secret life has been exposed, and her tormentor can’t hurt her anymore. Yet some are still haunted by that night. The bruises may have faded, but scars and fears, remain. How will she reclaim her life when she's barely breathing?

(Updated Cover)

"Six months ago, I was dead.  My heart didn't beat within my chest.  Breath did not pass between my lips.  Everything was gone, and I wad dead."

If you have read the first book in the Breathing Series, you know the tragedy that was Emma's life for the years she lived with her Aunt & Uncle.  You know how she died, you know what brought us to the second book.  If there was a girl who deserved a sequel - it was Emma and Rebecca Donovan didn't hold back when she gave us Barely Breathing.  

Now everyone knows what was happening to Emma, and they all have to figure out where to go from here.  With a reappearance from Rachel, Emma's mom...it's a whole new world of drama for Emma.  Can she face a past she has since blocked out? Can Rachel now be the mom she's wanted and needed for so long?

Emma is still reserved in sharing the things that happen to her, but she does open up a little more about her feelings for Evan, "How did I end up with you? I mean my life is so messed up and then...And then there's...you.  I couldn't have made you up if I tried." 

Evan is still amazing, "The things you do get to choose, you put everything you have into them - school, sports, protecting the people you care about.  And you chose me."  I love this boy.  This boy who stands up for his decisions and wants to be with Emma, no matter what...but still has trouble getting Emma to open up to him about everything else in life.  

This book has some normal teenage drama, parents disapproving, ex-boyfriends, new girls in school and the will they/won't they have sex...but because Emma's life is never just that simple we are introduced to a whole new world of drama for Emma Thomas.  

"I want to promise you that I will never do anything to hurt Evan, and I will not come between him and his family.  I love him, but I would walk away before I'd ever let anything jeopardize his happiness."  

This amazing follow up to Reason to Breathe will keep you moving through the last year of high school for this group, and leave you wanting more.  The cliffhanger may not be as bad as the first book, but the wait for the third book has been killing me.  If anyone deserves a HEA, it's Emma and I truly hope Rebecca gives her one...and of course because he's one of my FAVORITE book boys - I hope she finds it with Evan!

Reason to Breathe (Breathing Series #1) - Rebecca Donovan (re-read)

"No one tried to get involved with me, and I kept to myself. This was the place where everything was supposed to be safe and easy. How could Evan Mathews unravel my constant universe in just one day?"

He knows there’s something more to the girl sitting in the back of the class the moment he sees her. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and athletic – but she slips quietly through the crowded halls, trying not to exist. Determined to get to know the elusive girl, Evan soon discovers…

Emma Thomas is hiding a terrible a secret. 

Reason to Breathe is an electrifying page turner from start to finish, a unique tale of life-changing love, unspeakable cruelty, and one girl’s fragile grasp of hope.
(updated cover)


In all fairness, I'm doing this review based on my recent re-read of this story. I was getting ready for the release of the third book, a friend of mine was reading them for the first time so I thought, it might be a good time for a re-read. I read this book before it was re-edited and picked up by the publisher so my review and quotes will be based on the original version - but from what I understand the story has not really changed.

I'm jealous...I am 100% jealous of anyone who gets to read this story for the first time. I wish I could go back and not know what was going to happen and read it again. Even still, my stomach was in knots the whole time and I quickly devoured the pages, needing to read this like I needed to breathe.

It's tragic, and heartbreaking laced with a few beautiful people that make you want to be a part of this fictional world. I don't know what inspired these stories, but Rebecca Donovan is amazingly talented.

This story is not for the squeamish. There is pain, tragedy, and heartbreak and not just from a boy not loving a girl. This is real life, heavy, traumatic stuff - like a Colleen Hoover book with an extra case of black & blue. But then there were these bright spots in Emma's life.

First there is Sara, Emma's best friend who is amazing. Emma and her family are what I consider Emma's true family. Sara is smart, funny, caring...she made my list of "Best of the Best Friends List"...she's be at the top of it in my opinion. "Well let's get you back to hell before the devil realizes you're not home."

Then there was Evan...EVAN MATTHEWS IS AMAZING! He comes in and see's Emma when she's trying to be invisible. He doesn't always handle things exactly the right way but when he comes around, you just feel like he's hugging your heart. "I love that picture, he admitted softly. I think it's because I love the girl in that picture."

Emma...that poor girl has seem more tragedy that one girl should have to endure. She pushes people away to keep them from knowing the truth, all while just counting the days until she can be free...but with friends like Sara and Evan, she starts to realize that life without living it, just isn't worth it. But what will it cost her? It could be everything...

The Game Changer (The Perfect Game #2) - J. Sterling

Jack appeared at my door last night after six months of no communication wearing a Mets jersey and holding a dozen red roses. He told me he was sorry, that he loved me, and that he would earn my trust again. It took everything in me to not fall apart at the mere sight of him. I wanted to take him back into my life, but I needed to know that this time it would be forever…

In J. Sterling’s highly anticipated follow-up to her USA Today bestselling novel The Perfect Game, Jack and Cassie quickly realize that their new lifestyle can often be cruel and unforgiving. Their happiness is put to the test as the past is never truly far behind.

How do you stay together when the world's trying to tear you apart?

Have you ever wondered, what happened in that year between Jack showing up at her door in NYC and the year later epilogue?  How did they get to engaged from being broken and separated for all that time? If you ever wondered whether Jack & Cassie actually make it down the aisle on the date Jack chose in TPG’s epilogue, you will have to wonder no more! We get most of our answers, and for me, a better understanding of Jack Carter in The Game Changer!

I love you.  I wish there were different words that I could say, but no one's been clever enough to invent any yet.  So it's all I've got.  But it's everything.  I love you."

 "Nothing would make me happier, Kitten, than to know my home is where you are." Jack Carter! I freakin' loved Jack Carter in this book.  I actually found that I loved him more in this book, than the first one (I know, I didn't know if it was possible either).  In the first book, I fell for Dean - I mean I liked Jack and I wanted things to work out for him and Cassie, but I fell hard for Dean.  In this book, I was all about Jack Carter.  He was still Jack, but we got to see more of how things went down, how it affected him, and what he went through to get back to that apartment door in NYC.  

I liked the back and forth between the past and the present in the beginning to bring us up to speed on both sides of the story.  

It was Cassie that drove me a little crazy in this book.  I mean, I get why she was the way she was, but sometimes I still wanted to shake her a bit.  Her head warred with her heart and wanted to know if she could ever truly let go of what happened.  "But really, if you ever cheat on me again, I'll cut your nuts off and hang them from the Empire State Building." She also struggled with her dreams coupled with Jack's dreams and how to make it all work...especially now that she was lacking trust.  How can you make that work?

This wasn't a book that was planned, but it was a book that was demanded, and if you loved The Perfect Game, you should definitely read this sequel, I think you will fall even more in love with Jack F'ing Carter!

"Get this. I paused to look her straight in the eyes. He told me to prove it." - LOVE IT!

Scars and Songs (Mad World #3) - Christine Zolendz

Shane Maxton is front man for New York City’s popular rock band, Mad World. But he has secrets; he’s not what everybody thinks he is.
He comes from an ancient world, from a different time, when angels walked among men.
Read the story, through Shane’s eyes, of his forbidden love, his fall from grace and his inner turmoil from living with the irrational emotions of being human.

Disclaimer #1: This is the story of Mad World Books 1 & 2, Fall From Grace and Saving Grace, written through the point of view of Shane Maxton.
IT IS THE SAME Love STORY of Grace and Shane. It’s just Shane’s turn to tell it to you, it’s everything you’ve read before and a whole lot more.
Disclaimer #2: This story contains rock and roll, angels doing naughty things, violence, cursing, drinking alcohol, substance abuse, sexual situations, and irritating scenes that will make you want to hurl your eReader or book out the window. It’s not suitable for anyone under the age of 18. 

"Jack Fucking Daniels and I were hoping he could cure me of this life" - Shane Maxton

Maybe it’s because I love a good paranormal story now and then to change things up? Maybe it’s because it’s been over 100 books since I read Fall From Grace and Saving Grace that I could fully appreciate this same story from Shane’s POV? Or maybe it’s because I’ve been in such a book funk that hearing a story I enjoyed the first time, helped pulled me out this time? Maybe it’s because I got a complete story and didn’t have to wait a year to get the second part? Maybe it’s because I simply love Shane Maxton? I don’t know – but this book made me happy!!! "Number one, shut up and fuck you." 

100% honesty - I didn’t stalk this book.  I didn’t start a countdown.  I didn’t track in on my calendar.  Maybe that was the best thing I could have done? When I saw it was live, I had to buy it…but then…I didn’t read it right away.  I knew it was being re-told from Shane’s POV but I already knew the story, knew how it ended and with the book funk I’ve been in, I wasn’t sure the timing was right.  If I already knew how it was going to end, it didn’t matter when I read it.  (I know, I know but that’s the book funk talking.) 

After finishing 2 other new releases, and not giving them more than 3 stars, I figured I might as well give it a try.  I had loved Shane Maxton once before, even though he drove me a little crazy, maybe he could be the one to pull me out of my 3’s.  

The Angel/Rockstar did just that with his singing of Hallelujah! "For a split second, I looked down to see if my skin was turning green and I'd be busting out of my shirt all Hulk-style. No dice."

I laughed out loud, I teared up, I wanted to throw my Kindle at the wall (damn if I didn’t know how it ended and STILL got frustrated while I was reading).   

There was just something about seeing this story from the other side that made my heart skip a beat and fall in love all over again.  To those that think his POV should have been included in the first story - sorry but I think you are wrong.  This was imperfectly perfect, just like Shane and Grace! "That song was sexy as all fuck, but dancing to it with Grace made it sinful, and I couldn't get enough of her." 

So here are the thank yous to Christine: Thank you for making this one book! Thank you for making this story complete because now that I’ve seen it through Shane’s eyes, I feel like it is (unless he starts singing to you again!)! Thank you for bringing this wonderful group of characters to life and sharing them with us.  Special thanks for Lea because we might still be waiting for them to get their shit together without her.  Thank you for (hopefully) pulling me out of my book funk with your story! And thank you for leaving the opening in the epilogue to bring them back.   

"Until then, just love them fiercely."