REVIEW: On an Edge of Glass by Autumn Doughton

My Rating: Kiss Me Now! (3.5 stars)

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.05

Genre: New Adult Romance

Steam Level: mild-warm

“I am on an edge of glass. And it’s breaking.”

Ellie has a perfect plan. Get into Columbia law school and follow in her parent’s footsteps and join their law firm. Then she meets Ben…

“But, here’s a sad fact: perfect isn’t mean to be. When you aim for perfect, you just wind up ruined.”

On an Edge of Glass is beautifully written with a very simplistic plot. A coming of age romance novel at its very basic, girl meets boy and they fall in love after a few bumps in the road. BUT it is done well…yes it’s a bit slow in places and predictable; however I wanted to highlight half the book. Perfect when you are looking for a sweet and mild read to slow down with for a bit.

The writing is what drew me into to this story. It is eloquent and moving. Her descriptions were so beautifully written that I had to catch my breath a couple times. The author really has a way with words and it was what kept me reading through some of the slow parts.

A lot of this book was really good, but there were some things I disliked:

~ This book contains a lot of drinking/partying and sexual tension. That is NOT a bad thing, AT ALL…but when two main characters first attraction is purely sexually and the tension between the two could be cut with a knife I really want that ‘relief’ when they finally have sex. I didn’t really get that here because the sex was barely even glossed over and left me wanting. (And this is just how I felt, so you might not have the same opinion as little ol’ me, lol)

~ A lot more telling than showing. I got a bit tired of Ellie’s inner monologue.

~It contains one of my pet peeves: Lack of communication and misunderstanding are the root of the issues between Ellie and Ben for the most part. I hate it when all the drama could have been cleared up with one conversation.

This book is real and normal. It has its fair share of drama but nothing that is life or death. I liked both Ben and Ellie but I never really felt a connection with them. The supporting cast of characters were a lot of fun and I hope the author will write stories for them as well.

This was an okay read for me, but I would highly recommend it if you’re looking for something sweet and a bit slow paced with realistic characters and situations.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes. I had a hard time deciding which ones to post, lol, the quotes and writing style in general were my favorite parts of this book. The author just has a way with words:

“The trees are the way tress have always been, Elizabeth. What’s different is the way that you’re looking at them.”

“He is the musician and I am the instrument. I glide beneath him, barely breathing, barely thinking.”

“Happiness isn’t something that you can plan for. It comes knocking unexpectedly, just like opportunity. And it’s up to you to answer the door and invite it inside.” 

To Purchase a copy from Amazon --> CLICK HERE

This is a great deal at only 1.99 right now!

~ERIN

GIVEAWAY and review of After Math by Denise Grover Swank

Giveaway at bottom of post!!

My Rating: Kiss Me Now (3.5 stars)

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.90

Genre: New Adult Romance

Steam Level: warm

The title and cover of After Math had me immediately intrigued. It starts off really strong and I couldn’t put it down. I kept reading and reading and waiting for something to happen or for a big reveal to come, but nothing BIG really happened. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it and a lot of secrets are revealed throughout the story about both Tucker and Scarlett, but maybe it was the title that had me thinking there would be something a little more…shocking?? It was still a captivating read that I enjoyed, especially the last third or so.

There are parts that are a little slow, but the author did a good job of giving the whole story an eerily sad feeling and I mean that in a good way. The story is told in first person through Scarlett who is one of the unhappiest characters I have ever read about. She is depressing, obsessively shy, and cries at the drop of a hat. Granted she has had an extremely tough run in life and has anxiety issues, but her constant wallowing got a little old after a while. However, as I said that depressing, hopeless feeling that Scarlett has really comes through in the story, even if you don’t end up liking her you can certainly understand why she feels the way she does.

“I shut myself off from everyone and everything to survive. I’m hidden somewhere deep inside and sometimes I wonder if I’ll stay buried forever. If I’ll ever find my way out.” ~ Scarlett

Now for Tucker. I loved Tucker, even his bi-polar personality. He is a cocky soccer star/ notorious playboy at the university they attend, but when you dig a little deeper you realize it’s all a façade. He is just as lonely and miserable as Scarlett but deals with it in a completely different way. I loved that he really took time to understand Scarlett when no one else before has. He has a long list of secrets that will slowly be revealed throughout the book. With Scarlett he feels like he is ‘safe’ and can finally be his true self with someone. They share a common bond over loneliness and together they find common ground that allows them to learn how to love unhindered and accept love in return.

“I don’t want to leave you. Once I walk out that door, the real world takes over.” ~ Tucker

Meet Tucker and Scarlett (These picture were taken from the authors page):

I was so glad there was no insta-love between these two, it was both heartwarming and heart breaking to watch the relationship between them blossom from dislike/misunderstanding to something much more. They both struggle with what a meaningful relationship will mean to them and both of them try to shield their heart from potential hurt. Neither of them has had an easy life and when they finally find something real and worth fighting for, they're both afraid it's too good too be true. 

There is a beautiful HEA complete with an epilogue, but I did feel it was just a bit rushed. After all the heartache they had gone through I could have used a little more happy!

If you’re a lover of New Adult books, I have no doubt you will enjoy this read!

Favorite Quote:

“It’s as though a veil has been thrown over my heart, and no one has ever been able to tear it down. Until this boy. This unattainable, untouchable, unreliable boy.” ~Scarlett

About the Author

Denise Grover Swank lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri. She’s a gypsy who can’t live in one place too long or stay in one genre. She writes contemporary romance, urban fantasies without vampires and werewolves, young adult science fiction, and romantic comedy mysteries set in the south. Denise has six children, three dogs, and an overactive imagination. She can be found dancing in her kitchen with her children, reading, or writing her next book. You will rarely find her cleaning. Author's links: FACEBOOK TWITTER WEBSITE

To purchase a copy of After Math --> CLICK HERE

Now for the giveaway! If you want to win a Kindle copy of After Math all you have to do is follow Books Vs Boys via email, FACEBOOK, or TWITTER. Comment below or email (booksvsboys@gmail.com) with how you follow and your email address (without it I will have no way to contact the winner!) I will randomly choose a winner on Wednesday, March 27th to gift a copy to. Good Luck!
A winner has been chosen! She has been emailed and will have 48 hours to respond before another one is selected. Thanks to all who entered!

~ERIN

cover reveal: precious things

Precious Things

by Stephanie Parent 

Release Date: May 2013

Cover Deisgned by: Allie Brennan of B Design 

Cover reveal organized by: YA Bound

Summary from Goodreads:

Isabelle Andrews isn’t supposed to be here. She isn’t supposed to be a freshman at Hartford Community College, she isn't supposed to be living at home and working at her dad’s failing bakery, and she definitely isn’t supposed to be taking Intro to Electronic Music Production, a class that will get her nowhere toward her goal of an English Ph.D. by age twenty-five. But when her dad’s latest business fiasco eats up her college fund, Hartford Community College is exactly where Isabelle finds herself—and thanks to her late enrollment, she doesn’t even get to choose her classes. Stuck with Electronic Music and way-too-easy English courses, Isabelle is determined to wallow in all the misery she feels entitled to.

But community college brings some unexpected benefits…like the fact that a certain overworked, over-scheduled Electronic Music professor hands over most of his duties to his teaching assistant. His tall, green-eyed, absolutely gorgeous teaching assistant. When TA Evan Strauss discovers Isabelle’s apathy toward electronic music—and, well, all music—he makes it his mission to convert her. The music Evan composes stirs something inside Isabelle, but she can’t get involved—after all, she’ll be transferring out as soon as possible. 

Still, no matter how tightly Isabelle holds on to her misery, she finds it slipping away in the wake of all Hartford Community offers: new friendships, a surprisingly cool poetry professor, and most of all, Evan. But Evan’s dream of owning his own music studio is as impractical as Isabelle’s dad’s bakery, and when Evan makes a terrible decision, everything Isabelle has gained threatens to unravel. Soon Isabelle discovers that some of the most important lessons take place outside the classroom…and that in life, as in Evan’s favorite Depeche Mode song, the most precious things can be the hardest to hold on to.

About the Author

Stephanie Parent is a graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at USC and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts as a piano major. She moved to Los Angeles because of Francesca Lia Block's WEETZIE BAT books, which might give you some idea of how much books mean to her. She also loves dogs, books about dogs, and sugary coffee drinks both hot and cold.

Follow Stephanie at:
Blog| Twitter|Goodreads  

GIVEAWAY and Excerpt from Off Sides by Saywer Bennett!

GIVEAWAY at bottom of post!

Off Sides by Saywer Bennett

Genre: New Adult/Contemporary  Romance

Publishing Date: Feb. 21st 2013

Event organized by: AToMR Tours

Book Description:

“I'm not sure what possessed me to do it. Maybe it was the impossible expectations I faced, maybe it was my own self-loathing. But I just knew I needed something different to happen. I needed someone...something...to derail me from my current path. Otherwise, I would become lost...a hollowed out shell of a man. So I did it. I approached her, then I pursued her, then I made her mine. And my life was saved...”

Ryan Burnham is the privileged son of a U.S. Congressman and captain of his university’s hockey team. While he is on the verge of fulfilling his dreams to play in the NHL, his parents want him on a different course. One he is expected to accept for the sake of his family’s public image.

Forced to abandon her music career after the heart breaking death of her parents, Danny Cross exists on the opposite side of the tracks from Ryan. She is struggling to make her own way, working two jobs, attending college part time and volunteering in a homeless shelter. She is on a mission to build her own success.

With a chance meeting, their vastly different worlds collide, causing each to evaluate whether they are truly on the correct path to self-fulfillment and happiness. Can their relationship survive? Particularly when others are against them every step of the way. A lot can happen in just ten short days...

Excerpt:

Ryan is waiting for me and as I get closer to him, I appreciate just how enormously tall he is in his skates. I sure hope he's steady in them because just a few feet from him I launch myself into his arms and wrap my legs around his waist. He's wearing too much gear for my legs to wrap all the way around him but his hands are firmly gripping my ass to hold me in place.  I plaster my mouth to his and he kisses me back with abandon, squeezing me tight.

I move my mouth to his neck and nibble there.  "I'm so proud of you, Ryan."

He groans but says, "Danny...I'm all gross and sweaty."

"I don't care," I say as I work my way back to his mouth. After kissing him lightly there, I murmur against his lips, "I plan on getting sweaty with you a lot in the future."

Ryan whips around and crushes me to the wall with his body and thoroughly claims my lips with his. Eventually, he pulls back and I'm thankful no one has walked by us yet. "You know it makes me crazy in lust with you when you say things like that."

I smile coyly at him and stroke his face. "Ryan...what are we waiting for?" I know my eyes are full of yearning and I hope he understands the depth of it.

To Purchase Off Sides from Amazon --> CLICK HERE

About the Author

Sawyer Bennett is the pen name for a snarky southern woman and reformed trial lawyer who decided to finally start putting on paper all of the stories that were floating in her head. She is married to a mobster (well, a market researcher) and they have two big, furry dogs who hog the bed. Sawyer would like to report she doesn't have many weaknesses but can be bribed with a nominal amount of milk chocolate. Author's links: WEBSITE FACEBOOK TWITTER GOODREADS

Winner's Choice GIVEAWAY!! The winner will have the choice of a mobi or ePub file of any of the three books listed below:

Adult Paranormal Romance

Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Adult Paranormal Romance

 How to enter??? Subscribe to our blog through email, Facebook, or Twitter and comment below with how you follow us and your email address (without it I have no way to contact the winner!). If you'd feel more comfortable you can email to me instead: booksvsboys@gmail.com A winner will randomly be selected on Monday, April 1st. Good Luck!!!

Congrats to Diamond for being our randomly selected winner! You have been emailed and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. Thanks to all who entered!

~ERIN 

Thursday's Freebies and Hot Deals!

Note that all prices are correct at the time of posting, but are subject to change at any time. Please verify price before purchasing. 

Click on the book to be taken directly to Amazon!

FREE

New Adult Romance

Contemporary Romance

.99 cents

New Adult Romance
I LOVED this book!!!!!!!

New Adult Romance
Over 4 star rating on Goodreads!

Contemporary Romance
This one is on my TBR!

New Adult Romance
Just re-released by publisher!

 

New Adult Romance
Great reviews and on my TBR!

Contemporary Romance
Another one from my TBR!

1.99!!

New Adult Romance
Only on sale for 24 hours!

I hope you guys found some great deals! Making this list every week always ends up in my finger getting one-click happy!!!

~ERIN 

GIVEAWAY/Mini Review of Charade & Facade News!

Charade GIVEAWAY at bottom of the post!!!

Charade by Nyrae Dawn Mini Review

My Rating: Date Me Now!! (4.5 stars!)

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.18

Steam Level: Hot!

Genre: New Adult Romance

The book was the perfect mixture of angst, tattooed bad boy, and sexual tension for me. It is the New Adult genre at its best. I liked that while the two characters, Chey and Colt, were attracted to each other sexually from the get go, they actually didn’t really like each other at first. It was fun and heartwarming to watch their feelings and characters evolve.

When a book is written in first person I feel like there is a lot of the story you miss out on because you only see one person's point of view, so I loved that this was written in alternating first person between Chey and Colt so you can see BOTH sides of the story. 

This is an easy read, but definitely not light. The issues of death, abandonment, and grief are all touched upon. The love that Chey and Colt finally come to have is what gives them the strength and courage to make it through some unbelievably heart breaking situations. It was beautifully written and I was brought to tears at the end which not something that happens to me very often.

I recommend you pick this book up, you will NOT be disappointed!

To Purchase Charade from Amazon --> CLICK HERE

The next book in the series will be Facade! It's Adrian's story. AND its release date was just moved up to July 2nd 2013. WAHOOO!!! I can't wait for this one. 

To Pre-Order Facade from Amazon --> CLICK HERE

GIVEAWAY TIME!!  In order for a chance to win a kindle copy of Charade by Nyrae Dawn all you have to do is like NA Books Vs. Boys on Facebook! CLICK HERE to go straight to our page! Then come back and comment on this post with your FB name and email address (without it I have no way to contact the winner!). If you'd feel more comfortable emailing me you can do that as well: booksvsboys@gmail.com  I will randomly select a winner on Monday, March 25th!  GOOD LUCK!
WINNER!!! Random.org has chosen Tonya Becker as the winner! Tonya has been contacted through email and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen. Thanks to all who entered!

~ERIN

Book Hook Up: Reckless

Reckless (Thoughtless #3_)

by S.C Stephens 

Publishing date: March 5 2013  

Publisher: Self Published 

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

My Rating: Kiss (Not really a kiss more of a kiss and a half)

Average Rating:4.54 

Synopsis 

When the band hits it big, Kiera and Kellan must ask themselves: Can their love for each other survive the constant pressures of superstardom? The friendships they've formed, the new family they've found, and the history they've forged will all play a part in helping them navigate the turbulent waters of the band's exploding popularity. A greedy executive hell-bent on success, a declining pop star looking for an edge, and a media circus that twists lies into truths are just some of the obstacles the lovers will have to overcome if they are going to remain together. Fame comes with a price-but will it cost Kiera and Kellan everything?

Can love survive when life gets Reckless?

As you all may have realised I have not blogged for like ages I don't even have time to read books I've started like three books and not finished reading them. So you can see how excited I was when reckless came out but it did not meet my expectation to even by a long shot. but I guess what goes up must come down right..... 

Okay I know what you guys are saying it wasn't even that bad but yes to me it was. The plot was so uninteresting it wasn't even worth it. I d t know I think the auteur didn't know what direction to take it in so the only route she could go was the boring obvious rote. I really missed the heart racing page turning plot that had once been in the series , but I have noticed of late that good series always end badly. ( e.g the delirium series but don't get me started on that one its for another day).

However, the sex was much hotter like way more hotter like Kellan dipped in chocolate hot. The author has so matured in her writing of sexual scenes It was more personal now and WAY more detailed. It was so much more intimate , I felt like I was there living the experience. So very well done there Miss .

In terms of characters I really like how all the characters developed it was so nice to see how the grew and matured as people. Especially Griffin 

Griffin : I had to say I was very surprised by him he really stepped up to the plate with this fathering this .. But don't worry he is still the rude sexually disgusting pig he always was but just a bit better 

Kiera: I don't know why but at time I got really bored of Kiera think h windy mannerism has finally caught up with me so ever time she spoke I was already annoyed. But here wines have toned down a bit and she has very much matured as a character  She is so much more independent and is not dictated and solely reliant on the men in her life. She became her own and stepped out of the male shadow that was always holding her back 

Kellan: There is no other word to describe him but as a sex god and in this book her sure does live up to the name and the title . Aaaaaaaaaawh if it was possible I would so leave my boyfriend for him...l need I say more 

So all in all it was an okay read but just okay and I think it's because I had set my expectation so high especially because of that blurb( who ever made it should like so get a pay rise ) If it was any other book I would have giving it a higher rating . But because of my disappointment I had to give it this low mark. 

casting:

okay  i actually kind of changed how i see Kiera before i use to see her a shailene woodley

 Because shailene woodley always use to be irritating and whinny when she was on the secret life of an american teenager it use to irritate that fuck out of me. But now that Kiera is not really that whinny anymore i dont see her as Shailene. 

Now she is nit annoying anymore i see here and Kellan like this :

Debbie