I loved these 7 books. I can't wait to see what reads 2017 brings for us.
Just a note, these are not in any order, they were just my tops reads for this year
Cease (the Bayonet Scars finale)
by J.C. Emery
BLURB
Death silences. Love
echoes.
Ruby Buckley is no stranger to loss. She lost her twins in
their infancy, lost her son to his demons, and lost herself to a life she never
wanted.
Until him.
Jim Stone is lost. He’s a father who doesn’t know how to
parent, a brother who doesn’t know why he ever patched in, and is completely
numb to everything around him.
Until her.
Craving normalcy, Ruby wants to live straight, but that’s
easier said than done when a member of the Forsaken Motorcycle Club is
determined to make her his old lady. She’s plagued by a past she can’t escape.
He vows to give her a better future, even if means delivering the impossible.
But falling in love was only the beginning.
Twenty years later and they’re still going strong, even if
the world around them is crumbling. Jim’s put his club on the line and given
Ruby the impossible– her now adult twins she thought she’d lost forever. She
has everything she’s always wanted.
But at what cost?
Love is never more real than when it’s forever.
NOOOO!!!
Okay, now that that is out of my system, I can say that this
book is in my top five for the year, without a doubt. This is more than a five
star read!
I can’t believe that this is the final book in the Forsaken
MC series. I have been with this series from the very start and have loved each
and every book. And each and every character.
You really should read this series in order. There is a
storyline that continues throughout the series. It ends with this book though.
The way JC writes, has me feeling like I am part of the
Forsaken family, and not just a reader.
If you have read the previous book, you know about the cliff
hanger that we were left with. I’m not going to say how that works out though.
You just HAVE to read this.
I love how this book doesn’t exactly start from where the
previous left off. Yes, I may have been a little upset, and tempted, to read
the final chapter to find out, but I didn’t do it! Don’t do it! I’m so glad
that I waited for it.
This is Ruby and Jim’s story. From the very beginning. It
spans twenty years. Their story is full of bumps in the road, but one that
stands out…
Their love for each other, and their boys.
Seeing Ian as that broken and scared little boy is
heartbreaking.
Hmm, Ryan as a kid…he was a loveable little punk. His first
time meeting Ruby had me laughing so loud that I woke my baby up from his nap.
Seeing the changes, in both boys, because of the love Ruby
and Jim has for them, I have no words to describe it.
I will say a young Ian and a young Ryan together…they’re
shitheads!
Also, two words…Super glue!
This book has me heartbroken and happy. I cried and laughed
while reading this. I was pissed a couple of times too.
I love the bonus chapters at the end. Great closure for a
great series.
I can’t wait to see what JC creates next. I will be
impatiently waiting. She is one of my must read authors. I have read everything
of hers, and have loved it all.
“And family.”
“And it never ends.”
Harley & Rose
by Carmen Jenner
BLURB
Ever since she was a little girl, thirty-year-old Rose dreamed of the day Harley would carry her across the threshold on their honeymoon. So what if this isn’t her actual wedding day, and that she’s only here because Harley was left at the altar just a few hours earlier?
Trading San Francisco for paradise and swapping her bridesmaid’s bouquet for a Blue Hawaii, Rose hopes she can finally escape the friend zone.
Once upon a time they had been more than friends, but life got in the way. She’s spent every day since wishing Harley would get a clue.
She’s always been his best friend.
He’s always been hers.
She’s in love with him.
He’s... not in love with her.
He’s... marrying someone else.
He’s... hiding something.
He’s... well—it’s complicated.
Trading San Francisco for paradise and swapping her bridesmaid’s bouquet for a Blue Hawaii, Rose hopes she can finally escape the friend zone.
Once upon a time they had been more than friends, but life got in the way. She’s spent every day since wishing Harley would get a clue.
She’s always been his best friend.
He’s always been hers.
She’s in love with him.
He’s... well—it’s complicated.
I really wish I had the option for more than five stars!
This book has destroyed me. Too many feels. This is one of the best books of
the year!
AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ!
I swear I went through every emotion while reading this.
I did want to hurt Harley about half way through. Right when
I was wishing we had his point of view also, we get one chapter. Those few
pages had me saying “Oh shit!” and “NOOOO”
My heart hurt for all the hurt Rose went through because of
Harley. She got her heart broke so many times by him.
The ending shattered me. That’s for sure.
I understand why Harley did what he did. He loves Rose so
much. And she loves him just as much. They’ve loved each other since they were
five years old. He’s her Pan. And she’s his Wendy.
You must read this. Just make sure to have some tissues!
“Forever is an awfully long time.”
“It would be an awfully big adventure.”
I don’t think I can read anymore today. I’m completely
heartbroken right now.
Toward the Sound of Chaos
by Carmen Jenner
BLURB
Jake Tucker is broken. At twenty-two, he went in to the
Marine Corps a naïve, troubled youth. Nine years and four tours later, Jake
finds himself back on US soil, though his mind remains firmly planted in the
sands of Afghanistan with the men he left behind.
Wounded, chewed up and spat out by war, Jake has only his
dog, Nuke, PTSD, and survivor’s guilt to keep him company. He’s lived every day
for nine years wondering when it will be his last, but there’s little comfort
in the fact that he’s still standing when his platoon isn’t.
Ellie Mason doesn’t have time for broken. She’s too busy
trying to put food on the table. And keeping up with the demands of her
autistic son, Spencer, is sometimes like fighting behind enemy lines. As if
navigating the minefields of single parenthood isn’t enough, Ellie finds
herself drawn to the quiet Marine who’s just as lonely as she is. But she’s
loved damaged men before, and it left her wounded.
Set against the picturesque backdrop of Fairhope, Alabama,
Ellie and Jake find themselves running toward the sound of chaos.
Love is war.
Only the strong survive, and surrender is inevitable.
This is now my favorite Carmen Jenner book! And one of my
top reads of the year so far.
Luke is a Marine. He was a POW in Afghanistan. He has severe
PTSD and survivors’ guilt, but who wouldn’t after going through what he did.
Usually I get mad while reading books that deal with PTSD. A
lot of authors don’t research and almost make a joke of it. This book isn’t
like that AT ALL! I have close friends with war related PTSD and have seen
first hand, what can happen.
Ellie is a single mom. Spencer is her eight year old,
autistic son. He’s a great kid, but autism and his sensory issues make things
difficult sometimes. She is a great mom.
I couldn’t put this book down. There were parts where I did
wonder if Luke and Ellie could, or would, work out.
This is definitely a MUST READ for 2016!
Preppy: The Life & Death of Samuel Clearwater, Part One
(King #5)
by T.M. Frazier
BLURB
Bowtie...'till I DIE.
Samuel Clearwater, A.K.A Preppy, likes bowties, pancakes, suspenders, good friends, good times, good drugs, and a good f*ck.
He’s worked his way out from beneath a hellish childhood and is living the life he’s always imagined for himself. When he meets a girl, a junkie on the verge of ending it all, he’s torn between his feelings for her and the crippling fear that she could be the one to end the life he loves.
Andrea ‘Dre’ Capulet is strung out and tired.
Tired of living for her next fix. Tired of doing things that make her stomach turn. Tired of looking in the mirror at the reflection of the person she’s become. Just when she decides to end it all, she meets a man who will change the course of both their lives forever.
And their deaths.
For most people, death is the end of their story.
For Preppy and Dre, it was only the beginning…
BLURB
Samuel Clearwater, A.K.A Preppy, likes bowties, pancakes, suspenders, good friends, good times, good drugs, and a good f*ck.
He’s worked his way out from beneath a hellish childhood and is living the life he’s always imagined for himself. When he meets a girl, a junkie on the verge of ending it all, he’s torn between his feelings for her and the crippling fear that she could be the one to end the life he loves.
Andrea ‘Dre’ Capulet is strung out and tired.
Tired of living for her next fix. Tired of doing things that make her stomach turn. Tired of looking in the mirror at the reflection of the person she’s become. Just when she decides to end it all, she meets a man who will change the course of both their lives forever.
And their deaths.
For most people, death is the end of their story.
For Preppy and Dre, it was only the beginning…
OMG these cliff hangers are going to kill me, I swear!
Thankfully, I love a good cliff hanger. Now I can’t wait for the next part of
Preppy’s story.
I have loved Preppy, and all his bowtie wearing hotness,
since I read King. I cried when he died. Then I cried at the end of Soulless
too!
This book takes us from the time King got locked up all the
way through the present.
I love him and Dre together.
Dre is a junkie, surprisingly Preppy helps her.
I don’t want to say too much because I would hate to give
anything away.
I couldn’t put this book down. I do strongly suggest that
you read them in order. You won’t be disappointed at all. Trust me!
I can’t wait for the next! This is one of my top five for
the year.
Dirty (RAW Family #2)
by Belle Aurora
BLURB
My marriage seemed perfect from the outside looking in.
People envied me. They wanted my life, wanted to be me.
Mrs Alejandra Gambino.
Wife of Dino Gambino. Daughter of Eduardo Castillo.
Respected. Loved. Mob royalty.
They had no idea of the horrors that lurked behind closed
doors.
They didn't know I was at the lowest point a person could
reach.
Enter Julius Carter.
Aloof, handsome, blue-eyed Julius Carter.
He saved me.
I screwed him over.
Now everybody was after me. My life was forfeit.
It was only a matter of time. I was a dead woman walking.
The question was, who would get to me first?
This is the second book in the Raw Family series. It seems
like I waited forever to read this, well, for it to come out. The wait is well
worth it. This is in my top five reads for the year!
Twitch absolutely destroyed me in Raw. What happened to Ana,
in Dirty, has me completely broken hearted.
But this book hasn’t left me feeling completely destroyed.
It has left me anxious for what’s coming in the third, and final book, Raw:
Rebirth. I’m also so very hopeful.
When I got to chapter four, I may have squealed a little.
Okay, maybe it was a really loud squeal that had my husband looking at me like
he needs to put me in a psychiatric hospital. White padded walls and all.
“Yippie-Kai-Yay, motherfucker.”
Julius, hmm, what to say about him. He’s deadly, that’s for
sure. But with Alejandra, or Ana, how he is with her, it’s so different than
how he normally is.
I love him!!
Alejandra is smart, and strong. She may appear weak, and she
does have her moments where she just wants it all to end. But with what Dino
and Gio did to her, I think most people would have those thoughts!
“We all come into this world kicking, screaming, and covered
in somebody else’s blood.”
“I have no goddamn problem going out the same way.”
I really hope Ana puts a bullet in Ling.
I knew Ling was nuts, but damn. This bitch is beyond nuts.
Now to try to wait patiently for the next book.
I don’t know if I can!!
Dollars (Dollar #2)
by Pepper Winters
BLURB
“I should never have asked for a night with you. This would
never have happened if I’d had more willpower.”
A thief met a possession and did what he did best.
Now, he has to live with the consequences.
Including the girl he claimed.
Pimlico was stolen and sold all before her twenty-first
birthday.
Two years with a master who almost killed her is over.
She has a new master now.
A master who demands everything, expects everything, and
requires ultimate access to her mind.
Elder broke countless rules when he took the girl who wasn’t
his.
She confuses and bewitches him, but his fascination won’t
save her from his desires.
He wants to know her.
She wants to forget.
Together…they’re doomed.
This is
the second book in the Dollars series. You MUST read Pennies first. You won’t
be disappointed. If you haven’t read Pepper Winters before, these aren’t
unicorns and happy endings, things are twisted as hell. That’s what makes me
love her books though. The writing and the story are amazing. Trust me!
This starts right where Pennies left off. Master A tried to
cut her tongue out. Elder saved her.
This book takes Pim on a journey. She’s trying to figure
Elder out, while trying to figure out if she’s still Pim, or if she can go back
to being Tasmin. Or is she someone else all together? She is actually given
choices to make from Elder.
Elder is complicated and still mysterious. What happened to
his family? What demon is he trying to hide? We do get bits and pieces, but not
enough to make a solid guess yet. I have some ideas, but with how Pepper
Winters will twist a story, there is no telling if I’m right or wrong about it.
I’m usually wrong when it comes to her books.
There is chemistry between these two. But is it healthy or
is it toxic? Only time will tell.
The ending!! Ugh! I don’t know if I can wait until Hundreds
comes out to see what happens next. I may just have to pull a Misery moment and
find out that way.
If you decide to read this series, which you totally should.
Remember that this is a dark read. There are no rainbows and butterflies. Don’t
say you haven’t been warned.
Split
by J.B. Salsbury
BLURB
JB Salsbury is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling
author who has captivated readers around the world. Her unforgettable new novel
is a story of romance and suspense, with a twist no one will see coming . . .
What do you do when you wake up with no memory of what you
did last night?
Lucas spent the first half of his life protecting himself
from others, but now his own mind is his biggest enemy. He doesn't know what
happens when the blackouts overtake him, but he can recall the feelings--the
rage, the confusion, the fear. Thankfully the quiet life he's found in Payson,
Arizona has kept the darkness at bay. Until his boss's estranged daughter shows
up in town, asking questions she shouldn't and sparking a desire Lucas can't
control. Getting close to Shyann is the best thing that's ever happened to him,
but when his blackouts return, unleashing the truth he's battled so long to hide,
he may just lose her forever . . .
I
honestly don’t even know where to start with this review. I would absolutely
hate to spoil anything for anyone.
I freakin’ loved reading this. I was questioning so many
things.
Did he or didn’t he?
Is he maybe?
Who?
Why??
Lucas is such a quiet guy. Before we knew for sure about the
split, and the reason for it, we knew he had been through hell. A hell no kid
should ever go through.
Gage is the complete opposite of Lucas. He is a fierce
protector. He will protect Lucas at all costs. From everyone.
Shyann suppresses all emotions, well, tries to at least. She
isn’t cold and heartless. She’s suffered a great loss, but she has a huge
heart.
She’s understanding. She’s a fighter. She’s caring.
She’s done running.
I love these 2/3 together. It’s not easy for them at first.
There’s a lot to deal with. Shyann is the perfect woman for them though.
This is a great read!
I received this book via Netgalley.
White Walls (Dylan Hart Odyssey of the Occult book #6)
by R.M. GilmoreBLURB
WARNING: This is the end.
Where do the damned go when they die? Hell, of course. But
as Dylan Hart discovers in this sixth and final novel, there’s more than one
way to spend eternal damnation.
Waking up in a new and disturbing world, Dylan fights to
keep her grip on reality. As old foes surface, so do the memories she has been
trying to keep hidden from the world and herself.
Trapped in the abyss of her own personal Hell, Dylan is
faced with the realities of the world she's fallen into and the consequences of
her depravities. Unfortunately for Dylan, this revelation could mean the end of
life as she knows it.
Holy fruitcake batman.
I don’t even know what to say in this review. All is revealed and everything we thought we
knew about our favorite fat bitch, yea, just yea.
This is book six and you MUST read these in order.
For the first 50% to 60% this had me saying “what the fuck”
so many times. I felt like I was going
crazy.
I couldn’t put this down!
What a book to end 2016 with.
I don’t want to say something and give anything away though.
I absolutely still love Dylan!
Nothing is what it seems.
This is definitely a top read for the year.
“I’d escaped hell before. I could do it again. I’m Dylan
fucking Hart, bitch.”
