Waiting On Wednesday -

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted @ Breaking the Spine. It is a great way to share upcoming releases.

I just finished a cool love story called Jane's Melody by Ryan Winfield and the second book is due out sometime in August of 2014 and I can hardly wait....

JANE'S HARMONY: A NOVEL

Expected publication: August 5th 2014

Starting over is hard to do.

That’s what forty-year-old Jane McKinney learns when she quits her job, sells her home, and leaves Seattle behind to start a new life and pursue the man she loves in Austin. After the death of her daughter, Melody, Jane never thought she would find happiness again – until she met Caleb Cummings. Sensitive, loving, and mature beyond his years, Caleb is a handsome young musician struggling to make ends meet. But when his fortunes take an unexpected and drastic turn for the better, Jane is left wondering where exactly she fits in. 

Can you ever leave the past behind? Jane must now decide if she really is willing to commit to a new beginning with Caleb – or if some wounds are just too deep to ever truly mend.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

You can think of Ryan Winfield as the indie Nicholas Sparks. Ryan is a storyteller. His characters and his settings are richly and dynamically drawn. Ryan is theNew York Times bestselling author of Jane’s Melody, South of Bixby Bridge, and The Park Service trilogy. He lives in Seattle.

To learn more, visit him at facebook.com/ryanwinfield.

Jane's Melody #1

JANE'S MELODY by Ryan Winfield

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved Jane's Melody. Even though Jane was much older than Caleb, this story was such a sweet relief to the YA and PNF genres I'd been reading lately. I love a good Love Story and it's rare to find a male author of this genre and being a male, writing from a female's POV had to be difficult but I commend him for his insightfulness.

Jane's character wasn't so bad but it fell short compared to Caleb. I much preferred Caleb. He could've had anyone because he was built like a god and gorgeous yet he fell for a 40 year old woman. I understood her sex drive after having a child so that wasn't much of a surprise to me. All she wanted was sex with a man who was available to her and she took advantage of that fact with Caleb. It might've not seemed fair, but what guy would pass up that opportunity anyway?

When Jane met Caleb, he was homeless and trying to make a living playing music on the streets. Jane suspected Caleb knew her daughter Melody and assumed they were going together. So, she kind of stalks him for awhile hoping he would shed some light on the events surrounding her daughters death/suicide. Her daughter died of a drug overdose and Jane needed to deal with her own grief . She also was familiar with Al-anon as their were problems with alcohol abuse in her family.

So anyway one day Jane finds Caleb and he'd been beaten pretty bad and had nothing left but the shirt on his back so Jane jumps at the chance to help him , offering to come work for her since he doesn't want to be a charity case. He accepts the deal which allows him room and board and money in his pocket . He dreams someday of going to Austin.

I enjoyed reading about their love relationship but I am angry that Jane broke his heart . However, Jane realizes with the help of a dying friend to never live life with fear and to go after him so she sells her house and things and goes in search of Caleb driving all the way to Austin Texas.

When she finds him .... hope springs eternal the second time around and that is where we are left. I can't wait to read what happens to them in Jane's Harmony due to be published sometime this August 2014.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi, I'm Ryan Winfield. I'm a 39-year-old writer living in Seattle. Author of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller "Jane's Melody: A Novel", "South of Bixby Bridge", and "The Park Service Trilogy". I hope you enjoy my books and I'd love to hear from you.

Author's Website

The Forever Song [Blood of Eden #3]

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I can't say I really liked The Forever Song, hence the 3 star rating, due to all the violence, and emotional trauma Allie and Zeke were put through, not to mention Kanin. In The Eternity Cure, Zeke had been kidnapped by the psycho vamp Sarren and from the sounds of Zeke's screams he was as good as dead. Nobody including Allie knew what had happened to him.

I liked Allie's good judgement as she always strived to be in control of her monster and a better vampire but this story was sorta anticlimactic, knowing that the bad guy had it coming.

I liked Jackal who provided us with witty bantor and there was one time when they were driving in a van he said something Like "Someone in this fucked-up family has to be." He was speaking about him being a realist and I had to giggle. Allie was trying to assure Zeke that Caleb and Bethany would be alright when they got to Eden but Jackal thought that was not going to be the case cause if Sarren was in Eden, the reality would be different.

"There you go again. Getting the puppy's [Zekes] hopes up. More likely, every bloodbag[human] on Eden is screaming and tearing their faces off, but, oh, no, no one wants to hear that." He waved a hand. "So, go ahead, tell him that everything is going to be fine. All the meatsacks are perfectly content on their happy little island, Sarren has given up world destruction to raise kittens, and the magic wish fairy will wave her wand and turn shit into gold."-taken from chapter 13 page 234-235 Lol I had to laugh.

The Forever Song starts off with Allie, Jackal and Kanin going in search of Sarren, hunting him down until they killed him, which wouldn't end until they reached Eden. Allie finally accepts being a monster fully and was almost overcome with bloodlust. On their journey towards Eden they encounter numerous hellish scenes left behind by Sarren who was goading them.

When they arrived in Old Chicago, the story starts to build more interest imo, because what they find at the top of the building is not who they expect....

Anyway it is there they almost all lost their lives but somehow managed to survive AND help Zeke out of his compulsion. Of course Allie is still so much in love with him and would do anything to keep Zeke from destroying himself. I really didn't like how Zeke was so lucid and didn't show much emotion because he used to be so happy with Alllie, but I guess vampires rarely showed their feelings if they even had any. I thought that by Zeke being a vampire it would've been better for Allie but that wasn't the case.

Sorry for the spoilers guys. I won't tell you what happens in the end.I can tell you it exhausted me. So much fighting gah!

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My review: don't look back ...by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was like a murder mystery suspense and I would've liked to known Samantha when she was the mean bitch.
Sam suffers from amnesia and doesn't remember anything of who she used to be. She's a much nicer person now following the accident involving her friend Cassie, who we later find out is dead and murdered.
Rumors of Samantha actually killing her best friend are going around school and Samantha thinks she's crazy. All the 'crazy' nuances around her having amnesia are just annoying. So we had the before Sam; who was a mean bitch , and the after Sam; who was just crazy BUT she wasn't crazy! She was just suffering from amnesia and that was enough to explain her visions in black and white and hearing things and wierd notes appearing everywhere . However I must admit Cassie in the mirror totally freaked me out and that was crazy. lol

Anywho ya so the problem wasn't that she was crazy but that she was suffering from amnesia and didn't have her memories back yet! [Young adult novels are sometimes so annoying. UGH] Everything fell into place when she did finally get them back though . Phew. It must have been a tough experience for Sam to go through but even harder was facing the truth about what'd happened to her and her friend. This is where I can't tell you whodunnit. What kind of person would I be?

Other characters I liked were Carson Ortiz, and Sam's brother Scott.


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His Fair Assassin #2

DARK TRIUMPH by Robin LaFevers

Audio CD
Narrated by: Angela Goethals
Series: His Fair Assassin, Book 2
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I know we had only a few glimpses of Sybella in Grave Mercy but I saw her more like a badass who was a little on the crazy side.

So far , Dark Triumph's Sybella is rather mature and ...normal as in ladylike :( She's very cautious and fearful of D'Albret too. She seems fearful of men in general which is another reason I am sorta turned off.I hate when a character turns out disappointing. I hope that changes as she reveals herself more. I was under the impression that the Assassins of St. Mortain all hated men ,but Sybella has Julien at her door constantly AND Sybella doesn't have the backing or support of the Convent like Esmae did.

Instead of punching Julien in the face I guess she's wise to play along having to watch her steps in her father's house. I am hoping the story will start getting interesting now that she breaks 'Beast' out of the dungeon.

Nothing too exciting happens with them until near the end of the book. Even though they both seem to be falling for each other they don't tell each other that until after all of Sybella's secrets are revealed, and boy what a load of secrets she has! I can't say I liked the ending because the story leaves it open ended where we will have to wait for the next one ....Mortal Heart.

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Stacking The Shelves

In the past week I've struggled to read a book, perhaps I wasn't in the mood or maybe I'm in a book reading slump. Whatever the case, I know I currently have some awesome books on my shelf.

Books I purchased

• Dreams of God's & Monsters (Daughter Of Smoke & Bone #3) by Laini Taylor SPECIAL EDITION with a bookplate 
• Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFever
• Sea Of Shadows by Kelly Armstrong

Borrowed from Library

• Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) by Robin LaFever
• The Pledge by Kimberley Derting

Audiobook

I won:

• Dreams Of God's & Monsters [#3 Daughter of Smoke & Bone] by Laini Taylor

Kindle Books

• Hearts of the Anemoi Bundle by Laura Kaye
• Sinjin (The Bryn and Sinjin Series) by H.P.Mallory
• Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad boys of PNR by Jennifer Ashley
• East of Ecstasy

Cover Reveal: Hard To Come By

We are extremely excited to bring you the cover reveal for Laura Kaye’s HARD TO COME BY! Published by Avon Impulse, an imprint of HarperCollins, HARD TO COME BY is a thrilling Romantic Suspense novel in Laura’s Hard Ink Series. It is the third full-length novel and is due to be released on November 25th!!

  ABOUT HARD TO COME BY: 

Caught between desire and loyalty…
Derek DiMarzio would do anything for the members of his disgraced Special Forces team—sacrifice his body, help a former teammate with a covert operation to restore their honor, and even go behind enemy lines. He just never expected to want the beautiful woman he found there.
When a sexy stranger asks questions about her brother, Emilie Garza is torn between loyalty to the brother she once idolized and fear of the war-changed man he's become. Derek’s easy smile and quiet strength tempt Emilie to open up, igniting the desire between them and leading Derek to crave a woman he shouldn’t trust.
As the team’s investigation reveals how powerful their enemies are, Derek and Emilie must prove where their loyalties lie before hearts are broken and lives are lost. Because love is too hard to come by to let slip away…  

Pre-Order at Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK | B&N | iTunes

And don’t miss the other Hard Ink books, now available:

Praise for the Hard Ink Series:

For Hard As You Can: "TOP PICK! There is a sinister and desperate edge to this tale that will keep readers glued to their seats. Kaye has dark romantic suspense nailed!" ~ RT Book Reviews Magazine

"Hard As You Can is another five star read. The characters Ms. Kaye has created are wonderfully broken and the drama is gritty, but the burgeoning romance and the tight-knitted relationship of the team leaves you with a sense of redemption. A must read series!" ~San Francisco Book Review

For Hard As It Gets: "Edgy, sexy and full of suspense! A great read from a great new author!" ~ #1 NYT Bestselling Author J.R. Ward

"Sizzling romance... The intriguing tattoo parlor and military background will appeal to fans of Suzanne Brockmann and Lindsay McKenna." ~Publishers Weekly Review

"Kaye's depiction of sexual tension and her sex scenes are masterful and this will appeal to fans of Maya Banks' KGI and Julia Ann Walker's Black Knight's series." ~Booklist

ABOUT LAURA KAYE:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.  

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  Hard to Hold On To on Goodreads
  Hard to Come By on Goodreads