Friday Fling! - Lucky Number Four

During Friday Fling , I share with you a "just for fun" romance book or novella that I read and really enjoyed.  It will generally be a "mini review" instead of a full review and I'll stray from my YA focus into the realm of new adult/adult romance (which, in case you're curious, is my not-so-guilty pleasure).  These are books that I think are fun, quick (sexy) reads that are definitely worth checking out!

Publisher: C.A. Kunz, LLC
Release Date: January 2014

Dora needs somewhere new to live and fast.  While living with her now married best friends seemed like a good idea and totally doable, their sex life has taken off and Dora is finding it a little hard to concentrate on her own life--not to mention hearing all the good sex is making her wish for some of her own!  A serendipitous roommate posting at the grocery store and three pushy models later, Dora is moving in with three drool-worthy men and she may have truly opened her own Pandora's box.  Attraction ensues, as one might suspect with three hottie roommates, but things are not necessarily quite as Dora is perceiving them

Ms. Pandora...well...she wasn't my favorite character ever in a new adult romance. She's clearly a beautiful young woman who can't fathom that she is, even with multiple handsome young men and her best friend drilling it into her head frequently.  While this was a fun and quick read, I felt like, for me, the character connections fell a little flat.  I wanted to like Pandora more (and to stop calling her Dora because does anyone NOT think of the little cartoon character when they say that name?), but something just didn't click there for me.  I also wasn't quite sold on the main love interest's instantaneous attraction to her.  I'm no stranger to love at first sight storylines but this one was lacking something and I'm not quite sure what.  That being said, I did enjoy this author's writing and general storytelling and I would probably pick up something from her in the future.

Hollowed Blog Tour: Character Interview with Briar

Today I am SUPER lucky to have the opportunity to share with you an interview that I had the pleasure of doing with none other than Briar, the leading lady in Kelley York's fabulous new vampire novel! 

Welcome to Reading in the Corner, Briar! I’m so excited to have you here today.

Hi. Hey. How's it going?

Great! Let’s start with the basics. Tell us a little bit about yourself (before “the event.”)

I like that. "The Event." Uh, let's see. I worked at a family bar, which is a job I totally never would've gotten if my roomie's brother didn't own the joint. I totally blow at interviews. I visited my parents a couple times a month and I kinda, sorta, maybe flunked out of community college. Which is something I hadn't gotten up the nerve to admit to Mom and Dad yet.

What do you remember about the night you and Sherry were attacked? Anything?

The memories were fuzzy at first. Now I can remember pretty much all of it. I remember thinking it was my fault we were there, and thinking the entire thing had to be some nightmare. I kept waiting to wake up from it.

I also remember it being really cold and wet and icky. But I guess you don't hear much about people being murdered on a bright, sunshiney day.

What was the biggest adjustment after you first changed?

Not being able to see my family. Someday, maybe I will. But I have some work to do before then so I don't scare my parents senseless. Having a life, no matter how stagnant it might be, then having it ripped out from under you is kind of a big thing. You lose your whole sense of self and have to rebuild it all.

What’s your favorite part of being a vampire, now that you’ve had a little time to adjust? Least favorite part?

There are some cool things about it. Our senses aren't, like, super-human, but they're kind of...tuned better than a human's, if that makes sense? I see and hear and feel the world with more clarity than I did before.

My least favorite part? The food. Ohmygod. Sometimes I get the worst cravings for something, like a huge cheeseburger, but when I eat it, it tastes like cardboard. So disappointing.

Yeah, THAT would not make me happy. I had the BEST bacon cheeseburger this past weekend...but I guess you don't really want to hear about that.

If you could go back and do one thing before becoming a vampire, what would it be?

If I were capable of changing something, I'd make sure Sherry survived. If changing something was out of the question, I'd at least make sure she knew how much I loved her, and how I still think about her every day.

And I gotta ask—do/can vampires drink coffee? I think I’d be lost without it. ;)

I was never much of a coffee drinker, to be honest, but I was a complete soda junkie. You can drink it—Cole sometimes does—but the caffeine effect is lost on us. It moves through our systems too quickly. Same goes for alcohol. You might feel it for a few minutes, but then it's gone.

This was awesome. Thanks for having me! 

Get your copy of Hollowed TODAY! It was a fabulous read and worth every penny!

All 18-year-old Briar Greyson wanted was to figure out this whole living-away-from-your-parents thing. Apartment, steady job, cool roommate? Check. Noah, her adorable (albeit elusive) boyfriend? Check. Everything in the life of Briar was pretty good.

Then she and her roommate are attacked on their way home one night. Briar wasn’t supposed to survive.

Instead, according to the two guys who saved her, she’s turning into the things that attacked her: a vampire. Totally crazy and Not Okay. Now Noah’s secrets are coming to light, and he wants Briar dead. Then there are the vampires who attacked Briar to lure out her sister.

Her sister…who died years ago.

(Didn’t she?)

The city’s body count is rising, and Briar wants to help put a stop to it. But first, she has to figure out who the real enemy is: the vampires, the boy she loves, or the sister she thought she’d lost.

Amazon | B&N | Smashwords

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fab {Indie} Friday: Hollowed by Kelley York

Release Date: 15 August 2012

Publisher: Self-pub
Format: eBook
Source: Author (thanks, Kelley!!)

Goodreads description:

All 18-year-old Briar Greyson wanted was to figure out this whole living-away-from-your-parents thing. Apartment, steady job, cool roommate? Check. Noah, her adorable (albeit elusive) boyfriend? Check. Everything in the life of Briar was pretty good.

Then she and her roommate are attacked on their way home one night. Briar wasn’t supposed to survive.

Instead, according to the two guys who saved her, she’s turning into the things that attacked her: a vampire. Totally crazy and Not Okay. Now Noah’s secrets are coming to light, and he wants Briar dead. Then there are the vampires who attacked Briar to lure out her sister.

Her sister…who died years ago.

(Didn’t she?)

The city’s body count is rising, and Briar wants to help put a stop to it. But first, she has to figure out who the real enemy is: the vampires, the boy she loves, or the sister she thought she’d lost.

My Thoughts...

Cover Reveal: Hollowed by Kelley York

You should know that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED Kelley York's debut novel, Hushed, when I read it last year.  I've read it in its entirety at least twice and in bits and pieces on numerous occasions. I pimped it out to a close friend who loved it just as much and we talk about it ALL THE TIME.  I stalk follow Kelley's blog and Twitter a lot some to keep an eye out for more from her because I LOVE her writing. You know when you read a book and you know you'll love everything that author does?  That was Hushed for me. Am I rambling? Yes?  Okay, well, when I saw on her blog that she had decided to self-publish a book this fall AND she has a new Entangled Pub book coming out next year, this was me:

So OF COURSE I wanted to participate in revealing her new cover!  Have I made you wait long enough yet? Maybe you want to see this beautiful gem now?  OKAY!

YA Book Review: The Dream Slayer by Jill Cooper

Release Date: 29 June 2012
Publisher: Self-published
Source: SupaGirl Book Tours

Book Description:

When your dreams come true, sometimes you get more than you bargained for...


Natalie Johnson has always dreamed she’s someone else; calm, beautiful, in control. A chosen warrior with a maniacal arch nemesis and a dreamy boyfriend, the type that can make your knees quiver and your heart melt. Real life is much different. She’s tormented by a bully and endures the sharp tongue of her father, but finds solace in her dreams. When her bully ends up dead, de ja vu from a dream hits her hard as everything around her begins to fall apart. Whatever killed Sarah in her dreams is now in reality, hunting her from the shadows. And it wants her dead. Somehow as the lines between reality and nightmare blur, Natalie must discover hidden strength to pull her friends and family back from the brink of madness.

My Thoughts...

Fab {Indie} Friday: Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie

Release Date: 24 December 2011

Publisher: Self-pub
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased from B&N

Get a copy! Amazon | B&N
(It's only $2.99 and totally worth it.)

Goodreads description:

Life sucks for orphans Callum Tate and Harper Bailey.

Kicked out of their foster homes because they suffer the 'eighteen disease' with nothing but a hundred dollar check from the government and a pat on the back, they're forced to rely on a system that failed them miserably.

So they sit. They sit inside Social Services, waiting for their social workers to call their names and offer them the miracle they know will never come but they sit anyway because they have nowhere else to go, no other options on their very literal and figurative empty plates.

But as they sit, they notice the other. Although captivated, they each come to the conclusion that life is complicated enough without throwing in a boiling tension that can't ever be acted upon because they're both too busy thinking about where their next meal will come from but when their names are called and both are placed on a year long waiting list for permanent housing, suddenly relying on each other seems like a very viable plan B.

And, oh, how lovely Plan B's can be.

Well, except for the psycho from Harper's past that haunts her and, oh, yeah, there's the little issue that neither of them knows they're in love with the other.

Needless to say, Callum & Harper's life just got a bit more complicated.

My Thoughts...

Fab {Indie} Friday Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Release Date:25 May 2012

Publisher: Self-pub
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased from B&N

Get a copy! Amazon | B&N
(It's only $3.99 and totally worth it.)

Goodreads description:

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, stalked by her ex’s frat brother, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Her econ professor gives her an email address for Landon, the class tutor, who shows her that she’s still the same intelligent girl she’s always been. As Jacqueline becomes interested in more from her tutor than a better grade, his teasing responses make the feeling seem mutual. There’s just one problem—their only interactions are through email.

Meanwhile, a guy in her econ class proves his worth the first night she meets him. Nothing like her popular ex or her brainy tutor, Lucas sits on the back row, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. At a downtown club, he disappears after several dances that leave her on fire. When he asks if he can sketch her, alone in her room, she agrees—hoping for more.

Then Jacqueline discovers a withheld connection between her supportive tutor and her seductive classmate, her ex comes back into the picture, and her stalker escalates his attention by spreading rumors that they’ve hooked up. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

My Thoughts...