inconceivably

Not terrible, just not nearly as great as Escorted.

Absolutely perfect. Amazing, brilliant, wonderful, ALL THE BEST ADJECTIVES. BRING THEM HERE.

hmm...mixed feelings.

Basically, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is an intriguing little oddity of a book. It wears a lot of different hats - mystery, horror, coming of age, tradition, fantasy, tragedy - and Neil Gaiman juggled them all with mountains of success. You could hand it to someone middle-aged and watch them muse over what the story says about remembering one's childhood and about memory itself. You could hand it to a mature-minded pre-teen and let the story send shivers up and down their spine. You could hand it to someone afraid of water and watch them absolutely quake at the very idea of an oceanic puddle. The possibilities are practically endless.Check out the full review on my blog!

-I LOVE reading about the Antebellum South you guys! Gone With the Wind has to have one of the most absorbing and engaging settings ever.-The characters are so much more fabulous to read than watch – I love Rhett Butler approximately 500% more than I did before reading the book.-The plot was frustrating, long and winding, but all the different characterizations never failed to keep me entertained. I blew through this book in just a few days! Check out my full video review on the blog!

Binding the Shadows by Jenn Bennett is one of my most anticipated releases of 2013. The kind of anticipate where a crazed book hoarder such as myself goes slightly insane and waits up until the pre-ordered title shows up on my Kindle the night of its release (11:13 PM in this case, if you’re curious). I then proceeded to rip through it like the freak that I am. What can I say? I love me some Arcadia Bell.So yeah, Binding the Shadows is the third book in the Arcadia Bell series. To be honest, I’ve only read the first two books (plus the semi-recent novella) once, so my memory on the exact points was a little shaky. Demons and magic and tiki bars, oh my. It took me a few pages to catch up with the world – the CRAZED world – of Arcadia and her super sexy boyfriend Lon. Now LON, I remembered just fine. *creepy eyebrow wiggle* Plus, he has a teenage son Jupe, who has to be the coolest kid ON THE PLANET. No kidding, next time I have the opportunity to name a pet? Jupe for the win.Check out the rest of my review on the blog!

Kyra, a teenage poison savant, is on the run for the slightly possibly a little bit illegal attempted murder of a princess (who also happens to be her bestie). From the beginning though, it is easy to trust that the girl has her reasons. Hey – I’ve trusted worse people with a lot less to go on (fictionally speaking, of course). So, with her expertly concocted poisons in hand, she is now a fugitive hiding out in the forest. Cue a crazy Hansel-and-Gretel-you-look-tasty style witch, being hunted down by her old friends and an unexpected ally in the form of super-hot Fred, the random guy in the woods with better food than her. Poison is one heck of an adventure, y’all!I really cannot get enough of fantasy books with forest settings, seriously. It always gives the story such delicious fairy tale vibes and an added dash of romance via eating over a campfire and camping out under the stars. Poison is no exception to this. There is also plenty of fleeing through the trees to avoid capture and following gamely behind an expert person finder (in the form of one’s new pet pig). SO MUCH CHARM, I SWOON.Check out the rest of my review on the blog!

After reading Samantha Young in the past, I've been looking forward to Down London Road for months. Well, I am here to tell you, several hours of crying, laughing and squealing like a lunatic later...it completely blew me away! This is definitely one of the best contemporary romances I have read in a long time.Jo has a tough family life and hides behind some pretty strong walls so that no one can penetrate down to see how awful her life really is. She basically lives for her brother Cole. Until Cameron comes into the picture. First, he is just another hot toolbag that looks at her like she's dirt. Then he accidentally gets a peek into an episode of Real Life: Johanna Walker and things start changing. For the sexier. (Like combusting just from a kiss on the forehead sexier.)Check out my full review on the blog!(Review will be up 5/8/13)

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to! Really liked the characters and LOVED seeing them stick it to the bad guy in the end.

You guys, I’m not gonna lie. I have been excited about reading Banished : Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain for months! I pretty much freaked out when I first saw that there was going to be a memoir from a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church. Unfortunately, I think I put a little too much emphasis on the word “former.” Because, after all, being banished means that Lauren Drain left the church unwillingly. I ended up having so many issues with this book that I’m not sure where to begin…and I’m also pretty sure I won’t be very nice about a lot of it.(For the record, I’m pretty sure this is the meanest review I’ve ever written – but my censor button doesn’t stand a chance against the crap ton of loathsome behavior.)Some of the problems I have with the book are my fault, I had pretty specific expectations. I wanted a former member of the church to be like “LOOK AT ALL THIS CRAZY SHIT THEY MADE ME DO!” and get a behind-the-scenes look into the minds of stupid, crazy people. What I got was a completely bizarre account of a girl, surrounded by the certifiably insane, and desperately wanting to be one of them. After reading the book, I got the clear impression that she would have never left the church on her own, and then there was a random epilogue tacked on to the end in which she bemoans the errors of her ways. Sense and sanity have left the building.First of all – I read Banished by listening to the audiobook. Lauren Drain did the narration and I thought her voice was pleasant and easy to understand. But, HOLY CRAP, was the writing terrible. I’m not kidding. The timeline was all over the place. Things were choppy and extremely hard to follow. It was almost like she was telling someone the story and just said things as they came to mind, regardless of when they occurred. I think a lot more thought should have been put into ordering things more clearly (or hey, how about any thought at all?). I’m not sure if reading the actual book would have been more helpful or not as far as keeping things straight – but I kinda doubt it. (What I do know is that I want that 8 hours back.)Another issue I had with the writing was the lack of emotion. I mean, Lauren Drain… this poor woman. Not only was she brainwashed by some of the most reprehensible lunatics on the planet, but even her own family pre-Westboro was awful. But, as her story progressed, it all felt like a dry recitation of facts by someone who’d researched the story – not lived it. It was actually a little weird. I was half afraid I’d have nightmares about the scary emotionless cult monsters coming to get me after reading about all the crap they’ve pulled.Another big problem I had with the mechanics of the story kinda blends together with problems I have with the people themselves…all the contradictions! I was getting so frustrated by the time I was midway through the book that I’m not even sure how I managed to finish (it was a CHORE, believe me). One minute, Lauren Drain would be praising one of the members of the church to the Heavens, then a few paragraphs later she’d be talking about all their faults. An example of this is Shirley, one of the most important church members. One second she’d be a shining example of everything that is right in the world, the next minute she’d be a condescending harpy that refused to acknowledge faults within her own family (mainly her kids).These ridiculous contradictions (which were often silly and passive aggressive) were only one of the ways Lauren Drain’s entire book felt like it was being written by an immature little kid. I fought between rolling my eyes at some of her moronic behavior and just feeling incredibly sorry for her. I mean, she lived her life for years wanting nothing more than to fit in with the rest of the WBC, but she insulted them in the same sentences as she expressed her fervent desire to be just like them. I know her emotional growth was incredibly stunted because of the people she surrounded herself with, but still. It was all just too much……especially once you get to the epilogue. All of a sudden she understands that being raised to hate and condemn was wrong and her views have changed and she is working on getting her life together. It sounded like it was being written by a completely different person. Throughout the entire book, it felt like she was disillusioned with the WBC but not able to give up on wanting to be one of them…and the short epilogue was too little too late.Ultimately, I couldn’t find much of anything positive about this book. The hateful, ridiculous and ignorant behavior of the WBC is front and center, but I never got the impression that Lauren Drain found it objectionable until the bizarre epilogue at the end written by her well-adjusted clone.To Sum it Up:-This book was not at all what I expected, and I was incredibly disappointed by the writing style, the attitude of the narrator and the story itself.-Everything was contradictory and felt extremely bizarre and disjointed. Kinda like a fake WBC expose written by a devotee on a crack pipe.-(To try and end on a positive note…) An insider’s look is what I was hoping for – and even though I didn’t like the POV of the events – many of the WBC beliefs were interesting to read about.…okay okay, I’m not done yet.I mostly tried to avoid talking about the WBC itself, because obviously we all hate them. No need to go there…except that I can’t quite help it. THEY PICKETED THEIR OWN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION, YOU GUYS. She actually struggled to decide whether to attend the ceremony or just stand with the protesters (don’t worry, I won’t leave you with a cliffhanger. She did both.) If they’re so against the “homosexual-enabling” den of iniquity that was Topeka High School, may I ask why in the holy hell they attended in the first place? I actually laughed during that section, imagining someone yelling in protest of the graduation while walking across the stage to accept their diploma. It was good to find some of their stupidity amusing since mostly it just made me want to throw up…

Seriously. I love how nothing in this story makes any logical sense – but it all comes together so beautifully anyway. This is a seriously wonderful story, in a very Calgon-take-me-away kind of way where trains make booty calls classy and all you want is for two strangers to fall in love.Check out the full review on my blog!

Really enjoyed this audio!

British occupied India is one of my all time favorite settings, I was so excited to have a Mary Russell story set there! I definitely need to read Kim now...

Owen Meade has basically made himself into a shut-in. He was born with only one arm and his WORTHLESS CRAPPY I HATE HER SO MUCH mother has pretty much convinced him that he is worthless. Then he gets a hot neighbor, the lucky dog. Bonus? Nick is a vet! Hot? check. Loves animals? check. Has no problem with Owen's situation? check. So yeah, basically the perfect man, right? Um, not so much. Mr. Nick has some big scary issues of his own that come out later in Never a Hero. Two words: Game Changer.Check out the full review on my blog!

This review is completely spoiler free, but to check out my full review (including slight spoilers), check it out on my blog!This series is a favorite of mine for a reason - Ty and Zane are so real and damaged. How can I not spend WAY too much of my time obsessing over wanting them to find happiness together?There is not a lot of happiness in this book, y'all. It's true. All the horrifying twists and turns everyone keeps talking about are just around every corner. I started getting scared to even turn a page - afraid I'd come across something even worse then what I'd just read.But the happiness that you can manage to dig out from all the rest? More meaningful and hard-won then it ever has been before.I am seriously shocked beyond belief by some of the things I learned in Touch & Geaux. I thought our boys had already been through a lot - but forget about it. That was nothing. In fact...knowing what I know now? I'll never be able to read the first six books in the same way again. Seriously: WHOA.As for the ending? Yeah. It was a doozy. Part "YES! YEEEESSSSS! YOU GO BOYS!" and part "WTF, what else could possibly go wrong next." I thought it was a pretty awesome finish actually - a mixture of one of the most kick ass moments of the series with an "uh oh, the trouble ain't over yet" warning thrown in.How they can expect us to wait a year to see what happens next is beyond me - but at least I can wait knowing that what Ty & Zane have can withstand just about anything the twisted mind of Abigail Roux can throw at them.

Nothing was stand out fantastic - but it all was really interesting. The parts I enjoyed the most were the character arc mysteries that readers of her other books would have known right away - so definitely don't worry about picking this up as your first book of hers. I found it an advantage!If she wrote another book featuring these two main characters, I would read it.