ARC Review: Sweet by Erin McCarthy

Pub. Date: October 15th, 2013

Publisher: InterMix

257 pages

ebook (Trade Paperback publishing June 3rd, 2014 by Berkley Trade)

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Jessica Sweet thought going away to college would finally make her free of her parents’ constant judgments and insistence she play chastity club role model for their church events, but if anything, the freedom has made her realize she can’t go home and be a hypocrite anymore. Tired of dodging their questions, she stays at school over the summer and lands in an unexpected crash pad: Riley Mann’s house.

Sarcastic, cocky, and full of opinions, Riley is also sexy personified with tattoos and biceps earned from working as a roofer all day. Not the right guy for her even if Jessica was looking for a relationship, which she is definitely not. But Jessica knows that Riley hides the burden of having to raise his younger brothers behind that grin and as she helps him get his house in order for a custody hearing, they begin to fall hard for each other, and she is forced to question what she’s hiding herself.

Jessica has never had a problem getting naked with a guy, but when it comes to showing Riley how she truly feels inside, her fear of rejection may just ruin the best thing—the best guy—to ever happen to her…

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Some books blow you away with description, others with dialogue. "Sweet" is definitely a book that blows you away in the dialogue department. 

When I first started reading Sweet, I didn’t realize that it was book two in the True Believers series. While I don’t think reading the books in order is absolutely necessary, reading them in order gives you more context about the characters backgrounds, and a stronger sense of flow from one story to the next. Sweet is one of those novels that grabbed me from the first page and didn’t let me go until the last. I started reading just before bed, and while the logical side of my brain told me ‘go to sleep, you have to work in the morning’, I was so into the story and so in love with the characters that I couldn’t help but finish the novel in one sitting.

Jessica Sweet’s voice is what drew me in right away. She is one of the wittiest, funniest, most sarcastic, and completely no nonsense characters that I have ever read. I connected with her in a way that I don’t connect with many characters.

On My Wishlist: January 25, 2014

On My Wishlist is a weekly event highlighting a book that I really want to read. The book may be 20 years old, or the pub date may not be until next year, but either way I'm excited about it, and hopefully you will be too!

On My Wishlist: January 17, 2014

On My Wishlist is a weekly event highlighting a book that I really want to read. The book may be 20 years old, or the pub date may not be until next year, but either way I'm excited about it, and hopefully you will be too!

ARC Review: Racing Savannah (Hundred Oaks #4) by Miranda Kenneally

Pub. Date: December 3^rd, 2013

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Paperback

304 pages

Synopsis from Goodreads:

They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack…

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There are so many great parts to Racing Savannah. From the humor (especially the character of Rory, whose script ideas ranged from groan inducing to eyebrow raising), to the different family dynamics, the ridiculously amazing setting, and the personified animals, the novel is so full and so fulfilling for readers. All of those aspects may be great, but seeing a character grow to accept who she is the way Savannah does, is incomparable in its greatness. Jumping out of her comfort zone and taking chances turns out to be the best possible thing Savannah could do. Savannah goes from having insecurities about where she comes from and who she is, to realizing that she is the one who has set her own bar of expectations too low. She moves from insecurity to empowerment, and that journey is invigorating and powerful for the reader.

The one element of Racing Savannah that I could have done without was, second half of the novel’s Jack. I know I’m probably alone in this, and that Jack and Savannah’s relationship will probably have a

On My Wishlist: January 10th, 2014

On My Wishlist is a weekly event highlighting a book that I really want to read. The book may be 20 years old, or the pub date may not be until next year, but either way I'm excited about it, and hopefully you will be too!

On My Wishlist: January 4th 2014

On My Wishlist is a weekly event highlighting a book that I really want to read. The book may be 20 years old, or the pub date may not be until next year, but either way I'm excited about it, and hopefully you will be too!

Books I Read in 2013 (the full list)

160. Collide by Gail McHugh

159. Down to You by M. Leighton

158. Girl With Guitar by Casey Quinn

157. Confessions of a Hostie by Danielle Hugh

156. The Moment We Began by Sarra Cannon

155. Last Hit by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick

154. The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

153. My Sweetest Escape by Chelsea M. Cameron

152. Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

151. Crash Into You by Katie McGarry