Showing posts with label Top Ten Tuesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Top Ten Tuesday. Show all posts

Tuesday, 13 August 2013

Top Ten Tuesday


Hosted by Broke and The Bookish


This Week's Topic is:

Top Ten Favorite Books With a College Setting




MY REVIEW

Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.







MY REVIEW

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. 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, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night--but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.







MY REVIEW

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.







MY REVIEW

Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…







MY REVIEW

For almost two years now, Kiera's boyfriend, Denny, has been everything she's ever wanted: loving, tender and endlessly devoted to her. When they head off to a new city to start their lives together, Denny at his dream job and Kiera at a top-notch university, everything seems perfect. Then an unforeseen obligation forces the happy couple apart.

Feeling lonely, confused, and in need of comfort, Kiera turns to an unexpected source – a local rock star named Kellan Kyle. At first, he's purely a friend that she can lean on, but as her loneliness grows, so does their relationship. And then one night everything changes...and none of them will ever be the same.







MY REVIEW

Love. Romance. Sex. There’s a first time for everything...

As far as Bliss Edwards can tell, she’s the last virgin standing, certainly amongst her friends. And she’s determined to deal with the ‘problem’ as quickly and simply as possible.

But her plan for a no-strings one night stand turns out to be anything but simple. Especially when she arrives for her first class and recognises her hot new British professor.

She'd left him naked in her bed just 8 hours earlier...







MY REVIEW

He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagle likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother's? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn't supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she's never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection.

But here's the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations—it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed.







MY REVIEW

Livie has always been the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents' tragic death and Kacey's self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised she would...and she’s done her best over the past seven years with every choice, with every word, with every action.

Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?

As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.







MY REVIEW

What does it take to rise from life’s depths, swim against the current, and breathe?

Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own.

As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning.







MY REVIEW

What happens when you create rules to keep others out?

One thing Emerson Moore has come to terms with is that she is the school slut. She knows her way around a frat house and how to get what she wants. She doesn’t make any excuses for her actions and she doesn’t pretend to be anything different. She is who she is and with that she knows how to have a good time. She’s made rules to keep relationships at bay and avoid the demons of her past.

When her best friend, Cole has his two friends from back home move in with him she begins to think she has met her match with Jaxon Riley. Jax is the perfect mixture of tattooed muscle and a sweet-talking mouth. With “hand” written notes, a voice that exudes sex and knowing just how to get under her skin, Jaxon learns how to break all the rules. But will he just end up breaking her heart anyway?

So there you go... this weeks Top Ten! What is yours?

Feel free to leave your links below so that I can check them out and if you are a new follower be sure to let me know so that I can come and check out your blog in return!

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Top Ten Tuesday #21


Hosted by Broke and The Bookish


This Week's Topic is:

Top Ten Best/Worst Movie Adaptations


I would like to start out by saying that I will ALWAYS think the book is better than the movie.  Books are much longer, which allow much more of a story to be told.  However, that is not to say that there are not still some worthy candidates for films which were good in their own right.



Loved the book.  Loved the movie.

I think they did a very good job in bringing into the movie what they could under the time constraints.  I adored the casting, I think that played a big part in it being such a hit. I am looking forward to Catching Fire as it was my favorite book in the series.  However, I am scared to death for the adaptation of Mockingjay.  It was my least favorite book, and they are making it into two movies? *sigh*  I'm hoping this means they will change a ton of stuff and make it better, cause book three just wasn't my favorite.







Loved the book.  Liked the movie.

I was actually surprised at how much I loved The Host as a book.  I had been wanting to read it, but when I saw a movie was being made I wanted to wait until a bit closer to it's release.  The book is just amazing, the movie was good.  It didn't blow me away, but I thought they did an okay job.







Loved the book.  Loved the movie.

The book was amazing, exceeded all of my expectations.  The movie was as cheesy as could be, and that is exactly what I loved about it.  I fell in love with R in the book and I think he was portrayed perfectly in the movie.







Loved the book.  Hated the movie.

Okay, maybe hated is too strong a word.  They just changed SO much from the book.  The characters were engaging and believable in the book.  Honestly, if you have read it and watched it you will know how much they changed.  If it didn't have the same name, I really don't know if I could have watched it and actually said the book it was made from.  It is just that different.  I know there are things that have to be changed, but EVERYTHING was changed.  EVERYTHING.







Loved the book.  Loved the movie.

Now, this is an example where EVERYTHING was pretty much still changed but they did a great job even despite the changes.  I loved this book, there were times I actually sat there thinking 'Dude, this could have happened...' Even though we all know it couldn't have.  I was so nervous about the movie, and again yes everything is changed but I still really enjoyed the movie in it's own right.







Loved the book.  Hated the movie.

The Shopaholic series is one of my all time favorites.  Was excited when they announced a movie, but man did it fall way off the mark.  Becky is one of the funniest female characters...  ever.  To me, in the movie she just came across as more stuck up and shallow than the real book Becky.







Loved the book.  Liked the movie.

Dan Brown is a genius.  I always feel so smart after I finish reading one of his books.  Although, I have to say it takes me forever to read them because I am always stopping to Google a city, person, painting or sculpture that he is talking about.  I love all his books, the movies are so-so.  I don't love them and I don't hate them.  Tom Hanks is just now how I picture Robert...







Loved the book.  Loved the movie.

The Harry Potter books will always go down in history as some of the best ever.  However, I think the movies have given the books a run for their money.  As I mentioned at the top, I will always love the book more.  But, I think they did an amazing job with this movie, and the movies for the rest of the series.







Liked the book.  Loved the movie.

Okay, maybe I lied... If there was ever a time I thought the movie was better it would be The Princess Bride.  Don't get me wrong, I liked the book.  But it was in places a bit slow for me... The movie is just non-stop action, adventure and greatness.  It will forever be a classic.







Liked the book.  Hated the movie.

This is another prime example of them changing EVERYTHING.  In this case they changed everything for the worse.  I really enjoyed the book, I liked it being told from Ethan's perspective.  I liked the characters overall and enjoyed the story.  The movie?  I hated pretty much everything about it. It was cliché, and to be honest... I have friends who saw the movie before reading the book.  And now, because of the movie they have no interest in reading the book.  It's a shame really.



So there you go... this weeks Top Ten! What is yours?

Feel free to leave your links below so that I can check them out and if you are a new follower be sure to let me know so that I can come and check out your blog in return!

Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Top Ten Tuesday #20


Hosted by Broke and The Bookish


This Week's Topic is:

Top Ten Most Intimidating Books (might be intimated by size, content, that everyone else loves it but you are sure you won't etc)




REASON: The number of them in the series... There are just so many.  However, with the first movie due out in February 2014, I'm sure I will get around to them soon enough.







REASON: The ending.  I know there will be tears.  It is very difficult for me to start a book knowing I will be sad.  Sad in the middle is okay, as long as there is a happy ending. I know everybody says it is worth the sadness... but it is very intimidating.







REASON: Subject matter.  Same with The Fault in our Stars, if I know going in my heart will be broken it is very difficult for me to start.  How do you go into a book knowing your heart is going to be ripped out?







REASON: Again, the number of them in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I've heard good things, but there are just soooooo many of them.  I think I'm going to start it, but then I see the number of books in my TBR pile and talk myself out of it.







REASON: The subject matter. I know this will be an emotional roller coaster.  I am meeting the author in November at the London Author Event, so I will read them before that. I just need to be in the mood for the emotional torment.







REASON: Love the TV show, and I'm sure I would love the books.  However, fantasy just seems to have soooo many characters.  It makes me nervous to think of having to keep track of them all.







REASON: 13 books?  Plus, I love the TV show but I have heard a lot of people say the TV show is better than the books.  Maybe, I'm better not starting them now?  Maybe I will just stick to the show...







REASON: I've heard good and bad things about this series.  I love Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, and I know she can write a good alpha male character.  But again, there are just so many of them already. 







REASON: Subject matter again.  I know in the end I will enjoy it, just need to be in the mood for the emotional turmoil that it will produce.  I vow to read it this year though, promise.







REASON: The ending.  I've heard this ends on a HUGE cliffhanger.  I will happily wait until closer for book number two.



 
 
 
 
 So there you go... this weeks Top Ten! What is yours?

Feel free to leave your links below so that I can check them out and if you are a new follower be sure to let me know so that I can come and check out your blog in return!

Tuesday, 25 June 2013

Top Ten Tuesday #19


Hosted by Broke and The Bookish


This Week's Topic is:

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2013


There have just been far too many great books this year to pick only Ten...



 MY REVIEW OF FLAT-OUT LOVE

He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagle likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother's? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn't supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she's never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection.

But here's the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations—it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed.







MY REVIEW OF THIS GIRL

There are two sides to every love story. Now hear Will’s.

Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.

In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from his point of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series.







 MY REVIEW OF BEAUTY FROM PAIN

They agreed on three months...but their love knew no boundaries.

Jack McLachlan is a winemaking magnate and easily one of Australia’s most eligible bachelors. His success and wealth make him no stranger to the complications of romantic relationships and that’s why he goes to extreme measures to avoid the hassle. He prefers simplicity in the form of a beautiful female companion with no strings attached. He arranges relationships like business deals and they’re always the same. No long term relationships. No real names.

It’s his game and his rules. He’s content to play as usual, but when Laurelyn Prescott enters his life, his strategy must change because this player is like none he's ever encountered. His world is turned on its head after he begins a three month affair with the beautiful American musician. Nothing goes according to plan and as he breaks more and more of his own rules for her, she’s exceptionally close to becoming something he never thought possible. His ultimate game changer.







 MY REVIEW OF LOVE LOVE

Gabrielle Willis is smart. She's funny. And oh yes, she's a bit klutzy.

When Gabrielle left sunny California bound for the energy of Manhattan, she was willingly leaving the life she had known for the new life she would create. But was she really leaving something behind or was she running away?

On the outside, Gabrielle Willis has it all under control. A new life in Manhattan, a great roommate, and a good job. But she is haunted. Haunted by a memory she's tried to forget and by a family who's abandoned her. But what happens when what's on the outside is only an illusion and in perfect contradiction to what's buried deep within?

Enter Dane Rhodes. He's gorgeous, smart, and sexy as hell. Just what Gabby wants, or so she thinks. But when she meets Brad Dixon, the sweet guy with the crooked smile, he begins to make her see that the very thing she is trying to run from is the very thing that just may push her to see the light.







 MY REVIEW OF CONSEQUENCES

Bartender Claire Nichols has always kept her customers at a friendly distance. But one serious lapse in judgment causes her life to take a drastic and brutal turn. She finds herself thrust into a life she never knew or wanted. She must depend on her intuition and adaptability. Yet she has difficulty trusting her own instincts. Now, every aspect of her livelihood depends on a tall wealthy dark-haired, dark-eyed businessman. Did fate bring Anthony Rawlings into her life? Or was it something more calculated? More sinister?

With very limited options, Claire attempts to endure a hellish existence that has changed her beliefs, her personality, her looks, and even her name. Actions have consequences. Will Claire be able to control the actions to accomplish her new goal—survival? Follow her tumultuous journey as she struggles to fight back and regain her freedom no matter what the Consequences…







MY REVIEW OF CONNECTED

What if a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ could happen twice?

Suffering from a past full of tragedy, Dahlia London's soul has been left completely shattered. Happily ever after is a far cry from reality in her world. But, when she is reconnected with her past, the bonds that form are irrefutable.

When River Wilde, lead singer of The Wilde Ones, comes back into Dahlia’s life, the intensity that fires their relationship combined with underlying feelings that have never died lead her to believe she has met her soul mate.

Struggling with confusion as old connections fade and new ones begin, Dahlia's grief begins to lift—but guilt remains. River wants to be the one to mend all that is torn within her.

But with a past that is never really gone, can their future survive?







MY REVIEW OF RECKLESS

Can love survive when life gets Reckless?

When the band hits it big, Kiera and Kellan must ask themselves: Can their love for each other survive the constant pressures of superstardom? The friendships they've formed, the new family they've found, and the history they've forged will all play a part in helping them navigate the turbulent waters of the band's exploding popularity.

A greedy executive hell-bent on success, a declining pop star looking for an edge, and a media circus that twists lies into truths are just some of the obstacles the lovers will have to overcome if they are going to remain together.

Fame comes with a price-but will it cost Kiera and Kellan everything?







 MY REVIEW OF THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.







 MY REVIEW OF ENTWINED WITH YOU

From the moment I first met Gideon Cross, I recognized something in him that I needed. Something I couldn’t resist. I saw the dangerous and damaged soul inside–so much like my own. I was drawn to it. I needed him as surely as I needed my heart to beat.

No one knows how much he risked for me. How much I’d been threatened, or just how dark and desperate the shadow of our pasts would become.

Entwined by our secrets, we tried to defy the odds. We made our own rules and surrendered completely to the exquisite power of possession…

To his alarm, West realizes he is falling in love with the best friend who has always been a sister to him







 MY REVIEW OF WAIT FOR YOU

Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…







MY REVIEW OF CLOCKWORK PRINCESS

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?

Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.

A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.







MY REVIEW OF LEO

Evie and Leo met in foster care as children and formed a bond of friendship. As they grew, their bond turned to love and they vowed to make a life together when they turned 18 and were no longer a part of the system.

When Leo unexpectedly gets adopted as a teen and he moves to another city, he promises Evie that he will contact her as soon as he gets there and come back for her in a few short years. She never hears from him again.

Now eight years later, in spite of the odds, Evie has made a life for herself. She has a job, she has friends, she's content. Then a man shows up out of the blue, claiming that her long lost love, Leo, sent him to check up on her. The attraction between them is undeniable. But, should she trust this sexy stranger? Or is he keeping a secret about what his connection to Leo is really all about and why Leo disappeared all those years ago?







MY REVIEW OF TANGLED

Drew Evans is a winner. Handsome and arrogant, he makes multimillion dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. He has loyal friends and an indulgent family. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed?

He’ll tell you he has the flu.

But we all know that’s not really true.

Katherine Brooks is brilliant, beautiful and ambitious. She refuses to let anything - or anyone - derail her path to success. When Kate is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating.

Then, just when Drew is on the cusp of having everything he wants, his overblown confidence threatens to ruin it all. Will he be able untangle his feelings of lust and tenderness, frustration and fulfillment? Will he rise to the most important challenge of his life?

Can Drew Evans win at love?

So there you go... this weeks Top Ten Many! What is yours?

Feel free to leave your links below so that I can check them out and if you are a new follower be sure to let me know so that I can come and check out your blog in return!