My TBR List *May* ~ Polling is Open! #MyTBRL

My To-Be Read List is a meme hosted by Michelle @Because Reading. I think it's a fabulous idea because it gets y'all in the game and it helps me knock off some of the many, many books on my TBR list. You're more than welcome to join in the fun! I've included the basic rules below but you can click on the graphic above to hop over to Michelle's site where you can find all the details. 

Here's how it works:
On the first Saturday of each month, I will make a post with three books from my TBR List (these books can be already on your ereader or bookshelf OR books you might want to purchase) and add your link on the linky that will be provided on Michelle's post. Y'ALL will help me choose which book I will read next. The following Saturday, I will announce which book won. Then the last Saturday of the month, I'll post my review.

Fun, right?!?

***

In 2018, I'm once again working at catching up on series and y'all get to decide which series I'm going to catch up on each month! :D

I use random.org to pick books from my list so some books may appear more than once.


Your Choices Are:


Losing Hope
Hopeless #2

Synopsis
In the follow-up to Colleen Hoover's #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.


In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder's past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him...

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder's head during all those hopeless moments--and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs.



The Girl in the Sea
Let Me Go #3

Synopsis
A Gripping Psychological Romantic Suspense Novel

Book 3 of the Let Me Go Series:
Olivia has a new job; one that unknowingly lands her right smack dab in the middle of a dark, depraved world of prostitution and sex-trafficking.
And to make matters worse, she's finally found someone. She thinks he's everything she wants, but he's strictly an online friend. While he tries to remain hidden behind his avatar, she's at last ready to put her rocky past behind her, if she can convince him to step out from behind the curatin.
But when she invites her anonymous friend to her sister's wedding on the beautiful, beachy, sub-tropical have of Bald Head Island, he says no; he's not ready to reveal his true identity. Instead, along with an unexpected squall that blows in, Grayson--the mysterious brother of the groom--arrives.
Olivia is rightfully wary of Grayson. He's a dangerous, real, flesh and blood man, after all. So, when her own heart beats out a warning tempo, she takes heed. Danger finds her anyway, as the beach is slammed with murderous hurrican winds, and the two are thrust together.
All is not as it seems, and she must dig deep if she is to unmask the mystery of the man, and save herself, by forcing him to confront his own inner storms and secrets, while he battles his two biggest demons: revenge and redemption.
Fiction: Romantic Suspense, Psychological Suspense, Family Saga 
Trigger Warnings: abduction, vague references to prostitution and sex trafficking, violence to women




Sinner
Wolves of Mercy Falls #4

Synopsis
found.
Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get Isabal Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her.

lost.
Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes...but what's the point? What is there to win?

sinner.
Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to save each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go.


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Favorites of 2017 ~ Couples

I enjoyed doing a "look back at the year" in 2016 so I figured it'd once again be fun to bring 2017 to a close by listing some of favorites. I hope you enjoy reading about some of my favorites and I'd be happy to hear about any of yours!

*~*Couples*~*

• Eva and Gideon - watching them fall for one another and learn to be strong enough in themselves to build a relationship strong enough to last was a wonder.
• Silver and Logan - I've so enjoyed watching as Logan courts Silver. They're each growing so much even while enduring so much. It's been a challenge but it's great to see them together.
• Greer, Embry, and Ash - okay, I realize it's a trio rather than a couple but still...they were a pleasure to get to know and to watch change, mature, and fall in love.
• Nora and Soren - this couple is making the list two years in a row! Their's is an unconventional relationship if ever there was one and yet I still adore them
• Charles and Anna - their bond keeps getting stronger and stronger 
• Will and Layken - I really enjoyed reliving all their best and worst memories along with them. These two are just meant to be together!
• Tate and Logan - their love is swoon-worthy, y'all!
• Lily and Lo - these two broke my heart and put it back together again. They're each so broken and yet still perfect together. No, they don't fix each other - their love just makes them want to be better for the other. *sigh*
• Violet and Jennings - this couple made me laugh out loud all the while rooting for them to end up together!
• Jamie and Claire - I felt so much for these two! They're amazing individuals and as a couple? I'm not sure I've ever rooted for an historical couple more.
• Tabby and Shy, Lanie and Hopper, Joker and Carissa, High and Millie, Brock and Tessa, Hawk and Gwen, Tack and Tyra, and Mara and Mitch (I know it's cheating, right?)

Can you guess which books these couples starred in?

Review ~ This Girl ~ Colleen Hoover #authorluv #ShelfLove #TravelingtotheTerminus

This Girl by Colleen Hoover
Slammed #3
Release Date: August 13, 2013
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Source: Purchased paperback
Rating: 4.5 Bookworms
Challenges: #authorluv, #ShelfLove, #TravelingtotheTerminus
Goodreads

Synopsis
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.

Oh my! I adore CoHo and Will and Lake so much! I hate that I waited so long to read this but...

This Girl gives us Will's POV on some pivotal moments between he and Lake - now that they're married. I appreciated how CoHo presented these - memories shared while enjoying their honeymoon. And I appreciated getting Will's POV - particularly for some of those moments I'd previously read where I'd been asking him what the hell he was thinking.

This Girl not only made me privy to Will's thoughts. It also renewed my adoration of Will and Lake, broke my heart reliving some of those powerful and moving scenes, and made me wonder at CoHo's storytelling abilities yet again. She's a master. And I'm kinda happy I still have more goodness from her yet to read. :)

P.S. There's a poem at the end of the book. I know, go fig. But I found it so profound. I read it to my husband and when I finished it he said, "No wonder you love Colleen Hoover so much." Just thought I'd share. =)

If y'all wanna check out my review of Slammed, you can find it here. It was kinda fun to go back and see what my reviews looked like back in 2012!

Author Love Challenge 2017 #authorluv ~ Sign Up Post ~ CoHo

Since I'm apparently the impetus behind the creation of this challenge, I just *have* to participate, right?!? And yes, it *is* the end of January but this challenge is low-key, as demonstrated by it's late start. ;) Here are the rules:

1. Pick an author you love and wish you'd read more books from.
2. Set a goal to read x number of books - you can read any number you want but please make your goal at least 5.
3. Announce your participation and author, either via blog or social media platform. Link up!
4. Have fun catching up on a favorite author!

Also, if you read any books in January by your author pick, it counts towards this challenge.

See how easy and low-key?? If you want to participate in a more hard-core challenge, you can join me in Herding Cats & Burning Soup's Read All the Books Challenge. Yep, I'm doing both! ;)

***

Okay, now for the important stuff, like who I'm picking. It was a difficult choice but I decided to go with an author whose books I already had. AND it was *still* a difficult choice. But ultimately I decided to go with.....

Colleen Hoover

And I'm hoping to read them ALL! 

12 in all.

Here are her titles - I've indicated the ones I've already read. And YES, I do own ALL these books. In paperback. ;)

Slammed Series

READ: Slammed and Point of Retreat

Hopeless Series

READ: Hopeless

Maybe Series

Never Never Series

Standalones

READ: Confess

So what about y'all? You up for this challenge? Come on! Show a favorite author some love!! <3

Read-Along w/Chapter Break ~ Confess ~ Colleen Hoover

During the month of February, the ladies @Chapter Break hosted a read-along of Colleen Hoover's Confess. Since I happened to have a copy lying on my bookshelf, I decided to join in. This was the first time I'd participated in a read-along and I discovered that I might just suck at them. ;) The book was divided into sections for each week, but I confess I finished in the second week. ;) And I also didn't share weekly updates - which would have been fun. Ahh...live and learn. So I thought I'd share my thoughts and my review of Confess with y'all anyway. Have y'all read it? I'd love to know what you think. :D

Confess by Colleen Hoover
Release Date: March 10, 2015
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Source: Purchased Paperback
Rating: 4.5 Bookworms
Challenges: #ShelfLove
Goodreads

Synopsis
Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there's no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn't expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can't seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin...

Prologue - Chapter 6
I was crying in the prologue. I love my introductions to the characters with the exception of Lydia...as Lynn (Chapter Break) said, she can go jump off a short pier. Oh, and I'm not sure what I think of Trey - he feels creepy. And Emory - I hope to learn more about her. She's an interesting one. I have lots of questions about Owen and Auburn and I'm already invested in them.
I love that CoHo included art work in the novel. It's fantastic that she shares her passions with her readers.

Chapter 7 - Chapter 12
CoHo is definitely bringing the feels! My favorite scene in this section was the Target scene where Owen shared a treasured childhood memory with Auburn.

I'm developing my suspicions as to what Owen's hiding. I can't wait to see if I'm right.

Lydia is a total bitch. Once Auburn's secret is revealed, the depth of her bitchiness was revealed. Trey - is just completely creepy. He literally gave me the heebie-jeebies. And I hate that he's using Auburn's situation to control her.

Chapter 13 - Chapter 18
Lydia and Trey are despicable human beings. That's all there is to it.

Owen-Cat rocked! And I loved the fact that Owen trusted Auburn to take care of Owen-Cat, even if he might have had ulterior motives in doing so.

I was really upset with Owen following the arrest. He's behaving illogically but, at the same time I can understand the why behind what he's doing. Ugh!

LOL Meat dress! Y'all have to read it to understand. ;) Emory is a hoot!

Then Auburn does something that is out of character for her - but I felt was also reflective of her age. I was worried about the fallout and knew it was going to be good. And since I'd already read ahead, I put on my big-girl panties, got a box of tissues and settled in...

Chapter 19 - End
Ugh! Lots of wondering why...why is Trey a creepy douche? Why won't Auburn stand up for herself? Why won't Owen explain everything?

Yay for Auburn growing a backbone. Finally! And good for Owen for opening up.

The final showdown was a little too neat for my tastes but I liked seeing Auburn stand tall in any case. 

And I also liked the epilogue where the final piece is revealed.

My final thoughts:
When I read CoHo, I can read confidently knowing I'm going to get:

• a uniquely told story - whether it's music, poetry, or art, CoHo always brings a passion to the story that is refreshing
• amazing characters - characters that are so well fleshed out they're 3-dimensional. They are real, sitting in front of you, sharing their story as any friend would
• full spectrum of emotion - any story from CoHo is going to take your emotions on a roller-coaster ride - from belly laughs to ugly-crying, she knows how to wring every emotion from you

The only reason this wasn't a 5 Bookworm rating was the ending, which I thought was just too tidy. However, the story overall was incredible!

Thirsty Thursday & Hungry Hearts #31

My pick this week comes from:

Confess by Colleen Hoover

I'm participating in the read-along with Chapter Break this month. I've only read chapters 1-6 so far...cried in the prologue. Yeah, Colleen Hoover does that to me. 

These few scenes (I pieced them together) are kinda funny though. See what y'all think...

"Do they have cheese sticks?" she asks.
I'm not sure if they have cheese sticks, but I'll say anything at this point just to spend a few more minutes with her. "The best in town."

...

Me: I'm coming for a drink. Do you serve cheese sticks?
Harrison: Nope.
Me: Do me a favor. When I order cheese sticks, don't say you don't serve them. Just say you ran out.
Harrison: Okay. Random request, but whatever.

...


"Bring us two Jack and Cokes," he says. "And an order of cheese sticks."
Harrison taps the bar with this fist and says, "Coming right up." He begins to turn around but quickly faces Owen again. "Oh, we're all out of cheese sticks. Travesty. Cheese fries okay?"
I try not to frown, but I was really looking forward to cheese sticks. Owen looks at me and I not. "Sounds good," I say.

#2015HW Review ~ Hopeless ~ Colleen Hoover

Hopeless
Hopeless #1
Release Date: December 19, 2012
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Source: Purchased paperback
Rating: 5 Bookworms
Goodreads

Synopsis
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies...

That's what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she's never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he's nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn't at all who he's been claiming to be. When the secrets he's been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky's life will change forever.

Why, oh why did I wait so long to read this?? Colleen Hoover is an incredibly talented storyteller. She takes painful topics and weaves amazing stories around them, creating robust characters as well. Hopeless was sometimes funny,

"Relax," I say, after seeing her eye both Holder and Breckin, with concern. "Neither one of them is getting me pregnant this weekend."

sometimes painful,

Despite the fact that I want to be mad at him, I just can't. If he wasn't here right now to comfort me after the realization I just had, I don't know what I would do. He's done nothing but place blame on himself for every single thing that's ever happened to me. I'm beginning to accept the fact that maybe he needs comforting just as much as I do. For that, I allow him to steal another piece of my heart.

sometimes poignant,

"Let's not let this be your life tonight," he says. "Let's get back in the car and pretend we're driving away because we want to...not because we need to. We can pretend I'm taking you somewhere amazing...somewhere you've always wanted to go. You can snuggle up to me and we can talk about how excited we are and we'll talk about everything we'll do when we get there We can talk about the important stuff later. But tonight...let's not let this be your life."

sometimes awe-inspiring,

"Fuck all the firsts, Sky. The only thing that matters to me with you are the forevers."
I kiss him. Holy shit, do I kiss him. I kiss him with every ounce of emotion that's coursing through me. He cradles my head with his hand and lowers me back to the bed, climbing on top of me. "I love you," he says. "I've loved you for so long but I just couldn't tell you. It didn't feel right letting you love me back when I was keeping so much from you."

Both Sky and Holder have painful, traumatic pasts. Hoover wraps them in love, healing, dreams, and possibilities. She shows that there must always be darkness in order to have light.

**That's What HE Said ~ #15**

That's What He Said is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely ladies @Chapter Break. Here's the deal: every Thursday, post a line from your book boyfriend to his heroine. Keep in mind, these are direct quotes from dialog in the books. The quote doesn't have to be romantic - just something our hunky hero said to his lucky lady. Be sure to link up over at Chapter Break as well.

A friend of mine *cough-Robyn-cough* recently read Slammed for the first time. And it's left me feeling nostalgic for that story. So my pick this week for That's What He Said is from:

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

***

I used to love the ocean.

Everything about her.

Her coral reefs, her white caps, her roaring waves, the rocks they lap, her pirate legends and mermaid tales,

Treasures lost and treasures held...

And ALL

Of her fish

In the sea.

Yes, I used to love the ocean,

Everything about her.

The way she would sing me to sleep as I lay in my bed

then wake me with a force

That I soon came to dread.

Her fables, her lies, her misleading eyes,

I'd drain her dry

If I cared enough to.

I used to love the ocean,

Everything about her.

Her coral reefs, her white caps, her roaring waves, the rocks they lap, her pirate legends and mermaid tales, treasures lost and treasures held.

And ALL

Of her fish

In the sea.

Well, if you've ever tried navigating your sailboat through her stormy seas, you would realize that her white caps

are your enemies. If you've ever tried swimming ashore when your  leg gets a cramp and you just had a huge meal of In-n-Out burgers that's weighing you down, and her roaring waves are knocking the wind out of you, filling your lungs with water as you flail your arms, trying to get someone's attention, but your friends

just

wave

back at you?

And if you've ever grown up with dreams in your head about life, and how one of these days you would pirate your own ship and have your own crew and that all of he mermaids

would love

only

you?

Well, you would realize...

Like I eventually realized...

That all the good things about her?

All the beautiful?

It's not real.

It's fake

So you keep your ocean,  

I'll take the Lake.

This is essentially Will's declaration of love to Layken (Lake) via poem. *sigh*

**Sidekick Showcase ~ #43 ~ A Wise One**

Sidekick Showcase (previously known as Sidekick Saturday) is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture (if possible) and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment

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May's theme ~ In honor of Mother's Day we'll pick moms, grandmas, strong female mentors, etc. 

My pick this week:
Julia Cohen
from Colleen Hoover's Slammed Series  

I'm choosing Julia because she's a mom that I admire - even if she is ficticious. Now, it's been awhile since I read Slammed, but I felt Julia did everything a mom could do to love and protect her kids. She did what she thought was best for them and the words of advice...oh, she's good with the advice. Julia, Layken, and Kel went through a lot. But I think Julia gave Layken and Kel the strength to carry on and the love, support, and coping skills they needed to be good, responsible people. She was the best mom she could be, and that's all a mom can do. :)

Some of Julia's sage advice:

Push your boundaries, that's what they're there for.

Don't take life to seriously. Punch it in the face when it needs a good hit. Laugh at it.

Question everything. Your love, your religion, your passions. If you don't have questions, you'll never find answers.

Be accepting. Of everything. People's differences, their similarities, their choices, their personalities. Sometimes it takes a variety to make a good collection. That same goes for people.

Keep an open mind; it's the only way new things get in.