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Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

"Hello...it's me!" 

Have you guys heard Adele's new single, like YAS! It's so good! Just had to get that out in the open. So, this past week I had the wonderful pleasure of reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes! It was a roller coaster of a book; I laughed, and I cried tremendously! 

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . . 

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is. 

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

My Thoughts:

*****5 STARS*****

Penguin Books sent me this novel in exchange for an honest review! First things first, I'd like to thank Penguin Books once again for sending me this book! As I write this review I'm lying in bed-- a bed I needed asstiance getting into-- with my arms and legs propped on pillows to help me stay in a comfortable position. You see, when I was two years old I was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II resulting in me spending the rest of my life in a wheelchair. Let me just explain that medical jargon to you a little bit. SMA  causes acute muscle weakness and scoliosis (a curvature of the spine). 

I knew going into this novel it was going to be an emotional read, but it was a little more emotional for me because I understood Will Trayner on a more personal level. This book tore my heart out in the best way possible. 

Me Before You follows Lousia Clark, a normal twenty six year old young woman living an exceedingly unextrodinrary life (at least in her eyes). She has a boyfriend Patrick whose more concerned about his exercise regime and how to cook chicken breast for dinner every night (low fat content)! Lou lives with her lovable mother and father and sister and her nephew Thomas and her aging grandfather. Lou's family gave me a lot of laughs with how down to earth they were! I would love to sit down and have a cup of tea with the Clark family anyday! Lousia helps support her family finically by working at a local bakery. When the bakery closes unexpectedly Lou is forced to search for another job. That search leads her straight to Will Trayners doorstep. 

Will Trayner seemed to have had it all; weatlth, power, a beautiful girlfriend, a job, a life... When a horrific accident one rainy day leaves Will paralyzed his entire life slips away. In an instant everything has changed for Will Trayner. Life as he knew it would never be the same. There would be no more rock climbing, bungee jumping, or hiking. The accident left Will paralyzed, trapped in his own mind and body unable to move or care for himself anymore. He now required 24/7 care.

After years spent in a wheelchair Will became extremely depressed. He spent years trapped in a body that now betrayed him with only the ability to think about everything he had lost. He couldn't enjoy getting up and out of bed to read the morning paper and drink a cup of coffee that he had brewed without having someone help him do so. The simple freedoms he once enjoyed are now gone, a thing of the past.

Will had chose to end his life in six months with the help of an assisted suicide facility called Dignitas despite his family's best efforts to persuade him otherwise. They believed Will should continue to live his life the best he could. But it was the only choice Will had left that he could make for himself. 

Upon Lou coming to work for the Trayner family she had no knowledge of Will's plans to end his life. Will and Lou were polar opposites and didn't quite like each other all that much when things first started out. But as Will and Lou became comfortable with one another she learned of his plans to end his life and set out on a mission to show him that life could still be worth living even if it had to be lived a bit differently. 

The love that grew between Will and Lou was a rare kind. It was an honest kind of love. A love that will stay with me forever. 

This book...wow. I'm crying writing this review right now just FYI for you guys. I understood Will's reasoning for wanting to end his life more than I can form words to express at the moment. It's hard having to sit in a chair day in and day out and watch everyone else around you live a life you wish you could live. It had to have been even harder to have lived that life and then have it taken from you. I commend Lou for everything she did to persuade Will to change his mind and for loving him unconditionally! 

This book is so beautifully raw and well written and so god damn emotional. Jojo Moyes wrote an amazing book that I will recommend until the end of time. Thank you for writing something so brutally honest and real. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Quotes From Books I Loved

Top Ten Quotes I Loved 

So I saw this on a friends book blog (www.aimees23.wordpress.com) and thought it would be fun to do on mine as well. These are my top ten favorite quotes from books I've read in the past year or two!

"I am lost and yet somehow found. I am afraid and yet somehow comforted. I am drifting and yet... somehow home." - Burying Water by K.A. Tucker

"That's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt." - The Fault In Our Stars by John Green 

"The world is not a wish granting factory." - The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

"I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard." - If I Stay by Gayle Forman 

"May the odds be ever in your favor." - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

"Fear doesn't shut you down, it wakes you up." - Divergent by Veronica Roth

"I'm in love with cities I've never been too and people I've never met."  - Paper Towns by John Green

"Maybe all the strings inside him broke." - Paper Towns by John Green

"Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes the choices make you." - If I Stay by Gayle Forman

"If I Stay. If I leave. It's up to me." -If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Review: Surviving Ice by K.A. Tucker

Oh my god! I did NOT want this series to EVER END. Can we please have more books in this series, please! I loved it that freaking much! I've raved about K.A. Tucker's Burying Water series for months now and will probably continue to rave about for many more months to come. This entire series was simply freaking fantastic and the fourth and final book in the series was just as good as the others! Each of these books; Burying Water, Becoming Rain, Chasing River, Surviving Ice can be read as stand alone novels or together as a series (which I recommend reading them together since the characters all somehow intertwine together!).

Surviving Ice by K.A. Tucker 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million 

Ivy Lee, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have finally found it working in her uncle’s tattoo shop in San Francisco. But all that changes when a robbery turns deadly, compelling her to pack up her things yet again.

When they need the best, they call him. That’s why Sebastian Rik

er is back in California, cleaning up the mess made after a tattoo shop owner who resorted to blackmail and got himself shot. But it’s impossible to get the answers he needs from a dead body, leaving him to look elsewhere. Namely, to the twenty-something-year-old niece who believes this was a random attack. Who needs to keep believing that until Sebastian finds what he’s searching for.

Ivy has one foot out of San Francisco when a chance encounter with a stranger stalls her departure. She’s always been drawn to intense men, so it’s no wonder that she now finds a reason to stay after all, quickly intoxicated by his dark smile, his intimidating strength, and his quiet control.

That is, until Ivy discovers that their encounter was no accident—and that their attraction could be her undoing.

My Thoughts:
*****Five Stars*****

This series finished with a bang and did not disappoint me at all! It was actually really bittersweet to read this final novel because I wasn't ready to let these characters go just yet.  I've fallen in love with every single character Tucker has created from Burying Water to Surviving Ice. She has a way of creating believable, lovable, strong, independent male and female leads for her books that I can't help but admire.

Surviving Ice follows Ivy, whom we met briefly in Bury Water and again in Chasing River; a tough as nails kick ass tattoo artist who goes wherever the wind decides to take her. I was really excited to learn more about Ivy in this book. There's a lot more to her than just her snarky sarcastic shell and we got to see her blossom more and more. I loved her no nonsense attitude and sheer willpower to do whatever she wanted. Even though she put up a tough girl act for everyone she was still human and vulnerable, especially when tragedy strikes her Uncle.

Sebastian Riker is a twenty eight year old assassin for hire; he works for a private government security firm ridding the world of evils. He knows how to work quickly and diligently. He goes unnoticed and gets the job done, trusting his superiors to make sure his targets are deserving of the punishment he hands out. When a case is forced upon him he finds himself in San Fransisco watching a beautiful young tattoo artist pick up the pieces after her Uncle's senseless murder. Sebastian is tasked with finding incriminating evidence against his government security firm before the truth gets leaked to the public.

Along the way he finds himself falling for Ivy in ways he never expected to fall for someone. She's his target after all...he can't fall in love with someone he may have to kill, can he? Two lost souls come together in this spellbinding conclusion to K.A. Tucker's romantic suspense series.

It was a pleasure to read each and every single one of these novels. I'll carry these characters with me forever. If you haven't already you should check out all of the books in this amazing, intoxicating series. You won't regret it!

The Big Gamble: Review

A few months ago I created my bookstagram account over on Instagram and in doing so I've found some amazing books to read and made some amazing friends! (You know who you are! ;) I actually follow the author of this newly released self published novel, The Big Gamble! For weeks I've seen little snippets of M. Andrews debut novel on her Instagram account that made me have to read this book and I wasn't disappointed!

The Big Gamble (Book 1 in the Gambling on Love Series) by M. Andrews:

Two years ago Brooke McCoy had it all. A successful writing career, a gorgeous fiancé and a beautiful New York penthouse apartment that overlooked Central Park. She was on top of the world. But that all came crashing down when she received a phone call that changed her life forever. 

After losing her fiancé Jake to an aneurysm, Brooke was still struggling with moving on. The overwhelming feeling of emptiness only growing bigger with her still living in the home she once shared with Jake. Ready to start afresh, Brooke decides to move to Seattle away from the only family she has left for a change of scenery, hoping this will be the change she needs to finally let go of her past and start living again. 

Brian Gamble is a cocky, womanizing cop from Seattle. After being burned by love once before, Brian now enjoys the sweeter things in life like blondes, redheads, and brunettes. Winning them over with his jaw droopingly good looks and charm, only to leave them in the wind the moment the condom hits the trash. But as much as he tries to deny it he wants more, and all the women in the world can’t fill the void that his ex left in his heart. 

But one fateful night Brooke and Brian’s worlds collide, sparking a hot game of cat and mouse leading them to question their theories on love. Can two people broken by love, find happiness again? And what happens when love becomes the ultimate gamble?

My Thoughts:

****4 1/2 Stars****

First off, I'd just like to congratulate M. Andrews on her novels release! This book just came out on October 27th!! Congratulations! It took me two days to read this wonderful Lyle book and now I am left waiting for book two which is due out sometime this winter! 

Brain Gamble... Oh my! He was definitely a charmer that's for sure! Plus, he was a cop so that adds to the swoon factor right there! I really liked how he had a lot more to him than just his job and his looks. Brian was a very sweet, kind character as the story went on and I commend M. ANDREWS FOR CREATING SUCH A WONDERFUL MALE CHARACTER. Woah there caps lock where did you come from! Ha! Guess my keyboard agreed! 

Brooke! I really liked Brooke from beginning towns throughout this novel. She had a very unique story. Brooke lost her fiancé Jake early on and the pain she carried with her was eveident on the pages. She was broken and lost without the love of her life so she decided to take a leap of faith and start over somewhere completely new! Cue Office Brian Gamble as the hot next door neighbor! 

In this novel these two people find each right when they need too, to find themselves again. This book made me laugh and swoon so much! I literally cracked up on the tacos and tequila chapter! (You have no idea what I am talking about, but you will, if you read this little gem of a novel!) 

This was a quick read that I didn't want to be end. M. Andrews has a solid debut on her hands! I can't wait to learn more about Lucky in the next book! If you're looking for a great read about true love and finding yourself with someone you love them this read is for you! 

A Paper Town for a Paper Girl: Review

What's up fellow bookworms and bookdragons alike!? I'm back with another review for you! I'm a little too excited that last sentence rhymed! Okay, anyway I recently just finished reading Paper Towns by John Green and figured it was about time I get my butt in gear and post my review. This is the second book that I've had the pleasure of reading by the superb Mr. Green, the first being The Fault In Our Stars! It was a pleasure to have my heart broken by Augustus Waters. While Paper Towns didn't leave me sobbing in a ball on the floor with tissues strewn about the room it did leave me with some feels!

Paper Towns by John Green
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million

When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q.

Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers.

My Thoughts:
****4 Stars****

After reading TFIOS by John Green I knew I had to give some of his other works a try as well, and I'm glad that I did. This wasn't as good as TFIOS, but it was still a great little story full of mystery, hilarious moments (king of peeing in the car champion), and friendship! John Green has a way of creating such witty, philosophical teenagers and I love it, I love how unique each character was in this novel. Especially Margo, and Quentin.

Margo and Quentin grew up living across the street from one another and due to that they formed a small friendship/bond between them, but as the years passed they both drifted apart, until one night Margo climbed into Quentin's bedroom window demanding that he help her complete a few hilarious tasks. Margo was a mystery, literally, for most of the novel. She was just a girl walking around disguised as what everyone thought she should be. Quentin was just a really lovable little dorky boy next door.

Once the night of the living ninja's was over Quentin was left wondering if things between him and Margo could possibly change, but the next day at school Margo wasn't there, or the next day, or the next after that. Margo Roth Spiegelman had seemingly vanished into thin air, only this wasn't the first time Margo had disappeared. Margo had been vanishing for years and returning with wild stories of all of her adventures, but she always left clues of her destination for people to find so they'd know she was alright. This time Margo left clues for Quentin...

Quentin embarks on a journey with his two best friends to search for the elusive Margo Roth Spiegelman and learns that everything he thought he knew about Margo was a lie because, "Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl." - John Green

All in all I thought this book was really good. It had a lot of funny moments in it, that I actually found myself laughing out loud at. It also made me yearn for a group of friends that I could take a road trip with. It made me want to get out and experience the world like Margo wanted to do. There were only a few minor things I thought could have been improved upon; like how much the word 'prom' was used. It was used A LOT. I mean I'm not against prom (okay, maybe I am a little. high school sucked for me okay?!) I thought we should have gotten the chance to know Margo a bit better, and her reasoning for wanting to get of her town/life.

If you're into mysteries and humor this book is for you!

Chasing River by K.A. Tucker

Back again with another review! See, I told you all I'd get better about posting and I am! So yay me! It took me forever to find the time to finally sit down and read Chasing River, which is the third book in K.A. Tuckers Burying Water Series! Once I did finally have the time I devoured this book in two nights. And by that I mean two nights of me up reading until 2am! Don't you just love it when you get so lost in a book that you completely lose track of time? It makes reading all the more magical.

Chasing River by K.A. Tucker
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million 

 A suspense-driven New Adult romance novel from the USA TODAY bestselling author of Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water.

Armed with two years’ worth of savings and the need to experience life outside the bubble of her Oregon small town, twenty-five-year old Amber Welles is prepared for anything. Except dying in Dublin. Had it not been for the bravery of a stranger, she might have. But he takes off before she has the chance to offer her gratitude.
Twenty-four-year-old River Delaney is rattled. No one was supposed to get hurt. But then that American tourist showed up. He couldn’t let her die, but he also can’t be identified at the scene—so, he fled. Back to his everyday life of running his family’s pub. Only, everyday life is getting more and more complicated, thanks to his brother, Aengus, and his criminal associations. When the American girl tracks River down, he quickly realizes how much he likes her, how wrong she is for him. And how dangerous it is to have her around. Pushing her away would be the smart move.
Maybe it’s because he saved her life, or maybe it’s because he’s completely different from everything she’s left behind, but Amber finds herself chasing after River Delaney. Amber isn’t the kind of girl to chase after anyone.
And River isn’t the kind of guy she’d want to catch.

My Thoughts:
****4 Stars****

As I am sure you can already tell by now, K.A. Tucker has quickly become one of my favorite authors on this earth and I will never stop obsessing over her work. It's safe to say that I will buy every book by Tucker within due time!

In this third book, we follow Jesse Welles, twin sister Amber as she embarks on her cross country journey searching for life outside of her small hometown of Sisters, Oregon. It was definitely nice to get to know Amber Welles a bit more in this novel. Tucker has done an exceptional job creating Jesse and Amber's characters. They are both so different from one another. Amber is more black and white, she knows the difference between right and wrong and where she wants her life to go, she's prided herself on doing the right thing her entire life, while Jesse is the complete opposite, he lives life in screaming color and has had his fair share of misfortunes.

This novel started off with a unbelievable bang, literally. Amber arrives in Ireland and finds herself unexpectedly in harms way, cue in River Delaney the charming, sexy, pub owner to the rescue. River finds himself risking his life for a girl he doesn't even know to protect her and to protect his brother. After his daring rescue River leaves Amber to pick up the pieces without even so much as telling her his name. After nearly dying Amber yearns to find the man that saved her life and thank him, and she does find him eventually, but she also seems to find herself too in finding River. These two characters have an instant attraction to one another that only grows throughout the story, despite the obstacles thrown their way.

This story was action packed from beginning to end, but yet still had those calmer still moments that worked well together. K.A. Tucker must have done a lot of research for this book and it definitely paid off big time. She did a wonderful job of painting the scenery and the Irish culture with her words. I found myself reading the story in my head with a slight Irish accent during River's chapters and loved that so much.

I've already per-ordered Surviving Ice, the fourth book in this heart stopping series and can't wait to read it on October 27th. If you haven't already check out K.A. Tucker's books, you won't be disappointed! I promise!