Review: Hold Me Down Hard by Cathryn Fox

E-ARC: 52 pages 
Publisher: Entangled Flirt
Release Date: May 13, 2013
ISBN: 9781622661398 
Source of my copy: publisher
Series: standalone 
Synopsis (from Goodreads) 
When Eden Carver, Iowa farm girl turned NY actress, decides to seduce the sexy cop next door, she begins to wonder if she’s bitten off more than she can chew. The last thing Officer Jay Bennett wants is to cross a line with the sweet and innocent country girl—no matter how much he’d like to help himself to a nibble. Not only are they in the friendship zone, a naïve girl like Eden doesn’t belong in his dangerous world. But when she asks him to help her rehearse lines, and things go from simmer to boil, he finds himself doing the one thing he swore he’d never do. He knows he needs to walk away from temptation, but when sweet little Eden bites back, it tilts his world on its axis. Because biting back changes everything.

Hold Me Down Hard is very short at only 51 pages and I read it one sitting. But even though it's not long it still packed plenty of steam.

 Basically the story was about Eden, a farm girl from Iowa who moved to New York to be an actress, and Jay, a city cop. They're good friends and neighbors and both were in lust with each other but neither made a move, each for their own various reasons. But, after learning that Eden sometimes runs her lines with Jay, Eden's friends suggested that Eden write her own steamy script and get Jay to "help" her so that she can then seduce him. She does and what happened after that was plenty steamy.

I will pretty much read any friends-to-lovers story (that was what drew me to read and review this one even though I usually avoid novellas) but I admit when I first started reading HMDH I wasn't sure if I was going to like it even though it was really short. It read much too cheesy for my tastes. Fortunately, it did get better and the voice/writing was good. Of course since it is a novella, things happen very quickly and simply and the characters were not very fleshed out--not that I minded because I didn't really want to spend more time with Eden and Jay.

It is a fluff read--quickly read and forgotten--but I think it packed enough punch and steam that it is enjoyable at the moment (which is basically what novellas aim to do). If you want to read something you don't have to dedicate a lot of time to, Hold Me Down Hard is worth looking into.

Books Michelle Covets: Champion by Marie Lu and Covet by Tracey Garvis Graves

Why I covet this book: Because book 1 and 2 was freakin' excellent and I'm DYING to know how the series will conclude. All I gotta say is that Day and June better end up together, together. And the author won't pull a "cop out" (i.e., Mockingjay, Requiem, etc.) sort of ending.

The explosive finale to Marie Lu’s New York Times bestselling LEGEND trilogy!

He is a Legend.
She is a Prodigy.
Who will be Champion?

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps Elect while Day has been assigned a high level military position. But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them once again. Just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything he has. With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

Champion will be released on November 5, 2013 (I already have it pre-ordered! EEeeepp!!). For more info and news about the novel, visit check out the author's website. Click on the cover to go to the book's Goodreads page.

And the other book I covet is--

Why I covet this book: I was going to stay far, far away from Covet even though I LOVED On the Island because there's a very strong hint that there's gonna be cheating (ARGH!!!) but after reading this review on Goodreads, I think I will read it after all.

I didn't think I was going to like On the Island but I ended up loving it so I'm going to trust that the author will work her magic and I'll end up liking (maybe even loving?!) Covet.

From the author of the New York Times bestseller On the Island.

What if the life you wanted, and the woman you fell in love with, belonged to someone else?

Chris and Claire Canton’s marriage is on life support. Downsized during the recession and out of work for a year, Chris copes by retreating to a dark place where no one can reach him, not even Claire. When he’s offered a position that will keep him away from home four nights a week, he dismisses Claire’s concern that time apart could be the one thing their fragile union can’t weather. Their suburban life may look idyllic on the outside, but Claire has never felt so disconnected from Chris, or so lonely.

Local police officer Daniel Rush used to have it all, but now he goes home to an empty house every night. He pulls Claire over during a routine traffic stop, and they run into each other again at the 4th of July parade. When Claire is hired to do some graphic design work for the police department, her friendship with Daniel grows, and soon they’re spending hours together.

Claire loves the way Daniel makes her feel, and the way his face lights up when she walks into the room. Daniel knows that Claire’s marital status means their relationship will never be anything other than platonic. But it doesn’t take long before Claire and Daniel are in way over their heads, and skating close to the line that Claire has sworn she’ll never cross.

Covet will be released on September 17, 2013. For more info and news about the novel, visit check out the author's website. Click on the cover to go to the book's Goodreads page.

What book(s) do you "covet" this week?

Leave a comment with a link so we can check your WoW of the week too.

"Books I Covet" is a weekly or bi-weekly blog post series we do here every Wednesday. It will feature books we are very excited about reading and plan on buying/borrowing in the near future. It is basically the "Waiting On" meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine, but we just like the title "books we covet" better. We will include the books' blurb, cover art, and/or release date if they're available. 

Take it to the beach: A Certain Summer by Patricia Beard [Excerpt]

Good afternoon (or good evening?) fellow book lovers,

Are you looking for something to read this summer that is non-YA? We'd like to suggest A Certain Summer by Patricia Beard.

We haven't read A Certain Summer yet but we thought we'd dedicate a post about it since it is in our TBR pile and it is coming out tomorrow.

"Nothing ever changes at Wauregan.”

That mystique is the tradition of the idyllic island colony off the shore of Long Island, the comforting tradition that its summer dwellers have lived by for over half a century. But in the summer of 1948, after a world war has claimed countless men—even those who came home—the time has come to deal with history’s indelible scars.

Helen Wadsworth’s husband, Arthur, was declared missing in action during an OSS operation in France, but the official explanation was mysteriously nebulous. Now raising a teenage son who longs to know the truth about his father, Helen turns to Frank Hartman—her husband’s best friend and his partner on the mission when he disappeared. Frank, however, seems more intent on filling the void in Helen’s life that Arthur’s absence has left. As Helen’s affection for Frank grows, so does her guilt, especially when Peter Gavin, a handsome Marine who was brutally tortured by the Japanese and has returned with a faithful war dog, unexpectedly stirs new desires. With her heart pulled in multiple directions, Helen doesn’t know whom to trust—especially when a shocking discovery forever alters her perception of both love and war.

Part mystery, part love story, and part insider’s view of a very private world, A Certain Summer resonates in the heart long after the last page is turned.

From the lovely summer-y cover (LOVE!!) to the island setting, you should definitely keep this book under your radar this summer. For those who enjoy WWII-era reads, A Certain Summer explores what happen to families after the war is over.

Here's a taste:

Prologue

Nothing ever changed in Wauregan. That was the island's purpose, its life force--and its myth. If there were questions, there were answers, either in the Rule Book devised by its founders and unaltered in half a century, or in the collective memory of its summer people.

The colony's traditions had survived two world wars and the Great Depression, yet in the summer of 1948, undercurrents and disruptions caused by the recent conflict swirled and sucked.

Helen Wadsworth was not alone in needing the island's serenity to soothe her, although her situation was singular. The other women in the colony were either reunited with their husbands, if sometimes tenuously, or were war widows. Helen was officially neither. 

Four years earlier, her husband, Arthur, had been reported "missing, presumed dead" on an OSS mission in France. Since then, the War Office had not elaborated on the original statement. There was one person who might be able to tell her more, but like so many men who had returned from combat, particularly those who had served in the secret service, he had been particularly mute on the subject...

Be on the lookout for A Certain Summer at your favorite bookstore or library because it comes out on May 21st (tomorrow!). For more information about the book and to read other readers' thoughts about the novel, check out its Goodreads page.

Let us know what you think of the excerpt or any of your thoughts about the book.

Happy reading,
Michelle & Leslie

Review: The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston + Giveaway

Format: E-ARC
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 9781423168973 
Source of my copy: publisher
Series: Rules for Disappearing #1
Synopsis (from Goodreads) 
She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.
Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.
But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.

The Rules for Disappearing is one of the 2013 debuts I was most excited for because I just love the sound of the Witness Protection premise. Sadly, while it wasn't a bad read, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

We follow "Meg" (her real name is Anna) as she and her family are once again transfered to a new town by the Witness Protection Program. This time they are transplanted in a small Louisiana town and Meg is determined that this will be her family's last move--for that to happen she will have to lay low and not draw any attention to herself, especially in school. She is also making it her mission to figure out what her dad did to get them into the Witness Protection Program in the first place. However, her plans didn't quite work out because her family seem to attract attention like flowers attract bees and a cute boy, Ethan, was adamant in getting to know her and to be her friend.

Like I said, The Rules for Disappearing is not a bad read. If you are looking for a mystery-lite with a strong romance, you may enjoy this. But for me most of the story was too conventional, too cardboard. Nothing really surprised me when I was reading it and the twists I saw a mile away. There were some parts that may have added some meat to the story like Meg's alcoholic mom, her dad who may be making deals with the wrong people and the man who may not be who he says he is--they could have turned the story into a darker fare but they were mostly glazed over. Instead the story focused more on Meg's relationship with Ethan.

I am all for romance but I thought, Meg and Ethan got together too easily. I never really understood Ethan's interest in Meg in the first place because it seemed there wasn't much to like about her when they first met. Also, Ethan was too perfect to be realistic.

But I did sympathize for Meg/Anna's character--how she was dealing with all the moving around and her frustration of not understanding why they were in the Witness Protection Program, the pressure of keeping her family together and taking care of her little sister, and basically having to carry all her possessions with her (in her "go-bag") so that she and her sister will have their stuff in the highly likely chance that they will be plucked in the middle of the night and moved to a new location without warning. I felt sorry for her and I rooted for her to figure out the "whys" and hopefully help her family get out of Witness Protection.

The Rules for Disappearing did not quite live up to my expectations but it was still a pretty good read. If you like mystery/thrillers on the lighter side, you may enjoy it more than I did. Oh, and the daisies on the cover? **Wink** They show up at the end of the novel. While The Rules for Disappearing is not a book I'd recommend you run to the bookstore to buy, it's definitely worth borrowing in the library.

Enter to win a copy of The Rules for Disappearing:
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Blog Tour: Nantucket Blue Excerpt + Giveaway

Hello friends,
It is almost time for summer and if you're on the lookout for awesome beach reads, we have you covered. Just look for the "Michelle & Leslie-Approved Beach Read" stamp in the next few months!

We are featuring a novel that earned that [coveted] stamp today.

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.
Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.
But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.
A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

Here's a little taste of this summerific novel:

I loved being at Jules's house. It was big but not too big, buzzed with a mild, pleasant chaos, and smelled faintly like her mom's perfume. And Jules's room was my favorite. It had dark wooden floors and big windows with white, floaty curtains. It was painted a deep but calming blue. Jules called the color "Nantucket blue" because she said it was the color of the ocean on a clear day in Nantucket.

"Do you think I'll lose my virginity to Jay?" I asked, biting my lip to hide my smile, not wanting to jinx anything. Jules and I are both virgins, although she'd come very close last summer with some boarding-school guy.

"It's possible," Jules said. "But don't do it right away."

"Oh my god, no. Six-month rule," I said. Jules and I decided that six months was the perfect amount of time to got out with a guy before sex. With that kind of time, you would know you weren't being used. I lay back on the bed and started at the ceiling.

"I just thought of something bad," I said. "What if Jay turns out like his brother?" Jay has an older brother who was just like him in high school: gorgeous, popular, athletic, but he quit college, got arrested for drunk driving, and now lives at home and works at the bagel shop. "He's such a loser."

"Cricket," Jules said. "That's mean." But she was smiling. This was the thing about Jules. I could always say what I was really thinking to her and she wouldn't stop liking me. Actually, I got the feeling when I said stuff like this, stuff you can think but really shouldn't say, it made her like me more.

Nantucket Blue is out in stores and your public library now, so pick up a copy. This book is so GOOD! Read my thoughts about Nantucket Blue here. For more information, check out author Leila Howland's Tumblr and Twitter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Happy reading,
Michelle

Review: Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

Format: E-ARC
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 9781423160519 
Source of my copy: publisher
Series: standalone
Synopsis (from Goodreads) 
For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.
Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.
When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.
But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.
A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

Take Nantucket Blue to with you when you go on your vacation--it is the perfect summer beach read!

I put off reading this novel because I wasn't a fan of the cover and the main character's name--I really thought I wasn't going to enjoy it. How very wrong I was! Once I started reading, I quickly devoured this novel and I was really sad to see Cricket (her name eventually grew on me) go after I finished reading it.

Nantucket Blue follows Cricket Thompson and her summer in Nantucket. We learn that Cricket's dad had remarried and her mom was still really down as a result of the divorce. Cricket was hanging out a lot at her best friend Jules Clayton's house to get away from her parents. She grew especially close to Jules's mom, the vivacious Nina. When she was invited to spend the summer with the Claytons in Nantucket, Cricket was ecstatic, largely because her long-time crush Jay Logan will be vacationing there too. But when Nina died suddenly of an aneurysm, everything changed. Jules became cold and distant and retracted Cricket's invite to spend the summer with her family.

Still determined to be close to her best friend and to be there for her while Jules was going through a tough time, Cricket took a job as a maid at an inn in Nantucket. Though Jules continue to be distant, Cricket formed new friendships with her co-workers and even became a sort of intern for a writer staying at the inn. She also soon found herself falling for a guy (not Jay Logan) she shouldn't be falling for. But will she work things out with Jules? Or, will her new relationship drive an even bigger wedge between them?

I really liked Cricket's character. She's the type of character I want to be friends with. She never gave up on Jules no matter how much she pushed her away. She made mistakes but she learned from them and because a better person. I enjoyed watching her grow up throughout the novel, from an insecure girl to someone with more self-confidence and self-assurance. I also really liked how she got closer to her mom and helped her come out of the melancholy she was in.

Nantucket Blue wouldn't be a perfect summer beach read without a romance and it did not disappoint in that department. Cricket's romance with her "secret lover" was really sweet and very swoony. It will definitely satisfy all the romantics out there.

The themes of friendship, family, growing up, teen sexuality, love, loss and healing was perfectly blended in this novel. The ending has what I like to call as "satisfyingly openended." Not everything was tied up nice and neat but, in this instance, I didn't mind the few loose ends that left us readers to imagine what will happen next. In my opinion, it's actually better this way. 

There was a lot to like in this novel and found nothing I disliked. The writing was well-done and the pacing was consistent throughout. I thought Howland's voice was terrific and I definitely want to read more by her. I highly recommend you read Nantucket Blue this summer (preferably at the beach with a nice, cool drink and the wind blowing through your hair)--trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Click the image for more M&L-Approved Beach Reads

Happy Friday + Dorm Packing

Hello friends,
Happy Friday!! It is craziness and chaos right now right now as I try to pack up and clean my dorm by... well, today.

Even though I finished my papers early and I didn't have to worry about finals, I still had finals brain because there's just always so MANY things to do in the last week before at the end of the school year. So, I didn't have time to write the Taken by Storm review I planned to do or any other posts for that matter. Sigh.

As for Leslie, she is headed to the Big Island (aka Hawaii island) this weekend with her school band and she'll be posting about her trip when she gets back.

But, yeah, we will be back next week with more posts, especially book reviews. For now, we have a couple of giveaways going on:

Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green. Ends 5/14.

and

Taken by Storm by Kelli Maine. Ends 5/20. US only.

Enter both if you haven't already. Have a great weekend everyone and happy reading!

-Michelle