Talk Nerdy Book Blog

July 23, 2014

Switched by Cassie Mae

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Book Review

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23July

Ever since high school, Kayla has been crazy for gorgeous football player Talon. But before she could muster the courage to tell him, he became a hot item with her beautiful BFF, Reagan. The only person who knows Kayla's secret is Wesley, Talon's best bud - and he's got it bad for Reagan. Now they're all in college together, hanging out 24/7. For Kayla, seeing the two lovebirds together is absolutely unbearable. So Kayla and Wesley hatch a plot to drive them apart before Talon has a chance to give Reagan the Christmas gift she's been waiting for.

Soon enough, the once happy couple is fighting. Reagan suddenly can't get enough of Wesley's goofy sense of humour, and Talon seems to be paying more attention to Kayla than a guy who's "only a friend" ever should. But just when everything seems to be falling into place, Kayla and Wesley accidentally spend a night together and discover a hitch in their plan they never considered: that switching partners may not lead to a perfect ending after all.

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July 21, 2014

Married to a Prince by Calista Kyle

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Book Review

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21July

Laila Greer has already said yes to her boyfriends proposal when he told her he was a prince ...

With conspiracy, passions and hidden agendas galore, will things work out for a Prince desperate to escape a past and a working New York girl struggling with her debts?

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July 16, 2014

Sanctuary of Mine by Shelly Pratt

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Book Review

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16July

Mackenzie Deeks is struggling. Outwardly she plays the tough guy and acts like being a young adult with an eating disorder is no big deal. Inside, she's crumbling.

Ever since her parents' divorce, the only way she has been able to feel in control of her life is by purging the despair that has its grips on her and won't let go.

Tyler Redding knows when someone needs help - he's seen it before. This time, though, he's not going to take no for an answer. From the moment he first sets his sights on Mackenzie, he's unable to think of anyone else. But how can he focus on a football career when all he wants to do is date the most unassuming person he's ever met?

As their lives become intricately entwined, it becomes more than wishful thinking when Mackenzie and Tyler find each other again as adults. With successful careers, a beachside lifestyle and each other's love to contend with, life should be pretty damn good. But just when they think they've found their wonderful kind of normal, their perfect world comes crashing down.

It's going to take a lot to keep Mackenzie from succumbing to old habits, but Tyler thinks he might just be the one to save her for good.

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July 14, 2014

Painted Lines by Brei Betzold

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Book Review

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14July

Warning: This is not a fluffy love story - it contains and alludes to violence, torture and rape – a heroine broken in mind but not spirit – a hero with his own past regrets.
 
Scout has always wanted to follow in her family’s business of custom bike building. Being female never stopped her from getting greasy and slapping on paint with the best of them, and made her work even harder at opening up her own shop someday.

When an opportunity to win $500,000 dollars in prize money presents itself, Scout and her group of misfit friends sign on the dotted line to be filmed for a reality television show to win it. But like anything in life there’s always a catch to free money.

When nightmares of the past meet dreams of the future, Scout is forced to face her demons, or be quickly over run by the memories. In the midst of her inner turmoil, family will come home, and possibly a life she never expected to have could be within her grasp.

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July 10, 2014

Take It Off, A Series by Cambria Hebert

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Series Review

1 comment

10July

If you can't take the heat ... stay away from the flame.

Katie Parks has been on her own since the age of fifteen. All she's ever wanted is a place to call her own - a life that is wholly hers that no one can take away. She thought she finally had it, but with the strike of a single match, everything she worked so hard for is reduced to a pile of smoking ash. And she almost is too.

Now she's being stalked by someone who's decided it's her time to die. The only thing standing in the path of her blazing death is sexy firefighter Holt Arkain.

Katie's body might be safe with Holt ... but her heart is another story.

As the danger heats up, sparks fly and the only thing Katie knows for sure is that her whole life is about to go up in flames.

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July 7, 2014

Out of Play by Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Book Review

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07July

Rock star drummer Bishop Riley doesn't have a drug problem. Celebrities - especially ones suffering from anxiety - just need a little help taking the edge off sometimes. After downing a few too many pills, Bishop wakes up in the hospital facing an intervention. If he wants to stay in the band, he'll have to detox while under house arrest in Seldon, Alaska.

Hockey player Penny Jones can't imagine a life outside of Seldon. Though she has tons of scholarship offers to all the best schools, the last thing she wants is to leave? Who'll take care of her absentminded gramps? Not her mother, who can't even be bothered to come home from work, let alone deal with their new tenants next door.

Penny's not interested in dealing with Bishop's crappy attitude, and Bishop's too busy sneaking pills to care. Until he starts hanging out with Gramps and begins to see what he's been missing. If Bishop wants a chance with the fiery girl next door, he'll have to admit he has a problem and kick it. Too bad addiction is hard to kick ... and Bishop's about to run out of time.

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July 3, 2014

Unwanted, A Series by Natasha Anders

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Series Review

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03July

No one had ever looked at her and seen perfection—until now.

Delicate, titian-haired Theresa Noble has met her father’s associates in the past, but the gorgeous, Italian-born Sandro De Lucci leaves her speechless. Eighteen months into their marriage, however, Sandro has turned to ice. Desperate to escape a relationship that has proven to be as stubbornly passionate as it is cold and hateful, Theresa summons up the courage to ask for a divorce. But before he’ll grant her request, Sandro demands something from Theresa: a son.

The stalemate sickens her. Never mind that Sandro has yet to introduce Theresa to the large family that means so much to him. Or that Theresa overhears her husband on the phone with a mystery woman. Most damning is that Theresa senses, in Sandro’s treatment of her, the behind-the-scenes machinations of Jackson Noble, her cruel father. From the depths of her anxiety, Theresa must seek an empowering truth about the husband who calls her, with such cold affection, his cara, his beloved.

Revised edition: This edition of The Unwanted Wife includes editorial revisions.

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June 30, 2014

Delayed Penalty (Crossing the Line, #1) by Shey Stahl

By Sarah

In 4-stars, Book Review

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30June

A minor penalty that is not called until the offending team gains control of the puck. As long as the non-offending team maintains possession, the referee allows play to continue and signals a delayed penalty by raising his arm.

I'm Evan Mason, an NHL hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks. I spend my nights roughing up two hundred pound defensemen and, at times, spend more time in the penalty box than I do on the ice.

That's my job.

One night changed everything I thought I once knew about my life on, and off, the ice.

A girl.

A brutally beaten girl left to die in an alley.

I don't know why or how but something made me stay that night after taking her to the hospital. I didn't know her, nor did I have an obligation to stay but something inside of me rooted me there telling me I should stay. Saving a life is worth something. At least I thought so. And I wouldn't have been me if I just simply left her there.

Any man who put his heart and soul into a game of hockey couldn't just walk away when someone needed them. She had no one else right now. The same guy who saw determination where there was desire, now saw hope where there was one despair.

I couldn't leave. That wouldn't be me. No, not a man that put all he had into something some called just a game. I couldn't walk away from her holding onto life, weak, and powerless to something she had no control over.

So I stayed. In a room full of family members praying for their loved ones to pull through, I prayed for a girl I didn't know and had never met before, to have a beating heart. While others' sorrow turned to grieving pain, I sat waiting on the words of the unknown.

No bond is stronger than the ones you'll bleed for.

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June 26, 2014

Summer Lovin’ Book Blogin’

By Sarah

In Book Lists

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26June

My 2014 Summer Reading List! It includes links to the books Goodreads pages and my reviews of some of these books.

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June 26, 2014

Romancing the Bookworm by Kate Evangelista

By Sarah

In 3-stars, Book Review

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Sometimes, even the best-laid plans can unravel.

It's spring break, and Tamara Winters would rather stay on campus and read romance novels than flaunt her size-fourteen body on a beach. But her best friend, Ronni, has other ideas.

Against her wishes, Tamara is whisked away to picturesque Maverick Bay, where she's wrangled into waiting tables with Ronni at the Shore Shack for its busy week leading to Maverick's Surf Invitational. There she meets fellow schoolmate Xavier Solomon, the Invitational's organizer and campus womanizer by reputation. From the moment Tamara sees him emerging from the waves like a hero in of one of her romance novels, all she wants to do is run away from the feelings he inspires in her.

Little does she know Xavier has been watching her for weeks now. In fact, after failed attempts at asking her out on campus, he's concocted a crazy plan: fabricating romantic situations straight out of her favorite books. Xavier quickly realizes that if Tamara gets a whiff of his designs, he might as well spell CREEPER across his forehead. Yet as they grow closer, he's convinced it's a risk worth taking. What he hasn't planned on, of course, is his drug-addicted, alcoholic stepbrother, who decides to join the fun and put a wrench in Xavier’s scheme.

Spring break is proving hotter than Tamara expected. Will her romance novels be able to compete?

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