Happy Friday my friends! I’m wishing all of us an awesome fun adventure-filled, or relaxing weekend (whatever’s your pleasure). And if your pleasure is reading (like mine is), I hope you’ve got some awesome books lined up, and that time is on your side for some power-reading. And if you’re looking for a few bargains and super-finds, maybe the list below will provide. 😉
So… what am I reading? Well… if you noticed, I’ve sort of been missing in action the past few days (with our usual fun banter and alpha-male swooning). That’s because I’ve settled into a book I’ve been dying to read (You: A Novel). And Shell said:
“I am desperately waiting for your review on ‘You’. Can’t wait.”
So I’m giving y’all a mini-update. I’m almost finished and let’s just say… it doesn’t lend itself to swooning. 😉 It’s dark and creepy, and I was so in the mood for that. I’m enjoying it well enough. It’s extremely well written, the POV gives it that even darker factor, and often, captivating (and he’s even even kind of funny and quirky, despite his serious creep-factor and serious mental issues. LOL! Wait… I shouldn’t be laughing at that. He’s so freakin’ disturbing!!) But at other times… it… drags a little. I find my attention waning. To be fair, I’m at 70-something% and it’s over 400 pages, so I’ve been “on it” for a little longer than I expected.
My issue? I am able to put it down, and that’s what I was hoping I wouldn’t be able to do, with a crazy-sounding book like this. But I can’t help but to keep picking it back up. There’s just something about it that compels me to finish it. I’m invested in these characters that I don’t even really like (even the “heroine”). I’m a big ol’ mess! But I have to know what happens! I’m thinking the ending will provide me a twist. Maybe even shock me right into loving it? You know those kinds of books that you think you only “liked”, but can’t stop thinking about once it’s over, and decide you loved it? I’m hoping this is what happens!
P.S. Let me know if I’m missing any or if you loved any (from this list or elsewhere).
P.P.S. Also, while these “look” great (and/or have awesome reviews and recommendations), unless I have my own personal review link next to it, I likely haven’t read it myself… I just found it and wanted to share it in case it’s awesome. So if you read it, let me know if it’s awesome. LOL! 
NOTE: bargain priced when I added them, but prices can change on Amazon, so make sure to check before you finalize your order.
Todays latest reader recommendations and bargain ebook finds:
- Darker Water (Once and Forever Book 1) by Lauren Stewart <— JUST RELEASED TODAY!! It’s that one with the gorgeous cover, up there to the left. “Two people want the same thing–a commitment to nothing more than great sex in a bunch of different positions. Simple. Enjoyable. A win-win. Problem is, those two people have families and fears and pain that spill into every moment of their lives, control what they do and who they are. And if either Carson or Laney can’t free themselves from the past, they’ll both be pulled under by it.” It’s a standalone and no cliffhanger!
UNMASKED: The Complete Series by Cassia Leo <— The entire series bundled and on sale! Well… I can’t help but one-click this one. Book #1 totally gave me blurb jolt when it first came out. From the blurb, she has some sort of physical issue… and a stranger wants to protect her… “our nightly visits are always cloaked in darkness. I don’t know his face and he will never know mine. I was born into this world unwanted. I will leave this world unmasked.”- When I Wasn’t Watching by Michelle Kelly <— sounds like a mystery romance and it’s on sale! She loses her child to a murderer, and when he’s allowed to go free… another one goes missing. “Matt and Lucy grow closer – and become fixated on bringing the culprit to justice.” <– He’s the investigator assigned to the case…
- Save Me: A TAT Novella (TAT: A Rocker Romance) by Melanie Walker <— recent release that I missed the first time around, so I’m bringing’ it here!
- Consent (Power Exchange Book 3) by AJ Rose <— M/M romance! Another recent release that I just missed, and I remember this series being recommended by some of my fellow readers.
- Destroyed by Pepper Winters <— Stephanie found us this one on sale today! “I didn’t have time to lust after a woman I had no right to lust after. I told myself to shut up and stay hidden. But then she tried to run. I’d tasted what she could offer me and damned if I would let her go.”
- A Discovery of Witches: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy) by Deborah Harkness <— on sale today (thanks Kat!!!) Super popular series, and I read this one a few years ago… (here’s my review)
- Scoring Wilder by R.S. Grey <— (Thanks Stephanie!) And it’s a teacher/student romance of sorts… “Liam is strictly off limits. Forbidden. Her coaches have made that perfectly clear. (i.e. “Score with Coach Wilder anywhere other than the field and you’ll be cut from the team faster than you can count his tattoos.“) But that just makes him all the more enticing…” Why yesssss. Yes. It. Does. 😉 and Jennifer thought so too: “Currently reading scoring wilder…great, fun read, enjoying” and Anna loved it! “I just finished Scoring Wilder and totally loved it! Just a straight-up good college romance with a super sexy hot guy and a pretty kick-ass main character. Good stuff!“
Gravity: A Novel by L.D. Cedergreen <— One from a list or two ago that totally got my attention!! (Thanks Stephanie!) “Unable to face his betrayal, she retreats to Priest Lake where her family owns a small cabin. But Gemma finds that she is not the only one hiding away at the lake to avoid an ugly truth.” She’s reunited with someone from her past…- The Unrestrained Series Collection by S.E. Lund <— And Stephanie found us series bundled and on sale, too!
- A Life Less Broken by Margaret McHeyzer <— Another Stephanie-find! “On a day like any other, Allyn Sommers went off to work, not knowing that her life was about to be irrevocably and horrifically altered. Three years later, Allyn is still a prisoner in her own home held captive by harrowing fear…”
- Truly: The New York Series (The New York Trilogy) by Ruthie Knox <— Ohhhh I remember this one from a month or two ago. Sounds cute! She’s struggling with her recent move to NY, and he’s getting over a divorce…
- Admit One (Sweetwater Book 2) by Lisa Clark O’Neill <— JUST RELEASED (thanks Lemon!!)
- Dangerously Happy by Varian Krylov <— M/M romance… (and it’s the the book that is prior to Bad Things that was just released). Brought to my attention by Fabi when she said: “Dangerously Happy, that one has my favorite couple of ALL TIME. <—- yup with capital letters and thousands of books. If every relationship (couples, friends, relatives, etc) discussed this in the way Dario and Aiden do, then there would be nothing but love in this world.” and Michelle is enjoying it! “I am at 20% and loving it. I know it’s not everybody’s taste (m/m) but it is just so well written.”
Aftermath by Cara Dee <— speaking of M/M romance, I’m putting this one back on the list, since book #2 will be out on Tuesday! I loved this one… a dark read, super romance (both men get kidnapped by the same pyscho) and SO good. “After surviving a five-month long kidnapping together, they struggle to return to normalcy, all while realizing that they’re more drawn to each other than they ever could’ve imagined.” Here’s my review for Aftermath.- Deeper: A Novel (Caroline & West) by Robin York <— This was the one bev was reading a few days ago and she said: “I’m still loving Deeper. It is just so good.” Oh YES!! I remember reading this blurb! “When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground.” <— I’m already swooning!!!!!
- Drowning Instinct (Fiction – Young Adult) by Ilsa J. Bick <— Not bargain priced, but highly recommended by a few of our fellow readers, including myself! This is one that I read and enjoyed a few days ago (here’s my review), and now Amy loved it, too! She felt it… “OMG!!! I’m at 91% of Drowning Instinct and I’m FREAKING OUT!!! The f#%k?!?!?!?!?!?*grabbing hair and pulling*” and then she finished it: “Drowning Instinct was soooooooo good! SO good. I just re-read Maryse’s review for it, and she was so right when she said it’s worth the ride…and you’ll have to read it to find out how it ends and whether or not everything works out….you do have to read it! It’s not really black and white…it is more gray with everything that is going on in it. And there are several things going on which come into play with the teacher-student aspect. Read it!!! Reeeeeeeaaaad it!! … *I* think it was worth it. It’s different from other T/S books I’ve read because of the goings-on that factor into the situation. I definitely recommend reading it!
“ - Grayson by Lisa Eugene <— Shell just found us this very recent release and she’s gonna give it a go. So I looked it up, and sure enough.. sounds like it could be absorbing!!! “The last thing twenty-four year old grad student Angie Roberts needs is to worry about her new boss’s father. After all, she’s never even seen him. He remains sequestered upstairs in a house that looks like it should be the main feature in an episode of Hoarders. She had no idea the house was such a dump when she took the job. But she’s concerned about the safety and health of the old man living under such horrid conditions.” <— but, you see… he’s NOT old. In fact, he’s gorgeous. So what’s the deal? 😉
Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens <— noooo it’s not on sale, but she just announced finishing the first draft of “Griffin’s” book, and so to celebrate this fact, I’m bringing book #1 back to the forefront. This is one of my ALL TIME favorite books in the whole wide world. It’s an absolute “new adult” CLASSIC in our world. I FA-REAKED out reading this. Here’s my REVIEW. One of THE BEST intense love triangles I have ever read, and while my assumption is that EVERYONE here has read it, I realize many are newer here, and I just can’t leave you guys in the dark when it comes to this ultimate romance-angst read.
Amy: Shell, have you read Thoughtless? It’s an oldie but freaking goodie with angst up the hoo-ha. Okay, it’s not really *old* but it’s not a newer read either. It was the book that got me hooked on angst.
Shell: I have got both ‘thoughtless’ and ‘ how to kill a Rockstar’ but have not read it yet as I get distracted by all the new releases and recommendations by fellow readers So which one should I go for??
Jean: Shell, READ Thoughtless!!!!!! It is an awesome series!!!!! I am in the same boat as you…over 400 books downloaded but not read yet. Wonder how many Maryse has downloaded that she hasn’t read yet and does she have the guts to tell us her “number” (no Amy, not that “number”…lol)!
Maryse: Jean!! How do I find out? I’m thinking… 1000. Maybe more. Yes. I’m an e-book hoarder. An avid one-clicker. I’ll probably get tennis-elbow in my finger. LOL!! I read so much that I need glasses now to see far away. *sigh* Ophthalmologist said that for most people, it’s the reverse (need glasses to see up close), but for excessive readers… well. it’s what I got.
Amy: the first one is the one that will punch you in the heart and gut and make your ovaries go BOOM!!! 😀 Yeah, what Jean said about the stomach pains.
Tracy: Shell – Thoughtless is awesome!
Cheryl: I agree Thoughtless is so, so good! Shell I envy you reading it for the first time. You will love it. I loved the other 2 books also, in fact the filming of the song video in book 3 Reckless, breaks my heart just thinking about it. I miss the “I can’t put the book down and the sweet, sexy H *Kellan* and the angst roller coaster ride.” I think I have read most of the books on Maryse’s “What to Read After Thoughtless” list, but that’s the read I want… *sigh*
Maryse: I agree Cheryl. It’s THAT feeling that I’m constantly searching for. And the search for more that will make me feel like Thoughtless did is SO fun. I LOVE reading no matter what. I love so many of the books that we’ve found in the last couple of years. But there are some that are the ultimates you know? The pinnacles of our book love. And this is one of ’em.
“PRE-ORDERS:
Apolonia by Jamie McGuire <— expected release date October 6th 2014!!! Sci-fi new adult romance…?- Keep Me Safe: A Slow Burn Novel (Slow Burn Novels) by Maya Banks – expected release date October 7th 2014
- Echoes of Scotland Street: An On Dublin Street Novel by Samantha Young – expected release date October 7th 2014
- Melody of the Heart (Runaway Train Book 4) by Katie Ashley – expected release date October 7th 2014
Reaper’s Stand (Reapers Motorcycle Club Book 4) by Joanna Wylde – expected release date October 7th 2014- Outcome (Aftermath Book 2) by Cara Dee <— M/M romance – I LOVED Aftermath!! So i can’t wait to read this one. – expected release date October 7th 2014
- Last Light (The Night Owl Trilogy) by M. Pierce <— #1 is one of my favorite books ever (the start of our “stuffed manatee” obsession in fact). Here is my review for Night Owl, and now #2 will be out SO SOON!!!!! THIS MONTH!!! *squeeeeeeee*
- Confess: A Novel by Colleen Hoover <— it’s got a cover and blurb!! expected release date March 10th 2015. “For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping some 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…” <— Oooooh I wonder what that means!!! 😀
- Silver Bastard (Silver Valley) by Joanna Wylde <— spinoff of her biker series – expected release date April 7th 2015.
