Taking the Ice by Jennifer Comeaux (Blog Tour Review + Giveaway)

Taking the Ice by Jennifer Comeaux
Release Date: August 17, 2015
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 166
Series: Ice #3
Review Source: eARC for review through Itching for Books Tours

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

Olympic rings and an engagement ring.

Courtney Carlton is ready for both.

She and her boyfriend Josh have skated together and dated for four years, and they’ve reached a critical point in their partnership both on and off the ice. With the Winter Games coming up and their career nearing an end, they are fighting to win a spot on the Olympic team, something Courtney has dreamed of since she was ten years old.

She also has another wish she hopes comes true soon. She’s waiting for a marriage proposal from Josh that she expected to happen by now. Will she realize either dream or will her heart be broken from disappointment?

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed Taking the Ice and found it to be a very sweet end to Courtney and Josh's story. These two characters make me smile so much and I had a blast reading about their journey over the past three books. What I really enjoyed about this book is how Courtney and Josh have learned to stick together as a couple. There's a real progression in the series, so it's beautiful to watch them working so well together on and off the ice.

By no means does this book show complete perfection in our characters' lives, because Courtney and Josh face challenges and work hard to achieve what they have, but I did think of this book as a Happily Ever After fete. There's still hard stuff going on in their lives, but it was awesome to read about Courtney and Josh going strong as a couple.

Taking the Ice features great skating scenes, great friendship scenes, and a lovely romance. This novella is a great celebration of two careers and a toast to what the future will hold. As this is the third and final book in a series, you'll definitely want to start at the beginning of Courtney and Josh's story with Crossing the Ice. If you wanted, you could go even further back and start with Life on the Edge, which starts off the story of Courtney and Josh's coaches, Emily and Sergei.

Taking the Ice is sweet, fun, and lovely: exactly what you'd expect from Jennifer Comeaux.

The Cover:
Like!

Rating:
[4/5]

Purchase Links:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

About Jennifer:
Jennifer Comeaux is a tax accountant by day, writer by night. There aren’t any ice rinks near her home in south Louisiana, but she’s a die-hard figure skating fan and loves to write stories of romance set in the world of competitive skating. One of her favorite pastimes is traveling to competitions, where she can experience all the glitz and drama that inspire her writing.

Where to find Jennifer:
Website & Blog | Facebook | Twitter

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow along with the tour schedule here for more reviews, interviews, and guest posts.

All Played Out by Cora Carmack (Tour Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway)

All Played Out by Cora Carmack
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Pages: 320
Series: Rusk University #3
Review Source: Edelweiss

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

First person in her family to go to college? CHECK.
Straight A’s? CHECK.
On track to graduate early? CHECK.
Social life? …..yeah, about that….

With just a few weeks until she graduates, Antonella DeLuca’s beginning to worry that maybe she hasn’t had the full college experience. (Okay... Scratch that. She knows she hasn't had the full college experience).

So Nell does what a smart, dedicated girl like herself does best. She makes a "to do" list of normal college activities.

Item #1? Hook up with a jock.

Rusk University wide receiver Mateo Torres practically wrote the playbook for normal college living. When he’s not on the field, he excels at partying, girls, and more partying. As long as he keeps things light and easy, it's impossible to get hurt... again. But something about the quiet, shy, sexy-as-hell Nell gets under his skin, and when he learns about her list, he makes it his mission to help her complete it.

Torres is the definition of confident (And sexy. And wild), and he opens up a side of Nell that she's never known. But as they begin to check off each crazy, exciting, normal item, Nell finds that her frivolous list leads to something more serious than she bargained for. And while Torres is used to taking risks on the field, he has to decide if he's willing to take the chance when it's more than just a game.

Together they will have to decide if what they have is just part of the experiment or a chance at something real.

My Thoughts:
All Played Out is an entertaining novel featuring a very sweet romance. Nell and Mateo don't make a lot of sense at first glance and yet they make absolute sense: they balance each other out perfectly. Nell grounds Torres, opening him up to his real self, and Torres lets Nell get outside herself, focusing on something besides school and rigid plans. I loved how the romance grew between these two characters. I liked their flirting and how they worked together on Nell's list. One of my favourite parts of a romance novel is seeing the two love interests grow together by spending time with one another, and those scenes in All Played Out were truly lovely.

This is a very easy, fun read, but an emotionally satisfying one as well. I liked that even though there were hurdles and issues it wasn't super angsty or drawn out. Basically, All Played Out is a super enjoyable, sexy read. This is a very addictive series, and I'm excited to see where things go next with Stella's book.

The Cover:
So sweet!

Rating:
[4/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | iTunes

Excerpt from All Played Out --

I groan, and flip the page in my spiral so I won’t have to look at the words anymore. Starting small with the alcohol had been a wise decision. Perhaps I should do the same with other big items on my list. But how did one get smaller than sex and hooking up? I couldn’t just put “kiss.” I’d done that before, and a few more kisses weren’t going to make any difference in my confidence when it came to sex.

Really, it’s the unknown that bothers me. Not just on this list, but in everything. So maybe that’s what I need to get used to.

I skip to the bottom of my list and add …

17. Kiss a stranger

I tap my pen against the page, surveying the words, and decide that kissing a stranger is a good stepping-stone. Then a voice comes from over my shoulder, making me jump up and drop my spiral in shock.

“Do I count as a stranger?”

I press my hand over my thundering heart and turn to face the subject my rumination.

“You scared me.”

“My bad.” Contrary to his words, Torres doesn’t look the least bit sorry.

He bends to pick up the spiral, and I lunge forward to stop him. “Wait! Stop!”

It’s too late. He already has ahold of it, and lifts it up above his head, completely out of my reach. He’s got nearly a foot on me in height, and when I try to jump, I barely get my unathletic self a few inches off the ground.

“Give that back.”

“Hold up, sweetheart. I just want to take a little peek.”

“Don’t you dare! It’s private.”

Frantically, I try to recall what was written on that page as he holds it above his head in an attempt to read.

“‘Go skinny-dipping’?” he says, his eyes dancing suggestively. “Whatever this is ... I like it.”

I step toward him, and he angles his body to the side so that the spiral is farther away, but we’re still close.

“‘Pull an all-nighter.’ ‘Sing karaoke.’ ‘Flash someone.’ Oh, sweetheart, tell me this is a list of things you want to do. Please, God.”

“It’s none of your business. That’s what it is.”

“Unlucky for you, I’m a nosy person.”

He starts to turn the page back, and my heart tumbles in fear. He cannot see the first page. Not ever. I hurl myself at him, practically climbing up his body in an attempt to retrieve my list. And all he does is laugh, and stand there as if there isn’t a whole person hanging on to him.

“Asshole!” I say, pushing at his chest.

“Come on, you can do better than that.”

“Nosy bastard.”

He rolls his eyes. “Well, if that’s all you’ve got ...” He starts to turn the page again, and there’s thunder in my ears, and my lungs feel all twisted up inside my chest.

“Fuck you,” I say once, quietly. Then I repeat it, louder, my voice raspy from fear and exertion. “Fuck you, Mateo Torres.”

And I resign myself to the fact that I’m not going to get my spiral back until he’s had his fill of humiliating me. But to my shock, he bends and picks up my pen from where I’d dropped it when he surprised me. Then he draws a line through something on the paper.

“Congratulations. You’ve officially completed number sixteen. ‘Cuss someone out and mean it.’”

He hands me the spiral, then the pen, before folding his arms over his chest and meeting my eyes with a carefully blank expression. I glance down at the item on the list that he’s crossed out, and I don’t know whether I want to laugh or stab him with my pen. Maybe both.

About Cora:
Cora Carmack is a twenty-something New York Times bestselling author who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She now splits her time between Austin, TX and New York City and spends her days writing, traveling, and spending way too much time on the internet. In her books, you can expect to find humor, heart, and a whole lot of awkward. Because let’s face it . . . awkward people need love, too.

Where to find Cora:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow along with the rest of the InkSlinger PR tour here.

Click on the graphic above or this link to read Cora's announcement about Book #4 in the Rusk University series.

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Pages: 402
Series: The Winner's Trilogy #2
Review Source: eARC from publish through Raincoast Books

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement... if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

My Thoughts:
The Winner’s Crime is an intense sequel to The Winner’s Curse and it is so, so good. It’s very much a second book, in that things don't get resolved, more problems arise, and there's definitely not any happy shipping moments. Despite this, the plot moves forward beautifully and the emotional intensity was at a high for the the whole book.

Kestrel is determined to keep Arin safe by keeping him out of the loop. She plays a very dangerous game, loving Arin and wanting to help him (and his people, by extension), while under the watch of the emperor and the threat of her father. This book is full of courtly intrigue and Kestrel's extreme intelligence in doing everything she can for Arin without him knowing and without getting caught. I would have liked to see Kestrel and Arin working together, but I get why things were the way they were.

In this second book we also see how Arin's people, the Herrani, are surviving and what the Valorians are doing to another people in the east. There’s so much evilness in this empire that is always wanting to expand.

I can’t stop using the word intense to describe this book, because it’s such a perfect descriptor. My stomach was in knots almost the whole time reading The Winner’s Crime. Marie Rutkoski is such a talented writer. Her words are beautiful, and she does an amazing job at portraying the subjugated and the subjugators in a slave based empire. I can’t even explain how highly I recommend this series, and I am on pins and needles waiting for the arrival of the third book (which will hopefully have some happier moments in it!).

The Cover:
Like!

Rating:
[5/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Rivals in the City by Y.S. Lee

Rivals in the City by Y.S. Lee
Release Date: March 10, 2015
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 304
Series: The Agency #4
Review Source: Netgalley

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

In a tale steeped in action, romance, and the gaslit intrigue of Victorian London, Mary Quinn’s detective skills are pitted against a cunning and desperate opponent.

Mary Quinn has a lot on her mind. James Easton, her longtime love interest, wants to marry her; but despite her feelings, independent-minded Mary hesitates. Meanwhile, the Agency has asked Mary to take on a dangerous case: convicted fraudster Henry Thorold is dying in prison, and Mary must watch for the return of his estranged wife, an accomplished criminal herself who has a potentially deadly grudge against James. Finally, a Chinese prizefighter has arrived in town, and Mary can’t shake a feeling that he is somehow familiar. With the stakes higher than ever, can Mary balance family secrets, conflicting loyalties, and professional expertise to bring a criminal to justice and find her own happiness?

My Thoughts:
Reading this book was like coming back to an old friend: it was so good to hear from Mary again. I love James/Mary and how they interacted in this book. I would have loved even more of them together, but I like how the circumstances allowed us to hear a bit from James' POV for the first time. Rivals in the City is about the return of a familiar villain, which brings Mary back into the Agency's fold.

This is much less a mystery than the previous books in the series, as it’s about catching a specific person they already know has committed a crime. The plot allows for some interesting involvement of Mary's heritage and getting some answers about her father's missing years. The book is also about Mary facing her past and considering her future with James. Considering the book description I expected this to be a bigger conflict, but it really only came up a few times.

One thing I found missing in the book was Octavius Jones. I so expected this character to make a return, and I was very disappointed when he didn’t have a presence in the book. I also found the ending to be a little bit abrupt, though it was still a good one.

I was a little disappointed in this book, probably only because I had such high expectations for it after the long wait and after I loved Book 3, The Traitor in the Tunnel, so much. Nevertheless it was still a very decent read, and I think fans of the series will find something to enjoy in it. Mary is an amazing character, and overall I highly recommend this series. It offers a different side of Victorian London than we see in a lot of books, and stars an incredibly intelligent and tough POC lead.

The Cover:
Gorgeous!

Rating:
[3.5/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 464
Series: n/a
Review Source: Netgalley

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

"I might be Cinderella today, but I dread who they'll think I am tomorrow. I guess it depends on what I do next."

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.

Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become.

Which is how she gets into trouble.

Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.

My Thoughts:
Oh my word!!!! This book was epically good. It put me through the ringer, made me a complete emotional mess. The Royal We took me from giddy to butterflies in the stomach to anxious to angry to heartbroken to hopeful to happy and everywhere in between. I can honestly say this is the best book I've ever read involving royalty and involving dealing with the press and paparazzi.

What surprised me most about this book is that it has some serious weight to it. Just based on the genre you’d expect a story like this to be on the shorter side, but nope, this is an extremely long book. Despite the length I could not set it down: I just kept reading and reading, which shows you how involved with the book I was.

The Royal We is a linear story with five different sections, set at different times. The story starts with Bex meeting Nick at Oxford and their friendship that becomes more. We see different stages of their courtship and all the aspects that come with that. I loved Bex and Nick together but this book made me question whether being with him was worth it for Bex: the expectations, the judgment, the ceremony, the never having a normal life. This is really the big question of the novel: is it worth giving up so much to be with someone you love? & Can you make it through the horrible and still have something worthwhile left?

This book does such a good job at showing us a royal family that we can easily identify as a version of our own, while equally making the characters different and truly themselves. It has some incredibly amazing secondary characters, some you'll love (Freddie!!! Oh gosh, I could go on and on about Freddie), some you'll loathe (Richard!! aka Evil Prince Dad), and some it's so complicated you're not even sure (Bex’s sister, Lacey). I mean, these characters are totally layered and complicated. Even Richard you can feel a twinge of sympathy for at times, though mostly he's just Prince Dick.

If I had one complaint about this book it would be that I wanted more cute Bex/Nick scenes to make up for the angst and/or a longer ending so we could see people’s reactions and how everything went down (do these things missing mean there'll be a sequel? *optimistic*). However, the way it ended was perfect too. It felt like a very Nick and Bex ending, instead of an ending for HRH and Future Duchess Rebecca.

By now it’s clear that this book made me feel So Many Feelings. I just loved every bit of it, even when I was so tense it made my stomach upset or when tears were continually streaming down my face. This is the first book in a while where I've felt SO strongly about loving it. The Royal We is an AMAZING read, one I would highly recommend to all contemporary romance fans, New Adult fans (after all, this book is truly about growing up and finding yourself, making those tough decisions), and to fans of books about royalty and/or celebs. I honestly can’t recommend this book highly enough.

The Cover:
Amazing!!

Rating:
[5/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble

The Truth About Us by Janet Gurtler

The Truth About Us by Janet Gurtler
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 304
Series: n/a
Review Source: Netgalley

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

The truth is that Jess knows she screwed up.
She's made mistakes, betrayed her best friend, and now she's paying for it. Her dad is making her spend the whole summer volunteering at the local soup kitchen.

The truth is she wishes she was the care-free party-girl everyone thinks she is.
She pretends it's all fine. That her "perfect" family is fine. But it's not. And no one notices the lie...until she meets Flynn. He's the only one who really sees her. The only one who listens.

The truth is that Jess is falling apart – and no one seems to care.
But Flynn is the definition of "the wrong side of the tracks." When Jess's parents look at him they only see the differences-not how much they need each other. They don't get that the person who shouldn't fit in your world... might just be the one to make you feel like you belong.

My Thoughts:
My first thought upon finishing The Truth About Us was “wow!!”. I found it to be a very strong book with an incredibly interesting premise and great character transformation. I think I say this every time I read a Janet Gurtler book, but she does such an amazing job of telling stories that balance friendship, family, and romance. Those are my favourite types of contemporary YA, and I always enjoy what Janet has to offer.

Jess is the main character of this book, and she’s dealing with family issues -- or rather she’s not dealing with them. Bad things have happened and Jess feels ignored, so she just checks out. She acts out and has "friends" who she doesn't really seem to like. Jess is playing this part until she takes it too far and her uber strict dad steps in.

Flynn is someone who is so opposite from Jess in many ways, and yet he's so similar too. There’s a connection there between them that no one else seems to see. Flynn comes from completely different circumstances than Jess, and I think this book is very realistic about how differences of class can matter even now, when there's so much disparity between the two. I understood everyone being concerned about Flynn and Jess, and yet I also raged at how heavy handed people were at trying to keep them apart.

This is the story of Jess and Flynn, but it's also the story of Jess, of her finding her way back to who she wants to be. It’s the story of Jess’s family growing back into place, but especially of her mom trying to move past what's happened to her. I loved how Jess changed as she worked at the shelter, how she learned about the world and connected with people she normally wouldn't. I loved the granddaughter/grandfather banter relationship she had with Wilf, and the sister/brother and friend one she had with Flynn's little brother, Kyle.

The Truth About Us is a truly lovely book that made me feel so many things. It made me feel the butterflies of a crush and the feelings of it becoming something more. It made me feel the anguish over lost friendship. It made me feel disgust at people's horrid assumptions and rage at people thinking they knew everything and trying to control Jess and Flynn.

I highly recommend this book to all fans of contemporary YA, especially to fans of Sarah Dessen, Morgan Matson, and Emery Lord.

The Cover:
Honestly not a fave at all.

Rating:
[4/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository