Book Review: Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren

Beautiful Stranger
Beautiful Bastard #2
Author: Christina Lauren
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Erotica
Released: May 28th 2013 (April 16th 2013 Target Exclusive)
Review Source: Purchased & Gallery Books
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) A charming British Playboy. A girl determined to finally live. And a secret liaison revealed in all too vivid color. Book two in the NYT Bestselling series.

Escaping a cheating ex, finance whiz Sara Dillon's moved to New York City and is looking for excitement without a lot of strings attached. So meeting the irresistible, sexy Brit at a dance club should have meant nothing more than a night's fun. But the manner--and speed--with which he melts her inhibitions turns him from a one-time hookup and into her Beautiful Stranger.

The whole city knows Max Stella loves women, not that he's ever found one he particularly wants to keep around. Despite pulling in plenty with his Wall Street bad boy charm, it's not until Sara--and the wild photos she lets him take of her--that he starts wondering if there's someone for him outside of the bedroom.

Hooking up in places where anybody could catch them, the only thing scarier for Sara than getting caught in public is having Max get too close in private.

The next installment in this series comes out at full speed and packing some heavy ammo. For someone like myself that fell in love with Bennett and the original story many years ago before he was even called Bennett, I was a bit worried if I could love or even like a new male character that wasn't Bennett. In case you haven't read Beautiful Bastard, Bennett is the main male protagonist of that story. In Beautiful Stranger we are introduced to Max. Can Max live up to Bennett's awesomeness? I am happy to say in shouty caps that YES, Max did meet my expectation and surpassed them while at it. The great thing is that both Bennett and Max are unique and are sexy in their own way, so you really don't sit there and compare one with the other. You can equally appreciate them both. So major kudos to Christina and Lauren for making it easy for the reader to fall hard for Max in Beautiful Stranger.

I also want to give credit where credit is due to Sara. Chloe (Beautiful Bastard) is not the only lady in town that knows how to snatch up and whip a sexy playboy. Sara was the perfect female protagonist to be introduced to Max. It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for fellas. Sara knew what she wanted even though she knew it might be off the wall crazy and went for it. Sometimes in life you have to take risk and loose yourself in it.

This duo that is Christina and Lauren are gonna be around for a while, If Beautiful Stranger showed us anything, it's that they have what it takes to play in the field. They are definitely not a one hit wonder. With all the new books coming out in this popular genre, Christina Lauren will stand out. Their books will leave you breathless and with a long lasting impressions long after you finish reading them.

In Beautiful Bastard you are given the story in alternating chapters between Sara's POV and Max's POV. You are able to understand how Sara and Max think and feel. You know that Sara has put up a force-field around herself after her hard break up when her ex-finance cheated on her multiple times practically in her face. Yet inside she is very fragile and truly wants to be loved right. Then Max is that sexy British playboy all women want and he knows it but inside he doesn't want all that fame that comes with being one of New York's sexy businessman. So when Max and Sara collide, I think someone somewhere felt a slight tremor in the earth. Sara makes a move on Max not knowing who he is or even his name and thinking I'll never see this guy again, so she set off on completing a very hot task she never in a million years would have even thought of doing with anyone not even her ex-fiance. Max the gentleman that he is of course doesn't turn down a great opportunity. Little do these two characters knows they have just changed the course of both of their lives forever. It all started on a dance floor!

Will Max be able to chip away at the ice surrounding Sara's heart? Will Sara be able to control a wild lion? What's the fun in that right? Sometimes letting things go wild, are the moments you never forget.

I recommend Beautiful Stranger to anyone who loves to immerse themselves into a great book. You will be needing the next installment in this series when you are done. I know I'm ready to see with what else this duo comes at us with. Bring on the "LEMONS"

Book Review: Lord's Fall by Thea Harrison

Lord's Fall
Elder Races #5
Author: Thea Harrison
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Released: November 6th 2012
Review Source: Berkley
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) In the latest Novel of the Elder Races, two mates find themselves on different paths, torn between their duty to the Wyr and the passion that binds them…

Before she met Dragos, half-human/half-Wyr Pia Giovanni was alone and on the run. Now she’s mated, pregnant and heading south to repair the Wyrs’ frayed relationship with the Elves. Being separated from Dragos is painful, but for the good of the Wyr demesne they need to figure out how to be partners—in more places than just the bedroom.

In New York to preside over the Sentinel Games, Dragos is worried about his mate, but knows that finding two replacement sentinels is essential to show the rest of the Elder Races just how strong and brutal the Wyr demesne can be. But as the Games heat up, Pia’s negotiations with the Elves take a turn for the dangerous, straining her bond with Dragos and threatening everything they hold dear…

Once again I was in total enthrallment by the magical world this author has created and was left wanting more of their magic, not because it was missing from this book but because I do not want it to end.

The first couple of chapters were read at a slower pace, to bring back memories of the characters and match them to the ones met in previous books (reading previous installments is recommended to better understand this magical world), but once I was back to par I couldn't read fast enough.
In the process to prove to the Wyr Demesne that their leader Dragos and Tia, even as her gift is still kept a secret, belong together and that their bond is stronger and unbreakable, things get crazy. He must go on as normal as possible considering all the changes going on. To prove to the world that Wyr is still strong, the Sentinel Games to replace the two lost sentinels must go on, even when a very pregnant Pia is on a mission to better the relationship with the Elves and restore their treaty in the Elves territory.
While on this mission an old threat comes back and becomes a menace to the world and the Wyr have to step up and help their enemies, even before mending their old trouble which creates an interesting twist. 

While this chapter of the " Elder Races" is full of action, mystery and adventure, there is no shortness of passion, love and lessons that will make the greatest immortal fortify his power and position but also makes him more human, you could say, by giving him the feeling of empathy for others. The baby's debut "Peanut" opens a great introduction to what his great powers will be for the Elder's Races future chapters. Love it!

Trailer Thursday: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

The Bone Season

Summary: It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine—a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

CLICK HERE to read all about The Bone Season being optioned by Imaginarium Studios.

Book Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

Parallel
Author: Lauren Miller
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Science Fiction/Time Travel
Released: May 14th 2013
Review Source: HarperTeen
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn't choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

Parallel is one of those books that I was anxiously awaiting to read. Unfortunately, it fell a tad bit short for me. The fact that I might have hyped it up in my head a little more than necessary might have to do with why I don't love it as much. Parallel is gonna fall under my "I didn't completely love it, yet I had to finish it because the story held my attention well enough to see what happens in the end" category.

Abby Barnes has always had her whole life planned since she can remember. Perfectly set class schedule, try to get an excellent score on the SAT, get into Northwestern graduate with a degree in journalism and to tie up the perfect plan get a job at a major newspaper. That changes the first day of her senior year. Her class schedule has to be changed last minute when a certain teacher decides to cancel his class. Now Abby is faced with a choice of either taking drama methods or principles of astronomy. Of course she takes the semi-easy class, gets cast as the lead in the upcoming school play, and there happens to be a prominent casting director in the audience (nothing out of the ordinary since it is a magnet school). That same casting director calls her and asks her to audition for a big-budget film and she gets the part. Abby's so called plan goes out the door and there's really nothing she can do. She goes to sleep the day before her 18th birthday in her swanky LA hotel room, but wakes up in a dorm room in Yale! How you may ask did she end up there? Well the night that she went to sleep there was an earthquake, but really it was a collision of Parallels. It just so happens that we switch POVs to a 16 year old Abby the day before her 17th birthday (Very important to keep track of the dates) same thing happens where her teacher cancels her class, but in this parallel Drama isn't an option.

The plot was a lot more complex than I originally thought and I think that's what threw me off. The explanation for the Parallel worlds is both intriguing yet confusing. It might have gone a bit more in-depth than I think was necessary. That being said I did enjoy the way Miller weaved both parallels together. I liked the way that I didn't feel lost when I was reading Abby "Here" and "There", it flowed effortlessly. On another note, I made no connection what so ever to either of the love interest. They weren't developed at all. The one thing I truly enjoy about Parallel was that it made you think about the small stuff. How a simple lie or the smallest decision could have such a big impact & alter the course of so many things.