My Reading Pile (19)

 My Reading Pile is a meme hosted by Rachel over at Fiktshun. Every I'll list all the books I've read in the past week and four books I plan on reading over the upcoming week. I hope you enjoy. (The picture above is from Fiktshun)


Last Week:
Read:
Leif (Existence #2.5) by Abbi Glines
"She was mine. I owned her soul…until Death stole her heart."

LEIF is a novella from the Existence series. It is glimpses into Leif's point-of-view during both Existence and Predestined. 

* Also, each digital copy of LEIF has a free download for Dank Walker (AKA Death) newest song - Closer.
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It was nice to revisit this series after a long time away. Especially seeing it from Leif's POV.  I feel bad for the guy now. I'm really hoping for two spin-offs from the series: one about Leif and one about Gee. Abbi has kinda set it up for that. All we can do is cross our fingers.


Stripped by Jasinda Wilder
So how did I get myself into this situation, you ask? Simple: desperation. When you're faced with being homeless and hungry or taking off your clothes for money, the choice is easier than you'd imagine. That doesn't make it easy, though. Oh no. I hate it, in fact. There's nothing I'd like more than to quit and never go into another bar again, never hear the techno beat pulsing in my ears again, never feel the lecherous gazes of horny men again.

Then, one day, I meet a man. He's in my club, front and center. He watches me do my routine, and his gaze is full of hunger. Not the kind of desire I'm used to though. It's something different. Something hotter, deeper, and more possessive. I know who he is; of course I do. Everyone knows who Dawson Kellor is. He's People Magazine's Sexiest Man alive. He's the hottest actor in Hollywood. He's the man hand-picked for the role of Rhett Butler in the long-awaited remake of Gone With the Wind. 

He's the kind of man who can have any woman in the entire world with a mere crook of his finger. So what's he doing looking at me like he has to have me? And how do I resist him when he looks at me with those intoxicating, changeable, quicksilver eyes? 

I'm a virgin, and he's an American icon of male sexuality. I'm a stripper, and he's a man used to getting anything and everything he wants. And he wants me. I know I should say no, I know he's the worst kind of player…but what my mind knows, my body and my heart may not.

And then things get complicated.
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It was okay, I guess. Very much insta-love. *shrug*


Wide Spaces (Wide Awake #1.5) by Shelly Crane
A novella for Emma and Mason's first Christmas together after Wide Awake. 

Emma knows better than most that life can change from one second to the next. Mason knows that guilt can make you change so much, that you don't even recognize yourself in the mirror. When they found each other, they knew that life had given them a second chance.
But can one night, one second, one misunderstanding change everything?

A life together that saved them will become a life they think is lost forever.

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I loved seeing Mason and Emma again!! Can't wait to read Milo's story!

Alpha (Alpha #1) by Jasinda Wilder
The first time it happened, it seemed like an impossible miracle. Bills were piling up, adding up to more money than I could ever make. Mom's hospital bills. My baby brother's tuition. My tuition. Rent. Electricity. All of it on my shoulders. And I had just lost my job. There was no hope, no money in my account, no work to be found. And then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I found an envelope in the mail. No return address. My name on the front, my address. Inside was a check, made out to me, in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Enough to pay the bills and leave me some left over to live on until I found a job. Enough to let me focus on classes. There was no name on the check, just "VRI Inc.," and a post office box address for somewhere in the city. No hint of identity or reason for the check or anything. No mention of repayment, interest, nothing…except a single word, on the notes line: "You." Just those three letters.

If you receive a mysterious check, for enough money to erase all your worries, would you cash it?

I did.

The next month, I received another check, again from VRI Incorporated. It too contained a single word: "belong."

A third check, the next month. This time, two words. Four letters. "To me."

The checks kept coming. The notes stopped. Ten thousand dollars, every month. A girl gets used to that, real quick. It let me pay the bills without going into debt. Let me keep my baby brother in school and Mom's hospice care paid for. How do you turn down what seems like free money, when you're desperate? You don't. I didn't.

And then, after a year, there was a knock on my door. A sleek black limousine sat on the curb in front of my house. A driver stood in front of me, and he spoke six words: "It's time to pay your debt."

Would you have gotten in?

I did.

It turns out $120,000 doesn't come free.
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Another okay novel by Jasinda.


Rush Too Far (Too Far #1.1; Rosemary Beach #1.1) by Abbi Glines
Fallen Too Far was Blaire's story. Now it's time for Rush to share his side.

Everyone in Rosemary Beach thinks they know how Rush Finlay and Blaire Wynn fell in love. But Rush is back to tell his side of the story...

Rush has earned every bit of his bad-boy reputation. The three-story beach house, luxury car, and line of girls begging for time between his sheets are the envy of every guy in Rosemary Beach, and Rush handles it all with the laid-back cool of a rock star’s son. All he needs are his best friend, Grant, and his sister, Nan.

Until Blaire Wynn drives into town in her beat-up pickup truck with a pistol under her seat. The Alabama farm girl instantly captures Rush’s attention once he discovers that the angelic beauty is his new stepsister, but he vows to keep his distance. Even if she needs his help. Even if he craves her.

Because Rush knows why Blaire is all alone in the world, forced to ask for help from the father who abandoned her three years ago. And he knows if he gets too close it will destroy Nan, who has a secret connection to Blaire.

He has every reason in the world to stay away from her. Find out why he doesn’t.
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I loved seeing everything from Rush's POV. It's got me in the mood for more Rosemary Beach.


PG-13
Directed by: Josh Boone
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Natt Wolff

Hazel and Gus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous given that Hazel's other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they met and fell in love at a cancer support group.

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Yes, I realize I'm a week behind everybody. And if you still haven't seen it, drop whatever you're doing and going to the movie theater and see it. It doesn't matter whether or not you've read the book, just go. I was really worried going in about how true to the book it was going to be. I mean the book is perfect and amazing and I love it so much, so how could a movie of all things live up to it? I mean Hollywood always ruins ours favorite books. But have no fear. The movie is true to the book all the way through. Understandably, they had to cut a few things out (i.e. John Green's cameo lol), but nothing about the story line is changed. All scenes can be found in the book. Seriously, it felt like the writer just took the book, made a few cuts, and voila you have perfection on the screen. I'm gushing, guys, and I rarely do that about movies. It has lived up to the hype. I'm one of those people who gets super excited about movies based off my favorite books, but leaves feeling a little bit cheated, even if it was still good. But The Fault in Our Stars blew my expectations out of the water!!! So go see it. Right now. Okay? Okay. </3 :')


Reviewed:



Received:
Netgalley:

Blog Tour:

Review:



Upcoming Week:
Simple Perfection (Perfection #2; Rosemary Beach #6) by Abbi Glines
Woods had his perfect life mapped out for him. Rise up the ranks of the family business. Marry the rich girl of his parents’ dreams. Pretend that wealth and privilege was all he’d ever wanted. Then a girl named Della breezed into town, a beautifully imperfect stranger who captured his heart and opened his eyes to a new kind of future. Woods is ready and willing to sacrifice everything for her when the sudden death of his father leaves him with his mother to care for and a business to manage.

Della is determined to be strong for Woods, even as she’s quietly falling to pieces. No matter how far from home she’s run, the ghosts of her past have never stopped haunting her. Struggling to hide her true feelings from Woods, Della fears she can’t be his rock without dragging him down into the darkness with her. But is she strong enough to let go of the last thing holding her together?
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Like I said, Rush too Far got me in the mood for more Rosemary Beach and this is the next novel I have to read in the series. Although, I might go back and re-read Twisted Perfection because I don't remember it very well.


After the Fall (Broken Angel #2) by L. G. Castillo
There’s a Spanish proverb that says, “From the thorn and the pain, a flower is born.” Naomi Duran never really understood what that meant until she became an archangel.

Finally reunited with the love of her life, Naomi thought she had everlasting love and happiness in Heaven. Even with the rebellious Lash by her side, she learns that life as an archangel isn’t easy. 

When secrets of the past are finally revealed, tempers flare, brother is pitted against brother, and Naomi and Lash face the greatest threat to their relationship: choosing among love, family, or duty.

In the end, can this family of broken angels forgive past mistakes, or will they carry the thorn in their hearts forever, ripping their family apart?
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I want to know what happens. Castillo was kind enough to send me review copies of the final two books in the series and I'm anxious to read them.


Perfect Kind of Trouble (Finding Fate #2) by Chelsea Fine
Daren Ackwood is a bad boy with a mysterious past-He's the kind of guy who knows he can get any girl he wants. Kayla doesn't do bad boys-in any sense of the word. They have a tendency to leave scars and dust trails in their wake, and Kayla isn't running short on either. So when Daren rolls up to her father's funeral in his shiny sports car, Kayla knows she needs to keep her distance during her brief stay in this tiny God-forsaken town. She's here to take care of her father's will, nothing more. The trouble is, Daren doesn't see it that way. And he usually gets his way.
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I have the blog tour coming up next Monday, so I need to read this before then.



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