[Blog Tour: Always Remember by Emma Hart. Review/Guest Post/Giveaway]

When I had the chance to hop on the blog tour for Always Remember, I knew that I had to take it.  I've been reading the Memories series by my author pal Emma Hart and this is it's conclusion.  Jen and Bing (I mean Samuel) are my two favorite characters in the series, so I was excited to see that this is their love story.  I was excited to see what ended up happening between them.  Let's get on to the book, shall we?

"Always Remember"

Author: Emma Hart

Series: Memories #2

Pages: ?

Genre: Mature YA, NA, Contemporary

Date Published: May 13th, 2013

Publisher: Self Published

Format Read: eARC provided by author for honest review

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Summary:

How long does it take for a long-distance relationship to break down? Sixteen months.
When Jen and Carl put their relationship to rest after Christmas, Jen’s biggest problem is going back to London ten days earlier than planned – and her ever-present attraction to Samuel ‘Bing’ Edwards.
Bing has no idea why Jen left Devon so fast. All he knows is that he wants her as much as he did the first day he laid eyes on her – so spending time with her while Lexy is still in Devon isn’t exactly a hardship for him. When he finds out she’s single, the only thing on his mind is finishing what they started at his dad’s fiftieth birthday party.
Feelings that have been a long time building between the two explode, and they both find themselves sucked into an easy yet passionate relationship, with Bing determined to prove to Jen that she’s it for him. That she is The One.
But in a city like London, the odds are stacked against them, and there’s always that one person ready to stir things up… And Jen doesn’t know how much of that she can take – even for the guy she loves more deeply than she ever imagined, and eventually she breaks.
Bing isn’t down with that. He wants Jen, and he wants her by his side for good.

Jennifer Mason must learn that Samuel Edwards doesn’t do giving up. Especially not when his forever girl is involved.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

I was excited to dig into Always Remember, primarily because it was going to be all about Jen and Bing.  They have been some of my favorite characters in this series ever since Never Forget and I was so excited to see what Emma Hart had in store for these two.

These kids are two of the snarkiest and funniest/rudest people out there.  There is something completely hilarious about how Jen and Bing interact that will always put a smile on my face.  They both swear like sailors and they both are complete wrecks, but that, oddly is a large part of their charm.  I just love watching these two do their thing.  Add in some familiar faces from the other two books in the series and you get to watch them interact with even more people.  Which is always a good time! 

I do feel like the conflict that was brought up in this book wasn't extremely strong.  It tried to be, but it just didn't stand out to me.  I didn't know what I thought the conflict would be, but I thought it would be more than a bleach blonde who is still hung up on Bing.  Hart had such a touching conflict in her first novel and female getting in the way of Jen and Bing just didn't really cut it for me. 

I will state right here that this book is the steamiest out of all of the Memories series.  Meaning that it's pretty dang steamy.  In a way I thought that it might have focused on the sex a little too much.  Yes the sex filled banter is funny between Bing and Jen, but it's the moments when that isn't really in the forefront that these characters shine.

I won't tell you what happens in the end, but I thought that it was perfect for the story and I liked how Granny snuck back in to the story, even if it was in a little way.  All in all this was a great way to end a fun NA series!

Rating:

   3 Unicorns = I liked it a lot but it had it's issues!

Buy The Books:

"Never Forget"

... Amazon US ... Amazon UK ... B&N ... iTunes ... Kobo ... Smashwords ...

"Holding On"

... Amazon US ... Amazon UK ... Smashwords ...

"Always Remember"

 ... Amazon US ... Amazon UK ... Smashwords ...

Goodreads = Memories Series

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Guest Post With Emma Hart About Her Favorite British Things!

1. Fish and chips. You’ve never had it until you’ve had it from a chip shop and eaten it on the seafront. Blackpool is the best place for that!
2. Stick of rock. For those of you not familiar with the wonderful thing that is a stick of rock – it’s a hard candy that comes in bright colours and patterns, and also has words running through the middle of the stick. It’s a seaside thing, and they usually have the place name in the middle!
3. Roast dinner. British roast dinners win hands down. Nowhere does them like we do. And we have…
4. Yorkshire pudding. It’s not actually a pudding, but something so yum it should have its own spot. It goes with a roast dinner, so if you don’t know it, go and Google a recipe and MAKE IT IMMEDIATELY.
5. London. I’ve only been once – something I hope to rectify soon – but thanks to a wrong turn we ended up travelling through the city center and I loved it.
6. “Bloody hell!” – as in the saying. I say it way too much…
7. The weather. Because when all else fails, we Brits love to discuss the weather. 

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About The Author:

By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to a terrible two year old and growing bump, due September 2013. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of juice and writes books.
She likes to write about magic, kisses and whatever else she can fit into the story. Sarcastic, witty characters are a must. As are hot guys.
Emma is currently working too many books to even count - including Playing for Keeps, the companion book to New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel, The Love Game. She likes to be busy - unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to when all the ideas come to life.

Stalk Emma Here:

... Blog ... Goodreads ... Twitter ... Facebook ...

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Giveaway:

Here is your chance to win the whole sign Memories collection!

(and it's open internationally)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion]

"Warm Bodies"
Author: Isaac Marion
Pages: 240
Genre: YA, NA, Zombie Books
Date Published: October 28th, 2010
Publisher: Vintage
Format Read: Purchased paperback

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Summary:

R is having a no-life crisis—he is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he is a little different from his fellow Dead. He may occasionally eat people, but he’d rather be riding abandoned airport escalators, listening to Sinatra in the cozy 747 he calls home, or collecting souvenirs from the ruins of civilization.

And then he meets a girl.

First as his captive, then his reluctant guest, Julie is a blast of living color in R’s gray landscape, and something inside him begins to bloom. He doesn’t want to eat this girl—although she looks delicious—he wants to protect her. But their unlikely bond will cause ripples they can’t imagine, and their hopeless world won’t change without a fight.

-Goodreads 

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My Thoughts:

My brain has been blown.  The pun is intended and I'm not going to take it back.  I have so much love for this book.  It manages to give you wonderful characters, grizzly death, horror movie amounts of blood and almost too much heart for a book so small.  It's one of those books that makes you think about things as well a grabbing you by the foot and pulling you on a ride that you'll never forget.  

Warm Bodies is a book that is very complex and yet extremely simple.  If you take away the writing, you're left with story that is very simple to begin with.  But it's Marion's writing that fleshes this story out into something that you will remember.  (Yes, I realize that I am using lots of zombie words in this review.  I can't help it.  So I just gave in.) 

The book is as sweet as it is gory.  It's got that healthy dose of the "ewww that was nasty" factor, and the "awww that was so cute" heart flutters.  Sometimes in scenes that were right next to each other and magically even sometimes in the same scenes.  Marion, you get a high five from me.   

The brilliance that is R will have you laughing and thinking deep thoughts all at the same time.  Making a zombie self aware about what is going on around him is an awesome idea and it's so much fun to read!  The fact that his thoughts are so huge and that he can only speak a few syllables at a time makes you love him all the more.  Because honestly, if he said all of his thoughts out loud all the time, you would want to tell him to shut the hell up, but somehow as internal dialogue it worked.

And Julie was one tough little cookie.  I mean she gets dragged into a zombie pit and tries to get herself out.  There is something about her that makes you wish that she was your friend.  At least during a zombie invasion.  And with all of the gnarly things that have compiled to make her life, you would think that she wouldn't have a shred of hope left.  But that's not the case here.  Julie is our ray of glorious hope through the whole novel.

The surprise character that I loved happened to be Perry.  Marion's use of his voice after his death was an interesting twist.  And he was a great plot tool as well.  It was through his eyes and voice that we saw what had been happening while R was at the airport, listening to Sinatra.  Though I didn't fully get why he did what he did, in the end I loved how he got to live on in the book!

And the secondary characters added so much to the story.  M, Nora, Rossy and Julie's dad all had their parts to play and they all had strong enough personalities that they didn't get washed out by the vibrant leads of this story.  

All in all I loved everything about Warm Bodies.  From the world building and the characters and the interactions that they had with each other.  I mean after all this is a zombie love story.  Yeah, read that sentence again... zombie love story.  All I'm asking is how can you not love that?  In my opinion you should run, stumble and grumble your way to a book store to pick this one up!  

Rating:

 

5 Unicorns = Get Your Hands On This One Now!

(Here is my review of Warm Bodies The Film)

[Blog Tour: Never Forget by Emma Hart. Review, Character Interview and Giveaway]

"Never Forget"
Author: Emma Hart
Genre: Mature YA, New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Date Published: February 22nd, 2013
Publisher: Self Published by Emma Hart
Format Read: eARC provided by author for honest review

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Summary:

A city girl.
A small town boy.
A summer they'll never forget.

Spending the summer at her Grammy's in Lilac Bay, Devon, is city girl Alexis 'Lexy' Edwards idea of hell. That is, until she reconnects with her childhood friend, Jen, and meets Alec Johnson. Alec is the kind of guy Lexy knows she needs to stay away from. He's the village flirt, ridiculously hot and very dangerous to her self control. But there's a problem – she can't seem to keep him out, even though she knows he'll break her heart.
As Alec slowly strips away Lexy's defenses and the two embark on a summer romance she never wanted, their feelings grow to more than either expected. But nothing lasts forever, and reality intrudes.
As her world is shaken to it's core, Lexy's self made prediction comes true when she discovers she's spent six weeks surrounded by secrets. Kept out by her family and the only guy she's ever trusted, she falls apart.
And when Grammy tells her that 'you might not end up where you wanted to be, but you'll always end up where you're meant to be,' she has to figure out if her meant to be is back home in London, or if it's been in Devon the whole time.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

Never Forget was one of those books where everyone has a secret.  Some of them are small and don't really have much affect and some of them will change the lives of the characters forever.  Emma Hart weaves together a contemporary romance that is littered with wit, melancholy and loads of stubborn characters.

Within the first couple of sentences I guessed that the book was taking place in England and less than a few minutes later, my guess was backed up.  There is something about the wording of this book that makes my England loving soul extremely happy.  Whether it's a mention of "The Only Way Is Essex", chips (or fries) with curry sauce or some of the amazing sayings that they have.  I was pulled right in and loved every minute of it!

Lexi is such an interesting character because she seems uptight, but in all reality, she's not.  I like how we got to see her bloom into someone who, though she never changed, opened up.  It was nice to have a female lead not throw everything away for a cute boy, but rather add him into her life!

And I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about that cute boy.  At times I enjoyed Alec and in other moments I just wanted to tell him to get his shit together.  Though when things unfold in Chapter 10, you kind of get it.  I honestly wish that there would have been more moments like that in the book.  Loved it!  

Even though I enjoyed Lexi and Alec's romance it was the secondary characters that really got to me!  Carl, Jen, Bing and Grammy were amazing!  I would love to know more about each of them.  Hart really adds a lot to her story with these crazy and rather fun secondary characters and it's so much fun to read scenes with them.  

Just be warned that there is some very adult content in this book.  

Rating:

   

Buy the book HERE!

A Character Interview With Lexi's Dear Grammy!

#1. So Grammy, was it always part of the plan to throw Lexi and Alec together?

I'd be lying to you if I said no, dear, so yes it was. But oh boy, I didn't expect them to fall in love. I anticipated a little hanky panky, that's all. 

#2. If you knew the kinds of semi pornographic thoughts that Alec was having about Lexi, would you have given him a high five or a high five in the face?

*giggles* high five. 

#3. When was the moment when you knew that Lexi had finally decided to finally let Alec in?

Oh well I realised that before she did. It was, let me see... Oh they'd been in Devon for about a week. It's my old eyes, you see. Don't miss a thing these. Perfect for neighbourhood watch. *winks*

#4. How'd you know that Alec would be good for Lexi?

I didn't. *cackles* I knew she'd be good for him though. What the boy really needed was a good whack across the hands like in the olden days, but I shouldn't imagine anyone would have been impressed about that. Except maybe Greta. That's his Gran. She'd probably join me. 

#5. You seem to be really good at keeping secrets.  Is it a trait you cultivated over the years, or was it passed down to you?

A woman's best kept secret is her age, and at my age, you've had plenty o' practice, love. Besides, it's not keeping a secret. I prefer to see it as omitting information. 

#6. What did you think about the speech that Lexi gave at the end of the book?  Were you proud of her?

I've always been proud of her, even when she covered the white cat in red food colouring. 

It was wonderful to watch her grow the way she did. She's a real little gem now is my Lexy girl.

#7. I've got to ask, did you ever actually find that Vino that they thought they had hidden so well?

*cackles again* of course I did, dear. What do you take me for? (It was in the broom cupboard in the kitchen.)

Thanks for stopping by today Grammy!

About The Author:

By day, Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to a terrible two year old. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of wine and writes books.

She likes to write about magic, kisses and whatever else she can fit into the story. Sarcastic, witty characters are a must. As are hot guys. She has two new series planned as well as her New Adult Romance, Never Forget, due February 2013. She likes to be busy - unless busy involves doing the dishes.
Her debut YA series, The Mauve Legacy, is an Apple iBooks Bestseller - and this makes Emma excited.

  

Where To Stalk Emma And "Never Forget":

... Smashwords ... Amazon ... Goodreads ... Facebook ... Her Blog ... Twitter ...

Want to win?!

There is two ways.  One for if you live in the UK and one if you live anywhere else!  Cool, huh?!

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the last day of the tour HERE and HERE!

[Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman]

"Just One Day"
Author: Gayle Forman
Series: Just One Day #1
Pages: 368
Genre: Mature YA, Contemporary, Romance
Date Published: January 8th, 2013
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Format Read: ARC/galley that I won

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Summary:

A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay
When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon!

-Goodreads 

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My Thoughts:

Guys, I freaking love Gayle Forman.  I've been a fan of all of her books so far and so far she hasn't let me down and hopefully she never disappoints.  As in all of her other works "Just One Day" takes ordinary circumstances and makes them into something magical.  I've said it before (on twitter) that Gayle Forman is the Cameron Crowe of YA books.  They both have this knack for taking stories that you can relate to and telling them in a way that isn't boring.  Plus, they both must know some pretty awesome people.

The novel poses the question, "can your life change in just one day" and for Allyson, is does.  She's a girl who is on a track that suddenly became her parents idea and not her own, she's lost in life and she's in Europe with her best friend Melanie.  She's the good one, the sweet one and the one that surprises you by being the brave one.  Because when she randomly meets Dutch actor Willem on a train after seeing him preform the day before, she does something uncharacteristic.  She ditched party girl Melanie and jumps on the speed train to Paris with a complete stranger, an attractive one at that.

I'll tell you something.  I read "Just One Day" while on a flight to Paris and while also being there.  It was amazing to see the sights through my own eyes and Allyson's as well and it gave me one of those moments with a book that I will never forget.

But the book doesn't just end in some far off dreamlike Paris, nope, it smashes Allyson back into reality.  Where no one refers to her as "Lulu" anymore like Willem did and she feels the pressure to be just like everyone wants her to be, while nursing, what she thinks is a uncalled for broken heart.  The fact that Forman gives Allyson the alias of Lulu, while she is with Willem, adds some creative confusion later in the book, where no one really knows anything about each other, other than the one day they spent together.  Which was so well plotted that I just want to give Gayle a big ole high five!

I just have to say that I want to go to college just so that I can take a Shakespeare class like the one that Allyson joins in on when she breaks away from her pre med school schedule.  It sounded like so much fun and created some awesome parts to the novel and added my dear fellow Dee!  He was amazing and brilliant!  Oh and the people Allyson meets when she gets back to Europe!  All wonderful, wonderful characters!  

Even though I haven't talked much about Willem and Allyson as a couple, I feel as though I can't quite yet.  I don't have all the puzzle pieces.  But I will tell you that I think I adore them and that I can't wait to see what Willem's side of the story holds.  Can "Just One Year" come out tomorrow?  Please!       

Rating:

[Review: Tight Knit by Allie Brennan]

"Tight Knit"
Author: Allie Brennan
Pages: 327
Genre: Mature YA, Contemporary
Date Published: December 30th, 2012
Publisher: Allie B Books
Format Read: eBook provided by author for honest review

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Summary:

Talia Gregory relies on her Nan for everything, especially helping her calm the anxiety that controls her life. But Nan gets sick, and it couldn’t be worse timing. Talia’s panic attacks are getting worse, her boyfriend is a jerk, her best friend is distant, her parents are more absent than usual and she’s stuck planning the Cozy Christmas Charity Drive for her knitting group in place of Nan. If that’s not panic inducing enough, enter Lachlan.

Lachlan McCreedy doesn’t rely on anyone. Not after what he’s been through. It’s him and Gram, nothing else matters but keeping his past buried, and his secrets hidden. So when Gram forces him to help with her Christmas sale, Talia is the last thing he expected, and trusting her with his secrets comes as a shock to both of them. But when he unexpectedly falls for her, the question becomes can he trust her with his heart?

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

I had no idea what I was in for when I started this book.  It sounded intriguing, it had two leads with awesome names.  You have to admit that Lachlan and Talia are great names, right?  I just didn't really know what it was about, but I'm so glad that I dove in anyways!  What I got was an extremely heart felt novel of people who's lives keep spinning out of their control and the only thing that is keeping them anchored is each other.  

It was Brennan's honest writing that keeps you glued to your seat, or wherever your reading this book.  She even throws a few surprises into the plot line, things that I would have never seen coming.  The relationship building was brilliant!  Yes, I loved Lachlan and Talia, but I enjoyed the other relationships that played large roles in the book as well!  Speaking of Lachlan and Talia, there relationship was so real! 

A part of me wishes that we got to know a little bit more about Talia's anxiety, but then again I have a ridiculous fear of bananas and hell, I couldn't tell you why.  So, it was easier to accept that she just had this thing that she couldn't explain.  It also made her more vulnerable and I liked that about her.  I loved her character, in fact!

But here I go talking about how much I LOVED Lachlan.  I don't know if it was just because he was the perfect guy for this book, or if I just got him, but the stand out person in this novel would have to be him!  In my opinion anyways.  He was scared, literally and metaphorically and it made him more real than a lot of love interests that I read.  His back story, the life he is leading when he meets Talia and the person that he is finally able to become with her support is genuine and amazing to watch (or read).  Honestly I could go on and on about him.  

I also like that Lachlan helps Talia find herself, even though her journey is so different from his own.  It was refreshing to see two people who were so different rally together, even with some really hard times and pull through!

So what do I think?  I think you need to get your hands on a copy of this book so you can fall in love with Lachlan and Talia as well!

Rating:

      (P.S. Allie is putting the eBook copy of "Tight Knit" on sale this week for $1.99... GET IT)