Review ~ Clash by C. A. Harms

eARC received via the tour company in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: April 12th 2016

Publisher: Limitless Publishing

Description:
It was time to fight back.

Time to live.

Too much of my life had already been taken from me by a man that should have protected me. At the hands of pure evil I have lived in fear. When most young women were learning to love, I was fighting to live.

I had broken free of the hate.

Finally getting the chance to feel what real love was, but with all good things, bad times seem to follow. At least for me it does. My name is Payton Walters and I refused to allow them anymore of my freedom.

I will not fall…

Not this time.

My Opinion

Although I have plenty of C A Harms books on my kindle, this is the first I've read. It was the cover that drew me in and I honestly have no idea why I've not read any of her work before.

Clash was a dark, gritty, but hopeful novel. It centred round Payton, a girl abused by her father and abandoned by her mother. She has no self belief, but she's focused on freeing herself. When Dylan, her best friend's brother, finally wake up and realises his feelings for her he helps her through the pain.

Clash is a very gentle read. There are some tough scenes of abuse, but the pace is steady and this is going to sound weird, but you just float through the story. It pulls you in and I found it hard to put down. The romance is sweet with some hotter moments, Payton is easy to sympathise with, and the plot was interesting. Although there were a few moments I didn't believe in, the majority was good.

Overall, a good read. I'll definitely be checking out the other books I already own by this author. I just wish it had been longer.

4

Review ~ Walk the Edge (Thunder Road, #2) by Katie McGarry

eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: March 10th 2016

Publisher: MIRA Ink (Harlequin UK)

Description:
One moment of recklessness will change their worlds.

Smart. Responsible. That's seventeen-year-old Breanna's role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyber-bully's line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas "Razor" Turner into her life. 

Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don't belong. But when he learns she's being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them—a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness—he knows it's time to step outside the rules. 

And so they make a pact: he'll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she'll help him seek answers to the mystery that's haunted him—one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they're both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they're going from here.

My Opinion

I was hesitant to request this. While I enjoyed book 1, I did struggle with a few things and I wondered if these problems would carry over to Walk The Edge. However, I enjoyed Razor's story a lot more and found Walk The Edge hard to put down.

This book did have a slow build for me, but once Breanna and Razor started interacting it became more interesting. I liked how Razor was the rebel of the club. It meant there weren't so many rules or club business sections. Sure, they were always there but Razor was fighting them and so it made for more interesting viewing.

I also liked how he treated Breanna. Deep down he was a good guy who'd had a hard childhood. I thought his growth was believable and that he developed and accepted his past well. Similarly, I could empathise with Breanna's fears of standing out and not wanting to be made fun of. She was a likeable character who slowly found her strength and I'm glad she did.

The only slightly downside is I did feel the ending left a little to be desired for. Although things work out, it's not in the way I hoped and for me it wasn't completely satisfying. It was enough, but there could have been more.


Overall, I'm glad I took a chance on this book and I'm intrigued to see Violet's story.

4

Review ~ An Ounce of Hope (A Pound of Flesh, #2) by Sophie Jackson

eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: January 5th 2015

Publisher: Gallery Books

Description:
Max O’Hare can’t seem to let go of his past: his drug habit, the end of his relationship with Lizzie Jordan, the woman he knows he’ll never get over, and the loss of their unborn son.

After successfully completing rehab and learning to explore his deepest fears and dreams through painting, Max meets Grace Brooks. With her innate optimism, and her love of art and photography, Grace appears to be the perfect girl. Yet no one knows where she came from, or why she keeps her past so closely guarded. Over time, Max and Grace gradually allow each other in—but will he ever be able to fully let go of his past? Or will his heart remain closed forever?

My Opinion

Well that is disappointing...

Not the book, that was great and I'll get to that in a minute. I just thought I had a lot more left to read. Unfortunately my ARC has the book printed twice in it so at 50% it ended. I thought I had half a book left!!

Anyway, that wouldn't have annoyed me so much if I hadn't been enjoying the book. Just like A Pound of Flesh, An Ounce of Hope absorbed me in the author's world and I engaged with her character brilliantly.

I felt for Max every step of the way and fell in love with him too. An Ounce of Hope is a great read about two broken people finding themselves. 

This book would have been a five for me if not for two things. The first is I kept expecting more to happen. I kept thinking Grace's ex would come back and I was kind of disappointed he didn't to makes things difficult. Secondly, a few parts did fell a little under developed. A few times I wanted more detail on the past and felt there could have been more story potential. Sometimes things felt a little simple.


Other than that I really enjoyed it. It didn't beat book one but it was an engaging read that tugged on my heat strings. If only there was an extra 50% in my ARC...

4

Review ~ Wombat Sushi - Rhonda Louise

Paperback received from the author in exchange for a honest review

ISBN: 97814666397316

Description

How to make Wombat Sushi: 
1. Take six Australian dancers and one singer who can’t seem to get along.
2. Add a pinch of stupidity, a dash of naïvety and loads and loads of alcohol.
3. Make sure the mixture contains absolutely no self-restraint.
4. Pour into a Japanese club and simmer for three months.
Caution: Definitely contains nuts!

My Opinion

This book was an interesting and fast paced chick-lit novel. The description didn't really sell the book to me as it doesn't give much detail into the plot but once I saw the reviews I was persuaded to try it as it sounded like a good book to chill out with.

In the end Wombat Sushi was a humorous book that I read in one sitting. The characters were funny, wild and easy to engage with. And some of Sam's one liners put a smile on my face. I wouldn't say it was laugh out loud funny but it definitely makes you chuckle. The crazy situations they get into only adds to the drama as well and the book was put together well in plot and structure. The setting was also different and interesting and it was nice to read a chick'lit that wasn't set in America or Paris for once.

There was one thing I had a major problem with though while reading this book and that was the language and grammar. The author continually writes the speech as it would be said for example "Jest git those bloody cosdumes down will ya," I know this is meant to represent their accents but I found it incredibly irritating to read as the accent just wouldn't come to me. I don't mind it occasionally with words like gonna, wanna etc but because it was so frequent and in long chunks, I found it very distracting as I was trying to figure out words rather than read them naturally. This also happened when the Japanese characters were introduced and it all got a bit much. 

As well as this Rhonda Louise likes to extended words and use capitals... a lot. This drove me mad, "Daaaarrryylll!!," "you were reeeeeelly good," "tiiiiiiiicccckkkk toooooccck" or "COMPLETE and TOTAL DISASTER." I'm sorry but for me it felt excessively used (as well as the multiple exclamation marks) and it really did make me want to stop reading the book. I'm not sure what the purpose of it was but I found their was very little speech description so maybe it links with the author writing how they would speak. For me I would rather their speech be described than extend words like that so frequently. It just became annoying.

Overall if you can ignore some of the issues I had with the writing Wombat Sushi was a humorous read. I did find parts irritating but in general it's an ok chick-lit novel that will make you smile.

Amazon Update

I can now post reviews to Amazon and will be putting previous reviews up on there soon!

I will try and get to it as quickly as possible.

* Side note -  I am not able to purchase any books with this account so none of my reviews will be a "verified purchase" if that is what you are after. 

New Year, New Changes and Still More to Come

New Design

With the start of a new year I decided to redesign Lost to Books! Parts are still under construction so bear with me if things look unfinished but I hope you like the changes and the way it is heading. I have a few extra things I want to edit/add as well that differ from standard Blogger templates.

New Promotions
I have also started accepting book spotlights. I want to make this a regular feature here so I need plenty of books to do that. If you're an author and have a book you want to feature or you know someone in that position send me a request via the email on my contact page. I'll be happy to feature most books! In a spotlight I will post the cover, description, links (to book and author's sites), author bio and picture.

Review Update
Other than that I am aiming to read more books than I did last year and keep helping authors out with reviews/promotion. I'm slowly getting through my TBR pile (which never seems to get smaller) but I'm always looking for new releases to review or new authors for guest posts.

I am also looking to try and grow my number of followers and I want to start taking part in virtual books tours and blog hops.

I wish you all happiness and luck in all your endeavors throughout 2013!

My Reviews - Clearing Things Up

Just a note to all authors and to clear some things up about my reviews as after having a few bad experiences and accusations I thought I would make this clear for future reference.
1. My reviews give my HONEST opinion. If I didn't like something I will say so but I will try and be as constructive as possible. I know the work that goes into writing a book and how attached you get to your product by the end so I try not to just slate a book but if I didn't like it I won't lie.

2. I will NEVER copy other people's review. If there are points (good or bad) that link between my review and another person's then it is because others have found they liked or disliked the same things in the book. It does not mean I have just picked certain things out of their review and used it in my own. I spend a lot time reading the books you send me and then even more time writing the review so it make no sense for me to copy someone else review as it would just be a waste of my time, as well as unfair to you.

3. If I do give a negative review and I haven't mentioned as many strengths other reviews have, that is probably because I disagreed with those strength or didn't find them when reading it. It does not mean I have just copied the negative points out of other reviews to spite the author (I am not in this to be mean or discourage, I just give my honest opinion).

4. If you don't get the review you hope for I'm sorry but I have just stated my own opinion and experiences of reading your work. Other's may or may not share that opinion but that does not mean my review is untrue for me, even if you disagree with the points I have made. Others may have rated your book 4/5stars but that does not guarantee I will feel the same way. In all honesty it doesn't bother me what other people have rated your work, I will make my own judgement and my review will be based on that and that alone.

5. I will never write a review when I am having a bad day (unless I really enjoyed the book as that probably makes my day better). If I didn't like your book I will at least leave it a night before I write a review for me to gather my thoughts so personal experiences do not influence it.

6. I will not argue with authors about a review and trying to do so will only get you added to my blocked contacts. I will gladly explain points I have made further via email etc if there was something you didn't understand or just want more detail on but I will not change my reviews because you are unhappy with what I have said. My reviews are my opinion and it will stand unless I have written something factually untrue.

7. Finally I don't give negative reviews just to be mean or look 'big' as I have given low ratings out, I would rather write a positive review of every book I read. However if for some reason I find myself writing a negative review about your book then that's because it was how it made me feel. I try to just pick out the main points I had most problems with in a negative review rather than rant. 

I hope that clears some things up and more information can be found on my review policy page.