Book Review: Love on St. Barts by Emme Cross

My Rating: DNF

Book: Love on St. Barts (St. Barts #1 )

Author: Emme Cross

Page Numbers: 213 pages

Published: June 5th 2015 by Joffe Books Beach Reads

Synopsis:
Everyone says he's wrong for her, but she doesn't care
Sunny O’Hara young, pretty, and terribly innocent returns to her childhood home of St. Barts, an idyllic island in the West Indies. She meets Sven Larson, a movie star with a bad reputation for breaking women’s hearts. She falls in love with him and begins a journey of emotional and physical discovery. But has Sven really changed? Can a good woman redeem a very bad boy?

This is the first book in the St. Barts Romance series by Emme Cross. Set on the island of St. Barts, eight square miles of gourmet restaurants, designer shops, yachts . . . and secrets.

Book Review: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

My Rating:  

Book: Fifty Shades of Grey

Author: E.L. James

Page Numbers: 356 pages

Publication date: May 25th 2011

Synopsis:
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.
Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

This book is intended for mature audiences.

The Participants by Brian Blose Book Review

"The decision to kill registered in the gunman's eyes. Zack just had time to notice the shift of intent before a tidal wave of thunder hit him. He felt himself hit the floor. His vision was gone, leaving a claustrophobic darkness in its place. Fear and confusion struggles in vain against the encroaching tide of oblivion. Thoughts dimmed and Zack was free..."

My Rating: 
Book: The Participants

Author: Brian Blose
Page Numbers: 120 pages
Publication date: February 5th, 2013
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My Review:

When I first read the synopsis of The Participant, I had somewhat of an idea of what to expect from this short novel. Well that was totally thrown out of the window once I got through the first few chapters. This novel is full of surprises and is so much more than just what the synopsis reveals. Despite the complete contradiction of my presumed thoughts, this book was a very pleasant surprise and it was so fast paced that it did not fail in maintaining my attention. Not only due to the fact that this such a quick read, but also because it was a bundle of non stop excitement, I flew through the pages and finished the book in no time. 

The novel starts out with Zack Vernon, a very interesting and unpredictable character. He is an Observer, placed in the world by the Creator. Observers do not know who or what the Creator is, they solely know that it is their job to Observe humans and the world they live in. Zack's task is to look at how humans experience certain thing ( feelings, reactions, experiences, moods, etc) in conjunction with the type of world they live in. Once an Observer's duty is done the 'Sky will Open' and bring them to their creator, or place them in another type of world where they will need to continue Observing. This task and rule to only Observe is supposedly embedded into the brains of Observers. They are given fake memories, background stories and civilization statuses which they will have to adhere to with while Observing. Despite the fact that this is supposed to be innate for each Observer, Zack is different as he cannot stand an eternal life where he is only allowed to Observe and not Participate.

Reluctant to solely Observing, he confronts a dangerous situation at his work where two armed men decide to rob his gas station store. He undoubtedly knows that this can mean the end of his life, which is what he actually hopes for so that he will finally remain dead and be released from his immortal life as an Observer. When Zack confronts and provokes the robbers, he is shot directly in his head which is not gone unnoticed by his co-workers and the National News. This in turn lands him into a vicious cycle of unthinkable, merciless, and horrendous consequences where other Observers want to punish him for his ignorant acts of exposing himself. 

The story is written in such a unique way. Each chapter switches a point of view between Zack and Elza, another immortal Observer, who we get to know quickly in the beginning of the book. We start in the 'present', reading through Zack's eyes and experiences, and in the following chapter the reader is pulled back into the past and starts developing a story on how Zack began as an Observer and how he came to meet Elza. Not only do we get to see the development of their relationship, but the reader also slowly connects the dots between the present and the past.

Each character is so distinct from one other. Their characterization is so well formed that it is impossible to not understand or imagine what kind of person they are. I could not help but feel pity but also love for Zack. He wants to break free from his role as an Observer, and instead of standing by and letting horrible things happen to humans, he decides to Participate in the humans' lives in order to bring change and help them.

Elza is a complete different character on her own. She is also an Observer, who primarily shares completely different values and perceptions than Zack about the role of being an immortal Observer. She praised the Creator and found it sinful to go against the Creator's rules. But slowly throughout the story she cannot help but draw herself into seeing the world through Zack's eyes. They evolve into couple which defines love on a whole other level. Each of their life time can last hundreds of years, and the moment the 'Sky Opens' to engulf them into a new world, they are placed in different bodies in different locations. But despite this inevitability, they never give up on trying to find each other in the next life time and in the new world created by the Creator (can't get more romantic than that, huh??)!

This book was a extremely original in its concept and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire story, its development, and all the characters (may they be brutally evil, or heart warming good).

I must warn you, if you are squeamish to violence and thorough depictions of horror and torture scenes, then please be aware that this book does contain some violent and Rated R parts! 

Book Review: Acting Obsessed by Peter Silverman

My Rating: 
Book: Acting Obsessed
Author: Peter Silverman
Page Numbers: 336 pages
Publication date: July 10th, 2012

Synopsis: Acting Obsessed is a romance and an exploration of both sides of the thin line that divides obsession from passion. In Ginger Brossard’s life the line seems especially thin and easily crossed. As a young and talented actress with a burning ambition to be on the stage, she embarks on a career with a Shakespeare theater company in Philadelphia. An actor in the company soon displays an interest in her, but she turns his advances aside. When she meets an intriguing new man, and then receives a costly and beautiful gift from an anonymous admirer, Ginger finds herself entangled in a web of unanswered questions from the past, lethal danger, and the obsession of an unknown person who may have the power to devastate her life. In the end, she faces a choice between security and a risky chance for happiness.

My Review:

I received a copy from the author to read and review in return.

Acting Obsessed is a book filled with thrill, suspense, hot (but still subtlety written) romance, great characters, interesting historic scenery depictions and more. The book starts out quite exciting where our main character, Ginger, receives an anonymous parcel and letter from her secret admirer. A few years earlier she had received a same sort of parcel from the same secret admirer which provided the same fake address on the wrapping. The reader is immediately submerged into a suspense atmosphere and gets a taste of where the plot will potentially lead to. After being plunged into the slowly built-up suspense created in the first few pages of the book, the reader is pulled back into the past to discover Ginger's personal story to the point when she opens her second parcel and letter in the present time. As I was mentally traveling into Ginger's past, I noticed that the mood of the story became a tad too lethargic for my liking and thus made it harder for me to get into the story. This is actually the one of the main true reasons why I rated Acting Obsessed a 4/5 rating. Now, let's get into the details of this review!

The characters...

From the very beginning I liked Ginger's character. I found that she was very real in the way that she dealt with other characters and in different situations. Ginger is 'realistically' emotional which often made her disquiet, emotionally "bi-polar", paranoid and impetuous; and I felt, considering the dangerous , crazy and emotionally tearing situations she often found herself in, that her emotions and feelings were not exaggerated. The other characters, either being Ginger's friend or foe, were described very believable which made me either feel an abundance of love or an extreme sense of repugnance for them. What I also found very commendable was that despite the fact that the author is male, he still was incredibly insightful on women's emotions and reactions on certain scenarios which in end again made the story and the characters very authentic. Not to forget the romance which was very piquant but still very softly and subtlety portrayed. I loved it!

The content...

As mentioned, I personally found that the book had a very strong and exciting start, however it quickly thereafter dove into a more slower pace which secretly made me yearn for a little more action and thrill. I felt that the moments which were tense and suspenseful were quite short and I wished perhaps that Mr. Silverman focused a little more on creating such daring moments rather than excessively describing a character's emotion and background, and scenic descriptions. I felt that some scenes were described too excessively and too much in depth that I personally thought that the story was starting to lose its relevance. Even though some scenes were often too thoroughly construed for my liking, I did enjoy how the author described scenes so vivid and blissfully  integrated with an abundance of historical and factual aspects. This made me feel that the author has either experienced some of the situations the characters went through or visited the scenic locations himself. One thing which was also personally lacking for me was the depiction of some of the character's physical appearance. I was not entirely sure how to picture Ginger or some of the other characters in my head due to to the fact that no specific features were detailed. I may have missed this or it was simply not included, but I wish the Mr. Silverman had focused a little more on this.

And so...

In conclusion, despite the story perhaps sometimes dragging on in its scenic and characteristic descriptions, Mr. Silverman truly succeeded in manifesting a constant suspense ambiance and keeping the reader's attention and curiosity in finding out who the secret admirer is (I may have suspected probably everyone!). The twist towards the end is completely shocking and unpredictable and I am sure that if you would read this book you would never guess who would be behind some of the mayhem!

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy a saucy romance and a very descriptive thriller which will consistently provoke you to keep turning the pages. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I look forward to reading more of Mr. Silverman's work!


Purchase the kindle version of Acting Obsessed

Book Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My Rating

Book: Catching Fire (#2 The Hunger Games)

Author: Suzanne Collins
Publication date: September 1st, 2009

Description from Goodreads: Sparks are igniting, flames are spreading and the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol-- a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before... and surprising readers at every turn..

My review: 
As you probably have read in my review of the first book of this wonderful series, The Hunger Games, I was completely sold! Luckily I bought the trilogy in one go, so I had the luxury to continue reading the next book as soon as I finished the first one! The first  book did not exactly end on a great suspense moment, however my fingers were still itching to turn the pages of the next book and find out what would happen next.

I gave this book a righteous 5 star rating! The beginning of the book was slower than the first book, however the twists were prominently present and just as unexpected and intense (if not more) as in the first book! The book picks up almost exactly where we left off, where Katniss Everdeen is coping with her victory of the hunger games, living in an exact opposite life she was living prior to her (forced) participation in the hunger games. She deals with the dreadful aftermath of the games, experiencing horrific nightmares which she can only share with Peeta. and Haymitch, as they are the only ones who can truly understand. Not only is she threatened by her continuous nightmares, she soon finds out that her actions at the end of the hunger games have serious consequences, and that these will not be ignored by the all-mighty President Snow. Peeta, as usual, is a very supportive character for Katniss, keeping her grounded and keeping her from going insane from her drastic thoughts, paranoia and nightmares. You can't help but falling in love with his character even more.

The characters and their relationship between each other really surprised me, as they all changed so immensely. Among these drastic changed relationships are Katniss as Gale. This was primarily a shocker as I  expected that after Katniss being away from her home so long,  that their secret admiration for each other would continue to grow. As a matter of fact, this was quite the contrary, and one can already guess that this change in their relationship has sooomething to with Peeta ;) They grew distant, only meeting on rare occasions when they hunted together. Another relationship development which really surprised me (and I secretly also enjoyed) was Katniss and Haymitch. After going through all their differences, they actually grew closer to each other due to their pain they shared during the games, which formulates quite a serious, dramatic, but also humorous bond.

The twists in this book were really unexpected! I don't want to give anything away to those who have not read this book yet, but there is one major twists which surprisingly doesn't happen until approximately towards the middle of the book. It changes the entire setting which puts the main characters, once again, in jeopardy and sets you on the edge of your seat!

The beginning might have been slower than what I was used to, but once the story picked up again I was once again thrown into the crazy, hectic, horrific, thrilling, dramatic and fast paced plot that keeps your attention at its peak and makes you want to read on and on and on (and on...)!

For those that have read the first book, all I can say is: what are you waiting for?? Get the next book right now, as I can guarantee you that you haven't read it all! Katniss & co have many more horrific and amazing 'surprises' ahead of them that will keep you ohh-ing and aww-ing throughout the entire book!!