Isabella Cassazza wins with DEFYING GRAVITY, the first book in the Ice Tigers series.  Boston Ice Tigers NHL star, Tyler Wolfe, has a secret, his boyfriend, Danny Fisher.  Their lives change after meeting, Lily Parker. This contemporary sports romance is suitable for adult audiences. 

 

I adored this story.  Tyler, Danny, and Lily are all amazing characters.  They are all very different but fit together.  Tyler is an in the closet athlete.  He distances himself from his teammates fearing they will discover his secrete.  Danny is his patient bisexual boyfriend.  He is a physiotherapist; this is great considering Tyler and Lily are athletes.  Then horse trainer, Lily, enters their lives changing it forever.

 

Lily is a sweet person.  She has good intentions.  I felt horrible for what her friend, Nathalie, went through.  It’s understandable how Lily becomes involved with Tyler and Danny.  I enjoyed the horse training aspect of the story.  It was very detailed, and I felt like I learned a few things.

 

I adored how the characters developed throughout the story.  They make a serious positive impact on each other’s lives. I love that Tyler opens to his teammates.  Everything about this story was perfect.  It was believable.  There were relevant obstacles.  Isabella Cassazza does a fantastic job getting you in the characters' heads. 

 

I appreciated Isabella Cassazza writing style.  DEFYING GRAVITY was skillfully written and engaging.  It had me hooked from start to finish.  I cannot wait for book two, CENTER OF GRAVITY.  I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

The instant connection between Lily, Danny, and Tyler was great! My heart was tugged in many directions as this trio tried to figure out their relationship. All three had been hurt somehow in the past, and I loved how they all took that step toward honesty and found love for each other. This was a little steamy, especially between Danny and Tyler, and it was a page turner for me.

I received an ARC through Enticing Journey Book Promotions, and this is my unsolicited review.

Because I Love You - 5 stars

Perfectly Royal: Eine Liebe gegen jede Regel- DNF

Dem Leben so nah- DNF

Grischa: Eisige Wellen - 5 stars

Resisting the Rebel - 5 stars

Harry Potter und der Feuerkelch - 5 stars

Sophiechen und der Riese - 4.5 stars

Defying Gravity - 5 stars

 

Favorite book(s) of the month: Because I Love you, Grischa: Eisige Wellen, Resisting the Rebel, Defying Gravity...Harry Potter (duh!!!)

 

Books started this month but haven't finished yet: Stopping the Noise in Your Head, Shopaholic, Wake The Hollow, Verstummt, The Boy Inside Me (but I finished it today)

 

8 books this month. Well, 6 books, because I didn't finish two of them. The overall raiting is also pretty great. So I'm really happy with the amount of books I read in july. You go, girl!!!!

First things first: I received an ARC of this book from Entangled through NetGalley.

The book came out july 25th. Check it out if you want something cute and fun.

 

Book summary: Zoey Miller lives for her holidays in Aspen. Her time up on the mountain with the Madison brothers, Parker and Luke, is everything. But for the first time, it’s not enough. This time, she’s determined to win one of the brothers’ hearts.

But the brother she has in mind is a renowned player, with hordes of snow-bunnies following him around Snowmass resort. And the other…well, he’s her best friend and knows she deserves better. Namely him. And he’s going to win her heart.

 

This is the second book in the Finding Perfect series. To read this, you don't have to read the first book. Zoey was a minor character in the first one, now she is the main character.

 

I really loved Zoey in the first book (and actually wanted to have a book dedicated to her), so I was really happy when I saw that this was going to be a story from her point of view. We also got some mentions of Paige and Ben, who where the main characters in the first book, something that I really enjoyed cause I loved these two adorable idiots.

 

In this book we met the Madison brothers, Parker and Luke. And they couldn't be any more different from each other, except their love for snowboarding. I really loved Parker right from the start, he was kind, sweet and funny, AND so obviously in love with Zoey. I loved their friendship. They basically grew up together and you could tell, the chemistry between these two were off the charts. And then we have Luke, the older brother, and no, he wasn't my cup of tea. It's not even that he's a player, cause you know, to each it's own, but I found him really annoying. I couldn't see what Zoey saw in him (thank god in time, Zoey didn't either).

 

Other things that I really loved about this book:

 

- The setting. Aspen. I loved the focus on snowboarding and I think those moments were really well written.

- The mom's!!!!

- Parker's friends and wish we could have seen more of them. Especially Shawn.

- The fact that everyone who saw Parker and Zoey together thought they were a couple and were obviously rooting for them. I love things like that.

 

 

For ALL of you out there who want to have more of Luke...
Read Luke's side of the Story and interview by K.C. Highley over at Closet Geeks and Slow Mo




7/18/16
3.5Stars
Why? Why does Goodreads not have half-stars?!
This is right between good and great for me-- so 3.5stars
Now hover I'll be hanging round having to decided if I am rounding up or down ...

Review: 7/25

Let's just put it out there: I rounded up. Because simply put Defying Gravity is a well written and entertaining cute & fluffy and I found myself wondering what Highley will write next.


Just like in Finding Perfect I kept smiling and I thoroughly enjoyed this second installment of the series.

Highley writes beautifully. I love her descriptions and think she got the romance, all the angst (not too much) all the excitement and all the swoony bits just right.
When I initially started I suddenly got all worried, because I wasn't that much into the boarding bits. Why is that important? Well, I grew up in the Swiss alps.. I am a boarder. When I was Zoe's age boarding was a huge part in my life. So many amazing memories and so many amazing hours spent on the board, meant I have huge gigantus expectations. So I cautiously counseled myself to tone them down. As much as possible. I kept wondering if I managed to do so, until I hit the scene where Zoe goes boarding on her own. I could barely read it it affected me so much. (the not so good memories rearing it's ugly head) So retrospectively I think Highley got a lot of the boarding side right.
Her descriptions of the mountain are brilliant! I ended up missing my mountains, the feel of being high up and surrounded by the majestic giants, the quiet and my board. (and odd compliment, I know, but a most sincere and well deserved one)
The book is written from Parker and Zoe's POV and they both have very distinct voices, which I really liked.

The plot is a best friends become more kind of one. And I was totally loving it. It is a tad predictable. But who cares when the ride is absolutely enjoyable. It's cute, sweet and swooney. No insta anything around. Just lots of great stuff that make up a nice story line.

While I do like most of the character building. I was least impressed with the two male MCs.
Well actually I do like them. I just found them both to be too extreme. Luke was petty, jealous and shallow, while Parker is thoughtful, kind and just awesome. I mean I get that Highley was trying to set them in contrast. But it was taken a tad too far for my taste. And while we're at this, I couldn't believe the mother's reaction. I mean really?! He is YOUR son. How can you say those things to your OTHER son none the less? WTH? Why didn't you teach him better?
I did like the parents though. I think it's quite unique, a lot of YA books paint the parents in a bleak and unflattering light. Highley however manages again to give us an insight into different families. And even if the parents are featured really little, they each have interesting and diverse personalities.
I liked Zoe in Finding Perfect already. And now? I adore her. I love how she tries to find her own way and tries to discover who she is and what she wants to do. I get her issues and I could totally related to her. Same could be said about Parker, he is totally swoon worthy. But as I said I found him a bit too black and white. Same goes for Luke. Which is why this is 3.5 Stars btw rather than a solid 4Stars.
Still I liked Parker and am routing for him. And while we at it, I do like Luke as well. I mean I think there is more than what we got so far. And I am so hoping Highley will write a book about him. So hoping! (HINT HINT!!!)