ONE AND A HALF STARS!

I've always prided myself in reading a book to the very end (because hey, you gotta be able to say you're accomplished in something, right?), but this book really tested me and its only through sheer will that I got through to the very end.

This book had all the necessary elements to make it a success for me: rich CEO bad boy, struggling female mc with a hurtful past, inter-office relationship, enemies to lovers and a happy preggers after. But while all the necessary elements were there, the compilation of it all and the overall story telling was so terribad that I'm not even sure where to start.

Lilly Jacobs is by far, the worst heroine that I've ever had the displeasure to meet. She's rude, ungrateful, wishy washy and so stupid that its dangerous. Jake Cavanaugh also doesn't win any awards in my book. He's an absolute asshole upon meeting and really doesn't do anything to endear me towards him, constantly referring to himself as an alpha male. Sorry, mate, but if you have to label yourself an alpha male, chances are, you're not. Other support characters are equally unimpressive with the exception of Tracy who I just felt so sorry for in the end.

I honestly couldn't tell you what most of the book was about because quite frankly, it was all confusing. The formatting was all over the place which didn't help with my confusion and the action jumped so quickly from one section to the other that I was left reeling, with my eyes glazed over and my brain dribbling out of my nose.

The one part I did get though was the threat from Lilly's past. I thought the story would pick up from here but unfortunately, it doesn't. When Lilly gets angry at Jake for trying to protect her and subsequently dismisses David as a threat, despite being almost beaten to death by him in the past, I almost wanted him to bust a cap in her fool ass. And while I didn't wish the abuse at the end to happen to her, I couldn't help but think if she had been smarter, she could have avoided it all, could have avoided dragging Tracy into her mess, who, BTW, didn't even rate a mention to see how well she recovered from the ordeal.

There are so many things that I could talk about but I'll leave it here. Definitely not my cup of tea. And if my review was confusing, I can only blame it on such a confusing read.

THREE AND A HALF TO FOUR STARS!

I've always been an unapologetic Inception fan and so when I read the blurb for this book, there was no way that I could pass on it. And I was not disappointed at all, not only did it bring all my Inception feels to the fore but it also had me drowning in its own feels as this book had its own style, despite there being similarities within the dream world and concept.

Darkness Falls is a paranormal romance that is set in what seems like a contemporary future. Reve, the french word for "dream," is a pop culture phenomenon thats taking the world by storm, with so many people signing up to enter a shared dream space where they can indulge in their fantasy lives. One such person is the ever reluctant and sensible Jordan Lane, who, accompanying her sister Maisie into the dreamworld, is marked by a Chimera agent by the name of Malcolm Rook. When it becomes obvious that Jordan has an uncanny ability for the dream world, she becomes the target of an unknown, shady organisation. Thus begins Jordan and Rook's fight for survival, but they quickly come to realise that Rook's demons may be a far greater danger.

I quite enjoyed this book. I found myself relating to Jordan in that I've always been the sensible sister, always shouldering the responsibility so that my younger sister could be absolutely carefree, so I definitely felt a connection pretty much from the get go. What made me absolutely love her was how she grew into her wicked powers and how absolutely fierce she was when it comes to protecting the ones that she cares for. This is a woman who is more than capable of rescuing herself and it just makes my heart thump wildly in admiration. Rook, for me was a good character, though he didn't stand out as much as Jordan did. I did, however, appreciate how protective and possessive he was of Jordan and how he drew strength from her to face his own demons.

How did a man catch up with his own nightmare? He had the answer now: when his woman was fighting it every step of the way.

Right on, bro. Right on.

Also, what really worked for me was Joshua. I don't know about you guys but evil/scary kids have the power to scare the hell out of me. And when I say scare, I mean whimper pathetically while hiding under my bed covers. So when I read about Joshua and his freaky appearances, I freaked out appropriately and cheered Jordan on.

So why not five stars? Even though I really enjoyed this book, there were several aspects that stopped me from being head over heels in love with it. The first is the length of the book. I understand its a novella, but I feel this book could have been so much more if it was longer. Its such a rich concept that 115 pages couldn't possibly be enough to fully explore not just the dreamworld but the characters as well. Which leads me to my next point that everything unfolded rather quickly, often times too quickly. For Jordan and Rook, whilst I had no problem with the instant attraction between them, I would have loved it if the author could have built their relationship up more. I found myself wishing for some witty banter or for some training sessions that would somehow turn steamy. For the story itself, I wish the fight scenes could have been prolonged for us to get a better grip on Jordan's powers, to learn her limits and possibly see it begin to evolve. The only other issue I had was the writing style. I know everyone has their own unique style but I found Erin's a bit so-so for me. At times it was brilliant and well suited for the story at hand, at other times I found it sometimes awkward, often making scenes disjointed somewhat.

Overall though, I quite enjoyed this book. Definitely need to check out the second book in this series!

THREE AND A HALF STARS

As a set up novella, its a pretty solid effort. The story is simple and straightforward, the two mcs are likeable and the sexy times are sexy, though the fact that its a novella rather than a full blown novel works against it, in my opinion.

Objection begins with McKayla Dawson carrying out her drunken promise to her best friend of hooking up with a stranger via an exclusive sex club. An incredible night of bliss proceeds with the ever so gorgeous, number 134, but its not long before reality crashes in and its back to the daily grind for Mac, a newly established litigation lawyer. She finds out that the firm that she works for has been bought out and on the day that she meets her new bosses, she comes face to face with number 134 himself. They're both determined to keep their relationship professional, but intimate knowledge of each other's bodies can be the very devil.

I liked this novella for the most part. Mac is smart, speaks her mind and is quite confident. I found her likeable though I couldn't help but scrunch my nose at her penchant for relying on her best friend's money for things. I can certainly appreciate times being tough and the economy being bad, but there is such a thing as living within your own means and I thought it was somewhat at odds with her hardworking background. Matt Connover (aka number 134), is pretty decent for someone with his authority and power. He apologises when he's in the wrong and he's not afraid to speak his mind, all traits I find likeable. Though despite all this, I found it hard to connect with the characters because the story was just too short. Once I started sinking into the story, it was over and done with and I found that I just couldn't quite make that connection with the characters. What also didn't work for me was Mac's final thoughts on Matt:

He's an asshole. There is no doubt about that. But I have a feeling he's a pathetically damaged asshole, and something has made him this way. That makes me feel sorry for him, even though his words cut pretty deep.

I guess this is suppose to open up an avenue of exploration in later installments for why Matt is so anti-relationships, but having Mac glean this "truth" without there being anything to indicate it to be true, other than her adamant belief that he wouldn't go down on her if he was adverse to relationships. Not to mention, her thoughts come not long after his utter rejection of her confession of liking him, which makes her thoughts seem more of a butthurt reaction to the rejection rather than showing true insight into his character. Or at least it was to my way of thinking.

Despite these issues, I did still enjoy the story overall and definitely want to continue with the series. If you like office romances as much as I do, then I'm sure you will like this as well (though you may want to get your hands on the box set and read it all in one go)!

THREE AND A HALF STARS!

At only 175 pages, Deviant is a very quick, hot and action filled read. It follows the story of Sloane Romera's desperate search for her missing sister Alexis. She is willing to do anything to find her, including giving up her v-card to an intense stranger for information that can potentially lead her to Alexis' whereabouts. But the lead falls through and Sloane's left reeling from the betrayal. Until she meets with the stranger, better known as Zeth, at the hospital where she currently works at two years later. Things are still intense and heated between them and it doesn't take long before their relationship explodes.

I enjoyed this novella for the most part. I think it could have easily been longer so the cliffhanger had me squinting at my computer screen in frustration. There are a lot of trigger potentials so a massive warning to anyone who may not be able to stomach a darker read. There were quite a few spelling mistakes and such but they were very minor and overall did not affect the overall story. Also, the two mcs are definitely likeable. Sloane was a better stand out character than Zeth in my eyes, she was just so incredibly BAMF to me and it was easier to connect with her, even despite it being a novella.

Why not five stars? The lack of five stars was really a personal issue. I had no idea how dark this book was (well, dark in the sense that I generally read books about rainbows and sunshine and candy) so when the sex scenes came and it was like:

Me being the weiner that I am was like:

I'm sure those who have a stronger stomach than my puny one will have no problem handling this read.

Looking forward to continuing the story.