The Bouquet List by Barbara DeLeo – a Review

The Bouquet List by Barbara DeLeo – a Review

 

The Bouquet ListAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / The Book Depository / BAM

Description:
He’s #5 on her Bouquet List. Tall, dark…and completely forbidden.

After a too-close call with death, Yasmin Katsalos is checking some things off her Bouquet List—things to do after you thought you were going to die. Fun fashion choices? Check. Purple hair and a cute diamond nose stud? Check, check. Now she’s on to item #5: a flirty fling with a man who’s tall, dark, rich…and totally out of her league.

And restaurateur Lane Griffiths definitely fits the bill.

Lane isn’t just out of Yasmin’s league. He’s also her brother’s best friend and therefore off-limits. Now that they’re working together on renovations for her family’s wedding hall, however, Yasmin has plenty of opportunities to bewitch, bother, and boldly seduce. He’s reserved. She’s relaxed. The only thing they share is a spark of attraction that’s too strong to resist. But is Lane just another item on her bouquet list… or has Yasmin found something on her list that will last?

Review:

The Bouquet List by Barbara Deleo is the brush with death, life changing story of Yasmin Katsalos. Yasmin has always been the good daughter. Doing what she is supposed to do and following in her families strong Greek traditions. But while away in Borneo working on her PHD she contracted dengue fever. After almost losing her life she decides to construct a “Bouquet List” – the female version of the bucket list. It is a list of things she wants to do after she thought she was going to die.

The list begins with her getting a nose piercing and dying her hair purple. She is determined to live her life the way she wants to with no regrets. And although some of the things on her list scare her beyond belief, she is willing and determined to fulfill each and every task.

Yasmin is back home at her parents place and content on helping them get their struggling wedding hall / restaurant back on track.   But she soon finds out that her mother has run off to Greece and her father will need her more than ever right now as he is heading to Greece to bring his wife home. Yasmin is up for the challenge of updating and renovating the wedding hall. That is until she meets who she will be working with to get this feat taken care of.

Lane Griffiths is an up and coming restaurateur, who her father has asked to oversee the wedding hall / restaurant renovations. Turns out Lane is best friends with Yasmin’s older brother Nick. They have been best friends for years. But even though she knows she shouldn’t be thinking of Nick’s best friend this way. She is bound and determined to make Lane her number five. But will this ruin Nick’s and Lane’s friendship? And does Yasmin even care if it does?

I loved Yasmin’s character from the moment I started reading about her. Her new found love of life and determination to live her life her way and not back down from what she believes in, left me excited and filled with wonder as to what she was going to do next. Yasmin’s family has stumbled yet they are strong in their beliefs and traditions. And with her back you just want to know if everything can be repaired in their lives.

Her free loving way of life combined with Lane’s rigidity and quest for order was the perfect combination of two characters. There were times that I wanted to delve more into Lane and explore the way that he is – with that being said – I fell head over heels in love with the two of them. Yasmin was able to pull Lane out of his rigid shell and allowed him to explore the type of man he wants to become.

As the relationship grows Yasmin begins to check things off of her list. That is until Lane happens across it. In an act of pure emotion, Lane explodes after reading number nine and the relationship changes from that moment forward. Will they be able to reconcile? Will Lane let Yasmin explain the what and reason why behind her list? Or will he allow it to hurt him and close himself off to her forever?

This book was like a warm, sweet slice of apple pie that leaves you wanting more.

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Publisher

Share

Permanent Ink by Laura Simcox – a Review

Permanent Ink by Laura Simcox – a Review

 

Permanent Ink

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Description:
Blair Whitaker has one goal: get the hell out of Celebration, NY. Her ticket out is helping the town take the grand prize in a parade contest, which will ensure she lands her dream job. It’s a win-win.

Standing in the way is Ben Lambert, a sexy, local tattoo artist whose smile makes her weak. To win the contest, she’ll have to sideline his plans for the tattoo festival the town council allowed on the same weekend. But trying to thwart Ben is more than she bargained for, and before she knows it, she’s starting to see Celebration–and Ben–as something more than a temporary distraction.

But Blair’s in too deep to change directions now. Celebration is behind the parade contest, the mayor revokes the tattoo festival permit, and Blair is on the cusp of getting everything she’d planned.  But coming clean will turn Ben against her for good, and going forward means losing what she really wants and hurting the town she’s grown to love.

Review:

Permanent Ink by Laura Simcox is a wonderfully romantic American tale.


Blair Whitaker is trying to make a new start in Celebration, NY. But her new start and her plans of getting back into the big city and the event planning business has hit a snag – it seems the moment she hit the city limits – her life was destined to change. Blair takes the job as the town events planner and she must pull off an amazing Fourth of July Parade – if she wins she lands the job of her dreams in New York City and the town of Celebration receives $50,000 for future events.


Ben Lambert is the sexy, hot local tattoo artist and he wants nothing more than to expand his business and pull off an amazing tattoo fest.  But it seems Blair’s plans for the Fourth of July parade and Ben’s plans for a Tattoo festival collide. Can they hold a tattoo fest at the exact same time as the parade? And what seemingly culminates between the two is classic romance. 
 
I absolutely fell in love with both characters right from the onset. The story is a classic romance of a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. And when the two worlds collide fireworks ensue.  I adored the sub-characters and wanted nothing more to have an Aunt Lola and a local diner to hang out at. All of the characters make you feel right at home in the story and you fall in love with Celebration, NY just as Blair does.

 

The relationship that begins to bloom between Ben and Blair is strained and stressed with Blair keeping things from Ben.  It makes you wonder how exactly he will react when he finds out the truth. Will the love that he feels for her be enough to overcome what has happened between them. 

 

The story is one that I could not resist – and a romantic page turner that leaves you wanting more!

 

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Publisher

 

Share

When Fully Fused by Shari J. Ryan – a Review

When Fully Fused by Shari J. Ryan – a Review

 

When Fully Fused
The Schasm series – Book #3
by Shari J. Ryan
Release Date: July 20, 2014

When Fully FusedAmazon / Barnes & Noble

Description:
In the third and final book of the Schasm Series, author Shari Ryan takes you on a final journey of the mind. Chloe and Alex together again maintain their composure and romance as they raise their four-year-old son, Sammy. But fairytales are merely stories they read in the nursery at night, for lurking behind each thought is a world out of control like the chaos of a car crash. As life likes to do, everything Chloe firmly believes in twists in the opposite direction. With three paths to choose from she can only choose Left. Right. Or Start Again. All the questions have answers, and the forces of good and evil wage an epic battle solely within the mind, leaving behind the constraints of reality. From time travel to drifts, When Fully Fused is a thrilling ride from start to finish, literally

 

Review:

When Fully Fused is the third and final book in the the Schasm series by Shari J. Ryan. In this amazingly epic last dance we find Alex and Chloe still together and raising their son Sammy.

All Chloe wants is a simple, ordinary life to raise her son in. But is that even possible with all of the unanswered questions and the men that are still after Chloe and the locket? It seems that everyone wants and needs that locket.

But Chloe still doesn’t have a clue how to obtain the locket. And if and when she does, will it change everything?

The love between Chloe and Alex continues and expands, if that was even possible, with their son Sammy. Chloe tore my heart out with the pain she feels for the life she craves.

I fell more in love with Alex in this book – he moved my heart and made me question his intentions and reasons, and in the end I understood more completely. And Sammy works his way directly into your heart.

The entire series has a very adult, psychotic Alice in Wonderlandesque feel to it. Each drift a rabbit hole. Each character slightly mad. The concept ground breaking – unlike anything I have ever read before. And the ending was absolutely NOT what I was expecting and could not have been more beautiful. This book left you questioning reality from dreams. Life from drifts. And how the mind sometimes blurs the two together.

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Publisher

 

about the author

Shari ryan
Shari J. Ryan hails from Central Massachusetts where she lives with her hubby and two lively little boys. Writing has become Shari’s great escape from the real world over the past few years. After a bout of postpartum depression with her first child, Shari was determined to occupy her brain enough to eliminate some of the blue moments in life. When she found writing to help as a newfound therapy, she started her first book. Her books brought her out of postpartum depression and helped her overcome it when her second son was born. Shari likes to think writing saves her mind. She even used one of the characters in the book (the main character’s protagonist mother), to veer away from the type of person she refuses to become. Shari has two happy little boys and the Schasm series to show for her unorthodox therapeutic method.

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

Share

The Devil Made Me Do It by Shawna Romkey – a Review

The Devil Made Me Do It by Shawna Romkey – a Review

 

The Devil Made Me Do ItAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / The Book Depository

Description:
The demons strike back!

Lily is working with the angels to stifle the last of the demon outbreaks and to figure out how to stop the Silence of God, so life can get back to boring normality. But all hell breaks loose when she’s stolen from school and brought face to face with the devil himself. Lily has to find her way back home to Luc, crack the prophecy that breaks the curse silencing God, and figure out how she and Luc can ever really be together. But Lucifer has other plans for her that don’t include her ever getting out of Hell intact.

Review:

The Devil Made Me Do It by Shawna Romkey is the second book in her Speak of The Devil Series.  This book continues with Lily and Luc still battling demons in the classic good versus evil scenario. In the first battle we encounter Lily in, a battle with demons, she is shot by an unknown assailant. This brought me right back to the love between Luc and Lily. He is her protector and her guardian angel. But Lily can’t help but think about what will happen when Luc’s mission is over? When he returns to his place in heaven. What is to become of Lily?

This book brings forth Lilith and the Church of the Guardian Angels. I truly enjoyed the religious aspect of this book. I am by no means of a religious nature but the aspect contained here in this book leaves you contemplating and thirsty for more. It also made me wanting to know more and to research quite a bit. The perfect story makes you question and enquire. Both of which this has done.

Lily and Luc while battling and protecting each other made my heart ache. I found myself wondering about halfway through what will become of them? Just like Lily – I wondered what will happen when Luc’s mission on earth is over? I enjoyed the previous book’s characters coming back – such as Mike and Tim. I found the concept quite intriguing. The book takes an epic turn when Lily is captured by Lucifer, and must find her way out of Hell and back to Luc. Oh and also stop the Prophecy from happening… Not much, right?

I enjoyed this book and was patiently waiting for its release. My heart broke on the last couple of pages. Sadness at what Lily has lost and wondering how she ever get it back and what if she doesn’t?

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Author

Share

Accidentally Married on Purpose by Rachel Harris – a Review

Accidentally Married on Purpose by Rachel Harris – a Review

 

Accidently Married on PurposeAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM
GREAT DEAL: Accidentally Married on Purpose is only $.99 at the above links.

Description:
One ring plus one wild night equals one crazy love
Sherry Robicheaux loves men. She loves love. And she loves an adventure. So when she meets a mysterious man while working backstage at a country music concert in Vegas, she’s all about what’s happened in Vegas staying there.
Country music superstar Tyler Blue just wants a weekend of anonymity…though there’s something about the spunky waitress with the streaks of purple hair that tempts him like no other. Until the next morning, when they both wake up with fuzzy memories…and rings on their fingers.
Convincing Sherry to maintain the ruse for his public image isn’t the hardest part—it’s reminding himself that their time spent playing husband and wife in her small town of Magnolia Springs can’t last. Tyler’s first love will always be music—and the road is no place for a sweet downhome girl.

 

Review:

Accidentally Married on Purpose is the third novel in the Love and Games Series by Rachel Harris.

Sherry Robicheaux is a small town girl from Magnolia Springs, Louisiana. One wild weekend in Vegas will be the last stop before she comes home and settles down and sets her sites on Mr. Boring. She is completely over the bad relationships and the heartaches. But what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay there.
While in Vegas on work she meets a roadie for the country band “Blue” and she thinks she has found THE man for her last wild weekend. And boy has she ever! Sherry believes Tyler is a roadie and decides to spend the weekend with him on a whim. What she wakes up to after that weekend is over will set her world and her life on fire. Going home to Magnolia Springs will never be the same again.

But what will happen when the world finds out the truth. And what will Sherry do when she realizes Tyler isn’t who he says he is?

I read this book as a stand alone not knowing it was in a series. I loved it from page one. Sherry is the kind of girl you want as a best friend. And Tyler – sigh – is everything you want in a down home country boy. I loved the chemistry and banter between the two from the moment they met. And the sexual tension was one of the best I have read in a long time – without being overly sexual. I couldn’t put the book down. The story read like a classic romance, pulling you in and keeping you there. The tension between the main characters was enough to drive me crazy! And I now have a new vocabulary word – himbo!
Still makes me laugh out loud.

I will also be purchasing the first two books in this series because this is how I will spend my summer vacation. Emotional, romantic, and everything I want in novel.

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Publisher

Share

My Fake Summer Boyfriend by Ann Herrick-a review

My Fake Summer Boyfriend by Ann Herrick – a review

My Fake Summer boyfriend

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 13, 2014

Sun, surf, sand and Alex–Katie was swept away!

Katie eagerly agrees to pretend she is Alex’s girlfriend for the summer in order to protect his job. Amid sundrenched waves, they develop a friendship that is on the verge of turning romantic, when who should arrive but Nicole, Alex’s old girlfriend. In three days, Nicole ruins Katie’s relationship with Alex. So Katie gets involved with Logan, Nicole’s handsome older brother, though Alex is the one for her.

Soon enough Katie learns that fake romances can get out of hand and lead to complications she never imagined.

••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: My Fake Summer Boyfriend is a heartwarming YA summer love story by Ann Herrick.

Katie Price is a soon to be sixteen year old girl, with an undeniable crush. She has it bad for seventeen year old, school newspaper editor, Alex Stedman. With the summer fast approaching Katie better make her move. On the last day of school she crosses paths with Alex just as he is leaving school. When he offers her a ride home she gladly accepts. But the ride is awkward and Katie doesn’t quite know what to say. But as luck would have it her parents are dragging her away to the beach for the summer. She would not get the chance to cultivate the relationship she badly wants with Alex. After trying everything to get out of going on summer vacation, Katie reluctantly gives in. After the urging of her best friend, Samantha, Katie decides that a summer romance may be just what she needs to prepare her for the next school year and for Alex. Heading off on a summer of adventure in Chatfield, Katie is pretty happy about the prospect of a summer romance to get her in practice for the real thing with Alex. Until….She walks to the local store and finds that none other than Alex Stedman working there. Her summer may not be so bad after all.

I loved this story in that it is a classic summer love story. Katie is awkward in her dating / love life – as any wholesome sixteen year old would be. I found that I loved the friendship and bond she found with Alex. The sub-characters of the younger siblings were the right mix of annoying and lovable as any younger sibling would be. And I found that I truly enjoyed their part of the story. Of course with any love story there is those that try to cause chaos in the relationship. And the characters that brought the chaos were perfect, and they came along at just the right moment. I would highly recommend this quick read to anyone that wants an enjoyable classic love story. I can’t wait to share this love story with my daughter, she will absolutely love it as much as I did. I hope to hear more of Katie and Alex in future books – they deserve it.

Copy supplied by the author

Reviewed by Erin

About The author

You can find Ann at : Goodreads / Website / Twitter /

Ann HerrickAnn Herrick is the author of several books and short stories for kids and teens. Her books have won several awards, such as the ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers award and an IRA/CBC Children’s Choice award. Her stories have appeared in magazines such as ‘Teen, Listen, The Single Parent, Children’s Digest and The Friend.

Ann Herrick grew up in Connecticut, where she graduated from The Morgan School and Quinnipiac University. She now lives in Oregon with her husband, who was her high-school sweetheart. Their wonderful daughter is grown, married and gainfully employed, and has given Ann her only grand-dog, Puff, a bloodhound-rottweiller-beagle mix. While she misses the East Coast, especially houses built before 1900, she enjoys the green valleys, fresh air and low humidity in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Ann loves cats, walking and working in her back yard. In addition to stories and books for children and young adults, Ann also writes copy for humorous and conventional greeting cards.”

The vast majority of Ann’s books are HFN (Happily For Now, with the possibility of Happily Ever After. The characters are in their teens, after all, so Ever After would be a *really* long time.) Two books have positive endings, but not the standard HFN or HEA, but with those possibilities if the reader reads very carefully between the lines at the end of the story.

Share

Windwood Farm by Rebecca Patrick-Howard – Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

Windwood Farm by Rebecca Patrick-Howard – Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

 

Windwood Farm Banner

 

Windwood FarmAmazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

Description:
Windwood Farm has a terrible secret-one that’s been buried for more almost 100 years. Taryn Magill aims to uncover it…or die trying.

As a mixed media artist and urban explorer with a love for abandoned houses and a big imagination when it comes to the past, 30 year old Taryn has never really met an old house she didn’t like. In fact, she’s made a career out of painting these sad, often derelict structures, to show them in their former glory for her clients.

With Windwood Farm, though, she might have bitten off more than she can chew!

The locals refer to it as “the devil’s house” and even vandals have stayed away from this once grand stone farmhouse in Vidalia, Kentucky. Hired by the Stokes County Historical Society to paint it before it’s demolished by a land development company, Taryn’s determined to make friends with the house and farm everyone around her seems to be terrified of.

As it turns out, though, their fears may just not be unfounded.

Who is the woman whose cries echo throughout the farm and what does she want? What negative force about the house is so powerful that it won’t even allow the upstairs bedroom to be touched? Does the 93 year old vanishing of the next door neighbor have anything to do with the house’s mysteries?

Taryn wants the answers to these and the house may just be trying to tell her because now, when she looks through her camera, she doesn’t have to use her imagination to see the past-

SHE CAN SEE IT!

Will Taryn be able to figure out what happened here AND escape with her sanity and life before the house comes down? Because now it seems like someone is trying to kill her! Using what her camera reveals to her and her wits, she’ll try to unravel the mysteries of the farm and get out before it’s too late.

Review:

Windwood Farm by Rebecca Patrick-Howard is the First book in her Taryn’s Camera series.  It tells the story of Taryn Magill, an artist and Historical Preservationist who takes old, sad, dilapidated buildings and homes and paints a portrait of them, turning them into what it looked like in its heyday!   She is commissioned by the Stokes County Historical Society to do just this – paint a portrait of what Windwood Farm may have looked like in all its glory, before they tear it down.

As she turned onto the driveway for the farm – she knew right away – that there was something mysterious and dark about the old structure. Always having a sense about the places she visits – this one was overpowering to her. As she approached the house she could see that it was tragically time worn and in sad disrepair. But she could also see the beautiful potential that lay in front of her. Pulling out her trusty sidekick Miss Dixie (a Nikon camera) she set off to take photos of the old house (inside and out) – to use later to jog her memory when it came to the painting.  

From the first step into the house she felt that she was not wanted there. Something or someone was not happy that she was there.   She resigned herself to try and win over the house or whatever presence lurks there. She spent the first few days taking photos with Miss Dixie. And what she found when she looked at the photos on her computer was pure magic. The photos showed what the house once was, in all its glory. Furnishings as they should be, décor as it once was, it was like walking back through time.   As Taryn learned more about the house, the more emotionally attached she became to it. She wants to know the stories and tragedy it holds. And Windwood Farm does not disappoint. There is heartache in every piece of wood in this house and she needs to know what it is and who caused it.

This is a beautiful story right from page one. Taryn is a character with flaws yet easy to like and makes you want to know more about. I completely enjoyed the story of the house revealing itself to her and Taryn wanting to know more about the past. The past always has a way of coming back and I believe that through the lens of a camera was a truly moving way.

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Author

Guest PostBringing the Ghosts-Gaining Inspiration from the Stories Around Me

There are two things I’ve always loved: old houses and ghost stories. As a kid, our family’s version of entertainment was to load up in the car and drive around looking for old houses to explore. Today, with copper thefts and vandalism that’s probably illegal but back then nobody really cared, as long as you didn’t bother anything.

I loved looking at the ruined homes and imagining what had gone in them, who had lived there, what their lives had been like…The houses often looked like ghosts themselves, just memories of a time that used to exist. They could be big houses, log cabins, little farmhouses–it didn’t matter to us.

I also loved ghost stories. The scarier, the better! My dad called the spirits that haunted the mountains around us “boogers” and would terrify me with tales of ghosts who walked around headless, men murdered for revenge, and country roads where you could hear the loud rattles of ghostly wagons.

As an adult, the exploration of the old homes continued. Of course, I tried to get permission when I could. There are some things you can get away with when you’re a cute 5 year old. Not so much as a twentysomething.

I didn’t give up the ghost stories, either. While researching a historical fiction I came across several old ghost stories from my county. I interviewed some of the town’s oldest residents and learned more about our local legends, haunted houses, and unsolved mysteries. My first book, HAUNTED ESTILL COUNTY, was thus formed. After that, more people contacted me and gave me their stories. I was able to release the sequel 8 months later.

I was very interested in the stories behind the hauntings. Why is it haunted? What happened there? How did they die? Why did they die?

For instance, consider the famous “oil boom murder” story. In that one, in one version a woman opened a boarding house and killed several of her boarders. Later, she threw their bodies in a hole in the backyard. That house is considered one of the most haunted houses in the county.

Then there’s the “ghost in the window” story. The old farmhouse was supposedly haunted because, while her father and husband were fighting, the bullet one intended for the other missed and went through the window, killing the young wife as she watched.

When writing my most recent paranormal mystery series, I drew on my urban exploring and love of ghost stories. It’s a mystery, but it’s also a good old fashioned haunted house story.

Taryn, my protagonist, has a lot of my interests. She loves the old houses, too. I didn’t have to go far to find the inspiration for some of the mysteries though. Although none of them are based exclusively on events from my county, they all share a little bit of the stories that have been passed on to me.

Sometimes, truth (even a half-truth) really is stranger than fiction!

 

About the AuthorRebecca HowardRebecca Patrick-Howard is a native of Wolfe County, Kentucky. She grew up on the campus of Hazel Green Academy and later attended Belmont University in Nashville and Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. She holds undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and Appalachian Studies.

For several years, Rebecca worked as a travel writer; backpacking around Europe (mostly) with a couple of bags, guide books, and maps. During those years, she explored Bosnia, Croatia, Ireland, Czech Republic, Austria, and Italy (amongst other places). She once took a train to Lichtenstein and paid to get a stamp on her passport just to say she’d been there.

Her love of the paranormal began as a child when she would listen to her grandmother tell her terrifying tales of witches, ghosts, and goblins before bedtime and during thunderstorms. After living in a few questionable houses, she began writing her own ghost stories at the age of 10 (they’re really bad, by the way).

While studying for her MA in Religious Experience (some of her friends thought she was going to become an exorcist and were sorely disappointed in the truth) in Wales, she met her future husband, Peter. She considers him her finest, and most expensive, souvenir. The two of them live in eastern Kentucky high on a windy ridge with their two living children. (A third passed away from SIDS in 2010.)

She is the author of Haunted Estill County, More Tales from Haunted Estill County, Coping with Grief: The Anti-Guide to Infant Loss, Finding Henry: A Journey into Eastern Europe, and the newly released, Windwood Farm– the first in the “Taryn’s Camera” series.
Giveaway

Rebecca is graciously offering an e-copy of Windwood Farm to to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

4. LIKE us on Twitter for an additional entry.

5. Giveaway is INTERNATIONAL

6. Giveaway runs from June 28-June 30, 2014

 

 

 

Share

Fissure Free by Shari J. Ryan – a Review

Fissure Free by Shari J. Ryan – a Review

 

Fissure Free

 Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

Description:
After nineteen years of suffering with a psychological condition, ethereal Chloe had finally come close to finding her ultimate escape—or, so she thinks on the vibrant streets of Paris. Finally in a relationship with Alex, a man she fell in love with in Schasm, Chloe thinks life is finally coming together. As she battles her own demons, she attempts to repair the damaged man she’s grown to love. But as his clouded past abruptly crashes into their lives and falls heavily upon their budding romance, Chloe must fight to maintain her relationship. Although even when the problems begin to subside, she comes to realize certain things cannot be escaped. Just as Chloe believes she might have sealed the doors of darkness once and for all, new questions, new findings and new inceptions arise. Whether or not Chloe wants to continue forward with the path her life seems to be leading, she quickly learns that any choice she makes will ultimately land her in a place she never knew she was destined to be

 

Review:

Fissure Free is the second book in The Schasm Series by Shari J. Ryan. It is six months after Schasm and Chloe and Alex are living in a perpetual drift in Paris, France. As perfect as their life is in the drift, Chloe knows they must go back to the reality of the real world and deal with unfinished business before it quite possibly may be too late. Once they decide it is time to return to the institution and see what has befallen themselves – their worst nightmares are realized. Franco is back and he seems to have plans for Chloe and Alex. But what are they and how will they affect the reality Chloe longs for. Is it all worth it – is reality worth losing all that they have?

I completely enjoyed the second book in this series. It was a psychological thrill ride. You have to pay close attention or you will get lost in a drift. I connected more with Alex in this book and found him more emotional and caring. Although that being said – the fact that he kept things from Chloe did not sit well with me. At times I truly could not believe the secrets he kept from her, although truly understanding the reasons. The sub-characters weave into the story like a fine thread. Intertwining into the world that is Chloe and Alex’s.

Chloe’s longing for a true real reality is palpable. It makes you want to figure out a way to help her. But does Chloe have the power to protect herself and bring the man she loves back to the real world. This book will confuse you and corrupt you. It will pull you in and you will begin to doubt what is a drift and what is reality. It truly is an epic tale into mental illness and the worlds that it can force a mind to retreat to. A world of mental illness that engulfs the characters and swallows them. It makes you truly wonder where does one world end and the other begin. And the ending is a shocker that left me breathless and wanting book three.

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Publisher

Share