Ok, but lackluster 2.5 stars
931956
It was very sparse, would have been better with more character development. The attraction wasn't quite convincing, so fell a bit flat. I'd give it 2.5 stars mainly because I want to encourage more books with asian heroes!
2242086
I was looking forward to reading this, as it looked like an enemies-to-lovers story; that's a trope I love. Unfortunately, it didn't quite deliver.

This was an okay story, as romances go, and it was overall nice. But that's about it. There wasn't much to be excited about, and it didn't feel especially original. There were a lot of standard romance cliches, including instant love. A lot of it read like pages out of an Alaska guide book. Even the sex scene was disappointing. There was really no need to educate readers (incorrectly) on top-bottom-neither power dynamics in the middle of their intimacy. It really drew me out of the moment.

The story really picked up with the earthquake, and that was the best-written part. It was really intense seeing Devin's reaction as an outsider. If it had come into play sooner, the story would have been much faster paced and interesting.

I think in reality, I'm probably not the target audience for this story.

 ** I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Inked Rainbow Reads**

~Amy
2829968
Third Base was an okay read that never fully captured my attention. The writing was solid, but I felt distanced from the characters, romance, and story. There was a lot of telling and not enough showing throughout the book. When combined with flat characters, I was left underwhelmed.

Ethan and Daisy are both young and act accordingly with some immature choices and reactions. They made an okay hero and heroine and fit well as a couple, but lacked depth or character development, so I had nothing more than a superficial connection. The story is told entirely from the Ethans perspective. While this made for a more unique narration, the heros voice didn't always feel consistent. Sometimes Ethan came across as the standard professional sports star playboy, fueled primarily by lust and physical attraction, and other times he was emotional and looking for a long-term relationship. There wasn't a transition in these emotions and it left me a little confused as to his personality. Furthermore, the relationship moved from a slower burn to serious very quickly. Though this may have only given me minor pause, because the emotions and chemistry were underdeveloped, I didn't find the shift believable. Quite simply, I never connected to either main character or their romance.

The conflicts themselves offered interesting possibilities. I did guess Daisys secret early on, but hoped the reveal and resolution would be memorable. Unfortunately, it was a little blas. I expected the reveal to trigger growth in both characters but it never came to fruition. Both accepted some culpability, and then moved forward without really discussing the implications or underlying issues. Once again, I was left with a superficial connection. Third Base does contain a good amount of baseball details.  Fans of the game will certainly appreciate that aspect. Sadly, those inclusions didn't add enough to increase the books appeal and I won't continue this series.

*Received ebook from publisher via Netgalley. Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*
2198644
While I did enjoy this book overall, I was dissapointed in a couple of area's.  I understand that this is a series, and I understand why there is little background for the main character; however, I am dissapointed in how underdeveloped he was.  Additionally, I did not feel that he was a compelling protaganist.  Also, the antagonists were meh.  All of that being said, there are some interesting aspects to the book, not wanting to spoil anything I won't be more specific.  I may read the additional books of the series in the future when I want a quick read, but I have already switched to a new series.
2651650
After hearing the amazing new singles from Other Lives prior to this release, I was certain this would be another 5-star album comparable to their first two, but unfortunately those few great songs are separated on the album by bland, uninspired songs that ultimately just feel like filler.  There is definitely something missing from this album, a depth and emotion that was present on their first two.  Maybe the absence of Jenny Hsu has had more of an impact on the band's sound than I originally thought it would.  Whatever the case, this is still a decent album worth hearing, but I find the only thing getting me through the mediocre material on the album is the anticipation of the few gems that are scattered amongst the rubble.
4405032
The good: I liked the main characters.  I also liked the plot idea. The hero is a stickler for the rules, and I liked how that was such a part of his character and behavior.

The bad: Secondary characters were weak, never fully fleshed out. I read this immediately after book 1 and still had no connection to any of the secondary characters. I also think the h forgave him way to easily, I wasn't sold on their "love."

Still, this is an ok book.  I am reading this series in order, and though this is book 2, I don't see much connection. I think it could be a stand alone, and actually suffers a bit from the attempt to weakly connect them. On to book 3, hoping it pulls it all together.  I got these on overdrive, so I did not have to pay for them.
3708933
Having just finished this book, I can't say I understand what all the fuss was about.  The author tells us the romance between Nora (the protagonist) and Patch (her main squeeze) has escalated, but the reader doesn't really see or feel it happen. This epic romance just isn't really all that epic.

I couldn't get fully invested in the story because I didn't connect with any of the characters. Nora is almost unbelievably well-adjusted for a girl who lost her father only a year ago. And that detail is shared with us at the start of the novel, and then forgotten. I know that it's supposed to come into play in the sequel, but still don't appreciate the fact it serves as nothing more than a plot device in this first novel. I have no problem with a bad boy as the leading man - and I disagree that Patch is Edwardian. Edward in Twilight was a goody-two-shoes; Patch is an unrepentant bad boy. My primary criticism of Patch was that his character didn't seem fully fleshed out and his words and actions often didn't line up.

To sum, all fizzle, no sizzle. There are much better YA paranormal romances out there. Or if you're a bit older than a young adult and in need of an angel fix, go pick up Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series. Now THAT is a bad boy worth falling for.
452369
Lackluster at best.  Nothing to get excited about.
620975
Fight Club was great.  Lullaby was amazing.  Pygmy was not worth reading.  Snuff was mediocre, but at least better than Pygmy.  And all of them are more alike than different - a possibly interesting hook of a premise, characters who are self-absorbed and damaged, a reliable number of plot twists, and a focus on the less attractive aspects of the human, both physiological and psychological which is played for humor.

Invisible Monsters is much like Snuff in that it has a passable story line, about 3 plot twists, and is full of sadly damaged people.  On one score it outdoes Snuff, in that it takes anything physically repulsive, and turns it up 2 notches.

Invisible Monsters is somewhat timely, in that it takes on the beauty standard, the beauty industry, and our obsessive gaze on feminine beauty at a time when this is being discussed and analyzed in the larger media.

I will not bother recounting the story line here, since numerous reviewers do that for you.  As for the plot twists, they add to the enjoyment of the book, but despite being "twists," can be seen coming from a ways back.  The characters are passably interesting, but only insofar as they are self-absorbed "monsters" each fighting their way around an obsession with physical and sexualized beauty in their lives.

Would I recommend it?  Only if the airport newstand is sold out of everything but romance novels.  Honestly, there are better uses for your time.
4445388
Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I'd hoped I would. We got the bare minimum of details about James and Kara, as well as the other characters. They all needed way more development, and a chance to have their own voice and standout. I wasn't able to connect with any of them, or get hooked into the story line.  It all felt too rushed and easily resolved. The potential was there, but the execution was lacking. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series at this point.
2856744
The high ratings for Connected really had my expectations going, but I wasn't quite charmed by it as others who have reviewed it so far.

My first issue is the way the paragraphs are formatted into large chunks of text, sometimes as long as a page, and often without any indentations at the start. The large text blocks made for a cumbersome reading experience, and my attention would end up drifting halfway through the page. Which leads me to my second issue - I guess I would have stayed more focused on the story if I enjoyed the prose, but after the first couple of chapters I realized that the novel "tells" more than it "shows". Some of the writing is quite clever, but for the most part, the writing failed to make me feel truly immersed in the story. The descriptions tend to be superfluous and ineffective at setting the mood. Moments that called for tension or excitement, such as Peter and Doug's first phone conversation, failed to elicit these emotions. Much of the dialogue didn't bring the story forward and seems to exist only to moralize/philosophize. I ended up skipping a lot of it, especially the banter between Doug and Cindy (cringe), and religious debates between Peter and Roger (who pretty much ended up disappearing into the novel), and I didn't feel like I missed out on anything important.

However, I think the biggest weakness of the novel are the characters, who are flatly written and tend to behave like sexist cliches. I'm not a feminist, but I found myself getting annoyed by Doug's two-dimensional machismo and the way the primary female characters only seemed to be written to provide some sort of sexual reward for the male protagonists. Peter was the only character I kind of liked, because he actually had personality, but Connected soon became less like his story and more of Doug's. Also, I get it, Isabelle is French, there's no need to keep driving this point home throughout the novel.

Needless to say, I didn't really enjoy reading this book. But I'm giving this 3 stars because I thought the Dream Zone was a fascinating concept, and is probably the most well-thought out aspect of Connected. I enjoyed reading the parts that expounded on the scientific principles behind it, but disliked having to go through the characters and lengthy prose to get there.  There's no doubt that Connected is written by a very well-read and intelligent author, but his inexperience as a writer keeps this book from being the exciting, mind-blowing read I thought it would be.
1157094
Pretty underwhelming-more like 2 1/2 stars than 3. The characters were likable enough, but some were a bit one-dimensional, while others were stereotypical and the way they were brought together and interacted with Katherine wasn't very realistic at times. The author told us rather than showed us-the style wasn't that sophisticated. It was clearly a set up for the third book because it just stopped abruptly, which made it seem more like the end of a chapter than the end of a book. Glad I only paid $0.99 for it-by the time the 3rd one comes out, I will have forgotten this.
1763523
I really wanted to enjoy this book, but, like many other reviewers, I kept thinking that I had missed some sections and my Kindle was acting up. I was fine with her choice in the end, but there was no reason as to why she chose one over the other.  The book skipped through time pretty quickly, which the relationships not advancing in dialogue much.  There was no depth to the story.  I'd like to see it re-written and have more to it.
4451481
I was left with an overwhelming sense of Meh when I finished this book. Nothing wrong with the characters, other than a lack of spark in the beginning and a dependency on the tethering to explain a connection, instead of really taking the time to build it on the page. There are only so many threats that can be dished out between the leads before you start to lose interest.

Mythology builds up a little but felt isolated from the main conflict of vampires and sortiari which is what I was interested in seeing more of when I picked this up. I think as far as the writing itself, its a well edited book and I have enjoyed some of the interactions between Ronan and Naya in later chapters, but that first half was too slow going. The world itself is worth an extra look, so Im hopeful that the series is better balanced going forward.

The Bottom Line [2.5 stars]
It was ok, I had hoped for more in this book, but I struggled to connect with either Naya or Ronan. That said, the teaser for the next book has me intrigued so Im willing to stick it out and see where this series goes.

**ARC provided by publisher via netgalley for review**
1161093
This is the second installment in a trilogy (I think) dealing with three sisters who have to try and make their way in the world after their father's untimely death. I rather enjoyed the first installment in this trilogy, "The Lord Next Door;" and was rather hoping that the same could be said for "The Duke in Disguise." Unfortunately, "The Duke in Disguise" turned out to be a rather bland read, and I really couldn't quite figure out why. The hero and heroine was likable and the storyline held plenty of promise. Unfortunately, the novel lacked suspense and tension, and the book does possess a plot that rather hinges on these two key elements.

When her father's untimely death forced Meriel Shelby to seek gainful employment, she felt lucky to have been successful in securing the position as governess to the young Marquess of Ramsgate. Never mind that the young boy's father is the indolent and rakish Duke of Thanet, whose bad reputation would have put off most women, Meriel is determined to do her best for the young, intelligent six year old boy who has been shamefully neglected by his father. Which is why Meriel is thrown when the careless father suddenly turns up and begins to show unexpected interest in his son. Worse still, there is something different about the duke that catches Meriel interest and makes her consider him with new eyes. Has the duke changed for the better? Or is there something sinister about the duke's sudden change in behaviour? Meriel is determined not to give in to the allure of this new duke and to discover what is at the bottom of this sudden change in behaviour...

I won't be giving anything away in noting that the man that snares Meriel's interest is actually the duke's illegitimate half-brother, Richard O' Neill, who is masquerading as his brother in order to protect the young marquess. It is an oft used plot-line, and unfortunately, Gayle Callen uses it with practically no variation in theme. Richard is the typical hero -- nice, honourable and brave, determined to protect his nephew and save his brother no matter what; while Meriel is the typical heroine, determined to find out what's going on so that she can protect her charge, even if it is against the very man she finds herself unnaturally attracted to. There is very little suspense and practically no tension. Part of the reason for this is that the author adds noting new to this basic recipie; the other problem is that the villain of the piece is easily identified about a third into the book. Nothing to keep you guessing here at all -- unless you count wondering when Meriel will succumb to Richard as being suspenseful. All in all, "The Duke in Disguise" was a well written but rather bland 3 star read. Things do pick up towards the end, but it is rather slow going as Meriel and Richard circle around each other sizing each other up. And given that I had rather enjoyed "The Lord Next Door," it did seem a shame that "The Duke in Disguise" was a bit of a letdown.
922533
2.5 stars

This book is pure fluff -- sweet, light, and colorful, but without much substance. The world-building is pretty vague and the romance -- while sweet -- is predicable YA fare. All that being said, it has its enjoyable, fluffy, romantic moments, if you're not expecting or looking for something deeper. Shannon Hale's Princess Academy has a lot more heart than The Selection, but doesn't have some of the fun, shiny moments: makeovers, pretty dresses, and the like. It doesn't have the depth of a fleshed-out, dystopian world (like The Hunger Games), but if you want something less "serious", this is a good place to look.

My biggest complaint with The Selection had to do Cass's writing style. Too much tell, not enough show! I don't want a stilted play-by-play of every action or clear-cut commentary on our main character's thoughts. Show me what's happening; show me how she's feeling! Don't make it so cut and dry that I get bored (which I did, often).

America's characterization didn't always ring true for me. Some of her actions seemed to serve the sole purpose of creating conflict or moving the plot along. For that reason, she didn't come across as authentic or particularly well-developed.

Another thing: several of the names in this book were ridiculous. I honestly think I would have had an easier, more enjoyable read if America, Aspen, and Maxon had different names -- or at least oft-used nicknames. ("Mer" was cute. I wish we could have had more of it!)

All in all, I enjoyed it enough to finish it. The Selection didn't tickle my fancy, but I certainly see its appeal. (That cover is gorgeous!)
2178220
There isn't really anything wrong with this book, there just isn't a whole lot to recommend it.  The writing is fine, the dialog is good, the story moves along and the characters are at least somewhat interesting, but I found nothing that really grabbed me or made me sit up and say "Wow!"  If you've got some time to kill this is a quick and enjoyable read.