A romance love story like you've never read before and one you won't easily forget.
348299
4.5 stars

Okay. Wow. Seriously, how do you even begin writing a review for such a book. Once again I am blown away with Colleen Hoover's talent to take a commonly known plot, and turn it completely upside down. You read the blurb, expecting certain things, but what you get is so much more and nothing you could have predicted.

Sydney's life is in a bit of a turmoil when she finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her with her roommate. With no place to go, she somehow ends up at Ridge's. The mysterious boy from across the yard, who likes to play guitar late at night. Immediately you want to see things happen between these two, because they are freaking perfect for each other. Unfortunately it isn't that easy and I can not quite go into detail here without spoiling anything, so that's it for the plot.

The connection between Sydney and Ridge though is so intense and it just grows bigger and bigger, until it becomes impossible to avoid. Honestly for me it wasn't always an easy read, because it deals with a certain subject that I have a moral opposition with. Still Colleen Hoover has managed to make me go along with it, and handles it with such care and honesty, I didn't even know that this was a possibility. Just so much feelings involved with this story. Often conflicting and confusing feelings, but my heart could handle it.

I also want to mention the music here. It's a very big part of the story, as Sydney and Ridge write songs together. I feel it played a big factor in how their relationship grew and I loved that we could actually listen to the songs from the book. With my phone next to, whenever a song text would show up, I pressed play. It definitely enriches the reading experience, and somehow makes the emotions more real and easier to feel how they feel.

Maybe Someday is something else indeed. A romance love story like you've never read before and one you won't easily forget. It won't just make you happy (in the end), but it will also make you think about a certain subject, and feel so many emotions all over the spectrum.
3382880
This story isn't something that you easily forget. It is a beautiful story of the ultimate love. Be prepared with a lot of tissues when reading this book.
4330103
Charlie and Minnie have a love story for the ages, with the undeniable twist that Luke Smitherd puts in all of his stories. Seriously, I'd love to spend a day in his mind if it wasn't creepy as hell for me to say that.

There's undeniable talent in his writing, and there's a fresh breath of originality that, frankly, a lot of writing seems to be lacking.

In the Darkness, That's Where I'll Know You isn't your typical romance novel (thank goodness for that) nor is it your typical sci-fi novel. It takes some familiar elements and gives the reader a whole new perspective, and one hell of a ride. I literally read this in one sitting, because I simply couldn't stop. It is a real page-turner, and giving it a chance is something any reader looking for fun won't regret.
2784502
When I read the synopsis of this book I thought it was a dark romance, but in the early pages I saw that it wouldn't be anything like that. And not that it was something bad, on the contrary. Unloved is a true story of love that that holds your attention over the first few pages.

The journey of Cassidy and Brynn isn't easy, it's heartbreaking sometimes for those two characters, but it is also beautiful to see how Katy Regnery can write so well turning a story that started devastating and without hope for these two, gradually turning into a beautiful story about new beginnings and acceptance and love. The character in the book for me was without doubt Cassidy, without going into details on history, he was the character who beat me since was a kid. I want to hug him, saying that he was worthy to be loved so.

Unloved brings a story, single, simple emotional, with some surprises that I honestly never imagined, between two people who were broken by his own motives and together were healing and opening to love. A true and simple love story that I loved to read.
2561443
Love and other Unknown Variables took me on an emotional ride that I wasn't mentally prepared for. To be entirely honest I got the book because it involved a nerd trying to find love and that was all I needed to really want the book, and Ill admit to skipping over the part in the blurb about Charlottes illness. But Im glad I did, because if I would have known it was going to rip my heart out when I started it then I would have never actually started it. I usually avoid things that will require tissues- and trust me this read will definitely require some tissues.
The book starts us off with a nerdy high school student who is treating love like a science experiment. He actually has studies hes performed on other girls and the outcome of those encounters. But he knows nothing else but science and math so thats how he handles everything throughout the entire novel- until Charlotte. Charlotte changes his reality and makes him question everything, which is ultimately what love is sort of like.
The love story between Charlotte and Charlie is quirky and fun, and is almost missed in the beginning because they are both to afraid. Charlie is too afraid to fall in love, Charlotte is too afraid to hurt her best friend who is Charlies sister. Then Charlie finds out about Charlottes illness and it frightens him even more, but eventually draws him to her and they confess their feelings and their romance blossoms. And its a cute romance, even if its short-lived. Its that romance that everyone wants, and so few have the joy of feeling. Its that live in the moment love because all you have is now kind of love. And to watch them fall further in love with each other reminds me so much of how my husband and I feel in love with each other. It was awkward at first, but it turned into something beautiful that only the two of us will understand and feel.
But then the story gets dark and Shannon Lee Alexander rips out the hearts of her reader as the inevitable happens. We all know its coming as we read, but we pray that a miracle happens and it doesnt. Sadly that miracle doesnt happen and were left just as torn as the actual characters. Were left trying to pick up ourselves from the roller coaster of emotions we just went through as we feel in love with characters to see them ripped away. Watching a fictional person youve grown to love suffer sucks, theres no other way to describe it. But the pain makes you feel human and realize that life is precious and that we aren't always granted a tomorrow.
I highly recommend having a box of tissues handy as you read this book, you just may need them.
4064784
If you're looking for a true romance story, you've come to the right book.  This is like nothing you've ever read, believe me!  This story is filled with sensuality, spirituality and pure love, the kind we're all hoping or looking for.  As well as a wonderfully well expressed story, it's very educational as well.  As I love history and art this book takes you on a  journey you didn't know could exist.  While reading, there were some terms I didn't quite fully understand but not to worry, the author gives us everything we need, a lesson, so to speak.  She brilliantly gives an education on history and art and their special meanings.  I was in awe of her sense to detail.  So again, please read her story, as well as the two books that follow...she'll take you back in time and home again.  I sure hope there will be another book that follows her third book in this series which is titled Gratitude.  We could all use a Knight in our lives ;)
1418694
I have never been a reader of romance novels but this one I have returned to after only a week, to read again. The storyline and characters drew me in. I was completely immersed in their world. More than a romance for me, A Friend Request is a vividly drawn doorway into the 60's, the history, the music that provides the backdrop or the soundtrack to the lost and found love story of Rose and Jake.
You'll get no spoilers from me but be sure to look for the link to the music playlist to set the stage.
(I am not a writer but C L Gilmore as an author and a poet will not disappoint and I am already looking forward to her next offering.)
1413113
A unique love story unlike any I've ever seen before. Lots of darkness with a lot of lightness too, it's a beautiful look at an unlikely couple that proves a connection goes deeper than circumstances.
2308877
Someone Different seems to me to be indeed very different from many teenage romance stories, in that both protagonists are in their own private prison.  Jayden, the handsome 16-year-old boy, has a life that has been a car crash since his birth: alcoholic abusive father, absent mother, vile criminal associates and rock bottom surroundings, and he is in a prison of economic and social deprivation.  And heroine Annabel?  She has everything material you could possibly desire, but shes in a prison thats every bit as bad: that of self-serving acquisitive mean spirited parents who are determined to push her into being the kind of person they want her to be, pressuring her at school to do better, trying to imbue her with their go-getting achieve-at-all-costs mentality, when, at heart, shes an ordinary kind girl who doesnt want massive riches, even though shes never lived without them.  They cannot even understand her pure love for her horse, which has nothing to do with the equines value, but is all to do with pure unquestioning love.
These two personable characters, both imprisoned and consequently restricted through no fault of their own, and who come from entirely different backgrounds, meet and fall in love.  It would seem that the match between Miss rich-and-posh, and  criminal underprivileged desperado Jayden is jinxed from the start.  Yet Ms Hanneys skill at dismantling the huge barriers between them is masterly and utterly convincing.
I don't normally read love stories, but this is a hard edged, realistic love story, with even a touch of gritty violence (dont worry, its not too graphic), so that, rather like Dickenss tales, injustices that seem set in stone, are finally reversed, with a lot of anguish, risk and adventures along the way.
This book doesnt shy away from reality, it isn't sugar coated. Nor is it so miserably down and gritty that you are repelled in any way.  It strikes a balance between a love story and an adventure story, and there are even some neat and clever  twists at the end.
And its not giving away any secrets to tell you that it does have a happy ending, but to explain precisely how this is achieved would  be to take away the pleasure of reading the book.
I liked the protagonists, I liked the story and I liked the emotion. And I particularly liked the ending.  Read this book and youll enjoy it.
4223879
I stumbled across this one. Not my usual genre. I am still somewhat in awe of how much I liked it.
First, it's not written in first person ( I cannot stand 1st person writing).
It's emotional, both joyous and sad parts, and emotes such deep love. Not romantic love, which is my usual fare, but just as wondrous.
It's a wonderful story, one I would definitely re read.
2049492
This love story was unlike any I've read before. There are several stories in this book but they all fit together because of the music box given to a young bride before her husband goes to fight in WWII. Jim gives Evelyn a music box before he leaves. Shortly after Jim leaves she finds out she's pregnant, but before she can write and let him know she gets word that he's been killed. Evelyn is devastated and moves back home with her parents. She finds words of encouragement from Jim in a note he hid in the music box. Eventually Evelyn exchanges the music box for a cradle for her infant son and opens her heart to find love again.
The music box is one of the characters in the book and you see the effect the music it plays has on the other owners. Each owner also leaves a note with words of encouragement for the next person. There are a couple of twists and unexpected turns in the story.
This book has no foul language. It has an attempted rape scene but it's not graphic. I'm glad I bought this book.
4076312
Sometimes you come across books that are so unexpected that you're surprised why you've never read or heard of them before. In This Moment was one of those cases.

"All we get are moments, Cole. One at a time, like heartbeats. Once one of them is gone, that's it. No do-overs. No repeats. Every moment possesses its own kind of magic and what we do with it counts. It counts."

Aimee Spencer moves back to Florida to attend college after spending her senior year of high school in Portland with her grandparents following the death of her best friend. Determined to start over, she promises to start living her life and move on from her past. Enter Cole Averly, resident playboy with a past he himself is running from, feels an instant connection to Aimee. The two embark on a friendship and soon more but both find they can't run from their pasts forever.

Told in alternating POV's it was a real treat to really get inside the heads of both the main characters. In Aimee, we had all the grief and guilt associated with the death of her best friend, Jillian, the year before and her just trying to bury all that emotion and start really living her life again as opposed to just going through the motions. With Cole, we get the ultimate dude thoughts but he's a really sensitive and thoughtful guy. I loved reading his thoughts and seeing what makes him tick. I liked the fact that both of them were very similar in the sense that both of them are runners figuratively and literally. They're afraid to face the past. This obviously becomes an issue in their relationship later on but we don't dwell in it too long. While some of the themes in the book were dark it never felt heavy and angsty or melodramatic. It had the right balance of drama and warmheartedness.

Of course this was also a love story between Aimee and Cole and while they do have past experiences with the opposite sex, it was the first 'real' relationship they have had and it was so wonderful to get to experience that with them. Yes, there were a couple of love scenes but they were very tasteful and revealed just enough but never got graphic which is very common nowadays in romance books. I really enjoyed the banter they had going and this game they played throughout the book of changing one letter from book titles to create new books. It was so adorable and I was smiling like an idiot the whole time. The side characters were just as endearing and Aimee's friend Jodi provided much needed comic relief and bluntness for her because Aimee can be so serious and inside herself at times that she needed a friend the polar opposite.

All in all it was a very special book. One that was very realistic and uplifting. Anyone can read this and enjoy something about it. This may be my first book by this author but it certainly won't be my last. There's just something so special about Ms. Doughton's writing that I find truly remarkable. She made the most basic of plots interesting and different and not heavy or dark at all. I really appreciated that. Many writers out there would just make the plot just so dark and depressing and it was refreshing that this felt so different. I recommend this to everyone and at 99 it's truly a steal.

4.5 stars
1576320
Simpatico is a thrilling romance, a little bit of a cross between YA and New Adult fiction. I liked it for many reasons but the first is the plot itself.
Fiona and Andrew, a young couple whos madly in love, vow to stay by each others side but their emotional promise is challenged when Fionas powerful father gets involved. Its not just your classic story about a rich girl and a poor guy, its a tale involving psychic abilities, the occult, secret societies, and so much more!

Simpatico is for the bold. Dont pick this up if you don't have the imagination to combine a loving romance with heart-pounding suspense. I loved every concept and corner of this book, it showed me a side of romance I never thought Id see. As someone who isn't very fond of romance, I was very impressed.

Ill admit I was a bit surprised to see psychic powers here, the description kind of left out that bit but it didn't work against it. Id say I was pleasantly surprised as that aspect only added to the thrill of the book. Fiona isn't a master at her powers but they do come in handy during her journey of loveLOLshe uses them to visit Andrew when he gets imprisoned by her fatherof course. But there is a sense of growth from her character that we see along the way.

Fiona is a sweetheart that I found myself rooting for. Shes a typical romantic lead, encompassing that youthful innocence we see so often. But there are points in the book where her strength comes through and you get to sit back as a reader and think, how far am I willing to go to be with the one I love?

I loved being able to place myself in Fionas shoes like that. I think her character played on many things young girls face when dating. Weve all heard of Romeo and Juliet, while this may be a very thrilling and suspenseful play on that concept, its got massive amounts of originality and flare that makes this book an easy page-turner.

If you're looking to try something a little edgier than your average romance then I would highly recommend grabbing a copy of SIMPATICO. It will not disappoint you. Anyone who likes magic, sorcery, psychic abilities, and even a little suspense will be greatly pleased with the unique style of this author and genuine story he has to tell.
2807098
Definitely not my usual read, but Im really glad I took a chance on this one. Loved it. Couldnt put it down loved it. Im the kind of romance reader who really like to focus on the interpersonal relationships, and the love story, and well, yes, the sex too, but this was actually so much more. The love story is a big part of it, but its only one part out of so much going on. The leading lady is a bad-ass. Totally take charge an in control. Pretty much what you're used to seeing with male leads. But Jack is equally hot and smart and man, is that guy tenacious. This is definitely not your typical relationship, and that in and of itself made the story really good for me.

As for the rest, I have to say its just as exciting. I'm the kind of reader where if a book takes too long to get to the juicy bits, I lose interest, but gosh there was just so much other stuff going on here! The cast of characters were really awesome too. And reading about how they operate as well as their relationships with each other was really cool.

Consensus: Excellent read. This book is really well-written. I mean, the prose is fantastic. I almost cant believe Alexi Lawless is a new author with the way she writes. (I kind of wonder if shes another author using a pen name.  Like Lee Child or something?) The only thing thats tough is the ending, but as long as you like a series, its cool. If you want an HEA, this is not a book you want to get going on because you won't be able to put it down. I HAVE to know whats going to happen next.
768070
I'm literally quite lost as to what to write for this review. I've never read anything like this. From the very first page you are pulled in and trying to decipher what is going on and what is going to take place next. This is a sappy romance novel, nor is it a tear jerker or a heartbreaker, it's purely a captivating novel that you just have to read to appreciate it.
4238917
I'm not going to give away much about the plot because I don't want to ruin the experience for future readers, but I definitely want to share some of my thoughts on the book.
So refreshing to read a romance novel with depth and originality. I've been searching for books with a plot other than 'innocent girl meets billionaire playboy who she tames and who spoils her and her life is perfect'. This book was far from that overused plot and I couldn't be more pleased. Holden and Gris are not your average hero/heroine. They met and connected under some horrifying circumstances, but their bond was so strong and enduring throughout the book, even when it was tested. I was routing for these two through their ups and downs and sucked into the beautiful tragedy that was their love story. Read this book if you are looking for a unique book that will stick with you for a while.
2004342
I loved this book.  I don't ordinarily read romance novels. but this book was mesmerizing and unforgettable.  I then read  Comanche Heart which was also very good.  I will reread this book very soon.