ARC: These Thorn Kisses – Saffron A. Kent Book Review (St. Mary’s Rebels #3)

Blurb

Eighteen-year-old, Bronwyn Littleton is in love with a stranger she met on a summer night a year ago.

A stranger who was tall and broad in a way that made her feel safe. He had dark blue eyes that she can’t stop drawing in her sketch book. And he had a deep, soothing voice that she can’t stop hearing in her dreams.

That’s all she knows about him though.

Until she runs into him again. At St. Mary’s School for Troubled Teenagers – an all girls reform school – where she’s trapped because of a little crime she committed in the name of her art.

Now she knows that her dream man has a name: Conrad Thorne.

She knows that his eyes are way bluer and way more beautiful than she thought. And that his face is an artist’s wonderland.

But she also knows that Conrad is her best friend’s older brother. Which means he’s completely off-limits. Not to mention, he’s the new soccer coach, which makes him off-limits times two.

What makes him off-limits times three however, and this whole scenario an epic tragedy, is that, Conrad, Wyn’s dream man, has a dream girl of his own.

And he’s as much in love with his dream girl as Wyn is in love with him…

NOTE: This is a STANDALONE set in the world of St. Mary’s.

Review

I’ve been loving this series and couldn’t wait for Wyn and Conrad’s story!

I think this was one of the books in this series that I was most anticipating and I was happy with the way it turned out. Saffron A. Kent writes angst, tension and forbidden romance so well. From start to finish, it was a fun, and cute ride with lots of steam and super sweet moments.

Wyn and Conrad were great characters!

I really liked these two. They were quite different but complemented each other well. I loved how Wyn cracked Conrad’s shell and I loved his dirty talk. Their banter was really nice and I had a great time reading their story. It was a whole lotta cute!

Full of angst and forbidden hotness, These Thorn Kisses was a great read!

Overall, I had wonderful time reading this book and thought the story was lovely. I especially loved the forbidden aspect since that’s my favorite trope! I am giving These Thorn Kisses 4.5 stars and would recommend it to fans of forbidden romance!

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Vicious – L.J Shen Book Review (Sinners of Saint #1)

Emilia

They say love and hate are the same feelings experienced under different circumstances, and it’s true.
The man who comes to me in my dreams also haunts me in my nightmares.
He is a brilliant lawyer.
A skilled criminal.
A beautiful liar.
A bully and a savior, a monster and a lover.
Ten years ago, he made me run away from the small town where we lived. Now, he came for me in New York, and he isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.

Vicious

She is a starving artist.
Pretty and evasive like cherry blossom.
Ten years ago, she barged into my life unannounced and turned everything upside down.
She paid the price.
Emilia LeBlanc is completely off-limits, my best friend’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who knows my darkest secret, and the daughter of the cheap Help we hired to take care of our estate.
That should deter me from chasing her, but it doesn’t.
So she hates me. Big fucking deal.
She better get used to me.

Review:

Finally, a book to get me out of this funk I’ve been in. Recently, every book that I’ve read has been a little disappointing and I haven’t enjoyed them as much as I’d hoped to. Honestly, I felt that I was slipping into a reading slump. Vicious was a split second decision I made before the slump hit me head on and I’m extremely happy with the way this book turned out. I was never entirely a fan of second chance romances, I mean sometimes I like them sometimes I don’t so when I found out that this was sort of a second chance romance I was interested but wary. Turns out, I loved it! It was a mix between guy-who-bullies-girl- but-secrelty-likes-girl and second chance romance. The characters were amazing and the romance was definelty on point.

Emilia LeBlanc was in no way rich. In fact, her family wasn’t wealthy at all. They had to make a living off of the rich, they had to serve them, clean up after them and were basically the Help. That’s what she was…the Help or at least that’s what Vicious Spencer would call her. After moving to California for senior year so her parents could make a little more money, Emilia catches the eye of none other than Todos Santos’ resident king- Vicious Spencer- and not in a good way might I add. He begins to torture her and bully her but when ten years later the pair reunite old feelings surface and they can no longer deny that they have chemistry, chemistry they never acted upon in high school…. Chemistry they NEED to act on now.

Baron “Vicious” Spencer has had it rough. Sure, he is filthy rich and is super popular but hiding behind all of that is a broken boy. A boy who lost his mother at nine years old because of some terrible people. A boy who’s been tortured himself and doesn’t feel worthy of anything good. When he sees Emilia LeBlanc outside his door, he is shocked by the emotions that hit him, he’s also not too happy with the feelings she ignites in him which leads him to bully her relentlessly. Then, years after they last had contact, Vicious and Emilia meet again and he offers her something he never did before, help. Emilia is hesitant but Vicious will not give up, he’s been waiting for this girl for years and he is tired of thinking about her. He wants her….NOW….for real this time.

The characters were a huge plus in this book. They were so well developed and had such interesting stories, I was hooked on them from the very beginning. They were great and complex in their own right and were incredibly compatible. You could basically feel the chemistry and the connection between the two of them every time they interacted and it was really truly amazing. Secondly, I loved the story. I was pretty interested in the whole idea of a romance between a guy who bullied a girl and the girl who suffered his wrath. I felt that that idea had the potential to be a little cliché and not so interesting but L.J Shen did a terrific job bringing the story to life and I ended up loving it ten times more. Now, thanks to this book I want to read many more with a similar theme.

I really liked the writing style. The dual point of views made it easy to understand both characters feelings towards each other and many other things. Reading from both Vicious and Emilia’s POV’s made the book so much more interesting. I also very much liked that we had a couple of scenes from the past tossed into the mix and that really helped me realize the development everyone had gone through to get to where they were. I loved seeing the way Vicious used to treat Emilia and the way he treated her the second time around and vice versa. He loved her in his own way and she accepted and understood him in a way no one else ever had before.

Overall, I was shocked by how much I loved this book. I had reasonable expectations but they were all exceeded. I don’t know what to say other than it was amazing. The writing, the characters, the plot, it was all wonderful. I loved it because it yanked me out of the funk I was falling into and helped me get back on my reading track. I adored L.J Shen’s writing and this book made me really eager to pick up other books by this author and continue this series when the next books come out. I’m going to give Vicious a 5 out of 5 stars because it was exciting and I could not put it down! I would definelty recommend you pick up this book and give it a try!

Happy Reading!

~Veronica

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Hate To Love You – Tijan Promo + Excerpt

​Hate to Love You, an all-new standalone from New York Times Bestseller Tijan is available NOW! Be sure to grab yourself a copy and follow the author on all her social platforms! There’s also a short excerpt so enjoy that as well 😉  

Hate to Love You by Tijan

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publication Date: August 28th

Rule #1: No hot guys.

It might sound ridiculous. I get it. It kind of is, but college was supposed to be my sanctuary. It was my place to start over. The rumors, the whispers, and the jealousy I endured through high school would all be gone.

No one would know me at college.

Rule #2: No drama.
I’d major in pre-law. I’d make a few loyal friends. Everything would be easy breezy. No one was going to use me or hurt me. I wouldn’t let them.  

Rule #3: New year. New place. New me.

Right?

Wrong.

And all because of Shay Coleman.

Football captain and quarterback, he was the big guy on campus. The cocky guy in my political science class with a smirk. I hated him on sight . . .

. . . and he was about to break all my rules.

Excerpt: 

I was almost grinning from delight as I shoved open the back door. If I hit him, hey, all was fair in the war we were fighting of who could piss each other off the best.

It didn’t.

He was leaning against the wall, the back of his head resting on the brick, and he looked over to smirk at me. “I want to see your room.”

I thrust my hand out. “I’ll take those notes.”

That smirk just widened. He patted his bag and pushed off from the wall. “They’re in my email. I need to get on a computer.” He patted my arm and moved past me, heading inside. “I can use yours.”

“Hey!” I followed him in.

He was looking up the stairs. “Sabrina said you were on the fourth floor. You saw my place. I want to see yours. It’s only fair.”

He wasn’t waiting for my go-ahead. He was already up and rounding second floor to third. He’d be at my floor before I could get there. “Stop! I am not okay with this.”

He was at the third-floor door. He glanced down with that same goddamn smirk. “Better tell me which room or I’m going to hang out in the hallway.”

“Why are you always smirking? Is it permanently attached to your face?”

“What room, Clarke?” He was at my hallway door.

Fucking hell. I gritted my teeth. “Wait. Just wait. My door automatically locks.”

He’d opened the door but let it shut. Waiting as I covered the last set of stairs, I refused to let him see me panting. I stood there, purposely holding my breath until he narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. “Breathe, Clarke. You’re going to pass out.”

I almost burped out the small pocket of air I’d been holding. “I hate you so much.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved that off. “We get it. Eternal damnation in hell, the whole shebang. Whatever.” He nodded to the door. “Stop stalling. I want to see your room.”

I was picturing pitchforks and fire. Maybe that was the burning smell he mentioned. It was hell, and all the fire in there. I yanked the door, glaring as I did. “Was this Sabrina’s idea?”

“Nope. All mine.” He was right behind me. I could feel his breathing. “She refused to tell me your room number, said I had to call.”

My eyes widened at the thought of him coming up by himself, strolling down the hallway, and then knocking on my door. Good Lordy gracious. Too many would’ve seen him at my door. I would’ve been the talk of the dorm.

I shuddered, unlocked, and entered my room. 

Read Today!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2ggN4aZ

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2wB2Wvp

Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2xoGkvv

Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2wKztQc

Add to GoodReads: http://bit.ly/2rwVniM

About Tijan: 

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing later in life and once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Carter Reed Series, the Fallen Crest Series, and the Broken and Screwed Series among others. She is currently writing a new YA series along with so many more from north Minnesota where she lives with a man she couldn’t be without and an English Cocker she adores. 

To find what to read next of hers, go to www.tijansbooks.com

WALL STREET JOURNAL, NEW YORK TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR 

Connect with Tijan: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tijansbooks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TijansBooks

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tijansbooks/

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TijansFanPage/

Stay up to date with Tijan by signing up for her newsletter here: https://goo.gl/9GxnKU

Happy reading!

Find me on social media:
FACEBOOK  –  INSTAGRAM  –  GOODREADS  –  TWITTER

 

Hate To Love You – Tijan Release Day Blitz

Tijan has been a favorite author of mine for so long and when I heard about her next release I was super excited! Finally, after patiently counting down the days, I am glad to finally be able to wish Hate To Love You by Tijan a happy release day! 

Hate to Love You by Tijan

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publication Date: August 28th

Rule #1: No hot guys.
It might sound ridiculous. I get it. It kind of is, but college was supposed to be my sanctuary. It was my place to start over. The rumors, the whispers, and the jealousy I endured through high school would all be gone.

No one would know me at college.

Rule #2: No drama.

I’d major in pre-law. I’d make a few loyal friends. Everything would be easy breezy. No one was going to use me or hurt me. I wouldn’t let them.  

Rule #3: New year. New place. New me.

Right?

Wrong.

And all because of Shay Coleman.

Football captain and quarterback, he was the big guy on campus. The cocky guy in my political science class with a smirk. I hated him on sight . . .

. . . and he was about to break all my rules.

Read Today!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2ggN4aZ

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2wB2Wvp

Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2xoGkvv

Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2wKztQc

Add to GoodReads: http://bit.ly/2rwVniM

About Tijan:

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing later in life and once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Carter Reed Series, the Fallen Crest Series, and the Broken and Screwed Series among others. She is currently writing a new YA series along with so many more from north Minnesota where she lives with a man she couldn’t be without and an English Cocker she adores. 

To find what to read next of hers, go to www.tijansbooks.com

WALL STREET JOURNAL, NEW YORK TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR 

Connect with Tijan: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tijansbooks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TijansBooks

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tijansbooks/

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TijansFanPage/

Stay up to date with Tijan by signing up for her newsletter here: https://goo.gl/9GxnKU

Happy Reading!

Find me on social media:

FACEBOOK  –  INSTAGRAM  –  GOODREADS  –  TWITTER