Author: Jolie

I love to read. My favorite genres are women's fiction, romance, psychological thrillers, fantasy, young adult, steampunk, dystopian, LGBTQIA, and paranormal.

Exploited (Zero Day: Book 1) by A. Meredith Walters

Exploited (Zero Day, #1)

Title: Exploited

Author: A. Meredith Walters

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: July 25th, 2017

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Number of pages: 288

POV: 1st person

Series: Zero Day

Exploited – Book 1

Aftermath – Book 2 (expected publication date: January 16th, 2017)

Where you can find Exploited: Amazon| Barnes and Nobles

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

In this pulse-pounding novel from the bestselling author of Butterfly Dreams, a vigilante hacker plays a seductive game with the agent who’s chasing her online—and sharing her bed in real life.

At first glance, I’m nothing out of the ordinary. I am a daughter. A sister. A friend. When you look at me you won’t see anything that warrants suspicion. I don’t look like a criminal.

My name is Hannah Whalen, but most people know me as freed0mov3rdr1v3, or “Freedom Overdrive”—one of the world’s most prolific and notorious hacktivists. My goal—my purpose—is to shed light on the evil that lurks behind the corporate and government lies we have been force-fed for too long.

My story begins with the best possible intention. Devoting my life to exposing the corrupt. The dishonest. The unethical. For that, they label me a cyber-terrorist. Wanted by the FBI, I’ve always been one step ahead.

Until I fell in love.

Because I’m sleeping with the man who’s hunting me. And he has no idea that I am his prey. Now I have to decide what’s more important: my freedom or my heart.

My review:

Exploited is a fast-moving techno-romance (is there such thing or did I just make up a genre….lol) that will keep you glued to the book. It is a page-turner and you never know where this book will lead you and I loved it.

Continue reading “Exploited (Zero Day: Book 1) by A. Meredith Walters” →

Eye Candy (Real Love: Book 1) by Jessica Lemmon

Eye Candy (Real Love, #1)

Title: Eye Candy

Author: Jessica Lemmon

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: July 25th, 2017

Genre: Humor, Romance

Number of pages: Unknown

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: Real Love

Eye Candy – Book 1

Arm Candy – Book 2 (expected publication date: September 5th, 2017)

Where you can find Eye Candy: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Jacqueline: As an adult woman–and the vice president of a marketing firm–I shouldn’t be waiting by my office window to ogle the mystery man who jogs by every morning at 11:45. Sure, he’s a gorgeous, perfect specimen of the human race, but I can’t bring myself to hit on a total stranger. However, my best friend-slash-colleague Vince Carson thinks I should do more than talk to the guy. In fact, he’s borderline obsessive about “getting me laid.” (His words.) But the more time we spend together, the more it’s clear: The one I’m falling for is Vince.

Vince: Jackie Butler’s got it bad for some pompous, over-pumped A-hole who struts his stuff past her window. That doesn’t bother me. I know she deserves nice things. What does bother me is that she friend-zoned me big-time last year, so I can’t ask her out myself. But what if I set her up with Mr. Steroids? Then, when he breaks her heart, I can swoop in and save her like the nice guy I am. Everything’s going according to plan . . . until we share a ridiculously epic kiss. And suddenly anything is possible.

My review:

 I really didn’t care for Eye Candy. Not that it wasn’t a good story, it was, but I couldn’t pay attention to it. I would read a couple of chapters, my attention would wander, I would force myself back to the book and then repeat. I cannot enjoy a book that can’t command my attention for any length of time and unfortunately, Eye Candy was such a book.

Continue reading “Eye Candy (Real Love: Book 1) by Jessica Lemmon” →

A Thousand Rooms by Helen Jones

A Thousand Rooms

Title: A Thousand Rooms

Author: Helen Jones

Publisher: Self Published

Date of publication: October 20th, 2016

Genre: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction

Number of pages: 270

POV: 1st person

Where you can find A Thousand Rooms: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

You don’t wake up expecting to die… 

Katie is thirty-two, single, and used to work in advertising. She’s also dead. A lost soul hitching rides with the dying, trying to find her way to… wherever she’s supposed to be. 

And whoever she’s supposed to be with. 

Heaven, it seems, has a thousand rooms. What will it take to find hers?

Trigger Warning: None

Continue reading “A Thousand Rooms by Helen Jones” →

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

The Breakdown: A Novel by [Paris, B. A.]

Title: The Breakdown

Author: B.A. Paris

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: July 18th, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 336

POV: 1st person

Where you can find The Breakdown: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

My review:

The Breakdown is a nail-biting, psychological thriller that will take you through the wringer as you read it. There is a fine line when writing books like these. The author can give too much away in the buildup and it ruins the rest of the book. It didn’t happen with The Breakdown.

Continue reading “The Breakdown by B.A. Paris” →

To Save His Child (Into the Storm: Book 1) by Margaret Watson

To Save His Child (Into the Storm, #1)

Title: To Save His Child

Author: Margaret Watson

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: June 2nd, 2017 (originally published in 1996)

Genre: Romance

POV: 3rd person

Series: Into The Storm

To Save His Child – Book 1

An Innocent Man – Book 2

An Honorable Man – Book 3

The Dark Side of the Moon – Book 4

Family on the Run – Book 5

Where you can find To Save His Child: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Caine O’Roarke regretted vanishing into thin air and leaving Lexie Hollister asleep in his bed – but he had no choice. The mercenary had been called in for an urgent mission in the middle of the night. He’d miss Lexie, but the former Seal told himself that he and Lexie would both get over it. They’d been completely wrong for each other – in all but one way. 

Eleven months later, when Lexie’s father asks Caine to rescue his daughter from the civil war in San Rafael, he barely recognizes Lexie. The former party girl has grown up, and she’s the only nurse in a small village. And she has a child. His child. 

Will Caine be able to save the woman he hasn’t been able to forget? Will Lexie be able to forgive him for disappearing? And will they be able to survive the jungle and figure out how to create a family?

Trigger Warning: None

Continue reading “To Save His Child (Into the Storm: Book 1) by Margaret Watson” →

Everything We Left Behind (Everything We Keep: Book 2) by Kerry Lonsdale

Everything We Left Behind (Everything We Keep, #2)

Time: Everything We Left Behind

Author: Kerry Lonsdale

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Date of publication: July 4th, 2017

Genre: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction

Series: Everything We Keep

Everything We Keep – Book 1 (review here)

Everything We Left Behind – Book 2

POV: Alternating 1st person and 3rd person

Where you can find Everything We Left Behind: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

From the Wall Street Journal, bestselling author of Everything We Keep comes the highly anticipated sequel. Told from one man’s two perspectives, Everything We Left Behind effortlessly blends suspense, mystery, and romance in an exploration of loss, resilience, and the compelling need to protect the ones we love at all cost.

Two months before his wedding, financial executive James Donato chased his trade-laundering brother Phil to Mexico, only to be lost at sea and presumed dead. Six and a half years later, he emerges from a dissociative fugue state to find he’s been living in Oaxaca as artist Carlos Dominguez, widower, and father of two sons, with his sister-in-law Natalya Hayes, a retired professional surfer, helping to keep his life afloat. But his fiancée, Aimee Tierney, the love of his life, has moved on. She’s married and has a child of her own.

Devastated, James and his sons return to California. But Phil is scheduled for release from prison, and he’s determined to find James, who witnessed something in Mexico that could land Phil back in confinement. Under mounting family pressure, James flees with his sons to Kauai, seeking refuge with Natalya. As James begins to unravel the mystery of his fractured identity, danger is never far behind, and Natalya may be the only person he can trust.

(This book is the sequel to Everything We Keep.)

Trigger Warning: None

***Do Not read any further if you haven’t read Everything We Keep. There will be spoilers. So if you decide to read past this, consider yourself warned ***

Continue reading “Everything We Left Behind (Everything We Keep: Book 2) by Kerry Lonsdale” →

Chase & Chloe by Simone Elise

Chase & Chloe

Title: Chase & Chloe

Author: Simone Elise

Publisher: Inkitt

Date of publication: July 12, 2017

Genre: Romance, Suspense

POV: Alternating 1st person

Where you can find Chase & Chloe: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Chloe’s life has never been the easiest ride, and now she finds herself in chaos and running away from home in her stolen abusive stepfather’s car. When she breaks down in the middle of nowhere, she doesn’t expect to come face to face with Chase; the eldest son of the leader of the notoriously feared Horsemen Motorcycle Club. 

With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, Chloe reluctantly accepts Chase’s offer of a place to stay, despite her knowing that he can’t be trusted. This big, bad, biker can’t mean any good, can he?

A tale of romance, danger, and suspense; Chase and Chloe is a thrilling ride that you’ll find tough to slow down on…

Trigger warning: Child abuse

Continue reading “Chase & Chloe by Simone Elise” →

Double the College Experience by Sara Raynott

Double the College Experience

Title: Double The College Experience

Author: Sara Raynott

Publisher: Unknown

Date of publication: June 3rd, 2017

Genre: Erotica

Number of pages: 20

POV: 1st person

Where you can find Double the College Experience: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

When Sean, my high school sweetheart, breaks up with me, I have no idea why. He claims to want the full college experience. 

When I meet Brad, he is more than happy to show me what that means. But, he has a bigger surprise in store for me when he introduces me to his roommate, Nick.

Trigger Warning: None

Continue reading “Double the College Experience by Sara Raynott” →

Two Nights by Kathy Reichs

Two Nights

Title: Two Nights

Author: Kathy Reichs

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine

Date of publication: July 11th, 2017

Genre: General Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Number of pages: 336

POV: 1st person

Where you can find Two Nights: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs steps beyond her classic Temperance Brennan series in a new standalone thriller featuring a smart, tough, talented heroine whose thirst for justice stems from her own dark past.

Meet Sunday Night, a woman with physical and psychological scars, and a killer instinct. . . . 

Sunnie has spent years running from her past, burying secrets and building a life in which she needs no one and feels nothing. But a girl has gone missing, lost in the chaos of a bomb explosion, and the family needs Sunnie’s help. 

Is the girl dead? Did someone take her? If she is out there, why doesn’t she want to be found? It’s time for Sunnie to face her own demons because they just might lead her to the truth about what really happened all those years ago. 

Trigger Warning: Terrorism, Child Abuse, Terrorist Acts

Continue reading “Two Nights by Kathy Reichs” →

Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown

Watch Me Disappear: A Novel by [Brown, Janelle]

Title: Watch Me Disappear

Author: Janelle Brown

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Random House

Date of publication: July 11, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Women’s Fiction

Number of pages: 368

POV: 3rd person

Where you can find Watch Me Disappear: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan—a beautiful, charismatic Berkeley mom with an enviable life—went on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanished from the trail. Nobody—only a hiking boot—has ever been found. Billie’s husband and teenage daughter cope with her death the best they can: Jonathan drinks, Olive grows remote.

But then Olive starts having waking dreams—or are they hallucinations?—that her mother is still alive. Jonathan worries about Olive’s emotional stability until he starts unearthing secrets from Billie’s past that bring into question everything he thought he knew about his wife. Together, Olive and Jonathan embark on a quest for the truth—about Billie, their family, and the stories we tell ourselves about the people we love.

My review:

How well do we actually know the ones we love? If they had secrets that came out after their death, would they totally change the way that we looked at that person or would we just shrug and say “That was just like so and so“. Watch Me Disappear explores those questions in-depth.

Continue reading “Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown” →