Audio Review: "For The Win" by Brenna Aubrey; Narrated by Jason Clarke and Kirsten Leigh

For the Win

Author: Brenna Aubrey

Original Publication Date: May 31, 2015

 

Full disclosure: I received this audiobook from the author's Book Blogging team, Readers Together, in exchange for an honest review. I mainly wanted to review this because of Jason Clarke's involvement (his narration of Pippa Grant's Real Fake Love had me both in stitches and also falling in love with the male main character, Luca Rossi).

For The Win is book 4 in the Gaming The System series by Brenna Aubrey, and not having read any of the previous books, the start to this story felt a little slow for me. I am not a fan of the female narrator as her voice for some reason set me on edge from the first chapter. I forced myself through her chapters to get to Jason's chapters. 

Ultimately, I wasn't a fan of the audiobook, but a huge fan of the story. I went and purchased the Kindle version so I could read it instead of listen. Once I started reading, I enjoyed the journey of Jordan and April so much more (although I felt like I was betraying Jason by skipping the audio after chapter 3 - Sorry, Jason! I still love you, so, so much!!! 💋). You can sample the audiobook here.

So let's skip talk about the audiobook, because everyone has a different opinion about what kind of audio ear porn appeals to them, and let's talk about the story itself.

First, I know I'm going to have to read For The Win again, but AFTER I read the first 3 books. Characters that were introduced and events that happened in those books are mentioned in this story, so I felt out of the loop. If you are like me, and need to read a series in order, reading a book and not realizing until halfway through that it's part of a series is maddening. 

Secondly, the characters are so well written! April Weiss is a beautifully flawed character, and the way she is written helps the reader fall in love with her slowly throughout the book. The same can be said for Jordan Fawkes. When we finally see the cracks in Jordan's carefully constructed walls, it's a revelation! The two of them together, especially as Jordan allows himself to pull that wall down and April begins to stand on her own two feet and take control of her life...it's almost as if the reader has a front row seat to a real life couple finding their soul mate and making the decision to not let their pasts determine their future.

While I wouldn't necessarily recommend the audiobook (again, this is MY ear porn preference), I would encourage you to visit the platforms where the audiobook is available and sample it to see if it appeals to you, because honestly, the story itself and the arc of the characters is so fulfilling! I would, as previously mentioned, recommend starting with the first book in the Gaming The System series before you tackle Jordan and April's story. 

You can follow Brenna Aubrey on a number of social media sites so you can stay up to date with new releases, and I've posted the links below.

Follow Brenna Aubrey:

FB: http://bit.ly/BrennaAubreyFB

Twitter: http://bit.ly/BrennaAubreyTweet

IG: http://bit.ly/BrennaAubreyIG

Pinterest: http://bit.ly/BrennaAubreyPin

Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/BrennaAubreySound

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/BrennaAubreyGR

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2E6t8ym

BookBub: http://bit.ly/BrennaAubreyBookbub

Website: http://bit.ly/BrennaAubreyNet

Newsletter: http://brenna.news

Where to purchase For The Win and other books in the series (Kindle editions):

Prequel: Girl Geek

Book 1: At Any Price (Adam and Mia, Pt. 1)

Book 2: At Any Turn (Adam and Mia, Pt. 2)

Book 3: At Any Moment (Adam and Mia, Pt. 3)

Book 4: For The Win (April and Jordan)

Book 5: For The One (William and Jenna)

Book 6: Worth Any Cost (Adam and Mia, Pt. 4)

Book 7: It Was Always You (Jeremy and Michaela - Stand alone Novella)

Book 8: For The Taking (Katya and Lucas)

Thank you to Kelly from Readers Together for providing the audiobook review copy of For The Win - I'm now a Brenna Aubrey fan and have a whole new series to dive into!

Dirty Rebound - Mira Lyn Kelly

Dirty Rebound

Author: Mira Lyn Kelly

Publication Date: September 8, 2020

 

Wow! I knew how much I loved the Back To Me and the Slayers Hockey series' previous installments so I was very eager to get my hands on Dirty Rebound. 

Dirty Rebound surprised me a bit, as the Ruxton Meyers we've seen in the series so far was only sprinkled into the previous books. Rux and Cammy's story was so much sweeter than I thought it would be, but still had enough of the fire I have come to expect of Mira's characters.

I won't give spoilers away, because the back story for both Cammy and Rux really felt like a surprise, but suffice it to say that Rux is my new favorite (just don't tattle to Vaughn that I said so), and Dirty Rebound had me laughing, made my heart ache, and yes, there were a few tears shed.

Mira writes with such clarity, ensuring the readers feel everything that her characters are going through: the ache of loneliness, the sorrow of losing someone, the joy of finding a potential love interest, the hope that arises from meeting someone who lights that spark inside, and the madness that comes with the misunderstandings that happen in relationships due to past experiences. 

Rux and Cammy are a wonderful addition to the world Mira has created, and I can't wait to see what comes next (although I feel like I'm gonna start yet another re-read of the series because I love them all sooooo much!).

Dirty Rebound is available now for pre-order and releases September 8!

If you like sexy alpha athletes and the strong, independent, kick ass women who tame them, you should definitely check out Dirty Rebound when it releases. Links as well as recommended reading order, below:

Dirty Rebound will be the latest in the series, but I suggest you start with #HardCrush if you appreciate a reading order. This starts with the #BackToYou trilogy and then moves seamlessly into the Slayers Hockey series, which are part of the same universe. Here are the purchase and pre-order links:

Hard Crush

Dirty Player

Dirty Bad Boy

Dirty Secret (my FAVORITE)

Dirty Hookup

Dirty Rebound Pre-Order

*An electronic ARC copy was provided by the author for review*

Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer

Midnight Sun

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication date: August 4, 2020

Available in: Hardcover, E Book, Audiobook

 

 

 

I know I'm not the only one who has been waiting 13 years for this to finally get published. This could have been a huge disappointment or an absolute disaster...

How do I love Edward Cullen as a character even more than I did before? There's something about not knowing what was happening inside his head that made the pull to him that much deeper. With Midnight Sun, I felt like I was tethered to Edward, his worries and fears became my own. His heartbreak and his concern for others, especially for Bella's soul, it resonated with me.

Thank you, Stephenie, for pushing past the anger of the draft being leaked and sitting down to finish and perfect Midnight Sun. 

Edward really is such a tortured character, and the weight of his thoughts, his actions, his words,  they bear down on him throughout the Twilight Saga. It was subtle in the original series, and it was hinted at again with the movies, but to finally, FINALLY read all of the chaos and turmoil inside him was captivating.

Not only did we get such a personal view of Edward, Midnight Sun brought us even closer to the rest of the Cullens. The questions Twihards have been asking for years have (mostly) been explored in detail with the publication of Midnight Sun, and scenes only hinted at in previous books were finally explained. The reveal of Jasper and his powers...I literally gasped. 

Additionally, if you get the opportunity, I HIGHLY suggest getting the audiobook version, narrated to absolute perfection by Jake Abel (Supernatural, The Host, Jake and Quarantine). If you listen to it WHILE reading along, it's almost like Edward is reading his life story to you personally.

And while this book may have satisfied the Twihard in me after 13 years of dying to know what Edward was thinking and feeling, I can't help but hope that Stephenie will gift us with Edward's perspective for the rest of the books as well. Here's hoping the two new books she says she plans on releasing (one of which has been confirmed will focus on Renesmee) include a closer look at Alice and Jasper!

Cinder - Lunar Chronicles

Cinder 

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publisher: MacMillan's Feiwel and Friends

Publication Date: January 3, 2012

Available in Paperback, Hardcover, Audiobook and by Download

I often find books simply by personal recommendation, but since joining this year's NaNoWriMo session, I find that talking about writing on my social media sites like Facebook and Twitter seem to result in the sites recommending things to me. This series happens to be one of those. 

You're never supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I often find that the books I enjoy most are those with fantastical cover art. Since I love any sort of fairy tale with a twist, the sponsored feed on Facebook that kept suggesting the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer continued to capture my attention until I was forced to do something about it. I may be thirty-something, but I adore Young Adult fiction, and this series had the potential to be right up my alley.

Turns out, Facebook knew my taste pretty well. It's that time of year when we're all strapped for cash and so instead of impulsively buying yet another book I couldn't afford, I joined my local library and decided to just borrow a few. Or 15.

Not knowing anything about the book besides my attraction to the cover, I was a bit disappointed when I started to read the first few pages. I didn't relate at all to the main character, a cyborg (half-human, half-machine) named Cinder who is pretty much a genius when it comes to anything mechanical. I was also a bit confused by the names, as the book is set in Asia, in a place called the Eastern Commonwealth. 

There was a lot of description of who Cinder was - her human body and the parts of her that are mechanical - but I felt the description of her (hair, eyes, facial features etc) was missing, as were the rest of the characters, with one exception towards the end of the book (which I won't spoil for you!). I don't know if this was done on purpose, to allow the reader to form their own picture of what each character looked like or if it just wasn't that integral to the author in the story she was wanting to tell. Having been placed into the middle the Eastern Commonwealth with no identifying description other than the country and the Asian name of Linh Cinder, I assumed that Cinder was, in fact, Asian, as were most of the other characters. On this score, I'm still just not quite sure and I haven't had the chance to go look at any fan art. The book trailer, however, sheds a bit more light. Take a look:

After I got past this little stumbling block, I realized that the character herself reminded me very much of Kaylee Frye, from Joss Whedon's cancelled television series, Firefly. Funnily enough, at the back of the book, there was a question and answer portion with the author, who says that she was definitely inspired by Firefly! Once I had that in my mind, I started to get more excited about the book and abandoned my reservations about the lack of physical description.  

The story is a complicated one, with little mysteries sprinkled throughout and revealed in spurts. The story of Cinderella that we are all familiar with is twisted into something entirely different in this series, and the dynamics between each character are surprising. We see much more of the prince in this version, which I always found lacking in the Disney tale, and we also have an evil Queen, which is the first time I've ever seen that addition to the narrative. 

Synopsis:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

While the story was published back in 2012, I don't feel like I've jumped on the bandwagon too late. It seems that the fourth book in the series, Winter, was just released this year, and prior to that, a few short stories that reveal information on Cinder's first meeting with her step-family and the evil queen of the story, Queen Levana. 

As I turned each page, the more I felt sure that this series would play wonderfully on the big screen. I love to fan-cast my favorite books, and I could totally see Chloe Grace Moretz or Bonnie Wright playing Cinder opposite perhaps BooBoo Stewart as Prince Kai. I'm still hoping that somewhere along the line, the series will get an option for film, because it's the best beginning to a series since the Hunger Games. I have no idea if the rest of the series will continue to keep me intrigued, but I really hope so.

I've just rented the second book in the series, called Scarlet, which starts off in Europe with a character based on Little Red Riding Hood who eventually meets up with Cinder from the end of the first book. I can't wait to start reading it and will definitely do a review when I have completed it.

A few facts in addition to the Firefly aspect that I also found interesting - the story sprang from the author's participation in NaNoWriMo (which I just completed my first session of!) AND she lives in Tacoma, WA, which means we're both Pacific Northwesterners!

If you're looking for a new twist on the Cinderella story and other fairy tale characters, then Cinder and the Lunar Chronicles should definitely be at the top of your reading list! You can learn more about the book and even read the first chapter on Marissa Meyer's webpage here.

Sleepy Hollow: Creating Heroes, Demons & Monsters

Let me start my somewhat-biased review by confessing something. I’m a hardcore fan of the FOX television series Sleepy Hollow, and I could not wait to get my hands on the companion volume to the show. As a writer and storyteller, I find it fascinating to see the thought process and storyboards for television and film.
For those who have not yet seen the series, here’s a synopsis of the show, which is now in its third season on FOX:

Resurrected from his grave more than two centuries after he was killed fighting for the Colonial Army in the Civil War, Ichabod Crane partners with Lieutenant Abbie Mills of the Sleepy Hollow Police Department to fight the evil forces that have taken hold of the town.

From the velvet feel of the matte cover to the glossy photos contained within, Tara Bennett and Paul Terry introduce fans to all of the behind-the-scenes production that goes into creating the world inhabited by heroes Ichabod Crane and Abigail Mills.

With a foreword from series executive producer Len Wiseman, the 176-page companion photo and sketch book reveal information that fans rarely have access to, including the original concept of the show and how it evolved into what it is today, how the team creates each monster-of-the-week, and how each of those monsters play into the overall mythology of the series.

Concept sketches depict the show’s interpretation of Washington Irving’s character, Ichabod Crane, brought to life by actor Tom Mison, along with the places that help create the tone of the series. The team behind Sleepy Hollow have taken special care with their version of Irving’s character, making the show much more than simply a tale of a man out of time and instead focusing on Crane’s observations of our modern times through his colonial lens as he comes to accept his role in thwarting the coming apocalypse. If you’ve seen the show, you know how charming Mison is as Crane and how he is completely believable in the role despite the supernatural story the show tells. If you haven’t seen the show, Mison is reason enough to check it out – he’s equal parts adorable and talented, plus he has that lovely British accent that will tickle your ears.

Each of the main characters are featured in one to four-page spreads, including concept art and quotes from makeup artists and costume and set designers. Sprinkled throughout the pages are also pieces of “twistory”, which reveal how the writers have blended American history with the fictional versions of Sleepy Hollow’s denizens.

If you’re interested in sets, props, costumes or makeup design, the detailed concept art, special effect stills and photos from various stages in the production will give you a sense of what goes into each particular piece of the puzzle.

While I enjoyed the book very much, especially reading the creative thought processes of the writers, producers and designers, I have one complaint: the actors were not included in the book at all other than photographs of them behind-the-scenes or stills from the show. Input from the people who bring these characters to life every week would have nicely rounded out the information provided, giving the reader a complete view of the series. After all, a script, costumes and set design can only take a show so far. The actors are the people breathing life into the show, connecting with the viewers each week.

For those fans like myself, who love getting an insider’s look at a show they love and are entertained by, Sleepy Hollow: Creating Heroes, Demons & Monsters is a wonderful companion and interesting perspective on the mythology of the series and its characters. No photos I could take of the book would really do the actual sketches or stills justice, so you’ll simply need to purchase a copy for yourself to get the full and glorious effect.

A copy of the book was provided by the publisher for review and you can purchase a copy here.

Revisiting the Black Dagger Brotherhood and Disappointment in HarperCollins

It's been nearly two months since I was offered an ARC of the second book in the Tearling series and no book has arrived. It's well past the publish date of the book, which was June 9, so I guess I'm not getting one.

On Friday, I sent an email to the marketing exec in charge (as far as I could tell from the HarperCollins site) for the book to let them know how disappointed I was in the lack of follow through or response since the original offer. I emailed the original contact twice, and sent three direct messages to HarperCollins via Twitter, all to receive no response. We'll see what the new email to someone else brings, if anything.

I really don't want to purchase the book now, because I have a bad taste in my mouth from the experience, but I want to read the damn book! So, pay day is this weekend and I'm sure I'll have to go purchase it for myself, and I'm sure I'll probably review it. It's not the author's fault the marketing higher-ups don't keep their word. I NEED to know what happens with Kelsea!!!

In the mean time, I will have to resort to an ebook since I STILL can't find some of the other books I know I had lost in the move. I just finished the Kindle version of The King by J.R. Ward and am still contemplating how I feel about it. I won't do a full blog review on this one until I am sure where I stand, but I will say - I love Wrath. He was the first of the Brotherhood I was introduced to, since I insist on reading the books in order. I assumed with all the myriad of characters the author has created, the continuation of the series would focus on the ones we haven't seen yet, but I was pleasantly surprised to revisit Wrath and Beth.

The author also revealed that one of the upcoming books would once again feature Rhage and his Beast, which I am VERY excited for! The cover was revealed earlier this month:

I have a feeling I must have missed some books in the series, because I felt like the other story arcs in The King featured some characters I have a big question mark about. Like I remember iAm and Trez, but who the hell is Assail and where did he come from? I need to go do some research to figure out where I went wrong in the reading order. It could be simply that when I was focusing on college graduation, trips to Orlando and London that I just overlooked some.

I might just have to institute a reread of the series.

What a hardship, to revisit all my favorite members of the Brotherhood, true?

Have you read the Black Dagger Brotherhood series? Which Brother is your favorite and why? Let me know in the comments!!! 
 

The waiting is killing me!

 

 

As I await my ARC for The Invasion of the Tearling, I'm trying to find things to read. I have realized that during the very quick move from my little town to the big one, in my haste to get the hell out, I must have tossed some books.

I can hear your gasp of shock and disgust. Go ahead, hate me. I hate myself, if I have to be honest.

Here I had this whole stack of something like 32 books I was all set to read and now I can't find but one! I guess I'll have to read that, or barring any interest in the lone straggler, I'll have to resort to.... *gulp* my Kindle books.

Don't get me wrong, a story is a story, but I really HATE ebooks. I want to feel the pages in my hands. I want to smell them. Kindle feels so...cold. Impersonal. Like it's sex without the love. Not the best when you know what it could potentially be.

Oh well.

Let's hope the ARC arrives soon. I'm dying to find out what happens to Kelsea!