Wicked Review: Dirty Red by Tarryn Fisher

Published: December 21, 2012

Publisher: CreateSpace

Series: Love Me With Lies #2

Acquired: Digital copy

Amazon || Barnes and Noble

Dear Opportunist,

You thought you could take him from me, but you lost. Now, that he's mine I'll do anything to keep him. Do you doubt me? I have everything that was supposed to be yours. In case you were wondering; he doesn't ever think about you anymore. I won't let him go....ever.

Dirty Red

Leah Smith finally has everything she has ever wanted. Except she doesn't. Her marriage feels more like a loan than a lifelong commitment, and the image she has worked so hard to build is fraying before her eyes. With a new role and a past full of secrets, Leah must decide how far she is willing to go to keep what she has stolen.

Yesterday, I posted my review of the first book in this phenomenal New Adult series, The Opportunist. It shed light to Olivia's story. Dirty Red is Leah Smith's story.

Leah Smith in The Opportunist is Caleb Drake's current girlfriend and soon to be bride. Just like Olivia, she is willing to go above and beyond just to keep Caleb. And above and beyond she went. She married Caleb and proceeded to give him a baby he so desperately wanted. It's just that she doesn't want children. Leah is vain and spoiled. Adopted to a rich family, she was used to having her way. She was beautiful, no doubt about that. She's also smart like Olivia.

Their daughter, Estella, is her leverage against Caleb. Should Caleb decide to end things with her, she'll use Estella to lure him back. Except things didn't go the way she planned. She neglected Estella. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree though as her own birth mother and her stepmother, neglected her as well.

She grew up in the shadow of her younger sister, Courtney. Although both of them were adopted, her parents wanted Courtney over her. She was ridiculed by her own stepmother. Leah has a promising career in a bank until her father decided to appoint her as Vice President of their company just to spite her.

She wasn't supposed to fall in love with Caleb. She knew that Caleb was nursing a heartache so painful that she did everything she could to have Caleb love her. She wanted him to forget Olivia but Caleb couldn't.

I almost felt sad for Leah because she had a shitty childhood but that doesn't excuse the fact that she uses that to her advantage to get what she wants. She has lied to get where she is now. And she will continue to do so just so she can stay where she is right now.

I would like to write a novel that every, single person loves, but not even J.K. Rowling could do that. Instead, I try to write stories that pull on people's emotions. I believe that sadness is the most powerful emotion, and swirled with regret the two become a dominating force. I love villains. Three of my favorites are Mother Gothel, Gaston and the Evil Queen who all suffered from a pretty wicked case of vanity (like me). I like to make these personality types the center of my stories. 
I love rain, Coke, Starbucks and sarcasm. I hate bad adjectives and the word "smolder". If you read my book-I love you. If you hate my book-I still love you, but please don't be mean to me; I'm half badass, half cry baby.

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Wicked Review: The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher

Published: November 14, 2011

Publisher: CreateSpace

Series: Love Me With Lies #1

Acquired: Digital copy

Amazon || Barnes and Noble

Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Caleb Drake, has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back. Wrestling to keep her true identity and their sordid past under wraps, Olivia’s greatest obstacle is Caleb’s wicked, new girlfriend; Leah Smith. It is a race to the finish as these two vipers engage in a vicious tug of war to possess a man who no longer remembers them. But, soon enough Olivia must face the consequences of her lies, and in the process discover that sometimes love falls short of redemption.

This book has me all sorts of stuff. It had me crying, laughing, thinking, and I enjoyed every bit of it. See, Olivia is hung up on Caleb so when she sees him again after so many years, she wants him back even if she doesn't want to admit it.

Opportunist is the perfect word for her. She took the opportunity that Caleb has lost her memories and hopefully draw him back in. She's not obvious about it. I mean, you invite your "ex-boyfriend" over to your house for dinner even you fully know that he has lost his memory? This is a brilliant scheme.

What's more, Caleb has a "girlfriend", Leah Smith. These two are practically the same. They both want Caleb and they will move heaven and earth to make that happen. Caleb is one lucky bastard. This book is written in Olivia's perspective both in the past and the present. Olivia is sharp, witty, cunning, and smart. Which is probably why she's a lawyer.

She refused Caleb's advances when they were in college. She refused to be just another name in Caleb's little black book. But eventually, Caleb won her over. But Caleb being a typical dude, he wants to have sex with Olivia and she refuses.

They fell apart after a year and everything has taken a turn. This story involved Olivia and Caleb running in circles, never really staying with each other.

Tarryn Fisher, you are brilliant. Especially with that twist in the end. JUST. WOW.

I would like to write a novel that every, single person loves, but not even J.K. Rowling could do that. Instead, I try to write stories that pull on people's emotions. I believe that sadness is the most powerful emotion, and swirled with regret the two become a dominating force. I love villains. Three of my favorites are Mother Gothel, Gaston and the Evil Queen who all suffered from a pretty wicked case of vanity (like me). I like to make these personality types the center of my stories. 
I love rain, Coke, Starbucks and sarcasm. I hate bad adjectives and the word "smolder". If you read my book-I love you. If you hate my book-I still love you, but please don't be mean to me; I'm half badass, half cry baby.

Goodreads || Twitter || Website

Wicked Review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

Published: March 10, 2015

Publisher: Atria Books

Acquired: Digital copy

Amazon || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Fullybooked

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin… 

Colleen Hoover has done it again. I don't know why it took me so long to pick this book up and start reading it. She is absolutely brilliant. Never failed to evoke the right emotions out of me by just reading her books.

Auburn and Owen met in the most circumstantial of events. Auburn is looking for means to have money so she can pay her lawyer and Owen is need of an assistant for a night for his show.  Owen is an artist. He uses confessions from other people and make them into wonderful pieces of art. Now, that's new. Owen agrees to pay Auburn two hundred dollars for two hours. What could go wrong?

Nothing went wrong? Except that there's undeniable connection between the two of them. It's an all consuming type of connection. The kind that takes the breath out of you and without the other person, you just couldn't breathe. The kind of love that is so scary you'd welcome death just to be with the one you love.

Auburn is a mother trying to gain full custody of her son AJ who is under the care of Lydia, Adam's mother. Adam is Auburn's first love. They fell in love fairly young at the age of fifteen and neither of their parents approved of their relationship. Hence this set up between Lydia and Auburn which makes me sick to the core. I hate it. I hate that Auburn has to ask for permission to see her own son. How screwed up is that?

This is where Auburn and Owen's relationship is at risk. Owen was arrested for possession of illegal drugs. To put things to perspective, the court may use their relationship against Auburn and deny her full custody of her son.

This is what I love about reading new adult. It tells you about more mature situations such as this. This isn't far away from reality. This is what Colleen Hoover's all about. She creates stories and characters that captures our hearts and stays with us forever.

She loves music. LOVE music. Namely The Avett Brothers, Lumineers, Pink, Eminem. She is addicted to Diet Pepsi and could tell you in a taste-test which restaurant it came from. She gets stoked whenever she gets a message from Goodreads saying she has a new friend request. She wrote the Slammed Trilogy (Slammed, Point of Retreat and This Girl), Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cindrella and Ugly Love.

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Wicked Review: Calm Like Home by Kaisa Clark

Expected Publication: July 15, 2015

Acquired: eARC from author

Amazon

Alexa Clausen has never fallen. She’s never soared. She’s lived her entire life floating midway between passion and despondency, never experiencing those extremes. But all it takes is one evening with Adam Westbrook to draw her out of her shell, to leave her feeling bold for the first time ever. He is fiery and magnetic. He is gravitational, that inescapable pull no one can avoid. After a few chance encounters, Alexa finally accepts that she can’t stay away, can’t deny the electricity she feels every time he comes around.

But as the intensity between them deepens, she also can’t avoid the subtle hints that Adam is hiding something. His wide smile and radiant eyes obscure some burning secret, some detail of his past that resurfaces to steal his joy. The farther Alexa falls, the more she realizes just how little she really knows about Adam and how far he is willing to go to cover up the truth.

Calm Like Home is a story about love and longing, growth and stagnation, discovering one’s counterpart but losing oneself, and ultimately finding that one person truly has the power to change everything.

First of all I would like to thank Kaisa Clark for giving me a copy and entrusting me with her work. It means a lot to me.

Everyone who's been in love has been through what Alexa has gone through. Pining for someone but that someone doesn't see you for anything else other than a friend. It hurts a lot, yes. That is the sad reality for us poor, hopeless souls. Alexa is going crazy with Adam. I mean, first there's the innocent touches and pick up lines that send her heart racing to edge. She doesn't know what to make of it.

Adam decides to change that. From the boring friendship, it blooms into a fiery passionate relationship that Alexa hopes will last after the summer. I think summer has got to be the shortest time of the year ever. Just when you want it to last, it comes to end.

Past summer, they try to make it work. Even if they've confessed their true feelings for each other, Alexa feels like Adam is still hiding something from her. You give everything and you feel empty because something is missing. Love should be a give and take relationship.

When Alexa falls, I felt like I fell too. I mean, ugh, I rooted for this couple since the start of this book and now everything's falling apart. I don't like it at all. I wished that Adam had a chance to explain more of his story in this book. I mean, he eventually explained himself and I understood the meaning of the title of this book.

Nonetheless, Calm Like Home lives up to its name. It's about that kind of love you long for and the kind of love that you want to give your all even if you're scared to get hurt in the process.

Kaisa Clark is the author of the new adult novel Calm Like Home. She is passionate about reading and writing and also has an intense love for music, coffee, and dark chocolate. She lives with her amazing husband, sweet dog, and kooky cat.

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Wicked Photo Diary: June 2015

Hello, everyone! Wicked Photo Diary is a monthly feature where I share what has happened in my life through my Instagram photos. Think of it as an organize photo dump...only wicked!

Can you believe it? We're already six months into 2015. My, my, my. Well, here's what happened to me this June!

June 1, 2015

I was going to meet my good friend and trusty book supplier, Neil, that day and while I waiting I had coffee while reading A Clash of Kings...which until now, I haven't finished yet.

June 2, 2015

First up is, How To Save A Life by Sara Zarr. This book lived up to its name. You can read my review here.

June 6, 2015

June TBR! How To Save A Life, Sweethearts, and Story of A Girl by Sara Zarr, Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas, and Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S King. Glory O'Brien is my first ever A.S King book. The others are from Neil!

June 12, 2015

June 12 is the Philippine Independence Day. It's also the birthday of my late maternal great-grandmother. She's Victoria, victorious in English. Sadly, I'm not in that photo. I just got this photo from my cousin. Well, I miss her dearly. We all do.

June 13, 2015

I'm not really supposed to take a photo inside the bookstore where I frequent to but I can't help it. I mean, it's books!? And plus this day was so memorable for me. I love this day so much. *insert heart eyes and dreamy sighs*

June 14, 2015

Another sneaky photo inside my favorite bookstore. Sweethearts captured my heart like no other. You can read my review here.

June 15, 2015

I just can't help it! *insert really naughty laugh*

June 17, 2015

I started watching SORTED Food on YouTube. They're 4 British guys who are just so funny yet they cook up the best recipes. I tried to make my own version of crisps/chips using a peeler and it turned out quite well!

June 18, 2015

Story of a Girl did not disappoint. It was endearing and real. You can read my review here.

June 21, 2015

This is our ancestral home backyard. Years ago though, the water level is higher and cleaner. I once crossed that river with some of my cousins and tried to catch dragonflies to play with. Those were definitely the days.

June 22, 2015

This is *hopefully* my last semester in school. So I have to do my best so I can graduate! Anyways, this is my favorite place in school, the library.

June 23, 2015

Now, Dangerous Girls is a whole different story. You can my extremely lengthy and rather crazed yet still coherent review here.

June 24, 2015

More food success! Frozen veggies and leftover rice and voila! Food!

June 29, 2015

I expect nothing but the best from A.S King and she delivers very well. I'm not yet done but I can tell that this book is amazing. Beautifully crafted plot plus a rather eccentric main character, how can I not like it?!

So that's it, folks. I bid June goodbye. I can't wait to show you more photos next month. Anything interesting that happened to you this June? I'd like to know so comment below! Oh and do follow me on Instagram!