December Book Haul

It's the end of December which means it's time to show you the books I've collected during the last 31 days. This month I've won a giveaway, participated in BookTube Secret Santa, received some books for Christmas as well as found some bargains in the Kindle sales.

If you want to grab some bargains in the Kindle 12 Days of Christmas then jump on over to: http://goo.gl/eSM4qB 

Best of BookTube 2013 Survey

I was tagged by the lovely Lucy from Queen of Contemporary & her BookTube channel The Bumbling Bibliophile to complete the Best of BookTube 2013 Survey.

2013 makes the year that I started my BookTube channel and blog.  You have made every step fantastic and welcomed me with open arms. Thank you to all of you and here's to more fun and enjoyment in 2014. 

What are your favourite book related memories of 2013? and what do you want to achieve in 2014? 

My Top 10 Most Anticipated 2014 Books

2014 looks to be a fantastic year of book releases. Here's a list of my Top 10 most anticipated 2014 releases including some dystopias, fairytale retellings, supernatural books and more. 

What are your top 3 most anticipated books of 2014? Don't forget to let me know in the comments at the end. Hope you all have a fabulous start to 2014 :-)

Roomies | New Adult Pre-University Contemporary Story

Roomies
Tara Altebrando & Sara Zarr
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Age Group: New Adult (Mild Adult Content)
Publication Date: 24th December 2013
Number of Pages: 288
Source: Netgalley

Add to your TBR shelf:

It's time to meet your new roomie.

When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.

As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they've never met.

National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate.

Roomies is a story following the lives of two soon-to-be University freshman roommates and the email correspondences they share between each other before ‘moving in’ day. Both girls are given details of the other from their University Boarding office and soon strike up a chatty, share-all-the-gory details email relationship which allows both girls to share their inner most thoughts with someone new and unconnected. Both Lauren and EB (Elizabeth) lives couldn’t be more different however the events that both goes through during the summer are very similar and it’s through these similar situations that they bond.

The characters in this book are both hit and miss in my opinion. I loved Lauren’s character and her family in general where as I found EB to be far too dramatic and over sensitive about everything – yes, the girl did have some major sucky situations unfold during the summer but she always seemed rash in her decisions and lashed out at innocent people. Although I didn’t really like EB’s chapters, I did enjoy the book overall and I certainly really liked EB’s thoughts about ‘What Would Keyon’s Dad Do or Think’ – Keyon’s Dad was also another character I really liked.

I devoured this book in two sittings which is rare for me, I think the fact that the writing style was quite chatty rather than description helped me race through this book. I also really enjoyed the email aspects of the story too and the fact that they weren’t just emails inserted, they actually included the characters thought process when writing the email too. This really helped build my perspective of both characters really quickly as well as ongoing throughout the book. It even hurt a little bit as the book ends abruptly when the two girls meet in their door room on ‘moving in’ day – I knew it was going to happen that way from the synopsis but I was so involved with the story by then that I wanted to know more. Oh the pain!

This book is an incredible read for any future, present or past students, during this whole book I was constantly thinking back to my experiences before starting University and my facebook messages back and forth with my soon-to-be flat mates. A lovely quick read with a fast pace.

Crash Into You by Katie McGarry | Fuel-Driven Speedy Romance Novel

Crash Into You
(Pushing The Limits #3)
Katie McGarry
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Age Group: Upper Young Adult / New Adult
Publication Date: 26th November 2013
Number of Pages: 474
Source: Netgalley

Add to your TBR shelf:	Grab yourself a copy now:
	Amazon UK Amazon US

From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane.

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

Firstly let's take into account the difference between the UK and US covers:

The UK cover matches those of the previous books but lacks details that relate to the story. The US cover includes loads of those aspects - Isaiah's short hair, his tattoos, his black t-shirt and jeans combo, the car, Rachel's blonde hair and Rachel's clothing which implies her wealthy status. And let's not forget the fact that Rachel is comfortably positioned in Isaiah's neck which is forever included in the romance scenes.

Anyways, let's get on to the actual review of the story now.

Predictable yet steamy romance, fueled with speedy cars, family secrets and two seventeen year olds from two completely different backgrounds but with much in common.

Rachel is the girl who has everything - she lives in a mansion in a gated neighbourhood, attends the best school in town, has a wardrobe full of designer dresses and attends gala dinners all year round. But Rachel’s life is anything but the lavish enjoyable lifestyle it’s perceived to be. After Rachel’s sister, Coleen, dies at an early age due to cancer, Rachel’s family are grief-ridden and continue to cope with the devastating death. Rachel’s mother continued to have children until another daughter was born and since her birth, Rachel has been groomed to be Coleen’s clone. Her family are all aware of the great pressure put upon Rachel and continually bribe her to continue ‘keeping up appearances’ to please her mother. However, Rachel’s continuing denial of her true self plays havoc with her health and as Rachel is constantly shoved onto the stage at gala dinners to speak on Coleen’s behalf, panic attacks threaten her life. Her only escape and relief is when she’s behind the roaring engine of her Mustang GT muscle car - the envy of all street racing car fanatics.

Isaiah is good at keeping people away – he’s got earrings, numerous threatening animal tattoos and other tattoos and is not afraid to get into a fight. His grown up in foster care where the bigger kids beat him to a pulp and because of that he keeps people out, that is all except Noah his best friend and brother. The only other thing that Isaiah cares about in the world are cars, especially pure kept vintage cars that are speedy and all muscle. His dream is the work in a garage fixing cars and upgrading them to be race worthy for the drag way – where his other hobby takes place, racing cars. Isaiah’s short of cash, and with the chance of Noah and him losing their apartment, he decides a bigger race than the drag way is needed. Knowing the repercussions of joining forces with Eric, the street racing gangster, he’s prepared to race for him just this once but when Rachel joins the race trouble escalates and the pair end up with a threat over their heads, needing to raise £5,000 quickly to keep Eric off their backs.

Both Rachel and Isaiah’s characters are complicated and have so any elements which are dramatic and depressing. This darkness was so very different to the romantic books I usually read and I certainly welcomed the difference. However due to the ‘realness’ of their depressing and complex lives I just found this a heavy read and I actually found it difficult to read due to this. I like my books to allow me to escape my life and the drama of work etc so something that’s so plausible and dark just weighed on me. On another note, I did enjoy the racing element of this story and Isaiah’s bad boy personality; I felt like both characters fit well with the racing theme and it provided some great use of language for the romance scenes.

“Maybe this is what happens when you fall in love. On the outside a lighter is nothing amazing, but it holds all the ingredients that can create something wonderful. With a few pushes in the right direction, you can inspire something so brilliant that it pushes back the darkness.”

This book may have not of been my cup of tea but I certainly recommend it for all your true romance book lovers. Crash Into You is definitely a book I’ll recommend to my sister who I’d imagine would love it. Worth checking out.