Review: The Duff by Kody Keplinger

The Duff by Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Publication Date: April 5th 2012
My rating: 4.5 stars

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "the Duff," she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren't so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone. And eventually, through this realization, Bianca begins to see how harmful her unhealthy way of dealing with her problems has been, and finds a way to confront them head on.

I didn’t really know what to expect going into The Duff, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to be left with a big goofy grin on my face throughout. Keplinger in the past has been able to change my assumptions and feelings I have held for characters before and was able to do it once again with The Duff. Wesley is presented as a womaniser, he’s always got some girl draping off his arm or clinging to him. The thing is Wesley knows he’s hot; he’s not shy about blabbing about his past experiences, he has confidence oozing off him. Normally characters like Wesley I can’t stand, but for once I decided to give Wesley’s character a try, maybe there was more to him than the cocky full of himself guy that we were seeing all the time.

His first encounter with Bianca wasn’t the greatest; he basically disses her in his first few words that come out of his mouth. But like I said despite him being a jerk, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and he does end up being helpful to Bianca in more ways than one. Bianca reminded me of myself at times; always bottling up her feelings, telling everyone she was fine when she clearly wasn’t. And I really did feel sorry for her, she had great friends in Casey and Jess and a great dad, but when some crap thing happened in her life things just got worse and worse and instead of asking for help or sharing her problems with friends, she needed some other form of stress outlet and that’s where Wesley came in. Their sort of relationship escalated really quickly, but to be honest I loved every second of it. It was fun after the first few encounters to see how Wesley and Bianca would cope with it all at school and when other people were around them, Wesley was his usual cocky self, which made Bianca and me laugh, as I knew it when these two were finally alone they couldn’t be able to keep their hands off each other. Some would say Wesley and Bianca would be two characters that you wouldn’t ever suspect of being together, but once they started spending more time together, you could see that they had a lot more in common; stuff happening at home that was hard to explain to others. But once they started talking more I’m glad that they were able to be there for one another. I especially loved being able to see this different side to Wesley, this caring softer side. I like Bianca was quickly able to realise which way their relationship, (could you even call it that?) was heading. And I was all for it, but I at the same time I understood her reservations about it, I wish that she had handled it differently (highlight to view spoiler) instead of running away from Wesley and making out with Tucker to try and forget Wesley, because it was clear to me exactly how Wesley felt.

Despite the numerous bumps along the way I loved the character growth that both Wesley and Bianca went through especially Wesley. I liked his cocky nature at the beginning of the book, but some of his sweet gestures later on were to die for. Wesley and Bianca definitely left a great impression on me with this story, but I’m glad that Keplinger also included some great secondary characters such as Jess and Casey; not only were they great friends to Bianca, but they were also great friends in that they always spoke the truth, more so when Bianca needed to hear it the most. Keplinger once again was able to mix up well in The Duff, there were some emotional tough issues that a lot of our characters had to experience and it was hard at times having to see characters which had quickly become my favourites in a small amount of time go through this. But Keplinger really did deal with these serious issues really well. I also loved seeing when some of these characters were able to get through these difficult times, as then they were wonderful, bubbly, happy, funny characters that could have you bursting out laughing in an instant.

The Duff was a book which I had on my top pile for the longest time, I’m grateful for finally giving it a go, as I know now that it will become one of those books that I shall be reading time and time again. Now all I need is The Duff movie to be released in the UK as I need to see this movie like now!

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
Narrated by: Karen Cass and David Thorpe
Publisher: Audible Studios
Length: 14 Hours 1 Minute
Audiobook Publication date: February 22nd 2012
My rating: 4.5 stars 

Catherine Bailey has been enjoying the single life long enough to know a catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic and spontaneous, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell.

But what begins as flattering attentiveness and passionate sex turns into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon learns there is a darker side to Lee. His increasingly erratic, controlling behaviour becomes frightening, but no one believes her when she shares her fears. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape.

Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine—now Cathy—compulsively checks the locks and doors in her apartment, trusting no one. But when an attractive upstairs neighbour, Stuart, comes into her life, Cathy dares to hope that happiness and love may still be possible . . . until she receives a phone call informing her of Lee’s impending release. Soon after, Cathy thinks she catches a glimpse of the former best friend who testified against her in the trial; she begins to return home to find objects subtly rearranged in her apartment, one of Lee’s old tricks. Convinced she is back in her former lover’s sights, Cathy prepares to wrestle with the demons of her past for the last time.

Utterly convincing in its portrayal of obsession, Into the Darkest corner is an ingeniously structured and plotted tour de force of suspense that marks the arrival of a major new talent.

My Thoughts:

Into the Darkest Corner was suspenseful, riveting, and disturbing. The story is unsettling because of how realistic it was. I’m sure something of what happened to Cathy has probably happened or is happening as I write this review. Four years ago Cathy fell for Lee who is equal parts good looking, intense, and charming. From that point on her life slowly turns into hell.

We meet Cathy in the present, four years after her time with Lee.  She’s basically a mess with severe obsessive compulsive disorder stemming from a trauma we have yet to discover.  Cathy adheres to a strict routine of going to work and coming home with much of her free time spent checking and re-checking her apartment for breaches in security.  Alternating chapters take us back to the past, four years ago and we slowly witness the events that brought Cathy to this point in her life. The tension mounts both in the present and in the past as the chapters tick on by.

Lee exacts psychological terrors on Cathy as well as physical, making her a wreck little by little. This situation is a little like a frog in a pot of cold water, staying there as the temperature rises and rises until he’s fully cooked. He doesn’t get out while he can, instead the gradual process of the water heating hides the fact he’s in real danger. In this way, Lee gradually terrorized Cathy in subtle ways so that she wasn’t even sure some of the things he did were inappropriate. Well practiced charm and impressive looks were on his side, fooling Cathy’s friends to the point that they didn’t/couldn’t believe that he was anything but a knight in shining armor.  In fact her friends were green with envy over her snagging such a catch.  It was horrifying! I have to wonder if they were just complete crap friends or was Lee just that good at his manipulations? My heart broke for Cathy (in the past) as her situation became more desperate and inescapable.  Lee was terrifying, with swift and surprising mood changes.  One minute he was in love and the next…well, I won’t say.  There was no doubt from the beginning that he was seriously dangerous.

Through all of this I knew the reign of terror did come to an end at some point, because Cathy’s no longer with Lee.  However, there’s an ominous feeling to the present, and I bit my nails in anxious anticipation and fear at the possibility that Lee has found Cathy again.  At least this time, though, Cathy has an ally, a neighbor who’s just moved to the apartment above her, Stuart.  In spite of Cathy’s apprehension, they form a friendship that slowly turns into more. Their romance was gradual, but lovely!

While Cathy went through a complete nightmare, the chapters in the present fill you with hope that she can be happy once again.  Stuart is a big in helping Cathy move on and I don’t think there was a more perfect person out there for her. I admired Cathy as she tackled her fear and tried to live again. 

This was one of those gripping reads where it’s painful to put it down. I was glued to my audio-book throughout a weekend, gasping at times in horror. The narration was excellent.  Although most of it is from Karen Cass with her lovely English accent we do have David Thorpe’s wonderful performance as well (also an English accent).   I have to thank the lovely Keertana for putting Into the Darkest Corner on my radar because I thoroughly enjoyed the thrilling ride!

Review: Please Remain Calm by Courtney Summers

Please Remain Calm by Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: January 20th 2015
My rating: 4 stars 

In this gripping sequel to THIS IS NOT A TEST, Rhys and Sloane are headed for a safe haven when they get separated along the way. Rhys is determined to reunite with Sloane until he discovers people who might need him more--people who offer him the closest he'll get to everything he's lost, if they can just hold on long enough. Rhys thinks he has what it takes to survive and find the girl he lost, but in a world overrun by the dead, there are no guarantees and the next leg of his journey will test him in unimaginable ways ...

This book has made me so mad! Just when I thought we’d experienced it all with This is not a Test, I’m given this follow up novella and told to remain calm. Of course this was not going to happen, my heart had gone through a shredder in This is Not a Test, so I was preparing myself for the worst (sort of).

I was thrilled to be back with Sloane and Rhys once more, I’d grown so attached to these characters, that all I wanted to do was to keep them safe. My poor heart really couldn’t deal with it, if anything happened to them once again despite being only a mere 96 page novella. Please Remain Calm was layered with tension, if I wasn’t biting down my nails to the core; I was screaming “DID YOU GET BITTEN?” These rabid zombies used to just come out of nowhere and they were just super fast that you knew they could sneak in a bite any moment and it would all be over. Rhys and Sloane having been through it all just want to find some sort of safety, but is any place even safe?

I loved reading Please Remain Calm from Rhys’ perspective, like I said before Rhys had quickly become one of my favourite characters, so I enjoyed being in his head. I once again had hope that everything would be alright, Rhys and Sloane had been through it all, and Summers wouldn’t be that evil right? Right? Again with an introduction of new characters I was quick to form attachments (why did I always do this?) so I did find it a real struggle when things didn’t go the way I was expecting them to. *why Courtney why?* and that ending??!!!? You know how I detest neatly wrapped endings I was hoping just hoping that everything would be okay. We’re sort of left with the hope that things would end up that way, but sometimes you know when you just need things written out for you and some sort of closure? I sort of needed this with this book.

Overall Please Remain Calm was everything I was expecting it to be and so much more. Summers created that constant fear around the corner and built up the tension really well. And although I was dreading every single page, I would be back in this world with these characters again in an instant!

The Readers Den Three Year Blogoversary!

 

Hi all, I can't believe that today Rachel and I are celebrating the third year blogoversary at The Readers Den, I honestly didn't think we would have made it this far, although at times things have been a struggle with managing everything, I'm grateful to have had so many of you by our side from the beginning and to some great friendships that I've been able to make along the way. So here's a couple of thank you's.

A big thank you to my co-blogger Rachel, she has been the most understanding person ever, when I've made last minute post changes or not been around as much to comment, she's been there to pick everything up for me. I don't think I would have been able to manage the blog without you *hugs*.

Thank you to my girls Rashika and Siiri, I love how multi-platform we've become from blog commenting, what's app and now even Skype! Do you remember how nervous we were on our first chat? And now we just can't shut up! I'm glad to have met you both over the last year or so, you both definitely make my days with you constant book pushing and Scandal chats. Here's hoping that we'll finally be able to meet each other one day. 

Thank you to Nick, who has been there from the very beginning, for leaving lovely comments almost everyday and buddy reading with me so many wonderful book, (I swear one day I will be able to catch up with you ninja pace reading). Thank you to Danielle, Lauren, Joy and Jenny, I love reading your enthusiastic and honest reviews, you ladies could never lead me wrong with your book recommendations! Thank you to Donna and Jess, I'm thrilled that I've had the chance to meet you both in real life, you ladies are great in keeping me on top of all the bookish events near us, here's hoping we have many more wonderful events to attend together (we shall have to visit Foyles when it opens together in Birmingham).

Allie, who I will meet one day, remember you still need to come down so that we can experience AmeriCandy in all it's goodness! And all the other amazing bloggers who take the time out of their busy schedules to leave lovely comments on our blog: Melanie, Wendy, Faye, Aimee, Emma, Mel, Heidi, Keetana, Maja, Mary, Carina, Giselle, Nomes, Tanja, Glass, Summer, Christina, Leanna, Juhina and Ari we really do appreciate it! (Sorry if I've forgotten anyone, we love you all!)

Can I (Rachel) just say ditto to everything Jasprit said above? I would never be able to blog on my own and I couldn't ask for a nicer, smarter (Jasprit is truly the brains behind this blog) more accommodating blogmate! She picks up the slack with commenting if I'm not around or work is slowly sucking the life out of me.  

I have to shout out to all the bloggers Jasprit has mentioned above, as well. And a special thanks to Joy, Keetana, Nick, Heidi, Jenny, Danielle, and Lauren: you ladies always leave such meaningful comments, and have posts that add to and make my TBR insane,  I also want to thank the Arlene and Crystal at Winterhavenbooks.  They are my real life bookfriends in crime, meeting me at one event or another, dishing on our favorite reads, and indulging in our latest book gossip!  I thank all of you for sharing our passion for reading and stories that make an emotional dent. 


So to celebrate our three year blogoversary, we are giving two lucky readers the chance to win one of the 2015 pre-orders below. The Giveaway is open internationally, as long as The Book Depository ships to you, (a list of countries can be found here). Good luck everyone! 

12 Pre-orders up for grabs!

(Click on titles for Goodreads link)

Review: Brash by Laura Wright

Brash (Cavanaugh Brothers #3) by Laura Wright
Publisher: Signet
Publication date: March 3rd 2015
My rating:  4.5 stars 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository 

The New York Times bestselling author of the Cavanaugh Brothers novels returns to the Cavanaugh’s Texas Triple C ranch as the brothers confront the painful memories of their childhood and the truth about their sister’s murder…

No matter how many fights UFC champion Cole Cavanaugh wins, he can’t rid himself of the guilt of not having saved his twin sister’s life. Now, not only is he facing his arch enemy in the ring, he’s fighting to uncover the truth about Cass’s death. But will winning both fights truly give him the retribution and absolution he seeks? Or does he need the healing power of love to finally move on with his life?

The mystery surrounding Cass’s murder also haunts veterinarian Grace Hunter. Many believe that her father might hold the key to the truth. Unfortunately the ex-Sheriff’s deteriorating mental state makes it impossible to separate fact from fiction. As Cole persuades Grace to help him unlock the elusive clues, her defenses weaken. She finds the Stetson-wearing fighter irresistible. But while the truth could free Cole’s heart, it could very well end up shattering hers.

My Thoughts:

Cole Cavanaugh is determined to find his twin sister’s killer. She was murdered back when they were teenagers and it still haunts him years later. Cass was the other half to his whole and he felt like he should’ve been able to protect her. Cole’s willing to go to desperate lengths to uncover the killer’s identity, even some breaking and entering into Dr. Grace Hunter’s office, the daughter of the now retired sheriff in hopes of finding clues.

Grace’s father is the only family she has left. He was her everything after losing her mother in a tragic car accident. Now Cole is threatening her father’s reputation, implying he may have knowledge in his sister’s murder and covered it up, or may somehow have been involved. Cole suspects Grace’s father knew more about his sister’s murder, but can’t really get the information out now that he’s suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Grace knows the pain of losing a loved one, so she can’t fault Cole for looking for answers, she would do the same. So she offers to help Cole by digging through her father’s old files together. While she wants to help Cole and the entire Cavanaugh family find peace and justice, Grace is determined to clear any doubts about her father.

Cole and Grace didn’t get off to the best start, and they seem to be working on opposite sides, even while working together, but that doesn’t stop the attraction they have from building as they get to know each other better.

I adored this romance! It seems lately I’ve been reading a lot of stories where there’s long internal musings, dialogue that goes on in the character’s head but not much character interaction. Not so with Brash.  Instead the characters actually communicated and got to know each other.  I want lots of character interaction, especially in a romance, not just detailed, long inner lusting with the other party having no idea how they feel because they keep it all in.  Inner turmoil on why they should or shouldn’t be together is even worse. I get so sick of the back and forth! Thankfully, this is not the case with Brash. Grace and Cole had fun, humorous exchanges that had me cracking up throughout:

“Don’t you think a doctor should be doing this?”—

Her eyes met his and she looked slightly insulted. “I am a doctor.”

“You’re a vet,” he countered.

She lifted her chin. “And you act like an animal most of the time, so I’d say it’s a match made in heaven.”

I appreciated there wasn’t any long, drawn out angst because Cole and Grace were open with their feelings. I loved the writing style so much! Yes, there were serious, deeper issues plaguing Grace and Cole, but the story was also fun and HOT! There was sizzling sexual tension, and build-up!

Cole was a tough, tatted, UFC fighter, but he showed his softer side with Grace, and Belle the Bassett hound he supposedly had no intention of taking on. Grace was a sweetheart, but definitely not a pushover. Not overly jealous or dramatic either. She just told it like it was, saying whatever she thought for the most part.

This is the third book in the Cavanaugh Brothers series, but it wasn’t necessary to read the previous books. I wouldn’t mind going back and reading the first two to get a better feel for the continuing story/mystery arc which still isn’t completely solved. Also, I enjoyed this romance so much I’d love to experience the two previous ones, as well. 

Cole and Grace’s romance wrapped up nicely, but there was sort of a cliff with Blue Cavanaugh, and a surprising revelation.  Blue is the next brother to get his story in Bonded, slated for a September release. We got bits of Blue’s POV in Brash, and he was bitter and angry.  He had every right to be after discovering the truth of his past, and I’m guessing the next story may be a little darker.

 

 

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