Book Review: Stoked

Stoked by Lark O'Neal

The second, compelling episode in the Going the Distance series.

He never believed in love at first sight until he fell….

At the beginning of the summer, former Olympic hopeful Tyler Smith was knocked off his feet by Jess Donovan. Smart, beautiful, courageous—and dirt poor—she awakened his desire to be someone better than he is.

The two found a rare and rich connection, but in a moment of bad judgment, Tyler nearly broke it all to pieces, forcing Jess to make a decision that would take her far away from him—and maybe build a brilliant new life for herself. 

Now he has a second chance to win her love….

When Tyler is handed an unexpected opportunity to earn her respect, and maybe his own, he’s ready to give it everything he’s got. Can he shed his demons and become the man she deserves?

More urgently, can he do it in time? Because there might be another guy who would like to be Jess’s one and only…and that guy hasn’t spent a life time sabotaging everything good in his life.

This is the second episode in Jess and Tyler's story. Read about how they met in RANDOM.

I received this book from NetGalley and when I requested it I had no idea that it was actually the second 'episode' in the series (I didn't read what the book was about which is why). Only when I received the book did I notice that it was actually part two. I did not have part one and I did not know where I could buy it from so I decided to just start with part two. Normally this might be confusing as you might not know what is happening but the book was structured and written in such a way that  had I not known it was part two, I wouldn't have even realised. It was so well written and so interesting. I absolutely love Tyler and kept wondering, throughout the book, where I could find a Tyler of my own. He is a very complex character and there is so much about him that is worthwhile learning. There were a lot of references to snowboarding that I didn't get as I have never snowboarded before in my life (I have never even seen snow!). However, I felt as though they were described well enough for me to be able to picture what was happening even though my snowboarding knowledge is non-existent. The book ended on a cliff-hanger while not being a cliff-hanger at the same time. All I know is that I absolutely cannot wait for the next part to come out because I need to read it! I would definitely recommend this book.

Book Review: Ballerina

 Ballerina by Edward Stewart

I received this book from NetGalley. Overall this was a very good book and I enjoyed it very much. It was very well written and well researched. I would suggest having some prior knowledge of ballet before reading the book as it could get confusing with all of the technical terms that are used. There is a glossary at the back of the book which does explain these terms (as I do not read the index of books, I only found the glossary when I was finished reading the book)and a lot more terms are explained as well but with no prior knowledge, it might be difficult to imagine the steps. I absolutely did not like the mother, Anna, in this story. She is a selfish, overbearing ballet mom. I could understand why she was like that but she was definitely too much for me at some points. There were a few characters in this book (2 to be exact - I do not want to mention the names of the characters in case I give away a spoiler) who i absolutely loved and I just wish that they could have been in the story a little bit more. I do feel though that if they had been in the story more then the story itself might have been very different and I loved it the way it was. There were some characters that I am not sure if I should have liked or not. A lot of the characters seemed one way and turned into something else and with some of the characters, even after I finished the book, I could not tell if I was meant to have liked them or not. I am unsure about the way that the book ended. That is just a personal preference for me. There are many ways that it could have ended but ultimately, even though it left me a little bit unsure, this was probably the best ending.

Book Review: Me Without You

Me Without You by Kelly Rimmer

I received this book from NetGalley and I am so excited to tell people about it. It is absolutely incredible. I will admit that I did not really read what the book was about before I started reading it, which is something I usually do, and I was not disappointed. I connected with these characters from the very beginning. I am a very visual reader and I imagine every detail of what I am reading, in my head, as if I am watching a movie as I go along. This book make it so easy to do that. The details were incredible and well thought out and the characters were well developed. Normally when I am reading a book, if I don't like something about a character (the way they dress or look) I will change it in my mind as I go along, in this book it was not possible to do this (Note: The thing that I wanted to change was a personal preference and in no way a bad part of the story. It added to the character and was necessary for further character development - This also proves how well thought out the characters were). Every single thing that the author mentions about the characters adds to them and makes them who they are. One or two of the things about the female lead in this book were things that might have irritated me in another character but I could find no fault with this one. This book made me laugh and cry which also proved how much I had connected with it. I definitely think that everyone should read this book.