BLOG TOUR: Beautiful Dreams by Alicia Rae

Summary

Kyle has mended Lily’s broken heart, and as they have fallen in love, all she dreams of is finally having her happily ever after.

But as time goes on, Lily can no longer ignore the desire to know more about Kyle's past. When she learns more, she will discover if she can heal Kyle’s heartache as he has done for her.

Will his secrets break them apart? Or will their love be enough to strengthen their bonds?

My Review

Finally, Kyle and Lily are back. The third book turned out to be mostly an epilogue of their love story. What happened after Lily agreed to live with Kyle and how their relationships turned out to be. It's nice to know that they are working really well. I was a bit frustrated because the story went to a very slow pace compared to the first two books. This time, the story is very relaxed, though I feel there is a looming darkness that will come anytime. 

I find Kyle being unfair for not sharing his past instantly with Lily after pushing Lily to her limits to face her fears of the past. But bit by bit, I find myself feeling Kyle's hesitation and try to understand him like Lily does. Though it took awhile for the story to warm up, when it did, it went with a bang. I finally understood all the hesitations and realized how perfect Kyle really is for Lily.

The whole series showed not just a simple love story. It showed how the two overcame their griefs and fears with the help of each other. Their love, understanding and compassion for each other made their relationship very strong against trials from their past. 

I totally love how the story turned out. No disappointments on my side. The whole series had made me experienced real love and made me see it from the beginning until their ending (was it a happy ending? read the series to know! :p) It was like I was the one experiencing the love they shared, it was like I was the one who succeed against my fears, the author made me feel everything. I love her for that!

About the Author

Alicia Rae is a Contemporary Romance Author who lives in Dekalb, Illinois, with her husband and three beautiful boys. Alicia has a passion for reading all types of romance, writing to bring a story to life, and photography.

Thank you to my dear sister, Kels, who showed me a few years ago how much I truly missed reading. And to my loving husband, for not throwing away my Nook, and planting the seed of writing into my mind. I am forever grateful. 

Readers, words cannot thank you enough for supporting me along this incredible journey. I hope you enjoy my novels as much as I do writing them. I thank each and every one of you.

Believe in yourself and follow your dreams...

My Beautiful by Alicia Rae

Summary

Lily and Kyle’s story is far from over. Even if Lily already took the leap to face her fears from her past and fear from falling in love with Kyle, there are still other things that Lily has to close before she can really move forward.

There’s the mystery behind her late sister being pregnant, her acceptance of the death of her family, her acceptance of the remaining family she has, the threat of her stalker and her relationship with Kyle. Will Lily be strong enough to face everything and finally leave the past behind and really move forward?

My Review

The story started exactly where the first book left off. It was like I just turned into the next page of book 1. However, I’m quite disappointed that the second book is literally a continuation of the first one. What I mean is, the second book turned out to be like just a next chapter. No new plots, no new stories and no new story for Lily and Kyle. But looking at the brighter side, there are a lot of unclosed issues from book 1 that I am expecting this second book will fill me out.

At first, I am enjoying how balanced the story is. The story is evened out on Lily and Kyle’s relationship, Lily’s problems and sometimes, Kyle’s past. But as the story progresses, I notice that the hot scenes are increasingly occurring. It even came to a point that after reading one part, they just slept and when they woke up I was just like: “Not again!” haha! What this book never fails to do is to surprise me. I thought I figure everything out, but suddenly, I’ll be shocked in what’s happening because I never saw it coming.

I also noticed that it’s seldom for Kyle and Lily to have problems in their relationships, all major happenings happens outside their relationship and Kyle is just always there to support Lily. It’s not that I am complaining. But is there really such a perfect relationship? But I am expecting more on book 3. It seems that there’s something in Kyle’s past that will test their relationship.  

The book is light and heavy at the same time. The combination of humor and drama of the story is amazing that I never realized I am holding my breath until I laughed it out loud. I am very hopeful for the third book. The first 2 books almost revolved around Lily only, I’m hoping to know Kyle better. Waiting for the third book now. ^_^ 

Beautiful Chances by Alicia Rae

Summary:

Lily Tidsdale has been running from her past for three years now. Marred by the tragic death of her family, Lily escaped from her tragic past through writing, photography and the beach of Florida. But when he met Kyle Madison, there was an instant attraction between them and Lily find herself drowning to this hunk.

Kyle had made Lily see life in a new way and that includes a new way of dealing with her past, and that is facing them head on. But would Lily be strong enough to face her fears from the past, and will Kyle's love be enough to support her through and through?

My Review:

To read a hot and handsome male lead with him not being damaged is new to my eyes... and imagination of course. I always end up with stories where the super sexy and adorable hunk is damaged. So with Kyle Madison, everything is different. He's not running from a tragic past, he's not from a broken family, and a super-hot guy with no angst in life is so refreshing to read. I find his character really unique. A person from the army but has his domestic sides; he can cook, he do interior designing and very calm and relax. But I love that typical dominant behavior is with him! He's definitely listed in my top book boyfriend! ^_^

 This time around, it's the female lead(Lily) that is carrying the burden. She's the one that needs to work some things out. And it's nice to know she has met this super duper sexy, hot and handsome Kyle to be her boyfriend (I am gushing right now, aren’t I? I'm so sorry, but I can't help it!)

Although Kyle and Lily's attraction was literally an instant one and their relationship came too fast, I like the flow of the story. Lily's stages of grief have been well elaborated and I could agree with how everything Lily is going with it. What I mean is that it was not exaggerated just to put drama in the story. I could imagine that this really could happen in real life and that I could sympathize with her. I also love how Kyle became the support that Lily needs in this phase of her life. 

In term of writing, I find the writing awkward at first. It's like I'm just reading one sentence after the other, literally. It's like I'm reading separate ideas every sentence making the construction of the story not so smooth. Also, the story is written from Lily's POV but it seems like it's from a third person. There are just some things that Lily observes that should have been observed by a third person. But as the story progresses, I got used with the writing style and find it normal.  There are still lot of open issues even when the book ends, so I'm hoping the second book will give some answers for me.

The story was not exaggerated, there's humor, and there's definitely some sense where the story is going. The hot scenes are there as expected but it came out naturally not just to put it there, it became part of the story so the book didn't look like something else. This is just the kind of story I love. :)

Beautiful Dreams Blog Tour

Hi Guys!

Being part of this amazing blog tour, I will be posting my review for the first two books - Beautiful Chances and My Beautiful, before my scheduled tour on January 29 for the much awaited Beautiful Dreams. That's tomorrow! Yey!

I'll be posting my Beautiful Chances review this morning (Right Now!) and My Beautiful Chances review tomorrow morning. It would be wonderful if you'll check them out and hope you enjoy the books as much as I did. :)

The Eve by Keary Taylor

Summary

Now that Eve had tasted the bits of her past, there's no stopping her from taking it all in. Being an experiment that started the cause of the end of the world is nothing compared to knowing she has a sister out there, alive and maybe alone. 

As she meet the creator of TorBane, Dr. Evans gave them something that she could not turn down. Hope. A hope to end it all, the hope to kill all the Banes in the world, and Eve will be the key to it. It's time for Eve to save the world.

My Review

I've been so blessed to have the opportunity to have an ARC copy of the wonderful book. Actually, I got the whole trilogy like this. I didn't expect to have this and I'm just waiting for it to be released that it was so exhilarating to find the package lying in my email for 4 days! I never hated myself so much for not checking my email everyday! I am very thankful to Ms. Keary Taylor for trusting me to review her book.

So here it goes:

The first chapter explained almost everything. I was expecting that Ms. Taylor would kill me slowly by giving bits of revelations per chapter until the end..but no... she gave it all at once. All my waiting after book 2 are worth it.The story on what really happened before Eve lost her memory answered all my questions. So when the said chapter is done, I was like "so what's next?!" I'm already satisfied in what I know after reading just the first chapter. But there's a bigger story after it that glued me in my seat and the book never leaving my hands. 

 Now that they have the means to save the world, everything is so fine. All is going according to plan and I'm getting agitated from paranoia just like Eve. As Eve and Avian had said, it's like a calm before the storm. I am expecting a tragedy to happen every time I flip the page.  But more than the excitement that I feel that the end of the story is near, there are other heavy emotions that this book brought to me. Too many were lost in the last book that every character that's lost brings heavy emotions to me, and when Morgan asked Eve to do whatever t takes to save her baby, the dam broke for me!

It's nice to see the trio back again. Avian, West and Eve as a group is so refreshing. Without the tension between the three after everything has been cleared up, they became the best team their world has ever had. The books has been consistent all throughout the trilogy. Action-packed, adrenaline is all over the place and Eve is the hero!

Near the end of the story, I can't explain what  I feel without spoiling something. But all I can say is that this book for me gets the best ending award!!!

Divergent 3 ~ Allegiant by Veronica Roth

My Review 

This book is definitely worth the wait! The conclusion of Veronica Roth's Divergent Trilogy finally came, and now that I knew how Tris and Four's story ended, I wish for more. I almost forgot Ms. Roth's gift in putting up an absolutely great and complicated story in simple words. I never had a hard time remembering what happened in the past books, never had difficulties in imagining how is the world inside the story. The writing made it easy for me to capture all the characters' feelings and thoughts in just a few words, no further explanations needed.

The story started where the second book left off. Now that Tris' group knows that there's a world out there, possibly a world where there won't be any factions, they venture to find that world.  Living the world they grew up to to look for the unknown. As long as there's the hope that the world would be a greater place, of course Tris won't let that pass. However, it seems that no matter where they go, the government tends to classify people and find scientific explanations on how they are. Again, Tris and Four found themselves in the middle of another society where one group believes they are genetically better than the other. Not much revelation in this book that I didn't expect, but I guess that's how the final book should be. All mysteries in the past books were answered clearly leaving no questions at all for the readers.

Tris' dauntless character is back this time. I was frustrated on how stupidly heroic she was in book 2, but now, I guess Tris learned her lesson. She became the careful one, the one who think things through. However, I feel like Four lost his touch. He became so lost because of what's happening between him and his parents and it seems like he can't adapt on the new world they found. Tris became the pillar of the group, she became the stronger one, the real hero their world needs. On the side of Tris and Four's relationship, not much since the story is focused on how to make the world a better place. But as the story progresses, you could see how mature their relationship has become. It's not about the butterflies in their stomach anymore nor how Four is so handsome (I guess that's meant for me :p) but it's about how these two people surpassed all the hardships in their relationship that they know for sure that they two belong to each other. :)

SPOILER ALERT! (Stop if you haven't read the book yet)

So many characters were lost in book 2 that I thought I couldn't handle anymore. But this is war, so I guess I should expect more deaths. But to realize that death comes to those characters I learned to be familiar with, oh my... It's like I lost my own. So when Tris died... (yes, she did. I told you not to go here if you haven't finished the book yet!) I was hoping that this is just a fake death like what they did to Four's mom. I was hoping until the end that Tris will pop out of nowhere and kiss the life out of Four. But no! That's when I started to cry! :(( I could count the books that made me cry and I never expected this book to add to it. It was so unexpected. That's why I couldn't tell if this book ended happily or not. Tris life was not wasted as they achieved a place where there would be no factions or classification of who's damaged and who's not. It's a very nice place to start anew. But I still remember Four and how devastated he is, I find the story sad. After everything that they did to be free, Four and Tris did not lived happily ever after.

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

Summary from Goodreads

From the New York Times bestselling author of My Sister’s Keeper,Lone Wolf, and the forthcoming The Storyteller, Harvesting the Heart is written with astonishing clarity and evocative detail, convincing in its depiction of emotional pain, love, and vulnerability, and recalls the writing of Alice Hoffman and Kristin Hannah. Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who left when she was five. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, she finds herself with a child of her own. But her mother's absence, and shameful memories of her past, make her doubt both her maternal ability and her sense of self worth. Out of Paige's struggle to find wholeness,

Jodi Picoult crafts an absorbing novel peopled by richly drawn characters and explores issues and emotions readers can relate to.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10908.Harvesting_the_Heart

My Review

It's sad to read a love story when you it won't end well. That's how I felt while reading this book. It's quite thick for a normal book and I can't imagine how will I endure the long story of Paige and Nicholas knowing Paige will end up sleeping in the porch. :( But this prologue also is the thing that keeps me going. How these two, so in love ended up in that stage.

I admin, I got bored in the end. You'll see it in the way I count the pages until the next chapter, how much pages will I still have to read to end this. But something in this story caught my interest that kept me going. But when I reached the second part of the story, I guess the story grew on me and I can't keep the book down. I was wondering at the beginning where will the story goes, and the second part answered all my questions and got me more intrigued.

At first, all I could see is Paige, a girl so lost. And when Nicholas came, I thought Paige had already found herself. But I was wrong. It only made her more lost. She lost her remaining self to Nicholas. She never found herself and she believes that the only way to find her way back to herself is by finding her mother who left her when she was young. I love the natural way the story goes. It's like I was there, helping Paige search for herself because I too don't know what's exactly she's searching for. We realized at the same time what's really the problem and I went with her as she goes back to where she really belongs to.

 

I started fearing the ending knowing Paige and Nicholas are not ok near the end. I wanted them so bad to be together that as I came near the end, I was wishing new pages will sprout to make the story longer. So opposite of what I'm feeling at the beginning of the book! haha!

I also wonder if this is a paranormal story or what. Paige's gift of drawing not just the person but also her past kept me wondering all throughout the st book. What is it's relation to story.To think that Paige always run away from her past and at the same tie long for it, does it makes sense that she sees other's past in her drawings?

I love how this book tackled how some person lost themselves in a relationship. Completely forgetting their own wants and needs for the satisfaction of their partner. It showed how important it is to be an individual person to stand on their own. That it is possible to love someone with all of you but still keeps who you really are.