Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read 
• Open to a random page 
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Synopsis:

Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she's losing hope.

Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.

Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.

Teaser:

 "May the force be with you!" He laughs and hops into his car as I stand there, staring down at the Darth Vader house shoes I'm still wearing. Classic.

I just started the book, so I thought this one was fun and sort of shows the characters' personalities a bit. Okay, have a lovely Tuesday!  If you're here by way of Teaser Tuesday, please take a moment to say hello so I can visit you, too! :)

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Kindle
Published: 25 February 2012
Publisher: Self (Amazon Digital Services)
Series: Yes!
Price: $3.99

Synopsis: {via GoodReads}

A continuation of the novel, Thoughtless...

A lot can happen in a year. You grow, you change, you learn from your mistakes. And Kiera had made a lot of mistakes to learn from. But she had learned, and she was determined to never cause a man pain again, especially the amazing man who currently held her heart. But life offers new challenges for every relationship, and when Kiera’s love is put to the ultimate test, will it come out the other side unscathed?

Love is easy…trust is hard

Disclaimer:

**First, please, please don't read this review if you haven't read this book or Thoughtless, the first book in the series, it could contain spoilers. If you have read Thoughtless, please take a moment to read my review!**

Review:

Just like the first book, I loved this book. I think I may have actually loved it more than I did the first one. And just like the first one, Thoughtless, I couldn't put it down. The characters and settings are just as amazing this time, with one little twist: Keira and Kellan are apart for much of the book. I think that's the one thing I didn't so much care for. I wanted them to be together, but for this story it worked. Right now, I'm eagerly awaiting the third installment of this series, but there's no release date just yet. Serious bummer, especially since this book, and Thoughtless, came out at really close together.

The Characters:

I love almost all of them and thought Keira isn't as much of a basket case in this one, she still gets there. She's grown up through her experiences in Thoughtless and she handles situations, like Kellan leaving, with much more maturity than she did in Thoughtless.  Something I really liked was seeing the dynamic between her and Kellan. They really click and work together, though they have issues. We see her family much more, too, and learn some new things about Kellan and his family, so there's a good deal of character development, which is nice.

I think one of the only characters I didn't much care for in this one was Denny, which was really surprising give that I really, really liked and felt for him in Thoughtless. In this book, to me, he comes across a bit of an ass. He comes back to town and meets back up with Keira, and though they're friends he treats her a bit harshly. It's understandable, for himself, but that he'd try to protect himself considering she crushed his heart into dust in the first book, but he feeds into her fears in a way that makes him an ass. Every time she thinks Kellan's being unfaithful, Denny is right there to tell her that she's probably right. It's really nasty, in my opinion. And you know, he has no desire to be with her, he has is own girlfriend, Abby.  Very uncool, but it reinforced my love of Kellan.

The Plot:

The basic idea is that Keira and Kellan must learn to trust one another, now that they're together. The underlying assumption is that they have trust issues because of how they got together. Being apart compounds their issues big time. This set up makes for amazing drama and when they come back together the drama is only heightened. Again, there are moments when you want to smack the characters or yell at them to do anything but what they're doing, but that makes the plot more believable.  There's also a sub-plot with Keira's sister, Anna, and her sometimes-boyfriend, Griffin, that's really good.  Overall, the book has really good flow and a plot that works really well. Sometimes, it's difficult to for an author to make a plot that travels around to different locations work, but Stephens pulls it off beautifully.

The Verdict:

Rating: 5/5

Buy this book!  I loved it, it was amazing. Stephens knows what she's doing, she knows what readers want, and she truly seems to care about her characters. I cannot wait for the next book in this series and will likely read anything else Stephen's writes. She's won a fan in me for sure. If you read it, I hope you enjoyed it!

Since investing in the Kindle several months back, one of my favorite pastimes (when I'm not doing homework or reading) is to hunt around on Amazon for free books. They have a promotional offers page, where many of the books are either free or very cheap, along with Top 100 Free books lists. I've found a lot of really neat books and thought I'd start passing them along, so others might find them, too!

So here's what I got this week:

A Tailor-Made Bride by Karen Witemeyer

When a dressmaker who values beauty tangles with a liveryman who condemns vanity, the sparks begin to fly!

Jericho "J.T." Tucker wants nothing to do with the new dressmaker in Coventry, Texas. He's all too familiar with her kind--shallow women more devoted to fashion than true beauty. Yet, except for her well-tailored clothes, this seamstress is not at all what he expected.

Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery. The unsmiling fellow riles her with his arrogant assumptions and gruff manner, while at the same time stirring her heart with unexpected acts of kindness. Which side of Jericho Tucker reflects the real man?

When Hannah decides to help Jericho's sister catch a beau--leading to consequences neither could have foreseen--will Jericho and Hannah find a way to bridge the gap between them?

I also downloaded:

Kiss Me Deadly by Michele Hauf

Making Waves: A Novel by Lorna Seilstad

Complete Without Kids by Ellen L. Walker

Author: Colleen Gleason {site}
Genre: Supernatural, Dark Fantasy, Historical Romance
Format: Adobe Digital Editions
Published: 26 April 2011
Disclosure: Received for review via NetGalley

Synopsis: {via amazon}

Dimitri, also known as the Earl of Corvindale, should be delighted that the headstrong Maia Woodmore is getting married. His mortal ward and houseguest has annoyed—and bewitched—the Dracule nobleman too long, and denying his animal cravings grows more excruciating by the day.


Miss Woodmore's family has a rather…complicated history with the immortals and she herself possesses a keen sensibility far beyond mere women's intuition. Marriage will give her safety, respectability and everything else a proper young lady could wish for. Everything, that is, except passion.


In the looming battle between Dracule factions, all pretenses will shatter as Maia and Dimitri come together in an unholy union of danger, desperation and fiercest desire.

Review:

I could literally go on and on, gushing about how much I loved this book. I read The Vampire Voss in February, I even ended up enjoying it (thought I didn’t initially), but The Vampire Dimitri is so much better than it’s predecessor. Dimitri and Maia are much more likable characters than Voss and Angelica — truly it was Dimitri’s character that kept me reading Voss, I’d likely have quit at the start were it not for him. Truly, I have a thing for dark, brooding characters. Quick witted, rakish character’s are okay, but I enjoy the dark ones so much more. Dimitri is just that, he’s dark and self loathing, and one cannot help but love him for it.

I also love Maia, who unlike her sister Angelica, is not a giggling daisy of a girl. Rather, she is strong willed, opinionated, and has strength of conviction. She and Dimitri make a perfect couple. They’re both cerebral and love one another a little bit too much for their own good. I did enjoy the cameo’s by both Voss and Angelica in this novel, however.  I also enjoyed seeing Chas (the Woodmore brother) and Narcise, his vampire lover.  It made a nice set up for the final book in the trilogy, The Vampire Narcise — which I have recently gotten from NetGalley!!

This book was so good, in fact, that I read the entire thing in one night. I rarely do that, I’m entirely too busy to keep glued to a book for more than a few hours at a time, but this book swallowed me up whole and refused to let me go until it was finished, likely a reaction to my anticipation. So, if you love historical fiction, vampire stories, and romance novels, this book is an absolute must! This series is an absolute must. It’s certainly takes a new spin on an old formula.

Available for {paperback | kindle}


Rating:

As a graduate student, working as a graduate assistant, my time for reading has to be carefully managed. Otherwise, I get nothing read, except the books for class.  As an avid reader, that's just acceptable. I have to be able to read for fun, too, else I go a little crazy! This is where my beloved Kindle comes in... I cannot believe there was life before Kindle.  How did I carry all those books around?!

With that in mind, here's what I have lined up for the next feel reads...

Currently Reading

Colleen Gleason's The Vampire Voss is my current read, and I must say, it's taking me a while to warm up to it. It's a vampire story, as the name suggests, and while I normally fall in love with vampire tales, I'm really struggling to connect to this book.  I'm trying, however, to reserve judgment until I've gotten it finished. So far, it makes really great bedtime reading (especially thanks to my Kindle's lighted cover).  It shouldn't be long until I have it finished and reviewed.  The one thing I know, without a doubt, is that I will be picking up the next book in the series The Vampire Dimitri when it comes out.  Voss is okay, but I am absolutely in love with Dimitri!!

The Vampire Voss is set to release March 22, 2011. I'm not certain what formats will be available, but I'll keep you posted.

Disclaimer: This book was made available to me via e-ARC through NetGalley.

Up Next

I've recieved several review requests lately (thank you!) and have queued up those novels for my next reads in the order that I received them. So, those up next include:

- New World Orders by Edward G. Talbot is next in line and I cannot wait to read it!
- My Sparkling Misfortune by Laura Lond
- The Summoner by Layton Green

Graciously, all of these books have been made available to me by the authors, for review, and I'm truly looking forward to reading each one (in the next few weeks, I promise!!).

So what about you?  I'd be interested to hear what others are reading!