Playing Patience by Tabitha Vargo

4.5 Gut-wrenching, hair-pulling, kick-someone’s ass Stars

By the first “Patience” chapter, I was ready to throw up. What Patience has to endure in her own home is horrific and the author will give you that horror in descriptive detail.




You cannot help but put yourself in her shoes.

You cannot help but want to pull her from the book and give her a new life.

You cannot help but want to kill her demons for her.

Sometimes, I secretly prayed for an eternal sleep, one where there is no pain and he didn’t exist.

Zeke is not without his demons as well. Used as a punching bag by his alcoholic father, he uses alcohol, drugs, women, and music to drown out his own anger and worthlessness. He could not have been more different from Patience than the devil is to an angel. But he saves her, time and time again and together they help each other heal.


The story is both heartbreaking and uplifting. The subject matter has been discussed in other books and is not unique per say. But, I did find the author sensitive and at the same time wanting to give you the realism and consequences of these teenagers’ problems.

Writing: Excellent

Character: Love and want to adopt them

Recommend: Yes and only when you have a box of tissues handy

 

Pretend by Sharlay

 
 
So many things going wrong with this book, I don't even know where to start. First off, the blurb. The pretend part of the book was about 10%. Girl's ex cheats on her. She and her best-friend's brother pretend to be together to save her pride. Etc. etc. etc.

Then the book does a Heckle and Jeckle. Complete identity crisis. Is it a love triangle? Is it a romantic suspense? Why is there a stalker thrown in there for no reason. Why is everyone all of a sudden ending up in the hospital?

 

I am actually making it sound more interesting than it is. What this book really is....

 

Don't get me started on the dialogue. The conversations are awkward at best and contrived at its worst. I can't exactly pin point what was wrong, but the whole time I'm reading to conversation between the characters it felt unnatural. It made me realize I was reading and not immersed in a story if that makes any sense.

Plus, the story went on and on with scenarios that didn't need to be included and interest just disappeared after a while.

 

Oh well, on to the next.  

Otherwise Alone by Shay Savage

Wait....




I'm just...

 


















Just.....

 










I knew going into this story that it was going to be short. I wanted that. I wanted to read something short, hot, and had a decent story line to it. I wanted something to occupy me for just an hour. Yet, when the story ended...

 

 

I cannot CANNOT believe I got this invested in a character that is only four chapters long.

Evan Arden has been stuck in a shack in the middle of nowhere for 3 months without any human contact except for an aging dog and a sniper rifle. That's when Lia shows up, lost and in need of help. She would not have survived the desert another day.

That's all you are going to get out of me except for READ THE BOOK. That's because I want someone else to share in my misery. Why should I be the only one tortured with wanting some more time with Evan my new book boyfriend?

Evan has got to be one of the more exciting characters I have read in at least the past two years. The author just gave us little glimpses of him. Just little teases and hints of how a really dangerous man would be like. Not, oh, there's something about him that suggests danger. More like, don't mess with him too much because he will actually end you.

And there's how he responds to Lia. How he laughs at himself on how different he is around her. *le sigh*

So if Ms. Shay Savage does not finished the follow up "Otherwise Occupied" and release it soon....



 








I'll do it! I swear!

However, the author has assured me that the book will be coming out this summer (2013) and that there will be 3 in the series.

Some blogs state that Ms. Shay's stories are pulled from fanfic sites and say that's heinous....but really

A good story is a good story is a good story. I've ready plenty enough original crap novels that I'll take a great tale where I can get them.