Book Review: Turn and Burn (Blacktop Cowboys, Book #5) by Lorelei James (ADULT)

Title: Turn and Burn

Book Series: Blacktop Cowboys, Book #5 (Facebook)
Author: Lorelei James (Twitter  |  Facebook)

Genres: Erotica, Western Romance

Format: Audiobook (Audible)

Narrator: Scarlet Chase

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Release Date: April 15, 2014

Tanna Barker is a world champion barrel racer. But her personal life has been less of a success, and she’s feeling adrift. After her mother’s unexpected death, her father has remarried, and sold the Texas ranch she called home. Now a rodeo injury has left the restless spitfire holed up in Muddy Gap, unsure what her next move should be.

Until she meets her match in a wild, wild cowboy

Veterinarian August Fletcher has always put his job first. He’s never found a woman who could handle his on-the-road lifestyle. But when sassy, sexy Tanna blows into town, he finally finds the woman of his fantasies. And there’s something between them, but she claims she’s been burned by love ’em and leave ’em road dogs before. How can Fletch prove that he’s in it for the long haul, and that their sizzling relationship is better than winning any rodeo medal? It’ll take some sweet persuasion to convince Tanna that Muddy Gap is where she belongs. 

My Ranking:

FIRST IMPRESSION:: My first impression of this book wasn't greatest. I don't think I was in the right frame of mind for romance, because I read about 25% and then put it down for a few months. But — my girl Lorelei has never let me down, so I picked it back up and started over from the beginning...

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Walled City by Ryan Graudin

Hosted By Breaking the Spine

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

Title:  The Walled City

Author: Ryan Graudin (Twitter)

Genres: YA, Dystopian, Science Fiction

Release Date: November 4, 2014

There are three rules in the Walled City: Run fast. Trust no one. Always carry your knife. Right now, my life depends completely on the first. Run, run, run.

Jin, Mei Yee, and Dai all live in the Walled City, a lawless labyrinth run by crime lords and overrun by street gangs. Teens there run drugs or work in brothels—or, like Jin, hide under the radar. But when Dai offers Jin a chance to find her lost sister, Mei Yee, she begins a breathtaking race against the clock to escape the Walled City itself.

The world building intrigues me immensely. I can almost picture it and it looks glorious. Also, how bad ass are the three rules? It sounds like it will start off with a bang and never stops. I'm definitely in!

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Making Up for Monday: Author you read the most books from?

Hosted by An Avid Reader; A Wannabe Writer

Each week, there will be a book-related theme or game, or something fun to do that week. And you can play along! All you have to do is find the question for that week and write a post that day based on that question.

This Week's Topic/Question:

Which author have you read the most books from?

My Answer:

Hmmmm. I could answer this in two ways. It's a toss up for me, the answer being either Jim Butcher  or Richelle Mead...

Cover Characteristic: Bare Feet

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

Hosted By Breaking the Spine

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

Title: Salt & Storm

Author: Kendall Kulper (Facebook | Twitter)

Genres: YA, Fantasy, Witches

Release Date: September 23, 2014

Sixteen-year-old Avery Roe wants only to take her rightful place as the witch of Prince Island, making the charms that keep the island’s whale men safe and prosperous at sea. But before she could learn how to control her power, her mother, the first Roe woman in centuries to turn her back on magic, stole Avery away from her grandmother. Avery must escape from her mother before her grandmother dies, taking with her the secrets of the Roes’ power.

When Avery awakens from a dream foretelling her own murder, she realizes time is running short—for her and for the people of her island, who, without the Roes, will lose their ships and the only life they know.

With the help of Tane, a tattooed harpoon boy from the Pacific Islands, Avery plots her escape from her mother and unravels the mysteries of her mother’s and grandmother’s pasts. Becoming a witch may prevent her murder and save her island from ruin, but Avery discovers it will also require a sacrifice she never expected—one she might not be able to make.

Making Up for Monday: Negative Reviews

Hosted by An Avid Reader; A Wannabe Writer

Each week, there will be a book-related theme or game, or something fun to do that week. And you can play along! All you have to do is find the question for that week and write a post that day based on that question.

This Week's Topic/Question:

How do you feel about giving negative reviews?

My Answer:

I'll answer this with kind of a personal statement, "This blog is my blog. These words consist of my thoughts and personal opinions alone. I know I am not the center of the universe and I am not the type to think I'm aways right and never wrong." That said, I have no qualms about giving a negative review.

Cover Characteristic: Cowboys/Cowgirls

Hosted by Sugar & Snark

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite cover’s with that characteristic. 

The 100 (The Hundred #1) by Kass Morgan

Title: The 100

Book Series: The Hundred, Book #1

Author: Kass Morgan

Genres: YA, Dystopian, Science Fiction

Format: Hardback

Length: 323 pages

Release Date: September 3, 2013

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

FIRST IMPRESSION:: My eyes just happened to fall on this title while browsing in he library and I HAD TO HAVE THIS!!! I am a huge fan he CW series, so I definitely wanted to give the book a whirl. Wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed it

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Messenger Of Fear by Michael Grant

Hosted By Breaking the Spine

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

Title: Messenger Of Fear

Author: Michael Grant

Genres: YA, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Release Date: September 23, 2014

Michael Grant, author of the New York Times bestselling Gone series, has created a powerful and brilliant narrative that examines the nature of good and evil in every human.

Mara wakes in a field of dead grass, a heavy mist pressing down on her. She is terrified, afraid that she is dead. Then a beautiful young man dressed in black appears. He calls himself Messenger of Fear.

This boy is able to move effortlessly through space and time. He also sees the darkness in human hearts. He sees the evils done: the destructive lies, the cruelty, the bullying, the violence. And if the world does not bring justice to those who do evil, he will. He offers the wicked a game. If they win, they go free. If they lose, they will live their greatest fear. Either way, their sanity will be challenged.

It is a world of fair but harsh justice. Of retribution and redemption. And mystery. Why was Mara chosen to be the Messenger’s apprentice? What has she done to deserve this terrible fate? She won’t find out until three of the wicked receive justice. And when she does, she will be shattered.

WOW!!! Such an interesting concept. Everything about the "Messenger of Fear" character interests me -- his powers, his game and its consequences. I especially want to know who he is really. Having read Grant's Gone series, I wouldn't be surprised if he's got some major secrets to hide. I want to get my hands on this book ASAP.

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Book Beginnings & The Friday 56: The 100 (The Hundred #1) by Kass Morgan

Hosted By Rose City Reader & Freda's Voice

"Book Beginnings" is a weekly event that shares the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. "The Friday 56" is also a weekly event, sharing a sentence from page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's ok.)


My Pick This Week: The 100 (The Hundred #1) byKass Morgan  

“The door slid open, and Clarke knew it was time to die.

Her eyes locked on the guard’s boots, and she braced for the rush of fear, the flood of desperate panic. But as she rose up onto her elbow, peeling her shirt from the sweat-soaked cot, all she felt was relief.

“She’d been transferred to a single after attacking a guard, but for Clarke, there was no such thing as solitary. She heard voices everywhere. They called to her from the corners of her dark cell. They filled the silence between her heartbeats. They screamed from the deepest recesses of her mind. It wasn’t death she craved, but if that was the only way to silence the voices, then she was prepared to die.”

~ p. 1 

“But I still don’t understand.” Luke shot a glance over his shoulder at Camille, who had given up pretending that she wasn’t paying attention. “Why were you Confined in the first place?”

Glass looked away, unable to meet his eyes as her brain raced for an explanation. She couldn’t tell him, not now, not when he’d moved on. Not when it was so obvious he didn’t feel the same way for her.

“I can’t talk about it,” she said quietly. “You wouldn’t underst—”

“It’s fine.” Luke cut her off sharply. “You’ve made it clear that there are lots of things I can’t understand.”

For the briefest of moments, Glass wished she’d stayed on the dropship with Clarke and Wells. Although she was standing next to the boy she loved, she couldn’t imagine feeling any lonelier on the abandoned Earth than she did right now.”

~ p. 56 

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Blackbird (Blackbird Duology #1) by Anna Carey

Hosted By Breaking the Spine

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

Title:  Blackbird

Book Series: Blackbird Duology, Book #1

Author: Anna Carey

Genres: YA, Mystery Thriller, Suspense

Release Date: September 16, 2014

This twisty, breathless cat-and-mouse thrill ride, told in the second person, follows a girl with amnesia in present-day Los Angeles who is being pursued by mysterious and terrifying assailants.

A girl wakes up on the train tracks, a subway car barreling down on her. With only minutes to react, she hunches down and the train speeds over her. She doesn’t remember her name, where she is, or how she got there. She has a tattoo on the inside of her right wrist of a blackbird inside a box, letters and numbers printed just below: FNV02198. There is only one thing she knows for sure: people are trying to kill her.

On the run for her life, she tries to untangle who she is and what happened to the girl she used to be. Nothing and no one are what they appear to be. But the truth is more disturbing than she ever imagined.

The Maze Runner series meets Code Name Verity, Blackbird is relentless and action-packed, filled with surprising twists.

What a great synopsis. I already feel the tension and am ready to dive into this girl's world. I'm wondering who she is and what's her story. Hooked!

Also, how gorgeous is this cover.

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