Let's Talk Finals

Today marks the start of finals for 95% of college students. In my opinion the semester should have been down two weeks ago when we left for Thanksgiving break. I mean seriously who left for a four day weekend and was prepared to learn for two more weeks and then take six tests? Not me that's who! And did we even get taught anything in the last two weeks, because I sure didn't learn anything that's for sure. So to commiserate with all my fellow college students here is how I feel about finals weeks in memes. 

Let's face it I spent the weekend doing anything but actually getting anything productive done. I cleaned the toilet and shower for Christ's sake. And trust me I'm not the only one, you know who you are!

But if you have been studying like a good little college student I'm sure your brain feels like mush. Mine does and I spent over half the weekend procrastinating. We've been forcing unwanted and uninteresting information in our brains for three and a half months come on professors give us a break! Remember when the last day of classes were reserved for parties and movies? Yeah I miss middle school too, even if we all looked gross.

Sleep isn't a thing during finals weeks. You have the all-nighters who stay awake finishing all the work they didn't get done earlier. Or the parties who just don't care. And then you have my subcategory the restless sleeper, I'm not actually nervous for my speech final but let me have a nightmare about it and get a horrible night sleep. Because that'll make me do better on my finals. Good plan body, way to betray me now!

Why didn't we go to that stupid speaker worth ten points of extra credit??? I mean we could get ten more questions wrong and our grade wouldn't suffer! But next time it's offered we won't go because we don't think we'll ever be in this position come the end of the semester. We're always wrong.

Even if you study your heart out the chances of studying the correct material is slim to none. The professor says the test is based solely on the class lectures, turns out it's all based on the chapters in the text book propping up your dresser. Ever look at a test and think, "What does that even mean?" Don't worry you're not the only one.

Here's to passing grades to you all! 
Then sleeping all winter break and coming back for more!

A.B.

Have you ever had a book rip you’re heart in two? And you know if you discussed this with any sane non booking loving person all they’d say is the characters aren't real and they wouldn't understand how much your heart hurts at that exact moment. I could compare it to having your heartbroken by a loved one but in some part of your mind you know it’s not actually happening to you, but the pain doesn't fade away. At least not until you pick up your next commitment and lose yourself all over again in another time, in another place.

Call me a hopeless romantic but I do believe there is someone out there for everyone. True love; I've read about it all my life. I've even seen movies where the happy ending always finds its way to light. Because that’s what love is light, it helps you fight the darkness that would otherwise consume you, if only we could bottle it up and take a sip when we have those offal days that only real life can bring. Maybe that’s why I like books so much. I can lose myself in a place and forget about the world around me even if everything around me is crumbling.

I had a friend recently tell me that she doesn't believe in one true love. She said you have to work to love. You must consistently put effort in a relationship to make it work; love doesn't concur all. I didn't tell she was wrong to her face because in some ways I believe she’s right. When you get married you have to work on staying on the same path, it must always be on your mind what your other half wants and how your choices will affect them. With that being said I’m not giving up hope for my one true love. That on person who consumes your ever thought or never stops giving you butterfly’s. There has to be a person out there for everyone, a person who sets your skin on fire with just a touch or who can calm you when you get a little crazy. I don’t think we’re only meant for one person because I think every relationship that touches us has a way of getting us to wear we’re meant to be. But I still believe that all-consuming love exists. Maybe I’m naive, but that’s how I want to feel when I eventually settle down and get married, and I don’t think anyone should settle for less.

Alright, that’s my rant. It’s taken me four months to find something worth talking about and sharing with all of you. Okay that’s a lie, I've had things to talk about, opinions to share, but with school and work it’s been hard to find anytime to breathe let alone write down my thoughts and share them with you. So this post is to the start of getting back to Book Sense, and preparing to deliver all my lovely opinions to the world.

Releasing Kate by D. Kelly is what brought on my heart ache if you wanted to join in the emotional roller coaster.  

To all my fellow hopeless romantics. I believe it’s really out there,

A.B.

Pandora Box Set book blast

 

20 exciting, bestselling, and award-winning authors for $0.99 

Twenty Full-Length Novels and Novellas by twenty outstanding authors!

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Pulitzer Prize Nominee

The Water Wolf by Thomas Sullivan

A global quest by a cynical adventurer searching for links in a colossal subterranean network he has
stumbled upon lead him from the ancient fortress at Cuzco, Peru, to the Pyramids of Giza to a dangerous churchyard in Connemara, Ireland, where he falls in love with a woman of more than mortal roots and encounters the strange magic of a small village.

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Amazon Best-Selling Author 

What Truly Knows by Louise Caiola

She was born with the Magical Knowing – a gift, some said. A curse, said others.
But for Truly, it was the very thing meant to save her life. If it didn’t kill her first.

 Enjoy!

A.B.

Book Review

With This Heart by R.S. Grey

 

 

If someone had told me a year ago that I was about to fall in love, go on an epic road trip, ride a Triceratops, sing on a bar, and lose my virginity, I would have assumed they were on drugs.

Well, that is, until I met Beckham.

Beck was mostly to blame for my recklessness. Gorgeous, clever, undeniably charming Beck barreled into my life as if it were his mission to make sure I never took living for granted. He showed me that there were no boundaries, rules were for the spineless, and a kiss was supposed to happen when I least expected.

Beck was the plot twist that took me by surprise. Two months before I met him, death was knocking at my door. I'd all but given up my last scrap of hope when suddenly, I was given a second chance at life. This time around, I wasn't going to let it slip through my fingers.

We set out on a road trip with nothing to lose and no guarantees of tomorrow.

Our road trip was about young, reckless love.

The kind of love that burns bright.

The kind of love that no road-map could bring me back from.

**Recommended for ages 17+ due to language and sexual situations.**

 

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I have a new favorite book y'all! Serious though I'm in love with a boy named Beck and a a book called With This Heart, and I recommend it to everyone!! So I'm guilty of buying a book without reading the cover....oops. This time it paid off! I'm currently in day 3 of my 30 day free trial of the Amazon Kindle Unlimited, so if this book shows what my next 27 days will be like I can not wait!

I struggled through the first few pages, I wasn't into the young girl searching for urns in a funeral home. It also felt a little similar to The Edge of Never, two strangers meeting decide to go on a rode trip, one terminally ill, then they fall in love. But as I flipped pages I found that I was more and more intrigued and I wanted to know where the story and characters would end up. And boy am I glad I did.

This story was heart wrenching and emotional and yet heart warming and funny at the most important of times. I found myself laughing on one page and on the next I would break out in a giant smile. Abby has every right to be cynical about life after living in a hospital and on borrowed time. But while on her trip Beck changes something in her, he helps her live her new lease on life to the fullest.

Although I can't relate to having a major health problem I can relate to not feeling as though you have truly lived you're life to the fullest, not knowing what life will bring, being unsure of yourself with the opposite sex, or knowing what I want to do for the remainder of my life. As the story progresses Abby opens up to Beck and they both experience life together. This book has serious plot contents with the best quirky comic relief. Beckham Dilan Prescott has gone to my top five book boyfriends.

Seriously this book contained the best qualities a book requires. You will not be disappointed.

A.B.

Movie Trailer

Mockingjay Part 1

 

There are officially 114 days until the Mockingjay Part 1 premiere. I seriously cannot wait. To be honest I could watch The Hunger Games and Catching Fire every day until Mockingjay comes out. Although the camera work on The Hunger Games was rather shaky they raised the bar during Catching Fire. Because of that I am more than excited to see what Mockingjay Part 1 and 2 has to offer. The casting was phenomenal throughout the movie series, and each actor plays their part perfectly. I am glad to see Phillip Seymour Hoffman was in the teaser trailer after his untimely death. I hope they have enough footage to keep him in the next two movies as Plutarch Heavensbee. So many great things to come and this teaser just shows it. 

Have you seen it??

A.B. 

Book Review

Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

 

"No one tried to get involved with me, and I kept to myself. This was the place where everything was supposed to be safe and easy. How could Evan Mathews unravel my constant universe in just one day?"

In the affluent town of Weslyn, Connecticut, where most people worry about what to be seen in and who to be seen with, Emma Thomas would rather not be seen at all. She’s more concerned with feigning perfection while pulling down her sleeves to conceal the bruises - not wanting anyone to know how far from perfect her life truly is. Without expecting it, she finds love. It challenges her to recognize her own worth - but at the risk of revealing the terrible secret she’s desperate to hide.

Reason to Breathe is an electrifying page turner from start to finish, a unique tale of life-changing love, unspeakable cruelty, and one girl’s fragile grasp of hope.

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Spoilers Ahead:

Heed my warning now, this book will rip your heart out. This book is filled with abuse, love, friendship, unspeakable action, and loyalty. Powerful and emotion evoking, it's a captivating read. 

I think the worst part was how Emma's Aunt's cruelty was directed solely at her. She was a great mother to her own two children but Emma was abused. In no case is abuse justifiable, but in Emma's Aunts case it's was random acts of cruelty for no other reason than she resented and hated her niece. 

I don't personally agree with Emma's rationalization for why she stayed but at the same time not being in her situation I can't pass judgment. I understand she wanted to keep her cousins lives as normal as possible but I don't believe living in an environment where your mother is abusing your cousin is a healthy place to grow up. In any case Emma's actions were brave and selfless. She forced herself to live a lonely life waiting until the day she can leave for college. Until she meets Evan. 

This book isn't all pain and sadness, it's not. Evan was a ray of sunshine in Emma's painful life and he fought to save her even when things got hard. They didn't fall instantly in love, Emma pushed Evan away with all her might but Evan kept working to bring down the walls Emma put up. Emma and Evan's relationship slowly builds from distant acquaintances, to friendship, to love, they struggle to get through a lot of tough situations and in the end they become closer. To be honest Evan is my dream guy, he doesn't care his parents have money he rather they didn't. He's a gorgeous, kind, endearing guy who clearly thinks the world of Emma, and is willing to do anything for her. Even when Emma did everything to keep him away he kept fighting. He truly understood what Emma needed without being told. He's an amazing guy.

As the story progressed a giant cliffhanger loomed over. The closer I got to the end, the dread and anticipation that built inside makes your heart bleed. At the end of the book I couldn't wait to start the second and see where Emma and Evans relationship would take them. I have finished all the books and I must say the second and third are just as emotional and powerful as the first. This trilogy is definitely a gripping page turner that you want to continue reading until you've come to the conclusion. Donovan's writing style is perfect; the descriptions and flow of the story suck you right in. This is story that makes you emotionally involved with the characters' lives and makes you need to know what happens next.


A.B.

Book Review

Driven by K. Bromberg

 

Rylee Thomas is used to being in control. But she’s about to meet the one man that just might make her enjoy losing it…

I am the exception to the rule.

In a world full of willing women, I’m a challenge to the roguish and achingly handsome Colton Donavan. A man used to getting exactly what he wants in all aspects of life. He’s the reckless bad boy constantly skating that razor thin edge toward out of control, on and off of the track.

Colton crashes into my life like a tornado: sapping my control, testing my vulnerabilities beyond their limits, and unintentionally penetrating the protective wall around my healing heart. Tearing apart the world I rebuilt so carefully with structure, predictability, and discipline.

I can’t give him what he wants and he can’t give me what I need. But after a glimpse beneath his refined exterior into the dark secrets of his damaged soul, can I bring myself to walk away?

Our sexual chemistry is undeniable. Our individual need for complete control is irrefutable. But when our worlds collide, is the chemistry enough to bring us together or will our untold secrets and battle of wills force us apart?

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Spoiler Warning:

I always wondered if opposites attract really works with relationships, and in the case of Cotlon and Rylee it does. Colton and Rylee are polar opposites but who are repeatedly drawn together. I liked both Colton and Rylee and Bromberg did a great job developing the characters as the plot progressed. Right away Colton seems like an arrogant, cocky manwhore, while Rylee is a feisty, unintimidated, kind hearted woman. Rylee meant more to Cotlon more than anyone had before and Rylee brought out a new side of him. What I loved about Colton was that he wanted to change and he wanted to be better. He may have made mistakes and his actions may not have always lead the reader to believe he wanted to change but Rylee made him want to act differently. 

Rylee was a good person over all but she also started an organization whose goal was to help orphaned children. I found this really cool and I'm glad Bromberg added this; it was interesting how The House and the boys helped Cotlon change his behavior. He connected to the boys and as he helped them the boys showed him the away to letting go of his past and looking to the future. 

What I liked about this story was it was never slow moving; there were no dull spots to the plot. Every situation contributes to overall situation. Colton's and Rylee's story moves along at break-neck speed only to come crashing to a stop with a cliff-hanger ending. The plot ends with loose ends and unanswered questions which allows the reader to move straight on to book two in the Trilogy Fueled. Fans of Fifty Shades of Grey, and The Crossfire Series will enjoy this book. Although there are similarities in the plots there are great differences to the overall tones and characters of the stories.

A.B.