Collide

Collide (Collide, 1)
by Gail Mchugh
Rating: 3 Bows!

On the heels of college graduation and the unexpected death of her mother, Emily Cooper moves to New York City to join her boyfriend for a fresh start. Dillon Parker has been sweet, thoughtful, and generous through Emily’s loss, and she can’t imagine her life without him—even as her inner voice tells her to go slow.

Then she meets Gavin Blake. A rich and notorious playboy, Gavin is dangerously sexy and charming as hell. Their first encounter is brief, but it’s enough to inflame Emily’s senses. When their paths cross again through an unexpected mutual acquaintance, she tries to deny the connection she feels, but Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome won’t let go so easily.

As she discovers Gavin’s pain-filled past and Dillon’s true nature begins to surface, Emily knows she must take action or risk destroying everyone—including herself. But how can she choose when she can’t trust her own heart?

So I'm in a conflict with this book... It wasn't the story, because the story flowed great and was pretty intense to keep me interested. My conflict is with the characters. 

Gavin Blake, he was perfect. Handsome, polite, determined, and rich (not that that's why I love him, it just helps haha). He was always a gentleman and he was like Edward Cullen without the whole sparkly vampire thing. What's not to love. 

Emily. God I wanted to punch her in the face! I could not understand why she was so blind to what her boyfriend was doing and kept rejecting Blake even after he protects her over and over again. She was actually sort of a slut in this novel...It got to a point where everyone was apologizing to her and it was never her fault that I got so mad I stopped reading. 

That's never happened to me before! I usually just forget about it and keep reading but this was so bad that I couldn't content until the next day. I was sorta happy the way the book ended because it wasn't a pretty ending. I felt it was something Emily brought on herself and she deserved having Blake ignore her. That's what happens when your a dumb oblivious person! Ugh!! Sorry I get a little worked up when I think about everything she did.

Aside from that, the book was pretty interesting. I feel like the only reason I finished this book and the only reason I'll read the next one is to follow Gavin Blake. He is now a wounded man and I want him to be happy so I'll read to find out!

I would give this book a chance but be warned, if you're like me, you'll be screaming at this chick a lot! 

Origin

Origin (Lux, 4)
by Jennifer Armentrout
Rating: 5 Bows!

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together they can face anything.

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? 

And will they even be together?

Jennifer Armentrout left a big cliffhanger at the end of Opal (Lux, 3) so I was expecting Origin to be HUGE. And it didn't disappoint!

Origin is a roller coaster of a boo, filled with plenty of action, romance, deception and grief. It amazes me how beautiful Katy and Daemon's relationship is. They are put through trials over the course of the novel but they manage to succeed because they have each other. I won't lie, some scenes were hard to get through and others made me swoon. This is definitely the book where Daemon's character shines!

I won't go into to much detail about what goes on because you should definitely pick up a copy, but there are huge secrets revealed and an even more shocking deception that will leave you with a broken heart. 

You wil cri, laugh, kick and scream by the time you are done reading and let me just get this out there...it does not end how we expect. Putting that aside, the book was extraordinary  and will satisfy everyone that waited for its release. Now I'm anxiously waiting for the final novel and I honestly believe that it will be Jennifer Armentrout's best one yet!

Vade Retro Satana

Vade Retro Satana (VRS, 1)
by Michele Suzanne
Rating: 4 Bows!

It’s never easy living up to your father’s expectations, but when your father is Satan, and he sees you as his ticket to world domination, it’s especially tough.

Austan Paumgarten wrestles with normal fifteen-year-old issues like grades, girls and winning sports matches, along with some abnormal ones like what to do when his father possesses his roommate. Initially, Austan withdraws, believing himself to be a curse on others but is drawn out by three new friends; Imani Baptiste, a girl with a harrowing past who sees running fast as her only hope of going to college; Gabe Michaels, Austan’s roommate, a socially awkward guy who desperately hopes to find friendship and fit in at St. Ignatius, a competitive all-boys boarding school, and Fr. Bonaventure, a kindly old priest with a chilling connection to Austan’s family.

When his father forces him to collect souls, Austan struggles with his demonic destiny as the devil’s son and his innate desire to help those he cares about.

*I was given this book in exchange for my honest review*

I've yet to read a novel that dealt with Religion, more specifically with Satan, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel. 

The background story is rather creepy but intriguing at the same time, like in movies where you don't want to watch but you just can't look away! The story is a perfect balance of intense, hilarious, and mystery. 

What really worked for this novel was the mixture of personalities from the characters: Austan was aloof and mysterious but conflicted about who he was and what that meant, Imani was a strong hearted girl who just wanted to get ahead in life, and Gabe was the kid that is always striving to please everyone. Their interactions were great to watch and it reminded me of my time in high school.

I liked how we get to see the characters struggle with developing who they will become because that is something we all go through...of course, Austan's case is a little different...
The choices and consequences of our actions are what makes us who we are and that is no different for Austan, Imani and Gabe. 

Told from different perspectives, Vade Retro Satana is the story of how parents influence ones life and how that affects those around you. Austan will need to find the strength to do the right thing even if it's not what he want or there will be consequences...bad ones.

Michele Suzanne, thank you for introducing me to this gang of witty and stunning characters, I look forward to see where you take them!