Saturday, July 22, 2017

Three Kylie Scott Book Mini-Reviews

As I mentioned earlier this week, getting behind on reviews again.  This time I've got three books by the author that is pretty much becoming one of my all time top favorite authors.  One is one of her first books, the second is the latest in her Dive Bar series, and the last one is her first YA novel, where I must say she has done a great job breaking into that genre!  Of course I have to share my photo with her from Apollycon this past March, when I made sure to tell her that Mal was my book boyfriend!

Flesh (Flesh series #1):
Published:  October 1st, 2012
Source:  Purchased Paperback
My rating:  3.5 stars

I do love The Walking Dead, and so a zombie apocalypse story told by one of my favorite authors was an instant add to my TBR.  The romance in this is pretty much what you might expect to be realistic in this type of a world, something that most of the time is kind of skirted over in TWD world, except for maybe with Negan.  The characters are definitely interesting enough you want to read more about them, and while there is another book in the series, that is pretty much a standalone, I'm still eager to read it.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Ali has been hiding in an attic since civilisation collapsed eight weeks ago.


When the plague hit, her neighbours turned into mindless, hungry, homicidal maniacs.


Daniel has been a loner his entire life. Then the world empties and he realises that being alone isn't all it's cracked up to be.


Finn is a former cop who is desperate for companionship, and willing to do anything it takes to protect the survivors around him.


When the three cross paths they band together; sparks fly, romance blooms in the wasteland and Ali, Daniel and Finn bend to their very human needs in the ruins of civilisation.


Lust, love and trust all come under fire in Flesh as the three battle to survive, hunted through the suburban wastelands.

This story is rated "Hot" (4 out of 5 flames) and contains M/F/M and F/M pairings.  


Twist (Dive Bar series #2):
Published:  April 11th, 2017
Source:  Purchased paperback
My rating:  4 stars

While I didn't love these characters as much as I did Vaughn and Lydia from Dirty, they were characters that still grabbed me and made it really hard for me to put the book down.  I read this in May, and hated that I still had to get up for school in the morning, because it is a book I would have stayed up all night reading, it was that good.  And what is even better?  Well there was a definite twist towards the end that I did not see coming.  Perfect to fit in with that title, huh?  

Now, I ordered the UK version of the cover, because I liked the guy on it better, even if he doesn't look like what Joe is supposed to look like.  However, I later won a contest, I think on Goodreads, for another copy of the book, this time with the US cover version.  I don't usually collect different country books, but with Scott's books, I kind of want to.  The first cover you see to the left, is the UK version.  The one at the bottom of this mini-review is the US version. 

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

When his younger brother loses interest in online dating, hot, bearded, bartender extraordinaire, Joe Collins, only intends to log into his brother's account and shut it down. Until he reads about her - Alex.

Alex Parks is funny, friendly, and pretty much everything he's been looking for in a woman. And in no time at all they're emailing up a storm, telling each other their deepest darkest secrets . . . apart from the one that really matters.

And when it comes to love, serving it straight up works better than with a twist.






Trust:
Published:  July 18th, 2017
Source:  E-galley from Netgalley
My rating:  5 stars

Kylie Scott's first YA novel is perfection.  She's got the realistic characters, the chubby main character girl, the bad boy, who really is a bad boy, the bullies, the old best friend who doesn't get it, and the new best friends who are extremely wonderfully written diverse characters.  This is one that I was barely able to put down.  I took it on vacation to Disneyworld with me and I couldn't wait to get back to my hotel room to continue reading.  I totally connected to the main character, Edie, within the first part of the book when she was at the gas station and could barely make eye contact with the cute sales clerk.  I have the same issues with talking to the "pretty people" as she puts it, and this is a problem quite often for me when I'm working the cash registers at my part time job and a hot guy comes up.  I can't seem to make eye contact or do much more than say exactly the basic sales things I need to say.  I really loved all of this, especially Edie's new friends, including John's best friend.  I hate that this is a standalone book since I would love to go back and visit all of these characters again!  I do think maybe the cover is a little bit risque or adult for a YA book, that's probably the only downfall I can see at all.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Being young is all about the experiences: the first time you skip school, the first time you fall in love…the first time someone holds a gun to your head.

After being held hostage during a robbery at the local convenience store, seventeen-year-old Edie finds her attitude about life shattered. Unwilling to put up with the snobbery and bullying at her private school, she enrolls at the local public high school, crossing paths with John. The boy who risked his life to save hers.

While Edie’s beginning to run wild, however, John’s just starting to settle down. After years of partying and dealing drugs with his older brother, he’s going straight—getting to class on time, and thinking about the future.

An unlikely bond grows between the two as John keeps Edie out of trouble and helps her broaden her horizons. But when he helps her out with another first—losing her virginity—their friendship gets complicated.

Meanwhile, Edie and John are pulled back into the dangerous world they narrowly escaped. They were lucky to survive the first time, but this time they have more to lose—each other.


Check out my post on the book trailer.