Waiting on Wednesday #41

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.

This is a perfect way to highlight books that we are waiting patiently to be released... it is also a sure-fire way to watch your TBR pile grow!

After spending an amazing day and night together in Paris, Just One Year is Willem's story, picking up where Just One Day ended. His story of their year of quiet longing and near misses is a perfect counterpoint to Allyson's own as Willem undergoes a transformative journey, questioning his path, finding love, and ultimately, redefining himself.

Expected Publication: October 15 2013
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads

Why am I so eagerly awaiting this release you ask?

Why?  Because I am DYING to read Just One Day.  I have been holding off on reading it until closer to this release but my will power is so very thin...  Just under two months to go.  I can do this.  Maybe.

What is your Waiting on Wednesday?

Feel free to leave your links below so that I can check them out and if you are a new follower be sure to let me know!

Review: Unteachable

I met him at a carnival, of all corny places. The summer I turned eighteen, in that chaos of neon lights and cheap thrills, I met a man so sweet, so beautiful, he seemed to come from another world. We had one night: intense, scary, real. Then I ran, like I always do. Because I didn’t want to be abandoned again.

But I couldn’t run far enough.

I knew him as Evan that night. When I walked into his classroom, he became Mr. Wilke.

My teacher.

I don’t know if what we’re doing is wrong. The rules say one thing; my heart says screw the rules. I can’t let him lose his job. And I can’t lose him.

In the movies, this would have a happy ending. I grow up. I love, I lose, I learn. And I move on. But this is life, and there’s no script. You make it up as you go along.

And you don’t pray for a happy ending. You pray for it to never end.

Title: Unteachable
Author: Leah Raeder| Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: July 26 2013
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 268 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: Not a huge fan, I don't really 'get' it.
Point of View: 1st person, following Maise

My Rating: 4 Stars

“It seems like the whole world has figured out how to be happy, but no one's letting me in on the secret.”

oooOOOooohhh how I love a good forbidden romance.  There is just something about being secretive and doing something that you aren't supposed to be doing.

Unteachable is a student and teacher romance.  But I want to make sure to point out that no laws are broken.  From their very first meeting, Maise is eighteen.  Therefore, it's not really about the legal issues but rather the moral code that we all try to live by.  That is where the black and white slowly turns into a shade of grey.

“That was what we'd finally been forced to confront: if our relationship was based on forbiddenness, what would happen when it was no longer forbidden?”

Maise.  I did like her.  Raeder's writing is quite poetic and I really felt that tone portrayed Maise perfectly.  She has had a terrible time growing up, and the way she communicates and gets her feelings across seems very genuine.  Part of why Maise has no trouble interacting and falling in love with Evan, who is 32, is because she is so mature for her age.  She has had to practically raise herself for her whole life.  Also, I want to stress that you never get the feeling of Maise being taken advantage of by Evan.  If anything, it was the other way around.  Maise is not a virgin when they meet.  She has always used sex as a way to cope with her daddy issues.  So this is not some naive virgin being taken advantage of by the big bad older teacher...

“You can call it love, or you can call it freefall.  They're pretty much the same thing.”

Evan.  I loved Evan.  However, there were times when I didn't understand him.  I never thought of Maise as a kid, but I did expect Evan to step up in a few instances and be the 'grown-up' for a lack of a better word.  It's not that I ever questioned his feelings really, it was just that I think he allowed a few things to happen that could have been avoided if he would have been thinking a bit more.  This isn't to say that I didn't like him, because trust me I very much did.  He was sweet, patient, kind and I felt he always treated Maise with respect.

“I can't hold on to you.  You're like a shooting star.  Just a trail of fire in my hands.”

I must give a shout out to the location that Unteachable is set in.  The very first sentence mentions Southern Illinois, and from that moment I was intrigued.  I am originally from Southern Illinois, and because of it's small towns and farms... you don't tend to really see it being used as a location.  Then as the book goes on, it mentions the town Carbondale.  I honestly almost dropped my Kindle.  Not only am I from Southern Illinois, I was born in Carbondale.  I kid you not.  This was just too random, so I messaged Leah Raeder and asked her how she came up with the location, and I told her my story.  She actually spent a lot of her summers in Southern Illinois, and in this area so that is why she picked it.  I now live in England, and it was lovely to read about home.  I have to say, she does a perfect job describing the area, from the farms, the local mall, the soy bean fields... it was perfect.

“You should love something while you have it, love it fully and without reservation, even if you know you’ll lose it someday.”

Lastly, I want to talk about the ending.  I felt it was a bit rushed.  I was happy with the overall outcome, but I just feel like there could be so much more.  There is no epilogue, so maybe that is what I feel is missing.  But, even though Maise and Evan are in a good place, I just feel like there is more to their story.  And in a full novel worth of more kinda way, not just an epilogue.  Raeder has suggested that she is toying with the idea of either expanding to another book, or maybe a epilogue.  I hope that we are treated to more, even if it is just an epilogue.  I'm not ready to say goodbye to Maise and Evan just yet.

“There are moments, when you’re getting to know someone, when you realize something deep and buried in you is deep and buried in them, too.  It feels like meeting a stranger you’ve known your whole life.”

MORE QUOTES FROM UNTEACHABLE

Review: Jane's Melody

What boundaries would you cross for love?

That's the question a grieving mother must answer when she takes in a young street musician to learn about her daughter's death and finds herself falling for him. A touching love story that will have you equally tantalized and in tears, Jane's Melody follows a forty-year-old woman on a romantic journey of rediscovery after years of struggling alone.

Sometimes our greatest gifts come from our greatest pain. And now Jane must decide if it's too late for her to start over, or if true love really knows no age.

Title: Jane's Melody
Author: Ryan Winfield | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: June 16 2013
Publisher: Birch Paper Press
Length: 336 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: Perfect, couldn't have asked for a better cover really.
Point of View: 3rd person

My Rating: 5 Stars

What a beautiful, compassionate, romantic and touching story.  I was nervous when I realized that this was written in 3rd person, I just don't seem to connect to the characters as much in this perspective.  But I am happy to say that it took no time at all for the connection to made, and for the story to completely grip me.

“Perhaps not all spirits are meant for this world, but they pass through anyway and change for the better those which are.”

Jane.  I adored her.  I don't always see eye to eye with heroines, and there are almost always moments when I get frustrated and annoyed.  I never felt those feelings with Jane.  At forty she has already lived a complicated, sad and lonely life.  When Caleb comes into her world, I understood the worries and fears that she faced when it came to a man who was fifteen years younger than herself.  I actually felt that she handled the entire situation with grace.

“Love is life and life is good”

Caleb.  *sigh*  Caleb is practically perfect.  He is so sweet and considerate, and never once do you doubt his feelings for Jane.  He is a stand up man and a very hard worker.  He has had to face his own demons in the past, but he has not allowed them to destroy his character.  He absolutely says the sweetest things, and I think half of my Kindle copy is highlighted with swoony Caleb quotes.  And his guitar playing?  So sexy.

“Okay.  I don’t know if I have the right words, but love is this feeling I get when I look at you.  A feeling that as long as you’re near me, or in the world even, then everything will be okay.  That everything has meaning.  It’s as if the world was all shades of sepia—like an old movie reel—and that everywhere I looked I saw suffering and pain.  Then I heard your voice, I saw your face, and somehow the color came into everything.”

The side characters really brought this story to a full circle.  Grace, Jane's best friend, is witty and there for Jane when she needs her.  Even as she is going through her own struggles.  I liked that Grace never told Jane what she simply wanted to hear, and never gave her straight out advice.  She would would always answer questions with questions, or would be vague and this would force Jane to make her own mind up... which is exactly what she needed to do.

“I don't know if you're being smart or not, but I know that being smart doesn't always lead to being happy. And I'd rather be happy than anything else”

And even though Jane's mother is a beast of a woman, I also enjoyed her interactions.  It helped to show exactly what it was that Jane had to put up with, and how this woman has helped shaped her.  I loved how Jane stood up to her, and how Caleb managed to hold his tongue around her.  Too many times you see the male characters who goes out of their way to stand up to those hurting the heroine.  Caleb has no love for Jane's mother but he never oversteps the line that Jane asked him to stay behind.  He lets Jane handle the situations as they arise, and I think this shows how much he cares for Jane.  It would have been easy for him to 'blow his top' at the woman, but he respects Jane and knew she could handle herself.

My only niggle with Jane's Melody is that I want more, and if that is the only thing I can complain about then that gives you an idea of how much I loved it.  Caleb is a little absent in the last portion of the book, and I would have liked to see what he was getting up to during that time.  I am also getting rather spoiled when it comes to standalone novels and epilogues.  But sadly, Jane's Melody does not have one.  I was really hoping we were going to get a little glimpse into their future.  However, that doesn't take away the fact that I was smiling from ear to ear at the end.

“I remember reading somewhere that you have to learn to love yourself before you can love someone else.  But I don't think it's true.  I think you have to learn to forget yourself before you can love someone else.  At least I seem to forget about myself when I'm with you.”

MORE QUOTES FROM JANE'S MELODY

Review: Crown of Midnight

An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt. But her heart never wavers.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

Title: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass ~ Book 2)
Author: Sarah J. Maas | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: August 15 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Length: 435 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Source: ARC Provided by Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Cover Love: Stunning.  Just look at those colors... and Celaena is fierce.
Point of View: 3rd person

My Rating: 5 Stars

Wow.  What a ride.  I finished Crown of Midnight last night, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.  I went to sleep thinking about what may be ahead for these characters, and I woke up thinking about the exact same thing.  When I read Throne of Glass in 2012, I was blown away by it.  I had not read a lot of books in the fantasy genre and did not know what to expect.  Like I said, I was blown away.  Then I realized that the sequel, Crown of Midnight, would be published a year later... *sigh*  But, here we are.  It is out and let me tell you, it has not disappointed.  The wait was most definitely worth it.

“Who knows what games these people play, and what ends they have in mind?”

If you read Throne of Glass, and thought that it was full of suspense, action and romance... you have no idea about those things until you have read this.  I was captivated from the first word to the very last, and when it was over I found myself just sat there staring at my Kindle.  The ending is mind blowing.  I kid you not.  I was an emotional wreck.

There are so many revelations that are made.  Some bad, some good and some completely awesome.  As each shocking twist and turn comes at you, all you can do is hold on for the ride and enjoy every single minute of it.  I can't even begin to understand how this world and story are simply swimming around in Sarah J. Maas' head.  In my opinion the writing is flawless.  It can get confusing with fantasy novels, as there tend to be an abundance of characters, locations and words that you may not be pronouncing correctly.  But I never feel that when reading this series.  Everything is thought out, and presented perfectly.

“Perhaps the world would never be perfect, perhaps some things would never be right, but maybe she stood a chance of finding her own sort of peace of freedom.”

Celaena is absolutely amazing.  There is no better way to describe her.  If I am ever asked to name a kick ass heroine my answer forever more will be Celaena Sardothien.  But with that fierceness there is softness.  She has the biggest heart, and some of her actions will truly shock you.  I thought I knew her, but she continues to shock me.  Just when I thought she couldn't get more amazing...

“I can’t tell if I should be ashamed of wanting to hold you on this day, or grateful that, despite what happened before now, it somehow brought me to you.”

When I wrote my review for Throne of Glass, I mentioned the love triangle.  We have Celaena, Prince Dorian and Captain Chaol.  I am happy to report that I no longer see this story as a love triangle.  That isn't to say that Dorian and Chaol do not both love Celaena, but it is quite evident that while Celaena cares for them both, there is only man she is actually in love with.  So to me, that is no love triangle.

And who do I love?  I have mad feelings for Dorian, and I have to say that he has grown up so much in this book.  He is learning and processing his future, and he is starting to finally make a stand against things that he knows is wrong.  But, my heart is with Chaol.  I have loved him since the start of book one.  I have never wavered, and I can only hope that somehow Celaena and Chaol will get their happily ever after after all is said and done.

“It never made any difference to me when it came to you.  I'd still pick you.  I'll always pick you.”

Even though it has been a year since I've read Throne of Glass, and I have read over a hundred and fifty books since reading it, I didn't feel that a re-read was necessary.  The story picks up perfectly, and the way that Maas writes, you don't feel like you have forgotten anything.  You are reminded along the way of past story lines, but never once was I confused.

And now I'm sure you want to know when the next book in this series will be out.  Yep, you guessed it.  2014.  *sigh*  There are scheduled to be a total of six books in this series, one being released each year.  I can only assume that the August schedule will continue, but this is only my guess.  This means, that the sixth and final book is scheduled for 2017.  I am of a mixed mind about this.  I love that there will be six, because honestly I love this world and I love these characters, so the more the better.  But when you think about the time it will take for the whole the story to be told, it seems a bit daunting.

However, as I said, I didn't feel a re-read was necessary.  And it's kind of exciting to think that for the next four years the story will unfold in all of it's glory.  So yes, of course I would want to have them all sooner.  But, this is an epic story, and the fact it will span such long period of time... that makes it even a little more epic.

“It was war upon them all.  Let them tremble in fear at what they had awoken.”

MORE QUOTES FROM CROWN OF MIDNIGHT

Review: Beneath the Burn

They meet by chance. The timing is wrong.

Three years later, she finds him again, but their separation was poisoned with narcotics and bloodied by enslavement.

Her freedom gambled away, Charlee Grosky escapes the international businessman who held her captive. But his power reaches beyond her protective barriers and threatens everyone she has come to love.

Jay Mayard wears his tortured secrets under his rock god facade. Drugs are his release, even as he seeks to be the man forged of the steel only she can see.

In a celebrity world filled with paparazzi, groupies, and drugs, Jay and Charlee must face their worst fears. When the battle is over, what will be left...Beneath The Burn.

Title: Beneath the Burn
Author: Pam Godwin | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: July 31 2013
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 510 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: Absolute perfection.
Point of View: 3rd person

My Rating: 5 Huge Burning Stars

Where do I even begin?  I have no idea why reviews for the books that completely blow me away are the hardest, but they are.  And Beneath the Burn did just that, it blew me away.  Hours after finishing, I am still living in it's world, thinking about the characters, and wondering how in the world I am going to be able to move past this beautiful story.

“You showed me beauty in survival.  I’ll show you strength in healing”

I had been seeing so many good things said about Beneath the Burn that I knew I needed to start it as soon as possible.  I will have to be honest though, I had no idea it was written in 3rd person.  So when I started, it made me very nervous.  I am not a huge fan of this perspective, but I was willing to give it a chance.  It took me less than a chapter to get completely sucked into the story, and not much more than that to not even realize it was being told in 3rd person.  It's hard to explain, but it's the absolute truth.  The way it is written is not like any other 3rd person novel I have read before.  I still felt that I was in the character's heads and was feeling every emotion and thought right along with them.

“Life was jaded like that, throwing them together when he couldn’t tolerate affection and she was desperate for it.”

Beneath the Burn can be described as powerful, gritty, intense, passionate...  Honestly, there are not enough words that I could list to describe the awesomeness of this story and it's characters.  I experienced an untold amount of emotions while reading, and I guarantee you that you will feel them as well.  This is a story that will make you think, feel and experience the story as it is unfolding.  You will find yourself on the edge of your seat more than once, and will probably be in tears just as many times.

There are some beyond intense scenes, but please don't allow this to scare you away.  As intense as they were, I never felt uncomfortable reading them.  The intensity is later in the book, turned to passion.  So as intense as some are, they are required in order to help you understand what it is Charlee is having to live through.  And later, how that need can be turned into something mutual.

“She was his greatest possibility.  His reason.  His why.  He would give whatever she needed to be whole and happy, because loving her was as essential as drawing air.”

The love I have for both Charlee and Jay is overwhelming.  Both characters touched me deeply.  I adored Charlee and struggled right along with her.  Her strength is amazing, and she is such a tough character.  Jay is the perfectly tortured artist.  Their connection is instant, even though it takes years for them to be in a position to be able to act upon it.  I loved being able to see how once they reconnected, they were able to start to heal each other.  Both have demons, and instead of letting those demons win, they use their feelings for each other to adapt and learn from each other.

But, not everything is doom and gloom.  There are so many moments where I was smiling and laughing.  I loved a look into the crazy rock star world, and there were many moments of hilarity from Jay's band mates.  And honestly, Charlee has a great sense of humor.  This again points to her strong character, she hasn't let what has happened to her break her.

“You have the heart one expects to see at the centre of a fire, bending and twisting like steel, but never breaking.  If something happens to mine, yours would be stubborn enough to beat for both of us.”

Okay, I've gushed enough, and could probably go on forever if I don't force myself to stop.  I can only hope that if you were on the fence about this book before reading my review, that I have helped in some way to push you over the edge.  I can not see how anybody would be disappointed in this story, and not fall in love with these characters.  Oh, and the ending?  Absolutely perfect and we are treated to a wonderful epilogue.

“No matter what happens, no matter where we go from here, we go together.”

MORE QUOTES FROM BENEATH THE BURN