{Blog Tour} The Trail Rules (The Rules Series #2) - Melanie Hooyenga (Review & Giveaway)

The Trail Rules (The Rules Series #2)
by Melanie Hooyenga
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 9th 2018

Summary:

Junior year’s looking up for sixteen-year old Mike. Her new BFF isn’t a sadistic control freak, her boyfriend adores her, and she’s learning to bike in the mountains without decapitating herself on a tree.

Well, almost.

When she meets a group of riders who welcome her into their pack, she feels like she’s finally found where she belongs. One particular rider—a boy with an amazing smile and an even more amazing ability to see what she’s truly capable of—gives her the confidence to go after what she wants: her own life with her own rules.

There’s only one problem—he’s not her boyfriend.

Just as things seem to be falling into place, her parents put on the pressure to figure out her future—one that doesn’t include riding. Mike soon realizes that having everything isn’t that great when she’s not the one choosing it. She needs to decide if she’s going to continue to be a follower or step out of the shadows and find her own trail.

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The Slope Rules (The Rules series #1) on Goodreads

Buy Links:

Print: https://www.amazon.com/Trail-Rules-2/dp/1984240587

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Trail-Rules-2/dp/1984240587

BN: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-trail-rules-melanie-hooyenga/1127920278

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-trail-rules

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/793788

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/author/melanie-hooyenga/id714226093

Review 

This book follows Mike as she believes she has the perfect life at the moment.  Although once Mike starts to look at her life, maybe everything isn’t as perfect as it seems.  Mike is into mountain biking and found a new group to hang out with that don’t go to her school and aren’t tangled into all the drama that her school brings.  Mike gets to be almost a different person on the trail and needs to make some life decisions she is afraid to make.

This is the second book in The Rules story so if you read the first book you know a little about Mike prior to the story beginning, but this book could completely be read as a standalone novel.

Mike was a great main character.  The author gave us a nice conflict of figuring out what to do when you have previous expectations.  I loved that the chance was there to blaze your own path.  I loved that we got to get a lot of feelings from Mike as she was trying to make decisions about what she really wanted out of life.  I enjoyed getting to know Mike in this book.

I loved the mountain bike aspect of the book. I know a little about mountain biking, but the author did a great job bringing it to life in the book and making it work.  I didn’t know how intense it could be and the author did a great job grabbing my attention with mountain biking.

I would suggest this as a nighttime read.  There were parts of the book I found that I could put it down and keep reading the next night.  I enjoy a book where I can read a little bit here and there.

I received a copy of this book from YA Bound Tours to provide an honest review.  This does not affect my opinion of this book. 

About the Author

Multi-award winning young adult author Melanie Hooyenga first started writing as a teenager and finds she still relates best to that age group. She has lived in Washington DC, Chicago, and Mexico, but has finally settled down in her home state of Michigan. When not at her day job as a Communications Director at a nonprofit, you can find Melanie attempting to wrangle her Miniature Schnauzer Owen and playing every sport imaginable with her husband Jeremy.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook│Instagram

GIVEAWAY:

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Wintersong - S. Jae-Jones (Review)

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publication date:  February 7th 2017
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Format: ebook, 436 pages
How I got it: The Fantastic Flying Book Club
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My rating: 3/5 

Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world. 

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My thoughts:

This book follows Liesel as she must venture into the realm of the Goblin King to save her sister Kathe who was taken by the Goblins.   Liesel is protective of her family and feels full responsibility for losing her sister.  Liesel needs to make sure that Kathe gets home safe no matter what.  Liesel has always heard stories of the underground so she feels somewhat connected before she even ventures in to save her sister.

The author does an amazing job creating the world above and underground.  I loved that we got to learn about the restraints of the underground as well as what everyone looked like.  We get to see what Liesel is seeing through her eyes. 

I enjoyed the romance in this book between Liesel and the Goblin King.  It is somewhat slow burning, but they have known each other for years. I loved that we got flash backs into Liesel’s previous meetings with the Goblin King even if she didn’t fully realize what is going on.  The author did a great job creating the relationship between Liesel and the Goblin King.  As I was reading you can tell the issues that arise between the two of them, but you can also feel the chemistry coming through.

I loved that Liesel came into her own while taking on the role of Goblin King’s wife.  She got to focus on herself and learn what made Liesel, Liesel.  I enjoyed learning how she evolved and what her true passions in life where.   I felt we saw tremendous growth in Liesel throughout the book.

My major complaint for this book would be that it is slightly over descriptive.   There were parts of the book I felt like skimming over it was just going to great into detail that I didn’t really need to now all that information.  Although the author does an amazing job creating the detailed world at some points I wanted the story to keep moving versus all the descriptive.  I felt it slowed the pace down in the book and left me skipping sections. 

I received a copy of this book from The Fantastic Flying Book Club in exchange for an honest review.  This does not affect my opinion of this book. 

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About the Author

S. Jae-Jones, called JJ, is an artist, an adrenaline junkie, and the NYT bestselling author of Wintersong.

Born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, she lived in New York City for ten years before relocating down to Dixie, where she is comfortably growing fat on grits and barbecue. When not writing, she can be found rock-climbing, skydiving, taking photographs, drawing pictures, and dragging her dog on ridiculously long hikes.

Author Links:

   

{Blog Tour} Harshville - Olivia Wildenstein (Cover Reveal)

The Baby Project - Miranda Liasson (Review)

The Baby Project by Miranda Liasson 
Genres: Romance, Contemporary  
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published Date: September 4th 2017
Format: ebook, 218 pages
How I got it: The author for an honest review.
Buy it:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My rating: 4/5

Liz Kingston spends her life delivering babies and longs for one of her own. All she needs is someone with fabulous genetic material. Who better to ask than her sexy ex-fling, who has no interest in ever settling down or being a father.

International correspondent Grant Wilbanks loves danger and travelling the world. But nothing in all this Brit’s experience could have prepared him for the way a torrid affair with Liz makes him feel. When she asks for his assistance, he figures he can help her out with a simple donation. No strings, no emotions, just…test-tube science.

But this simple favor gives them both more than they ever bargained for. Grant agrees to her terms, but stepping away gets harder and harder because the more time they spend together, the more he finds himself falling…and losing the battle to safeguard his heart.

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My thoughts:

Sometimes I love a second chance romance! This book follows Liz who loves delivering babies and is now ready for her own.  Liz recently got divorced and had a fling with Grant the international reporter that she was stationed with while overseas.  Liz thought things where more serious than they were and eventually returned home without Grant.  Grant was covering a story overseas and made a career mistake and now has been sent to the small town that Liz lives in to cover another story.

I loved that the story is told from alternating POV’s of Liz and Grant.  While reading I got to see not only how Liz felt, but also Grant about the situation.  Liz was trying to stay very level headed and trying not to fall all the way down.  Grant was just trying to figure out how he could possibly want more from a woman since he was used to so much traveling and didn’t have a steady family life.

Grant grows leaps and bounds in this book.  I loved getting to learn about him and his upbringing, which I feel adds a lot to the story and makes the second chance romance work for this book.  Grant lost both of his parents at a young age and this has caused him to have commitment issues.  Grant has a lot to work through during this book to become the leading guy I was hoping for!

Liz gets the crazy idea that she can have a test-tube baby, for lack of a better word and not get to attached.   Liz is a strong and independent woman who wants to take the next step in her life and have a baby.  Liz seems to be struggling with some family pressure to have kids as well as wanting to move past her old life.

My biggest issue with the book was sometimes Liz would be on my nerves slightly.  Liz was feeling a lot of social pressure to have kids, but not everyone has kids at the same time.  Also, she thought she was too old to have kids in her young 30’s and she was definitely not too old to have kids.

I would suggest this as a weekend read.  The book was very short and fast paced it was a perfect weekend read.  I could sit down and get through this book quickly.

I received a copy of this book from the author to provide an honest review.  This does not affect my opinion of this book. 

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About the Author

Miranda Liasson loves to write stories about everyday people who find love despite themselves, because there’s nothing like a great love story. And if there are a few laughs along the way, even better! 

She’s a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart winner and an Amazon bestselling author whose heartwarming and humorous small–town romances have won accolades such as the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence and have been Harlequin Junkie and Night Owl Reviews Top Picks.

She lives in the Midwest with her husband and three kids in a charming old neighborhood which is the inspiration for many of the homes in her books. 

Miranda loves to hear from readers! Find her at mirandalisson.com, Facebook.com/MirandaLiassonAuthor or on Twitter @mirandaliasson. For information about new releases and other news, feel free to sign up for her newsletter at http://www.mirandaliasson.com/#mailin....