Review & Giveaway: Lost & Found by Nicole Williams

Lost & Found

By Nicole Williams

Published May 7, 2013

Mature YA / New Adult Contemporary Romance

 

 

*ARC Ebook obtained directly from author as part of the tour*

Synopsis via Goodreads:

After numbing pain for the past five years with boys, alcohol, and all-around apathy, she finds herself on a Greyhound bus to nowhere Montana the summer after she graduates high school. Her mom agreed to front the bill to Rowen’s dream art school only if Rowen proves she can work hard and stay out of trouble at Willow Springs Ranch. Cooking breakfast at the crack of dawn for a couple dozen ranch hands and mucking out horse stalls are the last things in the world Rowen wants to spend her summer doing.

Until Jesse Walker saunters into her life wearing a pair of painted-on jeans, a cowboy hat, and a grin that makes something in her chest she’d thought was frozen go boom-boom. Jesse’s like no one else, and certainly nothing like her. He’s the bright and shiny to her dark and jaded.

Rowen knows there’s no happily-ever-after for the golden boy and the rebel girl—happily-right-now is a stretch—so she tries to forget and ignore the boy who makes her feel things she’s not sure she’s ready to feel. But the more she pushes him away, the closer he seems to get. The more she convinces herself she doesn’t care, the harder she falls.

When her dark secrets refuse to stay locked behind the walls she’s kept up for years, Rowen realizes it’s not just everyone else she needs to be honest with. It’s herself.

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About the Author:

I'm a wife, a mom, a writer. I started writing because I loved it and I'm still writing because I love it. I write young adult because I still believe in true love, kindred spirits, and happy endings. Here's to staying young at heart *raises champagne glass* . . . care to join me?

Nicole loves hearing from her readers. You can contact her at nwilliamsbooks@gmail.com.

Connect With Nicole:     Goodreads     Blog      Facebook     Twitter

My Review:

I have a new Beloved! I am happy to add Lost & Found into that list! It honestly blew me away.

I began reading my ARC copy around 9 pm & could NOT put it down. I literally read all night & finished it around 3 that morning. Of course I had work the next morning... Can you say Zombie?!

It was well worth it!

The characters in Lost & Found are absolutely precious. Rowen (I <3 her name) comes into the novel as a sad, 'rebellious' type character. She has her own style that she's taken on for reasons in the beginning you don't quite understand. You can tell that something has happened to Rowen to make her act as cold and disconnected as she does... but you just don't know what. I immediately liked her and wanted to know more about her. As you begin to unfold the puzzle that is Rowen, you love her even more. You start to see that she's had a very rough past, gone through something that someone her age should never go through, and has a crappy mother to top it all off.

Rowen is forced to go spend the entire summer at Willow Springs Ranch or suffer the consequence of not being able to go to her art school of choice for college. Her mother refuses to pay for it unless she 'proves' herself over the summer.

As Rowen's character unfolds, you begin to see that it isn't Rowen with the problem. Her mother is the problem. She looks at Rowen with constant disdain... her hair is crap, her clothes are crap, her makeup is crap... The list goes on. I wanted to jump through the novel & totally slap her mother. >_<

Rowen gets off the bus & is picked up by our novel's resident hottie extraordinaire!

Ohh Jesse.... I've never really cared for a pair of tight wranglers on a man's booty before... but Jesse... I would make an exception for him. Ha. ^_^

Jesse has a quirky personality that you automatically are drawn to. You want him to be on every page because he's just that precious. You begin to see Rowen's mood brighten & you see that once she's out of her previous surroundings with her mom, she's a deeply hurt but loving individual. I adored the time that Rowen spent interacting with Jesse's sisters. Jesse's mother Rose is adorable. She's the perfect, supportive, loving mother who cares about her babies. She gives good advice and pays attention.

Jesse, aka resident hottie extraordinaire, has a past of his own that you begin to learn more about. It breaks your heart and makes you close the circle on why he is the way he is. He could've gone a different direction with his life, but he chose the positive road.

There's so many other supporting characters that you begin to meet. I adored each of them. Even the "bad" guy Garth has an appealing nature - even though he's a total jerk, you want to know WHY he acts like that. Nicole has a great way of creating characters with depth & background. Love it!

Overall, this novel kept me on my toes. Yes, there are predictable moments. There's not a single romance type novel out there today that doesn't. However, the twists that start to occur keep you guessing and wanting to know more. That's pretty much the reason why I couldn't put this novel down. Ha.

I could go on and on and on and on....

Overall, total 5 Star Novel! Loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall Rating: 5 Huge Stars
Cover Rating: 4.5 Stars
Characters: 5 Stars
Plot: 5 Stars
Climax: 5 Huge Stars!!
Ending: 5 Stars!


I can't wait to see what Nicole does next!






Giveaway!!!!

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter the tour wide giveaway!

(1)   Print copy of Lost and Found – Open International

(1)   Leather cuff bracelet with metal inscription “Love is organized chaos” – Open International

(1)   $50 Amazon Gift Card – Open to countries that can use Amazon

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ARC Review & Giveaway: Wide Awake by Shelly Crane

Wide Awake

by Shelly Crane

New Adult / Mature YA Contemporary Romance

202 pages

Published March 22, 2013

*ARC ebook obtained directly from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Synopsis via Goodreads:

A girl.
A coma.
A life she can't remember.

When Emma Walker wakes up in the hospital with no knowledge of how she got there, she learns that she's been in a coma for six months. Strangers show up and claim to be her parents, but she can't remember them. She can't remember anyone. Not her friends, not even her boyfriend. Even though she can't remember, everyone wants her to just pick up where she left off, but what she learns about the 'old her' makes her start to wish she'd never woken up. Her boyfriend breaks up with the new girl he's dating to be with her, her parents want her to start planning for college, her friends want their leader back, and her physical therapist with the hazel eyes keeps his distance to save his position at the hospital.

Will she ever feel like she recognizes the girl in the mirror?

Grab Your Copy:

Barnes & Noble

About the Author:

Shelly is a New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author from a small town in Georgia and loves everything about the south. She is wife to a fantastical husband and stay at home mom to two boisterous and mischievous boys who keep her on her toes. They currently reside in everywhere USA as they happily travel all over with her husband's job. She loves to spend time with her family, binge on candy corn, go out to eat at new restaurants, buy paperbacks at little bookstores, site see in the new areas they travel to, listen to music everywhere and also LOVES to read.

Her own books happen by accident and she revels in the writing and imagination process. She doesn't go anywhere without her notepad for fear of an idea creeping up and not being able to write it down immediately, even in the middle of the night, where her best ideas are born.

Connect with Shelly:   Goodreads    Blog    Twitter    Facebook

My Review:

Oh my gosh... A new fave to add to my list. I know what you're thinking - girl in a coma & waking up... Yes that's been written in a million books & movies... but I promise you, this isn't like any other "coma story" you've read. This book is about accepting YOU and moving forward... even if others don't want to accept that you've changed...

This emotional, gut wrenching, heart warming take of trying to find and accept YOU was amazing! I loved every second of this book and when I reached "The End," I wanted to cry because it was over.

Emma/Emmie - I can't imagine being in her shoes. Emmie is out one night at a party drinking with friends, catches her boyfriend cheating, and decides to walk home. She ends up getting hit be a vehicle and left there to die. Once medical personnel get to Emmie, she's lost so much blood and nearly lost her life. She's left in a coma for months. Her mother & father place her in a hospice unit for care, to help make her comfortable, and they visit every day. Mason ends up being the physical therapist who is assigned to Emmie.

No one expects her to wake up, but she does. She doesn't remember a single thing about who she was... she wakes up an entirely different person. Her parents, friends...well everyone except Mason, the hospice staff who've become her friends, and Emma (Emmie before she woke up - Emma after) want the "old Emmie" back. They want the girl who loved pink everything, wore her clothes too tight & too short, was head cheer leader, queen bee of the school.... etc.....

Emma is left not liking who she was but trying to figure out who she should be. The only person she has on her side is Mason. Everyone else doesn't understand why she just can't be her old self... My heart broke for her over and over because I can only imagine feeling like two people - the "was" and the "am now." I wanted to reach out and hug her constantly because it felt like she had no one on her side... God forbid the new Emma likes peaches... the old Emmie hated peaches so she should too... at least that's what she goes through... I wanted to reach out and smack her dad upside his head.... >_<

Then of course you have her "friends" from school. Ugh... Andy, Emmie's boyfriend, just wants to go about life just like it was before... he thinks that she should just go back to exactly how it was before the accident... he could care less that she's not the same person... Oohhh and the twist! Shelly! Took me by surprise & I was honestly sad by the events that unfold... I mean, I didn't want him to get a happily ever after, but I wasn't expecting... well, I'm not spoiling it! :)

Mason (swoon) was such an amazing character and role model. He thought he was nothing, no one, and at fault for his mom's accident. I loved this man & couldn't get enough of him. He works hard to take care of his mom (I won't spoil any of his life history though - just read the book! LoL), try to keep his little brother out of jail, and now he's Emma's rock of support. I can't say enough about how much I adored him. He's struggling with his own demons and can't let go of the guilt that he carries around with him. Emmy ends up being his rock of support when he needs her. 

Loved this book! I could go on for days!! ^_^

Overall Rating: 5 Whopping Emotional Stars!
Cover Rating: 4.5 Stars <-I love the image on the cover and it reminds me of when Emmy opens her eyes for the first time in the hospice bed and looks up at everyone.
Characters: 5 Stars <-Can I have a Mason? Please? ;)
Plot: 5 Stars
Climax: 5 Stars
Ending: 5 Stars <--Thank you a million times over for the epilogues Shelly! Emma was overcoming a million and one obstacles in this story - but so were you while writing. I would've waited another year for this book if that's what it would've taken because you're amazing!

Giveaway!

Shelly is so absolutely awesome & she sent me some SIGNED Wide Awake & Significance bookmarks to share!



Use the Rafflecopter below to enter to win a signed Wide Awake & Significance Bookmark! I've got 2 of each to giveaway so there will be 2 winners!!! It's open internationally!

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